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African Conservation Tillage Network CEO calls for high level support of conservation agriculture

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African Conservation Tillage Network CEO Saidi Mkomwa
African Conservation Tillage Network CEO Saidi Mkomwa

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Regional and national support for conservation agriculture is key to achieving widespread sustainable production intensification, said Saidi Mkomwa, CEO of the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT).

Increased uptake of conservation agriculture, soil management practices involving minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations used to boost sustainable agriculture and add to its profitability, will benefit from coordinated promotion through regional bodies and national governments, said Mkomwa, who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on Wednesday.

CIMMYT research and programs supporting conservation agriculture’s greater sustainable productivity have helped organizations, governments and their institutions expand efforts, but to have real impact against challenges climate change and reduced resources increased high-level action is needed, he said.

Mkomwa will take part in a panel discussion titled, “The contribution farming systems research in scaling improved management practices and technical innovations” during the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference in Mexico.

He shares his opinions on agricultural development in the following interview.

Q: What do you hope to contribute to the CIMMYT conference?

To congratulate CIMMYT on their 50 years of unique contributions such as their contribution to the Green Revolution, which pulled millions of people out of hunger. This is also an opportunity to remind CIMMYT of their former wheat breeder and father of the Green Revolution Borlaugs’ 1970’s prophecy, that a second Green Revolution will be necessary in 20 to 30 years, to make the bounty everlasting. The next Green Revolution challenged also by climate change, is being compelled to focus on the new food frontiers – smallholder rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid regions, which are also home to the millions of the hungry and the poor. CIMMYT is already researching and empowering farmers (particularly in Southern Africa) to adapt and adopt conservation agriculture as means to achieving sustainable production intensification. What could add value to this effort is more effective and higher level leadership and coordination of such activities which can empower the African Union’s Africa’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and national governments to support and invest in relatively low cost conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT: What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT has expertise and experience in plant breeding and promoting best performing crop cultivars as well as in research on conservation agriculture systems and practices that is capable of intensifying farming without degrading natural resources. CIMMYT’s research on conservation agriculture has helped to generate reliable scientific evidence and technologies in support of conservation agriculture as the best option for sustainable production intensification by smallholder farmers in Africa. This work has helped many governments and their institutions and other organizations in Africa, including ACT, to expand their effort to introduce and spread conservation agriculture.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces into the future?

The conventional tillage agriculture has become unfit for meeting future food security sustainably and is increasingly being replaced with conservation conservation because of its greater productivity, profitability, efficiency, resilience and regenerative qualities. Availability and efficient utilization of production inputs – with specific focus on water, fertilizers and fuel – which were essential in the Green Revolution, become crucial as supplies dwindle and costs escalate. Their manufacture or use in conventional tillage agriculture further contributes to GHG emissions but can be minimized by adopting conservation agriculture systems as widely as possible across Africa and beyond.

Key challenges that are faced globally include the need to adopt conservation agriculture in response to sub-optimal yield plateau and profit margins prevailing in most countries; loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, soil degradation and erosion; loss of efficiency and resilience; and greater need for research, education and extension systems to overcome inadequate level of staff and farmer capacity.

Mexico, funding, sustainability key to meeting agricultural challenges, “CIMMYT 50” delegates say

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kropff50
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) – 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.

“We can’t 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,” Kropff said, as he set out a strategic plan for CIMMYT until 2022. “It’s not just about food security, we must achieve nutritional security as well.”

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.

“Already, at least 900 million people go to bed hungry at night – an unacceptable number now, which will continue to grow in tandem with population growth if we don’t ratchet up our efforts to improve maize and wheat yields,” 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 CIMMYT’s 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.

“CIMMYT’s achievements are indisputable,” Calzada Rovirosa said. “’CIMMYT 50’ calls on all of our consciences. The world needs to increase yields without hurting the environment.”

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,” 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 farmers’ organization in Mexico’s 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.

“Although the first drought-tolerant maize varieties were made in the 1980s, we’re just now achieving widespread distribution of drought-tolerant maize seed in Africa,” said Byerlee who has had a long association with CIMMYT. “The CIMMYT maize program works with 200 local and global seed companies and it’s crucial to get these varieties to farmers.”

Byerlee’s history of CIMMYT, titled “The Birth of CIMMYT – Pioneering the idea and ideals of international agricultural research” 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.

“New wheats are better able to produce under high temperatures, but more needs to be done to address climate change,” Rajaram said, adding that disease resistance has been a critical achievement in protecting yield.

“More prosperous emerging countries like India or Mexico need to provide long-term funding for CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers and programs,” he said. “CIMMYT scientists based in our target countries and global partnerships are key to success. It’s a shared global enterprise with national systems and the private sector.”

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 CIMMYT’s work and compassionately about rural poverty and smallholder farmers.

“Mexico is a leader and should continue its legacy worldwide,” 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.

A leading NGO joins hands with CIMMYT-CCAFS to empower women farmers

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NGO partnership brings new capacity building opportunities. Photo: CIMMYT
NGO partnership brings new capacity building opportunities. Photo: CIMMYT

In the Indian state of Haryana, women are actively involved in farm operations but do not contribute significantly to decision-making. An effective way to enhance women’s decision-making and promote gender equity is to teach them to use new agricultural technologies and thus generate higher yields and better income. How technological change contributes to women’s empowerment has thus become an important area of study in India’s male-dominated farm sector.

