Modified Stability Analysis of Farmer Managed, On‐Farm Trials1

Author:
  • PHPeter E. Hildebrand
    Peter E. Hildebrand
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Abstract
The Farming Systems Research and Extension (FSR/E) approach to technology generation and promotion is creating interest in onfarm research. Described is a form of research design and analysis that explicitly incorporates variation in farmer management as well as in soils and climate, to help agronomists evaluate responses to treatments and partition farmers into recommendation domains. Mean treatment yields at each location are used as an “environmental index.” Individual treatment results are regressed on environmental index. A graphic distribution of confidence intervals within partitioned groups helps in selecting superior treatments. Data from unreplicated trials on 14 farms in two villages in Malawi were analyzed. The design was a 2 ✕ 2 factorial with two maize (Zea maysL.) cultivars and two fertilizer treatments (0 and 30 kg N/ha). Results show that in poorer maize environments, local flint cultivars were superior to an improved semi‐flint composite, with or without fertilizer. The composite yielded more than local material with or without fertilizer in better environments. In all cases there was a marked and significant response to fertilizer.

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