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DTMA participates in One Acre Fund field day in Kenya

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Tsedeke-KendraOn 12 June 2012, the Drought Tolerant Maize in Africa (DTMA) project leader, Tsedeke Abate, led a group from CIMMYT in a farmer field day organized by the non-governmental organization “One Acre Fund” in Kendu Bay, Nyanza Province, Kenya. The event brought together 90 participants including farmers, seed companies, research organizations, and government representatives from the local agricultural office and administration. The organization invited the different stakeholders to participate in the event and give feedback on the crops on the farm, including maize, sorghum, beans, cowpeas, chick peas, and pigeon peas.

Kendra Levine, One Acre Fund’s program manager, indicated that they were keen on picking the best varieties for their farmers and it was beneficial to have the different stakeholders participate in the field day “and get their input on what we can do for the next rainfall season.”

Drought tolerant maize varieties KDV1, KDV2, KDV4 were on the demonstration farm. These benefit farmers, many of whom are experiencing climate change-induced drought, as they can tolerate drought stress but also thrive in optimal conditions. Ibrahim Siundu, a representative of Dryland Seed Company, encouraged farmers to plant crops that would mature within a short period and drought tolerant maize varieties.

“Our responsibility is to show that there are options,” said Tsedeke Abate, explaining the role of research institutions such as CIMMYT in availing suitable seed to farmers.

Most farmers present were women and older people. A student on attachment at the local agriculture office challenged the youth to be more actively involved in farming. “Let us go back to the farm and help our parents,” he urged his peers.

The main message from stakeholders was that in working together in the field of agriculture, farmers can make tangible steps in contributing to food security in the country, particularly in the scenario of changing climates.

One Acre Fund works with 78,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, providing them with farm inputs, financing, training, and market facilitation. They also provide crop insurance.

DTMA building capacity for maize research in the Kingdom of Swaziland

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DTMA19 During 25 – 30 June 2012, CRP MAIZE and FAO-Swaziland supported the participation of 32 maize researchers and technicians in a maize training course in Mbabane, Swaziland. The course attracted agricultural researchers and extension staff from the Department of Agricultural Research and Special Services (DARSS), NGOs, and seed companies. MAIZE supported participants from Botswana and Lesotho. Course objectives included a refresher for researchers and technical staff on implementing field trials, seed production, and use of Fieldbook software. The training combined theory and field practicals on experimental design, data analysis, and identification of maize pests and diseases. The training was officially opened by the FAO representative in Swaziland, Michael Connelly, who emphasized the importance of trial management and variety testing in Swaziland.

The course gave researchers and technicians insights into variety testing. This was particularly relevant for Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, as they don’t have breeding programs and depend on CIMMYT’s regional trials to identify maize germplasm adapted to their countries. The participants were very eager to learn how to design, implement, and analyze mother-baby trials, which evaluate new maize varieties with farming communities. The mother trial is grown in the center of the community and contains 12-20 new and old varieties, and farmers grow subsets of four varieties each in baby trials in their own fields, using their own management practices. At harvest, they provide feedback about the new varieties, referring to traits that are important to them such as yield, taste, or storage pest resistance.

“I wish to thank CIMMYT for conducting the course,” said Similo Mavimbela, a senior research officer from the DARSS. “It is my feeling that the participants benefited from the expertise of CIMMYT and gained better understanding of the experimental designs. We are now going to employ the most relevant design for different experiments and save time and space. We also have better understanding of the MBTs approach to implement on-farm trials. With support from FAO, we will be implementing the on-farm trial this season so skills obtained from this course will be put to good use.” Mavimbela added that they had also learnt how to use Fieldbook software to prepare seed, produce seed labels, design trials, and analyze data.

CIMMYT thanks the course organizers and resource persons Cinisani Tfwala, Abraham Cutter Dlamini, Hanson Hlophe, Thembinkosi Gumedze, and Similo Mavimbela from the DARSS, Michael Connelly of FAO-Swaziland, and CIMMYT’s Peter Setimela, Cosmos Magorokosho, Jill Cairns, Sebastian Mawere, and Simba Chisoro.
DTMA21

Training on statistical analysis in agricultural research in Kabul, Afghanistan

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The agricultural research network in Afghanistan has been increasing in size and strength ever since reconstruction activities in the country began. Major disciplines such as crop improvement and agronomy have been developing new crop varieties and production management techniques that help Afghan farmers increase their harvests. Agricultural statistics and, in particular, the statistical analysis of crop research results are areas that have yet to see major infrastructure establishment or capacity building. Research data generated every year need to be properly analyzed and interpreted in order to formulate technical recommendations.

