funder_partner: African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)

Doubled haploids speed development of drought tolerant maize for Africa

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features. 1 Comment on Doubled haploids speed development of drought tolerant maize for Africa

CIMMYT E-News, vol 5 no. 5, May 2008

may01 CIMMYT is adapting an advanced technology—the doubled haploid approach—to develop inbred lines of tropical maize for sub-Saharan Africa. It promises to reduce costs and speed the arrival of better-adapted maize for resource-poor farmers in the world’s toughest environments.

CIMMYT scientists have begun developing drought tolerant varieties of tropical maize for places like sub-Saharan Africa using a high-tech approach—known as doubled haploids—previously applied principally by commercial seed companies working mostly on temperate maize.

“Haploid” refers to the number of chromosomes in a reproductive cell, like sperm or ovum. In grasses like maize, the reproductive cells—pollen and ovules—contain half the chromosomes of a full-grown individual. Fertilization joins the genetic information from the two parents, and offspring carry paired sets of chromosomes, reflecting the diversity of each parent.

“Maize breeders working on hybrids—the most productive type of maize variety and the one marketed by most seed companies—must at some point create genetically-stable and pure lines of desirable, individual plants, for use as parents of hybrids,” says CIMMYT maize physiologist Jose Luis Araus. Conventionally, breeders get the lines by repeatedly fertilizing selected, individual maize plants with the plant’s own pollen. The process requires expensive field space, labor, and time—normally, seven or more generations, which represents at least three years, even in settings where it’s possible to grow two crops per season.

Purer, faster, cheaper

In the latter part of the 20th century, crop scientists developed a quicker, cheaper path to genetically-uniform parent lines—though a technically intricate method. The first step involves crossing normal maize with special maize types called “inducers,” whose pollen causes the normal maize to produce seed containing haploid embryos. The haploid embryo carries a single set of its own chromosomes, rather than the normal paired sets. The embryos are planted, and subsequent treatment of the seedlings with a particular chemical causes them to make “photocopies” of their haploid chromosomes, resulting in a fertile plant endowed with a doubled set of identical chromosomes and able to produce seed of 100% genetic purity. “The actual treatment, as well as getting from the embryo to a reasonable amount of seed of the pure line, is very complicated,” says Ciro Sánchez Rodríguez, CIMMYT technician in charge of doubled haploid field trials, “but when the process is perfected, it only takes two generations—about one year—and the logistical advantages are tremendous.”

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First extensive use in the tropics

CIMMYT is implementing the doubled haploid technology on a research station in Mexico, using drought tolerant plants adapted to sub-Saharan Africa. “CIMMYT’s use of the practice is another example of how we put advanced technologies at the service of disadvantaged, small-scale farmers,” says Araus. “Among other things, this represents a significant opportunity to increase the availability of improved, drought tolerant maize varieties for sub-Saharan Africa,” he says.

Commercial seed companies in Europe and North America have been the main users of the doubled haploid technology, and the inducer genotypes available are of temperate adaptation. “The inducers perform very poorly in the tropical conditions of our Mexico stations,” says Vanessa Prigge, a PhD student from the University of Hohenheim working at CIMMYT to perfect the technique. To generate inducers that work better in tropical settings, Prigge and colleagues are crossing temperate inducers from Hohenheim with CIMMYT maize from Mexico, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. “We expect to have tropical versions of the inducers in a couple years,” she says.

Reaching farmers’ fields

Maize lines from this work will be used initially in the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) projects.

“This is a very exciting technology,” says Aida Kebede, an Ethiopian PhD student from Hohenheim helping to establish the doubled haploid technology at CIMMYT. “It holds the key to addressing more quickly the persistent problems of African maize growers: drought, disease pressure, and low productivity. I’m happy to contribute!”

Farmers Say: “Kill Striga!”

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 2, February 2006

feb_striga Kenyan farmers’ verdict is out: “Ua Kayongo is the best Striga control practice and we will adopt it.”

Farmers in western Kenya overwhelmingly favor imidazolinone-resistant (IR) maize seed coated with a low dose of this herbicide to kill Striga, a highly-invasive parasitic weed that infests 200,000 hectares of Kenya’s farmland and causes crop losses worth an estimated US$ 50 million each year. This was a key finding of a recent, independent study commissioned by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to the Western Regional Alliance for Technology Evaluation (WeRATE; includes non-governmental organizations, farmer associations, and extension workers). Nearly 5,300 farmers in 17 districts of western Kenya evaluated eight recommended Striga management practices.

Farmers have dubbed the winning maize “Ua Kayongo”—literally, “kill Striga” in a mixed vernacular. In July 2005, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and private seed suppliers started to commercialize four hybrid varieties of Ua Kayongo in Kenya.

The maize’s herbicide resistance is based on a natural mutation in the crop. Its development into Ua Kayongo was through global cooperation involving CIMMYT; KARI; the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; and BASF-The Chemical Company, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and BASF. In the new practice, Ua Kayongo seed is coated with BASF’s Strigaway® herbicide, which kills Striga seedlings below ground. This prevents them from fastening to the roots of maize seedlings, from which they suck away water and nutrients.

feb_graph Farmers in the WeRATE evaluations were able to plant the new maize using their normal husbandry methods, including intercropping with legumes and root crops. “I’ve been pulling and burying Striga on my 5-acre farm for the past 17 years and the problem has only grown worse,” said Rose Katete, a farmer from Teso; “Ua Kayongo has provided the best crop of maize that I’ve ever grown!”

Katete’s observations bear out CIMMYT and partners’ findings from several years of field trials: “Under Striga-infested conditions, the new maize hybrids out-yield the checks by more than 50%, and provide near-total Striga control,” says Marianne Bänziger, Director of the CIMMYT Maize Program.

Over the next five years, the new Striga control package will be made available to farmers in Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi, and eventually, other countries of sub-Saharan Africa with a Striga weed problem.

For more information contact Fred Kanampiu (f.kanampiu@cgiar.org)

Pernicious Weed Meets its Match

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 7, July 2005

striga1 In a country where each person consumes at least 100 kilograms of maize a year, a new, easy-to-use, affordable practice that could raise the crop’s production by 200,000 tons is, naturally, greeted with much celebration in Kenya.

Such was the mood at Kisumu, Kenya, during the 5 July launch of the Clearfield® technology for Striga weed control. “This is good news for farmers, and good news for the government,” stated the chief guest, Romano Kiome, director of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). If widely adopted, according to Kiome, the technology could “…lift poor farmers from subsistence to income generation, poverty to wealth, and food insecurity to security.”

A highly invasive parasite, Striga infests 400,000 hectares of Kenya’s farmland. Striga sprouts fasten directly to roots of maize seedlings, sucking away nutrients and 50 to 100% of yields by harvest time. The weed overruns 40% of the arable land in Africa’s savannahs, threatening the livelihoods of more than 100 million people who depend on cereal crops for food and income. Kenyan maize farmers lose at least US$ 50 million annually in grain to Striga.

Taking advantage of a natural variation in maize, for nine years CIMMYT and partners have conventionally bred varieties that yield well under tropical conditions and withstand imidazolinone, an active ingredient in several herbicides and the BASF product, Strigaway®. This imidazolinone-resistant (IR) maize is the starting point for an elegant control method, as CIMMYT agronomist Fred Kanampiu explains: “The IR maize seed is coated with a low dose of the herbicide, which kills Striga as it germinates, allowing the maize to grow clear of the weed.” Besides producing healthy maize plants, over several years the practice helps clear fields of residual Striga seed—a boon to farmers, given that a single Striga plant produces up to 50,000 tiny seeds that can remain viable for 20 years or more.

striga

Four new maize hybrids have been released for marketing in Kenya under the common name Ua Kayongo (literally “kill Striga”) H1–4, and farmers are enthusiastic, as their statements in the Nairobi Daily Nation show: “I have already seen major changes in my farm compared to my neighbors’, whose parcels remain covered with the purple flowers of the parasitic weed,” says Zedekiah Onyango of Baridi farm in Nyahera. “My maize yield is many times higher since I started using IR maize, and I look forward to even higher yields.” Farmers are also urging the government to promote the technology to arrest the perennial food shortages caused by Striga. “I believe it would be much cheaper for the government to invest money in the technology, so that this menace is cleared once and for all, and the production of various cereals is restored,” says Beatrice Ayoo, another small-scale farmer who is interested in the new Clearfield® practice.

