Last Thursday, 02 September 2010, CIMMYT welcomed esteemed Cuban microbiologist, Raixa Llauger, to El Batán on an official visit on behalf of the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture. Llauger, senior researcher at the Institute of Research on Tropical Fruit Crops, Havana, arrived at CIMMYT to revive relations between Cuba and CIMMYT through the exchange of maize varieties.

With approximately 1.2 million hectares dedicated to crop cultivation, Cuba’s main food crops are rice, beans, and maize. Cubans grow rice and beans mainly for consumption, where as maize is grown largely for animal feed. However, maize is sometimes used for human consumption in the form of flour and for national dishes such as tamales. The nation’s demand for maize as dry grain feed is around 772,000 tons and is predicted to reach 966,000 tons by 2015. This large demand for maize as feed has forced Cuba to import maize from other countries—though the Cuban government hopes to reduce maize importation through the steady growth of maize cultivation and the introduction of improved varieties.

Cuba practices agro-ecological alternatives such as the use of organic fertilizers, biofertilizers, and bioplaguicides (microorganisms, native to the region, that act as biological controllers of plant disease) in order to promote sustainable agriculture. Because of this interest in biological controls, Cuba is excited to introduce drought resistant and nitrogen use efficient (NUE) maize varieties into their fields.

Along with interests in obtaining new maize varieties, Cuba also hopes to reignite the training of Cuban scientists at CIMMYT. Cuban scientist Marcos Torres, one of the most influential scientists in Cuba to work with maize, trained and worked at CIMMYT, and his expertise is something modern day Cuban scientists would like to emulate. “Today I met many scientists who fondly remember Torres. I think now is the perfect time to foster the Cuba-CIMMYT relationship,” said Lluager.

In order to facilitate the goal of exchanging both germplasm and knowledge, Llauger discussed future plans with Gary Atlin, associate director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, and Félix San Vicente, maize breeder. “It is not that Cuba’s relationship with CIMMYT ever stopped: we’ve had a continuous relationship with the organization since the 1980s,” said Llauger. “It is just that we have realized all of what CIMMYT has to offer and we are at a stage where we are ready, able, and excited to take advantage of it.”

EL BATAN, 06 September 2010—On a historic day for CIMMYT, Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin and Dr. S Ayyappan, Director General of  the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),  signed a joint declaration of intent in the presence of H.E. Mr. Sharad Pawar, Honorable Minister of Agriculture of India, to establish the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). Located in India but serving the entire region, BISA will constitute a state-of-the-art, international agricultural research and development organization that applies cutting-edge technologies to improve cropping systems and help farmers address current and emerging challenges to food security such as climate change, natural resource scarcities, and rising market demand. According to the declaration, the new institute commemorates the “…fond and respectful memory of the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, and his contribution to the Green Revolution of India and of South Asia.”

“BISA will support and pursue advanced research, but our desire is ultimately that the research reach farmers’ fields,” said Minister Pawar. “It has to…if it is going to be in the name of Dr. Borlaug.”

CIMMYT put its best face forward to greet the Minister and a distinguished delegation that included Mr. Ajit Pawar, Minister for Energy and Water Resources, Government of Maharashtra; Mr. Jayant Patil, Minister for Rural Development, Government of Maharashtra; Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); Mr. Dinesh Kumar Jain, Ambassador of India to Mexico; Mr. Mukesh Khullar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Mr. Vimlendra Sharan, Private Secretary to Honorable Agriculture Minister of India; and Mr. Dinkar Asthana, Counsellor, Embassy of India to Mexico.

In the El Batán reception lobby, the visitors viewed a recently-built display for prominent awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize given to Dr. Borlaug in 1970 and the 2000 World Food Prize shared by retired CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist Surinder K. Vasal and former CIMMYT Biochemist Evangelina Villegas.

They later toured the Wellhausen-Anderson Crop Genetic Resources Center and maize, wheat, and conservation agriculture demonstration plots.

One of the day’s highlights was the planting of an India-CIMMYT friendship tree in the pine grove near the memorial tree of Dr. Borlaug. The day closed with a gala dinner and ceremony at a leading Indian restaurant in Mexico City. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, made the first public announcement of BISA in his Independence Day address on 15 August 2010.

“This is a major juncture for CIMMYT, and we are extremely grateful for the interest and support of the Indian government in this new endeavor,” said Lumpkin.

