The declining area sown to wheat worldwide, together with stockpiling by China, is masking significant risk in global wheat markets, experts at Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK caution.
âLess area sown means a higher dependence on yield to meet demand and thus a greater reliance on good weather, which is out of our control,â said Amandeep Kaur Purewal, a Senior Analyst in AHDBâs Market Intelligence Cereals and Oilseeds team, speaking in a recent interview with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center(CIMMYT).
âIf there is a production issueâsay, drought or a serious pest or disease outbreak in a key wheat growing countryâthen wheat stocks may not be as accessible as recent, bearish headlines suggest,â Kaur Purewal added. âBear in mind that the worldâs number-one wheat producer, China, is not exporting surplus wheat at the moment, so Chinaâs wheat wonât really be available for the markets.â
Established in 2008 and funded by farmers , growers and others in the supply chain, AHDB provides independent information to improve decisions and performance in UK agriculture.
In âGlobal wheat: The risks behind the records,â a report published by AHDB in February 2018, Kaur Purewal and colleagues suggest that, despite an unprecedented run of surplus global wheat production in the last four years, there is a relatively small cushion for large-scale importers to fall back upon, if imports become harder to obtain.
âLikely linked to Chinaâs efforts to become self-sufficient in wheat, since 2007/08 the country has increased its stockpile by 225 percent, giving it a 64 percent share of the 138 million ton increase in global wheat stocks over this period,â Kaur Purewal observed. âThis and the recent, huge global harvests for maize have saturated grain markets and pressured prices, driving the price of wheat futures to historic lows.â
According to the AHDB report, prices for wheat futures have been relatively stable, but if yields fall and production declines, greater price volatility may return.
âItâs important to remain aware of the market forces and read the news,â she said, âbut in the case of the wheat stocks-to-use ratio, which measures how much stock is left after demand has been accounted for, the headlines may not be providing a true reflection.â
Hans-Joachim Braun, director of CIMMYTâs global wheat program, called the AHDB report an âeye opener.â
âThis resonates with the cautionary message ofthe landmark 2015 study by Lloydâs of London, which showed that the global food system is actually under significant pressure from potential, coinciding shocks, such as bad weather combined with crop disease outbreaks,â Braun said.
âPrice spikes in basic food staples sorely affect the poor, who spend much of their income simply to eat each day,â Braun added. âCIMMYT and its partners cannot let up in our mission to develop and share high-yielding and nutritious maize and wheat varieties, supported by climate-smart farming practices. In an uncertain world, these help foster resilience and stability for food systems and consumers.â
Over two billion people across the world suffer from hidden hunger, the consumption of a sufficient number of calories, but still lacking essential nutrients such as vitamin A, iron or zinc. This can cause severe damage to health, blindness, or even death.
At the 4th annual Latin American Cereals Conference (LACC) in Mexico City from 11 to 14 March, presenters discussed global malnutrition and how biofortification of staple crops can be used to improve nutrition for farming families and consumers.
Wolfgang Pfeiffer of HarvestPlus presents on malnutrition and stunting. Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT.
âA stunted child will never live up to its full potential,â said Wolfgang Pfeiffer, director of research and development at HarvestPlus, as he showed a slide comparing the brain of a healthy infant versus a stunted one.
Hidden hunger and stunting, or impaired development, are typically associated with poverty and diets high in staple crops such as rice or maize. Biofortification of essential nutrients into these staple crops has the potential to reduce malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies around the world.
âMaize is a staple crop for over 900 million poor consumers, including 120-140 million poor families. Around 73% of farmland dedicated to maize production worldwide is located in the developing world,â said B.M. Prasanna, director of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) at LACC.
The important role of maize in global diets and the rich genetic diversity of the crop has allowed for important breakthroughs in biofortifcation. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has over 40 years of experience in maize breeding for biofortification, beginning with quality protein maize (QPM), which has enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan, essential amino acids, which can help reduce malnutrition in children.
B.M. Prasanna discusses the history of maize biofortification at the LACC conference. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT.
âOver 50 QPM varieties have been adopted in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, and three new QPM hybrids were released in India in 2017 using marker assisted breeding,â said Prasanna.
In more recent years, CIMMYT has worked with MAIZE and HarvestPlus to develop provitamin A maize to reduce vitamin A deficiency, the leading cause of preventable blindness in children, affecting 5.2 million preschool-age children globally, according to the World Health Organization. This partnership launched their first zinc-enriched maize varieties in Honduras in 2017 and Colombia in 2018, with releases of new varieties planned in Guatemala and Nicaragua later this year. Zinc deficiency can lead to impaired growth and development, respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and a general weakening of the immune system.
âThere is a huge deficiency of vitamin A, iron and zinc around the world,â said Natalia Palacios, maize nutritional quality specialist at CIMMYT. âThe beauty of maize is its huge genetic diversity that has allowed us to develop these biofortified varieties using conventional breeding methods. The best way to take advantage of maize nutritional benefits is through biofortification, processing and functional food,â she said.
Natalia Palacios discusses the development of biofortified varieties such as provitamin A and zinc-enriched maize. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT.
The effects of these varieties are already beginning to show. Recent studies have shown that vitamin A maize improves vitamin A status and night vision of 4-8 year old rural children in Zambia.
âBiofortified crops are in testing in over 60 countries, 7.5 million households are growing biofortified crops, and over 35 million household members are consuming them,â said Pfeiffer. âIt is critical to involve farmers in the development of biofortified crop varieties before they are released, through participatory variety selection.â
Overall, the conference presenters agreed that ending hidden hunger will require cooperation and partnerships from multiple sectors and disciplines. âPartnerships with seed companies are crucial for biofortified maize to make an impact. This is not just about technological advances and developing new products, this is about enabling policies, stimulating demand, and increasing awareness about the benefits of these varieties,â said Prasanna.
