International Center for Tropical Agriculture

Enhance food plant diversity conservation and use through greater coordination between genebanks and botanic gardens

Societal Impact Statement Food plants are vital to human and planetary health, but their diversity is threatened, making food security, nutrition, and environmental goals more difficult to achieve. Food plant diversity conservation, research, and education can be enhanced through...

Food plant diversity in a rapidly changing world

Societal Impact Statement Diversity in food plants is essential to human and planetary health. On farms, in diets, and in many other areas of food systems, this diversity has undergone enormous change globally, including significant decline. We describe major trends in how food p...

Tree Components in Integrated Crop–Livestock–Forest Systems: Silvicultural Management, Wood Production, Timber Quality, and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Integrated Crop–Livestock–Forest (ICLF) systems have emerged as a key strategy for sustainable agricultural intensification by simultaneously enhancing productivity, ecosystem services, and climate resilience in tropical environments. This review synthesizes current knowledge on...

DNA methylome responses to biotic and abiotic stress in Arabidopsis thaliana : A multi‐study analysis

Abstract Plants have evolved complex physiological and morphological strategies to cope with biotic and abiotic stress. At the molecular level, these responses are partly mediated by epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation. In Arabidopsis thaliana , numerous studies have ex...

Fostering an iterative learning culture for climate services: A case study of the agro-climatic bulletins approach in Vietnam's Mekong River Delta

Tailoring climate information to end users' specific needs has gained prominence in the climate services literature and policy, reflecting a growing recognition of the value of iterative, participatory engagement. This study evaluates the outcomes of the Agro-Climatic Bulletins (...

How does nitrogen application impact soil respiration and CH4 emissions? An experiment in an oil palm plantation on tropical peat

Abstract Oil palm cultivation on peatlands causes severe environmental damage, yet its greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint and underlying biogeochemical drivers remain poorly quantified. This study assessed how nitrogen fertilizer application impacts soil respiration and CH4 emissions...

Can Organic Amendments Override Environmental Filtering of Soil Microbiomes? Evidence From 20 Years Old Agricultural Field Trials in Contrasting Tropical Sites

ABSTRACT Soil microbial communities underpin ecosystem functions critical for sustainable agriculture, yet our understanding of how long‐term management of tropical agroecosystems shapes these communities remains limited. This is particularly the case in sub‐Saharan Africa where...

Estimating on-farm genotypic performance and variability using ranking data

Abstract Key message Our scalable two-step method estimates genotypic performance and genetic parameters from ranking data, producing reliable results comparable to quantitative analyses, enabling the integration of ranking data into breeding pipelines. Abstract Plant breeding re...

Adding Value to Cassava Genetic Resources Conserved at CIAT—Part II: Fifty Years of Evaluation and Use of Landraces for Variety Development

For millennia, farmers in cassava’s homeland in the neotropics selected varieties suited to their climate, soils, biological environments, management systems, and nutritional needs. These actions were fundamental to the crop’s success as a reliable staple energy source. After the...

Candidate gene identification and molecular marker development for the small granule starch trait in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Abstract Cassava ( Manihot esculenta ) is both a vital staple and industrial cash crop, with growing global demand for specialty starches. Small granule cassava starch is highly valued for industrial uses because its reduced size, high amylose content, and improved processing eff...