Thiago Mendes

International Potato Center · Genetics and Crop Improvement

The triadic comparison of technologies (tricot) method is a participatory, citizen science method for evaluating a number of technologies (e.g. varieties) in groups of three, with analysis based on ranking. The tricot method is supported by the ClimMob platform (ClimMob.net) which enables the design of on-farm experiments, collection of data (using...

Matching crop varieties to their target use context and user preferences is a challenge faced by many plant breeding programs serving smallholder agriculture. Numerous participatory approaches proposed by CGIAR and other research teams over the last four decades have attempted to capture farmers' priorities/preferences and crop variety field perfor...

Ralstonia solanacearum , a highly destructive phytopathogen causing bacterial wilt disease, poses a substantial risk to the potato value chain, putting global food security at risk and impeding potato production. ‘Cruza 148’, a locally adapted potato genotype, has been reported to exhibit resistance when cultivated in areas with a background of bac...

Root and tuber crop breeding is at the front and center of CIP’s science program, which seeks to develop and disseminate sustainable agri-food technologies, information and practices to serve objectives including poverty alleviation, income generation, food security and the sustainable use of natural resources. CIP was established in 1971 in Peru,...

BACKGROUND Potato varieties have diverse biophysical characteristics, so it is important for breeders to have the capacity to choose those that meet the preferences of end users, such as mealiness, firmness, and taste, among others. Combining user preferences with descriptive information regarding the sensory characteristics of boiled potatoes can...

BACKGROUND Previously, a lexicon and protocol for quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) was established for the Uganda sweetpotato breeding program. The implication of QDA scores for priority sensory attributes on consumer preference should be determined to interpret results efficiently and make decisions effectively. The present study aimed to d...

Malnutrition is one of the global issues of public health concern, and iron and zinc deficiencies are at the top of the list. Iron deficiency affects more than 2 billion people in the world and is a major cause of anemia. Potato has the potential to be an important source of iron and zinc. This study assessed the nature and magnitude of genetic var...

The 5‐year project ‘Breeding roots, tubers and banana products for end user preferences’ (RTBfoods) focused on collecting consumers' preferences on 12 food products to guide breeding programmes. It involved multidisciplinary teams from Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Diverse data types were generated on preferred qualities of users (farmers, fam...

The potential of biofortified crops and their critical role in Rwandan diets motivated the Ministry of Agriculture through Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) to adopt a national policy of combating micronutrients’ deficiencies by developing and releasing fortified crop varieties. In this context, 37 biofortified potato...

Crop breeding programs have often focused on the release of new varieties that target yield improvement to achieve food security and reduce poverty. While continued investments in this objective are justified, there is a need for breeding programs to be increasingly more demand-driven and responsive to the changing customer preferences and populati...

Common guava (Psidium guajava) and Pelargonium (Pelargonium zonale) have shown in-vitro antibacterial activity against Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum sp. nov. in previous studies. However, their phytochemical constituents and bioactive compounds against the pathogen have not been identified. The present study investigated the phytochemical components...

Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum sp. nov.) is a major disease devastating global potato production. Proposed management options are mostly expensive and ineffective. This has necessitated efforts to develop cheaper and eco-friendly management options such as use of botanicals. Antibacterial activity of ethanol and acetone plant extracts...

Five new potato clones (CIP393280.64, CIP393371.58, CIP393077.159, CIP396018.241, and CIP398190.615) and two local checks (Kinigi and Kirundo) were evaluated in fourteen sites under the National Performance Trials (NPTs) for two growing seasons using a randomized complete block design with three replications to identify their yield performance, ada...

Using quantitative, qualitative and sensorial data collected from western (Kabale) and central (Rakai) Uganda, this paper identifies and describes gender‐responsive traits preferred in varieties for the boiled potato market. These traits are aggregated into a product profile to support breeding programme design and decision‐making that will increas...

This study evaluated the adaptability and stability of twenty-three Table and Processing potato genotypes. The experiments were conducted in six test environments during 2015 and 2016 sowing seasons, in a randomized complete block design of three replications. Abstract-This study evaluated the adaptability and stability of twenty-three Table and Pr...

