Skip to main content

Author: Sarah McLaughlin

Fertilizer scarcity may hamper crop cycle, cautions scientist

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

South Asian countries may see fertilizers scarcity in the next crop cycle as a result of the conflict situation in Ukraine and Russia, cautioned Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).

The triple threat of climate change, COVID-19 and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is exacerbating the challenge of how to feed the world, explained Govaerts.

Policy changes had the potential to address the crises, but investing in research and innovation is a fundamental part of solving the current challenges.

Read more: Fertilizer scarcity may hamper crop cycle, cautions scientist

Fragile global food system calls for a collaborative approach

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), underscored the need for collaboration to address the challenges of global food shocks, climate change and agricultural trade.

Speaking at a Strengthening AR4D in South Asia workshop on Thursday, September 1, Govaerts highlighted the work of CIMMYT’s Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA) project.

“The collaborative, inclusive approach of BISA (Borlaug Institute for South Asia) is more relevant than ever today. In an era when the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity — exacerbated by climate change, poverty, and inequality — cannot be solved by one sector,” he explained.

Read more: Fragile global food system calls for a collaborative approach

CM holds parleys with experts of BISA to give major push to crop diversification in the state

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met with experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to promote crop diversification and use of Direct Sowing Rice (DSR) Basmati as part of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) project.

In a meeting with CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, water shortages were an integral part of the discussion. Mann encouraged use of BISA models across the state that require less water consumption than other methods, without impacting farmers’ income.

Mann also highlighted the potential of crops like maize, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, bamboo, popular, and fruit such as guava and kinoo.

Read more: CM holds parleys with experts of BISA to give major push to crop diversification in the state

Strengthening capacity and building national and regional partnerships in the seed sector

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

Hybrid seeds exhibit a significant potential to boost on-farm productivity and attain food security. Still, the availability, affordability and accessibility of such quality seeds remain a challenge for farmers in South Asia. Primarily driven by the demand from the poultry industry, maize productivity in the region is increasing annually. Yet, the hybrid maize seed coverage is below 50% in most South Asian countries.

In continuation of its capacity-building initiatives, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) conducted an International Training Workshop on Quality Hybrid Maize Seed Production and Seed Business Management in South Asia on August 15-18, 2022, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The four-day hybrid training was jointly organized by Nepal’s Seed Quality Control Center, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Seed Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal and CGIAR’s Seed Equal Initiative. Primarily, the event aimed at strengthening the capacity of seed stakeholders on the latest advances in quality hybrid maize seed production and establishing competitive hybrid seed business strategies.

Around 60 participants comprising of private seed company owners, national and international seed system specialists, maize breeders, crop inspectors, seed agronomists, marketers, policymakers and researchers working in hybrid seed production and marketing attended the training. Representatives were invited from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Principal trainer, John MacRobert, shared examples and knowledge in the principles of hybrid maize seed production and seed business. Former principal scientist of CIMMYT, MacRobert is currently the managing director of Mukushi Seeds Pvt Ltd in Zimbabwe and director of Quality Seed Pvt Ltd in South Africa. The training also involved group discussions and exercises on preparing a seed road map as well as developing profitable seed business plans. The participants used a seed business model canvas tool to chart their production plans, develop marketing strategies and diagnose profit. In 2018, MacRobert trained 15 private seed companies from Nepal and Pakistan on hybrid seed business mentorship course in Kathmandu. Since then, the participants brought in and shared rich practical experiences from their own businesses and regulatory organizations during this year’s program.

Joining MacRobert were 14 national and international experts from CIMMYT and other institutions, who delivered sessions related to hybrid maize breeding principles and techniques, seed quality control measures and regulations, and variety registration and licensing policies and procedures.

The forum offered an excellent learning opportunity for the national and international participants to exchange knowledge and experiences from seed specialists on developing competitive hybrid maize and seed production technologies that will bring cost-efficiency in production and maximize crop yields and business profits. It also served as a ground for establishing networks and collaborations. The mutual learnings will contribute to building national and regional partnerships in the seed sector.

Participants reflected on the learnings and benefits gained from the comprehensive course, which they would apply to improve maize productivity in their respective countries.

Muhammad Aslam, assistant professor from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in Pakistan, acknowledged the opportunity provided to him and his university. He mentioned the support of CIMMYT in Pakistan in strengthening the local maize seed industry, where the market share of local seed companies is gradually increasing due to the elite germplasm support and capacity development efforts by CIMMYT. He added that the practical knowledge gained from the training will enhance the university students’ skills.

