Abstract

Sorghum is the main staple food for the majority of the inhabitants of Somalia, one of the world's least developed countries, which is particularly afflicted by drought and desertification. Working in exceptionally harsh environmental conditions, this project seeks to assist the Agricultural Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture in establishing a National Sorghum Improvement Program. IDRC's support for this program started in 1981. A wide range of local and introduced sorghum lines have been screened and improved materials were selected for high and stable yields and tolerance to diseases, pests, birds and drought. Improved agronomic practices have been developed in cooperation with the Bay Region Agricultural Development Project.

Post-Project Summary

Two of the major objectives were achieved. The project developed improved sorghum cultivars that were high yielding, early maturing, drought tolerant, and disease and pest resistant. In addition, the project strengthened the institutional capacity of the recipient through training. There was limited success in the achievement of the agronomic, storage, and utilization objectives.

Germplasm from local sorghum was collected from six southern regions. The germplasm proved important for breeding grain quality, early maturity, forage quality, and resistance to storage pests and stem borer. Crosses were bred between local and promising exotic materials (imported from the ICRISAT Centre, India), as well as amongst the exotics to generate variability and select phenotypes with desirable combination of characters.

On-farm trials provided a medium of dissemination, as did field days, physical distribution of planting materials to farmers, and the coordination of activities related to the multiplication of seed. A symposium on "Insect Pest and Sustainable Food Production in Africa", held in Lusaka, Zambia, presented research findings related to pest infestation and control.

Recipient Institution(s)