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New edition of popular field guide on maize diseases

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December, 2004
Reducing Damage to Grain Stores of the Poor

Saving grain from hungry pests can significantly improve the food security and livelihoods of farm households in the developing world’s poorest areas.

Even if poor farmers have a good maize harvest, many who live in humid environments and do not have effective storage containers face significant grain losses in the following months. Grain can suffer 80% damage and 20% weight loss within six months after harvest in Mexico’s harsh tropical environments, where grain-damaging insects thrive, according to CIMMYT entomologist David Bergvinson. “Two major pests in Africa—maize weevil and larger grain borer—can consume as much as 15% of a harvest in a few months,” says Bergvinson. Working on reducing storage losses is one way that he and other CIMMYT scientists target impoverished areas, increasing food security and allowing farmers to enter grain markets when prices are favorable.

Participatory Breeding to Foil Weevils

There are several ways to lessen grain damage. Farmers can remove infested grain and thoroughly clean storage facilities to eliminate insects before storing new grain. Improved grain storage technologies, such as silos, also help. Finally, scientists can breed maize to be more insect resistant with tighter husks or harder kernels. “With resistance as an inherent part of seed, farmers can cut back on the use of noxious pesticides,” says Bergvinson.

Working to breed hardier maize, Bergvinson crossed farmers’ varieties in Mexico with insect-resistant and drought-tolerant CIMMYT varieties and returned the seed to farmers for planting in mid-2004. Researchers also planted these crosses on farms near CIMMYT research stations to evaluate their performance, to make controlled pollinations, and to compare farmers’ selections with their own. “Our ultimate goal is to increase the genetic diversity of landraces with resistance to production constraints identified by farmers,” says Bergvinson. Farmers most often asked for drought and weevil resistance to be added to their landraces

Targeting Peaks of Poverty
Bergvinson and his associates are working with 54 farmer varieties for lowland tropical areas of Mexico and 36 for higher altitudes (1,200-1,800 meters above sea level). It is in many of these hill zones where poverty and maize-bean subsistence farming go hand in hand. The methods applied could have relevance for smallholder maize farmers in other parts of Latin America and in Africa.

In preparation for extending their efforts to reach more of the poor, the researchers have also sampled farmer varieties in eight Mexican locations identified in a recent CIMMYT study (see Maps Unearth New Insights for Research to Help the Poor) as having a high concentration of the poor. “We’re working with farmers in these areas to improve their varieties for traits they identify, such as resistance to storage pests and, in hill zones, stronger roots and stems so that plants don’t fall over in strong winds,” Bergvinson says. The researchers are also taking care to maintain other traits that farmers value. One example in lowland areas is the long husks that farmers remove and sell as wrapping for the popular Mexican dish known as “tamales.” In some communities, husks for this purpose are worth more than the grain (see Rural Mexico and Free Trade: Coping with a Landscape of Change).

Global Science to Protect Grain

Bergvinson belongs to a worldwide community of researchers applying science at all levels to develop pest-resistant maize. “A small but noticeable renaissance in the use of resistant varieties to minimize storage losses is taking place worldwide, especially for ecologies where storage infrastructure doesn’t exist,” says Bergvinson. He says researchers have made significant progress in understanding the biochemical, biophysical, and genetic bases for resistance, among other things to ensure the traits satisfy consumer demands. Such traits are being “mapped” using DNA technology to confirm their role in resistance and to identify the genes involved. “The real potential of this technology will be felt in developing countries,” Bergvinson explains. “The resistance is packaged in the seed and designed to ensure that farmers have the option to recycle seed, a practice common to small-scale farmers.”

For more information: d.bergvinson@cgiar.org

USD 170 million research program to help maize farmers worldwide

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cimmyt-maize-farmersBold Initiative Tackles Hunger in Developing World

Washington, July 6, 2011 – The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)—the world’s largest international agriculture research coalition—today announced a USD 170 million global alliance and program to expand and accelerate research into maize, the preferred staple food source for more than 900 million people in 94 developing countries, including one third of the world’s malnourished children.

“This program aims to double the productivity of maize farms, while also making those farms more resilient to climate change and reducing the amount of land used for growing the crop,” said Carlos Perez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair.  “As a result, farmers’ incomes are expected to rise and their livelihood opportunities to increase, contributing to rural poverty reduction in developing countries.”

cimmyt-maize-plantingThe CGIAR applies cutting-edge science to foster sustainable agricultural growth that benefits the poor. The new crop varieties, knowledge and other products resulting from the CGIAR’s collaborative research are made widely available, at no cost, to individuals and organizations working for sustainable agricultural development throughout the world.

