Location: Guatemala

Include small indigenous production systems to improve rural livelihoods

Written by Mary Donovan on February 4, 2020. Posted in Press releases.

Maize-bean intercrop in the milpa system of the western highlands of Guatemala. (Photo: Carlos Gonzalez Esquivel)

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, United States, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, Mexico, describe why it is important for technical assistance to build upon indigenous farming knowledge and include women if programs are to succeed in tackling poverty and hunger in rural, Mesoamerican communities. Their findings, describing recent work in the Guatemalan Highlands, are recently published in Nature Sustainability.

According to government figures, 59% of Guatemalans live in poverty, concentrated in indigenous rural areas, such as the Western Highlands. Many factors contribute to pervasive malnutrition and a lack of employment opportunities for people in the Highlands. Recent crop failures associated with atypical weather events have exacerbated food shortages for Highland farm communities.

In early 2019, 90% of recent migrants to the southern border of the United States were from Guatemala, a majority of those from regions such as the Western Highlands. When they are unable to produce or purchase enough food to feed their families, people seek opportunities elsewhere. Historically, sugar cane and coffee industries offered employment but as prices for these commodities fall, fewer options for work are available within the region.

Indigenous peoples in the Highlands have been using a traditional agricultural production system called milpa for thousands of years. The milpa system involves growing maize together with climbing beans, squash, and other crops on a small plot of land. The maize plants support the growth of the climbing beans; the beans enrich soil through biological nitrogen fixation; and squash and other crops protect the soil from erosion, retain water, and prevent weeds.

However, frequent crop failures, declining farm sizes, and other factors result in low household production, forcing families to turn to non-agricultural sources of income or assistance from a family member working abroad. Studies have shown that as household income declines, dietary diversity decreases, which exacerbates undernutrition.

In prior decades, technical assistance for agriculture in Central America focused on larger farms and non-traditional export crops. The researchers recommend inclusion of indigenous communities to enhance milpa systems. Nutrition and employment options can be improved by increasing crop diversity and adopting improved seed varieties that are adapted to the needs of the local communities. This approach requires investments that recognize and advance ancestral knowledge and the role of indigenous women in milpa systems. The Nature Sustainability commentary highlights that technical assistance needs to include women and youth and should increase resilience in production systems to climate change, related weather events, pests, and disease.

“Improving linkages among local farmers, extensionists, students, and researchers is critical to identify and implement opportunities that result in more sustainable agricultural landscapes,” said Keith Kline, senior researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “For example, improved bean varieties have been developed that provide high-yields and disease resistance, but if they grow too aggressively, they choke out other milpa crops. And successful adoption of improved varieties also depends on whether flavor and texture meet local preferences.”

Strengthening institutions to improve agricultural development, health care, security, education can help create stronger livelihoods and provide the Western Highlands community with a foundation for healthier families and economic stability. As more reliable options become available to feed one’s family, fewer Guatemalans will feel pressured to leave home.

PUBLICATION:

“Enhance indigenous agricultural systems to reduce migration”

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura, Senior Scientist, CIMMYT

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:

Rodrigo Ordóñez, Communications Manager, CIMMYT.
r.ordonez@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1167.

Ricardo Curiel, Communications Officer, CIMMYT.
r.curiel@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1144.

ABOUT CIMMYT:

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.

General view of the experimental field in Lempira, Honduras. (Photo: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)

Closing the yield gap: Why localized analysis matters

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on November 12, 2019. Posted in Blogs. 1 Comment on Closing the yield gap: Why localized analysis matters

Populations in Central America are rising rapidly, but staple crop production seems unable to keep up with increasing food demands.

Maize yields are particularly low compared to other regions. Cumulatively, farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua produce maize on nearly 2.5 million hectares, with a large proportion of these maize systems also including beans, either through relay cropping or intercropping. Though potential yields are estimated to be as high as 10 metric tons per hectare, average production remains low at around 2.28.

There is clearly immense opportunity for improvement, but it is not always obvious which issues need tackling.

Yield gap analysis — which measures the difference between potential and actual yield — is a useful starting point for addressing the issue and identifying intensification prospects. It is not a new concept in applied agronomy, but it has not been adequately applied in many regions. For example, Analyses of Central America tend to be grouped with the rest of Latin America, making it difficult to provide recommendations tailored to local contexts.

I see a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s specific crop production limitations as the first step towards improving food security.

Along with fellow researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other institutions, we set out to identify the main factors limiting production in these areas. We established field trials in six maize and bean producing regions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which represent about three-quarters of the maize producing area. We assessed factors such as water stress, nutrient deficiency, pressure from pests and diseases, and inter-plant competition, hypothesizing that optimized fertilization and supplementary irrigation would have the greatest effects on yields.

A maize cob in La Libertad, El Salvador, shows kernels affected by tar spot complex which have not filled completely (Photo: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)

We found that while improved fertilization improved maize yields by 11% on average, it did not have a significant effect on bean production. Irrigation had no effect, though this was mainly due to good rainfall distribution throughout the growing season in the study year. On average, optimized planting arrangements increased maize yields by 18%, making it the most promising factor we evaluated.

It was interesting though perhaps unsurprising to note that the contribution of each limiting factor to yield gaps carried across all sites and no single treatment effectively increased yields consistently across all sites. The trial results confirmed that production constraints are highly dependent on local management practices and agroecological location.

With this in mind, we recommend that development actors aiming to increase crop production begin by conducting multi-year, participatory experiments to understand the primary causes of yield gaps and identify the limitations specific to the areas in question, as this will allow for more effective research and policy efforts.

