HarvestPlus aims to reduce hidden hunger and provide micronutrients to billions of people directly through the staple foods that they eat. We use a novel process called biofortification to breed higher levels of micronutrients directly into key staple foods. For more information, visit http://www.harvestplus.org/.
A farmer prepares Sadza to be used in the taste evaluation exercise. R.Lunduka/CIMMYT
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The prevalence of “hidden hunger” due to micronutrient deficiency is a big issue in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been identified as one of the most affected regions with 30 percent of the population undernourished.
Biofortification of crops by increasing levels of vitamin A and protein in maize kernels is one effective way of improving diets of the rural poor and smallholder farmers.
CIMMYT and partners continuously develop improved maize varieties with enrichment traits. In particular, pro-vitamin A varieties – a biofortified orange maize developed in partnership with Harvest Plus for the southern Africa region and Quality Protein Maize. In addition to the nutritious component, these varieties are also tolerant to drought and common diseases while at the same time meeting yield potential goals amid efforts to achieve food security.
Bred using conventional methods, pro-vitamin A maize varieties are also stress tolerant compared to commercially available white, yellow and currently available orange varieties in the market.
“To date we have released 11 varieties, six in Zambia, four in Malawi and one in Zimbabwe. We anticipate additional releases of three hybrids in Zimbabwe by end of October 2016,” said Thokozile Ndhlela, a maize breeder at CIMMYT in Zimbabwe.
Since many African consumers prefer white maize, it has increasingly become critical to overcome biases toward nutritious non-white maize varieties to encourage adoption and increase uptake.
The basis of the bias is related to the fact that yellow maize is generally grown for livestock feed in some regions and less popular for human consumption. It is also associated with poverty because volumes of non-white maize was imported into major maize growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa following a famine that hit the region in the late 1980s and lasted into the 1990s. This relief maize was disliked because it was poorly stored, turned rancid and acquired a bad taste.
The impact of memories of poor flavor and biases against non-white relief maize was initially underestimated by the agriculture for development sector, until it became apparent that it did influence smallholders’ decisionmaking regarding whether or not to adopt improved varieties.
Blindfolded farmer takes part in the taste evaluation exercise. R. Lunduka/CIMMYT
“Taste forms a very important trait in maize adoption,” said Rodney Lunduka, a socio-economist at CIMMYT. “In the case of the orange maize in Zimbabwe, the main reason for non-adoption is, in fact, taste. Farmers indicated that the old variety called Kenya that was distributed during the famine of the 1980s and 1990s had a very bad taste.”
In an effort to counteract the negative legacy of non-white maize, CIMMYT organized a taste evaluation exercise with farmers in the five districts of Marondera, Mrehwa, Zaka, Bikita and Mutoko in Zimbabwe. The farmers were blindfolded and participated in a taste test of a maize cornmeal food staple known in Zimbabwe as Sadza prepared from the orange pro-vitamin A maize flour and white maize flour. They were asked to rate the meal on taste and smell. Almost 240 farmers (119 female and 119 male) participated in the evaluation exercise.
“The farmers were adequately briefed about the exercise and not allowed to see the Sadza before testing,” said Lunduka. “This helped to remove any biases based on sight, so that they are not influenced by color but taste.”
The evaluation it found that 80 percent of female farmers and 84 percent of male farmers preferred the orange Sadza saying it had better taste and flavor.
“These results show that there is an opportunity to reach out to farmers with this nutritious maize, hence there is need to continue breeding for more robust varieties that will not only be nutritious but also competitive in terms of productivity,” Ndhlela added.
After the evaluation, most involved in the taste test, flocked to the Sadza made with orange maize.
In turn, greater availability of pro-vitamin orange maize can boost micronutrient levels and substantially lower the risk of hidden hunger.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann visited the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann toured CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico. Photo: Alfonso Cortes/ CIMMYT
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) this week to learn more about how research reaches smallholder farmers.
During her visit, Desmond-Hellmann spoke with scientists and researchers on how CIMMYT is working to develop new and innovative solutions to end poverty through agriculture. Through a hands-on tour of CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, Desmond-Hellmann saw how the world’s most diverse collections of maize and wheat are providing genetic diversity to breeding programs worldwide to tackle food security and climate change. The science was then put into practice in the field, where the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO pollinated maize and learned about the complexity of breeding for tolerance to heat and drought and resilience to diseases.
Remote sensing technologies, that make it possible to observe the dynamics of anything from single plants to entire landscapes as they change over time, were also showcased during the visit as an effective and adaptable tool for breeding and crop management including nutrient use efficiency, climate resilience and irrigation systems.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann pollinates maize. Photo: Alfonso Cortes/ CIMMYT
Nutrition and quality were also emphasized as keystones of CIMMYT’s work. Desmond-Hellmann tasted different types of bread, and learned how CIMMYT wheat varieties meet market demands for flour and wheat products globally. A demonstration on how CIMMYT is improving the nutritional quality of crops by enhancing the pro-vitamin A, iron and zinc concentrations of maize and wheat grains showed how agricultural and nutritional sciences are working together to fight “hidden hunger.”
Also joining the visit were Rodger Voorhies, the organization’s managing director of global development, Tony Cavalieri, senior program officer of agricultural development, and Casey Hanewall, the director of the CEO and chief staff office. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation is one of CIMMYT’s major donors with funding for key projects including Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA). CIMMYT also receives funding for important work like that of developing and deploying maize that resists the deadly Maize Lethal Necrosis disease and projects to develop micronutrient rich maize and wheat varieties.
HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis is one of four 2016 World Food Prize laureates. Graphic design: Bose Zhou
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis is one of four winners of the 2016 World Food Prize, honored for international research leading to a substantial increase in the availability of nutritious biofortified crops for millions of poor people.
Bouis was recognized specifically for pioneering work that established a multi-institutional approach to biofortification as a global plant breeding strategy, World Food Prize organizers said in a statement on Tuesday. The interdisciplinary, collaborative HarvestPlus program was launched in 2003 and is now part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.
Bouis, who works with the CGIAR International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), has directed initiatives that have led to the release or testing of such crops as iron- and zinc-fortified beans, rice, wheat and pearl millet, along with vitamin A-enriched cassava, maize and the orange-fleshed sweet potato in more than 40 countries.
The three other laureates, Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga and Jan Low of the CGIAR International Potato Center (CIP) are being recognized for work leading to the development of the biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato. Andrade and Mwanga, plant scientists in Mozambique and Uganda, bred the Vitamin A-enriched potato using genetic material from CIP and other sources, while Low structured the nutrition studies and programs that convinced almost two million households in 10 separate African countries to plant, purchase and consume the nutritionally fortified food, the statement said.
Although orange-colored sweet potatoes are common in some parts of the world, in parts of Africa white sweet potatoes have historically been more typical. Breeding potatoes so they can synthesize more vitamin A means they can be grown in poor areas to benefit consumers and smallholder farmers who cannot afford to buy or grow food high in micronutrients.
Due to the combined efforts of the four World Food Prize laureates, more than 10 million people are now gaining nutritional benefits from biofortified crops, and the potential exists to benefit several hundred million more people in the coming decades, the statement said.
“The impact of the work of all four winners will be felt around the globe, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize. “It is particularly poignant that among our 2016 recipients are two African scientists who are working on solutions to tackle malnutrition in Africa, for Africa.”
Some 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, which occurs when food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals, according to the World Health Organization. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most affected by hidden hunger.
Andrade, Mwanga, Low and Bouis will receive the World Food Prize at a ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 13, the main event during the annual Borlaug Dialogue symposium. The late Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Norman Borlaug, a wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), established the World Food Prize 30 years ago.
CIMMYT scientists have won the prestigious award twice. Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal received it in 2000 for their work developing quality protein maize with an adequate balance of amino acids using biofortification techniques. They provided nutritional options for people with diets dominated by maize and with no adequate alternative source of protein.
Wheat breeder Sanjaya Rajaram, who worked with both CIMMYT and the CGIAR International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), won in 2014 for producing a remarkable 480 wheat varieties, which produce yields that are estimated to feed more than 1 billion people a year.
HARVESTPLUS MAIZE AND WHEAT
While the orange sweet potato is a highlight, biofortified wheat and maize are part of the overall HarvestPlus success story, benefiting thousands of resource-poor farmers and consumers.
“This news shows that it is vital to keep up the fight and serves as encouragement for partners, collaborators and donors to pursue biofortification more vigorously to achieve greater global impact on food and nutritional security,” said CIMMYT wheat breeder Velu Govindan.
CIMMYT maize and wheat scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency, or “hidden hunger,” through HarvestPlus to help improve nutrition in poor communities where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable. Micronutrient deficiency is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.
The wheat component of the HarvestPlus program involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels.
“Breeding these varieties involves the use of diverse genetic resources, including wheat landraces, ancestors and wild relatives, with high genetic potential to accumulate zinc in the grain, which are combined with adapted wheat to obtain high-yielding varieties with high zinc grain concentration,” said Carlos Guzman, head of the Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory at CIMMYT, adding that such varieties have been shown to have higher iron values in grain than conventional varieties.
A project to develop superior wheat lines combining higher yield and high zinc concentrations in collaboration with national agriculture program partners in South Asia has led to new biofortified varieties 20 to 40 percent superior in grain zinc concentration, which are already available for farmers in India and Pakistan. Other national partners, such as Bolivia, are also close to releasing biofortified wheat varieties developed through collaboration with CIMMYT.
Additionally, a recent HarvestPlus study revealed that modern genomic tools such as genomic selection hold great potential for biofortification breeding to enhance zinc concentrations in wheat.
Scientists working with HarvestPlus have developed vitamin A-enriched “orange” maize. Orange maize is conventionally bred to provide higher levels of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, a natural plant pigment found in such orange foods as mangoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and meat, converted into vitamin A by the body.
Maize breeders are currently working on developing varieties with 50 percent more pro-vitamin A than the first commercialized varieties released. In Zambia, Zimbawe and Malawi, 12 varieties, which are agronomically competititve and have about 8ppm provitamin A, have been released.
Provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body. Stores of Vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate orange maize, according to HarvestPlus research. The study also shows preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for six months experienced an improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. The findings indicate an improvement in night vision.
Researchers are also developing maize varieties high in zinc. Scientists expect the first high zinc hybrids and varieties will be released in 2017. Further efforts are starting in such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Results from the first nutrition studies in young rural Zambian children indicate that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for the vulnerable population.
This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Maize and wheat biofortification can help reduce malnutrition in regions where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable, but must be combined with education to be most effective, particularly as climate change jeopardizes food security, according to researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Climate change could kill more than half a million adults in 2050 due to changes in diets and bodyweight from reduced crop productivity, a new report from the University of Oxford states. Projected improvement in food availability for a growing population could be cut by about a third, leading to average per-person reductions in food availability of 3.2 percent, reductions in fruit and vegetable intake of 4 percent and red meat consumption of .07 percent, according to the report.
Over the past 50 years since CIMMYT was founded in 1966, various research activities have been undertaken to boost protein quality and micronutrient levels in maize and wheat to help improve nutrition in poor communities, which the Oxford report estimates will be hardest hit by climate change. As one measure of CIMMYT’s success, scientists Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal were recognized with the prestigious World Food Prize in 2000 for their work developing quality protein maize (QPM).
“We’ve got a lot of balls in the air to tackle the ongoing food security crisis and anticipate future needs as the population grows and the climate changes unpredictably,” said Natalia Palacios, head of maize quality, adding that a key component of current research is the strategic use of genetic resources held in the CIMMYT gene bank.
“CIMMYT’s contribution to boosting the nutritional value of maize and wheat is hugely significant for people who have access to these grains, but very little dietary diversity otherwise. Undernourishment is epidemic in parts of the world and it’s vital that we tackle the problem by biofortifying crops and including nutrition in sustainable intensification interventions.”
Undernourishment affects some 795 million people worldwide – meaning that more than one out of every nine people do not get enough food to lead a healthy, active lifestyle, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). By 2050, reduced fruit and vegetable intake could cause twice as many deaths as under-nutrition, according to the Oxford report, which was produced by the university’s Future of Food Programme.
As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to one-quarter of the world’s daily energy intake, and contributing 27 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to FAO.
“Nutrition is very complex and in addition to deploying scientific methods such as biofortification to develop nutritious crops, we try and serve an educational role, helping people understand how best to prepare certain foods to gain the most value,” Palacios said. “Sometimes communities have access to nutritious food but they don’t know how to prepare it without killing the nutrients.”
The value of biofortified crops is high in rural areas where people have vegetables for a few months, but must rely solely on maize for the rest of the year, she added, explaining that fortified flour and food may be more easily accessed in urban areas where there are more dietary options.
Some of the thousands of samples that make up the maize collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center at CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
PROMOTING PROTEIN QUALITY
Conventional maize varieties cannot provide an adequate balance of amino acids for people with diets dominated by the grain and with no adequate alternative source of protein. Since the breakthrough findings of Villegas and Vasal, in some areas scientists now develop QPM, which offers an inexpensive alternative for smallholder farmers.
CIMMYT scientists also develop QPM and other nutritious conventionally bred maize varieties for the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project funded by the government of Canada. NuME, which also helps farmers improve agricultural techniques by encouraging the deployment of improved agronomic practices, builds on a former seven-year collaborative QPM effort with partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Ethiopia, where average life expectancy is 56 years of age, the food security situation is critical due in part to drought caused by a recent El Nino climate system, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. More than 8 million people out of a population of 90 million people are in need of food assistance. Almost 30 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, 40 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted, 9 percent are acutely malnourished and 25 percent are underweight, according to the 2014 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey. The NuMe project is helping to shore up sustainable food supplies and boost nutrition in the country, where the vast majority of people live in rural areas and are engaged in rain-fed subsistence agriculture.
INCREASING MICRONUTRIENTS
CIMMYT maize and wheat scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency, or “hidden hunger,” through the interdisciplinary, collaborative program HarvestPlus, which was launched in 2003 and is now part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.
Some 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Micronutrient deficiency occurs when food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most affected by hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.
Work at CIMMYT to combat micronutrient deficiency is aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — in particular Goal 2, which aims to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The SDG also aims to meet internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and to address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, older people, pregnant and lactating women by 2025.
WHOLESOME WHEAT
The wheat component of the HarvestPlus program involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels by introducing genetic diversity from wild species and landraces into adapted wheat.
Zinc deficiency affects about one-third of the world’s population, causing lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, diarrheal disease, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and anorexia, according to the WHO, which attributes about 800,000 deaths worldwide each year to zinc deficiency. Additionally, worldwide, approximately 165 million children under five years of age are stunted due to zinc deficiency.
A project to develop superior wheat lines combining higher yield and high zinc concentrations in collaboration with national agriculture program partners in South Asia has led to new biofortified varieties 20 to 40 percent superior in grain zinc concentration.
“We’re playing a vital role in this area,” said CIMMYT wheat breeder Velu Govindan. “Our research has led to new varieties agronomically equal to, or superior to, other popular wheat cultivars with grain yield potential at par or — in some cases – even superior to popular wheat varieties adopted by smallholder farmers in South Asia where we’ve been focused.”
Scientists are studying the potential impact of climate-change related warmer temperatures and erratic rainfall on the nutritional value of wheat. An evaluation of the effect of water and heat stress with a particular focus on grain protein content, zinc and iron concentrations revealed that protein and zinc concentrations increased in water and heat-stressed environments, while zinc and iron yield was higher in non-stressed conditions.
“The results of our study suggest that genetic gains in yield potential of modern wheat varieties have tended to reduce grain zinc levels,” Govindan said. “In some instances, environmental variability might influence the extent to which this effect manifests itself, a key finding as we work toward finding solutions to the potential impact of climate change on food and nutrition security.”
Additionally, a recent HarvestPlus study revealed that modern genomic tools such as genomic selection hold great potential for biofortification breeding to enhance zinc concentrations in wheat.
IMPROVING MAIZE
Scientists working with HarvestPlus have developed vitamin A-enriched “orange” maize. Orange maize is conventionally bred to provide higher levels of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, a natural plant pigment found in such orange foods as mangoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and meat, converted into vitamin A by the body.
Maize breeders, who are currently working on developing varieties with 50 percent more pro-vitamin A than the first commercialized varieties released, identified germplasm with the highest amounts of carotenoids to develop the varieties. In Zambia, Zimbawe and Malawi, 12 varieties, which are agronomically competititve and have about 8ppm provitamin A, have been released.
Provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body. Stores of Vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate orange maize, according to HarvestPlus research. The study also shows preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for six months experienced an improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. The findings indicate an improvement in night vision, a function dependent on adequate levels of vitamin A in the body.
Researchers are also developing maize varieties high in zinc.
Efforts on this front have been a major focus in Latin America, especially in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Colombia. Scientists expect the first wave of high zinc hybrids and varieties will be released in 2017. Further efforts are starting in such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Results from the first nutrition studies in young rural Zambian children indicate that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for the vulnerable population.
CIAT field day om Palmira, Colombia. Photo Luis Narro/CIMMYT.
PALMIRA, COLOMBIA — A field day was organized at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to show the advances of CIMMYT’s HarvestPlus project in Colombia and throughout Latin America. 58 participants representing regional agriculture, education and health sectors, Colombian agricultural institutions, seed producing companies and producers’ guilds, non-governmental organizations and food processing and supply companies. CIAT and CIMMYT staff involved in HarvestPlus also attended the event.
Conferences held during the field day aimed to show participants the benefits of a biofortification program. Meike Anderson, a HarvestPlus crop development specialist of presented strategic priorities for developing and commercializing biofortified crops, emphasizing more than 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, or micronutrient deficiencies.
HarvestPlus was created to combat hidden hunger, and operates in over 40 countries with more than 200 partners. The project began in 2004 and is now in the dissemination phase. HarvestPlus is directly in line with the CGIAR’s goal to ensure improved crop varieties are designed to have high in nutritional value. HarvestPlus in turn has prioritized the development of maize seed with high zinc and provitamin A content. In Colombia 20% of the population is zinc deficient as it much of the population in other Latin American countries including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.
Maize is the staple food of around a third of malnourished children all over the world. In Colombia 25% of children under 5 years of age present vitamin A deficiency. Biofortified food could have a huge impact improving diet in Colombia and across the globe.
