Latest Developments from One-CGIAR

May 19, 2022

The CGIAR is an intergovernmental organisation that has been a leader in agricultural science and innovation for the past 50 years. From food crops to water system to policy, the CGIAR’s institutions around the world have produced research that brings benefits to hundred of millions of the world’s most impoverished communities.

This has included managing and characterising crop plant genetic resources, and several CGIAR research centres are active members of DivSeek International.

Now, the One-CGIAR is undergoing a dynamic reformulation of its partnerships, knowledge, assets and global presence, aiming for greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today’s world.

Going forward, their R&D portfolio will be split into three action areas – System Transformation, Resilient Agrifood Systems and Genetic Innovation. Each action area has its own portfolio of initiatives that CGIAR conducts in partnership with others.

For DivSeek members and associates, the initiatives within Genetic Innovation likely to be of most interest are the Genebanks and Accelerated Breeding initiatives.

The former is all about supporting the global system for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources, while the latter focuses on their downstream use – developing better-performing crop varieties to provide real-time adaptation to evolving climates and markets.

Both initiatives include specific activities that focus on trait characterisation for research and breeding, which have been guided and prioritised in collaboration with the Market Intelligence initiative.

All of these initiatives are now up and running, so there is plenty of opportunity for the wider DivSeek community to interact and collaborate with the relevant labs and personnel.

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