Tuesday, November 6, 2007
139-10

Photoperiod Sensitivity of Local Sorghum and Millet Varieties in West Africa.

Moussa Sanon1, Gerrit Hoogenboom2, Seydou Traore3, Benoit Sarr4, Axel Garcia5, Léoplod Somé1, and Carla Roncoli6. (1) Department of Natural Resources Management and Farming Systems, Environment and Agricultural Research Institute (INERA), 04 P.O. Box 8645, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, (2) University of Georgia, University of Georgia BAE, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, (3) AGRHYMET, AGRHYMET Regional Center, Boite Postale 11011, Niamey, 11011, NIGER, (4) Department Information and Research, Regional Center of AGRHYMET, BP.O. Box11011, Niger, Niger, (5) Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, The University of Georgia, 165 Gordon Futral Court, Griffin, GA 30223-1797, (6) The University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment St., Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dept., Griffin, GA 30223-1797

In West Africa, sorghum and millet are the most important staples for millions of people. Unfortunately, yields are very low due to short rainy season with dry spells, high potential evapotranspiration rate, soils with low fertility, and low level of crop management. Photoperiod strongly affects the development of local sorghum and millet varieties. Its understanding is necessary in order to improve production and ultimately increase yield. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of the adaptive capability of local varieties, especially in coping with environmental stress conditions. The objective of this study was to determinate the sensitivity to photoperiod (SP) of the most common varieties of sorghum and millet in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A study consisting on seven millet varieties and eleven sorghum varieties were planted on six and five different dates from June to August 2003-2004-2006 at the experiment station of Di, Northwestern Burkina Faso. Thermal time from emergence to panicle initiation (PI) was used to determine the date of occurrence of PI as well as the photoperiod at PI. Then, graphical analysis procedures were used to define the critical threshold photoperiod and SP for each variety. For both millet and sorghum, the sensitivity to photoperiod ranged from 142 to 6184 growing degree days per hour (GDD h-1) of photoperiod extension. The critical photoperiod (Pc) ranged from a daylength of 13.00 to 13.35 h d-1. There was also a positive correlation between Pc and the latitude of the original site of the variety as well as a negative correlation between the SP and the latitude of the original site of the variety. The results were consistent with those found in previous studies on local varieties from West of Africa. Further work will include the use of these results to improve the capabilities of crop models coupled to Decision Support Systems for yield forecasting of sorghum and millet in West Africa.

Keywords: Pennisetum glaucum (L), Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench, daylength, planting date, Burkina Faso.


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