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The journey of a seed

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aug03Seed is the lifeblood of CIMMYT research and partnerships. Behind the scenes at CIMMYT, many thousands of seeds are on the move. Constantly arriving and departing as seed is shared with partners, they may journey through rigorous health testing in the laboratory, planting in the soils of the center’s research stations, or storage in the icy vaults of the germplasm bank.

No man is an island, and CIMMYT, as the world center for maize and wheat research, certainly isn’t. The center’s lifeblood is genetic variability: it is preserved in the germplasm bank; useful genes derived from it are incorporated in new varieties and shared with partners. These genes come packaged up in seeds, and countless seeds enter and leave CIMMYT every year, traveling to and from far-flung destinations including breeding programs of national agricultural research systems and private seed companies, CIMMYT’s global network of offices, and its research stations within Mexico.

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Seed arriving at CIMMYT-Mexico must pass through strict testing procedures in the Seed Health Laboratory (SHL), part of the Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit (SIDU). “For Mexico we represent a risk—we’re unique in importing seed from all over the world,” says Monica Mezzalama, seed health expert and plant pathologist in charge of the SHL. “We have a duty towards Mexico and our collaborators in other countries to make sure we are not distributing seed with diseases. It’s also important for seed quality—we send people our best material.”

Staff in the SHL test seed for insects, weeds, fungi, bacteria, and viruses (see photo slideshow). The lab routinely checks for pathogens under quarantine for Mexico and for partner countries. Seed that gets a clean bill of health—a “seed release”—moves on, often going to a breeder, whereby its potentially useful traits may enter improved varieties. Alternatively, it may be headed for another lab and more testing by scientists working on seed quality or micronutrient content. Finally, many seed samples are destined for storage in the seed bank.

Entering the vaults

On behalf of humankind, present and future, CIMMYT holds enormous collections of seed of wheat and maize, as well as of the crops’ wild and cultivated relatives. For Tom Payne, head of the wheat germplasm bank (seed bank), the focus is on useful diversity, particularly from materials that have already undergone some breeding. “The most valuable germplasm (genetic material or seeds) is the germplasm we know the most about. It lets you look for the traits you’re interested in,” he says. Nonetheless, Payne says that breeders also recognize the value of landraces—traditional farmer varieties—and wild relatives: “When Ug99 (a new, highly-virulent form of stem rust) broke out in Africa, we sent 4,000 randomly-selected landraces for screening and found new sources of resistance.”

In the case of wheat, once cleared by the SHL, seed of new samples for the germplasm bank goes into several packets with different destinations. At least 200 grams will enter the “active” collection, from which external requests for seed are met. Additional packets are prepared for long-term storage at CIMMYT and, finally, three partner banks as back-ups. Because the center normally receives small amounts of seed, it has to be grown out, or “multiplied,” to harvest enough for research, storage, and back-up purposes. Seed is also multiplied for distribution. Again, quarantine precautions require that new wheat seed first be grown at the center’s headquarters and then vetted by the SHL, after which it travels 2,500 kilometers north to be re-sown at a Mexican desert location certified as free from the diseases. The final product is shipped back to CIMMYT headquarters and once more inspected by the SHL.

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Regenerating germplasm bank collections

Eventually seed in the germplasm bank ages and begins to lose its ability to germinate. Also, supplies of frequently-requested samples eventually run short. When either occurs, viable seed from the sample is sown to replenish the collection—a process known as “regeneration.” “In 2008, the germplasm bank regenerated a record 18,000 wheat lines,” says Bibiana Espinosa, the principal research assistant who manages CIMMYT’s wheat germplasm collection. “That’s 45% more than in typical years.”

Pollen from a single maize plant can fertilize seed of many neighboring plants, so regeneration of maize seed is more costly and complex than for wheat plants, which are self-fertilizing. Maize crosses must be carefully mapped out and controlled to ensure that the diversity from the original sample is as closely replicated as possible. “Regenerating and storing one sample of maize costs around USD 250 or more—maybe 20 times more than a sample of wheat,” says Payne. “On a single hectare of land you can regenerate thousands of wheat lines, but because individual maize populations or landraces may embody tremendous genetic diversity, they require far more space to regenerate properly.”

Keeping track of hundreds of thousands of seed collections poses a serious challenge for germplasm bank staff. CIMMYT has recently begun marking seed packets with a barcode linked to crop database systems for physical and molecular traits. “The goal is to internet-enable all these databases and link to specific seed collections in the bank, helping people make selections,” says Payne.

