Détermination du Potentiel Pastoral Herbacé dans le Bioclimat Soudanien Nord au Mali : Cas de la Commune Rurale de Dièma

L’élevage contribue environ à 15% du produit intérieur brut de l’ensemble des pays sahéliens de l’Afrique de l’ouest. Au Mali, il est la deuxième activité socioéconomique après l’agriculture. Il est pratiqué de façon extensive avec des mobilités saisonnières des troupeaux à la recherche du disponible fourrager, dans le contexte du changement climatique. Paradoxalement, la production herbacée, dans ces parcours sahéliens, qui équivaut à des milliards de francs, est annuellement consumée par les feux de brousse. C’est dans ce contexte que la présente étude a été initiée pour améliorer la gestion des pâturages naturels dans la commune rurale de Diéma dans la région de Kayes. La méthode de transect a été utilisée dans les parcours naturels suivant les quatre points cardinaux du district de la commune. Les relevés phytoécologiques et des coupes de biomasse herbacée ont été effectués dans les parcelles échantillons. Il a été recensé au total 71 espèces appartenant à 18 familles avec la dominance des Poaceae, Fabaceae et Convolvulaceae. La production de biomasse des parcours est d’environ 3t.ha-1. Une différence significative (P=0,042) a été observée pour la valeur pastorale des parcours et cela en fonction de leur orientation par rapport au District de la Commune.  Pour une meilleure gestion de l’environnement et de production animale, il importe de connaitre les caractéristiques de nos parcours naturels.   Livestock contributes about 15% of the gross domestic product of all the Sahelian countries of West Africa. In Mali, it is the second socioeconomic activity after agriculture. It is practiced extensively with seasonal movements of herds in search of available fodder, in the context of climate change. Paradoxically, the herbaceous production in these Sahelian rangelands, which is equivalent to billions of francs, is consumed annually by bush fires. It is in this context that the present study was initiated to improve the management of natural pastures in the rural commune of Diéma in the Kayes region. The transect method was used in the natural routes following the four cardinal points of the district of the commune. Phytoecological surveys and herbaceous biomass cuts were carried out in the sample plots. 71 species belonging to 18 families have been identified with the dominance of Poaceae, Fabaceae and Convolvulaceae. The biomass production of rangelands is about 3t.ha-1. A significant difference (P=0.042) was observed for the pastoral value of the rangelands and this according to their orientation in relation to the District of the Commune. For better management of the environment and animal production, it is important to know the characteristics of our natural rangelands

Détermination du Potentiel Pastoral Herbacé de la Commune Rurale de Dièma dans le Bioclimat Soudanien Nord au Mali

L’élevage contribue à environ 15% du produit intérieur brut de l’ensemble des pays sahéliens de l’Afrique de l’ouest. Au Mali, il est la deuxième activité socioéconomique après l’agriculture. Il est pratiqué de façon extensive avec des mobilités saisonnières des troupeaux à la recherche du disponible fourrager, dans le contexte du changement climatique. Malheureusement, la production herbacée, dans ces parcours sahéliens, qui équivaut à des milliards de francs, est annuellement consumée par les feux de brousse. C’est dans ce contexte que la présente étude a été initiée pour caractériser les pâturages naturels dans la commune rurale de Diéma en vue d’améliorer leur gestion. La méthode de transect a été utilisée dans les parcours naturels suivant les quatre points cardinaux du district de la commune. Les relevés phytoécologiques et des coupes de biomasse herbacée ont été effectués dans les parcelles échantillons. La valeur pastorale des parcours a été calculée. Il a été recensé au total 80 espèces appartenant à 18 familles avec la dominance des Poaceae, des Fabaceae et des Convolvulaceae. La production de biomasse des parcours est d’environ 3tMS.ha-1. Une différence significative (P=0,042) a été observée pour la valeur pastorale avec une moyenne générale de 38,15% entre les orientations. Pour une meilleure gestion de l’environnement et de production animale, il importe de connaitre les caractéristiques de nos parcours naturels.   Livestock contributes about 15% of the gross domestic product of all the Sahelian countries of West Africa. In Mali, it is the second socioeconomic activity after agriculture. It is practiced extensively with seasonal movements of herds in search of available fodder, in the context of climate change. Paradoxically, the herbaceous production in these Sahelian rangelands, whichis equivalent to billions of francs, is consumed annually by bush fires. It is in this context that the present study was initiated to improve the management of natural pastures in the rural commune of Diéma in the Kayes region. The transect method was used in the natural routes following the four cardinal points of the district of the commune. Phytoecological surveys and herbaceous biomass cuts were carried out in the sample plots. 80 species belonging to 18 families have been identified with the dominance of Poaceae, Fabaceae and Convolvulaceae. The biomass production of rangelands is about 3t.ha-1. A significant difference (P=0.042) was observed for the pastoral value of the rangelands and this according to their orientation in relation to the District of the Commune. For better management of the environment and animal production, it is important to know the characteristics of our natural rangelands

