To address challenges caused by maize diseases and pests, AATF renews its commitment to the TELA maize project, which works towards the commercialization of transgenic drought-tolerant and insect-proof maize varieties to safeguard food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe (LIPS-ZIM) project promotes climate-relevant innovation to better manage livestock disease and production systems.
Agrovita, which launched in 2021, aims to boost the productivity of 900 farmers over three years through actions that improve their communitiesā food security by implementing regenerative farming practices across almost 30,000 acres. The program also aims to ensure that 50% of its beneficiaries are women.
Numerous actors ā from African startups to global humanitarian organizations ā are responding to the continentās food challenges. For Sub-Saharan Africa to meet its food needs as climate change persists, the region must first overcome some basic hurdles.
Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) suggest counties in Kenya should scale up and accelerate the adoption of technologies that can control and prevent Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) and fall armyworm (FAW) to achieve higher maize yields.
Although the technologies exist, many farmers have little information on how to implement them.
Seed companies and senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture could play a key role in disseminating information, as could mobile phone technology and emerging digital innovation platforms.
Read the original article: Counties Urged To Scale Up And Adopt Pest Control Technologies
On March 2, the China-Pakistan Joint Wheat Molecular Breeding International Lab (“Joint Lab”) was launched, funded by the Science and Technology Partnership Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, withĀ theĀ joint support from China‘sĀ Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Agriculture Research CenterĀ ofĀ Pakistan and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
The joint lab aims to develop new varieties with high yield and resistance to disease, enhancing breeding capacity and wheat production in Pakistan, where wheat is the largest food crop.
Read the original article: China, Pakistan launched joint wheat breeding lab
Rabe Yahaya, agricultural mechanization expert at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), spoke to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) about the country’s wheat production.
Ethiopia is the second largest wheat grower in Africa and has high levels of demand for the crop. Shortages of grains, cereals and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict are leading the Ethiopian government to focus heavily on increasing the country’s productivity to rely less on imports.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recently launched national exports of wheat/ “We have made Ethiopia’s wheat export dream a reality,” he said.
Yahaya highlighted the role of CIMMYT in improving Ethiopia’s wheat production; around 70 percent of varieties grown in the country come from the organization’s germplasm. He also praised Ethiopia’s tax free imports on agricultural machineries and strong extension system, saying that other countries could learn from the success of these initiatives.
The interview took place at a working group on mechanization organized by the Green Innovation Centers (GIC) and CIMMYT to promote the use of machinery in agriculture.
Read the original article: Ethiopiaās Experience of Wheat Production Exemplary to African Countries: CIMMYT
A scientist from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) spoke toĀ The HinduĀ about current challenges in wheat cultivation in India.
Arun Kumar Joshi, CIMMYT Country Representative for India, CIMMYT Regional Representative for South Asia and Managing Director of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), predicted a bumper year for wheat in India.
“The feedback so far I am getting is that there will be record production of wheat,” he said. “The reason is that the area of cultivation has increased. According to government estimates, wheat has been sown in more than 34 million hectares so far in this rabi season.”
Reasons for this include no current threat from locusts or diseases, appropriate levels of soil moisture and humidity, and farmers shifting to planting crops earlier, explained Joshi.
Read the original article: India will have record wheat production, must plan for export, says Arun Kumar Joshi
At the 2023 Dryland Legumes and Cereals Review and Planning Meeting, Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), explained why African smallholder farmer families are most impacted by food shortages and high food prices.
“The world is in the middle of a food crisis, driven by the supply chain disruptions during and post-Covid, climate change with increased storms, temperatures, and drought, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, leading to a shortage of fertilizers for food crop production, which have all led to the high cost of food,” said Govaerts, highlighting that smallholders are dealing with multiple challenges at once.
He continued by describing how the aforementioned challenges to food security are worsening poverty for vulnerable people in Africa, especially smallholder farmers.
However, harnessing the continent’s potential for food production could help to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. Govaerts cited examples of where smallholder farmers have returned to producing nutritious indigenous crops such as millet, sorghum, guinea corn, groundnut, cowpeas and chickpeas, which are reaping tremendous results.
Through investments in crops, farming practices, and agricultural technologies, the potential for food production in Africa can have a huge impact on hunger and poverty.
Read the original article: African smallholder farmers hit hard by global food shortage: expert
The transboundary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war have exposed the fragility and inequity of global food systems. But though calls for the transformation ofĀ food systems abound, there is no quick fix.
