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Advances of groundnut breeding and seed systems in Tanzania

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/10725/
 
Title Advances of groundnut breeding and seed systems in Tanzania
 
Creator Mponda, O
Monyo, E
Okori, P
 
Subject Plant Breeding
Tanzania
Groundnut
Seed Systems
 
Description Groundnut (Arachis hypogeal L.) is an important oilseed crop,
mainly grown by smallholder farmers on 839,631 ha in four
agro-ecological zones (Lake, central, western and southern) of
Tanzania. The average yield is 965kg/ha with a national production
of 810,000 tons. The major production constraints are
foliar diseases (rosette, early leaf spot, late leaf spot, and rust),
drought, aflatoxin contamination, and low soil fertility. This paper
explores the advances made in a breeding program to solve
these challenges. The genotype by environment interaction with
linkage to good agronomic practices, using effective selection
molecular tools, was used and significant achievements were
recorded. Eight improved varieties were released with support
from ICRISAT-led programs. The newly-released varieties command
high-yielding ability (1800-2500 kg/ha), and tolerance to
rosette disease and drought, and are highly preferred by farmers
and market. The improved varieties increased yields and productivity
at the farm level and groundnut production from 400,000-
810000 tons over the last 10 years.
Effective seed delivery to smallholder farmers did not automatically
follow. The Tropical Legumes Project, through NARI,
designed rural seed fairs which are used to create awareness,
increase accessibility, and create working contacts among community
seed producers. Other seed delivery models tested and
used include: farmer research groups, demonstrations, field
days, community seed production, radio and TV events, political
figures’ engagement and multi-stakeholder engagements. These
models have raised awareness, increased demand of improved
seed, and enhanced smallholder seed supply at affordable price
with a significant number of beneficiaries reached (1,600,000
farmers)
 
Date 2017-02
 
Type Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/10725/1/297.pdf
Mponda, O and Monyo, E and Okori, P (2017) Advances of groundnut breeding and seed systems in Tanzania. In: InterDrought-V, February 21-25, 2017, Hyderabad, India.