Pawan Kumar Singh, head, wheat pathology, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) says that the fast-acting and devastating fungal disease known as wheat blast was first spotted in Africa in the Zambian rainfed wheat production system in the 2017-2018 crop cycle.
Read more here: https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/agriculture/news/wheat-disease-common-to-asia-jumps-to-africa.html
Agriculture contributes significantly to greenhouse gases (GHGs), so can farmers be incentivized to cultivate in a less earth-warming manner, with tradable carbon credits giving them an additional source of income?
Read here: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/reaping-carbon-credits-from-agriculture/2116860/
“We are unlikely to see big peaks in stubble burning unlike the previous years. The burning of paddy residue is likely to be more evenly distributed across a longer period,” said M.L. Jat, principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
For three years, Kellogg, in partnership with the International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat (CIMMYT), has been working on a program which seeks to provide technical and scientific advice to increase the productivity of land and efficient use of available natural resources, so farmers obtain better crops and have more profitable economic activities that mitigate the effects of climate change.
Read more here: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/kelloggs-propone-iniciativas-para-mejorar-la-nutricion-de-los-mexicanos
For the first time, wheat blast, a fast-acting and devastating fungal disease, has been reported on the African continent, according to a new article published by scientists from the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the US Department of Agriculture – Foreign Disease Weed Science Research Unit (USDA-ARS).
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize award is likely to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from, or face the threat of hunger. CGTN Africa has been running a series on food production in the continent. The series is in line with this year’s Nobel Peace Prize theme — making food security an instrument of peace. This episode focuses on the impact of improved seeds.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0saDuHlVZs&feature=youtu.be
Efforts towards managing the Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), a viral disease affecting maize, have contributed to reducing seed production losses from 33 per cent to 16 per cent in the last four years, bolstering steady supply of maize seeds in the Eastern African region.
Read more here: https://www.kbc.co.ke/maize-disease-certified-seeds/
Seed banks may be another resource for securing Indigenous seed, although these banks have other missions as well. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), maintains seed banks and programs to preserve seeds native to specific regions. The group also leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform to characterize genetic diversity so it can be used in conventional breeding programs to develop wheat and maize varieties that can address climate change, pest and disease resistance and yield to help manage food security.
“About 100 seed banks exist worldwide with seed used for cultural or heritage purposes and for production. CIMMYT has varieties that have been cultivated, conserved and cherished as grain and food crops for thousands of years,” says Tom Payne, head of the non-profit organization’s wheat germplasm collections and International Wheat Improvement Network. “Our seed bank conserves varieties that can be a source for finding old genes that will solve new problems. We have to have that diversity to address changing production environments.”
Read more here: https://seedworld.com/seed-seekers-seed-keepers-seed-growers/
Last year, AgBiTech launched a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development, FAO, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International in South Sudan to train farmers in using Fawlingen. These farmers have shown a 63% increase in yield compared to untreated plots and the pilot is being scaled to reach thousands of farmers this season.
A study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) pointed out that India has the potential to cut 18 percent of its annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and livestock sector.
“This is a very relevant approach in the Indian context also. Contingent plannings are prescription based and when the time comes the seeds are unavailable for the farmers. This approach will answer the questions like which seeds are made to be available where and in what quantity. As we have our own indigenous biodiversity, our farmers face monsoon delays and monsoon failures so Seed for Needs is the key to fight such problems and to maintain our biodiversity” said Dr M L Jat, Principal Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
Researchers working on the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative, which aims to facilitate the effective use of genetic diversity of maize and wheat, have genetically characterized 79,191 samples of wheat from the germplasm banks of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Read more here: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-massive-scale-genomic-reveals-wheat-diversity.html
The COVID-19 crisis is highlighting many fragilities in contemporary food systems. But the pandemic has also created opportunities for local organizations and technologies to quickly mitigate these fragilities while showcasing the resilience, innovation and adaptation of African food and agricultural systems.
African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) panel discussed solutions to food security challenges.
Read more here: https://allafrica.com/stories/202009100823.html
While COVID-19 is exacerbating an existing hunger crisis, authors highlight three of the most impactful research and development successes from the past few years that help smallholder farmers cope with climate change and bolster food security.
The first is CIMMYT’s program to develop drought-tolerant maize varieties with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, successfully developing hundreds of new varieties that boost farmers’ yields and incomes, directly improving millions of lives.
Read more here: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/3-climate-resilient-food-solutions-smallholder-farmers
Authors of a recent Crop Science article leveraged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to record the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a measure of plant health, at the seed increase stage of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) wheat breeding program.
Read more here: https://www.sciencecodex.com/unmanned-aerial-vehicles-help-wheat-breeders-655650