The Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) Gene Editing Project uses gene editing technology to transform four elite CIMMYT maize lines which are susceptible to a devastating maize disease known as MLN. The disease first appeared in Kenya in 2011, and by 2013 it had reduced maize yields across the country by an average of 22%, resulting in loss of production worth $180 million and forcing many smallholder farmers to abandon planting maize. By 2014 it had spread to D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, hence posing a major threat to the food security and livelihoods of millions of Africans.
CIMMYT and its partners have responded to the problem by successfully developing MLN-tolerant hybrids through conventional backcrossing, which takes approximately 4-5 years. On the other hand, with the use of a gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, the breeding process can be accelerated, thereby reducing the time required to 2-3 years only, so that smallholders get faster access to improved maize varieties.
In partnership with Corteva Agriscience — which has significant expertise in the genome-editing field and who is the technology owner — and KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization), CIMMYT scientists have been able to make a breakthrough via the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The technology, Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) along with CRISPR-associated System (Cas) containing Protein 9, functions to replicate natural mutations in maize that will help strengthen its resistance to MLN. At the same time, this precisely targeted crop improvement process eliminates the transfer of many undesirable genes that would often accompany the desired ones as with the case in traditional backcrossing.
Under this project, four CIMMYT inbred lines, that are parents of two commercial hybrids in eastern Africa but susceptible to MLN, have been selected to undergo gene editing to become MLN-resistant. The edited, MLN-resistant lines will in turn be used to produce MLN-resistant hybrids which will still carry all the farmer-preferred agronomic traits including drought tolerance, similar to other elite maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT and released through partners.
CIMMYT is working in close collaboration with KALRO and other partners from the public and private sectors to increase the number of MLN-resistant Africa-adapted inbred lines and hybrids, as well as to make deployment efforts. By 2025, subject to compliance with regulatory procedures, commercial seeds of the gene-edited MLN-resistant elite maize hybrids will be available to up to 20,000 smallholder farmers for approximately 40,000 hectares of planting. In line with the CGIAR Principles on the Management of Intellectual Assets and CIMMYT’s constant endeavor to treat its improved germplasm as international public good, the MLN-resistant hybrids will be available royalty-free and seed companies entering into commercialization/licensing agreements in connection with this project will not be allowed to charge smallholder farmers higher seed cost. In this way, more farmers in MLN-affected countries in eastern and Central Africa can eventually benefit from increased supply of high-yielding, MLN-resistant and affordable maize products.
The worst desert-locust plague in Kenya in 70 years is threatening to spread further into East Africa, jeopardizing food security.
Swarms of the insects are already devouring crops and pasture in Ethiopia and Somalia, and they’re breeding in Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan — all areas that are prone to drought and food shortages. There’s a high risk they may soon enter northeast Uganda and southeast South Sudan, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
In Kenya, the locusts have mainly ravaged pasture, putting livestock production at risk, Hugo de Groote, an agricultural economist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, said by phone. There is a need to monitor and control the insects to ensure swarms don’t reach the more southerly counties that grow corn, tea and coffee, he said.
A farm worker applies fertilizer in a field of Staha maize for seed production at Suba Agro’s Mbezi farm in Tanzania. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa are generally low. This is in large part because of low fertilizer use. A recent study of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa showed that just 35% of farmers applied fertilizer. Some possible reasons for this could be that farmers may be unaware of the efficacy of fertilizer use; or have degraded soils that do not respond to fertilizer; they may not have the cash to purchase it; or because unpredictable rainfall makes such investments risky. It may also be because local fertilizer prices make their use insufficiently profitable for many farmers.
To better understand the potential fertilizer demand in a particular location, it is important to know how crops respond to fertilizer under local conditions, but it is critical to understand crop responses in terms of economic returns. This requires information about local market prices of fertilizers and other inputs, as well as the prices that a farmer could receive from selling the crop.
While national-level fertilizer prices may be available, it is necessary to consider the extent to which prices vary within countries, reflecting transportation costs and other factors. In the absence of such data, analysis of household-level behaviors requires assumptions about the prices smallholder farmers face — assumptions which may not be valid. For example, evaluations of the returns to production technologies settings have often assumed spatially invariant input and output prices or, in other words, that all farmers in a country face the same set of prices. This is at odds with what we know about economic remoteness and the highly variable market access conditions under which African smallholders operate.
An obstacle to using empirical data on sub-national disparities in fertilizer prices is the scarcity of such data. A new study focused on the spatial discrepancies in fertilizer prices. The study compiled local market urea price in eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 2010-2018 and used spatial interpolation models — using points with known values to approximate values at other unknown points — to predict local prices at locations for which no empirical data was available. It was conducted by scientists at University of California, Davis, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The authors note that this is the first major attempt to systematically describe the spatial variability of fertilizer prices within the target countries and test the ability to estimate the price at unsampled locations.
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in eight East African countries.
“Our study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries and gives a much more accurate representation of the economic realities faced by African smallholders than the picture suggested by using national average prices,” said Camila Bonilla Cedrez, PhD Candidate at University of California, Davis. “We show that in many countries, this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand, and environmental conditions.”
Urea prices were generally found to be more expensive in remote areas or away from large urban centers, ports of entry or blending facilities. There were some exceptions, though. In Benin, Ghana and Nigeria, prices went down when moving away from the coast, with the possible explanation being market prices in areas with higher demand are lower. In other locations, imports of fertilizer from neighboring countries with lower prices may be affecting prices in another country or region, much like political influence. Politically, well-connected villages can receive more input subsidies compared to the less connected ones.
“The performance of our price estimation methods and the simplicity of our approach suggest that large scale price mapping for rural areas is a cost-effective way to provide more useful price information for guiding policy, targeting interventions, and for enabling more realistic applied microeconomic research. For example, local price estimates could be incorporated into household-survey-based analysis of fertilizer adoption,” explained Jordan Chamberlin, CIMMYT spatial economist. “In addition, such predictive ‘price maps’ can be incorporated into targeting and planning frameworks for agricultural investments. For example, to target technology promotion efforts to the areas where those technologies are most likely to be profitable.”