Read the full article “Factors contributing to maize and bean yield gaps in Central America vary with site and agroecological conditions” in The Journal of Agricultural Science.

Surveyors in Mexico collect data from farmers. (Photo: CIMMYT)

UN-sponsored report acknowledges CIMMYT’s use of data and technologies to promote sustainable farming in Latin America

Written by Ricardo Curiel on September 24, 2019. Posted in News.

CIMMYT’s projects in Latin America feature in a new report that aims to help countries use data to design public policies and projects that help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The Counting on The World to Act report was released on September 23, 2019, by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS) during the 74^th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 74) in New York City.

The report describes CIMMYT’s data management systems and tools as examples of “frontier technologies” for data gathering, management and analysis that effectively contribute to sustainable farming in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.

“As part of the data revolution, efficiencies are being derived from lower-tech approaches such as using citizen-generated data and smartphones to speed up existing survey-based approaches,” reads the introduction to CIMMYT’s sidebar story in Chapter 4, Incentives for Innovation.

The MasAgro Electronic Log that field technicians use to monitor crop cycles and management practices, and the AgroTutor application that offers farmers more specific and timely recommendations are some of the new affordable tools for data management that CIMMYT is successfully implementing in Latin America.

Read the full report on the TReNDS website.

Read more about MasAgro’s work for sustainable farming in Latin America here.

MasAgro Biodiversidad

Written by Mary Donovan on April 12, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

MasAgro Biodiversidad (Biodiversity), a component of CIMMYT’s MasAgro project, studies and characterizes maize and wheat genetic diversity for use in breeding programs, which develop wheat varieties and maize hybrids improved through conventional technologies. These hybrids are better adapted to climate change, more resistant to pests and diseases and have higher yield potential.

In 2015, MasAgro Biodiversity’s main results were:

MasAgro Biodiversity began a comprehensive study of maize genetic diversity by obtaining, processing and analyzing the world’s largest genotypic data set to help scientists identify new genes of interest for maize breeding programs.

More than 2 billion genotypic data and more than 870,000 phenotypic data of maize field trails have been processed and uploaded to MasAgro Biodiversity’s database and repository making them available to the scientific community via the project website.
A high level of Tar Spot resistance was confirmed in maize landraces native to the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and Guatemala, which will be used to breed new resistant maize lines.

To order seeds from CIMMYT, please fill a seed request.

OBJECTIVES

To explore in depth the original genetic composition of maize and wheat through the analysis of hundreds of thousands of seeds stored in gene banks in Mexico.
To make available to the national and international scientific community information on key agronomic characteristics such as tolerance to heat and drought, or resistance to important pests.
To offer a genetic analysis service that taps on the best features of maize and wheat through conventional improvement programs for both grains.
To contribute to long term food security in Mexico and the rest of the world, despite the impact of climate change and the scarcity of natural resources such as water, nutrients and oil.

Seeds of Discovery (SeeD)

Written by Mary Donovan on April 11, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) studies and characterizes maize and wheat genetic diversity for use in breeding programs, which develop wheat varieties and maize hybrids improved through conventional technologies. These hybrids are better adapted to climate change, more resistant to pests and diseases and have higher yield potential.

In 2015, SeeD’s main results were:

SeeD began a comprehensive study of maize genetic diversity by obtaining, processing and analyzing the world’s largest genotypic data set to help scientists identify new genes of interest for maize breeding programs.
More than 2 billion genotypic data and more than 870,000 phenotypic data of maize field trails have been processed and uploaded to SeeD’s database and repository making them available to the scientific community via the project website.
A high level of Tar Spot resistance was confirmed in maize landraces native to the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and Guatemala, which will be used to breed new resistant maize lines.

To order seeds from CIMMYT, please click here.

OBJECTIVES

To explore in depth the original genetic composition of maize and wheat through the analysis of hundreds of thousands of seeds stored in gene banks in Mexico.
To make available to the national and international scientific community information on key agronomic characteristics such as tolerance to heat and drought, or resistance to important pests.
To offer a genetic analysis service that taps on the best features of maize and wheat through conventional improvement programs for both grains.
To contribute to long term food security in Mexico and the rest of the world, despite the impact of climate change and the scarcity of natural resources such as water, nutrients and oil.

Buena Milpa

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 27, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Buena Milpa project in Guatemala, conducted in collaboration with the country’s Agricultural Science and Technology Institute (ICTA), is aimed at implementing a sustainable intensification strategy for agriculture while reducing poverty, malnutrition and environmental damage.

The project, managed in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program, is based in the highlands of Guatemala, a region recognized for its diversity of maize varieties, flora and fauna. Farmers grow a wide variety of crops, including beans, legumes, pumpkin, fruit trees and native plants.

Through Buena Milpa, CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Strategy for Latin America, with its focus on biodiversity conservation, participative breeding, soil conservation, farm diversification and maize, helps to conserve maize landraces and other important plants in the region.

Guatemala, where maize is a key food staple, is known for its wide maize biodiversity. The maize fields of most highland farmers are part of farm systems which includes animal husbandry (chickens, sheep or cattle). These complex farm systems diversify diets diet and sources of family income.

A range of soil conservation methods popular with farmers help preserve biodiversity. A variety of grasses, trees and other plants are used to ensure soil and field conservation.

