Features – Page 52

Bug Havens Keep Maize Pest-Proof

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 12, December 2005

bugHavens African maize farmers who will grow transgenic maize varieties resistant to one of the crop’s most damaging pests—the maize stem borer—learn that to keep borers at bay, some must survive.

Maize stem borers destroy approximately 12% of Kenya’s maize crop annually—losses valued at more than US$ 50 million. Under the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), CIMMYT, and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture have worked in partnership since 1999 to offer farmers maize varieties that resist borers. They are drawing this resistance from several sources, including maize landraces and experimental varieties and even a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The latter produces its own, natural insecticide: a protein that perforates borer larvae’s stomach lining, causing them to starve. There are several types of this protein and each is very selective, affecting certain species of borers but no other animals. Researchers have taken the gene responsible for the protein and put it into maize, thereby obtaining a plant that borers of the targeted species cannot safely eat.

The resistance from Bt is effective until, through a chance mutation, an individual borer emerges that can beat it. Borer offspring with the same mutation will eventually become more numerous than other borers, making the Bt-based resistance useless.

A safe haven for borers

Farmers in developed countries who grow Bt maize usually protect its effectiveness through use of “refugia”—fodders or cereal crops that foster the survival and reproduction of Bt-susceptible borers. IRMA recently sponsored a two-day workshop on refugia at KARI’s Kitale center. The 50 participants—19 researchers, and 17 extension staff, and 14 farmers from 9 districts of North Rift Valley and 2 neighboring districts—learned about the progress in the development of insect resistant maize and the importance of refugia.

“It’s not hard to find refugia for stem borers; the challenge is to find refugia that both work and are acceptable to farmers,” says KARI entomologist Dr. Margaret Mulaa, who organized the Kitale workshop, and leads the insect resistance management (IRM) component of the IRMA project. “The refugia species have to fit in with the farmers’ cropping systems.”

All workshop participants took to the field to evaluate and score potential crops and varieties that could be used as stem-borer refugia on farms. They ranked the top 5 each from among 15 sorghum and 18 grass varieties, and 4 maize varieties for their attractiveness as food, fodder, or refugia for stem borers.

Farmers lead the way scoring refugia

The farmers raced ahead of the other two groups, doing what comes most naturally to them: visually assessing the yield and disease resistance of the sorghum varieties; squeezing the sorghum grains between two fingers and tasting them to judge texture and flavor; splitting open maize and grass stalks to assess moisture content and borer damage; and examining fodder crops for yield, vigor, and traits like hairiness and moisture content—important indicators of palatability for livestock. “Bana grass yields well and is not too hairy, so my cows enjoy it,” said Philomen Berut, a farmer from South Nandi who has received two awards for the best livestock at the Kitale Agricultural show.

More than 26 different criteria were given for selecting the sorghum varieties, but the major ones were high yield, early maturity, tolerance to pests and diseases, short height (which helps plants resist lodging), and tolerance to bird damage.

And the winners?

All three groups ranked the ‘local brown’ and ‘local red’ sorghum varieties among the top five favorites. Four improved Napier varieties (Kakamega 1 & 2, Napier 16798 and 16837) were also ranked top by all three groups. The popular maize hybrid H614 was ranked among the best five refugia species for its stable yield, lush foliage, and good cobs.

Mulaa finds this type of information extremely important for developing an IRM strategy that farmers will actually use. “By understanding farmers’ choices and criteria early enough, the resistance management package that IRMA will introduce along with Bt maize will have the farmer’s hand in its design, making it more likely to succeed.”

For more information contact Stephen Mugo (s.mugo@cgiar.org)

CIMMYT Helps New Country Improve Productivity and Food Security

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

June, 2004

timor_photo1 After almost 450 years of foreign occupation, East Timor became the world’s newest country when it declared independence in May 2002. Facing a host of hurdles as it rebuilds destroyed towns and damaged infrastructure, one thing the country lacks is productive and well-adapted germplasm for major crops.

In response to this need, a project called Seeds of Life has been introducing, testing, and distributing improved germplasm to farmers on the island. The project, in which CIMMYT participates, aims to improve food security and build the capacity of Timorese scientists to resolve the agricultural problems that affect local livelihoods.

“Farmers have suffered from decades of unrest,” says Ganesan Srinivasan, a CIMMYT breeder and senior scientist involved in the project, which is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of East Timor. “Improved maize varieties will provide food and nutritional security for resource-poor farmers.”

timor_photo2 Almost 800,000 people live in East Timor, which was once a Portuguese colony. The BBC estimates that about 25% of the population died during Indonesia’s occupation, which began after Portugal withdrew in 1975 and lasted until 1999. After citizens voted for independence, anti-independence militia killed hundreds of people and destroyed towns and already poor infrastructure.

