Farmers pledge to stop burning residues. Photo: L. Singh/CIMMYT
HARYANA, India (CIMMYT) — In the intensively cropped region of northwest India, poor management practices â especially residue burning after the rice season â often results in environmental degradation, severely affecting soil and human health. Residue burning is a major issue not only for agriculture, but for society as a whole. It cannot be dealt with in isolation and technology alone is not sufficient to address this challenge.
Arpana Services, a leading NGO in Haryana involved in promoting micro-enterprise programs by motivating womenâs self-help groups, is working together with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to generate awareness among women about climate-smart practices. In view of the forthcoming wheat sowing season, two field days aimed at discouraging residue burning were held by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) on 18 and 25 September 2016 in the Taprana and Sangoi villages of Haryana, India. The events brought together around 2,000 women from villages across the state.
Aiming to foster climate-smart agriculture, the events promoted zero-tillage wheat and highlighted the adverse effects that residue burning has on soil physiochemical and biological properties. Demonstrations showed how the Happy Seeder and other zero-tillage machines reduce production costs, save water and increase yields. The field days also focused on reducing soil degradation and human health hazards by improving soil nutrient content and decreasing hazardous gas emissions. Citing the success of 27 climate-smart villages across Haryana, H.S. Jat, CIMMYT scientist, stressed the need to conserve natural resources and develop climate-resilient cropping systems.
Another part of the collaboration involves ensuring women farmers are financially independent. For example, Aruna Dayal, director of Arpana Services, stated that working together with CIMMYT will provide innovative solutions to women farmers who need to repay loans, while diversifying income and promoting savings. At the end of the field days, the highly motivated women took an oath not to burn crop residues on their fields and to educate other fellow farmers about the harm burning can do.
CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff (L) and Bram Govaerts, strategy lead for sustainable intensification in Latin America and Latin America Regional Representative, in the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines attending the 2016 World Food Prize ceremony. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins
DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) â Africa must develop a strong educational infrastructure to address the challenges of poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity, said experts at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, recommending reforms at both the institutional and individual level to help smallholder farmers.
Almost 220 million people of the 1.2 billion people who live in Africa are undernourished. In sub-Saharan Africa, which lags behind regional and global trends, hunger affects about one out of every four people, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
âAfrican countries must become more self-reliant when it comes to education, building on historical achievements to establish a strong infrastructure â not focused only on academic research, but with a practical âscience for impactâ component as well,â said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
âMany people think education and capacity building are just about training or earning a doctoral degree, but itâs more extensive than that. Itâs important to develop a proper framework for training individuals and institutions to ensure countries can achieve development goals.â
CIMMYT trains scientists throughout the developing world to become maize and wheat breeders. In Africa, where CIMMYT conducts 40 percent of its work, a screening facility for maize lethal necrosis disease and a center for double haploid breeding are also used as training facilities for capacity building, also helping to bolster national agricultural systems.
Kropff, who served as rector of Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands before joining CIMMYT in 2015, is laying the groundwork for a âCIMMYT Academy.â The academy will pull together a range of existing training programs, uniting them into a coherent set of activities affiliated with universities throughout Africa to help breeders learn a variety of skills that can broaden their knowledge base.
âThe key is to take a unified approach, sometimes a maize or wheat breeder needs also to learn technological and socioeconomic aspects of the work — we need integration â a more well-rounded approach â to really have impact,â Kropff said, adding that each innovation has a socioeconomic component and technological component.
âIf we want to help countries in Africa struggling to establish a functional seed distribution system, we have to involve the private sector, so we also need to train people to become entrepreneurs,â he added.
FOUNDATION AND GROWTH
In the 1960s and 1970s, the international community helped set up the first educational development programs throughout Africa creating leadership candidates who subsequently trained many people, said Gebisa Ejeta, the 2009 World Food Prize laureate whose drought-resistant sorghum hybrids have increased food supply for millions of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Over time, these programs have provided the necessary foundation upon which to build institutions, he said.
âNothing is more foundational for development than having native capacity at the human level as well as at the institutional level to really take more experiential learning forward and that way also to benefit greatly from development assistance,â Ejeta added. âOtherwise, it becomes an activity of external programs coming in and out.â
Africa has benefited over the past 10 years from being part of a new global landscape, Ejeta said, pointing to the expansion of infrastructure resulting from assistance from China, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Simultaneously, Africa is also beginning to invest directly internally.
âAfrica needs to benefit from valuable lessons from China, India and Brazil,â Ejeta said. âEach one of them is different, but the common denominator is that they all invested systematically in human and institutional capacity building in their countries to really drive involvement processes taking place to bring about transformative change.â
We need to shift the center of gravity to African governments and scientists, said Joyce Banda, who served as president of Malawi from 2012 to 2014, adding that a major challenge is a lack of extension â many people donât know how to properly grow crops, use technology or about improved seeds due to a lack of farmer education.
Good agricultural production goes side-by-side with good governance, Banda said. âWe need to fight and make sure that our resources are safe for the benefit of agriculture and food security across Africa. Africa needs to educate for change because men are eating first, best and most, but women are growing the food, storing the food, processing the food, cooking the food and eating last and less.â
The average age of an African farmer is 60, but 65 percent of Africans are young people, Banda said, adding that it is a lost opportunity if young people arenât introduced to agriculture and trained.
CONFRONTING RISKS
Comprehensive individual and institutional capacity building can demonstrate modern agricultural techniques to inspire younger people to embrace farming, said Bram Govaerts, strategy lead for sustainable intensification in Latin America and Latin America Regional Representative at CIMMYT.
âFarmers must be made aware of new farm technology, taught how to apply scientific research to agricultural practices and get opportunities to innovate â education can facilitate the creative process, said Govaerts who won the 2014 Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation and presented by the World Food Prize foundation.
âWe need to first make sure partners can produce enough nutritious food for their families and then connect them to networks that can track data and crops all the way from farm to consumer,â he said. âWe need to take a holistic approach to innovative post-harvest processes.â
For example, a small sensor placed in a post-harvest storage silo could measure temperature and humidity to protect the crop, but can also connect to a market network, allowing farmers to easily find buyers and prevent food waste.
âMillions of farmers in African countries are suffering from poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity, and a lack of technology prevents them from maximizing their potential contributions to their families and communities,â Govaerts said.
âIâm more and more convinced that change is going to come from innovation networks and the enabling tools that will generate them.â
CIMMYT and partners recently held a seed fair in Mutoko, Zimbabwe to validate CIMMYTâs drought-tolerant and nutritious seed varieties. Above, smallholder farmers showcase their indigenous seeds as part of an information and technology exchange among various stakeholders. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) â Annually, vitamin A deficiency affects between 250,000 and 500,000 vulnerable and malnourished young people with early-life blindness worldwide. Half of these people die, according to the World Health Organization. The goal of completely eradicating vitamin A deficiency â mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia â remains a big challenge.
