Blogs – Page 192

Women driving changes in agriculture

Written by on March 8, 2013. Posted in Features.

Marianne Bänziger is the Deputy Director General for Research and Partnerships for CIMMYT.

Marianne started her career with CIMMYT as a post-doctoral fellow in 1994 working in Maize Physiology to develop varieties tolerant to low soil fertility and drought. She was based at the CIMMYT office in Zimbabwe during 1996-2004, after which she was appointed Director of the Maize Program, based in Nairobi. In 2009 Marianne became the DDG-Research. In that capacity, she led the development of the CGIAR research programs for maize and wheat.

Why did you choose agriculture?

I chose agriculture because it’s a science that impacts people’s lives. It’s as simple as that. I was also attracted to that it builds up on a wide range of disciplines – biology, chemistry, math, socioeconomics.

Your maize breeding work in Eastern and Southern Africa had, and still has, an enormous impact. Do you think that as a woman you gave a specific gender perspective to your research?

I lived in Africa for almost 15 years and it was impossible to ignore the people — the families — who struggled to improve their livelihoods. I saw them every day. We interacted frequently with both men and women farmers. In the environments we worked, the concern of the women farmers was more on avenues that improved household food security while the men were more concerned about selling their crops and generating income. Of course, families need both: Enough food to eat and income to pay for education fees, health costs, and things like farm inputs.

Another very obvious learning was that Africa has many strong women who drive change across the continent. You find them among farmers, among professionals, and among researchers alike.

Did you work differently as a woman breeder?

There have been books written about differences in men and women “behavior” or “traits” – In my opinion, these are stereotypes and they often break down. Every person puts their imprint, their personality, on their work, for better or worse, whether with “male” and “female” stereo-typed traits.

Did you have rural women in mind when you were developing different varieties of maize?

Interacting with farmers in Africa, I tried to understand how they make decisions and how those decisions link with and meet up with real options in the value chain. For instance, there was a stronger preference for hybrids by male farmers while female farmers preferred OPVs (open-pollinated varieties, which allow farmers to save seeds). We created an integrated breeding program that offered both OPVs and hybrids. The first generation of successful products was OPVs, “women typed” products. However, the reason for them to become available early on had to do with the seed sector ability to scale them up more rapidly as compared drought tolerant hybrids, not whether they were “female” or “male” preferred. The lesson learned is that researchers can craft gender differentiated options, we however need to understand the value chain to ensure that those options indeed become available and accessible at farm level.

Why did women prefer OPVs?

It gave them a greater sense of security about their ability to feed their families. Because they could save seed from year-to-year they felt more in control of their lives. Men preferred hybrids because they had a higher yield which meant more money in the market.

Unfortunately, preferences too often get treated as an either/or issue. We involved schools in rural areas in executing on-farm trials. I remember one particular instance talking to the headmaster of a school located in a drought prone area. I learned that classes had only one schoolbook which they had to share and pass around more than 50 children. Except for two old benches everybody was sitting on the floor. I asked him if the children – under these circumstances – were able to get a quality education and go to secondary school later on. He said the greatest concern wasn’t the lack of benches or books but that the children came to school and fell asleep because they were hungry. They were hungry because they only got one meal a day.

That school was in a drought-prone area and it made me once again realize how real and prominent food insecurity was. So, if you are a mother in such an environment, clearly the first thing you are concerned about is feeding your family and have a sense of control that you can achieve that. Setting food security as a priority does not mean that the woman would not want to grow hybrids as her family becomes more food secure. She also wants income for books and school fees. She would like to see her children learning a profession and likely leave agriculture. We must understand that poverty and hunger are intertwined and do our best to address both.

What do you think are the priorities to empower rural women in regions where we work?

Last week, I was in India at a meeting with farmers – both men and women – and one of the women stood up and said, “We want to have the same access to information and opportunities as men have.”

In the past, women have been deprived of information, of access to credit, and of the same opportunities offered to men. Fortunately many organizations including governmental organization begin to put more proactive gender strategies in place. We can and must ensure that more women get access to empowering information and opportunities. In our case, we are right now engaging in a gender audit of our projects, looking for new avenues to empower women. This is not just about analyzing how women or men think, but asking ourselves how we can empower women through our interventions. We however also have to accept that certain, indeed many, interventions have benefits to men and women alike. So doing a gender audit isn’t about being able to tick off the box and say ‘we addressed the gender aspects of this project’. It is about enriching our understanding how interventions, people, society, value chains, opportunities connect and then choosing more effective interventions that improve the livelihoods of the poor.

What advice would you give to young women scientists?

Pursue your dreams and be what you would like to be. I’d offer that advice to everyone, independent of whether they are a woman or a man, tall or short, or one nationality or the other.

My research engages gender in multiple ways

Written by on March 7, 2013. Posted in Features.

Emma Gaalaas Mullaney is a researcher studying gender and agriculture. She has served as a Youth Representative to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Commission on the Status of Women since 2010.

What is your field of research?

I am currently pursuing a dual-PhD in Geography and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University. My dissertation centers on an ethnography of maize production in the eastern Central Highland region of Mexico. I lived in the region for over a year, conducting livelihood studies and oral histories with small-scale, commercially-oriented maize farmers in the Amecameca Valley, and with agricultural extension technicians and scientific researchers working in the nearby Texcoco Valley.

How does gender figure into your research?