Attendees at the International Training Workshop on Quality Hybrid Maize Seed Production and Seed Business Management in South Asia. (Credit: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

An ode to seeds

During the closing session of the training, Govinda Prasad Sharma, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, handed over diverse maize seeds to the NARC and seven private seed company partners of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project. CIMMYT acquired the elite maize parental lines and breeder seeds from its international maize breeding hubs in Mexico, Zimbabwe, Colombia and India. The seeds have the potential of yielding 6-7 metric tons per hectare for synthetics and more than 10 metric tons for hybrids–a significant increase from 3-5 metric tons of local seeds. More importantly, given the current climate challenges Nepali farmers are facing, these climate-resilient seeds reach maturity earlier than local varieties which reduces their exposure to drought. These seeds will also withstand Fall Armyworm infestations, a devastating pest threatening maize production in Nepal.

“Genetic materials that will not only enhance yield but diversify the gene pool of crops in Nepal is extremely important,” said Lynn Schneider, deputy director of the Economic Growth Office at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nepal. “Agriculture must combat climate change and malnutrition, which are critical for the South Asia region. So, I am really proud that we are working on these areas,” shared Schneider.

“Food security is a priority for the Government of Nepal,” explained Sharma. He mentioned maize as an essential commodity from the food and feed perspective for South Asia and plans to collaborate with the private sector and donor organizations to increase maize productivity in the country. “The event will definitely help in augmenting the activities and accelerate the pathway towards achieving food and feed security,” he added.

Moreover, a certificate of appreciation was presented to Nepal’s National Maize Research Program to recognize their effective collaboration in hybrid maize varietal promotion and source seed distribution. Similarly, three partner seed companies of the project were also recognized for the breakthrough in becoming the first recipients of the Government of Nepal’s research and development license to register and produce hybrid seeds on a commercial basis.

CIMMYT also launched an assessment report on Cereal Seeds Value Chain in Nepal that provides evidence-based recommendations for developing Nepal’s formal cereal seed sector, specifically maize and rice. The publication highlights the need for a well-performing seed system where high-quality seeds of a wide range of varieties and crops are produced and available in time and affordable to farmers.

Deepak Bhandari, executive director of NARC, also congratulated the authors and expressed the significance of formulating and implementing inclusive strategies to build a vibrant seed industry in Nepal. He also acknowledged the event organizers for conducting an exceptional international workshop on hybrid maize seeds for the public and private seed stakeholders.

Cover photo: Training attendees gather to discuss competitive hybrid maize seed production technologies and build relationships with seed systems professionals. (Credit: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

Excellence in Agronomy Initiative commences in Africa

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

CGIAR researchers and partners outside the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the workshop took place. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

The Excellence in Agronomy for Sustainable Intensification and Climate Change Adaptation Initiative launched in east and southern Africa on July 28-29 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a workshop with panel discussions and ideation sessions to determine key actions for the project.

The Initiative aims to deliver agronomic gain at scale for millions of smallholder farming households in prioritized farming systems, with emphasis on supporting women and young farmers, to demonstrate measurable impact on food and nutrition security, income, water use, soil health and climate resilience.

Co-creation of agricultural solutions with farmers is integral to the Initiative through the engagement of modern tools, digital technologies, and behavioral science.

At the workshop, participants created a shared understanding of the Initiative’s goals for the region, laid groundwork for in-country planning and implementation, and increased visibility of the Initiative. Attendees agreed on the need to reevaluate beyond the boundaries of traditional agronomic practices and microeconomic challenges, considering policies at national and regional levels.

Roundtable discussions between participants highlight priorities and opportunities for the Excellence in Agronomy Initiative in east and southern Africa. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

Combining expertise from across CGIAR research centers, private sector actors and government agriculture departments, the Initiative takes a data-based approach to offer demand-driven solutions. This was of particular appeal to Eyasu Elias, deputy minister at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, who described the approach as “truly commendable” in comparison to conventional supply-driven approaches.

Elias, who was represented by a delegate at the event, highlighted Ethiopia’s current three priorities: managing acid soils; managing Vertisols so they utilize their natural productive potentials; and adopting practices that mitigate the formation of salt-affected soils.

