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Corn (Zea mays L.) production is gradually spreading into the Sudan savanna zone of West Africa where production is limited by erratic and inadequate rainfall. To increase corn production, production practices should be properly designed to minimize the effects of low precipitation and high temperatures that characterize the zone. A study, to determine the performance of late (120 d), early (90 d), and extra‐early maturing (80 d) corn cultivars over a range of planting dates, was performed in the Sudan savannas of northeast Nigeria. Delaying planting generally increased days to flowering and the anthesis‐silking interval (ASI) and reduced dry matter production and yield and yield components. In Azir, planting of corn on 13 July reduced grain yield by 42% in 2006 because of a dry spell during crop establishment. Delaying planting to 21 and 28 July also reduced grain yield by 19 and 28.5%, respectively over the 2 yr. Averaged over the 2‐yr yield reduction was 29.5 and 42% when corn was planted on 21 and 28 July, respectively in Damboa. There was no interaction between planting date and corn cultivar for days to silking, ASI, and grain yield suggesting that the cultivars responded similarly to planting date. The extra‐early maturing cultivar, 95 TZEE‐W, produced highest dry matter, harvest index, and grain yield at all planting dates suggesting that this cultivar is the most suitable in both locations. To reduce risk of drought stress, extra‐early maturing corn cultivars should be planted in the Sudan savanna between the last week of June and the first week of July.

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Striga hermonthica is a parasitic weed that attacks maize, sorghum and other staple cereal crops and has long been considered one of the greatest biotic constraints to cereal production in Africa. Use of resistant or tolerant maize varieties, a maize-legume rotation using trap crops that stimulate suicidal germination of Striga and the application of nitrogen fertilizer are all effective in reducing infestation and damage. This paper reports on the use of a participatory research and extension approach in assessing the performance and scaling-up of integrated Striga control packages in three agro-ecological zones in Borno State, Nigeria. The participatory process which encourages close interaction between research, extension and farmers, involved 30 local communities and 228 farmers representing 193 farmer groups in identifying their own problems and seeking solutions to them. Results showed not only effective Striga control but productivity increases of over 200%. The involvement of local farmers and groups in the evaluation process, firstly, helped to confirm that Striga control can best be achieved using soyabean followed by Striga-resistant maize together with productivity-increasing management practices and, secondly, promoted farmer-to-farmer extension. A participatory adoption assessment exercise indicated widespread adoption of new varieties and management practices, despite the need for increased labour. Great potential exists to scale out the results to similar areas of Guinea and Sudan savannas in the West Africa region.

Legumes are important components of sustainable agricultural production, food, nutrition and income systems of developing countries. In spite of their importance, legume crop production is challenged by a number of biotic (diseases and pests) and abiotic stresses (heat, frost, drought and salinity), edaphic factors (associated with soil nutrient deficits) and policy issues (where less emphasis is put on legumes compared to priority starchy staples). Significant research and development work have been done in the past decade on important grain legumes through collaborative bilateral and multilateral projects as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes (CRP‐GL). Through these initiatives, genomic resources and genomic tools such as draft genome sequence, resequencing data, large‐scale genomewide markers, dense genetic maps, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and diagnostic markers have been developed for further use in multiple genetic and breeding applications. Also, these mega‐initiatives facilitated release of a number of new varieties and also dissemination of on‐the‐shelf varieties to the farmers. More efforts are needed to enhance genetic gains by reducing the time required in cultivar development through integration of genomics‐assisted breeding approaches and rapid generation advancement.

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