Long as a man’s forearm, the biggest maize ears in the world are found in Jala, in the state of Nayarit, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The traditional variety of this community is at risk, but a maize festival and the variety’s value in local culture and dishes keep farmers growing it, while researchers work to restore and improve its potential.

At the annual competition for the longest maize ear in the world, beauty queens and dignitaries wait in obscurity at the back of the stage, while the spotlight is on the bundles of ears lined up at the front. As darkness falls over the main square of the Mexican village of Jala on the evening of August 14, 2007, the 30 participating farmers are called onto the stage one by one, carrying their precious ears of maize. Each ear is systematically stripped of its husks and measured, and the data are recorded under the watchful eye of its grower. Many reach more than 30 cm (12 inches), and the first place goes to an ear 36 cm long.

At the height of the rainy season, lush, green fields and mountains surround Jala. The valley is overlooked by the active volcano Ceboruco, which last erupted in the 1870s and whose mineral-rich ash is believed by locals to make the giant Jala maize grow so well—indeed, it does not reach its full size when grown outside the valley. The variety is intimately adapted to its environment and an integral part of the identity and traditions of the people who grow it. Despite this, like many traditional varieties throughout Mexico, the Jala maize and the genetic diversity it carries are under threat of extinction, as improved varieties take over and young people leave the land looking for a better life. The competition for the biggest ear was established in 1981 in an attempt to ensure the preservation of Jala maize by encouraging farmers to grow it. It is held every year as part of the village’s two-week Feria del Elote, or green maize ear festival.

The Jala maize is a landrace—a traditional variety specific to a particular place that has been grown by farmers over generations. A number of other, regular-sized, landraces originating from other parts of Mexico are also grown in Jala. Collectively they are known as maíz de húmedo, as they have long growing seasons of around seven to eight months and are planted in April to take advantage of residual soil moisture before the summer rains begin.

Key ingredient in rich traditions and dishes

Jala maize grains contain a lot of flour. They are therefore prized for making boiled or roasted green ears, the Mexican flat-bread tortilla, pozole (a kind of pork and maize stew), gorditas (a sweet breadcake), and many other traditional dishes. But their flouriness also means the kernels are less dense and thus fetch a lower price on external markets, where maize is sold by weight.

Improved varieties of maize are inexorably supplanting the Jala landrace. They are shorter, which makes them easier to manage and less prone to falling over (lodging) in high winds, and yield much more (around 7-8 tons of grain per hectare, compared to around 3 tons per hectare for maíz de húmedo). Even more importantly, the improved varieties grown in Jala give relatively high yields of husks, which are exported to the USA and the rest of Mexico for wrapping tamales, a popular Mexican dish. The valley’s climate is changing, and the reduced rainfall also favors improved varieties, which reach maturity in around four to five months and thus can be sown in drier soils, after the rains begin. As a result less than 5% of the Jala’s maize-growing area is currently sown to the landrace. Furthermore, maize itself is being replaced by cash crops, predominantly blue agave for tequila and tobacco.

Recovering lost length

Because it has outcrossed with improved varieties, Jala maize’s prodigious height, ear length, ear thickness, and growing season have all diminished over the last century. In 1907 a visiting scientist recorded ears 60 cm long, whereas the longest in recent times have measured a mere 45 cm. Working to reverse these trends is J. Arahón Hernández Guzmán, research professor at the Colegio de Postgraduados, a Mexican agricultural institution. Hernández is growing landrace seed from 22 farmers in a plot in the valley to recombine the genetic variation. The seed will be redistributed to interested farmers, safeguarded in CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, and re-sown next year to begin selection for longer ears. He is also growing out Jala landrace samples from CIMMYT’s bank for selection and combination with current landrace materials. In addition to recovery and conservation, Hernández aims to develop varieties with added value; for example, dual-purpose maize providing good grain and husk yields, as well as specialized varieties for green ears or pozole. “This is important for me because, as a genetic resource, it’s unique in the world,” he says. “Not only that: if we lose this maize we lose our traditions, culture, and identity.”

