“Maize is Africa’s most important cereal crop, with more than 300 million of Africa’s most vulnerable people depending on it for their food security and livelihoods,” says B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program. “The emergence of maize lethal necrosis in eastern Africa has dealt a big blow to farming communities and maize-based seed companies.” Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) infection rates and damage can be very high, seriously affecting yields and sometimes causing a complete loss of the crop. Infected plants are frequently barren; ears may be small or deformed and set little or no seed. “There is no maize farmer in the whole of Nyakinywa area in Kaplamai division [Kenya] who has been spared by the disease, which is a danger to food security,” said area chief Francis Morogo in April 2013 in an interview with the Daily Nation newspaper.

Control of MLN is complicated by the fact that it is caused by a combination of two viruses that are difficult to differentiate individually based on visual symptoms. In the past two years, studies undertaken jointly by CIMMYT and KARI have confirmed the vulnerability of most pre-commercial and commercial maize germplasm to MLN under natural disease pressure as well as under artificial inoculation. However, promising CIMMYT inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids with resistance or moderate resistance to MLN have been identified, which offers considerable hope to combating the disease through breeding efforts.

Together, CIMMYT and KARI are now planning to establish a centralized MLN screening facility for eastern Africa at the KARI Livestock Research Farm in Naivasha to facilitate reliable screening of maize germplasm and deliver MLN-resistant varieties to replace existing susceptible cultivars as quickly as possible. “Besides accelerated development and delivery of elite MLN-resistant products to farmers, our aim is also to build the capacity of regional institutions for developing robust breeding pipelines to incorporate MLN-resistant germplasm, and ensure that farmers have access to such products at the earliest opportunity,” Prasanna adds.

The CRP MAIZE will be hosting a side event on the role of maize in Africa at the Africa Agriculture Science Week (15-20 July) on 16 July in Accra, Ghana. Join us if you can and follow the AASW Blog and #AASW6 on Twitter.

Bolivia’s National Institute for Agricultural, Livestock and Forestry Innovation (INIAF), in collaboration with CIMMYT, released two new maize hybrids, INIAF H1 and INIAF HQ2, targeting drought-prone areas with high production potential. The release was announced at an event held on 13-14 June 2013 in Villa Montes and Yacuiba.

The new releases are single-cross hybrids derived from CIMMYT lines. INIAF H1 is a yellow flint hybrid with good lodging resistance and excellent husk cover; INIAF HQ2 is a yellow semi-dent hybrid with high protein content (quality protein maize, QPM) and moderate drought tolerance. Both were tested at Villa Montes, where they competed favorably with two widely sown commercial checks, yielding 7 t/ha despite the low (352 mm) rainfall during the growing season.

While Bolivia is self-sufficient in maize production with about 300,000 ha sown to maize and an average yield of 3.3 t/ha, climate change is starting to impact the agricultural sector just like in other Latin American countries. Weather conditions during the current crop season have been unfavorable for production due to persistent drought, and last week the government declared the region of Chaco, where 80% of the country’s maize is produced, a natural disaster area.

In the light of the challenges, Rubén Vaca, Sector Executive of Villa Montes, who led the event during the first day, congratulated INIAF on its achievements and noted their potential for increasing the profitability of maize production. Similar sentiment was expressed by Nemesia Achacollo, Minister of Land and Rural Development, and José Sosa, Minister of Energy and Hydrocarbons, who attended the event in Yacuiba on day two. Achacollo applauded the release of the hybrids and announced that “the Ministry is allotting 2 million US$ to INIAF to support their maize program.” As the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons is also involved in agriculture, Sosa stated that the urea factory being built in Cochabamba will support the development of Chaco Tarijeño and the country as a whole. Marcial Rengifo, Sector Development Executive of Chaco Tarijeño in Yacuiba, then stressed the importance of the hybrids for Chaco farmers, and Jemy Gonzales, manager of the National Seed Company, committed to multiplying all the hybrids released by INIAF in the future to ensure that high quality seed is accessible to farmers in a timely fashion and at a reasonable price.

After Achacollo presented a hybrids release certificate to INIAF director general Gabriel René Hoyos Bonillas, the coordinator of INIAF’s Maize Program, Tito Claure, thanked everyone present and asked that INIAF’s collaboration with CIMMYT be maintained, adding that he “would join forces with all the national institutions involved in maize production.”

“We must promote QPM, which – due to its superior nutritional qualities – benefits both the people who consume it directly as well as pig farmers,” said Luis Narro, CIMMYT maize breeder and focal point for South America. Narro then encouraged INIAF to adopt doubled haploid technology to reduce the time required to develop new hybrids and indicated that the GreenSeeker handheld sensor could be used to optimize nitrogen fertilization in maize crops.

