A survey on rice seed systems in Liberia

Rice is the staple food in Liberia, consumed by more than 90% of the population. However, its production is dominated by smallholder farmers relying on poor quality inputs that have for long time been considered the core hindrance to achievement of optimal yields. One of such inputs is seed. Accordingly, to evaluate the quality and production impact of seeds used by farmers in Liberia, this study was conducted to characterize the rice seed systems, field crop management, storage methods of the harvested rice grains and consequential infection by fungi. The study was accomplished through a mixed data collection method, comprising of interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) in four major rice producing counties in Liberia. Three hundred (300) farmers were purposefully selected and eight Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) held. It was found that 94.7% of farmers sourced seeds through informal seed system channels. The study found that the grains meant for subsequent farming season seeds are stored in kitchen attic by 83.8% of the farmers, while 7.8%, 3.8% and 4.6% of farmers stored seeds in house, containers and sacks, jute bags, respectively. Land was found to strongly correlate with the yield than any other factor, R2= 0.944, p=0.00119.6%. Lofa was found to be the main rice producer for the three years under study 2018, 2019, and 2020. However, the yield significantly varied across the rice production zones as indicated by Kruskal Wallis (KW) test conducted on quantity of shelled rice, H (3) =115.032, p=0.00, H (3) =125.84, p=0.001 and H (3) =125.603, p=0.001, respectively. Farmers in high rainfall regions were found to have high likelihood of experiencing fungal infestation on their stored grains however, only 19.6% of farmers are aware of healthy implications of consuming affected grains. Therefore, policies and support framework should be directed towards actualization of modern seed channels, extension services and awareness creation on different nodes of rice value chain. Keywords: Fungal infestation, rice seeds, yield, storage