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research: Genetic resources

New Publications: Climate change adaptation practices decrease poverty, boost food security

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A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT
A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — Farmers in Pakistan that practice climate change adaptation strategies like adjusting sowing time, adopting new crops and planting drought tolerant varieties have higher food security levels and are less likely to live in poverty than those that don’t, according to a new study.

South Asia is likely to be one of the most affected regions by climate change due to the region’s vast agrarian population and large number of poor, unfavorable geography, limited assets and a greater dependence on climate-sensitive sources of income.

In Pakistan, climate change has had a direct impact on rain patterns and increased the frequency of extreme weather events such as flash floods. Adaptation measures at the farm level can help lessen the impact of these negative effects on food security.

Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently surveyed 950 farmers across Pakistan to see what adaptation measures to climate change they use, if any.

The study found that farmers in Pakistan are using a variety of adaptation practices to counter the adverse impacts of climate change, primarily adjusting sowing time, adopting new crops and planting drought tolerant varieties. The results also highlighted the importance of awareness and knowledge about the local context, climate change, adaptation and its benefits. Younger farmers and farmers with higher levels of education are also more likely to use these adaptation practices, as do farmers that are wealthier, farm more land and have joint families.

The authors of the study conclude that adaptation policies should focus on increasing the awareness of climate change and climate risk coping strategies and its benefits, as well as increasing the affordability of climate risk coping capacity by augmenting the farm household assets and lowering the cost of adaptation.

Read the full study “Assessing farmer use of climate change adaptation practices and impacts on food security and poverty in Pakistan” and check out other recent publications from CIMMYT staff below.

  • Development of multiplex-PCR systems for genes related to flour colour in Chinese autumn-sown wheat cultivars. 2016. Zhang, Y., Wang, X., Jiang, L., Liu, F., Xinyao He, Liu, S., Zhang, X. In: Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 231-241.
  • DNA fingerprinting of open-pollinated maize seed lots to establish genetic purity using simple sequence repeat markers. 2016. Setimela, P.S., Warburton, M.L., Erasmus, T. In: South African Journal of Plant and Soil, vol. 33, no. 2, p. 1-8.
  • Do forest resources help increase rural household income and alleviate rural poverty? Empirical evidence from Bhutan. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Behera, B., Ali, A. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 1-11.
  • Dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are associated with both type I FHB susceptibility and low anther extrusion in two bread wheat populations. 2016. Xinyao He, Singh, P.K., Dreisigacker, S., Sukhwinder-Singh, Lillemo, M., Duveiller, E. In: PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 9 : e0162499.
  • A Bayesian Poisson-lognormal Model for count data for Multiple-Trait Multiple-Environment Genomic-Enabled prediction. 2017. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-LĂłpez, A., Crossa, J., Toledo, F.H., Montesinos-LĂłpez, J.C., Singh, P.K., Juliana, P., Salinas-Ruiz, J. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 5, p. 1595-1606.
  • A comparative political economic analysis of maize sector policies in eastern and southern Africa. 2017. Sitko, N.J., Chamberlin, J., Cunguara, B., Muyanga, M., Mangisonib, J. In: Food Policy, v. 69, p. 243-255.
  • Agriculture and crop science in China: Innovation and sustainability. 2017. Yunbi Xu, Jiayang Li, Jianmin Wan. In: The Crop Journal v. 5, p. 95-99.
  • Assessing farmer use of climate change adaptation practices and impacts on food security and poverty in Pakistan. 2017. Ali, A., Erenstein, O. In: Climate Risk Management, vol. 16, p. 183-194.
  • Bayesian Genomic Prediction with Genotype x Environment Interaction Kernel Models. 2017. Cuevas, J., Cuevas, J., Crossa, J., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Burgueño, J., PĂ©rez-RodrĂ­guez, P., De los Campos, G. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 41-53.

Farmers in Pakistan benefit from new zinc-enriched high-yielding wheat

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News.

Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discuss seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT.
Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discussing seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Farmers in Pakistan are eagerly adopting a nutrient-enhanced wheat variety offering improved food security, higher incomes, health benefits and a delicious taste.

Known as Zincol and released to farmers in 2016, the variety provides harvests as abundant as those for other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia.

Due to these benefits and its delicious taste, Zincol was one of the top choices among farmers testing 12 new wheat varieties in 2016.

“I would eat twice as many chappatis of Zincol as of other wheat varieties,” said Munib Khan, a farmer in Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi District, Punjab Province, Pakistan, referring to its delicious flavor.

Khan has been growing Zincol since its release. In 2017, he planted a large portion of his wheat fields with the seed, as did members of the Gujar Khan Seed Producer Group to which he belongs.

The group is one of 21 seed producer associations established to grow quality seed of new wheat varieties with assistance from the country’s National Rural Support Program (NRSP) in remote areas of Pakistan. The support program is a key partner in the Pakistan Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Over the 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons, 400 tons of seed of Zincol has been shared with farmers, seed companies and promotional partners,” said Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT country representative in Pakistan and a wheat improvement specialist.

Zincol resulted from the CIMMYT’s “biofortification” breeding research, focused on enhancing nutrient levels in the grain of key food crops. Scientists develop biofortified crops using diverse genetic resources, including wheat landraces and wild relatives with the genetic potential to accumulate zinc in the grain.

Genes for enhanced grain zinc content from those sources are crossed into adapted, high-yielding varieties, over repeated cycles of selection involving many thousands of plants.

“One year after the release of Zincol, wheat farmers on more than 320 hectares are sowing the variety,” Imtiaz said.

He also noted that 15 tons of Zincol seed was shared free of charge for testing with 600 farm families in Sukkar District, Sindh Province, through an initiative of World Vision-Canada and HarvestPlus, a CGIAR research program dedicated to the study and delivery of biofortified foods.

Zincol harvests as high as other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT
Zincol yields as much other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT

Wheat: Vehicle for enhanced nutrition

Pakistan produces more than 25 million tons of wheat a year. The country has an annual per capita consumption averaging around 124 kilograms — among the highest in the world and providing over 60 percent of inhabitants’ daily caloric intake. The staple wheat-based foods are chappatis or a flat bread baked on the walls of large, cylindrical clay ovens.

Particularly in remote areas of Pakistan, human diets too often lack essential micronutrients such as zinc. According to a 2011 nutrition survey, 39 percent of children in Pakistan and 48 percent of pregnant women suffer from zinc deficiency, leading to child stunting rates of more than 40 percent and high infant mortality.

Zinc deficiency is also known to cause diarrheal disease, lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction and anorexia, according to the World Health Organization.

“Given its role as a key food staple, wheat with enhanced levels of zinc and other micronutrients can contribute to better nutrition,” said Velu Govindan, a CIMMYT wheat breeder who specializes in biofortification and helped develop Zincol.

“Zincol also carries the genetic background of NARC 2011, a popular, high-yielding Pakistan wheat variety that resists wheat stem rust, a deadly disease that threatens wheat worldwide,” Govindan added.

As part of AIP and HarvestPlus, as well as with numerous public and private partners and farmer seed production groups in Pakistan, CIMMYT is leading the extensive evaluation, distribution and seed production of Zincol, said Krishna Dev Joshi, a former CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist who worked on the project.

“With modest resources and limited amounts of seed, we tested and promoted Zincol over the last two years in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh, covering 15 districts and engaging nearly 700 farmers,” Joshi explained.

Joshi said farmer seed producers and private seed companies were able to provide another 100 tons of seed in 2016, enough to sow more than 2,500 hectares in 2017 and over half a million hectares in 2018.

“Zincol reached farmers nine years after the initial breeding cross in 2007, several years more quickly than is the norm in Pakistan, partly because it was tested simultaneously in national and provincial trials,” Joshi added. “Zincol is part of a suite of new, micronutrient-enhanced wheat varieties bred by CIMMYT and partners for use in South Asia, a region whose inhabitants consume 100 million tons of wheat each year.”