“The CIMMYT-INIAF collaboration that led to the hybrids release is part of CIMMYT’s regional efforts conducted jointly with an improved germplasm evaluation network in the lowland tropics of Latin America,” said Félix San Vicente, CIMMYT maize breeder for Latin America. “We are ready to strengthen these links in the future in order to be able to handle the negative impacts of climate change on the Chaco region in Bolivia,” he added.

At the end of the event, Narro and San Vicente received awards from the Bolivian authorities in recognition of their inter-institutional collaboration and joint successes.

The Nutrient Expert™ decision support tools for maize and wheat in India were officially launched for public use on 20 June 2013 at the National Agricultural Science Centre Complex in New Delhi during a meeting jointly organized by the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) and CIMMYT.

Beginning in 2009 under the umbrella of the Cereal System Initiative in South Asia (CSISA) and later CRPs MAIZE, WHEAT, and CCAFS, the tools were developed through a joint effort of IPNI, CIMMYT, and national agricultural research systems to help Indian farmers achieve higher yields and profits. These easy-to-use, interactive, computer-based tools capture spatial and temporal variability to provide precise nutrient recommendations to smallholder farmers in the wheat and maize systems of India.

The Nutrient Expert™ was developed in collaboration with target users and local stakeholders from public and private sectors through a series of dialogues and consultations, using site-specific nutrient management principles. As a result, the tools reflect resource constraints of smallholder farmers, lack of access to soil testing, and absence of tillage-specific nutrient management strategies in India. In a three-year validation process assessing their efficacy under contrasting management scenarios, conducted across a large number of locations in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), state agricultural universities, state agriculture departments, and fertilizer and seed industries, the tools have shown improved productivity, profitability, efficiency, and reduced environmental footprints over existing fertilizer management practices. According to Bruno Gerard, Global Conservation Agriculture Program director, “the excellent outputs of the IPNI-CIMMYT partnership will benefit not only South Asia but also other regions.” Adding to the positives of the tools, IPNI vice president Adrian M. Johnston praised their unique ability to link databases for output.

The tools were launched at the presence of CIMMYT director general Thomas Lumpkin, ICAR Crop Sciences deputy director general Swapan K. Datta, agricultural commissioner with the Government of India JS Sandhu, Adrian M. Johnston, Bruno Gerard, and ICAR assistant director general for Natural Resource Management B. Moham Kumar. As India faces many challenges to feed its growing population with changing food habits, Lumpkin emphasized the need for new tools: “We need to apply precision agriculture on each square meter; we need tools like the Nutrient Expert™ and remote-sensing technology to be able to do so.”

During panel discussions following the launch, participants stressed the importance of the tools and charted out the future course of action for their large-scale dissemination. “The challenges currently faced by South Asia should be used as an opportunity to create impact. Enabling farmers to apply fertilizer nutrients correctly and in a more precise way is one such opportunity,” said Datta. The Nutrient Expert™ tools will also help reduce the knowledge gap between extension workers and farmers, he added. Concerned about the degradation of natural resources, Kumar stressed that “excessive and imbalanced use of chemicals significantly contributes to nonpoint source pollution. A precise, site-specific nutrient management approach is a welcome solution to this problem.”

The concluding session, chaired by KD Kokate, ICAR deputy director general for extension, and co-chaired by CIMMYT’s Raj Gupta, provided necessary guidance for dissemination throughout the national system and other stakeholders.

The program was coordinated by IPNI-South Asia director Kaushik Majumdar and CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist ML Jat.

The Government of Nepal and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) awarded Madan Raj Bhatta, Sarala Sharma, Deepak Bhandari, Dhruba Bahadur Thapa, and Nutan Raj Gautam — winners of the first-ever Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Gene Stewardship Award — for their outstanding contribution to food security through development and promotion of rust resistant wheat varieties in the country and for highlighting the country’s research globally. The award – one million Nepalese rupees (11,440 US$) and a plaque – was presented by the Minister of Agricultural Development Tek Bahadur Thapa Gharti on 8 May 2013 on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of NARC in Khumaltar, Lalitpur.

On behalf of the awardees, Bhatta and Sharma thanked the Government of Nepal and NARC for recognizing their contributions and praised the role of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and BGRI in promoting agronomically superior rust-resistant wheat varieties crucial for food security in the region. “I am going to use 100,000 rupees of my prize money to establish a fund awarding two farmers or technicians every year for significant contributions towards wheat rust management,” said Sharma in her award acceptance speech. On behalf of CIMMYT, wheat breeder Arun Joshi congratulated the award-winning team and NARC for their remarkable contributions in bringing about excellence in development and release of rust-resistant wheat varieties, seed multiplication of resistant varieties with diverse genetic backgrounds, disease surveillance, participatory research with farmers, and improvement of livelihoods of small-scale farmers to combat the problems of food security.

