KABUL (CIMMYT) – Inadequate access to new disease-resistant varieties and short supplies of certified seed are holding back wheat output and contributing to rising food insecurity in Afghanistan, according to more than 50 national and international wheat experts.
Wheat scientists and policymakers discussed challenges to the country’s most-produced crop during a two-day meeting at Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) headquarters in Kabul, as part of the 5th Annual Wheat Researchers’ Workshop in November 2016. They took stock of constraints to the 2017 winter wheat crop, including dry autumn weather and rapidly-evolving strains of the deadly wheat disease known as yellow rust.
“Old wheat varieties are falling prey to new races of rust,” said Qudrat Soofizada, director for Adaptive Research at ARIA, pointing out that the country’s 2016 wheat harvest had remained below 5 million tons for the second year in a row, after a record harvest of more than 5.3 million tons in 2014.
Afghanistan has been importing around 2.5 million tons of cereal grain — mainly wheat — in the last two years, with most of that coming from Kazakhstan and Pakistan, according to recent reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
“Most wheat farmers save grain from prior harvests and use that as seed, rather than sowing certified seed of newer, high-yielding and disease resistant varieties,” said Rajiv Sharma, CIMMYT senior scientist and representative at the center’s office in Afghanistan. “This is holding back the country’s wheat productivity potential.”
Sharma explained that CIMMYT has been supporting efforts of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) to boost supplies of certified seed of improved varieties and of critical inputs like fertilizer.
“CIMMYT has worked with Afghanistan wheat scientists for decades and more than 90 percent of the country’s certified wheat varieties contain genetic contributions from our global breeding efforts,” Sharma explained.
Since 2012, the center has organised more than 1,700 wheat variety demonstrations on farmers’ fields and trained over 1,000 farmers. CIMMYT scientists are also conducting field and DNA analyses of Afghan wheats, which will allow faster and more effective breeding.
The FAO reports showed that the government, FAO and diverse non-governmental organizations had distributed some 10,000 tons of certified seed of improved wheat varieties for the current planting season. With that amount of seed farmers can sow around 67,000 hectares, but this is only some 3 percent of the country’s approximately 2.5 million-hectare wheat area.
“We have been informing the National Seed Board about older varieties that are susceptible to the rusts,” said Ghiasudin Ghanizada, head of wheat pathology at MAIL/ARIA, Kabul, adding that efforts were being made to take such varieties out of the seed supply chain.
After discussions, Ghanizada and MAIL/ARIA associates M. Hashim Azmatyar and Abdul Latif Rasekh presented the technical program for breeding, pathology and agronomy activities to end 2016 and start off 2017.
Zubair Omid, hub coordinator, CIMMYT-Afghanistan, presented results of wheat farmer field demonstrations, informing that grain yields in the demonstrations ranged from 2.8 to 7.6 tons per hectare.
T.S. Pakbin, former director of ARIA, inaugurated the meeting and highlighted CIMMYT contributions to Afghanistan’s wheat improvement work. M.Q. Obaidi, director of ARIA, thanked participants for traveling long distances to attend, despite security concerns. Nabi Hashimi, research officer, CIMMYT-Afghanistan, welcomed participants on behalf of CIMMYT and wished them good luck for the 2016-17 season.
Wheat breeding trial results were presented by Zamarai Ahmadzada from Darulaman Research Station, Kabul; Aziz Osmani from Urad Khan Research Station, Herat; Shakib Attaye from Shisham Bagh Research Station, Nangarhar; Abdul Manan from Bolan Research Station, Helmand; Said Bahram from Central Farm, Kunduz; Najibullah Jahid from Kohkaran Research Station, Kandahar; and Sarwar Aryan from Mulla Ghulam Research Station, Bamyan.
Agronomy results from the research stations of Badakhshan, Herat, Kabul, Kunduz, Helmand and Bamyan were also presented and summarized by Abdul Latif Rasikh, head of Wheat Agronomy, ARIA headquarters, Badam Bagh, Kabul
The radio talk show was organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and focused on maize development under the CIMMYT-led Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), supported by USAID in collaboration with national partners. The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation conducted the show in Urdu and English and aired it throughout the country.
One of the show panelists, Zahid Shafique, program leader from Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, gave an overview of AIP’s interventions and expressed the hope that the program will help Pakistan develop affordable hybrid maize seed, which is currently sold for $6-8 per kilogram, one of the highest prices in South Asia.
Faisal Hayat, deputy manager of the seed company Jullundur Private Limited, noted that CIMMYT’s joint evaluation of hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) with AIP maize partners has helped the private sector develop improved hybrids and OPVs that are better adapted to Pakistan’s diverse climates. Capacity building efforts to ensure quality seed production is key to ensuring the sustainability of AIP after its completion said Nazim Ali, an agricultural economist with USAID.
CIMMYT was represented by maize improvement and seed systems specialist AbduRahman Beshir, who briefed the panelists about the introduction and nationwide testing of diverse germplasm and the allocation of well adapted maize hybrids and OPVs to partners.
CIMMYT maize breeder, Thokozile Ndhlela (left), inspects a maize trial field with smallholder farmer, Otilia Chirova, in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) – Little did 47-year-old Thokozile Ndhlela know that growing up in a rural area in Zimbabwe would inspire her to become a well-respected agricultural scientist, helping to transform agriculture by developing science-based solutions to some of the complex issues facing African farmers.
Currently a postdoctoral staff member with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, Ndhlela encourages girls to choose options that lead to careers in agriculture. Most farmers worldwide average an age of over 60, so Ndhlela’s work is also helping to encourage young people to get involved in agriculture.
“There are many exciting opportunities to further improve agricultural productivity and improve food and nutritional security in my country, and beyond,” she said with a chuckle.
She comes from humble beginnings – growing up on a small farm, through primary and secondary school, and universities – and now she has begun to reap the rewards of her hard-won endeavors.
She credits her farmer father as her inspiration to pursue agricultural science.
“My father was my greatest source of inspiration for me to venture into agriculture,” Ndhela said. “From high school, he encouraged me to study sciences. He used to boast, saying his daughter would be studying agriculture and that I’d come back and assist him in his plot.”
