Location: Europe

Close up of a durum wheat spike. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

International Wheat Yield Partnership launches European Winter Wheat Hub

Written by Marcia MacNeil on October 27, 2020. Posted in Features.

Building on a wealth of existing investment in UK wheat research and development, including the UK Research and Innovation BBSRC-funded Designing Future Wheat programme (DFW), the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) has formed a new European Winter Wheat Hub that will accelerate research discoveries from the UK and globally into commercial plant breeding.

A public-private partnership, the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will combine novel traits discovered by collaborative international teams into a range of high performing European winter wheat genetic backgrounds for assessment and use in winter wheat breeding programs.

The global agriculture companies BASF, KWS, RAGT and Syngenta, in collaboration with the UK National Institute for Agricultural Botany (NIAB), will provide a translational pipeline supporting European winter wheat improvement. In partnership with IWYP, commercial breeders will select key genetic discoveries of potential value for the European wheat community from global IWYP research projects. NIAB will then use its expertise in pre-breeding to produce genetic material for the validation and development of selected IWYP research outputs.

Joining the wider existing IWYP Hub Network of large translational pipelines operating on spring wheat at CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre) in Mexico and the recently established NIFA-IWYP Winter Wheat Breeding Innovation Hub at Kansas State University, USA, the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will ensure that cutting-edge discoveries are rapidly available to both the participating wheat breeders and to the global wheat breeding community.

“This is another excellent example of how public-private partnerships (such as the DFW, the Wheat Initiative and IWYP) can work well at both the international and national level,” said Chris Tapsell from KWS, who is leading the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub development.

“And this hub will help ensure that the hard work of the IWYP researchers around the world will deliver impacts that address the twin challenges of increasing wheat production for food security whilst protecting the environment.”

Jeff Gwyn, who leads the IWYP program said, “The addition of this new hub further strengthens the IWYP Hub Network and enables the development of our innovations to reach a wider industry base more rapidly. It is critical for IWYP to have its research outputs taken up and utilized for the public good. Public-private partnerships such as this further demonstrate that the IWYP initiative is filling a significant gap and creating value.”

Tina Barsby, CEO of NIAB commented, “NIAB has a strong track record in pre-breeding of wheat and particularly in working closely with commercial breeders to bring new variability to the market. We are really looking forward to helping to advance IWYP project traits into breeding programs.”

This press release was originally posted on the website of the International Wheat Yield Partnership.

The IWYP program is based on an innovative model for public funding and international scientific collaboration to address the global grand challenge of food, nutritional and economic security for the future. The model employs public-private partnerships to scale and drive its research innovations for impact. Operations require active coordination of the international research and development teams whose discovery research focuses on complementary and overlapping sets of potentially high impact novel trait targets deemed likely to underpin yield increases, such as the regulation of photosynthesis, optimal plant architecture, plant biomass distribution, and grain number and size. As the results emerge, it is possible to envisage how to combine them and therefore simultaneously remove multiple constraints affecting yields in farmers’ fields. https://iwyp.org/

NIAB is an independent plant biosciences organisation working to translate fundamental research into innovative solutions and products for the agricultural sector. The IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will leverage established expertise in wheat genetics and breeding at NIAB, including newly developed glasshouse and molecular laboratory facilities.
https://www.niab.com/

BASF, KWS, RAGT and Syngenta are innovation-led leaders in the wheat breeding industry, developing varieties that deliver consistent year-on-year genetics gain for the benefit of wheat growers throughout Europe and North America. All companies are active members of IWYP and launched this initiative to speed up and ensure the effective utilization of deliverables from IWYP research projects, which are funded by partners across the globe including the BBSRC in the UK.
www.kws.com
www.ragt.fr
www.basf.com
www.syngenta.com

50 years building peace through agriculture

Written by Ricardo Curiel on September 22, 2020. Posted in Videos.

On December 10, 1970, the former chair of the Nobel Committee, Aase Lionaes, called Norman Borlaug to receive the Nobel Peace Prize arguing, “He has given us a well-founded hope, an alternative of peace and of life — the Green Revolution.”

From that moment, Borlaug became known as “the man who saved one billion lives” from famine and as “the father of the Green Revolution.” Borlaug started a pivotal process in the 20^th century, characterized by the development of high-yielding new wheat and maize varieties from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world,” Borlaug said during his acceptance speech or Nobel Lecture almost 50 years ago. The scientist, credited for coining the phrase “You can’t build peace on empty stomachs,” became the world’s most acknowledged advocate of the right to food.

The Nobel Peace Center, the government of Mexico — through its Embassy in Oslo, Norway — and CIMMYT remembered Norman Borlaug’s legacy to commemorate the International Day of Peace on September 21. Established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly, this day calls to halt all forms of violence for 24 hours and to strengthen the ideals of peace, including Sustainable Development Goal number 2, ‘zero hunger.’

