A study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) pointed out that India has the potential to cut 18 percent of its annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and livestock sector.
âThis is a very relevant approach in the Indian context also. Contingent plannings are prescription based and when the time comes the seeds are unavailable for the farmers. This approach will answer the questions like which seeds are made to be available where and in what quantity. As we have our own indigenous biodiversity, our farmers face monsoon delays and monsoon failures so Seed for Needs is the key to fight such problems and to maintain our biodiversityâ said Dr M L Jat, Principal Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
Read more:Â https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/isw/Seeds-for-Needs-approach-to-develop-climate-resilient-crop-varieties.html
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently launched a project that aims to research the drivers and barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture in southern Africa, and to develop strategies for achieving adoption and impact at scale.
The project, Understanding and Enhancing Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Smallholder Farming Systems of Southern Africa (ACASA), will apply social and scaling science to understand the biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy drivers and barriers to the adoption of conservation agriculture technologies and practices.
The ACASA project is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and will be implemented in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in collaboration with partners and farmers in the region.
The project was officially launched online on September 16, 2020. Zambiaâs Minister of Agriculture, Michael Katambo, noted that it is a timely intervention, as the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers in southern Africa are increasingly being threatened by climate change and variability, which have led to a steady decline in the production of food staples and an increase in the number of food and nutrition-insecure people.
âIt is now clear that current productivity and production levels cannot be expected to meet our requirements for food and nutrition security,â Katambo said in a speech read on his behalf by Moses Mwale, Director of the Department of Agriculture. âConservation agriculture has a proven potential to increase and stabilize crop yields, and to support sustainable and resilient production systems and rural livelihoods.â
Proven benefits
Conservation agriculture â a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and diversification of plant species â can efficiently increase agricultural productivity while reducing land degradation and improving soil health for more productive, profitable, and sustainable farming.
Substantial on-farm evidence has been generated on the agronomic and economic benefits of conservation agriculture, first introduced in the 1970s in South Africa. Consequently, donors and governments have made a lot of investments to promote and scale conservation agriculture technologies and practices among smallholder farmers in the region. Despite all these efforts, however, the adoption rate among smallholder farmers remains low.
“We should not let the low adoption of conservation agriculture discourage us. Let us use this opportunity to reflect and identify the missing link and come up with more sustainable solutions to the problem,” said the IITA Director for Southern Africa, David Chikoye.
âAlthough adoption of improved practices by most resource-poor farmers is primarily determined by the potential immediate benefits on crop yields, profits, risk, and livelihoods, there are a number of biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy factors that promote or hinder adoption of conservation agriculture. The project, therefore, aims to identify the adoption drivers and barriers, and to develop pathways and strategies for inclusive scaling of conservation agriculture practices,â said  Arega Alene, Agricultural Economist at IITA and leader of the ACASA project.
Christian Thierfelder, Principal  Cropping Systems Agronomist at CIMMYT, highlighted some of the bottlenecks for conservation agriculture adoption, noting they were linked more to socioeconomic and cultural factors rather than biophysical. “Conservation agriculture is a viable and proven climate-smart farming system. Future research efforts should go towards understanding farmers’ decision-making and behavioral change, as well as profitability,” Thierfelder said.
Other key partners include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) and Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
The project launch was attended by policymakers, donors, members of national and regional conservation agriculture taskforces, national and international research institutions, universities, international development institutions, private seed companies, non-governmental organizations, and farmer organizations.
Interview opportunities:
Arega Alene, Agricultural Economist, IITA.
Christian Thierfelder, Principal  Cropping Systems Agronomist, CIMMYT
For more information, or to arrange interviews, contact the media team:
Genevieve Renard, Director of Communications, CIMMYT. g.renard@cgiar.org
Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, IITA. k.lopez@cgiar.org
About CIMMYT:
The International Maize and What Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information visit staging.cimmyt.org.
About IITA:
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africaâs most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food-secure future.
The CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT) has âa track record of delivering local solutions with a global perspective â and is well positioned to continue this trajectory in the next decade.â
This was a key finding of a recent review of the program aimed to assess WHEATâs 2017-2019 delivery of quality science and effectiveness, as well as to provide insights and lessons to inform the programâs future.
âWheat as a crop is bound to be central to global food security in the foreseeable future,â the reviewers stated.
The crop currently contributes 20% of the world populationâs calories and protein â and global demand is estimated to increase by 44% between 2005-07 and 2050.
WHEAT â led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) as a key research partner â has two pillars that are essential to meeting this demand: raising potential yield through breeding and closing the yield gap through sustainable intensification at field, farm and landscape scales.