Maize and rice are East Timor’s major staple food crops. Although maize covers the largest area of land planted to any crop, its productivity is low. Growing local varieties, some farmers produce less than 1.5 tons per hectare and 125,000 tons annually. Farmers face production constraints such as low soil fertility, frequent drought, a lack of improved varieties and fertilizer, northern leaf blight, and storage pests. Collaborators hope that replacing low-yielding local varieties with improved germplasm will increase productivity and lead to income generation.

Australian agronomist Brian Palmer manages the project, which aims to improve farmers’ access to high quality seed, create a crop performance database for research to raise crop productivity, and increase the capacities of East Timorese institutions and staff in evaluation, production, and distribution of improved germplasm.

Scientists have been testing the adaptation of various lines of rice, maize, cassava, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts that have been supplied by CIMMYT, IRRI, CIAT, CIP, and ICRISAT, which are the five CGIAR centers involved in the project. Researchers have identified and multiplied well-adapted varieties that are tolerant to pests, diseases, drought, and low soil fertility.

In the first phase of the project, which lasted from October 2000 to December 2003 followed by a six-month bridge phase, CIMMYT provided improved, stress-tolerant, high-yielding maize varieties to test in different agro-climatic conditions of East Timor. Scientists initially selected maize varieties using information from CIMMYT records, results from similar regions, and input from researchers. They tested several yellow open-pollinated varieties and a few white quality protein maize varieties, among others.

In their experiments, researchers found that yields were much higher when improved maize cultivars and fertilizer were used. During 2001–02, one variety yielded almost four tons per hectare. In the second and third years, CIMMYT maize varieties yielded around six tons per hectare, compared with two tons per hectare from the local variety that was used as the benchmark.

“Several yellow maize varieties resistant to downy mildew disease have been identified that have given double or triple the yield of local varieties,” says Srinivasan. In March 2004, in response to problems at several sites, they planted downy mildew disease resistant seed developed by the CIMMYT-Zimbabwe team.

Although it is difficult to identify varieties that are well adapted across East Timor’s diverse climatic and soil conditions, the project has already found several. During 2003–04, researchers received enough seed to evaluate selected varieties in yield trials, to use in on-farm tests, and to multiply to produce more seed. In addition to this, more seed from the five most promising varieties has been increased in India and will be shipped to East Timor.

The second phase of the project, lasting from three to five years, will focus on better village welfare by promoting farmer use of improved varieties and strengthening MAFF and other East Timor institutions. Challenges include building research capacity, creating a system to continuously screen and release varieties, establishing a good seed production and distribution system, and reducing post-harvest losses. Representatives from the five CGIAR centers, ACIAR, AusAID, East Timorese research organizations, and other partners will discuss plans for phase two in August 2004. They plan to support model farms, farmer demonstrations, seed production, germplasm management, and research on variety adaptation and crop agronomy.

They also hope that East Timorese researchers will be able to train at a location where CIMMYT multiplies seed. Because the few trained researchers with bachelor’s and master’s degrees hold important positions in the Ministry of Agriculture, it is difficult for them to train for an extended period of time. However, five researchers and extension workers from East Timor have received training at ICRISAT in India. Pending Ministry approval, CIMMYT may conduct a training course in East Timor in August about on-farm testing and seed production.

For information: Ganesan Srinivasan

Tribute to Hugo Córdova: the passing of a great scientist and hunger fighter

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

The CIMMYT community and friends across the globe mourn the loss of maize breeder and distinguished scientist, Hugo Salvador Córdova Orellana, who died on 25 December 2009. Córdova worked for more than three decades with CIMMYT to improve the food security of disadvantaged maize farmers and consumers.

Countering drought: Journalist / policy advisor Roger Thurow visits farmers in Machakos, Kenya

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

countering-drought-note This growing season in south-central Kenya has been a good test for the new drought tolerant maize varieties being bred in Africa. This is a semi-arid area, but this year they can drop the semi. Farmers report only three short periods of rain since the February planting time.

“Without this seed, I’d have nothing. Nothing, like my neighbors,” says farmer Philip Ngolania. He sweeps his hand to direct the eye first to his maize and then toward a neighbor’s plot. Philip’s maize stalks, though looking thin and weak, have fairly uniformly produced large ears of corn. His neighbor’s maize is shriveled and dead, the stalks have toppled in their feebleness and there isn’t a cob to be found. (See the entire writeup on the blog of the Global Agricultural Development Initiative)

Earliest Mexican wheats supply latest useful traits

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 5 no. 6, June 2008

jun05 Centuries ago, Spanish monks brought wheat to Mexico to use in Roman Catholic religious ceremonies. The genetic heritage of some of these “sacramental wheats” lives on in farmers’ fields. CIMMYT researchers have led the way in collecting and characterizing these first wheats, preserving their biodiversity and using them as sources of traits like disease resistance and drought tolerance.

