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Tek Sapkota (center) stands for a group photo with other scientists working on the IPCC’s special report on climate change and land, at the second lead author meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2018.

Breaking Ground: Tek Sapkota finds ways to reduce emissions from agriculture without compromising food security

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on December 13, 2018. Posted in Features.

As the world population increases, so does the need for food. “We need to produce more to feed increasing populations and meet dietary demands,” says Tek Sapkota, agricultural systems and climate change scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). In the case of agriculture, the area of land under cultivation is limited, so increased food production has to come through intensification, Sapkota explains. “Intensification means that you may be emitting more greenhouse gases if you’re applying more inputs, so we need to find a way to sustainable intensification: increase the resilience of production systems, but at the same time decrease greenhouse gas emissions, at least emission intensity.”

Sapkota is involved in a number of global climate change science and policy forums. He represents CIMMYT in India’s GHG platform, a multi-institution platform that regularly prepares greenhouse gas emission estimates at the national and state levels and undertakes relevant policy analyses. Nominated by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and his country, Nepal, he is one of the lead authors of the “special report on climate change and land” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

He coordinates climate change mitigation work at CIMMYT. “I am mainly involved in quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental footprint from agricultural production systems, exploring mitigation options and quantifying their potential at different scales in different regions,” Sapkota says. In addition, he explores low-carbon development activities and the synergies between food production, adaptation and mitigation work within the different components of CIMMYT’s projects.

Agriculture is both a victim of as well as a contributor to climate change, Sapkota explains. “Climate change affects all aspects of food production, because of changes in temperature, changes in water availability, CO₂ concentrations, etc.,” he says. “The other side of the coin is that agriculture in general is responsible for about 25 to 32 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.”

Measuring emissions and examining mitigation options

A big part of Sapkota’s work is to find ways to mitigate the effects of climate change and the emissions from the agricultural sector. There are three types of mitigation measures, he explains. First, on the supply side, agriculture can “increase efficiency of the inputs used in any production practice.” Second, there’s mitigation from the demand side, “by changing the diet, eating less meat, for example.” Third, by reducing food loss and waste: “About 20 percent of the total food produced for human consumption is being lost, either before harvest or during harvest, transport, processing or during consumption.”

Sapkota and his team analyze different mitigation options, their potential and their associated costs. To that purpose, they have developed methodologies to quantify and estimate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural products and systems, using field measurement techniques, models and extrapolation.

“You can quantify the emission savings a country can have by following a particular practice” and “help countries to identify the mitigation practices in agriculture that can contribute to their commitments under the Paris climate agreement.”

Their analysis looks at the biophysical mitigation potential of different practices, their national-level mitigation potential, their economic feasibility and scalability, and the country’s governance index and readiness for finance — while considering national food security, economic development and environmental sustainability goals.

Recently, Sapkota and his colleagues completed a study quantifying emissions from the agricultural sector in India and identifying the best mitigation options.

This type of research has a global impact. Since agriculture is a contributor to climate change “better management of agricultural systems can contribute to reducing climate change in the future,” Sapkota says. Being an important sector of the economy, “agriculture should contribute its share.”

CIMMYT scientist Tek Sapkota (second from left) explains greenhouse gas emissions measurement methods to a visiting group of scientists. — *CIMMYT scientist Tek Sapkota (second from left) explains greenhouse gas emissions measurement methods to a visiting group of CCAFS and Indian scientists. (Photo: CCAFS)*

Impact on farmers

Sapkota’s research is also helping farmers today. Inefficient use of products and inputs is not only responsible for higher greenhouse gas emissions, but it also costs farmers more. “For example, if farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India are applying 250 to 300 kg of nitrogen per hectare to produce wheat or rice, by following precision nutrient management technologies they can get similar yield by applying less nitrogen, let’s say 150 kg.” As farmers cut production costs without compromising yield, “their net revenue from their products will be increased.”

Farmers may also get immediate benefits from government policies based on the best mitigation options. “Governments can bring appropriate policy to incentivize farmers who are following those kinds of low-emission technologies, for example.”

Farmers could also get rewarded through payments for ecosystem services or for their contribution to carbon credits.

Sapkota is happy that his work is beneficial to farmers. He was born in a small village in the district of Kaski, in the mid-hills of Nepal, and agriculture was his family’s main livelihood. “I really enjoy working with farmers,” he says. “The most fascinating part of my work is going to the field: talking to farmers, listening to them, learning what kind of farming solutions they’re looking for, and so on. This helps refine our research questions to make them more strategic, because the way farmers look at a problem is sometimes entirely different from the way we look at it.”

When he was in Himalaya Secondary School, he studied agriculture as a vocational subject. “I was interested because we were doing farming at home.” This vocation got cemented in university, in the 1990s. When he heard about the agricultural industry and the future opportunities, he decided to pursue a career in science and focus on agriculture. He got his bachelor’s and master’s degree of science in agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Tribhuvan University, in Nepal.

*Tek Sapkota (second from left) and other scientists participate in a small group session during a meeting of lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).*

A global path

He first heard about CIMMYT when he was doing his master’s. “CIMMYT was doing research in maize- and wheat-based plots and systems in Nepal. A few of my friends were also doing their master theses with the financial support of CIMMYT.” After his master’s, he joined an organization called Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) which was collaborating with CIMMYT on a maize research program.

Sapkota got a PhD in Agriculture, Environment and Landscapes from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, including research in Aarhus University, Denmark.

After defending his thesis, in 2012, he was working on greenhouse gas measurement in the University of Manitoba, Canada, when he saw an opening at CIMMYT. He joined the organization as a post-doctoral fellow and has been a scientist since 2017. Sapkota considers himself a team player and enjoys working with people from different cultures.

His global experience has enriched his personal perspective and his research work. Through time, he has been able to see the evolution of agriculture and the “dramatic changes” in the way agriculture is practiced in least developed countries like Nepal. “When I was a kid agriculture was more manual … but now, a lot of technologies have been developed and farmers can use them to increase the efficiency of farming”.

A farmer watering plants at an organic farm in Boung Phao Village, Laos. (Photo: Asian Development Bank)

The impact of climate inaction on food security

Written by on December 13, 2018. Posted in Director General's corner.

While in Australia, Matthew Morell, director general of IRRI, and I spoke to Devex about the limits of agricultural research to solve food crises in a fast-changing environment.

Read the full story on Devex: https://www.devex.com/news/the-impact-of-climate-inaction-on-food-security-94015

New publications: Climate change impact and adaptation for wheat protein

Written by Courtney Brantley on December 11, 2018. Posted in Publications.

Globally, wheat provides around 20 percent of the calories and protein in human diets. By mid-century, crop production must increase by 60 percent to meet global food demand and help reduce hunger, a challenge made even harder by climate change. “Climate Change Impact and Adaptation for Wheat Protein,” a study published in Global Change Biology in September 2018, examines why wheat grain protein concentration — a determinant of grain quality — is often overlooked in relation to improving global crop production in the face of climate change challenges.

“The impact of climate change on crops typically focuses on productivity; however, there are nutritional implications too,” says key contributor to the study Matthew Reynolds, wheat physiologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “Since wheat also provides a significant proportion of protein in the diets of millions of resource-poor people, the negative impact of increased atmospheric CO2 on protein concentration in the grain is a disturbing fact,” stated Reynolds. “If not addressed, it could have a devastating impact on the health and livelihoods especially of marginalized people who cannot easily afford diverse sources of protein in their diet.”

Multi-location field trials, in addition to model testing, were used to systematically analyze the effects of increasing temperature, heat shocks, elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen, water deficiency and the combination of these factors on yield and wheat grain protein in the world’s main wheat producing regions. This study marked the first time that heat shock and high temperature interaction with elevated CO2 concentration was tested through an impact model. As noted in the study, “This is the most comprehensive study ever done of the effect of climate change on yield and the nutritional quality of one of the three major sources of human food security and nutrition.”

Read the full study here.

*An improved wheat variety grows in the field in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT)*

Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers here:

Association of Lr 34 gene complex with spot blotch disease resistance at molecular level in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Suneel Kumar, Singh, R.P., Joshi, A.K., Roder, M.S., Chhuneja Parveen, Mavi, G.S., Kumar, U. In: Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding v. 78, no. 3, p. 302-308.
Base temperatures and degrees days development of 10 Mexican corn accessions. Arista-Cortes, J., Quevedo-Nolasco, A., Zamora-Morales, B.P., Bauer Mengelberg, J.R., Sonder, K., Lugo-Espinosa, O. In: Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agricolas v. 9, no. 5, p. 1023-1033.
Genetic analysis of resistance to stripe rust in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Var. Durum). Xue Lin, N’Diaye, A., Walkowiak, S., Nilsen, K., Cory, A.T., Haile, J., Kutcher, H.R., Ammar, K., Loladze, A., Huerta-Espino, J., Clarke, J.M., Ruan, Y., Knox, R., Fobert, P., Sharpe, A.G., Pozniak, C.J. In: PLoS One v. 13, no. 9, art. e0203283.
Pre-harvest management is a critical practice for minimizing aflatoxin contamination of maize. Mahuku, G., Nzioki, H., Mutegi, C., Kanampiu, F., Narrod, C., Makumbi, D. In: Food Control v. 96, p. 219-226.
Variations in food-fodder traits of bread wheat cultivars released for the Ethiopian highlands. Bezabih, M., Adie, A., Ravi, D., Prasad, K.V.S.V., Jones, C., Abeyo Bekele Geleta, Tadesse, Z., Zegeye, H., Solomon, T., Blummel, M. In: Field Crops Research v. 229, p. 1-7.

Participants of the Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) Contributor’s meeting pose for a group photograph. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)

Breeders find strength in diversity at EiB contributor meeting

Written by Sam Storr on December 10, 2018. Posted in Features.

Around 115 members of the CGIAR breeding community, plus others representing national programs, universities, funders and the private sector, met for a three-day discussion of how to co-develop the next generation of advanced breeding programs that will improve the rate at which resource-poor farmers are able to adopt improved varieties that meet their needs.

The annual Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) Contributor’s meeting, held this year in Amsterdam from 13-15 November, caps a year of engagement with CGIAR Centers and national agricultural research system (NARS) partners around the world.

*Paul Kimani, from the University of Nairobi, speaks during the meeting. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

“Although breeding is one of the oldest functions in CGIAR, we have never had a meeting like this with scientists from all the centers,” said Michael Baum, director of Biodiversity and Crop Improvement at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, (ICARDA). “Within CGIAR, plant breeding started as a science, but now we are looking at how to implement it not as a science but as an operation, as it is done in the private sector, so there are many new concepts.”

Key items on the agenda for November were new tools to develop product profiles and create improvement plans that will define the modernization agenda in each center and across the Platform itself, based in part on the Breeding Program Assessment Tool (BPAT) that most Centers completed in 2018.

The conversation was enriched by Paul Kimani (University of Nairobi) presenting on the Demand-led Variety Design project, which produced the book, “The Business of Plant Breeding.”

Ranjitha Puskur, gender research coordinator at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), started an animated discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design by thinking about customer segments.

Tim Byrne from AbacusBio introduced methods for identifying farmer preferences to be targeted by breeding programs.

IRRI's Ranjitha Puskur started a discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT) — *IRRI’s Ranjitha Puskur started a discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

In breakout sessions, contributors were able to have detailed discussions according to their various specializations: phenotyping, genotyping and bioinformatics/data management. The direct feedback from contributors will be incorporated into EiB workplans for training and tool development for the coming year.

A key outcome of the meeting was an agreement to finalize the product profile tool, to be made available to EiB members in early December 2018. The tool helps breeders to work with other specialisms, such as markets, socioeconomics and gender, to define the key traits needed in new products for farmers. This helps to focus breeding activities towards areas of greatest impact, supports NARS to play a greater role, and creates accountability and transparency for donors, in part by defining the geographic areas being targeted by programs.

“Breeding trees is different to the annual crops,” said Alice Muchugi, genebank manager at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), “but we are seeing what we can borrow from our colleagues. By uploading what we are doing in maps, for example, donors are able to perceive the specific challenges we are undertaking.”

EiB's George Kotch describes his vision of product profiles. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT) — *EiB’s George Kotch describes his vision of product profiles. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

“I think we have realized there are lot of challenges in common, and the Platform is helping us all work on those,” said Filippo Bassi, durum wheat breeder at ICARDA. “I like to see all the people around the room, if you look at the average age there is a big shift; the number of countries present also tells you a lot.”

Tabare Abadie, R&D external academic outreach lead at Corteva Agriscience, also saw the meeting as a good opportunity to meet a broader group of people. “One of the take homes I hear is [that] there are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of communication and understanding. For me as a contributor it’s an incentive to keep supporting EiB, because we have gone through those changes before [at Corteva], and we can provide some know-how and experience of what happens,” Abadie explained.

“There are still a lot of gaps to fill, but this is a good start,” said Thanda Dhliwayo, maize breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “We need to get everyone involved, from leadership down to the guys working in the field.”

Michael Quinn, director of the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, discusses the CGIAR’s initiative on crops to end hunger.

CIMMYT scientists recognized for top-ranking research impact

Written by on December 6, 2018. Posted in News.

Five scientists from the CIMMYT community have been recognized with the Highly Cited Researcher award for 2018 for the influence of their research among their scientific peers.

The list, developed by Clarivate Analytics, recognizes exceptional research performance demonstrated by production of multiple papers that rank in the top 1 percent by citations for field and year, according to the Web of Science citation indexing service.

The honorees include:

Julio Huerta: CIMMYT-seconded INIFAP wheat breeder and rust geneticist;
Marc Corbeels: CIMMYT Kenya and CIRAD agronomist, who recently published work on carbon soil sequestration to mitigate climate change;
Matthew Reynolds: CIMMYT wheat physiologist and Mexican Academy of Sciences member;
Ravi Singh: CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist and Head of Bread Wheat Improvement; and
Sybil Herrera-Foessel: Former CIMMYT Global Wheat Program rust pathologist.

It is a significant honor to be part of this list, as it indicates that their peers have consistently acknowledged the influence of their research contributions in their publications and citations.

“This is a tremendous achievement and is a very good indicator for the relevance and quality of [their] publications,” said Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT).

For more information, you can view the Highly Cited Researchers 2018 list and the full methodology.

Mechanization could boost Ethiopian wheat production and provide youth with new job opportunities. (Photo: Gerardo Mejía/CIMMYT)

A wheat self-sufficiency roadmap for Ethiopia’s future

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on December 5, 2018. Posted in Features.

The Ethiopian government announced recently that the country should become wheat self-sufficient over the next four years. Why is boosting domestic wheat production important for this country in the Horn of Africa, and could wheat self-sufficiency be attained in the next four years? The Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR), with the support of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), gathered agriculture and food experts from the government, research and private sectors on November 23, 2018, to draw the first outlines of this new Ethiopian wheat initiative.

The low-tech domestic wheat farming and price support issue

Despite a record harvest of 4.6 million metric tons in 2017, Ethiopia imported 1.5 million tons of wheat the same year, costing US$600 million. Population growth, continuous economic growth and urbanization over the last decade has led to a rapid change in Ethiopian diets, and the wheat sector cannot keep up with the growing demand for pasta, dabo, ambasha and other Ethiopian breads.

The majority of Ethiopia’s 4.2 million wheat farmers cultivate this cereal on an average of 1.2-hectare holdings, with three quarters produced in Arsi, Bale and Shewa regions. Most prepare the land and sow with draft animal power equipment and few inputs, dependent on erratic rainfall without complementary irrigation. Yields have doubled over the last 15 years and reached 2.7 tons per hectare according to the latest agricultural statistics, but are still far from the yield potential.

According to data from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), wheat is preferred by wealthier, urban families, who consume 33 percent more wheat than rural households. Ethiopia needs to rethink its wheat price support system, which does not incentivize farmers and benefits mostly the wealthier, urban consumers. Wheat price support subsidies could, for instance, target bakeries located in poor neighborhoods.

Where to start to boost wheat productivity?

*Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Eyasu Abraha, welcomes conference participants. (Photo: Jérôme Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

Ethiopia, especially in the highlands, has an optimum environment to grow wheat. But to make significant gains, the wheat sector needs to identify what limiting factors to address first. The Wheat initiative, led by Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), has targeted 2,000 progressive farmers across 41 woredas (districts) between 2013 and 2018, to promote the use of improved and recommended inputs and better cropping techniques within their communities. A recent IFPRI impact study showed a 14 percent yield increase, almost enough to substitute wheat imports if scaled up across the country. It is, however, far from the doubling of yields expected initially. The study shows that innovations like row planting were not widely adopted because of the additional labor required.

Hans Braun, WHEAT CGIAR research program and CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program director, believes Ethiopian farmers can achieve self-sufficiency if they have the right seeds, the right agronomy and the right policy support.

One priority is to increase support for wheat improvement research to make wheat farmers more resilient to new diseases and climate shocks. Drought and heat tolerance, rust resistance and high yields even in low-fertility soils are some of the factors sought by wheat farmers.

International collaboration in durum wheat breeding is urgently needed as the area under durum wheat is declining in Ethiopia due to climate change, diseases and farmers switching to more productive and resilient bread wheat varieties. Braun advises that Ethiopia set up a shuttle breeding program with CIMMYT in Mexico, as Kenya did for bread wheat, to develop high-yielding and stress-resistant varieties. Such a shuttle breeding program between Ethiopia and Mexico would quickly benefit Ethiopian durum wheat farmers, aiming at raising their yields similar to those of Mexican farmers in the state of Sonora, who harvest more than 7 tons per hectare under irrigation. This would require a policy reform to facilitate the exchange of durum germplasm between Ethiopia and Mexico, as it is not possible at the moment.

Ethiopia also needs to be equipped to respond quickly to emerging pests and diseases. Five years ago, a new stem rust (TKTTF, also called Digalu race) damaged more than 20,000 hectares of wheat in Arsi and Bale, as Digalu — the popular variety used by local farmers — was sensitive to this new strain. The MARPLE portable rust testing lab, a fast and cost-effective rust surveillance system, is now helping Ethiopian plant health authorities quickly identify new rust strains and take preventive actions to stop new outbreaks.

