Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) awards honoring outstanding early-career scientists engaged in wheat research. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) presents the WIT awards to acknowledge excellence and leadership among scientists in the initial stages of their careers. Recipients of the 2024 awards will benefit from advanced leadership and scientific training for wheat research, supported by the BGRI and the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat project led by CIMMYT.
Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2024. These awards, named after Jeanie Borlaug Laube, chair of the BGRI and daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman E. Borlaug, have recognized the accomplishments of early-career scientists in wheat research worldwide since their establishment in 2010. To date, the BGRI has acknowledged over 70 deserving individuals.
On December 9, 2023, CIMMYT and the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to further promote research and development, capacity strengthening activities and facilitate joint learning and the exchange of information and technology between the two organizations.
Sustainable diversification of food systems, good agricultural practices and safe and sustainable development of cereal and vegetable production systems and agrifood value chains sits at the core of this partnership.
The ultimate objective of the MoU is to further contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG1 and SDG2, enhancing food and nutrition security, reducing rural and urban poverty and increasing employment opportunities in particular for women and youth.
CIMMYT and the World Vegetable Center are already partners in the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative Rapid Delivery Hub (AID-I). Â Through this program, it is distributing seed kits directly to vulnerable populations such as pregnant and lactating mothers and children under five, as well as improving soil health, promoting the production of traditional African vegetables, and increasing employment opportunities through building vegetable businesses. Recent impacts in Zanzibar are a good example.
Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT, and Marco Wopereis, director general of the World Vegetable Center, sign the MoU. (Photo: CIMMYT and WorldVeg)
âThis collaboration between CIMMYT and WorldVeg is a testament to the potential of collective action, highlighting sustainable solutions and community empowerment as essential elements in combating malnutrition and enhancing overall well-being. We are building on the foundation already established by our collaborations within the Accelerated Innovation Delivery (AID-I) project in southern and eastern Africa,â said CIMMYT Director General, Bram Govaerts. âCIMMYT is excited to expand our connection with WorldVeg to bring innovations to even more people as crop diversification encourages improved nutrition.â
âThe World Vegetable Center is proud to deepen our work with CIMMYT. Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals will require not only advanced technologies but also systems to deliver those innovations to the people that need them most and this partnership will enable both priorities,â said Director General of the World Vegetable Center, Marco Wopereis. âPromoting and enhancing the availability of nutritious vegetables and cereals are vital to achieving these aims.â
By providing farmers with more options, CIMMYT and WorldVeg will promote the cultivation of diverse crops that are essential for a balanced and nutritious diet particularly among vulnerable communities around the world. By raising awareness about the significant benefits of incorporating different vegetables and cereals into daily diets, the partnership will inspire and encourage millions of people to fully embrace diversification and improved nutrition.
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrowâs problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources. For more information, visit cimmyt.org.
About the World Vegetable Center
The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) is an international non-profit institute for vegetable research and development. It mobilizes resources from the public and private sectors to realize the potential of vegetables for healthier lives and more resilient livelihoods.
WorldVegâs globally important genebank, improved varieties, production and postharvest methods help farmers to increase their vegetable harvests, raise incomes in poor rural and urban households, create jobs, and provide healthier, more nutritious diets for families and communities. With headquarters in Taiwan, field operations are led from regional centers in Benin, India, Mali, Tanzania and Thailand, and through offices in other key countries.
Maria Itria Ibba, a scientist at CIMMYT, received the inaugural Heroes Award from the Foundation for Innovation in Healthy Food. She received the award on October 29 at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Ibba, head of CIMMYTâs Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory, received the honor in recognition of her outstanding leadership in launching the foundationâs Coalition for Grain Fiber initiative.
Together with her team at CIMMYT, Ibba works on improving the processing and nutritional quality of the bread and durum wheat lines derived from the CIMMYT spring wheat breeding programs. The research they conduct combines genetics and cereal chemistry, and one of the main focuses is to improve wheat grain dietary fiber. This effort begins with the development of efficient screening methods and the identification of germplasm with unique dietary fiber profiles.
The coalition seeks to improve the nutrition in staple foods without impacting their taste, mouthfeel or consumer price. It is simultaneously dedicated to establishing profit incentives for farmers and other food suppliers that enhance public health by delivering increased nutrient foods.
According to the coalition, improvements in the nutritional content of white and whole wheat flour may ultimately save thousands of lives and billions of healthcare U.S. dollars globally.
âMost people across the world do not consume enough dietary fiber, which is essential in the fight against various diseases,â says Ibba. âIncreasing the dietary fiber content of a staple crop like wheat could have a significant positive impact on the health of wheat consumers. Our goal is to increase dietary fiber intake through the consumption of wheat products with greater fiber content.â
Maria Itria Ibba. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Plant breeders, food scientists, nutrition/health scientists and economists are partnering with the coalition to transform the food industry. They support non-GMO (not genetically modified organisms) approaches to increasing naturally occurring dietary fiber in grains.
Over 50 public and private-sector laboratory leaders in three countries and 23 U.S. states have engaged with the coalition, including from CIMMYT, Rothamsted Research, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, University of California, Davis, Cornell University and Bayer Crop Science.
âI feel humbled to have received the Heroes Award,â says Ibba. âI know that this award not only represents the work I have been doing, but also all the hard work that my team and my organization have been doing for several years.â
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrowâs problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources. For more information, visit cimmyt.org.
