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Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum(L.) R. Br.] constitutes the third most important cultivated cereal and source of nutrients in Burkina Faso. The study carried out in 2018 and 2019 at the Saria Environment and Agricultural Researches Station aimed to assess the effects of tillage and organo-mineral fertilization on the quantities of minerals accumulated in pearl millet stover that could be used in animal diets as nutritional supplements. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with a split-plot arrangement of treatments, three replications with four tillage methods assigned to main plots and eight organo-mineral fertilizations to subplots. Results showed that the quantities of minerals accumulated in pearl millet stover were affected by tillage methods and organo-mineral fertilizations as well as by their interactive effects. Compost associated with mineral fertilizers resulted in higher accumulations of minerals in pearl millet stover. In terms of tillage methods, the results indicated that ploughing and scarifying were more favorable for greater but not varying mineral accumulations compared to manual zaï and tie-ridging.

La présente étude a pour objectif de faire l’état des connaissances traditionnelles endogènes relatives aux plantes locales utilisées contre les bio-agresseurs des cultures et des produits agricoles. A travers une série d’enquêtes ethnobotaniques réalisée de 2018 à 2019 dans la région des Cascades au Burkina Faso, 150 personnes appartenant à l’ethnie Turka ont été interviewées. Les informations recherchées en utilisant des entretiens semi-directifs, ont concerné les noms locaux des plantes, les parties utilisées, les domaines d’utilisation et leurs modes d'utilisation. Les données collectées ont permis de recenser 33 espèces de plantes réparties en 30 genres et 19 familles utilisées traditionnellement contre les bio-agresseurs agricoles. Ces plantes interviennent sélectivement dans trois domaines : la répulsion des insectes, l’inhibition des herbes envahissantes et la construction des greniers. Les espèces sont utilisées soit directement ou transformées en poudre ou en cendre. Les feuilles sont plus utilisées que les autres organes. Cassia nigricans est l’espèce la plus utilisée pour son effet répulsif et Parkia biglobosa pour son effet inhibiteur. Des études approfondies sur les propriétés chimiques des potentielles espèces permettront de réduire l’impact des produits chimiques en agriculture contre les bio-agresseurs.Mots clés : Ethnobotanique, diversité végétale, ennemi agricole, secteur sud-soudanien, Afrique de l’ouest English Title:Traditional knowledge of local plants used against pests of crops and agricultural products among the Turka poeple in Burkina Faso The objective of this study is to provide an overview of endogenous traditional knowledge relating to local plants used against pests of crops and agricultural products. Through an ethnobotanical’s surveys carried out from 2018 to 2019 in the Cascades area in Burkina, 150 Turka ethnic group people were interviewed. Through semi-structured interviews, information looking for were concerned plants local names, their parts used, the domains and the modes of use. Data collected allowed to identify 33 plants’ species belonged to 30 genera and 19 families, used traditionally against agricultural pests. These plants are selectively involved in three domains: repelling insects, inhibiting invasive weeds and building lofts. Species are used either directly or processed into powder or ash. The leaves are used more than other organs. Cassia nigricans is the most used species for its repellent effect and Parkia biglobosa for its inhibitory effect. In-depth studies on the chemical properties of potential species will reduce the impact of chemicals in agricultural against pests.Keywords: Ethnobotany, plant diversity, agricultural pest, South Sudanese sector, West Africa

This study aimed at creating genetic variability by induced mutagenesis in farmers’ preferred sorghum variety (ICSV1049) to breed mutant lines for water deficit tolerance. Sorghum seeds were irradiated by gamma rays and sown as one panicle-to-one progeny method. Putative lines M5 (143) and parent were screened under water deficit stress. Data analysis showed that leaf senescence (LS) was positively correlated to relative water content (RWC), panicle weight (PaWt), grain weight (GrWt) and chlorophyll content 13 days after water deficit application (SPAD II). Semi-dwarf trait (SDwf) with plants height (Ht)

