Location: Global

Scientists seek key to boost yields, ensure future food supply

Written by on March 23, 2018. Posted in Features.

We must improve the productivity of our key crops if we are to feed the world's growing population, say scientists. — Reducing the length of time it takes to naturally breed more productive crop varieties is key to feed the world’s growing population, say scientists. Photo: CIMMYT archives

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Crop genetic gains remain too low, and international scientists are making a concerted effort to determine how best to increase yields to ensure there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet by 2050.

The complex task of increasing genetic gains – the amount of increase in performance achieved per unit time through artificial selection – involves considering many variables, including genotypes and phenotypes – selecting crop varieties with desired gene traits and considering how well they perform in a given environment.

Two new research papers by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners at Australia’s University of Queensland and Spain’s University of Barcelona published in “Trends in Plant Science” highlight some of the best available tools and strategies for meeting the challenge.

Currently, crop breeding methods and agronomic management put annual productivity increases at 1.2 percent a year, but to ensure food security for future generations, productivity should be at 2.4 percent a year.

By 2050, the United Nations projects that the current global population of 7.6 billion will grow to more than 9.8 billion, making yield increases vital.

The results of grain yield increases each year are a function of the length of the breeding process, the accuracy of which breeders can estimate the potential of new germplasm, the size of the breeding program, the intensity of selection, and the genetic variation for the trait of interest.

“Reducing the length of the breeding process is the fastest way for breeders to increase their gains in grain yield per year,” said HuiHui Li, quantitative geneticist based at CIMMYT Beijing.

Speed breeding and other new techniques have the potential to double gains made by breeders some crops. Speed breeding protocols enable six generations of crops to be generated within a single year, compared to just two generations using traditional protocols.

Pioneered by scientist Lee Hickey at University of Queensland, speed breeding relies on continuous light to trick plants into growing faster, which means speed breeding can only be undertaken in a controlled environment.

Tapping into larger populations increases the probability of identifying superior offspring, but breeding is an expensive and time consuming process due to the variables involved.

One challenge scientists face is high-throughput field phenotyping, which involves characterising hundreds of plants a day to identify the best genetic variation for making new varieties. New phenotyping tools can estimate key traits such as senescence, reducing the time of data collection from a day or more to less than an hour.

“If breeders could reduce the cost of phenotyping, they can reallocate resources towards growing larger populations,” said Mainassara Zaman-Allah, a senior scientist at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe and a key contributor to the paper “Translating High Throughput Phenotyping into Genetic Gain.”

“Limitations on phenotyping efficiency are considered a key constraint to genetic advance in breeding programs,” said Mike Olsen, maize upstream trait pipeline coordinator with CIMMYT, based in Nairobi. “New phenotyping tools to more efficiently measure required traits will play an important role in increasing gains.”

New tools and techniques can only help contribute to food security if they are easily available and adopted. The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, launched in 2017, will play a pivotal role in ensuring these new tools reach breeding programs targeting the developing world.

Translating high-throughput phenotyping into genetic gain

Fast-forwarding genetic gain

New guides help agricultural scientists think gender in research design

Written by Matthew O'Leary on March 5, 2018. Posted in News.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new set of resources has been released to aid agricultural researchers integrating gender sensitivities into their research for development projects. The guidance notes are based on findings from GENNOVATE, a global comparative gender norms research initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Integrating gender into research is challenging,” said the project leader Lone Badstue. “The purpose of these GENNOVATE resources is to inspire and help scientists who are not gender experts to think gender into their own work.”

Agricultural research often fails to use gender analysis, which provides important information on women’s and men’s different needs and opportunities in agriculture, Badstue said.

In a bid to turn the tide, GENNOVATE initiated a series of tools and guides to give evidence about gender roles in agriculture, challenge assumptions and provide gender-inclusive data collection instruments that are easily accessible to researchers.

“These resources provide evidence-based inputs and recommendations on how to integrate gender considerations in research on, for example, climate-smart-agriculture, conservation agriculture, mechanization, farmer training events and more,” said Badstue. “Some of the tools have broad geographical relevance, while others have a regional or even country-level focus.”

The resources draw on GENNOVATE research, which focuses on how gender norms influence women’s and men’s abilities to learn about, adopt and adapt innovations in agriculture and natural resource management. This research initiative runs across multiple CGIAR research programs to provide contextually grounded evidence on how gender interacts with access to information, resources and decision-making processes.

Access the GENNOVATE resources below:

Entry points for enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation

Enhancing the gender-responsiveness of your project’s technical farmer training events

Embedding gender in Conservation Agriculture R4D in sub-Saharan Africa

Integration of gender considerations in Climate-Smart Agriculture R4D in South Asia

Challenging gender myths: Promoting inclusive wheat and maize research for development in Nepal

LADDER OF POWER AND FREEDOM: Qualitative data collection tool to understand local perceptions of agency and decision making

These and additional upcoming resources can be found on the GENNOVATE website.

Seed savers celebrate “Doomsday Vault” tenth anniversary

Written by on February 22, 2018. Posted in News.

CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank has its entire collection backed up in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Photo: CIMMYT archives

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — The “Doomsday Vault,” that safeguards fall-back collections of key food crop seeds in the arctic cold of Longyearbyen, Norway, marks its tenth anniversary this year. To celebrate, leaders in the conservation of crop genetic resources are gathering next week to discuss best practices and to encourage sustainable use of the resources.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault sits 1,300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle; the farthest north commercial flights will take you. It is described as the world’s largest secure seed storage and was established by the Norwegian Government in February 2008. Repurposing an abandoned coal mine, the global seed vault is set deep into the natural permafrost of the Norwegian island of Svalbard.

Over the last decade, seed-preserving institutions worldwide have shipped backup collections of seed and other plant parts for storage in the vault, which now holds nearly 900,000 varieties of essential crops, representing over 4,000 plant species, which could be drawn upon to restart agriculture in case of a catastrophe.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the top contributor to the vault, with over 150,000 unique collections containing a total of nearly 50 million seeds and representing roughly 85 percent of the entire CIMMYT germplasm bank collection.

The target is to have 90 percent of the CIMMYT entire collection backed up at Svalbard within two years, according to Thomas Payne, head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank, which is located in Mexico. CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank, led by Denise Costich, has already reached that goal.

