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 and CIMMYT visit the 1st community-managed maize seed company in the hills of Nepal

Written by on November 1, 2012. Posted in News.

PHOTO-NEPAL21 The community based seed production (CBSP) program is one of the most successful interventions of the Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) Phase IV in Nepal. Through this program, the project has significantly contributed to the increase in maize seed replacement rate, maize productivity, and income of smallholder and resource-poor farmers in the hills of the country. To observe the successes achieved so far, teams from USAID-Nepal, CIMMYT-Mexico, and HMRP visited a community-managed seed company in the Thumpahkar Village of Sindupalchowk district, located about 100 km north-east of Kathmandu, on 12 October 2012. The USAID team comprised of John Stamm (General Development Office director, USAID-Nepal), Luis Guzman (Feed the Future team leader, USAID-Nepal), Shanker Khagi (South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy country coordinator), and Lindsey Moore (USAID-Bangladesh). CIMMYT’s Thomas Short (deputy director general for Corporate Services), Nellooli P. Rajasekharan (International Human Resources director), G. Ortiz Ferrara (HMRP team leader), Nirmal Gadal (HMRP agronomist), and Dilli KC (HMRP seed value chain and marketing expert) were also present, along with about 35 seed growers, including the management team of the company.

The meeting was chaired by Gunda Bahadur Dhami, chairperson of Sindhu-Tuki Seed Production Cooperative Ltd. During a brief presentation, the company’s coordinator D.B. Bhandari summarized the institutional graduation of the farmers’ groups to a cooperative and later to a private seed company. Starting in 2005, the cooperative developed into a private seed company in 2010 with the technical support from HMRP. It currently works with 300 members organized in 14 CBSP groups. Bhandari also discussed the company’s current activities, future plan, operational model, membership policy, marketing activities, and approaches to gender and sustainability.

Stamm acknowledged the project team and congratulated farmers on the impact achieved so far. “USAID-Nepal considers HMRP a very successful project, and your seed company is a model for economic development of rural areas,” he said. Rajasekharan then thanked the HMRP team for organizing the field visit and expressed CIMMYT’s commitment to support the project staff in their work aiming to improve food security among Nepalese maize farmers. Short added: “I echo Raj’s words in congratulating the members of this seed company, but I also take the opportunity to thank the two donors of HMRP, USAID and SDC, for their financial and technical support given to the project.” Ortiz Ferrara stressed that “sustainability is the prime concern of HMRP, and the entire project activities are built on the clearly defined roles and responsibilities of the multiple stakeholders.

This small seed company is now operating on its own resources, and this is only one of the 195 CBSP groups coordinated by HMRP in 20 hill districts.” Responding to a question raised by Khagi regarding the competitiveness of improved maize seed, a female maize seed grower said: “The new maize varieties are high yielding, disease and lodging tolerant, have good taste, and the grain can be stored for a longer time.” Dhami followed: “We are just learning to walk and there is still a lot to do to help small farmers in our hill area to achieve food security and increase their income.” He thanked the guests for their valuable time and their continuing collaboration with the recently established seed company. At the end of the discussion, the team observed the seed processing plant, seed store house, and the community seed bank.

USAID supports CIMMYT-led partnership for heat resilient maize in South Asia

Written by on October 31, 2012. Posted in News.

PHOTO-NEPAL The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will support a partnership to develop heat resilient maize for South Asia, as part of the US government’s Feed the Future initiative. The partnership is led by CIMMYT and involves Purdue University, Pioneer Hi-Bred, and several private and national research partners in South Asia. The aim is to develop and deploy heat stress tolerant, high-yielding maize hybrids for vulnerable, maize-dependent areas of South Asia.

“Out of a total of approximately six million hectares of hybrid maize grown in South Asia, nearly a million hectares are highly vulnerable to high temperature stress,” said BM Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s global maize program. “Nearly 80 percent of the maize in this region is rainfed and highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, including drought and high temperatures. At the same time, spring maize has become an important option for intensifying and diversifying cropping systems in South Asia, especially in the upper and middle Indo-Gangetic plains, but the crop is prone to severe heat stress as well.”

