SubProject Two
- Home
- SP2
TEAM MEMBERS
- Dr. Caleb Olweny (Local Team Leader)
- Prof. Marijke D’Haese (Flemish Team Leader)
- Prof. Stephen Agong (Horticulture)
- Prof. Reuben Mosi (Animal Breeding)
- Prof. Darius Andika (Environmental Horticulture)
- Prof. Felix Ngetich (Soil Science)
- Dr. Mary Orinda (Agribusiness management)
- Dr. Walter Akuno (Agricultural Extension)
- Dr. Peter Bulli (Genetics)
- Dr. Matilda Ouma (Extension)
- Mr. Danstone Aboge (Food Security)
- Prof. Jan Diels (Earth and Environmental Science)
- Prof. Geert Haesaert (Plant and Crops)
- Prof. Michele Moretti (Engineering Management)
- Prof. Karen Van Campenhout (Earth and Environmental Sciences)
- Prof. Stijn Speelman (Agricultural Economics)
OBJECTIVES
Medium-term
2. To strengthen collaborative learning, exchange programmes and outreach.
Long-Term
2. To establish a dynamic and responsive breeding programme
The goal of Subproject 2 is to use transformative sustainable approaches for food production to increase resilience of cropping and market systems in the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya. Since the three transects have different soil types, precipitation patterns, and temperatures, research areas have been identified as follows:
PhD Position 1: Quinoa research
The scholarship opportunity in this area will focus on genome-wide association study (GWAS) of adaptive traits, and genotype-by-environment interaction of yield and related traits in quinoa under six contrasting agro-ecological environments of LVB. The plant materials will comprise 300-500 diverse quinoa germplasm accessions from Washington State University and Brigham Young University which will be evaluated in six-way non-replicated trials under field conditions during the long and short rainy seasons of 2022 and 2024 crop seasons. Data on morpho-physiological parameters, yield, quality, lodging, preharvest sprouting, nutritional and antinutritional profile, and reactions to diseases and insect pests will be collected; and their heritability values will be estimated. Adaptive traits associated with productive advantages, coupled with GWAS-based genetic architecture of the traits, will be essential for establishment of climate-resilient quinoa breeding programme. The ultimate goal is to lay a foundation of establishment of a climate-resilient quinoa improvement research programme for LVB.
PhD Position 2: Sorghum research
This will involve a baseline survey to determine existing transformative climate-smart approaches in LVB. The research activity will focus on the interactive effects of nitrogen-fixing plant species (cowpea) with poultry manure on physio-morphological traits of grain and sweet sorghum genotypes, including yield and quality under field conditions during the 2022 and 2024 long rainy seasons at three sites with different soil and weather patterns. Soil physico-chemical properties, including fertility, water balance, biological properties, and greenhouse gas fluxes as affected by the transformative climate-smart approaches will also be monitored. Existence and efficiency of the transformative climate-smart approaches will be ascertained and evaluated; constraints will be identified; and best-fit strategies for improved sorghum productivity and soil physico-chemical properties will be selected and tested at farm level.
PhD Position 3: Socioeconomic of crop and livestock adoption and commercialization research
This will focus on adoption determinants, resource reallocation, resource use and economic efficiency, market dynamics, and product design and development to cater for utilization and commercialization aspects. The scholarship will focus on analysis of resource use and economy efficiency of the selected value chains of quinoa and sorghum; and assessment of market dynamics of the two climate-resilient crop species.
PhD Position 4: Small livestock research
This will focus on strategies to mitigate effects of climate change-driven variations in biotic and abiotic factors on development and productivity of goats, rabbits and free-range chicken will be developed based on assessment of resilience of production systems in LVB, including different formulations of feed derived from quinoa, sorghum and cowpea.
