Blogs – Page 139

A woman for wheat: Maricelis Acevedo takes on new role

Written by on May 11, 2016. Posted in Blogs.

This story appeared originally on the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative website. Linda McCandless is associate director for communications, International Programs, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell University. She also oversees communications for the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project.

“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for” is Maricelis Acevedo’s favorite mantra. The newly appointed associate director for science for Cornell University’s Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project left her island home of Puerto Rico in 2003 to pursue a career as a pathologist and has been traveling the world ever since.

This past month, Acevedo visited wheat screening nurseries in Kenya and Ethiopia and wheat research centers in India with Ronnie Coffman, director of the DGGW. She feels grateful for the opportunity to lead the scientific component of a project whose goals are to help mitigate the threat of food insecurity in vulnerable regions of the world, especially Ethiopia.

“The job comes with new opportunities and great responsibilities to achieve food security for a growing population,” said Acevedo. “Given the challenges of a changing climate, scarce agricultural resources, and the misinformation about what technology can provide to agriculture in the developing and developed world, I feel privileged to be a voice for farmers, researchers and sponsors in the fight against wheat pathogens.”

Acevedo believes the world can do better in bringing science to smallholder farmers’ fields. Her new journey on behalf of the DGGW began on March 16 when she helped launch the DGGW project in the wheat fields of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in Ciudad Obregón in Mexico’s state of Sonora. Over the next year she will be visiting farmers and partner agricultural research facilities, including CIMMYT, around the globe.

“For the past eight years, Maricelis has collaborated with the Cornell team on various aspects of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project,” said Coffman, vice-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI). “Maricelis is an accomplished rust pathologist who also comes from an agricultural background. That is enormously helpful in a project whose success is so closely linked to farmer adoption of new varieties. We welcome her with great enthusiasm.”

The new DGGW grant will use modern tools of comparative genomics and big data to develop and deploy varieties of wheat that incorporate climate resilience and heat tolerance as well as improved disease resistance for smallholder farmers.

SMALL FARM ROOTS

Growing up on a small farm in Puerto Rico, in a family that grew plantains, bananas, edible beans, taro, sweet potato, maize and pigeon peas, Acevedo received an early introduction to the agricultural science behind farming. It was her father, now a retired agronomist from the University of Puerto Rico, who first introduced her to the concept of “pathogens.” She remembers watching him spray their fields to protect their crops from disease dressed in a protective suit and face mask. Mimicking his actions as a 4-year-old, she took a small plastic cup and sucked it tight onto her face breaking the capillaries all around her mouth and nose while “spraying” her Mom’s flowers with a watering can — “my first job as a pathologist,” she laughs.

More seriously, she also remembers her father testing farming practices that were going to be introduced to farmers’ fields in following seasons — “participatory breeding and research at its best.” And his first lessons on phenotypic selection of plantains and beans and his eagerness to try the new varieties coming out of the University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Research Station breeding and crop improvement programs.

Having experienced the devastation of seasonal crops due to drought, hurricanes, diseases and insects, Acevedo said she also knows the heartaches associated with farming. “I will never forget the emotional stress on my dad’s face in those moments.”

UNDERSTANDING HOST-PATHOGEN INTERACTION

During her undergraduate years at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Acevedo studied biology, genetics, botany and biotechnology, courses that helped her decide to pursue a master’s degree in agronomy where she focused on crop improvement and the genetics of edible beans.

Working on host resistance helped her decide to understand the pathogen side of the disease equation so she joined James R. Steadman’s laboratory in the department of plant pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue her Ph.D. in 2003. Acevedo’s research project, partially funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, focused on virulence diversity of edible bean rust pathogens in Honduras and the identification of resistance in wild beans and bean landraces. “That is how my passion for international agriculture and rust research began,” said Acevedo.

Following her graduation in 2007, Acevedo pursued a postdoc at the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service National Small Grain Collection and Potato Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, and then became assistant professor at North Dakota State University (NDSU) from 2010-2016. She said she will miss her friends and colleagues at NDSU, but credits them — along with her family — in helping her achieve her newest position at Cornell University.

Acevedo was in the first class of BGRI Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award Winners in 2010. “The WIT award help me identify and meet an amazing pool of female scientists who have mentored and encouraged me. We have developed collaborations that go beyond our professional lives.”

Acevedo takes seriously her role as mentor to other younger WIT winners who look to her as a role model for their research and academic careers.

SOLUTION ORIENTED

Acevedo believes her role with the DGGW is the perfect opportunity for her to facilitate how great work done by wheat scientists makes it to the field.

“I look forward to being part of the solutions necessary to deliver higher genetic gain wheat and promote better variety adoptions in key regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia,” said Acevedo. “I also look forward to seeing how we can utilize new technologies such as high through-put phenotyping, genomic selection and early warning systems for pathogen epidemics and implementing them in research and farmers’ fields.

“With the BGRI’s help in capacity building, research and education, we are training the next generation of wheat scientists for their countries and for their regions, increasing wheat production, and helping achieve food security,” Acevedo said. “I am very excited about helping developing countries with high potential for wheat improve their production and yield.”

More on Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat

YouTube interview with Maricelis Acevedo

Kenyan maize nutrition and safety get boost from ancient Mexican technique

Written by on May 6, 2016. Posted in News.

A milling machine for preparing nixtamalized maize dough was presented to KALRO through the Mexican Embassy. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT — A milling machine for preparing nixtamalized maize dough was presented to Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization by the Mexican embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. CIMMYT/Brenda Wawa

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Although maize is a staple food for millions of Kenyans it is usually consumed in one of five ways: roasted or boiled; mixed with beans, or in ugali (a dough-like dish made from maize flour, millet flour or sorghum flour) and porridge. This is nothing compared to over 600 dishes derived from maize in Mexico, about 300 of them made through a process called nixtamalization or lime-cooking.

The process includes cooking and steeping dried maize grain in water and food-grade lime (calcium hydroxide), rinsing the maize to remove the outer kernel cover (pericarp) and milling it to produce dough that can be consumed in different ways, according to Natalia Palacios, maize quality specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This method, first developed in Mesoamerica where the crop was originally cultivated, has existed in the region for thousands of years.

