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Maize forum at El Batán

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During 13-14 January, a maize forum was held at CIMMYT-El Batán with participation of principal actors in Mexico’s maize production, marketing, and processing chain, as well as the research sector. This event was one of the training activities carried out by the SAGARPA-CIMMYT maize, wheat, and conservation agriculture research project.

The forum, coordinated by Petr Kosina, knowledge, information, and training manager, and Natalia Palacios, maize nutrition quality expert, brought together more than 40 specialists from each sector, including those from livestock industries. Participants gave a general overview of maize production systems (marginal, intermediate, and commercial), the restrictions they face, and opportunities for improvement.

The use of maize diversity, training, and dissemination of conservation agriculture practices, along with development of drought tolerant and disease resistant maize were some of the topics discussed. To ensure an impact from these technologies, technology transfer programs need to be revised and strengthened, and training and support to farmers needs to be continuously provided, not only in crop management and the use of new germplasm, but also in the area of agribusiness.

“In Mexico we continue to manage maize as a single product, without paying attention to its real importance in the domestic market,” said Raúl Navarro, Director General of Bufete Profesional de Servicios a Agroindustrias, S.A. de C.V. “The farmer needs to be taught to be more business-minded and more aware of what the market requires.”

The industrial sector put forth proposals such as opportunities for producing and marketing yellow and forage maize for the livestock sector, and the development of value-added maize such as certified organic maize and nutritionally enhanced maize. The sector also emphasized the need to think in terms of consumer demand and agreed that one of the biggest restrictions for maize production in the country is access to seed. Public policies and the commitment of actors in the sector need to be revised in order to identify new ways of ensuring seed production and distribution.

“We are aware of CIMMYT’s importance, not only at the national level, but worldwide; therefore, I think the contributions and results coming out of this forum are very relevant and should reach people in both the government and private sectors,” Navarro said.

Conclusions from the forum will be summarized and sent to SAGARPA and forum participants. The four main presentations given were as follows: “Factors affecting sustainable maize production in Mexico,” by Noel Gómez of the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP); “Opportunities for contract agriculture in maize in Mexico,” by Raúl Navarro; “Factors determining the acceptability of Mexican maize by the livestock sector,” by Rosario Tovar, INIFAP and Navarro; and, “Factors determining the acceptability of Mexican maize by the food industry,” by Guillermo Arteaga, Grupo Maseca.

Wheat: our daily bread

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El Batán hosted two wheat events in December 2009 to support a collaborative research agreement between the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) and CIMMYT, which was signed in October 2009. Both events were coordinated by Roberto J. Peña, head of wheat grain quality, Global Wheat Program, and Petr Kosina, manager, Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building.  The first event, a workshop titled “Main stakeholders in the wheat production, marketing, and processing chain,” took place on 03-04 December and attracted nearly 40 experts from the three wheat sectors (production, marketing, and processing). The goals of the workshop were to 1) identify common problems  faced by farmers, industrialists, and end users; 2) set priorities for the three sectors; and 3) make commitments to solve the identified problems.

Overall, they agreed that there is poor communication among the different sectors of the wheat chain and that the CIMMYT-hosted workshop was a step toward fixing this problem. Other major issues discussed included: biotic stresses, diseases, and rusts; the availability of appropriate varieties; adequate technology packages for high yield and quality; management practices; training for scientists and for farmers; and the need for better communication between farmers-producers-industry. Eduardo Villaseñor Mir, coordinator of  Small Grain Cereals from Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP), said it was positive that the workshop brought multiple sectors together. “In the past, the presence of the industry has been sporadic and poorly attended. Fortunately, in this forum representatives of the main Mexican industries were present,” he said. “For the first time we were able to know what the industry really thinks of needs. A conclusion from the forum was that the wheat produced locally is perfectly useful for diverse industrial processes.”

This was one of the first times that farmers and industrialists have discussed as equals issues related to wheat. At the end of the workshop, all agreed that coordinated and responsible teamwork is the best way to achieve a successful wheat chain. Discussion outcomes will be   published in a proceedings, accompanied by audiovisual resources, and made available to participants, SAGARPA, and other institutions and agencies.

The following week, from 07-10 December 2009, 17 wheat breeders and agronomists discussed wheat quality   in a course organized by Peña that covered the genetic, chemical, and biochemical bases of wheat quality, along with laboratory demonstrations of the   necessary tools and approaches to select for quality in a breeding program. The course also highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary and coordinated breeding work for high yields, disease resistance, and good quality.

CA gives farmers new strategies for coping with change

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The auditorium at El Batán was filled with caps and hats on 09 October, when a group of 32 farmers and technicians from the states of Hidalgo and Mexico visited CIMMYT. The visit was organized as a result of farmer interest in CA and their desire for more information on pest management in maize.

Jacobo Montiel Villalbán, a farmer from Soyaniquilpan in the State of Mexico, produces barley and alfalfa in addition to maize and last week was his second visit to CIMMYT; his first was to the Toluca experiment station. “Today I’m with a different group, but we all agree that what CIMMYT does gives us better options to continue farming; otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible…,” he said.

Most of the visiting farmers were subsistence maize producers, facing various problems that depended upon their locality. On average, they have practiced CA for one or two years and, given the beneficial changes they have experienced in both their fields and their livelihoods, they are interested in learning more about the uses of CA and how to deal with related issues. Since some of the farmers already maintain CA modules on their land as part of CIMMYT’s CA hub for maize in Mexico’s central highlands, when their maize leaves became covered with spots, they were able to ask their partnering Asgrow and Dekalb technicians for more information on pest management. The technicians, who are trained by CIMMYT’s CA specialists, then asked for the center’s support in organizing a visit for these farmers. Also involved in the CA hub are private sector enterprises, machine shops, seed companies (such as Asgrow and Dekalb), and public sector organizations such as SAGARPA, INIFAP, and CIMMYT.

“In Ixmiquilpan [Hidalgo], CA has the potential to help farmers because it incorporates organic matter (residue retention) into the soil, which softens and improves its texture; organic matter is also a good pH regulator. This is my third visit to CIMMYT, but today I learned something new about machinery,” commented agronomist and technician Juan Antonio Sánchez Zamora. Two CA program members presented during the event: Andrea Chocobar spoke about general CIMMYT activities and Ricardo Romero presented on CA. Leocadio Martínez, Global Maize Program, gave presentations on the pests that attack maize and how to diagnose and control them in the field. Participants were also given a manual to help identify field pest infestations in a timely manner.

Though the visiting farmers mentioned diverse problems—such as saline soils, pests, compacted soil, and yield losses—at the end of the visit after they had observed the long-term trials that serve as a training platform; listened to El Batán field superintendent and agronomist Francisco Magallanes describe sowing methods and machinery they use; and saw for themselves the effects of CA application; the visitors agreed that the solution is change. As farmer Montiel explained, “Our fields change, they’re never the same from year to year. So the solution is to change—that is, if our fields change, we farmers have to change as well.”

Mexico launches special CIMMYT research fund in Borlaug’s honor

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In an august and simple ceremony at the offices of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) on 09 October 2009, Minister Francisco Mayorga Castañeda paid distinctive homage to hunger fighter and former CIMMYT wheat breeder, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, signing with Thomas A. Lumpkin an agreement for a special “Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Research Fund.” Intended to support applied agricultural research and technology transfer projects, the Fund is being launched with a USD 1 million contribution from Mexico.

Mayorga Castañeda said that Borlaug always gave special credit to the people and farmers of Yaqui Valley, state of Sonora, Mexico, and that Borlaug cited this location, where he worked with a team of Mexican researchers to develop high-yielding, disease resistant semidwarf wheats, as the cradle of the Green Revolution. “We will always recognize the Titanic labor of a man who, above all, sought to promote peace by ensuring food for all mankind,” said Mayorga Castañeda.

“This fund represents a first step toward Mexico returning to the leading role it played in the 1960s,” said Lumpkin, “when it made valuable contributions to fighting the hunger that affected millions on our planet.” Additional information is available at staging.cimmyt.org.

Scientists uncover DNA sequence of key wheat disease resistance gene

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A global team of researchers that includes CIMMYT scientists has uncovered the molecular basis of a “wonder” gene that, in tandem with other resistance genes, has helped protect wheat from three deadly fungal diseases for more than 50 years, providing farmers benefits in excess of USD five billion in harvests saved.

