“Nyota” (CIP398190.200) was released in Kenya in 2017 as a table variety. This tetraploid potato variety developed by CIP late blight resistance breeding pipeline in Peru is resistant to late blight, tolerant to warm temperatures, and has medium maturity (90-120 days). Tubers are oblong, flesh color is cream, skin color is white cream and eyes are shallow with pinkish color.
IT99K-573-1-1 is a cowpea variety developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and evaluated and released as variety in several countries including Nigeria (2011), Tanzania (2012), Sierra Leone (2015) and Ghana (2017). It derived from the cross lT93K-596-9-12 X IT86D-880. It is an early maturing, photo-insensitive variety with an erect growth habit. Its morphological characteristics consist of a pigmentation on nodes of the stem and pulvinus at point of attachment to the stem while no pigmentation is observable on the calyx and pod tips. Flower color is white. The peduncles are also non pigmented and described as long and they carry the pods above the canopy. IT99K-573-1-1 is classified as medium size variety with a hundred seed weight ranging from 17 to 19g. The seeds are white with rough seed coat and brown eyes. Number of seeds per pod ranges from 12 to 17. Chemical analysis of the seeds showed 4.2% ash content, 23.36% crude protein, very low fat (1.73%), moderate sugar (6.39%), starch (44.5%) and tannin (1.4%). This variety is resistant to both Striga gesnerioides and Alectra vogelii . It combines resistance to several major common diseases and pests such as virus, fusarium wilt and rhizoctonia. It is also tolerant to drought and performs well in the major cowpea producing regions mainly in Sahel and Sudan Savannah agro-ecologies. Its potential grain yield is about 2.6 t/ha.
These two varieties are promising lines for future breeding of common beans for Africa. KATB1 is a yellow medium size commercial type highly demanded in east Africa with bush growth habit. It’s a released variety in Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Burundi. This line is early maturing (60-65 days) and drought tolerant with high yield potential. The best performance of this line is achieved when grown at altitudes between 900 to 1600 meters above sea level. It is moderately tolerant to anthracnose and angular leaf spot root rot but susceptible to Pythium and Fusarium root rot diseases. Characteristics like sweet grain taste, low flatulence, and broth color after cooking make this line a highly desirable market-demanded variety (Amongi et al., 2020; Dryland Seed, 2020; Ndimbo et al., 2022). The NABE12C (MAC31) line is a large seeded sugar (cranberry) bean with climbing growth habit and important market characteristic, i.e., cream/beige with pink to purplish speckles. The grain is considered very tasty, making favorable thick broth when cooked. The grain type of NABE12C is highly demanded in east and southern Africa. The variety is relatively tolerant to anthracnose, Pythium and Fusarium root rot and common bacterial blight (CBB) and is officially released in Uganda (Blair et al., 2008; https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/65909 ; https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/graduate-scaling-great-heights-growing-climbing-bean-in-uganda ). The best performance of this line is achieved when grown at altitudes between 900-1800 meters above sea level. Reference genomes of a combination of a bush and a climbing bean type of demanded grain market class, i.e., medium sized yellow and large sized sugar/cranberry are useful molecular tools for breeding purposes towards market directed genetics. References Amongi, W., Kato, F., Male, A., Musoke, S., Sebuliba, S., Nakyanzi, B., et al. (2020). Resistance of Andean beans and advanced breeding lines to root rots in Uganda. African Crop Science Journal 28, 377–397. Dryland Seed, L. (2020). Drought tolerance bean. 1–23. Ndimbo, M., Shida, N., Mbiu, J., Kilango, M., Madata, C., Binagwa, P., et al. (2022). Variety Catalogue of Common Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) Released in Tanzania. 47. https://agrilinks.org/post/yellow-bean-corridor-seed-grain-trade-potential https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XS8V.pdf https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajfand/334107.html
SM2775-4 (CIAT) progenitor for high and stable dry matter and erect plant type CG1141-1 (CIAT) progenitor for good cooking quality CM9912-167 (CIAT) progenitor for high and stable dry matter and erect plant type SM1127-8 (CIAT) progenitor for good cooking quality
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), in collaboration with the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) (previously the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute or KARI), conducted four nationally representative household surveys in the major maize growing areas during the last 30 years. All surveys used the same two-stage stratified design with maize production zones or agroecological zones (AEZs) as strata, census clusters or sublocations as primary sampling units, and maize-growing households as secondary sampling units. The first survey was conducted in 1992 and covered 79 clusters totaling 1397 farmers. This survey also defined the six AEZs, going from East to West, as the Coastal Lowlands, the Dry Mid-Altitude zone, the Dry Transitional zone, the Moist Transitional zone, the High Tropics, and the Moist-Mid Altitude zone. The second survey, conducted in 2002, covered 185 sublocations based on the 1999 census, with 1652 households. The third survey, of 2010, covered 120 sublocations with 1341 households while the fourth survey, of 2012, interviewed the same farmers with a replacement of 20% of randomly sampled households.
