A Comparism of the Response of Some Pearl Millest (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. BR) Hybrids and Their Parents to Downy Mildew (Sclerospora graminicola) Infestation in Bakura and Zaria (North-western Nigeria)

Downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola (Sacc) Schroet.) of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.] is a devastating disease that has greatly led to grain yield loss in Nigeria. A field experiment was carried out in 2010 at Bakura (Zamfara State) and Zaria (Kaduna State) in North West Nigeria. The objective of this paper was to evaluate downy mildew resistance in some pearl millet using Complete Randomized Block Design. Four resistant male varieties (PEO5532, SOSATC88, P1449 and DMR15) and four susceptible female varieties (BDP1, MOP1, LCIC9702 and PEO5984 were used in this study. The resistant varieties were crossed with the susceptible varieties using North Carolina design 11 for the mating to form sixteen (F1) hybrids. The F1 hybrids were further evaluated along with their parents for downy mildew resistance, grain yield and other agronomic traits (such as: Plant height, panicle height, number of tillers per plant, panicle diameter and number panicles per plot). The resistant male parents were found to be susceptible while none of the hybrids was resistant to downy mildew. However, the degree of incidence and severity of downy mildew disease defer in the two locations. The hybrids exhibited tolerance to downy mildew disease and their yields were higher than their parents. The analysis of variance (one tale ANOVA or which one?) showed highly significant difference among parents and hybrids for all agronomic characters except disease severity and number of tillers per plant. Location × genotype interaction effects were only significant for grain yield and number of panicles per plot

Genetic Analysis of Grain Yield and Quality Traits in Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Varieties

Sorghum is one of the world's major cereal crops and a dietary staple for more than 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (Alina et al., 2017). Numerous studies have demonstrated that sorghum is a very diverse crop, with cultivated sorghums exhibiting great phenotypic variability. Assessment of the genetic variability for yield and quality characters is a key component of breeding programs for broadening the gene pool of crops, in characterization of germplasm collections and for the choice of parental genotypes. A study was conducted to estimate genetic variability and broad-sense heritability in some bold grained sorghum varieties

Hand Book on Improved Pearl Millet Production Practices in North Eastern Nigeria

This handbook is intended to guide farmers, extension personnel, students of agriculture and researchers in Nigeria to use improved varieties and complementary production practices to increase pearl millet productivity. The guide draws its lessons from the work and experience of ICRISAT and partners in Research for Development on crop-based systems in Nigeria. The publication of this handbook is a demonstration of effective collaboration between ICRISAT, Lake Chad Research Institute, (LCRI) Maiduguri, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), several farmer organizations and the demand by Innovation Platform members (IPs) members. ICRISAT and the authors are grateful to the management of these Institutes. The authors gratefully acknowledge the work of other researchers whose work have helped immensely in compiling this manual

Seed Trade Promotion

To feed the world population that is increasing from 7.32 billion in 2015 to 9.3 billion people in 2050, agriculture will play a fundamental role by doubling production to meet the world's growing demand for food, feed and fibre, through the incremental output that will come from increases in yields (FAO, 2009). Quality seed is the most important factor for increased crop production. In order to achieve the increase in productivities, high-quality seed is needed for maximum outputs and good returns for farmers. The global seed market was worth approximately $47 billion in 2012, with$9.9 billion of that total being internationally traded. Nigeria's Domestic Seed Market in 2012 accounts for $120 million. To strengthen the seed sector, it is crucial that seed growers and companies adhere to policies that guarantee quality standards and appropriate regulatory features. Thus a number of local, national and international organisations, conventions and treaties deal with the regulation of seed trade, ranging from production to delivery of quality seeds to growers. This is to provide an international regulatory framework that will oversee the interests of breeders, producers and consumers e.g. the ECOWAS seed regulatory policy. This paper aims at providing some insights into international and local institutions for seed trade promotion and advertising, seed import and export procedures, and guide to participation in agric-fairs and exhibitions

Role of ICRISAT in Nigeria seed industry development

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square km of land in 55 countries, the Semi-arid or Dryland Tropics has over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agriculture. ICRISAT is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) consortium. The CGIAR is an informal association of countries, international organisations, and private institutions. It is cosponsored by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The CGIAR`s main objectives are to sustain food security in developing countries through support to the international agricultural research systems..

