The Ethiopian potato research programme has released more than 30 new varieties, selected primarily for yield potential and late blight tolerance; however, the majority of farmers still choose to grow “local varieties”. Cognizant of this, the current study was aimed at identifying traits that farmers consider most important when deciding which varieties to grow. The study was conducted at two sites in North-west Ethiopia that represent two major agro-ecological zones in two distinct growing seasons, using a participatory variety selection approach. Disease-free seed tubers of nine local and three released varieties were planted. Twenty-three traits were found to influence the varieties that farmers selected, with the degree of importance of each trait differing by agro-ecological zone and gender. Of the 23 traits, 12 were considered very important and 6 determined the acceptance of a variety with their importance differing over seasons. The results showed that farmers’ selection criteria are very diverse, no variety possesses all desirable characteristics, and there is a need for selecting varieties adapted to different agro-ecologies and growing seasons. This study further suggests that taking farmers’ interests into account and the use of local varieties are important in potato breeding in Ethiopia. Semagn Asredie Kolech;

1. PARTICIPATORY VARIETY
SELECTION: A TOOL TO
UNDERSTAND FARMERS’ POTATO
VARIETY SELECTION CRITERIA
Semagn Asredie Kolech,
Walter De Jong, Keith
Perry, Donald Halseth,
Fentahun Mengistu

2. INTRODUCTION
Potato is an important
crop for cash and food
security
The production of the
crop is rapidly
increasing

3. INTRODUCTION..
 However, average yield is still low (9
ton/ha compared to 25 ton with new
varieties and improved practices.
 29 new CIP-bred varieties have been
released for production since 1987.
 However, the adoption of these varieties
by farmers is lower than expected (23-
28.6 % adoption on acreage basis).
 Only few of the new varieties adopted
(Sisay and Gudene)
Why is this low adoption?
Farmer varieties with poor agronomic
practices (during Belmehr season)
Improved varieties with improved
practices
9 ton/ha
25-30
ton/ha

4. INTRODUCTION..
 Understanding farmers preferences across different agroecological
zones and growing seasons is an important first step to develop
varieties accepted by growers and consumers
 Farmer participation helps breeders to understand the farmers
variety preferences
 Participatory Variety Selection (PVS) is a breeding approach that
brings breeders, social scientists, farmers and extension personnel
together in a field setting in order to prioritize and target traits of
importance.
 It helps successfully assess subjective traits which are difficult to
measure quantitatively (Bellon 2002)
 Thus, this presentation aimed to identify traits that determine
farmers variety acceptance and assessed farmers’ perception of

5. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study sites and planting seasons
Laigaint
Yilmana

6. MATERIALS AND METHODS..

7. MATERIAL AND METHODS..
Two farmers research groups (FRGs)
separated by gender organized and
evaluated the tested varieties in different
crop growth stages (at flowering, at
harvesting, 3 months after storage in
farmers storage practice)
 At Laigaint, 17 Women and 22
Men
 At Yilmana, 7 Women and
28 Men

8. PVS APPROACH
A participatory Variety Selection
(PVS) scheme adopted from the
African Rice Center (African Rice
Center, 2010)
Twelve potato varieties (9 local
and 3 new varieties) with diverse
traits were tested
Varieties were planted at farmers
fields laid out in a randomized
complete block design, with three
replications in each location and
planting season.
 During each evaluation step, each
farmer was asked to select the best and
worst performing five varieties, with
reasons given for each choice
From the reasons given, we compiled
traits that farmers consider important for
variety selection.

9. TABLE 1.1. VARIETY CHARACTERISTICS PERCEIVED BY FARMERS IN
DIFFERENT GROWING STAGES (VARIETIES FROM NORTHWEST
ETHIOPIA)
Variety Origin Positive traits Negative traits
Enat Beguaro Local High tuber number per plant,
suitable for multiple harvests,
tasty tubers, easily peeled after
cooking
Susceptible to late blight, weak stems
and leaves, tubers take long time to
cook, poor storage quality
Abadamu “ Very large leaf size (good soil
cover), attractive tuber size,
smooth eye depth, good storage
quality
Susceptible to late blight, poor taste
after boiling, weak stems
Siquare “ Good canopy cover, early
maturing, good for Stew,
medium storage quality, good
market demand in nearby towns
The leaves are delicate, smooth tubers,
the tubers are not as good as Abalo for
boiling (Laigaint), apical dominance in
sprout formation
Abalo “ Thick stems, good adaptation to
low soil fertility, moderate
tolerance to bird damage,
suitable for multiple harvests,
very good storage quality,
suitable for boiling potato and
stew
Susceptible to late blight, late
maturing, the tubers are not attractive
to large markets