Key recommendations included supporting strategic investment in research partner network development and maintenance and continuing WHEATâs trajectory towards modernizing breeding processes and integrating sustainable intensification approaches, including mechanization.
The reviewers warned of challenges for the way ahead, pointing out that partnerships â and WHEATâs reputation as a reliable partner â are vulnerable to funding volatility. The review also raised concerns about the potential fragmentation of the global breeding program, restrictions to the international exchange of germplasm and ideas, âmisguidedâ emphasis on minor crops, and CGIARâs âfocus on process at the expense of results.â
âThis review cuts to the core of whatâs so critical â and at risk â not only with our program but wheat research in general,â said Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat. âGlobal collaboration and the exchange of improved seeds, data, and especially information.â
âThe reviewers rightly point out that limited resources will lead to competition and dampen this collaboration â even between scientists in the same program. We must address this potential risk to improve integration and continue our life saving work,â Braun explained.
âIn most of the developing world, the alliance of public sector and CGIAR wheat breeding programs, as well as some national public breeding programs on their own, will remain dominant providers of wheat varieties, until either functioning seed royalty collection systems are established and/or hybrid wheat becomes a reality,â he said.
WHEATâs strength is its robust global network of research for development partners and scientists linked to global breeding in a âwide adaptationâ approach,â said Victor Kommerell, program manager for the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat.
âThis review underscores that breaking up the breeding program could cause lasting damage to this network,â Kommerell said.
More key findings of the review include:
Read more in a 2-page brief summarizing key findings, conclusions and recommendations and on the CGIAR Advisory Services page.
This story was originally posted on the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (wheat.org).
Cover photo: Wheat trainees and CIMMYT staff examine wheat plants in the field at the experimental station in Toluca, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)
The process for breeding for grain yield in bread wheat at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) involves three-stage testing at an experimental station in the desert environment of Ciudad ObregĂłn, in Mexicoâs Yaqui Valley. Because the conditions in ObregĂłn are extremely favorable, CIMMYT wheat breeders are able to replicate growing environments all over the world and test the yield potential and climate-resilience of wheat varieties for every major global wheat growing area. These replicated test areas in ObregĂłn are known as selection environments (SEs).
This process has its roots in the innovative work of wheat breeder and Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, more than 50 years ago. Wheat scientists at CIMMYT, led by wheat breeder Philomin Juliana, wanted to see if it remained effective.
The scientists conducted a large quantitative genetics study comparing the grain yield performance of lines in the ObregĂłn SEs with that of lines in target growing sites throughout the world. They based their comparison on data from two major wheat trials: the South Asia Bread Wheat Genomic Prediction Yield Trials in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh initiated by the U.S. Agency for International Development Feed the Future initiative and the global testing environments of the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials.
The findings, published in Retrospective Quantitative Genetic Analysis and Genomic Prediction of Global Wheat Yields, in Frontiers in Plant Science, found that the ObregĂłn yield testing process in different SEs is very efficient in developing high-yielding and resilient wheat lines for target sites.
The authors found higher average heritabilities, or trait variations due to genetic differences, for grain yield in the ObregĂłn SEs than in the target sites (44.2 and 92.3% higher for the South Asia and global trials, respectively), indicating greater precision in the SE trials than those in the target sites. They also observed significant genetic correlations between one or more SEs in ObregĂłn and all five South Asian sites, as well as with the majority (65.1%) of the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial sites. Lastly, they found a high ratio of selection response by selecting for grain yield in the SEs of ObregĂłn than directly in the target sites.
âThe results of this study make it evident that the rigorous multi-year yield testing in ObregĂłn environments has helped to develop wheat lines that have wide-adaptability across diverse geographical locations and resilience to environmental variations,â said Philomin Juliana, CIMMYT associate scientist and lead author of the article.
âThis is particularly important for smallholder farmers in developing countries growing wheat on less than 2 hectares who cannot afford crop losses due to year-to-year environmental changes.â
In addition to these comparisons, the scientists conducted genomic prediction for grain yield in the target sites, based on the performance of the same lines in the SEs of ObregĂłn. They found high year-to-year variations in grain yield predictabilities, highlighting the importance of multi-environment testing across time and space to stave off the environment-induced uncertainties in wheat yields.
âWhile our results demonstrate the challenges involved in genomic prediction of grain yield in future unknown environments, it also opens up new horizons for further exciting research on designing genomic selection-driven breeding for wheat grain yield,â said Juliana.
