Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

Table 11-14 Average performance of soybean genotypes for six traits in on-farm PVS mother trials in four states
in Nigeria - 2010
Gonotype Grain yield
(kg per ha)
Fodder yield
(kg per ha)
Days to
maturity
No. of pods
per plant
100 seed
weight (g)
Plant
height (cm)
TGx 1987-10F 1916 1489 86 88 12.64 38
TGx 1987-62F 1767 1368 82 75 11.05 37
TGx 1835-10E 1627 1334 78 72 13.36 32
TGx 1485-1D 1551 1316 79 66 11.82 30
NCRI Soy8 1474 1304 106 61 10.02 40
TGx 1448-2E 1905 1517 101 117 12.60 40
Mean 1707 1388 89 80 11.91 36
CV (%) 13 14 14 14 15.70 14
SE 5 4 6 7 0.16 3
Varieties released
TGx 1835-10E was the first variety to be released in Nigeria in 2008, in one season PVS trials, due to
its superior performance, particularly rust resistance. The Nigerian Plant Variety Release Committee
in its meeting in December 2008 approved the registration and release of TGx 1835-10E for general
cultivation. This is the first release of a rust-resistant variety in West and Central African countries, as
well as the first release of a soybean variety in Nigeria since 1992. In an on-farm trial carried out at 13
locations in eight states, TGx 1835-10E showed a yield advantage of 25% over a rust susceptible variety
TGx 1485-1D used for a long time. Subsequently, a new medium maturing variety, TGx 1904-6F, with
high grain and fodder yields was released at the end of 2009 in Nigeria. TGx 1904-6F is adapted to
northern Nigeria where both crop and livestock farming is practiced. This variety has a high biological
nitrogen fixation capacity. TGx 1904-6F is resistant to lodging, pod shattering, Cercospora leaf spot and
bacterial pustule. In Borno State, the mean grain yield of TGx 1904-6F was 3034 kg per ha whereas the
previously popular variety TGx 1448-2E gave 2441 kg per ha. This variety was released in Nigeria by
the National Variety Release Committee at its meeting in Ibadan on 4 December 2009. The variety was
released based on its performance in northern Nigeria where soybean is gaining faster acceptability.
The farmers in Borno and Kano states like this variety because it provides fodder for their animals during
the dry season in addition to its high grain yield.
Another two rust resistant varieties (TGx 1987-62F and TGx 1987-10F) were released in Nigeria
through the approval of the Nigerian Variety Release Committee in December 2010. TGx 1987-62F
and TGx 1987-10F gave an average grain yield of 1670 and 1630 kg per ha, respectively, in a two-year
multi-location on-station trials in Nigeria. TGx 1987-62F and TGx 1987-10F gave 58% and 54% more
grain yield, respectively, as compared to an early maturing variety TGx 1485-1D in a two-year average
performance. They also surpassed the recently released variety TGx 1835-10E by 22% to 33% in grain
yield in the 2009 on-station trials. These varieties mature in 96-97 days on average and are capable of
producing 2.6 MT/ha fodder under on-station trials condition. Besides giving high grain yield, these
varieties were resistant to soybean rust and other foliar diseases. In the 2009 multi-location trials, rust
incidence was only 1.3-1.6% as compared to the susceptible variety TGx 1485-1D that showed a
22.3% incidence in the same trial. On-farm trials in four states (Kaduna, Benue, Kano and Niger) of
Nigeria by 175 farmers showed that TGx 1987-10F and TGx 1987-62F gave 1626 kg per ha and 1567
kg per ha, respectively. These new varieties surpassed TGx 1485-1D by 5 - 9% in terms of grain yield.
These varieties are preferred by many farmers because they smoother weeds and reduce the cost of
weeding, mature early, give high yield and the seed colors are attractive.
In Malawi, TGx 1740-2F was officially released on 18 January 2011 through the approval of the Malawi
Agricultural Technology Clearing Committee (ATCC). TGx 1740-2F outperformed the popular varieties
being grown in the country during both on-station and on-farm trials. It has proven to be a promising
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Engaging Smallholder Farmers | Tropical Legumes II Project