“We send seeds every other year, accumulating packets until we have a critical mass and sending them in a large, single shipment,” Payne said.

Preparing and shipping the seed involves intricate coordination and painstaking work. For starters, seed must be sent in the winter to avoid it sitting on hot airport tarmacs. Additionally, the Svalbard vault opens for new deposits only a few times a year, so shipping logistics need to match up those dates.

The CIMMYT Wheat Germplasm Bank aims to have 90 percent of its collection backed up at Svalbard within two years. Photo: CIMMYT archives. — CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank aims to have 90 percent of its collection backed up at Svalbard within two years. Photo: CIMMYT archives.

Only seed of the highest quality is sent to Svalbard, in part to ensure that the stored seed retains as long as possible its ability to germinate.

CIMMYT Germplasm Bank seed collections are regularly tested for germination capacity by placing a batch of seeds in a wet paper towel for 7-10 days. When less than 85 percent of a unique collection is viable, then the entire collection is replaced with fresh seed grown from the viable portion.

“There are seed collections at CIMMYT that still meet the minimum viability standard after more than 50 years under storage,” Payne said, noting that the center’s long-term collections are kept at minus 18 degrees Centigrade and in low humidity.

Payne said the center keeps duplicate collections in Mexico of all the seed it sends to Svalbard and monitors those Mexico back-ups to keep tabs on the viability of its Svalbard deposits.

Payne explained “To check seed viability, we have to take seeds out of storage, representing a loss of several hundred seeds. It’s almost a self-defeating process, balancing viability testing with sufficient quantities of seed to test and distribute.”

Payne said scientists are seeking new, non-invasive ways to test seed viability, potentially by checking seed respiration rates or rapid germination imaging technologies.

The government of Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust cover the cost of storage and upkeep of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, coordinating shipments in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. Established in 2006, the Crop Trust supports the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide and helps to fund CIMMYT’s work to collect and conserve maize and wheat genetic resources. The CGIAR Genebank Platform also supports CIMMYT’s maize and wheat germplasm bank.

CIMMYT's Germplasm Bank staff preparing a seed shipment to send to Svalbard. Photo: Alfonso Cortés/ CIMMYT — CIMMYT’s Germplasm Bank staff prepare a seed shipment set for Svalbard. Photo: Alfonso Cortés/ CIMMYT

Learn more about the activities of the Maize Germplasm Bank here, and about the Wheat Germplasm Bank here.

The Maize and Wheat Germplasm banks at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center are funded by Global Crop Diversity Trust, the CGIAR Genebank Platform and Germany’s development agency.

Scientists confirm value of whole grains and wheat for nutrition and health

Written by on February 15, 2018. Posted in Press releases.

New study flattens claims that gluten and wheat are bad for human health. Photo: CIMMYT archives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new, exhaustive review of recent scientific studies on cereal grains and health has shown that gluten- or wheat-free diets are not inherently healthier for the general populace and may actually put individuals at risk of dietary deficiencies.

Based on a recent, special compilation of 12 reports published in the scientific journal Cereal Foods World during 2014-2017, eating whole grains is actually beneficial for brain health and associated with reduced risk of diverse types of cancer, coronary disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and overall mortality.

“Clear and solid data show that eating whole-grain wheat products as part of a balanced diet improves health and can help maintain a healthy body weight, apart from the 1 percent of people who suffer from celiac disease and another 2 to 3 percent who are sensitive to wheat,” said Carlos Guzmán, wheat nutrition and quality specialist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which produced the compilation.

Guzmán said wheat and other grains are inexpensive sources of energy that also provide protein, digestible fiber, minerals, vitamins, and other beneficial phytochemicals.

“Among wheat’s greatest benefits, according to the research, is fiber from the bran and other grain parts,” he explained. “Diets in industrialized countries are generally deficient in such fiber, which helps to regulate digestion and promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.”

Guzmán and hundreds of other grain quality and health specialists will meet for the 4th Latin American Cereals Conference and the 13th International Gluten Workshop, organized jointly by CIMMYT and the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC) in Mexico City from 11 to 17 March 2018.

Contributing to humankind’s development for the last 10,000 years, wheat is cultivated on some 220 million hectares (539 million acres) worldwide. The crop accounts for a fifth of the world’s food and is the main source of protein in many developing and developed countries, and second only to rice as a source of calories globally. In the many countries where milling flours are fortified, wheat-based foods provide necessary levels of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin A.

Inhabitants in developing and industrialized countries are experiencing higher incidences of diabetes, allergies, inflammatory bowel disorder, and obesity. A profitable industry has developed around gluten- and wheat-free food products, which the popular press has promoted as beneficial for addressing such disorders. But much scientific evidence contradicts popular writings about these food products.

“Much of the anti-grain messaging comes from publications produced by supposed ‘specialists’ who are not nutritionists, and are often built on faulty premises.” according to Julie Miller Jones, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University, U.S.A., and a key contributor to the review studies in the compilation.

“Causes of obesity and chronic disease are complex, and it is not only simplistic but erroneous to name a single food group as the cause or the cure for these problems,” Miller Jones explained. “We do know that we consume large portions, too many calories, and too few fruits, vegetables, or whole grains. Instead today’s lifestyles encourage consumption of many high calorie foods and beverages that contain few nutrients. Then the risks of poor diets are often amplified by our sedentary lifestyles.”

CIMMYT scientists are concerned that the negative portrayal of wheat to promote the lucrative gluten-free fad diet industry will discourage low-income families from consuming the grain as part of an affordable and healthy diet, particularly in areas where there are few low-cost alternatives.

Consumer Reports magazine reported in January 2015 that sales of “gluten-free” products soared 63 percent between 2012 and 2015, with almost 4,600 products introduced in 2014 alone. Retail sales of gluten-free foods in the United States were estimated at $12.2 billion in 2014 and by 2020 the market is projected to be valued at $23.9 billion, Statistica reports.

However, wheat biofortified through breeding or fortified during milling with zinc and iron can play a vital role in diets in areas where “hidden hunger” is a concern and where nutritional options are unaffordable or unavailable. About 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

The compilation draws on more than 1,500 peer-reviewed studies regarding the dietary and health effects of eating cereals and wheat-based foods.