“Dr. Borlaug’s impact is an example of international cooperation for us to learn from and build the future,” said Ulises Canchola Gutiérrez, Mexico’s Ambassador to Norway, in the video Borlaug’s legacy: Agriculture for Peace #PeaceDay 2020.

According to the Nobel Peace Center, “Dr. Norman Borlaug’s work is one of the greatest achievements for humankind.” On a similar note, CIMMYT’s director general, Martin Kropff, noted that “Peace lies in the hands of those who cultivate the land. We can build peace through agriculture.”

CIMMYT carries on Borlaug’s legacy by implementing integrated strategic development projects that aim to transform food production units into sustainable, resilient and healthy agri-food systems. For that reason, CIMMYT issued a call to form an international coalition to tackle the current crisis and avert a new food crisis.

“Norman Borlaug led the charge in the war against hunger more than 50 years ago; let us learn from this experience, let us do it again together by listening to the current crisis and by developing a matching transformative answer to overcome today’s challenges and shortcomings,” said Bram Govaerts, director of CIMMYT’s Integrated Development program and representative for the Americas.

A NordGen staff member brings a box of seed into the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. (Photo: Thomas Sonne/Common Ground Media for NordGen)

Preserving the legacy of biodiversity

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on May 21, 2020. Posted in Videos. 3 Comments on Preserving the legacy of biodiversity

Seed security is the first step towards food security. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) preserves 28,000 unique seed samples of maize and 150,000 of wheat at its genebank in Mexico.

The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard opened in 2008. Since then, CIMMYT has duplicated and deposited 50 million seeds — 170,000 samples of maize and wheat — at Svalbard.

This year, CIMMYT sent 24 boxes of seed, with 332 samples of maize and 15,231 samples of wheat.

Join these seeds on a journey, as they travel more than 8,000 km from CIMMYT’s genebank in Mexico to the Global Seed Vault in the Arctic.

A supermarket, rather than a museum

This treasure, kept in the global network of genebanks, is key to ensuring sustainable, nutritious agricultural systems for future generations.

The purpose of genebanks is not just to preserve seed, but to use its biodiversity to address the needs of the future — and the needs of today.

Climate change is already impacting resource-poor farmers and consumers in low- and middle-income countries. Researchers and breeders at CIMMYT are rolling out solutions to these challenges, based on the diverse genetic resources kept in the genebank. As a result, farmers can use new varieties that yield more, need less inputs, and are more tolerant to drought or heat.

Our internal estimates show that about 30% of maize and more than 50% of wheat grown worldwide can be traced to CIMMYT germplasm.

Humanity’s legacy

Maize and wheat originated about 10,000 years ago. Since then, it’s survived war, drought, diseases, migration, birds, low yields — and the hard choice between feeding children or planting again.

Keepers of genebanks around the world are only the depositors of this legacy, which belongs to all humanity. CIMMYT will continue to preserve these seeds and to make their biodiversity available to researchers and famers, to solve today’s and tomorrow’s most pressing issues.

Cover photo: A NordGen staff member brings a box of seed into the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. (Photo: Thomas Sonne/Common Ground Media for NordGen)

Injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from wholegrain teff flour. (Photo: Rod Waddington)

From popcorn to roti

Written by Emma Orchardson on March 26, 2020. Posted in Photos. 1 Comment on From popcorn to roti

When asked to picture a food made of whole grains, your first thought might be a loaf of brown, whole-wheat bread. But wholegrain dishes come in all forms.

Take a virtual journey around the world to see the popular or surprising ways in which whole grains are eaten from Mexico to Bangladesh.

Popcorn, a wholegrain food and source of high-quality carbohydrates eaten across the world. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)

Roasted and boiled maize ears on sale in Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Maize-flour tortillas, a staple food eaten daily in Mexico and across Central America. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Githeri, a staple food made with maize and beans, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)

A loaf of whole-wheat bread, which could look brown or white in color, depending on how the wheat flour is processed. (Photo: Mattie Hagedorn)

A woman in Bangladesh prepares roti, an unleavened whole wheat bread eaten across the Indian sub-continent. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)

Tabbouleh, a Levantine salad made with a base of soaked bulgur wheat. (Photo: Moritz Guth)

Granola, a popular breakfast food made with a base of rolled, whole oats. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)

Injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from wholegrain teff flour. (Photo: Rod Waddington)

A plate of cooked brown rice will accompany a meal in the Philippines. (Photo: IRRI)

A basket contains an assortment of whole, unprocessed maize and wheat kernels. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)

What will be the new face of European agriculture in the coming years?

Written by Mary Donovan on March 2, 2020. Posted in In the media.

Providing climate data that is useful for farmers is crucial for adapting Europe’s agriculture to weather and climate extremes. Several programmes within the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) are tailoring their climate data and models to help agriculture respond better to climate change.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is using C3S data to improve crops; by looking at how the plants perform in various weather conditions, researchers focus on selecting cereal varieties resilient to drought and heat.

