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A farmer pumps water in a field close to the Pusa site of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), in India’s Bihar state. (Credit: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Less water for better crops

Written by Bea Ciordia on November 12, 2021. Posted in Features.

In India, nearly one-sixth of groundwater reserves has been overexploited and almost one-fifth of them is either in critical or semi-critical condition. For a country that relies heavily on groundwater for drinking and irrigation, these statistics are close to a death sentence.

India’s water crisis, however, is not unique in the region. Population growth, coupled with increasing urbanization and industrialization, has made South Asia, one of the most heavily irrigated areas on earth, highly vulnerable to water stress. Moreover, as the effects of climate change are increasingly felt in those countries, agricultural production, even at the current level, may not be sustainable.

Against this background, ensuring that water resources are used efficiently and sustainably is key to meet the world’s growing demand. Over the last decades, traditional systems of irrigation have given way to more efficient drip irrigation systems that deliver the right amount of water and nutrients to the plant’s root zone. But as farm labor shortages become more severe, investing in automated irrigation systems — which promise increased production rates and product quality — will be the only way to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production systems worldwide.

A new article co-authored by a team of researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology synthesizes the available information related to the automation of drip irrigation systems and explores recent advances in the science of wireless sensor networks (WSN), the internet of things (IoT) and other communication technologies that increase production capacity while reducing costs.

“Bundling both elements — drip irrigation and automation — in water application can lead to large savings in irrigation and boost water efficiency, especially in high water-consuming, cereal-based systems like the Indo-Gangetic Plains,” explained M.L. Jat, a principal scientist at CIMMYT and one of the authors of the review.

Investing in data and youth

Smart irrigation technologies, including sensors and the IoT, allow farmers to take informed decisions to improve the quality and quantity of their crops, providing them with site-specific data on factors like soil moisture, nutrient status, weed pressure or soil acidity.

However, this information is still limited to certain soil types and crops. “To upgrade drip irrigation systems elsewhere, especially in ‘water-stressed’ regions, we need additional agricultural background data in those areas,” Jat pointed out. “That’s the only way we can effectively customize innovations to each scenario, as one size does not fit all.”

Making this data available to and readable by farmers is also essential. Here, young people can become very good allies, as they tend to be more technologically savvy and used to working with large volumes of information. “Not only are they more skilled to integrate agricultural data into decision-making, but they can also help older farmers adopt and trust intelligent irrigation systems,” Jat concluded.

Long-term research platform in Karnal, India, by H.S. Jat, Principal Scientist at ICAR-CSSRI. (Photo: ICAR-CSSRI and CIMMYT)

Incentives against subsidies

With increasing water shortages worldwide, making the most out of every drop becomes an urgent priority. But in countries where irrigation systems are highly subsidized, farmers may struggle to see this urgency. India, for instance, subsidizes the cost of energy to pump water for farming, thus encouraging smallholders to extract more than they need.

How do we incentivize farmers in these countries to embrace water-efficient technologies?

According to Jat, using the “scientific card” can work with smallholders who, after having farmed for decades, may not change their minds automatically. “These people may be reluctant to accept incentives for water-efficient mechanisms at first, but they will surely be interested in more scientific approaches,” Jat explained, stressing that “the emphasis must be on the science, not on the technology.”

Designing profitable business models can also incentivize producers to embrace more efficient mechanisms. Farmers who have enjoyed irrigation subsidies for decades may not see any profit in trying out new technologies — but what if they are given the chance to become champions or ambassadors of these agricultural innovations? “That brings in a whole new perspective,” Jat said.

Apart from incentivizing farmers, good business models can also draw the attention of large companies, which would bring investment to boost research and innovation in drip irrigation. “More and more businesses are getting interested in smart agriculture and low emission farming, and their inputs can help conceptualize the future of this field,” he observed.

New CSISA Infographic highlights the impact of the CIMMYT’s Soil Intelligence System (SIS)

Written by Nima Chodon on November 9, 2021. Posted in News.

In agriculture, good soil management is a pillar of productive systems that can sustainably produce sufficient and healthy food for the world’s growing population.

Soil properties, however, vary widely across geography. To understand the productive capacity of our soils, we need high-quality data. Soil Intelligence System (SIS) is an initiative to develop comprehensive soil information at scale under the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in India. SIS is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in collaboration with ISRIC – World Soil Information, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and numerous local partners on the ground.

Funded by the Gates Foundation, the initiative launched in 2019 helps rationalize the costs of generating high-quality soils data while building accessible geo-spatial information systems based on advanced geo-statistics. SIS is currently operational in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha where the project partners collaborate with state government and state agricultural universities help produce robust soil health information.

Farmers are the primary beneficiaries of this initiative, as they get reliable soil health management recommendations to increase yields and profits sustainably while state partners, extension and agricultural development institutions and private sector benefit primarily by expanding their understanding for agricultural interventions.

Modern Soil Intelligence System Impact

CIMMYT’s SIS Project lead Balwinder Singh said, “The Soil Intelligence Systems initiative under CSISA is an important step towards the sustainable intensification of agriculture in South Asia. SIS has helped create comprehensive soil information – digital soil maps – for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. The data generated through SIS is helping stakeholders to make precise agronomy decisions at scale that are sustainable.”