CIUDAD OBREGĂN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â As more than 200 wheat science and food specialists from 34 countries gathered in northwestern Mexico to address threats to global nutrition and food security, 9 outstanding young women wheat scientists among them showed that this effort will be strengthened by diversity.
Winners of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award pose in front of the statue of the late Nobel Peace laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. Included in the photo are Amor Yahyaoui, CIMMYT wheat training coordinator (far left), Jeanie Borlaug Laube (center, blue blouse), and Maricelis Acevedo, Associate Director for Science, the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat Project (to the right of Jeanie Borlaug Laube). Photo: CIMMYT/Mike Listman
âAs my father used to say, you are the future,â said Jeanie Borlaug Laube, daughter of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, and mentor of many young agricultural scientists. Speaking to the WIT recipients, she said, âYou are ahead of the game compared to other scientists your age.â
Established in 2010 as part of the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project led by Cornell University, the WIT program has provided professional development opportunities for 44 young women researchers in wheat from more than 20 countries.
The award is given annually to as many as five early science-career women, ranging from advanced undergraduates to recent doctoral graduates and postdoctoral fellows. Selection is based on a scientific abstract and statement of intent, along with evidence of commitment to agricultural development and leadership potential.
Women who will change their professions and the world
Weizhen Liu. Photo: WIT archives
Weizhen Liu, a 2017 WIT recipient and postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, is applying genome-wide association mapping and DNA marker technology to enhance genetic resistance in tetraploid and bread wheat to stripe rust, a major global disease of wheat that is spreading quickly and becoming more virulent.
âI am eager to join and devote myself to improving wheat yields by fighting wheat rusts,â said Liu, who received her bachelors in biotechnology from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, in 2011, and a doctorate from Washington State University in 2016. âThrough WIT, I can share my research with other scientists, receive professional feedback, and build international collaboration.â
Mitaly Bansal. Photo: WIT archives
Mitaly Bansal, a 2016 WIT award winner, currently works as a Research Associate at Punjab Agricultural University, India. She did her PhD research in a collaborative project involving Punjab Agricultural University and the John Innes Centre, UK, to deploy stripe and leaf rust resistance genes from non-progenitor wild wheat in commercial cultivars.
âI would like to work someday in a position of public policy in India,â said Bansal, who received the Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug scholarship in 2013. âThat is where I could have the influence to change things that needed changing.â
Networking in the cradle of wheatâs âGreen Revolutionâ
In addition to joining CIMMYT training for a week, WIT recipients will attend the annual Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) technical workshop, to be held this year in Marrakech, Morocco, from 14 to 17 April, and where the 2018 WIT winners will be announced.
The CIMMYT training sessions took place at the Norman Borlaug Experiment Station (CENEB), an irrigated desert location in Sonora State, northwestern Mexico, and coincided with CIMMYTâs 2018 âVisitorsâ Week,â which took place from 19 to 23 March.
An annual gathering organized by the CIMMYT global wheat program at CENEB, Visitorsâ Week typically draws hundreds of experts from the worldwide wheat research and development community. Participants share innovations and news on critical issues, such as the rising threat of the rust diseases or changing climates in key wheat farmlands.
Through her interaction with Visitorsâ Week peers, Liu said she was impressed by the extensive partnering among experts from so many countries. âI realized that one of the most important things to fight world hunger is collaboration; no one can solve food insecurity, malnutrition, and climate change issues all by himself.â
A strong proponent and practitioner of collaboration, Norman E. Borlaug worked with Sonora farmers in the 1940-50s as part of a joint Rockefeller Foundation-Mexican government program that, among other outputs, generated high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. After bringing wheat self-sufficiency to Mexico, the varieties were adopted in South Asia and beyond in the 1960-70s, dramatically boosting yields and allowing famine-prone countries to feed their rapidly-expanding populations.
This became known as the Green Revolution and, in 1970, Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions. Borlaug subsequently led CIMMYT wheat research until his retirement in 1979 and served afterwards as a special consultant to the Center.
When a new, highly virulent race of wheat stem rust, Ug99, emerged in eastern Africa in the early 2000s, Borlaug sounded the alarm and championed a global response that grew into the BGRI and associated initiatives such as DGGW.
âThis is just a beginning for you, but it doesnât end here,â said Maricelis Acevedo, a former WIT recipient who went on to become the leader of DGGW. Speaking during the training course, she observed that many WIT awardees come from settings where women often lack access to higher education or the freedom to pursue a career.
âThrough WIT activities, including training courses like this and events such as Visitorsâ Week and the BGRI workshop,â Acevedo added, âyouâll gain essential knowledge and skills but youâll also learn leadership and the personal confidence to speak out, as well as the ability to interact one-on-one with leaders in your fields and to ask the right questions.â
CIMMYT is a 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 generous support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) under UK aid, the DGGW project aims to strengthen the delivery pipeline for new, disease resistant, climate-resilient wheat varieties and to increase the yields of smallholder wheat farmers.
Reducing the length of time it takes to naturally breed more productive crop varieties is key to feed the world’s growing population, say scientists. Photo: CIMMYT archives
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Crop genetic gains remain too low, and international scientists are making a concerted effort to determine how best to increase yields to ensure there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet by 2050.
The complex task of increasing genetic gains â the amount of increase in performance achieved per unit time through artificial selection â involves considering many variables, including genotypes and phenotypes â selecting crop varieties with desired gene traits and considering how well they perform in a given environment.
