Abstract
Plant breeders must keep abreast of the rapid evolution of new technologies, and also implement information management strategies that efficaciously handle the ever growing amount of data required for efficient integrated breeding. Updated training for breeders is critical to build relevant human resource capacity, particularly in developing countries whose breeding programs suffer a lack of staff with diverse expertise. The CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme is leading such a capacity-building initiative. A survey was conducted among course nominees to establish a baseline of breeder level of education, knowledge and skills in analyzing data and their involvement in molecular breeding programs. The breeders were mainly from three regions: West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, and also included a few participants from North Africa. Many of the breeders from all the regions held or were working towards a PhD. Gender balance was low, principally in West and Central Africa, where less than 15% of the breeders were women. Between 57% and 73% of the breeders surveyed in the different regions were involved in molecular breeding projects at regional or international level. The Use of multiple software tools by individual breeders for data analysis was low for breeders from all the regions, with most using 1 - 3 packages. A lack of high data-analysis capacity will be a problem in an era where integration of genomics and phenotypic data in breeding programs is essential to efficiently deliver improved cultivars.
Highlights
Integrated breeding approaches take advantage of all possible tools and methodologies to most efficiently achieved crop selection
These projects explain the high numbers of scientists involved in molecular breeding” (MB) projects in SSA, especially those working on legumes, cassava, maize and sorghum
It is providing a knowledge update on key areas including genetics, genomics, statistics, experimental design, data management and phenotyping methodologies to enable breeders to harness the potential of MB in the near future
Summary
Integrated breeding approaches take advantage of all possible tools and methodologies (from simple phenotyping to complex genomic selection) to most efficiently achieved crop selection. In these countries the challenge is even greater because staff reductions require a breeder to compensate by mastering a diverse range of skills and competencies This shortage of staff is the result of a freeze in recruitment in most breeding institutions in Sub-Sahara Africa since the 1980s, after the implementation of the structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) that reduced public investment in agricultural research. This further diminished the human resource capacity of breeding programs that already had too few trained breeders (Guimaraes et al, 2006), exacerbated by limited funding to access modern tools and a general lack of support from governments. Such an optimal breeding team is likely to be found in the private sector and centers of the CGIAR (formally the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and in Advanced Research Institutions (ARIs)
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