“Attaining food security will be a tremendous challenge under current conditions,” explained Elias’ representative. “More than ever, we need innovative agronomic solutions that enhance nutrient use efficiencies; we need solutions that can be crafted from locally available alternatives. Collaborations that allow co-creation, co-design and participatory technology generation along these lines are appreciated from our end.”

Staff members bag maize at the Demeter Seeds warehouse. (Photo: Emma Orchardson/CIMMYT)

Cereal seed systems

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Explainers.

For certified seed to reach a farmer’s field for cultivation, it passes through many hands – international and national breeding programs, government regulatory agencies, private seed companies, and retailers or agrodealers. These organizations each play an important role in the design, testing, production and distribution of improved maize and wheat varieties.

Together, these processes, actors, and the relationships between them form a seed system, which incorporates the production, conservation, exchange, and use of propagation materials for crops. As defined by the CGIAR Community of Excellence for Seed Systems Development (COE), seed systems are complex, involving arrangements between public and private sectors, layers of regulation, and years of research and development, and are specific to each crop, country, agroecological environment and market context.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has extensively researched and worked with the facets and actors of cereal seed systems in Latin America, Asia and Africa, specifically in relation to cereal crops, and with maize and wheat in particular.

The role of CIMMYT scientists in supply and demand

Breeding teams use traditional and advanced techniques to identify improved maize and wheat breeding lines according to the desired traits determined by farmers and consumer markets. In addition to higher grain yields, other preferred traits include more and larger grains or fruit, resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to environment pressures (such as drought or poor soils), better nutritional quality, or flavor and ease of processing.

These lines are used for further breeding, testing, seed multiplication by public and private sector partners. Others engage in varietal testing on farmers’ fields and support seed companies in production.

To foster smallholder farmers’ access to these improved varieties, CIMMYT implements a seed systems strategy divided into supply side development, concerning breeding and seed production, and demand side development, covering issues related to variety distribution and uptake. On the supply side, CIMMYT scientists’ work is carried out in three phases:

  • Product development phase: Breeders advance through CIMMYT’s breeding funnel (pipeline) the most promising materials from one improvement stage to the next. The best candidates are first tested in field trials at research stations and then in farmers’ fields. Afterwards, CIMMYT organizes field days to showcase the best performing materials to public and private sector partners.
  • Product allocation phase: Local partners request new CIMMYT products and sign licensing agreements that protect the new seed from private ownership claims and help accelerate marketing and distribution in target regions at affordable prices.
  • Release and commercialization phase: Farmers can obtain and benefit from seed of improved maize and wheat once national authorities register and release varieties that excel in national performance trials and public and private sector partners begin seed production and marketing or distribution.

On the demand side, CIMMYT scientists work to support seed systems development though its work on:

  • Farmer preferences and demand for varieties: Scientists look to understand current and future preferences and needs for varieties. This involves the use of innovative tools, such as product concept testing, on-farm testing and ranking, and participatory varietal evaluation.
  • Seed industry development: Small and medium sized seed businesses, as well as agrodealers, play a critical role in the distribution of seed. Our work looks to understand entry points for support to the seed industry for advancing faster uptake of new varieties by farmers.
  • Consumer demand for grain: The preferences of consumers and agroindustry for grain and grain-based foods provide an important source of demand for new varieties. CIMMYT scientists engage with consumers and agroindustry for innovation in food product design and testing consumer acceptance. Insights gains are reported back to breeding and seed production teams for design of future cereal varieties.

Gender-sensitive seed systems

A team of social scientists at CIMMYT with expertise in economics, gender and marketing works to understand the needs and preferences of farmers, consumers, and the agroindustry for new varieties. They develop retail strategies, such as targeted marketing, in-store seed assessment support and price incentives, promote the adoption of better policies in support of seed companies and seed markets.

CIMMYT explores mechanisms to help seed companies adapt their products to women’s preferences. Research shows that beyond yield potential, women seek different characteristics in seeds than men. For example, women are more inclined to favor a variety with a longer grain shelf life. Similarly, when women engage in participatory variety selections, they tend to make more objective evaluations of varieties than men.

Our experts advance strategies to promote inclusive and effective delivery systems, helping both female and male farmers obtain the seed that works best for their specific needs. This ongoing model gives CIMMYT feedback from farmers and public and private sector partners, which informs subsequent breeding research.

Why are cereal seed systems important?

CIMMYT contributes to new improved seeds getting to farmers, consumers and agroindustry, which ultimately leads to lasting positive impacts in terms of food security and economic development.

