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

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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
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
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

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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

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By Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT

Left to right: Horacio RodrĂ­guez, MasAgro Extension Coordinator; VĂ­ctor LĂłpez, MasAgro Institutional Relations Manager; Nuria UrquĂ­a, FAO Representative in Mexico; Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General; and Julio CĂ©sar Rosette Castro, PESA Director General Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT
Left to right: Horacio RodrĂ­guez, MasAgro Extension Coordinator; VĂ­ctor LĂłpez, MasAgro Institutional Relations Manager; Nuria UrquĂ­a, FAO Representative in Mexico; Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General; and Julio CĂ©sar 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 UrquĂ­a, FAO representative in Mexico, and Julio CĂ©sar 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.

VĂ­ctor LĂłpez (center)illustrates the use of CIMMYT’s low-cost seed planters to Nuria UrquĂ­a and Julio CĂ©sar Rosette Castro. Photo: Miriam Shindler/CIMMYT
VĂ­ctor LĂłpez (center)illustrates the use of CIMMYT’s low-cost seed planters to Nuria UrquĂ­a and Julio CĂ©sar 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

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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-CIMMYTThe 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

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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
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
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

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By Brenna Goth, CIMMYT

Masagro2Husband-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.”

Masagro1JesĂșs Rafael Valenzuela BorbĂłn 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.

MasAgro trainees evaluate maize quality and improve tortilla production

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By Natalia Palacios, CIMMYT

Tortilla5Mexico is the fifth highest maize-consuming country in the world. It is also the number one consumer of maize for food, given that its population eats 70 percent of available maize grain every year. The national food maize groups included in this percentage can be divided into three main types: home consumption, the nixtamalized flour industry and the maize dough and tortilla industry. Businesses in the latter sector must supply maize grain of uniform quality so that maize processing will be more efficient, stable and profitable. With this in mind, 30 Mexican dough and tortilla manufacturers, grain marketers and seed producers attended a practical training course entitled “Maize Grain Quality and Technology” given by researchers from the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative from 2 to 3 September in the Cereals Laboratory of the School of Agroindustrial Engineering of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh).

Representatives from UACh, the National Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and CIMMYT studied the effects that physical, structural and chemical grain characteristics have on tortilla appearance and the tortilla-making process. Course participants tried several simple methods for evaluating grain quality and the efficiency of tortilla making. They also did some very basic testing to determine the quality of the tortillas they made. “By using these lab techniques and processing maize grain with different textures and colors, and seeing the difference it makes in the appearance, texture and color of the tortillas, I acquired the tools I need to evaluate the grain I buy for my business,” said one of the participants. “Up to now, I’ve constantly been adjusting the process and mixing different types of grain and I always get the same quality, but sometimes I don’t get it right and I lose a lot of money.”

Tortilla1After exchanging their experiences, businessmen, grain merchants and seed producers showed interest in revising Mexican Regulation (Norma Mexicana) 034-1 on grain quality to make the range of values match the current dough- and tortilla-making process. In their opinion, the different links of the maize production chain are increasingly demanding when it comes to the raw materials, processes and products they use. For this reason, Gricelda Vázquez of INIFAP’s Valley of Mexico Experiment Station (CEVAMEX) thinks continued collaboration among research and industrial institutions is needed to ensure that research results extend beyond the production process. As David Tecotl pointed out, “Only by attending these courses at the university do we acquire firsthand knowledge of these important alternatives.” He and his fellow trainees tested the best techniques for mixing nixtamalized flour (of bean, barley, oat, amaranth, and maize) to make more nutritionally rich tortillas, as did the UACh students who are doing their Ph.D. research under the supervision of Ofelia Buendía, one of the course organizers.

CIMMYT launches mobile phone voice messaging for climate-smart villages in India

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Photo credit: S. Mittal/CIMMYT
Photo credit: S. Mittal/CIMMYT

A new pilot program is trying to reach farmers in India with information on weather, pests and climate change — through their mobile phones. CIMMYT launched the “Dissemination of climate smart agro-advisories to farmers in CCAFS benchmark sites of India” project on 15 August in four villages of the Karnal District in the State of Haryana and in the Vaishali District in the State of Bihar on 1 September. The project is led by CIMMYT‘s Surabhi Mittal with IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited as the content partner and Kisan Sanchar as the dissemination and implementing agency.

