Drought tolerant cowpea can improve crop yield in arid West Africa | Checkbiotech

Home | Contact Us | Partnership | Site Map

left shadow

Checkbiotech - for emerging fields of science

NEWSLETTERS SUBMIT CONTENT

Checkbiotech Home

Sign In | Register

bottom shadow


	View Edit Domain: GreenBio Title: * Body: Even the highly drought-resistant cowpea (a long type of legume) now has an increasingly difficult time surviving in the Sahel countries where climate change has resulted in shorter and less frequent rainy seasons. <br /> <br /> Wageningen University scientist Eugene Agbicodo, working on a Lukas Brader fellowship at IITA and Wageningen University, recently localised genes of the cowpea that contribute to an improved drought tolerance. This will help breeders and farmers to produce crops with higher yields despite the changing climate. Agbicodo graduated from Wageningen University (part of Wageningen UR) recently.<br /> <br /> In cooperation with research institute IITA, Agbicodo performed tests in Nigeria with a drought-sensitive type and a drought-tolerant type of cowpea and 120 offspring of a cross-breed of the two. By comparing the DNA from the offspring that did poorly with those that did well, he traced the location of the drought-tolerant characteristic on the cowpea chromosome. Agbicodo also established that plants with leaves that age slower and stomata that stayed open longer had a higher legume and seed yield.<br /> <br /> Cowpea is often one of the few crops that produces anything at all in drought-stricken areas with barren soil. In addition, the plant improves the soil’s fertility because of its excellent nitrogen-fixing abilities. Poor harvests have a dramatic effect on over 200 million Africans who eat the legumes and feed the tops to their cattle.<br /> <br /> Cowpea is a traditional crop that is cultivated on small farms and not economically viable for large corporations. This is why there has been very little detailed research into the crop. But that is now changing. Led from the United States and subsidised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a research programme has been established via the Generation Challenge Program (GCP) to acquire more knowledge about the cowpea and increase the yield of the crops.<br /> <a href="http://www.apluspromosyon.com/promosyon/promosyon-urunleri.html">promosyon ürünleri</a> <a href="http://flash-bellek.com/">flaş bellek</a> <br /> The close cooperation between scientists from Wageningen University, IITA and the scientists in the GCP program of the University of California (Riverside, USA) resulted in the localisation of genes that stimulate drought-tolerance in various types of cowpea. These results can now be used to secure the future of cowpea as a food source in arid areas of West Africa.<br /> <br /> <strong>Note</strong><br /> More information: Nora de Rijk, Communications Department Plant Sciences Group. T +31 317 48 07 44. E nora.derijk@wur.nl.<br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Dow AgroSciences, BioDuro to Collaborate on Crop Protection ... Cotton stainer, future threat to Pakistan Bayer CropScience and DuPont announce canola trait licensing... Drought tolerant maize trials approved Uganda: new maize variety to counter drought Bt corn farms expanding Farmers battle a super-bug Overcoming the toughest stress in rice: Drought Doubled Haploid Bread Wheat Engineered for Drought Tolerance Agriculture biotech increases at RTP Top GreenBio Articles

Home | Partnership | Contact Us | Site Map | News Site Map
© 2000-2012 Checkbiotech.org | Disclaimer