News – Page 162

Partnering to build the capacity of seed companies in Africa

Written by on October 8, 2013. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

CIMMYT seed sytems lead John MacRobert facilitates a SEMIs seed production class at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Nairobi. Photo: David Ndung’u/SEMIs

CIMMYT and partner organizations are helping to build the human capacity of seed companies, which contribute to food security by ensuring farmers have access to quality seed. Certified seed is one of the most important inputs farmers need to improve their grain yields and livelihoods.

CIMMYT organizes regular training sessions for seed companies in different countries across Africa, in collaboration with the Seed Enterprise Management Institute (SEMIs) project, which is funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) and hosted at the University of Nairobi College of Agriculture and Veterinary Services. “AGRA realized that many seed companies across the continent lacked knowledge on seed production, processing, marketing and aspects of seed quality,” said David Ndung’u, project manager for the SEMIs project. Both AGRA and CIMMYT receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the past three years, SEMIs has trained more than 450 seed producers from 17 Sub-Saharan African countries, including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. “This training has been identified as one of the triggers for the huge increase in production of high-quality seed by AGRA-funded seed companies all over Sub-Saharan Africa,” Ndung’u said. The seed production course, taught by John MacRobert, seed systems lead for CIMMYT, is among the most popular with seed companies, Ndung’u said.
SEMIs-pic-to-Cimmyt The course focuses on challenges companies face in managing hybrid maize seed. “John brings a wealth of experience in this field,” Ndung’u continued. “He is helping seed companies plan better and improve their seed production capabilities.” MacRobert’s book, Seed Business Management in Africa, is included in the course materials. CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project (DTMA) also utilizes MacRobert’s book in training sessions for seed company staff. CIMMYT has conducted seed production management courses in Angola, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, training more than 200 personnel from the private and public sectors over the past six years.

The trainings emphasize cooperative learning while providing technical information and management tools. CIMMYT seed systems specialists also made more than 80 follow-up visits to seed company partners in 2013. Ngila Kimotho, the CEO of Dryland Seed Company, based in Machakos, Kenya, attended a 2008-09 seed course. “The course was very useful in enhancing my understanding of seed business management through the value chain – from research to the market,” Kimotho said. “My knowledge in the field has greatly improved, as I didn’t understand the business initially,” added Kimotho, whose background is in food technology. In 2011, Gloria Kimotho, Kimotho’s daughter, attended a CIMMYT course in Zimbabwe and is now actively involved in the Dryland Seeds management team. SEMIs and CIMMYT are also collaborating in field demonstrations of DTMA varieties – a way to promote adoption by farmers because seed companies are able to pick suitable products by closely watching field performance. “Having many seed varieties is good for diversity,” explained Mosisa Worku Regasa, a seed systems specialist. “With the emergence of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease, many maize varieties from seed companies in eastern Africa are susceptible to the disease.” An efficient seed system will contribute to the rapid scale-up and dissemination of MLN-resistant varieties.

“To be a great ‘seeds man’ you really need to understand your plants well,” said Ndung’u, who worked as a visiting scientist for DTMA under CIMMYT maize breeder Dan Makumbi. “My knowledge and understanding were greatly enhanced during my time at CIMMYT

New facilities inaugurated in Kenya to aid agriculture in East Africa

Written by on October 7, 2013. Posted in News.

By Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT

Felix Koskei, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, unveils the plaque of the Doubled Haploid Facility in Kiboko, Makueni County. Looking on is Bodduppali Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program (Left), Thomas Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT and Ruth Kyatha from the Makueni County Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture. Photo: Wandera Ojanji

CIMMYT, in partnership with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), established two major maize facilities in Kenya last week. The Maize Doubled-Haploid Facility for Africa at KARI-Kiboko aims to accelerate the development of stress-resilient and nutritionally-improved maize varieties while the Maize Lethal Necrosis Screening Facility at KARI-Naivasha will focus on tackling deadly maize lethal necrosis (MLN).

The doubled-haploid (DH) facility, established with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was inaugurated on 25 September by Felix K. Koskei, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Representatives from the ministry and country government, the CIMMYT board of trustees and management committee and the KARI director and board of management attended the inauguration. “Just as agriculture is the driver of economic growth, so is agricultural research the engine of agriculture,” Koskei said. “I take this opportunity to congratulate maize research scientists for their tireless efforts in conducting cutting-edge agricultural research directed at solving the constraints that hinder agricultural growth.”