“I’d say to Bent: ‘Let’s look for the cemetery,’ ” recalls Julio Huerta, CIMMYT wheat pathologist, of his trips to villages in Mexico with his late colleague Bent Skovmand, CIMMYT wheat genetic resource expert. “And the sacramental wheats would be there, sometimes hundreds of types.”

The first wheat was brought to Mexico in 1523 around the area now occupied by Mexico City. The crop soon spread outside the central plateau with the help of Catholic monks: it traveled to the state of Michoacán in the 1530s with the Franciscans, while the Dominicans took wheat to the state of Oaxaca in 1540 and gave grains to the native inhabitants to produce flour for unleavened bread used during Roman Catholic religious ceremonies. “Still today, many church ornaments in Michoacán have wheat straw in them,” says Huerta.

Huerta and Skovmand went on sacramental wheat-gathering expeditions in 19 Mexican states. “Many people thought we were just collecting trash,” he says. “But we wanted to collect sacramental wheats before they disappeared. I’m not that surprised that some have very valuable attributes for breeding programs.”

Farmers in Mexico and elsewhere face water shortages and rising temperatures due to climate change. CIMMYT scientists are looking to sacramental wheats as one source of drought-tolerance. Field trials at the center’s Cuidad Obregón wheat research facility show some sacramental wheats have better early ground cover, quickly covering the soil and safeguarding moisture from evaporating. Others have enhanced levels of soluble stem carbohydrates which help fill the wheat grain even under drought, while some show better water uptake in deep soils thanks to their deep roots.

As farmers gain access to improved varieties or migrate to cities, sacramental wheats are disappearing from fields. With the hope of conserving these rare and valuable varieties, Huerta and Skovmand started collecting them in 1992, collaborating with the Mexican National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) and supported by the Mexican Organization for the Study of Biodiversity (CONABIO). Their efforts were not in vain—10,000 samples from 249 sites in Mexico were added to the CIMMYT germplasm bank, and duplicate samples deposited in the INIFAP germplasm bank.

Only the strongest survive

The deep volcanic soils of Los Altos de Mixteca, Oaxaca, and the dry conditions in some parts of Mexico were not ideal for growing wheat. “If the wheats didn’t have deep roots and it didn’t rain, they were dead,” says CIMMYT wheat physiologist, Matthew Reynolds. The wheat genotypes that survived for centuries were perhaps the ones with drought-tolerance traits for which farmers selected. “Say the farmer had a mixture of sacramental wheats that looked reasonably similar—similar enough that he could manage them but diverse enough to adapt to local conditions,” explains Reynolds. “One year certain lines would do better than others and the farmer might harvest just the best-looking plants to sow the next year.”

jun01

Sacramental wheats often grew in isolated rural areas, meaning that some never crossed with other varieties, leaving their genetic heritage intact. They are often tall and closely adapted to local conditions, according to Huerta, and farmers who still grow them say they taste better than modern varieties.

Reynolds is combining the old and the new—crossing improved modern cultivars with sacramental wheats to obtain their drought-tolerance attributes. “We now have several lines that are candidates for international nurseries,” he says. “They’ll go to South Asia and North Africa, and will be especially useful for regions with deep soils and residual moisture.”

Old wheats come back in style

In 2001, a new leaf rust race appeared on Altar 84, the most widely-grown wheat cultivar in Sonora State, Mexico. The CIMMYT wheat genetic resources program immediately looked for sources of resistance in the germplasm bank. The durum collection of sacramental wheats from Oaxaca, Mexico, proved extremely useful: all but one displayed minor gene or major gene resistance to the new leaf rust race, confirming that sacramental wheats are a valuable breeding resource.

CIMMYT researchers are still unlocking the potential of sacramental wheats. “We started to characterize them for resistance to leaf and yellow rust, and the collections from the state of Mexico for wheat head scab and Septoria,” says Huerta. We were surprised to find many, many resistant lines. “But until we finish characterizing all of them, we won’t know what else is there.”

For more information on sacramental wheats: Julio Huerta, wheat pathologist (j.huerta@cgiar.org) or Matthew Reynolds, wheat physiologist, ( m.reynolds@cgiar.org).

