H. A. Ajeigbe

• PhD
• Principal Investigator at Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

Among others, biotic and abiotic constraints associated with climate variability contribute to the low productivity of sorghum in Nigeria and other Sub‐Saharan African countries. In this regard, improved sorghum varieties (ISVs) have been developed to address the constraints and boost the productivity of smallholder sorghum farmers. However, there...

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of different sorghum varieties to micro-dosing fertilization strategies on yield and yield traits, as well as the impact on nitrogen fertilizer and water use efficiency (NUE and WUE). In addition, the benefit-cost ratio of sorghum cultivation under different fertilization strategies in the Sudan s...

Pearl millet is the most important cereal crop in the semi-arid and arid regions of West Africa, supplying a large proportion of the dietary energy for the human population, nutritious fodder for livestock, and stalk for cooking fuel. This review focuses on modern agronomic practices for increasing millet productivity in semi-arid Africa. We showed...

The empirical literature on plot-level adoption of sustainable intensification technologies (SITs), as a package comprising improved crop varieties and good agronomic management practices is thin for dryland crops, such as sorghum. In this paper, we analyze the adoption and impacts of SITs on sorghum yield and net revenue using data from a sample o...

Sorghum is an important cereal crop cultivated by smallholder farmers of Mali, contributing significantly to their food demand and security. The study evaluated different fertilization strategies that combined organic and inorganic fertilizer applications with three sorghum varieties. The experiments were conducted over three cropping seasons (2017...

In the context of climate change, the sowing date and cultivar choice can influence the productivity of sorghum, especially where production is constrained by low soil fertility and early terminal drought across the challenging agro-ecologies of north-eastern Nigeria. Planting within an optimal sowing window to fit the cultivar’s maturity length is...

APSIM-sorghum model was used to evaluate the impact of improved cropping systems under climate change in the mid-century(2040-2069) by applying both organic and inorganic fertilizers using a micro-dosing strategy on improved sorghum cultivars.

Twenty two pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) genotypes were evaluated for their physicochemical and cooking quality traits. There were significant differences among genotypes for seed weight (8.83-12.47 g), water absorption capacity (13.00-28.67 ml), seed hardness (17.00-21.70 Nm2), swelling ration (2.067-2.973 ml) and cooking time (66.67-86.67 min). Cook...

Evaluating groundnut genotypes for resistance to drought stress.

Abstract There are several hurdles to ensure sustainable seed production and consistent flow of improved legume varieties in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA). The unreliable demand, autogamous nature of most of the grain legumes, and slow variety replacement rate by smallholder farmers do not provide strong incentive for private seed c...

Understanding the drivers of crop yields and variability is fundamental to closing yield gaps and ensuring global food security, especially in smallholder farming systems. This study identified the major socio-economic, soil and crop management factors contributing to sorghum yield variability and yield gaps in the sorghum belt of northern Nigeria....

Identifying suitable watersheds is a prerequisite to operationalizing planning interventions for agricultural development. With the help of geospatial tools, this paper identified suitable watersheds across Nigeria using biophysical parameters to aid agricultural planning. Our study included various critical thematic layers such as precipitation, t...

Identifying suitable watersheds is a prerequisite to operationalizing planning interventions for agricultural development. With the help of geospatial tools, this paper identified suitable watersheds across Nigeria using biophysical parameters to aid agricultural planning. Our study included various critical thematic layers such as precipitation, t...

This paper investigates the welfare impacts of improved groundnut adoption in Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria using three-year balanced panel data collected from 2,868 households. We apply the Cragg double hurdle model to understand the adoption process and a fixed-effects instrumental variable approach to estimate the impact on gross margins, household i...

With an objective to understand the process on how can research (ers) in innovation platforms contribute in engaging crop-livestock stakeholders in mixed-farming systems of the semi-arid tropics of West Africa, five innovation platform meetings were initiated by the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) together with...

