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Youth in Ohio learn about agriculture and Borlaug’s mission

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Norman Borlaug may be gone, but his teachings and spirit live on. On May 21 2010, Ohio State University (OSU), USA, dedicated its “Scarlet and Gray Ag Day” to the late CIMMYT agronomist and hero. “Scarlet and Gray Ag Day” (named after the university’s colors) is designed to educate local fourth and fifth graders about agriculture and its importance to society. It is one of the university’s largest outreach events.

This year, over 600 students descended upon OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences campus for hands-on activities designed to teach them about wheat production, the Irish potato famine, plant diseases, and many other agriculture-related topics.

Julie Borlaug, the granddaughter of Norman Borlaug, was a guest of honor and spoke to the children during lunch. “It’s been fabulous to see fourth and fifth graders who are so far removed from agriculture experience it and enjoy learning about it,” she said. “My grandfather felt it was important to invest in today’s youth, who will be tomorrow’s leaders. I know that my grandfather would be proud of this amazing program.”

First-rate feedback on Mega-Program proposals

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1127With the words “congratulations for the good work of your teams,” on 18 June 2010 the Consortium Board returned its feedback on the MAIZE and WHEAT Mega-Program proposals recently-submitted by CIMMYT, in conjunction with IITA and ICARDA. Consisting of comments from three external reviewers and the Board itself, the critiques praise the proposals but lay out suggestions for improvement that include clarifying impact pathways and interactions and boundaries with other CGIAR initiatives; elaborating on partnership strategies; further analyzing gender issues; finalizing management approaches; and defining how the Mega-Programs will be monitored and evaluated.

One reviewer of the MAIZE proposal said: “The strategic vision presented in the proposal’s 10 Strategic Initiatives (SIs) is admirably comprehensive
. the conceptual structure of the presentation under each SI is excellent, and represents a model that could be followed in other Mega-Programs.” In the opinion of another: “The outcomes of the proposed work are clearly described and highly relevant
. the SIs concerning breeding and genetic diversity are highlights in excellent science.” The Board characterized WHEAT as an ambitious Mega-Program: “Its major strength is the relevance and
complementarity of the SIs. Together, they appear to work on achieving a common goal of boosting farm level wheat production while building resilience into the system.”

The MAIZE and WHEAT draft proposals were built on diverse partner feed-back, as expressed in direct day-to-day interactions and communications. For further refinement, the proposals went out for comment to more than 700 representatives in over 350 institutions, including national agricultural research programs, universities, advanced research institutes, non-governmental organizations, donor agencies, private companies, and farmer associations. To date, CIMMYT has received several dozen offering support or suggestions for improvement. Center staff have also taken advantage of individual visits and meetings like the International Wheat Conference held in St. Petersburg, Russia, during 01-04 June 2010, or the establishment of the Asia Hybrid Maize Consortium, to seek partners’ engagement and feedback.

CIMMYT is revising the proposals and will return the new versions to the Consortium Board in July 2010. Budgets, arrangements, and many operational details are under development, and in many cases implementation will be defined with partners when work gets underway.

8th International Wheat Conference and BGRI meeting, St. Petersburg, Russia

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Some 600 scientists from 77 wheat-producing nations gathered in the historic city of St. Petersburg for the 8th International Wheat Conference (IWC), 01-04 June 2010. The IWC is held every five years, the last conference taking place in La Plata, Argentina, in 2005. Opening sessions included a presentation by Hans-Joachim Braun, director, Global Wheat Program. The famous Vavilov Institute—one of the oldest and most comprehensive collections of germplasm—was also the focus of the introductory papers. CIMMYT was very well-represented, with presentations in different sessions by Tom Lumpkin, Susan Dreisigacker, Matthew Reynolds, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, Tom Payne, and retired CIMMYT wheat agronomist Ken Sayre, as well as poster presentations from many other global wheat program staff. “Every major wheat-producing country was represented and there was a strong private sector presence,” says Braun. “This really showed that wheat is back on the research agenda.”

Scientists join to combat new threat to world wheat crop.

Just prior to the IWC, leading wheat experts from Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas gathered for two days in St. Petersburg to address the threat of four new mutations of Ug99 wheat stem rust which are virulent against two important stem rust-resistance genes—SR24 and SR36—used widely in the world’s wheat breeding programs. “Most wheat varieties of the world are vulnerable to the original form of Ug99,” says CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh. “We will now have to make sure that every new wheat variety we release has resistance to both Ug99 and the new races.” Participants included specialists from CIMMYT, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), which organized the event.

