The 2012 RUFORUM Biennial Conference is the third in the series. The main objective of the Biennial conferences is to provide a platform for agricultural research for development stakeholders in Africa and beyond to actively exchange findings and experiences, while at the same time learning lessons towards improving performance of the agricultural sector and ultimately people’s livelihoods. The biennial conference is RUFORUM’s most comprehensive meeting for the diversity of stakeholers in agriculture. It is especially dedicated to graduate students and their supervisors, grantees in RUFORUM member universities and alumni. It is a platform for peer review, quality control, mentorship, networking and shared learning. The third Biennial Conference was attended by 657 participants. This record contains an extended abstract accepted under the theme of Crop Improvement.
Diversity of Finger Millet for Crop Improvement in Uganda
Abstract:
Finger millet (Eleusine corocana L), though highly nutritious
and indigenous to Uganda, has not been fully exploited due to
limited breeding efforts, and little information about the diversity
existing within the germplasm collection. This has constrained
breeding efforts and reduced the role played by finger millet as
a food security crop for resource-limited farmers. Developing
stable, adaptable, and high-yielding varieties of finger millet that
include farmer-preferred traits should significantly increase the
adoption and use of finger millet as a basic staple food, and
hence reduce malnutrition among the rural poor. Improvement
of varieties requires identifying parents with diverse genetic
backgrounds. Therefore, the diversity in the existing germplasm
needs to be assessed and to expand it as needed in order to
enhance future breeding efforts. In this study substantial
diversity was documented among both local landraces and
introductions, and patterns of similarity were described.
L’éleusine (Eleusine corocana L.), bien que très nutritive et
indigène en Ouganda, n’a pas été pleinement exploitée à cause
des efforts de reproduction limités et peu d’information sur la
diversité existant dans les limites de la collection du matériel
génétique. Cela a contraint les efforts de reproduction et réduit
le rôle joué par l’éleusine en tant qu’une culture de la sécurité
alimentaire pour les agriculteurs à ressources limitées. Le
développement des variétés stables, adaptables et à haut
rendement de l’éleusine, qui incluent les traits privilégiés par
les agriculteurs devrait augmenter de manière significative
l’adoption et l’utilisation de l’éleusine comme un aliment de
base, et ainsi réduire la malnutrition au sein des populations
rurales pauvres. L’amélioration des variétés exige l’identification
des parents avec diverses origines génétiques. Par conséquent,
la diversité dans le matériel génétique existant doit être évaluée
et l’élargir au besoin, afin de renforcer les efforts futurs de
reproduction. Dans cette étude, la diversité substantielle a été documentée entre les deux variétés locales et les introductions,
et les modèles de similarité ont été décrits.
Language:
English
Extended Abstract for Crop Improvement
Date of publication:
2012
Country:
Region Focus:
East Africa
Collection:
RUFORUM Conferences and Workshops
Agris Subject Categories:
Agrovoc terms:
Additional keywords:
Licence conditions:
Open Access
Form:
Printed resource
Publisher:
Notes:
