Powering crop breeding efficiency for key teams at the Alliance Bioversity & CIAT - Digital Solutions

DS equips CGIAR data managers on EBS through Train-the-Trainer

From September 29 to October 17, Digital Solutions delivered a comprehensive Train-the-Trainers program on the Enterprise Breeding System, equipping data managers across CGIAR centers with advanced EBS skills. Through hands-on activities and expert virtual coaching, participants gained the capability to train end-users and drive data-driven, digitally enabled breeding improvements in their programs.

3 December, 2025

Kenya Strengthens Rice Research Capacity Through Training on Early Generation Seed Production and Digital Breeding Tools

IRRI’s participation in KALRO’s capacity-building program strengthened Kenya’s national rice research system by advancing technical and digital competencies. Through hands-on training in EBS, Bioflow, and modern breeding practices, the initiative empowered scientists, enhanced institutional collaboration, and reinforced the commitment to accelerating digitally enabled, efficient, and high-impact rice research across the country.

1 December, 2025

CIP Potato and Sweet Potato Breeding Joins EBS: A Milestone in CGIAR’s Digital Transformation

The International Potato Center (CIP) is taking a major step in CGIAR’s digital transformation by integrating its potato and sweet potato breeding data into the Enterprise Breeding System (EBS). As the first Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (RTB) crops fully managed within EBS, this milestone advances networked, data-driven breeding under CGIAR’s Breeding for Tomorrow vision. Through this integration, CIP enhances efficiency, transparency, and data stewardship, paving the way for faster development of climate-resilient, farmer- and consumer-preferred varieties while reinforcing CGIAR’s unified, secure, and sustainable breeding data ecosystem.

3 November, 2025

Powering crop breeding efficiency for key teams at the Alliance Bioversity & CIAT

By: Stephanie Manrilla

24 July, 2025

The tropical forages breeding team of the Alliance Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity & CIAT) used to manage years of crop data using manual and spreadsheet-based systems. Not only does this expose valuable datasets to loss and errors, but it also forgoes the potential to drive accurate and timely breeding decisions.

The Enterprise Breeding System (EBS), a comprehensive, integrated, and intuitive breeding data management system preferred by the CGIAR, is now powering the tropical forages program and is also set to boost breeding efficiency for cassava and beans—befitting of a modern breeding enterprise.

To further support the crop programs’ EBS adoption process, a week-long refresher training for forages was conducted, while an end-to-end showcase of EBS functionalities was demonstrated to kickstart the adoption for cassava and beans breeders. The two-week program was led by Mijail Javier (EBS Regional Support Manager) and Rosemary Shrestha (EBS Requirement Analyst) at the Americas Hub of the Alliance Bioversity & CIAT in Cali, Colombia from 9-20 June 2025.

Tropical Forages

Little to no adjustments were required as the breeding team transitioned to EBS, since the platform is already seamlessly interoperable with their preferred data collection software, the Field Book application.

The tailored sessions allowed the trainers to show relevant tools to support key workflows, such as trial data analysis, seed tracking, and genotyping. It was also an opportunity to highlight the data continuity and security afforded by the platform after recent team changes in the breeding program.

The refresher training is the latest on a list of adoption support activities rolled out to transform the program’s data into actionable insights for better varieties and faster breeding cycles.

Cassava and Beans

Intuitiveness of the user interface, nested filtering, customizable printout reports, and features to manage system permissions were only some of the EBS capabilities that drove the strong enthusiasm among cassava and beans breeding team members to begin their EBS adoption.

The cross-platform integration and end-to-end workflow support between EBS and BioFlow, CGIAR’s breeding analytics pipeline, was also a key advantage pointed out by Luis Delgado Muñoz (Bioinformatics Scientist-Cassava).

Moving forward, the insights gathered from cassava and beans breeders will be used to inform how their respective EBS productions instances will be further developed to fit their breeding contexts and data requirements

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