Mega programs discussed in Bangladesh

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Recent meetings in Bangladesh about collaboration for improved food security focused on two new CGIAR mega programs for maize and wheat. Global Maize Program director BM Prasanna and Global Conservation Agriculture director Pat Wall met with scientists at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) and members of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in late May, and received positive feedback on partners’ desire to help implement these programs in Bangladesh.

After talking with CIMMYT representatives, Wais Kabir, BARC’s executive chairman, expressed his satisfaction about the comprehensive nature of the two megaprograms and thanked CIMMYT for the long-term functional partnership with BARI under BARC in various research projects in Bangladesh. He said that BARC would like to be a key partner in the maize and wheat mega programs. Other consulted organizations in Bangladesh included the International Rice Research Institute, WorldFish, and USAID.

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Communicating CA among stakeholders in Mexico

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The “Second Week of Conservation Agriculture (CA),” in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, which ran from 28 May to 03 June 2010, consisted of a series of activities coordinated by the CA-Mexico team to encourage communication among farmers who have adopted CA techniques, authorities, and members of organizations that support CA.

Communication panels with farmers and tractor drivers, an awareness event about the negative effects of burning field residues, and a day of maize harvesting were all designed for participants to share experiences and learn more about CA. There was also an official ceremony that included farmers, various authorities, engineers, researchers, and representatives of the private sector.

Bram Govaerts and MarĂ­a CĂĄrdenas of the CA program both gave presentations on sustainable agriculture. Govaerts explained the basics of CA and the results obtained so far from using it, while CĂĄrdenas gave a report on the use of the GreenSeeker technology. These presentations were followed by a day spent at local modules, which are plots owned by farmers who have adopted CA. Participants also saw experiments that compared CA productivity and profitability with traditional agricultural practices.

180The events were covered by local press and television channels. One topic that generated a lot of interested was stubble burning. The demonstration burning was performed at the Norman E. Borlaug Experiment Station (CENEB) in long-term, experimental plots to show the negative effects this practice has on the environment. This activity was made possible with the permission of the Environmental Management Department of Ciudad ObregĂłn. CA team member JesĂșs Mendoza gave several interviews on this subject.

The “Second CA Week” was an initiative of CIMMYT; the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock (INIFAP); Mexico’s national wheat marketer’s organization (CONATRIGO); Patronato for Research and Agricultural Experimentation of the State of Sonora (PIEAES); the Association of Agriculture Organizations of Southern Sonora (AOASS); the CIMMYT-ASGROW project; and several other institutions interested in promoting sustainable farming techniques.

During the week, Antonio GĂĄndara AztiazarĂĄn, president of the PIEAES southern zone, announced that for the 2010-11 crop cycle his organization will begin to use CA in one of their seed multiplying plots. The plan is to start in an experimental area, and then expand after gaining experience.

Planning for the Hybrid Maize Research Consortium

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A new consortium for hybrid maize research is scheduled to launch during the summer of 2010. In anticipation, CIMMYT-Asia organized a pre-launch meeting on the campus of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India. Over 40 participants from 27 national, regional, and multinational seed companies attended the meeting on 28 May 2010.

The meeting was structured to initiate partnerships between CIMMYT and private seed companies for the advancement of training, development, and testing for inbred and hybrid maize, which will be a key part of the Hybrid Maize Research Consortium (HMRC). This meeting was a follow-up to a previous awareness meeting held in March.

The day started with a welcome from senior CIMMYT maize breeder B.S. Vivek who explained the objectives of the meeting and introduced the HMRC concept, including three proposed consortium sub-projects: development and distribution of inbred lines, training of personnel, and evaluation of maize hybrids. He was followed by B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) director, who presented on the GMP and explained the maize mega program. Discussions continued with a presentation on ICRISAT’s experience with private partnerships given by C.L.L Gowda, global theme leader of crop improvement at ICRISAT, and a presentation on pearl millet hybrid parents given by ICRISAT principal scientist K.N. Rai.