This type of quantitative genetics analysis using multi-year and multi-site grain yield data is one of the first steps to assessing the effectiveness of CIMMYTâs current grain yield testing and making recommendations for improvementâa key objective of the new Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project, which aims to accelerate the breeding progress by optimizing current breeding schemes.
This work was made possible by the generous support of the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and managed by Cornell University; the U.S. Agency for International Developmentâs Feed the Future initiative; and several collaborating national partners who generated the grain yield data.
Read the full article: Retrospective Quantitative Genetic Analysis and Genomic Prediction of Global Wheat Yields
This story was originally posted on the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (wheat.org).
Cover photo: Wheat fields at CIMMYTâs Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Representatives from ministries of agriculture and national agricultural research systems (NARS) in Ethiopia and Kenya recently joined funder representatives and technical experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to renew a long-standing collaboration under the auspices of an ambitious new project, Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG).
AGG is a 5-year project that brings together partners in the global science community and in national agricultural research and extension systems to accelerate the development of higher-yielding varieties of maize and wheat â two of the worldâs most important staple crops. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), AGG fuses innovative methods that improve breeding efficiency and precision to produce varieties that are climate-resilient, pest- and disease-resistant, highly nutritious, and targeted to farmersâ specific needs.
Ethiopia and Kenya: CIMMYT’s longstanding partners
The inception meeting for the wheat component of AGG in East Africa drew more than 70 stakeholders from Ethiopia and Kenya: the regionâs primary target countries for wheat breeding. These two countries have long-standing relationships with CIMMYT that continue to deliver important impacts. Ninety percent of all wheat in Ethiopia is derived from CIMMYT varieties, and CIMMYT is a key supporter of the Ethiopian governmentâs goal for wheat self-sufficiency. Kenya has worked with CIMMYT for more than 40 years, and hosts the worldâs biggest screening facilities for wheat rust diseases, with up to 40,000 accessions tested each year.
AGG builds on these successes and on the foundations built by previous projects, notably Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat, led by Cornell University. The wheat component of AGG works in parallel with a USAID-funded âzinc mainstreamingâ project, meeting the demand for increased nutritional quality as well as yield and resilience.
CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff gave key remarks at the stakeholder gathering, which took place Thursday, August 20.
âCooperation between CIMMYT and Ethiopia and Kenya â as in all the countries where CIMMYT works â has had tremendous impact,â he said. âWe are proud, not for ourselves, but for the people we work for: the hundreds of millions of poor people and smallholders who rely on wheat and maize for their daily food and incomes.â
âAGG will raise this spirit of global cooperation to a new level.â
AGG Project Leader and CIMMYT Interim Deputy Director General for Research Kevin Pixley introduced the new project as a âunique and importantâ project that challenges every stakeholder to grow.
âWhat we would like to achieve is a step change for all of us, he told the stakeholders. âEach of us has the opportunity and the challenge to make a difference and thatâs what weâre striving to do.â
Representatives from the agricultural research communities of both target countries emphasized the significance of their long collaboration with CIMMYT and their support for the project.
The Honorable Mandefro Nigussie, Ethiopiaâs State Minister of Agriculture, confirmed the ongoing achievements of CIMMYT collaboration in his country.
âOur partnership with CIMMYT [âŠ] has yielded several improved varieties that increased productivity twofold over the last 20 years. He referred to Ethiopiaâs campaign to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat. âAGG will make an immense contribution to this. The immediate and intermediate results can help achieve the countryâs ambitious targets.â
A holistic and gender-informed approach
Deputy Director of Crops at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Organization (KALRO) Felister Makini, representing the KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger, noted the projectâs strong emphasis on gender-intentional variety development and gender-informed analysis to ensure female farmers have access to varieties that meet their needs and the information to successfully adopt them.
âThe goal of this new project will indeed address KALROâs objective of enhancing food security and nutrition in Kenya,â she said. âThis is because AGG not only brings together wheat breeding and optimization tools and technologies, but also considers gender and socioeconomic insights, which will be pivotal to our envisaged strategy to achieve socioeconomic change.â
Funding partners keen for AGG to address future threats
Before CIMMYT wheat experts took the virtual floor to describe specific workplans and opportunities for partner involvement, a number of funder representatives shared candid and inspiring thoughts.
âWe are interested in delivery,â said Alan Tollervey of FCDO, formerly the UK Department for International Development. âThat is why we support AGG, because it is about streamlining and modernizing the delivery of products [âŠ] directly relevant to both the immediate demands of poor farmers in developing countries and the global demand for food â but also addressing the future threats that we see coming.â
Hailu Wordofa, Agricultural Technology Specialist at the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at USAID highlighted the importance of global partnerships for past success and reiterated the ambitious targets of the current project.