Most of the maize in the region is grown on steep hillsides. Farmers have very little land and use as much of it as possible for crop production. Water and soil conservation practices aim to reduce the propensity to landslides, decrease erosion through soil cover, minimize the effects of erosion and help to settle the materials and soils mobilized through erosion.

The Buena Milpa project improves native maize landraces, increases productivity, improves plant architecture, grain and seed quality, thereby mitigating losses due to the effects of climate change and decreasing maize reserves, especially during periods of seasonal hunger.

Most farmers involved in the project belong to a Mayan ethnic group that has historically been marginalized and excluded from development processes. A social inclusion strategy fosters the participation of indigenous people, women, children, the young and the elderly in order to benefit everyone involved in maize production systems.

Links with other actors foster activities to generate information that raises awareness about how people are socially excluded, to inform and sensitize local actors about social dynamics that limit inclusion.

OBJECTIVES

Natural resource conservation
Soil and water conservation strategies to reduce erosion and maintain soil water
Understand maize diversity in the highlands of Guatemala
System diversification, taking into account different types of farms in the region
Design social inclusion strategy
Set up community seed banks to be the base of biodiversity conservation and participative breeding efforts
Foster innovation and reduce food insecurity and malnutrition
Increase sustainability of maize-based systems in the highlands
Empower farmers and train strategic actors by linking research to farmers’ needs and facilitating information exchange

Rómulo González’s daughter holds a corncob. (Photo: Sarah Caroline Mueller)

Better together: Partnership around zinc maize improves nutrition in Guatemala

Written by Jennifer Johnson on October 16, 2018. Posted in Features.

On World Food Day, October 16, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) joins the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners around the world in their call to realize Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger by 2030. Learn how CIMMYT, HarvestPlus and Semilla Nueva are working together to use biofortified zinc-enriched maize to reduce malnutrition in Guatemala, an important component of Goal 2.

Over 46 percent of children under five in Guatemala suffer from chronic malnutrition. More than 40 percent of the country’s rural population is deficient in zinc, an essential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in pre-natal and post-natal development and is key to maintaining a healthy immune system. CIMMYT, HarvestPlus and Semilla Nueva are working together to change this, through the development and deployment of the world’s first biofortified zinc-enriched maize.

“In Latin America, Guatemala is among the top 3 countries with the highest rates of zinc and iron deficiencies, and it is characterized by a high production and consumption of staple foods such as maize and beans. This made Guatemala, along with Haiti, the top prioritized countries for biofortification in the region, according to the Biofortification Priority Index (BPI) for Latin America,” said Salomón Pérez, the HarvestPlus country coordinator for Guatemala. HarvestPlus developed the BPI in 2013 to select the countries, crops and micronutrients in which to focus their efforts in Latin America. The BPI combines three sub-indexes: production, consumption and micronutrient deficiency level. “As maize is a staple food in Guatemala, with high levels of consumption and production, the development of biofortified maize with enhanced zinc was prioritized for the country,” he said.

Biofortified maize is a unique and efficient way of improving nutrition. As the nutrients occur naturally in the plant, consumers do not have to make any behavioral changes to get results. Rather than having to import supplements or fortify food, seeds and crops are sourced within the country, which makes this option more sustainable and accessible even in remote rural areas. It tastes the same as non-biofortified maize varieties and requires no special preparation methods. This made biofortification the obvious choice for improving zinc deficiency in Guatemala, and CIMMYT the obvious partner.

“CIMMYT has over 50 years of experience in tropical maize breeding for different traits,” said Félix San Vicente, one of the CIMMYT maize breeders leading the project. “Throughout our history we have developed elite materials with important agronomic and nutritional traits, such as Quality Protein Maize (QPM).”

The long lineage of zinc maize

Developed by CIMMYT scientists Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal, QPM has enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan, essential amino acids, which can help reduce malnutrition in children. Villegas and Vasal would later go on to win the World Food Prize in 2000 for this groundbreaking work, and genetic variation found in QPM would serve as the baseline for developing zinc-enriched maize.

*A maize plot of the Fortaleza F3 variety in Guatemala. Photo: Sarah Caroline Mueller.*

After years of breeding work and research, the world’s first biofortified zinc maize hybrid, ICTA HB-18, was released in Guatemala in May 2018. It was developed by CIMMYT, the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE) and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and Guatemala’s Institute for Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA) with support from HarvestPlus. Commercialized by Semilla Nueva under the name Fortaleza F3, the biofortified zinc maize hybrid contains 6-12ppm more zinc and 2.5 times more quality protein compared to conventional maize varieties. An open pollinated variety, ICTA B-15, was also released.

Just 100 grams of tortilla made of either of these varieties can provide 2.5 milligrams of zinc, 50 percent of the daily recommended intake for children, making zinc-enriched biofortified maize an excellent tool in the fight against malnutrition and hidden hunger.

As CIMMYT is a breeding organization, it depends on national partners to get seeds to the farmers. That is where Semilla Nueva comes in. This non-profit social enterprise is working to get high yielding biofortified seeds to farmers in Guatemala.

Rómulo González's daughter holds a corncob. — *Rómulo González’s daughter holds a corncob. Photo: Sarah Caroline Mueller.*

The last mile

“We need to be able to impact farmers with our improved germplasm,” said San Vicente. “Semilla Nueva takes us to the last mile, to the farmers, which alone we could not do, so that our breeding work can achieve impact in farmers’ fields and lives.”

Semilla Nueva targets commercial farmers in Guatemala, as they are the main source of maize consumed in the country. Typically, a quarter of their harvest is consumed at home and surplus is sold in local markets, meaning that the zinc maize not only provides increased income to farmers, but also improves nutrition in their families, communities and country at large.

