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KEYWORDS Cleome gynandra Selection Agromorphological characterization Burkina Faso ABSTRAC TPresent study was aimed to understand the scientific basis of the farmer's nomenclature of the local varieties of Cleome gynandra L. and to identify the characters of interests that can be used for the varietal improvement of the species. A survey was carried o ut in five cities of Burkina Faso with 56 producers of C. gynandra with the help of semi-structured interviews to identify the preferential characters. Furthermore thirty accessions were collected and evaluated in July 2014 at Gampela according to randomized complete block design with seventeen variables. T he study revealed that in the denomination of local varieties, the farmers use agromorphological characters such as the color of the stem, leaves and the vegetative cycle of the plant. It was also revealed that the selection of plant in the vegetable garden s is preferred for the green color of the stem, leaves, long vegetative cycle, height of the plant, dimensions of the leaves and the number of primary branches. T hese were the selective interests for the farmers identified during the survey. T he study also revealed that the process of selection is more advanced in Ouagado ugo u, where the demand is very high and where the consumers are more as compared to the other localities where the choice of the p lant has just began for consumption. T he results of this study have permitted to undertake the varietal improvement of the species according to the needs of the producers whose majority have a particular preference for the green ecotypes with long cycle.

Aim of present study was to describe the agro-morphological characterization of fifty (50) exotic varieties of taro introduced in Burkina Faso. Further agronomic performances and genetic parameters were also evaluated in present study. During study, 50 varieties which were introduced from 7 South-east Asian and Pacific countries were characterized. Nine quantitative and seventeen qualitative characters were studied during the study. Headsets of 250-300 grams were planted according to a randomized complete block design. The results showed a great variability among the agro-morphological characters which are may be because of genetic diversity. Moreover, the agronomic performances are significant compared with those of the local accessions. Also, the study revealed the existence of eighteen (18) significant positive correlations at a dissimilarity limit of 0.6 among the nine (09) quantitative characters studied, and associations between some qualitative and quantitative characters. Structuring the diversity allowed us to get five (05) different groups of phenotypes. The estimate of the genetic parameters indicates that the variability is more influenced by the genotype than the environmental factors.

Rice is the second most important cereal in West Africa and is an essential element in the diet of the population. However, iron toxicity is one of the major edaphic constraints in lowland rice cultivation. The large amount of ferrous ions in solution causes an imbalance in nutrients involving a nutritional disorder affecting the growth of crops including rice. The present study conducted in 2014 in Guinea Conakry in the lowlands of the Kilissi Agronomic Research Station aimed to evaluate the effect of silica on reducing of the effect of iron toxicity in rice. Thus, rice varieties were evaluated according to a split plot device with three (3) randomized replications for two factors (rice varieties and silica doses) and three (3) silica treatments (D0 g, D120 g and D240 g). The results showed a significant effect of silica on most agronomic parameters of the rice varieties tested. The D240 g dose gave the

Sweet grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is an under-harvested crop produced mainly for its sweet grains in the pasty stage. Little is known of its genetic diversity remains. This study aims to determine the level and structure of the genetic diversity of sweet grain sorghum from Burkina Faso. Thus, 93 accessions were evaluated using 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers. The analysis revealed 49 alleles in total, 6 rare alleles, an average of 3 alleles per locus, a moderate Nei diversity of 0.474, a low level of heterozygosity (0.031) in the collection and very high Wright's fixation index (Fis) of 0.934. The accessions were organized into three genetic groups: A, B and C. Groups A and B were the farthest, with an Fst and a genetic distance of 0.37 and 0.22, respectively, whereas Groups B and C were the closest, with an Fst (genetic differentiation) of 0.279 and a genetic distance of 0.142. This diversity could be exploited in Burkina Faso sweet grain sorghum breeding programs.