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in nine West African countries.
“The evidence we have compiled in this paper suggests that, while investments in more comprehensive and spatially representative price data collection would be very useful, we may utilize spatial price prediction models to extend the value of existing data to better reflect local price variation through interpolation,” explained Robert J. Hijmans, professor at University of California, Davis. “Even if imperfect, such estimates almost certainly better reflect farmers’ economic realities than assumptions of spatially constant prices within a given country. We propose that spatial price estimation methods such as the ones we employ here serve for better approximating heterogeneous economic market landscapes.”
This study has illustrated new ways for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors suggest that an important avenue for future empirical work would be to evaluate the extent to which the subnational price variation documented is a useful explanatory factor for observed variation in smallholder fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, after controlling for local agronomic responses and output prices. One way to do that may be to integrate input and output price predictions into spatial crop models, and then evaluate the degree to which modeled fertilizer use profitability predicts observed fertilizer use rates across different locations.
Some of the participants at the “Gender dynamics in seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa” workshop held on December 2, 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: Kipenz Films/CIMMYT)
One important pillar of Africa’s food security is ensuring that quality seeds are developed and delivered to the millions of smallholder farmers that feed the continent. Reaching the last mile with climate-resilient and disease-resistant seeds remains a challenge in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. “In countries where we invested in seed systems initiatives, we have seen an upsurge in smallholder farm productivity,” said Joseph DeVries, the President of Seed Systems Group. “A story that is not adequately told is that of the important role of women along the seed value chain. In Kenya, 40% of owners of agrodealer shops are women. The farming sector would gain a lot with a stronger role for women in developing a gender-sensitive seed sector,” he noted.
DeVries was one of the keynote speakers at the “Gender dynamics in seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa” workshop organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on December 2, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting brought together researchers, development practitioners, donors, farmers’ representatives, farmers, seed companies and other private actors.
CIMMYT’s Gender and Development Specialist, Rahma Adam, observed that with the African seed sector being male-dominated, the patriarchal nature of the family and community systems make it harder for women to penetrate the sector easily. For instance, many women employed in the sector mostly dominate the low-paying jobs. Workshop participants agreed that while there are many opportunities for women in the sector, the barriers to entry are many.
Joseph DeVries, President of Seed Systems Group, addresses participants at the “Gender dynamics in seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa” workshop. (Photo: Kipenz Films/CIMMYT)
Acknowledging the gender gap in agriculture
“Decades of gender research have shown that where there is gender inequality, there is food insecurity,” remarked Jemimah Njuki, senior program specialist from the International Development Research Center (IDRC). The gender gap in agricultural productivity observed in sub-Saharan Africa — up to 30% in countries like Nigeria and Malawi — is often explained by unequal access to inputs and male labor for heavy operations such as land preparation, access to knowledge and capital.
Addressing such unequal access is not enough, according to Njuki. To switch to a truly gender-sensitive food system, “you need to address social norms and women’s agency and what they can do on their own.” Taking the example of financial services, women often find difficulties obtaining loans because banks ask for collateral like title deeds, which are typically in the name of the husband or a male in-law. Yet, women are very good at repaying their loans on time. Making finance institutions “womanable” as Njuki put it, would be good for the welfare of women and their family, hence good for business.
Jemimah Njuki, senior program officer at the International Development Research Center (IDRC), speaks at the workshop. (Photo: Kipenz Films/CIMMYT)
Is there such a thing as seed for women farmers?
Within a household, who has a say in buying new seeds? Do men and women farmers look for the same traits and attributes?
A study conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by Paswel Marenya, a senior agricultural economist at CIMMYT, revealed that in many cases, the man has a greater say in selecting new seed varieties. Other research shows that beyond grain yield, the characteristics of “a good variety” differ between men and women farmers. In the study, both genders mention what they were willing to pay as trade-off against yield. Women would favor a variety with a longer grain shelf-life (ability to store 3-4 months). Men preferred a variety that performs well with low fertilizer requirements. Equally, women farmers engaged in participatory varietal selections tended to provide more nuanced evaluation of varieties than men. Despite this evidence, seed companies do not often adapt their seed marketing strategy according to gender.
Making institutions and seed systems gender-sensitive
CIMMYT’s gender and development specialist Rahma Adam addresses participants at the “Gender dynamics in seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa” workshop. (Photo: Kipenz Films/CIMMYT)
Are there missed opportunities for the seed sector by being “gender-blind”? Rahma Adam believes “the current one-size-fits-all model does not work for many women farmers”. She advises seed companies to be more gender-sensitive when organizing seed marketing operations. Women tend to have less time to attend field demos, the major marketing tool for seed companies. Packaging may not be adapted to suit their more limited purchasing power.
There are good examples of women seed entrepreneurs that have established their niche and reach out to women farmers. Janey Leakey, Director of Leldet Seed Company in Nakuru, Kenya, is one such example. She markets small seed packs called Leldet bouquet, a mix of improved maize and legume seeds at the cost of a cup of tea, to enable women farmers test new varieties.
For the more informal sweet potato seed systems, many women farmers have been successfully engaged in lucrative vine multiplication, thanks to the use of women extensionists and women groups to teach appropriate storage techniques in drought-prone regions. “Such seed business can empower women within the household,” noted Jan Low, co-leader of the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) at the International Potato Center (CIP) and 2016 World Food Prize Laureate. A woman vine multiplier was able to negotiate with the husband for more land and water access to increase production.
Many other important actors in the public, private and development sectors have also been more deliberate in structuring some of their project or business implementation plans to include or benefit more women in the seed value chain. Among the players are CARE International, Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), the Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK), SeedCo, the Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK), World Vision, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which attended and participated very actively in this workshop.
Some of the plans entail helping more women to access information on climate change to understand their cropping seasons, contracting women farmers as seed out-growers, encouraging and supporting them to join forces to produce seed in group settings. Some of these actors also train women to enhance their entrepreneurial acumen, help them to access finance, obtain the appropriate labor and time-saving machinery, and acquire small seed packs.
Ultimately, designing a seed system that works for men and women requires a holistic approach, from building women’s agency, addressing norms and unequal access to resources. It requires time, dedication, financial and human resources, as well as capabilities and multi-stakeholder collaboration. “The main take-home message is that building a gender-sensitive seed system starts with us,” said Amanda Lanzarone, program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
With new pathogens of crop diseases continuously emerging and threatening food production and security, wheat breeder and wheat rust pathologist Mandeep Randhawa and his colleagues at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agricultural and Research Organization (KALRO) are working tirelessly to identify new sources of rust resistance through gene mapping tools and rigorous field testing.
With wheat accounting for around 20% of the world’s calories and protein, outbreaks of disease can pose a major threat to global food security and farmer livelihoods. The most common and prevalent diseases are wheat rusts — fungal diseases that can be dispersed by wind over long distances, which can quickly cause devastating epidemics and dramatically reduce wheat yields.
To tackle the problem, Randhawa and his colleagues work on developing improved wheat varieties by combining disease-resistant traits with high yielding ones, to ensure that farmers can get the best wheat yields possible while evading diseases.
Screening for disease
A native of the Punjab state of India, Randhawa joined CIMMYT as a Post-doctoral Fellow in Wheat Rust Resistance Genetics in 2015. He now works as a CIMMYT scientist and manages the Stem Rust Screening Platform in Njoro, Kenya, which supports screening against stem rust of up to 50,000 wheat lines per year from as many as 20 countries. Over the last 10 years about 650,000 wheat lines have been evaluated for stem rust resistance at the facility.
“The platform’s main focus is on evaluation of wheat lines against the stem rust race Ug99 and its derivative races prevalent in Eastern to Southern Africa, the Middle East and Iran,” explains Randhawa. Ug99 is a highly virulent race of stem rust, first discovered two decades ago in Uganda. The race caused major epidemics in Kenya in 2002 and 2004.
“East African highlands are also a hotspot for stripe wheat rust so, at the same time, we evaluate wheat lines for this disease,” adds Randhawa.
The facility supports a shuttle breeding scheme between CIMMYT Mexico and Kenya, which allows breeders to plant at two locations, select for stem rust (Ug99) resistance and speed up the development of disease-resistant wheat lines.
“Wheat rusts in general are very fast evolving and new strains are continuously emerging. Previously developed rust-resistant wheat varieties can succumb to new virulent strains, making the varieties susceptible. If the farmers grow susceptible varieties, rust will take on those varieties, resulting in huge yield losses if no control measures are adopted,” explains Randhawa.
Helping and sharing
For Randhawa, helping farmers is the main goal. “Our focus is on resource-poor farmers from developing countries. They don’t have enough resources to buy the fungicide. Using chemicals to control diseases is expensive and harmful to the environment. So in that case we provide them solutions in the form of wheat varieties which are high yielding but they have long-lasting resistance to different diseases as well.”
Under the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, Randhawa and his team collaborate with KALRO to facilitate the transfer of promising wheat lines with high yield potential and rust resistance to a national pipeline for soon-to-be-released wheat varieties.
When he is not screening for wheat rusts diseases, Randhawa also organizes annual trainings on stem rust diagnosis and germplasm evaluation for young wheat breeders and pathologists from developing countries. More than 220 wheat researchers have been trained over the last decade.
Mandeep Randhawa (left) talks to the participants of the 11th annual training on stem rust notetaking and germplasm evaluation. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
A farmer at heart
Randhawa always had an interest in agricultural science. “Initially, my parents wanted me to be a medical doctor, but I was more interested in teaching science to school students,” he says. “Since my childhood, I used to hear of wheat and diseases affecting wheat crops, especially yellow rust — which is called peeli kungi in my local language.” This childhood interest led him to study wheat genetics at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, India.
His mentors encouraged him to pursue a doctorate from the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) Cobbitty at the University of Sydney in Australia, which Randhawa describes as “the mecca of wheat rust research.” He characterized two new stripe rust resistance genes formally named as Yr51 and Yr57 from a wheat landrace. He also contributed to the mapping of a new adult plant stem rust resistance gene Sr56.
Coming from India, his move to Australia was a pivotal moment for him in his career and his identity — he now considers himself Indian-Australian.
If he had not become a scientist, Randhawa would be a farmer, he says. “Farming is my passion, as I like to grow crops and to have rich harvest using my scientific knowledge and modern technologies.”
At CIMMYT, Randhawa has a constant stream of work identifying and characterizing new sources of rust resistance. “Dealing with different types of challenges in the wheat field is what keeps me on my toes. New races of diseases are continuously emerging. As pests and pathogens have no boundaries, we must work hand-in-hand to develop tools and technologies to fight fast evolving pests and pathogens,” says Randhawa.
He credits his mentor Ravi Singh, Scientist and Head of Global Wheat Improvement at CIMMYT, for motivating him to continue his work. “Tireless efforts and energetic thoughts of my professional guru Dr. Ravi Singh inspire and drive me to achieve research objectives.”
Maize plants at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya, will begin its phenotyping (screening/indexing) cycle of 2020 at the beginning of January 2020, which will continue in four other intervals throughout the year. Interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for screening.
In 2013, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) jointly established the MLN screening facility at the KALRO Naivasha research station in Kenya’s Rift Valley, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
MLN was first discovered in Kenya in 2011 and quickly spread to other parts of eastern Africa. The disease causes premature plant death and unfilled, poorly formed maize cobs, which can lead to up to 100% yield loss in farmers’ fields.
CIMMYT and partners are dedicated to stopping the spread of this deadly maize disease by effectively managing the risk of MLN on maize production through screening and identifying MLN-resistant germplasm. The MLN screening facility supports countries in sub-Saharan Africa to screen maize germplasm — for hybrid, inbred and open pollinated varieties — against MLN in a quarantined environment.
This is the largest dedicated MLN screening facility in East Africa. Since its inception in 2013, the facility has evaluated more than 200,000 accessions — more than 300,000 rows of maize — from more than 15 multinational and national seed companies and national research programs.
Partners can now plan for annual MLN phenotyping (screening/indexing) during 2020 with the schedule below. The improved and streamlined approach for MLN phenotyping should enable partners to accelerate breeding programs to improve resistance for MLN for sub-Saharan Africa.
It’s been eight years since maize lethal necrosis (MLN) was first reported on the African continent. When it appeared in Kenya’s Bomet County in 2011, a sense of panic swept across the maize sector. Experts quickly realized that all maize varieties on the market were susceptible to this viral disease, which could wipe out entire maize fields.
Spearheaded by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a rapid regional response involving national agriculture research systems (NARS), national plant protection organizations and seed sector partners was set up. The response involved multiple approaches: rigorous surveillance, epidemiology research, disease management across the seed value chain, and screening and fast-tracking of the MLN-tolerant maize breeding program.
Now, CIMMYT and its partners are reflecting on the tremendous impact of transboundary coalition to contain the devastating disease.
“Country reports show there are now much less incidents of MLN in the region. We have effectively contained this disease as no new country in sub-Saharan Africa reported MLN since Ethiopia in 2014. This is a great achievement of an effective public private partnership,” noted B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
He was speaking at the closure workshop for the MLN Diagnostics and Management project and the MLN Epidemiology project on October 15-17, 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. Experts from research, plant health and seed sector organizations from eastern and southern Africa reflected on the tremendous impact of the transboundary coalition to contain MLN across the region.
“The outbreak of the disease in Uganda in 2012 was a huge challenge as all the maize varieties and hybrids on the market were susceptible. With the support of CIMMYT and other partners in the national agriculture research systems, we got access to Bazooka, a high-yielding, drought- and MLN-tolerant maize variety that has helped in containing the disease,” said Godfrey Katwere, marketing manager for NASECO.
Until now, 19 MLN-tolerant and -resistant hybrids have been released, helping to keep the disease away from farmers’ fields and to stop its spillover to non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
CIMMYT team members check for traces of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) in maize plants during a visit to the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Science in action
The MLN screening facility, established in Naivasha in 2013, has been key to a better understanding of the disease and to setting up MLN hybrid tolerance and resistance breeding efforts. The facility, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, has supported public and private partners to screen over 200,000 germplasm with around 300,000 rows of maize.
State-of-the-art epidemiology research has been carried out to identify how the disease could be transmitted and the best diagnostics methods along the seed value chain.
MLN is caused by the combination of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any of the viruses belonging to the Potyviridae family.
As part of the project, studies showed that moist soil had higher MCMV virus loads than dry soil. The studies — conducted by Benham Lockhart of University of Minnesota and Peg Redinbaugh, a professor at Ohio State University and Research Leader and Research Plant Molecular Geneticist at USDA — indicated that MCMV can stay active in runoff water, and helped in understanding how the disease is transmitted and how to define management protocols.
“Crop debris may also act as source of MCMV inoculum but for a limited period of up to two months,” said L.M. Suresh, CIMMYT Maize Pathologist, in reference to soil transmission studies conducted by CIMMYT. “A host-free period of two months is, therefore, recommended for effective management of MLN,” he noted.
Rapid and low-cost MLN-causing virus detection methods such as immunostrips and ELISA-based tests were adopted at scale.
“After optimizing the protocols for MLN viruses’ diagnosis suitable for African systems, we transferred these technologies to [national plant protection organizations] and seed companies, not just within the endemic countries but also to the non-endemic countries in southern and west Africa, through intensive trainings,” Prasanna explained. “We created a digital MLN surveillance tool under the Open Data Kit (ODK) app for NPPOs and other stakeholders to effectively carry out MLN surveillance on the ground. The survey information is captured in real time in farmers’ and seed production fields coupled with rapid immunostrips MLN tests,” he remarked.
According to Francis Mwatuni, Project Manager of the MLN Diagnostics and Management project, this proactive and collaborative surveillance network has been an important outcome that helped curb MLN from spreading to non-endemic regions. “In 2016, we only had 625 surveillance points. By 2019, the surveillance points in all the target countries stood at 2,442, which intensified the alertness on MLN presence and how to effectively deal with it,” Mwatuni said. In total, 7,800 surveillance points were covered during the project implementation period.
Over 100 commercial seed firms have also been trained on how to produce MLN-free seed to facilitate trade within the endemic nations and to ensure the disease is not transferred to the non-endemic countries via contaminated seeds.
Participants at the MLN projects closure workshop stand for a group photo. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Sustaining the fight
Researchers continue to work to lessen MLN’s resurgence or new outbreaks. In 2018, incidents in all endemic countries, except Ethiopia, declined sharply. One suggested explanation for the upsurge in Ethiopia, especially in the northwestern region, was reduced use of pesticide for fall armyworm control, as compared to previous years where heavy application of these pesticides also wiped out MLN insect vectors, such as maize thrips and aphids.
At the end of the projects, partners urged for the scale-up of second-generation MLN-tolerant and -resistant varieties. They explained farmers would fully benefit from recent genetic gains of the new improved varieties and its protection against MLN.
“Despite the success registered, MLN is still a major disease requiring constant attention. We cannot rest as we redirect our energies at sustaining and building on the gains made,” said Beatrice Pallangyo, principal agricultural officer in Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives.
After the success containing MLN, stakeholders suggested the need to stay alert on other transboundary pests and diseases such as the tar spot complex, which could be a major threat to Africa’s food security in case of an outbreak.
Ever wondered why farmers prefer a certain maize variety over another? What crop traits different farmers value? How they make their seed selections at the market? Pieter Rutsaert, an expert in markets and value chains with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), analyzes the important factors that African farmers consider when purchasing maize varieties at agro-dealers and the implications for how the seed industry can better meet farmers’ needs.
Maize is the most important cereal crop in Africa, grown on over 29 million hectares of rainfed farmland and consumed daily by around 50% of the population. However, increasingly erratic weather patterns threaten the performance the maize varieties grown, putting household food security at risk.
“African smallholders typically plant maize seeds they are familiar with, but these varieties often lack the attributes to tolerate harsher weather including droughts, extreme heat or disease stress,” Rutsaert explains.
“Despite the existence of maize varieties bred to stand up to harsher weather, their intrinsic attributes alone are not enough to convince farmers to leave their preferred varieties. These stress-tolerant varieties need to be properly marketed to be competitive and increase their market share.”
With previous experience as a marketing consultant in the food industry, Rutsaert brings unique skills and approaches to CIMMYT’s Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project, to help businesses develop new seed distribution and marketing strategies to get climate-resilient varieties into farmers’ fields.
Pieter Rutsaert (right) discusses a research study questionnaire with consultant enumerator Victor Kitoto. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Market intelligence on climate-smart seed
Rutsaert sees local agro-dealers as a strategic entry point for researchers to gather information on the varying farmer interests and conditions as information about seed demand is revealed at the point of purchase.
Despite large investments to support seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa, including investments to upgrade agro-dealer capacity, there is limited evidence into how women and men take decisions on maize seed purchases to support development initiatives.
“The agro-dealer space is where farmers decide what inputs to buy. In addition to providing farmers access to inputs at competitive prices, front-line agro-dealers offer technical assistance, such as advice on input use and production practices, and short-term credit for input purchases.”
Thus, agro-dealers offer the chance to learn about farmers’ unique conditions and ensure they adopt the right variety. Gathering these insights has the potential to support locally owned small and medium enterprises that produce stress-tolerant varieties, suited for local conditions, says the marketing expert.
An agent from a seed company (right) promotes sales at an agro-dealer shop. (Photo: Pieter Rutsaert/CIMMYT)
Marketing strategies for agro-dealers
Compared to multinational seed companies, local seed businesses are expected to show greater willingness to seek out traditionally underserved segments of the seed market, such as poorer farmers or those located in less-favored production regions. However, local seed producers and retailers generally lack marketing capabilities and have a limited understanding of the costs and benefits of different approaches to market their seed, Rutsaert says.
“Without effective marketing strategies responding to the needs of different clients, farmers will stick to the seeds that they know, even when this might not be the best for their situation,” he continues.
Based on the market information gathered, Rutsaert works with agro-dealers to develop retail strategies, such as targeted marketing materials, provision of in-store seed decision support, and price incentives, to help women and men farmers get the inputs that work best.
Rutsaert says he is committed to use his private sector experience to improve CIMMYT’s understanding of the seed sector and build the capacity of local agro-dealers to distribute climate-resilient maize varieties throughout the African region.
The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project seeks to develop maize cultivars with tolerance and resistance to multiple stresses for farmers, and support local seed companies to produce seed of these cultivars on a large scale. STMA aims to develop a new generation of over 70 improved stress tolerant maize varieties, and facilitate the production and use of over 54,000 metric tons of certified seed. The STMA project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.
B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, is interviewed by France 24 on the aflatoxin crisis in Kenya. Watch here.
Partnerships and how to increase impact were two of the key issues discussed by the Board of Trustees of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) during their meeting in Kenya in October 6-10, 2019. Management and strategy discussions were combined with field trips and interactions with CIMMYT researchers and partners. Board members visited the research stations in Kiboko and Naivasha, as well as two partner seed companies in Machakos and Nairobi.
“To ensure CIMMYT’s crop breeding research benefits smallholder farmers, it is important for us to better understand how partnerships between CIMMYT and seed companies work on the ground, to know how seeds move from our research stations to the farmers,” said Marianne Bänziger, CIMMYT’s deputy director general for research and partnership.
CIMMYT board members and staff stand for a group photo outside the offices of East African Seed. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
East African Seed, a family-owned seed business established in Nairobi in the 1970s, sells over 300 products, from maize and vegetable seeds to phytosanitary solutions. The company works through a large network of stockists and distributors across Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Rogers Mugambi, chief business manager of East African Seed, underlined the successful partnership with CIMMYT, getting access to high-yielding disease-resistant germplasm and receiving technical support for the company’s breeding team. Mugambi highlighted CIMMYT’s contribution to contain the devastating maize lethal necrosis (MLN) outbreak since 2011. Most commercial varieties on the market fared badly against this new viral disease, but in 2020 East African Seed will launch two new MLN-tolerant varieties on the market thanks to CIMMYT’s breeding work.
Dryland Seed, another partner seed company, was established in 2005 in Kenya’s Machakos County. It commercializes the drought-tolerant SAWA maize hybrid, based on CIMMYT lines. Featured recently on Bill Gates’s blog, this hybrid is a success among farmers, thanks to earliness, nitrogen use efficiency and good yield potential in water-stressed regions. Dryland Seed’s production grew from 25 to 500 tons of seed per year, reaching out 42,000 farmers a year.
General view of the East African Seed warehouse. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Keeping seeds in business
When asked about the uniqueness of East African Seed, Mugambi highlighted trust and consistency in quality. They nurture their agrodealer network by investing in extension services and organizing evening meetings with stockists to discuss how to farm and be profitable. “Knowing and supporting the agrodealers selling your products is crucial, to make sure the stockists sell the right seeds and inputs, and store them well,” Mugambi explained.
Marianne Banziger (right), CIMMYT’s deputy director for research and partnership, listens to a Dryland Seed sales manager during a visit to a farm supplies shop in Machakos, Kenya. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
“Many seed companies could learn from you. Quality control is crucial for any seed business as you sell genetics and any crop failure at farm level will jeopardize farmers’ trust in the company’ seeds,” said Bill Angus, CIMMYT Board member.
Ngila Kimotho, managing director of Dryland Seed, pointed out the financial challenges for a small local seed company to grow in this risky but important agribusiness. The company has to pay out-growers, sometimes face default payment by some agrodealers, while low-interest credit offers are scarce as “banks and microfinance institutions target short-term reliable businesses, not climate-risky rainfed farming,” Kimotho explained. Combining drought-tolerant crops with insurance products could lower business risks for banks.
Bringing top-notch research to farmers
“I am worried about the mutating stem rust which seems to break down the resistance of some popular wheat varieties,” stressed Joseph Nalang’u, a farmer in Narok with 600 acres dedicated to wheat and 100 to maize. “The unpredictable weather is another major concern. When I started farming, we knew exactly when the planting season would start, and this helped us in our planning. That is no longer the case.”
African farmers need agricultural research. A research that is responsive to develop rapidly scalable and affordable solutions against numerous emerging pests and diseases like wheat rusts, MLN or fall armyworm. They need advice on how to adapt to unpredictable climate.
While visiting the MLN Quarantine and Screening Facility in Naivasha, CIMMYT’s Board members discussed research priorities and delivery pathways with farmers, seed and input companies, and representatives of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
CIMMYT board members, staff, partners and farmers listen to a researcher at the MLN Screening Facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
“When you visit Naivasha MLN research facility or Njoro wheat rust phenotyping platform, both co-managed by CIMMYT and KALRO, you see a partnership that works very well,” said Zachary Kinyua, the assistant director for crop health research at KALRO. “These facilities are open to public-private collaboration, they generate important public goods for farmers, large and small.”
“If we develop or co-develop wonderful technologies but they don’t reach the farmers, that would be a fun and wonderful experience but with no impact,” said Kevin Pixley, CIMMYT’s director of the Genetic Resources program. “We depend on partners in the national agricultural research systems, seed companies and other private and public partners to realize the desired impact.”
“It is always so inspiring to see on the ground the results of years of research, to hear some of our partners talking about the real impact this research makes. The multiplier effect of what we do never ceases to amaze me,” expressed Nicole Birell, chair of CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees.
Cover image: CIMMYT board members and staff visited Riziki Farm Supplies, one of the agrodealers in Machakos which sells SAWA hybrid maize. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Join us on this visual journey across Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, where you will meet farmers who demonstrate every day what it means to be RURAL: Resilient, United, Reaping benefits, Adopter and Learner.
These women have adopted climate-smart practices in their production systems to ensure optimal yields while learning about drought-tolerant varieties of maize to counter the harsh effects of dry spells, heat stress, pests and diseases. These rural women are exemplary leaders in their communities, as evidenced by their successful farming practices and the food and income they secure for their families.
R is for Resilient
Lughano Mwangonde (center) holds her granddaughter and stands for a portrait with her daughters. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Farming families in southern Africa are confronted with the adverse effects of climate change, particularly in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. A report by FEWS NET indicates negative impacts like declining yields, increase in grain prices during peak lean seasons and widespread food insecurity. However, Lughano Mwangonde from Malula, southern Malawi, has been practicing climate-smart agriculture since 2004 through a CIMMYT project, which has improved the food security of her family. In the midst of increasing climate variability, Lughano is cushioned against the harsh effects of droughts and heavy downpours through the practices she adopted. For example, she uses crop rotation of maize and legumes, like cowpea and pigeon pea.
Climate change affects men and women differently. Rural women farmers tend to be more susceptible to drought and the additional labor associated with household tasks. As such, building resilience against climate change is critical. For Sequare Regassa, in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, this means shifting to drought-tolerant maize varieties such as BH661, which have better performance and increased yield, even under heat and other stress conditions.
U is for United
Sequare Regassa (wearing green) and her family stand for a group photo at their farm. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Sequare Regassa is the family’s breadwinner, looking after her four children and working closely with her extended family on their 8-hectare farm in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. “Getting a good maize harvest every year, even when it does not rain much, is important for my family’s welfare,” she says. Although her children are now grown and living with their own families, the family farm unites them all in producing adequate grain to feed themselves. Read more about how Regassa and other farmers are weatherproofing their livelihoods.
R is for Reaping benefits
Tabitha Kamau examines drought-tolerant KDV4 maize in her plot in the village of Kavilinguni, Machakos County, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Rural women farmers are taking up improved drought-tolerant and high yielding varieties with early maturity thanks to participatory maize varietal selection. “If I am able to harvest in three and a half months or less, compared to four months or more for other varieties, I can sell some grain to neighbors still awaiting their harvest who want to feed their families,” says Tabitha Kamau. She is a smallholder farmer in Machakos County, Kenya, who plants drought-tolerant maize on her plot. Read about how farmers in her area are choosing the varieties that work best for them.
Rose Aufi shows some of her maize grain reserves. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Rose Aufi explains how her family of seven children and three grandchildren are food-secure thanks to the climate-smart agriculture techniques she practices on her farm in Matandika, southern Malawi. She and her husband have obtained a good harvest since they started participating in a CIMMYT project and adopted climate-smart agricultural practices. Aufi says technologies such as mulching and crop rotation are there to simplify the workload in the field.
A is for Adopter
Alice Nasiyimu holds four large cobs of maize harvested at her family farm in Bungoma County, in western Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)Dolly Muatha shows maize from her farm in Makueni County, eastern Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Dolly Muatha, a 49-year-old farmer with four children in Kenya’s Makueni County, has been growing SAWA drought-tolerant maize for three years. She has witnessed the performance of this variety in her demo plot. “It matures early and yields two to three beautiful cobs per plant” she says.
L is for Learner
Ruth Kanini Somba (left) stands for a portrait with her husband Alex and their 8-year-old son. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Ruth Kanini Somba adopted SAWA maize in 2017 after seeing a demonstration plot at Dolly Muatha’s farm. She points out that SAWA performs better than other varieties because of its early maturity and resistance to grey leaf spot and weevils. The drought-tolerant attribute of the SAWA maize also makes the maize crop cope well when rainfall is erratic.
Agnes Nthambi (left) and other farmers evaluate maize varieties developed through CIMMYT’s Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Improved agricultural techniques, such as optimum spacing, enables farmers such as Agnes Nthambi to get better crops. This farmer from Kenya’s Machakos County hosted a demonstration plot she and other farmers in her area were able to learn new growing techniques. “On this trial, I learned that spacing was about two times shorter than we are generally used to. Even with the more constricted spacing, the maize has performed much better than what we are used to seeing,” Nthambi explained.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) organized its first ever Maize Product Profile-based Breeding and Varietal Turnover workshop for eastern Africa in Nairobi, on August 29 and 30, 2019. The workshop, funded by USAID, was attended by maize breeders from national research institutes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Sudan, and by several partner seed companies including Seedco, Kenya Seeds, Western Seeds, Naseco and Meru Agro.
Participants from CIMMYT, EiB, NARs and seed companies attending the Product Profile workshop held in Nairobi on August 29-30, 2019. (Photo: CIMMYT/Joshua Masinde)
A product profile is defined as a list of “must-have” maize characteristics or traits that are the unique selling points for the target beneficiaries who are looking for these qualities. The breeders also consider additional traits in their breeding strategy, “value-added” or desirable traits that could be future unique selling points.
“A product profile is not a secret sauce” nor a checkbox to tick, explained Georges Kotch, a renowned expert in the seed industry and lead for Module 1 of the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) platform on product profiling. A product profile is a blueprint to help maize breeding programs ensure their new varieties released respond to a true need with a clear comparative advantage for seed companies and ultimately for maize farmers. This demand-driven process “starts with the end in mind” by understanding what the customers want. The end goal is to replace leading old varieties on the market with better ones that will improve farmers’ livelihoods, for example, with greater climate resilience and productivity.
Steering the breeding program through “healthy tensions”
Breeders may have had the tendency to focus on optimum yield for a certain agroecology, yet their priority traits may not reflect exactly the market or what farmers want. In addition to good yield, drought or disease resistance, grain color, taste, nutritional value, and appearance of plants and cobs are important in farmers’ choice of seed. Socio-economic research tools like participatory varietal selection (PVS) or willingness-to-pay experiments help us weigh the importance of each trait to trigger adoption.
Boiled and roasted maize tasting during a farmer participatory varietal selection exercise in Embu, Kenya in August 2019. Flavors of varieties are very distinct and could explain why some old varieties are still preferably grown by farmers. (Photo: CIMMYT/S. PALMAS)
There may be tensions between farmers’ needs, what suits seed companies like the seed reproducibility ratio, and what is possible and cost-effective from a breeder’s perspective. CIMMYT does not only look through the lens of economic return. The social impact new varieties could have is also considered, for example developing provitamin A or quality protein maize (QPM) as a solution to combat malnutrition even if there is not a major demand from private seed companies in Africa for nutritious maize.
Qualities valued by some actors may be overlooked by others. For example, some maize varieties have leafy ears with deceptively small cobs, which may protect the grain against pests but could be rejected by farmers.
It is important to have a wide array of expertise from breeding, market research and socio-economic analysis so that the different trait choices are weighed according to different lenses and a clear strategy for varietal turnover is defined.
High performing hybrids may not be enough for large-scale adoption
In southern Africa, climate experts warn that farmers could face drought every three years. CIMMYT has rightly prioritized drought tolerance (DT) over the last decade under the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa initiative. Recently developed DT maize hybrids often outperform the popular varieties on the market, yet the varietal turnover has been slow in some regions. Farmers’ perceptions of what is a good maize may influence the success or rejection of a new variety. The risk for farmers and seed companies to try out a new variety is an important factor in adoption as well.
An appropriate seed marketing strategy is key, often seen only as the responsibility of private seed companies, but should be considered by public research as well.
CIMMYT has been selecting maize that can withstand drought during the critical phase just before and during the flowering stage, when the silks of the future cobs form. Even if rains stop at this stage, farmers growing DT maize will harvest some decent grain. If a long dry spell occurs just after planting, the crop will fail regardless of drought-tolerant breeding efforts. Farmers may then reject DT maize after such failure if the messaging is not clear.
Product profiling is a collaborative process, not an imposing one
Redefining the breeding strategy through product profiling is not set in stone. Kotch recommends annual review as a vehicle for constant improvement. B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) explained that the product profiles could vary among various partners, as each partner looks at their own comparative advantage to reach success.
It is important to have everyone from the maize seed value chain on board to succeed. Regina Tende, maize breeder and entomologist at the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), warned that regulatory bodies who review and authorize new varieties to reach the market must be integrated in the discussion “as their interest, primarily yield, may not be the final requirement for the target market.”
Seed systems specialists are also crucial to operationalize a successful breeding and delivery strategy, to address the different scaling bottlenecks and identify “the market changer.”
According to Kotch, CGIAR and national research organizations should avoid developing products too similar to the popular varieties on the market. Adoption occurs when something very different, for example new resistance to the devastating maize lethal necrosis, gives an innovation edge to seed companies. In Ethiopia, the replacement of an old popular variety BH660 by climate resilient BH661 was successful for various reasons including superior hybrid seed production with grey leaf spot resistance built in the seed parent population.
This demand-driven, multi-lens approach of product profiling including breeding, gender, socio-economic and policy dimensions will help to ensure that new varieties are more likely to be picked by farmers and partner seed companies, and increase the impact of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program.
Anne Wambui has been growing maize in her farm located in the upper eastern Kenyan county of Embu for three decades to cater for domestic consumption and sale in the nearby market.
During this period, she has relied on buying varieties from seed stockists that are either recommended by the agricultural extension officials or not necessarily varieties that she prefers to plant.
However, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) emphasized that farmers should be availed varieties that meet their varied needs.
Members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium Africa (IMIC – Africa) and other maize and wheat research partners discovered the latest innovations in seed and agronomy at Embu and Naivasha research stations in Kenya on August 27 and 28, 2019. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agriculture & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) held their annual partner field days to present sustainable solutions for farmers to cope with poor soils, a changing climate and emerging diseases and pests, such as wheat rust, maize lethal necrosis or fall armyworm.
Versatile seeds and conservation agriculture offer farmers yield stability
“Maize is food in Kenya. Wheat is also gaining importance for our countries in eastern Africa,” KALRO Embu Center Director, Patrick Gicheru, remarked. “We have been collaborating for many years with CIMMYT on maize and wheat research to develop and disseminate improved technologies that help our farmers cope against many challenges,” he said.
Farmers in Embu, like in most parts of Kenya, faced a month delay in the onset of rains last planting season. Such climate variability presents a challenge for farmers in choosing the right maize varieties. During the field days, CIMMYT and KALRO maize breeders presented high-yielding maize germplasm adapted to diverse agro-ecological conditions, ranging from early to late maturity and from lowlands to highlands.
João Saraiva, from the Angolan seed company Jardins d’Ayoba, said having access to the most recent improved maize germplasm is helpful for his young seed company to develop quality seeds adapted to farmers’ needs. He is looking for solutions against fall armyworm, as the invasive species is thriving in the Angolan tropical environment. He was interested to hear about CIMMYT’s progress to identify promising maize lines resistant to the caterpillar. Since fall armyworm was first observed in Africa in 2016, CIMMYT has screened almost 1,200 inbred lines and 2,900 hybrids for tolerance to fall armyworm.
“Hopefully, we will be developing and releasing the first fall armyworm-tolerant hybrids by the first quarter of 2020,” announced B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Programme and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE).
“Through continuous innovations to build varieties that perform well despite dry spells, heat waves or disease outbreak, maize scientists have been able to deliver significant yield increases each year across various environments,” explained Prasanna. “This genetic gain race is important to respond to growing grain demands despite growing climate risks and declining soil health.”
Berhanu Tadesse, maize breeder at the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR), was highly impressed by the disease-free, impeccable green maize plants at Embu station, remembering the spotted and crippled foliage during a visit more than a decade ago. This was “visual proof of constant progress,” he said.
For best results, smallholder farmers should use good agronomic practices to conserve water and soil health. KALRO agronomist Alfred Micheni demonstrated different tillage techniques during the field tour including the furrow ridge, which is adapted to semi-arid environments because it retains soil moisture.
Late maturity hybrid demonstration plot at Embu station. (Photo: Jérôme Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Innovations for a dynamic African seed sector
A vibrant local seed industry is needed for farmers to access improved varieties. Seed growers must be able to produce pure, high-quality seeds at competitive costs so they can flourish in business and reach many smallholder farmers.
Double haploid technology enables breeders to cut selection cycles from six to two, ultimately reducing costs by one third while ensuring a higher level of purity. Sixty percent of CIMMYT maize lines are now developed using double haploid technology, an approach also available to partners such as the Kenyan seed company Western Seeds.
The Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project, a collaboration between CIMMYT, KALRO, Corteva Agriscience and the Agricultural Research Council, is another innovation for seed companies enabling cheaper and higher quality maize hybrid production. Maize plants have both female and male pollen-producing flowers called tassels. To produce maize hybrids, breeders cross two distinct female and male parents. Seed growers usually break the tassels of female lines manually to avoid self-pollination. SPTA tested a male sterility gene in Kenya and South Africa, so that female parents did not produce pollen, avoiding a detasseling operation that damages the plant. It also saves labor and boosts seed yields. Initial trial data showed a 5 to 15% yield increase, improving the seed purity as well.
World-class research facilities to fight new and rapidly evolving diseases
The KALRO Naivasha research station has hosted the maize lethal necrosis (MLN) quarantine and screening facility since 2013. Implementing rigorous phytosanitary protocols in this confined site enables researchers to study the viral disease first observed in Africa 2011 in Bomet country, Kenya. Working with national research and plant health organizations across the region and the private sector, MLN has since been contained.
A bird’s eye view of the demonstration plots is the best testimony of the impact of MLN research. Green patches of MLN-resistant maize alternate with yellow, shrivelled plots. Commercial varieties are susceptible to the disease that can totally wipe out the crop, while new MLN-resistant hybrids yield five to six tons per hectare. Since the MLN outbreak in 2011, CIMMYT has released 19 MLN-tolerant hybrids with drought-tolerance and high-yielding traits as well.
Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) sensitive and resistant hybrid demo plots in Naivasha’s quarantine & screening facility (Photo: KIPENZ/CIMMYT)
A major challenge to achieving food security is to accelerate the varietal replacement on the market. CIMMYT scientists and partners have identified the lengthy and costly seed certification process as a major hurdle, especially in Kenya. The Principal Secretary of the State Department for Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Hamadi Boga, pledged to take up this issue with the Kenya Plant and Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).
“Such rapid impact is remarkable, but we cannot rest. We need more seed companies to pick up these new improved seeds, so that our research reaches the maximum number of smallholders,’’ concluded Prasanna.
Two hybrid wheat varieties that are resistant to stem rust disease are set to be released to Kenyan farmers later this year. Mandeep Randham, wheat breeder and geneticist at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center said that the two varieties, ‘Kenya Jacana’ and ‘Kenya Kasuku’ have high yields and resistant to stem rust disease known as U99. Read more here.