His dream came true.
“I’m proud now since he is growing improved maize varieties that l’m providing him,” she said, adding that he proudly tells his friends that the varieties are being bred by his daughter.
Thokozile Ndhlela shows pro-vitamin A maize to visiting scientists at CIMMYT southern Africa regional office in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
For Ndhlela, the journey has at times been long and winding. She has had to burst age-old stereotypes, which doubt women’s capacity to engage in science and balance career aspirations with family commitments. She started her journey in pursuit of her first desire to become a teacher, but, she changed course to become an agricultural scientist.
She believes making agricultural research a high priority will also attract more skilled professionals to the field — especially women and young people.
“I’m happy to see farmers in my region using results of my research work,” she said.
Her scientific ambition was nurtured by her female secondary school teachers. After finishing secondary school in 1989, she enrolled at Gwebi College of Agriculture outside Harare to study for a national diploma in agriculture. Afterwards, she worked at the Zimbabwe Crop Breeding Institute in the Ministry of Agriculture’s Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS). While at DRSS she earned her Bachelor of Science in agriculture at the Zimbabwe Open University and subsequently enrolled for a master’s degree in plant breeding at the University of Zambia. While at the DRSS, she began her research and earned a doctoral degree at the University of the Free State in South Africa in 2012, with a thesis entitled, “Improvement strategies for yield potential, disease resistance and drought tolerance of Zimbabwean maize inbred lines.”
“My greatest passion is to see farmers in Zimbabwe and beyond grow improved maize varieties to step up food security and improve their livelihoods,” she said. “After becoming qualified, I was thrilled to put my skills to work and worked hard in breeding maize for drought, disease, heat and other stresses.”
Ndhlela has had the good fortune to implement the results of her work. While working for the national research system, she led the crop breeding program and won CIMMYT’s Best Breeding Program Award in southern Africa five years in succession. This success later culminated in winning the Zimbabwe Presidential Award for excellence in agricultural research in 2015. Under her guidance, the program saw the release of seven high yielding, drought tolerant hybrids and two open pollinated varieties in five years.
“This was no easy feat since it involved a lot of hard work, tolerance,” Ndhlela said. “I used to spend most of the time in the field since plant breeding is done in the field, and not in the office.‘’
CONFRONTING CHALLENGES
Out in the field with other researchers, Thokozile Ndhlela (far right), demonstrates maize breeding work at a CIMMYT southern Africa partner days in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
In Africa, food and nutritional security remain a major concern. Declining soil fertility is a significant issue in the region, leading to poor crop performance. Climate change could also result in the number of malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa increasing by 40 percent by 2050 – from 223 million to 355 million people, according to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. This challenge will require a great deal of innovation and focused scientific effort.
Ndhlela said smallholder farmers should shift agriculture from its current largely informal status in the economy into the formal business sector with a more structured system that targets young women. As a result, women in agriculture will play critical roles in agricultural incomes and employment development. When treated appropriately, added Ndhlela, agriculture can be moulded into an attractive career, especially for youth. In addition, she said, Africa needs more scientists, and especially women scientists.
A mother of four boys, Ndhlela believes she can make a difference to people’s lives through her agricultural research in development work. She shares her views on women in agricultural research in the following interview.
Q: Tell us about your early childhood.
A: I was born in Matobo District in Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe. I’m the second born in a family of three boys and two girls. I spent most of my early childhood with my paternal grandparents in Matobo rural area. My grandparents earned a living off farming, growing horticultural crops commercially. They were passionate about farming, and l remember when l was in Grade One I would be woken up very early to go and work in the field before going to school. After school, or during weekends, l would also take the responsibility of herding goats. My parents were also passionate farmers and during school holidays we would all help my grandparents with farm work.
Q: What was one of your childhood dreams?
A: My childhood dream was to become a teacher. I was being inspired by my parents, and my many relatives who were in that profession.
Q: Was there any particular female scientist who inspired you when you were at school?
A: I was particularly inspired by my high school biology and chemistry teachers, who were both female. They taught me that what boys could do we girls could do too.
Q: “Girls should not believe that science training at university is a male domain.” What’s your comment on this?
A: Girls used to shy away from science especially at college level but with the new generation this seems to have changed as more girls are now doing science- based programs.
Q: Role models are also critical in shaping one’s future. Who was your inspiration to pursue a doctorate in agriculture?
A: Dr. Marianne Banziger, CIMMYT deputy director general for research and partnerships (then leading CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, based in Kenya) inspired me to pursue doctorate studies. Doing a doctorate was far-fetched for me until Dr. Banziger asked me if l were interested in pursuing doctoral studies. She assured me that CIMMYT would support me secure a place to study.
Q: There’s a general misconception that studying agricultural science only prepares one to work on a farm. Is this the case?
A: This misconception used to be there especially when l was studying for my national diploma. We would play sports with students from other technical colleges whose students would snear at us agriculture students. They thought we could only work on a farm. Even my high school friends never understood why l chose agriculture. They asked me whether l would be able to work on a farm. But this is changing. People are now aware of the opportunities in agricultural science. I have personally had encounters with parents asking me what is required for their children to study agricultural science. I have made a career in science and agriculture and young girls can do it, also.
Q: Tell us about your experiences as a female researcher with DRSS. What does it mean to a female researcher? What are your experiences at CIMMYT?
A: As a female researcher at DRSS, I commanded a lot of respect from both male and female counterparts. This inspired and gave me the zeal to keep aiming higher. I started working at DRSS in 1994 as a diploma holder. With encouragement and inspiration, l ended up with a doctorate in plant breeding.
At DRSS, I led the Crop Breeding Institute to win a national award in maize breeding excellence. Called the “Robert Gabriel Mugabe Award” (after the Zimbabwean president), it is presented bi-annually for critical breakthroughs in research. The $15,000 award was presented to the Crop Breeding Institute’s National Maize Breeding Program, for outstanding research in the production and release of the maize variety ZS265. The variety has excellent tolerance to diseases, drought and low nitrogen and therefore suitable for production under dryland conditions.
In recognition of their sterling effort in using plant breeding to address low maize productivity on smallholder farms, CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project awarded the “Best Maize Breeding Team in southern Africa” prize to Zimbabwe a record five times from 2008 to 2014.
Food insecurity can be overcome if we can bring together new knowledge and skills to farmers in a very sustainable manner. There will be crop production challenges unless we integrate climate change, soil fertility and water.
Joining CIMMYT as a maize breeder in 2014 was a dream come true for me and l really felt rewarded for my work. As plant breeding is male-dominated at CIMMYT- Southern Africa Regional Office, l feel challenged to do even better and prove that even women can do the job. I believe I’m an inspiration to other upcoming female scientists.
Q: During training, what was men’s attitude toward you?
A: I used to command respect from some of my male colleagues. However, some would look down on me. These were forced to change their attitude once they realized that I was better than them in our studies. I vividly remember such a scenario at the University of Zambia where l was the only female in a class of 10 Master of Science students.
Q: What was the main output of your agricultural research?
A: The main output of my agricultural research was the successful production of hybrids that are high yielding, drought and disease tolerant.
Q: To what extent are you involved in agricultural innovation at CIMMYT?
A: I’m particularly working on a special program on pro – vitamin A maize. This research work is both challenging and rewarding as my colleagues respect me because of my achievements. The work seeks to alleviate the problem of vitamin A deficiency that is prevalent in most developing countries, including those in southern Africa. There is very good evidence that vitamin A deficiency leads to an impaired immune system and can even have an impact on brain development. But effective science can make a huge difference here by enriching staple crops such as maize, with pro-vitamin A and providing subsistence farming households with nutritionally enhanced food.
In Zimbabwe, nearly one in every five children under the age of five years are vitamin A deficient. These deficiencies can lead to lower IQ, stunting, and blindness in children, increased susceptibility to disease for both children and adults; and higher health risks to mothers – and their infants – during childbirth. In partnership with HarvestPlus, and other fellow CIMMYT scientists, l have managed to facilitate the research and release of four pro-vitamin A hybrids in Malawi, Tanzania (two), Zambia (six) and Zimbabwe (four).
Q: Has working for CIMMYT in maize biofortification enriched your skills and knowledge?
A: Working at CIMMYT has made me grow in science. Coupled with improved leadership and gradual increase in my communications skills, I have become very confident in my career. Before joining CIMMYT, I had less knowledge on maize biofortification. I have since gained a lot of knowledge so that l can now explain to people what l’m doing with so much confidence and enthusiasm. I’m loving it!
Q: Women face huge challenges daily and often lack the right kind of support. The employment environment can also be hostile to women scientists. Has working for CIMMYT enabled male scientists to view female scientists the same, as equal partners in agricultural research in development?
A: I feel male scientists at CIMMYT are mature and view female scientists as equal partners in agricultural research in development, and l respect them for that.
Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Access to genetic data can revolutionize research partnerships and lead to major benefits for crop breeders aiming to help smallholder farmers boost yields, according to Argentinian geneticist Cesar Petroli.
Hailing from Reconquista in Santa Fe Province, Petroli now works for the MasAgro program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and is funded by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA). He first became curious about genetics in the mid-1990s when it was a relatively new field in Argentina and the National University of Misiones offered the only bachelor’s degree in the country. Petroli initially focused on cattle and sheep genetics, which gave him his first introduction to molecular markers, which shed light on characteristics of the organism.
His interest in data and plant genetics took root while he was a student. While completing his doctoral degree at the University of Brasilia in partnership with EMBRAPA, Brazil’s agricultural research body, Petroli began to work on the eucalyptus tree with Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT), an Australian enterprise specializing in developing technologies for whole genome profiling.
At that time, CIMMYT wanted to create what was subsequently to become the Genetic Analysis Service for Agriculture (SAGA) using a platform based on the DArT method. Petroli was the perfect fit. Not only did he bring expertise in sequencing and low-cost DNA fingerprinting, he also brought experience of application of large amounts of data in research; in particular, his experience in eucalyptus.
At the heart of operations at the SAGA laboratory is the Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing system, one of only three in Mexico, where CIMMYT is headquartered. Petroli and his team have the capacity to determine the genetic make-up up to 2,500 maize samples per week for both CIMMYT and its partners, generating vast quantities of data in the process.
“We determine the genetic make-up maize and wheat varieties and collections,” Petroli said. “This can help maize breeders to identify patterns in the DNA which are associated with characteristics such as drought and heat tolerance. These patterns or molecular signposts can then be used to help select the best materials for breeding,” he added, explaining that heat and drought resistant maize and wheat varieties not only help present-day farmers, but could also mitigate potential future risks to global food security from the impacts of climate change.
The data generated when fingerprinting thousands of maize and wheat samples provide opportunities for scientific exploration and synergies; while one team may be exploring heat and drought tolerance, another team can use the same DNA fingerprint data to explore other characteristics such as disease tolerance.
“Sharing data for use by interested breeders broadens collaboration and maximizes benefits to smallholder farmers,” Petroli said, describing his enthusiasm for making data publicly available. “Accessible data increases the impact of our research and allows the global public to benefit from the wealth of knowledge we generate.”
In the first six years of the MasAgro program, more than 2 billion genotypic data have been made available in the Germinate and Dataverse platforms. Petroli’s work forms part of bigger efforts at CIMMYT to study and characterize genetic diversity for use in breeding programs.
Bleached spikes infected with wheat blast hold shriveled grain, if any. Photo: E. Duveiller/CIMMYT
DINAJPUR, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — Responding to a 2016 outbreak of the deadly and little-understood crop disease “wheat blast” in Bangladesh, 40 wheat pathologists, breeders and agronomists from Bangladesh, India and Nepal have gathered to hone their skills through surveillance exercises in farmers’ fields and molecular analysis of the causal fungus in laboratories of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) at Gazipur.
Entitled “Taking action to mitigate the threat of wheat blast in South Asia: Disease surveillance and monitoring skills training,” the 13-day program was launched on 4 February at BARI’s Wheat Research Center (WRC), Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Dinajpur, in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the CGIAR research program on wheat, the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project led by Cornell University, and Kansas State University (KSU).
