Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Yaoundé, Cameroon.
J Sci Food Agric. 2024 Jun;104(8):4808-4817. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.12899. Epub 2023 Aug 17.
Cassava is an important crop for the survival of smallholder farmers in Cameroon. However, the cassava sector has a low production per unit area compared to the technological potential in this country. In this context, breeders have developed varieties based mainly on their potential in terms of yield and disease resistance. These varieties have been widely disseminated in Cameroon within the framework of development projects. However, these releases have not achieved the expected adoption and yield levels at the national level. Therefore, it appears important to rethink the determinants of dissemination with a broader examination of the cassava production system.
This paper analyses varietal complementarity as a key strategy in support of optimizing the experimental and continuous use of cassava varieties by farmers in the Central and Eastern regions of Cameroon. These two regions account for 50% of the country's production. A total of 111 semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers selected through purposive sampling in four villages in Central and Eastern Cameroon where improved varieties have been disseminated. The research revealed four types of complementarity, related to use, crop management, risk management and cultural complementarity.
Our results argue for considering varietal complementarities practiced by farmers, within research and development programs to develop more effective breeding and dissemination approaches. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
木薯是喀麦隆小农生存的重要作物。然而，与该国的技术潜力相比，木薯单位面积的产量较低。在这种情况下，育种者主要根据其产量和抗病性潜力开发了品种。这些品种已在喀麦隆的发展项目框架内广泛传播。然而，这些发布并没有在国家层面上实现预期的采用和产量水平。因此，重新思考传播的决定因素似乎很重要，需要更广泛地研究木薯生产系统。
本文分析了品种互补性作为一种关键战略，以支持优化喀麦隆中部和东部地区农民对木薯品种的实验和连续使用。这两个地区占该国产量的 50%。通过在中部和东部喀麦隆的四个村庄进行有针对性的抽样，共对 111 名农民进行了半结构访谈，这些村庄已经传播了改良品种。研究发现了四种互补性，与使用、作物管理、风险管理和文化互补性有关。
我们的研究结果表明，在研究和发展计划中，应考虑农民所实践的品种互补性，以制定更有效的育种和传播方法。
