Episodes
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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 -
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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 alifetime that reframed her understanding of humanity and charted the course for her life’s work in ricebreeding.Susan’s Plant Breeding Story began with a hitchhiking adventure from Boston to Buenos Aires whichopened her eyes to society's food challenges and motivated her to pursue a career in agriculture. Welearn about the obstacles she had to overcome to earn her PhD degree in plant breeding and genetics asa new mother, and why she jumped at the chance to develop the first genetic map of rice. She recallsher post-graduate work with IRRI in the Philippines, where she helped implement genomics andmolecular breeding techniques and train the next generation of rice breeders. She shares how theseexperiences led to the internationally-respected rice breeding program at Cornell University and itsopen-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.
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S4 E1 Plant Breeding Stories - Chal Landgren by PBS International
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Dr Greg Baute, Senior Director of Breeding and Genetics at Aurora Cannabis, explores the maturing cannabis market and describes why boots-on-the-ground field observations are critical for success.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Greg shares how his educational background and experiences in bioinformatics and practical fieldwork laid a strong foundation for his career, which began in programs breeding sunflowers and tomatoes. We learn about some of the challenges early cannabis breeders faced, including a massive germplasm characterization effort. Greg describes some of the main breeding objectives for improving cannabis varieties, including incorporating consumer-facing traits and the challenges of working with subjective preferences. He explains why it’s possible to commercialize a new cannabis variety much faster than other cultivated crops and the complexity of regulatory framework that has to be navigated.
Transcript – www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Lane Selman, founder of the Culinary Breeding Network, enriches the science of plant breeding using the colour and engagement that the arts, humanities and convivial discussion bring.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Lane explains how her passions for agriculture, food and art collided to unite diverse perspectives from plant breeders, farmers, consumers and chefs. She describes how a conversation can sometimes transcend science to deliver practical value and shares how an overly data oriented approach can only answer the questions we think to ask.
Lane celebrates diversity in food production and explores the eclectic motivations of plant breeders. Her thoughtful insights challenge some traditional perceptions about crop improvement and the food system.
Transcript –
www.PBSInternational.com/podcast
More about the Culinary Breeding Network -
@culinarybreedingnetwork
https://www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com
https://medium.com/@laneselman/how-italian-sagre-inspired-the-culinary-breeding-networks-joyful-celebrations-of-local-vegetables-f4c5a5a909c9 -
Dr Clare Mukankusi, a common bean breeder at the alliance of Diversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), joins us to explain how collaboration in plant breeding can result in practical improvements for a crop’s end-user.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Clare shares how a missed opportunity changed her career trajectory from the medical sciences to plant sciences. She details why the common bean is one of the most critical food legumes globally and highlights its crucial importance as a significant source of protein, zinc and iron in diets across Africa. Clare discusses how research and collaboration across-disciplines improves common bean breeding outcomes for practical uses, including producing beans with faster cooking times.
CIAT: https://ciat.cgiar.org/
Pan African Bean Research Alliance: https://ciat.cgiar.org/pabra/
Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture : https://alliancebioversityciat.org/
Transcript - www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Dr TiFeng Shan, Associate Professor of Marine Biology at the Institute of Oceanology in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, takes us on an underwater adventure to explore seaweed breeding.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, TiFeng highlights both similarities and differences when breeding aquatic and terrestrial crops. We learn about specific traits of interest for seaweed breeding programs, including increased biomass, early maturity, and improved chemical composition. He also explains how climate change and rising water temperatures could affect seaweed breeding programs in the future. We also learn about the commercial applications of seaweed and why the high-value crop has a bright future as well as exploring how collaboration with land crop breeders and use of genomics technology could accelerate advances in seaweed breeding.
Transcript - www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Dr Jen Bromley, Head of Client Research and Development at Vertical Future, gives us an inside look at one of the newest movements in agriculture – vertical farming.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Jen describes how her early breeding work with potatoes and tobacco eventually led to her current role leading R&D efforts at Vertical Future. She explains how breeding objectives change for plants grown indoors in a controlled environment compared to traditionally grown field crops. We also learn about some of the ways that vertical agriculture can benefit consumers – from supplying more nutritious produce that is locally grown, to reducing supply chain disruptions.
For more information about Jen Bromley and Vertical Future go to:
www.verticalfuture.co.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-bromley/
Transcript - www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Dr Mark Messmer, VP of Breeding and Product Delivery at CoverCress, Inc, is breeding a well-known winter annual weed into a cash crop that benefits farmers’ bottom line and the environment.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Mark explains why this particular project brought him out of retirement after a long, successful career in the seed industry. We learn about the challenges that the CoverCress team has to overcome to breed wild pennycress, a winter annual weed, into a commercial crop. He also discusses the potential markets for this new oilseed crop, including biofuel, animal feed and food production uses, and gives us a glimpse of what it takes to commercialize a new crop through the eyes of a startup company.
To find out more go to
https://covercress.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-messmer-53451873/
Transcript - www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Dr Anupama Hingane, a plant breeder at ICRISAT, joins us to discuss the significance of pigeon peas as a high protein and drought resistant crop which forms a diet staple in India and shares her hopes for expanding the crop’s marketability with targeted breeding efforts.
In this episode of the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, Anupama shares how a close connection to her family’s farm naturally guided her towards a career in plant breeding. We learn about her early breeding work with cotton and cluster beans and their industrial applications.
She explains why pigeon peas have historically been neglected by breeders despite their nutritional and agronomic benefits, and she shares also shares how the ICRISAT team uses the latest plant breeding technology to develop pigeonpea varieties that are more adaptable to non-native growing environments, which has agronomic and economic benefits for farmers.
Show Notes:
Icrisat: https://www.icrisat.org/
Transcript - www.PBSInternational.com/podcast -
Daniel Wanjama, founder and coordinator at Seed Savers Network in Kenya, shares how his upbringing in rural Africa set him on a path to help farmers find better ways to nutritional security.
In the third of a three-part episode about East African seed systems, Daniel describes how his personal experience with food security inspired him to found Seed Savers Network, which smallholder African farmers gain access to native crop seeds and prevents local landraces of a vegetables and cereal crops from being lost. He explains how the farmers in his network support each other by producing and sharing cassava, bean and indigenous vegetable seed and discusses how network farmers are trained to help ensure that they distribute high-quality seeds. We also learn how intellectual property rights can pose challenges for seed saving programs in Africa.
Show Notes
Transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.pbsinternational.com/podcast
For more information about Daniel Wanjama and Seed Savers Network go to https://seedsaverskenya.org -
Janey Leakey recognized a gap in the seed varieties available to smallholder farmers in Africa, so she founded a seed company to help support more diversification on the farm.
In the second of a three-part episode about East African seed systems, Janey discusses how legumes, cover crops and orphan crops can add value to smallholder farmers in Kenya. We learn about some of the production challenges that local farmers face, including degraded soil, a changing climate and access to affordable seed. She explains why it’s essential for a new variety’s success that it is commercially feasible for seed companies as well as farmers, and explains the vital role that women play in smallholder agriculture in Africa.
Show Notes:
Transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.pbsinternational.com/podcast
www.rajwerafarm.org
https://rajwerafarm.org/leldet/ - Show more