The interactions among complex sets of feedback loops (circular causal connections) between the production, trade and financial performance govern the cattle value chain in Nigeria. This paper aims to identify the key feedback loops influencing the structure and behaviour of trade dynamics in Nigeria’s cattle value chain. We deployed a qualitative...

Evidence on efficiency remains helpful in development and policy reform initiatives. Using a sample of 1,267 farming households from seven States in Nigeria, comprising 258 technology adopters and 1,009 non-adopters, an exponential translog stochastic frontier production function and primal cost system model were used to estimate production efficie...

Understanding genetic variation underlying adaptive traits responsible for sorghum's ability to tolerate challenging growing environments is of great importance. The present investigation was conducted to identify sources of genetic traits for utilization in product and hybrid parent development. Result showed that there exists variability for loca...

Background: The genetic yield potential of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) has been continuously challenged by several diseases including early leaf spot (ELS).Methods: In the current study, we evaluated groundnut mini core collections under artificial and natural disease epiphytotics in six environments to identify stable elite sources for ELS res...

Tropical Legumes III project as a development intervention focused on enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to seeds of improved groundnut varieties using multi-stakeholder platforms. Open Data Kit was used to collect information from the platform members using structured questionnaires and focus group discussions (FGDs). Descriptive statistics and...

Maize is costly major source of energy in poultry feed. Sorghum usage promotion to reduce prices in feeds and effect of replacing maize as energy source on carcass and gut characteristics of broiler chickens demanded research. 648-day old broiler chicks of Arbo acre plus strain were assigned to nine experimental diets containing 72 birds per treatm...

Estimating crop yield prior to harvest using remote sensing techniques has proven to be successful. However, accuracy of estimation still varies across crops and landscapes. This study was conducted to examine the applicability of Sentinel-2B for estimating sorghum yield during the 2018 rainy season in three locations (Bebeji, Dawakin Kudu and R...

Early leaf spot (ELS) disease, caused by Cercospora arachidicola S. Hori, severely affects groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production worldwide. Breeding for resistant varieties using conventional breeding is difficult because multiple genes control the resistance and heritability is moderate. Our objective was to identify marker-trait associations...

A two-month trial conducted to investigate the effect of replacing maize with sorghum on the performance of broiler finisher using four sorghum varieties in 2015 on a total 675, 3 weeks broiler chickens. Data analysis included variance and Duncan Multiple Range Test. The varietal effect showed a significant difference in final body weight, feed con...

Poverty among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with low agricultural productivity emanating from gender yield gaps among other factors. Using data collected from smallholder groundnut producers in Nigeria, we analyzed the gender yield gap by applying the exogenous switching regression (ESR) model and Oaxaca–Blinder (OB)...

An experiment was conducted to examine the performance of pearl millet under different nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates in two locations in the semiarid zone of Nigeria. The objective was to evaluate the effects of different N rates on pearl millet yields, water- and nitrogen-use efficiency, and profitability. Grain yield increased by 23, 26, 32, 32,...

Groundnut is an important global food and oil crop that underpins agriculture-dependent livelihood strategies meeting food, nutrition, and income security. Aflatoxins, pose a major challenge to increased competitiveness of groundnut limiting access to lucrative markets and affecting populations that consume it. Other drivers of low competitiveness...

In order to integrate genomics in breeding and development of drought-tolerant groundnut genotypes, identification of genomic regions/genetic markers for drought surrogate traits is essential. We used 3249 diversity array technology sequencing (DArTSeq) markers for a genetic analysis of 125 ICRISAT groundnut mini core collection evaluated in 2015 a...

The Agricultural Production Systems simulator (APSIM) model was calibrated and evaluated using two improved sorghum varieties conducted in an experiment designed in a randomized complete block, 2014–2016 at two research stations in Nigeria. The results show that the model replicated the observed yield accounting for yield differences and variations...