âWe expect to see genetic gains increase and varieties [âŠ] replaced by farmer-preferred varieties,â he reminded stakeholders. âTo make this happen, we expect CIMMYTâs global breeding program to use optimal breeding approaches and develop strong and truly collaborative relationships with NARS partners throughout the entire process.â
âWheat continues to be a critical staple crop for global food security and supporting CIMMYTâs wheat breeding program remains a high priority for USAID,â he assured the attendees.
He also expressed hope that AGG would collaborate other projects working in parallel, including the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics at Kansas State University, and the International Wheat Yield Partnership.
FFAR Scientific Program Director Jeff Rosichan called AGG a âreally ambitious project that takes a comprehensive look at the research gaps and challenges and how to translate that research into farmersâ fields.â
Agriculture prevails even under COVID-19
The global COVID-19 pandemic was not ignored as one of several challenges during this time of change and transition.
âAs we speak today, despite the challenge that we have with the COVID-19, I am proud to say that work on the nurseries is on-going. We are able to apply [our] skills and deliver world-class science,â said Godwin Macharia, center director at KALRO-Njoro.
âThis COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that there is a great need globally to focus on food equity. I think this project allows that to happen,â said Jeff Rosichan from FFAR.
Transformations are also happening at the research organization and funding level. CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff noted that âdemand-driven solutionsâ for âaffordable, efficient and healthy diets produced within planetary boundariesâ are an important part of the strategy for One CGIAR, the ongoing transformation of CGIAR, the worldâs largest public research network on food systems, of which CIMMYT is a member.
Hans Braun, director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program reminded attendees that, despite these changes, one important fact remains. âThe demand for wheat will continue to grow for many years to come, and we must meet it.â
Cover photo: Harvesting golden spikes of wheat in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
This article by Sakshi Saini and Paresh B Shirsath was originally published on the CCAFS website.Â
Farming has often been quoted as one of the noblest professions, shouldering the responsibility of feeding the world; yet it has been globally identified as one of the most perilous industries associated with a high vulnerability rate. Crop insurance has been established worldwide to provide social protection to farmers and reduce their vulnerability. While the emergence of crop insurance schemes around the world indicates commitment to secure the livelihoods of farmers, they often lack accurate seasonal crop growth monitoring and timely yield loss estimation, making the authentication of crop insurance claims more challenging.
Crop loss assessments are often done via crop cutting experiments (CCEs). However, these can suffer from human error and moral hazard. The experiments also require significant capital and human resources, and need to be carried out simultaneously, in a limited period of time. This often leads to inadequate and delayed claim payment, high premium rates, and poor execution of crop insurance schemes.
With technological advancements and availability, crop growth monitoring and productivity assessment can not only be more accurate and efficient but also less resource-intensive. Readily available data and technology, such as detailed weather data, remote sensing, modeling and big data analytics can be instrumental in further improving crop insurance mechanisms. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has developed a Crop-loss Assessment Monitor (CAM) tool as an integrated solution that uses technologies to improve loss assessment and make crop insurance more efficient.
The Crop-loss Assessment Monitor (CAM) tool
The CAM tool integrates multiple input data and methods for crop loss assessment at multiple times in the season. It uses different models for loss assessment depending on the time or stage in the season. To ensure user-friendliness, the tool was developed with a simple, easy-to-use interface and produces outputs customized for policy and risk management agencies. It uses freely available R libraries and does not require specific software installations and high-power processing engines, which in general are a prerequisite to process large gridded satellite data.
CAM provides a form-based user-interface to carry out the analysis. The user can log in and undertake analysis using multiple methods for a specified region and time. The tool allows users to choose between area-based yield insurance and weather-based index insurance. For insurance analysis, scheme details like sum insured and calamity years can be specified for calculation of threshold yields, premiums and claims.
CAM also includes tabs that provide âdeviation in the weatherâ and âdeviation in satellite vegetation indicesâ to help monitor crop conditions every fortnight. The tool also allows users to identify the model agreement between the four different methods for loss assessment, which strengthens the confidence levels in loss assessments, and related insurance analytics.
A single integrated framework
The tool combines agro-meteorological statistical analysis, crop simulation modelling and optimization techniques, and employs near real-time monitoring by using publicly available satellite products. It is also equipped to capture yield variability.
