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Traditional farmers’ knowledge of sorghum (sorghum bicolor [Poaceae]) landrace storability in Ethiopia

Les connaissances traditionnelles relatives à l’entreposage de grains de céréales ont été étudiés dans des petites fermes en Éthiopie

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Abstract

Traditional knowledge of grain storage was studied on small farms in Ethiopia. Sixteen of sixty landraces of sorghum collected from small farms in Shewa and Welo regions of Ethiopia were identified by the farmers as being stored sorghum landraces. Farmers were interviewed and asked to rate the storability of these stored-sorghum landraces with respect to the major insect pest of the area, the rice weevil. A farmers’ index of storability was then calculated for each landrace. The landraces were then assessed for rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), susceptibility in standardized tests at 70% relative humidity and 27°C. The mean farmers’ index for the 16 landraces was found to be inversely related with the susceptibility parameters of F1 emergence (r2=0.80), oviposition (r2=0.76), weight loss (r2=0.88), and Dobie Index (r2=0.95). It was much less strongly related with the median development period (r2=0.20). The results show that farmer knowledge is an excellent guide to sorghum susceptibility to storage pests.

Résumé

Seize de soixante variétés de sorgho, récoltées sur des petites fermes dans les régions de Shewa et de Welo en Éthiopie, ont été identifiées comme des variétés destinées à l’entreposage. Les fermiers ont été interrogés et on leur a demandé d’évaluer la résistance des grains de céréales entreposés face au charançon du riz, le principal insecte nuisible de la région. Un indice des fermiers basé sur les évaluations de résistance a été calculé pour chacune des variétés. Les variétés ont été ensuite évaluées pour leur susceptibilité au charançon du riz dans des tests normalisées. L’indice des fermiers est inversement corrélé avec les paramètres de susceptibilité d’émergence de la génération F1 (r2=0.80), d’oviposition (r2=0.76), de perte de poids (r2=0.88) ainsi que l’indice de Dobie (r2=0.95). Il n’est pas corrélé avec la période médiane de développement. Les résultats démontrent que les connaissances des fermiers permettent de reconnaître la susceptibilité du sorgho face aux insectes nuisibles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Plant Genetic Resources (IPGRI), Via delle Sette Chiese 142, 00145, Rome, Italy

    Awegechew Teshome

  2. Geography Department, Carleton University, K1S 5B6, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    J. Kenneth Torrance

  3. Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, K1A 0C6, Ottawa, ON

    Bernard Baum

  4. Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, K1S 5B6, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Lenore Fahrig, John D. H. Lambert & J. Thor Arnason

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  1. Awegechew Teshome
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  2. J. Kenneth Torrance
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  3. Bernard Baum
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  4. Lenore Fahrig
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  5. John D. H. Lambert
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  6. J. Thor Arnason
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Teshome, A., Torrance, J.K., Baum, B. et al. Traditional farmers’ knowledge of sorghum (sorghum bicolor [Poaceae]) landrace storability in Ethiopia. Econ Bot 53, 69–78 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860794

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860794

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