Developing RIce and SOrghum Crop Adaptation Strategies for climate change in vulnerable environments in Africa - RISOCAS

Irrigated rice, rainfed sorghum, and rainfed upland rice are three of the most important staple small-grain cereals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Phenology, growth, water use and attainable yield of rice and sorghum are subject to seasonal climatic patterns. These patterns have already changed and will do so in the near future. To avoid negative impacts, crop adaptation strategies will be required, both in terms of varietal development and crop management. In order to develop coping strategies for increasing climate variability and weather extremes, a broad range of varietal types of rice and sorghum will be studied on existing climatic gradients that cover expected ranges of change, such as temporal/intra-annual gradients (irrigated rice in Senegal), latitudinal gradients (sorghum on a N-S transect in Mali) and altitudinal gradients (upland rice in Madagascar).

RISOCAS idea - The development of coping strategies for increasing climate variability and weather extremes, with a broad range of varietal types of rice and sorghum studied on existing climatic gradients that cover expected ranges of climate change.

RISOCAS goal - provide operational methodology to measure the impact of climate change scenarios on crop responses for key cereal-based systems of Africa to fight poverty and hunger.

RISOCAS purpose - enable policy makers in agricultural research to develop strategies to adapt African agriculture to climate change. To help producers to tactically adapt their system to increased climate variability

The project is financed by BMZ, the project leadership is located at the University of Hohenheim. Partners in the project are AfricaRice, Senegal, CIRAD, France,  IER, Mali, FOFIFA, Madagascar.

People

PD

Dr. Klaus Markus Giese
Project coordination

PhD

Sabine Stürz
"Effects of water management on microclimate and yield physiology in irrigated rice in semi-arid environments" - PhD-Thesis, Universität Hohenheim, 2014

Suchit Shrestha
"Genotypic responses of Upland Rice to an Altitudinal Gradient" - PhD Thesis, Universität Hohenheim, 2012

Lansah Abdulai
"Genotypic responses of rainfed sorghum to a latitude gradient" - PhD thesis, University of Hohenheim, 2016

Cecile Julia
"Thermal stresses and spikelet sterility in rice: sensitive phases and role of microclimate" - PhD Thesis, Université Montpellier 2, 2012

MSc

"Physiological and agronomic responses of selected rice genotypes to irrigation management practices in the Sahel" Master of Science Thesis, Isabel Schlegel [Germany]

"Physiolgical aspects of water use effciency in selected irrigated rice genotypes grown in the Sahel" Diplomarbeit, Julia Hartmann [Germany]

BSc

"Phyllochron of upland rice grown at low and high altitude climatic conditions" Bachelor of Science Thesis, Juy-Kieu Chak, [Germany]

Link to project website

Link to project leader - Water stress management - University of Hohenheim

Link to BEAF/GIZ

Publications

Paper

Stuerz, S., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B., Asch, F., 2014
Leaf area development in response to meristem temperature and irrigation system in lowland rice. Field Crops Research 163, 74-80.

Stuerz, S., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B., Asch, F., 2014
Canopy microclimate and gas-exchange in response to irrigation system in lowland rice in the Sahel. Field Crops Research 163, 64-73.

Stuerz, S., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B., Asch, F., 2014
Yield components in response to thermal environment and irrigation system in lowland rice in the Sahel. Field Crops Research 163, 47-54.

Shrestha, S., Asch, F., Brueck, H., Giese, M., Dusserre, J., Ramanantsoanirina, A. 2013
Phenological responses of upland rice grown along an altitudinal gradient. Environmental and Experimental Botany 89 , pp. 1-10

Asch, F., Giese, M., 2012
Crop Improvement, Ideotyping and Modelling for African Cropping Systems Under Climate Change. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 198, 325-326

Shrestha, S., Asch, F., Dusserre, J., Ramanantsoanirina, A., Brueck, H. 2012.
Climate effects on yield components as affected by genotypic responses to variable environmental conditions in upland rice systems at different altitudes. Field Crops Research 134 , pp. 216-228

Shrestha, S., Brueck, H., Asch, F. 2012.
Chlorophyll Index, Photochemical Reflectance Index and Chlorophyll Fluorescence Measurements of Rice Leaves supplied with different N Levels. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology 113, 7–13

Abdulai, A. L., Kouressy, M., Vaksmann, M., Brueck, H., Asch, F., Giese, M., 2012.
Latitude influences growth and phenological development of photo-periodic sorghums in the Semi-arid tropics of Africa – Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 198, 340-348

Abdulai, A.L. Parzies, H., Kouressy, M., Vaksmann, M., Asch, F., Brueck, H., 2012
Yield stability of photoperiod-sensitive sorghum [Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench)] accessions under diverse climatic environments. International Journal of Agricultural Research 7, 17-32.