Au Burkina Faso, le maïs constitue la deuxième céréale en terme de quantité de production. Sa production est confrontée à la pauvreté des sols et la forte infestation des adventices telle que Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) W. Clayton. L’étude a pour objectif de déterminer l’effet de la fertilisation azotée et du niveau de nuisibilité de Rottboellia cochinchinensis sur la productivité du maïs. Les effets de trois doses d’azote 0, 100 et 150 kg/ha d’urée 46 % ont été comparés dans des conditions d’enherbement croissant de R. cochinchinensis. L’estimation de l’infestation potentielle des mauvaises herbes à la mise en place de l’essai révèle 293 graines/m² de R. cochinchinensis. L’apport de 150 kg/ha d’urée a permis de réduire l’effet à 30 Jours d’Enherbement (JE) de R. cochinchinensis par une croissance rapide du maïs et un rendement moyen supérieur à 2,5 t/ha. Cependant une carence d’azote (0 kg/ha) a induit une réduction de 19,5 % la hauteur du maïs entre 70 et 95 JE. De plus, cette carence réduit de 66,66 % le rendement en grain avec 30 JE de maïs comparativement au traitement apport de 150 kg/ha d’urée. Néanmoins un désherbage précoce associée à 150 kg/ha d’urée, permettent de maîtriser l’enherbement de Rottboellia cochinchinensis et d’améliorer la productivité du maïs grain.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) is an important food legume. However, production is limited by various biotic and abiotic constraints in sub-Saharan Africa and reduced genetic variability hinders crop improvement efforts. Gamma ray irradiation has been used as a mutagen to create variability but optimal dose determination is a prerequisite to maximize the recovery of mutant plants. In this study, three genotypes (KVx396-4-5-2D, Tiligre and Moussa local) from Burkina Faso were treated with four gamma irradiation doses (150, 200, 250 and 300 Gy) using a labelled cobalt source (60CO) and evaluated for seed germination and seedling survival. Results showed that germination and survival rates were severely decreased at treatments greater than 150 Gy and no germination was observed at the 300 Gy dose. The optimum dose (LD 50%) varied for the genotypes and ranged from 129 to 163 GY. Seed characteristic and quality were factors contributing to this variation. Key words: Vigna unguiculata, γ-rays, mutagenesis, variability, radiosensibility.

At the onset of COVID‐19, researchers quickly recognized the need for research on the consequences of the pandemic for agricultural and food systems, both in terms of immediate impacts on access to inputs and labor, disruptions in transportation and markets, and the longer‐term implications on crop productivity, income, and livelihoods. Vegetable production and supply chains are particularly vulnerable due to the perishable nature of the products and labor‐intensive production practices. The purpose of this study was to understand the impacts of COVID‐19 on vegetable production in Burkina Faso in terms of both the biophysical aspects such as yields and access to inputs and socioeconomic aspects such as access to labor, markets, and social services. A survey was developed to better understand smallholder farmer experiences regarding the impacts of COVID‐19 on their vegetable production systems and social well‐being. The survey was administered (between August and October 2020) with smallholder farmers (n = 605) in 13 administrative regions covering all agroecological zones of Burkina Faso. The survey results clearly show impacts of COVID‐19 on vegetable systems, including a reduction in access to inputs, a reduction in yields, a loss of income, reduced access to local and urban markets, reduced access to transportation, and an increase in post‐harvest loss. Market access, distribution, and disruptions were a major shock to the system. Results also showed an increase in women's labor in the household, and for youth, an increase in unemployment, job loss, and concerns of poverty. Finally, food security and social supports were highlighted as major issues for resilience and livelihoods. The results from this survey should be helpful to policymakers and researchers to develop policies and strategies to minimize the negative impacts of this ongoing pandemic on the agri‐food systems and support smallholder farmers to overcome stress caused by COVID‐19., Impacts of COVID‐19 experienced by smallholder vegetable farmers in Burkina Faso were collected through surveys. They expressed reduction in access to inputs, reduced yields, loss of income, reduced access to local and urban markets, reduced access to transportation, and increased post‐harvest loss. These impacted lives, livelihoods, and social well‐being of families, especially women and youth.

