Collecting fonio (Digitaria exilis Kipp. Stapf, D. iburua Stapf) landraces in Togo
2004
Adoukonou-Sagbadja, H. | Dansi, A. (Crop, Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Biodiversity Research and Development Institute, Cotonou (Benin)) | Vodouhe, R. | Akpagana, K.
Fonio (Digitaria exilis Kipp. Stapf and Digitaria iburua Stapf) is a minor cereal crop cultivated throughout West Africa. In order to preserve its genetic diversity ex situ in Togo for sustainable use by present and future generations, a collecting mission was carried out during November 2001 in the two producing zones of the country. In these two zones, covering three administrative regions (Plateaux, Kara and Savanes), 95 accessions representing 34 landraces were collected from seven ethnic groups in 46 villages. The collected germplasm was duplicated: a part is conserved at the University of Lomé (Togo) and the other at Niaouli Agricultural Research Centre (National Agricultural Research Institute) in Benin. The landraces collected are specific to their producing zones. From our findings, the region of Kara has the most important landrace diversity, and Lamba and Akposso tribes are the most important curators of fonio diversity in Togo. The crop is being abandoned to maize and its production is declining because of the need for tedious harvesting and post-harvest processing. Fonio is under threat from genetic erosion and concerted actions are needed for the sustainable conservation of the diversity of this indigenous crop in Togo
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