Welcome to the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy

The University of California, Davis PLANT BREEDING ACADEMY is a premium professional development program designed to develop and enhance the skills of industry personnel around the world to enable them to become independent plant breeders or to contribute to larger breeding programs.

Applications now being accepted!
PBA in DAVIS, Class VII
Starts in September 2018

INFO & APPLICATION HERE

News and Updates

European Seed names SBC Education Director Rale Gjuric one of 20 most influential seed people in Europe

20 Highly Influential Seeds-people in Europe in 2017

In an attempt to draw much-deserved attention to the movers and shakers in the European seed sector, European Seed put together a list of people who they view as highly influential in 2017. You may ask what makes an individual worthy of a spot on their list of the most influential seed people? They believe that each one of these incredible people have had a significant effect on the European seed sector in the past year(s)... Read article

SBC Director of Research Allen Van Deynze and SeedQuest CEO Francois Korn featured in COMSTOCK'S January issue

SBC's Director of Research Allen Van Deynze and Seed Central's Francois Korn featured in COMSTOCK'S latest issue.

Comstock’s, a monthly business publication in the Sacramento region, has released an article in its current issue featuring UC Davis, the Seed Biotechnology Center and Seed Central illustrating the importance of modern plant breeding to the future of vegetables. Read article
#UCDavis @UCDavisSBC SeedCentral.org

UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy highlighted at Plant and Animal Genome conference in San Diego as educational and training component of African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC)

Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer at Mars Incorporated, who is also affiliated with UC Davis, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media lab, outlined the AOCC's goals during a session on African orphan crops at the conference. Read article

UC Davis PBA partners with LimaGrain to deliver customized training course in France

In an ongoing effort to meet global demand for trained plant breeders, the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy organized and delivered a customized training course as a collaborative effort with the Limagrain Academy. Twenty five breeders based in France, Brazil, Czech Republic, India, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and UK attended the one week course in Mons/Clermont-Ferrand, November 20-24, 2017. The core UC Davis PBA lecturers included Rale Gjuric, Allen van Deynze and Todd Wehner. UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy starts its seventh class in September of 2018. Info and Applications

UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy (PBA) Class III completes session 2 in Nairobi, Kenya

The UC Davis African PBA’s Class III completed this fall Session 2 of its 6-week program in Nairobi, Kenya. An initiative of the African Orphan Crop Consortium, the program is organized in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the African Union New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency, and sponsored by Mars Incorporated and AGRA. The third class of the UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy consists of 33 breeders, half of whom are women, representing 16 African nations. This session provided in-depth training on phenotyping, multiple trait selection, marker-assisted breeding applications, and advanced experimental designs. During this recent session, the class visited the CIMMYT MLN Screening Facility in Naivasha (photo at right) to see first-hand the procedures involved in evaluating germplasm for resistance to Maize Lethal Necrosis, a disease threat to East Africa that has been met with swift action by the CIMMYT Global Maize Team in the form of resistant maize hybrids. During the course of the program, students will spend more than 300 hours in classes, workshops and the field, training to complete this premium professional certification program. Read more about the African PBA.

No crop left behind: Improving the plants that Africans eat and breeders neglect

The PBA is very proud of the meaningful impact that the combined efforts of the African Plant Breeding Academy and The African Orphan Crops Consortium is having on the improvement of orphan crop quality and nutritional value. "The academy has, since its foundation, brought in 81 researchers from all parts of Africa for what are, in effect, masterclasses from the world’s top plant-breeding specialists. These include lectures on the consortium’s latest results, so that the visitors can begin to apply those results to their work." Read more @ TheEconomist.com
If not viewable in your browser, article available as a PDF here: http://sbc.ucdavis.edu/files/274773.pdf

UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy starts the fifth class
The UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy started its fifth class of students last week with a session in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands. With generous support from local industry represented by Seed Valley, the session was hosted by Monsanto and included visits to Syngenta, Bejo, Corn Bak and Incotec. Over the next two years, this class will spend more than 300 hours in classes, workshops and the field, training to complete this premium professional certificate program by attending a total of six sessions, held in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands; Angers, France; Gatersleben, Germany; Gent, Belgium; Almeria, Spain, and University of California, Davis.

UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy graduates the fourth class

UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy (PBA) has graduated the fourth class with a session and graduation in Davis, California. Over the last two years, during the six sessions held in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands; Angers, France; Gatersleben, Germany; Gent, Belgium; Almeria, Spain, and UC Davis, ten participants in this class spent more than 300 hours in classes, workshops and the field, training towards the PBA Certificate. The PBA is a premium professional certificate program offered in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. Fourteen classes offered worldwide since 2006 were attended by 260 breeders from 58 countries, making the PBA the most recognized program of its kind. The next class of the European PBA starts in October 2017. This class is full, applications are accepted for a waiting list. For more information, contact Joy Patterson at jpatterson@ucdavis.edu or visit PBA online.

Promoting neglected and underutilized crops: FAO & African Orphan Crops Consortium try to safeguard valuable food resources

A woman cleaning Moringa seeds in Niger. Moringa is a genus of shrubs and trees with multi-purpose uses. All parts of the Moringa tree are edible.

The African Orphan Crop Consortium (AOCC), an African-led, international consortium founded by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Mars, Incorporated (all UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy partners) are working to sequence the genomes of 101 African underutilized ('orphan') crops. “This information will allow breeders to use the same strategies and technologies as those for Western crops, such as maize, to make rapid improvements in African crops,” said ICRAF Director General Tony Simons, whose organization provides Secretariat services, a laboratory and classrooms to the AOCC. Read More