CIMMYT aims to include higher protein quality, lysine, zinc and provitamin A in biofortified maize. To date, there are at least 10 biofortified varieties than after released that can be sown by farmers for both urban and rural consumers, all which were on display during the field day. A farm-to-plate strategy including beans, rice, cassava and yams should also be implemented.
Carolina Gonzalez, HarvestPlus economist, also presented socioeconomic studies prioritizing biofortification in Colombia during the event, identifying areas on the Atlantic coast as the greatest in need due to high levels of vitamin A and zinc deficiency. Sonia Gallego, post harvest Research Assistant of HarvestPlus, provided information from retention and nutrition studies on biofortified maize, emphasizing how important maize grain processing and conservation from harvest to food production are for vitamin A and zinc availability in the human body.
Discussing the benefits of biofortified maize, whcih should be available to Colombian farmers in 2017. Photo: Marleni Rosero/HarvestPlus-CIAT.
Field activities were also presented by CIMMYT researchers Felix San Vicente and Luis Narro. They emphasized the importance of delivering to farmers biofortified maize seeds that still produce yields that can compete with their competitors. During an event hosted earlier in the year evaluating biofortified hybrids, the grain yield of the best hybrid was nearly ten tons per hectare, which is on par with the best performing maize used as a control group. This proves that high zinc or protein content does not cause farmers a loss in yield – just gains in nutritional. Biofortification also proved to have no effect on other traits like disease resistance, grain type or plant architecture.
At the end of the field day, teams identified institutions and companies that will take charge of varietal release and the seed production process in Colombia, including CORPOICA, Fenalce, Semivalle and Semillas Guerrero. In addition, CIMMYT will simultaneously sow plots to demonstrate to seed companies and other institutions the agronomic traits of different varieties.
Government programs that provide food for school children were also identified as potential collaborators to meet high demand for maize and malnourished children in that state of Valle del Cauca. Colombia demands is 1,200,000 tons of maize for food uses annually, with many producers and processing companies interested in the benefits of using biofortified maize and other crops.
Everyone who attended the workshop evaluated plant and grain traits and compared experimental plot yields. As a result, the seed companies decided to organize agronomic evaluation plots starting in 2016 and establish semi-commercial plots of hybrids, with the goal to release the first biofortified maize in 2017.
Among workshop attendees were CORPOICA and ICA, seed companies Semivalle, Maxisemillas, Semillas del pacífico and Procampo, producers guilds FENALCE, FEDERECAFE and ARDECAN, non-governmantal organizations including CETEC, FIDAR and CLAYUCA and companies Fundación Naturaleza y Vida and Pampa also attended.
A farmer feeds harvested wheat crop into a thresher as a woman collects de-husked wheat in a field at Kunwarpur village, Allahabad in India’s Uttar Pradesh website. Credit: Handout
V.K. Mishra and Ramash Chand are professors at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. Arun Joshi is a wheat breeder at CIMMYT. Any views expressed are their own.
One of the side-effects of the Green Revolution, which began in the 1960s and led to large increases in crop production, has been a change in the cropping patterns in many parts of India.
Farmers have shifted to crops with higher yields. In the Indo-Gangetic plains, for example, rice and wheat have replaced many other crops. This has reduced crop diversity, affected dietary patterns, and led to malnutrition due to a poor supply of proteins, vitamins, iron and zinc.
Wheat is the staple diet in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Farmers in those states typically have very small landholdings and consume about 70 per cent of the food they produce. One essential mineral missing from their diet is zinc. A zinc deficiency leads to malfunctioning of several proteins and enzymes, and manifests itself in a variety of diseases, including diarrhea, skin and respiratory disorders.
One way of making up for this kind of deficiency is to provide fortification by adding missing nutrients to food, but this is complex for several reasons, including price increases, the problem of quality control, and the possibility of adulteration.
We tested the genetic bio-fortification technology for enhancing the zinc content in wheat crops under the HarvestPlus project of CIMMYT and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bio-fortification is a seed-driven technology that enables crops to extract a higher amount of zinc from the soil and store it in the edible parts.
Through cross-breeding, we produced several thousand wheat genotypes and screened them for high zinc content and high yield. In India, a new variety would be unacceptable if it does not deliver a higher yield than the varieties already under cultivation. We isolated several of these cross-bred varieties that had both high zinc and high yield, and put them through field trials. The existing varieties of wheat crop had 29 parts per million (ppm) of zinc and the varieties we selected had 40 to 45 ppm of zinc.
These field trials were conducted at 70 different locations. Two specific varieties of wheat were then distributed to about 5,000 farmers for cultivation.
The next stage is national trials, which will be conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The first thing that ICAR does is to put the recommended varieties to disease trial. The ICAR tests take about three years. One of the varieties, BHU-35, has recently cleared the disease-testing stage and is ready to be released in Uttar Pradesh for cultivation, after a few more regulatory clearances.
Seven other varieties are currently undergoing disease testing, and in the next few years, many other zinc-rich wheat crops will be ready for cultivation.
Over 100,000 packets of nearly 1,200 hybrids and varieties developed by CIMMYT-Zimbabwe and partners were distributed to national agricultural research systems and private seed companies throughout eastern and southern Africa. Regional trial requests are in high demand from emerging seed companies across the region as well as Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and other countries in Asia and Latin America. Photo: Amsal Tarekegne/CIMMYT.
The year 2015 marked 30 years of CIMMYT’s Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO) developing new maize varieties adapted to smallholder farmer needs in Zimbabwe and across sub-Saharan Africa.
“Multiple stress tolerant and nutritious maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT-SARO have been released by partners throughout eastern and southern Africa,” said Amsal Tarekegne, CIMMYT-SARO Senior Maize Breeder.
CIMMYT-SARO and partners have also produced new maize varieties that yield 20-30% more than currently available widely grown commercial varieties under drought and low nitrogen stress conditions.
Farmers in eastern and southern Africa need maize varieties that are climate resilient, high-yielding and nutritious.
Photo: Participants in the maize breeding course in Zambia. Photo: Cosmos Magorokosho/CIMMYT.
CIMMYT recently conducted an intensive three-week training course in Zambia for 38 young maize breeders–including 12 women–to provide them the knowledge and skills needed to apply modern maize breeding methods in their agricultural research and development programs. Participants from national programs and private seed companies from 12 African countries and Pakistan attended the course.