Under the research program, 40 million smallholder farm family members are expected to see direct benefits by 2020 and 175 million by 2030.  The program is expected to provide enough maize to meet the annual food demands of an additional 135 million consumers by 2020 and 600 million by 2030.

The program will be implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA).

The announcement came as the CGIAR celebrated its 40th anniversary at a ceremony in Washington attended by the President of the World Bank Group, as well as the heads of several of the 15 research centers that make up the CGIAR Consortium of International Agriculture Centers.

Inger Andersen, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank, and Chair of the CGIAR Fund Council, said the first target group to benefit from the enhanced maize research program would be smallholder farmers who live in environments prone to stress and who have poor access to markets.

“Small holder farmers are among the most vulnerable people in developing countries.” she said. “They should be among the first we seek to help. Enabling these people to produce more and better maize quickly and reliably will help to ensure their well being, as well as that of their communities.”

Studies carried out by CIMMYT show that the demand for maize in the developing world is expected to double between now and 2050.

“This is a highly ambitious project to address world hunger,” said Thomas Lumpkin, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “It will take an enormous amount of work and cooperation between public and private sector institutions to meet the goals. The global challenges facing mankind are immediate and chronic; the time to act is now. Millions of lives depend on our ability to develop sustainable solutions to feed more people with fewer resources than ever before.”

The global alliance that will carry out the research program includes 130 national agricultural research institutes, 18 regional and international organizations, 21 advanced agricultural research institutes, 75 universities worldwide, 46 private sector organizations, 42 non-governmental organizations and farmer associations, and 11 country governments that will host offices dedicated to the program.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for sustainable development with the funders of this work. The funders include developing and industrialized country governments, foundations, and international and regional organizations. The work they support is carried out by 15 members of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. www.cgiar.org – www.consortium.cgiar.org

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYTÂź (staging.cimmyt.org), is a not-for-profit research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries. The center works to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems and thus ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The center’s outputs and services include improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems, the conservation of maize and wheat genetic resources, and capacity building. CIMMYT belongs to and is funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) and also receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies.

See also:
Maize Global Alliance for Improving Food Security and the Livelihoods of the Resource-poor in the Developing World

Executive summary | Full document

Mexican Farmers Durable Despite Free-Trade Shocks

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CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 4, April 2006

6A new study from CIMMYT describes some of the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Mexican maize and wheat farmers, and their creative and resilient responses.

NAFTA took effect on January 1, 1994. Among other things, it stipulated the elimination of tariffs on most basic crops in Mexico, Canada, and the United States

With support from the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program of the US Congressional Hunger Center, former CIMMYT research affiliate Amanda King has published a study that addresses the effects of NAFTA on farmers in two very different Mexican agricultural areas. Her study examined Mexico’s northern Yaqui Valley, a high-productivity wheat farming zone, and small-scale, low-input producers of maize in two areas of Veracruz State, southeastern Mexico.

The report reviews recent literature regarding NAFTA impacts on maize and wheat farming in Mexico, and provides an overview of maize and wheat production, a characterization of the country’s farming households, and circumstances leading up to and following NAFTA. It closes with the case studies mentioned above, and conclusions and recommendations.

Photo by Amanda King. Rural Mexico 10 Years After the North American Free Trade Agreement: Coping with a Landscape of Change.
Photo by Amanda King. Rural Mexico 10 Years After the North American Free Trade Agreement: Coping with a Landscape of Change.

The results suggest that cooperation and diversification have helped some Mexican farmers cope with economic changes under NAFTA, despite economic crises and inadequate institutional support. Out-migration to large cities or to the USA has continued to increase steadily, but commercial maize production is going through a resurgence in the southern part of coastal Veracruz state, and farmers in northern Veracruz are capitalizing on new export opportunities involving the sale of maize husks. “Throughout the state,” says King, “farmers have increasingly turned toward cooperation and collaboration as tools to survive and even thrive in conditions of economic upheaval. Whereas the Mexican government expected NAFTA reforms to restructure and remove small-farmers from the agricultural sector, coping with the new conditions of agricultural production has ironically made many of these farmers stronger and more willing to fight to be considered a part of Mexico’s economic future.”

Results from the Yaqui Valley case study suggests that, even in areas considered favored in terms of economic and environmental resources, farmers have had difficulty making the livelihood transitions necessary to participate in international trade.

The report is intended for researchers and policy-makers interested in the themes of trade liberalization, agricultural production, and social welfare. “Mexico’s experience with NAFTA can provide lessons for other countries seeking to support a development agenda within the framework of trade liberalization,” says King.

One key conclusion of the study is the need for national governments as they pursue trade liberalization to put more emphasis on strategies that protect at-risk groups and that build the resiliency of vulnerable sectors. This is underlined by evidence showing that income inequality has been on the rise in Mexico since NAFTA took effect.