âThere is very good evidence that vitamin A deficiency leads to an impaired immune system and can even have an impact on brain development,â said Thokozile Ndhlela, a CIMMYT maize breeder in southern Africa, addressing about 1,400 people at a seed fair event in Mutoko and Murewa districts of Mashonaland East province in Zimbabwe.
âBut effective science can make a huge difference by enriching staple crops such as maize with pro-vitamin A and providing subsistence farming households with nutritionally enhanced food, â Ndhlela explained to the audience, which included smallholder farmers, private seed companies, non-governmental organization representatives, traditional leaders, members of parliament and government officials.
In Zimbabwe, nearly one in every five children under the age of 5 are Vitamin A deficient. While vitamin A is available from a variety of sources, such as yellow, orange and red pigmented fruits, dark leafy vegetables, or animal products such as milk, eggs, liver and cheese, Â these are often too expensive or unavailable in Zimbabweâs rural areas, where 70 percent of the population live.
As part of efforts to address this nutritional challenge, CIMMYT and the CGIAR HarvestPlus research program are working with Zimbabwean researchers to develop maize varieties with high beta-carotene content.
âBeta-carotene, which is converted in the body to vitamin A is naturally found in maize,â said Ndhlela. Maize that is rich in beta-carotene is also orange in colour.
Since 2002, CIMMYT and CGIAR have been working on biofortification to enhance the micronutrient content of maize to support a fortification strategy launched by the Zimbabwe government in November 2015 through an agro-based initiative managed by farmers.
The improved orange maize varieties are bred to have some of the important traits such as high-yield potential, disease-resistance, and drought-tolerance, thereby reducing farmersâ vulnerability to effects of drought and other stresses, such as heat. This represents one promising strategy to enhance the availability of vitamins and minerals for people whose diets are dominated by micronutrient-poor staple food crops.
Grace Mhano, director of Afriseed Seed Company of Malawi. Her company is one of the institutions promoting pro-vitamin A orange maize under the Malawi Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (MISST) project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Orange maize â when eaten as a porridge-like staple food known as sadza in Zimbabwe – could provide half of the average daily requirement of vitamin A for women and children. This maize is bred specifically for human consumption compared to yellow maize, which is mainly for animal feed.
âOur focus is on hidden hunger, caused by insufficient mineral and vitamins in the diet â that is the major hunger problem Zimbabwe faces today,ââ says Tendayi Mutimukuru-Maravanyika,ââ HarvestPlus Zimbabwe country manager.
CIMMYT together with HarvestPlus, Zimbabweâs Department of Research and Specialist Services, and other partners have released the ZS242 maize variety in Zimbabwe. An additional three hybrids are expected to be released in the country by end of October 2016. Regionally, six varieties have been released in Zambia, and four in Malawi.
Farming households have benefited from the orange maize in 13 districts: Mutare, Makoni, Mutasa, Mount Darwin, Guruve, Shurugwi, Gokwe South, Kwekwe, Mutoko, Murewa, Zaka, Bikita and Marondera. The intention is to have the production and consumption of these crops scaled up to the national level through collaboration with the private sector. In the 2015-2016 cropping season, 73 tons of orange maize seed was distributed to eight districts and about 30,000 households benefited. Â Out of the 13 districts, CIMMYT set up demonstration plots in five districts, of which seed fairs were held in two districts.
Demonstrations and field days are organized in various districts to create awareness, educate and train farmers on how to produce the crop and showcase good agricultural practices. âWe also train partners to ensure that the product gets to the intended beneficiary, the consumer, in a way that contributes to their health,ââ said Lister Katsvairo, HarvestPlus southern Africa regional manager.
Due to a general preference for white maize, encouraging the acceptance of the orange maize variety remains a challenge often overcome when consumers taste it, according to Katsvairo. Consumers prefer the orange variety once they understand the benefits of vitamin A in their diets. In addition, people believe that yellow and orange maize are the same, but the two breeds are different in taste and colour. âThey both have the same nutritional value, but orange maize contains more vitamin A compared to yellow maize, ââ Katsvairo said.
Douglas Makuvire, Murewa district agricultural extension officer, says most children in his area suffer from vitamin A deficiency, alluding to consumer fear of eating orange maize as a result of negative previous experiences with yellow maize, but said that efforts involve reassuring people of the nutritional benefit.
Murewa smallholder farmer, Donald Kure, 62, said he had a bad experience with yellow maize during the devastating 1992 drought when the government fed millions of people with it to avert mass starvation. âThe taste was pathetic, ââ he recalls. Though Kure had mixed feelings about the orange maize he remained optimistic. Â âMaybe this orange maize variety would be different,ââ he said after tasting sadza prepared with orange maize meal at the field day.
Farmer Chamkaur Singh in his wheat field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. The field was sown with a zero tillage wheat seeder known as a Happy Seeder, giving an excellent and uniform crop. Photo: P. Kosina/CIMMYT
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A study from CIMMYT scientists has revealed new insights on the respective benefits of conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT) in north-west India.
Degradation of natural resources, increasing farm labor scarcity, and high production costs are major threats to north-west Indiaâs rice-wheat cropping system.
Sustainable intensification practices, like switching from puddling then transplanting of rice to dry seeding, together with changing from CT to ZT for wheat with surface retention of rice residues, have proven to be very effective in maintaining or even boosting crop yields while preserving environmental resources.
However, whether using ZT for both crops brings additional benefits to either crop is not known. The effects of surface retention of rice residues in wheat on the subsequent DSR crop are also unknown, nor how this is affected by tillage for DSR.
In response, a field study was conducted during 2012-2014 to investigate the interactions between CT and ZT for rice and wheat, and both conventional and sustainable rice residue management, on the performance of a dry seeded rice-wheat system.
Researchers found that while surface retention of rice residues improved the growth of ZT wheat and this effect appeared early during the first crop, rice residue retention in wheat had an adverse effect on growth of the subsequent DSR crop in the first year. In addition, tillage treatment for rice did not affect wheat performance, and vice versa, over the first five crops.
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Roy Cantrell, Jeanie Borlaug Laube, Perry Gustafson, Jessie Dubin, Manel Othmeni , Amor Yahyaoui (L to R), panelists from the global wheat community on the “Training for the Future” session at World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) — In her youth, Tunisian Manel Othmeni developed an interest in interacting with plants, a fascination that later grew into a passion for wheat research.
âIf not for the training funds, I wouldnât be here today,â said Othmeni on the sidelines of the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue conference in Des Moines, Iowa.
âNowadays a Ph.D. costs a lot of money â the training gives more chances to people from developing countries.â
The Borlaug Training Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation educating scientists from developing countries to improve food production in vulnerable areas. In the short term, the foundation aims to raise $800,000 to support global training at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). In the long term, the goal is to raise a $30 million endowment to expand training opportunities to other crops.