For India, Govindan and partners created a new biofortified wheat variety using synthetic parents crossed onto WH1105, a CIMMYT-derived high-yielding variety grown in India’s Northwestern Plain Zone. The new variety out-yields other popular varieties by as much as 8 percent and has a 20 percent higher zinc content, as well as good resistance to yellow rust disease. Another new Indian variety, Zinc Shakti, has a 40 percent greater grain zinc content and is being marketed by the private sector and spread via farmer-to-farmer seed sharing.

New Publications: Sustainable agriculture boosts water savings in India

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Farmer weeding maize field in Bihar, India. Photo: CIMMYT/M. DeFreese
Farmer weeding maize field in Bihar, India. Photo: CIMMYT/M. DeFreese

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In northwestern India, growing maize is being advocated as an alternative to rice to address resource degradation challenges such as declining water tables and climate change induced variability in rainfall and temperature.

Sustainable agriculture practices have proven to increase farmer income, improve irrigation productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the cereal systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), a fertile area extending over 2.5 million square kilometers across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

The IGP currently abstracts 25 percent of global groundwater withdrawals, sustaining agricultural productivity across the region. However, aquifers are being depleted at rates faster than they can recharge, threatening food security for more than 500 million people.

In response, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) observed the impact of sustainable conservation agriculture practices like zero-tillage (ZT) and permanent bed planting (PB) in irrigated maize-based systems integrated with legumes in the IGP of northwestern India.

ZT and PB practices reduced irrigation water requirement by up to 65 and 98 hectares per millimeter, respectively, compared to conventional tillage systems, resulting in a water productivity boost of nearly 20 percent. Net profit from maize-based systems under ZT was over 30 percent higher than conventional systems.

The study concludes that by adopting sustainable practices like ZT and PB, farmers can sustainably increase productivity throughout the IGP region.

Read the study “Conservation agriculture in irrigated intensive maize-based systems of north-western India: Effects on crop yields, water productivity and economic profitability,” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff, below.

  • Comparative performance of top-cross maize hybrids under managed drought stress and variable rainfed environments. 2016. Menkir, A., Meseka, S., Bossey, B. Ado, S., Obengantiwi, K., Yallou, C., Coulibaly, N., Olaoye, G., Alidu, H., Crossa, J. In: Euphytica, vol.212, p.455-472.
  • Conservation agriculture in irrigated intensive maize-based systems of north-western India: effects on crop yields, water productivity and economic profitability. 2016. Parihar, C.M., Jat, S.L., Singh, A.K., Kumar, B., Singh, Y., Pradhan, S., Pooniya, V., Dhauja, A., Chaudhary, V., Jat, M.L., Jat, R.K., Yadav, O.P. In: Field Crops Research, vol.193, p.104-116.
  • Control of Helminthosporium leaf blight of spring wheat using seed treatments and single foliar spray in Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal. 2016. Sharma-Poudyal, D., Sharma, R.C., Duveiller, E. In: Crop Protection, vol.88, p.161-166.
  • Dairy farm households, processor linkages and household income: the case of dairy hub linkages in East Africa. 2016. Rao, E.J.O., Omondi, I., Karimov, A., Baltenweck, I. In: The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 95-108.
  • Detection of wheat stem rust races TTHSK and PTKTK in the Ug99 race group in Kenya in 2014. 2016. Fetch, T.G., Zegeye, T., Park, R.F., Hodson, D.P., Wanyera, R. In: Plant Disease, vol. 100, no. 7, p. 1495.
  • Occurrence and population dynamics of the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus thornei (Sher and Allen) on wheat in Bolu, Turkey. 2017. Imren, M., Ciftci, V., Senol Yildiz, Kutuk, H., Dababat, A.A. In: Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, vol. 41, no. 1, p. 35-41.
  • Population structure and genetic diversity analysis of germplasm from the Winter Wheat Eastern European Regional Yield Trial (WWEERYT). 2017. Beil, C. T., Manmathan, H. K., Anderson, V. A., Morgounov, A.I., Haley, S. D. In: Crop Science, vol. 57, p. 1-9.
  • QTL mapping for grain zinc and iron concentrations and zinc efficiency in a tetraploid and hexaploid wheat mapping populations. 2017. Velu, G., Yusuf Tutus, Gomez-Becerra, H.F., Yuanfeng Hao, Demir, L., Kara, R., Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Orhan, S., Yazici, A., Singh, R.P., Cakmak, I. In: Plant and Soil, vol. 411, no. 1, p. 81–99.
  • Ratooning pigeonpea in maize-pigeonpea intercropping: productivity and seed cost reduction in eastern Tanzania. 2017. Rusinamhodzi, L., Makoko, B. Sariah, J. In: Field Crops Research, vol.203, p.24-32.