The new study, published in English, is the more technical supplement to a photo essay/descriptive portrayal of farmers’ circumstances and livelihoods in the case study areas published by King in 2004.

Both reports are available for download or viewing.
King, A. 2006. Ten Years with NAFTA: A Review of the Literature and an Analysis of Farmer Responses in Sonora and Veracruz, Mexico. CIMMYT Special Report 06-01. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT/Congressional Hunger Center. To view or download a copy, click here.

King, A. 2004. Rural Mexico 10 Years After the North American Free Trade Agreement: Coping with a Landscape of Change. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT. To view or download a copy, click here.

Enhanced partnerships for improved productivity and livelihoods in Kenya

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November, 2004

A reaffirmation of partnerships spanning the globe occurred at the 9th Annual KARI Biennial Scientific Conference and the First Kenya Agricultural Research Forum, in Nairobi. Staff from CIMMYT joined scientists, farmers, seed producers, and manufacturers at the 8–12 November meeting to share research findings, heighten awareness, and promote discussion. A key topic was the consolidation of Kenya’s national agricultural research system. The conference was opened by Kenya’s Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Kipruto arap Kirwa, who noted that the agricultural network should be “more efficient, cost effective, with the desired impact at the household level, and have effective dissemination of research results.” These goals, once realized, will enable Kenya’s agricultural sector to improve linkages with research partners and farmers. Studies on farmer access to grain marketing information were presented and discussed by CIMMYT’s Hugo de Groote and Martins Odendo.

The Quick Guide to the “New” CIMMYT

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Click here to see pdf version, 190KB
CIMMYT has developed a strategy for building on its core strengths to address the challenges of international agricultural research in the years to come: the need to bring about a real improvement in the livelihoods of the poor; the emerging biophysical, socioeconomic, and political constraints to agriculture in developing countries; the growing range of partners involved in research, extension, and development; and the changing financial landscape for public-sector research.The new strategy requires CIMMYT to change in important ways. The prospect of a “new CIMMYT” has generated much interest but also many questions, which this fact sheet attempts to answer.

1. Foundations of the new CIMMYT

CIMMYT’s recognized strength in maize and wheat improvement for developing countries, its experience in research on maize and wheat systems, and its broad network of partners, ranging from farmers to government ministers, are the foundations of the new CIMMYT. CIMMYT firmly believes that seed with characteristics valued by farmers—for example, drought tolerance or disease resistance—provides a safety net for poor farm households, enabling them to survive bad years, profit from good ones, and pursue more diverse livelihood strategies. But how that seed is developed, how it is integrated with resource conserving technologies, and how farmers’ options are influenced by policies, are fundamental issues that CIMMYT is addressing in the changes that are underway.

2. A mission that puts people first

CIMMYT’s mission continues to emphasize improved food security, the productivity and profitability of farming systems, and the protection of natural resources. However, the new mission statement highlights CIMMYT’s commitment to the poor and acknowledges the central role of CIMMYT’s partners in sharing knowledge, catalyzing innovation, and making an impact: CIMMYT acts as a catalyst and leader in a global maize and wheat innovation network that serves the poor in developing countries. Drawing on strong science and effective partnerships, we create, share, and use knowledge and technology to increase food security, improve the productivity and profitability of farming systems, and sustain natural resources.

3. A new approach to partnering

As indicated in the mission statement, CIMMYT will engage in more strategic partnering and networking to catalyze and effect change within rural communities. Some of CIMMYT’s activities will be outsourced to partners in the public and private sectors. CIMMYT will engage in more collaborative priority setting and implementation of research with its partners, including other CGIAR Centers.

4. A new approach to research

To better clarify and respond to local needs, the contributions of cropping systems researchers, social scientists, plant breeders, molecular biologists, and many other disciplines must be joined together. CIMMYT’s new research programs—Genetic Resources, African Livelihoods, Rainfed Wheat Systems, Tropical Ecosystems, Intensive Agroecosystems, and Global and Strategic Research—rely on multidisciplinary teams to work on research priorities identified with CIMMYT’s partners.

5. How the programs fit together

The new programs are part of a continuum that extends from the characterization and use of genetic resources, to the development of maize and wheat varieties for specific ecologies and regions, to the use of these varieties in systems research to address local needs, and finally to the resulting global information that enables CIMMYT to learn from its experience and improve its effectiveness.

The global program on Genetic Resources develops information and inputs—primarily specialized breeding materials and methods—that enable the ecoregional programs to do their work more rapidly and effectively. The program works on genetic traits that are identified as priorities by the eco-regional programs (for example, drought tolerance).

