Blogs – Page 118

New Publications: Mitigating climate change effects on food security

Written by on December 7, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Long term conservation agriculture in practice. Photo: CIMMYT/X. Fonseca — Long term conservation agriculture in practice.
Photo: CIMMYT/X. Fonseca

A new study on climate change patterns indicates that climate change could reduce total crop production 23 percent by 2050, the same year in which human population is expected to increase past nine billion people.

Globally, one in nine people were unable to meet their dietary energy requirements in 2015 and that number is expected to increase. Food insecurity is exacerbated by unstable global food prices, which are a reflection of unpredictable crop production seasons due to extreme weather patterns like temperature shocks, drought and flooding.

Climate-resilient agriculture has been touted as essential to achieving food security in the future. The study shows that improvements in technology and agronomic practices have the capacity to increase global food production to adequate levels, even in extreme conditions.

The authors say that beginning to implement mitigation and adaptation technologies now is crucial to check climate change’s adverse impact on global crop production and food security.

Read the full study “Impact of climate change, weather extremes, and price risk on global food supply” and check out other publications by CIMMYT staff below:

Participatory integrated assessment of scenarios for organic farming at different scales in Camargue, France. 2016. Delmotte, S., Barbier, J.M., Mouret, J.C., Le Page, C., Wery, J., Chauvelon, P., Sandoz, A., Lopez-Ridaura, S. In: Agricultural Systems, vol.143, p.147-158.

Patterns and determinants of household use of fuels for cooking: empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Behera, B., Ali, A. In: Energy, vol. 117, p. 93-104.

Photosynthetic contribution of the ear to grain filling in wheat: a comparison of different methodologies for evaluation. 2016. Sanchez-Bragado, R., Molero, G., Reynolds, M.P., Araus, J.L. In: Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 67, no.9, p.2787-2798.

Pm55, a developmental-stage and tissue-specific powdery mildew resistance gene introgressed from Dasypyrum villosum into common wheat. 2016. Ruiqi Zhang, Bingxiao Sun, Chen, J., Aizhong Cao, Liping Xing, Yigao Feng, Caixia Lan, Peidu Chen. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol.129, p.1975-1984.

Precise estimation of genomic regions controlling lodging resistance using a set of reciprocal chromosome segment substitution lines in rice. 2016. Taiichiro Ookawa, Ryo Aoba, Toshio Yamamoto, Tadamasa Ueda, Toshiyuki Takai, Shuichi Fukuoka, Tsuyu Ando, Shunsuke Adachi, Makoto Matsuoka, Takeshi Ebitani, Yoichiro Kato, Indria Wahyu Mulsanti, Kishii, M., Reynolds, M.P., Piñera Chavez, F.J., Toshihisa Kotake, Shinji Kawasaki, Takashi Motobayashi, Tadashi Hirasawa. In: Nature Scientific reports, vol.6, no. 30572.

Predicting hybrid performances for quality traits through genomic-assisted approaches in Central European wheat. 2016. Guozheng Liu, Yusheng Zhao, Gowda, M., Longin, F.H., Reif, J.C., Florian Mette, M. In: PLoS One, vol 11, no. 7.

Predicting Rift Valley fever inter-epidemic activities and outbreak patterns: insights from a stochastic Host-Vector Model. 2016. Pedro, S.A., Abelman, S., Tonnang, H. In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol.10, no.12, 1-26 p.

Household energy consumption and its determinants in Timor-Leste. 2017. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Mottaleb, K.A., Ali, A. In: Asian development review, v. 34, no. 1, p. 167-197.

Cover crop-based reduced tillage system influences Carabidae (Coleoptera) activity, diversity and trophic group during transition to organic production. 2017. Rivers, A., Mullen, C., Wallace, J., Barbercheck, M. In: Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, v. 32, no. 6, p. 538-551.

Impact of climate change, weather extremes, and price risk on global food supply. 2017. Haile, M.G., Wossen, T., Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye, Joachim, vB. In: Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, v. 1, p. 55-75.

Australian High Commissioner to India visits project fields

Written by on December 5, 2017. Posted in News.

Group photo during Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu's visit. Photo courtesy of SRFSI program. — Group photo during the visit of the Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu. Photo: SRFSI program.

DEHLI, India (CIMMYT) – This November, the work of the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project was marked with notable recognition by the Australian Government with a visit from the Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu. The project is co-led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Field visit at SRFSI. Photo courtesy of SRFSI program. — Field visit at SRFSI. Photo: SRFSI program.

Sidhu’s visit to observe the SRFSI project’s activities from a grassroots level allowed her to have hands-on experience and interaction with university students, farmers, women’s self-help groups, local service providers and private agencies engaged as members of an SRFSI innovation platform.

Sidhu met with the members of a farmers’ club which is solely operated and monitored by women of the local community. She was highly impressed with the efforts of these women to make themselves independent and self-reliant through new innovations in mushroom, fish and duck farming.

Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, sitting with a local women's group. Photo courtesy of SRFSI program. — Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, sitting with a local women’s group. Photo: SRFSI program.

“It was heartening to observe the positive response of the farmers, especially women, to conservation and sustainable farming, and how the technology has improved incomes, reduced drudgery, had positive health impacts and facilitated the development of agri-entrepreneurs,” said Sidhu in her thank you letter.

On the last day of her visit to trial fields, Sidhu was impressed by the service provider business model developed by the SRFSI project to facilitate the creation of employment opportunities and motivation for youth to engage in farming activities.

Sidhu wrote, “I wish you and your team success in reaching out to farmers in north Bengal and working together with them to improve their lives and those of future generations.”

SRFSI is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal and Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya Agricultural University.

New systems analysis tools help boost the sustainable intensification of agriculture in Bangladesh

Written by on December 4, 2017. Posted in News.