Agricultural technologies and innovations play a great role in increasing productivity, alleviating and reducing poverty and contributing to economic development and this is made possible through adoption of improved technologies and innovations. This study centered on analysis of adoption of improved groundnut varieties in the Tropical Legume (TL...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important food crop in Africa and is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world as well as the most important cereal food in the Northern states of Nigeria that cover the Sahelien, Sudanian and Guinea Savannah ecological zones. Sorghum is locally called guinea-corn or dawa, the most widely cu...

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. R. Br.), known as gero/maiwa/dauro in Hausa language, is a robust, quick growing cereal grass with large stems and leaves which are tall and vigorous, with exceptional grain and fodder yielding potential. It is one of the most important dual-purpose crops and a staple for millions of people in arid and semi-arid...

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is central to the financial and nutritional well-being of millions of farmers and consumers across North East Nigeria. Nutrition experts point out that groundnut provides over 30 essential nutrients and is an excellent source of niacin, fibre, and vitamin E. Rich in anti-oxidants, the crop is naturally free of trans fat...

Drought, infestation of cereal crops by the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica , and poor soil fertility are the major constraints to maize production by smallholder farmers in the Sudan savannas of northern Nigeria. Four innovation platforms (IPs) were therefore established in 2008 in the Sudan savanna (SS) agroecological zone of northern Nigeria t...

Climate variability and change will have far reaching consequences for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Crop modelling can help inform the improvement of agricultural productivity under future climate. This study applies the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM)...

A combination of local-scale climate and crop simulation model were used to investigate the impacts of change in temperature and rainfall on photoperiod insensitive sorghum in the Sudanian zone of Mali. In this study, the response of temperature and rainfall to yield patterns of photoperiod insensitive sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) using the...

Recent security challenges have caused disruption in the Agricultural and economic livelihood of the people in northeastern states of Nigeria. However, owing to recent gains in insecurity and the resettlement of some displaced people agricultural activities have started coming back. A study was commissioned to assess the typology of farmers in the...

In semi-arid Nigeria, sorghum production is regarded as a major cereal for food grain and fodder, predominantly grown under rainfed conditions. With a demand for sorghum outweighing its current production, there is a need to explore a wide range of sorghums adapted to contrasting production environments. In this study, we calibrated APSIM-Sorghum f...

There are several hurdles to ensure sustainable seed production and consistent flow of improved legume varieties in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA). The unreliable demand, autogamous nature of most of the grain legumes, and slow variety replacement rate by smallholder farmers do not provide strong incentive for private seed companies t...

Background: In order to integrate genomics in breeding and development of drought tolerant groundnut genotypes, identification of genomic regions/genetic markers for drought surrogate traits is essential. We used SNP markers for a genetic analysis of the ICRISAT groundnut minicore collection for genome wide marker-trait association for some physiol...

Background In order to integrate genomics in breeding and development of drought tolerant groundnut genotypes, identification of genomic regions/genetic markers for drought surrogate traits is essential. We used SNP markers for a genetic analysis of the ICRISAT groundnut minicore collection for genome wide marker-trait association for some physiolo...

Low planting densities and use of unimproved varieties contribute to the low yields of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) in Nigeria. Field experiments were conducted during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons, to evaluate the response of pearl millet varieties to varying plant hill population in semi-arid environments of Nigeria. Year, variety and...

Climate variability constitutes a major risk to agricultural production in West Africa drylands posing challenges to the livelihood of smallholder farmers. Sorghum crop, which displays a great diversity in growth, development and resource use efficiency has the potential to improve productivity of resilient farming system. However, to better unders...

Field experiments were conducted during 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farms, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. The experiments evaluated various combinations of Farmyard Manure (FYM), Gypsum, Single superphosphate (SSP) and NPK fertilizers applied at recommended rates. A total of eleven treatments we...

Striga gesnerioides (Willd) Vatke, is a major destructive parasitic weed of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) which causes substantial yield reduction in West and Central Africa. The presence of different virulent races within the parasite population contributes to significant genotype × environment interaction, and complicates breeding for dur...

