Project 1: Improved local plant varieties: plant genetics & biotechnology - East Africa

Project leader: Christina Dixelius

Sub-project 1: Disease breeding in sorghum; MAS technology and dissemination of information

Principal investigator at SLU: Christina Dixelius, Department of Plant Biology & Forest Genetics

Popular summary

Sorghum is a cereal crop, rather closely related to maize. The two grass species do also look very similar in a young seedling stage but their inflorescence vary significantly. In general, the sorghum crop is cultivated in drier and marginal regions of the African continent and is a key component of more than 50% of Africa’s rural household livelihood strategies. The current production level of sorghum is low, at less than one ton per hectare. This is because sorghum cultivation is still mainly characterized by traditional farming practices, with low inputs and use of unimproved landraces. We have for some years worked together with scientists and breeders in Uganda, particularly at Crop Science Department, Makerere University, to improve breeding material in order to increase yield and tolerance to several fungal diseases. New disease resistant genetic resources are now identified. However, there is a need to ensure that the desired resistance traits do not influence each other or other important traits in a negative way. Thus, the work will now switch to study genetic mechanisms, gene regulation and defence signalling in various genetic backgrounds.
Sorghum has a rich, rather unexplored genetic variation, ranging for sweet types suitable for bioenergy production, starchy malting genotypes, to more protein rich variants for food and feed purposes. At present, women in East Africa commonly have the main responsibility of sorghum crop production as well as selling its products ranging from grains to utensils made by the entire sorghum plant. New enterprise innovations, (female driven), will be looked for and strengthen in collaboration with new local innovation initiatives.

Sub-project 2: Genetic resources of yellow nutsedge in Kenya and parts of East Africa

Principal investigator at SLU: Anders  S. Carlsson, Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology

Popular summary

To alleviate the problems of malnutrition, the use of nutritious foods from local sources has been greatly advocated. Tubers from crops such as yam, sweet potato and cassava, are among the most common staples used for this purpose in Africa. The tuber producing yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) could in this respect be regarded as a neglected plant but with promising potential as a crop. As much as yellow nutsedge may be known as a most troublesome weed, it is valued due to its nutritious tubers that have high content of starch (35%), oil (25%) and sugar (18%). But even though it has potential as a nutritious crop, it is largely not exploited in Africa, except in few cases such as Nigeria and the Ivory Coast that produces and also exports a significant volume of these tubers.

This project will survey the presence of yellow nutsedge in Kenya and surrounding regions as well as investigate its potential as a tuber crop in Kenya. The genetic variation between different population of this plant and the natural variation in storage nutrients of its tubers will be analysed. This work is anticipated to provide valuable information about the genetic resource the local and regional population of yellow nutsedge constitutes in East Africa. Accessions, which have been identified as particularly commendable with regards to tuber nutrient composition, will be investigated in more detail in field trials in which tuber yield and nutrient composition will be determined. These trials will also provide know-how in how to best grow yellow nutsedge in East Africa and serve as a display window for this potential tuber producing crop.