Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia

Accurate crop varietal identification is the backbone of any high-quality assessment of outcomes and impacts. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties have important nutritional differences, and there is a strong interest to identify nutritionally superior varieties for dissemination. In agricultural...

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Autores principales: Kosmowski, Frederic, Aragaw, A., Kilian, Andrzej, Ambel, A., Ilukor, J., Yigezu, B., Stevenson, James R.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91173
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author Kosmowski, Frederic
Aragaw, A.
Kilian, Andrzej
Ambel, A.
Ilukor, J.
Yigezu, B.
Stevenson, James R.
author_browse Ambel, A.
Aragaw, A.
Ilukor, J.
Kilian, Andrzej
Kosmowski, Frederic
Stevenson, James R.
Yigezu, B.
author_facet Kosmowski, Frederic
Aragaw, A.
Kilian, Andrzej
Ambel, A.
Ilukor, J.
Yigezu, B.
Stevenson, James R.
author_sort Kosmowski, Frederic
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Accurate crop varietal identification is the backbone of any high-quality assessment of outcomes and impacts. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties have important nutritional differences, and there is a strong interest to identify nutritionally superior varieties for dissemination. In agricultural household surveys, such information is often collected based on the farmer's self-report. In this article, we present the results of a data capture experiment on sweet potato varietal identification in southern Ethiopia. Three household-based methods of identifying varietal adoption are tested against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting: (A) Elicitation from farmers with basic questions for the most widely planted variety; (B) Farmer elicitation on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes by showing a visual-aid protocol; and (C) Enumerator recording observations on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes using a visual-aid protocol and visiting the field. In total, 20% of farmers identified a variety as improved when in fact it was local and 19% identified a variety as local when it was in fact improved. The variety names given by farmers delivered inconsistent and inaccurate varietal identities. Visual-aid protocols employed in methods B and C were better than those in method A, but greatly underestimated the adoption estimates given by the DNA fingerprinting method. Our results suggest that estimating the adoption of improved varieties with methods based on farmer self-reports is questionable and point towards a wider use of DNA fingerprinting in adoption and impact assessments.
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spelling CGSpace911732025-12-08T09:54:28Z Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia Kosmowski, Frederic Aragaw, A. Kilian, Andrzej Ambel, A. Ilukor, J. Yigezu, B. Stevenson, James R. sweet potatoes dna fingerprinting households surveys varieties identification genetic variation farmers quality nutrition diversification Accurate crop varietal identification is the backbone of any high-quality assessment of outcomes and impacts. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties have important nutritional differences, and there is a strong interest to identify nutritionally superior varieties for dissemination. In agricultural household surveys, such information is often collected based on the farmer's self-report. In this article, we present the results of a data capture experiment on sweet potato varietal identification in southern Ethiopia. Three household-based methods of identifying varietal adoption are tested against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting: (A) Elicitation from farmers with basic questions for the most widely planted variety; (B) Farmer elicitation on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes by showing a visual-aid protocol; and (C) Enumerator recording observations on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes using a visual-aid protocol and visiting the field. In total, 20% of farmers identified a variety as improved when in fact it was local and 19% identified a variety as local when it was in fact improved. The variety names given by farmers delivered inconsistent and inaccurate varietal identities. Visual-aid protocols employed in methods B and C were better than those in method A, but greatly underestimated the adoption estimates given by the DNA fingerprinting method. Our results suggest that estimating the adoption of improved varieties with methods based on farmer self-reports is questionable and point towards a wider use of DNA fingerprinting in adoption and impact assessments. 2019-06 2018-02-22T16:00:53Z 2018-02-22T16:00:53Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91173 en https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-7812 Open Access Cambridge University Press Kosmowski, F.; Aragaw, A.; Kilian, A.; Ambel, A.; Ilukor, J.; Yigezu, B.; Stevenson, J. 2019. Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia. Experimental Agriculture. ISSN 0014-4797. v55(3) pp. 371-385
spellingShingle sweet potatoes
dna fingerprinting
households
surveys
varieties
identification
genetic variation
farmers
quality
nutrition
diversification
Kosmowski, Frederic
Aragaw, A.
Kilian, Andrzej
Ambel, A.
Ilukor, J.
Yigezu, B.
Stevenson, James R.
Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title_full Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title_short Varietal identification in household surveys: results from three household-based methods against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting in southern Ethiopia
title_sort varietal identification in household surveys results from three household based methods against the benchmark of dna fingerprinting in southern ethiopia
topic sweet potatoes
dna fingerprinting
households
surveys
varieties
identification
genetic variation
farmers
quality
nutrition
diversification
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91173
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