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Reaching African
farmers with stress-tolerant crop varieties: achievements and future
challenges
Marianne
Banziger, A. Diallo, B. Vivek, J. MacRobert, C. Magorokosho, G. Atlin,
R.
Trethowan, Y. Xu, M. Warburton, A. Langyintuo, M. Mwangi
Breeding crops for highly variable, stress environments in general, and
drought tolerance in particular, has been the objective of much research.
Evidence is emerging about significant
achievement in improving a range of cereals for abiotic stress tolerance.
These success stories have improved our understanding of underlying
mechanisms and effective breeding methodologies. This presentation
provides an overview of successful approaches, its relevance to African
crop-breeding programs, projected future research developments, and
breeders’ investment needs. It also highlights the intrinsic challenges
encountered to rapidly get seed of new and improved crop varieties to
farmers in stress environments given specific
socio-economic considerations of farmers and the seed sector in and for
those environments, and given current policies and institutional
realities. Conclusions are drawn on necessary action steps by a wide range
of players in the crop improvement sector assuming that they want to see
an African green revolution become a reality over the next decade.
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