International Plant Genetic Resources Institute

Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la

Recherche et le Développement Agricoles

Final report on: Promoting fonio production in West and Central

Africa through germplasm management and improvement of post harvest technology

Project number: 2000.7860.0-001.00 Contract number: 81050559 Reporting period: January 2002 - December 2004

Project Coordinator: Raymond Vodouhè

IPGRI Office for West and Central Africa, 08 BP 0932 Tri Postal Cotonou, BENIN Telephone (229) 35.05.53 / 35.06.00 / 35.01.88 , Fax: (229) 35.05.56

Email: r.vodouhe@cgiar.org Collaborating scientists and organizations:

Amadou Sidibé: Institut d’Economie Rural (Mali), Pierrette Glèle : Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (Benin) Danladi Kuta : National Cereals Research Institute (Nigeria), Alimou Diallo : Institut des Recherches Agricoles de la Guinée (Guinea)

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Table of contents Contents

Pages

1. Introduction

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2. Project Description

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3. Activities

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4. Achievements and Constraints

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5. Conclusion and lessons learnt

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6. Future research needs

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7. Bibliography

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1. Introduction Fonio (Digitaria exilis Kipp. Stapf and Digitaria iburua Stapf) is a minor cereal crop which is cultivated throughout West Africa from Senegal to Lake Chad. In this zone, it is either a staple food or food for hunger period. The crop supplies food to 3-4 million people. Its production is restricted to certain ethnic groups for which it has high socio-cultural and economic value. Fonio is also increasingly higly prized by nutritionists because it is rich in methionine and cystine, two amino acids vital to human health and deficient in today’s major cereals such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum or barley. Because of lack of attention by research and extension services, the crop is underdeveloped. The USA Academy of Sciences puts fonio in its 1974 priority list of underexploited African tropical plants with promising economic value. Although very important for its organoleptic qualities, the crop is neglected because of its low yielding capacity and its tedious work requirement at post harvest transformation.

This lack of attention by research and extension meant that the potential value of this crop is still under-exploited. The scenario thus far described encourages continuing genetic erosion, further restricting development options for the rural poor. Crucially, from a national and cultural standpoint, this crop constitutes a most valuable intellectual and natural resource that must be preserved. The present project intended to address some of the major constraints to the development of the crop: collect, characterize existing local germplasm; assess existing farmers seed systems, inventory existing post harvest technology for improvement. It addresses the urgent needs to join forces to protect and improve fonio for the livelihoods and health of West African farmers and consumers.

The project has been implemented in West African countries namely Benin, Guinea Conakry, Mali and Nigeria. The reasons that justify the choice of West Africa are:

1. West Africa covers the major part of the area of distribution of fonio

2. As the overall Africa, Many West African countries have an important part of their people classified as food insecure: Malnutrition is rampant and children, pregnant, and lactating mothers are most vulnerable groups because of their high nutritional requirements. The problem is even more critical in arid regions where severe drought threatens rain-fed crops. Energy and protein intakes, fall below the estimated minimum dietary requirements with micronutrients deficiency. Fonio, because of it nutritional value could contribute to address these issues if it was well developed.

The project covers germplasm evaluation, post harvest technology and community seed systems. It started in 2001 with a regional meeting in Bamako, Mali, where the participating countries, met and planned for the activities. This was followed by national consultations which brought together all national partners in the activities (research institutions, extension services and NGOs). Letters of agreement were developed between IPGRI and the national partners to carry out the activities. The progress made by various participating countries in implementing the project is presented in this final report. 2. Project Description

The overall goal of the project is to promote the production of fonio in West Africa. As specific objectives, the project aims to improve the seed systems and on-farm germplasm management of fonio, to conserve the genetic diversity of the crop and to enhance its processing techniques. The project has four components: Morphological and agronomic characterization: This component includes local

germplasm collection in Benin, Mali and Nigeria and their agro-morphological and biochemical characterization.

