Participatory Selection of Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties using Mother and Baby Methodology: A Case Study in the Semi Arid Zones of the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, so far, maize variety selection was without much consideration of farmers' interest. However, farmers have the ability for selecting crop varieties to suit their environments. Mother and baby methodology was adopted by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and used as a means for obtaining farmers input and feedback on the selection of new maize varieties that are in advanced stages of development. Elite Open Pollinated Varieties (OPVs), which were under a national performance test, were used. These varieties belong to the early and medium maturity group and are suited for the dry agroecologies. The result clearly showed a significant difference among both early and medium set varieties for most agronomic traits at both Wolenchiti and Melkassa in 2003 cropping season. The results also revealed that farmers' preferences in some cases coincide with the breeders' selection. However, in general farmers have shown their own way of selecting a variety for their localities. Hence, it is paramount important to include farmers in a variety selection process. The methodology used in the study was found useful to collect data and identifying new varieties for farmers use.