The project will be funded for five years (2012-17) and USAID contributions will be matched with in-kind support from the public-private alliance. Work will build on the elite, abiotic stress tolerant maize germplasm from CIMMYT; the technical expertise of key resource partners (CIMMYT, Purdue University, and Pioneer Hi-Bred); the maize breeding and phenotyping locations and strengths of the national research programs of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan; and the seed production capacity, farmer linkages, and market reach of private partners (Pioneer Hi-Bred, Vibha AgriTech, Ajeet Seeds, and Kaveri Seeds).

Ravi Singh receives 2012 China Tianshan Award from Xinjiang Province of China

Written by on October 25, 2012. Posted in News.

Ravi-Singh1 Ravi Singh, distinguished scientist and head of Bread Wheat Improvement and Rust Research, Global Wheat Program, received the 2012 China Tianshan Award for his contributions to the economic and social progress of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The highest award given to foreign experts by the Government of Xinjiang Province was presented by Huang Wei, Executive Vice- Governor of the Province, on 27 September 2012 during a ceremony at Urumqi attended by over 150 officials and guests.

Singh is the second CIMMYT scientist to have received the award. Sanjaya Rajaram, former CIMMYT wheat director, received the Tianshan Award in 2005. This is a reflection of the significant contributions to wheat production in the province achieved through the use of CIMMYT germplasm. More than 20 CIMMYT-derived spring wheat varieties have been released in the province directly after introduction or by being used as parents since the 1970s. The main breeding priorities for the new varieties are increased yield potential with early maturity, short stature, rust resistance, and good end-use quality. The wheat production area covers about one million hectares in the province, 40 % of which is used for spring wheat. Spring wheat is sown in March, which enables drip irrigation systems to be used widely to mitigate the negative effects of limited water resources, as water becomes available from the melting snow in the mountains. The most recent CIMMYT-derived variety is Kambara, known as “Xinchun 23” in China (released in northwestern Mexico as “Tacupeto F2001”). High yielding, early-maturing wheat lines developed in recent years in Mexico and shared with two academies in the province offer further possibilities of increasing yield as they fit into the crop rotation.

Conservation agriculture for smallholder maize farmers in Jharkhand, India

Written by on October 22, 2012. Posted in News.

Farming in Jharkhand in eastern India is typically characterized by land degradation, moisture stress, low cropping intensity, poor biomass production, and low farm income. To address these issues faced largely by smallholder farmers, a conservation agriculture (CA) project was initiated in 2011 by CIMMYT in collaboration with Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) and Ranchi and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). A stakeholder consultation/field day was organized on 8 October 2012 jointly by CIMMYT and BAU at Ranchi, Jharkhand, to demonstrate the benefits of CA in sustainable intensification. The event was attended by over 150 participants, including the vice chancellor and other key officers of BAU, CIMMYT scientists, and farmers from three districts of Jharkhand. In addition, representatives from three private companies attended the field day to showcase their latest products and to discuss their support for scalingup seed production of existing commercial and advanced hybrids.

SP Poonia, CIMMYT scientist based at Ranchi, provided an overview of activities and progress of the IFAD “Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Maize-Livestock Farming Systems in Hill Areas of South Asia” project. Poonia shared salient achievements on sustainable intensification of maize systems using CA-based crop management technologies, and on quality protein maize performance. Raj Gupta from CIMMYT-India stressed that farmers can produce more yield under CA with less supplemental irrigation. He further emphasized that farmers need to consider mechanised farming to ensure timely planting and to realize the full potential of available resources on a sustainable basis.

Ken Sayre from CIMMYT-Mexico appreciated the farmers for efficient adoption of CA within one year since the launch of the project. He then focused on relations between farmers and researchers to enhance knowledge sharing and appreciated the cooperation and vast presence of BAU officials, private sector representatives, and farmers, demonstrating a strong partnership aiming to help the farmers. Sayre also shared his experience with CA-based crop management technologies from Mexico and elsewhere. R.P. Singh Ratan, BAU Extension Director, added that seed companies form a vital link in delivering improved maize varieties to farmers. They are also crucial in training local mechanics and making need-based corrections to CA machineries. He further added that CA techniques are indispensable for conserving natural resources. MP Pandey, Vice Chancellor of BAU and chief guest of the event, appreciated farmers’ feedback on CA-based technologies. He then applauded the CIMMYT and BAU teams for their work both on station and on farmers’ fields in remote areas. He assured his full support for further scaling out of CA-based technologies in the state to achieve more efficient management of natural resources. The event was followed by a field visit and in-field interactions. Officials present at the event included DK Singh ‘Dron’ (ADR, BAU), R Thakur (Chairman of Agronomy), ZA Haider (Chairman of PBG), and other eminent scientists from BAU.