Seed collections and genetically modified crops

“CIMMYT’s internal policy is to avoid the involuntary presence of transgenes in its germplasm,” says Mezzalama, referring to genes from other species that are introduced into crop plants like maize using genetic engineering. This means strict monitoring of maize seed that the center introduces from abroad, either for storage in the bank or for breeding purposes. As a further measure, regeneration plantings are surrounded by “sentinel plots” from which seed is harvested and tested in the laboratory to check for the possible arrival of foreign pollen.

On the road again

All seed in the germplasm bank has been certified as clean by the SHL, so it is always ready to be planted in the field or sent to anyone who requests it. However, like any traveler, it must carry a passport—an international phytosanitary certificate—to move between countries. In addition, CIMMYT seed travels only if prospective recipients accept the “Standard Material Transfer Agreement”—which stipulates among other things that the seed may not be sold or patented, and was adopted in the first session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

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Every year, SIDU receives hundreds of requests for samples of bank or breeding seed. CIMMYT also ships annual international nurseries (for wheat) and international trials (for maize). These are collections of the center’s best materials, grouped into sets for specific aims: high yield, heat tolerance, disease resistance, to name a few. Partners request sets, grow out and evaluate the experimental seed, and return data on the results to CIMMYT. The center collates and analyzes the data from all sources, publishes and distributes the results to partners, and uses the information to guide subsequent breeding efforts. Partners who grow the trials may keep and use seed of the varieties that interest them, or request additional seed.

Efrén Rodríguez, who is responsible for seed distribution, estimates that public research organizations make up around two-thirds of CIMMYT seed recipients; the rest are private sector seed companies. “In many countries requests from small seed companies are increasing as the sector grows, for example in Mexico and India,” he says. In wheat, 70–80% of requests are for international nursery material, whereas in maize about 70% are requests for materials from the germplasm bank. “We have around 500 CIMMYT inbred maize lines, and all the seed companies want a sample of these lines to use in their breeding programs,” says Rodríguez. His team can count partners in around 150 countries, and in a year meets around 800 requests for seed.

Most of this work by SIDU and the germplasm bank goes unnoticed by the casual visitor, but, says Mezzalama, “…the daily contact with people around the world who really need CIMMYT seed makes me feel very confident that I’m doing something valuable.”

For more information:

Tom Payne, Head, Wheat Genetic Resources (t.payne@cgiar.org);
Monica Mezzalama, Head, Seed Health Laboratory (m.mezzalama@cgiar.org)

Maize seed stakeholders agree on policy actions in sub-Saharan Africa

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On July 28, 2008, more than 60 senior policy makers from agriculture ministries, private seed companies, seed trade associations, regional trade blocs from 13 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries met in Nairobi, Kenya during the Regional Policy Workshop on Maize Seed Sector Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Key participants included the Kenya Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Japheth Mbiuki; Kenya Agriculture Permanent Secretary Dr Romano Kiome; Tanzania Agriculture Permanent Secretary Peniel Lyimo; the Assistant Secretary General of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy; the Secretary General of the African Seed Traders Association (AFSTA), Justin Rakotoarisaona; CEO’s of seed trade associations, and heads of agricultural research institutions and seed services. The meeting was organized jointly by CIMMYT and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project.

The experts discussed the challenges and opportunities for maize seed sector development in Africa, as identified in a 2007 maize seed sector survey – “An Assessment of the Institutional Bottlenecks Affecting the Production and Deployment of Maize Seed in Africa,” – conducted by Augustine Langyintuo, CIMMYT Economist and Diakalia Sanogo, IITA Economist.

In his remarks, the Kenya Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Japheth Mbiuki, lauded CIMMYT and IITA on conducting the maize seed sector report and organizing the stakeholder workshop to discuss its policy recommendations. He said, “The Kenya government is supporting the maize seed sector through initiatives such as increasing investments in agricultural research and extension; training of agrodealers and developing the National Seed Industry Policy.”

CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director, Marianne Bänziger emphasized the need to increase improved maize seed supplies beyond the current 28% levels: “Droughts and national production fluctuations are realities. Effective trade between countries and risk insurance strategies that better buffer seed supply within countries are at the core of stabilizing and increasing maize production.”

