TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AID-ARS PROJECT - MAJOR CEREALS IN WEST AFRICA 1973

AN INTERCROPPING EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED INVOLVING MAIZE, MILLET, AND SORGHUM, WHICH RESULTED IN 23% HIGHER YIELDS FROM THE INTERCROPPED PLOTS THAN FOR THE MEAN OF CORRESPONDING SINGLE-CROP PLOTS. ALL COMBINATIONS INVOLVING MAIZE RESULTED IN HIGHER YIELDS THAN THE STANDARD MILLET/SORGHUM INTERCROP, AND SORGHUM/MAIZE OUTYIELDED MAIZE ALONE BY ONLY 6%. AFTER SCREENING 3000 LINES IN THE WORLD SORGHUM COLLECTION, 45 WERE IDENTIFIED AS BEING MIDGE RESISTANT. THESE LINES HAVE BEEN SENT TO THE US FOR INCLUSION IN THE SORGHUM CONVERSION PROGRAM AND BREEDING POPULATIONS AT ICRISAT. DATE OF PLANTING STUDIES WITH SORGHUM INDICATED THAT EARLY PLANTED SORGHUM ESCAPED SHOOT FLY ATTACK. A GRADUAL BUILD UP OF SHOOT FLY WAS DETECTED UNTIL THE LAST PLANTING IN WHICH 90% OF THE PLANTS WERE ATTACKED. SIMILAR RESULTS WERE OBTAINED WITH MAIZE WITH 80% OF THE LAST PLANTED CROP INFECTED BY MAIZE STREAK VIRUS. 40 LINES OF SORGHUM FROM THE WORLD SORGHUM COLLECTION WERE IDENTIFIED AS BEING RESISTANT TO GRAIN MOLD. TEN OF THESE ARE BEING INCREASED FOR MORE EXTENSION TESTING. THE NCA X NCB VARIETY CROSS, THE CORRESPONDING IITA VARIETY CROSS, AND THE PIONEER DOUBLE CROSS HYBRID CONTINUED TO PRODUCE HIGH YIELDS IN NIGERIA AND IN THE WEST AFRICAN UNIFORM MAIZE TRIALS (WAUMT). THE YIELDS OF SHORT TUXPENO PLANTA BAJA FROM CIMMYT WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE FOR NCA AND 88% AS MUCH AS TCB(S) C2 AT 5 LOCATIONS IN THE WAUMT. SEED INCREASES WERE MADE OF THE RELEASED VARIETIES SC123, NCA, NCB, AND 096 IN ORDER TO HAVE SEED AVAILABLE TO THE EXTENSION SERVICE FOR THE MAIZE DEMONSTRATION PLOTS. BECAUSE THE DEMAND FROM THE EXTENSION SERVICE WAS SO LARGE, THE 220 QUINTALS PRODUCED IS DEEMED INADEQUATE. PROBLEMS INVOLVED WITH HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION IN SORGHUM CONTINUE TO LIMIT PRODUCTION. LOW YIELDS AND PHOTOPERIOD SENSITIVITY OF THE LOCAL LINES APPEAR TO MAKE DRY SEASON PRODUCTION UNECONOMICAL. IN CONTRAST, THE NONSENSITIVE US LINES PRODUCE GOOD YIELDS IN THE DRY SEASON.