The project has aims to help farmers clarify information about climate-smart technology; help them adopt technologies that could mitigate their risks due to climate change; and to measure how receiving information on mobile phones affects farmers. Its reach covers 1,200 male and female farmers in eight villages and will run for 8 months on a pilot level. Farmers whose mobile numbers are in the project database receive two voice messages every day along with detailed SMS messages – in Hindi when required. These messages give weather predictions, information about pests and remedies, details of climate smart technologies and general information about climate change and solutions. Some farmers belong to the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) climate smart villages and some belong to control villages in the Karnal and Vaishali districts.

Challenges building this mobile number database included farmers who could not receive messages from unknown numbers. The project team worked with farmers to authorize the messages and get permission from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to unblock them. Encouraging women to participate was another hurdle. Due to cultural barriers, men were not willing to share the contact numbers of their wives. Awareness and focus group discussions held in Karnal from 29 to 30 August helped solve the issue. Project Leader Mittal met the Sarpanch, or the elected head, of the villages as well as with government women health workers known as Anganwadi workers. The four villages in Karnal have women Sarpanch, helped mobilize women farmers and women in households headed by men. In Bihar, a female scout is working closely with women farmers and has created women’s groups to for the project.

Photo credit: S. Mittal/CIMMYT
Photo credit: S. Mittal/CIMMYT

Customized feedback is built into the project. First, a helpline allows farmers to give feedback and ask for responses to questions. Some questions are instantly sorted out, some are diverted to other experts and some responses are collected and the farmer is called later. The feedback is converted the next day into voice messages if it is relevant to a wider group of farmers. The other form of feedback is filtered back by field scouts who interact closely with the farmers, frequent focus group discussions and through a bi-weekly structured feedback form. Efforts are being made to make the information more relevant, timely, customized and useful for the farmers. The research and field teams have to work closely and proactively to meet the farmers’ diverse requests. Efforts to compile farmers’ correct phone numbers and to make farmers aware of the benefits of learning about new technologies are great challenges. But the enthusiasm of farmers – shown through an increased listening rate to the voice messages and an increasing number of calls to the helpline – is a great motivation for the project team.

Article author Surabhi Mittal was quoted in India’s Financial Chronicle on the subject. Read the story here.

Pathology Research Greenhouse opened in Ankara, Turkey, honors researcher

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A new greenhouse opened at the Central Field Crop Research Institute in Ankara, Turkey, honoring Senior Pathologist Lutfi Cetin for his contribution to wheat pathology research. The new, state-of-the-art greenhouse allows independent work on yellow, leaf, and stem rust throughout the year. The greenhouse has three sections—one for each of the rusts studied—and can maintain its temperature throughout winter frosts and hot summers. Its construction was supported by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey, FAO, and IFAD.Turquía

The pathogen collected in June of this year has been already multiplied in the greenhouse. The pathology group of the Central Field Crop Research Institute represents one of the few labs in the region dealing with rust at all stages and plays important role in research, breeding, and training. A half-day workshop was held on 27 August 2013 at the institute to recognize Mr. Cetin’s contributions.
Mr. Cetin started his wheat carrier more than 30 years ago and has been closely associated with the International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (Turkey-CIMMYT-ICARDA) in developing yellow rust resistant germplasm for the past 20 years. In the mid-1990s, when the cooperative work started, the frequency of yellow rust resistant entries did not exceed 20 to 30%. The pathology screening field with artificial inoculation was established in Haymana near Ankara with reliable and heavy infection by yellow and other rusts. This work later developed into broader rust pathology research including monitoring, pathotype identification, and screening in the seedling stage. The pathology group now annually evaluates 6,000 to 8,000 lines and populations from IWWIP in the field and around 1,000 in the seedling stage.

