Abstract
Knowledge about the crop biology of economic crops in Africa is needed for regulators to accurately review dossiers and conduct comprehensive environmental risk assessments (ERAs). This information allows regulators to decide whether biotech crops present a risk to biodiversity, since crossing between domesticated crops and their wild relatives could affect the adaptations of the wild species. The criteria that should be used in the evaluation of African crops for ERA include growth habit, center of origin, center of genetic diversity, proximity of wild relatives, inter-fertility, mode of pollen dispersal, length of pollen viability, mating system, invasiveness, weediness, mode of propagation, mode of seed dispersal, and length of seed dormancy. In this paper, we discuss the crops being genetic engineered in Africa and describe the crop biology of those with native relatives.
Highlights
Active farming activities by humans began as far back as 13,000 years ago and the ancient huntergatherer strategy is no longer common for daily sustenance (Giguet-Covex et al, 2014)
The development of the carpel in angiosperms led to high levels of genetic diversity in species through natural selection (Whitehouse, 1950; De Nettancourt, 1977)
The East African uplands were the origin of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and the East African lowlands yielded the yam (Dioscorea cayenensis)
Summary
Active farming activities by humans began as far back as 13,000 years ago and the ancient huntergatherer strategy is no longer common for daily sustenance (Giguet-Covex et al, 2014). The development of the carpel in angiosperms led to high levels of genetic diversity in species through natural selection (Whitehouse, 1950; De Nettancourt, 1977). Other factors, such as genetic drift, contributed to levels of diversity in plant species (Saccheri and Hanski, 2006). In the West African Sub-Sahara, pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) was domesticated. The East African uplands were the origin of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and the East African lowlands yielded the yam (Dioscorea cayenensis). Most farms rely on rain-fed cropping systems, with low input farm supplies, and unstructured land-tenure systems. Increasing agricultural productivity will be critical in overcoming low yield productivities
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