About the Foundation for Innovation in Healthy Food
FIHF builds coalitions of stakeholders that support increasing the nutritional value of the foods we consume, while preserving consumersâ food experiences.
About the Coalition for Grain Fiber
The coalition is enrolling grain fiber in the fight against chronic disease. By improving the nutritional content of white and whole wheat flour, it seeks to save thousands of lives and dramatically reduce healthcare costs.
A collaboration scheme launched between the Gorongosa Restoration Project (GRP) and CIMMYT seeks to improve climate resilience, food security and nutrition in Mozambiqueâs Gorongosa National Park by facilitating the adoption of sustainable practices and giving local farmers access to formal markets and improved value chains.
The partner organizations aim to develop more resilient agrifood systems that contribute to conserve resources and improve the livelihoods of farmers inhabiting the protected area in Mozambiqueâs Sofala Province.
âOur primary objective is to establish an evidence-based, scalable and replicable model for developing sustainable and resilient agrifood systems in Mozambique that enhance food and nutrition security and climate resilience of local farmers and communities,â said Gregory C. Carr, GRP President.
Gregory C. Carr (left) with Bram Govaerts. (Photo: Ricardo Curiel/CIMMYT)
The parties will explore collaboration opportunities to give local farmers access to drought tolerant and disease resistant varieties and improved seeds by building capacities of local seed systems.
âWe are very excited to contribute to protect Gorongosa National Park by restoring soil health, accelerating a transition to resilience and sustainability and improving, as a result, the yields and living standards of local farming communities,â said Bram Govaerts, Director General at CIMMYT.
The new projects will also aim to promote agriculture conservation-based intensification practices that will increase yields sustainably and limit the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the buffer zone neighboring the protected area.
âIf you bring two world class organizations together and create critical mass, it is possible to succeed and show that agriculture is not the enemy of biodiversity,â said the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, Cary Fowler.
Gregory C. Carr (left), Cary Fowler and Bram Govaerts sign a Memorandum of Understanding. (Photo: Ricardo Curiel/CIMMYT)
The 5-year Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the annual Borlaug Dialogue organized by the World Food Prize Foundation, which convenes international thought leaders, development specialists, researchers, farmers, practitioners and authorities from around the world to promote global food systems transformation and food security.
Under this yearâs âHarnessing Changeâ theme, the Foundation presented the prestigious World Food Prize to Heidi KĂŒhn from the United States for her farmer-focused development model that revitalizes farmland, food security, livelihoods and resilience in war-torn regions around the world as a way for restoring peace and prosperity through agriculture.
About GRP
Gorongosa Restoration Project is a poverty alleviation, sustainable development and conservation non-profit organization used by Gorongosa National Park as a development engine for the Sofala region. GRP is a unique organization, with a mission to advance an integrated, multi-partner approach to conservation and people-centered development. While GRP actively protects Gorongosa National Parkâs biodiversity and ecosystems, it also strives to unlock its economic potential for the community inhabitants of the Parkâs Buffer Zone, former hunting and forestry concessions, Sofala Province and further afield. GRPs dual mandate of biodiversity conservation and human development is undergirded by the principle that the quest for conservation is a human-nature dynamic that must be addressed holistically. This axiom is increasingly supported by conservation science as well as by GRPâs 15 years of experience in the field.
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrowâs problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources.
One of the worldâs largest crop pathogen surveillance systems is set to expand its analytic and knowledge systems capacity to protect wheat productivity in food vulnerable areas of East Africa and South Asia.
Researchers announced the Wheat Disease Early Warning Advisory System (Wheat DEWAS), funded through a $7.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdomâs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, to enhance crop resilience to wheat diseases.
The project is led by David Hodson, principal scientist at CIMMYT, and Maricelis Acevedo, research professor of global development and plant pathology at Cornell Universityâs College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This initiative brings together research expertise from 23 research and academic organizations from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe, the United States and Mexico.
Wheat DEWAS aims to be an open and scalable system capable of tracking important pathogen strains. The system builds on existing capabilities developed by the research team to provide near-real-time model-based risk forecasts and resulting in accurate, timely and actionable advice to farmers. As plant pathogens continue to evolve and threaten global food production, the system strengthens the capacity of countries to respond in a proactive manner to transboundary wheat diseases.
The system focuses on the two major fungal pathogens of wheat known as rust and blast diseases. Rust diseases, named for a rust-like appearance on infected plants, are hyper-variable and can significantly reduce crop yields when they attack. The fungus releases trillions of spores that can ride wind currents across national borders and continents and spread devastating epidemics quickly over vast areas.
Wheat blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporte oryzae Tritici, is an increasing threat to wheat production, following detection in both Bangladesh and Zambia. The fungus spreads over short distances and through the planting of infected seeds. Grains of infected plants shrivel within a week of first symptoms, providing little time for farmers to take preventative actions. Most wheat grown in the world has limited resistance to wheat blast.
âNew wheat pathogen variants are constantly evolving and are spreading rapidly on a global scale,â said Hodson, principal investigator for Wheat DEWAS. âComplete crop losses in some of the most food vulnerable areas of the world are possible under favorable epidemiological conditions. Vigilance coupled with pathogen-informed breeding strategies are essential to prevent wheat disease epidemics. Improved monitoring, early warning and advisory approaches are an important component for safeguarding food supplies.â
Previous long-term investments in rust pathogen surveillance, modelling, and diagnostics built one of the largest operational global surveillance and monitoring system for any crop disease. The research permitted the development of functioning prototypes of advanced early warning advisory systems (EWAS) in East Africa and South Asia. Wheat DEWAS seeks to improve on that foundation to build a scalable, integrated, and sustainable solution that can provide improved advanced timely warning of vulnerability to emerging and migrating wheat diseases.