The 2016 Bangladesh outbreak was the first time wheat blast has appeared in South Asia. The disease struck 15,000 hectares in 7 southwestern and southern districts of Bangladesh, with crop losses averaging 25-30 percent and reaching 100 percent in some cases.
In response the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture formed a task force through the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) to help develop and distribute resistant cultivars and pursue integrated agronomic control measures. A factsheet distributed to wheat farmers is raising awareness about the disease and particularly its identification and management.
Caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT) and first discovered in Paraná State, Brazil, in the mid-1980s, wheat blast constitutes a major constraint to wheat production in South America. The sudden appearance of a highly virulent MoT strain in Bangladesh presents a serious threat for food and income security in South Asia, home to 300 million undernourished people and whose inhabitants consume over 100 million tons of wheat each year.
Experts from CIMMYT, Cornell University and Kansas State University, along with scientists from BARI and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), are serving as instructors and facilitators.
“This training will increase the capacity of Bangladesh and neighboring country scientists, thereby strengthening research on wheat blast and monitoring disease through intensive surveillance,” said the Additional Secretary (Research), Ministry of Agriculture Md. Fazle Wahid Khondaker, chief guest in the inaugural session. Arun K. Joshi, CIMMYT-India country representative, T.P. Tiwari, CIMMYT-Bangladesh country representative, Prof. Dr. Bahadur Meah from BAU, Mymensingh, and Additional Director, Department of Agricultural Extension, and Md. Julfikar Haider were present as special guests. Dr. N.C.D. Barma, WRC, BARI chaired the session, and BARI Director General Dr. Abul Kalam Azad took part.
The training program is funded by BARI, CIMMYT, DGGW, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and CSISA- Mechanization projects, as well as the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The DGGW project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) through UK Aid.
Participants with guests during training inauguration. Photo: S. Khan/CIMMYT
Olum looks at the WE2115 variety that has transformed his microfinance business. Photo: B.Wawa/CIMMYT
LIRA, Uganda (CIMMYT) – Sam Olum started commercial maize farming three years ago in Lira District, situated approximately 340 km north of Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
As an out-grower, Olum owns and manages 25 acres of land, which he has been planting with hybrid maize for sale to seed companies. He was able to earn more profit using hybrid varieties, which yield more, and put this money into his microfinance business – Aninolal Investment Ltd.
A large number of seed companies in Africa use out-growers, also known as contract farmers, who ensure there will be supply for the companies’ agricultural products. Out-growers produce seed on their own land under contract with the seed company, and are guaranteed purchase of the produce.
Olum first came across hybrid maize two years ago when his uncle Gilbert Owuor introduced him to Otis Garden Seed Company that produces and markets improved drought tolerant varieties WE2114, WE2115, UH5051 and Longe 7H. Olum decided to invest his entire 25 acres of land on WE2115, and hasn’t looked back since.
“I have faithfully planted this variety for two years since it got into the market and the amount of yield I harvest each season is worth the money put into this work,” said Olum. Every season he planted WE2115 his farm was filled with at minimum 350 bags of 120 kg each.
His biggest praise for this variety is that it matures fast, the cobs are big and it is high yielding. In addition, given that Otis Garden Company provides Olum with a ready market for his produce, he is guaranteed a stable income that has transformed him into a successful businessman.
Returns from the WE2115 yield have enabled Olum to bolster his microfinance business that is now worth UGX 200 million (approximately $55,000).
Olum with his uncle Owuor who introduced him to the WE2115 variety, and James Olwi, seed production officer at Otis Garden Seed Company. Photo: B.Wawa/CIMMYT
“The profits from this variety have made a very big difference in my business,” Olum said. He has expanded his clientele beyond his hometown and now reaches farmers from other districts. “At the moment we loan out between 50 and 80 million shillings ($ 14,000 and 22,000) to about 200 farmers in Amolatar, Dokolo, Lira, Masindi and Oyam,” added Olum.
The interest of eight percent he charges on the loans is quite affordable for many farmers compared to the interest rates charged by other financial institutions that range from 12 to 15 percent. Besides supporting farmers, Olum has created job opportunities for 15 people employed full time at his company.
WE2115 and other similar varieties are marketed under the brand name DroughtTEGO, currently grown in four other countries in Africa (Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania). In 2016, Uganda’s national variety release committee approved the release of an additional four DroughtTEGO varieties: WE1101, WE3103, WE3106 and WE3109, expected to get into the market by 2018.
Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT (right) has assumed leadership of the recently formed Sustainable Intensification community, part of the American Society for Agronomy’s (ASA) Environmental Quality section. Above, Krupnik partners on project with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on farming system diversity studies and potential for sustainable intensification in Bangladesh. Photo: A. Kurishi /CIMMYT
ASA is a scientific society dedicated to promoting the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global agronomy. The society’s goals include understanding how agriculture affects the environment and how agricultural management can be improved to promote air, soil and water quality through its environmental quality section. The ASA currently has over 8,000 members.
“The sustainable intensification community provides a forum for advancing interdisciplinary science to improve the productivity of the world’s crop and livestock systems through studies that utilize agronomic, economic, environmental and social sustainability criteria to develop actionable recommendations,” says Krupnik.
Sustainable intensification (SI) is a key agricultural policy priority in both developing and developed nations. SI farming puts methods into place that increase food production from existing farmland while minimizing pressure on the environment. Farmers using these approaches in turn minimize agricultural land expansion, and consequently biodiversity loss, while maximizing the use and flow of ecosystem services to and from farmlands.
CIMMYT staff taking measurements of water infiltration rate. Photo: T. Krupnik/CIMMYT
The SI community is one of six communities of scientists under the society’s Environmental Quality section. The community brings together members from across the ASA to examine the challenges, limitations and opportunities for SI in agronomic production systems across the globe.
“The work we do tackles the trade-offs between increased farming systems productivity and the risk of environmental pollution, or undesirable social outcomes,” according to Krupnik. “The community is a platform for advancing these issues within the ASA, while also advocating for solutions to some of agriculture’s most pressing sustainability problems.”