The goal of this research was to evaluate diverse cowpea genotypes developed over the past 4 decades in the Nigerian Sudan Savannas for their agronomic performance and to identify groups of cultivars with similar quantitative characters. Characterization would facilitate the efficient synthesis of breeding populations for further improvement of cow...

xperiments were conductedduring 2014- 2015 and 2015-2016 dry seasons to evaluate the response of selected groundnut varieties to Polythene Mulching (PM) onBroad Bed and Furrows (BBF)in the Sudan Savanna of Nigeria.The treatments consisted of Polythene mulch vs without mulch (control) and four groundnut varieties,laid outin Split plot design with fo...

Nigeria is the largest groundnut producing country in West and Central Africa and the crop is grown largely under small-holder system and rain-fed conditions. Demand for improved groundnut varieties has been increasing over the years making it imperative to develop varieties suitable to different agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. ICRSAT has been wo...

Globally, groundnut is one of the important grain legumes with Asia and Africa being the main producing continents. West and Central Africa (WCA) accounts for almost 70% of groundnut production in Africa. The crop plays an important role in ensuring livelihood of the farmers and significantly contributes to the export sector of the countries in the...

West and Central Africa (WCA) account for almost 70% of groundnut production in Africa playing an important role to farmers’ livelihood and significantly contributes to the export sector of the countries in the region. However, the productivity in the region is limited due to many factors including biotic and abiotic constraints. The gap between po...

Grain yields of cowpea [ Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] in the Nigerian savannas are low even with the cultivation of improved varieties. The recommended spacing for cowpea is 75 × 20 cm with two seeds planted per stand. This corresponds to plant population of 133333 plants ha ⁻¹ , which may not be sufficient for optimal cowpea yield. Field experime...

High yielding and resilient groundnut varieties are key to improving groundnut productivity essential is increasing a pillar combating poverty, hunger and malnutrition among smallholder families of semi-arid tropical agro-ecologies. The CGIAR has been instrumental in breeding and commercialization of new groundnut varieties in partnership with Nati...

Product line 3(PL3)of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes (CRP) aims to catalyse competiveness, production and productivity improvement of groundnut based cropping systems especially in Africa and Asia. The focus being short duration, drought tolerance and aflatoxin free groundnut varieties with elevated micronutrients and resilience to end...

The current investments in scaling of improved groundnut seed are premised on the efficient supply of prioritized, highly productive varieties. Investments such as AGRA's SSTP, W3/bilateral projects funded by USAID in West Africa and East and Southern Africa and India, Irish Aid, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported Tropical Legumes III and...

Due to limited commercialization of legume varieties by the private sector, the legume seed system has remained rather underdeveloped and weak in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The TL II project developed and successfully implemented innovative seed delivery models that significantly impacted the seed systems in 13 countries of SSA and two i...

The current emphasis by the government of Nigeria on boosting . agricultural productivity requires actors of the agricultural sector to develop sustainable agro-allied technologies that could enhance the quality of crop-livestock products. Aflatoxin is reported to be a major challenge of many legume and cereal value chains with potentially negative...

Evaluation study is essential to ascertain performance and adaptation of improved genotypes across new environment. Field experiments were conducted at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Research Farm, Minjibir, Kano State, Nigeria over two years to assess the performance of twelve improved pigeonpea genotypes comprising of early (ICPL...

Despite the recent release of several improved varieties of groundnut in Nigeria the productivities have not increase significantly due to lack of commensurate recommendation in agronomic practices. Two groundnut varieties were evaluated for their response to different plant density and phosphorus application in two locations in the Sudan Savanna z...

To feed the world population that is increasing from 7.32 billion in 2015 to 9.3 billion people in 2050, agriculture will play a fundamental role by doubling production to meet the world's growing demand for food, feed and fibre, through the incremental output that will come from increases in yields (FAO, 2009). Quality seed is the most important f...

Nigeria used to be the highest groundnut exporting country in Africa, but a combination of drought, rosette and other diseases wiped out groundnut production in the 1970s. ICRISAT, IAR and partners have developed and released new improved high-yielding varieties with combined resistance to major biotic stresses. It is, however, necessary to dissemi...

