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Integrated initiative launches in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

Written by Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan on . Posted in News.

TAFSSA inception workshops in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. (Credit: CIMMYT/CGIAR)

CGIAR, in collaboration with government agencies and other relevant stakeholders, held country launches of the Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) Initiative in three of its four working locations: Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

TAFSSA, which also operates in Pakistan, aims to deliver a coordinated program of research and engagement, transforming evidence into impact through collaboration with public and private partners across the production-to-consumption continuum. The end result will be productive and environmentally sound South Asian agrifood systems that support equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, as well as contributing to improved farmer livelihoods and resilience, while conserving land, air and groundwater resources.

A vision for South Asian agrifood systems

The three country-level launch events provided a platform for CGIAR’S partners to discuss TAFSSA’s five key areas:

  1. Facilitating agrifood system transformation through inclusive learning platforms, public data systems, and collaborations.
  2. Changing agroecosystems and rural economies to increase revenue and sustain diverse food production within environmental constraints.
  3. Improving access to and affordability of sustainably produced healthful foods through evidence and actions across the post-harvest value chain.
  4. Addressing the behavioral and structural factors of sustainable healthy diets
  5. Building resilience and limiting environmental impact.

The three inception events in Nepal, India and Bangladesh also provided a space for open debate on creating partnerships to achieve common goals, through multidisciplinary conversation on each focal area. Breakout sessions were also held according to emphasis area, explaining the initiative and its components clearly and providing opportunities to brainstorm with participants on how to build more stakeholder-responsive activities.

More than 70 participants attended each inception session, both in-person and online, representing government agencies, CGIAR and its research centers working on TAFSSA, international organizations working in the region, academic institutions, and other key stakeholder groups.

Project endorsements

At the launch event in Nepal on June 9, Temina Lalani Shariff, regional director for South Asia at CGIAR, described TAFSSA as a gateway to the rest of CGIAR’s global research efforts. She explained, “More than 100 partners from around the world will exchange their knowledge, skills and expertise through CGIAR’s new platform to work together for agriculture development.”

Purnima Menon, TAFSSA co-lead and senior research fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), presented the project in India on June 15. “The research portfolio and engagement plan we’re proposing is really intending to cut across the food system,” said Menon. “We want to engage people in production systems, people in the middle of the value chain, and consumers, to build the research portfolio. The idea is to do so in a way that is interlinked with the five new CGIAR impact areas and that amplifies CGIAR’s research on the ground.”

Introducing TAFSSA in Bangladesh on July 18, Timothy J. Krupnik, Initiative lead and senior agronomist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), stated, “The approach we’ve taken while developing this Initiative was to first look at agrifood crisis issues in South Asia. We evaluated key challenges in this region which has world’s highest concentrations of hunger and poverty.” He highlighted climate change, resource constraints and social structural inequalities, all of which will be addressed by TAFSSA through several focus areas.

Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Chairman of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) welcomed these ideas at the TAFSSA Bangladesh launch. “If we want to create an intelligent society or nation, if we want sustainability, we must provide nutrition for all,” said Bokhtiar. “In this region, I believe that combining science, technology and innovation in the TAFSSA initiative will deliver good results.”

Shariff also attended the launch in Bangladesh, where she remarked, “We are here to share a common path to work together to confront the challenges. For that, cooperation is the essential component which is common across Nepal, India and Bangladesh.”

At each of the launch events, TAFSSA was announced as a flagship initiative in South Asia by Martin Kropff, managing director of Resilient Agrifood Systems (RAFS) at CGIAR. He expressed confidence that it would be the first regional program to deliver significant development results and acknowledged that the planned collaboration and partnership with national research institutes would ensure TAFSSA’s success.

Drought-tolerant maize and use of forecasting in agriculture praised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

The work of maize and wheat scientists at CGIAR and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been featured in the latest Goalkeepers report from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which launches with the Global Goals Awards on September 20 and an open-to-all live-streamed event on September 21. 

