Climate change models predict an increase in climate variability in the future, with more rainfall extremes and greater risks, causing a negative impact on crops produced by smallholders in West Africa. Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems can be effective in mitigating yield loss in environments with increased weather risk. This study aimed to ev...
Description du sujet. Pour la zone écologique du Moyen-Ouest des plateaux d'altitude de Madagascar, six variétés de riz pluvial ont été sélectionnées par un programme de recherche. Objectifs. Il s'agit d'évaluer leur potentiel de diffusion en milieu réel. Méthode. Elles ont été co-évaluées sur un réseau de 20 fermes de référence pendant deux années...
La croissance de la population des pays en développement impose parfois des besoins d'accroissement de la production agricole. Un projet de fertilisation phosphatée de la riziculture pluviale à Madagascar a été mené de façon participative entre des acteurs de recherche et des agriculteurs pour rehausser le rendement. Cependant, l'adoption de l'inno...
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed for 16 agronomic traits including nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and yield-related components using a panel of 190 mainly japonica rice varieties and a set of 38 390 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. This panel was evaluated under rainfed upland conditions in Madagascar in two consecutiv...
Plant diversification is one of the main ways to ecologically intensify agroecosystems to improve their sustainability and resilience. Rotations and/or a mixture of crops can mitigate pest and weed infestation, reduce diseases, and improve soil fertility and crop productivity. However, rainfed rice yields in the Malagasy highlands remain low despit...
Cropping systems with legumes play key roles in farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. However, how commonly legume associations perform in low input-systems is not well-known. Here, we studied four legume species used in three systems in rotation with upland rice, i.e., groundnut monocropping, sorghum–cowpea intercropping, and velvet bean–crotalar...
The evolution of varietal creation methods led in 2012 to the advent of the genome editing technique, CRISPR-CaS9. This technique would make it possible to create new varieties quickly and cheaply. Although some consider CRISPR-CaS9 to be revolutionary, others consider it a potential societal threat. To document the controversy, we explain the soci...
Rainfed crop production predominates in West Africa. Rice is an important staple food, especially in Senegal. The scope for increase in rice production under irrigated conditions is uncertain. Rainfed rice is therefore a key component for regional food security impelling agronomists to assess climate change impact on rainfed rice yield and to desig...
In response to the extensive development of upland rice on the hillsides of the Malagasy highlands, alternative cropping systems have been designed based on conservation agriculture (CA). As the promotion of CA in smallholder farming systems is still the subject of debate, its potential benefits for smallholder farmers require further assessment. I...
In the Vakinankaratra region of the Malagasy Highlands, rainfed rice cultivation has developed rapidly, which has led to rapid degradation of soil fertility and reduced productivity. This study involved a comparison of rainfed rice in rotation with maize/Brachiaria (MZ-BR) or maize/soybean (MZ-SB) intercrops, managed by direct seeding (DS) or plowe...
