ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

organizations, and development projects targeting rural area development. We are placing high emphasis on the
development and application of participatory breeding tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of achieving
outcomes for farmers in WCA.
Improving grain yield in specific WCA growing and production conditions is of particular concern, specifically for
pearl millet and sorghum, which have very high biomass yields, good adaptation to climate variability and change,
and are relatively well protected against the common diseases and pests. Efforts to increase Striga resistance in
farmer preferred cultivars are being pursued, as well as options tested to integrate Striga control options
successfully. Searching for options of increasing the partitioning of photosynthate to high quality grains is thus
necessary for WCA.
Nutrition and health concerns as targets for crop improvement research in WCA are gaining importance, and
breakthroughs are being achieved. New groundnut varieties can resist the early invasion by the aflatoxin producing
fungi (Aspergillus flavus). Combined with improved post-harvest techniques farmers now have the option to grow
groundnuts that will not have negative health effects on those who consume them. Tools for monitoring the
contamination of harvested or processed products are now available, and could be used for consumer protection.
Output target 3B1: Availability of pearl millet and sorghum cultivars with high and stable mineral (Fe, Zn)
content in whole and decorticated grain
With the addition of a nutritionist to our team, our chances to effectively address micro-nutrient nutrition through
crop improvement innovations have been significantly improved. We have been able to augment reliable
information and research results on causes for mal-nutrition of young children and their mothers in regions that
depend on sorghum and pearl millet as their staples. We are thus contributing to in-depth baseline studies of mineral
mal-nutrition in targeted project areas.
For the short term, we have targeted to quantify losses of mineral content, and possibly changes in availability
during key stages of processing, which have not received much research attention to date. Testing of varietal
differences for these key traits require methodology development, which has been launched in recent years. The
methods will include women farmers involved in processing whenever appropriate in a participatory manner.
To study genetic variation and environmental stability of mineral contents in improved cereal cultivars and landraces
with contrasting grain characteristics, replicated experiments involving 40-60 pearl millet and sorghum cultivars
from the WCA region, were conducted in both 2005 and 2006 in Niger and Mali. The results from 2005 revealed
highly significant differences between the entries and estimates of heritability on a plot basis of 61% for Fe and 83%
for Zn contents in the whole grain. The fertilizer treatments did not have any effect on the grain mineral contents.
Methods for better quantifying and possibly predicting decortication losses are presently being tested.
Activity 3B1.1: Screening diverse pearl millet and sorghum cultivars for mineral (Fe, Zn) content of the
grains, determine environmental stability and decortication losses
Milestones: Report on and seed of contrasting pearl millet varieties for Fe & Zn content available for distribution
(2007)
Experiments involving 40 pearl millet cultivars (with two fertilization levels and 3 replications) were conducted in
both 2005 and 2006 at Sadore, Niger, to study genetic variation and environmental stability of mineral contents in
improved pearl millet cultivars and landraces with contrasting grain characteristics. The results from 2005 revealed
highly significant differences between the entries and estimates of heritability on a plot basis of 61% for Fe and 83%
for Zn contents in the whole grain. The fertilizer treatments did not have any effect on the grain mineral contents.
Grain analyses of the 2006 trial are underway.
BIG Haussmann
Report and seed of contrasting sorghum varieties for Fe & Zn content available for distribution (2007)
Experiments involving 90 and 70 sorghum varieties of different origins and backgrounds were evaluated for Fe&Zn
contents during 2005 and 2006, respectively. The trials are also being used to study relationships between ease of
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