We thank Dr Abdel Gabar Babiker for providing us with highly viable S. hermonthica seeds. We thank Mr Han Rieffe of CRODA, Gouda, The Netherlands, for his valuable help to select the best formulating agent (Atlas G-1086). We are thankful to Xavier Pita, scientific illustrator at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), for the illustrations in Figures 2 and 7. This work was supported by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant OPP1136424 to SA and by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Striga species affect the potential productivity of cereals in sub-saharian Africa due to the lack of durable Striga-resistance in host crops. This study aimed at inducing new source of resistance in sorghum using gamma irradiation. Dry seeds of three Sorghum varieties; Grinkan, ICV1049 and Sariaso14 were gamma-irradiated with 200 Gy, 300 Gy, 400 Gy and 500 Gy. Screening strategies involved a 2-year field and greenhouse experiments, where mutant Sorghum families, their parents and resistant control were artificially infected with Striga hermonthica seeds. Field screenings revealedinduced genetic variability among them, forty families significantly reduced the number of emerged Striga plants or showed good Sorghum grain yield performance despite the infection by S. hermonthica ecotype from Burkina Faso. The induced putative resistant mutants were identified across the the four applied irradiation doses. Greenhouse experiment confirmed Striga resistance in seven mutant Sorghum families leading to no emergence of Burkina’s S. hermonthica ecotype along with high resistance index (RI) and low Striga damage score. Among them, two mutants SA38M5 and IC47M5 withstood S. hermonthica ecotype from Sudan and S. asiatica ecotype from Madagascar. The induced mutants will be evaluated for release to farmers for commercial production. Further studies are ongoing on confirmed mutants to highlight their Striga resistance mechanisms and explore the potential of pyramiding different mechanism to produce durable resistance to S. hermonthica in sorghum.

Resilience of smallholder farmers in their ability to bounce-back and overcome shocks, such as drought, is critical to ensure a pathway out of hunger and poverty. Efficient water conservation methods that increase rainwater capture and reduce soil erosion such as stone lines and grass bands are two technologies that have been proposed to increase the resilience in Sudano&ndash, Sahelian farming systems. In Burkina Faso, we show that stone lines, grass bands, and crop rotation are effective resilience strategies individually and in combination. During years when rainfall is well-distributed over time, differences are minimal between fields with water conservation methods and fields without. However, when there are periods of prolonged drought, water conservation methods are effective for increasing soil water, yield, revenue, and resilience. During drought conditions, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) grain yield and revenue with stone lines and grass bands were over 50% greater than that of the control, by an average of 450 kg ha&minus, 1, which amounted to an increase of 58,500 West African CFA franc (CFA) ha&minus, 1 (i.e., 98 USD ha&minus, 1). The results also suggest that the combination of water conservation method and crop rotation additionally improves cropping system productivity and revenue. Growing cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in rotation with sorghum production provided more options for farmers to increase their income and access to nutrition. This study also sheds light on the limited productivity gains due to improved crop varieties. The local sorghum landrace, Nongomsoba, and the local cowpea variety in rotation resulted in the highest yields as compared to the improved varieties of Sariaso 14 sorghum and KVX 396-4-4 cowpea. Under similar low input/degraded conditions, improved crop varieties likely are not a suitable resilience strategy alone. We conclude that during erratic rainy seasons with frequent periods of drought (i.e., water stress) in rain-fed conditions in Burkina Faso, stone lines or grass bands in combination with sorghum and cowpea rotation are effective practices for increasing resilience of smallholder farmers to maintain crop productivity and revenue. With future and present increases in climate variability due to climate change, stone lines, grass bands, and crop rotation will have growing importance as resilience strategies to buffer crop productivity and revenue during periods of drought.

