A new era began this week with the launch of the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, a US$170 million global alliance to expand and accelerate research into maize, on 06 July 2011. The announcement was made during a celebration of the CGIAR’s 40th birthday, held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, marking a new direction for the CGIAR and demonstrating that after four remarkable decades it remains vigorous and committed to addressing emerging challenges.

“This program aims to double the productivity of maize farms, while also making those farms more resilient to climate change and reducing the amount of land used for growing the crop,” said Carlos Perez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair. “As a result, farmers’ incomes are expected to rise and their livelihood opportunities to increase, contributing to rural poverty reduction in developing countries.” Maize is the preferred staple food source for more than 900 million people, including one third of the world’s malnourished children. The program’s first target group is smallholder farmers, among the most vulnerable people in developing countries, particularly those who live in stress-prone environments and have poor market access. Forty million smallholder farm family members are expected to see direct benefits by 2020 and 175 million by 2030.

The program will be implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA), together with over 350 public and private partners worldwide. CIMMYT studies show that the demand for maize in the developing world is expected to double between now and 2050. Meanwhile, agriculture is under pressure from population growth, climate change, and natural resource degradation. Future expansion of maize area will come at the cost of crop diversity, forests, and erodible hill slopes. Fertilizer, water, and labor costs are also rising.

The challenge for MAIZE therefore is to find sustainable ways to grow significantly more maize on less land than ever before. The program is based on nine strategic initiatives, reflecting priorities for maize research. These are:

• Socioeconomics and policies for maize futures
• Sustainable intensification and income opportunities for the poor
• Smallholder precision agriculture
• Stress tolerant maize for the poorest
• Towards doubling maize productivity
• Integrated postharvest management
• Nutritious maize [bio-fortified varieties]
• Seeds of discovery [mobilizing maize genetic diversity]
• New tools and methods for NARS and SMEs

All the strategic initiatives also include capacity building to empower a new generation of women and men scientists. The program is expected to provide enough maize to meet the annual food demands of an additional 135 million consumers by 2020 and 600 million by 2030.

“This is a highly ambitious project to address world hunger,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General. “It will take an enormous amount of work and cooperation between public and private sector institutions to meet the goals. The global challenges facing mankind are immediate and chronic; the time to act is now. Millions of lives depend on our ability to develop sustainable solutions to feed more people with fewer resources than ever before.”

For more information, see the proposal document at: http://staging.cimmyt.org/en/what-we-do/ maize-and-wheat-cgiar-programs

After a successful 37-year career and living on 4 continents, most people welcome retirement with open arms. Wayne Haag is not most people. Mission-oriented since childhood, the only question is, where will he end up next?

Assigned to CIMMYT as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in 1973, Haag first worked in Mexico alongside Dr Ernest Sprague and the maize team, and later as a maize specialist representing the center in Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East, and the South American region, where he continued until leaving CIMMYT’s employ in 1989. Since that time, and through the end of 2009, he worked with the Sasakawa Global 2000 program, an effort begun by Ryoichi Sasakawa and enlisting the participation and leadership of US President Jimmy Carter and Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, to offer sub-Saharan African farmers technology options for improving their productivity and food security.

During that tenure, in addition to other responsibilities, Haag focused on and promoted quality protein maize (QPM) in 12 project countries. Recently retired from SG 2000, Haag shows no sign of slowing down.

“I’m not ready for full retirement,” says Haag. “I hope to continue to be involved in international agriculture development. What form that will take? I’m not sure quite yet, but am in the process of exploring possibilities.”

Haag served in the US Peace Corps’ first project in Guatemala during 1963-64, an agricultural extension project, at the decree of President John F. Kennedy. Inspired by that experience, he later pursued studies in agricultural development and science at Michigan State University and Pennsylvania State University.

Throughout his long travels and career, Haag has preserved close linkages with CIMMYT friends and partners. “Every national maize program I worked with had a very strong partnership with CIMMYT,” he says. “Even though I may have not been employed by CIMMYT for many years, it is almost as if I have never left.”

This week Haag and his wife Maria were in Mexico to touch base with long-time coworker, friend, and retired CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist, Surinder K. Vasal. Vasal and retired CIMMYT cereal chemist Evangelina Villegas shared the 2000 World Food Prize for their work in the 1970-80s to develop QPM, seen as a breakthrough in maize breeding by Haag and maize scientists around the world. During a visit to El Batán, Haag said he is certain the center’s work with QPM is not done.

