Mutation breeding is an effective technique to increase resilience to drought in crops grown in drought-prone countries. At a recent training course held in Namibia, crop improvement scientists learned about the principles and practical aspects of using mutation breeding to improve drought tolerance traits in crops such as sorghum, cowpea and pearl millet, among others. The training course, ‘Improving resilience to drought through mutation breeding’, attracted participants from 15 African countries that are actively involved in research concerning mutation breeding in various crops.

Drought is one of the major constraints to high crop yields in Africa. Researchers across the globe need to share germplasm, mutants and protocols for mutation breeding to impart drought tolerance in crops.

Dr Ashok Kumar, Principal Scientist, Sorghum Breeding, ICRISAT, was invited by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria, to guide the training course, along with Prof H Shimelis from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Republic of South Africa. Dr Kumar was responsible for explaining the theories via lectures and hands-on sessions in the field on various topics, some of which were as follows:

Introduction to mutation induction for crop improvement

• - Mutagen concepts, sources and radio sensitivity
• - Crop genetic enhancement for climate change adaptation
• - Genetic basis and drought resistance
• - Breeding procedures, handling of mutated populations
• - Identification, evaluation and selection of developed varieties/breeding lines till release process
• - Use of genomics for improving drought resistance
• - Physiology of abiotic stresses, especially drought tolerance
• - Progress in sorghum improvement research
• - Applications of generation advancement techniques in mutation breeding programs (double haploid, embryo culture)
• - Screening methodologies for drought stress tolerance
• - Basic statistical analysis for breeding programs

See more: http://www.icrisat.org/understanding-mutation-breeding-for-drought-tolerance-in-crops/

Figure: Training course participants with resource persons and organizers at Tsumeb, Namibia. Photo: ICRISAT