Molecular characterization: This component includes the Investigation of the genetic organization of the crop, the ploïdy and DNA structure, and the evaluation of the genetic

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variation in the collected germplasms in Benin and Nigeria. It was decided that Nigeria will also conduct the molecular evaluation.

Post-harvest technology: This component includes the assessment of fonio grain loss from harvest to threshing and the investigation of causal factors as fonio.plant easily shatters at maturity and much grain is lost.

Organization of meetings: This component includes the organization of meetings of various actors involved in research, production, processing and trade of fonio within a given country to share views and to identify areas needing more attention from research and extension services.

The results of the project will be used by farmers to increase production of fonio and improve the quality of the products. 3. Activities The project activities were shared among the participating countries in order to use efficiently the research capacities in the country. Table 1 shows the research activities in the countries .

Table 1. Activities executed by country (2003-2004) Countries Activities Experimentation/Implementation Benin Assessment of farmers’ seed system Survey in 10 villages and collecting of data

Cytogenetic studies of the West African fonio germplasm

Chromosome counting, flux cytometry

Improvement of post-harvest technology Testing new threshing and processing

technologies Guinea Assessment of farmers’ seed system Survey in 10 villages and collecting of data

Improvement of post-harvest technology Testing new threshing and processing

technologies Mali Assessment of farmers’ seed system Survey in 10 villages and collecting of data

Germplasm collection (Gap filling collection)

Exploring and collecting fonio in Koulikoro, Ségou and Mopti

Biochemical characterization of Mali and Guinea fonio collections

Determination of fonio nutrient and minerals composition

Nigeria Assessment of farmers’ seed system Survey in 15 villages/sites and collecting of data DNA fingerprinting of fonio accessions Diversity analysis using molecular tools

Agro-morphological characteristics of fonio accessions in different environments

Analysis of morphological and agronomical traits and variation among accessions from various localities

Cytological and chromosomal analysis of fonio accessions

Chromosomal counting

4. Achievements and Constraints

a) Agro-morphological characterization of germplasm The characterization of germplasm is an integral part of crop genetic improvement

programmes. The evaluation of germplasm based on morphological traits is an environment-tested method for classifying accessions and identifying morphological diversity among them. Previous investigations have shown that different fonio accessions may have different agronomic potentials, hence the need to evaluate the agronomic traits of new germplasm collections. In Nigeria, 62 accessions of fonio from the germplasm of National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI-Badeggi) were used in this study. Morphological traits used to characterize

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the accessions are: grain colour, seed colour, leaf-tip shape, internodes, percentage of leaf pigment, percentage culm pigment, leaf pubescence, culm type (Fig. 1). The data obtained were used to calculate the genetic similarity among fonio accessions. Pairwise distance (similarity) matrices were computed using sequential, hierarchical and nested (SAHN) clustering option of the NTSYS-pc version 2.02j software package. Some accessions are difficult to be differentiated at 1.00 similarity level e.g accessions 1, 2 and 7; accessions 5 and 6; etc (Table 2). The dendrogram (figure 2) divided the 62 accessions into two major clusters (Table 3) at 0.53 similarity coefficient with each having sub groups. Accessions in Cluster A belong to the species Digitaria iburua, while accessions in Cluster B belong to the species Digitaria exilis. The most distinct accession was Kumbe (no. 34 and no. 35), which appears to be intermediate to the two Clusters, though closer to Cluster A.