Handbook on Improved Agronomic Practices for Sorghum Production in North East Nigeria

This handbook is intended to guide farmers, extension personnel, students of agriculture and researchers in Nigeria to use improved varieties and associated production practices to increase productivity. The guide draws its lessons from the work and experiences of ICRISAT and its partners in Research for Development on crop-based systems in Nigeria. The publication of this handbook is a demonstration of effective collaboration between ICRISAT, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), numerous farmers’ groups and Innovation Platform (IPs). The authors are grateful to the Management of these Institutes and organizations and gratefully acknowledge the work of other researchers that have helped immensely in compiling this manual

Landrace sorghum lines- potential sources for male sterility maintainers in hybrid parent development

The potential of hybrid sorghum to provide yield advantages under drought stressed conditions in semiarid areas was shown several authors ( Haussmann, et al., 1998, 2000, Rattunde et al., 2013). Higher yield advantages were shown with Nigerian germplasm in preliminary on-station testing (Andrews, 1975), though the parental materials have since been lost. The objective of this work is to identify suitable seed parents towards developing hybrid sorghum for the Nigerian environment, constrained most particularly by non-appropriate indigenous sources of stable malesterility maintenance on the female parents, within the diversesorghum landraces

Effect of grain moisture content on the physical properties of some selected sorghum varieties

Determination of physical characteristics of grain of biomaterials is important in the design of harvesting, handling, and processing equipment. This helps in understanding the problem of separating grains from undesirable materials during threshing and winnowing, as well as in designing post-harvest handling equipments. Physical properties of sorghum grains from ten varieties (7 released and 3 breeding lines) were investigated under three different grain moisture content of 10%, 20% and 30% dry basis (d.b.). Results from the experiment revealed wide variation among the sorghum varieties on the physical properties measured. Arithmetic Mean Diameter ranged from 4.233 mm to 4.872 mm, while the Geometric Mean Diameter of the varieties ranged from 4.215 mm to 4.864 mm. Sphericity for the different sorghum varieties fall within the range of 0.86 to 0.96. It was also observed that the surface areas of the sorghum varieties are between 52.2 mm2 to 70.00 mm2. The results further showed that Aspect ratio ranged from 0.84 to 0.94 and the Angle of repose for the sorghum varieties were from 31.510 to 34.250. Result from the study revealed that, increase in moisture content led to increase in the surface area, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, sphericity and angle of repose. Variety and changes in moisture content significantly affected the physical properties determined

Dauro millet germplasm collection in Nigeria

A collection trip was conducted in 1997 in Nigeria to determine the economic importance of the photoperiod-sensitive dauro pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) type, its role in the diet of people in the production areas, and its potential for improving local pearl millet landraces in Nigeria. The differences between dauro and maiwa types, and the agronomy, constraints to production, pests and geographical distribution of dauro are discussed

Effect of Heat Stress on Seed Production of Some Sorghum Varieties Under Irrigation in Northern Nigeria

Exposure of sorghum (sorghum bicolor) during flowering time for a period of 10-15 days to high temperature stress (>36-38oC) reduced pollen germination, failure of fertilization and flower abortion. A number of improved varieties of sorghum have recently been released for the Sudan and Sahel zones of Nigeria, with their dissemination limited by seed availability. To improve the supply of Breeder and Foundation seeds for production of certified, these varieties; SAMSORG 45 and SAMSORG 46 with two old but popular varieties SAMSORG 41 and SAMSORG 17 were grown under irrigation at Dadinkowa (10.18N, 11.27S) to assess their productivity during the dry season at two planting dates (October and January) for 2 seasons (2015 & 2016). Result showed that October planting which flowering and seed set coincided with the average maximum temperature of 27oC recorded in January produced good seed while December/January planting which flowering and seed set coincided with average maximum temperature of 42oC recorded in April had poor or no seed set on panicles especially in 2016. Rise in the average maximum temperature (2016) in the month of March (350C) and April 2016 (410C) resulted to 90-100% no seed set on SAMSORG 17, SAMSORG 45 and SAMSORG 46 as it coincided with the flowering time thus producing sterile panicle. This suggest that planting date and temperature significantly affect seed production of sorghum in the dry season