Group photo at ESAP workshop in Bangladesh. Photo: CSISA.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – In South Asia, the population is growing and land area for agricultural expansion is extremely limited. Increasing the productivity of already farmed land is the best way to attain food security.

In the northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains, farmers use groundwater to irrigate their fields. This allows them to grow two or three crops on the same piece of land each year, generating a reliable source of food and income for farming families. But in the food-insecure lower Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains in Bangladesh, farmers have lower investment capacities and are highly risk averse. Combined with environmental difficulties including ground water scarcity and soil and water salinity, cropping is often much less productive.

Could the use of available surface water for irrigation provide part of the solution to these problems? The government of Bangladesh has recently promoted the use of surface water irrigation for crop intensification. The concept is simple: by utilizing the country’s network of largely underutilized natural canals, farmers can theoretically establish at least two well-irrigated and higher-yielding crops per year. The potential for this approach to intensifying agriculture however has various limitations. High soil and water salinity, poor drainage and waterlogging threaten crop productivity. In addition, weakly developed markets, rural to urban out-migration, low tenancy issues and overall production risk limit farmers’ productivity. The systematic nature of these problems calls for new approaches to study how development investments can best be leveraged to overcome these complex challenges to increase cropping intensity.

Policy makers, development practitioners and agricultural scientists recently gathered to respond to these challenges at a workshop in Dhaka. They reviewed research results and discussed potential solutions to common limitations. Representatives from more than ten national research, extension, development and policy institutes participated. The CSISA-supported workshop however differed from conventional approaches to research for development in agriculture, in that it explicitly focused on interdisciplinary and systems analysis approaches to addressing these complex problems.

Systems analysis is the process of studying the individual parts and their integration into complex systems to identify ways in which more effective and efficient outcomes can be attained. This workshop focused on these approaches and highlighted new advances in mathematical modeling, geospatial systems analysis, and the use of systems approaches to farmer behavioral science.

Timothy J. Krupnik, Systems Agronomist at CIMMYT and CSISA Bangladesh country coordinator, gave an overview of a geospatial assessment of landscape-scale irrigated production potential in coastal Bangladesh to start the talks.

For the first time in Bangladesh, research using cognitive mapping, a technique developed in cognitive and behavioral science that can be used to model farmers’ perceptions of their farming systems, and opportunities for development interventions to overcome constraints to intensified cropping, was described. This work was conducted by Jacqueline Halbrendt and presented by Lenora Ditzler, both with the Wageningen University.

“This research and policy dialogue workshop brought new ideas of farming systems and research, and has shown new and valuable tools to analyze complex problems and give insights into how to prioritize development options,” said Executive Director of the Krishi Gobeshona Foundation, Wais Kabir.

Workshop participants also discussed how to prioritize future development interventions, including how to apply a new online tool that can be used to target irrigation scheme planning, which arose from the work presented by Krupnik. Based on the results of these integrated agronomic and socioeconomic systems analyses, participants also learned how canal dredging, drainage, micro-finance, extension and market development must be integrated to achieve increases in cropping intensity in southern Bangladesh.

Mohammad Saidur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Seed Science and Technology department at Bangladesh Agriculture University, also said he appreciated the meeting’s focus on new methods. He indicated that systems analysis can be applied not only to questions on cropping intensification in Bangladesh, but to other crucial problems in agricultural development across South Asia.

The workshop was organized by the Enhancing the Effectiveness of Systems Analysis Tools to Support Learning and Innovation in Multi-stakeholder Platforms (ESAP) project, an initiative funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and supported in Bangladesh through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). ESAP is implemented by Wageningen University’s Farming Systems Ecology group and the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT).

CSISA is a CIMMYT-led initiative implemented jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). CSISA works to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies by operating in rural “innovation hubs” in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, and seeks to improve farmers’ access to market information and enterprise development.

Breaking Ground: Leonard Rusinamhodzi on innovating farming systems for climate change

Written by on November 30, 2017. Posted in Features.

TwitterBGLernard Food security is at the heart of Africa’s development agenda. However, climate change is threatening the Malabo Commitment to end hunger in the region by 2025, said Leonard Rusinamhodzi, a systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

Erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures are already causing crops to fail, threatening African farmers’ ability to ensure household food security, he said. Africa is the region most vulnerable to climate variability and change, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Small-scale family farmers, who provide the majority of food production in Africa, are set to be among the worst affected. Rusinamhodzi’s work includes educating African farmers about the impacts of climate change and working with them to tailor sustainable agriculture solutions to increase their food production in the face of increasingly variable weather.

The world’s population is projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, with 2.1 billion people set to live in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates farmers will need to increase production by at least 70 percent to meet demand. However, climate change is bringing numerous risks to traditional farming systems challenging the ability to increase production, said Rusinamhodzi.

Graphic created by Gerardo Mejia. Data sourced form the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. — Graphic created by Gerardo Mejia. Data sourced from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Rusinamhodzi believes increasing farmers’ awareness of climate risks and working with them to implement sustainable solutions is key to ensuring they can buffer climate shocks, such as drought and erratic rainfall.

“The onset of rainfall is starting late and the seasonal dry spells or outright droughts are becoming commonplace,” said Rusinamhodzi. “Farmers need more knowledge and resources on altering planting dates and densities, crop varieties and species, fertilizer regimes and crop rotations to sustainably intensify food production.”

Growing up in Zimbabwe – a country that is now experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand – Rusinamhodzi understands the importance of small-scale agriculture and the damage erratic weather can have on household food security.

He studied soil science and agronomy and began his career as a research associate at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Zimbabwe learning how to use conservation agriculture as a sustainable entry point to increase food production.

Conservation agriculture is based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. It improves soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.

