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Application of a Systems Approach in a Commodity Research Programme: Evaluating Burundi Highland Maize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

R. S. Zeigler
R. S. Zeigler
Affiliation:
Programme Maïs, ISABU, Station de Recherche Kisozi, BP 75, Bujumbura, Burundi
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Summary

A late-maturing, high-yielding maize released for the Burundi highlands was rejected by subsistence farmers. Analysis of this variety in terms of the local cropping system shows that it offers no advantage over earlier maturing varieties when whole-system biological and economic yield and Land Equivalent Ratios are examined, while farmer risk is apparently substantially increased. The value of incorporating a ‘farming systems’ approach into national commodity research programmes in developing countries is demonstrated.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 319 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

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