Strengthening Breeding Pipelines: Insights from the AVISA Project at CIMMYT’s Science and Innovation Week

During CIMMYT’s Science and Innovation Week, held from February 24–27, Renee Lafitte, Crops Research and Development Director at the Gates Foundation, shared key principles on challenging the science to drive greater impact. She emphasized the importance of staying current with science and remaining relevant by focusing on impact.
Lafitte highlighted three transformative areas shaping the future of crop improvement: network-based breeding, artificial intelligence (AI), and gene editing.

An example of this is network-based breeding, which fosters stronger collaborations across breeding programs. Referring to the AVISA project and dryland crop networks, she highlighted how these initiatives are building new relationships that establish a clear line of sight from CGIAR’s initial breeding crosses to the marketplace.
The AVISA project, which is funded by the Gates Foundation, plays a crucial role in strengthening these networks, particularly in accelerating varietal improvement and seed systems for dryland crops in sub-Saharan Africa.

This progress is only possible when National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) are fully engaged as true partners. As Lafitte noted, variety release is not CGIAR’s role; it is NARS’s responsibility. A well-defined end-to-end breeding pathway enables breeding programs to maximize scientific advancements, including genomic selection, distributed testing, and digital breeding tools.

By integrating these approaches, breeding pipelines are becoming more efficient, accelerating the delivery of improved crop varieties to farmers. This collaborative model ensures that innovations in breeding science translate into real-world benefits, strengthening global food security and resilience.

🔊 Listen to Renee Lafitte’s full speech here: (from 1:42:33 to 1:49:35) Link: Plenary 1 – Zoom cloud.mp4