Dr. Hernan Ceballos

Senior Cassava Breeder at CIAT
Monday 2nd December 3:00 pm
121 Kilgore Hall

Join Zoom Meeting: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/449325161
Meeting ID: 449 325 161

Abstract

Cassava faces unique circumstances. It is a fundamental food-security crop for sub-Saharan Africa but a competitive industrial crop in SE Asia (second most important source of starch worldwide). Genetic gains in cassava must keep pace with that of maize, a crop it competes with as source of energy for animal feeding or raw material for the starch industry. It has the advantage of a recognized resilience that allows it to be grown under marginal conditions. Cassava breeding is based on the use of heterozygous progenitors. There is an urgent need to shift towards the use of inbred progenitors so that trait introgression can be implemented. This seminar will introduce the salient features of cassava as a crop and then describe the experiences gained for trait introgression. The need for inbreeding will be justified and innovative approaches to induce earlier flowering will be described. These are strategies to make cassava breeding more efficient and are basic requirements to make the implementation of molecular breeding effective.

About Dr. Ceballos

Cassava breeding for 20 years and more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Introduced innovations such as the use of breeding value to select progenitors, identification of starch mutations, implementation of rapid cycling recurrent selection, development of high throughput phenotyping for quantification of nutritional quality of roots.

Awards

• National Award on Technological Innovation. Awarded by the Colombian Association for the Advancement of Science (2008).
• Golden Cassava Prize. In recognition of long scientific career and contributions to improving the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. Awarded during the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (2018)
• Lifetime Achievement Award. For contributions to Root and Tuber Crops. Awarded by the International Society of Tropical Root Crops during the 18th Triennial Symposium of ISTRC (2018).

For more information contact Frank Louws
Department of Horticultural Science
fjlouws@ncsu.edu