The eco-regional programs—African Livelihoods, Rainfed Wheat Systems, Tropical Ecosystems, and Intensive Agro-ecosystems—emphasize maize and wheat systems research to improve the livelihoods of the poor in their respective regions and ecologies, where the challenges and opportunities for making an impact are more likely to be similar. These programs are designed to ensure that the research agenda is driven by local needs.

The program on Global and Strategic Research synthesizes and communicates what is learned across all of CIMMYT’s research programs. It assembles, manages, and provides strategic knowledge and information for research (for example, data from the molecular to the field level), supports capacity building, provides information for setting research priorities, and assesses the impact of research.

6. Working globally

CIMMYT’s research leadership and management have been decentralized to permit the Center to work from a global rather than a central base. The research and management teams now comprise staff in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

7. Contact points

If you are accustomed to contacting a particular researcher with whom you have worked over the years, please continue to do so. If that researcher is no longer working on your particular area of interest, he or she will connect you with someone who is.

For global and eco-regional programs:

For information on a particular commodity or discipline:

To obtain seed:

Seed health and quarantine information:

Information on capacity building:

  • Contact the CIMMYT office in your region to learn about current and planned capacity building opportunities throughout the world.

A boost for maize in the State of Mexico

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CIMMYT E-News, vol 5 no. 2, February 2008

feb09The State of Mexico borders the country’s capital, Mexico City—a potential market of nearly 20 million inhabitants—but farmers there have struggled to make a profit growing maize. CIMMYT is working to help them, as part of a new partnership between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Mexican Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA).

A mountainous entity in the geographical and cultural center of Mexico, the State of Mexico occupies what many would consider an envious position: it surrounds the country’s vibrant and populous capital, Mexico City, whose 18 million-plus population represents an attractive market for goods and services. Industries dominate the state economy, but many inhabitants outside urban areas practice farming, either to supplement their incomes or, in fewer cases, as their chief livelihood. Most of the state’s farmers have grown maize at one time or another, but few have made a profit on the crop, despite their proximity to a megalopolis.

feb08Years of low prices, until recently, for maize grain have discouraged farmers from investing in advanced practices or new varieties. “The state of Mexico accounts for ten percent of national maize production, but improved varieties occupy little more than a tenth of its maize area,” says CIMMYT maize researcher Silverio García. “And nearly all the maize they produce is white grained and ideal for local foods, but fails to meet market standards for large-scale, commercial tortilla production, feed or industrial uses.”

The state of maize

As part of a project launched in 2007 between the USDA and SAGARPA, CIMMYT is working with counterparts in the State of Mexico to increase the productivity and profitability of maize farming. Aims include a broad characterization of maize varieties—both local and improved—for traits of market value; breeding for market requirements; farmer-participatory improvement and testing of varieties; and food technology and nutrition research to guide the project and demonstrate potential impact.

“The focus is on value-added blue, white, and purple maize for food,” says CIMMYT maize breeder and project leader, Gary Atlin. “But partly in response to declining supplies and rising world prices of maize—driven at least in part by the biofuels boom in the USA—farmers are increasingly interested in yellow maize, and participants are developing and testing yellow grain maize suited for feed and industrial markets.”

feb06Atlin and Garcia recently led a workshop of 11 maize scientists from the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP), Mexico State’s Institute of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, and Forestry Research and Training (ICAMEX), the Colegio de Postgraduados (a graduate-level agricultural research and learning institution), and CIMMYT to plan project activities. Participants contributed detailed information on varieties grown in the state, agreed on common software for managing and analyzing data from trials, and discussed ways to foster farmer participation.

Efforts are building on prior work by CIMMYT in Mexico to promote adoption of improved varieties in poorer regions, through crossing local varieties and improved populations to improve farmer-identified traits lacking in their varieties. CIMMYT has also worked with Mexican breeders to develop improved, yellow-grain varieties for several environments, including the Mexican highlands.

“We’re very excited about this project,” says García. “Trials in 2008 will involve experimental varieties that are crosses between improved and local materials, pre-commercial varieties in 20 or more environments in the state, and 40 on-farm demonstrations of commercially-available white and yellow hybrids to get farmers’ feedback.”

For information: Silverio GarcĂ­a Lara, maize breeder (s.garcia@cgiar.org)

Stress tolerant maize for enhanced food security and crop diversification

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Maize is grown as a staple crop often under highly variable, stress-prone conditions by some of the world’s poorest farmers.

flagstessThey often have few options other than to obtain their food and income from agriculture. Achieving food security is the incentive for many to allocate a disproportionately large part of their land to maize, leaving little area to other crops such as legumes or cash crops. Human malnutrition and soil degradation are frequent and few escape the “poverty trap.”