My research engages gender in multiple ways. For example, I work closely with farming households and analyze the gendered divisions of labor and decision-making involved in agricultural production. I conducted the oral histories and participatory observation with both female and male members of a given family who are involved in different aspect of maize cultivation, use, and marketing. I also work with both female and male agricultural extension agents and scientists, examining commonalities and differences in their work experiences and practices. I am interested in how gender interacts with other forms of social difference to shape our work and our everyday lives.

What drew you to this work?

I was raised in the rural Midwest (United States), and my extended family has grown corn and soybeans in south-central Wisconsin for generations. The lived experiences of those who work in agriculture has always been a deep interest of mine. I have found that paying close attention to what’s going on with food producers – or with farmers who no longer produce food for human consumption, as is the case for corn growers in the United States – can yield important insight into the strengths and failings of our society. Over the years, as my interests in agriculture and social justice have taken me through many different spaces of formal education, policy negotiation, and scholarly debate, I often gain the most inspiration and understanding while hanging out in fields, in kitchens, and in street markets. Ultimately, my work as a researcher is guided by and accountable to what’s happening on the farm.

When you were gathering the oral histories did certain themes or consistencies emerge?

The oral histories offer rich detail into the livelihoods of different actors and the challenges they face in their daily work routines. As these narratives make abundantly clear, each of the farmers, extension agents, and researchers with whom I spoke is an expert in her or his field. Moreover, they all expressed a high degree of ingenuity and innovation in their work, though this creativity was not necessarily rewarded by their respective institutions. The oral histories also highlighted the gendered divisions of labor among these agricultural workers. Though both women and men worked in leading positions – whether as farmers and maize vendors, as directors of extension teams, or as heads of research departments – the women consistently faced greater risks and uncertainties in their job. In every case I encountered, women took primary responsibility for the household management and decision-making that fell outside of their official job (childcare, bills, etc), putting them in a more highly pressured and less predictable position than their male counterparts. Women were also more likely to find their innovative ideas and contributions dismissed by colleagues on a regular basis, and many described feeling consistently like an outsider in their own work environment.

When you were gathering the oral histories what surprised you?

I did not expect to find such dramatic differences in the level of authority and control that women had over their own work among farming households as compared to women working as extension agents or scientific researchers. Though strict gender roles are perhaps more obvious in the rural farming communities of the Amecameca Valley – where men take charge of the planting, harvesting, and other fieldwork and women handle much of the food preparation, seed selection, and selling of maize in regional street markets – women in these communities are the undisputed experts in the work that they do, which grants them a great deal of space for creative problem solving and risk management on behalf of their family and the local maize economy. In contrast, women working as agricultural technicians, engineers, and researchers are in an environment where gender equality is an explicit priority, but where the standard worker in their position is, and has historically been, male. These women described finding themselves competing for recognition in a setting that often undervalues their individual insights and capabilities.

Do you think there are misconceptions about the research you’ve chosen to pursue?

Well, judging by a common response to my academic affiliation, many people mistakenly assume that, since I come from a Women’s Studies Department, I must begin my research by looking around for women. In fact, I begin my research by asking how particular agricultural systems work, and who is empowered or excluded by these systems. Gender is a force that shapes the agricultural practices and opportunities of both women and men around the world, and it is therefore necessary that I am well trained in gender analysis in order to ask the questions that I do. Gender, interacting with other forms of social difference, dictates who does what kind of work, whether that work is recognized or valued, who has access to resources such as land and credit, and who is allowed to speak with authority on a given subject. Understanding how gender functions is therefore essential to understanding how agriculture is happening and how to improve it. This is true even, perhaps especially, when I walk onto a cornfield, or into an office or lab and encounter only men.

Generally speaking, what are the conclusions your research revealed?

Given that I am still in the process of analyzing data from my dissertation research, I have not yet finished drawing conclusions about maize production in the eastern Central Highlands and its implications for development and biodiversity conservation. At the same time, there are clear themes that have emerged over the course of my fieldwork and which resonate with existing interdisciplinary research. By far the most prominent are the interdependence of innovation and diversity, and their combined importance in agricultural production. Diversity, in terms of maize germplasm, cultivation strategies, and economic systems, is both a resource for and product of innovation in agricultural production, and is a primary source of resilience for small-scale farming households in the Amecameca Valley. A diverse set of perspectives, specialties, and lived experiences is also an obvious source of creativity and innovation among agricultural extension agents and scientific researchers. My research highlights that the strongest and most productive work environments are those that foster these forms of diversification.

What did you discover about gender and agriculture in Mexico?

The most important lessons that I learned about gender and agriculture, after over a year of fieldwork in Mexico’s Central Highlands, are for the most part not new discoveries at all. Decades and decades of extensive research has shown that gender is not merely one social factor among many, one that may or may not be relevant in a given situation. Rather, gender is a dominant social institution that is guaranteed to play a role in shaping agricultural outcomes, even though this process takes many different forms in different places. That Mexico, along with countries around the world, including the United States, currently has such a high degree of gender inequality has devastating consequences for those whose work is ignored or undervalued, and for agricultural production as a whole. Perhaps the new lesson offered by my research is that these very old patterns of inequality still persist today.

What types of changes (policy, research, etc.) do you think would help women and families in Mexico?

There must be public accountability for gender inequality and violence. The different types of gender injustice occurring in Mexico today are not equivalent, but invisible women farmers, gender discrimination in the workplace, and femicide are all products of a society that systematically devalues women’s work and their lives. This is not a problem that is caused by individuals acting alone, nor is it one that can be solved at the individual level; public policy must be held responsible for the fact that gender inequality continues to increase in the face of economic restructuring and global climate change. One important starting point, that is also an important part of any ongoing solution, would be for researchers and policymakers alike to listen carefully to the many women who are already struggling for change.

