By Standard Reporter

Nairobi,Kenya;Researchers under the regional body Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (Asareca) have developed a high yielding striga resistant sorghum.

The research will boost the crop’s productivity in the region. This comes as a relief to sorghum farmers in the East and Central Africa who for a long time have had to battle with the striga parasitic weed. The weed has affected production of this crop leading to the yield loss. “The striga weed is affecting almost 17 million hectares of farms in the East and Central Africa region,” Dr Charles Mugoya, head of Asareca’s Agro-Biodiversity and Biotechnology Programme (Agrobio) said in Nairobi. 

He observed that the weed, which sometimes leads to 100 per cent losses on yields, would not affect future sorghum production.

Sorghum is ranked second after maize as the most important cereal in the East and Central Africa region with about 300 million people in Africa depending on it as food grain. For many years, this weed has posed a great danger to food security to these huge numbers of people who depend on the crop to attain food security.  Striga attacks roots of young crops starving them of nutrients leading to low yields.

Damage control

The weed is a prolific seed-producer, a single plant producing more than 50,000 dust-like seeds that are readily spread by wind, water or contact, and which survive in soil for up to 20 years.

Already, the regional agricultural body has developed 50 striga resistant sorghum lines. They are capable of giving up to 3.6 tonnes grains per hectare. Other partners like Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya and the International Crops Research Institute for the semi-arid Tropics. “The breakthrough will enable 300 million people in Africa who depend on sorghum to get out of hunger, attain food security, walk out of hunger bracket and live better lives,” Mugoya said.

“Utilisation of these varieties by farmers will bring about positive change in the lives of farmers in the East and Central Africa,” he added. In Kenya, the Integrated Striga Management in Africa project has embarked on a strategy to coat maize seeds with a mixture of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

The project donated a $37,000 (Sh3.1m) seed-coating machine to the Kenya Seed Company to allow trials amongst farmers.  Partners in this project include the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, BASF Chemical Company and African Agricultural Technology Foundation .

“The Government needs to renew its efforts in addressing the striga menace since it poses a challenge to food security in the country,” James Owuor a farmer in Western Kenya said.                       —Xinhua