Description

INTSORMIL scientist Mitch Tuinstra, a Purdue University sorghum breeder, announced in a May 19, 2008 interview on the Voice of America that he and his colleagues had produced a sorghum seed that can protect sorghum crops from the weed Striga. Each year, Striga causes six or seven billion dollars in crop damages to African sorghum and is unique in that it requires chemical signals from sorghum seeds to grow. To deal with Striga, researchers developed special sorghum-seed genes which allow them to accept certain Striga-killing herbicides without being harmed. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by INTSORMIL through grant funding provided to Purdue University, IER in Mali and INRAN in Niger.