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African Crop Science Journal
African Crop Science Society
ISSN: 1021-9730 EISSN: 2072-6589
Vol. 5, Num. 1, 1997, pp. 65-76
African Crop Science Journal, 1997, Vol. 5. No.1, pp. 65-76.

Gender and variety selection: Farmers' assessment of local maize varieties in southern Mali

Toon Defoer, Abdoulaye Kamara^1 and Hugo De Groote^1

Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) Mauritskade 63,1092 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands
^1 Equipe Systemes de Production et Gestion de Ressources Naturelles ESPGRN team, Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) P. O. Box 186, Sikasso, Mali

(Received 3 April, 1995; accepted 16 October, 1996)


Code Number: CS97009
Sizes of Files:
    Text: 38.6K
    Graphics: Tables and line drawings (gif) - 41.1K
ABSTRACT

In order to respond to the variability of local conditions and production objectives, farmers in southern Mali generally grow several varieties of maize, representing different characteristics. Their selection criteria have been reported to be quite different from those of breeders. Moreover, women's criteria for processing and consumption have often been neglected. The complexity and variability of farmers' production strategies and objectives make it difficult to grasp farmers' selection criteria, for both gender. In southern Mali, thematic research on the improvement of cereal varieties consists of testing new varieties on-station, followed by multi-location on-farm trials managed by researchers. Researchers' principal selection criteria are yield maximisation and agro-climatic stability. As such, several high yielding varieties have been selected for extension, but have, however, failed to be widely adopted. A participatory research methodology has been developed to quantify farmers' criteria for growing and prioritising local varieties. Through open evaluations, the relative importance of the different local varieties and their major characteristics, important to farmers, can be depicted. Pair-wise comparisons result in gender specific prioritising of varieties and quantification of decision making criteria. Linking decision making criteria with farmer and farm characteristics assists in explaining underlying objectives and strategies. This new methodology was used to assess local maize varieties in two zones in southern Mali. The results show that there was a wide range of selection criteria other than yield and ecological adaptability. The importance of these criteria differed substantially between zones and among male and female farmers, reflecting their production objectives and strategies. Incorporation of these criteria early in the selection programme could help breeders to produce varieties with a better chance of adoption. Through quantification of these criteria, it is possible to help prioritise breeders' selection criteria and to predict future adoption.

Key Words: Gender, maize, southern Mali, on-farm

RESUME

Dans le souci de repondre a la variabilite de conditions locales et d'objectifs de production, les paysans au Sud du Mali cultivent generalement plusieurs varietes de mais, representant differentes caracteristiques. Leurs criteres de selection sont bien differents de ceux des selectionneurs. De plus, les criteres des femmes pour la transformation et la consommation ont souvent ete negliges. La complexite et la variabilite des strategies et des objectifs de production des paysans rendent difficile la comprehension des criteres tant pour les paysans que pour les paysannes. Au Sud Mali, la recherche thematique sur l'amelioration des varietes cerealieres consiste a tester des nouvelles varietes en station, suivi par des essais multi-locaux a la ferme mais geres par les chercheurs. Les principaux criteres des chercheurs sont la maximisation des rendements et la stabilite agro-climatique. Plusieurs varietes a haut rendement ont ainsi ete selectionnees, mais n'ont pas ete adoptees sur une grande echelle. Une methodologie de recherche participative a ete developpee pour quantifier les criteres paysans pour la culture et la hierarchisation des varietes locales. A travers les evaluations, l'importance relative des differentes varietes locales et leurs caracteristiques majeures ont pu etre revelees. Les comparaisons varietales par paire aboutissent a une hierarchisation des varietes et une quantification des criteres de decision, differente pour les hommes et les femmes. Lier les criteres de decision avec les caracteristiques du paysan et de son exploitation aide a expliquer les objectifs et strategies sous-jacentes. Cette nouvelle methodologie a ete utilisee pour apprecier les varietes locales de mais au sud Mali. Les resultats montrent qu'il y a un grand spectre de criteres de selection autres que le rendement et l'adaptabilite ecologique. L'importance de ces criteres differe de facon substantielle selon la zone et le genre, refletant les differents objectifs et strategies de production. L'incorporation de ces criteres en debut des programmes de selection aidera les selectionneurs a produire des varietes avec une meilleure probabilite d'adoption. A travers leur quantification il devient possible d'aider les selectionneurs pour la hierarchisation de leurs criteres de selection et pour prevoir leur futur adoption.