If adapted, modern nixtamalization technology could increase maize uses and offer Kenyans invaluable benefits. Food-grade lime is rich in calcium, providing nutritional and health benefits. Nixtamalized food products such as tortillas (small circular-shaped flatbreads) are said to have same nutritional value as milk. About 94 percent of Mexicans eat tortillas, with 79 kilograms (174 pounds) per capita being consumed in rural areas and 57 kilograms per capita in urban areas every year.

By removing the pericarp, the technology contributes to reduce aflatoxin fungal contamination levels in maize kernels by 30 to 60 percent. Due to aflatoxins, Kenya has suffered maize production losses and, more importantly, a loss of human lives. In 2004, 124 people died due to aflatoxin contamination, and 155,000 90-kilogram bags of maize had to be discarded, according to government reports. Nixtamalization technology may therefore also contribute to increasing food safety for Kenyan consumers, who, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, are not fully aware of the harvest, drying and storage techniques necessary to prevent mycotoxin growth and contamination.

Participants prepare tortillas from nixtamalized dough. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT — Participants prepare tortillas from nixtamalized dough. Photo: CIMMYT/Brenda Wawa

The benefits of nixtamalization will soon become a reality for Kenyans following the official presentation of nixtamalized maize mills to the Cabinet Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries by Mexico’s ambassador to Kenya, Erasmo Martínez, which took place on 4 April 2016 in Nairobi. This event marked the official launch of a new project titled “Expanding maize utilization as food and enhancing nutrition improved health and development in Kenya through processing technologies from Mexico,” which will contribute to disseminating new technology across the country. The three-year project will be led by the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation (KALRO).

The launch was followed by a week of training of 27 trainers from the public and private sectors led by CIMMYT and its collaborators from the tortilla industry in Mexico City and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The training focused on building the capacity of partners who will be the major drivers of the commercialization of nixtamalized products.

“Geographically Mexico is very far from Kenya, but we want to bring a technology that is benefiting millions of people in Mexico every day, and it’s my hope that this will go beyond Kenya,” Martínez said, lauding this milestone. The Mexican embassy and the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation and Development played a crucial role in bringing the technology to Kenya.

“This technology is important because of its value addition to our food sector through reduction of aflatoxin exposure, increased market and income opportunities for youth and women, which will attract and improve their involvement in agribusiness,” said Sicily Kariuki, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Youth, who played a key role in the initial discussion on transferring this technology to Kenya.

KALRO will support raising awareness of the technology among small- and medium-sized companies, increasing their investment opportunities. KALRO is the custodian of the equipment donated by the Mexican government that is being used for training. CIMMYT will support this work by providing technical and capacity building expertise.

“We will help to evaluate and monitor grain quality besides developing resilient maize to ensure we have improved materials that fit the purpose of an efficient nixtamalization,” Palacios said. CIMMYT will also continue to collaborate with its partners on research aimed at finding further scientific evidence of the use of nixtamalization as a way of decreasing aflatoxin exposure.

How improved maize gives options to farmers

Written by on May 5, 2016. Posted in News.

Maize is a staple food for 900 million poor consumers globally, who often rely on small-scale farmers for the food they find in the market. For these farmers, improved seeds that can thrive in the challenging environments they live are a gateway to higher yields and a better life. With traits offering greater resilience to drought, disease and other stresses, improved varieties allow farming families to invest more in their livelihoods and children’s futures.

One example is Leskari Ngoidma, a farmer from northern Tanzania, who in 2015 planted the drought tolerant maize variety HB513 known locally as ngamia, the Kiswahili word for camel. “I got 15 bags of maize from my one-acre farm. In a year when the rains are really bad like they were in 2015, I usually only manage to harvest at the most five bags. This is good seed!”

Through the platform provided by the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture works with over 300 governmental, non-governmental and private sector partners – especially from local seed sectors – to give small-scale farmers access to the best agricultural technologies. In 2015, these partnerships led to at least 64 new maize varieties being approved for release in 15 countries.

Peter Mutisya, sales and marketing director at MultiAgro Trading Main Suppliers (MAMS), described the popularity of an improved maize variety first released in 2013 in Tanzania. Yielding 8.5 to 10 tons per hectare under optimal conditions, successful on-farm demonstrations mean that in 2016 the company will produce 50 tons of MAMSH093 seed in Tanzania for the October short rains, with plans to spread to Kenya and Uganda. “Women farmers particularly love this maize variety because of its sweet taste and the quality protein it offers,” said Mutisya.

In addition to higher and more stable yields, most of the varieties combine several special traits into one seed. Three varieties in South Africa combine drought and heat tolerance, perform well in soils with low phosphorous and low nitrogen and are resistant to the diseases gray leaf spot, maize streak virus, and turcurium leaf blight.

In western Africa, 15 maize varieties released in 2015 will help farmers resist the deadly witchweed disease, or Striga. In Latin America, four new maize varieties were released with resistance to the tar spot complex disease that has emerged as an epidemic in recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, 10 new maize varieties with quality protein content were released in 2015.

Learn more about how improved seeds are helping maize farmers throughout Africa and globally here.

Assessing the potential of ICT in Pakistan’s agricultural extension

Written by on May 5, 2016. Posted in News.

Mark Bell presented the working paper to the Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT — Mark Bell presented the working paper to the Federal Secretary of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD– The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan shared the findings and proposed a plan for applying information communication technology (ICT) in agricultural extension in Pakistan, today in Islamabad during the launch ceremony of a working paper on the use of ICT in agriculture extension in Pakistan

This working paper is a product of AIP’s e-PakAG led by the University of California Davis (UC Davis) and highlights a series of opportunities to enhance the use of ICT in agricultural extension. Held at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, the launch ceremony of ICT use highlighted the promising role of new tools such as cell phones and enhanced videos in obtaining better scientific results to help farmers. The work by UC Davis and the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, was implemented as part of the AIP, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), ILRI, AVRDC, IRRI and UC Davis.

Imtiaz Muhammad sharing the highlight of AIP and his views on the impact of information communication technology (ICT) on improving agricultural sector. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

CIMMYT Country Representative Imtiaz, Muhammad during the presentation of a working paper on ICT in agricultural extension said, “This new era of technology is leading to new horizons in agricultural research. The trends indicate powerful impact of information communication technology on improving the farmer’s productivity and these innovative practices will ultimately improve the Pakistani agricultural sector.”

