Global schemes to fight climate change may miss their mark by ignoring the “fundamental connections” in how food is produced, supplied and consumed, say scientists in a new paper published in the journal Nature Food. Global bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), handle the different components of the food system separately. This includes crop and livestock production; food processing, storage and transport; and food consumption. Scientists argue this disjointed approach may harm strategies to reduce food emissions and safeguard food from climate impacts, and that a “comprehensive” and “unified” approach is needed.
Food and climate change are deeply interlinked, but food emissions need to be tracked beyond the “farm gate,” that is, beyond the emissions arising from growing crops or raising livestock. Researchers are uncovering new insights on how the different subcomponents of the food system contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. They argue that we must understand how these components work together — or clash in some cases — in order to effectively address agriculture in a changing climate.
Any fifth grader is familiar with the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, which saw dinosaurs — and three quarters of all species alive at that time — disappear from Earth, probably after it was struck by a very large asteroid. However, few people are aware the planet is currently going through a similar event of an equally large magnitude: a recent report from the World Wide Fund for Nature highlighted a 60% decline in the populations of over 4,000 vertebrate species monitored globally since 1970. This time, the culprit is not an asteroid, but human beings. The biggest threat we represent to other species is also the way we meet one of our most fundamental needs: food production.
As a response, scientists, particularly ecologists, have looked for strategies to minimize trade-offs between agriculture and biodiversity. One such strategy is “land sparing,” also known as the “Borlaug effect.” It seeks to segregate production and conservation and to maximize yield on areas as small as possible, sparing land for nature. Another strategy is “land sharing” or “wildlife-friendly farming,” which seeks to integrate production and conservation in the same land units and make farming as benign as possible to biodiversity. It minimizes the use of external inputs and retains unfarmed patches on farmland.
A heated debate between proponents of land sparing and proponents of land sharing has taken place over the past 15 years. Most studies, however, have found land sparing to lead to better outcomes than land sharing, in a range of contexts. With collaborators from CIFOR, UBC and other organizations, I hypothesized that this belief was biased because researchers assessed farming through a narrow lens, only looking at calories or crop yield.
Many more people today suffer from hidden hunger, or lack of vitamins and minerals in their diets, than lack of calories. Several studies have found more diverse and nutritious diets consumed by people living in or near areas with greater tree cover as trees are a key component of biodiversity. However, most of these studies have not looked at mechanisms explaining this positive association.
Forests for food
Studying seven tropical landscapes in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nicaragua and Zambia, we found evidence that tree cover directly supports diets in four landscapes out of seven. This may be through the harvest of bushmeat, wild fruits, wild vegetables and other forest-sourced foods. The study further found evidence of an agroecological pathway — that forests and trees support diverse crop and livestock production through an array of ecosystem services, ultimately leading to improved diets — in five landscapes out of seven. These results clearly demonstrate that although land sparing may have the best outcomes for biodiversity, it would cut off rural households from forest products such as forest food, firewood and livestock feed. It would also cut off smallholder farms from ecosystem services provided by biodiversity, and smallholders in the tropics tend to depend more on ecosystem services than on external inputs.
In Ethiopia, previous research conducted by some of the same authors has demonstrated that multifunctional landscapes that do not qualify as land sparing nor as land sharing may host high biodiversity whilst being more productive than simpler landscapes. They are more sustainable and resilient, provide more diverse diets and produce cereals with higher nutritional content.
The debate on land sparing vs. sharing has largely remained confined to the circles of conservation ecologists and has seldom involved agricultural scientists. As a result, most studies on land sparing vs. sharing have focused on minimizing the negative impact of farming on biodiversity, instead of looking for the best compromises between agricultural production and biodiversity conservation.
To design landscapes that truly balance the needs of people and nature, it is urgent for agronomists, agricultural economists, rural sociologists and crop breeders to participate in the land sparing vs. sharing debate.
This study was made possible by funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the project Agrarian Change in Tropical Landscapes, and by the CGIAR Research Programs on MAIZE and WHEAT.
Representatives of the Satmile Satish Club (SSCOP) meet with members of the Grambikash Farmers Producer Company in Sitai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. (Photo: SSCOP)
For many years, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been working to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder agriculture in India through conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification practices. The Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project began in 2014 in the state of West Bengal, with participatory research in eight farming cooperatives from the cities of Cooch Behar and Malda. Through the SRFSI project, CIMMYT has helped encourage women to participate in agricultural processes, adopt sustainable practices for various crops and utilize new technologies to improve their livelihoods.
Women farmers in West Bengal have demonstrated an interest in part-time agribusiness occupations. Some of them are coming together to form farmer groups and cooperatives that make a profit.
Mooni Bibi and other women from her community founded the Mukta Self Help Group. This organization of female farmers, supported by CIMMYT through the SRFSI project, helped turned rice cultivation into a business opportunity that helps other women. As a result of these efforts, these women now enjoy more financial freedom, can afford healthier food, are able to provide a better education for their children and benefit from an improved social standing within the community.
The Satmile Satish Club O Pathagar (SSCOP), a CIMMYT partner, has been vital in this process. SSCOP is now a resource for technical support and a training hub for conservation agriculture. It is now focused on introducing conservation agriculture practices to more areas, beginning with Sitai, a new neighborhood in Cooch Behar. This area is rich in proactive female farmers, but its agricultural sector is not fully modernized yet.
A group of women in Sitai founded Grambikash Farmers Producer Company, another farming cooperative that aims to increase crop yields and promote sustainability. The company challenges social norms and helps women become more financially and socially independent. This group of entrepreneurs is committed to apply conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification technology on 30 acres of land, beginning in 2020, with continuous support from SSCOP.
Through its work helping farmers in Cooch Behar, SSCOP is now a center of excellence for rural entrepreneurship as well as an advocate for conservation agriculture in West Bengal. They provide technical support and serve as a training hub for conservation agriculture and various associated sectors. Much of the training done by SSCOP is now self-funded.
