More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa
Increasing the rate of genetic gain in breeding programs is a critical component of crop genetic improvement strategies to increase yields in smallholder farmers' fields. While a growing array of technologies and tools are being deployed within breeding programs, optimizing resource allocation could...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179253 |
| _version_ | 1855543050278797312 |
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| author | Chaingeni, Davison Mukaro, Ronica Sneller, Clay Cairns, Jill Musundire, Lennin Das, Biswanath Odiyo, Olivia Madahana, Sammy Larry Mazibuko, Purity Mubvereki, Washington Boddupalli, Prasanna Kutywayo, Dumisani |
| author_browse | Boddupalli, Prasanna Cairns, Jill Chaingeni, Davison Das, Biswanath Kutywayo, Dumisani Madahana, Sammy Larry Mazibuko, Purity Mubvereki, Washington Mukaro, Ronica Musundire, Lennin Odiyo, Olivia Sneller, Clay |
| author_facet | Chaingeni, Davison Mukaro, Ronica Sneller, Clay Cairns, Jill Musundire, Lennin Das, Biswanath Odiyo, Olivia Madahana, Sammy Larry Mazibuko, Purity Mubvereki, Washington Boddupalli, Prasanna Kutywayo, Dumisani |
| author_sort | Chaingeni, Davison |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Increasing the rate of genetic gain in breeding programs is a critical component of crop genetic improvement strategies to increase yields in smallholder farmers' fields. While a growing array of technologies and tools are being deployed within breeding programs, optimizing resource allocation could provide a simple yet effective way to increase genetic gain, particularly within resource-constrained breeding programs. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that an easy-to-use deterministic model and a breeding costing tool could identify key modifications to improve the efficiency of breeding within the Zimbabwean national maize breeding program. The current program uses pedigree inbreeding, with a 4-1-1 tester scheme, and relatively low selection intensity. The method of inbreeding, test-crossing schemes, and selection intensity were modified within the current program budget. A combination of using doubled haploid lines, a 2-2-1 tester plan, and increased selection intensity improved gain per cycle by 42.8%, gain per year by 161.8%, gain per dollar by 43.1%, and decreased cost of one unit of genetic gain by 28.5% without a change in budget. Our results highlight how a simple deterministic model can identify steps to greatly improve breeding efficiency within resource-constrained breeding programs. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace179253 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| publisherStr | Frontiers Media |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1792532025-12-24T02:17:46Z More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa Chaingeni, Davison Mukaro, Ronica Sneller, Clay Cairns, Jill Musundire, Lennin Das, Biswanath Odiyo, Olivia Madahana, Sammy Larry Mazibuko, Purity Mubvereki, Washington Boddupalli, Prasanna Kutywayo, Dumisani improvement deterministic models genetic gain breeding efficiency maize Increasing the rate of genetic gain in breeding programs is a critical component of crop genetic improvement strategies to increase yields in smallholder farmers' fields. While a growing array of technologies and tools are being deployed within breeding programs, optimizing resource allocation could provide a simple yet effective way to increase genetic gain, particularly within resource-constrained breeding programs. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that an easy-to-use deterministic model and a breeding costing tool could identify key modifications to improve the efficiency of breeding within the Zimbabwean national maize breeding program. The current program uses pedigree inbreeding, with a 4-1-1 tester scheme, and relatively low selection intensity. The method of inbreeding, test-crossing schemes, and selection intensity were modified within the current program budget. A combination of using doubled haploid lines, a 2-2-1 tester plan, and increased selection intensity improved gain per cycle by 42.8%, gain per year by 161.8%, gain per dollar by 43.1%, and decreased cost of one unit of genetic gain by 28.5% without a change in budget. Our results highlight how a simple deterministic model can identify steps to greatly improve breeding efficiency within resource-constrained breeding programs. 2025-06 2025-12-23T17:58:43Z 2025-12-23T17:58:43Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179253 en Open Access application/pdf Frontiers Media Chaingeni, D., Mukaro, R., Sneller, C., Cairns, J. E., Musundire, L., Das, B., Odiyo, O., Madahana, S., Mazibuko, P., Mubvereki, W., Prasanna, B. M., & Kutywayo, D. (2025). More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Plant Science, 16, 1553272. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1553272 |
| spellingShingle | improvement deterministic models genetic gain breeding efficiency maize Chaingeni, Davison Mukaro, Ronica Sneller, Clay Cairns, Jill Musundire, Lennin Das, Biswanath Odiyo, Olivia Madahana, Sammy Larry Mazibuko, Purity Mubvereki, Washington Boddupalli, Prasanna Kutywayo, Dumisani More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title | More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | More bang for your buck: potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | more bang for your buck potential gains through optimizing maize breeding schemes in sub saharan africa |
| topic | improvement deterministic models genetic gain breeding efficiency maize |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179253 |
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