BACKGROUND: Assessment of the key preferred quality traits in pounded yam, a popularly consumed yam food product in West Africa, is often done through sensory evaluation. Such assessment is time-consuming and results may be biased. Therefore, there is a need to develop objective, high-throughput methods to predict the quality of consumer-preferred ...
Parasitic plant Striga gesneroides reduces cowpea productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, leading to substantial yield losses. This weed is the major reason for land abandonment by many farmers. While various methods have been proposed for managing Striga invasion and parasitism, host-plant resistance remains the most effective and affordable option fo...
An estimated 3.4 million hectares of cocoa and 9.7 million hectares of coffee are cultivated, globally, under shade trees, i.e. in agroforestry systems. Shade canopies are characterized in terms of tree density (N, trees ha−1), tree basal area (G, m2 ha−1) and percent canopy cover (%Cov). N, G and %Cov are named shade canopy density variables (SCDV...
Oasis agriculture has been a critical means of sustenance for humans in arid regions in North Africa and West Asia. The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) holds immense significance as one of the most vital species in these agroecosystems. It was domesticated in the Gulf region over 6000 years ago and later spread to other regions. In the Sahara, t...
Identifying the genetic factors impacting the adaptation of crops to environmental conditions is of key interest for conservation and selection purposes. It can be achieved using population genomics, and evolutionary or quantitative genetics. Here we present a sorghum multireference back-cross nested association mapping population composed of 3,901...
The present study examined the wood properties of Pterocarpus erinaceus, a species found in West Africa's Guineo-Sudanian and Sudano-Sahelian zones. The primarily focus was on wood fiber properties, which serve as indicators of cambial growth and the transition between juvenile and mature wood. The aim was to analyze the factors contributing to the...
Tropical forests play a crucial role in climate regulation due to their high carbon sequestration capacity. However, degradation and disturbances in these forests may result in significant carbon losses. This study focuses on the impact of various biophysical, anthropogenic, and landscape factors on aboveground biomass (AGB) in heavily disturbed la...
The ginning process has an effect on fiber quality. Avoiding fiber quality deterioration due to mistune or overspeed is crucial, especially in west and central Africa where value chains are highly dependent on prices paid for premium fiber quality. Indeed, fiber classification alone does not permit a reliable measurement of ginning impact, as it de...
Due to increasing climate uncertainties, optimizing plant traits is essential for sustainable agriculture. This article presents an approach that combines advanced modelling techniques to identify optimal plant traits under various agro-environmental conditions. By integrating a crop model, a climate generator, and our PEQI algorithm (Profile Expec...
Fruit tree productivity is generally low and highly variable in the tropics. Quantifying yield gaps and their determining factors provides levers to increase production, but yield gap of fruit trees remains poorly explored at the tree scale. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, we adapted the concept of yield gap to define the production gap at t...
