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Global partnership propels wheat productivity in China

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

Benefits of three decades of international collaboration in wheat research have added as much as 10.7 million tons of grain – worth US $3.4 billion – to China’s national wheat output, according to a study by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science.

Described in a report published on 30 March by the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, the research examined China’s partnership with CIMMYT and the free use of CIMMYT improved wheat lines and other genetic resources during 1982-2011. The conclusions are based on a comprehensive dataset that included planted area, pedigree, and agronomic traits by variety for 17 major wheat-growing provinces in China.

“Chinese wheat breeders acquired disease resistant, semi-dwarf wheat varieties from CIMMYT in the late 1960s and incorporated desirable traits from that germplasm into their own varieties,” said Dr. Jikun Huang, Director of CCAP and first author of the new study. “As of the 1990s, it would be difficult to find anything other than improved semi-dwarf varieties in China. Due to this and to investments in irrigation, agricultural research and extension, farmers’ wheat yields nearly doubled during 1980-95, rising from an average 1.9 to 3.5 tons per hectare.”

The new study also documents increasing use of CIMMYT germplasm by wheat breeders in China. “CIMMYT contributions are present in more than 26 percent of all major wheat varieties in China after 2000,” said Huang. “But our research clearly shows that, far from representing a bottleneck in diversity, genetic resources from CIMMYT’s global wheat program have significantly enhanced China varieties’ performance for critical traits like yield potential, grain processing quality, disease resistance and early maturity.”

WILL CHINA WHEAT FARMING RISE TO RESOURCE AND CLIMATE CHALLENGES?

Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT
Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT

The world’s number-one wheat producer, China harvests more than 120 million tons of wheat grain yearly, mainly for use in products like noodles and steamed bread. China is more or less self-sufficient in wheat production, but wheat farmers face serious challenges. For example, wheat area has decreased by more than one-fifth in the past three decades, due to competing land use.

“This trend is expected to continue,” said Huang, “and climate change and the increasing scarcity of water will further challenge wheat production. Farmers urgently need varieties and cropping systems that offer resilience under drought, more effective use of water and fertilizer, and resistance to evolving crop diseases. Global research partnerships like that with CIMMYT will be vital to achieve this.”

Dr. Qiaosheng Zhuang, Research Professor of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) and a Fellow of Chinese Academy of Science, called the new report “…an excellent, detailed analysis and very useful for scientists and policy makers. CIMMYT germplasm and training have made a momentous contribution to Chinese wheat.”

Tribute to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug on his 101st birth anniversary

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BISA director general garlanding
Dr. Borlaug’s statue. Photo: Meenakshi Chandiramani

Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and CIMMYT India staff members gathered together at NASC Complex, New Delhi to pay tribute to the late Dr. Norman E. Borlaug on what would have been his 101st Birth Anniversary on 25 March. HS Gupta, director general, BISA, garlanded Borlaug’s statue, in front of the office block at NASC Complex. Staff members offered flowers in respect to the Nobel Laureate. Gupta apprised the staff members about Borlaug’s great contributions, including high-yielding wheat varieties which helped solve hunger around the world and particularly in South Asia. BISA and CIMMYT staff members resolved to work hard and follow Borlaug’s footsteps.

BISA and CIMMYT staff pay tribute to Norman Borlaug, in the shadow of his statue and accomplishments. Photo: Meenakshi Chandiramani
BISA and CIMMYT staff pay tribute to Norman Borlaug, in the shadow of his statue and accomplishments. Photo: Meenakshi Chandiramani

Mobile app will power GreenSeeker use in South Asia

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On-field App launch. Photo: CIMMYT-BISA
On-field App launch. Photo: CIMMYT-BISA

CIMMYT and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) have jointly developed and launched an application for Android called “N Calculator,” to support smallholder farmers using the GreenSeeker, a compact sensor to quickly assess crop vigour and calculate optimal fertilizer dosages. Held in the CIMMYT-CCAFS climate-smart village (CSV) Noorpur Bet of Ludhiana, Punjab, India, the launch was led by John Snape, CIMMYT Board Chair.

The Greenseeker ensures accurate and balanced nitrogen fertilizer applications, cutting farmers’ costs, reducing nitrification and nitrogen runoff into groundwater and water systems, and raising crop yields. But smallholder farmers often lack the training to interpret the raw data from the GreenSeeker. N Calculator automatically calculates the best nitrogen and urea rate using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values from GreenSeeker, and right on a mobile handset.

“The application will help scale out GreenSeeker technology and precision nitrogen management in wheat-based systems in South Asia, among other things reducing emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas,” said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist. “It will also be critical for extension agents to scale out climate-smart agriculture practices across the region.”

Delegates including the BISA Executive Committee and national scientists interacted with farmers and members of farmer cooperatives who are actively disseminating climate-smart agriculture practices.

Participants included S. Ayyapan, DG (ICAR); Thomas A Lumpkin, director general, CIMMYT; Marianne Bänziger, deputy director general for research and partnerships, CIMMYT; Nicole Birrel, CIMMYT board member; Anthony De Sa IAS, Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh; B.S. Dhillon, Vice Chair of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU); Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary of Punjab; B.S. Sidhu, Agriculture Commissioner of Punjab; and H.S. Gupta, Director General, BISA.

KALRO and CIMMYT: a longstanding mutually beneficial partnership

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Eliud Kireger, KALRO Director General, attends the International Wheat Yield Potential Workshop in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. Photo: Alfredo Sáenz/CIMMYT
Eliud Kireger, KALRO Director General, attends the International Wheat Yield Potential Workshop in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. Photo: Alfredo Sáenz/CIMMYT

This week, CIMMYT had the honor of hosting Dr. Eliud Kireger, the Acting Director General of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). His visit included travel to the experiment station at Ciudad Obregón for first-hand experience regarding CIMMYT wheat research, as KALRO is one of the few partners in Africa with whom we work on both maize and wheat.

According to Kireger, a burning issue in agriculture today in eastern and southern Africa is “low productivity per unit area. The increase we’ve seen in yields in different countries is largely due to expansion in land area.” He attributed this low productivity per unit area to lack of technologies or knowledge that can boost productivity. This dearth translates itself in many ways, such as low use of fertilizers, improved seed, or mechanization.

Taking a break to capture the moment on camera. Left to right: Bram Govaerts, Associate Director of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program and leader of MasAgro, Eliud Kireger, Stephen Mugo and Victor Kommerell, Program Manager-WHEAT. Photo: CIMMYT Files
Taking a break to capture the moment on camera. Left to right: Bram Govaerts, Associate Director of the Global Conservation Agriculture
Program and leader of MasAgro, Eliud Kireger, Stephen Mugo and Victor Kommerell, Program Manager-WHEAT. Photo: CIMMYT Files

Accompanying Kireger was Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT–Africa Regional Representative who also doubles as country representative for Kenya. Mugo lauded the benefits of the CIMMYT–KARLO synergy. “There is no single institution — working alone — that can be able to address all the challenges facing agriculture,” Mugo said. “From early on, CIMMYT decided that the only way was to team up with national institutions and work together, so that CIMMYT-developed germplasm and technologies reach intended beneficiaries countrywide for the benefit of maize and wheat farmers. CIMMYT and KALRO jointly design common projects on clear and specific areas to improve maize and wheat, then seek funding for these projects to address drought tolerance, crop pests and emerging diseases.”

