Blogs – Page 146

Training on quarantine pests of wheat in Ethiopia

Written by on November 3, 2015. Posted in News. 1 Comment on Training on quarantine pests of wheat in Ethiopia

Trainees observe fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases of wheat in quarantine fields. Photo: Terefe Fitta

Ethiopia’s loose quarantine system permits the introduction of foreign pests, which attack crops and hurt yields and farmer incomes, making understanding how to identify new pests vital; strengthening the national quarantine system is thus key to protecting crops.

To address these challenges, CIMMYT-Ethiopia hosted a training session on the quarantine of wheat pests in Ethiopia from 13-15 October at Holetta Agricultural Research Center, where seeds of the most commonly introduced germplasm are inspected before they are planted and further evaluated for foreign pests at isolation sites throughout the country. Attending the session were 13 trainees from Holetta and six other research centers, including Sinana, Kulumsa, Adet, Mekele, Werer, and Ambo.

Temesgen Desalegn, Holetta Agricultural Research Center Director, welcomed participants and delivered an orientation session about the center, staff, and the crop and livestock research conducted at the site. The center is the oldest quarantine site to receive and inspect seeds of introduced germplasm for foreign pests by further planting and evaluating at isolated sites, Desalegn said, explaining that his aims for the training included exploring various aspects of regulatory issues.

Bekele Abeyo, wheat breeder and country representative at CIMMYT’s Ethiopia office, highlighted the role of wheat in the Ethiopian economy, describing major growing regions and production trends. He also described the challenge of recurrent rust epidemics that cause significant yield losses, and how such losses affect the country’s growth and transformation plan aimed at achieving food security. Due to the significant yield losses caused by the rust epidemics, CIMMYT and its national counterparts, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs), developed a project, now in its first year, titled “Seed Multiplication and Delivery of High Yielding Rust Resistant Bread and Durum Wheat Varieties to Ethiopian Farmers.”

The project, which targets 51 districts in four regions, has two sub-components, five specific objectives, and several activities under each objective. It supports small-scale farmers with an emphasis on women, encourages private sector partners, and links farmers with industries. It also aims to build the capacity of national programs by acquiring field and laboratory equipment and conducting various types of short-term trainings sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the CIMMYT/EIAR seed project.

Eshetu Derso, Deputy Director of crops research at EIAR, offered praise for such training and the long-lasting relationship and support CIMMYT has provided. He mentioned that CIMMYT staff are forging change by helping Ethiopia identify and bridge gaps. Eshetu detailed various components of phytosanitary/regulatory issues regarding quarantine and pests in Ethiopia, including recent phytosanitary proclamations in the country. Finally, he noted that awareness will be created and vigilant phytosanitary action taken to ensure no new foreign pests are introduced. All plant materials introduced into Ethiopia will be inspected by quarantine officials at international airports or seaports by establishing separate “plant quarantine counters” and a scanning system.

Training participants at Holetta Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia. Photo courtesy of Bekele Abeyo

The government is trying to keep out quarantine diseases such as ergot, late potato blight, and Karnal bunt, Eshetu said, mentioning other risky diseases such as the wheat rusts, white rot in garlic, maize lethal necrosis, yellow mosaic virus in papaya, ginger bacterial leaf wilt, and fruit spot of citrus. All these diseases have either been introduced into Ethiopia or have the potential to be introduced, he said.

CIMMYT pathologist Monica Mezzalama conducted an introductory training course on seedborne diseases of wheat, including detection methods, diagnosis, epidemiology, and management of fungi, bacteria, and viruses. She coupled descriptions with hands-on practice observing fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases of wheat in quarantine fields; leaf sampling and sample preparation; and laboratory work on isolation techniques (leaf and seed). She also covered MLN, the major threat to maize production in recent years.

Mohammed Dawd, Head of quarantine at EIAR, and Bekele Kassa, plant pathologist at Holetta Agricultural Research Center, offered insights and conducted training on pests and quarantine diseases in Ethiopia.

Participants raised many concerns related to the skills gap that hinders proper handling of quarantine services, limited training opportunities, and the lack of guidance from senior scientists and management. They emphasized the importance of keeping up expertise on threats and risks posed by quarantine pests and concluded that current weak quarantine enforcement in Ethiopia should be bolstered by strictly implementing rules and regulations to prevent the introduction of unauthorized and uncertified germplasm.

Winners of the 2015 World Food Prize announced

Written by on October 28, 2015. Posted in News.

Based on information from the Sustainable Intensification Program Science Dissemination Team

Photo: World Food Prize winner Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. Photo courtesy of worldfoodprize.

“It is difficult to express in words how honored and deeply touched I am by this recognition,” said Sir Fazle Hasan Abed upon receiving the 2015 World Food Prize award on 16 October in Des Moines, Iowa. “The real heroes in our story are the poor themselves and, in particular, women struggling with poverty who overcome enormous challenges each day of their lives. Through our work across the world we have learnt that countries and cultures vary, but the realities, struggles, aspirations and dreams of poor and marginalized people are remarkably similar.”

