Technology generation to dissemination: lessons learned from the tef improvement project

Cannarozzi, Gina; Chanyalew, Solomon; Assefa, Kebebew; Bekele, Abate; Blösch, Regula; Weichert, Annett; Klauser, Dominik; Plaza-Wüthrich, Sonia; Esfeld, Korinna; Jöst, Moritz; Rindisbacher, Abiel; Jifar, Habte; Johnson-Chadwick, Victoria; Abate, Ermias; Wang, Wuyan; Kamies, Rizqah; Husein, Negussu; Kebede, Worku; Tolosa, Kidist; Genet, Yazachew; ... (2018). Technology generation to dissemination: lessons learned from the tef improvement project. Euphytica, 214(2) Springer 10.1007/s10681-018-2115-5

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Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef—an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa’s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Development
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)

UniBE Contributor:

Cannarozzi, Gina Michelle, Blösch, Regula, Weichert, Annett, Plaza, Sonia, Esfeld, Korinna, Jöst, Jan Moritz Michael, Rindisbacher, Abiel, Daba, Habte Jifar, Tadele, Zerihun

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

0014-2336

Publisher:

Springer

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

31 Jan 2018 18:26

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:10

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s10681-018-2115-5

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Eragrostis tef; Marker-assisted breeding; Orphan crops; Tef; TILLING; Farmer-participatory research

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.110477

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/110477

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