IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v8y2016i1d10.1007_s12571-015-0537-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce pre-and post-harvest food losses in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Tadele Tefera

    (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
    International Center of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe))

  • Stephen Mugo

    (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT))

  • Yoseph Beyene

    (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT))

Abstract

Maize grain yield in Africa is low, 1.5 t ha−1 compared to the global average of 4.9 t ha−1. Maize production in Africa is constrained by various abiotic (drought, soil fertility) and biotic factors (insect pests, weeds and diseases). Stem borers and postharvest insect pests play considerable roles in reducing maize yield through damaging the leaves, stems, ears, and kernels. Stem borers can cause 10–15 % yield losses while the postharvest insect pests, particularly, the larger grain borer and maize weevil, can cause 14–36 % grain losses. The use of chemical insecticides has been recommended; however, in addition to health concerns, insecticides are expensive and not accessible to smallholders. Developing high yielding insect resistant maize varieties could do much to minimize the losses. Resistance of maize to stem borers and post-harvest insect pests are genetic traits which manifests themselves in resistant varieties. Resistance is available to farmers encapsulated in the seed, which ensures that after purchasing the seed, farmers need not invest in any further inputs to control stem borers and post-harvest pests. CIMMYT and its partners have developed through conventional breeding and have deployed several hybrids and open-pollinated varieties, which are insect resistant and high yielding. Sources of maize germplasm resistant to stem borers and postharvest insect pests, and performance of the new insect resistant and high yielding maize hybrids are reviewed and discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tadele Tefera & Stephen Mugo & Yoseph Beyene, 2016. "Developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce pre-and post-harvest food losses in Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 211-220, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-015-0537-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0537-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-015-0537-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-015-0537-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smale, Melinda & Byerlee, Derek & Jayne, Thom, 2011. "Maize revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5659, The World Bank.
    2. Hassan, Rashid M. & Mekuria, Mulugetta & Mwangi, Wilfred, 2001. "Maize Breeding Research In Eastern And Southern Africa: Current Status And Impacts Of Past Investments Made By The Public And Private Sectors, 1966-97," Impact Studies 23723, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Magdalena Gantner & Agnieszka Najda & Dariusz Piesik, 2019. "Effect of phenolic acid content on acceptance of hazel cultivars by filbert aphid," Plant Protection Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 55(2), pages 116-122.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Smale, Melinda & Olwande, John, 2011. "Is Older Better? Maize Hybrid Change on Household Farms in Kenya," Working Papers 202594, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
    2. Tadele Tefera & Stephen Mugo & Yoseph Beyene, 2016. "Developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce pre-and post-harvest food losses in Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 211-220, February.
    3. Takeshima, Hiroyuki & Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O., 2015. "Fertilizer subsidies, political influence and local food prices in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nigeria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 11-24.
    4. Jeremy Foltz & Ursula Aldana & Paul Laris, 2014. "The Sahel's Silent Maize Revolution: Analyzing Maize Productivity in Mali at the Farm Level," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 111-136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Muange, Elijah N. & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2014. "Social networks and farmer exposure to improved crop varieties in Tanzania," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 183635, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    6. Romy Santpoort, 2020. "The Drivers of Maize Area Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. How Policies to Boost Maize Production Overlook the Interests of Smallholder Farmers," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-13, February.
    7. Paswel P. Marenya & Menale Kassie & Moti Jaleta & Dil Bahadur Rahut & Olaf Erenstein, 2017. "Predicting minimum tillage adoption among smallholder farmers using micro-level and policy variables," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Adu-Gyamfi Poku & Regina Birner & Saurabh Gupta, 2018. "Why do maize farmers in Ghana have a limited choice of improved seed varieties? An assessment of the governance challenges in seed supply," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 27-46, February.
    9. Erenstein, Olaf & Kassie, Girma Tesfahun, 2018. "Seeding eastern Africa’s maize revolution in the post-structural adjustment era: a review and comparative analysis of the formal maize seed sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(1).
    10. Jaleta, Moti & Yirga, Chilot & Kassie, Menale & De Groote, Hugo & Shiferaw, Bekele, 2013. "Knowledge, Adoption and Use Intensity of Improved Maize Technologies in Ethiopia," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161483, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    11. TRAORE Lamine & Coulibaly Mamadou & Cisse Fatimata & Sissoko Dioukou, 2022. "Strengthening the Resilience of Maize Producers in the Koulikoro Region against the Adverse effects of Climate Change," International Journal of Sciences, Office ijSciences, vol. 11(03), pages 4-19, March.
    12. Tavneet Suri, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Working Papers 944, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    13. Mkondiwa, Maxwell Gibson, 2015. "Whither Broad or Spatially Specific Fertilizer Recommendations?," Master's Theses and Plan B Papers 237344, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    14. Muange, Elijah Nzula & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2014. "Social networks and farmer exposure to improved cereal varieties in central Tanzania," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182645, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Regier, Gregory K & Dalton, Timothy J, 2014. "Labour savings of Roundup Ready maize: Impact on cost and input substitution for South African smallholders," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(3), pages 1-14, August.
    16. Kurt B. Waldman & Stacey Giroux & Jordan P. Blekking & Kathy Baylis & Tom P. Evans, 2020. "Smallholder food storage dynamics and resilience," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(1), pages 7-20, February.
    17. MacRobert, John F., 2009. "Seed Business Management in Africa," Manuals 56174, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    18. Chiwenga, Emson F, 2010. "The role of IPR on maize output in Zimbabwe," MPRA Paper 38570, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised May 2011.
    19. Mujawamariya, Gaudiose & D'Haese, Marijke, 2012. "In search for incentives to gum arabic collection and marketing in Senegal: Interlocking gum trade with pre-finances from traders," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 72-82.
    20. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-015-0537-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.