Moses Mwale of the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) officially opened the course, and said the training was critical as agriculture contributes over 40% of Zambia’s gross domestic product and provides 70% of all employment in Africa; up to 80% of the African population lives in rural areas and is heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.
According to Mwale, “Despite its immense potential, maize has underperformed in Africa in recent years. The major cause is lack of investment, reliance on rainfed agriculture, low usage of improved seed, and the lack of adequate agricultural research and development, resulting in low production, productivity, and high transaction costs in agribusiness ventures.”
For the first time, a significant part of the course was devoted to the subjects of crop management and gender mainstreaming in maize research and development.
CIMMYT agronomist Isaiah Nyagumbo presented the crop management practices recommended to boost yields, productivity, and income, and to conserve natural resources. He emphasized that investments in maize breeding pay off when crop management on farm is improved. Nyagumbo also demonstrated new land preparation equipment recommended for use with conservation agriculture, including jab planters, dibble sticks, Li seeder or planting hoe, and animal traction rippers.
Vongai Kandiwa, CIMMYT gender specialist, spoke about “Leveraging Gender Awareness in Maize Breeding and Seed Deployment.” Revealing existing evidence of gender gaps in technology awareness and adoption, she highlighted the importance of developing maize technologies that meet the needs of both men and women farmers. Kandiwa also shared insights on gender-responsive approaches for conducting on-farm trials and building awareness, especially of newly released varieties.
During the training course, CIMMYT physiologist Jill Cairns briefed participants on preparing and making effective presentations––a challenge for both distinguished and new scientists.
Several scientists highlighted recent developments in maize improvement such as the use in maize breeding of doubled haploids, molecular tools, transgenics, and precision phenotyping. Key themes included advanced phenotyping by CIMMYT physiologist Zaman Mainasarra, who demonstrated the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for digital imaging and fast, cost-effective, and accurate phenotyping data collection.
Other subjects included theoretical conventional breeding, breeding for abiotic stress in line with climate change, breeding for biotic stresses with emphasis on preventing the spread of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease, and breeding for improved nutritional quality (quality protein maize and pro-vitamin A maize). Max Mbunji of HarvestPlus gave a presentation on Zambia’s progress on developing and delivering pro-vitamin A maize over the past seven years.
Variety release and registration, seed production, and seed business management in Africa were also featured during the course. Trainees learned how to scale up breeder seed to certified seed, maintain genetic purity and quality, and support upcoming seed companies, while complying with existing seed legislation, policies, and procedures in different countries.
Participants went on a field trip to HarvestPlus, where they learned more about pro-vitamin A analysis. They also visited ZARI’s Nanga Research Station to observe drought screening and seed production activities conducted by Zambia’s national maize breeding program.
At the end of the course, one of the participants, Annah Takombwa, acting technical affairs manager at Zimbabwe’s National Biotechnology Authority, said, “Many thanks for affording me the opportunity to take part in GMP’s New Maize Breeders Training. It was a great honor and privilege. I am already applying the skills and knowledge gained in my day-to-day activities.”
CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) maize breeders Cosmos Magorokosho, Stephen Mugo, and Abebe Menkir of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized and coordinated the course. Participants were sponsored through various GMP projects, including Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scale-up, the Doubled Haploids project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa, Improved Maize for African Soils, USAID Heat project, MLN project, HarvestPlus, and private seed companies ZAMSEED and SEECDCO.
HarvestPlus pioneers at the off-season seed production site in Dalang Maidan, Himachal Pradesh, India. Photo: HarvestPlus
Public and private sector partners in HarvestPlus’ biofortified wheat research and dissemination network in South Asia got together at ICRISAT, Hyderabad, on 10-11 September to discuss progress on breeding research, producing seed for target populations, and strategies for accelerating seed production and fast-tracking commercialization of biofortified zinc-rich wheat varieties.
Partners from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as delegates from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), various state agricultural universities, NGOs, small and medium-size private seed companies, processors, millers, and progressive farmers discussed topics such as critical gaps and opportunities in outreach strategies, priority upscaling interventions, and policy incentives for fast-track adoption of improved high Zn wheat varieties.
ICAR Deputy Director General (Crop Science) J.S. Sandhu inaugurated the workshop with a formal presentation on India’s Consortia Research Platforms (CRP) for improving nutritional quality of major staples and emphasized the extraordinary nutritional challenges that country faces, e.g., some of the highest rates of childhood stunting and malnutrition in the world. Wolfgang Pfeiffer, HarvestPlus Director (Product Development and Deployment), highlighted the success of HarvestPlus partners in disseminating nutrient-dense wheat, reaching 50,000 farm households and providing biofortified wheat to a quarter of a million household members by 2015. Parminder Virk, Product Development Manager at HarvestPlus, urged participants to set up a fast-track commercialization pipeline to enable nutrient rich wheat varieties to reach smallholder farmers fast.
CIMMYT Wheat Breeder Velu Govindan discussed advances in the development of competitive high Zn wheat germplasm at CIMMYT, Mexico, to satisfy the needs of national program partners, while Arun Joshi, Senior Wheat Breeder, CIMMYT-South Asia, emphasized the crucial role of public and private sector partners in ensuring farmers have rapid and long-term access to nutrient rich wheat seed. Ravish Chatrath, IIWBR, summarized the results of a special biofortified wheat trial conducted across locations in India.
HarvestPlus Wheat Biofortification meeting held at ICRISAT, in Patancheru. Photo credit : HarvestPlus.
V.K. Mishra, Banaras Hindu University, reported that farmer-participatory varietal selection trials have enabled the identification and release of competitive high Zn wheat varieties for fast-track commercialization in the eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India. The new varieties are not only nutritionally superior, but also drought tolerant and resistant to rusts and other foliar diseases. They are being commercialized in India as truthfully-labeled seed under different names by private companies and farmers’ seed production networks.
CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO) is stepping up efforts to combat malnutrition, especially among women and children, through agricultural research and the release of orange maize varieties.
Orange maize is nutritionally enhanced and provides higher levels of vitamin A than white maize. In addition, orange maize varieties are high-yielding, disease resistant and drought tolerant, which helps farmers face challenges posed by recurrent droughts and climate change.
CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela (holding orange maize cob) explains to visiting delegates the importance of orange maize to nutrition. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
“Orange maize rich in beta-carotene could bring positive benefits to maize-dependent communities, particularly women and children, by providing up to half of their daily vitamin A needs,” said Thokozile Ndhlela, CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder, who is working on the orange maize breeding project. According to Ndhlela, the project is conventionally breeding non-genetically modified orange maize to endow it with higher levels of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a naturally occurring plant pigment that the body converts into vitamin A.
Vitamin A deficiency is a serious health threat that is prevalent in Southern Africa (SA) and may lead to blindness, reduced disease immunity and other health problems. In Zambia, for example, it affects more than half of children under five years of age, according to a Feed the Future newsletter. Feed the Future is the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
In neighboring Zimbabwe, one in every three children suffers from stunted growth (as much as 32%) or chronic malnutrition, which contributes to 12,000 deaths each year, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Malnutrition is most prevalent in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, which are home to over 75% of the country’s entire population (about 13 million).
While vitamin A is available from other food sources such as oranges, dark leafy vegetables and meat, these are not always available or are too expensive for the ordinary person in SA. As a result, most people eat a lot of white maize, which has no beta-carotene.
Orange maize can be eaten as a porridge-like staple food called nshima in Zambia and sadza in Zimbabwe. It can also be used to prepare other traditional foods made from maize.
CIMMYT is working with HarvestPlus, a CGIAR organization that breeds and disseminates micronutrient-rich staple food crops to reduce hidden hunger in malnourished populations. The orange maize project was initiated in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2004, but later moved to Mexico. Since the subtropical environments in Mexico are similar to those in SA, the germplasm developed in Mexico has adapted well to SA environments.
Three hybrids (GV662A, GV664A, and GV665A) were extensively tested in Zambia and released by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute in partnership with HarvestPlus. These hybrids have a yield potential of 9-11 tons per hectare. Hybrid GV665A will be released in Zimbabwe in October of this year. Three seed companies are marketing the released hybrids on an exclusive basis in Zambia and four other pre-release hybrids are being tested in national performance trials.
Since 2012, HarvestPlus has provided orange maize to more than 10,000 farming households in Zambia. It is working with the private sector to reach 100,000 farmers by the end of this year.
Zimbabwe’s Crop Breeding Institute has expressed an interest in sending two of these hybrids to the Seed Certifying Authority of Zimbabwe for quality testing during the 2015/2016 agricultural season. Malawi, another SA country, has also identified hybrids for release in 2016.
Bangladesh’s Minister of Agriculture Motia Chowdhury (3rd from left) visited the CGIAR Pavilion while inaugurating the National Agricultural Technology Fair held in Dhaka on 5-7 April 2015. In the photo, Zia Uddin Ahmed, CIMMYT GIS and Remote Sensing Scientist, briefs her on the use of the Octocopter in agricultural research and development and other CIMMYT activities in Bangladesh. In her inaugural speech, the Minister mentioned CIMMYT’s role in maize production expansion and mechanization. “Since our land is fragmented, we need to focus on small but power-operated machines,” she said. She also asked organizations working in Bangladesh, such as CIMMYT, to think about how to use solar energy to operate agri-machines.
The Fair was organized by the Agricultural Information Service (AIS) of the Ministry of Agriculture. Five CG centers (CIMMYT, CIP, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish) and HarvestPlus participated in the CGIAR pavilion and received the award for the best pavilion at the Fair.
Only 20 years ago, the idea that maize could reduce vitamin A deficiency (VAD) would have been summarily dismissed. Agricultural scientists were focused on increasing yields and developing more robust varieties that could withstand the constant assault of new pests and diseases. The idea of making maize and other staple food crops more nutritious by breeding in vitamins and minerals, a process called biofortification, was a novel concept. However, with the launch of HarvestPlus in 2003, a collaborative research partnership was launched to bring together scientists across disciplines in an effort to reduce hidden hunger caused by micronutrient deficiencies. One of the fruits of this partnership were the world’s first “orange” maize varieties rich in vitamin A. This ‘orange’ vitamin A maize has been conventionally bred to provide higher levels of provitamin A carotenoids, a naturally occurring plant pigment also found in many orange foods such as mangoes, carrots and pumpkins, that the body then converts into vitamin A.
I sat down with two of the scientists who have been integral to this global effort: CIMMYT’s Dr. Kevin Pixley, who led the first 10 years of HarvestPlus’ maize biofortification project while heading CIMMYT’s breeding program for vitamin A maize, and Dr. Fabiana Moura, a nutritionist with HarvestPlus who oversees all vitamin A-related research. The question on my mind was: what does it take for scientists to break out of their disciplinary strait jackets and to look at a food with a rich and storied history thorough a different lens?
Kevin, where did the idea of making maize more nutritious come from?
Nearly a billion people eat maize as a staple food, and many of them are poor and malnourished. Maize is a great source of energy, but its protein is deficient in essential amino acids and crucial minerals and vitamins. Of course, everyone should eat a balanced, healthy diet, but poverty gets in the way. Chronic malnutrition is unacceptably common among some populations that depend heavily on staples such as maize in their diets and can’t afford more nutritious foods. Improving the nutritional quality of maize is a way to improve the health and livelihoods of many maize consumers.
Under this scenario, providing vitamin A through a typical diet is a more sustainable way to address the VAD problem. In countries like Zambia where people eat a lot of maize, orange maize could provide half of the daily vitamin A requirement. Safety is another important aspect. The provitamin A in the maize is converted to vitamin A in the body as it is needed. Supplements and fortified foods provide preformed vitamin A that, if ingested in higher doses, could cause toxicity because they accumulate.
Lastly, the orange maize will be eaten by the entire family. Women of childbearing age will enter pregnancy with a better vitamin A status and maintain this level during pregnancy. Newborns will receive the vitamin A from orange maize through their mothers’ breast milk. Everyone wins.
And, Kevin, what was the biggest challenge in breeding orange maize?
The first challenge was finding maize with high levels of provitamin A carotenoids for use in breeding efforts. They are found in a lot of foods but we had not looked in maize before.
