January 10, 2022
Home to one of the harshest cropping environments in the world, the Sahel region of Africa hosts poor, sandy soils, low and erratic rainfall, and excessive soil surface temperatures. Sahelian farmers also often have limited space for cropping, very low incomes and restricted access to inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. This combination of limitations makes it difficult for farmers to subsist on their cropping operations or produce enough to sell their crops for income.
March 31, 2022
The Sahel region of Africa is one of the harshest cropping environments in the world. Sahelian farmers have limited resources, income and access to inputs such as fertilizer and water. This makes the region ideal to introduce new technology advancements to help smallholder farmers with planting techniques to increase the pearl millet crop yield rate. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet (SMIL) at Kansas State University began a research project in 2013 to do just that. The project, Seed Balls - Enhancing the Yield Effect in Pearl Millet and Sorghum and Disseminating the Technology in West Africa, has developed seed ball technology to increase yield by up to 40%, provide opportunities for entrepreneurs (especially women) and increase income for smallholder farmers.
December 22, 2022
The seedball technology is a proven success in the Sahel region of Niger, one of the world's harshest cropping environments. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet (SMIL) at Kansas State University initiated a research project in 2013 to help smallholder farmers increase pearl millet yield through better seedling establishment. The project, Seed Balls - Enhancing the Yield Effect in Pearl Millet and Sorghum and Disseminating the Technology in West Africa, is a great success with over 6,000 farmers evaluating and adopting the innovation.