âThe impact of these diseases is greatest on small-scale producers, negatively affecting livelihoods, income, and food security,â Acevedo said. âUltimately, with this project we aim to maximize opportunities for smallholder farmers to benefit from hyper-local analytic and knowledge systems to protect wheat productivity.â
The system has already proven successful, contributing to prevention of a potential rust outbreak in Ethiopia in 2021. At that time, the early warning and global monitoring detected a new yellow rust strain with high epidemic potential. Risk mapping and real-time early forecasting identified the risk and allowed a timely and effective response by farmers and officials. That growing season ended up being a production record-breaker for Ethiopian wheat farmers.
While wheat is the major focus of the system, pathogens with similar biology and dispersal modes exist for all major crops. Discoveries made in the wheat system could provide essential infrastructure, methods for data collection and analysis to aid interventions that will be relevant to other crops.
Are agroecological approaches, based for example on the use of legumes and manure, enough by themselves to ensure a long-term increase in annual crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), without using more mineral fertilizer?
The answer is no, according to a team of agronomists who have published an in-depth analysis of 150 scientific articles on annual crops (maize, sorghum, millet, rice, cassava, etc.) and tropical legumes, both annual grain legumes (cowpea, groundnut) and legume trees (acacia, sesbania) in tropical environments.
These publications collate 50 years of knowledge on nutrient balances in sub-Saharan Africa, biological nitrogen fixation by tropical legumes, manure use in smallholder farming systems and the environmental impact of mineral fertilizer.
âWhen we look at comparable climate conditions and physical soil constraints, yields of maize â the main source of calories for people â in sub-Saharan Africa are three to four times lower than elsewhere in the world. This is largely due to the fact that mineral fertilizer use (nitrogen, potassium) is on average four times lower thereâ, says Gatien Falconnier, a researcher at CIRAD based in Zimbabwe and lead author of the article. âOn average, 13 kg of nitrogen are used per hectare and per year in sub-Saharan Africa, for all crops, bearing in mind that the poorest farmers have no access to nitrogen fertilizers and therefore do not use them. It is mainly agri-business and vegetable farmers that have access to fertilizersâ, adds François Affholder, an agronomist at CIRAD based in Mozambique and co-author of the article.
Maize and cowpea intercropping in the Maravire field. (Photo: CIMMYT)
âOur objective is not to produce like Europe or North America, but to produce more and more regularly according to the seasons and the years, and thus to increase the economic sustainability of our farming systems. To do so, we must ensure a minimum level of nutrients for crops, which require essential mineral elements for efficient photosynthesis, and therefore growth. Soils are typically lacking in mineral elements in sub-Saharan Africa, and the largely insufficient organic inputs lead to nutrient deficiencies in crops. This is the main limiting factor for crop yields, excluding drought situationsâ, says Pauline Chivenge of the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI). âThe work by Christian Pieri showed as early as 1989 that it is possible to restore high levels of fertility to African soils through a balanced approach to organic and mineral nutrient inputsâ, says François Affholder.
The article highlights five reasons why more mineral fertilizer is needed in sub-Saharan Africa:
Farming systems are characterized by very low mineral fertilizer use, widespread mixed crop-livestock systems, and significant crop diversity, including legumes. Inputs of mineral elements to crops by farmers are insufficient, resulting in a widespread decline in soil fertility due to soil nutrient mining.
The nitrogen requirements of crops cannot be met solely through biological nitrogen fixation by legumes and manure recycling. Legumes can only fix atmospheric nitrogen if symbiosis with soil bacteria functions correctly, which requires absorption of different mineral elements by the plant. Ken Giller of Wageningen University highlights that the ability of legumes to capture nitrogen from the air through their symbiosis with rhizobium bacteria is a fantastic opportunity for smallholder farmers, âbut the amounts on nitrogen fixed are very small unless other nutrients such as phosphorus are supplied through fertilizersâ.
Phosphorus and potassium are often the main limiting factors of the functioning of plants and living organisms, including symbiotic bacteria: if there is not enough phosphorus and potassium in soils, then there is no nitrogen fixation. These nutrient elements, phosphorus, potassium and micro-elements, need to be provided by fertilizers, since they cannot be provided by legumes, which draw these elements directly from the soil. In the case of manure, this is simply a transfer from grazing areas to cultivated areas, which gradually reduces fertility in grazing areas.
If used appropriately, mineral fertilizers have little impact on the environment. The greenhouse gas emissions linked to nitrogen fertilizer use can be controlled through a balanced and efficient application. In addition, mineral fertilizers can be produced more efficiently in order to reduce the impact of their production on greenhouse gas emissions, keeping in mind that this impact is low, at around 1% of total anthropogenic emissions.
Further reducing mineral fertilizer use in SSA would hamper productivity gains and would contribute directly to increasing food insecurity and indirectly to agricultural expansion and deforestation. Producing for a population that will double by 2050 is likely to require the use of more agricultural land. An extensive strategy thus harms biodiversity and contributes to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, contrary to an agroecological intensification strategy combined with efficient and moderate mineral fertilizer use.
âIf we take account of biophysical production factors, such as climate and soil, and shortages of land and agricultural workers, it will be impossible to reach a satisfactory production level by fertilizing soils only with manure and using legumesâ, says Leonard Rusinamhodzi, an agricultural researcher at the Ghana International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
However, âagroecological principles linked directly to improving soil fertility, such as recycling of mineral and organic elements, crop efficiency and diversity, with for example agroforestry practices and cereal-legume intercropping, remain essential to improve soil health. Soil fertility is based on its organic matter content, provided by plant growth that determines the biomass that is returned to the soil in the form of roots and plant residues. Efficient mineral fertilizer use starts a virtuous circle. These nutrients are crucial for the sustainability of agricultural productivityâ, says Gatien Falconnier.
The researchers therefore argue for a nuanced position that recognizes the need to increase mineral fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, in a moderate manner based on efficient practices, in conjunction with the use of agroecological practices and appropriate policy support. This balanced approach is aimed at ensuring long-term food security while preserving ecosystems and preventing soil degradation.
The input reduction principle of agroecology is wrong when it comes to mineral fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa. Outlook on Agriculture, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270231199795
*CIRAD, CIMMYT, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Wageningen University and the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI)
AMES, IOWAâThe Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has announced the 2023 Borlaug CAST Communication Award goes to Alison Bentley.
While Bentley is known for her global research on wheat genetics, she is also recognized for her proficiency in science communication. Bentley has a passion for delivering practical applications from innovation to farmers, extensive reach through communicating and influencing, and mentoring and support of individuals and community efforts. Bentley’s exceptional work in raising awareness about the importance of wheat as a food crop is also evidenced by her wide-ranging list of communication activities.
In 2022 alone, Bentley delivered 20 scientific presentationsâincluding five international keynote talks and 15 additional invited talks. Bentley focused her communication efforts around two major areas. The first area was her rapid, science-led response to the impact of the Russian/Ukraine war on global wheat production through a communication article in Nature, followed with a social media campaign and numerous presentations and invited policy briefings. Her second area of focus was a major communications campaign by initiating and leading the Women in Crop Science network. This network was developed to address key issues such as the promotion and championing of females throughout their research careers, creating equal opportunities, and increasing visibility of members.
The extensive breadth of Bentleyâs outreach ranges from classic science presentations and open access articles to blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and Twitter campaigns. All these formats demonstrate her commitment to science communication and reaching as wide an audience as possible in an accessible way to engage with important, current topics regarding wheat supplies and plant breeding.
The official presentation of the award will take place at a special side event during the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue event in Des Moines, Iowa, in October. The Borlaug CAST Communication Award honors the legacy of Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Prize winner and author of the first CAST publication, and Dr. Charles A. Black, the first executive vice president of CAST. It is presented annually for outstanding achievement by a scientist, engineer, technologist, or other professional working in the agricultural, environmental, or food sectors for contributing to the advancement of science through communication in the public policy arena.
ABOUT CAST
CAST is an international consortium of scientific and professional societies, universities, companies, nonprofits, libraries, and individuals. CAST convenes and coordinates networks of experts to assemble, interpret, and communicate credible, unbiased, science-based information to policymakers, the media, the private sector, and the public.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYTâs research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
Like other crops, wheat â which makes up 20 percent of the human diet â is affected by threats to the global food system from persistent population growth and economic and climate pressures. These challenges are further exacerbated by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. There is an urgent need to prioritize climate resilient wheat varieties to protect this food staple.
Some five years after HeDWIC was launched in 2014 to incorporate the most advanced research technologies into improving heat and drought tolerance of wheat, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that climate change was having an impact on food security through increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and greater frequency of extreme weather events in its Special Report on Climate Change and Land.
âWhile some areas are becoming more conducive to wheat growing, crop yields are suffering in other regions around the world traditionally known as bread baskets,â said wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds, who leads HeDWIC at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
âWheat is one of our fundamental crops, and we must spare no effort in protecting it from current and future challenges,â said Saharah Moon Chapotin, FFAR executive director. âGlobal collaborations are necessary to address global concerns, and these grants are bringing together international teams to share and build the science and research that will ensure the stability of this crop.â
To boost new ideas in âclimate-proofingâ crops, HeDWIC conducts virtual meetings that include all awarded research teams to take advantage of the collective global expertise in heat and drought resilience, leading to cross-pollination of ideas and further leverage of resources and capabilities.
In March, Reynolds led in-person discussions with some of the collaborating researchers at CIMMYTâs experimental research station on the outskirts of Ciudad Obregon, a city in Mexicoâs Sonoran Desert, during CIMMYTâs annual Visitorsâ Week.
