Scientists get closer to developing tools that will fast track cowpea breeding

By Godwin Atser
Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan and partners in the Netherlands and the United States of America are a step closer to developing approaches/tools, through genome mapping, that will facilitate progress in the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance.

An IITA Lukas Brader Postgraduate Fellow, Eugene Agbicodo, who carried out the genetic analysis of drought-tolerance in cowpea and subsequently constructed a linkage map of the crop, identified portions on the cowpea genome where genes that have effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight could be located.

His findings have been hailed by breeders as part of landmarks for marker assisted selection in cowpea breeding.

A similar work was reported by researchers at the University of California, Riverside and researchers at the two institutions are comparing notes on the outcomes of their research to see areas of agreement, according to Christian Fatokun, Cowpea Breeder, who supervised the work at IITA.

“If both parties are able to find areas of agreement or concurrence, such areas of the genome would be of immense benefit when marker assisted selection is to be applied in cowpea breeding. So what will take about 10 years to accomplish could be done in three years or even less,” he said.

With about 70 per cent of world cowpea grown in the savannah region of Africa, the protein-rich legume provides not only incomes but also improves the health of its consumers. However, cowpea faces several production constraints among which are diseases, insect pests, parasitic weeds such as Striga, and drought which is becoming increasingly important in the cowpea producing zones of sub-Saharan Africa.

Agbicodo phenotyped and genotyped a set of cowpea recombinant inbred lines generated at IITA, Ibadan. Phenotyping was carried out in Ibadan and Kano while the genotyping was carried out at the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Consequently, he constructed a cowpea genetic linkage map using the data obtained from genotyping and phenotyping. The linkage map showed molecular markers that defined quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight among others.

The Lukas Brader Fellow will between 27 September and 1 October 2010 present his work at the 5th World Cowpea Research Conference holding in Dakar, Senegal.

Fatokun described the work as a milestone as scientists seek ways to fast track cowpea improvement.

According to him, he feels happy that technologies to quicken plant breeding are being developed.

Nigerian farmers to get improved cassava planting materials

By Godwin Atser
Farmers in seven states of Nigeria including Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Benue will benefit from the distribution of free improved cassava varieties, thanks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project.
The distribution of the varieties is part of activities lined up for 2010 by researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Ibadan who are implementing the Unleashing the Power of Cassava in Africa project (UPoCA) that is funded by USAID in seven countries namely Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique.
“The aim of the project in Nigeria is to empower 75,000 farms with improved varieties by the end of 2010. We also expect cassava yield in these areas to increase by 30 per cent,” said Richardson Okechukwu, IITA-UPoCA Deputy Project Manager who is also the Nigeria Country Coordinator.
“The project will thereafter ensure food security for Nigerians and neighboring northern countries like Niger and Chad, and will also provide more roots for the large-scale cassava industries,” he added.
Although increasing cassava production is one important aspect of the project, researchers are also pushing improved processing and utilization technologies to create more markets for the crop.
Consequently, between 23 February and 3 March 2010, the IITA-UPoCA project conducted two Training of Trainers (TOT) courses for farmers, processors, Women in Agriculture of Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs), non-governmental organizations, and other private business firms on cassava processing and utilization; and products packaging and labeling.
During the processing course, participants were trained on how to process 21 products including gari, soy fortified gari, starch, tapioca granules, soy milk, high quality cassava flour (HQCF), 10 per cent HQCF composite bread, cassava chin-chin, cassava meat ball, cassava root fritters, cassava croquettes, cassava cocktail tidbits, cassava flour doughnuts, cassava egg rolls, cassava cookies, cassava queen cakes, cassava strips, odorless fufu, kpokpo gari, yellow gari and cassava meat pie. They were also exposed to processing equipment such as motorized cassava graters and double screw press developed by IITA. The Product packaging and labeling course also exposed participants to the functions of packaging and communication among others.

Yam research gets $1million boost

By Godwin Atser

Research on yam improvement in West and Central Africa (WCA) involving Cameroon, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo has received about US$1million (about €750,000) lifeline, thanks to the European Union-African, Caribbean and Pacific Science and Technology Program (EU-ACP).

The support is coming amid global reawakening on the importance of yam as a food security crop in Africa

The research project tagged, “Strengthening Capacity for Yam Research-for-development in Central and Western Africa (SCYReC)” aims to improve the capacity for yam research-for-development in the region.

Specifically, it will help in finding sustainable solutions, through science and technology, to the challenges facing the crop and exploit its tremendous potential for food security and poverty alleviation.

Africa’s leading research partner, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture will manage and implement the project in collaboration with a team of national partners in 13 research institutions in the six countries including the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike.

“This is something good for the region where yam plays an important role in nutrition and economic well-being of the people,” says David Annang, IITA-SCYReC Project Coordinator.

“We are hopeful that the project will tackle the many challenges facing increased yam production,” he adds.

Despite its contribution to food security, yam faces a plethora of limitations among which are high costs of planting material and of labor, decreasing soil fertility, inadequate yield potential of varieties, as well as the increasing levels of field and storage pests and diseases associated with intensification of cultivation.

The labor requirements in yam cultivation for mounding, staking, especially in the forest zone, weeding, and harvesting exceed those for other starchy staples such as cassava. These account for about 40% of yam production costs while 50% of the expenditure goes to planting materials. The seed yams are also perishable and bulky to transport. If farmers do not buy new seed yams, they must set aside up to 30% of their harvest for planting the next year.

The EU-ACP-funded project, therefore, seeks to tackle these challenges by helping in the development of a framework for yam research-for-development in WCA. It will also build and increase the capacities of partners, and provide a platform for increased documentation and dissemination of information from yam research and development.

Ghanaian farmers get quality protein, drought-tolerant, and Striga-resistant maize varieties to boost production

Ghana has released four Quality Protein Maize (QPM) varieties tolerant of drought and resistant to Striga hermontica (a parasitic weed that reduces maize yield) to farmers to boost maize production in the drought-prone and Striga endemic areas of the country.
The varieties, which are early and extra-early maturing, were released by the Ghanaian Crops Research Institute (CRI) in collaboration with the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of Ghana.
Of the four varieties, three were developed by IITA in the Earlies Program and have the IITA designation, EV DT-W 99 STR QPM Co; TZE-W Pop STR QPM C0; and TZEE-W Pop STR QPM C0 ( an extra-early maturing variety).
The fourth, an intermediate maturing drought-tolerant QPM hybrid, was developed in the National Maize Program of Ghana.
The IITA varieties were developed through the funding support of the Nippon Foundation QPM Project during the period 2003-2006 and were extensively tested in on-station and on-farm trials in Ghana by the SARI and the CRI between 2008 and 2009 through the funding support of the Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA Project).
Besides resistance to Striga and tolerance to drought, the varieties also have high levels of lysine and tryptophan.
“With the release of these varieties, farmers in Ghana now have options not only in terms of maturity, grain color and type but also varieties which can tolerate the two major stresses which prevent increased maize production and productivity in the sub-region,” says Dr. Baffour Badu-Apraku, IITA Maize Breeder.
Endemic to the savanna agroecological zone of West Africa, Striga has become an important constraint to maize production, accounting for yield losses of between 20 and 80% in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and affecting the welfare and livelihood of over 100 million people.
Also, unpredictable bouts of rainfall in SSA because of climate change are equally reducing productivity gains.
Dr. Robert Asuboah of the Grains and Legumes Development Board of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana says farmers are eager to get the new varieties.
“We are excited because the varieties are ‘insurance’ crops. We are now experiencing droughts even during rainy seasons so the varieties will enable farmers to harvest more and make more money,” he says