Climate change and the challenges of increasing production in India

Written by on October 15, 2012. Posted in News.

Climate-change-India While cereal production in India has increased significantly since the mid-1960s as a result of the Green Revolution, securing the gains achieved is becoming more difficult in the context of soaring food and fuel prices, volatile markets, depleting water resources, soil degradation, and the effects of global climate change. To discuss strategies for improving efficiency and resilience of farming systems as a way to ensure sustainable food security, over 400 participants gathered for an in-field stakeholder meeting on ‘Empowering Farmers for Climate Smart Agricultural Practices in Haryana’ in Taraori, Karnal, India, on 28 September 2012. The event was organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Haryana Farmers’ Commission (Government of Haryana), Haryana Department of Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), CCS Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), CIMMYT, Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), and Farmers Cooperative. Among the participants were Indian farmers, 50 officials from governmental and private sector organizations, and 25 scientists from national and international institutions. RS Paroda, Chairman of Haryana Farmers Commission, urged farmers to stay connected with scientists, extension agents, and government officials while modifying agricultural practices for adaptation and mitigation of climate change. He suggested that diversification from conventional rice-wheat rotation to new technologies, such as direct seeded rice, zero tillage, residue management, and raised bed planting, and alternative crops to rice is necessary for sustainable agriculture. By quoting Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, late Prime Minister of India, who said “In order to awaken the people, it is the women who have to be awakened. Once she is on move, the family moves, the village moves, and the nation moves,” he stressed the importance of empowering female farmers. Paroda further highlighted the importance of regional and global networks and partnerships for knowledge sharing and enhanced capacity development.

CIMMYT senior agronomist ML Jat emphasized the importance of the principles of conservation agriculture, as they could considerably contribute to arresting the natural resource degradation and to increased farm profitability. PK Aggarwal, CCAFS South Asia coordinator, discussed how current farming practices are partially responsible for climate change and what needs to be done. For example, conventional puddled rice cultivation utilizes standing water which is a major source of methane gas emissions. Therefore, new rice production technologies are necessary. Other participants, including Indu Sharma (Director, DWR Karnal), DK Sharma (Director, CSSRIKarnal ), BS Duggal (Additional Director Agriculture, Government of Haryana), and Sain Dass (President, Indian Maize Development Association) discussed the use of groundwater recharge, gypsum, salt tolerant varieties, the provision of subsidized and/ or free seeds by the Government of Haryana to promote diversification in intensive systems, introduction of maize to replace rice in certain areas, and conservation agriculture practices. Kaushik Majumdar (Director, International Plant Nutrition Institute – South Asia) also mentioned that Nutrient Expert, an excellent tool for site-specific nutrient management for crop yield optimizations and environmental footprint reduction, has been developed and validated in Haryana in collaboration with CIMMYT.

CIMMYT trains Vietnamese scientists in doubled haploid technology

Written by on October 9, 2012. Posted in News.

Doubled haploid (DH) technology is increasingly utilized in maize breeding for achieving rapid genetic gains and speeding up product development. Several maize breeding programs within public institutions and small and medium private enterprises, especially in tropical maize growing countries, lag behind in using this technology. By disseminating newly developed tropical inducer lines, offering technical know-how to breeding programs, and conducting training courses, CIMMYT has been working to close this gap. CIMMYT also produced an elaborate training manual on DH technology (available for download at CIMMYT library repository).

