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Transformative agriculture or pipedream?
Perennial Grains:
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D. Garrity, World Agroforestry
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Historical production of perennial sorghum
in Malawi
"Sorghum or Kaffir corn is grown chiefly on the river,
and in some places in Zomba sorghum has the
advantage of being biennial: it may even be
used for three years .. will yield a fair return in thin
shingly soil that would not support maize. The roots of
sorghum are of a stronger character, and go farther in
search of food."
Buchanan (1885)
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Annualizing project?
Snapp et al., 2014
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Annualizing project?
Snapp et al., 2014
ICRISAT 2015 Pigeonpea priorities:“New plant type concept on improvement of
erect varieties; Expansion and promotion of
super-early pigeonpea genotypes in new
niches."
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Legumes: Annuals, Perennials
and ??
Annual pulses Perennial agroforestry
Bean, peanut & soybean Gliricidia & tephrosia
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A third way
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A third type of legume
Pigeonpea(Cajan cajanus)
• Lablab
• Runner bean
• Lima bean
• Pigeonpea
• Cowpea
Perennial cowpea(Vigna unguiculata)
Runner bean(Phaseolus caccineus) Lablab
(Lablab purpureus)
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Ratooned pigeonpea
(Cajanus cajan)
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0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
Seedsavings
Secondcrop
Laborsavings
SoilFertility
Betterintercrop
Mzimba
Kasungu
Zomba
Why/why not ratoon pigeonpea in Malawi
Roge et al. ms. submitted
Why NOT ratoon:
No benefit
Increased disease
Competition with
maize
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Why grow perennial pigeonpea? Choice experiments in Malawi
Waldman et al. ms. submitted
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
De
ma
nd
Soil fertility
Perenniality
Biomass
Yield
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ICRISAT: Early 1990s almost shut down pigeonpea
research program
BMGF: 2008 funded ‘N2 for Africa’ Prof Ken Giller
Pigeonpea removed from project
Tropical Legumes III 2015: Pigeonpea removed
USAID-Malawi: 2010 funded ‘Integrated Nutrient Value Chain’
DAI (Malawi Government, MSU, AR), project goal: increase
by 15% yields of pulses
Pigeonpea removed from project
Irish Aid in 2011 funded promotion of Tephrosia vogelli
agroforestry maize in Malawi, pigeonpea overlooked
Pigeonpea case study
‘Always the bridesmaid, never the bride’
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Pigeonpea case study
2
3
4
All farmers value annuals, some
ratoon, and value perennial traits1
Research vision is all annual (almost
no breeding no agronomy)
Yet, intensification is an annual (maize!)
project in Malawi
Perennial grains were grown historically
and persist in some locations
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Perennial wheatgrass Annual wheat
Photo by Jim Richardson
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Annual wheat Perennial wheat
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0102030405060708090
100
P3 P11 P15 P19
Gra
in Y
ield
%
of
An
nu
al
First Year
Second Year
Jaikumar et al., 2013
Perennial wheat lines yield vs. annual
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Perennial grain bibliography analysis
http:/pgrainsforafrica.psm.msu.edu
Kane et al., PLOS ONE
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Perennial grain biblio. topic modeling
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Which vision, agronomy = annuals?
??Why have perennial grains
been overlooked?
Are perennials key to
SUSTAINABLE
intensification?