The 41 st International Vegetable Training Course successfully concludes

The World Vegetable Center in partnership with Kasetsart University, recently hosted the 41st International Vegetable Training Course (IVTC) on Vegetable Breeding for the Tropics. This took place over two weeks at the WorldVeg Research and Training Station in the Kamphaeng Saen campus of Kasetsart University, Thailand, from 21 October to 1 November 2024.

This year’s event trained 22 participants from 16 countries. Participants included representatives from ten member states of the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), including Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zambia, three sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Eswatini, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Tuvalu, and others from Ethiopia, Iran, Jamaica, Pakistan and Singapore.

Participants were welcomed by Delphine Larrousse, WorldVeg Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia, and Sukanya Rattanatabtimtong, Assistant to the President for Research, Innovation, and International Affairs at Kasetsart University. This course was taught by experts from Kasetsart University, Khon Kaen University, the the Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Research and Development Office, the Thai Seed Trade Association, and the World Vegetable Center.

Over the ten days of the program, participants engaged in comprehensive training on best practices and advanced techniques for improving vegetable breeding in tropical regions using a blend of classroom lectures, hands-on exercises and field visits. The following topics were taught: (i) plant genetic resources conservation and utilization, (ii) germplasm screening for pests and disease resistance, (iii) establishing seed production pipelines, (iv) breeding scheme of tomato, pepper and cucurbit crops, (v) hybrid cultivar development using male sterility systems, (vi) statistical methods for plant breeding, and (vii) marker-assisted selection.

The first International Vegetable Training Course was held in Thailand in 1982, and the program now counts more than a thousand ‘graduates’ from more than 60 countries, who have benefitted from the intense training over 41 years. Look out for the announcement in late 2025 for the 42^nd iteration!