Tef: a tiny grain with enormous potential

Aiswarya Girija; Habte Jifar; Chris Jones; Rattan Yadav; John Doonan; Luis A J Mur

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2021.11.011

Tef: a tiny grain with enormous potential

Trends Plant Sci. 2022 Mar;27(3):220-223. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.11.011. Epub 2021 Dec 2.

Authors

Aiswarya Girija¹, Habte Jifar², Chris Jones³, Rattan Yadav¹, John Doonan⁴, Luis A J Mur⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DA, UK.
² National Tef Improvement Program, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), P. O. Box 2003, Adis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ Feed and Forage Development Program, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
⁴ Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DA, UK; The National Plant Phenomics Centre (NPPC), Aberystwyth University, Gogerddan campus, Aberystwyth, SY23 3EB, UK.
⁵ Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DA, UK. Electronic address: lum@aber.ac.uk.

PMID: 34865980
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.11.011

Abstract

Tef is a highly nutritious gluten-free Ethiopian cereal with food-feed potential. However, its productivity is affected by lodging, weed infestation, terminal drought, small seed size, and shattering. Following the recent availability of tef genome sequences, we highlight the need to harness the benefits that this underutilised crop offers to improve food security.

Keywords: Tef; cereal; gluten-free; livestock; nutrition; orphan crop.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Droughts
Edible Grain* / genetics
Eragrostis* / genetics