Suketoshi Taba, Head of CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Collection, agrees the landrace is a unique expression of Jala’s culture, and will have value as long as people there choose to grow it. “CIMMYT holds Jala maize seed in trust, not just as a genetic resource for the world, but also for the people of Jala,” he says. “It’s important for us to preserve it on a permanent basis ex situ in the CIMMYT germplasm bank, and this complements its conservation in the field.” The Center holds 22,600 unique collections of Mexican and other maize landraces, and has provided seed and technical support to numerous researchers and farmers interested in their conservation and use.

Many reasons to grow Jala maize

But even if Jala maize can be restored and improved, will farmers continue growing it? Looking to stem the massive yearly flow of migrants out of the valley, local officials are tending to support the use of other, more profitable varieties and crops. “Maize is economically not very important,” says Jala mayor, Juan José Jacobo Solis.

Jala farmers talk of why they grow the landrace with a mixture of pride and pragmatism. They take pride in growing the biggest maize in the world, but also in their long tradition of caring for the seed. Pragmatically, they grow Jala maize for its high quality, because they enjoy eating it and because it can fetch high prices locally. The competition offers both—prizes and prestige.

Farmers will continue to grow more profitable and reliable improved varieties to sell the husks and grain. However, particularly with improved seed and supportive policies, it is likely that farmers will also continue to grow small plots of Jala maize for their own consumption and local sale, and for the competition. Their different purposes are complementary. Ultimately, the conservation of Jala maize in farmers’ fields is in the hands of farmers, and depends on the value they place on it.

As such, Jala is relevant to the conservation of other maize landraces: where people take pride in their local maize and value it for local needs such as traditional foods, it will be preserved. “I will always grow it,” says farmer José Elias Partida, “and now my son grows it too, and participates in the competition.”

The year 2006 is coming to a close and I’d like to share with you my assessment of this busy year and thank the CIMMYT family for its invaluable contribution to making this a productive and rewarding period for CIMMYT.

CIMMYT has made major progress in science leadership, delivery, effective partnership, organizational effectiveness and coherence, financial health and external perception and recognition. Let me give some examples that illustrate why I believe that 2006 has been a successful year for CIMMYT as a science-based organization with a humanitarian mission.

We started with Science Week, a major institutional event. At the end of the week I wrote: “I believe that Science Week was a major success. First of all, the Business Plan inauguration was received with enthusiasm by all staff present and the Board members who attended. We now have a Board-approved business plan and I feel that staff are anxious to join forces to deliver the flagship products highlighted in the plan. Science Week has been a major turning point for CIMMYT. I think that we now have a clear direction, and exciting and challenging tasks ahead of us. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to CIMMYT Board members (Lene, Julio, Bob and Pedro) for their active participation in the events and for providing their great wisdom about our science both its quality and its direction. I also thank those who were involved in logistic support for the successful events.”

CIMMYT organized or led a series of international meetings, showing the strength and relevance of our science. For example:

• Wheat yield potential workshop (Obregon, March)
• Fusarium head blight (HQ, March)
• Global crop diversity strategy meetings on maize and wheat (HQ, May, June)
• International Plant Breeding symposium (Mexico City, August)
• Global Rust Initiative technical workshop (Alexandria, Egypt, October)
• Bio-ethanol international technical workshop (New Delhi, November)

While organizing such events takes great effort, they are very important. Through them CIMMYT shows its proactiveness and relevance to global issues. They are powerful sources of CIMMYT’s influence on the global agricultural research agenda and partnership.

We also made major progress on improving CIMMYT’s organizational effectiveness. A new financial management system, Axapta, has been introduced. The implementation involved not only finance section staff but also program administrative staff in HQ and regional offices. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their tremendous energy and efforts in successfully managing the migration and implementation.

CIMMYT will move to strict, Project-based management in 2007. This will ensure priority-based (flagship products) resource allocation, output-oriented activities with clear accountability and monitoring system. This will also assist us to properly cost and price project activities and provide incentives for resource mobilization.