In sugarcane (Saccharum spp) breeding, despite the potential use of reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS) to explore both non‐additive and additive effects for economic value traits, to date no publications have targeted obtaining heterotic groups to support this selection strategy. The aim of this study was: i) to identify sugarcane gene pools to e...

This study was done to determine the mid-parent heterosis, the general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities of storage root yield, sweet potato virus resistance (SPVD), flesh color and vine weight of candidate sweet potato clones. Sixteen selected genotypes from two gene pools were crossed in an 8B×8A cross having 64 families. Trials were c...

Diploid potato

The recommendation of sugarcane clones depends on several factors, as the response or performance of the clones over different cuts or harvests. The clone by harvest interaction might be difficult to identify superior clones in the final stages of the sugarcane breeding program. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate and describe the...

The purpose of this study was to compare the method BLUPIS (best linear unbiased prediction individual simulated) with mass selection in terms of efficiency in identifying the best genotypes in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) families. Mass selection was performed by two breeders with 25 yr of experience. The BLUPIS procedure selected families...

The objective of this research was to analyze the use of cultivar index selection (GARCIA, 1998) in the indication of superior genotypes of common bean for the northwest region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in comparison to the other nonparametric indices used in plant breeding. The indexes of ELSTON (1963), MULAMBA & MOCK (1978), SCHWARZBACH (19...

The identification and recommendation of superior genotypes is crucial for the growth of industrial crops, and sugarcane breeding performs a vital role by developing more productive cultivars. The study of genotype x environment interaction has been an essential tool in this process. Thereby, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relatio...

The objective of this study was to determine the optimal number of repetitions to be used in competition trials of popcorn traits related to production and quality, including grain yield and expansion capacity. The experiments were conducted in 3 environments representative of the north and northwest regions of the State of Rio de Janeiro with 10 B...

Sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) is one of the most important crops in Brazil. The high demand for sugarcane-derived products has stimulated the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in recent years, exploring different environments. The adaptability and the phenotypic stability of sugarcane genotypes in the Minas Gerais state, Brazil, were evaluated based o...

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a adaptabilidade e estabilidade fenotípica de genótipos de cana-de-açúcar no estado de Minas Gerais. Foram avaliados 15 genótipos em nove ambientes. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em blocos completos casualizados, com três repetições. Para discriminar os genótipos, utilizou-se a variável TPH (toneladas de pol...

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of phenotypic and genotypic values in the path analysis involving agronomic characteristics in sugarcane at the stages of plant cane and ratoon cane. Under these two approaches it was calculated the direct and indirect effects of yield components - number of stalks per plot, diameter of stalk and ave...

The purpose of this study was to quantify the genetic diversity among popcorn genotypes on the market and in the final test phase, suitable for three environments in Brazil, based on 11 agronomic traits and ISSR markers. In the environment Campos dos Goytacazes a more reliable group formation was observed than in the other environments. The molecul...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the interaction between genotypes and environments, evaluate adaptability and stability, and study the relationship between genetic structure and homeostasis. In addition to landrace, the study evaluated recommended genotypes or genotypes in experimental recommendation stages (varieties and hybrids) in thre...

Dimorphandra mollis Benth., a species native to Cerrado, presents a great importance for the pharmaceutical industry as a source of several active principles, mainly the bioflavonoid rutin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenological behavior of "fava-d'anta" in the north of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, correlating phenophases with climat...

The objective of this work was to evaluate the bases saturation levels of substrate for seedlings production of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. The experimental design utilized was completely randomized with five treatments [levels of saturation through bases: 6 (natural), 15, 30, 45 and 60%] with six replications. The best seedlings were production wh...

The objective of this work was to evaluate the bases saturation levels of substrate for seedlings production of Azadirachta indicaA. Juss. The experimental design utilized was completely randomized with five treatments [levels of saturation through bases: 6 (natural), 15, 30, 45 and 60%] with six replications. The best seedlings were production whe...