After drought, a major challenge to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa is low-fertility soils with poor nitrogen (N)-supplying capacity. Many challenges in this region need to be overcome to create a viable fertilizer ...

Maize is the most cultivated cereal in Africa in terms of land area and production, but low soil nitrogen availability often constrains yields. Developing new maize varieties with high and reliable yields using traditional ...

Open-pollinated varieties (OP Vs) still represent a significant proportion of the maize (Zea mays L.) seed system in many countries of sub- Saharan Africa. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) has ...

Background: Recent developments in unmanned aerial platforms (UAP) have provided research opportunities in assessing land allocation and crop physiological traits, including response to abiotic and biotic stresses. UAP-based ...

In the crop breeding process, the use of data collection methods that allow reliable assessment of crop adaptation traits, faster and cheaper than those currently in use, can significantly improve resource use efficiency ...

Maize crop production is constrained worldwide by nitrogen (N) availability and particularly in poor tropical and subtropical soils. The development of affordable high-throughput crop monitoring and phenotyping techniques ...

Genetic gain within the CIMMYT Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) breeding program from 2000 to 2010 was recently estimated at 0.85 to 2.2% yr−1 under various environmental conditions. Over 100 ...

Monitoring of genetic gain in crop genetic improvement programs is necessary to measure the efficiency of the program. Periodic measurement of genetic gain also allows the efficiency of new technologies incorporated into ...