The award recognizes the teamâs long-term contribution to Mexican wheat cultivation and their efforts to expand impacts worldwide. They have released many varieties with resistance to leaf rust, which has led to the stabilization of the disease in bread wheat.
Presented annually, the award is bestowed upon a team of researchers serving a national breeding program or other nationally based institution. Winners receive an inscribed bronze statue of Norman Borlaug.
Huerta has been hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico since the late 1990s.
Julio Huerta, wheat pathologist and recipient of the BGRI Gene Stewardship Award 2022, giving a talk to students introducing CIMMYTâs wheat breeding program. (Credit: CIMMYT)
BGRI Technical Workshop
Receiving the prize at the 2022 BGRI Technical Workshop on September 9, Huerta said, âThe award means a recognition from the global rust scientific community for the hard work (flesh, mind, soul and spirit) over the years, carried with many colleagues around the world to keep rust disease under control.â
Alison Bentley, director of the Global Wheat Program, also participated in the event with a presentation on the connection between conflict and vulnerability in global food systems. She explored reasons why wheat has been dramatically impacted by the conflict in Ukraine and summarized the proposed response agenda by CIMMYT.
In Mexico and around much of the world, the cost of food fell sharply last month but it remains dangerously close to the all-time highs posted earlier this year, according to an agency of the United Nations.
New data from the Food Price Index of the Food and Agricultural Organization provide even more proof that if weâre to build a resilient system of agriculture that keeps food abundant and affordable, farmers like me need access to the best, forward-facing and science-based technologiesâand not the backward-looking restrictive measures that many governments are trying to force upon food producers.
Thatâs especially true here in Mexico, where public officials are promoting dangerous agriculture policies that will damage yield potential of Mexicoâs farmers and add to our countryâs current food inflation. Paradoxically, the worldâs leading agricultural research center for wheat and maize has issued a new call for âlong-term agri-food system resilience.â
The International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, also known as CIMMYT and headquartered just outside Mexico City, is an amazing resource for farmers everywhere. My family has participated in its work for decades, going back to when Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, was starting to make big progress on wheat yields.
In July, a team of CIMMYT scientists published their strategy for dealing with soaring food prices. They focused mainly on wheat, which was subjected to so much stress because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but their general recommendations apply to every commodity.
Their short-term advice involves boosting production and partially replacing wheat flour with other low-cost cereals to off-set high wheat prices. In the middle and long terms, CIMMYT calls for more resilience in our food systems by genetically improving seeds and controlling pests. Significantly, the authors urge âbuilding capacity to promote extensive pest and pathogen monitoring.â
This is important advice because pests, weeds, and disease are three of the biggest threats to food production pretty much everywhere. If weâre going to develop a âlong-term agri-food system resilienceâ that involves everything from the climate-change mitigation and gender equity that CIMMYT also advocates, it must start by helping farmers like me defend our crops from their most basic but permanently evolving threats.
And that means giving us access to science-based technology. We need the best seeds, the best machines, and the best crop management techniques. We also need the best crop protection so that what we plant can meet its full potential.
Rather than limiting the options of farmers we should seek to expand them. This in fact is the great legacy of CIMMYT. Through sound science and creative innovation, it has given farmers more tools than ever before.
On my farm, we already fight pests, weeds, and disease through traditional practices like crop rotation. Yet this age-old practice is no longer enough. In this era of sustainability and conservation, we especially need advanced crop protection, which can function as a âvirtual plowâ that strengthens our soil as it locks in moisture, kidnaps carbon, enhances biodiversity, improves root systems, and reduces erosion.
In the years ahead, weâd like to explore additional crop-protection technologies, such as drone applications which would allow us to work with more precision and less dependence on fossil fuels.
As we think about the future, and as farmers everywhere try to grow more food on less land, we should embrace technology as a solution rather than fear it as a problem.
We have so many real problems with war, inflation, access to fuel and fertilizer, market turmoil, and climate change that we donât need to restrict ourselves by hesitating in the application of new technologies, especially when they have been demonstrated to be safe. (If we trick ourselves into banning these options, farmers will pay a steep price as they struggle to grow food and consumers will bear the cost of it whenever they eat.)Â All technological options should remain on the table.