The National Maize Research Institute (NMRI), Hanoi, Vietnam, is currently expanding its technical capacity to adapt the DH technology to its institutional needs. To assist NMRI in achieving this goal, CIMMYT has been offering training to its scientists. Three NMRI scientists were trained at CIMMYT-Mexico from January to May 2012. NMRI then organized a four-day training course during 10–12 September 2012, which was led by CIMMYT scientists Vijay Chaikam and Dan Jeffers and attended by 60 NMRI breeders/scientists. Mai Xuan Trieu (NMRI director general), Luong Van Vang (Maize Development Project director), Kha Le Quy (Maize Breeding Department head), and Dang Ngoc Ha (International Cooperation Department head) inaugurated the course with discussions about the challenges for maize production in Vietnam. Jeffers presented on future challenges for maize in Asia, CIMMYT’s vision for addressing these problems, and identification and management of prominent maize diseases in Southeast Asia. Chaikam’s presentations covered all the technical details of DH technology and the components required for establishing a successful DH breeding program. Jeffers and Chaikam also visited Song Boi experimental station in Hoa Binh province to assess its suitability for DH operations.

During the closing ceremony, Mai Xuan Trieu and Luong Van Vang expressed their gratitude to Thomas Lumpkin (CIMMYT director general), Marianne Bänziger (CIMMYT deputy director general), and B.M. Prasanna (Global Maize Program director) for their efforts in forging collaboration with NMRI and the support provided to adapt DH technology in maize breeding programs.

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Maize traveling seminar for high-level officials in Nepal

Written by on October 3, 2012. Posted in News.

The Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) led by CIMMYT, in close partnership with the the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) and the Department of Agriculture (DoA) jointly organized a five-day Maize Traveling Seminar for high-level officials in the hills of Nepal during 2-6 September 2012. The purpose of the seminar was to offer policy makers firsthand information on the status of maize varietal development, seed multiplication, marketing, technology dissemination, and the HMRP’s efforts to improve food security and livelihoods of the resource-poor and disadvantaged farmers in the hills of the country. The seminar was attended by 25 officials from the National Planning Commission (NPC), Ministry of Agriculture and Development (MoAD), Ministry of Finance (MoF), NARC, National Seed Board (NSB), DoA, donors (SDC and USAID), NGOs, private sector, and the media.

At the beginning of the seminar, the newly-established Ganesh Himal community-managed seed company from the mid-hill District of Dhading was inaugurated. Yamuna Ghale, senior program officer and SDC representative stressed its importance for the region: “The more than four tons of improved seed this company is expected to produce and sell to neighboring districts will help to increase the seed replacement rate in the area with resulting increases in productivity this year. This approach needs to be replicated in other hill areas of the country.” The participants then visited the National Maize Research Program (NMRP) in Rampur, Chitwan, where they observed varietal improvement and maintenance and source seed production activities. NMRP coordinator K.B. Koirala presented on the current status, priorities, and challenges of maize research and seed production in Nepal. He highlighted that the area under maize source seed production and the quality of the seed have been significantly improved, and that NMRP and other HMRP partners had reached thousands of resource-poor farmers in their respective command areas.

During the rest of the traveling seminar, participants visited HMRP partners’ activities in the hill districts of Palpa, Syangja, and Kaski, including participatory variety selection (PVS), community-based seed production (CBSP), maize-vegetables inter-cropping, and on-farm trials and demonstrations activities conducted by CBSP groups and cooperatives. In the Manakamana Women Farmers Group of Syangja district, about 45 women members gathered to welcome the participants of the seminar. During interactions with the farmers, they learnt about farmers’ constraints and needs for marketing the seed, improving yields, storage facilities, credits, inputs, training etc. Amy Prevatt, USAID-Nepal representative, expressed her satisfaction with the accomplishments of HMRP and its partners regarding reducing poverty and food insecurity in the hills of Nepal. “I am sure the project will continue supporting you to overcome the marketing constraints and to make your CBSP group stronger and sustainable,” she said. The team and the farmers carried a walk around the village to observe crop conditions in CBSP, PVS, and intercropping trials. The team then headed for the Palpa district to visit the Radha Krishna Women farmers groups and Shiva Sakti maize seed producers group in Chatiwan, which has recently graduated into a cooperative with technical assistance from HMRP and its partners.

The seminar was concluded with a business meeting co-chaired by Tek Bahadur Gurung (NARC director of livestock and fisheries) and Dharma Dutta Baral (deputy director general at DoA under MoAD). During the meeting, participants assessed the effectiveness of the seminar; most of them expressed their satisfaction over its achievements, shared recommendations for further improvement, and suggested that the seminar be conducted annually during the main maize season. “The seminar provided good information that can only be appreciated by observing it at the field level,” said Baral. Gurung summed up the meeting by thanking the seminar organizers and stating that “the NARC and the MoAD are proud of the close partnership we have maintained with CIMMYT over the past 27 years. Events like the traveling seminar give us the opportunity to witness some of the fruitful results of this partnership.”