In analysis of why the Ukraine crisis is heavily impacting Africa, the report’s introduction from Bill Gates delves into reasons behind reliance on crop imports. Most farmers in Africa are smallholders with small plots of land and have limited capacity to use fertilizers or have access to irrigation. This means that any shock to the food system, such as the disruption to the global supply chain caused by the Ukraine conflict, hugely impacts the yield levels, threatening food and nutritional security.

Conflict is not the only risk to food systems in Africa. Climate change is the most prominent challenge that the continent’s smallholder farmers continue to face.

Developed through support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DroughtTego, a CIMMYT-derived hybrid maize with increased resistance to hotter, drier climates, produces an average of 66% more grain per acre in Kenya. Scaled through public-private partnerships, DroughtTego seeds can increase farmer income by providing more than enough to feed a family of six for an entire year, enabling them to invest the additional money in sending their children to school or building new homes.

CIMMYT and CGIAR scientists have also been using predictive modeling to speed up plant breeding and develop new varieties that can perform well even in drought stress-prone environments of Africa. Artificial intelligence helps in processing the genomic information of crops alongside the environmental data, such as soil samples and satellite imagery. The results create a vision of what farms will need to look like in the future, enabling scientists to determine which type of crop varieties can better succeed in specific locations.

Predictive epidemiological modeling can highlight where plant diseases, such as wheat rust, may possibly spread. An early warning system, developed by a partnership between CIMMYT, the University of Cambridge, the UK Met Office, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute (EIAR), the Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) and the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, successfully alerted farmers in Ethiopia to an outbreak of the disease so that they could take preventive measures. The resulting outcome was the country’s largest wheat harvest ever recorded, instead of a devastating rust epidemic.

A LinkedIn post from Bill Gates also emphasized CIMMYT’s research, asking which crop accounts for around 30% of calorie intake for people in sub-Saharan Africa — the answer being “maize”.

Inclusion in this report highlights the global impact of CIMMYT’s work on farmers and world food systems, which is only possible through successful partnerships with organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cover photo: A farmer in Zaka District, Zimbabwe, experiences a drought that could affect crop yields. (Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT) 

The future of wheat

Written by Alfonso Cortés on . Posted in Videos.

CIMMYT’s experimental station in Obregón, a small city in Mexico’s state of Sonora, is considered a mecca for wheat research and breeding. In 1945, Norman Borlaug arrived as a geneticist for a special project between the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation, to help local farmers with wheat production. After a few years, his strong bond with the community, students and interns was key to making a remarkable difference on wheat research that save millions from famine and won him the Nobel Peace Prize. A legacy that has lasted for many decades.

At Obregón, scientists have access to state-of-the-art field facilities and an ideal location, in the northern Yaqui Valley. The station’s dry climate and favorable temperature in winter is suitable to assess yield potential, while its hot summers are ideal to study wheat’s tolerance to different stressors.

Here, scientists and field workers work hard all year round to ensure the future of wheat. Varieties grown in all continents have CIMMYT and Sonoran DNA.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Jeanie Borlaug Laube. JesĂșs Larraguibel Artola, President of PIEAES (Patronato para la InvestigaciĂłn y ExperimentaciĂłn AgrĂ­cola del Estado de Sonora A.C.). AsociaciĂłn de Organismos de Agricultores del Sur de Sonora A.C. (AOASS) Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT: Alison Bentley (Program Director), Karim Ammar, Rodrigo RascĂłn, Carolina Rivera, Alberto Mendoza, Leonardo Crespo and Nele Verhulst.

CREDITS: Production: Alfonso Cortés, Marta Millere and Silvia Rico, CIMMYT. Additional drone shots: Courtesy of INIFAP and PIEAES. Post-production: Silvia Rico, CIMMYT

MUSIC: The Way Up created by Evert Z. Licensed from Artlist.io (License owner: CIMMYT. Creator Pro License Number – 159864). Eclipse created by EFGR. Licensed from Artlist.io (License owner: CIMMYT. Creator Pro License Number – 159864).