Women applying required fertilizer along the tracks of seed drill. (Photo: Wasim Iftikar)

A wake-up call for the fertilizer industry

Written by Marta Millere on January 23, 2020. Posted in Features.

When you hear the words ‘plant nutrition’ or ‘fertilizer’, do you think of sustainability?

Many might not but the recent gathering of plant nutrition experts in Versailles at the High Level Forum on Sustainable Plant Nutrition might indicate that the tide is turning.

“This event is a first of its kind. Here you have the fertilizer industry, which is relatively conservative, and yet there are speakers such as Mostafa Terrab of the OCP Group or Svein Tore Holsether of Yara who are pushing this future agenda,” said Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

“If I was from the fertilizer industry, I would really wake up, as perhaps is happening with some companies. If you look at the airlines industry, you see some super visionary players and others who are not. I feel that there could be players in this group who could be as visionary: looking at cutting down the energy inputs into fertilizer production, working together with governments to reform subsidies that promote over-fertilization, working towards precision fertilizer application. If the fertilizer industry wants to gain the trust of a more and more discerning public, then they need to show climate leadership,” Campbell remarked.

Early plant vigor can be improved through the use of direct seeders, which place fertilizer close to the seed. (Photo: Wasim Iftikar / CIMMYT)

The right time and place

Although fertilizer use revolutionized agriculture and allowed farmers to grow better crops on less land, plant nutrients are often vilified because of the negative environmental impact caused by their improper use.

For this reason, experts often speak of the 4R stewardship principles of fertilizer: right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time, and in the right place.

“The industry needs solid science to back up agricultural technology solutions in the realms of both nutrient and water management. Regarding the right placement, right time and the right quantity of fertilizer, mechanization solutions — such as direct seeders, which place fertilizer close to the seed — can really increase nutrient use efficiency and improve plant early vigor. Together with a wide range of partners, CIMMYT has been using these across smallholder systems of Asia, Africa and Latin America,” highlighted Martin Kropff, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), during one of the panel discussions.

In order to scale up the most relevant scientific findings and extension efforts, the focus should be on using available fertilizers better. This goes hand in hand with better management of organic matter and soils. There is a human element too: farmers’ efficiency could be improved with better advice especially targeted at extension offices or service providers.

At the event, David Nabarro challenged the fertilizer industry to take the lead in reforming the broken food system. (Photo: Marta Millere/CIMMYT)

S for sustainability

In order to identify the missing link of sustainability, just a day before the launch of the forum, the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) created a new Scientific Panel on Responsible Plant Nutrition. This group of international experts will provide objective knowledge and assessments for the fertilizer industry and other stakeholders to develop a more responsible plant nutrition system.

Bruno Gérard, Director of CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification research program and a member of the panel, spoke about CIMMYT’s unique selling proposition. “CIMMYT has a significant research agenda and experience in better nutrient management in wheat- and maize-based systems. In regions such as South Asia, the challenge is to produce more or the same with less and better fertilizers through improved management practices. Instead in Sub-Saharan Africa, the focus is on giving better access and knowledge so that farmers can produce more with adequate fertilizer inputs.”

Being part of the panel will give CIMMYT the opportunity to better link up with the fertilizer industry and contribute to improved fertilizer use in term of profitability, yield stability and risk, accessibility but also — from an environmental perspective — minimize the footprint of fertilizer through better agronomic practices and management.

The High Level Forum on Plant Nutrition took place on November 18-20, 2019, in Versailles, France.

Breaking Ground: Lara Roeven delves into complex gender dynamics

Written by Emma Orchardson on January 15, 2020. Posted in Features.

Lara Roeven completed her undergraduate degree in social sciences at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she focused primarily on political science in a program that combined this with the study of psychology, law and economics. “I liked it a lot because it gave me an interdisciplinary look at how social injustice manifests itself.”

Having worked on gender and social inclusion issues in the past, she had already heard of CGIAR and its research portfolio, but it was the interdisciplinarity of CIMMYT’s approach that prompted her to apply to the organization at the end of a study abroad program in Mexico. “I had a strong interest in agriculture and I’d always wanted to look at how gender and social inclusion issues affect women and marginalized groups within the context of rural, environmental or climate change, so this role seemed like a good fit.”

Since joining CIMMYT’s Gender and Social Inclusion research unit in January 2019, Roeven has been part of a team of researchers analyzing the ways in which gender norms and agency influence the ability of men, women and young people to learn about, access and adopt innovations in agriculture and natural resource management.

So far, Roeven has mainly been supporting data analysis and helping to produce literature reviews. She has contributed to a number of studies simultaneously over the past year, from the feminization of agriculture in India to changing gender norms in Tanzania. “It’s very interesting because you learn the particularities of many different countries, and the extent to which gender norms can differ and really influence people’s opportunities.”

Searching for nuance

A lot of research follows a similar pattern in highlighting the relationship between women’s work and empowerment, but realities on the ground are often more nuanced. In India, for example, well-established social structures add another layer of complexity to gender dynamics. “What I found interesting when we started looking into the ways in which gender and caste interrelate was that nothing is straightforward.”