“It is my sincere hope that CIMMYT will strengthen its activities in quality protein maize. This can be done by increasing the numbers of maize breeders and concentrating on germplasm maintenance, improvement, and development,” he says. Haag believes CIMMYT can produce QPM open-pollinated varieties and hybrids that also contains enhanced levels of methionine, provitamin A, iron, and zinc. “This seed would revolutionize global maize production and add tremendous value to the crop both in terms of human and animal nutrition,” he says.

India has recently experienced a boom in cell phone use in the agricultural sector—disseminating information on anything from technology to agronomic practices, weather, or even market prices. Investigating this recent trend’s presence in Mexico, on June 26 a team of CIMMYT socioeconomists including Tina Beuchelt, Surabhi Mittal, Dagoberto Flores, and Jennifer Zehner visited the Chimalpa Valley in the municipality of Apan, state of Hidalgo, Mexico, an area largely known for being a barley production belt, to gauge the prevalence of cell phone use for agricultural purposes.

The trip involved a focus-group discussion with 12 farmers. The farmers were frustrated that extension services and information were not reaching them because of inadequate communication. They said they relied on their friends and family as their principle source of agricultural information. All participating farmers had cell phones, which they use for some agriculture-related purposes. Cell phone costs are relatively high, but the farmers save time and money by calling their technician, rather than having to travel by car to other towns seeking information. Apart from phone calls, there is not a great interest in sending or receiving agricultural information through SMS due to its high cost. Furthermore, it emerged that none of the farmers were using the existing SAGARPA SMS information service or were even aware of its existence.

As the CIMMYT team and farmers’ discussion progressed, farmers revealed that they would, indeed, like an agency that circulates relevant information, such as rainfall forecasts to make better planting decisions, crop prices, where to buy inputs, input applications, government subsidy programs, and relevant agricultural events. This information would allow farmers to be more efficient in their production. The farmers said they would also appreciate other modes of communication, such as a local agronomic television show or radio programs during the weekend from which they could obtain important agricultural information.

The farmers mentioned important constraints to information sharing, indicating the need for trustworthy external sources. They mentioned a lack of trust among neighboring farmers and that farming networks (or unions) are not well established. By the end of the discussion, farmers started showing more interest in how to obtain agricultural information via cell phone. While they were reticent about the use of cell phones and their cost, they mentioned that if cell phones could be used profitably, they might be willing to pay for such services in the future. This interaction between CIMMYT and the farmers is the initial step in understanding Mexican farmers’ perspectives towards cell phone use as a means of better communication and information dissemination.

The Government of Kenya Prison in Machakos, Kenya, is not your average prison. Here, the inmates have their food security in their hands—quite literally. This is because they work the prison farm, which grows, among other food crops, three new CIMMYT maize varieties.

The prison is situated in a droughtprone area and with 1,000 inmates there at any one time, the prison management needs all the help it can get to feed its inmates. “We need 5 bags of maize daily—for the three meals—for all the inmates.

These new varieties give good yields even when rain is scarce,” says Paul Mukiti, the prison farm manager.

He refers to KDV1, KDV4 and KH500-21A—drought tolerant maize varieties developed by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), marketed by Dryland Seeds Ltd in eastern Kenya.

The prisoners till the maize fields planted with these varieties under the watchful eye of Mukiti and their wardens.

It all began when Dryland Seeds contacted Mukiti to grow KDV1 and KDV4 on his personal farmland. Impressed by their performance and business potential, Mukiti convinced his superiors to allow him try the grain varieties on the prison farm. Mukiti and his men grew KDV1 in April 2010 and KH500-21A in October of the same year.

“KH-500 needs more rain and takes longer but gives very good yields and that’s why we grew it in October,” says Mukiti. Last year, the prison’s maize farm yielded 170 bags of the two varieties. The prison had enough maize to feed the inmates and a surplus which it sold for extra income.

“This maize has helped us to save a lot of money which we would have been using to buy maize for the inmates,” says Mukiti. Currently, a 90-kilogram bag is retailing at KSh 2,700 (USD 30) and the prison would have spent at least  KSh 13,500 (USD 150) per day to feed the prisoners.  Last April, Mukiti and his men planted three acres to KDV 1 and two acres to KDV 4 and in June the crop was doing well, despite the prevailing drought. Mukiti is thankful for the new seed and confidently awaiting next month’s harvest.

