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Strengthening the capacity of technicians in insect mass rearing

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curso-insect-mass-rearingInsect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) and its sister project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), have embarked on an initiative to train personnel in mass rearing of insects and develop rearing facilities. These insects are used in evaluation of maize resistance to insect damage. Through the initiative, 12 technicians from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique participated in a Stem Borer Mass Rearing Training Course held at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)-Katumani, Machakos, Kenya during 25 March-05 April 2012.

The course was co-organized by CIMMYT, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), KARI, and Monsanto. It designed to empower technicians from the WEMA project partner countries to undertake mass rearing of stem borers; establish and manage mass rearing facilities; and effectively conduct research on stem borers in field trials. It provided hands-on training, focusing on establishment of mass rearing units, facilities, equipment, diet ingredients, and lab safety regulations; colony establishment and maintenance, diet sorting, preparation and infestation; and management of stem borer larvae, pupae, moths, and eggs.

Underscoring the importance of the course, CIMMYT maize breeder Stephen Mugo noted that insect pests had become major problems in maize production, affecting 46% of the global maize growing area and destroying 25% of the global crop annually, equivalent to 52 million metric tons valued at USD 5.7 billion. Farmers trying to control the pests across the globe use USD 550 million worth of insecticides annually. Further, over 60% of these losses occur in the tropics where environmental conditions are favorable for stem borers year round.

Explaining the inclusion of insect protection in WEMA, Mugo noted that water stressed maize suffers more from stem borer infestation. “Drought and insect damage may lead to crop failure. The development of products with combined drought tolerance and insect protection would greatly enhance the benefits to smallholder maize growers in Africa.”

Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT maize entomologist and one of the course facilitators, pointed out that each of the four control methods for maize stem borer—biological, chemical, cultural and host plant resistance (HPR)—has its own limitations. However, considering that for reasons of costs and availability of pest control methods farmers often use no control measures at all, HPR is the easiest control method for subsistence farmers to adopt and use as the resistance is embedded in the seed. However, HPR needs investment in germplasm development and screening, a process that requires insect pests, hence the need to establish insect mass rearing facilities.

Stella Adupo, a participant from Uganda, exuded confidence that she had acquired adequate skills to undertake mass rearing of insects. Like other participants, she promised to establish a mass rearing facility, at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI), Namulonge, Uganda.

Speaking at the end of the course, Charles Kariuki, center director of KARI-Katumani, noted that food insecurity is partly due to lack of technical personnel to develop suitable technology and to advise farmers. “You have now gained this very important technical know-how on mass rearing. It is important that you apply this knowledge. More importantly, you must endeavor to pass the knowledge to others, at least train 2-3 people on insect mass rearing at your institution for greater impact.”

He advised the participants to read more on insect mass rearing to expand their knowledge and understand the discipline, and become more professional and efficient in their work. He thanked CIMMYT for its support in research and capacity-building.

Board of Trustees meetings at El BatĂĄn

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The bi-annual Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting commenced at CIMMYT headquarters at El Batán on 31 March 2012. In his opening report to the board, Director General Thomas Lumpkin described developments at CIMMYT over the past 6 months. “Our stature is rising. Our capacity is rising. But the challenges we are facing—especially taking into consideration climate change and population increases—are just daunting,” he said.

This session of meetings was the first chaired by Sara Boettiger, who has served on the BoT for the past eight years, and took over the position of Board Chair from Julio Antonio Berdegué Sacristån in October 2011. Boettiger, originally from the US, also serves as an Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley in the Department of Agricultural and Research Economics.

During the meetings, Boettiger applauded CIMMYT’s “reputation for professionalism from our partners and collaborators.” CIMMYT’s funding strategy was also highlighted as forward thinking and innovative. Rather than the traditional model of investment from industrialized nations such as the US, Germany, and the UK, CIMMYT has undergone a shift in its funding in the past 5 years, with the largest proportion of funding currently sourced from emerging market countries.

