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Severe drought-affected area in Lamego, Mozambique. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Will El Niño be a wake-up call to invest in food security solutions?

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Severe drought-affected area in Lamego, Mozambique. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)
Severe drought-affected area in Lamego, Mozambique. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

HARARE (CIMMYT) — In southern Africa close to 50 million people are projected to be affected by droughts caused by the current El Niño, a climate phenomenon that develops in the tropical Pacific Ocean causing extreme weather worldwide — this year, one of the strongest on record. Many of those millions are expected to be on the brink of starvation and dependent on emergency food aid and relief.

However, severe droughts are nothing new to the region. Between 1900 and 2013 droughts have killed close to 1 million people in Africa, with economic damages of about $3 billion affecting over 360 million people. Over the past 50 years, 24 droughts have been caused by El Niño events, according to research by Ilyas Masih. If droughts are so recurrent and known to be a major cause of yield variability and food insecurity in southern Africa, why are we still reacting to this as a one-time emergency instead of a calculated threat?

Unpredictable harvests: Above, yield variability in the world’s top 5 maize producing countries (left) vs. southern Africa (right) Source: FAOSTAT, 2015
Unpredictable harvests: Above, yield variability in the world’s top 5 maize producing countries (left) vs. southern Africa (right) Source: FAOSTAT, 2015

Over the past 50 years, donors have focused on the “poorest of the poor” in agriculture – areas where farming is difficult due to low and erratic rainfalls, poor sandy soils and high risk of crop failure. Investments were made in these areas to change farmers’ livelihoods – and yet the numbers of food insecure people are the same or rising in many southern African countries. Once drought hits, most farmers are left with no crops and are forced to sell their available livestock.  Due to many farmers flooding the market with poor meat at once, prices for both livestock and meat hit rock bottom. Only when the situation becomes unbearable does the development community act, calling for emergency aid, which kicks in with a stuttering start. Abject poverty and food aid dependency is the inevitable consequence.

A farmer in Zimbabwe explains his challenges with drought and low soil fertility. Photo: Michael Listman
A farmer in Zimbabwe explains his challenges with drought and low soil fertility. CIMMYT/Michael Listman

Short-term relief can help millions of farmer families in this current crisis, and emergency solutions will likely be necessary this year. However, emergency relief is not the solution to saving lives and money in a world where extreme weather events are only going to become more frequent.

We know that the next drought will come within the next two to three years.

Proactive, strategic and sustainable response strategies are needed to increase farming system resilience and reduce dependency on food aid during extreme weather events like El Niño. This starts with improving the capacity of local, regional and national governments to make fully informed decisions on how to prepare for these events. Interventions must reach beyond poor performing areas, but also support higher productivity areas and emerging commercial farmers, who have greater potential to produce enough grain on a national scale to support areas hardest hit by droughts and dry-spells.

Groundnuts in rotation with maize under conservation agriculture can provide food and nutrition despite climate variability in Malawi. Photo:  Christian Thierfelder
Groundnuts in rotation with maize under conservation agriculture can provide food and nutrition despite climate variability in Malawi. CIMMYT/Christian Thierfelder

Climate-smart agriculture technologies, drought-tolerant maize, and such techniques as conservation agriculture, agroforestry and improved soil fertility management are approaches to farming that seek to increase food and nutrition security, alleviate poverty, conserve biodiversity and safeguard ecosystem services.

They need to be scaled out to increase resilience to climate variability. This strategy of improved foresight and targeting coupled with adoption of climate-smart agriculture and improved outscaling can lead to increased resilience of smallholder farming systems in southern Africa, reducing year-to-year variability and the need for emergency response.

Learn more about the impacts of El Niño and building resilience in the priority briefing “Combating drought in southern Africa: from relief to resilience” here, and view the special report from FEWS Net illustrating the extent and severity of the 2015-16 drought in southern Africa.  

AIP Pakistan institutes surveys to enhance effective interventions

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Imtiaz Muhammad sharing his views on the importance of follow-up surveys for improved Pakistani agricultural productivity. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/ CIMMYT
Imtiaz Muhammad sharing his views on the importance of follow-up surveys for improved Pakistani agricultural productivity. CIMMYT/Amina Nasim Khan

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) — Development and agricultural professionals attending a planning meeting in Islamabad in March discussed the importance of follow-up surveys for project evaluation and intervention impact, particularly in relation to the Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP).

The meeting, organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), focused on the progress of AIP, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  Representatives of USAID-Pakistan, CIMMYT and AIP partners including International Livestock Research Institute, International Rice Research Institute, The World Vegetable Center and University of California, Davis discussed conducting follow up surveys on strategy, methodology, sampling techniques and data analysis. Additionally, attendees discussed future plans.

“This is the right time to assess AIP’s performance, and we need to focus on the demands of the farmers, their challenges and work out a way forward for them to improve their agricultural productivity,” said Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT country representative in Pakistan.

Nazim Ali, AIP activity manager, explained the importance of follow-up surveys and their significance in project evaluation and impact assessment. AIP primary partners shared lessons learned from baseline surveys and presented a work plan for follow-up surveys.

Akhter Ali, CIMMYT agricultural economist, spoke about the methodology used in follow-up surveys, sampling techniques, geographic spread and data analysis techniques.

Participants reached consensus on the following points:

  • Follow-up survey questionnaires must be aligned with indicators, which AIP is currently reporting to USAID
  • Follow-up survey questionnaires will be refined internally
  • Women enumerators should collect sex-disaggregated data sets
  • For all AIP interventions, samples need to be representative
  • Agreed time frame for completion of the follow up surveys is tentatively December

For all interventions, AIP partners agreed on documentation of impact through follow up surveys.

These joint efforts will enable smallholder farmers to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods across different agro-ecological regions of Pakistan.