Moving zinc-enriched wheat into the mainstream

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Agricultural scientists are calling on support to add zinc-biofortification as a core trait in the world's largest wheat breeding program. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
Agricultural scientists are calling for support to make zinc-biofortification a core trait in the world’s largest wheat breeding program. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In an effort to stamp out hidden hunger, scientists are calling for support to make zinc-biofortification a core trait in the world’s largest wheat breeding program.

At least 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, or hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

Zinc deficiency remains a crucial health issue in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As a key nutrient in red meat, it is prevalent in areas of high cereal and low animal food consumption.

It is vital in times of rapid human growth such as pregnancy, infancy and puberty. Compared to adults, children, adolescents as well as pregnant and lactating women have an increased need for zinc. Deficiency harms growth and development and can cause respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and a general weakening of the immune system.

One way to tackle hidden hunger is through biofortified crops, which have been bred to contain higher amounts of minerals and vitamins. These crops help to improve health in poor communities where other nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable.

As a key staple, wheat provides 20 percent of the world’s dietary energy and protein, therefore it’s an ideal vehicle for biofortification, said Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

CIMMYT scientists are calling for funds to make increased zinc grain content a core trait in its global wheat breeding program. CIMMYT-derived wheat cultivars have contributed to more than half of the wheat varieties grown in developing countries.

“In wheat breeding, including zinc as core trait – as done with high and stable yield, drought and heat tolerance and disease resistance – would have huge health benefits in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Ravi Singh, who leads CIMMYT’s wheat improvement program. “Around 70 percent of the wheat varieties grown in these regions derive from CIMMYT breeding research.”

In the early 2000s, scientists conducted large-scale screening for high zinc content in traditional wheat and their wild relatives from CIMMYT’s wheat germplasm bank. The search was successful, revealing diverse genetic resources with traits that became the building blocks for zinc-enriched wheat.

CIMMYT initiated biofortification breeding in 2006 and four biofortified wheat varieties have been released in South Asia. Promotion of zinc-biofortified wheat varieties in India and Pakistan is in the early stages and further testing and scaling out to other countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Ethiopia is underway, the scientists confirmed.

Studies in India have shown that regular consumption of zinc-enriched wheat improves the overall health of women and children, said Govindan.

Extensive global presence of CIMMYT-derived varieties means that, once the program adds enhanced grain zinc levels as a core trait, many wheat farmers and consumers throughout the developing world will automatically reap the benefits of better nutrition.

However, increased funding is needed to make the jump to full inclusion of high zinc content, according to Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and CGIAR’s research program on wheat.

“Each added trait in a breeding program requires a significant increase in the number of breeding lines grown and evaluated, adding significant costs” Braun said.

CIMMYT’s wheat breeding program is currently funded at around $15 million per annum. In 2016, it distributed 14.5 tons of seed of experimental wheat lines in more than 500,000 small envelopes to nearly 300 partners in 83 countries. Globally, this makes CIMMYT the most important wheat germplasm provider together with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

For more information on zinc-biofortified wheat visit this science brief.

