Seed drying and storage in Mali and Burkina Faso

Keith Manger, Abdel Kadr Sanogo, and Sidi Sanogo outside the Unité de Semences at IER in Sikasso

Mali

In Mali, the MSBP is working with the Forestry Department of the Institut D'Économie Rurale (IER), based in Sikasso at the Centre Régional de Recherche Agronomique. The MSBP assisted IER to build and equip a bespoke seed bank with drying and storage facilities.

On an early visit to Sikasso, technical staff from the MSBP found that the only seed bank equipment in place was a single chest freezer. Sidi Sanago, laboratory manager at IER, bought two more freezers from a local company in Mali for the storage of dry seed collections at -10ºC. IER purchased glass storage bottles locally, and the MSBP provided silica gel sachets to act as an indicator of seed moisture level during storage.

A raised patio area to the rear of the new seed bank functions as a good ambient seed drying area.  Collections are laid out on wooden racking under sloping shades to protect seeds from the sun and seasonal rains. The MSBP supplied an incubator-drier  to enable seeds to be further dried to safe levels for long-term storage. Cooled incubators are ideal for drying seed collections on a small scale, giving an alternative to expensive dry rooms. When drying is complete, lighting and temperature are simply adjusted so that the incubator can be used for germination testing. We also provided equipment to monitor seed moisture status.

Burkina Faso

5ºC cold room at CNSF in Ouagadougou

An existing building has been modified to house the seed bank at the Centre National de Semences Forestières (CNSF) in Burkina Faso, at a site in Ouagadougou backing on to a woodland reserve. 

Ambient environmental conditions are suitable for shade drying for four months from December to March. As in Mali, an incubator-drier is used to fully dry collections before storage. The MSBP supplied a relative humidity sensor and provided training on this equipment, so that CNSF staff are able to measure seed moisture, to ensure that all collections are sufficiently dried and maintained at a low moisture status.

Long term conservation collections are stored in glass jars. Denis Dipama, seed conservation technician at CNSF, adds self-indicating silica gel packets to the jars to allow moisture status of collections to be monitored in storage. Technical staff from the MSBP alongside CNSF staff, have carried out container testing on the plastic drums currently used for short-term storage of tree seeds. After finding poorly fitting lids and leaking containers, staff were encouraged to purchase hermetic sealing containers, to make certain that dry conditions and thus seed quality would be maintained.