*CIMMYT’s representative in Ethiopia, Bekele Abeyo, gives an interview for Ethiopian media during the conference. (Photo: Jérôme Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

Invest in soil health, mechanization and gender

In addition to better access to improved seeds and recommended inputs, better agronomic practices are needed. Scaling the use of irrigation would certainly increase wheat yields, but experts warn not to dismiss adequate agronomic research — knowing the optimal water needs of the crop for each agroecological zone — and the underlying drainage system. Otherwise, farmers are at risk of losing their soils forever due to an accumulation of salt.

‘’2.5 billion tons of topsoil are lost forever every year due to erosion. A long-term plan to address soil erosion and low soil fertility should be a priority,” highlights Marco Quinones, adviser at ATA. For instance, large-scale lime application can solve the important issue of acid soils, where wheat does not perform well. But it requires several years before the soil can be reclaimed and visible yield effects can be seen.

*CIMMYT gender and development specialist Kristie Drucza talks about innovation barriers for female-headed households linked to gender norms in Ethiopia. (Photo: Jérôme Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

Mechanization could also boost Ethiopian wheat production and provide youth with new job opportunities. Recent research showed smallholder farmers can benefit from six promising two-wheel tractor (2WT) technologies. Identifying the right business models and setting up adapted training programs and financial support will help the establishment of viable machinery service providers across the country.

Better gender equity will also contribute significantly to Ethiopia becoming self-sufficient in wheat production. Women farmers, especially female-headed households, do not have the same access to trainings, credit, inputs or opportunities to experiment with new techniques or seed varieties because of gender norms. Gender transformative methodologies, like community conversations, can help identify collective ways to address such inequalities, which cost over one percent of GDP every year.

‘’With one third better seeds, one third good agronomy and one third good policies, Ethiopia will be able to be wheat self-sufficient,” concluded Braun. A National Wheat Taskforce led by EIAR will start implementing a roadmap in the coming days, with the first effects expected for the next planting season in early 2019.

The consultative workshop “Wheat Self-Sufficiency in Ethiopia: Challenges and Opportunities” took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 23, 2018.

K.V. Naga Madhuri, Principal Scientist for Soil Science at Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (front), explains soil spectra during the opening of the soil spectroscopy lab at the Regional Agricultural Research Station in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

New Soil Intelligence System for India provides high-quality data using modern analytics

Written by on December 4, 2018. Posted in Features.

NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — The new Soil Intelligence System (SIS) for India will help the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha rationalize the costs of generating high-quality soil data and build accessible geospatial information systems based on advanced geostatistics. The SIS initiative will rely on prediction rather than direct measurements to develop comprehensive soil information at scale. The resulting data systems will embrace FAIR access principles — findable, accessible, interoperable, and reproducible — to support better decision-making in agriculture.

SIS is a $2.5 million investment funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This initiative is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in collaboration with numerous partners including the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), World Soil Information (ISRIC), the Andhra Pradesh Space Applications Center (APSAC), and the state governments and state agriculture universities of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The initiative runs from September 2018 through February 2021.

“SIS will make important contributions towards leveraging soil information for decision-making in Indian agriculture by devising new soil health management recommendations,” explained Andrew McDonald, CIMMYT’s Regional Team Leader for Sustainable Intensification and Project Leader for the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). Researchers and scientists will combine mapping outputs with crop response and landscape reconnaissance data through machine-learning analytics to derive precise agronomy decisions at scale.

Farmers will be the primary beneficiaries of this initiative, as they will get more reliable soil health management recommendations to increase yields and profits. SIS will also be useful to state partners, extension and agricultural development institutions, the private sector and other stakeholders who rely on high-quality soil information. Through SIS, scientists and researchers will have an opportunity to receive training in modern soil analytics.

The SIS initiative aims to facilitate multi-institutional alliances for soil health management and the application of big data analytics to real-world problems. These alliances will be instrumental for initiating broader discussions at the state and national levels about the importance of robust data systems, data integration and the types of progressive access policies related to ‘agronomy at scale’ that can bring India closer to the Sustainable Development Goals.

CIMMYT scientist Shishpal Poonia places a soil sample on the Tracer instrument for soil spectroscopy analysis.

Better soil analysis

Spectroscopy enables precise soil analysis and can help scientists identify appropriate preventive and rehabilitative soil management interventions. The technology is also significantly faster and more cost-effective than wide-scale wet chemistry-based soil analysis.

As part of the CSISA project, led by CIMMYT and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, two new soil spectroscopy labs were recently set up in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, in collaboration with the state departments of agriculture. One lab is now operating at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh; and the other one at Bihar Agricultural University (BAU Sabour), in Bhagalpur, Bihar.

“The support from CIMMYT through the Gates Foundation will contribute directly to bringing down the cost of providing quality soil health data and agronomic advisory services to farmers in the long run,” said K.V. Naga Madhuri, Principal Scientist for Soil Science at Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University. “We will also be able to generate precise digital soil maps for land use planning. The greatest advantage is to enable future applications like drones to use multi-spectral imagery and analyze rapidly large areas and discern changes in soil characteristics in a fast and reliable manner.”

Under the SIS initiative, soil spectroscopy results will be validated with existing gold standard wet chemistry methods. They will also be integrated with production practice data collected from the ground level, through new statistical tools.

Precise predictive models

Drawing information from a limited number of soil observations from a sample dataset, digital soil mapping (DSM) uses (geo)statistical models to predict the soil type or property for locations where no samples have been taken.

“These ‘unsampled locations’ are typically arranged on a regular grid,” explained Balwinder Singh, CIMMYT scientist and Simulation Modeler, “so DSM produces gridded — raster — soil maps at a specific spatial resolution — grid cell or pixel size — with a spatial prediction made for each individual grid cell.”

“Adopting DSM methods, combined with intelligent sampling design, could reduce the strain on the soil testing system in terms of logistics, quality control and costs,” noted Amit Srivastava, a geospatial scientist at CIMMYT. “Improving digital soil mapping practices can also help create the infrastructure for a soil intelligence system that can drive decision-making at scale.”