The facility will help serve African agriculture for years to come, said CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin. “The Maize DH Facility will be key to fast-tracking the development and delivery of drought tolerant, disease and insectpest resistant and nutritionally enriched maize varieties for the benefit of Kenyan and African farmers at large,” he said. The MLN screening facility will address another challenge: while maize is Africa’s most important food crop, the 2011 drought in East Africa – combined with the emergence of MLN in eastern Africa in 2012 – resulted in significant crop losses and severe food shortages across the region. The accelerated development and delivery of MLNresistant maize varieties with other important adaptive traits is an urgent priority for CIMMYT and its partners in the region. The MLN Screening Facility at KARI-Naivasha is central to achieving this goal and was made possible with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

Thomas Lumpkin waters a commemorative tree seedling he planted after the inauguration of the DH Facility in Kiboko. Photo: Wandera Ojanji

Inaugurating the MLN Screening Facility at KARI-Naivasha, Kenya’s Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Sicily Kariuki commended CIMMYT and KARI for their rapid response to MLN and for establishing a screening facility that will benefit the entire region. The facility aims to provide MLN phenotyping services and effectively manage the risk of MLN on maize production through screening and identifying MLNresistant maize germplasm. It will make use of public and private sector research partners in Africa to contribute to food security and to the livelihoods of farming communities in Eastern Africa. Through the KARI-CIMMYT partnership, several promising maize inbred lines and hybrids with resistance to MLN have Photo: Florence Sipalla already been identified and are being further validated and used in breeding strategies to develop MLN-resistant maize hybrids. Prasanna Boddupalli, director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program, emphasized the facility “will serve not only CIMMYT and KARI, but other interested public and private sector institutions that are engaged in developing and delivering improved maize varieties to farmers in Africa.”

CIMMYT opens door to students in Mexico

Written by on October 4, 2013. Posted in News.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Students from 13 Mexican universities learned about CIMMYT’s work and mission during the 7th annual Open Door event at El Batán on 20 September. Organized by the Training Office, the event hosted 285 students from seven Mexican states. It introduces students to CIMMYT through visits to the maize and wheat demonstration plots, the germplasm bank and laboratories, as well as through presentations about various CIMMYT programs.

The Training Office said the event was well received and thanked everyone involved for the help. Staff and speakers from various areas of CIMMYT, including the bioscience building, the canteen and security, contributed to Open Door’s success. For most students, Open Door was their first opportunity to learn about and visit CIMMYT. “Basically, it’s new to us,” said Alejandro García Ochoa, a 23-year-old sustainable agriculture engineering student at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Los Reyes Michoacán. García, who plans on pursuing a master’s degree after graduation, said he was interested by the visits to the germplasm bank and laboratories. “I learned the importance of saving the genetic heritage in our country,” García said.

For Lisbeth Bautista Salazar, a 27-year-old master’s student at the Universidad Autonoma de Querétaro, the 2013 Open Door event was her second visit to CIMMYT. She first came to CIMMYT more than two years ago with other students from her university. Bautista said she enjoyed the tour this year and learned how crucial it is to improve maize for the benefit of society. “It’s a really important mission,” Bautista said. “It’s so challenging with all the social, political and climate problems we’re facing.” Bautista wants to work in Oaxaca after graduation. She explained her grandparents live in an area of the state that could benefit from CIMMYT initiatives as well as from what she is learning in school. “They need this knowledge and the opportunity to apply this knowledge” Bautista said.

Other students indicated they are considering CIMMYT for future career opportunities. Jaime Cesar Vallejo Galván, a 25-year-old agricultural engineering student at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Los Reyes Michoacán, said his first visit to CIMMYT taught him about improving maize and wheat varieties. He said he wants to pursue a master’s degree after graduation or “work in a place like this.”

Behind the science: ‘Smart machines’ for Mexico’s smallholder farmers

Written by on October 3, 2013. Posted in Features.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Jelle Van Loon shows a prototype of tool used to re-shape and fertilize. His team is working to develop less expensive and more precise options. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT — Jelle Van Loon shows a prototype of tool used to re-shape and fertilize. His
team is working to develop less expensive and more precise options. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT

Jelle Van Loon’s workshop in the fields at El Batán is all about experimentation. The CIMMYT engineer from Belgium is making affordable and efficient tools for smallholder farmers in Mexico by innovating technology and adapting what is already available. Van Loon, leader of smart mechanization for the conservation agriculture program in Mexico, works within the Take it to the Farmer component of MasAgro, or the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture. MasAgro focuses on sustainable farming practices and new technology to help farmers increase their maize and wheat yields.

Van Loon and his team design and produce machinery specifically suited for conditions in Mexico. That might mean adding fertilizer and seed bins to a 2-wheel tractor, modifying hand planters from China and Brazil or adapting a machine to be able to plant seeds for large or small grains. “This is going to be awesome,” Van Loon said while looking at a prototype of a shovel with seed and fertilizer boxes attached. One of the other tools his team is working with – a hand planter that deposits fertilizer and seed – was featured, along with Van Loon, in a Voice of America news article last month.

