ISSCT Joint Germplasm & Breeding
and Molecular Biology Workshops

Theme: Developing Climate Resilient Sugarcane

Barbados, Hastings  ·  9–13 November 2026

First Announcement

The Germplasm & Breeding and Molecular Biology Sections of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT) will jointly hold the 14th Germplasm & Breeding Workshop and 11th Molecular Biology Workshop in Hastings, Barbados, from 9 to 13 November 2026.

Workshop website:  www.issct-barbados.org

Call for Abstracts of oral communications and of posters

Technical Programme

The workshop will cover a wide range of topics related to sugarcane improvement, sugarcane genetics, genome structure, molecular breeding and transgenic approaches, including:

Breeding and selection strategies & methodologies

  • Selection for sugar, biomass, bioenergy, other traits.
  • Variety exchanges in a changing world.
  • Strategies for developing climate smart sugarcane.
  • Enhancing and exploiting genetic diversity.
  • Hybridization facilities, techniques.
  • Application of phenotyping technologies.
  • Breeding databases.

Genetics and genome analysis

  • Genome structure and diversity.
  • Association mapping and QTL analysis.
  • Marker Assisted and Genomic selection.
  • Bioinformatics tools and databases.
  • Gene discovery and transcriptomics.

Transgenics and gene editing

  • Development of gene editing technologies.
  • Deployment of transgenic varieties.
Field visits are also planned to the West Indies Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station Germplasm and hybridization facility.

Workshop Venue

The venue will be communicated in the second announcement.

Visas

Most nationalities can enter Barbados without a visa. You can confirm whether you require a visa at the Barbados Immigration website. If you need assistance with the visa process, please feel free to contact us.

Membership dues for the period 2025–2028 may be settled directly to the ISSCT Secretariat. For membership application and further information please visit the ISSCT website.