New Publications: Maize variety replacement lags in sub-Saharan Africa

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Sarah Nyamai, a farmer from Kalimoni Village in Machakos County, Kenya, harvests drought tolerant maize. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Sarah Nyamai, a farmer from Kalimoni Village in Machakos County, Kenya, harvests drought tolerant maize. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI (CIMMYT) — A new study has revealed that sub-Saharan Africa’s maize variety turnover continues to fall behind the rest of the world.

The study – which observed nearly 500 maize varieties grown across 13 African countries during the 2013-2014 main crop season – found that the average age of maize seed being planted in the region is 15 years, compared to 3 to 5 years in the U.S. and other world regions such as Latin America and Asia, making sub-Saharan Africa slower in maize variety turnover.

“We have witnessed a positive and accelerated trend over the last decade, but the performance of maize is still much lower than what could be achieved with improved varieties and good agronomic management practices,” said Tsedeke Abate, lead author of the study.

The current low yield and slow variety turnover of the region contrasts sharply with the tremendous progress made to develop and release significant numbers of varieties. A record annual rate of 73 varieties were released from 2000-2014, compared to 12 varieties per year in the preceding five decades combined.

According to Abate, a major challenge is ensuring these newly released varieties are widely adopted by farmers, which is key for successful variety renewal and replacement. The study found adoption rates for hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) were just 37 and 21 percent, respectively, across the surveyed countries. Critical to successful adoption is sound government policy that facilitates increased investments in agriculture, availability and affordability of inputs like seeds and fertilizer, a strong extension system and market access for products, the authors of the study argue.

“This information should inform our breeding strategies to look at adaptability of the varieties in different agroecologies, and how this affects resources currently being used in breeding programs in the region,” said Abate. Maize provides more calories than any other crop for over 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, so ensuring high-quality, improved seed is being grown is vital for ensuring food security in the region.

The study also indicates that many farmers have higher preference for open pollinated varieties due to affordability, ease of storage, high poundability, high flour-to-grain ratio and favorable taste. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating production, processing and consumption traits that are valued by farmers, not just yield and stress tolerance. This can allow national breeding efforts to rid biased and inappropriate varietal promotions, and therefore low adoption of new varieties.

One of the key recommendations the study suggests is that all varieties older than 10 years should be eligible for replacement, to reverse the current slow varietal turnover.

Read the full study “Characteristics of maize cultivars in Africa: How modern are they and how many do smallholder farmers grow?” and learn more about CIMMYT’s latest publications below.

  • But what do rural consumers in Africa think about GM Food? 2016. De Groote, H., Gitonga, Z., Kimenju, S.C., Keter, F., Ngigi, O. In: AgBioForum, vol.19, no.1, p.54-65.
  • By-laws formulation and enforcement in natural resource management: lessons from the highlands of eastern Africa. 2016. Mowo, J., Masuki, K., Lyamchai, C., Tanui, J., Adimassu, Z., Kamugisha, R. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol.25, no.2, p.120-131.
  • Characterization of Research Nodes: an integrative approach through indexing. 2016. Das, K.K., Bhattacharya, P.M., Ghosh, A.K., Dhar, T., Pradhan, K., Chowdhury, A.K., Joshi, P.K., Gathala, M.K. In: International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management, vol.7, no.5, p.1083-1092.
  • Combined linkage and association mapping identifies a major QTL (qRtsc8‑1), conferring tar spot complex resistance in maize. 2016. Mahuku, G., Jiafa Chen, Shrestha, R., Narro, L., Osorio Guerrero, K.V., Arcos, A.L., Yunbi Xu. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol.129, p.1217-1229.
  • Identification and mapping of adult plant resistance loci to leaf rust and stripe rust in common wheat cultivar kundan. 2017. Ren, Y., Singh, R.P., Basnet, B.R., Caixia Lan, Huerta-Espino, J., Lagudah, E.S., Ponce-Molina, L.J. In: Plant Disease, vol.101, no.3, p.456-463.
  • Identification of genomic regions for grain yield and yield stability and their epistatic interactions. 2017. Sehgal, D., Autrique, E., Singh, R.P., Ellis, M., Sukhwinder-Singh, Dreisigacker, S. In: Nature Scientific reports, vol. 7, no. 41578.
  • Integrating islands of knowledge for greater synergy and efficiency in crop research. 2017. Borrell, A., Reynolds, M.P., In: Food and energy security vol. 6, no. 7, p. 26–32.
  • Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. 2017. Ritzema, R.S., Frelat, R., Douxchamps, S., Silvestri, S., Rufino, M.C., Herrero, M., Giller, K.E., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Teufel, N., Paul, B., Wijk, M.T. van. In: Food Security, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 115–131.
  • Maize market participation among female- and male-headed households in Ethiopia. 2017. Marenya, P., Kassie, M., Jaleta Debello Moti, Dil Bahadur Rahut. In: Journal of Development Studies, vol.53, no,4, p.1-14.

