Maize is a staple crop in Zimbabwe, playing a vital role in the country’s agricultural landscape as food for its own people and an export good. However, behind every successful maize harvest lies the quality of seed and resistance to diseases and stresses.
Amidst the multitude of diseases that threaten maize crops, one adversary is maize lethal necrosis (MLN). Though not native to Zimbabwe, it is crucial to remain prepared for its potential impact on food security.
What is maize lethal necrosis?
MLN is a viral disease, caused by a combination of two virus diseases. The disease emerged in Kenya in 2011 and quickly spread to other countries in eastern Africa. The introduction of MLN to Africa was likely affected by the movement of infected seed and insect vectors. MLN has had a severe impact on regional maize production, leading to yield losses of up to 90%.
Recognizing the need to equip seasoned practitioners with the knowledge and skills to effectively diagnose and manage MLN, CIMMYT organized a comprehensive training on MLN diagnosis and management, targeting 25 representatives from Zimbabwe’s Plant Quarantine Services.
From students to experienced technicians, pathologists and plant health inspectors, this was an opportunity to refresh their knowledge base or an introduction to the important work of MLN mitigation. “This training for both advanced level practitioners and students is crucial not only for building competence on MLN but also to refresh minds to keep abreast and be prepared with approaches to tackle the disease once it is identified in the country,” said Nhamo Mudada, head of Plant Quarantine Services.
Expectations were diverse, ranging from sharpening understanding of key signs and symptoms to learning from country case examples currently ridden with the disease. With CIMMYT’s guidance, practitioners learned how to identify MLN infected plants, make accurate diagnoses, and implement management strategies to minimize losses.
“For over 10 years, these trainings have been important to raise awareness, keep local based practitioners up to speed, help them diagnose MLN, and make sure that they practice proper steps to tackle this disease,” said L.M Suresh, CIMMYT maize pathologist and head of the MLN screening facility in Kenya.
Identifying the specific MLN causing viral disease affecting a maize plant is the first step in combating MLN. Determining whether it is a biotic or abiotic disease is critical in establishing its cause and subsequent diagnosis. By implementing proper diagnostic techniques and understanding the fundamentals of good diagnosis, practitioners can bring representative samples to the lab and accurately identify MLN.
Tackling MLN in Zimbabwe
Initiated in 2015 at Mazowe as a joint initiative between the Government of Zimbabwe and CIMMYT, a modern quarantine facility was built to safely import maize breeding materials from eastern Africa to southern Africa and enable local institutions to proactively breed for resistance against MLN.
The MLN quarantine facility at the Plant Quarantine Institute is run by the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) and is mandated to screen maize varieties imported under strict quarantine conditions to ensure that they are MLN-free.
Training participants pose outside of the MLN screening facilities. (Photo: CIMMYT)
To date, CIMMYT and partners have released 22 MLN resistant and tolerant hybrids in eastern Africa. CIMMYT’s research and efforts to combat MLN have focused on a multidimensional approach, including breeding for resistant varieties, promoting integrated pest management strategies, strengthening seed systems, and enhancing the capacity of farmers and stakeholders.
“Support extended through valuable partnerships between CIMMYT, and the collaborations have played a pivotal role from surveillance to diagnostics and building capacity,” said Mudada.
Feedback and insights
Chief Plant Health Inspector for Export and Imports Biosecurity, Monica Mabika, expressed gratitude for the training. “It is always an honor when we have expert pathologists come through and provide a valuable refresher experience, strengthening our understanding on issues around biosecurity and learning what other countries are doing to articulate MLN,” she said.
Students learn how to screen maize plants for MLN. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Among the students was Audrey Dohwera from the University of Zimbabwe, who acknowledged the importance of the training. “I have been attached for 2 months under the pathology department, and I was eager to learn about MLN, how to detect signs and symptoms on maize, how to address it and be able to share with fellow farmers in my rural community,” she said.
With the knowledge gained from this training, practitioners are well equipped to face the challenges that MLN may present, ultimately safeguarding the country’s maize production status.
