CIMMYT scientists and private sector partners photographed during a dinner hosted by CIMMT Director General Bram Govaerts in Lilongwe, Malawi. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Goal 17 of the United Nationsâ Sustainable Development Goals calls to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) answered this call to action by recently hosting a collaborative dinner to strengthen ties between the Center, the private sector and government partners in Malawi.
Hosted by CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, the dinner followed a visit by US Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler, Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator, USAID Bureau of Resilience and Food Security and other USAID staff to discuss and witness the new Accelerated Innovation for Delivery Initiative (AID-I) in action.
âThe challenges of today do not require a single sector approach but a pluralistic one in which partners from the private, public sectors agree to work hand in hand with science for impact organizations like CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers,â said Govaerts in his keynote address at the event. âI am very grateful for your support and your presence today is a testimony or our harmonious solidarity and spirit of collaboration in addressing food and nutrition security.â
Govaerts engages with government and agro industry captains in a dinner hosted in Lilongwe, Malawi. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The meeting was attended by seed industry players, agricultural input distributors, food processors and Government representatives including Director of Agriculture Research Services Grace Kaudzu, who expressed her appreciation for the gathering.
âAs government, our role is to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and progressive development partners are always welcome. Such gatherings enable us to hear the needs of colleagues and partners from other sectors to create this environment,â she said.
Malawi has established an ambitious roadmap where legume exports and maize production are to be significantly scaled up. The AID-I project dovetails with this roadmap as it focuses on strengthening maize and legume seed systems and addressing systemic constraints in both value chains.
The dinner further facilitated private sector players to meet various CIMMYT specialists ranging from seed system experts, soil scientists, breeders and plant physiologists. According to Peter Setimela, a seed system specialist at CIMMYT, such meetings are critical as they enable a diversity of partners to know what the other has to offer.
âCIMMYT has a lot of expertise which these private sector partners can take advantage of,â Setimela said.
The AID-I project seeks to scale up existing and high potential innovations, technologies and business models as opposed to initiating new ones. This only makes sense considering that the implementation period is only two years and scaling up existing innovations give greater prospects for success.
CIMMYT Regional Representative Moses Siambi labelled the event a success citing the huge turnout of the partners.
âThe effectiveness of our interventions is dependent on the strength of the relationships we have with our partners. Such a massive attendance is indicative of cordial relations between CIMMYT and the private sector in conjunction with the government,â Siambi said.
Govaerts closed the event by stressing that through harnessing the potential of convening power, the future is bright regardless of the reality of climate change and geopolitical conflicts.
Harish Gandhi is a Breeding Lead for Dryland Legumes and Cereals in CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources program in Kenya. He is a transformative plant breeding and genetics professional, with more than 15 years experience of driving genetic gains, building effective teams, and pioneering innovative research and development.
A section of key speakers at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
The formation of regional crop improvement networks took center stage at a meeting held in January 2023 in Accra, Ghana. The meeting convened more than 200 scientists and stakeholders in dryland crops value chains from 28 countries from Africa and across the globe to co-design a network approach.
The meeting followed a series of consultative visits and discussions between three CGIAR research centers â the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) â African National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs), and other common-visioned partners during 2021 and 2022. These earlier discussions gathered insights, brainstormed, and co-designed approaches to empower national programs to deliver impact through their crop improvement programs.
âThe idea is to add value to the existing capacities in National Agricultural Research and Extension Services, through networks where the partners agree on the goals and resources needed to achieve desired outcomes. So, itâs really a collaborative model,â said Harish Gandhi, breeding lead for dryland legumes and cereals at CIMMYT. He added that the teams have been learning from and aiming to add value to existing models such as the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), USAID Innovation Labs, and Innovation and plant breeding in West Africa (IAVAO).
Paradigm shift for African National Agricultural Research Institutes
Making the opening remarks, Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General, Paul Bosu said that at the very least, African countries should aim to feed themselves and transition from net importers to net exporters of food. âDryland legumes and cereals, especially millet and sorghum, are very well adapted to the continent and offer great opportunity towards achieving food securityâ, said Bosu. He applauded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners for investing in research on these crops.
Representing West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Ousmane Ndoye noted that research in dryland legumes and cereals is a valid and needed action amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest in different parts of the world. He added that the first and crucial step to increasing food production especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the availability of sufficient quantities of seed.
Director General of Ugandaâs National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Ambrose Agona observed that a paradigm shift should occur for desired transformation in agriculture. He noted that African governments ought to commit adequate budgets to agriculture and that seed funding should serve to complement and amplify existing national budgets for sustainability.
He commended efforts to consult NARIs in Africa and noted that the quality of ideas exchanged at the meeting strengthen the work. âThe NARIs feel happier when they are consulted from the very beginning and contribute to joint planning unlike in some cases where the NARIs in Africa are only called upon to make budgets and are excluded from co-designing projectsâ, said Agona.
Participants following the proceedings at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
Challenge to deliver effectively
During his remarks at the meeting, CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts noted that the focus legume and cereal crops are key to transforming and driving diversification of food systems in Africa. âIt is therefore an honor and a privilege to work together with partners to improve cereal and legume systems. We will put forward our experience in breeding and commit to innovative systems approaches towards achieving impact and leverage what we are already good at, to become even better,â said Govaerts.