Finally, I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has worked with me in my research. I am indebted to all the farmers, extension agents, and researchers who graciously allowed me to interview them and to poke my nose into their lives. They do such important, inspiring work, and I look forward to building on these relationships in future research.

Women entering the workforce raises wheat consumption

Written by on March 7, 2013. Posted in Features.

Nicole Mason is an assistant professor of International Development at the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University.

Currently on long-term assignment with the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute in Lusaka, Zambia, Mason completed her PhD in Agricultural Economics at MSU in August 2011. Her research focuses on various dimensions of agricultural input and output subsidy programs in Africa, including political economy aspects as well as program effects on smallholder farmer behavior, poverty, inequality, and maize market prices. Prior to joining MSU, Mason served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and worked with the Partnership to Cut Hunger & Poverty in Africa. Mason was an invited speaker at the conference “Wheat for food security in Africa: Science and policy dialogue about the future of wheat in Africa,” held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during October 2012, and organized by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), CIMMYT, ICARDA, IFPRI, the African Union, and WHEAT-the CGIAR research program.

What drew you to international development research and outreach?

During my undergraduate studies at Allegheny College, I took a class entitled “Understanding Environmental Problems in Africa,” taught by the applied economist and returned Peace Corps volunteer Dr. Terrence Bensel. He piqued my interest in Africa and the Peace Corps, and I decided to join the Peace Corps after college. I had the privilege of serving as a volunteer in the rural community of Dalein in the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea in West Africa. I worked with smallholder farmers and women’s gardening cooperatives and saw firsthand the critical role that agriculture plays in the livelihoods of so many rural Africans. These experiences inspired me to pursue a career in international agricultural development research, capacity building, and outreach.

What drew you to work on the trends and drivers of wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa?

In the summer of 2007, I worked with colleagues from the Food Security Research Project and the Zambia Central Statistical Office to implement an Urban Consumption Survey in four cities in Zambia (Lusaka, Kitwe, Mansa, and Kasama). We interviewed over 2,000 households and asked them about all of the food and non-food items they had consumed in the preceding 30 days. We also visited many food retail outlets in the four cities, including supermarkets, bakeries, small grocers, and roadside and mobile vendors. I was struck by how popular bread and other wheat products were among respondents of all income groups. It was also interesting to see the long queues for bread in the supermarkets and the vendors selling bread at a slight markup right outside the supermarket to people who wanted to avoid the long lines inside. I learned that similar things were happening in other African cities and towns, and decided to work with MSU agricultural economist Thomas S. Jayne and CIMMYT socioeconomist Bekele Shiferaw to delve into the factors driving rising wheat consumption in Africa.

What did you discover?

I expected urbanization to be a key factor driving rising wheat consumption in Africa but surprisingly, our results suggest that after controlling for other factors like GDP, total population, and the prices of bread and products that are complements or substitutes for bread, changes in the percentage of the total population that resides in urban areas don’t have a significant effect on country-level wheat consumption. This was surprising because in most countries in Africa (Ethiopia is an exception), wheat consumption is much higher in urban than in rural areas. We’re still investigating this finding to unpack what is going on. One possibility is that it’s not urbanization per se that drives wheat consumption but rather the demographic and socioeconomic changes that go along with it. These are things like rising incomes and increased labor force participation by women.

What did you observe about gender and wheat consumption in Africa?

A key finding of our study related to gender is that rising labor force participation by women—especially if it rises faster than labor force participation by men—has a significant, positive effect on country-level wheat consumption. We suspect that this is because wheat products (bread, pasta, chapati, etc.) take less time to prepare than many other popular staple carbohydrates like maize meal porridge (called nshima in Zambia and consumed widely in eastern and southern Africa). When women work more outside of the home, they have less time to devote to food preparation and may prefer quicker options like these wheat products.

What types of changes (policy, research, etc.) do you think would help women and families in sub-Saharan Africa?

This is really broad. But in general, I believe women provide most of the labor for agricultural production in Africa but often don’t have much control over the revenue from the sales of products they helped to produce. Women also tend to have less access to productive assets and technologies that could help raise agricultural productivity. Empowering women—for example, through formal education as well as adult education on improved farming practices and business/management skills, improving their access to credit, etc.—is critical not only for improving the well-being of women but also that of their children, families, and communities.

To see the full study on rising wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa by Mason, Jayne, and Shiferaw, please visit http://fsg.afre.msu.edu/papers/idwp127.pdf

Published 2013

Maize lethal necrosis: Scientists and key stakeholders discuss strategies as the battle continues

Written by on March 7, 2013. Posted in News.

A recently-emerged disease in Eastern Africa, maize lethal necrosis (MLN), remains a serious concern. A regional workshop on the disease and its management strategies was held during 12-14 February 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the workshop brought together nearly 70 scientists, seed company breeders and managers, and representatives of ministries of agriculture and regulatory authorities in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as experts from the U.S.A.

The key objective of the meeting was to “establish a strong interface between research and regulatory institutions in Eastern Africa to effectively tackle the MLN challenge, including the ongoing efforts and further steps to identify and deploy disease-resistant germplasm, and to create a system that can ensure a constant flow of varieties,” explained B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT Global Maize Program director. Prasanna highlighted the difficulties faced by the maize farming community from the disease, and emphasized the need to accelerate deployment of MLN resistant maize varieties and to generate necessary awareness among the relevant stakeholders on management strategies. “It is necessary to break the MLN disease cycle and tackle the problem from multiple perspectives,” added KARI director Ephraim Mukisira. He mentioned that besides partnering with CIMMYT on breeding for MLN resistant varieties, KARI will also be distributing seed of alternative crops to farmers in affected areas. “As a dairy farmer, I will be planting napier grass instead of maize this season,” noted Mukisira.