Mots Cles: Criteres paysans, genre, mais, selection, varietes, Sud du Mali, Mali

INTRODUCTION

In order to secure food self sufficiency, the agricultural research institute in Mali (IER: Institut d'Economie Rurale) has put major emphasis on variety selection of cereals. Traditionally, thematic researchers test new varieties on-station, followed by multi-location on-farm trials managed by researchers. Their principal selection criteria are yield maximisation and agro-climatic stability. As such, several high yielding varieties have been selected for extension but failed to be widely adopted.

Only 30% of the farmers grow one of the several promoted maize varieties in southern Mali (Boughton, 1994). For sorghum, the results are even worse: less than 5% of the total area of sorghum and millet of West Africa is under improved varieties (Matlon, 1985). Cereals, which are mainly subsistence crops, receive less inputs in terms of labour and cash and are grown under a wide diversity of farming systems. Neglection of this diversity is one of the major reasons for the low adoption of improved varieties (Stoop et al., 1982).

In order to respond to the variability of the local conditions and production objectives, farmers grow several varieties with different characteristics (Matlon, 1991). Their selection criteria have been reported to be quite different from those of the breeders (Sperling et al., 1993). Since domestic activities are a major part of women's tasks (Perquin, 1993; Dembele et al., 1996), their criteria related to processing, storing and consumption are likely to influence farmers' selection of varieties. Ashby (1994) has shown the importance of including rural women in the evaluation of varieties, whether the crop is grown for household consumption or for marketing. However, the complexity and diversity of farmers' production strategies and objectives, both men's and women's, make it difficult to grasp their selection criteria (Chambers, 1992). Participatory tools and methodologies that facilitate communication between farmers and researchers are, therefore, urgently needed in order to improve adoption rates of new varieties.

To cover this need, the Farming Systems Research (FSR) Team of IER in southern Mali is developing a participatory research methodology to identify systems parameters that are essential for the selection of improved cereal varieties. The methodology mainly consists of an assessment of local varieties to quantify their importance, distribution and characteristics. At the same time, farmers' preferences and criteria for selection are studied. The aim is to help the varietal breeding programme in prioritising farmers' selection criteria. Early incorporation of farmers' criteria into the breeding programme will allow more efficient use of research resources (Galt, 1989).

The methodology has initially been developed for maize, a food crop becoming increasingly important in southern Mali (Boughton and de Frahan, 1992). Maize has the potential to meet the country's food self-sufficiency needs, and it highly responds to intensive cropping and fertiliser application (Kamara et al., 1994). The paper first describes the methodology, followed by a brief outline of the farming systems of the research area. The results of the assessment on local maize varieties in two distinct areas form the main body of the paper. The conclusion supports the effectiveness of gender sensitive assessment of local varieties in the selection process of improved cereal varieties.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FARMING SYSTEMS OF SOUTHERN MALI

The FSR Team covers the administrative region of Sikasso, in southern Mali. This region is divided into two major agro-ecological zones: a Sub-Humid zone in the south and a Semi-Arid zone in the north. To contrast these two zones, four research villages were selected in each (Fig. 1). The climate of the region is dominated by one pronounced rainy season. The yearly rainfall is 800-900 mm in the north and more than 1100 mm in the south. The region has mostly poor sandy soils in a gently rolling landscape.

The household can be defined as a group of individuals, who eat and work together, all of whom are descendants of one man, or married to a descendant of that man (De Groote and Coulibaly, 1995). This includes usually several married men, brothers or sons of the household head, their spouses and children, spread over several generations. Its structure is patrilocal and patriarchal; its head is traditionally the oldest male, and female-headed households are rare.

Land is cultivated collectively by the household (Table 1) under the management of the head or a representative, except for some small individual plots and the low-land areas. Decisions on household land allocation and management practices are generally made by the head. However, before making important decisions, the household head often consults with the other household members, especially the other adult men. Spouses and older women tend to have a more discrete influence, during informal discussions preceding important decisions (Sidibe, 1996).