Since 2014, CIMMYT has been collaborating with SSCOP to reach out to more than 70,000 farmers in Cooch Behar, spreading the benefits of conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification beyond the lifespan of the SRFSI project.
A new small-scale agricultural machinery leasing scheme became operational in Amhara region, Ethiopia, in December 2019. The initiative offers farmers and group of farmers the opportunity to buy agricultural machineries with only 15-20% advance payment and the rest to be paid during a three-year period. Three farmers participated in the pilot phase of the project.
This initiative, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the German Development Agency (GIZ), is one more step to expand small-scale agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia. CIMMYT and GIZ have explored this area of work since 2015, in collaboration with government and private partners.
Subsistence modes of production, shortage of quality agricultural inputs and farm machinery services are some of the impediments to expand agricultural productivity and enhance food security in Ethiopia.
Small-scale agricultural mechanization, in the Ethiopian context, improves the quality of field operations. For example, farmers are benefiting from row planting, optimal plant population, more precise seed and fertilizer placement, efficient utilization of soil moisture during planting window. The timing of operations is also very important — delays in planting could have a serious negative impact on yield, and harvesting and threshing must be done at a time when there is no labor shortages. Small-scale mechanization drastically saves time and labor compared to conventional crop establishment systems, and reduces yield loss at the time of harvesting and threshing.
Farmers walk by irrigated potato fields during a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Despite these advantages, the adoption rate has been too low. A survey conducted by IFPRI and Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency in 2015 shows that only 9% of farmers in Ethiopia use machine power to plough their land, harvest their output, or thresh their crops. A significant number of farmers continues to use conventional farming systems, using animal and human labor.
Ephrem Tadesse, small-scale mechanization project agribusiness specialist with CIMMYT, said that most of the land holdings in Ethiopia are small and fragmented, and thus not suitable for large agricultural machineries.
CIMMYT and its partners introduced the two-wheel tractor and tested it in different parts of the country. One of the challenges has been the issue of access to finance to buy tractors and their accessories, because of their relatively high costs for individual farmers to buy with their own cash, noted Ephrem.
CIMMYT and GIZ have been working with selected microfinance institutes to pilot a machinery leasing scheme for small-scale agricultural mechanization. For several years, they have partnered with Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share in the Amhara region and with Oromia Capital Goods Lease Finance Business Share Company in the Oromia region. In December 2019, three farmers in the Machakel district of the Amhara region were the first ones to receive their machines through this scheme.
Farmers in the district of Machakel participate in a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Tesfaw Workneh is the father of one of the beneficiaries. “This is great opportunity for farmers like my son to access small-scale agricultural machinery,” said Tesfaw. His son only paid 30,000 Ethiopian birr, about $1,000 — that is 20% of the total cost to own the different agricultural implements. Now, he is able to provide service to other farmers and get income, he explained.
Several types of machinery are being considered for this leasing scheme, using the two wheel-tractor as the source of power: planters, harvesters/reapers, threshers/shellers, trailers and water pumps.
For farmers like Alemayew Ewnetu, this kind of machinery is a novelty that makes farming easier. “Today, my eyes have seen miracles. This is my first time seeing such machineries doing everything in a few minutes. We have always relayed on ourselves and the animals. Now I am considering selling some of my animals to buy the implements,” said Alemayew.
Demelsah Ynew, Deputy Director of Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share, noted that his company was established six years ago to provide services in the manufacturing sector. However, after a discussion with CIMMYT and GIZ, the company agreed to extend its services to the agriculture sector. When revising our role, he noted, we considered the limitations farmers have in adopting technologies and the vast opportunity presented in the agricultural sector. Demelsah explained that to benefit from the leasing scheme, farmers will have to fulfill a few minimal criteria, including being residents of the area and saving 15-20% of the total cost.
A farm worker applies fertilizer in a field of Staha maize for seed production at Suba Agro’s Mbezi farm in Tanzania. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa are generally low. This is in large part because of low fertilizer use. A recent study of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa showed that just 35% of farmers applied fertilizer. Some possible reasons for this could be that farmers may be unaware of the efficacy of fertilizer use; or have degraded soils that do not respond to fertilizer; they may not have the cash to purchase it; or because unpredictable rainfall makes such investments risky. It may also be because local fertilizer prices make their use insufficiently profitable for many farmers.
To better understand the potential fertilizer demand in a particular location, it is important to know how crops respond to fertilizer under local conditions, but it is critical to understand crop responses in terms of economic returns. This requires information about local market prices of fertilizers and other inputs, as well as the prices that a farmer could receive from selling the crop.
While national-level fertilizer prices may be available, it is necessary to consider the extent to which prices vary within countries, reflecting transportation costs and other factors. In the absence of such data, analysis of household-level behaviors requires assumptions about the prices smallholder farmers face — assumptions which may not be valid. For example, evaluations of the returns to production technologies settings have often assumed spatially invariant input and output prices or, in other words, that all farmers in a country face the same set of prices. This is at odds with what we know about economic remoteness and the highly variable market access conditions under which African smallholders operate.
An obstacle to using empirical data on sub-national disparities in fertilizer prices is the scarcity of such data. A new study focused on the spatial discrepancies in fertilizer prices. The study compiled local market urea price in eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 2010-2018 and used spatial interpolation models — using points with known values to approximate values at other unknown points — to predict local prices at locations for which no empirical data was available. It was conducted by scientists at University of California, Davis, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The authors note that this is the first major attempt to systematically describe the spatial variability of fertilizer prices within the target countries and test the ability to estimate the price at unsampled locations.
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in eight East African countries.
“Our study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries and gives a much more accurate representation of the economic realities faced by African smallholders than the picture suggested by using national average prices,” said Camila Bonilla Cedrez, PhD Candidate at University of California, Davis. “We show that in many countries, this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand, and environmental conditions.”
