Sesame production constraints, utilization and cultivation opportunities in Eritrea

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a high value and important oilseed crop owing to its dietary uses, health benefits, and industrial applications. Sesame oil maintains a balanced fatty acid composition with more or less equal and higher percentages of unsaturated fatty acids. Despite its several merits, it is behind in genetic improvement as compared to other field crops in Eritrea. This paper aims to identify the major sesame production constraints and document sesame utilization and cultivation opportunities as well as farmer- and market-preferred varieties and traits, in Eritrea. The documentation of the paper will serve as a guide for largescale sesame seed and oil production and breeding programs. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was conducted in three selected sesame-growing sub-regions and seven villages and sites of Gash Barka region in Eritrea. Data were collected from 90 sesame farmers through semi-structured questionnaires and 50 in focused group discussions. Sesame is grown by all respondent farmers in the study areas for food and as a source of cash. The result of the survey indicated that most of the respondent farmers reported cultivating sesame using seeds of local landraces of their own. About 47.5% of the respondents reported moisture stress/drought as the most important production constraint, followed by low and unstable market outlets (45.7%). Other production constraints included seed shattering, diseases and insects (31.4%), and lack of improved seeds and inputs (14.3%). The above constraints were attributed to the absence of dedicated crop management practices, lack of improved seed and a formal seed sector, poor extension services, and underdeveloped pre- and postharvest infrastructures. With regards to input utilization and crop rotation; 95% of the farmers responded that they don’t use fertilizer and 82% said no herbicide and pesticide applications. Besides, 97.4% of the farmers responded that they have grown sesame for crop rotation. The most important market-preferred traits of sesame included white seed colour (26.0%), followed by bold with big seed size (20%) and clean seed (17%). To improve the low yield of sesame there is a need for a dedicated sesame genetic improvement program by integrates thekey production constraints and market- and farmer-preferred traits to develop and deploy new generation varieties to enhance the production, productivity, and adoption of sesame cultivars in Eritrea.