Participatory Variety Selection for Enhanced Promotion and Adoption of Improved Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] Varieties for the Humid Lowland of Assosa Zone, Western Ethiopia

The development of Successful improved sorghum varieties for the western part of Ethiopia particularly Benishangulgumuz requires the incorporation of farmer’s perceptions and desires into the end product. Failure to do this in the past probably explains the low rates of adoption of improved varieties in Benishangulgumuz national regional state. Therefore, a variety developed through PVS usually meets demand of different stakeholders as a result the lowland sorghum varieties were evaluated in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in main cropping season during 2018 at Kurmuk district. Participatory rural appraisal tools such as focus group discussions, matrix ranking and individual reviews were used to collect data from farmers from their sorghum selection criteria, preferences and acceptance of the new improved sorghum varieties. Therefore the experiment was initiated with the objective to evaluate and select well adapted and best performing humid lowland sorghum varieties to the targeted location. The result of current study clearly showed a significant difference between the tested varieties from most morphological traits. Biomass, and threshability, of improved varieties were the most important criteria for farmers to choose a new variety. Accordingly, farmers overwhelmingly selected Melkam followed by Assosa-1 sorghum variety. Farmers’ also gave priority for grain yield and earliness of varieties. Generally, early maturing varieties with high yield potential, resistance to foliar and grain diseases, would be welcomed by farmers. However, they had indicated they would not totally reject their local varieties because of social considerations.