Program Profile

Description

Cornell University aims to support ACCI through assistance with visiting professors, video lectures, and library access and support. Below is some background on the project.

The ACCI aims to train African plant breeders in Eastern and Southern Africa, on African crops, to breed better crops using conventional and biotechnological breeding tools. The focus is on the breeding of African and African grown Crops (cereals, roots and tubers and pulses) for increased drought tolerance and improved food security for the poor in Africa.

ACCI has a four-part philosophy. It is vital to train African plant breeders on African crops, in Africa. Population breeding is a viable, cheap and relatively quick breeding approach for multiple criteria breeding in many crops. Horizontal Resistance breeding is often the best option in breeding for resistance against many diseases and pests, in many crops. Other breeding approaches consistently create boom-and-bust cycles of resistance and susceptibility. Biotechnology is a powerful technology which may be useful in cases where conventional breeding techniques have failed to produce significant improvements in crops. Use of molecular marker selection may benefit breeding for single gene characters. The technology has to be integrated with an excellent knowledge of conventional genetics, and access to the appropriate laboratories, equipment and budget.

Target Countries

No target countries have been selected.

Target Regions

No target regions have been selected.