A media release and other materials describing BISA, including a link to the complete text of Dr. Singh’s address, are available at staging.cimmyt.org.

Last Thursday, 26 August 2010, CIMMYT said farewell to a group of 21 visitors from Texas A&M University, USA, that spent two weeks in Mexico learning about CIMMYT’s history, current projects, and its world-wide contributions to the advancement of wheat and maize. The group included 18 students (ranging from undergraduate to doctorate students) and three professors—one of which was Ronald Cantrell, former head of the CIMMYT maize program and former director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). During their time at CIMMYT, the group saw laboratories, equipment, fields, and had the opportunity to meet many of the members that make CIMMYT’s work possible.

The group divided their time between the El Batán,Toluca, Tlaltizapán, and Agua Fría stations, which provided a diverse glimpse at the various environments and ecologies with which CIMMYT works. Because all of the visiting students are, in some capacity, studying agriculture and/or plant breeding, the group was very inquisitive and engaged throughout their many lectures and workshops. Seth Murray, assistant professor in the Department of Soil & Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, was grateful to CIMMYT for this opportunity to expose young students to the international aspects of plant breeding. “Hopefully everybody gained insight into the problems of agricultural growth in developing countries. It isn’t just about having the technology to grow crops. Lack of infrastructure, unreliable market access, and other variables play a large role in agricultural development,” said Murray. “Experience like this, they couldn’t get in a Texas classroom.”

The students will take the knowledge they have gained on this trip and apply it to their studies at Texas A&M University, as well as present it at a university fair. Prior to arriving in Mexico, each student was given a topic to explore throughout their time at CIMMYT; these assignments range from pre-Columbian agriculture to modern sciences, such as the breeding of quality protein maize (QPM), which the students saw up-close at Agua Fría. Another topic of interest was marker-assisted selection (MAS), which is what Juliana Osorio Marín, a 28-year-old doctorate student, is studying. Marín is happy to explore MAS further because it is such a “hot topic” in the field. Marín has expressed an interested in returning to her home in Bogotá, Colombia, after receiving her degree in order to work for fellow CGIAR organization the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

But the visit wasn’t all work. The students were also able to soak up Mexican culture and history through various day trips to places like Teotihuacán, Taxco, El Tajín, and the historic center of Mexico City. “My favorite day trip was seeing Taxco,” Marín said. “It‘s a beautiful city to explore, built up in the hills like that… and the silver!”

This was the fourth year a group from Texas A&M has visited CIMMYT, and it won’t be the last. Educational exchanges such as these are an integral part of CIMMYT’s work. “The importance of exposing future generations to CIMMYT’s harmonized cooperation among physiology, breeding, pathology, quality, and agronomy research, and its application in lesser developed countries is invaluable,” said Petr Kosina, CIMMYT knowledge, information and training manager. “In order to secure our future, we must keep the youth educated and engaged.”

The week before the Texas A&M students arrived, CIMMYT played host to another group of students. During the first week of August, 12 students from University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, spent a week learning about CIMMYT’s work and collaboration. Led by William Tracy, the group visited El Batán, Tlaltizapán, and Agua Fría. Many thanks to everyone who helped welcome, accommodate, and educate these eager and important visitors!

The CIMMYT community welcomes Cornelis Fransiscus Broekhuijse as the newest member of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees. The son of a farmer and a native of the Netherlands, Broekhuijse developed a passion for agriculture at a young age, which was sustained throughout his 33-year career with Rabobank, an international bank committed to food and agribusiness and a leader in sustainability-oriented banking. Until his retirement from Rabobank in 2009, Broekhuijse held various important positions at the bank, including executive vice president and later senior executive vice president of Rabobank Americas. For the past year, Broekhuijse has served as Chairman of the Board for two Rabobank subsidiaries in the US. We look forward to benefitting from his knowledge and experience.

During the week of 15 August 2010, Boddupalli Prasanna, director of the Global Maize Program, visited CIMMYT-Zimbabwe to participate in the first day of the “Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Maize Breeding Course.” The course runs from 15-31 August and is designed for early-career maize breeders who are interested in maize improvement for stress environments. During the trip, Prasanna also reviewed maize activities in Zimbabwe; conversed with CIMMYT-Harare staff; met with representatives of seed companies to discuses CIMMYT’s support activities for the private sector; and spoke with government officials. Additionally, Prasanna visited the CIMMYT research station at the University of Zimbabwe Farm (12.5 km north of Harare) and the Chiredzi and Chisumbunje research stations (500 km south of Harare) to review the drought testing sites, and the Muzarabani Estate (200 km north of Harare) to observe the winter nurseries.

