Ibadan, Nigeria
June 26, 2009
Soybean farmers in Nigeria could
look to better times ahead with the release of a new soybean
variety that resists the deadly Asian soybean rust, a fungal
disease that could wipe out up to 80% of crops in infected
fields. The rust-resistant variety is the first of its kind to
be made available for cultivation in West and Central Africa.
Dubbed TGx 1835-10E, the variety was bred by
IITA and further developed in
collaboration with the National Cereal Research Institute
(NCRI). Its release for general cultivation in Nigeria was
approved in December 2008 and notified in June 2009 by the
Nigerian National Variety Release Committee.
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The
new rust-resistant TGx 1835-10E (right) compared with a
local susceptible soybean variety (left) |
Aside from being resistant to the Asian rust, the variety is
also high-yielding, averaging 1655 kg/ha grain and 2210 kg/ha
fodder in field trials in Nigeria, according to Olumide Shokalu,
NCRI pathologist, who oversaw the trials. It is also
early-maturing, has good promiscuous nodulation character, and
resists pod shattering and other prevalent diseases.
“The variety can be used for direct cultivation in tropical
Africa or as a source of resistance genes in soybean breeding
programs. It was previously released in Uganda, and has already
shown excellent performance in trials carried out in Southern
Africa, suggesting that it is a well-adapted variety”, says IITA
soybean breeder Hailu Tefera.
“It has resistance genes that are effective against all
currently known types of the rust fungus in Nigeria. IITA has
bred several other varieties with rust resistance genes from
various sources which can be deployed quickly if this variety
succumbs to newer forms of the rust fungus”, adds Ranajit
Bandyopadhyay, IITA pathologist.
In 1996 the Asian soybean rust first arrived in Africa, rapidly
spreading through Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South
Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, causing up to 80% loss in yields.
In 1999, farmers of Oniyo village near Ogbomosho in Nigeria
found the leaves of their immature soybean crop rapidly turning
brown and falling off, leaving only straggly stems. Scientists
from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife confirmed the cause
to be Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the causal fungus of Asian soybean
rust.
By 2001, the fungus entered South America through Paraguay and
quickly spread into Brazil and Argentina with devastating
effect. In 2003 alone, Brazil lost an estimated US$2 billion in
yields despite spending US$400 million on fungicides to control
the disease. The disease entered the United States in 2004, but
by then the country had already put in place effective measures
to counter the disease.
The fungus is very aggressive and can produce billions of spores
capable of turning lush green crops with healthy foliage into
brown fields with bare stalks in 2-3 weeks.
“For most African farmers, using resistant varieties is the most
viable method to control the disease as using fungicides proves
too costly,” say Tefera and Bandyopadhyay.
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