Gene action of blast disease reaction and grain yield traits in finger millet

Gene action of blast reaction, yield and yield associated traits in finger millet were studied using a 4x4 North Carolina Design II mating scheme. The four female and four male parents and their 16 crosses were evaluated at Alupe and Kakamega in western Kenya in a randomized complete block design under both artificially induced and natural disease pressure. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) estimates of the traits were calculated to determine the genotypes breeding value. The GCA variance predominated over SCA variance for all traits except finger width hence these traits can be improved through selection. With high, desirable GCA effects, male parent KNE 392 and female parents KNE 744 and IE 11 are suitable for blast resistance breeding while male parent Okhale 1 is suitable for grain yield improvement. The frequency distribution for the segregating F2 generation for the three blast types differed within and between crosses which could be due to differences in gene numbers or gene combinations being expressed in the different parents used. Convergent crossing or gene pyramiding for durable resistance could be possible

Integrated Blast and Weed Management and Microdosing in Finger Millet: A HOPE Project Manual for Increasing Finger Millet Productivity

Finger millet is a staple food for millions of resource poor people in the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. In eastern Africa, it is cultivated in the lake regions of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, and in Ethiopia. In Kenya, the crop is grown in western, Nyanza and eastern regions; in Tanzania it is mainly grown in Singida, Arusha, Mbeya, Rukwa and Kilimanjaro regions, and in Uganda it is grown in the eastern and northern regions. In Rwanda, it grows in semi-arid hilly areas. Finger millet grows well in altitudes from sea level to 2,400 m in a variety of soil types ranging from poor to fertile but well drained

Field screening finger millet germplasm for drought tolerance

Drought stress is the most important abiotic constraint limiting finger millet production. Limited research on tolerance to drought in finger millet has been done in Africa. As a result, the only varieties adapted to high-rainfall regions have been developed and promoted. Twenty-four potential drought-tolerant varieties selected from regional trials, and a short-duration commercial check (U15), were screened for drought in three locations in Kenya (KALRO-Kiboko, KALRO-Kampiya Mawe (KYM)) and Tanzania (DRD-Miwaleni). Genotype was significant for all the traits, location for all except yield, and GxL interaction for all except plant height. Sixteen of the varieties outperformed the commercial check (1.10 tha-1), with the best yielders being IE2187 (2.02 tha-1), IEFV0009 (1.50 tha-1), IE501 (1.1.48tha-1), IE593 (1.45 tha-1) and IE2030 (1.43 tha-1). All varieties except one had shorter DAP than the commercial variety. GGE biplot for yield showed Kiboko and Miwaleni locations to be effective in discriminating genotypes. Genotypes IE501, IE593, were specifically adapted to the Kiboko environment while IE546, KNE 741 and IE5791 were more adapted to the Miwaleni environment. Genotypes IE3104, IE5736, IE5733, IE6475 and IEFV0009 were stable across locations. Principal component analysis revealed the first four PC accounted for 85.72% of the variation with plant height, agronomic score, biomass, number of lodged plants, and number of productive tillers contributing the most. Five of the varieties -- IE2187, IEFV0009, IE501, IE593 and IE2030 -- have been advanced to PVS in Kenya and Tanzania, while KNE 741 is at NPT in Kenya

The effectiveness and complementarity of field days and small seed packs (SSPs) in delivering Dryland Cereal technologies: A survey of field day participants and agro-vets in Singida and Iramba districts of central Tanzania, Working Paper Series No. 61

This paper is about the result of a survey done in the 2014-2015 cropping season of field day participants and agro-vets who were facilitated to market SSPs and SFPs in Singida and Iramba districts of Tanzania. The objective of the survey was to determine whether there was any correlation between awareness creation and preferences reported during field days and the demand for technological inputs from the agro-vets. The results showed a strong complementarity between the dissemination of information on improved technologies during field days and the retailing of SSPs and SFPs in agro-vets. The field days help in creating awareness about the benefits and attributes of available improved sorghum and finger millet varieties and associated agronomic recommendations; while retailing of the SSPs and SFPs by the agro-vets not only helps promote the demand for improved technological inputs but also enhances their accessibility as SSPs and SFPs are more affordable to resource poor farmers. Therefore, having field days for awareness creation without improving accessibility of technological inputs through sale of SSPs and SFPs or vice versa is futile and does not lead to enhanced experimentation and adoption of improved technologies by target farmers..

