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Location: China

China sends high-level delegation to CIMMYT

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In the context of CIMMYT’s long-standing and fruitful partnerships with Chinese researchers and research organizations, CIMMYT wheat scientist He Zhonghu (far left) accompanied six key experts from three Chinese ministries and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on a visit to CIMMYT and several Mexican research institutions during 20-23 April 2007. Members of the delegation were Liu Xu, Vice President, CAAS (to the left of Masa); Yang Chuan, Deputy Division Chief, National Development and Reform Commission; Zhou Wenneng, Division Chief Ministry of Science and Technology, Wang Jiuchen, Division Chief, Ministry of Agriculture; (not in the photo) Yang Jun, Deputy Division Chief, Ministry of Agriculture; and Dai Xiaofeng, Deputy Director General, CAAS.

Agua Fría staff promote CIMMYT’s work

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On 7 March 2007, Jesús González, of CIMMYT’s Agua Fría research station, talked of CIMMYT’s aims and achievements to an audience of 400 during the traveling exhibition “No maize, no country,” organized by the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares of CONACULTA, Mexico’s public agency for cultural promotion. The exhibition, held in Huauchinango, Puebla, this year, is designed to foster reflection and discussion regarding the importance and potential of maize in Mexico, as well as the challenges and opportunities of globalization.

This is not the first time that Agua Fría colleagues have publicized CIMMYT’s work to outside audiences: like staff at CIMMYT research stations worldwide, for years they have taken part in promotional activities and attended visits from representatives of academic institutions, community support organizations (like the Fundación Miguel Alemán), and farmer associations from the states of Veracruz and Mexico. Agua Fría is located in Puebla State near the border of Veracruz, and is an ideal location to test and demonstrate maize of humid, lowland tropical adaptation.

Inaugurated formally in 2000, Agua Fría has grown and developed significantly. Those who work at the station are grateful for the contributions of CIMMYT management and the enormous dedication of staff who contributed to station development, including Raymundo López, Philippe Monneveux, Dan Jeffers, David Bergvinson, and Alejandro López. Up until 2002, for example, the station had only provisional offices, no telephone service, and no connection to Internet. The 3.5 kilometer road leading to the station from the highway was nearly impassible in the rainy season, making the station accessible only on foot, or by having the bus towed in with a tractor. Today, the access road is paved and facilities are fully functional for staff and visitors.

Successful workshop for plant breeders in Beijing

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Plant breeders and postgraduates majoring in genetics and breeding gathered at the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science in Beijing between 19 and 22 March to learn more about genotype by environment interactions and breeding simulations. Among the key speakers were José Crossa, Yunbi Xu and Jiankan Wang from CIMMYT. Topics covered by the CIMMYT scientists ranged from an overview of experimental designs in plant breeding given by José Crossa to a quick course in marker assisted breeding from publications to practice given by Yunbi Xu; and an introduction to a genetics and breeding simulation tool by Jiankang Wang. The four-day workshop was sponsored by CAAS and the Generation Challenge Program of the CGIAR.

Visit to Tlaltizapán

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1102Chinese journalists Fan Jian (center) of the Science and Technology Daily and Jianke Jiang (right) of the People’s Daily, accompany Xiaofeng Dai, Deputy Director General, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, as he handles an infrared sensor at the Tlaltizapán experiment station, as part of their visit to CIMMYT during November 28-December 2, 2006.

Visit builds links with China

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On Friday, November 17, El Batán played host to a delegation from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC), accompanied by Zhong-Hu He, regional wheat coordinator for East Asia based at CIMMYT China. The visitors were Jie Wang, Vice President, Feng Feng, Deputy Director General (life science department), and Yinglan Zhang, Division Director (department of international collaboration).

The visit aimed to develop collaborative research projects between scientists from NSFC and CIMMYT’s wheat and maize programs and genetic resources and enhancement unit. Priority research areas include durable disease resistance, yield potential and grain quality in wheat, and disease resistance, drought tolerance, and high oil content in maize.

The visitors met with key scientists from headquarters for presentations and discussions. The group also saw CIMMYT’s work in action, visiting the Plant Genetic Resources Center, the biotechnology laboratories, the Crop Research Informatics Laboratory, and the Grain Quality Laboratory. On Saturday, November 18, the group spent the day at Tlaltizapán experiment station, where the research focus is on breeding mid-altitude and subtropical maize.

