The Global Planning Meeting 2019 focused on breeding improved varieties and/or hybrids of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, pearl millet, finger millets and sorghum. The research targets enhance genetic gain for traits of interest through trait/allele discovery and deployment for stress tolerance to biotic and abiotic production constraints, improved nutritional quality and market traits to accelerate the use of the natural genetic diversity of ICRISAT’s mandate crops, early variety development with traits of interest using multi-locational performance trials and participatory variety selection to identify promising new breeding lines, a new focus wherein breeding programs identify target population environments for our crops across the region.

1. Crop Improvement for Updates
ICRISAT East and Southern Africa
PRESENTATION DURING ICRISAT’S GLOBAL
PLANNING MEETING
February 2019
Team ICRISAT ESA

2. Context
1. Our Market: Demands and Opportunities
2. ESA R&D Crop improvement plan and implementation
a) S&T investments
b) Delivery of innovations
c) New opportunities

3. Source: Africa’s development dynamics 2018: Growth, jobs and inequalities
Market: Client needs and opportunities
Africa has 23/33 countries
most prone to climate
change
Climate Change
Urbanization level
45%
50%
20352018
Cities of less than 500 000 residents
accounted for 67% of urban growth
between 2000 and 2018
Urban Transition
Implications
• Diversified food systems
• HH resilience
• Income & trade opportunity

4. ESA R&D Crop improvement plan and implementation
1. Accelerated & targeted breeding
a)Improved efficiency of breeding operations
1. Product concepts to guided variety development
2. Breeding cycle management
• New crosses to diversify products
• More generation advance
• Phenotyping, genotyping & data management
b)Build and engage partner capacity
• Modernization of breeding programs
• Human resources (Techs & Scien.)
• Automation infrastructure
2. Seed systems, ICM and the future
a) Build capacity for EGS production
b) Dual systems for seed deployment
c) Nutrition integration & crop protection- new threats

5. S&T investments: Legumes
Diversifying variety portfolio
2- 3 product lines based on productivity, end-use and market needs
Pigeonpea
1. Medium duration (60%)
2. Long duration (30%)
3. Short duration (10%)
Groundnut
1. Medium duration (40%)
2. Long duration (15%)
3. Short duration (45%)
Chickpea
1. Short to medium duration (80%)
2. Medium to long duration (20%)

6. Pigeonpea: Climate resilient, large seeded & Pest tolerant
Genotype Days to
mature
100 Seed
Mass (g)
Yield
(kg/ha)
ICPV 182294 147 24 2195
ICPV 182296 142 25 1887
ICPV 182297 140 23 1720
ICPV 182298 150 21 1602
ICPV 182300 143 26 1587
ICEAP 00850 122 15 652
ICEAP 00557 122 13 365
ICEAP 00554 128 15 357
Forage
Intercropping
Thrust: Diversification and crop area expansion
Same variety in non irrigated and irrigated sites
Pest-tolerant, red-podded and cream seeded

7. Highlights: Groundnut
New generation varieties:
Release 2-3 per country biannually to in 2-3 years time
1. Diversify genepool
2. 350 crosses annually made for
3. High though-put and effectiveness
a) Assessment of molecular markers
b) Increasing number of generation cycles
c) Optimized testing environments (Rust-
Tanzania, GRD-Malawi, insect pests-Uganda,
Drought-WCA
d) Annually share 2- populations with each NARS
e) Entered 3-5 lines in NPT (7) NARS
f) Released 5 varieties (1 -Zambia & 4 -Tanzania)
g) Account for 80% of EGS in Malawi= (2,395MT)
4. Nutrition and value-added programming.
5. Adaptation to multiple cropping systems
1. Double-up legume
2. Shading tolerance
Mtwara Tanzania
On-farm research-1500
farmers annually engaged
Crop/ parameter Metric Achievement
Yield - Groundnut Tons/ha 1.1
Yield - Pigeonpea Tons/ha 0.8
Gross Margin - Groundnut US$/ha 354
Gross Margin - Pigeonpea US$/ha 170
Direct Beneficiaries Households 110,495
Individuals Trained Number 24,269
Crop Diversification FtF index 0.61

8. Highlights : Chickpea
1) 60 crosses made yield, seed size, stresses
2) 470 segregating population (F2-F5) advanced
3) About 17 lines ready multi location testing in
(Ethiopia and Tanzania)
4) Twelve super performing germplasm lines
have been evaluated for release by four of
NARS
5) Testing rapid generation advance: Achieved 4
generations per year
6) Intensification: evaluated for in wheat belt of
Ethiopia and two varieties found suitable.
7) Expanding to Malawi will released in 2019
8) Capacity building: 115 (94M +21F)
9) Root system study has been done
Crop expansion: Malawi
AB screening site : Ethiopia

9. S&T investments: Dry land Cereals
Diversifying variety portfolio
2- 3 product lines based on productivity, end-use and market
needs
Sorghum
1. Extra-early to early-maturing dual- purpose (30%)
2. Medium late-maturing (60%)
3. Low temperature tolerant long-duration dual-purpose (10%)
Pearl millet
1. Early-maturing (10%)
2. Early to Medium duration (80%)
3. Medium to long duration (10%)
Finger millet
1. Medium to long duration (60%)
2. Short duration (40%)

10. Highlights : Sorghum and millets
1) 84 & 49 crosses made for Pearl & Finger millet
2) NPT: 4 varieties entered in Tanzania & Kenya
3) Hybrids = 25 entered in for pearl millet regional Trial
4) Stresses: Striga, fall armyworm & sorghum necrosis
5) Nutrient dense material breeding
1) Profiling of sorghum, pearl millet & finger millet
for (Fe, Zn and protein).
2) Trials: Pearl Millet High Fe Variety Trial: 30
6) Variety releases
• 4 for sorghum in Uganda, 3 in Malawi;
• 5 Finger millet released in Uganda, 4 in Kenya .
7) Intensification: Adaptability for intercropping.
8) Drudgery reduction
• Threshers evaluated
• Snap finger millet varieties evaluated
9) Seed systems = 7 tons EGS = 7 tons Stress breeding: Striga, necrosis and fall army worm
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
FMD
FMG
FM688
FM758
P224
PM19270
PM19299
PM10868
PM8798
PM01
PM6757
Zinccocnetrationppm
Variety
Zn conc. in finger & pearl millet

11. Automation: Use of digital data capture systems

12. Gender yield gap in Groundnut: Malawi
• Jointly managed plots produced
the highest groundnut yields
• Male managed fields had higher
yields (784.37kg/ha) than female
led in matrilineal households
(643.22kg/ha).
• Joint management occurs more in
matrilineal households and yields
better than male managed and
female managed plots.
• For crop improvement- need
encourage joint management of
groundnut production
784.37
478.81
726.48
643.22 645.66
1121.98
585.51
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Mangochi (Matrilineal) Mchinji (Matrilineal) Mzimba (Patrilineal)
Kgs/ha
Male managers Female managers Joinlty managed

13. Deriving value from dryland cereals and grain legumes
Assorted products: Malt product, yoghurt, milk all primarily based
on pigeonpea

14. Emergent and strategic thrusts
Underpin
sustainable
food
production
Increased yield
on less
resources
Improved varieties, GAPs,
sustainable intensification
Water use efficiency
Stress tolerance: endemic and new
threats
Multi-use
varieties: food,
feed & fuel
Crop & variety diversification
Crop area expansion
Labour and time-use
efficiency Drudgery: Prodn & proc.
Efficient & effective
operations
Automation
Leverage partner capacities &
resources

15. Thank You