Mizan Tesfay Abraha1, 2* , Shi
Abstract
Tef is the principal source of staple food supporting some 50 million people in Ethiopia. The crop is increasingly receiving global interest for its nutritional advantages because it is rich in nutrients and is gluten free. The yields of this crop are much lower compared to other cereal crops due to production constraints such as lodging, drought, pre- and post-harvest losses and poor agronomic management. Drought alone typically causes yield losses of 40% in tef. Consequently, developing drought tolerant varieties is of an overriding consideration to enhance productivity, especially in tef growing areas affected by drought. Success of breeding for drought tolerance depends on accumulation of additive genes for drought tolerance, accurate control of the stress environment and the use of high throughput selection methods to maximize selection gains. The review was aimed at providing perspectives on the current status and future research directions on the genetic management of drought tolerance in tef in order to reduce losses incurred due to moisture stress.