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MasAgro now core to sustainable agricultural development policy in Puebla, Mexico

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Increasing the production of maize and wheat, counteracting the threat of food crises, and addressing the challenges of climate change for agriculture in Mexico: these are the objectives of MasAgro (the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture), a collaborative initiative led by SAGARPA (the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food) and CIMMYT, and officially launched in April this year.

On Tuesday 05 July 2011, Puebla became the first Mexican state to join MasAgro, upon signing an agreement with CIMMYT for joint coordination of the project. The partnership will promote modern agronomic techniques, such as conservation agriculture, and encourage the use of improved seed adapted to high-potential agro-ecological areas.

The signing ceremony was held in the “Edificio de Protocolos” building in the city of Puebla. Rafael Moreno Valle, the State Governor, said that MasAgro Puebla will have a significant impact on the livelihoods of small farmers in the state, with Puebla’s state-level efforts reinforcing those of SAGARPA at the federal level to boost the impact of the program. Moreno Valle said the principal objective of the agreement was for the farmers of Puebla to develop their production capacities and ensure the sustainability of the rural environment, but he was also confident that Puebla would contribute to meeting the global challenge of doubling food production.

For his part, Francisco Mayorga Castañeda, Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, spoke of MasAgro as “the most important agricultural policy of recent years in Mexico.”

Representing CIMMYT at the event were Scott Ferguson, deputy director general for support services, and Bram Govaerts, leader of the Take it to the Farmer component of the MasAgro program. Explaining how MasAgro works in practice, Govaerts mentioned that, to date, CIMMYT has coordinated more than 40 training events in agricultural techniques, attended by more than 3,500 farmers who grow rainfed maize and small grain cereals in the lowland and highland valley regions of Mexico.

Linking breeding, plant genetic resources, and biotechnology in Kazakhstan

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During 6-14 June 2011, a group of 24 national specialists from different institutions and regions traversed 1,400 kilometers of southeast, south, and southwest Kazakhstan in a travelling seminar organized by CIMMYT on breeding, plant genetic resources (PGR), and biotechnology. The aim was to evaluate the status of those research pursuits in the region, as well as prospects for their development, and to promote innovative technologies. The group visited farms and the region’s leading agricultural research organizations: the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, the Kazakh Advanced Research Institute for Farming and Crop Production, the Krasnovodopad Agricultural Experimental Station, the Southwest Agricultural Research Center for Livestock and Crop Production, and the Kazakh Advanced Research Institute for Rice Production.

Seminar participants agreed that one of the most important tasks today is to increase crop yields by developing new varieties, mobilizing plant genetic resources, and using advanced biotechnologies—work now hindered by the weak link between biotechnology, breeding, and use of plant genetic resources in the country. Kazakhstan has stronger biotechnology capacity and more extensive plant collections than other Central Asian countries, but studies in those areas are conducted in parallel, without close interaction between breeders and biotechnologists. In most cases, biotechnology and molecular biology methods and developments stay locked away in the lab, with rare use by breeders and only rudimentary application to study, characterize, or use plant genetic resources for breeding.

Use of modern biological methods could significantly speed breeding, raise crop yields, and improve agronomic and economically-valuable traits. With Kazakhstan agriculture being categorized as ”risk farming,” biotechnology could help in breeding high-yielding, stress tolerant crop varieties.

ATMA project 2nd Phase launched

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By P.H. Zaidi

The project launch for Phase Two of Abiotic Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (ATMA) was held at the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of Hohenheim (UH) in Stuttgart, Germany during 30 May-01 June 2011. Phase One of the project, also known by its unabridged name, “Abiotic stress tolerant maize for increasing income and food security among the poor in South and Southeast Asia,” began in 2008 and is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

 The meeting was attended by scientists from collaborating institutions including India’s Directorate of Maize Research (DMR), Vietnam’s National Maize Research Institute (NMRI), the Institute of Plant Breeding at the University of Philippines, the University of Hohemheim (UH), and CIMMYT.

To begin the launch, UH’s Albrecht E. Melchinger welcomed all the participants with a recap of the over 20 years of collaborative research partnership between his institution and CIMMYT. M. Kruse, UH Dean of Studies, then gave an overview of the research activities at the Institute and its current collaborations with CGIAR institutions.