âWe need to provide hope for eliminating poverty â no child should ever have to go to bed hungry,â said Jeanie Borlaug-Laube, vice president of the foundation and the daughter of the late wheat breeder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug.
Scientist Borlaug, who died in 2009 at age 95, led efforts in the mid-20th century to develop high-yielding, disease resistant, semi-dwarf wheat varieties that helped save more than 1 billion lives in Pakistan, India and other areas of the developing world.
âYou are the ones who must continue my fatherâs legacy,â Borlaug-Laube said in an address to conference delegates. âHarness biotechnology, but donât abandon traditional techniques.â
The foundation also aims to boost training for women scientists, develop partnerships between research institutions and universities in developed nations, provide mentorship opportunities. Wheat studies will focus on plant breeding, genetics, biotechnology, plant pathology, plant physiology and statistics.
âGoing out in the field and sweating is one of the best things you can do,â said Jesse Dubin, a plant pathologist who was hired by Borlaug and retired from CIMMYT in 1999 after almost 25 years working with the wheat program.
âThis kind of training is critical today and there is no funding for it. The important thing is that weâre working with the whole plant and people, not just the genome.â
Over eight years, Monsantoâs Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program has awarded 89 students with rice or wheat breeding fellowships, 52 of them in wheat breeding. The award is named in honor of Borlaug and rice breeder Henry Beachell.
Arturo Silva delivers a presentation at the Seed Security for Food Security forum at the World Food Prize conference in Des Moines, Iowa.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) â Public-private collaborations can deliver improved seeds to smallholder farmers faster, speeding up global efforts to meet food security targets, said delegates attending a forum at the World Food Prize gathering this week in Des Moines, Iowa.
Already more than 800 million people go hungry worldwide and by 2050, global population will increase by more than 2 billion people to at least 9 billion. Among the many challenges scientists face in boosting food crop yields to meet demand is the distribution of high-yielding, nutritionally enhanced, often drought-tolerant, crop varieties to smallholder farmers in developing countries.
âWeâre hamstrung when it comes to getting improved seeds into the hands of farmers due to a lack of affordable production capabilities,â said Arturo Silva, who leads the International Maize Improvement Consortium in Latin America (IMIC-LA), which is based at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) near Mexico City. âThatâs where private sector seed companies come in â we need collaborations to ensure the seed gets to farmers.â
In Mexico, Silva and other CIMMYT scientists collaborate with the government through the MasAgro project â which promotes the sustainable intensification of maize and wheat production â and with private seed companies through IMIC-LA to distribute seeds that flourish in sub-tropical, tropical and highland environments.
âWe still have 2.5 million hectares to convert from old products to new hybrids, but we are convinced we can make Mexico self-sufficient in maize,â Silva said. âWe must democratize seed through public-private partnerships to help farmers who still lack access to technology.â
Currently, Mexican farmers produce 22 million tons of maize a year, but consumer demand outweighs production, leading to imports of up to 12 million tons of yellow maize from the United States a year at a cost of $2.5 billion.
âThe challenge is to produce high-yielding seeds, while preserving genetic diversity and protecting the old indigenous landraces from potential risks and threats,â Silva said.
One way CIMMYT helps boost demand for native Mexican maize landraces is by connecting small-scale Mexican farmers with intermediaries who sell Mexican maize as a niche gourmet food. In response to recent consumer demand, top chefs in North American cities have been buying niche varieties of maize to create specialty tortillas, tlacoyos, tetelas and tamales.
âWe have hundreds of thousands of seed varieties,â said Ruben Echeverria, director general of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which is based in Cali, Colombia.
âThe challenge is beyond technical change, itâs institutional change,â he added. âWhat CIMMYT is doing with seed companies is the way to go.â
âThe private sector eventually has to take over,â said Jim Gaffney, global biotech affairs and regulatory lead at DuPont Pioneer, which hosted the Seed Security for Food Security forum. âWherever the seed industry is healthy and vibrant, the private sector has been involved.â
DuPont Pioneer tops the Global Index of Field Crop Seed Companies and developed its own food security targets in 2012 that it aims to meet by 2020. Since the goals were established, DuPont Pioneer says it has invested $1.2 billion in research and development, introduced 600 new products and engaged with more than 314,000 smallholder farmers.
DuPont Pioneer also sponsored the development of a Global Food Security Index, which measures food affordability, availability, quality and safety in 113 countries and which the company is using to develop economic forecasts and country reports.
âSeed security equals food security,â said John Duesing, the companyâs senior research director, adding that achieving food security is the worldâs greatest challenge.
Participants in AIP Agronomyâs 2016 meeting at held at the Islamabad Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CIMMYT) — âI believe that crop management technologies can only be transferred to farmers with the active involvement of public, private sector and farmers,â said Nadeem Amjad, Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) at the inaugural session of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) Agronomyâs annual meeting held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 2-3 August 2016. He acknowledged the efforts of CIMMYT and its national partners in developing and disseminating crop management techniques to the countryâs farming community.
The meeting was jointly organized by CIMMYT and PARC under USAIDâs AIP for Pakistan. Agriculture professionals belonging to 23 national partner institutions shared progress on AIPâs agronomy activities, and discussed implementation-related issues and future activities. The inaugural session was attended by 60 agriculture professionals from various provincial and federal research institutes, agriculture extension services, universities, private companies and international research centers, who are involved in agronomy research and in disseminating conservation agriculture (CA) technologies among the farming community under AIP.
Inaugural session of the meeting. From left to right: Imtiaz Hussain, Ahmed Bakhsh, Nadeem Amjad and Imtiaz Muhammad. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC
On this occasion, PARC Member Ahmed Bakhsh Mahar welcomed meeting participants and said the meeting was a forum where all stakeholders could review AIPâs progress, discuss issues and future plans, and share their experiences.
CIMMYT Country Representative and AIP Project Leader Imtiaz Muhammad informed participants that 23 national public and private sector partners are collaborating on disseminating crop management practices in 42 districts of the country under USAID-funded AIP for Pakistan. CIMMYT is also collaborating with agricultural machinery manufacturers to locally produce new planters that have already been tested in the country.
Imtiaz Hussain, Cropping System Agronomist, apprised the participants that conservation agriculture techniques such as zero-tillage wheat, ridge planting of wheat; new seeders like the zero-till Happy Seeders, push row planters, multicrop zero-till planters and nutrient management techniques have been disseminated to more than 7500 Pakistani farmers through 1000 on-farm demonstrations, 22 training courses and 78 farmer days. AIP Agronomy also facilitated training of 131 staff members of partner institutions and helped train more than 800 farmers and support staff in the project area.
