Farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay for traits of sorghum varieties: Informing product development and breeding programs in Tanzania

Smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt improved varieties are expected to be critically governed by their preferences and willingness to pay for different traits of these varieties. This study examined farmers’ preferences for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) variety attributes and estimated their willingness to pay (WTP) for these attributes using choice experiment data from >1,300 sorghum farmers in Tanzania. Empirical findings showed that farmers had strong preferences for sorghum varieties that were tolerant to environmental stresses, high yielding, early maturing, fetching higher grain prices, and white in color. Significant heterogeneity was observed in farmers’ preferences across various traits. The WTP estimates revealed that farmers were willing to pay the highest premium for tolerance to environmental stresses, amounting, on average, to three times higher than the WTP for other traits. Our results have important implications for demand-driven variety development that could contribute to improving crop productivity and household welfare

Pea breeding for resistance to rhizospheric pathogens

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a grain legume widely cultivated in temperate climates. It is important in the race for food security owing to its multipurpose low-input requirement and environmental promoting traits. Pea is key in nitrogen fixation, biodiversity preservation, and nutritional functions as food and feed. Unfortunately, like most crops, pea production is constrained by several pests and diseases, of which rhizosphere disease dwellers are the most critical due to their long-term persistence in the soil and difficulty to manage. Understanding the rhizosphere environment can improve host plant root microbial association to increase yield stability and facilitate improved crop performance through breeding. Thus, the use of various germplasm and genomic resources combined with scientific collaborative efforts has contributed to improving pea resistance/cultivation against rhizospheric diseases. This improvement has been achieved through robust phenotyping, genotyping, agronomic practices, and resistance breeding. Nonetheless, resistance to rhizospheric diseases is still limited, while biological and chemical-based control strategies are unrealistic and unfavourable to the environment, respectively. Hence, there is a need to consistently scout for host plant resistance to resolve these bottlenecks. Herein, in view of these challenges, we reflect on pea breeding for resistance to diseases caused by rhizospheric pathogens, including fusarium wilt, root rots, nematode complex, and parasitic broomrape. Here, we will attempt to appraise and harmonise historical and contemporary knowledge that contributes to pea resistance breeding for soilborne disease management and discuss the way forward

Rapid Generation Advance in Chickpea for Accelerated Breeding Gain in Ethiopia: : What Speed Breeding Imply?

አህፅሮት  ሽምብራ በሀገራችን በተለያዩ ስነ-ምህዳራትና የአዘማመር ስርዓት ውስጥ የሚመረት ሰብል ነው፡፡ የሰብሉ የመድረሻ ተለያይነት በዓለም ላይ ከ80 አስከ 180 ቀናት ይደርሳል፡፡ እያደገ ያለውን ህዝብና የተለያዩ ፍላጎቶችን ለመመለስ የሰብል ማሻሻያ ስርዓቱ ጊዜን በቆጠበ ሁኔታ መከወን የሚያስችሉ ዘዴዎችን መጠቀሙ አንዱ የችግሩ መፍቻ መንገድ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ጥናት ላይ የሰብሉን ማሻሻያ ለማፍጠን እንዴት በርካታ ትውልዶቸን በአንድ ዓመት ማግኘት እንደሚቻል ቀርቧል፡፡ አስር የሚሆኑ ምርት ላይ ያሉ የሽምብራ ዝርያዎችን ከሌሎች ዘጠኝ በዘመናዊ ላብራቶሪ ልየታ ድርቅን የሚቋቋም ባህሪ ያላቸውን ቤተሰቦቸ በማዳቀል ሂደት ወደ 46 ግንኙነቶችን መፍጠር የተቻለበትንና ትውልዶችን ማፍጠንንና ማግኘትን በትኩረት ተከናውኗል፡፡ ዓላማውም ድርቅን የሚቋቋሙና ምርታማ ትውልዶችን ፍተሻ ማድረግ ሲሆን ይህንንም ባጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ለመከወን አዲስ የነጠላ ዘር ትውልድ ማሻገሪያ ስርዓትን ከቀድሞ ደራሽ እምቡጦች ጋር በማቀናጀት አራት ትውልዶችን በዓመት ማግኘት የተቻለበትን ሁኔታ ማረጋገጥ ተችሏል፡፡ ይህ ትውልዶችን የማስኬድ ሁኔታ በአንድ አመት ጊዜ ውስጥ በወረርና የደብረዘይት ማእከላት የሙከራ ማሳዎችን በመጠቀም የተሰራ ጥናት ሲሆን በውጤቱም ቀድሞ ደራሽ እምቡጦችን ለማግኘት ከ80-85 ቀናት ብቻ የፈጀ ነበር፡፡ ትውልዶቹ የመካከለኛ መድረሻ ጊዜ ያለው ውስጥ የሚመደቡ ሲሆን በዚህ ስሌት የዝርያ መልቀቂያ ጊዜውን ከተለመደው 10-12 ዓመታት 50 በመቶ በመቀነስ የአማራጭ ቴክኖሎጂ አቅርቦትና ምርታማነት እንዲሁም አዋጭነት ላይ ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅዖ ያለው ውጤት አመላክቷል፡፡ ይህ ቴክኒክ በቶሎ የመድረሻ ዕድሜ ያላቸው ላይ ተፅዕኖው አስከ ስድስት ትውልድ በዓመት ማስገኘት እንደሚያስችል የተሰላ ሲሆን በቀላሉ የሚለመድ፣ በጥቂት የመዋዕለ ነዋይ፣ ፋሲሊቲና ክህሎት በትሮፒካል ንፍቀ-ክበብ ውስጥ አገልግሎት ላይ ሊውል የሚችልና ቴክኖሎጂ ለቀቃን ብሎም መተካካትን የሚያፋጥን፤ በዚህም ረገድ የምርታማነት እመርታን የሚያስገኝ የተሻሻለ ዘዴ እንደሆነ መገንዘብ ተችሏል፡፡ Abstract Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is grown in a wide range of environments and cropping systems and its maturity ranges from 80 to 180 days. Time-saving breeding is key to responding to the dynamics of demands and environmental changes. The study employed the Single Seed Descent (SSD) technique in advancing the generation, supported by the independent observation of chickpea seed germination and seedling establishment in the seed lab. The filial generation nursery was derived from 46 initial crosses with the aim of enhancing drought and yield response of otherwise commercial 10 cultivars. Between 5 December 2017 and 20 December 2018 we were able to obtain four rounds of working chickpea seeds (F2-F5) using two research locations. The average time required to obtain early matured pods varied from 80 to 85 days. Harvesting four generations in an annual cycle enables a saving of at least 50% time in variety release, which has the potential to double the rate of genetic gain and variety replacement. As long as measures are taken to reduce risk associated with extreme weather events or animal damage, this low-cost rapid cycling approach could be adapted for large-scale breeding programs to fast track the development of more productive varieties