The afternoon was also action packed. CIMMYT maize physiologist P.H. Zaidi started off with a presentation on target traits and environments proposed for the HMRC. Participants were then asked to share their own priorities on target traits and to evaluate environments. Vivek concluded the day with an explanation of the proposed structure and organization of the HMRC, including its membership levels and benefits. He said that public sector non-commercial institutions will continue to be able to access germplasm without any restrictions. Also, a draft of a memorandum of agreement for HMRC was distributed, and 25 companies submitted HMRC membership pledges. Participants said they appreciated CIMMYT’s work in initiating the HMRC and that they hope it will serve as a platform for strengthening their maize breeding programs.

Training workshop for maize technicians in Africa wraps up its 13 country journey in Kenya

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A training workshop for maize technicians was held from 17–21 May 2010 at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) station in Embu, Kenya. Organized by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project in collaboration with KARI, this is the final of the 13 DTMA countries to benefit from this training.

The workshop was officially opened by Wilfred Mwangi, associate director of the Global Maize Program (GMP), who emphasized the importance of taking technology to the farmers. In his remarks, Mwangi focused on the project’s aim to change farmers’ lives by improving the yield of drought tolerant maize varieties in drought-stressed areas. “Over the past four years, CIMMYT and its partners have developed tools to help build individual capacity by taking technology to the farmers,” he said. Mwangi introduced Prasanna Boddupali, GMP director, to CIMMYT collaborators in Kenya. Stephen Njoka, KARI-Embu center director, attended the opening of the course, and later conducted the closing ceremony.

A total of 35 participants attended the workshop, drawn from five KARI stations (Embu, Kakamega, Katumani, Muguga, and Mtwapa), seed companies, NGOs, and the CIMMYT field station in Kiboko. The training focused on upgrading technical staff’s skill and knowledge of field trial management, variety testing, registration, and release. Topics covered included breeding for abiotic and biotic stress, management of trials and nurseries, hybrid development, on-farm variety testing, seed production, variety descriptors, variety release and registration, and use of the CIMMYT Fieldbook software for pedigree and data management. Course presentations were in the form of lectures, demonstrations, and practical sessions.

178Course participants displayed great enthusiasm and readiness throughout the training. Christine Khalamua (pictured) from KARI-Kakamega expressed her gratitude at having been selected to take part in the training, and was sure that the knowledge acquired during the course will greatly benefit her work. “I have especially learnt a lot about randomization of trials,” she said. The teaching was well supported with images that gave a clear description of the science, said Fred Manyara, a participant from KARI-Embu. “The course covered all activities that maize technicians are involved in. It was very useful and has greatly helped us in understanding the work that we do.”

Resource persons for the training were CIMMYT maize breeders Dan Makumbi, Peter Setimela, Stephen Mugo, and Yoseph Beyene; CIMMYT research assistants Silvano Assanga, Haron Karaya, Andrew Chavangi, and Joseph Kasango; KARI maize breeder James Gethi; and Evans Sikinyi of Seed Traders Association of Kenya (STAK).

Live from the 8th International Wheat Conference (St. Petersburg, Russia) – day 3 and 4

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4669283626_59a7170be0_zThe agenda for day 3 of the event (03 June 2010) was content-lighter, with an afternoon visit to Catherina’s Palace in Carskoe Silo (Pushkin village) , near St. Petersburg. The morning, however, was dedicated to presentations of the 6th session – ‘Biotechnological and genomics tools in wheat improvement.’ Presenters included E. Akhunov, R. DePauw, P.M. Chandler, S. Dresigacker, T. Lumpkin, K. Eversole, P. Sourdille, W. Daowen, and R. Trethowan).

The last day of the confrerence started with plenary session 7 – ‘Wheat genetics and breeding for grain quality.’ Among the presenters appeared P.Shewry, I. Ortiz-Monasterio, S.L.K.Hsam, N.Litvinenko, W. Tao, and D. Vazquez. After lunch and poster presentations, the last session (8) of the conference began, focusing on  Global research initiatives and international co-operation presented by M.Reynolds, A.van Gastel, T. Payne, D. Cornes, E. Runge, and H.J. Braun.

The organizing commitee (newly compiled of 29 memebers) is collecting applications for the organization of the 9th IWC in 2015. Applications will be accepted up until 01 October 2010.