La fertilisation de l’oignon a un impact direct sur son enherbement du faite de sa forte sensibilité à la compétition des mauvaises herbes. L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier l’influence des niveaux de fertilisation sur l’enherbement et l’efficacité des herbicides dans les parcelles d’oignon. Le dispositif expérimental utilisé est un bloc de Fisher à 4 répétitions comprenant chacune un témoin et les formulations T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 T7, T8, T9 et T10. Les résultats ont montré que les flores adventices inventoriées 40 et 68 jours après le repiquage (jar) ont compté respectivement 75 et 73 espèces dont 76% et 75% sont des dicotylédones. Les taux de recouvrement au sol a été compris entre 4% et 77% 40 jar, entre 8% et 96% 68 jar, tandis que leur biomasse sèche a évolué entre 22,41 g et 78,28 g 40 jar et entre 9,6 g et 148,85 g 68 jar. Le nombre de bulbes d’oignon (97,33 bulbes/6 m²) a été significativement plus important dans les planches fertilisées avec 300 kg NPK + SM 40 et 68 jar (T4). Cependant, les rendements ont été significativement plus élevés avec T4 (300 kg NPK+SM 40 et 68 jar), T6 (300 kg NPK+2 L Alligator) et T7 (20 t FO+1 L Select) respectifs de 3,2 kg, 3,08 kg et 3,18 kg/6 m². La classe de bulbe de calibre supérieur à 30 mm (> 30 mm) a constitué 29,32% du nombre total de bulbes récoltés. Parmi celle-ci, seul 6,69% de bulbes ont enregistré un calibre supérieur à 45 mm.© 2019 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Mots clés: Oignon, herbicides, fertilisation, enherbement, productivitéEnglish Title: The influence of fertilizer control on grass cover and the effectiveness of herbicides in onion plots in the Central of Burkina FasoEnglish AbstractOnion fertilization has a direct influence on the grass cover because of the higher sensibility of weed competition. The aim of this work is to study the effect of fertilizer control on grass cover and herbicide efficacy in onion plots. The experimental design used is a randomized complete block design with 4 replications, each containing a control and the following formulations T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 T7, T8, T9 and T10. The results showed that the adventitious plants inventoried 40 and 68 days after transplanting (dat) counted respectively 75 and 73 species of which 76% and 75% are dicotyledonous. Their rate of recovery on the ground was between 4% and 77% 40 days, between 8% and 96% 68 dat. Dry weed biomass ranged from 22.41 g to 78.28 g 40 dat and from 9.6 g to 148.85 g 68 dat. The number of bulbs (97.33 bulbs/6 m²) was significantly higher in the plots fertilized with 300 kg NPK + SM 40 and 68 dat (T4) and lower in the control plots (41 bulbs / 6 m²). However, it is the T4 treatments (300 kg NPK + SM 40 and 68 dat), T6 (300 kg NPK + 2 L Alligator) and T7 (20 t FO + 1L Select) which observed respectively significant higher yields of 3.2 kg, 3.08 kg and 3.18 kg/6 m². The bulb class that is greater than (> 30 mm) constituted 29.32% of the total number of bulbs harvested. From these, only 6.69% of bulbs recorded a size greater than 45 mm.© 2019 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Keywords: Onion, herbicides, fertilization, grass cover, productivity

Cowpea is a good source of protein, minerals, and vitamins in most developing countries in Africa. However, this legume production is still limited by various biotic and abiotic constraints. Beyond these constraints, the pressure of conventional breeding methods on natural variability exhausted a narrow genetic base of cowpea. Therefore, it is important to explore other ways of broadening the genetic base of the crop. Gamma irradiation is an alternative to increase genetic variability and improve the genetic base of crops. This paper focuses on evaluating the level and structuring of agro-morphological variability induced by gamma radiation among M2 plants of cowpea genotype. So, Tiligre, Moussa local, and KVx396-4-5-2D genotypes were treated with 150 Gy of gamma rays. The M2 generation was then screened for genetic variability. Thus, 38 M1 plants (either 38 x 10 seeds) by genotypes are advanced to the M2 generation based on the plant by line method. Four (04) agro-morphological parameters were used to assess phenotypical variability. Analysis of variance showed a highly significant difference between the families of plants except those of KVx396-4-5-2D for the flowering time. The maximum variability was observed for the number of branches and the length of the peduncles with a very high coefficient of variation. A high broad-sense heritability was recorded for all measured traits (>75%) of Moussa Local; for plant height (81.1%) of KVx396-4-5-2D, for first flower date (80.2%), and peduncles length (78.6%) of Tiligre. Based on phenotypic characters, the principal component analysis (PCA) and the cluster analysis showed variation among genotypes irradiated, and they were grouped into four clusters in KVx-396-4-5-2D, six clusters in Moussa local and Tiligre populations. So, 150 Gy dose of γ-rays was effective to induce variability in morphological and phenological characters within cowpea genotypes.