Enhancing finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) productivity through participatory variety selection and promotion in Central Gondar, Ethiopia

Participatory variety selection followed by pre-scaling up of the preferred varieties has been recognized as an alternative approach to increase varietal adoption. Despite the release of improved finger millet varieties in Ethiopia, farmers in Central Gondar still grow low-yielding local varieties because wide improved varieties have not been evaluated for adaptability and performance. Ten finger millet varieties, including a local check, were evaluated to select adaptable and best-performing finger millet varieties with the participation of farmers. The PVS and pre-scaling-up activities were conducted during the 2021–2023 cropping seasons at two districts (Dembia and Takusa) of Central Gondar, Ethiopia. PVS was conducted using a mother–baby trial approach with an RCBD in three replications. The pre-scaling-up activity was carried out using 46 participant farmers by providing seeds of the two preferred varieties in the Dembia district. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences among the tested varieties for plant height, finger length, and number of fingers per ear and per plant. Axum produced the highest grain yield (3.7 t ha−1), followed by Bako-09 (3.1 t ha−1), showing yield advantages of 67.2% and 38.8% over the local check (2.2 t ha−1), respectively. As evidenced by the number of fingers per plant, both Axum (5.8) and Bako-09 (4.4) finger millet varieties demonstrate a clear productive advantage over the local check (2.2). According to the pairwise ranking results, both varieties were highly preferred by farmers for their superior adaptability, resistance to diseases, insects, and lodging, and high tillering ability. The pre-scaling-up results indicated that the varieties satisfied farmers’ preferences and highlighted the effectiveness of participatory variety selection in promoting varietal adoption. The farmers showed a preference for red-seeded varieties due to their suitability for preparing pancake-like flatbread “Injera”, bread, local beer “Tela”, and traditional spirit “Arki”. It is, therefore, important to further promote these demand-driven technologies in the tested and similar agro-ecologies.