Why co-creation is vital for sustainable agriculture

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Agricultural mechanization engineer Subash Adhikari adjusts a maize shelling machine on a farmerÂŽs verandah in Rambasti, Kanchanpur, Nepal. (Credit: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

The adoption of climate-smart agricultural production processes and technologies is a vital strategy in attempts to mitigate the global impacts of climate change without compromising on food security. However, supporting farmers to permanently implement new technologies and approaches requires a deep understanding of their needs, robust training, and effective transfer of knowledge.

At the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), projects across the Global South aim to embed agrifood systems that are sustainable for all.

To share how CIMMYT empowers farmers and develops new technologies, Director General Bram Govaerts attended a panel event hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding (BICU) on September 19. For an audience of foreign government officials, multilaterals, and private sector executives, panelists introduced new perspectives to support global food security efforts and inspire greater collaboration.

Partnership approach

Panelists were asked to explain the technologies that can be unlocked by agricultural financial mechanisms, referencing how research and development is keeping pace with the quick adaptations needed by farmers to address climate change.

Examples from CIMMYT’s participation in the AgriLAC Resiliente CGIAR Initiative, a project for sustainable agricultural development in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted the innovative partnerships that are pushing forward research and development in the sector, enabling food systems and actors to act quickly to meet food security needs, mitigate climate hazards, stabilize communities and reduce forced migration.

Scientists are conscious of ensuring that solutions to one challenge are not the cause of new problems elsewhere; co-development is essential to this, ensuring the views of all actors are represented. Using the Integrated Agri-food System Initiative (IASI) methodology, created by CIMMYT in partnership with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), projects can develop strategies and actions with a significant likelihood of supportive public and private investment that will transform food systems.

Expertise from farmers

Even the best agricultural technology in the world is only effective if it is used. When discussing barriers to the implementation of technology, Govaerts emphasized CIMMYT’s mechanization prototyping, co-creation, and experimentation work that bridges the gap between farmers and scientists and encourages adoption of new methods and tools.

Having farming influencers onboard has proved priceless, as these people co-create prototypes and experiments that demonstrate results and offer assured testimony to reluctant stakeholders.

Innovations can transform livelihoods, giving farmers a way to increase income and provide stability and better opportunities for their families – which is the most appealing reason for adoption.

Training programs are also fundamental, ensuring skills and knowledge around new technologies are freely available to farmers, technicians, and researchers. CIMMYT projects such as MasAgro in Mexico, has trained more than 3,000 producers and 400 technicians in sustainable agriculture, with more than 70,000 producers participating in educational events during the pandemic.

Hunger and climate change – a dual problem?

Conversation also centered on whether the development of new technologies is aiming to confront world hunger and climate change as separate issues, or whether solutions can be suitable for both challenges.

Essential actions to mitigate the food crisis require a global perspective, acknowledging that unexpected crises will always arise. For example, Russia and Ukraine account for 28% of the world’s wheat exports, so high prices are linked to supply chain disruption. More than 2.5 billion people worldwide consume wheat-based products, so the effects of these disruptions could mean significant hunger and potential civil unrest. Nations already in crisis, such as Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia, may be worse hit, but other countries with high dependency on imports like Egypt are also affected.

Govaerts highlighted the inextricable links between the causes of food insecurity and climate change. He underscored CIMMYT’s holistic approach to overcoming widespread impacts on the global food system, such as the concurrent challenges of COVID-19, climate change and the Ukraine crisis, by co-developing lasting solutions incorporating these three elements:

  • Extensive research on climate change adaptation and mitigation in maize and wheat-based production systems across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
  • Climate focused research aims to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate shocks and to raise and maintain yields profitably and sustainably by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Capacity building for stakeholders in the development and application of new technologies.

Many other deep disruptions are on their way. It is time to invest in science, research, innovation, technologies, and start practicing teamwork to allow those investments to translate into a better future for the planet, and for us.

About BICU:

BICU is a leading business-supported non-profit education initiative, established by President Eisenhower of the United States in 1955 for the purpose of facilitating public-private partnerships and high-level business to government dialogue.