“CIMMYT, along with partners like HarvestPlus, have provided the technologies and support to allow us to come up with new ways to improve farmers’ lives. Tapping into decades of research from qualified scientists is the only way that an organization of our size can have hope of making an impact in the lives of millions of farmers. That’s what makes the partnership so incredible,” said Curt Bowen, executive director and cofounder of Semilla Nueva. “We provide the innovative way to get technologies to farmers through our social enterprise model. CIMMYT and HarvestPlus come up with the technologies that we never could have come up with on our own. Together, we help thousands of families make huge changes in their lives and take on malnutrition, which is one of the world’s biggest challenges to ending global poverty.”

Semilla Nueva plans to produce 5,000 bags of Fortaleza F3 next year, which will represent 5 percent of the Guatemalan hybrid seed market.

*Farmer Rómulo González on his maize plot.Photo: Sarah Caroline Mueller.*

“Farmers have responded very positively to Fortaleza F3. They are convinced of its performance, especially during the dry season,” said Angela Bastidas, senior operations director at Semilla Nueva. “The way we approach farmers is not different than other seed companies; through farm visits, meetings, or field days. We are not reinventing the wheel. The difference with us has been offering farmers exactly what they need in terms of maize performance and price. Additionally, they find that our maize produces soft tortillas that taste better!” she explained.

In the end, the results speak for themselves. Fortaleza F3 increases yields by 13 percent and profits by $164 per bag compared to other mid-priced seeds, which goes a long way in improving farming families’ livelihoods, food security and nutrition.

“With Fortaleza F3, I pay less for the seed compared to other mid-priced competitors that I used to plant. F3 also yields more, giving me a greater profit,” said Rómulo González, a farmer from the southern coast of Guatemala. “With the extra income I’ve gotten since switching to F3, I’ve been paying for my daughter to go to school. Fortaleza F3 not only gave me a good harvest, but also the ability to support my daughter’s education.”

CIMMYT maize germplasm bank staff preparing the order for the repatriation of Guatemalan seed varieties. (Photo: CIMMYT)

CIMMYT recognized for support in restoring Guatemalan seed systems after hurricane

Written by Carolyn Cowan on September 13, 2018. Posted in News.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) maize germplasm bank recently received an award in recognition of its contributions towards the Buena Milpa initiative in Guatemala, which aims to enhance the sustainability of maize systems in the country. Denise Costich, head of the maize germplasm bank, received the award on behalf of CIMMYT during the event ‘Maize of Guatemala: Repatriation, conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity,’ held on September 7, 2018, in Guatemala City.

The seed varieties stored in the CIMMYT germplasm bank were of vital importance in efforts to restore food security in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, which swept through Guatemala in 2005, leading to 1,500 deaths. Many farmers lost entire crops and some indigenous communities were unable to harvest seed from their traditional maize varieties, known as landraces. Generations of selection by farmers under local conditions had endowed these varieties with resistance to drought, heat, local pests and diseases. Such losses were further exacerbated by the discovery that the entire maize seed collection in Guatemala’s national seed bank had been damaged by humidity; the seeds were vulnerable to insects and fungus and could not be replanted.

In 2016, drawing upon the backup seed stored in its maize germplasm bank in Mexico, CIMMYT sent Guatemalan collaborators seed of 785 native Guatemalan maize varieties, including some of the varieties that had been lost. Collaborators in Guatemala subsequently planted and multiplied the seed from the historic CIMMYT samples, ensuring the varieties grow well under local conditions. On completion of this process, the best materials will be returned to local and national seedbanks in Guatemala, where they will be available for farmers and researchers to grow, study and use in breeding programs.

Jointly hosted by the government of Guatemala through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food and the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the recent ceremony signified the official delivery of the repatriated seed into the national system. Attendees celebrated the importance of maize in Guatemala and witnessed the presentation of repatriated maize collections to local and national Guatemalan seedbank authorities, including the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA).

“Supporting the seed conservation networks, on both the national and community levels in countries like Guatemala, is a key part of the mission of the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank,” said Costich. “Our collaboration with the Buena Milpa project has enabled the transfer of both seed and seed conservation technologies to improve the food security in communities with maize-centered diets.”

The Buena Milpa initiative in Guatemala is improving storage practices in community seed reserves: tiny, low-tech seed banks meant to serve as backups for villages in cases of catastrophic seed loss. So far, Buena Milpa has enabled 1,800 farmers to access community seed reserves. In addition, 13,000 farmers have applied improved practices and technologies.

The CIMMYT maize germplasm bank, headquartered in Mexico, serves as a backup for farmers and researchers in times of catastrophic seed loss by safeguarding maize genetic diversity, a crucial building block in global food security.

This article was originally published on the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.

First zinc-enriched maize in Guatemala to combat malnutrition

Written by Jennifer Johnson on May 21, 2018. Posted in News.

Tortillas made of zinc-enriched biofortified maize. Photo: HarvestPlus.

The first zinc-enriched maize varieties developed specifically for farmers in Guatemala were released this month as part of efforts to improve food and nutrition security in a country where over 46 percent of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

More than 40 percent of Guatemala’s rural population have been found to be deficient in zinc, an essential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in pre-natal and post-natal development, and is key to maintaining a healthy immune system.