Tackling spread of wheat blast in Bangladesh

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PK Malaker, BARI senior wheat pathologist (2nd from the left) and other BARI scientists showing blast affected wheat to Kropff in Jessore district. Malaker is the scientist who first identified the emergence of wheat blast in Bangladesh. Photo: CIMMYT-Bangladesh
P.K. Malaker, BARI senior wheat pathologist (2nd from left) and other BARI scientists showing blast affected wheat to Martin Kropff in Jessore district. Malaker first identified the emergence of wheat blast in Bangladesh. Photo credit: CIMMYT/Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — On a recent visit to Bangladesh, Martin Kropff , director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) held discussions with partners and government officials on combating wheat blast disease and other aspects of maintaining food security in the country.

Meetings were held with Bangladesh’s agriculture minister and member of Parliament Begum Matia Chowdhury and Secretary of Agriculture Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah, where CIMMYT’s activities in Bangladesh were also discussed. Wheat blast is one of the most feared and intractable wheat diseases.

A new, severe outbreak of the disease in Bangladesh validated the prediction of the spread of the disease beyond its origins in Latin America to Africa and South Asia. The spread of wheat blast could be devastating to South Asia, which is home to 300 million undernourished people and whose inhabitants consume over 100 million tons of wheat each year.

Martin Kropff and Nynke Kropff- Nammensma with CIMMYT-Bangladesh staff. Photo: Utam Barman/CIMMYT
Martin Kropff and Nynke Kropff-Nammensma with CIMMYT-Bangladesh staff. CIMMYT/Utam Barman

During a two day field visit, Kropff saw the impacts of wheat blast in the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s (BARI) research station in Jessore and farmers’ fields. He also spent the visit meeting Bangladeshi farmers, observing mechanization scaling efforts and visiting a range of CIMMYT varietal and agronomic research trials and demonstrations funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in Jessore and Dinajpur districts.  In addition he held discussions with scientists from BARI and visited the organization’s headquarters in Gazipur and

Kropff (L) meets with Bangladesh’s Agriculture Minister and Member of Parliament Begum Matia Chowdhury (2nd from left) to address the spread of wheat blast in the country, along with (from L-R) Nynke Kropff – Nammensma, CIMMYT-Bangladesh Country Representative TP Tiwari and Secretary of Agriculture Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah. Photo: Zia Ahmed/CIMMYT
Martin Kropff (L) meets with Bangladesh’s agriculture minister and Member of Parliament Begum Matia Chowdhury (2nd from left) to address the spread of wheat blast in the country, along with (from L-R) Nynke Kropff – Nammensma, CIMMYT-Bangladesh Country Representative TP Tiwari and Secretary of Agriculture Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah. CIMMYT/Zia Ahmed

the Wheat Research Centre in Dinajpur district. Kropff also learned how irrigation management advisory with satellite technology is being developed with BARI, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and other core partners to release mobile applications for farming.

Kropff also held discussions with partners, including BARI Director General Rafiqul Islam Mondal and Abul Kalam Azad, executive director of BARC. Mondal lauded CIMMYT for its continuous support of BARI’s promotion of maize and wheat for food security in Bangladesh.

 

Global wheat breeding provides billions in benefits, CIMMYT study shows

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

Photo credit: CIMMYT/Julia Cumes
Photo credit: CIMMYT/Julia Cumes

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Almost half the world’s wheat land is sown to varieties that come directly or indirectly from research by a longstanding, global network of crop scientists, according to a new report by CIMMYT.

Yearly economic benefits of that research ranged from $2.2 to 3.1 billion (in 2010 dollars), and resulted from annual funding of just $30 million, a benefit-cost ratio as high as 103:1, the study shows.

Published to coincide with CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary, the new study tabulates and analyzes the pedigrees of 4,604 wheat varieties released worldwide during 1994-2014, based on survey responses from public and private breeding programs in 66 countries.

Fully 63 percent of the varieties featured genetic contributions from the breeding research of CIMMYT or of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), both members of CGIAR, a publicly-funded agricultural-research-for-development consortium.

In 2014, those varieties — all developed through conventional cross-breeding and selection — accounted for 106 million of the approximately 220 million hectares of wheat harvested worldwide, according to Michael Baum, Director of ICARDA’s Biodiversity and Integrated Gene Management Program and Morocco Platform.

“The fourth in a series of wheat impact assessments first published in 1993, the latest report highlights impressive CGIAR contributions in all wheat-growing regions,” Baum said. “In South Asia, for example, which is home to more than 300 million undernourished people and whose inhabitants consume over 100 million tons of wheat a year, 92 percent of the varieties carried CGIAR ancestry.”

FREE SEED, FUNDING CRUCIAL

CIMMYT and ICARDA depend on donor assistance and national partnerships to achieve meaningful farm-level impacts, but national co-investments do not figure in the current study, according to Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s global wheat program. “In 2014 alone, CIMMYT distributed free of charge more than 12 tons of seed of experimental lines for testing and other research by 346 partners in public and private breeding programs of 79 countries,” Braun said. “The partners return performance data to us, but can freely use lines they choose for their own breeding and varietal development efforts.”

“Started in the 1950s by the late Norman Borlaug, this global wheat improvement pipeline has been the main source of new genetic variation for wheat yield increases, adaptation to climate change, and resistance to crop pests and diseases,” Braun added. “The latest impact study attests to its continued worth, but reliable and consistent funding is critical, if global wheat breeding is to satisfy rising demand for the crop in developing countries.”

Led by Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions and worked at CIMMYT until 1979, wheat breeding advances during the 1960s-70s helped to spark the Green Revolution from which the 15-member CGIAR arose and to keep food prices at historically low levels for decades.

But by 2050 the current global population of 7.3 billion is projected to grow 33 percent to 9.7 billion, according to the United Nations. Demand for food, driven by population, urbanization, and increasing global wealth, will rise more than 60 percent, according to a recent report from the Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience.

Experts say that wheat farmers must meet this rising demand from the same or less land area, while confronting more extreme and erratic rainfall and temperatures and using inputs like water and fertilizer much more effectively.

Developing countries received the greatest benefit from CGIAR contributions, particularly in spring bread and spring durum wheat areas, an outcome that aligns with CGIAR’s mandate to help resource-poor farmers and alleviate poverty and malnutrition. Still, adoption of CGIAR-related cultivars was not limited to developing countries and the study highlights significant spill-overs:

  • In Canada, three-quarters of the wheat area was sown to CGIAR-related cultivars.
  • In the U.S., nearly 60 percent of the wheat area was sown to CGIAR-related varieties.
  • In Western Australia, CGIAR-related varieties were used on more than 90 percent of the wheat area.