Highlighting the importance of this tool Dr. Pramod Aggarwal, lead author of the paper and CCAFS Asia Program Leader, notes that “assimilating relevant technologies into a single integrated framework is a good way to determine crop losses. Its deployment can assist in multi-stage loss assessment and thus provide farmers with immediate relief for sowing failure, prevented sowing and mid-season adversity apart from final crop loss assessment.”
The tool addresses three major challenges faced by existing crop insurance schemes; more efficient weather indices, timely estimate of loss assessment and improved contract design. As the tool readily uses freely available technology and data, it requires less capital and human resource compared to crop cutting experiments for crop loss assessment. This tool offers a robust mechanism that further reduces the chances of human errors, and makes the process more transparent, robust and reliable. Therefore, it enables timely relief for farmers facing challenges such as sowing failure, prevented sowing and mid-season adversity.
Read more:
Researchers working on the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative, which aims to facilitate the effective use of genetic diversity of maize and wheat, have genetically characterized 79,191 samples of wheat from the germplasm banks of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Read more here:Â https://phys.org/news/2020-09-massive-scale-genomic-reveals-wheat-diversity.html
Stakeholders in the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project have pledged to strengthen efforts to deliver desirable stress tolerant, nutritious and high-yielding maize and wheat varieties to smallholder farmers in a much shorter time. The alliance, comprising funders, national agricultural research systems (NARS), private seed companies, non-governmental organizations, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and, for the maize component the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), made these assurances during virtual events held in July and August 2020, marking the inception of the 5-year AGG project.
The initiative seeks to fast-track the development of higher-yielding, climate resilient, demand-driven, gender-responsive and nutritious seed varieties for maize and wheat, two of the worldâs most important staple crops. The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR).
Tackling current and emerging threats
Jeff Rosichan, scientific program director of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR), acknowledged the significant and ambitious aim of the project in tackling the challenges facing maize and wheat currently and in the future. âWe are seeing the emergence of new pests and pathogens and viral diseases like never before. A lot of the work of this project is going to help us to tackle such challenges and to be better prepared to tackle emerging threats,â he said.
AGG builds on gains made in previous initiatives including Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) and Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW), with support from partners in 17 target countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia.
Hailu Wordofa, agricultural technology specialist at the USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, underscored his expectation for CIMMYTâs global breeding program to use optimal breeding approaches and develop strong collaborative relationships with NARS partners, âfrom the development of product profiles to breeding, field trials and line advancement.â
Similarly, Gary Atlin, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lauded the move toward stronger partnerships and greater emphasis on the CIMMYT and IITA breeding programs. âThe technical capacity of partners has increased through the years. It is prudent to ensure that national partnerships continue. It is always a challenging environment, this time multiplied by the COVID-19 crisis, but through this collaboration, there is a greater scope to strengthen such partnerships even more,â he said.
Symbiotic partnerships with great impact
âFrom the NARS perspective, we are committed to doing our part as primary partners to deliver the right seed to the farmers,â said Godfrey Asea, director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute at the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Uganda. âWe see an opportunity to review and to use a lot of previous historical data, both in-country and regionally and to continue making improved decisions. We also reiterate our commitment and support to continuously make improvement plans in our breeding programs.â
Martin Kropff, director general of CIMMYT, recognized the tremendous impact arising from the longstanding cooperation between CIMMYTâs maize and wheat programs and national programs in countries where CIMMYT works. âA wheat study in Ethiopia showed that 90% of all the wheat grown in the country is CIMMYT-related, while an impact study for the maize program shows that 50% of the maize varieties in Africa are CIMMYT-derived. We are very proud of that â not for ourselves but for the people that we work for, the hundreds of millions of poor people and smallholder farmers who really rely on wheat and maize for their living and for their incomes,â he said.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of East Africa-based Western Seed Company Saleem Esmail expressed optimism at the opportunities the project offers to improve livelihoods of beneficiaries. âI believe we can do this by sharing experiences and by leveraging on the impacts that this project is going to bring, from new technologies to new science approaches, particularly those that help save costs of seed production.â
He, however, observed that while the target of fast-tracking varietal turnover was great, it was a tough call, too, âbecause farmers are very risk averse and to change their habits requires a great deal of effort.â
On his part, director of Crop Research at the Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI) in Ethiopia Tesfaye Letta revealed that from collaborative research work undertaken with CIMMYT, the institute has had access to better-quality varieties especially for wheat (bread and durum). These have helped millions of farmers to improve their productivity even as Ethiopia aims for wheat self-sufficiency by expanding wheat production under irrigation.
âWe expect more support, from identifying wheat germplasm suitable for irrigation, developing disease resistant varieties and multiplying a sufficient quantity of early generation seed, to applying appropriate agronomic practices for yield improvement and organizing exposure field visits for farmers and experts,â he said.