We continue to dramatically improve our operational effectiveness. For example, our cafeteria operations (El Batan) used to lose money (around USD 200,000/year). Through a change of management and improved effectiveness, it now breaks even, saving us that USD 200,000. We will continue to strive for operational effectiveness in all operations, so that more resources will be available for our resultoriented activities.

Effective partnership is a core component for the delivery of flagship products. I am sure we are all aware of its importance and work hard to create partnerships at many levels. I have seen major progress on the development of our alliances with two key sister centers (IRRI and ICARDA) this year. We made also special efforts to actively participate in specific NARS-led events such as APAARI and GFAR.

We have a good history of working with small and medium scale enterprises. We also work effectively with large enterprises to enhance the speed of development of our products (such as improved germplasm and technology). The new Pioneer-CIMMYT joint effort to develop maize germplasm for higher nitrogen use efficiency in Africa is an example.

External perception and review
Two real highlights from an institutional perspective were our top ranking in the CGIAR-World Bank performance indicators and the positive review from the External Program and Management Review panel that took the time to analyze progress at CIMMYT after their formal report in 2005. The new review report is highly complimentary to CIMMYT. It reports in its summary, “The review team congratulates CIMMYT as a whole—the Board, management and staff—on the substantive progress made since the Fifth EPMR and feels that CIMMYT can now move ahead with confidence and optimism.”

The CGIAR performance indicators range from how many peer-reviewed papers each scientist has published to how good the financial management has been over the year. They also include assessments of governance, impact and science quality.

Partnership in science-led development
This year we were presented with the CGIAR’s highest recognition for science for development—the King Baudoiun Award. The award was given to us for our work on stress-tolerant maize in eastern and southern Africa. This is research that has a 20 year history at CIMMYT, starting with the selection of potential germplasm from the gene bank in the late 1980s and continuing through today with the very successful participatory selection work with farmers through the mother-baby trial system and the dissemination of stress-tolerant maize seed on a wide-scale by national programs, small scale seed companies and communitybased organizations. The work is a fine example of how researchled development can enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor. It is also the result of an extraordinary partnership of researchers, farmers, NARS and donors.

Resource mobilization
In 2006, there were 43 grants signed or approved for about USD 22 million. Many CIMMYT staff members were active in all stages of resource mobilization, from generating concept notes and moving them to full proposals, to investor visits. They and their research-for-development partners are to be congratulated for their hard work. It is the kind of effort we will have to continue every year to ensure we have the resources to fulfill our mission. A summary of the current status of new grants received and the project proposal pipeline are given monthly in CIMMYT Resource Mobilization intranet site at http://intranet. cimmyt.org/Resource_ Mobilization/e-index.htm.

Challenges in the new year, 2007
We end 2006 with great satisfaction for the above achievements. We will continue, in the new year, to strive for scientific excellence and organizational effectiveness. The environment surrounding our work is, unfortunately, increasingly uncertain. It includes donor funding, intellectual property policy and the viability of CGIAR as an effective system. We will need to address those challenges in a proactive manner and stay focused on our work while showing resilience and accepting such uncertainties as a matter of institutional life.

In closing, I wish you and your families the very best for this season and the new year. Without your efforts none of our success would be possible.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 7, July 2005

Now that all of CIMMYT’s new program directors have been officially installed, it is time to get acquainted with them, as well as their ideas and plans for the programs. This month we feature Jonathan Crouch, director of the Genetic Resources Program.

“Probably the best drought team in the world,” raves Jonathan Crouch, director of CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources Program, referring to his new CIMMYT colleagues. Ever since working in the Negev desert breeding heat and salinity tolerant potatoes, Crouch has been interested in harnessing biotechnologies for improving dryland agriculture. “There are many exciting advances in genomics that now offer the possibility of helping to breed better crops for these harsh environments” he says.