Two new research papers by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners at Australiaâs University of Queensland and Spainâs University of Barcelona published in âTrends in Plant Scienceâ highlight some of the best available tools and strategies for meeting the challenge.
Currently, crop breeding methods and agronomic management put annual productivity increases at 1.2 percent a year, but to ensure food security for future generations, productivity should be at 2.4 percent a year.
By 2050, the United Nations projects that the current global population of 7.6 billion will grow to more than 9.8 billion, making yield increases vital.
The results of grain yield increases each year are a function of the length of the breeding process, the accuracy of which breeders can estimate the potential of new germplasm, the size of the breeding program, the intensity of selection, and the genetic variation for the trait of interest.
âReducing the length of the breeding process is the fastest way for breeders to increase their gains in grain yield per year,â said HuiHui Li, quantitative geneticist based at CIMMYT Beijing.
Speed breeding and other new techniques have the potential to double gains made by breeders some crops. Speed breeding protocols enable six generations of crops to be generated within a single year, compared to just two generations using traditional protocols.
Pioneered by scientist Lee Hickey at University of Queensland, speed breeding relies on continuous light to trick plants into growing faster, which means speed breeding can only be undertaken in a controlled environment.
Tapping into larger populations increases the probability of identifying superior offspring, but breeding is an expensive and time consuming process due to the variables involved.
One challenge scientists face is high-throughput field phenotyping, which involves characterising hundreds of plants a day to identify the best genetic variation for making new varieties. New phenotyping tools can estimate key traits such as senescence, reducing the time of data collection from a day or more to less than an hour.
âIf breeders could reduce the cost of phenotyping, they can reallocate resources towards growing larger populations,â said Mainassara Zaman-Allah, a senior scientist at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe and a key contributor to the paper âTranslating High Throughput Phenotyping into Genetic Gain.â
âLimitations on phenotyping efficiency are considered a key constraint to genetic advance in breeding programs,â said Mike Olsen, maize upstream trait pipeline coordinator with CIMMYT, based in Nairobi. âNew phenotyping tools to more efficiently measure required traits will play an important role in increasing gains.â
New tools and techniques can only help contribute to food security if they are easily available and adopted. The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, launched in 2017, will play a pivotal role in ensuring these new tools reach breeding programs targeting the developing world.
As part of the efforts of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program aimed at improving food security based on maize landraces in marginal areas of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a workshop on trial design was held from 19-21 February to improve the precision of data on improved maize landraces in smallholder farmersâ fields. Attending the workshop were partners from the National Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and the Southern Regional University Center of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh).
The objective was to continue to have positive impacts on the marginalized communities of Oaxaca, by adapting to the hillside conditions and poor, uneven and broken up soils that often characterize the plots of farmers who grow maize landraces. The very varied trial designs in farmersâ fields, plus the varied population structure of maize landraces make it difficult for scientists to create efficient designs.
The training workshop was led by Dr. Martha Willcox, CIMMYT Maize Landrace program, and designed by Dr. Juan Burgueño and Mr. Claudio Ayala, who sought to facilitate breeding research in smallholder farmersâ fields and to continue to work for the benefit of more than 400 Oaxacan farmers. The projectâs multi-disciplinary base includes genetic improvement, agronomic management and biostatistics in order to generate greater value and scientifically confirm the benefits that are being achieved in the fields of the countryâs poorest farmers.
It should be noted that during the four years that MasAgro has worked on participatory breeding (2014-2017), INIFAP, UACh and CIMMYT have found that in marginalized communities, maize landraces with the characteristics mentioned above not only yield more, but also generate higher returns on investments, which benefits farmers. Smallholder farmers grow maize in many ecological niches outside the areas most favorable for intensive commercial agriculture and in areas where hybrid improvement programs have not been introduced or worked due to the extreme conditions, including fog, drought and disease. Maize landraces are better adapted to those areas and have the culinary qualities needed to make every-day and festive local dishes.
In addition, not only has maize production for home consumption improved, but farmers are now linked to gastronomic markets. During project years and with its help, maize began to be exported, with 10,000 kilograms exported in 2014 and more than 900,000 kg exported in 2017.
The paper describes how wheat-based foods make up a major portion of total global calories, proteins and micronutrients that support growth and development. It argues that both whole- and refined-grain wheat products contribute to healthy nutrition globally.
Wheat is grown in nearly every region of the world and represents a main source of food and income for millions of smallholder farmers. The authors say wheat-based foods are therefore critical for food security and nutritional security worldwide.
The authors draw attention to the predicted upcoming food crisis, as populations in developing countries expand rapidly, especially in Africa and South Asia. They note that population growth is likely to outpace yield gains in wheat and call for larger investments in wheat and other cereal crops to keep pace with future demand.
The task of feeding 9.2 billion people by 2050 is daunting, but breeding has met this challenge before, during the green revolution. Hans Braun, head of the global wheat program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is calling for a ânew green revolutionâ to meet this new challenge.
Braun described a required 1.2 percent yield gain per year and said this is higher than the recent global average. However, promising programs, such as the durum wheat program at CIMMYT have achieved this goal consistently over the last several decades. The CIMMYT durum wheat program has achieved 3.4 percent yield gain per year over the last 43 years, over double the required gain over the next 30 years.
A ladder within a ladder : understanding the factors influencing a household’s domestic use of electricity in four African countries. 2017. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Behera, B., Ali, A., Marenya, P. In: Energy Economics v. 66, p. 167-181.
Conservation agriculture in the indogenetic plains of India : past, present and future. 2017. Hobbs, P., Gupta, R.K., Jat, R.K., Malik, R.K. In: Experimental Agriculture v. 10, no. 11:14, p. 1-19.
