Ola Tveitereid Westengen

Modern maize varieties going local in the semi-arid zone in Tanzania

BackgroundMaize is the most produced crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, but yields are low and climate change is projected to further constrain smallholder production. The current efforts to breed and disseminate new high yielding and climate ready maize varieties are implemented through the formal seed system; the chain of public and private sector activities and institutions that produce and release certified seeds. These efforts are taking place in contexts currently dominated by informal seed systems; local and informal seed management and exchange channels with a long history of adapting crops to local conditions. We here present a case study of the genetic effects of both formal and informal seed management from the semi-arid zone in Tanzania.ResultsTwo open pollinated varieties (OPVs), Staha and TMV1, first released by the formal seed system in the 1980s are cultivated on two-thirds of the maize fields among the surveyed households. Farmer-recycling of improved varieties and seed selection are common on-farm seed management practices. Drought tolerance and high yield are the most important characteristics reported as reason for cultivating the current varieties as well as the most important criteria for farmers’ seed selection. Bayesian cluster analysis, PCA and FST analyses based on 131 SNPs clearly distinguish between the two OPVs, and despite considerable heterogeneity between and within seed lots, there is insignificant differentiation between breeder’s seeds and commercial seeds in both OPVs. Genetic separation increases as the formal system varieties enter the informal system and both hybridization with unrelated varieties and directional selection probably play a role in the differentiation. Using a Bayesian association approach we identify three loci putatively under selection in the informal seed system.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the formal seed system in the study area distributes seed lots that are true to type. We suggest that hybridization and directional selection differentiate farmer recycled seed lots from the original varieties and potentially lead to beneficial creolization. Access to drought tolerant OPVs in combination with farmer seed selection is likely to enhance seed system security and farmers’ adaptive capacity in the face of climate change.

Global ex-situ crop diversity conservation and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault: assessing the current status.

Ex-situ conservation of crop diversity is a global concern, and the development of an efficient and sustainable conservation system is a historic priority recognized in international law and policy. We assess the completeness of the safety duplication collection in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault with respect to data on the worlds ex-situ collections as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Currently, 774,601 samples are deposited at Svalbard by 53 genebanks. We estimate that more than one third of the globally distinct accessions of 156 crop genera stored in genebanks as orthodox seeds are conserved in the Seed Vault. The numbers of safety duplicates of Triticum (wheat), Sorghum (sorghum), Pennisetum (pearl millet), Eleusine (finger millet), Cicer (chickpea) and Lens (lentil) exceed 50% of the estimated numbers of distinct accessions in global ex-situ collections. The number of accessions conserved globally generally reflects importance for food production, but there are significant gaps in the safety collection at Svalbard in some genera of high importance for food security in tropical countries, such as Amaranthus (amaranth), Chenopodium (quinoa), Eragrostis (teff) and Abelmoschus (okra). In the 29 food-crop genera with the largest number of accessions stored globally, an average of 5.5 out of the ten largest collections is already represented in the Seed Vault collection or is covered by existing deposit agreements. The high coverage of ITPGRFA Annex 1 crops and of those crops for which there is a CGIAR mandate in the current Seed Vault collection indicates that existence of international policies and institutions are important determinants for accessions to be safety duplicated at Svalbard. As a back-up site for the global conservation system, the Seed Vault plays not only a practical but also a symbolic role for enhanced integration and cooperation for conservation of crop diversity.

Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems

Significance This paper shows that cultural factors play a key role in shaping the genetic structure in sorghum. We present molecular evidence of close associations between sorghum population structure and the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups in Africa. We show that traditional seed-management practices, which have played an important role for survival and expansion of agropastoral groups in the past, still are remarkably resilient to threats to human security. We argue that efforts to strengthen African sorghum seed systems are more likely to be successful when building on, rather than seeking to replace, existing traditional seed systems and landraces. Sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop with a vital role in the livelihoods of millions of people in marginal areas. We examined genetic structure in this diverse crop in Africa. On the continent-wide scale, we identified three major sorghum populations (Central, Southern, and Northern) that are associated with the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups on the continent. The codistribution of the Central sorghum population and the Nilo-Saharan language family supports a proposed hypothesis about a close and causal relationship between the distribution of sorghum and languages in the region between the Chari and the Nile rivers. The Southern sorghum population is associated with the Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo language family, in agreement with the farming-language codispersal hypothesis as it has been related to the Bantu expansion. The Northern sorghum population is distributed across early Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic language family areas with dry agroclimatic conditions. At a finer geographic scale, the genetic substructure within the Central sorghum population is associated with language-group expansions within the Nilo-Saharan language family. A case study of the seed system of the Pari people, a Western-Nilotic ethnolinguistic group, provides a window into the social and cultural factors involved in generating and maintaining the continent-wide diversity patterns. The age-grade system, a cultural institution important for the expansive success of this ethnolinguistic group in the past, plays a central role in the management of sorghum landraces and continues to underpin the resilience of their traditional seed system.

