On the 67th Edition of the Day of the Farmer in Mexicoâs Yaqui Valley, JesĂșs Larraguibele Artola, president of the Agricultural Research and Experimentation Board of the State of Sonora (PIEAES), publicly recognized the work and trajectory of Ravi Singh, Distinguished Scientist and Head of Global Wheat Improvement at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
An Indian national, Singh first arrived to CIMMYTâs Experimental Station in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, in 1983, and has since developed 680 wheat varieties in 48 countries, including the Cirno and Borlaug varieties, grown in 98% of the Yaqui Valleyâs wheat fields.
At the event, Larraguibele Artola also highlighted the importance of the legacy of Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, who saved the lives of billions of people from starvation with his improved wheat varieties. He also recalled how the first Day of the Farmer was organized by Borlaug back in 1948, when the American agronomist presented his first rust-resistant wheat varieties to farmers in the region. Over time, the event became a unique place for researchers and scientists in Sonora to increase collaboration with farmers and producers in the region and share their latest scientific advances.
Acknowledging the key role of new technologies and wheat varieties in tackling current and future agricultural challenges, FĂĄtima Yolanda RodrĂguez Mendoza, Secretary of Agriculture, Farming, Hydraulic Resources, Fishing and Aquaculture (SAGRHPA) of Sonora, reiterated the commitment of the governor, Alfonso Durazo Montaño, to invest in agricultural research to boost production and drive the growth of the regionâs agrifood sector.
âWeâll continue to invest in research and innovation and support scientists, who put their knowledge at the service of the people of Sonoraâ, she promised.
Guillermo Breton with Karim Ammar at CIMMYT Toluca (Credit: Global Farmer Network)
Global food prices were already increasing when the worldâs wheat supply came under extra pressure, due to Russiaâs war on Ukraine. We donât know whether the farmers who have made Ukraine the fifth-largest exporter of wheat will produce anything in 2022.
Food security is bound to fall, with the greatest impact to be felt by those most vulnerable first. Ukrainians are bearing the worst of it, of course, but the fallout from Vladimir Putinâs cruelty will affect us all.
The problem would be much worse if a remarkable group of scientists had not dedicated themselves in the last century to the improvement of agriculture, in work that continues today and promises to make the future a little more hopeful.
My family witnessed the work of these scientists up close. Our farm is in the state of Tlaxcala, in the highlands east of Mexico City. We grow corn, barley, sunflower, and triticale, which is a hybrid of wheat and rye.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Norman Borlaug brought teams of agronomists to our region as he worked to improve wheatâs germplasm. I wasnât born at that time, so I couldnât meet Dr. Borlaug at our farm, but he came many times across several summers. Iâve heard the stories: As my father worked with Borlaug in the fields, growing the seeds that would help Borlaug produce a better kind of wheat, my mother made sure that our house was in order so that Borlaug and his companions had proper accommodations.
Today, of course, Dr. Borlaug is a legend: In 1970, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Hailed as âthe father of the Green Revolution,â he arguably saved hundreds of millions of lives through science-based improvements to the wheat germplasm.
The result is that wheat farmers around the world grow a lot stronger, healthier wheat today. No matter where we live, weâre better able to deal with problems of scarcity.
Drought, disease, and war still possess the horrible potential to inflict suffering, but weâre in fact much more capable of dealing with them because of what Dr. Borlaug and his fellow researchers accomplished decades ago.
Their work continues today at the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, also known as CIMMYT (in its Spanish acronym). Founded by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation, this non-profit group devoted itself to improving the productivity of Mexican farmers. It became the institutional home of Borlaug, whose work was so successful it transformed agriculture not just in Mexico but around the world.
Mexican farmers gained from its work, and so did wheat farmers in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere. In fact, everybody wins: The world has much more wheat today because of Borlaug and CIMMYT.