Van Loon, who came to CIMMYT in October 2012, has a background in agriculture and engineering and has worked throughout Latin America. Development is “in his blood,” he said, because his grandfather was a farmer and his parents worked in the Congo. He first came to Latin America as a teenager when he studied in Honduras as part of an exchange program. “I stayed a lot longer than I was supposed to,” said Van Loon, who also researched in Peru while working on his master’s degree. The chance to return to his “Latin roots” motivated Van Loon to apply for the smart mechanization position at CIMMYT. He said he has driven tractors since he was 10 years old and fixed motorcycles since he was 16, which helped him learn quickly on the job.

Many of the machines Van Loon and his team adapt are already used elsewhere in the world, but small changes or additions can make them more effective in Mexico or useful for multiple crops. By adding a water pump to a tractor, for example, or offering a variety of discs for a plow, machines can be more efficient. New tools are first designed using SolidWorks, a 3D modeling computer program. Implements are then stress-tested in the field to see how useful they are in local conditions. The team works with local blacksmiths so machines can be made and repaired in the area.

Throughout the process, Van Loon is in touch with the farmers who could benefit from his team’s work. “We see what they want to achieve and make it align with conservation agriculture principles,” he said. His team produces information sheets on the tools as well as plans that anyone can download and print, with the goal of making the innovations readily available. Van Loon said he spends about half of his time in the office and the other half in the field. MasAgro has hubs throughout Mexico, sometimes allowing him to ride his motorcycle nearly 1,700 kilometers to Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. He also explains his work to visitors, who can see the improved machines on display at a hangar at El Batán.

It takes collaboration to help farmers improve their maize and wheat yields, Van Loon said. His team is focused on the latter two-thirds of the “good seeds, good tools and good practices” equation farmers need to succeed. “We want to create a smart smallholder farmer,” Van Loon said.

Maize scientist Alejandro Ortega honored in Ciudad Obregón

Written by on October 2, 2013. Posted in News.

Retired CIMMYT scientist Alejandro Ortega y Corona was honored for his 59 years of maize research at the Meeting for the Coordination of Investigation of Drought Tolerance in Maize from 5 to 6 August. Ortega received recognition for his work with CIMMYT and Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) at a special meeting of the Biodiversity Project of Mexico and CIMMYT’s Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora State, Mexico.

Kevin Pixley, director of CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources Program, extended thanks and gratitude for the 23 years Ortega served in the organization’s maize program in the areas of entomology, physiology, breeding and pathology. Pixley read letters sent by former CIMMYT maize physiologist Greg Edmeades and Marianne Bänziger, deputy director general for research and partnerships, who worked closely with Ortega in developing drought and heat tolerant maize varieties. A Yaqui dancer statue was presented to Ortega to honor his years of hard work, dedication and leadership at CIMMYT. INIFAP’s Salvador Fernandez and Rafael Ariza congratulated Ortega for his service and dedication.

Photo: M.C. Manuel Guerrero of INIFAP Obregón

Erasmo Valenzuela Cornejo, director of INIFAP’s Northwest Regional Research Center of spoke about Ortega’s accomplishments and contributions, among them the mass rearing of insects for CIMMYT maize breeders, QPM maize and screening for heat and drought tolerance. Ortega produced the heat tolerant hybrid H431, which continues to be the number-one hybrid in commercial production for summer plantings in southern Sonora. More than 40 INIFAP scientists, including regional directors and research station superintendents, attended the meeting, as well as five CIMMYT scientists. Scientists working on drought or heat tolerance in maize from other institutions, including the University of Nuevo Leon, Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University and the maize seed company Pioneer–Mexico, also attended the meeting.

Martha Willcox and Gilberto Salinas from MasAgro- Biodiversity organized the meeting to coordinate research evaluating maize accessions from both INIFAP and the CIMMYT germplasm bank, which were collected in arid areas under controlled drought trials to identify new sources of drought resistance. The expansion of infrastructure to conduct large-scale replicated trials on INIFAP stations was a main topic of discussion. Salinas gave an overview of the MasAgro Biodiversity project and Willcox explained the specific objectives for drought and heat phenotyping under the project.

Juan Manuel Hernández and Ariel Ruíz from INIFAP gave a history of the recent INIFAP maize collection, which Ortega coordinated on a national level, and the selection within that collection for semiarid races based on GPS and climatic data. Samuel Trachsel, maize physiologist, explained CIMMYT’s methods of evaluating drought tolerance as well as the infrastructure and equipment needed. Trachsel also spoke about site requirements and precipitation and temperature profiles provided by Kai Sonder to best select sites for development. Juan Burgueno and Willcox spoke on genetic variation within accessions and experimental design.

Food security policies highlighted at training

Written by on October 1, 2013. Posted in News.

By Surabhi Mittal/CIMMYT

Photo: Andrew S. Chamanza/ MoAFS, Malawi and S. Mittal/CIMMYT

CIMMYT’s Surabhi Mittal gave a lecture and met with policymakers from Kenya, Liberia and Malawi as part of the Chaudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Government of India training program on 23 September. The three-month program is the first in a series of three trainings funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development in cooperation with Africa and India.