Cereals such as maize and wheat play a critical role in global food security. Increasing their productivity in the Global South remains a key developmental priority. Smallholders face increasing pressure to sustain and increase their yields in the face of three main issues: climate change, which increases the frequency of severe drought, floods, and pest and disease outbreaks; rapidly rising costs of inputs, such as land, labor, fertilizer; and unfavorable marketing conditions for their grain.

As a critical entry point for improved agricultural technology, seed systems are in urgent need of improvement and modernization. Since the onset of the Green Revolution in the 1960s, the discovery, development, and delivery of improved seed for smallholder farmers has remained an essential part of global and local initiatives to increase smallholder productivity.

What does a sustainable, inclusive, and productive seed system look like?

For the future, there are serious challenges for expanding and deepening the impact from investments in breeding. Market intelligence systems are urgently needed to support breeding teams in future product design and evidence-based prioritization. Innovation is needed in terms of how actors within the systems inform and support farmers to experiment with new seeds.

CIMMYT is working with CGIAR partners to implement a new, 10-year strategy. Effective seed systems achieve the widespread adoption of varieties that capture the gains from crop improvement and connect actors along the value chain so that all can benefit from a productive crop, from seedbank to soil. In close collaboration with national agricultural research systems (NARS), CGIAR has had historic success introducing improved cultivars to smallholder producers of staple crops, with high return on investment. However, there is still some standing criticism that large, public breeding programs take a technologically-biased and supply-pushed approach to agricultural innovation.

Cereal crop breeding programs can become more demand-oriented by employing more market segmentation strategies – breaking down target client markets into smaller, more geographically and demographically specific groups – and developing a more accessible description and profile of its products. Using similar approaches, CGIAR is likely to expand demand-oriented programs in genetic innovation and seed systems development in the new phase of operations.

Cover photo: Staff members bag maize at the Demeter Seeds warehouse. (Photo: Emma Orchardson/CIMMYT)

A farmer in the Ara district, in India's Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

Biological nitrogen fixation and prospects for ecological intensification in cereal-based cropping systems

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Among the inputs needed for a healthy soil, nitrogen is unique because it originates from the atmosphere. How it moves from the air to the ground is governed in part by a process called biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), which is catalyzed by specific types of bacteria.

Nitrogen supply is frequently the second most limiting factor after water availability constraining crop growth and so there is great farmer demand for accessible sources of nitrogen, such as synthetic nitrogen in fertilizer. This increasing demand has continued as new cereal varieties with higher genetic yield potential are being released in efforts to feed the world’s growing population.

Currently, the primary source for nitrogen is synthetic, delivered through fertilizers. Synthetic nitrogen revolutionized cereal crop (e.g., wheat, maize, and rice) production by enhancing growth and grain yield as it eliminated the need to specifically allocate land for soil fertility rejuvenation during crop rotation. However, synthetic nitrogen is not very efficient, often causing excess application, which leads to deleterious forms, including ammonia, nitrate, and nitrogen oxides escaping into the surrounding ecosystem, resulting in a myriad of negative impacts on the environment and human health. Nitrogen loss from fertilizer is responsible for a nearly 20% increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide since the industrial revolution. Notably, more nitrogen from human activities, including agriculture, has been released to the environment than carbon dioxide during recent decades, leading climate scientists to consider the possibility that nitrogen might replace carbon as a prime driver of climate change.

New research co-authored by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) scientists, published in Field Crops Research, posits that facilitating natural methods of gathering useable nitrogen in BNF can reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen being used in global agriculture.

As agricultural systems become more intensive regarding inputs and outputs, synthetic nitrogen has become increasingly crucial, but there are still extensive areas in the world that cannot achieve food and nutrition security because of a lack of nitrogen.

“This, together with increasing and changing dietary demands, shows that the future demand for nitrogen will substantially grow to meet the anticipated population of 9.7 billion people by the middle of the century,” said J.K. Ladha, adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at University of California, Davis, and lead author of the study.

Before the synthetic nitrogen, the primary source of agricultural nitrogen was gathered through BNF as bacteria living underground that convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen that can be utilized by crops. Therefore, legumes are often employed as a cover crop in rotating fields to replenish nitrogen stocks; their root systems are hospitable for these nitrogen producing bacteria to thrive.

