Status of implementation of development of mutant populations and future plans

Under the AFRA III-18 project, a planning workshop was organised by IAEA in 1997 (Tangier Morocco) to set up a network for developing drought tolerant mutant germplasm of cereals and legumes. In this workshop every participating country is intended to focus on a major crop which is greatly affected by drought. Madagascar contributes from developing drought tolerant mutant varieties of groundnut from pod couliation to pod filling stage which is the most sensitive for all the growth stages. Because of a low or erratic rainfall (400-600 mm in the south and south west, 1000 mm in the middle, west and central highland) associated to climate change, drought occurs at different stages of groundnut growth and hampers groundnut productivity and production. Groundnut is an important crop for Madagascar: it serves both grain consumption and oil consumption. It is also a preferred cash crop as it requests a low input and is used in cropping system before rice