Détermination du Potentiel Pastoral Herbacé dans le Bioclimat Soudanien Nord au Mali : Cas de la Commune Rurale de Dièma

L’élevage contribue environ à 15% du produit intérieur brut de l’ensemble des pays sahéliens de l’Afrique de l’ouest. Au Mali, il est la deuxième activité socioéconomique après l’agriculture. Il est pratiqué de façon extensive avec des mobilités saisonnières des troupeaux à la recherche du disponible fourrager, dans le contexte du changement climatique. Paradoxalement, la production herbacée, dans ces parcours sahéliens, qui équivaut à des milliards de francs, est annuellement consumée par les feux de brousse. C’est dans ce contexte que la présente étude a été initiée pour améliorer la gestion des pâturages naturels dans la commune rurale de Diéma dans la région de Kayes. La méthode de transect a été utilisée dans les parcours naturels suivant les quatre points cardinaux du district de la commune. Les relevés phytoécologiques et des coupes de biomasse herbacée ont été effectués dans les parcelles échantillons. Il a été recensé au total 71 espèces appartenant à 18 familles avec la dominance des Poaceae, Fabaceae et Convolvulaceae. La production de biomasse des parcours est d’environ 3t.ha-1. Une différence significative (P=0,042) a été observée pour la valeur pastorale des parcours et cela en fonction de leur orientation par rapport au District de la Commune.  Pour une meilleure gestion de l’environnement et de production animale, il importe de connaitre les caractéristiques de nos parcours naturels.   Livestock contributes about 15% of the gross domestic product of all the Sahelian countries of West Africa. In Mali, it is the second socioeconomic activity after agriculture. It is practiced extensively with seasonal movements of herds in search of available fodder, in the context of climate change. Paradoxically, the herbaceous production in these Sahelian rangelands, which is equivalent to billions of francs, is consumed annually by bush fires. It is in this context that the present study was initiated to improve the management of natural pastures in the rural commune of Diéma in the Kayes region. The transect method was used in the natural routes following the four cardinal points of the district of the commune. Phytoecological surveys and herbaceous biomass cuts were carried out in the sample plots. 71 species belonging to 18 families have been identified with the dominance of Poaceae, Fabaceae and Convolvulaceae. The biomass production of rangelands is about 3t.ha-1. A significant difference (P=0.042) was observed for the pastoral value of the rangelands and this according to their orientation in relation to the District of the Commune. For better management of the environment and animal production, it is important to know the characteristics of our natural rangelands

Mobilités nouvelles et insécurités dans les sociétés nomades Fulbé (peules): étude de plusieurs pays en Afrique Centrale de l'ouest (Niger-Nigeria)

ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Multiplication and preliminary characterization of west and central African pearl millet landraces

West Africa is a center of origin and diversity of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], but this diversity is neither well-understood nor fully accessible to and exploited by NARS breeders and farmers. The objective of the present study was to multiply and initially characterize 281 pearl millet accessions from all over West and Central Africa, with the final aim of promoting a more systematic and targeted exploitation of genetic diversity in adapted germplasm in West African pearl millet improvement programs

New mobilities and insecurities in Fulbe nomadic societies: a multi-country study in west-central Africa (Niger-Nigeria)

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Mechanisms of adaptation to climate variability in West African pearl millet landraces – a preliminary

Landraces are generally expected to possess specific mechanisms of adaptation to their growing environments. In West and Central Africa (WCA), growing conditions of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are characterized, among other hazards, by highly variable beginnings and endings of the rainy season, and unpredictable drought stress at any time during the growing season. Adaptation to such unpredictable variable environment can be due to individual and/or populational buffering (Allard and Bradshaw 1964), two mechanisms initially defined by Lerner (1954) as developmental and genetic homeostasis. Individual buffering may be favored by phenotypic plasticity. Photoperiod-sensitive flowering is an example of phenotypic plasticity that can enhance adaptation to variable planting dates followed due to a scattered beginning of the rainy season in a region, as typical for WCA. It enhances simultaneous flowering of the cultivar in the target region, independent of the individual date of planting in different fields. This has particular advantages in terms of reducing bird damage and insect pressure; prolonging vegetative development in case of early planting but accelerating development in case of late planting; therefore fitting plant development to available rainfall patterns and resulting potentially in increased yielding stability. Populational buffering can be promoted by genetic heterogeneity in plant stand as different genotypes present in the population are specifically adapted to different environmental conditions (Bradshaw 1965). An example is intra-varietal variation for flowering time, which would assure that in case of a dry spell, not all plants in the field will be affected by drought in their most sensitive flowering stage

