IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i12p7025-d834082.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diagnostic Appraisal of the Sorghum Farming System and Breeding Priorities in Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Francis Okot

    (African Center for Crop Improvement, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa
    African Seed Company, Makomp Village, Lunsar-Makeni Highway Port Loko District, Freetown, Sierra Leone)

  • Mark Laing

    (African Center for Crop Improvement, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa)

  • Hussein Shimelis

    (African Center for Crop Improvement, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa)

  • Walter A. J. de Milliano

    (Maatschap de Milliano-Meijer, Bakkersstraat 62, 4501RB Oostburg, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Understanding demographic structures, production constraints, and trait preferences is essential for setting up crop breeding goals and enhancing adoption strategies for new varieties. The objective of this study was to document the sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) production constraints and preferred sorghum traits to guide breeding in Sierra Leone. A participatory rural appraisal was used to collect data from 210 farmers across seven districts in Sierra Leone in 2019. Results showed that all sorghum varieties in cultivation are landraces. Poor access to fertilizer (91%), lack of suitable varieties (85%), poor agronomic knowledge (79%), low yielding varieties (78%), storage pests (75%), field pests (67%), low soil fertility (52%), lack of market (49%), sorghum disease (43%), drought (16%), and heavy rainfall (12%) are key production constraints limiting sorghum production. Farmers expressed interest in adopting new varieties with high yield (99%), disease (84%) and pest (81%) resistance, drought tolerance (50%), white grain (59%), and short height (53%). The prioritized traits will form the basis for farmer-oriented sorghum breeding.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Okot & Mark Laing & Hussein Shimelis & Walter A. J. de Milliano, 2022. "Diagnostic Appraisal of the Sorghum Farming System and Breeding Priorities in Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7025-:d:834082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7025/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7025/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rexford Ahene & Arvydas Bagdonavicius & Alvaro Federico Barra & Claire Galpin, 2019. "Support to the Sierra Leone Land Agenda," World Bank Publications - Reports 32022, The World Bank Group.
    2. repec:fpr:resrep:abdulaijalloh is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Aloyce R Kaliba & Kizito Mazvimavi & Theresia L Gregory & Frida M Mgonja & Mary Mgonja, 2018. "Factors affecting adoption of improved sorghum varieties in Tanzania under information and capital constraints," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. repec:fpr:ifprib:9780896292048 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Baumann, D. T. & Bastiaans, L. & Goudriaan, J. & van Laar, H. H. & Kropff, M. J., 2002. "Analysing crop yield and plant quality in an intercropping system using an eco-physiological model for interplant competition," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 173-203, August.
    6. John G. Hampton & Anthony J. Conner & Birte Boelt & Thomas G. Chastain & Phil Rolston, 2016. "Climate Change: Seed Production and Options for Adaptation," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Jalloh, Abdulai & Nelson, Gerald C. & Roy-Macauley, Harold & Thomas, Timothy S. & Zougmoré, Robert, 2013. "West african agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis," Issue briefs 75, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Akinwumi A. Adesina & Jojo Baidu‐Forson, 1995. "Farmers' perceptions and adoption of new agricultural technology: evidence from analysis in Burkina Faso and Guinea, West Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, October.
    9. Gebretsadik, Rebeka & Shimelis, H. & Laing, M.D. & Tongoona, P. & Mandefro, N., 2014. "A diagnostic appraisal of the sorghum farming system and breeding priorities in Striga infested agro-ecologies of Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 54-61.
    10. Clara W. Mundia & Silvia Secchi & Kofi Akamani & Guangxing Wang, 2019. "A Regional Comparison of Factors Affecting Global Sorghum Production: The Case of North America, Asia and Africa’s Sahel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Adesina, Akinwumi A. & Baidu-Forson, Jojo, 1995. "Farmers' perceptions and adoption of new agricultural technology: evidence from analysis in Burkina Faso and Guinea, West Africa," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, October.
    12. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Xia, Fang, 2017. "Smallholders’ land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maliata Athon Wanga & Hussein Shimelis & Girma Mengistu, 2022. "Sorghum Production in Northern Namibia: Farmers’ Perceived Constraints and Trait Preferences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Awais Jabbar & Qun Wu & Jianchao Peng & Ali Sher & Asma Imran & Kunpeng Wang, 2020. "Mitigating Catastrophic Risks and Food Security Threats: Effects of Land Ownership in Southern Punjab, Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Aude Ridier & Caroline Roussy & Karim Chaib, 2021. "Adoption of crop diversification by specialized grain farmers in south-western France: evidence from a choice-modelling experiment," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 265-283, September.