CIMMYT is already seeing successes in implementing innovative approaches that generate stress tolerant, nutritious maize strains with significantly increased productivity under such harsh conditions.

They permit farmers to produce more and healthier food on a smaller land area, leaving more labor and land for growing soil-replenishing legumes or cash crops. We are enhancing this pioneering work and deploying it to a wide range of stress environments worldwide.

Gap filler

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CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 3, March 2006

Triticale finds a niche in Bangladesh

“This is just what I was looking for,” says Al Mahmoud Hasan, a farmer near the town or Rangpur in Bangladesh. “I wanted a crop to fill the fallow gap between the rice crops.”

In Bangladesh rice is king, with farmers often growing two rice crops a year. Now, in a pilot project funded by the Danish development agency, Danida, a new crop is making its debut. The aim of the on-farm trials is to see if triticale can make a difference in the lives of Bangladeshi farm families who keep dairy cattle.

Triticale is a cross between wheat and rye that CIMMYT researchers and partners have improved and promoted over recent decades. It makes good animal fodder because its leaves and stem are high in protein. In Bangladesh triticale was virtually unknown. Cows can eat Napier grass when it is in season but feed mostly on a diet of dry rice straw, a poor quality fodder. CIMMYT researchers realized that even in the intense cropping system in Bangladesh, there might be room for triticale as a high-quality cattle forage, filling a gap in the cropping season and a gap in cattle diets.

During the rainy season virtually every farmer in Bangladesh grows aman or monsoon rice. Then during the dry season they usually grow another rice crop (called boro), wheat, or even tobacco. Triticale can fit that second crop niche. The idea is to plant triticale as early as possible after the rice harvest and then cut it at 30 days and again at 50 days. The green cuttings are used as fodder. When the crop does mature, the grain can be used to feed chickens or ground and combined with wheat flour for Chapatti, the standard flat bread of south Asia.

Rokeya Begum has cash and 20% more milk from triticale-fed cows.

Farmers who grow two full rice crops also have an option with triticale. That is because there is a 60 day fallow period between the two rice crops. It isn’t enough time for triticale to mature and produce grain, but it is long enough to produce good green fodder. That is exactly what Al Mahmoud Hasan is doing. He and his family were among 120 households participating in the trials throughout Bangladesh. He, his wife and his two oldest children received instruction in triticale cultivation as part of a whole family training system organized by CIMMYT and partners.

Participation and training has paid off for other farmers, including Rokeya Begum and her family. She sold her first triticale cut to neighbors and used the money to buy new clothes for an important religious festival. Mrs Begum also says her cows are giving 20% more milk on triticale than they did on a diet of rice straw.

The triticale seed for the trials came from CIMMYT in Mexico. The one-year pilot project is near its end and the data are not yet analyzed but reports from participating farmers are encouraging. Many like Mrs. Begum say their neighbors will buy seed from them for next season so they too can try triticale.

For further information contact Stephen Waddington (s.waddington@cgiar.org)

The call for maize mounts in Asia

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February, 2005

1AsiaThe demand for maize in Asia is expected to skyrocket in the next two decades, driven primarily by its use for animal feed. In the uplands of seven Asian countries, however, demand is also increasing in the farming households who eat the maize crops they grow. CIMMYT and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have recently completed a project promoting food and livelihood security for upland farmers in Asia who depend on maize for food and feed.

By 2020, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that demand for maize in all developing countries will surpass the demand for wheat and rice, with Asia accounting for over half of this growth. Responding to these predictions, teams of researchers visited farmers in the uplands of China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam to discover ways in which maize technologies could improve livelihoods.

2Asia

To further develop maize improvement recommendations, national workshops and seven publications built upon the farmer surveys. Careful planning and appropriate procedures on the part of scientists and policy makers will ensure an easier transition as farmers face the oncoming demand. A clear message that emerged from the study in Vietnam, for example, was the need to help farmers apply sustainable practices to avoid degrading natural resources—particularly in fragile, marginal settings—as the demand intensifies.

These conclusions were drawn by researchers conducting rapid rural appraisals with farmers in commercial and semi commercial systems in the up- and lowlands of these seven countries. The second stage of fieldwork entailed more in-depth participatory rural appraisals in marginal, isolated areas and involved village leaders and groups of farmers. Details on the sociological, agro-economical, environmental, and technological aspects of maize production were assembled, and the resulting publications can be viewed, downloaded, or ordered here.

In addition to CIMMYT and IFAD, the project involved collaboration with IFPRI, Stanford University, senior officials of national research programs, and ministries of agriculture.

Bug Havens Keep Maize Pest-Proof

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CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 12, December 2005

bugHavensAfrican maize farmers who will grow transgenic maize varieties resistant to one of the crop’s most damaging pests—the maize stem borer—learn that to keep borers at bay, some must survive.

Maize stem borers destroy approximately 12% of Kenya’s maize crop annually—losses valued at more than US$ 50 million. Under the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), CIMMYT, and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture have worked in partnership since 1999 to offer farmers maize varieties that resist borers. They are drawing this resistance from several sources, including maize landraces and experimental varieties and even a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The latter produces its own, natural insecticide: a protein that perforates borer larvae’s stomach lining, causing them to starve. There are several types of this protein and each is very selective, affecting certain species of borers but no other animals. Researchers have taken the gene responsible for the protein and put it into maize, thereby obtaining a plant that borers of the targeted species cannot safely eat.

The resistance from Bt is effective until, through a chance mutation, an individual borer emerges that can beat it. Borer offspring with the same mutation will eventually become more numerous than other borers, making the Bt-based resistance useless.

A safe haven for borers

Farmers in developed countries who grow Bt maize usually protect its effectiveness through use of “refugia”—fodders or cereal crops that foster the survival and reproduction of Bt-susceptible borers. IRMA recently sponsored a two-day workshop on refugia at KARI’s Kitale center. The 50 participants—19 researchers, and 17 extension staff, and 14 farmers from 9 districts of North Rift Valley and 2 neighboring districts—learned about the progress in the development of insect resistant maize and the importance of refugia.

“It’s not hard to find refugia for stem borers; the challenge is to find refugia that both work and are acceptable to farmers,” says KARI entomologist Dr. Margaret Mulaa, who organized the Kitale workshop, and leads the insect resistance management (IRM) component of the IRMA project. “The refugia species have to fit in with the farmers’ cropping systems.”

All workshop participants took to the field to evaluate and score potential crops and varieties that could be used as stem-borer refugia on farms. They ranked the top 5 each from among 15 sorghum and 18 grass varieties, and 4 maize varieties for their attractiveness as food, fodder, or refugia for stem borers.

Farmers lead the way scoring refugia

The farmers raced ahead of the other two groups, doing what comes most naturally to them: visually assessing the yield and disease resistance of the sorghum varieties; squeezing the sorghum grains between two fingers and tasting them to judge texture and flavor; splitting open maize and grass stalks to assess moisture content and borer damage; and examining fodder crops for yield, vigor, and traits like hairiness and moisture content—important indicators of palatability for livestock. “Bana grass yields well and is not too hairy, so my cows enjoy it,” said Philomen Berut, a farmer from South Nandi who has received two awards for the best livestock at the Kitale Agricultural show.

More than 26 different criteria were given for selecting the sorghum varieties, but the major ones were high yield, early maturity, tolerance to pests and diseases, short height (which helps plants resist lodging), and tolerance to bird damage.

And the winners?

All three groups ranked the ‘local brown’ and ‘local red’ sorghum varieties among the top five favorites. Four improved Napier varieties (Kakamega 1 & 2, Napier 16798 and 16837) were also ranked top by all three groups. The popular maize hybrid H614 was ranked among the best five refugia species for its stable yield, lush foliage, and good cobs.

Mulaa finds this type of information extremely important for developing an IRM strategy that farmers will actually use. “By understanding farmers’ choices and criteria early enough, the resistance management package that IRMA will introduce along with Bt maize will have the farmer’s hand in its design, making it more likely to succeed.”

For more information contact Stephen Mugo (s.mugo@cgiar.org)

CIMMYT Helps New Country Improve Productivity and Food Security

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June, 2004

timor_photo1After almost 450 years of foreign occupation, East Timor became the world’s newest country when it declared independence in May 2002. Facing a host of hurdles as it rebuilds destroyed towns and damaged infrastructure, one thing the country lacks is productive and well-adapted germplasm for major crops.

In response to this need, a project called Seeds of Life has been introducing, testing, and distributing improved germplasm to farmers on the island. The project, in which CIMMYT participates, aims to improve food security and build the capacity of Timorese scientists to resolve the agricultural problems that affect local livelihoods.

“Farmers have suffered from decades of unrest,” says Ganesan Srinivasan, a CIMMYT breeder and senior scientist involved in the project, which is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of East Timor. “Improved maize varieties will provide food and nutritional security for resource-poor farmers.”

timor_photo2Almost 800,000 people live in East Timor, which was once a Portuguese colony. The BBC estimates that about 25% of the population died during Indonesia’s occupation, which began after Portugal withdrew in 1975 and lasted until 1999. After citizens voted for independence, anti-independence militia killed hundreds of people and destroyed towns and already poor infrastructure.

