Sorghum and millet breeding in West Africa in practice

Sorghum and millet are very important cereals in the semi-arid areas of the tropics and subtropics including Africa. Generally, the area of sorghum and millet in Africa has steadily increased over the years but the average yield trends are downwards. Paramount among the yield reducing factors are predominant cultivation of inherently low yielding varieties, poor soil fertility, drought, Striga, pests and diseases. Exploitation of host-plant resistance through genetic enhancement has always been the first approach or forms the basis of an integrated control package in addressing these constraints. The relative limited processing, utilization and marketing of sorghum and millet also present a disincentive to farmers in adopting improved technologies for greater impact. The various National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) either separately or in collaboration with the international research centres like ICRISAT, INTSORMIL and the regional sorghum and millet networks have drawn up research strategies to address the constraints facing the production, processing and utilization of sorghum and millet. Though a lot of research on sorghum and millet breeding has been done and documented within and without the continent of Africa there is still a lot to be done looking at the current persistent constraints. This paper attempts to highlight the strategies and achievement of sorghum and millet breeding on the continent so far, identify the existing gaps and define the future approach for greater impact