All news and blogs

New digitization equipment set to accelerate Kenya agriculture agency’s breeding programs

EiB news | Adam Hunt | 15/3/2021

The equipment will help speed up and enhance the accuracy of various breeding processes including seed preparation, data collection, data analysis and inventory management.  The CGIAR...

Breeders take quantum leap towards state-of-the-art data methods via Wheat Initiative trainings

EiB news | Adam Hunt | 15/2/2021

Wheat breeders from across the globe took a big step towards modernizing their molecular breeding skills at recent workshops sponsored by the Wheat Initiative, with the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding...

CGIAR breeding brings major returns on investment, finds study

EiB news | Adam Hunt | 26/1/2021

Governments and foundations investing in CGIAR are seeing extraordinary value for money, according to a recent international report. The investment has generated a 10 to 1 return, and breeding science is highlighted as a major contributor.Commissioned by...

Developers unite around a common platform to liberate breeding data

EiB news | Sam Storr | 18/12/2020

As public sector breeding has modernized, it has become a more data intensive enterprise. Numerous applications and databases have been created for a wide variety of tasks from collecting field observations to analyzing genetics. However, this...

National breeding programs prepped to measure – and boost – genetic gains

Impact | Adam Hunt | 8/12/2020

By adopting best practices and established modern tools, NARS (national agricultural research systems) are making data-driven decisions to boost genetic improvement. And they are measuring this progress through tracking...

What are the best practices for modern breeding? CGIAR-EiB coalition shares excellence, innovations, opportunities

EiB news | Adam Hunt | 19/11/2020

Through “sharing excellence” across programs and geographies, crop breeders are ready to deliver higher rates of genetic gain and varietal turnover. This was the theme of...

New AGG project aims to accelerate genetic gains in maize and wheat

EiB news | | 19/10/2020

By Joshua MasindeCGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) is contributing its science-backed support to the maize and wheat breeding program improvement plans on the new Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (...

Excellence in Breeding team working to catalyze change

EiB news | Adam Hunt | 31/8/2020

Please see our team bio page.Combining culture change with technical innovations may be the most challenging part of modernization breeing programs. Working with partners across CGIAR and externally to catalyze this change, the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB)...

New project aims to modernize rice breeding in Africa

EiB news | Sam Storr | 7/7/2020

Rice is a food for the future in Africa, with consumer demand for rice growing faster than any other staple crop. With most farms yielding less than two tons per hectare, Africa's taste for rice could lead to greater reliance on food imports, with US $7 billion already...

Assessing the current state of breeding operations in West Africa

EiB news | Sam Storr | 6/4/2020

In February, the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) Platform assessed breeding operations and phenotyping capacity at five CGIAR and national crop research stations in West Africa.Given that the population of West Africa is expected to double in the next...