Blogs – Page 121

New Publications: Mitigating greenhouse gas emission from rising food production

Written by on September 26, 2017. Posted in Publications.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new study identifies the key ways to keep up with India’s rising food demand while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

Global food production must increase by 70 percent to meet a population of more than 9 billion in 2050. India, with a current population of 1.3 billion and rising, is central to this challenge.

As incomes rise in developing countries, many go through ‘nutrition transition’ away from staple crops towards high greenhouse gas-producing foods like meat and dairy. India, however, has a cultural preference for a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet — dairy, eggs, and plant-based products — and is likely to differ in this regard from similar developing countries, like China or Brazil.

In India, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are produced from agricultural inputs, farm machinery, soil displacement, residue management and irrigation.

Authors in a recent study from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have identified higher emissions from continuously flooded rice, compared to rice which has more frequent periods of water drainage, and a wide range of emissions for other crops due to variation in fertilizer application.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has placed emphasis on mitigation of greenhouse gases from agriculture and a number of strategies have been proposed. Measuring emissions from different crops and management systems can help identify the most efficient way to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions while keeping up with food demand.

Read the full study “Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural food production to supply Indian diets: Implications for climate change mitigation” and check out other recent publications from CIMMYT staff below.

Genomic regions associated with root traits under drought stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). Zaidi, P.H., Seetharam, K., Krishna, G., Krishnamurthy, S.L., Gajanan Saykhedkar, Babu, R., Zerka, M., Vinayan, M.T., Vivek, B. In: PLoS One, vol.11, no.10: e0164340.

Global challenges and urgency for partnerships to deploy genetic resources. Sukhwinder-Singh, Vikram, P., Sansaloni, C.P., Pixley, K.V. In: Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources, vol. 29, issue 3, p. 351-353.

High accuracy of predicting hybrid performance of Fusarium head blight resistance by mid‑parent values in wheat. Miedaner, T., Schulthess, A., Gowda, M., Reif, J.C., Longin, F.H. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol 130, no. 2, p. 461–470.

Identification and functional characterization of the AGO1 ortholog in maize. Dongdong Xu, Hailong Yang, Cheng Zou, Wen-Xue Li, Yunbi Xu, Chuanxiao Xie In: Journal of integrative plant biology, vol.58, no.8, p.749-758.
Identification of genomic associations for adult plant resistance in the background of popular South Asian wheat cultivar, PBW343. 2016. Huihui Li, Sukhwinder-Singh, Bhavani, S., Singh, R.P., Sehgal, D., Basnet, B.R., Vikram, P., Burgueño, J., Huerta-Espino, J. In: Frontiers in Plant Science, vol.7, no.1674, p.1-18.
Genomic Selection for increased yield in Synthetic-Derived Wheat. 2017. Dunckel, S., Crossa, J., Shuangye Wu, Bonnett, D.G., Poland, J. In: Crop Science, v. 57, p. 713-725.
Germinate 3: development of a common platform to support the distribution of experimental data on crop wild relatives. 2017. Shaw, P., Raubach, S. Hearne, S., Dreher, K.A., Glenn Bryan, McKenzie, G., Milne, I., Gordon Stephen, Marshall, D. In: Crop Science, v. 57, p.1-15.
Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural food production to supply Indian diets: Implications for climate change mitigation. 2017. Vetter, S.H., Sapkota, T.B., Hillier, J., Stirling, C., Macdiarmid, J.I., Aleksandrowicz, L., Green, R., Joy, E.J.M., Dangour, A.D., Smith, P. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 237, p. 234-241.
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., Lamanna, C., Eyre, J.X. In: Food Security, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 537–560.
Identification and molecular characterization of novel LMW-m and -s glutenin genes, and a chimeric -m/-i glutenin gene in 1A chromosome of three diploid Triticum species. 2017. Cuesta, S., Alvarez, J.B., Guzman, C. In: Journal of Cereal Science, v. 74, p. 46-55.

Yemen identified as “stepping stone” to wheat stem rust’s global spread

Written by on September 26, 2017. Posted in News.

A new study reports Yemen as a particular tipping point for stem rust’s global spread. Photo: CIMMYT/ Petr Kosina — A new study reports Yemen as a particular tipping point for stem rust’s global spread. Photo: Petr Kosina/ CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – New research reveals the most likely routes for the spread of new wheat stem rust strains, identifying Yemen as a critical transmission area for the disease’s global spread.

In the Nature Plants study, scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office adapted modeling systems previously used to forecast ash dispersal from erupting volcanoes and radiation from nuclear accidents to predict the spread of stem rust strains.