Tracking improved crop varieties

Written by Enawgaw Sisay on . Posted in News.

Participants of the IMAGE National Advisory Committee launch event in Ethiopia. (Credit: EIAR)

Coordinating the development and deployment of improved seed varieties is a complex task involving many stakeholders, including government agencies, public and private seed sector organizations, and ultimately, farmers and farmer groups. Cooperation among these groups is vital to assess and measure the impact of improved varieties and to guide decision making for future crop breeding efforts.

The Institutionalizing Monitoring of Crop Variety Adoption using Genotyping (IMAGE) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and managed by Context Global Development, is a five-year program operating in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia designed to increase the efficacy of variety deployment by establishing, institutionalizing, and scaling up routine monitoring of improved variety adoption and turnover using genotyping technologies, focusing on wheat, maize, teff, and the common bean.

The International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), in collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), launched Ethiopia’s IMAGE National Advisory Committee (NAC) February 25, 2022, in Addis Ababa.

Feto Esemo, the Director General of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) officially opened the workshop.

Esemo underscored in his opening remarks the NAC’s mission to promote the application of DNA fingerprinting for an accurate assessment and understanding of the adoption of improved maize and wheat varieties by small-holder farmers in Ethiopia and resolve data discrepancy among researchers.

The NAC is the highest advisory body for IMAGE’s implementation in Ethiopia and comprises seven institutions: Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Planning and Development (MPD), Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI), EIAR, Central Statistical Agency (CSA), Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (BI), and the Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute (EBI).

Kindie Tesfaye, CIMMYT senior scientist, emphasized the application of DNA fingerprint data on maize and wheat in Ethiopia and summarized the IMAGE Project.

“IMAGE supports inclusive agricultural transformation by providing insights and evidence for seed sector actors to enhance government agency capacity, improve stakeholder coordination, and lead to better resource allocation for varietal development and commercialization,” said Tesfaye.

He added the IMAGE Project provides the opportunity to leverage past monitoring pilots and cross-country lessons while advancing genetic reference libraries, establishing protocol adoption, and building towards institutionalization over five years.

National maize and wheat genotyping studies in Ethiopia proved the feasibility of using DNA fingerprinting for variety monitoring at scale and CIMMYT and EIAR presented the findings to seed system and policy stakeholders with an emphasis on demonstrating how varietal identity based on genotyping compares with farmers’ elicitation, the area-weighted average age of varieties, germplasm attribution, and varietal performance.

Chilot Yirga, Deputy Director-General, Capacity Building and Administration of EIAR, emphasized the functional and structural roles of the National Advisory Committee (NAC), Country Team (CT), and Technical Working Group (TWG) of the project in the country.

EIAR, the Holetta National Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, CSA, and CIMMYT comprise the Country Team.

Yirga also briefed the participants on the details of the Committee’s mandate and indicated the roles of all stakeholders and policymakers, specifically in DNA fingerprinting.

The workshop concluded by electing a chairperson and vice-chairperson of the committee among its members and co-project leaders from CIMMYT and EIAR.

Setting a standard: improving field trial data

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

“In Afghanistan, wheat is synonymous with food,” says Rajiv K. Sharma, formerly a senior scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Standing at about 250kg per year, the country’s per capita consumption of the crop is among the highest in the world. However, Afghanistan does not have a robust wheat research and development system. The majority of wheat varieties have been introduced from outside the country and the national wheat seed replacement rate is one of the lowest in the world at around 5%.

In a bid to strengthen research and development and boost crop productivity in the country, CIMMYT scientists have collaborated with Michigan State University and USAID to design a new, illustrated manual for wheat researchers, intended to aid them during experiments and facilitate smooth and timely data collection. As applied wheat research requires the monitoring and measurement of both qualitative and quantitative traits by different researchers across multiple locations, consistency of approach is crucial.

