Malian farmers garner benefits of breeding initiatives, despite pandemic

From
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Published on
26.03.21
Impact Area
Food security, Health

Mr Olivier Lefay, Program Manager, Food Security, of the Delegation of the European Union in Mali, and Dr Ramadjita Tabo, Regional and Research Program Director, West and Central Africa (WCA), ICRISAT, during the Annual Review and Planning Meeting of the UE-APSAN-Mali project. Photo: N Diakité, ICRISAT

EU-APSAN-Mali project makes great strides in first year.

More than 80,000 farmers, seed and grain producers, agro dealers and processors in Mali were reached through radio and TV messaging during 2020. This complemented 145 demonstrations of new varieties of sorghum, pearl millet, groundnut and cowpea for 3,300 producers. Even during times of a pandemic, assistance to farmers must continue, as was aptly shown in the first year of the UE-APSAN-Mali project. Modernization of breeding programs using RapidGen and capacity building of young scientists were other important components of the work.

ICRISAT’s breeding programs are being modernized to rapidly develop climate-smart crop varieties aligned with market demand. This has enabled breeding programs of the National Agronomic Research Institute (IER) in Mali to start off-season production and, using RapidGen (Rapid Generation Advancement) through irrigation facilities, to carry out two generations of breeding material per year instead of one. Last year, varietal trials for the four crops were set up by ICRISAT and IER.

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