The study quantifies for the first time the circumstances – routes, timings and outbreak sizes – under which dangerous strains of stem rust pose a threat, detailing potential scenarios of the disease spreading from Africa through the Middle East and beyond.

Yemen is highlighted as a particular tipping point for stem rust’s global spread, with one scenario estimating a 30 percent chance for transmission to occur in Pakistan or India – home to some of the world’s most critical “breadbasket” regions – if the disease spreads to eastern Yemen.

“From our work, we now believe that if we start to see Ug99 or other new wheat rust strains take hold in Yemen in early spring then action must be taken immediately to mitigate the risk of further spread,” according to the study’s senior author Chris Gilligan, professor at Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences.

However, the researchers found that the airborne transmission of the disease from East Africa directly to South Asia is highly unlikely, with transmission events possible only on less than one day a year.

The modelling framework created in the study can also be used to analyze any potential new disease strains that might emerge in other geographic areas. The study’s researchers are currently developing an Early Warning System to forecast rust risk in Ethiopia, East Africa’s largest wheat producing country.

Read the full study “Quantifying airborne dispersal routes of pathogens over continents to safeguard global wheat supply” here.

Learn more about wheat stem rust and its impact on food security below:

Likely scenarios for global spread of devastating crop disease

CIMMYT scientist cautions against new threats from wheat rust diseases

RustTracker.org | A Global Wheat Rust Monitoring System

Experts call for data revolution to achieve Sustainable Development Goals

Written by on September 25, 2017. Posted in News.

Screen Shot 2017-09-25 at 9.29.22 AM EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Modern data systems are essential to monitor, manage and plan actions taken by governments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an advisory body to the United Nations Secretary General, and to the Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReENDS), an independent group of international experts working on data-related fields.

However, government officials and policy makers around the world are burdened by the challenge of finding reliable data for sustainable development planning, decision making and program design.

To overcome this obstacle public and private institutions must help governments gather, curate, produce, analyze and disseminate information for SDG planning, implementation and assessment, according to a new study by members of the SDSN TReNDS group published recently at the International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD).

Counting on the World: Building Modern Data Systems for Sustainable Development, to which the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) contributed as a member of the SDSN TReNDS panel, recommends a collaborative approach based on multi-stakeholder data partnerships to develop modern statistical systems that can provide policy makers with evidence-based information for SDG work.

The report explains the types of data that are needed to plan for sustainable development and offers a roadmap to build 21^st-century data systems to monitor and achieve SDGs. These modern systems are conceived to help governments prepare for and respond to different types of crises, access real-time information for effective action and administration, track progress and adjust course towards the SDGs. Study findings indicate that effective public programs will be the result of informed decision making processes assisted by high-quality, disaggregated and geo-referenced data.

To bring about a data revolution, the report urges governments to invest in education and training, enter into technical partnerships and seek technology exchanges with the private sector to develop statistical capacity. Ultimately, countries should be able to offer high quality data and statistics to public officials, researchers, entrepreneurs and interested citizens by developing such capacity.

In its final section, the report details a roadmap for urgent action that identifies the leading actors who should be responsible for implementing the recommendations and a time frame for reaching concrete results.

Read the full SDSN TReNDS report here.

Second-generation haploid inducers: Now available

Written by on September 22, 2017. Posted in News.

The second generation of tropically adapted haploid inducers developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are now available for use by interested breeders and institutions.

Haploid inducers are a specially developed maize genetic stock that are used to develop doubled haploid (DH) maize lines. DH maize lines are highly uniform, genetically pure and stable, making the maize breeding process more intuitive and efficient by simplifying logistics.

These improved second-generation tropically adapted haploid inducers will help more tropical maize breeding programs adopt DH technology and develop improved maize varieties faster than ever before, cutting down the time it takes to get improved maize varieties to the farmers that need them.

The original first-generation tropically adapted haploid inducer lines (TAILS) were developed by CIMMYT and the University of Hohenheim (UHo). Recognizing the scope to further improve the first-generation TAILs for various traits, CIMMYT initiated the development of second-generation haploid inducers for the tropics by transferring the haploid induction trait from first-generation TAILs to elite CIMMYT maize lines. Selections were made for higher haploid induction rates and superior agronomic performance.

The CIM2GTAILs showed high haploid induction rates (~8-15%) under CIMMYT-tested (sub)tropical conditions in Mexico and Kenya, besides better agronomic performance in terms of plant vigor, synchrony with tropical source populations, better standability, and resistance to important tropical foliar diseases and ear rots. CIMMYT will share specific quantity of seed of these CIM2GTAILs and will grant authorization for use of these CIM2GTAILs to interested applicants.

Click here to learn more.

Researchers set new climate services strategy in Bangladesh

Written by on September 20, 2017. Posted in News.

CSRD workshop participants. Photo: M. Asaduzzaman/CIMMYT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – Scientists from across South and Southeast Asia launched a new agenda earlier this week to boost community involvement in developing climate information and extension messaging services across the region.

“Key to climate services is emphasis on the service,” said Timothy Krupnik, a systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and South Asia project leader for Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD).

Researchers know how the region’s farmers will be affected by climate change thanks to the development of climate models and other analyses, but there still is a lack of a strong support system that allows farmers to practically use this information.

“We must be able to rapidly extend information to farmers and others who require climate information to inform their decision making, and to assure that research outputs are translated in an easy to understand way that communicates to farmers, extension workers and policy makers,” said Krupnik. “Equally important is feedback from farmers on the quality of climate services so they can be adapted and improved over time.”

The researchers, who gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a three-day workshop from September 17-19, 2017, evaluated how climate and agricultural extension advisories are currently produced and conveyed, and identified opportunities on how to improve these services for farming communities across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

“CSRD’s activities are relevant to the U.S. government’s commitment to building resilience of smallholder farmers and to ensure increased production, as well bolster country resilience,” said David Westerling, acting economic growth office director and Feed the Future team leader for the United States Agency for International Development’s mission in Bangladesh. “That is why we are behind this effort.”

During the workshop, delegates assessed different ways to incorporate seasonal climate forecasts into farmer decision making, using several African countries as examples. For example, participants learned how to simply but effectively depict probabilistic forecasts in graphs to farmers during a group work discussion.

There were also experience sharing sessions on information and communication technology (ICT) in agricultural climate services. Giriraj Amarnath, researcher at the International Water Management Institute, Ishwor Malla, service director for ICT at Agri Private Limited and Md. Nadirruzzaman, assistant professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh indicated that ICT can be a cost-effective approach to transfer information to farmers who can, in turn, improve crop productivity using climate information shared their observation and experiences.

While ICT can serve as an important tool, participants emphasized the need for more face-to-face extension and interaction with farming communities to build trust in forecasts that would otherwise not be fully understood by downloading a mobile application or receiving an SMS message.

An analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for climate services in each country and across countries was completed to examine how participants can collaborate in south-south exchanges to support ongoing work in agricultural climate services.

On the last day of the workshop, climate index-based agricultural insurance was also discussed, after which participants proposed new institutional arrangements to improve agricultural climate information flow to farmers in each of their countries.

Elisabeth Simelton, climate change scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre in Vietnam and project manager at the Consortium Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS), said the workshop provided an interesting platform where scientists and climate service providers from different countries were able to meet and exchange their experiences and ideas through interactive formats, so that everybody can take something new and useful back to their respective countries.

The Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) is a global partnership that connects climate science, data streams, decision support tools, and training to decision-makers in developing countries.The workshop was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development on behalf of CSRD and is collaboratively organized by CIMMYT and CSRD through the SERVIR Support Team. This work was also implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on CCAFS. Read more about the workshop, participants and sponsors here.

At this year’s UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

Message from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center after 7.1 Mexico earthquake

Written by on September 20, 2017. Posted in News.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Mexico on Tuesday, killing more than 200 people less than two weeks after a 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Although the full impact of the earthquakes is unknown at this time, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) would like to express condolences to all those affected throughout the country.

“All staff at our global headquarters are safe,” said Marianne Bänziger, deputy director general of CIMMYT, which is 150 km from the earthquake epicenter in central Mexico and 45 km northeast of Mexico City. “We hope the same to be true for their families, friends, research partners, and express our solidarity with Mexico and its people.”

Our buildings and infrastructure remained intact and our genebank, which houses 150,000 wheat seed samples and 28,000 maize samples, is safe, she said.

For those who want to help, we recommend contacting the Mexican Red Cross or any other local organization that supports affected people.

Leading nutritionist Julie Miller Jones promotes the benefits of whole grains. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Leading nutritionist cites whole grains as critical for better nutrition and health

Written by Mike Listman on September 19, 2017. Posted in News.

People who eat the most whole grain foods have a lower risk of almost all chronic diseases and are less likely to gain weight as they age, according to Julie Miller Jones, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University, U.S.A.