We then needed the expertise of biochemists and geneticists to develop essential laboratory methods to precisely and affordably identify the few plants with the highest amounts of these desired carotenoids from among many thousands of plants created each year in the breeding projects at CIMMYT, IITA and elsewhere. As in every applied breeding program, orange maize breeders need to continually monitor, improve and combine dozens of characteristics – high yield, disease resistance, good food processing ability, taste, etc., into new varieties that farmers and consumers will prefer over those that they currently grow and eat. As we speak, CIMMYT, IITA and other maize breeders are working intensely to maintain a full “breeding pipeline” to continually improve upon current successes. Soon, there will be new varieties with 50% more provitamin A than those first commercialized 2-3 years ago. And there are varieties in the pipeline with double the amounts of provitamin A that will improve the nutrition and lives of farmers and consumers in decades to come.
What was the biggest challenge in working with someone from outside of your discipline?
Fabiana: Learning an entirely new vocabulary of OPVs [that’s open pollinated varieties], hybrids, etc. It was like learning a foreign language! Kevin: My own ignorance about the complexities and importance of diverse disciplines to the success of our team; I’d never worked with nutritionists in plant breeding before. It is great fun and a big challenge to learn about other disciplines, especially human nutrition, food technology and public health, but also biochemistry, economics and even politics. A big challenge for the whole team was learning to trust the other disciplines to do their part of the job, knowing that every chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Have any assumptions or perspectives that you had about the other discipline changed as a result of working together?
Fabiana: I learned that agriculture also faces some challenges. When planting maize for a feeding trial study I remember asking Kevin if he could assure us that there would not be major issues to deal with. His reply was, “there could be a pest infestation that has not happened for the past 20 years–so we cannot predict what might happen. We have had cases with typhoons that wiped out an entire field.” That was when we decided to have 2 two fields in 2 different provinces planted with vitamin A maize to ensure we would have enough material for the study.
Kevin: I always thought that nutrition was an exact science; I was very wrong! Nutrition is very complex; everything depends on multiple factors. Even the effectiveness of vitamin A maize depends on health status, age, other diet components, and many other factors.
Kevin, what changed about your own work as a result of working with nutritionists?
I had to accept that the goalposts would move. Many scientific assumptions fell away and were replaced with new ones. It continues to be an eye-opening experience because important discoveries are being made every year. There are many important factors to consider, e.g. which provitamin A carotenoids are most helpful nutritionally, which conversion factors must be applied when “translating” how much provitamin A content in the maize grain is needed to be useful for the consumer, how much of the provitamin A in the grain will be lost (degraded) when the maize is cooked, and more! These factors determine the amount and forms of provitamin A that we have to breed into the maize in order to improve nutrition when people cook and eat the crop.
My experiences working with nutritionists have broadened my vision about the role of plant breeding in agriculture for nutrition, health and improved livelihoods.
Fabiana, what evidence do we have that this works?
We know that the provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body. One study conducted in a rural setting in Africa showed that the vitamin A body stores of 5-7 year-old children improved when they ate orange maize—similar to the effect of vitamin A supplements. We also have some preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for 6 months experienced improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. That indicates an improvement in night vision, a function dependent on adequate levels of vitamin A in the body. Another study is looking at the impact of orange maize on the vitamin A status of lactating mothers and their breastfed children. In particular, we will learn how much the vitamin A contribution to the breastfed child will come through the breast milk of mothers who are fed the orange maize and how much will come from the orange maize itself that is fed directly to the children (only those above 6 months of age will be fed orange maize). All the studies cited above are using innovative and cutting edge technology applied in rural settings in Africa. They have been conducted in over 50 feeding sites and greatly facilitated by local people like Mrs. Donata Kalunga (standing next to me in the picture), who offered her school for disabled children as a kitchen and site for training and clinical assessment for the study. I’m optimistic that in the next year or two when we get the full results of ongoing studies, we will find that they reinforce the positive outcomes we’ve found so far.
Under-nourishment affects some 795 million people worldwide. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than one out of every nine people do not eat enough to lead healthy, active lives. Almost 780 million undernourished people live in developing countries, with about 94% in Asia and Africa, FAO reports.
Biohappiness: A happy farmer grows ZincShakti wheat on his farm in Uttar Pradesh, India. Photos: Nirmal Seeds, India
But these statistics tell only part of the story. Two billion people around the world also suffer from micronutrient deficiency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Also known as “hidden hunger,” micronutrient deficiency occurs when the food consumed by people does not provide enough vitamins and minerals. People in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are hardest hit by hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, and vitamin A and zinc deficiency.
Zinc is important for cellular growth, cellular differentiation and metabolism. Zinc deficiency, which affects about one-third of the global population, limits childhood growth and decreases resistance to infection. According to WHO, zinc supplements may help to improve linear growth of children under five years of age.
Tackling hidden hunger is the major focus of the HarvestPlus-led wheat biofortification breeding program at CIMMYT and its national program partners in South Asia. The main objective of the program is to develop and disseminate competitive wheat varieties with high grain zinc content and other essential agronomic features.
The biofortification breeding program introduces high zinc levels derived from the best sources (wild species and landraces) into adapted wheat backgrounds. The result is widely adapted, high yielding, high zinc varieties with durable disease resistance. These new varieties are 20-40% superior in grain zinc concentration and are agronomically on a par or superior to other wheat cultivars popular in South Asia. Research is also underway to transfer genomic regions into adapted backgrounds in a more precise and targeted manner, thus accelerating breeding efficiency, as well as to identify biofortified varieties for specific growing conditions in target countries.
Women farmers involved in seed production and dissemination of high zinc varieties, along with Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and CIMMYT researchers.
Competitive high zinc wheat varieties have already been distributed to national program partners in South Asia to reach resource-poor smallholder farmers. In 2012, HarvestPlus devised a strategy with Banaras Hindu University and CIMMYT to reach thousands of wheat farmers with zinc-biofortified, disease resistant wheat in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. Wheat productivity in this region is low compared to other parts of the country, which is why it was chosen to serve as a platform for testing and promoting high zinc wheat varieties.
After various demonstrations in 18 villages, many of the farmers became interested in adopting high zinc wheat. In 2013, seed mini-kits were distributed to farmers in the region and by 2014, more than 10,000 farmers had adopted high zinc wheat.
Public-private partnerships are contributing to fast-track commercialization. As a result, more than 50,000 farmers adopted zinc-biofortified wheat varieties during the 2015-2016 crop cycle. Farmers are happy with the “Zinc Shakthi” variety for its good performance, including a yield advantage of about 5-10% under both full and limited irrigation, as well as its grain size, cooking quality, grain color and overall appearance.
To demostrate the advances of the project “Increasing the profitability of maize-coffee systems” conducted by CIMMYT in Colombia over the past 10 years in collaboration with the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Producers (FEDERECAFE, Spanish acronym), two field days were held at the Paraguaycito–Quindío (29 April) and La Catalina–Risaralda (7 May) Experiment Stations belonging to CENICAFE, FEDERECAFE’s research unit. At these events, attended by 158 representatives of the Local Coffee Growers’ Committees and the National Federation of Cereal Growers (FENALCE, Spanish acronym), the latest advances in the areas of climate change, agronomy and genetic improvement were presented.
Agronomy
In the field of agronomy, there were demonstrations on how to use a manual maize planter and the GreenSeeker sensor. These inventions are available to farmers today thanks to the work and perseverance of Bill Raun and his colleagues at Oklahoma State University, USA.
In the 1980s, when Bill was working for CIMMYT’s Agronomy Program for Central America, he realized the risks farmers faced when growing maize. The seed was treated with insecticides and fungicides to protect it and promote germination and crop establishment. Farmers would take the seed in their bare hands and put it into the soil, in holes made with the help of a stick; they did not use gloves or any kind of protection.
More than 20 years later, farmers finally have a manual planter. The most important parts of the planter are a plastic tube where the seed is placed, a cylinder that regulates seed drop and a device at the end of the planter that passes the seed from the plastic tube into the soil. During the sowing demonstrations, the attendees observed the excellent germination of a plot sown with the planter the previous week. The planter can also be used for fertilization and is ideal for planting maize on the very steep slopes where coffee is grown and where mechanization is not possible. Most of the region’s coffee growers are small-scale farmers whose land holdings average 1.54 hectares.
Argemiro Moreno, former CENICAFE scientist, spoke on efficient nitrogen use for maize crops in Colombia’s coffee growing region. He also explained the basics of GreenSeeker use to calculate the precise amount of nitrogen that plants need for maximum growth and production and to avoid polluting the atmosphere or the ground water through excess fertilizer use. There was also a demonstration of how to use the GreenSeeker in the field and for converting the readings into fertilizer dosage recommendations (by cell phone at www.nue.okstate.edu).
Genetic improvement––biofortified maize
As Luis Narro, CIMMYT-Colombia, explained during both field days, biofortification uses conventional breeding to develop varieties with higher content of micronutrients such as iron, zinc and provitamin A. Normal maize grain contains, on average, 20 ppm Zn and 2 ppm pro-vitamin A, whereas biofortified maize being developed at CIMMYT with support by HarvestPlus contains 32 ppm Zn (white maize) and 8-10 ppm provitamin A (orange maize).
As a HarvestPlus activity, 81 white experimental hybrids with high zinc content and 81 orange hybrids with high provitamin A content are being evaluated in Colombia’s coffee growing region. Preliminary results at La Catalina Experiment Station indicate that the best hybrid with high Zn content (8.9 t/ha) yielded 10% more than the normal (check) hybrid and showed less ear rot and less tar spot damage. The yield of the best hybrid with high provitamin A content was 5.4 t/ha, similar to that of the normal check.
At the same time, the HarvestPlus team at CIAT, in collaboration with small food product manufacturers in Colombia’s Cauca Valley, are conducting pilot studies aimed at developing food products from biofortified maize, as well as sensory studies and studies on micronutrient retention and on shelf life. Consequently, it’s very possible that cropping and consumption of biofortified maize will be promoted in Colombia’s coffee region as an alternative for improving food security.
* This is the second part of a two-part report; the first was published in the previous issue of the CIMMYT Informa.
ZINC DEFICIENCY IS ATTRIBUTED TO 800,000 DEATHS EACH YEAR
International Women’s Day on March 8, offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women worldwide. This year, CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women they admire for their selfless dedication to either maize or wheat. In the following story, scientist Velu Govindan writes about his Super Woman of Wheat, Chhavi Tiwari, a senior research associate at Banaras Hindu University.
Zinc deficiency is attributed to 800,000 deaths each year and affects about one-third of the world’s population, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
It can lead to short stature, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction and anorexia. Additionally, it causes approximately 16 percent of lower respiratory tract infections, 18 percent of malaria cases and 10 percent of diarrheal disease cases worldwide, WHO statistics show.
Enhancing the micronutrient content in wheat through biofortification is increasingly seen as an important tool to help improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, poorest and least educated sectors of society.
That is why Dr. Chhavi Tiwari, senior research associate from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, is my super woman of wheat.
She has been working with the HarvestPlus program with active collaboration and support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to empower women farmers by making them aware of the value of micronutrient-rich wheat.
Her on-farm training programs increase their understanding of crop and soil management techniques, aiding in the improved production of wheat varieties high in zinc content.
Working closely with women’s self-help groups, she demonstrates the importance of wheat varieties high in zinc content through a participatory variety-selection approach, increasing the potential agronomic and nutritional benefit of these varieties for fast-track adoption.
Through her inclusive approach, a great deal of interest in high zinc wheat varieties has been generated among women farmers. Her efforts have contributed to the adoption of nutritious wheat varieties the eastern part of India’s state of Uttar Pradesh, leading to the potential for technology dissemination in neighboring states.
Engaging with rural women farmers is a core interest of Chhavi’s. She consults women farmers on their views and gives them the opportunity to participate in a decision-making process that increases their investment in agriculture and nutrition.
Her activities play a crucial role in uplifting women by alleviating malnutrition and hunger through nutritious wheat.
Chhavi is the recipient of the 2010 CIMMYT- Cereal System Initiative of South Asia (CSISA) research fellowship and the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Award from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in 2014.
Any views expressed are those of the author and not of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Kevin, where did the idea of making maize more nutritious come from?
Fabiana, why vitamin A in particular?
International Women’s Day on March 8, offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women worldwide. This year, CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women they admire for their selfless dedication to either maize or wheat. In the following story, scientist Velu Govindan writes about his Super Woman of Wheat, Chhavi Tiwari, a senior research associate at Banaras Hindu University.