Exploiting Genetic Diversity for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change: A Case of Finger Millet in East Africa

With the reality of global climate change there is a need to exploit the variation in the germplasm in order to develop genotypes adapted to these changes. This requires breeding and selection of crops at strategically selected locations along a rainfall/temperature gradient to enable farmers select desired cultivars. Eighty one finger millet germplasm lines from East Africa were evaluated in eight environments spread across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for adaptation, grain yield stability using the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) ANOVA and Genotype and Genotype x Environment (GGE) models and blast reaction under artificial and natural inoculation. Lanet 2012 long rains, Serere 2012 long rains and Miwaleni 2012 long rains were found to be the most discriminating environments for the low temperature, sub-humid mid-altitude and dry lowland areas, respectively. Alupe 2012 long rains was the ideal environment for blast selection. Seven genotypes were identified for yield stability across the eight environments whereas nine genotypes had specific adaptation. Nine genotypes were identified with resistance to three blast types. However, one and two genotypes had high resistance only to leaf and neck blast, respectively. Two resistant and 12 moderately resistant genotypes to blast attained the highest grain yields and had varied maturity, plant heights and grain colour. This will provide farmers the opportunity to select genotypes appropriate to their target agro-ecologies with desired end-uses. The East African finger millet germplasm has high potential as a source of climate smart high yielding and blast resistant genotypes for direct production and/or breeding

Exploiting Genetic Diversity for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change: A Case of Finger Millet in East Africa

Eighty one finger millet germplasm accessions from East Africa were evaluated in eight environments in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for adaptation and grain yield stability, genotype and genotype x environment (GGE) models. Lanet 2012 long rains, Serere 2012 long rains and Miwaleni 2012 long rains were found to be the most discriminating environments for the low temperature, sub-humid mid-altitude and dry lowland areas, respectively. Seven genotypes were identifi ed for yield stability across the eight environments, whereas nine genotypes had specifi c adaptation. Fourteen genotypes attained the highest grain yield and had varied maturity, plant heights and grain colour. This will provide farmers the opportunity to select genotypes appropriate to their target agroecologies with desired traits. The East African fi nger millet germplasm has high potential as a source of climate smart, high yielding genotypes for direct production and/or breeding

Sorghum production practices in an integrated crop-livestock production system in Makueni county, eastern Kenya

Productivity of sorghum has been below potential in arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya, due to poor agronomic practices and soil nutrient deficiency. Sorghum crop is fairly drought tolerant, resistant to waterlogging, and yields are reasonably better in infertile soils compared to other crops. Proper agronomic practices would significantly increase yields as well as nutrient content in grains and crop residues used as livestock feed. The objective of this study was to investigate the existing sorghum production practices and sorghum use as food and feed sources. A survey involving 90 farmers from sorghum producing areas in Makueni County was conducted. The survey focused on the varieties and fertilizers used, trends in yields, constraints to sorghum production and the present strategies used for sorghum as animal feed. Most farmers (84.4%) used uncertified seeds from own saved sources, and the commonly grown variety was Seredo (44.5%) due to resistance to bird damage. The majority (32.1%) of farmers recorded very low yield of sorghum grain, from151 to 250 kg ha-1. Most farmers (68.9%) used farmyard manure in sorghum production, while 30.9% of the farmers did not use any fertilizer. All farmers indicated that their greatest challenge in sorghum production was inadequate rainfall. Bird damage to the crop was a chronic problem to most (73.3%) farmers. The majority (58.9%) of farmers conserved sorghum residue for feed as hay. The findings show the need to provide technical information and guidance on the production practices, such as choosing best-yielding seed varieties, proper methods of pest and disease control and proper use and conservation of sorghum residue as animal feed