Originally from Bangladesh, Abad is founder and chairperson of BRAC, and the prize was awarded to him because of his outstanding contributions to improving global food production and distribution for the benefit of the poorest of the poor. During the ceremony, which was held in the state capitol, Abad thanked everyone and expressed how honored he felt by the prize, but noted that he should not be recognized by the prize, but everyone who worked for the BRAC organization over the past 43 years, because it was through their efforts that new pathways were found for keeping millions of people in Bangladesh and other countries in Africa and Asia out of poverty.

Another award winner was Eric B. Pohlman, who was selected to receive the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application 2015, which was won by Dr. Bram Govaerts in 2014. Pohlman, who is the Director of the One Acre Fund, was recognized for the work he has done through the Fund, by applying its extension model in Rwanda, where it has helped train more than 1,000 extension workers who have supported more than 130,000 farm families.

This event also included other activities such as discussion panels that sought to find solutions to the problems of climate change and food security. Conservation agriculture, precision agriculture, and climate-smart technologies were some of the alternatives they discussed.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram was the recipient of the World Food Prize 2014.

WPEP’s 2015 Annual Planning Meeting

Written by on October 28, 2015. Posted in News.

WPEPs Annual Planning Meeting-3The Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (WPEP), funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), held its annual wheat planning meeting organized by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and CIMMYT on 8-10 September 2015 in Islamabad.

WPEP aims to improve wheat productivity in Pakistan through rust surveillance, breeding, pre-breeding, seed multiplication, agronomy, and capacity building. The meeting highlighted the progress of research institutes across the country during 2014-15, the production challenges they face, and the way forward to improve wheat productivity.

Acknowledging the efforts of WPEP during the inaugural session, Sikander Hayat Khan Bosan, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, said that Pakistani farmers have been able to double their wheat yields during the past few years. The USDA, international experts, PARC, and CIMMYT have brought a new development paradigm to Pakistan’s agricultural sector in the form of the WPEP.

PARC Chairman Iftikhar Ahmad commended the efforts of researchers to successfully combat the wheat rust diseases. He also emphasized that policies should be more farmer-friendly so that farmers could make the most of their hard work.

Briefing participants on WPEP’s successes, David Marshall, USDA/ARS-Plant Science Research Unit, mentioned its research activities, inter-institutional collaboration, development of greenhouse and rust inoculation facilities, laboratories, and agricultural machinery. He added that the Karnal bunt (KB) problem in wheat is spreading in Pakistan and hindering seed exports. If, for several years, collaborating institutions take actions such as treating seed with fungicides, breeding KB resistant varieties, and providing KB-free seeds, this would greatly decrease the inoculum load and help control the disease.

David Williams, Agricultural Counselor, U.S. Embassy, acknowledged the efforts of CIMMYT, PARC, and all the national organizations involved in improving wheat productivity.

CIMMYT Country Representative Imtiaz Muhammad summarized WPEP’s achievements over the past five years and the support it has provided to improve wheat production. He updated the participants on the rust races that have been identified, including 4 stem rust, 28 yellow rust, and 14 leaf rust races. He assured them that CIMMYT will continue to work towards enhancing wheat production in Pakistan in close partnership with national and international partners.

WPEPs-Annual-Planning-Meeting-2 — Participants in WPEP’s 2015 annual planning meeting. Photo: PARC.

Farmer representatives from across Pakistan attended the meeting and described the challenges they face, mainly, purchasing quality seed at an affordable price and being able to market their agricultural products. Participants expressed their appreciation for the support of USDA, PARC, and CIMMYT in enhancing wheat production.

CIMMYT empowers a new generation of maize breeders in Zambia

Written by on October 28, 2015. Posted in News.

Photo: Participants in the maize breeding course in Zambia. Photo: Cosmos Magorokosho/CIMMYT.

CIMMYT recently conducted an intensive three-week training course in Zambia for 38 young maize breeders–including 12 women–to provide them the knowledge and skills needed to apply modern maize breeding methods in their agricultural research and development programs. Participants from national programs and private seed companies from 12 African countries and Pakistan attended the course.

Moses Mwale of the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) officially opened the course, and said the training was critical as agriculture contributes over 40% of Zambia’s gross domestic product and provides 70% of all employment in Africa; up to 80% of the African population lives in rural areas and is heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

According to Mwale, “Despite its immense potential, maize has underperformed in Africa in recent years. The major cause is lack of investment, reliance on rainfed agriculture, low usage of improved seed, and the lack of adequate agricultural research and development, resulting in low production, productivity, and high transaction costs in agribusiness ventures.”

For the first time, a significant part of the course was devoted to the subjects of crop management and gender mainstreaming in maize research and development.

CIMMYT agronomist Isaiah Nyagumbo presented the crop management practices recommended to boost yields, productivity, and income, and to conserve natural resources. He emphasized that investments in maize breeding pay off when crop management on farm is improved. Nyagumbo also demonstrated new land preparation equipment recommended for use with conservation agriculture, including jab planters, dibble sticks, Li seeder or planting hoe, and animal traction rippers.

