53 research outputs found
Access to Early Generation Seed: Obstacles for Delivery of Climate-Smart Varieties
Changing climates in eastern and southern Africa will require farmers to adjust which crop varieties they grow in order to adapt to changing patterns of weather, pests and diseases. Delivering more suitable, climate-smart crop varieties requires well-functioning seed systems in which actors work in harmony across the supply chain. Although a great deal of previous development funding has been used to breed new varieties and to encourage farmers to adopt them, the availability of early-generation seed (EGS) continues to be limited by bottlenecks in the supply chain. These problems are particularly significant for non-hybrid varieties and less-commercialized food crops developed by public-sector institutions. This study uses two contrasting case studies from Kenya to illustrate the importance of making improved bean seed varieties available to farmers. The first case study documents a successful instance of EGS transfer, whereas the second highlights the types of barriers that can prevent successful variety adoption. Improved coordination among system actors is necessary to reduce the barriers surrounding EGS provision and production, and thereby strengthen climate-adaptive and adaptable seed systems
Implications of selection in common bean lines in contrasting environments concerning nitrogen levels
Towards understanding the traits contributing to performance of pearl millet open-pollinated varieties in phosphorus-limited environments of West Africa
Aims
Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] open-pollinated varieties, which are the predominant cultivars, have never been systematically evaluated for adaptation to low-soil phosphorus (P), a major constraint on pearl millet production in West Africa (WA).
Methods
We evaluated grain yield (GY), flowering time (FLO), harvest index (HI), and residual grain yields (RGY) of 102 open-pollinated varieties from WA under low-P (−P) and high-P (+P) field conditions in six environments of WA. In addition, PE-related traits of the varieties were evaluated at early growth stage in a pot experiment.
Results
Significant genetic variation was observed for GY, FLO, HI and PE-related traits. P-efficient varieties had higher yield under −P conditions. Varietal performance under −P varied across environments depending on FLO, relative flowering delay under −P (FD) and RGY measured in the field. Low-P-susceptible varieties had higher FLO, lower HI than low-P-tolerant varieties. Response to direct selection under −P field conditions was 20.1 g m−2, whereas indirect selection response under +P was 16.3 g m−2.
Conclusions
Selection under −P field conditions while taking into account seasonal variations for FLO, FD and PE is expected to be important for improving GY specifically targeting −P environments in WA
Two in one sweep: aluminum tolerance and grain yield in P-limited soils are associated to the same genomic region in West African Sorghum
Cytoplasmic male-sterile synthetics: a new approach to the exploitation of heterosis in rape
A QTL for rice grain yield in aerobic environments with large effects in three genetic backgrounds
A selection strategy to accommodate genotype-by-environment interaction for grain yield of wheat: managed-environments for selection among genotypes
Conservation of crop genetic resources in Brazil in the context of the target 9 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
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