Location: China

Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: remembering Norman Borlaug

Written by on January 24, 2014. Posted in Features.

One of the most important aspects of planning the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security is remembering Norman Borlaug. We’ve received photos and stories from individuals and institutions as they register for the event. Some people only met Dr. Borlaug once while others worked with him for years, but they all share memories of his kindness and impact. You can read and see all of the submissions here; a few of our favorites to date are found below (some submissions are edited for clarity):

“I will help you”

“Dr. Borlaug’s visit to China in 1974 with U.S. delegates started the collaboration between China and CIMMYT … I met him in November of 1990 when I started as a postdoctoral fellow in the CIMMYT Global Wheat Program. We lived in the same block of the visiting scientist building and met very often in the cafeteria in the evening. I traveled with Borlaug a few times and facilitated his visits to China many times.

What I learned from him is to respect people and work hard. Never, ever, hurt other people’s dignity or pride, and never be arrogant. Always say, ‘I will help you!’ … As said by , CIMMYT Director General Dr. Tom Lumpkin, the best way to commemorate Borlaug is to work hard and do your best job.”– Dr. Zhonghu He

Respected by everyone

“I met Norman Borlaug during a 2008 field day. I remember that he was happy to meet someone from Morocco and told me that he had visited Morocco many years ago and kept a good souvenir from his visit.

While attending the Borlaug workshops and listening to his success stories from the scientific and farmer communities, I understood that he was a great man loved and respected by everyone throughout the world and that he left a very good impression on all the people he met and countries he visited. He is the real father of the Green Revolution. I would have liked to have met him earlier. I would have, for sure, learned a lot from him.” – Dr. Rhrib Keltoum

Memories Unforgotten

“In 2003, one group of farmers from the Cooperatives of Andalusia (southern Spain), owners of the seed company Agrovegetal, visited El Batán and Ciudad Obregón to get to know CIMMYT. We met Dr. Borlaug in Texcoco, and he agreed to travel with us to Sonora to explain the wheat breeding program to us.

I will never forget those days, his personality and his enthusiastic way of teaching. We took a picture with durum wheat YAVAROS 79, the most widely grown variety in Spain, even 25 years after its release.” –Dr. Ignacio Solis, Director, Agrovegetal

China: farmers benefit from knowledge transfer

Written by on December 9, 2013. Posted in News.

By Jack McHugh /CIMMYT

Jack McHugh, CIMMYT, and Yuan Hanmin, NAAFS, introduce participants to conservation agriculture in Litong district. The presentation was organized and supported by Bei Bing (in foreground) from the Agricultural Technology Promotions Centre in Wuzhong City.

A conservation agriculture demonstration site and informal farmer field school opened recently in northern China, raising awareness about useful new technology among farmers and other stakeholders. Organizations in Wuzhong City, Ningxia, – including CIMMYT, the Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Ningxia Bei Li Feng Zhongye Seed Company, the Wuzhong City and Litong District Agricultural Technology Promotion Centre, the Qingdao Peanut Machinery Manufacturing Company and the villagers of Litong District – are working together to build an innovation platform (IP). The IP will aim to transfer knowledge and technology to improve agronomic practices of the farmers in the district and beyond. “We hope to develop champion farmers who will share their knowledge with others and thus provide valuable feedback to the community of practice associated with the platform,” said Jack McHugh, a CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist based in China.

The 20-hectare conservation agriculture demonstration site and field school are particularly useful for female farmers in Litong District, where many men participate in long-term, off-farm work. The training gives women access to the knowledge, skills and capacity to operate farms more profitably while using less labor. “Our purpose is to introduce affordable technology that makes conservation agriculture possible,” McHugh said. “We have great expectations for its future development because we are developing a community of practice.”

A demonstration site during winter irrigation shows a conservation agriculture (CA) field (left) and conventionally (CK) planted field (right). The CA field was planted on 14 October while the CK field was planted at the end of September.

