CIMMYT has several offices in the Americas, including global headquarters in Mexico and a regional office in Colombia. Activities are supported by an additional 140 hectares of stations in diverse agro-ecological zones of Mexico. CIMMYTâs genebank in Mexico stores 27,000 maize and 170,000 wheat seed collections â key to preserving the crop genetic diversity of the region. CIMMYT projects range from developing nutritionally enhanced maize to mapping regional climate change hot spots in Central America. The comprehensive MasAgro project aims to increase wheat production in Mexico by 9 million tons and maize production by 350,000 tons by 2030. CIMMYT promotes regional collaboration and facilitates capacity building for scientists, researchers and technicians.
A researcher demonstrates the use of the AgroTutor app on a mobile phone in Mexico. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
While technology and data analysis have revolutionized farming in high-income countries, farmers in low-income nations have often been left out. New tools developed by CGIAR centers are narrowing the digital divide for smallholder farmers. These tools are increasingly gaining international notice beyond the field of agriculture, as a recent international award attests.
The 2020 Innovative Applications in Analytics Award (IAAA) was awarded to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Their tools, which help farmers to increase productivity, use more sustainable practices and access markets, topped bids from international technology companies and universities with projects applied to various fields.
CIMMYT, CIAT and the IIASA won with their âIntegrated Analytics for Sustainable Agriculture in Latin Americaâ projects. Finalists included projects focused on a wide range of analytics tools used in pricing, optimizing gas transmission, taxi guidance and management of hospital discharges.
A farmer in Mexico uses the AgroTutor application in the field. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
âThe IAAA award emphasizes novelty and creativity in analytics applications along with real-world impact,â said Pallav Chhaochhria, Director of Equities Trading at Citigroup and co-chair of the IAAA selection committee, during the virtual award ceremony.
The winning submission recognizes groundbreaking data systems and tools by publicly funded researches and field technicians who advise more than 150,000 farmers who participate in MasAgro, CIMMYTâs bilateral collaboration project with Mexico for sustainable maize and wheat production.
The multi-disciplinary team developed a system to track over 500 variables during the growing cycle at each plot monitored. These variables are subsequently analyzed in combination with geographic, weather and market data obtained from open sources of information. Data analysts and researchers mine these databases to find correlations or patterns that help identify limiting factors and the best management practices for each plot.
The resulting analytics feed an application called AgroTutor â available on Android and iOS â which offers free information to farmers, including historic yield potential, local benchmarks, windows of opportunity, recommended agricultural practices and commodity price forecasting.
âAlthough sophisticated data analyses have been used in agriculture before, small and medium-sized farmers have seldom benefited from a combination of systems and tools that offer predictive and prescriptive site-specific analytics,â said Andrea Gardeazabal, Information and Communication Technology for Agriculture, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager for CIMMYTâs Integrated Development program. âMasAgro and AgroTutor have proven that resource-constrained farmers can benefit from high-end innovative analyses.â
The outbreak of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in east Africa in 2011 (first reported in Kenyaâs South Rift Valley) was a major concern, given that maize is the regionâs most important staple crop. This disease is caused by co-infection of plants with two viruses â maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) â and can cause yield losses of up to 90%. It spread rapidly across east Africa, compromising food and economic security for several million smallholder farmers.
MLN is a complex challenge that must be addressed through a multipronged approach. While significant advances have been made through intensive efforts by CIMMYT and other partners in terms of identifying and developing MLN tolerant or resistant hybrids, the rapid spread of the epidemic over the last few years remains a concern for farming communities, policy makers, national plant protection organization and the commercial seed sector, as well as the international scientific community.
There is also increasing suspicion that commercial seed flows may have been the initial source of the dissemination of the MLN-causing viruses over large distances, and it is thought that transmission of MCMV through contaminated maize seed continues to be a major risk factor in the spread of MLN across east Africa and beyond. However, there is a lack of reliable information on various aspects of MLN epidemiology, including the rate of MCMV transmission through seed.
The project on âPreventing Seed Transmission of Maize Lethal Necrosis in Africaâ aims to generate a better understanding of these epidemiological issues to allow for more effective control of MCMV transmission through commercial seed, support the development of effective, evidence-based phytosanitary regulations, reduce MLN disease pressure in eastern Africa, and curb the spread to non-endemic countries in other parts of the continent.
Objectives
Develop appropriate protocols for assessing MLN transmission through seed
Develop reliable and cost-effective diagnostic protocols for curbing the spread of MCMV/MLN through seed implemented by NPPOs and commercial seed companies.