Follow our new series of videos interviewing past CIMMYT trainees. Each video highlights CIMMYT’s training impact by documenting individual accounts of how the training experience influenced scientists from across the world.

1. Training Impact: Andre Rosa (Brazil)
2. Training Impact: Moussa Mosaad (Egypt)
3. Training Impact: Mohammed El Hadi Maatougui (Algeria)
4. Training Impact: Mohammed Jlibene (Morocco)
5. Training Impact: Madan Bhatta (Nepal)
6. Training Impact: Solomon Gelalcha (Ethiopia)
7. Training Impact: Ratan Tiwari (India)
8. Training Impact: Abdel Kader Benbelkacem (Algeria)

On 02 August 2010, Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security held a meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi, for all donor-funded agriculture projects coordinated by international centers operating in the country. This meeting was organized by the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Program (ASWAP) in order to review how contributions from these projects complement national agricultural initiatives, and to inform the donor community of how their support is making an impact.

CIMMYT, one of eight CGIAR centers working in Malawi, received special recognition from Dr. Andrew Daudi, Malawi’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture, and from Dr. Jeff Luhanga, Controller of Technical and Extension Services. Both acknowledged CIMMYT as a key collaborative partner for maize production technologies, which have helped improve Malawi’s maize-based food security. Specific CIMMYT achievements in Malawi include the development, release, and dissemination of improved maize varieties; the promotion of metal silo technology; training of national scientists; and the adoption of conservation agriculture practices for smallholder farmers.

At the meeting, Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT regional liaison officer and SIMLESA project leader, presented on CIMMYT’s works, focusing on the center’s strong science, partnerships, and capacity building. He also distributed related project briefs from the center. These documents impressed Daudi, who requested that all centers develop similar informational and communicative materials. Meeting attendees all agreed to follow one shared format for these materials to be used in future publications.

Specific CIMMYT initiatives operating in Malawi include: the New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA); Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA); the Effective Grain Storage Project; Sustainable Intensification of Maize Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA); the Soil Fertility Consortium for Southern Africa (SOFECSA); and work on conservation agriculture in maize-based farming systems.

For more information on CIMMYT’s work in Malawi, see CIMMYT’s June 2010 e-news Maize farmers and seed businesses changing with the times in Malawi.

Nearly 40 Russian and Kazakhstan scientists from 19 different institutions gathered at Chelyabinsk Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture, located in the Kazakhstan-bordering Russian region of Chelyabinsk, from 03-06 August 2010 for a meeting of the Kazakhstan- Siberia Network on Spring Wheat Improvement (KASIB), which is held once every two years. The main focus of the meeting was to improve wheat resistance to rust disease through effective collaboration.

CIMMYT helped establish KASIB 10 years ago. Today, it unites 15 breeding and research programs from Kazakhstan and Siberia (Russia) with the goal of improving regional spring wheat breeding through the exchange of varieties and breeding materials, complemented by information sharing, workshops, and meetings. About 500 varieties and advanced lines of bread and durum wheat, including varieties already sown on roughly 20 million hectares, have been studied at KASIB nurseries.

The meeting consisted of lectures on challenges and achievements in wheat breeding, including improvement of rust resistance. Alex Morgounov, of CIMMYT-Turkey and head of the International Wheat Improvement Program, gave an overview of the 8th International Wheat Conference, which was held in St. Petersburg during 01-04 June 2010, and reflected on the current status and latest achievements in wheat breeding. In general, the attending scientists noted that the Kazakhstan-Siberia Network is developing dynamically and that participating institutions are providing varieties for testing that display a higher performance of desirable agronomic traits in comparison with previous years, including resistance to rust (like Ug99). Additionally, breeders are working in harmony to: develop research methodologies; evaluate wheat rust diseases on an international scale; develop criteria to share credit for joint creation of varieties; and increase study on leaf rust, stem rust, and septoria leaf blotch. This shows that there has been an improvement in variety selection and that breeders take KASIB collaboration seriously. Impressed, a number of agencies not currently participating in KASIB expressed their desire to join the network.