To view or download a copy of the study, click on the title below:

Lantican, M.A., H.J. Braun, T.S. Payne, R.P. Singh, K. Sonder, M. Baum, M. van Ginkel, and O. Erenstein. 2016. Impacts of International Wheat Improvement Research, 1994-2014. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.

 

Combating malnutrition: a new zinc-rich variety of wheat

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VeluBlogpic
A farmer feeds harvested wheat crop into a thresher as a woman collects de-husked wheat in a field at Kunwarpur village, Allahabad in India’s Uttar Pradesh website. Credit: Handout

V.K. Mishra and Ramash Chand are professors at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. Arun Joshi is a wheat breeder at CIMMYT. Any views expressed are their own.

One of the side-effects of the Green Revolution, which began in the 1960s and led to large increases in crop production, has been a change in the cropping patterns in many parts of India.

Farmers have shifted to crops with higher yields. In the Indo-Gangetic plains, for example, rice and wheat have replaced many other crops. This has reduced crop diversity, affected dietary patterns, and led to malnutrition due to a poor supply of proteins, vitamins, iron and zinc.

Wheat is the staple diet in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Farmers in those states typically have very small landholdings and consume about 70 per cent of the food they produce. One essential mineral missing from their diet is zinc. A zinc deficiency leads to malfunctioning of several proteins and enzymes, and manifests itself in a variety of diseases, including diarrhea, skin and respiratory disorders.

One way of making up for this kind of deficiency is to provide fortification by adding missing nutrients to food, but this is complex for several reasons, including price increases, the problem of quality control, and the possibility of adulteration.

We tested the genetic bio-fortification technology for enhancing the zinc content in wheat crops under the HarvestPlus project of CIMMYT and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bio-fortification is a seed-driven technology that enables crops to extract a higher amount of zinc from the soil and store it in the edible parts.

Through cross-breeding, we produced several thousand wheat genotypes and screened them for high zinc content and high yield. In India, a new variety would be unacceptable if it does not deliver a higher yield than the varieties already under cultivation. We isolated several of these cross-bred varieties that had both high zinc and high yield, and put them through field trials. The existing varieties of wheat crop had 29 parts per million (ppm) of zinc and the varieties we selected had 40 to 45 ppm of zinc.

These field trials were conducted at 70 different locations. Two specific varieties of wheat were then distributed to about 5,000 farmers for cultivation.

The next stage is national trials, which will be conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The first thing that ICAR does is to put the recommended varieties to disease trial. The ICAR tests take about three years. One of the varieties, BHU-35, has recently cleared the disease-testing stage and is ready to be released in Uttar Pradesh for cultivation, after a few more regulatory clearances.

Seven other varieties are currently undergoing disease testing, and in the next few years, many other zinc-rich wheat crops will be ready for cultivation.

This story was originally published in The Indian Express.

Cereal systems in South Asia show diverse benefits of conservation agriculture

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Conservation agriculture (field at right) protects wheat from damage due to water stagnation experienced in a conventional field, visible in the blackening of the wheat (left field). Photo: CIMMYT/ Sapkota
Conservation agriculture (field at right) protects wheat from damage due to water stagnation experienced in a conventional field, visible in the blackening of the wheat (left field). CIMMYT/Tek Sapkota

Julianna White is program manager for low emissions agriculture at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. Tek Sapkota is a scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvment Center and lead author of the study. Any opinions expressed are their own.

Research shows conservation agriculture increases the income of farmers, moderates canopy temperatures, improves irrigation productivity and reduces greenhouse gas emissions in cereal systems in the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Conservation agriculture practices are also climate-smart, meaning they help farmers adapt to climate change while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, found researchers from CIMMYT, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

In an August 2015 article in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture, researchers report that a comprehensive literature review and evidence collected from on-farm trials showed that conservation agriculture – defined as minimal soil disturbance and permanent soil cover combined with appropriate rotations – improved farmers’ income, helped crops sustain or adapt to heat and water stresses, and reduced agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in cereal systems in South Asia.

Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID. Chaudhary carries out many different experiments, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations of his fields to other farmers. Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. CIMMYT/Petr Kosina

Farmers reap economic benefits

Conservation agriculture recommends minimal soil disturbance, most commonly tillage. Farmers who practiced zero tillage saved 23 percent in production costs by avoiding preparatory tillage and reducing the number of times fields were irrigated, while reaping the same or slightly higher yields.

Minimizing heat stress

High temperatures during the maturity stage cause wheat to decrease grain size, lowering overall yields, a phenomenon known as “terminal heat effect.” Farmers who practice conservation agriculture avoid this heat stress because residues left on the surface of the field conserve soil moisture, enhancing transpiration and creating a cooling effect – thus avoiding reduced yields caused by terminal heat effect.

Efficient use of water resources

Researchers found multiple examples that the zero tillage component of conservation agriculture led to significant water savings in both rice and wheat systems. Water savings accrued across systems. In rice-wheat systems, retention of wheat residues reduces water use in rice, and retention of rice residues causes reduced water use in wheat. Non-requirement of preparatory tillage advances the planting times thereby increasing rainwater-use efficiency and utilizing residual moisture from the previous crop.

Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions

Minimizing soil disturbance allows for soil carbon to accumulate, causing a net soil carbon gain. Although scientists are still debating the extent of soil carbon sequestered through conservation agriculture, indirect emissions reductions are numerous: less power and fuel consumption due to decreased tillage in conservation agriculture, decreased labor from machines and humans, and slower depreciation of equipment.

Business-as-usual production practices such as conventional tillage and farmers’ nutrient and irrigation management systems are greenhouse gas-intensive, while zero tillage reduces energy consumption in land preparation and crop establishment and efficient use of water resources reduces energy needs from pumping. Leaving residues in the field increases soil health and fertility, thereby reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

Researchers found that, on average, farmers could save 36 liters of diesel per hectare, equivalent to a reduction in 93 kg CO2 emission per hectare per year by practicing zero tillage for land preparation and crop establishment in the rice-wheat system typical on the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Given that 13.5 million hectares are under rice-wheat system cultivation in the region, this represents a reduction of 12.6 megatons of CO2 equivalent.