Vongai Kandiwa, CIMMYT gender specialist, spoke about “Leveraging Gender Awareness in Maize Breeding and Seed Deployment.” Revealing existing evidence of gender gaps in technology awareness and adoption, she highlighted the importance of developing maize technologies that meet the needs of both men and women farmers. Kandiwa also shared insights on gender-responsive approaches for conducting on-farm trials and building awareness, especially of newly released varieties.

During the training course, CIMMYT physiologist Jill Cairns briefed participants on preparing and making effective presentations––a challenge for both distinguished and new scientists.

Several scientists highlighted recent developments in maize improvement such as the use in maize breeding of doubled haploids, molecular tools, transgenics, and precision phenotyping. Key themes included advanced phenotyping by CIMMYT physiologist Zaman Mainasarra, who demonstrated the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for digital imaging and fast, cost-effective, and accurate phenotyping data collection.

Other subjects included theoretical conventional breeding, breeding for abiotic stress in line with climate change, breeding for biotic stresses with emphasis on preventing the spread of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease, and breeding for improved nutritional quality (quality protein maize and pro-vitamin A maize). Max Mbunji of HarvestPlus gave a presentation on Zambia’s progress on developing and delivering pro-vitamin A maize over the past seven years.

Variety release and registration, seed production, and seed business management in Africa were also featured during the course. Trainees learned how to scale up breeder seed to certified seed, maintain genetic purity and quality, and support upcoming seed companies, while complying with existing seed legislation, policies, and procedures in different countries.

Participants went on a field trip to HarvestPlus, where they learned more about pro-vitamin A analysis. They also visited ZARI’s Nanga Research Station to observe drought screening and seed production activities conducted by Zambia’s national maize breeding program.

At the end of the course, one of the participants, Annah Takombwa, acting technical affairs manager at Zimbabwe’s National Biotechnology Authority, said, “Many thanks for affording me the opportunity to take part in GMP’s New Maize Breeders Training. It was a great honor and privilege. I am already applying the skills and knowledge gained in my day-to-day activities.”

CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) maize breeders Cosmos Magorokosho, Stephen Mugo, and Abebe Menkir of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized and coordinated the course. Participants were sponsored through various GMP projects, including Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scale-up, the Doubled Haploids project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa, Improved Maize for African Soils, USAID Heat project, MLN project, HarvestPlus, and private seed companies ZAMSEED and SEECDCO.

Big data for development research

Written by on October 27, 2015. Posted in Blogs.

Both private and public sector research organizations must adopt data management strategies that keep up with the advent of big data if we hope to effectively and accurately conduct research. CIMMYT and many other donor-dependent research organizations operate in fund declining environments, and need to make the most of available resources. Data management strategies based on the data lake concept are essential for improved research analysis and greater impact.

We create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily–so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: sensors used to gather climate information, drones taking images of breeding trials, posts on social media sites, cell phone GPS signals, and more, along with traditional data sources such as surveys and field trial records. This data is big data, data characterized by volume, velocity, and variety.

Twentieth century data management strategies focused on ensuring data was made available in standard formats and structures in databases and/or data warehouses–a combination of many different databases across an entire enterprise. The major drawback of the data warehouse concept is the perception that it is too much trouble to put the data into the storage system with too little direct benefit, acting as a disincentive to corporate-level data repositories. The result is that within many organizations, including CIMMYT, not all data is accessible.

Today’s technology and processing tools, such as cloud computing and open-source software (for example, R and Hadoop), have enabled us to harness big data to answer questions that were previously out of reach. However, with this opportunity comes the challenge of developing alternatives to traditional database systems–big data is too big, too fast, or doesn’t fit the old structures.

One alternative storage and retrieval system that can handle big data is the data lake. A data lake is a store-everything approach to big data, and a massive, easily accessible, centralized repository of large volumes of structured and unstructured data.

Advocates of the data lake concept believe any and all data can be captured and stored in a data lake. It allows for more questions and better answers thanks to new IT technologies and ensures flexibility and agility.However, without metadata–data that describes the data we are collecting–and a mechanism to maintain it, data lakes can become data swamps where data is murky, unnavigable, has unknown origins, and is ultimately unreliable. Every subsequent use of data means scientists and researchers start from scratch. Metadata also allows extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes to be developed that retrieve data from operational systems and process it for further analysis.

Metadata and well-defined ETL procedures are essential for a successful data lake. A data lake strategy with metadata and ETL procedures as its cornerstone is essential to maximize data use, re-use and to conduct accurate and impactful analyses.

DG Martin Kropff’s 100 day perspective

Written by on October 26, 2015. Posted in Features.

OneCIMMYT Martin Kropff, CIMMYT Director General, emphasized CIMMYT’s achievements and new ways forward during a talk commemorating his first 100 days as DG, at CIMMYT headquarters in El Batбn, Mexico, on 20 October 2015.

After meeting 250 staff, partners and Board of Trustee members from around the world at Science Week 2015 and observing the organization in Mexico and several offices abroad, Kropff began initiating processes to frame a new strategy.

Globally, US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 5.7 billion are attributed annually to CGIAR wheat improvement. Thanks to CIMMYT support, 52,000 tons of drought tolerant maize seed were released in Africa in 2014. Kropff witnessed the work behind these impacts directly through his first 100 days of travel in China, India and Pakistan. In addition, he witnessed CIMMYT’s partnership with Australia at the International Wheat Conference and MasAgro’s success in collaborating with seed companies and farmers throughout Mexico.

“Institutional changes and strengthening internal processes will be key to realizing the success of our mission and fundraising goals to foster a healthy organizational culture,” Kropff stated during the talk.

Kropff emphasized that cuts in funding to CGIAR Research Programs are affecting all centers. “We must be more innovative, efficient, and donor-savvy than ever before,” he said. “The attention to food production that came after the 2008 food price crisis has shifted now to climate change, nutrition, and the refugee crisis. In response, a fundraising strategy for large initiatives will be implemented, targeting new donors and ways to reach them.

Kropff has been working with a team and management committee on a new strategy that will soon be finalized. “One CIMMYT’s” unifying vision and mission will emphasize scientific excellence, capacity building, and impact through partnerships. “In addition to getting better varieties to farmers faster,” Kropff said, “we are proposing the creation of a ‘CIMMYT Academy’ to consolidate training and capacity-building and bring in added research contributions from Ph.D. students of universities worldwide.”

He assured staff that CIMMYT would continue to adapt and foster innovative thinking to realize its vision of research-for-development on maize and wheat agrifood systems, thereby contributing to a world with less poverty, healthier and more prosperous people, more resilient ecosystems, and fewer global food crises.

Yield gap analysis key to meeting future crop demand

Written by on October 23, 2015. Posted in Blogs. 57 Comments on Yield gap analysis key to meeting future crop demand

Major crop yields are currently not increasing fast enough to meet demand on existing farmland. Ensuring food security while protecting rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands depends on achieving the highest possible yields with limited land, if we hope to feed a population of more than 9 billion people by 2050.

Crop productivity varies across the globe, depending on environment, inputs, and practices (Sadras et al., 2015). Calculating an area’s yield gap––the difference between irrigated or rainfed crops and actual yields––will allow us to estimate future yield increase and productivity gaps of crops and cropping systems.

The Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) seeks to provide the best available estimates of yield gaps globally using current average farm yields and yield potential (Yp) for irrigated environments, or water-limited yield potential (Yw) for rainfed environments (Van Ittersum et al., 2013). GYGA has calculated yield gaps for major food crops in participating countries across agroecological zones.

CIMMYT delegation meets with Turkey’s Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock

Written by on October 23, 2015. Posted in News.

Minister Kutbeddin Arzu presenting a traditional ceramic plate symbolizing wheat and fertility to CIMMYT DG Martin Kropff. Photo: Alexey Morgunov

In October CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, BOT Chair John Snape, GWP Director Hans-Joachim Braun, and IWWIP Head Alex Morgunov were received by Minister Kutbeddin Arzu, who was accompanied by Masum Burak, Director General of Turkey’s General Directorate of Policy and Agricultural Research.

Turkey-CIMMYT bilateral relations hark back to the 1980s, with the establishment of the cooperative winter wheat program, which has been highly successful in the areas of germplasm development, research, and variety release. The Cooperative Soil-Borne Pathogen program established in the early 2000s produced practical outcomes and developed into a recognized leader in its field. Turkey, as host country and partner, contributed substantially to its success. The results of this bilateral cooperation were discussed during the meeting with Minister Arzu.

Both Turkey and CIMMYT are driven by food security concerns and both contribute to enhancing crop production through the application of new technologies. There is great potential for future collaboration targeting maize germplasm development, conservation agriculture, and socioeconomic research. Minister Arzu and the CIMMYT delegation agreed to develop the vision and concepts that will define their future collaboration.

WPEP enhances the capacity of national researchers and ensures quality wheat seed production in Pakistan

Written by on October 23, 2015. Posted in News.

Imtiaz Muhammad addresses the opening session. Photo: CIMMYT-Pakistan.

The Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (WPEP) held a training course on national seed technology, organized by CIMMYT in partnership with Pakistan’s Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD), on 10-12 September 2015 in Islamabad.

During the opening session, CIMMYT Country Representative Imtiaz Muhammad informed the participants on the WPEP’s mandate for accelerated wheat seed multiplication of rust resistant varieties including stem rust resistant varieties with a focus on Ug99, its constraints, and early generation seed multiplication of newly released varieties.

The training covered variety maintenance including head rows, progeny rows, progeny blocks, breeder seed production, variety registration, seed multiplication of pre-basic, basic, and certified seed, plant breeders’ rights, seed enterprises and up-scaling of varieties resistant to Ug99 and other rusts.

Training participants. Photo: CIMMYT-Pakistan.

The course was attended by 60 participants including seed certification officers, seed analysts, and seed growers, as well as representatives of public and private seed companies, agriculture training institutes, the agriculture extension department, and research institutes. Also in attendance were women seed analysts from the seed regulatory department.