Women from higher castes can actually be more isolated than women from lower ones, she explains, for whom it can be more accepted to pursue paid work outside of the home. However, lower-caste women also frequently experience high levels of poverty and vulnerability and face social exclusion in other realms of life.

“These dynamics are actually a lot more complicated than we usually think. And that’s why it’s so interesting to do this kind of comparative research where you can see how these issues manifest themselves in different areas, and what researchers or development practitioners working at ground level have to take into account in order to address the issues these women face.”

Eventually, Roeven hopes to pursue a PhD and a career in academia, but for the time being she’s enjoying working on research that has so much potential for impact. “There are many studies showing that gender gaps need to be closed in order to increase food security and eliminate hunger,” she says. “I feel like many interventions, extension services or trainings don’t always have the desired effect because they do not effectively reach women farmers or young people. Certain people are continuously left out.”

Conducting this kind of research is a crucial step in working towards empowering women across the world, and Roeven would like to see more researchers incorporating this into their work, and really taking on gender as a relational concept. “We can keep on conducting research within the Gender and Social Inclusion research unit, but it would be interesting if our approaches could be mainstreamed in other disciplinary areas as well.”

Though it might not be easy, Roeven emphasizes that it is necessary in order to have an impact and prevent innovations from exacerbating gender and social inequality. “Besides,” she adds, “I think it’s great when research has a social relevance.”

A step towards food security: German and Mexican researchers working jointly on the wheat of tomorrow

Written by Mary Donovan on November 25, 2019. Posted in In the media.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from Mexico and the German Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) signed a Declaration of Intent to intensify joint research on disease-resistant and stress-tolerant wheat. Representatives of both institutions met in Berlin at the International Conference on Improving Drought Stress Tolerance of Crops.

2019 World Food Prize recognizes the impact of bringing improved seeds to Africa, Asia and Latin America

Written by Alison Doody on October 16, 2019. Posted in News.

Simon N. Groot is the winner of the 2019 World Food Prize. With this award, food and agriculture leaders recognize his work to increase vegetable production in more than 60 countries, through the development of high-quality seeds and training programs for farmers.

Groot’s efforts were crucial in leading millions of farmers to become horticulture entrepreneurs, resulting in improved incomes and livelihoods for them, and greater availability of nutritious vegetables for hundreds of millions of consumers.

Like small-town Iowa farm boy Norman Borlaug, Groot comes from a small town in the Netherlands, where he learned the value of seeds at a young age. Both shared the same vision to feed the world and succeeded.

“I think I was born to be a vegetable seedsman.”
– Simon N. Groot

Groot devoted his whole life to the seed and plant breeding industry. After 20 years in the industry in Europe and North America, Groot travelled to southeast Asia at the age of 47 with a vision to set up the region’s first vegetable seed breeding company. Frustrated by the poor quality seeds he found and noticing a total lack of commercial breeding activities in the region, Groot decided to set up his own company, using his own capital, partnering with Benito Domingo, a Philippines local with a passion for seeds and local connections to the traditional seed trade, agriculture industry and universities.

The company, named East-West Seed Company, started out as a small five-hectare farm outside Lipa City, Philippines. Groot brought over well-trained plant breeders from the Netherlands to begin plant breeding and help train locals as breeders and technicians. Groot was the first to introduce commercial vegetable hybrids in tropical Asia: varieties which were high-yielding, fast-growing and resistant to local diseases and stresses. Today, East-West Seed Company has over 973 improved varieties of 60 vegetable crops which are used by more than 20 million farmers across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Inspired by Borlaug

Groot described meeting Dr. Borlaug at a conference in Indonesia in the late 1980s as “a pivotal moment” for him, writing that “his legacy has continued to serve as an inspiration for everything I have done at East-West Seed.”

In response to being awarded the 2019 World Food Prize, Groot wrote: “Bringing about the ‘Vegetable Revolution’ will be a fitting tribute to the work of Dr. Borlaug.”

The World Food Prize has been referred to as the “Nobel Prize for food and agriculture.” Awarded by the World Food Prize Foundation, it recognizes individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. Winners receive $250,000 in prize money.

The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.

The World Food Prize has a long association with CIMMYT. Sanjaya Rajaram was awarded the 2014 World Food Prize for his work that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production. Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal were awarded the 2000 World Food Prize for their work on productivity and nutritional content of maize. Bram Govaerts received the Norman Borlaug Field Award in 2014. As an institution, CIMMYT received the Norman Borlaug Field Medallion in 2014.

A community health worker in Rwanda talks to people on hygiene and the importance of a balanced diet, as part of the SUSTAIN project. (Photo: CIP)

Millions at lower risk of vitamin A deficiency after six-year campaign to promote orange-fleshed sweet potato

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on June 13, 2019. Posted in Press releases.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Millions of families in Africa and South Asia have improved their diet with a special variety of sweet potato designed to tackle vitamin A deficiency, according to a report published today.

A six-year project, launched in 2013, used a double-edged approach of providing farming families with sweet potato cuttings as well as nutritional education on the benefits of orange-fleshed sweet potato.

The Scaling Up Sweetpotato through Agriculture and Nutrition (SUSTAIN) project, led by the International Potato Center (CIP) and more than 20 partners, reached more than 2.3 million households with children under five with planting material.

The project, which was rolled out in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda as well as Bangladesh and Tanzania, resulted in 1.3 million women and children regularly eating orange-fleshed sweet potato when available.

“Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most pernicious forms of undernourishment and can limit growth, weaken immunity, lead to blindness, and increase mortality in children,” said Barbara Wells, director general of CIP. “Globally, 165 million children under five suffer from VAD, mostly in Africa and Asia.”

“The results of the SUSTAIN project show that agriculture and nutrition interventions can reinforce each other to inspire behavior change towards healthier diets in smallholder households.”

Over the past decade, CIP and partners have developed dozens of biofortified varieties of orange-fleshed sweet potato in Africa and Asia. These varieties contain high levels of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Just 125g of fresh orange-fleshed sweet potato provides the daily vitamin A needs of a pre-school child, as well as providing high levels of vitamins B6 and C, manganese and potassium.

Under the SUSTAIN project, families in target communities received nutritional education at rural health centers as well as cuttings that they could then plant and grow.

For every household directly reached with planting material, an additional 4.2 households were reached on average through farmer-to-farmer interactions or partner activities using technologies or materials developed by SUSTAIN.

The project also promoted commercial opportunities for smallholder farmers with annual sales of orange-fleshed sweet potato puree-based products estimated at more than $890,000 as a result of the project.

Two women sort orange-fleshed sweet potato in Faridpur district, Bangladesh. (Photo: Sara Quinn/CIP)

Perspectives from the Global South

The results of the initiative were published during the EAT Forum in Stockholm, where CGIAR scientists discussed the recommendations of the EAT-Lancet report from the perspective of developing countries.

“The SUSTAIN project showed the enormous potential for achieving both healthy and sustainable diets in developing countries using improved varieties of crops that are already widely grown,” said Simon Heck, program leader, CIP.

“Sweet potato should be included as the basis for a sustainable diet in many developing countries because it provides more calories per hectare and per growing month than all the major grain crops, while tackling a major nutrition-related health issue.”

At an EAT Forum side event, scientists highlighted that most food is grown by small-scale producers in low- and middle-income countries, where hunger and undernutrition are prevalent and where some of the largest opportunities exist for food system and dietary transformation.

“There are almost 500 million small farms that comprise close to half the world’s farmland and are home to many of the world’s most vulnerable populations,” said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“Without access to appropriate technologies and support to sustainably intensify production, small farmers — the backbone of our global food system — will not be able to actively contribute a global food transformation.”

Matthew Morell, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), added: “If the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet guidelines are to be truly global, they will need to be adapted to developing-world realities — such as addressing Vitamin A deficiency through bio-fortification of a range of staple crops.

“This creative approach is a strong example of how to address a devastating and persistent nutrition gap in South Asia and Africa.”

This story is part of our coverage of the EAT Stockholm Food Forum 2019.
See other stories and the details of the side event in which CIMMYT is participating.

For more information or interview requests, please contact:

Donna Bowater
Marchmont Communications
donna@marchmontcomms.com
+44 7929 212 434

The International Potato Center (CIP) was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweet potato and Andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. CIP is a CGIAR research center. www.cipotato.org

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is carried out by 15 CGIAR centers in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.org

MARPLE team members Dave Hodson and Diane Saunders (second and third from left) stand for a photograph after receiving the International Impact award. With them is Malcolm Skingle, director of Academic Liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (first from left) and Melanie Welham, executive chair of BBSRC. (Photo: BBSRC)

MARPLE team recognized for international impact

Written by Marcia MacNeil on May 17, 2019. Posted in News.

The research team behind the MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) diagnostic kit won the International Impact category of the Innovator of the Year 2019 Awards, sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The team — Diane Saunders of the John Innes Centre (JIC), Dave Hodson of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Tadessa Daba of the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) — was presented with the award at an event at the London Science Museum on May 15, 2019. In the audience were leading figures from the worlds of investment, industry, government, charity and academia, including the U.K.’s Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Chris Skidmore.

The BBSRC Innovator of the Year awards, now in their 11^th year, recognize and support individuals or teams who have taken discoveries in bioscience and translated them to deliver impact. Reflecting the breadth of research that BBSRC supports, they are awarded in four categories of impact: commercial, societal, international and early career. Daba, Hodson and Saunders were among a select group of 12 finalists competing for the four prestigious awards. In addition to international recognition, they received £10,000 (about $13,000).

“I am delighted that this work has been recognized,” Hodson said. “Wheat rusts are a global threat to agriculture and to the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries such as Ethiopia. MARPLE diagnostics puts state-of-the-art, rapid diagnostic results in the hands of those best placed to respond: researchers on the ground, local government and farmers.”

On-the-ground diagnostics

The MARPLE diagnostic kit is the first operational system in the world using nanopore sequence technology for rapid diagnostics and surveillance of complex fungal pathogens in the field.

In its initial work in Ethiopia, the suitcase-sized field test kit has positioned the country — one of the region’s top wheat producers — as a world leader in pathogen diagnostics and forecasting. Generating results within 48 hours of field sampling, the kit represents a revolution in plant disease diagnostics. Its use will have far-reaching implications for how plant health threats are identified and tracked into the future.

MARPLE is designed to run at a field site without constant electricity and with the varying temperatures of the field.

“This means we can truly take the lab to the field,” explained Saunders. “Perhaps more importantly though, it means that smaller, less-resourced labs can drive their own research without having to rely on a handful of large, well-resourced labs and sophisticated expertise in different countries.”

In a recent interview with JIC, EIAR Director Tadessa Daba said, “we want to see this project being used on the ground, to show farmers and the nation this technology works.”

The MARPLE team uses the diagnostic kit in Ethiopia. (Photo: JIC)

Development of the MARPLE diagnostic kit was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture’s Inspire Challenge. Continued support is also provided by the BBSRC’s Excellence with Impact Award to the John Innes Centre and the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project, led by Cornell University and funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

More information on the award can be found on the JIC website, the BBSRC website and the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.

Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project (NSAF)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 28, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project facilitates sustainable increases in Nepal’s national crop productivity, income and household-level food and nutrition security, across 20 districts, including five earthquake-affected districts.

Nepal’s agriculture is mostly small-scale and subsistence-oriented, characterized by a mix of crop and livestock farming. The agriculture sector represents about one-third of the country’s gross domestic product and employs 75 percent of the labor force.

Over half of Nepal’s farms operate on less than half a hectare, with the majority unable to produce enough to meet their household food requirements for the whole year. Combined with an increasing urban population, it will not be possible for the country to meet future food demand without increased agricultural productivity and competitiveness of domestic production.

Major cereal crops and vegetables currently have low yields, but there are significant prospects for increases through improved seed and soil fertility management practices. A large part of this yield gap results from a lack of knowledge, inadequate access to affordable improved technologies, extension services and markets due to weak public and private sector capacity to provide support services needed by small scale farmers.

NSAF promotes the use of improved seeds and integrated soil fertility management technologies along with effective and efficient extension, including the use of digital and information and communications technologies. The project will specifically increase availability of technologies to improve productivity in cauliflower, lentils, maize, onions, rice and tomatoes. It will also build competitive seed and fertilizer systems that significantly expand seed production, marketing and distribution by enhancing the capacity of public and private sectors in seed and fertilizer value chains.

Agriculture development needs to be locally owned and led through inclusive business models involving women and disadvantaged groups and farmers institutions. There is a need to further the development of Nepal’s cereals, legumes and vegetable sector by:

Strengthening public-private coordination mechanisms
Developing market systems that are agile, resilient, and adaptive
Propelling agricultural growth through evidence-based policy change and harmonization.

Food security in Ukraine

Supplemental funds released in 2022 will be used to respond to the impact of the Ukraine war at the household level. CIMMYT and its partners will develop food security and resilient agriculture market systems, to advance the delivery of improved agriculture input management knowledge and technologies, application of best crop management practices, and development of local capacity to apply improved technologies.

The objective is to build resilience of smallholder farmers in four areas:

Protecting and sustaining crop production for strengthening local food production and consumption systems.
Supporting efficient agriculture supply chain.
Strengthening local cooperatives and micro, small- and medium-sized agribusiness enterprises.
Addressing the impact of global fertilizer shortages by exploring innovative products, novel application techniques and local market development.

Climate Resilient Maize for Asia (CRMA)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 28, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

Climate Resilient Maize for Asia is supported by Germany’s development agency GIZ, and implemented as a public-private partnership, which targets enhanced resilience among resource-poor, maize-based farming families in South and Southeast Asia by providing them with abiotic stress-tolerant maize hybrids adapted to rain-fed stress-prone production systems for crop diversification, intensification and higher yields.

Most of the maize in Asia is grown as a rain-fed crop, which is prone to vagaries of seasonal monsoon rains. This is clearly reflected in the productivity of maize under rain-fed systems — usually less than half of the irrigated system. The erratic distribution pattern of monsoon rains results in drought or water logging at different crop growth stages, which is the main factor responsible for relatively low productivity of rain-fed maize. Due to the possibility of uncertain economic returns, farmers often hesitate to invest in improved seed, fertilizers and inputs, which further add to poor yields of rain-fed maize. Climate change effects are further threatening an already challenging maize mega-environment in the Asian tropics, which are identified as subject to climate change effects, with high vulnerability and low adoption capacity.

The project deals with high priorities of Asian stakeholders related to improving maize production in the face of current and anticipated effects of climate change and access to diverse and valuable maize germplasm, building upon the GIZ-funded project known as “Abiotic stress tolerant maize for increasing income and food security among the poor in South and Southeast Asia,” where significant progress is being made towards understanding the rain-fed stress-prone agro-ecologies in South and Southeast Asia, development of improved maize germplasm with enhanced levels of tolerance to drought, waterlogging or combined stress tolerance.

OBJECTIVES

Using data on elevation, aridity index and mean annual rainfall, a climate similarity map with a total 30 zones was developed for South Asia. This is useful in planning regional hybrid trials respective environment analogue.
New hybrid combinations by crossing promising stress-tolerant lines and evaluated across moisture regimes, including managed drought and waterlogging stresses, and optimal conditions, and a set of 50 promising hybrids are ready for large-scale adaptive trials.
Among the inbred lines developed under the project, four most promising lines were globally released CML (CIMMYT Maize Lines), namely CML-562, CML-563, CML-564 and CML-565, for use in low-land tropical breeding programs targeting stress-prone rainfed environment.
Total 18 Quantitative Trait Locus (QTLs) for grain yield under waterlogging and 21 QTLs for grain yield and anthesis-siling interval under drought were identified using genome-wide association studies and analyses of bi-parental populations. These validated genomic regions are candidate for introgression into elite Asia-adapted genetic background.
Breeder ready marker assays (KASP assays) have been developed for the 18 significant genomic regions that typically explained more than 10 percent of phenotypic variance under water-logging stress.
Protocol for rapid-cycle genomic selection (RC-GS) optimized with regards to constitution of suitable target population, and suitable statistical model for genomic selection.
Genetically enhanced cycle (C2) of two multi-parent synthetic populations were developed by inter-mating top 5 percent progenies with high genotypically estimated breeding values (GEBVs) were submitted for subjecting to double haploid for deriving new generation of stress-resilient maize lines

FUNDING INSTITUTIONS

Germany’s development agency GIZ

PRINCIPAL COORDINATOR

Pervez Haider Zaidi

CIMMYT staff welcome Minister Müller and his team at the entrance of CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Is a world without hunger possible, asks Germany’s minister Gerd Müller during his visit to CIMMYT

Written by Marta Millere on March 13, 2019. Posted in News.

On March 4, 2019, staff from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) welcomed Gerd Müller, Germany’s Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), for a short visit to CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. Before exploring the campus and sitting down to hear about CIMMYT’s latest innovations in maize and wheat research, Minister Müller challenged the scientists gathered there by asking: “Is a world with no hunger actually possible?”

“It is possible, but it will require a lot of research and development activities to get there,” replied CIMMYT’s director general, Martin Kropff.

With $3.5 billion generated in benefits annually, CIMMYT is well positioned for Minister Müller’s challenge. CIMMYT works throughout the developing world to improve livelihoods and foster more productive, sustainable maize and wheat farming. Its portfolio squarely targets critical challenges, including food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change and environmental degradation. In addition, over 50 percent of maize and wheat grown in the developing world is based on CIMMYT varieties.

The director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, Hans Braun (left), shows one of the 28,000 unique maize seed varieties housed at CIMMYT’s genebank, the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Germany has generously supported CIMMYT’s work for decades in a quest to answer this very question, which aligns with the German government’s agenda to improving food and nutrition security, the environment and livelihoods.

“CIMMYT is working to find ways to allow developing countries to grow maize and wheat on less land so that a larger percentage of it can be freed for nutritious and higher value cash crops. This requires better seeds that are adapted to biotic and abiotic stressors, smarter agronomy and machinery, which CIMMYT develops with partners,” Kropff explained.

CIMMYT works between smallholders and small companies to create an incentive on one side to grow varieties and on the other side, to increase demand for quality grain that will ultimately become the tortillas and bread on customers’ dinner tables. These sustainable sourcing and breeding efforts depend on the breathtaking diversity of maize and wheat housed at CIMMYT’s genebank, the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center, which is supported by German funding along with solar panels that generate clean energy for the genebank.

Through funding for the CGIAR Research Program on WHEAT and the CIM Integrated Experts Program, Germany’s GIZ and BMZ have also supported CIMMYT research into gender and innovation processes in Africa, Central and South Asia, enhancing gender awareness in both projects and rural communities and mainstreaming gender-sensitive approaches in agricultural research. As a result, CIMMYT researchers and partners have increased gender equality in wheat-based cropping systems in Ethiopia, reduced the burden of women’s wheat cleaning work in Afghanistan, and hosted a series of training courses promoting the integration of gender awareness and analysis in research for development.

The German delegation watches the work of a lab technician counting wheat root chromosomes. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

In addition, the CIM Integrated Experts program has allowed CIMMYT to increase its efforts to scale up agricultural innovations and link research to specific development needs. With support from GIZ and in collaboration with the PPPLab, in 2018 CIMMYT researchers developed a trial version of the Scaling Scan, a tool which helps researchers to design and manage scaling at all project phases: at the beginning, during and after implementation.