“All kinds of epidemiological research shows that whole grain intake reduces obesity and the risk of diabetes, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancers, and death from all causes,” said Miller Jones, speaking to representatives of food processing companies and associations and scientists at the first “Maize and Wheat Quality and Nutrition Day” held near Mexico City on September 14.

Miller Jones emphasized that relatively modest amounts of grain in diets can deliver important health impacts. “We’re talking about eating around three slices of bread, or a bowl of oatmeal with a sandwich, or oatmeal in the morning, with pasta at lunch and rice at night,” she explained.

Hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a publicly-funded organization that works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to increase the productivity and quality of maize and wheat cropping systems, the event highlighted the critical connections between farmers, crop breeding and the quality of maize (corn) and wheat food products.

“It’s great that CIMMYT hosted this meeting,” said one participant, noting the complementary roles of the food industry and CIMMYT. “Companies like ours are only beginning to realize that improving our bottom line and sustainability doesn’t start with the flour we receive, but rather ten steps before that, with breeding, quality analyses, agronomy and even extension work in the field.”

In addition to packaged commercial breads, small individual loaves prepared daily in neighborhood bakeries are standard fare in Mexico. Photo: Mike Listman/ CIMMYT

The participants were impressed with Miller Jones’ presentation and the potential for partnering with CIMMYT, which conducts grain quality and nutritional analyses, development, selection and characterization of wheat and maize varieties for industrial and nutritional quality, as well as fostering the responsible sourcing of grain and linking farmers with markets.

“This is the first time we’ve brought together numerous essential actors in Mexico’s maize and wheat quality and nutrition value chains, and we expect that it will give dividends in better quality, more nutritious cereal grains and food for better diets,” said Natalia Palacios, CIMMYT maize nutrition and quality specialist.

In addition to using more than 35 million tons of maize each year as human food and animal feed, Mexico’s food processors annually handle more than 8 million tons of wheat grain.

“CIMMYT can serve as a shared platform for joint research with the food industry, outside of the competitive arena, and for messaging on healthy nutrition and diets,” suggested Carlos Guzmán, head of CIMMYT’s wheat chemistry and quality lab.

Together with the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), Guzmán is organizing the 4th ICC Latin American Cereals Conference and the 13th International Gluten Workshop, both to be held in Mexico City from 11 to 17 March 2018.

Humans and food grain crops: Shared history and future

Miller Jones said that DNA of cooked grain has been found in the dental remains of Paleolithic humans, showing that people have been eating grain for more than 100,000 years. She also emphasized the need for balanced diets that feature all food groups in healthy amounts.

“We need to change our diets to healthy patterns that we can maintain for our entire lifetime, not something that you go on to go off,” she said, speaking recently in an online interview hosted by CIMMYT. “Just as nutrition experts have always recommended, unless you’re allergic to a particular food, a healthy diet should include products from all food groups, in the right amounts.”

Public policy and Borlaug’s final instruction: take it to the farmer

Written by on September 14, 2017. Posted in News.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In a blog published by the World Food Prize, Bram Govaerts discusses the need for integration between research and decision-making at all levels including the public policy levels.

“When it comes to influencing public policy for the benefit of farmers, consumers or the environment, most of us react like the average citizen overwhelmed by the burden of bureaucracy: We don’t want to have to do anything with it!”

“Our initial reaction as researchers is ‘I did not spend years studying in the university, (only) to draft budgets, answer urgent information requests or attend long meetings with government officials who allocate the money CIMMYT receives.’ ”

But in the end Govaerts recognizes that meetings to shape public policy in Mexico, Latin America and globally are essential, and is proud to do his part, whether by getting his hands dirty in the field or wearing a suit and tie and sitting through countless hours of official appointments.

“Take it to the farmer” was the admonition of the late Norman Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Prize Laureate and former CIMMYT scientist, regarding technological innovation, the day before he died. Govaerts said this call to action drives CIMMYT’s MasAgro project and the farmer adoption of related innovations, which by conservative estimates raise farmers’ incomes seven-fold for every dollar invested in the program.

Govaerts also knows that sensible, effective data driven discussions are a critical underpinning for this process.

“I do my best (in policy meetings) to offer innovation, better data and information that lead to sound decision making and help develop sustainable agrifood systems for improved nutrition, nature conservation and national as well as international security,” Govaerts explained.

Read Bram Govaerts’ full blog published by the World Food Prize.

Govaerts discusses the impacts of MasAgro. Photo: Agrosintesis

High-level meeting to set climate services agenda for South and Southeast Asia

Written by on September 14, 2017. Posted in News.