“There are ways in which BNF could be a core component of efforts to build more sustainable and regenerative agroecosystems to meet nitrogen demand with lower environmental footprints,” said Timothy Krupnik, Senior System Agronomist at CIMMYT in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Plant scientists have often hypothesized that the ultimate solution for solving the ever-growing nitrogen supply challenge is to confer cereals like wheat, maize, rice, with their own capacity for BNF. Recent breakthroughs in the genomics of BNF, as well as improvements in the understanding how legumes and nitrogen bacteria interact, have opened new avenues to tackle this problem much more systematically.

“Enabling cereal crops to capture their own nitrogen is a long-standing goal of plant biologists and is referred to as the holy grail of BNF research,” said P.M. Reddy, Senior Fellow at The Energy Research Institute, New Delhi. “The theory is that if cereal crops can assemble their own BNF system, the crop’s internal nitrogen supply and demand can be tightly regulated and synchronized.”

The study examined four methods currently being employed to establish systems within cereal crops to capture and use their own nitrogen, each with their advantages and limitations. One promising method involves identifying critical plant genes that perceive and transmit nitrogen-inducing signals in legumes. Integrating these signal genes into cereal crops might allow them to construct their own systems for BNF.

“Our research highlights how BNF will need to be a core component of efforts to build more sustainable agroecosystems,” said Mark Peoples, Honorary Fellow at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia. “To be both productive and sustainable, future cereal cropping systems will need to better incorporate and leverage natural processes like BNF to mitigate the corrosive environmental effects of excess nitrogen leaking into our ecosystems.”

Besides the efforts to bring BNF to cereals, there are basic agronomic management tools that can shift focus from synthetic to BNF nitrogen.

“Encouraging more frequent use of legumes in crop rotation will increase diversification and the flow of key ecosystem services, and would also assist the long-term sustainability of cereal-based farming systems­,” said Krupnik.

Read the study: Biological nitrogen fixation and prospects for ecological intensification in cereal-based cropping systems

Cover photo: A farmer in the Ara district, in India’s Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

Mexican farming can transition to be more resilient with technology

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

In Mexico and around much of the world, the cost of food fell sharply last month but it remains dangerously close to the all-time highs posted earlier this year, according to an agency of the United Nations.

New data from the Food Price Index of the Food and Agricultural Organization provide even more proof that if we’re to build a resilient system of agriculture that keeps food abundant and affordable, farmers like me need access to the best, forward-facing and science-based technologies—and not the backward-looking restrictive measures that many governments are trying to force upon food producers.

That’s especially true here in Mexico, where public officials are promoting dangerous agriculture policies that will damage yield potential of Mexico’s farmers and add to our country’s current food inflation. Paradoxically, the world’s leading agricultural research center for wheat and maize has issued a new call for “long-term agri-food system resilience.”

The International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, also known as CIMMYT and headquartered just outside Mexico City, is an amazing resource for farmers everywhere. My family has participated in its work for decades, going back to when Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, was starting to make big progress on wheat yields.

In July, a team of CIMMYT scientists published their strategy for dealing with soaring food prices. They focused mainly on wheat, which was subjected to so much stress because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but their general recommendations apply to every commodity.

Their short-term advice involves boosting production and partially replacing wheat flour with other low-cost cereals to off-set high wheat prices. In the middle and long terms, CIMMYT calls for more resilience in our food systems by genetically improving seeds and controlling pests. Significantly, the authors urge “building capacity to promote extensive pest and pathogen monitoring.”

This is important advice because pests, weeds, and disease are three of the biggest threats to food production pretty much everywhere. If we’re going to develop a “long-term agri-food system resilience” that involves everything from the climate-change mitigation and gender equity that CIMMYT also advocates, it must start by helping farmers like me defend our crops from their most basic but permanently evolving threats.

And that means giving us access to science-based technology. We need the best seeds, the best machines, and the best crop management techniques. We also need the best crop protection so that what we plant can meet its full potential.

Rather than limiting the options of farmers we should seek to expand them. This in fact is the great legacy of CIMMYT. Through sound science and creative innovation, it has given farmers more tools than ever before.

On my farm, we already fight pests, weeds, and disease through traditional practices like crop rotation. Yet this age-old practice is no longer enough. In this era of sustainability and conservation, we especially need advanced crop protection, which can function as a “virtual plow” that strengthens our soil as it locks in moisture, kidnaps carbon, enhances biodiversity, improves root systems, and reduces erosion.