Praising the efforts of AIP, Federal Secretary for National Food Security and Research Abid Javed pointed out that the continuous support of the American people is reshaping Pakistan’s agricultural sector, particularly farmers.

“ICT, like never before, offers us unprecedented opportunities to connect people and make useful information available to poor farmers. We have to find out how to better turn that potential into reality,” said Mark Bell, leader of AIP’s e-Pak Ag.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research shared his thoughts with the audience at the launching ceremony. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT — Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of National Food Security and Research shared his thoughts with the audience at the launching ceremony. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

As PARC Chairman Nadeem Amjad indicated, today the use of ICT is essential and AIP’s efforts will make it easy to convey relevant and credible information to extension staff and, through them, to farmers.

The United States is committed to working hand in hand with Pakistan to develop and modernize the agricultural sector. As a global center of excellence in the improvement of maize and wheat systems, CIMMYT has maintained a long and highly productive relationship with the Pakistani government and national partners, with the invaluable support of U.S. government agencies. AIP’s E-Pak Ag activities are capturing science and research innovations led by UC Davis, which has a rich history of working with and strengthening research, education and extension programs around the world.

Launched in 2013, the USAID-funded Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP) works to increase agricultural productivity and incomes by promoting and disseminating modern practices in the cereal and cereal systems (wheat, maize and rice), livestock, fruit, and vegetable sectors; enhancing the capacity of agricultural scientists and researchers through short-term and long-term training such as M.Sc. and Ph.D. scholarships at U.S. land grant universities; establishing Provincial Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) Boards to support expansion of provincial linkages to national, regional and international communities through a mechanism of coordination; and improving agricultural growth and research in Pakistan through a Competitive Grants System. Project management is vested in a unique consortium of Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, US land grant universities, non-CGIAR centers, and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). For more information, visit: aip.cimmyt.org.

Tanzania seed company increases demand for drought-tolerant maize

Written by on May 2, 2016. Posted in Features.

Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA Seed promotions manager. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT — Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA Seed promotions manager. CIMMYT/Kelah Kaimenyi

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Locally adapted marketing initiatives by an innovative seed company are leading farmers in the area around one of Tanzania’s largest agricultural towns to plant Lubango, a high-performing, drought-tolerant maize variety.

Lubango, which means “blessed” in local Sukuma language, was first produced by IFFA Seed in 2015 and is already replacing traditional seeds on farms across Tanzania as a result of the company’s hands-on, targeted marketing approach. Headquartered in the city of Arusha since 2008, IFFA now dedicates more than 140 hectares (345 acres) of Nzega farmland to Lubango production to meet the increasing demand for the seed.

Demonstration plots in 10 of Tanzania’s 12 districts have made a big impact, said Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA seed promotions manager, who believes that demonstration plots are the most effective of all the marketing tools because they allow farmers to see direct benefits in their fields.

“Lubango was created with the smallholder farmer in mind,” Mponda said. “It’s drought-tolerant, affordable, high-yielding, and great tasting.”

“Visits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,” Michael Kumbere shares, adding, “I made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.” — “Visits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,” said farmer Michael Kumbere. “I made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.”

Part of Mponda’s work involves ensuring farmers are equipped with smart agronomic practices. For example, farmers who plant and space crops in a straight line, as opposed to haphazardly scattering seeds, create ample space for weeding, save on inputs such as fertilizer and efficiently use sunlight and soil nutrients.

“As seasons pass, I’m amazed at the progress farmers have made by accepting changes in their farming practices to maximize gains,” Mponda said, adding that novel promotion strategies are necessary to compete with the numerous other seed companies in the country.

“We’re certainly leveraging modern marketing methods to raise awareness on drought-tolerant varieties, and Lubango in particular. So far, audio-visual tools are a hit,” Mponda said.

“This was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,” says Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer of over 30 years regarding Lubango. “I can already tell that I will have a good harvest from the double cobs on each plant.” Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT. — “This was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,” said Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer for more than 30 years, referring to Lubango. With Lubango, farmers with more than two acres (.81 hectares) of land can save up to 50 percent on their seed purchase, at least $13 compared to similar brands, which can be invested in fertilizer or paid labor. Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. CIMMYT/Kelah Kaimenyi

IFFA Seed recently produced a short film detailing the life cycle of Lubango maize from planting to harvest, and sharing farming tips and tricks at every stage. The video will be screened at all farmer field days and other relevant events hosted or attended by the company. Audio announcements are broadcast at Nzega’s local railway station, a previously untapped channel, and the company produces flyers for distribution to farmers at events and seed purchase areas. Mponda is keen on large-scale visual outputs, and has identified billboards and television adverts as his next course of action.

Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project works closely with IFFA Seed Company and other private partners throughout eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers through 2020.

Improving diet through nutritious maize in Colombia

Written by on May 2, 2016. Posted in News.

CIAT field day. Photo Marleni Rosero, communications specialist at HarvestPlus-CIAT. — CIAT field day om Palmira, Colombia. Photo Luis Narro/CIMMYT.

PALMIRA, COLOMBIA — A field day was organized at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to show the advances of CIMMYT’s HarvestPlus project in Colombia and throughout Latin America. 58 participants representing regional agriculture, education and health sectors, Colombian agricultural institutions, seed producing companies and producers’ guilds, non-governmental organizations and food processing and supply companies. CIAT and CIMMYT staff involved in HarvestPlus also attended the event.

Conferences held during the field day aimed to show participants the benefits of a biofortification program. Meike Anderson, a HarvestPlus crop development specialist of presented strategic priorities for developing and commercializing biofortified crops, emphasizing more than 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, or micronutrient deficiencies.

HarvestPlus was created to combat hidden hunger, and operates in over 40 countries with more than 200 partners. The project began in 2004 and is now in the dissemination phase. HarvestPlus is directly in line with the CGIAR’s goal to ensure improved crop varieties are designed to have high in nutritional value. HarvestPlus in turn has prioritized the development of maize seed with high zinc and provitamin A content. In Colombia 20% of the population is zinc deficient as it much of the population in other Latin American countries including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.

Maize is the staple food of around a third of malnourished children all over the world. In Colombia 25% of children under 5 years of age present vitamin A deficiency. Biofortified food could have a huge impact improving diet in Colombia and across the globe.

CIMMYT aims to include higher protein quality, lysine, zinc and provitamin A in biofortified maize. To date, there are at least 10 biofortified varieties than after released that can be sown by farmers for both urban and rural consumers, all which were on display during the field day. A farm-to-plate strategy including beans, rice, cassava and yams should also be implemented.