Since the 1970s farmers have used wheat varieties that are resistant to leaf rust, a major fungal crop disease. Without these rust-resistant varieties, wheat farmers would have lost USD 5.36 billion in harvests. [Economics Program Paper 04-01] Now, a study in this month’s issue of the renowned Science journal has reported the sequencing of Lr34—a key gene underlying this “durable” resistance in wheat to leaf rust and to two other major diseases of the crop: stripe rust and powdery mildew. Until now, no one knew much about Lr34‘s physiological action. Uncovering its DNA sequence allowed the scientists to understand how the gene works.

“Combined with other minor-action genes, Lr34 does occasionally permit the pathogen to colonize and grow on the plant,” says Ravi Singh, CIMMYT wheat geneticist/pathologist and co-author of the Science report, “but it causes the disease to develop so slowly that yield losses are negligible. Lr34 has proven so useful that it’s been bred into wheat cultivars sown on more than 26 million hectares in various developing countries.”

Researchers from the University of Zurich and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia (CSIRO) worked with Singh and co-author Julio Huerta-Espino, a rust scientist from Mexico’s national agricultural research institute, INIFAP, to sequence Lr34 and conduct combined molecular and field tests to uncover the gene’s resistance action. Among other things, they found that it behaves in a way unique from so-called “major” resistance genes.

The Lr34 gene encodes an adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) binding cassette transporter, according to CSIRO scientist Evans Lagudah, also a co-author on the Science report. ATP is a multifunctional “nucleotide”—a type of molecule that comprises the structure of DNA. It typically transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. “In mammals, for example, ATP binding cassette transporters underlie resistance to chemo-therapeutic drugs in cancer treatment, where the transporters can pump out the drugs from the cancer cells,” says Lagudah. “In plants, certain transporters can inhibit or reduce pathogen colonization in infected tissues.”

Science in a deadly “arms race” against rust

In early research to breed rust-resistant wheat lines, scientists depended heavily on resistance genes showing “major” action; that is, completely blocking the entry or development of specific races of the rust fungus. This approach resulted in varieties that would yield well for some years—there was no predicting how long—but which would eventually fall to new, more virulent rust strains. “The major genes typically include a protein that ‘recognizes’ a protein in the pathogen, triggering the resistance reaction,” says Singh. “But with even a minute mutation in that pathogen protein, the resistance gene would no longer ‘detect’ an infection, no plant defense would be triggered, and the pathogen would thus regain virulence.”

Because of this, the wheat fields where farmers have sown varieties protected only by major resistance genes can be hit with sudden, potentially disastrous rust epidemics, as occurred in a large wheat-growing area in northern Mexico in the late 1970s. “The government and research organizations of the time were forced to undertake an expensive, military-like operation to quickly import and apply enough fungicide to avoid a total crop failure,” says Huerta-Espino.

To address such breakdowns in resistance, CIMMYT adopted a breeding strategy that entailed searching among diverse sources for resistance genes which, like Lr34, have small, additive effects that work across rust races. Researchers then would breed several such genes into high-yielding wheat varieties, according to Singh. “When CIMMYT wheat breeder Sanjaya Rajaram first implemented this strategy, it sounded good in theory, but there was no guarantee it would work,” says Singh. “The decision seems obvious now, but back then it was so risky that few breeding programs were willing to undertake it.”

The upshot for breeders

In addition to elucidating Lr34‘s cell-level action, the benefits of the new study include the development of a precise DNA marker for Lr34‘s presence in wheat varieties. This tool will allow breeders to manipulate the gene better in crosses or, according to Singh, focus on slow-rusting genes from other sources. “There are genes that appear to behave similarly to Lr34, but are different and are located elsewhere on the chromosome,” he says. “Because Lr34 is so common in our breeding materials, it’s hard to isolate these other genes. With the new marker, we can select against Lr34 to develop experimental wheat lines from which we’re sure it’s absent.” The lines can then be used in research on other slow-rusting genes and perhaps to create a wholly distinct type of resistance

Singh says CIMMYT is involved in additional work on other slow-rusting genes, similar to that reported in Science. “Collaboration is crucial in such studies,” he says. “No single group can handle the required lab and field work on its own.” He also hopes the Science report will prompt other groups to analyze slow-rusting genes, instead of the more-easily-studied major race-specific genes: “With demand going up and rising grain prices, and higher temperatures possibly favoring the emergence of new pathogen strains in developing country cropping areas, farmers need all the help they can get from research on disease resistance in staple cereals.”

