This document summarizes questions asked during a Q&A session on crop breeding and biotechnology at IITA. The questions covered several topics: 1) Questions were asked about IITA's work on rapid propagation of yam seed, biotechnology capabilities, pre-breeding activities, and enhancing crop productivity to meet poverty reduction targets. 2) Questions also addressed IITA's genebank data management systems, including security measures, germplasm distribution capacity, and data collection apps. 3) Recent advances in phenotyping drought tolerant and Striga resistant maize were discussed, along with collaboration across IITA stations and developing heat/drought tolerant orange maize. 4) Challen

1. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Implementing IITA strategies for biotechnology and
genetic improvement – Robert Asiedu
1. I am commending the DTB team for the breakthrough in increasing
the rapid propagation of the pre-basic and basic seed yam. Have
the costs for producing the seed through the novel technologies
been established to attract the private sector?
2. You indicated that at the current trends in crop productivity, IITA
may not achieve the productivity increase of 60%. If that
hypothesis is confirmed, then IITA may not achieve the target of
lifting 11 million people out of poverty. Which changes are needed
to correct the current low trends in crop productivity?
3. Prebreeding is a very important component of crop breeding. Other
than genetic conservation, is there any pre-breeding work being
done by the genetic resources group?
4. What is the Institute doing to enhance our biotechnology
capabilities so that we are truly the leaders in this field?
5.
1
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

2. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Genebank data and information management system
– Marimagne Tchamba
1. What security measures have you put in place to
safeguard your data and information?
2. What is your capacity to distribute germplasm to NARS
in larger quantities (>2,000 cassava plantlets, for
example)?
3. Why not use API to connect IITA germplasm system
with EASS STMP, the one-stop shop in the IITA
system?
4. To address the Wifi connectivity in the field and plant
growth facilities, will the creation of an app for android
platforms help for collecting data?
5. How frequently do you incorporate new introductions
into the collection?
2
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

3. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Recent advances in phenotyping: advanced drought tolerant
and striga resistant maize genotypes – Silvestro Meseka
1. Has IITA released heat & drought tolerant maize in
Nigeria?
2. What collaboration do the maize team have with the
rest of IITA stations/hubs?
3. Flooding is becoming a big issue. Is this something that
breeding program can tackle?
4. Is there an effort to develop drought and heat tolerant
orange maize varieties with optimum PVA?
3
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

4. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Regeneration and genetic transformation of yam – Rajesh
Manoharan
1. Oxidization of polyphenols a.k.a. tissue blackening is a
problem in yam tissue culture. What was your
experience with this in optimizing your regeneration and
transformation protocol?
2. I would have liked to see the practical application of
your work. There are few edible varieties of yam. When
will the work result in an additional edible variety? Do
you have plans to test people’s preferences, i.e., taste?
4
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

5. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Banana breeding and genetics – Allan Brown
5
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

6. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Enhancing proVitamin A in cassava breeding using new tools
– Elizabeth Parkes
1. How is vitamin A incorporated in
cassava? Is it GMO?
6
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session

7. A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org
Some food for thought from yesterday…………………..
1. Cocoa is an important export crop for many countries in Coastal
West Africa. There are research institutes in Ghana, Ivory Coast
and Nigeria specifically dedicated to cocoa research. Is the cocoa
team at IITA aware of the many research activities taking place in
these institutes. How have we been adding value to what they are
doing given that we don’t have specific programs for tree crops.
(for Richard Asare)
7
Q&A crop breeding & biotech session