David Pot

David Pot is a plant geneticist at CIRAD (the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development). He earned a PhD in Forest tree Genetics and Breeding at INRAE. After a short postdoctoral position on drosophila genetics at UC Davis (USA) he returned to plants at CIRAD in 2004 and began working on sorghum in 2009. His main research interests relate to the identification of the genetic factors controlling the variability of key agronomic traits and the optimization of plant breeding strategies. To achieve these goals, he develops research activities spanning from population genomics (from domestication to selection) to plant breeding scheme optimization. He is leading projects focused on sorghum biomass and grain production that mobilize large multidisciplinary networks (starting from social sciences to gene functional validation). At the genetics and breeding levels, in collaboration with ecophysiologists and end-product scientists, he contributed to the definition of plant ideotypes to target for different value chains and environmental contexts. He participated in the development and characterization of innovative crossing designs aimed at simultaneously supporting gene discovery and breeding efforts. He develops these activities with the belief that collaborative networks between public and private sectors on one hand and between North and South partners on the other hand are key to providing relevant innovations and applied solutions for the different stakeholders along the sorghum value chain. Since 2022, he has served as the sorghum value chain lead at CIRAD.