Plant Breeding Division

The Plant Breeding Division seeks to promote profitable and sustainable tobacco farming through:

1. Continuous examination of existing varieties for any disease resistance gaps and changes in market-demand for specific cured leaf styles which may necessitate new breeding programmes.
2. Developing and releasing varieties which are widely adaptable to meet specific grower requirements.
3. Coordination and Promotion of stakeholder participation in the development and release of tobacco cultivars
4. Maintaining a wide germplasm pool that can be exploited for variety improvement.
5. Maintaining breeder seed stocks of high quality in quantities that ensure the unhindered production of commercial seed.
6. Incorporation of cell and molecular biology tools (Marker Assisted Selection (MAS), Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) Analysis, Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) to facilitate novel traits discovery and also expedite the breeding process.
7. Developing and improving Katambora grass varieties and promoting their use in tobacco farming systems
8. Collaboration with fellow international tobacco and grass breeding institutions in the development and evaluation of varieties
9. Continuous compilation and distribution of information on tobacco and grass varieties to growers and other stakeholders
10. Advancing knowledge through scientific publications and scientific research through local, regional and international collaborations
11. Conducting research into alternative uses of tobacco and alternative crops to tobacco that growers may need to adopt should a tobacco ban be effected in future.