Agro-morphological characterization of 18 fonio accessions for their seasonal adaptation in Burkina Faso

Abstract

In the current context of climate change, fonio production in all seasons could contribute to reduce food insecurity. Our study was initiated to compare the agro-morphological performance of 18 fonio accessions in the dry and wet seasons at the Farako-Bâ experimental station. Two trials were set up respectively in august 2020 (rainy season) and february 2021(dry season) according to an α-design. A total of eight quantitative and one qualitative were collected. Among the 18 accessions, four did not spike. ANOVA showed highly significant differences among accessions for all traits in the wet season, in contrast to the dry season. The CAH classified the accessions into three groups regardless of the growing season, with a group of high performing genotypes having an average yield of 1800 Kg/ha and a slightly long semi- heading cycle (55 days). Interestingly, CBF60 accession had the highest yield in both seasons (1771,2 Kg/ha in rainy season and 1905,3 Kg/ha in dry season). These results show that fonio can be grown in all seasons provided that suitable varieties are available.