In partnership with state government agencies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CIMMYT will continue to support the expansion of digital soil mapping and soil analysis capacity in India. The CSISA project and the SIS initiative are helping to deliver soil fertility recommendations to farmers, an important step towards the sustainable intensification of agriculture in South Asia.

For more details, contact Balwinder Singh, Cropping System Simulation Modeler, CIMMYT at Balwinder.SINGH@cgiar.org.

An example of digital soil mapping (DSM), showing pH levels of soil in the state of Bihar. (Map: Amit Kumar Srivastava/CIMMYT)

Breaking Ground: Huihui Li links new genetic knowledge with crop breeding

Written by on November 28, 2018. Posted in Features.

Postcard_Huihui Li Breaking Ground

DNA is often referred to as the blueprint for life. It contains codes to make the proteins, molecules and cells essential for an organism’s growth and development. Over the last decade, scientists have been figuring out how specific sections of DNA in maize and wheat are associated with physical and genetic traits, such as grain size and drought resistance.

Quantitative geneticist Huihui Li with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) helps link this new genetic knowledge with traditional crop breeding, to speed up the development of improved maize and wheat varieties. Li’s research uses cutting-edge genomics, computational biology and statistical tools to turn data into useful information for plant breeders.

“Breeders always accumulate big amounts of data, most of the time they need efficient tools to mine the stories from this data. That’s part of our job in the Biometrics and Statistics Unit,” she explained.

Her research helps breeders more quickly and accurately predict which maize and wheat varieties in the CIMMYT gene bank have the traits they seek to create improved varieties. For example, if a plant breeder wanted to develop a hybrid maize variety with high protein levels and pest resistance, Li could help by identifying which parental varieties would have these traits.

It takes about ten years for crop breeders to develop a new hybrid. Removing some of the guesswork during the early stages of their experiments could reduce this time significantly. With increasing environmental pressures from climate change and population growth, releasing better crop varieties more quickly will be vital to ensure there is enough food in the future.

Li says her family and experience growing up in China greatly influenced her career choice.

“Through my grandfather’s experience as the head of the Bureau of Agriculture and Forestry, I learned that there were many people in China suffering from hunger, poverty and malnutrition,” she said.

Li realized that these issues were prevalent throughout the developing world when her mother left China for two years to serve as a foreign aid doctor in Cameroon.

“As a ten-year-old girl, I told myself that I should make my contribution to reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the future,” Li recalled. “I always ask myself, ‘What’s my value to humanity?”

She studied bio-mathematics and quantitative genetics at Beijing Normal University and Cornell University before joining CIMMYT in 2010 as a consultant.

“I wanted to join CIMMYT because it works throughout the developing world to improve livelihoods and foster more productive, sustainable maize and wheat farming,” Li explained. “Also, CIMMYT provided a platform where I could collaborate with scientists worldwide and receive academic and career-boosting trainings.”

She became staff in 2012 and is currently based out of the CIMMYT office in Beijing. In addition, Li is an adjunct associate professor with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). She helps CAAS scientists improve their experimental design and better incorporate genetic information into their crop breeding.

“I love doing research,” Li said. “I’m a curious person so if I can solve a problem, I feel very happy, but I really want my research to have value – not just for myself – but for the world.”

Huihui Li’s work contributes to Seeds of Discovery (SeeD), a multi-project initiative comprising: MasAgro Biodiversidad, a joint initiative of CIMMYT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the MasAgro (Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture) project and the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE) and Wheat (WHEAT).

Zero-tillage wheat growing in the field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. (Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT)

New study: India could cut nearly 18% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions through cost-saving farming practices

Written by on November 26, 2018. Posted in Press releases.

NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — India could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by almost 18 percent through the adoption of mitigation measures, according to a new study. Three improved farming practices would account for more than half of these emission reductions, researchers say: efficient use of fertilizer, zero tillage and better water management in rice farming.

In an article published in Science in the Total Environment, scientists estimate that, by 2030, “business-as-usual” greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector in India would be 515 MtCO2e per year. The study indicates that Indian agriculture has the potential to mitigate 85.5 Megatonne CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) per year without compromising food production and nutrition. Considering the 2012 estimates of 481 MtCO2e, that would represent a reduction of almost 18 percent. Researchers suggest mitigation options that are technically feasible but will require government efforts to be implemented at scale.

The study was conducted by scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the University of Aberdeen and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS). They followed a “bottom-up” approach to estimate and analyze greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, using large datasets related to crops (around 45,000 data points) and livestock production (around 1,600 data points) along with soil, climate and management information. To evaluate mitigation measures, associated costs and benefits of adoption, researchers used a variety of sources, including literature, stakeholder meetings and consultations with experts in crops, livestock and natural resource management.

The authors also identify “hotspots” where mitigation practices would have the highest potential for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. For example, reduced fertilizer consumption through precision nutrient management shows the highest potential in the state of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. Water management in rice farming has the highest mitigation potential in Andhra Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal.

India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Contributing almost one-fifth to the national total, agriculture has been identified as a priority in the country’s efforts to reduce emissions. The results from this study can help the country make great strides towards its goals. However, these climate change mitigation benefits can only work if farmers take up the new practices, some of which require an initial investment. Government policies and incentives will be crucial to help farmers take the first steps, ensure wide-scale adoption of these mitigation options, and help India meet its food security and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

*Marginal abatement cost curve of Indian agriculture.*

Three feasible mitigation measures

Efficient use of fertilizer not only lowers emissions at the field, but also reduces the need for fertilizer and the emissions associated with production and transportation. It also represents savings for the farmer. Mitigation options would include applying fertilizer at the right time and the right place for plant uptake, or using slow-release fertilizer forms or nitrification inhibitors. “Efficient fertilizer use in the agriculture sector in India has potential to reduce around 17.5 MtCO2e per year,” said Tek Sapkota, CIMMYT scientist and lead author of the study.

Adoption of zero tillage farming and residue management — maintaining crop residues on the soil surface to protect the ground from erosion — in rice, wheat, maize, cotton and sugarcane was shown to reduce emissions by about 17 MtCO2e per year. “CIMMYT has successfully worked to develop and promote these practices in India,” said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT principal scientist and co-author of the study.