Although food prices fell by 8.6 percent between June and July, they are more than 13 percent higher than they were at this time last year, according to the FAOâs Food Price Index.
This may be a silver lining amid dark clouds, but the forecast is unpredictable: âThe decline in food commodity prices from very high levels is welcome,â said FAO chief economist Maximo Torero, who also warned that âmany uncertainties remainâ and they âpose serious strains for global food security.â
Agriculture must become more resilient, as CIMMYT pleads.
And farmers like me need the support of policy makers and the general public as we struggle to grow the food everyone needs.
Rust pathogens are the most ubiquitous fungal pathogens that continue to pose a serious threat to wheat production. The preferred strategy to combat these diseases is through breeding wheat varieties with genetic resistance.
Landraces are a treasure trove of trait diversity, offer an excellent choice for the incorporation of new traits into breeding germplasm, and serve as a reservoir of genetic variations that can be used to mitigate current and future food challenges. Improving selection efficiency can be achieved through broadening the genetic base through using germplasm pool with trait diversity derived from landraces.
In a recent study, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) used Afghan landrace KU3067 to unravel the genetic basis of resistance against Mexican races of leaf rust and stripe rust. The findings of this study not only showcase new genomic regions for rust resistance, but also are the first report of Lr67/Yr46 in landraces. This adult plant resistance (APR) gene confirms multi-pathogenic resistance to three rust diseases and to powdery mildew.
Using genotype sequencing and phenotyping, the authors also report an all-stage resistance gene for stripe rust on chromosome 7BL, temporarily designated as YrKU. The genetic dissection identified a total of six quantitative trait locus (QTL) conferring APR to leaf rust, and a further four QTL for stripe rust resistance.
Although use of landraces in wheat breeding has been practiced for a long time, it has been on a limited scale. This study represents a significant impact in breeding for biotic stresses, particularly in pest and disease resistance.
Mobile phones are increasingly shaping the ways information is shared across industries, including in agriculture. The digitization of agricultural systems expedited by substantial efforts to narrow the digital divide and include smallholders means that data ownership and privacy issues are more relevant than ever.
The use of smartphone-based apps to improve accessibility to information for smallholder farmers has previously been under researched. In this publication, scientists from Ghent University and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) investigate incentives for smallholder farmers to use an agricultural advisory app in which data is shared using a designed discrete choice experiment.
Leveraging survey data from 392 farmers in Mexico, a conditional logit (CL) model was used to gain deeper insights into the preferences for attributes related to its usage. Groups and profiles were explored through a latent class (LC) model to investigate heterogeneity.
Farmers across ages were found to support the use of technology-based, site-specific extension services. The CL model results revealed farmersâ positive preference to receive support at first use and access to training, while they felt negatively towards sharing data with private actors. Meanwhile, the LC model demonstrates differences in preferences when farmersâ connectedness to the CIMMYT innovation hub and mastery approach goals variables are considered as a grouping variable. These variables also affect farmer preferences towards data sharing.
This studyâs main contribution is in demonstrating the importance of nonfinancial incentives and influence of data sharing on farmer preferences. Through this improved understanding, the potential of technology in improving farmersâ welfare can be further realized.
Cover photo: MarĂa del Refugio GalvĂĄn, a producer of barley from Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, has been involved in the smartphone-app project. (Credit: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
Sridhar Bhavani, head of rust pathology and molecular genetics and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), shared potential solutions for fighting back against wheat stem rusts like Ug99.
More than 200 new wheat varieties released by CIMMYT over the last ten years have contributed to reducing the spread of wheat stem rust in East Africa, where the disease originated. Scientists identify genes resistant to Ug99 and breed new varieties that are not susceptible to stem rust pathogens.
For long-term success, combining multiple resistant genes within a single variety is the way to go.
Achieving greater food security requires a continued increase in global wheat yields, which the developing world plays a central role in meeting. Newly published research covering 60 years of wheat yield trends in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico, provides insights into how farmers can increase yields to address this need.
By dividing the 60-year interval into three 20-year periods between 1960-2019 and correcting farm yield for the strong influence of inter-annual variation in January to March minimum temperature, scientists from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have taken steps towards advancing the sustainability of the Valleyâs wheat cropping system by studying farm yield for the irrigated spring wheat production environment.
