Assessing yield and yield stability of remnant populations of Cenchrus ciliaris L. in arid Tunisia:: developing a blueprint for initiating native seed production

Native seed needs to be sourced locally yet contain ample genetic variation. A blueprint is developed for assembling and assessing native plant material at one eco-geographical site prior to seed multiplication for restoring degraded drylands of North Africa. To satisfy the 'local yet ample' criterion, the feasibility of selecting a limited number of high-yielding genotypes within one starter collection of Cenchrus ciliaris L. in Presaharian Tunisia (100-200 mm annual rainfall) was tested and compared to outcomes with similar work on its ecological complement, Stipa lagascae R. & Sch. Results showed that a limited number of high-yielding genotypes can easily produce quality native seed because of the high genetic diversity of the starter material. Results also showed that there was a high potential to increase the rain-use efficiency of degraded drylands using this seed. Seven ground rules are suggested when building the starter collection: (i) carefully delimit the region for sourcing seed; (ii) work with individual plants; (iii) carefully choose the collection site; (iv) replicate plant material as much as is feasible; (v) match evaluation methods to resource constraints; (vi) wait for conditions of maximum resource availability before culling; and (vii) apply a two-tiered selection strategy.