New technologies increase uptake of conservation agriculture

Despite excellent productivity, economic gains and environmental benefits, adoption of conservation agriculture in South Asia is still relatively slow, most likely due to various technological and socio-economic factors. It takes years and ample evidence for farmers to change the entrenched habit of tillage with planting. And it is a process.

For example, some farmers have adopted zero-tillage in wheat production, primarily to facilitate early planting, lower production costs and increase yields (and therefore profitabilitiy). However, these same farmers still prefer to practice tillage and puddling (wet-tillage) in their rice crops for weed control and reduction in percolation loss of water/nutrient. Also, farmers tend to burn crop residues to facilitate planting with the zero-tillage drill. To realize the full potential of conservation agriculture, all crops in rotation have to be brought under zero tillage, and crop residues will have to be used as soil surface mulch.

Due to the recent development of the “Turbo Happy Seeder,” which can drill seed and fertilizer directly through loose and anchored crop residues, farmers are gradually moving towards zero tillage across the agriculture system.

Farmers who practice conservation agriculture also must adjust their nutrient management systems in order to maximize crop productivity decrease costs. Conventional fertilizer recommendations have been calibrated based on tillage-based systems are thus not necessarily appropriate for conservation agriculture systems, including nutrient stewardship (applying the right source of fertilizer at the right time in right place using right method).

Crop residue management is essential for continuous coil cover, an important component of conservation agriculture, but farmers are faced with competing uses of crop residue as livestock feed, fuel, mulch and compost. Local adaptive research is needed to address strategic residue and nutrient management, weed control and scale-appropriate machinery development.

Such a paradigm shift in crop management requires a mindset transition among farmers and other value chain actors, including researchers, extension agents, market players and other institutions. Though it is recognized that transition takes time, recent progress and development in weed control and nutrient management systems signal that practice of conservation agriculture is growing across the region, including among different socio-economic groups and farm typologies.

CCAFS and CIMMYT continue research and implementation of low emissions agriculture across the globe. See also the regional focus on conservation and climate-smart agriculture in South Asia.

Photo contest highlights Oaxacan agriculture

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First place winner of the photo contest “Mujeres innovando," Photo: Yashim Victoria Reyes C.
First place winner of the photo contest “Mujeres innovando,” Photo: Yashim Victoria Reyes C.

OAXACA – In agriculture, extension agents are change agents: they intervene to bring about change in order to help improve the lives of farmers and their families.  They are critical to any extension program succeeding.

MasAgro’s annual Pacífico Sur Hub photo contest “A look at agriculture in Oaxaca” has documented the work of extension agents in the area since 2014. These photos show the field environment where extension agents work every day, by showcasing the agents’ daily work and life, as well as record farmers’ adoption of innovations, from their point of view.

Extension agents working in different regions of Oaxaca have sent in their photos to participate in the following categories: The Oaxacan landscape, The farmer and his/her community, The innovating farmer, and The innovative plot. Out of sixty selected photos that were presented at a 2015 hub meeting, the winning image was chosen to be on the cover of EnlACe magazine’s June 2016 issue. 12 of the top-rated photos on Facebook will also be included in the same issue.

The winners include:

  • “Mujeres innovando”, by Yashim Victoria Reyes C.
  • “La fuerza de las alturas”, by Jacinto Rafael Valor
  • “Cultivo de maĂ­z en ĂĄrea de impacto”, by Oscar Noel MejĂ­a DomĂ­nguez
  • “Siembra de maĂ­z en mĂłdulo de AC”, by Oscar Noel MejĂ­a DomĂ­nguez
  • “La organizaciĂłn que se niega a desaparecer”, by Jacinto Rafael Valor
  • “El productor y sus tradiciones”, by Zenaida PĂ©rez MartĂ­nez
  • “Un vistazo por la cocina”, by Aminta Olvera Avendaño
  • “Atardecer en el campo”, by Zenaida PĂ©rez MartĂ­nez
  • “Mujer trabajadora”, by Zenaida PĂ©rez MartĂ­nez, 48 votes
  • “Siembra tradicional en Piedra Azul”, by JeremĂ­as GarcĂ­a Orozco
  •  “La familia”, de Xel Reyes
  • “Cosecha de cacahuate”, by Yashim Victoria Reyes Castañón
  • “Ociendo el suelo de mi parcela”, by Yashim Victoria Reyes Castañón

Congratulations to the extension agents who took part in the contest and who are aware of the important role that communications play in their activities!

U.S. embassy in Pakistan highlights hybrid maize seed production

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Pollination of maize. Photo courtesy of aip.cimmyt.org.
Pollination of maize. Photo courtesy of aip.cimmyt.org.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director John Groarke presented new varieties of maize seed to Pakistani research organizations and private-sector seed companies on 17 February at the National Agricultural Research Center in Islamabad, according to a U.S. embassy press release.

These varieties were developed by the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), a joint effort led by CIMMYT and supported by USAID, to jump-start the production of quality hybrid maize seed in Pakistan. The varieties distributed are resistant to drought and heat, have enhanced nutritional quality and increased tolerance to insect attacks and low soil nitrogen.

AIP for Pakistan is working to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes in the agricultural sector through the promotion and dissemination of modern technologies/practices in the livestock, horticulture (fruits and vegetables) and cereals (wheat, maize and rice) sector. The $30 million initiative also collaborates with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the University of California – Davis and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).

Read the full press release here.

CIMMYT India staff brainstorm steps to implement strategy

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Kropff with with CIMMYT Bihar staff. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT
Kropff with with CIMMYT Bihar staff. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT

NEW DELHI — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Director General Martin Kropff presented the organization’s draft strategy with its unifying vision of ‘One CIMMYT’ at the staff session in the Delhi office during his India visit from 24 February to 3 March. Kropff highlighted that CIMMYT’s excellent scientific work, global presence, partnerships and people are its strengths. However, the organization needs to focus on engaging with new donors and increasing organizational effectiveness in the future.

In the meeting, Kropff shared reflections on his eight months at CIMMYT, emphasizing that improving integration among different projects, teams and geographies through shared values and teamwork will help to achieve a common mission: “Maize & Wheat Science for Improved livelihoods.”

Kropff examines zero tillage wheat in Bihar. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT
Kropff examines zero tillage wheat in Bihar. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT

Staff discussed different elements of the strategy in smaller group breakout sessions and suggested various steps to raise scientific excellence, increase capacity building and to achieve the One CIMMYT objective across all regions. The groups agreed that the “will play a key role in bringing innovative ideas and developing the next generation of well-trained scientists.

During his first visit to the state of Bihar, Kropff visited BISA research farm at Pusa, where he was accompanied by Hari S. Gupta, Director General of BISA, senior officials from Rajendra Agriculture University and CIMMYT scientists. Raj Kumar Jat, BISA cropping systems agronomist, explained the positive impacts of long-term conservation agriculture research on productivity, profitability and soil health at the farm. Kropff saw demonstrations of small farm mechanization, climate-smart practices and the latest research tools and techniques for breeding crop varieties.

The team visited the research platform of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in Patna. R.K. Malik, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, highlighted that research results have shown that using shorter hybrid rice varieties can help facilitate an early rice harvest and advance wheat sowing. This will help combat the adverse effects of climate change such as rising heat during the wheat ripening phase and will increase wheat productivity in Bihar. Kropff also interacted with women farmers and service providers to understand their business development services around service provision model.

Kropff and the CIMMYT-BISA team then met with Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister to discuss how CIMMYT and BISA’s work on new technologies could be helpful to double the productivity in the state with less cost and less water while improving the soil quality. The meeting was also attended by the senior officials of the state government and the Agricultural Production Commissioner of Bihar.

Educational video helps Kenya farmers learn benefits of drought-tolerant maize

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Actors celebrating a fruitful harvest thanks to drought-tolerant maize. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT
Actors celebrating a fruitful harvest thanks to drought-tolerant maize. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT

KOLA, Kenya (CIMMYT) – A new video aimed at raising awareness among farmers about high-yielding, drought-tolerant maize varieties is set for distribution in eastern Kenya ahead of the long rains that begin in March 2016. In the video, which was made by Michigan State University, farmers discuss the challenges of food scarcity related to poor maize seeds that wither because of moderate drought conditions prevalent in the area. The climate, coupled with poor agronomic practices, results in very low yields that cannot sustain households, the video shows.

“The actors are local farmers who are known and trusted,” said Charles Steinfield, a professor at Michigan State University (MSU), who led the project, which focuses on Kola village in Machakos County, about 62 kilometers East of Nairobi.

“The context of the story is real, therefore, this approach comes out as more engaging, practical and has some entertaining bits to appeal to the audience.”

Additional cast members include a leader, an agro-dealer and an agronomic expert who guides the farmers to use improved drought-tolerant maize varieties and recommended agronomic management practices during land preparation, planting, harvesting and post-harvest.

The video was made in the farmers’ homesteads and farms, as a way of including them in the filming and encouraging them to become part of the process. David Kyule and Winfred Kyule were among the main actors. They said they found the experience exciting; adding that they think the video will encourage farmers to plant improved drought-tolerant seeds.

KDV6, a drought-tolerant maize variety was filmed among improved maize suitable for Kola location, in eastern Kenya. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT
KDV6, a drought-tolerant maize variety was filmed among improved maize suitable for Kola location, in eastern Kenya. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT

The videos will be shown to farmers in local meetings called barazas organized by Farm Input Promotions Africa (FIPS), which supports farmers in Kola and the greater eastern Kenya region to access improved farm inputs through a network of village-based advisors and network coordinators. Given the lack of electricity in the targeted areas, some of which are remote, the video will be screened using portable battery-operated projectors.

The plan is to screen the videos just before the farmers start their next planting season in March 2016, Steinfeld said. In addition to sharing information, farmers will be encouraged to engage in discussions about drought-tolerant varieties before and after they see the video. Any change in perception and adoption of these varieties in the coming planting season will be monitored. The screening will target at least 600 farmers in Kola location.

“Our key message in the video is on the benefit of Drought Tolerant varieties and we want farmers to simply try the varieties and see how they perform,” Steinfeld said.

“We are not asking farmers to throw away their local varieties, but giving them a chance to know and experiment the improved drought tolerant varieties that will give them much better yield. All they have to do is try the seeds.”

Through FIPS, the farmers will receive small packets of the drought-tolerant varieties to plant on a small portion of their land to see how it performs.

Plans are underway to air the videos by mid-February 2016 when farmers will be preparing to plant during the March-to-May long rains season.

The main cast of the film (from L to R) Winfred Kyule, Damaris Kyala, Boniface Kyala and David Kyule. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT
The main cast of the film (from L to R) Winfred Kyule, Damaris Kyala, Boniface Kyala and David Kyule. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT

Soon after the video screening, pre-recorded mobile phone voice messages will be sent to farmers to remind them to buy improved certified drought-tolerant varieties. The messages will be followed up in April by another voice message recommending required agronomic practices that include fertilizer or manure application and weeding. In August, farmers will receive messages including advice on drying and storing the maize harvest.

SEED ACCESS

After raising awareness about the drought-tolerant varieties, demand for the seed is expected to increase. The Drought Tolerant Maize for Seed Scaling project, run by CIMMYT is currently working with seed companies to increase availability of affordable drought-tolerant seed. Some of the varieties, which feature in the video, include DroughtTego, KDV2, KDV4 and KDV6 developed under International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) maize projects – Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa and Water Efficient Maize for Africa.

The participatory farmer video filming project in Kola location, Machakos County in eastern Kenya was developed by Michigan State University and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development with support from FIPS and CIMMYT.

Scientists aim to adapt wheat to a warmer climate with less water

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MReynoldsEL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientists battling to increase wheat production by more than 60 percent over the next 35 years to meet projected demand are optimistic that they have begun to unravel the genetic mysteries that will lead to a more productive plant.