It is a sustainable intensification practice, which is aimed at enhancing the productivity of labor, land and capital. Sustainable intensification practices offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, unlocking agriculture’s potential to adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainable manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, while improving food and nutrition.

Tailoring sustainable agriculture to farmers

Smallholder farming systems in Africa are diverse in character and content, although maize is usually the major crop. Within each system, farmers are also diverse in terms of resources and production processes. Biophysically, conditions – such as soil and rainfall – change significantly within short distances.

Given the varying circumstances, conservation agriculture cannot be promoted as rigid or one-size fits all solution as defined by the three principles, said Rusinamhodzi.

The systems agronomist studied for his doctoral at Wageningen University with a special focus on targeting appropriate crop intensification options to selected farming systems in southern Africa. Now, with CIMMYT he works with African farming communities to adapt conservation agriculture to farmers’ specific circumstances to boost their food production.

Rusinamhodzi’s focus in the region is to design cropping systems around maize-legume intercropping and conservation agriculture. Intercropping has the added advantage of producing two crops from the same piece of land in a single season; different species such as maize and legumes can increase facilitation and help overcome the negative effects of prolonged dry spells and poor soil quality.

Farmer Elphas Chinyanga inspecting his conservation agriculture plots in Zimbabwe. Photo: Peter Lowe/ CIMMYT

“The key is to understand the farmers, their resources including the biophysical circumstances and their production systems, and assist in adapting conservation agriculture to local needs,” he said.

Working with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Program, Rusinamhodzi seeks to understand production constraints and opportunities for increased productivity starting with locally available resources.

Using crop simulation modeling and experimentation, he estimates how the farming system will perform under different conditions and works to formulate a set of options to help farmers. The options can include agroforestry, intercropping, improved varieties resistant to heat and drought, fertilizers and manures along with the principles of conservation agriculture to obtain the best results.

The models are an innovative way assess the success or trade-off farmers could have when adding new processes to their farming system. However, the application of these tools are still limited due to the large amounts of data needed for calibration and the complexity, he added.

Information gathered is shared with farmers in order to offer researched options on how to sustainably boost their food production under their conditions, Rusinamhodzi said.

“My ultimate goal is to increase farmers’ decision space so that they make choices from an informed position,” he said.

Rusinamhodzi also trains farmers, national governments, non-profit organizations, seed companies and graduate students on the concepts and application of sustainable intensification including advanced analysis to understand system productivity, soil quality, water and nutrient use efficiency and crop pest and disease dynamics.

Leonard Rusinamhodzi works with the SIMLESA project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the CGIAR MAIZE program.

How smarter financing can boost Nepal’s seed sector

Written by on November 29, 2017. Posted in News.

Support from Nepal’s banking sector has the potential to benefit seed companies across the country. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) – Nepal’s push to grow its seed sector is expanding to banking, with new financial measures expected to benefit seed companies across the country.

Nepal launched its National Seed Vision 2013-2025 to improve food security by increasing its domestic production of high quality seeds, and make them available and affordable to farmers. The seed replacement rate, or the percentage of area using certified quality seeds rather than the farm saved seed, is set to increase up to 30 percent for cereal crops and over 90 percent for vegetables.

However, there is a lack of financing from formal sources across agricultural value chains, which led the country to mandate that banks allocate 10 percent of their lending – around NPR 1.3 billion ($12.7 million) – to agriculture in 2017.

A value chain is the full set of activities businesses go through to bring a product or service from conception to delivery, in agriculture, this could involve everything from the development of plant genetic material to selling the final crop at market.

Value chain finance refers to financial products and services that flow to or through any point in a value chain that enables investments that increase actors’ returns, as well as the growth and competitiveness of the chain. This could dramatically improve Nepal’s seed sector by giving farmers, seed companies and banks access to more resources to grow.

In fact, if banks financed just 30 percent of seed company working capital, it would give an extra $2 million to invest in research and development activities, such as variety development, quality improvement, maintenance breeding and other vital functions that are currently not carried out by Nepali seed companies. These funds could also be invested in infrastructure development such as storage and seed processing facilities.

Participants concluded at a recent consultative meeting on financing seed business in Nepal that soft loans – loans that have lenient terms like low interest rates or extended grace periods – to seed companies that charge a government-mandated 5 percent interest rate are an ideal way to provide this extra working capital. The commercial banks offering these loans would benefit by reaching more farmers, thereby expanding their customer base and would reach the government-mandated agricultural financing target.

The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project provided a platform to banks and seed companies to share information and identify business opportunities to support NSAF’s seed system development approach during the meeting. Nearly 40 participants from national banks, seed companies and other governmental and non-governmental organizations participated.

Dyutiman Choudhary, NSAF coordinator, shared the overall seed system development approach of NSAF and the role of finance in seed business. An overview of successful cases and models of bank-seed company partnerships adopted in Asia and Africa was also given.

Banks requested additional information about risks in the seed business and sought guidance to assess and reduce risks associated to their loans. It was agreed that value chain finance through three-party agreements between banks, farmers and seed companies could be a viable approach that could be initiated immediately.

“Through this sort of agreement, seed companies guarantee they will purchase seeds from farmers,” said the Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal Chair. “This guarantees a market for seed, minimizing the risk of market failure for banks.”

Four national banks so far have shown interest in partnering with the NSAF seed companies to finance seed production with soft loans. A proposed working group comprised of banks, seed companies and the Government of Nepal will provide strategic direction to finance seed business. NSAF will lead the working group to guide strategic decisions on financing seed business by sharing evidence based information, providing a common platform and catalyzing innovations to ease access to finance by seed companies.

The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF) is funded by the United States Agency for International Development and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in collaboration with Nepal’s Ministry of Agricultural Development and private sector. Learn more about NSAF through this infographic and fact sheet from the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative.

Establishing a soil borne pathogen research center in Turkey

Written by on November 27, 2017. Posted in News.

