The effectiveness and complementarity of field days and small seed packs (SSPs) in delivering Dryland Cereal technologies: A survey of field day participants and agro-vets in Singida and Iramba districts of central Tanzania, Working Paper Series No. 61

Audi, P and Sakwera, L and Ziwa, R and Letayo, E and Ojulong, H F and Manyasa, E O (2015) The effectiveness and complementarity of field days and small seed packs (SSPs) in delivering Dryland Cereal technologies: A survey of field day participants and agro-vets in Singida and Iramba districts of central Tanzania, Working Paper Series No. 61. Working Paper. ICRISAT, Patancheru, Telangana, India.

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RP-Market Institutions and Policies

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This survey report is a result of analyzing feedback data from HOPE and SMU project farmers who participated in field days; and agro-dealers that were facilitated to retail technological inputs in Iramba and Singida districts, Central Tanzania. The authors acknowledge the invaluable contribution of the farmer field day participants, agro-dealers and buyers of SSPs and SFPs for sacrificing their time and ideas during the interviews. They are also grateful to all the Singida and Iramba District Council staff, local farmer groups, local administrators and the village elders for having accepted to be community entry points during the implementation of the survey. The authors are also indebted to Department of Research and Development of the Republic of Tanzania, Dryland Cereals colleagues and Director of ICRISAT-ESA for support during preparation and implementation of the survey; as well as ICRISAT’s editorial team in Hyderabad for editing the manuscript and preparing it for publication. Finally funding, without which this work would not have materialized, for the research work in this report was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of its support to the CGIAR Dryland Cereals Program. The authors are indebted to each and every one who was involved in one way or the other in making this study and working paper a reality.

Abstract

This paper is about the result of a survey done in the 2014-2015 cropping season of field day participants and agro-vets who were facilitated to market SSPs and SFPs in Singida and Iramba districts of Tanzania. The objective of the survey was to determine whether there was any correlation between awareness creation and preferences reported during field days and the demand for technological inputs from the agro-vets. The results showed a strong complementarity between the dissemination of information on improved technologies during field days and the retailing of SSPs and SFPs in agro-vets. The field days help in creating awareness about the benefits and attributes of available improved sorghum and finger millet varieties and associated agronomic recommendations; while retailing of the SSPs and SFPs by the agro-vets not only helps promote the demand for improved technological inputs but also enhances their accessibility as SSPs and SFPs are more affordable to resource poor farmers. Therefore, having field days for awareness creation without improving accessibility of technological inputs through sale of SSPs and SFPs or vice versa is futile and does not lead to enhanced experimentation and adoption of improved technologies by target farmers...

Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
Divisions: RP-Market Institutions and Policies
CRP: CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
Series Name: Working Paper Series No. 61
Uncontrolled Keywords: SSPs, SFPs, Field day, Agro-vets, Improved varieties, Technological inputs, Sorghum, Finger millet, QDS, Macia, NACO, U15, P224, Seed, Agronomy, Information, Access, Preferences, Survey, Dissemination, Awareness, Learning, Experimentation, Adoption, Cereals, Tanzania
Subjects: Mandate crops > Millets > Finger Millet
Mandate crops > Sorghum
Others > Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Depositing User: Mr Ramesh K
Date Deposited: 18 Dec 2015 05:09
Last Modified: 21 Feb 2018 07:45
URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/9188
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