10. TABLE 1.2. VARIETY CHARACTERISTICS PERCEIVED BY FARMERS IN
DIFFERENT GROWING STAGES (VARIETIES FROM SOUTH ETHIOPIA)
Variety Origin Positive traits Negative traits
Feleke Local Tall plant height Late blight susceptible, small tubers,
poor storage quality, very late
maturing,
Bulle Local “ Profuse flowering, large leaf
size, thick stems
Late blight susceptible, purple tuber
color is not attractive, weak and
delicate leaves, very poor storage
quality
Nech Abeba “ Tall plant height, nice
looking tubers (round and
white), high average tuber
weight, thick stems but
brittle when there is water
stress
Late blight susceptible, very poor
storage quality
Key Shull “ Very early maturing, firm
after cooking
Highly susceptible to late blight, not
tolerant of wind, heavy rainfall, or
low temp; poor storage quality
Rejim China “ Good height, good tolerance
to lodging from strong
winds, high total tuber yield
Late maturing, tubers not tasty, poor
storage quality

11. TABLE 1.3. VARIETY CHARACTERISTICS PERCEIVED BY FARMERS IN
DIFFERENT GROWING STAGES (IMPROVED VARIETIES)
Variety Origin Positive traits Negative traits
Gera Improved
Varieties (CIP
bred)
Early maturity, relatively tolerant
to late blight, moderate storage
quality
Weak stems, susceptible to early blight,
poor taste when boiled, deep eyes,
medium storability
Jalene “ Early flowering and maturity,
high yield, good for boiling
Weak stems, tubers disintegrate when
cooked, poor storage quality
Belete “ Large leaves, strong stems, good
tolerance to strong winds, high
yield, good tuber size, early
maturing, late blight resistant,
good stew quality
Quality after long storage is not as good
as widely grown varieties, occasional
unhealthy feeling in the throat after
eating and ‘stony’ if cooled after boiling

12. Traits Percent of farmers’ rating traits as "very important"*
Laigaint Yilmana
Long root and stolon system 46.4 5.3
Large plant height 14.6 0.0
High yield 100 100
Large leaves 34.3 8.9
Early flowering 42.8 23.2
Thick stem 68.6 46.4
Leaf strength 49.6 44.6
Large number of leaves 38.9 55.4
Large number of sprouts 53.9 69.6
Early maturity 56.1 58.9
Tuber size 65.7 58.9
Tuber number 41.4 39.3
Long shelf life 97.5 96.4
Suitable for seq. harvesting 97.5 80.4
Drought tolerance 100 89.3
Low soil fertility adaptation 70.0* 51.8
Tolerance to bird damage 46.4 19.6
Late blight resistance 95.0 98.2
Tolerance to tuber spoilage 69.6 75.0
Tolerance to wind damage 77.8 48.2
Suitability to boiling potato 96.4 100
Suitability to stew 86.8 100
Market demand 55.3 83.9*

