Breeding scheme optimization

National breeding institutes deliver initial program costing at in-person training course

A new costing tool is helping national breeding programs get the financial data needed to improve their efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. And now, in its first in-person event since the beginning of the pandemic, CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) has prepped six African National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) to fully cost their programs.  

Basics of Genomic Selection 5. Mid-density Genotyping

Eng Hwa Ng and Rajaguru Bohar present the current genotyping shared services available from EiB to enable low, mid and high-density genotyping for the application in genomic selection. The link to trait augmentation is presented and the logistical challenges involved in starting to genotype the early-stage materials from programs is discussed. A network strategy for genotyping is presented to breeders. Costs, workflows, panels available and crop status are discussed by Rajaguru.

Basics of Genomic Selection 4. Selection Intensity and Cycle Time

Giovanny Covarrubias-Pazaran presents how to implement genomic prediction to change selection intensity. It is possible to increase selection intensity at an additional cost (although lower than the cost of phenotyping) or maintain the same intensity and accuracy with reduced costs.

Additionally, Covarrubias-Pazaran presents how to implement genomic prediction to reduce cycle time. This implies predicting individuals that have not been observed before while also predicting haplotypes that have not been observed before.