Total yield increase, corrected for temperature and CO2 rise, relative to average yield in each period, was 4.17%, 0.47%, and 1.59% p.a. for 1960â79, 1980â99, and 2000â19, respectively. The breeding component, estimated by the increase in the Varietal Yield Index in farmersâ fields, rose at 0.97%, 0.49%, and 0.71% p.a., respectively. The remaining yield change (3.16, -0.02%, and 0.87% p.a., respectively) comprised the net effect of improved crop management (agronomic progress), plus that of off-farm changes.
In the first period, off-farm developments were bolstered by strong government financial support whereas developments in the second period were hindered by the breakdown of the traditional smallholder land system and withdrawal of government support. The final period experienced better prices and improved access to technical advice.
Wheat is likely to continue playing a dominant role in the Yaqui Valley for the next 20-year period, especially from potential yield increase through breeding. However, closing the yield gap is becoming more challenging due to fluctuations in energy price, goals to achieve net zero CO2 and environmental signals. The biophysical sustainability of the Valleyâs wheat cropping system requires urgent actions through better fertilizer management, greater cropping diversity, integrated management of biotic threats, acceptance of no-till, residue retention and controlled traffic.
Lessons from the Yaqui Valley bear importance for global wheat security given that without area increase and new technologies, food security will increasingly depend on developing countries.
While previous studies have demonstrated the importance of organic material in soil for sustainable agricultural practices, there has been limited research into how organic material application affects the soil microbial community structures.
Dried young maize plants were added to the soil in the laboratory. After three days of incubation, soil samples were analyzed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing to discover how the application of young maize plants affects the structure of microbial communities in arable soil, how the potential functioning of microbial communities is altered, and how the application affects the soil taxonomic and functional diversity.
Bacterial and viral groups were strongly affected by organic material application, whereas archaeal, protist and fungal groups were less affected. Soil viral structure and richness were impacted, as well as metabolic functionality. Further differences were recorded in cellulose degraders with copiotrophic lifestyle, which were enriched by the application of young maize plants, while groups with slow growing oligotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic metabolism performed better in unamended soil.
Given the importance of embedding and adopting sustainable agricultural practices as part of climate change adaptation and mitigation, the study improves our insight in a key aspect of sustainable agriculture, the management of crop residues.
Representatives from CGIAR leadership, CGIAR Centers, government and other stakeholders stand for a group photo during the launch of the AgriLAC Resiliente Initiative in Guatemala City. (Photo: CGIAR)
Latin America and the Caribbean possess the largest reserve of arable land on the planet, 30% of renewable water, 46% of tropical forests and 30% of biodiversity. These resources represent an important contribution to the world’s food supply and other ecosystem services. However, climate change and natural disasters, exacerbated by COVID-19, have deteriorated economic and food security, destabilizing communities and causing unprecedented migration, impacting not only the region but the entire world.
Against this regional backdrop, AgriLAC Resiliente was created. This CGIAR Initiative seeks to increase the resilience, sustainability and competitiveness of the region’s agrifood systems and actors. It aims to equip them to meet urgent food security needs, mitigate climate hazards, stabilize communities vulnerable to conflict and reduce forced migration.
Guatemala was selected to present this Initiative, which will also impact farmers in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru, and will be supported by national governments, the private sector, civil society, and regional and global donors and partners.
At a workshop on June 27â28, 2022, in Guatemala City, partners consolidated their collaboration by presenting the Initiative and developing a regional roadmap. Workshop participants included representatives from the government of Guatemala, NGOs, international cooperation programs, the private sector, producer associations, and other key stakeholders from the host country. Also at the workshop were the leaders from CGIAR research Centers involved in the Initiative, such as the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Potato Center (CIP) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
JoaquĂn Lozano, CGIAR Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, presents during the launch of the AgriLAC Resiliente Initiative. (Photo: CGIAR)
Impact through partnerships
“Partnerships are the basis for a future of food security for all through the transformation of food systems in the context of a climate crisis. AgriLACâs goal of a coordinated strategy and regional presence will facilitate strong joint action with partners, donors, and producers, and ensure that CGIAR science continues to be leveraged so that it has the greatest possible impact,” said JoaquĂn Lozano, CGIAR Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
This Initiative is one of many CGIAR Initiatives in Latin America and consists of five research components: Climate and nutrition that seeks to use collaborative innovations for climate resilient and nutritious agrifood systems; Digital agriculture through the use of digital and inclusive tools for the creation of actionable knowledge; Low-emission competitiveness focused on agroecosystems, landscapes and value chains that are low in sustainable emissions; Innovation and scaling with the Innova-Hubs network for agrifood innovations and scaling; and finally, Science for timely decision making and establishment of policies, institutions, and investments for resilient, competitive and low-emission agrifood systems.