A recent study conducted at 26 international sites with a new generation of improved wheat breeding lines crossed and selected for superior physiological traits, resulted in yields that were on average 10 percent higher than other wheat varieties.

In the study, scientists identified many useful traits in the wheat plant suited to heat and drought adaptation, including: cooler canopy temperature indicating the ability of the plant to access subsoil water under drought and root proliferation under hot irrigated conditions.

They also discovered the plants have the ability to store sugars in the stem when conditions are good and the capacity to remobilize them to the grain when needed for seed filling if conditions do not permit enough photosynthesis. Leaf wax also plays a role by reflecting excess radiation and reducing evaporation from the leaf surface, lowering the risk of photo-inhibition and dehydration.

Additionally, scientists discovered that total aboveground biomass, a trait, which indicates overall plant fitness and with the right crossing strategy can be converted to produce higher grain yield.

“What we have revealed is a proof of concept – namely that designing crosses on the basis of wheat’s physiology results in a range of novel genotypes with significant improvements in yield and adaptation,” said Matthew Reynolds, a distinguished scientist and wheat physiologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“We have a long road ahead, but we hope eventually this work will lead to the discovery of the best combinations of genes suited to specific heat and drought profiles.”

HEAT STRESS

Climate change poses considerable risks to food security and political stability. Wheat is a vital food staple providing 20 percent of the calories and protein consumed by people worldwide.

Projections indicate that it is very likely that rainfall will be more unpredictable and that heat waves will occur more often and last longer throughout the 21st century, according to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mean surface temperatures could potentially rise by between 2 to 5 degrees Celsius or more, the report said.

A recent comprehensive modeling exercise, which incorporated data from international heat stress trials led by CIMMYT’s wheat physiology team in the 1990s, shows that for each degree increase in average temperature, there is a 6 percent reduction in wheat yield, so an increase of 5 degrees would lead to a 30 percent reduction or more.

“A 30 percent yield reduction would be very harmful to food security because we know that wheat production must increase by 60 percent just to keep up with population projections,” Reynolds said. “Combined with predicted climate risks, the challenge increases – if this happens, we’ll need to double the yield capacity of our current varieties.”

While demand for wheat is projected to increase at a rate of 1.7 percent a year until 2015, global productivity increases at only 1.1 percent. Conventional breeding approaches achieve less than 1 percent per year, a yield barrier that scientists aim to break.

“If the relative rate of improvement in yields continues at its current pace, there will be a large gap between the amount of available wheat and the amount we need to feed the global population,” Reynolds said.

LESS THIRSTY PLANT

Research findings will be developed under the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) and the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (HeDWIC), aiding the development of molecular breeding methodologies which will complement the trait-based approach.

Under IWYP and HeDWIC scientists will be redesigning the wheat plant for adaptive traits relating to temperature extremes, photoperiod, soil depth, and other environmental factors. Other goals will include attempting to drastically increase radiation-use efficiency, and to understand how plants use signaling to coordinate their activities and respond to environmental fluxes.

Such crops as rice and triticale can be used as potential models for wheat redesign. Rice is similar to wheat in terms of its basic metabolism, but tolerates much higher temperatures, Reynolds said. Triticale could also be used as a model, since it almost never lodges – or falls over – and its spikes have a very high grain number, he added.

Scientists also aim to increase their understanding of the role of roots and their potential to boost yield and ability to adapt to stress.

Because roots are hidden and messy to work with their physiology has been largely ignored in comparison to the parts of the plant above ground, but new technologies are helping to overcome these disadvantages, Reynolds said.

Such challenges are now more feasible to tackle due to a new generation of genomics tools and other biotechnologies which become more powerful each year.

“The revolution in phenomics – work that the Wheat Physiology Group helped pioneer – especially remote sensing for temperature and spectral indices, which indicate specific physiological properties of the plant-, means that we can now evaluate a much larger numbers of lines than in the past,” Reynolds said.

“We’ve already screened 70,000 accessions from the World Wheat Collection in the CIMMYT Genebank, and have identified a veritable powerhouse of novel material to support this work related to breeding and gene discovery for decades to come. So although the challenge is enormous, we remain optimistic.”

Follow @WheatPhysiology on Twitter

RELATED RESEARCH

International Wheat Yield Potential Proceedings

Physiological traits for improving heat tolerance in wheat 

Achieving yield gains in wheat

Translational research impacting on crop productivity in drought-prone environments

Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit bestowed on WHEAT independent steering committee member

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John R. Porter on the top floor of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) building in Paris. Porter was honored as a Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit at a ceremony on 1 March 2016 at the French Embassy in Denmark. Photo: John R. Porter
John R. Porter on the top floor of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) building in Paris. Porter was honored as a Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit at a ceremony on 1 March 2016 at the French Embassy in Denmark. Photo: John R. Porter

John R. Porter of The University of Copenhagen, the Natural Research Institute of the University of Greenwich, UK, and member of the WHEAT Independent Steering Committee, was granted Knight of the French Order of Agriculture Merit at a ceremony on 1 March.

The Order of Agricultural Merit is awarded to those that have made extraordinary contributions to agriculture via research or practice. The Order, which was established in 1883 by France’s Ministry of Agriculture, is one of the most important recognitions awarded in the country.

To become a knight, a person must be at least 30 years of age and have dedicated at least 15 years of service to the agricultural community, covering both developed and developing country farming.

“France has had an extremely important role in the development of agriculture and food production in Europe and the world. The production of food serves one of the most basic human needs, and this award and its history recognizes that fact,” said Porter in an acceptance speech at the French Embassy in Denmark. “I was extremely honored and surprised when I learned that I would be bestowed with this honor.”

Porter is best known for his pioneering work in the development of crop simulation models that are now regarded as being central to guiding research identifying new crop phenotypes, the impacts of and adaptation to climate change and carbon mitigation to the benefit of agriculture globally. He has also made major contributions to agriculture via his multi-disciplinary work in the response to arable crops, energy crops and complex agro-ecosystems to their environment with an emphasis on climate change, agronomy and ecosystem services.

