Generation Challenge Program, a GENEMINE end user

1
Generation Challenge Program, a GENE-MINE end
user

• Theo van Hintum
• Generation CP Sub-Program 4
• Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands
  (CGN)
• Wageningen UR

2
Challenge Program

• Consultitative Group on International
  Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
• created in 1971
• to achieve sustainable food security and reduce
  poverty in developing countries through
  scientific research and research-related
  activities in the fields of agriculture,
  forestry, fisheries, policy, and environment.
• a system of 15 Future Harvest Centers in more
  than 100 countries, over 8,500 CGIAR scientists
  and scientific staff

3
Challenge Program

• Consultitative Group on International
  Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

4
Challenge Program

• a CGIAR Challenge Program (CP)
• a time-bound, independently-governed program of
  high-impact research
• targets the CGIAR goals in relation to complex
  issues of overwhelming global and/or regional
  significance (and global impact)
• requires partnerships among a wide range of
  institutions in order to deliver its products

5
Challenge Program

• a CGIAR Challenge Program (CP)
• CGIAR Annual General Meeting in 2001 develop up
  to three Pilot Challenge Programs (to explore
  ways of improving CP design and implementation )
• Challenge Program on Water and Food
• HarvestPlus
• Generation Challenge Program (Unlocking Genetic
  Diversity in Crops for the Resource-Poor)
• CGIAR in 2002 initiate the regular process for
  design and development of (Regular) Challenge
  Programs
• Securing the future for Africa's children
  (Improving Livelihoods and Natural Resource
  Management in sub-Saharan Africa)

6
Challenge Programs

• HarvestPlus is an international,
  interdisciplinary, research program that seeks to
  reduce micronutrient malnutrition by harnessing
  the powers of agriculture and nutrition research
  to breed nutrient dense staple foods

7
Challenge Programs

• the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food is
  an international, interdisciplinary, research
  program that seeks to develop research-based
  knowledge and methods for the increase of
  productivity of water used for agriculture -
  getting more crop per drop

8
Challenge Programs

• the Generation Challenge Programme is an
  international, multi-institute,
  cross-disciplinary collaboration designed to
  ensure that the advances of crop science and
  technology are applied to the specific problems
  and needs of resource-poor people who rely on
  agriculture for subsistence and their livelihoods

9
Generation Challenge Program

• the issue where do we find new traits for
  tomorrow's crops?
• hundreds of thousands of germplasm accessions
• held by national and international research
  organizations (gt500 000 accessions in CGIAR
  alone)
• collected over decades to preserve diversity of
  landraces and wild relatives
• in response to anticipated wide-spread adoption
  of modern varieties and habitat destruction
• harbor a wealth of interesting and useful traits
  in not-so-useful backgrounds
• underutilized in breeding programs

10
Generation Challenge Program

• explicit effort to utilize these resources
  efficiently and massively
• this is NOT a technically trivial undertaking

11
Generation Challenge Program

• why now?
• simultaneous revolutions in biology ICT

12
Generation Challenge Program

• the problem
• technology (knowledge and facilities) in the
  hands of developed world
• malnutrition mainly in developing world
• this is a GLOBAL problem

13
Generation Challenge Program

• the program
• research program uniting CGIAR centers,
  institutes in developing countries and advanced
  research institutes
• deliverable public platform for accessing and
  developing new genetic resources using advanced
  molecular technologies and traditional means
• director Bob Zeigler hosted by CIMMYT

14
Generation Challenge Program

• the program
• two 5 year phases
• US 8 15 million per year plus in kind
  contributions
• current major donors European Union and World
  Bank
• first year funds commissioned
• subsequent years
• 50 commissioned research
• 50 competitive research

15
Generation Challenge Program

• the consortium
• eight CGIAR centres

• two national agricultural research systems

16
Generation Challenge Program

• the consortium
• five advanced research institutes

• stakeholders committee

17
Generation Challenge Program

• sub programme 1
• genetic diversity of global genetic resources
• develop tools and techniques needed to identify
  useful genetic variation among the germplasm
  collections held by the CGIAR Centers and
  elsewhere
• identify and characterize this genetic diversity
• leader Jean-Christophe Glaszmann - Agropolis

18
Generation Challenge Program

• sub programme 2
• comparative and functional genomics for gene
  discovery
• use comparative and functional genomics to
  identify genes and pathways to use in crop
  improvement programs
• identify marker systems to speed selection for
  these
• leader Hei Leung - IRRI

19
Generation Challenge Program

• sub programme 3
• gene transfer and crop improvement
• utilize knowledge of gene function and location
  to improve efficiency and scope of breeding
  programs for formally intractable traits
• leader Jonathan Crouch - ICRISAT

20
Generation Challenge Program

• sub programme 4
• germplasm and crop information systems and
  bioinformatics resources
• develop integrated crop genetic resources, crop
  improvement, and bioinformatics systems to
  facilitate and optimize implementation of the
  discoveries
• leader Theo van Hintum - Wageningen UR

21
Generation Challenge Program

• sub programme 5
• capacity building
• create means to provide the materials and
  technology created by the Challenge CP for
  application to research and applied plant
  breeding
• coordinator Carmen de Vicente - IPGRI

22
Generation Challenge Program

• target crops
• wheat
• barley
• sorghum
• maize
• rice
• cowpea
• common bean
• chickpea
• cassava
• potato
• Musa

• target trait
• drought tolerance

23
Generation Challenge Program

• being a GENE-MINE end user
• (some of) the products can be useful
• should be properly documented, IP should be
  clear, etc.
• lessons from GENE-MINE process
• GCP-SP4 will use short cycle design and truly
  modular elements connected as web-services
• GENE-MINE consortium can be used for selecting
  partners
• Germinate is participating in the GCP

24
Generation Challenge Program

• a chance for the plant genomics scientific
  community to support the resource poor

25
Generation Challenge Program