Lost Crops of Africa Volume I: Grains (1996) / Chapter Skim
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1 African Rice
1 African Rice
Pages 17-38
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From page 17... ...
A different species has been cultivated in West Africa for at least 1,500 years. Some West African countries have, since ancient times, been just as rice-oriented as any Asian one.
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From page 19... ...
Whether African rice reached there along with the Asian species is not known. However, given the West African attachment to it, it seems likely.
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From page 21... ...
Moreover these are not the only advantages. Compared to its Asian cousin, African rice Is better at tolerating fluctuating water depths, excessive iron, low levels of management, infertile soils, harsh climates, and late planting (a valued feature because in West Africa's erratic Opposite: For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, ''floating" versions of African rice have been cultivated beside the Niger River, especially here between Timbuktu and Gao.
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From page 22... ...
There is evidence, for example, that certain types already match the productivity of Asian rice, and in the yield figures there is considerable overlap between the best African and the poorer Asian ones. This is remarkable considering the 5,000 years of intense effort that has been invested in improving Asian rice.
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From page 23... ...
The native rice was grown first in the central Niger delta, and later in the Gambia, Casamance, and Sokoto basins. African rice is now utilized particularly in the central Niger floodplain, the coastal zone between Senegal and Sierra Leone, and the mountainous areas of Guinea and the Ghana/Togo border.
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From page 24... ...
A recent survey in southern Sierra Leone, for example, found that even where Asian rice predominates farmers still retain one or two ultra-quick traditional types as "hunger-breakers." And, faced with a worsening hungry season caused by economic recession or other factors, many farmers say they would revert to the short-duration African-rice varieties, if only they could find sources of seed.2 Dry Areas For the truly arid zones African rice is not a suitable crop, but on moderately watered sites (for example, where annual rainfall is at least 760 mm) or seasonally flooded sites its prospects seem good.
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From page 25... ...
However, in practice African rice's nutritional quality is greater than that of Asian rice.6 This seems to be not because of any inherent difference but because it is more difficult to polish. Asian rice is invariably polished to a greater degree, and therefore more of its nutrients (especially the important vitamin, thiamine)
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From page 26... ...
Swamp rice, however, is being increasingly cultivated in former mangrove areas of the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Essentially all of it at present is the Asian species.
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From page 27... ...
AFRICAN RICE 27 NUTRITIONAL PROMISE Main Components Moisture (g) 5 Food energy (Kc)
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From page 28... ...
Nearly all the samples we collected matured in 100-125 days and are therefore among the quickest ripening rice cultivars in the country. (The average for dryland Asian rice in our sample was 130-140 days, and for wetland, 160-170 days.)
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From page 29... ...
This is particularly important because many people prepare food only once a day, but members of the family drop by to eat at any time. In northwestern Sierra Leone, however, Asian rice is preferred.
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From page 30... ...
Compared to Asian rice, it can be more susceptible to numerous fungi as well as to the parasitic plant striga and to a brown spot of unknown cause. Although these limitations collectively add up to a fearsome combination, they mainly reflect the neglect this crop suffers from.
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From page 31... ...
Certain strains of Asian rice also suffer this problem and recent research has shown that providing adequate nitrogen fertilizer largely overcomes it.'2 · Research in deep-water rice is vital and long overdue. The resources available climate, water, and growing area along with 'I A collection of about 4,000 samples of seeds of wild and cultivated African rice as well as Asian rice landraces that have been cultivated in Africa for a long time, is held at ORSTOM and IRAT-CIRAD.
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From page 32... ...
This resistance exists in the various genotypes, and the major problem is not to lose these local types as Asian rice spreads even further. For the uplands, any form of rice must resist blast and sheath blight.
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From page 33... ...
Asian rice, on the other hand, continues growing so that late in the season the two can look strikingly different. Distribution African rice is important mainly throughout the southwestern region of West Africa, but it can be found as far east as Lake Chad, especially in the lands of the Sahel that are seasonally hooded by the Niger, Volta, and other rivers.
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From page 34... ...
Although until recently no grass had been cloned using tissue culture, today Asian rice, maize, sorghum, and vetiver have succumbed. African rice has so far not been cultured in the test tube but, given the new insights, it seems a likely candidate for this powerful procedure.
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From page 35... ...
Department of Agriculture researchers discovered Asian rice plants with both high protein quality and high protein levels. This has raised hopes that extremely nutritious varieties can be bred for the first time.
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From page 36... ...
Above about 35°C, however, spikelet fertility drops off noticeably. Soil Type Some cultivars apparently can outperform Asian rice on alkaline sites as well as on phosphorus-deficient sites.
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From page 37... ...
Certain strains of this species are immune to bacterial blight of rice (`Xanthomonas) , which could give them a valuable future as genetic resources.'9 Oryza longistaminata is a common wild rice found throughout tropical Africa as far south as Namibia and Transvaal, as well as Madagascar.
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From page 38... ...
Page 38
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