Indigenous cattle support approximately 26.1 percent of Ugandan families through provision of food and income in addition to the supply of socio-cultural wealth and security. Cattle keepers have developed and maintained variations of indigenous cattle phenotypes and genotypes suited to their agro-ecological zones through traditional management practices and socio-cultural aspects. The Ankole (Bos taurus indicus), East African shorthorn Zebu (Bos indicus) and their crossbred cattle constitute the main indigenous breeds, adding up to 93.3 percent of the Ugandan herd. With intensions to increase productivity, state policies encourage livestock farmers to upgrade local genotypes towards high yielding exotic dairy cattle. This if not appropriately planned is likely to result into loss of local genetic diversity, well endowed with resilience to local climatic conditions, endemic diseases and feed resource constraints. Here in, we review literature related to indigenous cattle in Uganda including how diverse landscapes, local management practices and socio-cultural aspects have enriched patterns of indigenous cattle variations. Then we highlight potential challenges of intensive management, increased selection for higher productivity and threats to genetic diversity of indigenous cattle populations. Since indigenous cattle vary with landscapes and socio-cultural values, have taken decades to establish, efforts to save them through genetic diversity studies, conservation and farmers sensitization should be undertaken immediately.

Introduction. India is thelargest producer of pomegranate in the world, with rich geneticdiversity. The wide range of utility of pomegranate in human health,nutrition and livelihood security has triggered its heavy demandin India and other countries. At present, more than 300 germplasmaccessions from indigenous and exotic sources are available in India,but meagre information on the physico-chemical properties of their fruitsis available. In our study, the physico-chemical properties of varietiesgrown under a semi-arid climate were investigated. Materialsand methods. Our study was carried out at the experimentalfarm of the National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur, India,during the harvests of 2008–2009 and 2009–2010. Twenty pomegranatevarieties were studied with respect to the physico-chemical propertiesof their fruits. Results and discussion. A considerablevariation (coefficient of variation: 3.37% to 101.13%) was observedwith respect to the 16 characters studied. The values ranged from 12.64 °Brixto 15.39 °Brix for TSS; 0.38% to 3.40% for acidity; 16.67 g to 27.82 gfor 100-aril weight; 4.31-38.62 for the maturity index; 59.22% to 77.40%for aril percentage; and 43.30% to 61.00% for juice percentage. Fruitsize, rind weight, total aril weight, 100-aril weight, juice weight andaril width were found to have a strong positive correlation (P < 0.01) withfruit weight. Based on the total index score obtained, the varieties ‘BasseinSeedless’, ‘Dholka’, ‘Ganesh’, ‘Jyoti’, ‘Kandhari’, ‘KRS’, ‘Mridula’and ‘P-13’ were found to be suitable for processing and table purposes.

Introduction. Although Nigeria has the largest area planted to papaya (Carica papaya) in the world, this country has one of the lowest yields reported. A good knowledge of the available genetic variability is a first step in the exploitation of this crop for the development of improved cultivars. Until now, there has been no report on genetic diversity in the papaya accessions available in Nigeria. Materials and methods. Sixty accessions of papaya obtained from ten districts in Southeastern Nigeria were evaluated using 21 variables following the IBPGR descriptors for papaya. The data was subjected to descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate analysis including principal component (PCA) and cluster analysis. Results. ANOVA showed significant variation among accessions in fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit edible volume, leaf petiole length, fruit shape, flesh color and central cavity shape. The first seven principal component axes accounted for 73.47% of total variation and five cluster groups were generated from cluster analysis. Accessions were classified into two broad groups corresponding to female (15%) and hermaphrodite (85%) plants. A strong and highly significant correlation was found between leaf blade and petiole length and fruit characteristics such as length, diameter and fruit edible volume, a variable derived for the first time in this study. There was a preponderance of yellow flesh color in fruits from female plants and reddish-orange flesh color among hermaphrodite plants. Discussion and conclusions. Each of the five cluster groups consists of accessions that could be used as parents in further breeding or clones for vegetative propagation. This study revealed significant variation that could be exploited for genetic improvement of papaya in Nigeria. It is recommended that a focused papaya genetic improvement program should be pursued to exploit the genetic variation available.