Crop adaptation to climate change in the semi-arid zone in Tanzania: the role of genetic resources and seed systems

BackgroundRural livelihoods relying on agriculture are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate models project increasingly negative effects on maize and sorghum production in sub-Saharan Africa. We present a case study of the role of genetic resources and seed systems in adapting to climatic stress from the semi-arid agroecological zone in Tanzania.ResultsCrop adaptation, switching to more drought-tolerant crop species or varieties, is an important adaptation strategy within a diverse portfolio of livelihood responses to climatic stress. Crop adaptation involves the adoption of improved maize varieties combined with continued use of local varieties of both maize and sorghum. Regression modelling shows that households receiving the extension service and owning livestock are more likely to switch to drought-tolerant varieties as a response to climatic stress than those without access to these assets. The seed system in the study area consists of both formal and informal elements. The informal channels supply the highest quantities of both sorghum and maize seeds. Recycling of improved varieties of maize is common and the majority of households practice seed selection. Detailed assessment of the three different categories of genetic resources – local, improved and farmer-recycled varieties – reveals that drought tolerance is more frequently reported as a reason for growing local varieties than for growing improved varieties of maize and sorghum. The significantly later maturity reported for local varieties compared to the improved varieties bred to have a short growing cycle indicates that households distinguish between drought-tolerance and drought-avoidance traits.ConclusionsSeed system perspectives on crop adaptation offer insights into the complex ways crop adaptation is realized at the livelihood level. The integration of informal and formal seed system elements is important for the adaptive capacity of agriculture-based livelihoods. Our findings highlight the value and importance of location-specific information about crop variety use for arriving at realistic recommendations in impact and adaptation studies.

Spatial Structure and Climatic Adaptation in African Maize Revealed by Surveying SNP Diversity in Relation to Global Breeding and Landrace Panels

Background Climate change threatens maize productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. To ensure food security, access to locally adapted genetic resources and varieties is an important adaptation measure. Most of the maize grown in Africa is a genetic mix of varieties introduced at different historic times following the birth of the trans-Atlantic economy, and knowledge about geographic structure and local adaptations is limited. Methodology A panel of 48 accessions of maize representing various introduction routes and sources of historic and recent germplasm introductions in Africa was genotyped with the MaizeSNP50 array. Spatial genetic structure and genetic relationships in the African panel were analysed separately and in the context of a panel of 265 inbred lines representing global breeding material (based on 26,900 SNPs) and a panel of 1127 landraces from the Americas (270 SNPs). Environmental association analysis was used to detect SNPs associated with three climatic variables based on the full 43,963 SNP dataset. Conclusions The genetic structure is consistent between subsets of the data and the markers are well suited for resolving relationships and admixture among the accessions. The African accessions are structured in three clusters reflecting historical and current patterns of gene flow from the New World and within Africa. The Sahelian cluster reflects original introductions of Meso-American landraces via Europe and a modern introduction of temperate breeding material. The Western cluster reflects introduction of Coastal Brazilian landraces, as well as a Northeast-West spread of maize through Arabic trade routes across the continent. The Eastern cluster most strongly reflects gene flow from modern introduced tropical varieties. Controlling for population history in a linear model, we identify 79 SNPs associated with maximum temperature during the growing season. The associations located in genes of known importance for abiotic stress tolerance are interesting candidates for local adaptations.

Access to genes: linkages between genebanks and farmers’ seed systems

Genebanks conserve key resources for handling current and future challenges to food production and security. The role of genebanks has evolved from primarily serving plant breeders to include long-term biodiversity conservation and distribution to a wider user community. International policy frameworks stress the complementarity of ex situ and in situ conservation and management, but a dichotomy prevails in the public and scholarly agricultural development discourse. Here, we present a study of existing linkages between the two conservation and management approaches, their challenges and future options. First, we show that farmers, farmer organizations, and NGOs now comprise a considerable user group of genebank material, receiving at least 8% of the seed samples distributed from international genebanks in 2015, on par with the proportion distributed to the commercial seed sector. Second, we map and categorize approaches to introduce genebank material into farmers’ seed systems. Based on a survey, interviews and a literature review we categorize direct genebank-farmer linkages into six categories: (1) Reintroduction, (2) Emergency Seed Interventions, (3) Community Seed Banks, (4) Participatory Plant Breeding, (5) Variety Introduction, and (6) Integrative Seed System Approaches. We investigate the merits of these approaches as alternative and complementary pathways for enhancing farmers’ access to crop diversity. Finally, we discuss challenges related to scale, sustainability and legal frame conditions and point out opportunities to realize synergies to achieve the ultimate goal of the ex situ conservation agenda and the farmers’ rights agenda, namely to strengthen farmers’ access to suitable seeds.