Follow the event at Twitter: #globalwheat

More aggregated information: http://tinyurl.com/2w53xom

Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/8iwc/

Live from the 8th International Wheat Conference (St. Petersburg, Russia) – day 2

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Day 2 of the event (02 June 2010) was indeed the busiest day of the whole conference full with rich presentations. Plenary sessions included:

  • Wheat genetics and breeding for abiotic stresses (Presenters: S. Baenziger, M.Lopez, R.Norton, O.Abdala, M. Parry, Y. Shavrukov)
  • Wheat genetics and breeding for biotic stresses (Presenters: R.Loughman, S.Goodwin, P.K.Singh, L.Tamburic-Ilincic, R.McIntosh, P.Faccio, S.Chakraborty, N-O.Bertholdsson)
  • Wheat breeding for yield potential (Presenters: D. Calderini, S.Qixin, F.Gonzales, A.Pask, S.S.Singh)

The day closed with a  Gala dinner with a dance & light performance in Show Hall “Atmosphere.”

Follow the event at Twitter: #globalwheat

More aggregated information: http://tinyurl.com/2w53xom

Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/8iwc/

Trainees become the trainers

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In early March 2010, CIMMYT gathered 33 farmers and agricultural leaders for a course on science and technology transfer. Less than two months later, several of the participants have already embraced their role as technology disseminators. Between 28 April and 14 May, information from the original March course, held in Toluca, trickled down to 118 additional farmers through 6 different training events. The training activities took place in different locations with different strategies, but had a single purpose: to take theoretical and practical knowledge to Mexican wheat producers.

Much of the training was spearheaded by the technical staff of AGROCIME, a private agricultural service provider that specializes in technical assistance, credit management, and agricultural promotion. Based in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, AGROCIME members, who had attended the Toluca training, hosted five events throughout the state. The days included training on soil analysis, estimating proper fertilizer doses, identifying crop plagues and diseases, weed control, and sprinkler calibration. Also, another service team from Rinconcito Norteño with offices in Río Grande, which had also been trained in Toluca, joined the training team.

The sixth event was organized by the State Committee of the Wheat Production System (ComitĂ© Estatal del Sistema Producto Trigo Zacatecas, CESPTZAC) on 14 May. Its 10 participants consisted of large-scale wheat producers, representatives of wheat producer organizations, and other wheat officers. The event was held jointly with the Zacatecas State Council of Wheat Producers, and was attended by its president (standing back left). The event was combined with the opening of new CESPTZAC offices and the introduction of the 2010 state governing plan for wheat production in Zacatecas. The meeting was led by Jorge A. Acevedo, president of CESPTZAC, who attended CIMMYT’s course in Toluca. Acevedo continued to work with Fernando Delgado, Toluca station superintendent, for several weeks after the course to learn more about tractor operation, land preparation, and crop practices. In addition to these topics, the event also included a plan to establish demonstration plots for bed planting. This multi-organization collaboration ensures that CIMMYTprovided information will be widely disseminated, which is one of the important agreements between the center and SAGARPA.

CIMMYT’s Pedro Aquino, principal researcher, and Federico Carrión, database administrator for the Socieconomics Program, attended four of the six courses. In addition to being introduced to wheat farmers and producers, they conducted surveys that will enable them to analyze the current status of wheat in Zacatecas.

Congratulations and thanks to the staff of AGROCIME Consultores, Rinconcito Norteño, Zacatecas State Committee of the Wheat Production System, and the Zacatecas State Council of Wheat Producers for all their hard work this month!

Day 2 of the 2010 technical workshop of Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in St. Petersburg

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Second day of the 2010 Technical workshop started with Session 4 on ‘Molecular Studies of Rust Pathogens chaired by Solomon Assefa (DG of Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research):

  • Sophien Kamoun (The Sanisbury Laboratory, John Innes Center, UK) focused on Exploiting Pathogen Effectors in Breeding and Deployment of Disease Resistance (N/A)
  • ‘How sweet is Parasitic Life?’ asked Ralf Voegele (Hohenheim University, Germany) in his presentation describing nutrient uptake in rust fungi
  • One of few women scientists in the workshop, Cristina Cuomo (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA), presented Comparative Genomics of Rust Fungi

To the session 5 on ‘Pathogen Evolution’ chaired by M. Yaqub Mujahid (National Agricultural Research Center, Pakistan) included:

4655266659_925d84290e_bDuring the special luncheon ‘Jeanie Borlaug Laube’s Women in Triticum Award’ was presented to the first 5 awardees – Hale Ann Tufan (Turkey); Jemanesh Kifetew Haile (Ethiopia); Esraa Alwan (ICARDA), Jessica Rutkoski (USA) and Maricelis Acevedo (USA), followed by special presentation by Eija Pehu (The World Bank) on ‘Gender equity in agricultural research and extension’

Thomas Lumpkin (DG of CIMMYT, Mexico) chaired the session 6 focused on ‘Advancing Rust Resistance Breeding: Germplasm and Tools’:

IMG_2048-arrangedThe last session (7) was panel discussion on ‘Delivering  Rust Resistant Wheat to Farmers’ chaired by Arun Joshi (CIMMYT, Nepal). Panelists included Peter Njau (KARI, Kenya), Girma Bedada (EIAR, Ethiopia), Mahmood Osmanzai (CIMMYT, Afghanistan) and M. Azab (ARC, Egypt).

The 2010 BGRI technical workshop was closed by pithy and acerbic summarizing presentation of Bob McIntosh (PBI, Uni of Sydney, Australia)

Live from 2010 technical workshop of Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in St. Petersburg

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IMG_1962smallMore than 600 wheat breeders, pathologists and representatives of national agricultural research institutions arrived in St. Petersburg to discuss rusts affecting wheat production globally. After introductory remarks byJeanie Borlaug Laube (BGRI chair), Ronnie Coffman (BGRI vice-chair), and Dr. Swapan Datta, DDG (CS) of ICAR, day started with session on ‘World of Rust: Global perspectives’:

Afternoon session was focused on ‘Global Climate change: Projected Impacts on Rust Epidemiology’:
IMG_1966-small

The day ended by discussion moderated by Kathie Kahn on ‘Management of Major Genes and Minor Genes’ (recording of the presentations and discussions will be available on http://www.globalrust.org) in week or two.

CIMMYT stories from Colombia

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Varieties of QPM released
Two new quality protein maize (QPM) varieties, designed to thrive in the tropical lowland coffee production zones of southwest Colombia, were released on 14 April 2010. CIMMYT-Mexico developed these two varieties—yellow maize FNC 31AC and white maize FNC 32AC—and the Fundación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDAR) evaluated them, under the supervision of Luis Narro of CIMMYT-Colombia. More than 150 people attended the launch event, held at the fields of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Palmira, a city in the Cauca Valley, Colombia.

The two varieties yield five tons per hectare, similar to normal maize, but have more tryptophan (0.08% compared to 0.05% of normal maize). Tryptophan is one of two amino acids required for protein synthesis in humans and swine livestock. The release of these QPM varieties is part of the Agrosalud Project, which aims to develop and disseminate biofortified crops, including maize, bean, rice, and sweet potato, and was the result of collaboration with CIMMYT, CIAT, and FIDAR. The National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers (FENALCE) will take charge of seed production and distribution.

Visits and collaborations at CIMMYT-Colombia
The Global Maize Program’s new director, B.M. Prasanna, continues his travels to CIMMYT’s extensive and wide-spread maize offices. His most recent stop was to CIMMYT-Colombia where from 26-28 April he met with CIMMYTColombia staff and coordinated collaborative activities between CIMMYT and CIAT for Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Included among other activities was a visit to one of the research stations of the Federación de Cafeteros de Colombia. The experimental station, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones de Café (CENICAFE) La Catalina, is a key area for maize-coffee trails. The director of the station, Carlos Gonzalo Mejía, showed Prasanna (accompanied by Félix San Vicente, maize breeder, and Reymunda Labuguen, program administrator) the fields where since 2002 CIMMYT has collaborated with FEDERECAFE (the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers) and FENALCE to sow maize among coffee trees. FENALCE researcher Argemiro Moreno highlighted the benefits of this crop combination, pointing out that maize yields in coffee production zones are high. This year, for example, experimental maize fields at La Catalina yielded 18 tons per hectare.

Agronomic management was another topic of conversation. FENALCE researcher Argemiro Moreno showed staff how to use GreenSeeker, a tool that allows farmers to apply the proper amount of nitrogen to their fields, which he learned about during a recent visit to CIMMYT’s Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Station, in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico.