Novel sources of resistance to blast disease in finger millet

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana(L.) Gaertn. subsp.coracana) is the most importantmillet in eastern Africa and perhaps the oldest domesticated cereal grain in Africa.One of the major factors limiting finger millet production is blast disease caused bythe fungusMagnaporthe grisea. Crop wild relatives and landraces present a poten-tial source of novel genes. This study investigated the response of cultivated and wildrelatives of finger millet to an isolate of blast disease from western Kenya. Previousgermplasm collections were purified through two generations of single-seed descentbefore screening alongside improved and farmer-preferred varieties (FPVs) under ascreen house across three seasons. Farmer-preferred varieties were identified throughparticipatory varietal selection (PVS). The plants were inoculated twice during eachgrowth period using hand-spraying method and data on disease incidence recorded atgrain-filling stage. Genotypic data was generated using diversity arrays technology(DArT) sequencing and data analysis done using Genstat 18.2 and TASSEL 5.2.58.We observed high heritability (81%), indicating that the variation observed was pre-dominantly genetic. Wild accessions were generally more resistant to the disease incomparison to the cultivated accessions. Preliminary genome-wide association study(GWAS) using general linear model with principal component analysis led to theidentification of 19 markers associated with blast disease that will be be developedinto assays for genotype quality control and trait introgression. Wild accessions andlandraces of finger millet present a good reservoir for novel genes that can be incor-porated into crop improvement programs

Evaluation of Genotype x Environment Interaction and Stability of Grain Yield and Related Yield Components in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.)

Thirty six pearl millet genotypes were evaluated in randomized complete block design with two replications during 2011/2012 at two locations to study the magnitude of genotype by environment interaction for yield and yield related traits and identify the most stable high yielding genotypes. ANOVA of data at individual locations revealed significant differences among genotypes at Marigat and Koibatek for all yield components. Combined mean analysis of variance showed that the Genotype and location main effects and the genotype by environment interaction were highly significant (P≤0.01) for grain yield and other traits, indicating differential response of genotypes across testing locations and the need for stability analysis. Marigat was the most suitable environment and gave highest mean grain yield of 3620 kg/ha. The lowest yield 870 Kg/ha was recorded at Koibatek. Genotypes EUP 32, EUP 35, EUP 19 and EUP 10 produced high mean yield of 3530, 3080, 2690 and 2590 kg/ha respectively. The lowest grain 1290 kg/ha was obtained from genotype EUP 4.Based on the parameters of stability, three stable (widely adapted) and high yielding genotypes (EUP 34, EUP 18, and EUP 9) were identified. They also out-yield the standard open pollinated variety (OPV) check, Kat PM2. Genotypes EUP 32 was the highest yielding across all sites followed by EUP 35 and could be recommended for further multi-location evaluation in warmer environment and possible release for commercial production. The findings of this study showed that pearl millet hybrids have high potential for commercial production in Kenya than the OPVs. The ANOVA results showed that the effects of environments, genotypes and genotype x environment interaction (GE) were important in trait expression and performance of genotypes. In addition, it was observed that amount of rainfall received at both vegetative and post-anthesis phases and temperature had an effect on grain yield. The GGE biplot analysis characterised the environments in terms of stability and productivity, where Marigat was the best for grain yield; implying that environment-specific selection should be adopted. Genotypes EUP 34, EUP 18, and EUP 9 were the best performing since they out yielded the standard OPV check. These stable high yielding genotypes can be evaluated further in varied agro-ecologies and recommended for release as commercial hybrid varieties in ASALs of Kenya

Participatory Variety Selection for enhanced promotion and adoption of improved finger millet varieties: A case for Singida and Iramba Districts in Central Tanzania

Participatory variety selection (PVS) is an approach which provides a wide choice of varieties to farmers to evaluate in their own environment using their own resources for increasing production. It enhances farmer’s access to diverse crop varieties, increases production and ensures food security and helps faster dissemination and adoption of pre and released varieties. It allows varietal selection in targeted areas at cost-effective and timely manner and helps promotion of community seed production and community seed banks. Therefore, a variety developed through PVS usually meets demand of different stakeholders. Farmers in Singida and Iramba districts in central Tanzania were found to be growing land races which were low yielding, long maturing, drought and disease susceptible, as no variety had previously been released in Tanzania. Through PVS a broader choice of varieties that matched farmer needs in adaptation and quality traits was offered for evaluation. As such PVS was used to introduce, evaluate, release and promote for adoption finger millet varieties in Central and Northern Tanzania. Farmers selected and adopted new varieties of a higher utility (a combination of improved agronomic traits, higher yield, and improved quality). Through PVS Tanzania released her first finger millet varieties (U15 and P224). Adoption of the varieties was very high as farmers associated with the varieties; and affordable high quality seed was made available as Quality Declared Seed (QDS) produced by the target farmer groups. Preferred traits differed between the gender groups; women preferred risk averting traits like short duration, drought tolerance, compact heads and disease resistance while male preferred market related traits (high yield, brown colour and big head