58 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM A bout two years after the start of the Excellence in Breeding Platform by the CGIAR, European Seed checked in with Michael Quinn, Platform Leader, to learn more about its progress. EUROPEAN SEED (ES): MICHAEL, CONGRATULATIONS WITH THE START OF THE EXCELLENCE IN BREEDING PLATFORM. CAN YOU TELL A BIT MORE ABOUT THE BACKGROUND OF THIS PLATFORM, WHEN WAS IT STARTED, AND WHAT IS ITS AIM? MICHAEL QUINN (MQ): The purpose of the Platform is to assist breeding teams that are breed- ing for low- and lower middle- income countries to implement best practices in their programs. To achieve this, breeding teams will require access to the latest technologies and the skills to implement these technologies, which is within the mandate of the Platform. The Excellence in Breeding Platform, announced in October 2016, joins the Big Data and Genebank Platforms to unite research efforts within the CGIAR system of research centres and the hun- dreds of public and private sector partners that col- laborate with them in the developing world. ES: WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO START THIS PLATFORM? MQ: The genetic improvement of crops and livestock has been crucial to modern improvements in food and nutritional security and will continue to be over the next century as we need to achieve even greater rates of farm productivity in response to population growth, climate change and other challenges. The good news is that this is a rapidly-evolving area of science, with new technologies such as cheap and fast genotyping, high-throughput phenotyp- ing platforms and bioinformatics coming together to offer great potential. However, only large-scale breeding programs, for example the multinational private breeding sector have had the resources and ability to adopt these technologies and new approaches throughout the breeding pipeline. Much of the future population growth and the adverse impacts of climate change will occur in areas that are not targeted by the private sector, and it is neither possible nor desirable for future increases in food production to come solely from the developed world. The Excellence in Breeding Platform is therefore necessary to enable smaller breeding programs around the world to overcome the obstacles that prevent them from full-scale mod- ernization, and ultimately contribute to the devel- opment of vibrant and productive rural economies. The approach of the Platform is to create a “toolbox” of tried-and-tested approaches that smaller breeding programs in the developing world can adopt with minimal risk. We will draw on available advances from the public and private sector, but also develop our own publicly-available knowledge as a collaborative effort driven by our members and users. The toolbox will also serve as a communication tool between breeders, breeding support staff and the Platform. In addition, any- thing that can be shared electronically will be done so through the toolbox. Finally, the Platform will achieve its goals by providing access to expert advice and training, and by brokering access to reliable and appropriate breeding services at an affordable cost. ES: DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC SET OF CROPS OR TARGET COUNTRIES THAT THE PLATFORM IS FOCUSSING ON? MQ: As a CGIAR-wide initiative, the scope of the Platform includes trees, 21 crops, fish, and 7 types of livestock* covered by CGIAR programs. Looking at the importance of these crops in the low- and lower-middle income countries targeted by the Platform, we estimate that there may be up to 250 national programs conducting research into CGIAR mandate crops, leaving 500 scenarios WHY IT MATTERS The Excellence in Breeding Platform estimates that just five per cent of private sector investment in breeding research goes towards the developing world, meaning that farmers there don’t have access to modern varieties that are adapted to their need. So, the Platform seeks to create a “toolbox” of tried-and-tested approaches that smaller breeding programs in the developing world can adopt with minimal risk. This should lead to increased levels of investment in breeding, and return on investment, among the Platform’s members. The involvement of the private seed sector is crucial to achieving the goals of the Platform. Creating & Expanding the Toolbox ENABLING SMALLER BREEDING PROGRAMS TOWARDS FULL-SCALE MODERNIZATION. BY: MARCEL BRUINS *Crops: Banana, barley, bean, cassava, chickpea, cocoa, cowpea, forage crops, lentil, maize, millet, pigeonpea, plantain, potato, rice, sorghum, soybean, sweet potato, triticale, wheat and yam. Animals: buffalo, camel, cattle, chicken, goats, pigs, sheep and fish.