Later, a meeting with Rubén Echeverría, director general of CIAT, led to the conclusion that CIMMYT and CIAT can and should increase collaboration for key areas in Latin America. Highlighted initiatives included 1) improving efficiency in the maize-bean-cattle production systems, 2) efficient utilization of new tools and methods to improve and expedite plant breeding and selection, 3) evaluation and promotion of precision agriculture technologies, and 4) capacity building with students and farmers for faster, effective technology adoption.

To follow-up on these identified issues, the visitor group toured CIAT facilities and met with some of the researchers involved in the emphasized areas, including Michael Peters, tropical forages program leader, Idupulapati M. Rao, physiology and plant nutrition, and Steve Beebe, bean breeder.

Fieldbook course
Two CIMMYT-Colombia team members led a course on Fieldbook during 13-14 May 2010. The course attracted 10 participants, including representatives from two local seed companies, Semivalle and Sem-Latam S.A, and agronomy students from the CorporaciĂłn Universitaria Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia.

Yacenia Morillo, head of Semivalle’s basic research, said that Semivalle will embrace this new knowledge and software, and thanked course organizers NĂ©stor Romero and Alba LucĂ­a for their hard work. Counting this event, CIMMYT has now trained nearly 100 Latin American researchers from public and private organizations in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Young Mexican scientist to present work at global conference in St. Petersburg

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Several CIMMYT wheat scientists are packing their bags for St. Petersburg, Russia, where over 600 participants will gather for the 8th International Wheat Conference, running from 29 May to 04 June, and for the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative Technical Workshop on 30-31 May. Among them will be Nayelli Hernández Espinosa, a young Mexican research assistant with the GWP’s Wheat Quality Lab who joined CIMMYT in 2006.

http___intranet.cimmyt2HernĂĄndez previously studied agro-industry engineering at the University of Chapingo, Mexico, and she now uses her skills to foil the wheat stem rust Ug99. She has been analyzing biochemical, chemical, and rheological characteristics of specific CIMMYT wheat lines (previously believed to be of little use) to determine which ones have both Ug99 resistance and the quality types that correlate with wheat uses in South Asia. Selected lines will be sent to Asia, where they will be evaluated for yield potential and regional adoption. This work impressed the Monsanto Fund, which is funding HernĂĄndezÂŽs trip to St. Petersburg to present her studies and findings.

Combining Ug99 resistance with the resistance with the diverse traits that affect yield and quality is interesting work, Hernåndez said, but added that it has been, and continues to be, a team effort. She thanks her colleagues in the Wheat Quality Lab for their assistance, and Roberto Javier Peña, wheat quality expert and laboratory head, for his guidance.

Maize-legume project launched in southern Africa

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During 11-15 May 2010, CIMMYT scientists from the Conservation Agriculture, Socioeconomics, and Maize programs met with SIMLESA partners in Malawi and Mozambique, coinciding with each country’s official SIMLESA launch. SIMLESA (Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa) is new four-year project to improve farm-level food security and productivity in eastern and southern Africa. The project is a collaboration of international and national agricultural research programs, led by CIMMYT, funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and implemented in collaboration with national partners.

On 12 May in Malawi, the Principal Secretary of Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Andrew Daudi, announced the beginning of SIMLESA-Malawi. Daudi expressed his gratitude to the Australian Government and ACIAR for their generous financial assistance to SIMLESA, and to CIMMYT and its partners for developing the program document and preparing for the start of field activities.

Two days later, the Governor of Mozambique’s Manica Province, Ana Comuane, officially launched SIMELESA-Mozambique on 14 May in Chimoio, the province’s capital city and where the national maize research program is based. The Governor congratulated all those who assisted with the project’s development and encouraged SIMLESA partners to maintain the partnerships and collaborations fostered by the project, which will help meet the goal of increased productivity. She also extended her gratitude to ACIAR and the Australian government for their financial assistance.

SIMLESA project leader Mulugetta Mekuria, along with CIMMYT and ICRISAT scientists Bekele Shiferaw, Patrick Wall, Mosses Siambi, and Emmanuel Monyo presented project specific objectives and facilitated the subsequent discussions. National agricultural research institutes and private sector partners also outlined the current status and challenges of research in their respective organizations. In both Malawi and Mozambique, partners indicated their commitment to the implementation of the planned project activities. TV and press media in Malawi and Mozambique extensively covered the launch and inception meetings, and related government officials, SIMLESA project leaders, and national coordinators gave interviews.