MLN Phenotyping Services for Partners

KALRO and CIMMYT have been screening germplasm against MLN in Kenya since Nov 2012. The dedicated screening facility at KALRO Naivasha was established in 2013. This facility now represents a high-quality phenotyping platform, permitting large-scale screening of germplasm from regional partners (both public and private sectors).

The following table shows the number of entries and rows screened for National Research System (NRS) partners and seed companies since 2014. Partners using the Naivasha screening site in 2015-2021 include:

Year	CIMMYT		NARS				Total
	CIMMYT		NARS		Private Seed companies		Total
	Entries	Rows	Entries	Rows	Entries	Rows	Entries	Rows
2014	25715	52854	5133	10627	10421	17102	41,269	80,583
2015	7022	10284	3372	5077	3263	4038	13,657	19,399
2016	23789	33537	10913	12791	10217	12739	44,919	59,067
2017	16174	24066	4580	5867	4162	6878	24,916	36,811
2018	29816	31954	8548	8165	8332	8735	46,696	48,854
2019	21563	35891	1047	2094	3169	5774	25,779	43,759
2020	4123	9680	939	3604	2397	6316	7,459	19,600
2021	5841	13718	2125	4250	2661	3973	10,627	21,941
2022	6604	16159	1571	2939	1570	3120	9745	22,218
2023	9664	21437	892	1798	1225	3932	11,781	27,167
2024	6881	12726	2041	2791	2091	3630	11,013	19,147
2025	3436	6337	983	1992	2659	2755	7,078	11,084
Total	160,628	268,643	42,144	61,995	52,167	78,992	254,939	409,630

MLN Screening is done free of charge for NARS within an established limited number of rows.

** MLN Screening is done on a cost-recovery basis for private sector partners

Summary of MLN phenotyping done at MLN screening facility, Naivasha:

Partner Type	Entries	Rows	% Rows
CIMMYT	160,628	268,643	66
NARS	42,144	61,995	15
Private Partners	52,167	78,992	19
Total	254,939	409,630

To date, close to 80% of materials screened at Naivasha is susceptible under artificial inoculation. However, resistant/tolerant materials have been identified. Four first-generation MLN tolerant /resistant hybrids have been released in East Africa and a further 15-17 second-generation hybrids are at advanced stages of testing.