Have you ever become frustrated by facing the same problem over and over again, despite repeated attempts to solve it? This EiB webinar aims to teach methods to get to the root cause of the issues you face in the workplace, and learn about how they have been put into practice in the Crop Health Improvement project at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
CGIAR drone team in a maize field in India (Source: ICRISAT)
New and more accessible digital phenotyping technologies and methods can help breeding programs collect data faster and better. EiB is partnering across CGIAR to expand, accelerate and streamline adoption.
CGIAR Excellence in Breeding’s BOND and Bayer Crop Science look at Bayer’s principles and practices on two key breeding operations issues:
Experts from Bayer Crop Science’s Africa Phenotyping Leadership Team provide a conceptual overview of phenotyping. The team will introduce Bayer’s global phenotyping organization and discuss critical concepts, approaches, and best practices associated with field testing and data management.
Breeding operations teams are vital for ensuring programs deliver the varieties needed by smallholder farmers. There are many good practices being adopted; it's time to share and collaborate.
Public breeding operations teams serving lower income countries need to upgrade their skills and tools, optimize their programs, and deliver better varieties, faster. CGIAR’s new Breeding Operations Network for Development (BOND) is ready to make the connections.
WHAT IS BOND?
The aim of Breeding Operation Network for Development (BOND) is to connect and further professionalize CGIAR, national agricultural research services (NARS), and other interested breeding professionals. BOND will help facilitate opportunities that lead to the acceleration of mechanization, technological capacities, and skill levels of operations professionals and teams.
BOND connects operations professionals, helps develop and implement standardized operating procedures (SOPs) between partner centers, and promotes continuous improvement at the operational level in all technical aspects. BOND works in the most relevant areas, including phenotyping, agronomic practices, seed processing, planting and harvesting.
BOND is launching in June, 2021 with new programs and opportunities being developed over time. As a “community of practice with teeth,” BOND seeks the creation of real-world opportunities for members to improve their knowledge, skills and connections. The network will share Information about practices, technologies, tools, resources and events, and where possible, provide connections for expert interdisciplinary advice on the best breeding operations practices.
BOND is facilitated by CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB)'s Operations and Phenotyping module. EiB aims to accelerate the modernization of CGIAR/NARS breeding programs to increase the rates of genetic gain and varietal turnover.
BACKGROUND:
With food demand expected to double by 2050 in low-income countries, crop breeding programs must meet the needs of farmers in these regions. Critical to this is delivering high-yielding, nutritious varieties adapted to new climate conditions. Public sector breeding needs to take a key role to ensure that smallholder farmers and consumers get the varieties they need.
Vital to this are breeding operations teams across CGIAR and NARS. To ensure the heritability of breeding trials, they need to continuously improve and enhance capabilities, procedures, and standardization of practice. These practices and expertise need to be available as resources and on-the-ground with operational teams to support breeding programs across all trials. BOND will help teams and experts share information and access opportunities to reach these goals.
OPPORTUNITIES:
Over time, BOND will offer and facilitate opportunities such as:
EVENTS:
BOND related news & blogs:
Advances in breeding operations can help deliver vital varieties to smallholder farmers
In a water-challenged world, crop breeders must do more than go with the flow
Webinar reveals approaches for breeders to save time and money, cut waste – and deliver for clients
New digitization equipment set to accelerate Kenya agriculture agency’s breeding programs
QUERIES: Contact EiB's Gustavo Teixeira: G.TEIXEIRA (a) cgiar.org
Rice production in rainfed lowland and upland areas is critical to global food supply, but is characterized by low and unstable yields due to a range of adverse climate and soil conditions. A large degree of genetic variation exists within Oryza sativa, and that variation can be exploited by identifying stress-tolerant germplasm for use in breeding to enable the development of new stress-tolerant high-yielding varieties.
The equipment will help speed up and enhance the accuracy of various breeding processes including seed preparation, data collection, data analysis and inventory management.
How can breeders and other research programs continually improve their processes and products? And how can they ensure they keep a customer focus at the centre of their work?
