The Section of Plant Breeding and Genetics is globally recognized for developing innovative approaches to crop improvement. Section faculty conduct “translational research” that bridges the gap between fundamental research and its implementation in applied breeding programs, leading to superior crop varieties.
- Faculty involved in breeding specific crops are found on the SIPS Research by Crop page
- Research and resources focused on state and national needs are listed on the Plant Breeding & Genetics Outreach & Extension page
Global food security initiatives with Cornell leadership
Many Plant Breeding & Genetics Faculty are jointly appointed in Cornell's Department of Global Development
Rebecca Nelson serves as the Scientific Director for the McKnight Foundation's Collaborative Crop Research Program, a competitive grants program that funds agricultural research in developing countries.
Genomic Open-source Breeding informatics initiative (GOBii) are a team of developers, statisticians, bioinformaticists and breeders with multiple Plant Breeding & Genetics faculty participating
The NextGen Cassava Breeding project seeks to modernize partner cassava breeding institutions in Africa and use cutting-edge tools for improved cassava varieties with involvement from multiple Plant Breeding & Genetics faculty
The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) is an international consortium, led in part by Cornell faculty, working to reduce the world’s vulnerability wheat rust and enhance world wheat productivity
The Rice Diversity Project is a collaborative effort directed by Susan McCouch and others to explore the genetic basis of variation in rice and its wild ancestors, identifying genes that can enhance the performance of modern cultivars.
At the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, we equip National Agricultural Research Institutes with the power to define unique goals and drive crop improvement to reduce malnutrition, hunger and provide equitable benefits to women and youth.
International agriculture news
Learn more about our work to address global challenges in food security and sustainability
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A new multi-institution, transdisciplinary center will develop systems for two-way communication with plants, allowing scientists to remotely sense a plant’s biology and its immediate ecosystem, in hopes of one day using the information to improve plant growth.
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NextGen Cassava project director Chiedozie Egesi was announced as the 2021 Achiever in Agriculture Award for his work creating a platform to deliver resilient food systems in Nigeria.
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This year the BGRI will host a virtual conference October 6-8 with the theme “Global Resilience: Science, Pandemics, and the Future of Wheat.” The 2021 BGRI Virtual Technical Workshop will explore how nearly two decades of monitoring and responding to wheat rust epidemics can provide lessons for other global disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. Keynote speakers will draw attention to how we can apply the lessons learned from wheat research and epidemic response to other pandemic diseases facing today’s world.
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A tropical root-crop that is a daily staple food to hundreds of millions of people in Africa and increasingly being used by small-holder farmers in commercial production, cassava has historically been difficult for plant breeders to improve in...
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The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement works with smallholder farmers and rural populations in West Africa to develop sustainable crop innovations that address climate change and other social challenges.