One such emerging disease is maize lethal necrosis (MLN), which CIMMYT and KALRO are jointly tackling through ultra-modern shared facilities for MLN screening and for doubled haploid technology that both stand on KALRO land.

Read more on the CIMMYT–KALRO collaboration here.

SIMLESA’s seamlessly integrated solution for a perennial problem

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Southern Africa smallholder farmers can attain food security and more income through sustainable intensification of maize-based farming systems. This was revealed during recent field learning tours in Malawi and Mozambique last month. On show were farmer-tested improved maize–legume technologies being disseminated by CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project.

An on-farm maize-legume rotation exploratory trial in Tete Province, Mozambique. Photo by Isaiah Nyagumbo/CIMMY
An on-farm maize-legume rotation exploratory trial in Tete Province, Mozambique. Photo by Isaiah Nyagumbo/CIMMY

Smallholder farmers interacted with non-governmental organizations and private-sector partners who have shown a great interest in the SIMLESA outscaling approach using lead farmers and learning sites. Some of the sites promote smallholder agriculture development by linking farmers with buyers and agrodealers, and by providing access to credit and technical training.

Conservation agriculture (CA) exhibited mixed fortunes and presented more opportunities for learning and information sharing. Due to the excessive rains experienced in January, maize on the conventional ridge and furrow farming systems was generally greener and taller than on the CA plots, although the positive rotation effects in CA were clearly evident from the healthy maize crop following soybeans. Also, some maize varieties under CA were more susceptible to diseases such as leaf rust and suffered more from pests such as white grubs which attacked maize roots.

Transforming agriculture through technology: One of the farmers in Mitundu district, Malawi, Mrs Grace Chitanje, leads in demonstrating the use of Li seeder equipment. Photo by Jefias Mataruse/CIMMYT
Transforming agriculture through technology: One of the farmers in Mitundu district, Malawi, Mrs Grace Chitanje, leads in demonstrating the use of Li seeder equipment. Photo by Jefias Mataruse/CIMMYT

Main points from the learning tours included:

  • Linking the smallholder farmer to input and output markets is an integral part of SIMLESA Phase II’s smallholder commercialization thrust.
  • The participation of private-sector companies in SIMLESA demonstrations is a vital exit strategy to ensure sustainability and continued engagement with smallholders.
  • CA technologies performed rather poorly in periods of excessive rainfall, and particularly so for nitrogen-starved crops.
  • Using different maize varieties could help SIMLESA recommend the best CA-ready maize cultivars capable of tolerating diseases and pests in CA systems.

Read more on SIMLESA’s field tours here.

Malawi Principal Secretary praises CIMMYT contributions to climate change adaptation

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Malawi’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Erica Maganga, led a delegation of Government Principal Secretaries and seed company representatives to Mpilisi and Ulongue in Balaka District on 11 March to observe progress in conservation agriculture (CA) adoption, as part of the country’s Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Program (ASWAP).

A poster depicting DT maize varieties.
A poster depicting DT maize varieties.

“CIMMYT is on the forefront in promoting different options to farmers… previous challenges will now not be an issue here as farmers have been exposed to different solutions,” said Maganga, after seeing the benefits of a trial in Ulongue where maize is grown under CA using different types of residues. Over the last several years the country has actively pursued CA, implementing practices that include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues and rotating maize with leguminous crops.

Malawi is smaller than the state of Pennsylvania, yet supports 17.4 million people, half of whom live below the poverty line. Global climate change has disrupted the country’s traditional rain cycles, resulting in longer droughts or extreme floods. Maize is Malawi’s primary food crop, but unpredictable weather causes longer “hungry seasons” – the months until the next maize harvest, after the previous year’s grain has been eaten. With 85% of Malawian farmers depending upon rain-fed agriculture, erratic weather jeopardizes food security and livelihoods.

In 2006, 5 farmers were practicing conservation agriculture in Balaka District, Southern Malawi. Today, there are over 2,200. Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT
In 2006, 5 farmers were practicing conservation agriculture in Balaka District, Southern Malawi. Today, there are over 2,200. Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT

The Malawian government and farmers are working vigorously to address climate variability and support projects in affected communities. One example is Tiyanjane Nutrition Group, a beneficiary of CIMMYT’s ReSEED Maize Project funded by USAID. The group is involved in small-scale farming, value addition and sale of baked goods. Farmers use the proceeds to help orphans and other people in need and to buy inputs for better farming.

“CIMMYT through ReSEED is demonstrating drought-tolerant maize varieties to farmers,” Maganga said. “I want to urge seed companies to be proactive in providing these new maize varieties to farmers.”

The delegation also visited farmers who adopted CA practices such as intercropping pigeonpea with maize. Other demonstrations showcased crop diversification, promotion of indigenous crops, nutrient management, good agriculture practices and construction of infiltration pits and lowland tracts to manage water runoff and filter pollutants.

Mphatso Gama explaining how CA works with Principal Secretary ofAgriculture Erica Maganga looking on.
Mphatso Gama explaining how CA works with Principal Secretary of
Agriculture Erica Maganga looking on.

The high-level delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, the Principal Secretary for Trade and Industry, the Principal Secretary for Finance, the Principal Secretary for Transport and Public Works, the Principal Secretary for Local Government and Infrastructure Development, the Principal Secretary for Lands and Housing Development, the Principal Secretary for Nutrition, HIV & AIDS, the Principal Secretary for Youth, and the Principal Secretary for Economic Planning and Development. Seed companies including Monsanto, Pannar Seed, Chemicals and Marketing Company, Total LandCare Malawi and Self Help Africa also participated.

“First Lady of Wheat” in Mexico to celebrate her father, Norman Borlaug

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The late wheat breeder Norman Borlaug was so dedicated to his work that he was away from home 80 percent of the time, either travelling or in the field, recalls his daughter, Jeanie Borlaug Laube.

Photo: Alfredo Sáenz/CIMMYT

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.

Wheat breeders, scientists and members of the global food security community celebrated his birthday at a week-long meeting hosted by CIMMYT in the vast wheat fields of the Yaqui Valley near the town of Ciudad Obregón in Mexico’s northern state of Sonora.

Each year, CIMMYT Visitors’ Week serves as an opportunity to brainstorm, exchange ideas and celebrate Borlaug’s legacy on the anniversary of his birthday.

Borlaug, who would have been 101 this year, started work on wheat improvement in the mid-1940s near CIMMYT headquarters outside Mexico City.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 partly for his experimental work, much of which took place in the hot, dry conditions of Obregón, which resemble conditions in many developing countries where CIMMYT works.

This year, his daughter, who is co-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, a partnership to study and and control devastating stem, yellow and leaf wheat rust disease, spoke on women and agriculture at the event. She is also involved with the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Mentor Award, which honors mentors of both genders who aid women working in Triticum species and near relatives. Additionally, she sits on the board of directors of the Borlaug Training Foundation, established to provide agricultural education and guidance to scientists from developing nations.

