AGAP Research Unit (Breeding and Adaptation of tropical and mediterranean plants) – Cirad (Guadeloupe, French West Indies).

 The AGAP Partner has a staff of 350, of which 65 are based in Guadeloupe. It focuses on the genetic improvement of tropical and mediterranean crops, with 3 main research areas:
1. Crop development and adaptation
2. Dynamics of crop diversity and domestication
3. Genetics and crop improvement

 The Guadeloupe-based part of AGAP has skills in tropical crops management, genetics, breeding and pathology. It is involved jointly with ASTRO in the management of the BRC ‘Tropical plants’. It has developed expertise in the characterization and diagnostics of banana viruses and collaborates with partners 1, 3 and 5 on the characterization of virus species infecting yams.

 The Guadeloupe-based part of AGAP manages several regional and international research projects focused on emerging diseases of crops and animals, and on the sustainable management of Black Sigatoka, a fungal disease of bananas. It is also heading Cirad’s banana genetic improvement program and, as such, manages a collection of 450 banana genotypes representing the widest banana genetic diversity collection available worldwide.

 It hosts a range of facilities that will be used for the project, including a well equipped molecular biology laboratory, greenhouses, controlled-conditions growth chambers and a cell culture laboratory.

Contact : pierre-yves.teycheney@cirad.fr
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