funder_partner: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

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USAID makes special visit to CIMMYT activities in Bangladesh

Written by on February 10, 2017. Posted in News.

Timothy Krupnik (right) explains the use and benefits of the Power Tiller Operated Seeder to USAID Deputy Administrator Gary Lindon (far left). Photo: Md. Aktarul Islam/CIMMYT-Bangladesh

JESSORE, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — USAID’s Deputy Administrator Gary Lindon visited Bangladesh in November 2016 to learn how the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) engages with partners to help smallholder farmers uptake sustainable agriculture practices, as well as to observe the private sector’s role in producing farm machinery that is faster, more environmentally friendly and affordable for smallholder farmers.

One example of sustainable, smallholder-friendly machinery being promoted by CIMMYT with national partners is the two-wheeled mechanical reaper, a tool that’s proven to save farmers time and money, and helps them cope with increasing labor scarcity in Bangladesh — a trend that has continued to rise as Bangladesh develops economically and more people leave rural areas for off-farm employment, according to Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT.

“Mechanical harvesting also allows farmers to more quickly clear the field and sow the next crop, which has yield advantages for planting crops like wheat,” said Krupnik.

Lindon also met with service providers — entrepreneurial farmers turned businessmen — who have purchased the two-wheeled mechanical reapers and are now offering their harvesting services to smallholder farmers at an affordable fee.

“The local service provision business model is key to unlocking agricultural and entrepreneurial capacity in rural Bangladesh,” said Kevin Robbins, director of programs at International Development Enterprises, one of CIMMYT’s partners in Bangladesh. “We’ve seen just over 1,000 local service providers provide agricultural machinery services to over 40,000 farmers — catalyzing a level of impact that would not have been possible if we had promoted a traditional model where every farmer buys his or her own machine.”

The deputy administrator of USAID and his attaché observe a rice and wheat crop harvester piloted by an entrepreneurial farmer turned businessman. Photo: Md. Aktarul Islam/CIMMYT-Bangladesh

Shafiqul Islam, CIMMYT’s Jessore hub coordinator, also explained that through mechanical harvesting, farmers save $48 per hectare, while service providers earn approximately $31 per hectare.

“In Bangladesh, private sector companies are working hard to promote agricultural machinery that develops the sector,” said Mohammad Jamil, managing director at Metal Pvt. Ltd., a leading private company in Bangladesh that sells reapers. “We want to do more business — the kind of business that changes the lives of farmers through increasing the sales of appropriate agricultural machinery. There’s a strong incentive for us to endorse the adoption of new technologies, which in turn increases food production, boosts farmer income and supports our economy. It’s a win-win business model and a sustainable way to develop our country.”

The team later visited lentil and maize fields that had been seeded directly with seeders, affordable machines that can attach directly to two-wheeled tractors, which are increasingly being used by farmers in Bangladesh. Farmers attending the USAID field visit commented that through the use of two-wheel tractor attachable seeders they can save $60 per hectare by avoiding recurring tillage and manual seeding costs.

“This machine also helps farmers to sow seeds on time, as recommended by agronomists, because direct sowing saves farmers’ 7-10 days compared to full tillage and manual sowing systems,” explained Islam.

CIMMYT launched the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) program in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asia’s cereal-based cropping systems. Through this program, CIMMYT is operating rural “innovation hubs” in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies, and to improve farmer access to market information and enterprise development. Learn more about CSISA’s impact here.

Crop sensors sharpen nitrogen management for wheat in Pakistan

Written by on January 27, 2017. Posted in News.

Wheat researcher with Green Seeker at Wheat Research Institute Sakrand, Sind Province, Pakistan. Photo: Sarfraz Ahmed

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Pakistani and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) scientists are working with wheat farmers to test and promote precision agriculture technology that allows the farmers to save money, maintain high yields and reduce the environmentally harmful overuse of nitrogen fertilizer.

Wheat is planted on more than 9 million hectares in Pakistan each year. Of this, 85 percent is grown under irrigation in farming systems that include several crops.

Farmers may apply nearly 190 kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare of wheat, placing a third of this when they sow and the remainder in one-to-several partial applications during the crop cycle. Often, the plants fail to take up and use all of the fertilizer applied. More precise management of crop nutrients could increase farmers’ profits by saving fertilizer with no loss of yield, as well as reducing the presence of excess nitrogen that turns into greenhouse gases.

Precision nutrient management means applying the right source of plant nutrients at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place. CIMMYT is working across the globe to create new technologies that are locally adapted to help farmers apply the most precise dosage of fertilizer possible at the right time, so it is taken up and used most effectively by the crop.

CIMMYT and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) have developed the application “urea calculator” for cell phones. In this process, a Green Seeker handheld crop sensor quickly assesses crop vigor and provides readings that are used by the urea calculator to furnish an optimal recommendation on the amount of nitrogen fertilizer the wheat crop needs.

National partners observe the Green Seeker at work at Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku, and Punjab, Pakistan. Photo: Abdul Khalique

Tests with the crop sensor/calculator combination on more than 35 farmer fields during 2016 in Pakistan results showed that 35 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare could be saved without any loss in grain yield. This technology is being evaluated and demonstrated in Pakistan as part of the CIMMYT-led Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), supported by the United States Agency for International Development in collaboration with Pakistan partners.

CIMMYT recently began work in four provinces of Pakistan, providing Green Seekers and training to AIP research, extension and private partners. Fifty-five specialists in all took part in training events held at the Wheat Research Institute Sakrand, Sind Province; the Rice Research Institute KSK, Punjab Province; and the Model Farm Service Center, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Training and new partnerships will help national partners to demonstrate and disseminate sustainable farming practices to wheat farmers throughout Pakistan.

Water-saving maize holds potential to boost farmer resilience to climate change in Pakistan

Written by on January 18, 2017. Posted in News.

Evaluating CIMMYT's white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT — Evaluating CIMMYT’s white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – New varieties of white maize in Pakistan have the potential to both quadruple savings of irrigation water and nearly double crop yields for farmers, thereby building food security and conserving badly needed water resources for the country.

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in Pakistan, which at a production rate of four tons per hectare, has one of the highest national yields in South Asia. Maize productivity in Pakistan has increased almost 75 percent from levels in the early 1990s due to the adoption and expansion of hybrid maize varieties. The crop is cultivated both in spring and autumn seasons and grows in all provinces throughout the country.

However, Pakistan is expected to be severely affected by climate change through increased flooding and drought, and is already one of the most water stressed countries in the world. If the country is to be able to meet future food demand, new maize varieties that can grow with less water under harsher conditions must be developed and adopted by farmers.

The Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – an area particularly reliant on white maize for food, unlike other parts of the country where yellow maize is predominantly used for animal feed – recently tested nine white maize varieties (hybrids and open-pollinated varieties) provided by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that demonstrated tolerance to water stress conditions.

Two of the early-maturing, open-pollinated varieties gave above average seed yields even though farmers irrigated the fields just twice, compared to the usual eight to ten times necessary with currently grown varieties. These varieties can also be harvested in less than 100 days and yield seven to 10 tons per hectare (ha) under good management practices – over twice the national average of four tons per ha – giving farmers time to grow another crop within the same season and produce nearly double the current national average yield.

Team of researchers evaluating CIMMYT's white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT — Team of researchers evaluating CIMMYT’s white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT

CCRI will distribute about 1000 kilograms of these seeds to about 100 farmers across the province in the coming autumn season, which farmers will be allowed to keep for subsequent seasons. These varieties will not only contribute to climate mitigation strategies but also help farmers adopt new, sustainable cropping systems. In addition to meeting food demand, these new varieties also can alleviate the scarcity of livestock feed in Pakistan, contributing to the country’s food and nutritional security.

The CIMMYT-led Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), which receives support from the United States Agency for International Development, is helping to bring affordable, climate resilient and water efficient maize options to market. Since the launch of the program in 2013, Pakistani researchers have identified more than 80 CIMMYT hybrids and open-pollinated varieties that are well adapted to the country’s diverse environments.

Learn more about how AIP is sustainably increasing agricultural productivity across Pakistan here.

Maize seed and training aim to reduce aid dependency in Haiti

Written by on December 6, 2016. Posted in News.

Bags of Hugo seed in storage in Haiti. CIMMYT/Alberto Chassaigne

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Haiti’s farmers are benefiting from improved maize seed as part of a project developed to help kick-start the local seed sector and reduce dependence on international aid and imports.

Half of the Haitian population lives on less than $1.25 a day, and half of their food is imported, leaving them vulnerable to food price rises. Haiti receives $20 million per year in food assistance from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) collaborations alone. Because of the lack of inputs, fragile infrastructure and soil erosion, most farming is subsistence in nature and kept in check by droughts and seasonal storms.

Until good-quality improved seed is available in Haiti, farmers will struggle to surpass yields of one ton per hectare, and most will settle for much less. “In order to be sustainable, you need seed systems and it needs to be a business,” said Arturo Silva, leader of the Haiti Mayi Plus project, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with funding from USAID.

Bringing back Hugo

A very popular quality protein maize variety was introduced to Haiti 10 years ago by CIMMYT researcher Hugo Cordova. Haitian farmers know it as “Hugo,” but after a decade without a functioning system to guarantee that varieties are reproduced with the same genetic characteristics, the seed found in Haitian markets is no longer worthy of the name. Currently, there are only two formally-registered private seed producers in Haiti.

CIMMYT’s first task is to restore Hugo to its former glory by providing four tons of basic seed to be scaled up into commercial seed for use in Haiti. Although Hurricane Matthew destroyed 1.5 tons of this store in October, the project is still on track to surpass targets due to success elsewhere.

Haitian trainees in Mexico. CIMMYT/Alberto Chassaigne

In February 2016, eight people from Haitian seed enterprises, rural development groups and the Ministry of Agriculture travelled to the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, for a training course in seed production.

The training was so successful that, with 30 kilograms of foundation seed provided by CIMMYT, nearly four tons of basic Hugo seed will be produced in Haiti. Additionally, trainees passed on their newly acquired knowledge to around 30 farmers with the potential to become seed producers themselves.

From just over one ton of basic Hugo seed planted it will be possible to produce 140 tons of commercial seed for farmers, enough to plant 7,000 hectares of farmland in the area targeted by the project in southwest Haiti.

The return of Hugo is a quick win as a variety that farmers already know and trust. If farmers in target areas combine the new seed with good planting practices and fertilizer, they should be able to double their yields, at the very least.

Towards maize self-sufficiency in Haiti

An agricultural transformation can only occur as other obstacles facing Haiti are overcome. For now, CIMMYT, building on the work of USAID with its partners, is showing how a local seed sector can quickly be developed.

“We can have an impact in Haiti, but our focus is for this impact to be that they have people well-trained in quality seed production with the criteria of cutting dependency,” said Alberto Chassaigne, CIMMYT specialist in maize seed systems.

CIMMYT is working with local centers for rural development (CRDDs) to determine farmers’ needs, raise awareness of farming practices and identify those with the potential to become seed producers. CIMMYT donated a small seeder to the University of Quisqueya in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and student trials are underway to investigate how to improve cropping intensity in farmers’ fields.

Hugo maize growing in Haiti. CIMMYT/Alberto Chassaigne

Looking to the future, studies are being conducted in Haiti to produce even better open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and high-yielding hybrids that will allow an emerging local seed sector to take maize farming in Haiti to another level. The specialized genetics of hybrid maize yield more than OPVs when well fertilized, but must be produced using special protocol. CIMMYT’s partners in Haiti will be instrumental in creating a cultural change among farmers to see the value in paying for better seed and inputs.

“I believe that if we can have an impact in Haiti, with all the challenges it faces, there is no other country in Mesoamerica that can say it can’t be done there too,” said Chassaigne. “I work with very proactive, dedicated people who want to help their country; without them we will not achieve anything.”

Three major commercial maize seed exporting countries in southern Africa found free from maize lethal necrosis

Written by on November 25, 2016. Posted in News.

brenda_2 — Maimouna Abass, a plant health inspector at Zambia Agriculture Research Institute collects leave samples to test for MCMV in a practical session during the MLN surveillance and diagnostic workshop held in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: D. Hodson/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – Three major commercial maize-growing and seed exporting countries in southern Africa were found to be so far free from the deadly maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease. MLN surveillance efforts undertaken by national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2016 have so far revealed no incidence of MLN, including the most important causative agent, maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV).

The three countries export an estimated 7,000 metric tons of maize seed to Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Swaziland and Tanzania for commercial cultivation by millions of smallholder farmers whose households rely on maize as a staple food.

MLN surveys were conducted as part of ongoing efforts through a project on MLN Diagnostics and Management, funded by U.S. Department for International Development (USAID) East Africa Mission, to strengthen the capacity of NPPOs on surveillance and diagnostics. A total of 12 officers were equipped with knowledge on modern sampling and diagnostics techniques to test plants and seed lots for MLN causing viruses; this was done through a training workshop held in Harare, Zimbabwe on March 3 and 4, 2016 facilitated by scientists working with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The NPPO teams from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe then undertook surveys of farmers’ and commercial maize seed production fields, including testing (through MCMV immunostrips) for possible presence of the virus.