CIMMYT specialists also worry that misinformation about wheat might affect investments in vital research to sustain wheat production increases of at least 60 percent by 2050, the output required to keep pace with rising population and demand, according to Hans Braun, director of the center’s global wheat program.

“Climate change is already constraining wheat production in regions such as South Asia, where more than 500 million inhabitants eat wheat-based foods,” Braun said. “Worldwide, the crop is threatened by deadly pest and disease strains, water shortages, and depleted soils.”

“As we have seen in 2008, 2011, and just recently in Tunisia and Sudan, grain shortages or price hikes in bread can lead to social unrest,” Braun added. “The international community needs to speed efforts to develop and share high-yielding, climate-resilient, and disease-resistant wheat varieties that also meet humanity’s varied nutritional demands.”

The compilation was produced with special permission from AACC International.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS

Mike Listman
Communications officer, CGIAR Research Program on Wheat
tel: +52 (55) 5804 7537
cel: +52 (1595) 114 9743
Email: m.listman@cgiar.org

Ag women speak out for International Day of Girls and Women in Science

Written by on February 9, 2018. Posted in Features.

Girls and women are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The likelihood of female students graduating with a degree in a science-related field is much lower than for male students, according to a U.N. study conducted in 14 countries. In an effort to improve their representation, a U.N. resolution established February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

To celebrate the occasion this year, CIMMYT asked women involved in agricultural science to share their views on what they would like to see change.

Rahma Adam

CIMMYT Gender and Development Specialist

Nairobi, Kenya

There are two inspiring women in science, who have made significant contributions to the world. The first woman is Wangari Maathai and the second woman is Marie Curie. Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree, the first to become a professor at the University of Nairobi. She made a significant contribution to environmental/forest conservation, women’s rights and peace. In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement (GBM), an organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation and women’s rights. The GBM has planted over 51 million trees in Kenya. In 2004, she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

French-Polish scientist Curie’s work led to the discovery of radium and polonium in 1898, setting the stage for nuclear medicine, which allows internal imaging of tumors. Curie is the first person and only woman to win a Nobel Prize twice, including the 1903 physics prize jointly with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel, and the 1911 chemistry prize. She was also the first woman to win the Nobel Prize.

The key factor that will encourage women and young girls to get involved in science is to be paired up with already practicing women scientists through mentorship programs so that they see firsthand what it is like to be a female scientist, and what it takes to become one. Starting a mentorship early in life – from the primary school level – will inspire young female students to take more interest in science classes and contemplate a career in science.

Bev Postma

HarvestPlus CEO

Washington DC, United States

Women’s contributions to science are vast and immeasurable. Heroes like Jane Goodall and Marie Curie, are some of the world’s most famous scientists who also happen to be women. One of my own personal role models from the past is Antoinette Brown Blackwell, who isn’t usually remembered as a scientist, but her efforts to dismantle the barriers to women in science and other research and intellectual fields is a major source of inspiration to me. Today, I am inspired every day by the young scientists in the CGIAR, both women and men, who continue to challenge all forms of gender disparity and are making huge contributions to our body of knowledge.

Women have long contributed innovations to various scientific fields, but their efforts are not always acknowledged, remembered or encouraged as readily as their male counterparts. Women of all ages have been fighting an uphill battle to become equals in the scientific community. Progress is being made but young women still face too many barriers to enter STEM fields and there are still too many hurdles to clear once they enter the workforce. The statistics speak for themselves and must not be ignored. The world needs these women scientists and we need to do all we can to nurture them and encourage a new generation of young women to enter into STEM fields. We must encourage and excite young women about studying STEM subjects, especially in developing countries. We can do this by profiling more female role models and by ensuring that new and established scientists get their fair share of airtime in publications and on conference panels. Sadly, I still see far too many male-only panels at STEM conferences. We all have a role to play in creating a work environment that provides opportunities for everyone to succeed, regardless of gender. Together, we must continue to support and elevate woman scientists within our workplaces and throughout the CGIAR system. I pledge to do my part to support and champion this movement.

Julie Borlaug

Inari Agriculture, Inc. VP Communications and Public Relations

United States

In my opinion, getting more girls and women involved in science will create more innovation, creativity and competitiveness. Women look at issues and research in a different light than men and are often more effective in communication. We must change the current perception of science as a negative, especially in agriculture. It is my hope that women will be able to talk about the benefits of innovation and technology in a manner that makes it easier to understand and acceptable to the public.

I would like to see more STEM programs in schools as well as in after-school programs and camps to introduce girls to science at an early age. Introduction at an early age is critical to furthering their passion and interest. By the time they are teenagers, they are more influenced by their peers and it is often too late to gain their interest.

Additionally, there are many opportunities for parents to provide toys that expose girls to math, chemistry and physics at an early age. Lego sets and many science kits have lines focused solely on girls and provide an important way for girls to grow confident in their capabilities. Several web-based STEM-themed games and apps have been released to encourage girls’ interests.

We need more young female scientists to serve as mentors to girls through various media, including social media outreach. It is hard to find programs or social media activities that highlight young female scientists to inspire girls. We must make a concerted effort to change this and empower the current and future generation of scientists!

Reshmi Rani Das

CIMMYT Research Scholar

Hyderabad, India

Women and girls have made significant contributions in various science disciplines, especially in agriculture, irrespective of their social status. We know women are the major workforce in agriculture worldwide, but sometimes they are marginalized due to limited land rights. When this is the case, they have less control over resources. Women’s contributions to agriculture are significant, across the sector, starting with research and development, and including the deployment of scalable technology leading to the capacity to make an impact on humanity.

It is essential to bring women working in agriculture into the mainstream and to empower them with direct access to knowledge of improved agricultural technologies. The female presence in scientific fields has been largely disproportional compared to male; however, the trend is slowly changing, as more and more women are entering these fields.

Equality in recognition of their contributions and equal rights in ownership of the resources might work as a strong motivator for women and girls to get more involved in science. Introducing women and girls to scientific fields and encouraging them to follow their hearts and minds irrespective of social issues that influence career choices could also help overcome the negative perceptions that girls develop at a young age that science is a hard subject, leading them to avoid it. Friendly environments in high school and the university level, inviting females to participate and get over a fear of science, would encourage those with talent and a genuine interest to develop their interest.

