GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR CONSERVATION & UTILISATION OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FORAGES Issue 6 – January 2018 Forages for the Future IN THIS ISSUE IN THIS ISSUE Last year has seen us traveling the tropical take over from Jean Hanson at ILRI in 2018. and subtropical forages world! Jean has been leading and advising the for- age germplasm collection for >30 years! The In the national systems, it has been fantastic staff change will go along with long-awaited to meet with lots of young and ‘younger’ closer collaboration or even integration of researchers, particularly in Argentina and the two CGIAR TSTF collections. Brazil, with their many activities that they are sharing with the global community (p. 4-5). Our travel was all about engagement. And Also in India, there is a large group of resear- the newsletter is also about engagement, chers working only on grassland and forages revitalizing and rebuilding the TSTF commu- in a national, dedicated institute (p. 3). So nity. This is an important objective of the much is going on in the tropical and sub- strategy on TSTF conservation & utilization. tropical forages (TSTF) world that we were The pros and cons of Napier grass keep Forage genetic resources in India not aware of – exciting! The visits to the heating some of our readership—that is very The Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute Kenyan and South African TSTF genebanks, good! We are inviting you to react to what conserve forage germplasm in mid-term storage. though, were less encouraging as their others are sharing – either directly to us or germplasm appears to be at great risk. And among yourselves. This can also help us pick Page 3 institutional support didn’t seem to be strong some stories, like the one on tree Lucerne in enough to recognize the risk, its implications Ethiopia (p. 2) or the successful ‘Push-Pull or to initiate possible rescue. Maybe our visit system’ in eastern Africa to be featured in was very timely to create awareness and one of the next issues. assist from the global community. The situa- tion in Australia is one in which the APG is Acknowledgement. Again, we want to thank now well organized and working well, but as the Global Crop Diversity Trust through the tends to happen with disappointing regular- Genebank Platform, especially Charlotte ity in Australia, industry and government are Lusty, for all the support of our engagement, again reconsidering the value of pastures and part of which is this newsletter. Also, all story pasture genetic resources. and photo contributors to the newsletter during 2017 are gratefully acknowledged. In the meantime, things are evolving at the CGIAR centers: ILRI’s new genebank building Let’s make 2018 another great year for the has already become operational, while CIAT TSTF community, with better networking Napier grass in the discussion is building a new one. And their genebank and sharing the load of conservation to Alan Robertson continues discussing Napier grass – we hope that you all enjoy this debate and look forward to leaders are undergoing generational change: enhance utilization so that, ultimately, more contributions regarding this grass or other TSTF! 2017 saw Peter Wenzl take over from Daniel farmers can improve their livelihoods. Debouck, who has led the CIAT genebank for Page 6 >20 years. A new genebank manager will Brigitte Maass & Bruce Pengelly FORAGES FOR THE FUTURE | Issue 6 2 PRIORITIZING LEGUMES & GRASSES Tree Lucerne in Ethiopia What are active, base collections? The Africa RISING (Africa Research in Sus- tainable Intensification for the Next Genera- Active germplasm collections are maintained in short- to medium-term storage and usually duplicated in a tion) project team has been conducting feed- base collection maintained in medium- to long-term related action research with farmers since storage. They contain germplasm accessions that are 2012. This explored ways of integrating used for regeneration, multiplication, distribution, multi-purpose forages to increase feed characterization and evaluation. quantity and quality available for livestock in mixed crop-livestock farming systems. They A base collection, on the other hand, is a collection of developed guidelines for training farmers on germplasm that is conserved in long-term secure how to manage their forages. Africa RISING storage and is not used as a routine distribution source. Seed is usually stored at sub-zero temperatures and low (AR) is a program that aims to sustainably moisture content. intensify key African farming systems, Loading tree Lucerne seedlings in Bale zone promoting the scaling out of available tech- Ethiopia. PHOTO from Africa RISING yammer. In order to insure against accidental loss of material nology; tree Lucerne is one of them. from the base collection, a safety duplicate (‘backup’) Jointly with AR, Goba and Sinana district should be stored under similar conditions for long-term Tree Lucerne or Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus livestock and fishery resource development conservation but at a different location. palmensis) is a small spreading evergreen offices in Bale zone raised >31,000 tree tree that grows 3-4 m high. It is indigenous to To offer humankind a long-term seed storage facility, Lucerne seedlings in woreda nursery sites by the Seed Vault has been built under permafrost condi- the dry volcanic slopes of the Canary Islands. September 2017. AR and the extension office tions at Svalbard to stand the test of time – and the ILRI conserves a substantial collection of tree trained individual farmers in different rural challenge of natural or man-made disasters. The pur- Lucerne (c. 200 accessions). The Ethiopian sites on planting and managing the plants pose of the Seed Vault is to store duplicates (backups) of national system has undertaken research for after the seedlings had been received. seed samples from the world’s crop collections. It repre- adaptation; and some accessions have been sents the world’s largest collection of crop diversity. promoted for the East African highlands. Extracted from Africa RISING/Yammer by BLMaass Mostly extracted from the Glossary of the Crop Farmer groups are now producing oats-vetch For more information contact: Kindu Mekonnen Genebank Knowledge Base and the Svalbard Global mixtures, tree Lucerne, sweet lupin, alfalfa, (Email: [email protected]) Seed Vault with few additions and editing. Napier and desho grass (Pennisetum pedi- ILRI Scientist & Addisu Asfaw, Brigitte Maass cellatum, indigenous in Ethiopia), and others AR Research Site Coordinator in the project intervention sites. (Email: [email protected]) Abbreviations & Acronyms APG Australian Pastures Genebank ARC Agricultural Research Council, South Africa BAG Active germplasm bank, Brazil CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation cv. Cultivar – registered, commercial variety CIAT Centro International de Agricultura Tropical Embrapa Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation GeRRI Genetic Resources Research Institute, Kenya Embrapa Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation FGR Forage genetic resources ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research IGFRI Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute ILRI International Livestock Research Institute INTA National Inst. of Agric. Technol., Argentina KALRO Kenya MTS Mid-term storage NAGS National Active Germplasm Site, India In 2017, we visited national centers in Brazil, Argentina, India, Kenya, South Africa and NBPGR National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Australia that maintain germplasm collections of and conduct research on tropical and NGO Non-governmental organization PGR Plant genetic resources subtropical forages. When subjectively judging the level of sustainable conservation, R&D Research and development the situation of germplasm collections ranged from at high to low risk. Some TSTF USAID US Agency for International Development germplasm may be lost forever as it may not be duplicated and its collection sites may TSTF Tropical and Sub-Tropical Forages have undergone substantial land use and vegetation change. Rapid action is required! FORAGES FOR THE FUTURE | Issue 6 3 Tropical and subtropical forage genetic resources of India: their conservation and utilization India is a country with a large amount of these genetic resources are important Table 1 Present forage germplasm stored in biodiversity in forage crops, thanks to its components of establishment of germplasm the mid-term module at IGFRI Jhansi, 2017 geographical position and the diversity of its collections in genebanks. The Indian agro-climatic conditions. India’s cultural Grassland and Fodder Research Institute Accessions Forage genera and species diversity also plays a significant role in (IGFRI) Jhansi is maintaining a diverse forage (no.) enriching its diversity by introducing new germplasm collection in its mid-term storage Cereal fodders crops. This results in identification of several module (MTS). It has the mandate of Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, Pen- 2,994 promising types that can adapt to harsh collection, evaluation, characterization, nisetum glaucum, Avena sativa, environmental and degraded soil conditions documentation and conservation of forage Hordeum vulgare, Eleusine spp and, thereby, ensure feed and nutritional genetic resources (FGR). Major FGR-related Cultivated legumes quality as well as provide additional incomes activities at IGFRI Jhansi include conducting Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, Lablab 2,546 to resource-poor farmers of