Accelerated seed multiplication of pre-release varieties is needed to produce seeds of varieties resistant to Ug99 and other rusts and deliver them to the farming community. WPEP facilitates the screening of wheat breeding lines for both seedling and adult plant resistance to Ug99. This training will enable the participants to better assist wheat breeders during variety maintenance activities and accelerated pre-basic seed multiplication and will provide a sound base for multiplying basic and certified seed. Participants also held extensive discussions on quality seed production, improved agronomic practices, seed diseases, seed storage, and seed handling during transport.

CIMMYT-WPEP has already provided pre-basic and basic seed to public seed corporations, private seed companies, and farmers throughout the country in order to have large quantities of quality seed available, with the expectation that seed certification will be arranged locally. This training will facilitate testing of crop and seed purity, which is required for crop and seed certification.

At the closing, Seerat Asghar, Federal Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, and FSC&RD Director General Shakeel Ahmad Khan acknowledged CIMMYT’s continuous contributions and its cooperation in holding such a valuable training course in Pakistan. These types of courses create awareness of variety maintenance and early generation seed multiplication, which are essential for achieving sound certified seed production in Pakistan.

CIMMYT Annual Report 2014 ‘Turning research into impact’ now available online

Written by on October 21, 2015. Posted in News.

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CIMMYT Annual Report 2014 ‘Turning research into impact’ now available online
Looking to the future for maize and wheat, projections hold that farmers will need to grow at least 60 percent more grain to feed a planet of 9 billion-plus people by 2050. They must do so using the same or less land, confronting more extreme and erratic rainfall and temperatures, and with more efficient use of increasingly scarce inputs like water and fertilizer.

As the stories in this report illustrate, only by all of us working together – international centers, national research and extension systems, advanced research institutes, governments, non-government organizations, private companies, funders, farmers, and many other actors – can we generate and make available the technologies needed by farmers to help shape a more food-secure, prosperous, and environmentally sound future for humanity.

Drought-tolerant maize to the rescue as hunger threatens 1.5 million in Zimbabwe

Written by on October 21, 2015. Posted in Features.

Children in a drought-stricken maize field in Gwanda District, southeast of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. Drought is the most frequently occurring natural hazard in Zimbabwe, made worse by the clear trend, since 1980,of decline in rainfall that the country has received each year. Photo: Desmond Kwande/Practical Action.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations, nearly 1.5 million (16 percent) of Zimbabwe’s 14 million people are feared to go hungry at the height of the 2015–16 lean season – a 164 percent increase on the previous year (Hunger hits 1.5 million in Zimbabwe as maize production halves-WFP). This is due to a dramatic decrease in maize production. The lean season is the period after harvest when food stocks run low.

Maize is Zimbabwe’s staple. At 742,000 tonnes, production has dropped by 53 percent compared to the 2014–15 season, according to the Southern African Development Community, of which Zimbabwe is a member.

“The situation in Zimbabwe is more extreme than most countries in the region but it is not unique,” WFP spokesperson David Orr told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. An estimated 27 million people in the region are food-insecure as a result of drought and inappropriate farming practices.

Mary Gunge, 45, and her family of six, live in drought-prone Chivi District, Masvingo Province. For the past five years, life has been difficult for Gunge and other smallholder farmers in this harsh, semi-arid environment. “There are no good rains to talk about anymore,” Gunge told visiting journalists recently. The rains in her area were too little, too late. Smallholders need urgent food aid to carry them to the next harvest in May and June next year.

Parts of Zimbabwe are experiencing unpredictable weather. Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Services says the country is experiencing more hot days and fewer cold days.

“We’re no longer sure when to start preparing the land for planting or when to start planting. It’s pretty much gambling with nature,” says Gunge.

Climate change will have a significant impact on southern Africa’s fragile food security, environmental experts have warned. It already costs southern Africa five to 10 percent of its gross domestic product. This implies a loss of between USD 10 and 21 billion annually in a region where nearly half the population is living on less than one dollar a day.

showcasing various maize varieties. CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela at this year’s CIMMYT field day. Partners, including the Government of Zimbabwe, witnessed CIMMYT’s work in its efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition in southern Africa. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — Showcasing various maize varieties. CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela at this year’s CIMMYT field day. Partners, including the Government of Zimbabwe, witnessed CIMMYT’s work in its efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition in southern Africa. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

To address this all-too-familiar situation, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)’s southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT–SARO) and its partners are working to increase the productivity of maize-based farming systems to ensure food and nutritional security, increase household incomes and reduce poverty.

“Using conventional breeding, CIMMYT and partners have produced new varieties which yield 20 to 30 percent more than currently available local varieties under drought and low soil nitrogen,” says Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT–SARO Representative. New maize varieties now account for 26 percent of maize hybrids grown in Zimbabwe.

By the end of this year, CIMMYT will establish a modern quarantine facility (Zimbabwe and CIMMYT to establish Maize Lethal Necrosis Quarantine Facility) to safely import maize breeding materials to southern Africa, and to enable local institutions to proactively breed for resistance against Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease.

