MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has been hard hit by drought and extreme weather events related to climate change in recent years, exacerbating local poverty and food insecurity. In addition, slash-and-burn agriculture techniques have led to environmental degradation and contribute to climate change. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is working to help indigenous Mayan farming families in the Yucatan peninsula adapt to and mitigate climate change, increasing maize yields and food security while minimizing negative environmental impact. This comes as world leaders mull a crucial decision on agriculture at the UN Climate talks in Bonn, a decision that could support farmers everywhere to take similar actions.

Maize is the backbone of diets in the Yucatan Peninsula, and has sustained indigenous Mayan families for millennia. It is grown as part of the “milpa,” a pre-hispanic intercropping system that revolves around the symbiotic relationship of maize, beans and squash.

Traditionally, the milpa system has involved clearing new land for farming using the slash and burn method. However, after two to three years, the soils begin to deteriorate and new land must be cleared. These practices have contributed to deforestation, increased CO2 emissions, and loss of invaluable local biodiversity.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, climate change has begun to threaten milpa agriculture. The rains have been later and shorter every year, reducing maize yields. As it has become more difficult to make a living from agriculture, young people have been forced to migrate to find work. Farmers have also lost seeds of their traditional maize varieties when they have been unable to harvest after severe drought.

A new CIMMYT project, Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula, is helping farming families increase their maize yields through sustainable, inclusive solutions. The Project, which means “sustainable milpa” in Spanish, is working to help farming families identify the best soils in their communal land and incorporate sustainable intensification and conservation agriculture (CA) practices to improve soils in order to prevent deforestation and mitigate climate change.

The project has a strong social inclusion component and works to make sure that women and youth are included and prioritized in capacity development opportunities and decision-making processes. “As milpa is a family system, women and youth must be included in order to attain impact,” said Carolina Camacho, principal researcher on social inclusion at CIMMYT. “Complex challenges such as climate change require social change and inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups such women and youth in order for mitigation to be successful.”

Farming families are taught CA techniques such as zero tillage that help prevent erosion and water runoff. This increases soil health and uses water more efficiently, which helps maize better survive drought and allows farmers to farm the same land for many years without resorting to deforestation or burning.

“Farmers used to harvest 500 kilograms of maize per hectare. Now, with techniques they have learned from CIMMYT, they are harvesting up to 2 tons per hectare,” said Vladimir May, technical leader of the Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula project. The project has also helped farmers increase yields by identifying natural inputs that can be integrated into an integrated pest and fertility management strategy This allows farming families to sustainably increase their maize yields despite limited inputs and resources.

The native maize grown by farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula adapted to its local environment over centuries of selection by farmers to perform well despite poor soils and other challenges. However, climate change has threatened the survival of this maize genetic diversity. Some farmers lost all of the seed of their traditional maize varieties when they were unable to harvest anything after extreme drought. Others have found that their traditional varieties do not perform as well as they had due to environmental stress related to climate change.

CIMMYT is working to help farmers replace stores of traditional maize seed they have lost due to drought and climate change. The CIMMYT maize seed bank safeguards over 28,000 maize varieties for the benefit of humanity, including seeds that are native to the Yucatan Peninsula. Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula has worked with the seed bank to find farmers original varieties, restoring a priceless component of many families’ food security, culture and biodiversity.

The project has also helped farmers increase their yields through participatory variety selection. By crossing farmers’ native varieties with other native maize varieties that are more resistant to drought or climate change, farmers can sustainably increase maize yields without losing the qualities they love about their traditional varieties. Women have played a key role in this participatory variety selection, because as they process and prepare all of the food grown by the family, they have intimate knowledge of the characteristics the maize must have to perform well and feed the family.

Poverty and food insecurity in the region have meant that migration has been a necessity for many. With new technologies and support from CIMMYT, women and youth are beginning to see that they may have a future in farming, despite the challenge of climate change. “Now that they see how much maize and other cash crops can be produced with sustainable technologies, young people are deciding to stay,” said Maria Boa, a consultant working with the project. “As youth are sometimes more accepting of new technologies, young farmers in the Yucatan play a crucial role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Inclusion of women and youth is necessary to make a positive change in these communities.”

These and other farmers around the world will play an important role in fighting climate change, by reducing emissions from farming. While a majority of countries, including Mexico, have committed to reducing the climate footprint of agriculture, world leaders must now decide how to best support and finance these actions.

The Milpa Sustentable Yucatan Peninsula project is operated and supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the government of Mexico through the SAGARPA program Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) CitiBanamex, Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya and the  CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). The project is operated with the support of local partners, non-governmental organizations and the different levels of the Mexican government. 

At this year’s UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Click here to read more stories in this series and follow @CIMMYT on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.

A little-known global research network founded 50 years ago and supported by diverse funders — including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia — has helped keep the daily bread of over 2.5 billion resource-poor consumers from disappearing under the onslaught of rising temperatures and virulent new crop disease strains, to mention a few threats. Nowadays, the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN) shares and tests as many as 1,000 breeding lines yearly at 700 field stations representing the world’s 12 major wheat-growing environments.