“We know the important role that smallholder farmers, both women and men, will play in the appropriation of the support tools that the Initiative will offer, which will allow them to make better decisions for the benefit of their communities. That is why one of the greatest impacts we expect from the project will be the contribution to gender equality, the creation of opportunities for youth, and the promotion of social inclusion,” said Carolina GonzĂĄlez, leader of the Initiative, from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.
Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT, said: “In Guatemala, we have had the opportunity to work side by side with farmers who today, more than ever, face the vicious circle of conflict, poverty and climate change. Through this Initiative, we hope to continue making progress in the transformation of agrifood systems in Central America, helping to make agriculture a dignified and satisfying job and a source of prosperity for the region’s producers.â
“I realize the importance of implementing strategic actions designed to improve the livelihoods of farmers. The environmental impact of development without sustainable planning puts at risk the wellbeing of humanity. The Initiatives of this workshop contribute to reducing the vulnerability of both productive systems and farmers and their families. This is an ideal scenario to strengthen alliances that allow for greater impact and respond to the needs of the country and the region,” said Jose Angel Lopez, Guatemalaâs Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.
Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT (right), presents during the launch of the AgriLAC Resiliente Initiative. (Photo: CGIAR)
National and regional strategies
AgriLAC Resiliente will also be presented in Honduras, where national partners will learn more about the Initiative and its role in achieving a resilient, sustainable, and competitive Latin America and the Caribbean, that will enable it to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Under the general coordination of CGIAR, other Initiatives are also underway in Guatemala that will synergize with the global research themes toward the transformation of more resilient agrifood systems.
“We are committed to providing a structure that responds to national and regional priorities, needs, and demands. The support of partners, donors and producers will be key to building sustainable and more efficient agrifood systems,” Lozano said.
About CGIAR
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.org
We would like to thank all Funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.
About the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance focuses on the nexus of agriculture, nutrition and environment. We work with local, national, and multinational partners across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and with the public and private sectors and civil society. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international nonprofit agricultural research and training organization that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works toward a world with healthier, more prosperous people, freedom from global food crises, and more resilient agrifood systems. CIMMYT’s research brings higher productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
The International Potato Center (CIP) was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato and andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agrifood systems. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 50 countries. Global, regional, and national food systems face major challenges and require fundamental transformations. IFPRI is focused on responding to these challenges through a multidisciplinary approach to reshape food systems so they work for all people sustainably.
CIMMYT scientists are using biodiversity, testing forgotten wheat varieties from across the world, to find those with heat- and drought-tolerant traits. The aim is to outpace human-made global heating and breed climate-resilient varieties so yields do not collapse, as worst-case scenarios predict.
Reporter Nina Lakhanivisited CIMMYT’s experimental station in Ciudad Obregon, in Mexico’s Sonora state, and witnessed CIMMYT’s unique role in fighting climate change through the development of resilient varieties as “international public goods”.
Ted McKinney (left) listens to a technician explaining the use of an alvograph. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
Representatives from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) of the United States visited the global headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on May 19, 2022. Ted McKinney, NASDAâs Chief Executive Officer, was joined by RJ Karney, Senior Director of Public Policy, and John Goldberg, consultant and partner at The Normandy Group.
âI wish the world could all understand what you do here. This is just fantastic,â said McKinney after seeing the broad range of work conducted at CIMMYT.
NASDAâs tour of CIMMYTâs global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico, included visits to the museum, the maize and wheat genebanks, the greenhouse, the bioscience complex, the wheat quality laboratory and the experimental station.
In each location, the visitors met with CIMMYT representatives who provided an overview of their research areas. Discussions ranged from the importance of preserving disease resistance in wheat in order to conduct experiments, the process for using DNA to inform breeding programs, and the assessment process for wheat grain. NASDAâs representatives also gained an understanding of how CIMMYT connects experiments with the needs of farmers, ensuring that scientific progress is translated into real-life solutions.
(From left to right) Carolina Sansaloni, a translator, Kevin Pixley, Ted McKinney, RJ Karney and John Goldberg visit CIMMYTâs Wellhausen and Anderson Genetic Resources Center, housing the maize and wheat genebanks. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
Nayelli Hernandez (second from left) explains the process for measuring wheat quality. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT).
(Left to right) Jelle Van Loon, John Goldberg, Ted McKinney, RJ Karney and Kevin Pixley stand for a group photo next to the Norman Borlaug statue at CIMMYTâs global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
Written by Bea Ciordia on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Aguas Firmes project aims to introduce and promote the adoption of conservation agriculture technologies at scale to obtain sustainable crop yields with higher productivity in irrigated environments in Calera, Zacatecas. It also seeks to address water use efficiency by adapting and promoting appropriate technologies in the volume of water applied in irrigation.
Objectives
Facilitate the adoption of sustainable intensification practices on more than 4,000 hectares over the next three years to reduce the water footprint of participant farmers
Recharge two of Mexicoâs most exploited aquifers by restoring forests and building green infrastructure
Spot blotch, a major biotic stress challenging bread wheat production is caused by the fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana. In a new study, scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) evaluate genomic and index-based selection to select for spot blotch resistance quickly and accurately in wheat lines. The former approach facilitates selecting for spot blotch resistance, and the latter for spot blotch resistance, heading and plant height.
Genomic selection
The authors leveraged genotyping data and extensive spot blotch phenotyping data from Mexico and collaborating partners in Bangladesh and India to evaluate genomic selection, which is a promising genomic breeding strategy for spot blotch resistance. Using genomic selection for selecting lines that have not been phenotyped can reduce the breeding cycle time and cost, increase the selection intensity, and subsequently increase the rate of genetic gain.
Two scenarios were tested for predicting spot blotch: fixed effects model (less than 100 molecular markers associated with spot blotch) and genomic prediction (over 7,000 markers across the wheat genome). The clear winner was genomic prediction which was on average 177.6% more accurate than the fixed effects model, as spot blotch resistance in advanced CIMMYT wheat breeding lines is controlled by many genes of small effects.
âThis finding applies to other spot blotch resistant loci too, as very few of them have shown big effects, and the advantage of genomic prediction over the fixed effects model is tremendousâ, confirmed Xinyao He, Wheat Pathologist and Geneticist at CIMMYT.
The authors have also evaluated genomic prediction in different populations, including breeding lines and sister lines that share one or two parents.
Spot blotch susceptible wheat lines (left) and resistant lines. (Photo: Xinyao He and Pawan Singh/CIMMYT)
Index selection
One of the key problems faced by wheat breeders in selecting for spot blotch resistance is identifying lines that are genetically resistant to spot blotch versus those that escape and exhibit less disease by being late and tall. âThe latter, unfortunately, is often the case in South Asiaâ, explained Pawan Singh, Head of Wheat Pathology at CIMMYT.
A potential solution to this problem is the use of selection indices that can make it easier for breeders to select individuals based on their ranking or predicted net genetic merit for multiple traits. Hence, this study reports the first successful evaluation of the linear phenotypic selection index and Eigen selection index method to simultaneously select for spot blotch resistance using the phenotype and genomic-estimated breeding values, heading and height.
This study demonstrates the prospects of integrating genomic selection and index-based selection with field based phenotypic selection for resistance in spot blotch in breeding programs.
Spot blotch, caused by the fungus Biopolaris sorokiniana poses a serious threat to bread wheat production in warm and humid wheat-growing regions globally, affecting more than 25 million hectares and resulting in huge yield losses.
Chemical control approaches, including seed treatment and fungicides, have provided acceptable spot blotch control. However, their use is unaffordable to resource-poor farmers and poses a hazard to health and the environment. In addition, âabiotic stresses like heat and drought that are widely prevalent in South Asia compound the problem, making varietal genetic resistance the last resort of farmers to combat this disease,â according to Pawan Singh, Head of Wheat Pathology at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Therefore, one of CIMMYTâs wheat research focus areas is developing wheat varieties that carry genetic resistance to the disease.
