The establishment of grain and flour phenotyping platforms for groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet represents an important milestone, but it is only one step in a longer journey.
Across CIMMYT and its partners under the Africa Dryland Crops Improvement network (ADCIN), we are expanding the capacity to generate meaningful information on grain quality, nutritional value, processing characteristics, and end-use potential. By establishing these platforms within the regions where these crops are grown and studied, researchers, breeders, students, and partners are gaining access to tools and data to support innovation and decision-making. It’s exciting to see instruments being installed and laboratories becoming operational, but the true impact of these investments will be measured by how effectively the tools are used to create value for research, breeding, education, and agrifood systems.
These platforms bring together high-throughput phenotyping tools that enable rapid assessment of grain and flour quality traits in groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet. Beyond physical grain characteristics, they generate information on nutritional and functional attributes, including protein, oil, starch, grain color, and essential minerals including iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and calcium (Ca). By making quality assessment fast and accessible, these tools can support breeding programs, nutrition research, and product development. And these platforms can also be used for other crops.
While these platforms are in the early stages of operation, there are encouraging signs of growing interest among user groups. Plant breeders are beginning to consider how nutritional and processing quality traits can complement traditional breeding targets such as yield, adaptation, and resilience. Laboratory technicians are building experience and confidence in generating quality-related data, while students and young scientists are exploring opportunities to incorporate grain quality into their research. Collaborators are identifying potential applications, and interest is emerging among professionals and agripreneurs about product development and value-adding opportunities. These early interactions suggest that the foundations for a broader grain quality community are taking shape.
This progress is the result of collaboration across teams and institutions. It builds on the commitment, experience, and support of CIMMYT colleagues in Senegal, Kenya, and our Grain and Food Quality and Nutrition Laboratory in Mexico, and our partners at the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research’s (ISRA) Regional Center for the Improvement of Adaptation to Drought (CERAAS). Each contribution, whether technical, scientific, logistical, or operational, has been essential in moving this initiative forward.
Much work remains to be done. Methods must be validated and optimized, and data management systems and analytical workflows must continue to evolve. A recent achievement was overcoming challenges in calibrating software and integrating data by using CropSense, a platform developed by CERAAS’s Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence team. This collaboration with CERAAS demonstrated how local expertise, digital innovation, and scientific partnership can accelerate the effective deployment and utilization of phenotyping technologies.
The next phase must go beyond generating more data; it must build a community of practice around grain quality. This community must ask new questions, share experiences, develop applications, and demonstrate the value of phenotyping quality traits for crops that are central to food security, nutrition, and livelihoods across Africa. We are particularly excited about the work that two VACS fellows, Odilon-Parfait Akotchaye and Meron Bogale, will begin next month in Kiboko, Texcoco, and Thiès, contributing to this growing network of collaboration, learning, and innovation.
We have made an important start. Now follows the crucial task of ensuring that knowledge, skills, partnerships, and demand for these new platforms grow, and result in better varieties and products for farmers and consumers.
Mbolo – together – we will make it happen.