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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.

Turning on radios, tuning in to resource-conserving farm practices

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A radio program in Nepal brings information to farmers in a language they understand.

It’s Monday, 6:30 pm on Radio Birgunj, the voice of the plains in Southeastern Nepal. Fans for kilometers in all directions huddle by their radios to listen—not to a soap opera or pop music, but to a show about bed planting, horticulture, and zero-tillage. The weekly radio show on farming, targeted specifically to rural inhabitants, is one component of a project funded by CABI to introduce and promote resource-conserving technologies to the region’s rice and wheat farmers.

Radio is often the best way to reach rural families in developing countries, and farm shows broadcast from small community stations are not unusual. But Radio Birgunj broadcasts to a population of five million Nepalese, nearly all from farm families, and the station’s only “competition” is the region’s government radio network.

Ganesh Sah, head of the Agricultural Implement Research Center in Birgunj and long-time CIMMYT partner, is responsible for 70 programs since the show’s launch in January, 2005. “It’s been difficult coming up with a different topic each week, but we’ve managed with just a couple repeats,” he says.

The program’s popularity has led the government of Nepal launch another radio farm show in the region. For the whole article, go to staging.cimmyt.org, under Enews/August 2006.

Visitors tour headquarters

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visitantesDr Qu Dongyu, Vice-President, CAAS China and Dr M.E. Tusneem, Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, learn about CIMMYT’s conservation agriculture research work from Bram Govaerts during a visit to El Batan this week (see photo below). In addition CIMMYT welcomed visitors from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the principal and 16 teachers from the Liceo Mexicano Japonés.

Bihar to subsidize zero-tillage and maize

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On 09 August, the government of Bihar State, India, announced a 25% subsidy for the purchase of zero-tillage seeders, bed planters, and maize threshers. According to Raj Gupta, facilitator of the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the decision emerged in part from a meeting in March 2005 that involved the Chief Minister of Bihar, the Minister of Agriculture, the DG of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and other relevant actors.

“I also participated,” says Gupta. “Among other things, we discussed the promotion of quality protein maize and resource-conserving technologies as a strategy for transforming agriculture in Bihar. Now they have also decided to replace some of the winter wheat area with winter maize, whose productivity is nearly double that of wheat.”

With a population of 100 million, Bihar is one of India’s most densely populated and disadvantaged states and has been a particular target of RWC efforts to offer viable alternatives for resource-poor farmers in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. Land-use studies by Parvesh Chandna, CIMMYT affiliate scientist and expert in geographic information systems and remote sensing, have also contributed. This outcome shows the effectiveness of concerted, science-based efforts to influence policy.

Corpoica maize ‘V-114’ released in Colombia

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Last 25 July, more than 180 farmers and staff from CIMMYT and CORPOICA, Colombia’s agriculture research organization, gathered in the field of Isabel Cristina Cardenas at Los Palmitos, near Sincelejo, Sucre Department, Colombia, to celebrate the release of the new variety V-114. A product of CIMMYT research in Mexico, Thailand, Peru, and Colombia, and with key contributions from Colombian scientists in evaluation and promotion, V-114 was formerly known as Iquitos 9328 and was developed by Hugo Cordova, Carlos De Leon, Luis Narro and other CIMMYT staff, together with CORPOICA. CIMMYTs Asian Regional Maize Program also improved the variety’s resistance to downy mildew, an important disease of maize in this region of Colombia, prior to its introduction. CORPOICA staff at the ceremony included Paolo Bianchi, Director of the organization’s Turipaná Research Station, while CIMMYT was represented by Luis Narro and me.

Farmers at the field day listed for researchers some of their most highly-valued traits in an improved variety. These included low production costs, yields above 3 t/ha, suitability for use under zero-tillage and for intercropping with cassava, resistance to insect pests, and that the seed can be saved and replanted.

When asked about their experience growing V-114, farmers had the following comments:

  • V-114 looks like a local variety (criollo) and they think it contains local germplasm because it has variation for kernel color (yellow to reddish) and cob shape. They like this as they associate it with stability and stress tolerance.
  • Farmer Rigoberto Romero said that when he planted recycled seed of V-114 he obtained the same (good) performance from the second crop as he obtained in the first season, when he planted official (‘certified’) seed.
  • Farmer Silvio Tovar said that he planted 5 kg of seed as an intercrop with cassava, and harvested 1 ton of maize (equivalent to more than 4 t/ha).

The field day was a celebration of several years of work by CIMMYT and CORPOICA scientists, and a couple years of participatory evaluation work with farmers. It was a pleasure to see the excellent interaction between CORPOICA extension staff and farmers, who exchanged sincere questions, important advice, and quite a few jokes. In addition to lunch, each farmer at the field day was given 5 kg of seed of V-114.