The meeting identified cumbersome seed policies, inadequate access to credit, a weak producer base, slow access to the best germplasm, and uncompetitive prices in local grain markets as the main issues hindering a more rapid development of the maize sector. “60% of seed companies’ investments go into seed production. They therefore need affordable credit over the mid to long term for them to produce enough seed to meet farmers’ needs,” said DTMA Project Leader, Wilfred Mwangi.

“Specific actions and commitments by national governments include committing increased funds (at least 10% of their national budgets) for agricultural development and harmonization of regional seed regulations which will improve rates of variety release, lower costs in dealing with regulatory authorities, increase trade in seed of improved varieties and ultimately (their) adoption by famers” said Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy, COMESA Assistant Secretary General. Obongo Nyachae, CEO of STAK said “The national seed policies in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are at various levels of development and we are pushing for harmonization.”

Seed production course at El Batán

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As part of a project conducted by CIMMYT, the USDA and Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry, SAGARPA, 40 researchers, extension agents, and maize specialists participated in a training course on seed production technologies at El Batán. Among the participants were researchers from Mexican federal, state, and local research institutions, and from ARIs such as ICAMEX, INIFAP, CP, among others, as well as from small local seed companies and farmer groups.

The course was coordinated by Silverio García, Hugo Córdova and Gary Atlin from CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program.

“The high costs of maize seed and complex end-uses of maize are two factors that hinder the adoption of improved varieties in Mexico’s central highlands,” said Atlin. “Therefore, it is important that participants in this production chain, particularly farmer groups and small businesses, become familiar with methods that lower costs without sacrificing quality.” Other course subjects included agronomic and storage practices, pest management, seed production site selection, and participative production.

Atlin said that, as a follow-up to this training course, farmer visits are being planned to trials on improved varieties and landraces with special traits at 30 locations, in collaboration with INIFAP, SEDAGRO, ICAMEX, CP, small businesses, and farmer groups. These activities will allow researchers to become familiar with farmers’ preferences and, at the same time, gather data on agronomic performance and grain quality, compare the advantages of improved varieties versus landraces, and select landraces for large-scale production.

Training course in Colombia: application of ecophysiology to crop improvement

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From July 21 to 25, 18 crop researchers attended Colombia’s Agricultural and Livestock Research Corporation (CORPOICA) for a 40-hour training course on the application of ecophysiology to crop improvement under stress conditions at the facilities in Villavicencia, Meta Province, Colombia.

The course was coordinated by Luis Narro and Alba Lucía Arcos, CIMMYT researchers based in Colombia, and José Luis Araus, CIMMYT researcher based in Mexico, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Barcelona (Spain), CORPOICA, and the National University of Colombia. In addition to staff from the organizing institutions, participants from other Colombian organizations, such as Federation of Cereal and Legume Producers (FENALCE) and Federation of Coffee Growers (FEDERECAFE), also attended.

The science of ecophysiology focuses on the physiological processes that take place during interactions between organisms at the community and ecosystem levels, as well as the interrelationships between live and inert systems (for example, the study of bio-geochemical cycles and biospheric-atmospheric exchanges), Therefore, the course focused on demonstrating, from a theoretical and practical standpoint, how physiology can contribute to crop improvement under stress conditions, with special emphasis on maize production in acid or low fertility soils and drought.

Meta Province is located within Colombia’s eastern Plains, a region where the farming sector has a bright future, but where problems such as acid soils, aluminum toxicity, and poor fertility have constrained productivity of maize and other crops. For this reason, the course was divided into the theoretical and practical aspects, and discussion; as an example, during field work using portable equipment, the participants learned to assess parameters that are important to crop development (for example, biomass, chlorophyll content, and plant moisture status).

The course was a great success thanks to the coordinators’ logistical efficiency, the participants’ enthusiasm, and the diversity of subjects covered. The course also gave us the opportunity to make contact with people who could help us establish agricultural research partnerships/networks in the future.

Mexican wheat farmers sign national agreement

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Representatives from national wheat farmers’ committees all signed a national agreement for wheat provisioning on 23 July 2008 at the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) facilities. The Secretary of Agriculture, Alberto Cárdenas, and a representative from the Economic Ministry also signed the agreement as witnesses.

This agreement confirms farmers’ willingness to reorganize and manage wheat production in Mexico, with the objective of increasing production and producing wheat that meets market demands.

During their speeches, Cárdenas and José Manuel Hernández López, a non-governmental representative from the National Committee for Wheat Production, stressed the importance of research and products developed by CIMMYT for the advancement of producers of basic foodstuffs in Mexico.