Wheat community meets in Afghanistan for 2nd ARIA-CIMMYT wheat workshop

Written by on September 26, 2012. Posted in News.

Bringing together Afghanistan’s wheat stakeholders, the second ARIA-CIMMYT wheat workshop was held during 01-03 September 2012 on the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) campus. This year the workshop focused on strengthening agronomy and technology delivery. It was attended by a total of 50 participants from organizations including the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA); the MAIL Department of Extension and Agricultural Development; the MAIL Improving Agricultural Inputs Delivery System (IAIDS) project; the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and NGOs Joint Development Associates International (JDA), Solidarités International (SI), Norwegian Project Office/Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan (NPO/ RRAA), and the Afghan Women’s Resource Center (AWRC). R.P. Singh, former Principal Investigator in Agronomy with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s All India Coordinated Wheat Improvement Project, served as the resource person for the event.

The workshop was inaugurated by Noor Ahmad Popal, national wheat sector coordinator, on behalf of the director general of planning, MAIL. Popal stressed the need to give more emphasis to crop production management in general and to that of rainfed wheat in particular, suggesting that the country’s annual wheat needs would be around seven million tons by 2020. Rajiv Sharma, CIMMYT country liaison officer for Afghanistan, welcomed the participants and noted that this workshop would indeed look at crop production management more critically. He also emphasized the need for an efficient varietal release process, as new release proposals had been delayed in the recent past.

Over the three days, the workshop included presentations of wheat research results by researchers from all of Afghanistan’s wheat research stations. Abdul Latif Rasekh (ARIA head of agronomy) presented the current status of understanding on wheat agronomy in Afghanistan, followed by a presentation from R.P. Singh on imperatives in wheat agronomic research. A joint presentation on demonstration of technologies in farmers’ fields was given by CIMMYT and the NGOs (JDA, SI, NPO/RRAA, and AWRC). On the third day, Singh gave a second talk on “Gains of Green Revolution: Problems and Opportunities”, which attracted a large audience. This final day also saw presentations on the technical program for the 2012- 13 season for the disciplines of crop improvement, agronomy, plant pathology, and technology demonstrations. Qudratulla Soofizada (technical change management specialist, ARIA, MAIL), who recently returned from participation in the 51st All India Wheat & Barley Research Workers’ Meeting proposed a model based on the Indian program that could be adopted in Afghanistan to coordinate wheat research. The workshop made several recommendations, such as initiating varietal evaluation trials by zone from the 2012-13 season onwards. Mohammad Qasem Obaidi, Director of ARIA, expressed great satisfaction on the outcomes of the workshop and hoped to initiate similar workshops for more crops.

Afghanistan’s wheat crop has shown recent signs of revival with a total harvest of slightly over five million tons in the 2011-12 season. Irrigated wheat productivity was comparable to the global average at around 3 tons per hectare, but the lower yield of rainfed wheat, 1.1 tons per hectare, brought the national average yield to around 1.9 tons per hectare. Afghanistan’s import needs are set to fall this year, to around half a million tons for the current marketing season. The country’s community of wheat researchers is now geared up to move further in enabling Afghanistan to harvest enough wheat to achieve selfsufficiency. Group-photo-2nd-wheat-workshop

Feed the Future delegation visits CIMMYT-Bangladesh

Written by on September 25, 2012. Posted in News.

Bangladesh25 The CIMMYT team in Bangladesh hosted a highprofile field visit on September 1, 2012, for a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) delegation consisting of Paul Weisenfeld (USAID Assistant to the Administrator for Global Food Security), Deniese Rollins (Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the USAID Asia Bureau), and Richard Green (USAID Bangladesh Mission Director). The purpose of the visit was to rapidly assess the activities of Feed the Future, an initiative supported by the US government, across Southern Bangladesh.