The household head may temporarily allocate small plots to individual members, both men and women. In the Semi-Arid zone, private land is quite limited, while in the Sub-Humid zone, women's private fields average about half a hectare (Table 1). The household head normally allows individuals one day per week to work on their private fields. The production of common fields is managed by the household head. Grains are stored in household granaries and the head normally distributes a daily quantity to the woman in charge of cooking that day. Men normally sell the produce from private fields while women use most of it for household consumption (Perquin, 1993).

The Sub-Humid zone in the south is characterised by a traditional slash and burn farming system based on cereal crops. Livestock and agriculture are poorly integrated: few fodder crops are grown, and organic fertilizer is rarely used. The system is basically closed and self-reliant. The population increase is relatively small, influenced by emigration possibilities to Ivory Coast, and a high level of endemic diseases such as onchocerciasis. These factors result in a low population pressure (Table 1). Cotton has been introduced only recently in this zone. Maize, which forms the basis of the cereal nutrition, is more suited to this zone. It occupies 34% of the cultivated area (Table 2) and a household cultivates on average about 3 hectares of maize, almost all on common land. Men also grow small areas of maize on their private field, while women do not. Rice and fonio (Digitaris exilis) are major crops grown by women. Apart from self-sufficiency, the early harvest of maize also helps to bridge the shortage period before the new harvest.

In the Semi-Arid zone of the north, the introduction of cotton and animal traction, combined with a relatively high population pressure (Table 1), has dramatically changed the traditional system. Credit facilities for cotton made investments in fertilizers and animal traction possible, strongly increasing the demand for land. Through cash income from cotton, livestock numbers have substantially increased, actually threatening the carrying capacity of the land. The result has been a rapid decrease in fallow, and an increased need for inputs and crop-livestock integration to avoid soil degradation. The agriculture of this zone is based on a cotton-cereals rotation in which maize only represents 7% of the cultivated area (Table 2). As for the Sub-Humid zone, almost all maize is grown on common household land. Maize can be sold fresh or dried.

METHODOLOGY

The FSR team of Sikasso has four research villages in each agro-ecological zone, and a field worker is based in each of them. In each of the eight research villages (see Fig. 1), meetings were organised for interested maize farmers, both men and women. They were invited by the field worker on the basis of experience during previous programmes. Important criteria were good level of experience with maize, good ability to communicate, and being representative regarding resources (especially animal traction and labour) and production objectives. Wives of growers were specifically invited for the meeting, although they did not generally grow maize on their private fields.

During the meeting, farmers presented one by one the maize varieties they currently grow. On a hard board, the cobs of the distinguished varieties were presented, consensus was reached on their names and a list was made of the farmers growing the corresponding varieties. As such, an overview was obtained of the diversity of the varieties grown in the village and the relative importance of each of the varieties was assessed.

After the plenary session, individual open-ended evaluations were performed on the different varieties (Ashby, 1991). Each farmer was separately asked to give spontaneous comments on the varieties he/she grows. The comments were registered literally and afterwards decoded by the researcher, in the form of positive or negative descriptive characteristics. This investigation allows characterising of local varieties and distinguishing differences in opinion among farmers, both men and women.

After the open-ended evaluations, pair-wise comparisons were made by farmers cultivating more than one maize variety (Gueye and Freudenberger, 1991). Farmers, both men (117 in total) and women (57), were asked for every possible pair of varieties which one they ranked higher. This resulted in a preference list of local varieties. The main objective of the pair-wise comparison is, however, to obtain farmers' criteria for making preferences. These preference criteria reflect farmers' priorities. Compared to the characteristics obtained through open-ended evaluations, preference criteria better reflect farmers' priorities with regard to objectives of production, crop management, processing, consumption and marketing. In a later stage of the research, a larger sample of 120 farms was selected, and the head of the household and one of his wives were interviewed. Each individual was asked for the pair-wise comparison of their varieties, including the criteria used, and a basic farm survey was added. This made it possible to combine differences between zones and gender with socio-economic conditions, production goals and individual roles and responsibilities in maize cultivation and manipulation.

The assessment on local varieties ended with a plenary session during which a matrix classification of the most important variety parameters was made (according to the farmers) for all the varieties cultivated in the village. The whole assessment exercise took less than one day per village. However, the representation of women was sometimes low and demanded a separate session with women only. Data on farm resources and production/marketing goals were collected subsequently by the village field worker.