Gene action controlling normalized difference vegetation index in crosses of elite maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines. 2017. Adebayo, M. A., Menkir, A., Hearne, S., Kolawole, A. O. In: Cereal Research Communications v. 45, no. 4, p. 675â686.
Genetic gains in grain yield of a maize population improved through marker assisted recurrent selection under stress and non-stress conditions in West Africa. 2017. Abdulmalik, R.O., Menkir, A., Meseka, S., Unachukwu, N., Ado, S., Olarewaju, J.D., Aba, D.A., Hearne, S., Crossa, J., Gedil, M. In: Frontiers in Plant Science no. 8:841.
Heat stress and yield stability of wheat genotypes under different sowing dates across agro-ecosystems in India. Jat, R.K., Singh, P., Jat, M.L., Dia, M., Sidhu, H.S., Jat, S.L., Bijarniya, D., Jat, H. S., Parihar, C.M., Kumar, U., Lopez-Ridaura, S. In: Field Crops Research v. 218, p. 33-50.
Influence of crop establishment methods on yield, economics and water productivity of rice cultivars under upland and lowland production ecologies of Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. 2017. Rishi Raj, Kumar, A., Solanki, I.S., Dhar, S., Dass, A., Kumar Gupta, A., Kumar, V., Singh, C.B., Jat, R.K., Pandey, U.C. In: Paddy and Water Environment v. 15, no. 4, p. 861â877.
The goat grass genomeâs role in wheat improvement. 2018. Rasheed, A., Ogbonnaya, F.C., Lagudah, E.S., Appels, R., He Zhonghu. In: Nature Plants v. 4, p. 56-58.
Using satellite data to identify the causes of and potential solutions for yield gaps in Indiaâs Wheat Belt. 2017. Meha Jain, Singh, B., Srivastava, A., Malik, R., McDonald, A., Lobell, D.B. In: Environmental Research Letters v. 12, no. 9, 094011.
Yield and yield attributes as affected by different sowing dates and different maturity classes cultivar on direct seeded rice. 2017. Dahiya, S., Punia, S.S., Singh, J., Kakraliya, S.K., Singh, B., Jat, H.S., Malik, R. In: Chemical Science Review and Letters v. 6, no. 21, p. 149-152.
Wheat fields at the Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) near Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico. Photo: M. Ellis/CIMMYT.
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — Malnutrition is rising again and becoming more complex, according to the head of the worldâs leading public maize and wheat research center.
âThose people suffer from calorie malnutrition and go to bed hungry at night, which is a terrible thing,â Kropff added. âBut the diets of 2 billion persons worldwide lack essential micronutrients â Vitamin A, iron, or zinc â and this especially affects the health and development of children under 5 years old.â
Kropff noted that some 650 million people are obese, and the number is increasing. âAll these nutrition issues are interconnected, and are driven by rising population, global conflicts, and — for obesity — increasing prosperity, in developed and emerging economies.â
âThe solution? Good, healthy diets,â said Kropff, âwhich in turn depend on having enough food available, but also diverse crops and food types and consumer education on healthy eating.â
The worldâs quickly-rising population needs not only more food but healthier, more nutritious food, according to Julie Miller Jones, Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University, and Carlos GuzmĂĄn, who leads wheat quality research at CIMMYT.
Held in Mexico City during 11-14 March and co-organized by CIMMYT and the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), the 4th Latin American Cereals Conference has drawn more than 220 participants from 46 countries, including professionals in agricultural science and production, the food industry, regulatory agencies, and trade associations.
âWe are dedicated to spreading information about cereal science and technology, processing, and the health benefits of cereals,â said Hamit Köksel, president of the ICC and professor at Hacettepe University, Turkey, to open the event. âRegarding the latter, we should increase our whole grain consumption.â
Köksel added that ICC has more than 10,000 subscribers in 85 countries.
Breeding micronutrient-dense cereals
One way to improve the nutrition and health of the poor who cannot afford dietary supplements or diverse foods is through âbiofortificationâ of the staple crops that comprise much of their diets.
Drawing upon landraces and diverse other sources in maize and wheatâs genetic pools and applying innovative breeding, CIMMYT has developed high-yielding maize and wheat lines and varieties that feature enhanced levels of grain zinc and are being used in breeding programs worldwide.
âIn the last four years, the national research programs of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have released six zinc-biofortified wheat varieties derived from CIMMYT research,â said Hans Braun, director of the centerâs global wheat program. âZinc-Shakthi, an early-maturing wheat variety released in India in 2014 whose grain features 40 percent more zinc than conventional varieties, is already grown by more than 50,000 smallholder farmers in the Northeastern Gangetic Plains of India.â
New zinc biofortified maize variety BIO-MZN01, recently released in Colombia. Photo: CIMMYT archives
CIMMYT is focusing on enhancing the levels of provitamin A and zinc in the maize germplasm adapted to sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Improved quality protein maize (QPM) varieties, whose grain features enhanced levels of two essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, Â is another major biofortified maize that is grown worldwide, according to Prasanna Boddupalli, director of CIMMYTâs global maize program.
âQuality protein maize varieties are grown by farmers on 1.2 million hectares in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,â said Prasanna, in his presentation, adding that provitamin-A-enriched maize varieties have also been released in several countries in Africa, besides Asia.
âBiofortified crops have been released in 60 countries,â said Wolfgang Pfeiffer, HarvestPlus global director for product development and commercialization, speaking at the conference. âThe pressing need now is to âmainstreamâ biofortification, making it a standard component of breeding programs and food systems.â
Whole grains are good for you
A central issue on the conference agenda is promoting awareness about the importance of healthy diets and the role of whole grains.
