Ethnobotanical study of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in Senegal

Open Access Article; Published online: 05 Feb 2022Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plays a key role in family farming systems in Senegal. It makes an essential contribution to economic, nutritional and food security. Although it is crucial, little is known about how farmers classify the diversity of local varieties or about the social practices associated with them. The aim of this study is to characterize the farming practices associated with growing cowpea in Senegal. Surveys were conducted involving 335 rural farmers living in 37 villages, spread across seven regions that produce cowpea. An average of ten farmers were randomly selected in each village. The results reveal that cowpea is a key feature of cropping systems in the studied area. Our findings highlight the high diversity of local cowpea varieties with 59 local names inventoried. In 75% of cases, the name refers to the seed’s morphology or color. Cowpea production is more diverse in Diourbel and Louga and less diverse in the south. More than half the farmers (57%) acquired their cowpea seeds (early, semi-early and late maturity varieties) outside their village, either from markets, seed suppliers or NGOs. This new understanding of farmers’ expertize in the management of cowpea and its local variability will help to valorize local diversity in breeding programs

Phenotypic variability and correlation estimates for traits of Burkina Faso\u2019 sweet grain sorghum genotypes

Sweet grain sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a neglected crop mainly grown for its sweet grains in the pasty form. Although its taste is the main character of interest, knowledge of protein related content of the grain, especially when linked to its value for infant porridge appears equally important. The objective of this study was to evaluate the status of crude protein content of pasty grains and to determine genetic correlations between morphological and biochemical traits among sweet grain of sorghum genotypes in Burkina Faso. Eight sweet grain sorghum cultivars (BTO2, BZI1, KBZ4, PBO5, PGO3, SBR7, SPI2, STO4) were evaluated through 13 morphological and two biochemical variables. Crude protein content of these genotypes was also compared with the composition of two controls of sweet stalk sorghum (ETS) and ordinary grain sorghum or common sorghum (EBS). The analysis of variance revealed variability within sweet grain sorghum accessions, mainly on the biochemical traits (crude protein and water content) and two morphological traits (peduncle and panicle lengths), which discriminated significantly in the thresholds of 1 and 5%, respectively. In addition, sweet grain sorghum had low crude protein content compared to other types of sorghum, except, two genotypes of sweet grain sorghum (BZI1 and STO4) which recorded higher protein content compared to the common sorghum. An important and negative correlation was noted between sowing-flowering cycle and protein content.Le sorgho grains sucr\ue9s [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] est une culture n\ue9glig\ue9e produite essentiellement pour ses grains sucr\ue9s au stade p\ue2teux. Bien que la saveur sucr\ue9e du grain soit le principal caract\ue8re d\u2019int\ue9r\ueat, une connaissance de la teneur en prot\ue9ines totales du grain au stade p\ue2teux pourrait favoriser son utilisation pour impl\ue9menter les bouillies infantiles et contribuer \ue0 sa meilleure valorisation. La pr\ue9sente \ue9tude vise donc \ue0 d\ue9terminer la teneur en prot\ue9ines totales des grains au stade p\ue2teux du sorgho grains sucr\ue9s et \ue9tablir les corr\ue9lations g\ue9n\ue9tiques entre les caract\ue8res morphologiques et biochimiques. Ainsi, huit g\ue9notypes de sorgho grains sucr\ue9s (BTO2, BZI1, KBZ4, PBO5, PGO3, SBR7, SPI2, STO4) ont \ue9t\ue9 \ue9valu\ue9s \ue0 l\u2019aide de 13 caract\ue8res morphologiques et deux caract\ue8res biochimiques. La teneur en prot\ue9ines totales de ces g\ue9notypes a \ue9t\ue9 ensuite compar\ue9e \ue0 celle de deux t\ue9moins dont un sorgho \ue0 tige sucr\ue9e (ETS) et un sorgho ordinaire (ESB). L\u2019analyse de variance a r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 une variabilit\ue9 au sein des cultivars de sorgho grains sucr\ue9s observ\ue9e surtout au niveau des traits biochimiques (teneur en prot\ue9ines totales des graines et teneur en eau des graines) et de deux traits morphologiques (longueur du p\ue9doncule et longueur de la panicule) qui ont significativement discrimin\ue9 les accessions aux seuils de 1 et 5%, respectivement. De plus, le sorgho grains sucr\ue9s a pr\ue9sent\ue9 une faible teneur en prot\ue9ines totales comparativement aux autres types de sorgho \ue0 l\u2019exception de deux g\ue9notypes (BZI1 et STO4) qui ont montr\ue9 une teneur en prot\ue9ines plus \ue9lev\ue9e que le sorgho ordinaire. Une forte corr\ue9lation significative et n\ue9gative a \ue9t\ue9 \ue9galement not\ue9e entre le cycle semis-floraison et la teneur en prot\ue9ines totales