All news and blogs

Leading with vision: Meet the Breeding Resources Initiative leads

| Adam Hunt | 15/2/2023

How can we ensure crop breeding programs best varieties, faster, and more efficiently? CGIAR’s Breeding Resources Initiative (BRI) is working to bring tools, technologies and services to programs in the CGIAR-NARES (national agricultural research and extension systems) networks.Through two short video interviews, Initiative lead Young Wha Lee, and co-Lead Sharifah Shahrul Syed Alwee (Senior Director,...

Five ways CGIAR accelerated crop breeding in 2022

Success story | Adam Hunt | 5/1/2023

 CGIAR has a rich history of crop breeding results, but modern challenges abound. Too many farmers are still using out-of-date varieties. Climate change is risking crop productivity. And populations in Africa and Asia need more nutritious food now.But we’ve seen a year of major progress under the new One...

Five ways new equipment and training help deliver crop breeding impacts

| Adam Hunt | 21/10/2022

 If public crop breeding is to reach its lofty goals, breeders and breeding stations need to have the right equipment. Upgrading equipment means time saved, better accuracy in data collection, and less errors and inefficiencies in the field. But equipment is only as good as the ability to operate and maintain it – crucial for full adoption. All of this is vital to modernize...

How research stations can be more gender inclusive

How to | Misha Nicholas | 28/7/2022

 Both science and agriculture are often male-dominated. But this is starting to change as women take on stronger roles in science and farm management – and organizations commit to real progress.In breeding operations, women have been marginalized all too often. But CGIAR and its national partners are...

How crop breeding can benefit the environment

Opinion | Misha Nicholas | 21/4/2022

 Modern agricultural practices have enabled food production to meet — and even outpace — demands from growing populations. But the rapid growth in production has often come at the cost of significant land and water degradation, biodiversity losses and increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). This month’s...

Crowdsourcing market intelligence to boost sweetpotato breeding impacts in Uganda

Success story | Adam Hunt | 23/3/2022

Source: International Potato Center (CIP) Scientists with the International Potato Center (CIP) and Uganda’s National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) are harnessing the latest scientific developments to breed...

Infographic shows how crop breeding can benefit women

| Misha Nicholas | 6/3/2022

To many, crop breeding may sound very scientific and technical. But there are key social aspects to it, too. As we mark International Women’s Day, let’s examine the links between gender and the science of breeding. Breeding has a tremendous opportunity to benefit women, or at least “do no harm.” This is especially true for rural women in developing countries. To do so, breeding programs must incorporate gender...

How to drive tech adoption among crop breeders? This new framework is key

How to | Adam Hunt | 22/2/2022

  Handheld device being deployed in the wheat physiology process. Source: Alfredo Sáenz, CIMMYT A crop breeder’s relationship with technology can drive or stall progress. And in many cases, public breeding programs are playing catch-up. So, how can breeding teams...

Organizational change involves not only the technical — but the personal

| Misha Nicholas | 18/2/2022

 It’s often said that life is a rollercoaster, trundling between obstacles and successes. CGIAR is embarking on its own ups and downs as the One CGIAR transformation officially takes hold. There will be successes, and a strong, more impactful organization will be born. But we also expect some twists and turns. As we move down this track, we should consider the words of...

Five ways crop breeding can benefit rural women

Opinion | Misha Nicholas | 12/10/2021

A woman cassava farmer in the Northern Region of Ghana. Credit: Neil Palmer (CIAT)   Too often, agricultural progress is inhibited by innovations designed by and for men. But what would happen if women were involved in design and development? One aspect of agricultural science — crop breeding —...