The new varieties, known as ICTA HB-18 and ICTA B-15, were developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) on Maize (MAIZE) and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and Guatemala’s Institute for Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA), with support from HarvestPlus. The varieties will be commercialized by Semilla Nueva and Atescatel cooperative with the support of the Plataforma BioFORT, a network created to promote biofortification activities in the country formed by 30 public and private institutions. The official launch was held in Jutiapa, Guatemala, on May 4 with an event attended by over 100 Guatemalan maize producers.

Felix San Vicente, second from left, at the launch event. Photo: HarvestPlus.

“There are not many countries working with zinc maize right now, and that makes us pioneers in this area,” said Felix San Vicente, CIMMYT maize breeder. “Guatemala is the first country to release a zinc maize hybrid and Colombia will be the second. This means that we can also breed high zinc maize hybrids for producers who prefer hybrids over open pollinated varieties.”

These biofortified varieties were developed using conventional breeding methods. Farmers expressed interest in the varieties due to their high yield quality protein content, high zinc levels, early maturity and large kernel size.

Maize is a staple crop in Guatemala, and the base of many traditional foods such as tortillas, tamales, fresh roasted maize ears and other products. Tortillas made with ICTA B-15 contain up to 60 percent more zinc than regular tortillas. ICTA HB-18, a zinc maize hybrid, contains 15 percent more zinc compared to commercial maize. Just 100 grams of tortilla made of these varieties can provide 2.5 milligrams of zinc, 50 percent of the daily recommended zinc intake for children, making zinc-enriched biofortified maize an excellent tool in the fight against malnutrition and hidden hunger.

One hundred and thirteen tons of seed will be produced and delivered to producers by the end of 2018.

Breaking Ground: Hands on experience gives Carolina Camacho insight into farming best practices

Written by on April 26, 2017. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Tending her own crops gives Carolina Camacho insights into the challenges farmers face that she could never have learned in a classroom.

Growing up in the metropolis of Mexico City, the historical and political importance of agriculture was never lost on Camacho, who works as a principal researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“As a teenager, I would debate my sister over the most pressing issue that faced our country, Mexico. For me it was always in agriculture,” Camacho said. “I strongly believe if we are to improve our country, we must improve the lives of our campesinos (smallholder farmers).”

With no knowledge of farming, but with a passion to bring about change, she took to the field, studying crop science at Chapingo University, on the outskirts of the city in the State of Mexico. Having to brave early morning starts, she learned the basics of agriculture, and a love for the genetic diversity of maize.

Mexico, considered the birthplace of maize, is home to a rich diversity of varieties that has evolved over years of domestication by farmers. Camacho was introduced to this diversity firsthand, interning at CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank as an undergraduate.

Interested in discovering how conserving maize diversity played out in farmers’ fields she gravitated towards an on-farm conservation project in rural Mexico. Working with indigenous farmers, Camacho learned how traditional knowledge and practices relate to environmental management, agricultural production and the diversity of native maize varieties.

After earning a master’s degree in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources, Camacho felt that crop science was isolated from the daily life of farmers. Thus, in a move to study the relationship between humans and plants, she embarked on a multidisciplinary doctoral in the sociology of rural development at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

While conducting her research, Camacho lived with indigenous farmers in Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest in the state of Chiapas. Alongside local Mayan farmers she cultivated her own milpa – a farming system used by indigenous farmers in Latin America, which typically involves intercropping maize, beans and squash. Her hands-on fieldwork allowed her to study cultivation practices outside the scope of purely agronomic activities, but also as political, social and cultural actions.

“Farming alongside the Tzeltal people, I saw how my own cultivation practices were interwoven with everyday life,” said Camacho. “Farming was influenced by religious ceremonies, health and family affairs as well as political struggles for land. It had to cope, adapt and overcome these challenges.”

Today, these lessons learned guide Camacho as she investigates how agricultural innovations, including drought-tolerant crops, fertilizer and land management approaches can be farmer inclusive and tailored to local contexts as part of CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification strategy for Latin America.

Sustainable intensification aims to enhance the productivity of labor, land and capital. They offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, including unlocking the agricultural potential to adapt production systems to climate change, sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, improved food and nutrition security, and ultimately reduce rural poverty.

CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. — CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how agricultural innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. Photo: CIMMYT/ Courtesy of Carolina Camacho

Smallholder farmers, who manage small plots of land and handle limited amounts of productive resources, produce 80 percent of the world’s food. The United Nations calls on these farmers to adopt agricultural innovations in order to sustainably increase food production and help achieve the “Zero Hunger” U.N. Sustainable Development Goal. However, these farmers seldom benefit from new techniques to shore up efforts to meet the goal.

“An agricultural scientist can tell a farmer when and how to plant for optimal results, but they do not farm in a bubble, their practice is affected by the ups and downs of daily life – not only by climate and agronomy but also by social and cultural complexities,” Camacho said.

“One of the biggest challenge is to recognize the heterogeneity of farmers and leave behind the idea of one size solution to their diverse problems and needs,” said Camacho. By understanding a farmer’s lifestyle, including access to resources and information, levels of decision making in the community and the role of agriculture in their livelihood strategy, researchers can best identify complementary farming practices and techniques that not only boost productivity but also improve livelihoods.

“It’s important to think about agricultural innovations as social processes for change in which technologies, like improved seeds or agronomic practices, are only one element,” said Camacho. “It is key that we recognize that changes will not only occur in the farmer’s field but also in the behavior of other actors in the value chain, such as input suppliers, traders, government officials and even researchers.”

Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.

When working with indigenous communities, she ensures cultural values of the milpa system are taken into account, thus promoting the agricultural tools and techniques that do not detract from the importance of the traditions associated with the milpa practice.

“The milpa system is a clear example of how agriculture in general and maize in particular contribute to the construction of the cultural identities of indigenous people. We should be aware of the consequences that innovations will have not only for environmental sustainability but also for the sustainability of the Mayan Culture,” she said.

“Let’s not forget, we can’t separate culture from agriculture,” Camacho finished.

Camacho studies the process in which researchers promote agricultural innovations and how farmers adopt them through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project, supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA). Together with other researchers, Camacho has documented how MasAgro is promoting innovations in different regions of Mexico by responding to specific regional challenges and opportunities. Currently she is supporting scaling efforts for these innovations by ensuring that they will be sustainable and inclusive.

In the same line of inclusiveness, Camacho is working with two projects in the milpa system. The first one is the Buena Milpa project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program and in collaboration with the Guatemala Agricultural Science and Technology Institute. The second one is the Milpa de Yucatan project sponsored by a private Mexican foundation in Yucatan Peninsula. Both projects promote sustainable intensification innovations in the milpa systems.

Some of the thousands of samples that make up the maize collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center at CIMMYT's global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

From A to Z: Developing nutritious maize and wheat at CIMMYT for 50 years

Written by on June 5, 2016. Posted in Features.

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

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Maize and wheat biofortification can help reduce malnutrition in regions where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable, but must be combined with education to be most effective, particularly as climate change jeopardizes food security, according to researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Climate change could kill more than half a million adults in 2050 due to changes in diets and bodyweight from reduced crop productivity, a new report from the University of Oxford states. Projected improvement in food availability for a growing population could be cut by about a third, leading to average per-person reductions in food availability of 3.2 percent, reductions in fruit and vegetable intake of 4 percent and red meat consumption of .07 percent, according to the report.

Over the past 50 years since CIMMYT was founded in 1966, various research activities have been undertaken to boost protein quality and micronutrient levels in maize and wheat to help improve nutrition in poor communities, which the Oxford report estimates will be hardest hit by climate change. As one measure of CIMMYT’s success, scientists Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal were recognized with the prestigious World Food Prize in 2000 for their work developing quality protein maize (QPM).

“We’ve got a lot of balls in the air to tackle the ongoing food security crisis and anticipate future needs as the population grows and the climate changes unpredictably,” said Natalia Palacios, head of maize quality, adding that a key component of current research is the strategic use of genetic resources held in the CIMMYT gene bank.

“CIMMYT’s contribution to boosting the nutritional value of maize and wheat is hugely significant for people who have access to these grains, but very little dietary diversity otherwise. Undernourishment is epidemic in parts of the world and it’s vital that we tackle the problem by biofortifying crops and including nutrition in sustainable intensification interventions.”

Undernourishment affects some 795 million people worldwide – meaning that more than one out of every nine people do not get enough food to lead a healthy, active lifestyle, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). By 2050, reduced fruit and vegetable intake could cause twice as many deaths as under-nutrition, according to the Oxford report, which was produced by the university’s Future of Food Programme.

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to one-quarter of the world’s daily energy intake, and contributing 27 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to FAO.

“Nutrition is very complex and in addition to deploying scientific methods such as biofortification to develop nutritious crops, we try and serve an educational role, helping people understand how best to prepare certain foods to gain the most value,” Palacios said. “Sometimes communities have access to nutritious food but they don’t know how to prepare it without killing the nutrients.”

The value of biofortified crops is high in rural areas where people have vegetables for a few months, but must rely solely on maize for the rest of the year, she added, explaining that fortified flour and food may be more easily accessed in urban areas where there are more dietary options.

PROMOTING PROTEIN QUALITY

Conventional maize varieties cannot provide an adequate balance of amino acids for people with diets dominated by the grain and with no adequate alternative source of protein. Since the breakthrough findings of Villegas and Vasal, in some areas scientists now develop QPM, which offers an inexpensive alternative for smallholder farmers.

CIMMYT scientists also develop QPM and other nutritious conventionally bred maize varieties for the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project funded by the government of Canada. NuME, which also helps farmers improve agricultural techniques by encouraging the deployment of improved agronomic practices, builds on a former seven-year collaborative QPM effort with partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

In Ethiopia, where average life expectancy is 56 years of age, the food security situation is critical due in part to drought caused by a recent El Nino climate system, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. More than 8 million people out of a population of 90 million people are in need of food assistance. Almost 30 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, 40 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted, 9 percent are acutely malnourished and 25 percent are underweight, according to the 2014 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey. The NuMe project is helping to shore up sustainable food supplies and boost nutrition in the country, where the vast majority of people live in rural areas and are engaged in rain-fed subsistence agriculture.

INCREASING MICRONUTRIENTS

CIMMYT maize and wheat scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency, or “hidden hunger,” through the interdisciplinary, collaborative program HarvestPlus, which was launched in 2003 and is now part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.

Some 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Micronutrient deficiency occurs when food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most affected by hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

Work at CIMMYT to combat micronutrient deficiency is aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — in particular Goal 2, which aims to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The SDG also aims to meet internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and to address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, older people, pregnant and lactating women by 2025.

WHOLESOME WHEAT

The wheat component of the HarvestPlus program involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels by introducing genetic diversity from wild species and landraces into adapted wheat.

Zinc deficiency affects about one-third of the world’s population, causing lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, diarrheal disease, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and anorexia, according to the WHO, which attributes about 800,000 deaths worldwide each year to zinc deficiency. Additionally, worldwide, approximately 165 million children under five years of age are stunted due to zinc deficiency.

A project to develop superior wheat lines combining higher yield and high zinc concentrations in collaboration with national agriculture program partners in South Asia has led to new biofortified varieties 20 to 40 percent superior in grain zinc concentration.

“We’re playing a vital role in this area,” said CIMMYT wheat breeder Velu Govindan. “Our research has led to new varieties agronomically equal to, or superior to, other popular wheat cultivars with grain yield potential at par or — in some cases – even superior to popular wheat varieties adopted by smallholder farmers in South Asia where we’ve been focused.”

Scientists are studying the potential impact of climate-change related warmer temperatures and erratic rainfall on the nutritional value of wheat. An evaluation of the effect of water and heat stress with a particular focus on grain protein content, zinc and iron concentrations revealed that protein and zinc concentrations increased in water and heat-stressed environments, while zinc and iron yield was higher in non-stressed conditions.

“The results of our study suggest that genetic gains in yield potential of modern wheat varieties have tended to reduce grain zinc levels,” Govindan said. “In some instances, environmental variability might influence the extent to which this effect manifests itself, a key finding as we work toward finding solutions to the potential impact of climate change on food and nutrition security.”

Additionally, a recent HarvestPlus study revealed that modern genomic tools such as genomic selection hold great potential for biofortification breeding to enhance zinc concentrations in wheat.

IMPROVING MAIZE

Scientists working with HarvestPlus have developed vitamin A-enriched “orange” maize. Orange maize is conventionally bred to provide higher levels of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, a natural plant pigment found in such orange foods as mangoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and meat, converted into vitamin A by the body.

Vitamin A is essential for good eyesight, growth and boosting immunity. Almost 200 million children under the age of 5 and 19 million pregnant women are vitamin A deficient, and increasing levels through maize kernels is an effective means of boosting it in the diet.

Maize breeders, who are currently working on developing varieties with 50 percent more pro-vitamin A than the first commercialized varieties released, identified germplasm with the highest amounts of carotenoids to develop the varieties. In Zambia, Zimbawe and Malawi, 12 varieties, which are agronomically competititve and have about 8ppm provitamin A, have been released.

Provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body. Stores of Vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate orange maize, according to HarvestPlus research. The study also shows preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for six months experienced an improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. The findings indicate an improvement in night vision, a function dependent on adequate levels of vitamin A in the body.

Researchers are also developing maize varieties high in zinc.

Efforts on this front have been a major focus in Latin America, especially in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Colombia. Scientists expect the first wave of high zinc hybrids and varieties will be released in 2017. Further efforts are starting in such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Results from the first nutrition studies in young rural Zambian children indicate that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for the vulnerable population.

Buena Milpa participates in the lamb and agrobiodiversity fairs in Guatemala

Written by on November 30, 2015. Posted in News.

Social inclusion activities were conducted with Mayan children. Photo: Rachael Cox and Nadia Rivera/Buena Milpa.

Buena Milpa is the Sustainable Intensification Strategy for Latin America promoted by CIMMYT in Guatemala. It aims to foster innovation to reduce poverty and malnutrition, and enhance the sustainability of maize systems in the Guatemalan highlands.

Recently the Buena Milpa Project took an active role in the XX Lamb and VII Agrobiodiversity Fairs held in the Cuchumatanes Sierra, Chiantla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which brought together different social organizations and inhabitants from several departments (states) in the country’s western region.

Each year, the Association of Cuchumatan Organizations (ASOCUCH), Buena Milpa’s social institution, holds agrobiodiversity fairs where farmers exhibit and exchange varieties of maize, potato, bean, yam, and other crops that they grow on their farms. The objective is to promote the protection and conservation of agricultural and livestock diversity (especially of native maize). During the event, there were tables with displays on themes such as agrobiodiversity to support food security, climate change, and the environment.

During the fair, Buena Milpa made presentations on the work being done in the western region, where the general objective is to foster innovation to reduce poverty and malnutrition, while enhancing the sustainability of maize systems. Maize fields there are diversified by sowing amaranth, which is an important component of the region’s human diet. Amaranth tastings were held to emphasize that it’s also important to consume it. Informative materials were distributed and the participants were made aware of the importance of conserving and protecting native maize, in the Mayas’ native tongues (mam and popti’).

Participants are happy that the diversity of their native maize is being conserved. Photo: Rachael Cox and Nadia Rivera/Buena Milpa. — Participants are happy that the diversity of their native maize is being conserved.
Photo: Rachael Cox and Nadia Rivera/Buena Milpa.

The Buena Milpa team also provided a space where girls and boys of different ages could take part in learning exercises with seeds of maize and other crops in order to teach them to protect and conserve nature and the native maize varieties. The reason for holding these activities for girls and boys was to allow the women to participate actively in the events. The social and economic reality of rural native women is complex, and they have no one to look after their children. For this reason, they are forced to take them along to these events, where they cannot pay full attention to the presentations because they are keeping an eye on their children.

These CIMMYT-led activities raised awareness among the region’s inhabitants of the importance of conserving and protecting native maize, adopting crop diversification, and conserving soil and water as a vital part of sustainable native farming in Guatemala’s highlands. The participants were also made aware of the value of women as agents of change, as well as the importance of fostering love for nature and protection of native seeds in young children.

Creative solutions for Latin American agriculture

Written by on July 6, 2015. Posted in News.