Field trials were conducted in 2005 and 2006 in Tilla (northern Guinea savanna) and Sabon-Gari (Sudan savanna) in northeast Nigeria to determine the performance of two improved cowpea varieties when relay-intercropped with early and late maize, 6 and 8 weeks after planting the maize. Grain yield, number of branches and number of pods per plant were...

Alectra voegelii is one of the parasitic weeds that threaten groundnut and cowpea production in northern and southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. A field trial was conducted in 2014 rainy season at Bayero University, Kano to evaluate the response of selected (11) local and improved groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varieties to Alectra vogelii (Benth....

ICRISAT is making its efforts in collaboration with various stake holders to improve the seed systems of Nigeria through capacity building and linkages of key actors, popularisation of improved varieties to create demand, production of breeder and foundation seeds and improved crop management technologies to reach the small holder farmers in order...

Understanding the mechanisms of groundnut tolerance to pre and post flowering drought stress is important for improving its yield and phenological development in the drylands. The mechanisms of drought tolerance are known to be under variable genetic control. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of drought tolerance of various gro...

Introduction Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important food and oilseed crop grown by small-scale, resource poor farmers under diverse agro-climatic environments of West Africa. About 90 % of the world's groundnut production occurs in the tropical and semi-arid tropical regions which are characterized by high temperature and low or erratic ra...

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is an important legume in the tropics providing an inexpensive source of vegetable protein for both human beings and livestock. It is well adapted to relatively dry environments, and contributes to the sustainability of cropping systems in marginal lands of semi-arid areas by virtue of its high levels of nitrog...

Although both men and women play substantial economic roles in the semi-arid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in general women's preponderant role in agricultural activities in the region cannot be ignored. Cultural norms in the region have long encouraged women to be economically self-reliant and traditionally give women substantial responsibi...

Insect pests are major constraint to cowpea production in northern Nigeria causing yield losses up to 70%. Several cowpea varieties have been developed and delivered to farmers by IITA over the past four decades. These varieties have varying degrees of resistance to insect pest attacks. A field study was established in northern Nigeria to determine...

Insecticide spray offers the most effective control of insect pests where resistant varieties are not available as is the case with the legume pod borer and pod sucking bug complex. Field experiments were conducted in the northern Guinea and Sudan savannas (Samaru and Minjibir, respectively) zones of Nigeria during 2005 to 2007 rainy seasons to eva...

Soybean (Glycine max) is a major cash crop in the savannas of Nigeria although productivity is typically constrained by poor soil fertility. The objective of this research was to determine the interactive effect of N and P on soybean productivity in the northern Guinea and Sudan savannas of northeast Nigeria. Experiments were conducted using locall...

A field study was conducted to determine the rate of genetic improvement in grain and fodder yields and associated agronomic and physiological changes of determinate and semideterminate cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] genotypes developed in the Nigerian Sudan savannas in 1974 to 2004. Results showed that grain yield of determinate cowpea rang...

From 2003 to 2005, a farmer's participatory evaluation of improved cowpea-cereal cropping systems in the Sudan savanna zone of Nigeria involving over 1600 farmers was conducted. The system involved growing improved cowpea varieties with cereal in a 2 cereal: 4 cowpea row to row arrangements, with application of inorganic and organic fertilizer to t...

A field study was conducted to determine the rate of genetic improvement in grain and fodder yields of cowpea genotypes developed in the Nigerian Sudan savannas from 1970 to 2004. Results showed that grain yield ranged from 568 kg/ha for an old variety TVX3236 to 1851 kg/ha for a recently released variety IT04K-321-2. The average rate of increase h...

Farmer's participatory evaluation of improved cowpea-maize cropping systems in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria involving over 1000 farmers was conducted from 2003 to 2005. The system involved growing improved cowpea varieties with maize in a 2 cereal: 4 cowpea row to row (arrangement), with application of inorganic and organic fertilizer to...