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.

USAID’s Feed the Future initiative highlights CIMMYT heat tolerant maize breeding

Written by on February 23, 2015. Posted in News.

The Feed the Future initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) featured CIMMYT’s Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project in a recent newsletter, highlighting it as an exemplary public-private partnership. Launched in 2013, the project is developing heat-resilient hybrid maize for resource-poor smallholder farmers in South Asia whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change.

The damaging effects of climate change on agriculture have already been felt throughout much of South Asia, and climate model studies predict that this trend will not end anytime soon. According to a 2009 report from the Asian Development Bank, maize production capacity in South Asia could decrease by 17 percent by the year 2050 if current climate trends continue. Due to the temperature sensitivity of key crops such as maize, farmers in the region urgently need access to seed of varieties that can withstand temperature stress. As climate change-related weather extremes threaten agriculture in South Asia, research and development partners are seeking solutions.

The HTMA “…balances up-stream and down-stream research-for-development by leveraging CIMMYT germplasm with the research capacity and expertise of partners such as Purdue University, Pioneer-Asia and national programs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan,” said P.H. Zaidi, the project leader. HTMA private partners such as DuPont Pioneer and the regional seed companies Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds have direct ties to local markets and farming communities that will foster the widespread availability and use of the new hybrids, according to Zaidi.

Outputs of this partnership include new breeding lines with enhanced levels of heat tolerance. The first generation of heat-tolerant hybrids from those lines became available after the second year of the project, and a new set of elite, stress-resilient hybrid varieties will be released by the project every two years. Apart from this, early-generation lines are being shared for use in partners’ breeding programs, strengthening their germplasm base and ensuring the continued development and delivery of heat-stress-resilient maize after the project ends, Zaidi said. According to the Feed the Future report: “The new varieties…show great promise to be taken to scale and deployed in tropical climates beyond South Asia.”

Chief Minister of Bihar assures support to BISA

Written by on February 23, 2015. Posted in News.

Of the 1 billion food insecure people in the world, more than 30 percent are in South Asia. By 2030 it will be one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change-related food shortages, with maize, rice and wheat prices predicted to double in the next 20 years. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT

The Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, affirmed his support for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and its efforts to ensure food security, in a meeting with Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and with government, BISA and CIMMYT representatives on 3 February. As part of this, Manjhi agreed to support development of model villages in every district of Bihar, one of the fastest-growing and developing states in India.

“Ever-increasing energy prices, declining natural resources and variable climates have left farmers with diminishing returns,” Lumpkin said. “Bihar farmers need technologies that increase their profits under changing climates and economies.”

Launched in 2011 as a collaborative effort between CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), BISA is a non- profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, livelihood security and environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, a region that is home to more than 300 million undernourished people.

During the meeting, Lumpkin emphasized the need for the quick transfer to Bihar farmers of technologies such as direct-seeded rice and zero-tilled wheat, to reduce production costs and labor and energy use.

Direct seeding of rice eliminates the need for transplanting seedlings from bund nurseries, and sowing wheat with zero tillage allows earlier planting so the crop can mature and fill grain before pre- monsoon high temperatures.

Lumpkin highlighted BISA’s critical capacity-building role, to support farmers and extension workers who test and promote innovative agriculture technologies.

Government representatives from Bihar included Shri Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary to the chief minister; Shri Tripurari Sharan, principal secretary of agriculture; Shri Dharmendra Singh, director of agriculture; and Shri Gopal Singh, officer on special duty to the chief minister. CIMMYT and BISA attendees included John Snape, CIMMYT board chair; Hari Shanker Gupta, BISA Director General; Nicolle Birrell, CIMMYT board member; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT director of research- South Asia; M.L. Jat and Raj Kumar Jat, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomists; and Kumar Ashwani Yadav, senior advisor for India country relations.

From left to right: Raj Kumar Jat, Hari Shanker Gupta, Nicolle Birrell, Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, Thomas A. Lumpkin, Etienne Duveiller and M.L. Jat. Photo: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT

Myanmar and CIMMYT assess needs and joint maize and wheat research

Written by on February 23, 2015. Posted in News.

Aye Aye Win, Senior Researcher at Zaloke Research Farm in Mongwa, was the last CIMMYT GWP trainee from Myanmar in Mexico (2002) and is currently the only wheat breeder in the country. Photos: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT

Given growing demand for maize and wheat in Myanmar and the increasing challenges to produce both crops, officials of the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s (MOAI) Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) and CIMMYT representatives met at DAR headquarters at Yezin during 24-27 January, to strengthen collaboration, with a focus on increasing farm productivity and training a new generation of Myanmar scientists.

Maize area, output and demand are growing with increased use of the grain in poultry and livestock feeds. Nine-tenths of the 450,000-hectare (ha) national maize area is rain-fed and grown with few inputs. It suffers from erratic precipitation among other things. Nearly one-third is sown to hybrid seed imported from Thailand. Small- and medium-scale local seed producers need stimulation and support.

Wheat is important for subsistence farmers in the eastern hills but also to meet the rising demand of a growing population with more urban inhabitants. National consumption yearly exceeds 0.5 million tons, only 0.18 million of which is produced in Myanmar (the rest is imported from Australia). Yields are low due to lack of inputs or new seed varieties. Farmers particularly need heat tolerant, rust resistant wheat varieties and resource-conserving cropping technologies.

CIMMYT germplasm and other support are crucial for both crops in the country, but interactions have grown less frequent. The last Myanmar maize researcher to participate in training courses in Mexico came in 1999; the last wheat trainee, in 2002.

Participating in discussions were Dr. Tin Htut, director general, MOAI Department of Agricultural Planning, and DAR senior staff including Dr. Ye Tint Tun, DAR director general and U. Thant Lwin Oo, director for Maize & Other Cereals, Oil Seeds and Legumes.

CIMMYT was represented by Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general; Etienne Duveiller, regional representative for Asia; and administrative assistant Fabiola Meza. In addition to taking part in high-level discussions, they visited Dr. Win Win New, Director of the Aung Ban Agricultural Research Farm and Maize Breeder who conducts maize and wheat trials in southern Shan State and accompanied the team for field tours.

Collaboration discussion with DAR officials in Yezin.

These interactions grew out of visits in 2014 to Myanmar by Duveiller and Dan Jeffers, a CIMMYT maize breeder based in Yunnan, China.

Opportunities to address Myanmar’s concerns include regional collaboration with CIMMYT maize research in Yunnan and Hyderabad and training at BISA farms in India, for conservation agriculture and small-scale mechanization. CIMMYT and DAR are developing an agreement to facilitate collaboration.

Two-wheel tractors to increase smallholder farm power in Ethiopia

Written by on February 19, 2015. Posted in Blogs.

For Ethiopian smallholder farmers who have for millennia used the traditional animal-drawn maresha plow, two-wheel tractors could increase their productivity while reducing labor. They appear better suited to the Highlands of Ethiopia, characterized by small, fragmented farms and hilly terrain, than four-wheel tractors, which are only well-suited for large- and medium-scale farmers who comprise about 10% of the country’s estimated 14.7 million farmers. Two-wheel tractors are also very versatile and can be used for seeding, pumping water, threshing wheat and transporting heavy loads.

Service providers from three Africa RISING program sites being trained in the operation, maintenance, business, financial management and marketing of two-wheel tractors. Photo: Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT

Although two-wheel tractors and their attachments are relatively cheap (about US $1,400) and easy to maintain, it is evident that most Ethiopian farmers won’t be able to purchase them individually. Still, they could hire the services of dedicated providers trained to use two-wheel tractors. To make mechanization accessible to smallholder farmers, on 1-5 June 2015 CIMMYT and its partners organized a training course for service providers from Debre Birhan, Sinana and Lemo woredas (districts). They were trained in the operation, maintenance, business, financial management and marketing of two-wheel tractors.

The service model being tested by CIMMYT and its partners has been adopted in Bangladesh, where a single two-wheel tractor can service up to 30 farmers. The initiative to disseminate two-wheel tractors in the Highlands of Ethiopia is supported by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program. After the course, trainees returned to their respective areas equipped with two-wheel tractors and various attachments, to start providing seeding, transport and water pumping services to local farmers.

Since the Growth and Transformation Plan was established by the Government of Ethiopia in 2011, tremendous progress has been made in the agricultural sector. Farmers now have access to better seeds and adequate quantities of fertilizer. Yields have increased dramatically, and improved connections between farmers and markets mean higher incomes for farmers and more food available for consumers in both rural and urban areas.

Sustaining such an increase in agricultural output, however, will require a proportionate increase in farm power. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency developed a draft national mechanization strategy in 2014, with the goal of increasing the farm power available to Ethiopian farmers 10-fold by 2025.

Zero tillage for smallholder wheat farmers in Balochistan, Pakistan

Written by on February 10, 2015. Posted in News.

Participants in zero tillage wheat field. Photos: Naveed Ahmed Sheikh from Balochistan.

Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan and in collaboration with Balochistan Agriculture Research, CIMMYT has begun testing and spreading with farmers the practice known as “zero tillage” to sow wheat in Balochistan, a province in southwest Pakistan that accounts for more than 40 percent of the country’s land area but only five percent of the population.

Jaffarabad and Nasirabad are major rice- and wheat-growing districts in Balochistan. The predominant cropping systems are either fallow or rice, followed by a crop of wheat. Soils after rice are poorly-drained and hamper tilling for wheat, so wheat is not sown soon enough to avoid the high temperatures that arrive in spring, when the crop is filling grain. This seriously reduces yields.

Participants in field day at Usta Muhammad.

On 10 January, more than 100 participants gathered for a field day organized by AIP in Balochistan province to promote zero tillage for wheat. Involving the direct sowing of wheat seed into residues of the preceding rice crop, with no plowing, the practice has multiple benefits for farmers, soils and water use. These include more timely wheat planting, reduced land preparation costs, higher wheat yields and increased cropping system intensity (hence, productivity), according to agricultural experts Mr. Asmatullah Taran and Mr. Mehdi Hassan.

Intended for smallholder farmers, the event also drew progressive farmers, agricultural extension specialists and researchers from the Directorate of Agriculture Research Usta Muhammad Farm, Jaffarabad District, as well as renowned parliamentarians Mr. Khan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali and Mr. Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali, Speaker, Balochistan Provincial Assembly.

Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali addressing the farmers.

Dr. Muhammad Javaid Tareen, Director General of Balochistan Agriculture Research, praised AIP and partners’ efforts to promote conservation agriculture practices such as zero tillage, said the practices would improve farmers’ livelihoods in the Nasirabad Zone and called on scientists to address the Province’s crop productivity constraints. Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali, former Federal Minister for Science & Technology, said that agricultural research must address small farmers’ concerns and provide new techniques to the farming community.

Mr. Jamali was grateful for the efforts of USAID and CIMMYT to improve smallholder famers’ incomes and assured the farmers and agricultural professionals that efforts would be made to improve research facilities and access to new technologies in Balochistan.

Pakistan wheat farmers call for quality seed of the right varieties

Written by Mike Listman on February 10, 2015. Posted in Features.

A Pakistani farmer carries seed of a new wheat variety for on-farm testing. Photo: Anju Joshi/CIMMYT

Lack of good seed of appropriate varieties is holding back harvests of smallholder wheat farmers in rugged, rain-fed areas of Punjab, Pakistan, said a group of farmers to some 50 representatives of seed companies, input dealers, and research, extension and development organizations, at a workshop in Chakwal, Punjab, on 18 September 2014.

“Ninety-five percent of farmers in Pothwar, a semi-arid region of bare and broken terrain, use farm-saved seed of obsolete varieties, invariably with limited use of modern agricultural technologies and inputs, resulting in poor crop establishment and low yields,” said Krishna Dev Joshi, CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist based in Pakistan. “Their yields average only 0.6 tons per hectare, whereas progressive farmers in irrigated areas get ten times that much.”

Joshi said only three varieties cover 83 percent of the region’s wheat area and the same cultivars have been used for an average of 24 years. “One of these, C591, is a variety that was recommended in 1934 and is still grown on about 14 percent of the region’s nearly 0.6 million hectares of wheat area.”

According to Akhlaq Hussain, ex-Director General, Pakistan Department of Federal Seed Certification and Registration, one problem is that, despite their low yields, the older varieties have many traits that the farmers like. For example, they give stable yields under low inputs and harsh growing conditions and provide the preferred flavor and long-lasting good texture in chapattis.

Muhammad Tariq, Director of the Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Chakwal, Punjab, said there are few producers or suppliers of suitable, quality seed, fertilizer or other farm inputs for such marginal areas. They may be considered unattractive markets, but more than 70 percent of Pakistani wheat farmers are smallholders, cultivating between one and five hectares of land, according to Tariq.

Such farmers harvest on average only 1.5 tons per hectare and urgently need better seed and technology to raise their yields, said Joshi. “Farmers at the workshop complained they could not get access to high-yielding varieties of their choice,” he explained. “They also criticized the long time — typically three years — required to obtain seed of new varieties, once the varieties are officially released.”

Given this need and the lack of legitimate suppliers, fraudulent seed dealers and middlemen often market inferior or false products. “Last year I bought a bag of seed labelled ‘Galaxy,’ a new, high-yielding variety,” said Haji Muhammad Aslam Ochallee, a farmer from Khushab District, “but the seed inside was of an entirely different variety.”

Some seed dealers may mix seed or sell grain in bags labelled ‘certified seed’ at low prices to lure smallholders, and big landlords may sell cheap seed illegally to neighbors, said Qaiser Rasheed, Managing Director of the company Robert Cotton Association. “All these practices cheat farmers, distort markets and erode farmers’ trust in the formal seed sector,” Rasheed observed.

Pothwar’s problems reflect Pakistan’s overall food security challenge, according to Joshi. “A 2014 bulletin by the World Food Program shows that more than 27 million people in Pakistan are highly-to-severely food insecure,” he said. “The big concern is that most smallholders and vulnerable people live in districts that will need special attention to improve food security.”

Activating the Wheat Seed Value Chain

As a part of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, a project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), CIMMYT is working with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), BARI in Punjab, seed companies and farmers to close gaps in the wheat seed value chain for rain-fed Punjab.

Workshop participants cited the need for better communication and coordination of research and extension agencies with commercial input suppliers sector and, especially, better marketing of new wheat varieties to farmers. “If stakeholders don’t integrate and coordinate, small-scale farmers will remain deprived of modern technologies and innovations, such as wheat varieties that resist new and virulent disease strains,” said Joshi.

“If stakeholders don’t integrate and coordinate, small-scale farmers will remain deprived of modern technologies and innovations, such as wheat varieties that resist new and virulent disease strains”

– Krishna Dev Joshi

CIMMYT Wheat Improvement Specialist

Farmers recommended establishing village committees to choose and access seed of new varieties and help foster truth in labeling. They particularly called for strict punishment for those selling fake seed.

For their part, seed companies said the lack of reliable irrigation or storage facilities hinders seed production in Pothwar. “Because of this, seed must be transported over long distances, raising costs, which in turn discourages buyers and cuts profits,” said one company representative.

The workshop forged an agreement to allow private seed companies to produce pre-basic and basic seed, supervised by concerned breeders and with support from Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, to speed the marketing of new varieties. One result was that Robert Cotton Association has received pre-basic and basic seeds of two wheat varieties, Chakwal50 and Dharabi11, originally developed and released by BARI, which will provide technical backstopping.

Other action points agreed on at the workshop included the following:

On-farm trials and demonstrations that allow farmers to learn about and choose from new, high-yielding wheat varieties. To address this, AIP-wheat has already launched participatory varietal selection trials in which farmers and researchers jointly evaluate 14 new, high-yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties of diverse genetic backgrounds on the farms of 65 smallholders across Pothwar. In addition, to help farmers assess and improve crop management practices, the project is conducting 20 on-farm, participatory experiments on fertilizer use and 107 trials on pre-soaking seed, a practice that improves germination and crop establishment.
Community-based seed production linked with private companies and supported by proper equipment and training in quality seed production. Achievements to date include seed of 9 new varieties being multiplied directly with 52 Pothwar farmers on more than 42 hectares.
Group. Photo: CIMMYT

Letter from the field

Written by on February 9, 2015. Posted in Features.

World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan Intern Describes Experience with CIMMYT in Turkey

The prestigious Borlaug-Ruan International Internship provides high school students an all-expenses-paid, eight-week hands-on experience, working with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading international research centers.

Adam Willman, a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern from Iowa, USA, spent last summer working for CIMMYT’s Soil Borne Pathogens (SBP) Division in Eskişehir, Turkey, working and studying root lesion nematodes under Dr. Abdelfattah “Amer” Dababat and Dr. Gül Erginbas Orakcı.

Willman said “Everyone I worked with had something different and interesting to teach me. I experienced a wide variety of the work that is ongoing at CIMMYT-Turkey. These experiments focused on the overall goals of reducing food loss from disease and pests that can plague farm fields across the globe.”

Willman’s work also included assisting Elfinesh Shikur Gebremariam from Ankara University with Fusarium fungus, Fateh Toumi from Ghent University and Jiang Kuan Cui from China’s Ministry of Agriculture with cereal cyst nematodes. “I was exposed to both the threat that plant diseases pose to food security and the cutting-edge research to combat this” he added.

Willman also commented on the unique opportunity to experience Turkey’s people and culture, saying “I witnessed the amazing kindness, generosity and hospitality of everyone from the director of the research institute, to CIMMYT researchers and workers, to everyday strangers. I am very thankful for my time and experience at CIMMYT-Turkey.”

In a final message he thanked Dr. Dababat, Dr. Erginbas and all of the workers and researchers at SBP.

“Working with SBP for eight weeks truly changed my life and gave me the perspective on my education that I am still utilizing today. I hope to in the future become a plant pathologist and continue researching the many diseases and pests that affect the crops that we, as a planet, depend on. Global food security is within reach, and the scientists and workers at SBP are helping us obtain this goal,” Willman concluded.

Adam Willman (5th from the left) with the SBP pathogens division, students, visitors and Global Wheat Program Director Dr. Hans Braun during a field day in Eskişehir. This photo was taken in the field of the Transitional Zone Agriculture Research Institute (TZARI) in Eskisehir, Turkey.

The International Maize Improvement Consortium for Asia (IMIC-Asia): partnership for targeted impacts

Written by on February 4, 2015. Posted in News.

This is business unusual. IMIC-Asia is a partnership of over 40 institutions (seed companies, national programs and foundations) formed by CIMMYT to develop and share improved maize inbreds and hybrids for targeted impacts on the hybrid maize scenario in Asia. This is all done through a shared research investment. Modelled on ICRISAT’s successful consortium on pearl millet, IMIC-Asia, which was established in 2010, has so far developed and distributed over 1,500 improved inbred lines developed by CIMMYT to members for use in new inbred line development or in heterotic hybrid combinations of the partners. IMIC germplasm incorporates trait priorities jointly identified by members while still maintaining the typical vast genetic diversity of CIMMYT germplasm. Through the germplasm selected at field days, members have also sampled the diversity in terms of tolerance to major abiotic stresses (drought and heat) and biotic stresses, a key strength in CIMMYT’s tropical maize germplasm base.

Whether it is training on maize breeding, field based phenotyping for abiotic stresses, statistical and genomic data management imparted through this consortium or evaluation of pre-release hybrid combinations of partners, IMIC-Asia has added value to the research portfolio of member companies. The consortium members helped in establishing a strong collaborative testing network for identifying best-bet pre-release products, which now serves as a precursor for such products to be further evaluated at the national or state level as a part of the varietal release process. CIMMYT hybrid combinations are in the process of being allocated to interested members, especially small and medium enterprises for commercialization and deployment. In 2014 alone, 10 new members were inducted into IMIC-Asia.

Riding on this success, the consortium will be entering its second phase in mid-2015, all with renewed vigor, member strength and innovative research ideas/activities.

For membership in IMIC-Asia or for more details, please contact: BS Vivek (bvivek@cgiar.org) or AR Sadananda (a.r.sadananda@cgiar.org), CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India.

The perilous life of aphids fascinates South Asian crop scientists

Written by Mike Listman on January 27, 2015. Posted in News.

The wheat plant protection group attend interactive group meeting at IIWBR, Karnal, India. Photo: CIMMYT

Among the world’s most destructive and hated crop pests, the sap-sucking insects known as aphids are engaged in dramatic evolutionary battles with predators that include wasps whose larvae hatch and pupate in aphid bodies, devouring them from inside.

Rather than a new science fiction/horror film, this scenario is actually the basis for innovative pest control, as described by topic experts at two presentations of their interactive program “Aphids and their biological control on wheat, barley and maize” for wheat scientists in India and Nepal on 24 and 26 November 2014.

“The 34 participants, including 26 in Nepal and 8 in India, heard short lectures on maize and wheat aphids and other insect pests, followed by videos on aphid biology and their biological control,” said Arun Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder based in Nepal who helped organize the programs, in conjunction with the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barely Research (IIWBR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Karnal and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). “They learned about the special traits of the biological control agents that can be used in South Asia, as well as how to rear and spread them in crop fields, with the idea of training farmers in these skills.”

The main presenter, Prof. Urs Wyss, Institute of Phytopathology, University of Kiel, Germany, has produced over 70 films on insect pest biology and bio-control. Prof. Chandra Prakash Srivastava, Head, Department of Entomology, Banaras Hindu University, India, spoke to both groups about maize and wheat insect pests and their management.

“This is the first program on wheat insect pest management and biological control at IIWBR (former DWR, Karnal) in two decades,” said Dr. Indu Sharma, IIWBR project director. Joshi said that NARC colleagues made similar comments in praise of the program.

The training program was organized in response to mounting evidence of crop damage from aphids in Peninsular and northwestern India and the Terai and Midhills of Nepal. It was conducted at IIWBR, Karnal, through Dr. Indu Sharma and Dr. M.S. Saharan and in Nepal through Dr. Yagya Prasad Giri, Head, Entomology, NARC.

Other institutions represented in India included:

Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and
Technology, Kanpu.
Agriculture Research Station, Niphad, Maharashtra.
Agriculture Research Station, Durgapura, Rajasthan.
Centre of Excellence for Research on Wheat, S.D.
Agriculture University, Vijapur, Gujrat.
Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.
G.B. Pant Univ. of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar.
Assam Agricultural University, Shillongani, Nagoan.
Uttar Banga Agriculture University, West Bengal.

In Nepal participants came from:

The Department of Entomology, National Agriculture
Research Institute, Khumaltar.
National Wheat Research Program (NWRP),
Bhairahwa.
National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram presented with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2015 Award, the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians

Written by on January 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is pictured on the far right, with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in the center of photo.

On 9 January 2015, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, the India-born plant scientist who led wheat breeding research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) based in Mexico for more than three decades, received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award in Gandhinagar, India. The award, presented by Honorable H.E. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India, is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians.

India’s Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, praised the diaspora for putting India on the global map. “The whole world admires the Indian community not due to the money but the values they live with,” he said.

The event marks the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa. Only one other Mexican citizen of Indian ancestry received the award in the past decade: Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi, who received the award for his contributions to literature in 2013.

The Union Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh attended the event. He praised the contributions of the Indian diaspora at the award celebration, saying India is proud of them and they are an example of India’s indomitable spirit.

Last year, Dr. Rajaram received the World Food Prize for his contribution in increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tons in the years following the Green Revolution. His improved varieties increased the yield potential of wheat by 20 to 25 percent. Today, Rajaram’s wheats are grown on some 58 million hectares worldwide.

Dr. Rajaram is renowned for his generosity in sharing his expertise to support research and the development of technologies that have improved food security in India and globally. His accomplishments include training or mentoring more than 700 scientists from dozens of developing countries. This enabled Indian farmers to grow improved wheat varieties on some 8 million hectares, including India’s most popular wheat variety, PBW 343. He also led CIMMYT efforts to apply the concept of durable resistance to rust–the most damaging wheat disease worldwide

Pakistan marks Borlaug’s 100th birthday with commemorative stamp

Written by Mike Listman on January 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Pakistan’s National Philatelic Bureau issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor the 100th birthday, last 25 March, of late wheat scientist and Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.

Pakistani researchers and policymakers were instrumental to the work of Borlaug and the Green Revolution in South Asia, said Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT wheat scientist and country representative in Pakistan, speaking at a 22 December unveiling ceremony.

Mr. Sikhandar Hayat Khan Bossan, Federal Minister for Food Security and Research, Pakistan, unveils a new stamp to commemorate the 100th birthday in 2014 of late wheat scientist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. Photo: Amina Khan/CIMMYT

Pakistan breeders have sown and returned data on CIMMYT international maize and wheat trials for more than four decades, and over 150 Pakistani wheat specialists have participated in training courses at CIMMYT.

Held at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, the unveiling was organized by CIMMYT, the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and drew more than 50 participants, including agricultural scientists, media representatives and staff of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR).

The Federal Minister for Food Security and Research, Mr. Sikhandar Hayat Khan Bossan, formally unveiled the stamp. Speakers included Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Chairman of PARC, Dr. Shahid Masood, PARC plant scientist,and Mr. Seerat Asghar, Federal Secretary for National Food Security and Research. Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, and Ronnie Coffman, vice-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), addressed the audience through video messages.

Through a personal message read during the ceremony, Jeanie Borlaug Laube, daughter of Norman Borlaug and BGRI chair, thanked the Pakistan government. “I know my father would be very proud to be on a stamp in Pakistan,” she said.

Tottori University students visit CIMMYT

Written by on January 2, 2015. Posted in News.

Masahiro Kishii of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program gives students a tour of the Wellhousen-Anderson Genetic Resources Center. Photos: Xochiquetzal Fonseca

A group of 16 undergraduate students and three professors from the University of Tottori, Japan, visited CIMMYT on 26 November. The visit was the last stop of a three-month study visit to Mexico, which also included visits to the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) and the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste S.C. (CIBNOR).

Jelle Van Loon, leader of smart mechanization for CIMMYT’s conservation agriculture program in Mexico, teaches students about machinery development.

The students began their visit with an overview of CIMMYT from Isabel Peña, Head of Institutional Relations-Latin America, followed by a meeting with Dr. Masahiro Kishii, a Japanese scientist formerly of Tottori University who now works in wheat cytogenetics in CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program. The group was then given a tour of the Wellhousen-Anderson Genetic Resources Center and the labs of the Biosciences Complex.

The day concluded with a visit to the Global Conservation Agriculture Program’s D5 demonstration plot, where the students learned about developments in machinery and post-harvest technology.

Isabel Peña, Head of Institutional Relations-Latin America, welcomes students to CIMMYT.

Pakistan: maize needed for marginal areas

Written by on December 26, 2014. Posted in News.

Farmers in the farthest reaches of Pakistan need access to white- grained maize, according to Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC). “There is a good progress in the productivity of yellow maize varieties in the areas of Punjab and KPK provinces,” Ahmad said, “but we need white maize varieties to reach farmers in the marginal areas of KPK, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan provinces.”

From left to right: Shahid Masood, Md. Imtiaz, Iftikhar Ahmad and AbduRahman Beshir.

Speaking at the first National Maize Workshop-Annual Progress Review of Pakistan, held in Islamabad during 19-20 November, Ahmad also mentioned the importance of public-private partnerships to reduce the cost to farmers of hybrid seed, which is more expensive in Pakistan than elsewhere in South Asia.

There is good progress in the productivity of yellow maize varieties in the areas of Punjab and KPK provinces, but we need white maize varieties to reach farmers in the marginal areas of KPK, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan provinces.” –Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).

Dr. Beshir explains the traits of yellow maize at NARC, Islamabad.

Jointly organized by PARC and CIMMYT, the workshop was an activity of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan and its 50 participants represented public and private maize research and development institutions, local and multinational seed companies, higher learning institutions, and departments of extension and food processors from all provinces of Pakistan.

Dr. Md. Imtiaz, project leader of AIP, highlighted the role of CIMMYT in enhancing local capacity and requested the full collaboration of national institutions.

During the concluding session, Dr. Shahid Masood, Member of Plant Science and AIP focal person at PARC, mentioned the importance of deploying biofortified and specialty maize, providing farmers with agronomy training, diversifying maize uses and developing and deploying dual purpose maize for food and feed.

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, PARC Chairman, addresses participants.

The workshop was followed by a field visit to the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), where participants saw the performance of AIP-maize varieties and lines from CIMMYT breeding programs in Colombia, Mexico and Zimbabwe.

AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT maize improvement and seed systems specialists, said the event helped to define shared objectives for AIP-maize partners and a common goal to work towards and helped CIMMYT to reactivate maize research and development activities in Pakistan. Finally, partners discussed “seed road maps” that describe and illustrate varietal release pathways and seed production targets.

Reaching out to smallholder farmers in Pakistan

Written by on December 16, 2014. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT entered an important new partnership with Pakistan’s National Rural Support Program (NRSP) on 7 November 2014 for wheat varietal evaluation, promotion and deployment, as well as on-farm agronomic interventions and community-based seed production enterprises.

A not-for-profit development organization established in 1991 that fosters a countrywide network of more than 200,000 grassroots organizations across 56 districts, NRSP enables rural communities to plan, implement and manage development programs for employment, poverty alleviation and improved quality of life. Through direct linkages with some 400,000 smallholder farming families, the organization will help extend the reach of the CIMMYT- led Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP), according to Dr. Rashid Bajwa, chief executive officer of NRSP. “We can now jointly scale out to a vast number of smallholders with average daily earnings of less than two dollars a day,” Bajwa said, mentioning the organization’s activities like microfinance enterprise development.

The work of Pakistan’s National Rural Support Program benefits millions of small-scale farmers and landless families. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT.

Aiming to benefit the disadvantaged

The partnership paves the way for a new and different kind of innovation platform focusing on smallholders, tenants and the landless, female-headed households and vulnerable groups such as flood victims, said Muhammad Imtiaz, CIMMYT liaison officer for Pakistan and AIP Chief of Party: “This will contribute directly to the Center’s mission of improving the food security and resilience of those most at risk, not to mention opening avenues for other AIP partners to join hands in testing and promoting appropriate agricultural innovations.”

Taking advantage of NRSP’s gender-responsive approach, the partnership will work directly with and seek to empower women farmers, identifying wheat varieties and technologies that help increase their food security and incomes. Work will identify, test and deploy high-yielding and rust resistant wheat varieties across 23 districts and include improved farming practices for diverse settings from rain-fed to fully-irrigated.

A major focus will be to develop community-based seed enterprises linked with NRSP, small seed companies, farmer associations and seed regulatory bodies, serving remote villages that have heretofore lacked access to improved varieties.

“This will contribute directly to the Center’s mission of improving the food security and resilience of those most at risk” –Muhammad Imtiaz CIMMYT liaison officer for Pakistan and AIP Chief of Party

A group photo was taken at the NRSP inception meeting and staff training. Photo: Raja Zulfiqar Ali.

Getting Off on the Right Foot

A partnership inception meeting and staff training for NRSP were organized on 10 November in Islamabad, with 32 participants from NRSP and 11 from CIMMYT, including senior management from both the organizations, and with Malik Fateh Khan, NRSP Regional Manager, providing a welcome address.

Imtiaz Hussain, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, highlighted conservation agriculture technologies and their relevance for the partnership. Krishna Dev Joshi, CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist, discussed various types of varietal testing, including participatory varietal selection, mother-baby trials and on-farm demonstrations, to creating awareness and demand for improved seed among farmers. Three CIMMYT colleagues who also spoke at the event were: Shamim Akhter, AIP project manager; Amina Nasim Khan, communications specialist; and Ghazi Kamal, monitoring and evaluation specialist.

Highlights of the 12th Asian Maize Conference

Written by on November 27, 2014. Posted in News.

The 12th Asian Maize Conference and Expert Consultation on “Maize for Food, Feed, Nutrition and Environmental Security” convened in Bangkok, Thailand from 31 October to 1 November 2014.

Organized by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), CIMMYT, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Thai Department of Agriculture (DoA), the Conference brought together around 350 researchers, policy-makers, service providers, innovative farmers and representatives of various organizations from across the public and private sector.

All photos: APAARI

Maize scientist Dr. Saira Bano from Pakistan is presented an award for best poster by Dr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director General of FAO RAP	Dr. B.M. Prasanna, Director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Progam, receives a plaque of appreciation from FAO and APAARI for his contributions to the successful organization of the conference and for strengthening regional maize research and development partnerships.
Dr. Tom Lupkin, CIMMYT Director General, with participants Dr. H.S. Gupta, director general of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and Dr. H.S. Sidhu, Senior Research Engineer, CIMMYT India.	Participants and poster presenters from India, S.V. Manjunatha, M.G. Mallikarjuna and S. Hooda Karambir.
Dr. Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA Project Leader, presents on sustainable intensification of maize-based systems.	Dr. Mark Holderness, the Executive Secretary of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), asks a question.