Figure 1: Flowering and seeding stages of Digitaria exilis

Table 2: Linkage of accessions at 1.00 similarity level Accession numbers difficult to differentiate at 1.00 similarity level

Local name of the accessions

1, 2, 7 Aburu, Binchieh 5, 6 Babudama 26, 27 Guzuksar 15, 16 Ebut 40, 41, 41 Nibang 43, 44, 45, 46 Nipiya 35, 36 Kumbe 3, 4, 29, 30, 31, 32, 62 Arasbang, yongeseng, Haratseng, Waku 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 37, 39 Chenesara, ExsumI, Nchorong, NeiChun 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Gongerandong 58, 59, 60, 61 Tsala 14, 38 Chunrire, NdatButt 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 Nkpwos

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Table 3: Clusters at 0.53 similarity coefficient Cluster A Cluster B Group 1: Aburu, Binchieh, Butt, Group2: Babudama, Chunhoss, Guzuksar, Ebut Group 3: Nibang, Nipiya, Sunchip Group 4: Kumbe

Group 1: Arasbang, Gyongeseng, Haratseng, Waku, Chenesara, Exsum I, Nchorong, Neichun, Sheng, Gongerandong Group 2: Gyong, Exsum II, Tsala, Group 3: Chunrire, Ndatbutt, Nkpwos

Figure 2: Dendrogram showing different groups in the 62 fonio accessions based on morphological data

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In Mali, 24 ecotypes/accessions have been collected in Bogoro, Diagani, Somo and Nongosso (San) and Bumbolo, Sokoro, Sadien and Kin (Tominian). There is little difference among cultivars collected from one village to another. For example, the variety Wèlè wèlè is present in several villages. Farmer’s names of varieties are however not a distinctive feature. Two distinct varieties could have the same name but are different for morphological and genetic traits and vice versa. Farmers may also give different names to the same varieties according to their ethnic group. On this basis one could stipulate that the farmer name of variety is not a criterion for taxa distinction. Among the threatened varieties in Somo is Ebe Ohoun which is a 100-day maturing variety. The collected accessions were divided in two parts, one part for conservation in a deep freezer and the other part was sent to the Food Technology Laboratory in Mali for the physical and biochemical characterizations. b) Cytogenetic characterization

Cytological and chromosomal analyses could be used to differentiate different germplasm species. Here, the results obtained from Nigeria and from Benin are presented.

i. Nigeria Seeds of different accessions were primed under incubator at 33°C for 24 hrs to

induce germination. Young root tips were excised from all the germinated seedlings and were prefixed in 0.002M aqueous solution of hydroxyquinoline and squashed in 2% acetocarmine. The chromosome number was confirmed by examining at least 10 cells with well spread chromosomes. For the calculation of the polyploidy frequency, the basic number of x = 9, x = 15, and x = 17 was used. Cytologically the investigated fonio accessions showed little variation in chromosome numbers and are mostly euploids. Most of the accessions studied are hexaploid with chromosome number of 2n=54, while few are diploid with chromosome number of 2n=30 and 2n=34. These results confirmed the one previously reported by Hunter (1934) and Burton (1942). The results therefore showed that the uniform nature of chromosome numbers among the accessions with few cytotypes indicates the accessions belong to the two identified species, i.e. D. exilis and D. iburua. All the hexaploid accessions with chromosome number 2n = 54 belong to D. exilis, while all the diploid accessions with chromosome number 2n = 30 and 2n = 34 belong to D. iburua. The exception is with accession NDe-001, which morphologically belongs to D. exilis, but is diploid with chromosome number of 2n = 34. Pollen fertility was very high in all the accessions studied ranging from 78.5% to 99%. The high pollen fertility indicates a stable breeding system among the fonio accessions. ii. Benin,

The plant material used for the cytogenetic study consisted of three accessions of black fonio (D. iburua) from Togo and eighty eight (88) accessions of true fonio (D. exilis) from Benin, Guinea, Mali and Togo. Accessions of D. exilis and D. iburua from Benin and Togo were collected from farmers in the different production zones while accessions from Guinea and Mali were provided by the West and Central Africa office of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) based at Cotonou,in Benin. All plants were grown in glasshouse and analyses performed at IPK (Gatersleben, Germany) at ambient temperature with natural lighting. Nuclear suspension was prepared and flow analysis was performed following Barow and Meister (2002) and using Raphanus sativus with known DNA content (2C = 1.38 pg) as internal standard following Dolezel et al., (1998). Approximately 50 mg of fresh and young leaf tissue was excised from three individual plants per accession and a mixed sample prepared and used for the analysis. To release nuclei, leaf fragments of Digitaria and Raphanus were placed together in a sterilised plastic petri dish and chopped with a razor blade in Galbraith’s buffer (Galbraith et al. 1983) supplemented with 50 µg/ml propidium iodide (PI) and 50 µg/ml RNase (DNase-free). The suspension of isolated nuclei was filtered through a nylon mesh with a pore size of 35 µm and analysed immediately. Measurement of each sample per accession was repeated three times and at least 10,000 nuclei were analysed per sample.