The technology was developed through global cooperation involving CIMMYT; KARI; the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; BASF; private seed companies; and the Rockefeller Foundation; among others. Peter Matlon, director for the Africa Regional Program, the Rockefeller Foundation, was at the launch, and called the cross-sectoral collaboration “a classic example of partnership.” The Clearfield® control package will be released soon in Tanzania, Uganda and, eventually, 16 other countries of sub-Saharan Africa, in a process spearheaded by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) with DFID support.

For more information, contact Fred Kanampiu (f.kanampiu@cgiar.org).

Revised IRMA II Project Plan Stresses Regulatory Issues and New Management Structure

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

November, 2004

The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project was launched in 1999 with the primary goal of increasing maize production and food security for African farmers through the development and deployment of improved maize varieties that provide high resistance to insects, particularly stem borers. To achieve this goal, KARI and CIMMYT scientists will identify conventional and novel sources of stem borer resistance and incorporate them into maize varieties that are well suited to Kenyan growing conditions and to farmer and consumer preferences. Major funding for the project is provided by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

A revised project plan for IRMA II, geared to better address regulatory issues related to Bt maize and to enhance project management, was released in October 2004, the culmination of months of intensive planning meetings and workshops. “In the course of implementation of IRMA II it became clear that the regulatory issues were not exhaustively covered in the original project plan,” explains IRMA Project Manager Stephen Mugo. The need to more thoroughly address regulatory issues (through the assembly of regulatory dossiers) emerged full force as field testing and eventual release of Bt maize in Kenya became more imminent.

In June 2004, consultant Willy De Greef provided IRMA parties with an overview of regulatory issues related to transgenic crops. At that special IRMA Steering Committee meeting, a working group was established to formulate and oversee IRMA II strategies for fulfilling regulatory regimens. Appointed to the group were B. Odhiambo (KARI), S. Mugo (CIMMYT), J.K. Ng’eno (MOA), and F. Nang’ayo (Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service [KEPHIS]). Dr. Simon Gichuki (KARI) was appointed to be the IRMA Project Internal Regulator.

mmulaa To get the ball rolling, five scientists were designated to attend an intensive two-week course on regulatory issues and processes, conducted in August at Ghent University, Belgium. The scientists were involved in either IRMA II or regulatory processes: A. Pellegrineschi and S. Mugo (CIMMYT), M. Mulaa and S. Gichuki (KARI), and R. Onamu (KEPHIS). On the heels of the regulatory workshop, a two-day workshop to develop, plan and incorporate regulatory activities in the IRMA II project plan was held in Nairobi in September 2004. Twenty-one participants from seven institutions attended the workshop: KARI, CIMMYT, KEPHIS, National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), and International Biotech Regulatory Services. The objectives of the meeting were to (1) update the status of Bt maize in IRMA project; (2) identify information needed for a dossier on Bt genes to be deployed by the project;(3) determine sources of the needed information and identify gaps to be filled through research; (4) determine activities needed to fill the gaps, including resources and assigning responsibilities; and (5) update the IRMA II project plan, specifically on regulatory issues. After agreeing on the components of a regulatory package, the team split up into working groups and identified the required information, and developed activities over time, including budgets and responsibilities. Subsequently, a small task group incorporated the regulatory strategies into the project plan and created a revised structure for IRMA II. Ten themes were recommended:

Bt maize event, development of Bt source line, and human health safety assessment
Development of conventional and Bt products and compositional analysis
Environmental impact assessment
Insect resistance management and contingency plans
Regulatory issues and requirements
IPR/licensing
Seed production
Market assessment and analysis
Economic impact assessment
Communication/promotion (public awareness, media relations, extension)

Each theme is interdisciplinary and involves a team of entomologists, biotechnologists, breeders, economists, communications experts, IP counsels, extension officers, policymakers, regulatory officials, and most importantly, Kenyan farmers. The first testing of Bt maize source lines will be in the biosafety greenhouse complex in 2004 and in the field in 2005. OPVs will be pre-released in 2010, with large-scale release in 2011. Hybrids will follow a year behind OPVs. In developing the project plan, probabilities of success and risks, and contingency measures were identified. Milestones were set, against which progress will be measured. These fall in four broad categories: (1) facilities and permits; (2) breeding; (3) environmental safety assessments; and (4) socioeconomic impacts. Dispersal of funds by Syngenta Foundation will take these milestones into account.

