The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will serve as the South Asia hub for Breeding Resources, part of CGIAR’s Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T) Science Program, which offers shared tools and services to speed up crop improvement and drive agricultural innovation.
This partnership adopts a unified implementation model, where ICRISAT will deliver breeding and research services in South Asia following the same high standards, operational protocols, and workflows used by other Breeding Resources hubs globally—such as the International Rice Research Institute in Asia and AfricaRice in West and Central Africa. This approach guarantees consistent quality and value for breeders and researchers, regardless of the service provider.
By adopting this system-wide model, ICRISAT is formally embedding Breeding Resources’ harmonized service delivery into its operations, building on a trusted and proven framework. Whether breeders from the region are from CGIAR or national research institutes, they can access services - from genotyping to phenotyping, and analytics to process management - delivered consistently across CGIAR Breeding Resources’ network of global hubs.
Why does this matter?
Breeding Resources’ strength lies in its ability to offer integrated, standardized, and evolving cost-effective services. Each regional hub operates as part of a connected ecosystem, where services follow the same Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), use shared digital tools like the Enterprise Breeding System and Bioflow, and collect and process data in a harmonized way. This unlocks cross-Center and National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) synergies, promotes continuous improvement, and supports CGIAR’s mission to deliver better varieties more efficiently and faster.
At ICRISAT, this includes in-house delivery of certain services - such as nutritional analysis through its Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) services provided by the Facility for Exploratory Research on Nutrition (FERN) - but these are now delivered within the Breeding Resources framework, benefiting from shared business process management, quality control, and collaborative R&D.
This integration supports the vision of Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T), CGIAR’s global breeding Science Program, which aims to make food systems more productive, inclusive, and climate resilient. With its strategic location and decades of innovation across South Asia, ICRISAT is ideally positioned to strengthen regional breeding pipelines and develop the next generation of climate-smart crops.
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT, emphasized the organization's readiness to deliver standardized breeding services across South Asia, building on decades of regional experience and infrastructure. He highlighted ICRISAT’s role in developing over 500 crop varieties and distributing nearly 600,000 germplasm samples to countries in the region. Eng Hwa, Lead for Breeding Resources at Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T), underscored the shared commitment between ICRISAT and B4T to harmonize breeding efforts and provide high-quality support and tools to breeders throughout South Asia.
Shared Services for Faster, Smarter Crop Development
Through the Breeding Resources Service Request Portal, CGIAR and partner users can find five types of services, composed as follows (some of which are provided directly by ICRISAT):
-
Genotyping and Sequencing Services: Understanding plant DNA to identify traits like drought resistance or high yield.
-
DNA extraction
-
Genotyping (low-density, mid-density, and high-throughput)
-
Sequencing
-
Elemental and Compositional Analysis: Quick, non-destructive testing of crops to boost food quality, supporting the development of more nutritious and valuable food and feed.
-
Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) for protein, fatty acids, oil, moisture, and fodder quality traits (non-destructive; allows assessment of 200–300 samples per day and multiple traits simultaneously)
-
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) for mineral elements like iron, zinc, and calcium (non-destructive, 200-250 samples per day)
-
Data Analytics Support: Turning raw data into decisions.
-
Scaling of Bioflow, CGIAR breeding analytics pipeline, across Centers and partners
-
Implementation and troubleshooting of the Enterprise Breeding System, CGIAR breeding data management platform, in South Asia
-
Breeding Operations Support: Improving variety development and trial efficiency.
-
Support for trials, nurseries, and seed multiplication
-
Seed-to-seed operations, including land preparation, pre- and post-harvest data capture, irrigation systems, harvesting, and seed processing
-
Use of Rapid Generation Advancement (RGA) technologies, including Speed Breeding
-
Business Process Management: Improving how breeding is done.
-
Creation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Research Operational Standards, to improve core processes and enhance productivity, quality and efficiency, as well as customer satisfaction
-
Capacity building resources, aiming to improve processes and foster the adoption of new technologies where needed, with both in-person and virtual training programs
This new hub will enable ICRISAT and its partners to accelerate crop improvement cycles and expand access to advanced breeding tools throughout South Asia.