Another important aspect of KASIB is shuttle breeding between Kazakhstan and Mexico. This is done in conjunction with CIMMYT’s rainfed breeding program, led by Yann Manes, CIMMYT wheat breeder. The resulting new breeding material is not only resistant to leaf and stem rust, but also shows high yield, drought resistance, good end-used grain quality, and the ability to adapt to local conditions. These lines have reached advanced variety yield trials at Fiton Research and Production Company, the Karabalyk Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Chelyabinsk Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture. Two of these lines were incorporated in KASIB’s nursery in 2009- 10 and showed good results in broad environmental testing.

Despite these successes, participants did discuss new ways to further improve the KASIB network for both performance and shuttle breeding. Morgounov and Yuriy Zelenskiy, of CIMMYT- Kazakhstan, visited several breeding programs to see how shuttle materials were fairing at various stages of the breeding process and in different ecological zones. Scientists from the KASIB network expressed their gratitude and appreciation to CIMMYT for organizing and funding this meeting.

The race is on to replace existing varieties amid concerns that climate change is likely to intensify droughts and significantly depress maize harvests in sub-Saharan Africa.

As climate change intensifies drought conditions in Africa and sparks fears of a new cycle of crippling food shortages, a study released today finds widespread adoption of recently developed drought-tolerant varieties of maize could boost harvests in 13 African countries by 10 to 34 percent and generate up to US$1.5 billion in benefits for producers and consumers.

“We need to move deliberately, but with urgency, to get these new varieties from the breeders to the farmers, because their potential to avert crises is considerable,” said Roberto La Rovere, a socio-economist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT) and lead author of the study, which was produced in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

“Our analysis shows that with high rates of adoption, more than four million producers and consumers would see their poverty level drop significantly by 2016,” he added.

The study was conducted as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Initiative (DTMA) implemented by CIMMYT and IITA with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. CIMMYT and IITA have worked with national agriculture research centers in Africa to develop over 50 new maize varieties that in drought conditions can produce yields that are 20 to 50 percent higher than existing varieties.

The CIMMYT-IITA analysis of the benefits of conventional drought-tolerant maize for Africa, or DTMA, examined the potential impact in Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The researchers found that under “conservative yield” improvements, the new varieties would provide farmers and consumers with food and income worth US$537 million, while under more “optimistic yield improvements,” their value would increase to US$876 million.

Moreover, the researchers estimate that if drought-tolerant maize completely replaced existing varieties in the countries studied, the benefits could reach US$1.5 billion.

Farmers and consumers in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe would see the greatest benefits, the authors note, because maize dominates local diets and livelihoods, and farmers in these countries have a history of rapidly adopting improved maize varieties.

“The goal now is to make drought-tolerant maize easily available to millions of smallholder growers in countries where droughts, which always lurk as a perennial threat to food production, are expected to become more common and more severe,” said Hartmann, director general of IITA. “Maize is life for 300 million in Africa, and as climatic conditions deteriorate, it is up to researchers in cooperation with governments, seed companies and farmers to ensure that maize production does not collapse.”

For example, a peer-reviewed study published last year by Stanford University and the Global Crop Diversity Trust warned that by 2050, growing conditions in most African countries will be hotter than any year on record and that many varieties of maize now under cultivation will no longer be viable. Another study from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) warned that a failure to transition to drought-tolerant maize could diminish yields across the region by up to one ton per hectare.

Some of the new drought-tolerant maize seed is already reaching farmers’ fields. This year alone, four new varieties developed by breeders with IITA and the Government of Ghana that are both drought-tolerant and resistant to the parasitic weed Striga were officially released.

The CIMMYT-IITA study examined past trends in adoption of improved maize varieties and cautioned that there could be wide variations in the rate at which farmers’ transition to drought-tolerant maize. For example, adoption rates are projected to be as high as 85 percent in Kenya and Zambia, but only 20 percent in Benin, 30 percent in Mali, and 27 percent in Mozambique.

“It is very important for everyone at all points in the value chain to coordinate their efforts so that we address the challenges that in the past have made it very difficult for many African farmers to obtain seed of improved crop varieties,” said Wilfred Mwangi, associate director of CIMMYT’s global maize program and leader of the DTMA project.

According to Mwangi, farmers will adopt a new crop variety if it offers distinct advantages. But they still face barriers to obtaining improved seeds.