As well as providing descriptions of characteristics like glaucousness (the presence or absence of leaf waxes) and advice on measuring leaf area, the manual provides several different scales for determining the extent to which a wheat plant is affected by frost damage, cereal rusts or foliar diseases like Septoria and powdery mildew. Covering everything from leaf angle to chlorophyll content, this resource ensures that scientists throughout Afghanistan are supported to follow the same observation and measurement protocols while recording trial data, ensuring a standardized approach, thus bolstering the country’s wheat research sector and ensuring the data is also aligned to international projects.

The manual has since been distributed to National Agricultural Research System (NARS) researchers and other stakeholders across the country, accompanied by a number of CIMMYT-led trainings on how best to use the resource.

Download the manual here: Wheat Field Trial Data Collection Manual

Cover photo: Researchers check for stand reduction in wheat seedlings in Afghanistan. (Credit: CIMMYT)

Can agriculture bring South Asian countries together?

Written by Richa Sharma Puri on . Posted in Features.

Agriculture is central to South Asian economies, lives and livelihoods. However, the challenges of an increasing population and brisk economic growth are straining the agriculture sector as it struggles to meet the present and future demand for food, nutritional security, and economic development. Not only this, the three Cs – COVID, climate change and conflict – are fueling the growing fragility in food systems across the world.

To address these issues and find potential solutions, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) organized a high-level meeting with top agriculture ministry officials from its neighboring countries – Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Pakistan – to collaborate and learn from each other.

BISA’s outreach to India’s neighbors in South Asia has already produced results. Data from the BISA farm in Ludhiana, India, on resistance to yellow rust that affects wheat crop has been used in Nepal, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Genomic prediction evaluation for grain yield and other traits worked on at BISA through the help of the Global Wheat Program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been extended to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal since 2020. Regular training is organized for students, scientists and farmers in India on breeding and climate resistant technologies, and BISA scientists organize courses in Nepal on climate-smart technologies.

Read more in Amar Ujala (published in Hindi): Can agriculture bring South Asian countries together?

Cover photo: Tara Miah (50) is a farmer from Rajguru in Rahamanbari union, Barisal, Bangladesh. He used seeder fertilizer drills to plant wheat on his fields. Previously, this was done manually. SFD has resulted in a better harvest for Miah. (Credit: Ranak Martin)

Galvanizing food systems transformation in South Asia

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Solar Powered Irrigation System in Bihar, India. (Credit: Ayush Manik)

In the race to make food production and consumption more sustainable, South Asia is key.

Home to one quarter of humanity — one-fifth of whom are youth — the region has the world’s largest concentration of poverty and malnutrition. While South Asia produces one quarter of the world’s consumed food, its agrifood systems today face formidable poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental health, and biodiversity challenges. Significant hurdles remain to secure an adequate and affordable supply of diverse foods necessary for sustainable and healthy diets.

South Asia’s predominantly rice-based farming systems are crucial to food security and political and economic stability, but parts of this region are threatened by unsustainable groundwater withdrawal — the region extracts one-quarter of global groundwater — due to food and energy policy distortions. South Asia’s farmers are both contributors to and victims of climate change and extreme weather that disproportionately affect resource-poor and women farmers.

The region needs food systems that generate profits and incentivize farmers to produce nutritious foods, while also reducing prices for consumers purchasing healthy products by shortening and reducing inefficiencies within value chains. A new CGIAR Research Initiative, Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA), aims to address challenges.

Read the full article: Galvanizing Food Systems Transformation in South Asia

A Chinese Wheat Breeder’s International Vision

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

China is the largest global producer and consumer of wheat. The country’s breeders are developing high quality, high yield varieties, with resistance to the droughts and crop blights that have increased in frequency and spread due to climate change.

He Zhonghu, a research fellow with the Institute of Crop Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), is passionate about the power of international exchanges and cooperation for fueling agricultural development.

He is also director of the China office for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), introducing 20,000 samples of wheat seed sources to more than 25 institutions and contributing to the breeding of more than 80 new varieties.