The first signs of a new disease appeared in 2011 and 2012 in the Rift Valley Province, Kenya. A team of CIMMYT and KARI scientists identified it as MLN, a disease caused by a double infection of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and the sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and transmitted by insects. According to Godfrey Asea, plant breeder and head of the Cereals Program at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Kampala, MLN was also identified in Uganda. Furthermore, symptoms of MLN have been cited in Tanzania, said Kheri Kitenge, maize breeder at the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Arusha.

Scientists, particularly breeders, have made significant progress in tackling the disease. Studies are already underway at two field sites (Naivasha and Narok) where responses of a wide array of inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids are being evaluated under high natural disease pressure and artificial inoculation. Participants visited the Sunripe Farm in Naivasha, where they observed KARI-CIMMYT MLN trials under natural disease pressure. A trial under artificial inoculation in Naivasha featuring nearly 175 commercial maize varieties is showing high levels of susceptibility to MLN. Researchers remain hopeful as some of the elite inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids developed under projects such as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) or Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) are showing resistance to the disease.

During the farm visit, KARI pathologist Anne Wangai and her team showed how to generate artificial inoculum for MCMV and SCMV, as well as the enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) based technique for pathogen diagnosis at the national agricultural research laboratories at the KARI campus. The participants observed an artificial inoculation of maize seedlings in the field, followed by a discussion on some of the major changes in maize seed demand resulting from MLN incidence. “The maize seed industry is under stress in Kenya due to the need to replace some popular but MLN-vulnerable varieties as soon as possible,” explained Evans Sikinyi, Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK) executive officer. All stakeholders agreed that the foremost priority is to identify and speed deployment of MLN resistant maize varieties. “We also have to enhance the diagnostic capacity in the labs and ensure there is a rapid response and surveillance on MLN,” added Esther Kimani, general manager of phytosanitary services at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).

In the concluding session of the workshop, stakeholders identified key research areas and discussed partnership opportunities.

Droughts in major wheat areas can fuel revolutions

Written by on March 6, 2013. Posted in News.

A February 2013 report from the Center for Climate & Security entitled “The Arab Spring and Climate Change” identifies climate change consequences—among them global and local wheat shortages and price hikes—as stressors that can ignite underlying causes of social conflict. In the opening chapter of the report, Oxford University Geographer Troy Sternberg notes how “…once-in-a-century winter drought in China reduced global wheat supply and contributed to global wheat shortages and skyrocketing bread prices in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer.” New York Times OpEd writer Tom Friedman wrote about the Center for Climate & Security study (see The Scary Hidden Stressor.)

Un informe publicado en febrero de este año por el Centro de Clima & Seguridad, bajo el título “La primavera árabe y el cambio climático“, revela que los efectos del cambio climático —como la escasez de trigo, local y mundial, y el alza de los precios— pudieran ser los factores detonantes de los conflictos sociales. En el primer capítulo, el geógrafo Troy Sternberg de la Universidad de Oxford, narra cómo “…la sequía que asoló China en invierno, de una magnitud que no se había registrado en los últimos 100 años, redujo el suministro global de trigo y contribuyó a la escasez y al alza desproporcionada de los precios del trigo en Egipto, el mayor importador de este producto en el mundo.” El reactor del New York Times Tom Friedman escribió acerca del estudio del Centro del Clima y la Seguridad (ver The Scary Hidden Stressor.)

Getting insights from high above: new remote sensing platform in Obregón

Written by on March 6, 2013. Posted in News.

False-color image of the CIMMYT-Obregon station captured from the multispectral camera at 1-meter resolution on 15 February 2013. Plots with dense vegetation are shown in red, the north-south road on the left is N. E. Borlaug, the east-west road in the middle of the image divides the 710 and 810 blocks.

With funding from MAIZE and WHEAT CRPs, the Global Conservation Agriculture Program acquired a new remote sensing system consisting of a multispectral and a thermal camera, software, and methods allowing for semi-automated image processing. The two cameras were delivered in February by Pablo J. Zarco- Tejada, director of QuantaLab remote sensing laboratory, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (IAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain. Zarco-Tejada along with three technicians spent several days at CIMMYT-Obregón to train a pilot and CIMMYT staff on the equipment use.

The thermal camera helps to measure a water stress indicator: plant canopy temperature. Plants under water stress close their stomata to reduce transpiration, which increases crop canopy temperature as a result of reduction in evaporative cooling. Consequently, temperature differences between well-watered and water-stressed plants can be used to detect water stress accurately and at early stages. This will be used by MasAgro to measure the impact of tillage on crop water use efficiency, but it will also enable CIMMYT to develop a diagnostic tool based on the Crop Water Stress Index to help farmers determine the right time to irrigate wheat in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico. Once validated, the Crop Water Stress Index may also serve to identify the best time to irrigate plots at the research station.

Thermal image of the CIMMYT-Obregon station acquired from the thermal camera at a 2-meter resolution on 14 February 2013. Well-watered (cooler) plots are shown in blue, water-stressed (warmer) plots in green and red. Roads and bare soil areas have an even higher temperature and are shown in yellow.