The ASA’s first SI session was held in November 2016 at the ASA’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Symposia speakers included David Cleary, director of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, Achim Dobermann, director and Chief Executive at Rothamsted Research, Bruno Gerard, director of the Sustainable Intensification program at CIMMYT, Sieg Snapp, professor of soils and cropping systems ecology at Michigan State University and Pablo Tittonell, director of the natural resources and environment program at the National Agricultural Technology Institute in Argentina and former chair professor of the Farming Systems Ecology group at Wageningen University.
Another SI symposium and interactive breakout discussion section on how to assess synergies and tradeoffs between indicators for SI will be held at an upcoming ASA meeting in Tampa, Florida.
More information about the ASA’s SI community can be found here.
A glimpse of Klein Karoo’s sprawling 15-hectare maize field in Manica District, Mozambique. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT
MANICA, Mozambique (CIMMYT) – From years of civil war to the devastation of drought, Mozambique has had its fair share of misfortune over the last six years. Home to an estimated 26 million people, this country holds promise for a mighty economic comeback, with agriculture as a major contributor. Despite struggles to reclaim its former glory, several agricultural multinationals are setting up shop in Mozambique, and reaping great benefits.
One such company is Klein Karoo (K2), a seed producing and marketing giant with presence in Africa and around the world. Founded in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, in 2003, K2 has expanded its reach with seed production and business units in southern Africa (Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe), and distribution partners in Asia and Europe.
Before setting up a seed production unit in Mozambique in 2016, K2 would import seed from South Africa and Zimbabwe, which took up a hefty chunk of total operation costs. Now, these funds can be directed towards production, distribution, and marketing efforts in the country. In 2016 for instance, K2’s sales target for drought tolerant (DT) maize seed was 100 tons. With local production up and running, 40 tons were produced, and 60 tons imported – a significant cost reduction.
The company is currently undertaking multiplication of both hybrid and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) of DT maize, the most popular being Pris 601 and ZM 523 respectively.
Pris 601, a DT hybrid, is particularly favored for its similarities to long loved Matuba, a local variety smallholder farmers have held onto despite its poor yield potential. Much like Matuba, Pris 601 is semi flint, giving it an excellent milling quality preferred by women. On average, farmers planting Matuba can expect a maximum yield of two tons per hectare (t/ha), compared to almost six times more with Pris 601.
Julius Mapanga, operations manager for Klein Karoo in Mozambique, inspects maize at the farm in Manica. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT
“Coupled with good farming practices such as proper spacing, timely weeding, and correct fertilizer application, smallholder farmers in Mozambique could potentially harvest as much as 10 to 12 t/ha by planting drought tolerant maize variety Pris 601,” says Julius Mapanga, operations manager for K2 based in Mozambique, adding, “However, since most farmers are not very consistent with good agronomic practices, actual yield falls to about 5 t/ha, which is still better than Matuba.”
Ensuring uptake and adoption of DT maize varieties among farmers requires innovative strategies, including partnerships with experts in seed promotion. Klein Karoo, in partnership with Farm Input Promotions Africa Ltd. (FIPS-Africa), have rolled out distribution of trial seed packs to farmers, and use of village based advisors (VBAs) to close on sales.
Seed packs, usually weighing between 25 to 75 g, are quickly gaining popularity among seed companies as an alternative to planting demonstration plots. Not only are demonstration plots costly to set up, they are also few and far between, meaning not too many farmers get to see them. Demonstration plots also simulate ideal conditions such as fertilizer application and sometimes irrigation, as opposed to actual farmer habits, which are not always good. Seed packs on the other hand are cost efficient, have a wider reach, and farmers can practice their usual farming methods to see for themselves the product’s performance.
On average, a farmer hosting a demonstration plot will receive a 10 kg bag of maize seed per season, along with fertilizer, and expert advice and follow up on good agronomic practices. Seed packs of 25 g each from a 10 kg bag of maize benefit 400 farmers, and each pack is enough to plant about three rows of maize on a five meter square plot.
Even though Klein Karoo has distributors present in almost all provinces in Mozambique, some gaps in seed distribution still exist. This is where VBAs come in handy, especially in areas with low concentration of agro-dealers, and where farmers live far apart from each other. VBAs are farmers with entrepreneurial skills, and well known in the community, who can purchase seed from K2 and sell within their locality. On average, a VBA can reach between 200-300 farmers per village, to sell improved seed and offer training on good farming practices.
Combining seed packs with promotion by VBAs is possibly the best business strategy K2 could employ. In 2015 alone, over 80,000 seed packs of 30 g each were distributed to farmers across Mozambique, with VBAs making individual sales of between 100-200 kg of improved maize seed.
Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project works closely with Klein Karoo and other partners in eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought tolerant, stress resilient, and high yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers.
Timothy Krupnik (right) explains the use and benefits of the Power Tiller Operated Seeder to USAID Deputy Administrator Gary Lindon (far left). Photo: Md. Aktarul Islam/CIMMYT-Bangladesh
JESSORE, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — USAID’s Deputy Administrator Gary Lindon visited Bangladesh in November 2016 to learn how the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) engages with partners to help smallholder farmers uptake sustainable agriculture practices, as well as to observe the private sector’s role in producing farm machinery that is faster, more environmentally friendly and affordable for smallholder farmers.
One example of sustainable, smallholder-friendly machinery being promoted by CIMMYT with national partners is the two-wheeled mechanical reaper, a tool that’s proven to save farmers time and money, and helps them cope with increasing labor scarcity in Bangladesh — a trend that has continued to rise as Bangladesh develops economically and more people leave rural areas for off-farm employment, according to Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT.
“Mechanical harvesting also allows farmers to more quickly clear the field and sow the next crop, which has yield advantages for planting crops like wheat,” said Krupnik.
Lindon also met with service providers — entrepreneurial farmers turned businessmen — who have purchased the two-wheeled mechanical reapers and are now offering their harvesting services to smallholder farmers at an affordable fee.
