Abstract

The Triadic Comparison of Technology Options (TRICOT) approach has been successfully used to scale up on- farm participatory varietal selection, enabling farmers to evaluate elite crop genotypes under real-world conditions. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of the TRICOT approach in on-farm testing of elite groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) genotypes across dry-land regions of Nigeria. The study was conducted in five states, with trials established in six communities per state, engaging 900 farmers under the supervision of field agents. The experiment followed the balanced incomplete block design in blocks of three. Data were collected on yield, disease resistance, overall preference and other agronomic traits at different growth stages using the Open Data Kit (ODK) application and submitted to ClimMob for analysis. Results identified the most preferred genotypes for each crop. Genotypes 1680044-B-184-B-2 and ICSX 1680005-B-67-B-1 were most preferred for sorghum, ICGV-IS 14877 and ICGV 196104 for groundnut and LCICMA-1 x TORONIUO and GAM-A-11-14 x SUPERSOSAT for millet. Farmers' overall preferences were primarily influenced by pod yield and grain size in groundnut and grain yield in both pearl millet and sorghum. These findings highlighted the potential of TRICOT in accelerating the adoption of improved varieties, ensuring that breeding programs align with farmers’ needs and preferences.