The training aimed to strengthen ties between India and Africa in learning about agricultural initiatives, challenges and success stories, as well as pointing to innovative marketing and policy solutions to address food security challenges in Africa. Presenters included senior officials from the three African countries and participants from organizations involved in cereal crops, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, agribusiness, financial institutions and academia engaged in agromarketing. Mittal spoke about government food security policies and modern information and communications technologybased extension policies in India. The discussion covered fertilizer policies, price policies, coping mechanisms to mitigate climate change risk, conservation agriculture and food security programs.

New facility investigates the hidden half of maize

Written by on September 30, 2013. Posted in News.

By P.H. Zaidi/CIMMYT

A new facility at CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India, will allow researchers to assess and quantify key root traits and their dynamics under various growing conditions. CIMMYT’s new root phenotyping facility is based on the lysimetric system, by which scientists can directly assess and quantify root traits and their dynamics under various growing conditions. It also allows high-precision phenotyping of various root traits.

A high-profile delegation from Groupe Limagrain, led by its CEO, visits the newly-established root phenotyping facility at CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India. Photo: T. Durga/CIMMYT

The system revolutionizes the research, moving from a static assessment of roots through time-consuming extraction and scanning to a real-time measurement of water uptake, water use and an assessment of variation in roots under different growing conditions in the rhizosphere. Recent advances in high-precision weighing systems and information technology tools have greatly improved its efficiency and effectiveness as a root phenotyping system.

A representative from USAID observes maize root extracted from a minirhizotron. Photo: T. Durga/CIMMYT

CIMMYT’s root phenotyping facility is specially designed for – but not restricted to – maize. The facility features 2,400 minirhizotron observation tubes placed in eight concrete pits. A wheeled stand is used to lift the rhizotrons for weighing. The weight of the cylinder, along with the entire plant, is monitored periodically and allows researchers to estimate the amount of water used and transpired as well as the transpiration efficiency of different genotypes. Roots are critically important to plants because they are the part first exposed to any soil-mediated stresses, such as drought, waterlogging, salt stress or nutrient stress. Root traits govern the overall performance of plants; however, this important hidden half is often avoided due to the complexity involved in studying root structure and functions.

Mini-rhizotrons with maize plants sit at the root phenotyping facility. Photo: T. Durga/CIMMYT — Mini-rhizotrons with maize plants sit at the
root phenotyping facility. Photo: T. Durga/CIMMYT

In maize, the genotypic variation in root traits and variation under stresses can be carefully selected in targeted breeding for stress tolerance, which can contribute significantly to genetic gains. Root traits are often judged on the basis of related characteristics, which may not accurately explain the stress-responsive — or adaptive — structural and functional changes in roots under sub-optimal or stressed conditions. The facility is used in phenotyping root traits of mapping populations developed for various molecular breeding projects on drought and heat stress tolerance as well as other traits usually observed in field conditions, including morphological traits and grain yield. It is located under a renovated rain shelter, protecting the trials from rain at the targeted crop stage and allowing for yearround use.

CIMMYT is grateful to the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture for its financial support of the facility and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics for providing space and other logistic support in establishing this unique facility.

CIMMYT wheat research interests future scientists

Written by on September 27, 2013. Posted in News.

Photo: Arnauld Thiry, consultant to the GWP physiology team

Wheat research is an intriguing story to many. CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program (GWP) keeps germplasm flowing worldwide, and more than 100 wheat researchers and 40 junior scientists and graduate students attend its annual wheat improvement course. The program hosted students from around the world in 2013, introducing them to the program’s critically important work.

Visit to wheat research station at Ciudad Obregón

The GWP hosted a visit from 10 to 11 April for 50 children, ages 8 to 12, who are part of the PERAJ program at the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON). The university’s “adopt a friend” program encourages students to tutor children from public primary schools in Ciudad Obregon. The CIMMYT visit originated from the daughter-mother link of Carolina Rivera Amado, a Ph.D. student in the MasAgro program, and Alma Amado Quintana, the PERAJ coordinator at ITSON. Alma Amado said the program creates relationships between the tutors and their “adopted” students to support education and strengthen the professional and personal development of ITSON students. The children and their tutors were intrigued by the diversity of wheat. They learned the source of their favorite wheat tortillas and discovered the work scientists do to increase wheat productivity. The experience allowed Mathew Reynolds and colleagues Araceli Torres, Carolina Rivera, Arnauld Thiry and Perla Chávez to explain how plants grow and for Amor Yahyaoui to explain how scientists ensure the production of healthy plants.