After the signing ceremony, Cárdenas along with others headed a tour of SAGARPA’s esplanade and learned about CIMMYT’s work in conservation agriculture through Fernando Delgado, Toluca Station Superintendent. Roberto Javier Peña, Head of the El Batán Cereal Quality Laboratory, also spoke to Cárdenas about wheat improvement and CIMMYT’s partnership with the Mexican Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP). María Teresa Rodríguez, Program Coordinator, Global Wheat Program, set up and ran CIMMYT’s display, along with Delgado and Peña.

The tour ended at INIFAP’s stand, which showed various modern wheat varieties, the majority of which originated from wheat germplasm developed by CIMMYT.

International nurseries shop revamped

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Every year, CIMMYT’s Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit (SIDU) ships more than 1,000 sets of seed for international wheat trials and 300 sets of maize to collaborators in over 100 countries. Seed to be shipped must undergo rigorous selection, cleaning, treatment, and packaging by SIDU-seed preparation personnel. A consignment for 36 tons of seed from Mexicali for trials for the 2009 cycle arrived on Tuesday 1 July 2008.

Before preparing the shipment, in June, Antonio Luna, David González, Andrés Guerrero, and four temporary workers performed maintenance on the seed-preparation facilities. “We wanted to renovate the appearance of our workplace, so we can be more comfortable working there, while taking into account the phytosanitary requirement of the facilities for proper seed handling,” said González. His program bought the paint and some other material and he and his co-workers painted the walls, the floor stands, and the seed treatment machines in the warehouse. “It took us took weeks to paint the floor stands because we used oil-based paint to avoid having toxic fumes, and we had to take them apart, move them to La Redonda, and paint them there. All the ceiling lights were also changed,” says González. On 27 June, personnel from the Mexican Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA) of Texcoco inspected the warehouse of 99 m2 to check that it had been properly washed with bleach.

Conservation agriculture course at El Batán

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Between 26 May and 27 June 2008 CIMMYT El Batán hosted a five-week course in conservation agriculture (CA) for visiting scientists, entitled “Laying the ground for sustainable and productive cropping systems.” The eight participants came from China, Ethiopia, and Romania for intensive training in CA and resource conserving technologies in irrigated and rainfed wheat and maize production systems, including reduced tillage and crop residue management strategies.

Many CIMMYT specialists contributed to the course: “It was a very holistic approach, with diverse content from a number of disciplines—from breeders, soil specialists, agronomists, crop protection people, and so on,” said Tesfay Araya, from Ethiopia. He will be the first conservation agriculture specialist in northern Ethiopia, and is keen to introduce this interdisciplinary way of working. “I saw people here working together with good communication,” he said. “That’s the most important thing, and it’s very unique. It’s one lesson I learned.”

Another important element of the course was hands-on learning: the trainees participated in the ongoing activities of CIMMYT’s Cropping Systems Management team at El Batán and at the Toluca research station, and in nearby farmers’ fields, developing the skills for trial planning, management, and monitoring. Each participant also had to define a clear research objective and draft a paper during the course, and the results will be combined in a special publication. “We learned skills in publishing, writing, reviewing data…we didn’t miss anything,” said Tesfay Araya.

For Zhang Bin, from China, seeing the way CIMMYT researchers communicated with farmers was food for thought: “maybe we can do more to transfer conservation agriculture,” he said. “When I go back I will do research on conservation agriculture, and if I have good results I will demonstrate it to farmers and try to transfer the technology to them.”Between 1996 and 2008 over 30 visiting scientists and 86 trainees from 26 countries participated in long-term courses and research on zero-tillage and bed planting conducted at CIMMYT’s El Batán and Obregón research stations in Mexico.

(Source: Training Office databases.)

Renewing and reinforcing partnerships in South Asia

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As part of global efforts to strengthen CIMMYT’s presence with key partners in important maize and wheat production regions, in recent weeks Tom Lumpkin met with high-level agricultural research directors and other CIMMYT friends in India and Pakistan.

In Pakistan during 25-28 June, discussions with Dr ME Tusneem, Chair of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), covered renewed collaboration on topics such as research to combat Ug99, the new strain of stem rust that is moving out of eastern Africa to threaten South Asia’s wheat crops. CIMMYT and Pakistan are also developing a new memorandum of understanding on partnerships and moves to reopen the center’s office in that country. Important contributions to the work and discussions have come from former CIMMYT wheat cytologist, Dr Mujeeb-Kazi, who led CIMMYT’s efforts to develop synthetic wheats, and Dr Mushtaq Gill, long-time CIMMYT partner and champion of zero-tillage in Pakistan.