Signs of spot blotch on wheat. (Photo: Philomin Juliana/CIMMYT)
The studyâs results are positive and confirmed that:
Many advanced CIMMYT breeding lines have moderate to high resistance to spot blotch.
Resistance to the disease is conferred quantitatively by several minor genomic regions that act together in an additive manner to confer resistance.
There is an association of the 2NS translocation from the wild species Aegilops ventricosa with spot blotch resistance.
There is also an association of the spot blotch favorable alleles at the 2NS translocation, and two markers on the telomeric end of chromosome 3BS with grain yield evaluated in multiple environments, implying that selection for favorable alleles at these markers could help obtain higher grain yield and spot blotch resistance.
âConsidering the persistent threat of spot blotch to resource-poor farmers in South Asia, further research and breeding efforts to improve genetic resistance to the disease, identify novel sources of resistance by screening different germplasm, and selecting for genomic regions with minor effects using selection tools like genomic selection is essential,â explained Philomin Juliana, Molecular Breeder and Quantitative Geneticist at CIMMYT.
Cover photo: Researchers evaluate wheat for spot blotch at CIMMYTâs experimental station in Agua FrĂa, Jiutepec, Morelos state, Mexico. (Photo: Xinyao He and Pawan Singh/CIMMYT)
With the participation of more than 30 researchers from four CGIAR Centers located in the Americas, a planning workshop for a new CGIAR Research Initiative, AgriLAC Resiliente, was held on April 4â6, 2022. Its purpose was to define the implementation of activities to improve the livelihoods of producers in Latin America, with the support of national governments, the private sector, civil society, and CGIARâs regional and global funders, and partners.
âThis workshop is the first face-to-face planning meeting aimed at defining, in a joined-up manner and map in hand, how the teams across Centers in the region will complement each other, taking advantage of the path that each Center has taken in Latin America, but this time based on the advantage of reaching the territories not as four independent Centers, but as one CGIAR team,â says Deissy MartĂnez BarĂłn, leader of the Initiative from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.
AgriLAC Resiliente is an Initiative co-designed to transform food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. It aims to increase resilience, ecosystem services and the competitiveness of agrifood innovation systems in the region. Through this Initiative, CGIAR is committed to providing a regional structure that enhances its effectiveness and responds better to national and regional priorities, needs and demands.
This Initiative is one of a number that the CGIAR has in Latin America and the Caribbean and consists of five research components:
Climate and nutrition that seeks to use collaborative innovations for climate-resilient and nutritious agrifood systems;
Digital agriculture through the use of digital and inclusive tools for the creation of actionable knowledge;
Competitiveness with low emissions, focused on agroecosystems, landscapes and value chains, low in sustainable emissions;
Innovation and scaling with the Innova-Hubs network for agrifood innovations and their scaling up;
Science for timely decision making and the establishment of policies, institutions and investments in resilient, competitive and low-emission agrifood systems.
The regional character of these CGIAR Initiatives and of the teams of researchers who make them a reality in the territories with the producers, was prominent in the minds of the leadership that also participated in this workshop. Martin Kropff, Global Director, Resilient Agrifood Systems, CGIAR; JoaquĂn Lozano, Regional Director, Latin America and the Caribbean, CGIAR; Ăscar Ortiz, Acting Director General of the International Potato Center; JesĂșs Quintana, Manager for the Americas of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT; and Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), all stated the importance of CGIAR being central to every discussion in which the teams are co-constructing a greater consensus on what AgriLAC Resliente is, what it wants to achieve, the approach it will use, and the goals it aims to achieve through synergies among its five components.
Acting as an integrated organization is also an opportunity for CGIAR to leverage co-developed solutions and solve local challenges in the global South related to climate change and agrifood systems transformation. âBuilding the new CGIAR involves tons of collaboration and coordination. In this AgriLAC Resiliente workshop, we have had a dialogue full of energy focused on achieving real impactâ highlighted Bram Govaerts. He continued, âthis is an occasion to strengthen teamwork around this CGIAR Initiative in which the Integrated Agrifood System Initiative approach will be applied in the Latin American region, which is a very interconnected regionâ he pointed out.
One of the main results of this workshop is an opportunity to carry out the integration of the CGIAR teams in the implementation of the AgriLAC Resiliente Initiative, with applied science and the decisive role of the partners at each point of the region, as mechanisms for change.