Carolina Gonzalez, HarvestPlus economist, also presented socioeconomic studies prioritizing biofortification in Colombia during the event, identifying areas on the Atlantic coast as the greatest in need due to high levels of vitamin A and zinc deficiency. Sonia Gallego, post harvest Research Assistant of HarvestPlus, provided information from retention and nutrition studies on biofortified maize, emphasizing how important maize grain processing and conservation from harvest to food production are for vitamin A and zinc availability in the human body.

Narro_2 — Discussing the benefits of biofortified maize, whcih should be available to Colombian farmers in 2017. Photo: Marleni Rosero/HarvestPlus-CIAT.

Field activities were also presented by CIMMYT researchers Felix San Vicente and Luis Narro. They emphasized the importance of delivering to farmers biofortified maize seeds that still produce yields that can compete with their competitors. During an event hosted earlier in the year evaluating biofortified hybrids, the grain yield of the best hybrid was nearly ten tons per hectare, which is on par with the best performing maize used as a control group. This proves that high zinc or protein content does not cause farmers a loss in yield – just gains in nutritional. Biofortification also proved to have no effect on other traits like disease resistance, grain type or plant architecture.

At the end of the field day, teams identified institutions and companies that will take charge of varietal release and the seed production process in Colombia, including CORPOICA, Fenalce, Semivalle and Semillas Guerrero. In addition, CIMMYT will simultaneously sow plots to demonstrate to seed companies and other institutions the agronomic traits of different varieties.

Government programs that provide food for school children were also identified as potential collaborators to meet high demand for maize and malnourished children in that state of Valle del Cauca. Colombia demands is 1,200,000 tons of maize for food uses annually, with many producers and processing companies interested in the benefits of using biofortified maize and other crops.

Everyone who attended the workshop evaluated plant and grain traits and compared experimental plot yields. As a result, the seed companies decided to organize agronomic evaluation plots starting in 2016 and establish semi-commercial plots of hybrids, with the goal to release the first biofortified maize in 2017.

Among workshop attendees were CORPOICA and ICA, seed companies Semivalle, Maxisemillas, Semillas del pacífico and Procampo, producers guilds FENALCE, FEDERECAFE and ARDECAN, non-governmantal organizations including CETEC, FIDAR and CLAYUCA and companies Fundación Naturaleza y Vida and Pampa also attended.

SIMLESA meeting reveals many successes, gears up for phase II

Written by on April 29, 2016. Posted in News.

Malawian smallholder farmer Dyless Kasawala, of Kasungu District, demonstrating her maize-legume rotations technologies. Through SIMLESA, she has managed to attain household food security in an area plagued by frequent droughts. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — Malawian smallholder farmer Dyless Kasawala of Kasungu District demonstrates her maize-legume rotation technologies. Through SIMLESA, she has managed to attain household food security in an area plagued by frequent droughts. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) — A recent gathering of more than 60 researchers and representatives of donors, seed companies, national agricultural research systems (NARS), and non-governmental organizations from Africa and Australia, led to strategic discussions about the Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program.

Delegates gathered in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, for the sixth SIMLESA annual review and planning meeting to discuss the project’s progress and achievements, share lessons learned over the past six years, and deliberate over potential improvements for implementing activities in the project’s final two years.

“The SIMLESA project has targeted increasing farm-level food security and productivity in the context of climate risk and change,” said Bright Kumwembe, principal secretary of Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, speaking on behalf of the minister. “The program has become a model to many regional and sub-regional collaborative projects that address agricultural intensification. In this respect, the challenge to NARS lies especially in developing technologies, information and knowledge that sustainably increase agricultural productivity and at the same time reduce down-side risks.”

As part of the meeting, participants visited three farmers in Kasungu District who are involved in on-farm trials assessing conventional farming practices, conservation agriculture with no herbicide application, conservation agriculture using herbicides and conservation agriculture including maize-legume crop rotations. Farmer Dyless Kasawala, was observed to have managed to improve soil fertility in her fields, increase her maize yield and improve food security in her household.

Farmers in the area are engaging in agro-processing activities, such as extracting oil from groundnuts, to add value to their farming enterprises.

Established in 2010 and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), SIMLESA has as its primary objective to improve food security for 650,000 small farming households by increasing food production and incomes of vulnerable farmers with commercial viability by 2023. Ongoing SIMLESA Phase II activities will conclude in June 2018.

“The Program Steering Committee (PSC) recognizes the hard work of all participants and especially the dedicated scientists in the national programs. SIMLESA is on track to deliver significant impacts in the next two years, “said Eric Craswell, committee co-chair.

Delegates discussed the favorable Mid-Term Review (MTR) conducted last year. “SIMLESA I and II is a complex program with many partner countries, agencies, science disciplines, and objectives. Despite that complexity, the MTR found the program on the whole to be well-managed by CIMMYT, and the NARS partners had a strong sense of ownership of the program. It was very evident that the whole SIMLESA team is determined to meet the objectives of the program, to contribute and to work as a team,” Craswell said.

Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA project leader, highlighted the 2015 MTR recommendations, which indicate that SIMLESA should rebalance plans and activities of all program objectives and various program-wide themes; ensure that the science which underpins the development of sustainable intensification packages and policy dialogue is completed and published in extension reports and peer-reviewed literature; and refocus its monitoring and evaluation processes, communication plans and gender activities.

To achieve these changes, each country and the program as a whole should prepare, within the approved budget, a revised work plan extending to the end of SIMLESA II. The program would then be able to make an informed decision on what to prioritize and what needs to be phased out, Mekuria said.

Participants discussed key issues in phase II, related to MTR recommendations, concluding that the goals should include:

consolidating activities during the 2016-2018 period, with no new activities implemented during the remaining life of the program
documenting scientific outputs for all the research conducted and synthesize the lessons learned
streamlining logframe activities and developing a revised work plan
scaling-out available technologies in collaboration with partners; and
redesigning the project’s livestock component to align it with SIMLESA objectives.

SIMLESA Program Steering Committee co-chair Eric Craswell told participants to refocus their work through scaling up activities. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — SIMLESA program steering committee co-chair Eric Craswell told participants to refocus their work through scaling up activities. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira

John Dixon, ACIAR principal advisor/research program manager, cropping systems and economics, said the 2015 SIMLESA review had highlighted the commitment to the program by national partners.