CIMMYT-Afghanistan organized a two-day training course on “Statistical Analysis in Agricultural Research” on June 25-26, 2012, at the CIMMYT office in Kabul under the ACIAR-sponsored project “Sustainable Wheat and Maize Production in Afghanistan.” The course was conducted by Dr. Girish Chandra Mishra, Professor of Agricultural Statistics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. It was attended by eight researchers from ARIA (Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan), two from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), and one from JDA (Joint Development Associates), an NGO engaged in agricultural research and extension in northern Afghanistan.

The course was inaugurated by Mr. Abdul Latif Rasekh, Acting Director of ARIA, who expressed satisfaction with its timeliness, given that data generated by ARIA research stations need to be analyzed for formulating valid recommendations. Dr. Rajiv Sharma, CIMMYT-Afghanistan CLO, recalled that at the first ARIA-CIMMYT wheat workshop, the need for such training was highlighted by most wheat researchers. He also talked about the need to apply relevant statistical principles not only in data analysis but also when designing experiments.

KABUL1Dr. Mishra began the course by reviewing basic statistical concepts and discussing the statistical tools and concepts needed to design and analyze field experiments that would lead to scientifically valid interpretations. He went on to describe how to choose experimental designs, lay out field experiments, and analyze and interpret the results. He had the participants do useful exercises as well as analyze data for hands-on experience. All the participants were keenly interested and excited to have the opportunity to analyze and interpret data from their own experiments. The general feeling at the end of the two-day event was that it should have lasted at least a week. Upon presenting certificates to course participants, Mr. Qasem Obaidi, ARIA Director, thanked Dr. Mishra and CIMMYT for the capacity building effort and expressed his wish that a follow-up course be held to help consolidate the gains and enable Afghan researchers to learn more about experimental design and analysis.

G20 agriculture report praises a Mexican program geared at raising maize and wheat production

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A report by the G20 Agriculture Group recognized that the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program (MasAgro) is a Mexican initiative that could serve as a model for coordinating research and development, innovation, technology transfer, as well as public-private partnerships in the agri-food sector.

At a meeting where a specialized group of the B20 (Business 20, which includes the private sector) and representatives of the World Economic Forum (WEF) focused on Mexico, Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Francisco Mayorga Castañeda, explained that the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) has supported including food security as a priority while Mexico is chair of the G20. He  also pointed out that the MasAgro program is aimed at raising productivity based on small farms and emphasizing small-scale maize and wheat producers. He indicated that, as a first step, this model, which was initiated in Mexico in 2011 under a collaborative agreement with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), will be discussed at a meeting of eminent agricultural scientists to be held in September 2012, while Mexico is chairing the G20.

As recommended by the B20 task force on food security, the G20 should promote public and private investment to achieve a 50% increase in agricultural production and productivity by the year 2030. At a meeting chaired by Daniel Servtije, CEO of Grupo Bimbo and the person in charge of the G20 food security task force, Mayorga emphasized the benefits of publicprivate partnerships in the agrifood sector. He said that Mexico supports the Mexican Agribusiness Association for Sustainable Growth, in collaboration with the WEF, whose general objective is to improve the productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability of the agri-food sector.

The meeting where the B20 made recommendations to the G20 was also attended by Greg Page, from Cargill, who spoke on markets and trade; Eduardo Elsztain, from IRSA, on investments; Stefan Lippe, from Swiss Re, on risk management; Eduardo Tricio Haro, from Grupo Lala, on land rights; Jim Collins, from Dupont, on research and development; Shenggen Fan, from IFPRI, on public policy and capacities; Bárbara Stocking, from Oxfam, on small-scale farmer development; José Manuel Madero, from Monsanto, on sustainability and technology use; and Pedro Padierna, from PepsiCo, on Mexico’s experience with public/private partnerships.

Later, Secretary Mayorga, Daniel Servitje, and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, took part in discussions between CEOs and government leaders on food security. Also participating were Yayi Boni, the President of Benin oand current representative of the African Union, and José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

CIMMYT-CAAS-Seed industry interface on rapid-cycle maize breeding

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To strengthen the modern technology-driven maize breeding in China, “CIMMYT-CAAS-Seed Industry Interface on Rapid-cycle Maize Breeding” was held on June 9, 2012 in CIMMYT-CAAS Joint International Research Center based in Beijing. Co-sponsored by CIMMYT, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP), the workshop was attended by 52 scientists and managers from 23 seed companies and public sector institutions in China. Their aim was to establish a dynamic interface between the CIMMYT-CAAS maize team and the seed industry to begin rapid-cycle, genomic selection-based maize breeding, under an initiative titled “Eight + One”—that is, eight seed companies plus the CAAS institute of crop sciences—as an industry/institution collaboration platform for commercial maize breeding.

