CGIAR Platform on Excellence in Breeding

Tools and services that create synergies and accelerate genetic gains of breeding programs targeting low- and middle-income countries

Contact: Marianne Banziger, Deputy Director General, Research & Partnerships, CIMMYT

Excellence-In-Breeding@cgiar.org

Co-Creators of the Concept of theExcellence in Breeding Platform

Name Institution Name InstitutionMichael ABBERTON IITA Eric HUTTNER ACIAR

El izabeth ARNAUD Bi overs i ty Abdel ba gi ISMAIL IRRI

Gary ATLIN B&MGF Steve KEMP ILRI

Marianne BÄNZIGER CIMMYT Awais KHAN CIP

Michael BAUM ICARDA George KOTCH IRRI

Luis Augusto BECERRA LOPEZ-LAVALLE CIAT Mathi as LORIEUX CIAT/IRD

Steve BEEBE CIAT Joram MWACHARO ICARDA

John BENZIE WorldFi sh Mike OLSEN CIMMYT

David BERGVINSON ICRISAT Rodomi ro ORTIZ ISPC/SLU

Rob BERTRAM USAID Kevin PIXLEY CIMMYT

Merideth BONIERBALE CIP Wayne POWELL CGIAR System Offi ce

Hans-Joachim BRAUN CIMMYT B.M. PRASANNA CIMMYT

Tony CAVALIERI B&MGF Yunuhe REYES CIMMYT

Kate DREHER CIMMYT Jean-Ma rcel RIBAUT IBP

Jeff EHLERS B&MGF Kel ly ROBBINS Cornel l Univers i ty

David ELLIS CIP Mathi eu ROUARD Biovers i ty

Phi l ippe ELLUL CGIAR Sys tem Offi ce Jess ica RUTKOSKI CIMMYT

Michael FRIEDMANN CIP Hiroko TAKAGI-WATANABE MAFF Japa n/IITA

Ceci le GRENIER CIRAD/CIAT Rajeev VARSHNEY ICRISAT

Ruarai dh HAMILTON IRRI Ramaia h VENUPRASAD AfricaRice

Ol ivier HANOTTE Notti ngha m Univers i ty Peter WENZL GCDT

Sarah HEARNE CIMMYT Tim WHEELER DfID/Reading

Prasad HEENDRE ICRAF Margaret WORTHINGTON CIAT

The challenge

• Demand for food will increase by 50-60% during the 21st century

• Currently, genetic gains in the developing world are around 1% each year (best estimate)

• Climate change decreases crop yields by about 5% per degree of warming = Eradicates 2-3 out of 10 years of breeding

• 45% of the global area sown to major staples is found in low- and lower-middle income countries, along with 84% of the world’s poor

• However, these countries receive just 5% of private sector breeding investment

Breeding in the CGIAR (and NARS)

Vision of successCrop and animal breeding programs

are making step changes in increasing genetic gains of cultivars and breeds delivered to farmers in

the developing world.

“From proof-of-concept to mainstreaming

breeder-ready tools”

Norman Borlaug: “You can’t eat potential”

The objective

The approach

• Drawing from innovations in the public and private sector, provide access to cutting-edge tools, services and best practices, application-oriented training and practical advice.

• Target: Public and private sector breeding programs targeting farmers in low- and middle-income countries

Target audience

• Contributors: All

• CGIAR• (Multi-) National private sector• NARS• ARIs

Focus: Tools and best practices that can be mainstreamed in breeding programs; “From proof-of-concept to mainstreaming breeder-ready tools”

Users: Breeding programs targeting the developing world

• CGIAR breeding program• Cultivar development programs in

NARS and the private sector• Cultivar selection programs in NARS

and the private sector

Benefits: • Greater genetic gain• Greater scale of impact• Greater efficiency and effectiveness

The CGIAR Portfolio 2017+ (www.cgiar.org) Building a coordinated portfolio for success

Excellence in Breeding

Focus = Modules

• Breeding ExcellenceModule 1

• Trait discovery and breeding• tools and services

Module 2

• Genotyping / sequencing• tools and services

Module 3

• Phenotyping tools and servicesModule 4

• Bioinformatics and data management• tools and services

Module 5

Creating

synergies to

accelerate

genetic gains

of breeding

programs

targeting the

developing

world

Module 1 – Breeding Program Excellence

• Common approaches for assessing and optimizing CGIAR & NARS breeding programs– Standard templates and approaches for measuring breeding program

performance – Common metrics to assess genetic gains in breeding programs/farmers’ fields

• Execute breeding program assessment in CGIAR programs and by NARS >> Standardize how CGIAR report/characterize their breeding programs

• Develop strategic plans and joint fundraising approaches• Advice, including from the private sector, on product definition, breeding

program design, tool implementation, product dissemination

Outcome: more focused and more effective breeding approaches; greater transparency viz investors resulting in increased breeding program funding.

• Develop a non-prescriptive web based toolbox to support trait mobilization and applied breeding.– User groups from all Modules upload successful (information about)

applications– Feedback from users is captured– Facilitation of user groups– Access to service providers and costs of services

• Document use cases and develop implementation guidelines for trait discovery and breeding. Communicate gaps/needs to modules 3, 4 and 5

• Foster toolbox adoption and its dynamic use / training• Uplift/in future: Source innovative ideas through an incubator

Outcome: Drawing on the innovations taking place in breeding and research programs worldwide, lower the transaction costs to identify, access and adopt newly emerging tools that support breeding and trait discovery.

Module 2 – Trait discovery and breeding tools and services

• Procurement and coordination of common genotyping/sequencing services

• In collaboration with Module 5, customization of bioinformatics tools to support breeding pipelines from sampling to data analysis

• Document use cases and develop implementation guidelines for genotyping application in discovery and breeding

• Access to advice, including from the private sector, for the effective use of genotypic/sequencing information in breeding programs.

• Advice on marker conversion from SSRs/INDELS to SNP-based platforms

• Courses and workshops

Outcome: Lower cost genotyping/sequencing; faster mainstreaming of successful practices.

Module 3 – Genotyping/sequencing tools and services

• Establish best practices for phenotyping and environmental analysis >> Toolbox

• Contracting of joint support from ARIs for – Precision and high- throughput phenotyping– GxExM analysis; Genotype-to-Phenotype models

• Procure access to better value-for-cost laboratories for physico-chemical composition and functional properties in plant and animal materials

• Needs assessment and consultancy services to improve mechanization and automation across CGIAR and NARS breeding programs; brokering of preferential prices

• Needs assessment and consultancy services to improve infrastructure and manage research stations

Outcome: Faster mainstreaming of successful practices, utilizing synergies of scale to lower costs.

Module 4 – Phenotyping tools and services

• Clarify user and technical requirements for selected breeding case studies• Develop tools to facilitate modular and adaptable breeding pipelines• Coordinate the development and implementation of a common BrAPI• Support the development of databases and tools to complement and expand

the usefulness of existing bioinformatics initiatives• Define and implement metadata and data standards to facilitate data flows

between tools and data sharing• Establish a community of practice and provide access to bioinformatics and

biometrics advice, services and resources• Advance sustainable deployment and maintenance of tools and applications

Outcome: Open-access tools and services linked to core databases that support both complex and integrated data analysis and management of breeding program data, including for routine use of genomic and high-throughput phenotypic information.

Module 5 – Bioinformatics and data management tools and services

THANKS!

Excellence-In-Breeding@cgiar.org

www.excellenceinbreeding.org