Under the aegis of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), CIMMYT is working on developing climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) that enable farmers to reduce climate-related risks. As part of this activity, CIMMYT-CCAFS is joining hands with a leading NGO, Arpana Services (www.arpanaservices.org), that seeks to enhance livelihoods in rural areas of the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. More to the point in this case, it works with 830 self-help groups including 11,600 women across 100 villages in Haryana.

CIMMYT will build confidence and awareness among the women’s groups Arpana has formed by instructing them on CSAPs and their use. CIMMYT and Arpana will merge their areas of expertise to promote CSAP adoption among female smallholders, thereby benefiting farm households. They plan to provide capacity building programs aimed at educating female farmers on technical aspects of sustainable intensification and making them realize the importance of nutrition by introducing legumes into their cropping systems.

The women will also be trained to use a farm lekha jokha book, which is an accounting and farm management tool that allows farmers to understand and compare farm expenses that, though important, are commonly neglected. Keeping such records would make women more knowledgeable and help them manage their farms more efficiently, thereby escalating their decision-making authority at home.

Although the CIMMYT-Arpana initiatives target women’s empowerment, they will also lead to other socio-economic changes. For example, successful women farmers could help promote CSAPs and convince government and policy makers to make recommendations based on conservation agriculture. In this way, a model encompassing the pre-requisites of sustainable agriculture could be established with women as torch-bearers of the future of agriculture.

CIMMYT Participates in the Sixth African Green Revolution Forum

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Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Tsedeke Abate (left), project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) team led by Director General Martin Kropff joined 1700 delegates from around the globe who participated in the sixth African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) that brought together heads of state and government ministries, development partners, farmer organizations, private sector representatives, eminent thinkers, researchers, and finance and investment leaders.

Titled Seize the moment! Securing Africa’s rise through agricultural transformation, the forum focused on increasing investment in African smallholders to maximize the economic opportunities in Africa’s agricultural sector and bring about a much needed transformation.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program, together with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), hosted a side event focusing on SIMLESA’s work on sustainable intensification practices and its implications for policymakers. Over 30 participants took part in this event.

Martin Kropff taking part in the ‘big debate’ session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Martin Kropff taking part in the ‘big debate’ session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

After receiving a brief from John Dixon, principal adviser for research at ACIAR, SIMLESA project leader Mulugetta Mekuria and a host of other presenters and participants agreed that the challenge of rising population and dwindling land resources makes farming system production practices, such as sustainable agricultural practices that help reduce environmental risks to crop production, a viable option for African farmers.

Mekuria singled out successes of SIMLESA that show that farmers’ food production, profitability and livelihoods as well as family nutrition have improved as a result of the diversity of food crops grown in these farming systems. He called on governments, policymakers and the private sector to institutionalize and include sustainable agricultural intensification in national agricultural development policy to achieve the much needed agricultural transformation.

Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA, makes a presentation focusing on SIMLESA’s work. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA, makes a presentation focusing on SIMLESA’s work. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

A session that focused on harnessing Africa’s potential to create competitive grain value chains benefited from the participation of Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa. He noted that, despite the availability of improved maize varieties in Africa, 49 percent of maize varieties planted by smallholders are obsolete, yet remain popular in Africa’s seed value chain. Abate emphasized the importance of replacing these with new, improved stress tolerant maize varieties to strengthen smallholders’ food systems.

“Solutions for Africa’s problems are within farmers’ reach. It is therefore important for governments and the private sector to implement holistic workable models that will favor smallholders, like availability of improved varieties, inputs and resources, fertilizers, technology, support programs, sufficient extension to farmers,” said Abate.

Another session on the best way to achieve agricultural transformation featured Kropff alongside former President of the Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete; Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of YARA; Joseph DeVries, Chief of Agricultural Transformation at AGRA; and Sheila Sisulu, Former Deputy Director of WFP and Africa Food Prize Committee member.

B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (2nd from left), on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

Kropff explained that the key to unlocking smallholders’ potential is to enable them to access improved varieties, innovative technology and mechanization that will save farmers’ time and boost their capacity to maximize production and reduce food waste, which is rampant in Africa. “As the region faces increasing challenges from climate change, rapidly growing urban populations, and an urgent need for jobs, agriculture offers solutions, providing a clear path to food and nutritional security and employment opportunities for all Africans,” Kropff noted.

With the right policies and investments in place, lives of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers could be transformed, putting all African countries on the path to sustainable agricultural transformation, concluded Kropff.

Emphasized throughout the forum was the challenge of building on available opportunities to secure investments that will improve lives of smallholders. The good news is that AGRF culminated with commitments of over USD 30 billion to transform African agriculture.

Gene bank crowdfunding campaign gains traction with commercial seed industry

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cimmyt-saveaseedEL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A pledge of $10,000 by international plant breeding company KWS has given a big boost to an online crowdfunding initiative aiming to help maintain the world’s largest maize and wheat germplasm bank.

The campaign was launched by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week,  to help meet its $2.3 million annual running cost.

The Save a Seed campaign, hosted on a caused-based crowdfunding platform, is attracting new donations to fill a reduction in funds from traditional donors, said Kevin Pixley, director for genetic resources at CIMMYT where the bank is located.

“The germplasm bank is a global public treasure that belongs to all of us; everyone should have the opportunity to help care for it,” he said. “A small donation now makes a big difference to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”

Germany-based KWS is joining African and Latin American seed producers and members of the general public who have donated to the bank. Contributions keep collections stocked, curated and freely available to researchers who study the genetic diversity to identify traits to improve maize and wheat.