Projects awarded in 2022
Exploring the potential of chlorophyll fluorescence for the early detection of drought and heat stress in wheat (FluoSense4Wheat)
âThe HeDWIC mini proposal allows us to explore the potential of chlorophyll fluorescence for the early detection of drought and heat stress in wheat. The controlled irrigation conditions for wheat grown in Obregon give us the opportunity to quantify photosynthesis by fluorescence while drought develops. Detecting a drought-specific fluorescence response and/or the interaction between active and passive fluorescence is relevant for breeding selecting purposes as well as large spatial scale detection of drought by monitoring the plant.â â Onno Muller, Forschungszentrum JĂŒlich, Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Germany
Physiological basis of amelioration of heat stress through nitrogen management in wheat
âHeat stress during grain filling can restrict the availability of carbohydrates needed for grain development. India has been experiencing sudden spikes in both minimum and maximum temperatures by 3 to 5 degrees above normal from late-February onwards, which is an important time for wheat grain-filling and has resulted in declining wheat productivity. Our team is examining the ability of pre-flowering nitrogen applications to support biomass accumulation and overcome the grain-filling source (carbohydrate) limitation during heat spikes. If successful, the results could have broad-reaching benefits given that farmers are familiar with and well-skilled in using nitrogen applications regimes in crop management.â â Renu Pandey, Division of Plant Physiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Can reproductive development be protected from heat stress by the trehalose 6-phosphate pathway?
âThe HeDWIC funding provides a unique opportunity to test how the regulatory sugar, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) can protect wheat yields against increasingly common chronic and acute heat stress events. We have already shown that T6P spray increases wheat yields significantly in field conditions under a range of rainfall in wet and dry years. With increasing likelihood of heat stress events in the years ahead, in unique facilities at CIMMYT, we will test the potential of T6P to protect reproductive development from catastrophic yield loss due to chronic and acute heat.â â Matthew Paul, Rothamsted Research, UK
Investigating tolerance of heat resilient wheat germplasm to drought
âOver the last decade, we have developed heat tolerant wheat germplasm at the University of Sydney that maintains yield under terminal heat stress. In our new HeDWIC project, this material will be tested under combined drought and heat stress under field conditions. This will provide plant breeders with highly valuable information on field tested germplasm for use in accelerated breeding programs targeting combined heat and drought tolerance. The work is critical for future food security considering the inextricable link between temperature and plant water demand, and the increased frequency and intensity of heat and drought events under projected climate change.â â William Salter, University of Sydney, Australia
Novel wheat architecture alleles to optimize biomass under drought
âWheat Rht-1 dwarfing genes were an essential component that led to spectacular increases in grain yields during the Green Revolution. Although Rht1 and Rht2 are still used widely in wheat breeding 50 years after they were introduced, they are suboptimal under drought conditions and are often associated with a yield penalty. Using a more extensive range of Rht-1 dwarfing alleles that were developed at Rothamsted, we will introduce them into CIMMYT germplasm to optimize biomass and ultimately increase grain yields under drought stress.â â Steve Thomas, Rothamsted Research, UK
Additional comments from 2021 awardees
âThis opportunity has enabled the collection of significant amounts of data that will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in crop physiology and root biology. It has also provided early career researchers with opportunities to gain hands-on experience, develop important skills, and grow their networks. Additionally, this initiative has stimulated further ideas and collaborations among researchers, fostering a culture of innovation and cooperation that is essential for progress.â â Hannah Schneider, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands
âThe project is a unique opportunity for research groups from around the world to coordinate efforts on identifying ways to improve heat tolerance of wheat.â â Owen Atkin, Australian National University, Australia
âIt is important to understand how high temperature limits crop growth and yield and to identify genetic variation that can be used for breeding climate resilient crops. This project has already begun to develop new methods for rapidly screening growth and physiological processes in genetically diverse panels which we hope will be invaluable to researchers and breeders.â â Erik Murchie, University of Nottingham, UK
âThis project will provide novel phenotyping screens and germplasm to breeders and lay the groundwork for genetic analysis and marker development.â â John Foulkes, University of Nottingham, UK
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYTâs research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
Silvia Chinda an organic soya farmer posing in front of her soya crop. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Leading scientists, practitioners and representatives of development agencies, and international and non-governmental organizations reimagine the path to achieve Zero Hunger at a time when recurring crises driven by food insecurity, climate change and conflict stretch both emergency response and development efforts to the limit.
The exercise aims to trigger disruptive thinking around how long-term development investments can help build more resilient communities. Stronger cooperation mechanisms between the humanitarian and development sectors are necessary to break the cycle of recurrent crises by building local agency and capacities. Aid and development beneficiaries in vulnerable communities must be front and center in every effort seeking to achieve a hunger free and sustainable planet.
The brief has been endorsed by a group of experts who participated in the 2022 Borlaug Dialogue of the World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa.
How can we overcome the primary obstacles to a food secure, resilient, and inclusive world?
The first challenge involves addressing fractures between aid and development organizations that work in silos without sharing information, objectives, learnings, and resources. The authors make a strong case for increasing cooperation â rather than competition â to confront the intricate and interconnected challenges of climate change, food insecurity and conflict.
In addition, they advocate for more ambitious and community-centered interventions that prioritize systemic change over emergency responses to food crises. The change of perspective implies shifting the emphasis from addressing immediate humanitarian needs to investing in long-term resilience.
The third recommendation is to phase out outdated top-down planning and policy-making processes that fail to align with community needs, delegate decisions or transfer resources directly to partners on the ground. Listening to the needs of beneficiaries and affected communities from the start of any intervention is considered the most significant step to achieve lasting change.
CIMMYT and partners are leading by example and catalyzing change in sub-Saharan Africa
With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers, in partnership with innovation generators and organizations on the ground, will develop and scale up solutions for transforming farming systems by implementing the Accelerated Intervention Delivery Initiative (AID-I) in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, and the Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS). Both initiatives answer the need for stronger cooperation between the humanitarian and development sectors by creating a common space where aid and research organizations work together on the ground to address the urgent and long-term needs of vulnerable communities to their mutual advantage.
