Farmers’ preferences for climate-smart cowpea varieties: implications for crop breeding programmes

Abstract Background Low plant density and wide intra-plant spacing in traditional cowpea cropping systems are among the factors responsible for low yield on farmers’ fields. Sole cropping and improved intercropping systems have been advocated in the last few years to increase yield in the dry savannah areas of Nigeria. This study investigated the level of adoption of high yielding cowpea cropping systems including factors that influenced their use and farmers’ perceived production constraints and preferences. A total of 420 farmers across 36 villages of northern Nigeria were interviewed, and data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics to appraise farmers predominant cowpea cropping systems and factors that determine the use of sole versus intercropping were identified with the aid of binary logit regression. Furthermore, pairwise comparison ranking was deployed to understand farmers’ view of cowpea production constraints and preferred traits. Results The results revealed that, many of the farmers (42%) still grow cowpeas in the traditional intercropping and a good number (25%) cultivate the crop as a sole crop, while 23% had fields of cowpeas in both sole and intercropping systems. Farmers reported the incidence of high insect pests, limited access to land, desire to have multiple benefits, and assurance in the event of crop failure as reasons for preference for intercropping over sole planting. The pairwise comparison ranking of constraints and preferences revealed insect pests, Striga, drought and poor access to fertilizers as major constraints to increased productivity. Many farmers indicated high yield as the most preferred trait. Conclusions Findings indicate a need for increased education and training of cowpea farmers on the importance of growing cowpeas in sole cropping and or improved intercropping systems. Genetic improvement efforts should focus on developing cowpea varieties that address farmers production constraints and reflect the diversity of consumers’ preferences for the crop. Hence, breeding for resistance to insect pests and high yield is recommended as an important priority of cowpea breeding programmes in the region.

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Current trends in apple tree breeding (Malus Mill.)

Horticulture and viticulture ◽

10.31676/0235-2591-2020-6-5-11 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 5-11

Author(s):

O. V. Kalinina ◽

Yu. V. Burmenko ◽

N. Yu. Svistunova

Keyword(s):

Cost Effective ◽

Tree Breeding ◽

Industrial Sector ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Relevant Today ◽

Planting Material ◽

Current Trends ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Apple Cultivars ◽

Modern Breeding

Apples are among the most significant fruit crops in Russian horticulture. The wide variety, as well as the prominent economic potential of the crop, both enable its cultivation across many climate zones and bring orchard farming in general to the attention of investors in the agro-industrial sector. Breeders have met the rising challenges inherent in creating varieties that are superior in terms of productivity, abiotic- and biotic stress resistance, fruit quality and competitive fast-return capacity. In the present article, current research in apple breeding including methods for intensive selection is reviewed with a focus on breeding programmes for creating adaptive varieties having a high commercial and consumer value. Classical breeding can be complemented with modern techniques for an earlier selection of commercially valuable genotypes, identification of primary genotypes, as well as the creation of new donors and cultivars. The research achievements of leading national institutions in the development of apple varieties reflect additions to the Catalog of State-Permitted Cultivars of Agricultural Crops over the last decade. Most of the 422 permitted adapted apple cultivars are highly marketable due to having best-before-consumption dates in the winter. Despite current success in national orchard farming, further endeavours in crop breeding remain relevant today. Comprehensive research engaging genetics, physiology, phytopathology, virology, agrochemistry and nursery is essential for improving modern breeding programmes with the aim of supplying producers with high-quality planting material for a cost-effective, low pesticide, environmentallystable product.

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Analysis of Consumer’s WTP for Cowpea Varieties in Osun State, Nigeria: the Hedonic Pricing Approach

Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology ◽

10.24925/turjaf.v6i9.1120-1128.1832 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. 1120 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rabirou Kassali ◽

Abayomi Yusuf Oyewale ◽

Olufemi Adedotun Yesufu

Keyword(s):

Willingness To Pay ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Hedonic Pricing ◽

Primary Data ◽

Price Premium ◽

Price Variation ◽

Cowpea Varieties ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Almost All

Analysis of consumer preferences for cowpea varieties in Osun State was carried out with a view to identifying attributes that determine price variation among cowpea varieties and the effect on consumer’s willingness to pay for those varieties. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select 240 respondents for the study, comprising 180 cowpea consumers and 60 retailers. Primary data were collected on cowpea varieties, their attributes and the consumer’s willingness to pay for cowpea varieties using well structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that out of thirteen varieties found in the area, only nine varieties of cowpea were common in the market. The quality of each variety differs which explained variation in their price. In terms of preference the Oloyin variety is preferred most by 78% of consumers. Weevil resistance had the highest rank among the cowpea attributes. Oloyin had the highest WTP followed by Milk and Drum with ₦303, ₦237 and ₦213 per kg, respectively. Hedonic pricing methods provide a statistical estimate of premiums and discounts for cowpea attributes. Results indicated that weevil resistance was the most important attribute to consumer. Cowpeas with weevil damage tolerance, brown colour, large grain size and short cooking time commanded price premium for almost all the varieties. The consumer discounted prices for insect damage, small size, white colour, smooth skin and grain colour mixed together. The study concludes on the need for breeders and research institutes to incorporate these cowpea attributes that attracted price premium into their cowpea breeding programmes.

