抗寄生蟲的玉米受到尼日利亞農(nóng)民的“追捧”(圖)

Deadly beauty: Striga asiatica devastates crops byinfectingroots

USDA

[LAGOS] Nigerian farmers who tested new maize crops resistanttothe widespread Striga plant site are so enthusiastic abouttheirincreased crop yields that they are selling more seeds thantheofficial distribution channels.

The crops were developed in the Nigerian laboratories oftheInternational Institute for Agricultural Research (IITA).Theydramatically cut maize losses from the root-infecting Striga,orwitchweed, during two years of trial cultivation by farmersinBorno State in northern Nigeria.

Nigeria"s Institute for Agricultural Research begandistributingthe new site-resistant maize seeds in Decr 2008.

Abebe Menkir, the lead scientist on the research project atIITA,told SciDev.Net that some farmers in Borno state werealreadyproducing large quantities of resistant seeds and sellingthem onto farmers in and outside the region. He was unable to sayhow manyseeds are being — and will be — distributed throughofficialchannels.

"The farmers say they couldn"t wait for the official releaseofseedlings because the variety is successful, cutting losses,"saysMenkir.

Menkir said the next step was to distribute thesite-resistantmaize in other countries in West and CentralAfrica.

The varieties, known as Sammaz 15 and 16 contain genesthatdiminish the growth of sitic flowering plants such as Striga,whichattaches to the maize root. Both Sammaz varieties tolerateheavyStriga infestations without suffering crop losses.

"A normal maize variety without resistance to Striga cansustainfrom 60 per cent to 100 per cent grain yield loss infarmers"fields that are severely infested," Menkir told SciDev.Net.Sammaz16 loses just ten per cent of yield in an extremeinvasion.

Sammaz 16 is a late-maturing variety requiring 110 to 120 daysofgrowth, whereas Sammaz 15 can often be harvested at 100 days andismore suitable for regions with short growing periodsorunpredictable water supplies.

Agronomy researcher Michael Aken"Ova from the facultyofagriculture at the University of Ibadan, said thatproducingresistant and tolerant cultivars such as Sammaz is themosteconomically feasible, easily accessible, safe andsustainableapproach to combat losses due to Striga, particularlycompared tolabour-intensive methods such as weeding.

He added that he is sure that the resistant crops will soonmakeit to the farmers who need them, with the aid of leaflets,radiomagazine programmes and messages in local languages.

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