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Global Scholar, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources  (CANR)

INFLUENCE OF PIGEON PEA (Cajanus cajan) -YAM (Dioscorea rotundata) INTERCROP ON PLANT-PARASITIC NEMATODES AND YIELD OF WHITE YAM

Financial analysis of Pigeonpea-Yam cropping system options and implications on profitability of smallholder farmers in Ghana

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) and white yam (Dioscorea rotundata) cropping system: Improved resource use and productivity in Ghana

Sustainable Intensification and Climate-Smart Yam Production for Improved Food Security in West Africa: A Review

Assessment of the organoleptic properties, species delimits and varietal identities of pennyworts in Sri Lanka

Cholani Weebadde is an associate professor and plant breeder for international programs at Michigan State University (MSU). Trained in genetics, plant breeding, and biotechnology, she is dedicated to training the next generation of plant breeders as hunger fighters.

After graduating with her PhD from MSU, Cholani worked in international agriculture outreach for over a decade and then moved on to research, teaching, and outreach activities as a faculty member with the Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences (PSM) Department. She currently holds a 100% teaching appointment but continues to maintain a strawberry breeding and research program to provide hands-on training to graduate and undergraduate students. Her international graduate students have focused on crops and traits of national importance for their graduate degree research. As a result of her lifelong passion for training plant breeders, she has developed a curriculum to launch Global Plant Breeding, a brand new fast-track (4 semesters) online master’s program in Spring 2025.

As a graduate student who dual-majored in the Genetics and Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) programs and benefits from the global knowledge networks built and nurtured at MSU as a faculty member, she appreciates and wants to use the platforms and visibility that MSU provides to transfer plant breeding knowledge and expertise across borders through online education.

Meeting Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Man who fed the world, as a student and as a faculty member at MSU, was an inspiration for Cholani to realize the power of a plant breeder to make a difference. She believes that plant breeders have a larger role to play and hopes to inspire others to join in her efforts to educate the next generation as we strive to feed a hungry world.

Global Food Security

Hunger

Plant Breeding

Climate Adaptation

MSU Profile

ResearchGate Citations

Pigeon pea, white yam might make perfect crop combination in Ghana

Assistant Professor - Plant Breeder for International Programs

MSU Associate Professor and plant breeder talks about the important work of MSU's Global Plant Breeding Program.

Cholani Weebadde: Hunger Fighter

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