Scoping the implementation of recommendations from previous early generation seed studies in sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this report is to document and track progress on the implementation of recommendations from EGS studies that were carried out on selected countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and West and Central Africa (WCA). The recommendations were designed to ensure a sustainable supply of EGS based on market-specific archetypes involving private, public and public-private partnerships. For the subsequent years following the conclusion and adoption of the study reports, there have been some significant achievements registered based on the country-specific recommendations from the studies. This report provides a review of the extent of implementation of the recommendations in each of the mentioned countries. The study involved a review of literature which included the country-specific EGS studies and the available literature that comprised of projects reports, recent policy documents and any other relevant available literature. Despite the list of countries in which the studies were conducted, this study only focused on the implementation of recommendations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria. Most countries have to a large extent implemented most of the recommendations from the EGS studies. A lot of emphasis was placed on addressing the creation of enabling environment aspects such as the enactment of seed acts, the plant variety protection bill and policies in Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana as well as harmonization between the national and regional seed laws. There was also emphasis towards capacity building for seed regulation and certification services through training of human resources and enabling private sector participation in seed inspection in addition to accreditation by the international bodies ISTA and OECD. PPPs were established for the root and tuber crops cassava and potatoes; and mainly hybrid and OPV maize for the cereal crops. Fingerprinting of parental lines is the most notably unimplemented for all the countries that it was recommended, but also the national establishements such as Variety Testing Center, demand forecasting frameworks and National Seed Steering committee for the case of Malawi and Tanzania respectively. It is therefore recommended that further investigation of gaps in implementation be carried to understand reasons for non-implementation

Sorghum production in Nigeria: Opportunities, constraints, and recommendations

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) production has considerable socio-economic values in sub-Saharan Africa for food security and to serve the increased industrial demands due to high population pressure and climate change. However, the production and productivity of the crop are yet to be expounded in Nigeria for economic gains. Therefore, the objective of this study was to present the current opportunities and constraints to sorghum production in Nigeria. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was conducted in three selected sorghum growing zones in northern Nigeria involving 250 farmers. Socio-economic data were collected through surveys and focus group discussions. Sorghum was cultivated mainly by males (80%) who had grade 6-12 level of education (31.3%), with the productive age of 21-45 years (75.7%) and a household family size of below five members (52.3%). Low yielding landrace varieties such as Kaura (37.4%) and Fara-fara (29.3%) were the most widely cultivated types across the study zones due to their good grain quality. The major farmers' preferred traits from a sorghum variety were high yield, drought tolerance and Striga resistance. The study recommends integrated sorghum technology development incorporating the described preferences of the farmers for sustainable production and economic gains of the crop

