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Drought tolerant maize for Africa award recognizes Zimbabwe partners

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DTMA-Breeding-Team-Award-2011-2.-EmmaOn 14 November 2011 Thokozile Ndlela and Charles Mutimaamba of Zimbabwe’s Crop Breeding Institute received the DTMA Breeding Team Award for southern Africa. It was presented by Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT Zimbabwe Maize Breeder, at a management meeting of the Department of Research and Specialist Services of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development of the Government of Zimbabwe, at their head office in Harare. The award consisted of USD 3000 and a silver tray that the winners will be able to display until it is reawarded next year.

“We truly appreciate this award, because it recognizes the efforts of all our team and shows our commitment to DTMA,” said Charles Mutimaamba. This is the third consecutive year that the Crop Breeding Institute has won the award in recognition of their outstanding achievements in maize breeding for drought tolerance. The team has consistently maintained a pedigree breeding program at Harare Research Station, using local and CIMMYT germplasm, and has been testing improved hybrids at two drought screening locations in southern Zimbabwe. The Crop Breeding Institute has also regularly submitted hybrids into the CIMMYT regional trials for widespread testing. Two drought tolerant hybrids, ZS263 and ZS265, were recently released and are in the process of seed scaleup with local seed companies.

Conservation agriculture for rainfed smallholder maize systems of eastern India

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During 19-23 October 2011, Birsa Agriculture University (BA7U), Jharkhand, India, hosted a short course on “Conservation Agriculture in Rainfed Small Holder Maize Farming Systems”, under the aegis of the IFAD “Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Maize- Livestock Farming Systems in Hill Areas of South Asia” project. The course aimed to provide practical exposure on key elements of conservation agriculture (CA), including calibration and operation of planting machinery, and component technologies of CA-based crop management solutions. Over 25 participants attended, including researchers and extension agents from BAU, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), State Department of Agriculture, NGOs, private sector, and service providers from across Jharkhand.

The course was inaugurated by A. K. Sarkar, Acting Vice Chancellor, BAU, with assistance from D.K. Singh ‘Dron’, Assistant Director of Research, BAU, Ken Sayre, CA Consultant, CIMMYT, and coordination by ML Jat, Senior Cropping Systems Agronomist, GCAP, CIMMYT. The course covered the basics of CA, with particular relevance to smallholder rainfed farming systems, including the calibration and operation of CA machinery, component technologies of residue, nutrient, weed management, and diversification, and how these technologies can be adapted for the region through partnerships with stakeholders, including farmers. A range of CA machinery (manual and animal-drawn, two- and four-wheel tractors), introduced to the region by CIMMYT and particularly suited to rainfed smallholder farmers, was demonstrated. Participants also shared their experiences of IFAD CA projects undertaken so far and discussed strategies for balancing crop-livestock integration, in relation to CA, as livestock is an important factor in rainfed farming systems.

The concept of ‘Basic-Strategic Research-Delivery’ continuums within the hubs concepts of South Asia (CSISA) and Mexico (MasAgro) were explained to the participants. It was highlighted that in IFAD, a similar pattern is being followed for a value chain solution of technology packages to the farmers.CHINA8

Pillar of maize: a special salute to scientists who uncovered its domestication and diversity

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mysteries-of-maize-2An extraordinary session of the ASA/CSSA/SSSA convention in San Antonio, Texas, during 16-19 October 2011, honored researchers who have dedicated their professional lives to understanding and using the diversity of the amazing food crop, maize, and its wild relatives Tripsacum and teosinte. Entitled “The mysteries of maize: A recognition of pillars in maize science,” the session paid tribute to the careers of Major Goodman, Hugh Iltis, Takeo Ángel Kato Yamakake, Wilfredo Salhuana, JosĂ© de JesĂșs SĂĄnchez GonzĂĄlez, and H. Garrison Wilkes, as well as CIMMYT’s own Suketoshi Taba and JosĂ© Crossa.

The session was moderated by Carolyn Lawrence, assistant professor at Iowa State University and a member of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) team managing the Maize Genetics & Genomics Database (MaizeGDB). Wilkes led off with a presentation about the in-situ conservation of teosinte and its co-evolution with maize. Among the other speakers, Taba talked about the potential for further use of the Mexican maize race Tuxpeño in future breeding work and thanked participants for their collaboration, consultation, and encouragement in developing the CIMMYT maize collection during his career. Closing the session was former CIMMYT molecular biologist and current USDA-ARS research geneticist Marilyn Warburton, who discussed issues around the use and conservation of the Zea gene pool.