Partners for life: CIMMYT and maize researchers in eastern Africa

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 5 no. 1, January 2008

jan02 CIMMYT’s partnerships on maize in eastern Africa hark back to the 1960s, when the center was launched. Formal networking since that time with researchers and extension workers, policy makers, non-government organizations, seed companies, millers, and farmers have culminated in successful breeding and dissemination teams and promising new varieties rated highly by farmers. Awards to teams in Tanzania and Ethiopia recently highlighted the value of these partnerships.

During a travel workshop, CIMMYT and national scientists observing maize breeding and dissemination activities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda jointly selected the recipients of the two awards, one for the best regional technology dissemination team, led by the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Tanzania, and one for the best regional maize breeding team for drought tolerance: the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)-Melkassa Research Centre.

“The awards recognize the products of long-term collaboration and team-building in the region, oriented towards the rapid development, release, and scaling-up of locally adapted, stress tolerant, and nutritionally enhanced maize varieties,” says Wilfred Mwangi, leader of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, which was launched in 2006 and which sponsored the awards. “We hope the awards will encourage result-oriented team approaches, such as those we pursue in the DTMA project.”

Ethiopia’s outstanding breeders

Dr. Aberra Deressa, the Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Guest of Honor, presented the special award to the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) team in Melkassa for work that resulted in the release of five new drought tolerant maize varieties since 2000. In on-farm and on-station tests for yield and agronomic performance at 14 moisture-stressed locations, the new varieties out-yielded leading maize cultivars by more than 30%. Farmers particularly preferred one variety, Melkassa-2, for its white seed and intermediate maturity, so seed of the variety was multiplied on farmers’ fields and distributed to the community.

“The Melkassa team also produced and sold basic seed of the five varieties to Ethiopian maize seed producers, including the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, which then produced certified seed,” says Alpha Diallo, CIMMYT regional maize breeder who collaborated with the Ethiopian team on the development and identification of these varieties. “The varieties have since been promoted through field demonstrations and field days.”

“We have enjoyed great support for capacity building from CIMMYT over many years,” said Dr. Aberra Deressa. “We consider CIMMYT to be part of our national maize program and recommend this model for adoption by other partners.”

The miller’s tale: Better nutrition and more cash

The award-winning multidisciplinary team from Tanzania comprised breeders, agronomists, socio-economists, seed producers (including farmers), and millers, and was led by the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha. Maize flour in eastern Africa is used mostly to make the starchy staple food known as ugali, and maize provides the bulk of inhabitants’ energy and protein in Tanzania. Three new varieties for which the Tanzanian research team received the Technology Dissemination Award are quality protein maize (QPM) varieties, which looks and performs like normal maize, but whose grain provides higher levels of lysine and tryptophan—amino acids essential for growth in humans and farm animals.

Tanzania’s promotion of QPM for milling is helping to increase the demand for QPM seed among farmers. Two millers, Nyirefami Limited and the Grain and Flour Enterprise, are producing QPM ugali flour. They hope eventually to replace conventional maize flour to satisfy the country’s growing appetite for QPM ugali and improve its nutritional well-being. “The Dissemination Team Award recognizes efforts that bring all the necessary players together—from breeders to NGOs to seed companies, and even millers, involving farmers along the way, to get the (QPM) technology to consumers,” says Dennis Friesen, CIMMYT maize agronomist for eastern Africa.

Farmers: From on-lookers to leaders

CIMMYT has supported partners in applying participatory approaches to evaluate new cultivars systematically and cost-effectively under resource-poor farmers’ conditions, as well as giving farmers a voice in determining whether any maize cultivar will become available on the market. In the case of the three QPM varieties in Tanzania, farmers particularly liked one for its superior yields, good tip cover, and greater resistance to the regionally-serious disease, maize streak virus.

Dr. Jeremiah Haki, Tanzania’s Director of Research and Training, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, has commended CIMMYT for promoting farmer participation. “The farmer is often left out in both variety development and dissemination; no wonder they do not find the resultant varieties as being appropriate to them and worth adopting,” says Haki. “Through our partnership with CIMMYT, seed companies, NGOs and farmer groups, we have placed strong emphasis on working with farmers. The result is good varieties which have a strong farmer acceptance.”

Support that enables research collaboration to lead to impact in farmers’ fields

Research and development activities that enabled these teams to succeed and bring new maize varieties to farmers have taken place via multiple projects, most recently supported by agencies including CIDA-Canada, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Rockefeller Foundation, BMZ-Germany, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. This and other work in the region has been executed by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), as well as public, private, NGO and CBO partners, according to Friesen. “The projects are mutually supportive,” he says. “They share complementary outputs and activities integrated in a consolidated framework, to develop and promote new varieties that tolerate drought and low soil fertility, resist pests and diseases, and offer better nutritional quality.”

