This harvest, many farmers in lower eastern Kenya were left staring in dismay at their failed maize crops. Once again, droughts have left people in the area desperate; they must purchase maize themselves or rely on famine relief food operations.

However, there are a few farmers expecting bumper maize harvests; not via miracles or witchcraft, but thanks to a new maize variety which is both drought tolerant and resistant to stalk borers, two of the biggest production constraints in the region.

The variety, referred to as CKIR04003 (CIMMYT/Kenya Insect Resistant), represents joint breeding efforts between Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and CIMMYT, under the Developing Maize Resistant to Stem Borer and Storage Insect Pests for Eastern and Southern Africa—IRMA III Conventional Project (a predecessor to the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa project). Released in 2006, CKIR04003 has the added advantage of being an open pollinated, early maturing and high yielding variety—31 to 45 bags per hectare, according to Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT maize Breeder.

One of the farmers benefiting from the new variety is Paul Ndambuki, who chose CKIR04003 because he “needed a variety that could withstand droughts as well as be resistant to stem borers.” “From the information provided by KARI, I felt CKIR04003 was the variety I needed. I did not need further prodding to try it out,” he said.

It was a decision that has paid off, despite less than perfect preparation. “I got the seed towards end of March. Because I was in a rush to plant before the onset of rains, I didn’t plant with fertilizer. I only added compound fertilizer after germination. I had hoped to top dress with CAN fertilizer. But this did not materialize as it only rained for two weeks in the entire growing season. I was a worried man,” states Ndambuki. “But my worries gradually turned into amazement. In stern contrast to my neighbours’ farms, under local varieties or other hybrids, my maize was so green and robust. It looked like one under irrigation.”

After six weeks, the maize remained free from stem borers. These normally cause huge losses in the region, and also make the attacked maize susceptible to aflatoxin infestation. Ndambuki is now expecting 35 bags of maize from his 0.8 ha of CKIR04003, compared with the 12 bags he achieved from 1 ha last season.

Ndambuki and KARI then hosted a farmers’ field day at his farm, to demonstrate the suitability of the variety to the environment. Impressed by Ndambuki’s enthusiasm, KARI has named the variety Pamuka1, in honor of Paul, his wife Jane Mumbua, and the Kamba community.

“We were created to help the poor people of the world who live on maize and wheat… about a billion people who live on less than 10 or 20 pesos per day, and CIMMYT has a tremendous responsibility,” said director general Tom Lumpkin at a meeting with national staff in Mexico on 20 July 2011. Whilst the meeting was held at El Batán, national staff at the experimental stations also had the opportunity to participate via remote linkups.

Speaking of CIMMYT’s achievements over almost 50 years, now recognized throughout the world, he said “it’s been CIMMYT staff who have been reliable in delivering improvements in maize and wheat. It’s your work.” He thanked all the national staff for their
contributions, and welcomed the new generation who have recently become part of the team as CIMMYT continues to grow rapidly.

Before a full auditorium, Lumpkin gave an inspiring introduction to CIMMYT’s mission and how the center works on a global scale. He talked about challenges for the future in terms of food security, climate change, and new technologies, and new initiatives including the MAIZE and WHEAT Research Programs, BISA in India, and MasAgro in Mexico. “While we have great challenges, there are also many great opportunities, and we have to grab those opportunities,” said Lumpkin.

Scott Ferguson, deputy director general for support services, talked about new Mexican donors, who are becoming increasingly important as CIMMYT’s partnerships with Mexico grow ever stronger. He also discussed construction and maintenance work planned for El Batán, for example the modernization of laboratories, and introduced some new work teams.

Miriam Mora from Human resources revealed a new plan for organizational development, a step-by-step initiative, to be known as DNC, proposed by the DG’s office. This will map staff talents, enabling managers to make sure the capabilities available within CIMMYT are being used effectively, and indicating how people can be helped to grow professionally and personally according to their backgrounds and needs. She also introduced her work team, as did MasAgro leader Karen García, who gave an introduction to the MasAgro initiative.

The final part of the meeting was set aside to address general questions submitted by staff; a further meeting will be organized by Human Resources to answer pending questions that could not be covered due to time constraints.

The meeting ended in a feeling of shared trust and confidence as both national and international staff go forward to build CIMMYT’s future together.

In a “Global Food for Thought” article focusing on the recent drought in Kenya, prominent journalist and policy advisor Roger Thurow tells of how CIMMYT-bred maize crops have thrived where their neighbors have shriveled. In the post, published on 17 June 2011, the former Wall Street Journal correspondent describes how, despite only having three short bursts of rain since February, the drought tolerant maize variety produced by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project has “fairly uniformly produced large ears of corn”.

Local farmer Philip Ngolania grows the drought tolerant maize variety. He tells Thurow that his neighbors “ask me for my secret, why I have cobs and they have none, and I tell them, ‘It is the variety I use.’ I’m always telling them they must change from the Mbembasitu to this new variety.” Despite having to pay for the new seed variety, Ngolania thinks it’s worth it. “You pay nothing, you get nothing,” he says.

Now, it appears that the word is spreading. Dryland Seed Ltd., a company multiplying the drought tolerant variety, sold out of stock before the beginning of the last two seasons. Farmers are already buying seeds for this October’s planting season in the hope that, unlike this year, they will have not only enough maize to feed their family, but enough to provide a small income too.

Read the full blog post here

The diversity and progress of conservation agriculture (CA) was emphasized during a regional training course at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, India during 28 June–11 July 2011. Organized in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and PAU, the course attracted male and female participants from varying regions, age groups and agricultural backgrounds, and was the second in a series of regional CA courses. In addition to experts from PAU, CGIAR and private sector partners, the key mentors in the training course were Ken Sayre, CA Consultant, CIMMYT, Patrick Wall, Director of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program, CIMMYT, ML Jat, Sr. Cropping Systems Agronomist, CIMMYT, HS Sidhu, CSISA hub coordinator, Punjab, and Mahesh Gathala, Cropping Systems Agronomist, CIMMYT. ML Jat also coordinated the course.

Training was mostly field-oriented, with participants practicing key CA principles in the field. The diverse makeup of the group also meant that some participants were less experienced in CA, therefore encouraging regional cross-learning, increasing capacity and helping to promote CA.

In the closing ceremony, Raj Gupta, South Asia Coordinator, CIMMYT, and Patrick Wall highlighted the benefits of the strong and longterm partnership between PAU and CIMMYT, for both organizations and for the Punjab. It is hoped that collaborations between PAU, CIMMYT, and other national organizations will facilitate in developing CA in the region and assist farmers to improve the quality of their natural resources and livelihoods.

Chief guest of the closing ceremony, BS Dhillon, Vice Chancellor of PAU, further stressed that CA is the best way to address the emerging challenges of South Asian farmers, particularly in view of the issues associated with a second generation of the Green Revolution. PAU is becoming a CA hub in the region and Dhillon added that more agricultural universities should include CA in their graduate and postgraduate curriculums, as PAU is beginning to do. Dhillon, who is also helping to lay the groundwork for the Borlaug Institute of South Asia, reiterated that there is still a long way to go, but that “for accelerating the pace of adoption of CA in the region, capacity building on CA is an immediate action and hence this course is a timely and important step.”