Maize and rice are East Timor’s major staple food crops. Although maize covers the largest area of land planted to any crop, its productivity is low. Growing local varieties, some farmers produce less than 1.5 tons per hectare and 125,000 tons annually. Farmers face production constraints such as low soil fertility, frequent drought, a lack of improved varieties and fertilizer, northern leaf blight, and storage pests. Collaborators hope that replacing low-yielding local varieties with improved germplasm will increase productivity and lead to income generation.

Australian agronomist Brian Palmer manages the project, which aims to improve farmers’ access to high quality seed, create a crop performance database for research to raise crop productivity, and increase the capacities of East Timorese institutions and staff in evaluation, production, and distribution of improved germplasm.

Scientists have been testing the adaptation of various lines of rice, maize, cassava, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts that have been supplied by CIMMYT, IRRI, CIAT, CIP, and ICRISAT, which are the five CGIAR centers involved in the project. Researchers have identified and multiplied well-adapted varieties that are tolerant to pests, diseases, drought, and low soil fertility.

In the first phase of the project, which lasted from October 2000 to December 2003 followed by a six-month bridge phase, CIMMYT provided improved, stress-tolerant, high-yielding maize varieties to test in different agro-climatic conditions of East Timor. Scientists initially selected maize varieties using information from CIMMYT records, results from similar regions, and input from researchers. They tested several yellow open-pollinated varieties and a few white quality protein maize varieties, among others.

In their experiments, researchers found that yields were much higher when improved maize cultivars and fertilizer were used. During 2001–02, one variety yielded almost four tons per hectare. In the second and third years, CIMMYT maize varieties yielded around six tons per hectare, compared with two tons per hectare from the local variety that was used as the benchmark.

“Several yellow maize varieties resistant to downy mildew disease have been identified that have given double or triple the yield of local varieties,” says Srinivasan. In March 2004, in response to problems at several sites, they planted downy mildew disease resistant seed developed by the CIMMYT-Zimbabwe team.

Although it is difficult to identify varieties that are well adapted across East Timor’s diverse climatic and soil conditions, the project has already found several. During 2003–04, researchers received enough seed to evaluate selected varieties in yield trials, to use in on-farm tests, and to multiply to produce more seed. In addition to this, more seed from the five most promising varieties has been increased in India and will be shipped to East Timor.

The second phase of the project, lasting from three to five years, will focus on better village welfare by promoting farmer use of improved varieties and strengthening MAFF and other East Timor institutions. Challenges include building research capacity, creating a system to continuously screen and release varieties, establishing a good seed production and distribution system, and reducing post-harvest losses. Representatives from the five CGIAR centers, ACIAR, AusAID, East Timorese research organizations, and other partners will discuss plans for phase two in August 2004. They plan to support model farms, farmer demonstrations, seed production, germplasm management, and research on variety adaptation and crop agronomy.

They also hope that East Timorese researchers will be able to train at a location where CIMMYT multiplies seed. Because the few trained researchers with bachelor’s and master’s degrees hold important positions in the Ministry of Agriculture, it is difficult for them to train for an extended period of time. However, five researchers and extension workers from East Timor have received training at ICRISAT in India. Pending Ministry approval, CIMMYT may conduct a training course in East Timor in August about on-farm testing and seed production.

For information: Ganesan Srinivasan

Countering drought: Journalist / policy advisor Roger Thurow visits farmers in Machakos, Kenya

Written by on . Posted in Features.

countering-drought-noteThis growing season in south-central Kenya has been a good test for the new drought tolerant maize varieties being bred in Africa. This is a semi-arid area, but this year they can drop the semi. Farmers report only three short periods of rain since the February planting time.

“Without this seed, I’d have nothing. Nothing, like my neighbors,” says farmer Philip Ngolania. He sweeps his hand to direct the eye first to his maize and then toward a neighbor’s plot. Philip’s maize stalks, though looking thin and weak, have fairly uniformly produced large ears of corn. His neighbor’s maize is shriveled and dead, the stalks have toppled in their feebleness and there isn’t a cob to be found.  (See the entire writeup on the blog of the Global Agricultural Development Initiative)

Related stories:

  • Maize farmers and seed businesses changing with the times in Malawi
  • Study says drought tolerant maize will greatly profit African farmers
  • No maize, no life!

Sweet Success:

Written by on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 4, April 2006

2Maize Transforms Landscapes and Livelihoods in Bangladesh

Nurul Islam could hardly believe his eyes. Eleven resource-poor farmers had just entered his office in Sherpur, Bangladesh, carrying two kilos of sweets and a pile of cash. “We were amazed when they came in with the sweets and money,” says Islam. “We thought we were taking a very big risk when we made the loans, but they paid back on-time, with interest and gave us the sweets to express their appreciation.” Nurul Islam is a Director of Unnayan Sangha, a non-government organization founded in 1980 to help the region’s poor, mostly through micro-credit schemes. The group had been very active in promoting backyard fish farms and had been extremely successful with 6,000 working fish-ponds on members’ land. They had not, however, thought about maize and the income it might bring to help lift members out of poverty.

