Table_1_Building Resilient Maize Production Systems With Stress-Adapted Varieties: Farmers' Priorities in Western Kenya.docx

Maize cropping systems in Kenya, as is true in many other places in Africa, face multiple biotic and abiotic stressors not least climatic ones. Guided by farmers' priorities, maize breeding programs can contribute to the needed resilience against these changes by developing and mainstreaming new generations of maize varieties adapted to these challenges. Using data from 1,400 farmers and applying a multi-criteria choice analysis, this study reports on smallholder farmers' relative valuation of stress tolerance traits. The results showed that farmers were willing to pay significant premiums for tolerance to drought, striga, low nitrogen (nitrogen use efficiency) and fall army worm infestation, in that order. Large scale incorporation of these traits in legacy varieties as well as new ones, can contribute to enhancing maize system resilience and adaptation to changing growing conditions. For seed systems development, these traits can provide the basis for making strong business cases for the replacement of old varieties with new, stress-adapted ones.

与非洲诸多其他地区相同，肯尼亚的玉米种植系统面临多种生物与非生物胁迫，其中尤以气候胁迫最为突出。结合农户的优先诉求开展玉米育种项目，通过研发并推广适配各类挑战的新一代玉米品种，可为提升种植系统应对这些变化的韧性提供必要助力。本研究基于1400名农户的调研数据，运用多准则选择分析法，探究了小农户对胁迫耐性性状的相对估值。结果显示，农户愿意按优先级依次为耐旱、抗列当（Striga）、耐低氮（即氮利用效率提升）以及抗草地贪夜蛾（Fall Armyworm）侵染的性状支付显著溢价。将这些性状大规模整合至原有老品种与新品种中，有助于增强玉米种植系统的韧性，使其更好地适配不断变化的种植环境。对于种子系统的发展而言，这些性状可为推广以耐胁迫新品种替换老旧品种的商业方案提供坚实的论证基础。