Superior bean pods boost yields in face of drought
Bean Market in Kampala, Uganda. Common beans are the world’s most important food legume, particularly for subsistence and smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa. They are a crucial source of...
View ArticleGroundnut boom may help crack poverty in Africa
Groundnut plants growing in Senegal. Across Africa, governments and scientists alike are heralding groundnuts’ potential to lead resource-poor farmers out of poverty. Around 5,000 years ago in the...
View ArticleHei Leung: rice man of MAGIC and diversity
Hei Leung has always been passionate about diversity, especially genetic diversity, and that’s one reason why he leapt at the chance to get involved with the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme (GCP)...
View ArticleSorghum sunrise: collaborating across continents to lift West African sorghum...
Sorghum is already a drought-hardy crop, and is a critical food source across Africa’s harsh, semi-arid regions where water-intensive crops simply cannot survive. Now, as rainfall patterns become...
View ArticleScientists paint a rainbow over maize research
A Kenyan farmer harvesting her maize. “The map of Kenya’s maize-growing regions mirrors the map of the nation’s acid soils.” So says Dickson Ligeyo, senior research officer at the Kenya Agricultural...
View ArticleICRISAT researchers agree, partnerships can alleviate poverty
Pigeonpea farmers in India. The tagline of the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) is ‘Partnerships in modern crop breeding for food security’. One of GCP’s many rewarding partnerships was with...
View ArticleGenetic stocks: the secret to more productive and efficient crops
Precious sorghum seed diversity. Humans are a protective species. We like to hoard away our precious items in vaults and safes made of concrete and steel, safe from thieves and catastrophes. One...
View ArticleCloned genes an asset in push for food security in developing countries
An Indian patchwork of rice and maize fields. “Once you’ve cloned a gene in one crop, it is easier to find a counterpart gene that has the same function in another crop,” explains Leon Kochian,...
View Article‘Marked’ genes boost crop yields, economies and spirits
GCP sowed the seeds of a genetic resources revolution. “In the last 10 years we have had a revolution in terms of developing the genetic resources of crops.” So says Pooran Gaur, Principal Scientist...
View ArticleThe Generation Challenge Programme: a tale of 21 crops, 200 partners and a...
Where to begin a decade-long story like that of the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme (GCP)? This time-bound programme concluded in 2014 after successfully catalysing the use of advanced plant...
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