Delegates from across South and South East Asia will gather in Dhaka, Bangladesh next week to ensure farmers across the region have the resources they need to better respond to climate change. Above, woman in Faridpur, Bangladesh winnowing wheat grain after harvest. Photo: Saikat Mojumder. — Delegates from across South and Southeast Asia will gather in Dhaka, Bangladesh next week to ensure farmers across the region have the resources they need to better respond to climate change. Above, woman in Faridpur, Bangladesh winnowing wheat grain after harvest. Photo: Saikat Mojumder.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — Leaders from across South and Southeast Asia will gather from September 17-19 to exchange ideas and strategies on how to support the growth of farmer-focused and relevant agricultural climate services in the region.

Ensuring that farmers have access to real-time climate services, such as early warning systems for drought or crop index insurance, is critical to support rural livelihoods and mitigate crop production loss in the event of a climatic shock.

The three-day workshop will evaluate how climate and agricultural extension advisories are produced and conveyed, emphasizing farming community involvement in the development of climate information and extension messaging.

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have a broad overview of South and Southeast regional agricultural climate services programs, become familiar with participatory approaches and methods in agricultural climate services and able to enact or improve them in their own country contexts. They’ll also develop an increased understanding of how to identify and leverage “decision points” in the agricultural calendar during which climate information and advisories can most benefit farmers. Finally, participants will understand the need for appropriate institutional arrangements to facilitate the flow of relevant climate information and advisories to farmers, and to supply feedback to meteorological, extension, development and policy oriented organizations.

Workshop participants will also develop an outline for a scientific review paper on the subject of participatory climate services for agricultural decision making in South and Southeast Asia, which will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

This workshop is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development on behalf of the Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) and is organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center alongside South Asian CSRD partners.

Click here to see the full list of participating organization and read the full workshop program.

Learn more about agricultural climate services:

Role of Mobile Phone-enabled Climate Information Services in Gender-inclusive Agriculture

Scaling up climate services for farmers

Managing Climatic Risks in Agriculture in South Asia: Climate Services

New initiative strengthens drought monitoring in Bangladesh

Index insurance to safeguard farmers from climate change

Breaking Ground: Francelino Rodrigues on high-tech farming

Written by on September 13, 2017. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — When Francelino Rodrigues started at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2013, the majority of the maize and wheat trials were still being carried out by walking through the field and taking measurements manually.

Through a collaborative work initiative with colleagues from maize and wheat breeding programs, and with support from senior scientists, Rodrigues brought a whole new world of digital mapping and proximal high-resolution soil sensing to the center’s trials thanks to his background in precision agriculture.

Precision agriculture makes use of technologies and farmers’ knowledge to determine the quantity, location and time resources need to be applied to grow crops. The information gained allows farmers to farm more sustainably; using less while maintaining and improving yields.

“I first discovered precision agriculture during an agricultural engineering undergraduate in Brazil,” explained Rodrigues. “I was fascinated by the idea of joining technology and agriculture, so I ended up going on to complete a master’s and a doctorate in precision agriculture applying it to coffee, sugarcane, and cereals crops.”

After completing his doctorate with an internship at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian government agency for scientific research, Rodrigues realized the importance of agricultural research for development and took on his post-doctoral position at CIMMYT within the biometrics team in remote sensing and precision agriculture.

“Remote sensing can provide information at different scales and for a range of applications, from crop management to high-throughput phenotyping and landscape assessment,” said Rodrigues, whose research focuses on the analysis and interpretation of spatial and temporal agricultural data sets built up by the use of proximal and remote sensing technologies, then seeing how it can be applied across CIMMYT’s work.

Preparing for radiometric calibration for Multispectral flight over maize Tar Spot Complex disease screening; CIMMYT’s station, Agua Fria, Mexico. April 2016 Photo: CIMMYT archives. — Preparing for radiometric calibration for a multispectral flight over maize Tar Spot Complex disease screening; CIMMYT’s station, Agua Fria, Mexico. Photo: CIMMYT archives.

Remote sensing devices make it possible to observe the dynamics from single plants up to entire landscapes and continents as they change over time by capturing radiation from across the electromagnetic spectrum.

“Precision agriculture and remote sensing technologies are used by CIMMYT to develop tools and practices to help farmers manage their crops more efficiently, to speed up the breeding process by rapidly assessing plant traits and to better characterize agricultural landscapes as a whole,” he said.

