Insects associated with Jatropha curcas Linn. (Euphorbiaceae) in west Niger.

Jatropha curcas has been introduced into Niger since 2004 by International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). This plant is cultivated for its oil, which can be used as a Biofuel. Through direct and indirect insect collection methods, an inventory of the insect associated with J. curcas has been conducted in Western Niger during two rainy seasons (from June to October) in 2010 and 2011. We have identified insects belonging to the following families: Acrididae (Oedaleus senegalensis Krauss, Oedaleus nigeriensis Uvarov, Heteracris leani Uvarov, Catantops stramineus Walker, Parga cyanoptera Uvarov, and Acanthacris ruficornis citrina Audinet-Serville), Pyrgomorphidae (Poekilocerus bufonius hieroglyphicus Klug), Cetoniidae (Pachnoda interrupta Olivier, Pachnoda marginata aurantia Herbst, Pachnoda sinuata Heinrich and McClain, and Rhabdotis sobrina Gory and Percheron), Meloidae (Decapotoma lunata Pallas), Pentatomidae (Agonoscelis versicoloratus Dallas, Nezara viridula Linn, and Antestia sp. Kirkaldy), Coreidae (Leptoglossus membranaceus Fabricius and Cletus trigonus Thunberg), and Scutelleridae (Calidea panaethiopica Kirkaldy). Origin and potential impact on J. curcas of all these insect species are presented and discussed. The lower insect's diversity indexes are observed in 2010 and 2011 for Niamey, Saga, and Gaya because of semi-arid character of the Sahelian area.

Effects of temperature and pH on mycelium growth of Phoma sorghina (Sacc.) Boerema Dorenbosch and Van Kesteren in vitro.

Abstract: The effects of temperatures 22, 28, 32, 36 and 40 degrees C and those of pH 5, 6.5 and 6 were evaluated on 11 isolates of P. sorghina on malt agar medium. The optimal mycelium growth of the most isolates is noted at 28 degrees C. At 32 degrees C, we have recorded a significant reduction of mycelium growth of all the isolates tested when compared with the control at 22 degrees C. At this same temperature, P. sorghina isolates can be group on sensitive isolates, on moderately isolates and on resistant isolates to temperature. The mycelium growth of all the isolates is inhibited at 36 degrees C. On the other hand, the temperature of 40 degrees C kills the mycelium of all the isolates of P. sorghina. The results of our work also show that, least variation of pH (6.5-6) significantly reduced the mycelium growth of P. sorghina isolates at 22 and 28 degrees C. At pH 5 most of the isolates tested are well adapted and the mycelium growth is more important when compare with that at pH 6.

Evolutionary dynamics of cycle length in pearl millet: the role of farmer's practices and gene flow.

In the Sahel of Africa, farmers often modify their cultivation practices to adapt to environmental changes. How these changes shape the agro-biodiversity is a question of primary interest for the conservation of plant genetic resources. We addressed this question in a case study on pearl millet in south western Niger where farmers used to cultivate landraces with different cycle length in order to cope with rain uncertainty. Early and late landraces were previously grown on distant fields. Nowadays, mostly because of human population pressure and soil impoverishment, it happens that the two types of landraces are grown on adjacent fields, opening the question whether gene flow between them may occur. This question was tackled through a comparative study among contrasting situations pertaining to the spatial distribution of early and late landraces. Observations of flowering periods showed that pollen flow between the two landraces is possible and has a preferential direction from early to late populations.