Asch, F., Brueck, H., 2011
Rice crop innovations and natural-resource management — A glimpse into the future. Africa Rice Congress, Bamako 2010 – Proceedings –

Poster

Stürz, S., Asch, F., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B.,  Dingkuhn, M., 2010. 
"Phenological responses of irrigated rice in the Sahel"
Africa Rice Congress 2010, Innovations and Partnerships to realize Africa's Rice Potential, 22-26 March 2010, Bamako, Mali
Poster award - First prize.

Stürz, S., Asch, F., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B. 2010
"Intra-annual genotypic patterns of growth and water use of irrigated rice in the Sahel". Tropentag 2010, Zürich 14-16, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
Poster award - Third Prize.

Hartmann, J., Stürz, S., Manneh, B., Sow, A., Asch, F. 2010.
"Response of transpiration of lowland rice varieties to water-saving irrigation".Tropentag 2010, Zürich 14-16, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

Stürz, S., Sow, A., Schlegel, I., Manneh, B., Asch, F. 2009.
"Annual variation of water use and yield of irrigated rice in the Sahel". Tropentag 2009, October 6-8, University of Hamburg, Hamburg. Poster award - First Prize. Proceedings

Stürz, S., Schlegel, I., Sow, A., Asch, F. 2008. "Physiological Responses of Lowland Rice Cultivars to the Saturated Soil Culture System". Tropentag 2008, October 7-9, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart. Poster award - First Prize.

Giese, M., Brueck, H., Dingkuhn, M., Kiepe, P., Asch, F. 2009. "Developing rice and sorghum crop adaptation strategies for climate change in vulnerable environments in Africa  RISOCAS".  Tropentag 2009, October 6-8, University of Hamburg, Hamburg.

Shrestha, S., Asch, F., Brueck, H., Duserre, J., Ramanantsoanirina, A. 2009. "Upland rice adaptation to variable water availability along an altitude gradient in Madagascar". Tropentag 2009, October 6-8, University of Hamburg, Hamburg. Proceedings

Ramanantsoanirina, A., Duserre, J., Shrestha, S., Asch, F., 2009. "Temperature effects on the phenology of upland rice grown along an altitude gradient in Madagascar". 
Tropentag 2009, October 6-8,University of Hamburg, Hamburg.

Shrestha, S., Brück, H., Asch, F. 2010. "Diagnosis of Rice Leaf N Status by Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) and Chlorophyll Index (SPAD)".
Tropentag 2010, Zürich 14-16, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

Shrestha, S., Asch, F. Brück, H., Ramanantsoanirina, A., Dusserre, J., 2010. "Environmental Effects on Yield of Upland Rice Grown Along an Altitude Gradient in Madagascar" The 28th International Rice Research Conference, Climate Change and Rice Agriculture; November 8 - 12, 2010; Hanoi, Vietnam

Talks

Impact of climatic conditions on rice yield under water-saving irrigation in the Sahel. Stürz, S., Sow, A., Asch, F. Tropentag 2011: Development on the margin, October 5-7, 2011, Bonn.

Yield Stability and Genotype x Environment Interactions of Upland Rice in Altitudinal Gradient in Madagascar. Shrestha, S. P., Asch, F., Dusserre, J., Ramanantsoanirina, A. Tropentag 2011: Development on the margin, October 5-7, 2011, Bonn.

Effect of temperature on relative yield and duration of lowland rice under water-saving irrigation
Stuerz, S., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B., Asch, F.
International conference on crop improvement, ideotyping and modeling for African cropping systems under climate change (CIMAC), 7.-9. 2. 2011, Hohenheim, Germany

Morphological  traits and development of sorghum ideotypes for coping with climate variability in Mali
Abdulai, A. L., Brueck, H., Kouressy, M., Vaksmann, M., Asch, F.
International conference on crop improvement, ideotyping and modeling for African cropping systems under climate change (CIMAC), 7.-9. 2. 2011, Hohenheim, Germany

Phenological Responses of Upland Rice Grown Along an Altitude Gradient
Shrestha, S., Asch, F., Brueck, H., Ramanantsoanirina, A., Dusserre, J.
International conference on crop improvement, ideotyping and modeling for African cropping systems under climate change (CIMAC), 7.-9. 2. 2011, Hohenheim, Germany

Growth analysis of biomass production by diverse sorghum genotypes under different scenarios of climate
Abdulai, A. L., Kouressy, M., Vaksmann, M., Brueck, H., Asch, F.
European Society of Agronomy - AGRO2010 - XIth ESA Congress, 29.8.-3.8.2010, Montpellier

Climatic effects on genotype specific transpirational water use in irrigated rice
Stuerz, S., Asch, F., Sow, A., Muller, B., Manneh, B.
The 28th International Rice Research Conference, Climate Change and Rice Agriculture; November 8 - 12, 2010; Hanoi, Vietnam

Responses of Sorghum Varieties to Climatic Variability — a Case Study Within the Risocas Project. Abdulai, A. L., Kouressy, M., Vaksmann, M., Brueck, H., Asch, F. Tropentag 2009: Biophysical and Socio-economic Frame Conditions for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, October 6 - 8, 2009, Hamburg, Germany - Proceedings