Three Communities Select Their Preferred Top Five Improved Sorghum Varieties in Angola

Smallholder farmers from Cuchi, Cuito Cuanavale and Menongue, alongside Extension Officers from the Instituto de Desenvolvimento Agrário (IDA) and students from the Instituto Médio Agrário do Missombo, successfully selected five improved sorghum varieties that meet their preferences during a field day held on the 16th of June 2023 in Cuando Cubango, Angola. Each of the three communities was granted the opportunity to pick what they could consider as the top 5 of improved sorghum varieties from the field trials. This participatory varietal selection activity is the second leg of a similar process led by the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) through a sub-project titled “Strengthening Sorghum Seed Systems in Angola and Lesotho”.

Participants were able to select from 33 early maturing varieties from ICRISAT plus 3 local varieties tested across the country that displayed most of the attributes that farmers are more interested in such as yield, adaptability, resistance to pests and diseases as well as palatability. The selection was done following linear, zigzag and circular approaches in order to provide participants with a conducive environment to better appreciate and identify preferred varieties.

A similar exercise under this subproject, was conducted previously in Huambo, Huíla, Benguela, Namibe and Cuando Cubango. Hence, a total of 20 selected varieties are currently being demonstrated in the identified areas to acquaint farmers with crop management requirements and techniques.

The APPSA R&D sub-project is being co-implemented by Mr Óscar Morais and Dr Mpho Liphoto from the Republic of Angola and the Kingdom of Lesotho, respectively. It seeks to promote sorghum productivity through increasing availability of quality seed of recommended improved varieties and landraces. In Angola, the sub-project is led by Mr Óscar Morais, Scientist from the Instituto de Investigação Agronómica (IIA) whom has been working in straight collaboration with students from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of Huambo, from Cuito Cuanavale University as well as from Missombo Technical Institute.

APPSA is a six-year World Bank funded initiative being implemented by Angola and Lesotho and regionally overseen by the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). The two countries are currently collaborating on 43 R&D sub-projects with the expectation that results will benefit the rest of the region through spillover effects.

A total of 20 selected sorghum varieties are currently being demonstrated across in Huambo, Huíla, Benguela, Namibe and Cuando Cubango