Response of chickpea to varying moisture stress conditions in Ethiopia

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an economically important crop grown by nearly one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers. The crop is often considered as “stress-loving,” but moisture stress at flowering and grain filling stages could be detrimental. Yield of chickpea is commonly affected by terminal drought stress in the rainfed production system in Ethiopia. The lack of proper field-screening methods has hindered the development of drought-tolerant varieties. This study demonstrates a simple and practical field-level screening method for drought tolerance traits in the conventional breeding programs. A field experiment was conducted using 28 elite chickpea cultivars during the 2018–2019 main cropping season to study their response to moisture regimes of varying drought intensities. We used yield and its components as proxy parameters of screening to select tolerant cultivars. The study revealed significant variation among the cultivars in their response to different moisture regimes. The kabuli cultivars were found more sensitive compared with the desi types. Yield penalty exceeded 70% under severe drought. Conversely, cultivars tested under mild and severe stress drought showed average yield gain of 22 and 48%, respectively, relative to the irrigated treatment. Overall, over 50% yield gain can be obtained in drought-affected rainfed production areas in Ethiopia using supplemental irrigation during pod setting to grain filling stages. For post-rainy-season crops relying on residual soil moisture, such as chickpea, breeding for shorter duration and resilient cultivars are reliable management approaches to minimize drought-caused yield losses

Business models for early generation seed production and marketing

Sustainable access to early generation seed (EGS) is important for efficient supply of quality certified, standard and/or quality declared seed of improved high-performing crop varieties. Some studies have been conducted from a global perspective on the delivery of EGS with a major focus on the economic analysis and identification of effective pathways for sustainable supply. This study was designed to establish the best practices and critical factors for the delivery of EGS for grain legume and dryland cereal crops in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and parts of South Asia. A literature review of specific business models applied in SSA and India was conducted. More information was gathered through in-depth interviews with specific key informants drawn from the respective institutions or agencies that were studied. The models include public-sector or research-led models, private -sector models, and public-private partnership models. This working paper presents a synthesis of best practices and approaches through which the specific business models ensure the production and supply of breeder and foundation seeds. The paper identifies practices involving mechanisms for planning, financing, infrastructural facilities required for EGS production, incentives to promote pure line crop EGS production by the private sector, and the methods of production. The study reveals critical constraints for EGS production and supply, including seed market vagaries; the short shelf life of some crop seeds like groundnut; limited maintenance breeding efforts; low quality of breeder seed; lack of infrastructure to produce EGS; breeder seed production does not match the demand for production of foundation seed while foundation seed production does not match the demand for production of certified seed; and high costs of supervising and managing various groups of seed outgrowers. Interventions that build the capacity of seed producers to effectively plan EGS production requirements, guided by a seed roadmap, and product cycle management are needed. The public research institutions need to be strengthened with facilities that enhance their capacity to produce sufficient quantities of breeder seed at the required time. Besides, the proceeds from the sales should “revolve” to enable the unit to make further investments and carry out all the necessary operations in a timely manner. This requires consultation with Governments to set up financial management structures that provide an easier accountability process. Incentive schemes should be developed to encourage investment in the production of pure-line grain legumes and dryland cereals by the private sector as well as enhance their role in popularizing new varieties. Improvement and enforcement of quality assurance and control systems by breeding programmes, including modern technological methods should be considered. Importantly, a handover system that includes lisencing and pre-orders would help to bridge the supply and demand disparity

Mainstreaming Efficient Legume Seed Systems in Eastern Africa: Challenges, opportunities and contributions towards improved livelihoods

Legumes are important components of sustainable farming systems. They are useful to diversify and intensify cropping systems as double, catch, relay and intercrops; fix ‘free’ nitrogen to soils from the atmosphere and improve soil health that boost cereal crop yields; act as rotation crops for breaking disease and pest cycles; increase and diversify smallholder incomes (and hence buffer them from the effects of price, pest and climate-related production fluctuations); enhance quality of household diets because of their higher protein and micro-nutrient content compared with starch-based staple cereal crops; and provide good sources of animal feed (high protein crop residues and byproducts) and low carbon footprint, mitigating climate change..

Mainstreaming Efficient Legume Seed Systems in Eastern Africa: Challenges, opportunities and contributions towards improved livelihoods

Legumes are important components of sustainable farming systems. They are useful to diversify and intensify cropping systems as double, catch, relay and intercrops; fix ‘free’ nitrogen to soils from the atmosphere and improve soil health that boost cereal crop yields; act as rotation crops for breaking disease and pest cycles; increase and diversify smallholder incomes (and hence buffer them from the effects of price, pest and climate-related production fluctuations); enhance quality of household diets because of their higher protein and micro-nutrient content compared with starch-based staple cereal crops; and provide good sources of animal feed (high protein crop residues and byproducts) and low carbon footprint, mitigating climate change..