And the final word

Isaka Mashauri from TanSeed, one of the recipients of the Tanzania team award, calls the success of these partnerships “of paramount importance.”

“Thank you very much for the award,” he says. “It greatly excited and motivated us to register more new and better maize varieties and hybrids in coming years, and to reach more farmers with new maize technologies.”

For more information: Wilfred Mwangi, project leader, DTMA (w.mwangi@cgiar.org), or Dennis Friesen, maize agronomist (d.friesen@cgiar.org)

Wheat with enhanced water productivity and appropriate quality profiles

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

Nearly half the wheat cultivated in developing countries is grown under resource-poor, rainfed conditions.

flagwheat Some of the poorest and most disadvantaged wheat farmers live in areas with less than 350 mm annual rainfall and their livelihoods often depend solely on income from wheat production. Moreover, in these areas wheat is a staple food, providing around half the daily caloric requirement, and also constitutes an important source of fodder for livestock.

The growing scarcity of water in irrigated areas is increasing the pressure to apply and use water more effectively, as well as driving the need for water-efficient germplasm. CIMMYT will enhance its focus on the development of wheat germplasm with enhanced input use efficiency.

Water use efficiency (or drought tolerance) is a highly complex trait genetically, but CIMMYT is well positioned to address this issue. Effective conservation agriculture practices will further enhance the value of water use efficient wheat cultivars. Finally, suitable grain quality is an increasingly important requirement for farmers who move beyond subsistence farming to surplus-based farming. CIMMYT will work with partners, applying its considerable experience in assessing and improving industrial quality and other key quality traits.

The maize with the beans inside: QPM gathers a following in Kenya

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 8, August 2006

aug02 Farmers of the village of Kathaka Kaome in Embu district near Mount Kenya are saying that quality protein maize (QPM) is as nutritious as Githeri—a local dish made from maize and beans.

At a farmer field day on 24 July 2006, Samuel Kinyua Mwitari, the chairperson of Nthambo Murimi Mwaro (Nthambo’s Best Farmer) Self-help Group, has turned out in his best pinstripe suit. He stands next to his plot of maize plants—with husks pulled back revealing mature, full, healthy cobs—to tell the 180 farmers present all they need to know about quality protein maize (QPM).

Five other farmers, including the Group’s Secretary, Susan Njeru, are also on hand to inform farmers from Kathaka Kaome and neighboring villages about the new maize and its nutritional benefits. “Personally, I won’t be planting any other maize!” she declares. “And I want to advise everybody to plant QPM for the betterment of their families.”

Embu is among the first four districts in Kenya’s Central Province to host QPM promotion trials. The districts lie on the moist upper and dry lower slopes of Mt. Kenya, where maize is a major dietary staple. Inhabitants boil whole dry kernels with beans to make githeri, a popular local dish. But the price of beans and other pulses has climbed steadily in recent years, and diets in poorer households are increasingly maize-based. Serious protein malnutrition is now common in weaning babies, whose staple is maize porridge.

Quality protein maize grain contains enhanced levels of the essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan, along with other characteristics that make more of its protein useful to humans or farm animals. It has 90% of the nutritive value of milk, and can stem or reverse protein malnutrition. Resource-poor farmers who cannot afford supplements can use QPM in swine or poultry feeds to increase the animals’ growth and productivity.

The QPM varieties being promoted—products of 30 years of research involving CIMMYT maize breeders and others—are indistinguishable from normal maize in appearance, and mill and store just as well. Does QPM taste better than normal maize? At the recent field day in Embu the farmers said they preferred the taste, texture, and appearance of githeri made with the QPM.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is supporting the development and deployment of locally adapted QPM, in a project led by CIMMYT agronomist Dennis Friesen. “The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute has been our main partner in adapting QPM to local environments and identifying farmer-preferred cultivars,” says Friesen. “We are also working with the Catholic Relief Services, which has strong grassroots linkages, the Catholic Diocese of Embu, and the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, to promote QPM on the ground.”

The QPM dissemination work fits the aims of the Catholic Diocese of Embu, according to CDE chief extension officer, John Namu Munene: “We at the diocese realize we have a responsibility to participate in efforts that improve the lives of our people.” Addressing farmers at the field day, he praised QPM: “Even without beans, with this maize your githeri is full of protein.”

Johnson Irungu, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) officer overseeing the dissemination project, says he is happy with the acceptance of QPM among farmers, but is quick to add that seed availability will be critical to sustaining the momentum. The QPM trait is recessive—meaning that if the maize is planted close to non-QPM varieties and is fertilized by their pollen, the quality trait will be lost. Farmers must therefore buy certified QPM seed each season or avoid sowing nearby or at the same time as neighboring, non-QPM maize fields. Embu Self-Help Group members are well-versed in this special requirement and advise fellow farmers on how to preserve the trait. As Susan Njeru explained to a group of farmers: “If you want to recycle QPM you have to harvest the cobs that you will use for seed from the center of your field, and keep them separate.”