During a summary report to CIMMYT staff on 04 April 2012, Boettiger stated, “globally, emerging markets are going to be the strength of the world. These will be the powerhouses funding agricultural development.” Recent reports show that half of the world’s GDP comes from emerging markets. They also produce a third of the world’s exports and are home to 85 percent of the world’s population. In recent years, CIMMYT has made a concerted effort to strengthen linkages with emerging market countries such as India, where CIMMYT launched the newly established Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in October 2011, as well as China where CIMMYT currently has the largest research capacity of any of the CGIAR centers.

Upcoming events were also discussed during the meetings, including the G20 in Mexico, and the impending visit to CIMMYT of the CGIAR’s new CEO, Frank Rijsberman, who will come in June after representing the CGIAR at Rio+20.

During the four-day meeting, BoT members had their first opportunity to tour the construction sites and new facilities being developed at CIMMYT headquarters. The project—which is to include new biotechnology buildings, labs, greenhouses, and housing facilities—will conclude later this year and an event to officially inaugurate the facilities is set to take place by 2013.

The next BoT meeting will take place in October 2012.

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Diversifying rice cropping systems in Karnataka, India

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Farmers in the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) command area of Karnataka State in southwestern India traditionally grow two crops of rice each year, but recent water shortages have seriously cut into harvests and farm profits for the winter crop. As part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) satellite hub in Karnataka, the University of Agricultural Sciences-Raichur (UAS), in collaboration with CIMMYT, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and other public and private sector partners, have begun testing and promoting winter maize sown using zero tillage as an alternative. Coverage the first year (2011) reached 1,200 hectares and the practice has caught the attention of farmers, as well as several research and development organizations.

On 18 March 2012, the UAS, CIMMYT, and IRRI, together with the company Ganga-Kavery Seeds and the Directorate of Maize Research of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), organized a multi-stakeholder consultation on cropping diversification through the promotion of zero-till maize in fields at Devapur Cross, Bairamaddi Village Clusters, Shahpur Block, Yadgir District, Karnataka. The event drew more than 200 participants, including 160 farmers from Gulbarga, Koppal, Raichur, and Yadagir Districts, and 45 scientists and extension agents from various research stations of UAS-Raichur, the State Department of Agriculture, and Ganga-Kaveri Seeds.

KarnatakaDiscussions covered laser leveling, direct-seeded rice, zero-till maize, conservation agriculture machinery, the turbo seeder for residue management, weed management, pest management, cultivar choices, potential diversification options using resource-conserving technologies, and the potential for diversification and the adoption of water-wise practices to make more efficient and productive use of irrigation water. The operation and benefits of conservation agriculture machinery, including the laser land leveler, zero-till multi-crop planter, and turbo seeder, were demonstrated and explained. Farmers who have adopted the technologies shared their views and encouraged others to adopt.

CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, M.L. Jat, explained the benefits of conservation agriculture for diverse cropping systems and specifically the practices CSISA is promoting in Karnataka. S.G. Patil, director of education at UAS-R and the person in charge of the Karnataka hub, highlighted activities and progress under the project. R. Sai Kumar, director of the Directorate of Maize Research of ICAR-New Delhi, explained the advantages of single-cross maize hybrids and the importance of quality protein maize (QPM) for nutritional security. B.V. Patil, the vice-chancellor of UAS, Raichur, concluded the meeting by highlighting the need to link farmers and scientists for mutual benefit and learning.

Other participants included B.T. Pujari, director of research, and S.N. Hanchinal, director of extension at UAS-Raichur; B.M.Chittapur, dean of agriculture, College of Agriculture, Bheemarayanagudi; T. Satyanarayana, deputy director, IPNI-South India at Hyderabad; Dr Balaraj, assistant director of agriculture, Surapur; M.R. Ravikumar, marketing manager, Ganga Kaveri Seeds Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru; and U.B. Chandrashekhar, distributor in Karnataka for National Agro-Industries, Ludhiana.

