Seedball Techniques Support Vital Crops
Second in a two-part series. Read part one here.
“Pearl millet is a traditional crop grown in [the Sahel region of Africa]. The centers of genetic origins are located here,” said Dr. Timothy J. Dalton, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet (SMIL) director. “So, they’re extremely rich and the population is tuned into them. Losing millet would be detrimental to these countries. We see pearl millet as frontier frontline crops, so the investment is absolutely critical. The seedball planting technique has allowed these smallholder farmers, especially the women, to plant, start and grow a successful crop of the pearl millet. With a successful crop, smallholder farmers have the ability to feed their families and sell for economic income.”
A seedball is a sowing technique for semi-arid areas, aimed at the improvement of plant establishment with dry sowing. Seedballs, originally studied in the 1970s, create a micro-environment that can capture moisture and make nutrients more valuable.
The advancements made in changed lives are a result of a group effort coordinated by SMIL. Partners in this effort are the Gaskiya Federation of Maradi Farmers Unions (Fédération des Unions de Producteurs de Maradi Gaskiya - FUMA Gaskiya), FAPAL (farmer organization), and the Federation of Unions of Peasant Groups of Niger (Fédération des Unions de Groupements Paysans du Niger - FUGPN Mooriben). This collaborative effort has been successful and will only continue to help more farmers in the future.
Dr. Ikenna Nwankwo, a scientific researcher at the University of Hohenheim, shared, “I have always believed I am a lifetime scholar. I keep learning from people and from local farmers. We are all in agriculture in one way or another. If given the chance, we will use this seedball technology in hundreds of areas.”
Enthusiasm will continue to help drive adoption and the success of this initiative under the leadership of Dr. Moussa Oumarou, a researcher at the National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger (l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger - INRAN). “I am very grateful for SMIL because it's through SMIL that I really integrated with INRAN, our national research institute. We worked together on this project, keeping in mind who we are helping. The farmers learn this important seedball technology and it solves the most crucial problem they are having, which is climate change and soil fertility.”
Seedball Technology Scaled to 20 Villages in Niger with Dynamic Caravan
The seedball technology is a proven success in the Sahel region of Niger, one of the world's harshest cropping environments. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet at Kansas State University initiated a research project in 2013 to help smallholder farmers increase pearl millet yield through better seedling establishment. The project, Seedballs - Enhancing the Yield Effect in Pearl Millet and Sorghum and Disseminating the Technology in West Africa, is a great success with over 6,000 farmers evaluating and adopting the innovation.
To stimulate adoption outside of initial target research-to-development villages, a novel dissemination strategy was pursued. Four vehicles each targeted 20 villages and, in each village, 10 test farmers were chosen, five men and five women. Follow-up visits were conducted by trainers to ensure that the seedballs were constructed according to best practice and planted at the best possible depth to stimulate germination and seedling establishment.
The caravan reached over 1,000 farmers in three regions of Niger. One of those farmers, Oumarou Adamou, said, “I noticed a clear difference between the two ‘ball’ and ‘no ball’ plots at the level of emergence and during plant development. From the beginning of plant growth until maturity, the plants in the ‘ball’ plot keep their greenery until maturity. In terms of yield, the ‘ball’ plot gives a good yield compared to the ‘no ball’ plot.” In addition, 65 percent of farmers understood the method of technology, which led to 50-70 percent germination and yields that were 25 percent to more than 50 percent of the conventional sowing method.
Open Field Day Visit
The open field day visit was organized near the Waraou village situated east of Maradi in the Tibiri district. In attendance were over 100 government officials, researchers, farmer union leaders and farmers. Abdoul-Rachid Maman Sani, FUMA Gaskiya technician in Maradi, said, “Producers enjoyed the Open Day Visit very much and were delighted with the experience and the exchange of information.”
Another participant at the open field day visit, Madina Alassan, a farmer who tested the seedball technology provided by the caravan, said, “This technology deserves to be applied on a large scale and I am ready to conduct its trials even next year. We thank you very much for the welcome and for the Open Field Day Visit, which allowed me to discover new innovations. I suggest increasing the number of participants in the day and the continuity of this project in my village and the training of producers on the seedball technology.”
Seedball Project Spreads Benefits of Seedball Technology
Overall, the project is considered a success, with many local farmers and officials saying they saw better yields and growth from the seedballs. Dr. Hannatou Moussa Oumaro said, “Adoption of technology is such an important part of our research. Our goal is to see lives improved by the work we do, and getting reports from farmers that they have increased yield and income proves we are doing just that.”
Furthermore, building local interest and trust has played a key part in stimulating farmer interest in experimentation on this technology across the region and the development of new variations with locally available inputs. Dr. Dalton said, “The team developed a great innovation network to adapt the seedballs to local conditions. Through the caravan project, we took a proven technology one step further, and spread it to strategic locations to stimulate diffusion to a wider population.”
List of Publications
Seedball technology enhances Pearl millet yield in a Sahelian subsistence production system
Sanitized human urine (Oga) as a fertilizer auto-innovation from women farmers in Niger
Optimisation of the seedball technology for sorghum production under nutrient limitations
Articles and Videos
Seedballs - Enhancing the Yield Effect in Pearl Millet and Sorghum and Disseminating the Technology in West Africa - 2023 (presentation, including slideshow and recorded video) (01:33:53 - 02:15:19)
Seedballs - Enhancing the Yield Effect in Pearl Millet and Sorghum and Disseminating the Technology in West Africa - 2022 (presentation, including slideshow and recorded video) https://smil.k-state.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/SMIL2022annual_meeting_seedball_end.pdf; https://youtu.be/VI3u6dtPGM0?t=113 (00:01:53 - 01:40:06)
Pearl Millet and Sorghum Seedballs with 30% Average Yield Gain (website article, including images and videos); https://smil.k-state.edu/smiltechnologies/#seedballs
Related Resources
Examining How Seedball Technology Improves Farming
