Maximizing genetic gains while maintaining an efficient sweetpotato breeding cycle in SSA: Lessons from NARO-NaCRRI
| cg.authorship.types | CGIAR single centre | en |
| cg.coverage.country | Uganda | |
| cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2 | UG | |
| cg.coverage.region | Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| cg.creator.identifier | Godwill Makunde: 0000-0002-9003-7266 | en |
| cg.subject.actionArea | Genetic Innovation | |
| cg.subject.actionArea | Resilient Agrifood Systems | |
| cg.subject.cip | BREEDING | en |
| cg.subject.cip | SWEETPOTATOES | en |
| cg.subject.cip | GENETICS, GENOMICS AND CROP IMPROVEMENT SCIENCES GGCI | en |
| cg.subject.cip | CROP AND SYSTEMS SCIENCES CSS | en |
| cg.subject.cip | BIGDATA | en |
| cg.subject.impactArea | Nutrition, health and food security | |
| cg.subject.impactArea | Climate adaptation and mitigation | |
| cg.subject.sdg | SDG 2 - Zero hunger | en |
| cg.subject.sdg | SDG 13 - Climate action | en |
| cg.subject.sdg | SDG 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Serenje, G. | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Njobvu, J. | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Makunde, G.S. | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Musundire, L. | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Sneller, C. | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-03-25T16:46:47Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2025-03-25T16:46:47Z | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173861 | |
| dc.title | Maximizing genetic gains while maintaining an efficient sweetpotato breeding cycle in SSA: Lessons from NARO-NaCRRI | en |
| dcterms.abstract | The optimization of sweetpotato breeding pipelines in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is crucial for improving genetic gains while ensuring efficiency in resource allocation. Using the deterministic model, the outcomes to modifications to the national sweetpotato breeding program at NaCRRI-NARO were simulated. Heritability assessments revealed that genotype-by -environment interactions account for just 16% of total phenotypic variation, with moderate heritability observed in stage-1 (0.26) and stage-2 (0.56) trials. The simulations revealed that selection efficiency will be greatly improved by making changes breeding pipeline including 1) reducing plot sizes and replicates in stage-3 trials, 2)reallocating resources from National Performance Trials (NPT) to earlier-stage trials, 3) conducting stage-2 and stage-3 trials in a single season instead of two and 4 expanding the total number of clones tested per year from 3,561 to 6,682 (+87.6%). This translates to doubling the number of clones at stage-1 from 3,000 to 6,000 (+100%) and increasing the number of clones at stage-2 clones from 500 to 650 (+30%). This larger breeding population enhances the probability of identifying superior lines across multiple trait targets. However, early-stage phenotypic selection, due to lower heritability, limits overall genetic gains. To counteract this, genomic selection (GS) is proposed as a complementary strategy, improving early-stage selection accuracy and efficiency. Growing the stage-2 and 3 trials for just one season has the potential to increase the genetic gain per year (Gy) by 9%. By integrating optimized resource allocation, expanded selection populations, and genomic selection approaches, NaCRRI-NARO’s sweetpotato breeding program demonstrates a model for maximizing genetic gains while maintaining an efficient and scalable breeding framework in SSA. | en |
| dcterms.accessRights | Open Access | |
| dcterms.audience | Academics | en |
| dcterms.audience | CGIAR | en |
| dcterms.audience | Development Practitioners | en |
| dcterms.audience | Donors | en |
| dcterms.audience | Extension | en |
| dcterms.audience | Farmers | en |
| dcterms.audience | General Public | en |
| dcterms.audience | NGOs | en |
| dcterms.audience | Policy Makers | en |
| dcterms.audience | Scientists | en |
| dcterms.bibliographicCitation | Serenje, G.; Njobvu, J.; Makunde, G.; Musundire, L.; Sneller, C. 2025. Maximizing genetic gains while maintaining an efficient sweetpotato breeding cycle in SSA: Lessons from NARO-NaCRRI. International Potato Center. 5 p. | en |
| dcterms.extent | 5 p. | en |
| dcterms.issued | 2025-03-25 | en |
| dcterms.language | en | |
| dcterms.license | CC-BY-4.0 | |
| dcterms.subject | sweet potatoes | en |
| dcterms.subject | genetic gain | en |
| dcterms.subject | breeding | en |
| dcterms.subject | heritability | en |
| dcterms.subject | marker-assisted selection | en |
| dcterms.type | Brief |