Farmers’ Perceptions on Drought, Low Soil Fertility, Coping Strategies and Preferred Traits of Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Balaka District of Malawi Kachiguma N.A.1,*, Ifie B.E.1, Maliro M.F.A.2, Tongoona P.B.1, Ofori K.1 1West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, PMB LG 30, Legon, Accra, Ghana 2Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bunda College Campus, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi *Corresponding Author: N.A. Kachiguma, Department of Agricultural Research Services, Lunyangwa Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 59, Mzuzu, Malawi, Email: nkachiguma@yahoo.co.uk
Online Published on 05 January, 2024. Abstract Background Bean is an important nutritious food and cash crop. Bean productivity is low mostly due to various abiotic, biotic and socio-economic constraints. The aims of this study were to assess constraints to high bean seed yield productivity, determine farmers’ perceptions on drought and low soil fertility, strategies farmers are practicing to adapt to the constraints and preferred bean traits. Methods A Participatory rural appraisal approach was applied by administering a questionnaire to 139 household representatives from Bazale, Phalula and Utale areas in 2017. Result Farmers (68.4%) cultivated beans under irrigation in winter (dry) season and most of them practiced sole cropping. Constraints to high bean seed yield productivity include drought and low soil fertility (31.7%) and deforestation (81.3%) contributed a lot. Farmers (44.6%) implemented afforestation, 32.4% grew early maturing bean varieties, while 20.9% practiced conservation agriculture. Farmers were not involved in variety development as indicated by 91.4% of the respondents. However, farmers preferred determinate plant type (95.7%), creamy taste (61.2%) and high number of pods per plant (47.4%). These farmers’ preferred traits need to be considered in the ongoing bean improvement program(s) to increase adoption rate of improved varieties. Top Keywords Beans, Constraints, Farmers’ perceptions, Genetic enhancement, Preferred traits. Top |