Increasing farmer adoption of improved crop varieties is a key way to improve agricultural productivity and reduce poverty in low-income countries. Yet in these areas, smallholder farmers’ reported yields for such varieties often fall far short of researchers’ and policymakers’ expectations.
What accounts for this gapbetween the high yield numbers documented in researcher-managed field trials and those reported in practice?
One potential source is the reporting itself. While information on the adoption and yields of improved crop varieties in field trials is carefully collected by researchers, data from farmers’ fields is mainly based on their self-reported recall in household surveys. This raises the question: Is some of the yield gap due to farmers misidentifying crop varieties—confusing improved (higher yielding) with non-improved/“traditional” (lower yielding)?
The question has important implications beyond data gaps. If farmers don’t know they are using an improved variety, they are less likely to use the complementary inputs and practices needed to achieve higher yields, affecting their incomes and livelihoods. Read more>>