“The local service provision business model is key to unlocking agricultural and entrepreneurial capacity in rural Bangladesh,” said Kevin Robbins, director of programs at International Development Enterprises, one of CIMMYT’s partners in Bangladesh. “We’ve seen just over 1,000 local service providers provide agricultural machinery services to over 40,000 farmers — catalyzing a level of impact that would not have been possible if we had promoted a traditional model where every farmer buys his or her own machine.”
The deputy administrator of USAID and his attaché observe a rice and wheat crop harvester piloted by an entrepreneurial farmer turned businessman. Photo: Md. Aktarul Islam/CIMMYT-Bangladesh
Shafiqul Islam, CIMMYT’s Jessore hub coordinator, also explained that through mechanical harvesting, farmers save $48 per hectare, while service providers earn approximately $31 per hectare.
“In Bangladesh, private sector companies are working hard to promote agricultural machinery that develops the sector,” said Mohammad Jamil, managing director at Metal Pvt. Ltd., a leading private company in Bangladesh that sells reapers. “We want to do more business — the kind of business that changes the lives of farmers through increasing the sales of appropriate agricultural machinery. There’s a strong incentive for us to endorse the adoption of new technologies, which in turn increases food production, boosts farmer income and supports our economy. It’s a win-win business model and a sustainable way to develop our country.”
The team later visited lentil and maize fields that had been seeded directly with seeders, affordable machines that can attach directly to two-wheeled tractors, which are increasingly being used by farmers in Bangladesh. Farmers attending the USAID field visit commented that through the use of two-wheel tractor attachable seeders they can save $60 per hectare by avoiding recurring tillage and manual seeding costs.
“This machine also helps farmers to sow seeds on time, as recommended by agronomists, because direct sowing saves farmers’ 7-10 days compared to full tillage and manual sowing systems,” explained Islam.
CIMMYT launched the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) program in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asia’s cereal-based cropping systems. Through this program, CIMMYT is operating rural “innovation hubs” in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies, and to improve farmer access to market information and enterprise development. Learn more about CSISA’s impact here.
CIMMYT gene bank specialists — shown here with the shipment destined for Svalbard — conserve, study and share a remarkable living catalog of genetic diversity comprising over 28,000 unique seed collections of maize and over 140,000 of wheat (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT).
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Staff of the gene bank of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have sent 56 boxes of nearly 28,000 samples of maize and wheat seed from the center’s collections, to be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Located on Spitsbergen Island in Norway’s remote Arctic Svalbard Archipelago, 1,300 kilometers south of the North Pole, the vault provides free, “safe deposit” cold storage for back-up samples of seed of humanity’s crucial food crops.
“CIMMYT has already sent 130,291 duplicate samples of our maize and wheat seed collections to Svalbard,” said Bibiana Espinosa, research associate in wheat genetic resources. “This brings the total to nearly 158,218 seed samples, which we store at Svalbard to guard against the catastrophic loss of maize and wheat seed and diversity, in case of disasters and conflicts.”
Thursday’s shipment contained 1,964 samples of maize seed and 25,963 samples of wheat and weighed nearly a ton, according to Espinosa.
The wheat seed came from 62 countries and nearly half the samples comprised “landraces” — locally-adapted varieties created through thousands of years of selection by farmers.
“Of the maize samples, 133 contained seed of improved varieties, 51 were of teosinte — maize’s direct ancestor — and 1,780 were of landraces,” said Marcial Rivas, research assistant for maize genetic resources. “Many landraces are in danger of permanent loss, as farmers who grew them have left the countryside to seek work and changing climates have altered the landraces’ native habitats.”
The government of Norway and the Crop Trust cover the cost of storage and upkeep of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, coordinating shipments in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. Established in 2006, the Crop Trust supports the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide and helps to fund CIMMYT’s work to collect and conserve maize and wheat genetic resources. CIMMYT’s maize and wheat germplasm bank is supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Genebanks.
David Hodson, senior scientist with CIMMYT, trains South Asian wheat scientists on the use of handheld surveillance and monitoring devices. Hodson directs the rusttracker.org global wheat rust monitoring system for the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project. Credit: CORNELL/Linda McCandless
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientists are concerned over the proliferation of highly virulent fungal wheat diseases, including two new races of yellow rust – one in Europe and North Africa, the other taking hold in East Africa and Central Asia – and a new race of stem rust emerging in Europe.
The collaborative Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) hosted by Aarhus University in Denmark and including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), was instrumental in identifying the new races of yellow and stem rust.
A strategic tool developed by David Hodson, a senior scientist with CIMMYT plays a key role in monitoring the movement of wheat-rust pathogens, helping farmers combat the disease in time to save crops and prevent food insecurity.
“We see an alarming increase in severe disease, more disease diversity and rapid spread,” said Hodson, who invented the Rust Tracker field surveillance tool.
Last year, the Italian island of Sicily was badly hit by a strain of wheat stem rust – an event not seen in Europe since the 1950s, following concerted efforts by wheat breeders to eliminate it.
Stem rust appears as a reddish-brown fungal build-up on wheat stems or leaves, stunting and weakening plants, preventing kernels from forming, leading to shriveled grain and potential crop losses of 50 to 100 percent.
Dispersal modeling, undertaken by the University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office, which forecasts weather and climate change, indicates that spores from the Sicilian outbreak could potentially have spread within the Mediterranean wheat growing region, but scientists are unsure whether they will successfully over-winter, surviving and proliferating, according to a recent story in the journal Nature.
EARLY WARNING
“Several factors may be influencing the changes and rapid spread: increased travel and trade; increasing pathogen populations; more uniform cropping systems and also climate change, but the rapid changes we are observing highlight the need for an enhanced early-warning system,” said Hodson, a member of an international team of scientists collaborating under the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project administered by Cornell University through the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI).
Scientists engaged with the major four-year international project – which has a budget of $34.5 million due to grants equalling $24 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a recent $10.5 million grant from UK Aid (Britain’s Department for International Development, or DFID) – use comparative genomics and big data to develop new wheat varieties. The aim is to help governments provide smallholder farmers in the developing world with seeds incorporating resilience to environmental stresses and diseases through local entrepreneurial distributors.