“Wheat has played a great role in internal food supply in the country, a role equivalent to more than 26 billion rupees annually,” said B.B. Gurung, NARC executive director. “The new technologies and wheat varieties introduced by the team have brought a significant increment in wheat area and productivity in the last five years,” he added, referring to the increase in wheat area from 0.7 million hectares to 0.8 million, production from 1.4 million tons to 1.8 million, and productivity from 2.1 t/ha to 2.3 t/ha.

Hot models were the main topic of conversation at El Batan during 19-21 June 2013, when international experts from 18 leading research institutions participated in a workshop on “Modeling Wheat Responses to High Temperature.”

This workshop was organized by CIMMYT’s Wheat Physiology group and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in collaboration with the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP).

One key goal of CCAFS and AgMIP is to enhance global climate change impact assessment and adaptation capacity.

This workshop focused on understanding where and why crop simulation models diverge in their simulation of wheat responses to high temperatures. According to one of the workshop organizers, CIMMYT post-doc Phillip Alderman, “Previous studies by AgMIP-Wheat showed that temperature effects are one of the largest limitations in modeling the impacts of climate change. We hope that this workshop will enhance our understanding of wheat responses to high temperatures and facilitate further discussions on improving modeling to predict climate change impacts on wheat.”

The AgMIP-Wheat team will now embark on a systematic analysis of temperature response algorithms, as well as continuing their evaluation of wheat models, using CIMMYT wheat physiology data from high temperature environments.

This research is expected to instigate better policy decisions aimed at improving the food security of thousands of smallholder farmers in least-developed countries who depend on wheat as a staple food and who are most likely to be impacted by climate change.

In recent years seed companies in Tanzania and Uganda have seen tremendous growth, resulting largely from the uptake of new drought tolerant maize varieties from both national and international organizations (see Table 1). This is accompanied by an increasing number of improved maize varieties taken up by the companies, growth in seed production, and general expansion of the companies’ work volume, which results in need for more well-trained technical staff. Recognizing this, several companies in the region turned to CIMMYT with a request for a training course to equip seed technicians with skills to produce seed of various classes and to supply farmers with quality seeds. In response to the request, CIMMYT organized two training sessions: from 8-10 January 2013 in Tanzania and from 10-12 June 2013 in Uganda.

Delivered by James Gethi, Biswanath Das, and Mosisa Worku Regasa, together with Godfrey Asea in Uganda, the course covered all aspects of the seed value chain, including seed processing, quality control of seed production, customer service, contracting growers, maize varieties and their characteristics, seed storage, marketing strategies, and handling of unsold stock; it also touched on agronomy.

In Tanzania the course attracted 25 participants from 8 seed companies; in Uganda there were 39 attendees from 14 seed companies, the Uganda Seed Trade Association (USTA), and the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI).

“Capacity building in local seed companies is important,” said Bob Shuma, executive director of the Tanzania Seed Trade Association (TASTA), encouraging participants to seek opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge of the seed business from CIMMYT and other partners. “Products and services of good quality are key in the process of building customers’ trust, which contributes to the success of the company. This can only be achieved through training and adherence to laws and regulations set by the government,” he added.

To determine the effectiveness of the course and delivery methods, participants were evaluated before and after the course. The pre- and post-course quizzes indicated an improvement of knowledge in both countries by over 34%. Those with top scores on the quiz were recognized for their outstanding performance, and all participants received a CD with resource materials and a copy of The Seed Business Management in Africa (MacRobert 2009).

Godfrey Asea, crop breeder and cereal research leader at NaCRRI, and Masagazi Cliff-Richard, USTA chairman and managing director of Pearl Seeds Ltd, who participated in the course in Uganda, thanked CIMMYT for organizing the training and urged everyone to use the newly-acquired knowledge to produce and supply quality seed to Ugandan farmers. “Uganda needs an improved seed industry,” said Cliff-Richard emphasizing the value of the course.