Participants of the workshop. Photo: Directorate of Plant Protection Central Research Institute of Turkey.

ANKARA, Turkey (CIMMYT) – In a world of rapidly changing climates and related threats to agriculture and food production, including the emergence and spread of deadly crop pathogens and pests, Turkey’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MFAL) has for the first time allocated funding to establish a world-class center for research on soil borne pathogens.

The announcement was made at an international workshop on soil borne pathogens (SBP) organized at MFAL in Ankara in October by the Directorate of Turkey’s Plant Protection Central Research Institute, Ankara (PPCRI). The new SBP research center will be located at that PPCRI, according to Dr. Nevzat BİRİŞİK, Director General, MFAL General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies.

“Among other things, the new center will focus on controlling the expansion of soil borne pathogens to new cropping areas, as well as linking to international research and experts on the pathogens, which cause massive damage each year to agriculture in Turkey,” BİRİŞİK said.

More than 147 delegates from across the ministry of agriculture and representatives of private companies gathered at this workshop, bringing together senior government officials and high-level experts to review and discuss scientific and technical activities in the management of soil borne pathogens in cereals.

The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture has given ongoing support to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)-led SBP program in Turkey to fight against diseases affecting cereal crops, which occupy 65 percent of Turkey’s farmland.

Presenters received with the director of PPCRI, Dr. Sait Ertürk. Photo Directorate of Plant Protection Central Research Institute of Turkey.

Soil borne pathogens cause significant damage in cereals, with global yield potential losses in wheat of up to 20 percent. Changing climates that are reducing growing conditions in tropical areas are also enabling the spread of SBPs into northern regions at increasing rates. This spread presents the risk of areas previously unaffected by SBPs having serious issues. Climate change may also affect the resistance of crops to specific soil pathogens through impacts of warming or drought and through the increased pathogenicity of organisms by mutation induced by environmental stress.

The SBP program is also involved with the use of chemical control on soil pathogens, with regard to the outlook and future expectations of pioneering pesticide producers in the world. The SBP program at CIMMYT-Turkey is using seed treatment to investigate whether or not it can synergistically reduce diseases populations. Seed treatment is absolutely required where diseases are present or where farmers do not accept changing their local, highly susceptible varieties with the resistant and modern ones.

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

Written by on November 23, 2017. Posted in Features.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) works to develop improved maize varieties with traits that smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia need. These include tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and heat, and biotic stresses such as diseases and insect-pests. This infographic explains exactly how CIMMYT ensures that its improved maize seed (both hybrids and open-pollinated varieties) gets to the smallholder farmers through the public and private sector partners. This process goes from product development, product advancement, announcement of new products to the partners, product licensing to improved varietal release, seed scale-up, and deployment to the farming communities in target geographies. Feedback loops from the farmers (through on-farm trials) and from the public and private sector partners enrich our breeding teams to continuously refine the product pipelines.

For more information on our work with maize please click here.

How does CIMMYT's Improved Maize Seed get to the Farmers (Oct 2017)

New publications: How climate-smart is conservation agriculture?

Written by on November 23, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Wheat surrounds the border of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Photo: F. Baudron/CIMMYT

Africa is facing increasing complications in farming as climate change makes weather more unpredictable and leads to mass desertification of previously farmable land. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been touted for decades as the solution, not only to farming in climate change, but as a way to sequester Carbon in soil and actively combat climate change through agriculture.

A new study shows that while CA is well suited to helping farmers adapt to, and even increase profits in changing climates, there is considerable uncertainty about how much CA contributes to the mitigation aspect.

Overall the authors emphasized that the main benefit of CA is the adaptation potential, which helps farmers markedly improve productivity, achieve stable yields and decrease labor inputs, but further research is needed to determine effects on climate change.

Read the full study “How climate-smart is conservation agriculture (CA)? Its potential to deliver on adaptation mitigation and productivity on smallholder farms in southern Africa” and check out other recent publications by CIMMYT staff below:

How climate-smart is conservation agriculture (CA)? – its potential to deliver on adaptation, mitigation and productivity on smallholder farms in southern Africa. 2017. Thierfelder, C., Chivenge, P., Mupangwa, W., Rosenstock, T.S., Lamanna, C., Eyre, J.X. In: Food Security, vol 9, p 537–560.

Nitrogen assimilation system in maize is regulated by developmental and tissue-specific mechanisms. 2016. Plett, D., Holtham, L., Baumann, U., Kalashyan, E., Francis, K., Enju, A., Toubia, J., Roessner, U., Bacic, A., Rafalski, A., Tester, M., Garnett, T., Kaiser, B.N., Dhugga, K. In: Plant Molecular Biology, vol. 92, p. 293-312.

Nitrogen management under conservation agriculture in Cereal-based Systems. 2016. Jat, H.S., Jat, R.K., Parihar, C.M., Jat, S.L., Tetarwal, J.P., Sidhu, H.S., Jat, M.L. In: Indian Journal of Fertilizers, vol.15, no.4, p.76-91.

Novel structural and functional motifs in cellulose synthase (CesA) genes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.). 2016. Kaur, S., Gill, K.S., Singh, J., Dhugga, K. In: PLoS One, vol.11, no.1, 1-18 p.

Ocurrence and identification of cereal cyst nematode, heterodera filipjevi (nemata: heteroderidae), in Bolu province of Turkey. 2016. Imren, M., Toktay, H., Kutuk, H., Dababat, A.A. In: Nematropica, vol. 44, no. 2, p. 154-161.

On-farm evaluation of hermetic technology against maize storage pests in Kenya. 2016. Likhayo, P., Bruce, A.Y., Mutambuki, K., Tadele Tefera Mueke, J. In: Journal of Economic Entomology, vol.109, no.4, p. 1-8.