Dr Dumisani Kutwayo (second left) receives state of art Maize Lethal Necrosis test kits from Dr Wegary Dagne (second from right). (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The best results in combating pests and diseases exacerbated by climate change and protecting agricultural food systems originate from strategic partnerships between national governments and international research organizations. Such a synergy between Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) was recognized for its effectiveness at an event hosted by Zimbabwe Plant Quarantine Services on January 9, 2023.
“The mandate of ensuring that Zimbabwe is protected from plant diseases and invasive pests is one which cannot be attained by government alone, but together with partners such as CIMMYT,” said Dumisani Kutywayo, Chief Director of DRSS.
Dagne Wegary Gissa, CIMMYT senior scientist in maize breeding, presented Kutywayo with the latest advanced PCR testing kits for detecting maize lethal necrosis. “We are committed to ensuring that we support Zimbabwe with improved maize and wheat varieties but also with rapid disease detection,” said Gissa.
Kutywayo and senior directors were given a tour of the plant quarantine services station, where they observed where all introduced maize seed is quarantined and tested before being incorporated into the local seed systems. Tanyaradzwa Sengwe, a seed health and quality expert, summarized the quarantine procedures and explained how the day-to-day operations between the two institutes are being implemented. This involves the management of imported seed, protocols of seed management and biosafety measures for the quarantine facility.
Government officials take part in a field visit of the quarantine facility set up by CIMMYT in Mazowe, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Expanding partnerships
Zimbabwe can now accelerate its crop improvement programs, Gissa indicated, because CIMMYT has provided the government access to doubled haploid (DH) technology. This technology significantly shortens the breeding cycle from seven years to approximately 3-4 years. DH technology has become an integral part of many commercial maize breeding programs, as DH lines offer several economic, logistic and genetic benefits over conventional inbred lines. Further, new advances in DH technology continue to improve the efficiency of DH line development and fuel its increased adoption in breeding programs worldwide.
CIMMYT-Zimbabwe has facilitated access for Zimbabwe’s maize breeding program to a CIMMYT DH facility in Kenya. Busiso Mavankeni, the head of the Crop Breeding Institute, related how it was very expensive for governments of developing countries to keep up with the latest breeding technology trends and so collaborating with CIMMYT is helping Zimbabwe. “Having access to the DH facility has been a great boon to our breeding program,” said Mavankeni.
CIMMYT and Zimbabwe are also engaged in capacity building exercises; involving training sessions across a variety of food system frameworks. Nhamo Mudada, Head of Plant Quarantine Services, acknowledged the multiple trainings ranging from disease identification and prevention systems to entomology related concepts. “Our technical capabilities have increased significantly, and we strongly attribute this to CIMMYT’s knowledge sharing mandate,” Mudada said.
“This sustainability is enabled by ensuring that our systems can screen genetic materials coming into the country and detect diseases which may be foreign to the agroecological region. CIMMYT has, over the years, supported the government not only from a financial perspective but also from a technical capacity perspective.
“Having reliable partners such as CIMMYT who generously invest in government priorities helps our country to be well positioned against threats to our food security,” said Kutywayo, “The key for creating and maintaining sustainable innovation is for development partners like CIMMYT to work within existing national frameworks,” said Kutywayo. “As the adverse effects of climate change intensify, such strategic partnerships are the only way to establish appropriate responses.”
“Our goal is to serve as critical partners for Zimbabwe’s agrifood programs. We have dedicated ourselves to be a long-term partners and will provide as much support as we can to ensure Zimbabwe’s food security,” Gissa said.
Jubilant farmers after buying seed during day two of a fair in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center is working with its partners to support farmers in Zimbabwe embrace conservation agriculture and improved seed varieties to achieve more successful harvests in areas affected by climate change.
The R4 Rural Resilience and ZAMBUKO initiatives aim to help farmers through a number of activities. These include demonstrations of seed and conservation agriculture, field days and seed fairs, which look to develop farmers’ awareness about improved seed and novel varieties.
The fairs highlighted the importance of good seed practices and the benefits of improved varieties to both farmers and seed companies, who attended the events.
The initiative, which is run in collaboration with the Department of Specialist Services (DRSS), the Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (ARDAS) and the World Food Program (WFP), with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), helps those in the industry see the advantages of improved varieties over old ones, which may have been on the market for more than 20 years.
“It is now very critical for farmers from all walks of life to abandon old varieties which they have grown for decades and adopt the recently released varieties that offer some solutions to the new challenges,” said James Gethi, a seed systems scientist with CIMMYT. “There has been massive investment in research that has specifically focused on addressing the adversity of climate change and variability it brings, such as prolonged dry spells, heat stress, and new diseases that have emerged. As such, it is beneficial to the farmer to shift to the latest varieties as they suit the environmental context better compared to the older varieties.”
In recent years, Zimbabwe has experienced erratic rainfall and severe heatwaves during summer months, which is a key period for the growth of crops. This has led to low yields in various parts of the country, but the situation could improve through the combination of improved agronomy and varieties presented by seed and seed distribution companies who attended the fairs.
“Together with CIMMYT and other partners, we have invested in developing varieties that will help us achieve our annual food security goals,” added Busiso Mavankeni, head of the Crop Breeding Institute (CBI), which is housed within DRSS. “As such, farmers not adopting these new varieties contribute towards a huge waste of beneficial and relevant scientific research. Whilst it is not the farmers’ fault why they haven’t adopted them, we need to take deliberate steps to ensure farmers are aware of these varieties. That is the only way we can stimulate their adoption.”
Private sector partner poses with a happy farmer, who has procured drought tolerant seed. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Improving seed management
One of the project’s core aims is to promote positive seed management practices to both farmer and seed companies. In fact, these seed companies have a key role to play in supporting farmers with this knowledge. Understanding how to store crops in optimal conditions, for example, can lead to a more successful harvest.
“It is essential for both the farmers and local agro dealers to know how to manage seed before sale and planting,” Gethi added. “For example, rarely do farmers check the expiry date of seed when they buy them from an agro dealer. Secondly, when the seed needs to be stored, it is essential for it not to be stored close to heat sources or to be unnecessarily exposed to the sun for prolonged periods. This compromises its germination potential. Furthermore, it is crucial for farmers to only buy seed from registered and reputable agro dealers.”
These important messages were relayed to farmer throughout the project’s demos and field days, which led up to the seed fairs.
In addition to purchasing seeds, farmers had the opportunity to learn about new developments and build relationships in the private sector by attending the fairs.
“With these seed fairs, we have not only brought this multitude of seed and machinery companies to your doorstep so that you easily access good seeds, but so that you can also talk and understand what new products are on offer,” explained Christian Thierfelder, principal cropping systems agronomist, innovation science leader for Africa within CIMMYT. “For this coming season, we do not want to see you growing ancient varieties but would want to see you purchase new products which perform better than the old ones.”
ARDAS agricultural extension officer Canaan Jakata was also encouraged by the success of the project’s activities and is looking forward to seeing the farmers who attended the seed fairs enjoy a successful yield during the upcoming summer season. “I am very keen on assessing the performance of farmers in my ward who bought these improved varieties at the seed fairs as compared to neighboring wards in the district which did not. Regardless of how the season turns out, I expect superior performance from my farmers,” said Jakata.
For a decade, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have been at the forefront of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional effort to contain and effectively manage maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in Africa.
The manual is relevant to stakeholders in countries where MLN is already present, and also aims to offer technical tips to “‘high-risk’ countries globally for proactive implementation of practices that can possibly prevent the incursion and spread of the disease,” writes B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and MAIZE, in the foreword.
“While intensive multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional efforts over the past decade have helped in containing the spread and impact of MLN in sub-Saharan Africa, we cannot afford to be complacent. We need to continue our efforts to safeguard crops like maize from devastating diseases and insect-pests, and to protect the food security and livelihoods of millions of smallholders,” says Prasanna, who is presently leading the OneCGIAR Plant Health Initiative Design Team.
The food security and livelihoods of smallholder farming families in sub-Saharan Africa depend on maize production. The region accounts for up to two-thirds of global maize production, but is facing challenges related to extreme weather events, climate-induced stresses, pests and diseases, and deteriorating soil quality. These require swift interventions and innovations to safeguard maize yields and quality.
In this Q&A, we reflect on the results and impact of the long-term collaborative work on drought-tolerant maize innovations spearheaded by two CGIAR Research Centers: the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). This innovative work has changed guises over the years, from the early work of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) projects through later iterations such as Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) and the newest project, Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat (AGG).
In this Q&A, three leaders of this collaborative research reflect on the challenges their work has faced, the innovations and impact it has generated for smallholder farmers, and possible directions for future research. They are: B.M Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE); Abebe Menkir, a maize breeder and maize improvement lead at IITA; and Cosmos Magorokosho, project lead for AGG-Maize at CIMMYT.
Briefly describe the challenges confronting small-scale farmers prior to the introduction of drought-tolerant maize and how CIMMYT and IITA responded to these challenges?
B.M.P.: Maize is grown on over 38 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 40% of cereal production in the region and providing at least 30% of the population’s total calorie intake. The crop is predominantly grown under rainfed conditions by resource-constrained smallholder farmers who often face erratic rainfall, poor soil fertility, increasing incidence of climatic extremes — especially drought and heat — and the threat of devastating diseases and insect pests.
Around 40% of maize-growing areas in sub-Saharan Africa face occasional drought stress with a yield loss of 10–25%. An additional 25% of the maize crop suffers frequent drought, with yield losses of up to 50%. Climate change is further exacerbating the situation, with devastating effects on the food security and livelihoods of the millions of smallholder farmers and their families who depend on maize in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the improved maize varieties with drought tolerance, disease resistance and other farmer-preferred traits developed and deployed by CIMMYT and IITA over the last ten years in partnership with an array of national partners and seed companies across sub-Saharan Africa are critical in effectively tackling this major challenge.
A.M.: Consumption of maize as food varies considerably across sub-Saharan Africa, exceeding 100 kg per capita per year in many countries in southern Africa. In years when rainfall is adequate, virtually all maize consumed for food is grown in sub-Saharan Africa, with a minimal dependence on imported grain. Maize production, however, is highly variable from year to year due to the occurrence of drought and the dependence of national maize yields on seasonal rainfall. One consequence has been widespread famine occurring every five to ten years in sub-Saharan Africa, accompanied by large volumes of imported maize grain as food aid or direct imports.
This places a significant strain on resources of the World Food Programme and on national foreign exchange. It also disincentivizes local food production and may not prevent or address cyclical famine. It also leaves countries ill-equipped to address famine conditions in the period between the onset of the crisis and the arrival of food aid. Investment in local production, which would strengthen the resilience and self-sufficiency in food production of smallholder farming families, is a far better option to mitigate food shortages than relying on food aid and grain imports.
C.M.: Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa face innumerable natural and socioeconomic constraints. CIMMYT, in partnership with IITA and national agricultural research system partners, responded by developing and catalyzing the commercialization of new maize varieties that produce reasonable maize yields under unpredictable rainfall-dependent growing season.
Over the life of the partnership, more than 300 new climate-adaptive maize varieties were developed and released in more than 20 countries across sub-Saharan Africa where maize is a major staple food crop. Certified seed of over 100 stress-tolerant improved maize varieties have been produced by seed company partners, reaching more than 110,000 tons in 2019. The seeds of these drought-tolerant maize varieties have benefited more than 8 million households and were estimated to be grown on more than 5 million hectares in eastern, southern and west Africa in 2020.
A farmer in Mozambique stands for a photograph next to her drought-tolerant maize harvest. (Photo: CIMMYT)
In what ways did the drought-tolerant maize innovation transform small-scale farmers’ ability to respond to climate-induced risks? Are there any additional impacts on small scale farmers in addition to climate adaptation?
B.M.P.: The elite drought-tolerant maize varieties can not only provide increased yield in drought-stressed crop seasons, they also offer much needed yield stability. This means better performance than non-drought-tolerant varieties in both good years and bad years to a smallholder farmer.
Drought-tolerant maize varieties developed by CIMMYT and IITA demonstrate at least 25-30% grain yield advantage over non-drought-tolerant maize varieties in sub-Saharan Africa under drought stress at flowering. This translates into at least a 1 ton per hectare enhanced grain yield on average, as well as reduced downside risk in terms of lost income, food insecurity and other risks associated with crop yield variability. In addition to climate adaptation, smallholder farmers benefit from these varieties due to improved resistance to major diseases like maize lethal necrosis and parasitic weeds like Striga. We have also developed drought-tolerant maize varieties with enhanced protein quality — such as Quality Protein Maize or QPM — and provitamin A, which improve nutritional outcomes.
We must also note that drought risk in sub-Saharan Africa has multiple and far-reaching consequences. It reduces incentives for smallholder farmers to intensify maize-based systems and for commercial seed companies to invest and evolve due to a limited seed market.
Drought-tolerant maize is, therefore, a game changer as it reduces the downside risk for both farmers and seed companies and increases demand for improved maize seed, thus strengthening the commercial seed market in sub-Saharan Africa. Extensive public-private partnerships around drought-tolerant maize varieties supported the nascent seed sector in sub-Saharan Africa and has enabled maize-based seed companies to significantly grow over the last decade. Seed companies in turn are investing in marketing drought-tolerant maize varieties and taking the products to scale.
A.M.: The DTMA and STMA projects were jointly implemented by CIMMYT and IITA in partnership with diverse national and private sector partners in major maize producing countries in eastern, southern and western Africa to develop and deploy multiple stress-tolerant and productive maize varieties to help farmers adapt to recurrent droughts and other stresses including climate change.
These projects catalyzed the release and commercialization of numerous stress-resilient new maize varieties in target countries across Africa. Increasing the resilience of farming systems means that smallholder farmers need guaranteed access to good quality stress resilient maize seeds. To this end, the two projects worked with public and private sector partners to produce large quantities of certified seeds with a continual supply of breeder seeds from CIMMYT and IITA. The availability of considerable amount of certified seeds of resilient maize varieties has enabled partners to reach farmers producing maize under stressful conditions, thus contributing to the mitigation of food shortages that affect poor people the most in both rural and urban areas.
C.M.: The drought-tolerant maize innovation stabilized maize production under drought stress conditions in sub-Saharan Africa countries. Recent study results showed that households that grew drought-tolerant maize varieties had at least half a ton more maize harvest than the households that did not grow the drought-tolerant maize varieties, thus curbing food insecurity while simultaneously increasing farmers’ economic benefits. Besides the benefit from drought-tolerant innovation, the new maize varieties developed through the partnership also stabilized farmers’ yields under major diseases, Striga infestation, and poor soil fertility prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.
How is the project addressing emerging challenges in breeding for drought-tolerant maize and what opportunities are available to address these challenges in the future?
Margaret holds an improved ear of drought-tolerant maize. Margaret’s grandmother participated in an on-farm trial in Murewa district, 75 kilometers northeast of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. (Photo: Jill Cairns/CIMMYT)
B.M.P.: A strong pipeline of elite, multiple-stress-tolerant maize varieties — combining other relevant adaptive and farmer-preferred traits — has been built in sub-Saharan Africa through a strong germplasm base, partnerships with national research partners and small- and medium-sized seed companies, an extensive phenotyping and multi-location testing network, and engagement with farming communities through regional on-farm trials for the identification of relevant farmer-preferred products.
CGIAR maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa continues to evolve in order to more effectively and efficiently create value for the farmers we serve. We are now intensively working on several areas: (a) increasing genetic gains (both on-station and on-farm) through maize breeding in the stress-prone environments of sub-Saharan Africa by optimizing our breeding pipelines and effectively integrating novel tools, technologies and strategies (e.g., doubled haploids, genomics-assisted breeding, high-throughput and precise phenotyping, improved breeding data management system, etc.); (b) targeted replacement of old or obsolete maize varieties in sub-Saharan Africa with climate-adaptive and new varieties; (c) developing next-generation climate-adaptive maize varieties with traits such as native genetic resistance to fall armyworm, and introgressed nutritional quality traits (e.g., provitamin A, high Zinc) to make a positive impact on the nutritional well-being of consumers; and (d) further strengthening the breeding capacity of national partners and small and medium-sized seed companies in sub-Saharan Africa for a sustainable way forward.
A.M.: The DTMA and STMA projects established effective product pipelines integrating cutting-edge phenotyping and molecular tools to develop stress-resilient maize varieties that are also resistant or tolerant to MLN disease and fall armyworm. These new varieties are awaiting release and commercialization. Increased investment in strengthening public and private sector partnerships is needed to speed up the uptake and commercialization of new multiple stress-resilient maize varieties that can replace the old ones in farmers’ fields and help achieve higher yield gains.
Farmers’ access to new multiple-stress-tolerant maize varieties will have a significant impact on productivity at the farm level. This will largely be due to new varieties’ improved response to fertilizer and favorable growing environments as well as their resilience to stressful production conditions. Studies show that the adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties increased maize productivity, reduced exposure to farming risk among adopters and led to a decline in poverty among adopters. The availability of enough grain from highly productive and stress-resilient maize varieties can be the cheapest source of food and release land to expand the cultivation of other crops to facilitate increased access to diversified and healthy diets.
C.M.: The project is tackling emerging challenges posed by new diseases and pests by building upon the successful genetic base of drought-tolerant maize. This is being done by breeding new varieties that add tolerance to the emerging disease and pest challenges onto the existing drought-tolerant maize backgrounds. Successes have already been registered in breeding new varieties that have high levels of resistance to MLN disease and the fall armyworm pest.
Opportunities are also available to address new challenges including: pre-emptively breeding for threats to maize production challenges that exist in other regions of the world before these threats reach sub-Saharan Africa; enhancing the capacity of national partners to build strong breeding programs that can address new threats once they emerge in sub-Saharan Africa; and sharing knowledge and novel high-value breeding materials across different geographies to immediately address new threats once they emerge.
Cover photo: Alice Nasiyimu stands in front of a drought-tolerant maize plot at her family farm in Bungoma County, in western Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
The Biofortified Maize for Improved Human Nutrition project conducts field research both at CIMMYT and with partners on breeding for increased pro-vitamin A and Zinc content in both Africa and Latin America. The project grant is renewed annually and has been in operation since 2004.
Key activities include supporting early and mid-late product development, evaluation and release in Mexico and target countries in southern Africa, food science and retention studies. Molecular breeding and biochemical analysis are key components for successful breeding, and the project also involves technical backstopping for partners in both regions.
Objectives
Conduct field research on breeding for increased pro-vitamin A for target countries in Africa
Conduct field research on breeding for increased Zinc for product evaluation and release
Conduct essential research to deploy analytical tools and marker assisted selection or genomic selection methods in micronutrient breeding work
Facilitate the dissemination, promotion and consumption of biofortified crops
The director of Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services, Cames Mguni, gives official remarks during the CIMMYT field day. (Photo: Catherine Magada/CIMMYT)
On March 14, 2019, over 200 of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) partners in southern Africa, including national research organisations, private seed companies and funders, attended the annual partners field day in Harare, Zimbabwe.
“For the last 34 years, CIMMYT’s regional office has expanded its research work, from maize breeding to sustainable cropping practices and recently appropriate mechanization and post-harvest,’’ said Cames Mguni, Director of Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services. “The development of drought and heat tolerant maize varieties helps farmers get better yields and cope better during drought years such as the current 2018/19 season.”
Elijah Nyabadza, Dean of the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Agriculture, highlighted the strong collaboration between the University and CIMMYT in conducting joint research and building cutting-edge skills of the next generation of agricultural scientists and practitioners in the region.
Welthungerhilfe country director Regina Feindt said the partner field day was ‘’a very valuable experience and a great opportunity to gain technical know-how and exchange with colleagues across the region.’’
CIMMYT showcases research impact
At the event, CIMMYT country representative for Zimbabwe Cosmos Magorokosho walked partners through breeding lines that include special lines testing for resistance to diseases such as fall armyworm, maize streak virus and weevil. Maize breeder Amsal Tarekegne explained how, in product development, various inbred lines are combined to create new hybrids. These new hybrids, added seed systems specialist Peter Setimela, are made available to smallholder farmers for performance testing for stress tolerance and nutritional traits under different environments before being released to seed companies for multiplication.
Two Zimbabwean seed companies present at the field day highlighted the benefits of collaboration with CIMMYT. Chrispen Nyamuda, an agronomist from Zadzamatura seed company, explained that many varieties popular with farmers, which are heat-tolerant and resistant to diseases like maize streak virus and grey leaf spot disease, were developed thanks to their collaboration with CIMMYT. Another partner from Mukushi Seeds described the working partnership with CIMMYT as mutually beneficial. “We exchange lines, plant in different environments and share the results,” he explained. “We are also tapping germplasm from the world through CIMMYT’s global reach.”
Over the last couple of years, CIMMYT has intensified maize breeding efforts aimed at improving the nutritional value of maize, particularly higher content in provitamin A and better quality protein. Maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela explained that more than 15 new hybrids with higher levels of provitamin A have been released in southern Africa, including five in Zimbabwe.
Thokozile Ndhlela (first from right) shares advances in provitamin A maize breeding in Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Agronomists Christian Thierfelder and Isaiah Nyagumbo shared some conservation agriculture techniques adopted by smallholder farmers. Farmers can realize better yields and improve their climate resilience by combining conservation agriculture principles such as minimum soil disturbance, crop rotation and soil cover, with use of stress tolerant maize varieties, appropriate mechanization and other complementary practices. Frederic Baudron, who leads the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) initiative, explained how small mechanization like two-wheel planters could address labour shortages, reduce drudgery and generate opportunities for rural youth. Significant drudgery reductions have already been observed in wheat planting in Rwanda, and in post-harvest operations like shelling and threshing in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
CIMMYT researcher Isaiah Nyagumbo explains conservation agriculture techniques during the annual partners field day. (Photo: Catherin Magada/CIMMYT)
The International Maize Improvement Consortium one year on
Following the annual partners field day, members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) held a field day to select varieties from the IMIC Southern Africa demo plot, which carries a wider selection of materials. Launched in May 2018, IMIC is a public-private partnership initiative established as part of CIMMYT’s mission to increase seed breeding and production innovations.
Participating IMIC members came from seed companies based in Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At the field day, they were advised by research associate Obert Randi on the layout of the demonstrations for materials under development for different traits, resilience to fall armyworm and maize streak virus, materials improved for vitamin A and quality protein and stress tolerant lines.
After going through the selections, participating IMIC members proceeded to the Quarantine Facility in Mazoe, where they explored around 2,300 double haploid lines undergoing screening maize lethal necrosis (MLN) as well as multiplication for distribution to non-MLN prevalent countries.
The final part of the field day provided space for the members to share research learnings and input on how to move the consortium forward. The field day concluded with an inaugural meeting of the steering committee chaired by CIMMYT regional representative for Africa Stephen Mugo, where participants discussed a number of issues including membership, procedures for conducting field days, training and research prioritization.
Both field days offered an opportunity to highlight the extended impact of CIMMYT’s research in southern Africa through strong partnerships and commitment to research on maize breeding, sustainable farming practices, mechanization and socio-economic impacts of all programming.