Azeem Khan presiding the concluding session of the AIP Agronomy meeting in Islamabad. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC
After successfully evaluating them, CIMMYT initiated local production of the zero-tillage Happy Seeder for wheat planting on combine harvested rice fields in Punjab, a multicrop planter for direct seeding rice and a push row planter for planting maize. As part of the collaboration with local machine manufacturers, Greenland Engineers and Petal Seeds provided 32 multicrop zero-till planters and 30 push row planters, respectively, to farmers in the project area. CIMMYT, in collaboration with national partners, has also focused on evaluating site-specific nutrient management techniques, such as a leaf color chart in rice and the handheld Green Seeker sensor for nitrogen management in wheat.
National partners agreed that AIP would focus on building the capacity of farmers and service providers in improved technologies, providing the Green Seeker to national partners, and manufacturing and disseminating new seeders like the lightweight Happy Seeder and push row planter.
When closing the AIP Agronomy annual meeting, NARC DG Muhammad Azeem Khan said that crop productivity in Pakistan can be improved significantly by focusing on crop management. He also stressed that efforts should focus more on training service providers and on providing implements for CA sustainability. He proposed developing a database on the adoption of CA techniques in the country and establishing CA working group.
A farmer prepares Sadza to be used in the taste evaluation exercise. R.Lunduka/CIMMYT
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â The prevalence of âhidden hungerâ due to micronutrient deficiency is a big issue in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been identified as one of the most affected regions with 30 percent of the population undernourished.
Biofortification of crops by increasing levels of vitamin A and protein in maize kernels is one effective way of improving diets of the rural poor and smallholder farmers.
CIMMYT and partners continuously develop improved maize varieties with enrichment traits. In particular, pro-vitamin A varieties â a biofortified orange maize developed in partnership with Harvest Plus for the southern Africa region and Quality Protein Maize. In addition to the nutritious component, these varieties are also tolerant to drought and common diseases while at the same time meeting yield potential goals amid efforts to achieve food security.
Bred using conventional methods, pro-vitamin A maize varieties are also stress tolerant compared to commercially available white, yellow and currently available orange varieties in the market.
âTo date we have released 11 varieties, six in Zambia, four in Malawi and one in Zimbabwe. We anticipate additional releases of three hybrids in Zimbabwe by end of October 2016,â said Thokozile Ndhlela, a maize breeder at CIMMYT in Zimbabwe.
Since many African consumers prefer white maize, it has increasingly become critical to overcome biases toward nutritious non-white maize varieties to encourage adoption and increase uptake.
The basis of the bias is related to the fact that yellow maize is generally grown for livestock feed in some regions and less popular for human consumption. It is also associated with poverty because volumes of non-white maize was imported into major maize growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa following a famine that hit the region in the late 1980s and lasted into the 1990s. This relief maize was disliked because it was poorly stored, turned rancid and acquired a bad taste.
The impact of memories of poor flavor and biases against non-white relief maize was initially underestimated by the agriculture for development sector, until it became apparent that it did influence smallholdersâ decisionmaking regarding whether or not to adopt improved varieties.
Blindfolded farmer takes part in the taste evaluation exercise. R. Lunduka/CIMMYT
âTaste forms a very important trait in maize adoption,â said Rodney Lunduka, a socio-economist at CIMMYT. âIn the case of the orange maize in Zimbabwe, the main reason for non-adoption is, in fact, taste. Farmers indicated that the old variety called Kenya that was distributed during the famine of the 1980s and 1990s had a very bad taste.â
In an effort to counteract the negative legacy of non-white maize, CIMMYT organized a taste evaluation exercise with farmers in the five districts of Marondera, Mrehwa, Zaka, Bikita and Mutoko in Zimbabwe. The farmers were blindfolded and participated in a taste test of a maize cornmeal food staple known in Zimbabwe as Sadza prepared from the orange pro-vitamin A maize flour and white maize flour. They were asked to rate the meal on taste and smell. Almost 240 farmers (119 female and 119 male) participated in the evaluation exercise.
âThe farmers were adequately briefed about the exercise and not allowed to see the Sadza before testing,â said Lunduka. âThis helped to remove any biases based on sight, so that they are not influenced by color but taste.â
The evaluation it found that 80 percent of female farmers and 84 percent of male farmers preferred the orange Sadza saying it had better taste and flavor.
âThese results show that there is an opportunity to reach out to farmers with this nutritious maize, hence there is need to continue breeding for more robust varieties that will not only be nutritious but also competitive in terms of productivity,â Ndhlela added.
After the evaluation, most involved in the taste test, flocked to the Sadza made with orange maize.
In turn, greater availability of pro-vitamin orange maize can boost micronutrient levels and substantially lower the risk of hidden hunger.
Shelley Feldman, recently retired professor at Cornell University, gives a keynote speech on gender balance in agriculture at CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Alfonso Arredondo.
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) â Women play a crucial role in agricultural production throughout the world, yet they often face barriers to accessing improved seeds, new agricultural techniques and technologies that could increase their productivity and livelihoods. If women had access to the same productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent, raise the total agricultural output of developing countries from between 2.5 to 4 percent and reduce the number of malnourished people in the world by 100 to 150 million (FAO).
In order to improve womenâs access to productive resources and global food security as a whole, the first step is to learn to seek out and listen to womenâs needs and realities without bias, said Shelley Feldman, the recently retired director of feminist, gender and sexuality studies and the Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell University. Feldman, who was speaking at a conference in Mexico City to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), also served as an international professor of development sociology at Cornell from 1984 to 2016, was a former director of the South Asia and the gender and global change programs, president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, and fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. She has published widely in area studies and social science journals on gender and rural development, feminist methodologies, patriarchy, religion, honor and normativity, as well as on displacement and ownership rights.
Feldman began conducting gender research in Bangladesh in the 1970s, where she was struck by how many of the rural women she worked with occupied crucial yet often unrecognized roles at all levels of the agricultural value chain, from food production to farming and post-harvest work. A passion for research in gender and agriculture was born.
At the CIMMYT conference in Mexico City on September 29, Feldman challenged the audience to really think about, unpack, and change their assumptions about female farmers and gender in a keynote speech titled, âWhat does gender-balanced agriculture look like?â
She shared some of her views on women and agriculture after her speech.
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Q: What can we be doing here at CIMMYT to help improve gender balance in agriculture?
Allow yourself to hear what women really want. I feel that many of us still donât know. Itâs not just a question of listening. They speak to us and we translate it through our own language, our own personal experience and understanding. For example, when I first started doing research in Bangladesh, every single woman in a village reported on a survey that they were married. I wondered how this was possibleâthe country had just endured a terrible famine, surely some women had lost their husbands. So I went back to the village to ask the women to explain. It turns out that this particular village happened to be Hindu, and in their tradition, once a woman is married she is always married, even if her husband dies or abandons her. Because I had translated their responses in terms of my own personal understanding of marriage, I ran the risk of overlooking these womenâs actual status, situation and needs. We need to change the way we think about our survey instruments. Weâve learned a lot about what women do, but not why or howâwhy they do or donât take risks, adopt technologies or change eating habits. There is such a push for quantitative data, but qualitative information is so important if you are to truly understand the realities that people are facing.
