As we recognize the role of women in society – and in science – this quarter, Michael Quinn, Lead of CGIAR Accelerated Breeding Initiative, examines how improved breeding is benefiting and involving rural women across Africa, Asia and Latin America. More than ever, food systems and livelihoods are dependent on agricultural innovation. Yet, particularly in the Global South, women do
Across all production environments in Kenya, early-maturity products demonstrate strong sales. This was revealed in a recent study by the CGIAR Initiative on Market Intelligence*. During the long-rains season, farmers in higher rainfall production environments (wet, mid and high altitudes) purchased early-maturity seed products despite potentially lower yields. Also, the short-rains season, which represents almost one-fourth of total maize seed
The two global organizations sign a 5-year cooperation for activities centered on seed systems to improve agricultural productivity worldwide. Nyon, Switzerland – The International Seed Federation (ISF), the global association representing the private seed sector, and CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural research partnership, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address low agricultural productivity resulting from poor adoption of
A faster and easier way to order and track key services A new Breeding Resources Service Request Portal is now available to make it easier for users to request and track a large range of CGIAR breeding support services. The Portal is the next phase of the Breeding Resources Initiative‘s service request and tracking platform – which launched earlier this
The low utilization of mechanization within CGIAR-NARES breeding programs in Africa is limiting their effectiveness and potential genetic gains. Manual management restricts the number of crosses and progeny assessments that can be performed, also affecting the uniformity and quality of nurseries and trials. Facility Upgrade and Mechanization Improvement, a fifteen-million-dollar project part of Crops to End Hunger, a multi-funder broad
Photo “Sorghum bicolor Bild0902” by Marco Schmidt is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 (Market Intelligence Bulletin, Volume 1) Jason Donovan, Peter Coaldrake Governments and donors have challenged crop breeding programs led by CGIAR and national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) to show the opportunity for impact from investments. Building evidence on the opportunity for impact requires data and insights
“Maize Field” by Black_Claw is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Market Intelligence Bulletin, Volume 1) Pieter Rutsaert, Jason Donovan In Kenya, most farmers produce maize under rain-fed conditions and purchase hybrid maize seeds on an annual basis. Two factors are especially important in their decisions on which seed to acquire: where the production takes place (i.e., level of rainfall and
“Mr Beans” by WhyKenFotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Market Intelligence Bulletin, Volume 1) Agnes Gitonga, Clare Mukankusi A key factor that influences common-bean farmers’ decisions on which seeds to acquire and grow is consumer requirements for color and size. In the eight criteria used by Market Intelligence for seed product market segmentation, color is a criterion and size