“This gives us the opportunity to rebalance plans, focus on areas that can be brought together and synthesize results,” Dixon said. “Now is the time to scale-up by taking our research to farmers through extension, non-governmental organizations and farmers’ associations – moving from doing, to handing over the research.”

New varieties reignite maize production in Pakistan

Written by on April 29, 2016. Posted in Features.

**M. Sadeeq Tahir, the first QPM farmer in Pakistan who tested the newly introduced QPM hybrids in his field. Photo: M. Ashraf**

ISLAMABAD – The maize sector in Pakistan is benefiting from an upsurge in investments leading to new varieties from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that have the potential to increase production, enhance nutrition and strengthen national industry.

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in Pakistan, which at a production rate of four tons per hectare, has one of the highest national yields in South Asia. Maize productivity in Pakistan has increased almost 75 percent from levels in the early 1990s due to the adoption and expansion of hybrid maize varieties. The crop is cultivated both in spring and autumn seasons and grows in all provinces throughout the country.

However, the lack of a strong national seed system has caused Pakistan to import more than 85 percent of its hybrid maize seed at a cost averaged about $50 million annually since 2011. When coupled with other factors including a limited source of seed providers and non-relaxation of duties on imported seed, this causes the unit price of hybrid maize seed to be the most expensive in South Asia.

PROJECT BOOSTS SEED

A project launched in 2013, CIMMYT’s Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), led to a large-scale evaluation of maize varieties, which have since resulted in more than 1,000 diverse genotypes tested for favorable traits across Pakistan. Currently, 20 public- and private-sector companies are partnering with CIMMYT to test new varieties and deploy locally-adapted products.

USAID Mission Director John Groarke (center) during the launching ceremony of the first QPM hybrids in Pakistan. Photo: Awais Yaqub

In just two years since the launch of this initiative, more than 80 CIMMYT-derived hybrids and open pollinated varieties of maize have been identified and adapted to diverse ecologies in Pakistan. In the first phase, CIMMYT allocated 49 maize products for registration, commercial release, further seed scale-up and delivery in the target geographies in Pakistan. This maize germplasm was sourced from CIMMYT’s regional maize breeding hubs mainly from Colombia, Mexico and Zimbabwe. With the help of national partners, these improved varieties are being put in the hands smallholder farmers throughout the country.

Seed businesses in Pakistan now have the leverage to run a competitive domestic market for maize seed, thanks to these new varieties. Diverse new lines are also more nutritious, mature earlier and are more tolerant to drought. They can also be delivered at an affordable price which is a huge step forward compared to the limited options smallholder farmers had before AIP started.

Biofortification, or the enhancement of the nutritional value of a crop, has been a cornerstone of CIMMYT’s work in developing improved varieties. Quality Protein Maize (QPM) was the first new hybrid product to reach farmers in Pakistan. Demonstration seeds from the first two biofortified maize hybrids in Pakistan were officially distributed to farmers this February by the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), one of the national partners to AIP. The two QPM hybrids, originally from CIMMYT-Colombia, will reach about 300 farmers this season and further distribution is expected by 2017.

M. Hashim Popalzai (center) handing over samples of maize parental lines. At the left Mr. Faisal Hayat from the seed company Jullundur Private Ltd. receiving the seed and at the right Nadeem Amjad, PARC Chairman. Photo: M. Waheed Anwar

“We know how precious (CIMMYT’s) parental seeds are,” said Muhammad Hashim Popalzai from Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Secuirity and Research. “At times it will take up to eight years to develop inbred lines and another 3-4 years to constitute hybrid seeds, however, we are getting them easily under the AIP program.”

Although developing new seeds takes time, the benefits could make a huge contribution to Pakistan’s economy, health and livelihoods for farmers across the country.

“These parental seeds will help us to produce the seed locally,” said Faiysal Hayat, deputy manager of seed company Jullundur Private Ltd., adding that they will also “enable us to provide quality seed at an affordable price to farmers.”

In reviewing the progress of AIP maize activities, Abdu Rahman Beshir, CIMMYT’s maize improvement and seed systems specialist said: “The overwhelming interest and collaborations from public-private stakeholders of Pakistan’s maize sector are the main thrust for CIMMYT’s maize varietal deployment drive in Pakistan.”

Subsequent activities in quality seed production and enhanced product positioning will further reinforce the encouraging gains of AIP which aims to have a vibrant maize seed system in Pakistan, according to Beshir.

Global wheat breeding returns billions in benefits but stable financing remains elusive

Written by on April 27, 2016. Posted in Director General's corner.

Martin Kropff is CIMMYT director general and Juergen Voegele is senior director World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice.

What do a chapati, a matza, or couscous have in common? The answer is wheat, which is a source for one-fifth of the calories and protein consumed globally.

Yet, stable, assured funding for public research for this important food grain remains elusive.

For 45 years, world-class scientists from two research centers of CGIAR – the world’s only global research system that focuses on the crops of most importance to poor farmers in developing countries – have battled the odds to provide wheat and nourish the world’s growing population. Their innovations have helped to boost wheat yields, fight debilitating pests and ward off diseases, improving the lives of nearly 80 million poor farmers.

Wheat plays a big role in feeding the human family. Over 1.2 billion resource-poor consumers depend on wheat as a staple food.

Small Investment, big gains: Research for free public goods shows the way

A new report by the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat shows that for an annual investment of roughly $30 million, the benefits gained from wheat research are in the range of $2.2 billion to $3.1 billion each year, from 1994 to 2014. Put another way, for every $1 invested in wheat breeding, $73 to $103 were returned in direct benefits, helping producers and consumers alike. Surely these healthy numbers — which are conservative because they do not include benefits from traits other than yield — would whet the appetite of any hard-nosed economist or bean counter looking for a convincing return on investment.

Science products like improved wheat lines from CIMMYT, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and ICARDA, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas – both members of CGIAR – are freely available to all and keep the global wheat research enterprise humming. Each year CIMMYT alone distributes half a million packets of corn and wheat seed from its research to 346 partners in public and private breeding programs spread across 79 countries where these crops are mainstays of people’s diets.