“The sooner farmers are notified of a potential rust outbreak, the better chance they have to save their crops through fungicides or by planting resilient wheat varieties,” Hodson said.
“It’s a constant challenge. We’re always on the lookout for new diseases and variants on old diseases to put the wheels in motion to aid governments who can distribute seeds bred specifically to outsmart rusts.”
However, the long-term sustainability of these vital disease-monitoring systems is uncertain. Despite the significant investments, challenges remain, Hodson said.
“It’s worrying that just as stem rust is re-appearing in Europe we’re at risk of losing the only stem rust pathotyping capacity in Europe at GRRC, due to a funding shortfall. Given the threats and changes we are observing, there really is a critical need for a long-term strategy to address major crop diseases.”
TRACKER ORIGINS
The online Rust Tracker was originally conceived as a tool to battle stem rust, including the lethal Ug99 race, which since its discovery in 1998 has spread from Uganda into the Middle East and is now found in 13 countries. If Ug99 takes hold in a field it can completely wipe out a farmer’s crop. In developing countries, farmers have more difficulty accessing and affording fungicides, which can potentially save a crop.
Under the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project, the predecessor to the DGGW project, BGRI-affiliated scientists aimed to prevent the spread of Ug99 into the major global breadbaskets of China and India. So far, they have succeeded in keeping it in check and raising awareness among governments and farmers of its potentially devastating impact.
“Researchers and farmers are connected in the global village,” Hodson said. “Plant pathogens know no borders. We must leave no stone unturned in our efforts to understand the dynamics of wheat rusts, how they’re changing, where they’re spreading and why. If wheat scientists can help prevent a food crisis, we’re doing our job to help maintain political and economic stability in the world.”
CIMMYT scientist Caixia Lan. Photo: Courtesy of Caixia Lan
Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Support for research into breeding crops resistant to wheat rust is essential to manage the spread of the deadly disease, which has caused billions of dollars of yield losses globally in recent years, said Caixia Lan, a wheat rust expert at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Rust disease has historically been a menace to wheat production worldwide. Although agricultural scientists manage the disease by breeding wheat varieties with rust resistant traits, the emergence of new races hinders progress and demands continued research, said the scientist.
With outbreaks of new strands reported in Europe, Africa and Central Asia, wheat rust presents an intensifying threat to the over 1 billion people in the developing world who rely on the crop as a source of food and for their livelihoods.
One of the most recent rust races, Ug99, was detected in 1998 and has since spread across 13 countries, alone causing crop losses of $3 billion in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, said Lan.
Working with CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program Lan is identifying and mapping adult-plant resistance genes to different races of rust (leaf, stripe, and stem) in bread and durum wheat and transferring them into new varieties that help secure farmer’s production.
Growing up in an area dependent on agriculture in rural China, Lan knows all too well the impact crop disease and natural disaster has on family food security and livelihoods. The struggles of smallholder farmers to feed and support their families motivated her to pursue a career in agriculture for development, but it was not until university that she became inspired by the improvements made to crop yield through genetic manipulation and breeding, she said.
Rust is a fungal disease that uses wheat plants as a host, sucking vital nutrients and sugars from the plant leaving it to wither and die. Without intervention, wheat rust spreads due to the release of billions of spores, which travel by wind to other plants, crops, regions or countries. Spores have the potential to start new infection, ravage crops and threaten global food security.
The science behind building genetic resistance takes two forms known as major (or race-specific) genes and adult-plant resistance based on minor genes. Major resistance genes protect the wheat plants from infection by specific strains of rust. While adult plant resistance, Lan’s area of specialization, stunts the pathogen by reducing the infection frequency and limiting its nutrient intake from the host wheat plant. Some of the longer-lasting adult-plant resistance genes have been shown to provide protection against multiple diseases for decades and have not succumbed to a mutated strain of rust so far.
Replacing wheat crops for varieties bred with several rust-resistant genes acts as a safeguard for occasions when the pathogen mutates to overcome one resistant gene as the others continue the defense, Lan said.
Lan has identified a number of rust resistant genes in CIMMYT germplasm and developed molecular markers, which are fragments of DNA associated with a specific location in the genome. However, as new races of the disease emerge and old ones continue to spread, research identifying durable and multiple rust resistant genes and breeding them into crops is of high importance, she said.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientists have unlocked evolutionary secrets of landraces through an unprecedented study of allelic diversity, revealing more about the genetic basis of flowering time and how maize adapts to variable environments, according to new research published in Nature Genetics journal. The discovery opens up opportunities to explore and use landrace diversity in new ways to help breeders adapt crops to climate change and other emerging challenges to crop production.
Farmers worldwide have been ingeniously adapting landrace maize varieties to their local environments for thousands of years. In this landmark study, over 4,000 landraces from across the Americas were analyzed and their DNA characterized using recent advances in genomics.
A unique experimental strategy was developed to study and learn more about the genes underlying maize adaptation by researchers with the MasAgro Biodiversidad program and the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative.
Significantly, the study identified 100 genes, among the 40,000 that make up the maize genome, influencing adaptation to latitude, altitude, growing season and the point at which maize plants flower in the field.
Flowering time helps plants adapt to different environments. It is measured as the period between planting and the emergence of flowers, and is a basic mechanism through which plants integrate environmental information to balance when to make seeds instead of more leaves. The seeds form the next generation making flowering time a critically important feature in a plant’s life cycle.
Over the next century, increasingly erratic weather patterns and environmental changes projected to result from climate change mean that such crops as maize will need to adapt at an unprecedented rate to maintain stable production globally.
“This research offers a blueprint of how we can rapidly assess genetic resources for a highly variable crop species like maize, and identify, in landraces, those elements of the maize genome which may benefit breeders and farmers,” said molecular geneticist Sarah Hearne, who leads maize research within MAB/SeeD, a collaboration led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with strong scientific partnerships with Mexico’s research institute for agriculture, livestock and forests (INIFAP), the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University (UAAAN) in Mexico and Cornell University in the United States.
“This is the most extensive study, in terms of diversity, that has been conducted on maize flowering,” said Martha Willcox, maize landrace improvement coordinator at CIMMYT . “This was achieved using landraces, the evaluation of which is an extremely difficult and complex task.”