In meetings in India during 30 June-01 July, it was agreed with Dr Mangala Rai, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), to develop a new five-year workplan that will be signed at the CIMMYT BOT meeting in India in October. Lumpkin also visited with Dr Gautam, ICAR DDG for Crops; Dr Mishra, Director of the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), and Dr Dass, director of the Directorate of Maize Research (DMR), and interacted with directors and staff of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), and the Directorate of Maize Research (DMR).

Lumpkin thanked Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT agricultural economist and liaison officer in India, for organizing the visits and accompanying him, in representation of the center. “Olaf arranged very productive programs in Islamabad and Delhi that should greatly reinforce CIMMYT’s stature in South Asia,” he said.

Quality protein maize cultivars released in El Salvador

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Three quality protein maize hybrids—Platino (CML144/CML159//CML503/CML502), Oro Blanco(CML503/CML492//CML491), and synthetic Protemas (03TLWQAB3)—were released to farmers at the headquarters of the national center for agriculture and livestock technology (CENTA) in San Andrés, La Libertad, El Salvador, on Wednesday 18 June 2008.

More than 500 farmers attended the ceremony along with extension agents and officials including the Minister of Agriculture, Mario Salaverria; the Vice Minister of Agriculture, Emilio Suadi; the Presidential High Commissioner for Agriculture, María Elena Sol; Ever Hernández, CENTA Board Chair; and Abraham Gonzáles, CENTA Director.

The Minister and the Vice Ministers spoke to farmers about the potential of the cultivars to alleviate hunger and malnutrition especially now, during the world food crisis. The new cultivars will be grown on 3,000 hectares this year, and the ministers promised that farmers will have enough seed to sow at least 20,000 hectares in 2009. Farmers who ran demonstration plots last year were happy that the cultivars were finally released.

Salaverria said he was impressed during a visit to CIMMYT last May and commended the center for its work to increase maize yields in El Salvador by 250 kg per hectare per year for the past 4 years. The national maize yield has increased to an average 3 tons per hectare, which is the highest in the region. The goal is to reach 4.3 tons per hectare in the next 10 years and to locally produce all white and yellow maize needed in the country. El Salvador is self-sufficient in white maize for food but imports all yellow maize used for the animal feed industry. The day of the release the price of yellow maize had reached USD 400 a ton.

On Friday 20 June Hugo Córdova participated in a forum organized by the El Salvador Agronomists Society (SIADES) to discuss actions to reduce the impact of the food crisis and present alternatives from the Organization for Health Improvement of Agricultural Workers and Families in Guatemala (AGROSALUD) to alleviate hunger, malnutrition, and reduce poverty. Salaverria, who is Minister of Agriculture and Chair of the Central American Council of Agriculture (CAC), reiterated his interest in supporting AGROSALUD.

Submitted by Hugo Córdova, CIMMYT Consultant

CIMMYT and IITA train economists in Stata

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During 07–12 April 2008, CIMMYT and IITA gave a training course for 25 collaborators from 13 countries in eastern, western, and southern Africa on “Modeling Agricultural Technologies Using Stata,” in Johannesburg, South Africa. The course was intended to contribute to harmonization of survey data collection, management, analysis, and econometric modeling using Stata by CIMMYT-IITA and its collaborators.

The course coordinators, CIMMYT–Zimbabwe economist Augustine Langyintuo and IITA economist Diakalia Sanogo, used a practical, hands-on approach and took participants through aspects of technology adoption modeling—rationale for adoption studies, adoption determinants, and technology adoption models. Langyintuo introduced Stata–econometric software and highlighted its potential for use in data analysis and modeling adoption of agricultural technologies.

The participants also had a go at working with the software, which was installed in their computers.

Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project leader, Wilfred Mwangi, underlined the expected roles of socioeconomists in his presentation on the DTMA project. He also acknowledged the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Mwangi urged course participants to use the knowledge gained to determine the impact of drought at household and national levels and thus inform the design of technologies, institutions, and policies.

Additionally, CIMMYT’s impact specialist Roberto La Rovere demonstrated, step-bystep, how to use the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) in streamlining data collection during surveys.