Staff of this Tanzanian seed company drove a vehicle topped with Tanseed drought tolerant varieties in potters through the city’s crowded streets during the nation’s Worker’s Day Celebration. The crowd cheered as the vehicle entered Jamhuri Stadium and passed in front of the chief guest, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. And because the event was televised live on three national stations, the message about drought tolerant maize was likely viewed by a large audience.

This successful bit of mobile marketing was the brain-child of Tanseed CEO and managing director, Isaka M. Mashauri, a partner and beneficiary of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. Two drought tolerant varieties from Tanseed, TAN 250 and TAN 254, come from ZM 401 and ZM 721, varieties selected for tolerance to drought and low soil fertility conditions by CIMMYT at Chiredzi, Zimbabwe (for more details, see “No Maize, No Life”).

“At Tanseed, we aim to offer farmers many choices when it comes to drought tolerant maize varieties,” says Mashauri.

Guest post by Farming First

Ahead of the G8 summit this week in France, Farming First has launched a new online infographic that demonstrates how agriculture can help build a green economy.

Green growth is one of the top items on the meeting agenda and, with the inclusion of African leaders at this year’s summit, the G8 leaders should foster policy coherence on food security and price volatility to achieve agriculture’s potential.

As a critical sector for achieving the G8’s goals of food security and a green economy, we have collected existing data from leading research organisations and assembled it into graphs and visuals to put agriculture forward in the wider political agenda.

The infographic clearly highlights the value and return to investment in agriculture, both in terms of poverty reduction but also in improving food security through increased productivity. The data also draws attention to the impact of agriculture on women’s livelihoods; 41 percent of total farmers worldwide are women, and this goes up to 64 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Despite this, the G8 leaders’s commitment to provide $22 billion to food security by 2012 has yet to be met. Agricultural productivity needs be addressed through investment in agricultural research and extension services, in order to feed a global population of 9 billion in 2050.

Food production must increase to ensure food security now and for future generations and it is increases in yield that will provide over 70 percent of that growth. The World Bank estimates that 1 hectare of land will need to feed five people in 2025, whereas in 1960, 1 hectare was required to feed only 2 people.

However, if we look at investment in agriculture today, the sector has been a victim of underinvestment for a long time, both in terms of government spending and foreign aid. Public spending allocated to agriculture declined to under 7 percent in 2000, and the share of ODA to agriculture fell to 5 percent in 2004.

The implications of a lack of investment are reflected in the present reality of crop yield growth. Grain yield growth in developing countries has fallen from 3% per year from 1961 to 2007, to a 1 percent increase per year today.

As an example of the huge potential that lies in investing in agricultural research, the impact of the Chinese government’s increased investment in agricultural research has helped China achieve year-on-year yield growth, making the country the largest agricultural producer in the world.

Through our infographic, we hope that G8 leaders will recognise the true contribution that farmers can provide to continued global prosperity, while helping to create sustainable livelihoods, reduce poverty and safeguard the environment. If we invest in farmers today, we can seize the challenge of growing a green economy.

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Farming First is a global coalition representing the world’s scientists, engineers and industry as well as more than 100 farmers’ associations and agricultural development organisations. Farming First calls for a broad- based, knowledge-centred approach to increase agricultural output in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.  To view Farming First’s position on the green economy, visit:  www.farmingfirst.org/green-economy

The long-standing and fruitful relationship between Germany and CIMMYT received a boost on 01 May 2011 when, as part of an official tour of Latin America, the President of the Republic of Germany, Christian Wulff, visited CIMMYT headquarters to learn more of the center’s work and discuss strengthened partnerships. President Wulff was accompanied by his wife, Bettina, and nearly 60 distinguished guests including German vice ministers and members of parliament, embassy personnel, and business and media representatives. Greeting the guests were CIMMYT Director General Tom Lumpkin and several of the center’s German and German-speaking staff.

After touring the main exhibition hall showcasing Dr. Norman Borlaug’s achievements and contributions to agricultural development, including his Nobel Prize of 1970 and the Aztec Eagle of the same year from Mexico, the entourage attended a presentation by Hans-Joachim Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program. The talk addressed food security and related constraints—climate change, the rising demand for grains, the increasing scarcity of resources like land, water, and fertilizer—as well as CIMMYT’s work in the developing world and its relationship with Germany, a long-term and significant supporter of the center. To name just a few examples, German contributions have funded work on stress tolerant maize for Africa, a regional wheat network for Central Asia, and wheat pathology research for South Asia. German staff at CIMMYT and our partnerships with German universities and institutes have been of enormous¡ value in getting improved technology to farmers.