âParticipants will discuss the large body of published studies showing that whole grain foods, including processed ones, are associated with a significantly reduced risk of chronic diseases and obesity,â said Carlos GuzmĂĄn, who leads wheat quality research at CIMMYT and helped organize the conference. âThere is a global movement to promote the consumption of whole grains and the food industry worldwide is responding to rising consumer demand for whole grain products.â
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Global challenges to agriculture such as climate change, crop diseases and pests mean that the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is constantly working to develop new, improved, resistant varieties for farmers.
However, crop breeding is expensive, time-consuming work, meaning that it takes several years for farmers to get seed solutions to the challenges they are facing today.
Mike Olsen, upstream research coordinator for CIMMYT maize program, works with scientists to use new technologies to increase breeding program efficiency and genetic gain â developing improved maize varieties with the traits smallholder farmersâ need, such as disease resistance or drought tolerance, using less time and resources than ever before.
âOur whole team is trying to improve genetic gain for various traits, and to deliver more genetic gain with fewer resources, through the application of phenotyping innovation, genomics and molecular markers for crop improvement,â Olsen said. âOur work at CIMMYT assists our breeding teams to be more effective in developing improved products for farmers.â
Originally from the United States, Olsen grew up on a small farm in Wisconsin and would go on to study plant breeding and genetics at the University of Minnesota. âDuring my undergrad years I had the chance to visit South Africa and saw rural poverty for the first time. At the time, I was taking classes in plant biology and genetics and I was inspired by the idea of using agricultural improvement as a method for poverty eradicationâitâs a big part of why I went into plant breeding,â he said. âAs a graduate student, I became very interested in the mission of CIMMYT. I was studying at Norman Borlaugâs alma mater â working in Borlaug Hall, in fact â which inspired me to pursue a career at a CGIAR center. CIMMYT was a perfect fit that allowed me to do something Iâve wanted to do since I was 19 years old.â
The farmers he has met around the world inspire Olsen to come into work every day. âKnowing that the outcome of our work is providing income and food security to millions of vulnerable people is whatâs so exciting about what we do. Being able to serve as a conduit for bringing advanced technology for crop improvement for resource poor farmers and consumers is incredible,â he said.
Beyond the day-to-day activities of conference calls, travel and airports, the big picture work of what Olsen does is to lead a global team of talented scientists, help with grant writing and project oversight, with a focus on breeding program optimization. âI have been very involved with the Genomics and Open Source Breeding informatics initiative (GOBii), which helps breeding programs efficiently use genetic information, and Iâm currently working on a collaboration with DuPont Pioneer on seed production in Africa to deliver higher quality seed to smallholder farmers,â Olsen said. âWhat I most enjoy about my work is the people. I have to be honest, coming to CIMMYT I was moving out of a hands-on science role into working with people, and the collaborative nature of this job has been really energizing for me. Iâve had the opportunity to mentor some of our talented young scientists into greater leadership roles, and it has been really exciting seeing their professional growth. Itâs the CIMMYT mission that gets us all out of bed in the morning, but I really enjoy the people I work and collaborate with.â
ASKIPAL, India (CIMMYT) â A recent meeting in India focused on the value of maize for unused land in Indiaâs Odisha plateau during monsoon season and the importance of women in agriculture.
More than 2000 farmers participated in the experience sharing meeting organized by the Department of Agriculture in collaboration with CSISA. Photo: CIMMYT/V.Dakshinamurthy
Odisha lies on Indiaâs east coast and is home to vast tracts of fertile paddy fields spread along the coastline and the districtâs southern region. To the north, however, lies Odishaâs north-central plateau, an upland area dominated by red lateritic soils used for producing staple crops under rainfed conditions during the monsoon and usually left fallow, or unused, during the dry, winter season.
Upland fields are often left fallow in the rainy season as well, despite receiving around 1,400 mm rainfall on average. Rice in these areas is a risky proposition, but the soils are surprisingly well suited to maize production without irrigation during the monsoon. Indigenous tribes, who have been cultivating traditional maize varieties for generations, are the main inhabitants this plateau region.
Over the past couple of years, improved maize cultivation, including with hybrids, has emerged as a potential income-generating activity for tribal populations, especially women farmers, in the Odisha plateau.
In February the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), in partnership with Odishaâs Department of Agriculture of Odisha (DOA) organized a meeting in the village of Askipal, Odisha in eastern India. The meeting was discussed improved maize cultivation during monsoon season and how to improve on what was done in 2017 to prepare for the upcoming 2018 Kharif season.
“Our population is increasing but not our land,â said Mangal Singh Modi, a member of the legislative assembly of Jashipur constituency in Mayurbhanj, Odisha. âWe have to increase our productivity to ensure there is food for all. In Mayurbhanj, farmers should choose the right crops and varieties according to their type of land to get better productivity.â
The event allowed farmers to discuss their experiences planting improved maize, sell seed to poultry feed millers and discuss benefits gained by tribal and women farmers and planning for the 2018 monsoon season, which will begin around mid-April.
Over 500 participants attended the meeting, including farmers, extension agents, scientists, service providers and representatives from seed companies. Participating organizations included the Odisha Livelihood Mission, local government departments of Odisha, the Reliance Foundation, DuPont Pioneer seeds and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency of Odisha.
Wheat is popular in northern India, rice is popular in eastern India, especially the coastal belt and maize is popular in the tribal-dominated plateau belt. Discussions at the meeting focused on the importance of planting improved maize varieties to ensure productivity and strengthening market linkage with poultry feed millers.