Asian Cereals Conference

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The 2nd Central Asian Cereals Conference took place on June 13-16, 2006 in Aurora Sanatorium near Cholpon-Ata town of Issyk-Kul Lake region in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Lake Issyk-Kul is a natural pearl of the country and the region. Surrounded by the mountains at the altitude of almost 1600 m it is a memorable location. The natural beauty of the mountains and the lake contributed to the productive atmosphere of the conference of which CIMMYT was a co-organizer.

The main conference objective was to assess the status of research and cooperation on cereals in Central Asia in the fields of cereals breeding, genetics, physiology, seed production, grain quality, plant protection, biotechnology, cultivation technologies under irrigated and rainfed conditions, and genetic resources including information exchange between scientists from Central Asia and foreign countries.

There were 210 participants from 17 countries, including the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Western countries. Representatives came from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Australia, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Syria, Nepal, UAE, and Zimbabwe. Sanjaya Rajaram (ICARDA CIMMYT Wheat Program) and Alexei Morgounov (Regional Representative of CIMMYT in CAC, Kazakhstan but now at the CIMMYT office in Turkey) attended and spoke at the event.

During the technical researchers and crop science specialists reported on achievements and current research conducted at their institutions and on the progress in joint international projects with, among others, CIMMYT and ICARDA.

Award for Zhonghu He

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Zhonghu He, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and Country Representative in China received the Taishan Scholars Award, the highest honor for individual scientists from the Shandong Provincial Government. The ceremony was held on July 6, 2006, in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province.

Taishan is a famous Mountain and it is considered a symbol of Shandong. This award is based on our work in Shandong and Dr. He was nominated by the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science (Shandong AAS).

Dr. He has provided strong scientific leadership in Chinese wheat improvement, particularly in the establishment of a standardized quality testing system and the development of a regional quality program. The CAAS-CIMMYT wheat quality lab has become internationally recognized for its active and productive activities in promoting Chinese wheat quality, and shares around 70% of wheat quality activities in China. Dr. He, together with the wheat team in Shandong AAS, developed and promoted noodle quality wheat cultivar Jinan 19, which contributed more than 4 million ha in Shandong province for the last five years. It won the second prize from Chinese government in 2005.

In total, 70 people received awards, and the areas include literature, education, math and physics, engineering, medicine, biology, and agriculture In agriculture, four scientists were selected. As part of the award, the provincial government will grant 60,000 US $ per year for five years to Dr. He for providing leadership to the wheat program at Shandong AAS.

Bangladesh Country Almanac version 3.0 released

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The third edition of the Bangladesh Country Almanac (BCA) was released at a workshop held at the Jahangir Nagar University, Savar, chaired by its Vice Chancellor in April. In May and June a dissemination workshop and nine hands-on training workshops have been conducted with different organizations across Bangladesh and benefitting about 380 researchers, academics, post graduate students, and extension and NGO personnel.

The Almanac developed by CIMMYT in close cooperation with Bangladeshi partners combines on a single CD ROM both spatial and attribute data on climate, land and soils, crops, demography, hydrography, infrastructure, health, marketing, livestock, forestry and poverty. It is the most comprehensive offline CD-based database in Bangladesh.

The Almanac is being used to help identify research locations and to aid in designing development programs by extension services and NGOs. The Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) of Bangladesh has decided to use the BCA as a platform to deliver field-level data to its headquarters.

CIMMYT and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council have organized a policy/ concluding workshop on the BCA for July 9. The Minister and the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, will be present as Chief Guest and Special Guest. DGs and Directors of Agricultural Institutes, Vice Chancellors of Universities and the heads of NGOs and International organizations have been invited to give their feedback about the latest release of the country almanac.

Turkey dinner

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The TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA office in Ankara held a dinner on 1 July to welcome Alex Morgounov while saying farewell to Arne Hede and Hans-Joachim Braun.

Alex, not a really a newcomer to Turkey having worked in the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP), 1994-1998, has returned now to lead the program. He still remembers many colleagues from his previous experiences in Turkey and started full speed from day one.

Arne, based in Turkey since 2002, has accepted a position with the Swedish SIDA project “Support to Seed Sector Development in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” to be based Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Arne will stay in close contact with the IWWIP, in which SIDA is a key partner. Hans will return to Mexico as Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.

He came to Turkey in 1985 and contributed to the establishment of IWWIP. He was Director of CIMMYT’s Rainfed Wheat Systems program until its amalgamation with Intensive Agro-Ecosystems to form the new Global Wheat Program. Arne received a plaque noting his contributions to wheat improvement in the IWWIP. A plaque given to Hans noted personal achievements and remembrances from the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA office staff. Both Hans and Arne thanked the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA staff for their support and warmth over the years.

