A Free State plant breeding professor has collaborated with more than 20 PhD students and post-doctoral fellows in 12 countries to advance food security and the nutritional status of poor rural communities.
Professor Maryke Labuschagne from the University of the Free State also holds the NRF-SARChI chair in disease resistance and quality in field crops. She explains that the research was largely focused on increasing food production. This, especially under the increasingly adverse climatic conditions that prevail in Africa.
The groups have launched research projects in several African countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Eswatini, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
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The research was, among others, on cowpeas which are indigenous to Africa and widely grown by small-scale farmers. They are high in protein and minerals, but almost no genetic improvement of this crop has been done.
Currently, two PhD students – one in Ghana (working with IITA in Nigeria) and one at the Agricultural Research Council in Pretoria – are researching the genetic variability of cowpeas to their nutritional value.
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“These students are determining levels of genetic variation for various characteristics to assist in future breeding efforts of this crop. A similar project is being done by a PhD student from Zambia who is working on Bambara groundnut, related to cowpea, which also has significant potential to contribute to food security,” says Labuschagne.
“One PhD student from Zambia is working on the bio-fortification of cassava for provitamin A. To determine its reaction to stress conditions, he is also testing these provitamin A cassavas in various environmental conditions.
“Vitamin A deficiency is rampant in Africa, causing blindness in severe cases. With genetic manipulation, the provitamin A is incorporated into the cassava,” explains Labuschagne.
She indicates that a PhD student from Ethiopia and another from the ARC in Potchefstroom are working on sorghum yield and nutritional value.
In the process, they will do genome-wide association studies to identify genes and groups of genes that determine yield and nutritional characteristics.
In order to improve maize production and nutritional value, a PhD student from Eswatini is looking at yield stability and iron and zinc variability in maize grown in this country.
Another five PhD students are working on maize, looking at various aspects of the genetic improvement of maize.
“A student in Ethiopia is working exclusively on quality protein maize to determine the genetic potential of newly released hybrids under adverse production conditions, compared to normal maize,” elaborates Labuschagne, a plant breeder.
A PhD student from Zimbabwe is working on maize, which is high in provitamin A, zinc, and high essential amino acids, as a ‘package’ for farmers to grow.
Another angle on maize research is a study of the effect of a male sterility gene on production by small-scale maize farmers in Southern Africa. A PhD student in Zimbabwe (in collaboration with Agronomy at the UFS) is conducting this study.
Pest resistance is the focus of another PhD study by a student in Zimbabwe. He is investigating the devastating fall armyworm, and how pest resistance can be genetically enhanced.
Making a positive difference
The research by collaborative teams and students is leading to the release of new commercial varieties of cassava, maize, sorghum, and other crops with better nutritional value, resilience to adverse climatic and production conditions, and biotic constraints such as pests and diseases.
“One of the most rewarding things is to see former students taking up their places all over Africa to become significant role players and decision makers in agriculture and plant breeding, and in this way directly contributing to food security on the continent,” states Labuschagne.
She says through decades of research and collaboration, they have established a strong network of researchers on the continent.
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