“I generate a lot of data and I am looking forward to using my new skills in Stata data management to prepare reports of my work with CIMMYT. I am confident that this process will now be much easier!” said Shamiso Chikobvu, principal agricultural economist with Zimbabwe’s Department of Agriculture and Extension. “The hands-on approach of the course made it more interesting and interactive and I look forward to sharing with my students what I have learnt about the use of Stata in modeling adoption,” said Simeon Bamire, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Agriculture at Obafemi Awolowo University and an IITA collaborator.

The course also represented collaboration between two CIMMYT projects—the DTMA and the New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA).

Bright times ahead: summary from the Board meetings

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CIMMYT Board of Trustee meetings of 06-09 April 2008 ended on a high note, with a presentation to Staff from the Chair of the Board, Lene Lange. Lene began by welcoming CIMMYT’s newest Board member and in-coming Chair of the Audit Committee, Tom McKay, and bidding a fond farewell to the Committee’s outgoing Chair, Edwina Cornish.

She also spoke enthusiastically about new Director General Tom Lumpkin and the sense of direction and energy he will bring to CIMMYT. She welcomed his emphasis on building on respect for staff to make CIMMYT a great place to work—attracting, recruiting, and retaining high quality staff, particularly female scientists, and maintaining high morale.

“CIMMYT is so important for the world that we need the very best,” said Lene, and staff need to be happy and motivated to be able to give their very best. It will take time, she said, but “it looks like we are getting up and setting up for really good times, where we will have leadership and at the same time build on consultation and transparency.”

Lene spoke of the challenging times facing the center and the need and opportunities for change, including CGIAR reforms, improving CIMMYT’s relevance, responding to the changing funding landscape, and implementation of a new intellectual property rights policy.

On the topic of stronger and broader partnerships, Lene spoke of making efforts to better explain and document CIMMYT’s value for Mexico and Mexican farmers and fighting for the best possible conditions, as well as fostering new collaborations with Mexican institutions. She also discussed the importance of improving and sustaining relationships with strong developing-country NARS such as India and China, and CIMMYT’s potential to act as a broker leveraging their research for the benefit of the poor of the wider world.

Lene ended by emphasizing the need for good internal communication, with dialogue between the Board and the NRS and IRS Committees, and recognizing CIMMYT staff in Kenya and Zimbabwe for their excellent work under difficult conditions. Finally, she thanked her fellow Board members and discussed future appointments, including maintaining a strong representation of women and members with a scientific background, and seeking connections with China. “It is a privilege and an honor to serve on the Board of CIMMYT, and we are doing our very best,” she said.

This was Lene’s final Board meeting at El Batán, and Julio Berdegué, Vice-Chair of the Board, spoke of her as both forceful and flexible, with a clear idea of where she wants to go but always willing to listen and build consensus. “She is a person who sees opportunities where many of us see a crisis,” he said. He recognized Lene’s many achievements, particularly building a cohesive, high-performing Board that CIMMYT can be proud of, and leading the transition in CIMMYT’s leadership.

In his closing talk, Tom Lumpkin spoke of making Mexico a partner rather than a client, and reassessing CIMMYT’s relevance to Mexico and Latin America as well as many other places in the world. He reflected on the globalized food economy and the need for a new, more flexible approach building on the ideas and knowledge within CIMMYT.

“We have a fabulous mission and…opportunities to take on some of the greatest challenges the world is facing,” he said. “Let’s work together, let’s rebuild, reshape this place, and a couple of years from now let’s look back and see a CIMMYT that’s got even more passion, and that’s busting at the seams with new people and new ideas and new activities.”

Conservation agriculture course in Toluca

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About 30 people attended an intensive course in conservation agriculture (CA) during 08-10 April 2008 at the CIMMYT experiment station in Toluca. The course, which was the first in recent years by CIMMYT in Mexico focusing on researchers and extensionists rather than farmers, was coordinated by cropping systems management specialist, Bram Govaerts, and the station superintendent, Fernando Delgado.

Public sector participants included representatives from the state of Mexico agricultural research organization, ICAMEX; from SEDAGRO, the secretariat of agricultural development for the state; from the Mexico’s national agricultural research institute, INIFAP; university professors and students; and a farmer. The private seed companies Monsanto, Aspros, and Tropico Seeds also sent representatives, in response to the course invitation. The event drew experts from key agricultural states of the country, including Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, and Mexico.

