Participatory Selection of Fonio Varieties by Farmers in a Controlled Environment in the Sudanese Zone of Chad

Fonio is a traditionally cultivated cereal in Chad, and farmers’ varietal preferences are relevant to identifying planting material for further evaluation. This study examined the visual preferences of women and men for 30 fonio ecotypes under controlled experimental conditions at the University of Sarh, Doyaba campus, in 2026. The plant material comprised 25 ecotypes from Kenya and five from Chad. A Fisher block trial was established, and 20 farmers participated in the assessment, with ten women and ten men evaluated in separate groups. Each participant received three cards for preferred ecotypes and three for less-preferred ecotypes. Votes were summarised using descriptive counts and percentages. Among men, Ke_Fon_6 and Ke_Fon_22 each received seven positive votes, representing 23.33% of the 30 positive votes, whereas Ke_Fon_18 received nine negative votes (30%). Among women, Ke_Fon_6 and Ts_Fon_13 received the highest positive ratings, while Ke_Fon_18 and Ke_Fon_13 each received seven negative votes (23.33%). Overall, six ecotypes were identified as preferred by participating farmers: Ke_Fon_6, Ts_Fon_13, Ke_Fon_7, Ke_Fon_22, Ts_Fon_24 and Ts_Fon_17. The assessment recorded varietal preferences based on visible agronomic characteristics, including plant growth, panicle attributes and lodging resistance. These findings provide a starting point for subsequent agronomic assessment and fonio improvement efforts in Chad, without establishing the comparative performance of the selected ecotypes across growing environments.