According to Rodrigues, one of the greatest challenges is making precision agriculture accessible to smallholder farmers who don’t have the means to access new and expensive technology. He is currently working on a public-private project using remote sensing data assimilation and crop modeling to build an online platform that farmers can use freely in their fields to make crop management decisions.

“Since I arrived at CIMMYT I have been exposed to a global network of world-class scientists,” said Rodrigues. “It encourages me to pursue my passions and allowed me to do what I love; good science that improves lives.”

Rodrigues is excited about the long-term impact of CIMMYT’s research and positive about the future. “I love to work with a team of scientists from different disciplines and see that knowledge and results we generate contribute to a wider agenda,” he said.

AbduRahman Beshir (L), Muhammad Aslam (M) and Amir Maqbool (R), CIMMYT’s Ph.D. student who completed his study on provitamin A (PVA) enriched maize during field evaluation of PVA hybrids at UAF. (Photo: M. Waheed/CIMMYT)

Maize biofortification fights malnutrition in Pakistan

Written by on September 13, 2017. Posted in News.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – In Pakistan, malnutrition is endemic. Children, in particular, are severely affected, with nearly half of all children in Pakistan being chronically undernourished.

Chronic malnutrition commonly leads to a condition called stunting, which can permanently limit growth and development. Pakistan ranks among the highest countries in the world for vitamin A and zinc deficiencies, which affect cognition and can lead to otherwise preventable blindness.

A new initiative hopes to combat malnutrition in Pakistan using biofortified maize, a tactic already in use in several areas around the world.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been improving yield, increasing total protein and micronutrient levels (like vitamin A and zinc) in maize for over 50 years. This work has continued in Pakistan through the United States Agency for International Development – funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) in partnership with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and other stakeholders in public and private sector

Since 2014, AIP has been testing CIMMYT-biofortified maize varieties in Pakistan to ensure the maize will grow in local conditions. In some cases, improved maize outperformed even local commercial checks in terms of yield. Earlier this year, CIMMYT allocated three pro vitamin A (PVA) enriched maize hybrids to the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), making Pakistan the first South Asian country to receive these products. The seed increase of the parental lines as well as the hybrids is in progress currently to expedite the process of hybrid registration and large scale seed production. Apart from the higher carotenoid content, the grain yields of these hybrids are remarkably high with a record of up to 12 tons per hectare from the various testing stations in Pakistan. The average maize yield in Pakistan is 4 tons per hectare. In addition to the support from AIP, UAF is also contributing its own resources to harness the benefits of these hybrids and eventually reduce vitamin A deficiency.

“We will engage the private sector and other value chain actors to fast track the deployment of these hybrids in the target areas,” says Muhammad Aslam, assistant professor at UAF.

Each biofortified maize variety offers different benefits to consumers. Quality protein maize includes all the essential amino acids required by the human body, enhanced zinc maize makes zinc more available for human digestion and provitamin A maize contains natural pigments, called carotenoids, which are converted to vitamin A in the body. Biofortified maize has proven to effectively combat vitamin A and zinc deficiencies, and is already being used around the world to combat malnutrition.

Maize demand in Pakistan has more than tripled since the 1990s. Maize is now being utilized by farmers and consumers in Pakistan in various forms and it is the most important cereal crop in terms of productivity, with among the highest yields in South Asia.

A number of public and private partners have expressed interest in the commercialization of provitamin A and zinc enhanced maize products. Earlier this year, Pakistan released two quality maize protein hybrids for the first time, indicating the potential for biofortified maize products to grow in the country.

“What is important now is to enhance synergies among stakeholders and mobilize resources and required expertise to scale up the seed production and dissemination of these biofortified maize products to curb the deplorable trend of Pakistan’s hidden hunger,” says AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT’s seed systems specialist.

For more information on this work:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan works to increase agricultural productivity and incomes in the agriculture sector through the development and dissemination of new agriculture technologies. The project is managed by a group of CGIAR Centers and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

New Publications: Improving wheat breeding through modern genetic tools

Written by on September 13, 2017. Posted in Publications.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new study shows how wheat breeders can more efficiently increase yield and improve their selections by using modern genetic tools.

Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, and provides one fifth of the protein and calories consumed globally. Demand for wheat by 2050 is predicted to increase by 70 percent from today’s levels due to population growth and dietary changes, but new diseases, diminishing resources and climate change are making it harder for farmers to meet future needs.

Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently found that spring wheat breeders can incorporate genetic testing with traditional methods to increase yield and quality faster than ever before.

The study’s authors examined the effects different environments had on spring wheat yield. By using genetic selection, they were able to predict complex traits more efficiently than if they had only used the traditional method of pedigree selection, where researchers choose the best plants from each generation to use for breeding the next generation.