In 2022, the research teams will begin to lay the groundwork for implementing the Initiativeâs integrative approach to strengthen the innovations to be co-developed with partners and collaborators in the Latin American region, that encompass the interconnected nature of the global South.
Collaboration between food security institutions and research organizations has contributed to improvements in global grain production that have benefitted millions of farmers around the world â and must continue today. This message was highlighted during a ceremony hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to recognize the legacy of World Food Laureate and former CIMMYT Wheat Program Director Sanjaya Rajaram.
The ceremony, held at the CIMMYT Experimental Station in Toluca, State of Mexico, officially dedicated the Station in honor of Sanjaya Rajaram, honoring his memory as an âenemy of world hungerâ and one of the scientists who has most contributed to global food security.
The Indian-born naturalized Mexican researcher, who was the third person from CIMMYT to receive the World Food Prize, was recognized for having developed more than 480 high-yielding and adaptable wheat varieties that have been planted on approximately 58 million hectares around the world.
“For this impressive achievement, which seems easy to summarize in one sentence, Raj became a giant of the âright to foodâ and one of the fiercest enemies of hunger in the world,” said CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts.
âBuilding on the work of Dr. Norman Borlaug, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram was a driving force in making CIMMYT into the extraordinary institution that it is today,â said Claudia Sadoff, Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact of CGIAR, a global research partnership of which CIMMYT is a member.
âThe challenges of today compel us to redouble our efforts to breed more resilient and more nutritious crops, as Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram did, Sadoff added. âThis ceremony reminds us that Dr Rajaramâs legacy and the ongoing efforts of CIMMYT and CGIAR scientists must answer that.â
Awards for international cooperation in food security
At the event, CIMMYT presented awards to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard CasaubĂłn, and of Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), VĂctor Villalobos ArĂĄmbula, for their promotion of food security and social inclusion in Mexico and Latin America.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico expressed his gratitude for the Norman E. Borlaug and reaffirmed his commitment to “work in the international arena as we have done, but now we will have to work harder, with greater intensity.”
The Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, VĂctor Villalobos ArĂĄmbula, emphasized that Mexico, Latin America and CIMMYT play an important role in the struggle to improve the conditions of small-scale farmers and the resilience of agri-food systems, noting that more than 300,000 farmers grow maize, wheat and associated crops on over one million hectares in Mexico using sustainable technologies from the CIMMYT-led MasAgro project, now called Crops for Mexico.
âThroughout this administration,â he said, âwe have designed, implemented and refined, through collaboration between SADER and CIMMYT, sustainable development strategies with a systemic approach that facilitates the participation of producers in more integrated and efficient value chains both in Mexico and in other countries.â
India’s Ambassador to Mexico, Pankaj Sharma, highlighted that his nation owes a large part of its Green Revolution to the “Sonora” wheat variety, which was developed in Mexico, a country that is considered one of the cradles of agriculture at a global level, with arable land accounting for 15 percent of the total land dedicated to agriculture in the world.
Report on the results of the Crops for Mexico initiative
CIMMYTâs Wheat Germplasm Bank Curator and Genotyping Specialist Carolina Sansaloni presented highlighted impacts from Crops for Mexico, the main cooperative project between the Government of Mexico — through the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development — and CIMMYT, and a flagship initiative in the application of technologies in sustainable agriculture.
The project has been in operation for more than a decade in 28 states in Mexico, with the collaboration of more than 100 national and international partners and private and public sector agencies in 12 regions, offering research infrastructure and training development for sustainable agronomic practices, she explained.
She reported that the results of 40 platforms, 500 demonstration modules and two thousand extension areas have an impact on more than one million hectares and benefit 300,000 maize, wheat and bean producers, with the use of high-yield varieties.
Rosalinda Muñoz Tafolla, a maize farmer in Amacuzac, in the Mexican state of Morelos, explained that her drive to produce healthy food led her to participate in Crops for Mexico, where CIMMYT’s support and advice has enabled her to dramatically increase her farmâs productivity while protecting the soil and conserving natural resources.
She explained that with the conservation agriculture system she learned to improve soil conditions, planted a new maize variety, and was supported in marketing her harvest at a good price and selling 2,000 maize ears (mostly weighing 200 grams each).