The delegation visited Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) project activity locations and other USAID partners. During the visit to CSISA-BD (a collaboration between CIMMYT, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and World Fish Center), cropping system agronomists Timothy J. Krupnik and Abdul Momin led a presentation jointly developed with Andrew McDonald on CIMMYT’s priority activities in scale-appropriate mechanization to achieve sustainable intensification of cereal-based farming systems. The USAID team appreciated CIMMYT’s emphasis on expanding surface water irrigation to eliminate unproductive fallows in Southern Bangladesh using axial flow pump technology. Additional discussion ensued on improving rainwater productivity using strip-tillage and conservation agriculture; bed-planting to save irrigation costs and mitigate soil arsenic contamination; CIMMYT’s work on labor-saving multi-crop reapers; and CSISA-BD’s emphasis on private sector integration and the promotion of viable business models for agricultural and tillage service providers. Following the presentation, Scott Justice, machinery expert and CIMMYT consultant, led a hands-on demonstration on seederfertilizer drills for strip tillage and raised bed-planters that can be attached to two-wheeled tractors. CIMMYT’s work to increase farmer and service provider adoption of these tools will increase in the future with USAID’s continued support for the CSISA-BD project.

Workshop on precision phenotyping in Asia

Written by on September 21, 2012. Posted in News.

To keep pace with the unprecedented increase in maize demand in Asia, maize programs in the region are increasingly using new tools and techniques for maize improvement to achieve long-term food security. One of such tools is precision phenotyping, the theme of a training workshop organized by CIMMYT-Asia at Hyderabad, India, during 29 August-1 September 2012. The workshop was attended by 31 scientists, including maize breeders, agronomists, and physiologists from Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, collaborating with CIMMYT in various Asian regional projects: MAIZE, Affordable, Accessible, Asian (AAA) Drought Tolerant Maize, Abiotic Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (ATMA); Asian Maize Drought Tolerance (AMDROUT), International Maize Improvement Center-Asia (IMIC-Asia); and collaborators from seed companies.

The participants were lucky to attend lectures by Vincent Vadez (crop physiologist and acting program director of Dryland Cereals, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), P.H. Zaidi (senior maize physiologist/ breeder), L. Krishnamurthy (CIMMYT-Hyderabad consultant), B.S. Vivek (senior maize breeder), Zerka Rashid (CIMMYT project scientist), Raman Babu (CIMMYT maize molecular breeder), and MT Vinayan (post-doctoral fellow at CIMMYT-Hyderabad). Topics covered ranged from the importance of precision phenotyping for crop improvement, maize phenology and physiology, drought stress management, to root phenotyping techniques using mini-rhizotrons and molecular breeding.

The participants also received hands-on training in identifying maize growth stages and useful soil types for abiotic stress experiments and trials, and data analysis and management. During one of his lectures, Zaidi discussed the importance of heat and combined heat and drought stress in tropical maize and CIMMYT’s initiative in this newly emerging issue brought by climate change.

The course was well-received and highly appreciated by the participants, especially for its handson practical part and well-planned lectures.

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Nepal team receives the 1st BGRI Gene Stewardship Award

Written by on September 19, 2012. Posted in News.

Nepal-Team The first-ever Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Gene Stewardship Award was awarded to the Nepal wheat team for their performance in promoting durable wheat varieties and enhancing food security. The award was handed to the Nepal team at the BGRI Technical Workshop in Beijing, China, held during 1-4 September 2012. It was announced at a special ceremony by Ronnie Coffman (BGRI vice chair) and presented by Jeanie Borlaug Laube (BGRI chair).

The Stewardship Award recognizes a researcher or team of researchers serving a national breeding program or other nationally based institution. Award recipients demonstrate excellence in the development, multiplication, and/or release of rust resistant wheat varieties through appropriate means that encourage diversity and complexity of resistance, promote the durability of the materials, and help implement BGRI’s goal of responsible gene deployment and stewardship.

The Nepal team, led by Madan Raj Bhatta and consisting of Sarala Sharma, Dhruba Bahadur Thapa, Nutan Raj Gautam, and Deepak Bhandari, was nominated by Arun Joshi (CIMMYT senior wheat breeder). “The wheat research team of Nepal has contributed remarkably to bringing about the excellence in the development and release of rustresistant wheat varieties, seed multiplication of resistant varieties with diverse genetic backgrounds, disease surveillance, participatory research with farmers, and improvement of livelihoods of smallscale farmers to combat the problems of food security,” Joshi explained. “This shows what a small program can do to serve farmers and enhance productivity and sustainability.”

