News Overview

Devis Mwakanyamale, an IITA Research Associate in the Institute’s Dar es Salaam station, received the best poster award at the Cultivating Equality Conference. The virtual conference themed: Cultivating Equality: Advancing Gender Research in Agriculture and Food Systems was organized by the CGIAR Gender Platform and Wageningen University & Research as the EU Gender-Smart partner. The 4-day program included interactive discussions and contributions to advance gender research in

Soybean diseases such as soybean rust, red leaf blotch (RLB), and frogeye leaf spot (FELS) are major threats to the crop’s yield and production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). IITA is working with Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) to identify the most resistant or tolerant soybean varieties to major diseases threatening production. In the 2020–2021 season, the Institute set up monitoring plots, called

The Africa RISING project draws to a close in June 2022 On 11 and 12 November 2021, Africa RISING project partners, farmers and stakeholders in Mali convened at the technology parks in Bougouni and Koutiala regions for the last farmer’s field day of the project as it draws to a close in June this year. Technology parks within the project

An open field day at our research station in Samanko, Mali, introduced local private seed companies and project partners to new crop varieties and hybrids that are high-yielding, climate-resilient and nutritious. The major aim of the event was greater visibility of the improved agricultural technologies promoted through these projects and better linkages for commercial relations. The field day, held on

To train the next generation of researchers in the use of genomic tools for enhancing crop productivity and climate resilience in Mali, a training program on quantitative genetics and its application to selection was recently organized at ICRISAT’s Samanko research station. The training offered an overview of quantitative genetics such as genetic variance, heritability and use of markers. It started

In March 2021, a new network of specialists, the Breeding Informatics Network (BrIN) was established to standardize and modernize breeding data storage, access, curation, analysis, visualization, and decision support. The ultimate goal of BrIN is to improve quality and efficiency in delivering improved varieties to farmers. On December 15, 2021, BrIN celebrated their 2021 successes, and recognized key contributors around the

The national release of high oleic groundnut varieties Girnar 4 (ICGV 15083) and Girnar 5 (ICGV 15090) in India in 2020 generated interest among public and private seed producing agencies, leading to its quick uptake. To ensure production of seed with the highest genetic purity, especially for confectionery industries, actors across the commodity value chain were oriented on procedures and

High-yielding sorghum with grain yield between 1.8 to 2 t/ha and dry fodder yield of 7 to 12t/ha and biofortified pearl millet with yield potential of up to 1.2 to 1.5 t/ha captured the attention of farmers and seed producers from six villages at a farmers’ field day held at Wakoro village in Dioïla region of Mali. These early-maturing varieties