CIMMYT China helps build Chinese-US links

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A Chinese-US Workshop on ‘Crop Genomics Applications to Plant Breeding and Biotechnology’ was held at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) in Beijing on October 23-25, with organizational support from CIMMYT. The 24 participants included 12 scientists from the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDAARS). The workshop aimed to increase understanding between Chinese and USDA scientists, and successfully identified 12 areas of common interest.

The workshop was opened with welcome speeches from Zhanyuan Du, Director General of the Rural Development Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and Dr. Lijian Zhang, Vice President of CAAS, and the participants were joined by Edward B. Knipling, USDA-ARS Administrator, for the welcome dinner. During the workshop they heard more than 20 presentations covering safeguarding germplasm; applied genomics for improvements of wheat, maize, soybean, and rice; and biotechnology, communications and policy issues. The US scientists were also invited to visit laboratories at CAAS, China Agricultural University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This workshop was facilitated by Zhonghu He of the CIMMYT China office and Kay Simmons of USDA. Zhongu He is MOST’s theme leader for Chinese-US collaboration on biotechnology and germplasm. CIMMYT’s efforts in organizing the workshop were highly appreciated by CAAS and all the participants.

Workshop on fueling the future

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An international technical workshop on ‘Bioethanol, maize and wheat: opportunities and risks’, jointly organized by CIMMYT and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), was held on 4–5 November in New Delhi. The meeting was a forum for debate and knowledge-sharing, and will form a springboard to future research and action.

About 40 participants came from across the globe and included researchers, policy makers and managers from the public and private sectors in agriculture, rural development and environment. Attending from CIMMYT were John Dixon, Olaf Erenstein, Raj Gupta, Masa Iwanaga, Rodomiro Ortiz, and Ashish Srivastava.

The focus was on the wide range of potential opportunities and risks, posed by the ongoing expansion in biofuels, for the food security and livelihoods of the poor and for the environment. These are complex and not yet well understood. For example, higher grain prices due to demand for use in biofuels may boost farmers’ incomes, but may also lead to increased hunger and malnutrition.

CIMMYT and IFPRI are conducting a joint assessment of likely effects on food stocks and trade, national and household food security, and farm household livelihoods; John Dixon of CIMMYT and Siwa Msangi of IFPRI presented the workshop with an overview and scenario analysis. Delegates considered specific aspects of using biofuels, including national status and strategies in India, China, and Uganda, technical and environmental issues, and opportunities and risks in different agro-ecosystems. The participants ended by identifying and discussing priority issues for research.

The conclusions and recommendations will be presented to GFAR and to the CGIAR AGM in December, where CIMMYT will lead a side event on biofuels.

Visitors tour headquarters

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visitantesDr Qu Dongyu, Vice-President, CAAS China and Dr M.E. Tusneem, Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, learn about CIMMYT’s conservation agriculture research work from Bram Govaerts during a visit to El Batan this week (see photo below). In addition CIMMYT welcomed visitors from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the principal and 16 teachers from the Liceo Mexicano Japonés.

Award for Zhonghu He

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Zhonghu He, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and Country Representative in China received the Taishan Scholars Award, the highest honor for individual scientists from the Shandong Provincial Government. The ceremony was held on July 6, 2006, in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province.

Taishan is a famous Mountain and it is considered a symbol of Shandong. This award is based on our work in Shandong and Dr. He was nominated by the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science (Shandong AAS).

Dr. He has provided strong scientific leadership in Chinese wheat improvement, particularly in the establishment of a standardized quality testing system and the development of a regional quality program. The CAAS-CIMMYT wheat quality lab has become internationally recognized for its active and productive activities in promoting Chinese wheat quality, and shares around 70% of wheat quality activities in China. Dr. He, together with the wheat team in Shandong AAS, developed and promoted noodle quality wheat cultivar Jinan 19, which contributed more than 4 million ha in Shandong province for the last five years. It won the second prize from Chinese government in 2005.

In total, 70 people received awards, and the areas include literature, education, math and physics, engineering, medicine, biology, and agriculture In agriculture, four scientists were selected. As part of the award, the provincial government will grant 60,000 US $ per year for five years to Dr. He for providing leadership to the wheat program at Shandong AAS.

China and CIMMYT: new science agreement and support

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Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General, visited the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and had a fruitful meeting with Wang Jie, Vice President of NSFC. An agreement was signed with Han Jianguo, DG of the NSFC International Cooperation Department, for collaborative research between CIMMYT and Chinese scientists. Other key staff at the meeting included Bai Ge, DDG of the International Cooperation Department; Du Shengming, Executive DDG of the Life Science Department; NSFC scientists Zhang Yinglan, Luo Jing, and Zhang Yongtao; and He Zhonghu and Han Nanping from the CIMMYT-China office.

NSFC supports basic research in various disciplines. Applied and basic research in agriculture is conducted by the Life Science Department of NSFC, which seeks to improve the quality of science in China through international collaboration. NSFC has provided continuous support to China-CIMMYT collaborative research on wheat quality, the genetics of disease resistance in wheat and maize, and workshops and conferences, contributing more than US$ 300,000 over the last five years.

“The real value of the agreement is that the Chinese government provides us with money for science, through a merit-based selection process,” says Iwanaga. “Thanks to He Zhonghu’s efforts, we have this partnership. Now NSFC wants to formalize it through a memorandum of understanding that can serve as a model for their other contributions to the international science community.”

Research with China has resulted among other things in significant advances in the quality of Chinese wheat cultivars, and the CAAS-CIMMYT Wheat Quality Laboratory has become an internationally recognized center for wheat quality research. There is also good progress in understanding the genetics of resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew in Chinese wheats.

 

Published in 2006

A World Tour: Program Director Profiles

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kpixleyNow that all of CIMMYT’s new program directors have been officially installed, it is time to get acquainted with them, as well as their ideas and plans for the programs. This month we feature Kevin Pixley, director of the Tropical Ecosystems Program.

After growing up in Latin America and working in Africa for over a decade, Kevin Pixley is eager to extend the benefits of CIMMYT’s work in Asia, following the legacy of Nobel Peace Laureate and former CIMMYT wheat breeder, Norman E. Borlaug. “I read about Dr. Borlaug while attending high school in Mexico City,” says Pixley. “Wanting to learn more, I convinced one of my teachers to take our class on a field trip to CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico. Little did I know then how familiar this place would become to me, or that I would be seeing Dr. Borlaug fairly often.”

The Tropical Ecosystems Program he heads will focus on developing hardy, productive maize varieties for resource-poor farmers in lowland and highland tropical environments. “Across tropical Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Southern China, agriculture suffers from problems like drought, diseases and insects, and infertile and acidic soils,” says Pixley. “The demand for maize is increasing, but the profitability of maize farming—especially for small-scale producers—is declining. Improving the livelihoods and food security of those farmers is one of our key goals.” More nutritious maize will be another output of the program, including varieties with high-lysine and pro-vitamins A. “On the latter, we’re working with HarvestPlus, the CGIAR’s global alliance to breed and disseminate crops for better nutrition,” he says.

For the farmers in Latin America, where nearly 27 million hectares of maize are grown, the Program is developing and testing varieties that tolerate highly acidic soils, which cover large tracts in South America, and is also trying to reach the many small-scale farmers in remote, highland areas who have missed out on the Green Revolution. “Despite progress in Latin America, millions are still trapped in pockets of rural poverty with no access to markets or viable alternative livelihoods,” says Pixley. “We know that farming is central to their lives and that our work can make a difference.”

A citizen of the US, Pixley completed his BSc at Purdue University and his PhD at Iowa State, and in 1990 joined CIMMYT as a post doctorate in maize breeding—his Spanish language skills coming in handy. After three years he moved with his family to CIMMYT’s office in Zimbabwe to work as a maize breeder, and later became coordinator of the center’s regional program. During his tenure from 1993-2004, the southern Africa group and its partners worked extensively with farmers to test drought tolerant maize and make quality seed available. This year, enough seed was produced to sow more than a million hectares of drought tolerant maize. “Many things inspired me in southern Africa,” Pixley says, “but the commitment of local scientists, who work for very little money and under tough conditions, still strikes me as extraordinary.”