NuME set to boost nutrition of Ethiopian children

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NuME9During 26-28 March 2012, CIMMYT scientists, partners, and collaborators met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Inception Planning Workshop of the NuME project. NuME (Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia) is a new five-year USD 13 million project that aims to significantly reduce malnutrition, especially among young children, and increase food security and household income of resource-poor smallholder farmers in Ethiopia through the widespread adoption, production, and utilization of quality protein maize (QPM). QPM contains more than twice as much lysine and tryptophan as conventional maize, giving its protein a nutritive value that is roughly 90% that of milk.

The project, led by CIMMYT and supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), is being implemented in collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI), Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG2000), other NGOs, universities, and public and private seed companies. The purpose of the meeting was to present the approved project to partners; review, organize, and agree on the project’s management structure; review and agree on partner roles and responsibilities; and develop detailed work plans and budgets.

Project coordinator S. Twumasi-Afriyie gave an overview of the status of QPM in Ethiopia and pointed out that NuME was building on the achievements of the previous and largely successful CIDA-funded QPMD project that was implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda during 2003-2010.

Underscoring NuME’s importance, Twumasi said that diets in eastern and central Africa are largely based on maize, for it provides up to 80% of the calories consumed and is a primary weaning food for children. However, it is poor in two essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, putting infants who consume maize without protein supplements at risk for malnutrition and stunted growth and development. The problem is more acute in Ethiopia, where 47% of children are stunted, 38% are underweight, and 11% suffer from wasting.

Consequently, the project has targeted areas with high maize production and consumption, areas where farmers grow BH660 or other conventional maize varieties that now have QPM versions, and most importantly, areas with high malnutrition, according to Hugo De Groote, CIMMYT socio-economist.

Andreas Oswald, SAA director of crop productivity enhancement, outlined the strategies planned for demonstrating new QPM technologies, improved crop management practices, and post-harvest handling and processing to farmers, and for improving their knowledge and skills. Increasing the participation of women in NuME activities and identifying ways to ensure that they benefit substantively from QPM technologies are key goals of the project.

The project will also partner with Farm Radio International (FRI), which will work with Ethiopian radio stations to develop a gender sensitive campaign to help women and men farmers gain a better understanding of nutrition and protein, and to raise awareness of QPM and other strategies for improving the nutrition and health of families, especially children.

CIMMYT lauded for outstanding technical support and partnership in Nepal

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On 04 April 2012 CIMMYT received an “Award of Honor” from the Society of Agricultural Scientist of Nepal (SAS-N). The award, in a form of a plaque, was handed over by Mr. Om Prakash Yadav, Chief Guest and Honorable Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives. “This recognition is given to CIMMYT International for the many contributions in maize and wheat research and development in Nepal,” said Yadav.

The-awardReceiving the prize on behalf of CIMMYT, Nepal country representative Guillermo Ortiz-Ferrara thanked the Society for the recognition. “On behalf of the director general of CIMMYT, Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, the center’s management, and colleagues who have been based in Nepal and the region for more than 26 years, we thank SAS-N for this great honor,” he said. “I would like to give special thanks to the government of Nepal and the MoAC for hosting CIMMYT’s regional office. Finally, we thank the many government and non-government organizations for their long-standing partnership and collaboration.”

SAS-N is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to agricultural research and development in Nepal. It serves as a shared forum for agricultural scientists and researchers throughout the country and in various agricultural and related institutions. The Society aims to safeguard their professional integrity and improve research standards, thereby fostering economic development through agriculture growth. Some 300 participants in the meeting presented 135 papers on food security, agro-biodiversity, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, nutrition, plant breeding, pathology, crop and soils management, physiology, micro nutrients, irrigation, agro forestry, climate change, and socioeconomics.

In a personal message to Dr. Hira Kaji Manandhar, President of SAS-N, Lumpkin sent his regrets for not being able to attend the event and said: “CIMMYT is very honored by your award. The agriculture research and farmer community of Nepal has been of priority importance to CIMMYT for over 40 years. Many Nepali scientists and staff are and have been part of the CIMMYT team. In recent years we have been expanding our portfolio of development projects in Nepal and are even planning construction of a building, perhaps as Nepal’s part of CIMMYT’s Borlaug Institute for South Asia, near Kathmandu”.