The whirlwind tour then moved to the seed bank, with exhibitions of maize and wheat genetic resources outside and a visit inside to the upper seed storage chamber. In an impromptu closing statement, President Wulff thanked CIMMYT and described his positive impression of the visit and Braun’s presentation, which he called one of the clearest and most fact-based he had ever heard. Reports on the visit in the German media have referred to CIMMYT as a “highly-regarded research center.In addition to Lumpkin and Braun, CIMMYT staff interacting with the guests included Marianne Bänziger, deputy director general, research and partnerships; Scott Ferguson, deputy director general, corporate services; Peter Wenzl, head of the crops research informatics lab; Susanne Dreisigacker, molecular biologist and head of marker applications in wheat; GIS expert Kai Sonder; agricultural economist Tina Beuchelt; Marc Rojas, coordinator of the International Strategy for Maize Improvement; and Petr Kosina, assisting with the event management.

On Friday 29 April 2011, Nobel Prize Laureate and father of the Green Revolution, Norman E. Borlaug, was awarded an honorary doctorate (postmortem) from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM) for his lifelong work to improve modern agriculture.

Although Norman E. Borlaug died in September 2009, his legacy lives on through his many contributions to the development of global agriculture, CIMMYT included. Because of his unwavering determination to feed the world, a ceremony was held at UAEM, Toluca, MX, where Eduardo Gasca Pliego, UAEM President honored Norman E. Borlaug. Dr. Borlaug’s daughter Jeannie Borlaug Laube came down from Texas to receive the honorary doctorate and speak of her father’s work in Mexico, and Toluca specifically, delivering a heartfelt speech in which she fondly recalled her life in Mexico.

CIMMYT Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin attended as one of the speakers for the event, stating:  “(Borlaug) was our spiritual father. His legacy and presence are a part of all of our projects and activities… Many of his values – pragmatism, honesty, hard work, creative problem solving –are reflected in CIMMYT’s culture.”  Lumpkin also expressed his regret that Dr. Borlaug had not lived to witness the launching of MasAgro –a comprehensive initiative of the Mexican Agricultural Secretariat-SAGARPA, CIMMYT, dozens of public and private Mexican organizations, and Mexican farmers to raise crop yields, combat environmental degradation, and confront climate change. He stated that MasAgro has been an integral step in rebuilding the relationship between CIMMYT and Mexico, the decline of which was one of Borlaug’s greatest concerns. Lumpkin added that the launching of MasAgro “… has demonstrated just how far CIMMYT has come in preventing Dr. Borlaug’s fears from coming true.”

The collaboration between UAEM and CIMMYT was also highlighted during the event. As part of MasAgro, the establishment of a long-term, conservation agriculture research plot on the university campus is in the final stages of approval. Research staff of the university will also be involved in testing improved maize varieties as part of MasAgro. Also recognized were the Agriculture Faculty Director, Artemio Balbuena Melgarejo, and scientists María de Guadalupe Gutiérrez and Andrés Morales Osorio for the integral role they have played in building the relationship between the UAEM and CIMMYT. Global Wheat Program Director Hans-Joachim Braun and 20 current and former CIMMYT staff also attended the event, including former CIMMYT wheat researcher and director Sanjaya Rajaram and several specialists who had worked with Dr. Borlaug beginning in the 1950s.

One of the general objectives of Conservation Agriculture and MasAgro is to create linkages, or strengthen already exisiting relations, among private agricultural organizations. With this in mind, a CA training course was conducted at the CIMMYT-Tlaltizapán station in Morelos on 29 April 2011.

The course welcomed 35 agriculture entrepreneurs and three technicians from Puebla, who attended to learn more about CA and how to apply its principals ni their fields.

Óscar Bañuelos, superintendent at Tlaltizapán, began the course by welcoming all the participants. Bañuelos, who also attends Conservation Agriculture‘s technical certification course, applies CA technology throughout the season as a way to reclaim lots in disrepair and as an agronomic alternative to save on production costs.

Pedro Maldonado, President of the State Program of Conservation Agriculture (PEAC) in Puebla, and CA team member Andrea Chocobar also demonstrated at the event. Pedro Maldonado explained the forms of support that the Valles Altos CA Hub offers farmers interested in trying CA. Chocobar spoke about the basic principles of CA, such as the use of machinery as a key factor in the CA adoption process and the different variations of CA.

To end the course, the participants visited the fields of two farmers practicing CA, gowing mainly sorghum. The CA farmers spoke of the advantages of the system and the reasons inspiring its adoption. They also agreed that CA’s results can be seen when soil remains undamaged during times of heavy rain, which has led to significant cost savings and increased production. During the course, the CA team succeeded in promoting and enhancing the participation of producers of sorghum, beans, corn, and barley from the highland and semi-tropical zones of Puebla.

Petr Kosina, CIMMYT manager of knowledge, information and training, has recently been promoting Open-Access (OA) publishing through meetings and presentations. OA publishing refers to unrestricted online access to scientific publications (no need to subscribe to the scholarly journal or pay per article or book). Why is Open Access important for you and for CIMMYT?

Published research results and ideas are the foundation for future progress in science. Open Access publishing leads to wider readership and dissemination of information, particularly to our large audiences in developing countries without the means to pay for expensive journal subscriptions, by providing:

• Open Access to ideas: Making papers freely available online provides all scientists with the most current peer-reviewed scientific information and discoveries.
• Open Access to the broadest audience: As a researcher, publishing in an open access journal allows anyone with an interest in your work to read it, which translates into increased usage and impact.

OA articles can be published in two ways, in Open Access Journals (OAJ), or by paying copyrighted journals. Indeed, OA publishing may mean some additional cost for authors (from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on length of the article and the quality of the journal). However, the cost of publishing is able to be bypassed as most of our donors are ready to accept project proposals with funds allocated to OA publishing. As a matter of fact some of our donors are even demanding it. An example of such is the UK Department for International Development. As well, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is currently discussing the need for OA publications.

Thus, OA publishing is here to stay, and something that we at CIMMYT should consider as a viable alternative to the traditional publishing model. There are already some OA publishing examples in CIMMYT e.g. the GMP research team including Raman Babu and Yunbi Xu has published article in PLoS ONE.

There are currently several thousands of OAJ in many areas of science, and many of them have high impact factors e.g. PLOS Genetics (8.8) or PLOS Biology (12.6)

If you are interested in browsing a list of OA journals, visit the Directory of Open Access Journals or Open Access Journals Gate. Also, CIMMYT library staff will also be happy to assist and to connect you with those who have already published in some OA journals, from CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers.

Wheat never sleeps in Nepal. On 28 February 2011, a training course addressing, “Wheat disease scoring methodologies” was held at the National Wheat Research Program, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Bhairahawa, in collaboration with CIMMYT.

The course’s objective was to enhance the knowledge and skills of collaborators participating in wheat pathological experiments in Nepal. The workshop provided its participants with instruction on how to obtain good quality, uniform data about wheat diseases. The list of participants included seven scientists and technical officers from various NARC research stations along with five resource persons from NWRP, Bhairahwa –all of whom are actively involved in collaborative wheat pathological research experiments at their research stations.

The training course included both theory and practical sessions that each addressed various aspects of wheat diseases. Janmejai Tripathi, NWRP Wheat Coordinator, delivered a brief introduction about the importance of wheat disease training and the NARSCIMMYT collaboration in Nepal and South Asia.

After opening announcements and addresses, six sessions were conducted to share and discuss the most current ideas on rusts and foliar blight diseases. Also, instruction touched on scoring methodologies at field level.

Deepak Bhandari, NARC wheat pathologist, took the lead in explaining wheat rusts and leaf blight scoring while Nutan Raj Gautam, NARC wheat breeder, was the main person to explain integrating these tools into the wheat breeding process.

Next, participants were taken to the wheat plots where they practiced scoring for each of the three rusts and leaf blight; detailing the scoring method, characteristics of disease symptoms, the differences between each of the rust, and how to record diseases at different growth stages.  All the attendees received an information sheet providing information such as symptoms, scoring methods, inoculation approaches, and proper growth stages for scoring. Participants carried these around throughout the training to make additional notes. The participants appreciated the experience, saying that it improved their ability to record important wheat diseases (rusts and leaf blight) and to plan for the promotion of pathological experiments. It also updated them on the most current NARS/CIMMYT wheat pathological research.

The government of Bihar, a state in eastern India, celebrated its 99th anniversary of independence last month, March 2011. To celebrate, the Bihar government invited CIMMYT, Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU), Bihar and the Directorate of Maize Research, New Delhi to perform a live demonstration of a tortilla-making machine that uses quality protein maize (QPM) grains. The demonstration took place during a 3-day exhibition during 22-24 March in Patna, Bihar, with the goal of popularizing QPM roti among the masses. Roti, common to South Asia, is a regional bread made from stone-ground wholemeal flour.

Raj Kumar, cropping system agronomist, and Raj Gupta, South Asia Coordinator, represented CIMMYT at the Bihar Day celebrations while Head of RAU’s Maize Program Mrityunjya Kumar coordinated the efforts on QPM roti making. Agriculture production commissioner AK Sinha provided space for the installation of the tortilla machine at Gandhi Grounds in Patna, Bihar, and also arranged the logistics for making maize breads and serving them to visitors during the Bihar Day celebrations. Sale of the QPM makka roti by women self-help group volunteers at Bihar Day.

The tortilla machine, which was imported from Mexico and given to RAU for roti making, was used to prepare QPM tortillas from nearly two tons of QPM. The tortillas were then packaged and sold for INR 10. More than 20,000 packages of QPM tortillas were sold to the public. In addition to general sales, refreshments were provided to visiting Members of Parliament, the Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Senior Officials for Home Consumption. A self-help group of women entrepreneurs, led by Rajkumari, supplied the pickles and helped to package and market the QPM breads.

‘QPM maize rotis with pickle’ received much attention and the demonstration and sales counter attracted a constant, large crowd throughout the day. In fact, the crowd was so large that having only one tortilla machine proved insufficient for meeting the large makka roti demand. Public interest in QPM breads (makka rotis) surprised most consumers, as they said they didn’t expect QPM makka roti to be so tasty. The three-day Bihar celebration allowed CIMMYT and partners to reach close to one million people at the Agriculture Pavilion, raising awareness about the accessibility and benefits of QPM. Narendra Singh, Bihar’s Minister of Agriculture, expressed much interest in the tortilla machine by interacting with scientists, technicians, and the general public to elicit their responses as to determine QPM’s potential in Bihar. As several media outlets covered the event, Mrityunjya Kumar, Usha Singh, and Raj Kumar were interviewed on subjects ranging from QPM makka roti production to consumption, the dietary importance of QPM, QPM hybrid seed production, seed availability, economics of QPM roti, shelf-life of QPM makka roti, and the possibilities of introducing QPM roti into schools.

The Economist, a chief international source of world affairs and political news, has recently published a series entitled “A Special Report on Feeding the World” wherein it discusses CIMMYT’s role in feeding the ever-increasing global population. The report, which appears in The Economist’s print and online editions, mentions CIMMYT in three separate articles that all focus on the series’ theme of agricultural production.

The articles commend the successes of Borlaug’s Green Revolution and CIMMYT’s current work to increase the efficiency of wheat and maize. The articles feature contributions from Director General Thomas A Lumpkin as well as Hans-Joachim Braun, head of the Global Wheat Program; Patrick Wall, Global Conservation Agriculture Program director; and Gary Atlin, associate director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program.

Though CIMMYT’s mentions are gratifying, the larger success is that today’s food crisis is taking center-stage. The articles, which reach an immense audience, stress the importance of raising global food productivity, emphasizing technology’s ability to assist this effort. Thanks to these articles, people world-wide are realizing the dire importance of food insecurity and how CIMMYT is using technology to help secure food throughout the world.

To read the full articles, visit The Economist.

The globe’s changing weather has brought extreme frosts to the north Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa this February, causing large crop losses. In Sonora, the frost has damaged more than 6,000 hectares of maize, potato, squash, and pepper crop, and an incredible 90,000 hectares of wheat crop. Sonora’s people depend heavily on agriculture, as it composes 85% of the state’s economic activity.

As significant at Sonora’s losses may be, Sinaloa was hit even harder by the uncharacteristic frost. Sinaloa lost around 505,000 hectares of its principle crop, maize. This overwhelming loss represents 77% of the state’s total maize crop. Also, Sinaloa provides 80% of the Mexican maize supply during the autumn-winter growing season, so this loss is devastating to the people of Sinaloa as well as consumers throughout the country.

As addressing climate change is a focus here at CIMMYT, CIMMYT’s conservation agriculture program has sent instructional materials to the regions’ farmers, advising them what the options are to recover from the frost. Conservation agriculture gives the option to react quickly, as time is precious in replanting some alternative crops to generate some income this cycle. The conservation agriculture Mexico-team has had a strong presence in Sinaloa and Sonora and will continue to support the states’ agriculture sectors during a period when the government has declared the states agricultural disaster areas.

Currently, the weather in Sonora and Sinaloa is improving, though the crop devastation will affect the states’ and nation’s food supply and economy for months to come.