“I hope that many others will follow us to support the CIMMYT Save a Seed crowdfunding initiative generously,” said Léon Broers, executive board member of KWS. “Conserving and extending the world’s most important seed bank for maize and wheat is crucial especially for developing countries in times of accelerating climate change and a growing world population.”

As severe weather and evolving crop diseases threaten our most important staple foods, the bank’s ability to offer scientists novel DNA tools and data management tools to unearth high-value traits from vast maize and wheat seed collections for use in breeding climate-resilient varieties is greater than ever, said Pixley.

CIMMYT’s germplasm is a genetic treasure chest with over 175,000 maize and wheat seed collections, any of which could prove to be the crucial ingredient that breeders need to combat these challenges, he said. In 2015, the bank sent more than 700,000 seed shipments free of charge to researchers in over 80 countries who work to fight disease and improve crops.

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to one-quarter of the world’s daily energy intake and contributing 27 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to FAO. The two crops are essential to agricultural scientists who are looking for ways to increase food production by 70%, the projected need to feed a global population exceeding 9 billion by 2050.

ABOUT CIMMYT

Headquartered in Mexico, 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 the 15-member CGIAR System, and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Wheat and Maize. CIMMYT receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.staging.cimmyt.org

ABOUT KWS

KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. In fiscal 2014/15, 4,700 employees in 70 countries generated net sales of 986 million euros and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of  113 million euros. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for some 160 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for corn, sugarbeet, cereals, rapeseed and sunflowers. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield and resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested  174 million euros last fiscal year in research and development, 17.7 percent of its net sales. For more information: www.kws.com. Follow us on Twitter® at https://twitter.com/KWS_Group.

*All figures exclude the joint ventures AGRELIANT GENETICS LLC., AGRELIANT GENETICS INC. and KENFENG – KWS SEEDS CO.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Genevieve Renard

Email: g.renard@cgiar.org

Telephone: +52 1 595 114 9880

Twitter: @genevrenard

New high-yielding maize aids smallholder farmers, helps hungry in drought-hit Africa

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dtmaize
Margaret holds a tiny ear of SC513 maize (R), the most popular commercial variety in southern Africa, and an improved ear of CZH13208 (L), a new CIMMYT drought-tolerant hybrid. Margaret’s grandmother participated in an on-farm trial with scientist Peter Setimela in Murewa district, 75 kilometers northeast of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. CIMMYT/Jill Cairns

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Bigger and healthier maize is helping to counter the effects of severe drought caused by the warming effects of an El Nino weather system that has swept across southern Africa making more than 30 million people in the region dependent on food aid.

New varieties of the most important staple food crop in southern Africa, developed by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), not only flourish in drought, but can produce bumper crops in ideal growing conditions.

“We’re targeting low-yield commercial hybrid maize varieties that smallholder farmers have relied on for more than 20 years in areas where farming is a struggle even in the good years,” said Peter Setimela, a maize seed system specialist based at CIMMYT in Harare, Zimbabwe. “Another major challenge is making farmers aware of these new high-yielding, drought-tolerant varieties and giving them the confidence to switch.”

Developing the varieties can take about six or seven years, said Setimela. “From there, you have to start promoting them.”

CIMMYT scientists demonstrate the competitive results of maize trial plantings to seed companies and non-governmental organizations throughout the region, which then sell the seed to smallholders. One of the many benefits of the drought tolerant hybrid and open–pollinated varieties, which can be recycled over several seasons, is that they also reduce what farmers spend on fertilizer and other costly inputs.

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project started in the mid-1990s, led by Marianne Bänziger, now CIMMYT’s deputy director general.

Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, was on hand in Harare at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the organization, when some of the new varieties were launched.

“We can make a real dent in hunger with this maize, which offers a wholesome alternative to the old, scrawny commercial hybrid varieties,” Kropff said at 50th anniversary celebrations at CIMMYT headquarters near Mexico City. “Once farmers see the economic and nutritional benefits of CIMMYT drought-tolerant maize, they never look back.”

Maize makes up 30 to 50 percent of low-income household expenditures in eastern and southern Africa.

New generation of hunger fighters needed, says Julie Borlaug at CIMMYT 50th anniversary

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Julie Borlaug (R) stands with her mother, Jeannie Laube Borlaug, beside a statue of her grandfather Norman Borlaug at the Mexico headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in El Batan. CIMMYT/Marcelo Ortiz

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Encouraging youth willing to become “hunger fighters” to take up the challenges of farming despite erratic weather caused by climate change, drought, dwindling water supplies and nutrient-depleted soil, is key to future food security, said Julie Borlaug, associate director for external relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University.

These hunger fighters must embrace technological innovation, creativity, bold ideas  and collaborate across all disciplines, while also effectively engaging smallholder farmers and private and public sectors to come up with sustainable solutions, Borlaug said, adding that the average age of a farmer in the United States and Africa is well over 50 years.

Julie Borlaug, the granddaughter of 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, a former key wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) known internationally as the father of the Green Revolution, will address delegates at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference on September 27, 2016 with a speech titled, “CIMMYT’s future as a Borlaug legacy.”

After 50 years, CIMMYT remains relevant in the fight for food security and an important part of the Borlaug legacy, Borlaug said, adding that technological innovation is needed to address agriculture and the challenge of climate change.

“Since the seven years of his passing, I know my grandfather would be pleased by the leadership team and all at CIMMYT. As hunger fighters and the next generation, they have made CIMMYT their institution and continue to advocate strongly for improvement in science and technology to feed the world,” she said.

Her grandfather, who started work on wheat improvement in the mid-1940s in Mexico, where CIMMYT is headquartered near Mexico City, led efforts to develop semi-dwarf wheat varieties in the mid-20th century that helped save more than 1 billion lives in Pakistan, India and other areas of the developing world. In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Norman Borlaug paid tribute to the “army of hunger fighters” with whom he had worked.

Borlaug shared some views on CIMMYT and the future of agriculture in the following interview.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces into the future?

In my opinion, the entire agricultural community should focus on addressing three major challenges: the first is climate change and erratic weather patterns. Droughts and a decline of limited natural resources such as water and soil are of major consequence to agricultural productivity. The second major challenge is the societal resistance to new technologies and innovation. And the third major challenge we are facing is how to engage the next generation to work in the agricultural sector.

To address the first challenge, we must have biotechnology and technological innovation across the board to address issues that will stem from climate change. The utilization of drought, heat and saline tolerant crops, informatics, and other innovations will be a necessity. Technology will be part of the integrated solution that creates better farming systems, more nutritious foods and addresses all the issues that come with climate change and sustainability.

It is important to understand the societal resistance to new technologies and innovation. I understand their skepticisms and confusion. It is important to note that when speaking to these critics, we keep in mind the campaigns that have been mounted against our industry and have spread fear and inaccurate information that the public has accepted as fact. In my opinion, the agricultural industry has to improve in explaining to the public why modern agriculture is so important to our future and why the opposition to it cannot be permitted to deprive millions of people of its promise.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT: What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT is both personally and professionally significant to me. Personally, I have grown up knowing how deeply invested, protective and grateful my grandfather was to the role CIMMYT played in his career, the Green Revolution and as a leader in international maize and wheat research. CIMMYT was not just a place in which my grandfather was employed but part of his family. All who met, worked with my grandfather or had the opportunity to have an early morning CIMMYT breakfast with him, remember the deep interest he had in their careers and research as well as his often too candid assessment of their current & future work. His passion for CIMMYT never faded and in the end of his life his return “home” to his Yaqui Valley wheat fields in Sonora, Mexico, gave him hope for the future of CIMMYT, the CGIAR system as a whole and international research and development in agriculture.

Professionally for me, CIMMYT has helped me learn more about my grandfather professionally but it has also broadened my depth and knowledge of maize and wheat research as well as the importance for the CG system. At the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M, we work in international agriculture development and have had the opportunity to partner with CIMMYT on many occasions. I promised my grandfather that I would help to bring all the Borlaug Legacy Institutions together to work collaboratively and not competitively as we once had. CIMMYT was the first Borlaug legacy institution to join us in working collectively towards my grandfather legacy to end hunger and poverty.

Celebrating 50 years of collaboration: CIMMYT in the Mexican senate

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eventosenadoMexico City, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In recognition of the contributions the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center has made to agriculture and food security in Mexico and the world, a symposium was held 13th September at the Mexican Senate. Organized by the senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, the symposium “50 years of CIMMYT in the Senate,” marked five decades of invaluable collaboration between the Center and the Mexican government.

CIMMYT was founded in Mexico in 1966 with the aim of improving food and nutritional security around the world. In the past 50 years, the agricultural research breakthroughs made by the Center and its scientists have produced nutritious and stress tolerant maize and wheat that has improved the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and consumers around the world. None of these achievements would have been possible without the support of the Mexican Government, beginning with former president Adolfo Lopez Mateos’ support of the fledgling Center upon its founding and extending into the present day with cutting edge projects working to bring novel solutions to the challenges faced by Mexican agriculture.

“We are here today celebrating our 50th anniversary thanks to the leadership, vision and support of the Mexican people and their government that have allowed us to make this beautiful country our home,” said Martin Kropff, Director General of CIMMYT.

CIMMYT’s work has had incredible impact on the society and economies of Mexico and the world. “Around 50 percent of modern maize and wheat varieties planted around the world are descended from lines developed by CIMMYT,” Kropff announced. “Each year, these varieties generate between three and four billion dollars in profits for the farmers that grow them around the world.”

Kropff also recognized the important role that the Mexican government and other CIMMYT partners and allies, especially Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP), have played in this success. Fernando Flores Lui, Director General of INIFAP, referred to CIMMYT as a “pillar in the development of improved maize and wheat for the world,” and that their collaboration with the Center constitutes a “new model of collaboration based on equity and mutual support.”

simposio-senado-1In his welcome address to the symposium, Senator Manuel Cota Jiménez, president of the Mexican senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, recognized the longstanding collaboration between CIMMYT and the Mexican government. “CIMMYT 50 marks a year for celebration, but also a year of challenges. CIMMYT has long worked to overcome the greatest challenges of agriculture in Mexico, it is our duty to continue working to ensure that our laws and public policies are in line with our goals for Mexican farmers and agriculture,” he said. “The countryside cannot remain isolated from science.”

One of the most fruitful examples of the success of this collaboration and partnership between CIMMYT and the Mexican government is the Sustainable Modernization of the Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project. A joint initiative of CIMMYT and Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), MasAgro has developed 11 improved wheat varieties and over 40 improved maize varieties for the benefit of Mexican farmers.

In his keynote address, Bram Govaerts, director of MasAgro and CIMMYT’s regional representative in Latin America, presented on the project’s achievements over the past six years. A study from the University of Chapingo has shown that technicians who participate in the MasAgro project are nine times more efficient in their technical support to farmers than technicians who do not participate in the project. For the same amount of money invested, technicians using the MasAgro model reach nine times more farmers.

Govaerts also emphasized the importance of focusing on and supporting farmers in all components of agriculture to achieve the best results. “Planting improved seeds without agronomy is like trying to drive a racecar down a dirt road,” he said.

simposio-senado-2This support of the Mexican government will be equally crucial in the next 50 years if CIMMYT is to continue in its mission of improving food security and farmer livelihoods across the world. The relationship of collaboration and partnership between CIMMYT and the Mexican senate was strengthened and renewed through the open dialogue of the symposium, paving the way to implement the solutions necessary to ensure that improved maize and wheat varieties will be available not only to improve the lives and livelihoods of Mexican farmers, but to protect smallholder farmers and food security around the world.

“We still have so much left to accomplish, and that is why it is so important that we can count on the support of the legislators present today to maintain the budget for agricultural research and development,” Kropff said in his keynote address. “That is the objective of this symposium—to find solutions to the problems we face today and overcome them to achieve a food secure future for the Mexican people.”

The symposium was followed by a round table on maize and wheat improvement, agronomy and extension services held at the historic Casona de Xicoténcatl, the former headquarters of the Mexican senate. Over 30 researchers from CIMMYT and INIFAP participated in the event, as well as various representatives from different sectors of maize and wheat value chains in Mexico.

CIMMYT was honored by the attendance of Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize laureate and keynote speaker at the symposium, and other distinguished guests including members of the Mexican senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, senators María Hilaria Domínguez Arvizu, Silvia Garza Galván, Salvador López Brito and Adolfo Romero Lainas, as well as Patricia Ornelas Ruiz, director of the agrifood and fisheries information service (SIAP). The rectors of several Mexican agricultural universities also participated in the symposium, including Jesús Moncada de la Fuente of the Colegio de Posgraduados, Sergio Barrales Domínguez of the University of Chapingo and Jesús Valenzuela García of the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro. Representatives of various farmer groups and Mexican seed companies were also in attendance.

CIMMYT museum highlights cultural aspects of maize and wheat

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TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new museum in Mexico provides historical background and context for scientific research into maize and wheat, emphasizing agricultural achievements in the developing world.

The inaugural exhibition at the museum opened on Wednesday to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“The interactive displays in this vibrant and informative space underscore the significance of 50 years of maize and wheat research conducted throughout the world,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general. “We now have a space at CIMMYT that allows visitors to dig into the history, present and future of the center in an innovative way.”

CIMMYT has helped reduce the proportion of hungry people from about half the global population in the 1960s to below 20 percent today. Yearly economic benefits from its research and training activities, conducted on a budget of $180 million, are conservatively estimated at $4 billion.

The 200-square-meter (2,150-square-foot) museum is based at CIMMYT’s El Batan headquarters, promoting the work of CIMMYT’s scientific research and focusing on achievements and on the ground impacts in the world and raising awareness of future challenges. It features information and displays about staff achievements, including those of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug. Scientists working at CIMMYT have been honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, three World Food Prizes and many other significant awards.

The museum represents a bridge between two of CIMMYT’s director generals, with former Director General Thomas Lumpkin spearheading the initiative and Kropff carrying out and completing this vision during the ceremony today.

Visitors to the museum can explore the cultural and historical significance of maize and wheat.

“The museum engages visitors in the cultural aspects of research that can amplify understanding of its socio-cultural impact and generate dialogue,” said Richard Fulss, head of CIMMYT’s knowledge management unit in charge of the museum. “It expresses CIMMYT’s scientific developments in new ways, illustrating it in various themes and topics showcasing its global scope and impacts.”

Interactive illustrations of maize and wheat portray origins, historical influence on emerging nations and how the crops are consumed in different parts of the world.

Of key importance to the museum will be how staple maize and wheat crops have evolved over time, including the role of tools and technology, work in the research labs and the diversity of seeds kept by CIMMYT.

A Chat With: DuPont Pioneer president points to technology to boost yields

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New innovations will improve farming productivity said DuPont Pioneer President Schickler. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
New innovations will improve farming productivity said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Data and predictive analytics can help seeds reach their full yield by providing farmers with information and management advice, said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler.

Although seed varieties possess greater genetic potential than ever before, farmers are failing to achieve maximum yield because they lack the knowledge to farm certain varieties of maize and wheat in certain locations, said Schickler who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) next week.

To help farmers bridge this gap, Schickler said DuPont Pioneer has abandoned learning best practices from field trials and now uses data modelling. Simulating combinations of seeds and  unique farming practices enables smoother delivery of better information and management advice, he said.

Targeted genome editing using engineered nucleases innovations, such as Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) technology, are also driving DuPont Pioneer’s seed development to improve the productivity of climate- and disease-resistant crops, said Schickler.

He will deliver a talk during a session titled, “The critical role of innovation in agriculture” on Sept. 28 at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference which will be held from Sept. 27 to 29, 2016 in Mexico City.

He shared some views on agricultural innovation in the following interview.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT?

There’s no denying it – we have all benefitted from CIMMYT’s scientific research and heart for innovation. Since its beginnings, CIMMYT has played a revolutionary role in global agriculture — fostering maize and wheat productivity while improving rural livelihoods and boosting farmer productivity. And, they have excelled at bringing a collaborative focus to agriculture.

As I reflect on the past 50 years of CIMMYT, I also think of one of the world’s great humanitarians and innovators – former Global Wheat Program director and Nobel laureate Noman Borlaug. Through science, he has been credited with saving 1 billion people from starvation.

At DuPont Pioneer, we have a strong appreciation for the contributions of Borlaug and CIMMYT. We have collaborated throughout its 50-year history and we look forward to 50 more.

Q: How does your area of specialization address challenges facing agriculture?

At DuPont Pioneer, we develop and supply advanced plant genetics and services to farmers to increase agricultural production and feed a growing world population. We collaborate with farmers and organizations, including CIMMYT, in more than 90 countries to apply the best of global science to develop uniquely local solutions. One thing has become abundantly clear – we can only help farmers be successful when we recognize their right to choose the best seeds, agronomic practices and tools for their operations. The “right” practices for farmers differ by geography, environment, market situation and more.

As president of DuPont Pioneer, I am immersed in issues pertaining to farmer and agricultural productivity, food and nutrition security, scientific research, product innovation and sustainability. Together with organizations like CIMMYT, we are making advancements in these areas while promoting community development and national security. Efforts to increase global food security may also support a decrease in civil unrest.

Q: What innovation do you see improving agriculture?

Innovation will continue to be critical on a global scale as we consider increasing yields and food production under the constraints of limited arable land, shrinking natural resources, and a growing population. To make sure enough healthy food is available, farmers need seeds that can thrive and are safe for people and the environment.

Every year, seed companies develop products with greater and greater genetic potential. But most customers fail to achieve the maximum yield potential of the seeds they plant. We need to help farmers bridge the gap between a product’s potential yield and its “real-world,” harvestable yield.

CIMMYT celebrates 50 in eastern and central Africa

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cakeNAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) held its eastern and central Africa 50th anniversary celebrations on 9 – 10 September, 2016.

The event was hosted by CIMMYT’s regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together over 150 stakeholders, partners, dignitaries, donors and staff to take stock of achievements made in the region and lessons learned through five decades of partnership, with a focus on the future of maize and wheat research in the region.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff led the event and encouraged staff to share CIMMYT’s impact in eastern and central Africa and strategic vision the organization has adopted for the future. Guests also had an opportunity to view CIMMYT and partner activities in the three major research sites in Kenya and give feedback on CIMMYT’s work.

Seed companies, national agricultural research organizations and long-serving CIMMYT staff were presented awards recognizing the long and fruitful collaboration between them and CIMMYT.  A tree was planted in honor of the late Wilfred Mwangi, who was CIMMYT’s Regional Liaison Officer in Africa.

Check out the full photo story of CIMMYT’s eastern and central Africa celebrations here.

New Publications: Will we be able to do enough to mitigate agriculture’s impact on global warming?

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Farmer Krishna Chandra Yadav laser levels land for rice planting in Sirkohiya, Bardiya. Laser leveling is one of many climate-friendly tools that conserves water and helps farmers plant their crops more precisely and efficiently. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT
Farmer Krishna Chandra Yadav laser levels land for rice planting in Sirkohiya, Bardiya. Laser leveling is one of many climate-friendly tools that conserves water and helps farmers plant their crops more precisely and efficiently. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In 2015, more than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

However, little technical information about how much mitigation is needed, versus how much we are capable of, is available.

A recent study which CIMMYT scientists and others participated in identifies this gap, stating that plausible agricultural development pathways that mitigate climate change only deliver 21-40% of what we need to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C, an amount that is already predicted to cause large food security and other risks.

The authors of the study conclude saying that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices if we are to limit our warming below 2°C.  In addition, they call for more comprehensive targets for the 2 °C limit to be developed including soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options.

They also say that excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors, or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.

Read the study “Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2°C target.” here and check out CIMMYT’s other new publications below:

  1. Effects of tillage and mulch on the growth, yield and irrigation waterproductivity of a dry seeded rice-wheat cropping system innorth-west IndiaNaveen. 2016.  Naveen-Gupta; Sudhir-Yadav; Humphreys, E.; Kukal, S.S.; Balwinder-Singh; Eberbach, P.L. Field Crops Research 196 : 219-236.
  2. Evaluation of the effects of mulch on optimum sowing date andirrigation management of zero till wheat in central Punjab, India using APSIM. 2016. Balwinder-Singh; Humphreys, E.; Gaydon, D.S.; Eberbach, P.L. Field Crops Research 197 : 83-96. Griffiths, S.; Bangyou Zheng; Chapman, S.; Reynolds, M.P.  Crop Science 56 : 1-11
  3. High-temperature adult-plant resistance to stripe rust in facultative winter wheat.2016. Akin, B.; Xian Ming Chen; Morgunov, A.; Nusret Zencirci; Anmin WanD; Meinan Wang. Crop and Pasture Science. Online First.
  4. Identification of Earliness Per Se Flowering Time Locus in Spring Wheat through a Genome-Wide Association Study. 2016. Sukumaran, S.; Lopes, M.S.; Dreisigacker, S.; Dixon, L.E.; Meluleki Zikhali.
  5. Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target. 2016. Wollenberg, E.; Richards, M.; Smith, P.; Havlík, P.; Obersteiner, M.; Tubiello, F.N.; Herold, M.; Gerber, P.; Carter, S.; Reisinger, A.; Vuuren, D.P. van; Dickie, A.; Neufeldt, H.; Sander, B.O.; Wassmann, R.; Sommer, R.; Amonette, J. E.; Falcucci, A.; Herrero, M.; Opio, C.; Roman-Cuesta, R.M.; Stehfest, E.; Westhoek, H.; Ortiz-Monasterio, I.; Sapkota, T.B.; Rufino, M.C.; Thornton, P.; Verchot, L.; West, P.C.; Soussana, J.F.; Baedeker, T.; Sadler, M.; Vermeulen, S.; Campbell, B.M. Global Change Biology. Online First.

