Potential of Kersting’s groundnut [Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms) Maréchal & Baudet] and prospects for its promotion

Abstract

Kersting's groundnut is a tropical crop, highly nutritious, adapted to drought-prone areas. The crop is neglected both by researchers and by policy makers. This paper aimed at providing relevant information on the current status of the crop and the prospects to promote its improvement and production. To this end, available papers addressing any of the following aspect: distribution, nutritional value, cropping systems, post-harvest processing, usages, value chains, conservation status, genetic diversity and improvement of Kersting's groundnut were reviewed. In West Africa, the crop provides substantial income for rural population. Kersting's groundnut has several medicinal uses and cultural values as well. However, because of its intensive labor requirement, low yield and non-availability of improved varieties, its cultivation is declining and it is even disappearing gradually in some growing areas. The promotion of the crop's value chains is an option for reversing the declining trend in Kersting's groundnut cultivation. In recent years, some progress has been recorded in the collection, characterization and ex situ conservation of the crop. Thus, there are currently about 100 accessions conserved in various gene banks in Benin, Ghana, France and Belgium. This is still insufficient as compared to the genetic resources available in ex situ for most of the grown legume crops. To cope with this, extensive germplasm collection and their systematic characterization and evaluation coupled with new generation genomic tools need to be undertaken. For this purpose, genomic resources developed for Kersting's groundnut-related species will be valuable assets. The exploitation of genomic resources will enable the development of core and mini-core collections for conservation and breeding purposes. In addition, the use of genomic resources will speed up Kersting's groundnut breeding programs. Furthermore, the genetic base of the crop is extremely narrow and there is a need to broaden it for substantial genetic gain in breeding programs. For this purpose, mutation induction has been proposed as technique to increase variability in the Kersting's groundnut germplasm. Invest in Kersting's groundnut research is key to ensure the conservation and exploit the potential of the crop.

Farmers knowledge, perceptions and management of Kersting’s groundnut (Macrotyloma geocarpum Harms) insect pests in Benin

“…C. maculatus is also a major cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp), and Bambara groundnut (Voandzeia subterranea (L.) Thouars) storage insect in West Africa (Ajayi & Lale, 2001;Appleby & Credland, 2003). Because C. maculatus prevents farmers from preserving their seeds for a long time without losses, they usually sell off part of Kersting's groundnut produce immediately after harvest, at a much reduced price (Ayenan & Ezin, 2016). The higher abundance of C. maculatus in the stocks could explain the fact that this species was the only one out of the three present in stored Kersting's groundnut seeds to be recognized by farmers.…”

“…Unfortunately, M. geocarpum is on the verge to be abandoned in several countries including Benin (Assogba et al, 2015), mainly because of its poor storage capacity of seeds (Kouelo et al, 2012). In fact, a major constraint faced by farmers in post-harvest is pest attack during storage (Assogba et al, 2015;Ayenan & Ezin, 2016). However, very little attention has been given to the constraints related to the storage of M. geocarpum seeds in Benin.…”

Symbiotic N2 Fixation and Grain Yield of Endangered Kersting's Groundnut Landraces in Response to Soil and Plant Associated Bradyrhizobium Inoculation to Promote Ecological Resource-Use Efficiency

“…Despite these useful biological traits, Kersting's groundnut remains an orphan crop with an endangered status. Although a few studies have been conducted on Kersting's groundnut (Amuti, 1980 ; Dakora et al, 1992 ; Dakora, 1998 ; Aremu et al, 2006 ; Ajayi and Oyetayo, 2009 ; Dansi et al, 2012 ; Ayenan and Ezin, 2016 ), field data on its nodulation and N 2 fixation are still lacking. Little information therefore exists on its symbiotic functioning with both native and introduced rhizobia, an aspect much needed for the conservation, management and utilization of this endangered species in the African savanna.…”

Genetic diversity, SNP-trait associations and genomic selection accuracy in a west African collection of Kersting’s groundnut [Macrotyloma geocarpum(Harms) Maréchal & Baudet]

“…The crop is grown by local populations in countries such as Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo [15][16][17][18]. The crop was also reported in Central Africa especially in Cameroon [19,20]. Kersting's groundnut is cultivated for its grains that have high market value [15,21].…”