Example of Experimental Design - Bean Trial Protocol

Introduction

This document provides a standardised overview of the basic information that will be collected during a bean tricot trial. Further traits and variables can be added, but this will need to be done by the project manager in ClimMob.

The protocol indicates the data collection moments during the trials and the variables and traits collected at each data collection moment. Farmers evaluate varieties in their on-farm trials and provide comparative observations by ranking the varieties based on their performance throughout their growth and post-harvest qualities including taste and consumption preferences.

A separate protocol for bean consumer analysis will be developed to understand taste and preferences of non-tricot farmer consumers to strengthen inclusive and informed breeding decisions.

A more in-depth overview of the steps required for developing an on-farm trial project using tricot and ClimMob is available here:

Data collection moments and traits to be collected

Table 1 outlines the data collection moments, time intervals of data collection and traits to be collected during the bean tricot trial.

Table 1. Data collection moments and traits

Data collection moments	Interval (after planting) days	OFT/HH Characterization	Traits
Farmer registration	At package distribution	Informed consent Farmer name Package code Point of delivery Age Sex Education level Civil status ADM 1 ADM 2 ADM 3 Telephone primary Telephone secondary Experience with the crop Experience with the crop years Experience with tricot Experience with tricot times
Agronomic Performance	15	Assessment date On time Planting date Trial GPS Trial site Vs main Previous land use Mode of land preparation Slope Shade Planting density main Planting method Plant population Plant distance Plant distance unit Row distance Row distance unit Number of rows Local variety Intercropping Intercropped with Basal fertilizer Basal fertilizer quantity Plot loss Plot loss reason Diseases any Diseases severity	Germination rate Tolerance to Pests Tolerance to Diseases Tolerance to a biotic stress
Maturity	40	Assessment date Plant population Plot loss Plot loss reason Diseases any Diseases severity Irrigation Top dressing Top dressing quantity Pesticide use Pesticide frequency Herbicide use Herbicide frequency	Tolerance to diseases Tolerance to pests Tolerance to abiotic stress Leaf quality
Harvest	60-90	Assessment date Harvesting date Plot loss Plot loss reason Plant population Management Management prioritized Management why Yield quantitative Yield quantitative unit	Maturity Yield qualitative tricot Marketability Seed size Leaf quality for consumption
Post-harvest	90-150	Assessment date Type of storage Storage problems specification Storage duration Sales Crop drying Crop drying duration Leaves used Best why Worst why Grow again	Tolerance to storage problems Storability Marketability Taste Overall performance Comparison with local
Socio-economic survey	Anytime	RHoMIS developed separately

Household and trial characterisation questions

Table 2 contains questions that will be asked on household and trial characteristics to complement tricot questions