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The analysis was done with a FACStarPLUS flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA) equipped with two argon lasers INNOVA 90-5 (Coherent, Palo Alto, CA) using the analysis program CellQuest. PI fluorescence was excited with 500 mW at 514 nm and measured in the FL1 channel using a 630-nm band pass filter. To reduce counts from fluorescent debris, gates were set in the FL1/SSC dot plot. Total DNA content was calculated multiplying the known DNA content of Raphanus by the ratio between the 2C peak positions of Digitaria and Raphanus in the histogram of fluorescence intensity. In order to perform chromosome analysis fonio seeds were germinated at 24°C in petri dish and on filter paper wet with distilled water. About 1 cm long root tips were fixed in ethanol: acetic acid (3:1). After hydrolysis in 1N hydrochloric acid for 15 min, roots were stained in fuchsic acid according to the standard Feulgen method. Chromosome spreads were prepared in propion orcein. An Axiophot microscope was used to take image stacks to produce 3D images for chromosome counting also for karyogram development via the Ikaros software (MetaSystems GmbH, Germany.

According to the flow histograms of single accessions (three plants per accession) showed clear G1 peaks with differences in coefficients of variation (CV%), and frequently minor G2 peaks (Figure 3a,b). Mean values of nuclear DNA content calculated for the different landraces of Benin and Togo showed that landraces of D. exilis and D. iburua cultivated in those countries have a nuclear DNA content of approximately 2 pg. Slight intraspecific variations (values ranging from 1.8 pg to 2 pg) in nuclear DNA content, probably due to manipulation errors, were observed among landraces.

Among the landraces from Guinea and Mali, two (Siragui and Fonhon) have the same DNA content (2 pg) as those of Togo and Benin and showed histograms similar to those presented in figures 3a and 3b while the other three (Dièny, Gbele-gbele and Konsou) regularly displayed two different peaks (Figure 3c). Analysis of randomly selected individual plants revealed genetic heterogeneity within each of these landraces. Two types of histograms (with only one G1 peak) corresponding to two populations (almost in the same proportions) of different nuclear DNA content and ploidy levels were observed. One of the two populations identified in each landrace has a DNA content of approximately 2 pg while the second population has an average nuclear DNA content of 2.5 pg (Figure 3d).

Chromosome investigation in landrace Iporlapiah (D. exilis, accession BEN21 collected in Benin) having DNA content of approximately 2 pg showed 2n=36 chromosomes of different size and with heterochromatin mainly near the centromers (Figure 4).

This study of DNA nuclear content and ploidy level of cultivated fonio constitute an important progress in the knowledge of the genetic diversity of this crop in West Africa. It has provided useful information about the range of variation of the species’s number of chromosome. However, it doesn’t provide accurate information on factors influencing or determining this genome variation (specie or variety). Indeed, a synthesis of results obtained from the two countries revealed that the chromosome number for D. exilis (2n = 34, 2n = 36, 2n = 54) can be equal to the chromosome number of D. iburua (2n = 30; 2n = 34). Thus there is a need for further study of DNA nuclear content and ploidy level of the different fonio species in order to determine accurately the factors influencing the genetic diversity of the crop. This supplementary study will use greater samples and will take in account samples from the whole distribution area of the crop.

