Abstract:
Background
Participatory plant breeding leads to early adoption of a newly released variety as farmers would be aware of whatever advantage it might have over prior existing ones as early as possible. Cowpea farmers around Ohawu in the Volta Region of Ghana where the crop is one of the most important cash crops had no variety specifically developed for their environment. This research followed farmers’ interest identified earlier for the development of varieties with preferred consumer traits.
Methods
Farmers were chosen from 25 communities within the cowpea growing area by the help of agricultural extension officers. Fifty farmers including 25 males and females each, 7 scientists and 15 other persons with different backgrounds were involved in the selection exercise. The final plants selected were based on the total number of participants’ endorsement and analysis of variance for their seed size.
Results
Selections were made from six F3 populations with parents of various unique traits obtained from Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, or United States of America. Four most liked cowpea plants from each of the six populations were selected to be advanced and tried in multi-locations towards probable release.
Conclusions
Participants were very enthused with the selection exercise hoping of seeing some of their selections resulting into varieties. Farmers were interested in selecting plants with long multiple pods and early maturing. The exercise was educative for all participants.