CIMMYT is committed to improving livelihoods and helping farmers stay competitive through increasing labor productivity and reducing costs. CIMMYT’s mechanization team works to identify, develop, test and improve technologies that reduce drudgery and enable smallholders in Mexico, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to adopt sustainable intensification practices, which require greater farm power and precision. In Ethiopia, CIMMYT has an ongoing collaboration with the GIZ/BMZ green innovation center — established as part of the ONE WORLD – No Hunger initiative — and is working with GIZ in Namibia to provide knowledge, expertise and capacity building on conservation agriculture. This includes the organization of training courses to mechanics and service providers on everything from the use to the repair of machinery and small-scale mechanization services.

“We’re on a mission to improve livelihoods through transforming smallholder agriculture, much of which depends on empowering women, scaling, market development and pushing for policies that would create the right incentives. Partnerships with local and international stakeholders such as Germany are at the core of CIMMYT’s operations and allow for us to have global impact,” said Kropff.

More photos of the visit are available here.

“Could we turn it on?” asks Germany’s federal minister of economic cooperation and development, Gerd Müller, during a small-scale machinery demonstration to show off the latest achievements of MasAgro, an innovative sustainable intensification project that works with more than 500,000 maize and wheat farmers in Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Participants of the Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) Contributor’s meeting pose for a group photograph. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)

Breeders find strength in diversity at EiB contributor meeting

Written by Sam Storr on December 10, 2018. Posted in Features.

Around 115 members of the CGIAR breeding community, plus others representing national programs, universities, funders and the private sector, met for a three-day discussion of how to co-develop the next generation of advanced breeding programs that will improve the rate at which resource-poor farmers are able to adopt improved varieties that meet their needs.

The annual Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) Contributor’s meeting, held this year in Amsterdam from 13-15 November, caps a year of engagement with CGIAR Centers and national agricultural research system (NARS) partners around the world.

*Paul Kimani, from the University of Nairobi, speaks during the meeting. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

“Although breeding is one of the oldest functions in CGIAR, we have never had a meeting like this with scientists from all the centers,” said Michael Baum, director of Biodiversity and Crop Improvement at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, (ICARDA). “Within CGIAR, plant breeding started as a science, but now we are looking at how to implement it not as a science but as an operation, as it is done in the private sector, so there are many new concepts.”

Key items on the agenda for November were new tools to develop product profiles and create improvement plans that will define the modernization agenda in each center and across the Platform itself, based in part on the Breeding Program Assessment Tool (BPAT) that most Centers completed in 2018.

The conversation was enriched by Paul Kimani (University of Nairobi) presenting on the Demand-led Variety Design project, which produced the book, “The Business of Plant Breeding.”

Ranjitha Puskur, gender research coordinator at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), started an animated discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design by thinking about customer segments.

Tim Byrne from AbacusBio introduced methods for identifying farmer preferences to be targeted by breeding programs.

IRRI's Ranjitha Puskur started a discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT) — *IRRI’s Ranjitha Puskur started a discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

In breakout sessions, contributors were able to have detailed discussions according to their various specializations: phenotyping, genotyping and bioinformatics/data management. The direct feedback from contributors will be incorporated into EiB workplans for training and tool development for the coming year.

A key outcome of the meeting was an agreement to finalize the product profile tool, to be made available to EiB members in early December 2018. The tool helps breeders to work with other specialisms, such as markets, socioeconomics and gender, to define the key traits needed in new products for farmers. This helps to focus breeding activities towards areas of greatest impact, supports NARS to play a greater role, and creates accountability and transparency for donors, in part by defining the geographic areas being targeted by programs.

“Breeding trees is different to the annual crops,” said Alice Muchugi, genebank manager at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), “but we are seeing what we can borrow from our colleagues. By uploading what we are doing in maps, for example, donors are able to perceive the specific challenges we are undertaking.”

EiB's George Kotch describes his vision of product profiles. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT) — *EiB’s George Kotch describes his vision of product profiles. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)*

“I think we have realized there are lot of challenges in common, and the Platform is helping us all work on those,” said Filippo Bassi, durum wheat breeder at ICARDA. “I like to see all the people around the room, if you look at the average age there is a big shift; the number of countries present also tells you a lot.”

Tabare Abadie, R&D external academic outreach lead at Corteva Agriscience, also saw the meeting as a good opportunity to meet a broader group of people. “One of the take homes I hear is [that] there are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of communication and understanding. For me as a contributor it’s an incentive to keep supporting EiB, because we have gone through those changes before [at Corteva], and we can provide some know-how and experience of what happens,” Abadie explained.

“There are still a lot of gaps to fill, but this is a good start,” said Thanda Dhliwayo, maize breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “We need to get everyone involved, from leadership down to the guys working in the field.”

Michael Quinn, director of the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, discusses the CGIAR’s initiative on crops to end hunger.