Table 2. Household/ trial characterisation

Variable	Question	Type	Options
Informed consent	Do you willingly accept to host tricot trial and provide required information from the trial that can be used for research and publication purposes?	yes/no
Farmer name	What is the farmer’s name?	Text
Package code		QR Code
Point of delivery	Take the GPS coordinates of the point of delivery	GPS
Age	What is the age of the owner and manager of the trial?	Integer
Sex	Gender of the owner and manager of the trial	Select one	Male Female Rather not say
Education level	What is the education level of the manager of the trial?	Select one	No formal education Primary Secondary University
Civil status	What is the marital status of the manager of the trial?	Select one	Single Married/living with a partner Widowed Other specify
ADM 1	What is the administrative level 1 location of the trial?	Select one	List of participating administrative level 1 units.
ADM 2	What is the administrative level 2 location of the trial?	Select one	List of participating administrative level 2 units.
ADM 3	What is the administrative level 3 location of the trial?	Select one	List of participating administrative level 3 units.
Telephone primary	What is the farmer’s primary telephone number?	Integer
Telephone secondary	What is the farmer’s secondary telephone number?	Integer
Experience with the crop	Have you cultivated this crop before?	Yes/No
Experience with the crop years	If yes, for how many years have you been cultivating it?	Integer
Experience with tricot	Have you participated in a tricot trial before?	Yes/No
Experience with tricot times	If yes, how many times? Zero if first time.	Integer
Assessment date	On which date did you do the assessment of your trial plot?	Date
On time	Was your trial package delivered on time?	Choose one	Too early – package delivered early 1-3 days Early enough for timely planting Too late - planting delayed 1-3 days Too late - planting delayed 4-9 days Too late - planting delayed 10-20 days Too late - planting delayed 21 days or more Other
Planting date	On which date did you plant the tubers?	Date
Trial GPS	Take GPS using ODK	GPS
Trial site Vs main	Are any of these options different between your trial plot and your main field?	Choose multiple	Soil Slope Shading effect Other none
Previous land use	What was the previous land use of the on-farm plot site?	Text
Mode of land preparation	How did you prepare the land of the trial plot?	Choose one	Tractor Hand hoes Animals No land preparation Other
Slope	What is the slope of the area you established your tricot trial?	Select one	Flat Slight Strong
Shade	Is the area you have established your tricot trial affected by shade?	Select one	No Yes, partial Yes, total
Planting density main	Is the planting density of the trial plots the same as on your main plot?	Select one	Higher About the same Lower
Planting method	How were the plants planted?	Choose one	Broadcast Rows Other (text)
Plant population	How many plants survived for each variety?	Integer (tricot-complex)	Count A Count B Count C
Plant distance	How much space did you leave between plants?	Integer
Plant distance unit	Please select the unit of measure	Select one	Centimeters Meters Feet Inches Other
Row distance	How much space did you leave between rows?	Integer
Row distance unit	Please select the unit of measure	Select one	Centimeters Meters Feet Inches Other
Number of rows	How many rows did you plant for each variety?	Integer (detailed)	Count A Count B Count C
Local variety	What is the name of your best local variety you usually grow?	Text
Intercropping	Have you intercropped in your trial?	Choose one	Yes No
Intercropped with	If yes, with which crop did you intercrop?	Text
Basal fertilizer	Type of basal fertilizer used in the trial plot?	Choose multiple	NPK DAP Other, specify (text) None
Basal fertilizer quantity	If any basal fertilizer was used, how much did you use in the trial plot in kilograms?	Integer
Plot loss	Did you lose any of your trial plots? If yes, which one?	Choose multiple	A B C None
Plot loss reason	What was the reason for you losing variety {$Plot loss}?	Text
Diseases any	Did you find any disease in the trial?	Choose one	Yes No
Diseases severity	How severe was the impact?	Select one expanded (per plot)	Very severe (>75% of plot affected) Moderate (25%-75% of plot affected) Minor (<25% of plot affected)
Irrigation	Did you use an irrigation system on your plots?	Select one	Yes No
Top dressing	Which type of top dressing was used in the trial?	Choose multiple	Urea Manure NPK CAN Other
Top dressing quantity	If any top dressing was used, how much did you use in the trial (kg)?	Integer
Pesticide use	Did you use pesticides on your plots?	Select one	Yes No
Pesticide frequency	If yes, how many times did you apply pesticide?	Integer
Herbicide use	Did you use herbicides on your plots?	Select one	Yes No
Herbicide frequency	If yes, how many times did you apply herbicide?	Integer
Harvesting date	When did you harvest your trial?	Date
Management	Were any of these management practices different between your trial plot and the main field?	Choose multiple	None Fertilizer Pesticide Irrigation Planting date Other
Management prioritized	If different management strategies were used, which one did you prioritize?	Choose one	Main field Trial plot Treated equally
Management why	If different management strategies were used, why did you treat the main field and your trial plot differently?	Text
Yield quantitative	What was the yield for each variety?	Integer (tricot complex)	Measure for A Measure for B Measure for C
Yield quantitative unit	What was the unit of measure for yield?	Select one	Kilograms Grams Standard unit of measure (jug, bowl) Other
Best why	Why did you rank this variety as the best?	Text
Worst why	Why did you rank this variety as the worst?	Text
Grow again	If planting material were available for all three varieties, which variety(ies) would you like to grow in the next season?	Multiple	A B C None
Storage problems specification	Did you experience any of the following problems during storage?	Choose multiple	Rodents Mold Insects None
Type of storage	How did you store your grains?	Select one	Sacks Iron drum Traditional setup Other
Storage duration	For how many days after harvest did you store?	Integer
Sales	Do you plan to sell any grains from the trial?	Select one	Yes No
Crop drying	How did you dry your crop?	Select one	Under the sun Individual drier Communal drier Didn’t dry Other
Crop drying duration	For how long did you dry your crop (in days)?	Integer
Leaves used	Are the leaves of the crop used for anything?	Select multiple	Human consumption Fodder for animals Left on the ground for mulch Not used

Tricot questions to assess crop genotypes

Table 3 outlines tricot questions that are asked to the experimenting farmer to capture comparative rankings of crop genotypes.

Table 3: Tricot questions for variety ranking

Trait	Statement (positive/best)	Statement (negative/worst)
Germination Time	Which variety has the earliest germination?	Which variety has the latest germination?
Germination Rate	Which variety germinated the most plants?	Which variety germinated the fewest plants?
Disease tolerance	Which variety is most tolerant to diseases?	Which variety is least tolerant to diseases?
Pest tolerance	Which variety is most tolerant to pests?	Which variety is least tolerant to pests?
Abiotic stress tolerance	Which variety is most tolerant to abiotic stress (drought, flooding, salty soil, etc.)?	Which variety is least tolerant to abiotic stress (drought, flooding, salty soil)?
Leaf quality at harvest for consumption	Which variety has better quality leaves for human consumption?	Which variety has worst quality leaves for human consumption?
Maturity	Which variety matures earliest?	Which variety matures latest?
Yield tricot	Which variety has the highest yield?	Which variety has the lowest yield?
Seed size	Which variety has the largest seeds?	Which variety has the smallest seeds?
Seed size for target use	Which variety has the best seed size for the target use/market?	Which variety has the worst seed size for the target use/market?
Taste	Which variety has the best taste?	Which variety has the worst taste?
Marketability	Which variety is the most marketable?	Which variety is least marketable?
Overall preference	Overall, which variety has the best performance?	Overall, which variety has the worst performance?
Comparison with local	Which variety is better than the best variety that you usually grow?	Which variety is worse than the best variety that you usually grow?
Storage problems	Which variety is more tolerant to storage problems?	Which variety is more susceptible to storage problems?
Storability	Which variety stores the best/stays best after storage?	Which variety stores the worst/spoils most after storage?