Lene Lange, Chair of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees, opens the new crop research informatics laboratory.

The Power of Informatics

Combining computing power to help the world's rice, wheat and maize farmers.

The long and expensive process of developing new crop varieties for the world's disadvantaged received a major boost with the joint launch in Mexico and the Philippines of a new scientific program and facilities that unite key databases and research on the planet's three most important crops, rice, wheat and maize.

The new Crop Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL) at CIMMYT will link with existing facilities at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. It heralds a new era in rice research, especially in such areas as the development of improved crop varieties said IRRI Director General Robert S. Zeigler. “Not only will this reduce the time needed to develop new crop varieties – because all three are cereals and so share a range of common characteristics – but we also expect it to reduce the cost of such research.”

Scientists at the new joint facilities are already working on the development of a single crop information system and comparative biology infrastructure for rice, wheat and maize that will greatly assist in the development of new crop varieties. The three staples provide 60 percent of global food needs annually, and cover more than 70 percent of the planet's productive cropping land.

“We're very pleased that the IRRI-CIMMYT Alliance – established just a year ago – is already achieving such important progress,” said CIMMYT Director General Masa Iwanaga. “As we enter the era of genomics research, the efficient and effective management of information, and vitally important databases, is crucial to the ongoing development of new crop varieties.”

This collaboration will permit new kinds of comparative biology research to be conducted in collaboration with international partners. In particular, the new joint venture will provide an iterative multidisciplinary research platform that has not been feasible before that will move into uncharted but very exciting scientific territory of comparative biology.

IRRI Director General, Bob Zeigler and Deputy Director General for Research, Ren Wang, join in via video conference link from the Philippines.

Bioinformatics specialists Guy Davenport from CIMMYT and Richard Bruskiewich from IRRI contend that "Rice forms an ideal model for this research because of its small, sequenced genome. Maize represents an excellent platform for trait studies due to its outbreeding nature and long history of substantial public and private sector investment. Finally, wheat represents a complementary cereal model by virtue of its relatively close relationship to rice and extensive genetic information."

Dr. Jonathan Crouch, director of the Genetic Resources Enhancement Unit at CIMMYT, said, “Tools to facilitate the use of molecular biology to accelerate and focus crop improvement are emerging in several institutions around the world. A major priority for CRIL will be to further develop those strategies and tools to extend them to other crops, and deploy them in international as well as national crop improvement programs focused on developing agricultural needs.”

“This system will be especially useful for researchers in poorer, developing countries who may not normally have access to such detailed information on so many different varieties,” said Graham McLaren, the head of the CRIL team.

For more information contact Graham McLaren (g.mclaren@cgiar.org)