Currently, the wheat research team works to release Ug99 resistant varieties of wheat and disseminate the new varieties to resource poor farmers. The Ug99 resistant seed is expected to cover around 5.4% of the area under cultivation for wheat in Nepal by the end of the current cycle (2011-2012). The team has also increased awareness about resistant varieties and pre-release seed multiplication among farmers, seed industry, planners, and national agriculture system. The resistant high-yielding varieties have been developed through collaboration between NARC and international research centers: CIMMYT, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and BGRI. According to Madan Raj Bhatta (Nepal Agriculture Research Center, NARC), “the new technologies and wheat varieties introduced by the team have brought a significant increment in area and productivity of wheat during the last five years.” The wheat area increased from 0.7 mha to 0.8 mha, production from 1.4 metric tons to 1.7 metric tons, and productivity from 2.1 tons per hectare to 2.3 tons per hectare.

In addition to its work in Nepal, the wheat team has maintained strong international collaborations by actively working with internationally recognized institutions, such as CIMMYT, BGRI, Cornell University, University of Sydney, University of Minnesota, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute. During the ceremony, NARC representatives praised the impressive performance of wheat varieties developed by the head of CIMMYT Global Wheat Breeding program Ravi Singh. Dil Bahadur Gurung (NARC executive director) expressed happiness with the wheat team’s achievements and highlighted its importance for Nepal.

11th International Gluten Workshop in Beijing

Written by on September 19, 2012. Posted in News.

Gluten The 11th International Gluten Workshop (IGW) jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and CIMMYT, was held in Beijing, China, during 12-15 August 2012. 150 participants from 16 countries were welcomed by Xifeng Gong (deputy director general of the International Collaboration Department), Zhensheng Li (wheat geneticists and former vice president of CAS), Shumin Wang (deputy director of the Institute of Crop Science, CAAS), and Javier Peña on behalf of Thomas Lumpkin (CIMMYT director general).

The participants attended lectures and presentations on capturing discoveries from genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics; biosynthesis, structure, and functional analysis of protein storage; improvement of end-use quality of wheat by genetic and alternative approaches; and starch and health attributes of wheat grain. Zhonghu He (CIMMYT distinguished scientist and liaison officer for China) gave a keynote presentation on wheat quality improvement, progress, and perspectives, and Javier Peña delivered an oral presentation on reliability of gluten-related smallscale- tests to estimated dough visco elasticity and bread loaf volume. The participants also met with Xu Liu, the vice president of CAAS. Besides lectures and presentations, the workshop included a visit to the wheat research lab at CAAS and CAS and discussed the application of new science in gluten study and wheat quality research in China. This research has achieved a significant progress, largely as a result of the long-term collaboration between CAAS and CIMMYT. To expand the scope of the workshop and to attract more participants, the organizers plan to include wheat biotechnology as one of the major topics for the 13th IGW (International Gluten and Wheat Biotechnology Workshop), which will be held in 2015 in Perth, Australia.

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Scientists discuss major wheat disease at a symposium in China

Written by on September 12, 2012. Posted in News.

To discuss fusarium head blight (FHB, or scab), a major wheat disease, over 130 delegates from East Asia, Europe, and North and South America attended the 4th International Symposium on FHB in Nanjing, China, during 23-26 August 2012. The symposium was organized by Nanjing Agricultural University and Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CIMMYT’s long-time collaborators, and provided an opportunity to discuss recent research and explore further opportunities for cooperation.

CIMMYT was represented by Etienne Duveiller, BISA director of research for South Asia/associate director, global wheat program (GWP) and member of the international organizing committee; Xinyao He, Adjunct Postdoc in the GWP; and Young-Keun Cheong, CIMMYT Adjunct Scientist. Duveiller presented on wheat breeding for better resistance to FHB and reduction of mycotoxin contamination, and He discussed the characterization of new sources of resistance in his poster presentation.

Although considerable progress has been achieved in recent years regarding germplasm development and understanding of the genetics and genomics of scab resistance, FHB continues to be a major wheat disease requiring further research, as it not only reduces grain yield and quality but also raises concerns about food safety due to mycotoxin contamination.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for Duveiller to acknowledge the significant progress achieved in the last decade and the collaboration between CIMMYT and Chinese scientists in development and improvement of scab resistance germplasm. The 5th International FHB Symposium will be held in Brazil in 2016.