Profiles of the pillars. A professor at the Colegio de Postgraduados, Kato is among many distinguished Mexican scientists whose contributions to research on maize evolution and diversity predate the advent of DNA markers; besides elucidating chromosome knob patterns for American maize races, he studied in partnership with late Nobel Laureate and cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock the possible migration and integration of maize germplasm. University of Guadalajara professor the collection and characterization of Mexican maize races and teosinte, the wild relative from which maizedirectly evolved.

During many years as a researcher at Pioneer, Salhuana was instrumental in efforts to identify and transfer useful diversity from tropical to temperate maize. Professor Emeritus of Botany at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Iltis is best known for studies on the domestication of maize, for leading a team of botanists who discovered the Zea diploperennis teosinte species, and for advocating the conservation of teosinte in natural habitats. Director of Maize Breeding and Genetics at North Carolina State University, Goodman helped lay the genetics and breeding groundwork to clarify and synthesize relationships among maize genetic resources, and has strongly supported the conservation of Latin American maize.

In addition to his interest in the evolution of maize, retired University of Massachusetts at Boston professor Wilkes has focused on economic botany, the genetics of domestication, and the promotion of effective gene banks and policies to conserve and use plant genetic resources. A regular visitor to CIMMYT, Wilkes helped improve and strengthen the center’s maize seed conservation systems and its global role as a genetic resource preserver and promoter.

Retired CIMMYT biometrician and distinguished scientist Crossa has helped define key methodologies for conserving and using the center’s maize genetic resources, including proper procedures to regenerate older seed samples or to form representative subsets of large collections. The head of maize genetic resources, Taba has worked at CIMMYT since 1975. His many accomplishments include coordinating the work of national seed banks in 13 Latin American countries to rescue and regenerate more than 15,000 endangered seed collections of native maize races. He has also pioneered farmer participatory approaches to improve maize landraces while retaining essential qualities that farmers value, and has developed core subsets of major maize race collections. Finally, his abiding interest in conserving and studying maize wild relatives has expanded CIMMYT’s teosinte collections and lately led to his discovery of a new perennial teosinte in western Mexico.

“Maize’s domestication over 9,000 years from teosinte to a productive food crop is an incredible story,” said Taba. “These scientists have helped bring it to light, as well as defining the diversity that will give maize farmers new traits to meet the challenges of food scarcity and climate change.”

The special session was organized by Tom Payne, head of wheat genetic resources at CIMMYT, and Candice Gardener, research leader / supervisory plant biologist for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS-MWA-PIRU).

Using genomic selection for breeding

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As genotyping technologies advance, so do their applications. Genomic selection through genotyping by sequencing can be used for breeding: marker data is produced, missing data is filled in across the genome, and models are run on the data to identify genotypes that express desirable traits and thus should go forward in breeding programs. Combined with field observations, genomic selection can provide a powerful lens for choosing good breeding lines.

Many CIMMYT staff from different areas are working on genomic selection, in partnership with scientists from Cornell University, Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd (DArT P/L; Australia), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and Kansas State University. On 24 October 2011, a meeting coordinated Ky Mathews, CIMMYT Biometrician, with assistance from Geneticist/Molecular Breeder Susanne Dreisigacker, brought to El BatĂĄn 24 specialists from CIMMYT and partner institutes to enhance communication, share experiences, and identify challenges associated with genomic selection.

A key concern is managing and sharing the huge volumes of data that the approach is expected to generate. “The datasets will grow and grow as the technologies progress,” says Mathews. “CIMMYT and other organizations will need infrastructure and resources to store, analyze, and interpret results. Communication will also be vital, with maize and wheat researchers receiving data for analysis at slightly different times, and with a turn-around time shorter and faster than anything we’ve dealt with before.” Genotyping by sequencing can produce many markers across the genome (order of thousands to millions), but still as much as 70% of marker scores may be missing, so scientists are applying a technique known as “imputation” to fill in the rest. The technique involves estimating what the values might have been using information available in the dataset. JosĂ© Crossa and his team have been working on developing imputation methods for genotyping by sequencing. He warns that the methods are still in development, and their accuracy and feasibility for imputing biological missing data are as yet unknown.

