Improving technology delivery mechanisms: lessons from bean seed systems research in eastern and central Africa

David, S. and Sperling, L. (1999) Improving technology delivery mechanisms: lessons from bean seed systems research in eastern and central Africa. Agriculture and Human Values, 16 (4). 381-388 .

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Abstract

This article addresses concerns of technology dissemination for small farmers, specifically focusing on the diffusion of new varieties of a self-pollinating crop. Based on bean seed systems research in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it shows four commonly-held basic assumptions to be false, namely that: first, small-scale farmers do not buy bean seed; they mainly rely on their own stocks or obtain seed from other farmers; second, that small-scale farmers cannot afford to buy seed of newly introduced bean varieties or will not risk it; third, that farmer seed networks function efficiently in varietal diffusion; and lastly, that a good variety will sell itself. Grounded in the reality under which small farmers actually operate, the article offers recommendations for improving the delivery of newly introduced bean cultivars by NARS and seed suppliers. Most of the recommendations are relevant to other self-pollinating crops

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Crop Improvement > Genetics/Genomics
Crop Improvement > Plant Breeding
Divisions: Other Crops
Depositing User: Syamala
Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2011 05:45
Last Modified: 02 Jun 2011 05:45
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007603902380
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/2088

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