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Local Chicken Ecotypes in Burkina Faso Using Microsatellite Markers

The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of local chicken ecotypes from Burkina Faso using microsatellite markers. A total of 71 individuals representing local chicken populations from the Centre-East (18), Centre-North (17), Sahel (18) and South-West (18) were used to estimate genetic diversity indices, population structure and phylogenetic relationships using 20 selected polymorphic microsatellite markers. The number of alleles, mean number of alleles, mean of observed and expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content were 127, 6.35, 0.391, 0.521, 0.539 and 0.541, respectively. The estimated overall fixation index between loci (F), among populations (FIS) and inbreeding coefficient within chicken ecotypes were 0.239, 0.267 and 0.243, respectively. Analysis of the molecular variance revealed that 77% of the total genetic diversity was attributed to within-population variation and the remaining 1% and 22% were attributed to among-regions differentiation (FST) and among-individual differentiation (FIT), respectively. The highest pairwise genetic distance (0.026) was found between the local Konde ecotype and those from the Centre-North region while the lowest distance was observed between local chickens from the Sahel and the Centre-North regions (0.003). Neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree and principal component discriminant analyses confirmed the observed genetic distances between populations. The results show that local chickens in Burkina Faso have a rich genetic diversity with little differentiation between the studied populations. This study provides important information on measures of genetic diversity that could help in the design and implementation of future genetic improvement and conservation programs for local chickens in Burkina Faso

Combining ability patterns among West African pearl millet landraces and prospects for pearl millet hybrid breeding

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is an important hybrid crop in India. However, to date limited pearl millet hybrid development has been undertaken in West Africa (WA), which is the center of pearl millet origin and diversity and where this crop is most important outside India. Using a diverse set of WA pearl millet germplasm, objectives of this study were to determine the superiority of population hybrids over open-pollinated varieties for agro-morphological and agronomic traits in WA pearl millet germplasm; and (ii) to derive strategies for pearl millet hybrid breeding in WA, based on quantitative-genetic parameters, combining ability and heterotic patterns among geographically close versus distant pearl millet populations. A 10 × 10 factorial mating design was performed with four parental OPVs from each of five WA countries. The 100 population hybrids and their parents were tested for 14 traits at six locations in one year, thereby using contrasting locations to indirectly sample the rainfall variability inherent to WA pearl millet production environments. Grain yield showed an average panmictic midparent heterosis (PMpH) of 16.7%, ranging from −26 to 73%. The mean grain yield of hybrids based on inter-country crosses did not differ significantly from intra-country crosses. Geographic distance between parents was positively correlated with hybrid grain yield (r = 0.31), but not with PMpH . Some crosses between accessions from Niger/Nigeria and Senegal were outstanding. Predictability of population hybrid performance for grain yield was moderate based on midparent values (r = 0.43) and slightly better based on general combining ability (GCA) (r = 0.56). Overall, pearl millet hybrid breeding in WA seems very promising, but there do not seem to be clear “natural” heterotic groups among WA pearl millet landraces. Such heterotic groups as the basis of sustainable hybrid breeding need rather to be created systematically, by building on existing combining ability patterns and aiming to maximize combining ability between the groups

Agro-morphological Characterization of West and Central African Pearl Millet Accessions

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] was domesticated in Sahelian West Africa. This highly outcrossing crop is one of the most important staple cereals in the semiarid tropics, adapted to very harsh rain-fed conditions. Agro-morphological characterization of local germplasm is very important to better understand existing diversity, ease targeted genetic broadening of breeding populations, and potentially link this knowledge to genotypic information. The objectives of our study were to (i) characterize West and Central African (WCA) pearl millet accessions based on their agro-morphological traits; (ii) evaluate the possibility to group accessions based on their agro-morphological characteristics; (iii) determine geographic patterns of phenotypic differentiation; and (iv) derive conclusions for pearl millet improvement in WCA. A total of 360 early-tomedium maturity accessions were phenotyped for 12 agro-morphological traits at six environments in WCA. Wide ranges of all observed traits indicated a high diversity of the tested accessions. Principal component analysis revealed very large diversity within individual countries, especially within Mali and Burkina Faso. Some limited grouping of accessions from Niger, Senegal, Cameroon, Morocco, and Mauritania was observed for individual principal component axes. Geographical differentiation and country differences were detected for several traits. The results and data presented in our study reflect WCA pearl millets’ tremendous diversity and adaptability to a wide range of environments and give a sound basis for breeders to select and utilize this germplasm to serve the manifold needs of WCA pearl millet farmers