Meeting was held in the Indian holy city of Varanasi during 27 February to 01 March 2012. It was organized jointly by Banaras Hindu University (BHU), HarvestPlus, and CIMMYT to discuss wheat biofortification research outputs and future plans. The meeting was attended by about 40 scientists, including Hans Braun, Ravi Singh, Kevin Pixley, Velu Govindan, Etienne Duveiller, Arun Joshi, and Iván Ortiz-Monasterio from CIMMYT, along with participants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, HarvestPlus, the Indian national agricultural research system, the private sector, and more than 200 farmers from the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

This meeting was inaugurated by the Honorable Vice-Chancellor of BHU, Dr Lalji Singh, which he followed by a meeting with the press. He honored CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh as BHU’s greatest alumnus for his ongoing efforts in developing improved bread wheat varieties that are grown across the world. Standing out in a week of fruitful meetings, the highlight for many was the farmer field day on 29 February, during which more than 200 farmers participated in discussions and expressed their interest in CIMMYT-derived biofortified wheat varieties.

In 2001, CIMMYT published Application of Physiology in Wheat Breeding, which became one of the most highly downloaded publications from the CIMMYT website. It has been translated into Russian and Chinese and comprehensively explains approaches for using plant physiology in the genetic improvement of wheat. The success of that book has led CIMMYT’s Wheat Physiology Group to recently publish two further complimentary manuals:

• Physiological Breeding I: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Improve Crop Adaptation and
• Physiological Breeding II: A Field Guide to Wheat Phenotyping.

These build on the knowledge and methods presented in the first book in order to provide practical information for breeders and crop researchers seeking to apply tried and tested phenotyping methods in the context of the environmental factors to which crops must adapt. “It’s productive literature for stress breeding programs,” said Digvijay Bhargav, a researcher at the Indian Agricultural Re search Institute.

According to Matthew Reynolds, Head of Wheat Physiology at CIMMYT and editor of the manuals, “all three volumes are expected to provide a valuable stock of information for those working in the area of crop improvement and who are charged by society with the responsibility for accelerating genetic gains of crops in increasingly challenging en vironments to ensure the food security of a rapidly growing population.”

Printed copies of the manuals will be available shortly, or you can download them now from the CIMMYT repository:

Physiological Breeding I: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Improve Crop Adaptation.

Physiological Breeding II: A Field Guide to Wheat Phenotyping.

2012 is already proving to be big and eventful year for CIMMYT’s Southern Africa Regional Office, with half a dozen CIMMYT-Zimbabwe staff receiving honours for years of dedicated service to the organisation. At a luncheon event held on 02 March 2012 at the CIMMYT-Zimbabwe offices, Sebastian Mawere and John Chifamba each received awards for 25 years of service. The office also celebrated 20 years of dedicated service by Esau Tofa, 15 years by Nothando Moyo and Taksure Ndlovu, and 10 by Simbarashe Chisoro.

Gary Atlin (associate director of the Global Maize Program) and Mulugetta Mekuria presented the awards on behalf of CIMMYT and expressed their gratitude for the recipients’ long service and valued contributions. Mulugetta recalled that the Regional Office’s teamwork has been well recognised by CIMMYT management and thanked the staff for their perseverance during difficult and turbulent periods in Zimbabwe.

During the presentation ceremony colleagues spoke of how Sebastian and John had remained dedicated and committed to the organisation throughout their years of service. Colleagues joked that John and Sebastian knew what lay under the foundations of all the buildings at the station, as they have witnessed the office grow from a small office with a few activities to its current size, with research programs that cover most of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries, as well as other parts of Africa. In their award acceptance speeches the awardees thanked their colleagues for the support they have received and dedicated their awards to all CIMMYT staff.

On 02 March 2012 CGIAR Consortium was officially granted International Organization status. At an event in Paris, the agreement conferring the status was signed by Anne Dorte Riggelsen, Ambassador of Denmark to France, on behalf of her government. This officially ratified the agreement. Henri de Raincourt, French Minister of Cooperation, and Sem Laszlo Trocsanyi, Ambassador of Hungary to France, were the first to sign the agreement, in September 2011 in Montpellier, at the closure of the first ever G20 International Conference on Agriculture Research for Development.

