Authors : Koichi Futakuchi and Moussa Sie
Abstract: Inter specific breeding between Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima was started at WARDA with the basic concept of combining the resistance of O. glaberrima to local constraints in West and Central Africa (WCA) with the high yielding ability of O. sativa. Developed interspecific progeny is now called as NERICA, which was named after New Rice for Africa and 18 upland NERICA varieties and eleven lowland NERICA varieties have been released or widely disseminated in several WCA countries. Some of them were beyond WCA and released in other sub-Saharan Africa countries such as Uganda. However, a gap is still existing between current NERICA varieties and O. glaberrima lines with special reference to resistance to local constraints in WCA. In this study, published data and also some additional unpublished data on the performance of NERICA and O. glaberrima were critically reviewed and possible improvements and further directions in rice breeding with better exploitation of O. glaberrima were proposed.
Koichi Futakuchi and Moussa Sie , 2009. Better Exploitation of African Rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) in Varietal Development for Resource-Poor Farmers in West and Central Africa. Agricultural Journal, 4: 96-102.