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Drought tolerant wheat in Kazakhstan

Written by on August 27, 2012. Posted in News.

“This year has been terrible for wheat production,” said Yuriy Zelenskiy, CIMMYT wheat breeder in Kazakhstan. “Since planting, there have been 60 days without rain, and the temperature has been on average between three and five degrees higher than normal,” he added. Drought and heat-tolerant wheat varieties were among the major topics during the 10th International Meeting at the Kazakhstan-Siberian Network on Wheat Improvement (KASIB) held during 6-9 August 2012 at Kostanay and Karabalyk Agricultural Experimental Station in Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by 35 leading breeders and agricultural specialists from Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as experts from CIMMYT, JSC “KazAgroInnovation”, and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan.

KASIB was established by CIMMYT in 2000 to foster international collaboration in the region. The network currently includes 19 breeding programs in Kazakhstan and Russia, representing an area of over 20 million hectares of spring wheat production. Each of the breeding programs provides three lines for testing by each partner, and the 50 best lines are then selected and distributed throughout the network to increase efficiency and speed up the process of wheat breeding.

Kazakhstan is among the top ten wheat producers in the world. This year, the crop was sown on 16 million hectares, though it was estimated that over 7 thousand hectares of wheat were destroyed as a result of severe drought. Kazakhstan’s grain harvest is expected to reach 14 million tons, 50% less than last year. While this output is still above the yearly average (about 13 million tons), last year’s record yield of almost 23 million tons showed the potential with the use of drought-tolerant wheat varieties. The situation is similar in the rest of the region: wheat production in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan is estimated to be 30% less than 2011 yields.

Over 15,000 lines have been exchanged and tested through KASIB network since its inception. KASIB materials are tested for 20 traits, such as resistance to diseases and drought and heat tolerance, and include high-yielding varieties best suited for this agro-ecological zone. “This kind of international cooperation is the best way to introduce new varieties,” stated Muratbek Karabayev, CIMMYT representative in Kazakhstan.

“Save More, Grow More, Earn More” – CIMMYT in Bangladesh

Written by on August 13, 2012. Posted in News.

Prices for irrigation, fertilizers, fuel, and labor are rising. Fresh water supplies are decreasing, and many farmers find it increasingly difficult to plant their crop on time to assure good yields and return on their investments. The CIMMYT team in Bangladesh created an inspiring video showing how farmers in South Asia are innovating to overcome these problems by using small-scale appropriate machinery and crop management practices that reduce tillage to save time, soil moisture, and money. The video, “Save More, Grow More, Earn More”, has been released in English and Bangla and features the work of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD).

The video shows case studies from two distinct environments in Bangladesh. In the coastal region, soil salinity and insufficient irrigation present serious constraints keeping farmers from growing a dry season crop. However, by using simple machinery that reduces tillage to allow earlier planting and keeping crop residues on the soil surface to conserve soil moisture and reduce salinity, a group of women in southern Bangladesh managed to forgo the fallow and grow a profitable maize crop. In central Bangladesh, where the cost of irrigation and farm labor is skyrocketing, farmers and local service providers teamed up to demonstrate the benefits of planting wheat, maize, and legumes on raised beds to reduce labor and irrigation requirements. The crop management principles used by both groups of farmers can be applied anywhere –it is possible to grow more, while saving time, water, and money!

“Save More, Grow More, Earn More” is being shown in villages across Bangladesh through traveling outdoor roadshows led by CIMMYT’s partner Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS). Thousands of DVDs have been produced, and the film will be featured on national television in Bangladesh. Furthermore, “Save More, Grow More, Earn More” has been re-released on a CSISA-BD training DVD entitled “Strengthening Cereal Systems in Bangladesh”, which also features four films on rice seed health.

“Save More, Grow More, Earn More” was developed in partnership with the Regional Wheat Research Consortium of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and with the guidance of Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT Cropping Systems Agronomist, and Agro-Insight. Funding for video development and field activities was supplied by the Feed the Future Initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Cornell University’s Food for Progress Project funded by the Unites States Department of Agriculture.