BecA/ILRI in Nairobi hosted Workshop on Molecular Plant Breeding

 A workshop on “Molecular Breeding Capacity Building” highlighting the use of modern molecular breeding techniques in plant breeding in Africa, was held at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub and  the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi. It was attended by 22 plant breeders from several countries in Africa. The objectives were to identify the opportunities and constraints for applying marker assisted selection (MAS) in national and international plant breeding programs in Africa; and to strengthen Maize and Sorghum Molecular Breeding Community of Practices (CoP) in Africa. Among the issues identified include access to germplasm, breeding materials, training manuals and molecular markers. In addition, ways and means to address these constraints were identified by the participants.

The workshop program included descriptions and discussion on issues in molecular breeding including molecular markers and genotyping systems; marker assisted breeding; genetic diversity and association mapping; and breeding informatics.  It is hoped that  the theoretical training on MAS will bridge the gap between molecular biologists and conventional plant breeders, resulting in better communications. 

The workshop  was organized by three international agricultural research centers including CIMMYT, IITA and ICRISAT, and the BecA Hub with financial support from the Generation Challenge Program and the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Yunbi Xu of CIMMYT Mexico maize molecular breeder chaired the organizing committee.

Further details about  the BecA research platform are available from s.kelemu@cgiar.org, and on marker assisted capacity building workshop from y.xu@cgiar.org or s.hearne@cgiar.org.