No abstract

West Africa is the origin and epicenter of pearl millet genetic diversity. Niger is a standalone country that produces 3.5 million tons of pearl millet from an area of 6.7 million hectares, with productivity varying from 0.5 to 0.7 t/ha. Low grain yield is a result of low soil fertility, drought, downy mildew, head miner, and the non-utilization of improved and quality seeds. Around 30 pearl millet varieties were released in Niger, but the adoption rate of improved varieties is still lagging. There has been no systematic mapping implemented for new varieties’ adoption preferences and the availability of quality seeds. Considering this and assessing the need for biofortified cultivars, the present participatory study was conducted in the Dosso region of Niger, wherein high rates of malnutrition persist. This study aimed (i) to identify breeding priorities for key traits of pearl millet preferred by farmers, with gender-based segregation, for varieties and hybrids, and (ii) to survey the preference for biofortified varieties with added nutritional value. Structured questionnaires and focus groups were used to collect data from 150 randomly selected respondents in 12 villages from three representative departments of Dogondoutchi, Dosso, and Gaya. The results reveal that pearl millet is a primary staple crop grown (98% of respondents) and consumed on a daily basis as food and also used as feed for their animals. The majority of farmers preferred a long panicle (50.7%) and a good seed set (45.3%). For grain traits, a white color (50%) and larger size (100%) were predominantly preferred, which fetches them higher prices in the market, where they compete with sorghum grains. All respondents unanimously rated growing biofortified pearl millet varieties as high (100%), owing to higher Fe and Zn, in addition to yield. Furthermore, 99.3% of farmers perform grain decortication before consumption, thus potentially depleting staple grain nutrition, which is expedient for pearl millet biofortification in the region. This study has the potential for establishing pearl millet breeding priorities that are likely to be employed for other West African pearl millet breeding programs.

Micronutrient malnutrition is a major challenge in Africa, where half a million children die each year because of lack of micronutrients in their food. Pearl millet is an important food and fodder crop for the people living in the Semi-Arid regions of West Africa. The present study was conducted to determine the stability, combining ability, and gene action conditions of the high level of Fe and Zn content in grain and selected agronomic traits. Hence, eight genotypes were selected based on the availability of grain Fe and Zn contents and crossed in a full diallel mating design. Progenies from an 8 × 8 diallel mating along with the parents were evaluated in an alpha lattice design with three replications in three locations for two years. The parental lines Jirani, LCIC 9702 and MORO, had positive significant general combining ability (GCA) effects for grain Fe concentration, while Jirani and MORO had positive significant GCA effects for grain Zn concentration. For the specific combining ability (SCA), among the 56 hybrids evaluated, only the hybrids LCIC 9702 × Jirani and MORO × ZANGO had positive significant SCA effects for grain Fe concentration across locations, and for grain Zn concentration, the hybrids Gamoji × MORO, LCIC 9702 × Jirani, and ICMV 167006 × Jirani had positive significant SCA effects. The reciprocal effects were significant for grain Zn concentration, grain yield, flowering time, plant height, test weight, and downy mildew incidence, suggesting that the choice of a female or male parent is critical in hybrid production. Grain Fe and Zn concentration, flowering time, plant height, panicle length, panicle girth, panicle compactness, and downy mildew incidence were found to be predominantly under additive gene action, while grain yield and test weight were predominantly under non-additive gene action. A highly positive correlation was found between grain Fe and Zn concentrations, which implies that improving grain Fe trait automatically improves the grain Zn content. The stability analysis revealed that the hybrid ICMV 167006 × Jirani was the most stable and high-yielding with a high level of grain Fe and Zn micronutrients.