Since its launch in December 2019, a wider network and multi-institutional alliances have been built for soil health management and the application of big data in addressing agricultural challenges. In the three states the infrastructure and capacity of partners have been strengthened to leverage soil information for decision-making in agriculture by devising new soil health management recommendations. For example, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, based on SIS data and outreach, State Fertilizer and Micronutrient Policy (SFMP) recommendations were created. Similarly, soil health management zones have been established to strengthen the fertilizer distribution markets enabling farmers with access and informed choices.

“Soil Intelligence System delivers interoperable information services that are readily usable by emerging digital agricultural decision support systems in India”, noted Kempen Senior Soil Scientist at ISRIC.

The three-part infographic highlights the impact of SIS initiative in the select three States and emphasizes the importance of SIS in other parts of the country as well.

Shifting to quality protein maize diet can provide cost-benefit for the poultry feed industry in Nepal

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on November 8, 2021. Posted in News.

The demand for maize for poultry feed in Nepal has increased dramatically over the years. It constitutes about 60% of the poultry feed and is considered as the principal energy source used in poultry diets. About 70% of the total crop required by the feed industry is imported and such dependence on import could jeopardize its sustainability if any political, natural or health related crisis disrupts the supply chain. In addition to maize, the industry also imports synthetic amino acid to meet the requirements of poultry production since the regular maize grain used by the feed industry is deficient in essential amino acids that helps form proteins.

A recent assessment conducted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Nepal highlights the prospects of using Quality Protein Maize (QPM) to mitigate protein deficiency found in regular maize. The authors suggest that the poultry feed industry can minimize the average feed cost by 1.5% by substituting regular maize with QPM. This would translate to a daily cost-saving of about US$26,000 for the industry. If this cost saving is shared across the value chain actors including farmers for domestic production of QPM and other biofortified maize vis a vis regular maize, then the dependency on imported maize can be significantly reduced.

The article published in the journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing, estimated least cost diet formulations for broilers and layers of different age groups, and the potential gains to be garnered by the maize seed and grain value chain actors in Nepal.

According to the study, a ton of feed produced using QPM reduces feed cost by at least US$7.1 for the broilers and by US$4.71 for layers. As a result, Nepal’s poultry feed industry can pay a maximum of 4% price premium with the cost saving for QPM.

“Considering the cost reduction potential QPM brings over regular maize, it can be a win-win situation for the poultry feed sector and maize value chain actors if they are strongly linked and operated in an integrated fashion,” explain the authors.

“By building awareness on the cost benefits, the feed industry exhibited a positive perception during the study period to use QPM for feed. Linking the seed companies with the feed mills is essential to leverage the benefits of the product.”

To promote and expand QPM production in Nepal, the authors also recommend provision of seed and fertilizer subsidies by the Government of Nepal to feed producers and cooperatives ensuring a continuous supply of the product to meet the demand.

The GoN has released two varieties of QPM maize but due to lack of effective seed production, extension and marketing programs, the potential of QPM maize remains unutilized. However, the authors firmly believe that appropriate policy focus on QPM seed production and grain marketing including premium price for QPM growers, can change the scenario where the demand for maize for feed industry can be gradually managed with domestic production.

Read the full study: Cost advantage of biofortified maize for the poultry feed industry and its implications for value chain actors in Nepal

Cover photo: Scientists have discovered that Quality Protein Maize (QPM) can mitigate the protein deficiency found in regular maize. (Credit: CIMMYT)

Wheat stalks grow in a in India. (Photo: Saad Akhtar)

CIMMYT, AGG wheat experts share latest discoveries at BGRI Technical Workshop

Written by Marcia MacNeil on November 5, 2021. Posted in News.

Dave Hodson, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) senior scientist delivered a large-scale overview of the current global wheat rust situation and the state of disease surveillance systems. He underscored the importance of comprehensive early warning systems and promising new detection tools that help to raise awareness and improve control. A new assessment of the early warning system for rust In Ethiopia showed a real impact on farmers’ interest, awareness, and farming practices to control the disease, as well as high-level policy changes.

Alison Bentley, CIMMYT Global Wheat Program director, described cutting-edge tools and methods by CIMMYT and, in particular, the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project to increase wheat productivity in the face of changing climates. In addition to the new approaches on the supply side, she argued, we also need increased research on the demand side to better understand why farmers will choose a new variety, the role of markets and gender, and how we can scale up these systems. Bentley emphasized the criticality of supporting public and private sector efforts to get more improved germplasm into farmers’ fields in less time.

Philomin Juliana, CIMMYT Global Wheat Program associate scientist highlighted the pivotal role that data plays in breeding decisions and line advancements in CIMMYT’s wheat breeding program. This has been facilitated by improvements in how data sets, like genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs), are shared with breeders. “CIMMYT has adopted a holistic, data-driven selection approach” that leverages phenotypic data, genomic-estimated breeding values (GEBVs) and selection indices, Juliana explained.

CIMMYT maize hybrids

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 26, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

CIMMYT’s maize breeding focuses on developing elite maize hybrids suited to various agro-ecological zones across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Public and private institutions may apply for permission to register and subsequently commercialize CIMMYT maize varieties in specific countries within the framework of the applicable laws, rules and regulations, and policies and procedures as described here: Acquisition and use of CIMMYT maize hybrids and OPVs for commercialization.

Please visit the CIMMYT Maize Product Catalog to browse the CIMMYT hybrids available for licensing. License applications may be submitted via the CIMMYT Maize Licensing Portal.

International Maize Improvement Consortium for Africa (IMIC-Africa)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 26, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

Launched in May 2018, the International Maize Improvement Consortium for Africa (IMIC‐Africa) is a public-private partnership designed to strengthen maize breeding programs in Africa, and thereby improve African farmers’ access to high-quality, affordable, high-yielding and locally-adapted maize seed.

Any organization engaged in maize breeding for the African market is welcome to join the consortium, including national agricultural research institutions; small, medium and large maize seed companies; and international agricultural research organizations. Consortium members will have access to early-generation maize breeding material, an expansive hybrid evaluation network for robust evaluation of their products on various traits and across diverse agroecologies, training and capacity-development opportunities, and value-added research services offered at preferential rates.

The Consortium’s goal is to enhance the capacity of African maize breeding programs from public and private sectors to develop elite maize hybrids with client-preferred traits — including abiotic stress resilience, disease and insect pest resistance, and high yield potential — for the ultimate benefit of farming communities across Africa.

Objectives:

Providing members with access to CIMMYT’s early- and advanced-generation maize lines (breeding materials under development) to strengthen and diversify the germplasm used in their own breeding programs;
Allowing members to test their own pre-commercial maize hybrids in CIMMYT-led multi-location trials;
Improving members’ access to research services that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their own breeding programs;
Facilitating participation by members’ staff in annual training courses.

International Maize Improvement Consortium for Latin America (IMIC-LatAm)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 26, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

The International Maize Improvement Consortium for Latin America (IMIC-LatAm) promotes the sustainable development of the Latin American maize seed industry.

The Consortium is a partnership formed by CIMMYT and member institutions — including seed companies and national research programs — to achieve enhanced maize yields in Latin America.

IMIC-LatAm formalizes the sharing of maize lines under development with public and private maize breeding programs. It supports a vibrant germplasm testing network, offering opportunities for training and cross-learning among members. It also grants access to other special services offered by CIMMYT in Latin America, including maize quality analysis, doubled haploid development and molecular quality assurance/quality control.

The provision of early generation or advanced maize lines enhances the Consortium members’ capacity for germplasm development in their own breeding programs, including the collaborative establishment of multi-location testing of elite pre-commercial maize hybrids throughout Mexico and other countries in Latin America to identify products that can advance to commercialization and deployment.

Objectives:

Diversification of the germplasm base of members’ maize breeding programs through distribution of CIMMYT-derived lines-under-development
Strengthen members’ capacity to develop maize hybrid products through a participatory, multi-location hybrid evaluation network
Build the capacity of members’ maize breeding programs by providing training to their staff on prioritized technical areas related to maize breeding, seed production and marketing
Support members’ maize breeding programs by improving their access to value-added services provided by CIMMYT

MLN-sensitive (right) and MLN-resistant equivalent line at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Maize Lethal Necrosis phenotyping

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 26, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) Screening Facility quarantine site in Naivasha, Kenya, is used to provide MLN phenotyping services at cost to national agricultural research systems and seed companies in Africa.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) have been screening germplasm against MLN in Kenya since November 2012. The dedicated screening facility in Naivasha was established in 2013. This facility now represents a high-quality phenotyping platform, permitting large-scale screening of germplasm from regional public and private partners.

The facility has enabled CIMMYT and its partners to identify numerous materials that are resistant or tolerant to this devastating maize disease. Many of these products are featured in CIMMYT’s Maize Product Catalog.

Dryland Crops

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 25, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

Dryland Crops, formerly known as the Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Systems in Africa (AVISA) project, aims to improve the livelihoods of small-scale producers and consumers of sorghum, millet, groundnut, cowpea and bean. Project partners focus on improving the breeding and seed systems of these crops in their key geographies in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Other crops receiving growing attention in the project include finger millet, pigeon pea and chickpea.

Although significant adoption of improved seed of dryland cereals and legume crops in Africa has been reported, its overall use remains low. There is a growing interest in these crops, particularly because of their resilience to climate-change; however, the seed sector is constrained by lack of product information, dearth of knowledge of the size and scale of the business opportunity, and inadequate access to early generation seed.

Dryland Crops will address these constraints by contributing to the establishment of robust systems that:

Enable networks to work synergistically across countries with common challenges and opportunities.
Support national agricultural research systems to access research, professional development and infrastructure-building opportunities.
Increase the quantity and quality of data substantiating varietal superiority and the demand for seed and grain of improved varieties.
Boost the availability of early generation seed and strengthen links between the research system and private- and public-sector actors.

The aspiration is to codevelop, validate by co-implementation, and continuously improve with partners research-to-farm-to-consumer models that achieve positive impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and consumers’ wellbeing.

The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and IITA will lead initiatives for common bean and cowpea, respectively. For sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut breeding, CIMMYT will design programs that support crop improvement networks, including CGIAR and national agricultural research systems, and incorporate best approaches, principles, and tools, particularly those availed through the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) platform.

The project is committed to gender equity as a guiding principle, considering the critical role women play in choosing legume and cereal varieties and seed sources. Women seed entrepreneurs and women-led seed companies will garner special attention for capacity development. Partnerships with actors through the value chain, platforms and demonstrations will ensure women have equal access to improved technologies.

The previous phase of the AVISA project was led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh conducts research on a wheat field while. (Photo: BGRI)

Ravi Singh earns Lifetime Achievement award from BGRI

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 19, 2021. Posted in News.

World-renowned plant breeder Ravi Singh, whose elite wheat varieties reduced the risk of a global pandemic and now feed hundreds of millions of people around the world, has been announced as the 2021 Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Singh, distinguished scientist and head of Global Wheat Improvement at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), endowed hundreds of modern wheat varieties with durable resistance to fungal pathogens that cause leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and other diseases during his career. His scientific efforts protect wheat from new races of some of agriculture’s oldest and most devastating diseases, safeguard the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the most vulnerable areas in the world, and enhance food security for the billions of people whose daily nutrition depends on wheat consumption.

“Ravi’s innovations as a scientific leader not only made the Cornell University-led Borlaug Global Rust Initiative possible, but his breeding innovations are chiefly responsible for the BGRI’s great success,” said Ronnie Coffman, vice chair of the BGRI and international professor of global development at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Perhaps more than any other individual, Ravi has furthered Norman Borlaug’s and the BGRI’s goal that we maintain the global wheat scientific community and continue the crucial task of working together across international borders for wheat security.”

In the early 2000s, when a highly virulent rust race discovered in East Africa threatened most of the world’s wheat, Singh took a key leadership role in the formation of a global scientific coalition to combat the threat. Along with Borlaug, Coffman and other scientists, he served as a panel member on the pivotal report alerting the international community to the Ug99 outbreak and its potential impacts to global food security. That sounding of the alarm spurred the creation of the BGRI and the collaborative international effort to stop Ug99 before it could take hold on a global scale.

As a scientific objective leader for the BGRI’s Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat and Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat projects, Singh led efforts to generate and share a series of elite wheat lines featuring durable resistance to all three rusts. The results since 2008 include resistance to the 12 races of the Ug99 lineage and new, high-temperature-tolerant races of stripe rust fungus that had been evolving and spreading worldwide since the beginning of the 21^st century.

“Thanks to Ravi Singh’s vision and applied science, the dire global threat of Ug99 and other rusts has been averted, fulfilling Dr. Borlaug’s fervent wishes to sustain wheat productivity growth, and contributing to the economic and environmental benefits from reduced fungicide use,” Coffman said. “Ravi’s innovative research team at CIMMYT offered crucial global resources to stop the spread of Ug99 and the avert the human catastrophe that would have resulted.”

An innovative wheat breeder known for his inexhaustible knowledge and attention to genetic detail, Singh helped establish the practice of “pyramiding” multiple rust-resistance genes into a single variety to confer immunity. This practice of adding complex resistance in a way that makes it difficult for evolving pathogens to overcome new varieties of wheat now forms the backbone of rust resistance breeding at CIMMYT and other national programs.

Ravi Singh (center) with Norman Borlaug (left) and Hans Braun in the wheat fields at CIMMYT’s experimental station in Ciudad Obregón, in Mexico’s Sonora state. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The global champion for durable resistance

Ravi joined CIMMYT in 1983 and was tasked by his supervisor, mentor and friend, the late World Food Prize Winner Sanjaya Rajaram, to develop wheat lines with durable resistance, said Hans Braun, former director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.

“Ravi did this painstaking work — to combine recessive resistance genes — for two decades as a rust geneticist and, as leader of CIMMYT’s Global Spring Wheat Program, he transferred them at large scale into elite lines that are now grown worldwide,” Braun said. “Thanks to Ravi and his colleagues, there has been no major rust epidemic in the Global South for years, a cornerstone for global wheat security.”

Alison Bentley, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, said that “Building on Ravi’s exceptional work throughout his career, deployment of durable rust resistance in widely adapted wheat germplasm continues to be a foundation of CIMMYT’s wheat breeding strategy.”

Revered for his determination and work ethic throughout his career, Singh has contributed to the development of 649 wheat varieties released in 48 countries, working closely with scientists at national wheat programs in the Global South. Those varieties today are sown on approximately 30 million hectares annually in nearly all wheat growing countries of southern and West Asia, Africa and Latin America. Of these varieties, 224 were developed directly under his leadership and are grown on an estimated 10 million hectares each year.

In his career Singh has authored 328 refereed journal articles and reviews, 32 book chapters and extension publications, and more than 80 symposia presentations. He is regularly ranked in the top 1% of cited researchers. The CIMMYT team that Singh leads identified and designated 22 genes in wheat for resistance or tolerance to stem rust, leaf rust, stripe rust, powdery mildew, barley yellow dwarf virus, spot blotch, and wheat blast, as well as characterizing various other important wheat genome locations contributing to durable resistance in wheat.