Senior managers addressing participants included David Bergvinson, senior program officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; GCP director Jean-Marcel Ribaut; Shumin Wang, deputy director, CAAS-ICS; and from CIMMYT, Gary Atlin, associate director of the CIMMYT global maize program, and Kevin Pixley, director of the genetic resources program.

CAAS

Scientists presented on CIMMYT work in genomic selection (concept and CIMMYT activities, Xuecai Zhang), double haploid approaches in maize breeding (Daniel Jeffers), marker-assisted selection in maize breeding (Yunbi Xu), modeling and simulation in plant breeding (Jiankang Wang), bioinformatics and computing needs for genomic selection (Gary Atlin), and our breeding pipeline and examples from lowland tropical maize breeding (Xuecai Zhang). BGI-Shenzhen’s Gengyun Zhang described the company’s genotyping platforms and service. A group discussion addressed rapid-cycle maize breeding through industry-institution collaboration, such as the molecular breeding network in China, coordinated genotyping and phenotyping, use of temperate and tropical DH inducers, environmental data collection, and standardization of maize trials.

Participants also attended an “Open Day for Chinese Breeders,” a concurrent session of the 3rd Annual Meeting of Integrated Breeding Platform Project organized by GCP and CAAS, were introduced to IB FieldBook and IBP Analysis Tools. “(This workshop) came at a right time and brought us right information and knowledge for accelerating maize commercial breeding,” said Zanyong Sun, Vice president of Beijing Denong Seed Co. The workshop’s chief organizer, maize molecular breeder Yunbi Xu, sees it as an important first step for industry institution initiatives. “We’ll establish a common genotyping and MAS platform to serve the Chinese maize breeding community,” he said.

Using double haploid in maize breeding

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The use of doubled haploids in maize breeding was first proposed more than half a century ago. Today, the in vivo haploid induction technique is routinely used in maize inbred line development, in both the public and the private sector. The DH technology enhances maize breeding in two ways: 1) it reduces the time required to produce completely homozygous inbred lines. Whereas six or more generations of self-pollination are needed to traditionally produce inbreds, DH technology produces inbreds in only two generations; and 2) because the higher genetic variance among DH lines compared to F2 plants, or selfed F3 or F4 families, improves the effectiveness of selection.

DH technology in maize breeding was the theme of a training workshop organized by the University of Hohenheim (UH) and CIMMYT at Stuttgart, Germany, during 11-15 June 2012. The program was organized under the ‘Abiotic stress tolerant maize for Asia’ (ATMA) project funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). A total of 21 scientists, including maize breeders and physiologists from Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Vietnam, UH, and CIMMYT attended the weeklong course. Experts on DH technology from UH, CIMMYT, and German seed companies served as resource persons on the course, delivering lectures on various aspects of DH technology in maize breeding. Mornings were devoted to lectures whilst in the afternoons, participants undertook hands-on, practical project in various aspects of DH line development and production.

Day-1 presenters included UH’s Wolfgang Schipprack; Vanessa Prigge, an ex-PhD student of UH and CIMMYT who is currently working as a Potato Breeder in SaKa Pflanzenzucht GbR, and T. Wegenast, Dow AgroSciences. In the afternoon, participants worked on identification of haploid kernels from various DH-induced populations and planted haploid kernels on germination paper for development of seedlings. DH lab members at UH explained and demonstrated the selection of haploid kernels and developing seedlings for colchicine treatment for chromosome doubling.

On the second day, B. Schilling and B. Devezi of the UH-DH lab jointly presented various aspects of management of greenhouses, safety issues, and requirements for running a successful DH program. E. Senger a PhD student at UH, and Vijay Chaikam, CIMMYT, also shared their experiences. During the afternoon, preparation of colchicine solution, preparation of maize seedling for colchicine treatment, application of colchicine treatment, and the transplanting the seedlings in greenhouse were demonstrated to the participants.

