Location: Asia

As a fast growing region with increasing challenges for smallholder farmers, Asia is a key target region for CIMMYT. CIMMYT’s work stretches from Central Asia to southern China and incorporates system-wide approaches to improve wheat and maize productivity and deliver quality seed to areas with high rates of child malnutrition. Activities involve national and regional local organizations to facilitate greater adoption of new technologies by farmers and benefit from close partnerships with farmer associations and agricultural extension agents.

Researchers set new climate services strategy in Bangladesh

Written by on September 20, 2017. Posted in News.

CSRD workshop participants. Photo: M. Asaduzzaman/CIMMYT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – Scientists from across South and Southeast Asia launched a new agenda earlier this week to boost community involvement in developing climate information and extension messaging services across the region.

“Key to climate services is emphasis on the service,” said Timothy Krupnik, a systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and South Asia project leader for Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD).

Researchers know how the region’s farmers will be affected by climate change thanks to the development of climate models and other analyses, but there still is a lack of a strong support system that allows farmers to practically use this information.

“We must be able to rapidly extend information to farmers and others who require climate information to inform their decision making, and to assure that research outputs are translated in an easy to understand way that communicates to farmers, extension workers and policy makers,” said Krupnik. “Equally important is feedback from farmers on the quality of climate services so they can be adapted and improved over time.”

The researchers, who gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a three-day workshop from September 17-19, 2017, evaluated how climate and agricultural extension advisories are currently produced and conveyed, and identified opportunities on how to improve these services for farming communities across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

“CSRD’s activities are relevant to the U.S. government’s commitment to building resilience of smallholder farmers and to ensure increased production, as well bolster country resilience,” said David Westerling, acting economic growth office director and Feed the Future team leader for the United States Agency for International Development’s mission in Bangladesh. “That is why we are behind this effort.”

During the workshop, delegates assessed different ways to incorporate seasonal climate forecasts into farmer decision making, using several African countries as examples. For example, participants learned how to simply but effectively depict probabilistic forecasts in graphs to farmers during a group work discussion.

There were also experience sharing sessions on information and communication technology (ICT) in agricultural climate services. Giriraj Amarnath, researcher at the International Water Management Institute, Ishwor Malla, service director for ICT at Agri Private Limited and Md. Nadirruzzaman, assistant professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh indicated that ICT can be a cost-effective approach to transfer information to farmers who can, in turn, improve crop productivity using climate information shared their observation and experiences.

While ICT can serve as an important tool, participants emphasized the need for more face-to-face extension and interaction with farming communities to build trust in forecasts that would otherwise not be fully understood by downloading a mobile application or receiving an SMS message.

An analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for climate services in each country and across countries was completed to examine how participants can collaborate in south-south exchanges to support ongoing work in agricultural climate services.

On the last day of the workshop, climate index-based agricultural insurance was also discussed, after which participants proposed new institutional arrangements to improve agricultural climate information flow to farmers in each of their countries.

Elisabeth Simelton, climate change scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre in Vietnam and project manager at the Consortium Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS), said the workshop provided an interesting platform where scientists and climate service providers from different countries were able to meet and exchange their experiences and ideas through interactive formats, so that everybody can take something new and useful back to their respective countries.

The Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) is a global partnership that connects climate science, data streams, decision support tools, and training to decision-makers in developing countries.The workshop was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development on behalf of CSRD and is collaboratively organized by CIMMYT and CSRD through the SERVIR Support Team. This work was also implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on CCAFS. Read more about the workshop, participants and sponsors here.

At this year’s UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

High-level meeting to set climate services agenda for South and Southeast Asia

Written by on September 14, 2017. Posted in News.

Delegates from across South and South East Asia will gather in Dhaka, Bangladesh next week to ensure farmers across the region have the resources they need to better respond to climate change. Above, woman in Faridpur, Bangladesh winnowing wheat grain after harvest. Photo: Saikat Mojumder. — Delegates from across South and Southeast Asia will gather in Dhaka, Bangladesh next week to ensure farmers across the region have the resources they need to better respond to climate change. Above, woman in Faridpur, Bangladesh winnowing wheat grain after harvest. Photo: Saikat Mojumder.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — Leaders from across South and Southeast Asia will gather from September 17-19 to exchange ideas and strategies on how to support the growth of farmer-focused and relevant agricultural climate services in the region.

Ensuring that farmers have access to real-time climate services, such as early warning systems for drought or crop index insurance, is critical to support rural livelihoods and mitigate crop production loss in the event of a climatic shock.

The three-day workshop will evaluate how climate and agricultural extension advisories are produced and conveyed, emphasizing farming community involvement in the development of climate information and extension messaging.

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have a broad overview of South and Southeast regional agricultural climate services programs, become familiar with participatory approaches and methods in agricultural climate services and able to enact or improve them in their own country contexts. They’ll also develop an increased understanding of how to identify and leverage “decision points” in the agricultural calendar during which climate information and advisories can most benefit farmers. Finally, participants will understand the need for appropriate institutional arrangements to facilitate the flow of relevant climate information and advisories to farmers, and to supply feedback to meteorological, extension, development and policy oriented organizations.

Workshop participants will also develop an outline for a scientific review paper on the subject of participatory climate services for agricultural decision making in South and Southeast Asia, which will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

This workshop is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development on behalf of the Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) and is organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center alongside South Asian CSRD partners.

Click here to see the full list of participating organization and read the full workshop program.

Learn more about agricultural climate services:

Role of Mobile Phone-enabled Climate Information Services in Gender-inclusive Agriculture

Scaling up climate services for farmers

Managing Climatic Risks in Agriculture in South Asia: Climate Services

New initiative strengthens drought monitoring in Bangladesh

Index insurance to safeguard farmers from climate change

AbduRahman Beshir (L), Muhammad Aslam (M) and Amir Maqbool (R), CIMMYT’s Ph.D. student who completed his study on provitamin A (PVA) enriched maize during field evaluation of PVA hybrids at UAF. (Photo: M. Waheed/CIMMYT)

Maize biofortification fights malnutrition in Pakistan

Written by on September 13, 2017. Posted in News.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – In Pakistan, malnutrition is endemic. Children, in particular, are severely affected, with nearly half of all children in Pakistan being chronically undernourished.

Chronic malnutrition commonly leads to a condition called stunting, which can permanently limit growth and development. Pakistan ranks among the highest countries in the world for vitamin A and zinc deficiencies, which affect cognition and can lead to otherwise preventable blindness.

A new initiative hopes to combat malnutrition in Pakistan using biofortified maize, a tactic already in use in several areas around the world.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been improving yield, increasing total protein and micronutrient levels (like vitamin A and zinc) in maize for over 50 years. This work has continued in Pakistan through the United States Agency for International Development – funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) in partnership with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and other stakeholders in public and private sector

Since 2014, AIP has been testing CIMMYT-biofortified maize varieties in Pakistan to ensure the maize will grow in local conditions. In some cases, improved maize outperformed even local commercial checks in terms of yield. Earlier this year, CIMMYT allocated three pro vitamin A (PVA) enriched maize hybrids to the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), making Pakistan the first South Asian country to receive these products. The seed increase of the parental lines as well as the hybrids is in progress currently to expedite the process of hybrid registration and large scale seed production. Apart from the higher carotenoid content, the grain yields of these hybrids are remarkably high with a record of up to 12 tons per hectare from the various testing stations in Pakistan. The average maize yield in Pakistan is 4 tons per hectare. In addition to the support from AIP, UAF is also contributing its own resources to harness the benefits of these hybrids and eventually reduce vitamin A deficiency.

“We will engage the private sector and other value chain actors to fast track the deployment of these hybrids in the target areas,” says Muhammad Aslam, assistant professor at UAF.

Each biofortified maize variety offers different benefits to consumers. Quality protein maize includes all the essential amino acids required by the human body, enhanced zinc maize makes zinc more available for human digestion and provitamin A maize contains natural pigments, called carotenoids, which are converted to vitamin A in the body. Biofortified maize has proven to effectively combat vitamin A and zinc deficiencies, and is already being used around the world to combat malnutrition.

Maize demand in Pakistan has more than tripled since the 1990s. Maize is now being utilized by farmers and consumers in Pakistan in various forms and it is the most important cereal crop in terms of productivity, with among the highest yields in South Asia.

A number of public and private partners have expressed interest in the commercialization of provitamin A and zinc enhanced maize products. Earlier this year, Pakistan released two quality maize protein hybrids for the first time, indicating the potential for biofortified maize products to grow in the country.

“What is important now is to enhance synergies among stakeholders and mobilize resources and required expertise to scale up the seed production and dissemination of these biofortified maize products to curb the deplorable trend of Pakistan’s hidden hunger,” says AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT’s seed systems specialist.

For more information on this work:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan works to increase agricultural productivity and incomes in the agriculture sector through the development and dissemination of new agriculture technologies. The project is managed by a group of CGIAR Centers and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

New initiative strengthens agricultural drought monitoring in Bangladesh

Written by on September 7, 2017. Posted in News.

A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh, as well as provide information on local cropping systems in South Asia to boost farmer resilience to climate change.

Regionally specific winter season drought and dry spells during the monsoon are a reoccurring concern in Bangladesh. Drought leads to reduced farming productivity, and climate change predictions suggest further decreases in precipitation in coming years. Additionally, there are uncertainties about where monsoons will flood in the rainy season, limiting groundwater recharge. If farmers are unable to adapt to these changes, bottlenecks in crop productivity and increased food insecurity are likely to result.

The effort will be led by Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) and SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya – a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – using Earth observation data.

A workshop jointly hosted by a number of organizations was recently held at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh to discuss the development of these agricultural monitoring services. The workshop brought together key partners to discuss anticipated methods, work plans and the user engagement process for effective development and long-term sustainability of the agricultural drought monitoring service.

Under this partnership, BARC is working to strengthen capacity of national research and agricultural extension institutes to use geographic information systems and remote sensing approaches for drought risk management.

(L-R) Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council and Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD

Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, noted that groundwater accessibility is a growing concern due to continued drought. The government has posed restrictions on deep well extraction, except for drinking water, to conserve crucial groundwater resources. He added that access to good quality drought monitoring and early warning information could help develop climate services to help farmers adapt to these challenges.

Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman of BARC, emphasized the need to adopt new technologies including remote sensing applications to improve predictability of climate hazards like floods and droughts. He added that with the adoption of improved agricultural practices, Bangladesh has become self-sufficient in rice, but that further work is needed to attain overall nutrition sufficiency.

Promoting and enabling climate services that increase farmer resilience to the impacts of climate variability can positively change behaviors and affect policy in developing countries. To do this, collaborators are working together to establish information communication technology platforms to provide user-oriented, easily accessible, timely and decision-relevant scientific information in the form of climate services.

Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager of the Mountain Environment Regional Information System program at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), highlighted opportunities of using Earth observation data products for addressing societal challenges. He emphasized the user-centric “services” used by ICIMOD increase the sustainable use of Earth observation information and geospatial technologies for environmental management and improve resilience to climate change in the region.

Read the full workshop summary from ICIMOD here.

CSRD is a a public-private partnership supported by USAID, Department for International Development (DFID), the Met Office, Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, ESRI, Google, the American Red Cross and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Study reveals new opportunities to cut greenhouse gas emissions in India

Written by on September 4, 2017. Posted in News.

India is one of the world’s largest contributors to global warming, but simple changes in farm management can drastically cut emissions while meeting food demand.

More than 122 million people could be thrown into extreme poverty by 2030 from climate change induced by global warming, mostly in Africa and Asia.

Agriculture is one of the largest contributors to global warming, with greenhouse gas emissions predicted to rise 30 percent over the next three decades due to rising populations and changing consumer preferences to high-emission foods like dairy and meat in these two regions.

India alone is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world, with agriculture contributing the most greenhouse gas emissions in the country after electricity. With a population of more than 1.3 billion and increasing, ensuring sustainable agricultural development is critical to achieve the country’s 2015 climate plan to reduce emissions intensity 35 percent by 2030 and food security for the region.

In a recent study, we analyzed how cereal farmers in India’s Indo-Gangetic Plain – an area that feeds 40 percent of the country’s population – manage their crops and the impact different practices have on yield and emissions.

Reducing nitrogen fertilizer can cut emissions without compromising yield

Nitrogen fertilizer is a huge greenhouse gas emitter. Creating it involves burning a lot of fossil fuel, and is produced primarily using natural gas. When farmers apply it to their fields, rain washes much of it into surrounding bodies of water, while bacteria in the soil feed on what’s left, releasing a powerful greenhouse gas called nitrous oxide.

16 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer are currently being applied by Indian farmers to their fields. Our research shows that farmers in India can reduce emissions and increase yields through better nitrogen management.

Culture and economics have a huge impact on emissions and yields

We also found various cultural, economic, household and other social factors significantly determined whether farmers adopted low-emission technologies.

For example, households with high levels of education, large land holdings and access to agricultural advisory, as well as farmers who received training on climate change, were likely to adopt zero tillage, a practice that retains soil moisture, builds up nutrients and decreases greenhouse gas emissions.

Other farmers who received training on climate change along with crop, soil, water and seed management, and those having access to agricultural credit tend to adopt low-emission technologies such as split application of nitrogen and use of farm yard manure.

Overall, capacity building that increases farmers’ awareness and skills in agriculture and climate change contributes to increased production and reduced emission intensity for all households. Farmers’ societies, farm cooperatives and local non-governmental organizations can therefore play a vital role in encouraging farmers to adopt appropriate low-emissions practices and technologies.

Government action needed for low-emission agriculture in India

Knowing the impact of various social drivers and low-emission strategies, particularly the decrease of nitrogen fertilizer use, on agricultural development can help increase production and reduce emissions nationwide.

State and local governments must integrate policies and technology that enhance farmer access to new innovations like zero tillage and irrigation, and provide more information on efficient residue, farm manure and nitrogen fertilizer management. The government must also adopt multiple approaches that include targeted subsidies for sustainable technologies like zero tillage machinery and precision land levelers, mobilize local civil society organizations to increase knowledge about low-emission practices and use information communication technology to increase awareness and access to information about sustainable agricultural practices.

Most importantly, all mitigation-related interventions require investment decisions at the household level. Family and farm size, the gender of household head and many other factors rare critical to take into account in each intervention to successfully scale out low-emission practices and technologies.

Read the full study “Identifying high-yield low-emission pathways for the cereal production in South Asia” here.

Read the CCAFS blog “Report identifies high-yield, low-emission options for cereal systems in South Asia”

Read the 2016 CIMMYT Annual Report story “India farmers put aside the plow, save straw and fight pollution”

Wheat forum builds partnerships for sustainable intensification in Nepal

Written by on August 31, 2017. Posted in News.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — The Government of Nepal recently endorsed a new twenty-year agriculture development strategy that charts a progressive course of action to revitalize agriculture as an engine for economic growth and domestic food security.

At the center of this strategy is the recently launched the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project (PMAMP). The project will be implemented over the next decade and has research and development mandates for productivity enhancement and commercialization of major cereals, fisheries, fruits and vegetables.

PMAMP emphasizes wheat production as a priority, especially in the Terai – a very productive agricultural area – in order to achieve national self-sufficiency in wheat production within the next three years. Meeting this extremely ambitious goal will require an unprecedented increase in average yields of 10 percent per year, and a high level of strategic coordination among organizations contributing to agricultural development in Nepal.

The PMAMP leadership has requested that the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through its Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) act as a technical advisor and strategic partner to design and implement programs for staple crop production, including mechanization and seed systems.

On July 26-27 in Kathmandu, PMAMP and CSISA organized the first working group forum for wheat to begin to unite and coordinate efforts of 21 core public and private stakeholders working on extension, research and sector development.

Discussion at the forum emphasized the identification of proven best practices for sustainable intensification, consideration of scaling pathways for knowledge and technological innovations, knowledge gaps and areas for future research and joint work plan development for the 2017-2018 wheat season.

A four-member committee representing PMAMP, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), CSISA and the private sector has been created to guide implementation of the collaborative work plan for wheat intensification across Nepal.

Rajan Dhakal, senior agriculture officer at PMAMP, remarked that the forum was instrumental in identifying technical priorities and clarifying how the efforts of diverse partners can contribute to the food security goals of the Government of Nepal.

Y.P. Giri, chair and director of crops and horticulture at NARC, said he appreciated CSISA’s efforts to facilitate discussion and coordination across a diverse set of stakeholders through a common and action-oriented platform.

Drawing on the success of the wheat forum, PMAMP will convene meetings for maize and rice with support from NARC, CSISA and private sector partners this fall.

CIMMYT launched the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asia’s cereal-based cropping systems. CIMMYT operates rural “innovation hubs” in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies, and to improve farmer access to market information and enterprise development. Learn more about CSISA’s impact here.

CIMMYT’s wheat working group will serve as a strategic partner and provide technical advice for Nepal’s Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project. Photo: CSISA Nepal

Cross-sector collaboration needed to boost wheat production in Pakistan

Written by on August 15, 2017. Posted in News.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Agronomy experts from across Pakistan gathered earlier this month to discuss progress in Pakistan since 2014 under the USAID funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP). At the meeting, 23 national partners shared their progress and evaluation of new techniques, planters and their dissemination in the wheat based systems of Pakistan.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) drew 80 participants from both private and public spheres to the conference where they discussed key issues such as Pakistan’s large yield gap, residue management techniques and ways to increase efficiency in fertilizer and water management.

AIP has reached more than 11,000 farmers in Pakistan through demonstration, training and farmer days. AIP promotes dissemination of sustainable farming activities such as zero-tillage wheat planting after rice and legume crops, ridge planting of wheat, improved fertilizer management in wheat and rice, direct seeding with multi-crop planters, wheat panting with Zero-Tillage Happy Seeders in rice residue and maize planting with small planters in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, wheat is grown on more than 9 million hectares annually, yielding roughly 2.8 tons of grain per hectare, yet falls below the global average of 3.2 tons per hectare due to a wide yield gap, improper residue management techniques, inefficient fertilizer and water management.

Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Member and AIP focal person of PARC, said that there is a need to increase per unit area productivity in the crop sector as cultivated land is decreasing because of housing and climate-related degradation. Private sector active involvement in research and dissemination would also help to increase agriculture productivity in the country.

AIP is working with private-public partnerships to move beyond educating stakeholders in new technologies to helping farmers implement them in their fields. Their efforts have resulted in the local manufacturing and provision of planters and seeders to over 300 farmers in the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan, according to AIP Project Leader Imtiaz Muhammad.

All of the provided machines are operated under the practice of zero tillage, meaning farmers directly sow new seeds into the residue of the previous crop grown. The tools also help farmers maximize their production, since they sow seeds using an inverted T opener that breaks up the soil then distributes seeds evenly. Research has shown these methods increase yield and decrease carbon footprint.

Farmers preferred these machines due to their increased planting speed, reduction in loss of seed and seed breakage and the increased yield they saw using these machines. Local producers of zero-till machinery, such as Greenland Engineering are also benefiting, their sales have almost tripled, from 37 in 2016 to 150 in 2017 as adoption of the technology has expanded.

Azeem Kahan, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Center in Islamabad, emphasized the need for a national database of resource conserving technology such as planters and seeders, and said that the PARC collaboration with CIMMYT will focus on coordination that will help stakeholders share their knowledge about agronomic interventions in Pakistan.

Participants of AIP’s Agronomy National Meeting 2017 in Islamabad with Ghulam M. Ali, AIP Focal person. Photo: CIMMYT/K.Syed

Entrepreneurship increases youth employment in Nepal

Written by on August 11, 2017. Posted in News.

Dahit Traders founder Chullu Ram Chaudhary at his workshop in Bardiya district, Nepal. Photo: CIMMYT/CSISA/A.Khadka

KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) – In 2015 Chullu Ram Chaudhary started Dahit Traders, which sells small-scale agricultural machinery in the Bardiya district of mid-western Nepal.

Dahit provides year-round employment to 20 local youths as mechanics and machine operators, and hires an additional 35 mechanics during rice and wheat planting and harvesting seasons. Chaudhary was motivated to found his company in 2014 while attending a machinery training organized by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).

Chaudhary began by focusing on two-wheel tractors and has since expanded his business to several nearby towns, now also providing machine repair services to surrounding districts. His core business has broadened to include a variety of attachments for power tillers, including seed drills, reapers and threshers, all of which are relevant and useful for small-scale farmers of Bardiya and surrounding districts.

Each expansion allows him to provide employment for local youth by creating sales, mechanic and support staff jobs, which has the added benefit of slowing migration from Nepal’s key agricultural production areas. About 1,500 Nepalese youth migrate for foreign employment daily due a lack of employment opportunity and capital constraints in their own communities, a phenomena that directly contributes to agricultural yield loss in Nepal, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

This absence of farm labor along with a lack of agricultural knowledge, irrigation and mechanization along with the inability to invest in new technology due to lack of capital also limits Nepal’s yield potential, despite having fertile soil and access to year-round farming. Many plots in Nepal are also very small, due to the traditional inheritance practice of splitting land between sons, further limiting production. Cereal and pulse yields are well below regional averages and present rates of increase won’t meet the long-term requirements.

Success for entrepreneurs like Chaudhary allows farming households to access innovative, scale-appropriate technology, increase employment for youth and boost cropping system productivity, all of which are needed to sufficiently and sustainably increase food production for future generations. In addition to providing training on machinery, CSISA linked Chaudhary with SKT Traders – a national-level importer of small-scale machinery – and provided technical support to Dahit Trader’s mechanics on machinery operation, repair and maintenance.

To increase awareness of scale-appropriate machinery, CSISA and Dahit Traders conducted joint demonstrations of equipment in farmers’ fields in order to help farmers see the potential for these machines to reduce drudgery, increase efficiency and enable them to establish micro enterprises based on custom-hired services.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia project is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center with partners the International Rice Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Public-private partnerships boost maize productivity in Pakistan

Written by on August 8, 2017. Posted in News.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – A recently held traveling seminar brought together private and public seed partners in Pakistan to enhance maize production and productivity in order to meet current demand and plan for future needs.

The seminar, hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), facilitated discussion around the demand for maize in Pakistan, which has experienced rapid growth in the last thirty years largely due to its demand for feed and food as a result of rapid population growth.

Pakistan is one of the top producers of maize in South Asia and it is the country’s third most important cereal, with production increasing 75 percent since 1990 due to the expansion of hybrid maize varieties in the spring season. However, the lack of a strong national seed system has caused the country to import 85 percent of its maize for roughly $50 million annually, making the retail price of seed very expensive for farmers.

Since 2013, CIMMYT’s Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) has built public-private partnerships to catalyze equitable growth in agricultural production, productivity and value in Pakistan. AIP encourages leaders in the local private sector through product allocation and capacity building to produce quality maize seeds and enhance Pakistan’s seed sector.

During the traveling seminar – which was held for seven days in two phases – participants evaluated the performance of different CIMMYT maize products at the project’s partner research center, located in the Punjab province which is the hub of Pakistan’s yellow maize production and the major source of poultry feed, a robust industry growing 8-10 percent annually.

Participants also visited Khyber Pakhtun Khwa province where white maize is the dominant dietary staple. During the visit stakeholders were able to be better understand the dynamics of major maize producing areas and future production trends, various crop management technologies, adoption and utilization patterns, production constraints and dissemination of maize-based technologies.

Concluding the seminar, Yusuf Zafar, Chairman of the Pakistan Research Council commended CIMMYT for creating multi-stakeholder collaborations and actions towards increasing the production and productivity of maize in Pakistan. He pressed the private sector to take the lead in the production and dissemination of the new maize products shared under the AIP program.

CIMMYT’s Country Representative Muhammad Imtiaz, also called upon the private sector to continue to strive to meet the project’s goals of a self-sufficient maize seed sector after the project ends early next year.

Participants of maize travelling seminar visiting maize activities at MMRI-Sahiwal, Pakistan, 2017. Photo: E.Shakeel/CIMMYT — Participants of maize traveling seminar visiting maize activities at MMRI-Sahiwal, Pakistan, 2017. Photo: E.Shakeel/CIMMYT

Media highlight sustainable innovations in Pakistan during USAID tour

Written by on July 20, 2017. Posted in News.

AIP researcher in the maize stem borer lab – the only facility in Pakistan for mass rearing of maize stem borers. Photo: A.Yuqub /CIMMYT

Islamabad (CIMMYT) — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and along with local and national media recently toured agricultural initiatives led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC).

Yusuf Zafar, Chairman of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), highlighted the Agricultural Innovation Program’s (AIP) aim to improve farming practices and livelihoods in farming communities – especially for smallholders – across Pakistan.

Funded by USAID and led by CIMMYT, AIP has helped boost agricultural productivity by bringing new technologies to the sector while of sustainable practices, which has helped improve Pakistan’s overall economy, Zafar added. Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, supporting half of the country’s labor force.

PARC Chairman Yusuf Zafar briefing media about USAID, PARC and CIMMYT partnership through AIP to improve farming practices and livelihoods across Pakistan. Photo: A.Yuqub /CIMMYT

Muhammad Imtiaz, CIMMYT country representative in Pakistan and AIP project leader, briefed media representatives about the collaboration between USAID and CIMMYT along with the NARC and other partners. He highlighted key AIP successes, such as such as the introduction of new planting machineries and drip irrigation systems.

The tour also visited to maize fields at NARC where AIP initiatives in improved livestock, maize and wheat were showcased. AIP scholars – students who have completed their master’s degree in the U.S. with AIP funds – were also present and provided information on their experiences and accomplishments.

AIP will continue to scale out successful technologies, encourage innovation through national agricultural research systems and secure resources to combat climate change effects in agriculture.

Media coverage of the event:

New sustainable agriculture initiative targets India’s second most populous state

Written by on July 6, 2017. Posted in News.

A new project will train one-thousand villages in Maharashtra, India on sustainable technologies and practices. Photo: P. Vishwanathan/CCAFS

JAWHAR, India (CIMMYT) – A new project is bringing sustainable technologies and practices to one-thousand villages in Maharashtra, India, the second most populous state in the country and an area that is particularly vulnerable to climate change effects like erratic rainfall, heat waves, sea water intrusion and other climatic risks.

Agriculture provides income for over half of Maharashtra’s population, yet productivity is severely aﬀected by climate change and unsustainable agricultural practices that degrade soil quality. In 2015 alone 60 percent of villages in the state suffered drought affecting nearly nine million farmers.

New “climate smart” practices are critical if farmers in Maharashtra are to survive future climatic shocks, improve productivity and maintain a healthy ecosystem. The state has the second largest tribal population in the country, with most of these communities inhabiting fringe forest settlements and degraded lands which have low productivity and high vulnerability to erosion, making it even more vital farmers adopt sustainable practices.

A Climate Smart Village Programme for the Tribal Regions of Maharashtra was launched to promote these practices – such as zero-till farming, integrated nutrient and water management and proper harvesting and storage – targeting farmers across Maharashtra’s tribal belt.

The three-year project, launched in 2016, is being implemented across over 1,000 villages in the state. Last year, 100 primary villages were identified as most likely to adopt climate smart practices in Maharashtra’s three districts and chosen to implement sustainable agriculture practices. Farmers groups from each primary village will link for the last two years of the project with nine skilled-up villages – villages where at least one climate smart practice has been adopted – to share and help implement climate smart farming practices and techniques.

Large quantities of improved seed that are resilient to drought, heat and other stresses are also being provided to use alongside these practices, ensuring maximum yield.

A key aspect of the program is ensuring that the climate smart technologies being promoted are adapted to local conditions – it’s critical that these new tools can be used by small and marginal farmers at an affordable cost. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center through the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) are currently distributing different small scale farm machineries like fertilizer drills and threshers that are catered to farmer preferences, including women farmers in the 100 primary villages.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) advisories will also be provided to farmers to ensure they have access to real-time information on weather forecasts, pest and disease outbreaks, market intelligence and more. BISA in collaboration with IFFCO Kishan Sanchar Limited, a telecommunications company in New Delhi, will release a mobile based ICT service in 2017 to provide advisories to enrolled farmers. 4,000 farmers have been selected for the service this year. The service will be constantly monitored and upgraded as required to meet the needs of more than 50,000 farmers over the course of the project.

The final component of the project ensures that farmers are enrolled in crop insurance schemes, which is essential to protecting and reimbursing farmers should their crops fail under poor climate conditions. BISA enrolled 500 farmers for insurance from November 2016-March 2017 and in the process to enroll more farmers in the coming monsoon season during July-October of this year.

In early June, Shri Vishnu Savara, Minister of Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Office, chaired an event that brought delegates from across India to review the current progress of the project in Jawhar, Palghar District. The event was facilitated by BISA representatives including Senior Consultant Prakash Naik, Hub Coordinators Abhilash Gupta and Mahesh Maske, Executive Assistant Anu Raswant and Administrative Officer Manish Rai. The event was co-chaired by Shri R. G. Kulkarni, Commissioner of Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Office and Arun Joshi, CIMMYT Asia Regional Representative.

Savara emphasized the important impact climate smart agriculture coupled with improved seed can have on farm productivity across Maharashtra’s tribal areas, and new ability to adapt to future climatic shocks and extreme weather events.

New Publications: Climate change adaptation practices decrease poverty, boost food security

Written by on June 28, 2017. Posted in Publications.

A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — Farmers in Pakistan that practice climate change adaptation strategies like adjusting sowing time, adopting new crops and planting drought tolerant varieties have higher food security levels and are less likely to live in poverty than those that don’t, according to a new study.

South Asia is likely to be one of the most affected regions by climate change due to the region’s vast agrarian population and large number of poor, unfavorable geography, limited assets and a greater dependence on climate-sensitive sources of income.

In Pakistan, climate change has had a direct impact on rain patterns and increased the frequency of extreme weather events such as flash floods. Adaptation measures at the farm level can help lessen the impact of these negative effects on food security.

Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently surveyed 950 farmers across Pakistan to see what adaptation measures to climate change they use, if any.

The study found that farmers in Pakistan are using a variety of adaptation practices to counter the adverse impacts of climate change, primarily adjusting sowing time, adopting new crops and planting drought tolerant varieties. The results also highlighted the importance of awareness and knowledge about the local context, climate change, adaptation and its benefits. Younger farmers and farmers with higher levels of education are also more likely to use these adaptation practices, as do farmers that are wealthier, farm more land and have joint families.

The authors of the study conclude that adaptation policies should focus on increasing the awareness of climate change and climate risk coping strategies and its benefits, as well as increasing the affordability of climate risk coping capacity by augmenting the farm household assets and lowering the cost of adaptation.

Read the full study “Assessing farmer use of climate change adaptation practices and impacts on food security and poverty in Pakistan” and check out other recent publications from CIMMYT staff below.

Development of multiplex-PCR systems for genes related to flour colour in Chinese autumn-sown wheat cultivars. 2016. Zhang, Y., Wang, X., Jiang, L., Liu, F., Xinyao He, Liu, S., Zhang, X. In: Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 231-241.
DNA fingerprinting of open-pollinated maize seed lots to establish genetic purity using simple sequence repeat markers. 2016. Setimela, P.S., Warburton, M.L., Erasmus, T. In: South African Journal of Plant and Soil, vol. 33, no. 2, p. 1-8.
Do forest resources help increase rural household income and alleviate rural poverty? Empirical evidence from Bhutan. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Behera, B., Ali, A. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 1-11.
Dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are associated with both type I FHB susceptibility and low anther extrusion in two bread wheat populations. 2016. Xinyao He, Singh, P.K., Dreisigacker, S., Sukhwinder-Singh, Lillemo, M., Duveiller, E. In: PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 9 : e0162499.
A Bayesian Poisson-lognormal Model for count data for Multiple-Trait Multiple-Environment Genomic-Enabled prediction. 2017. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-López, A., Crossa, J., Toledo, F.H., Montesinos-López, J.C., Singh, P.K., Juliana, P., Salinas-Ruiz, J. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 5, p. 1595-1606.
A comparative political economic analysis of maize sector policies in eastern and southern Africa. 2017. Sitko, N.J., Chamberlin, J., Cunguara, B., Muyanga, M., Mangisonib, J. In: Food Policy, v. 69, p. 243-255.
Agriculture and crop science in China: Innovation and sustainability. 2017. Yunbi Xu, Jiayang Li, Jianmin Wan. In: The Crop Journal v. 5, p. 95-99.
Assessing farmer use of climate change adaptation practices and impacts on food security and poverty in Pakistan. 2017. Ali, A., Erenstein, O. In: Climate Risk Management, vol. 16, p. 183-194.
Bayesian Genomic Prediction with Genotype x Environment Interaction Kernel Models. 2017. Cuevas, J., Cuevas, J., Crossa, J., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Burgueño, J., Pérez-Rodríguez, P., De los Campos, G. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 41-53.

Farmers in Pakistan benefit from new zinc-enriched high-yielding wheat

Written by Mike Listman on June 27, 2017. Posted in News.

Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discuss seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT. — Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discussing seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Farmers in Pakistan are eagerly adopting a nutrient-enhanced wheat variety offering improved food security, higher incomes, health benefits and a delicious taste.

Known as Zincol and released to farmers in 2016, the variety provides harvests as abundant as those for other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia.

Due to these benefits and its delicious taste, Zincol was one of the top choices among farmers testing 12 new wheat varieties in 2016.

“I would eat twice as many chappatis of Zincol as of other wheat varieties,” said Munib Khan, a farmer in Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi District, Punjab Province, Pakistan, referring to its delicious flavor.

Khan has been growing Zincol since its release. In 2017, he planted a large portion of his wheat fields with the seed, as did members of the Gujar Khan Seed Producer Group to which he belongs.

The group is one of 21 seed producer associations established to grow quality seed of new wheat varieties with assistance from the country’s National Rural Support Program (NRSP) in remote areas of Pakistan. The support program is a key partner in the Pakistan Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Over the 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons, 400 tons of seed of Zincol has been shared with farmers, seed companies and promotional partners,” said Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT country representative in Pakistan and a wheat improvement specialist.

Zincol resulted from the CIMMYT’s “biofortification” breeding research, focused on enhancing nutrient levels in the grain of key food crops. Scientists develop biofortified crops using diverse genetic resources, including wheat landraces and wild relatives with the genetic potential to accumulate zinc in the grain.

Genes for enhanced grain zinc content from those sources are crossed into adapted, high-yielding varieties, over repeated cycles of selection involving many thousands of plants.

“One year after the release of Zincol, wheat farmers on more than 320 hectares are sowing the variety,” Imtiaz said.

He also noted that 15 tons of Zincol seed was shared free of charge for testing with 600 farm families in Sukkar District, Sindh Province, through an initiative of World Vision-Canada and HarvestPlus, a CGIAR research program dedicated to the study and delivery of biofortified foods.

Zincol harvests as high as other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT — Zincol yields as much other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT

Wheat: Vehicle for enhanced nutrition

Pakistan produces more than 25 million tons of wheat a year. The country has an annual per capita consumption averaging around 124 kilograms — among the highest in the world and providing over 60 percent of inhabitants’ daily caloric intake. The staple wheat-based foods are chappatis or a flat bread baked on the walls of large, cylindrical clay ovens.

Particularly in remote areas of Pakistan, human diets too often lack essential micronutrients such as zinc. According to a 2011 nutrition survey, 39 percent of children in Pakistan and 48 percent of pregnant women suffer from zinc deficiency, leading to child stunting rates of more than 40 percent and high infant mortality.

Zinc deficiency is also known to cause diarrheal disease, lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction and anorexia, according to the World Health Organization.

“Given its role as a key food staple, wheat with enhanced levels of zinc and other micronutrients can contribute to better nutrition,” said Velu Govindan, a CIMMYT wheat breeder who specializes in biofortification and helped develop Zincol.

“Zincol also carries the genetic background of NARC 2011, a popular, high-yielding Pakistan wheat variety that resists wheat stem rust, a deadly disease that threatens wheat worldwide,” Govindan added.

As part of AIP and HarvestPlus, as well as with numerous public and private partners and farmer seed production groups in Pakistan, CIMMYT is leading the extensive evaluation, distribution and seed production of Zincol, said Krishna Dev Joshi, a former CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist who worked on the project.

“With modest resources and limited amounts of seed, we tested and promoted Zincol over the last two years in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh, covering 15 districts and engaging nearly 700 farmers,” Joshi explained.

Joshi said farmer seed producers and private seed companies were able to provide another 100 tons of seed in 2016, enough to sow more than 2,500 hectares in 2017 and over half a million hectares in 2018.

“Zincol reached farmers nine years after the initial breeding cross in 2007, several years more quickly than is the norm in Pakistan, partly because it was tested simultaneously in national and provincial trials,” Joshi added. “Zincol is part of a suite of new, micronutrient-enhanced wheat varieties bred by CIMMYT and partners for use in South Asia, a region whose inhabitants consume 100 million tons of wheat each year.”

For India, Govindan and partners created a new biofortified wheat variety using synthetic parents crossed onto WH1105, a CIMMYT-derived high-yielding variety grown in India’s Northwestern Plain Zone. The new variety out-yields other popular varieties by as much as 8 percent and has a 20 percent higher zinc content, as well as good resistance to yellow rust disease. Another new Indian variety, Zinc Shakti, has a 40 percent greater grain zinc content and is being marketed by the private sector and spread via farmer-to-farmer seed sharing.

New planters promote environmentally-friendly farming in Pakistan

Written by on June 23, 2017. Posted in News.

Direct seeding of rice with a multicrop direct-seeding rice planter in Sheikhupura, Punjab. Photo: Abdul Khaliq — Direct seeding of rice with a multicrop direct-seeded rice planter in Sheikhupura, Punjab. Photo: Abdul Khaliq

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Farmers and research partners are praising innovative, locally manufactured farm implements that support conservation agriculture, with costs savings and soil and water conservation benefits, in rice-wheat farming rotation that cover more than 2.2 million hectares in Pakistan.

In a meeting in May 2017 at the Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku, Punjab Province, Pakistan, farmers expressed satisfaction with the performance of nearly 200 locally-produced implements they received to test during 2016-2017, which allow seed of rice, wheat and other crops to be sown directly into unplowed and unflooded fields, including the stubble and other residues from preceding crops.

In traditional practices, rice plantlets are transplanted by hand into puddled fields, after 4 to 6 weeks of being grown in nurseries on the borders of the paddies.

“This requires enormous amounts of water and labor, both of which are expensive and in short supply,” said Muhammad Akhter, Director of Pakistan’s Rice Research Institute. “Moreover, puddling every season degrades the soil structure and depletes fertility, and flooded rice fields emit significant amounts of methane, a major greenhouse gas.”

After rice harvest, farmers typically burn rice residues, generating large noxious clouds, and drive tractor-drawn plows repeated over fields to prepare seed bed. They then sow wheat through broadcasting of the seed.

Since the 1990s, public research programs in South Asia have been working with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and advanced research institutes to test and promote a suite of innovative practices, including reduced or zero tillage, which allow rice-wheat farmers to save money, better steward soil and water resources, cut greenhouse gas emissions and stop the burning of crop residues.

Locally manufactures direct-seeded rice planter and zero-till Happy Seeder. Photo: Abdul Khaliq

Direct seeding of rice in unplowed, unpuddled fields can provide improved plant density and productivity of irrigation water, saving in the end a quarter of the water used in flooding rice crops.

In 2014, the CIMMYT-led Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), supported by the United States Agency for Development (USAID), imported a multicrop zero tillage planter for rice and several zero tillage “Happy Seeders” to Pakistan from India for wheat, to be tested on farmers’ fields in five districts of Punjab by experts from the Punjab Agriculture Research and Extension Department, Engro Fertilizer and machinery manufacturers.

All tests were successful, and the following year CIMMYT worked with private machinery manufactures who produced the first locally-modified versions of both seeding implements.

Greenland Engineering Daska, a leading zero tillage drill manufacturer in Pakistan, collaborated with CIMMYT to adapt the rice planter’s inclined plate seeding system, offering an optimum planting density and thereby providing 10 percent higher rice yields than with the previous design.

Sharif Engineering, a zero tillage seed drill manufacturer of the Faisalabad region, modified the Happy Seeder so that farmers were able to sow wheat directly into heavy rice residue field and thus avoid burning the residues.

Sharif Engineering manufactured 13 Happy Seeders with AIP support; these were sold to farmers on 52:48 cost sharing basis in 2016, according to Mirza Ghazanfar, country representative for the company. Irfan Iqbal of Greenland Engineering said that company had produced and marketed 185 rice planters to farmers during 2016-17.

Akhter praised the efforts of USAID and CIMMYT to spread environmentally-friendly rice-wheat farming technologies to farmers of rice-wheat region.

Breaking Ground: AbduRahman Beshir is revitalizing Pakistan’s maize sector

Written by on June 9, 2017. Posted in Features.

Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In Pakistan, maize is the third most important cereal crop after wheat and rice and it is the first in productivity among all the cereals. However, Pakistan imports about 90 percent of the hybrid seeds used to produce the crop, costing the country as much as $60 million annually. Furthermore, the genetic diversity of the currently available maize varieties is not diverse enough to adapt to the varied agro ecologies of Pakistan.

To address these issues, AbduRahman Beshir, maize improvement and seed systems specialist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and his team, working under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, are developing climate-resilient, biofortified and biotic stress-tolerant maize to enhance the maize seed sector.

“Pakistan can be considered as a new frontier for CIMMYT’s maize impacts,” Beshir said. “Except for some limited maize activities in the early 1980s, there were no coordinated research activities in the past 32 years. I am glad to revitalize and breathe new life into Pakistan’s maize sector.”

Almost half of children under age 5 are reportedly malnourished, Beshir said, adding that protein, vitamin A, and other micronutrient deficiencies in Pakistan are rampant, while the mortality rate is among the highest in South Asia.

Beshir’s work targets these underprivileged groups and in the foreseeable future, he hopes to see nutritional benefits improve significantly.

Throughout his life, Beshir has witnessed how small scale farmers are often unable to fulfill their basic needs as they struggle to get fair market prices for produce, in part due to middlemen and a lack of information in the market.

He grew up in Ethiopia, a country where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, accounting for 80 percent of employment, according to UNDP. The livelihoods of Beshir’s grandparents and most of his relatives were dependent on agriculture, but his parents switched to a sideline business selling agricultural and food related products.

“I was brought up observing my parents’ entrepreneurial skills and efforts, but they wanted their children to pursue a career in science,” Beshir said, explaining how his parents encouraged him to attend university. “My father used to call me ‘doctor’ when I was a fourth grade pupil to inspire me in my education.”

Earning an undergraduate degree in agriculture and plant sciences was a life changing experience for Beshir, serving as an eye opener to the dire need for educated agricultural professionals to transform the livelihoods of rural farmers.

“Since then, I developed a passion on how to increase profits for rural farmers through technology promotion and targeted intervention.”

Beshir earned a Ph.D. in plant breeding from the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, in South Africa, and was awarded a gold medal for his research project highlighting the severity of malnutrition in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the ways quality protein maize seeks to address the issue.

Before joining CIMMYT in 2013, Beshir was the national partner in Ethiopia for a CIMMYT-led project on quality protein maize development and drought-tolerant maize for Africa.

“My involvement in these projects gave me a good grasp of how CIMMYT’s impact-oriented interventions practically change the life of farmers and brought a maize revolution in my country, in partnership with local institutions,” he said.

His current work in Pakistan mainly involves extensive testing of various maize products sourced from CIMMYT breeding hubs in Colombia, Mexico, Zimbabwe and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Since 2014, more than 2,200 maize entries have been tested through the project.

Test samples consist of biofortified maize, as well as maize varieties that can tolerate major biotic and abiotic stresses, and they have been evaluated on more than 300 different sites in Pakistan. Such large scale testing is unprecedented in the history of maize in Pakistan.

Beshir’s led efforts resulted in the allocation of 49 market ready maize products (hybrids and OPVs) to partners in less than three years, a process that would otherwise have taken eight to 10 years to develop even a single product. The allocation of the new maize products has also given partners access to CIMMYT’s parental lines and breeder seeds, so that they can continue to lead sustainable seed businesses even after the project ends.

“Our intervention is the first program in Pakistan to introduce and identify biofortified maize, including pro-vitamin A, quality protein maize, and zinc-enriched hybrids/open pollinated varieties suitable for Pakistan,” Beshir said, adding that the research also led to the inauguration of the first maize stem borer mass rearing facility in Pakistan.

The facility will help national programs develop maize germplasm tolerant to maize stem borer attacks.

“As imported hybrid seeds are simply unaffordable to millions of small scale maize farmers, our research will enable local companies to provide affordable options to farmers,” he said.