Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics
The American tropics are hotspots of wild and domesticated plant biodiversity, which is still underutilized by breeding programs despite being conserved at regional gene banks. The improvement of those programs depends on long-term public funds and the maintenance of specialized staff. Unfortunately...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Genes |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/10/1584 |
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| author | Ivania Cerón-Souza Carlos H. Galeano Katherine Tehelen Hugo R. Jiménez Carolina González |
| author_facet | Ivania Cerón-Souza Carlos H. Galeano Katherine Tehelen Hugo R. Jiménez Carolina González |
| author_sort | Ivania Cerón-Souza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The American tropics are hotspots of wild and domesticated plant biodiversity, which is still underutilized by breeding programs despite being conserved at regional gene banks. The improvement of those programs depends on long-term public funds and the maintenance of specialized staff. Unfortunately, financial ups and downs complicate staff connectivity and their research impact. Between 2000 and 2010, Agrosavia (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria) dramatically decreased its public financial support. In 2017, we surveyed all 52 researchers from Agrosavia involved in plant breeding and plant genetic resource programs to examine the effect of decimating funds in the last ten years. We hypothesized that the staff dedicated to plant breeding still suffer a strong fragmentation and low connectivity. As we expected, the social network among researchers is weak. The top ten central leaders are predominantly males with an M.Sc. degree but have significant experience in the area. The staff has experience in 31 tropical crops, and 17 are on the list of underutilized species. Moreover, although 26 of these crops are in the national germplasm bank, this has not been the primary source for their breeding programs. We proposed five principles to improve connectivity among teams and research impact: (1) The promotion of internal discussion about gender gaps and generation shifts to design indicators to monitor and decrease this disparity over time. (2) The construction of long-term initiatives and synergies with the Colombian government to support the local production of food security crops independent of market trends. (3) Better collaboration between the National Plant Germplasm Bank and plant breeding researchers. (4) A concerted priority list of species (especially those neglected or underutilized) and external institutions to better focus the collaborative efforts in research using public funds. (5) Better spaces for the design of projects among researchers and training programs in new technologies. These principles could also apply in other tropical countries with public plant breeding research programs facing similar challenges. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:33:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5239af33d23473191ab7b00f60545cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:33:05Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Genes |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5239af33d23473191ab7b00f60545cd2023-11-22T18:22:18ZengMDPI AGGenes2073-44252021-10-011210158410.3390/genes12101584Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the TropicsIvania Cerón-Souza0Carlos H. Galeano1Katherine Tehelen2Hugo R. Jiménez3Carolina González4Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Agrosavia</span>, C.I. Tibaitatá, Mosquera 250047, ColombiaCorporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Agrosavia</span>, C.I. Palmira, Palmira 763533, ColombiaSaint James Catholic Church, 1275 B St, Davis, CA 95616, USACorporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Agrosavia</span>, C.I. Tibaitatá, Mosquera 250047, ColombiaCorporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Agrosavia</span>, C.I. Tibaitatá, Mosquera 250047, ColombiaThe American tropics are hotspots of wild and domesticated plant biodiversity, which is still underutilized by breeding programs despite being conserved at regional gene banks. The improvement of those programs depends on long-term public funds and the maintenance of specialized staff. Unfortunately, financial ups and downs complicate staff connectivity and their research impact. Between 2000 and 2010, Agrosavia (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria) dramatically decreased its public financial support. In 2017, we surveyed all 52 researchers from Agrosavia involved in plant breeding and plant genetic resource programs to examine the effect of decimating funds in the last ten years. We hypothesized that the staff dedicated to plant breeding still suffer a strong fragmentation and low connectivity. As we expected, the social network among researchers is weak. The top ten central leaders are predominantly males with an M.Sc. degree but have significant experience in the area. The staff has experience in 31 tropical crops, and 17 are on the list of underutilized species. Moreover, although 26 of these crops are in the national germplasm bank, this has not been the primary source for their breeding programs. We proposed five principles to improve connectivity among teams and research impact: (1) The promotion of internal discussion about gender gaps and generation shifts to design indicators to monitor and decrease this disparity over time. (2) The construction of long-term initiatives and synergies with the Colombian government to support the local production of food security crops independent of market trends. (3) Better collaboration between the National Plant Germplasm Bank and plant breeding researchers. (4) A concerted priority list of species (especially those neglected or underutilized) and external institutions to better focus the collaborative efforts in research using public funds. (5) Better spaces for the design of projects among researchers and training programs in new technologies. These principles could also apply in other tropical countries with public plant breeding research programs facing similar challenges.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/10/1584agrobiodiversityfood securitygender gapgermplasm bankssocial networks |
| spellingShingle | Ivania Cerón-Souza Carlos H. Galeano Katherine Tehelen Hugo R. Jiménez Carolina González Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics Genes agrobiodiversity food security gender gap germplasm banks social networks |
| title | Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics |
| title_full | Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics |
| title_fullStr | Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics |
| title_short | Opportunities and Challenges to Improve a Public Research Program in Plant Breeding and Enhance Underutilized Plant Genetic Resources in the Tropics |
| title_sort | opportunities and challenges to improve a public research program in plant breeding and enhance underutilized plant genetic resources in the tropics |
| topic | agrobiodiversity food security gender gap germplasm banks social networks |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/10/1584 |
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