funder_partner: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

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Expanding for faster and wider deployment of heat-tolerant hybrids in South Asia

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

Caption: Chetana Patil, Joint Director of Agriculture (left), discusses the strength of new heat-tolerant maize hybrids with farmers. Photo: UAS, Raichur

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — Launched by CIMMYT in January 2013 in collaboration of five public sector institutions and three seed companies from four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan), the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project is a public-private partnership that targets resource-poor maize farmers in South Asia who face weather extremes and climate change effects.

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, HTMA receives significant contributions from various partner institutions and companies. As a result of meticulously planned research on fast-track development and deployment of heat tolerant maize hybrids in South Asia, within three years the first 18 heat resilient hybrids were licensed to HTMA partners for deployment and scale-out. The project’s outputs attracted the attention of other players in the region, especially private seed companies, who expressed their interest in becoming a part of HTMA. A total of 12 new partners (five seed companies each from Bangladesh and Pakistan and two from Nepal) formally joined the project. They participated for the first time in the project’s annual review and planning meeting jointly organized by the Nepal Agricultural Research Program (NARC) and CIMMYT in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 25-26 July 2016.

Executive Director Yamraj Pandey, NARC, Nepal, chaired the inaugural session of the fourth annual review and planning meeting. In his opening remarks, Pandey emphasized the importance of stress resilient maize hybrids for coping with climate change effects and highlighted the remarkable progress HTMA has made in such a short period, giving farmers in stress-prone maize growing Asian environments much-needed heat tolerant hybrids. B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and of CRP-MAIZE, gave an overview of the new CGIAR research program on Maize Agri-food Systems, its focus and priorities, and highlighted the importance of stress-resilient maize for improving food security and livelihoods, especially in regions vulnerable to climate change, such as the Asian tropics.

Hailu Tefera, Agricultural Resource Specialist, Bureau for Food Security, USAID, gave an update on the FTF initiative and highlighted its priorities, which include reducing poverty and malnutrition in children in target countries through accelerated inclusive agricultural growth and a high-quality diet. He also informed meeting participants that on 7 July 2016, the US Congress passed the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), which will make FTF into law. Senior CIMMYT maize physiologist and HTMA project leader P.H. Zaidi shared the latest progress made under HTMA including the identification of genomic regions for key heat tolerant traits, development of improved heat tolerant populations using genomic selection, testing of new hybrid combinations, identification of promising hybrids, and the latest capacity development efforts.

At a series of technical sessions, project objective leaders, including Mitch Tuinstra, Purdue University professor, Sudha Nair, CIMMYT molecular maize breeder, and M.T. Vinayan, CIMMYT maize stress specialist for South Asia, presented the latest research results in each objective. HTMA leaders from public and private sector partners presented results of HTMA trials conducted at their locations/countries, and shared a list of top-ranking, best-bet heat-tolerant maize hybrids that will be subjected to large-scale testing and then deployed. They also described efforts aimed at disseminating HTMA hybrids through on-farm demonstrations and farmer-participatory selection of final products.. Most impressive was that each partner has identified a second batch of promising hybrids suitable for their target markets/agro-ecologies.

Caption: HTMA team at 4th annual review and planning meeting during 25-26 July, 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: CIMMYT — Caption: HTMA team at 4th annual review and planning meeting during 25-26 July, 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: UAS, Raichur

The project started a unique initiative aimed at developing hybrids using elite maize lines from Pioneer and HTMA. Kamal Pandey from Pioneer highlighted the performance of CIMMYT x Pioneer hybrids, which revealed the significant heterosis between CIMMYT and Pioneer maize germplasm, and should help identify promising joint hybrids suitable for stress-prone ecologies of South Asia. Zaidi and Tuinstra jointly presented HTMA’s progress on capacity development and provided updates on student research projects, including nine Ph.D. and six M.Sc. students, plus a total of 10 workshops/training courses organized so far on subjects such as precision phenotyping, molecular breeding, data management and seed systems. A total 303 participants have been trained, including researchers from public sector institutions and seed companies in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

The meeting was attended by over 50 program leaders, scientists and representatives from collaborating institutions in South Asia, including BARI (Bangladesh), Nepal’s National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Pakistan’s Maize and Millet Research Institute, Bhutan’s national maize program, and two of India’s state agricultural universities. Also in attendance were partner seed companies in the region, including Pioneer Hi-Bred, Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds (India), and new seed company partners including Sean Seeds and Hariyali Community Seeds (Nepal); Jullundhar Pvt. Ltd., Kanzo Quality Seeds, CKD Seeds & Fertilizers, Hisell Seeds, and Zamindara Seeds (Pakistan); and Lalteer Seeds, Krishibid, BRAC, ACI Ltd., and Supreme Seeds (Bangladesh). International institutions such as Purdue University, USAID and CIMMYT also participated in the event.

The project’s progress and updates were critically reviewed by the project steering committee (PSC) headed by Prasanna, who expressed great satisfaction with its overall progress and achievements. Speaking for USAID, Hailu Tefera said they are highly impressed with HTMA’s progress and consider it a model public-private partnership. Other PSC members also expressed their satisfaction and agreed that the HTMA team deserves special appreciation for the remarkable progress they have achieved within just four years.

Drought-tolerant maize a boon to farmers in Zambia hit by El Niño

Written by on July 8, 2016. Posted in Features.

“With consistently impressive harvests thanks to DT maize varieties, I’m always assured that my family will have enough food, and I can earn a decent income from selling some grain," said Piri, a smallholder farmer in Petauke District, Zambia. Photo: CIMMYT/Rodney Lunduka. — “With consistently impressive harvests thanks to DT maize varieties, I’m always assured that my family will have enough food, and I can earn a decent income from selling some grain,” said Piri, a smallholder farmer in Petauke District, Zambia. Photo: CIMMYT/Rodney Lunduka.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – Drought-related challenges in Africa call for proactive interventions rather than reactive ones. Every so often a drought hits, jolting the development community into action, and leading to the delivery of food aid to millions of people facing starvation — beneficial efforts in the short term, but futile for achieving lasting change.

The need for sustainable strategies that guarantee households remain food secure even when natural disasters strike is widely recognized throughout the international agriculture-for-development community and supported by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

CIMMYT plays a significant role in supporting these efforts in Africa by developing drought-tolerant (DT) maize and wheat seeds that give smallholder farmers long-term solutions to recurring drought. Drought-tolerant maize varieties are scaled out through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project.

The drought that has gripped much of southern Africa during the 2015/2016 agricultural season due to a disruptive El Niño went on record as the worst in 50 years, affecting an estimated 40 million people. While Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe declared the drought a national disaster, Zambia managed to meet its national maize production average, thanks largely to smallholder farmers, who plant roughly 51% of the total cultivated land in the country.

As in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in Zambia rain performance determines crop performance; however, despite the late and erratic rains in 2015-2016, smallholder farmers have reason to smile. This good fortune is evident in Petauke district in Zambia’s Eastern Province, roughly 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital Lusaka, where granaries are packed to the brim thanks to the bountiful maize harvest.