We also really need to think about the structure of our research process. âTaking it to the farmer,â in the words of Norman Borlaug (the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former wheat breeder at CIMMYT, known internationally as the father of the Green Revolution), is absolutely crucial, but we really need to think about âWho is the farmer?â âWhat do they want?â and âHow are we convincing them?â
Farmers are not just one homogenous groupâwomen farmers are not one homogenous group. Interventions will only work if we truly listen to what they want and need, and understand where they are coming from, to develop solutions that are appropriately adapted to their situation.
Q: What advice do you have for researchers?
When I first started conducting gender research in the field in Bangladesh in the 1970s I saw how many donors and other organizations often threw âblanketâ fixes at people who needed specific solutions. These people were genuinely trying to help, but either because they were not listening to women, or because they were interpreting the womenâs responses through their own understanding of the world, they werenât helping the situation.
Donât reproduce the assumed meaning of things, take it to the field, and use it as evidence you have actual data. In order to create any sort of positive change you need to be reflexiveâalways question, think about your assumptions, unsettle them. Demand self-reflection, even when it hurts, and it will truly change your research analysis. This will allow you to appreciate when your subjects say something you never thought of.
Q: What are your thoughts on CIMMYTâs approach to gender work?
I really appreciate CIMMYTâs work with the GENNOVATE initiative through the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) on Maize and Wheat. GENNOVATE is a cross-CRP global comparative research initiative which addresses the question of how gender norms and agency influence men, women and youth to adopt innovation in agriculture and natural resource management. I think itâs great that the initiative includes both qualitative and quantitative researchâand most importantly, comparative research.
We need to realize that âwomen farmers are not women farmers are not women farmersââwomen in any two different locations or social groups will not have the same realities or constraints. Thatâs why itâs so important that the project is looking at 125 rural communities in 26 countries. The work that CIMMYT gender specialist Lone Badstue and her colleagues are doing on GENNOVATE is incredible, in that they are working to pattern out broad trends without flattening out key differences. Not looking at women as a homogenous group ensures that youâll get better results.
An Earthquake Recovery Support Program beneficiary operates the lightweight and versatile mini-tiller, which is easier and more cost-effective than using bullocks to plough fields. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
Since the programâs beginning in June 2015 a suite of agricultural assets including mini-tillers and other farm machines, seed and grain storage facilities, agricultural hand tools, technical training and agronomy support have been implemented through its completion this September. Beneficiaries came from across eight of the most risk-prone affected districts in Nepal.
Last yearâs earthquake seriously undermined Nepalâs food security with losses estimated at more than $280 million in the agriculture sector alone. Nearly two-thirds of the countryâs population relies on agriculture for their livelihood, which has made it even tougher for farmers affected by the earthquake. The quakes destroyed grain and seed stockpiles, killed and injured livestock, wrecked tools and implements and collapsed regional irrigation and agricultural marketsâ infrastructure.
While the programâs monitoring and evaluation activities are still underway, initial estimated impacts show the storage bags and cocoons distributed are expected to save about 2,700 tons of grain and seed. In addition, agricultural hand tools have helped sustainable agriculture take hold, and agronomy guides have provided information on new production technologies and management practices. Distributed mini-tillers can also cover 700 hectares of land, reducing drudgery for women in particular due to their light weight. Mechanics trained by the program also ensure mini-tillers will be repaired and available locally, which encourages continued demand for the machines.
CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, observes a mini-tiller in operation during his visit in March this year to Nuwakot, one of the districts benefiting from the Earthquake Recovery Support Program in Nepal. Photo: A. Rai/CIMMYT
Subarna Bhandari, one of the recipients from Sindhupalchowk district, operated his mini-tiller for a total of 120 hours, earning approximately $540 within 3 months. The combined 8 machines that were distributed in his area would therefore help the recipients earn over $4,000. Another beneficiary previously needed three pairs of bullocks for two rounds of plowing at a cost of roughly $60. Thanks to the mini-tiller, the same activity now only costs $14.
âKeeping cattle for farm labor is costly and tedious because they need feed and fodder throughout the year, even when they are not in use,â says Mitra Shrestha, a farmer from Nuwakot district. âHowever, the mini-tiller needs fuel only when it is being used. In one hour the machine can cultivate an area that would require a pair of cattle to work an entire day,â she adds.
Shrestha uses the surplus time she can now spare for vegetable farming and other household chores. âIn fact, I now also use the mini-tiller for land preparation of potatoes, since it can till deeper and make ridges.â
Beyond the earthquake program, CSISA is moving some of its activities into these districts so that it can build upon the momentum created around scale-appropriate mechanization over the last year. The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project, led by CIMMYT, also works in the earthquake zone.
Neal Gutterson, vice president of research at DuPont Pioneer, delivers a presentation on Crispr-Cas at CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Sam Storr
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — From the field to the laboratory, new technology plays a major part in the international effort to develop seeds and cropping systems that will help achieve food security, but scientific innovations should be advanced in tandem with nutritional goals, training and public opinion, said delegates attending a 50th anniversary conference in Mexico City hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
The challenges are enormous. Already at least 900 million people do not get enough food to eat, global population is expected to increase by 2 billion by 2050 and scientists are battling the threat of climate change, which causes erratic weather patterns and global warming, projecting that for each 1 degree Celsius increase in global mean temperature, wheat yields may decline by 6 percent.
Even brief periods of high temperature stress could negatively affect healthy seed development and ultimately cereal yields, said CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds, speaking on the sidelines of the conference.
âSome models estimate that by the end of the 21st Century, a current 1-in-20 year hottest day will become a 1-in-10 year event, or even occur annually or biannually in many regions,â said Reynolds whose work involves exploring wheat genetic resources for new sources of heat and drought tolerance. âCereal production is increasing worldwide but current rates of yield growth are not sufficient to satisfy future demand, even without climate change factored in, so we have to expect the worst to avoid the risk of widespread famine.â
Reynolds is working with wheat physiologist Gemma Molero to develop high yield potential, heat and drought resistant plant ideotypes. Molero has designed a tool to assess wheat spike photosynthesis and its impact on grain filling, until now an overlooked aspect of how yields can be increased. She is working with Bayer Crop Science to identify new possibilities for wheat breeding.
Global demand for cereals is expected to reach 3 billion tons by 2050, an increase of 940 million tons from yields produced between 2005 and 2007, with the greatest demand coming from developing countries. The demand shift will lead to significant price increases of more than 50 percent for maize and 25 to 50 percent for other crops even without climate change. If climate change is factored into the equation prices could increase 60 to 97 percent by 2050.
Although controversial, genetically modified (GM) crops constitute one option for increasing yields and have not been proven to be dangerous to eat, said Matin Qaim, professor of international food economics and rural development at the University of Gottingen in Germany, during a presentation. In the developing world, they help farmers to gain yields 20 percent higher than conventionally bred crops and earn almost 70 percent more income, according to Qaim.