This month, CIMMYT agronomists saw the benefits of the Chinese zero-tillage turbo seeder introduced by the Qingdao Peanut Machinery Manufacturing Company. The seeder allows seed to be sown and fertilizer applied directly into unplowed soil. The winter wheat crop was planted late with some concern, but the seeder “did a great job,” McHugh said. The 50-horsepower tractor seeder and 20-horsepower tractor mini-turbo seeder will be refined to enhance crop flexibility, field setup and ease of operation. At the informal field school held last month at the innovation platform demonstration site, McHugh and Professor Yuan Hanmin from the agricultural academy in Ningxia gave a presentation on the basics of conservation agriculture. Participants included 32 farmers – 40 percent female – who raised questions about fertilization with the turbo seeder and the impacts of residue on rice transplanting. “We were able to show – through Professors Yuan’s pictures of his work over the last decade in Ningxia – that these and other concerns held by the farmers are readily addressed,” McHugh said. “We emphasized that this presentation was a generic introduction to conservation agriculture and that the innovation platform would work closely with farmers to address specific issues they may have when introducing the technology into their farming operations.” The projects are receiving attention throughout the region. Recent events have been documented by the Wuzhong daily newspaper and with interviews by local television stations from Yinchuan and Wuzhong cities.

Researchers receive fellowships

Written by on November 22, 2013. Posted in News.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Congratulations to two CIMMYT scientists who received fellowships this month. Wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds (pictured left) became a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) while wheat breeder Zhonghu He (pictured right) received a fellowship from the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). Both awards were presented earlier this month in Florida. They are based on professional achievements and are only awarded to the top 0.3 percent of each society. He, based in China, was promoted to CIMMYT distinguished scientist last year and received the CSSA fellowship in 2009. Reynolds is based in Mexico and received the ASA fellowship in 2011. “I’m honored to be given this award,” Reynolds said. “It’s nice to be recognized.”

Soil works as ecosystem service provider

Written by on November 14, 2013. Posted in News.

By Jack McHugh/CIMMYT

Soil’s role in the ecosystem is the basis of food security and sustainable farming, scientists learned at a conference in China last month. More than 40 researchers from the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences Research Institutes of Desertification Control, Agricultural Resources and Environment and Crop Research were trained on mechanization and soil health in northwest China.

The two-day course was developed and presented by Jack McHugh, cropping system agronomist for CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program based in China. The training provided participants with the theory behind conservation agriculture, controlled traffic farming and soil as a forgotten provider of ecosystem services. McHugh – with language support from research scientists Ma Fan and Wie Jinyin – spoke about fostering healthy soils in modern mechanized farming systems. The course was aimed to facilitate and develop a culture of conservation agriculture at the academy and raise awareness about the importance of soil for food security.
Class_research-trg
The presentations on salinity and sodicity raised the most interest among researchers because the issues are widespread in the desert farming conditions in Ningxia. The training highlighted salinity and sodicity management approaches that could be used in conjunction with current solutions common in the region. “

Thank you for giving us a wonderful training class on soil health science,” said course participant Zhao Ying, soil research scientist for the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment. “It’s very useful for improving my theoretical knowledge of soil science, and I look forward to soil improvement methods next time.”

CIMMYT partner honored with agriculture prize

Written by on October 29, 2013. Posted in News.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

A long-time colleague of CIMMYT received the inaugural 2013 World Agriculture Prize from the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for the Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA), which recognizes contributions to the field by a university faculty member. Ronnie Coffman, international professor of plant breeding at Cornell University and director of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project, was awarded the prize for his leadership in crop improvement, the prize committee said. He received the award on 20 October during GCHERA’s annual meeting in China.

Ronnie-Coffman

“The world’s farmers need access to the best science that the many great institutions of GCHERA can deliver in order to produce crops that are nutritionally adequate and best-adapted to future challenges,” Coffman said during his acceptance speech, according to GCHERA. Coffman spent a year as a visiting scientist with CIMMYT’s wheat program in 1970 and has continually collaborated with the organization since then. Norman Borlaug, the late CIMMYT wheat scientist and Nobel Peace Laureate, supervised Coffman when he was a graduate student, and the two worked together to address the stem rust disease race Ug99 and other wheat diseases.

Coffman is vice chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, which was established to respond to wheat disease threats. He worked in the Philippines as a rice breeder for the International Rice Research Institute in the 1970s, where he developed new varieties, before joining the Cornell faculty in 1981. More recently, he has focused on fighting wheat diseases and mentoring students. Coffman has served on the board of various CGIAR centers, including the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. (ICRISAT) Coffman is also a confirmed speaker for the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, a Borlaug 100 event that CIMMYT will host in March 2014. For more information about the event, visit www.borlaug100.org.

Two-wheel tractor seed drill modified for African smallholder maize farmers

Written by on October 8, 2013. Posted in Features.