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a.) b.) c.) d.) Figure 3: Histograms of relative nuclear DNA content obtained after analysis of nuclei isolated from young leaf tissues of Raphanus and Digitaria. (a) D. exilis var. Iporlapiah; (b) D. iburua, var. Trikpa; (c) D. exilis var. Konsou ; (d) histogram of plant with higher DNA content (2C= 2.5pg).

5 µm

A

B

5 µm5 µm

A

B

Figure 4 : Digitaria exilis chromosomes (2n=36) accession from Ben2. (A) :Spatial somatic metaphase cell (stereo pair can be observed with prism classes or without glasses at a distance of about 30 cm);(B): Karyogram established from the same cell Formatted: Font: 11 pt

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c) Molecular characterization of germplasm Nigeria The classification based on phenotypical traits has revealed important information,

some of which might have been influenced by environmental effects. There is a need, therefore, to complement morphological classification with molecular DNA analysis. The application of RAPD marker in classifying fonio accessions in Nigeria was successful. A total of 10 accessions of fonio were evaluated for DNA. The extracted pure fonio DNA was used for PCR amplification. RAPD amplification was conducted. The RAPD primers used for DNA amplification were ten-mer sequences from AD, AC, A E, AF and AG kits (Operon Technologies Inc.). The modification in the DNA extraction method yielded pure DNA. Clear polymorphic bands were also observed after digestion with RAPD markers. Ten different fonio lines were discovered in this study. There was no duplication among the lines. All the lines have some resemblances at different coefficient levels.

Figure 5: Isolated genomic DNA of different fonio accessions: A – J

d) Community seed system i. Benin In Benin, Fonio is cultivated in the north-eastern part of the country and occupies the

so-called Somba ethnic group niche. To better understand the community seed system, a survey was conducted in Boukoumbe where fonio crop is an important staple crop. Fifty farmers were surveyed in 11 villages. The results from the survey indicated that the main seed sources are from farmers’ stores. Seeds are obtained through exchange among farmers. Most farmers prefer seeds from the previous harvest to secure their productions. The seeds are well conserved in clay granaries for one to two years maximum after which a decrease in viability is observed. The amount of seeds conserved for cropping varies between 10 and 50kg which could be stored in granaries, in bags, in gourds, etc. During the storage very little loss is recorded. There is in the country a strong cultural context. Ceremonies are carried out to ensure good storage, good viability, good production and good commercialization. In each case a sacrifice is offered to the gods for their assistance. Chickens, goats, cows are offered to gods with the local drink (Tchoukoutou) and a bale of fonio. Selling of fonio products in the field before harvest is prohibited, as is any selling before sacrifices are performed.

ii. Guinea In Guinea, fonio seed is acquired in several ways: Auto-production (farmers keeping

seed from the previous harvest for next season’s planting), purchase, exchange and grant. Generally the seeds are obtained by auto production. Among 295 people surveyed, 112 said they produce their own seed. Most of them answered that the major seed source is from previous harvests. Seed is also acquired as gifts from colleagues (83 respondents) and by

A B C D E F G H I J

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exchange (74 respondents). Very rare are growers who buy fonio seed from markets (22 respondents only). The annual production is divided into three parts: the first part for consumption, the second part for sale and the third part for seed. About 4% (20-180 kg) of the production is used as seed. Also fonio seed is exchanged with rice or maize or animals (sheep, heifers) or other seed. There is no standard for exchange (for example, one bag of 50 kg of clean rice against 30 measures of fonio). The transactions are made mainly between farmers. The conservation of fonio seed is somehow easy. Fonio is generally conserved in bags (88% of the respondents), as panicle boots for a long period, (11% of the respondents), and in clay granaries (few respondents). Out of 115 surveyed people, only 22 found the conservation of fonio difficult.

iii. Mali As in the other countries, the main seed source is the farmers’ store. The seed

distribution/exchange is based on relationships: neighbourliness and friendship. The donation mode is the most common. In the worst cases, one could decide to buy seed from the market but this situation is rare, such as during years of poor rainfall resulting in very poor harvest, and no information is available on the quality of seed bought in the market. Purchase of seeds from the market may occur only in rare circumstances.