Today, the rapid spread of wheat varieties adapted to diverse ecologies is one of agricultural science’s unsung success stories. Almost half the world’s wheat land is sown to varieties that come from research by CGIAR scientists and their global network of partners. Even as wheat-free diets are on the rise in industrialized countries – whether due to personal preference, or medical necessity such as celiac disease – it is increasingly clear that wheat will remain an important grain in the diets of millions of people living in emerging economies.

Food in a changing climate: The future is here

So what could possibly be wrong with the scenario painted above? After all, CIMMYT has been around for five decades, and public funding has kept the wheels of discovery science turning and delivering improved varieties of the food crops that farmers demand and consumers need.

The big outlier, our known unknown, is climate change. For every one degree Celsius increase in growing season temperatures, wheat production decreases by a whopping 6 percent.

To beat the heat, CIMMYT scientists are working to reshape the wheat plant for temperature extremes and other environmental factors. New goals include dramatically enhancing wheat’s use of sunlight and better understanding the internal signals whereby plants coordinate their activities and responses to dry conditions and high temperatures.

Food demand is projected to rise by 20 percent globally over the next 15 years with the largest increases in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and East Asia where the map of hunger, poverty and malnutrition has an overlay of environmental stress and extreme resource degradation.

Climate change is already playing havoc with the global food system.

In 2009, one-fifth of Mexico’s corn production was lost due to drought. In 2011, extreme weather events such as cyclones destroyed one-third of Sri Lanka’s rice crop, and badly damaged rice paddies in Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries. Two successive seasons of poor rainfall from El Niño have decimated Africa’s corn harvest and left millions facing hunger this year.

Looking to the future, rising food demand – driven inexorably by population, rapid urbanization and increasing global wealth – shows no sign of abating. To meet food needs by increasing productivity, cereal yields – not wheat alone – would need to increase at 3 percent a year, a number that is 40 percent higher than the 2.1 percent gains achieved from 2000 to 2013. Alas, plant breeders do not have the luxury of complacency. New varieties take more than a decade to develop, test, and deploy through national certification and seed marketing or distribution systems.

CGIAR crop scientists are rushing to meet the challenges. In a taste of the future, a team of topnotch scientists at CGIAR’s Lima-based International Potato Center and NASA will test growing potatoes under Martian conditions to demonstrate that hardy spuds can thrive in the harshest environments.

As the world’s policy makers begin to grapple with the interconnected nature of food, energy, water and peace, every dollar invested in improving global food and nutrition security is an investment in the future of humanity.

To develop crops, livestock, fish and trees that are more productive and resilient and have a lower environmental signature, CGIAR is calling for an increase in its war chest to reach $1.35 billion by 2020. Is anybody listening?

Donors push for sustainable agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean

Written by on April 26, 2016. Posted in News.

Intelligent and precise mechanization, presented by Víctor López. Photo: Margaret Zeigle/GHI — Smart, precise mechanization, presented by Víctor López. Photo: Margaret Zeigle/GHI

CALI, Colombia (CIMMYT) — Investment in agricultural research for development provides extraordinary returns and benefits for stakeholders, said the director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), expressing support for a new multi-donor funding platform.

AgroLAC 2025, coordinated by the Inter-American Development Bank in partnership with Dow Chemical Company and The Nature Conservancy, aims to stimulate investment in rural areas, encouraging profitable and sustainable agriculture by supporting pilot projects, funding initiatives and technologies that strengthen agricultural research and promote the sustainable agricultural innovation and development agenda of the Latin America-Caribbean (LAC) region. CIMMYT recently joined the initiative.

“With the looming challenge of feeding 9 billion people in 2050, CIMMYT fully supports the clear recommendations put forward by the AgroLAC 2025 Initiative for policies to help Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) sustainably realize the potential of its outstanding natural resources,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general, in a recent blog post.

“Local governments, development agencies, foundations and higher education and research institutions must invest heavily in agricultural research and development. If they do so, the return on their investment will be profound,” he added. “In Mexico alone, this amounts to a network of over 150 partners, 50 research platforms, 233 demonstration modules and several thousands of extension plots, reaching over 200,000 farmers.”

The application of knowledge and technology at scale has the potential to raise national maize and wheat productivity by 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, by working with some of the most marginalized farmers in resource-poor areas of Mexico, Kropff wrote.

AgroLac 2025 conference participants in Cali, Colombia. Photo: AgroLAC 2025

With support from Colombia’s Presidential Agency on International Cooperation, AgroLAC 2025 recently hosted its second partnership conference sponsored by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Cali, Colombia.

At the event, CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification for Latin America team led a meeting on “Accessible mechanization for climate-smart agriculture in Latin America.”

Bram Govaerts, strategy lead for Latin America with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Unit and Víctor López, MasAgro’s manager of institutional relations, described CIMMYT’s experience designing mechanized solutions for conservation agriculture – farming practices that involve minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment – through the MasAgro (Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture) program and other regional programs.

Read the original AgroLAC 2025 Spanish press release here.

Read CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff’s blog on AgroLac2025 here.

CIMMYT kicks off 50th anniversary celebrations in southern Africa

Written by on April 26, 2016. Posted in News.

Celebrating “CIMMYT 50” in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) — Improved maize varieties, crop management practices and sustainable intensification characterize valuable contributions made by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) over the past 50 years, said a Zimbabwe government official at recent anniversary celebrations, calling for renewed investments in agricultural development in the country.

CIMMYT-Southern Africa maize breeder Cosmos Magorokosho, showcasing CIMMYT's work as part of CIMMYT50 commemorations. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — CIMMYT-Southern Africa maize breeder Cosmos Magorokosho, showcasing CIMMYT’s work as part of CIMMYT50 commemorations. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

Under the theme ‘’turning research into impact,’’ the April 11 celebrations at the CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office in Harare were attended by more than 300 people, including members of CIMMYT’s board of trustees, donors, representatives from non-governmental organizations, research institutions, national agricultural research systems from eastern and southern Africa, the diplomatic community, farmer associations and seed companies.

“I’d like to highlight the long-standing partnership between CIMMYT and its African partners and the efforts being made to sustainably increase the productivity of maize-based systems to ensure food and nutritional security, increase household incomes and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Joseph Made, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, during a speech.