Stay-green and associated vegetative indices to breed maize adapted to heat and combined Heat-Drought Stresses. 2017. Cerrudo, D., Gonzalez-Perez, L., Mendoza, A., Trachsel, S. In: Remote sensing, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 1-13.

The research and implementation continuum of biofortified sweet potato and maize in Africa. 2017. Tanumihardjo, S.A., Ball, A.M., Kaliwile, C., Pixley, K.V. In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, v. 1390, p. 88-103.

Transgenic strategies for enhancement of nematode resistance in plants. 2017. Muhammad Amjad Ali, Azeem, F., Amjab Abbas Joyia, F.A., Hongjie Li, Dababat, A.A. In: Frontiers in Plant Science, v. 8, no. 750.

Understanding the determinants of alternate energy options for cooking in the Himalayas: Empirical evidence from the Himalayan region of Pakistan. 2017. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Ali, A. Mottaleb, K.A. In: Journal of Cleaner Production v. 149, p. 528-539.

Utilizing high-throughput phenotypic data for improved phenotypic selection of stress-adaptive traits in wheat. 2017. Cairns, J.L., Reynolds, M.P., Poland, J. In: Crop Science, v. 57, p. 648-659.

Investigating Conservation Agriculture (CA) Systems in Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mitigate Future Effects of Climate Change. 2010. Thierfelder, C., Wall, P. C. In: Journal of Crop Improvement, v.24(2), p. 113-121.

A maize field is inundated by a flash flood in southern Bangladesh. (Photo: M. Yusuf Ali/CIMMYT)

Climate disasters are closing in. Why have we forgotten farmers?

Written by on November 22, 2017. Posted in Director General's corner.

Do you ever contemplate climate change over your morning cup of coffee?

Probably not. But perhaps it is time that you did.

The tropical storms that recently hit the U.S. and Caribbean in quick and brutal succession have brought the impacts of climate change closer to home for many of us in the developed world. Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico, wiping out nearly 80 percent of the value of the country’s crops. One of these major exports is coffee. A major industry, a lifeline for farmers, and the breakfast staple you may take for granted, swept away.

Storms like Maria, which seem to be fuelled by climate change, and are an indication of the kind of extreme weather events the world will have to contend with in the future. They won’t only devastate homes and cripple countries’ infrastructure, they will have a serious and long term effect on our global food supply.

Many parts of the developing world have been experiencing the brunt of these climate change impacts for decades. With fragile food systems at the mercy of the increasingly erratic weather – they stand to lose a lot more than those of us with the resilience to bounce back. They have fewer options to recover and need urgent help.

In East and Southern Africa for example, consecutive seasons of drought have ravaged crops and livestock, causing food prices and hunger levels to soar. Climate-induced pest outbreaks like the fall armyworm in sub-Saharan Africa may cause up to $3 billion worth of damage to maize crops, and cost hundreds of millions more to address.

A predicted 150 million to two billion people are migrating to escape conflict, poverty, hunger, and extreme weather events. To make matters worse, food production continues to emit greenhouse gases, contributing to the overall change in climate and perpetuating this vicious cycle.

World leaders must surely have seen this coming.

The Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 recognized agriculture as a sector where action is needed, to protect food and farming from the worst climate impacts. A vast majority of countries have formulated ambitious plans to tackle these issues on the ground. Yet two years on the price tag for inaction is climbing into the hundreds of millions.

Only by backing climate action in agriculture can our global food system have a fighting chance. This week’s climate change conference in Bonn – that several US governors will attend in the absence of the Trump administration – will be the ideal time to step this action up. The solutions are out there – farmers, governments, scientists and the private sector are putting them into practice around the world every day.

Soybeans damaged by a flash flood. (Photo: Shah-Al-Emran/CIMMYT)

Climate-proof crops

In Zimbabwe, where farmers pin their hopes on reliable rainfall, droughts pose a constant threat to crops and livelihoods. Hunger looms large for the poorest farmers. In this setting, drought-tolerant maize varieties are a lifesaver. Farmers who planted drought-tolerant varieties have substantially increased their output and incomes; researchers estimate that this is equivalent to more than nine months of food at no additional cost. Scientists are also breeding varieties that can contend with hotter climates – these maize seeds are increasingly in demand by farmers.

Fighting pests

Changing climates create favourable conditions for new pests and diseases. Now affecting more than 30 African countries, the fall armyworm is wrecking staple crops and compromising the food and nutritional security of millions of people. Recently, a coalition has initiated an emergency response to this looming threat, building on decades of experience managing pests and diseases. The strategy centers around the needs of smallholder farmers, who often cannot afford costly chemical insecticides. Potential responses include low-cost and environmentally safer pesticides, simple and effective on-farm practices like intercropping maize with beans, biological control (which deploys other organisms or plants to attack the pest), and improving resistance of vulnerable crops. Better monitoring and surveillance will help countries mobilize responses well ahead of time.

Insurance when disaster strikes

Even the most drought-tolerant and pest-resistant crops and livestock are vulnerable to prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events. New insurance products geared towards smallholder farmers can help them recover their losses, and even encourage farmers to invest in climate-resilient innovations. In the most flood-prone state of Bihar in India, a new insurance scheme based on satellite data is set to pay out to up 60 percent of farmers that purchased policies, offering some hope to rebuild livelihoods washed away during the monsoon season.

Fall Armyworm on maize in Nigeria. (Photo: G. Goergen/IITA)

Sustaining food security while reducing emissions

It is imperative to reduce agriculture’s contribution to global emissions if we are to meet the global target of 1.5 degrees set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. But this has been one of the sticking points for UN climate negotiations on agriculture; some countries fear that mitigation actions could compromise food production. However, research undertaken by CGIAR and its partners has found that a middle ground is possible, where farmers adopt practices that improve productivity and resilience while also reducing emissions. In Vietnam and the Philippines, farmers are using water-saving approaches to growing rice, which happen to reduce harmful methane emissions by around 50%. It’s an easy win for farmers and also for the planet.