The CRP MAIZE will be hosting a side event on the role of maize in Africa at the Africa Agriculture Science Week (15-20 July) on 16 July in Accra, Ghana. Join us if you can and follow the AASW Blog and #AASW6 on Twitter.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) awarded Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, CIMMYT agronomist and wheat harvest coordinator, along with Pamela Matson, Walter Falcon, Ashley Dean, Rosamond Naylor, David Lobell, John Harrison, Toby Ahrens, Mike Beman, Lee Addams, Gerrit Schoups, Jose Luis Minjares, Ellen McCullough, David Battisti, and Peter Jewett, the 2013 Sustainability Science Award for their book Seeds of Sustainability: Lessons from the Birthplace of the Green Revolution (2011, Island Press). “This award is given because your book tackles a central challenge of sustainable development: agricultural modernization,” stated Scott Collins, ESA president, in an award letter addressed to Ortiz-Monasterio.

Seeds of Sustainability is the product of 15 years of research, analysis, and evaluation in the Yaqui Valley, one of Mexico’s main bread baskets, the birthplace of the Green Revolution, and the home of CIMMYT’s primary field station, Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB). The book forms an invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers, and students, as it examines new approaches in agriculture that make sense for people and the environment.

“This was possible only thanks to the multidisciplinary approach of our work,” said Ortiz-Monasterio in reaction to the award.

Congratulations to Ivan and his colleagues!

Since obtaining official accreditation in 2007, CIMMYT’s Seed Health Lab (SHL) must undergo a yearly audit to detect any deviation ISO/ IEC 17025 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories). To fulfill this requirement, on 17-18 June 2013, the Mexican Accreditation Entity reviewed the SHL’s quality system and seed testing protocols, and also inspected its new facilities in the Bioscience Building. It applied international standards on the general requirements for testing and calibration laboratories and found zero non-conformities at the SHL.

Monica Mezzalama, SHL head, thanks all SHL staff for their patience, perseverance, and professionalism, which made it possible to achieve this excellent result. Congratulations, SHL!

The national productivity of maize, one of the most important staple crops grown in Ethiopia, is close to 3 tons/ha, a 50% increase since 2008. This increase is attributed mainly to the use of new technologies, including improved varieties such as the ones developed and provided to smallholder farmers by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and CIMMYT. This year, the National Maize Research Program of EIAR in collaboration with CIMMYT released four new varieties for high-potential and drought-prone maize growing areas.

The new varieties include BH546 and BH547, intermediate maturing, three-way cross hybrids released for high-potential maize growing areas, and MH140 and Melkassa-1Q for drought-prone areas. The varieties were either developed from CIMMYT source germplasm or they contain CIMMYT inbred lines as one of their parents. BH546 has a yield advantage of 30% and 10% over BH540 and BH543, the most popular hybrids adapted to the same agro-ecology, with a mean yield potential of 8.7 tons/ha across several locations under optimum management conditions. Its narrow semi-erect leaves make it desirable for high-density planting and inter-cropping with legumes, a common practice in most maize growing areas of the country. BH547 has a grain yield advantage of 26.4% and 7% over BH540 and BH543, respectively, and mean grain yield of 10 tons/ ha. Farmers participating in variety selection preferred the hybrids over the popular varieties for their bigger cob size, good husk cover, high yield potential, and better reaction to known diseases of the area.

MH140, originally developed by CIMMYT-Zimbabwe, is a highly stable high-yielding hybrid tolerant to drought and low nitrogen stresses, as well as major foliar diseases of the central rift valley of Ethiopia. MH140 showed a yield advantage of 18% and 10% over the popular hybrids of the drought prone areas, MH130 and MHQ138, respectively. Melkasa1Q, developed for dry and marginal maize growing areas of Ethiopia, is a quality protein maize version of an extra-early maturing open-pollinated variety Melkasa-1 developed through backcrossing-cum- recurrent selection. The whole grain of Melkasa1Q contains 3.9% lysine and 0.9% tryptophan, about twofold of the levels in Melkassa-1; it shows an 11% grain yield increase over Melkasa-1, with mean grain yield of 4.6 tons/ha.

EIAR in collaboration with CIMMYT and the Ministry of Agriculture have begun variety demonstration and popularization to promote the seed delivery system. Private and public seed companies involved in seed production can take up these varieties and embark on their production and marketing.

EIAR thanks CIMMYT breeders, seed specialists, and project leaders Dagne Wegary, Dan Makumbi, Amsal Tarekegne, Cosmos Magorokosho, Tsedeke Abate, and Mulugeta Mekuria for their technical and financial support leading to the release of the varieties.

Although many of us know that cereals such as maize contain starch, very few of us are aware of its usefulness and numerous applications. Luis Arturo Bello from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) is one of a number of Mexican scientists who are internationally recognized for their knowledge and research on starch, especially corn starch. Bello, along with other researchers from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM)-Juriquilla and CIMMYT, discussed various aspects of starch with representatives of the academic and industrial sectors during a course combining theory and practice sponsored by the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative at the Center for Applied Physics and Advanced Technology (CFATA-UNAM), in the city of Querétaro on 3-5 June 2013.