At the recommendation of a fellow farmer, 36-year-old Miriam Piri, a mother of six, started planting a DT maize variety in 2013 under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project. Realizing she was getting a bigger yield from the DT variety than a local one, Miriam continued to plant it.

“I grow DT maize variety PAN53 on roughly two hectares of land, and for the last three years my yields have been impressive,” said Piri. “I was a little anxious about my harvest because of poor rains, but I got the highest yield ever in three years!”

For its ability to thrive in both dry and wet conditions, and in low- to mid-altitude regions, PAN 53 is easily one of the most popular DT varieties in Zambia. In addition to its impressive yields, farmers enjoy the hybrid’s flint-type grain, which makes for easier and quicker pounding, and its densely packed cobs, which add up to more grain. PAN 53 is also resistant to leaf blight, gray leaf spot and ear rot.

Every season Piri plants 40 kilograms (90 pounds) of PAN 53, from which she harvested 45 50-kg bags in 2013. This was followed by yields of 35, 50 and 70 bags in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“Going forward, I will plant both local and drought-tolerant varieties for my family’s consumption and sale, respectively. I sell the DT maize exclusively to the government and wholesalers, so I get a fair price. With this income, I can focus on other projects,” Mwanza said. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

PAN 53 is produced and distributed by Pannar, the largest independent seed group in South Africa, and one of the largest seed suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa. Pannar has the third largest market share in Zambia.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, Zambia is expected to substantially exceed national requirements this consumption year given its maize production of 2.87 million metric tons (MT) in 2016, combined with an estimated maize carryover stock of approximately 667,500 MT.

A few doors down from Piri is 66-year-old Piri Mwanza, who also plants DT maize. For Mwanza, planting a DT maize hybrid at the onset of this year’s drought was a risk he was willing to take. Throughout 44 years as a farmer, he knew only the local maize variety until an agro-dealer convinced him to try something new. He invested $37 to buy 20 kilograms of DT maize seed and fertilizer for his one-hectare farm. Despite poor rains, he harvested 55 bags of maize compared to 40 bags the previous year with the local variety.

“I’m impressed with my harvest, and will continue investing in DT maize even when the season gets better and the rains normalize,” said Mwanza.

Planting drought-tolerant varieties has proven to be a sustainable strategy for improving food security. Continuous efforts by CIMMYT’s DTMASS project to promote the benefits of improved varieties will go a long way toward convincing smallholder farmers to adopt them.

Emergency seed project brings relief to drought-affected farmers in Ethiopia

Written by on July 6, 2016. Posted in Features.

ADDIS ABABA — As Ethiopia struggles with its worst drought in 50 years, farmers pin their hopes on seed delivered through emergency seed projects.

“The situation last year was so bad that we could only laugh or cry,” said Rameto Tefo, a smallholder farmer from Tsiaroa district in central Ethiopia. “We were highly affected by the drought and we are now reliant on the assistance of the government and organizations such as CIMMYT. Without the seed provided to us from CIMMYT through the emergency seed project, I would have had to beg from my neighbors or just plant grain and hope that it germinated.”

Rameto Tefo lost his entire harvest to drought last year. Without the maize seed provided through the emergency seed project, he said he would have had to beg his neighbors to provide food for his two wives and eight children. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

Tefo would have had a difficult time begging for seed from his neighbors; the drought in this district was so severe that most farmers lost all their harvest. Furthermore, the effects of the strongest El Niño on record continued from 2015 into 2016 and the short belg rains that normally fall during March and April were erratic and scarce. By late April, the ground was once again dry and cracked, but the day before we visited Tsiaroa in early May, torrential rain had washed away roads and flooded houses and fields. No one knew whether this was late belg rains, or the start of the main rainy season, which would normally not occur until June.

In this district alone, 67 villages were affected by drought last year and produced little or no harvest. This meant that farmers were unable to save seed for planting this season, and also lacked the income to purchase seed. According to Bekele Abeyo, CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) senior wheat breeder/pathologist for sub-Saharan Africa, immediate large-scale support is critical to ensure that the food shortages encountered during 2016 do not balloon into a future crisis for Ethiopia. Abeyo is currently leading the emergency seed project being implemented by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Ethiopian government with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The project’s primary partner, Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Under this project, 50 tons of maize seed are being supplied to Tsiaroa district – enough for each of 4,000 farmers to plant 0.5 ha with improved, drought resistant maize.

In contrast to normal rain patterns, heavy rainfall fell in central Ethiopia in early May, between the usual short (March-April) and main (June-September) rainy seasons. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

“We are optimistic that the high quality maize varieties provided through the emergency seed project will help ensure the future food security of this region,” said Dagne Wegary, CIMMYT maize breeder and maize seed coordinator for the emergency seed project. “Thanks to the long-established network of CIMMYT experts, government development agents, and district focal people, we are able to provide a complete package of improved seed and agronomy advice.”

Boti Decheso helps Demetu Edao carry maize seed received through the emergency seed project back to their farms. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

Nearby Zewai Dugda district was also severely affected by the drought, and now has more than 20,000 farmers in need of emergency seed assistance. CIMMYT is working alongside the government and other organizations to provide seed to 4,400 farmers under the emergency seed project.

It’s a complex logistical task to ensure that the correct farmers receive the right amount of seed, but storekeeper Embete Habesha in Zewai Dugda has everything under control. Farmers may request one of four varieties of drought-tolerant maize (three hybrids and one open-pollinated variety). Habesha is responsible for collecting information and fingerprint signatures from the farmers who receive seed. They are optimistic that – with normal growing conditions – they will be able to achieve yields of up to 4.4 tons/hectare.

Demetu Edao was one of the farmers scheduled to receive seed on the day we visited. She has a 1-ha plot in the village of Ubobracha where she grows teff and wheat, in addition to maize, and she uses the income to pay the school fees for her six children. Edao said she is grateful not only for the seed, but also for the assistance and agronomy advice she receives from government development agents and agriculture experts. Her neighbor and fellow farmer, Boti Decheso, joked that while he looks young, he feels old with the pressure of providing for a wife and two young children. Decheso hopes to use this seed to produce a successful harvest and save some seed for next year, while also ensuring his family has enough to eat. Any surplus maize will be sold so that the family can purchase some livestock and diversify its livelihood as a buffer against future financial and environmental shocks.

Through the emergency seed project implemented by CIMMYT, more than 226,000 households will benefit from the provision of maize, wheat, and sorghum seed. “We hope that this provision of emergency seed will enable Ethiopian smallholder farmers to quickly recover from the devastating drought of 2015,” said Abeyo. “Our unique and strong links with the Ethiopian government, the formal seed sector, farmers’ cooperatives, and partners such as ATA have allowed CIMMYT to quickly respond to farmers’ needs and provide more than 2,700 tons of seed to help ensure Ethiopia’s future food security.”

In Zewai Dugda, storekeeper Embete Habesha discusses her store records with Tadele Asfaw, CIMMYT-Ethiopia program management officer and member of the Seed Procurement Committee for the emergency seed project funded by USAID. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

Building a sustainable future: A history of conservation agriculture in southern Africa

Written by on June 23, 2016. Posted in News.