Focusing on agriculture in the developing world, Porter took the initiative to bring the secretariat and hub of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), to his university in Copenhagen. He has also collaborated with European pasta manufacturers to develop methods to identify high quality sources of durum wheat prior to harvest by using a combination of models and remote sensing technologies.

Porter has published more than 140 papers in reviewed journals and has won three international prizes for his research and teaching. Apart from serving on the WHEAT Independent Steering Committee, he was appointed by the French Ministry of Agriculture and serves as a member of the Science Council of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and previously served as the president of the European Society for Agronomy.

Most recently, Porter was the lead author of a critically important chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on food production systems and food security for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, which was the scientific bedrock of the COP21 agreement, signed December 2015.

Congratulations to John R. Porter on this prestigious award!

Scientists unearth genetic treasures from Mexico’s Creole wheats

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Press releases.

sukhinder
Sukhwinder Singh at a field of Punjab Agricultural University, India, with Mexican wheat landrace evaluation trial (foreground) and wheat lines derived from the landraces (background). Photo: Mike Listman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Findings can help to boost wheat’s climate resilience worldwide

For the first time ever, a research team from China, India, Mexico, Uruguay, and the USA has genetically characterized a collection of 8,400 centuries-old Mexican wheat landraces adapted to varied and sometimes extreme conditions, offering a treasure trove of potential genes to combat wheat’s climate-vulnerability.

Published today in Nature Scientific Reports and led by scientists from the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the study details critical genetic information about Mexican landraces for use in breeding to boost global wheat productivity.

This is essential, given the well-documented climate effects that imperil key wheat-growing areas, according to Sukhwinder Singh, CIMMYT wheat scientist and co-author of the report.

“The landraces, known as Creole wheats, were brought to Mexico as early as the 16th Century,” said Singh, who also credited the study to MasAgro, a long-term rural development project between Mexico and CIMMYT. “Wheat is not native to Mexico, but this gave the Creoles time to toughen in zones where late-season temperatures can hit highs of 40 degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit).”

Heat can wreak havoc with wheat’s ability to produce plump, well-filled grains. Research has shown that wheat yields plummet 6 percent for each 1-degree-Centigrade rise in temperature, and that warming is already holding back yield gains in wheat-growing mega-regions such as South Asia, home to more than 300 million undernourished people and whose inhabitants consume over 100 million tons of wheat each year.

“Typically, massive seed collections constitute ‘black boxes’ that scientists have long believed to harbor useful diversity but whose treasures have remained frustratingly inaccessible,” Singh explained. “New technology is helping to change that. As part of MasAgro’s ‘Seeds of Discovery Component,’ the team used the latest genotyping-by-sequencing technology and created unique sets of the landrace collections that together capture nearly 90 percent of the rare gene variants, known as ‘alleles.’ ”

According to Kevin Pixley, director of CIMMYT’s genetic resources program and an expert crop breeder, wheat scientists will be able to home in on groups of landraces from regions with conditions similar to those they presently target or will target in coming decades. “The next step is for breeders to identify seed samples and genes for their programs; say, alleles common to a set of landraces from a heat-stressed area, providing a valuable starting point to exploit this newly-revealed diversity.”

A pillar for global food security, wheat provides 20 percent of protein and calories consumed worldwide and up to 50% in developing countries. A 2015 World Bank report showed that, without action, climate change would likely spark higher agricultural prices and threaten food security in the world’s poorer regions.

For more information

Mike Listman, CIMMYT communications, email at m.listman@cgiar.org, mobile at +52 1 595 957 3490. GeneviĂšve Renard, head of CIMMYT communications, email at g.renard@cgiar.org, mobile at +52 1 595 114 9880.

About CIMMYT

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is the global leader in research for development in wheat and maize and wheat- and maize-based farming systems. From its headquarters in Mexico and 14 global offices, CIMMYT works throughout the developing world with hundreds of partners to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems, thus contributing to better food security and livelihoods. CIMMYT is a member of the 15-member CGIAR Consortium and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Wheat and Maize. CIMMYT receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.

The legacy of drought tolerant maize for Africa

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Young lady carrying home flour from millers, Salina, Malawi. Photographer: Tsedeke Abate/ CIMMYT
Young lady carrying home flour from millers, Salina, Malawi. Photo: Tsedeke Abate/ CIMMYT

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project has contributed towards improving seed system in sub-Saharan Africa for almost nine years (2007–2015), through 233 varieties released including about 200 distinct drought-tolerant (DT) maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPV) developed to help farmers cope with drought constraint in maize farming.

The main purpose of DTMA was to increase the food and income security of smallholder farmers through the development and dissemination of drought tolerant, well-adapted DT hybrids and OPV maize varieties. The project was jointly implemented among the National Agricultural Research systems by CIMMYT (eastern and southern Africa) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in West Africa and concluded at the end of December 2015.

Since its inception, the project has supported production of nearly 54,000 tons of certified DT maize seed benefiting an estimated 5.4 million households – or 43 million people – across the DTMA countries (Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

The new DT maize varieties are adapted to the various agro-ecologies in each of the target countries. Most of them have been commercialized or are in the process of being commercialized. These varieties produce the same or better yields as the currently available commercial varieties. All of them are resistant to major diseases. In addition, several of them are tolerant to the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica and nitrogen-use efficient.

Africa’s food security is on a positive trajectory, and DTMA is contributing to this progress. The strong partnership developed with over 90 small – and – medium seed companies currently stocking DT varieties will facilitate continued production and supply of certified DT seed to reach many more smallholders in Africa.

