The research, conducted during the 2022/2023 main cropping season, took place across two contrasting districts in Eastern Amhara: Dawa Cheffa in the South Wollo Zone and Ambasel in the Oromia Special Zone. These locations represent the major mung bean-growing agro-ecologies of the region, sitting at altitudes of 1,400 to 1,680 meters above sea level on vertisol soils. Cheffa receives roughly 850 millimeters of annual rainfall while Jari receives about 1,204.6 millimeters, providing a natural gradient of moisture conditions under which to test varietal performance. The study employed a participatory varietal selection approach, a methodology that deliberately places farmers at the center of the evaluation process rather than treating them as passive recipients of researcher decisions.

Four mung bean varieties entered the trials: three improved types released by Ethiopian agricultural research centers, namely Rasa (also designated N-26), NVL-01, and Boreda, alongside Shewa Robit, a widely grown local variety that served as the farmers’ familiar benchmark. The experimental design followed what researchers call the mother and baby trial approach. Mother trials, managed under strict scientific protocols at research sites, used a randomized complete block design with four replications, planting each variety in five-row plots of three meters with 0.4-meter row spacing and 5-centimeter plant spacing. Baby trials, conducted on farmers’ own fields with each farmer serving as a replication, used larger 25-square-meter plots of five by five meters. This dual structure allowed researchers to capture both statistically rigorous agronomic data and the messier, more nuanced realities of how varieties perform under actual farm conditions.

The combined analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences among the varieties for every parameter measured, from days to flowering through days to maturity, plant height, pods per plant, seeds per pod, hundred seed weight, and ultimately grain yield. Rasa emerged as the clear agronomic leader, producing a mean seed yield of 1,731 kilograms per hectare across both locations. Boreda followed closely at 1,690 kilograms per hectare, a difference that, while numerically apparent, did not reach statistical significance. Both varieties substantially outperformed NVL-01, which yielded 1,225 kilograms per hectare, and the local check Shewa Robit, which produced only 1,020 kilograms per hectare. The yield gap between the best improved variety and the local landrace represents a potential 70 percent increase simply from switching varieties, a margin that could fundamentally alter household economics in the region.

Beyond raw yield, the physiological differences between varieties told an important story. Rasa and Boreda both achieved a hundred seed weight of 5.6 grams, significantly heavier than NVL-01 at 5.3 grams and Shewa Robit at just 3.7 grams. Heavier seeds generally correlate with better market acceptance and higher prices. Rasa also produced the most pods per plant at 15.12, followed by Boreda at 14.80, NVL-01 at 11.95, and Shewa Robit at 10.15. Seeds per pod followed the same hierarchy, with Rasa producing 11.70 seeds per pod compared to Shewa Robit’s 9.28. Plant height, which matters to farmers because taller plants produce more straw for animal feed, ranged from 55.27 centimeters in Rasa down to 51.32 centimeters in Shewa Robit, a statistically significant difference that farmers noted during their field evaluations.

Disease pressure emerged as one of the most decisive factors separating the varieties. Cercospora leaf spot and anthracnose, two of the most destructive mung bean pathogens in the region, ravaged the local Shewa Robit variety and, to a lesser extent, NVL-01. Shewa Robit recorded an anthracnose score of 3.5 on a five-point severity scale, the worst of any variety tested, while Rasa scored just 1.875, indicating substantially better tolerance. For farmers who have watched entire seasons decimated by disease, this difference alone justified switching. The study’s authors note that these diseases, along with yellow mosaic virus and dry root rot, continue to severely limit mung bean productivity across the region, making genetic resistance a top priority in any breeding or selection program.

The participatory component of the research revealed fascinating insights into what farmers actually value. A total of 39 farmers participated in the selection process across the two districts, including 19 male-headed and 4 female-headed households in Dawa Cheffa and 16 male-headed households in Ambasel, where no female participants were available. Through extensive group discussions, farmers established their own selection criteria, which included pod number, seed yield, earliness, seed size, seed color, marketability, disease resistance, drought tolerance, uniform maturity, and straw biomass. Using pairwise matrix ranking, farmers then prioritized these criteria. Disease resistance emerged as the single most important trait at both locations, followed by pod number as the second priority. Seed yield and seed color tied for third place, while straw biomass received the lowest ranking, a finding that surprised some researchers who had assumed fodder value would weigh more heavily in farmer decisions.

Direct matrix ranking then allowed farmers to score each variety against each criterion on a scale from one, meaning very good, to five, meaning extremely poor. The results were remarkably consistent across both districts. At Dawa Cheffa, Rasa received the lowest cumulative score of 79, indicating the highest preference, followed by Boreda at 81, Shewa Robit at 105, and NVL-01 at 125. At Ambasel, the pattern repeated almost identically: Rasa scored 65, Boreda 73, NVL-01 114, and Shewa Robit 128. The convergence of scientific yield data and farmer preference rankings on the same two varieties, Rasa and Boreda, represents a powerful validation of both the varieties themselves and the participatory methodology. When farmers and breeders agree, adoption barriers crumble.

Following the selection phase, the research team moved into a pre-scaling-up phase for Rasa, the variety that topped both the yield tables and the farmer preference rankings. Selected farmers received seeds of the chosen variety along with training on recommended seed production and management packages delivered by Sirinka Agricultural Research Center researchers. Development agents and woreda agricultural office experts also participated in the training sessions. A multidisciplinary team of researchers, policymakers, and agricultural experts conducted regular field inspections throughout the growing season, monitoring progress, troubleshooting problems, and advising on everything from land selection through harvest. This phased, hands-on approach to technology dissemination reflects a growing recognition within Ethiopian agricultural research that the gap between variety release and farmer adoption has historically been one of the weakest links in the innovation chain.

The implications of this study extend well beyond the borders of Eastern Amhara. Ethiopia currently produces mung bean on approximately 48,022 hectares nationally, yielding about 51,569 tons, with the Amhara region alone accounting for 68 percent of the national area and 72 percent of national productivity. Yet average yields of 1.073 tons per hectare nationally and 1.133 tons per hectare regionally remain far below the two tons per hectare achievable under experimental conditions. The study demonstrates that closing this gap requires not just better varieties but better processes for getting those varieties into farmers’ hands. By involving farmers directly in evaluation, the researchers accelerated adoption timelines and ensured that the traits farmers actually care about, particularly disease resistance and pod number, were not overlooked in favor of traits that breeders might prioritize in isolation. As climate variability intensifies across the Horn of Africa, the lessons from these Ethiopian mung bean fields offer a template for how participatory approaches can build more resilient and productive agricultural systems from the ground up.

Subject of Research: Participatory varietal selection of mung bean varieties in Eastern Amhara, Ethiopia

Article Title: Participatory selection of mung bean ( Vigna radiata L.) varieties in Eastern Amhara region, Ethiopia

Article References: Tefera, M., Kebede, G., & Haile, A. (2025). Participatory selection of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) varieties in Eastern Amhara region, Ethiopia. Innovations in Agriculture, 8, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.3897/ia.2025.163481

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/ia.2025.163481

Keywords: mung bean, participatory varietal selection, Ethiopia, Amhara region, disease resistance, crop yield, smallholder farmers, Rasa variety, Boreda variety, drought tolerance, pulse crops, agricultural research