The multispectral camera measures the light reflected in green, red, and near-infrared ranges. While a dense plant canopy can absorb more than 95% of the light in the visible range (violet to red), it reflects most of the light in the near-infrared range. Information on the light reflectance in the visible and near-infrared ranges helps to estimate ground cover and leaf area index, parameters usually correlated with biomass and yield. With two spectral channels in the red-edge region (in between the red and near-infrared ranges), the camera also allows to estimate the canopy chlorophyll content or greenness. Chlorophyll content is closely related to the nitrogen status of the crop, but it can be used to detect other nutrient deficiencies as well. Furthermore, the potential of using the multispectral camera in an airplane as a ‘flying GreenSeeker’ could enable researchers to diagnose nitrogen needs to optimize yield for around 1,000 hectares in about 1 hour, at a resolution of about 4 meters.

Within a few weeks, a hyperspectral camera will be added to the system. This camera with a spectral range between 400-1,000 nanometers is capable of acquiring 320 spectral bands and can be used to obtain images at a resolution as fine as 0.20 meters. It will be used to study the potential of the multispectral and hyperspectral sensors mounted on an airplane to diagnose nitrogen status and derive nitrogen recommendations to improve wheat quality (high protein content, low percentage of yellow berry, etc.). The hyperspectral imager also enables stress detection using other narrow-band vegetation indices related to the light-use efficiency, such as photochemical indicators, and quantification of chlorophyll fluorescence related to the canopy photosynthesis. Since all sensors can be mounted on the airplane simultaneously, it may be possible to diagnose irrigation and nitrogen fertilization needs during one flight. Thus researchers can develop diagnostic tools and recommendations for in-season nitrogen and water management to achieve higher nitrogen and water use efficiency.

The multispectral and thermal cameras are fully operational and will cover the research station in Obregón on a weekly basis until the end of April, with the resolution ranging between 0.20 and 0.40 meters, depending on the flight altitude and the type of camera. This is detailed enough to identify individual plots.

The collaboration between CIMMYT and QuantaLab-IAS-CSIC will continue through the setup of the new hyperspectral camera, further research conducted on crop stress indicators, and the identification of successful remote sensing indices. Canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, and other vegetative indices will be made available at minor cost to all interested scientists. These measurements could be used for phenotyping, physiological, and agronomic research.

High expectations among stakeholders as WEMA Phase II kicks off

Written by on February 27, 2013. Posted in News.

During 4-8 February 2013, stakeholders of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for the Fifth Review and Planning Meeting to discuss achievements and challenges of the recently concluded WEMA Phase I (2008-2013) and to plan for the second phase of the project (2013-2017) which begins in March this year. In the past four years, WEMA has made several key achievements, including the successful application and approval of permits to conduct confined field trials for transgenic varieties in Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. Kenya and Uganda are now in their third year of trials, South Africa in its fourth. The project has also managed to submit conventional drought tolerant maize hybrids into the national performance trials in Kenya. “It is expected that farmers will have these WEMA conventional maize seeds by 2014,” says Denis Kyetere, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) executive director. CKH110078, one of the hybrids developed from the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) materials, is in its final stage of approval in Kenya.

Emily Twinamasiko, Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization director general and WEMA Executive Advisory Board chair, was pleased with the achievements made in 2012 and commended all teams and the operations committee for their great efforts. Natalie DiNicola, Monsanto vice president for Africa and Europe, commented on the indicators of success: “The project will never be successful until the farmer has a product to plant and options to choose from.” Getting the seed to the farmers was stressed also by Ephraim Mukisira, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) director, who called for speedy deployment of the varieties: “KARI wants to see the product with the farmer. The scientists must work hard so that impact can be seen and be seen today.”

B.M. Prasanna, Global Maize Program director, thanked Monsanto for donating the drought tolerant and Bt genes. “This is a tremendous opportunity to address some of the biggest challenges to African smallholder farmers [drought and stem borer infestation]. MON810 presents yet another great opportunity for WEMA to tap into the products from the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa project to develop a product that addresses many of the insect related constraints.” He added that new but exciting challenges were posed by maize lethal necrosis, particularly because it has allowed the WEMA team to assure partners that the materials being produced are resistant to the disease. During a visit to trials at KARI-Kiboko, stakeholders observed WEMA varieties, many of which have outperformed some of the best local hybrid checks on the market. They also visited the confined field trials for Bt MON810 and drought tolerant MON87460 that are in their first and fourth seasons of trials, respectively.

Shifting attention from successes to challenges, Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT principal scientist and co-chair of the WEMA Product Development team, spoke of the major lessons learnt by the team in Phase I that are crucial for the success of the second phase: continuous training in trials modernization and modern breeding techniques is necessary, as is a good quality assurance program for the exchange of germplasm between the private and public sectors to minimize the risk of inappropriate germplasm exchange. The stage is now set for Phase II after the meeting streamlined WEMA II milestones and developed the WEMA II 2013 work plans.

Lawrence Kent from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation noted that “with great privilege comes lots of responsibilities. We therefore expect great success from WEMA.” This sentiment was shared by other stakeholders, who were impressed by the achievements of Phase I and thus have high expectations for Phase II. “WEMA continues to be a success because of the combined and dedicated efforts within the partnership: the national agricultural research systems, CIMMYT, Monsanto, and AATF. All these partners have continued to work together, celebrating project gains and resolving any challenges together for the good of the larger goal and promise to smallholder farmers, a promise of food security and better livelihoods,” stated Kyetere. “A food secure continent is among the greatest inheritance and legacy we can leave the generations that are coming after us, our children and to our children’s children.”

First ever high-level foreign delegation visits BISA-Ludhiana

Written by on February 26, 2013. Posted in News.

20130206_160220 On 6 February 2013, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ladowal, Punjab, India, received a delegation consisting of eight members of the German Parliament —Harald Ebner, Alexander Süßmair, Max Lehmer, Heinz Paula, Alois Gerig, Eric Schweickert, Mechthild Heil, and Gabriele Groneberg— and Sabine Raddatz (counselor for Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, India). The first ever high-level foreign delegation was welcomed by the CIMMYT-BISA team including Raj Gupta, ML Jat, HS Sidhu, Christian Böber, Tek Sapkota, and other BISA staff.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss food security issues in the context of resource degradation and climate change, and BISA’s role in assisting South Asian national agriculture research systems in addressing these challenges. In the beginning, Raj Gupta provided background information on the vision, mission, and partnerships of CIMMYT/BISA with national agriculture research systems. ML Jat then summarized the themes currently covered by BISA activities: (1) research infrastructure and farm development; (2) research on new maize and wheat germplasm, precision conservation agriculture, climate resilient production systems, and farm typology smart mechanization; (3) capacity enhancement through advanced courses, programs for visiting scientists, students, and interns, and exposure visits; and (4) partnerships and networking.

The delegation visited BISA farm and facilities to observe and better understand activities focusing on water table depletion, labor scarcity, residue burning, soil health deterioration, and climate change. The BISA team demonstrated no-till wheat with seven-ton surface residue of Sasbenia planted with front mounted knife roller (developed by BISA) and rear mounted turbo Happy Seeder in a single pass, and explained the advantages of this eco-friendly technology (including time, energy, and cost savings; reduction of environmental pollution; and climate adaptation). The long-term effects of residues on the likelihood of fungal disease manifestation were of particular interest to the German delegation. “There has been no evidence so far showing that keeping residuals might lead to a higher likelihood of diseases in the future,” Gupta addressed the concerns. “However, it will be monitored under the long-term conservation agriculture trials.”

When the delegation noticed a completely damaged winter maize crop on the other side of the fence of the BISA field, they were curious about what happened. “This is a result of severe frost injury, which shows the importance of developing cold tolerant maize germplasm,” explained ML Jat. Abiotic stress tolerant germplasm development is one of the issues on BISA’s agenda.

The visitors also observed BISA efforts on sustainable intensification of the cotton-wheat system, the second most important wheat based system in South Asia. They then discussed the application of pesticides and herbicides, assessment of different irrigation technologies, and crop management systems. Before leaving the BISA site, the delegation visited the new generation precision conservation agriculture machinery developed, adapted, and currently fin-etuned at BISA-Ludhiana. “BISA can play a critical role in smart farm mechanization in South Asia and other parts of the world by creating connections between stakeholders,” commented Er Baldev Singh, president of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association of India.

The members of parliament appreciated HS Sidhu and his team for their work on smart mechanization innovation for smallholder farmers.

Achieving food security through seed security in Timor-Leste

Written by on February 25, 2013. Posted in News.

Timor-Leste-CBSP-Maize-Photo In Timor-Leste, maize is the main staple crop grown by 88% of farming households. However, availability of quality seed of improved maize varieties is a major bottleneck for enhancing crop production and productivity. Experiences gained through the Seeds of Life program within the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) indicated that there was a significant yield advantage of MAF-released maize varieties over the local varieties under farmer management practices. The MAF recommended an improved open-pollinated maize variety Sele, originally LYDMR (Late, Yellow, Downy Mildew Resistant) introduced by the CIMMYT Asian Regional Maize Program, whose yield is 47% higher than that of traditional maize varieties (average result from 1,091 on-farm demonstrations trials during 2006-10).

Annually, Timor-Leste pays at least US$ 1.5 million to service its national maize seed requirements, a large expense for such a small nation. Despite intensive efforts, the supply of MAF-released Sele seed was only 32 tons in 2011 and 89 tons in 2012, which is far below the nation’s total maize seed requirements. To address the maize seed insecurity, the MAF, with support from the Australian Government through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), included community-based seed production (CBSP) in the third phase of the Seeds of Life (SoL3) program. The Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) within the University of Western Australia (UWA) is commissioned to coordinate the Australian-funded activities.

CBSP is a decentralized system of production, storage, and marketing of seeds by organized groups of farmers operating close to their homes as community groups or farmers associations. At the initial stage, the groups or associations received training on seed production, storage, and marketing from extension staff of MAF or NGOs. After gaining experience, these groups continue seed production activities on their own with little or no extension support. The CBSP groups follow basic seed production procedures, produce quality seed for use by group members, and sell or barter any surplus to others in the local community. The SoL3 program currently operates in 11 of the 13 districts of Timor-Leste (45 sub-districts and 135 sucos) through 680 CBSP groups with support from the MAFSoL extension program. Four hundred more CBSP groups are facilitated through collaboration with international NGOs, such as CARE, World Vision, Mercy Corps, Hivos, Catholic Relief Services, and USC Canada. The program not only supports maize seed production by community groups, but also seed production of other major food grains, such as rice and peanuts, as well as plots of improved varieties of cassava and sweet potato.

During the initial year of SoL3, nearly 726 CBSP groups were facilitated by MAF and NGOs. Of these, 320 (99 groups by MAF-SoL and 221 groups by NGOs) were growing Sele maize variety. Each participating group was composed of an average of 15 members, and each group was provided with 5 kg of certified Sele seed, sufficient to plant a 2,000 m2 seed plot. In the initial year of implementation, 289 CBSP groups produced an average of 159 kg of quality Sele seed (totaling 46 tons), while 31 groups suffered total crop failure due to grazing animals. This locally produced seed, stored in airtight 200-liter steel drums, was sufficient to meet the seed requirements of all group members and still leave extra seed for local barter or sale.

