The CGIAR and New Technologies

Context
In a world where 800 million people, living mostly in rural areas, go hungry every day, food demand is set to double in the next thirty years and arable land is limited, advances in agriculture are critical if we are to reduce hunger and promote growth and development in a socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable way.

CGIAR resources are directed to germplasm improvement, germplasm collection, sustainable production, policy and enhancing national agricultural research systems (NARS).

Crop Improvement Research
The majority of the crop research undertaken by the CGIAR Centers involves conventional plant breeding, a science-based extension of the seed selection practiced by farmers for millennia. For example, crop varieties observed to have high tolerance to disease are crossed with varieties known to have high yields. The desired outcome is a high yield, disease resistant variety. In the past this process relied on close observation and a great deal of trial and error.

New technology and Gene banks
Today, new techniques enable us to create gene maps, discover precise information about the roles genes play and mark individual genes. As a result, plants with desirable characteristics can be bred much faster.

The starting point for crop improvement is typically a gene bank. The CGIAR gene banks hold over 530,000 samples of wild and domesticated crops in public trust. While originally the gene banks held little more information than the name of the crop variety and some basic characteristics, new technologies are enabling crop scientists to catalogue the gene bank samples - identifying the traits of each variety and identifying and marking the genes responsible for key traits.

Crop scientists can now select a variety known to hold a specific characteristic, mark the gene responsible for the trait and cross it with another variety known to hold a second desirable characteristic. The offspring of these plants are then tested to determine if they hold the marked gene. Those that do are selected for further tests and eventual field planting. In this way, new knowledge dramatically increases the speed by which successful cross breeding and selection can take place.

These techniques are simply smart breeding - traditional breeding techniques made more efficient by new information about genes and new technologies.

Genetic Modification
Where enhanced traditional breeding techniques have not been able to solve a specific problem, such as improving the vitamin content in rice, CGIAR supported crop scientists consider that genetically modifying organisms through genetic transformation can be a valuable option. Potential benefits and risks together with the social and environmental implications of all new technologies are rigorously assessed. The research Centers offer advice to national partners on social and environmental standards and biosafety options and all Center research takes place within national legislation and guidelines.

As transgenics could offer important options for meeting food demand and environmental challenges many scientists dedicated to reducing hunger and creating wealth among poor farmers consider such new technologies to be one part of the tool box of possible solutions.

Currently about 7 percent of CGIAR research is dedicated to exploring the solutions new technologies have to offer and of that, approximately 3 percent is dedicated to the exploration of genetically modified organisms.

Research Combining Traditional Techniques and New Technologies
To date, the majority of breakthroughs achieved by Centers have used conventional breeding techniques. For example, both Quality Protein Maize (QPM) and New Rices For Africa (NERICAs) are largely the product of conventional breeding. However, more recently new technologies are accelerating these continuing research programs. More efficient conversion of low protein quality maize into QPM lines has been made possible by molecular marker tools. In fact, new technologies are increasingly accelerating crop improvement research across the CGIAR Centers. It is estimated that marker assisted selection halved the costs and time involved in developing bean varieties resistant to golden mosaic virus in Latin America.

New techniques and new thinking are enabling scientists to assist poor producers more effectively everyday.