It is time that our global food and farming systems – so vital to our survival – get the attention they deserve. It shouldn’t take these disasters happening close to home (or the threat of an interruption in our coffee supply) for our leaders to take action.

The hard-won gains in global food security are already sliding into reverse, with farmers at the front lines of future climate change. The UN climate talks offer the opportunity for global policy and financing to catch up to the needs already expressed by countries. Anything less would be a catastrophe for farmers and for our collective future.

Elwyn Grainger-Jones is the Executive Director of CGIAR System Organization and Martin Kropff is the Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Find the original article published by Reuters here.

CIMMYT seeks a junior communications consultant

Written by on November 15, 2017. Posted in News.

The Corporate Communications Department of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement

Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT, staging.cimmyt.org) is seeking a candidate for a one-year, paid consultancy to assist in web production, social media management, writing, editing, public relations and event coordination.

Located 40 km outside of Mexico City, CIMMYT is a not-for-profit, international agricultural research- for-development organization that generates and promotes improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems for farmers in developing countries to ensure global food security and help combat poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

The Communications Junior Consultant will work full-time assisting department writers, editors and project managers in duties such as:

Managing CIMMYT social media, including monitoring on-line traffic, use of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, and Flickr), and helping to plan and implement social media campaigns.
Writing, editing and proofing articles for weekly newsletters, annual reports, brochures, and other institutional outlets.
Developing online content about projects, results, meetings, and partnerships.
Monitoring conventional media for agricultural and development-related articles.
Other communications and dissemination tasks, as required and agreed.

The ideal candidate will be able to commit for one year and have an undergraduate degree in communications and/or journalism, a proven interest in social media and knowledge and experience in on-line applications. She/he will also have excellent writing and/or editing experience in English. Knowledge of Spanish, science, agriculture and agricultural development are advantages.

CIMMYT offers Junior Consultants a monthly stipend paid in US dollars, a housing allowance, health insurance and an airline ticket to and from Mexico. CIMMYT will assist in obtaining necessary travel documents, including a work visa. To apply, please e-mail a letter of interest, a resume, two writing samples, and contact information for two references to:

Matt O’Leary

Social Media Coordinator

m.oleary@cgiar.org

CIMMYT is an equal-opportunity employer and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.

Better farmer access to machinery eases crop residue burning in India

Written by on November 14, 2017. Posted in Features.

uper SMS fitted combine harvester and Happy Seeder” for simultaneously harvesting of rice and seeding of wheat. Photo: HS Sidhu /CIMMYT — “Super SMS” fitted combine harvester and “Happy Seeder” can be used for simultaneously harvesting rice and seeding wheat. Photo: H.S. Sidhu/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In conjunction with recent state regulations outlawing the use of fire to destroy field crop waste in northwest India, some farmers are benefitting from technological innovations that can help prevent damaging smog levels in the capital Delhi and other areas, according to scientists.

Currently, the majority of farmers in northwest India burn leftover vegetation residue to prepare fields for planting in cyclical rice-wheat crop rotations, leading to negative consequences for soil quality, the environment, animal and human health. Rice-wheat crop rotations make up 84 percent of burned crops, a key source of atmospheric pollution.

“Farmers need access to appropriate machinery and training to implement change to discourage burning,” said M.L. Jat, a systems agronomist who works in New Delhi with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “Using crop residue in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner could benefit all stakeholders.”

Many farmers keep costs low by burning residue on the farm, rather than paying for its removal for other uses, which could include animal feed, biofuel, incorporating it into the soil or retaining it in the field as mulch, according to a research paper titled “Burning issues of paddy residue management in northwest fields of India.” Fire is also used to eliminate weeds, pests, disease and remaining field stubble after harvest.

Ash left on the fields after residue burning increases the availability of some nutrients, while depleting others and negatively affecting soil health in the long term. During burning, soil temperature increases, bacteria and fungi are killed off, regenerating in a matter of days. Residue burning can damage plants and trees on field edges with negative implications for the overall ecosystem.

Residues can be used as a renewable energy source to improve air, soil quality, climate change and reduce global warming, provided these are economically viable options for farmers. Incentives could also help encourage farmers to leave residues on their fields for use as fertilizer.

If residue is mulched into the soil, nutrient levels improve and carbon sequestration capacity increases, lowering the release of greenhouse gases into the environment. Additionally, residue retention reduces evaporation and increases soil moisture by as much as 10 percent during the wheat-growing season.

Farmers can benefit from the Happy Seeder, a machine that can plant wheat seed directly into the soil by boring through crop residue. The Straw Management System (SMS) machine spreads straw residue thinly on the soil surface allowing seeding.

“Residues are also of great economic value as livestock feed, fuel and industrial raw materials, but of the total rice residues produced in northwestern India, only around 15 percent can potentially be used for these purposes and the rest must be managed with in-situ (on site) management technologies,” said Jat, who conducted the research in collaboration with the CGIAR research programs on maize (CRP Maize), wheat (CRP Wheat) and climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS).

“Although farmers are aware of the adverse affects of crop burning, they rely on it due to the lack of economically viable and acceptable machinery and alternatives to dispose of residue.”

However, deploying advanced technology, including the concurrent use of straw management systems, fitted combine harvesters and Happy Seeders for direct drilling is a viable solution to eliminate burning, he added.

With these advancements and aggressive campaigns, within a period of a couple of months in Punjab state alone, over 1,000 combine owners have launched a “Super SMS.”

Additionally, nearly 2,000 happy seeders are being manufactured, which will lead to large-scale adoption of conservation agriculture techniques in the upcoming wheat season, Jat said.