For now, CIMMYT researchers are running an initial, testing cycle of genomic selection that should conclude in about eight weeks. Further meetings at that time will look at results, analyze mistakes, and identify learning points on all aspects, including imputation.

Six steps to feed seven billion: CIMMYT in the Huffington Post

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Following World Food Week in October, and the recent arrival of the world’s seventh billion citizen, Kristi York Wooten published an article in the Huffington Post on 05 November 2011, bringing together the thoughts of an expert panel on how to feed the growing population.

Cherae Robinson, CIMMYT Development Officer, highlighted the importance that women play in agriculture: “women produce nearly 90 percent of food on the African continent,” she said. Robinson also emphasized the need for innovation, with systems such as conservation agriculture becoming increasingly important for increasing yields and creating buffers against climate change. Whilst these issues might have the greatest impact in the developing world, it is vital that the rest of the population takes action in advocating policy changes, through lobbying, social media, and publicizing initiatives like ‘Feed the Future‘, added Robinson.

Other contributors also spoke of the need to assist smallholder famers, who produce much of the world’s food, and the importance of not only increasing the amount of food produced, but making sure that it is nutritious. The potential positive influence of the private sector was also highlighted as a method of increasing global food security.

Read the full article here.

Policy recommendations to improve the seed sector in eastern and southern Africa

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ESAgroupDuring 26-27 October 2011, seed policy experts met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a workshop on “Maize seed sector development in eastern and southern Africa”, to chart the way forward for the regions’ seed systems. The workshop was organized by CIMMYT as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, and brought together permanent secretaries of agriculture ministries, members of parliament, seed companies, seed traders associations, heads of research organizations, scientists, and seed regulators from eight of the project countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).

The experts reviewed the results of the 2010/2011 CIMMYT seed sector survey, and assessed the progress made since the last regional policy workshop in 2008, and the survey of 2007/2008. Among the noteworthy achievements was the regional harmonization of seed laws as well as an increasing evidence base to inform policy. Lively discussions focused on five themes: variety development and release; seed production; seed marketing, distribution and storage; farmer adoption and seed use; and seed laws and private sector participation.

To increase effectiveness and productivity of the seed sector, the experts made several policy recommendations:

  • International and regional seed laws should be domesticated and harmonized, and embedded within existing legislation.
  • To reduce trade in fake seed, competition commissions should be set up and anti-trust laws enacted, including Kenya’s Anti-counterfeit Act, and holograms should be used for seed packaging.
  • Smart subsidies with a clear exit strategy, in conjunction with services such as extension education and good agronomy, would be effective in increasing farmers’ access to new drought tolerant maize varieties.
  • Seed availability could be increased through irrigated seed production on more land, and credited finance guarantees through national governments.
  • The liberalization of seed production, certification, and trade would improve the efficiency of seed sectors and ensure that farmers have access to the best varieties for improved farm incomes and food security.

Summing up the outcomes from the workshop, Hon. John Mututho, Kenyan Member of Parliament and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee said: “The experts at this meeting have accurately coined the policy issues dealing with seed production, marketing and trade. These policy recommendations should be adopted by the [Kenyan] Executive and Parliament as the basis for developing the Kenyan Seed Act, to be passed in 2012.”

Colombian plains project hosts a maize harvest workshop

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AluminioOn 19 August 2011, a workshop was hosted by CIMMYT-Colombia for maize producers, association representatives, and educators and students from various local universities, among others, on the advances of a project to increase maize production in Colombia through the development of improved germplasm adapted to the production systems in the OrinoquĂ­a region (East Plains). The OrinoquĂ­a is an area of plains, covered by pasture and interspersed with rivers and forests; all the rivers terminate in the Orinoco river. The project is coordinated by CIMMYT-Colombia, with support from the Colombian Agricultural Research Cooperation (CORPOICA), Colombian Growers Federation of Cereals and Legumes (FENALCE), International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia. The workshop took place at the CORPOICA Research Center in Villavicencio, Del Meta District.