In the years ahead, we’d like to explore additional crop-protection technologies, such as drone applications which would allow us to work with more precision and less dependence on fossil fuels.

As we think about the future, and as farmers everywhere try to grow more food on less land, we should embrace technology as a solution rather than fear it as a problem.

We have so many real problems with war, inflation, access to fuel and fertilizer, market turmoil, and climate change that we don’t need to restrict ourselves by hesitating in the application of new technologies, especially when they have been demonstrated to be safe. (If we trick ourselves into banning these options, farmers will pay a steep price as they struggle to grow food and consumers will bear the cost of it whenever they eat.)  All technological options should remain on the table.

Although food prices fell by 8.6 percent between June and July, they are more than 13 percent higher than they were at this time last year, according to the FAO’s Food Price Index.

This may be a silver lining amid dark clouds, but the forecast is unpredictable: “The decline in food commodity prices from very high levels is welcome,” said FAO chief economist Maximo Torero, who also warned that “many uncertainties remain” and they “pose serious strains for global food security.”

Agriculture must become more resilient, as CIMMYT pleads.

And farmers like me need the support of policy makers and the general public as we struggle to grow the food everyone needs.

Read the original article: Mexican farming can transition to be more resilient with technology

The power of data in improving conditions for female farmers

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Despite women’s essential role in agrifood systems, their contribution can be overlooked, with resources instead targeted towards their male counterparts.

However, advancements in technology now allow scientists to generate rich datasets that can aid analysis of the situational factors impacting women farmers’ participation in extension training services.

These developments have enabled scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Michigan State University, and Agricultural Advisory Society, a local NGO, to understand barriers to access and recommend improvements that will benefit women in Bangladesh.

Using a large dataset of 131,073 farmers in Bangladesh, researchers worked to identify ways to tackle gender exclusion in extension training. Scientists used machine learning to understand preferences according to gender and applied optimization theory and identified actionable ways to increase the number of farmers participating in video- and multi-media mediated trainings, while simultaneously improving gender inclusivity in public training events.

The study discovered strong gender specific considerations, such as the training session’s day of the week and time and the gender of the trainer, which prevented women from or encouraged them to take part in educational events.

It also demonstrates the potential for big data to transform our understanding of unstructured and semi-structured data into statistically verifiable insights that can genuinely impact farmer’s lives. Optimizing women’s involvement in agrifood systems can additionally play an important part in efforts to enhance farm productivity, gender and social inclusion, and nutrition in Bangladesh and beyond.

Read the full study: Large-scale rollout of extension training in Bangladesh: Challenges and opportunities for gender-inclusive participation

Cover photo: Women in Bangladesh can benefit from improved inclusivity in extension training. (Credit: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)

Conservation agriculture practices revive saline and sodic soils

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

In arid and semi-arid regions, soil salinity and sodicity pose challenges to global food security and environmental sustainability. Globally, around 932 million hectares are affected by salinization and alkalinization. Due to growing populations, anthropogenic activities and climate change, the prominence of salt stress in soil is rising both in irrigated and dryland systems.

Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) employed long-term conservation agriculture practices in different agri-food systems to determine the reclamation potential of sodic soil after continuous cultivation for nine years, with the experiment’s results now published.

Using different conservation agriculture techniques on areas cultivating combinations of maize, wheat, rice and mungbean, the study used soil samples to identify declines in salinity and sodicity after four and nine years of harvesting.

Evidence demonstrates that this approach is a viable route for reducing soil sodicity and improving soil carbon pools. The research also shows that the conservation agriculture-based rice-wheat-mungbean system had more reclamation potential than other studied systems, and therefore could improve soil organic carbon and increase productive crop cultivation.

Read the full publication: Long-term conservation agriculture helps in the reclamation of sodic soils in major agri-food systems

Cover photo: Comparison of crop performance under conservation agriculture and conventional tillage in a sodic soil at Karnal, Haryana, India. (Credit: HS Jat/ICAR-CSSRI)

Afghan wheat landrace shows promise for rust resistance

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Rust pathogens are the most ubiquitous fungal pathogens that continue to pose a serious threat to wheat production. The preferred strategy to combat these diseases is through breeding wheat varieties with genetic resistance.

Landraces are a treasure trove of trait diversity, offer an excellent choice for the incorporation of new traits into breeding germplasm, and serve as a reservoir of genetic variations that can be used to mitigate current and future food challenges. Improving selection efficiency can be achieved through broadening the genetic base through using germplasm pool with trait diversity derived from landraces.

