Nairobi, Kenya – Building on the momentum of February’s inaugural hackathon, a team of biometricians and quantitative genetics experts from CGIAR Centers gathered this month for a week-long hackathon focused on advancing Bioflow, CGIAR Breeding Analytics Pipeline, and setting priorities for 2025. Launched in the second quarter of 2024, the Breeding Analytics Pipeline is a game-changing tool designed to optimize
Mechanizing crop breeding stations is critical for optimizing the trialling and nursery processes in sub-Saharan Africa and ultimately speeding up the delivery of improved crop varieties. Any operations can be mechanized, from field preparation, to planting, harvesting, and seed processing. Equally important is equipping operational staff with the skills to efficiently operate machinery and conduct high-quality trials that yield reliable
1. Seeds of Change Climate shifts, soil degradation and conflicts threaten food security in many countries worldwide. Every day, thousands of people struggle to find ways to ensure a stable food supply amid an uncertain future. For agricultural scientists, the pressing question is how their work can help minimise the impacts of these risks. Plant breeding, through improving the genetic
At KEPHIS Plant Quarantine and Biosecurity Station in Muguga, Kenya, CGIAR is developing a germplasm exchange laboratory. This facility will ease the testing, cleaning, and multiplication processes for improved roots, tubers, and bananas, facilitating their rapid dissemination throughout East Africa. In a computer room at the KEPHIS RTB tissue culture lab, we meet Rosemary Gatimu, Research Assistant for the International
In Muguga, on the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya, stands a group of greenhouses, nestled in the middle of a forest of century-old trees. This is home to a Plant Quarantine and Biosecurity station run by KEPHIS, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service. As we enter the botanical enclave, Ephraim Wachira, the deputy director overseeing the station, welcomes us warmly and
Ensuring top-notch equipment reaches breeding research stations worldwide is vital, but equally crucial is empowering trialling and nursery teams with the skills to continuously generate high-quality breeding data. Effective management of breeding trials is essential for establishing selection conditions that lead to distinct trait expression among genotypes. Good trial management minimizes experimental errors, thereby aiding in the identification of superior
In late 2023, Breeding Resources Initiative tasked a fast-track team of biometricians with the development of a Breeding Analytics Pipeline to support CGIAR crop breeding activities, with the endorsement of Genetic Innovation leadership. The tool is now available to internal users. The Breeding Analytics (BA) Pipeline as a cutting-edge tool designed to guide decision-making processes in global crop breeding. It
In mid-February, a dedicated gathering of biometricians and quantitative genetics experts from CGIAR’s Centers convened in Nairobi for a week-long hackathon. Their mission? To refine CGIAR’s Breeding Analytics Pipeline, a cutting-edge tool designed to guide decision-making processes in global crop breeding. With a plethora of algorithms and software available for analyzing crop breeding data, harmonization and automation across CGIAR-NARES breeding