Better water management in rice farming — such as adopting alternate wetting and drying in rice fields that are currently continuously flooded — can offer mitigation of about 12 MtCo2e per year. Other water management techniques in major cereals, such as laser-levelling of fields, or using sprinkler or micro-sprinkler irrigation and fertigation together, also provide important greenhouse gas emissions savings, with a reduction of around 4 MtCO2e per year for laser levelling alone.

This work was jointly carried out by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the University of Aberdeen. Research was funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), supported by CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements.

RELATED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS:

Cost-effective opportunities for climate change mitigation in Indian agriculture

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Tek Sapkota – Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

M.L. Jat – Principal Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:

Geneviève Renard, Head of Communications, CIMMYT. g.renard@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 2019.

Rodrigo Ordóñez, Communications Manager, CIMMYT. r.ordonez@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1167.

A woman in a climate-smart village in Bihar, India. (Photo: V.Reddy/ViDocs/CCAFS)

New publications: Does a climate-smart village approach influence gender equality in farming households?

Written by Emma Orchardson on November 21, 2018. Posted in Publications.

South Asia faces multiple food security challenges, one of which being its extreme vulnerability to climate change. Millions living in the region are expected to be affected by water stress, yield loss, and other climate disasters caused by rising temperatures. Technological innovations can in important tool in ensuring food and livelihood security in the region, but social inclusivity is key to promoting the large-scale adoption of new technologies and practices.

Women’s participation in agricultural activities is increasing over time, but many still have limited capacity to contribute to farm decision-making. They may also have limited control over and access to resources such as credit, extension services and markets. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has developed and piloted the use of climate-smart villages (CSVs) in the Indian states of Bihar and Haryana to test climate-smart agriculture options for managing climate-related risks and promoting gender equality in agricultural production.

As climate change disproportionately affects poor and socially marginalized groups, including women, it is important to understand the ways in which the climate-smart approach helps to address specific climate change adaptation challenges. However, there are few studies to date focusing on this question.

In an attempt to fill this gap, a new study carried out as part of the CCAFS project on Climate-Smart Agriculture analyzes the extent to which the climate-smart village approach can contribute to establishing greater gender equality across the agricultural, political, social and economic sectors. The study introduces a Gender Empowerment Index for climate-smart villages, based on measurable indicators. It also documents the gender gap by mapping differences in empowerment levels across selected climate-smart villages and other villages across India’s eastern and western Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Read the full article “Does climate-smart village approach influence gender equality on farming households? A case of two contrasting ecologies in India” in Climatic Change.

The research was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers below:

When the going gets tough: performance of stress tolerant maize during the 2015/16 (El niño) and 2016/17 (la niña) season in Southern Africa. 2018. Setimela, P.S., Gasura, E., Thierfelder, C., Zaman-Allah, M., Cairns, J.E., Prasanna, B.M. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 268, p. 79-89.
Potassium supplying capacity of diverse soils and K-use efficiency of maize in South Asia. 2018. Saiful Islam, Timsina, J., Muhammad Salim, Majumdar, K., Gathala, M.K. In: Agronomy v.8, no. 7, art. 121.
Improvement of power tiller operated seeder for maize planting. 2018. Muhammad Arshadul Hoque, Gathala, M.K. In: Fundamental and Applied Agriculture v. 3, no. 2, p. 474–479.
Climate change impact on Mexico wheat production. 2018. Hernandez-Ochoa, I.M., Asseng, S., Kassie, B.T., Wei Xiong, Robertson, R., Pequeño, D. N. L., Sonder, K., Reynolds, M.P., Md Ali Babar., Molero, A., Hoogenboom, G. In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology v. 263, p. 373-387.
Genetic dissection of grain zinc concentration in spring wheat for mainstreaming biofortification in CIMMYT wheat breeding. 2018. Velu, G., Singh, R.P., Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Juliana, P., Dreisigacker, S., Valluru, R., Stangoulis, J., Sohu, V.S., Gurvinder Singh Mavi, Vinod Kumar Mishra, Balasubramaniam, A., Chatrath, R., Gupta, V., Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Joshi, A.K. In: Nature Scientific reports v. 8, art. 13526.
Re-assessing nitrous oxide emissions from croplands across Mainland China. 2018. Qian Yue, Ledo, A., Kun Cheng, Albanito, F., Lebender, U., Sapkota, T.B., Brentrup, F., Stirling, C., Smith, P., Jianfei Sun, Genxing Pan, Hillier, J. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 268, p. 70-78.
Crop model and weather data generation evaluation for conservation agriculture in Ethiopia. 2018. Liben, F.M., Wortmann, C.S., Haishun Yang, Lindquist, J.L., Tsegaye Tadesse, Dagne Wegary Gissa. In: Field Crops Research v. 228, p. 122-134.
Assessing sustainability in agricultural landscapes: a review of approaches. 2018. Eichler Inwood, Sarah E., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Kline, K.L., Gerard, B., Gardeazabal Monsalue, A., Govaerts, B., Dale, V.H. In: Environmental Reviews v. 26, no. 3, p. 299-315.
Unpacking the push-pull system: assessing the contribution of companion crops along a gradient of landscape complexity. 2018. Kebede, Y., Baudron, F., Bianchi, F., Tittonell, P. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 268, p. 115-123.
Genetic relationships and heterotic structure of quality protein maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines adapted to eastern and southern Africa. 2018. Dagne Wegary Gissa, Vivek, B., Labuschagne, M. In: Euphytica v. 214, art. 172.

Wheat fields in the Arsi highlands, Ethiopia, 2015. (Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe)

Ethiopian experts push for wheat self-sufficiency

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on November 16, 2018. Posted in Press releases.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) — Ethiopia’s leading agriculture and policy specialists will craft a new strategy to dramatically raise national wheat production and achieve self-sufficiency for the crop by 2022, at a special conference organized by the Government of Ethiopia and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for November 23, 2018.

Annual imports to satisfy Ethiopia’s demand for wheat — one of the country’s four key food crops — now cost more than $600 million and expose national food security to capricious global price shifts for grain, according to Mandefro Nigussie, Director General of the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture (EIAR).

