Table 1.
Characteristics of traditional maize seed systems in communities studied
| Maize agro-climate environment |
|||||
| General characteristics | WL | DL | WUMA | H | Total |
| Seed lots (SL) | |||||
| No. of SL | 177 | 47 | 62 | 318 | 604 |
| SL of landraces (%) | 98.3 | 97.9 | 98.4 | 97.5 | 97.9 |
| Average number of SL per farmer | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.5*¶ |
| SL size (kg) | 20.0 | 14.0 | 9.0 | 20.0 | 18.0*¶ |
| SL saved by farmer (%, 2003) | 75.7 | 85.1 | 82.3 | 72.6 | 75.5 |
| SL obtained from family, friends, neighbors (%) | 88.1 | 85.7 | 100.0 | 85.1 | 87.0 |
| Median number of years that a SL is saved by a farmer | 10.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 8.0 | 10.0ठ|
| SL obtained outside community, historical (%) | 13.0 | 12.8 | 4.8 | 28.6 | 20.4†¶ |
| SL obtained outside community 2003 (%) | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 3.7†¶ |
| SL provided to other farmers 2002 (%) | 25.4 | 23.4 | 29.0 | 18.2 | 21.9 |
| SL provided outside the community 2002 (%) | 1.7 | 4.3 | 0 | 3.8 | 2.8 |
| Farmer experimentation | |||||
| Farmers who experimented (%) | 19.3 | 22.5 | 12.5 | 34.1 | 25.6†¶ |
| Number of experimental SL (historical) | 30 | 13 | 5 | 79 | 127 |
| Experimental SL of improved varieties | 10 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Experimental SL retained | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 16 |
| SL of improved varieties retained | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Spatial scope | |||||
| Seed lots obtained <10 km historical (%) | 95.95 | 93.48 | 100 | 87.14 | 91.55†¶ |
| Maximum distance historical (km) | 38.5 | 50.5 | 2.5 | 321.8 | |
| Seed lots obtained <10 km in 2003(%) | 99.4 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 97.2 | 98.3†§ |
| Maximum distance in 2003 (km) | 18.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 76.4 |
| Seed lots obtained within altitude range (± 50) m historical (%) | 96.5 | 95.7 | 95.2 | 78.8 | 87.0†¶ |
| Altitudinal range | −220/+280 | −120/0 | 0/+560 | −370/+700 | |
| Seed lots obtained within altitude range (± 50) in 2003 (%) | 99.4 | 100 | 100 | 95.2 | 97.3†¶ |
| Altitudinal range | −20/+120 | 0 | 0 | −180/+400 | −180/+400 |
| Seed lots distributed <10 km 2002 (%) | 97.6 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 99.2 |
| Maximum distance (km) | 51.6 | 7.4 | 0 | 5.6 | |
| Seed lots distributed within altitude range (± 50 m) in 2002 (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 90.2 | 95.8†§ |
| Altitudinal range | 0 | 0 | 0 | −280/+90 | −280/+90 |
DL, dry lowland; H, highland; WL, wet lowland; WUMA, wet upper midaltitude.
*Statistical significance associated with a one-way ANOVA.
†Statistical significance associated with a likelihood-ratio χ2 test.
‡Statistical significance associated with a Kruskal–Wallis equality-of-populations rank test.
§P < 0.05.
¶P < 0.01.