As part of the workshop, attendants visited the field and observed the results of trials of maize with tolerance to acidic soils. For this component of the project, 1,000 acidity-tolerant hybrids are being tested in four locations of the Colombian high plains (C.I. La Libertad in Villavicencio; Menegua in Puerto LĂłpez; and Taluma and Carimagua in Puerto GaitĂĄn) in the Meta District. They are also being evaluated for yield potentialand other important agronomic traits which help to increase production and profitability. Workshop participants observed that the yields of the best hybrids evaluated in C.I. La Libertad exceeded 7 tons per hectare, and it is hoped that yields in Carimagua will reach almost 10 tons per hectare. Based on harvest data, from the 1,000 hybrids a 10% subset of those with the best performance will be selected for evaluation in an increased number of locations from 2012. The goal is to make the best five hybrids available to OrinoquĂ­a farmers within 3-4 years. This would make an important contribution to a region where there are enough resources to widen the agricultural frontier and duplicate the current area sown (5 million hectares).

The same project also trialed maize lines known to be susceptible or tolerant to acidic soils. At aluminum saturation levels of 60%, the susceptible lines died during the seedling stage, long before the flowering stage. These results are particularly relevant given that the percentage of aluminum saturation in a native savannah from the OrinoquĂ­a is over 90% and only a few plant species survive.

Biotechnology applied to plant genetic breeding

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A course on biotechnology applications to plant genetic breeding was held during 26-30 September 2011, at La Molina Agricultural University, Lima, Peru. Over 100 scientists from Peru’s National Institute of Agricultural Innovation and Peruvian universities attended the course, which focused on modern concepts and procedures of biotechnology as applied to plant breeding.

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The instructors covered many topics. Myriam Cristina Duque, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), gave a presentation on biometrics applied to plant breeding, with an emphasis on experimental designs for non-balanced trials. Gary Atlin, CIMMYT, then focused in on heritability, mixed models theory and its application to plant breeding, as well as current uses of sequencing and genomics. Association mapping and analysis of plant genomes using molecular markers and QTL mapping was the subject of a presentation by Marilyn Warburton, USDA, and Luis Augusto Becerra, CIAT, also discussed molecular markers, as well as demonstrating the use of MapMaker and conducting a session on plant gene-based mapping. Luis Nopo, Arkansas State University, spoke about transgenic plant transformation and RaĂșl Blas, La Molina Agricultural University, conducted a practical session on extracting DNA from plants.

Unanimous positive feedback was received from the participants, who suggested that similar courses be held in other locations in order to better disseminate knowledge on current technologies. Resources for the course came from Peru, whose partnership with CIMMYT dates back 10 years, with the objective of developing profitable and environmentally-friendly maize technologies.

CIMMYT looks to further partnerships with Peru

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Following the course on biotechnology for plant genetic breeding in Peru, Gary Atlin (Associate Director, CIMMYT Global Maize Program) and Luis Narro (Coordinator, CIMMYT-Columbia) met with Juan Rheineck Piccardo, Peru’s Vice-Minister of Agriculture on 27 September 2011, to discuss possible further partnerships between CIMMYT and the Peruvian government.

It is hoped that further collaborations would increase maize production in Peru, which currently produces just 40% of its national grain demand. Piccardo expressed interest in the proposals, suggesting that a project should be implemented at the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA) to select water-efficient maize genotypes. Atlin and Narro then visited the INIA site at Paiján, in the north coastal zone of Peru, to assess it’s characteristics. The area has no rainfall, allowing researchers to control the amount of water the plants receive during development, and the water table is more than 8 meters below ground-level, therefore avoiding interference between underground water and irrigation systems. Dialogues will continue once the selection trial has been established.

CIMMYT features in the International Forum on Food Security and Price Volatility

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The World Food Day was established in 1979 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to raise awareness of the global food problem and strengthen solidarity against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. To commemorate World Food Day 2011, an international forum on “Food Security and Price Volatility: Scope, Perspectives, and Recommendations” took place during 17-18 October at the Sevilla Palace Hotel, Mexico City. The event was convened by FAO’s representatives in Mexico, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the Latin American Economic Commission (CEPAL), and the Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

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Over two days, participants from national and international policy and research organizations, public and private sector, and scholars and representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, and the United States, exchanged experiences on the causes and effects of food price volatility, an issue which has an important impact on food security. They also explored options for public policy to reduce volatility, and identified elements to prepare a shared or coordinated agenda among countries and international organizations. Presentations ranged from the FAO outlining the establishment of a more efficient way to track fluctuating food prices, to details on the Brazilian government’s support of production at a family farm level.

