Plant Breeding Stories

We’re wrapping up the Plant Breeding Stories podcast by reflecting on our learnings and exploring what’s next with our host, Hannah Senior, CEO of PBS International.

In the final episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Hannah explains how her studies in experimental psychology and business plus an entrepreneurial spirit set her up for future success as CEO of PBS International, a company that designs and makes specialist pollination bags and tents. We learn about her business’ critical role in plant breeding programmes and discover why the Plant Breeding Stories podcast came to be. Hannah reflects on the recurring themes she heard throughout the podcast, including the challenges of funding non-commercial plant breeding programmes and the exciting opportunities that new technologies continue to bring to the industry. She shares her thoughts about entrepreneurship in agriculture and discusses why more systems-focused thinking could benefit food production. Finally, Hannah shares what’s next for her and for PBS International, as she hangs up her podcasting microphone for now.

Links:

Get in touch via Twitter @ PBSInt or Instagram @ PBS_Int

Transcripts of this episode and all our podcasts can be found at PBSInternational.com/podcast

Innovating AgTech Podcast can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/user-73017811

Dr Leena Tripathi, Director of the East African hub of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), specialises in applying advanced biotechnology techniques to promote disease resistance in bananas.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Leena shares how her desire to promote human health led to plants and an impactful career in crop biotechnology. We follow her journey across countries and crops on her path to Tanzania, where she now leads research into disease resistance in banana species. Leena explains why managing diseases in bananas is particularly challenging and

describes where biotechnology and traditional plant breeding methods can support development of disease-resistant varieties for both smallholder farms and commercial banana production. We also learn why fundraising challenges and regulatory hurdles can often frustrate progress.

Transcripts of this episode and all our podcasts can be found at PBSInternational.com/podcast

Dr Julia Sibiya, Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, is experimenting with new tools to improve traits of interest in sorghum and maize crops.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Julia explains why she chose to work with plants over animals and describes the career path that led her to a professorship in South Africa. She gives an overview of her current research, including breeding sorghum varieties for biofuel production and enhancing grain sorghum's productivity and nutritional quality.

Julia discusses how collaboration among regional and international plant breeding associations is important to help deliver innovative solutions for global food security and climate change challenges. We also learn how she’s helping the next generation of scientists prepare for the vast career opportunities available in agriculture.

Transcripts of this and all our podcasts can be found at www.PBSInternational.com/podcast

John Letts had a “Howard Carter in Tutankhamun’s tomb” moment when he was handed a shoebox full of 550-year-old ears of wheat. As a chef, archeobotanist and roof thatcher turned plant breeder, he brings a radically different perspective on what’s needed in grain varieties for the era of climate change.

In this episode of Plant Breeding Stories, John explains how taking the long view shaped his approach to breeding and grain production, causing him to prioritise resilience and sustainability over maximising yield per se. His entrepreneurial resourcefulness allowed him to largely self-fund his research and turn received wisdom in both conventional and organic farming systems on its head - with remarkable results.

Transcripts for this and all our podcasts can be found at PBSInternational.com/podcast.

Professor Girish Chowdhary is a computer science specialist at the University of Illinois. His academics career and interest in robotics comes with a real-world orientation, so he turned his expertise in automation to reducing the uncomfortable, labour intensive jobs in agriculture. The company Girish co-founded, EarthSense, developed its technology to meet the needs of plant breeders, creating robots that can quickly, accurately, and autonomously collect phenotyping data in plot trials. Girish talks about the differences he sees as he moves back & forth between academic and startup life, and why he encourages his students to push their work to more concrete outcomes than the proof points required for an academic publication.

Links: EarthSense website: https://www.earthsense.co/

Transcripts of this and all our podcasts can be found at PBSInternational.com/podcast

Dr Ksenija Gasic, Professor of Horticulture at Clemson University, is on a quest to deliver improved peach varieties to the U.S. market.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Ksenija takes us back to her childhood in Serbia, where time spent in her family’s gardens sparked an early interest in plants and agriculture. She shares her experiences completing a postgraduate program during the Balkan conflicts of the early 1990s and how even this adversity had some benefits for her work! We discover why it takes up to 20 years to develop a new peach cultivar, learn about the one-gene difference between a peach and nectarine, and how opportunities in genetic resources led the international exposure which ultimately resulted in Ksenija moving to the USA.

Transcripts of this and all our podcasts can be found at www.PBSInternational.com/podcast

Dr Narinder Dhillon, Principal Cucurbits Breeder for the World Vegetable Center, has worked with plant

breeding programmes around the world, experience which give him a big-picture mindset for solving

global food security issues and a special appreciation for collaboration.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast we follow Narinder from his family farm in India, to

his international vegetable breeding journey while genomic technologies rapidly evolved. Narinder

discusses the role of the World Vegetable Center and his love of cucurbits such as bitter gourd, luffa

gourd and tropical pumpkins. He explains why these nutrient-rich crops are critical for food security, the

quirks encountered when breeding squash, and how collaboration with private seed companies is a

critical component in his program’s success.

Links:

World Vegetable Centre : https://avrdc.org/

Transcript of podcast: www.PBSInternational.com/podcast

Emily Negrin, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at Inari, is an agriculture advocate focused on helping

companies communicate more effectively.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Emily explores why food production has become so

controversial in recent years and explains how clear, concise communication can help bridge the gap

between scientists and consumers. She shares her top tips for talking effective about plant breeding and

explains the importance of an effective dialogue for the biotechnology community as a whole. Emily

also describes Inari’s ambition to use its precision plant breeding platform for environmental impact,

increasing corn and soybean yields while reducing water and nitrogen use by up to 40%.

Links:

Inari website: www.Inari.com

Transcripts of this and all our podcasts are on our website at PBSInternational.com/podcast

Dr Salvatore Ceccarelli, left academia to "pursue more impactful work" breeding at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, Syria.

In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Salvatore explains his experience breeding Barley with smallholder farmers in near desert conditions in the middle east and Africa. He explains

“participatory breeding”, involving on-farm testing and collaboration with local farmers; why Syrian farmers prefer tall plants; and the unexpected political implications of involving farmers in breeding

decisions.

Transcripts of this and all our podcasts can be found at PBSInternational.com/podcast

Dr Susan McCouch, Professor in plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University, took journey of a

lifetime that reframed her understanding of humanity and charted the course for her life’s work in rice

breeding.

Susan’s Plant Breeding Story began with a hitchhiking adventure from Boston to Buenos Aires which

opened her eyes to society's food challenges and motivated her to pursue a career in agriculture. We

learn about the obstacles she had to overcome to earn her PhD degree in plant breeding and genetics as

a new mother, and why she jumped at the chance to develop the first genetic map of rice. She recalls

her post-graduate work with IRRI in the Philippines, where she helped implement genomics and

molecular breeding techniques and train the next generation of rice breeders. She shares how these

experiences led to the internationally-respected rice breeding program at Cornell University and its

open-source ethos which guides progress and helps solve modern-day agricultural challenges globally.

Transcripts of this episode and all our podcasts are available at pbsinternational.com/podcast.