From 22 to 26 September 2025, the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops (IFVCNS) successfully organized the Student Training Course “Classical and Modern Approaches in Crop Breeding” within the framework of the Breedtech Erasmus Project, part of Work Package 2.
The course brought together five participants, two from Kenya, two from Ethiopia, and one from Palestine, who participated in an intensive program designed to strengthen their knowledge and skills in crop breeding.
Over the five days, participants attended lectures and practical sessions covering a wide spectrum of topics, including pre-breeding and use of genetic resources, hybrid and line breeding, breeding for stress resistance, tissue culture, molecular breeding, high-throughput phenotyping (HTPP), DNA extraction, and gel electrophoresis. A dedicated field trip to IFVCNS experimental fields offered first-hand insights into ongoing research on sunflower, legumes, soybean, and maize.
The program placed strong emphasis on hands-on experience, enabling students to engage directly with modern breeding tools and methods, such as speed breeding, sunflower emasculation, and root phenotyping techniques. The course concluded with a certificate awarding ceremony, recognizing the participants’ successful completion of the training. By combining classical knowledge with state-of-the-art breeding technologies, the training contributed to building research capacity of young scientists from Africa and the Middle East and promoting international collaboration in the field of agricultural sciences.