During the “CIMMYT 50” event, the world’s leading research center on maize and wheat showcased its work by conducting an on-station tour, a field trip to observe crop-livestock integration activities and a visit to the maize lethal necrosis quarantine facility being established in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's Minister of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, addresses the CIMMYT50 commemoration in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — Zimbabwe’s Minister of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, addresses the CIMMYT50 commemoration in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

Made acknowledged that CIMMYT’s research work has resulted in the development of hundreds of improved maize varieties and crop management practices and more recently, sustainable intensification options that are now spreading through the region.

However, Made also emphasized the need for continued investment “in view of the ever-growing population and the adverse effects of climate change and variability.”

“What is currently happening is that governments are preoccupied with short-term problems at the expense of long-term problems,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, citing new challenges, such as climate change, that are shifting or shortening growing seasons, resulting in irregular rainfall and weather patterns.

“Such challenges can be overcome partly by giving farmers early warning, especially via mobile phone, of the coming season’s expected weather, and improved seed to withstand drought, heat, floods and short growing seasons,” Kropff said, adding that 40 percent of CIMMYT’s activities take place in Africa.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff celebrating 50 years of CIMMYT at the organization’s Southern Africa Regional Office. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

Extensive research activities take place in Harare, other substations and on-farm trials.

From 2007 to 2014, over 200 unique drought-tolerant and nutrient use-efficient maize varieties were released through more than 100 private sector companies in 14 African countries.

In 2014 alone, CIMMYT supported the production of nearly 52,000 tons of certified drought-tolerant maize seed, enough to plant over 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) and touch the lives of people in approximately 5.2 million households.

CIMMYT continues to make an impact in Africa by building the capacity of national institutions, enterprises, researchers and farmers, and ensuring that gender and culture are integrated in every intervention.

The main “CIMMYT 50” celebratory commemorative event will be held in Mexico City from September 27 to 29 2016.

Award recognizes agronomist Ram Malik for successes in India’s rice-wheat systems

Written by on April 22, 2016. Posted in Features.

NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — Ram Kanwar Malik, senior agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), has received the 2015 Derek Tribe Award from the Crawford Fund, for his “outstanding contributions to making a food secure world by improving and sustaining the productivity of the rice-wheat system of the northwestern and eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.”

The award recognizes Malik’s more than 30 years of work in agricultural research and development dedicated to improving the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers in India. He led the development of a management solution for herbicide resistant Phalaris minor, a major wheat weed. This pioneering research is estimated to have prevented farmers from losing nearly 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of wheat and to have raised wheat productivity in the grain basket states of Haryana and Punjab, between 1992 and 2000.

“For developing countries like India where farmers are smallholders and marginalized and investment in research is low, the development of new technologies and the process of delivery are inseparable,” said Malik, highlighting his life-long passion for understanding the need for farmer participation in research. “In fact, a top-down approach could put up barriers to the adoption of new technologies. Listening to farmers and tailoring technologies to serve their needs thus become paramount.”

Malik’s collaborative work with national and international partners and farmer participatory approaches has also led to achievements in the adoption and spread of climate-resilient technologies such as zero-tillage, laser land leveling and direct-seeded rice, as well as policy changes at the government level.

Recently, Malik played an instrumental role in advocating for the early sowing of wheat in Bihar, which can double a farmer’s yield and avoid crop failure caused by higher temperatures and an early summer. Malik’s team has created a network of more than 2,000 service providers to provide easy access for smallholder farmers to machinery and modern farming technologies.

To learn more about the Crawford Fund and Derek Tribe award read the full press release here.

Millions of smallholders in Africa benefit from climate resilient drought-tolerant maize

Written by on April 21, 2016. Posted in Features.

Traditional maize storage in Tete province in Mozambique, April 27, 2015. CIMMYT/Tsedeke Abate

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – At least 40 million smallholder farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa are profiting from more than 200 new drought-tolerant varieties of maize produced as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, according to scientists at the Center for International Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT).

The project, underway between 2007 and 2015, led to the development of varieties with traits preferred by farmers that have successfully made smallholders in 13 countries more resilient to the erratic effects of climate change on growing conditions.

“Smallholder farmers in this region plant maize varieties that are obsolete and end up getting poor harvests, but that’s changing now thanks to the gallant efforts of the DTMA team that has released and commercialized a large number of modern varieties,” said Tsedeke Abate, the CIMMYT scientist who led the project. “Thanks to the new drought-tolerant varieties, many families have managed to overcome harsh growing conditions and boost yields substantially.”

In 2014 alone, more than 5 million smallholder farmer households planted the new varieties on 2.1 million hectares (5.2 million acres), an area roughly the size of El Salvador. Overall, 54,000 metric tons of high quality seed were produced in 2014 through the DTMA project, which received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Britain’s Department for International Development, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

COMPLEX CHALLENGES

“The adoption of the improved drought tolerant seed varied from one country to another and each county had unique challenges that made it difficult for some farmers to take up the new varieties. Some farmers were not aware of the availability of the seed in their markets, for some the seed was not available or the price was high,” Abate said. “We worked with national seed companies in these countries to increase production of certified seed so that many more farmers can buy the seed at an affordable price as well as demonstrating the benefits of the new varieties.”

Anthony Mwega, a farmer and leader in Olkalili village, in Hai district a semi-arid area in northern Tanzania about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the capital Dar es Salaam, beat the price constraint by mobilizing 66 farmers from his village and neighboring villages Makiwaru and Ngaikati to pool resources and buy 5 metric tons of HB513 – a drought-tolerant and nitrogen-use efficient variety – at a very affordable price from Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Seed Company.

“The overall purchasing price we bought the seed for was about 50 percent less than the market price because we bought it in bulk,” said Mwega. “I saw how good the maize performed in demonstrations organized by Meru Agro during the 2014 planting season with extremely low rains, and knew this is a variety that my people would definitely benefit from.”

Scientists project that millions more farmers will gain access to and plant the new varieties due to collaborations with more than 100 national seed companies, which continue to make a significant contribution to the improvement of seed systems in Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

“Collaboration with CIMMYT through the DTMA project has been extremely instrumental in facilitating me to release my own varieties,” said Zubeda Mduruma of Aminata Seed Company in Tanga, Tanzania who has collaborated with CIMMYT both in maize breeding and production work since 1976.

“I was able to get some of the best germplasm, evaluate them through on-farm and on-station trials, and successfully released three of the best drought tolerant varieties in the market, including one quality protein DT variety that is very popular among women because of its nutritional value. With the quality of maize we get from CIMMYT, it’s very possible to release new improved varieties every year with much better yield compared to popular commercial varieties in our shops.”

