BMS Server training at CERAAS

In breeding programmes, a vast amount of data is produced every cropping season and often time is not enough to allow decisive breeding decisions on selection and planning for the next generation. Therefore, a support system is needed to integrate all processes in a breeding programme to maximize benefit. The Breeding Management System (BMS) is the core product of the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP), presenting an exhaustive array of interrelated breeding informatics and related databases. The BMS allows users to conduct queries across data (phenotype and genotype) andmanage breeding activities in a very user-friendly and efficient way.

The BMS is available to breeders, particularly those in developing countries by proper dissemination through the IBP itself or Regional Hubs to bring the tools close to users. The role of these Hubs is to strengthen local crop breeding capacity by providing technical support, specific crop expertise and personalised training for breeders in their regions, having themselves adopted  IBP tools and practices to manage their day-to-day activities.

The latest BMS Server edition not only represents a major improvement in terms of functionality and usability for users but, more importantly, is also bringing about a revolution in terms of sharing data within and between institutions, and of ensuring that data are retained and used beyond individual projects. Specific deployment objectives include :

• To introduce the BMS Server edition and provide technical support in its use (v6), including embedded modules such as Breeding View;
• To provide training and support as part of the capacity building component of the IBP Hub mission, for a broader adoption and use of the BMS v6 in the overall Breeding Programmes at ISRA (CERAAS, CNRA and CRA Saint Louis) ;
• To develop a social network as an avenue in providing feedback and receiving new feature requests from users on how to improve the system;
• To prepare the data migration process from the Desktop version to the the Server version at the institutional level, collecting programme backups, planning for the migration process, etc.

In line with these objectives, ISRA-CERAAS, an IBP Regional Hub, is organising a training onsite for the implementation of the BMS Server v6 in Thies, Senegal. The objective of the training is to support the breeders and technicians in plant breeding at ISRA (CERAAS, CNRA, CRA Saint Louis, and CDH Dakar) with the use and deployment of the BMS, digitised data collection, and statistical analysis.

For the full details, please see the announcement on the CERAAS website.