Participants also visited the UH-DH research station at Eckartsweier, where Schipprack detailed various field based aspects of DH development including selection of plants for transplanting in field, organized demonstration of mechanized transplanting of D0 plants, management of D0 nursery, and identification of false positives in the nursery. After the D0 nursery, participants visited the DH inducer development and maintenance nursery, D2 nurseries, and the isolation block for production of induction crosses. On the final day of the workshop, UH’s A.E. Melchinger delivered a lecture on the application of marker-based prediction strategies for DH lines and discussed various models and approaches for prediction of DH lines. George Mahuku shared updates on DH line production and development of tropical inducer lines at CIMMYT, and talked about possible models for use of DH technology by national breeding programs in Asia. Participants appreciated the initiatives and efforts of CIMMYT and UH, and discussed various options to get DH technology into their breeding programs.

Avinash Singode, Directorate of Maize Research, Bhagya Rani Banik, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, and Le Quy Kha, National Maize Research Institute, were very supportive of the course and expressed their sincere thanks to organizers. P.H. Zaidi, Project Coordinator, ATMA, thanks Prof. Melchinger and Schipprack and his team for their time, efforts, and inputs in jointly organizing the workshop, and emphasized the need to follow up on this in the hope that within one year, each participating institution will have access to DH technology in their program, at least through Model-1 (send their most elite population to CIMMYT, and get back DH lines), as suggested by Mahuku.

Angola to strengthen DTMA collaboration

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During the week of 18-22 June 2012, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project leader Tsedeke Abate, accompanied by CIMMYT maize breeder Cosmos Magorokosho and socioeconomist Girma Tesfahun visited Angola, where they received a warm welcome from the government. Dibanzilua Nginamau, from DTMA in Angola, accompanied them on their visit. The trip provided the DTMA team an opportunity to dialogue with government officials and seed company representatives.

The DTMA team met with the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOARDF), José Rodrígues Prata Junior, on 19 June 2012. Prata Junior expressed his enthusiasm about working with CIMMYT and said that he is keenly following DTMA work with the Instituto de Investigaçao Agronómica (IIA). Maize is crucial to the Angolan economy; last year, the country imported 700,000 metric tons of maize grain. In 2011, DTMA facilitated the purchase of 14 tons of basic seed of the drought tolerant open pollinated variety ZM 523 (a CIMMYT-derived variety) from Agri Seed, a Zimbabwean company.

The team also attended the Angola National Coordinating Unit meeting at IIA-Huambo, opened by the institute’s director general Mpanzo Domingos and which brought together DTMA national partners. The team met with Antonio Faceira, the proprietor of Mundo Verde, a private company that works with DTMA in Angola.

Last year, Faceira supplied 600 tons of ZM 523 to the government at no cost for distribution to smallholder farmers. Next year, he hopes to expand this to 2,000 tons. The DTMA team visited the Mundo Verde farm which has an average yield for maize of 8 t/ha (the current national yield is about 0.7 t/ha).

IMG_016ANGOLAThe CIMMYT team, accompanied by Nginamau and Faceira, had a second meeting with Prata Junior on 22 June 2012. Thanking him for the warm welcome and willingness to support DTMA work in Angola, Abate pointed out the need for favorable policies on variety release and the involvement of the private sector in developing a sustainable seed production and delivery system. Discussions during the meeting also emphasized the need for the agriculture ministry to set targets for increasing the maize yield within the next five years. Abate reiterated CIMMYT’s willingness to offer technical support towards achieving the government’s goal of accelerated maize production. Prata Junior welcomed the suggestions and asked for immediate support in capacity building. He also emphasized the need for the capacity to produce basic seed within Angola and pointed out that the country is importing an additional 20,000 tons seed for the coming season. Prata Junior said the introduction of early-maturing hybrids would be highly appreciated in light of recurrent droughts in the country. He also pledged to follow up with the MOARDF for the large-scale dissemination of DTMA varieties.

DTMA takes a closer look at gender issues

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Last week, the Drought Tolerant Maize in Africa (DTMA) Project hosted gender consultant Diana Pritchard in Ethiopia and Kenya. In Ethiopia, Diana met with CIMMYT project staff. In Kenya, she attended a field day hosted by One Acre Farm in Kendu Bay in Nyanza Province. She also visited the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Katumani Station, Dryland Seeds Limited, and four farmer groups in Machakos and Makueni Districts in Kenya’s Eastern Province. Diana has been contracted to give recommendations on what DTMA can do to mainstream a focus on gender through the project activities carried out by CIMMYT and its partners. In making the project gender friendly, she will advise the project on how to ensure its activities and those of partners enhance women’s livelihoods and, in turn, contribute to their empowerment without impacting negatively on them.