In a recent study, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) used Afghan landrace KU3067 to unravel the genetic basis of resistance against Mexican races of leaf rust and stripe rust. The findings of this study not only showcase new genomic regions for rust resistance, but also are the first report of Lr67/Yr46 in landraces. This adult plant resistance (APR) gene confirms multi-pathogenic resistance to three rust diseases and to powdery mildew.

Using genotype sequencing and phenotyping, the authors also report an all-stage resistance gene for stripe rust on chromosome 7BL, temporarily designated as YrKU. The genetic dissection identified a total of six quantitative trait locus (QTL) conferring APR to leaf rust, and a further four QTL for stripe rust resistance.

Although use of landraces in wheat breeding has been practiced for a long time, it has been on a limited scale. This study represents a significant impact in breeding for biotic stresses, particularly in pest and disease resistance.

Read the full study here: Identification and Characterization of Resistance Loci to Wheat Leaf Rust and Stripe Rust in Afghan Landrace “KU3067”

Cover photo: Yellow rust screening takes place at a CIMMYT experimental station in Mexico. (Credit: Sridhar Bhavani/CIMMYT)

Pilot of new wheat variety improves yield for farmers in Ethiopia

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

“I am happy with this wheat variety and all the support from the project,” said Agere Worku, a female farmer in Ethiopia working with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “It is a lot of money that I will earn as a female farmer in my life.”

Worku is just one farmer taking part in a pilot intervention as part of CIMMYT’s Adaptation, Demonstration, and Piloting of Wheat Technologies for Irrigated Lowlands of Ethiopia (ADAPT-Wheat) project. Four female and four male farmers were chosen to take part from the Melke Yegna Tesfa Association, a membership group of 83 smallholder farmers, nearly half of which are female.

Participants were given Kingbird seeds, a new wheat variety, to plant in their smallholdings. The project then supported them through capacity building and advice on smart soil, water management, plant protection and agronomic packages.

“We prepared six hectares of land and sowed 1.1 tons of Kingbird seed,” said Yeshiwas Worku, chair of the Melke Yegna Tefsa Association. “There were other wheat varieties, such as Danda’a, adjacent to our experimental plot and the difference in yields was very visible. The other members of the association were eager to get Kingbird seeds, which are very different in terms of quality, yields, maturity, and disease tolerance.”

“CIMMYT is a life changer for me,” said Buzayehu Getahun, a farmer in Jeju, in the Oromia region. “I produced 3.7 tons on 0.75 hectares. Interestingly, I earned around 132,000 Ethiopian Birr (US$2,500) from this yield. I plan to build a new house for my mother in my village and will be blessed by her at her old age,” said Getahun.

Female smallholder farmer with a bag of Kingbird seed, which she will use as part of a CIMMYT project pilot. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

The impact on female farmers

After involvement in the pilot, the female farmers produced higher yields than they had experienced before.

“I used to harvest wheat three times in the previous years and earned only 0.66 tons of wheat per 0.75 hectare using seeds of other wheat varieties,” explained Worku. “But now thanks to support from CIMMYT, the yield has increased four times than the previous years; I produced 2.4 tons per 0.75 hectares. I am very happy with the high yield and feel encouraged to reinvest in other agricultural activities.”

A second female farmer, Melishew Tedela, said, “I am happy with this seed and all the support from the project. I can be witness that the other farmers who didn’t get this variety were not happy with their low yields of wheat.”

Female farmers in Ethiopia share their experiences of cultivating Kingbird wheat crops. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

The future of lowland wheat farming

Bekele Geleta Abeyo, wheat breeder and Ethiopia Country Representative at CIMMYT, said, “The Government of Ethiopia is emphasizing increasing irrigated wheat production and productivity in the lowlands to complement the intensification of rainfed wheat production in the highlands in order to achieve self-sufficiency by 2023 and feed the ever-growing population.”

With world wheat prices skyrocketing due to the Ukraine conflict, wheat technology generation and dissemination are key for sustainable agricultural practices.

CIMMYT is working to replace obsolete wheat varieties in Ethiopia that are susceptible to wheat rust, particularly yellow and stem rust, with disease-resistant products. Newer varieties like Kingbird are rust-resistant and therefore produce higher yields.

