CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas:

Overview

GCP-GRM

27 September, 2013

A collaboration of:

+ a wide spectrum research-for-development stakeholders & partners

Banana Plantain

Cassava Potato Sweetpotato Yam Other R&T

Our crops

200 million farmers depend on RTB crops Buffering role in food systems

Andean Aroids

Cross center collaboration

PRIMARY CROP EXPERTISE

OTHER ROOTS AND TUBERS

CENTER

BANANA

CASSAVA

POTATO

SWEETPOTATO

YAM

AROIDS

ANDEAN

Bioversity

CIAT

CIP

CIRAD

IITA

• Increased scale

• Critical mass of researchers

• Greater capacity • Exploit synergies: genuine “win-wins” eg similarities in

seed systems and post harvest management

To do together what we cannot do separately

Program “value added”

RTBs share • Genetic complexity • Lengthy growing season • Vegetative propagation, similar seed

systems • Low multiplication ratio • Disease build up

• Unrealized high yield potential • Under-investment

• Inadequate research and poor dissemination of technological innovations

Why Roots, Tubers and Bananas?

Why Roots, Tubers and Bananas?

Bulkiness:

implications for handling, transport, storage, crop hygiene: farm gate processing, proximity to industries

Perishability

implications for marketing, utilization, crop management

Insufficient and poor quality planting material

Limited use of improved post harvest handling technologies

Genetic Improvement Challenges 1 Genetics poorly understood 2 Long Breeding cycle* except Potato 3 Flowering/incompatibility 4 High level of heterozygosity 5 Limited Genomic resources 6 Critical mass of researchers 7 High GXE 8 Low Genetic Diversity 9 High post-harvest losses

10 Low multiplacation ratio 11 No private sector interest

Program structure: Integrates 7 Themes Theme 1 Conserving and accessing genetic resources Theme 2 Accelerating the development and selection of

varieties with higher, more stable yield and added value

Theme 3 Managing priority pests and diseases Theme 4 Making available low-cost, high-quality planting

material for farmers

Theme 5 Developing tools for more productive, ecologically robust cropping systems

Theme 6 Promoting postharvest technologies, value chains, and market opportunities

Theme 7 Enhancing impact through partnerships

Theme 1 and 2: Germplasm enhancement Theme 1 Conserving and accessing genetic resources

Theme 2 Accelerating the development and selection of varieties with higher, more stable yield and added value

Research Outcomes: • Increased Access to, and enhanced use of RTB genetic resources • Increased NARS capacity in breeding, pest and disease mangt, quality seed systems. • Accelerated development of RTB varieties with pro-poor traits by NARs

Novel Component by Theme

Theme 1 Impact Pathway: product lines, products, outcomes, and impacts

Theme 2 Impact Pathway: product lines, products, outcomes, and impacts

PL 1: Breeding tools, strategies, and approaches

• Screening tools for nutritional quality: NIRS • Improved flowering of parental lines: phytohormones,

flowering genes • Heterosis breeding: heterotic patterns • Inbreeding for RTB improvement: e.g. unravel

recessive alleles; reduce genetic load • Accelerated selection schemes and MAS

Biotechnology Tools

• Marker-assisted selection

• Association mapping

• Genomic Selection

• Genetic modification

• Mutation induction enhanced breeding

• Unraveling host-pathogen interaction

PL 2: Trait capture and gene discovery

Phenotyping—a crucial and challenging issue

• Rapid, accurate, large‐scale phenotyping

• Plant architecture – non destructive MRI (CIP-Embrapa)

• Drought and heat tolerance • “virtual phenotyping platform.”

• Gene Discovery: TILLLing ecoTILLing

• Pre-breeding: AB-QTL (introgression); ploidy induction; DH

Complementary projects: capture “value added”

Theme Theme name Title Type 1&2 Genetic resources Enhancing Global RTB Productivity through more targeted

use of global genetic diversity; Full proposal

2 Development and selection of varieties

Multi-centre planning on Banana/Plantain Improvement Planning grant

3 Managing priority pests and diseases Developing tools for describing, quantifying and managing diseases causing degeneration of planting material in RTB

Full proposal

3 Managing priority pests and diseases Towards the development of comprehensive strategy for combating Bemisia tabaci – a continuing menace to R&T crops

Planning grant

3 Managing priority pests and diseases Building a collaborative, public-private R4D alliance to address BBTV in Sub-Saharan Africa;

Planning grant

3 Managing priority pests and diseases Management of critical pests and diseases of RTBs through enhanced risk assessment and surveillance

Planning grant

4 Seed systems Developing a proposal for modelling RTB-seed systems: Towards decision support systems for improving seed related investments

Planning grant

5 Robust cropping systems Identifying and quantifying yield gaps in RTB crops to devise technologies for increased RTB production

Planning grant

7 Impact through partnerships Reaching end user through capacity strengthening and learning: A needs assessment

Planning grant

7 Impact through partnerships From rhetoric to reality on gender: Implementing the RTB gender strategy

Planning grant

7 Impact through partnerships Partnerships and knowledge sharing for innovation in roots, tubers and banana research for development

Planning grant

RTB cross-crop projects: 2012-13 Examples Omics platform

Multi-centre planning on Banana/Plantain Improvement

Tools for quantifying and managing diseases causing degeneration of planting material Strategy for combating Bemisia tabaci

Alliance to address banana bunchy top virus in Sub-Saharan Africa;

Enhanced risk assessment and surveillance of critical pests and diseases

Modelling RTB-seed systems for improving seed related investments

Identifying and quantifying yield gaps for increased production

Capacity strengthening and learning: A needs assessment

Implementing the RTB gender strategy

Partnerships and knowledge sharing for innovation

• Next generation breeding for genetic gain

• Game changing traits/solutions (GMO)

• Global network of RTB in-situ conservation monitoring sites

Discovery flagships in RTB

Next generation breeding for genetic gain

RTB transformational

breeding platform utilizing

genomics, metabolomics, and phenomics

Integrated RTB breeding data management

systems

Genetic diversity access,

assessment, and incorporation

into value-added germplasm pools

Capacity strengthening

Accelerated and decentralized participatory breeding and

selection methods

Linkage to high-ratio

multiplication clean seed

systems

Gender-responsive

baseline assessment of farmer needs

Theory of change • Breeding platform

accelerates genetic gain • Gender disaggregated

user feedback improves adoptability

• Indicators & incentives improve performance

RTB transformational breeding platform utilizing genomics, metabolomics, and phenomics

Next gen breeding: metrics (examples) Target environment

Target Trait Current level of trait

Target level 2023

Cassava

Asia Yield, starch content Medium-high (25%) High (32%) West and Central Africa

High pro-vitamin A (>15 ug/g B-carotenes) high DM, poundable with low CNP

1/3 target level of beta-carotenoids. Dry matter content less than 30%

Target > 2% increase in carotenoids content and dry matter content per year

Potato

Subtropical Lowlands

Earliness Virus resistance Heat tolerance User preference

Average maturity period >85 days and susceptible to viruses

Combined resistance PVY PVX and PLRV 70-day maturity in 40% popn.

Sweet Potato

Tropical & Sub-tropical lowlands

Yield & earliness 8t /ha 120 days 9.6 t/ha 100 days SPVD resistance < 1% in breeding

pop. 10% in breeding pop.

Yams

West Africa High yield and DM anthracnose + nematode resistance

Average yield below 10 t/ha.

Yield above 30 t/ha. + resistance to anthracnose and viruses

Acknowledgment Graham Thiele, RTB Director All CRP-RTB Team Members

Thank You