Urea prices were generally found to be more expensive in remote areas or away from large urban centers, ports of entry or blending facilities. There were some exceptions, though. In Benin, Ghana and Nigeria, prices went down when moving away from the coast, with the possible explanation being market prices in areas with higher demand are lower. In other locations, imports of fertilizer from neighboring countries with lower prices may be affecting prices in another country or region, much like political influence. Politically, well-connected villages can receive more input subsidies compared to the less connected ones.
“The performance of our price estimation methods and the simplicity of our approach suggest that large scale price mapping for rural areas is a cost-effective way to provide more useful price information for guiding policy, targeting interventions, and for enabling more realistic applied microeconomic research. For example, local price estimates could be incorporated into household-survey-based analysis of fertilizer adoption,” explained Jordan Chamberlin, CIMMYT spatial economist. “In addition, such predictive ‘price maps’ can be incorporated into targeting and planning frameworks for agricultural investments. For example, to target technology promotion efforts to the areas where those technologies are most likely to be profitable.”
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in nine West African countries.
“The evidence we have compiled in this paper suggests that, while investments in more comprehensive and spatially representative price data collection would be very useful, we may utilize spatial price prediction models to extend the value of existing data to better reflect local price variation through interpolation,” explained Robert J. Hijmans, professor at University of California, Davis. “Even if imperfect, such estimates almost certainly better reflect farmers’ economic realities than assumptions of spatially constant prices within a given country. We propose that spatial price estimation methods such as the ones we employ here serve for better approximating heterogeneous economic market landscapes.”
This study has illustrated new ways for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors suggest that an important avenue for future empirical work would be to evaluate the extent to which the subnational price variation documented is a useful explanatory factor for observed variation in smallholder fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, after controlling for local agronomic responses and output prices. One way to do that may be to integrate input and output price predictions into spatial crop models, and then evaluate the degree to which modeled fertilizer use profitability predicts observed fertilizer use rates across different locations.
Halima Bibi stands on her field in the district of Malda, West Bengal, India.
In recent years, due to increasing demand and financial advantage, maize is gaining importance as a significant cash crop in West Bengal, India.
Halima Bibi is one of the farmers who embraced the possibilities of the crop. All the hard work she put into maize cultivation paid off when she learnt that she would receive the Krishi Karman Prize, awarded by India’s Ministry of Agriculture, for best maize production for the year 2017-2018. “I couldn’t believe my ears when officials from the state agriculture department told me that I had won the award,” Bibi excitedly shared.
As most other farmers in the district of Malda, Bibi and her husband Zakir Hossain were growing rice in their 10-bigha (3.3-acre) land, but life was still a struggle for the couple and their two children, trying to make ends meet.
Life took a turn for Bibi and her family when she observed field activities of the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI) project and she realized the importance of no-till maize cultivation. In 2015, she hired a zero-till multi-crop planter and sowed maize in her land. Since then, there was no looking back.
“When I learnt about the high demand for maize, we started cultivating the crop on half of our land, but gradually shifted to growing maize across our entire 10 bighas,” Bibi said. “The agriculture department helped me a lot.”
Rewarding productivity
Sefaur Rahman, a researcher and assistant director of agriculture in the district of Malda, predicted a dramatic growth in maize cultivation in West Bengal in the coming years, because farmers are now aware of the crop’s increased productivity, profitability and cost efficiency.
Through the SRFSI project, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have reached out to a large number of smallholder farmers, especially marginalized women, to promote conservation agriculture and other sustainable techniques that make farming more profitable. In West Bengal, the project team has worked in partnership with Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya agricultural university and the West Bengal Department of Agriculture, among others.
In the 2017-18 crop season, Bibi produced 16,800 kg of maize from her land. She initially invested 20,000 rupees ($280) per acre, which led to a net profit of 150,000 rupees ($2,113) in total.
A quick lesson learned, the right decision at the right time, and a lot of hard work led Bibi to win the Krishi Karman Prize. These awards are given to the best performing states for raising the country’s food grain production. Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, expressed her satisfaction. “I am happy to share that West Bengal has been selected once again for Krishi Karman Award by Govt. of India for the year 2017-18, primarily for maize production,” she said.
As Bibi’s story confirms, embracing conservation agriculture techniques is the way to reap maximum benefits and profits from the farm. In this case, the zero-till cultivation of maize paved a new road towards self-sufficiency and sustainability for the farmers of West Bengal.
Maize plants at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya, will begin its phenotyping (screening/indexing) cycle of 2020 at the beginning of January 2020, which will continue in four other intervals throughout the year. Interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for screening.
In 2013, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) jointly established the MLN screening facility at the KALRO Naivasha research station in Kenya’s Rift Valley, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
MLN was first discovered in Kenya in 2011 and quickly spread to other parts of eastern Africa. The disease causes premature plant death and unfilled, poorly formed maize cobs, which can lead to up to 100% yield loss in farmers’ fields.
CIMMYT and partners are dedicated to stopping the spread of this deadly maize disease by effectively managing the risk of MLN on maize production through screening and identifying MLN-resistant germplasm. The MLN screening facility supports countries in sub-Saharan Africa to screen maize germplasm — for hybrid, inbred and open pollinated varieties — against MLN in a quarantined environment.
This is the largest dedicated MLN screening facility in East Africa. Since its inception in 2013, the facility has evaluated more than 200,000 accessions — more than 300,000 rows of maize — from more than 15 multinational and national seed companies and national research programs.
Partners can now plan for annual MLN phenotyping (screening/indexing) during 2020 with the schedule below. The improved and streamlined approach for MLN phenotyping should enable partners to accelerate breeding programs to improve resistance for MLN for sub-Saharan Africa.
It’s been eight years since maize lethal necrosis (MLN) was first reported on the African continent. When it appeared in Kenya’s Bomet County in 2011, a sense of panic swept across the maize sector. Experts quickly realized that all maize varieties on the market were susceptible to this viral disease, which could wipe out entire maize fields.