To actualize the milestones and objectives, a new project management structure was developed. Under the new scheme, an Executive Committee (EC) composed of KARI, CIMMYT, Syngenta Foundation, MOA, and The Rockefeller Foundation directors, and CIMMYT African Livelihoods Program director was established with overall responsibility for the project. The position of Project Manager was instituted and given overall responsibility for the projects day-to-day activities and oversight, and reporting to the EC. An advisory board of experts from the public and private sectors will be appointed by the EC to provide expertise in their respective areas and to monitor progress on the project plan. A project management team, composed of the 10 project theme leaders, will hold quarterly meetings and report monthly to the project manager.

The five-year budget for the project is approximately USD 6,670,000. Although the Syngenta Foundation will be the principal development partner, The Rockefeller Foundation will provide support for seed issues. Other potential donors will be approached to provide support for one or more of the specific outputs of the project. Collectively, these development partners, together with those involved with IRMA I, and especially the farmers of Kenya, will work to ensure that the products needed by the farmers of the nation and sub-Saharan Africa actually reach them.

Strengthening the capacity of technicians in insect mass rearing

Written by on April 26, 2012. Posted in News.

curso-insect-mass-rearing Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) and its sister project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), have embarked on an initiative to train personnel in mass rearing of insects and develop rearing facilities. These insects are used in evaluation of maize resistance to insect damage. Through the initiative, 12 technicians from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique participated in a Stem Borer Mass Rearing Training Course held at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)-Katumani, Machakos, Kenya during 25 March-05 April 2012.

The course was co-organized by CIMMYT, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), KARI, and Monsanto. It designed to empower technicians from the WEMA project partner countries to undertake mass rearing of stem borers; establish and manage mass rearing facilities; and effectively conduct research on stem borers in field trials. It provided hands-on training, focusing on establishment of mass rearing units, facilities, equipment, diet ingredients, and lab safety regulations; colony establishment and maintenance, diet sorting, preparation and infestation; and management of stem borer larvae, pupae, moths, and eggs.

Underscoring the importance of the course, CIMMYT maize breeder Stephen Mugo noted that insect pests had become major problems in maize production, affecting 46% of the global maize growing area and destroying 25% of the global crop annually, equivalent to 52 million metric tons valued at USD 5.7 billion. Farmers trying to control the pests across the globe use USD 550 million worth of insecticides annually. Further, over 60% of these losses occur in the tropics where environmental conditions are favorable for stem borers year round.

Explaining the inclusion of insect protection in WEMA, Mugo noted that water stressed maize suffers more from stem borer infestation. “Drought and insect damage may lead to crop failure. The development of products with combined drought tolerance and insect protection would greatly enhance the benefits to smallholder maize growers in Africa.”

Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT maize entomologist and one of the course facilitators, pointed out that each of the four control methods for maize stem borer—biological, chemical, cultural and host plant resistance (HPR)—has its own limitations. However, considering that for reasons of costs and availability of pest control methods farmers often use no control measures at all, HPR is the easiest control method for subsistence farmers to adopt and use as the resistance is embedded in the seed. However, HPR needs investment in germplasm development and screening, a process that requires insect pests, hence the need to establish insect mass rearing facilities.

Stella Adupo, a participant from Uganda, exuded confidence that she had acquired adequate skills to undertake mass rearing of insects. Like other participants, she promised to establish a mass rearing facility, at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI), Namulonge, Uganda.

