In Ethiopia, barley is often referred to as the “poor man's bread” and the “orphan crop” of the Ethiopian highlands. It is used as a staple food as well as animal feed and for brewing. The project aims to show how scientific findings in plant breeding can contribute to biodiversity and food security in an African country. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) of harvested crops is used to predict agronomic characteristics such as grain yield, disease resistance or quality. Similar to molecular markers, the wavelengths collected are used to predict characteristics (“phenomic selection”).

The scientific objectives are as follows:

(1) to investigate the factors that influence the accuracy of the predictions and, based on these findings,

(2) to identify potential applications of the technology in Ethiopian breeding programs.

A large amount of data has already been collected in a national barley breeding program in Ethiopia, covering the agronomic and spectral traits of up to 1010 genotypes in 7-20 environments (i.e. location x year combinations). After biometric analysis, this data will be the basis of a modern, highly innovative rapid breeding program for barley with an optimized selection gain per year.