Read more: A Chinese Wheat Breeder’s International Vision

Winner of BGRI Gene Stewardship Award announced

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

This year’s Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Gene Stewardship Award recipients have been recognized for their innovative research tackling the global problem of wheat leaf rust.Led by Julio Huerta from the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), members of the award-winning team include:

  • HĂ©ctor Eduardo Villaseñor Mir (cereal breeder)
  • RenĂ© Hortelano Santa Rosa (cereal breeder)
  • Eliel MartĂ­nez Cruz, (cereal chemist)
  • MarĂ­a Florencia RodrĂ­guez GarcĂ­a (cereal pathologist)
  • Ernesto SolĂ­s Moya (wheat breeder)
  • Jorge IvĂĄn Alvarado Padilla (wheat breeder)

The award recognizes the team’s long-term contribution to Mexican wheat cultivation and their efforts to expand impacts worldwide. They have released many varieties with resistance to leaf rust, which has led to the stabilization of the disease in bread wheat.

Presented annually, the award is bestowed upon a team of researchers serving a national breeding program or other nationally based institution. Winners receive an inscribed bronze statue of Norman Borlaug.

Huerta has been hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico since the late 1990s.

Julio Huerta, wheat pathologist and recipient of the BGRI Gene Stewardship Award 2022, giving a talk to students introducing CIMMYT’s wheat breeding program. (Credit: CIMMYT)

BGRI Technical Workshop

Receiving the prize at the 2022 BGRI Technical Workshop on September 9, Huerta said, “The award means a recognition from the global rust scientific community for the hard work (flesh, mind, soul and spirit) over the years, carried with many colleagues around the world to keep rust disease under control.”

Alison Bentley, director of the Global Wheat Program, also participated in the event with a presentation on the connection between conflict and vulnerability in global food systems. She explored reasons why wheat has been dramatically impacted by the conflict in Ukraine and summarized the proposed response agenda by CIMMYT.

Singh recognized for wheat crop improvement

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Ravi Singh delivers a lecture during the 61st All India Wheat and Barley Research Workers’ Meet celebrating the fruitful partnership of CIMMYT and ICAR. (Credit: SAWBAR)

Ravi Singh, head of wheat improvement and rust research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), received the Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award 2022 for outstanding contribution in the field of wheat crop improvement from the Society for Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research (SAWBAR).

Singh received the award from T. R. Sharma, Deputy Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and G. P. Singh, Director of the Indian Institute for Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) at ICAR.

As recipient of the award, Singh delivered a lecture during the 61st All India Wheat and Barley Research Workers’ Meet in Gwalior, India, on August 29. He highlighted and praised the partnership between India and CIMMYT as essential for accelerating gains in wheat yield despite the stresses of climate change thanks to improved resilience in new varieties and earlier sowing.

“The ICAR-CIMMYT wheat improvement partnership remains crucial for delivering new varieties with higher rates of genetic gain in farmers’ fields to enhance productivity, climate resilience, disease resistance and nutrition while meeting market needs,” he said.

Successes of the partnership include integrated breeding with a common agenda, commercialized varieties that are adapted to flexible sowing dates including early sowing, diverse and durable resistance to rust diseases, adoption of wheat blast resistant varieties in large areas, biofortified and high-quality varieties, and the move towards mainstreaming of zinc (Zn) biofortification.

Singh also paid homage to the award’s namesake, as VS Mathur’s “wheat varieties once occupied fields of many millions of farmers and provided food and nutrition to many more millions throughout India and beyond”.

Singh, a CIMMYT scientist, receives the Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of wheat crop improvement. (Credit: SAWBAR)

About SAWBAR:

SAWBAR was founded in 2007 and is housed at ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research Karnal (Haryana) India. The Society presently has 300 life members and more than 320 annual and student members. SAWBAR is playing a significant role in bringing wheat and barley researchers on one platform for the exchange of innovative research and dissemination of knowledge related to the latest research happenings in the area of wheat and barley improvement. Annually, SAWBAR gives awards to pioneer cereal workers in various award categories. 