âFarmers in developing countries benefit more from genetically modified crops than farmers elsewhere because they suffer more from pests and diseases,â Qaim said. âThey also benefit more because most GM technologies are not patented, which means the seeds are cheaper than in developed countries.â
Neal Gutterson, vice president of research and development at DuPont Pioneer and a member of CIMMYTâs board of trustees, described the aims of a new collaboration the company has agreed with CIMMYT to develop crops capable of fighting devastating Maize Lethal Necrosis disease in Africa using CRISPR-Cas, an approach that allows precise âeditingâ of genes.
âCRISPR-Cas advanced plant breeding technology is a more efficient and targeted plant-breeding technology,â Gutterson said. âIt enables the development of customized agriculture solutions to the real challenges farmers around the world face in growing healthy plants.â
Jose Falck-Zepeda, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said that while innovative technology is vital, success will be attained by tackling development initiatives from a broad âwhole systemsâ approach. Currently, science in the food system is built around narrow principles and objectives, he said. Focusing on gender and other equity issues are the starting point for technological change.
CIMMYTâs Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project serves as an example of the whole systems approach, said Denis Kyetere, executive director of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation. Through WEMA, maize varieties are being developed using conventional breeding and biotechnology by CIMMYT, Monsanto and national research programs in Africa.
Seed from the program will ultimately be marketed royalty-free to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa through African seed companies, making the benefits of the technology available to everyone, Kyetere said, adding that public-private partnerships are key. A new, knowledge-based global food system focused on ensuring equity is a must, he said.
âThe use of the public-private-partnership model in technology development and deployment along the entire product value chain is a game-changer in enhancing food security and for poverty reduction in Africa,â Kyetere said, adding that partners must share both responsibilities and risks to achieve a common goal.
Julie Miller Jones, professor emeritus of nutrition at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, criticized authors and media personalities advocating wheat-free diets for the majority of population who do not suffer from celiac disease or wheat allergies. She also emphasized the essential role of grains in a healthy diet, and the health benefits of whole grain in particular.
âWe have to stop picking on diets, the problem is us. We are eating too many calories,â she urged delegates.
Going âgluten-freeâ has become a big money maker for the food industry. Sales have soared 63 percent since 2012, with almost 4,600 “gluten-free” products introduced in 2014, according to the January 2015 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
Catherine Bertini, 2003 World Food Prize laureate and former head of the U.N. World Food Programme, strongly advocated that nutrition should be given a leading role in the breeding process. âLet food be medicine,â said Bertini, who is currently a professor at Syracuse University.
âAgricultural producers have to be change-makers,â Montiel Ibarra said. âWe need to break with resistance to change.â
Achieving change requires effective communication, including coverage of complex scientific concepts, but fact-based arguments are seldom enough, said Tamar Haspel, a food columnist for the Washington Post newspaper.
âWe seek sources of information that share our values and confirm our views,â Haspel said. âWe find innovative ways to reject âfactsâ we disagree with — if facts are not persuasive, how do we communicate about science?â
Reporting by Bianca Beks, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Katie Lutz, Matthew O’Leary, Katelyn Roett and Sam Storr.
For a second year in a row, $25,000 will be awarded toprojects contributing to food security and sustainability in Mexicoâs agricultural sector.
Cargill will also be sponsoring a study to improve sustainability and responsible sourcing practices in Mexicoâs maize and wheat markets.
MEXICO CITY â The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Cargill Mexico announced today the second Cargill-CIMMYT Food Security and Sustainability Award during CIMMYTâs 50th anniversary celebration. Â
A prize of $25,000 will be awarded to projects that promote sustainable food security solutions in Mexico and are implemented by farmers, researchers and opinion leaders.
âUltimately, Cargill and CIMMYT want to develop an operational strategy that can be replicated in other parts of Mexico and beyond,â said Cargill Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility, Michelle Grogg.
Effective sustainable intensification strategies in Mexico, or anywhere else, only achieve significant and sustainable yield increases when innovative leaders in the links forming the agri-business chain collaborate with each other, said CIMMYTâs director general, Martin Kropff. âCIMMYT is proud to partner with Cargill to identify and contribute to the great work that farmers, researchers and opinion leaders are doing in different links of Mexicoâs maize and wheat value chains.â
The farmer association representative invested their $10,000 award in a conservation project that helped renew machinery and equipment.
The researchers category $10,000 award went to technological developments aimed at reducing consumption of fertilizers and herbicides in agriculture soybeans.
And, the opinion leader category winner used their $5,000 award to purchase a rainwater conservation system to help boost maize farmersâ productivity in the state of Hidalgo.
Cargill is also sponsoring a study to evaluate and outline a sustainable and responsible sourcing plan for the Mexican maize and wheat markets. A task force, including Cargill and CIMMYT experts, will evaluate pilot areas and approaches, including different ways to implement more sustainable and responsible sourcing practices in the local supply chain.
About Cargill
Cargill provides food, agricultural and industrial products and financial services to the world. Along with producers, customers, governments and communities, we support people to prosper together applying our knowledge and our 150 years of experience. We have 150,000 employees in 70 countries that are committed to feeding the world responsibly, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities in which we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com, and our News Center.
About Cargill Mexico
Cargill Mexico aims to contribute in improving agricultural productivity, satisfying and fulfilling the expectations of the domestic industry. In addition to adding value to human and animal nutrition and thus encourage economic development, Cargill Mexico reinvests its profits in several new businesses in the country. Cargill has 9 business units that have operations in Mexico, it employs more than 1,750 people in 13 states and has a total of 30 facilities, including a corporate office in Mexico City. For more information, visit Cargill.com.mx, and our News Center.
About CIMMYT
Headquartered in Mexico, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly funded research for development for wheat and maize and for wheat- and maize-based farming systems. CIMMYT works throughout the developing world with hundreds of partners, belongs to CGIAR and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Wheat and Maize. CIMMYT receives support from CGIAR Fund Donors, national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. staging.cimmyt.org
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network delivers a presentation at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortes
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) â The agriculture for development sector must begin ânourishingâ families with nutrition-sensitive interventions instead of focusing on âfeeding,â said a leading food security expert at a conference in Mexico City hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
On a panel of experts, which included researchers, policymakers, farmers and the private sector, Sibanda urged almost 1,000 delegates attending the three day conference to consider the potential risks of focusing solely on boosting yields and fortifying grains with micronutrients and vitamin A, rather than developing strategies for increased dietary diversity.
The panel also discussed topics related to agricultural research and development such as food security and nutrition, climate change, the social tensions that are both cause and result of migration, scientific developments and new technologies.
After the first day, a mixture of formal and celebratory activities at the CIMMYT research station in El Batan outside Mexico City, delegates relocated to the city to tackle such wide-ranging topics as nutrition, the newly approved portfolio for the CGIAR system of agricultural researchers to which CIMMYT belongs, funding, scientific developments, new technologies and technical innovations.
