Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab announces selected projects

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 Projects funded through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet, funded though USAID and established at Kansas State University, are aimed to help improve the adaptation and resilience of these crops in East and West Africa. K-State Research and Extension
Projects funded through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet, funded though USAID and established at Kansas State University, are aimed to help improve the adaptation and resilience of these crops in East and West Africa. K-State Research and Extension

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Project funding through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet has been announced. The projects will contribute to improving food security, household resilience and private sector growth in the Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger through the enhancement of production and value-added product development.

The 2014 funding recipients were identified through a competitive call for proposals, with 10 projects selected from the 58 proposals received, from the recommendations of the Lab’s external advisory board and dozens of ad-hoc reviewers.

Six projects were selected in West Africa, led by five leader institutions with 16 collaborating institutions, and four projects were selected in Ethiopia, led by three leader institutions and 16 collaborating institutions.

“These projects represent the best ideas and strategies, drawn from around the world, to tackle hunger and undernutrition in some of the world’s most difficult agricultural regions,” said Timothy Dalton, associate professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and director of the Lab. “The process will require patience, hard work and dedication, and we’ve assembled a fantastic team to attack these problems.”

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research in Sorghum and Millet is a consortium of cutting-edge research aimed at improving the adaptation and resilience of sorghum and pearl millet to the semi-arid climates of East and West Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger.

 

Established in July 2013 at Kansas State University, the Lab contributes technologies and knowledge toward the adaptation, resilience and improved profitability of sorghum- and millet-based production systems and value chains through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative (www.feedthefuture.gov).

 

The Lab links U.S. and international universities and research organizations in a collaborative effort to build human and institutional capacity in Ethiopia, Niger and Senegal to make sorghum and pearl millet the crops of the future. Additional information regarding the Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab can be found at http://www.k-state.edu/smil.


Funded projects:

Developing superior functionality in sorghum for food applications to promote sorghum value chain in Ethiopia


Principal investigator:
                                    Joseph Awika (Texas A&M University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Texas A&M University

International collaborating institutions:     Ethiopia – Hawassa University
South Africa – University of Pretoria

Award amount:                                               $809,941

Focus country:                                                 Ethiopia
Genetic enhancement of sorghum to promote commercial seed supply and grain market development in Ethiopia

Principal investigator:                                    Gebisa Ejeta (Purdue University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Purdue University, Kansas State University

International collaborating institutions:     Ethiopia – Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) (Melkassa Research Center, Sirinka Research Center), Holleta Biotechnology Center, Tigray Regional Program, Oromia Regional Program, Haramaya University

Award amount:                                               $912,703

Focus country:                                                 Ethiopia


Genetic improvement of sorghum for resistance to fungal pathogens

Principal investigator:                                    Tesfaye Mengiste (Purdue University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Purdue University, Kansas State University

International collaborating institutions:     Ethiopia – EIAR (Asosa Research Center, Pawe Research Center, Bako Research Center), Holleta Biotechnology Center

Award amount:                                               $842,963

Focus country:                                                 Ethiopia

 

Improved crop genetics and processing methods for increased productivity and nutrition for smallholder sorghum producers in Ethiopia

Principal investigator:                                    Tesfaye Tesso (Kansas State University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Kansas State University, USDA-ARS, Purdue University, KSU – Hays Research Station

International collaborating institutions:     Ethiopia – EIAR (Melkassa Research Center, Sirinka Research Center, Pawe Research Center), Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, Haramaya University

Award amount:                                               $821,421

Focus countries:                                              Ethiopia

 

Improving sorghum adaptation in West Africa with genomics-enabled breeding

Principal investigator:                                    Geoffrey Morris (Kansas State University)
U.S. collaborating institution:                      Kansas State University

International collaborating institutions:     France – Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
Senegal – Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), Centre d’Etudes Régional pour l’Amélioration de l’Adaptation à la Sécheresse (CERAAS), Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA)

Niger – International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), LSDS (farmer organization), HALAL (farmer organization)

Award amount:                                               $1,090,093

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal

 

Development of biotic stress-resistant sorghum cultivars for Niger and Senegal

Principal investigator:                                    Bonnie Pendleton (West Texas A&M University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     West Texas A&M University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research

International collaborating institutions:     Senegal – ISRA, CNRA, CERAAS
Niger – INRAN

Award amount:                                               $876,284

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal

 

Sorghum trait development pipeline for improved food and feed value

 

Principal investigator:                                    Mitchell Tuinstra (Purdue University)

U.S. collaborating institution:                     Purdue University

International collaborating institutions:     Senegal – Institut de Technologie Alimentaire (ITA), CERAAS, ISRA, CNRA
Niger – INRAN

Award amount:                                               $1,044,323

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal


Biological control of the millet head miner in Niger and Senegal

 

Principal investigator:                                    Malick Ba (ICRISAT – Niger)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Virginia Tech University, IPM Innovation Lab

International collaborating institutions:     Senegal – ISRA, CERAAS, University Cheik Anta Diop de Dakar

Niger – University of Maradi, INRAN

Award amount:                                               $638,788

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal

 

Optimization of the seed ball technology for pearl millet, and agronomic and socio-economic evaluation in the context of smallholder farmers in Senegal and Niger

 

Principal investigator:                                    Ludger Herrmann (University of Hohenheim – Germany)

International collaborating institutions:     Senegal – ISRA, FAPAL (farmer organization)

Niger – INRAN, Fuma Gaskiya (farmer organization)

Award amount:                                               $172,600

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal

 

Expanding markets for sorghum and millet farmers in West Africa through strengthening of entrepreneur processors and nutrition-based promotion of products

 

Principal investigator:                                    Bruce Hamaker (Purdue University)

U.S. collaborating institutions:                     Purdue University

International collaborating institutions:     Senegal – ISRA, CNRA, ITA

Niger – INRAN

Award amount:                                               $816,328

Focus countries:                                              Niger, Senegal

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