Now, a Financial Times editorial by CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds presents a new proposal for expanding the wheat network to include other major food crops and speed farmers’ adoption of vital technologies that can end hunger and address climate change. The idea has the support of experts from leading funding and development agencies.

Click here to read the editorial on the Financial Times website.

Click here to download a PDF version of the editorial.

He gave a keynote presentation on agriculture and wheat research to the assembly, together with eight ministers including the Minister of Agriculture, Changfu Han, in an open discussion forum at The Great Hall of the People, with coverage by Chinese and global media.

His presentation emphasized the nutritional and health value of wheat-based foods and the environmental benefits of wheat, particularly the role of winter wheat in protecting protect the soil during winter and spring.

He also described the importance of international germplasm exchange and collaboration.

CIMMYT has been a valued partner of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) and other national and provincial organizations for several decades. Genetic contributions of CIMMYT breeding are present in more than 26% of all major wheat varieties released in China after 2000 and over 350 Chinese researchers have taken part in CIMMYT wheat training programs since 1970.

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – As the world’s changing climate makes it more difficult to feed a growing population, smallholder farmers need sustainable solutions to improve food security and livelihoods while adapting to the impacts of climate change. Stress tolerant crop varieties offer much-needed answers, as one of the “10 best bet innovations for adaptation in agriculture” according to a new working paper from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

The paper taps into decades of agricultural research for development conducted by CGIAR research centers to identify the top innovations for climate adaption in agriculture. As world leaders convene for the UN Climate talks in Bonn this week and make a potential decision on agriculture, countries are being encouraged to adopt and advance best practices in their National Adaptation Plans.

Climate change has led to increased incidences of drought, heat and extreme weather events as well as crop pests and diseases, all of which can severely limit the growth of staple crops such as maize, wheat, rice and potato. As the demand for staple crops such as maize is expected to increase by 60 percent by 2050, this poses a grave danger for global food production.

CGIAR Research Centers and Programs have long worked to develop stress tolerant crop varieties that allow smallholder farmers to sustainably increase food security despite climate change. One key example of this work is the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project, implemented through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. From 2010-2016, the project released over 200 stress tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers in 13 countries in Africa, which has the potential to generate between $362 million to $590 million over a 7 year period through both yield gains and reduced yield variability.

On-farm trials have found that climate resilient maize varieties yielded up to 20 percent more maize under stress prone conditions, and double in severe stress environments, such as the El Niño event of 2015/16. This can significantly increase household income and food security. A recent study on drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zimbabwe found that climate resilient maize could provide farming families with an additional 9 months of food, or $240 per hectare, in drought-prone regions. Based on these results, drought-resilient crops have been dubbed a Tesla-like innovation for agriculture by Dr. Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

The benefits are not limited to Africa alone—in South Asia, 18 pre-commercial heat tolerant maize hybrids from the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) have been licensed. Of these, 6 have broad adaptation across agro-ecological zones in South Asia (suggesting they likely possess both heat and drought tolerance) and 12 hybrids had good adaptation to specific mega-environments in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

To be successful, crop breeding needs to stay several steps ahead of climate change. The paper argues that strengthened breeding systems, using the latest technologies, together with more open international exchange of germplasm, and rapid change in varieties are fundamental components of this adaptation strategy. In addition, strengthened breeding pipelines for climate resilient maize also offer the co-benefit of faster development of maize with pest and disease resistance or enhanced nutrition in addition to tolerance to other stresses. In Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe maize varieties are now on the market with both drought tolerance and high pro-vitamin A content, which can prevent blindness in children. Research is currently underway to develop drought and heat tolerant, nutritionally enhanced maize rich in pro-vitamin A and zinc.

CIMMYT, MAIZE and other CGIAR research centers and programs are dedicated to supporting smallholder farmers in climate change adaptation by delivering stress tolerant crop varieties through strengthened breeding systems, cutting-edge technologies and the open exchange of international germplasm. The adaption innovations outlined in this working paper must be considered and supported in the search for a food secure, climate resilient future for all.

For more information on the 10 innovations highlighted in this paper, please click here.

At this year’s UN Climate Talks at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Click here to read more stories in this series and follow @CIMMYT on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.

SAMBALI, India (CIMMYT) – In the 1960s, India became the center of the Green Revolution by adopting high-yielding crop varieties and new technologies and practices that staved off famine for millions.

Today, India needs a new Green Revolution.

The country’s combination of high greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerability to climate change and pressure to feed nearly 2 billion people by 2050 is driving farmers to find ways to grow more food in harsher environments.

Climate-smart agriculture is a new approach to farming that combines adaptation options that sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience to climatic stresses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This option is becoming increasingly popular among smallholder farmers, who make up nearly 80 percent of India’s farmers and produce more than 40 percent of its food.

Harynana is a north-western state in India, and part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which covers an area of over 2.5 million square kilometers and feeds 500 million people. The village of Sambali, in Haryana, is one of the first communities in India to officially become “climate-smart” as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security project (CCAFS), which is helping smallholder farmers globally find practical adaptation options to improve food security and resilience to climate change effects like drought, flooding and other extreme weather events.