In the opening session, the participants discussed “Target environment and country perspectives,” with special reference to drought and water-logging prone maize growing areas in South and Southeast Asia. This was followed by country profiles during which a representative from each participating country gave an overview of their nation’s progress. tour of the facilities; including farm, seed storage, bio-gas plant, and farm machinery. Participants then visited the UH research station to see ongoing field activities focused on utilizing doubled haploid (DH) technology to advance maize. Participants were excited to learn about DH technique and see UH’s breeding facilities first hand. The meeting proved a wonderful success as the participants revisited the accomplishments of Phase One and solidified plans to make Phase two equally successful. Thanks to everyone who participated! Phase Two was kicked-off with an air of excitement as the meeting recapped the many success of Phase One, such as the development of new germplasm tolerant to drought and water-logging stress, the improvement of crop management strategies specifically tailored to abiotic stress-prone environments, QTL-mapping achievements, and socio-economic progress.

CIMMYT Senior Maize Physiologist P.H. Zaidi then switched the focus to the future of ATMA by discussing the objectives, project activities, outputs and intended project milestones of Phase Two.

The group discussed important components to Phase Two such as the project work-plan, the creation of an ATMA webpage, and the project budget and governance.

The third day was devoted to field visits, in which participants visited Dow Seeds, also in Stuttgart. The visit included a presentation on Dow’s global maize program and a tour of the facilities; including farm, seed storage, bio-gas plant, and farm machinery. Participants then visited the UH research station to see ongoing field activities focused on utilizing doubled haploid (DH) technology to advance maize. Participants were excited to learn about DH technique and see UH’s breeding facilities first hand.

The meeting proved a wonderful success as the participants revisited the accomplishments of Phase One and solidified plans to make Phase two equally successful. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Improved maize varieties for Oaxaca

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Following on from the story “Improved seed reaches the Pacific” in issue 1750 of the Informa, we would like to recognize the hard work of all those involved in the project “Modernization of maize production in Oaxaca with adapted maize cultivars to increase yields”. The project aims to help farmers in the coastal, Papaloapan and Mixtecas regions of Oaxaca to access and produce improved maize cultivars through a participatory maize breeding (PMB) initiative, and to ensure the in situ conservation of maize diversity. The project was initiated in 2009 and is a collaboration between CIMMYT and the research extension services of the Autonomous University of Chapingo’s South Regional Center (CRUS-UACh) in Oaxaca. It is led by Suketoshi Taba in CIMMYT and Humberto Castro in CRUS-UACh, with the participation of Víctor Chávez of CIMMYT and Eliud Oliva and Iván Vásquez of CRUSUACh, and other staff of both institutions.

Drawing on a diverse gene pool, pre-breeding work at CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank produced breeder seed of improved open pollinated varieties (OPVs) and inter-variety hybrids (IVHs). Project partners at CRUS-UACh produced declared seed (an intermediate category in the national seed system with less purity than certified seed) of these cultivars and delivered them to farmers, along with promising cultivars from other Mexican institutions and landraces collected from the communities. In addition to evaluation at CIMMYT, many trials, demonstration plots, and seed increase nurseries have been planted in farmers’ fields in different maize-producing regions in Oaxaca. The best-performing cultivars have been increased to make seed available to farmers and to the germplasm banks for conservation and enhancement. Unlike landraces, the improved varieties have genetic traits that allow mechanization and adoption of modern maize production practices, and high yield potentials similar to commercial hybrids.

The PMB approach has captured the attention of many farmers, students, extension workers, and government personnel who have participated in the project. It has proved its worth as an alternative approach to providing useful exotic germplasm to small-scale farmers in Oaxaca, linking them with public maize research and breeding without generating intellectual property rights claims. It can help in the evolution and conservation of local cultivars through crossing with new germplasm by farmer breeders as well as participating researchers. Farmers’ systems of seed exchange within social networks can operate for the adapted cultivars produced through PMB just as they do for other varieties. As a mark of the project’s rapid success, in the last two years 74 tons of seed have been produced and delivered to farmers for grain, forage, and elote (green ear) production.