The modified ‘Gongli Africa +.’ Photo: Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT

By Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT

The Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project is addressing the decline of farm power in Africa. The project is working with smallholder farmers to deliver small mechanization based on inexpensive, two-wheel tractors and introduce power-saving technologies, such as conservation agriculture.

Last March, participants evaluated the performance of the Gongli seeder – a seed drill sold in China – under the typical conditions of maize smallholder farmers in Kenya and Tanzania. Gongli inventor Jeff Esdaile, engineers from the Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and Rural Technology (CAMATEC) and engineers from the Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies met at a CAMATEC workshop from 9 to 20 September in Arusha, Tanzania, to modify the Gongli seeder and produce the Gongli Africa +. The original Gongli seeder is well suited to seed small-grain crops in close rows into fields without long, loose residue or heavy weeds. For sowing maize in a typical field around Arusha, however, the machine had several shortfalls: it handled loose maize residues and heavy weeds poorly; the pressing wheels got in the way of the operator’s walk; the seed and fertilizer hoppers were too high and blocked the operator’s visibility; the seed meters were not precise enough for maize planting; and transporting the machine from field to field required walking long distances because the machine cannot be ridden and does not fit in a trailer.

The modified Gongli Africa + features cutting discs that can be fitted in front of the standard tines for heavy mulch and weed loads. Two large back tires, used as pressing wheels in the field, were added, as well as a platform for the operator to stand on, facilitating transport to and from the fields. Because the machine will be used to sow a maximum of two rows, the third bar was removed from the seeder. The seed and fertilizer hoppers were lowered, and, finally, specialized seed metering systems for large seeds such as those of maize were installed. Results from initial field testing were encouraging. Thorough field testing will take place next November in Tanzania and Kenya. After minor modifications, the specifications of the Gongli Africa + will be sent to Gongli LTD for commercial manufacturing.

Farming systems design: to feed a changing world

Written by on September 2, 2013. Posted in News.

Farming-systems2 Farming systems all over the world face complex problems in terms of production, such as natural resource depletion, climate change, increasing food demand, and volatile prices. Farmers have to adapt to continuously changing conditions to produce food. ‘Farming systems design’ is an approach that aims at modifying designs of farming systems to sustainably increase the overall productivity and profitability of the systems—and, hopefully, the welfare of individual farming families—while considering interactions in the system. Interactions are important features of farm system structure and operation. They may occur between the various components, including crop-crop, crop-livestock, and farm-household as well as on-farm-off-farm activities as they compete for the same resources.

More than 70 papers on systems research were recently presented at the 4th International Farming Systems Design Symposium in Lanzhou, China. CIMMYT researchers were represented by Bruno Gérard, director of the Conservation Agriculture Program, and CIMMYT agronomists Santiago López Ridaura, Tek Sakpota, Isaiah Nyagumbo, and Jack McHugh. The conference took place from 19- 22 August and was organized by WHEAT CRP Chinese partner Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and others. Research with a farming systems perspective can have various objectives ranging from increasing the amount of knowledge about farming systems to solving specific problems in the farming system. If it is commonly agreed that cross-links between disciplines and participatory approaches are needed to provide solutions, “there is no silver bullet approach to be expected,” said keynote speaker David Norman, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and pioneer in the field of Farming Systems Research (FSR). “The most important is to take into account the whole farming system and bring together all stakeholders,” Norman explained. “If a project works on one crop, like CIMMYT on maize for instance, FSR would look at how maize impacted if they have livestock, the influence on livestock components, etc. The reductionist approach would look at how improving productivity of one item without considering the whole farming system.”

Farming-systems3 For Peter Carberry, chair of the Program Committee and deputy director at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), “this conference is about bringing those who are interested in a more integrative science together, and have all the different disciplines articulating possibilities for the future in terms of agriculture and farming.” One of the benefits of the conference for him is that among the 300 participants, there were 200 Chinese researchers and students, some who may not have been exposed to this thinking before. “We have a mix of people who are familiar with Farming Systems Design and others who are just starting learning about it; it is a great opportunity,” Carberry said. LingLing Li, professor at Gansu Agricultural University and keynote speaker, shared a similar point of view. “This platform is a really good start for all experts and students involved in Farming Systems Design, as we do not yet have many scientists doing this type of research in China,” Li said.

On day one and two, there were several presentations on Africa and on the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program led and mentored by CIMMYT. “SIMLESA has been innovating in so many different ways, firstly about systems and farming systems, participatory approaches and new experiments in research methodology by targeting not only productivity but also reduced risks, which we have heard a lot in this conference. Because for farmers risks are sometimes more important than total yields,” said John Dixon, senior advisor in the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and principal regional coordinator for Africa. Important questions raised throughout the conference included how to get better participation with farmers, how to get the private sector involved for marketing through innovation platforms, how to manage risks and how scientists can work much better at systems productivity to understand better nutrition, as one of the outcomes, “to better feed our future farmers,” Dixon insisted. On the last day, a special session brought together Australian and Chinese farmers to discuss farming operations. This opportunity to exchange information and share experiences related to climate risks, prices or yields created enthusiasm on both parts.

International Conservation Agriculture Forum in Yinchuan

Written by on June 20, 2013. Posted in News.

The International Conservation Agriculture Forum, held at the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences in Yinchuan during 27-31 May, was attended by a significant number of provincial government officials and private sector representatives who joined to discuss national and international partnerships in farming system intensification, mechanization, nutrient-use efficiency, precision agriculture, and training; gain better understanding of what conservation agriculture is; jointly identify needs, priorities, and constraints to broad adoption of conservation agriculture in China; and explore the Cropping Systems Intensification Project for North Asia (CSINA).

Key academic leaders from across China briefed the international participants, including Bruno Gerard, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, M.L. Jat, Scott Justice, Dan Jeffers, and Garry Rosewarne from CIMMYT, Wang Guanglin from ACIAR, and Rabi Raisaily, international liaison for Haofeng Machinery. Some key constraints to adoption of conservation agriculture were covered, including the lack of financial, political, and personal incentives; inadequate or unavailable zero-till machinery; inflexible irrigation-water distribution and fixed pricing; narrow approach to research, development, and engineering without linkages to the larger issues of farming and cropping systems; and limited knowledge of rural socioeconomic conditions. Consequently, the participants defined future priorities: a socioeconomic study covering labor, gender, impacts of previous projects, and adoption issues; and mechanization development and plant residue trade-offs and handling, especially of rice/wheat systems.

One of the most important outcomes of the forum was the establishment of new relationships with the China Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, and others. Similarly, invigorating of old partnerships with the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences is expected to be highly beneficial for future research platform development.

As partnerships with machinery manufacturers are often crucial in driving the uptake of conservation agriculture by creating a push demand for conservation agriculture machinery, the presence of private sector representatives, including the Henan Haofeng Machinery Manufacturing Company (Henan province), Qingdao Peanut Machinery Company (Shandong province), Jingxin Agricultural Machinery (Sichuan province), and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), was crucial. The importance of such partnerships has been proven before; for example, the research and development activities of the Qingdao Peanut Machinery Company have seen a considerable advancement of the Chinese Turbo Happy Seeder, which has been downsized through a number of iterations to suit tractors with less than 30 hp. Thanks to this public-private interaction, the forum participants learned about preliminary discussions to prototype the two-wheel tractor Happy Seeder specifically for Africa and joint CIMMYT/ACIAR projects. “We are hopeful that one of the companies present at the forum will take up this opportunity to create demand for conservation agriculture machinery for the small landholder,” said CIMMYT senior cropping systems scientist Allen McHugh.

The forum, jointly organized by the Ningxia Provincial Government Foreign Experts Bureau, Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, and CIMMYT, was regarded very successful, as it has advanced CIMMYT’s stakes in future funding requests. “Overall, we have had a very good start toward the development of integrated research platforms in three distinct agro-ecological zones. The next step is to consolidate the outcomes from the forum and commence the iterative process of project development,” McHugh added, summarizing the results of the event.

Allen McHugh reports on conservation agriculture in China

Written by on June 18, 2013. Posted in Features.

caunews_-China3 The past few weeks have been busy and interesting in China: preparing for the International Conservation Agriculture Forum in Yinchuan and work travels to Beijing, Yangling (Shaanxi province), and Xuchang (Henan province) are a sure way to keep oneself occupied.

Strengthening partnerships in Beijing

I travelled to Beijing during 2-4 May to discuss future cooperation between the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and the China Agricultural University (CAU) at a meeting with Jan Thomas, USQ vice-chancellor, and K.E. Bingsheng, CAU president, accompanied by the USQ delegation and CAU senior professors. What does this have to do with CIMMYT? Part of my mandate in China is to forge new partnerships, especially with universities seeking to expand internationally. This requires putting on the CIMMYT uniform to demonstrate presence and reinforce linkages with old and new colleagues. As a result, we hope to see a memorandum of understanding and the facilitation of staff and student exchanges between these universities, Ningxia institutions, and CIMMYT.

Water-use efficiency in Yangling

The Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Yangling hosted the final review of the ACIAR “More effective water use by rainfed wheat in China and Australia” project led by Tony Condon (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO), in which the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences is a partner (led by Yuan Hanmin). The project aims to improve and stabilize farmer returns from growing wheat in dry, rainfed environments in northwest China through development of higher-yielding wheat germplasm that uses water and soil resources more effectively. I spent 6-10 May first hearing about and seeing the extensive breeding work with Australian and Chinese lines, and later discussing the role of conservation agriculture and soil management in breeding with the reviewers and other participants, including Greg Rebetzke from CSIRO. During a Combined China-EU-Australia Workshop on Phenotyping for Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Water-Use Efficiency in Crop Breeding, which followed the review, Richard Richards (CSIRO) presented a very pertinent paper on “Opportunities to improve cereal root systems for greater productivity.” His focus on below-ground processes provides considerable and significant support for conservation agriculture and associated management practices in improving root system functions.

Farm mechanization in Xuchang

The 30th anniversary of the Henan Haofeng Machinery Manufacturing Company in Xuchang, Henan province, provided an excellent opportunity to present conservation agriculture and small machinery requirements for developing countries to 4 academicians, about 10 high level officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Provincial Government, and many highly regarded Chinese mechanization scientists and extension workers.

During 16-18 May, the factory hosted two forums, one focused on combination of wheat agricultural machinery and agronomy, and another on scientific innovation and development of Chinese agricultural machinery. Although the language of the forums was Chinese, my presentation in English was understood by the senior people, some of whom later inquired about the new Chinese Turbo Happy Seeder developed by CIMMYT. The discussion on conservation agriculture per se was limited, but I was able to meet many old Chinese friends and strengthen new relationships for CIMMYT and the Global Conservation Agriculture Program.

Collaborative wheat breeding for durable resistance to stripe rust in China

Written by on May 31, 2013. Posted in News.

Chinese-wheat-grower Breeding of durable resistance to stripe rust —the greatest biotic threat to wheat production in the largest wheat producer and consumer in the world, China— was the major theme of a workshop jointly organized by the CIMMYT-Sichuan office and the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) at the SAAS Plant Breeding Institute in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, on 18 May 2013. The workshop aimed to promote the adoption of second-generation parents and slow-rusting breeding strategies in spring wheat-producing areas of China and to facilitate collaborative breeding strategies between SAAS and its sister organizations in neighboring provinces. The workshop consisted of a seminar and a discussion session on germplasm and breeding strategies led by Gary Rosewarne (CIMMYT Global Wheat Program senior scientist) and Bob McIntosh (Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney), and followed by a field visit to the Southern China Field Station at Xindu.

China has the largest area prone to stripe rust epidemics in the world. Traditionally, the disease has been controlled through genetic strategies focused on incorporating major seedling resistance genes to provide immunity. However, this method places strong pressure on the fungus to evolve and overcome these genes. Since the 1950s, the development of virulent pathotypes to widely used resistance genes has caused numerous serious stripe rust epidemics, with the major ones in 1990 and 2002 resulting in the loss of 2.65 and 1 million tons of grain, respectively. Given China’s importance in the world’s wheat production and consumption, any threat to the country’s wheat production has implications for global food security.

CIMMYT has pioneered breeding of durable resistance to stripe rust through the incorporation of multiple, slow-rusting loci, a breeding strategy well established at SAAS but largely ignored by most other wheat breeders in China who still focus on major seedling resistance. At the beginning of this century, SAAS and CIMMYT established a shuttle breeding system to introduce slowrusting loci into Sichuan germplasm. Five high-yielding but susceptible Sichuan lines were sent to Mexico each year for three years; Ravi Singh, CIMMYT distinguished scientist and head of Bread Wheat Improvement, then made single backcrosses with several CIMMYT donor lines. The resulting lines were advanced in Toluca and Obregón, Mexico, and large populations of early generation materials were sent back to Sichuan for further advancement and final selection. Fixed lines from these first generation crosses have shown good levels of resistance in China, along with yields comparable to those of the check varieties. There is currently a range of second generation parental lines with slow-rusting loci in Chinese backgrounds; it is expected that with these as donors, researchers should be able to raise yield potential further while maintaining resistance.

The workshop resulted in a proposed collaborative strategy which would allow breeders representing different regions of China to receive several lines of second generation Chinese slow-rusting donors and to conduct single backcrosses with some of their elite germplasm that has become susceptible. Chinese scientists involved in the process will be invited to help select early generation materials using the bulk selection methodology. After selection, large early generation populations will be sent back to the regions for further selection and advancement under local conditions. “We anticipate that through this mentoring process, breeders will feel comfortable adopting new breeding strategies that can increase their efficiencies and ensure that durable stripe rust resistant lines are released throughout China,” explained Rosewarne.

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CIMMYT promotes China-Australia collaboration on wheat improvement

Written by on May 1, 2013. Posted in News.

PM-Visit-China-Apr2013 The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)
and Murdoch University, Australia, with financial support from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Australian government, officially opened the Australia-China Joint Center for Wheat Improvement in Beijing, China, on 9 April 2013. The center is one of six approved jointly by the two governments. It was opened in the presence of the Prime Minister of Australia Honorable Julia Gillard, CAAS President Jiayang Li, CIMMYT distinguished scientist and liaison officer for China Zhonghu He, and Rudi Appels from Murdoch University. The establishment of the center builds upon more than 10 years of successful wheat quality improvement collaboration between the CAAS-CIMMYT wheat program and Murdoch University.

During 15-17 April, over 50 participants from Murdoch and 8 Chinese institutes attended a workshop for the Australia-China Joint Center for Wheat Improvement held in Beijing. They focused on discovery of new genes, development of elite germplasm, and development of gene specific markers by genomic approach for important traits such as yield, drought resistance, and quality. Ten scholarships, each for 12 months, are available for Chinese postgraduate students to work on thesis research at Murdoch University.

Farm mechanization & conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification project launched

Written by on April 8, 2013. Posted in News.

If asked “What is the most limiting factor to cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa,” most agronomists would say water, nitrogen, or phosphorus. Could farm power also have a place in this list? From 25 to 30 March 2013, a multidisciplinary group of 40 agronomists, agricultural engineers, economists, anthropologists, and private sector representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Australia, India, and other countries attended a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, to officially launch the ‘Farm Mechanization & Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification’ project, supported by the Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC) and managed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The meeting focused largely on planning for activities that will take place in Kenya and Tanzania, but the project will eventually explore opportunities to accelerate the delivery and adoption of two-wheel tractors (2WTs) based conservation agriculture (CA) and other 2WT-based technologies (transport, shelling, threshing) by smallholders in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. This project will be implemented over the next four years by CIMMYT and its partners.

Why do these issues matter? In many countries, the number of tractors has declined in the past decades (as a result of structural adjustment plans, for example), and so did the number of draught animals in many parts of the continent (due to biomass shortage, droughts, diseases, etc.). As a result, African agriculture increasingly relies on human muscle power. This problem is compounded by labor shortages arising from an ageing population, rural-urban migration, and HIV/ AIDS. Even in areas where rural population is increasing faster than the cultivated area, labor may be in short supply during critical field operations due to competition with more rewarding sectors, such as construction and mining. One consequence of low farm mechanization is high labor drudgery, which disproportionately affects women, as they play a predominant role in weeding, threshing, shelling, and transport by head-loading, and which makes farming unattractive to the youth. Sustainable intensification in sub-Saharan Africa appears unlikely if the issue of inadequate and declining farm power is not addressed. Power supply could be increased through appropriate and equitable mechanization, while power demand could be reduced through power saving technologies such as CA. Synergies can be exploited between these two avenues: for example, the elimination of soil inversion in CA systems reduces power requirements —typically by a factor of two— making the use of lower powered and more affordable tractors such as 2WTs a viable option. 2WTs are already present in Eastern and Southern Africa, albeit in low numbers and seldom used for CA in most countries. Several CA planters adapted for 2WTs have also been developed recently and are now commercially available. These are both manufactured outside (e.g. China, Brazil) and in the region (e.g. in Kenya and Tanzania).

The first set of the project’s activities will aim at identifying likely farmer demand by defining main sources of unmet power demand and labor drudgery. This will help determine the choice of technologies – from the 2WT-based technologies available for CA (seed drilling, strip tillage, ripping, etc.) and non-CA operations (transport, threshing, shelling) – to evaluate on-station and on farm, with participation of farmers and other stakeholders involved in technology transfer. The second set of activities will aim at identifying and testing site-specific unsubsidized business models – utilizing private sector service providers to support market systems – that will enable efficient and equitable delivery of the most promising 2WT-based technologies to a large number of smallholders; technologies affordable to the resource-poor and women-headed households. The project will also examine the institutional and policy constraints and opportunities that may affect the adoption of 2WT-based technologies in the four countries. Finally, it will create awareness on 2WT-based technologies in the sub-region and share knowledge and information with other regions, thanks to the establishment of a permanent knowledge platform hosted by the African Conservation Tillage network.

Inspiring a new generation of scientists: The Borlaug-Ruan Internship

Written by on March 20, 2013. Posted in Features.

Many scientists begin exploring at a young age; they try to figure out the things they don’t know, ask questions of others, and see how this information might be useful to them in creating new knowledge. The very lucky ones might have a mentor, or at the very least, a place where they are encouraged to cultivate their curiosity and use what they find out to help others.

This is one of the many reasons why CIMMYT participates in hosting Borlaug-Ruan Interns. Since 1998, over 180 Borlaug-Ruan Interns have traveled to Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad, and Turkey; CIMMYT has proudly hosted 19 of these intelligent, ambitious individuals. One such student, Elizabeth Roche, visited CIMMYT-Mexico during the summer of 2011. “I loved every minute of my two month internship at CIMMYT,” she said. “Working in the wheat pathology lab enabled me to learn so much about agriculture and global food security.” Elizabeth is now majoring in Plant Pathology at Ohio State University. According to Hans Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, by actively working alongside senior scientists, in the lab and the field, interns “really experience what science is. This is not sitting in a classroom reading from a textbook; it is about discovering a potential career and being inspired to further their scientific knowledge.”

Last summer, Tessa Ries left her hometown of Hastings, Minnesota, to conduct an internship at CIMMYT-Turkey. Based mainly at the field station in Eskisehir, Tessa worked alongside wheat pathologists screening wheat for resistance to crown rot and cereal cyst nematodes, two of the most serious constraints to wheat production in the region. Tessa is now studying at the University of Minnesota and has written a blog for the Global Agricultural Development Initiative about her time at CIMMYT. In 2013, CIMMYT hopes to welcome two more interns to its centers in Mexico and Turkey, continuing Norman Borlaug’s mission in inspiring young people worldwide to join the fight against hunger.

For more information on the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship click here.

Droughts in major wheat areas can fuel revolutions

Written by on March 6, 2013. Posted in News.

A February 2013 report from the Center for Climate & Security entitled “The Arab Spring and Climate Change” identifies climate change consequences—among them global and local wheat shortages and price hikes—as stressors that can ignite underlying causes of social conflict. In the opening chapter of the report, Oxford University Geographer Troy Sternberg notes how “…once-in-a-century winter drought in China reduced global wheat supply and contributed to global wheat shortages and skyrocketing bread prices in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer.” New York Times OpEd writer Tom Friedman wrote about the Center for Climate & Security study (see The Scary Hidden Stressor.)

Un informe publicado en febrero de este año por el Centro de Clima & Seguridad, bajo el título “La primavera árabe y el cambio climático“, revela que los efectos del cambio climático —como la escasez de trigo, local y mundial, y el alza de los precios— pudieran ser los factores detonantes de los conflictos sociales. En el primer capítulo, el geógrafo Troy Sternberg de la Universidad de Oxford, narra cómo “…la sequía que asoló China en invierno, de una magnitud que no se había registrado en los últimos 100 años, redujo el suministro global de trigo y contribuyó a la escasez y al alza desproporcionada de los precios del trigo en Egipto, el mayor importador de este producto en el mundo.” El reactor del New York Times Tom Friedman escribió acerca del estudio del Centro del Clima y la Seguridad (ver The Scary Hidden Stressor.)

Zhonghu He received the China Agriculture Elite Award

Written by on February 13, 2013. Posted in News.

Zhonghu He, CIMMYT distinguished scientist and country liaison officer for China, received the China Agriculture Elite Award from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in December 2012. The award, presented to 10 Chinese agricultural scientists every 2 years, was created by the MOA in 2006 to recognize individual scientists for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of agricultural science and technology and to the development of agriculture and rural economy in China.