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3: Genetic Diversity and Improvement of Dryland Crops

  • Page ID
    134468
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    • 3.1: Biodiversity as a Cornerstone of Agrosystems’ Sustainability in West Africa
      This page highlights the critical role of agrobiodiversity in enhancing agricultural resilience and sustainability, especially in climate-affected regions like West Africa. It emphasizes the importance of diverse crops, wild relatives, and farmer knowledge in promoting food security amid climate change. Intercropping and genetic variation are identified as key strategies to stabilize crop yields and adapt to environmental fluctuations.
    • 3.2: Management of Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp)] Germplasm Diversity in Senegal- A Crucial Asset for Breeding Programs
      This page discusses efforts to manage cowpea genetic resources in Senegal, highlighting a national collection initiative aimed at improving agricultural productivity and food security. It reviews past collections, reveals higher genetic diversity in hybrids compared to cultivated varieties, and identifies challenges such as low genetic diversity among cultivated accessions. Comparative studies show Senegal's cowpea diversity is lower than Nigeria's but higher than several other countries.
    • 3.3: From Shade to Light- Fonio, an African Orphan Crop, Towards Renewed Challenges
      This page discusses fonio, a drought-tolerant cereal from West Africa, vital for food security and nutrition. Despite its significance, fonio has limited research, though genomic advancements are aiding breeding efforts. Emphasizing participatory breeding and conservation of genetic diversity, the page highlights fonio's resilience and nutritional benefits for smallholder farmers, especially women.
    • 3.4: Past, Present, and Future of West African Sorghum Improvement- Building a Roadmap for Climate-adaptive, Farmer-adopted Varieties
      This page discusses the evolution and advancements in sorghum breeding in West Africa, particularly focusing on improved varieties for resilience and yield in changing environments. Breeding programs in countries like Senegal and Niger aim to enhance grain quality and adapt varieties to local conditions, driven by farmer preferences. The integration of genomics-assisted techniques and innovative breeding technologies is emphasized to accelerate trait discovery and improve food security.
    • 3.5: Modern Approaches for Sorghum Breeding in Mali
      This page discusses a project focused on enhancing sorghum yield and quality in Mali using marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS). Between 2009-2014, two bi-parental populations were developed, utilizing quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis to identify beneficial genetic traits. The project identified key QTLs affecting traits such as flowering time and grain quality, resulting in the registration of four elite lines.
    • 3.6: Genetic Improvement of Pearl Millet in Senegal- Past, Present and Future Prospects
      This page discusses the significance of pearl millet in Senegal for food security, noting its cultivation challenges such as diseases, drought, and reliance on unimproved varieties. Progress in breeding programs aims to enhance yield and resilience, incorporating genomics and participatory approaches to meet farmers' needs.
    • 3.7: Breeding for Drought Adaptation and Fresh Seed Dormancy of Groundnut in Senegal- Advances, Challenges, and Prospects
      This page discusses the significance of groundnut as a cash crop in Senegal, detailing breeding programs aimed at developing drought-tolerant and fresh seed dormancy varieties in response to climate challenges. It highlights advancements in breeding techniques, such as genomic selection, high-throughput phenotyping, and the management of genetic diversity through core collections.


    This page titled 3: Genetic Diversity and Improvement of Dryland Crops is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ndjido A. Kane, Daniel Foncéka, and Timothy J. Dalton (Prairie Press) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.