September 12, 2022
The meeting highlighted the new exclusive seed lines and the latest research on varietal improvement while facilitating knowledge exchange and interaction among Africa Vegetable Breeding Consortium (AVBC) members.
The Africa Vegetable Breeding Consortium held its annual workshop on 6 September 2022, at the WorldVeg West and Central Africa regional office at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Abomey-Calavi, Benin.
Regional Director Dr. Malick Niango BA underscored WorldVeg’s commitment to promoting the development of a strong vegetable seed sector in Africa. In his opening address, he highlighted that, for several years, 50 percent of tomatoes sold in the formal circuit in East Africa have genetic material developed by WorldVeg. The same goes for African eggplants, with almost all of which (98 percent) have germplasm developed by WorldVeg.
During the workshop, WorldVeg unveiled the 200 exclusive seed lines that are high-performing and climate-resilient to forty-nine AVBC members.
Dr. Roland Schafleitner, Head of Molecular Genomics at WorldVeg, also lauded the strong collaboration between WorldVeg and the AVBC member seed companies and encouraged attendees to share new research knowledge and actively exchange new insights that can help advance AVBC’s goals.
He also recognized USAID and UKAID as critical funding partners that have made it possible to establish AVBC in 2018 and continuously supports WorldVeg and African Seed Trade Association in this collaborative effort.
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