He started his career, however, in a very different environment, the swamps of West Africa, using tissue culture and molecular markers in the breeding of plantains and bananas at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria. Soon realizing that he needed more practical experience in plant breeding, he joined the private sector to set up a European canola breeding program. This gave him a better perspective of the realities of biotechnologies in modern crop breeding. From there, going to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), it was obvious that in many developing countries a chasm exists between the outputs of international public goods research and the inputs of private sector product development. “By working with the private sector, we hope to populate that gap with interdisciplinary scientists, who will bring prestige to this area of research,” says Crouch, who also champions a similar approach in his half-time position in the management group of the Generation Challenge Programme.

The Genetic Resources program aims to foster more diverse and intimate relationships with multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises. “We also want to build a strong product development pipeline from the genebank to the farmer. The Genetic Resources program will start the reaction, which will then reach farmers through our regional programs and national partners, giving them the traits and tools they need.”

This global research program houses three important aspects of CIMMYT’s work—the maize and wheat genebanks, the biotechnology group, and prebreeding activities, which create suitable starting material for plant breeding programs from tens of thousands of possible unimproved plants. Crouch is excited about this organizational unit, the first of its kind in the CGIAR: “It offers tremendous opportunities for capturing synergies in all disciplines. The regional programs identify priorities, such as drought tolerance, and we work on identifying novel useful genetic variation and the tools required to efficiently manipulate it.”

And considering he is building on CIMMYT’s existing legacy of quality biotechnological science, Crouch’s confidence in this program is not unfounded.

Now that all of CIMMYT’s new program directors have been officially installed, it is time to get acquainted with them, as well as their ideas and plans for the programs. This month we feature Kevin Pixley, director of the Tropical Ecosystems Program.

After growing up in Latin America and working in Africa for over a decade, Kevin Pixley is eager to extend the benefits of CIMMYT’s work in Asia, following the legacy of Nobel Peace Laureate and former CIMMYT wheat breeder, Norman E. Borlaug. “I read about Dr. Borlaug while attending high school in Mexico City,” says Pixley. “Wanting to learn more, I convinced one of my teachers to take our class on a field trip to CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico. Little did I know then how familiar this place would become to me, or that I would be seeing Dr. Borlaug fairly often.”

The Tropical Ecosystems Program he heads will focus on developing hardy, productive maize varieties for resource-poor farmers in lowland and highland tropical environments. “Across tropical Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Southern China, agriculture suffers from problems like drought, diseases and insects, and infertile and acidic soils,” says Pixley. “The demand for maize is increasing, but the profitability of maize farming—especially for small-scale producers—is declining. Improving the livelihoods and food security of those farmers is one of our key goals.” More nutritious maize will be another output of the program, including varieties with high-lysine and pro-vitamins A. “On the latter, we’re working with HarvestPlus, the CGIAR’s global alliance to breed and disseminate crops for better nutrition,” he says.

For the farmers in Latin America, where nearly 27 million hectares of maize are grown, the Program is developing and testing varieties that tolerate highly acidic soils, which cover large tracts in South America, and is also trying to reach the many small-scale farmers in remote, highland areas who have missed out on the Green Revolution. “Despite progress in Latin America, millions are still trapped in pockets of rural poverty with no access to markets or viable alternative livelihoods,” says Pixley. “We know that farming is central to their lives and that our work can make a difference.”

A citizen of the US, Pixley completed his BSc at Purdue University and his PhD at Iowa State, and in 1990 joined CIMMYT as a post doctorate in maize breeding—his Spanish language skills coming in handy. After three years he moved with his family to CIMMYT’s office in Zimbabwe to work as a maize breeder, and later became coordinator of the center’s regional program. During his tenure from 1993-2004, the southern Africa group and its partners worked extensively with farmers to test drought tolerant maize and make quality seed available. This year, enough seed was produced to sow more than a million hectares of drought tolerant maize. “Many things inspired me in southern Africa,” Pixley says, “but the commitment of local scientists, who work for very little money and under tough conditions, still strikes me as extraordinary.”