“Ethiopians now consume some 6.5 million tons per year but the country’s 4.2 million households grow only 4.6 million tons on 1.7 million hectares and demand for the crop is rising, as more people move to cities and change in life style,” Nigussie explained.

National wheat yields are steadily climbing but still average only 2.7 tons per hectare; well below global standards, according to Bekele Abeyo, CIMMYT wheat scientist and Ethiopia country representative.

“There’s great potential to expand irrigated wheat production, especially in the lowlands along the major river basins,” Nigussie said. “In the Ethiopian highlands, wheat’s traditional environment, more farmers need to use high-yielding, disease resistant seed and modern farming practices. Even modest levels of technology adoption can provide yields as high as 4 tons per hectare.” Wheat yield can also be increased significantly by treating acidic soils and by making broad-beds in vertisol soil areas.

Called “Wheat Self-Sufficiency in Ethiopia: Challenges and Opportunities,” the consultative workshop builds on recent successes and lessons in Ethiopia of the Wheat Initiative, an international partnership of private and public organizations that conducts wheat research for food security and to help wheat farmers in diverse environments to improve and stabilize their yields.

To be held in the Hiruy Meeting Hall at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Ababa, the event will draw some 70 participants, including representatives of Ethiopia’s ministries of agriculture, EIAR, regional agricultural research institutes, the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, Oromia Seed Enterprise, and the Agricultural Transformation Agency. Adding their experience and ideas will be experts on wheat trade, irrigation and energy, finance and economic cooperation, along with representatives from the Regional Bureau of Agriculture, millers associations, funding agencies, and global organizations including the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

“Aims will include strengthening wheat research and development partnerships, tapping into policies that foster competitive and profitable wheat farming, and supporting national efforts both to reduce imports and end poverty and food insecurity,” Abeyo explained. Kristie Drucza, Gender and Development Specialist at CIMMYT, also notes that, “We see striking opportunities to raise productivity by empowering women in wheat farming, fostering their access to knowledge, technology, and financial resources and their voice in decision making.”

WHAT:
“Wheat Self-Sufficiency in Ethiopia: Challenges and Opportunities” conference

WHEN:
Friday, November 23, 2018

WHERE:
Hiruy Meeting Hall
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
https://goo.gl/maps/YPN5vuGb5qB2

For more information, to attend the conference or for media interviews, please contact

Jerome Bossuet, Communications Officer, CIMMYT. J.Bossuet@cgiar.org

Ethiopia and CIMMYT. Since 1970, Ethiopian farmers have had access to more than 100 high-yielding bread and durum wheat varieties developed and spread through collaboration among EIAR, Ethiopia’s regional agricultural research institutes, and CIMMYT, whose work has contributed to 70 percent of Ethiopia’s wheat varietal development. Use of these high-yielding, disease resistant varieties, along with supportive government policies and better cropping practices, have caused Ethiopia’s average annual wheat production to grow more than double since the early 2000s.

Breaking Ground: Susanne Dreisigacker knows wheat inside out

Written by Courtney Brantley on November 14, 2018. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Through pure coincidence, Susanne Dreisigacker fell into the world of agricultural science and landed in Mexico. Her interest in genetics and biology solidified when she arrived at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through the University of Hohenheim in Germany to pursue her PhD work. Impressed by CIMMYT’s scientific endeavors and its mission, she found herself permanently back at the institution in 2005 as a resident scientist. Now, as the head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Molecular Breeding Lab, Dreisigacker ensures that wheat breeders use the appropriate wheat material to conduct gene profiling and genome sequencing.

Dreisigacker works to discover and validate molecular markers, or DNA segments, for traits of interest. This information helps breeders to develop improved crop varieties that feature those traits.

At its core, her position centers on defining best practices for genomic tool application in the wheat breeding program. These genomic tools serve as “…indirect selection criteria to ultimately assist breeders select improved outputs at the molecular level, such as disease resistance and enhanced nutritional quality in wheat,” explains Dreisigacker. Furthermore, her research amasses data on grain yield and its corresponding components — such as grain weight and other difficult traits to tackle in the wheat breeding world — to help breeders stabilize high yield rates.

On average, over 40,000 wheat lines a year are analyzed on behalf of breeders under Dreisigacker’s direction. The ultimate challenge is organizing this massive data outcome to effectively support the breeders.

Zooming out from the molecular level

*Dreisigacker works to discover and validate molecular markers, or DNA segments, for traits of interest. (Photo: Darell Sison)*

Working in an environment with interdisciplinary characteristics such as a breeding program, it can be difficult to prioritize which traits merit the bulk of her time. Dreisigacker stresses that teamwork is paramount, from breeders to pathologists to quality specialists, as they all share mutual goals, so their efforts “need to intersect in order to be beneficial.” Dreisigacker enjoys interacting among the disciplines and sharing her work with the international wheat community.

Progress in the application of genomic tools and the push for their usefulness inspires Dreisigacker to continue her work with wheat at CIMMYT. Her work in the laboratory is the backbone of the transmission of better quality germplasm from breeders to farmers. “There is a need to more efficiently integrate gene profiling and genome sequencing into breeding. The transition from upstream genomic research to the processes of application and adaptability are overlooked,” says Dreisigacker.

When she is not looking at wheat at the molecular level, you can find her spending time with her husband and young daughter or teaching exercise classes in CIMMYT’s gymnasium.

Fall armyworm session at 2018 Borlaug Dialogue.

Fall armyworm on the agenda at the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 25, 2018. Posted in News.

DES MOINES (Iowa) — At the plenary of the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue, a global panel of experts gave an overview of the origins of the fall armyworm, how it is spreading around the world, and how governments, farmers and researchers are fighting against this pest.

Pedro Sanchez, research professor in tropical soils at the University of Florida and 2002 World Food Prize Laureate, shared background information on the history of the fall armyworm and the early attempts to neutralize it, decades ago. He pointed out that once-resistant varieties were eventually affected by this pest.

The Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Martin Kropff, shared the most recent developments and explained how organizations are working together to respond to this pest. “We want to have science-based, evidence-based solutions,” Kropff said. “We have to solve the problem based on science, and then to develop and validate and deploy integrated pest management technologies.”