CBSP in Timor-Leste has proved to be a cost-effective and sustainable method of achieving local seed security. With further planning and effective implementation, each village, sub-district, and district in Timor- Leste could potentially achieve local seed security, a necessary prerequisite for maize food security of Timor-Leste.

‘One cannot eat tobacco!’ SIMLEZA field tour in eastern Zambia

Written by on February 23, 2013. Posted in News.

DSCN0425 In rural areas surrounding Chipata in eastern Zambia, tobacco, cotton, and maize seem to dominate the agricultural landscape. If you look closer, you will also see smaller fields with groundnuts, cowpeas, soybeans, and sunflowers. But there is yet another dimension of diversity: the different growth stages and (inadequate) fertilization levels of the crops have resulted in a patchwork of yellow to deep green fields of many sizes and shapes, with various degrees of weed infestation. In this smallholder farming area with an average annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm, it is neither easy to stay ahead of the weeds on all fields, nor to buy enough fertilizer for a healthy crop.

The SIMLEZA (Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume Systems Eastern Province of Zambia) project implemented by CIMMYT and partners seeks to address production and sustainability constraints through on-farm testing and demonstration of improved maize and legume varieties (soybeans and cowpeas) and agronomic practices that build on conservation agriculture (CA) principles. CA addresses the high labor demand of local agriculture. It can drastically reduce smallholder farmers’ workload at the beginning of the season, replacing hand-made ridge-and-furrows with direct seeding on the flat with a pointed stick (dibble-stick) and herbicide use for weed control. As a SIMLEZA demonstration farmer, who had been given the tool and herbicides for testing, exclaimed: “[up until now] I have been punishing myself!”

The second major issue – the need for higher fertilizer inputs – is more difficult to resolve. Zambia’s fertilizer subsidy program has increased fertilizer access for poor rural households, but the scheme provides only two bags at reduced prices and is thus insufficient to cover farmers’ total land area. SIMLEZA’s focus on improving intercropping and crop rotation with legumes seeks to decrease farmers’ reliance on cash-demanding fertilizers. Nitrogen fixed by legumes benefits the following year’s crop on that plot and reduces the need for expensive mineral fertilizers. But farmers will have to increase their land areas dedicated to legumes, if this is to really work at farm scale. The good news is that a short group discussion in the Khokwe community revealed farmers’ interest in doing just that.

When asked what the best crops for making money are, cotton and tobacco appeared to be the least popular. The simple explanation for the apparent contradiction between the large area dedicated to tobacco and farmers’ dislike of it was: “One cannot eat tobacco!” While legumes such as groundnuts, common beans, and soya topped the list of favorite cash crops, the volumes traded are small and do not reach the urban market of Chipata. In Chipata, farmers complain, buyers are few and prices low, despite the export demand for legumes. Thus, dedicating land to tobacco is the result of late payments to farmers and decreasing prices of legumes in the past years. Increasing smallholder farmers’ legume production and simultaneously linking them to more distant and profitable markets is one of the major challenges in the years to come.

In Malawi, a stone’s throw away, this shift towards increased legume production is already happening. The agricultural landscape has far less tobacco than before, as legumes such as soybeans and groundnuts are increasingly replacing it. Dwindling prices for tobacco and free provision of seeds by government have undoubtedly stimulated poor farmers’ uptake of these legumes and boosted volumes traded. Together with its partners, Total LandCare, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, and the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), SIMLEZA aims to contribute to a similar productivity-enhancing change in the agricultural landscape of Zambia.

1st National Workshop on Forage Maize

Written by on February 22, 2013. Posted in News.

To discuss possible expansion of MasAgro activities to include maize for use as forage and silage, the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) in collaboration with MasAgro organized the First National Workshop on Forage Maize during 22-23 January 2013 in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. The workshop was coordinated by Axel Tiessen, CINVESTAV, and attended by 134 participants from INIFAP, milk industry, public universities (University of Guadalajara, Colegio de Postgraduados, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, and others), CIMMYT, seed industry, and CINVESTAV.

While MasAgro is currently focusing primarily on maize for grain, the program seeks to expand its activities to better reflect its holistic approach to maize and to support all its uses in Mexico, including forage. The workshop was organized to identify the needs of the milk industry regarding maize silage, as well as the needs of small-scale farmers who use maize for several different purposes. “One of the major traits the milk industry is looking for is dry matter and starch percentage. However, it is a little more complicated for small-scale farmers, as they use maize for various purposes: grain for tortillas or pozole, leaves for tamales, and stover for animal feed.

Therefore, breeding for small-scale farmers differs significantly from breeding for the milk industry,” Félix San Vicente, leader of International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC)-Latin America explains the complexity of maize breeding in Mexico.

During the meeting, experts and industry representatives discussed not only what has been done so far, but also what the necessary future steps are. The discussions are expected to result in further collaboration of MasAgro and other institutions, for which MasAgro is currently receiving project proposals.

Maize diversification in Bangladesh: promoting maize for human consumption

Written by on February 21, 2013. Posted in News.

While maize is an important cereal crop in Bangladesh – third only to rice and wheat in terms of cultivated area and second to rice in terms of production – it has not been widely used for human consumption. To discuss filling this gap, CIMMYT-Bangladesh and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) organized an event on ‘Prospect and opportunity of promoting maize as human food in Bangladesh’ with Natalia Palacios, CIMMYT maize nutrition quality specialist, on 3 February 2013. The event was chaired by Rafiqul Islam Mondal, BARI director general, and facilitated by Mokhlesur Rahman, director of training and communication, and Bhagya Rani Banik, BARI leader of hybrid maize program. It was attended by almost 80 participants from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), BARI, Department of Agriculture and Extension, Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee, NGOs working with maize, and CIMMYT.