About the Sh. VS Mathur Mathur Memorial Award:

The Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award was constituted in year 2018 in the memory of eminent wheat worker Sh. VS Mathur. Mathur was one of the pioneer wheat workers who worked tirelessly with MS Swaminathan and HK Jain and developed a large number of high-yielding wheat varieties viz. Heera, Moti, Janak (HD 1982), Arjun (HD 2009), HD 2177, HD 2182, HD 2204, HD 2236, HD 2278, HD 2281, HD 2285, HD 2329, HD 2307 and HD 2327 for various regions of India.

Greenhouse upgrades at BWMRI for wheat blast research

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Md. Sayedul Islam inaugurated the greenhouse complex along with Golam Faruq and Md. Benojir Alam. (Credit: Timothy J. Krupnik/CIMMYT)

A new greenhouse complex, built with financial support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), at the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) was inaugurated on 13 August 2022. The greenhouse was built at BWMRI’s headquarters in Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

This complex has a room for generator, a sample preparation room and space for a small laboratory. These upgrades will add new momentum for greenhouse activities and BWMRI and CIMMYT scientists designed the facility to accommodate wheat scientists from Bangladesh and other countries.

The BWMRI has been working to combat wheat blast disease since 2016, with financial and technical support from CIMMYT and other investors. CIMMYT has also assisted the Government of Bangladesh in developing an early warning system for wheat blast.

Because of the challenging phenology of synthetic wheat and introductions from winter and facultative wheat zones, field condition evaluation of these germplasm is difficult and the greenhouse will help ease this hurdle. Additionally, several pathological experiments investigating the biology of wheat blast will now be able to be performed in the new greenhouse facility.

Supplementary activities at the greenhouse include disease screening and research into unlocking the genetics of host resistance. The installation of a diesel generator will keep the greenhouse running in case of power outages.

Visitors to the newly constructed greenhouse at the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute. (Credit: Rezaul Kabir/BWMRI)

Md. Sayedul Islam, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, inaugurated the greenhouse complex. Additional attendees at the opening included Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Golam Faruq, Director General of BWMRI, Mirza Mofazzal Islam, Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Debasish Sarker, Director General of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Md. Benojir Alam, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), and Md. Abdul Wadud, Executive Director and Additional Secretary at the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Training on Applied Nutrition (BIRTAN). Timothy J. Krupnik, country representative of CIMMYT in Bangladesh, was also present.

Fertilizer scarcity may hamper crop cycle, cautions scientist

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

South Asian countries may see fertilizers scarcity in the next crop cycle as a result of the conflict situation in Ukraine and Russia, cautioned Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).

The triple threat of climate change, COVID-19 and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is exacerbating the challenge of how to feed the world, explained Govaerts.

Policy changes had the potential to address the crises, but investing in research and innovation is a fundamental part of solving the current challenges.

Read more: Fertilizer scarcity may hamper crop cycle, cautions scientist

Fragile global food system calls for a collaborative approach

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), underscored the need for collaboration to address the challenges of global food shocks, climate change and agricultural trade.

Speaking at a Strengthening AR4D in South Asia workshop on Thursday, September 1, Govaerts highlighted the work of CIMMYT’s Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA) project.

“The collaborative, inclusive approach of BISA (Borlaug Institute for South Asia) is more relevant than ever today. In an era when the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity — exacerbated by climate change, poverty, and inequality — cannot be solved by one sector,” he explained.

Read more: Fragile global food system calls for a collaborative approach

CM holds parleys with experts of BISA to give major push to crop diversification in the state

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met with experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to promote crop diversification and use of Direct Sowing Rice (DSR) Basmati as part of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) project.

In a meeting with CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, water shortages were an integral part of the discussion. Mann encouraged use of BISA models across the state that require less water consumption than other methods, without impacting farmers’ income.

Mann also highlighted the potential of crops like maize, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, bamboo, popular, and fruit such as guava and kinoo.

Read more: CM holds parleys with experts of BISA to give major push to crop diversification in the state