Diana+Tsedeke-examining-a-maize-fieldWhile highlighting that the work she was doing was still ongoing, Diana pointed out key strengths of the DTMA project from her assessment. “DTMA and all project personnel recognize the need to do this because it is generally acknowledged that approximately 70 percent of agricultural labor in sub-Saharan countries is provided by women,” says Diana. “Since women also play a central role in the welfare of household members and the community, understanding how drought tolerant technologies affect them is crucial to defining the impact of DTMA on poor farmers. Amongst many of the research counterparts, both public and private, there is recognition of the significance of women in agricultural systems,” she observes.

Diana indicates that there is a qualitative difference between ‘sex differentiated’ data and gender aggregated data. Whereas the former establishes the existence of differences, for example, in variety preference of men and women or different adoption rates, it is important to go beyond this differentiation and to establish why this may be the case. This involves examining the underlying issues of different access that men and women have to resources (cash and assets).

So what exactly is gender analysis? “In carrying out gender analysis, one looks at power relationships within households with regards to men, women, children and the elderly in a bid to identify and explain the reasons why there are different responses to technological adoption and how different technologies may impact on different groups.” In turn, this requires adopting methods which enable researchers to effectively identify the specific challenges and constraints that bar women from greater access to assets and resources and that inhibit them from generating income through farming. Various methods, including focus groups, participatory and action research may all have a role to ensure that research findings accurately reflect women’s realities, their perspectives and interests. In this way, such qualitative methods can complement quantitative data and provide meaningful interpretations of the data which reflect the realities of poor women. This is crucial if DTMA technologies are to effectively reach women and to shape more effective project interventions.

The gender consultant identified different obstacles at different levels. “Women face many obstacles such as cultural constraints which influence their access to resources,” says Diana. “These cultural norms inhibit their more active participation or ability to demand for greater control in decision making and resources,” she elaborates further. Cultural norms may also become institutionalized and can result in women having limited access to financial resources, credit and important inputs which impact on their potential to produce good yields and secure food for rural households.

In her interactions with the various farmer groups which consisted mainly of women farmers, Diana learned about what they gained from organizing themselves in order to overcome the challenges they all face. They said that working as a group provided them an opportunity to gain more agricultural knowledge from their peers and extension workers. It also allowed them to pool together their limited labor resources to till the land, plant, weed, harvest and build terraces. “Women are organizing across the continent to try and overcome their limitations,” says Diana. She also noted that CIMMYT, through the DTMA project and its partners, both in public institutions and private enterprises are engaging this segment of the farming population in different ways.

Two decades since her last visit to Kenya, Diana was struck at the modified landscape of the country, reflecting the increase in the country’s booming population and the intensification of agriculture and particularly the widespread use of terracing: agricultural practices adopted to retain soil and conserve moisture.

Once the assignment is complete, Diana will share a complete report with the DTMA project staff.

CIMMYT participates in Rio+20 media briefing in Nairobi

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In the context of current Rio+20 discussions and events, CIMMYT staff played key roles in an 08 June 2012 media briefing co-organized by ICRAF-World Agroforestry Center, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The event centered on efforts to address climate change challenges to agriculture. Speakers included CIMMYT scientists Tsedeke Abate, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project leader, and Stephen Mugo, Global Maize Program breeder, who highlighted DTMA and other relevant examples CIMMYT work.

“Maize is a champion crop in Africa,” said Tsedeke Abate, highlighting the crop’s role as a staple food in the region but one susceptible to changing climates. “Problems in African agriculture are complex, so they need complex solutions.” Maize varieties that can tolerate drought and heat stress constitute one such solution, according to Tsedeke Abate. About 90 drought tolerant maize varieties have been released so far under the DTMA project, working with national agriculture systems and seed companies and based on CIMMYT donor germplasm.

Abate stressed the importance of local solutions for agricultural problems. “If you want to remove the most difficult weed, use the bullock that knows the weed,” he said, citing an Ethiopian adage. Abate mentioned DTMA efforts to build capacity in the next generation of African breeders and national agricultural research systems—key CIMMYT partners. “We can make a difference with what we have now,” said Abate, emphasizing that today’s knowledge base can provide solutions to climate change and other challenges facing Africa.

“By 2050, the demand for maize in Africa is going to double,” said Stephen Mugo. This demand may not be satisfied with maize Africa’s maize crop threatened by drought and rising temperatures, according to Mugo. “A temperature increase of one degree centrigrade could reduce maize production 20 percent,” he said, referring to a recent study led by Stanford University scientist David Lobell. Mugo also highlighted the importance of conservation agriculture for addressing climate change in Africa.