The director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture, Mandefro Nigussie, reminded that in addition to affecting people and the environment, fall armyworm “is also affecting the future generation,” as children were pulled out of school to pick larvae.

The response against fall armyworm cannot be done by governments alone, panelists agreed. It requires the support of multiple actors: financing the research, producing research, promoting the results of the research and implementing appropriate measures.

Rob Bertram, chief scientist at USAID’s Bureau for Food Security predicted the fall armyworm will continue to be a “serious problem” as it moves and migrates.

The director general and CEO of the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization, Eluid Kireger, emphasized the importance of global collaboration. “We need to borrow the technologies that are already working”.

The fall armyworm was also discussed during the Corteva Agriscience Forum side event, on a session on “Crop security for food security”. The Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, B.M. Prasanna, was optimistic about the efforts to tackle this voracious pest. “I’m 100 percent confident that the pest will be overcome, but it requires very solid synergistic and coordinated actions at the national level, at the regional level and at the continental level.”

CIMMYT is co-leading the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium. “Fall armyworm is not going to be the only threat now and forever; there will be more insects, pests and pathogens moving around,” Prasanna said. “Global connectedness is exacerbating this kind of problem, but the solution lies also in global connectedness.”

*See our coverage of the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue and the World Food Prize.*

Reflections on the global impact of biofortification

Written by Carolyn Cowan on October 19, 2018. Posted in News.

Over two billion people across the world suffer from hidden hunger, the consumption of a sufficient number of calories, but still lacking essential nutrients such as vitamin A, iron or zinc. This can lead to severe health damage, blindness, or even death, particularly among children under the age of five. Furthermore, a recent FAO report estimates the number of undernourished people worldwide at over 800 million, with severe food insecurity and undernourishment increasing in almost all sub-regions of Africa, as well as across South America.

In recognition of World Food Day and the focus of the 2018 World Food Prize on nutrition, the CGIAR Research Centers and Programs reflect on the significance and global impact of biofortification and climate resilient crops – key components in achieving Sustainable Development Goals 2: Zero Hunger and 3: Good Health and Wellbeing by 2030.

As biofortification work nears a quarter-century – 10 years in the making, and another 15 years of implementation – the CGIAR evaluates what has made it such a success, in How the science of biofortification grew from an idea to a food revolution.

Biofortification enables scientists to fortify staple crops with micronutrients to address hidden hunger. There are now 290 new varieties of 12 biofortified crops – including maize, wheat and potatoes – being grown in 60 countries, reaching an estimated 10 million farming households.

The first biofortified maize variety was quality protein maize (QPM), developed by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) scientists Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal. QPM features enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan, essential amino acids, which can help reduce malnutrition in children. Villegas and Vasal would later go on to win the World Food Prize in 2000 for this groundbreaking work, and genetic variation found in QPM would serve as the baseline for developing further biofortified products, such as zinc-enriched maize and vitamin A orange maize.

Biofortified, provitamin A enriched maize at an experimental plot in Zambia. Photo: CIMMYT

Several key factors have contributed to the success of biofortification. One is partnership. The CGIAR Centers work with hundreds of partners around the world, from national governments and research institutes through to non-governmental organizations and farmers on the ground. Other factors include the ability to build evidence and conduct thorough monitoring and evaluation, the maintenance of a clear vision on how research will have impact, and coordinated investment.

In considering the future role of biofortification in our evolving agricultural landscape, the article highlights the need to tie up with meeting global goals on sustainable development in terms of food security and improved nutrition, and the importance of ‘future proofing’ new varieties in the face of climate change.

In further support of biofortification, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) recognized the importance of CGIAR’s world-renowned agricultural research in the fight to end global hunger. Support from DFID has been crucial to biofortification work in Africa as well as in the development of drought-tolerant maize by CIMMYT and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), which has increased farmers’ yields by up to 30 per cent, benefitting 20 million people in 13 African countries. Over 300 drought tolerant maize varieties were released by CIMMYT under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, which ran from 2006 to 2015, and continue to be scaled out and provide benefits to smallholder farmers in the region today. DFID also highlighted the impact of their support to CIMMYT and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT) in the development of disease resistant wheat varieties that help avoid food shortages and exacerbated hunger worldwide.

After a prolonged decline in global hunger, findings pointing to a recent increase are alarming. Coupled with uncertainties surrounding food supply due to challenges like changing climates and ever-present crop pests and diseases, the challenges we face are significant. The development and deployment of crops biofortified with nourishing micronutrients and equipped to cope with abiotic and biotic stresses is of fundamental importance. The work of the CGIAR Centers and Research Programs is vital to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and to fuel the fight towards zero hunger by 2030.

This article is based on coverage from The Telegraph and CGIAR.

Fighting hidden hunger from the ground up: the powerful link between soils and nutritious food

Written by on October 15, 2018. Posted in News.

Conserving organic matter in soils improves vital nutrients in wheat, according to new study in Ethiopia. On World Food Day, CIMMYT Systems Agronomist Frédéric Baudron highlights the role of healthy soils as a tool for fighting malnutrition, in an article published on The Conversation.

The study by Baudron and Stephen A. Wood of The Nature Conservancy found that wheat grown on soils rich in organic matter, especially near the forest, had more essential nutrients like zinc and protein. Ethiopia faces varying levels of hidden hunger: a deficiency in vitamins and minerals in food, despite rising yields.

In Ethiopia and many low and middle-income countries, Nitrogen-based fertilizers are out of reach for farmers. But low-cost techniques like agroforestry, minimum tillage, and planting nitrogen-fixing legumes can help African farmers enhance soils, and have been successfully implemented in different African farming systems. The study found that wheat farms near forests had richer soils due to decomposing trees and plants, and more livestock manure, pointing to the benefits of an integrated approach.

The researchers conclude that healthy soils are an important tool for “feeding the world well” and achieving Zero Hunger, one of the Sustainable Development Goals. “The finding offers a new solution in addressing growing malnutrition,” writes Baudron.

Read the article: Study in Ethiopia links healthy soils to more nutritious cereals on The Conversation.

Original study: Wood SA and Baudron F. 2018. Soil organic matter underlies crop nutritional quality and productivity in smallholder agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 266 (100-108). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.07.025