These CIMMYT-led projects will establish innovation hubs or networks for developing, testing, and adapting sustainable farming practices and technologies to the needs of local farmers actively engaged in participatory research and extension activities, building cooperative relationships, and leveraging the existing collaboration between One CGIAR research systems. As a result, co-creation between partners and project beneficiaries is at the heart of every research activity, co-development process and scaling endeavor.
AID-I will adopt market-based approaches to provide critical information and innovations to 3 million smallholder farmers, who will maintain or increase local food production and mitigate the impacts of the global food, fuel, and fertilizer crises. Small and medium sized enterprises will be supported to strengthen innovative approaches to agricultural value change development, creating agricultural systems that are built for long-term resilience and success.
Similarly, SASAS will take a multi-crop approach focusing on soil fertility management to achieve productivity gains and inclusive agriculture-led economic growth in the Greater Khartoum, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions of Sudan. CIMMYT will leverage on-the-ground partnerships to adapt and replicate previously successful Integrated Agrifood Systems Initiatives (IASI) projects, empowering communities to ensure the agricultural transformation works for their needs.
Ultimately, both initiatives shift their focus from crisis response to building long-term resilience and aim to achieve rapid but lasting climate-smart impacts that demonstrate the power of small-scale agriculture as a major driver of transformative change by expanding access to improved technologies, tools, and information in sub-Saharan Africa.
About CIMMYT
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYTâs research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
The WIT awards are a premier recognition of talent and dedication of early-career women scientists and those who have excelled at mentoring women working in wheat and its nearest cereal relatives. This yearâs winners are innovative wheat researchers from Malawi, Morocco, New Zealand, Spain, Tunisia and the United States.
âIt is an honor to recognize these incredible scientists for their drive and vision in support of food security,â said Jeanie Borlaug Laube, chair of the BGRI and daughter of Nobel Prize Peace-winner Norman E. Borlaug. âMy father believed that generations of hunger fighters would be needed to rid the world of food insecurity, and Iâm proud to recognize these 2023 awardees for continuing to carry that mission forward.â
The WIT Early-Career Award provides women working in wheat with the opportunity for additional training, mentorship and leadership opportunities. The WIT Mentor Award recognizes the efforts of men and women who have played a significant role in shaping the careers of women working in wheat and demonstrated a commitment to increasing gender parity in agriculture.
âThe WIT Awards have proven to be influential in shifting gender dynamics towards more equity in wheat science. WIT awardees are taking on leadership roles in scientific settings all over the world, and these newest awardees have the potential to continue that trend towards a more inclusive future,â said Maricelis Acevedo, director for science for the BGRI and research professor of global development in Cornell Universityâs College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Since founding the WIT awards in 2010, the BGRI has now recognized 71 early-career award winners from 31 countries and 13 mentors from 9 countries.
From Malawi, Veronica is a Ph.D student, University of Nottingham (UoN)-Rothamsted Research (RRes) in the United Kingdom, and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in Malawi. She focuses on exploiting the wider genetic variation among wheat and wild relatives to identify novel sources for increased grain zinc and iron concentration, and transfer these to African varieties.
From Morocco, Hafssa is genomic selection expert for the durum wheat breeding program at International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Morocco. Her work is aimed at implementing genomic selection and speed breeding tools to deliver superior cultivars to national partners from Central and West Asia, North Africa, and West Africa.
From Spain, Marina is a fourth-year Ph.D. student at the John Innes Centre where she studies the post-anthesis development of the unpollinated wheat carpel under the supervision of CristĂłbal Uauy and Scott Boden and in collaboration with KWS and Syngenta. Marina is applying a combination of approaches, including field trials, microscopy work, machine learning, and transcriptomics to better understand the genetic processes regulating different aspects of female fertility in bread wheat.
From New Zealand, Megan is a CERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). She focuses on developing molecular understanding of the interactions between rust fungi and wheat through structural biology and protein biochemistry, and recently adopted new artificial intelligence technologies in her work to facilitate structural analysis on a genome-wide scale for the purpose of exploiting structural conservation to engineer novel, durable genetic resistance in wheat and ensure effective utilization of current resistance.
From the United States, Amanda is a research geneticist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) at the Cereal Crops Research Unit in Fargo, North Dakota. Her current research program focuses on pre-breeding and germplasm improvement for both tetraploid and hexaploid wheat, focusing on the Great Plains region.
A dual citizen of Tunisia and the United States, Amor is vice president of the Borlaug Training Foundation. His work has spanned organizations on multiple continents, with positions at the University of Tunis, ICARDA, and CIMMYT. As Wheat Training Officer at CIMMYT from 2012-2018, he enhanced academic and hands-on training on wheat improvement for junior scientists from over 20 countries annually. There he developed a modular advanced wheat improvement course for mid-career scientists. In Tunisia he initiated the CRP-Wheat Septoria Precision Phenotyping Platform in Tunisia, where from 2015 to 2021 he fully involved graduate research as part of platform that led to women researchers earning seven Ph.D. and two MSc degrees in a six-year period.