Encouraging women to participate in training and workshops by motivating young girls to explore and challenge typically male-dominated fields could also help bolster the number of women in the field. As well as providing more financial assistance in the form of fellowships so that they become financially independent.

Parents are primary mentors, and therefore right from the beginning if there is support, women and girls can accomplish much more. The value of mentorship outside the home is also irreplaceable. In the past, we have seen the majority of successful women credit their success to their mentors for helping them reach career goals.

Mina K. Devkota

CIMMYT Systems Agronomist

Kathmandu, Nepal

Many girls begin making a significant contribution to science from a very early age. As they grow older, a sizeable portion of them will work in various research organizations, contributing to science in different fields. Women often also play a big supporting role in the successes of men working for science. Thus, women, directly and indirectly, contribute to scientific advancement.

In my opinion, enabling environments in family, society and in communities, promoting knowledge gathering, support for education and career development will encourage more women and girls to get involved in science. For example, in some countries, certain people have the mindset that women and girls must still be confined to household activities, an unfair bias limiting access to opportunities and exposure to science.

Chuanmai 42 at Zhongjiang. (Photo: Garry Rosewarne/CIMMYT)

New Publications: Goat grass gives wheat breeders an edge

Written by on January 30, 2018. Posted in Publications.

A new commentary published today in the leading science journal Nature Plants highlights the importance of an ancient grass species for wheat breeding. The commentary was sparked by the recent publication of a reference genome from Aegilops tauschii, also called goat grass.

Bread wheat was created some 10,000 years ago by a natural cross of more simple, primitive wheats with a sub-species of goat grass. As such, goat grass genes constitute a major component of the very large wheat genome. The sequencing of goat grass DNA opens the way for wheat breeders to apply a number of advanced approaches to improve the speed and precision of wheat breeding for important traits that may be found in the goat grass segment of the wheat genome.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has produced many wheat x grass crosses, recreating the original, natural cross but using other goat grass species and thus greatly expanding wheat’s diversity. Wheat lines derived from those crosses have since been used in breeding programs worldwide and have helped farmers to boost yields by up to 20 percent. Goat grass is known for being highly adaptable and disease tolerant, so the crosses endow wheat with similar qualities. Varieties from these crosses make up over 30 percent of international seed stores.

Researchers expect that the sequencing of this grass species’ DNA will facilitate advanced approaches such as “speed breeding” – a technique that uses controlled variables to achieve up to seven rounds of wheat crops in one year. This will help allow wheat breeding to keep up with the rising global demand for the crop and to address the challenges of new, virulent diseases and more extreme weather.

Check out the full article: The goat grass genome’s role in wheat improvement. 2018. Rasheed, A., Ogbonnaya, F.C., Lagudah, E., Appels, R., He, Z. in Nature Plants and check out other recent publication by CIMMYT staff below:

Molecular genetic diversity and population structure of Ethiopian white lupin landraces Implications for breeding and conservation. 2017. Atnaf, M., Yao, N., Kyalo, M. ,Kifle Dagne, Dagne Wegary Gissa, Tesfaye, K. In: PLoS One v. 12, no. 11, p. e0188696.
Determinants of participation in cavy marketing : evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo. 2017. Simtowe, F., Paul, B. K., Wimba, B. M. M., Bacigale, S. B., Chiuri, W. L., Maass, B. L. In: Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics v. 118, no. 2, p. 245-257.
Food security, sweet potato production, and proximity to markets in northern Ghana. 2017. Glenna, L.L., Borlu, Y., Gill, T., Larson, J., Ricciardi, V., Adam, R. In: Facets v. 2, p. 919-936.
Evaluation of grain yield and related agronomic traits of quality protein maize hybrids in Southern Africa. 2017. Setimela, P.S., Gasura, E., Amsal Tesfaye Tarekegne. In: Euphytica v. 213, p. 289.
Medium-term effects of conservation agriculture on soil quality. 2017. Ivy Sichinga Ligowe, Patson Cleoups Nalivata, Njoloma, J., Makumba, W., Thierfelder, C. In: African Journal of Agricultural Research v. 12, no. 29, p. 2412-2420.
Predicting yield and stability analysis of wheat under different crop management systems across agro-ecosystems in India. 2017. Jat, M.L., Jat, R.K., Singh, P., Jat, S.L., Sidhu, H.S., Jat, H. S., Bijarniya, D., Parihar, C.M., Gupta, R.K. In: American Journal of Plant Sciences v. 8, p. 1977-2012.
Pathogenomic analysis of wheat yellow rust lineages detects seasonal variation and host specificity. 2017. Bueno Sancho, V., Persoons, A., Hubbard, A., Cabrera-Quio, L. E., Lewis, C. M., Corredor Moreno, P., Bunting, D. C. E., Sajid Ali, Soonie Chng, Hodson, D.P., Madariaga Burrows, R., Bryson, R., Thomas, J., Holdgate, S., Saunders, D. G. O. In: Genome Biology and Evolution v. 9, no. 12, p. 3282-3296.
Genotype by environment interactions and combining ability for strawberry families grown in diverse environments. 2017. Mathey, M.M., Mookerjee, S., Mahoney, L.L., Gündüz, K., Rosyara, U., Hancock, J.F., Stewart, P.J., Whitaker, V.M., Bassil, N.V., Davis, T.M., Finn, C.E. In: Euphytica v. 213, p. 112.
Genome-wide association study in Asia-adapted tropical maize reveals novel and explored genomic regions for sorghum downy mildew resistance. 2017. Rashid, Z., Kumar Singh, P., Vemuri, H., Zaidi, P.H., Prasanna, B.M., Nair, S.K. In: Scientific reports v. 8, p. 366.
Combining ability analysis in newly developed S6 inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.). 2017. Gazala, P., Kuchanur, P.H., Zaidi, P.H., Arunkumar, B., Patil, A., Seetharam, K., Vinayan, M.T. In: Journal of Farm Sciences v. 3, no. 3, p. 315-319.

CIMMYT research publications sow seeds in academic world

Written by Mike Listman on January 24, 2018. Posted in News.

Julio Huerta stands in a wheat field in Ciudad Obregon. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT. — Julio Huerta stands in a wheat field in northern Mexico. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT.

Based on publication records, CIMMYT scientists produce a lot more than just improved maize and wheat varieties, as important as that work has been for farmers, partners, and consumers.

In 2017, CIMMYT researchers contributed to nearly 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, many published in high-impact journals including Nature and Science. The articles emerged from partnerships with a broad range of international universities and research institutes and have been cited frequently by peers in recent years.

“CIMMYT is the world’s largest distributor of publicly-available maize and wheat ‘germplasm,’ which includes breeding lines and other genetic resources in the form of seed,” said Marianne Bänziger, CIMMYT deputy director general for research and partnerships. “But the center’s researchers also publish high-quality, cutting-edge science articles, not to mention mentoring and training several hundred students and professionals mostly from national research systems every year and interacting with thousands of farmers.”

Multiple CIMMYT authors led by José Crossa, CIMMYT biometrician and distinguished scientist, published two papers in Heredity on genomic selection in maize and wheat that have been among those most often cited for that journal since 2013, having been mentioned in other papers 124 times.

Ravi Singh and Julio Huerta, CIMMYT wheat scientists, were recognized in 2017 among the top one percent of researchers for the frequency of citation of their articles by other science authors.

Among the many reports to which they contributed, Huerta and Singh were participants and co-authors in a study published in the eminent journal Science in 2009 and since cited by other researchers 441 times. The study described the molecular basis of a “wonder” gene that, in tandem with other resistance genes, has helped protect wheat from three deadly fungal diseases for more than 50 years, providing farmers benefits in excess of $5 billion in harvests saved, according to a CIMMYT report on the findings.

The two scientists share authorship on at least a half-dozen other articles on wheat disease breeding and genetics that have been cited over 100 times.

“These examples show that CIMMYT research substantially contributes to global science, in addition to the impact achieved in farmers’ fields,” said Bänziger. “It all builds on high-value partnerships with hundreds of researchers and professionals worldwide.”

"The Wizard and the Prophet" looks at the world’s most threatening challenges through the eyes of scientists Norman Borlaug (left) and William Vogt. (Photos: CIMMYT, AICBC)

Are you a wizard or a prophet?

Written by on January 23, 2018. Posted in Features.

Charles Mann’s The Wizard and the Prophet released today seeks to reconcile two worldviews spurred by agronomist Norman Borlaug and ecologist William Vogt, to help us better understand how we can feed 10 billion people by 2050; without destroying our planet in the process.

Borlaug, the “wizard” of the book, launched his vision from a small parcel of “badly damaged land” near Mexico City that would become the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). He was a key figure in developing high-yielding wheat varieties that saved millions from starvation in the 1960s, launching a global Green Revolution and becoming an emblem for “techno-optimism,” or the view that science and technology will meet humanity’s growing demands.

Vogt’s 1948 book “The Road to Survival” became the blueprint for today’s modern environmental movement, prophesizing that unless humankind drastically reduces consumption, its growing numbers and appetite will overwhelm the planet’s resources. His novels and speeches inspired conservationists from Rachel Carson to Paul Ehrlich, and defined our concept of “environment” as an entity that deserves respect and protection.

Mann uses the views of Borlaug and Vogt as endpoints on a “wizard-prophet” spectrum to illustrate different approaches experts are taking to solve four great, complex challenges of our time: food, water, energy and climate change.

But who is right? We, humans, are the only species on Earth that have been able to bend nature to our will. For thousands of years we burned forests to kill insects and encourage the growth of useful species, then later turned the planet into our “personal petri dish,” as Mann puts it, with the rise of agriculture and creation of crops like maize, which allowed Mesoamerican civilizations to grow and flourish. Today, violence and poverty are at an all-time low due to the wizardly-successes of Borlaug and others

However, Mann cautions past successes are no guarantee of the future. Vogt’s Malthusian predictions didn’t come to pass, but Borlaug’s wizardry also had unintended social and environmental consequences. Fertilizer runoff, over-extraction of groundwater and the burning of fossil fuels are creating an increasingly inhospitable planet and arguably pushing us closer to Vogt’s envisioned planetary limits than ever before.

Norman Borlaug works with researchers in the field. (Photo: CIMMYT archives)

Both Borlaug and Vogt identified as environmentalists trying to solve the same monumental challenge of having too many people to feed but not enough resources. Their ideological heirs are also working to solve equally challenging problems but are bitterly opposed, in large part because the argument is less about facts and more about values.

Prophets see humans as living in a finite world with constrained limits imposed by the environment, while wizards believe human ingenuity gives us an endless array of tools to manage the environment for our needs.

Mann doesn’t take either side, but rather offers solutions proposed by both prophets and wizards. He cites efforts to change the way photosynthesis works in rice at the International Rice Research Institute, but also initiatives like the domestication of wild perennial plants at the Land Institute. Both prophets and wizards have multiple, on-going efforts to meet all four challenges that Mann covers in the book. He says that it’s possible individual efforts won’t work, but the odds of all efforts failing are equally small.

Most importantly, there are many individuals and organizations today that are attempting to embrace both ideologies. CIMMYT, an organization that was founded by the original wizard, now incorporates sustainable agriculture practices into its work globally, with an emphasis on social inclusion.

The Wizard and the Prophet’s in-depth mix of biographical, historical, philosophical and scientific detail allows us to confront our wizard/prophet bias, and leaves one with a greater sense of respect for those with differing views on how we should shape our world in the 21^st century.

Buy “The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World” here.

New Publications: Using prediction models to keep up with growing demand for wheat

Written by on January 18, 2018. Posted in Publications.

Wheat harvest near Iztaccíhuatl volcano in Juchitepec, Estado de México. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

With increasing global demand for wheat and increasing constraints (high temperatures, diseases) to wheat’s productivity, wheat breeders are looking for new methodologies to make breeding more efficient. A new study looks at refinements of genomic prediction models to help achieve this.

The authors write that genomic selection is becoming a standard approach to achieving genetic progress in plants, as it gets around the need to field-test the offspring at every cycle, but that the models commonly used in plant breeding are based on datasets of only a few hundred genotyped individual plants.

This study used pedigree and genomic data from nearly 59,000 wheat lines evaluated in different environments, as well as genomic and pedigree information in a model that incorporated genotype X environment interactions to predict the performance of wheat lines in Mexican and South Asian environments.