Singh’s impact as a plant breeder and steward of genetic resources over the past four decades has been extraordinary, according to Braun: “Ravi Singh can definitely be called the global champion for durable resistance.”

This piece by Matt Hayes was originally posted on the BGRI website.

World Food Day 2021: The future of food is in our hands

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 15, 2021. Posted in Features.

As the calendar turns to October 16, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) celebrates World Food Day. This year’s theme is “Our actions are our future.”

Our lives depend on agri-food systems.

They cover the journey of food (for example, cereals, vegetables, fish, fruits and livestock) from farm to table — including when it is grown, harvested, processed, packaged, transported, distributed, traded, bought, prepared, eaten and disposed of. It also encompasses non-food products (for example forestry, animal rearing, use of feedstock, biomass to produce biofuels, and fibers) that constitute livelihoods, and all the people, as well as the activities, investments and choices that play a part in getting us these food and agricultural products.

The food we choose and the way we produce, prepare, cook and store it make us an integral and active part of the way in which an agri-food system works.

A sustainable agri-food system is one in which a variety of sufficient, nutritious and safe foods is available at an affordable price to everyone, and nobody is hungry or suffers from any form of malnutrition. The shelves are stocked at the local market or food store, but less food is wasted and the food supply chain is more resilient to shocks such as extreme weather, price spikes or pandemics, all while limiting, rather than worsening, environmental degradation or climate change. In fact, sustainable agri-food systems deliver food security and nutrition for all, without compromising the economic, social and environmental bases, for generations to come. They lead to better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.

Let’s fix the system

The contradictions could not be starker — millions of people are hungry or undernourished, while large numbers are chronically overweight due to a poor diet. Smallholder farmers produce more than one-third of the world’s food, yet are some of the worst affected by poverty, as agriculture continues to be an unpredictable sector. Agri-food systems are major contributors to climate change, which in turn threatens food production in some of the world’s poorest areas. Rampant food loss and waste, side by side with people relying on food banks or emergency food aid.

The evidence is there for all to see — there has never been a more urgent need to transform the way the world produces and consumes food.

This year, for World Food Day, we bring you four stories about CIMMYT’s work to support sustainable agri-food systems.

Better production

CGIAR centers present methodology for transforming resource-constrained, polluting and vulnerable farming into inclusive, sustainable and resilient food systems that deliver healthy and affordable diets for all within planetary boundaries.

New integrated methodology supports inclusive and resilient global food systems transformation

Better nutrition

CIMMYT scientists expect to sharply ramp up new wheat varieties enriched with zinc that can boost the essential mineral for millions of poor people with deficient diets. Newly-developed high-zinc wheat is expected to make up at least 80% of varieties distributed worldwide over the next ten years, up from about 9% currently.

New zinc-fortified wheat set for global expansion to combat malnutrition

A woman makes roti, an unleavened flatbread made with wheat flour and eaten as a staple food, at her home in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)

Better environment

Understanding the relationship between climate change and plant health is key to conserving biodiversity and boosting food production today and for future generations.

Protecting plants will protect people and the planet

Durum wheat field landscape at CIMMYT's experimental station in Toluca, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT) — Durum wheat field landscape at CIMMYT’s experimental station in Toluca, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Better life

Assessing value chain development’s potential and limitations for strengthening the livelihoods of the rural poor, a new book draws conclusions applicable across the development field.

Taking stock of value chain development

A researcher from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) demonstrates the use of a farming app in the field. (Photo: C. De Bode/CGIAR)

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Farmer Anita Naik stands for a photograph next to her maize field. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

It’s Rural Women’s Day, from dawn to dusk

Written by Nima Chodon on October 14, 2021. Posted in Features.

Over 70% of rural women in India are engaged in agriculture. Women carry out a large portion of farm work, as cultivators and agricultural laborers, but in most cases they are not even counted and recognized as farmers. Millions of Indian rural women also carry the burden of domestic work, a job that is undervalued and unrecognized economically.

On the International Day of Rural Women, October 15, the focus is on their contributions to growing food and feeding families. The often invisible hands of rural women play a pivotal role in food security and sustaining rural communities.

Today, we have a glimpse at the daily life of farmer Anita Naik.

She hails from the village of Badbil, in the Mayurbhanj district of India’s Odisha state, surrounded by small hills and the lush greenery of Simlipal National Park.

Naik belongs to a tribal community that has long lived off the land, through farming and livestock rearing. Smallholder farmers like her grow rice, maize and vegetables in traditional ways — intensive labor and limited yield — to ensure food for their families.

Married at a young age, Naik has a son and a daughter. Her husband and her son are daily-wage laborers, but the uncertainty around their jobs and her husband’s chronic ill health means that she is mostly responsible for her family’s wellbeing. At 41, Naik’s age and her stoic expression belie her lifelong experience of hard work.

The small hours

Naik’s day begins just before dawn, a little past 4 a.m., with household chores. After letting out the livestock animals — goats, cows, chicken and sheep — for the day, she sweeps the house’s, the courtyard and the animal shed. She then lights the wood stove to prepare tea for herself and her family, who are slowly waking up to the sound of the crowing rooster. Helped by her young daughter, Naik feeds the animals and then washes the dirty dishes from the previous evening. Around 6:30 or 7 a.m., she starts preparing other meals.

During the lean months — the period between planting and harvesting — when farm work is not pressing, Naik works as a daily-wage worker at a fly ash brick factory nearby. She says the extra income helps her cover costs during emergencies. “[I find it] difficult to stay idle if I am not working on the farm,” she says. However, COVID-19 restrictions have affected this source of income for the family.

Once her morning chores are over, Naik works on her small plot of land next to her house. She cultivates maize and grows vegetables, primarily for household consumption.

Naik started growing maize only after joining a self-help group in 2014, which helped her and other women cultivate hybrid maize for commercial production on leased land. They were supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) maize intensification program.

Every year from June to October, Naik also work on this five-acre leased farmland, along with the other group members. She is involved from planting to harvest — and even in marketing.

“There are eleven women members in our self-help group, Biswa Jay Maa Tarini. Thanks to training, awareness and handholding by CSISA and partners, an illiterate like me is currently the president of our group,” said an emotional Anita Naik.

Anita Naik (first from left) meets with her self-help group Biswa Jay Maa Tarini in village of Badbil, in the Mayurbhanj district of India’s Odisha state. Together, they work on a five-acre lease land, where they grow maize commercially. (Photo: CIMMYT) — Anita Naik (first from left) meets with her self-help group Biswa Jay Maa Tarini in village of Badbil, in the Mayurbhanj district of India’s Odisha state. Together, they work on a five-acre lease land, where they grow maize commercially. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

Not quite done yet

A little further away from her house, Naik has a small field where she grows rice with the help of her husband and son. After checking in on her maize crop on the leased land, Naik works in her paddy the rest of the day. She tends to her land diligently, intent on removing the weeds that keep springing up again and again in the monsoon season.

“It is back-breaking work, but I have to do it myself as I cannot afford to employ a laborer,” Naik laments.

Naik finally takes a break around 1 p.m. for lunch. Some days, particularly in the summer when exhaustion takes over, she takes a short nap before getting back to removing weeds in the rice fields.

She finally heads home around 4 p.m. At home, she first takes the animals back into their shed.

Around 6 p.m., she starts preparing for dinner. After dinner, she clears the kitchen and the woodstove before calling it a night and going to bed around 8 or 9 p.m.

“The day is short and so much still needs to be done at home and in the field,” Naik says after toiling from early morning until evening.

Tomorrow is a new day, but chores at home and the work in the fields continue for Naik and farmers like her.

Anita Naik lights up her wood fire stove to prepare food, at her family home in the village of Badbil, in the Mayurbhanj district of India’s Odisha state. (Photo: CIMMYT) — Anita Naik lights up her wood fire stove to prepare food, at her family home in the village of Badbil, in the Mayurbhanj district of India’s Odisha state. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

Paradigm change

Traditionally farmers in and around Naik’s village cultivated paddy in their uplands for personal consumption only, leaving the land fallow for the rest of the year. Growing rice is quite taxing as paddy is a labor-intensive crop at sowing, irrigating, weeding and harvesting. With limited resources, limited knowledge and lack of appropriate machinery, yields can vary.

To make maximum use of the land all year through and move beyond personal consumption and towards commercial production, CIMMYT facilitated the adoption of maize cultivation. This turned out to be a gamechanger, transforming the livelihoods of women in the region and often making them the main breadwinner in their families.

In early 2012, through the CSISA project, CIMMYT began its sustainable intensification program in some parts of Odisha’s plateau region. During the initial phase, maize stood out as an alternative crop with a high level of acceptance, particularly among women farmers.

Soon, CIMMYT and its partners started working in four districts — Bolangir, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Nuapada — to help catalyze the adoption of maize production in the region. Farmers shifted from paddy to maize in uplands. At present, maize cultivation has been adopted by 7,600 farmers in these four districts, 28% of which are women.

CIMMYT, in partnership with state, private and civil society actors, facilitated the creation of maize producers’ groups and women self-help groups. Getting together, farmers can standardize grain quality control, aggregate production and sell their produce commercially to poultry feed mills.

This intervention in a predominantly tribal region significantly impacted the socioeconomic conditions of women involved in this project. Today, women like Anita Naik have established themselves as successful maize farmers and entrepreneurs.

See our coverage of the International Day of Rural Women.

Cover photo: Farmer Anita Naik stands for a photograph next to her maize field. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

New CIMMYT maize hybrids available from Southern Africa breeding program

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 13, 2021. Posted in News.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is offering a new set of elite, improved maize hybrids to partners for commercialization in southern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones. National agricultural research systems (NARS) and seed companies are invited to apply for licenses to register and commercialize these new hybrids, in order to bring the benefits of the improved seed to farming communities.

The deadline to submit applications to be considered during the first round of allocations is October, 24 2021. Applications received after that deadline will be considered during the following round of product allocations.

Information about the newly available CIMMYT maize hybrids from the Latin America breeding program, application instructions and other relevant material is available in the CIMMYT Maize Product Catalog and in the links provided below.