Iâm a special beneficiary, and not just because of my familyâs historical connection to CIMMYT. I live within driving distance of CIMMYTâs headquarters, which is a sanctuary of knowledge. It enjoys an amazing history, but also holds a promising future: It remains a resource for improvements in agriculture.
As an agronomist, I always believed that science is a status improver. Because of CIMMYT, Iâm a better farmer today than I was just a few years ago, and Iâll be even better in the years ahead.
CIMMYTâs Karim Ammar taught me about triticale, which is producing great results on my farm. As science has progressed and with the conjunction of science and technology, farmers are able to improve productivity and have better soils. Today, Bram Govaerts, who is now CIMMYTâs Director General, introduced me to the value of no-till, which is making my farm both more productive and more sustainable.
Dr. Borlaugâs dying words were âtake it to the farmers.â Thatâs exactly what his successors at CIMMYT are doing. Theyâre adapting cutting-edge technologies to agriculture. The best part, though, is that they donât keep their knowledge locked up in labs. They share what they learn with farmers like me, who can apply them to the practical work of food production.
Agriculture will face plenty of tests in the 21st century. The worldâs population continues to grow, but our arable land doesnât increase with it. That means we must continue to produce more food from the farms we already have. At the same time, we must contend with the threat of climate change and make our methods more sustainable, which means preserving biodiversity, conserving water, and kidnapping carbon.
Amid these challenges, Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine, a globally important farming nation, is adding stress to the challenge of global food security. As we watch a country and its innocent people suffer, we arenât thinking much about wheat germplasmsâbut we should be grateful that CIMMYTâs agronomists have made us all a little more resilient.
Over the past several decades, maize breeders have made considerable strides in the development and deployment of new hybrids. These offer higher yields compared to older varieties and reduce the risks farmers face from the vagaries of a changing climate and emerging pest and disease threats. But, for small-scale farmers to adopt new, improved climate-resilient and stress-tolerant maize hybrids at scale, they must be first available, accessible and their benefits need to be widely understood and appreciated. This is where vibrant national seed industries potentially play an important role.
Prior to the 1990s, government agencies tended to play the lead role in hybrid production and distribution. Since then, expectations are that the private sector â in particular locally owned small-scale seed enterprises â produce maize hybrids and distribute them to farmers. When successful, local seed industries are able to produce quality new hybrids and effectively market them to farmers, such that newer hybrids replace older ones in agrodealer stores in relatively short periods of time. If small seed enterprises lack capacities or incentives to aggressively market new hybrids, then the gains made by breeding will not be realized in farmersâ fields. By monitoring seed sales, breeders at CIMMYT and elsewhere, as well as seed business owners, gain insights into smallholdersâ preferences and demands.
A recent publication in Food Security assesses the capacities of 22 small and medium-sized seed enterprises in Mexico to produce and market new maize hybrids. The study draws on the experience of the MasAgro project, a decade-long development whereby the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in partnership with Mexicoâs Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), engaged with dozens of locally owned seed businesses to expand their portfolio of maize hybrids.
The authors, led by CIMMYT senior economist Jason Donovan, highlight the critical role the MasAgro project played in reinvigorating the portfolios of maize seeds produced by small and medium-sized enterprises. MasAgro âfilled a gap that had long existed in publicly supported breeding programsâ by providing easy access to new cultivars, available to local seed companies without royalties or branding conditions, and without the need for seed certification. The enterprises, in turn, showed a remarkably high capacity to take up new seed technology, launching 129 commercial products between 2013 and 2017.
âWithout doubt the MasAgro project can be considered a success in terms of its ability to get new maize germplasm into the product portfolios of small seed companies throughout Mexico,â Donovan said.
The authors also delve into the challenges these maize enterprises faced as they looked to scale the new technologies in a competitive market that has long been dominated by multinational seed enterprises. They observed a lack of access to physical capital, which in turn evidenced a lack of financial capital or access to credit, as well as limited marketing know-how and capacity to integrate marketing innovations into their operations. While most maize enterprises identified the need to expand sales of new commercial products, âsigns of innovation in seed marketing were limitedâ and most of them relied heavily on sales to local and state governments.
