Research achievements on

inoculation and partnership for the

dissemination of the technology in

Ghana: AGRA & Africa-Brazil

partnership

Mathias Fosu, R. M. Boddey, W. Atakora, G.R. Xavier, A.P. Guimaraes, B. Ahiabor

Introduction: Soybean• Ghana produces 85,

000 mt of soybean annually

• Mean yield is 0.8 mt/ha

• Varieties are promiscuous

• Bred to nodulate with local rhizobia strains

Cowpea

• Sub-Saharan Africa produces 5.3 million tonnes (over 70%) of world’s cowpea

• Ghana produces 150,000

mt annually

• Grown mainly by smallholder farmers as food especially women

• Contains 25% protein and serves as protein source for rural poor and children

• Used for many home and street food in Africa-kose, Akara, red-red etc.

Cowpea yield in some African countries

462

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Co

wp

ea

gr

ain

yie

ld (

kg

/ha)

Reasons for low yield

•Low yielding varieties

•Low soil fertility (P & N deficiency)

•No fertilizer use production

• Absence of inoculants

• Cowpea highly

promiscuous –i.e. non-specific• Large reservoir of indigenous and competitive population of rhizobia strains•Mixture of low & high efficacy strains

Inoculation–some challenges

• Breeding programs had very limited focus on traits associated with efficient BNF• difficulties in developing markets for inoculants• expertise to produce inoculants• Low support for research on BNF

Challenges

Inoculated un-inoculated

Time (Y)

Co

wp

ea y

ield

/no

du

le w

t.Conclusion from Ayanaba’s work on cowpea inoculation in Africa

Recent work on

inoculation in Ghana

AGRA supported research on soybean inoculation 2010-2013

Objectives

• Effect of inoculation on soybean yield

• Effect of inoculation on nodulation

• Effect of P & N on soybean yield

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

Soybean +

no input

Soybean +

rhizobium

Soybean +

60

kgP2O5+30

kg K2O/ha

Soybean +

25 kg N+60

kgP2O5+30

kg K2O/ha

Soybean +

rhizobium

+60

kgP2O5+30

kg K2O/ha

Gra

in y

ield

kg

/ha

Treatment

95%142%

58% 81%

Lsd (5%)on-station

Lsd (5%)

on-farm:

7 dist.

Response of promiscuous soybean to inoculation in Ghana, 2010

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

On-station On-farm (7 districts)

Response of soybean to rhizobium inoculation and fertilization

Results 2011

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No Fert Inoc PK NPK Inoc +PK

5WAP 8WAP

No

du

le n

um

ber

/pla

nt

Effect of inoculation and fertilization on nodulation

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

325

350

No Fert Inoc PK NPK Inoc +PK

5WAP 8WAP

No

du

le w

t/p

lan

t(m

g)

Effect of inoculation and fertilization on nodulation

Effect of Rhizobium inoculation on

soybean nodulation

No inoculationInoculated

August 16, 2011

Project Objectives

• Tested 3 high-performance rhizobium strains from Brazil on local cowpea varieties

• Introduced rhizobium technology to farmers

• Trained one graduate level technician in inoculant production at EMBRAPA

• Built capacity of SARI laboratory to produce rhizobium inoculants

Effect of inoculation on nodulation in

cowpea, Northern Ghana 2011

Treatment

DMS: 629

Num

ber n

odul

es p

lant

-1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

A A

B

BDMS: 4,3

Non Inoculated

40 Kg N ha-1

BR 3262

BR 3299

Number of nodules

A

Treatment

Dry Biomass

Wei

gh

t (k

g h

a-1)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

A

B B

E

B

DMS: 561

Control

40 Kg N ha-1

Strain 3267

Strain 3299

Effect of inoculation and N application on total biomass on farm 2011

Effect of inoculation on grain yield of cowpea, on-

farm in Northern Ghana in 2011

Treatment

DMS: 2578

Grain yield

We

igh

t (

kg

ha-1

)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

A

B

DC

DMS: 170

Non Inoculated

40 Kg N ha-1

Strain 3267

Strain 3299

Source: Africa Brazil Innovative Marketplace, 2011

C

Effect of inoculation onTotal dry matter at final harvest

Site

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Dry

matt

er

yie

ld (

kg

ha

-1)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Non-inoculated

40 kg N ha-1

Strain BR 3267

Strain BR 3299

2012

Source: Africa Brazil Innovative Marketplace, 2012

Grain yield

Site

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Gra

in y

ield

(kg

ha

-1)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000Non-inoculated

40 kg N ha-1

Strain BR 3267

Strain BR 3299

On-Farm: Effect of inoculation on grain yield of cowpea in Northern Ghana, 2012

Source: Africa Brazil Innovative Marketplace report, 2012

Treatment

DMS: 629

Grain Yield

Gra

in Y

ield

(k

g h

a-1

)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500Non Inoculated

40 Kg N ha-1

80 Kg N ha-1

Strain BR 3262

Strain BR 3267

Strain BR 3299

Mixture 3267/3299

A

A A

A

B

B

B

On-station-1: Effect of inoculation on cowpea grain

yield, N. Ghana 2012

Nodule

weight

Shoot

Biomass

Shoot

Biomass

Grain Yield

--mg Plant-1 -----gPlant-1 --------kgha-1-------

Non

Inoculated 170 C 7.8 C 2255 CD 1368 CD

40 Kg N ha-1 156 C 19.2 A 1923 D 978 D

80 Kg N ha-1 90 C 16.6 B 1896 D 942 D

Strain 3262 530 A 6.8 C 3333 BC 1649 BC

Strain 3267 318 B 6.4 C 4788 AB 1829 ABC

Strain 3299 298 B 7.0 C 4083 ABC 2153 A

Mix 67/99 399 B 6.8 C 5852 A 1909 AB

CV % 35 19 25 23

Field station, second planting, 2012. Nodule weight and shoot biomass at 35 day after planting (DAP) and yield parameters at final harvest

Values are means of five replicates. Means within the same column followed by the same letter are not different at p< 0.05

Field days and Farmer Field Schools

Trainingin inoculantProduction

May 2013

Next steps•Increase inoculantproduction for widespread testing•At least 2,000 farmers in 2013• Train 2 addition technicians at EMBRAPA

Research

Education

Market

Private sector

production

Out/Up-scaling

Inoculanttechnology

Quality control

Isolate introduced strains

and use for inoculant

production-adaptation &

resilience

Local strains

•Need for identification of efficient local strains for use in the program

Quality Control-

EMBRAPA and SARI

MerciSamuel