The challenge

Although advanced breeding informatics software for breeding data management and analytics have been developed on a global scale, adoption rates in public sector breeding programs remains low.  As a result, many programs lack access to historical data sets while others don’t have the resources to build the long-term reliable data sets essential to informed breeding decisions.

Our approach

We partner with our Centers of Innovation to implement breeding informatics software that enables breeders to maximize response to selection and the value of their varieties. We work to understand where breeders are at today and where they want to go. Our goal: support the adoption of informatic systems that can organize and analyze large data sets in ways that work for the unique needs of individual national programs. Breeders everywhere must make rapid scientific decisions, and the right data at the right time can make all the difference. Thus, we strive to adopt and adapt intuitive breeding decision support tools that can help breeders make choices about varieties that address the needs of farmers and their communities.

“Our priority is to get the right information to the right people at the right time, in the right form to help them make informed decisions”

Kelly RobbinsBreeding informatics lead

Recent highlights

Senegal

Working with CIWA to develop analytical pipelines and decision support tools for regional multi-year, multi-location genetic evaluations.

Malawi & Uganda

New breeding programs for cowpea, finger millet and sorghum offer opportunities to deploy the Breeding Management System and design optimal breeding schemes.

Software applications

Leveraging the BrAPI standard to rapidly deploy customized applications to increase the utility of BrAPI compliant data management systems

Research from our experts

In progress

  • Applying quantitative genetics theory and simulation to identify potential improvements with existing breeding program designs
  • Understanding data needs and adapting software programs to the unique needs of breeding programs
  • Deploying appropriate breeding and genomic data management solutions and provide training to users

The breeding informatics team

Kelly Robbins

Breeding informatics lead

Francisco Agosto-Perez

Genomics and software development

Mahlet Anche

Breeding scheme optimization and genetic evaluations

Josh Lamos-Sweeney

Analytics software development