Farmers in Pakistan could save up to $1.3 billion each year in post-harvest losses with the development of an efficient storage system.
Research shows that inefficient storage is the main cause of staple commodity losses in the country. Despite producing 27 million tons of wheat annually worth $7.4 billion, there is less than 6 million tons of storage capacity available; around 10% of the surplus wheat is lost at a value of $740 million due to the use of unregulated conditions.
With the ability to store their commodity for an extra two or three months, farmers can increase their income by between 20 to 40 percent. Preserving the crops that have already been produced will also pass on a saving of between 15 to 20 percent to end consumers.
Hermetic technology developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the University of Hohenheim offers a potential storage solution by protecting the commodity from the ambient environment.
Read the original article: Staple commodities: Country can save $1.3bn annually by developing efficient storage system
On a visit to Kenya, Bill Gates had the opportunity to learn how smallholder farmers like Mary Mathuli are adapting their practices to account for the impacts of climate change.
Mathuli drew attention to the innovations that are making her life easier, such as drought-tolerant maize seed varieties developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). She also cited her mobile phone as a vital tool, allowing her access essential information, such as weather forecasts, market prices, and technical farming support.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population works in agriculture,” explains Gates. “Together, they produce about 80 percent of the continentās food supply. And most of the people doing the backbreaking farm workālike the chores I performedāare women.”
In addition to managing her farm, Mathuli is a model farmer and Village Based Advisor with the Cereal Growers Association, encouraging other farmers to adopt new practices that will improve their productivity. “She is clearly doing a good job in this role because more than 90 percent of farmers in her area have embraced one of the new adaptation practices,” said Gates.
Read the original article: On Africaās farms, the forecast calls for adaptation and innovation
An article in the Big News Network examines opportunities for collaboration between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, referencing work between China and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT, said the collaboration with China can be regarded as one of the mutually beneficial examples of working together to safeguard the world’s food security.
“CIMMYT and China together can be partners,” said Govaerts. “CIMMYT can work with China for new wheat varieties that can fight climate change, for new maize varieties that can sustain new diseases.”
Read the original article: Xiplomacy: China, LAC countries embrace new era of win-win cooperation
As he retires from his illustrious career, a new interview with Ravi Singh, Head of Global Wheat Improvement at CIMMYT, by the Global Indian reveals his motivations for becoming a scientist and his desire to ensure people all over the world had access to food.
“I retired quite recently, however, I have a lot to do. I wish to mentor young scientists about on how to increase food production. I also look forward to working on several high-profile projects with farmers to tackle future issues they might face due to the climate changes on a crop like wheat,ā shares the scientist.
Singh was honored with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Government of India in January 2021, recognizing his outstanding achievements by non-resident Indians, persons of Indian origin, or organizations or institutions run by them either in India or abroad. He received this for his role in theĀ development, release, and cultivation of more than 550 wheat varieties over the past three decades.
Singh has also been included among the top one percent of highly-cited researchers, according to Clarivate Analytics-Web of Science every year since 2017.
Read the original article: Pravasi Bharatiya Samman winner, scientist Dr Ravi Singh is working towards food security for all
Cary Fowler, Special Envoy for Global Food Security, and Dina Esposito, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Food Crisis Coordinator, discussed the US strategy for addressing the global food security crisis and their ongoing visit to Malawi and Zambia at a digital press briefing on January 19.
“Weāve recently supported a new project which will be operating in a number of countries, including Zambia and Malawi, that will be coordinated by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture,” said Fowler.
“Theyāll be establishing innovation hubs where theyāll bring together the best and most appropriate technologies and information to help small-scale farmers with a whole variety of issues that they confront. This will give the farmers access, for example in Zambia, to drought-tolerant maize, which theyāre really clamoring for. This is maize which, on a year-in and year-out basis, on average will yield about 30 percent more, rotated with legumes, which provide protein and also enrich the soil and reduce the need for fertilizer. But also other technologies and assistance in establishing markets for those products and lengthening out the value chain so that farmers are not just ā and small businesses are not just dealing with raw commodities but are taking those commodities and making something more valuable and more useful to a broader population.”
Read the original article: Digital Press Briefing with U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security Dr. Cary Fowler, and USAID Global Food Crisis Coordinator Dina Esposito