Yokohama City University (YCU) students visit CIMMYT headquarters

Seven undergraduate students came to CIMMYT’s headquarters from Japan’s Yokohama City University (YCU) from 6 to 7 August to tour facilities and interact with wheat and maize scientists. The overall objective of the visit was to expose the students to international agricultural research on crop improvement and to give them an opportunity to meet worldleaders in research helping to feed the world. Through the efforts of Tomohiro Ban, a former CIMMYT scientist who is a lead researcher at the Kihara Institute for Biological Research (KIBR) and his working relationship with wheat scientist Ravi Singh, young undergraduates from Japan visit CIMMYT almost every year. CIMMYT scientists who interacted with the group included Singh, Jose Juan Caballero, Sehgal Deepmala, Bibiana Espinosa, Velu Govindan, Julio Huerta, Masahiro Kishii, Aleksandre Loladze, Monica Mezzalama, Henry Ngugi, Tom Payne, Pawan Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Prashant Vikram, He Xinyao and Amor Yahyaoui. The students were introduced to CIMMYT’s global maize and wheat research programs as well as training activities in the fields of breeding and genetics, pathology, biotechnology, seeds of discovery and bio-fortification research. The visit to the new Bioscience Complex showed the students the steps in wheat variety development from DNA analysis to field plot techniques. “I learned about the importance of connecting biotechnology and breeding,” said Yuki Kajita, a student participating in the visit. “I had a very good time at CIMMYT. I hope to come again someday as a researcher.”

Tokyo university students visit CIMMYT

Tokyo University of Agriculture also organized a visit to CIMMYT headquarters. On 12 August, a group of 12 students visited as part of their tour abroad to agricultural research institutions and to learn about agricultural activities of smallholder farmers in Mexico. The students toured the gene bank and learned about seed selection and treatment as part of CIMMYT’s international nursery activities. They also visited wheat and maize demonstration plots and were encouraged to consider CIMMYT as they continue with their post-graduate research. The group was headed by Mariko Kawaminami, agronomist and professor at the University of Chapingo. This tour is organized and hosted by the University of Chapingo every year as part of its international academic exchange activities.

Afghanistan capacity development supported by Japanese Institutions

Representatives from several institutions working on the Development of Wheat Breeding Materials for Sustainable Food Production (SATREPS) project visited CIMMYT on 28 February to encourage support for young Afghan scientists and capacity development of young Japanese researchers and students. SATREPS aims to train Afghan scientists in the development of wheat breeding materials for sustainable food production through partnerships with Afghanistan, Japan and Mexico. Japanese institutions involved in the project include KIBR, Yokohama City University, the Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project also sponsored two Afghan scientists to join the CIMMYT Global Wheat Program wheat improvement course in Ciudad Obregón from March to May. Lead scientists in breeding, physiology, pathology and biotechnology helped participants to acquire practical experience in wheat breeding. Zahery Eid Mohammad and Ahmadi S. Hasibullah completed the training and are registered for master’s studies at Yokohama City University. CIMMYT will continue to strengthen the Japan-Mexico collaboration by training young Afghan scientists and encouraging young Japanese students to get involved in agricultural research.

CIMMYT trustee receives Yara Prize for agricultural improvement in Africa

Written by on September 26, 2013. Posted in News.

Photo courtesy of Yara

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

A member of CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees received the 2013 Yara Prize, an award that honors people who have significantly contributed to African agriculture. Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), was honored for her work with African farmers. The prize this year focused on agricultural innovators and entrepreneurs. Award winners are chosen by a committee considering their work improving sustainable agriculture and food security.

Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, founder and CEO of the Smallholders Foundation in Nigeria, also received the Yara Prize. The two were honored this month at a ceremony in Oslo by Jørgen Ole Haslestad, President, CEO and Chairman of Yara and the Yara Prize Committee. Both Sibanda and Ikegwuonu are entrepreneurs, spread knowledge to smallholder farmers and youth and are “true examples of the can-do spirit and drive that plays a vital role in transforming agriculture in Africa,” according to a Yara Prize report on the award ceremony.

Sibanda, a trained animal scientist and practicing commercial beef farmer from Zimbabwe, became CEO of FANRPAN in 2004 and has been a researcher and advocate in southern Africa for years. FANRPAN focuses on food and agricultural policies to reduce poverty, improve food security and foster sustainable development in Africa. Sibanda developed the organization’s current strategy and has helped FANRPAN grow as a policy research and advocacy organization with a global voice, focusing especially on female farmers and youth.

In addition to being a member of CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees, she chairs the International Livestock Research Institute Board of Trustees. “Advocacy is something that is close to my heart and I’m passionate about it,” Sibanda told the publication Africa Green Media after winning the award. “I am an animal scientist by training, but this passion for policy advocacy developed when I realized that we were failing to put research into use.”

Bioversity, Borlaug Institute for South Asia and CIMMYT work more closely on climate resilient farming in eastern India

Written by on September 25, 2013. Posted in News.

By M.L. Jat/CIMMYT

Visitors see a demonstration on greenhouse gas measurements in CIMMYT’s long-term trial on conservation agriculture in rice-wheat systems at the Rajendra Agricultural University farm, Pusa. Photo: Deepak Kumar Singh/CIMMYT

Increased access to seeds better suited for local conditions and climate-smart crop management technologies are two strategies Bioversity International and CIMMYT India are using to improve the climate change resilience of resource-poor farmers. With the 14 August visit of Bioversity International Director General Ann Tutwiler to the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) Pusa site and the climate-smart villages in the Vaishali district of Bihar, this partnership has strengthened and will work to improve farmers’ coping and adaptation to climate change in eastern India. The groups are working under Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

Agriculture is affected by variable temperatures and erratic climate events. Smallholder farmers who are impacted suffer from low production and increasing costs. Tutwiler said that CIMMYT, BISA and Bioversity have common interests and should complement each other’s work in making smallholder farmers climatesmart through local adaptation of stress-tolerant seeds and integrating them with better agronomic management. The greatest need is in multi-stakeholder partnerships and to apply collective wisdom to address these challenges for farmers’ benefits, she said.

M.L. Jat shows resilient cropping system options for eastern Indo-Gangetic plains at BISA farm, Pusa. Photo: Deepak Kumar Singh/CIMMYT

Tutwiler and other visitors saw strategic research on conservation agriculture at the BISA farm as well as collaborative research between CIMMYT and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). Participants discussed the long-term benefits of conservation agriculture, such as increased productivity, improved soil fertility, cost savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. “At Pusa, we have established long-term research on conservation agriculture in predominant cropping systems to monitor and devise resilient future cropping systems and their component technologies for the eastern Indo Gangetic Plains,” said M.L. Jat, a CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist. “These work as capacity-building platforms for various stakeholders.”

The team also saw climate-smart technologies promoted by CIMMYT in collaboration with other CGIAR centers and national agricultural research and extension services under CCAFS. Mamta Kumari, a woman farmer from the climate-smart village Rajapakar said, “Rainfall has been unreliable for the last few years. Our crops and livelihoods are at risk with changing weather. But we are now getting more information about new seed, methods and technologies; we can see a change.” With access to timely information on weather, better-adapted seeds and improved crop management, women farmers are now feeling more empowered. “We are saving around 5,000 Rupees (about US$79) on the cost of production using zero tillage in wheat cultivation,” Kumari said. Tutwiler met and shared her experiences with CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin and discussed common goals of Bioversity, BISA and CIMMYT to improve lives of farmers under changing climate conditions

Promoting biofortified wheat to women in India

Written by on September 24, 2013. Posted in News.

By Arun Joshi/CIMMYT

Chhavi Tiwari of Banaras Hindu University talks with Mirzapur farmersabout biofortified wheat. — Chhavi Tiwari of Banaras Hindu University talks with Mirzapur farmers about biofortified wheat.

Women farmers in India are learning about the benefits of biofortified wheat from CIMMYT and other CGIAR researchers. Scientists met with 106 women on 8 August in the village of Pidkhir, in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh, India, to advocate for the use of biofortified wheat and listen to feedback on nutrition and the impacts of nutritional deficiency on women and children.

The event was part of a program conducted in more than 50 villages in India’s Eastern Gangetic Plains. Collaborators included Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, Mahamana Krishak Samiti (a farmers’ cooperative in Mirzapur) and CIMMYT’s South Asia office in Kathmandu, Nepal. BHU’s Chhavi Tiwari led the meeting in Pidkhir, which was attended by women of different ages and occupations including farmers, housewives, daily wage workers, government organization workers and school teachers. Other participating scientists included B. Arun, Ramesh Chand and V.K. Mishra from the BHU HarvestPlus wheat team as well as Arun Joshi from CIMMYT.

The HarvestPlus project was started at BHU in 2005 as part of a collaborative effort with the Biofortification Challenge Program (HarvestPlus) at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, the International Food Policy Research Institute and CIMMYT to identify biofortified wheat varieties adapted in South Asia. Five of the participants at the meeting participated in the HarvestPlus trials in Pidkhir that began in 2005 and said they were happy with the wheat variety. “I cannot believe that wheat with high zinc and iron could be grown in our fields in the near future,” said Sursati, a woman working with HarvestPlus wheat throughout the course of the project. Most participants were new to the subject and learned about the importance of biofortified wheat – particularly its importance to the health of women and children. Women also answered a questionnaire on their backgrounds and interests in biofortified wheat. Most were educated through primary school and some were given help by literate peers. Four male farmers from Pidkhir, including Harbans Singh, head of the Mahamana Krishak Cooperative, also facilitated the process.

All of the women were in favor of receiving biofortified wheat developed through the HarvestPlus project. They also expressed their desire to visit and see the BHU research farm, where wheat scientists from the university are conducting research with CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program team. The farmers agreed to advocate for new biofortified wheat varieties and help the BHU team when needed.

CIMMYT and FAO partner in efforts to improve subsistence farming in Mexico

Written by on September 23, 2013. Posted in News.

By Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT

Left to right: Horacio Rodríguez, MasAgro Extension Coordinator; Víctor López, MasAgro Institutional Relations Manager; Nuria Urquía, FAO Representative in Mexico; Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General; and Julio César Rosette Castro, PESA Director General Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT — Left to right: Horacio Rodríguez, MasAgro Extension Coordinator; Víctor López, MasAgro Institutional Relations Manager; Nuria Urquía, FAO Representative in Mexico; Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General; and Julio César Rosette Castro, PESA Director General
Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT

Representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Strategic Project for Food Security (PESA) visited CIMMYT’s headquarters in El Batán to discuss collaborative opportunities and tour the Germplasm Bank and the Conservation Agriculture trial plots on 12 September.

Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and representatives of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program met with Nuria Urquía, FAO representative in Mexico, and Julio César Rosette Castro, director general of PESA. The leaders shared information on their work in Mexico and expressed an interest in making concerted efforts to contribute to Sin Hambre – the National Crusade Against Hunger program. The aim of this cooperation is to strengthen synergies between the two institutions to increase the productivity of subsistence farmers in Mexico.

To find out more about MasAgro in either English or Spanish, visit MasAgro. Sin Hambre – the National Crusade Against Hunger – is a national strategy to guarantee food security and better nutrition for 7.4 million Mexicans who live in conditions of extreme poverty.

Víctor López (center)illustrates the use of CIMMYT’s low-cost seed planters to Nuria Urquía and Julio César Rosette Castro. Photo: Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT — Víctor López (center)illustrates the use of CIMMYT’s low-cost seed planters to Nuria Urquía and Julio César Rosette Castro.
Photo: Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT

Urquía welcomed the meeting as an opportunity “to strengthen the collaboration between CIMMYT and the FAO and to form future partnerships that will strengthen the work for farmers in marginalized areas.” According to Lumpkin, “CIMMYT, the FAO and PESA are working towards a collective goal of increasing agricultural production, reducing hunger and extreme poverty in Mexico. Working together as part of the National Crusade Against Hunger will lead to a greater exchange of technologies and information that will benefit Mexican famers.” CIMMYT maintains one of the largest wheat and maize germplasm bank in the world, with 28,000 accessions of maize and more than 140,000 accessions of wheat.

Funded by the Japanese government, the state-of-the-art center has a storage capacity of more 450,000 seed samples and is one of only three germplasm banks globally to achieve ISO certification (and the first outside of Europe). MasAgro is financially supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

ICAR-CIMMYT organize training in molecular tools in wheat

Written by on September 23, 2013. Posted in News.

By Arun Joshi, CIMMYT

Twenty young scientists from India and Nepal learned about existing and up-and-coming wheat breeding tools during a training program last month. Continuing earlier training programs initiated during the last few wheat crop cycles in India, the Global Wheat Program in South Asia organized the three-day “ICAR-CIMMYT Molecular Breeding Course in Wheat” from 25 to 27 August. It took place at the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Karnal.

ICAR-CIMMYT The training was for young scientists from different wheat research stations of India involved in a BMZ-funded project to increase the productivity of wheat under rising temperatures and water scarcity in South Asia. The training program attendees’ enhanced understanding of existing molecular tools for wheat breeding as well as emerging tools such as genomic selection. “Molecular tools will play an increasing role in wheat breeding to meet challenges in coming decades,” said Indu Sharma, director of DWR in Karnal. The program covered both theory and practice on the use of molecular makers in wheat breeding, especially those related to vernalization, photoperiodism and earliness per se, which could be used to enhance early heat tolerance. Practical sessions in the molecular laboratory of DWR focused on extraction of DNA, quantification and quality control of DNA, polymerase chain reaction polymerase chain reaction amplification and electrophoresis.

During various sessions, the instructors explained the steps of molecular tools to be used for such work. The participants tested their new scoring skills during an exercise which involved scoring the bands and cross-verifying results. Laboratory procedures on safety were also explained. CIMMYT wheat breeder Arun Joshi and Vinod Tiwari, principal scientist and principal investigator of crop improvement for DWR in Karnal, coordinated the training under the WHEAT CRP Strategic Initiative 6 (enhanced heat and drought tolerance). Indian resource participants included Ratan Tiwari, P.K. Gupta, Vinod Tiwari and a team of molecular scientists including Rajender Singh, Rekha Malik, Sonia Sheoran and Pradeep Sharma from DWR, Karnal. The CIMMYT scientists involved were Susanne Dreisigacker and Arun Joshi while the practical lessons were organized and led by Tiwari and Dreisigacker. A laboratory manual “ICAR-CIMMYT molecular breeding course in wheat” was also developed for the course, which was later released in the All India Wheat and Barley Workers meeting.