The government of Bangladesh has tried to promote maize in the area. It is well-suited to the climate, the availability of water, and farmers’ needs, but most attempts had not worked well. Nevertheless, farmers in the region are growing less and less wheat as a second crop after rice, because the popular wheat variety is susceptible to leaf blight, a regionally common disease that can cut yields more than 15%. CIMMYT, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been working with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) to study the potential of maize in the region, particularly for animal feed.

Maize’s first foothold becomes a large footprint

Resource-poor farmers tend the maize seed plot. The investment is worth it.

The beginnings of a mini-maize revolution in Jamalpur and Sherpur began with a single farmer, Mahbubur Rahman, who is also a mechanic. He approached CIMMYT partner, Mahfuzul Hoque, of BARI. Hoque had grown up in the area and understood the soil and the climate. Rahamn asked if his land was suitable for maize as a second crop. The answer from Hoque was a resounding ‘yes.’ Rahman realized that in order for farmers like him to adopt maize they would need shellers. He got the plans and manufactured one power sheller and 48 hand shellers. He also enlisted his younger brother Masudur and another farmer to promote the technology. Soon the group had grown to 16 families and planted 5.5 hectares the first season.

It was members of that group who approached Unnayan Sangha for the loan to get started. They were successful and soon the technology and the crop spread. There was little maize seed available locally and imported seed was often of low quality. Leaders of the NGO realized there was a market for quality hybrid maize seed, and so began community-based production of hybrid seed using two CIMMYT maize lines (CML 283 F and CML 287 M) as parent material. This is their first season and they intend to sell the seed from their half hectare to small-scale farmers who are members of their organization. Some of these farmers give their time and labor to manage the seed plot.

Half a Hectare: a Full First Step Out of Poverty

M Kazal in his roadside tea stand. 'I feel better as a landowner.

M Kazal, one of the first sixteen maize producers, was a landless sharecropper. He paid the landowner with about 12% of his harvest. He also had a roadside tea stand near his land on a dusty road in the Sherpur district of Bangladesh. The tea stand made a little money: enough to buy fertilizer for the land he rented.

He, his wife, and two children attended a CIMMYT-sponsored, whole-family-training event on maize production. He sowed little maize the first season, but netted about US$ 175 from his harvest—enough to buy six calves. He fed them maize the following season to fatten them and sold them for US$ 900, earning an additional US$ 600 on the rest of his maize. With the combined profit he decided to make the biggest move of his life: the purchase of a half hectare of land. In two seasons of maize growing he had gone from landless to landowner. “I feel better as a landowner,” he says. “My status in the community has changed.”

Kazal says his first hope is to provide his children the education he never had. His father, sitting beside him in the tea stall, grins with pride. “I find it hard to find the words
 I want him to improve.”

Food or Feed?

Kazal’s father is proud of his son’s achievement 'I find it hard to find the words.

Any maize in Bangladesh will easily sell as animal feed, but Unnayan Sangha staff are also interested in meeting human consumption needs. They say that 20-25% of their maize farmers are now using maize meal to make chapatti, the standard flat bread in south Asia.

Has maize made a difference in the region? “Definitely ‘yes’,” says Hoque. “Farmers who grow maize now have greater purchasing power and you can see more tin sheds, more new machinery.” And to think—it all began with two kilos of sweets to celebrate success.

For more information contact Steve Waddington (s.waddington@cgiar.org)

The pen shows its might at CIMMYT

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November, 2004

A group of 14 Mexican journalists visited CIMMYT’s research station at El BatĂĄn, Mexico, on 17 November, for an introduction to center activities and field, seed bank, and laboratory tours. Coming at the invitation of CIMMYT and the Mexican public relations firm, Arvizu Communications, the visitors included correspondents from leading Mexico City dailies and several agricultural periodicals. Presentations covered the center and partners’ work in conservation agriculture, the conservation and use of crop genetic diversity, and biotechnology. Particular interest centered on CIMMYT’s research in transgenics, in the context of media reports of transgenic maize in the Mexican countryside. In a wrap-up with the group, CIMMYT research director John Dodds and a diverse group of scientific staff emphasized that genetic engineering is a small portion of the center’s total research portfolio—roughly 0.5%. “CIMMYT engages in limited work with GMO technology because of the potentially important benefits to small-scale farmers in the developing world,” Dodds explains. “Ultimately, the decision whether to use GM crops or not is up to each nation.”