Product Profile	Newly available CIMMYT hybrids	*Basic traits*	*Nice-to-have / Emerging traits*	*Trial summary*
Southern Africa Product Profile 1A (SA-PP1A)	CIM19SAPP1A-23 (CZH16277)	Intermediate-maturing, white, high yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, and resistant to GLS, TLB, Ear rots, and MSV	MLN, Striga, FAW	Appendix 2
Southern Africa Product Profile 1A (SA-PP1A)	CIM19SAPP1A-24 (CZH16278)		MLN, Striga, FAW	Appendix 2
Southern Africa Product Profile 1B (SA-PP1B)	CIM20SAPP1B-15 (CZH17098)	Late-maturing, white, high yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, and resistant to GLS, TLB, Ear rots, and MSV	MLN, Striga, FAW	Appendix 3
Southern Africa Product Profile 2 (SA-PP2)	CIM19SAPP2-35 (CZH16413)	Early-maturing, white, high-yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, resistant to GLS, MSV, TLB	FAW, Striga, FAW, Downy mildew	Appendix 4

CIMMYT Southern Africa Maize Regional On-Station (Stage 4) and On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials: Results of the 2019 to 2021 Seasons and Product Announcement

Applications must be accompanied by a proposed commercialization plan for each product being requested. Applications may be submitted online via the CIMMYT Maize Licensing Portal and will be reviewed in accordance with CIMMYT’s Principles and Procedures for Acquisition and use of CIMMYT maize hybrids and OPVs for commercialization.

Specific questions or issues faced with regard to the application process may be addressed to GMP-CIMMYT@cgiar.org with attention to Nicholas Davis, Program Manager, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT.

APPLY FOR A LICENSE

Wheat fields at CIMMYT's experimental stations near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora state, Mexico. (Photo: M. Ellis/CIMMYT)

Scientists bridge theory and practice to boost climate resilience in wheat

Written by Alison Doody on October 11, 2021. Posted in Features.

With the past decade identified as the warmest on record and global temperatures predicted to rise by as much as 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2050, the world’s staple food crops are increasingly under threat.

A new review published this month in the Journal of Experimental Botany describes how researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and collaborators are boosting climate resilience in wheat using powerful remote sensing tools, genomics and big data analysis. Scientists are combining multiple approaches to explore untapped diversity among wheat genetic resources and help select better parents and progeny in breeding.

The review — authored by a team of 25 scientists from CIMMYT, Henan Agricultural University, the University of Adelaide and the Wheat Initiative — also outlines how this research can be harnessed on a global level to further accelerate climate resilience in staple crops.

“An advantage of understanding abiotic stress at the level of plant physiology is that many of the same tools and methods can be applied across a range of crops that face similar problems,” said first author and CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds.

Abiotic stresses such as temperature extremes and drought can have devastating impacts on plant growth and yields, posing a massive risk to food security.

Harnessing research across a global wheat improvement network for climate resilience: research gaps, interactive goals, and outcomes.

Addressing research gaps

The authors identified nine key research gaps in efforts to boost climate resilience in wheat, including limited genetic diversity for climate resilience, a need for smarter strategies for stacking traits and addressing the bottleneck between basic plant research and its application in breeding.

Based on a combination of the latest research advances and tried-and-tested breeding methods, the scientists are developing strategies to address these gaps. These include:

Using big data analysis to better understand stress profiles in target environments and design wheat lines with appropriate heat and drought adaptive traits.
Exploring wheat genetic resources for discovery of novel traits and genes and their use in breeding.
Accelerating genetic gains through selection techniques that combine phenomics with genomics.
Crowd-sourcing new ideas and technologies from academia and testing them in real-life breeding situations.

These strategies will be thoroughly tested at the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Network (HeDWIC) Hub under realistic breeding conditions and then disseminated to other wheat breeding programs around the world facing similar challenges.

One factor that strongly influences the success and acceleration of climate resilience technologies, according to Reynolds, is the gap between theoretical discovery research and crop improvement in the field.

“Many great ideas on how to improve climate-resilience of crops pile up in the literature, but often remain ‘on the shelf’ because the research space between theory and practice falls between the radar of academia on the one hand, and that of plant breeders on the other,” Reynolds explained.

Translational research — efforts to convert basic research knowledge about plants into practical applications in crop improvement — represents a necessary link between the world of fundamental discovery and farmers’ fields and aims to bridge this gap.

Main research steps involved in translating promising technologies into genetic gains (graphical abstract, adapted from Reynolds and Langridge, 2016). Reprinted under licence CC BY-NC-ND.

The impacts of this research, conducted under HeDWIC — a project led by CIMMYT in partnership with experts around the world — will be validated on a global scale through the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN), with the potential to reach at least half of the world’s wheat-growing area.

The results will benefit breeders and researchers but, most importantly, farmers and consumers around the world who rely on wheat for their livelihoods and their diets. Wheat accounts for about 20% of all human calories and protein, making it a pillar of food security. For about 1.5 billion resource-poor people, wheat is their main daily staple food.

