Crop Improvement in Africa
Over the past two decades my laboratory has been involved in a variety of agricultural research activities in Africa. Our work involves not only basic research, but collaborative applied research projects to improve agricultural productivity and food security on the continent. We are committed to assisting students and researchers with acquiring scholarships, fellowships and grants for training and research projects at their home institutions and to strengthening research skills through the training of scientists in modern molecular methods or crop improvement, such as marker assisted selection and breeding.
Our main research focuses on improvement of legumes, although we are also involved in research projects on other crop plants.
Current activities:
Project area: Marker-assisted selection (MAS) protocols for the improvement of cowpea germplasm and productivity
Collaborators:
Boukar Ousmane and Sato Muranaka
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Ndiaga Cisse
Centre d'Etude Regional pour l'amelioration de l'Adaptation a la Seccheresse (CERAAS)
Moctar Wade
Centre National de la Recherche Agronomique (CNRA)
Project area: Development of Alectra resistant cowpea cultivars
Collaborators:
Geleta Fite
Department of Agricultural Research
Gaborone, Botswana
Project area: Kirkhouse Trust Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Improvement Project for East Africa
Collaborators:
Paul Gepts
University of California, Davis
Project area: Integrated management of Striga gesnerioides in tobacco rotations in Zimbabwe
Collaborators:
Chapman Koga
National University of Science and Technology (NUST)
