54 / 84
ON FARM LEVEL
Perennial crops / Sorghum / Development
Seed
Potential of perennial sorghum
under the microscope
I
t is well-documented that agriculture
in Africa faces complex challenges due
to diverse causes like dependence on
rainfed agriculture, poor soil fertility,
inadequate farming methods and small-
holder farms with no or minimum economic
returns.
These factors, compounded by lack of ac-
cess to good-quality seed and the growing
effects of climate change, have made the
region vulnerable to crop failures and in-
creases in food insecurity. African produc-
ers therefore require smart technologies
to increase food production beyond the
subsistence level. However, seed-based
production of annual crops is highly vulner-
able to the many stresses encountered on
the continent.
Research is beginning to focus on devel-
opment of perennial crop systems that are
more resilient to extreme environmental
conditions. Sorghum is a key staple crop
across much of Africa and perennial grain
sorghum, once developed, could provide
such resilience while helping curb or even
reverse soil degradation.
In addition to ecological benefits, peren-
nial sorghum in Sub-Saharan Africa could
reduce the costs, efforts, and risks of seed
sowing, solve the widespread problem of
poor plant stand establishment and emerge
and grow more quickly than a seed-sown
crop, thus taking full advantage of available
water and nutrients. Perennial sorghum
provides multiple harvests, which could
help restore the livelihoods of resource-
constrained producers.
Since 2014, the Agricultural Research
Council (ARC) have been participating in
an international project aiming towards
the development of perennial sorghum. To
produce seed for field trails, parental germ-
plasm with perenniality traits were test-
crossed with locally adapted lines.
Perenniality in temperate regions with cold
winters, like in South Africa, requires rhi-
zome formation and winter-hardiness. A
detailed genotypic and phenotypic evalua-
tion is being carried out by a team of scien-
tists to understand the morphological and
agronomic traits, rhizome development,
and winter survival of these lines at Pot-
chefstroom and other selected regions.
The outcome from this research will help
to evaluate possibilities of reaping multiple
crops from single plantings, and increas-
ing the extent and duration of soil cover
by plant roots to mitigate disadvantages
of conventional annual crops including soil
erosion and nutrient leaching.
Spreading seed and soil preparation/sow-
ing costs over multiple cropping cycles may
also permit smallholders to
afford hybrid seed, and ben-
efit from hybrid vigour.
NEMERA SHARGIE,
ARC-Grain Crops Institute, Potchefstroom