CIMMYT sets the stage for a CONACYT partnership

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CIMMYT will explore potential partnership opportunities with the research centers of Mexico’s National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT), which specialize in exact and natural sciences and technological development. At least six of these centers focus on areas of interest to CIMMYT, explained Inocencio Higuera, Associate Director of CONACYT’s 27 research centers, during a visit to CIMMYT Headquarters on 30 August 2013. Of the 27 centers, the Food and Development Research Center (CIAD), the Scientific Research Institute of Yucatan (CICY), the Center for Innovative Applied Research on Competitive Technologies (CIATEC), and the Ecology Institute (INECOL) have projects on crop pathology, production and nutrition systems, and other areas of agricultural research. Higuera also pointed out MasAgro activities could contribute to Mexico’s National Food Initiative (INSAM), which seeks to increase the production and availability of basic food staples through natural resource conservation and sustainable agriculture.CONACYT2

“In principle, CONACYT and CIMMYT could work together to design a postgraduate course that would place Mexico on the cutting edge of training and research targeting the exploration and use of crop genetic resources,” said Marianne BĂ€nziger, CIMMYT’s Deputy Director General for Research and Partnerships. “CIMMYT could also develop collaborative research projects for assessing maize grain quality and nutritional value with CONACYT centers working on enhancing grain productivity.” In this way, CIMMYT has set the stage for establishing a partnership that would allow it to pursue these and other opportunities with CONACYT

Maize stover: an underutilized resource for rainfed India

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Rastrojo-de-maízIntroducing maize stover into India’s commercial dairy systems could mitigate fodder shortages and halt increasing fodder costs, according to new research by CIMMYT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The two organizations collaborated on the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia project (CSISA), which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), as well as the CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE. Their study shows that while significant variations exist among maize cultivars in terms of their stover quantity and fodder quality, stover from some high yielding popular hybrids is at par or even better value with the best sorghum stover traded. Sorghum stover, the above-ground biomass left after grain harvest, supports much of the urban and near-urban dairy production in peninsular India.

Between 130 and 200 tons of sorghum stover are sold daily in the fodder markets of Hyderabad alone. Some of the stover is transported several hundred kilometers and costs, on a dryweight basis, about 50% of the price of sorghum grain, which is up from 20 to 30% just 15 years ago. Sorghum stover’s high monetary value can be explained by India’s demand for sorghum fodder, and possibly to a decline in the area of sorghum planted. The crop has been replaced with maize in some regions. Dairy farmers and fodder traders in India generally think maize stover is less suitable than sorghum stover as livestock feed. To challenge the negative perceptions about maize stover, maize stover of a popular high-yielding hybrid with high-quality stover fodder was provided to a commercial dairy producer in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Rastrojo-de-maíz2This dairy producer had maintained his eight improved Murrah buffaloes on a diet typical of that of urban and near-urban dairy systems in peninsular India. It consisted of 60% sorghum stover and 40% a homemade concentrate mix of 15% wheat bran, 54% cotton seed cake, and 31% husks and hulls from threshed pigeon-pea. Each of the dairy producer’s buffaloes consumed about 9.5 kg of sorghum stover and 6.5 kg of the concentrate mix per day and produced an average of 8.9 kg of milk per day. This dairy producer purchased sorghum stover at 6.3 Indian rupees (Rs) per kilogram. Together with the cost for concentrates, his feed cost totalled 18.2 Rs per kg of milk while his sale price was 28 Rs per kg of milk. In this trial, the dairy farmer purchased maize stover at 3.8 Rs per kg. When he substituted sorghum stover with maize stover, his average yield increased from 8.9 to 9.4 kg of milk per buffalo per day while his overall feed costs decreased from 18.2 to 14.5 Rs per kg of milk per day. The substitution of sorghum stover with maize increased his profits from 3.7 Rs per kg of milk, apart from an additional 0.5kg milk per buffalo.

This study demonstrated the big potential benefits for India’s smallholder rainfed maize and dairy farmers of adopting dual-purpose, food-and-feed maize cultivars, which combine high grain yield with high fodder quality. In this way, farmers can help solve the problem of fodder scarcity while increasing the benefits of their maize cropping. “Poultry and animal feed has been the major driver for unprecedented increase in demand of maize in South & Southeast Asia. The dual-purpose maize, with high stover quality along with high grain yield, is emerging as another big driver that can further add in the increasing demand for maize in this region” says CIMMYT Maize Breeder P.H. Zaidi, who is actively collaborating with ILRI-Hyderabad, India.