iv. Nigeria

Acha (fonio) production in Nigeria is exclusively in the hands of resource-poor rural farmers, and it is widespread in the North-Central Region of the country. Plateau, Nassarawa and Niger states were selected as representatives of the major acha producing areas in the North-Central region of Nigeria. A total of 15 villages/sites were visited. The survey method consists of informal discussions with farmers in their fields and homes. Farmers in Nigeria have various sources of acha seeds, which include: 1) seed saved from previous harvest; 2) seed purchased from the market; 3) seed shared with colleagues; 4) seed imported from other villages. Generally, the methods acha farmers adopt in preparing acha seeds for planting involve: 1) harvesting and threshing the seeds; 2) sun-drying the threshed seeds for 4-5 days; 3) keeping the dried seeds in jute bags, or storing in clay barns. On the issue of seed quality, farmers generally consider germination vigour as the major quality criteria of good seeds. However, there were differences on their perception of the causes of poor seed viability. Some farmers, especially in Plateau state, believe that acha seeds lose their viability if stored for more than a year. Such farmers recommend that only seeds of immediate previous harvest should be used for cropping in the subsequent season. On the other hand, some farmers, especially in Niger State, believe that the seed could be stored for decades without losing its viability, but in this case, the farmer should not use his palms to touch the seeds during the storage period. Fonio growers were also interviewed on marketing of fonio. Though most farmers responded that they produce acha mainly for household consumption and not for marketing, there are some that produce it for sale. acha sellers identify diabetic patients as their major customers.

This study of community seed system in the four countries showed that culture is a strong and one of the major reasons for fonio’s diversity conservation. In Mali, fonio is consumed in many villages during special occasion. Fonio dishes are offered to prestigious guests. The grains are also used during funerals. These cultural reasons are maintaining the cultivation of the crop in these areas. Otherwise, fonio cultivation should have disappeared because of the competition with rain-fed rice. Other reasons are the role of fonio as staple food and its nutritional values. The study also showed that farmers have different methods to conserve fonio seeds and different perception of seeds viabilities and effectiveness of conservation methods. It is noted that difficulty to conserve fonio seeds seems to be an important constraint for the development of the crop. There is therefore a need to assess the effectiveness of farmer’s seeds conservation system and eventually improve them.

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Futher studies are needed to document farmers’ recognition of seeds traits among seeds lots, their preferred types and how seeds availability affects potential production. This information will be useful in participative varietal selection approach with effective participation of farmers.

e) Post harvest technology and grain loss assessment

i. Testing fonio threshing and milling technologies in Benin.

The main constraints in fonio production are threshing and husking, which traditionally lead to sand contamination of the product and are difficult to perform. The project tested some less manpower consuming technologies to overcome these constraints and to produce good quality products (without sand, stones and other debris).

The experiment was conducted in Boukoumbé, northern Benin and involved three households. In each household three threshing methods and three husking methods were tested. The threshing methods were: threshing on paved soil, threshing on non paved soil and threshing on canvas sheet. For the husking, three technologies are used were: husking with mortar, husking in a hole in the ground and husking with the Sanoussi machine. Threshing on canvas sheet method and husking with the Sanoussi machine are new technologies developed by agricultural services. While the other methods of threshing or husking are traditional. After processing, the fonio grains are washed cooked and submitted to quality and taste tests in order to appraise the quality of the product.

The results indicated that the use of the canvas has not significantly contributed to increase the threshing yield (45% vs 42.5% without canvas) (Table 4). However, the farmers witnessed very little sand in the final product and there was a gain in time and water use.