Challenges and opportunities in a time of crisis
Alan Tollervey, head of agriculture research at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the UK representative to the CGIAR System Council, emphasized the need for continued investment in agricultural research to build a resilient food system that can cope with the demands and pressures of the coming decades. This way, organizations such as CIMMYT and its partners can adequately deliver products that are relevant not only to the immediate demands of poor farmers in developing countries â and the global demand for food generally â but also to address foreseen threats.
âWe are at a time of intense pressure on budgets, and that is when projects are most successful, most relevant to the objectives of any organization, and most able to demonstrate a track record of delivery. CIMMYT has a long track history of being able to respond to rapidly emerging threats,â he said.
Felister Makini, the deputy director general for crops at the Kenya Agricultural Research Organization (KALRO) lauded the fact that AGG not only brings together maize and wheat breeding and optimization tools and technologies, but also considers gender and socioeconomic insights, âwhich will be crucial to our envisioned strategy to achieve socioeconomic change.â
Zambia Agriculture Research Organization (ZARI) maize breeder Mwansa Kabamba noted that the inclusion of extension workers will help to get buy-in from farmers especially as far as helping with adoption of the improved varieties is concerned.
In its lifecycle, the AGG project aims to reduce the breeding cycles for both maize and wheat from 5-7 years currently to 3-4 years. By 2024, at least 150,000 metric tons of certified maize seed is expected to be produced, adopted by 10 million households, planted on 6 million hectares and benefit 64 million people. It also seeks to serve over 30 million households engaged in wheat farming the target countries.
Cover photo: CIMMYT researcher Demewoz Negera at the Ambo Research Center in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have created bottlenecks across the agricultural value chain, including disrupting the supply of fertilizer. This could negatively impact the already low yields in smallholders’ fields in the Global South. Livelihoods of these resource-poor farmers and food security of those they feed call for innovations or smarter application of existing knowledge to avoid increasing food insecurity.
In a recent study, a team of scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, found that there are clever ways to mix and match maize and wheat varieties with mineral fertilizers in tree-crop systems for greater nutrient use efficiency. The study explored the impact of different combinations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on crop yield in tree crop systems. It also identified mineral fertilizer-tree combinations that maximize agronomic nutrient use efficiencies under different contexts.
Tree-crop-fertilizer interactions for wheat growing under Faidherbia albida and maize growing under Acacia tortilis and Grevillea robusta through omission trials of N and P were explored in open fields and fields under tree canopy, using a split plot design. The experiments were conducted under different agroecologies in Ethiopia (Meki and Mojo) and Rwanda, where retaining scattered trees in fields has been practiced for centuries. The trials were replicated four times and over two seasons. Trees with approximately similar ages, crown structures and pruning history were used for a researcher-led and farmer-managed on-farm experiment.
The results demonstrated that different on-farm tree species interact uniquely with crops, resulting in different responses to N and P fertilization. Except for F. albida, perhaps the most ‘ideal’ agroforestry species, the other two tree species under the current study raised the question of tree-crop compatibility for optimum productivity. F. albida significantly improved N and P use efficiencies, leading to significantly higher grain yields in wheat. The P use efficiency of wheat under F.albida was double that of wheat grown in an open field. By contrast, G. robusta and A. tortilis trees lowered nutrient use efficiencies in maize, leading to significantly less maize grain yields compared with open fields receiving the same fertilization. The case study also identified probabilities of critically low crop yields and crop failure to be significantly greater for maize growing under the canopy of these species.
In conclusion, the study demonstrated that tree-crop interactions are mediated by the application of N and P fertilizers in tree-crop systems. In F. albida-wheat agroforestry systems, N fertilizers could be saved, with localized application of P fertilizers close to tree crowns. Such adaptable application may help smallholder farmers cope with COVID-19-imposed fertilizer limitations. In G.robusta-maize and A.tortilis-maize agroforestry systems, maize did not respond to N and P fertilizers applied at recommended rates, although the application of these nutrients compensated for competition. This implies mineral fertilizers can offset the effect of competition, while they fail to provide the yield advantages like mono-cropping situations.
The researchers underlined the fact that fertilizer recommendations need to be adapted to agroforestry systems. However, in order to quantify the exact magnitude and nature of fertilizer-tree interaction in agroforestry systems accurately, factorial application of higher and lower rates of mineral fertilizer is needed. They also called for further research to identify fertilization rates that minimize tree-crop competition for G. robusta-maize and A. tortilis-maize systems, while additional studies are needed to identify the rates and timing of application that optimize F. albida-wheat facilitation.
