Kavango tests improved seeds

NAMPA Farmers in the Kavango East and West regions had the opportunity on Tuesday to select the most promising induced mutant seeds that could be adopted as national varieties.The seeds under evaluation were cowpea, pearl millet and sorghum, said the director of agricultural research and development, Johanna Andowa.Andowa was speaking at a farmers’ information and field day held to evaluate and select improved varieties of cowpea, pearl millet and sorghum at the Bagani Research Station in the Kavango East Region.“The first experiments on induced mutation in Namibia were planted in 2009. Since then promising crop lines were identified and were closely observed in order to make distinct selection among them,” she said.The objective of the project is to release early-maturing mutant varieties with high yield stability, enhanced nutritional composition and tolerance to drought conditions.Mutation breeding, sometimes referred to as variation breeding, is the process of exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation in order to generate mutants with desirable traits to be bred with other cultivars.Andowa said seeds were collected from the lines with the most desirable traits for further evaluation and breeding.The selection consisted of 24 cowpea, 18 pearl millet and 14 sorghum lines.The participating farmers will choose the best three, which will be multiplied to become registered as national varieties.The project is supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency together with the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the Namibian government.

Kavango tests improved seeds

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-16

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Kavango tests improved seeds

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-16

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