The groundbreaking study was supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. Additional support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, Cornell University and the National Science Foundation facilitated the completion of vast quantities of data analysis.
“The knowledge we have gained from this work gives us something similar to a manual of ‘how to go on a successful treasure hunt;’ within the extensive genetic diversity that exists for maize. This knowledge can accelerate and broaden our work on developing resilient varieties, building upon millennia of natural and farmer selection in landraces,” Hearne said.
CORRECT CITATION:
Romero-Navarro, J. A., Willcox, M., Burgueño, J. Romay M. Swarts, K., Trachsel, S., Preciado, E., Terron, A., Vallejo Delgado, H., Vidal, V., Ortega, A., Espinoza Banda, A., Gómez Montiel, N.O., Ortiz-Monasterio, I., San Vicente, F., Guadarrama Espinoza, A., Atlin, G., Wenzl, P., Hearne, S.*, Buckler, E*. A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering time adaptation in maize landraces. Nature Genetics. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3784.html
*Corresponding authors
Bhoja Raj Basnet joined CIMMYT as a postdoctoral fellow working in the bread wheat improvement program in 2012. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT
Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – Scientist Bhoja Raj Basnet knows first hand what it is like to be a smallholder farmer.
Basnet’s earliest memories were formed on a one-acre subsistence farm in Jhapa, in southeastern Nepal, a fertile area in a country where the livelihoods of nearly 65 percent of people depend on agriculture.
The tiny farm provided the foundation for a journey that led ultimately to a doctoral degree in the United States and a career as a wheat breeder in Mexico at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Wheat plays a major role in Nepal’s agricultural landscape. It is the country’s third largest crop, cultivated on about 750,000 hectares of arable land each year with an average yield of 2.5 tons per hectare. Above wheat, farmers favor only rice and maize.
“I grew up playing with the plants and soil on my family’s farm and before I entered high school I knew I wanted to pursue a career in agricultural science.” Basnet explained. “As I got older I started to realize the importance of agriculture and how agriculture can really shape a child’s health and future. This is what really pushed me to pursue my career.”
Basnet went on to earn his master and doctoral degrees in plant breeding. After graduation in 2012 from Texas A&M University, Basnet joined CIMMYT as a postdoctoral fellow working in the bread wheat improvement program.
In 2014, Basnet began leading a project conducting research into hybrid wheat in collaboration with Syngenta, which involves researching and developing tools and technology for developing commercially viable hybrid CIMMYT wheat varieties.
Hybrid wheat is created when a breeder intentionally crosses two genetically distinct and stable wheat lines to produce an offspring that combines the best traits of the parents. The process of developing a hybrid can take years, as traits are carefully chosen to achieve desired characteristics, such as increased grain yield or stress tolerance.
The principle behind hybrid varieties is exploitation of heterosis, the superiority of the hybrid offspring over its parent varieties. This is a biological phenomenon observed in almost all living organisms. However, the magnitude of “heterosis” varies significantly based on several biological and environmental factors.
“Hybrid wheat has always fascinated me,” Basnet said, adding, “I really want to see the end results and to see this work succeed.”
Hybrid wheat varieties have proven to be tricky. In fact, CIMMYT’s first attempt to develop hybrid wheat occurred in the 1960s and despite stops and starts over the years, has been ongoing since 2010.
Increasing investment and long-term funding commitments are a key prerequisite to achieving success in crop improvement, especially in breeding, Basnet said. Unlike traditional wheat variety development, successful research into hybrid wheat varieties depends largely on the willingness and active engagement of private sectors into research and seed businesses.
Basnet is working to develop a hybrid wheat foundation at CIMMYT by using new technology and existing research on hybrids. This hybrid wheat foundation will create genetic diversity within wheat to increase genetic gains and develop tools that can produce large amounts of hybrid seed.
“Currently less than one percent of wheat crops globally are hybrid wheat,” Basnet explained. “We need to continue with this research, as hybrid crops could lead to 15 to 20 percent greater yield potential and in particular higher stability, a very important trait with climate change.”
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Reductions of spike-ethylene, a plant-aging hormone, could increase wheat yields by 10 to 15 percent in warm locations, according to a recent study published in New Phytologist journal.
Ravi Valluru observes wheat trials in the field at CIMMYT El Batán.
Ethylene is usually produced by plants at different developmental stages and can cause a wide range of negative effects on plant growth and development.
When hot weather hits a wheat field an increase in ethylene levels can lessen the amount of grains produced on ears or spikes by limiting the export of carbohydrates to pollen development.
“It was important to understand how different wheat varieties show yield responses to both ethylene gradients and ethylene inhibitors,” explained Ravi Valluru, wheat physiologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), adding that the research was primarily done in northwestern Mexico using both landraces and modern lines under heat-stressed field conditions.
Valluru is part of a collaborative team of scientists from CIMMYT and Britain’s Lancaster University investigating ways to reduce ethylene production in wheat plants as a means to improve yields in hot weather conditions.
The team treated a diverse set of wheat varieties with silver nitrate, an inorganic compound traditionally used for medicinal and other purposes and that has been shown to control ethylene levels in plants.
“We have known for a long time that ethylene has negative effects on crop yields, but efforts have been meager so far to bring this knowledge into breeding programs,” Valluru said. “It’s very exciting that CIMMYT has initiated the important steps toward bringing the ethylene story to wheat breeding through this project.”
The study has revealed that different wheat varieties responded differently to ethylene and ethylene inhibitors. That’s good news, because breeders can then select the appropriate lines for growing in warmer climates to incorporate into breeding programs.
According to Valluru, breeders have selected for high yield over many years that has inadvertently lowered ethylene expression in modern, improved varieties.
“Being a gas, ethylene is a kind of ‘ethereal’ plant growth regulator, but when produced at higher levels, has a major impact on grain setting and root growth,” said Matthew Reynolds, head of the wheat physiology team at CIMMYT and co-author of the study. “Understanding it and determining its genetic bases are significant steps forward, and we can expect that this knowledge will be applied in breeding.”