This work was carried out by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University
Download your copy of the publication: Should fertilizer recommendations be adapted to parkland agroforestry systems? Case studies from Ethiopia and Rwanda
Researchers working on the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative, which aims to facilitate the effective use of genetic diversity of maize and wheat, have genetically characterized 79,191 samples of wheat from the germplasm banks of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
The findings of the study published today in Nature Communications are described as âa massive-scale genotyping and diversity analysisâ of the two types of wheat grown globally â bread and pasta wheat â and of 27 known wild species.
Wheat is the most widely grown crop globally, with an annual production exceeding 600 million tons. Approximately 95% of the grain produced corresponds to bread wheat and the remaining 5% to durum or pasta wheat.
The main objective of the study was to characterize the genetic diversity of CIMMYT and ICARDAâs internationally available collections, which are considered the largest in the world. The researchers aimed to understand this diversity by mapping genetic variants to identify useful genes for wheat breeding.
From germplasm bank to breadbasket
The results show distinct biological groupings within bread wheats and suggest that a large proportion of the genetic diversity present in landraces has not been used to develop new high-yielding, resilient and nutritious varieties.
âThe analysis of the bread wheat accessions reveals that relatively little of the diversity available in the landraces has been used in modern breeding, and this offers an opportunity to find untapped valuable variation for the development of new varieties from these landracesâ, said Carolina Sansaloni, high-throughput genotyping and sequencing specialist at CIMMYT, who led the research team.
The study also found that the genetic diversity of pasta wheat is better represented in the modern varieties, with the exception of a subgroup of samples from Ethiopia.
The researchers mapped the genomic data obtained from the genotyping of the wheat samples to pinpoint the physical and genetic positions of molecular markers associated with characteristics that are present in both types of wheat and in the cropâs wild relatives.
According to Sansaloni, on average, 72% of the markers obtained are uniquely placed on three molecular reference maps and around half of these are in interesting regions with genes that control specific characteristics of value to breeders, farmers and consumers, such as heat and drought tolerance, yield potential and protein content.
Open access
The data, analysis and visualization tools of the study are freely available to the scientific community for advancing wheat research and breeding worldwide.
âThese resources should be useful in gene discovery, cloning, marker development, genomic prediction or selection, marker-assisted selection, genome wide association studies and other applications,â Sansaloni said.
Read the study:
Interview opportunities:
Carolina Sansaloni, High-throughput genotyping and sequencing specialist, CIMMYT.
Kevin Pixley, Genetic Resources Program Director, CIMMYT.
For more information, or to arrange interviews, contact the media team:
Ricardo Curiel, Communications Officer, CIMMYT. r.curiel@cgiar.org
Rodrigo Ordóñez, Communications Manager, CIMMYT. r.ordonez@cgiar.org
Acknowledgements:
The study was part of the SeeD and MasAgro projects and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), with the support of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), the United Kingdomâs Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and CGIAR Trust Fund Contributors. Research and analysis was conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) and the James Hutton Institute (JHI).
About CIMMYT:
The International Maize and What Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information visit staging.cimmyt.org.
The COVID-19 crisis is highlighting many fragilities in contemporary food systems. But the pandemic has also created opportunities for local organizations and technologies to quickly mitigate these fragilities while showcasing the resilience, innovation and adaptation of African food and agricultural systems.
African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) panel discussed solutions to food security challenges.
Read more here:Â https://allafrica.com/stories/202009100823.html
While COVID-19 is exacerbating an existing hunger crisis, authors highlight three of the most impactful research and development successes from the past few years that help smallholder farmers cope with climate change and bolster food security.
The first is CIMMYT’s program to develop drought-tolerant maize varieties with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, successfully developing hundreds of new varieties that boost farmersâ yields and incomes, directly improving millions of lives.
Read more here:Â https://www.greenbiz.com/article/3-climate-resilient-food-solutions-smallholder-farmers
By 2050, global demand for wheat is predicted to increase by 50 percent from todayâs levels and demand for maize is expected to double. Meanwhile, these profoundly important and loved crops bear incredible risks from emerging pests and diseases, diminishing water resources, limited available land and unstable weather conditions â with climate change as a constant pressure exacerbating all these stresses.
Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) is a new 5-year project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that brings together partners in the global science community and in national agricultural research and extension systems to accelerate the development of higher-yielding varieties of maize and wheat.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), AGG fuses innovative methods to sustainably and inclusively improve breeding efficiency and precision to produce seed varieties that are climate-resilient, pest- and disease-resistant, highly nutritious, and targeted to farmersâ specific needs.