Speaking at the end of the course, Charles Kariuki, center director of KARI-Katumani, noted that food insecurity is partly due to lack of technical personnel to develop suitable technology and to advise farmers. “You have now gained this very important technical know-how on mass rearing. It is important that you apply this knowledge. More importantly, you must endeavor to pass the knowledge to others, at least train 2-3 people on insect mass rearing at your institution for greater impact.”

He advised the participants to read more on insect mass rearing to expand their knowledge and understand the discipline, and become more professional and efficient in their work. He thanked CIMMYT for its support in research and capacity-building.

SIMLESA: Celebrating two years of achievements, defining the future

Written by on April 24, 2012. Posted in News.

During 19-23 March 2012, over 200 researchers, policy makers, donors, seed specialists, and NGO representatives from Africa and Australia gathered in Arusha, Tanzania, for the second SIMLESA (Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa) Annual Regional Planning and Review Meeting. Representation from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), which generously supports the work, included nine members of the organization’s Commission for International Agricultural Research.

Participants shared lessons from the last two years and discussed better ways to design and implement future activities. Ten sessions addressed issues including project implementation, Australian-African partnerships, program and partner progress and lessons, and communications and knowledge management.

SIMLESA

A key message was that SIMLESA had consolidated and strengthened activities across all objectives, maximizing gains from integration, innovation, information, and technology diffusion for greater impacts on livelihoods and agroecosystems. It was noted that the use of integrated systems can foster productive intensification of agriculture and, indeed, the Innovation Platform Framework, supported by science and partnerships, can contribute to productive, sustainable and resilient maize-legume systems. For even greater impact, the program should rely on stronger leadership from agribusiness, while supporting the public sector’s role, and ensure a farm-income focus to reduce poverty.

Another key message was to strengthen Australian-African partnerships through better delivery of research products, capacity building under any of ACIAR’s four thematic areas, bridging research and extension, strengthening policy and socioeconomic research, and building individual and institutional capacity.

SIMLESA25 Speaking at the SIMLESA’s second “birthday party,” Joana Hewitt, chairperson of the ACIAR Commission for International Agricultural Research, reiterated the Australian government’s commitment to long-term partnerships with African governments. Participants also heard of the new SIMLESA Program in Zimbabwe, focusing on crop-livestock interactions. During the dinner, Kenya and Mozambique were recognized for their efforts in promoting and strengthening local innovation platforms.

In addition to SIMLESA’s program steering committee and the mid-term review team, the event drew representatives from USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program, from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa. SIMLESA is centered in five countries— Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique—with spillovers benefiting Uganda, Sudan, and Zambia. Representatives from all those countries interacted at the meeting.

A SIMLESA “village” and poster presentations allowed partner representatives and researchers to showcase achievements, and visits to Karatu and Mbulu—Tanzanian sites where SIMLESA is present— demonstrated how the project is transforming agriculture.

CRIL keeps busy

Written by on March 19, 2010. Posted in News.

The Crops Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL) has been very busy lately, with staff crisscrossing the globe to participate in training and information exchange. From 05 February to 05 March, CRIL members were involved in at least five information sharing events. Several involved collaboration with other CGIAR centers.

In early March, Arllet Portugal, and Juan Carlos Alarcón attended an International Crop Information System (ICIS) meeting in Perth, Australia, during which they met with staff from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bayer CropScience and members of the Department of Agriculture & Agrifood from the countries of Brunei and Australia. Talks focused on future development of ICIS and user needs. In February, Portugal had previously worked with data managers and breeders from CGIAR centers and other national agriculture research institutes to help them manage data in the current version of ICIS.

Further training on ICIS took place at CIMMYT-El Batán led by Claudio Ayala, Ismael Barrera, and Andrés Corona, and at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, where it was led by Hector Sánchez. One of CRIL’s goals is to integrate CIMMYT and IITA’s maize programs in ICIS to facilitate information sharing. At IITA, the training included scientists focused on maize, cassava, banana, and cowpea, and IITA expressed interest in following the CRIL approach to implement ICIS for these crops. Additionally, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will implement ICIS for sorghum and chickpea.