13. Traits
Laigaint Yilmana Location mean
Male Female Prob>X2 Male Female Prob>X2 Laigaint Yilmana
Prob>
X2
Drought tolerance 3.00 3.00 NS 2.79 3.00 NS 3.00 2.85 0.005
Poor soil fertility
adaptation 2.90 2.36 0.029 2.43 2.57 NS 2.70 2.47 0.038
Bird damage tolerance 2.45 2.36 NS 1.54 2.00 NS 2.41 1.65 0.000
Late blight resistance 2.90 3.00 NS 2.93 3.00 NS 2.95 2.94 NS
Wind damage tolerance 2.65 2.86 NS 2.61 2.86 NS 2.76 2.68 NS
Tuber spoilage tolerance 2.65 2.57 NS 2.57 2.86 NS 2.65 2.65 NS
Long shelf life 2.95 3.00 NS 2.93 3.00 NS 2.97 2.94 NS
Long root and stolon 2.10 2.21 0.047 1.46 1.29 NS 2.16 1.38 0.000
Large plant height 1.75 1.71 NS 1.32 1.14 NS 1.78 1.26 0.001
Large leaves 2.25 2.14 NS 2.04 1.57 NS 2.22 1.94 NS
Early flowering 2.35 1.93 NS 2.14 1.86 NS 2.14 2.06 NS
Thick stem 2.80 2.50 NS 2.43 2.14 NS 2.70 2.35 NS
Leaf strength 2.25 2.50 NS 2.57 2.14 NS 2.35 2.47 NS
Large number of leaves 2.15 2.36 NS 2.29 2.57 NS 2.27 2.32 NS
Large number of sprouts 2.60 2.43 NS 2.50 2.86 NS 2.57 2.59 NS
Early maturity 2.55 2.29 NS 2.50 2.29 NS 2.41 2.44 NS
Sequential harvesting 2.95 3.00 NS 2.75 2.86 NS 2.97 2.79 0.013
High yield 3.00 3.00 NS 3.00 3.00 NS 3.00 3.00 NS
Tuber size 2.55 2.71 NS 2.75 2.43 NS 2.59 2.68 NS
Tuber number 2.40 2.43 NS 2.18 2.57 NS 2.43 2.26 NS
Suitability for boiling 3.00 2.93 NS 3.00 3.00 NS 2.97 3.00 NS
Suitability for stew 2.95 2.79 NS 3.00 3.00 NS 2.86 3.00 0.009
Market demand 2.75 2.29 0.0372 2.82 2.86 NS 2.57 2.82 NS

14. TABLE 4. SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LOCAL AND NEW VARIETIES
USING MAJOR FARMERS SELECTION CRITERIA
Widely
known
name
Origin DT
toleran
ce
LB
resistan
ce
Seq.
harvest
Long
Storab
ility
High
yield
Boiled
potato
Stew The best
in # of
traits
Abalo Local/NW + + +
+ + 5
Siquare “ + + + + 4
Abadamu “ + + 2
Enat
Beguaro
“ +
+ +
3
Nech Abeba Local/South + + + 3
Key Shule “ 1
Feleke “ + 1
Bulle Local “ + 1
Rejim China “ + 1
Belete Improved/CIP + + + + 4
Jalene “ + + 2
Gera “ + + + 3

15. TABLE 5. TRAITS OF IMPORTANCE REVEALED BY PARTICIPATORY
VARIETY SELECTION (PVS) COMPARED TO CURRENT TRAITS OF
EMPHASIS IN NATIONAL POTATO BREEDING PROGRAM
Traits Participatory Variety Selection Current breeding program
Target cropping seasons Belmehr Meher Meher
Biotic and abiotic tolerance
Drought tolerance +++ ++* ++
Adapted to low fertility soil ++* Not Not
Late blight resistance +++ +++ +++
Wind damage tolerance ++ +++ +
Tuber spoilage tolerance +++ +++ ++
Wide adaptation Not Not +++
Agronomic traits
Long shelf life +++ +++ Not
Sequential harvesting +++ Not Not
High yield +++ +++ +++
Early maturity
Depends on
rainfall
distribution +++ +++
Utilization
Taste as boiled potato +++ +++ ++
Stew quality +++ +++ ++

16. CONCLUSION
 Farmers’ variety selection criteria are diverse, reflecting farmers’
multiple needs
Of 23 traits, 12 were considered very important, 6 determined the acceptance of a
variety
 Importance of some selection criteria differed between agro-ecological
zones, cropping seasons, and genders.
 A Participatory Variety Selection approach made it clear that local
varieties have unique and important traits not present in improved
varieties, and that these traits have not yet received attention by the
national potato breeding program.
 Use of such PVS approach and utilized diverse set of varieties helps us
to capture as many farmer traits as possible