The Africa Vegetable Breeding Consortium (AVBC) was established in 2018 as an initiative of the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA). It aims is to make the African vegetable seed sector more competitive by supporting local seed companies.

The first day provided an opportunity for breeders to present the latest developments in their research and the exclusive breeding lines they have developed for this year. The end of the day was dedicated to individual meetings between seed company representatives and WorldVeg breeders, that allowed seed companies to present their specific problems and needs, and WorldVeg breeders proposed potential tailored solutions.

The second day of the workshop was the highlight, with visits to see the new WorldVeg breeding lines in the field. Seed company representatives heard explanations from WorldVeg pepper breeder Derek Barchenger regarding virus resistance in its breeding lines. Among these, the new habanero AVPP 1922 attracted much attention with its anthracnose resistance and high level of capsaicinoids that give the spicy taste that consumers want.

WorldVeg tomato breeder Assaf Eybishitz showed a tomato breeding line with the SW5 gene that provides resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). This virus, which has already reached all the world’s major tomato-producing areas, is increasingly affecting Africa, and all the tomato lines have broad spectrum tolerance to bacterial wilt which is another major problem in Africa.

Narinder Dhillion, WorldVeg cucurbit breeder, presented a large number of pumpkin lines, including those tolerant to downy mildew and many virus diseases, with AVPU20167 also giving impressive flesh-filling rate. And WorldVeg legume breeder Ramakrishnan Nair, focused on the development of new mungbean lines with very short growth cycles such as AVMU23002 which can be harvested after just 63 days.

Beyond these ‘global vegetables’, WorldVeg also works on the improvement of traditional African vegetables, led by Fekadu Dinssa and colleagues. He showed new dual purpose amaranth breeding lines with high yields of both leafy greens and seed, and there was special interest in white-colored African eggplant lines that have high tolerance to bacterial wilt and fusarium wilt.

The last day was reserved for further field visits to see the activities of some of the seed companies. This included a visit to East-West Seed in Moshi which provided insights on hybrid seed production and associated logistics. The final visit was to a demonstration field of Rijkzwaan in Arusha, with a focus on marketing aspects of seed production.

As participants departed, they expressed their gratitude to WorldVeg for organizing the event, and that had appreciated the overall quality of the workshop, and particularly seeing the varieties in the field. Next years’ annual AVBC meeting will be held in Cotonou, Benin, in September 2024.

Mwasilwa Ambali