Introduction. In Malaysia, Limau Madu (Citrusreticulata Blanco; Citrus suhuiensis Hort.ex Tanaka) is commercially cultivated for local consumption. Itis a loose-peel mandarin with fruits that are spherical in shapewith shiny green or greenish yellow peel. In Malaysia, Limau Maduis vegetatively propagated, thus it is presumed to exhibit minimalvariability. In our study, the genetic variability and genetic relatednessamong cultivated samples collected from different states in Malaysiawere assessed using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) primers. Materialsand methods. Thirty pairs of SSR primers derived from Citrusunshiu were screened and 22 SSR primer pairs were utilizedto assess genetic variability and relatedness among 118 cultivatedsamples. Results and discussion. The percentage of SSR transferabilityfrom C. unshiu to C. reticulata (LimauMadu) was 73.33%, which indicated that the primer sequences flankingsimple sequence repeats were conserved among these Citrus species.Most SSR loci revealed a large excess of heterozygotes. In our study,low allelic diversity was shown, with an average of 5.227 allelesper locus. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.048to 0.674. Based on UPGMA clustering analysis, four groups were identifiedfrom these citrus genotypes with a mean genetic distance of 0.170. Lowgenetic variability within species was probably due to vegetativepropagation or inability to detect differences among samples usingthese primers.

Introduction. Les populations de Kidal, au nord du Mali, traditionnellementnomades, s'orientent progressivement vers l'agriculture du fait de sécheressesrécurrentes ; la culture du palmier dattier bien que représentée est encore peu élaboréedans cette région. Notre étude s'est inscrite dans le cadre des projets de développementde la phoeniciculture au nord du Mali. Elle a eu pour objectif de recenser et decaractériser les ressources phytogénétiques du palmier dattier afin d’envisager desstratégies de développement de ce patrimoine. Matériel et méthodes. Notreétude a été réalisée, dans la région de Kidal, dans neuf sites principaux connus depuislongtemps pour la culture du palmier dattier. Nous avons déterminé le nombre total depieds observés dans la région, l’effectif des pieds productifs, la répartition des sexes,les cultivars représentés, l'âge des pieds et leurs périodes de maturation. Unecaractérisation des principaux cultivars a été établie en se basant sur des caractèresvégétatifs et des caractères morphologiques des inflorescences, des fruits et des graines.Résultats et discussion. Nous avons recensé plus de 4000 palmiers dattiersdans la région échantillonnée ; les proportions de palmiers mâles se sont révéléesélevées. Le site de Tessalit semble héberger la palmeraie la plus importante et la plusancienne. Il présente 39 % de l'effectif total des palmiers dattiers recensés. Notre étudea permis d’identifier 18 cultivars. Les analyses factorielles des correspondancesmultiples sur la caractérisation des cultivars de la région de Kidal ont montré que lavariabilité inter-cultivars semble être très importante quels que soient les caractèresétudiés ; en revanche, la variabilité intra-cultivar est faible. Des proximités ont étédéfinies entre les cultivars de Tigazas locaux et la Tigaza algérienne.

Introduction. Tamarindus indica est une espèce fruitièred’intérêt économique. Sa domestication au Sahel impose d’évaluer en préalable lavariabilité de ses caractères phénotypiques sur l’ensemble de son aire de répartition.L’objectif de notre étude a été de caractériser différentes provenances de tamarinier àpartir des caractères phénotypiques de leurs graines et plantules. Matériel etméthodes. L’étude menée en pépinière au Burkina Faso a porté sur l’étude desgraines et germinations issues de neuf provenances dont deux d’Afrique de l’Est, deuxd’Afrique de l’Ouest, deux d’Asie et trois de zones insulaires. Nous avons mesuré lalongueur, la largeur, l’épaisseur et le poids de 100 graines de chaque provenance, et lahauteur, le diamètre au collet et le poids sec de la tige, ainsi que la longueur de laracine principale, le nombre de racines secondaires et le poids sec du système racinairede 50 plantules âgées de 3 mois. Nous avons effectué une analyse de variance, puis uneanalyse en composantes principales sur les données centrées réduites de toutes lesvariables, enfin une classification hiérarchisée ascendante basée sur des indices desimilarité. Résultats et discussion. Les différences entre variables ont étéhautement significatives. Lors de l’étude des graines, nous avons obtenu un groupe lié àla provenance d’Inde et d’Afrique de l’Est, un autre lié aux provenances ouest-africaineset un groupe intermédiaire en provenance de Thaïlande. Lors de l’étude des plantules, ilest apparu un groupe avec croissance aérienne forte et racine principale courte, fortementramifiée et un groupe avec croissance aérienne faible, racine principale très longue, maisfaiblement ramifiée. Le dendrogramme obtenu à partir des ressemblances phénotypiques(variables des graines et plantules) montre une structuration par aire géographique.Conclusion. La variabilité phénotypique inter provenance des plantules etdes graines combinée aux corrélations entre variables pourrait permettre de sélectionnerde façon précoce les provenances en fonction des objectifs définis pour la sélection.