We are not yet on the right trajectory when it comes to nutrition and health outcomes, said Juergen Voegele, senior director, agriculture global practice World Bank and CGIAR System Council Chair.
âWithout a CGIAR there would be 100 countries in conflict and not the 60 that we know today,â Voegele said. âThe CGIAR has a major role to play in ensuring nutrition security and peace and conflict resolution.â
He said that productivity increases achieved in the 1980s and 1990s were ahead of population growth, but are currently lagging behind, leading to the necessity to increase funding for the CGIAR. Currently, for every dollar invested in the CGIAR, the return is $17, in some programs rising up to $100.
âAt the current trajectory, we will not solve the worldâs food challenges,â he said, adding that recent reforms have contributed much to focusing the efforts of the CGIAR towards the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, 15 measurable targets aimed at reducing poverty, and reaffirmed the World Bankâs commitment to championing and supporting CGIAR research.
The challenges are vast, said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general. âWe have more people, less land, greater demand, all in the face of climate change.â
For food prices to remain constant, annual yield gains for maize would have to increase from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent. For wheat they would have to increase from 1.1 percent to 1.7 percent.
A new agreement signed by CIMMYT and agri-seed company Dupont Pioneer at the conference, which will use CRISPR-Cas advanced breeding technologies to develop improved crops by using the best characteristics native to the plant, aims to streamline research into plant breeding and disease.
âIt has become abundantly clear that there are at least two essential ingredients to feeding a growing population –innovation and farmers — and we must do a better job of connecting the two,â said Paul Schickler, president of Dupont Pioneer
The technology will be put to use first to challenge Maize Lethal Necrosis disease in sub-Saharan Africa, which first emerged in Kenya in 2011 and affects almost a quarter of total maize production with annual losses of about $110 million and up to 90 percent yield loss on individual farms, Schickler said.
âUsually, cutting-edge technologies benefit farmers in high income countries first,” said Marianne Banziger, CIMMYTâs deputy director general, commenting on the agreement between CIMMYT and Dupont Pioneer.
âThe public-private partnership allows us to extend such benefits much more rapidly to farmers in low- and middle-income countries, addressing problems they uniquely face, giving them equal opportunities. As a result, we democratize access to new technologies.â
Among many recent scientific advancements, innovative remote sensing and satellite imagery technologies for assessing the effectiveness of research results in the field are increasingly being used.
Scientist David Lobell of Stanford University said that he uses satellite images to estimate which crops are being grown by farmers and the yields they obtain. Jose Luis Araus of the University of Barcelona spoke of a virtual revolution where phenotyping assessments are moving from the ground-based time consuming assessments to much more rapid assessments using drones and airplanes.
Other scientists, such as Ken Giller from the University of Wageningen described his work evaluating farm-level technology adoption.
âThe fast-growing population of Africa is pushing down farm sizes, making it less likely that food security can be achieved in the near future,â Giller said. “We need to find new approaches to ensure that the combination of off-farm and on-farm incomes achieve household food security and, more, get farmers out of poverty.â
Mexicoâs sub-secretary of agriculture, Jorge Armando NarvĂĄez NarvĂĄez, was among the many international agriculture experts and government officials who spoke at the conference, emphasizing the need to have reliable and market-oriented agricultural research and development platforms.
The benefits of global agricultural research that made improved hybrid maize seeds and fertilizer available to smallholders in the 1980s were illustrated by development economist and Cornell University Ph.D. graduate Ed Mabaya, who grew up on a hillside maize-livestock farm in rural Zimbabwe.
He recounted a meeting he had with a childhood friend whose fate was to remain in the village, struggling to survive and feed his family.
Mabaya concluded that his parentsâ use of improved seed and farming practices derived from agricultural research helped open a pathway out of poverty for his family, with similar experiences for other progressive farmers in the community.
Reporting by Bianca Beks, Connie Castro, Ricardo Curiel, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Genevieve Renard, Miriam Shindler and Sam Storr.
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network delivers a presentation at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortes
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) â The agriculture for development sector must begin ânourishingâ families with nutrition-sensitive interventions instead of focusing on âfeeding,â said a leading food security expert at a conference in Mexico City hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is celebrating its 50thanniversary.
On a panel of experts, which included researchers, policymakers, farmers and the private sector, Sibanda urged almost 1,000 delegates attending the three day conference to consider the potential risks of focusing solely on boosting yields and fortifying grains with micronutrients and vitamin A, rather than developing strategies for increased dietary diversity.
The panel also discussed topics related to agricultural research and development such as food security and nutrition, climate change, the social tensions that are both cause and result of migration, scientific developments and new technologies.
After the first day, a mixture of formal and celebratory activities at the CIMMYT research station in El Batan outside Mexico City, delegates relocated to the city to tackle such wide-ranging topics as nutrition, the newly approved portfolio for the CGIAR system of agricultural researchers to which CIMMYT belongs, funding, scientific developments, new technologies and technical innovations.
We are not yet on the right trajectory when it comes to nutrition and health outcomes, said Juergen Voegele, senior director, agriculture global practice World Bank and CGIAR System Council Chair.
âWithout a CGIAR there would be 100 countries in conflict and not the 60 that we know today,â Voegele said. âThe CGIAR has a major role to play in ensuring nutrition security and peace and conflict resolution.â
He said that productivity increases achieved in the 1980s and 1990s were ahead of population growth, but are currently lagging behind, leading to the necessity to increase funding for the CGIAR. Currently, for every dollar invested in the CGIAR, the return is $17, in some programs rising up to $100.
âAt the current trajectory, we will not solve the worldâs food challenges,â he said, adding that recent reforms have contributed much to focusing the efforts of the CGIAR towards the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, 15 measurable targets aimed at reducing poverty, and reaffirmed the World Bankâs commitment to championing and supporting CGIAR research.
The challenges are vast, said Martin Kropff, CIMMYTâs director general. âWe have more people, less land, greater demand, all in the face of climate change.â
For food prices to remain constant, annual yield gains for maize would have to increase from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent. For wheat they would have to increase from 1.1 percent to 1.7 percent.
A new agreement signed by CIMMYT and agri-seed company Dupont Pioneer at the conference, which will use CRISPR-Cas advanced breeding technologies to develop improved crops by using the best characteristics native to the plant, aims to streamline research into plant breeding and disease.
âIt has become abundantly clear that there are at least two essential ingredients to feeding a growing population âinnovation and farmers â and we must do a better job of connecting the two,â said Paul Schickler, president of Dupont Pioneer
The technology will be put to use first to challenge Maize Lethal Necrosis disease in sub-Saharan Africa, which first emerged in Kenya in 2011 and affects almost a quarter of total maize production with annual losses of about $110 million and up to 90 percent yield loss on individual farms, Schickler said.
