Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) Director General Dr. Baboucarr Manneh met with Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, to explore strategic opportunities for strengthening Africa’s rice sector. The high-level audience focused on exploring collaborative opportunities and innovative approaches to accelerate rice sector development across the African continent. The discussions centered on leveraging public-private partnerships to strengthen the agricultural ecosystem through the scaling of proven technologies developed by AfricaRice and other CGIAR Centers. The visit followed the historic signing of a partnership agreement between AfricaRice and Niger State to provide technical support to produce 10 million tons of rice by 2030 and a landmark N1.8 trillion agreement between Dangote Rice Limited, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries with Niger Foods Security Systems and Logistics Company Limited, owned by the Niger State Government.

The dwarfing trait is of considerable agronomic importance, as it enables increased planting density and reduced management costs. In melon (Cucumis melo L.), a high-value cucurbit crop, semi-dwarf plant architecture is particularly beneficial for lowering labor requirements in greenhouse trellis cultivation. In this study, a stably inherited dwarf mutant was identified from an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized population of thin-skinned inbred line ssp. agrestis ‘13C’. Using bulked segregant analysis sequencing in combination with MutMap and molecular marker validation, a key missense mutation in the CmTUB8 gene was identified, which completely co-segregates with the dwarf phenotype.

Biologists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a plant protein that plays a crucial role in three key biological processes in poplar plants: iron deficiency responses, cell wall biosynthesis, and the creation of disease-fighting molecules. The research team published their study in The Plant Biotechnology Journal. The researchers found that the gene PtrbHLH011 regulates these processes in poplar plants. By "knocking out" this gene, they were able to engineer plants that grew taller, had increased iron content, and produced more energy, which in turn supported the synthesis of valuable bioproducts, such as lignin and flavonoids. The discovery holds significant promise for developing more resilient and productive bioenergy crops. The increased iron content in the engineered plants enhanced photosynthesis, enabling them to produce more energy to support growth.