Ndiaga Cisse, Plant breeder

Special Interests: Cowpea genetics and breeding for: adaptation to semi-arid environments; resistance to insects (aphids, thrips, bruchids) and diseases (bacterial blight, viruses); grain quality (size, color, taste).

Position: Plant breeder, Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA), Bambey , Senegal. HC Principal Investigator of a Cowpea breeding Collaborative Research Support Project (CRSP). Co-chair of the West Africa component and Technical committee Member of the Bean-Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Project (CRSP).

Improved cowpea cultivars that resist or tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses can provide a powerful stimulus for rural development because they can enhance the productivity, product quality, profitability and sustainability of farming systems with little or no need for inputs. Such cultivars especially benefit poor farmers, who lack access to capital and cannot afford inputs such as insecticides and fertilizer. Development of cowpea cultivars that resist pests will also help reduce pesticide usage, an important goal for research from the standpoint of decreasing risks to human and environmental health.