âUsually, cutting-edge technologies benefit farmers in high income countries first,â said Marianne Banziger, CIMMYTâs deputy director general, commenting on the agreement between CIMMYT and Dupont Pioneer.
âThe public-private partnership allows us to extend such benefits much more rapidly to farmers in low- and middle-income countries, addressing problems they uniquely face, giving them equal opportunities. As a result, we democratize access to new technologies.â
Among many recent scientific advancements, innovative remote sensing and satellite imagery technologies for assessing the effectiveness of research results in the field are increasingly being used.
Scientist David Lobell of Stanford University said that he uses satellite images to estimate which crops are being grown by farmers and the yields they obtain. Jose Luis Araus of the University of Barcelona spoke of a virtual revolution where phenotyping assessments are moving from the ground-based time consuming assessments to much more rapid assessments using drones and airplanes.
Other scientists, such as Ken Giller from the University of Wageningen described his work evaluating farm-level technology adoption.
âThe fast-growing population of Africa is pushing down farm sizes, making it less likely that food security can be achieved in the near future,â Giller said. âWe need to find new approaches to ensure that the combination of off-farm and on-farm incomes achieve household food security and, more, get farmers out of poverty.â
Mexicoâs sub-secretary of agriculture, Jorge Armando NarvĂĄez NarvĂĄez, was among the many international agriculture experts and government officials who spoke at the conference, emphasizing the need to have reliable and market-oriented agricultural research and development platforms.
The benefits of global agricultural research that made improved hybrid maize seeds and fertilizer available to smallholders in the 1980s were illustrated by development economist and Cornell University Ph.D. graduate Ed Mabaya, who grew up on a hillside maize-livestock farm in rural Zimbabwe.
He recounted a meeting he had with a childhood friend whose fate was to remain in the village, struggling to survive and feed his family.
Mabaya concluded that his parentsâ use of improved seed and farming practices derived from agricultural research helped open a pathway out of poverty for his family, with similar experiences for other progressive farmers in the community.
Reporting by Bianca Beks, Connie Castro, Ricardo Curiel, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Genevieve Renard, Miriam Shindler and Sam Storr.
Martin Kropff (R), CIMMYT director general and Mexico’s agriculture secretary Jose Calzada Rovirosa, speak with members of the press at “CIMMYT 50,” CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference in El Batan Mexico, near Mexico City. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortez
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â Although increasing food supply to meet future demand must involve pushing the boundaries on technological innovation, sustainability must always be first and foremost, said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization, which has attracted almost a thousand delegates from Mexico and around the world, including agriculture ministers, scientists, policy makers and farmers.
âWe canât afford to be complacent because the need is so immense, but we must be cautious in our application of research to consider farmer needs and the environment,â Kropff said, as he set out a strategic plan for CIMMYT until 2022. âItâs not just about food security, we must achieve nutritional security as well.â
Kropff detailed plans to take a broader view of maize and wheat as components of agrifood systems, rather than strictly as commodities, taking into consideration the activities and relationships that determine how food is produced, processed, distributed and consumed, together with the human and biological systems that shape those activities.
âAlready, at least 900 million people go to bed hungry at night â an unacceptable number now, which will continue to grow in tandem with population growth if we donât ratchet up our efforts to improve maize and wheat yields,â he said, adding that the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals provide a roadmap for ensuring food security.
He also announced that CIMMYT would engage in more public-private partnerships and increase its focus on training and capacity building.
Just as a Mexican delegation, including agriculture secretary Jose Calzada Rovirosa, arrived at CIMMYTâs main research station in El Batan outside Mexico City, the skies opened and rain poured down, fortunately clearing in time for mid-day tours of the crops, wheat quality laboratory and the gene bank.
Mexico plays a major role in the improvement of maize and wheat crops by hosting five CIMMYT research stations throughout the country and providing funding for such programs as MasAgro, a project that not only works to develop improved maize and wheat varieties but also supports conservation agriculture techniques that help increase yields and improve environmental sustainability of farming.
âCIMMYTâs achievements are indisputable,â Calzada Rovirosa said. ââCIMMYT 50â calls on all of our consciences. The world needs to increase yields without hurting the environment.â
He affirmed his continued support for the longstanding partnership between CIMMYT and Mexico.
“The Mexican government is committed to continuing the promise we made 50 years ago to support CIMMYT and agricultural research in Mexico,â said Calzada Rovirosa, who also delivered a message of congratulations from Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Farmers in Mexico were represented at the conference by Rodolfo Rodriguez Flores, president of Patronato, the farmersâ organization in Mexicoâs northern state of Sonora.
Later in the day, agriculture ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan, countries where CIMMYT has also played a key role supporting national agricultural programs, spoke, detailing achievements and future plans.
CIMMYT needs long-term, secure funding to achieve its goals, said Derek Byerlee, a former World Bank economist and adviser who delivered the keynote address at the conference.
âAlthough the first drought-tolerant maize varieties were made in the 1980s, weâre just now achieving widespread distribution of drought-tolerant maize seed in Africa,â said Byerlee who has had a long association with CIMMYT. âThe CIMMYT maize program works with 200 local and global seed companies and itâs crucial to get these varieties to farmers.â
Byerleeâs history of CIMMYT, titled âThe Birth of CIMMYT â Pioneering the idea and ideals of international agricultural researchâ was published this month. It details the challenges global agricultural research faces.
Today, global, publicly-funded networks which combine the talent and resources of scientists and institutions across borders to foster more productive, profitable agricultural systems seem logical, but at their inception after World War Two, they were remarkably innovative, Byerlee said.
Developing countries will need to take much larger responsibility and participation in their own agricultural development, but the principles that underlie the origins of CIMMYT and the CGIAR remain valid.
At the same time, many countries where CIMMYT works are embroiled in conflict, making research and development activities difficult and at times dangerous.
Other highlights of the day included speeches by Sanjaya Rajaram, a prolific wheat breeder known as the Sultan of Wheat who worked for many years at CIMMYT as director of the Global Wheat Program and won the 2014 World Food Prize.
âNew wheats are better able to produce under high temperatures, but more needs to be done to address climate change,â Rajaram said, adding that disease resistance has been a critical achievement in protecting yield.
âMore prosperous emerging countries like India or Mexico need to provide long-term funding for CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers and programs,â he said. âCIMMYT scientists based in our target countries and global partnerships are key to success. Itâs a shared global enterprise with national systems and the private sector.â
Julie Borlaug, the granddaughter of the late 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, the key wheat breeder known internationally as the father of the Green Revolution, spoke enthusiastically of CIMMYTâs work and compassionately about rural poverty and smallholder farmers.
âMexico is a leader and should continue its legacy worldwide,â said Julie Borlaug, who is now associate director of external relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A & M University.
Reporting by Ricardo Curiel, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Katelyn Roett and Miriam Shindler.