For the purpose of this paper, the data were analysed at the individual level. For both the characteristics of local varieties and selection criteria, a dummy variable was created representing whether or not the criterion was mentioned.

RESULTS

Overview of varieties currently in use.

The diversity of varieties currently cultivated was assessed during farmers' presentations at village meetings. Sixteen maize varieties were distinguished, of which twelve were grown in the Sub-Humid zone and seven in the Semi-Arid zone. The higher varietal diversity in the Sub-Humid zone can be explained by its higher suitability for maize, its farmers' preference for maize compared to other cereals, and the fact that the area under maize cultivation was larger.

According to their origin, two types of local varieties were distinguished: (1) old improved varieties (OIV) and (2) old local varieties (OLV). Old Improved Varieties are varieties that had been promoted by the maize project of the Compagnie Malienne de Developpement de Textile (CMDT) since the beginning of the 1980s. From 1986 onwards (at the end of the project), maize seed had not been renewed and cross pollination with the existing local varieties substantially reduced the genetic purity of these improved varieties. Old Local Varieties are varieties of which the origin is uncertain. According to the farmers, they inherited them from their ancestors. The local varieties could also be grouped according to their length of cycle; early, intermediate and late varieties which are found in both zones. Tiemantie, TZESRW and Tuxpeno are ILVs of short, intermediate and long cycle, respectively. Kabadje, Kafoungoun and Bougoucho are some of the major OLVs. Kabadje and Kafoungoun are late varieties and Bougoucho is the only early OLV.

Table 3 shows that most of the local maize varieties were OLVs and had an intermediate to long cycle. However, the unique short cycle variety, found in each of the zones, was grown by one quarter of the farmers. This means that early maturity is not a negligible variety characteristic. Surprisingly, late varieties are especially grown by farmers in the Semi-Arid zone. Although there were many OLVs in the Sub-Humid zone, only one third of the farmers grew them.

Seventy five percent of the farmers grew more than one maize variety, and the number of varieties grown per household was higher in the Sub-Humid zone than in the Semi-Arid zone. Farmers who grew more than one variety preferred varieties of different cycle lengths. This diversification strategy makes farmers less vulnerable to climatic changes and helps to decrease the risk of a poor harvest due to erratic rainfall.

Characteristics of local maize varieties. The open-ended evaluations, followed by a decoding of farmers' spontaneous comments, resulted in the tabulation of descriptive characteristics of the local maize varieties. The principal characteristics were analysed globally and by zone for both sexes and are presented in Table 3. They were organised in order of importance over the two zones.

Productivity was the most important characteristic that men attribute to local varieties. However, productivity and early maturity were more mentioned by men of the Sub-Humid zone than by those of the Semi-Arid zone. Given the less favourable conditions of the Semi-Arid zone, men particularly cited characteristics related to agro-ecological conditions, especially stability over the years and under different soil conditions and drought resistance. Moreover, pest resistance, specifically to bird attacks in the Semi-Arid zone and to Striga in the Sub-Humid zone, was mentioned by men. Marketing was only found to be an important characteristic in the Semi-Arid zone, which was more market oriented (Table 4).

For women, productivity was not an important variety characteristic, in contrast to processing quality. They observed eight different processing characteristics, compared to only three by men. Bran, flour content and ease of pounding were mentioned by both sexes. Characteristics specifically observed by women were: ease of dehulling, humidification, cooking, milling and a low level of broken grains.

Both sexes appreciated organoleptic characteristics. Women, however, distinguished four of them, while men distinguished two. Variety characteristics related to agro-ecological conditions and management practices were seldom mentioned by women. This clearly reflects women's absence in decision making about cropping practices for maize cultivation. Also, women hardly consider aspects related to marketing of varieties, except for women in the Semi-Arid zone who sell a small share of maize. Women gave much more attention to storage qualities than men.

Farmers' preferences for local maize varieties.

Pair-wise comparisons by farmers growing more than one variety resulted in a preference ranking of local maize varieties. Table 5 presents the analysis for the most important varieties by zone and for both sexes.