New Publications: Common platform improves collaboration for research on genetic resources

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Select maize varieties from CIMMYT's genebank. Photo: CIMMYT
Select maize varieties from CIMMYT’s genebank. Photo: CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — A common platform through which data on genetic resources can be disseminated to both crop researchers and breeders can strengthen research communities, according to authors of a soon to be published Crop Science study.

Conservation and exploitation of crop wild relative species is a key component in ensuring food security and improving current agricultural output. By identifying traits that express resistance or tolerance to stresses like pests or drought, breeders can incorporate this genetic material into genetic background stocks, which could help mitigate problems imposed by climate change, land degradation and population pressure. This is particularly important in countries that will be more severely affected by the threat of reduced yields.

The researchers of the study “Germinate 3: Development of a Common Platform to Support the Distribution of Experimental Data on Crop Wild Relatives” used the Germinate platform to build web-based information resources on wild barley and potato collections, along with wheat, maize and their wild relatives in a way that could better meet the demands of researchers by developing new data visualization tools and integration with current software.

While the underlying species differ, the approach taken ensured that tools were compatible across all database instances. The researchers found that Germinate offers a common platform that can improve the exploration and wider use of genetic resources in breeding programs globally.

Read the advanced copy of “Germinate 3: Development of a Common Platform to Support the Distribution of Experimental Data on Crop Wild Relatives” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT scientists below.

  • Avoiding lodging in irrigated spring wheat. I. Stem and root structural requirements. 2016. Piñera Chavez, F.J., Berry, P.M., Foulkes, M.J., Jesson, M.A., Reynolds, M.P. In: Field Crops Research. Vol.196, p.325-336.
  • Avoiding lodging in irrigated spring wheat. II. Genetic variation ofstem and root structural properties. 2016. Piñera Chavez, F.J., Berry, P.M., Foulkes, M.J., Molero, G., Reynolds, M.P. In: Field Crops Research. vol.196, p.64-74.
  • Awns reduce grain number to increase grain size and harvestable yield in irrigated and rainfed spring wheat. 2016. Rebetzke, G.J., Bonnett, D.G., Reynolds, M.P., In: Journal of Experimental Botany. vol. 67, no.9, p.2537-2586.
  • Breeding value of primary synthetic wheat genotypes for grain yield. 2016. Jafarzadeh, J., Bonnett, D.G., Jannink, J.L., Akdemir, D., Dreisigacker, S., Sorrells, M.E. In: PLoS One. vol.11, no.9: e0162860.
  • Bulked sample analysis in genetics, genomics and crop improvement. 2016. Cheng Zou, Pingxi Wang, Yunbi Xu. In: Plant biotechnology journal. Vol.14, no.10, p.1941-1955.
  • Forward genetics by sequencing EMS variation induced inbred lines. 2017. Addo-Quaye, C., Buescher, E., Best, N., Chaikam, V., Baxter, I., Dilkes, B.P. In: G3. vol. 7, no. 2, p. 413-425.
  • From stakeholders narratives to modelling plausible future agricultural systems. Integrated assessment of scenarios for Camargue, Southern France. 2017. Delmotte, S., Couderc, V., Mouret, J.C., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Barbier, J.M., Hossard, L. In: European Journal of Agronomy. vol. 82, p. 292-307.
  • Genetic analysis and mapping of adult plant resistance loci to leaf rust in durum wheat cultivar Bairds. 2017. Caixia Lan, Basnet, B.R., Singh, R.P., Huerta-Espino, J., Herrera-Foessel, S., Yong Ren Randhawa, M.S., In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics. vol. 130, no. 3, p. 609–619.
  • Genetic loci conditioning adult plant resistance to the Ug99 Race group and seedling resistance to races TRTTF and TTTTF of the stem rust pathogen in wheat landrace CItr 15026. 2017. Babiker, E.M., Gordon, T., Bonman, J.M., Shiaoman Chao Rouse, M.N., Yue Jin, Newcomb, M., Wanyera, R., Bhavani, S. In: Plant Disease. vol. 101, no. 3, p. 496-501.
  • Genotype by trait biplot analysis to study associations and profiles of Ethiopian white lupin (Lupinus albus) landraces. 2017. Atnaf, M., Kassahun Tesfaye, Kifle Dagne, Dagne Wegary Gissa. In: Australian Journal of Crop Science. vol. 11, No. 1, p. 55-62.