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Genetic diversity in sorghum mini-core and elite rainy and post-rainy genotypes of India

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

10.1017/s1479262115000441 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 127-137

Author(s):

Kuyyamudi Nanaiah Ganapathy ◽

Sujay Rakshit ◽

Sunil Shriram Gomashe ◽

Suri Audilakshmi ◽

Krishna Hariprasanna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Geographical Origin ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Breeding Lines ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Working Groups ◽

Sorghum Genotypes ◽

Germplasm Accessions ◽

Selection Of ◽

Nei's Genetic Distance

Knowledge on genetic diversity is necessary to determine the relationships among the genotypes, which allow the selection of individual accessions for crop breeding programmes. The present study aimed at assessing the extent and pattern of genetic diversity within a set of 251 sorghum genotypes using SSR markers. A total of 393 alleles were detected from the 251 genotypes, with the number of alleles ranging from 2 (Xcup11) to 24 (Sb5-206) and an average of 10.07 alleles per primer pair. Pairwise Wright's FST statistic and Nei's genetic distance estimates revealed that the race and geographical origin were responsible for the pattern of diversity and structure in the genetic materials. In addition, the analysis also revealed high genetic differentiation between the rainy and post-rainy sorghum groups. Narrow diversity was observed among the different working groups in the rainy (restorers and varieties) and post-rainy (varieties and advanced breeding lines) sorghum groups. Neighbour-joining and STRUCTURE analysis also classified 44 elite lines broadly into two distinct groups (rainy and post-rainy). However, limited diversity within the rainy and post-rainy sorghum groups warranted an urgent need for the utilization of diverse germplasm accessions for broadening the genetic base of the Indian breeding programme. The diverse germplasm accessions identified from the mini-core accessions for utilization in breeding programmes are discussed.

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SEASONAL VARIATION ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF CLUSTER BEAN [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.(Taub)]

Innovations in Agriculture ◽

10.25081/ia.2018.v1.i1.1029 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 05

Author(s):

S. Anuja, Gollavenkata Sowjanya

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Plant Height ◽

Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Cluster Bean ◽

Pod Yield ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Superior Genotypes

An investigation was carried in two seasons, season I during (July-Sep) 2015 and season II during (Feb-April) 2016 with thirty-five genotypes of cluster bean to identify superior genotypes for further crop breeding programmes. The results revealed that the season I showed relatively superior mean performance with respect to plant height, number of pods, and pod yield per plant when compared to season II. During season I, genotypes CT-31, CT-26, CT-32, CT-27 showed better performance in terms of pod yield per plant,and , number of pods per plant. During season II, genotypes CT-31, CT-26, CT-33 showed better performance in terms of pod yield per plant, number of pods per plant.

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Addressing the threat of climate change to agriculture requires improving crop resilience to short-term abiotic stress

Outlook on Agriculture ◽

10.1177/0030727018807722 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 270-276 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrew M Beacham ◽

Paul Hand ◽

Guy C Barker ◽

Katherine J Denby ◽

Graham R Teakle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Abiotic Stress ◽

Leafy Vegetables ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Short Term ◽

Transient Stress ◽

Weather Events ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Global Agriculture

Climate change represents a serious threat to global agriculture, necessitating the development of more environmentally resilient crops to safeguard the future of food production. The effects of climate change are appearing to include a higher frequency of extreme weather events and increased day-to-day weather variability. As such, crops which are able to cope with short-term environmental stress, in addition to those that are tolerant to longer term stress conditions are required . It is becoming apparent that the hitherto relatively little studied process of post-stress plant recovery could be key to optimizing growth and production under fluctuating conditions with intermittent transient stress events. Developing more durable crops requires the provision of genetic resources to identify useful traits through the development of screening protocols. Such traits can then become the objective of crop breeding programmes. In this study, we discuss these issues and outline example research in leafy vegetables that is investigating resilience to short-term abiotic stress.