Determine the rates of transmission for the East African and US (Hawaiian) isolates of MCMV in tropical, subtropical and temperate maize germplasm
Understand the mode of MCMV transmission through commercial seed within endemic areas to allow more effective control
Determine the distribution of MCMV in maize seed, and the effects of seed treatments on virus transmission
Identify economical treatment methods to reduce or prevent MCMV transmission through seed for commercial seed industry and casual seed trade
Generate detailed understanding of the role of root debris on persistence of MCMV in the soil, the persistence of the virus in different soil types, and the duration of virus viability in the soil
Disseminate science-based knowledge and evidence generated through this project to National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and Ministries of Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
The Biofortified Maize for Improved Human Nutrition project conducts field research both at CIMMYT and with partners on breeding for increased pro-vitamin A and Zinc content in both Africa and Latin America. The project grant is renewed annually and has been in operation since 2004.
Key activities include supporting early and mid-late product development, evaluation and release in Mexico and target countries in southern Africa, food science and retention studies. Molecular breeding and biochemical analysis are key components for successful breeding, and the project also involves technical backstopping for partners in both regions.
Objectives
Conduct field research on breeding for increased pro-vitamin A for target countries in Africa
Conduct field research on breeding for increased Zinc for product evaluation and release
Conduct essential research to deploy analytical tools and marker assisted selection or genomic selection methods in micronutrient breeding work
Facilitate the dissemination, promotion and consumption of biofortified crops
A series of coincidences led Sylvanus Odjo to study agronomy. It was only after finishing his first degree that he learned that his namesake, Silvanus, was the Latin deity of forests and fields.
Spurred by a curiosity about the natural world, he spent several years working at the National Institute of Agriculture in his native Benin, before pursuing advanced degrees in Belgium, where he developed his interest in cereals research.
âObviously by that point I knew about the CGIAR centers and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center,â he explains. âIf youâre working on maize, youâll know about CIMMYT.â
He joined the organization as a postdoctoral researcher in 2017 and now works as a postharvest specialist. He coordinates a network of platforms which evaluates and validates potential solutions and transfers them to farmers across Mexico and Latin America.
âAll the projects Iâm working on now have the same objective: finding ways to avoid and reduce postharvest losses.â These, Odjo estimates, can be as high as 40% in some parts of Mexico, with dramatic consequences for smallholder farmers whose food security is directly linked to the amount of grain they have. They are also the most likely to be affected by the effects of climate change.
âA lot of people think postharvest just means storage,â he points out, âbut it actually encompasses everything from the moment of harvest and includes processes like drying, shelling, technical and economic activities.â
A drying specialist by training, Odjo now works across the entire postharvest system. There are two central components to his work. The first involves testing postharvest technologies to develop recommendations for farmers, conducting trials under controlled conditions on CIMMYT research stations and with local collaborators across Mexico and assessing how drying and storage technologies fare under different conditions. The second, and perhaps more challenging, is promoting the successful ones, such as hermetic grain storage bags, among farmers and providing training on how to use them appropriately.
âWe see a lot of publications agreeing that we need to promote hermetic technologies, which is true.â The question, Odjo asks, is how to do it. âHow can we succeed in making a solution available to farmers? And once that has happened, how do we convince them to use it? Those are big questions which people were asking 50 years ago but theyâre still being discussed today.â
Odjo demonstrates the use of a handheld grain moisture tester in ComitĂĄn de Dominguez, Chiapas, Mexico. (Photo: Juan Carlos Reynoso)
Finding answers to the big questions
âThe potential solutions sound so simple, but when you actually try to implement these things it can be very complex.â
Odjo can reel off a list of postharvest interventions which seem straightforward initially but fail at the moment of implementation. Farmers might be instructed to harvest their grain at a particular time, which turns out to conflict with the timing of an important traditional ceremony, which cannot be rescheduled. Elsewhere they may be encouraged to avoid reducing moisture levels by purchasing a dryer but lack the resources to do so.
Much of Odjoâs work involves conducting research into the process of technology transfer and the scaling of postharvest technologies, working with a number of projects in Mexico to find the most efficient ways of training farmers and providing them with the tools they need to use improved practices and technologies.