“Over the years, many farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have continued to grow old, low-yielding, and unsuitable maize varieties, despite the availability of newer and better-performing ones,” said Mwangi. “This is partly because they don’t know about the new varieties or can’t get credit to buy seed. Many farmers are discouraged from buying seed because they can’t sell their surplus grain at attractive prices; others live beyond the reach of commercial seed companies.”

Feeding farm families in dry areas of Malawi

In Malawi, the impact of the DTMA project is already becoming evident in farmers’ fields and finances. For example, Bamusi Stambuli estimated he will save US$330 over 12 months by growing a drought-tolerant maize variety developed by CIMMYT and breeders from Malawi’s Chitedze Research Station. This year, Stambuli’s maize yields of this variety were nearly twice those of other popular local varieties. “I will now be able to feed my family for 12 months,” said Stambuli, who has seven children and five grandchildren.

“The climate is changing, rainfall is decreasing, and the weather is now dictating which varieties farmers grow and in turn what varieties seed companies produce,” said Dellings Phiri, Managing Director of Seed Co. Malawi, a leading seed company in the southern African region.

Two varieties released in Malawi in 2009—ZM 309 and ZM 523—are suited specifically for drought-prone areas where soils are infertile. Introduced by local extension agents to farmers in the Balaka area, the new varieties have produced good yields in demonstration plots. Farmers are saying that ZM 309 and ZM 523 yield more corn, mature earlier, and are better for pounding into flour than other popular commercial varieties.

Locally, ZM 523 is known as “Mwayi”—the Chichewa term for “fortunate.” ZM 309 is called “Msunga banja,” or “that which takes care of or feeds the family.” In September 2009, the Malawi government decided to include ZM 309 in a government initiative that offers farmers discounts on purchases of improved maize seeds.

Related stories

Study says drought tolerant maize will greatly profit African farmers

Maize farmers and seed businesses changing with the times in Malawi

Drought: Grim Reaper of harvests and lives

On 08 August 2010, a group of representatives from Mexico’s public and private agricultural sectors interested in conservation agriculture (CA) gathered for a workshop, given by Petr Kosina, CIMMYT knowledge, information and training manager, on efficient outreach communication. Throughout the day, participants learned about different learning styles and presentation methods, and how they can be used to communicate to farmers CA techniques and benefits. CA is an exciting tool with the potential to enhance not only crop yields, but also the quality of agricultural soils. However, like any other tool, the benefits of CA will only be attained if it is correctly adapted and utilized by farmers and technicians, and clear communication—both of proper application and of the potential benefits—is crucial.

Many farmers are sceptical about non-traditional farming practices, so in addition to analyzing cultural differences in learning styles, the workshop taught participants how to overcome scepticism by using various presentation methods that both relay information about CA technologies while also gaining the trust of farmers. Methods discussed included: demonstrations, visits (farm walks), facilitated discussions, presentations, and the use of informative media such as posters, flyers, and manuals. At the end of the seminar, participants worked in pairs to prepare and give a two-minute presentation in front of the entire group.

In the afternoon, the participants were divided into groups and rotated through four stations, each designed for experimentation with a different communication technology, and led by a CIMMYT expert in the respective area: video, audio, posters, and pamphlets. CIMMYT consultant Mary Attaway (pictured left in yellow) gave instruction about the basic use of inexpensive handheld video cameras and their potential role in spreading CA through various channels such as YouTube. Under the watchful eye of CIMMYT audiovisual expert Ricardo de la Rosa (pictured left at computer), the participants conducted mock interviews with one another to practice using an audio recorder. They then edited their recordings using a software program that is available online, free-of-charge. Antonio Luna Ávila and Marcelo Ortiz Sánchez, both CIMMYT graphic designers, led brief informative courses on how to create efficient, engaging posters and pamphlets. At the end of the day, the whole group discussed which outcomes resulted in good communicative materials and how others could be improved.

This workshop was part of CIMMYT’s second year-long CA technician certification course. The first course finished in early August 2010 and graduated its first round of CA certified technicians. Because of the overwhelming response to the course, a second wave of 34 new participants has just begun. Bram Govaerts, head of the conservation agriculture team in Mexico, is leading this course with the help of many CIMMYT staff. “I’d like to give a special thanks to the whole Mexico CA team and also to Petr Kosina who presented this crucial material in such an engaging and participatory manner,” said Govaerts.

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) held its 5thAfrican Agriculture Science Week from 19-23 July 2010 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a country in northwest Africa. More than 700 African farmers, ministers, scientists, policymakers, and public and private sector representatives utilized this opportunity to review the progress of agriculture research and development in Africa over the last three years, under the general theme of “African Agriculture in a Changing Global Environment.” The participants, including three CIMMYT representatives, also established a regional research agenda for the next three years.

FARA is an umbrella organization for major agricultural stakeholders in Africa; it advocates and coordinates roles for agricultural research for development among national and international agricultural research centers and advanced research institutions. Despite hardships, like climate change and the global financial crisis, many influential African policymakers pledged to help increase investments in African agriculture. Several Ministers of African nations declared their commitment to the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). CAADP is an united approach to increase agricultural productivity in Africa through improvements in land and water management, market access, food supply, and agricultural research. Some of the program’s goals include increasing agricultural productivity 6% each year, and allocating 10% of annual government budgets to the farming sector.

At FARA’s Science Week, booth and poster display areas provided presenters with opportunities to interact and showcase their work. CIMMYT’s booth provided information about various center initiatives, including those involving maize (with a focus on drought tolerant maize), conservation agriculture, Ug99, post-harvest losses, the African seed sector, and the project Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA). The display included posters, publications, and a photo slideshow. Publications in French were especially popular, as it is the main language in Burkina Faso. CIMMYT also submitted a video on metal silo technology to the Inaugural African Film Festival, which was introduced as part of African Agriculture Science Week.

“The CIMMYT film on the metal silo did a great job in showcasing innovation and the benefits not only for farmers, but also for the associated small-scale metal fabrication industry,” said Jacqueline Nnam, FARA knowledge sharing officer. You can watch parts of the video online: part 1 and part 2.

Representing CIMMYT at the event was Wilfred Mwangi, associate director of the Global Maize Program; Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA; and Anne Wangalachi (pictured above right), science writer based at CIMMYTKenya, who reported that the CIMMYT booth attracted many visitors, including the Rwanda Minister of Agriculture, Agnes Kalibata, who was interested in drought tolerant maize and metal silo technology, and how these could be introduced and used in her country.

For more information about the event, visit http://faraweek2010.blogspot.com/.

Twenty-three farmers who attended a wheat course on soil management and preparation back in March 2010 returned to CIMMYT-Mexico to complete their training last week. “Integrated Management of Wheat in Mexico: Part Two” ran from 02-06 August 2010 and was a collaborative effort of CIMMYT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food (SAGARPA). It focused on pest and disease control, existing genotypes in the Mexican market, seed health, end-use quality, and use of geographic information systems (GIS) for extension agents.

The participants spent the first two days in Toluca where Fernando Delgado, Toluca’s station superintendent, led the activities in the field. From Wednesday through Friday, the group stayed at El Batán, where they had a varied schedule that included presentations on wheat variety profiles; visits to demonstration plots, the germplasm bank, and seed health laboratories; and sessions on GIS, conservation agriculture (CA), grain industrial quality, and the registration process of new varieties in Mexico.

Petr Kosina, knowledge, information, and training manager, and Roberto Javier Peña, wheat quality expert and laboratory head, coordinated the SAGARPA-funded course, which received technical support from the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock (INIFAP). This course will be given again in 2011 and 2012. Big thanks to everyone who helped make this training a success, including Julio Huerta and Bibiana Espinosa of the germplasm bank; Noemí Valencia and Gabriela Juárez of the seed health lab; Andrea Chocobar and Ricardo Romero of the CA team; INIFAP’s Eduardo Villaseñor; Fernando Delgado; and the GIS office team.

A training workshop on the integrated International Maize Information System (IMIS)-Fieldbook platform was held for scientists, technicians, and research assistants in Nairobi, Kenya, on 05-06 August 2010. Similar training was held in Zimbabwe on 02-04 August, and will soon be given in Ethiopia. Héctor Sánchez, crop information specialist based at CIMMYT-Mexico, conducted the course, which was attended by participants from CIMMYT and two invited representatives from the Western Seed Company, a Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project partner.

The training included presentations on the basic use of IMIS and IMISFieldbook. The latter has all the utilities of Fieldbook software, as well as additional functions for management of genealogy, inventory, and data. Hands-on training sessions covered topics such as installing the software, generating inventories and analyses, seed preparation for trials and nurseries, adding information to the IMIS database, and managing pedigrees using Fieldbook.