“The Agriculture Department of Odisha will support farmers to impart required scientific knowledge,â said Damodar Sethi, Deputy Director of Agriculture in Mayurbhanj. âFarmers should adopt best agronomic practices as recommended to increase productivity.â
He said the Department of Agriculture would like to popularize maize during monsoon season as a way to increase productivity.
âWomen farmers should come forward to bring changes in agriculture, and more importantly, in our society,â Sethi continued.
Debasish Marndi, Chairman of Special Development Council for the Government of Odisha also focused on the importance of including women in the expansion of agriculture in Mayurbhanj.
“Tribal development and empowerment of women farmers are our prime concerns and we are glad to see Mayurbhanj is becoming a lead commercial maize production center,â Marndi said. âThe hard work of tribal community members and women self-help groups need a special appreciation.”
In the last decade, the climate of Africa has been changing in dramatic ways. Many regions face unpredictable levels of rainfall, which can lead both droughts and severe flooding. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world with over 30 percent of children under five facing stunting â severe malnutrition, and is the only region where the rate of undernourished people has consistently increased.
Maize is a vital staple cash and sustenance crop in most of Africa, and legumes provide nutrition, income and improve soil fertility. However, farmersâ yields are suffering due to declining soil fertility, drought and poor access to improved technologies.
Over the last eight years, SIMLESA has developed productive, resilient and sustainable smallholder maize-legume cropping systems. SIMLESA focuses on improving maize-legume cropping systems by encouraging the adoption of sustainable agriculture systems through conservation agriculture practices such as crop residue retention, crop rotation and intercropping practices to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase proïŹts and protect the environment.
Recently, Elliud Kireger, director general of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Mulugetta Mekuria Asfaw, SIMLESA project leader and Daniel Rodriguez, associate professor, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) The University of Queensland, wrote a joint opinion piece âAfrica: Science Can Reverse ‘New Normal’ of Hunger and Climate Disasterâ in All Africa on the impacts of SIMLESA, read it here.
The Sustainable IntensiïŹcation of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) programis funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
The project, titled âAppropriate Mechanization for Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Farming in Ethiopia,â aims to increase soil fertility through direct row planting of major crops in Ethiopia, such as maize, wheat and teff. However, they identified in their pilot phase that the necessary infrastructure and supply chains were not in place to ensure project sustainability and that the involvement of the private sector would be necessary.
Therefore, the project in its second phase focused on these critical activities, especially increasing capacity of service providers to deliver services and manage their businesses, and mechanics who closely support service providers in their daily business. Mechanics work with the local spare parts representatives identified by AMIO Engineering Plc, a local private sector partner in manufacturing and dealer of small scale agriculture technologies and machinery, to ensure that the fast moving and critical parts are always available in stock at their local warehouses.
In October 2017, two trainings were conducted at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in Melkassa.
The first training was organized for selected mechanics by AMIO and CIMMYT with funding from the Integrated Soil Fertility Management program (ISFM), part of the German Cooperation for International Development Agency (GIZ). The one-week training covered the use and function as well as maintenance, repair and spare parts of the two-wheel tractor (2WT).
The second training, intended for service providers (SPs), focused on capacity building and quality development of small-scale mechanization services. The 44 SPs in attendance were encouraged to exchange individual experiences and expertise about service provision businesses, technical challenges in the field and the extent of potential business opportunities.
These trainings specifically focused on the use, operation, maintenance and safety of the 2WT and its ancillaries, as with correct aggregation almost all farming tasks can be accomplished with a single machine. The use of a 2WT for these tasks reduces both the time required to establish a crop and the chore of the task, by increasing productivity of both labor and crops.
Economic assessments show that mechanized planting using a 2WT is an economically viable and attractive option for both farmers and SPs. This is especially true when services offered include full use of 2WT and attachments; as these services are useful 365 days a year.
After farmers see these technologies, they are often interested in purchasing the services associated with the equipment and service providers frequently asked to procure additional equipment.
In order to achieve the aim of increased soil fertility through direct row planting of major crops in Ethiopia, the project selected six micro-watersheds in January 2016 that corresponded to ISFM intervention sites to test the delivery of small mechanization through service provision. The sites are located in the regions of Amhara, Oromia and Tigray.
The project imported six equipment packages from China for mechanized crop establishment, harvesting of small grain cereals and water pumping. These machines were loaned to individual service providers in Oromia and Tigray, and to a farmers group in Amhara. In addition, EIAR locally manufactured six trailers and three threshers which have been be dispatched to service providers.
Furthermore, in this second phase, the GIZ-ISFM through CIMMYT with Ethiopiaâs Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) dispatched 100 units of 2WT with plows, and an additional 15 trailers and 18 direct row planters that can be attached.
Based on encouraging results, the second phase of the project will focus on establishing viable, private sector-based input delivery mechanisms (maintenance and repair services, spare parts, and new equipment) and generating sufficient demand for self-sustained scaling-out processes.
A women dries maize grain after shelling. Photo: CIMMYT/ Wasim Iftikar
Unforeseen market effects, particularly rising land values and falling maize prices, have blocked the headway of womenâs groups in eastern India who had begun profiting from maize farming on fallow land.
Leveraging the regionâs favorable rainfall and soils and leasing fallow land from mostly male landholders, womenâs groups had been growing improved maize, including hybrids, in Badbil Village, Mayurbhanj District, on the north-central plateau of Odisha State, a populous area on Indiaâs East Coast.
In conjunction with the Odisha State Department of Agriculture in 2016, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), provided technical training on improved maize production practices including mechanized line sowing using a seed drill, the safe application of pre-emergence herbicides, weed control using a power weeder, precision fertilizer management, and the marketing of dry grain.