SIMLESA strengthens project monitoring and evaluation capacity

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SIMLESA-ASARECA1SIMLESA strengthens project monitoring and evaluation capacity. A Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Workshop was held in Nairobi, Kenya, during 13-17 June 2011 as part of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume cropping systems for food security in Eastern and Central Africa (SIMLESA) project. It was facilitated by a team from the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and led by Enock Warinda.

The workshop inspired the development of key M&E frameworks and provided participants with information and tools for better result management. The five-day workshop employed a practical, interactive approach using case studies and analyses of real-life situations. Twentyeight participants were drawn from the SIMLESA country teams of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, plus representatives from CIMMYT.

SIMLESA program leader Mulugetta Mekuria opened the workshop, emphasizing the Program Steering Committee’s recommendation of a standardized M&E protocol. The workshop enhanced participants’ skills to develop the requisite framework, track project progress, and develop effective data-quality-management and performance-monitoring plans. By the end of the workshop, participants had developed action plans for M&E activities in their respective countries.

CIMMYT to lead global MAIZE alliance as CGIAR enters fifth decade

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manosA new era began this week with the launch of the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, a US$170 million global alliance to expand and accelerate research into maize, on 06 July 2011. The announcement was made during a celebration of the CGIAR’s 40th birthday, held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, marking a new direction for the CGIAR and demonstrating that after four remarkable decades it remains vigorous and committed to addressing emerging challenges.

“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.” Maize is the preferred staple food source for more than 900 million people, including one third of the world’s malnourished children. The program’s first target group is smallholder farmers, among the most vulnerable people in developing countries, particularly those who live in stress-prone environments and have poor market access. Forty million smallholder farm family members are expected to see direct benefits by 2020 and 175 million by 2030.

The program will be implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA), together with over 350 public and private partners worldwide. CIMMYT studies show that the demand for maize in the developing world is expected to double between now and 2050. Meanwhile, agriculture is under pressure from population growth, climate change, and natural resource degradation. Future expansion of maize area will come at the cost of crop diversity, forests, and erodible hill slopes. Fertilizer, water, and labor costs are also rising.

The challenge for MAIZE therefore is to find sustainable ways to grow significantly more maize on less land than ever before. The program is based on nine strategic initiatives, reflecting priorities for maize research. These are:

  • Socioeconomics and policies for maize futures
  • Sustainable intensification and income opportunities for the poor
  • Smallholder precision agriculture
  • Stress tolerant maize for the poorest
  • Towards doubling maize productivity
  • Integrated postharvest management
  • Nutritious maize [bio-fortified varieties]
  • Seeds of discovery [mobilizing maize genetic diversity]
  • New tools and methods for NARS and SMEs

All the strategic initiatives also include capacity building to empower a new generation of women and men scientists. 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.

“This is a highly ambitious project to address world hunger,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General. “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.”

For more information, see the proposal document at: http://staging.cimmyt.org/en/what-we-do/ maize-and-wheat-cgiar-programs

Checking in with friends: update on Wayne Haag

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tanzaniaQPM-WayneAfter a successful 37-year career and living on 4 continents, most people welcome retirement with open arms. Wayne Haag is not most people. Mission-oriented since childhood, the only question is, where will he end up next?

Assigned to CIMMYT as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in 1973, Haag first worked in Mexico alongside Dr Ernest Sprague and the maize team, and later as a maize specialist representing the center in Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East, and the South American region, where he continued until leaving CIMMYT’s employ in 1989. Since that time, and through the end of 2009, he worked with the Sasakawa Global 2000 program, an effort begun by Ryoichi Sasakawa and enlisting the participation and leadership of US President Jimmy Carter and Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, to offer sub-Saharan African farmers technology options for improving their productivity and food security.

During that tenure, in addition to other responsibilities, Haag focused on and promoted quality protein maize (QPM) in 12 project countries. Recently retired from SG 2000, Haag shows no sign of slowing down.

“I’m not ready for full retirement,” says Haag. “I hope to continue to be involved in international agriculture development. What form that will take? I’m not sure quite yet, but am in the process of exploring possibilities.”

Haag served in the US Peace Corps’ first project in Guatemala during 1963-64, an agricultural extension project, at the decree of President John F. Kennedy. Inspired by that experience, he later pursued studies in agricultural development and science at Michigan State University and Pennsylvania State University.

Throughout his long travels and career, Haag has preserved close linkages with CIMMYT friends and partners. “Every national maize program I worked with had a very strong partnership with CIMMYT,” he says. “Even though I may have not been employed by CIMMYT for many years, it is almost as if I have never left.”

This week Haag and his wife Maria were in Mexico to touch base with long-time coworker, friend, and retired CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist, Surinder K. Vasal. Vasal and retired CIMMYT cereal chemist Evangelina Villegas shared the 2000 World Food Prize for their work in the 1970-80s to develop QPM, seen as a breakthrough in maize breeding by Haag and maize scientists around the world. During a visit to El Batán, Haag said he is certain the center’s work with QPM is not done.

“It is my sincere hope that CIMMYT will strengthen its activities in quality protein maize. This can be done by increasing the numbers of maize breeders and concentrating on germplasm maintenance, improvement, and development,” he says. Haag believes CIMMYT can produce QPM open-pollinated varieties and hybrids that also contains enhanced levels of methionine, provitamin A, iron, and zinc. “This seed would revolutionize global maize production and add tremendous value to the crop both in terms of human and animal nutrition,” he says.

Cell phones talk agriculture in Hidalgo, MĂ©xico

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cellIndia has recently experienced a boom in cell phone use in the agricultural sector—disseminating information on anything from technology to agronomic practices, weather, or even market prices. Investigating this recent trend’s presence in Mexico, on June 26 a team of CIMMYT socioeconomists including Tina Beuchelt, Surabhi Mittal, Dagoberto Flores, and Jennifer Zehner visited the Chimalpa Valley in the municipality of Apan, state of Hidalgo, Mexico, an area largely known for being a barley production belt, to gauge the prevalence of cell phone use for agricultural purposes.

The trip involved a focus-group discussion with 12 farmers. The farmers were frustrated that extension services and information were not reaching them because of inadequate communication. They said they relied on their friends and family as their principle source of agricultural information. All participating farmers had cell phones, which they use for some agriculture-related purposes. Cell phone costs are relatively high, but the farmers save time and money by calling their technician, rather than having to travel by car to other towns seeking information. Apart from phone calls, there is not a great interest in sending or receiving agricultural information through SMS due to its high cost. Furthermore, it emerged that none of the farmers were using the existing SAGARPA SMS information service or were even aware of its existence.

As the CIMMYT team and farmers’ discussion progressed, farmers revealed that they would, indeed, like an agency that circulates relevant information, such as rainfall forecasts to make better planting decisions, crop prices, where to buy inputs, input applications, government subsidy programs, and relevant agricultural events. This information would allow farmers to be more efficient in their production. The farmers said they would also appreciate other modes of communication, such as a local agronomic television show or radio programs during the weekend from which they could obtain important agricultural information.

The farmers mentioned important constraints to information sharing, indicating the need for trustworthy external sources. They mentioned a lack of trust among neighboring farmers and that farming networks (or unions) are not well established. By the end of the discussion, farmers started showing more interest in how to obtain agricultural information via cell phone. While they were reticent about the use of cell phones and their cost, they mentioned that if cell phones could be used profitably, they might be willing to pay for such services in the future. This interaction between CIMMYT and the farmers is the initial step in understanding Mexican farmers’ perspectives towards cell phone use as a means of better communication and information dissemination.

New maize varieties keeping Kenyan inmates fed

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The Government of Kenya Prison in Machakos, Kenya, is not your average prison. Here, the inmates have their food security in their hands—quite literally. This is because they work the prison farm, which grows, among other food crops, three new CIMMYT maize varieties.

The prison is situated in a droughtprone area and with 1,000 inmates there at any one time, the prison management needs all the help it can get to feed its inmates. “We need 5 bags of maize daily—for the three meals—for all the inmates.

These new varieties give good yields even when rain is scarce,” says Paul Mukiti, the prison farm manager.

He refers to KDV1, KDV4 and KH500-21A—drought tolerant maize varieties developed by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), marketed by Dryland Seeds Ltd in eastern Kenya.

The prisoners till the maize fields planted with these varieties under the watchful eye of Mukiti and their wardens.

It all began when Dryland Seeds contacted Mukiti to grow KDV1 and KDV4 on his personal farmland. Impressed by their performance and business potential, Mukiti convinced his superiors to allow him try the grain varieties on the prison farm. Mukiti and his men grew KDV1 in April 2010 and KH500-21A in October of the same year.

“KH-500 needs more rain and takes longer but gives very good yields and that’s why we grew it in October,” says Mukiti. Last year, the prison’s maize farm yielded 170 bags of the two varieties. The prison had enough maize to feed the inmates and a surplus which it sold for extra income.

“This maize has helped us to save a lot of money which we would have been using to buy maize for the inmates,” says Mukiti. Currently, a 90-kilogram bag is retailing at KSh 2,700 (USD 30) and the prison would have spent at least  KSh 13,500 (USD 150) per day to feed the prisoners.  Last April, Mukiti and his men planted three acres to KDV 1 and two acres to KDV 4 and in June the crop was doing well, despite the prevailing drought. Mukiti is thankful for the new seed and confidently awaiting next month’s harvest.

Spreading the word on CA from Mexico

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AC21“It is very difficult to find conservation agriculture machinery. You have to go to China or India to get it,” said Mahesh Kumar Gathala, new CIMMYTBangladesh-based cropping systems agronomist for South Asia. Gathala, a native of India, was just one of the 15 participants invited to attend a five-week conservation agriculture course at CIMMYT-El Batán, Mexico, where improving machinery and professional capacity were hot topics.

Begun in late May 2011, the course combined research advances in multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable crop management with the vast experience of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The main aim was to enhance participants’ understanding of the use and application of conservation agriculture sowing technologies and relevant agricultural implements in irrigated and rainfed wheat and maize production systems.

The participants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Tunisia, India, and Turkey. For many, it was their first time in Mexico. They spent most of their time at CIMMYT-El Batán, but also visited the Toluca station and farmers’ fields in Hidalgo to see CA practices in action and share experiences from their own countries.

Gathala noted the major differences in CA farming in Mexico and South Asia. “Fields are much smaller in Bangladesh, and crop residues are in much higher demand as animal feed,” he said. “These conditions make CA more difficult to push.” A CA practitioner for a decade, Gathala nonetheless felt the course was useful: “There is always something new to learn and share.”

Participant Raju Teggelli of India agreed. “I enjoyed the coursework, especially the practical experience. I found the instrument calibration and the hands-on training most useful,” said the Entomologist from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, in Karnataka, India.

Sincere thanks to all who made the course possible, and especially to the participants for their valuable and engaging contributions.

Mobile seed marketing in Africa

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Mobile2Staff of this Tanzanian seed company drove a vehicle topped with Tanseed drought tolerant varieties in potters through the city’s crowded streets during the nation’s Worker’s Day Celebration. The crowd cheered as the vehicle entered Jamhuri Stadium and passed in front of the chief guest, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. And because the event was televised live on three national stations, the message about drought tolerant maize was likely viewed by a large audience.

This successful bit of mobile marketing was the brain-child of Tanseed CEO and managing director, Isaka M. Mashauri, a partner and beneficiary of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. Two drought tolerant varieties from Tanseed, TAN 250 and TAN 254, come from ZM 401 and ZM 721, varieties selected for tolerance to drought and low soil fertility conditions by CIMMYT at Chiredzi, Zimbabwe (for more details, see “No Maize, No Life”).

“At Tanseed, we aim to offer farmers many choices when it comes to drought tolerant maize varieties,” says Mashauri.

Calling on the G8 to meet the food security challenge

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Guest post by Farming First

Ahead of the G8 summit this week in France, Farming First has launched a new online infographic that demonstrates how agriculture can help build a green economy.

Green growth is one of the top items on the meeting agenda and, with the inclusion of African leaders at this year’s summit, the G8 leaders should foster policy coherence on food security and price volatility to achieve agriculture’s potential.

As a critical sector for achieving the G8’s goals of food security and a green economy, we have collected existing data from leading research organisations and assembled it into graphs and visuals to put agriculture forward in the wider political agenda.

The infographic clearly highlights the value and return to investment in agriculture, both in terms of poverty reduction but also in improving food security through increased productivity. The data also draws attention to the impact of agriculture on women’s livelihoods; 41 percent of total farmers worldwide are women, and this goes up to 64 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Despite this, the G8 leaders’s commitment to provide $22 billion to food security by 2012 has yet to be met. Agricultural productivity needs be addressed through investment in agricultural research and extension services, in order to feed a global population of 9 billion in 2050.

Food production must increase to ensure food security now and for future generations and it is increases in yield that will provide over 70 percent of that growth. The World Bank estimates that 1 hectare of land will need to feed five people in 2025, whereas in 1960, 1 hectare was required to feed only 2 people.

However, if we look at investment in agriculture today, the sector has been a victim of underinvestment for a long time, both in terms of government spending and foreign aid. Public spending allocated to agriculture declined to under 7 percent in 2000, and the share of ODA to agriculture fell to 5 percent in 2004.

The implications of a lack of investment are reflected in the present reality of crop yield growth. Grain yield growth in developing countries has fallen from 3% per year from 1961 to 2007, to a 1 percent increase per year today.

As an example of the huge potential that lies in investing in agricultural research, the impact of the Chinese government’s increased investment in agricultural research has helped China achieve year-on-year yield growth, making the country the largest agricultural producer in the world.

Through our infographic, we hope that G8 leaders will recognise the true contribution that farmers can provide to continued global prosperity, while helping to create sustainable livelihoods, reduce poverty and safeguard the environment. If we invest in farmers today, we can seize the challenge of growing a green economy.

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Farming First is a global coalition representing the world’s scientists, engineers and industry as well as more than 100 farmers’ associations and agricultural development organisations. Farming First calls for a broad- based, knowledge-centred approach to increase agricultural output in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.  To view Farming First’s position on the green economy, visit:  www.farmingfirst.org/green-economy

Willkommen, Herr BundesprÀsident!

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The long-standing and fruitful relationship between Germany and CIMMYT received a boost on 01 May 2011 when, as part of an official tour of Latin America, the President of the Republic of Germany, Christian Wulff, visited CIMMYT headquarters to learn more of the center’s work and discuss strengthened partnerships. President Wulff was accompanied by his wife, Bettina, and nearly 60 distinguished guests including German vice ministers and members of parliament, embassy personnel, and business and media representatives. Greeting the guests were CIMMYT Director General Tom Lumpkin and several of the center’s German and German-speaking staff.

After touring the main exhibition hall showcasing Dr. Norman Borlaug’s achievements and contributions to agricultural development, including his Nobel Prize of 1970 and the Aztec Eagle of the same year from Mexico, the entourage attended a presentation by Hans-Joachim Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program. The talk addressed food security and related constraints—climate change, the rising demand for grains, the increasing scarcity of resources like land, water, and fertilizer—as well as CIMMYT’s work in the developing world and its relationship with Germany, a long-term and significant supporter of the center. To name just a few examples, German contributions have funded work on stress tolerant maize for Africa, a regional wheat network for Central Asia, and wheat pathology research for South Asia. German staff at CIMMYT and our partnerships with German universities and institutes have been of enormous¡ value in getting improved technology to farmers.

The whirlwind tour then moved to the seed bank, with exhibitions of maize and wheat genetic resources outside and a visit inside to the upper seed storage chamber. In an impromptu closing statement, President Wulff thanked CIMMYT and described his positive impression of the visit and Braun’s presentation, which he called one of the clearest and most fact-based he had ever heard. Reports on the visit in the German media have referred to CIMMYT as a “highly-regarded research center.In addition to Lumpkin and Braun, CIMMYT staff interacting with the guests included Marianne BĂ€nziger, deputy director general, research and partnerships; Scott Ferguson, deputy director general, corporate services; Peter Wenzl, head of the crops research informatics lab; Susanne Dreisigacker, molecular biologist and head of marker applications in wheat; GIS expert Kai Sonder; agricultural economist Tina Beuchelt; Marc Rojas, coordinator of the International Strategy for Maize Improvement; and Petr Kosina, assisting with the event management.

