Crops to End Hunger Equipment Maintenance Workshop

About the workshop

When: from September 23rd to 27th

Where: IITA headquarter, Ibadan, Nigeria

What: Mechanizing trialling and nursery in breeding enhances precise trial management and streamlines operations. The right equipment, combined with the technical expertise to use it, is essential for making informed decisions about which crop varieties to select and develop.

Crops to End Hunger (CtEH), through its Facilities Upgrade and Mechanization Improvement project, provides CGIAR Centers and partners Institutes with a vital combination of equipment and technical expertise to crop breeding programs and stations worldwide.

From 23rd to 27th September, the project will host a maintenance workshop for stations that have received equipment and training. The week-long workshop is designed to address the specific technical challenges stations face, such as obtaining technical support, accessing spare parts or finding service providers. Participants will also discuss how to better coordinate maintenance across functions.

The goal is to develop maintenance strategies with CGIAR Centers and partner Institutes to ensure that CtEH’s investments remain sustainable and continue to deliver high impact even after the program concludes.

Participants will also discuss the costs associated with the equipment, exploring cost-effective solutions and the overall cost-benefit of proper maintenance. Discussions will focus on better coordinating maintenance across operations to ensure that investments in equipment yield the highest possible returns.

Participation: This event is by invitation only. Participants include breeders and breeding station technical staff, from CGIAR Centers and National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES). If you are interested to join, please don’t hesitate to contact Breeding Research Services (BRS)’ Global Shared Service (GSS) team:

• Gustavo Teixeira, GSS Lead: g.teixeira@cgiar.org
• Vinicius da Rocha, Trialling and Nursery Lead: v.rocha@cgiar.org

Resources:

• Repairs & Maintenance – Financial Sustainability Guide
• 7 Golden Rules for a sustainable breeding research station
• CtEH’s Facilities Upgrade and Mechanization Improvement project: Modernizing breeding research stations in Africa for higher genetic gains
• Five ways new equipment and training help deliver crop breeding impacts
• Technical staff at African research stations gain crucial trialling and nursery skills, improving continent-wide crop breeding data

Support: We would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.