The story of this success is told through a series of pictures and profiles of DTMA target countries. Each country profile illustrates the context of national maize production and the changes underway thanks to released drought-tolerant varieties.

The DTMA project will continue, first as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) initiative. Under the project, which is funded by USAID, CIMMYT scientists aim to facilitate the production of close to 12,000 metric tons of certified seed for use by about 2.5 million people, in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

In partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture who partnered with CIMMYT in DTMA work, the new Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project will also carry forward the success and invaluable lessons from DTMA and CIMMYT’s Improved Maize for Africa Soils project, to develop new stress tolerant varieties to help farmers mitigate multiple stresses that occur concurrently in farmers’ fields.

Going further down the path to bolster Africa’s maize sector

Latest DT Maize Bulletin

National fair highlights agricultural developments in India

Written by on April 20, 2016. Posted in News.

Visitors at the BISA-CIMMYT display. Photo: Meenakshi Chandiramani/CIMMYT — Visitors at the BISA-CIMMYT display. CIMMYT/Meenakshi Chandiramani

NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) – India’s Krishi Unnati Mela national agriculture fair, which was hosted by India’s Department of Agriculture and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in March, attracted thousands of farmers who attended to learn about the latest agricultural innovations.

The fair was inaugurated by the country’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who urged farmers to adopt a “three pillars” support system to insulate themselves from crop losses by farming sustainably. The prime minister recommended growing timber on extra land while adopting animal husbandry and other activities. Modi also presented awards to the best performing states of 2014-2015 and visited exhibitions demonstrating the latest advancements in India’s agriculture sector.

CIMMYT Country Representative Etienne Duveiller and Meenakshi Chandiramani, CIMMYT-India office manager at the BISA-CIMMYT stall. Photo: RS Tripathi/CIMMYT — CIMMYT Country Representative Etienne Duveiller and Meenakshi Chandiramani, CIMMYT-India office manager attend the fair. CIMMYT/R.S. Tripathi

Delegates had the opportunity to visit some 500 stalls set up by public and private sector companies to display new crop varieties, modern technologies and inputs. The Borlaug Institute for South Asia and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center displayed joint research activities underway at sites across India.

Farmers and researchers visiting the display learned about farming practices and technology from interpretive staff and through information brochures, which were made available in regional languages.

Global wheat community discusses research, partnerships at Obregon pilgrimage

Written by on April 14, 2016. Posted in News.

Scientist Sukhwinder Singh (L) hosts a discussion in the wheat fields at the CIMMYT research station in Obregon, Mexico. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins

OBREGON, Mexico (CIMMYT) — For hundreds of international agricultural development experts, an annual gathering in northern Mexico provides a vital platform for sharing and debating the latest wheat breeding news and research.

This year, more than 200 members of the wheat community from more than 30 countries met in the legendary wheat fields of Ciudad Obregon in Mexico’s state of Sonora to participate in Visitors’ Week, hosted by the Global Wheat Program (GWP) of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The event coincides with the birthday of Norman Borlaug, the late CIMMYT wheat breeder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, known as the father of the Green Revolution for his contributions to global food security, many of which were undertaken in Obregon. This year, Visitors’ Week delegates toasted his 102^nd birthday at the Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Field research station.

The month of March also marks the peak wheat-growing season in Obregon, and participants attended a field day tour to see old and new wheat varieties, learn about CIMMYT programs and the latest research findings. Additionally, meetings and discussions were held with the goal of contributing to the improvement of wheat research across the globe by identifying key priorities.

INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUES

A brainstorming session between representatives from the British government and CIMMYT included discussions on collaborating on breeding for tolerance to high ambient temperatures, durable disease resistance, nitrogen use efficiency, and quality and nutrition.

Future collaborations between CIMMYT and Australia were explored with the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the CIMMYT-Australia-ICARDA Germplasm Exchange (CAIGE) group. 2Blades, a U.S.-based organization supporting the development of durable disease resistance in crop plants, joined the discussion and expressed the need to use safe, sustainable crop production strategies.

As part of discussions regarding international collaboration, the second meeting of the Expert Working Group on Nutrient Use Efficiency in wheat aimed to improve international coordination on NUE (nitrogen and other nutrients) research among Australia, Britain, France, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Germany.

During the NUE meeting, an executive committee was appointed, with Malcolm Hawksford, head of Plant Biology and Crop Science at Rothamsted Research as chair and Jacques Le Gouis, of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, as vice chair.

As well, the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) held its first official conference during which IWYP director Jeff Gwyn discussed outcomes and objectives for the next 20 years.

Due to the large audience of global wheat researchers, the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative took the opportunity to launch its new project, Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW), supported by a $24 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the DGGW, CIMMYT scientists aim to mitigate serious threats to wheat brought about by climate change by developing and deploying new heat-tolerant, disease-resistant wheat varieties.

ENCOURAGING ENGAGEMENT

With the hope of increasing data and information sharing, the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN) awarded Mehmet Nazım Dincer of Turkey the IWIN Cooperator Award for contributing data on international nurseries. Through a lottery, Dincer was selected from among researchers who provided data on international seed nurseries to IWIN in 2015. Dincer was awarded a one-week paid visit to Obregón during GWP Visitors’ Week, and was also congratulated for his collaborative efforts during the festivities.

Another lottery will be held in November to select the next winner from among cooperators who return 2016 international nursery data. GWP director Hans Braun joked that he is not aware of other lotteries with so few participants in which the jackpot is a trip to Obregon, encouraging IWIN cooperators to return their data and win.

Visitors’ Week is not only an important time for international collaborations and brainstorming, but also for capacity development and training early career scientists. Coinciding with this year’s Visitors’ Week was the GWP Basic Wheat Improvement Course (BWIC), a three-month training course for young and mid-career scientists focusing on applied breeding techniques in the field. In addition to attending Visitors’ Week events, trainees were offered special courses with guest lecturers.

Joining the BWIC at this time were winners of the 2016 Women in Triticum Award who alongside women trainees attended a “Women in Agriculture” discussion led by Jeannie Borlaug, daughter of Norman Borlaug, to discuss difficulties and successes women face in achieving equality in the science and agriculture sectors.