Referencing his visit with the United States Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler to Southern Africa in January 2023, Govaerts narrated witnessing firsthand a food, energy and fertilizer crisis impacting Zambian and Malawian farmers. He challenged the meeting participants to envision the future impact they would like to see their breeding programs have as they design and strategize at the meeting. He pointed out that farmers are more interested in the qualities and characteristics of varieties released than the institutions responsible for the release.
CIMMYT Global Genetic Resources Director and Deputy Director General, Breeding and Genetics, Kevin Pixley also underscored the need to generate more impact through adoption of improved varieties in Africa. Pixley noted that on average, fewer than 30 percent of farmers are using improved varieties of sorghum, millet, and groundnut across the countries with ongoing work.
The meeting heard One CGIARâs commitment to deliver resilient, nutritious and market preferred varieties as part of its Genetic Innovation Action Area, alongside improving systems and processes for sustainability from CGIAR Senior Director Plant Breeding and Pre-Breeding, John Derera. Speaking in the capacity of IITAâs Breeding Lead, Derera noted the progress made in IITA cowpea breeding program, including its modernization, owing to strong partnerships, cross learning and germplasm exchange between institutions.
PABRA Director & Leader of the Bean Programme at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Jean-Claude Rubyogo, pointed out that despite remarkable achievements, such as those witnessed in the bean research, more effort is needed to tackle the challenges of climate change and also increase understanding of consumers traits.
Commenting on innovative pathways to improve adoption of improved varieties, the Director General of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) in Zaria, Nigeria, Mohammad Ishiyaku observed the tendency for some seed companies to continue selling specific seed varieties for years, even when the productivity of the variety is low. He noted the seed companies always claimed consumer preferences concluding then that amidst investor demands, breeders ought to keenly investigate the expectations of consumers and famers to arrive at the best parameters for breeding choices.
A group photo of over 200 scientists and stakeholders in dryland crops value chains that participated at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
High-level statements on approaches to gender integration in agricultural research and development were delivered by Scovia Adikini, NARO millet breeder, Geoffrey Mkamillo, Director General of Tanzaniaâs Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Francis Kusi of Ghanaâs Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), and Aliou Faye, Director of Senegalâs Regional Center of Excellence on Dry Cereals and Associated Crops (CERAAS).
AVISA Achievements
Finally, this meeting marked the transition from the recently ended Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Systems in Africa (AVISA) project to align with One CGIAR initiatives under the Genetic Innovation Action Area, with specific focus on dryland crops.
Solomon Gyan Ansah, the Director of Crop Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana, acknowledged the success of AVISA Project and commended the forumâs efforts to build on the gains made by the project in developing the new approach.
âBy the end of 2022, AVISA project partners had reached 4.8 million farmers with 30,600 metric tons of seed of improved legume and cereal varieties, covering almost one million hectares of landâ, revealed Chris Ojiewo, Strategic Partnerships and Seeds Systems Lead. Other achievements supported by the AVISA Project include upgrading of NARES facilities and building capacities of researchers through short- and long-term trainings.
The meeting was hosted by Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Ghanaâs Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), and was organized by CIMMYT, in partnership with IITA and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT (ABC).
CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director and CGIAR Plant Health Initiative Lead, BM Prasanna cutting a ribbon at the entrance of a new shed housing, marking the commissioning of five new seed drying machines courtesy of the of the Accelerating Genetic Gains (AGG) Project. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)âs research station at Kiboko, Kenya, where several partner institutions including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), conduct significant research activities on crop breeding and seed systems, is now equipped with five new seed drying machines along with a dedicated shed to house these units, a cold room for storing breeding materials, and an additional irrigation dam/reservoir. These infrastructural upgrades are worth approximately US $0.5 million.
During the commissioning of the new facilities on February 7, 2023, CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director, BM Prasanna thanked the donors, Crops to End Hunger (CtEH) Initiative and Accelerated Genetic Gains (AGG) project, that supported the upgrade of the research station, and recognized the strong partnership with KALRO.
âToday is a major milestone for CIMMYT, together with KALRO, hosting this center of excellence for crop breeding. This facility is one of the largest public sector crop breeding facilities in the world, with hundreds of hectares dedicated to crop breeding. These new facilities will enable CIMMYT and KALRO crop breeders to optimize their breeding and seed systems’ work and provide better varieties to the farming communities,â said Prasanna.
Kenya suffered one of its worst droughts ever in 2022, and the newly commissioned facilities will support expedited development of climate-resilient and nutritious crop varieties, including resistance to major diseases and pests.
Visitors at the KALRO research station in Kiboko, Kenya, looking at the newly commissioned cold room storage. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Improvements and enhancements
The efficiency of the seed driers capabilities to quickly reduce moisture content in seed from above 30% to 12% in two to three days, reducing the time taken for seed drying and allowing for more than two crop seasons per year in a crop like maize.
The additional water reservoir with a capacity of 16,500 cubic meters will eliminate irrigation emergencies and will also enhance the field research capacity at Kiboko. Reliable irrigation is essential for accelerating breeding cycles.
At the same time, the new cold room can preserve the seeds up to two years, preventing the loss of valuable genetic materials and saving costs associated with frequent regeneration of seeds.
KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger officiating the opening of the cold room storage facility at KALRO research station at Kiboko, Kenya. Looking on is CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director, BM Prasanna. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
World-class research center
âThe Kiboko Research Center is indeed growing into an elite research facility that can serve communities in entire sub-Saharan Africa through a pipeline of improved varieties, not only for maize but in other important crops. This will not only improve climate resilience and nutrition, but will contribute to enhanced food and income security for several million smallholder farmers,â said Prasanna.
KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger appreciated the establishment of the new facilities and thanked CIMMYT and its partners for their support.
âToday is a very important day for us because we are launching new and improved facilities for research to support breeding work and quality seed production. This research station is in Makueni County, a very dry area yet important place for research because there is adequate space, especially for breeding,â said Kireger. âWe are significantly improving the infrastructure at Kiboko to produce and deliver better seed to our farmers.â
For more than three decades, CIMMYT has conducted research trials at the Kiboko Research Station, focusing on drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, and resistance to pests and diseases, such as fall armyworm and stem borer. The maize Double Haploid (DH) facility established in 2013 at Kiboko, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, offers DH line production service for organizations throughout Africa, and is key to increasing genetic gains in maize breeding.
The CGIAR Initiative on Market Intelligence represents a new effort to engage social scientists, crop breeding teams and others to work together toward the design and implementation of a demand-led breeding approach. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
What is ‘Market Intelligence’?
Strategies for breeding and seed systems to deliver greater impact will benefit from reliable and comparable evidence on the needs and requirements of farmers, processors and consumers. This includes anticipating how farmers may respond to emerging threats and opportunities in light of seed-sector and product-market evolution and the changing environment. Experts generally agree that âdemand-led breedingâ will be essential to achieve more impact from investments in crop breeding. But the continued interest in a demand-led approach to the design of varieties and the prioritization of breeding pipelines requires reliable, comparable and timely market intelligence. It also requires new mechanisms for how market intelligence is collected, shared and discussed with those engaged in the design and funding of breeding pipelines and seed systems.
Over the past 25 years, social science researchers from CGIAR, NARES and universities have generated important insights on the traits and varieties farmers prefer. These farmer preferences for traits and varieties have been explored through household surveys, participatory rural appraisals and participatory varietal selection. More recently, economists have employed tools such as choice experiments, experimental auctions and gamification of farmer priority traits. Overall, a large body of work has emerged, but variations in research questions, methodologies and interventions have contributed to disparate research findings and limited the opportunities for consolidation and comparative analyses.
Looking ahead, a strategic opportunity to guide more impactful investments in crop breeding and seed systems development lies in:
designing a consistent approach for generating and disseminating market intelligence
coordinating research across CGIAR and NARES to deliver timely market intelligence;
establishing processes for coordination across social science teams and among social science, crop modelers, CGIAR-NARES networks and the private sector.
The CGIAR Initiative on Market Intelligence (âMarket Intelligenceâ for brevity) represents a new effort to engage social scientists, crop breeding teams and others to work together toward the design and implementation of a demand-led breeding approach.
Within this initiative, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) leads Work Package 1, âMarket Intelligenceâ, which is responsible for the design of innovative methods and tools to collect market intelligence and the application of these tools across different regions and crops relevant for CGIAR breeding. The Work Package engages either other CGIAR centers and external partners, such as CIRAD and the World Vegetable Center. An early, but critical, challenge facing the Work Package team was how to disseminate in an accessible and timely manner market intelligence to breeding teams, funders, and the private sector.
Market Intelligence Briefs
Traditionally, researchers from CGIAR, NARES and universities who have sought to inform crop breeding and seed systems programming have done so by publishing their work in reputable international peer-reviewed journals. However, the process can be slow, potentially requiring multiple revisions over years. The practical nature of market intelligence research can limit its relevance for journal editors who are looking to push theoretical debates forward. Thus, for Market Intelligence to deliver on its promise, new ways of communicating will be essential. In looking to address these limitations, work package 1 has led the design and implementation of a new publication series called Market Intelligence Briefs (MIB). Each brief is reviewed by peers, is concise (less than 4000 words), avoids technical jargon, and attempts to present conclusions in a clear and decisive manner. In 2022 the first two editions of the MIB series were published, both led by CIMMYT researchers and available online.
This brief defines several important concepts that, when taken together, form the basic framework used by the Initiative to generate comparable and useful market intelligence. Some of the definitions are inspired by previous work on demand-led breeding, while others build on work by CGIARâs Excellence in Breeding (EiB) platform. A confusing set of terms and definitions has emerged around market intelligenceâa field rooted in commercial product innovationâwith different terms and definitions for similar concepts. In the interest of clear communication and understanding among those engaged in crop breeding, seed systems and social science, this brief presents key concepts and definitions that have been discussed extensively during the initial months of implementation of Market Intelligence. We conclude the brief with reflections on the way forward for implementation.
The second brief zooms into the maize market segments in East Africa and proposes a new methodology for gathering insights from farmers about their varietal preferences to inform future market segmentation. This brief explains the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of Video-based Product Concept Testing (VPCT) and presents an application of the tool in hybrid maize. Seven new product concepts (representing potential future market segments) were identified based on discussions with breeders, seed companies and farmers, which we labelled: home use, intercropping, drought avoidance, nutritious, feed (yellow), green maize and food and fodder. These future concepts, together with the resilient benchmark product concept (the current breeding target), were evaluated through triadic comparisons with 2400 farmers in Kenya and Uganda. The results showed that concepts focused on agronomic performance were preferred over concepts focused on end use characteristics, but that diversity in farming practices can lead to different seed preferences.
Looking ahead
In 2023, several briefs will be published from scientists working in the market intelligence initiative and various partners of Market Intelligence from outside the CGIAR. An on-line repository for these briefs is being designed now. Future briefs will cover a variety of topics, from competition in maize seed markets in Kenya (based on a two year study that tracked seed sales at the retail level), methods for assessing the demand for future step-change innovations in genetic innovations, and preferences for future groundnut seed products in Tanzania, considering the needs of farmers and processors. We believe that these briefs will become a valuable communication tool to support informed decision making by crop breeders, seed system specialists, and donors on future priorities and investments by CGIAR, NARS, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This project received funding from the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat project (AGG) [INV-003439], funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research (FFAR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Samantha Power, Administrator for USAID, in an interaction with colleagues from SSSC and CIMMYT in Nepal. (Photo: Kaji Ram Bhatta/CIMMYT)
On February 7, Samantha Power, Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), visited SEAN Seed Service Centre (SSSC) in Thankot, Nepal. Her time at the seed company â which is supported by the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project â provided an opportunity to learn more about how private sector support for agribusiness can help accelerate Nepalâs agricultural transformation.
The event began with a tour of the companyâs facilities and seed lab, where Power met with breeders and employees responsible for sorting and grading seeds. Other stops on the visit included meetings with SSSC management and researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), who explained the important role the private sector plays in the countryâs seed sector, from the development of climate stress tolerant varieties to facilitating seed access and distribution.
The Administrator and USAID officials at a round table with private sector on transforming Nepalese agriculture. (Photo: Kaji Ram Bhatta/CIMMYT)
Later in the day, Power participated in a round table discussion with agribusiness entrepreneurs from seed and agricultural production companies, fertilizer manufacturers and distributors, and farmers cooperatives to better understand the key challenges and opportunities in fostering agricultural transformation in Nepal. The talks focused on the need for reforms on seed and fertilizer markets and elimination of market distorting policies such as unplanned subsidies, as well as the need to facilitate access to finance to boost investments and insurance to manage risks.
Key recommendations from participants included increased use of technologies â such as improved seeds, machineries, improved soil fertility management and digital tools â as well as the creation of a more enabling environment for attracting private sector investment and increasing agricultural participation among youth and disadvantaged communities in Nepal. The private sector plays a critical role in bolstering national food security, increasing economic growth, and creating transformative change in the countryâs agricultural sector so it can be more commercial, competitive, and inclusive. Participants provided suggestions on how the Government of Nepal could further support the sector, allowing agribusinesses to develop and grow in order to cater to the needs of smallholder farmers and consumers.
CIMMYTs Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to develop competitive and vibrant seed and integrated soil fertility management (IFSM) systems for inclusive and sustainable growth in agricultural productivity, business development, and income generation in Nepal.
Use of lightweight, 5-9-horsepower mini-tillers by smallholder farmers in Nepalâs mid-hills cut tillage costs and boosted maize yields by facilitating timely maize cultivation, thus enhancing food self-sufficiency and farm profits and reducing rural poverty, a new study by an international team of scientists shows.
Published in the Journal of Economics and Development, the study reports findings of an on-farm survey involving more than 1,000 representative households from 6 districts of the mid-hills, a region of steep and broken terrain where rainfed maize is a staple crop, outmigration of working-age inhabitants makes farm labor scarce and costly, and farmers on small, fragmented landholdings typically till plots by hand or using ox-drawn plows.
âConventional two- or four-wheel tractors are difficult to operate in the mid-hillsâ rugged topography,â said Gokul P. Paudel, researcher working together with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany, and lead author of the study. âFarms are small and the mini-tillers are a good fit. Very small farms â those comprising less than 0.4 hectares of land and normally not served by hired farm labor or larger machinery â benefited the most from mini-tiller adoption.â
The paper is the first to provide empirical linkages between small-scale farm mechanization and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly No Poverty (SDG-1) and Zero Hunger (SDG-2).
âGiven its rural poverty and the resulting outmigration from farm areas to cities and to other countries, Nepal has increasingly become a labor-exporting country,â explained Paudel, who partnered in this study with researchers from the Asian Development Bank Institute and Cornell University. âOur research can help guide investments by Nepal and other developing countries in scale-appropriate farm mechanization, supporting those who wish to remain on rural homesteads and make a go of it.â
Machine operators starting the mini-tiller in the Kavrepalanchok district in the mid-hills of Nepal. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The science team found that farm size, labor shortages, draft animal scarcity, and market proximity were major factors that facilitate the adoption of appropriate mechanization in Nepal, according to Tim Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist and study co-author.
âSmallholder farms dominate more than two-thirds of agricultural systems globally,â Krupnik said. âInterest in scale-appropriate farm mechanization is growing rapidly, particularly among donors and governments, and practical empirical measures of its impact are crucial.â The findings of the latest study fill this knowledge gap and provide sufficient evidence to prioritize the spread of appropriate technologies among smallholder farmers.
Krupnik noted that, through its office in Nepal and strong shared research and capacity-building activities, CIMMYT has worked for almost four decades with Nepali scientists and development partners, including the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), to raise the productivity and sustainability of the country’s maize- and wheat-based farming systems.
In addition to strong government partnerships, CIMMYT works closely in Nepal with a range of non-government organizations, and importantly, hand-in-hand with private farm machinery manufacturers, retailers, and mechanics.
The study described was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Academy for International Agricultural Research (ACINAR) commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and carried out by ATSAF e.V. on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the One CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA), and generous funders who contribute to the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Grace Mwai is an innovative and strategic leader with more than 18 years of progressive leadership experience in international development programs. She has spearhead implementation projects of US$23M-$320M funding, while leading teams across 19 countries with more than 14 international and bilateral donors. Mwai holds a Doctor of Business Administration, Masters of Science in Organization Development, Masters of Business Administration, and is a Certified Public Accountant and Corporate Governance Trainer.
She has a keen ability to identify inefficiencies and create sustainable systems enabling consistent, on-time completion, regardless of project complexity. Her lived experience on both sides of the donor and recipient dividing lines affords her a nuanced understanding of stakeholder needs and the intricacies of donor requirements.
Sitting at the cutting edge of science, the crop breeding domain has been improving and refining tools, technologies and techniques. But adoption by public breeding programs focusing on Africa, Asia, and Latin America has often been slow. This has hindered progress on developing the new varieties needed for farmers to overcome climate impacts, build livelihoods, and feed their communities.
But One CGIARâs new integrated approach is changing that. Building on the work of CGIAR Excellence in Breeding, the Breeding Resource Initiative can point to major progress in 2022, moving forward on an array of shared services, capacity development programs and technical support. Here are five significant milestones helping CGIAR and its national partners deliver better results:
1. Regional hubs are on their way: CGIARâs vision is to have regional hubs coordinating and delivering services across crops. AfricaRice is set to grow into a regional service provider and coordinator for multiple crops in West Africa. After discussions, planning and site visits with BRI, AfricaRice leadership committed to working with the BRI team to start by providing regional nutritional analysis services, aimed to launch for selected partners in 2023. The plan is to then expand AfricaRiceâs role as a coordinator of other competitive services like genotyping and capacity building. This is a major step toward CGIARâs vision of not just improving breeding stations, but serving all CGIAR/National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES) partners regionally. The aim is collaboration, efficiency and results in farmersâ fields.
2. Operations teams are amping up skills and knowledge: Breeding success hinges on good operational practices leading to accurate data. To ensure the heritability of breeding trials, BRI has offered resources, trainings and on-the-ground support for operational teams. Through its Breeding Operation Network for Development (BOND), BRI/EiB, along with IITA, ran three weeklong workshops for partners across Africa (watch all 22 sessions on plotmanship, gender, seed processing, irrigation and more), regular webinars exploring private and public sector best practices, and a series focusing on continuous improvement approaches. BRI also trained dozens of operational staff across Africa on how to use and maintain new USAID-supplied equipment. And CGIAR continued its push to harmonize rice breeding processes between IRRI, AfricaRice and CIAT through a week-long rice breeding operations training at IRRI. As well, new tools such as a gender inclusion checklist are now available to support operational excellence.
3. EBS is settling in as a universal data platform: The data management platform Enterprise Breeding System has made real strides in the past year, with an updated version with new features (Milestone 5) rolling out across three Centers (CIMMYT, IITA, IRRI), with over 500 users. Other Centers, such as AfricaRice are starting to deploy the system too. On their visit to AfricaRiceâs Ivory Coast station, the BRI team noted barcode deployment across the upland rice nurseries â an inspiration to spur other CGIAR Centers to accelerate their own adoption. EBS is a single, powerful, shared, multi-crop platform and its deployment will mean major time and money savings for breeders â and better breeding decisions.
4. Lab services are expanding: As breeders strive for higher-yielding, climate-resilient and nutritious crops, BRI/EiB have been improving breeding speed and accuracy through streamlined, reliable and cost-effective genotyping services. Services include Low Density SNP Genotyping Services (LDSG), Mid-density SNP Genotyping (MDSG), along with training. BRI also launched a Lab Services Process Team to connect Genetic Innovation departments and teams and ensure delivery of high quality services through standardized processes. And launching in 2023, partners will be able to access biochemical testing for nutritional traits and quality. These improved services mean CGIAR and national partners are becoming more effective and competitive as they use this data to make better decisions.
5. Regional approaches set to drive change: BRI drives change at both local and regional levels. For example, team members visited Kiboko and Njoro stations in Kenya, and ran planning sessions in Nairobi with East African breeding teams. This helped clarify challenges and priorities in the region, helping define how services could best be established. Kenyaâs key outcomes included: a commitment with CIMMYT leadership to establish services in Kiboko as a pilot, an action plan to improve EBS development and adoption in the region, and endorsement by CGIAR Breeding Research Services leadership of major Crops to End Hunger grants in the region â these fill key gaps in the drive to modernization. The team plans to organize similar sessions to support CGIAR/NARES breeding networks in other regions.
These five strides forward represent but a glimpse into Breeding Resourcesâ progress. And these are much more than just separate achievements. They represent a shift in breeding culture across the CGIAR-NARES networks â one that will help deliver better varieties, faster. With major plans for 2023, CGIAR-NARES can look forward to the tools and services they need to deliver first-class programs.
Story and feature photo by Adam Hunt, EiB/BRI/ABI Communications Lead. We would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to theâŻCGIAR Trust Fund. And thank you to the supporters and partners of CGIAR Excellence in Breeding, particularly the funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rising global temperatures due to climate change are changing the growth cycles of crops worldwide. Recent records from Europe show that wild and cultivated plants are growing earlier and faster due to increased temperatures.
Farmers also influence the timing of crops and tend to grow their crops when weather conditions are more favorable. With these periods shifting due to climate change, sowing calendars are changing over time.
Over thousands of years of domesticating and then breeding crops, humans have also managed to artificially change how crop varieties respond to both temperature and day length, and in turn have been able to expand the area where crop species can be grown. Farmers can now choose varieties that mature at different rates and adapt them to their environment.
Including farmersâ decisions on when to grow crops and which varieties to cultivate are vital ingredients for understanding how climate change is impacting staple crops around the world and how adaptation might offset the negative effects.
âFor long time, the parametrization of global crop models regarding crop timing and phenology has been a challenge,” said Sara Minoli, first author of the study. “The publication of global calendars of sowing and harvest have allowed advancements in global-scale crop model and more accurate yield simulations, yet there is a knowledge gap on how crop calendars could evolve under climate change. If we want to study the future of agricultural production, we need models that can simulate not only crop growth, but also farmersâ management decisions.”
Using computer simulations and process-based models, the team projected the sowing and maturity calendars for five staple crops, maize, wheat, rice, sorghum and soybean, adapted to a historical climate period (1986â2005) and two future periods (2060â2079 and 2080â2099). The team then compared the crop growing periods and their corresponding yields under three scenarios: no adaptation, where farmers continue with historical sowing dates and varieties; timely adaptation, where farmers adapt sowing dates and varieties in response to changing climate; and delayed adaptation, where farmers delay changing their sowing dates and varieties by 20 years.
The results of the study, published last year in Nature Communications, revealed that sowing dates driven by temperature will have larger shifts than those driven by precipitation. The researchers found that adaptation could increase crop yields by 12 percent, compared to non-adaptation, with maize and rice showing the highest potential for increased crop yields at 17 percent. This in turn would reduce the negative impacts of climate change and increase the fertilization effect of increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.
They also found that later-maturing crop varieties will be needed in the future, especially at higher latitudes.
âOur findings indicate that there is space for maintaining and increasing crop productivity, even under the threat of climate change. Unfortunately, shifting sowing dates â a very low-cost measure â is not sufficient, and needs to be complemented by the adaptation of the entire cropping cycle through the use of different cultivars,â said Minoli.
Another important aspect of this study, according to Anton Urfels, CIMMYT systems agronomist and co-author of the study, is that it bridges the GxMxE (Gene-Management-Environment) spectrum by using crop simulations as an interdisciplinary tool to evaluate complex interactions across scientific domains.
âAlthough the modeled crops do not represent real cultivars, the results provide information for breeders regarding crop growth durations (i.e. the need for longer duration varieties) needed in the future as well as agronomic information regarding planting and harvesting times across key global climatic regimes. More such interdisciplinary studies will be needed to address the complex challenges we face for transitioning our food systems to more sustainable and resilient ones,â said Urfels.
Cover photo: Work underway at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Zimbabwe (CIMMYT), is seeking to ensure the widespread hunger in the country caused by the 2015/6 drought is not repeated, by breeding a heat and drought tolerant maize variety that can still grow in extreme temperatures. CIMMYT maize breeders used climate models from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) to inform breeding decisions. (Photo: L. Sharma/Marchmont Communications)
“Weâve recently supported a new project which will be operating in a number of countries, including Zambia and Malawi, that will be coordinated by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture,” said Fowler.
“Theyâll be establishing innovation hubs where theyâll bring together the best and most appropriate technologies and information to help small-scale farmers with a whole variety of issues that they confront. This will give the farmers access, for example in Zambia, to drought-tolerant maize, which theyâre really clamoring for. This is maize which, on a year-in and year-out basis, on average will yield about 30 percent more, rotated with legumes, which provide protein and also enrich the soil and reduce the need for fertilizer. But also other technologies and assistance in establishing markets for those products and lengthening out the value chain so that farmers are not just â and small businesses are not just dealing with raw commodities but are taking those commodities and making something more valuable and more useful to a broader population.”
Doubled Haploid (DH) technology reduces the time required to develop homozygous maize lines to eight to thirteen months, instead of three to seven years using more traditional inbreeding methods. This technology also results in 100% homozygous lines that are most suitable for selection and breeding, compared to traditional inbreeding with varying levels of heterozygosity. Use of DH lines in maize breeding offers several genetic, economic, and logistical advantages over conventional inbred lines. Reduced time and increased precision in selection help breeders increase their rate of genetic gain: the rate at which the genetic potential of a crop increases in yield over time.
To enable the public and private sector maize breeding programs in the tropical/subtropical agro-ecologies to adopt doubled haploid technology, CIMMYT and the University of Hohenheim together developed the first-generation tropically adapted haploid inducer lines (TAILs) and stated distributing them to interested partners in 2013.
Second-generation TAILs (CIM2GTAILs) with improved haploid induction rates (~8-15%), better agronomic performance in terms of plant vigor, synchrony with tropical source populations, better standability, and resistance to important tropical foliar diseases and ear rots, were developed by CIMMYT and made available to the partners from 2016. Haploid inducer hybrids developed using these lines exhibit greater heterosis for plant vigor and pollen production while maintaining similar haploid induction rates as the parents; these are well-suited for open pollinations with source populations in isolation nurseries.
Interested partners may request a license to obtain seed of these CIM2GTAILs along with authorization for use of these specialized lines in their own breeding programs.
The service is rendered in India, Kenya and Mexico.
Figuring out what kinds of crops and crop varieties farmers want â high yielding, disease resistant, drought tolerant, early maturing, consumer-preferred, nutritious etc. â is a crucial step in developing locally adapted, farmer-friendly and market preferred varieties as part of more sustainable seed grain sectors.
While scientists aim to develop the best crop varieties with multiple traits, there are always trade-offs to be made due to the limits of genetics or competing preferences. For example, a variety may be more tolerant to drought but perform less well in consumer taste preferences such as sweet grains, or it may be higher yielding but more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Some of these trade-offs, such as vulnerability to pests or adverse climate, are not acceptable and must be overcome by crop scientists. The bundle of traits a crop variety offers is often a major consideration for farmers and can be the difference between a bumper harvest and a harvest lost to pests and diseases or extreme weather conditions.
Economists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have been working with smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa to document their preferences when it comes to maize. Results from Ethiopia were recently published in the journal PLOS ONE.
In a survey with almost 1,500 participants in more than 800 households, researchers found that both male and female farmers valued drought tolerance over other traits. For many farmers in areas where high-yielding, medium-maturing hybrids were available, early maturity was not considered a priority, and sometimes even disliked, as farmers felt it made their harvests more vulnerable to theft or increased their social obligations to share the early crop with relatives and neighbors if they were the only ones harvesting an early maize crop. Farmers therefore preferred varieties which matured more in sync with other farmers.
The team also found some gender differences, with female farmers often preferring taste over other traits, while male farmers were more likely to prioritize plant architecture traits like closed tip and shorter plants that do not easily break in the wind or bend over to the ground. These differences, if confirmed by ongoing and further research, suggest that gender differences in maize variety choices may occur due to differentiated roles of men and women in the maize value chains. Any differences observed should be traced to such roles where these are distinctly and socially differentiated. In aspects where men and womenâs roles are similar â for example, when women express preferences in their role as farmers as opposed to being custodians of household nutrition â they will prioritize similar aspects of maize varieties.
The results of the study show that overall, the most important traits for farmers in Ethiopia, in addition to those that improve yields, are varieties that are drought and disease tolerant, while in taste-sensitive markets with strong commercial opportunities in green maize selling, farmers may prioritize varieties that satisfy these specific consumer tastes. The findings of the study also highlight the impact of the local social environment on variety choices.
By taking farmersâ preferences on board, maize scientists can help develop more sustainable maize cropping systems which are adapted to the local environment and respond to global climatic and economic changes driven by farmersâ and consumersâ priorities.
Harvesting maize cobs at KALRO Katumani Research Station in Machakos, Kenya. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Drought and striga tolerance come out top for Kenyan farmers
In related research from western Kenya, published in June 2022 in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, results showed that farmers highly valued tolerance to drought, as well as tolerance to striga weed, low nitrogen soils and fall armyworm, in that order. CIMMYT researchers surveyed 1,400 smallholder farmers across three districts in western Kenya.
The scientists called for a more nuanced approach to seed markets, where seed prices might reflect the attributes of varieties. Doing so, they argue, would allow farmers to decide whether to pay price premiums for specific seed products thereby achieving greater market segmentation based on relative values of new traits.
âBoth studies show that farmers, scientists and development experts in the maize sector are grappling with a wide array of demands,â said Paswel Marenya, CIMMYT senior scientist and first author of both studies.
âFortunately, the maize breeding systems in CIMMYT, CGIAR and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) have produced a wide range of locally adapted, stress tolerant and consumer preferred varieties.â
The results of both these studies provide a framework for the kinds of traits scientists should prioritize in maize improvement programs at least in similar regions as those studied here in central Ethiopia or western Kenya. However, as Marenya noted, there is still work to do in supporting farmers to make informed choices: “The challenge is to implement rigorous market targeting strategies that sort and organize this complex landscape for farmers, thereby reducing the information load, search costs and learning times about new varieties. This will accelerate the speed of adoption and genetic gains on farmersâ fields as envisaged in this project.â
Zinc deficiency affects one third of the global population; vitamin A deficiency is a prevalent public health issue in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This includes countries like Nepal, where alarming rates of micronutrient deficiency contribute to a host of health problems across different age groups, such as stunting, weakened immune systems, and increased maternal and child mortality.
In the absence of affordable options for dietary diversification, food fortification, or nutrient supplementation, crop biofortification remains one of the most sustainable solutions to reducing micronutrient deficiency in the developing world.
After a 2016 national micronutrient status survey highlighted the prevalence of zinc and vitamin A deficiency among rural communities in Nepalâs mountainous western provinces, a team of researchers from the Nepal Agricultural Research Council and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) proposed a study to assess the yield performance of zinc and provitamin A enriched maize varieties.
Focusing on the river basin area of Karnali Province â where maize is the staple food crop for most people â they conducted two different field trials using an alpha lattice design to identify zinc and provitamin A biofortified maize genotypes consistent and competitive in performance over the contrasting seasons of February to July and August to February.
The study, recently published in Plants, compared the performance of newly introduced maize genotypes with local varieties, focusing on overall agro-morphology, yield, and micronutrient content. In addition to recording higher levels of kernel zinc and total carotenoid, it found that several of the provitamin A and zinc biofortified genotypes exhibited greater yield consistency across different environments compared to the widely grown normal maize varieties.
The results suggest that these genotypes could be effective tools in combatting micronutrient deficiency in the area, thus reducing hidden hunger, as well as enhancing feed nutrient value for the poultry sector, where micronutrient rich maize is highly desired.
âOne in three children under the age of five in Nepal and half of the children in the study area are undernourished. Introduction and dissemination of biofortified maize seeds and varieties will help to mitigate the intricate web of food and nutritional insecurity, especially among women and children,â said AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYTâs seed systems specialist for Asia and the co-author of the publication. Strengthening such products development initiatives and enhancing quality seed delivery pathways will foster sustainable production and value chains of biofortified crops, added Beshir.
Cover photo: Farm worker Bharat Saud gathers maize as it comes out of a shelling machine powered by 4WT in Rambasti, Kanchanpur, Nepal. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
In the sultry spring-summer heat of Bihar, India, the landscape is yellow with wheat grains ready for harvest. Here, in Nagma village farmer Ravi Ranjan attends to his fields â mostly wheat, with some pulses in the adjoining plots. The harvest this year will be a little less than anticipated, he explains, as receding monsoon rains left the soil too moist to begin sowing on time.
Ranjan’s grandfather and father were both farmers who owned sizable land. His father used to say that the land was productive but required a lot of hands, sweat, and time to sustain the yields. Agriculture was all that the family had known and depended on for decades before Ranjan’s father left the sector for the civil service. After the early demise of his grandfather in 2003, and with his father in a secure government job, it fell to Ranjan to shoulder the responsibility of managing the family farm.
As a young man, Ranjan had sometimes helped his grandfather in the fields, but now, as the owner of a hydraulic mechanical service firm working hundreds of kilometers away in Chhattisgarh, he had never imagined becoming a farmer himself. Though reluctant to begin with, Ranjan decided there was no alternative but to take on the challenge and do his best, and while initially he had little success with the new venture, slowly and steadily he began to change the fortune of his inherited land.
Today Ranjan is one of the local areaâs success stories, as a progressive and influential farmer with ties to the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project. Researchers on the CSISA team have been working with farmers like him in the region for over a decade and are proud of the ongoing collaboration. Ranjanâs fields are regularly used as CSISA trial plots to help demonstrate the success of new technologies and conservation agriculture practices that can enhance productivity and sustainability. For example, in the 2021-2022 winter cropping season â locally known as Rabi â he harvested 6.2 tons per hectare â while a separate acre plot as demonstration site was harvested publicly with officials from CSISA and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra Network (KVK), JEEViKA, and farmers from neighboring villages for improving yield sustainably.
As India celebrates Kisan Diwas (Farmerâs Day) on December 23, we speak to Ranjan about his hopes for the future and the continuity of farming in his family after he hangs his boots.
Farming has seen a sea of change since your grandfather’s time. What do you think has been the most transformative change in the years you have been involved in farming?
I think using mechanized tools and technology to ensure good cropping practices has tremendously reduced manual work. Furthermore, today with innovations and digitization in agriculture science, farming is not just recognized as a noble profession, but also an enterprising one. I am happy I came into it right when things were changing for good. I have no regrets.
Though not by choice that I came into it, I am now fully invested and devoted to farming. From being an entrepreneur to farming, it has been a transformational journey for me. I am unsure whether my daughters â I have three, the eldest turns 18 next year â will choose to be involved in agricultural farming. But I will encourage and fully support them if they choose to take it up. After all, they will inherit the land after me.
Extreme climate effects are challenging agricultural practices and output. How are you preparing to reduce the impact of these in your fields?
It is worrying to see how extreme climatic effects can be challenging for agriculture, particularly for smallholder farmers in the region. Erratic rains, drought at times, and increasing temperatures have all harmed our cereal and vegetable farms and affected yield in wheat crops significantly. The adoption of new technologies like direct seeded rice (DSR) to avoid puddled rice transplanting, early wheat sowing (EWS) to avoid terminal heat at maturity, zero tillage technology (ZTT), and better-quality seeds, are interventions introduced and supported by CSISA and other agricultural organizations from the state that has helped combat some of these climate-induced problems.
In my own fields, I have also introduced proper irrigation systems to reduce the impact of limited water availability. I hope to stay ahead of the curve and make sure I am aware of all that is possible to keep my farm productive and sustainable.
How did you begin your association with CSISA? What has been your experience of working with them to make your agriculture resilient and productive?
I was initially approached by one of their scientists working in the area. And because of my interest, they slowly began informing me of various technologies I could try. With these technologies implemented in my field, the yield and productivity improved.
Soon after expanding my agriculture output, I got 50 acres of land on lease in the village to grow more crops like pulses, along with rice and wheat. Today, CSISA has started using my fields as their demonstration plots for new technologies and best practices, and to spread awareness and bring in more farmers from neighboring villages to encourage adoption.
CSISA and others call me a progressive and innovative farmer. I am proud that many farmers and other agricultural agencies in the area have appreciated our efforts to continue making agriculture productive and sustainable.
About CSISA:
Established in 2009, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is a science-driven and impacts-oriented regional initiative for increasing the productivity of cereal-based cropping systems. CSISA works in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. CSISA activities in India focus on the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, dominated by small farm sizes, low incomes, and comparatively low agricultural mechanization, irrigation, and productivity levels.
Cover photo: Ravi Ranjan takes the author on a tour of his fields where wheat grown with conservation agriculture practices like zero tillage technology is ready for harvest, Nagwa village, Bihar, India. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)