Seed production course at El Batán

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As part of a project conducted by CIMMYT, the USDA and Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry, SAGARPA, 40 researchers, extension agents, and maize specialists participated in a training course on seed production technologies at El Batán. Among the participants were researchers from Mexican federal, state, and local research institutions, and from ARIs such as ICAMEX, INIFAP, CP, among others, as well as from small local seed companies and farmer groups.

The course was coordinated by Silverio García, Hugo Córdova and Gary Atlin from CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program.

“The high costs of maize seed and complex end-uses of maize are two factors that hinder the adoption of improved varieties in Mexico’s central highlands,” said Atlin. “Therefore, it is important that participants in this production chain, particularly farmer groups and small businesses, become familiar with methods that lower costs without sacrificing quality.” Other course subjects included agronomic and storage practices, pest management, seed production site selection, and participative production.

Atlin said that, as a follow-up to this training course, farmer visits are being planned to trials on improved varieties and landraces with special traits at 30 locations, in collaboration with INIFAP, SEDAGRO, ICAMEX, CP, small businesses, and farmer groups. These activities will allow researchers to become familiar with farmers’ preferences and, at the same time, gather data on agronomic performance and grain quality, compare the advantages of improved varieties versus landraces, and select landraces for large-scale production.

Mexican wheat farmers sign national agreement

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Representatives from national wheat farmers’ committees all signed a national agreement for wheat provisioning on 23 July 2008 at the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) facilities. The Secretary of Agriculture, Alberto Cárdenas, and a representative from the Economic Ministry also signed the agreement as witnesses.

This agreement confirms farmers’ willingness to reorganize and manage wheat production in Mexico, with the objective of increasing production and producing wheat that meets market demands.

During their speeches, Cárdenas and José Manuel Hernández López, a non-governmental representative from the National Committee for Wheat Production, stressed the importance of research and products developed by CIMMYT for the advancement of producers of basic foodstuffs in Mexico.

After the signing ceremony, Cárdenas along with others headed a tour of SAGARPA’s esplanade and learned about CIMMYT’s work in conservation agriculture through Fernando Delgado, Toluca Station Superintendent. Roberto Javier Peña, Head of the El Batán Cereal Quality Laboratory, also spoke to Cárdenas about wheat improvement and CIMMYT’s partnership with the Mexican Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP). María Teresa Rodríguez, Program Coordinator, Global Wheat Program, set up and ran CIMMYT’s display, along with Delgado and Peña.

The tour ended at INIFAP’s stand, which showed various modern wheat varieties, the majority of which originated from wheat germplasm developed by CIMMYT.

International nurseries shop revamped

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Every year, CIMMYT’s Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit (SIDU) ships more than 1,000 sets of seed for international wheat trials and 300 sets of maize to collaborators in over 100 countries. Seed to be shipped must undergo rigorous selection, cleaning, treatment, and packaging by SIDU-seed preparation personnel. A consignment for 36 tons of seed from Mexicali for trials for the 2009 cycle arrived on Tuesday 1 July 2008.

Before preparing the shipment, in June, Antonio Luna, David González, Andrés Guerrero, and four temporary workers performed maintenance on the seed-preparation facilities. “We wanted to renovate the appearance of our workplace, so we can be more comfortable working there, while taking into account the phytosanitary requirement of the facilities for proper seed handling,” said González. His program bought the paint and some other material and he and his co-workers painted the walls, the floor stands, and the seed treatment machines in the warehouse. “It took us took weeks to paint the floor stands because we used oil-based paint to avoid having toxic fumes, and we had to take them apart, move them to La Redonda, and paint them there. All the ceiling lights were also changed,” says González. On 27 June, personnel from the Mexican Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA) of Texcoco inspected the warehouse of 99 m2 to check that it had been properly washed with bleach.

Workshop on Mexico-USDA project: boosting farm productivity in the State of Mexico

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Farmers in the State of Mexico, which borders the country’s capital, Mexico City—a potential market of nearly 20 million inhabitants— have struggled to make a profit growing maize. The state accounts for 10% of the national maize production, but improved varieties occupy no more than 10-15% of its maize area. Nearly all (97%) of the maize they produce is white grained and of varieties ideal for local foods but that don’t meet quality requirements for largescale, commercial tortilla production nor fit demand for feed or industrial uses.

As part of a project launched in 2007 between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Mexican Agriculture Secretariat (Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación, or SAGARPA), CIMMYT is working with counterparts in the State of Mexico to increase the productivity and profitability of maize farming. The focus is on value-added white and colored maize for food, but partly in response to rising interest from farmers since the biofuels boom, participants are developing, testing, and promoting yellow grain maize suited for feed and industrial markets. To plan those and other activities, to assemble a database of maize varieties—both improved and landrace—grown in the State, and to build the team, 11 maize scientists gathered for a workshop at El Batán during 19-21 February 2008.

Participants came from the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP), Mexico State’s Institute of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, and Forestry Research and Training (ICAMEX), the Colegio de Postgraduados (a graduate-level agricultural research and learning institution), and CIMMYT. They were introduced to CROPSTAT, a software package for analyzing multi-location trial data, by CIMMYT maize breeder and project leader Gary Atlin, and discussed ways to foster farmer participation in trials.

“We’ll be doing three types of trials in 2008,” says Silverio García, CIMMYT maize researcher working on the project. “One involves experimental varieties that are crosses between improved and local materials, another is an evaluation of pre-commercial varieties in 20 or more environments in the State, and the last comprise on-farm demonstrations of commercially available white and yellow hybrids, to get farmers’ feedback.” Former CIMMYT maize breeder and distinguished scientist, Hugo Cordova, is serving as a consultant to the project.

Special mention for CIMMYT wheat poster

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A poster on a CIMMYT-led project to establish a system for assessing wheat grain quality in the main wheat-producing areas of Mexico received special mention at the 1st Latin American International Conference on Cereals and Cereal Products Quality and Safety in Rosario, Argentina, 23 September 2007. CIMMYT is partnering with several federal and Mexican state-level organizations (INIFAP, SIAP, SAGARPA and CONASIST-CONATRIGO) and the private sector (GRANOTEC) to determine the varieties cultivated and the quality of wheat grain lots from commercial fields in the North West and the Central Highlands of Mexico.

The two-year project, funded by COFUPROSAGARPA- CONACYT, aims to assess which varieties are being cultivated and what new and improved wheat varieties should be planted to better suit local markets. The poster describes how CIMMYT and partners conducted the analysis of grain from commercial fields in the country’s major wheat lands, to provide potential users with a clear idea of its quality. “The use of old varieties and inappropriate crop management are the main factors influencing crop quality variability,” says Javier Peña, who is head of CIMMYT’s cereal quality laboratory and leader in the project. “With a crop quality assessment system, we will know which varieties to improve for manufacturers of wheat-based products.”

Mexico’s Agriculture Minister flies to CIMMYT, fortifies partnership

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The whirling blades of the official helicopter in which he arrived foretold something of the pace and intensity of CIMMYT’s tour for Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), at El Batán on 01 August 2007.

After a quick introduction to CIMMYT from Masa Iwanaga, the Minister and his entourage, which included coordinator of international affairs and long-time CIMMYT partner, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, visited superb field and lab presentations prepared by Kevin Pixley, Julio Huerta, Bram Govaerts, Suketoshi Taba, Mónica Mezzalama, Marilyn Warburton, and Natalia Palacios. They were accompanied among others by CIMMYT Trustees Julio Berdegué and Pedro Brajcich and a select group of 33 representatives of Mexico’s print, radio, and TV media, who interviewed Masa and Cárdenas in a 20-minute press conference following the tour. The busy day ended with closed-door chats with CIMMYT directors and administrators on research and non-science issues, and a late lunch in the Guest House.

Major Mexican media outlets posted at least a dozen stories on CIMMYT the following day (see the Intranet Informa for links to the reports). In a follow-up message thanking staff for their efforts, Masa said the visit had exceeded his expectations. Cárdenas seemed greatly to enjoy the tour and interactions with CIMMYT staff and praised the Center in several public statements during the day, at one point calling CIMMYT “…a jewel of humanity.”

He called on the Center to collaborate with Mexico on diverse fronts, including the development and dissemination of yellow maize hybrids, conservation agriculture, biotechnology, and addressing climate change in agriculture. “We realize that technology is a road we must travel with greater precision and efficacy, that it constitutes a tool which, in the case of Mexico, we should use to improve the lives of the 25 million Mexicans who live in rural areas.”

USDA visits CIMMYT

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Michael Yost, Administrator, of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) paid a brief visit to CIMMYT El Batán on Saturday, 24 March. He was accompanied by Suzanne Heinen the Agricultural Minister-Counselor of the Foreign Agriculture Service at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and Erich Kuss the Senior Agricultural Attache at the Embassy.

After an introduction to CIMMYT given by Peter Ninnes, the group toured both the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center and the Applied Biotechnology Center (ABC). During the ABC visit Marilyn Warburton talked about the support role the lab plays in important CIMMYT research projects as well as the new research that comes out of the lab itself. She also highlighted the limitations imposed by the age of some of the equipment.

The visit was arranged by Victor Villalobos the General Coordinator for International Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mexico (SAGARPA).

Chile’s Minister of Agriculture visits CIMMYT

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The Minister of Agriculture of Chile, Alvaro Rojas Marín, spent Friday morning, 23 March 2007, touring CIMMYT’s germplasm bank and the biotech lab and talking with Masa Iwanaga, Director General. He was accompanied by ministry staff, the Agricultural Counselor of the Chilean Embassy in Mexico, Oscar Troncoso Muñoz, the president of the Chilean Exporters Association, and Fernando Valderrábano Pesquera, Subdirector for International Affairs of Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, SAGARPA. Among other topics, Rojas and Masa discussed Chile’s success in commercial agriculture and how that country’s farm sector model might hold relevance for other Latin American nations seeking opportunities in globalized markets.

Mexican authorities monitor seed health at CIMMYT

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On August 9 and 10 the Seed Health Laboratory received an inspection from the Direction General of the Phytosanitary Office (dependence of SAGARPA). This is a yearly routine for the lab, which operates under Mexican regulations for laboratories that apply quarantine procedures on imported seed and conduct seed testing to obtain the International Phytosanitary Certificate for exported seed.

In a few days, the Mexican Phytosanitary Office will report officially to CIMMYT regarding outcomes of this inspection. However, I feel safe to say that, despite a few tough moments, the two inspectors found no serious examples of non-compliance and had no objections about our quarantine procedure. Therefore I would like to thank the seed health laboratory staff who helped me on this occasion and all those who carefully and correctly labeled the introduced materials being grown in the field. ISO accreditation is progressing, but these routine inspections are additional.

Farmers discuss nitrogen sensor technology

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About 75 people, including farmers, technical advisers, representatives of farmers Unions, academics, government officials, (SAGARPA State vice-representative, and Chair of the Phytosanitary Authority Local Board), and the media attended a special event with CIMMYT scientist Ivan Ortiz Monasterio and research assistant Dolores Vázquez in Ciudad Obregon this week. The meeting, organized by the Asociación de Organismos Agrícolas del Sur de Sonora (AOASS), the umbrella institution for farmers unions, was held to discuss the results of this season’s trials of nitrogen sensor technology to optimize fertilizer applications. For the second year a group of wheat farmers in the Yaqui valley worked with CIMMYT to test the technology.

The infrared sensor, combined with computer software in a handheld computer, can give farmers an indication of how much fertilizer to apply. Optimizing the nitrogen fertilizer application can benefit the farmer by reducing costs and benefit the environment by reducing fertilizer runoff. This is one example of partnerships with Stanford University of studies on environmental impacts of agriculture in the Yaqui Valley. The demonstration data showed that during the 2005-2006 crop cycle, the average per hectare income from seven participating farmer’s fields was US $50 higher with the use of the sensor compared to traditional fertilizer practices.

All three farmers that talked about the technology at the meeting said they supported its use. Much of the sensor to work has been done in collaboration with Oklahoma State University. Several newspapers and television stations covered the event, including Sonora State’s main newspaper, El Imparcial. After the presentations, AOASS announced that they will support the necessary activities to spread the use of this technology more widely by farmers and they asked CIMMYT to prepare a proposal on how to do this.