According to Donovan, âThe MasAgro experience also shows that a strong focus on the demand side of formal seed systems is needed if breeding programs are to achieve greater impact in less time. This implies more attention to how farmers decide on which seed to purchase and how seed companies and seed retailers market seed to farmers. It also implies strong coordination between public sector to make building the local seed industry a national imperative.â
Beyond the Mexican context, the paperâs findings may be of particular interest to development organizations looking to supply local seed industries facing strong competition from regional and multinational companies. One example is the effort to support small seed businesses in Nepal, which face strong competition from larger Indian companies with long histories of engagement in Nepalese seed markets. There are also important lessons for policymakers in eastern and southern Africa, where strict controls over seed release and certification potentially lead to higher production costs and slower rates of introduction of new products by local maize seed companies.
Luis Castillo Villaseñor is a Research and Post-Harvest Platforms Coordinator working with CIMMYT at the Pacifico Sur, Golfo Centro Hub.
He works in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz where he provides technical accompaniment on conservation agriculture and post-harvest based trials. Together with local collaborators and researchers, he develops sustainable crop management practices and post-harvest technologies.
Castillo Villaseñor is a philosopher and certified technician in sustainable agriculture with more than 10 years of work experience, this allows him to see the issues in each region in an integral way. He integrates and communicates information to improve production systems for farmers, technicians and researchers working in the Mexican agricultural sector.
Saul Huerta is a Treasury Manager working at CIMMYT HQ. He has worked in different accounting areas, including Treasury, Financial Planning, Investments, Reporting, SOX, USGAAP and Audit.
With +20 years of experience, Saul has worked in Service and Finance sectors in AAA companies, listed in NY stock market, where he has acquired the best practices to perform ethically and professionally his activities aligned with the objectives of Top Management.
Saul has experience in FinTech, focused in developing financial services for the people in the Base of the Pyramid. Saul has been awarded in different projects by CEMEX, INADEM and Gentera for developing solutions for rural sector.
Carlos Muñoz is an Research Associate – Maize Phytopathology working with CIMMYTâs Maize program.
Muñoz works on the phenotyping of the main diseases and pests that affect maize crops in Mexico with high natural incidence, and develops protocols for artificial inoculations that help identify and develop resistant maize through genetic and molecular improvement.
He is currently working on the validation of agronomic, biological and chemical management tactics to reduce mycotoxin contamination and on advising producers and technicians on the correct diagnosis of the causal agent of biotic or abiotic stresses.
CIMMYT director general Bram Govaerts (left) presents during the AMSAC award ceremony in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. (Photo: Ricardo Curiel/CIMMYT)
The Association of Mexican Seed Producers (AsociaciĂłn Mexicana de Semilleros, A.C., or AMSAC) gave the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) its annual CesĂĄr Garza Award for work by MasAgro (Crops for Mexico), a project that develops and spreads high-yielding, climate resilient maize and improved farming practices in Mexico. MasAgro is operated by CIMMYT and Mexicoâs Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).
The award ceremony took place in Playa del Carmen, in Mexicoâs Quintano Roo state, on November 4, 2021.
CIMMYT breeding research is behind the development of 70 new maize hybrids released in Mexico by dozens of small- and intermediate-scale seed companies, helping to double the maize yields of farmers who adopt them, according to Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general and leader of the Centerâs work in MasAgro.
âAMSACâs recognition comes at a crucial time, when public support for crop breeding, seed systems, and capacity building are more urgent than ever in the face of climate change and increased, pandemic-related food insecurity,â Govaerts said. âWeâll leverage this prestigious award and our strong partnership with AMSAC members to move toward an improved and more widespread version of MasAgroâs integrated approach for transforming Mexicoâs cereal crop farming systems.â
Propelling public-private partnerships
CIMMYT director general Bram Govaerts (right) collects the CesĂĄr Garza Award given to the MasAgro (Crops for Mexico) project. (Photo: Ricardo Curiel/CIMMYT)
Taking advantage of CIMMYT training and breeding lines, Mexican seed producers working with MasAgro have boosted their maize seed sales 33% â or 4.6% yearly â during 2011â20, Govaerts said.