“We know that compounds such as starch, proteins, and oil, among others, are very important for the quality of the finished product, which is what people consume. This is why the food industry is interested in learning more about starch and identifying maize varieties with optimal traits for food processing and production,” said Mario Rodríguez of UNAM during the event.

The course highlighted how maize starch content influences food processing and preparation (for example, the nixtamalization process for making tortillas), as well as its varied uses and nutritional roles. Course participants also had the opportunity of learning the theory underlying X-ray technology, electronic microscopy, and rheology, and of identifying the diverse forms and composition of maize starch.

The course brought out the importance of exploring maize genetic diversity as a potential source of resistant starches and dietary fiber, and of starches with different forms, structures, and sizes. As part of the human diet, these starches influence the glycemic index, which indicates how quickly carbohydrates such as starch are digested and absorbed by the human body. Some starches have a very rapid glycemic index (they are absorbed very quickly), and others, such as resistant starches, have a slower one.

The glycemic index is important in conditions such as diabetes, where glucose levels have to be controlled, or in diets aimed at gaining or recovering energy reserves. In disorders such as obesity, a lot of glucose accumulates, fat metabolism is activated, and fats are stored in adipose tissue.

“By exploring and understanding the genetic diversity of maize landraces through initiatives such as MasAgro, we are finding new ways of improving and conserving it,” said Natalia Palacios, maize nutritional quality researcher at CIMMYT. “Starch is only one of many nutritional and industrial compounds that are useful to us.”

“Reducing post-harvest losses is key to increasing availability of food as it is not only important to increase domestic food production but also to protect what is produced by minimizing losses,” stated Zechariah Luhanga, Permanent Secretary, Provincial Administration at the Office of the President, Eastern Province, at the Provincial Stakeholders Workshop on Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP-II) held in Chipata, Zambia, on 29 May 2013. “We as the key stakeholders and participants in the agricultural sector can enhance food security and improve incomes of resource poor farmers and artisans by promoting improved storage technologies such as metal silos and hermetic bags in Zambia.”

The workshop had five main objectives: (1) to provide a forum for exchange of ideas, information, and research outputs on EGSP-II among stakeholders in Chipata; (2) to raise awareness on post-harvest losses and dissemination of effective grain storage technologies among provincial stakeholders; (3) to consult provincial stakeholders on effective postharvest technologies, policy environment, and market issues for the purpose of refining, updating, and implementing EGSP-II; (4) to engage in policy dialogue on matters related to storage and find means of enhancing adoption of the technology; and (5) to acquaint key stakeholders in the province with the post-harvest technology and ways to enhance its adoption among farmers.

Maize suffers heavy post-harvest losses estimated at 20-30%. “The main underlying factor is that most of the small-scale farmers do not have access to improved storage facilities,” explains Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT entomologist and EGSP-II coordinator. Ivor Mukuka, EGSP national coordinator for Zambia, noted that since the larger grain borer was first found in Zambia in 1993, there have been sporadic outbreaks causing substantial losses in maize. “For instance, rapid loss assessments in Lundazi and Chama districts revealed losses ranging from 5-74%. Other studies indicate storage losses of between 45-90% based on farmers’ estimation,” he added.

Luhanga reminded participants that grain post-harvest management development requires active participation of all stakeholders, including government, research systems, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector in bringing the technologies to farmers’ doorsteps. “You need to make sure to set priority activities so that they address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers regarding maize grain post-harvest management, but also expand their opportunities in the maize sector,” Luhanga urged more than 50 stakeholders present in the meeting.

Besides post-harvest loss reduction, the metal silo technology provides huge business opportunities to artisans. “Engaging in metal silo fabrication and marketing can create jobs and rural enterprise development,” said Egbet Munganama, principal agricultural engineer at the Department of Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Zambia. According to Jones Govereh, EGSP policy analyst, artisans can earn over US$ 3,000 per year if they fabricates just five silos a month on average. “This is an attractive income for micro-entrepreneurs but commercially oriented entrepreneurs can earn much more,” he explained.

“Improved maize storage technologies have a great potential impact on food security as most households lose much of their maize due to poor storage facilities,” concluded CIMMYT principal economist Hugo De Groote, considering that maize is the major food crop in Zambia.

Tadele thanked the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for funding EGSP-II, a project aiming to reduce post-harvest losses, enhance food security, and improve incomes of resource-poor farmers in Zambia.