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Sesame: the Underexploited Organic Oilseed Crop


VIO Olowe
YA Adeyemo
OO Adeniregun

Abstract

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an important oilseed crop that ranks sixth among vegetable oils worldwide. Asia and Africa respectively account for 2.55 and 0.95 of the 3.66 million tons produced worldwide. However, Africa’s net export of the commodity is just 38% of its production, despite the fact that the Continent has favourable weather conditions that would support large-scale growing of the crop for commercial purposes. Presently, majority of the primary growers of the crop on the continent produce non-certified organic Sesame but which meets the specific requirements for organic Sesame. Recently released varieties of the crop, i.e. NCRIBEN-01M, NCRIBEN-02M, NCRIBEN-03L and Ex-Sudan (exotic variety) readily meet the premium quality requirements for export (i.e. 1000 seed weight>3.0 g, 40- 0% oil content and pearly-white seed colour). This paper presents data on the agronomic performance of these varieties.

Key words: Sesame; Oil content; Seed export

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2070-1748
print ISSN: 2070-1748