Farmer in his field of Kingbird wheat in Ethiopia. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

Fighting back against Ug99 wheat stem rust

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Sridhar Bhavani, head of rust pathology and molecular genetics and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), shared potential solutions for fighting back against wheat stem rusts like Ug99.

More than 200 new wheat varieties released by CIMMYT over the last ten years have contributed to reducing the spread of wheat stem rust in East Africa, where the disease originated. Scientists identify genes resistant to Ug99 and breed new varieties that are not susceptible to stem rust pathogens.

For long-term success, combining multiple resistant genes within a single variety is the way to go.

Read more: Fighting back against Ug99 wheat stem rust

Can digital agricultural services boost Ethiopia’s durum wheat production?

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Participants gather to discuss solutions to low levels of durum wheat cultivation in Ethiopia. (Credit: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

Despite an increase in the total area used for growing wheat in Ethiopia, the share of durum wheat, the wheat used for pasta, has decreased substantially across the country. Smallholder farmers grow durum wheat on marginal lands for their own use but are not benefitting financially from cultivating the crop.

To understand factors contributing to low area coverage of durum wheat and identify opportunities for reinvigoration and improved marketing, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) hosted a workshop for stakeholders from the entire durum wheat value chain.

“New breeding technologies have great promise for expanding the area of durum wheat production,” said Moti Jaleta, agricultural economist at CIMMYT, “but this achievement remains primarily dependent on the market’s ability to purchase grains at a higher price to stimulate farmer adoption. The market in Ethiopia is not favoring durum wheat, so suppliers and extension workers must promote it very well.”

Rising consumption of durum wheat products such as pasta and macaroni is causing higher dependency on wheat imports. Reducing this reliance requires addressing the challenges facing Ethiopia’s durum wheat farmers in variety development and release, seed supply, crop management, level of productivity, market opportunities, and extension systems.

Kindie Tesfaye, scientist and crop modeler at CIMMYT, explained, “There is a need to improve the durum wheat seed system and extension service, enhance the development of new varieties with desired grain quality and create market linkages to meet the increasing durum wheat demand from the rapidly growing urban population and expanding agro-industrial parks.”

The potential of digital

As Ethiopia’s agricultural systems are highly dependent on rainfall, digital interventions can serve as key decision support tools to manage climate risk and bolster the adaptive capacity and productivity of smallholder farmers. CIMMYT collaborates with value chain-based digital agro-advisory services through the Digital Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) project, which runs multiple projects in Ethiopia to advance the use of digital tools in farming.

Taye Tadesse, director of crop research at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, emphasized that the introduction of production technology should be participatory and customer-oriented to achieve the intended outcomes. Ensuring that technology is accessible is vital for strengthening the value chain system, he said.

Agreed actions from the workshop included focusing attention on the bodies responsible for the expansion of infrastructure and raising wheat farmers’ awareness of the value-adding tools available to them through training.

“We must ensure that farmers are the biggest decision-makers,” Tasfaye said.

Understanding the role of organic material application in soil microbial community structures

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

While previous studies have demonstrated the importance of organic material in soil for sustainable agricultural practices, there has been limited research into how organic material application affects the soil microbial community structures.

Researchers from El Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV) studied soil from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) long-term experiment in northwestern Mexico to determine the effect on the soil metagenome after adding easily decomposable organic residues. The soil was collected from plots where maize and wheat were cultivated without tillage on permanent beds with crop residue left on the soil surface since 1992.

Dried young maize plants were added to the soil in the laboratory. After three days of incubation, soil samples were analyzed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing to discover how the application of young maize plants affects the structure of microbial communities in arable soil, how the potential functioning of microbial communities is altered, and how the application affects the soil taxonomic and functional diversity.

Bacterial and viral groups were strongly affected by organic material application, whereas archaeal, protist and fungal groups were less affected. Soil viral structure and richness were impacted, as well as metabolic functionality. Further differences were recorded in cellulose degraders with copiotrophic lifestyle, which were enriched by the application of young maize plants, while groups with slow growing oligotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic metabolism performed better in unamended soil.

Given the importance of embedding and adopting sustainable agricultural practices as part of climate change adaptation and mitigation, the study improves our insight in a key aspect of sustainable agriculture, the management of crop residues.

Read the full study: Application of young maize plant residues alters the microbiome composition and its functioning in a soil under conservation agriculture: a metagenomics study

Cover photo: Wheat crops growing at CIMMYT’s long-term experiment site in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. (Credit: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)