Assessment of adoption and utilisation of superior rice germplasm by smallholder farmers in four rice producing zones of Nigeria

Conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is essential to the sustainable development of agricultural production and rural in production zones in Nigeria. This study, therefore investigated the utilisation of recently released superior rice germplasm among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. A post- crop varietal release impact assessment was conducted in Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara and Ebonyi states of Nigeria in 2019. Structured questionnaires were administered to 120 farmers using a simple random sampling technique. Result from the study revealed that ricefarmers are mainly males, middle aged, married, with some form of education. They have medium (3-6 household member) household size with longer years of farming experiences. Inadequate capital and limited credit facilities, plant disease, birds and insect infestation are the major constraints encountered by the farmers. Result of the correlation analysis shows that there was no significant relationship between sources of planting materials and frequently planted varieties (r = 0.100 and p = 0.786). However, there was significant relationship between production  constraints and frequently planted varieties (r = 0.010 and p = 0.648). It is recommended that more channels of credit facilities should be provided to rice farmers by governments at various levels to improve their level productivity. Keywords: Rice, adoption, genetic resources, utilisation, smallholder farmer

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National CropWild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National Crop Wild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio