Asian rice
The Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) accounts for ~79% of the collection conserved at the RBCA, which includes ~ 49% of indica and ~ 30% of japonica. Most of the African sativa accessions originated within Africa. The Asian rice was probably introduced first into West Africa at the beginning of the 16th century and adopted by farmers living in the Upper Guinea Coast who had previous experience in growing the African rice2. However, most African sativa varieties have limited resistance/tolerance to locally endemic abiotic and biotic stresses in Africa26. The African sativa has been extensively studied by various researchers and some of the publications have been cited in our recent studies25,27,28.