More efficient use of the limited resources that smallholder farmers have is crucial for increasing food security. CIMMYT’s project on Sustainable Intensification of Maize–Legume Based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) focuses on increasing food production from existing farmland while minimizing pressure on the environment.

SIMLESA has successfully used the principles of conservation agriculture in Malawi and Mozambique.

“Making use of the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, conservation agriculture yields better when compared to conventional agricultural practices after two to five cropping seasons,” said Mekuria, who is also the SIMLESA Project Leader.

Trials in farmers’ fields in Malawi increased yields by 20 to 60 percent. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields increased by almost 60 percent using animal traction conservation agriculture. CIMMYT is also providing support to seed companies, including capacity building for technical and entrepreneurial skills, varietal release and registration, seed multiplication and commercialization.

Peter Setimela, CIMMYT–SARO Senior Seed System Specialist, says, “Developing drought-tolerant maize will increasingly become more critical especially now when most countries in the region continue to be affected by drought.”

In the past two years, 28 varieties have been released in southern Africa with greater tolerance to the main stresses in the region. These new varieties are expected to benefit almost 12 million people, helping to enhance food security, increase livelihoods and reduce poverty.

Global conference underscores complex socio-economic role of wheat

Written by on October 20, 2015. Posted in News.

SYDNEY, Australia, October 9 (CIMMYT) – A recent gathering of more than 600 international scientists highlighted the complexity of wheat as a crop and emphasized the key role wheat research plays in ensuring global food security now and in the future.

Specialist scientists and other members of the global wheat community attended two back-to-back wheat symposiums stretching over nine days from September 17 to 25 in Sydney, Australia. The first, a workshop hosted by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), focused on Ug99 wheat rust disease. At the second, the five-day International Wheat Conference, which is held every five years, scientists dissected topics ranging from the intricate inner workings of the wheat genome to nutritional misrepresentations of wheat in the popular media.

Hans Braun, head of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR Wheat Research Program, delivered a keynote presentation focused on new research, which shows that about 70 percent of spring bread and durum wheat varieties released in developing countries over the 20-year period between 1994 and 2014 were bred or are derived from wheat lines developed by scientists working for the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers. On a global basis, more than 60 percent of the released varieties are related to CIMMYT or International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) germplasm.

Benefits of CGIAR wheat improvement research, conducted mainly by CIMMYT and ICARDA, range from $2.8 billion to $3.8 billion a year, he said, highlighting the economic benefits of international collaboration in wheat improvement research.

“Investment in agricultural research pays a huge dividend,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, during a keynote address. “Investment in public research is a ‘triple win,’ leading to more food and income for the rural poor, lower prices for the urban poor, and extra stability and income for farmers in developed donor countries such as Australia, where gains are tens of millions a year.”

Bram Govaerts, who heads sustainable intensification efforts for CIMMYT in Latin America and leads the MasAgro project, demonstrated how minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop rotation can simultaneously boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. Under MasAgro, some 400,000 hectares have been planted using improved technologies and agronomic practices; more than 200,000 producers are involved, of which 21 percent are women.

Sanjaya Rajaram, former CIMMYT wheat program director and 2014 World Food Prize laureate, described how wheat production must increase from the current 700 million metric tons a year to 1 billion metric tons a year by 2050 in order to keep up with population growth. Wheat currently provides 20 percent of calories and 20 percent of protein in the global human diet, he said, adding that the world’s food supply also faces the threat of climate-change related global warming.

“To date, scientists have been unable to sufficiently increase yields to meet demand through hybridization,” Rajaram said. “It’s time to invest in biotechnology to ensure yields can provide nourishment for an ever-hungrier planet. Simultaneously, we must maintain balance in the food chain and restore depleted carbon in the soil. Such concerns as disease resilience, seed diversity, water management and micronutrient imbalance must also be tackled.”

Ethiopia-based CIMMYT scientist David Hodson provided a retrospective on 10 years of Ug99 stem rust surveillance, while Kenya-based CIMMYT scientist Sridhar Bhavani provided an overview of progress made in breeding durable adult plant resistance to rust diseases and combining rust resistance in high yielding backgrounds over the past decade.

The Ug99 virulent disease threatens food security as it creeps steadily from its origin in Uganda towards the breadbasket regions of Asia.

“Technology can help us fight Ug99 stem rust, but we’re always going to need good field pathologists and researchers on the ground,” said Hodson, who also runs the Rust Tracker website.

Despite efforts to develop wheat that is resistant to damaging stem, stripe, and leaf rusts, these diseases, which have existed for 10,000 years, will continue to thwart scientists, said Philip Pardey, a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, adding that the annual global investment in wheat rust research should be $108 million a year in perpetuity.

Pardey determined in a recent study that global losses from all three rusts average at least 15.04 tons a year, equivalent to an average annual loss of about $2.9 billion.

Jessica Rutkoski, a quantitative geneticist who works as an adjunct associate scientist at CIMMYT and an assistant professor at Cornell University, discussed the implications of new technologies for more durable resistance to rust.