Jonathan Hellin, Value Chain and Poverty Specialist for CIMMYT’s Socio-economics program (SEP), gave a presentation highlighting the importance of research and extension provision in meeting the challenges of increasing agricultural production and enhancing farmers’ access to markets. With the forum’s focus on policy issues, Hellin cited MasAgro, a coordinated initiative between CIMMYT and SAGARPA, as an example of integrated efforts between the public and private sectors to sustainably boost crop productivity. There are already visible, positive results from this project, such as increased interactions between scientists and small-scale farmers, and the benefits of MasAgro will be measurable in terms of Mexico’s wheat and maize production, added Hellin.

SAGARPA Undersecretary Mariano Ruiz-Funes reiterated the potential of MasAgro. “It starts from the plot, fosters commerce through contract farming, and adds value to products —with support of the Postharvest Management Program— allowing the development of a local market,” he said. Ruiz-Funes added that MasAgro is the most important program of recent years because it provides support directly to small farmers to promote higher crop yields, particularly in rainfed regions.

Innovation Research Program Award for the CIMMYT-CAAS program

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Congratulations to the joint program of CIMMYT and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), which was recently awarded the Innovation Research Program Award from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, in recognition of it’s outstanding contributions to wheat quality research and it’s impacts in China.

The CIMMYT-CAAS program was established in 1997 and has achieved significant progress in establishing quality testing protocols for traditional Chinese products, molecular marker development and application, QTL mapping for resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew, documenting yield progress, variety development and extension, and HR development through collaborations with Chinese institutes and those overseas, including Murdoch University, University of Sydney, and USDA-ARS. The team is led by Zhonghu He, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and Country Representative, and includes seven CIMMYT-trained senior scientists, 15 graduate students, and ten support staff. Highly regarded both in China and internationally, the project also received CGIAR’s regional award in 2007, and a First Class Award in Science and Technology Progress from the Chinese State Council.

Saudi Ambassador visits CIMMYT

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CIMMYT welcomed H.E. Hussein M. Alassiri, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Mexico, to the El Batán headquarters on 20 October 2011. During his visit, the Ambassador was greeted by Director General Thomas Lumpkin, who highlighted the global challenges facing food security as well as describing CIMMYT’s programs which have been particularly successful in arid to semi-arid regions; Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), and Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA). In addition to describing the history and mission of CIMMYT, Lumpkin also presented the Borlaug Institute for South Asia as CIMMYT’s newest initiative to tackle growing food insecurity.

The visit proceeded with a tour of the seed bank and a presentation by IvĂĄn Ortiz-Monasterio on developments in nitrogen use efficiency technologies, followed by Roberto Javier Peña who provided the Ambassador with a background of CIMMYT’s work on wheat quality. Hans-Joachim Braun was also present to give an overview of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.

Saudi Arabia is ranked 19th in the world’s wheat importers, currently importing nearly 2 million metric tons of wheat, primarily from Germany, Canada, and the USA. Average estimated annual consumption of wheat by Saudi inhabitants is currently 110 kg per person. Although self-sufficient in wheat throughout the 1980s, Saudi Arabia announced in 2008 that domestic wheat production will cease in 2016, in order to conserve the country’s dwindling water resources. Over the next five years, wheat production will reduce at a rate of 12.5% annually.

The Ambassador’s visit to CIMMYT focused on areas of mutual interest including advances in research and development of wheat productivity, water use efficiency, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Initiative which supports investment in low-income countries with a high potential to increase agricultural productivity. CIMMYT will be working with the Ambassador to send samples of seed collected in the Arabian Peninsula to Saudi researchers for further testing.

Utilizing plant genetic resources to identify useful traits

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The work of plant breeders has enabled the production of high-yielding crops; some are resistant to certain diseases or adapted to particular environments, but new diseases emerge and climates change. The work of plant breeders is therefore constantly evolving, and alleles to tackle production challenges need to be identified. This was the issue addressed in a seminar by Michael Mackay, currently a Senior Scientist at Bioversity and formerly Curator of the Australian Winter Cereals Collection, on 14 October 2011, entitled “More effective utilization of plant genetic resources for plant breeding”.

There is a huge amount of variability in wheat collections, and they may contain traits which are useful for plant breeding, but Mackay pointed out that identifying the accessions which have these traits is somewhat akin to “searching for a needle in a haystack.” However, it may be possible to use “environmental sieves” to identify these accessions, said Mackay.

This would be one way of using genetic resources more effectively. According to Mackay: “Recent studies show that distribution of trait variation is not random; there are relationships between traits and environments; statistics and modern techniques provide effective means to target ‘best bet’ accessions; and online tools to facilitate this type of modeling are required to reduce the ‘diagnosis’ time.” The Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) project is currently working on using climatic data in geographic information systems to investigate trait-by-environment relationships to identify useful accessions currently held within ex-situ genebanks worldwide.

With so much data, a smart system is needed to bring the information together and to build a dynamic interface between data providers and users. It is possible that the Genesys portal, “Gateway to genetic resources”, could be used as a kind of hub, enabling more of a service approach for the use of plant genetic resources, said Mackay.

MasAgro fosters collaboration to optimize and reduce the cost of processing maize for making tortillas in Mexico

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CIMMYT scientists and researchers from the Valley of Mexico Experiment Station (CEVAMEX, Spanish acronym) of Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP), who are working with the International Maize Yield Consortium (IMIC), a component of the MasAgro initiative, organized the first workshop on “Methodologies for evaluating maize tortilla-making quality” during 10-11 October 2011 at CIMMYT headquarters, El Batán.

Forty representatives of the tortilla dough, tortilla flour, and snack-making industries, as well as those from Mexican universities and research institutes, met to discuss the grain quality characteristics needed to process maize for making tortillas. Workshop participants reviewed the various parameters and methodologies available to evaluate the health and quality of maize grain used to process tortilla flour, tortilla dough, and snacks.

IMIC leader Marc Rojas reported that several work teams were formed to plan complementary activities allowing MasAgro to strengthen cooperation among producers, seed companies, breeders, the processing industry, and consumers. With this objective in mind, the participants carried out a detailed analysis of the grain quality characteristics currently needed by the processing industry, in order to identify possible process-optimizing and cost-reducing actions.

Natalia Palacios, Head of CIMMYT’s Maize Nutritional Quality Laboratory, explained that the work teams agreed that seed companies, farmers, and breeders need to have access to more information about the industry’s grain quality requirements in order to reach the above mentioned objective.

Industry representatives expressed their interest in knowing more about the location, yield, and quality of the grain harvested in different regions of the country. They also decided to identify new production areas and improve grain supply channels, and even suggested promoting the revision of Mexican quality standards. At the end of the event, Alberto Morales, Cargill Operations Manager, concluded that “we need to standardize analytical, purchasing, receiving, and sales techniques, so that we all speak the same language.”

According to Mexico’s Agricultural, Food, and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP, Spanish acronym), of the 23.3 million tons of maize grain produced in Mexico in 2010, 10 million were processed for making tortillas, and 3.5 million were for the producers’ own consumption, while the tortilla flour-processing and dough-making industries processed 3.7 and 3.4 million tons, respectively. The snackmaking industry used a little over 500,000 tons of maize.

First ARIA-CIMMYT Wheat Researchers’ Workshop

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Wheat research in Afghanistan can be regarded as still in its infancy. The country has released over a dozen winter and spring wheat varieties during the last ten years, but increased stakeholder coordination would improve wheat production and productivity. The Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) and CIMMYT have been collaboratively conducting a large number of wheat experiments over the last several years, which have contributed to the development of many popular wheat varieties. To enhance wheat research, and involve all Afghan wheat researchers in planning and results’ interpretation, the first ARIA-CIMMYT wheat researchers’ workshop was held during 19-21 September 2011 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Kabul. The workshop was attended by 46 wheat researchers from a range of disciplines and regions.

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M.T.Sahib Dad Pakbin, Advisor, ARIA, Sayed Noorudin Hariq, Ex-Senior Researcher, ARIA, and Mohammad Qasem Obaidi, Director, ARIA, chaired several technical sessions and contributed to deliberations and the finalization of recommendations. A. K. Joshi, Regional Wheat Breeder, CIMMYT-Nepal, Ramesh Chand, Professor of Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, and Mahmood Osmanzai, former CIMMYT Wheat Agronomist and current Consultant with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, participated in technical sessions and contributed to the development of their respective disciplines’ research programs for the 2011-12 crop cycle.

Delegates deliberated over the release of wheat varieties in the country and agreed to conduct zone-wise varietal evaluation trials, with subsequent zone-wise varietal releases. Standardized norms on the use of common and regional checks in yield evaluation trials, and criteria for promotion and release of varieties were discussed, and it was agreed to use the National Rust Screening Nursery as a reference for deciding resistance and susceptibility of test entries. The workshop also identified six wheat, three barley, two durum, and three triticale varieties for commercial release.

It was also requested that CIMMYT organize two further workshops: one on research results’ analysis and interpretation, and another for ARIA researchers on rust scoring. This year, CIMMYT will also technically support a wheat breeding programme at ARIA-Kabul. Obaidi expressed that the collaboration should be continued, in order to consolidate and improve wheat research in the country.

In closing, Pakbin commented that it was the first time a dedicated workshop was conducted for wheat research in Afghanistan. Rajiv Sharma, Country Liaison Officer, Afghanistan, thanked the delegates for their participation and purposeful contributions. The workshop also agreed to invite other partners in the country to contribute their test entries to the programme, to avoid duplication of efforts and to bring about synergy in national-level operations.

International testing site brings hope to wheat farmers

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Celebrations were in order at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI-Njoro) on 30 September 2011, when the International Testing Site for Resistance against the wheat stem rust, Ug99, was launched. More than 200 farmers, scientists, donors, government officials, and other stakeholders in the seed industry and wheat sector attended the event, which also doubled as a Farmers’ Open Day on ‘Recent advances towards addressing wheat stem rust’.

Presiding over the launch, Gideon Ndambuki, Kenya’s Assistant Minister for Agriculture, noted that the global redress could not have come at a better time; Ug99 seems to be running out of control and inflicting heavy losses in wheat production, worsening the food security situation in Kenya and worldwide.

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From a simple stem rust screening nursery established by CIMMYT in collaboration with KARI in 2003, the KARI-Njoro site has been transformed, through the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) and the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project. Now it’s a world class screening facility, boasting 12ha of land dedicated to screening international germplasm for stem resistance; a water tank reservoir with a capacity of 1000 m3; three well-maintained boreholes; and an irrigation facility incorporating both drip and overhead systems.

Since opening as an international screening facility in 2005, the centre has screened over 200,000 accessions from more than 20 different countries and institutions. Over 20 Ug99-resistant varieties have been released worldwide and several more are anticipated. In Kenya, 11 accessions were entered in National Performance Trials with two varieties – Robin and Eagle10 – released early this year, thanks to an agreement with CIMMYT allowing KARI to release any variety with Ug99-resistance. These varieties have stem and yellow rust resistance, in addition to early maturation and high yields. KARI and the Kenya Seed Company are collaborating to multiply breeder seed, and expect to produce 10 tons of each variety to be made available to farmers by the end of the year.

Explaining why Kenya and Ethiopia were selected as ideal places for such a facility, Sridhar Bhavani, CIMMYT Wheat Pathologist/Breeder and eastern Africa Coordinator for DRRW project, noted that KARI-Njoro is a unique stem rust epidemiological region. It has good environmental conditions (rains/dew/temperature) allowing for year-round cultivation, and is a hot-spot for the evolution of new virulent forms of rust pathogens through migration, mutation, and recombination. “The initiative will be critical in curbing the spread of rust epidemics currently threatening the world’s wheat supply,” added Bhavani.

“I can’t say enough how much the global wheat community owes to Kenya,” said Ronnie Coffman, Director of the DRRW project and Vice-Chair of the BGRI. “Kenya and Ethiopia are shouldering the lion’s share of screening for a disease that threatens 70 percent of the world’s wheat varieties.” Reiterating the importance of the initiative, Ephraim A. Mukisira, KARI Director, stated “You have ignited a process that will impact the lives of the rural poor and the entire population of the global community. I am sure that because of this work, next year bread prices will be half the price of today.”