“We can now code our germplasm numerically, and upload it into a local database, which can then be exported to MaizeFinder,” said Silvano Assanga, one of the participants. MaizeFinder is a program, accessible on the internet, where information on the germplasm available at CIMMYT and performance data can be obtained. “With this software, it will now be easy to trace the parentage of a pedigree by generating a genealogy tree to see how the material was developed,” Assanga said.

The software is available at http://dtma.cimmyt.org/index.php/software.

Two CIMMYT-Mexico department heads, along with Mateo Vargas from Mexico’s Chapingo Autonomous University, traveled to Peru this July to lead a five-day training course on field data analysis, with an emphasis on maize. The course, coordinated by Luis Narro of CIMMYT-Colombia, ran from 19-23 July 2010 at the campus of Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (UNALM), in Lima, Peru.

Twenty-three fellow scientists and researchers (six were women) attended the course, which received Peruvian government funding specifically earmarked for CGIAR initiatives. Other sponsors included the university; the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA, part of the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture); CIMMYT; and the institutions of attendees (six Peruvian universities, one Colombian university, and the International Potato Center, CIP).

CIMMYT’s José Crossa (head of Biometrics & Statistics), along with Vargas, filled two of the days with information on theory, analysis, and interpretation of experiment data (including full blocks at random and incomplete blocks); and stability analysis (regression models, AMMI, SREG, PLS, hereditability, and genetic correlations). Statistical analysis software (SAS) was used to analyze all the information.

Later in the week, Kai Sonder (head of the Geographic Information Systems Unit, GIS, part of the Socioeconomics Program) switched gears slightly and focused the following three days on GIS issues. He used local examples and data to show how to apply GIS to agricultural research, how to generate geo-referenced data with GPS in the field, and how to create maps and spatial data using the freeware applications DivaGIS and Geoda. All the participants received a DVD with spatial data and materials and programs used in the workshop. Complementing the workshop, Crossa also presented a conference on how to use phenotypic and genotypic data from multi-location trials to increase the genetic gain of selections. Held in UNALM’s auditorium for their postgraduate program, 50 people attended, including workshop participants, UNALM professors, and researchers from INIA and CIP.

The attendees thanked CIMMYT for organizing the event and others of its caliber, and highlighted the excellent quality of the course and the expertise of the workshop leaders. CIMMYT-Colombia thanks its CIMMYT-Mexico colleagues for their collaboration.

With much appreciated assistance from public and private sector maize extension specialists and innovative farmers, the first part of a two-part CIMMYT-hosted training course titled “Integrated management of maize-based cropping systems” was successfully completed last week in Mexico. Thirty-two participants attended the course, which ran from 26-30 July 2010 and focused on agronomy and pest management.

The participants spent four days at the Toluca experimental station, where their learning began with an analysis of different types of soil management and technologies for both irrigated and rainfed areas. From Tuesday to Thursday they focused on farm equipment and machinery (tractors, and fertilizing and sowing implements).

“I have worked with maize for two and a half years, and want to learn more about this crop so I can assist the farmers I work with,” said Antonia Viloria, an agronomist from Oaxaca who works with the Management Office for the Innovation of the Maize Chain (AGI), an agency closely related to SAGARPA. “I’ve attend various other maize workshops, but this was the first one that let us practice; here I was able to use and calibrate equipment, test the equipment in the field, and measure field distances.”

Other training activities included how to apply the proper amount of herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers, and how to make standard and wide beds. On the last day, everyone traveled to El Batán where they learned about the Geographic Information Systems Unit (GIS), visited the germplasm bank, and saw maize material sown on CIMMYT’s demonstration plots.

“This course is vital because we already know that it is not possible to look at variables individually, like costs, climate change, or agronomy—everything is connected and we have to take into account that things are changing,” said Jaime Covarrubias, from Salamanca, Guanajuato. “On previous occasions I have worked with Fernando Delgado (Toluca’s station superintendent), yet I keep returning because there is always something new to learn, and I take this knowledge back and share it with farmers in my state.”

The participants will return in early October 2010 to complete the second part of the course, which will focus on existing maize varieties and post harvest technologies.

The organizers thank Fernando Delgado for his dedication during the workshop, and for being an example to many Mexican farmers and extension agents. Also, thanks go to Kai Sonder and his GIS team, Víctor Chávez and the germplasm bank staff, and José Luis Torres and his maize group.