Tackling abiotic production constraints in pearl millet and sorghum-based agricultural systems of the West African Sahel

Published on 2 July 2010

Research Areas

Crops, Seed Systems

Countries

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal

Timeline

Start Date: 1 April 2010 | End Date: 31 March 2013

Overview

Using an integrated genetic and natural resource management (IGNRM) approach, this project aims at enhancing adaptation of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaueum (L.) R. Br.] and sorghum [Sorghumhieolor (L.) Moench] to low-phosphorus (P) soils and water stress in the Sahelian zone of West Africa (WA). A combination of physiological experiments, classical and marker-assisted breeding research, and agronomic studies is used to tackle the combined effects of low soil P and droughts on pearl millet and sorghum growth in West Africa’s smallholder cereal production systems. In a stepwise approach the studies will unravel available genetic diversity for low-P tolerance and enhance the understanding of the relative importance of low soil P and water stress, and their interaction, for cereal productivity in the Sahel. New crop management techniques beyond fertilizer micro-dosing will be developed and tested, such as seed coating with P, promotion of symbiosis with vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) and on-farm processing of rock phosphate (RP), to help enhancing productivity under Sahelian abiotic stress conditions. A strong focus on farmer experimentation with adapted cereal cultivars and new crop management options will help validating these techniques and contribute to early adoption and project impact. Outputs will include:

1. Variation among West African pearl millet and sorghum varieties and major mechanisms for adaptation to low-P soils understood, and promising germplasm identified.

2. Knowledge generated about interaction between P deficiency and water stress in pearl millet       and sorghum and potential indirect screening methods assessed.

3. Initial molecular markers for tolerance to low soil P identified in pearl millet and  sorghum.

4. New management options tested that enhance cereal performance under soil P deficiency and      water stress.

5. New cereal cultivars and crop management options for enhancing productivity under the combined pressure of low-P and water stress in the Sahel assessed and validated through farmer experimentation under target environment conditions.

Research Partners

• Government
• Institut d’Economie Rural (IER), Mali
• NARI - National Agricultural Research Institute
• Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso
• Institut de Recherches Agronomiques du Niger (INRAN), Niger
• Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA)
• University
• University of Hohenheim, Germany
• University of kassel-Witzenhausen(UKW),Germany

Tags

IGNRM, mycorrhizza, P uptake and use efficiency, water use efficiency