China and CIMMYT: new science agreement and support

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Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General, visited the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and had a fruitful meeting with Wang Jie, Vice President of NSFC. An agreement was signed with Han Jianguo, DG of the NSFC International Cooperation Department, for collaborative research between CIMMYT and Chinese scientists. Other key staff at the meeting included Bai Ge, DDG of the International Cooperation Department; Du Shengming, Executive DDG of the Life Science Department; NSFC scientists Zhang Yinglan, Luo Jing, and Zhang Yongtao; and He Zhonghu and Han Nanping from the CIMMYT-China office.

NSFC supports basic research in various disciplines. Applied and basic research in agriculture is conducted by the Life Science Department of NSFC, which seeks to improve the quality of science in China through international collaboration. NSFC has provided continuous support to China-CIMMYT collaborative research on wheat quality, the genetics of disease resistance in wheat and maize, and workshops and conferences, contributing more than US$ 300,000 over the last five years.

“The real value of the agreement is that the Chinese government provides us with money for science, through a merit-based selection process,” says Iwanaga. “Thanks to He Zhonghu’s efforts, we have this partnership. Now NSFC wants to formalize it through a memorandum of understanding that can serve as a model for their other contributions to the international science community.”

Research with China has resulted among other things in significant advances in the quality of Chinese wheat cultivars, and the CAAS-CIMMYT Wheat Quality Laboratory has become an internationally recognized center for wheat quality research. There is also good progress in understanding the genetics of resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew in Chinese wheats.

 

Published in 2006

Maize field tour in Bangladesh

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A high-level delegation from the government of Bangladesh has just taken a first-hand look at hybrid maize seed being produced by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). The group included M. Nurul Alam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC); M. Sahadad Hussain, Director General, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI); A. Bari, Director, Department of Agricultural Extension; M. Matiur Rahman, Director of Research, BARI; and officials from BADC itself.

With technical support from CIMMYT, BADC is producing hybrid maize seed from CIMMYT-derived materials developed by BARI. The group visited the seed production plots and farmers growing the hybrids. The farmer and their families had taken part in whole family training on maize production, one of the key tools CIMMYT and partners in Bangladesh use to ensure farm families get the most from growing maize.

After visiting the seed production and grain production fields, the group attended a farmer’s rally where growers, seed producers from the public and private sectors, seed dealers, local level extension officers, NGOs and researchers participated and exchanged views.

The policy implication of this visit and meeting is that the CIMMYT whole family training approach for maize will continue with national and CIMMYT support. BADC will produce hybrid maize seed on 161 hectares of land in 2006 with contact growers contributing 20% of the total seed requirement and DAE will do country-wide demonstrations with these hybrids for farmer awareness and adoption.

The field visit was arranged by CIMMYT Affiliate Scientist, Nur-E-Elahi.

 

Published 2006

Safe in Nepal

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It has been a trying two weeks for staff in the CIMMYT South Asia Regional Office in Kathmandu, Nepal. During the time of large daily demonstrations, often met with military force, the government ordered daytime curfews. This made operating the office difficult.

“We in the CIMMYT office have been working whenever the curfews permit, says Memo Ortiz Ferrara, the CIMMYT regional coordinator in Nepal. “If the curfews start late in the day, we come to the office to do some urgent work. When the curfews are declared for the whole day, we of course stay at home.”

Late last week, some international organizations and embassies were preparing to evacuate their international staff as the crisis worsened but on Monday, when the King of Nepal agreed to many of the opposition demands, the situation in Nepal stabilized. Demonstrations have stopped and the daytime curfews have been lifted. All CIMMYT staff in the regional office are safe and the office is working normally.

Memo Ortiz Ferrara wants to thank Director General Masa Iwanaga and members of the Management Committee for their moral support during the crisis.

 

Published 2006

Scientific renewal

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Three scientists from Pakistan have just concluded a two-week visit to CIMMYT that included a stopover in Obregón during the harvest. The visitors were Nafees Sadiq Kisana, National Coordinator for Wheat, Barley and Triticale, Mukhtar Alam, International Cooperation Office Ministry of Agriculture, and Liaquat Ali Hashmi, International Liaison & Training Officer with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).

For Kisana it was a homecoming. In 1983 he was a Wheat Program trainee with CIMMYT for eight months. “It was interesting to see how much the work at Obregón has developed in that time,” he says. For Mukhtar Alam, the visit to Mexico and CIMMYT was a first, though he says CIMMYT was not a new name for him. “I heard about CIMMYT from the time I was a student,” he says. “But coming here I found CIMMYT friendlier, more open and more focused than I had expected.”