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Evaluation of cowpea germplasm lines for protein and mineral concentrations in grains

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

10.1017/s1479262111000815 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 515-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Ousmane Boukar ◽

Festo Massawe ◽

Satoru Muranaka ◽

Jorge Franco ◽

Bussie Maziya-Dixon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Mineral Contents ◽

Cowpea Varieties ◽

Mixture Of Normal Distributions ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Report Data ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Different Origins ◽

Mineral Concentrations

Cowpea, an indigenous crop to sub-Saharan Africa, is found mainly in the dry savanna regions along with cereals such as millets and sorghum. Cowpea is grown primarily for human consumption of the grains, which are rich in protein, carbohydrates and contain some minerals. The development and deployment of cowpea varieties with higher nutritional value will be of immense benefit to consumers. As a first step in the enhancement of mineral content in cowpea grains, several germplasm lines (1541) of different origins and obtained from the genetic resources unit at IITA were sown in the experimental field in Minjibir, Kano State, Nigeria. The grains were analysed for protein and nine mineral contents. However, in this study, we shall report data on crude protein, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, K and P. The data generated from the chemical analysis were subjected to the ‘mixture of normal distributions’ clustering method, which distributed the cowpea lines into nine groups. Groups G7 and G9 contained 174 genotypes and these were characterized by high mineral concentrations. The mean nutritional content values for group G9 were 24.7% for protein, and 58.9, 41.5, 1107, 2132, 15,282 and 5664 mg/kg for Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, K and P, respectively. On the other hand, the 363 lines making up groups G2, G3 and G6 showed low amounts of nutrients in their grains. Some of the lines in G7 and G9 would be good as parents to use in breeding programmes that aimed at developing nutrient-dense cowpea varieties.

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Definition of the relevant constraints for research resource allocation in crop breeding programmes

Agricultural Administration ◽

10.1016/0309-586x(82)90046-2 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 273-284 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John H. Sanders ◽

John K. Lynam

Keyword(s):

Resource Allocation ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Definition Of

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Heavy Burden: Promoting Public Policy through the Use of Material Transfer Agreements for Plant Genetic Resources

Journal of International Biotechnology Law ◽

10.1515/jibl.2005.2.4.144 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Cary Fowler

Keyword(s):

Genetic Resources ◽

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

Raw Material ◽

Material Transfer ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Biotechnology Research ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Commercial World ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Heavy Burden

AbstractIntroductionPlant genetic resources – seeds and other genetic materials containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential use – are the biological foundation of agriculture, the raw material of plant breeding, and an increasingly important component in biotechnology research and product development. The conditions under which plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) may be accessed and used is therefore of critical importance to broad segments of the economy, to academic and applied researchers, to the legal profession, and to important social concerns such as achieving food security. Each year, hundreds of thousands of samples of PGRFA are distributed to researchers and breeders by genebanks and crop breeding programmes, arguably making this resource the most commonly exchanged of biological materials for research and development purposes in the academic and commercial world.

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Exploitation of forage attribute-based variations in Sudan pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] collections

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

10.1017/s1479262113000312 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 83-90

Author(s):

Sara A. Babiker ◽

Mohammed A. M. Khair ◽

Izzat S. A. Tahir

Keyword(s):

Pearl Millet ◽

Pennisetum Glaucum ◽

Field Trials ◽

Forage Yield ◽

Research Station ◽

Crop Breeding ◽

Forage Crops ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

Phenotypic Variations ◽

The Rich

Triggered by the need to develop inter-seasonal, multi-cut cereal forage crops, this study aimed at the exploitation of phenotypic variations among the rich pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) collections in Sudan for possible utilization in forage-type breeding programmes. A total of 100 pearl millet accessions were used in three field trials grown in rainy, winter and summer seasons (2008–2009) at the Gezira Research Station Farm and the Gezira University Experimental Farm. Wide diversity and highly significant differences in the total dry forage yield, days to harvest, plant height, number of tillers/plant and leaf/stem ratio were found among the accessions. At an 80% morphological similarity level, the 100 accessions of pearl millet were clustered into four main groups. In the rainy and winter seasons, 71 and 56% of the accessions produced forage yield of more than 5 t/ha, respectively. In contrast, 77% of the accessions produced less than 5 t/ha in the summer season. Among the top-ranking 25 accessions, two accessions (HSD 2190 and HSD 2236) were common in dry matter yield in the three seasons, whereas 11 accessions were identified in at least two seasons. The presence of such common accessions in more than one season is encouraging for growing pearl millet as a multi-cut crop for a longer period. These results indicated the possibility of the development of forage-suited varieties of pearl millet directly through further evaluation of those common accessions or indirectly through a crop breeding programme.

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