She shared her views in the following interview.

Q: What is your current involvement in agriculture?

I’m not officially in agriculture – I’m a Spanish teacher. I taught for 40 years in high school until I retired three years ago. In the last 25 years of my career I had started a community service program at two different schools in Dallas and ran it. This involves 750 kids a year out doing community service. I still taught one Spanish class but my basic job was community service director. I haven’t been involved in agriculture directly. Indirectly, I have been because I was Norman Borlaug’s daughter so I’ve been around it, but I wasn’t raised on a farm, never lived on a farm, didn’t study agriculture or science in school.

What is your current involvement with wheat?

I’m co-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative – I go to the conferences once a year where all the wheat scientists of the world get together. I go to all the conferences and sit and listen and try to learn and follow what is going on with rust and the different problems they are having with wheat. I’m involved with the Women in Triticum Award. I visit and follow up with them and they are the ones who are out in the field learning how to become scientists and continue the profession. That’s how I’m involved in wheat.

Q: What are your views on women in agriculture?

I was in Pakistan last year and the U.S. Department of Agriculture set up a meeting with women who were all scientists working on their doctoral degrees – or already had a Ph.D. in agriculture. The discussions were very interesting as far as the difficulties that women find in this field and the pluses and minuses that are involved with that. It was interesting to hear different aspects of what they were feeling. The academic studies were not a difficult thing for them, but the reality of raising a family and keeping a profession going and taking care of a husband or children at the same time as being away from home presented problems.

No matter what profession women are in, challenges confront them because we have to multi-task. It doesn’t matter whether you are an accountant, a geneticist or a teacher – as a mother or trying to run a family and a profession, I think it’s challenging for a lot of women.

Q: What impresses you about women in agriculture?

I’m always amazed at the women scientists who are out there working at these wheat conferences and out in the in the field and taking care of their families from afar or even before they get married or have children, just the dedication they have to helping feed the world.

Q: What are your views on food security?

I don’t think the general population has any clue as to what goes on with agriculture. As my dad used to say, everybody just thinks the food comes from the grocery store and that’s where it is – it just pops in there. The average person doesn’t have a clue about that.

Q: What has changed since your father’s time?

I imagine he’d be facing the same challenges. I think it would be really interesting if he were still around because he’d be going crazy right now with all of this fighting about gluten-free and over genetically modified plants. He was so dedicated. His mission was to feed the world.

I think it is still the same mission. I think it is probably just a little harder because you have more public opinion and lack of info for what you need. He was changing genes and they are still doing that and they need to because they need to find plants that require less fertilizer and less water and provide more protein. What is amazing to me is to think about how they are working with computers now and he did all this in his head with notebooks.

He’d leave home at five in the morning and get home at eight at night. When he was in town he was gone about 80 percent of the time. When he first started this shuttle breeding program he’d come to Sonora. That was in the 40s – he had to go up through Arizona and back down at first because there were no roads. He’d be up here for three months, then he’d go back down, then he’d go to Toluca and South America, then he started going to India and Pakistan. In later years he was going Africa, so he was never home.

Q: Where did you grow up?

I was raised in Mexico City. My brother was born in Mexico and I came here when I was 14 months old. I lived here until I went to college. I did my schooling down here.

 

Q: Did your father try and encourage women in science and agriculture?

Yes he did. Back then there weren’t very many women in agriculture and scence. I think he’d be very pleased to see the turn with what’s happening with women in agriculture.

Q: What is it like celebrating your father?

It’s really neat. When my dad realized that he was going to die he asked me to bring ashes back to Mexico so I did. The last two years we came before he died, we came in a private jet because he couldn’t travel. It was so hard to get here. I remember I looked at his face as we were approaching Obregón. His face was just pure relief. He loved this place and he’d see the wheat fields and it was magical for him. Coming back is kind of bittersweet, realizing how much he loved the farmers too as they loved him.

Research highlights solutions for groundwater management in Bangladesh

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Groundwater-report

A recent research report ‘Groundwater Management in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Problems and Opportunities’, published by the USAID Feed the Future Funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, highlights that the policy focus in Bangladesh so far has been largely on ‘resource development’ and not sufficiently on ‘resource management.’ This has resulted in drawdown of aquifers in intensively irrigated areas and high expenditure on subsidies to support the energy costs of pumping water for dry season irrigation. Unless water use efficiency practices and policies are adapted and adopted, these challenges in groundwater irrigation can become a serious threat to sustain agricultural growth in Bangladesh.

“Dry season rice production using irrigation helped Bangladesh to increase its total rice production from 18 million tons in 1991 to 33.8 million tons in 2013. However, this dramatic increase in rice production comes with costs – namely the high energy requirements needed to extract groundwater by pumps, which is a concern giving mounting fuel and electricity prices in South Asia” said Timothy Krupnik, CIMMYT Agronomist and co-author in this study.

Diesel pumps consume about 4.6 billion litres of diesel every year to pump groundwater for dry season rice production, costing USD 4.0 billion. This cost is in addition to USD 1.4 billion of yearly energy subsidies supplied by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) to maintain groundwater irrigation. Such considerable investments add to the energy cost burden, and may not be financially sustainable in the long-term, the report says. This conclusion is underscored by the GoB’s interest to reduce energy subsidies and shift from ground to surface water irrigation, which is energy-wise less expensive.

The report highlights several supply- and demand-side solutions for sustainable groundwater management. Improving water use efficiencies through the adoption of resource conserving crop management practices such as direct-seeded rice and bed planting could help in reducing groundwater demand for agriculture. In surface water irrigated areas, use of more fuel efficient axial flow pumps that the CSISA-MI project is working with the private sector to scale out, is also crucial.

Water demand for irrigation can also be reduced by rationalizing cropping patterns – specifically by shifting from rice to more profitable crops like maize, and to other food security cereals like rice, in areas where groundwater is a concern. Involvement of water users, investments in improved water and agricultural technologies, and providing extra support for farmers making transition to less water demanding crops is needed.

Since the concept of ‘more water-more yield’ is still prevalent among farmers, the report also highlights the need for policy to focus more on awareness raising through educational programs aimed at wise water use and volumetric water pricing. In addition to technical solutions, strong linkages and improved communications between different organizations involved in the management of groundwater resources will also be required to shift to a more water productive, and less costly, agricultural production system in Bangladesh.

 

USAID Approves USD 17.8 Million Grant for a New Project to Support Seed Scaling in Eastern and Southern Africa

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CIMMYT has received a grant of USD 17.8 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a new project dubbed Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS). The three-year project officially started on 15 March 2015.

The project aims to produce and deploy affordable and improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for 1.8 million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Zambia by the end of the project. Similarly, DTMASS plans to produce approximately 7,900 metric tons of maize varieties with a strategic goal of improving food security and income for the farmers.