According to the authors, developing genetic selection models is an important step to accelerate the rate of genetic gains and grain yields in plant breeding.

Read the full study “Genomic prediction with pedigree and Genotype X environment interaction in Spring Wheat grown in South and West Asia, North Africa, and Mexico ” and check out other recent publications from CIMMYT staff below.

Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. Pariyar, S.R., Dababat, A.A., Sannemann, W., Erginbas-Orakci, G., Elashry, A., Siddique, S., Morgounov, A.I., Leon, J., Grundler, F. In: Phytopathology, vol. 106, no.10, p.1128-1138.

Genomic characterization of phenylalanine ammonia lyase gene in buckwheat. Thiyagarajan, K., Vitali, F., Tolaini, V., Galeffi, P., Cantale, C., Vikram, P., Sukhwinder-Singh, De Rossi, P., Nobili, C., Procacci, S., Del Fiore, A., Antonin, A., Presenti, O., Brunori, A. In: PLoS One, vol.11, no.3: e0151187.

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New initiative strengthens agricultural drought monitoring in Bangladesh

Written by on September 7, 2017. Posted in News.

A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh, as well as provide information on local cropping systems in South Asia to boost farmer resilience to climate change.

Regionally specific winter season drought and dry spells during the monsoon are a reoccurring concern in Bangladesh. Drought leads to reduced farming productivity, and climate change predictions suggest further decreases in precipitation in coming years. Additionally, there are uncertainties about where monsoons will flood in the rainy season, limiting groundwater recharge. If farmers are unable to adapt to these changes, bottlenecks in crop productivity and increased food insecurity are likely to result.

The effort will be led by Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) and SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya – a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – using Earth observation data.

A workshop jointly hosted by a number of organizations was recently held at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh to discuss the development of these agricultural monitoring services. The workshop brought together key partners to discuss anticipated methods, work plans and the user engagement process for effective development and long-term sustainability of the agricultural drought monitoring service.

Under this partnership, BARC is working to strengthen capacity of national research and agricultural extension institutes to use geographic information systems and remote sensing approaches for drought risk management.

(L-R) Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council and Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD

Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, noted that groundwater accessibility is a growing concern due to continued drought. The government has posed restrictions on deep well extraction, except for drinking water, to conserve crucial groundwater resources. He added that access to good quality drought monitoring and early warning information could help develop climate services to help farmers adapt to these challenges.

Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman of BARC, emphasized the need to adopt new technologies including remote sensing applications to improve predictability of climate hazards like floods and droughts. He added that with the adoption of improved agricultural practices, Bangladesh has become self-sufficient in rice, but that further work is needed to attain overall nutrition sufficiency.

Promoting and enabling climate services that increase farmer resilience to the impacts of climate variability can positively change behaviors and affect policy in developing countries. To do this, collaborators are working together to establish information communication technology platforms to provide user-oriented, easily accessible, timely and decision-relevant scientific information in the form of climate services.

Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager of the Mountain Environment Regional Information System program at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), highlighted opportunities of using Earth observation data products for addressing societal challenges. He emphasized the user-centric “services” used by ICIMOD increase the sustainable use of Earth observation information and geospatial technologies for environmental management and improve resilience to climate change in the region.

Read the full workshop summary from ICIMOD here.

CSRD is a a public-private partnership supported by USAID, Department for International Development (DFID), the Met Office, Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, ESRI, Google, the American Red Cross and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Why development needs innovation

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

1,000 people from across the globe were selected to participate in a 10-day innovation lab in August to find transformative solutions to development. Photo: UNLEASH

“Innovation” may be just another development buzzword, but adopting the principles behind it is crucial if organizations hope to attract funding and achieve lasting impact.

Finding and applying new approaches to solve a problem or unmet need was, like many development concepts, first applied by the private-sector. Innovation is critical for companies to foster an environment where creative ideas are turned into new and successful products, in order to gain a competitive edge.

However, this process is inherently risky – new ideas take time and money to bring to fruition, and experimenting is not a viable option for development organizations with limited funding serving people with limited resources.

That’s why innovation labs – specific areas or events dedicated to brainstorming ideas and working on new products, technological or otherwise – can serve as “safe” spaces for organizations to explore unconventional, even radical ideas to inspire change or uncover new opportunities that could enhance their goals.