Across Mayurbhanj, CSISA supported the cultivation of more than 1,800 hectares of hybrid maize. The womenâs groups in Badbil grew more than 32 hectares and obtained an average yield of 5.6 tons per hectare. CSISA facilitated the purchase by poultry feed mills from neighboring districts of around 100 tons of dry grain at $240 per ton, generating net gains of from $700 to $783 per hectare. The farmers also harvested surplus green cobs for family consumption.
Women farmers ready to bag up maize grain for storage. Photo: CIMMYT/ Wasim Iftikar
The success of maize cultivation in Badbil received attention in leading Odia-language newspapers, became a regional example for turning fallows into cash, and even featured in a report of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
But seeing that maize cultivation could yield profits, landowners declined to lease their fields in 2017. Fewer women farmers were able to grow maize and difficulties in sustaining linkages with millers due to the low output led many of the women to sell their crop as green cob at a lower price.
Worse yet, maize market prices plunged in Odisha in 2017. Farmers in Nuapada and Bolangir districts ended up selling at $167 per ton, against a declared minimum support price of $226 and as compared to $190 in 2016, demonstrating farmersâ vulnerability to price volatility.
Women farmers in Badbil wish to continue growing maize, despite the obstacles, and are encouraging male farmers to produce hybrid maize to keep supplying millers and thus maintain that market connection.
Anita Lohar, a progressive woman farmer, said, âThe introduction of mechanization has helped the self-help groups to come forward to adopt maize and earn money from fallow land. We had one acre of maize in 2014 and now we cultivate maize on more than 80 acres. Maize farming has changed a lot from traditional practices, which were time consuming, labor intensive and less profitable, and now has asserted womenâs fundamental role in agriculture.â
CSISA is working with the Odisha State Department of Agriculture and Farmersâ Empowerment, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited to convene a maize marketing forum. On the agenda are improved infrastructure and aggregation and connectivity with nearby markets, such as poultry mills. CSISA also believes that better coordination among agencies involved in production, post-harvest management, storage, warehousing, and e-trading can unlock the potential for maize to generate significant incomes for smallholders, especially women, in the Odisha plateau.
Women are adopting mechanization and using seed drills. Photo: CIMMYT/ Wasim Iftikar
CIMMYT research in Ethiopia and other countries has shown that, in communities where women and men work together and women have access to knowledge and resources and share in decision making, everyone benefits. Photo: CIMMYT/Apollo Habtamu
Gender awareness and gender-sensitive approaches are slowly spreading into agricultural research, extension, and policy in Ethiopia, based on recent statements from a cross section of professionals and practitioners in the country.
Moges Bizuneh, deputy head of the agricultural office of Basona District, attended a CIMMYT-organized workshop in which Ethiopia-specific results were presented from GENNOVATE, a large-scale qualitative study involving focus groups and interviews with more than 7,500 rural men and women in 26 developing countries. âI have learned a lot about gender and itâs not just about women, but about both women and men,â said Bizuneh.
The District of Basona has nearly 30,000 households, 98 percent of which depend on agriculture for food and livelihoods but have access to an average of only 1.5 hectares of land. More than 10,000 of those households are headed by females, because many males and youth have left Basona to seek opportunities in large cities or other countries.
Bizuneh and his colleagues are working with a district gender specialist and a women and gender unit to make gender sensitive approaches a regular part of their activities. In this, he concedes that he and other professionals are contending with âdeep-rooted social and cultural norms around divisions of labor and a lack of awareness regarding gender issues.â
One surprise for Bizuneh, from group discussions regarding innovation and involvement in CIMMYTâs gender research, was that women said it was important to share experiences with other farmers and obtain new knowledge.
âNo men mentioned that,â he remarked. âThis shows that, if provided with information and support, women can innovate.â
Kristie Drucza, CIMMYT gender and development specialist, has been studying, publishing on, and presenting widely about people-centered, evidence-based approaches for gender equality that are being taken up by agriculture-for-development professionals. Photo: CIMMYT/Apollo Habtamu
Women and men plan and change together
Another product from the project is a 2017 review of gender-transformative methodologies for Ethiopiaâs agriculture sector, co-authored by Kristie Drucza, project lead, and Wondimu Abebe, a research assistant, both from CIMMYT.
Drucza presented on the people-centered methodologies described in the publication at a recent workshop in Addis Ababa, offering diverse lessons of use for research and development professionals.
âThe methodologies involve participatory research to help households and communities assess their situation and develop solutions to problems,â said Drucza. âBy working with men and boys and allowing communities to set the pace of change, these approaches reduce the likelihood of a backlash against womenâsomething that too frequently accompanies gender-focused programs.â
Annet Abenakyo Mulema, social scientist in gender at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), intends to apply some of the same methods to help rural families understand household and community gender dynamics and their role in managing the familiesâ goats, sheep, and other livestock.
Annet Abenakyo Mulema, social scientist in gender at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), is applying participatory research and gender-sensitive methods to help households and communities assess their situation and develop solutions to problems. Photo: ILRI archives
âA 2015 study we did uncovered gender relationships associated with disease transmission,â Mulema explained. âWomen and girls normally clean the animal pens and so are exposed to infections. Social conventions in the community make women feel inferior and not empowered to speak out about animal health, which is considered a manâs domain. We encouraged men and women to share roles and work together, and this made it easier for both to quickly identify disease outbreaks at early stages and prevent infections from spreading throughout the herd or to humans.â
Mulema said Druczaâs workshop helped her to understand and appreciate methodologies such as social analysis and action, community conversations, and gender action learning systems to support a shared, local response to the problem. âAs another outcome, we spoke to service providers, such as veterinarians and extension agents, who needed to understand how gender related to animal health and the fact that the relationships between women and men in a community can change.â
Meskerem Mulatu, gender and nutrition specialist in Ethiopiaâs Agricultural Growth Program II (AGP II) Capacity Development Support Facility (CDSF), said her group invited Drucza to speak on gender and social norms at a national workshop organized by AGP II CDSF in October 2017.