In a message of congratulations to SAS-N, Marianne BĂ€nziger, CIMMYT deputy director general for research and partnerships, said: “We are very honored indeed for CIMMYT to receive this prestigious Award of Honor from the Society of Agricultural Scientists in Nepal. It should be testimony to the extremely fruitful and highly-valued collaboration that we have with scientists and institutions in Nepal for more than two decades. It is a partnership of mutual respect, complementary skills, joint leanings, and successes. We highly appreciate the support, hospitality and friendship that our staff experience, both those that are posted in Nepal as well as when others who visit. Without our collaboration with Nepal, CIMMYT and its programs would be less.”

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Ever-stronger engagement in agriculture

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Chris-EliasSenior management and center scientists welcomed Chris Elias, the new President of Global Development of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to CIMMYT headquarters on 30 March 2012, providing among other things an introduction to major programs. Elias’ background includes experience in the global non-profit health sector and most recently as CEO of PATH, a nongovernmental organization whose portfolio includes solutions for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. David Bergvinson, Senior Program Officer for Science & Technology, for the Foundation accompanied Elias to CIMMYT.

The Foundation is among the center’s major donors and directly funds the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) projects. CIMMYT is also partner to other Foundation recipients for important work like that of developing and deploying wheat that resists the deadly Ug99 strain of stem rust and projects to develop micronutrient rich maize and wheat varieties. In addition to its funding, the Foundation has provided valuable support and guidance to CIMMYT on research management, policy engagement, and in fundraising. Through DTMA, 25,000-30,000 tons of drought tolerant maize is being deployed annually to smallholder farmers across Africa.

The visitors toured the long-term conservation agriculture field experiment, new areas of construction at El BatĂĄn, and the germplasm bank. CIMMYT presenters particularly highlighted global food security concerns. “We’ve been able to attract excellent new staff in recent years and combine that with the knowledge and experience of current scientists,” said Marianne BĂ€nziger, deputy director general for research and partnerships. “We have a tremendous team, but if we look at the challenges we are deeply concerned with future food security. The food price peaks we saw in 2008 and 2011 are just a beginning. There is a close alignment of food prices with social unrest. This why we have a very clear strategy.”

Lumpkin voiced CIMMYT’s gratitude for Foundation support. “The improvements happening here are because of donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, major efforts by the government of Mexico, and the hard work of staff,” he said.

Elias thanked his hosts. “It’s been a great learning experience for me,” he said. “I’m sure this won’t be my last visit to CIMMYT.”

SIMLESA: Celebrating two years of achievements, defining the future

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During 19-23 March 2012, over 200 researchers, policy makers, donors, seed specialists, and NGO representatives from Africa and Australia gathered in Arusha, Tanzania, for the second SIMLESA (Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa) Annual Regional Planning and Review Meeting. Representation from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), which generously supports the work, included nine members of the organization’s Commission for International Agricultural Research.

Participants shared lessons from the last two years and discussed better ways to design and implement future activities. Ten sessions addressed issues including project implementation, Australian-African partnerships, program and partner progress and lessons, and communications and knowledge management.

SIMLESA

A key message was that SIMLESA had consolidated and strengthened activities across all objectives, maximizing gains from integration, innovation, information, and technology diffusion for greater impacts on livelihoods and agroecosystems. It was noted that the use of integrated systems can foster productive intensification of agriculture and, indeed, the Innovation Platform Framework, supported by science and partnerships, can contribute to productive, sustainable and resilient maize-legume systems. For even greater impact, the program should rely on stronger leadership from agribusiness, while supporting the public sector’s role, and ensure a farm-income focus to reduce poverty.

Another key message was to strengthen Australian-African partnerships through better delivery of research products, capacity building under any of ACIAR’s four thematic areas, bridging research and extension, strengthening policy and socioeconomic research, and building individual and institutional capacity.