AGG seeks to respond to the intersection of the climate emergency and gender through gender-intentional product profiles for its improved seed varieties and gender-intentional seed delivery pathways.
AGG will take into account the needs and preferences of female farmers when developing the product profiles for improved varieties of wheat and maize. This will be informed by gender-disaggregated data collection on current varieties and preferred characteristics and traits, systematic on-farm testing in target regions, and training of scientists and technicians.
To encourage female farmers to take up climate-resilient improved seeds, AGG will seek to understand the pathways by which women receive information and improved seed and the external dynamics that affect this access and will use this information to create gender-intentional solutions for increasing varietal adoption and turnover.
âUntil recently, investments in seed improvement work have not actively looked in this area,â said Olaf Erenstein, Director of CIMMYTâs Socioeconomics Program at a virtual inception meeting for the project in late August 2020. Now, âit has been built in as a primary objective of AGG to focus on [âŠ] strengthening gender-intentional seed delivery systems so that we ensure a faster varietal turnover and higher adoption levels in the respective target areas.â
In the first year of the initiative, the researchers will take a deep dive into the national- and state-level frameworks and policies that might enable or influence the delivery of these new varieties to both female and male farmers. They will analyze this delivery system by mapping the seed delivery paths and studying the diverse factors that impact seed demand. By understanding their respective roles, practices, and of course, the strengths and weaknesses of the system, the researchers can diagnose issues in the delivery chain and respond accordingly.
Once this important scoping step is complete, the team will design a research plan for the following years to understand and influence the seed information networks and seed acquisition. It will be critical in this step to identify some of the challenges and opportunities on a broad scale, while also accounting for the related intra-household decision-making dynamics that could affect access to and uptake of these improved seed varieties.
âIt is a primary objective of AGG to ensure gender intentionality,â said Kevin Pixley, Director of CIMMYTâs Genetic Resources Program and AGG project leader. âOften women do not have access to not only inputs but also information, and in the AGG project we are seeking to help close those gaps.â
Cover photo: Farmers evaluate traits of wheat varieties, Ethiopia. (Photo: Jeske van de Gevel/Bioversity International)
Nine CGIAR centers, supported by the Big Data Platform, will launch the Excellence in Agronomy 2030 initiative on September 7, 2020, during this yearâs African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) online summit.
The Excellence in Agronomy 2030 (EiA 2030) initiative will assist millions of smallholder farmers to intensify their production systems while preserving key ecosystem services under the threat of climate change. This initiative, co-created with various scaling partners, represents the collective resolve of CGIARâs agronomy programs to transform the worldâs food systems through demand- and data-driven agronomy research for development.
EiA 2030 will combine big data analytics, new sensing technologies, geospatial decision tools and farming systems research to improve spatially explicit agronomic recommendations in response to demand from scaling partners. Our science will integrate the principles of Sustainable Intensification and be informed by climate change considerations, behavioral economics, and scaling pathways at the national and regional levels.
A two-year Incubation Phase of EiA 2030 is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project will demonstrate the added value of demand-driven R&D, supported by novel data and analytics and increased cooperation among centers, in support of a One CGIAR agronomy initiative aiming at the sustainable intensification of farming systems.
Speaking on the upcoming launch, the IITA R4D Director for Natural Resource Management, Bernard Vanlauwe, who facilitates the implementation of the Incubation Phase, said that âEiA 2030 is premised on demand-driven agronomic solutions to develop recommendations that match the needs and objectives of the end users.â
Christian Witt, Senior Program Officer from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, lauded the initiative as a cornerstone for One CGIAR. âIt is ingenious to have a platform like EiA 2030 that looks at solutions that have worked in different settings on other crops and whether they can be applied in a different setting and on different crops,â Witt said.
Martin Kropff, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), spoke about the initiativeâs goals of becoming the leading platform for next-generation agronomy in the Global South, not only responding to the demand of the public and private sectors, but also increasing efficiencies in the development and delivery of solutions through increased collaboration, cooperation and cross-learning between CGIAR centers and within the broader agronomy R&D ecosystem, including agroecological approaches.
At the EiA 2030 launch, representatives from partner organizations and CGIAR centers will give presentations on different aspects of the project.
CGIAR centers that are involved in EiA include AfricaRice, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Potato Center (CIP), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Launch details:
Register for AGRF here.
For more information contact Bernard Vanlauwe, b.vanlauwe@cgiar.org, or David Ngome, d.ngome@cgiar.org
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