IAEA/RCA Project Review Meeting (2023)

From October 16 to 20, 2023, the IAEA/RCA Mid-Term Project Review Meeting on Enhanced Crop Productivity and Quality through Mutation by Speed Breeding was successfully held in Beijing, hosted by ICS-CAAS. National Coordinators from 16 Member States—Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam, Fiji, and China—attended the meeting.

During the meeting, National Coordinators reported progress in R&D on mutation by speed breeding and in its application to improve crop yield and quality. Since the project was launched in 2021, three regional international training courses (online and offline) have been organized; three new rapid mutation-breeding technologies have been established and optimized; a set of elite mutant materials has been created and is under continuous evaluation; and 24 new crop varieties have been developed and officially released—effectively enhancing regional rapid-breeding capacity and contributing to food security. The meeting also refined subsequent implementation arrangements and country work plans, and agreed to convene the Second MBN Workshop for Asia and the Pacific under the project framework in 2024.

The IAEA Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA) project RAS5088—“Enhancing Crop Productivity and Quality through Mutation by Speed Breeding” is led by ICS-CAAS with participation from 20 Asia–Pacific countries. Centered on the R&D of mutation-by-speed-breeding technologies and targeting varietal improvement, the project strengthens Member States’ innovation capacity and technical level in rapid mutation breeding.