ABIOYE RACHAEL SMART

Cassava breeding Program, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Nigeria

Contact: Email: ady7kj@r.postjobfree.com Phone: +234 807-***-****, +238*********

Educational background

M.Sc. - Agronomy (Option: Plant breeding and genetics), University of Ibadan, 2017

Thesis: Pericarp integrity of hybrid seeds from crosses among tropicalized shrunken-2 maize (zea maize) inbred lines selected for superior agronomic traits in Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria.

B. Agric. - (Option: Crop Science), Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, 2012

Project topic: EFFECT OF MULCHING ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF CARROT (Daucus carota L.) in Ekpoma, Edo state Nigeria.

Research/work experience:

1 Position: Research supervisor (Post-harvest genotyping and field breeding), IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria (February 2020 – Till date)

Active participation in participatory rural appraisals to identify farmers preferred traits and constraints in cassava production.

Implementation of barcode labels for phenotype product stored.

Ensuring quality control in the breeding program through strict implementation and regularly updating standard operating procedures for all research activities.

Provide technical support by implementing post-harvest phenotyping of cassava roots for quality trials.

Receive, sort, and record samples received from on-station and off-station field trials.

Manage pre-processing of roots samples (cleaning, peeling, and weighing).

Processing roots samples to determine dry matter and starch content.

Convert fresh cassava roots into processed products (mainly gari, starch and odorless fufu).

Determine product yield per standardized unit of fresh roots.

Liaise with Food Science lab to evaluate quality traits on processed products and fresh roots.

Ensure all data are digitally recorded using PhenoApps.

Responsible in collating, curating, and uploading all post phenotyping data to cloud storage (cassavabase).

Liaise with supervisors to plan and ensure procurement of supplies for laboratory analysis.

Assist in training of collaborators, students, trainees/interns and NYSC members

Supervise junior staff and daily rated staff.

Assist in drafting and ensuring strict compliance to Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and relevant Critical control points (CPPs) for cassava roots processing and food products obtained from processed cassava roots.

Establishment, management, and phenotyping of cassava breeding field trials.

Harvesting and collection of harvest data using the Fieldbook application.

2 Position: Research supervisor (Field breeding and population genomics), IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria (March 2017–January 2020).

Establishing research field experiments, data collection using phenoApp, data curation and storage.

Overseeing the receiving, sorting, and processing of cassava root samples from on-station and out-station field trials.

Conversion of fresh cassava roots into processed products like odourless fufu, garri, tapioca and starch.

Assisting with organizing and ensuring proper data management before uploading to cassavabase.org.

Assist in data analysis and contribute to writing of project reports, research papers and posters

Assist in drafting and ensuring strict compliance to Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and relevant Critical control points (CPPs) for cassava roots processing and food products obtained from processed cassava roots.

Assist in supervision and training of interns and research students.

Supervised and contributed to establishment yield trials (Preliminary and Advanced) across testing networks within Nigeria to identify high yielding Cassava genotypes with excellent resistance to cassava mosaic disease and other biotic stress.

Designed, managed and phenotyped mapping populations for various breeding objectives.

Assisted in routine curation, visualization and statistical analysis of yield trial datasets: analysis of variance to test for significance of main effects, for single site and multi-environment datasets using AMMI and GGEbiplot models in R and/or SAS.

Assisted in integrating phenotypic and molecular data from mapping populations for genetic mapping studies of traits such as cassava mosaic and bacterial blight diseases, root dry matter content and fresh yield.

Implemented and supervised routine agronomic practices such as land request and preparation, proper planting, mechanized weeding, irrigation, fertilizer application etc.

Backstopping of Research Technicians and Field workers to ensure that standard operating procedures and critical control points are observed and followed and supervision and training of interns and undergraduate students.

3. Position: Graduate Intern (Cassava breeding), IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria (February, 2016 – January, 2017)

Assisted in establishment, management, and phenotyping of cassava breeding field trials.

Participated in harvesting and collection of harvest data using the Fieldbook application.

Phenotyping of cassava field trials for disease and pest reaction.

Active participation in controlled hand pollination to generate recombinant cassava progenies

Lead team responsible for proper pedigree record keeping using Fieldbook application.

Presentation of research results above in symposium (oral and poster presentations)

Featured Research Articles

1.Root yield and quality assessment of 18 improved biofortified cassava genotypes evaluated in an advance yield trial in Nigeria (under review).

2.Pericarp integrity of hybrid seeds from crosses among tropicalized shrunken-2 maize (zea maize) inbred lines selected for superior agronomic traits in Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria (M.Sc. Project).

3.Effect of mulching on the growth and yield of carrots (Daucus carota), in Ekpoma Edo State Nigeria (B.Sc. Project).

Achievement and Projects

1.Planting, establishment, and management of NextGen cassava breeding trial.

2.Successful drafting and implementation of standard operating procedures that lead to increase in technical capacity of my team and improved data quality.

3.Successfully incorporated the use of Pheno-apps and tablet for data collection into my team.

4.Supervision and mentoring of undergraduates, interns, and SIWES

5.Optimization of Garri and fufu experiment methodology; improving precision and accuracy of measurements.

Awards

Best poster presentation IITA-IARSAF 19TH Annual Symposium of the International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows, IITA, Nigeria March 2016.

Workshops and conferences attended

1.Use of R statistical software in Analysis of Fixed and mixed models, IITA in collaboration with Cornel University, USA. September 4 – 15, 2017

2.NextGen cassava PhenoApps workshop, IITA, Nigeria in Collaboration with department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca. May 2017.

3.Hands-on training in basic analysis, data visualization and management, R script writing for Fixed and mixed models. March 2017.

4.Experimental design and Phenoapps Workshop, IITA in Collaboration with department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca. March 2016.

5.Practical workshop on using PhenoApps for laboratory and field data collection and advanced designing of field experiments, understanding spatial correlation and prediction analysis using R. March 2016.

6.SOP writing for High Quality Cassava Research, Cassava Breeding, IITA. April 2016.

7.Scientific Writing Course, 6-9 July, 2022

8.Use of R statistical software in Analysis of Fixed and mixed models, IITA in collaboration with Cornel University, USA. March, 2022.

Extracurricular activities

1.Cooking, reading and sports (Volley ball and Lawn tennis).

2.A good term player.

Referees

Okaka V.B. Professor of crop sciences, Dept. crop science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ambrose Alli University Edo State Nigeria, ady7kj@r.postjobfree.com +234 806-***-****

Ismail Rabbi PhD. Molecular Geneticist / Breeder, Cassava breeding unit, IITA-Ibadan Nigeria, ady7kj@r.postjobfree.com +234-******* IITA, +1-201-***-****, +234**********

Mercy E.Diebiru-Ojo PhD. Cassava Seed systems specialist, Cassava breeding unit IITA-Ibadan Nigeria, ady7kj@r.postjobfree.com +234**********

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