Spearheaded by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a rapid regional response involving national agriculture research systems (NARS), national plant protection organizations and seed sector partners was set up. The response involved multiple approaches: rigorous surveillance, epidemiology research, disease management across the seed value chain, and screening and fast-tracking of the MLN-tolerant maize breeding program.
Now, CIMMYT and its partners are reflecting on the tremendous impact of transboundary coalition to contain the devastating disease.
“Country reports show there are now much less incidents of MLN in the region. We have effectively contained this disease as no new country in sub-Saharan Africa reported MLN since Ethiopia in 2014. This is a great achievement of an effective public private partnership,” noted B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
He was speaking at the closure workshop for the MLN Diagnostics and Management project and the MLN Epidemiology project on October 15-17, 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. Experts from research, plant health and seed sector organizations from eastern and southern Africa reflected on the tremendous impact of the transboundary coalition to contain MLN across the region.
“The outbreak of the disease in Uganda in 2012 was a huge challenge as all the maize varieties and hybrids on the market were susceptible. With the support of CIMMYT and other partners in the national agriculture research systems, we got access to Bazooka, a high-yielding, drought- and MLN-tolerant maize variety that has helped in containing the disease,” said Godfrey Katwere, marketing manager for NASECO.
Until now, 19 MLN-tolerant and -resistant hybrids have been released, helping to keep the disease away from farmers’ fields and to stop its spillover to non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
CIMMYT team members check for traces of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) in maize plants during a visit to the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Science in action
The MLN screening facility, established in Naivasha in 2013, has been key to a better understanding of the disease and to setting up MLN hybrid tolerance and resistance breeding efforts. The facility, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, has supported public and private partners to screen over 200,000 germplasm with around 300,000 rows of maize.
State-of-the-art epidemiology research has been carried out to identify how the disease could be transmitted and the best diagnostics methods along the seed value chain.
MLN is caused by the combination of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any of the viruses belonging to the Potyviridae family.
As part of the project, studies showed that moist soil had higher MCMV virus loads than dry soil. The studies — conducted by Benham Lockhart of University of Minnesota and Peg Redinbaugh, a professor at Ohio State University and Research Leader and Research Plant Molecular Geneticist at USDA — indicated that MCMV can stay active in runoff water, and helped in understanding how the disease is transmitted and how to define management protocols.
“Crop debris may also act as source of MCMV inoculum but for a limited period of up to two months,” said L.M. Suresh, CIMMYT Maize Pathologist, in reference to soil transmission studies conducted by CIMMYT. “A host-free period of two months is, therefore, recommended for effective management of MLN,” he noted.
Rapid and low-cost MLN-causing virus detection methods such as immunostrips and ELISA-based tests were adopted at scale.
“After optimizing the protocols for MLN viruses’ diagnosis suitable for African systems, we transferred these technologies to [national plant protection organizations] and seed companies, not just within the endemic countries but also to the non-endemic countries in southern and west Africa, through intensive trainings,” Prasanna explained. “We created a digital MLN surveillance tool under the Open Data Kit (ODK) app for NPPOs and other stakeholders to effectively carry out MLN surveillance on the ground. The survey information is captured in real time in farmers’ and seed production fields coupled with rapid immunostrips MLN tests,” he remarked.
According to Francis Mwatuni, Project Manager of the MLN Diagnostics and Management project, this proactive and collaborative surveillance network has been an important outcome that helped curb MLN from spreading to non-endemic regions. “In 2016, we only had 625 surveillance points. By 2019, the surveillance points in all the target countries stood at 2,442, which intensified the alertness on MLN presence and how to effectively deal with it,” Mwatuni said. In total, 7,800 surveillance points were covered during the project implementation period.
Over 100 commercial seed firms have also been trained on how to produce MLN-free seed to facilitate trade within the endemic nations and to ensure the disease is not transferred to the non-endemic countries via contaminated seeds.
Participants at the MLN projects closure workshop stand for a group photo. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Sustaining the fight
Researchers continue to work to lessen MLN’s resurgence or new outbreaks. In 2018, incidents in all endemic countries, except Ethiopia, declined sharply. One suggested explanation for the upsurge in Ethiopia, especially in the northwestern region, was reduced use of pesticide for fall armyworm control, as compared to previous years where heavy application of these pesticides also wiped out MLN insect vectors, such as maize thrips and aphids.
At the end of the projects, partners urged for the scale-up of second-generation MLN-tolerant and -resistant varieties. They explained farmers would fully benefit from recent genetic gains of the new improved varieties and its protection against MLN.
“Despite the success registered, MLN is still a major disease requiring constant attention. We cannot rest as we redirect our energies at sustaining and building on the gains made,” said Beatrice Pallangyo, principal agricultural officer in Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives.
After the success containing MLN, stakeholders suggested the need to stay alert on other transboundary pests and diseases such as the tar spot complex, which could be a major threat to Africa’s food security in case of an outbreak.
In an historical first, during the 2018-19 season Nepal’s National Maize Research Program (NMRP) coordinated the production of 4 tons of seed of a leading maize hybrid, as part of national efforts to boost maize production and meet rising demand for the crop.
NMRP oversaw production of Rampur Hybrid-10 seed, in collaboration with the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project funded by the USAID Feed the Future Initiative and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, and local seed companies and farmer cooperatives.
“Producing hybrid maize seed and getting quality seed to farmers at a reasonable price involves multiple stakeholders,” said P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT maize physiologist and HTMA leader. “NMRP is pursuing a public-private partnership model to have key value chain components in place for this. The success this year may encourage other companies to switch from producing seed of open-pollinated maize varieties to that of hybrids, which are higher yielding.”
Lumbini Seed Company alone harvested 2.5 tons of hybrid seed from one hectare of land, helping to debunk the common myth that production of maize hybrid seed was impossible in Nepal, according to Zaidi.
“Lumbini did good groundwork to identify a suitable season and site for seed production, helping them to achieve a good hybrid seed harvest in their first-ever attempt,” said Zaidi. “The NMRP and other seed companies contributed valuable knowledge and advice to improve and scale up hybrid maize seed production.”
Maize is a critical food, feed and fodder crop in Nepal, providing nearly 20% of people’s food energy and accounting for around 33% of all cereal production in the high hills regions, 39% in the mid-hills region, and 9% in the Terai. Over two-thirds of hill-region maize is eaten directly as food on farm homesteads, whereas 80% of maize in the Terai and neighboring regions is used as feed.
Demand for feed maize is skyrocketing, as consumers switch from starch-based foods to animal protein and dairy products. Current national maize production satisfies less than a third of feed industry demand, requiring maize grain imports that reached 4.8 million tons in 2017-18.
Against this backdrop, many smallholder farmers still grow local or open-pollinated maize varieties, which are usually low yielding.
Scientists from CIMMYT and Nepal’s National Maize Research Program (NMRP) talk to Lumbini Seeds staff at their hybrid seed production plot in Bairawah, Nepal. (Photo: Lumbini Seeds)
Based in Rampur, Chitwan, and established in 1972, the NMRP has developed and released 29 open-pollinated and 5 hybrid maize varieties, including Rampur Hybrid-10, with technical support from CIMMYT. Multinational companies have registered 54 other maize hybrids for marketing in Nepal. To date, nearly all hybrid seed is imported.
Other partners in efforts to produce hybrid seed in Nepal include the farmer cooperatives Namuna Sahakari and Jhapa, as well as the companies SEAN Seed in Kathmandu and Unique Seed Company in Dhangadi. NMRP is also developing and registering new high-yielding hybrids. Some nucleus and breeders seed is being produced by the Agricultural Research Station (ARS) and Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).
The NMRP and participating seed companies expect to meet half of Nepal’s hybrid maize seed requirements through such domestic seed production within five years, with the objective to achieve complete seed self-sufficiency later on.
District agricultural officers listen to feedback from a maize farmer who grows MHM4070 in drought conditions. (Photo: UAS-R)
Small-scale maize farmers beset by erratic rainfall in the state of Karnataka, India, who adopted a new, drought- and heat-tolerant maize hybrid are harvesting nearly 1 ton more of grain per hectare than neighboring farmers who sow other maize varieties.
The climate-resilient hybrid RCRMH2 was developed in 2015 by the University of Agriculture Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R), Karnataka, as part of the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project. It was marketed in 2018 under the commercial name MRM4070 by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) in hot and dry areas of Karnataka, where crops are watered exclusively by rainfall.
“This hybrid is made for our stress-prone areas, as it gives guaranteed yields in a bad year and is inferior to none under good rainfall conditions,” said Hanumanthappa, a farmer and adopter of the variety in Gadag District. “In bad years, it can not only feed my family but also my cattle,” he added, referring to the hybrid’s “stay-green” trait, which allows use of the leaves and stems as green fodder for livestock, after harvesting the cobs.
A pack of MRM4070 seed marketed by Mahyco.
Droughts and high temperatures are a recurring problem in Karnataka, but suitable maize varieties to protect yields and income loss in the state’s risk-prone agroecologies had been lacking.
Mahyco marketed some 60 tons of hybrid seed of MRM4070 in Karnataka in 2018 and, encouraged by the overwhelming response from farmers, increased the seed offering to 140 tons — enough to sow about 7,000 hectares.
A 2018-19 farmer survey in the contrasting Gadag District — with poor rainfall — and Dharwad District — good rainfall — found that farmers in Gadag who grew MRM4070 harvested 0.96 tons more grain and earned $190 additional income per hectare than neighbors who did not adopt the hybrid. In Dharwad under optimal rainfall, MRM4070 performed on a par with other commercial hybrids.
In addition to providing superior yields under stress, MRM4070 had larger kernels than other hybrids under drought conditions, bringing a better price for farmers who sell their grain.
Agriculture officers and scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences observe the performance of MRM4070 in drought-stressed field in Gadag district of Karnataka, India. (Photo: UAS-R)
Led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in collaboration with national maize programs, agriculture universities, and seed companies, and with funding from the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Initiative, HTMA was launched in 2012 to develop stress-resilient maize hybrids for the variable weather conditions and heat and drought extremes of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
The study, co-authored by Julie Miller Jones of St. Catherine University, Carlos Guzman of the Universidad de Córdoba and Hans-Joachim Braun of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), reviewed findings of more than 100 research papers from nutrition and medical journals as well as national health recommendations. It presents evidence for positive health impacts from diverse diets that include not more than 50% carbohydrates and the right mix of grain-based foods.
“Epidemiological studies consistently show that eating three 30-gram portions of whole-grain foods — say, half a cup of oats — per day is associated with reduced chronic disease risk,” said Miller Jones, Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University and first author of the study. “But refined-grain foods — especially staple, enriched or fortified ones of the ‘non-indulgent’ type — also provide key vitamins and minerals that are otherwise lacking in people’s diets.”
“Cereal grains help feed the world by providing millions of calories per hectare and large amounts of plant-based protein,” said Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat. “They are affordable, shelf stable, portable, versatile, and popular, and will play a key role as the world transitions to plant-based diets to meet future food needs.”
Folate fortification of refined grains has helped reduce the incidence of spina bifida, anencephaly, and other birth defects, according to Miller Jones. “And despite contributing to high sugar intake, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are typically consumed with nutritious foods such as milk, yogurt, and fruit,” she added.
All grain-based foods, refined and whole, are good sources of dietary fiber, which is essential for sound health but critically lacking in modern diets. “Only 4 percent of the U.S. population, for example, eats recommended levels of dietary fiber,” she said.
Obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and other illnesses from unbalanced diets and unhealthy habits are on the rise in countries such as the U.S., driving up health care expenditures. The annual medical costs of obesity alone there have been estimated at nearly $150 billion.
“Dietary choices are determined partly by lifestyle but also co-vary with daily habits and personal traits,” Miller Jones explained. “People who eat more whole-grain foods are more likely to exercise, not smoke, and have normal body weights, as well as attaining higher levels of education and socioeconomic status.”
According to the study, recommendations for grain-based foods need to encourage a healthy number of servings and replacing half of refined-grain foods with whole-grain products, as well as providing clearer and unbiased definitions of both types of grain-based foods.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.
Ethiopia has huge potential and a suitable agroecology for growing wheat. However, its agriculture sector, dominated by a traditional farming system, is unable to meet the rising demand for wheat from increasing population and urbanization. Wheat consumption in Ethiopia has grown to 6.7 million tons per year, but the country only produces about 5 million tons per year on 1.7 million hectares. As a result, the country pays a huge import bill reaching up to $700 million per year to match supply with demand.
A new initiative is aiming to change this scenario, making Ethiopia wheat self-sufficient by opening new regions to wheat production.
“We have always been traditionally a wheat growing country, but focusing only in the highlands with heavy dependence on rain. Now that is changing and the government of Ethiopia has set a new direction for import substitution by growing wheat in the lowlands through an irrigated production system,” explained Mandefro Nigussie, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). Nigussie explained that several areas are being considered for this initiative: Awash, in the Oromia and Afar regions; Wabeshebelle, in the Somali Region; and Omo, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR).
A delegation from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently met Ethiopian researchers and policymakers to discuss CIMMYT’s role in this effort. Ethiopia’s new Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oumer Hussien, attended the meeting.
“We understand that the government of Ethiopia has set an ambitious project but is serious about it, so CIMMYT is ready to support you,” said Hans Braun, director of the Global Wheat Program at CIMMYT.
Hans Braun (center), director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, speaks at the meeting. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Strong collaboration
CIMMYT and the Ethiopian government have identified priority areas that will support the new government initiative. These include testing a large number of advanced lines to identify the right variety for the lowlands; developing disease resistant varieties and multiplying good quality and large quantity early generation initial seed; refining appropriate agronomic practices that improve crop, land and water productivity; organizing exposure visits for farmers and entrepreneurs; implementing training of trainers and researchers; and technical backstopping.
CIMMYT has been providing technical support and resources for wheat and maize production in Ethiopia for decades. As part of this support, CIMMYT has developed lines that are resistant to diseases like stem and yellow rust, stress tolerant and suitable for different wheat agroecologies.
“This year, for example, CIMMYT has developed three lines which are suitable for the lowlands and proposed to be released,” said Bekele Abeyo, wheat breeder and CIMMYT Country Representative for Ethiopia. “In India, the green revolution wouldn’t have happened without the support of CIMMYT and we would also like to see that happen in Ethiopia.”
“With our experience, knowledge and acquired skills, there is much to offer from the CIMMYT side,” Abeyo expressed. He noted that mechanization is one of the areas in which CIMMYT excels. Through a business service providers model, CIMMYT and its partners tested the multipurpose two-wheel tractors in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and the southern regions. Good evidence for impact was generated particularly in Oromia and the south, where service providers generated income and ensured food security.
“Import versus export depends on a comparative advantage and for Ethiopia it is a total disadvantage to import wheat while having the potential [to grow more],” said Hussien. “The Ministry of Agriculture is thus figuring out what it can do together with partners like CIMMYT on comparative advantages.”
Hussien explained that the private sector has always been on the sidelines when it comes to agriculture. With the new initiative, however, it will be involved, particularly in the lowlands where there is abundant land for development under irrigation and available water resources, with enormous investment potential for the private sector. This, he noted, is a huge shift for the agricultural sector, which was mainly taken care of by the government and smallholder farmers, with support from development partners.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture, Oumer Hussien, speaks about the new initiative. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Thinking beyond the local market
As it stands now, Ethiopia is the third largest wheat producing country in Africa and has great market potential for the region. With more production anticipated under the new initiative, Ethiopia plans to expand its market to the world.
“We want our partners to understand that our thinking and plan is not only to support the country but also to contribute to the global effort of food security,” Hussien explained. However, “with the current farming system this is totally impossible,” he added. Mechanization is one of the key drivers to increase labor, land and crop productivity by saving time and ensuring quality. The government is putting forward some incentives for easy import of machinery. “However, it requires support in terms of technical expertise and knowledge transfer,” Hussien concluded.
Cover photo: A wheat field in Ethiopia. (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/ILRI)
Seed of drought-tolerant maize developed through long-running global and local partnerships in Africa is improving nutrition and food security in northern Uganda, a region beset by conflicts and unpredictable rainfall.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been working with Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) and local seed companies to develop and disseminate maize seed of improved stress-tolerant varieties. Under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) projects, farmers are now using varieties such as the UH5051 hybrid, known locally as Gagawala, meaning “get rich.”
For two decades, most of the population in northern Uganda has lived in internally displaced people’s camps and depended on food aid and other relief emergencies for their livelihoods due to the insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Gulu, one of the affected districts, has been on a path to recovery for the past few years. With the prevailing peace, Geoffrey Ochieng’ and his wife can now safely till their 4.5 acres of land to grow maize and other staples. They are able to feed their family and sell produce to meet other household needs.
However, farmers in this region, bordering South Sudan, are facing more erratic rains and the uncertain onset of rainfall. Thanks to new drought-tolerant and disease-resistant maize varieties, the Ochieng’ family can adapt to this variable climate and secure a good maize harvest even in unreliable seasons.
Geoffrey Ochieng’, a smallholder farmer from northern Uganda. He plants the UH5051 variety on his land. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Tolerance is key
“The popularity of this drought-tolerant variety among the farmers has been growing thanks to its good yield and reliability even with poor rains and its resistance to common foliar diseases like northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot, plus good resistance to the maize streak virus,” explained Daniel Bomet, a NARO maize breeder. “Maturing in slightly over four months, Gagawala can produce two to three maize cobs, which appeals to farmers.”
Ochieng’ has been planting UH5051 maize since 2015. Before adopting the new hybrid, Ochieng’ was growing Longe 5, a popular open-pollinated variety that is less productive and not very disease-resistant.
“What I like about UH5051 is that even with low moisture stress, it will grow and I will harvest something,” Ochieng’ said. Under optimal conditions, he harvests about 1.2 metric tons of maize grain on one acre of UH5051 hybrid.
With the old Longe 5 variety, he would only harvest 700 kg. “If the rains were delayed or it didn’t rain a lot, I would be lucky to get 400 kg per acre with the Longe 5, while I get twice as much with the hybrid,” Ochieng’ explained.
Thanks to this tolerant maize variety, he can pay his children’s school fees and provide some surplus grain to his relatives.
A worker at the Equator Seeds production plant in Gulu displays packs of UH5051 maize seed. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Out with the old, in with the new
“One key strategy to improve our farmers’ livelihoods in northern Uganda is to gradually replace old varieties with new varieties that can better cope with the changing climate and problematic pests and diseases,” said Godfrey Asea, the director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) at NARO. “Longe 5 for instance, has been marketed for over 14 years. It has done its part and it needs to give way to new improved varieties like UH5051.”
The Gulu-based company Equator Seeds has been at the core of the agricultural transformation in northern Uganda. From 70 metrics tons of seed produced when it started operations in 2012, the company reached an annual capacity of about 7,000 to 10,000 metric tons of certified seed of different crops in 2018. Working with dedicated out-growers such as Anthony Okello, who has a 40-acre piece of land, and 51 farmer cooperatives comprising smallholder farmers, Equator Seeds produces seed of open-pollinated hybrid maize and other crops, which reaches farmers through a network of 380 agro-dealers.
“80% of farmers in northern Uganda still use farm-saved or recycled seed, which we consider to be our biggest competitor,” Tonny Okello, CEO of Equator Seeds remarked. “Currently, about 60% of our sales are in maize seed. This share should increase to 70% by 2021. We plan to recruit more agro-dealers, establish more demonstration farms, mostly for the hybrids, to encourage more farmers to adopt our high yielding resilient varieties.”
The two-decade unrest discouraged seed companies from venturing into northern Uganda but now they see its huge potential. “We have received tremendous support from the government, non-governmental organizations, UN and humanitarian agencies for buying seed from us and distributing it to farmers in northern Uganda and South Sudan, to aid their recovery,” Okello said.
Godfrey Asea (right), director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), and Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) maize breeder, Daniel Bomet, visit an improved maize plot at NARO’s Kigumba Station, in central Uganda. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Social impact
The Ugandan seed sector is dynamic thanks to efficient public-private partnerships. While NARO develops and tests new parental lines and hybrids in their research facilities, they have now ventured into seed production and processing at their 2,000-acre Kigumba Farm in western Uganda through NARO Holdings, their commercial arm.
“Because the demand for improved seed is not always met, NARO Holdings started producing certified seed, but the major focus is on production of early generation seed, which is often a bottleneck for the seed sector,” Asea said.
Aniku Bernard, Farm Manager, examines a maize cob at the foundation seed farm located inside the Lugore Prison premises. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Another innovative collaboration has been to work with the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) establishments to produce maize seed. “When we started this collaboration with UPS, we knew they had some comparative advantages such as vast farmland, ready labor, mechanization equipment and good isolation, which are important for high-quality hybrid maize seed production,” Asea explained. The UPS facility in Lugore, Gulu, which has 978 hectares of land, produces foundation seed of UH5051.
“Prisons offer a big potential to support the growing seed industry,” he said. “Together with CIMMYT, we should build further the capacity of UPS to produce foundation and certified seeds. It provides much-needed income for the institutions. The inmates, in addition to being remunerated for farm labor, are engaged in positive outdoor impactful activities. This skill is helpful for their future reintegration in the society.”
From left to right: Winnie Nanteza, National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI) communications officer; Daniel Bomet, NARO maize breeder; Byakatonda Tanazio, Assistant Superintendent of Prisons, Lugore Prison, Gulu; Aniku Bernard, Farm Manager at Lugore Prison; and Godfrey Asea, director of NaCRRI, stand for a group photo at the foundation seed production farm inside Lugore Prison. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
General view of the experimental field in Lempira, Honduras. (Photo: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)
Populations in Central America are rising rapidly, but staple crop production seems unable to keep up with increasing food demands.
Maize yields are particularly low compared to other regions. Cumulatively, farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua produce maize on nearly 2.5 million hectares, with a large proportion of these maize systems also including beans, either through relay cropping or intercropping. Though potential yields are estimated to be as high as 10 metric tons per hectare, average production remains low at around 2.28.
There is clearly immense opportunity for improvement, but it is not always obvious which issues need tackling.
Yield gap analysis — which measures the difference between potential and actual yield — is a useful starting point for addressing the issue and identifying intensification prospects. It is not a new concept in applied agronomy, but it has not been adequately applied in many regions. For example, Analyses of Central America tend to be grouped with the rest of Latin America, making it difficult to provide recommendations tailored to local contexts.
I see a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s specific crop production limitations as the first step towards improving food security.
Along with fellow researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other institutions, we set out to identify the main factors limiting production in these areas. We established field trials in six maize and bean producing regions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which represent about three-quarters of the maize producing area. We assessed factors such as water stress, nutrient deficiency, pressure from pests and diseases, and inter-plant competition, hypothesizing that optimized fertilization and supplementary irrigation would have the greatest effects on yields.
A maize cob in La Libertad, El Salvador, shows kernels affected by tar spot complex which have not filled completely (Photo: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)
We found that while improved fertilization improved maize yields by 11% on average, it did not have a significant effect on bean production. Irrigation had no effect, though this was mainly due to good rainfall distribution throughout the growing season in the study year. On average, optimized planting arrangements increased maize yields by 18%, making it the most promising factor we evaluated.
It was interesting though perhaps unsurprising to note that the contribution of each limiting factor to yield gaps carried across all sites and no single treatment effectively increased yields consistently across all sites. The trial results confirmed that production constraints are highly dependent on local management practices and agroecological location.
With this in mind, we recommend that development actors aiming to increase crop production begin by conducting multi-year, participatory experiments to understand the primary causes of yield gaps and identify the limitations specific to the areas in question, as this will allow for more effective research and policy efforts.
One of the researchers behind the study, Yoseph Alemayehu, carries out a field survey in Ethiopia by mobile phone. (Photo Dave Hodson/CIMMYT)
TEXCOCO, Mexico — Using field and mobile phone surveillance data together with forecasts for spore dispersal and environmental suitability for disease, an international team of scientists has developed an early warning system which can predict wheat rust diseases in Ethiopia. The cross-disciplinary project draws on expertise from biology, meteorology, agronomy, computer science and telecommunications.
Reported this week in Environmental Research Letters, the new early warning system, the first of its kind to be implemented in a developing country, will allow policy makers and farmers all over Ethiopia to gauge the current situation and forecast wheat rust up to a week in advance.
The system was developed by the University of Cambridge, the UK Met Office, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). It works by taking near real-time information from wheat rust surveys carried out by EIAR, regional research centers and CIMMYT using a smartphone app called Open Data Kit (ODK).
This is complemented by crowd-sourced information from the ATA-managed Farmers’ Hotline. The University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office then provide automated 7-day advance forecast models for wheat rust spore dispersal and environmental suitability based on disease presence.
All of this information is fed into an early warning unit that receives updates automatically on a daily basis. An advisory report is sent out every week to development agents and national authorities. The information also gets passed on to researchers and farmers.
Example of weekly stripe rust spore deposition based on dispersal forecasts. Darker colors represent higher predicted number of spores deposited. (Graphic: University of Cambridge/UK Met Office)
Timely alerts
“If there’s a high risk of wheat rust developing, farmers will get a targeted SMS text alert from the Farmers’ Hotline. This gives the farmer about three weeks to take action,” explained Dave Hodson, principal scientist with CIMMYT and co-author of the research study. The Farmers’ Hotline now has over four million registered farmers and extension agents, enabling rapid information dissemination throughout Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is the largest wheat producer in sub-Saharan Africa but the country still spends in excess of $600 million annually on wheat imports. More can be grown at home and the Ethiopian government has targeted to achieve wheat self-sufficiency by 2023.
“Rust diseases are a grave threat to wheat production in Ethiopia. The timely information from this new system will help us protect farmers’ yields, and reach our goal of wheat self-sufficiency,” said EIAR Director Mandefro Nigussie.
Wheat rusts are fungal diseases that can be dispersed by wind over long distances, quickly causing devastating epidemics which can dramatically reduce wheat yields. Just one outbreak in 2010 affected 30% of Ethiopia’s wheat growing area and reduced production by 15-20%.
The pathogens that cause rust diseases are continually evolving and changing over time, making them difficult to control. “New strains of wheat rust are appearing all the time — a bit like the flu virus,” explained Hodson.
In the absence of resistant varieties, one solution to wheat rust is to apply fungicide, but the Ethiopian government has limited supplies. The early warning system will help to prioritize areas at highest risk of the disease, so that the allocation of fungicides can be optimized.
Example of weekly stripe rust environmental suitability forecast. Yellow to Brown show the areas predicted to be most suitable for stripe rust infection. (Graphic: University of Cambridge/UK Met Office)
The cream of the crop
The early warning system puts Ethiopia at the forefront of early warning systems for wheat rust. “Nowhere else in the world really has this type of system. It’s fantastic that Ethiopia is leading the way on this,” said Hodson. “It’s world-class science from the UK being applied to real-world problems.”
“This is an ideal example of how it is possible to integrate fundamental research in modelling from epidemiology and meteorology with field-based observation of disease to produce an early warning system for a major crop,” said Christopher Gilligan, head of the Epidemiology and Modelling Group at the University of Cambridge and a co-author of the paper, adding that the approach could be adopted in other countries and for other crops.
“The development of the early warning system was successful because of the great collaborative spirit between all the project partners,” said article co-author Clare Sader-Allen, currently a regional climate modeller at the British Antarctic Survey.
“Clear communication was vital for bringing together the expertise from a diversity of subjects to deliver a common goal: to produce a wheat rust forecast relevant for both policy makers and farmers alike.”
This study was made possible through the support provided by the BBSRC GCRF Foundation Awards for Global Agriculture and Food Systems Research, which brings top class UK science to developing countries, the Delivering Genetic Gains in Wheat (DGGW) Project managed by Cornell University and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The Government of Ethiopia also provided direct support into the early warning system. This research is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.
ABOUT CIMMYT:
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.
ABOUT THE ETHIOPIAN INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (EIAR):
The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) is one of the oldest and largest agricultural research institutes in Africa, with roots in the Ethiopian Agricultural Research System (EARS), founded in the late 1940s. EIAR’s objectives are: (1) to generate, develop and adapt agricultural technologies that focus on the needs of the overall agricultural development and its beneficiaries; (2) to coordinate technically the research activities of Ethiopian Agricultural Research System; (3) build up a research capacity and establish a system that will make agricultural research efficient, effective and based on development needs; and (4) popularize agricultural research results. EIAR’s vision is to see improved livelihood of all Ethiopians engaged in agriculture, agro-pastoralism and pastoralism through market competitive agricultural technologies.
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