They found that models using markers (and pedigree) had higher prediction accuracies than models using only phenotypic data. Models that included genomic x environment had higher prediction accuracies than models that do not include interaction.

Read the full study “Single-Step Genomic and Pedigree Genotype × Environment Interaction Models for Predicting Wheat Lines in International Environments” and check out other publications by CIMMYT staff below:

Association mapping reveals loci associated with multiple traits that affect grain yield and adaptation in soft winter wheat. 2017. Lozada, D. N., Mason, E.R., Md Ali Babar, Carver, B. F., Guedira, G. B., Merrill, K., Arguello, M. N., Acuna, A., Vieira, L., Holder, A., Addison, C., Moon, D. E., Miller, R. G., Dreisigacker, S. In: Euphytica v. 213 : 222.
Effect of trait heritability, training population size and marker density on genomic prediction accuracy estimation in 22 bi-parental tropical maize populations. 2017. Ao Zhang, Hongwu Wang, Beyene, Y., Fentaye Kassa Semagn, Yubo Liu, Shiliang Cao, Zhenhai Cui, Yanye Ruan, Burgueño, J., San Vicente, F.M., Olsen, M., Prasanna, B.M., Crossa, J., Haiqiu Yu, Zhang, X. In: Frontiers in Plant Science v. 8 : 1916.
Genomic prediction unifies animal and plant breeding programs to form platforms for biological discovery. 2017. Hickey, J.M., Tinashe Chiurugwi, Mackay, I., Powell, W., Eggen, A., Kilian, A., Jones, C., Canales, C., Grattapaglia, D., Bassi, F., Atlin, G.N., Gorjanc, G., Dawson, I., Rabbi, I., Ribaut, J.M., Rutkoski, J., Benzie, J., Lightner, J., Mwacharo, J., Parmentier, J., Robbins, K., Skot, L., Wolfe, M., Rouard, M., Clark, M., Amer, P., Gardiner, P., Hendre, P., Mrode, R., Sivasankar, S., Rasmussen, S., Groh, S., Jackson, V., Thomas, W., Beyene, Y. In: Nature Genetics v. 49, no. 9, p. 1297–1303.
Genomic selection in plant breeding : methods, models and perspectives. 2017. Crossa, J., Pérez-Rodríguez, P., Cuevas, J., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Jarquín, D., De los Campos, G., Burgueño, J., Camacho-González, J. M., Perez-Elizalde, S., Beyene, Y., Dreisigacker, S., Singh, R.P., Zhang, X., Gowda, M., Rutkoski, J., Varshney, R. K. In: Trends in Plant Science v. 22, no. 11, p. 961-975.
Single-step genomic and pedigree genotype x environment interaction models for predicting wheat lines in international environments. 2017. Pérez-Rodríguez, P., Crossa, J., Rutkoski, J., Singh, R.P., Legarra, A., Autrique, E., De los Campos, G., Burgueño, J., Dreisigacker, S. In: The Plant Genome v. 10, no. 2.

New Publications: Mitigating climate change effects on food security

Written by on December 7, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Long term conservation agriculture in practice. Photo: CIMMYT/X. Fonseca — Long term conservation agriculture in practice.
Photo: CIMMYT/X. Fonseca

A new study on climate change patterns indicates that climate change could reduce total crop production 23 percent by 2050, the same year in which human population is expected to increase past nine billion people.

Globally, one in nine people were unable to meet their dietary energy requirements in 2015 and that number is expected to increase. Food insecurity is exacerbated by unstable global food prices, which are a reflection of unpredictable crop production seasons due to extreme weather patterns like temperature shocks, drought and flooding.

Climate-resilient agriculture has been touted as essential to achieving food security in the future. The study shows that improvements in technology and agronomic practices have the capacity to increase global food production to adequate levels, even in extreme conditions.

The authors say that beginning to implement mitigation and adaptation technologies now is crucial to check climate change’s adverse impact on global crop production and food security.

Read the full study “Impact of climate change, weather extremes, and price risk on global food supply” and check out other publications by CIMMYT staff below:

Participatory integrated assessment of scenarios for organic farming at different scales in Camargue, France. 2016. Delmotte, S., Barbier, J.M., Mouret, J.C., Le Page, C., Wery, J., Chauvelon, P., Sandoz, A., Lopez-Ridaura, S. In: Agricultural Systems, vol.143, p.147-158.

Patterns and determinants of household use of fuels for cooking: empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Behera, B., Ali, A. In: Energy, vol. 117, p. 93-104.

Photosynthetic contribution of the ear to grain filling in wheat: a comparison of different methodologies for evaluation. 2016. Sanchez-Bragado, R., Molero, G., Reynolds, M.P., Araus, J.L. In: Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 67, no.9, p.2787-2798.

Pm55, a developmental-stage and tissue-specific powdery mildew resistance gene introgressed from Dasypyrum villosum into common wheat. 2016. Ruiqi Zhang, Bingxiao Sun, Chen, J., Aizhong Cao, Liping Xing, Yigao Feng, Caixia Lan, Peidu Chen. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol.129, p.1975-1984.

Precise estimation of genomic regions controlling lodging resistance using a set of reciprocal chromosome segment substitution lines in rice. 2016. Taiichiro Ookawa, Ryo Aoba, Toshio Yamamoto, Tadamasa Ueda, Toshiyuki Takai, Shuichi Fukuoka, Tsuyu Ando, Shunsuke Adachi, Makoto Matsuoka, Takeshi Ebitani, Yoichiro Kato, Indria Wahyu Mulsanti, Kishii, M., Reynolds, M.P., Piñera Chavez, F.J., Toshihisa Kotake, Shinji Kawasaki, Takashi Motobayashi, Tadashi Hirasawa. In: Nature Scientific reports, vol.6, no. 30572.

Predicting hybrid performances for quality traits through genomic-assisted approaches in Central European wheat. 2016. Guozheng Liu, Yusheng Zhao, Gowda, M., Longin, F.H., Reif, J.C., Florian Mette, M. In: PLoS One, vol 11, no. 7.