This and the recent award illustrate CIMMYTâs success at sharing improved maize through powerful, decades-long partnerships with public and private entities. Small- and medium-scale seed companies have benefitted from access to CIMMYT breeding lines, technical support, business model training, and Center participation in efforts to foster competitive seed markets, according to a recently published book documenting 50 years of maize research by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Both centers are members of CGIAR, the worldâs largest global agricultural innovation network.
âThe increased number and market share of [small- and medium-scale] maize seed companies in Mexico and sub-Saharan Africa in recent years are strongly linked to the availability of stable, stress tolerant inbreds from CGIAR programs,â the bookâs executive summary states. âThe annual production ⊠of over 130,000 tons of seed of CGIAR-derived stress-tolerant hybrids in Africa by [small- and medium-scale enterprises] ⊠has addressed an important gap in seed markets not being met by multi-national companies.â
In 2015 more than a third of the area in sub-Saharan Africa was sown to new varieties and hybrids derived from CIMMYT and IITA breeding research, and adoption has accelerated since then, generating from $0.66 to 1.05 billion each year in economic benefits, according to a 2021 study.
As part of CIMMYT partnerships with large, multi-national seed companies, the Center has obtained royalty-free licenses to use proprietary technology and maize hybrids in specific areas of Africa, focusing on small-scale farmers. These partnerships, as well as similar agreements with advanced public research institutes, have fostered more widespread application for tropical maize of tools such as genomic selection, database software, and doubled haploids.
In Asia, building on collaborations from as far back as the 1960s, CIMMYT launched a maize improvement consortium in 2010 involving 25 mostly small- and medium-scale seed companies. For a modest annual fee to fund consortium management, members have access to early- and advanced-generation CIMMYT inbred lines and trait donors, as well as support services for hybrid development. This model has subsequently been copied in Mexico and in eastern and southern Africa (17 companies).
âCIMMYT science and support for maize and wheat farming systems span more than six decades and have brought impressive, well documented impacts in improved harvests and food security for those who grow and consume these globally-critical staple crops,â Govaerts said. âOn behalf of the Center, I would like to recognize and thank those who fund our work, and especially the hundreds of skilled and committed partners without whom our efforts would not be possible.â
The findings, published in Nature Food, extend many potential benefits to national breeding programs, including improved wheat varieties better equipped to thrive in changing environmental conditions. This research was led by Sukhwinder Singh of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) as part of the Seeds of Discovery project.
Since the advent of modern crop improvement practices, there has been a bottleneck of genetic diversity, because many national wheat breeding programs use the same varieties in their crossing program as their âeliteâ source. This practice decreases genetic diversity, putting more areas of wheat at risk to pathogens and environmental stressors, now being exacerbated by a changing climate. As the global population grows, shocks to the worldâs wheat supply result in more widespread dire consequences.
The research team hypothesized that many wheat accessions in genebanks â groups of related plant material from a single species collected at one time from a specific location â feature useful traits for national breeding programs to employ in their efforts to diversify their breeding programs.
âGenebanks hold many diverse accessions of wheat landraces and wild species with beneficial traits, but until recently the entire scope of diversity has never been explored and thousands of accessions have been sitting on the shelves. Our research targets beneficial traits in these varieties through genome mapping and then we can deliver them to breeding programs around the world,â Singh said.
Currently adopted approaches to introduce external beneficial genes into breeding programsâ elite cultivars take a substantial amount of time and money. âBreeding wheat from a national perspective is a race against pathogens and other abiotic threats,â said Deepmala Sehgal, co-author and wheat geneticist in the Global Wheat program at CIMMYT. âAny decrease in the time to test and release a variety has a huge positive impact on breeding programs.â
Deepmala Sehgal shows LTP lines currently being used in CIMMYT trait pipelines at the experimental station in Toluca, Mexico, for introgression of novel exotic-specific alleles into newly developed lines. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Taking into genetic biodiversity
The findings build from research undertaken through the Seeds of Discovery project, which genetically characterized nearly 80,000 samples of wheat from the seed banks of CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
First, the team undertook a large meta-survey of genetic resources from wild wheat varieties held in genebanks to create a catalog of improved traits.
âOur genetic mapping,â Singh said, âidentifies beneficial traits so breeding programs donât have to go looking through the proverbial needle in the haystack. Because of the collaborative effort of the research team, we could examine a far greater number of genomes than a single breeding program could.â
Next, the team developed a strategic three-way crossing method among 366 genebank accessions and the best historical elite varieties to reduce the time between the original introduction and deployment of an improved variety.
Sukhwinder Singh (second from left) selects best performing pre-breeding lines in India. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Worldwide impact
National breeding programs can use the diverse array of germplasm for making new crosses or can evaluate the germplasm in yield trials in their own environments.
The diverse new germplasm is being tested in major wheat producing areas, including India, Kenya, Mexico and Pakistan. In Mexico, many of the lines showed increased resistance to abiotic stresses; many lines tested in Pakistan exhibited increased disease resistance; and in India, many tested lines are now part of the national cultivar release system. Overall, national breeding programs have adopted 95 lines for their targeted breeding programs and seven lines are currently undergoing varietal trials.
âThis is the first effort of its kind where large-scale pre-breeding efforts have not only enhanced the understanding of exotic genome footprints in bread wheat but also provided practical solutions to breeders,â Sehgal said. âThis work has also delivered pre-breeding lines to trait pipelines within national breeding programs.â
Currently, many of these lines are being used in trait pipelines at CIMMYT to introduce these novel genomic regions into advanced elite lines. Researchers are collaborating with physiologists in CIMMYTâs global wheat program to dissect any underlying physiological mechanisms associated with the research teamâs findings.
âOur investigation is a major leap forward in bringing genebank variation to the national breeding programs,â Singh explained. âMost significantly, this study sheds light on the importance of international collaborations to bring out successful products and new methods and knowledge to identify useful contributions of exotic in elite lines.â
Cover photo: A researcher holds a plant of Aegilops neglecta, a wild wheat relative. Approximately every 20 years, CIMMYT regenerates wheat wild relatives in greenhouses, to have enough healthy and viable seed for distribution when necessary. (Photo: RocĂo Quiroz/CIMMYT)
CIMMYT senior scientist and cropping systems agronomist Nele Verhulst (left) shows the benefits of conservation agriculture to visitors at CIMMYTâs experimental station in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
High-level representatives of the Carlos Slim Foundation and Mexico’s National Agriculture Council (CNA) visited the global headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) outside Mexico City on October 18, 2021, to learn about innovative research to promote sustainable production systems in Mexico and the world.
Carlos Slim Foundation and CNA representatives agreed that public and private sectors, civil society and international research organizations like CIMMYT must collaborate to address the challenges related to climate change, forced migration and rural insecurity.
“It is necessary to give more visibility to and make use of CIMMYT’s world-class laboratories and research fields, to enhance their impact on sustainable development and the 2030 agenda,” said Juan Cortina Gallardo, president of the CNA.
The tour included a visit to CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, where the world’s largest collections of maize and wheat biodiversity are conserved. Visitors also toured the laboratories, greenhouses and experimental fields where cutting-edge science is applied to improve yield potential, adaptability to climate change, resistance to pests and diseases, and nutritional and processing quality of maize and wheat.
Representatives of the Carlos Slim Foundation and Mexico’s National Agriculture Council (CNA) stand for a group photo with CIMMYT representatives at the organizationâs global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
From Mexico to the world
“CIMMYT implements Crops for Mexico, a research and capacity building project building on the successes and lessons learned from MasAgro, where smallholder farmers increase their productivity to expand their market opportunities and can, for example, join the supply chain of large companies as providers and contribute to social development of Mexican farming,” Cortina Gallardo said.
CIMMYT carries out more than 150 integrated development projects related to maize and wheat systems in 50 countries. They are all supported by first-class research infrastructure in CIMMYTâs global headquarters, funded by the Carlos Slim Foundation.
“Our goal is to put CIMMYT’s laboratories, greenhouses and experimental fields at the service of farmers and both public and private sectors as needed,â said Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT. âAccelerating the development of sustainable agricultural practices and more nutritious and resilient varieties contributes to transforming agricultural systems around the world, strengthening global food security and reducing the impact of agriculture on climate change.”
Written by Bea Ciordia on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Abel Saldivia Tejeda is an agronomist at CIMMYT Headquarters in El Batån, Mexico, where  he oversees field experimentation for conservation agriculture-based trials and testing of post-harvest storage technologies.
Saldivia also works with local research partners at different sites in north and central Mexico for the development of sustainable crop management practices and post-harvest technologies.
Jessica JazmĂn GonzĂĄlez Regalado is a Post-Harvest and Platform Coordinator working with CIMMYTâs Integrated Development program.
GonzĂĄlez Regalado is an agroecology engineer. She coordinates strategic research activities based on the agronomic and postharvest needs of production systems of the VAM, VAGP and PCTO innovation nodes in Mexico. Her activities include field experiments monitoring and training in experimental management and the use of agronomic and postharvest technologies, which may offer a potential impact on productivity and/or conservation of agricultural systems. She also works on sustainable technologies to scale.
A new partnership announced today between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), PepsiCo and Grupo Trimex will greatly contribute to scale out sustainable farming practices in the central Mexican states of Guanajuato and MichoacĂĄn, which together form the countryâs second wheat producing region.
The project Agriba Sustentable â a shortened reference for BajĂo Sustainable Agriculture â will promote the adoption of conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices among local farmers who will have access to PepsiCoâs wheat grain supply chain via Grupo Trimex.
âA part of the wheat that we use in Mexico for our products comes from the BajĂo region,â said Luis Treviño, Director of Sustainability at PepsiCo Latin America. âHowever, agricultural production in the region has needs and areas of opportunity that we were able to identify thanks to the experience and deep knowledge that CIMMYT has developed over the years.â
Agriba Sustentable is the latest example of the new business models that CIMMYT is exploring as part of its integrated development approach to agri-food systems transformation, which seeks to engage multiple public, private and civil sector collaborators in cereals value chain development and enhancement efforts.
âThe projectâs specific goal is to improve the sustainability of the wheat production system in the BajĂo region by enabling the adoption of technological innovations and sustainable production practices among at least 200 farmers in the Grupo Trimex supply chain during the first year of implementation, and to gradually scale out to reach many more farmers,â said Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT.
CIMMYTâs long-term field trials in Mexico have shown that conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices raise wheat yields by up to 15% and cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40%.
âThe farming practices that CIMMYT promotes reduce environmental impact,â said Mario Ruiz, Sourcing Manager of Grupo Trimex. âConservation agriculture can cut CO2 emissions by up to 60% from reduced diesel consumption, lower fuel use by up to 70% and water consumption by 30%.â
According to PepsiCo Mexico, Agriba Sustentable is an important step for its global vision PepsiCo Positive (pep+), which seeks to offset its agricultural footprint by promoting sustainable farming on 2.8 million hectares globally. The plan also aims to improve the livelihoods of 250,000 people who are part of their global agricultural supply chain and to source sustainably 100% of the companyâs key ingredients by 2030.
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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.