SIMLESA25Speaking at the SIMLESA’s second “birthday party,” Joana Hewitt, chairperson of the ACIAR Commission for International Agricultural Research, reiterated the Australian government’s commitment to long-term partnerships with African governments. Participants also heard of the new SIMLESA Program in Zimbabwe, focusing on crop-livestock interactions. During the dinner, Kenya and Mozambique were recognized for their efforts in promoting and strengthening local innovation platforms.

In addition to SIMLESA’s program steering committee and the mid-term review team, the event drew representatives from USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program, from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa. SIMLESA is centered in five countries— Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique—with spillovers benefiting Uganda, Sudan, and Zambia. Representatives from all those countries interacted at the meeting.

A SIMLESA “village” and poster presentations allowed partner representatives and researchers to showcase achievements, and visits to Karatu and Mbulu—Tanzanian sites where SIMLESA is present— demonstrated how the project is transforming agriculture.

Helping farmers select varieties in Nepal

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Nepal98A training program on wheat participatory variety selection (PVS) was held in Nepal during 28-29 February 2012. Organized by the National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahawa, Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) and CIMMYT, the event attracted 17 scientists, technical officers and seed technicians from NARC’s research stations and private seed companies. The two-day training program focused on current challenges of wheat breeding and production in Nepal, wheat diseases, and participatory selection of varieties.

The field training was held at Sukaurali Village, Rupendehi District. Participants visited three mother-baby trials of eight wheat varieties, including CIMMYT’s newly-developed Ug99 resistant varieties, and the local check, Gautam. Janmejai Tripathi, wheat coordinator, NWRP, opened the event with an explanation of the importance of new resistant varieties. Touring the wheat plots, the group observed varieties’ qualities and differences, including maturity type, yield potential, and resistance to diseases.

Nepal27NARC scientists SR Upadhyay and NR Gautam explained the steps of participatory selection and participants scored varieties in the mother trial.

In addition to the technical knowledge gained, there was an increased interest in collaboration among farmers, scientists, and development agencies. The training is also expected to improve the quality of data from research stations and of PVS trials for seed release and multiplication.

Farmers in the Charlands of Bangladesh benefit from new wheat and maize interventions

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CIMMYT-CSISA-Bangladesh organized a field day in collaboration with the Wheat Research Centre (WRC) and the Department of Agriculture and Extension (DAE). In all, 162 farmers from Mymensingh, Bangladesh, attended the field day, held on 21 March 2012. CSISA–BD is a collaborative venture funded by USAID that includes CIMMYT, IRRI, WorldFish, and relevant national research and development partners. Also participating in the field day were other partners who work with CSISA-BD, CIMMYT, and Mymensingh Hub, such as the Directorate of Agricultural Extension and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), and NGOs, such as CARE, ASPADA, POPI, and JABC.

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Although cropping intensity in the region is 212%, just one crop (black gram) is grown in the charlands of the Brahmaputra River. Charlands are formed through the sedimentation, over time, of huge amounts of sand, silt, and clay carried by rivers. Growing the preferred crop (Boro rice) in these lands is not feasible for lack of surface water.

CSISA–CIMMYT identified the charlands as a potential area for new wheat and maize hybrids, and organized demonstrations and on-farm participatory research on Ug99 tolerant wheat varieties BARI Gom 26 and BARI Gom 27 (Francolin) and hybrid maize. Farmers were happy to see both wheat and maize growing in demonstrations with limited irrigation. They said this was the first time in history that maize and wheat could be grown in charland areas with this level of success, and expressed an interest in significantly expanding the area sown to these materials next year. It has been estimated that such technologies could impact hundreds of hectares in this region and thousands of hectares across Bangladesh.