“We’ve worked with farmers, but this is a different level and a diverse group from many different parts of the Republic,” said Govaerts. “We want to train researchers and machinery manufacturers, and then pass on to them the work of disseminating conservation agriculture, once things get rolling.”

The course focused on both the theoretical aspects and practical applications of CA, including its use in experiment stations and in other parts of the world, its impact on soil-plant systems, pest and weed control, zerotillage and sowing maize on permanent beds, and prototypes of machinery that can be used for direct seeding. On the second day, there was a demonstration of direct seeding of maize into residues on Toluca’s rock-hard soils, and participants interacted with local farmers to learn from their experiences applying CA principles.

Borlaug visits Obregón; Patronato and Sonora give CIMMYT US$ 1 million

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Dr. Norman Borlaug had a joyous reunion on 02 April 08 with CIMMYT and Mexican friends and former colleagues at the place—the research facilities near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora state, owned by the farmers union ‘Patronato para la Investigación y Experimentación Agrícola del Estado de Sonora’ where he and his research team developed the Green Revolution wheats. His visit came on the occasion of the announcement there by Ronnie Coffman, director of international programs at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, of a US$ 26.8 million grant to Cornell by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch a global partnership including CIMMYT to combat the rust diseases of wheat, particularly the virulent stem rust strain from eastern Africa, Ug99.

At the same event, the President of the Patronato, Jorge Artee Elías Calles (in the photo), and the Sonora State Secretary of Agriculture, Alejandro Elías Calles, announced that the Patronato and the state of Sonora would give respective donations to CIMMYT of 6 million pesos and 4 million pesos—equivalent to nearly US$ 1 million—for research on the rusts and on Karnal bunt disease, “in honor of Borlaug, and to welcome the new DG, Tom Lumpkin.” “The farmers of the region are aware of Ug99 and the problems it represents in other part of the world and could cause in the Yaqui Valley (the Ciudad Obregón region) in the future,” says Artee. Borlaug, who recently turned 94 and has suffered serious bouts of illness, looked full of vigor and enthusiasm as he spoke to the gathering in fluent Spanish and, like on countless past occasions throughout his life, went to the field to inspect experimental wheat lines—this time, new ones that carry resistance to Ug99. “The rust pathogens recognize no political boundaries and their spores need no passport to travel thousands of miles in the jet streams,” he says. “Containing these deadly enemies of the wheat crop requires alert and active scientists, strong international research networks, and effective seed supply programs.” The new Cornell project essentially brings full circle work begun by Borlaug and Mexican associates 60 years ago in northwest Mexico, as part of the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Office of Special Studies, that resulted in the release of high-yielding, stem rust resistant wheats.

Among those accompanying Borlaug were his daughter, Jeanie Borlaug Laube, and granddaughter, Julie Borlaug. Members of the extended CIMMYT family who joined the event included Sanjaya Rajaram, former wheat breeder and program director; John Dodds, former deputy director general; Gregorio Martínez, former public affairs officer; Evangelina Villegas, former cereal chemist; Richard Ward, former head of the Global Rust Initiative; Reynaldo Villareal, former wheat training coordinator; and Chris Dowswell and David Mowbray, former heads of corporate communications. Norm’s presence, together with stellar logistics by numerous CIMMYT global wheat program staff and consultants, including personnel of the Obregón research station, together with the Cornell team, made the event a great success.

Ukraine counselor visits El Batan

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On 28 March 2008, Anatoly Rymar, Counselor from the Ukraine Embassy in Mexico, visited El Batán to discuss strengthened collaboration of his country with the center.

According to Alex Morgounov, CIMMYT wheat breeder/agronomist and regional representative for Central Asia and the Caucasus, there is already a dynamic partnership with the Ukraine. The three main wheat breeding centers in the Ukraine–Mironovka, Kharkov, and Odessa—actively participate in germplasm exchanges with the Turkey-CIMMYT-ICARDA International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP).

“In June 2007, two breeders from Ukrainian Plant Breeding and Genetics Institute in Odessa came to Turkey and participated in an IWWIP traveling workshop,” he says. “Their suggestions were incorporated in the final workshop recommendation, a guiding document for the program.” In July 2008, Morgounov and Hans Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s global wheat program, will take part in a conference at the Ukrainian Institute of Plant Production in Kharkov, organized partly to observe the 100th anniversary of the institute. Finally, joint work with the National Gene Bank of Ukraine is being explored to preserve some of their collections at CIMMYT.