Preferences for local maize varieties clearly differed between zones and sexes. In the Semi-Arid zone men preferred OIVs (Old-Improved Varieties), while in the Sub-Humid zone preference was for OLVs (Old-Local Varieties). Like the men, women of the Sub-Humid zone preferred OLVs. Moreover, Tuxpeno, one of the most intensively promoted OIVs, was never preferred by women. In the Semi-Arid zone, women liked OLVs, as opposed to men.

Farmers' selection criteria. For each of the preferences made when comparing pairs of local maize varieties, farmers were asked the reasons for their preferences, called preference criteria. This assessment enabled tabulation and analysis of the preference criteria globally and by zone for both sexes (Table 6). The preference criteria were organised in the same order as the characteristics of Table 5.

The results show that the preference criteria (Table 6) were quite similar to the characteristics (Table 5). However, some differences were found in the relative importance of the criteria. Early maturity and plant/cob aspects were more important as preference criteria. Organoleptic aspects seem to have been a less important preference criteria for men in the Sub-Humid zone.

Men in both zones considered productivity as the most important criteria, when making choices. Early maturity was important in both zones; in the Sub-Humid zone early varieties helped to bridge the shortage period and in the Semi-Arid zone, early corn-on-the-cob fetched a higher market price. Choices by men in the Semi-Arid zone were influenced by three more criteria: resistance to drought, resistance to bird attack and marketing. Size of the cob was the second most important preference criteria for men in the Sub-Humid zone.

Women in both zones hardly considered productivity when choosing varieties. Organo-leptic and processing aspects of varieties were the most important preference criteria for women in both zones. Women of the Sub-Humid zone used few criteria. Apart from processing and taste aspects, their choices were influenced by early maturity and storage qualities of the variety. Women of the Semi-Arid zone used more preference criteria: experience with the variety (habit) and white colour (cob aspects) helped to determine women's choice of varieties.

Understanding farmers' preferences. When a new variety is introduced, farmers will implicitly compare it to the varieties they commonly grow. They will adopt the variety on the basis of preference criteria, in comparison with the local varieties. For this reason, it is important to assess the factors that may influence the preference criteria for variety adoption. Some are individual, such as gender, while others are related to the farm structure. A farmer who sells surpluses of maize could be more interested in marketing qualities. A farmer who produces only enough for home consumption would favour processing and culinary criteria.

To analyse the factors influencing different criteria, a linear probability model was estimated with, as dependent variable, a binary variable expressing whether a farmer mentioned a criterion, yes or no (see Maddala, 1983, pp. 15-16 for a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of this model). The analysis was repeated for each of the following preference criteria : early maturity, marketing, processing and consumption. The independent variables in the model were:

    - gender (dummy; 1 = woman);
    - zone (dummy; 1 = Semi-Arid zone);
    - traction (dummy; 1 = farm with animal traction);
    - household size (number of family members);
    - farm size (ha in cultivation);
    - buyer of maize (dummy; 1 = farmer who buys maize).

The data set contained one observation per person, but apart from gender, all variables were farm specific.

The estimated coefficients of the regression are presented in Table 7. They show that gender was the dominant factor in explaining preference criteria. The results can be interpreted as follows. Women were 38% less likely to mention early maturity as a criterion for variety preference, and 33% less likely to mention marketing (see first line in Table 6). On the other hand, criteria such as processing were more interesting to them (90%), as was taste quality (77%).

In a similar fashion, the people of the Semi-Arid zone were less likely to prefer early varieties, they were more interested in marketing and in consumption quality. Investment in animal traction did not seem to make much difference. It should be noted, however, that farmers in the Semi-Arid zone were more advanced in this technology so there was a certain degree of collinearity between those two variables.

Size seems to have had little influence on preference criteria. Household size only had a slightly negative impact on early maturity. The dummy variable for buying maize by the household was not significant on any of the selection criterion. Some other criteria were also tested as dependent variable, but without much success. For productivity, for example, only gender was significant as an explanatory variable.

It can be concluded that gender and agro-ecological zone were the dominant factors in preference criteria. Farm structure seems to have had little impact, or at least not in the model here estimated.