Daniela Vega (center in red) and team working on sustainable supply chains in the fashion industry at UNLEASH. Photo courtesy of D. Vega/CIMMYT

“Innovation allows us to explore radical ideas that can potentially create disruptive solutions to some of the big challenges we work with,” said Daniela Vega, a projects coordinator and liaison officer to the Americas at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Vega was one of 1,000 young people from 129 countries who recently participated in UNLEASH, a 10-day innovation lab in Denmark, to develop transformative solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a 17-goal development agenda launched by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.

“Creative ideas and innovative solutions to sustainable livelihoods should be a core component of what we do,” said David Guerena, a soil scientist and systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Guerena was part of one of 200 teams that were split across 10 “folk high schools” where they worked through an innovation process with facilitators and experts, then refined their ideas before reconvening in Aarhus, Denmark, to pitch the solutions they had developed for the SDGs.

Farmazon — an e-commerce platform that links smallholder farmers to buyers, agricultural advisers, input suppliers and transport providers – is one of hundreds of new ideas created by UNLEASH participants to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Image credit to D. Guerena/CIMMYT

Farmazon — an online platform that links smallholder farmers to buyers, agricultural advisers, input suppliers and transport providers — was the finished product of Guerena’s team that targeted SDG1 and SDG2 (eliminating poverty and hunger) by reducing inefficiencies in agricultural value chains. Their pitch, which included a skit that involved each member speaking different languages to convey the ways a poor farmer, a restaurant owner and others may struggle to communicate their needs, earned them “Most Collaborative Team.”

“Even though we work in research for development, we need to remember that our discoveries must be commercially viable and deliver value to have a positive impact on society,” said Aziz Karimov, a CIMMYT development economist whose team won second place in UNLEASH’s “Sustainable Consumption & Production” category which targeted SDG 12. A key component of UNLEASH was teaching those participating how to pitch their ideas to investors, like preparing due diligence documents for investors and taking different approaches to fundraising, depending on whether the investor is focused on profit or impact.

Karimov and his team created Sustainable Matching, an online platform that allows buyers and suppliers to find each other and make connections in order to reach sustainable goals with the aim of reducing negative environmental impact. It will be the world’s first and only online supply fair for the textile and fashion industry focused on sustainable materials (including agricultural and forest products).

“I believe actual deals will result from some of the ideas I saw in waste, health and climate,” said Michael Blakeley, managing director of enterprise and industry development at Nathan Associates Inc. “That is powerful for just one week’s time and probably a fraction of the cost of traditional development programs.”

Soil scientist and systems agronomist David Guerena (right photo, 5th from the left) and agricultural and development economist Aziz Karimov (left photo, 5th from the left), represent CIMMYT at UNLEASH. Photos: UNLEASH

Both Guerena and Karimov emphasized development organizations should create spaces for researchers to participate in collaborative exercises like they did in order to challenge traditional approaches and discover out-of-the-box solutions to the challenges they face daily. Funding and capacity building is a core component of development, but fostering an environment open to new solutions can potentially create high-impact, low-cost solutions.

UNLEASH plans to hold annual innovation labs through 2030 dedicated to the SDGs, where young innovators can add value directly and access a unique ecosystem of corporations, think-tanks, foundations, non-profits, angel investors and more. Participants from this year will create a virtual integrated community to stay in touch, receive mentorship, guidance and expertise as well as funding to help them develop their business solutions.

New evidence shows forests help reduce malnutrition

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

Even in areas of high food security, vitamin and mineral deficiencies affect children in Southern Ethiopia. CIFOR Photo/Mokhamad Edliadi

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new study shows that dietary diversity is highest in areas close to forests, even when people don’t collect forest food and don’t generate income from forest products.

Dietary diversity reflects the variety of foods you eat and is strongly associated with adequate nutrition you receive. Increasing dietary diversity is a key element in combatting malnutrition. In areas near forests, people typically have high-producing home gardens, fed by manure from the livestock they let graze in the woods.

Throughout the world, and particularly in the tropics, remaining forests are cut down to make way for farmland in order to feed a growing global population. However, even in areas of high food availability, children may struggle to get enough vitamins and minerals if they only eat calorically dense, nutrient sparse cereal crops, a phenomenon called hidden hunger. The authors state that while cereal crops will no doubt remain crucial to meet the caloric needs of the global population, it is important to maintain – and restore in places – high dietary diversity when facing hidden hunger. They recommend taking a holistic approach to agricultural development that maintains landscape diversity, as opposed to the current trend toward mono-cropping – growing a single crop year after year – and landscape simplification.

Read the full study “Indirect contributions of forests to dietary diversity in Southern Ethiopia” and check out the blog published by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).