GCP launches TLI: a three-year legume improvement project
October 16, 2007 3:28pm

GCP is delighted to announce the initiation of a three-year research and development project entitled ‘Improving tropical legume productivity for marginal environments in Africa’ (TLI), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The project, which got off to a kicking start at its launch meeting in Rustenburg Kloof, South Africa, from 18-22 September, represents a key new initiative in GCP, as it brings together advanced molecular research labs and national research partners from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Together, they will develop molecular markers for groundnut, cowpea, beans and chickpea. These markers, once validated, will be used to accelerate the development of stress-tolerant legume varieties that meet the needs of smallholder legume farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

TLI will work alongside its twin project, TLII, whose mandate is seed multiplication and distribution to pave the way for research results from TLI translate into breeding materials for the benefit of resource-poor farmers. TLII is also funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

To learn more on the TLI project, please click here.

TLI - TLII Press Release (October 2007)

GCP community comes together at 2007 ARM
October 2, 2007 7:12pm

Over 150 scientists gathered at this year's GCP Annual Research Meeting in Benoni, South Africa. The meeting, held on African soil for the first time, provided an excellent forum for scientists in GCP projects to meet with their project teams and other GCP scientists, share their research results and jointly plan for the upcoming year. To learn more about the activities and highlights of the 2007 ARM, please click here.

The Genotyping Support Service Workshop
October 1, 2007 9:12pm

From 24-28 September 13 invitees from around the world participated in the Genotyping Support Service workshop in Zaragoza, Spain. The purpose of the workshop, which was organised by GCP in collaboration with Instituto Agronómico Mediterráneao de Zaragoza (IAMZ), was to facilitate participants with the analysis and interpretation of data as submitted in the pilot phase proposals, as well as assisting them with the preparation of plans to implement acquired knowledge into their current breeding activities. The meeting, which was arranged by GCP's GSS Coordinator Humberto Gomez, was facilitated by Drs. Fred van Eeuwijk, Marcos Malosetti and Hans Jansen from Wageningen University. To learn more about the GSS activities in 2007, please click here.