Course participants learning about the experiences of Mexican farmers who practice CA. Photo: Gabriela Ramírez

Nele Verhulst, Strategic Research Coordinator of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP), led CIMMYT’s 21st International Training Course on Conservation Agriculture from 25 May-26 June 2015. A total of 132 people have taken the course since its inception. This year, participating researchers from Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico were trained in sustainable technologies and conservation agriculture (CA).

Field tour in the central valleys of Mexico. Photo: Gabriela Ramírez

“During the course, we encountered different situations that…will allow us to better recognize the challenges and opportunities we will face when we return to our home countries,” said José Vásquez from Guatemala, who gave the closing speech during the course’s graduation ceremony. He added that the five weeks of the course are extremely relevant for successfully carrying out extension work in their countries.

GCAP International Training Course on Conservation Agriculture (CA) graduates hold certificates, which authorize them to teach and train others on CA practices, during the Course’s closing ceremony. Photo: CIMMYT

A particular challenge of CA, according to Vazquez, is that “one size” does not fill all, and precepts must be adapted to local settings, with involvement of all actors, including farmers. “This implies that we will have to be extremely creative when listening to farmers and interpreting what they say, and even more so when asking them to adopt the technologies we have to offer,” said Vásquez.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff explained CIMMYT’s role as a research organization and highlighted the crucial part it plays as a capacity building NGO.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff addresses course graduates during closing ceremony. Photo: CIMMYT

“This role is indispensable for creating links with the different national systems, and for CIMMYT it is essential to share the knowledge it acquires. That is why we would like to propose a new project, CIMMYT Academy, which will bring together all the short-, medium- and long-term training activities available,” Kropff said.

Kropff concluded by reminding each participant of the role they have as CIMMYT ambassadors to their own countries and expressed his hope for continued collaboration in the future. Further reading on the course may be found here on Inside CIMMYT.

SUPER WOMAN: Jennifer Brito’s “tortillas verdes” improve maize nutritional value

Written by on May 29, 2015. Posted in Features.

PROMOTION, ADOPTION, AND EVALUATION OF HIGH PROTEIN CORN VARIETIES

International Women’s Day on March 8, offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women worldwide. This year, CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women they admire for their selfless dedication to either maize or wheat. In the following story, Haley Kirk writes about her Super Woman of Maize, Jennifer Brito, food security coordinator at Semilla Nueva.

As the Food Security Coordinator at Semilla Nueva, Jennifer Brito works with women in 10 coastal Guatemalan communities to improve the livelihoods, nutrition, and all-around well-being of their families.

Jen has been with Semilla Nueva, a non-governmental organization developing locally-led farmer education programs to alleviate poverty and boost food security, for almost a year and a half.

During that time, her work has involved promoting several varieties of quality protein maize (QPM) with families in our communities. High-yielding QPM, which was developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in the 1990s, contains almost double the protein of other maize varieties grown in the tropics.

Additionally, Jen is leader of a study Semilla Nueva is undertaking an evaluation of the impact of QPM on malnutrition in Guatemala.

Jen has taught her participants how to make various recipes, including green tortillas, which use local herbs and QPM to transform the nutritionally empty tortilla into a vessel containing extra protein and vitamins.

To create “tortillas verdes” she worked with locally-grown, micronutrient-rich chaya, chipilín, and hierbamora leaves. She boiled a large amount of leaves and mixed the cooked leaves together with a nixtamal alkaline solution, which helps improve nutritional value. At the mill, the corn was combined with the herbs to create green corn dough.

Jen’s work with women in rural Guatemalan communities is key to the successful promotion, adoption, and evaluation of high protein corn varieties that could potentially lift Guatemala out of its position as the most malnourished country in the western hemisphere.

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

SUPER WOMAN: Julieta Salazar boosts nutritional profile of maize in Guatemala

Written by on May 29, 2015. Posted in Features.

CHAMPIONING THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND ANCESTRAL ORIGINS OF MAIZE

International Women’s Day on March 8, offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women worldwide. This year, CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women they admire for their selfless dedication to either maize or or wheat. In the following story, Michele Monroy-Valle writes about her Maize Super Woman, Julieta Salazar, head of the comprehensive research unit of studies on indigenous foods of the region at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.

Maize is the most consumed staple food in Guatemala.

As a researcher and professor of food science, Professor Julieta Salazar encourages students to learn how to exploit the nutritional benefits of this wonderful grain.

She teaches them how to prepare it through alkaline cooking, a process known as nixtamalization, so that it becomes an important source of protein, calcium and niacin, while improving balance and bioavailability of its amino acids.

Her efforts have been focused on preserving the traditional recipe of Guatemalan tortillas, and how this preparation has advantages over the consumption of white bread, due to its lower caloric density and glycemic index.

For Guatemala, Salazar’s efforts to educate future nutritionists and the general population on the value of combining corn and beans to improve protein consumption, based on the concept of “vegetable mix,” has a big impact. The nutritious dish is almost the only source of quality protein in poor households with low consumption of animal protein.

Salazar is a pioneer as a public speaker, championing the nutritional value of maize and the ancestral origins of its preparation into tortillas, tamales, atole and other traditional uses in food consumption.

Her area of study has also focused on how maize preparations are integrated into fast food “franchise” restaurants as side dishes or meals.

She has achieved all these accomplishments because she has been devoted for almost 20 years to the study of the chemical composition of maize in its many different forms, including tamales, atole and tortilla chips, among others.

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.