Shelves filled with maize seed samples make up the maize active collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center at CIMMYT’s El BatĂĄn headquarters, Mexico. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
Fast Tracking Climate Solutions from CGIAR Genebank Collections is expanding CGIARâs and other organizationsâ crop improvement research. This initiative is key to developing new crop varieties adapted to the stresses of climate change, including disruptions caused by drought, heat and flooding. Through this ambitious research program, scientists have already developed critical traits using the genebanks, strengthening the identification of high-value genetic diversity from germplasm collections and more efficiently leveraging this diversity to develop new varieties of climate-resilient crops.
Join virtually to learn more about this programâs pioneering research, the value of collaboration in this research and opportunities to engage further.
WHEN: November 11, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST
RSVP: Please register for the webinar to receive call-in information. This event is free and open to the public.
AIM for Climate is a joint initiative by the United States and United Arab Emirates seeking to address climate change and global hunger. The initiative brings together partners to increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Specifically, AIM for Climate is advancing research through Innovation Sprints. As an AIM for Climate Knowledge Partner and an Innovation Sprint Partner, FFAR has two other Innovation Sprints in addition to the genebanking project: AgMission and the Greener Cattle Initiative.
For more information, contact Jamie Nickel, communications & legislative affairs associate, at jnickel@foundationfar.org.
About the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement USDAâs research agenda. FFARâs model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.
Cover photo: Shelves filled with maize seed samples make up the maize active collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center at CIMMYT’s El BatĂĄn headquarters, Mexico. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
The results of Plan MaĂz obtained to date are significant: 400 farmers have benefited by adopting sustainable practices for the production of both maize and wheat, since they attended training and demonstration events that promoted a more sustainable commercial production model.
Thanks to the agreement’s training, the volume of maize and wheat produced grew to a cumulative total volume of more than 193,000 tons of maize and 21,690 tons of wheat. The project impacted more than 9,000 hectares of maize and wheat. In total, and during eight productive cycles, the accumulated number of hectares impacted amounted to more than 19,000, where there is a record of at least the adoption of sustainable practices such as: integral fertility, integral and responsible management of fertilizers and phytosanitary products, among others.
To achieve this, they are intensifying their commitment to farmers so that the solutions they create for and with them achieve a positive and sustainable change both in their agricultural processes and in the main raw materials. Therefore, the goal is for 20% of maize and wheat from Plan MaĂz to come from regenerative agriculture practices by 2025 and 50% by 2030, thus continuing to build on the commitment to develop the full power of food to improve the quality of life, today and for future generations.
About the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT):
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYTâs research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to degrade global food security, the Australian who leads the global effort on improving wheat production has set out the concrete actions needed by governments and investors to mitigate the food crisis, stabilise supply and transition to greater agrifood system resilience.
Alison Bentley leads the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the renowned research organisation from which more than 90 per cent of the wheat varieties grown in Australia can be traced. She will be addressing the Crawford Fundâs international conference Celebrating Agriculture for Development â Outcomes, Impacts and the Way Ahead this week in Parliament House, Canberra. The conference will also be addressed by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator The Hon, Murray Watt.
âThe broad food security impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war highlight the fragility of the global food supply, but the war is only one of a multitude of problems that we’ll be facing for many years to come. Few will remain unaffected,â said Alison Bentley, who was the lead author in a recently published related article in Nature Food.
âMore than 2.5 billion people worldwide consume wheat-based foods. We need to move beyond defining the problem to implementing practical actions to ensure stable food supply, safeguard the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people and bring resilience to our global agrifood system, and we will all benefit,â she said.
“The first priority is to mitigate the immediate crisis by boosting wheat production by bundling existing agronomic and breeding improvements and sustainable farming practices, just as Australia and other wealthy countries are doing. This will reduce dependence on imported grain and fertilizer in poorer countries.”
“We have learned since the Green Revolution that this must be done within agro-ecological boundaries, with high-yielding disease-resistant wheat and by mainstreaming capacity for pest and disease monitoring. Importantly, we also need to address climate change, gender disparities, nutrition insufficiency and increase investment in agricultural research,” she concluded.
The Fundâs annual conference will bring together international and Australian specialists to look at the mutual benefit and impacts of investment in global food security and poverty alleviation, and consider the effects of emerging threats including climate change and changing geo-political conditions on agricultural production, food chains and the environment.
Other speakers include international affairs specialist Allan Gyngell, climate change and security specialist Robert Glasser and renowned international economist Phil Pardey.
Contact for enquiries
Cathy Reade â Director of Outreach
+61 413 575 934Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â crawford@crawfordfund.org www.crawfordfund.org
All the powerpoints can be found on the website â youâll find them linked to each speakerâs presentation title on the program page.Â
Elufe Chipande (left), a farmer at Songani in Zomba District, Malawi, is rotating maize (background) and pigeonpea (foreground) under conservation agriculture practices to improve soil fertility and capture and retain more water. Christian Thierfelder (center), a cropping systems agronomist working out of the Zimbabwe office of CIMMYT, advises and supports southern African farmers and researchers to refine and spread diverse yield-enhancing, resource-conserving crop management practices. Photo: Mphatso Gama/CIMMYTSRUC
An international team of scientists has found that eco-friendly practices such as growing a range of crops, including legumes such as beans or pigeonpea, and adding plant residues or manure to soils can raise food crop yields in places such as rural Africa, where small-scale farmers cannot apply much nitrogen fertilizer.
Published in the science journal Nature Sustainability and examining data from 30 long-running field experiments involving staple crops (wheat, maize, oats, barley, sugar beet, or potato) in Europe and Africa, this major study is the first to compare farm practices that work with nature to increase yields and explore how they interact with fertilizer use and tillage.
