Developments,bottlenecks,and opportunities in seed markets for improved forages in East Africa:The case of Kenya

Background:Cattle farming plays a pivotal role in Africa's agricultural and livestock sector,poised for growth due to population expansion and rising per capita consumption of animal-sourced food.Forages are a primary source of feed for dairy cattle,significantly impacting production costs.While local forage varieties are preferred by dairy farmers,there has been an increase in the adoption of improved forages in recent years.However,the overall adoption rate is still low,for example,due to underdeveloped forage seed markets.Methods:This study describes the dynamics,challenges,and potential of these markets in Kenya and selected East African countries,focusing on(i)market evolution over the past decade,(ii)forthcoming market prospects,and(iii)bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.Data were gathered in 2022 through qualitative interviews with stakeholders representing six segments of the forage seed sector across six countries.Results:We found a sustained growth of the improved forage seed market in recent years.The main challenges for further growth are high seed prices,regulatory difficulties,and limited producer knowledge.Conclusions:Thefindings unveil positive dynamics in the region's forage seed market,fueled by the engagement and determination of stakeholders who recognize the manifold benefits that it holds for both the dairy industry and economic growth.The realization of this market's potential requires addressing prevailing challenges,including elevated seed costs,intricate variety registration processes,and a pervasive lack of awareness among farmers.K E Y W O R D S animal productivity,dairy,improved forages,market development,sustainability,tropical forages adoption projects.The need to involve governmental entities and seed companies is recognized since both actors have so far mostly worked individually.None-theless,the strong partnership between the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and Grupo Papalotla is highlighted as an example of coordinated work between research and a seed company.Further opportunities for improvement of the seed market are outlined in Table 2.

Improved Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm Based on Fuzzy Control Rule Base

Manual construction of a rule base for a fuzzy system is the hard and time-consuming task that requires expert knowledge.In this paper we proposed a method based on improved bacterial foraging optimization（IBFO）,which simulates the foraging behavior of “E.coli” bacterium,to tune the Gaussian membership functions parameters of an improved Takagi-Sugeno-Kang fuzzy system（C-ITSKFS） rule base.To remove the defect of the low rate of convergence and prematurity,three modifications were produced to the standard bacterial foraging optimization（BFO）.As for the low accuracy of finding out all optimal solutions with multi-method functions,the IBFO was performed.In order to demonstrate the performance of the proposed IBFO,multiple comparisons were made among the BFO,particle swarm optimization（PSO）,and IBFO by MATLAB simulation.The simulation results show that the IBFO has a superior performance.

Application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in forages

Genome editing is an advanced genetic modification tool that facilitates the removal,insertion,or substitution of nucleotides in the genome of an organism for mutation induction.CRISPR/Cas9(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9)is the most widely used genome editing tool that can precisely modify the specific sequence of a genome.Significant progress has been made in the use of CRISPR/Cas9 for the genetic improvement of food crops.However,in forage crops,the use of CRISPR/Cas9 is still in the infant stage with limited understanding and application.This article reviews current advances in the establishment and application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in alfalfa,summarizes the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in several other forage legume and grass species,and discusses the prospects of CRISPR/Cas9 in the genetic improvement of forage crops.