This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) — When practiced unsustainably, agriculture has led to environmental degradation and famine, which have plagued civilizations through the centuries. Innovations such as irrigation or the plow (since circa 6,000 and 3,000 BC) increased productivity, but often deteriorated long-term soil fertility through erosion and other forms of degradation.

We are now facing historically unprecedented challenges to food security. We must increase food production by 70 percent to feed nine billion people by 2050, without damaging our finite and often already degraded natural resource base. In addition, farmers face more frequent drought and water scarcity, which makes it increasingly difficult to grow crops, and extreme weather events such as the 2015-2016 El Niño, which has already caused large-scale crop failures and soaring maize prices in southern Africa.

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation are helping farmers combat growing environmental challenges by maintaining and boosting yields, while protecting the environment and increasing profits for smallholders globally. When CA practices are coupled with water-use efficient and drought tolerant varieties, the benefits are even greater.

Drought is increasingly common in Malawi, leaving an estimated three million people in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance this year alone. However, a fortunate few will escape hunger, including more than 400 farmers and their families in Balaka, southern Malawi, who have been practicing CA over the last 12 years. "Few farmers have livestock in Balaka, so crop residues can be kept on the fields instead of feeding them to cattle," according to Thierfelder, who says Malawi presents a good case for conservation agriculture. CIMMYT and its strategic development partner Total LandCare have helped more than 65,000 farmers adopt CA systems throughout the entire country. Above, SIMLESA lead farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize ears on her farm in Tembwe, Salima District, Malawi. Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT — Drought is increasingly common in Malawi, leaving an estimated 3 million people in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance this year alone. However, more than 400 farmers and their families in Balaka, southern Malawi, who have been practicing CA over the last 12 years will escape hunger. CIMMYT and its partner Total LandCare have helped more than 65,000 farmers adopt CA systems throughout the entire country. Above, SIMLESA lead farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize ears on her farm in Tembwe, Salima District, Malawi. Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT

“CA approaches can mean the difference between farmers being able to feed their families or having to starve,” says Christian Thierfelder, senior cropping systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), regarding the recent El Niño – the strongest on record – in southern Africa. To date, approximately 10 million people in southern Africa are dependent on food aid and an estimated 50 million people are projected to be affected, pushing them to the brink of starvation.

Sustainable intensification of agricultural systems and practices such as CA have become a necessity for farmers in Africa, where a combination of climate change and unsustainable agricultural practices are undermining land and water resources. This, coupled with an exploding population, makes increasing productivity while conserving the environment absolutely urgent.

Based on its experience in Latin America, which began in the early 1990s, CIMMYT started its first CA project in Africa in 2004, targeting Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This initial work focused on understanding CA systems in the context of farmers and their environmental conditions and was funded by the German government and the International Fund for Agriculture Development. Its aim was to facilitate the adoption of CA systems by smallholder farmers. This culminated in the establishment in 2009 of a large PAN-African project on Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA).

Farmers in Shamva District, Zimbabwe, are introduced to an animal traction direct seeder which allows seeding and fertilizing directly into crop residues with minimum soil disturbance. Labor-saving sowing systems are a key benefit for labor-constrained farmers and provide an entry point for CA adoption and outscaling. Photo: Thierfelder/CIMMYT — Farmers in Shamva District, Zimbabwe, are introduced to an animal traction direct seeder which allows seeding and fertilizing directly into crop residues with minimum soil disturbance. Photo: Thierfelder/CIMMYT

Since then, CIMMYT has leveraged its large network of partners to scale out CA. Between 2010 and 2015, CIMMYT, supported by a large group of donors including the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United States Agency for International Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, helped over 173,000 farming households in the region adopt sustainable intensification practices.

Today, CA research at CIMMYT in Africa is increasingly focused on adaptation to the changing climate, which is leading to more erratic rainfall, increased heat stress and seasonal dry spells, in an effort to increase the use of climate-resilient cropping systems. CIMMYT’s work on CA in the region has shown that the practice can significantly increase farmers’ resilience to climate variability and change. Combining sustainable intensification practices with improved varieties has proved to increase productivity by 30-60 percent and income by 40-100 percent under drought conditions.

Despite CA’s successes, many smallholder farmers in developing countries still lack knowledge and understanding of sustainable agricultural practices and often revert to traditional farming practices that are labor-intensive and environmentally damaging. Also, CA systems are difficult to scale out if favorable policies and markets are not in place.

Araujo Njambo (right), a smallholder maize farmer in Mozambique, was used to the traditional way of farming that his family has practiced for generations, which required clearing a plot of land and burning all plant residues remaining on the soil to get a clean seedbed. However, as demand for land increases, this fuels deforestation and depletes soil nutrients. CIMMYT has been working with farmers like Njambo since 2006 to adapt sustainable intensification practices like CA to his circumstances. In remote areas of Mozambique, where Njambo’s farm is located, CA systems provide significant benefits during dry spells because farmers have no access to irrigation and depend only on rainfall. In the 2013-2014 cropping season, Njambo harvested his best maize yield in the last six years thanks to CA. Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT — Araujo Njambo (right), a smallholder maize farmer in Mozambique, was used to the traditional way of farming that his family has practiced for generations, which required clearing a plot of land and burning all plant residues remaining on the soil to get a clean seedbed. However, as demand for land increases, this fuels deforestation and depletes soil nutrients. CIMMYT has been working with farmers like Njambo since 2006 to adapt sustainable intensification practices like CA to his circumstances. In the 2013-2014 cropping season, Njambo harvested his best maize yield in the last six years thanks to CA. Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT

Mineral fertilizer, for example, is a basic agricultural input, but its adoption and use remain limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers apply less than 10 kilograms per hectare on average due mainly to poor distribution networks (especially in rural areas) and high prices that are 3-5 times those in Europe. Lack of knowledge and training on how to use mineral fertilizer and other agricultural inputs renders them ineffective.

New discoveries in agriculture and breeding must be adaptable and transferable to smallholder farmers. This means improving physical distribution of technologies, training, knowledge and information sharing, credit availability and creating enabling environments for growth.

Just before passing away in September 2009, world-renowned agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug famously implored the world to “take it to the farmer” – a call to action we must follow if we are to sustainably feed the world by 2050. Without a basic understanding of good agricultural practices, most smallholder farmers will not be able to grow enough crops to move past subsistence farming.

Grain yield from a conservation agriculture demonstration plot in Zomba District, Malawi, is measured precisely as part of CIMMYT’s research on the combined benefits of drought tolerant maize and CA. Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT

Action needed to adapt maize breeding to climate change, report shows

Written by Matthew O'Leary on June 20, 2016. Posted in News.

Listen to a podcast of CIMMYT maize breeder Biswanath Das discussing the importance of adapting maize breeding and seed systems to climate change here.

Investment in speeding up the adaptation maize breeding and seed systems to climate change is needed, report finds. Photo: Peter Lowe/ CIMMYT — Investment in accelerating the adaptation of maize breeding and seed systems to climate change is needed a new report finds. Photo: Peter Lowe/ CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Breeding and seed systems must be adapted to survive projected climate change if major loss of maize yields is to be avoided, a new report shows.

Tools that forecast the response of crops to different weather and climate conditions, coupled with crop yield modeling have enabled agricultural scientists to predict and formulate plans for potential future climate change.

“Responding better to changes in climate by improving efficiency of the breeding cycle and reducing the amount of time it takes to get improved maize into the hands of farmers is key to ensuring a food secure future,” said International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) maize breeder and co-author of the study Biswanath Das.

Projections for Africa demonstrate climate-change related increases in temperature will negatively impact on-farm yields as heat and drought stress shorten crop production time, the length of time between maize planting and harvesting, Das said.

Shorter and hotter growing seasons are expected to become a reality over the next 15 years, which could mean that maize varieties currently being developed may struggle to adapt, particularly since current breeding and commercialization cycles to improve maize in Africa can take several decades.

The report published in Nature Climate Change, led by Andy Challinor from the University of Leeds in collaboration with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and CIMMYT, calls for an acceleration of breeding, delivery and adoption processes. The authors suggest that all stages could be sped up using a variety of techniques, requiring elaborate planning and coordination involving numerous actors and interest groups.

“Current warming will reduce yields unless maize breeding and seed systems adapt immediately,” Das said. “Increased collaboration among different breeding institutes and public-private collaborations are needed so that we share information, technologies and germplasm to make the best germplasm and technology available to the widest number of scientists as possible.”

“Seed systems could be working with regulators to reduce the amount of time it takes for varieties to become available to farmers and developing new ways of producing seed more cheaply and efficiently while maintaining quality.”

Public seed systems should continue working closely with the private sector to encourage the latest genetic advances to become available to farmers in the shortest time possible, Das added.

CIMMYT has undertaken other work in this area. An intensive breeding effort through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project developed a large phenotyping network and breeding pipeline to produce new maize varieties with heat and drought tolerance. In collaboration with over 100 national seed companies, the project supported the production of 54,000 tons of drought-tolerant maize in 2014 alone, benefiting an estimated 5.4 million households – or 43 million people – across 13 countries in Africa.

In 2015, a new project was started to expand the success of DTMA so that more smallholder farmers in Africa would have access to affordable improved maize varieties through a network of national seed companies.

Despite the considerable efforts being made to adapt maize farming to changing climates, Das warned that they must be sustained and encouraged on a larger scale in order for breeding programs to produce climate-ready maize varieties for the future.

This study was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change (CCAFS) and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE CRP).

This research is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors, CCAFS Donors, MAIZE CRP Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. Funding for this project came from: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs; New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Thailand; UK Department of International Development; The United States Agency for International Development and the European Union. The Program is carried out with technical support from The International Fund for Agricultural Development.

DTMA was funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read the paper (subscription required)

Current warming will reduce yields unless maize breeding and seed systems adapt immediately

A. J. Challinor, A.-K. Koehler, J. Ramirez-Villegas, S. Whitfield & B. Das

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3061

Pakistan maize stakeholders discuss progress

Written by on June 8, 2016. Posted in News.

NARC’s maize team receiving a certificate of appreciation. Photo: M. Waheed Anwar/CIMMYT — NARC’s maize team receiving a certificate of appreciation from AIP. Photo: M. Waheed Anwar/CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD — CIMMYT’s Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) held its annual maize working group meeting on 10-11 May with over 20 representatives from public and private seed companies and higher learning institutions in attendance. The working group evaluated AIP partners’ progress in deploying CIMMYT-derived maize hybrids and varieties to farmers.

Maize productivity in Pakistan has increased almost 75 percent since the early 1990s thanks to the adoption and expansion of hybrid maize varieties. However, the seed that spurred this growth is largely imported at an annual cost of $50 million. Since AIP’s launch in 2013, however, more than 80 CIMMYT-derived maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties have been adapted to Pakistan’s diverse ecologies. Currently, 21 public- and private-sector companies are testing and deploying these locally-adapted cultivars to smallholder farmers across the country.

In his opening statement, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Chairman Nadeem Amjad cited AIP as the best example of sustainable development projects and said that one of its invaluable contributions is “sharing of valuable parental lines and breeder seeds.” He added that CIMMYT hybrids can help “resource-poor maize farmers have affordable maize seeds at their doorstep.”

Participants in AIP’s annual maize working group meeting, 10-11 May 2016, Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

At the meeting, partners reported on their progress producing parental seed and described how they planned to deliver quality seeds to farmers. They also identified key challenges in Pakistan’s maize seed value chain and recommended potential solutions during the group discussion.

In his concluding remarks, Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) Director General Muhammad Azeem Khan said that it was only thanks to AIP innovations and interventions that NARC was able to start producing seed of biofortified hybrid maize, a first in the history of Pakistan.

Certificates of appreciation were presented by AIP to NARC for jump-starting hybrid seed production in Pakistan and hosting various national maize events in 2015, as well as to Tara Crop Sciences (Pvt.) Ltd. for conducting the best maize trials evaluated by AIP maize partners during the 2015 traveling maize seminar.

Read about AIP in the media below:

Maize seed systems in Africa: Understanding the basics

Written by on June 7, 2016. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT maize seed system specialist James Gethi inspects a maize field in Nzega, Tanzania. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.

Maize is not only a staple in diets across sub-Saharan Africa – it is a cash crop that supports millions of farmer households. Maize is grown on over 33 million hectares in just 13 of 48 countries in the region – accounting for 72% of all maize produced in the region. This crop, without a doubt, is king.

However, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns threaten maize production across the continent. Total crop loss occurs if there’s little or no rainfall at the flowering stage, when maize is most vulnerable. And when temperatures increase, soil moisture is quickly depleted and farmers have to resort to prolonged irrigation, a costly undertaking for smallholders.

Drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties produce better yields both in good and bad seasons compared to most commercial varieties available in the region. Since 2006, CIMMYT has developed 200 drought-tolerant varieties and hybrids, many of which also possess desirable traits such as resistance to major diseases.

In addition to developing quality maize that is high yielding and disease resistant, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project led by CIMMYT is working to ensure these improved varieties are affordable and attractive to farmers. Two and a half million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are expected to benefit from in-country partnerships and networks that boost production and distribution of DT maize seed. These countries account for 25 percent (or 252 million) of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, and 41 percent of maize production areas.

To access quality improved seed, farmers in Africa face various constraints such as high prices, low supply and limited knowledge about improved seeds. Through surveys conducted among nearly 5,000 farmer households in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, CIMMYT learned that when farmers buy seed, the traits they care most about are early crop maturity, yield, and tolerance/resistance to stresses such as drought and disease. In most cases, long-term use and preference for a particular seed variety influence buying habits, but now farmers are increasingly focusing on tolerance/resistance to drought, pests and diseases.

“Our key focus is on sustainable seed production and increasing demand,” said Kate Fehlenberg, DTMASS project manager. “This means building market skills for producers and creating an environment to entice risk-averse farmers to try new drought-tolerant varieties.”

CIMMYT is working with partners to increase farmer preference for DT seed by supporting promotional and marketing activities, and improving seed production capacity. CIMMYT will also work to ensure local institutions have the technological and production capacity to independently produce and distribute seed throughout DTMASS target countries.

Scaling activities will allow DT seed to spread across various geographical areas (scaling “out”) and build the capacity of local institutions to independently control sustainable seed production (scaling “up”). Both scaling up and out rely on giving stakeholders in the maize value chain compelling reasons to continue producing, distributing and consuming DT maize varieties.

Over 50 selected small- and medium-scale seed companies will be supported through training workshops on seed production and seed business management. Seed companies will also receive financial grants to support expansion activities such as purchasing special seed processing and packing equipment, restoring seed storage and other facilities, and marketing.

The next big challenge for DTMASS is to increase adoption of drought-tolerant maize, which will strengthen seed systems in Africa. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT. — The next big challenge for DTMASS is to increase adoption of drought-tolerant maize, which will strengthen seed systems in Africa.
Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.

Pakistani farming community nudged to improve agricultural productivity

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

(L-R) Mark Bell (UC Davis), UAAR representative, Imtiaz Muhammad (CIMMYT), Rai Niaz, Vice Chancellor PMAS-UAAR, UAAR representative, UAAR representative. Photo: PMAS-UAAR.

ISLAMABAD — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, in partnership with Pir Mehr Ali Shah University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi (PMAS-UAAR), organized a one-day conference on “Agricultural Productivity Improvement through Nudging.” The conference was attended by agricultural experts, professors, scientists, researchers, national and international experts, and students.

Rai Niaz, PMAS-UAAR Vice Chancellor, chaired the inaugural session. He extolled the partnership between AIP and PMAS-UAAR that will bring innovation to science and better opportunities in the agricultural sector. CIMMYT Country representative Muhammad Imtiaz gave the participants an overview of AIP activities.

The audience takes a keen interest in the seminar’s inaugural session. Photo: PMAS-UAAR.

Mark Bell, representative of University of California Davis, outlined some areas in which nudging, a technique that influences people towards desirable behavior, can be used as a potential vehicle for agriculture extension.

The technical session of the seminar was jointly chaired by Muhammad Imtiaz and Abdul Saboor, Dean of the Social Science Faculty, PMAS-UAAR.

Speaking during the technical session, Imtiaz described the nudging concept and the difference between nudging and incentivizing. He explained in detail the types of decisions made by the farming community and their implications for crop and livestock productivity. He spoke about AIP’s nudging efforts and how successful they have been in the livestock, vegetable and cereal sectors. He explained how farmers are nudged through AIP to increase agricultural productivity. The participants lauded AIP’s efforts to nudge farmers to adopt innovations and increase their productivity.

Improved maize fights drought in Malawi

Written by on May 26, 2016. Posted in News.

Members of the Malawi Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security with smallholder farmers and extension workers admiring some of the drought tolerant maize varieties in Mangochi. CIMMYT/ Willie Kalumula — Members of the Malawi Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security with smallholder farmers and extension workers admiring some of the drought tolerant maize varieties in Mangochi. Photo: Willie Kalumula/CIMMYT

LILONGWE, MALAWI – As an El Niño-induced drought continues to devastate southern African food crops, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) promoted drought-tolerant maize to Malawian politicians at a field day in April.

With more than half of Malawi’s population needing food relief due to drought, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security launched an assessment of the food situation across the country, which brought nine government officials to Mangochi District to learn about the impact drought-tolerant maize and climate-smart agriculture are having on the livelihoods of farmers.

Representatives of the Malawi Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (MISST) project, funded by USAID Feed the Future and implemented by CIMMYT, demonstrated positive yield results of drought-tolerant maize varieties to the nine politicians and to 314 smallholder farmers (202 of them women) in Minyanga village.

Politicians and farmers alike were impressed by the quality and yield of the CIMMYT-bred varieties in comparison to local varieties.

“In spite of the erratic and low rainfall received, we are surprised that the drought-tolerant maize varieties managed to produce large cobs,” said Mangochi Member of Parliament Lilian Patel, showing the maize cobs to other officials. “As an MP of this area, I am aware and scared by the scale, magnitude and impact of the drought in Malawi, but drought-tolerant maize varieties, alongside other technologies, have demonstrated that they are effective in coping with drought and climate change.”

Hannas Matola, field demonstration host farmer in Mangochi explaining some important attributes of drought tolerant maize varieties compared to the local varieties. CIMMYT/ Willie Kalumula — Hannas Matola, field demonstration host farmer in Mangochi explaining some important attributes of drought tolerant maize varieties compared to the local varieties. Photo: Willie Kalumula/CIMMYT

Farmer Annas Matola, the host of the demonstration field, was equally impressed by the performance of drought-tolerant maize varieties, saying, “The different maize varieties showcased here are very unique in the way they cope with and withstand the drought experienced this year compared to the other maize varieties in the neighboring field.”

According to Felix Jumbe, chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security, the MISST project is a huge stepping stone for smallholder farmers in Malawi because it gives them the opportunity to use improved drought-tolerant varieties of different crops such as maize and legumes.

Malawi relies heavily on agriculture for its economic growth, with 80 percent of the country’s population engaged full-time in this activity. Over the next two years, CIMMYT hopes to put drought-tolerant and nutritious maize in the hands of 300,000 people in Malawi.

In April, Malawian President Peter Mutharika declared a state of disaster in Malawi as severe drought continued to cause a sharp decline in crop production across the country. The projected drop in maize harvest from last year’s output is estimated at 12 percent, according to the presidential statement, which also stated that, as a result, an estimated three million people are in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance.

The World Food Program (WFP) is currently assisting nearly three million people in 23 of Malawi’s 28 districts, which are badly affected. “The current drought situation in Malawi came on the back of a bad crop last year, due to flooding which affected parts of the country,‘’ said WFP’s southern Africa spokesperson David Orr.

The WFP warned in February that about 49 million people were at risk of being affected by drought in southern Africa, with 14 million already facing hunger in the region.

Erratic rainfall and record-breaking temperatures have already induced large-scale crop failures in most countries. South Africa has declared the recent drought its worst in at least 100 years, and will have to import half of the maize it consumes.

Drought occurs frequently in Malawi, especially in its drier parts, such as Balaka and Machinga, while in the Lower Shire districts of Chikhwawa and Nsanje, floods are a common occurrence affecting maize productivity and production. This, coupled with the effects of El Niño, led to heavy rains in northern Malawi during April, causing severe flooding and extensive damage to crops, infrastructure and property, as well as the death of 10 people.

A woman for wheat: Maricelis Acevedo takes on new role

Written by on May 11, 2016. Posted in Blogs.

This story appeared originally on the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative website. Linda McCandless is associate director for communications, International Programs, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell University. She also oversees communications for the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project.

“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for” is Maricelis Acevedo’s favorite mantra. The newly appointed associate director for science for Cornell University’s Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project left her island home of Puerto Rico in 2003 to pursue a career as a pathologist and has been traveling the world ever since.

This past month, Acevedo visited wheat screening nurseries in Kenya and Ethiopia and wheat research centers in India with Ronnie Coffman, director of the DGGW. She feels grateful for the opportunity to lead the scientific component of a project whose goals are to help mitigate the threat of food insecurity in vulnerable regions of the world, especially Ethiopia.

“The job comes with new opportunities and great responsibilities to achieve food security for a growing population,” said Acevedo. “Given the challenges of a changing climate, scarce agricultural resources, and the misinformation about what technology can provide to agriculture in the developing and developed world, I feel privileged to be a voice for farmers, researchers and sponsors in the fight against wheat pathogens.”

Acevedo believes the world can do better in bringing science to smallholder farmers’ fields. Her new journey on behalf of the DGGW began on March 16 when she helped launch the DGGW project in the wheat fields of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in Ciudad Obregón in Mexico’s state of Sonora. Over the next year she will be visiting farmers and partner agricultural research facilities, including CIMMYT, around the globe.

“For the past eight years, Maricelis has collaborated with the Cornell team on various aspects of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project,” said Coffman, vice-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI). “Maricelis is an accomplished rust pathologist who also comes from an agricultural background. That is enormously helpful in a project whose success is so closely linked to farmer adoption of new varieties. We welcome her with great enthusiasm.”

The new DGGW grant will use modern tools of comparative genomics and big data to develop and deploy varieties of wheat that incorporate climate resilience and heat tolerance as well as improved disease resistance for smallholder farmers.

SMALL FARM ROOTS

Growing up on a small farm in Puerto Rico, in a family that grew plantains, bananas, edible beans, taro, sweet potato, maize and pigeon peas, Acevedo received an early introduction to the agricultural science behind farming. It was her father, now a retired agronomist from the University of Puerto Rico, who first introduced her to the concept of “pathogens.” She remembers watching him spray their fields to protect their crops from disease dressed in a protective suit and face mask. Mimicking his actions as a 4-year-old, she took a small plastic cup and sucked it tight onto her face breaking the capillaries all around her mouth and nose while “spraying” her Mom’s flowers with a watering can — “my first job as a pathologist,” she laughs.

More seriously, she also remembers her father testing farming practices that were going to be introduced to farmers’ fields in following seasons — “participatory breeding and research at its best.” And his first lessons on phenotypic selection of plantains and beans and his eagerness to try the new varieties coming out of the University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Research Station breeding and crop improvement programs.

Having experienced the devastation of seasonal crops due to drought, hurricanes, diseases and insects, Acevedo said she also knows the heartaches associated with farming. “I will never forget the emotional stress on my dad’s face in those moments.”

UNDERSTANDING HOST-PATHOGEN INTERACTION

During her undergraduate years at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Acevedo studied biology, genetics, botany and biotechnology, courses that helped her decide to pursue a master’s degree in agronomy where she focused on crop improvement and the genetics of edible beans.

Working on host resistance helped her decide to understand the pathogen side of the disease equation so she joined James R. Steadman’s laboratory in the department of plant pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue her Ph.D. in 2003. Acevedo’s research project, partially funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, focused on virulence diversity of edible bean rust pathogens in Honduras and the identification of resistance in wild beans and bean landraces. “That is how my passion for international agriculture and rust research began,” said Acevedo.

Following her graduation in 2007, Acevedo pursued a postdoc at the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service National Small Grain Collection and Potato Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, and then became assistant professor at North Dakota State University (NDSU) from 2010-2016. She said she will miss her friends and colleagues at NDSU, but credits them — along with her family — in helping her achieve her newest position at Cornell University.

Acevedo was in the first class of BGRI Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award Winners in 2010. “The WIT award help me identify and meet an amazing pool of female scientists who have mentored and encouraged me. We have developed collaborations that go beyond our professional lives.”

Acevedo takes seriously her role as mentor to other younger WIT winners who look to her as a role model for their research and academic careers.

SOLUTION ORIENTED

Acevedo believes her role with the DGGW is the perfect opportunity for her to facilitate how great work done by wheat scientists makes it to the field.

“I look forward to being part of the solutions necessary to deliver higher genetic gain wheat and promote better variety adoptions in key regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia,” said Acevedo. “I also look forward to seeing how we can utilize new technologies such as high through-put phenotyping, genomic selection and early warning systems for pathogen epidemics and implementing them in research and farmers’ fields.

“With the BGRI’s help in capacity building, research and education, we are training the next generation of wheat scientists for their countries and for their regions, increasing wheat production, and helping achieve food security,” Acevedo said. “I am very excited about helping developing countries with high potential for wheat improve their production and yield.”

More on Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat

YouTube interview with Maricelis Acevedo

Assessing the potential of ICT in Pakistan’s agricultural extension

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

Mark Bell presented the working paper to the Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT — Mark Bell presented the working paper to the Federal Secretary of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD– The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan shared the findings and proposed a plan for applying information communication technology (ICT) in agricultural extension in Pakistan, today in Islamabad during the launch ceremony of a working paper on the use of ICT in agriculture extension in Pakistan

This working paper is a product of AIP’s e-PakAG led by the University of California Davis (UC Davis) and highlights a series of opportunities to enhance the use of ICT in agricultural extension. Held at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, the launch ceremony of ICT use highlighted the promising role of new tools such as cell phones and enhanced videos in obtaining better scientific results to help farmers. The work by UC Davis and the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, was implemented as part of the AIP, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), ILRI, AVRDC, IRRI and UC Davis.

Imtiaz Muhammad sharing the highlight of AIP and his views on the impact of information communication technology (ICT) on improving agricultural sector. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

CIMMYT Country Representative Imtiaz, Muhammad during the presentation of a working paper on ICT in agricultural extension said, “This new era of technology is leading to new horizons in agricultural research. The trends indicate powerful impact of information communication technology on improving the farmer’s productivity and these innovative practices will ultimately improve the Pakistani agricultural sector.”

Praising the efforts of AIP, Federal Secretary for National Food Security and Research Abid Javed pointed out that the continuous support of the American people is reshaping Pakistan’s agricultural sector, particularly farmers.

“ICT, like never before, offers us unprecedented opportunities to connect people and make useful information available to poor farmers. We have to find out how to better turn that potential into reality,” said Mark Bell, leader of AIP’s e-Pak Ag.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research shared his thoughts with the audience at the launching ceremony. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT — Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of National Food Security and Research shared his thoughts with the audience at the launching ceremony. Photo: Amina Nasim Khan/CIMMYT

As PARC Chairman Nadeem Amjad indicated, today the use of ICT is essential and AIP’s efforts will make it easy to convey relevant and credible information to extension staff and, through them, to farmers.

The United States is committed to working hand in hand with Pakistan to develop and modernize the agricultural sector. As a global center of excellence in the improvement of maize and wheat systems, CIMMYT has maintained a long and highly productive relationship with the Pakistani government and national partners, with the invaluable support of U.S. government agencies. AIP’s E-Pak Ag activities are capturing science and research innovations led by UC Davis, which has a rich history of working with and strengthening research, education and extension programs around the world.

Launched in 2013, the USAID-funded Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP) works to increase agricultural productivity and incomes by promoting and disseminating modern practices in the cereal and cereal systems (wheat, maize and rice), livestock, fruit, and vegetable sectors; enhancing the capacity of agricultural scientists and researchers through short-term and long-term training such as M.Sc. and Ph.D. scholarships at U.S. land grant universities; establishing Provincial Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) Boards to support expansion of provincial linkages to national, regional and international communities through a mechanism of coordination; and improving agricultural growth and research in Pakistan through a Competitive Grants System. Project management is vested in a unique consortium of Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, US land grant universities, non-CGIAR centers, and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). For more information, visit: aip.cimmyt.org.

Tanzania seed company increases demand for drought-tolerant maize

Written by on May 2, 2016. Posted in Features.

Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA Seed promotions manager. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT — Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA Seed promotions manager. CIMMYT/Kelah Kaimenyi

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Locally adapted marketing initiatives by an innovative seed company are leading farmers in the area around one of Tanzania’s largest agricultural towns to plant Lubango, a high-performing, drought-tolerant maize variety.

Lubango, which means “blessed” in local Sukuma language, was first produced by IFFA Seed in 2015 and is already replacing traditional seeds on farms across Tanzania as a result of the company’s hands-on, targeted marketing approach. Headquartered in the city of Arusha since 2008, IFFA now dedicates more than 140 hectares (345 acres) of Nzega farmland to Lubango production to meet the increasing demand for the seed.

Demonstration plots in 10 of Tanzania’s 12 districts have made a big impact, said Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA seed promotions manager, who believes that demonstration plots are the most effective of all the marketing tools because they allow farmers to see direct benefits in their fields.

“Lubango was created with the smallholder farmer in mind,” Mponda said. “It’s drought-tolerant, affordable, high-yielding, and great tasting.”

“Visits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,” Michael Kumbere shares, adding, “I made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.” — “Visits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,” said farmer Michael Kumbere. “I made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.”

Part of Mponda’s work involves ensuring farmers are equipped with smart agronomic practices. For example, farmers who plant and space crops in a straight line, as opposed to haphazardly scattering seeds, create ample space for weeding, save on inputs such as fertilizer and efficiently use sunlight and soil nutrients.

“As seasons pass, I’m amazed at the progress farmers have made by accepting changes in their farming practices to maximize gains,” Mponda said, adding that novel promotion strategies are necessary to compete with the numerous other seed companies in the country.

“We’re certainly leveraging modern marketing methods to raise awareness on drought-tolerant varieties, and Lubango in particular. So far, audio-visual tools are a hit,” Mponda said.

“This was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,” says Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer of over 30 years regarding Lubango. “I can already tell that I will have a good harvest from the double cobs on each plant.” Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT. — “This was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,” said Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer for more than 30 years, referring to Lubango. With Lubango, farmers with more than two acres (.81 hectares) of land can save up to 50 percent on their seed purchase, at least $13 compared to similar brands, which can be invested in fertilizer or paid labor. Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. CIMMYT/Kelah Kaimenyi

IFFA Seed recently produced a short film detailing the life cycle of Lubango maize from planting to harvest, and sharing farming tips and tricks at every stage. The video will be screened at all farmer field days and other relevant events hosted or attended by the company. Audio announcements are broadcast at Nzega’s local railway station, a previously untapped channel, and the company produces flyers for distribution to farmers at events and seed purchase areas. Mponda is keen on large-scale visual outputs, and has identified billboards and television adverts as his next course of action.

Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project works closely with IFFA Seed Company and other private partners throughout eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers through 2020.

New varieties reignite maize production in Pakistan

Written by on April 29, 2016. Posted in Features.

**M. Sadeeq Tahir, the first QPM farmer in Pakistan who tested the newly introduced QPM hybrids in his field. Photo: M. Ashraf**

ISLAMABAD – The maize sector in Pakistan is benefiting from an upsurge in investments leading to new varieties from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that have the potential to increase production, enhance nutrition and strengthen national industry.

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, the lack of a strong national seed system has caused Pakistan to import more than 85 percent of its hybrid maize seed at a cost averaged about $50 million annually since 2011. When coupled with other factors including a limited source of seed providers and non-relaxation of duties on imported seed, this causes the unit price of hybrid maize seed to be the most expensive in South Asia.

PROJECT BOOSTS SEED

A project launched in 2013, CIMMYT’s Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), led to a large-scale evaluation of maize varieties, which have since resulted in more than 1,000 diverse genotypes tested for favorable traits across Pakistan. Currently, 20 public- and private-sector companies are partnering with CIMMYT to test new varieties and deploy locally-adapted products.

USAID Mission Director John Groarke (center) during the launching ceremony of the first QPM hybrids in Pakistan. Photo: Awais Yaqub

In just two years since the launch of this initiative, more than 80 CIMMYT-derived hybrids and open pollinated varieties of maize have been identified and adapted to diverse ecologies in Pakistan. In the first phase, CIMMYT allocated 49 maize products for registration, commercial release, further seed scale-up and delivery in the target geographies in Pakistan. This maize germplasm was sourced from CIMMYT’s regional maize breeding hubs mainly from Colombia, Mexico and Zimbabwe. With the help of national partners, these improved varieties are being put in the hands smallholder farmers throughout the country.

Seed businesses in Pakistan now have the leverage to run a competitive domestic market for maize seed, thanks to these new varieties. Diverse new lines are also more nutritious, mature earlier and are more tolerant to drought. They can also be delivered at an affordable price which is a huge step forward compared to the limited options smallholder farmers had before AIP started.

Biofortification, or the enhancement of the nutritional value of a crop, has been a cornerstone of CIMMYT’s work in developing improved varieties. Quality Protein Maize (QPM) was the first new hybrid product to reach farmers in Pakistan. Demonstration seeds from the first two biofortified maize hybrids in Pakistan were officially distributed to farmers this February by the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), one of the national partners to AIP. The two QPM hybrids, originally from CIMMYT-Colombia, will reach about 300 farmers this season and further distribution is expected by 2017.

M. Hashim Popalzai (center) handing over samples of maize parental lines. At the left Mr. Faisal Hayat from the seed company Jullundur Private Ltd. receiving the seed and at the right Nadeem Amjad, PARC Chairman. Photo: M. Waheed Anwar

“We know how precious (CIMMYT’s) parental seeds are,” said Muhammad Hashim Popalzai from Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Secuirity and Research. “At times it will take up to eight years to develop inbred lines and another 3-4 years to constitute hybrid seeds, however, we are getting them easily under the AIP program.”

Although developing new seeds takes time, the benefits could make a huge contribution to Pakistan’s economy, health and livelihoods for farmers across the country.

“These parental seeds will help us to produce the seed locally,” said Faiysal Hayat, deputy manager of seed company Jullundur Private Ltd., adding that they will also “enable us to provide quality seed at an affordable price to farmers.”

In reviewing the progress of AIP maize activities, Abdu Rahman Beshir, CIMMYT’s maize improvement and seed systems specialist said: “The overwhelming interest and collaborations from public-private stakeholders of Pakistan’s maize sector are the main thrust for CIMMYT’s maize varietal deployment drive in Pakistan.”

Subsequent activities in quality seed production and enhanced product positioning will further reinforce the encouraging gains of AIP which aims to have a vibrant maize seed system in Pakistan, according to Beshir.

Millions of smallholders in Africa benefit from climate resilient drought-tolerant maize

Written by on April 21, 2016. Posted in Features.

Traditional maize storage in Tete province in Mozambique, April 27, 2015. CIMMYT/Tsedeke Abate

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – At least 40 million smallholder farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa are profiting from more than 200 new drought-tolerant varieties of maize produced as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, according to scientists at the Center for International Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT).

The project, underway between 2007 and 2015, led to the development of varieties with traits preferred by farmers that have successfully made smallholders in 13 countries more resilient to the erratic effects of climate change on growing conditions.

“Smallholder farmers in this region plant maize varieties that are obsolete and end up getting poor harvests, but that’s changing now thanks to the gallant efforts of the DTMA team that has released and commercialized a large number of modern varieties,” said Tsedeke Abate, the CIMMYT scientist who led the project. “Thanks to the new drought-tolerant varieties, many families have managed to overcome harsh growing conditions and boost yields substantially.”

In 2014 alone, more than 5 million smallholder farmer households planted the new varieties on 2.1 million hectares (5.2 million acres), an area roughly the size of El Salvador. Overall, 54,000 metric tons of high quality seed were produced in 2014 through the DTMA project, which received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Britain’s Department for International Development, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

COMPLEX CHALLENGES

“The adoption of the improved drought tolerant seed varied from one country to another and each county had unique challenges that made it difficult for some farmers to take up the new varieties. Some farmers were not aware of the availability of the seed in their markets, for some the seed was not available or the price was high,” Abate said. “We worked with national seed companies in these countries to increase production of certified seed so that many more farmers can buy the seed at an affordable price as well as demonstrating the benefits of the new varieties.”

Anthony Mwega, a farmer and leader in Olkalili village, in Hai district a semi-arid area in northern Tanzania about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the capital Dar es Salaam, beat the price constraint by mobilizing 66 farmers from his village and neighboring villages Makiwaru and Ngaikati to pool resources and buy 5 metric tons of HB513 – a drought-tolerant and nitrogen-use efficient variety – at a very affordable price from Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Seed Company.

“The overall purchasing price we bought the seed for was about 50 percent less than the market price because we bought it in bulk,” said Mwega. “I saw how good the maize performed in demonstrations organized by Meru Agro during the 2014 planting season with extremely low rains, and knew this is a variety that my people would definitely benefit from.”

Scientists project that millions more farmers will gain access to and plant the new varieties due to collaborations with more than 100 national seed companies, which continue to make a significant contribution to the improvement of seed systems in Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

“Collaboration with CIMMYT through the DTMA project has been extremely instrumental in facilitating me to release my own varieties,” said Zubeda Mduruma of Aminata Seed Company in Tanga, Tanzania who has collaborated with CIMMYT both in maize breeding and production work since 1976.

“I was able to get some of the best germplasm, evaluate them through on-farm and on-station trials, and successfully released three of the best drought tolerant varieties in the market, including one quality protein DT variety that is very popular among women because of its nutritional value. With the quality of maize we get from CIMMYT, it’s very possible to release new improved varieties every year with much better yield compared to popular commercial varieties in our shops.”

The story of this success is told through a series of pictures and profiles of DTMA target countries. Each country profile illustrates the context of national maize production and the changes underway thanks to released drought-tolerant varieties.

The DTMA project will continue, first as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) initiative. Under the project, which is funded by USAID, CIMMYT scientists aim to facilitate the production of close to 12,000 metric tons of certified seed for use by about 2.5 million people, in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

In partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture who partnered with CIMMYT in DTMA work, the new Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project will also carry forward the success and invaluable lessons from DTMA and CIMMYT’s Improved Maize for Africa Soils project, to develop new stress tolerant varieties to help farmers mitigate multiple stresses that occur concurrently in farmers’ fields.

Going further down the path to bolster Africa’s maize sector

Latest DT Maize Bulletin

Tackling challenges to cereal production through cross-crop collaborations

Written by on April 11, 2016. Posted in Features.

Climate change is likely to have a huge impact on cereal farmers in India. Photo: Emma Quilligan/CIMMYT — Climate change is likely to have a huge impact on cereal farmers in India. CIMMYT/Emma Quilligan

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Developing cereal crops that can withstand the effects of climate change will require global, integrated efforts across crops and disciplines, according to a recent research paper published in the journal “Global Food Security.”

The authors of “An integrated approach to maintaining cereal productivity under climate change” argue that cropping systems could become more resilient in the face of climate change through better coordination. Needs include characterizing target agro-ecosystems, standardization of experimental protocols, comparative biology across cereals (and possibly other crops) and data sharing.

Better integration of research effort across the major cereal crops – including wheat, rice, maize, pearl millet and sorghum – is expected to boost productivity under heat and drought stress, thus helping to increase food security for people in less developed countries, many of which will be severely affected by climate change.

“Most of the big challenges in crop improvement are transnational, therefore a better globally integrated research effort is a triple win scenario,” according to Matthew Reynolds, head of wheat physiology at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and lead author of the paper. “It’s more efficient since duplication of effort is reduced, it’s synergistic since we learn simultaneously from multiple crops and environments [or cropping systems], and it’s faster to achieve impacts because outputs are disseminated more broadly.”

The paper itself is the result of a workshop held in New Delhi in November 2013, which was the first of its kind to bring together researchers from leading universities, CGIAR agricultural research centers, national agricultural research systems and the private sector – working across the five crops – to discuss areas of common interest and potential collaboration.

Wheat, rice, maize, pearl millet, and sorghum make up nearly 45 percent of calories consumed per capita worldwide and about 55 percent in least developed countries, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Cereal production is under threat from climate change, which subjects crops to heat and drought stress. Diminishing water supplies, increasing populations, urbanization, shifting diets and increasing demand for fodder and fuel is also putting pressure on cereal production. Taking all these factors into account, researchers project that yield growth rates of 1.2 percent to – 1.7 percent will be required to meet global demand and reduce malnutrition.

The authors of the paper, including representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, identified priority traits for heat and drought tolerance across the cereal crops, and also called for more effective collaborations so that these traits can be modelled, tested at common phenotyping platforms and the resulting data shared with other researchers worldwide as global public goods.

“This paper has provided a baseline about what needs to be done,” said O.P. Yadav, director of the Central Arid Zone Research Institute at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. “It has also shown what is achievable, once various institutes decide to work together with a common goal and become collaborative stakeholders in increasing the resilience of diverse cropping systems.”