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug statue unveiled in India

Written by on September 20, 2013. Posted in Features.

Left to right: Katharine McDevitt, Professor of Sculpture at Chapingo Autonomous University and sculptor of the statue of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug; Dr. Etienne Duveiller, BISA Director of Research for South Asia; Dr. Thomas A. Lumpkin, Director General of CIMMYT and BISA; and the Honorable Sri Sharad Pawar, Indian Minister of Agriculture. Photo credit: M. Shindler/CIMMYT

By Miriam Shindler, CIMMYT

The Honorable Shri Sharad Pawar, India’s Minister of Agriculture, and Jeanie Borlaug Laube, daughter of the late Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, unveiled a statue of Borlaug at the National Agricultural Science Complex in Delhi on 19 August. Working for its precursor and later CIMMYT, Borlaug developed semi-dwarf, disease-resistant wheat varieties and led the introduction of these high-yielding varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques in Mexico, India and Pakistan. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in India and Pakistan, greatly improving food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often called the “Father of the Green Revolution” and credited with saving more than 1 billion people worldwide from starvation. Borlaug was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work and contributions to world peace through an increased food supply.

Flowers are placed at the statue of Dr. Norman Borlaug at the National Agricultural Science Complex in Delhi. Photo credit: M.Shindler/CIMMYT

The CIMMYT-commissioned statue was donated to the people and scientists of India as a gift to mark 50 years of partnership (Dr. Borlaug introduced his new wheat varieties in India in 1963). The statue leaves a permanent reminder of Dr. Borlaug’s achievements and a legacy for the future. The statue was handmade by the artist Katharine McDevitt, professor of sculpture at Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (Chapingo Autonomous University) in the Mexican State of Texcoco. It is the oldest agricultural university in the Americas and is also where Dr. Borlaug started his research in Mexico in 1944, sleeping on the floor of a university barn. The Borlaug statue holds a book inscribed with the names of some of the leading visionaries who worked with him during the “Green Revolution” – M.S. Swaminathan, C. Subramaniam, B. Sivaraman, A.B. Joshi, S.P. Kohli, Glenn Anderson, M.V. Rao andV.S. Mathur. It also contains a list in Latin and Hindi script of the original Mexican wheat varieties that were so productive in India. Speaking at the event, Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, Director General of both CIMMYT and the Borlaug Institute of South Asia, said, “In his vigorous support for an agricultural revolution in South Asia and his passion for understanding their circumstances, Norm won the hearts of Indian farmers and helped deliver 50 years of food security to the region. The National Agricultural Science Complex, where Norm spent a lot of his time in India, is a fitting place for this statue, and hopefully will inspire a new generation of scientists to conquer the great new challenges facing the country and the region.”

Mexico: early adopters of MasAgro technologies show their achievements

Written by on September 20, 2013. Posted in News.

By Brenna Goth, CIMMYT

Masagro2 Husband-and-wife duo Oscar Hernández Mendoza and Rosa Elena Montiel Díaz said their work with MasAgro helps them improve the lives of farmers in their town. The two made a presentation about their efforts in Úrsulo Galván, Veracruz, on 29 August during CIMMYT’s first symposium for MasAgro experimental platforms. MasAgro, or the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture, is a CIMMYT program coordinated with Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food (SAGARPA).

MasAgro aims to help small-scale farmers implement sustainable farming practices and introduce new technology to help increase their maize and wheat yields. The symposium brought together more than 50 collaborators from different parts of Mexico who are working with MasAgro to increase sustainability, improve yield and lower costs for small-scale farmers. Attendees at the El Batán event saw posters on the various projects and talked with the collaborators about their results. “It has been an opportunity for them to exchange their work,” said Yesenia Soto, who works in training for MasAgro. Posters explained outcomes and future plans from Morelos, Oaxaca, Sonora and Yucatán and other states with crops ranging from maize and wheat to chia and beans. Hernández and Montiel, founders of Grupo Hernádez Montiel, are working with MasAgro to bring new technology to their region and raise maize yields by training farmers. So far, the group has been successful in helping farmers produce more, Hernández said. “We can’t work alone,” he said. “It’s for our people, our producers.”

Masagro1 Jesús Rafael Valenzuela Borbón came to the symposium from Navojoa, in southern Sonora. He is trying to bring conservation agriculture practices to farmers in an area where the main problem is a lack of water. Valenzuela is in charge of an experimental site where he is growing maize and wheat using crop rotation. Use of such practices in the area is minimal, though Valenzuela is looking for support to implement them more widely, he explained. “All of the results are very favorable,” he said.