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).
A woman cassava farmer in the Northern Region of Ghana. Credit: Neil Palmer (CIAT)
There is an urgent need for public breeding programs to prioritize and focus their efforts. Excellence in Breeding (EiB) is working with CGIAR partners to identify market segments and align breeding pipelines to them — with the goal of increasing food security and improving livelihoods.
As breeders develop varieties that meet farmers’ needs, we need to ensure the entire R&D process improves water sustainability. Here are three ways crop breeders can manage water to deliver the best seeds and create the best conditions for long-term crop production.
If you had to choose one word that symbolizes “women in science,” what would it be? CGIAR Excellence in Breeding asked this question to an array of women working across the crop breeding domain.
By Hugo Campos and Michael Quinn
Originally an EiB Op-Ed published on Farming First.
As scientists and professionals, our instinct is to calculate and map out the way ahead, but science and technology is only the tip of the iceberg; lasting impact will come by first changing our behaviors, not the other way around.
In 2019, all CGIAR Centers are focused on taking breeding program impact to the next level.