During the demonstrations, Dr. DB Pandit, cropping systems agronomist for CSISA-CIMMYT, gave an overview of CSISA-BD activities in the charlands. DAE Adjunct Director Dr. ASM Affazuddin and WRC Director Dr Jalal Uddin Ahmed spoke very highly of these efforts and assured farmers they would establish more wheat and mungbean demonstrations next year. Dr. TP Tiwari, CIMMYT-BD cropping systems agronomist, asked farmers to share the knowledge and skills they have gained so far from CSISA-BD interventions with their neighbors and relatives. He also initiated discussions on improved maize production technologies. All NGO participants expressed their determination to support the implementation of CIMMYT-CSISA activities aimed at achieving sustainable food security and improving the livelihoods of charland farmers. M. Islam, administrative coordinator of the Mymensingh Hub who led the organization of the field day, ended the program by thanking all participants.

Monitoring spot blotch of wheat

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BiharA one-day field training on scoring for spot blotch was organized on 17 March 2012 at the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) experiment station in Pusa, Bihar. Participants were 16 young scientists and students of Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU) and the Regional Station of Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI). Renowned pathologist Professor Ramesh Chand, Banaras Hindu University, was the main resource person, supported by Dr. Rajeev Kumar (RAU) and Raj Kumar Jat (CIMMYT).

The training program covered spot blotch symptom identification, scoring, and laboratory analysis. Theory sessions on each topic were supplemented by field practicums, and participants were divided into small groups for an exercise on disease scoring. The readings were cross-verified across groups and the data compared. The trainees were also shown the presence of leaf tip necrosis (Ltn) Sr2 symptoms and how to score them. Dr Rajeev Kumar provided laboratory facilities.

Annual meeting of the Affordable, Accessible, Asian Drought Tolerant Maize Project

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The Affordable, Accessible, Asian (AAA) Drought Tolerant Maize Project, a Syngenta/ CIMMYT partnership, held its annual meeting at the ICRISAT-Patancheru campus in Hyderabad, India, on 15 March 2012. Funded by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the five-year project aims to help smallholder farmers in Asia grow more food and better provide for their families through the development of improved maize varieties. It supports smallholder farmers who lack access to irrigation by developing affordable and accessible drought tolerant maize in partnership with other National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in Asia.

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The meeting was attended by 30 representatives of Syngenta, national agricultural research programs, and CIMMYT. BM Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s global maize program, began the meeting, M Robinson of SFSA gave an overview on public/ private partnerships in the seed development and distribution industry, and BS Vivek, CIMMYT senior maize breeder, outlined the progress made in the first year of this project. P Zaidi, CIMMYT senior maize physiologist, reported on progress in root phenotyping, and Girish Kumar, CIMMYT maize molecular breeder, summarized advances in genotyping. Other presentations highlighted progress made by Syngenta (RP Singh, AAA lead for Syngenta and M Longrono, Asia corn breeding lead), national program of Vietnam (Van Vang, Vice Director, NMRI), and national programs of Indonesia (M Azrai, maize breeder, ICeRI). The meeting concluded with a visit to the drought trials at ICRISAT.

During this first year, the AAA project and the International Maize Improvement Consortium for Asia (IMIC-Asia) jointly conducted the course “Phenotyping for Drought Tolerance in Maize” held at ICRISAT on 19 December 2011. The course was attended by 70 breeders and technicians from 26 seed companies; PH Zaidi and BS Vivek served as resource persons. Training on all aspects of how to achieve adequate stress in drought trials was included, as well as data recording, analysis, and interpretation.

IITA and CIMMYT join forces for food security in Africa

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IITA-012On 15 February 2012, CIMMYT director general Tom Lumpkin met with his peer, Nteranya Sanginga, at the headquarters of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria. Accompanied by CIMMYT-Regional Liaison Officer, Wilfred Mwangi, Lumpkin also interacted with IITA maize breeders Baffour Badu-Apraku, Abebe Menkir, and Sam Ajala, as well as IITA socioeconomist Tahirou Abdoulaye.

Topics of discussion included governance and management of MAIZE, the CGIAR research program launched in July 2011 and jointly led by CIMMYT and IITA. The initiative aims to meet the annual food demand of an additional 135 million consumers by 2020 and an additional 600 million by 2030.

IITA-Visit-021Lumpkin and Mwangi visited IITA maize trials, including those of maize bred for resistance to the parasitic flowering plant, Striga spp., through crosses with teosinte. Attaching to sprouting maize seedlings, Striga saps nutrients and imparts a toxin that slows growth. It causes damage to Africa’s maize estimated in the billions of dollars and affects as much as 40 million hectares of food crops across the region. Teosinte belongs to the same genus as maize and is considered the crop’s predecessor.

Maize was the main focus of the visit, but wheat in West Africa emerged as an important subject. Nigeria currently imports USD 4 billion of wheat. Now at over 150 million, the country’s population is expected to exceed 400 million by 2050. Regarding increasing populations and their implications for food security, Dr. Sanginga stated: “In the end, we don’t care about IITA, CIMMYT, or what have you. What we do care about is that we solve the problem
.CIMMYT is an important ally of IITA. This visit reassures us of CIMMYT’s commitment to delivering improved maize technologies for food security in Africa.”

The call at IITA was one of three recent visits by Lumpkin to CGIAR centers in Africa, including the World Agroforestry Center and ILRI.

New maize storage system as CIMMYT expands

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IMG_1331-aAll of us who work at CIMMYT have noticed its recent growth—new faces, new projects, and new facilities being constructed at El Batán and elsewhere. All of this means more research is getting done, and, inparticular, the global maize program is using and producing more breeding materials.

Until recently, the question for the maize program was, where to put them? “The old system just didn’t havethe capacity to store any more seed,” says EfrĂ©n RodrĂ­guez, head of data processing and seed distribution.

In a smart solution to the space problem, between 07 February and 16 March 2012 a new system of movable shelving units was installed in the genetic resources center. These can be moved sideways using a winding handle, eliminating the need for a permanent passage between each set of shelves.

The previous fixed shelving had a capacity of 2,880 boxes,whereas the new storage system can hold 4,104—an increase in capacity of more than 40%, with further space available on topof the units if needed. It also takes up slightly less space.

Thanks to Gary Atlin, FĂ©lix San Vicente, and Natalia Palacios for their support to this project.

The new storage system is an essential step in supporting the Maize Improvement Consortium for Latin America (IMIC-LA),which is a component of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. Improvements will also be made in on other places such as a second drying room and storage space for Seeds of Discovery materials.

Stress tolerant maize seed on the way in southern Africa

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Low soil fertility: Problems and progress

TungaSilvar-12 Tunga Silvar grows maize to feed his wife and fourgrandchildren on about 0.5 hectares of land in Mawanga, Zimbabwe, a hilly area some 45 kilometers northeast of Harare. Like otherfarmers in the region, he is acutely aware of the value of nitrogen fertilizer, continually juggles his limited household financesto get it, and is poorer and hungrier when he can’t. “We used to sell maize, but in the last five years we haven’t been able to do so,” saysSilvar. “I had to pay school fees for my grandchildren, so I couldn’t buy fertilizer. Fertilizer is very important, especially in our type of soil. If you don’t apply it, youcan barely harvest anything.”

After water, nitrogen is the single most important input for maize production. In sub-Saharan Africa where fertilizer use is negligible, improved maize with tolerance to low nitrogen (N) conditions could give maize farmers more abundant harvests, greatly improving their food security and livelihoods.

Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID and conducted jointly with the KenyanAgricultural Research Institute (KARI), South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC), and the DuPont Company Pioneer Hi-Bred, aims to overcome theseproblems by developing hybrids with 25-50 % more yield than current commercial seed in low-N soils. The second annual IMAS meeting in Harare in lateFebruary 2012 drew more than 40 scientists from these organizations and CIMMYT to review progress and develop shared work plans for the following year.

Accomplishments to date include establishment of a low N phenotyping network across eastern and Southern Africa and application of cutting-edgemolecular breeding techniques for low N tolerance. Several recently-identified, low-N tolerant inbred lines from diverse genetic backgrounds are being used in new hybrid combinations and to initiate pedigree breeding. New and existing elite hybrid combinations and synthetics are being evaluated inthe regional low N phenotyping network, which now has access to more than 60,000 rows in N-depleted plots of experiment stations region-wide. Over thepast year CIMMYT maize breeders Bish Das and Amsal Tarekegne have engaged several additional seed companies in work on low-N tolerant maize.As part of this, representatives from 11 companies in eastern and southern Africa attended a field day in Harare to showcase the latest products and highlightnew support from the Foundation to scale-up seed production for existing commercial or advanced hybrids and OPVs that perform well in low N fields.

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Strengthening Malawi’s seed sector

Seed companies provide the vital link to get improved maize varieties into farmers’ hands. A major focus of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project has been to strengthen small- and intermediate-scale seed enterprises and thereby speed delivery of drought tolerant varieties. The project has provided training and help to develop business plans (“road maps” for seed delivery), improved drought tolerant hybrids, and assistancein seed production. As one example of the benefits of this approach, three years of support in seed production and business planning have helped theseed company Demeter in Malawi go from strength to strength. The company now produces over 2,000 tons of seed, and its portfolio includes the open pollinated varieties ZM309, ZM523, and ZM721 developed under DTMA.

New companies are also appearing on the scene. One example is Funwe Farm, a company that is starting to grow with support from CIMMYT and the Programme for Africa’s Seeds Systems of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA-PASS). John MacRobert, seed systems specialist for sub-Saharan Africa, andAmsal Tarekegne visited Funwe’s seed production fields to smooth out initial teething problems in the production of foundation seed of a CIMMYT hybridreleased by the Malawi government as MH26. “By supporting companies like Demeter and Funwe we are helping to ensure farmers get access to improvedvarieties,” said MacRobert. “Our partnerships with seed companies are really starting to pay off.”

On-farm performance: the definitive challenge of breeding

Sailas-Ruswa Late and erratic rainfall in Zimbabwe has many farmers facing the prospect of poor harvests. The current hardships from drought though may furnish some hopefor farmers. New drought tolerant varieties are being tested in on-farm trials under farmer management. Many of the trials are experiencing drought stress—aperfect opportunity to identify the best varieties for such harsh conditions. A recent visit to on-farm trials in the Murewa District of Zimbabwe showed many new drought tolerant products performing well. Local farmer Sailas Ruswa is growing a trial and was enthusiastic about what he saw: some varieties showedsigns of severe drought stress, but a few were holding up well and were expected to produce good yields.

Field day of the International Maize Improvement Consortium for Asia

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On 13 March 2012, the first field day of the International Maize Improvement Consortium–Asia (IMIC-Asia) was held. The meeting, organized by CIMMYT-Asia and held at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), welcomed 50 participants from 26 national, regional, and multinational seed organizations.

B.S. Vivek, CIMMYT-Asia senior maize breeder, started the day with a warm welcome and a brief overview of the field demonstrations of maize materials. The participants then made field selections of those that interested them. The afternoon session started with Vivek detailing the progress made in IMIC-Asia since the consortium began in 1 July 2010. P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT-Asia senior maize physiologist, then coordinated a discussion on priority traits and locations for IMIC hybrid evaluations. The meeting concluded with members giving their impressions of the field day and suggestions to further strengthen IMIC activities. They expressed their appreciation of CIMMYT’s efforts and the progress already made. They were confident that it would serve as a platform for strengthening their maize breeding programs and their product portfolios.

The consortium approach has been adopted to enable partnerships between CIMMYT and private seed companies to facilitate the development and testing of inbred and hybrid maize, and for training of maize breeders. Some of the underlying principles include client determined research prioritization; a more focused, demand-driven approach; and an engagement where partner accountability is better defined. This mode of operation with partners is expected to have a targeted impact on agricultural productivity and poverty.

IMIC-Asia