In Sambali, more than 60 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods. For over 50 years, farmers from the village have worked with Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI), this long-term knowledge exchange and exposure has resulted in 45 percent of the farming community practicing climate smart farming.

However, residue burning – the burning of excess residue on fields after a crop is harvested, as a means to clear the area to plant the next crop – remains a common practice in highly cultivated regions in India. Sambali becoming a residue-burning free village is setting an example of a model village contributing towards a healthier environment.

Besides triggering costly respiratory ailments in humans and animals in farm regions and urban centers, burning rice residues has negative agricultural implications. For example, residue burning depletes soil nutrients, with estimated yearly losses in Punjab alone of 3.9 million tons of organic carbon, 59,000 tons of nitrogen, 20,000 tons of phosphorus and 34,000 tons of potassium, according to M.L. Jat, a principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), who leads CIMMYT’s contributions to CCAFS’ climate-smart villages in South Asia.

In response, a CIMMYT-CCAFS campaign was recently organized in Sambali to eliminate residue burning and combat its harmful effects to the environment, soil and human health.

It is advisable to have one percent organic matter in soil to assist conservation and increase productivity. According to Sunil Mann, the State Development Officer of the Department of Agriculture in Haryana, there has been a decline in organic matter in this region due to burning from one percent to less than half of one percent, highlighting a significant threat to soil health and productivity. The challenges of burning are exacerbated by the risk of areas turning into ‘dark zones,’ areas where groundwater has been over-exploited, due to the declining water table.

Hanuman Sahay Jat, a Scientist at CIMMYT, expressed concerns about the amount of chemicals released while burning crop residue and emphasized the need to stop this practice and adopt residue and nutrient management strategies. One way to achieve this is by using technologies like the GreenSeeker, a compact sensor that quickly assesses crop vigor and calculates optimal fertilizer dosages, to reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers and improve soil health.

M.L. Jat also highlighted the need for all stakeholders to do cost-benefit analyses before adopting new technologies. Farmers should ensure that profits will be worth investments in new technologies and researchers should ensure the efficiency and environmental impact of new technologies. For example in Basmati rice growing areas, zero-till machines, which help farmers plant new seeds directly in the residue of their previous crop’s harvest, are half the cost of the traditionally used “turbo happy seeder,” saving farmers money.

A positive result from Sambali will gain political attention and is likely to contribute to the development of new policies favoring climate-smart agriculture and their efficient utilization.

A “Climate Smart Van” was also launched during the campaign, which will drive through villages to spread knowledge, garner support and clarify the aspects of climate smart agriculture.

Sambali and other villages are taking steps towards integrated farming, with stakeholders’ engagement focusing sustainable development and scaling climate-smart agriculture practices while including women in decision making and engaging youth with profit-making opportunities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) – A scientist whose work is projected to significantly increase wheat production for smallholder farmers around the world has won the 2017 Ted Crosbie MBBISP Impact Award presented by Monsanto.

Bhoja Raj Basnet, who heads a hybrid wheat-breeding program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), received the award on the sidelines of World Food Prize celebrations in Des Moines, Iowa.

Basnet was recognized as the former recipient of Monsanto’s Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program (MBBISP) whose work since graduation has developed beyond his academic experience. The program provided support for his doctoral studies at Texas A&M University.

“He received the award for the impact his work has had and will continue to have on smallholder farmers,” said Bonnie Finger, Jen Jacobs and Stella Salvo, the Monsanto team that liaises with Ed Runge, director of the scholars program at Texas A&M University.

“Monsanto truly wants to improve lives through better harvests, and the aim of this award was to improve the lives of smallholder farmers,” Finger said. “Dr. Basnet’s work on hybrid wheat has the potential to make a huge impact.”

Runge tracks the progress of Beachell-Borlaug alumni and led the judging panel, which was comprised of world-renowned scientists and World Food Prize laureates, with Finger, Jacobs and Salvo. Since 2008, 89 scholars have received $13 million in funding through the program.

Basnet, who grew up on a one-acre subsistence farm in southeastern Nepal, studied plant breeding at Texas A&M University, receiving the Beachell-Borlaug scholarship in 2009 and graduating with a doctoral degree in 2012.

Since 2014, Basnet has led CIMMYT’s research to develop tools and technology to produce commercially viable hybrid wheat varieties, which could lead to a 15 to 20 percent improvement in yield potential.

Hybrid wheat is created by intentionally crossbreeding two genetically distinct wheat lines to produce offspring that combine the best traits of the parents, a process that can take many years. Traits are chosen to achieve such characteristics as increased grain yield, heat, drought or stress tolerance.

“I’m thrilled to receive the award,” Basnet said. “I’m truly honored that my team’s work, which has massive potential to increase wheat production globally, has been recognized in this way. It’s so encouraging to receive support for our project and my work since graduation.”

The award honors the memory of Ted Crosbie, former vice president of Global Plant Breeding and leader of Integrated Farming Systems for Monsanto, an agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company, as well as Iowa’s chief technology officer, who died at age 65 in 2016.