Related articles:

The Evergreen Revolution: Six ways to empower India’s no-burn agricultural future

New study uncovers climate footprint of India’s favorite foods

Advice for India’s rice-wheat farmers: Put aside the plow and save straw to fight pollution

New Dehli air pollution causes United Airlines flight cancellations

World leaders: Back climate change action in agriculture to give our food system a fighting chance

Written by Mike Listman on November 13, 2017. Posted in News.

Global climate change negotiators meet this week to tackle myriad issues, including how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and protect food and farming from worsening climate impacts.

But unheralded and behind COP23 headlines, governments, private companies, and scientists led by CGIAR are already developing and sharing life-saving innovations for farmers, particularly smallholders, who fight daily at the climate change frontlines.

Technology such as drought- and heat-tolerant maize, resistant crops and control practices to combat newly-emerging pests, insurance to recover from extreme or erratic weather, and more targeted use of nitrogen fertilizers are already being adopted in Africa and Asia to reduce agriculture’s footprint while improving farm resilience and productivity.

Click here to read a message by Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director, CGIAR System Organization, and Martin Kropff, Director General, CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) describing these efforts and issuing a wake-up call for world leaders.

Helping farming families thrive while fighting climate change in Mexico

Written by on November 9, 2017. Posted in News.

Farmers walk through a field that has been cleared by slash and burn agriculture in the Yucatan peninsula. Photo: Maria Alvarado/ CIMMYT — Farmers walk through a field that has been cleared by slash and burn agriculture in the Yucatan peninsula. Photo: Maria Boa/ CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has been hard hit by drought and extreme weather events related to climate change in recent years, exacerbating local poverty and food insecurity. In addition, slash-and-burn agriculture techniques have led to environmental degradation and contribute to climate change. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is working to help indigenous Mayan farming families in the Yucatan peninsula adapt to and mitigate climate change, increasing maize yields and food security while minimizing negative environmental impact. This comes as world leaders mull a crucial decision on agriculture at the UN Climate talks in Bonn, a decision that could support farmers everywhere to take similar actions.

Maize is the backbone of diets in the Yucatan Peninsula, and has sustained indigenous Mayan families for millennia. It is grown as part of the “milpa,” a pre-hispanic intercropping system that revolves around the symbiotic relationship of maize, beans and squash.

Traditionally, the milpa system has involved clearing new land for farming using the slash and burn method. However, after two to three years, the soils begin to deteriorate and new land must be cleared. These practices have contributed to deforestation, increased CO2 emissions, and loss of invaluable local biodiversity.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, climate change has begun to threaten milpa agriculture. The rains have been later and shorter every year, reducing maize yields. As it has become more difficult to make a living from agriculture, young people have been forced to migrate to find work. Farmers have also lost seeds of their traditional maize varieties when they have been unable to harvest after severe drought.

A new CIMMYT project, Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula, is helping farming families increase their maize yields through sustainable, inclusive solutions. The Project, which means “sustainable milpa” in Spanish, is working to help farming families identify the best soils in their communal land and incorporate sustainable intensification and conservation agriculture (CA) practices to improve soils in order to prevent deforestation and mitigate climate change.

The project has a strong social inclusion component and works to make sure that women and youth are included and prioritized in capacity development opportunities and decision-making processes. “As milpa is a family system, women and youth must be included in order to attain impact,” said Carolina Camacho, principal researcher on social inclusion at CIMMYT. “Complex challenges such as climate change require social change and inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups such women and youth in order for mitigation to be successful.”

Farming families are taught CA techniques such as zero tillage that help prevent erosion and water runoff. This increases soil health and uses water more efficiently, which helps maize better survive drought and allows farmers to farm the same land for many years without resorting to deforestation or burning.

Native maize diversity in the Yucatan peninsula. Photo: Maria Alvarado/ CIMMYT — Native maize diversity in the Yucatan peninsula. Photo: Maria Boa/ CIMMYT

“Farmers used to harvest 500 kilograms of maize per hectare. Now, with techniques they have learned from CIMMYT, they are harvesting up to 2 tons per hectare,” said Vladimir May, technical leader of the Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula project. The project has also helped farmers increase yields by identifying natural inputs that can be integrated into an integrated pest and fertility management strategy This allows farming families to sustainably increase their maize yields despite limited inputs and resources.

The native maize grown by farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula adapted to its local environment over centuries of selection by farmers to perform well despite poor soils and other challenges. However, climate change has threatened the survival of this maize genetic diversity. Some farmers lost all of the seed of their traditional maize varieties when they were unable to harvest anything after extreme drought. Others have found that their traditional varieties do not perform as well as they had due to environmental stress related to climate change.

CIMMYT is working to help farmers replace stores of traditional maize seed they have lost due to drought and climate change. The CIMMYT maize seed bank safeguards over 28,000 maize varieties for the benefit of humanity, including seeds that are native to the Yucatan Peninsula. Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula has worked with the seed bank to find farmers original varieties, restoring a priceless component of many families’ food security, culture and biodiversity.

The project has also helped farmers increase their yields through participatory variety selection. By crossing farmers’ native varieties with other native maize varieties that are more resistant to drought or climate change, farmers can sustainably increase maize yields without losing the qualities they love about their traditional varieties. Women have played a key role in this participatory variety selection, because as they process and prepare all of the food grown by the family, they have intimate knowledge of the characteristics the maize must have to perform well and feed the family.