It was clearly demonstrated that the combined use of canvas and Sanoussi machine is the most efficient processing method. It improved the quality of the final product and contributed to a savings of time (20 minutes for the machine and 60 minutes for mortar and ground hole), hired labor and resources. This processing method is followed by the combined used of paved soil and mortar, and the combination of canvas and mortaruse The less efficient processing method is the combined use of non paved soil for thresting and hole in ground for husking. This last method showed the higher rate of sand contamination and required more time and energy than the others.

The costs analysis showed that when a farmer shifts from the combined use of paved soil and mortar (most efficient traditional processing method) to the combined use of canvas and machine, he can get benefits which 8.29 times higher than his investments.

The main constraint with the improved technologies is their relatively high cost. Individual farmers cannot afford to buy a threshing machine. Their incomes are low and they scarcely have access to credits from micro-financial institutions. There is a need for farmers to form groups to buy machines at village level or to facilitate farmers access to formal credits. Private sector interested in the commercialization of fonio could also intervene by offering threshing services to farmers.

Possibility of adapting existing machine used for millets can be further explored: the same machine will in this case serve for for processing all local cereals. Table 4. Comparison of threshing methods

Threshing methods

Number of operators

Average weight (kg)

Time (min) Average yield (%)

Time capacity/ operator

(kg/h/operator) threshing on paved soil

1 2.4 5 42.50 30

threshing on non paved soil

1 2.4 6 40 22.28

threshing on canvas sheet

1 2.4 5 45.05 26.40

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ii. Testing fonio threshing methods and assessment of grain loss in Guinea

The assessment of grain loss has been carried out in Guinea. Threshing fonio represents an expensive and difficult operation which requires much energy and time. Unfortunately the common cereal threshers are not adapted to fonio because of its supple stems and very tiny grains. To reduce the strenuousness of the work and mitigate the grain losses at threshing, different threshing methods were tested. Three threshing methods were compared: 1) thresher machine "Type ASSI’’; 2) threshing with stick; 3) feet threshing. The variety used is Siragué (the most popular variety, yielding 800 to 1000 kg/ha with 52% for harvest index). According to farmers, the mechanical threshing assured a good quality product while doing the winnowing in a short time and using little hired labour; the rate of non threshed panicle is of 2% whereas it is of 8% for the feet threshing and 10.5% with the stick. This method requires 70% less time than manual threshing. The grain losses recorded at maturity, harvest and during transportation to the threshing surface were also evaluated. The experiment was carried out in Hindé and Séghen districts in 2003. Two varieties were used per site: Rané and Konso. Sixteen sets of ten panicles were used per variety and per site. The sets were collected at four growing stages: 1) pre maturity; 2) maturity; 3) during the harvest; 4) during transportation to the threshing area. The results revealed that the average number of grains of 10 panicles decreased from 1280 to 799 grains from pre maturity (phase 1) to the threshing area (phase 4) with an overall loss of 35.5%. The moisture content of seeds decreased from 70% to 16%. The assessment of the losses during the post harvest operations is very important as it indicates the great portion of harvest lost due to mismanagement. Any improvement of the technology at that stage will substantially improve the total production and make the crop more attractive to farmers. f.) Biochemical characterization

The biochemical composition of fonio varieties has been analyzed in Mali by the Laboratory of Food Technology and Animal Nutrition. For that purpose, eleven samples from different varieties were used (Table 5). The analysis included the determination for each variety of the carbohydrate content, the protein content, the lipid and mineral contents of the grains Table 5. List and local names of varieties analyzed at the Laboratory of Food Technology and Animal Nutrition in Mali.