As a result of this visit, and a visit to CIMMYT last year of the PARC chairman, Pakistan will again start sending visiting scientists to CIMMYT. There has been no coordinated program for almost a decade, but starting later this year the first of up to 30 mid-career Pakistani agricultural scientists will spend time at CIMMYT. “It will be useful for our scientists, who are well-qualified to give focus to their work and exposure to an international organization,” says Ali Hashmi.

The program is being funded by the government of Pakistan in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Minister visits

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Mr. M.K. Anwar, Minister of Agriculture for Bangladesh visited CIMMYT for two days this week. In addition to a welcome presentation by the Director General, he toured the Genebank, Biotech, and Cereal Quality labs and saw the Crop Research Informatics Lab (CRIL). The minister noted that wheat production in Bangladesh was declining and hoped CIMMYT could assist in solving the leaf blight problem plaguing Bangladeshi wheat farmers. CIMMYT is currently working with the Bangladesh Wheat Research Centre on this problem.

CIMMYT hosts high level visitors

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Showing our best to some high level donor representatives was the name of the game the week of March 20 as CIMMYT played host to several important visitors. Ms Jacqueline Schafer, Assistant Administrator Bureau of Economic Growth Agriculture and Trade (EGAT), USAID came with three colleagues. Their original plan to leave in mid afternoon was shelved when Ms Schafer decided to stay longer and spend more time with CIMMYT staff. Among the stops on her tour – an explanation of conservation agriculture work for small holder farmers. Mr. Fernando Delgado, Field Superintendent in Toluca came to make an enthusiastic presentation on the long term conservation agriculture plots at El Batan.

Former Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, also visited. He was escorted on his tour by Director General Iwanaga and several of CIMMYT’s Japanese scientists. These visits gave CIMMYT staff the chance to talk about the impact of agricultural research for development and key roles Centers like CIMMYT play in helping alleviate poverty. This message is especially important at a time when donor countries are assessing their funding priorities. A

Also visiting CIMMYT headquarters were the Palestinian Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Walid Abed Rabboh, and Dr. Amor Chermiti Director General of INRA, the national agricultural research program of Tunisia.

 

Published 2006

A World Tour: Program Director Profiles

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kpixleyNow that all of CIMMYT’s new program directors have been officially installed, it is time to get acquainted with them, as well as their ideas and plans for the programs. This month we feature Kevin Pixley, director of the Tropical Ecosystems Program.

After growing up in Latin America and working in Africa for over a decade, Kevin Pixley is eager to extend the benefits of CIMMYT’s work in Asia, following the legacy of Nobel Peace Laureate and former CIMMYT wheat breeder, Norman E. Borlaug. “I read about Dr. Borlaug while attending high school in Mexico City,” says Pixley. “Wanting to learn more, I convinced one of my teachers to take our class on a field trip to CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico. Little did I know then how familiar this place would become to me, or that I would be seeing Dr. Borlaug fairly often.”

The Tropical Ecosystems Program he heads will focus on developing hardy, productive maize varieties for resource-poor farmers in lowland and highland tropical environments. “Across tropical Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Southern China, agriculture suffers from problems like drought, diseases and insects, and infertile and acidic soils,” says Pixley. “The demand for maize is increasing, but the profitability of maize farming—especially for small-scale producers—is declining. Improving the livelihoods and food security of those farmers is one of our key goals.” More nutritious maize will be another output of the program, including varieties with high-lysine and pro-vitamins A. “On the latter, we’re working with HarvestPlus, the CGIAR’s global alliance to breed and disseminate crops for better nutrition,” he says.

For the farmers in Latin America, where nearly 27 million hectares of maize are grown, the Program is developing and testing varieties that tolerate highly acidic soils, which cover large tracts in South America, and is also trying to reach the many small-scale farmers in remote, highland areas who have missed out on the Green Revolution. “Despite progress in Latin America, millions are still trapped in pockets of rural poverty with no access to markets or viable alternative livelihoods,” says Pixley. “We know that farming is central to their lives and that our work can make a difference.”

A citizen of the US, Pixley completed his BSc at Purdue University and his PhD at Iowa State, and in 1990 joined CIMMYT as a post doctorate in maize breeding—his Spanish language skills coming in handy. After three years he moved with his family to CIMMYT’s office in Zimbabwe to work as a maize breeder, and later became coordinator of the center’s regional program. During his tenure from 1993-2004, the southern Africa group and its partners worked extensively with farmers to test drought tolerant maize and make quality seed available. This year, enough seed was produced to sow more than a million hectares of drought tolerant maize. “Many things inspired me in southern Africa,” Pixley says, “but the commitment of local scientists, who work for very little money and under tough conditions, still strikes me as extraordinary.”