Applying the difference-in-difference (DID) estimation procedure, this study quantifies the wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum) induced losses in wheat yield, quantity of wheat sold, consumed, or stored, as well as wheat grain value in Bangladesh in 2016 following a disease outbreak that affected over 15,000 hectares. Estimates show that the blast-induced yield loss was 540 kg ha-1 on average for households in the blast-affected districts. Estimated total wheat production loss was approximately 8,205 tons worth USD 2.1 million following the outbreak. Based on these insights, we discuss the need for long-term assured investment and concerted research efforts in controlling transboundary diseases such as wheat blast, including the importance of weather-forecast driven early warning systems and the dissemination of blast-resistant varieties.
This research examines maize SMEs in Mexico that participated in MasAgro, and their capacity to produce new maize hybrids and commercialize these hybrids in a competitive seed market. For this research, 22 companies located in different regions of Mexico were interviewed. The sample included different sizes of companies to obtain a greater variation in the information collected. Data were collected onsite from in-depth interviews with enterprise owners and managers and complemented with other primary and secondary sources. The question questionnaire sought insights into strategic alliances with retailers and other maize SMEs, as well as access to external services, both financial and non-fnancial, from commercial providers (banks, consultants), government agencies, NGOs, and others, including MasAgro. The survey sought insights into absorptive capacity as related to seed production (e.g., launching of new commercial products and sources of cultivars), as well as in marketing and management (e.g. marketing strategies and tactics employed, pricing strategies, market information sources). The survey concluded with interviewees providing their perspectives on critical limitations faced for the production and marketing of hybrid maize seed. Results highlighted the critical role of MasAgro in reinvigorating the portfolios of seeds produced by maize SMEs, as well as the challenges ahead for maize SMEs to scale the new technologies in a competitive market that has long been dominated by multinational seed enterprises. Among these challenges were limited investment in seed marketing, weak infrastructure for seed production, and limited experience in business management.
In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, most wheat farmers access seeds from the private dealers. In spite of the high seed replacement rate (>85%), the farmers still use the age-old varieties (mean age >20 years). Since most farmers consider seed dealers as a valuable source of information, a study was designed to examine the willingness of private dealers to act as knowledge dissemination agents – by participating in workshops, demonstration trails, web-based training, etc. – and on different ways to incentivize them to ensure delivery of accurate information and quality seeds of recent varieties with desired traits.A trader survey was conducted in December 2021. The survey covered 40 villages, where household surveys are already completed as part of the AGG project in 2021. As part of another CIMMYT project (Climate Resilient Agriculture for Bihar, CRA), detailed village surveys with key informants were already conducted in the same villages. A telephone interview with key informants from these villages revealed that farmers get wheat seeds from about 210 private dealers (5-6 dealers per village). These dealers formed the respondents of the dealer survey. The interviews were conducted in December 2021, using a semi-structured questionnaire.
e-Agrology is a system that leverages data generated in the agricultural production cycle to optimize resources and improve the decision-making process in the field. Furthermore, linking e-agrology terms with tools such as OLS, AGROVOC and RHoMIS would help increase the reach of this tool. e-Agrology es un sistema que aprovecha los datos generados en el ciclo productivo agrícola para optimizar los recursos y mejorar la toma de decisiones en el campo. Además, relacionar los términos de e-agrology con herramientas como OLS, AGROVOC y RHoMIS ayudaría a aumentar el alcance de esta herramienta.