Last month Guy Davenport presented plans for a new, user-friendly and configurable version of ICIS at the Molecular Breeding Platform (MBP) launch workshop in Hyderabad, India. And in Maputo, Mozambique, Sánchez outlined data management for the Water Efficient Maize for Africa Project (WEMA) at that project’s annual progress meeting.

Media relations training for WEMA

Written by on September 18, 2009. Posted in News.

WEMA11 A workshop on media handling and science communication was held for spokespersons of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project during 4-5 August 2009 at the Nairobi Safari Club. Organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA), this workshop aimed to equip scientists and WEMA principal investigators with skills for effective communication with the media and for designing and packaging comprehensive communication briefs on the project. Among other things, participants were shown the journalistic “inverted pyramid” model for writing, whereby texts should lead off with the most important information and then move on to background or supporting information.

The event brought to light the challenges faced when communicating about topics like risk. Perceptions of risk differ across countries, as succinctly expressed by Professor Calestous Juma of Harvard University: “In the US, products are safe until proven risky. In France, products are risky even when proven safe. In India products are safe even when proven risky. In Africa, products are risky even if they do not exist.” Participants were advised to be believable, convincing, clear, and concise, and to remain positive under questioning.

Communication theories and the principles of communication were introduced, and participants were encourage to follow the APP model (anticipate, prepare, practice) that involves preparing for interviews with the help of communication personnel to anticipate all manner of possible questions, and practicing before the interview. Avoiding jargon was also emphasized. “I gained new insight into media relations, which will help me communicate with better with the media,” said Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT senior scientist, at the end of the training.

A complementary follow-up event that focused on confidentiality in technology development was held 6–7 August. Organized by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) with the WEMA management team, the event was attended by project country leaders and communications staff. Among the principles that emerged was an agreement that information should be shared on a “need-to-know” basis, and that project participants should be careful about what information is marked as confidential. Resource persons were Francesca Re Manning, an advocate working with the Central Advisory Service for Intellectual Property (CASIP), Rome, together with Gabriela Wehrle of Monsanto, and Lucas Oluoch, legal officer at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). Attending from CIMMYT were Yoseph Beyene (associate scientist), Anne Wangalachi (communications officer), and Judie- Lynn Rabar (science writer/editor). Stephen Mugo (senior scientist) was among the organizers of the training as the WEMA-Kenya project leader. Logistics were jointly organized by AATF and CIMMYT, with Mildred Khalumba as CIMMYT’s representative.

Promoting Striga control technologies in western Kenya

Written by on August 1, 2008. Posted in News.

The Striga Control Project of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is supporting widespread demonstrations in western Kenya of a promising method to control Striga, a highly invasive parasitic weed that infests 200,000 hectares of Kenya’s farmland and causes crop losses worth an estimated US$ 50 million each year. Targeting more than 40,000 households in that region in 2008, the initiative includes training farmers in good crop management practices, promoting use of grain legumes to suppress Striga, and distribution of small sample packs for demonstration purposes. Enough to sow 100 m2, the packs contain seed of StrigAway® maize (Ua Kayongo), fertilizer, and user instructions in English and Kiswahili.

Ua Kayongo—“kill Striga” in the local vernacular—was developed jointly by the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), BASF The Chemical Company, and CIMMYT, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and BASF. Researchers used a natural mutation and conventional breeding to create the maize variety. It resists imazapyr, an active ingredient in imidazolinone group of herbicides, so seed comes coated with a low dose of herbicide. The chemical kills Striga sprouts as they seek to attach to maize seedlings. The maize crop grows healthy and, over several years of using the practice, fields are rid of residual Striga seed.

The demonstrations are being coordinated by the Forum for Organic Resource Management (FORMAT), the lead NGO in the AATF Striga Control Project in western Kenya, in collaboration with the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, local NGOs, farmer associations, community-based organizations and Maseno University. FORMAT is also introducing a new system by which farmers may access Ua Kayongo seed and fertilizer on credit. “The credit system will confirm CIMMYT’s previous findings on farmers’ willingness to invest in this technology to manage Striga,” says CIMMYT maize agronomist Fred Kanampiu, who has contributed significantly to the work on Striga.