PSP RESEARCH OVERVIEW - AGRONOMY (cont.)

Overcoming nutrient deficiences and improving disease resistance using key technologies.

Seed priming is demonstrably effective for a wide range of crops and environments yet its promotion as a stand-alone technology has limitations, particularly for inclusion in government extension programmes. Consequently, more emphasis was placed on using seed priming as one of a set of tools to address more fundamental shortcomings in cropping systems.

Many legumes are relatively unproductive in acid soils because nodulation is limited by poor availability of molybdenum (Mo). On the other hand, alkaline soils are often deficient in micronutrients such as zinc. Recent work in India and Bangladesh has shown that large yield increases in chickpea are possible in farmers' conditions following priming with tiny amounts of Mo.

Similarly highly cost-effective yield increases in chickpea and wheat in Pakistan in response to priming with zinc sulphate have been acheived.

Preliminary data also suggest that it is possible for farmers to prime seeds with small amounts of phosphate (P) to good effect in that early root growth is stimulated allowing more effective uptake of available P in soil.

Seed priming trials have shown enhanced resistance to disease (e.g. collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii) in chickpea; Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus in mungbean) in primed crops. The practical consequences for resource-poor farmers of such low-cost, low-input improvements in disease resistance are enormous and far-reaching.

Visit the PSP project database and virtual library for further details of the above projects.

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