Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a climate-resilient cereal widely cultivated in the arid and semiarid tropics of Africa and South Asia, where it contributes significantly to food and nutritional security under marginal production conditions. Its inherent tolerance to drought, heat stress, and low soil fertility makes it a strategic crop for smallholder farming systems dependent on rain-fed agriculture. However, productivity remains low and unstable because of limited genetic improvement, weak seed systems, and continued reliance on traditional landraces. Climate change further exacerbates yield instability, particularly during the flowering and grain-filling stages. Recent advances in genomics-assisted breeding, marker-assisted selection, high-throughput phenotyping, rapid generation advancement, and multiomics approaches are accelerating the development of improved finger millet varieties with enhanced stress tolerance, yield potential, and nutritional quality. In parallel, participatory breeding approaches are improving alignment of breeding outputs with farmer-preferred traits such as grain quality, storability, and market acceptance, thereby enhancing adoption potential. Despite these advances, the translation of modern breeding technologies into field-level impact remains constrained by limited integration across breeding pipelines, underutilization of genetic diversity, and weak seed delivery systems. This review synthesizes global production trends, nutritional value, genetic diversity, farmer perceptions, breeding challenges, and technological innovations in finger millet improvement and identifies key research gaps and future directions for its role in climate-smart agriculture.
Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) is emerging as a promising crop in the Brazilian Cerrado due to its drought tolerance and high protein content. It can also reduce nitrogen fertilizer inputs through biological nitrogen fixation. However, low molybdenum availability in tropical soils and inadequate nutrient management may limit crop performance. This study evaluated the effects of organic and molybdenum fertilization, combined with inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Azospirillum brasilense , on chickpea growth and nutrient uptake. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using a randomized complete block design in a 2 × 2 × 4 factorial scheme with four replications (64 experimental units). At 89 days after emergence, growth parameters, dry mass, nutrient accumulation, and soil chemical attributes were assessed. Cattle manure improved soil chemical properties by increasing P, K, Ca, the sum of bases, cation exchange capacity, and soil organic carbon. Cattle manure combined with B. japonicum resulted in the greatest root length (45.25 cm), whereas manure combined with coinoculation with B. japonicum and A. brasilense resulted in the highest phosphorus accumulation in the roots (2.44 mg plant −1 ). Overall, organic fertilization was the predominant factor driving plant growth and mineral nutrition in chickpea under these conditions.
Basal molybdenum (Mo) application may alleviate micronutrient constraints on legume growth and biological nitrogen fixation in acidic soils, but its integrated effects on hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and soil nutrient processes remain insufficiently characterized. A field experiment was conducted in acidic cropland using five basal Mo application rates: 0 (CK), 0.3 (T1), 0.6 (T2), 0.9 (T3), and 1.2 (T4) kg Mo ha−1. Root morphology, nodulation, nitrogenase activity, biomass accumulation, plant nutrient status, soil chemical properties, microbial biomass, and exploratory path relationships were evaluated. Mo application markedly promoted root development and enhanced nodule formation and nitrogenase activity, indicating an improved potential for symbiotic N2 fixation. Under T4, total root length, root surface area, and root volume reached 644.42, 99.81, and 1.32 cm3, representing increases of 92.1%, 102.9%, and 175.0% relative to CK, respectively, while the nodule number and nitrogenase activity increased by 144.9% and 115.8%, respectively. Mo application also increased biomass production. Fresh yield was highest under T4 (19264.73 kg ha−1), whereas the dry yield was highest under T3 (2487.50 kg ha−1). Plant N concentration peaked under T2, increasing by 32.7% compared with CK, and plant Mo concentration reached 1.25 mg kg−1 under T4. Soil pH, inorganic N, and microbial biomass C and N increased following Mo application, whereas the responses of soil organic matter, total P, and available P were relatively limited. Under T4, microbial biomass C and N increased by 165.3% and 128.4%, respectively. Exploratory path analysis suggested that Mo promoted plant elemental accumulation and N assimilation mainly by enhancing root development and increasing soil microbial biomass. These findings indicate that rational Mo management can improve hairy vetch productivity and soil N supply in acidic cropland. Considering both dry-matter yield, nitrogen fixation efficiency, and economic input, a basal Mo application rate of 0.6–0.9 kg Mo ha−1 (T2–T3) is recommended as an indicative optimal range for hairy vetch production in acidic soils, with quadratic dose–response analysis indicating diminishing dry-matter returns above 0.9 kg Mo ha−1.
Soybean production and cultivated areas in Africa have increased substantially over the past decades, mainly due to growing demand for animal feeds and oil production. The expansion has also been facilitated by land availability and favourable climatic conditions. However, soybean yields and adoption rates remain far below expectations despite efforts by governmental and development partners to promote the crop. This review synthesised studies published between 2000 and 2023 on the biophysical performance, economic returns and adoption of soybean in Africa to determine its potential to generate income for African farmers. A systematic literature review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework was conducted to identify, screen and synthesise relevant studies from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. In addition, soybean production data were retrieved from the Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical (FAOSTAT) database to analyse the trend of soybean production over the years. The review found that although soybean production and cultivated area had increased, average smallholder yields remained low at approximately 1.0 t ha−1, compared with potential yields of about 3.4 t ha−1, indicating a substantial yield gap. Soybean productivity and profitability depended on input use and management practices. Integrated application of rhizobial inoculants, organic manure, mineral fertilisers and improved varieties consistently resulted in higher yields and greater economic returns than the use of individual inputs. Higher productivity was also associated with greater profitability, with high-input production systems generating higher economic returns than low-input systems. Soybean adoption was influenced by technological, socioeconomic and institutional factors, with limited access to inputs, such as quality seed and inoculants, credit and reliable markets being major barriers to adoption. Overall, the review shows that soybean productivity, profitability and adoption are closely interconnected. Closing soybean yield gaps through integrated soil fertility management and improved agronomic practices could increase soybean profitability and strengthen farmers’ incentives to adopt the crop. Therefore, to enhance soybean uptake and increase farmers’ income in Africa, governments and development partners should strengthen input delivery systems, improve extension services and farmer training, and expand access to credit and markets.
This study evaluated how the timing and dose of foliar molybdenum (Mo) application affect seed enrichment and determined whether the primary effects occur in the mother plant, in the enriched seed, or in the plant derived from the seed produced. Two field experiments (first and second growing seasons) evaluated combinations of foliar Mo application at R1 and five increasing doses of Mo in R5.2. Foliar applications did not affect the growth of the mother plant. The application at R1 did not result in an increase in seed Mo content, whereas application at R5.2 (220.5 g Mo ha −1 ) resulted in seed Mo contents of 14.77 and 10.85 mg·kg −1 DW in the first and second growing seasons, respectively. Regarding the physiological quality of the seed produced, a positive response was observed only for shoot length (an increase of 0.62 cm with 138 g Mo ha −1 at R5.2) in the first growing season, but no response was observed in the second growing season. In the first growing season, compared with the seed without any treatment, the enriched seed resulted in significant increases of 137.9% and 22.8% in the number of nodules per plant and plant height, respectively, whereas dry weight of nodules per plant and dry weight per plant showed numerical trends toward increases of 163.6% and 77%, respectively. In the second growing season, plants derived from enriched seeds had an 8.51% higher chlorophyll index than those derived from untreated seeds. These findings demonstrate that the primary effect of Mo seed enrichment lies neither in improving mother plant performance nor in improving physiological quality of the seed produced but in enhancing the establishment and performance of the plants derived from the seed produced.