DISCUSSION

Farmers' assessment of local maize varieties they grew allowed differentiation of the importance of these varieties according to zones. Compared to the Semi-Arid zone, substantially more Old-Local Varieties (OLVs) were found in the Sub-Humid zone. Although small in number, varieties that were promoted more than 10 years before, called Old-Improved Varieties (OIVs) were still intensively grown by farmers. This is surprising, especially in the Sub-Humid zone, given the high number of OLVs available. This shows, however, that there is room for new varieties. Farmers grew mostly medium to long cycle varieties, although one quarter of the farmers grew the unique early variety. This indicates the opportunity for the promotion of early improved varieties by the agricultural extension service.

Open-ended evaluations of the local maize varieties gave additional information. Farmers' spontaneous comment on the varieties they grew enabled characterisation by both men and women and helped to understand their opinion. Productivity turned out to be the most important variety characteristic mentioned by farmers. Clearly, this explains the dominance of late varieties, since they have a higher yield potential. The importance of early maturity, especially in the Sub-Humid zone, confirms the opportunity for short cycle varieties. Although the OLVs might not have the yield potential of the OIVs, their position in both zones can be understood by the importance farmers give to other variety characteristics. Indeed, characteristics related to agro-ecological conditions, management practices and pest resistance, are quite important to men. The consumption and processing characteristics, especially mentioned by women, are also generally better for the OLVs. The fact that these varieties were still grown despite their lower yield potential, compared to the OIVs, shows that women most probably influenced the household head's decision concerning his choice of varieties to grow.

Pair-wise comparisons with farmers having more than one variety revealed that preferences and preference criteria differred substantially between zones and sexes. When confronted with new varieties, farmers will compare them with those actually used on the basis of the preference criteria. The results show that farmers in the Semi-Arid zone considered many different criteria when choosing varieties. Apart from productivity and early maturity, marketing, resistance to drought and to bird attack were highly ranked by men in the Semi-Arid zone. Women's preferences related more to processing and organoleptic criteria, which makes the task of developing acceptable varieties particularly difficult.

In the Sub-Humid zone, farmers seemed to be less demanding. For men, early maturity scored quite high as well as cob appearance. However, given farmers' low preference for TZESRW (an early OIV), early maturity can not be sufficient for selecting suitable varieties for extension. Considering the importance of maize for home consumption in the Sub-Humid zone, organo-leptic and processing criteria highly ranked by women should receive major attention in the breeding and selection process of new varieties.

CONCLUSIONS

It was demonstrated that participatory research offers important tools to help breeders and extension services in selecting varieties that have good potential for adoption by farmers. The methodology here developed is a simple, fast and inexpensive way to get a better understanding of farmers' criteria, both gender, in selecting varieties.

It was shown that these criteria differ substantially between men and women. Gender was even found to be the major determinant of an individual's preference criteria, followed by agro-ecological zone. The impact of other farm level characteristics, in comparison, turned out to be minor.

Incorporation of these farmer criteria early in the selection programme will help breeders to produce varieties more likely to be adopted. Quantification of farmer's criteria can guide breeders to adjust their own selection criteria, the potential for which was demonstrated here for maize. Given the low cost, its speed and easy execution, the methodology has high potential for a wide range of crops. An extension of the research was started in 1995 on sorghum and rice, in collaboration with the ICRISAT-WASIP programme and CIRAD programmes in Mali. In 1996 the programme was further expanded to millet, in collaboration with IER's national millet programme financed by Ciba-Geigy.

Farmer involvement should, however, not be limited to the assessment of local varieties. The FSR-team of Sikasso has, therefore, developed a research methodology involving farmers in the design, implementation and evaluation of on-farm trials. Results show that adaptability analysis and extensive farmer assessment allows for better targeting of extension efforts with respect to socio-economic diversity of the farming systems (Kamara et al., 1996). Moreover, the participatory approach can guide thematic research in developing new varietes for diverse needs and conditions, by taking into account farmers' criteria. Involving farmers earlier in the selection process may, however, be more efficient and more economical. Sperling et al. (1993) demonstrated farmers' ability to efficiently evaluate and screen cultivars early in the on-station trials, thus allowing research institutes to avoid maintaining and testing diverse material over a long period. Efforts are underway to institutionalise participatory variety selection (Ashby and Sperling, 1995) and to motivate IER's thematic selection programmes to experiment with early farmer involvement.

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Copyright 1997 The African Crop Science Society


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