With the world population projected to rise to almost ten billion by 2050, demand for food is predicted to increase with it. This is especially so for wheat, being a versatile crop both in terms of where it can grow and its many culinary and industrial uses. However, current wheat yield gains will not meet 2050 demand unless serious action is taken. Translational research and strategic breeding are crucial elements in ensuring that research is translated into higher and stable yields to meet these challenges.

Read the full study:
Harnessing translational research in wheat for climate resilience

Cover photo: Wheat fields at CIMMYT’s experimental stations near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora state, Mexico. (Photo: M. Ellis/CIMMYT)

In the last four decades, wheat blast has appeared in South America, Asia an Africa. (Video: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Taming wheat blast

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 7, 2021. Posted in Features.

As wheat blast continues to infect crops in countries around the world, researchers are seeking ways to stop its spread. The disease — caused by the Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum — can dramatically reduce crop yields, and hinder food and economic security in the regions in which it has taken hold.

Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other international institutions looked into the potential for wheat blast to spread, and surveys existing tactics used to combat it. According to them, a combination of methods — including using and promoting resistant varieties, using fungicides, and deploying strategic agricultural practices — has the best chance to stem the disease.

The disease was originally identified in Brazil in 1985. Since then, it has spread to several other countries in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. During the 1990s, wheat blast impacted as many as three million hectares in the region. It continues to pose a threat.

Through international grain trade, wheat blast was introduced to Bangladesh in 2016. The disease has impacted around 15,000 hectares of land in the country and reduced average yields by as much as 51% in infected fields.

Because the fungus’ spores can travel on the wind, it could spread to neighboring countries, such as China, India, Nepal and Pakistan — countries in which wheat provides food and jobs for billions of people. The disease can also spread to other locales via international trade, as was the case in Bangladesh.

“The disease, in the first three decades, was spreading slowly, but in the last four or five years its pace has picked up and made two intercontinental jumps,” said Pawan Singh, CIMMYT’s head of wheat pathology, and one of the authors of the recent paper.

In the last four decades, wheat blast has appeared in South America, Asia an Africa. (Video: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

The good fight

Infected seeds are the most likely vector when it comes to the disease spreading over long distances, like onto other continents. As such, one of the key wheat blast mitigation strategies is in the hands of the world’s governments. The paper recommends quarantining potentially infected grain and seeds before they enter a new jurisdiction.

Governments can also create wheat “holidays”, which functionally ban cultivation of wheat in farms near regions where the disease has taken hold. Ideally, this would keep infectable crops out of the reach of wheat blast’s airborne and wind-flung spores. In 2017, India banned wheat cultivation within five kilometers of Bangladesh’s border, for instance. The paper also recommends that other crops — such as legumes and oilseed — that cannot be infected by the wheat blast pathogen be grown in these areas instead, to protect the farmers’ livelihoods.

Other tactics involve partnerships between researchers and agricultural workers. For instance, early warning systems for wheat blast prediction have been developed and are being implemented in Bangladesh and Brazil. Using weather data, these systems alert farmers when the conditions are ideal for a wheat blast outbreak.

Researchers are also hunting for wheat varieties that are resistant to the disease. Currently, no varieties are fully immune, but a few do show promise and can partially resist the ailment depending upon the disease pressure. Many of these resistant varieties have the CIMMYT genotype Milan in their pedigree.

“But the resistance is still limited. It is still quite narrow, basically one single gene,” Xinyao He, one of the co-authors of the paper said, adding that identifying new resistant genes and incorporating them into breeding programs could help reduce wheat blast’s impact.

Wheat spikes damaged by wheat blast. (Photo: Xinyao He/CIMMYT)

The more the merrier

Other methods outlined in the paper directly involve farmers. However, some of these might be more economically or practically feasible than others, particularly for small-scale farmers in developing countries. Wheat blast thrives in warm, humid climates, so farmers can adjust their planting date so the wheat flowers when the weather is drier and cooler. This method is relatively easy and low-cost.

The research also recommends that farmers rotate crops, alternating between wheat and other plants wheat blast cannot infect, so the disease will not carry over from one year to the next. Farmers should also destroy or remove crop residues, which may contain wheat blast spores. Adding various minerals to the soil, such as silicon, magnesium, and calcium, can also help the plants fend off the fungus. Another option is induced resistance, applying chemicals to the plants such as jasmonic acid and ethylene that trigger its natural resistance, much like a vaccine, Singh said.

Currently, fungicide use, including the treatment of seeds with the compounds, is common practice to protect crops from wheat blast. While this has proven to be somewhat effective, it adds additional costs which can be hard for small-scale farmers to swallow. Furthermore, the pathogen evolves to survive these fungicides. As the fungus changes, it can also gain the ability to overcome resistant crop varieties. The paper notes that rotating fungicides or developing new ones — as well as identifying and deploying more resistant genes within the wheat — can help address this issue.

However, combining some of these efforts in tandem could have a marked benefit in the fight against wheat blast. For instance, according to Singh, using resistant wheat varieties, fungicides, and quarantine measures together could be a time-, labor-, and cost-effective way for small-scale farmers in developing nations to safeguard their crops and livelihoods.

“Multiple approaches need to be taken to manage wheat blast,” he said.