“This is a great achievement for the project team, which worked tirelessly to develop the project proposal that has just been approved for implementation”, remarked Tsedeke Abate, DTMASS project leader. He added that the project will go a long way in supporting farmers to increase their returns from maize farming, while at the same time giving them good-quality maize for consumption. “This is a good day for maize in Africa,” said Tsedeke.

DTMASS will be implemented in close collaboration with USAID’s Feed the Future program, building on experience, successes and lessons from the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa and other complementary CIMMYT maize projects in Africa like Improved Maize for African Soils and Water Efficient Maize for Africa, to strengthen production and delivery of maize seeds to farmers in the seven target countries.

CIMMYT will also work with the respective countries’ extension wings of the ministries of agriculture, public and private seed companies, national agricultural research organizations, community-based organizations and non-governmental organizations. More on DTMASS

Race for Food Security by 2050 Can be Won, Mexico Agriculture Secretary Says

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EL BATÁN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Mexico will need to more than double food production by 2050 to feed its growing population, the country’s agriculture secretary said on Thursday, citing statistics that project it will grow 22 percent to an estimated 150 million people.

Investing in research to improve small-farm technology and boost sustainable development in collaboration with such organizations as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which runs Mexico’s Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program, is key to increasing food supplies, said Enrique Martínez y Martínez, head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

“Those eating once a day will eat three times a day,” he said, adding that Mexico, with a current population of 122 million people, will produce 70 to 80 percent more food by 2050.”

In Mexico, 80 percent of farmers have less than 5 hectares (12 acres) of land and farm on hilly, difficult terrain, which means tractors and farm machinery are often too big and cumbersome to function properly, reducing the potential for profits and productivity, Martínez y Martínez said.

The country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has made research a priority and aims to increase national investment in research to 1 percent of GDP, Martínez y Martínez added. Mexico’s GDP was $1.26 trillion in 2013, according to the World Bank. By that measure, Mexico ranks as the world’s 15th biggest economy.

What we need to do is to make sure financial resources reach CIMMYT and INIFAP, Martínez y Martínez said, referring to Mexico’s research institute for agriculture, livestock and forests.

The agriculture secretary was at CIMMYT headquarters near Mexico City to celebrate the unveiling of a statue of scientist Norman Borlaug and to preside over the annual renewal of the MasAgro agreement. MasAgro helps farmers implement techniques favoring minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation to sustainably boost yields and increase profits.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Borlaug, who died in 2009 at age 95, led efforts that began in Mexico to develop high-yielding, disease-resistant, semi-dwarf wheat varieties in the mid-20th century that are estimated to have helped save more than 1 billion lives in Pakistan, India and other parts of the developing world.

CLEAR GOALS

Despite surpluses of maize in the states of Sinaloa and Guerrero, — the latter produced 2 million tons of white-grain maize, Mexico’s main food staple in 2014 — the country is importing between 7- to 10-million tons of yellow maize a year, Martínez y Martínez said.
“We need to be self-sufficient and I’m completely convinced that we can be, but we have to find the right mechanisms. We’re self-sufficient by far and have a surplus of white maize, but we’re at a deficit in yellow maize,” he said.

In Mexico, where maize originated, the white variety is important to the human diet, while the yellow variety is used primarily to feed livestock.

“Together with SAGARPA we’ve made a great impact, but we mustn’t forget that the job is not yet done,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT’s outgoing director general, noting that almost 23 percent of Mexicans, some 27.4 million people, still suffer from food shortages and insecurity.

“When you visit farmers in the state of Chiapas – farmers on the hillsides – there are no young people because they left when they grew up, they couldn’t make enough money,” he said. We’ve got to be able to improve incomes, to keep that work alive is the key.

“It’s clear that the agriculture secretary is committed to sustainable agriculture and agricultural research,” said Bram Govaerts, associate director of CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program who played a key role in the development of MasAgro.

“We need to continue innovative research, but it must be connected with farmer needs and integrated with the value chain,” said Govaerts, winner of the 2014 Borlaug Field Award from the World Food Prize Foundation, who spoke at the unveiling ceremony.

“We need to develop a platform that can generate public-private investment, where companies can reinvest in farmers and agricultural research once they reap the benefits. Smallholder farmers can provide big companies with grains produced under sustainable practices to meet their sustainability indicators.”

LIVING LEGACY

The World Food Prize was created by Borlaug to recognize people who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. Almost 30 years later in 2014, the prize was awarded to Sanjaya Rajaram, his former student, a wheat breeder for many years at CIMMYT, who released more than 480 varieties of bread wheat sown on more than 58 million hectares in 51 countries.

“It’s a feat unlikely to ever be surpassed by another wheat breeder,” said John Snape, chair of CIMMYT’s board of trustees.

Rajaram was honored with a miniature replica statue of the Borlaug life-size sculpture at the unveiling, which attracted government officials, diplomats and members of the international agricultural community.

The bronze sculpture, which depicts Borlaug taking field notes, is based on an emblematic photograph, said artist Katharine McDevitt, who teaches sculpture at the Chapingo Autonomous University of agriculture in the city of Texcoco near CIMMYT.

McDevitt began her artistic career in New Hampshire, but has lived in Mexico for almost 40 years.

“While I’ve done a lot of portrait sculpture, this is the most inspiring figure I’ve ever had the privilege of doing,” McDevitt said. “This project has been the greatest honor of my career.”

Borlaug’s daughter, Jeanie Borlaug Laube, unveiled the sculpture.

“My dad was competitive, determined and aware of the need for teamwork,” she said.

“He was a man with a message and he took it to the farmer like no other person in history, before or since. With your help he saved a billion lives, and now it falls on all of you to sustain that salvation.”

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Julie Mollins
Wheat Communications Officer
Global Wheat Program
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
j.mollins@cgiar.org

Ricardo Curiel
Gerente de Comunicación en México
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)
r.curiel@cgiar.org

ABOUT CIMMYT

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), headquartered in El Batán, Mexico, is the global leader in research for development in wheat and maize and wheat- and maize-based farming systems. CIMMYT works throughout the developing world with hundreds of partners to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to improve food security and livelihoods.

CIMMYT is a member of the 15-member CGIAR Consortium and leads the Consortium Research Programs on Wheat and Maize. CIMMYT receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.

CIMMYT wheat research: http://staging.cimmyt.org/en/what-we-do/wheat-research

CGIAR: http://www.cgiar.org

CIMMYT–SARO@30

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Targeting increasing farm-level food security and productivity to mitigate the effects of climate risk and change: Through the SIMLESA Project, smallholder farmers practice sustainable intensification principles, such as zero or minimum tillage, maize–legume intercropping, and maize–legume rotations. In the photo, Mr. Ringson Chitsiko (standing), Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, officially opens CIMMYT–SARO's 30th anniversary celebrations. On  the extreme left is the International Livestock Research Institute’s Representative for Southern Africa, Dr. Sikhalazo Dube. To the PS’s left is the Principal Director in the Department of Research and Specialist Services, Mrs. Denisile Hikwa. Dr. Olaf Erenstein (in striped shirt), Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program; and partly in the picture is Dr. Eric Craswell, SIMLESA Project Steering Committee Member.
Targeting increasing farm-level food security and productivity to mitigate the effects of climate risk and change: Through the SIMLESA Project, smallholder farmers practice sustainable intensification principles, such as zero or minimum tillage, maize–legume intercropping, and maize–legume rotations. In the photo, Mr. Ringson Chitsiko (standing), Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, officially opens CIMMYT–SARO’s 30th anniversary celebrations. On  the extreme left is the International Livestock Research Institute’s Representative for Southern Africa, Dr. Sikhalazo Dube. To the PS’s left is the Principal Director in the Department of Research and Specialist Services, Mrs. Denisile Hikwa. Dr. Olaf Erenstein (in striped shirt), Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program; and partly in the picture is Dr. Eric Craswell, SIMLESA Project Steering Committee Member.