CIMMYT has supported two local seed companies, Western Seed Company and Freshco Ltd, with training in QPM seed production and quality assurance, essential for sustainability. They are producing seed of an extra-early, drought-tolerant, open-pollinated QPM variety and two QPM hybrids for sale starting in 2007. Both companies sent their representatives several hundred kilometers to Embu to attend the field day.

For more information contact Dennis Friesen (d.friesen@cgiar.org)

Simple Screening for a Complex Problem

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

February, 2005

oldBlackMagic A CIMMYT research team is using an old but effective technique to get a head start on some very advanced crop science. Their aim is to breed high yielding maize that also resists infection by a dangerous fungus. As part of a USAID-funded project, the team uses ultraviolet or black light to identify maize that inhibits Aspergillus flavus, a fungus that produces potent toxins known as aflatoxins.

The fungus is particularly widespread in maize-growing regions of Africa, and the aflatoxins it produces can cause health problems in those who ingest it in high doses. By starting with elite maize varieties, those that already cope well in drought and high temperatures, and that resist damaging insects, the project hopes to produce a “package deal” for farmers: maize lines can survive these conditions and resist Aspergillus flavus.

No continent is immune from the Aspergillus problem. During 1988-1998, losses from aflatoxin damage in the US exceeded USD 1 billion. The United States has set an upper permissible aflatoxin level of 20 parts per billion in food, and the European Union has even stricter tolerances. A carcinogen, aflatoxin was recently linked with the deaths of more than 50 people who consumed contaminated grain in Kenya. A study in West Africa found a strong association between aflatoxin levels in children’s blood and stunted growth. “There is no easy quick-fix to this problem,” says Dan Jeffers, CIMMYT researcher overseeing the project, “but when a solution is found, everyone wins.”

By collaborating with scientists in the US, CIMMYT is better able to accomplish its goal of helping resource-poor farming households who consume their own maize. “We want to combine useful traits that will lessen the incidence of aflatoxin in the crop,” says Jeffers. “By crossing maize varieties that already are drought tolerant with those that resist Aspergillus, commercially viable and attractive lines should emerge.” This holistic approach will provide better varieties to collaborators and eventually to farmers.

The kernels vibrate as they shuffle down the tray of the light box. Healthy kernels appear faded under the black light, but the infected grain glows. Jeffers and his team will use the fluorescence data to choose the maize lines that show the least amount of fungal infection. “The most promising materials will then be used in further studies to look at aflatoxin levels,” Jeffers says.

Farmer Innovation Silences the Earworm

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 8, August 2005

peru Farmers seal the corn earworm’s fate in Peru with an oily approach.

Far from markets or access to agricultural inputs, maize farmers high in the Andes of northern Peru are applying what’s at hand—including common cooking oil—to control corn earworm, a pest that used to halve their harvests. Their approach is based on experiments in the 1980s by researchers like Toribio Tejada Campos, an agronomist at Peru’s National Institute of Agrarian Research and Extension (INIA). But farmers have taken the method further, adding plastic soda bottles and bamboo “straws.”

“Everyone around here uses oil on their maize ears,” says farmer Milciades Ramírez Sánchez, of Cajamarca Department, who with his family survives growing maize, potato, and other diverse crops on less than a hectare of land. Some farmers apply the oil with small rags, sponges, or eyedroppers, but Ramírez and his wife, Jesús Quispe Correa, invented an improved applicator by perforating the cap of a plastic soda bottle and inserting a hollow bamboo twig. “We had the idea about a year ago,” says Ramírez. “Before the use of oil, we would feed infested ears to the animals. If we don’t apply it, as much as half the maize gets earworms.”

Corn earworm larvae are small but carry a large scientific name—Helicoverpa (=Heliothis) zea—and an even larger appetite. They normally start feeding on the silks, thereby impairing kernel fertilization and development. The growing larvae eventually proceed down into the ear and bore into kernels near the tip and as far as mid-ear. Besides the kernel damage it causes, their feeding opens passages for the entry of fungal

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Cajamarca has roughly 1.5 million inhabitants, of which more than 70% live in isolated, rural areas, and nearly half are considered poor by Peruvian standards. Large families with inadequate housing, water, services, health care, or educational opportunities typify the region, and most farm homesteads average two hectares. “Milciades and Jesús are among the lucky few that have access to irrigation,” says Alicia Elizabeth Medina Hoyos, a colleague of Tejada’s at INIA’s Baños del Inca Experiment Station. “Milciades has little land, but likes to experiment.”

Tejada, who recalls with pleasure an in-service training course he attended at CIMMYT in 1987-8, says that farmers are hungry for new ideas, support, and techniques: “There’s also great interest in better market access and an awareness of the need to conserve natural resources,” he explains, “but it’s a process that’s just beginning. CIMMYT has played a catalytic role that’s hard to measure, but real.”

In addition to offering training, visiting scientist appointments, and thesis advisory services for Peruvian researchers, CIMMYT has contributed extensively to improved Peruvian varieties of wheat, barley, and—especially—maize (see A Maize for Farmers on the Edge: CIMMYT-Peru maize, Marginal 28, outstrips expectations for farmers in Peru).

For further information, contact Luis Narro (l.narro@cgiar.org).

New Maize from CIMMYT: No “Throw-away” Lines!

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 12, December 2005

newMaize New, elite maize lines from CIMMYT offer enhanced nutrition and disease resistance.

CIMMYT has just released two unique maize lines that will interest breeders in developing countries. One is the first to combine maize streak virus resistance in a quality protein maize and the other is a quality protein version of one of CIMMYTs most popular maize lines. Made available every few years to partners, CIMMYT maize lines (CMLs) are among the most prized products of the Center’s maize breeding program.

“These are truly elite maize lines,” says Kevin Pixley, the Director of the Center’s Tropical Ecosystems Program. “They represent a distillation of maize genetic resources from around the world to which CIMMYT, as a global center, has privileged access. Only one of 10,000 lines might become a CML. Breeders in national programs in many developing countries look forward to new sets of these lines.”

The lines are inbred and possess excellent combining ability, which means they can be used to form either hybrids or open pollinated varieties, and so are versatile parent materials for breeders in national programs.

The new quality protein and maize streak resistant line will serve as a natural replacement for a parent in the popular Ethiopian maize hybrid, Gabisa. Maize streak virus is endemic in Africa. Severely infected plants do not produce proper cobs and nor grow to full height. Farmers will have the chance to use a hybrid with the enhanced nutritional characteristics of quality protein maize, plus built-in disease resistance.

The quality protein version of one of CIMMYT’s most successful maize lines—CML264—is virtually indistinguishable from the original parent, which is found in the pedigrees of more than a dozen commercial hybrids in Central America, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Farmers using varieties derived from it will obtain the same high yields as always, while enjoying the higher levels of grain lysine and tryptophan—two essential amino acids that improve nutrition for both humans and farm animals.

A description of the complete set of new CMLs can be found at:
https://data.cimmyt.org/

For more information contact Kevin Pixley (k.pixley@cgiar.org)

CIMMYT–China Wheat Quality Conference Highlights 10 Years of Collaboration

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

June, 2004

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Which food crop is traded in larger quantities than any other in the world? The answer is wheat, and China produces more of it than any other country. With more than 150 participants from 20 countries in attendance, CIMMYT and China held their first joint wheat quality conference in Beijing from 29 to 31 May. The conference focused on progress in China’s wheat quality research, educated participants about quality needs of the milling industry and consumers, and promoted international collaboration.

In recent years, advanced science has been making wheat more nutritious, easy to process, and profitable. Scientists can improve quality characteristics such as grain hardness, protein content, gluten strength, color, and dough processing properties. Quality improvement, however, is not an objective, one-wheat-fits-all-purposes kind of business. Wheat end products vary by region and require grain with different characteristics. For example, 80% of wheat in China is used for noodles and dumplings, but the desired wheat quality for those products might not be appropriate for pasta in Italy or couscous in North Africa.

“You can see a wide variation of wheat use reflecting cultural influences over many centuries,” says CIMMYT Director General Masa Iwanaga, who gave a keynote presentation at the conference about the benefits of adding value to wheat to improve the livelihoods of poor people. Iwanaga says he is impressed by China’s wheat quality research and emphasis on biotechnology in recent years.

Participants from major wheat producing regions such as China, Central Asia, India, the European Union, Eastern Europe, the United States, and Australia presented updates on a variety of topics related to the global wheat industry and quality management. The participants included experts in genomics, breeding, crop management, cereal chemistry, and the milling industry, among others.

The US, Australia, Canada, and the EU see Asia as a good market for their wheat, says Javier Peña, head of industrial quality at CIMMYT. Asian foods such as noodles have been becoming more popular in the west, says Peña, while traditional western wheat-based foods have been gaining popularity in Asia. The milling industry has been growing to meet this increasing demand. “It was evident that globalization is influencing consumers’ preferences,” he says.