    3. Onesmus Kyambo & Dr. Julius Kilungo & Dr. Dorothy Akinyi Amwata, 2021. "The Influence Of Selected Socio-Economic Factors On Farmers' Awareness Of Devolution Of Agricultural Extension Services In Kitui County, Kenya," American Journal of Agriculture, AJPO, vol. 3(1), pages 1-20.
    4. Fahad, Shah & Wang, Jing & Hu, Guangyin & Wang, Hui & Yang, Xiaoying & Shah, Ashfaq Ahmad & Huong, Nguyen Thi Lan & Bilal, Arshad, 2018. "Empirical analysis of factors influencing farmers crop insurance decisions in Pakistan: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 459-467.
    5. Muhammad Ibnu & Pieter Glasbergen & Astrid Offermans & Bustanul Arifin, 2015. "Farmer Preferences for Coffee Certification: A Conjoint Analysis of the Indonesian Smallholders," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 7(6), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Adetomiwa Kolapo & Akeem Abiade Tijani & Seyi Olalekan Olawuyi, 2024. "Exploring the Role of Farmer-Led Jumpstarting Project on Adoption of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato in Nigeria: Implications on Productivity and Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-35, August.
    7. Boubacar Balde & Hajime Kobayashi & Makoto Nohmi & Akira Ishida & Mohamed Esham & Emmanuel Tolno, 2014. "An Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Mangrove Rice Production in the Guinean Coastal Area," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(8), pages 179-179, July.
    8. repec:osf:africa:ncw8a_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Van Loi Bui & Xuan Ba Nguyen & Gia Hung Hoang & Thi Mui Nguyen & Ngoc Phong Van & Ngoc Long Tran & Mau Dung Ngo & Huu Van Nguyen, 2025. "Perception and Adoption of Food Safety Standards: A Case of VietGAP Sheep Farmers in the Ninh Thuan Province of Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Kumar, Suresh & Singh, Dharm Raj & Mondal, Biswajit & Palanisamy, Venkatesh & Kumar, Anil, 2021. "Does Adoption of Soil Bund Increase Sorghum Productivity? Some Empirical Evidence from Drought Prone Areas of Karnataka, India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315343, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Tushemereirwe, W.K. & Wale, E. & Ortmann, G.F. & Akankwasa, k., 2013. "Farmers’ choice among recently developed hybrid banana varieties in Uganda: A multinomial logit analysis," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 52(2), March.
    12. Phokele Maponya & Sylvester Mpandeli, 2012. "Climate Change and Agricultural Production in South Africa: Impacts and Adaptation options," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 4(10), pages 1-48, August.
    13. Simtowe, Franklin & Amondo, Emily & Marenya, Paswel & Rahut, Dil & Sonder, Kai & Erenstein, Olaf, 2019. "Impacts of drought-tolerant maize varieties on productivity, risk, and resource use: Evidence from Uganda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Ernest Molua, 2014. "Climate Change Perception and Farmers’ Adoption of Sustainable Land Management for Robust Adaptation in Cameroon," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(12), pages 202-202, November.
    15. Varshney, Deepak & Joshi, P.K. & Roy, Devesh & Kumar, Anjani, 2021. "Understanding the Adoption of Modern Cultivars in India: Adoption probability and use intensity," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(01), January.
    16. Ferreira Gonzaga, Jenifer & Vilpoux, Olivier François & Gomes Pereira, Matheus Wemerson, 2019. "Factors influencing technological practices in the Brazilian agrarian reform," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 150-162.
    17. Andekelile Mwamahonje & John Saviour Yaw Eleblu & Kwadwo Ofori & Santosh Deshpande & Tileye Feyissa & William Elisha Bakuza, 2021. "Sorghum Production Constraints, Trait Preferences, and Strategies to Combat Drought in Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-13, November.
    18. Rick S. Llewellyn & Brendan Brown, 2020. "Predicting Adoption of Innovations by Farmers: What is Different in Smallholder Agriculture?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 100-112, March.
    19. Balasooriya, B. M. D. C. & Edirisinghe, J. C. & Seneviratne, P., . "Nexus between Awareness, Perception and Adoption of Recommended Technologies: Evidences from Smallholder Rubber Cultivation," Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Economics, Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), vol. 22(01).
    20. Srijna Jha & Harald Kaechele & Marcos Lana & T.S Amjath-Babu & Stefan Sieber, 2020. "Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.
    21. Hongli Feng & Tong Wang & David A. Hennessy & Gaurav Arora, 2022. "Over-Perception about Land Use Changes: Assessing Empirical Evidence and Linkage with Decisions and Motivated Beliefs," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 98(2), pages 254-273.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7025-:d:834082. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.