Heat-tolerant maize offers new opportunities to rice farmers in South India

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The gathering of farmers in the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur
The gathering of farmers in the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur

KARNATAKA, India (CIMMYT) — Maize has emerged as a preferred choice for farmers in Karnataka, India, as it can be grown with less than a third amount of water needed for traditionally planted rice and has the potential to maintain farm profitability at par or better.

However, maize is prone to heat stress during its reproductive phase in spring, as temperatures peak in March and April. Because of this and the fact maize is a fully-irrigated crop, water availability is a challenge during this dry period.

Water-efficient and heat-tolerant maize hybrids are a great way for farmers in Karnataka to farm sustainably and maintain their livelihoods during this season. To put these varieties in the hands of farmers, the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Raichur, India joined the collaborative research project Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA).

After three years, the first generation of heat-tolerant hybrids were developed, and suitable hybrids for Karnataka farmers were identified by UAS, Raichur. CIMMYT licenced the selected hybrids to the university for deployment and scale-out in 2015.

Inauguration of the Field day by B.V. Patil, Director of Education at UAS, Raichur. Photo: UAS, Raichur
Inauguration of the Field day by B.V. Patil, Director of Education at UAS, Raichur. Photo: UAS, Raichur

In order to get farmer input and feedback on these heat-tolerant hybrids, a field day was organized in Karnataka in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka’s Department of Agriculture.

The field day was attended by over 100 farmers, including both women and men, as well as participants from local seed companies, state agriculture department officials and officials from UAS, Raichur.

Director of Education and Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur B.V. Patil inaugurated the event urging farmers to diversify rice-rice systems into more sustainable and profitable rice-maize systems, which is possible with the availability of heat-resilient maize hybrids. He elaborated that UAS, Raichur in collaboration with CIMMYT-Asia, Hyderabad have developed new heat-resilient maize hybrids with wide adaptability and are suitable for cultivation in this region.

Joint Director of Agriculture, Chetana Patil talks to farmers during the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur
Joint Director of Agriculture, Chetana Patil talks to farmers during the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur

Joint Director of Agriculture Chetana Patil also advised the farmers about other benefits of adopting rice-maize systems, such as- improved soil health, reducing weed seed back etc. apart from water saving and improved farm economy. V.N. Kulkarni, Vice President of research and development at   J.K. Agri-Genteics Ltd., Hyderabad  participated in the field day along with his maize research team and selected promising hybrids for deployment. S.N. Vasudevan, Head of the Agri-business incubation centre also visited the demonstration site along with his staff to assess the potential of the heat stress resilient maize hybrids under heat stress conditions. Other two seed companies, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd, Hyderabad and Mahyco Seeds Ltd, Jalna, Maharastra have expressed their interest in new heat stress resilient hybrids and wanted to take-up these hybrids for large scale testing followed by marketing in stress-prone ecologies.

Also attending the field day were Principal Investigator of HTMA Prakash Kuchanur;  S.N. Vasudevan, Head of the Agri-business incubation center at UAS, Raichur; and Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd., Hyderabad and Mahyco Seeds Ltd., two seed companies who showed interest in purchasing the hybrids for large-scale testing and marketing in stress-prone ecologies.

Lead by CIMMYT and supported by USAID, the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia project (HTMA) aims at improving income and food security of smallholder maize farmers living in climate-vulnerable regions through accelerated development and deployment of heat-resilient maize hybrids.

European Space Agency selects CIMMYT to pilot new remote sensing project

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Signing ceremony (L-R) with Pierre Defourny, Urs Schulthess, Kai Sonder, Bruno Gérard and Francelino Rodrigues giving CIMMYT access to the pilot version of the Sen2-Agri processing system and receive training on its use. Photo: Liliana Díaz Ramírez

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to have access to the pilot version of the Sen2-Agri processing system and receive training on its use.

As an ESA “champion user,” CIMMYT will test the ESA prototype system in Bangladesh and Mexico. These two sites cover a wide range of farming systems, from the large wheat fields of the Yaqui Valley to a more diverse system in Bangladesh, where parcel sizes can be as small as 0.05 hectares and farmers grow two to three crops per year on a single field.

“The great unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expertise acquired by CIMMYT is very complementary to the full exploitation of the new satellite generation capabilities,” says Pierre Defourny, professor at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium who is leading the Sen2-Agri project. “CIMMYT’s two cases will generate products that will support our joint efforts for wheat blast monitoring in Bangladesh and improve data availability for GreenSat in Mexico.”

In the early days of remote sensing, limited availability of data was a major constraint for putting the data to good use. Basic processing of the coarse data was also time consuming and tedious.

Fortunately, this has greatly changed in recent years. Open and free satellite data, such as Landsat 8 and Sentinel 1 & 2, allow for almost weekly coverages at resolutions as fine as 10 meters. Thanks to this new speed and precision, users can now focus on applying the data, deriving information products even for small holder farmers in remote areas.

The Sentinel 2 satellites have a swath width of 290 km. Sentinel-2A is already operational, while Sentinel-2B will be launched in the spring of 2018. Together, they will be able to cover the Earth every 5 days.
The Sentinel 2 satellites have a swath width of 290 km. Sentinel-2A is already operational, while Sentinel-2B will be launched in the spring of 2018. Together, they will be able to cover the Earth every 5 days.

For example, the CIMMYT-led STARS project in Bangladesh developed an irrigation scheduling app called PANI, which uses remotely sensed data to estimate crop water use. From this data the farmer receives a simple text message on their cell phone that gives recommendations as to whether a particular field needs to be irrigated or not.

Sen2-Agri is unique compared to other systems in that it simplifies and automates satellite data processing. The system allows for semi-automated generation of products, such as cropland detection, crop classification, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and leaf area index (LAI) based on images taken periodically by satellites Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8.

A signing ceremony was held on 15 August, 2016 to seal the cooperation between ESA and CIMMYT. Bruno Gérard, Director of CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Program, sees this agreement as a fundamental game changer for CIMMYT’s geo-spatial work.

“Sen2-Agri will give CIMMYT access to high spatial and temporal resolution quality imagery and related ‘know-how,’ which in turn will enable us to further develop partnership with top-notch institutions in the earth observation field,” says Gérard.

Interface of the Sen2-Agri system, which allows for a semi-automated generation of cropland, crop type, LAI and NDVI maps.
Interface of the Sen2-Agri system, which allows for a semi-automated generation of cropland, crop type, LAI and NDVI maps.

The benefits of the Sen2-Agri are likely to far extend beyond the Yaqui Valley and Bangladesh. After the pilot phase of this project, the high-resolution imagery gathered could be applied to other areas CIMMYT projects are implemented.

In combination with bio-physical and socio-economic data, this will allow CIMMYT and other organizations to improve monitoring and evaluation, better assess and understand changes and shocks in crop-based farming systems and improve technology targeting across farmer communities.

The Sen2-Agri test program is being coordinated by Urs Schulthess. Please feel free to contact him at u.schulthess@cgiar.org if you have questions about or suggestions for future applications of the system.

Young African scientists gain inspiration from experienced maize researchers

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CIMMYT team and scientists from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy. Credit: CIMMYT
CIMMYT team and scientists from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy. Credit: CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – “The focus of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program includes elements that are key to many breeding programs in Africa. It has made important strides in sub-Saharan Africa.”

These words were delivered by Rita Mumm, a member of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) board of trustees and the coordinator of the Africa Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA), which recently benefited from a wealth of knowledge shared by the CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) team in Africa at the AfPBA training program held in June 2016 at the World Agroforestry Center.

The AfPBA is an initiative of the African Orphan Crop Consortium, a partnership of public and private organizations working together to sequence 101 crops of economic and nutritional importance to Africa. Students at AfPBA undergo a 13-month continuing education program delivered in three two-week sessions to learn about principles of plant breeding to enable use of advanced tools and technologies in breeding of crops relevant for Africa.

The CIMMYT team led by B.M Prasanna, director of CGIAR Research Program MAIZE and CIMMYT-GMP interacted with the trainees of the most recent session of the academy. The session was attended by 29 Ph.D. and master’s level scientists – including seven women – from 17 countries across Africa. The focus of the interactive session was to share knowledge on maize breeding work in sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the progress made in addressing various biotic and abiotic stresses affecting smallholders’ maize productivity in Africa.

The scientists learned about maize breeding work to develop improved maize varieties with farmer-preferred traits.  In particular, drought tolerance, nitrogen-use efficiency, nutritional enhancement, and disease resistance. In addition, presentation focused on the use of such modern technologies to increase efficiency and enhance genetic gains in tropical maize as molecular marker-assisted breeding and doubled haploid technology for maize improvement.

Students from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy during a visit at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. Credit: CIMMYT
Students from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy during a visit at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. Credit: CIMMYT

Collaborative efforts to strengthen the maize seed system for African farmers to access the improved new varieties was explained, as was the progress made with partners to increase farmer adoption as well as to replace the old varieties with the new climate resilient maize varieties.

“This is just one example of CIMMYT’s capacity development efforts that gives tremendous satisfaction. These breeding stories and highlights from Africa could have potential positive impact on the young scientists, as they are the key to further developing and deploying products that can make a difference in the livelihoods of the resource-poor smallholders in Africa,” said Prasanna.

The highlight of the training for many of the participants was the  tour to the Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) Screening Facility at Naivasha established jointly by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to screen germplasm against MLN (under artificial inoculation), including germplasm from several private and public institutions. The participants received hands-on training to identify symptoms of MLN-causing viruses and how to score MLN disease severity by screening germplasm at the site. In addition, a demonstration was conducted on screening for MLN through artificial inoculation.

“Our global and regional mandate gives us the opportunity to support scientists across Africa to build their capacity in plant breeding work as well as in socioeconomics and sustainable intensification practices. Scienstists get the opportunity to learn, share their experiences and grow further. Through such  trainings, we  see improvements in  technology uptake and use in various countries and regions across Africa,” said Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT regional representative for Africa.

In addition to the CIMMYT team, instructors included Lago Hale from the University of New Hampshire, Bruce Walsh from the University of Arizona, Allen Van Deynze from the University of California–Davis, and Rita Mumm from the University of Illinois.