Wheat physiology was also under discussion, with CIMMYT physiologists Matthew Reynolds and Gemma Molero delivering presentations on phenotyping, pre-breeding strategies, genetic gains, and spike photosynthesis. Their work also involves the use of ancient landraces, which may hold the secret to creating wheat resilient to global warming caused by climate change.

CIMMYT’s Alexey Morgunov demonstrated how a number of ancient landrace genotypes grown by farmers in Turkey have shown signs that they are resistant to abiotic and biotic stresses, which could help in the development of heat and disease resistant wheat varieties.

CIMMYT’s Zhonghu He discussed progress on wheat production and genetic improvement in China, while Sukhwinder Singh described his work characterizing gene bank biodiversity and mobilizing useful genetic variation – pre-breeding – into elite breeding lines. Bhoja Basnet covered hybrid wheat breeding at CIMMYT.

A session on nutrition and wheat targeted some of the myths swirling around wheat and gluten. CIMMYT’s Velu Govindan gave an update on his research into breeding and delivering biofortified high zinc wheat varieties to farmers. Zinc deficiency limits childhood growth and decreases resistance to infections.

Kropff also delivered a keynote presentation on wheat and the role of gender in the developing world, which preceded the BGRI Women in Triticum Awards, presented by Jeanie Borlaug Laube, daughter of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate and CIMMYT wheat breeder Norman Borlaug.

Kropff explained that each component of the strategy for research into wheat farming systems at CIMMYT includes a gender dimension, whether it is focused on improving the evidence base, responding to the fact that both women and men can be end users and beneficiaries of new seeds and other technologies, or ensuring that gender is considered part of capacity-building efforts.

Bekele Abeyo, CIMMYT wheat breeder and pathologist for sub-Saharan Africa, won a $100 prize in the BGRI poster competition for his poster explaining the performance of CIMMYT-derived wheat varieties in Ethiopia.

A team of Kenyan scientists were recognized for their contribution to the protection of the global wheat supply from Ug99 stem rust disease. Plant pathologist Ruth Wanyera and wheat breeders Godwin Macharia and Peter Njau of the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization received the 2015 BGRI Gene Stewardship Award.

CIMMYT wheat breeder Ravi Singh wins China’s Friendship Award

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Gains in China’s agricultural productivity over the past 30 years are due in large measure to smallholder farmers who have readily adopted innovative farming practices introduced by scientists, said a top wheat breeder during a speech at the country’s annual Friendship Awards.

Ravi Singh, a chief wheat breeder and distinguished scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was among 50 foreigners from 21 countries working in China, who received the prestigious award in Beijing last month in recognition of their contributions to China’s development.

“China is now the largest wheat producer in the world and continues to increase production and productivity while reducing the amount of land sown with wheat by about 20 percent – it’s a remarkable success story,” Singh said.

“I commend and salute the Chinese government for rigorously supporting agricultural research and development, and more importantly farmers, with transformative policies that were crucial to achieve goals.”

Singh’s key contributions to China’s agricultural development over the past 30 years involve sharing improved germplasm, knowledge about rust-disease resistance genetics and leading various types of training, including mentoring post-doctoral Ph.D. graduates as part of an agreement between CIMMYT and the Chinese government.

The Friendship Award, first established to recognize experts from the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s, abolished in the 1960s during the Cold War and reintroduced in the 1990s, is China’s highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress. Since its reinstatement, 1,449 Friendship Awards have been conferred, according to the Xinhua news agency.

CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China's Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout — CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China’s Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout

“The new generation of well-trained Chinese scientists with access to modern laboratories and field facilities are well equipped to find innovative solutions to the challenge of feeding an ever-increasing global population,” Singh said, referring to U.N. projections that the current population of 7.3 billion will increase 33 percent to 9.7 billion by 2050.

“I feel deeply grateful and satisfied with the remarkable progress China has made in enhancing food productivity and incomes of millions of women and men small-scale farmers who embraced innovations and responded to the crucial responsibility of enhancing food production,” he added.

Currently, the country consumes almost 117 million tons of wheat a year and produces about 130 million tons of wheat a year, according to the Wheat Atlas. China, home to 1.4 billion people, is the most populated country in the world and represents 19 percent of the world’s population, the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports.

Several CIMMYT scientists have received the China Friendship Award, including the 2014 World Food Prize laureate Sanjaya Rajaram, with whom Singh initiated his career at CIMMYT.

Additionally, Hans Braun, head of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, noted agronomist Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT’s director general from 2008 to 2015, and scientists Surindar Vasal, Jose Luis Araus and Ken Sayre have been honored with the Friendship Award in previous years. Vasal was jointly awarded the World Food Prize with Eva Villegas in 2000.

“The Chinese government and people will never forget the positive contribution that foreign experts have made to China’s development and progress,” said the country’s Vice Premier Ma Kai at the 2015 Friendship Award ceremony.

Singh has also received three provincial friendship awards from China.

Global yield gaps for maize and wheat

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Global-Yield-Gaps-for-Maize-and-Wheat1 A yield gap refers to the difference between how much food a farm actually produces and how much food it would be capable of producing if appropriate practices, inputs, technologies and knowledge were applied.

The Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas seeks to provide the best available estimate of the world’s exploitable yield gap to better inform major crop-producing countries in creating solutions and investing in technologies to close these gaps.

Access atlas data here or click the poster to the right to view relative yield gaps for maize and wheat globally.

CSISA wheat breeders plan for future gains in South Asia

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Participants from four south Asian countries attended CSISA’s annual review meeting at Karnal, India. Photo: Bal Kishan Bhonsle

The growing interest of national agriculture research system (NARS) of South Asia in genetic gains and seed dissemination work in Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) objective 4 (wheat breeding), 50 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal assembled at Karnal, India on September 2-3, 2015 for the 7th Wheat Breeding Review Meeting of this project. The meeting was organized by CIMMYT’s Kathmandu office with support from CIMMYT-Delhi/Karnal office and led by Dr. Arun Joshi. Dr. Ravish Chatrath, IIWBR provided strong support as local organizer.

The other CIMMYT participants were Etienne Duveiller, Uttam Kumar and Alistair Pask. Participants included representatives of: the Wheat Research Centre of Bangladesh (Dinajpur); Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Ghazipur; India’s Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal and Shimla; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and Indore; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Uttarbanga Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur and Powarkheda; Govind Vallabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, Mohanpur, Distt. Nadia, W. Bengal; Nepal’s National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahwa; Nepal Agricultural Research Institute (NARI); Khumaltar of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Renewable Natural Resources (RNR), Research and Development Centre (RDC), Bajo, Bhutan.

The CSISA meeting began with remarks by the chief guest, Dr. Indu Sharma, Director, IIWBR, Karnal along with Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Mondal, Director General, BARI; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT, Delhi and Arun Joshi, CIMMYT, Kathmandu. Within a wider framework of discussing issues concerning wheat improvement, the CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2014-15 cycle, and established work plans for the coming crop cycle. Arun Joshi presented a summary of the achievements in wheat breeding over last 6 years and highlighted the impressive results obtained in varietal release, seed dissemination and impact in farmer fields. Dr. Etienne informed he challenges of climate change and the ways our program should be shaped to handle these issues. Dr. Mondal expressed his happiness that CSISA wheat breeding has been very successful in contributing to enhancement of wheat production and producitity in Bangladesh and other countries through a vigourous wheat breeding and seed dissemination with strong linkage with national centres.

Dr. Indu Sharma highlighted the significance of collaborative research with a regional perspective and told the audience about the successes being achieved by CSISA in wheat research especially in handling rust resistance and heat tolerance in south Asia. She expressed his appreciation for new research efforts under CSISA and said that “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security and livelihood of the farmers.” She also said that seeing new challenges there is much more need for such collaborative research efforts for the economic prosperity and good health of agriculture sector in south Asia.

Four review sessions were conducted, chaired by NARS colleagues Dr. Indu Sharma, Dr. Mondal, Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh and Dr. S.P. Khatiwada. Three sessions were used to present review reports and work plans from the 10 research centers, while two other sessions discussed progress in physiology, spot blotch and strengthening linkage of wheat breeding with seed dissemination and capacity building in South Asia. A major discussion was held to devise strategies to strengthen research to handle future threats to wheat such as yellow rust, early and late heat stress, water scarcity and to enable environment for fast track release of varieties so that new seed can reach to farmers as soon as possible.

Arun Joshi also highlighted major achievements in CSISA wheat breeding through very able collaboration by national centres in South Asia. He emphasized that breeding for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance gained momentum through CSISA by developing varieties with faster grain filling and flexibility to adapt to a range of sowing dates. Not only these new varieties were developed, improved networking with public and private sector seed hubs enabled fast track inclusion of these varieties in seed dissemination chain. The increase germplasm flow from CIMMYT, Mexico enriched Indian gene bank with a large reservoir of diverse set of genotypes for current and future used. The continued inclusion of resistance to Ug99 and other rusts in wheat lines kept diseases at bay and safeguarded farmers. There is increased use of physiological tools for heat and drought tolerance and stronger links were established between breeders, seed producers and farmers. Another significant achievement was strengthened capacity building in the region.

A talk on wheat research as Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) was delivered by Uttam Kumar, CIMMYT. Likewise progress on CRP project on spot blotch was presented by Shree Pandey and Ramesh Chand, India. A talk on wheat breeding at Bhutan was presented by Sangay Tshewang. He was happy to inform that through this networking and collaboration with CIMMYT, Bhutan was able to release three new wheat varieties after a gap of 20 years.

On the 2nd day, a visit to IIWBR was organized. Dr. Indu Sharma and her team of scientists led by Dr. Ravish Chatrath facilitated this visit. The participants were taken to different laboratories and current research activities were explained. The participants from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan expressed desire for increased exchange visits among research institutions of countries in south Asia.

The review meeting enabled CSISA wheat researchers to measure their achievements compared to the challenges being encountered and enabled an environment to discuss future strategies to augment research activities better tuned to future targets in the region. The participants were of the view that strong linkage and coordination between the national research program, the CIMMYT team and other stakeholders especially those in seed business is needed to achieve comprehensive progress towards increasing food availability and better livelihood of masses.