Yoseph Beyene CIMMYT-Regional MaizeBreeding Coordinator and AGG Maize ProjectLeader Presentation to Accelerated Genetic Gain (AGG-Maize) AnnualReview and Planning Meeting: July 4- 5, 2023; onlinemeeting AGG-Maize Year 3 Major Achievementsand Next Steps The AGG-Maize Project has TwoObjectives • Support the CIMMYTand IITA maize breeding programs to accelerate geneticgains; • Support the modernization of breeding by NARS partners in sub- SaharanAfrica. AGG-Maize Partners Spillover countries includeAngola, Lesotho, DRC, Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso South Sudan, Rwanda,Burundi The project aims to facilitate the production and adoption of over 150,000 metric tonnes of multiple stress-tolerant maize seeds onan annual basis in 13 target countries in SSA, planting an estimated area of 6.17 M ha and benefiting over 64 million people. PO1: Optimization of innovative breeding toolsand methods • Forward breeding for MSV and MLN prior to field phenotyping enabled the elimination of 13,351susceptible lines, saving an estimated US$ 52,070. • InWest Africa, forward breeding for Striga resistance was initiated and leading to the selection of over 80% of the 4,500 lines carryingfavorable alleles. • QC/QA: 1,400 lines were genotyped and 96% of the lines were found to be genetically pure. • RCGS was implemented inEastern Africa and West Africa product pipelines KASPmarker Number of lines snpZM00179 snpZM00185 snpZM00186 Resistant allele 3918 3911 3501 Susceptible allele 408 286 724 Heterozygous 40 249 228 Unused 143 63 56 Total 4509 4509 4509 Key Achievements: DH line production development Product profiles/Organizati on # of populations submitted # of DH linesdelivered Productprofiles EAPP2 50 15478 EAPP1 52 17048 EAPP3 13 1683 SAPP1 15 2213 SAPP2 6 870 136 37292 Partnerorganizations IITA 2 771 NARO-Uganda 6 696 KALRO-Keya 20 1178 IIAM-Mozambique 3 1218 EIAR- Ethiopia 2 465 DR &SS-Zimbabwe 3 85 Egypt 8 2151 Advanta 4 1018 Western SeedCo 6 957 54 8539 Total 190 45831 Theaverage #of DH lines per population is 241. Managed drought Artificial MNL inoculation PO2: Multiple stress-tolerant andinput-responsive varieties developed across productprofiles Est. Pipeline Area Code Target Countries (M ha) EA-PP1 Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania (Northern) 3.17 EA-PP2 Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania (Southern) 3.38 EA-PP3 Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania (Southern) 1.75 SA-PP1 Mozambique, Zimbabwe,Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania (Southern); drought-prone smallholder farm areas in SouthAfrica 3.74 SA-PP2 Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia,Tanzania (Southern), drought- prone smallholder farmers, about 2-3% of total maize area) 2.03 WCA-PP1 Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Nigeria,Senegal 2.74 WCA-PP2 Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Nigeria,Senegal 3.1 WCA-PP3 Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo 5.49 WCA-PP4 Cote d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo 4.34 Total 29.74 Key Achievements: Germplasmevaluated, announced, and released in2022 Data-driven advancement meetings were conducted, and promisingstress- resilient hybrids wereidentified. Over 12,000 maize hybrids (Stages 1-5) wereevaluated, A total of 47 hybrids including three FAW-tolerant hybridsreleased A total of 35 productslicensed Genetic gains in CIMMYT/IITAbreeding pipelines were positive and ranged from 1.1 to 4.5% under different management Key Achievements: Responding to emergingthreats: FAW-tolerant hybrids Vegetative stage Reproductive stage Harvest Key Achievements: Breeding Schemes Optimizationin AGG -Maize – Recycling lines at an early stage of testing (reduced from 6 yrs. to 4 yrs.) – Implemented suitable selection indicesfor parental selections (DESIERsoftware) – Identifyan optimum number of testing locations and testers for recycling (implemented in selectedPPs) – Sparse testing and sparse genetic test crossing (implemented in selectedPPs) – Use of genomic selection (all stage 1 lines being genotyped with medium-densitymarkers) – Estimate predicted genetic gain (done in selected PPs) – Incorporation of ex-PVP lines into tropical lines improved yield potential (ongoing) – Refining and strengthening heteroticgroups (ongoing ) – Responding to emerging threats (ongoing) IR lines HGA- lines HGB lines PO3: Accelerated varietal turnover andwider adoption, particularly among womenfarmers • The area-weighted average variety age (AWAVA) of improved maize varietiesin farmers’ fieldsdeclined – From 14 years in 2014 to 10 years in 2021 inESA. – From 19.6 years in 2010/11to 13.2 years in 2021/22 inWA • This progress inmaize varietal turnover in SSA could be attributed to – Strengthening of seed systems, including the release of better genetics – Intensive deployment through public-private partnerships. • However, the certified seeds demandand supply gap remains high, especially in WestAfrica. An example M&E indicators based on data collected in 2020 and 2021 in WestAfrica PO4: Regional Collaborative Maize Breeding andSeed Systems Network formalization • Retrospective genetic gain analysisof historical trial data isundertaking • Uganda; DR&SS ofZimbabwe; KALRO-Kenya • Financial support has been given tomaize breeding programs in 13 countries to strengthen their breedingcapacity • Digitization equipment ordered through CtEH support delivered to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, andGhana • The Senior Maize Breeder trainingcourse was organized face to face in Kenya total of 39 (11 female, 28 male) participants attended • CIMMYT and IITA scientists supervised 23 students (16 Ph.D.; 7 MSc of which 6 are females) • The AGG Mid‐Term Review andPlanning Meeting was conducted on 25‐28 July 2022. PO10: Implementing improved datamanagement, experimental designs, and breedingmethods Tool to generate sparse phenotyping design, on-farm design, and selection index and developed and beingused Next steps inAGG-Maize 1.Focus on continuous improvement for increasing geneticgain • Reducing the breeding cycle to 3years • Implementing sparse phenotyping/sparse test crossing in all product profiles to sampleTPE • Estimation of realized genetic trend using on-farm data 2.Facilitate accelerated variety turnover in the targetcountries • Identify bottleneck for adoption of new improved varietieshybrids • Provide high-quality breedseed • Scale out QA/QC forSMEs 3.Strengthened NARS –CG breedingnetwork • Updates product profiles to align across CG, NARS, and SMEs • Continue joint CG and NARSannual stage-gate advancement meetings • Increase the level of integration of DH in breeding pipelines • Adopt EBS aprimary breeding data management system inCG-NARS breeding programs ThankYou Breeding progress for MLN resistance Slide 1: AGG-Maize Year 3 Major Achievements and Next Steps Slide 2: The AGG-Maize Project has Two Objectives Slide 3: PO1: Optimization of innovative breeding tools and methods Slide 4: Key Achievements: DH line production development Slide 5: PO2: Multiple stress-tolerant and input-responsive varieties developed across product profiles Slide 6: Key Achievements: Germplasm evaluated, announced, and released in 2022 Slide 7: Key Achievements: Responding to emerging threats: FAW-tolerant hybrids Slide 8: Key Achievements: Breeding Schemes Optimization in AGG -Maize Slide 9: PO3: Accelerated varietal turnover and wider adoption, particularly among women farmers Slide 10: PO4: Regional Collaborative Maize Breeding and Seed Systems Network formalization Slide 11: PO10: Implementing improved data management, experimental designs, and breeding methods Slide 12: Next steps in AGG-Maize Slide 13