âOur event was on gender, nutrition, and climate-smart agriculture,â according to Meskerem. âMany technologies are gender-sensitive but research and extension are not giving this adequate attention because there is no common operational definition. Their preconception is âtechnology is technology; itâs the same for men and women.â Druczaâs evidence-based presentation showed that men and women may have different technology demands.â
Meskerem is going to train district agricultural officers to use a transformative methodology identified by Drucza. âKristieâs report is really good timing,â she said. âWe were thinking of doing something in terms of gender and these methodologies make sense.â
Recording data on changes in social norms
In June 2017, Drucza presented the findings of her meta-analysis of evaluations of gender in Ethiopian agricultural development at a senior staff meeting of the Ethiopia office of CARE, the global humanitarian organization. Among the 26 agricultural program evaluations considered, explained Drucza, only three had strong findings, a heavy inclusion of gender, and evidence of changes in social normsâand all three were CARE projects.
Moges Bizuneh helps lead an agricultural office in Basona District, home to more than 10,000 female-headed households, and is working to support innovation by women. Photo: CIMMYT/Mike Listman
One was the Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development (GRAD) initiative. As an outcome of Druczaâs presentation, CARE is refining the way it records certain social data, according to Elisabeth Farmer, Deputy Chief of Party for the CARE’s Feed the Future EthiopiaâLivelihoods for Resilience Activity project, which emerged from GRAD.
âOur baseline study protocol and questionnaire for the new project hadnât been finalized yet,â Farmer said. âWe were thinking through the difference between using a scale that scores responses along a range, such as a Likert scale, versus asking respondents âyes or noâ-type questions, for instance regarding womenâs access to information or equitable decision-making in the household.
âAs Drucza explained, when it comes to gender norms, you may not get all the way from a ânoâ to a âyesâ, but only from a â2â to â3â, and we want to make sure that we are capturing these smaller shifts, so we incorporated scales with ranges into our baseline and will ensure that these are used in future assessments to track transformations in social norms.â
According to Drucza, who leads the CIMMYT project âUnderstanding gender in wheat-based livelihoods for enhanced WHEAT R4D impact in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ethiopia,â funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, research must be relevant and useful.
âIâm happy to learn that our results are useful to a diverse range of actors, from development partners to policy makers and local agricultural officers,â she said.
A new publication suggests strategies to improve rural women’s access to agricultural machinery. Photo: CIMMYT/ Martin Ranak
A new research note published for International Women’s Day, details current gender gaps in rural mechanization in Bangladesh, and outlines plans to overcome these challenges.
Using simple technologies, such as multi-crop reaper-harvesters can reduce the time farmers spend harvesting by up to 80 percent and can reduce the costs of hiring field labor by up to 60 percent. The problem is that women may face cultural constraints to working in the field, running machinery service provision businesses, and do not have equal access to financing, which is a huge barrier, as the technologies can cost $500-2000 up front.
The authors suggest a number of gender-balanced approaches to scaling-out technologies such as use of targeted, selective and smart subsidies and access to finance to women-headed households, methods to spread investment risks, and prioritizing joint learning, with husbands and wives attending field courses together and jointly developing business plans.
The research note is a result of joint efforts between the USAID/Washington and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), the USAID/Bangladesh CSISA – Mechanization and Irrigation Project, and the the USAID/Washington funded USAID funded Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration Initiative (GCAN) project, all of which involve collaborations between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the International Food Policy Research Institute, International Development Enterprises, the International Rice Research Institute and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â A new set of resources has been released to aid agricultural researchers integrating gender sensitivities into their research for development projects. The guidance notes are based on findings from GENNOVATE, a global comparative gender norms research initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
âIntegrating gender into research is challenging,â said the project leader Lone Badstue. âThe purpose of these GENNOVATE resources is to inspire and help scientists who are not gender experts to think gender into their own work.â
Agricultural research often fails to use gender analysis, which provides important information on womenâs and menâs different needs and opportunities in agriculture, Badstue said.
(Photo: CIMMYT)
In a bid to turn the tide, GENNOVATE initiated a series of tools and guides to give evidence about gender roles in agriculture, challenge assumptions and provide gender-inclusive data collection instruments that are easily accessible to researchers.
âThese resources provide evidence-based inputs and recommendations on how to integrate gender considerations in research on, for example, climate-smart-agriculture, conservation agriculture, mechanization, farmer training events and more,â said Badstue. âSome of the tools have broad geographical relevance, while others have a regional or even country-level focus.â
The resources draw on GENNOVATE research, which focuses on how gender norms influence womenâs and menâs abilities to learn about, adopt and adapt innovations in agriculture and natural resource management. This research initiative runs across multiple CGIARÂ research programs to provide contextually grounded evidence on how gender interacts with access to information, resources and decision-making processes.
âIf there is a production issueâsay, drought or a serious pest or disease outbreak in a key wheat growing countryâthen wheat stocks may not be as accessible as recent, bearish headlines suggest,â Kaur Purewal added. âBear in mind that the worldâs number-one wheat producer, China, is not exporting surplus wheat at the moment, so Chinaâs wheat wonât really be available for the markets.â
As part of the efforts of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program aimed at improving food security based on maize landraces in marginal areas of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a workshop on trial design was held from 19-21 February to improve the precision of data on improved maize landraces in smallholder farmersâ fields. Attending the workshop were partners from the National Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and the Southern Regional University Center of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh).
