Processes underpinning development and maintenance of diversity in rice in West Africa: evidence from combining morphological and molecular markers.

We assessed the interplay of artificial and natural selection in rice adaptation in low-input farming systems in West Africa. Using 20 morphological traits and 176 molecular markers, 182 farmer varieties of rice (Oryza spp.) from 6 West African countries were characterized.

Robustness and strategies of adaptation among farmer varieties of African Rice (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian Rice (Oryza sativa) across West Africa.

This study offers evidence of the robustness of farmer rice varieties (Oryza glaberrima and O. sativa) in West Africa. Our experiments in five West African countries showed that farmer varieties were tolerant of sub-optimal conditions, but employed a range of strategies to cope with stress.

Evidence for the emergence of new rice types of interspecific hybrid origin in West African farmers' fields.

In West Africa two rice species (Oryza glaberrima Steud. and Oryza sativa L.) co-exist.