To mark its 5th Annual “Open Doors” event, CIMMYT welcomed 344 students to El Batán on 23 September 2011. Representing 14 universities from as far away as Querétaro and Morelia, the students enjoyed a full day of activities, including an introduction to CIMMYT, a lecture on GIS, visits to wheat, maize, and conservation agriculture demonstration plots, and tours of the germplasm bank, international trials room, and biotechnology and cereals laboratories.

Carlos Alonso Hernández Castro, an agronomy student at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Xochimilco, described the visit as “enriching”. “I’ve learned how people work in teams which combine field and laboratory work,” he said. Some students were affected on a more personal level, such as Cristina Ortega González, a biotechnology student at Xicotepec Technological University of Juárez, Puebla. Before the visit, she says she knew nothing of CIMMYT’s work, but the event has inspired her in her studies and she now hopes to conduct an internship with CIMMYT. Coming from a farming family, and seeing the work done at CIMMYT, González said she’s “now more convinced that I’m on the right way to contribute my bit of effort to help my family and others, if possible, to improve their lives.”

The “Open Doors” events began in 2007 and have been coordinated by Petr Kosina and the training office each year. It was hoped that by holding one large event, rather than many smaller ones, the demand on individual departments would be reduced, and students would have the opportunity to gain a more all-round view of the activities at CIMMYT. For these future scientists, Kosina says that “seeing the work and impact of an institution like CIMMYT can help them or influence their career direction.” In fact, students who have previously visited during “Open Doors” have since returned as graduate students. Most of the presentations are given by national staff, which further enables the students to see how they, as Mexicans, can contribute to the work of CIMMYT.

This year’s “Open Doors” event was the largest yet, and was particularly poignant for Kosina, who is leaving CIMMYT, though remaining as a consultant. For this event, he was assisted by Norma Hernandez, Daniela Flores Castillo, and Laura Ruiz. Thanks also to all the staff who gave presentations and assisted with the day.

Colleagues from CIMMYT, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and national agricultural research systems gathered in Njoro, Kenya, on 05 October 2011, to celebrate the approval of BISA (Borlaug Institute for South Asia) by the Indian Government. The event was organized by Sridhar Bhavani, CIMMYT-Kenya. Ravi Singh, CIMMYT-Mexico, gave the opening address to more than 40 international scientists and thanked the Government of India for funding the institute. He described the significance of the new centre in relation to the growing challenges of food security, and expressed confidence that this centre will address the expectations of a second Green Revolution in South Asia and worldwide.

Eleven wheat breeders and pathologists from South Asia were already in Njoro with CIMMYT colleagues, attending a rust training course and selecting resistant wheat material. They felt that the scientific work embedded in BISA is already being linked to Kenya, and it is hoped that the institute will play an important role in maize and wheat improvement and training in Africa, in addition to furthering links between CIMMYT and South Asia.

On 11 September over 100 participants from more than 36 countries gathered for the opening of the 8th International Symposium on Mycosphaerella and Stagonospora Diseases of Cereals at the Hotel Sevilla in Mexico City. In attendance were representatives from universities and agricultural research centers worldwide, comprised of many of the most renowned members of the international scientific community focused on wheat pathogen research. Hans Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program delivered the introductory remarks during which he stated, “In this room is the cream of the crop in Septoria research. If the answers cannot be found here, then they won’t be found”.

Also in attendance was Etienne Duveiller, Associate Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program who remarked that this year was the third time CIMMYT had hosted the symposium, highlighting the excellent and unique conditions for testing the diseases at the research station in Toluca and the research opportunities for breeding available at CIMMYT.

Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General, emphasized the growing concerns concerning the shortfalls of global wheat production, climate change induced yield reductions, and terminal heat stress in wheat. Lumpkin presented the WHEAT megaprogram as an integral component to CIMMYT’s efforts to address improving wheat production and productivity. He highlighted the impact of crop losses due to disease on smallholder farmers and on the one billion wheat dependent poor living less than 1 USD per day. The increasing use of wheat for biofuels and the reliance and dependence of north-south wheat trade were also stressed as concerns for the international community involved in agricultural development.

The opening lecture was delivered by J. Mathieu, Deputy Director of the Arvalis Institut du Végétal of France, who focused on the need to reduce the environmental impact of pesticides through advances in agronomy and wheat breeding. He estimated that two-thirds of fungicide application in France was targeted towards Septoria control and management, emphasizing the cost of fungicides on farmers.

Mycosphaerella graminicola, which causes Septoria tritici blotch disease, is a wheat pathogen affecting farmers’ yields worldwide —necessitating international cooperation to develop effective methods of disease control, management, and breeding for resistance. In some wheat growing areas, Stagonospora nodorum, which causes Septoria nodorum blotch disease, is prevalent and produces up to 30% loss in crop yields for fields which have not been treated with fungicides if varieties are susceptible and climatic conditions are suitable. Both diseases cause major annual yield reductions worldwide, with significant losses in Ethiopia, the UK, France, and the US. An estimated 5-10% of crops sown are lost annually as a result of the spread of these two fungal wheat pathogens.

The symposium will take place over four days and visit CIMMYT’s Toluca experimental station. The event will feature sessions to address issues ranging from disease management, genetics, resistance breeding, and evolution of the diseases and will conclude on 14 September.

Thanks to the work of Norman Borlaug and other Mexican wheat scientists, Mexico became self-sufficient in wheat production in the early 1960s. However, since the 1980s, Mexico has begun to import wheat once again, and in 2008 the level of imported wheat was almost equal to the amount produced domestically (3.2M tons and 4M tons, respectively). Mexico is now heavily dependent on the importation of bread wheat; a concern in the current climate of rising wheat prices in the international markets. In the coming years, climate change will create challenges for wheat production, whilst demand is increasing. Breeders will have to address such issues as how to increase wheat production in Mexico; what wheat quality is required by the industry now and in future years? What qualities are needed in which regions?

To address these topics, CIMMYT facilitated a workshop on ‘Strategies towards a sustainable high-quality wheat production in Mexico’ during 01-02 September, coordinated by Roberto Javier Peña and Petr Kosina. Active discussions focused on improving communication between the milling industry, farmers, and wheat breeders, alternative strategies of wheat commercialization (the problems and future of ‘agricultura por contrato’), key breeding traits for the next 10-15 years, the localization of different quality wheat varieties in particular regions of Mexico and grain storage needs in these regions, multiplication of required seed, and alternative strategies for public funding of wheat research in Mexico. Five working groups were formed which will continue the work on specific proposals to be presented to milling industry managers, the Mexican Government, wheat growers, and the national wheat chain CONATRIGO. Positive feedback was regarding the workshop itself, which was the first of its kind for many years, and also of the non-traditional plenary discussion methods (Samoan circle) used.