Pollen traps monitor for transgenes in CIMMYT germplasm

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Two sets of filters made of polypropylene fibers in the upper part of the trap passively collect airborne pollen.
Two sets of filters made of polypropylene fibers in the upper part of the trap passively collect airborne pollen.

The ten tall pollen traps that recently sprouted in the fields at El Batán could replace growing and harvesting maize as a cheaper, easier, and more comprehensive method of monitoring germplasm for transgenes. The traps are part of a pilot project that leaders from CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank and Seed Health Laboratory are testing at the three experiment stations in Mexico.

The unintentional presence of transgenes can be a concern for those requesting germplasm from CIMMYT’s bank. CIMMYT does not grow transgenic maize on-site, but transgenic pollen could come in from surrounding areas, said Denise Costich, head of the Maize Germplasm Bank. CIMMYT does not expect to detect GMO pollen in its nurseries, but there are other maize growers near the El Batán station. “The bottom line is that we need to be able to guarantee to our clients that, to the best of our knowledge, the seed we are sending them is GMO free,” Costich said. The current testing process, which has been used since 2008, involves growing border rows of maize and sending the resulting grain to an independent laboratory in Iowa. It requires harvesting and sending 10 or 15 kilograms of maize per station, and each load requires about 10 samples at more than $200 each. Testing occurs every cycle, which is once per year in El Batán and twice per year in Agua Fría and Tlaltizapán.

The new traps—called Pollen Mass Filter samplers (PMF)—collect airborne pollen for four weeks. The pollen is then extracted, filtered, and shipped to the lab in a small tube. It’s a lighter and more compact load than the grain, and, as opposed to harvesting, the pollen traps only require a filter change and one sample per cycle. The PMF system will also be more comprehensive. The CIMMYT gene bank grows maize varieties from all over the world with a wide range of flowering times but the border row method only monitors the flowering period of the specific maize variety used in the border.

Frieder Hofmann demonstrates how to rinse the pollen from a trap, with Seed Health Laboratory research assistant, Benjamin Asael MartĂ­nez, holding the collection bottle.
Frieder Hofmann demonstrates how to rinse the pollen from a trap, with Seed Health Laboratory research assistant, Benjamin Asael MartĂ­nez, holding the collection bottle.

A continuous, non-biological pollen monitoring system, on the other hand, can cover diversity in flowering times, Costich said. Thirteen pollen samples have already been sent to Iowa, with all testing negative for the presence of transgenes, said Monica Mezzalama, head of the Seed Health Laboratory and member of the Biosafety Committee. Both methods of monitoring are being used this year. Costich said she researched the traps, which are popular in Europe, after thinking there had to be a more efficient monitoring method than testing kilograms of maize seed. The traps arrived from Germany at the end of May, followed by Frieder Hofmann, the inventor of the pollen sampler and an expert on environmental monitoring, who helped to assemble the traps and trained the team how to use them. During this summer cropping cycle, ten traps have been installed at El BatĂĄn, while the Agua FrĂ­a and TlaltizapĂĄn stations each have one.

The goal of this pilot year is to determine how well the traps work, how much pollen is collected, and how many traps are needed for a comprehensive monitoring system. Costich said the next step for testing the detection ability of the PMF system is to install the traps in an area where transgenic maize is currently being grown.

Training on weed control in direct seeded rice will boost farmers’ confidence

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CSISA scientists address farmers’ concerns on Direct Seeded Rice method in Haryana
The Dry Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) method is gaining popularity in north India, thanks to the researchers, agricultural departments, and enterprising farmers of Punjab and Haryana who have made efforts to implement it on a large scale. Faced with the threats of depleting groundwater, shortage of farm labor, rising production costs, and climate variability, more and more farmers are adopting this alternative method of sowing rice. It promises to be both environmentally friendly and cost efficient.

