Farmers’ Preferred Characteristics of New Varieties of Jute Mallow (Corchorus olitorius L) and Their Implications for Variety Selection in the Koulikoro Region of Mali

Jute Mallow (Corchorus olitorius L) is an important leafy vegetable in West Africa. The leaves are an important source of protein, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc. In some countries, leafy vegetables are still neglected and underused because of their very localized use and their wild or semi-wild nature, despite their socio-economic interest. In Mali, apart from the fact that the C. olitorius grows spontaneously in the wild, it is produced in all regions through household gardens. And very little information is available on its and, until now, very little research has been carried out on this plant. This study was initiated to improve the value of leafy vegetables by releasing new varieties of C. olitorius based on the characteristics preferred by producers. The study was carried out in the Koulikoro region, in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Mali. Seeds of six varieties of C. olitorius were randomised to three varieties coded A, B and C per package for 180 producers. A survey questionnaire was established beforehand to take into account the socio-economic characteristics of the producers and the agronomic characteristics of the varieties in the field. The data collected was analyzed using IBM SPSS 25 software. Using producers' perceptions, three C. olitorius varieties have been identified and proposed for homologation and release. These varieties include Bafia due to its superior leaf size (16.2%), leaf yield (9.5 %), and taste (25.7 %); the Line H variety due to its leaf size (17.1 %) and its appreciation on the market by customers (22.9 %); and Sudan 4 due to its leaf yield (10.5 %) and disease resistance (15.2 %).