UC to Research on Improved Cowpeas for Africa
November 9, 2007| |
A three-year grant of about $1.7 million was awarded to the University of California, Riverside by the Generation Challenge Program of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to develop improved cowpea varieties for Africa using genomic technology.
Scientists will develop varieties that are drought tolerant and have improved resistance to pests and diseases. They will collaborate with African partners in the national breeding programs of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon as well as with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria to identify genes linked to important traits such as tolerance to drought and resistance to pests. Drought and pests often reduce by one-fourth the potential cowpea yields in Africa where the crop is a source of nutrition for both people and animals.
“UCR hosts a collection of 5,000 cowpea varieties from around the world,” said Jeff Ehlers, the principal investigator of the grant and a specialist in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences. “These genetically diverse varieties offer a treasure-trove of genes of potential value to breeders seeking to build better cowpea varieties. Because of the grant, we will be able to more efficiently identify genes we can use to develop improved cowpea varieties.”
Read more on the project at http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1708.
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