Maize is an attractive crop for Bangladeshi farmers for several reasons, the demand from producers of poultry and fish feed who purchase approximately 90% of maize produced in the country in particular. Only the remaining portion is used for human consumption. Furthermore, maize has at least double the yield potential of rice and wheat and thus provides greater returns for lower production costs. Maize productivity in Bangladesh is the highest in South Asia (7 t/ha), 99% of the total maize growing area has favorable production environment. Annual demand for maize is slightly over two million tons with a total annual deficit of one million tons. However, the incidence of bird flu in 2008 drastically reduced the area under maize cultivation in 2009, as there was no significant demand for maize. This indicated that maize production in Bangladesh is highly dependent on the poultry industry; it also signifies that sustainable maize production in Bangladesh cannot be achieved without diversifying its uses, including promoting maize for human consumption, the topic of the event.

T.P. Tiwari, CIMMYT-Bangladesh cropping systems agronomist, focused on the necessary changes, including moving away from crops requiring a high amount of water, particularly during winter season, as depletion of water table has resulted in higher production costs, which makes such crops less profitable for farmers. Maize, on the other hand, requires less irrigation. It also has an enormous potential to expand as winter cereal with significantly lower production costs, which is why it is often considered the ‘future crop of Bangladesh.’ If promoted as human food, maize can be the best option for addressing food security. This is no news, as similar views were highlighted in a 2011 report ‘Agricultural Research Vision 2030 and beyond: Research Priorities in Bangladesh Agriculture.’ Tiwari then stressed the urgent need for proper orientation and mentoring regarding maize as human food. Palacios explained the prospects and opportunities to promote maize for human consumption and highlighted that Mexico alone produces around 600 maize food items, 300 of which are consumed regularly. She also emphasized quality protein and biofortified maize in regards to fighting the problem of malnutrition. In the end of her presentation, she thanked BARI and CIMMYT-Bangladesh for the opportunity to share her experiences and thoughts. Following Palacios, the event was concluded by Mondal’s closing remarks. He mentioned multiple potential uses of maize that could satisfy farmers’ needs, such as food, feed, firewood, or fodder. He further stressed the need for practical training on how to make maize food items at local level.

Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and Mexican dignitaries visit CIMMYT to inaugurate Biosciences Complex

Written by on February 19, 2013. Posted in Features.

On 13 February 2013, CIMMYT inaugurated a new US$ 25 million research complex at its headquarters in El Batán. The new advanced bioscience research facilities, 45 kilometers (20 miles) from Mexico City, marked its grand opening to a crowd of more than 100 invited guests.

The event was attended by Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Lic. Enrique Martínez y Martínez, Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and leader of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), and Dr. Eruviel Ávila Villegas, Governor of the State of Mexico.

The new bioscience complex will allow researchers to speed the development of valuable seed, by way of more precise characterization of its genetic traits, such as heat and drought tolerance, disease and pest resistance, and seed health, as well as the nutritional and industrial quality of the grain. CIMMYT was the cradle of the Green Revolution 60 years ago. By providing cutting-edge facilities and an enhanced research capacity, this alliance will significantly improve farm productivity.

“We are enthusiastic about this alliance,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Bringing together the collective experience of our respective organizations, we can promote innovation to transform the lives of farmers in Mexico and around the world. Investing in agricultural development is one of the most effective investments we can make. It allows farming communities to become self-sufficient and prosperous by growing and selling more of what they produce.”

Carlos Slim added: “This alliance to promote research and development by CIMMYT, with the collaboration of national and international scientists dedicated to improved seed and generating more efficient techniques, is a step toward making this knowledge available to farmers everywhere, particularly small- and intermediate-scale farmers, as well as promoting economic growth, employment, and food self-sufficiency and exports from this sector.”

Both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carlos Slim Foundation have been generous supporters of CIMMYT’s mission. The buildings inaugurated today are the result of the Carlos Slim Foundation’s investment in CIMMYT. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partners with CIMMYT in projects to fight hunger around the world. The impact of the commitment made today by both foundations will be felt beyond Mexico’s borders.

“We will see the introduction of modern and more sustainable farming practices,” said CIMMYT Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin. “These include precision and conservation agriculture, backed by intelligent mobile phone services in farmers’ fields and digital tools in labs that will open our access to the full genetic diversity of maize and wheat to benefit the world’s poorest farming communities.”

Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mr. Gates spoke of the importance of CIMMYT’s role in agricultural research and development: “When you ask where the best work is done for poor farmers, the answer is here, at CIMMYT.”

Ribbon-cutting ceremony: Sara Boettiger, Chair, CIMMYT Board of Trustees; Eruviel Ávila, Governor of the State of Mexico; Bill Gates, President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Lic. Enrique Martínez, Secretary of SAGARPA; Carlos Slim, President of the Carlos Slim Foundation; and Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General.

Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and Mexican dignitaries visit CIMMYT to inaugurate Bioscience facilities

Written by on February 15, 2013. Posted in News.

Today, CIMMYT inaugurated a new US$ 25 million research complex at its headquarters in El Batan. The new advanced bioscience research facilities, 45 kilometers (20 miles) from Mexico City, marked its grand opening to a crowd of more than 100 invited guests.

February 13, 2013

CNN video (Spanish)