Related Articles

Final DT Maize Bulletin, December 2015

Maize Variety Options for Africa Narratives and Pictures for 13 DTMA target countries

DTMA country pictures Flickr Album

The scorecard, as marathon maize project winds up after eight years

Drought tolerant maize: Long-run science, investments, and partnerships pay off in Africa

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News. 59 Comments on Drought tolerant maize: Long-run science, investments, and partnerships pay off in Africa

New hybrid helps farmers beat drought in Tanzania. With seed of a maize hybrid developed by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project and marketed by the company Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Limited, Valeria Pantaleo, a 47-year-old farmer and mother of four from Olkalili village, northern Tanzania, harvested enough grain from a 0.5-hectare plot in 2015 to feed her family and, with the surplus, to purchase an ox calf for plowing, despite the very poor rains that season. “I got so much harvest and yet I planted this seed very late and with no fertilizer,” said Pantaleo, who was happy and surprised. “I finally managed to buy a calf to replace my two oxen that died at the beginning of the year due to a strange disease.” In 2015 Meru Agro sold 427 tons of seed of the hybrid, HB513, known locally as “ngamia,” Kiswahili for “camel,” in recognition of its resilience under dry conditions. The company plans to put more than 1,000 tons of seed on the market in 2016. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT
New hybrid helps farmers beat drought in Tanzania. With seed of a maize hybrid developed by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project and marketed by the company Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Limited, Valeria Pantaleo, a 47-year-old farmer and mother of four from Olkalili village, northern Tanzania, harvested enough grain from a 0.5-hectare plot in 2015 to feed her family and, with the surplus, to purchase an ox calf for plowing, despite the very poor rains that season. “I got so much harvest and yet I planted this seed very late and with no fertilizer,” said Pantaleo, who was happy and surprised. “I finally managed to buy a calf to replace my two oxen that died at the beginning of the year due to a strange disease.” In 2015 Meru Agro sold 427 tons of seed of the hybrid, HB513, known locally as “ngamia,” Kiswahili for “camel,” in recognition of its resilience under dry conditions. The company plans to put more than 1,000 tons of seed on the market in 2016. Photo: Brenda Wawa/CIMMYT

This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In the early 1990s, before climate change caught popular attention, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided funding for an international team of scientists in Mexico to find a better way to breed resilient maize for farmers in drought-prone tropical areas.

Fast forward several decades and that scientific concept is now reality. By early 2016 more than 2 million farmers were acquiring and growing drought-tolerant varieties from that early research in 13 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a region where maize, the number-one food crop, frequently fails under erratic rainfall and lethal droughts.

Survival of the fittest

The core methodology, developed at CIMMYT, was to genetically select maize lines that survive and yield grain under controlled drought or low soil nitrogen on experimental plots. This imparts tolerance in maize to both dry conditions during flowering and grain-filling, when the plant is particularly sensitive to stress, and to the nitrogen-depleted soils typical of small-scale farms in the tropics.

Maize plants are designed with male flowers, called tassels, at the top, and female flowers, known as silks, which emerge later from young ears and catch pollen. Research in the 1970s had shown that, under drought, maize plants whose silks appear soonest after tassels also produce more grain, according to Greg Edmeades, a retired maize physiologist who led development of CIMMYT’s drought breeding system in the 1980s-90s.

“We used that trait, known as anthesis-silking interval, as a key yardstick to select maize lines and populations that did well under drought,” he explained, citing important contributions from his post-doctoral fellows Marianne BĂ€nziger, Jorge Bolaños, Scott Chapman, Anne Elings, Renee Lafitte, and Stephen Mugo. “We discovered that earlier silking meant plants were sending more carbohydrates to the ear.”

Ground-truthing the science

In their studies, Edmeades and his team subjected many thousands of maize lines to stress testing on desert and mid-altitude fields in Mexico, dosing out water drop by drop. Reported in a series of journal papers and at two international conferences on maize stress breeding, their results outlined a new approach to create climate-resilient maize.

“The idea was to replicate the two most common and challenging nemeses of resource-poor farming systems, drought and low nitrogen stress, in a controlled way on breeding stations, and to use this to select tolerant varieties,” said BĂ€nziger, now Deputy Director General for Research and Partnerships at CIMMYT. “After eight cycles of selection for reduced anthesis-silking interval under controlled drought stress, Greg’s model maize population gave 30 percent more grain than conventional varieties, in moderate-to-severe drought conditions.”

But could the approach be implemented in developing country breeding programs, where researchers typically tested and showcased high-yielding, optimally-watered maize?

Capitalizing on several years’ experience in Edmeades’ team, in 1996 BĂ€nziger aimed to find out, moving to CIMMYT’s office in Zimbabwe and beginning work with breeders in the region to develop Africa-adapted, stress tolerant maize.

“African farmers grow maize by choice,” she explained. “If you give them access to varieties that better withstand their harsh conditions and reduce their risk, they may invest in inputs like fertilizer or diversify crop production, improving their incomes and food security.”

The efforts started by BĂ€nziger and several other CIMMYT scientists in sub-Saharan Africa involved large, long-running projects in the region’s major maize-growing areas, with co-leadership of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), extensive and generous donor support, and the critical participation of regional associations, national research programs, private seed companies, and non-governmental organizations. Partners also pioneered innovative ways for farmers to take part in testing and selecting varieties and worked to foster high-quality, competitive seed markets.

The most recent initiative, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), has been responsible for the development and release of more than 200 drought tolerant varieties. A new phase aims by 2019 to attain an annual production of as much as 68,000 tons of certified seed of resilient maize, for use by approximately 5.8 million households and benefitting more than 30 million people in the region. 

Maize stress breeding goes global

Selecting for tolerance under controlled moisture stress has proven so successful that it is now a standard component of maize breeding programmes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, according to Edmeades.

“The long pursuit of drought tolerance in maize shows how successful research-for-development demands doggedness and enduring donor support,” said Edmeades, who credits former CIMMYT scientists P.R. Goldsworthy, Ken Fischer, and Elmer Johnson with laying the groundwork for his studies. “And, as can be seen, many donors and partners have helped greatly to amplify the impact of UNDP’s initial investment.”

Over the years, generous funding for this work has also been provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (GTZ); the Howard G. Buffett Foundation; the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the UK Department for International Development (DFID); and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

This short history of drought tolerance breeding for tropical maize was developed in collaboration with UNDP, as part of CIMMYT and UNDP’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which coincide in 2016. To read the version published by UNDP, click here.

See also these stories about farmers’ circumstances and advances on drought tolerant maize in Africa:
* Peter’s resolve to grow maize amidst poor yields due to harsh climate and poor seeds.
* A 2011 post in Roger Thurow’s “Outrage and Inspire” blog.

 

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