Predicting Rift Valley fever inter-epidemic activities and outbreak patterns: insights from a stochastic Host-Vector Model. 2016. Pedro, S.A., Abelman, S., Tonnang, H. In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol.10, no.12, 1-26 p.

Household energy consumption and its determinants in Timor-Leste. 2017. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Mottaleb, K.A., Ali, A. In: Asian development review, v. 34, no. 1, p. 167-197.

Cover crop-based reduced tillage system influences Carabidae (Coleoptera) activity, diversity and trophic group during transition to organic production. 2017. Rivers, A., Mullen, C., Wallace, J., Barbercheck, M. In: Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, v. 32, no. 6, p. 538-551.

Impact of climate change, weather extremes, and price risk on global food supply. 2017. Haile, M.G., Wossen, T., Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye, Joachim, vB. In: Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, v. 1, p. 55-75.

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

Written by on November 23, 2017. Posted in Features.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) works to develop improved maize varieties with traits that smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia need. These include tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and heat, and biotic stresses such as diseases and insect-pests. This infographic explains exactly how CIMMYT ensures that its improved maize seed (both hybrids and open-pollinated varieties) gets to the smallholder farmers through the public and private sector partners. This process goes from product development, product advancement, announcement of new products to the partners, product licensing to improved varietal release, seed scale-up, and deployment to the farming communities in target geographies. Feedback loops from the farmers (through on-farm trials) and from the public and private sector partners enrich our breeding teams to continuously refine the product pipelines.

For more information on our work with maize please click here.

How does CIMMYT's Improved Maize Seed get to the Farmers (Oct 2017)

A maize field is inundated by a flash flood in southern Bangladesh. (Photo: M. Yusuf Ali/CIMMYT)

Climate disasters are closing in. Why have we forgotten farmers?

Written by on November 22, 2017. Posted in Director General's corner.

Do you ever contemplate climate change over your morning cup of coffee?

Probably not. But perhaps it is time that you did.

The tropical storms that recently hit the U.S. and Caribbean in quick and brutal succession have brought the impacts of climate change closer to home for many of us in the developed world. Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico, wiping out nearly 80 percent of the value of the country’s crops. One of these major exports is coffee. A major industry, a lifeline for farmers, and the breakfast staple you may take for granted, swept away.

Storms like Maria, which seem to be fuelled by climate change, and are an indication of the kind of extreme weather events the world will have to contend with in the future. They won’t only devastate homes and cripple countries’ infrastructure, they will have a serious and long term effect on our global food supply.

Many parts of the developing world have been experiencing the brunt of these climate change impacts for decades. With fragile food systems at the mercy of the increasingly erratic weather – they stand to lose a lot more than those of us with the resilience to bounce back. They have fewer options to recover and need urgent help.

In East and Southern Africa for example, consecutive seasons of drought have ravaged crops and livestock, causing food prices and hunger levels to soar. Climate-induced pest outbreaks like the fall armyworm in sub-Saharan Africa may cause up to $3 billion worth of damage to maize crops, and cost hundreds of millions more to address.

A predicted 150 million to two billion people are migrating to escape conflict, poverty, hunger, and extreme weather events. To make matters worse, food production continues to emit greenhouse gases, contributing to the overall change in climate and perpetuating this vicious cycle.

World leaders must surely have seen this coming.

The Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 recognized agriculture as a sector where action is needed, to protect food and farming from the worst climate impacts. A vast majority of countries have formulated ambitious plans to tackle these issues on the ground. Yet two years on the price tag for inaction is climbing into the hundreds of millions.

Only by backing climate action in agriculture can our global food system have a fighting chance. This week’s climate change conference in Bonn – that several US governors will attend in the absence of the Trump administration – will be the ideal time to step this action up. The solutions are out there – farmers, governments, scientists and the private sector are putting them into practice around the world every day.

Soybeans damaged by a flash flood. (Photo: Shah-Al-Emran/CIMMYT)

Climate-proof crops

In Zimbabwe, where farmers pin their hopes on reliable rainfall, droughts pose a constant threat to crops and livelihoods. Hunger looms large for the poorest farmers. In this setting, drought-tolerant maize varieties are a lifesaver. Farmers who planted drought-tolerant varieties have substantially increased their output and incomes; researchers estimate that this is equivalent to more than nine months of food at no additional cost. Scientists are also breeding varieties that can contend with hotter climates – these maize seeds are increasingly in demand by farmers.

Fighting pests

Changing climates create favourable conditions for new pests and diseases. Now affecting more than 30 African countries, the fall armyworm is wrecking staple crops and compromising the food and nutritional security of millions of people. Recently, a coalition has initiated an emergency response to this looming threat, building on decades of experience managing pests and diseases. The strategy centers around the needs of smallholder farmers, who often cannot afford costly chemical insecticides. Potential responses include low-cost and environmentally safer pesticides, simple and effective on-farm practices like intercropping maize with beans, biological control (which deploys other organisms or plants to attack the pest), and improving resistance of vulnerable crops. Better monitoring and surveillance will help countries mobilize responses well ahead of time.

Insurance when disaster strikes

Even the most drought-tolerant and pest-resistant crops and livestock are vulnerable to prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events. New insurance products geared towards smallholder farmers can help them recover their losses, and even encourage farmers to invest in climate-resilient innovations. In the most flood-prone state of Bihar in India, a new insurance scheme based on satellite data is set to pay out to up 60 percent of farmers that purchased policies, offering some hope to rebuild livelihoods washed away during the monsoon season.

Fall Armyworm on maize in Nigeria. (Photo: G. Goergen/IITA)

Sustaining food security while reducing emissions

It is imperative to reduce agriculture’s contribution to global emissions if we are to meet the global target of 1.5 degrees set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. But this has been one of the sticking points for UN climate negotiations on agriculture; some countries fear that mitigation actions could compromise food production. However, research undertaken by CGIAR and its partners has found that a middle ground is possible, where farmers adopt practices that improve productivity and resilience while also reducing emissions. In Vietnam and the Philippines, farmers are using water-saving approaches to growing rice, which happen to reduce harmful methane emissions by around 50%. It’s an easy win for farmers and also for the planet.

It is time that our global food and farming systems – so vital to our survival – get the attention they deserve. It shouldn’t take these disasters happening close to home (or the threat of an interruption in our coffee supply) for our leaders to take action.