The CGIAR Consortium, of which CIMMYT is a member center, represents the world’s largest global agriculture research partnership aimed at reducing rural poverty and hunger. “Achieving International Organization status and recognition is a major step towards enabling the reformed CGIAR to deliver research resulting in real impact; improved food security, health and nutrition alongside sustainable management of natural resources,” said Mr. Carlos Perez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, who attended the event. “This status will allow the consortium to operate as an independent organization, speak with one voice at an international level, establish better partnerships, and raise awareness of its work at a time when agricultural research is key to the survival of a billion people.”

Since 2010, the CGIAR has been undergoing a major reform to ensure that its research delivers clear impacts. With the Consortium becoming an International Organization, this not only endorses the strategic reform, but by facilitating fundraising and co-ordination it will catalyze the impact-oriented research essential to the lives of millions of smallholder farmers.

For more information, see the full press release.

On 22 February 2012 we welcomed Howard G. Buffett and members of Sonora’s ‘Patronato’ (Patronato para la Investigación y Experimentación Agrícola del Estado de Sonora; PIEAES) to CIMMYT’s CENEB (Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug) station near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. The visit emphasized our joint concerns to improve food security and identified shared interests for improving opportunities for smallholder farmers and local entrepreneurs, and for widespread promotion of CA.

Patronato is a union of farmer organizations that has supported research by CIMMYT and partners such as INIFAP throughout the last four decades. This support has enabled greater advances in the state of Sonora, Mexico and throughout the world.

In addition to being a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and author, Howard G. Buffett is a farmer actively practicing no-till methods (a key component of CA) on his farm in Nebraska. He has strong links with Mexico; in 2000, he received the Aztec Eagle Award, the highest honor bestowed on a foreign citizen by the Government of Mexico. Currently, he acts as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme, and in 2011, the World Food Programme awarded him the George McGovern Leadership Award, alongside Bill Gates.

During 20-25 February 2012, 16 scientists from partners of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project and national agricultural research systems from Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique, met at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa, for a capacity building workshop.

The workshop was the first of its kind conducted under the SIMLESA project, which is supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and coordinated by CIMMYT. The week-long training covered biometry, principles of conservation agriculture and soil science, and executing the concept of innovation platforms. Practical examples, working groups, and a visit to the Institute of Soils, Climate and Water made the training interactive and interesting. Participants also developed country action plans for implementing innovation platform activities.

The CEO and President of ARC, Shadrack Moephuli, addressed the participants and reaffirmed ARC’s commitment to contributing to improved food security through initiatives such as SIMLESA. He expressed his gratitude to both ACIAR and CIMMYT, and acknowledged the collaborative research activities being undertaken. Yolisa Pakela-Jezile, Senior Manager, ARC Training services, described the forthcoming country trainings and the opportunities for post-graduate studies in South African universities for scientists from SIMLESA and national agricultural research systems.
Finally, SIMLESA Program Coordinator, Mulugetta Mekuria acknowledged ARC’s support for the capacity building objective of SIMLESA. He also briefed the ARC CEO and the Executive Directors of Research, Development, and Technology Transfer on SIMLESA’s progress to date, and extended an invitation to the 2nd SIMLESA Annual Review and Planning meeting in March.

“Increasing Sustainable Agricultural Production in Mozambique through Drought Tolerant Maize and Conservation Agriculture” is a USAID-supported initiative bringing together two key components of CIMMYT’s work: Breeding for drought tolerance and sustainable land management to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Demonstrations in rural farming communities of Mozambique are currently exhibiting four varieties, which were selected for drought tolerance in Harare, Zimbabwe, and are currently being multiplied by two seed companies in Mozambique: Lozane Seed and Dengo Commercial. Farmers are also being shown several different cropping systems for these new varieties: conventional (burning residues and significant soil movement), conservation agriculture (CA) with seeding into previously dug planting basins, and CA seeded with a pointed stick or jab planter and retaining of crop residues. Farmers are showing significant interest in these new methods, favoring the jab planter and dibble stick as the fastest way of sowing.

During 16-24 February 2012, CIMMYT scientists, partners from the University of Tennessee, and USAID representatives travelled to project sites in the Manica and Sofala Provinces, to monitor project progress and evaluate the quality of implementation. The demonstrations also feature growing maize in full rotation with cowpeas, a technique previously unused. “We never thought of growing cowpeas as a sole crop in rotation with maize and are amazed about the good crop stand and the yield we will get. We will try this on our own fields in the coming season,” said Raimundo Luis, a farmer from Sussundenga, Manica Province.

Maize is the staple food crop for farmers in Mozambique, with most growing just one crop, during the rainy season from November to April. Average yields are generally low, often less than one ton/hectare. However, with the advent of new varieties, such as the CIMMYT-developed short season open pollinated variety (OPV), ZM309, farmers can harvest their early seeded maize crops in February, a time when many grain stores are diminished. CA systems with residue cover enable greater conservation of soil moisture, and therefore allow farmers to plant a second maize or legume crop, for harvesting in June or July.

Double cropping will assure food security for farmers in Mozambique, and by planting protein-rich legumes as the second crop, nutrition of farm families can also be increased. The use of these methods will also reduce the risk of crop failure and increase productivity of the land.

As part of the Generation Challenge Programme’s (GCP) plan to revamp their online space, they engaged the CGIAR Consortium’s social media expert, Peter Casier, to instruct an intensive workshop on social media and optimizing web presence, during 13-17 February 2012. Staff working on CIMMYT’s web and social media sites also participated.

Casier’s vast knowledge of social media was as contagious as his good humor, and before long, GCP had launched their own Facebook page and Twitter account, and were posting, liking, tweeting, and retweeting with confidence. Already initiated in the social media sphere, the CIMMYT team took the opportunity to gain further insights to increase their online presence.

Over five days the workshop outlined social media tools and provided handson training, reviewed CIMMYT’s current online material, investigated social media and website strategies, constructed specialized workplans, identified areas for improvement, and discussed traffic analysis, search engine optimization, and web usability.

Casier’s uniquely chaotic yet focused mind took the group on a whirlwind tour from social media jokes, through stories of humanitarian crises, and back to the issues at hand, such that the group finished the course inspired and raring to use their new tools. Maria Delgadillo from CIMMYT’s web team said “we all got on so well together and learnt so much in such a short space of time. It was especially useful for me from a web CIMMYT 4 Informa usability perspective.” Antonia Okono, GCP Communications Manager, echoed this sentiment: “We learnt some invaluable skills in a fun atmosphere,” she said.

The feedback from Casier was equally positive. In a congratulatory email he praised the work of the CIMMYT staff he encountered, with a special mention for the administrative and accommodation department, and for the drivers, technicians, and housekeeping personnel. He wrote that of all the CGIAR centers he has experienced, CIMMYT ranks among the top, not least because of the number of smiles he received from staff.

We invite you to “like” GCP and CIMMYT on Facebook, and follow us on twitter: @CIMMYT and @GCProgramme.

CIMMYT first introduced conservation agriculture (CA) to the Mwansambo and Zidyana communities of Nkotakhota District, Malawi, in 2005. Assisted by regional NGO Total Land Care (TLC), the project initially targeted just six farmers in each community. Currently, the project is focusing on “Understanding the Adoption and Application of Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa”, and involves governmental extension agencies, field coordinators from TLC and researchers for Chitedze Research Station, and is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Since 2005, farmers, extension officers, and researchers have joined forces in starting a revolution from traditional farming systems in Malawi to locally adapted CA systems. The number of farmers practicing CA in the TLC communities of Central Malawi has grown from the initial 12 in 2005 to over 30,000 in 2012. This extension of CA was largely due to the development of an innovation network with different actors: Researchers assured training and quality implementation of the new technologies in target communities; the network facilitated participatory interaction and dialogue with farmers; and farmers raised social capital, subsequently boosting interest in the project within their own communities and the surrounding areas. These successful results enabled TLC and other partners to attract further funding and they linked farmers with input suppliers and a soft loan program for herbicides and improved seed. Farmers can currently access the input loan at seeding and pay back the amount for both inputs at harvest. Linking farmers to input markets was a major success, but more work needs to be done to also develop output markets for increased production from CA fields.

During 11-15 February 2012, scientists from the CIMMYT Southern Africa Regional Office visited target communities in Central Malawi, where farmers told them of the economical and environmental benefits of producing maize under CA. “Thanks to higher yields from CA and less labor, I have school fees and more spare time to bake doughnuts and sell them on the market,” said Nepiala Thope, a farmer from Chinguluwe. Other farmers are experimenting with growing maize under CA in rotation with other crops such as groundnuts, cowpeas, and cotton. This is a breakthrough for agriculture in Malawi, where maize is traditionally grown as a monocrop, attracting major pests and diseases such as striga, white grubs, cutworms, stalk and grain borers, and various blights. It is hoped that the reduction in pests and diseases, sustainable intensification of maize cropping systems, and increased income through CA will help farmers in the region to improve their food security and livelihoods, and overcome hunger and malnutrition.

During 21 January-05 February, a delegation consisting of Director General Thomas Lumpkin, Global Wheat Program Associate Director and Head of Pathology, Etienne Duveiller, Board member Andy Barr, and Development Officer Cheraé Robinson travelled from El Batán to visit the three sites of the newly established Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). They were accompanied by Ajai Kumar and Raj Gupta, from CIMMYT’s New Delhi office.

Duveiller, who will be relocating from Mexico to India as the Head of Research for BISA stated “it is amazing what has been done in such a short span of time. But there is still a great deal of work to do and very exciting opportunities for research in a fast changing environment —not only economically in India, but also considering global change and climate change.”

The visit offered an opportunity not only for the delegation to gain an understanding of the new institute, but also to speak with local farmers about their concerns and specific challenges they are experiencing in their region. The group met with agricultural producers, students of the local agricultural universities, and state agricultural research institutes to develop ties with local stakeholders and understand the challenges and needs currently facing communities surrounding the BISA sites.

Towards the end of the visit, Lumpkin also participated in a gathering in Bihar, which brought together over 1,000 farmers from India’s poorest state to address current shortcomings and needs of agricultural producers in the region. The event gathered not only local producers, but also government officials and representatives including Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar and Mangala Rai, Agriculture Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar.
BISA was officially launched on 05 October 2011. In less than four months, the three BISA sites have begun research activities, a process which has included demarcating the boundaries of the properties and preparing the land and seeding. The official groundbreaking ceremony for the sites will be held later this year.

Earlier today, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke at IFAD’s Governing Council Meeting in Rome on “Sustainable smallholder agriculture: Feeding the world, protecting the planet.” He called on the international scientific community to unite around a common global target for fighting hunger and reducing poverty, through sustainable productivity growth. “If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture,” he said. “Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. The international agriculture community needs to be more innovative, coordinated and focused to really be effective in helping poor farmers grow more. If we can do that, we can dramatically reduce suffering, and build self-sufficiency.”

To further these sentiments, Gates announced a further USD 200 million in grants from the Foundation’s agriculture program, bringing their total investment in smallholder farmers to more than USD 2 billion, since the program began in 2006. One of the seven projects to receive grants is phase III of CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) initiative, which will receive USD 33 million over four years. CIMMYT is coordinating the project in collaboration with IITA and national partners from 13 African countries. The project has made great strides toward its ten-year goal of increasing average maize productivity under smallholder farmer conditions by 20-30% on adopting farms. The new funding should enable delivery of enough drought tolerant maize seed to benefit 30-40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, adding grain worth an annual average of USD 160-200 million in drought-affected areas. “In this phase, our focus will be on developing varieties with  both heat and drought tolerance, and getting the seed of these varieties into farmers’ hands as widely, timely and affordably as possible,” said Wilfred  Mwangi, DTMA Project Leader.

On 08 February 2012, CIMMYT’s Director General Thomas Lumpkin participated as a speaker in the Economist Conference “Feeding the World: The 9 Billion People Question” in Geneva, Switzerland. Attendees included a number of high level representatives and government officials, including Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Jikun Huang, Founder and Director of the Center for Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAAS), and Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Fishing.

Alongside Nina Federoff of Pennsylvania State University and Howard Shapiro, Global Director of Plant Science and External Research at Mars, Lumpkin debated “Does Science Hold the Answers?”. He highlighted the advanced work of CIMMYT scientists on photosynthesis efficiency of wheat, zero tillage agronomic practices, precision fertilizer application and the use of sensors, and high resolution, site-specific cell phone decision support tools. Lumpkin also advocated technologies currently being made accessible and tailored for farmers.

In his speech, Lumpkin called for the international community to resist complacency and work towards yield increases of 200 to 300 percent, whilst striving for a reduction in the amount of arable land under cultivation, in order to address the world’s food security concerns. His presentation, “Higher Yields for Food Security with Less Water, Inputs, and Land: Does Science Hold the Answers?” will be featured on the Economist website, and is currently available on the CIMMYT intranet.

In addition to being well represented by our Director General, CIMMYT was mentioned several times in other panels, underscoring the value of public agricultural research in the toolbox of solutions for making our world food secure. With key policy makers and leaders from some of the premier corporations in the food and agribusiness industries in attendance, the conference provided an ideal occasion to present CIMMYT’s work and offered a platform for engaging future partners and donors.

A recent study co-authored by CIMMYT agronomist Iván Ortiz- Monasterio has demonstrated how temperatures greater than 34°C can significantly cut wheat yields. Using nine years of satellite data for wheat grown in northern India, the team showed how previous models had underestimated the effects of high temperatures on senescence and yield. The onset of senescence seriously limits grain filling, and senescence is hastened by high temperatures. In South Asia, if wheat is not sown early enough, the crop reaches grainfilling stage during pre-Monsoon hot spells. Existing models may have underestimated grain losses by as much as 50%, for some sowing dates. “This study shows how innovative research tools like remote sensing can provide important information in the area of agriculture and climate change,” said Ortiz-Monasterio.

The study was led by Stanford University scientist David Lobell, who has recently published several important works on climate change and crop yields. The results are particularly significant because India and Mexico are among the countries expected to be most sorely affected by climate change. The Indo-Gangetic Plains are the bread basket of South Asia, providing food and incomes for hundreds of millions.

Since being published in Nature Climate Change on 29 January 2012, the study has received coverage in New Scientist, SciDev.Net, and Reuters, amongst others. CIMMYT breeders are already selecting for wheat lines with more extensive roots, allowing them to find and take up moisture and reduce the effects of heat on the plant. The center has also begun investigating varieties that can be sown earlier and harvested before spring heat.

Innovative techniques in wheat breeding are necessary to meet the increasing population demand and overcome environmental challenges, said CIMMYT Wheat Breeder, Ravi Singh, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on 18 February 2012.

Wheat currently provides approximately 20% of the world’s calories, and 20% of the total protein intake in the developing world, but yields will need to increase by 1 ton per hectare by 2020 to keep pace with the growing global population, according to Singh. This is a great challenge, considering the anticipated negative effects of rising global temperatures and the risks posed by highly-virulent new pathogens such as Ug99.

A strain of the causal fungus of wheat stem rust disease that first appeared in Uganda in 1998, Ug99 has since been detected in several countries of eastern and southern Africa, overcoming previously resistant wheat varieties there, and researchers fear its spread to the major bread baskets of northern Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 2005, the world’s leading wheat researchers established the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project, administered by Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science. Through this project, CIMMYT and a global cadre of researchers are developing new varieties of wheat that both resist Ug99 and also produce higher yields.

Through breeding sequentially at two diverse locations in Mexico and screening promising wheat lines at a Ug99 hot spot in Kenya, researchers have been able to develop more than 20 Ug99-resistant lines, now present in varieties released or in advanced trials in eight countries, including India and Pakistan. Singh’s symposium, entitled “Emerging Risks in the Global Food System,” focused on the progress and challenges to global food security presented by Ug99. “We have made great strides in identifying new varieties that will provide durable resistance to stem rusts and increase yields,” said Singh, “but there is still much work to be done because of the importance of wheat and the ever-changing pressures it faces globally.”