Compared to the more widely used method where seeds are first germinated in a nursery and then the rice seedlings are manually transplanted to the fields, DSR involves sowing seeds directly in the fields with the help of a machine called a Multi Crop Planter. This technique has been popular in some developed countries of the world, including the U.S., but is new for farmers in India. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India has been promoting this technique through its two flagship schemes, the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY). DSR brings many benefits to farmers—it reduces cultivation costs by 5,100 rupees (78 USD) per hectare, reduces water consumption by 25%, and increases profitability up to 4,600 (70 USD) rupees per hectare. “Moreover, when wheat is grown after a crop of DSR, wheat productivity has been found 8 to 10% higher than when grown after a crop of conventional cultivated rice,” says Virender Kumar from CSISA.

Reports find DSR effective in reducing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. CCAFS and Greenhouse Gas Emission quantification project are studying the benefits of conservation agricultural practices, like zero tillage DSR, on greenhouse gas emissions. “For each tonne of rice production with conservation agriculture based management practices, on average 400 kg CO2 equivalent was reduced compared to conventional puddled transplanted rice,” says ML Jat from CCAFS.

Haryana promotes direct seeded paddy
The State Agriculture Department, Haryana Agricultural University, and Farmers Commission are now promoting the use of DSR in Haryana because of its benefits. Four years ago, only 226 hectares of area was under DRS in Haryana. This number has increased to 8000 hectares in 2012 and is targeted to cover 20,000 hectares in 2013. However, access to effective weed management and cost-effective herbicides still remain a challenge and will affect the success of this technology in the long term.

As with any new technique, the phase of building awareness, training and responding to farmers’ concerns is integral to making DSR technique successful. Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), a project funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID along with other stakeholders, launched a campaign in May to encourage farmers to adopt DSR in Haryana. The campaign included technical trainings on DSR for farmers and service providers, meetings with different stakeholders to identify and solve the problems of availability of inputs including machinery and seed, mass-media programs like radio talks, and distribution of pamphlets in the local language. The campaign reached the farmer at the field and village level for their direct feedback and to understand their problems. “Synergy between different public-private stakeholders, feedback from farmers, and technical inputs to the farmers at the right time are necessary after a series of intensive trainings to make a transformation like Direct Seeded Rice technology a success,” says B.R. Kamboj from CSISA. CSISA, in collaboration with IFC-Dunar Foods Limited and the Haryana State Department of Agriculture, organized a travelling seminar on 14 August in different villages of the Asandh block of the Karnal district. Farmers highlighted their concerns, which included late availability of the subsidized inputs such as seeds, herbicides, and machinery, and weed problems even after the proper application of herbicides.

Responding to various issues, representatives from the organizations suggested the application of preemergence herbicide, which prevent the germination of weed seeds such as pendimethalin, is necessary for effective weed management in DSR; on machinery, farmers could establish farmer cooperatives and pool resources to purchase the machinery; on less germination, sowing should be done by the expert service providers. It is also critical to use the proper setting of the sowing depth of the machine. The participants also visited the DSR fields of different villages including Balla, Salwan, Dupedi, and Padhana. While the crops looked very healthy, symptoms of zinc deficiency and excessive use of urea were seen. B. R. Kamboj demonstrated how to identify the weeds and advised on judicious use of pesticides for effective control of insects, diseases, and weeds. To ensure a good harvest from the DSR fields, the next step is timely control of insects and pests. Farmers must learn to identify the insect and pests and the right stage to control them. The Department of Agriculture will provide regular visits and trainings on insect pest management (IPM) in some identified DSR villages. “This will be a very important activity to build the confidence in the farmers to continue using DSR technique,” Kamboj says.

Mathematical models could further CIMMYT’s reach

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Mathematical models could boost CIMMYT’s impact on Mexico, a leading scientist in the United States said last month. Carlos Castillo-Chavez, a Mexican-born scientist and professor at Arizona State University, visited El Batán from 21 to 23 August to meet with the staff of the MasAgro program and the Biometrics and Statistics Unit. His trip focused on learning about and giving input on CIMMYT programs as well as seeking opportunities for collaboration with ASU.

Castillo-Chavez is part of U.S. President Barack Obama’s Committee on the National Medal of Science, whose members help select medal candidates from among top U.S. scientists. Castillo-Chavez grew up in Mexico City with interests in theater and literature but thought he would be more successful pursuing math. He moved to the United States in 1974 and worked odd jobs before starting college in Wisconsin and later earning a PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He first visited CIMMYT about two decades ago and was the PhD adviser at Cornell University for Carlos Hernández, the head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit. Castillo-Chavez’s research focuses on the intersection between math, natural sciences, and social sciences. He studies disease evolution and social landscapes, including tuberculosis and SARS, the role of mass transit systems in the spread of influenza in Mexico, and “social diseases” such as drinking and drug use. Castillo- Chavez founded the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center at ASU and has received various awards at the national level for his research, teaching, and mentorship of minority students.

Bringing research to the people it could benefit is often a complicated and political process, Castillo- Chavez said. Scientists have the responsibility to communicate their research to the public, but policymakers set the course for “trendy” research topics. It’s an issue that needs to change, he said. And it could change with more interdisciplinary programs that have direct ties to and benefits for society. “Most problems of interest to Mexico don’t always apply to what’s current or hot in international academia,” Castillo- Chavez said. “There is no reason why Mexico should not have its own research agenda that may or may not intersect with the U.S.” He said during the visit that his research on contagion and how information spreads applies to the work CIMMYT is doing. Mathematical models can be used to study and increase the impact CIMMYT’s research has on Mexico by assessing the culture and identifying obstacles, he said. By communicating the research to enough people, “a culture change takes place where farmers and politicians are in constant communication to implement CIMMYT research,” Castillo- Chavez said. ASU and CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit could collaborate on this research by mentoring and training young people who would work closely with both institutions, he said, adding that he’s interested in exploring those possibilities.

During his visit, Castillo-Chavez learned MasAgro is an example of a project that targets a local population, he said. But the challenge with all advancements is finding the right leaders to put them into place. “It’s clear the research could generate dramatic improvements if implemented,” he said. “Nationally, we would see incredible advances in sustainable agriculture.”

Release of 22 new CIMMYT maize lines: CMLs 540 to 561

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Nine of the CMLs in the list have already proven their mettle in breeding programs in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, CML541 and CM542 are among the constituent lines of ZM309, an improved, early-maturing, drought tolerant open-pollinated variety widely used for commercial cultivation in several African countries. Others have been used as parental lines for commercial hybrids.
Nine of the CMLs in the list have already proven their mettle in breeding programs in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, CML541 and CM542 are among the constituent lines of ZM309, an improved, early-maturing, drought tolerant open-pollinated variety widely used for commercial cultivation in several African countries. Others have been used as parental lines for commercial hybrids.

CIMMYT is pleased to announce the release of 22 new CIMMYT maize lines (CMLs). Developed through repeated cycles of selection and self-pollination of single plants, inbred lines are the building blocks of maize genetics and breeding. These lines can be crossed to produce high-yielding hybrids or open pollinated maize varieties. The lines were developed at various breeding locations of CIMMYT Global Maize Program by multi-disciplinary teams of scientists. These lines are adapted to tropical/subtropical maize production environments targeted by CIMMYT and the partner institutions. CMLs are freely available to both public and private sector breeders worldwide under CIMMYT’s standard material transfer agreement (SMTA).

Prior to their release, CMLs are intensively evaluated for per se performance (especially under abiotic and biotic stresses) and performance in hybrid combinations (combining ability). The descriptions accompanying the released lines include heterotic group classification and information on their specific combining ability with some widely-used CIMMYT lines. Instances where CMLs within a given heterotic group have good combining ability with other lines from the same heterotic group are also cited; the resulting hybrids may be useful either as single-cross products or as female parents of three-way or double-cross hybrids. Nine of the CMLs in the list have already proven their mettle as parental lines of commercial maize cultivars in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, CML541 and CM542 are among the constituent lines of ZM309, an improved, early-maturing, drought tolerant open-pollinated variety widely used for commercial cultivation in several African countries (see “ZM 309 gets presidential nod in Malawi”). Seven other CMLs (CML544 to CML548, CML558 and CML561) have been used as parental lines of commercial hybrids in sub-Saharan Africa. To obtain small amounts of seed of the newly released CMLs, send a request to the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank.