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.

Dual-purpose maize could reduce fodder shortages in India

Written by on November 26, 2013. Posted in News.

Maize stover is dumped in a field for use as a cooking fuel.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Maize stover – the part of the crop left over after grain harvest – provides a promising option for feeding livestock in India, according to research by CIMMYT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Now, the two organizations are working together to select and breed dual-purpose maize varieties optimized for both grain and stover production.

Maize production is rapidly increasing in India, largely due to the growing poultry industry, and is replacing crops such as rice, sorghum, legumes and wheat in some areas, said CIMMYT maize breeder P.H. Zaidi, who is helping lead research on the topic. To be sustainable, the crop must be able to produce a high grain yield and quality stover as fodder for domestic and commercial use. “Dual-purpose maize is needed to meet both the poultry industry demand for grain and the demand for good quality stover to feed cattle,” Zaidi said. In India, maize is largely treated as a single-purpose crop grown for grain, ignoring its potential for stover.

Maize-stover-roughly-chopped-and-spread-in-the-field-as-residue

CIMMYT has been studying the possibility of dual-purpose maize for the past several years. In 2009, a focused study began in collaboration with ILRI under the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project and continued with support from the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. Maize stover is underutilized in India, Zaidi said. Though sorghum stover is more commonly used in the region, steers fed maize stover gained similar amounts of weight, according to recent ILRI research. “Contrary to widespread perceptions among farmer and fodder traders, quality stover from superior dual-purpose maize varieties can replace sorghum stover in dairy production in India,” said Michael Blümmel, operating project leader for ILRI. “It decreases the feeding cost substantially.”

Processed stover can be used as fodder for dairy cattle. Photos: P.H. Zaidi

CIMMYT and ILRI already know that increasing the use of maize stover as animal fodder in India could “mitigate fodder shortages and halt increasing fodder costs,” according to this September blog post by Zaidi. The study on stover quality in commercial maize hybrids found variability but that “stover from some high-yielding popular (maize) hybrids is on par with or even better than the best sorghum stover traded.” “From a breeding standpoint, the major challenge with dual-purpose maize is to keep high yields,” Zaidi said. “In terms of increasing use, the major challenge is changing the negative perception and assumption that maize fodder is inferior to that of sorghum, which is not true.”

Dairy cattle eat processed maize stover in India. Photos: P.H. Zaidi

To address these challenges, CIMMYT and ILRI organized a workshop on dual-purpose maize at the International Crops Research. Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Hyderabad, India, on 22 October. Participants came from the Directorate of Maize Research, the Sehgal Foundation and seed companies, including Godrej AgroTech, Limagrain Bioseed, Pioneer Hi- Bred and VNR Seeds. O.P. Yadav, project director of the Directorate of Maize Research in New Delhi, said he expected to gain “new insights into the needs and opportunities for including maize stover traits into the All India Coordinated Maize Program (AICMP).”

Unprocessd maize stover given to cattle, which is largley wasted. Photos: P.H. Zaidi

Presentations covered the available variations of dual-purpose traits in pipeline maize hybrids, targeted genetic enhancement for developing dual-purpose cultivars, association mapping to identify genomic regions related to maize quality and the economic impact of improved maize stover feed. Genomics-assisted breeding could be a useful for breeding dualpurpose maize and ILRI and CIMMYT developed a genomics selection-based 2014 work plan.

As part of the priorities defined in the workshop, CIMMYT, ILRI, AICMP and the private sector will work together to research pipeline hybrids and analyze the most popular released hybrids for feedfood- fodder traits. Participants also said targeted genetic enhancement should continue to generate superior food, feed and fodder traits for hybrids. The organizations will work to determine the importance farmers place on grain and stover traits, Blümmel said. Crop scientists, livestock scientists and key actors in fodder value chains such as farmers, fodder traders and middlemen, feed processors, dairy producers and seed enterprises all need to be involved in crop improvement for dual-purpose maize, he said.

For further reading: Potential for dual-purpose maize varieties to meet changing maize

demands

Project tests new ways to deliver climate messages to farmers’ cell phones

Written by on November 25, 2013. Posted in News.

By Surabhi Mittal/CIMMYT and Dharini Parthasarathy/CCAFS South Asia

Farmers in India are now participating in a new project which aims to tailor phone messages to farmers' real needs with the hope of real impact on their crop yields. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT — Farmers in India are now participating in a new project which aims to tailor phone messages to farmers’ real needs with the hope of real impact on their crop yields. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT

This blog post was originally posted by CCAFS here.

What kind of voice-based messaging service will farmers pay for? An eight-month pilot study by CCAFS and CIMMYT is working with farmers in India to find out.
One of the big questions that should be exercising minds at the current Climate Talks in Poland is how smallholder farmers can better manage climate risks. One solution that has been discussed at length – and tried widely – is using mobile phones to deliver climate-related information to farmers; it is seen as being an efficient, cost-effective and quick way to get targeted messages to large audiences such as smallholder farmers.

But are the gains from this type of information dissemination as obvious as they appear?
Does writing or recording a message, punching in a number and pressing send really transform farmers’ abilities to cope with erratic weather events or their willingness to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices?

Read the full post here.

Researchers receive fellowships

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

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

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

Conservation agriculture machines brought to Afghanistan

Written by on November 19, 2013. Posted in News.

CIMMYT is taking the next step in bringing Afghanistan a much-needed intervention to improve wheat research and production, an official for the country said at a meeting last month. With support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), CIMMYT-Afghanistan held the “Conservation Agriculture: Concept and Application” training event in Kabul from 28 to 29 October.

Thirty-five participants from the Afghanistan Agricultural Extension Project (AAEP), the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), CIMMYT, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Kabul University and other stakeholder organizations attended the program. Wheat accounts for 60 percent of an average Afghan’s caloric intake, but domestic wheat production falls short of the country’s needs. This happens in part because more than half of Afghanistan’s wheat is rainfed, but rainfall is often scarce and irregular in those areas. Moreover, wheat is often the sole crop for those farmers, making them food-insecure and economically vulnerable.

“Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes reducing or eliminating traditional tillage, keeping crop residues on the soil and using intercropping or crop rotations,” said Rajiv Sharma, senior scientist and country liaison officer for CIMMYT-Afghanistan. “Its benefits include saving resources like time, labor and fuel, as well as reducing farmers’ risk, promoting diversified cropping and more effectively capturing and retaining rainfall in the soil.”

In his inaugural speech, Mir Aminullah Haidari, deputy minister for technical affairs for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), congratulated CIMMYT for its work in support of the country’s wheat research and production. Mohammad Qasem Obaidi, director of ARIA, welcomed the participants and thanked CIMMYT for organizing the training. Sharma said he hoped ARIACIMMYT would use the 2013-14 season to experiment with conservation agriculture interventions throughout Afghanistan.

Harminder Singh Sidhu, senior research engineer for CIMMYT, introduced the participants to different types of conservation machines available and used globally, which were imported by CIMMYT for the event. Attendees watched field demonstrations of two- and four-wheel zero tillage seed drills, raised bed planters and two-wheel tractors. H.S. Jat, CIMMYT agronomist, introduced conservation agriculture concepts, principles and procedures. He later helped wheat agronomists from six ARIA stations plan conservation agriculture experiments relevant to their local conditions. Participants expressed satisfaction and were excited to try new machines and new ways of conserving resources at their experiment stations and in farmers’ fields.

Borlaug through the ages

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

Charanjit-Singh-Gill-with-photo By Patrick Wall/CIMMYT
Those who worked with Dr. Norman Borlaug are proud to show their photos with him. In Punjab, India, farmer Charanjit Singh Gill shows a photo of his father with Borlaug during a visit in the 1960s.

Below, the second photo shows a group in the Bajío, Mexico, in 1953. José Luis Huerta Torres brought the picture to a farmers’ field day organized by Hub Bajío in January 2013. Huerta was extremely happy to see CIMMYT’s presence grow in the area and wanted to show off his picture with Borlaug. The photo shows, from left to right, John Gibler, Borlaug, José Huerta Sr., John Pitner and José Huerta Jr. – all important figures in CIMMYT’s history.
Charanjit-Singh-Gill-with-photo-ByN John Gibler, like Norman Borlaug, studied under E.C. Stakman at the University of Minnesota. When he graduated with his Ph.D. in 1951, he joined Borlaug in Mexico until 1955. He then became a Rockefeller consultant and headed cereal research in Colombia and Ecuador before returning to CIMMYT as Director of Agricultural Programs in 1969. John Pitner worked with the Office of Special Studies from 1947 to 1954. CIMMYT is collecting photos of Borlaug for Borlaug100, the upcoming wheat and food security summit in March.

See the photo blog or check out the Flickr album. Submit your own photos by emailing them to Ariel Saffer (a.saffer@cgiar.org) with the subject line “Photos of Dr. Borlaug.”

Soil works as ecosystem service provider

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

By Jack McHugh/CIMMYT

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

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

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

Student reflection: my visit to CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India

Written by on November 6, 2013. Posted in Blogs.

Alex Renaud is a third-year graduate student pursuing a doctorate degree in plant breeding and genetics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.

When given the opportunity to travel to India to work on heat tolerance in maize, I leaped at the prospect. I was excited by the potential for professional development and the chance to experience a different culture. My visit was part of the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) collaborative project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development Feed the Future Initiative. The project supports graduate students in plant breeding to learn about and contribute to completing initiative objectives. HTMA is a public-private partnership (PPP) led by CIMMYT-Asia. Partners include Purdue University, Pioneer Hi-Bred and other seed companies and public sector maize programs in South Asia.

CIMMYT-Asia in Hyderabad, India, provides an ideal environment to evaluate or phenotype maize genotypes for heat stress tolerance. Temperatures regularly reach 40°C or higher and the relative humidity is usually below 30 percent during the reproductive development of maize planted during spring season. Additionally, the CIMMYT facilities in Hyderabad provided an excellent laboratory environment for testing hypotheses concerning the basis of heat stress tolerance in maize.

Having never been to India, I really enjoyed my stay in Hyderabad, from both research and cultural standpoints. I enjoyed getting to know the research scientists and technicians involved in the research project and had ample opportunities to learn in workshops, trainings, field visits and over dinner. My stay, which was longer than two months, provided me with the opportunity to build both personal and professional relationships. Anyone who has visited Hyderabad in May will understand just how hot it can be. It took time for me to adapt to the heat. As I was leaving the U.S. for India, my hometown received 300 millimeters of snow in 24 hours. During my first week in Hyderabad, the temperatures exceeded 40°C. It was quite a change.

Alex Renaud (middle) with CIMMYT-Hyderabad field staff. Photo: By Alex Renaud

In addition to taking advantage of research opportunities, I visited several interesting cultural sites, including the Taj Mahal. My favorite memories include sampling many different types of food, from Hyderabadi biryani to India’s version of Kentucky Fried Chicken; I never tried anything I did not like! As an aspiring plant breeder, this was a great experience, and I hope to continue my involvement with the PPP as it develops heat-stress-tolerant maize for South Asia.

I would like to sincerely thank Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding at Purdue University for providing me with this opportunity as well as P.H. Zaidi, senior maize physiologist at CIMMYT-Hyderabad and project leader of HTMA, and his wonderful team for everything that made my two-month stay professionally productive and personally memorable.

Scientists identify sustainable agriculture research themes in India

Written by on November 5, 2013. Posted in News.

Scientists need to capture and refine farmers’ conservation agriculture innovations. This recommendation came from the National Travelling Seminar on Conservation Agriculture held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) from 16 to 25 September. The event was jointly organized by the Natural Resource Management division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), CIMMYT and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).

The seminar evaluated existing conservation agriculture research in India to link different institutions, identify research gaps and decide on future priorities of conservation agriculture research for development. “Since the conservation agriculture principles are sitespecific, this travelling seminar gave the opportunity to various scientists from multiple disciplines and institutes to come together to discuss them onsite and harmonize the results,” said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist and coordinator of the seminar. An ICAR grant for conservation agriculture research supported the event.

M. Dadlani, joint director of research for IARI, talked about the crucial role IARI —India’s premier agricultural research institute— played in starting conservation agriculture practices. They began experimenting with conservation agriculture in 2005, and, in 2010, “conservation agriculture trials were started at its research farms under a challenge program involving many multidisciplinary scientists,” Dadlani said. H.S. Gupta, director of IARI, highlighted the need for a common, neutral platform for policy makers, researchers, private sector representatives, non-governmental organizations, CGIAR institutions and farmers to assess local and regional needs, exchange information, and define priorities for the implementation of conservation agriculture, especially for resource-poor smallholder farmers. “Mining nutrients from the soil is a major concern,” he said. “At Pusa, there has been an increase in system productivity and the length of the cropping season due to conservation agriculture adoption. These factors prompt the idea of making conservation agriculture a flagship program at IARI.”

More than 25 senior researchers from 11 ICAR institutions, state agricultural universities and CIMMYT visited conservation agriculture research platforms in different cropping systems and ecologies (irrigated, mixed and rain-fed systems) at New Delhi, Karnal, Ludhiana, Jabalpur and Patna. The scientists and farmers participated in interactive discussions. Farmers should receive a clear message from all institutions, participants said, and therefore need the convergence of investments and research. Farm innovations also need to be aligned with the latest scientific developments. “The breeders have to come out with new materials for a specific challenge,” said Alok K. Sikka, ICAR deputy director general. “Conservation agriculture goes far beyond zero-tilling and resource conservation technologies. Conservation agriculture is a package that has to be followed in a systems approach.”

Areas identified for in-depth strategic research include the study of water-nutrient and crop-livestock interactions under conservation agriculture, design and development of conservation agriculture machinery suited to different farming systems and a better understanding of weed, disease and pests in conservation agriculture conditions to hasten the development of integrated pest management strategies.

CIMMYT rebuilds partnerships in Pakistan

Written by on November 5, 2013. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT Faisalabad Office (left-right): Dr, Imtiaz Muhammed, Country Liaison Officer, CIMMYT Pakistan; Dr. Etienne Duveiller, South Asia Regional Director, CIMMYT; Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, Director General, CIMMYT; Dr. Javed Ahmad, Wheat Botanist, Wheat Research Institute WRI Faisalabad; Dr. Makhdoom Hussain, Director, Wheat Research Institute WRI Faisalabad; Mr. Abdul Hamid, CIMMYT Faisalabad; Mr. Muhammad Noor, CIMMYT Faisalabad. Photo by Miriam Shindler. — CIMMYT Faisalabad Office (left-right): Dr, Imtiaz Muhammed, Country Liaison Officer, CIMMYT Pakistan;
Dr. Etienne Duveiller, South Asia Regional Director, CIMMYT; Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, Director General,
CIMMYT; Dr. Javed Ahmad, Wheat Botanist, Wheat Research Institute WRI Faisalabad; Dr. Makhdoom
Hussain, Director, Wheat Research Institute WRI Faisalabad; Mr. Abdul Hamid, CIMMYT Faisalabad; Mr.
Muhammad Noor, CIMMYT Faisalabad. Photo by Miriam Shindler.

By Imtiaz Muhammad/CIMMYT

CIMMYT has a long history with Pakistan. The majority of wheat grown in the country is a result of their collaboration. Dr. Norman Borlaug’s principles of free germplasm exchange still support Pakistan’s national program.

In 1961, Manzoor A. Bajwa, a young Pakistani wheat scientist, arrived in Mexico to receive training in improved wheat production. While working alongside Borlaug and his team in Ciudad Obregón, Bajwa identified a medium-to-hard white grain line with a high-gluten content ideal for making good chapattis. The new variety also showed promising resistance to rust and powdery mildew. To mark this momentous collaboration, the line was named MexiPak –meaning line selection in Mexico by a Pakistani researcher.

In Pakistan, the name MexiPak is synonymous with the successes of the Green Revolution. In a recent meeting between CIMMYT and Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, the Minister for Food Security and Research, he recalled experiences in rural Punjab when he was 7 or 8 years old. One year, his father had record wheat harvests. The reason? “MexiPak,” he said. This is just one example of CIMMYT-Pakistani collaboration. The Pak-81 line, which has been released in more countries than any other wheat variety in history, was selected by a Pakistani breeder while training at CIMMYT.

Today, Pakistan faces daunting challenges due to climate change, changing diets, increasing population, groundwater depletion and growing food security concerns. The new Prime Minister and cabinet have indicated an increased interest in developing Pakistan’s agriculture sector and the country’s agricultural research abilities. In a related development, the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, recently became the top-ranked university for agricultural sciences in South Asia (NTU Rankings, 2013). CIMMYT and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) are reigniting agricultural research for development across Pakistan.

Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (WPEP) Farm Machinery Shed at the Wheat Research Institute, Faisalabad. Photo by Miriam Shindler.

Since 2010, PARC and CIMMYT have worked closely to improve agronomic practices through projects such as the Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (W-PEP) and the new Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP), a $30 million program funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The PARC complex in Islamabad houses CIMMYT offices where agronomists, breeders and socio-economic experts work to improve maize and wheat yields.

In a recent visit to Pakistan by CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin, PARC and the Pakistani government reaffirmed their commitment to establishing the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Pakistan. PARC donated land on its Islamabad campus to erect the BISA-CIMMYT headquarters in Pakistan, as well as land that will be converted into an experimental farm. The Pakistani government also asked BISA to build an experimental farm in every province. BISA will provide Pakistani researchers with the opportunity to collaborate with South Asian counterparts to increase wheat yields and develop more nutritious and heat-resistant maize. BISA is following in the steps of Borlaug in starting a second productive and sustainable Green Revolution.

Demonstration showcases maize hybrids

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

O.P. Yadav, director of the Directorate of Maize Research explains a promising hybrid to S. Ayyappan, director general of ICAR.

By O.P. Yadav/Indian Council of Agricultural Research

More than 120 researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders participated in a commercial hybrid demonstration and maize brainstorming sessions organized by the Directorate of Maize Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The National Demonstration of Maize Commercial Hybrids and sessions were held 21-22 September in New Delhi.

The event demonstrated 106 maize hybrids, including leading hybrids from the public and private sectors. Visitors included S. Ayyappan, ICAR Director General; Ashish Bahuguna, secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation for the Government of India; H.S. Gupta, director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute; B.S. Dhillon, vice chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University; J.S. Sandhu, commissioner of agriculture; R.P. Dua, assistant director general of food and fodder crops; J.S. Chauhan, assistant director general of seeds; S. Mauria, assistant director general of intellectual property & technology management; and more than 100 researchers from the national agricultural research system. P.H. Zaidi, B.S. Vivek and A.R. Sadananda from the Global Maize Program based in Hyderabad represented CIMMYT.

While visiting the demonstration, Ayyappan said he was impressed with the national maize program’s efforts to develop diverse maize hybrids that meet farmers’ needs in India’s different agro-ecological regions. He lauded the development and fine-tuning of maize production technology that has resulted in many improvements in the last decade. Bahuguna said the initiative was a unique showcase of hybrid technology that can improve farmers’ income. Providing farmers with a wide variety of hybrids can help achieve crop diversification in different regions, he noted. Bahuguna was also interested in new hybrids likely to be available to farmers in the near future.

Gupta emphasized the opportunities that exist to replace low-yielding, traditional maize varieties with hybrids, while Dhillon highlighted the importance of an effective seed production program to fully harness the hybrids’ benefits. Other topics included the objective of the demonstration and how to expand the scale of hybrid initiatives. Chauhan said the demonstration exhibited the strength of public research and development. Three brainstorming sessions – “Public-Private Partnerships,” “Trait Prioritization in Breeding” and “Improving Drought Tolerance” – followed the demonstration. They were led by S.K. Datta, deputy assistant director general for crop sciences, B.S. Dhillon and Sain Das, while Vivek and Zaidi contributed as panelists. More than 100 personnel from the public and private sectors participated. Datta underlined the role of both sectors and called upon scientists to identify areas where they can work together.

CIMMYT partner honored with agriculture prize

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

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

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

Ronnie-Coffman

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

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

Asia wheat breeders review progress and look ahead

Written by on October 25, 2013. Posted in News.

By Arun Joshi /CIMMYT

Over the past five years, more than a dozen new stress tolerant wheat varieties have become available to farmers in South Asia, through breeding research and partnerships as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), according to Arun K. Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder. Joshi said that germplasm exchange with CIMMYT had increased significantly; that most advanced breeding lines in CIMMYT trials were resistant to Ug99 stem rust and other rusts; more segregating generation lines from South Asia were being sent to Njoro, Kenya, for stem rust resistance screening; the use of physiological tools to select for heat and drought tolerance in the region had increased; links among breeders, seed producers and farmers had strengthened; and capacity building had been promoted.

Photo: Mohammad Shahin Sha Mahin for CIMMYT

These and other achievements, as well as challenges and opportunities for improvement, came to light in two recent review meetings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. From 6 to 8 October, 56 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, as well as representatives of government councils and ministries, research centers, agricultural institutes and universities, convened for CSISA’s 5th wheat breeding review meeting. Participants also attended the 2nd review and work plan meeting for the project, “Increasing the productivity of the wheat crop under conditions of rising temperatures and water scarcity in South Asia,” funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany. The meetings were organized by Joshi, team leader of the two projects in South Asia, and facilitated by CIMMYT’s Dhaka office, led by T.P. Tiwari. CIMMYT was represented in the meetings by scientists from Bangladesh, India and Nepal and a consultant from Cambridge.

The CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2012-13 wheat cycle and established work plans for the 2013-14 crop cycle. The event was inaugurated by chief guest Khalid Sultan, director of research at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), and R.P. Dua, assistant director general for the Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR). Dua praised the regional focus and presence of CSISA wheat breeding, and Sultan said “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security of the region.” Ten participating research centers presented reports and work plans.

Participants discussed how to strengthen links among wheat breeding, fast-track seed production, distribute new, improved varieties to farmers and work on conservation agriculture and participatory variety selection. Wheat breeders, pathologists, physiologists, agronomists and soil scientists attended the “Increasing the productivity of the wheat crop” meeting, which addressed project work plans and progress in breeding and agronomy.

Six Indian research centers reported on progress in evaluating more than 3,300 wheat lines screened last cycle for early sowing, as well as the 2013-14 work plan. The top 50 lines will be used to develop two trials in India: one for the northwestern plains and one for the central and peninsular zone, Joshi said. He also presented the highlights of the molecular research by Marion Roder, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany, and Susanne Dreisigacker, CIMMYT molecular breeder, in screening some 3,000 wheat lines for genes controlling vernalization and response to changes in day length.

CIMMYT and USDA support wheat improvement in Pakistan

Written by on October 11, 2013. Posted in News.

By Yahya Rauf/CIMMYT

A meeting last month highlighted the efforts of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and CIMMYT to improve wheat in the country. PARC and CIMMYT-Pakistan organized the annual wheat planning and Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (W-PEP) meeting from 17 to 18 September at the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) in Islamabad. PARC2

The meeting reviewed progress and achievements during the last three years under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded W-PEP program and refined work plans for 2013-14. The program is aimed primarily at developing wheat varieties that resist Ug99 stem rust as well as fostering seed multiplication and distribution, improved agronomic practices and human resource development in the agriculture sector to ensure food security. During the inaugural session, USDA Agriculture Counselor Clay Hamilton said the USA and Pakistan have a long history of agricultural collaboration. The U.S. will continue to provide support for wheat productivity in Pakistan, he said.

Shahid Masood, PARC scientist from the Plant Sciences Division, highlighted PARC’s role in strengthening the national and provincial agricultural research system in coordination with national and international collaborators and research partners. Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT country liaison officer for Pakistan, briefed the participants about W-PEP’s achievements during last three years and the impact of this program on the national wheat research system in rust surveillance, breeding, pre-breeding and capacity building, which led to the release of Ug-99 resistant wheat varieties like NARC-2011. National partners from all provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, presented their achievements and work plans for 2013-14. They acknowledged the role of USDA, CIMMYT and PARC in supporting wheat productivity enhancement in Pakistan.

Jharkhand tribal farmers adopt maize and conservation agriculture to battle drought

Written by on October 11, 2013. Posted in News.

Jharkhand By S.P. Poonia/CIMMYT

A CIMMYT project working in the rural districts of Jharkhand, India, is encouraging farmers to grow maize and use conservation agriculture practices to adapt to decreased rainfall and a changing climate. CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Maize-Livestock Farming Systems in Hill Areas of South Asia project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The project is working with scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendras research and extension centers (KVKs), Birsa Agricultural University, the state agricultural department and farmers to promote maize as a viable alternative to rice in stress-prone and rain-dependent districts of Jharkhand. The rural farming population is vulnerable to rainfall fluctuations and drought is recurrent in Jharkhand. Almost 90 percent of the cultivated area is monocropped (mostly with rice), and only 9 percent of the cropped area is irrigated.

The local non-governmental organization Vikash Bharti Farm Science Centre and CIMMYT organized Maize Day on 29 August in Gumla district. The event brought together 400 farmers, state agricultural department scientists, district officials and extension agents to highlight the benefits of cultivating maize, using conservation agriculture to enhance productivity. They also discussed the need for better policies. “Quality protein maize (QPM) is nutritionally superior to normal maize and provides additional dietary benefits to the tribal farmers who consume maize. It’s also a nutritious feed for poultry,” said A.K. Singh, KVKs zonal director for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

In Basuwa village in Gumla district, farmers cultivated more than 80 hectares of the QPM hybrid HQPM 1 for the first time this year and have committed to increase maize cultivation to 323 hectares next year. “Earlier, farmers in my village were interested in growing only rain-fed rice because it’s their staple food,” said Joni Uraon, head of the Basuwa village council. “But now they are very happy with maize because it is giving them higher profits.” Farmers also asked for stronger market linkages to ensure competitive prices for their produce. Panai Uraon, the Gumla district government collector, welcomed the efforts of scientists and farmers to promote maize cultivation and announced additional funds will be allocated to the Basuwa village council for agricultural development activities and to supplement local irrigation systems. Ken Sayre, who has extensive knowledge of Turkey and the region, conducted the course. He also travelled to three key research institutes in Ankara, Eskisehir and Konya prior to the workshop to see the experimental fields and discuss how to reduce variability in the fields and enhance the precision of experiments.

Pakistan program aims for agricultural innovation

Written by on October 10, 2013. Posted in News.

WPEP-AIP-meeting By Imtiaz Muhammad/CIMMYT

International and Pakistani scientists are expanding efforts to accelerate access to climate-resilient maize and rust-resistant wheat varieties in Pakistan, as well as to improve farmers’ access to quality seeds, as part of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP). Project partners discussed these priorities during a cereals and cereal systems meeting at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) in Islamabad from 29 to 30 August. AIP is a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)- funded project focusing on cereals, vegetables and livestock in Pakistan, a country challenged by rapid population growth and climate change.

CIMMYT is working with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and other partners to increase agricultural productivity and the value of agricultural commodities in the country. The program is supporting Pakistan in agricultural research for development, which includes building partnerships between research and those it serves; increasing investments; generating, sharing and making use of agricultural knowledge for development; and demonstrating and building awareness of the development impact and returns from agricultural innovation. Farmers throughout the world face similar problems from increasing production costs, fluctuating market prices, water and soil degradation and potential implications of climate change, said Ken Sayre, a CIMMYT consultant on conservation agriculture. Sayre also described the benefits of conservation agriculture crop management technologies and their main principles.

These include seeding systems that allow major reductions in tillage, retaining adequate levels of crop residues on the soil surface and using diversified crop rotations. There are many challenges AIP can address. Maize yields in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province are low due to a lack of technology. Most maize farmers in Pakistan use manual sowing, which is not cost or time-effective, and farmers need more confidence in hybrid seeds before they will pay a premium for them. Meeting participants discussed several options for commissioned projects in wheat, including rapid diffusion of high-yielding, rust-resistant wheat; introducing fungicides for wheat management; and generating a durum wheat value chain in Pakistan. Participants also discussed potential projects and goals related to climate-resilient wheat, the cultivation of durum wheat in Balochistan province, the standardization of fungicides to combat yield losses and strengthening communication.

For the rice work plan, top priority areas include developing tolerance to submergence and heat in locally adapted varieties such as super basmati, basmati 515, IR-6 and IR 9, in addition to bacterial leaf blight resistance and superior grain quality. Abdul Rehman and Surapong Sarkarung represented IRRI, where some of the activities have already begun. Priorities for the maize work plan include introducing climateresilient maize hybrids, developing biofortified maize, developing cultivars with resistance to biotic stresses and strengthening the maize seed sector. CIMMYT maize expert R. Sadananda and national partners joined to refine the maize work plan. Kay Simmons from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agricultural Research Service and Ian C. Winborne, plant health advisor for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, also attended the meeting to discuss wheat productivity enhancement in Pakistan.