âAgriculture is a leading cause of global environmental change but is also very vulnerable to that change,â said Chloe MacLaren, a plant ecologist at Rothamsted Research, UK, and lead author of the paper. âUsing cutting-edge statistical methods to distill robust conclusions from divergent field experiment data, we found combinations of farming methods that boost harvests while reducing synthetic fertilizer overuse and other environmentally damaging practices.â
Recognizing that humanity must intensify production on current arable land to feed its rising numbers, the paper advances the concept of âecological intensification,â meaning farming methods that enhance ecosystem services and complement or substitute for human-made inputs, like chemical fertilizer, to maintain or increase yields.
Boosting crop yields and food security for far-flung smallholders
The dataset included results from six long-term field experiments in southern Africa led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Africaâs farming systems receive on average only 17 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare, compared to more than 180 kilograms per hectare in Europe or close to 600 in China, according to Christian Thierfelder, a CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist and study co-author.
âIn places where farmersâ access to fertilizer is limited, such as sub-Saharan Africa or the Central American Highlands, ecological intensification can complement scarce fertilizer resources to increase crop yields, boosting householdsâ incomes and food security,â Thierfelder explained. âWe believe these practices act to increase the supply of nitrogen to crops, which explains their value in low-input agriculture.â
The CIMMYT long-term experiments were carried out under âclimate-smartâ conservation agriculture practices, which include reduced or no tillage, keeping some crop residues on the soil, and (again) growing a range of crops.
âThese maize-based cropping systems showed considerable resilience against climate effects that increasingly threaten smallholders in the Global South,â Thierfelder added.
Benefits beyond yield
Besides boosting crop yields, ecological intensification can cut the environmental and economic costs of productive farming, according to MacLaren.
âDiversifying cropping with legumes can increase profits and decrease nitrogen pollution by reducing the fertilizer requirements of an entire crop rotation, while providing additional high-value food, such as beans,â MacLaren explained. âCrop diversity can also confer resilience to weather variability, increase biodiversity, and suppress weeds, crop pests and pathogens; itâs essential, if farmers are to improve maize production in places like Africa.â
Thierfelder cautioned that widespread adoption of ecological intensification will require strong support from policymakers and society, including establishing functional markets for legume seed and for marketing farmersâ produce, among other policy improvements.
âDire and worsening global challenges â climate change, soil degradation and fertility declines, and scarcening fresh water â threaten the very survival of humanity,â said Thierfelder. âIt is of utmost importance to renovate farming systems and bring us back into a safe operating space.â
Click here to read the paper, Long-term evidence for ecological intensification as a pathway to sustainable agriculture.
Wheat at a CIMMYT field trial. (Photo: H. Hernandez Lira/CIMMYT)
As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to degrade global food security, a new analysis lays out concrete actions that governments and investors must do now to mitigate near-term food security risks and stabilize wheat supplies, while transitioning toward long-term resilience.
âThe Russia-Ukraine war will impact global food security over months â if not years,â said CIMMYT Global Wheat Program Director and lead author Alison Bentley. âWe now need to move beyond defining the problem to implementing practical actions to ensure stable supply, safeguard the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people and bring resilience to our global agrifood system.â
The war in Ukraine and trade sanctions against Russia are triggering a level of volatility that could easily overwhelm existing mitigation mechanisms. More than 2.5 billion people worldwide consume wheat-based foods; those in lower- to middle-income countries dependent on imports from Russia and Ukraine are particularly affected. Some of the worldâs poorest countries, such as Bangladesh, Sudan and Yemen, rely heavily on Russian and Ukrainian wheat. Given the highly interconnected nature of contemporary agrifood systems, few will remain unaffected by this new global food shock.
Mitigate the immediate crisis
The first priority, according to the authors, is to mitigate the immediate crisis by boosting wheat production in existing high- and low-productivity areas, ensuring grain access and blending wheat flour with other low-cost cereals. Bundled agronomic and breeding improvements and sustainable farming practices can reduce dependence on imported grain and fertilizer, while coordinated, multilateral policies can help conserve grain stocks for human consumption and avert trade restrictions.
Increase the resilience of wheat supply
In the medium term, the authors emphasized the need to increase the local, regional, and global resilience of the wheat supply. This can be done by expanding production within agro-ecological boundaries, supporting national wheat self-sufficiency and providing technical assistance, to increase the production of high-yielding disease-resistant wheat and to mainstream capacity for pest and disease monitoring.
Transition to system-level resilience
Finally, to reach crucially needed resilience in the worldâs agrifood system, long-term measures must be taken that encompass agroecosystem diversity, address gender disparities in agriculture and rural communities and sustain increased investment in a holistic, agrifood transition.
âThe current global food crisis underscores and compounds existing inequalities in our global food system,â Bentley said. âA transition to agrifood system resilience requires us to urgently balance global food supply needs with the multi-layered challenges of climate change, achieving gender equity, nutritional sufficiency and livelihood security.â
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis.
Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agrifood systems. CIMMYTâs research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) awards honoring outstanding early-career scientists engaged in wheat research. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) presents the WIT awards to acknowledge excellence and leadership among scientists in the initial stages of their careers. Recipients of the 2024 awards will benefit from advanced leadership and scientific training for wheat research, supported by the BGRI and the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat project led by CIMMYT.