On March 18, CIMMYT Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO) celebrated 30 years of agricultural research and development.

The colourful ceremony, held amid pomp and fanfare, was attended by more than 300 people representing donors, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, Zimbabwe government departments, seed companies and farmer associations. The celebration included an on-station tour, with CIMMYT–SARO showcasing its work.

CIMMYT–SARO has been operating in Zimbabwe since March 1985 with the support of the government of Zimbabwe, and other public and private-sector partners, including the University of Zimbabwe and the Department of Research and Specialist Services. In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT conducts experiments at its main station, as well as at Muzarabani and Chiredzi sub- stations. There are also on-farm trials across the country.

Officially commemorating CIMMYT–SARO’s 30-year anniversary (SARO@30), Zimbabwe’s Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr. Joseph Made, said, ‘’The regional office has been focusing on developing new maize varieties adapted to smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and the mid-altitude agroecologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, the office has expanded to include development of research technologies for conservation-agriculture systems, sustainable intensification of production of smallholder farms and postharvest research activities.”

Stay on course, but also look beyond yield
In a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Ringson Chitsiko, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Made applauded CIMMYT’s research work on developing a stock of maize since this was a major staple in the country, and beyond. Although CIMMYT and its partners had introduced various technologies for increasing yields, the Center had to develop more technologies to mitigate the effects of climate change and other challenges.

The minister advised: “CIMMYT needs to work harder and be alert, especially in the face of the ever-growing population, climate change and variability, and new threats through maize diseases and pests. I urge CIMMYT to continue pursuing its mandate for the benefit of the Southern African region.”

In support of this goal and in recognition of CIMMYT’s sustained presence and commitment to the SADC region and Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe government in 2012 renewed the Host Country Agreement, according CIMMYT–SARO diplomatic status. ‘’We are jointly working towards signing a new collaborative agreement to strengthen maize research to combat a new threat in the form of maize lethal necrosis [MLN] disease recently discovered in East Africa and which has a potential to wipe out an entire maize crop if it spreads to Southern Africa,’’ Made said.

MLN caused 100 percent crop loss for some Kenyan farmers between 2011 and 2012, and cases were also reported in Uganda and Tanzania.

Speaking at the same occasion, Dr. Olaf Erenstein, Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program who represented Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General, said CIMMYT, since its establishment in Mexico in 1966 currently has 13 representative offices around the world. Its mandate and mission is to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The regional office, he said, is serving its purpose in contributing to increasing food security.

Just one year shy: John Chifamba (foreground, in blue shirt, and cap, facing the camera), receives his long-service certificate. With 29 years of service under his belt, he’s been with CIMMYT–SARO for almost as long as it has existed.

‘Easy Friday’: Reflect, Celebrate, Play, Plan for The Future
As part of the continued celebrations, March 27 was ‘Easy Friday: CIMMYT–SARO hosted a luncheon and sports day for its staff. Thirteen long-serving employees who served for between 15 and 29 years were honored for their commitment. The employees were from administration, finance, Global Maize Program and Conservation Agriculture Program.

Sixty-two year-old Mr. John Chifamba, a recorder who has worked for CIMMYT for 29 years, said, “CIMMYT is my home. I have gained considerable on-the-job experience in maize research. “Any plans of leaving CIMMYT?” To this, Chifamba said an emphatic no. “Very soon, it will be retirement time and I will find a plot to utilize the good agricultural practices I have seen and learned at CIMMYT.“

Joining hands: From Zambia to Afghanistan
Mekuria continued: ‘’Our partnership approach will give us more capacity to meet with our constituents at the highest level, strengthening our relationships with governments as they formulate the most effective agricultural policies for the good of their people and natural resources.”

CIMMYT says ‘Thank You!’ CIMMYT–SARO staff who have served the Center for between 15 and 29 years each received a long-service certificate, which they display here.

CIMMYT–SARO is part of the world’s largest public drought and low nitrogen stress research network. Every year 500,000 envelopes of maize seeds are sent to over 70 institutions worldwide. The demand for CIMMYT–SARO maize germplasm extends from Zambia to Afghanistan.

During the past 10 years, sustainable intensification strategies based on the principles of conservation agriculture (CA) have been successfully promoted in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Making use of the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, CA increases yields when compared to conventional agricultural practices after two to five cropping seasons. Trials on farmers’ fields in Malawi, for example, increased yields by 20 to 60 percent. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields were increased by almost 60 percent using animal traction CA technologies.

Major highlights during the 30 years existence of CIMMYT in Zimbabwe include the development and release of more than 50 maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) adapted to drought-prone regions. These new varieties are expected to benefit almost 12 million people, helping to enhance food security, increase livelihoods and reduce poverty in Southern Africa.

CIMMYT’s seed system activities and support in training and technical assistance have led to the emergence of smaller domestic seed companies in the various Southern African countries. Farmers’ access to seed has improved. In addition, the Center has trained more than 200 technicians and graduate students through short- and long-term training in their various disciplines. Nearly 30 percent of these trainees are women. Trainees are drawn from southern Africa, the rest of Africa, and beyond.

Growing the gains and pruning the pains in producing Africa’s food

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Because GYGA is a crucial pointer to where the greatest gains in food production can be made, and the pains to sidestep, all in a bid to close the yawning gap on hunger by going beyond gigabytes of data to concrete actionAfrica’s food production is not limited by lack of potential. Rather, it’s a question of priorities and targeting

 

For this reason, let us turn to the Atlas of African agriculture research and development, which will be a crucial roadmap in navigating the Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) Project’s work in Africa over the past four years (May 2012 to March 2015). Published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Atlas of African agriculture research and development jumps straight to the point in the foreword: “Africa is a paradox. This vast continent is home to almost half of the world’s uncultivated land fit for growing food crops – an estimated 202 million hectares but much of it is off-limits to farmers because it is difficult to farm or is used for other purposes.”

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Life on the edge: farming fragile and frugal marginal lands along steep slopes in north Ethiopia. (Photo: K. Tesfaye, July 2015).

The heat is on, so are ways to beat the heat: Go, GYGA, Go!
“The pressure on land is enormous, resulting in agriculture creeping up steep hillsides where it does not belong, with the soil washing away,” observed Kenneth G. Cassman, GYGA Project Leader, from the University of Nebraska, USA. GYGA aims to provide information from farm level to the landscape, watershed, continent and the globe, to assure informed decisions on optimizing food production. GYGA operates on the principle that ensuring food security while protecting carbon-rich and biodiverse rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands depends on achieving the highest possible yields from existing farmland.

“Our aspiration is to have complete global coverage of all global farmland, “added Cassman. But GYGA’s quest is not just about gigabytes of data: “To feed billions in the future, we need to have not only the knowledge, but also the know-how.”

According to Samuel Adjei-Nsiah of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and GYGA country agronomist for Ghana, there are two options to increase food production: (1) expanding arable land; or, (2) closing the yield gap in existing farmland by expanding irrigation, intensifying cropping systems and adopting improved crop management technologies “But option one may result in significant losses of important ecosystem services such as biodiversity, while option two depends on the socioeconomic conditions of farmers, and local food preferences, cultural traditions, and markets.”

Focus on Africa
In Africa, GYGA has convened thrice before in Kenya, Benin and Ethiopia in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. This year, the meeting returned to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in what will be the close of the four-year project. “For this closing meeting, the goals are taking agronomic practices to scale, substantive collaborations in the face of climate change, and helping to prioritize research,” said Cassman.

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Visit to Ambo Research Center on 22nd September by participants of the 2015 GYGA meeting in Ethiopia, 22nd to 24th September 2015. (Photo provided by K. Tesfaye, CIMMYT)

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Water for Food Institute, GYGA covers 23 countries, of which 10 are in Africa – Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. All of GYGA’s rich information and data are fully in the public domain. “GYGA has built a great and informative website in a very short space of time. This is remarkable,” said Christian Witt, Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

What next? Sealing the gap by going from gigabytes of data to informed action
While information is very important, it is but a stepping stone in the quest to close the yawning gap on hunger .“If we stop at identifying gaps, this alone will not help us solve the problems,” observed Kindie Tesfaye, Crop and Geospatial Modeler at CIMMYT. “We need to act on this information where the opportunities for growth are. Therefore, the next step is mapping what is hampering production. For example, is it the price of seed, inputs, markets, or other factors?”

For this reason, the conclusion of GYGA’s work after four productive years also marks new beginnings for a continuation, albeit on a smaller scale in the foreseeable future. “Parts of the work will continue in Ethiopia and Ghana, focusing on maize,” said Martin Ittersum from Wageningen University and Research Centre. “This work will be funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, and begins in 2015.”

Why zero in on maize for this further work? Because in Ethiopia, GYGA cereal studies show that maize leads and teff trails in productivity (i.e., yield per unit area, see graph below), even if in area coverage and popularity it is the reverse, with teff as Ethiopia’s most popular cereal.

“In Ghana, rainfed maize has the highest yield potential at 9.5 tonnes per hectare, compared to 7.5 for sorghum, 6.6 for rice and 4.6 for sorghum,” said l Adjei-Nsiah. “With irrigation, maize still leads at 14.9 tonnes compared to rice at 8.3 tonnes.”

Elsewhere, it is a largely similar sweet story for maize. In Uganda, more than 90 percent of the maize is grown by smallholders, underscoring the significant socioeconomic impact of the benefits of research to improve maize productivity. Moving from east to west, in Mali, maize ranks fourth in productivity, after millet, sorghum and rice, in that order, while southwards in Zambia, more than 65 percent of the nation’s cropland is devoted to maize, making it the principal crop in a country where 85 percent of the population depend on agriculture. “On average, maize yields about 1.5 tonnes per hectare, compared to 0.55 for sorghum and 0.65 for millet,” said Regis Chikowo, GYGA’s country agronomist for Zambia, who however added that maize yields have been stagnant for the last two decades. Therefore, much remains to be done for this leading crop to realize its full potential in Ghana, and thereby seal the yield gap.

On-the-ground realities: global scope, but down-to-earth
GYGA is led by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (USA) and Wageningen University and Research Centre (The Netherlands), with collaborators from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, the Africa Rice Center, CIMMYT, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia), and agronomists in the GYGA Project countries. All these partners participated in the GYGA closing meeting.

Also present were the Africa Soil Information Service, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, Harvest Choice, IFPRI, the International Rice Research Institute, and the International Soil Reference Information Centre. A fitting representation of – and emphasis on – soil, given it is the root of life, and 2015 the International Year of Soils designated by the United Nations.

 

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Going further down the path to bolster Africa’s maize sector

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 The long-running Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project started in 2007 and ends this month. What next after this long-distance runner, and, more importantly, what will happen to DTMA products?

Enter DTMASS, which stands for Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling. It’s to be a seamless transition to the next stage on the research-to-development continuum, albeit with a switch in terms of who takes the lead and is firmly in the front seat, and who plays a facilitating role and now settles in the back seat.

DTMASS stands on the shoulders of DTMA ‒ and other projects ‒ the fundamental difference being that now seed companies will be the main drivers of the project. In essence, this is in fact the rationale for DTMASS. Also, to avoid duplication, the geographical areas DTMASS shall concentrate on are different from DTMA sites.

FIGURES: The DTMA scorecard in 2014

  • 13: the number of countries covered in Africa
  • 72: the percentage these 13 countries which jointly account for, as a proportion of all maize grown in sub-Saharan Africa
  • 205: the cumulative number of maize varieties released (mostly hybrids)
  • 184: the distinct varieties represented by the 205 varieties above

FACTS

  1. 49%: the additional yield from hybrids, on average, compared to open pollinated varieties
  2. Going up: popularity of hybrids in Africa

“We’ve noted the good products that come from DTMA, and we are keen to forge partnerships to take these products further down the research-to-development path and make a difference,” said Dr. John McMurdy, International Research Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is funding DTMASS.

DTMASS was launched at continental level late last year in November 2014 (see page 1 here), followed by focused country-level launches in each of the participating countries. Implementation began in March 2015.

Continuing conundrum on women and men: let’s talk business Studies show that gender gaps continue to persist, from seed access to seed production. Therefore, a gender-responsive approach is core to DTMASS’ work, recognizing that gender-responsiveness is not a single silver bullet. Rather, it is an accumulation of small efforts done at each of the five steps of seed access and production which will lead to gender-equitable outcomes. The facilitative five steps are (1) seed production (2) processing and branding (3) promotion, (4) distribution and network, and (5) monitoring and evaluation).

“These gender-equitable outcomes are not a work of charity,” stressed Vongai Kandiwa, CIMMYT’s Gender Specialist. “It makes business sense. Seed companies are losing business opportunities by failing to target a large sector of the market – women.”

And while men not only own most of the land but are also twice as likely to walk into an agrodealer shop (observation research in Eastern Kenya), anecdotal evidence as well as sample – but representative – research has shown that men generally consult their wives first before purchasing. Their wives will not help them make informed decisions if they themselves are not aware of the options available.

The curious puzzle of Kenya’s paradox, and some shocks for locals During the launch of DTMASS in Kenya on 2nd February 2015, it was revealed that maize productivity in Kenya has been on a debilitating downward spiral. Yet Kenya has bona fide and well-established seed companies with significant knowledge and experience. While productivity in the 1980s was well over two tonnes per hectare, it has since dipped to 1.6 tonnes, even as Kenya’s potential production stands at an impressive and life-changing 10 tonnes.

“Good partnerships would turn around that situation, and there’s every reason why Kenya should do better,” observed Dr. Tsedeke Abate, DTMASS Project Leader, who also leads DTMA.

The DTMASS goal for Kenya is 1,600 tonnes of certified seed by 2019. CIMMYT will work in partnership with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and local seed companies, whose representatives attended the meeting. Some of the seed-company representatives said they were shocked by Kenya’s dismal performance on production: they said they knew it was low, but had not known it was that low.

Dr. Joyce Malinga, Acting Director of KALRO’s Food Crops Research Institute, observed that seed has the greatest potential to increase on-farm production and enhance productivity. She said KALRO is keen on commercialization of released drought-tolerant varieties, as a means to ensure that these varieties reach farmers.

The Kenya launch in Nairobi was preceded by country launches in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. DTMASS encourages cross-country learning, and the experience from the Kenya launch would be taken to Uganda the following week, in the same manner Kenya had benefitted from lessons for the three preceding country launches.

Uganda: countering counterfeits, the heat is on, and onwards and upwards! “This project is at the right place at the right time,” said Dr Imelda Kashaija, Deputy Director, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Uganda, on 4th February 2015. She was speaking at the launch of the DTMASS Project in Kampala.

She observed that in Uganda, formal players offering certified seed currently account for a mere 35 percent of the market, leaving 65 percent to informal players. This is an untenable situation, inherent with many problems with the spread of disease as the biggest risk (see maize lethal necrosis, for example). It is estimated that nearly half (40 percent) of the hybrid seed sold in Uganda is fake. “We all know that if we don’t improve the formal seed system, we continue to encourage the bad habit of counterfeit seed that is rampant in Uganda. One way to reduce counterfeit is to strengthen the formal system so farmers get good-quality seed,” Dr. Kashaija added.

Maize affected by drought A WangalachiWPoor pickings that will lead to a paltry harvest: a maize cob from a crop hard-hit by drought.
Photo: A. Wangalachi CIMMYT

She said the project will bring in drought-tolerant maize varieties that will help Uganda fight climate change. In the 19th century, Uganda was dubbed ‘the pearl of Africa’ by Victorian-era traveler and journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, for good reason. The country sits astride the broad shores of the world’s second-largest freshwater lake (Victoria) which drains into the mighty River Nile, evoking images of glistening green lush landscapes, water in plenty and banana fronds waving in the tropical breeze. But this postcard-perfect picture is beginning to shatter. “We’re getting more dry than wet days,” revealed Dr. Kashaija. “Distribution of rain has changed, even if not the amount. Not only are there now fewer days of rain, the rains are also now unpredictable. So, crops that take longer in the field have poor harvests.” It is also important to remember eastern Uganda falls firmly in the drylands.

Describing seed companies as “our other arm when reaching communities,” Dr. Kashaija observed that seed companies take the seed NARO produces and use it for business. But they focus on more than money by delivering quality seed, thereby helping the government in its objective to improve formal systems. “Through this project, more farmers are going to be able to access improved drought-tolerant seed,” Dr. Kashaija concluded.

Dr. McMurdy described DTMASS as “a strategic project for USAID. DTMASS is part of a suite of new investments, and part of the Feed the Future initiative. This meeting is an opportunity to discuss constraints, and also to foster partnerships and more cooperation. We are looking for synergies with other stakeholders and efforts, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.”

“We have the knowledge and technology, and what remains is translating knowledge to action,” added Dr. Abate. He said that Uganda has made significant progress in terms of maize productivity, as indicated by the latest FAO statistics.

The acreage devoted to maize has also doubled over the past several years. Through DTMASS, by 2019, Uganda is expected to produce 1,800 tonnes of improved maize. “I have no doubt Uganda can exceed this projection, given the good team, good partnership and experienced players,” Dr. Abate predicted.

A helping hand Capacity-building to help meet project goals is an integral part of DTMASS, starting with ‘servicing the engine’ – the seed companies that will drive DTMASS.

To this end, in-country seed business management and production courses were held for participating companies. First up was Malawi in June 2015, with Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique in July, Kenya in August, and concluding with Ethiopia in September.

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Uganda launch cropWParticipants at the DTMASS project launch in Uganda, 4th February 2015. Photo: CIMMYT

Mexico meeting outlines scientific roadmap for increasing wheat yields

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International scientists attending a meeting in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, plotted out how current and potential research projects around the world could boost wheat yields to meet population and climate pressures. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins
International scientists attending a meeting in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, plotted out how current and potential research projects around the world could boost wheat yields to meet population and climate pressures. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins

CIUDAD OBREGON, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Mexico aims to boost domestic wheat production 9 percent to 3.6 million metric tons by 2018, said a government official speaking on Tuesday at a conference in the town of Ciudad Obregon in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

Productivity will increase as a result of growing investment in infrastructure, machinery, equipment and technological innovations, said Sergio Ibarra, Sonora delegate of the country’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

“The strategic vision of the Mexican government is to promote an agricultural landscape that supports a productive, competitive, profitable, sustainable and fair agri-food sector to ensure food security,” Ibarra said, addressing 75 international scientists and wheat breeders attending the International Wheat Yield Potential Workshop hosted by CIMMYT.

The Mexican government has a long and storied tradition of working alongside CIMMYT, which developed improved varieties of wheat under the leadership of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, helping the country become self-sufficient in grain production in the 1960s. Currently, demand for wheat in Mexico outstrips the domestic supply produced.

One collaborative project, the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture, led by SAGARPA and known locally as MasAgro, helps farmers understand how minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation can simultaneously boost yields and sustainably increase profits.

ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES

Delegates at the Wheat Yield Potential Workshop, held from 24 to 26 March, plotted out how current and potential global research projects could dovetail under the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP), a public-private partnership focused on developing new high-yielding varieties of wheat.

Findings in a report released last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) state it is very likely that heat waves will occur more often and last longer throughout the 21st century and rainfall will be more unpredictable. Mean surface temperatures could rise by between 2 to 5 degrees Celsius or more, the report said. Current crop models show scenarios of the impact of rising temperatures on wheat varieties, which provide 20 percent of calories and protein consumed worldwide.

“Models indicate that a 2 degree increase in temperature would lead to a 20 percent reduction in wheat yield; a 6 degree increase would lead to a 60 percent reduction,” said Hans Braun, head of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research Research Program on Wheat. “The consequences would be dramatic if we had a 40 percent yield reduction because we already know wheat production has to increase by 60 percent to keep up with population projections,” Braun said. “If we add modeled climate risks, the challenge is compounded, and we’ll need to double the yield capacity of our current varieties.”

“CIMMYT has demonstrated that the rate of improvement in yield gain has slowed to the point that, if it carries on the present rate, we’ll have a large gap between the amount of available wheat and what we need to feed the population,” said Steve Visscher, international deputy chief executive at Britain’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Council is the largest financial contributor to IWYP, which has so far secured 50 percent of the $100 million in funding it seeks to develop higher yielding wheat varieties.

“The sooner we act, the greater the chances are that we can close the gap between forecast demand and the availability of wheat,” Visscher said. “The scale of that challenge means that we need an international community effort, and the work on wheat yield that CIMMYT has initiated has now been taken forward through IWYP. I pay tribute to the role of SAGARPA and the Mexican government for backing CIMMYT and providing funding in recent years.”

Rothamsted Research in the UK is trying to meet the wheat food security challenge through a program to increase the yield of wheat to 20 metric tons per hectare within the next 20 years.

“Given that the UK record yield is currently 14.3 tons, that’s a big, big target,” said associate director Martin Parry, whose work aims to boost wheat photosynthesis, leading to increased yields.

“There are big risks both in terms of food security and political stability– it’s critical that the world’s population has enough food to eat– we need to work in a collegial, collaborative way, and IWYP offers an ideal opportunity to do that,” Parry said.

KALRO and CIMMYT: cementing a longstanding relationship

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All this week, CIMMYT headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico, has the honor of hosting Dr. Eliud Kireger, the Acting Director General of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Today, we sit with him for a candid conversation on crop research in Africa.

According to Dr. Kireger, one of the burning issues in agriculture today in Eastern and Southern Africa is “low productivity per unit area. The increase we’ve seen in yields across different countries is largely due to expansion in land area.” He attributes this low productivity per unit area to lack of technologies and knowledge that can boost productivity. This dearth translates itself in many ways such as not using fertilizers, improved seed or mechanization.

Another key factor hampering production is climate change, which in Eastern and Southern Africa manifests itself mainly through drought, floods, frost and hail. “There is also an increase in new pests and diseases, as well as postharvest losses, low value addition and lack of regulated markets which erodes the incentive to work hard and produce more. All these are the issues we need to address in our research and development agenda,” Dr Kireger says.

Finance and romance
The crunch in all this is low funding for the agricultural sector. African heads of state committed to devoting a minimum of 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture in the 2003 Maputo Declaration. Not only have few nations honored this commitment, it is also a disadvantageous relationship, as Dr Kireger reveals. “For example, in Kenya, agriculture accounts for 30 percent of the GDP but the exchequer allocates less than two percent to agriculture, and even less to research. We therefore rely on our partners and collaborators in funding most of our research and development work, and that is where partners like CIMMYT come in to help us bridge the gap by accessing funding we would not otherwise have got, by training our scientists, and by helping us obtain high-quality germplasm.”

Dr. Eliud Kireger (left), KALRO Director General, in deep discussions with CIMMYT scientists during his visit to CIMMYT headquarters. He was accompanied by Stephen Mugo (right), CIMMYT’S Regional Representative for Africa and also country representative for Kenya. Dr. Kireger also met with CIMMYT's senior leadership.
Dr. Eliud Kireger (left), KALRO Director General, in deep discussions with CIMMYT scientists during his visit to CIMMYT headquarters. He was accompanied by Stephen Mugo (right), CIMMYT’S Regional Representative for Africa and also country representative for Kenya. Dr. Kireger also met with CIMMYT’s senior leadership.

But it is a reciprocal relationship between CIMMYT and KALRO, with CIMMYT too enjoying KALRO’s generosity through a rich potpourri of priceless resources – land for field and laboratory work; a robust nationwide network covering all corners of Kenya; immense social capital accumulated through time by a known, tested and trusted name; community mobilization; and local liaison with policy- and decision-makers on sensitive matters such as germplasm exchange and other weighty issues. “In Kenya CIMMYT does not have land, but since we work together, KALRO allows us to use their land for our work,” notes Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT–Africa Regional Representative and also Kenya Country Representative, who has accompanied Dr Kireger to CIMMYT Headquarters. “These are the benefits of synergy: ‘What you do not have, and I have, we share’. There is no single institution — working alone — that can be able to address all the challenges facing agriculture. From very early on, CIMMYT decided that the only way was to team up with national institutions and work together, so that CIMMYT-developed germplasm , know-how and technologies reach intended beneficiaries countrywide for the benefit of maize and wheat farmers. CIMMYT and KALRO jointly design common projects on clear and specific areas to improve maize and wheat, then seek funding for these projects to address drought tolerance, crop pests and emerging diseases.”

CIMMYT–KALRO MLN screening facility at KALRO's premises in Naivasha, Kenya.
CIMMYT–KALRO MLN screening facility at KALRO’s premises in Naivasha, Kenya.

One such emerging disease is maize lethal necrosis (MLN), which CIMMYT and KALRO are jointly tackling through ultra-modern shared facilities for MLN screeing and for doubled haploid (DH) technology that both stand on KALRO land. “With these facilities, we are able to screen a large volume of germplasm from both the public and private sectors. DH technology allows breeders to very rapidly— especially for cross-pollinated crops like maize — develop parental lines in about 18 months than can then be used to develop hybrids,” says Mugo. “With conventional methods, the same process could take anywhere between six and eight years. Once we identify maize types that are disease-resistant, drought-tolerant or good for low-nitrogen soils, we can fast-track them for rapid hybrid development. KALRO also facilitates exchange of germplasm — particularly important now in the face of MLN — by liaising with other government agents such as the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service. This helps not only Kenya but also other countries, including both the public and private sector. By working together, institutions are able to solve problems that at first glance seem insurmountable,” Mugo observes.

KALRO and CIMMYT started working on climate-smart crops long before the term was coined. The goal was ‘insurance’ to increase production during drought. CIMMYT embarked on research from the late 1980s to increase production even when drought strikes. Collaboration with KALRO in this work started in the early 1990s, and did not stop there. “We now have a large network of research sites in Eastern and Southern Africa,” says Mugo.

The next frontier, and the future we need not fear if we prepare
Touching on genetically modified crops, Dr. Kireger laments “the negative publicity and misinformation on transgenics. To counter this, one of the first courses of action we are taking is making information available to the general public. Transgenic materials have the potential to resolve some of the problems that we have in Eastern and Southern Africa. We are working together with CIMMYT to provide information to the public because the largest fault-line is lack of information, which opens the door for misinterpretation. This hampers and dents the good work that is being done.”

Mugo concurs: “The only way to address this is for research institutions like KALRO and CIMMYT to provide the correct information, based on authoritative and impartial research findings, for informed public debate on benefits and risks, and how to mitigate risks. For example, research has shown the economic and environmental benefits of transgenic insect-resistant maize which eliminates pesticide use. This shows that transgenics can be deployed to solve problems that conventional means are at present unable to solve. One of these is the need to produce more food for an ever-increasing global population. To achieve this goal, we need to deploy all the technologies at our disposal, including transgenics.”

And switching emphasis from maize and headquarters to wheat and the field, Dr Kireger’s next stop in Mexico this week is Obregon, to get first-hand experience on CIMMYT’s work on this other crop that both institutes work on – not very common in Africa, as most of CIMMYT’s partnerships there focus exclusively on maize. Watch this space for more updates including videos!

And may this fruitful and mutually beneficial collaboration endorsed at the highest levels continue to grow from strength to strength!

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