Farmers working with the CIMMYT project in Yucatan Peninsula. Photo: Maria Boa/ CIMMYT

Poverty and food insecurity in the region have meant that migration has been a necessity for many. With new technologies and support from CIMMYT, women and youth are beginning to see that they may have a future in farming, despite the challenge of climate change. “Now that they see how much maize and other cash crops can be produced with sustainable technologies, young people are deciding to stay,” said Maria Boa, a consultant working with the project. “As youth are sometimes more accepting of new technologies, young farmers in the Yucatan play a crucial role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Inclusion of women and youth is necessary to make a positive change in these communities.”

These and other farmers around the world will play an important role in fighting climate change, by reducing emissions from farming. While a majority of countries, including Mexico, have committed to reducing the climate footprint of agriculture, world leaders must now decide how to best support and finance these actions.

The Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula project is operated and supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the government of Mexico through the SAGARPA program Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) CitiBanamex, Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). The project is operated with the support of local partners, non-governmental organizations and the different levels of the Mexican government.

At this year’s UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Click here to read more stories in this series and follow @CIMMYT on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.

New Publications: Conservation agriculture increases the adaptive capacity of cropping systems

Written by on November 9, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted in sub-Saharan Africa as an adaptable and sustainable way to farm in changing climates. CA has three major principles: the minimal disturbance of soil via zero till planting, crop diversification and soil cover by either residues or cover crops.

A new study examined over 700 independent studies to find out if CA works in a variety of environmental conditions in tropical areas.

The authors found that in drought and high-temperature conditions, maize yields under CA improved relative to conventional farming. This relative improvement, they said, is because CA helps water infiltrate better into the soil than conventional farming.

These same moisture-retaining attributes that make CA effective in drought-like conditions can worsen the impact of flooding. However, droughts are expected to worsen in coming years, making these water-retaining qualities likely more advantageous in the long term.

Overall, the study found that CA systems have more stable yields across different stress levels, outperform their conventional counterpart in many cases even without the addition of nitrogen fertilizers and increase the adaptive capacity of maize-based cropping systems.

Read the full study “The adaptive capacity of maize-based conservation agriculture systems to climate stress in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-regression of yields” and check out other recent publications by CIMMYT staff below:

Markers linked to wheat stem rust resistance gene Sr11 effective to puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici Race TKTTF. 2016. Nirmala, J., Shiaoman Chao, Olivera, P., Babiker, E.M., Abeyo Bekele Geleta, Tadesse, Z., Imtiaz, M., Talbert, L., Blake, N.K., Akhunov, E., Pumphrey, M., Yue Jin, Rouse, M.N. In: Phytopathology, v. 106, no. 11, p. 1352-1358.

Modeling the risk of invasion and spread of Tuta absoluta in Africa. 2016. Guimapi, R.Y.A., Mohamed, S.F., Okeyo, G.O., Ndjomatchoua, F.T., Ekesi, S., Tonnang, H. In: Ecological complexity, vol. 28, p. 77-93.

Modelling and genetic dissection of staygreen under heat stress. 2016. Suzuky Pinto, R., Lopes, M.S., Collins, N.C., Reynolds, M.P. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol. 129, p. 2055-2074.

Multidimensional impact assessment of zero tillage technology on wheat productivity in Haryana. 2016. Kumar, A. , Singh, R., Shahnawaz Rasool Dar, Singh, S., Gathala, M.K., Kanchan Pathania In: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment. 2016, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 85-90.

Nested association mapping of stem rust resistance in wheat using genotyping by sequencing. 2016. Bajgain, P., Rouse, M.N., Tsilo, T.J., Macharia, G., Bhavani, S., Yue Jin, Anderson, J.A. In: PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 5: e0155760.

Occurrence, identification and phylogenetic analyses of cereal cyst nematodes (Heterodera spp.) in Turkey. 2017. Jiang-Kuan Cui, Huan Peng, Shi-ming Liu, Erginbas-Orakci, G., Imren, M., Dababat, A.A., De-Liang Peng In: Journal of integrative agriculture, vol. 16, no. 0, p. 1-10.

On-farm yield gains with Stress-Tolerant Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa. 2017. Setimela, P.S., Magorokosho, C., Lunduka, R., Gasura, E., Makumbi, D., Amsal Tesfaye Tarekegne, Cairns, J.E., Thokozile Ndhlela, Erenstein, O., Mwangi, W.M. In: Agronomy Journal, v. 109, no. 2, p. 406-417.

Pedigree-based prediction models with genotype × environment interaction in multi-environment trials of CIMMYT wheat. 2017. Sukumaran, S., Crossa, J., Jarquín, D., Reynolds, M.P. In: Crop Science, vol. 57, p. 1-16.

Predicting grain yield using canopy hyperspectral reflectance in wheat breeding data. 2017. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-López, A., Crossa, J., De los Campos, G., Alvarado, G., Mondal, S., Rutkoski, J., Gonzalez-Perez, L., Burgueño, J. In: Plant methods, v. 13, no.4.

Soil organic carbon changes after seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice–wheat system of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. 2017. Sapkota, T.B., Jat, R.K., Ravi Gopal Singh, Jat, M.L., Stirling, C., Jat, M.K., Bijarniya, D., Kumar, M., Singh, Y., Saharawat, Y.S., Gupta, R.K. In: Soil Use and Management, v. 33, p. 81-89.

The adaptive capacity of maize-based conservation agriculture systems to climate stress in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-regression of yields. 2018. Steward, P.R., Dougill, A.J., Thierfelder, C. Pittelkow, C.M., Stringer, L.C., Kudzala, M., Shackelford, G.E. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, v. 251, p. 194-202.

Governments must raise, not cut, funding for food security

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on November 8, 2017. Posted in In the media.

A Financial Times editorial by CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds presents a new proposal for expanding the wheat network to include other major food crops and speed farmers’ adoption of vital technologies that can end hunger and address climate change. The idea has the support of experts from leading funding and development agencies.

https://www.ft.com/content/b3d07616-c3d3-11e7-a1d2-6786f39ef675