AGRI001199 Genomics and breeding tools for improving crops for smallholder farmers in sub-Sahara Africa


Type
Lecture and seminar
Semester hours
4
Lecturer (assistant)
Bürstmayr, Hermann
Organisation
Plant Breeding
Offered in
Wintersemester 2025/26
Languages of instruction
Englisch

Content

The students will comprehend and master crop production constraints for smallholder farmers in Sub Sahara Africa, and will be able to develop and implement technical solutions for such problems, including genomics based solutions such as gene-identification and gene-editing methods to develop stress resilient crop cultivars.
One example among more will be Striga (withweed) resistance in sorghum and maize. Additional examples of using genomics and breeding for improving crop plant resilience will be explored, such as problems in maize, rice, cowpea and taro.

Previous knowledge expected

Bachelor Knowledge on Plant Breeding, Plant Genetics, Molecular Genetics, Plant Biotechnology

Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Comprehend constraints of smallholder farmers in Sub Sahara Africa
Be able to understand and contribute to developing genetic and breeding solutions for improving crops, with a focus on African crops.
Design and implement a biotechnology assisted crop improvement project.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.