Conference participant and CIMMYT wheat breeder Morten Lillemo thinks the organizers did a good job assembling top lecturers to provide information. Chinese wheat breeders have been paying a lot of attention to improving quality, he says, and participants now understand the characteristics that traditional Chinese end products require.

“China is the largest wheat producer in the world, but the quality of their wheat is highly variable, even for traditional products like steamed bread and noodles,” says Lillemo. “For me it was most interesting to learn about the wheat quality work going on in China, which challenges they have, and how they are dealing with them.”

The 10-year-long CIMMYT–China collaboration has been fruitful. Chinese wheat has been used to develop new varieties with Fusarium and Karnal bunt disease resistance, high yield potential, and agronomic traits such as lodging resistance and rapid grain filling. In turn, CIMMYT has helped to improve the productivity, disease resistance, and processing quality of Chinese wheats. It has also developed human resources and helped build research infrastructure.

“The progress China has made in this period has been impressive in the areas of molecular biology, breeding, and food processing,” says Peña, who thought the conference covered a good balance of topics, ranging from genetics to consumer preferences. “The government is really supporting the research. They have new buildings and modern equipment for molecular biology and wheat quality testing.”

The Quality and Training Complex sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and CIMMYT is a new effort. It offers a testing system for various wheat-based foods, facilities for genetic studies and other research using molecular markers, and training for graduates, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists.

Along with improved wheat and better cropping practices that help farmers save money on costly inputs, such as water, Iwanaga believes that more marketable maize and wheat grain will be important for improving the profitability of maize and wheat production in developing countries. He would like to increase the benefits that farmers reap from their harvests by bettering a range of traits, including taste, texture, safety, and nutrition with added protein or vitamins. That way, farmers can earn more money from better quality wheat.

Conference presentations covered a wide range of topics: molecular studies of the evolution of the wheat genome; new tools to assess heat tolerance and grain quality in wheat genotypes; molecular genetic modification of wheat flour quality; the biochemical and molecular genetic study of glutenin proteins in bread wheat and related species; the molecular investigation of storage product accumulation in wheat endosperm; molecular and conventional methods for assessing the processing quality of Chinese wheat; challenges for breeding high-quality wheat with high yield potential; the impact of genetic resources on breeding for breadmaking quality in common wheat; wheat quality improvement by genetic manipulation and biosafety assessment of transgenic wheat lines; and quality characteristics of transgenic wheat lines.

The conference was organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences / National Wheat Improvement Center, the Chinese Academy of Science, CIMMYT, BRI Australia, Limagrain, and the Crop Science Society of China. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Nature Science Foundation of China, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

For information: Zonghu He

Deadly wheat disease hits primetime Australian TV

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

cimmyt-ug99 CIMMYT-led international efforts to identify and deploy sources of resistance to the virulent Ug99 strain of stem rust have received coverage on ABC1, the primary television channel of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Stem rust spores, carried large distances by the wind, are no respecters of borders. The battle against the disease is one which requires global collaboration—and is attracting global media interest. “Wheat is our most important crop and [stem rust] is arguably the most damaging of all the pathogens of wheat, it destroys crops,” explained Professor Robert Park of the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute in an episode of Catalyst, ABC’s flagship science series, aired on 04 August 2011.

Ug99 is able to overcome the resistance of popular wheat varieties, making this new stem rust a major threat to world food security. In East Africa, where Ug99 first emerged, it has devastated smallholder wheat crops. ABC’s reporter Paul Willis visited the Njoro research station in Kenya, where the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) hosts a large-scale program now screening around 30,000 wheat lines from all over the world each year—including those brought from Australia by Park.

“What we’ve got here is materials that we receive from several developing countries. As you can see there’s Australia, there’s China, Nepal, Bangladesh. So everyone wants to test their material and see if it is actually resistant to Ug99,” said CIMMYT molecular breeder Sridhar Bhavani, pointing out plots of wheat in the field at Njoro.

Working together, scientists have made substantial process in understanding Ug99 resistance and developing new wheats. “So far we’ve characterised close to about fifty genes for stem rust resistance,” said Bhavani. Producing suitable varieties and getting them to farmers is an ongoing challenge, but Willis strikes an optimistic note: “This looks like the hope for the future. It’s a strain of wheat called “King Bird” that was developed by CIMMYT and is now deployed all around the world. And it looks like it’s got very high levels of resistance against Ug99.”

The complete video clip, with transcript, is available at: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3285577.htm

The journey of a seed

Written by on August 1, 2008. Posted in Features. 1 Comment on The journey of a seed

aug03 Seed 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)