âWhat weâre looking for is the right technology for each farmer,â he explains. âBecause the conditions in the highlands of Guanajuato are not the same as in coastal YucatĂĄn, or any of the other locations we work in.â Hermetic technology has been proven to be effective in most conditions, but the choice to use hermetic silos, hermetic bags, or a cocoon storage container ultimately depends on farmer preferences and the specific conditions in their local area. âWe noticed, for example, that in the highlands pests tend to pose less of a threat to stored grain, so we need to use a different strategy than we would at sea level, where humidity can significantly increase the risk of grain becoming contaminated.â
Odjo and his team have also noted that in Mexico, although many postharvest activities such as shelling are led by women, men are more likely to attend farmer trainings, which makes it harder to ensure that they are reaching their target demographic. âGender has emerged as a key parameter that we need to take into account, so weâre working with an excellent gender specialist at CIMMYT to find ways of making sure we transfer knowledge and technologies efficiently.â
While it can be challenging coordinating with so many different stakeholders, each with their distinct priorities and interests, Odjo is adamant that postharvest research can only be successful when it is fully interdisciplinary and collaborative. Though farmers are their core audience, he and his team make sure they work with extension agents, government actors, researchers and development practitioners to find solutions. âI canât do anything alone so Iâm open to collaboration,â he adds. âWe always need fresh ideas.â
âA lot of people think postharvest just means storage, but it actually encompasses everything from the moment of harvest and includes processes like drying, shelling, technical and economic activities,â Odjo explains. (Photo: Francisco AlarcĂłn/CIMMYT)
Sharing knowledge in 140 characters
Up until quite recently, Odjo was reluctant to join Twitter because he felt that he had nothing to share. It was only when colleagues encouraged him to use social media as a platform for discussing postharvest issues that he discovered the app is an effective way of sharing recommendations directly with farmers and agricultural service providers. âOne of my lecturers used to say that you can understand something if youâre capable of explaining it to a kindergarten-aged child. If you donât succeed, it means you havenât understood.â
âThatâs become a part of my job that I really enjoy: figuring out how to share research and results of investigations with different audiences in a simple manner.â
His newfound social media presence has also proved useful for connecting with researchers on a global level. In late 2019, researchers in Laos interested in learning about postharvest technologies reached out to Odjo, who was able to arrange for colleagues to travel to the country and share practices developed with local extension agents and blacksmiths in Mexico. âAnd do you know how they found me? Through my Twitter account.â
Moving forward, Odjo hopes to extend the scope of his activities beyond Latin America and carry out more knowledge exchange with his peers across the world. âIn research, a lot of people are working on the same topics, but we donât always share the information. Iâm open to sharing my experience, because Iâm sure I can learn a lot from others that will be useful for my job.â
Kenya in particular stands out as a case study he can learn from, where a high incidence of aflatoxins in maize, heavy government intervention and fierce market competition among providers of hermetic bags have allowed for the successful scaling of postharvest technologies. âIt would be great to be able to analyze their scaling process and learn from it. Not to replicate it entirely, because obviously the conditions arenât the same, but there will undoubtedly be lessons we can take and apply here in Mexico and Latin America.â
On February 27, 2020, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) opened a new greenhouse at its research station in TlaltizapĂĄn, in Mexicoâs state of Morelos. The Garrison Wilkes Center for Maize Wild Relatives is named after a pioneering scientist in the field of maize genetics.
âThe name teosinte refers to a group of wild relatives of maize,â said Denise Costich, manager of the maize germplasm collection at CIMMYT. âThe seven members of this group â all in the genus Zea â are more grass-like than maize, produce hard-shelled seeds that are virtually inedible, and are capable of enduring biotic and abiotic stressors better than their crop relative.â Teosintes must be protected, Costich explained, as they possess some desirable qualities that could help improve maize resilience in difficult conditions. Since CIMMYTâs Germplasm Bank is the global source for teosinte seed, the new greenhouse, designed exclusively for the regeneration of teosinte accessions from the bank collection, will ensure that there will always be seed available for research and breeding.
Garrison Wilkes was one of the first scientists to emphasize the importance of the teosintes and their close biological relationship to maize. He spent more than 50 years working on maize conservation in collaboration with CIMMYT. Â Together with scientists such as Angel Kato, a former CIMMYT research assistant and longtime professor, Suketoshi Taba, former head of CIMMYTâs Germplasm Bank, and Jesus Sanchez, as researchers at the University of Guadalajara, he contributed to the development of the global maize collection of CIMMYTâs Germplasm Bank as it exists today.
(From left to right) Garrison Wilkes, Angel Kato and Jesus Sanchez, study a teosinte population in Los Reyes, near Texcoco, Mexico, in 1992. (Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT)
Keeping seeds alive
Teosintes are the wild plants from which maize was domesticated about 7,000 years ago. They are durable, with natural resistance to disease and unfavorable weather, and grow primarily in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. âWhat makes [teosinte] a wild plant is its seed dispersal. Corn doesnât disperse its seed â itâs stuck on the cob. To be a wild plant means they can sow their own seed and survive,â explained Wilkes. Keeping these seeds alive could be the key to developing resilient modern maize with the potential to feed millions.
One of the difficulties in growing maize and teosinte in TlaltizapĂĄn to produce seed for global distribution is that the station is surrounded by sugarcane fields. Sugarcane carries a disease called the Sugarcane Mosaic Virus (SCMV), to which maize and teosinte are susceptible, and SCMV-positive seed cannot be distributed outside of Mexico. Additionally, if teosinte and maize are grown in close proximity to one another, it becomes very difficult to control gene flow between them via airborne pollen. Several experiments, ranging from growing the teosinte in pots to monitoring that the maize and teosinte flower at different times, could not fully guarantee that there was no cross-contamination. Therefore, in order to continue to cultivate maize and teosinte within the same station, the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank needed to create an isolated environment.
On average, the teosinte seed collections in the germplasm bank were nearly 19 years old, and 29% were not available for distribution due to low seed numbers. Researchers needed to find a way to produce more high-quality seed and get started as soon as possible. âMy staff and I visited Jesus Sanchez, a world-renowned teosinte expert, and learned as much as we could about how to cultivate teosinte in greenhouses,â explained Costich âWe realized that this could be the solution to our teosinte regeneration problem.â
Construction of the new greenhouse began in late 2017, with funding received from the 2016 Save a Seed Campaign â a crowdfunding initiative which raised more than $50,000. Donations contributed to activities such as seed storage, tours and educational sessions, seed collection, seed repatriation and regeneration of depleted seeds. With the new greenhouse, CIMMYT scientists can now breed teosinte without worrying about maize contamination, and prevent the extinction of these valuable species.
CIMMYT holds most of the worldâs publically accessible collections of teosinte. âThe wild relatives are a small part of our collection, but also a very important part, as they are theoretically the future of genetic diversity,â said Costich.âThey have been important in the evolution of the crop. If we lose them, we canât learn anything more from them, which would be a shame.â
When asked to picture a food made of whole grains, your first thought might be a loaf of brown, whole-wheat bread. But wholegrain dishes come in all forms.
Take a virtual journey around the world to see the popular or surprising ways in which whole grains are eaten from Mexico to Bangladesh.
Popcorn, a wholegrain food and source of high-quality carbohydrates eaten across the world. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
Roasted and boiled maize ears on sale in Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City.
(Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)
Corn is one of the most widely produced crops in the world, and Mexico is home to at least 60 recorded unique landraces, the traditional, locally adapted strains. Preserving these ancient varieties is key for future sustainability, explains geneticist Martha Willcox, who works with the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to conserve the genes of dwindling crops. But left in the hands of aging campesinos, ancestral maize is at risk of becoming extinct. And the consequent loss of biodiversity, the FAO warned in its 2010 report, will have a major impact on the ability of humankindâwhich will number nine billion by 2050âto combat food insecurity in the face of climate change.
Some of Mexicoâs favorite dishes are taking on a new hue with blue corn chips, blue tortillas or blue tamales. But should breeders, millers, processors and farmer organizations invest in expanding the production of blue maize and blue maize products? Are consumers really interested, and are they willing to pay more?
CIMMYT markets and value chain specialist Trent Blare explains, in one minute, the results of his study, which gives insight into Mexican consumersâ preferences and demand for blue maize tortillas. Consumers near Mexico City perceived blue maize tortillas to taste better and were willing to pay up to a third more to buy them for special family events or to consume them in a restaurant .
A new study by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) assesses how three large projects have scaled service provision models for agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh, Mexico and Zimbabwe. In what is possibly the first cross-continental assessment of these issues to date, the study gauges the extent to which each initiative fits with the needs of its environment to enable sustained machinery use by farmers at a large scale, while acknowledging the influence of project design on outcomes.
Each of the projects has made considerable progress towards increasing the adoption of agricultural machinery in their target area. In Bangladesh and Mexico, mechanization service providers and machinery dealers have been able to strengthen their business cases because the projects use geospatial and market data to provide targeted information on client segmentation and appropriate cropping systems. In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT and partners have worked to strengthen the market for two-wheeled tractors by creating demand among smallholders, developing the capacity of existing vocational training centers, and spurring private sector demand.
However, despite these initial successes, it can often be difficult to gauge the sustained change and transformative nature of such interventions.
Applying a scaling perspective
To address this challenge, research teams held a series of workshops with project partners in each country, including regional government representatives, national and local private sector stakeholders, and direct project collaborators such as extension agents and site managers. Participants were asked to answer a series of targeted questions and prompts using the Scaling Scan, a user-friendly tool which facilitates timely, structured feedback from stakeholders on issues that matter in scaling. Responses given during this exercise allowed project designers to analyze, reflect on, and sharpen their scaling ambition and approach, focusing on ten scaling âingredientsâ that need to be considered to reach a desired outcome, such as knowledge and skills or public sector governance.
Local service provider uses a bed planter for crop production in Horinofolia, Bangladesh. (Photo: Ranak Martin)
âAlthough at first sight the case studies seem to successfully reach high numbers of end users, the assessment exposes issues around the sustainable and transformative nature of the project interventions,â says Lennart Woltering, a scaling advisor at CIMMYT.
The added value of this approach, explains Jelle Van Loon, lead author and CIMMYT mechanization specialist, is that lessons learned from project-focused interventions can be amplified to generate broader, actionable knowledge and implement thematic strategies worldwide. “This is especially important for CIMMYT as we do exactly that, but often face different constraints depending on the local context.”
The use of a scaling perspective on each of these projects exposed important lessons on minimizing project dependencies. For example, though each project has invested considerably in both capacity and business development training, in all three case studies the large-scale adoption of recommended service provision models has been limited by a lack of finance and insufficient collaboration among the value chain actors to strengthen and support mechanization service provider entrepreneurs.
âWhile provision of market and spatial information helps local businesses target their interventions, local stakeholders are still dependent on the projects in terms of transitioning from project to market finance, facilitating collaboration along the value chain, and provision of leadership and advocacy to address issues at governance level,â Woltering explains. This, Van Loon adds, demonstrates a need for the inclusion of properly planned exit strategies from projects, as well as a degree of flexibility during the project development phase.
In all three regions, the supply of appropriate mechanization services is struggling to meet demand and few solutions have been found to support the transition from project to market finance. Continued capacity development is required at all stages of the value chain to ensure the provision of high-quality services and it has been suggested that incentivizing potential clients to access mechanization services and linking service providers with machinery dealers and mechanics might produce more satisfying results than simply supporting equipment purchases.
Reduced response diversity does not negatively impact wheat climate resilience. 2019. Snowdon, R.J., Stahl, A., Wittkop, B., Friedt, W., Voss-Fels, K.P., Ordon, F., Frisch, M., Dreisigacker, S., Hearne, S., Bett, K.E., Cuthbert, R.D. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) v. 116, p. 10623-10624.
Andrea GardeazĂĄbal works on the use of data-driven agronomy, knowledge management and ICT for innovation within agri-food systems. She holds an MSc in Information and Communication Technologies for Development from the University of Manchester, UK, and an MSc in Political Science from Los Andes University, Colombia. She has over a decade of experience designing and deploying large ICT for agriculture and education projects in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia.
Gardeazabal currently coordinates the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Unit for CIMMYT’s Integrated Development Program, which involves the design and operation of robust information systems for data collection, analysis and dissemination.
Anabell DĂaz is the training unit coordinator for CIMMYT’s Integrated Development Program, where she is responsible for designing, managing, implementing and evaluating training processes to respond to needs within the program’s project portfolio.
She holds doctorate and masters degrees in Agribusiness from the University of Chapingo and has extensive experience in the development, monitoring and evaluation of rural extension programs focusing on capacity development.
Maize is more than a crop in Mexico. In many cases, it connects families with their past. Landraces are maize varieties that have been cultivated and subjected to selection by farmers for generations, retaining a distinct identity and lacking formal crop improvement. They provide the basis of Mexicoâs maize diversity.
Back in 1966-67, researcher Ăngel Kato from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) collected 93 maize landraces samples from 66 families in Mexicoâs state of Morelos. These seeds were safeguarded in CIMMYTâs Germplasm Bank, which today stores 28,000 samples of maize and its wild relatives from 88 countries.
50 years later, doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-Rodriguez, from the SantâAnna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, and researchers from CIMMYT started a new study to trace the conservation and abandonment of maize landraces over the years.
The study shows that landrace abandonment is common when farming passes from one generation to the next. Older farmers were attached to their landraces and continued cultivating them, even in the face of pressing reasons to change or replace them. When the younger generations take over farm management, these landraces are often abandoned. Nonetheless, young farmers still value the cultural importance of landraces.
Maize landraces can be conserved âin situâ in farmersâ fields and âex situâ in a protected space such as a germplasm bank or community seed bank. The loss of landraces in farmersâ fields over 50 years emphasizes the importance of ex situ conservation. Traits found in landraces can be incorporated into new varieties to address some of the worldâs most pressing agriculture challenges like changing climates, emerging pests and disease, and malnutrition.
This research was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), the SantâAnna School of Advanced Studies, Wageningen University and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