“When CIMMYT called the first stakeholders awareness meeting we realised we needed to do this surveillance as soon as possible to ascertain MLN status in the country – and so the training was very important and extremely useful,” said Maimouna Abass, a plant health inspector at Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI). “The fact that we went to the field and successfully conducted the surveys using the MLN diagnostics and sampling techniques learnt was great.”

Abass and three colleagues who participated in the training, trained 10 other inspectors who took part in the surveillance work.

The results from farmers’ fields, commercial seed production fields and agri-seed dealers, showed negative results for the presence of MCMV and MLN. The MLN surveillance techniques and protocols used across all the three countries were similar, making it possible to effectively compare the results.

“The harmonization of the protocols, across the teams from Malawi and Zambia, was important for me, since this meant that the three countries were able to do the same surveillance using the same protocols and applying the same design across all the countries,” said Nhamo Mudada, chief research officer from the Plant Quarantine Station in Zimbabwe.

Participants recieve instructions from L.M Suresh, a maize pathologist at CIMMYT, during the MLN surveillance and diagnostic workshop. Photo: D.Hodson/CIMMYT

Although the MLN disease has not been detected in the southern Africa region, the risk of incidence still remains high through various means, including insect vectors, contaminated seed, and cross-border grain transfers. Therefore, continued caution and stringent surveillance, monitoring and diagnostic measures are required to prevent the possible incidence and spread of MLN into the non-endemic countries.

Further surveillance work will be conducted in 2017, so that each team can cover other targeted areas within their respective countries. MLN surveillance using harmonized protocols will also be undertaken in the MLN-endemic countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Through systematic surveillance efforts, NPPOs, seed companies and policymakers can clearly understand the prevalence of MLN in specific areas in an endemic country for targeted management. Also, seed companies will be able to target production of commercial seed in MLN-free areas.

As this work progresses, B. M. Prasanna, director of the CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE and CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program as well as Leader for the MLN Diagnostics and Management Project, emphasized the need to intensively deploy MLN-tolerant and resistant varieties, not only in the MLN-endemic countries in eastern Africa, but also in the non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We have about 22 new, high-yielding, MLN-tolerant or resistant hybridsthat are presently under national performance trials in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. We actively encourage seed companies operating in southern Africa to take up promising pre-commercial hybrids with MLN tolerance or resistance from CIMMYT, for release, scale up and deployment to the farmers,” Prasanna said. “Diagnostics and surveillance have to go hand in hand with deployment of new improved varieties that can effectively respond to the MLN challenge.”

In the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, seed companies have already released MLN-tolerant varieties. While one hybrid is already being commercialized in Uganda, three more are expected to reach farmers in Kenya and Tanzania from 2017.

“There is also now a very urgent need to deploy MLN resistant varieties in Rwanda and Ethiopia. We need to convey this message to the government and seed companies and work closely to get the seed of MLN resistant varieties to the farmers as soon as possible,” Prasanna added.

The MLN diagnostics and management project, which is funded by the U.S. Department for International Development (USAID), supports work aimed at preventing the spread of MCMV from MLN-endemic to non-endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. USAID also supports the commercial seed sector and phytosanitary systems in targeted countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), in the production of MCMV-free commercial seed, and promotes the use of clean hybrid seed by the farmers.

Drought- and heat-tolerant maize tackles climate change in southern Africa

Written by on November 16, 2016. Posted in Features.

Appollonia Marutsvaka and Alice Chipato of Zaka District in Zimbabwe. If widely adopted, drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties could help farmers cope with drought and heat stresses. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT — Appollonia Marutsvaka (left) and Alice Chipato of Zaka District in Zimbabwe. If widely adopted, drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties could help farmers cope with drought and heat stresses. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

HARARE (CIMMYT) — “We are no longer sure when to prepare the land for planting or when to start planting. It’s pretty much gambling with nature,” complains 62-year old Appollonia Marutsvaka of Zaka district, Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. “Most of the time the rains are not enough for crop production. If the situation persists, then most of us who have small farms will sink deeper into poverty, because we depend on agriculture for our livelihoods.”

Most farmers in Zaka argue that they only get one good harvest every five to six years. Changes in weather patterns have turned agriculture into a gamble with nature for smallholder farmers.

It is estimated that maize yields in Zimbabwe and South Africa’s Limpopo Province will decrease by approximately 20-50 percent between now and 2045. This predicted decline will pose a major problem, as maize is the region’s main staple food. Low yields in this region are largely associated with drought stress, low soil fertility, weeds, pests, diseases, low input availability, low input use, and inappropriate seeds.

After years of work on maize improvements projects, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), made a bigger commitment to researching, supporting and getting drought-tolerant maize into the hands of smallholder farmers. To date, with substantial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, drought-tolerant varieties have been delivered to three million farmers across Africa.

“Given the accumulating evidence of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to develop more climate resilient maize systems. Adaptation strategies to climate change in maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to include improved seeds with tolerance to drought and heat stress and improved management practices,” says Jill Cairns, CIMMYT senior maize physiologist.

Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT senior maize breeder, with new experimental hybrid maize on display at the Chiredzi Research Station, Zimbabwe. Scientists here have developed new heat- and drought-tolerant maize varieties. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

CIMMYT, together with partners under the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), developed drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties through its breeding program in sub-Saharan Africa.

Heat tolerance was not previously a trait in African breeding programs. CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)’s work highlighted the importance of heat tolerance in future climates, and in 2011 CIMMYT started breeding for this trait. During the past year, the El Niño induced drought has demonstrated the need for maize which is also heat-tolerant. If CIMMYT had not started working on these varieties in 2011, it would have taken until 2021 to have a drought and heat tolerant maize variety.

A recent media tour of Zaka and Chiredzi districts in Zimbabwe, where CIMMYT conducted regional on-farm variety trials for the new climate-proof seed varieties, revealed that the new drought- and heat-tolerant maize is an important way of combating climate-change induced food shortages. Research carried out by CIMMYT revealed that under experimental conditions, the new varieties doubled maize yields when compared to the yields of commercial varieties.

Smallholder farmer Marutsvaka, who participated in the on-farm variety trials, says: “In the past, I harvested nothing as my crops were literally burnt by the scorching heat. During the 2015-2016 growing season, I realized almost 200 kilograms of white grain.” One of the challenges of these new maize varieties is the time taken between testing and seed availability on the market. For example, some of these new maize varieties would only be on the market during the 2018-2019 agricultural season.

The 2014 African Agriculture Status Report states that the vital food producers face a risk of being overwhelmed by the pace and severity of climate change. The authors called for the adoption of climate-smart agriculture that will help make crops more resilient to future extreme weather events.

Appollonia Marutsvaka shows off her drought- and heat-tolerant maize cobs harvested through a CIMMYT project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

“For our farmers to be productive and ensure food security, we need to build resilience to help them mitigate the onset of climate change,” observed Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT senior maize breeder. “We are talking about a situation when the rain does not come at the right time or the length of the [growing] season is shortened as a result of drought and other stresses, such as heat.”

He added that helping small-scale farmers adopt climate-smart farming techniques would “prepare them for even more serious challenges in the future… this means we need both to adapt agriculture to climate change and to mitigate climate change itself.’’

However, getting a new strain of maize out of the research station is not the same as getting it to the fields. Creating a distribution chain in Africa has been a bigger challenge than inventing the product itself.

Gabriel Chiduku, a sales and marketing representative for Klein Karoo, a private seed company which introduced the CIMMYT developed seed of drought-tolerant varieties to Zaka farmers, told the farmers that the seed is readily available.

With the drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties, Zaka farmers are producing three tons per hectare of maize, up from less than a ton.

Combating spread of MLN in Africa poses unique but surmountable challenges, seed health specialist says

Written by on November 14, 2016. Posted in Features.

Anne Wangui, a seed health technician at CIMMYT demonstrate DAS–ELISA method used for detecting MLN-causing viruses. B.Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease poses a major concern to researchers, seed companies and farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of MLN is massive in the affected countries, especially at the household level for smallholder farmers who can experience up to 100 percent yield loss.

Concerted regional efforts through a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) over the past year have helped in prioritizing and targeting efforts to stop the spread of the disease from the endemic to the non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The project target countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda (currently MLN endemic), while Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are MLN non-endemic but important commercial maize seed producing countries where the project implemented extensive MLN surveillance efforts.

Determining exactly how the MLN causing viruses, which include maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and sugarcane mosaic virus, are transmitted in the field through insect-vectors, infected plants and seed lots, has made diagnosis a key element in the efforts to halt the spread of the disease. If the viruses, in particular MCMV, the major causative agent, are introduced into a new area through contaminated seed and infected plants and not diagnosed and destroyed immediately, MLN can spread rapidly. Insect vectors in the field can play a significant role in transmitting viruses to the neighboring healthy maize fields.

In order to manage MLN at a regional level, partners in the project are developing harmonized diagnostic protocols to test, detect and prevent its spread through available mitigation measures. These were highlighted during the MLN Diagnostics and Management Project Review and Planning Meeting held in October, 2016 in Nairobi.

Monica Mezzalama, head of the CIMMYT Seed Health Laboratory in Mexico and a plant pathologist, shared her views on MLN testing and diagnostic methods that can be adopted to test maize plants and seed lots in the following interview.

Q: What is the role of diagnostics in managing MLN in Africa?

A: The role of sensitive, reliable, reproducible, affordable and standardized diagnostic tools is fundamental to the management of MLN in Africa. Only with an appropriate diagnosis tool, we can effectively detect and prevent further dispersal of the disease to the non-endemic areas through seed.

Q: What is the progress for detecting MLN in seed lots?

A: At the moment, detection in seed lots is still a weak link in the MLN management chain, although detection methods are available, such as ELISA and several versions of PCR, which are serological and molecular based, respectively, for the detection of MLN viruses. Extracting the pathogen from seed is more difficult than extracting it from leaf tissue, making it more time consuming to obtain clear and reliable results. Additionally, scientists are on the verge of resolving the significant issue of “sampling intensity,” which refers to the proportion of the seed sampled from the presented seed lots.

Q: What are some of the practices CIMMYT has adopted to ensure MLN-free seed production across regional centers in Africa?

A: Since 2013, CIMMYT has implemented several effective measures to ensure healthy MLN-free seed production and exchange. An aggressive strategy against the disease has been adopted at the main maize breeding station at Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization in Kiboko, by introducing a maize-free period of two months annually on the station as well as in the surrounding areas in close interaction with the farming communities in the neighboring villages. All this was possible thanks to the great collaboration between KALRO staff, CIMMYT colleagues, and the local farmers. This action taken for two consecutive years reduced drastically the incidence of MLN infected plants. In addition, a very thoughtful sensitization campaign was carried out, explaining how to effectively apply insecticide to control vectors, how to avoid the spread of the pathogen from one field to another by advising workers to change their clothes and shoes after working in an infected field. Also, management of planting dates has been implemented to avoid peaks of vectors populations or physically avoiding the arrival of the insects by planting according to the wind stream direction. In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT has also invested significant resources by establishing an MLN Quarantine Facility at Mazowe, near Harare to enable safe exchange of MLN virus-free breeding materials in southern Africa.

Q: Based on your experience with various diagnostic tools, what options would work for Africa’s seed companies and regulatory agencies to help detect MLN-causing viruses?

A: For detection of MLN viruses in green leaf tissue, I think immunostrips, ELISA and PCR techniques work very well and they can be adopted according to the level of specialization of the operator, infrastructure and financial resources available. As far as detection in dry seed is concerned, I think that at the moment the ELISA technique is the most reliable and affordable. PCR methods are available, but still some improvement needs to be done in the extraction of the viral RNA from the seed matrix.

Q: What factors do the relevant actors need to consider in the process of harmonizing diagnostic protocols across MLN-endemic and non-endemic countries?

A: Harmonization of protocols and procedures are needed not only for MLN, but also for effective design and implementation of phytosanitary aspects related to the exchange of commercial seed and vegetative material across borders. Unfortunately, it is not an easy task because of the number of actors involved, including national plant protection organizations, seed companies, seed traders, farmers, and policy makers. Nevertheless, the most important factors that, in my opinion, should be taken into consideration for consensus on harmonized protocols and where the efforts should focus on are: avoid the spread of the disease from country to country, and from the endemic to non-endemic areas within the same country; implement a well-coordinated and integrated package of practices for effective management of MLN in the endemic countries; reduce as much as possible economic losses due to the restriction on seed exchange; implement serious and effective seed testing and field inspections of the seed multiplication plots to prevent the incidence of MLN and for timely detection and elimination of infected plants.

View Meeting presentations here

MLN Pathogen Diagnosis, MLN-free Seed Production and Safe Exchange to Non-Endemic Countries Brochure

Visit the MLN website for more information

The CIMMYT-led MLN Diagnostics and Management Project, funded by USAID East Africa Mission is coordinating the above work with objectives to: a) prevent the spread of MLN, especially Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus (MCMV), from the MLN-endemic countries in eastern Africa to non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa; b) support the commercial seed sector in the MLN-endemic countries in producing MCMV-free commercial seed and promote the use of clean hybrid seed by the farmers; and c) to establish and operate a MLN Phytosanitary Community of Practice in Africa, for sharing of learning, MLN diagnostic and surveillance protocols, and best management practices for MLN control in Africa.

National maize stem borer mass rearing laboratory inaugurated in Pakistan

Written by on October 30, 2016. Posted in News.

Islamabad (CIMMYT) — CIMMYT, in partnership with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), inaugurated the first national maize stem borer (Chilo partellus) mass rearing laboratory at the National Agricultural Research Center in Islamabad on 25 October 2016.

Unveiling the inaugural plaque of the first national maize stem borer mass rearing laboratory in Pakistan. Photo: CIMMYT

Maize stem borer (Chilo partellus) is a destructive insect pest of maize in Pakistan. Yield losses because of this pest are estimated to reach 10-40% and in some severe incidences up to 60% losses have been reported. Application of insecticides is one of the practices mostly used by resource-rich farmers. However, cash-trapped small scale farmers have to face the yield losses unless they apply cultural practices which vary from place to place. The other alternative, perhaps the better option, is the use of tolerant varieties. Maize germplasms that have inherent resistance/tolerance to maize stem borer not only save farmers money from the lower use of pesticides, but also help to have a greener agriculture by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Ribbon cutting ceremony by Nadeem Amjad, acting Chairman of PARC. Photo: CIMMYT

Identification of host-plant resistance in maize is part of the commissioned projects under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan. Under AIP, stem borer resistance maize varieties sourced from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are being screened to identify the varieties best adapted to Pakistan’s maize growing ecology.

Habib Iqbal, maize entomologist, explaining about the maize stem borer mass rearing facility. Photo: CIMMYT

To accelerate this screening process, it was necessary to have a stem borer mass rearing facility where larvae could be produced in mass and thereafter released in maize varieties as a form of artificial infestation. “Until recently, it was not possible to conduct such activities in Pakistan due to the non-availability of such a facility. Thanks to the collaboration of PARC and CIMMYT and the generous support from USAID, we are now officially opening the first stem borer mass rearing laboratory in Pakistan,” said M. Imtiaz, CIMMYT’s Country Representative and AIP Project Leader, during his inaugural speech.

Opening address by Md. Imtiaz, CIMMYT’s country representative in Pakistan. Photo: CIMMYT

Nadeem Amjad, acting Chairman of PARC, said: “During the last couple of years, we have seen very promising results under the AIP maize program. The introduction of high yielding climate resilient maize germplasm, the distribution of protein enriched maize seeds to farmers, testing of pro-vitamin A and zinc enriched maize hybrids and the introduction of biotic stress tolerant maize varieties are among the unique interventions which were not well addressed by Pakistan’s maize sector for long.” During his concluding remarks, Amjad also added that the inauguration of the laboratory will further cement PARC’s decade’s long collaborations with CIMMYT. He thanked CIMMYT and USAID for their generous support.

Nadeem Amjad, acting chairman of PARC, delivering his closing speech. Photo: CIMMYT

The field screening under artificial infestation is showing encouraging results where some entries show more than 90% survival rate by resisting the pest attack. “We need to document the results and further check in upcoming seasons to confirm these preliminary results so that tolerant germplasm can be available to end users in the shortest time possible,” says AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT’s Maize Improvement and Seed Systems Specialist. The inauguration ceremony was attended by scientists and stakeholders from the public and private sector and USAID. During the inauguration, it was announced that the national laboratory will serve as a training and research center for students and researchers from the public and private sector of Pakistan.

Pakistani farmers adopt new and improved agronomic techniques

Written by on October 11, 2016. Posted in News.

Participants in AIP Agronomy’s 2016 meeting at held at the Islamabad Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CIMMYT) — “I believe that crop management technologies can only be transferred to farmers with the active involvement of public, private sector and farmers,” said Nadeem Amjad, Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) at the inaugural session of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) Agronomy’s annual meeting held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 2-3 August 2016. He acknowledged the efforts of CIMMYT and its national partners in developing and disseminating crop management techniques to the country’s farming community.

The meeting was jointly organized by CIMMYT and PARC under USAID’s AIP for Pakistan. Agriculture professionals belonging to 23 national partner institutions shared progress on AIP’s agronomy activities, and discussed implementation-related issues and future activities. The inaugural session was attended by 60 agriculture professionals from various provincial and federal research institutes, agriculture extension services, universities, private companies and international research centers, who are involved in agronomy research and in disseminating conservation agriculture (CA) technologies among the farming community under AIP.

Inaugural session of the meeting. From left to right: Imtiaz Hussain, Ahmed Bakhsh, Nadeem Amjad and Imtiaz Muhammad. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC

On this occasion, PARC Member Ahmed Bakhsh Mahar welcomed meeting participants and said the meeting was a forum where all stakeholders could review AIP’s progress, discuss issues and future plans, and share their experiences.

CIMMYT Country Representative and AIP Project Leader Imtiaz Muhammad informed participants that 23 national public and private sector partners are collaborating on disseminating crop management practices in 42 districts of the country under USAID-funded AIP for Pakistan. CIMMYT is also collaborating with agricultural machinery manufacturers to locally produce new planters that have already been tested in the country.

Imtiaz Hussain, Cropping System Agronomist, apprised the participants that conservation agriculture techniques such as zero-tillage wheat, ridge planting of wheat; new seeders like the zero-till Happy Seeders, push row planters, multicrop zero-till planters and nutrient management techniques have been disseminated to more than 7500 Pakistani farmers through 1000 on-farm demonstrations, 22 training courses and 78 farmer days. AIP Agronomy also facilitated training of 131 staff members of partner institutions and helped train more than 800 farmers and support staff in the project area.

Azeem Khan presiding the concluding session of the AIP Agronomy meeting in Islamabad. Photo: Mushtaq Ahmed/PARC

After successfully evaluating them, CIMMYT initiated local production of the zero-tillage Happy Seeder for wheat planting on combine harvested rice fields in Punjab, a multicrop planter for direct seeding rice and a push row planter for planting maize. As part of the collaboration with local machine manufacturers, Greenland Engineers and Petal Seeds provided 32 multicrop zero-till planters and 30 push row planters, respectively, to farmers in the project area. CIMMYT, in collaboration with national partners, has also focused on evaluating site-specific nutrient management techniques, such as a leaf color chart in rice and the handheld Green Seeker sensor for nitrogen management in wheat.

National partners agreed that AIP would focus on building the capacity of farmers and service providers in improved technologies, providing the Green Seeker to national partners, and manufacturing and disseminating new seeders like the lightweight Happy Seeder and push row planter.

When closing the AIP Agronomy annual meeting, NARC DG Muhammad Azeem Khan said that crop productivity in Pakistan can be improved significantly by focusing on crop management. He also stressed that efforts should focus more on training service providers and on providing implements for CA sustainability. He proposed developing a database on the adoption of CA techniques in the country and establishing CA working group.

Rebuilding farmer livelihoods in earthquake-hit Nepal

Written by on October 7, 2016. Posted in News.

An Earthquake Recovery Support Program beneficiary operates the lightweight and versatile mini-tiller, which is easier and more cost-effective than using bullocks to plough fields. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT

KATHMANDU, Nepal – The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)’s Earthquake Recovery Support Program has helped more than 40,000 farmers in earthquake-hit areas of Nepal for over a year.

Since the program’s beginning in June 2015 a suite of agricultural assets including mini-tillers and other farm machines, seed and grain storage facilities, agricultural hand tools, technical training and agronomy support have been implemented through its completion this September. Beneficiaries came from across eight of the most risk-prone affected districts in Nepal.

Last year’s earthquake seriously undermined Nepal’s food security with losses estimated at more than $280 million in the agriculture sector alone. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s population relies on agriculture for their livelihood, which has made it even tougher for farmers affected by the earthquake. The quakes destroyed grain and seed stockpiles, killed and injured livestock, wrecked tools and implements and collapsed regional irrigation and agricultural markets’ infrastructure.

While the program’s monitoring and evaluation activities are still underway, initial estimated impacts show the storage bags and cocoons distributed are expected to save about 2,700 tons of grain and seed. In addition, agricultural hand tools have helped sustainable agriculture take hold, and agronomy guides have provided information on new production technologies and management practices. Distributed mini-tillers can also cover 700 hectares of land, reducing drudgery for women in particular due to their light weight. Mechanics trained by the program also ensure mini-tillers will be repaired and available locally, which encourages continued demand for the machines.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, observes a mini-tiller in operation during his visit in March this year to Nuwakot, one of the districts benefitting from the Earthquake Recovery Support Program in Nepal. Photo: A. Rai/CIMMYT — CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, observes a mini-tiller in operation during his visit in March this year to Nuwakot, one of the districts benefiting from the Earthquake Recovery Support Program in Nepal. Photo: A. Rai/CIMMYT

Subarna Bhandari, one of the recipients from Sindhupalchowk district, operated his mini-tiller for a total of 120 hours, earning approximately $540 within 3 months. The combined 8 machines that were distributed in his area would therefore help the recipients earn over $4,000. Another beneficiary previously needed three pairs of bullocks for two rounds of plowing at a cost of roughly $60. Thanks to the mini-tiller, the same activity now only costs $14.

“Keeping cattle for farm labor is costly and tedious because they need feed and fodder throughout the year, even when they are not in use,” says Mitra Shrestha, a farmer from Nuwakot district. “However, the mini-tiller needs fuel only when it is being used. In one hour the machine can cultivate an area that would require a pair of cattle to work an entire day,” she adds.

Shrestha uses the surplus time she can now spare for vegetable farming and other household chores. “In fact, I now also use the mini-tiller for land preparation of potatoes, since it can till deeper and make ridges.”

Beyond the earthquake program, CSISA is moving some of its activities into these districts so that it can build upon the momentum created around scale-appropriate mechanization over the last year. The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project, led by CIMMYT, also works in the earthquake zone.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is a CIMMYT-led regional initiative funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Earthquake Recovery Support Program is Supported by USAID and implemented in cooperation with Nepal’s Ministry of Agricultural Development.

CIMMYT Participates in the Sixth African Green Revolution Forum

Written by on September 27, 2016. Posted in News.

Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT — Tsedeke Abate (left), project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) team led by Director General Martin Kropff joined 1700 delegates from around the globe who participated in the sixth African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) that brought together heads of state and government ministries, development partners, farmer organizations, private sector representatives, eminent thinkers, researchers, and finance and investment leaders.

Titled Seize the moment! Securing Africa’s rise through agricultural transformation, the forum focused on increasing investment in African smallholders to maximize the economic opportunities in Africa’s agricultural sector and bring about a much needed transformation.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program, together with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), hosted a side event focusing on SIMLESA’s work on sustainable intensification practices and its implications for policymakers. Over 30 participants took part in this event.

Martin Kropff taking part in the ‘big debate’ session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

After receiving a brief from John Dixon, principal adviser for research at ACIAR, SIMLESA project leader Mulugetta Mekuria and a host of other presenters and participants agreed that the challenge of rising population and dwindling land resources makes farming system production practices, such as sustainable agricultural practices that help reduce environmental risks to crop production, a viable option for African farmers.

Mekuria singled out successes of SIMLESA that show that farmers’ food production, profitability and livelihoods as well as family nutrition have improved as a result of the diversity of food crops grown in these farming systems. He called on governments, policymakers and the private sector to institutionalize and include sustainable agricultural intensification in national agricultural development policy to achieve the much needed agricultural transformation.

Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA, makes a presentation focusing on SIMLESA’s work. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

A session that focused on harnessing Africa’s potential to create competitive grain value chains benefited from the participation of Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa. He noted that, despite the availability of improved maize varieties in Africa, 49 percent of maize varieties planted by smallholders are obsolete, yet remain popular in Africa’s seed value chain. Abate emphasized the importance of replacing these with new, improved stress tolerant maize varieties to strengthen smallholders’ food systems.

“Solutions for Africa’s problems are within farmers’ reach. It is therefore important for governments and the private sector to implement holistic workable models that will favor smallholders, like availability of improved varieties, inputs and resources, fertilizers, technology, support programs, sufficient extension to farmers,” said Abate.

Another session on the best way to achieve agricultural transformation featured Kropff alongside former President of the Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete; Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of YARA; Joseph DeVries, Chief of Agricultural Transformation at AGRA; and Sheila Sisulu, Former Deputy Director of WFP and Africa Food Prize Committee member.

B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT — B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (2nd from left), on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

Kropff explained that the key to unlocking smallholders’ potential is to enable them to access improved varieties, innovative technology and mechanization that will save farmers’ time and boost their capacity to maximize production and reduce food waste, which is rampant in Africa. “As the region faces increasing challenges from climate change, rapidly growing urban populations, and an urgent need for jobs, agriculture offers solutions, providing a clear path to food and nutritional security and employment opportunities for all Africans,” Kropff noted.

With the right policies and investments in place, lives of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers could be transformed, putting all African countries on the path to sustainable agricultural transformation, concluded Kropff.

Emphasized throughout the forum was the challenge of building on available opportunities to secure investments that will improve lives of smallholders. The good news is that AGRF culminated with commitments of over USD 30 billion to transform African agriculture.

Heat-tolerant maize offers new opportunities to rice farmers in South India

Written by on September 14, 2016. Posted in News.

The gathering of farmers in the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur

KARNATAKA, India (CIMMYT) — Maize has emerged as a preferred choice for farmers in Karnataka, India, as it can be grown with less than a third amount of water needed for traditionally planted rice and has the potential to maintain farm profitability at par or better.

However, maize is prone to heat stress during its reproductive phase in spring, as temperatures peak in March and April. Because of this and the fact maize is a fully-irrigated crop, water availability is a challenge during this dry period.

Water-efficient and heat-tolerant maize hybrids are a great way for farmers in Karnataka to farm sustainably and maintain their livelihoods during this season. To put these varieties in the hands of farmers, the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Raichur, India joined the collaborative research project Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA).

After three years, the first generation of heat-tolerant hybrids were developed, and suitable hybrids for Karnataka farmers were identified by UAS, Raichur. CIMMYT licenced the selected hybrids to the university for deployment and scale-out in 2015.

Inauguration of the Field day by B.V. Patil, Director of Education at UAS, Raichur. Photo: UAS, Raichur

In order to get farmer input and feedback on these heat-tolerant hybrids, a field day was organized in Karnataka in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka’s Department of Agriculture.

The field day was attended by over 100 farmers, including both women and men, as well as participants from local seed companies, state agriculture department officials and officials from UAS, Raichur.

Director of Education and Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur B.V. Patil inaugurated the event urging farmers to diversify rice-rice systems into more sustainable and profitable rice-maize systems, which is possible with the availability of heat-resilient maize hybrids. He elaborated that UAS, Raichur in collaboration with CIMMYT-Asia, Hyderabad have developed new heat-resilient maize hybrids with wide adaptability and are suitable for cultivation in this region.

Joint Director of Agriculture, Chetana Patil talks to farmers during the field day. Photo: UAS, Raichur

Joint Director of Agriculture Chetana Patil also advised the farmers about other benefits of adopting rice-maize systems, such as- improved soil health, reducing weed seed back etc. apart from water saving and improved farm economy. V.N. Kulkarni, Vice President of research and development at J.K. Agri-Genteics Ltd., Hyderabad participated in the field day along with his maize research team and selected promising hybrids for deployment. S.N. Vasudevan, Head of the Agri-business incubation centre also visited the demonstration site along with his staff to assess the potential of the heat stress resilient maize hybrids under heat stress conditions. Other two seed companies, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd, Hyderabad and Mahyco Seeds Ltd, Jalna, Maharastra have expressed their interest in new heat stress resilient hybrids and wanted to take-up these hybrids for large scale testing followed by marketing in stress-prone ecologies.

Also attending the field day were Principal Investigator of HTMA Prakash Kuchanur; S.N. Vasudevan, Head of the Agri-business incubation center at UAS, Raichur; and Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd., Hyderabad and Mahyco Seeds Ltd., two seed companies who showed interest in purchasing the hybrids for large-scale testing and marketing in stress-prone ecologies.

Lead by CIMMYT and supported by USAID, the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia project (HTMA) aims at improving income and food security of smallholder maize farmers living in climate-vulnerable regions through accelerated development and deployment of heat-resilient maize hybrids.

Push row planters manufactured and distributed locally among smallholder maize farmers in Pakistan

Written by on September 5, 2016. Posted in News.

Ameer Sani, a local manufacturer, produces push row planters in his workshop in Mardan. Photo: CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD — Last year, the CIMMYT-Nepal office helped to introduce push row planters for small maize farmers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP) in Pakistan. After a successful evaluation of these planters on more than 50 farmer fields in the districts of Nowshera, Mardan and Peshawar, CIMMYT collaborated this year with the Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) and Petal Seed, a local seed company, for the local production of these planters.

In KP, maize is planted on 0.42 million hectares, and more than 60,000 farmers plant hybrid maize through traditional methods like broadcast and line sowing. These traditional methods are less precise – a lot of seed is wasted – and very labor intensive.

Push row planters have a vertical seed metering system that helps to place the maize seed at a proper plant-to-plant distance. They can also apply fertilizer and seed in one operation in tilled fields, thus saving labor costs, reducing planting time, and improving plant population and maize productivity.

Farmers with push row maize planters in Mardan. Photo: CIMMYT

The push row planters are manufactured and distributed locally on a cost sharing basis. Ameer Sani, a local manufacturer, assembles the planters in his workshop in Takht Bhai, in the district of Mardan. Farmers were satisfied with the performance of these locally manufactured planters, and on 21 July, 30 push row planters were distributed among smallholder maize farmers from the KP province during a farmer gathering in Mardan.

On this occasion, Iqbal Hussain, Director General of Agriculture Extension Services in KP, appreciated the efforts of USAID and CIMMYT, and advised the farmers that sharing the push row planters for maize planting would help to maximize benefits among the farming community in the village. Dr. Muhammad Imtiaz, Project Leader of the Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP), told the farmers that AIP would support the distribution of another 100 planters among KP farmers.

Raham Dil, a farmer from the village of Per Sadi in the district of Maran, not only used the planter on his own farm, but also offered it to 40 fellow farmers in his village and the surrounding areas, which resulted in more than 200 acres of maize planting.

CIMMYT Maize hybrids ranked first and third in nation-wide trials in India

Written by on September 2, 2016. Posted in News.

Farmers and seed company personnel observing RCRMH-2 in an on-farm demonstration during the spring season in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, India. Photo: UAS, Raichur

RAICHUR, India (CIMMYT) — Two hybrids from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) developed under the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project were ranked first and third among over 100 hybrids during the 2015 All-India Coordinated Maize Program (AICMP) trials. The trials took place during the summer-rainy season (commonly known as the “Kharif” season) – the major maize growing season in South Asia – which covered about 70 percent of South Asia’s total maize area.

AICMP, managed by the Institute of Maize Research in New Delhi, is one of the largest maize variety testing networks in South Asia. New maize hybrids from both the public and private sector are evaluated in over 30 locations across India’s different ecologies.

The two hybrids RCRMH-1 and RCRMH-2 – were submitted by the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Raichur, one of the key partners with CIMMYT in developing heat tolerant maize varieties in the region. The hybrids showed good performance by performing well across agro-ecologies, including stressed and un-stressed locations, competing well against both public and private sector varieties tested in the AICMP trials.

CIMMYT seeks to develop maize varieties that are tolerant to a range of stresses that South Asia experiences. For example, heat resilience is necessary in a region which experiences temperatures of over 40⁰C in the spring season, right when the crop needs to reproduce. The summer-rainy season in South Asia brings monsoon rains. However, in drought years (such as year 2015) the temperature may rise close to 40⁰C, and therefore maize crops face combined drought and heat stress. The selection strategy used by HTMA focuses on developing broad temperature resilience rather than tolerance to heat stress by exposing the hybrids across temperature regimes during selection process, which explains the success of the two hybrids in the AICMP trials. The performance of CIMMYT hybrids in these trials clearly indicate that the hybrids have wider adaptation to many stresses including areas with no stresses.

These two hybrids are among the first 18 hybrids licensed to CIMMYT partners for deployment and scale-out in stress-prone ecologies of South Asia.

University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur, India is one of the collaborators in CIMMYT’s Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative HTMA is a public-private alliance that targets resource-poor maize farming communities in South Asia who face weather extremes and climate change effects.

CIMMYT and partners set the pace in maize and wheat research in Africa

Written by on July 27, 2016. Posted in News.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The recent inauguration of a new seed storage cold room at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) research center at Kiboko in Makueni County, about 155 kilometers from the capital, adds to the top notch research establishments managed by the national partners in Africa together with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This successful partnership continues to help farmers overcome crippling challenges in farming and to realize the yield potential of improved varieties.

Since its establishment in Africa, over 40 years ago, CIMMYT has prioritized high quality research work in state-of-the-art research facilities developed through long-standing partnerships with national research organizations, such as KALRO.

“If CIMMYT were to be established today, it would be headquartered in Africa because this is where smallholder farmers face the biggest challenges. At the same time, this is the place where outstanding work is being done to help the farmers rise above the challenges, and with great success,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT Director General during his recent visit to Kenya.

The cold room jointly inaugurated by Kropff, and KALRO Director General, Eliud Kireger will help store high value maize seeds with an array of traits including resilience to diseases, insect-pests and climatic stresses as drought and heat, for up to 10 years, without the need for seed regeneration every year, thereby avoiding risk of contamination and use of scarce resources. It will also help make seed readily available for distribution to national partners and seed companies to reach the farmers much faster.

Kireger conveyed his appreciation for the cold room and other research facilities established on KALRO sites, terming these achievements as “rewarding not just to KALRO and to the seed companies, but to many smallholders in Africa, who continue to be the inspiration behind every effort put into maize research and development work by KALRO and partners like CIMMYT.”

In addition to the seed storage cold room, Africa hosts the maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease screening facility in sub-Saharan Africa. The MLN screening facility was established in 2013 at KALRO Naivasha Center in Kenya in response to the outbreak of the devastating MLN disease in eastern Africa. The facility since then has supported both the private and public institutions to screen maize germplasm for MLN under artificial inoculation and in identifying MLN tolerant/resistant lines and hybrids.

Did you know? •Over 60,000 entries have been tested at the MLN screening site in Naivasha, Kenya since 2013. • 16 private and public institutions including seed companies and national research organizations have screened their germplasm for MLN. — *Combating MLN:*
• Over 60,000 entries have been tested at the MLN screening site in Naivasha, Kenya since 2013.
• 16 private and public institutions including seed companies and national research organizations have screened their germplasm for MLN. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

“The MLN screening facility (also a quarantine site) has been supporting the national partners in sub-Saharan Africa, key multinational, local and regional seed companies and CGIAR centers. This facility has become a major resource in the fight against MLN regionally,” added B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program as well as the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. “Tremendous progress has been made through this facility in the last three years. Several promising maize lines with tolerance and resistance to MLN have been identified, and used in breeding programs to develop improved maize hybrids. Already five MLN-tolerant hybrids have been released and now being scaled-up by seed companies for reaching the MLN-affected farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. As many as 22 MLN-tolerant and resistant hybrids are presently undergoing national performance trials in east Africa,” remarked Prasanna.

Another major focus of CIMMYT and partners in the region is to prevent the spread of MLN from the endemic to non-endemic countries in Africa. “This is a strong message to convey that we not only work hard to develop MLN resistant maize varieties for the farmers, but we are also very keen to control the spread of the disease” remarked Kropff during a visit to the site.

In Zimbabwe, an MLN quarantine facility has been established in 2016, in collaboration with the government. This facility is key for safe transfer of research materials, including those with MLN resistance into the currently MLN non-endemic countries in southern Africa, before they get to the partners.

In order to keep up with the emerging stresses and to accelerate development of improved maize varieties, the maize Doubled-Haploid (DH) facility was established in 2013 by CIMMYT and KALRO at the KALRO research center in Kiboko. This facility helps the breeders to significantly shorten the process of developing maize parental lines from 7–8 seasons (using conventional breeding) to just 2–3 seasons.

Over 92,000 Doubled-Haploid (DH) maize lines have been developed from CIMMYT bi-parental crosses. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

“Through the facility at Kiboko, we have been able to develop over 60,000 DH lines in 2015 from diverse genetic backgrounds. The DH facility also supports the national agricultural research organisations and small and medium enterprise partners in sub-Saharan Africa to fast-track their breeding work through DH lines,” said Prasanna.

For wheat research-for-development work in Africa, the largest stem rust phenotyping platform in the world sits at KALRO research center in Njoro, Kenya. The facility screens at least 50,000 wheat accessions annually from 20-25 countries. Following the emergence of the Ug99 wheat rust disease pathogen strain in Uganda, the disease spread to 13 countries in Africa. Close to 65 wheat varieties that are resistant to Ug99 stem rust disease have been released globally as a result of the shuttle breeding that includes selection from the screening site at KALRO Njoro.

“CIMMYT’s yearly investment of USD 37 million in Africa through various projects has translated into a success story because of the strong collaboration with our partners across Africa,” said Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT’s Regional Representative for Africa. He further added that “research work in Africa is not yet done. No institution, including CIMMYT, cannot do this important work alone. We need to, and will, keep on working together with partners to improve the livelihoods of the African smallholders.”

CIMMYT DG Martin Kropff studying an MLN affected plant. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

Key funders of CIMMYT work in Africa include, the USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Sygenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Australian Centre for International Research, CGIAR Research Program on Maize, Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada.