Observation cards are used by the participants to record their field observations during different stages of the tricot trial. These paper cards are distributed by the field agents at the initial training event. Over the course of the trial period, the growers fill them out, using a pen.
Observation cards get designed by the project administrator, adapting a template that is available from the ClimMob team (contact). Which observations participants need to make, and at what points in time – the observation card includes this information, to help participants collect their data alone. Observation cards require the observations to be entered as comparison data (ranking).
The image below shows an observation card (front and back side). In this example the participant, named Azucena Fajardo, has written her name, her village, and the code of her trial package. She then noted down her observations at three points in time: At 30 days and at 45 days after sowing, and after harvest. These moments were decided by the project administrator.
At each time point, she ranked her three technology options by the criteria demanded in the card. For example, after harvest, she decided: which variety had the highest yield, and which variety had lowest yield.
Example of an observation card, adapted for a project about bean varieties in Honduras (front and back side).