Ambassador Amina Mohammed, the UNEP Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director, emphasized the importance of the media to spread news about work to address climate change and issues of water quality, food security and agriculture, and the creation of green jobs. ICRAF director general Tony Simmons and ICRISAT scientists Said Silim and Dave Harris highlighted their centers’ work and its strong relevance in helping farmers face climate change. Live tweeting at the event (hashtags #Nairobi2Rio, #Rio+20 and #Rio4ag) tracked the conversation and linked it to the global dialogue.

Rio+20 is the abbreviated name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012. This conference comes 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit that was held in Rio, where countries adopted Agenda 21 —a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.

You can read more about this event in articles posted by ASB, ICRAF, and UNEP.

China-CIMMYT impact: celebrating 30 years of collaborations

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CIMMYT director general Tom Lumpkin, Global Wheat Program director Hans Braun, and Global Maize Program director B M Prasanna visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) during 16-18 May 2012. As part of the visit, CAAS President Li Jiayang highlighted CIMMYT’s contributions to Chinese agricultural development and named CIMMYT as a CAAS strategic partner for international collaboration. An agreement was also signed between CAAS and CIMMYT to further promote collaboration on applied biotechnology in crop improvement. A workshop was held on 18 May 2012 to celebrate the 30-year China-CIMMYT collaboration. There were more than 60 participants, including Ren Wang, CAAS vice president, deputy director general Liu Zhiming from the Ministry of Science and Technology, and division director Yinglan Zhang from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Lumpkin described CIMMYT’s new development and collaboration role with China, followed by presentations from CIMMYT liaison officer Zhonghu He and five partners from CAAS and from the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong, and Ningxia.

MOAAs indicated in Ren Wang’s speech, CIMMYT has the largest investment in China among CGIAR centers. Five collaborative research programs led by CIMMYT scientists stationed in China have been established at CAAS, Yunnan and Sichuan. This has created a new model for CGIAR-China collaboration and increased CIMMYT’s impact in China. CIMMYT is also the first international center to establish collaborative projects with the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

CIMMYT wheat germplasm has contributed significantly to wheat production in China. More than 90,000 wheat accessions were introduced to China and 14,000 genotypes were stored in national and provincial genebanks, accounting for around 55% of introduced wheat germplasm in China. More than 260 improved varieties were released from CIMMYT germplasm, and the accumulated planting area for these varieties has reached 45 million hectares.

More than 1,000 tropical inbred lines and populations from CIMMYT were introduced to China. CIMMYT germplasm has played a significant role in subtropical maize breeding in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. CIMMYT tropical maize germplasm has also been used as a donor for breeding temperate maize in northern China, as occurred in the two leading temperate hybrids Nongda 108 and Zhengdan 958.

CIMMYT-China collaborations have also had an impact on the application of molecular technology. Forty functional markers were developed, validated, and used in various wheat breeding programs, and three advanced lines developed from molecular markers are expected to be released in the next few years. These markers have been widely used to characterize Chinese and CIMMYT germplasm. A novel method for mapping quantitative trait genes, the ICIM, was developed and used in many countries. Breeding simulation tools are used to optimize the complicated breeding strategies. Nine training courses have been held in China, Mexico, IRRI, and Australia to promote new tools and methods. QTL analysis through joint linkage-LD mapping was developed and used to understand molecular mechanisms for drought tolerance. The genes related to the biosynthesis of proV A have been cloned and used to develop functional markers for molecular breeding. Chip-based and sequencing-based genotyping techniques have been used for genetic diversity analysis, haplotype map construction, and association mapping in maize. More than 400 papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including several papers in high-impact journals such as Genetics (2007), PNAS (2010), and Nature Genetics (2010, 2012).

CHINA-CIMMYT-30years-collaboration-seminarBed planting has produced significant impact in the provinces of Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan, bringing among other benefits a 30% reduction in input use. Bed planting is particularly advantageous at saving water. Conservation agriculture techniques combined with new winter wheat varieties have been broadly extended in traditional spring wheat areas, allowing farmers to take advantage of climate change to increase yields and reduce input use.

CIMMYT trained scientists play a leading role in China. Over 800 Chinese scientists and administrators have visited CIMMYT and more than 200 scientists have participated in various training courses or visiting scientist programs and more than 60 postgraduates were trained. Among them, more than 60 serve at a research professor level or became presidents of provincial academies or directors of research institutes. As of 2012, more than 20 training courses and international conferences have been jointly organized, with more than 3,500 participants.

Great new CGIAR website

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Check out the new www.cgiar.org! Great new look and significant content pulled directly from the web pages of centers like CIMMYT (see, for example, the article on conservation agriculture on the front page). The new page was developed by the Consortium web team headed by Antonella Pastore, under the leadership of Enrica Porcari, Acting Director of Communications for the Consortium, with excellent contributions from center communications specialists, including CIMMYT’s Petr Kosina. Congrats to the Consortium team!

SIMLESA spills over into South Sudan

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DSC04503South Sudan, Africa’s newest country, is set to benefit from the project “Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa” (SIMLESA), following fruitful discussions between project representatives and South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF). Project coordinator Mulugetta Mekuria and agronomist Fred Kanampiu met with George Leju, Director General of Research, Training, and Extension Services, Cirino Oketayot, Executive Director of Research, and Luka Atwok, maize breeder, in Juba on 6 June 2012. Mekuria gave an overview of the project’s vision, focus, and accomplishments to date and explained how SIMLESA’s experiences can reach and benefit South Sudan. The opportunity for collaboration was first discussed in Rwanda in October 2011 and since then Atwok has attended a series of SIMLESA-organized trainings and workshops.

Leju welcomed the proposal and thanked CIMMYT and the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR, which funds the project) for considering South Sudan as a beneficiary of the work. “SIMLESA resonates well with the MoAF strategic plan as it addresses the core challenges of the country, which has emerged from war,” said Leju. Oketayot highlighted South Sudan’s research structure, current priorities, challenges, and areas that need support, including an urgent need for capacity building. He also emphasized the importance of maize and legumes in the country’s farming systems and the potential impact of SIMLESA on these systems.

DSC04499“ACIAR has availed initial funding for spillover activities,” said Mekuria. “The idea is to ensure that SIMLESA research results are quickly scaled out to countries like South Sudan and improve food security there.”

South Sudan scientists will join SIMLESA capacity building activities, attending core country and regional training events. “The project will also facilitate their travel to target country sites for activities like field days, so they get first-hand experience,” said Kanampiu. The first such capacity building initiative is planned for August this year, when CIMMYT will hold a workshop on basic agricultural research design and implementation. In addition to a very productive meeting, Leju and Oketayot were also delighted to receive an information pack full of background on SIMLESA, as well as shirts and baseball caps.

ATMA annual review and planning meeting

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The ‘Abiotic stress tolerant maize for Asia’ (ATMA) project aims to increase incomes and food security for the poor of South and southeast Asia, with the assistance of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The second phase was launched in May 2011, and on 11 June 2012, the first annual progress review and planning session took place at the University of Hohenheim (UH), Stuttgart, Germany.

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All the collaborating institutions were represented, including: the Directorate of Maize Research (DMR), Maharana Pratap University of Agricultural Science & Technology, India, Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University, India, the National Maize Research Institute (NMRI), Vietnam, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, the Institute of Plant Breeding, Philippines, UH, Germany, and CIMMYT.

The meeting began with a warm welcome from Albrecht E. Melchinger (UH), who highlighted the partnerships between UH and various institutions of the CGIAR, but in particular the partnership between UH and CIMMYT, which has existed for more than 20 years. In the opening session, Raman Babu, maize molecular breeder, CIMMYT, discussed recent advances in genomic selection and the genome-wide association mapping approach, focusing on its potential use in maize breeding, particularly for complex traits such as drought and water-logging.

The ATMA project country leaders, including Melchinger, R. Sai Kumar (DMR), Le Quy Kha (NMRI), and Bhagya Rani Banik, then presented the project’s progress over the past year. During this time, socio-economic studies were carried out, and these were jointly presented by T.R. Prabhakarna (CIMMYT-Delhi) and V.K. Yadav (DMR). After summarizing CIMMYT-Asia’s overall progress, CIMMYT’s senior maize physiologist and ATMA project coordinator, P.H. Zaidi, went on to outline areas that need special attention over the coming year in order to meet the project’s
milestones and commitments.

Led by MT Vinayan, post-doctoral fellow at CIMMYT-Hyderabad, the afternoon session focused on creating a detailed work-plan, assigning tasks among partners, and discussing activities for the next year. Zaidi mentioned that to date, all the multi-location trials have been conducted in India due to issues in exporting of trials to partners in other countries. However, since the export permit is now available, the ATMA trials will now be shipped to partners from Bangladesh, Philippines, and Vietnam for evaluation at their sites.

Delegates at the meeting also discussed how the ATMA project will provide opportunities for further research and learning. Among these, ATMA partners will have the opportunity to attend a capacity building workshop on “Double Haploid in Maize Breeding” to be held at UH. Details of the research project that ATMA Ph.D. scholar Do Van Dung (NMRI) will be conducting were also discussed and finalized, while two interns, one each from Bangladesh and Vietnam, have been invited to work at CIMMYT-Hyderabad. Their six-week placements will provide them with hands-on experience on key aspects of breeding for enhancing water-logging and drought tolerance in maize.

Women are the key to achieving food security: CIMMYT at the G(irls) 20 Summit

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G20From 28 to 30 May, Mexico City held the G(irls) 20 Summit, a meeting in which 20 outstanding youths aged 18 to 20 represented each of the G20 countries, the African Union, and the European Union. This year, the priority issues for discussion and analysis were the role of women in agriculture and gender-based violence. CIMMYT was represented by Karen García, executive director of MasAgro, who shared some of her thoughts with the delegates on the role that science and technology can play in the development of rural women’s productive capacity.

García spoke about agricultural policies to end discrimination and promote the access of women farmers to education, technology, productive inputs, extension services, and funding. She directed the delegates’ attention to FAO’s The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011 report, which predicts increases of between 2.5 and 4 per cent in agricultural production in developing countries that give women in rural areas access to the same opportunities and encouragement as men. The international organization also estimated that an increase of this nature would overcome hunger for between 100 to 150 million people.

For this reason, García urged the future leaders to make more space in ministries, research centers, community governance structures, extension services, markets, and schools. In her conclusion, she highlighted the career of former CIMMYT researcher Evangelina Villegas, whose contribution to the development of quality protein maize earned her the first World Food Prize awarded to a woman, in the year 2000.

Following the presentations, delegates reconvened to discuss initiatives to develop the skills and productive potential of women worldwide. Their public policy recommendations will be presented to the G20 heads of state at the end-of-June Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico. The G(irls) 20 Summit was inaugurated by the First Lady of Mexico, Margarita Zavala, and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Patricia Espinosa.

Preventing stripe rust in Sichuan, China

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GarryFieldOne of the worst wheat diseases in China, stripe rust has appeared in yearly epidemics since 1950 and caused losses of more than 60 million tons. As China is among the world’s main producers of wheat, the CIMMYT China office in Chengdu, in collaboration with the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS), organized a two-day workshop to address these issues.

On 23 April 2012, around 50 participants from Sichuan and neighboring provinces were joined at SAAS by representatives from the Sichuan Department of Science and Technology and the Foreign Expert Bureau of Sichuan Province. The purpose of the workshop, which included site visits, was to learn about breeding for durable resistance to stripe rust in wheat.

Following an introduction by SAAS vice president Liu Jianjun, the workshop began with several seminars on breeding and rust diseases. Professor Bob McIntosh from Sydney University, Australia, presented a seminar on host pathogen interactions and the current status of global rust
epidemics, followed by CIMMYT scientist Sybil Herrera who gave an update on her work with minor, durable resistance genes, marker development and their application in breeding programs. CIMMYT wheat breeder Garry Rosewarne outlined some of the work on quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis and breeding strategies at SAAS. Ennian Yang from SAAS closed with an account of CIMMYT SAAS collaborations, outlining the early shuttle breeding between China and Mexico and related outcomes.

The rest of the workshop was dedicated to field visits, with two sites visited on the first day. At Xindu farm, the main SAAS breeding site, the participants saw demonstrations of the selected bulk methodology. At the Guanghan site there were several elite yield trials as well as seed multiplication blocks of the latest, high-yielding releases from another Sichuan based breeder, Dr Wuyun Yang. During discussions, Dr Tang, a local agronomist, also explained conservation agriculture techniques developed in collaboration with CIMMYT’s consultant Ken Sayre. In traditional Chinese fashion, the evening was spent at a banquet at the “One Duck” restaurant, with everyone enjoying excellent food and wine, and catching up with old friends.

The second day of the workshop involved a visit to the field station of the Neijiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, hosted by their president Huang Yuecheng. Based in a mountainous region near Chengdu, there were interesting demonstrations of intercropping with high-yielding wheat and specially designed equipment for cultivation and sowing on small, hilly plots. The main purpose of this field visit however was to see the academy’s own variety, Neimai 836, which has high yield potential and good resistance to powdery mildew (Pm21) as well as stem rust resistance against Ug99.