Number of the variety Local name 2 Pési 3 Péazo 4 Pési 6 Péazo 7 Fini 8 Fini 9 Péazo 10 Wélé wélé 12 Fini 13 Fini blanc 14 Wélé wélé

The results (Table 6) showed that the protein content varied according to the varieties

between 7.86 and 16.97 g/100g DM. The variety Wélé wélé showed the higher protein content (16.97 g/100g DM).This protein content is very particular because cereal grains with so high protein content are very rare. Protein contents of cereals reported for the same area range from 9 to 12 % (table 7). All studied varieties have similar carbohydrate (77.9 - 80.25

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g/100g DM) except for accession Wélé Wélé which showed the lowest carbohydrate content (70.85 g/100g DM). The lipid content is also similar for all varieties (3.12 -4.06 g/100g DM). With regards to the mineral contents, the results revealed that, phosphorus and potassium are the major minerals in fonio grains as in sorghum or maize grains. Table 6. Nutrients content of eleven studied fonio accessions

Table 7. Comparison of nutrients contents of fonio and other cereals collected and analyzed in Mali in 2002.

Protein (%) Lipid (%) Minerals (%) Carbohydrate (%)

intact polished intact polished intact polished intact polished Fonio

Sorgho Mil

Maize Rice

9 – 11 11 12 11

7 – 9 10 11 10 8

3,3 –3,83,5 4

4,5

0,8 – 1 1,2 1,2 1

0,9

1 – 1,1 1,2 1,2 1,3

0,3 – 0,60,5 0,8 1

0,5

84 - 86 84 83 83

89 - 91 88 87 88 90

This study on biochemical composition of fonio accessions showed that there are some varieties which may have high nutritional value as their protein content is outstanding. The study should be further developed by including larger samples of varieties from various parts of the distribution area of fonio (for example from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Senegal, etc.). This would enable to have a large and complete range of fonio germlasm with various characteristics to support varietal selection.

Accession

number

Carbo

hydrate

(g/100g DM)

Protein

(g/100g DM)

Lipid (g/100g

DM)

Minerals

(g/100g DM)

Phosphorus

(mg/100g DM)

Calcium

(mg/100g DM)

Potassium

(mg/100g DM)

Sodium

(mg/100g DM)

2 77.12 10.87 3.99 1.12 250 30 160 10

3 80.03 7.86 3.77 1.34 480 30 210 6

4 77.17 10.90 3.60 1.20 300 30 210 -

6 80.25 8.93 3.27 1.30 200 30 190 -

7 80.03 8.96 3.12 1.26 440 44 210 30

8 77.61 11.05 3.43 1.16 390 39 190 60

9 78.7 10.48 3.33 1.09 300 30 180 10

10 77.9 10.73 3.24 1.24 330 33 220 -

12 79.87 10.13 3.12 1.23 400 40 190 -

13 78.06 9.80 3.99 1.35 310 31 210 -

14 70.85 16.97 4.06 1.49 360 30 220 -

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5. Conclusion and lessons learnt The project has contributed to a better understanding of fonio crop biology and

production especially its genetic diversity, biochemical composition, the farmers seed systems and the post harvest technology for processing fonio. The lessons learnt from the implementation of the project are the following:

1. Farmers and scientists evaluations helped to determine fonio crop improvement targets 2. Genetic diversity of fonio is rich but needs to be effectively used to improve its production, 3. The crop genetic diversity conservation is highly influenced by the culture: strategy for on farm conservation is based on the people food needs but also on their belief;

The project has also contributed to identify major constraints to the promotion of the crop, these are:

1. The limited consumption of fonio: The product is not known outside its production area, 2. The production is basically for household consumption and does not generate substantial income to Farmers; 3. Absence of a high-performing variety which would combine good agronomical characteristics with good biochemical characteristics and easy to be processed 4. The relatively high cost of the modern post harvest processing technology. 6. Future research needs

For further studies in order to promote fonio production and ensure its conservation, it is suggested: 1. To update the crop germplasm collections to all its production zone (Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, The Gambia, Mauritania, Chad) 2. To complete the agro-morphological and genetic characterization of all existing accessions. 3. Develop a participatory variety selection using both farmers and research selection criteria. 4. To analyze and suggest possible improvement to farmers’ seed-conservation methods 5. To promote the adoption of improved threshing and husking methods that can improve the quality of the final product and make the crop more attractive to consumers. 6. To develop a market access policy that get urban population aware of all the properties of the crop.

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