First Field Trial

Project Report for experiment set during the short-rain planting season 2019, by Richard Kiaka: Date of report: 29/11/2021

This is the report for the experiment that was set up in the short rains of 2019. This experiment was set in the presence of Conny Almekinders and Paul Hebinck. The report is based on interviews and discussions that were made with two leaders of the Geno Youth Group in Sauri on field trips conducted on the months of March and May, 2021. The report also draws from detailed phone conversations with the leaders of the group on several occasions as well as e-mail conversations with Conny and Paul.

Planting

One parcel (assumed to be one acre by members of Geno Youth Group) of land was tilled and divided into halves. One half was planted mid October 2019 with one gorogoro,a 2Kg tin, of local maize variety known as Rachar. The seeds were purchased from the neighbors from Mr. Jethro Moyi from the land was rented. The distance between seed holes was maintained at 25cm and the distance between rows was maintained at 75cm all through. In each hole, 2 seeds were planted using boma manure (compost cow dung). On the same day, the other half was planted with DK 777, a hybrid maize variety manufactured by Monsanto. The seeds were purchased from a local Agrovet shop in Yala. Similar planting specifics were followed in this plot as the plot planted with Rachar. Planting was done during what the members of the youth group described as “good rains”.

Germination

The local variety, Rachar, was the first to sprout, albeit not uniformly. While some sprouted within 4 days after planting, others only did so 2-3 days later. On the other hand, the hybrid DK sprouted 3 days after local variety had germinated. The uniformity in germination of DK was significantly different from that of Rachar. That is, DK seeds sprouted nearly on the same day. At germination and sprouting, DK looked stronger and more firmly held on the ground than Rachar, which appeared weaker and loosely held on the ground. Geno Youth Group members interpreted the difference to have been influenced by the fact that DK seeds are cured with agrochemicals that help germination. We treat more as local interpretation than as a scientific fact. Overall, germination and sprouting for DK was estimated at 89% by the members of Geno Youth Groups, while that of Rachar was estimated at 75%.  

Weeding

Weeding was done by the members of Geno Youth Group on both plots on the same day. Weeding was done across the lines to prevent soil erosion. No organic manure or top dressing inorganic fertilizer was added at the time of weeding. Soon after weeding, the local variety – Rachar, began growing stronger and more firmly held to the ground than DK. In addition, Rachar, looked good and appealing to the eye compared to DK that looked frail and stressed. This difference continued until the plants began to flower. Meanwhile, DK was affected by armyworms, which put the plants in further stress and made them look frailer. Broadly speaking, the local variety, Rachar, was not affected by armyworms except those bordering the lines planted with DK. No pesticide treatment or any other intervention was applied in order to control armyworms. At the time of flowering, DK was largely eaten by armyworms, an extent that was estimated by Geno Youth Group members to be at 45-50% infection. On the other hand, Rachar largely remained either resistant to armyworms or not liked by the pests.   

Flowering

The local variety, Rachar, flowered first before DK. However, the flowering of Rachar was not uniform. That is, some plants flowered before others. DK flowered 3 weeks after Rachar. Contrary to, Rachar the flowering of the hybrid DK was uniform. It was significantly noted by the members of Geno Youth Group that by the time DK started flowering, Rachar was already producing cobs. What was puzzling to the youth group members is that the development of cobs in DK, when it started, was much faster compared to pace in Rachar.

At the time of flowering and cob development, the rains reduced significantly. In fact, members of Geno youth group remembered that the rained stopped for about 2 weeks. During this time, the Youth group members observed that DK was stressed, had a stunted growth and wilted. On the contrary, they observed that Rachar continued to grow steadily with limited disturbance.

Maturity and harvesting    

Rachar was ready for harvesting, between 2.5 – 3 months after planting. In comparison, DK was ready for harvesting about 4 months after planting. During maturity, birds easily pecked open and fed on DK cobs in the field more than it occurred to Rachar. In explaining this difference, members of Geno Youth Group considered that the cobs of Rachar are enclosed in a thick layer of husks/ears that makes it difficult for the birds to peck-open especially if an easier option is available. On the contrary, they explained that cobs of DK are enclosed only thinly in the husks/ears. This difference in cob protection, for the youth group members, explains why birds attacked and destroyed the cobs of DK more than they did to Rachar cobs. The problems of birds caused further problems in DK. For example, during harvesting, some cobs of DK that were opened by birds appeared rotten. This problem was far less observed in Rachar.

Some Rachar cobs were infected by head smut, a fungal disease caused by the fungus Sphacelotheca reiliana. This problem was less prevalent in, if not, absent in DK. A further physical difference observed in the varieties during harvesting was that some DK cobs did not fully develop grains. This problem was not observed or far less prevalent in Rachar. 

Post-harvest management

The harvest from the two plots was shelled separately and stored in separate sacks without any treatment against pests. In total, the plot planted with Rachar produced 3.5 bags full (each bag having a capacity of 40 gorogoro). On the other hand, DK produced 3 bags full (each bag having a capacity of 40 gorogoro).

Geno Youth Group sold 2 bags of DK and one bag of Rachar. DK was sold at KES 70 per gorogoro while Rachar was sold at KES 80 per gorogoro. Unlike DK that was sold in the open air market, Rachar was sold from the store to other farmers who sought it for seeds. Generally, there was a belief in the area amongst other farmers that the Rachar yield was much better than of other plots in terms of quality. Therefore they needed to buy it for seeds.  One reason why Rachar was priced higher than DK is that it is not easy to find good quality Rachar seeds compared to DK that can simply be purchased from local Agrovets. In the words of members of Geno Youth Group, pure rachar seeds are disappearing, and hence the need to preserve them.

During storage, 3 months later, the remaining bag of DK grains was attacked by weevils. This problem was far less observed in Rachar. 

The money received from the sales of the maize was used to pay for plots to be used for the experiment in 2020. This however did not take place as members of the Geno Youth Group expected planting to be done only in the presence of Paul Hebinck and Conny Almekinders. Due to COVID-19, Conny and Paul were unable to travel to set another experiment with them, according to their expectation. The Youth Group shared the remaining 2 bags of Rachar and one bag of DK (affected by weevils) amongst its members and one bag of DK for own use.

Impacts of the experiment

Some lessons were drawn by the youth group members from the experiment:

  • The youth group members learned that they do need to spend lots of money buying hybrid seeds and on fertilizers. They can get better yields by using boma manure and planting local seeds which require less money to purchase than DK. Even where hybrid seeds is said to be provided on credit by One Acre Fund, members of Geno Youth Group explain that eventually these credits are far more expensive than they are initially presented to farmers.
  • At least a member of Geno Youth Group was invited in 2020 and 2021 to at least 3 groups to teach members of those groups on better ways of planting maize. The area Chief (government administrator) also invited leaders of Geno Youth Group to public meetings in the area to teach people how they were able to get better yields on local variety than hybrid.
  • At least 20 people bought Rachar from the youth group to use as seeds in 2020. From those who purchased the local seeds from Geno youth group, 4 complained of poor yields while 16 gave reports of better yields. The youth group associates the complaints to improper use of boma manure. 
  • The publication that benefited from the experiments: Almekinders, C., Hebinck, P., Marinus, W., Kiaka, R. and Waswa, W. (2021) Why farmers grow so many maize varieties in West Kenya. Outlook on Agriculture, 50 (4) 406-418; https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270211054211