A legacy lives on

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tolucaOn Friday 29 April 2011, Nobel Prize Laureate and father of the Green Revolution, Norman E. Borlaug, was awarded an honorary doctorate (postmortem) from the Universidad AutĂłnoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM) for his lifelong work to improve modern agriculture.

Although Norman E. Borlaug died in September 2009, his legacy lives on through his many contributions to the development of global agriculture, CIMMYT included. Because of his unwavering determination to feed the world, a ceremony was held at UAEM, Toluca, MX, where Eduardo Gasca Pliego, UAEM President honored Norman E. Borlaug. Dr. Borlaug’s daughter Jeannie Borlaug Laube came down from Texas to receive the honorary doctorate and speak of her father’s work in Mexico, and Toluca specifically, delivering a heartfelt speech in which she fondly recalled her life in Mexico.

CIMMYT Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin attended as one of the speakers for the event, stating:  “(Borlaug) was our spiritual father. His legacy and presence are a part of all of our projects and activities
 Many of his values – pragmatism, honesty, hard work, creative problem solving –are reflected in CIMMYT’s culture.”  Lumpkin also expressed his regret that Dr. Borlaug had not lived to witness the launching of MasAgro –a comprehensive initiative of the Mexican Agricultural Secretariat-SAGARPA, CIMMYT, dozens of public and private Mexican organizations, and Mexican farmers to raise crop yields, combat environmental degradation, and confront climate change. He stated that MasAgro has been an integral step in rebuilding the relationship between CIMMYT and Mexico, the decline of which was one of Borlaug’s greatest concerns. Lumpkin added that the launching of MasAgro “
 has demonstrated just how far CIMMYT has come in preventing Dr. Borlaug’s fears from coming true.”

The collaboration between UAEM and CIMMYT was also highlighted during the event. As part of MasAgro, the establishment of a long-term, conservation agriculture research plot on the university campus is in the final stages of approval. Research staff of the university will also be involved in testing improved maize varieties as part of MasAgro. Also recognized were the Agriculture Faculty Director, Artemio Balbuena Melgarejo, and scientists María de Guadalupe Gutiérrez and Andrés Morales Osorio for the integral role they have played in building the relationship between the UAEM and CIMMYT. Global Wheat Program Director Hans-Joachim Braun and 20 current and former CIMMYT staff also attended the event, including former CIMMYT wheat researcher and director Sanjaya Rajaram and several specialists who had worked with Dr. Borlaug beginning in the 1950s.

Conservation agriculture attracts Puebla farmers

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One of the general objectives of Conservation Agriculture and MasAgro is to create linkages, or strengthen already exisiting relations, among private agricultural organizations. With this in mind, a CA training course was conducted at the CIMMYT-TlaltizapĂĄn station in Morelos on 29 April 2011.

The course welcomed 35 agriculture entrepreneurs and three technicians from Puebla, who attended to learn more about CA and how to apply its principals ni their fields.

AC1Óscar Bañuelos, superintendent at TlaltizapĂĄn, began the course by welcoming all the participants. Bañuelos, who also attends Conservation Agriculture‘s technical certification course, applies CA technology throughout the season as a way to reclaim lots in disrepair and as an agronomic alternative to save on production costs.

Pedro Maldonado, President of the State Program of Conservation Agriculture (PEAC) in Puebla, and CA team member Andrea Chocobar also demonstrated at the event. Pedro Maldonado explained the forms of support that the Valles Altos CA Hub offers farmers interested in trying CA. Chocobar spoke about the basic principles of CA, such as the use of machinery as a key factor in the CA adoption process and the different variations of CA.

To end the course, the participants visited the fields of two farmers practicing CA, gowing mainly sorghum. The CA farmers spoke of the advantages of the system and the reasons inspiring its adoption. They also agreed that CA’s results can be seen when soil remains undamaged during times of heavy rain, which has led to significant cost savings and increased production. During the course, the CA team succeeded in promoting and enhancing the participation of producers of sorghum, beans, corn, and barley from the highland and semi-tropical zones of Puebla.