As part of a multi-partnership project led by
the University of Hohenheim on “Developing rice and sorghum crop adaptation
strategies for climate change in vulnerable environments in Africa (RISOCAS),”
a workshop was organized in Cotonou, Benin, 16-17 April, to evaluate the
results from the first year.
The main objective of this project is to deliver
coping strategies for crop adaptation to changing climatic conditions, along
with tools and methodologies enabling stakeholders to develop such strategies
further, or to apply them to other crops or environments.
The project focuses on rainfed rice and sorghum
and irrigated rice, which are three of the most important staple small-grain
cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. For each of the three target crops and ecosystems,
sets of valuable physiological and morphological traits for breeding will be
delivered to breeders, along with suitable selection tools.
The project is jointly carried out by the
University of Hohenheim and Africa Rice Center in partnership with the Centre
de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement
(CIRAD); Université Gaston Berger, Senegal, Centre national de la recherche
appliquée au développement rural (FOFIFA), Madagascar and the Institut
d’économie rurale (IER), Mali.
Attached to the workshop, a training course
about modeling was held, 20-24 April, to train RISOCAS project members and
invited guests on existing models which will be used during later project
phases.
In total, 17 participants attended the project
workshop and 22 attended the training course, with a considerable number
attending both workshops.