The hard-won gains in global food security are already sliding into reverse, with farmers at the front lines of future climate change. The UN climate talks offer the opportunity for global policy and financing to catch up to the needs already expressed by countries. Anything less would be a catastrophe for farmers and for our collective future.

Elwyn Grainger-Jones is the Executive Director of CGIAR System Organization and Martin Kropff is the Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Find the original article published by Reuters here.

World leaders: Back climate change action in agriculture to give our food system a fighting chance

Written by Mike Listman on November 13, 2017. Posted in News.

Global climate change negotiators meet this week to tackle myriad issues, including how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and protect food and farming from worsening climate impacts.

But unheralded and behind COP23 headlines, governments, private companies, and scientists led by CGIAR are already developing and sharing life-saving innovations for farmers, particularly smallholders, who fight daily at the climate change frontlines.

Technology such as drought- and heat-tolerant maize, resistant crops and control practices to combat newly-emerging pests, insurance to recover from extreme or erratic weather, and more targeted use of nitrogen fertilizers are already being adopted in Africa and Asia to reduce agriculture’s footprint while improving farm resilience and productivity.

Click here to read a message by Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director, CGIAR System Organization, and Martin Kropff, Director General, CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) describing these efforts and issuing a wake-up call for world leaders.

New Publications: Conservation agriculture increases the adaptive capacity of cropping systems

Written by on November 9, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted in sub-Saharan Africa as an adaptable and sustainable way to farm in changing climates. CA has three major principles: the minimal disturbance of soil via zero till planting, crop diversification and soil cover by either residues or cover crops.

A new study examined over 700 independent studies to find out if CA works in a variety of environmental conditions in tropical areas.

The authors found that in drought and high-temperature conditions, maize yields under CA improved relative to conventional farming. This relative improvement, they said, is because CA helps water infiltrate better into the soil than conventional farming.

These same moisture-retaining attributes that make CA effective in drought-like conditions can worsen the impact of flooding. However, droughts are expected to worsen in coming years, making these water-retaining qualities likely more advantageous in the long term.

Overall, the study found that CA systems have more stable yields across different stress levels, outperform their conventional counterpart in many cases even without the addition of nitrogen fertilizers and increase the adaptive capacity of maize-based cropping systems.

Read the full study “The adaptive capacity of maize-based conservation agriculture systems to climate stress in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-regression of yields” and check out other recent publications by CIMMYT staff below:

Markers linked to wheat stem rust resistance gene Sr11 effective to puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici Race TKTTF. 2016. Nirmala, J., Shiaoman Chao, Olivera, P., Babiker, E.M., Abeyo Bekele Geleta, Tadesse, Z., Imtiaz, M., Talbert, L., Blake, N.K., Akhunov, E., Pumphrey, M., Yue Jin, Rouse, M.N. In: Phytopathology, v. 106, no. 11, p. 1352-1358.

Modeling the risk of invasion and spread of Tuta absoluta in Africa. 2016. Guimapi, R.Y.A., Mohamed, S.F., Okeyo, G.O., Ndjomatchoua, F.T., Ekesi, S., Tonnang, H. In: Ecological complexity, vol. 28, p. 77-93.

Modelling and genetic dissection of staygreen under heat stress. 2016. Suzuky Pinto, R., Lopes, M.S., Collins, N.C., Reynolds, M.P. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol. 129, p. 2055-2074.

Multidimensional impact assessment of zero tillage technology on wheat productivity in Haryana. 2016. Kumar, A. , Singh, R., Shahnawaz Rasool Dar, Singh, S., Gathala, M.K., Kanchan Pathania In: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment. 2016, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 85-90.

Nested association mapping of stem rust resistance in wheat using genotyping by sequencing. 2016. Bajgain, P., Rouse, M.N., Tsilo, T.J., Macharia, G., Bhavani, S., Yue Jin, Anderson, J.A. In: PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 5: e0155760.

Occurrence, identification and phylogenetic analyses of cereal cyst nematodes (Heterodera spp.) in Turkey. 2017. Jiang-Kuan Cui, Huan Peng, Shi-ming Liu, Erginbas-Orakci, G., Imren, M., Dababat, A.A., De-Liang Peng In: Journal of integrative agriculture, vol. 16, no. 0, p. 1-10.

On-farm yield gains with Stress-Tolerant Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa. 2017. Setimela, P.S., Magorokosho, C., Lunduka, R., Gasura, E., Makumbi, D., Amsal Tesfaye Tarekegne, Cairns, J.E., Thokozile Ndhlela, Erenstein, O., Mwangi, W.M. In: Agronomy Journal, v. 109, no. 2, p. 406-417.

Pedigree-based prediction models with genotype × environment interaction in multi-environment trials of CIMMYT wheat. 2017. Sukumaran, S., Crossa, J., Jarquín, D., Reynolds, M.P. In: Crop Science, vol. 57, p. 1-16.

Predicting grain yield using canopy hyperspectral reflectance in wheat breeding data. 2017. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-López, A., Crossa, J., De los Campos, G., Alvarado, G., Mondal, S., Rutkoski, J., Gonzalez-Perez, L., Burgueño, J. In: Plant methods, v. 13, no.4.

Soil organic carbon changes after seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice–wheat system of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. 2017. Sapkota, T.B., Jat, R.K., Ravi Gopal Singh, Jat, M.L., Stirling, C., Jat, M.K., Bijarniya, D., Kumar, M., Singh, Y., Saharawat, Y.S., Gupta, R.K. In: Soil Use and Management, v. 33, p. 81-89.

The adaptive capacity of maize-based conservation agriculture systems to climate stress in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-regression of yields. 2018. Steward, P.R., Dougill, A.J., Thierfelder, C. Pittelkow, C.M., Stringer, L.C., Kudzala, M., Shackelford, G.E. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, v. 251, p. 194-202.

Governments must raise, not cut, funding for food security

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on November 8, 2017. Posted in In the media.

A Financial Times editorial by CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds presents a new proposal for expanding the wheat network to include other major food crops and speed farmers’ adoption of vital technologies that can end hunger and address climate change. The idea has the support of experts from leading funding and development agencies.

https://www.ft.com/content/b3d07616-c3d3-11e7-a1d2-6786f39ef675