Breaking Ground: Hands on experience gives Carolina Camacho insight into farming best practices

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TwitterCamachoEL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Tending her own crops gives Carolina Camacho insights into the challenges farmers face that she could never have learned in a classroom.

Growing up in the metropolis of Mexico City, the historical and political importance of agriculture was never lost on Camacho, who works as a principal researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“As a teenager, I would debate my sister over the most pressing issue that faced our country, Mexico. For me it was always in agriculture,” Camacho said. “I strongly believe if we are to improve our country, we must improve the lives of our campesinos (smallholder farmers).”

With no knowledge of farming, but with a passion to bring about change, she took to the field, studying crop science at Chapingo University, on the outskirts of the city in the State of Mexico. Having to brave early morning starts, she learned the basics of agriculture, and a love for the genetic diversity of maize.

Mexico, considered the birthplace of maize, is home to a rich diversity of varieties that has evolved over years of domestication by farmers. Camacho was introduced to this diversity firsthand, interning at CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank as an undergraduate.

Interested in discovering how conserving maize diversity played out in farmers’ fields she gravitated towards an on-farm conservation project in rural Mexico. Working with indigenous farmers, Camacho learned how traditional knowledge and practices relate to environmental management, agricultural production and the diversity of native maize varieties.

After earning a master’s degree in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources, Camacho felt that crop science was isolated from the daily life of farmers. Thus, in a move to study the relationship between humans and plants, she embarked on a multidisciplinary doctoral in the sociology of rural development at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

While conducting her research, Camacho lived with indigenous farmers in Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest in the state of Chiapas. Alongside local Mayan farmers she cultivated her own milpa – a farming system used by indigenous farmers in Latin America, which typically involves intercropping maize, beans and squash. Her hands-on fieldwork allowed her to study cultivation practices outside the scope of purely agronomic activities, but also as political, social and cultural actions.

“Farming alongside the Tzeltal people, I saw how my own cultivation practices were interwoven with everyday life,” said Camacho. “Farming was influenced by religious ceremonies, health and family affairs as well as political struggles for land. It had to cope, adapt and overcome these challenges.”

Today, these lessons learned guide Camacho as she investigates how agricultural innovations, including drought-tolerant crops, fertilizer and land management approaches can be farmer inclusive and tailored to local contexts as part of CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification strategy for Latin America.

Sustainable intensification aims to enhance the productivity of labor, land and capital. They offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, including unlocking the agricultural potential to adapt production systems to climate change, sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, improved food and nutrition security, and ultimately reduce rural poverty.

CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.
CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how agricultural innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. Photo: CIMMYT/ Courtesy of Carolina Camacho

Smallholder farmers, who manage small plots of land and handle limited amounts of productive resources, produce 80 percent of the world’s food. The United Nations calls on these farmers to adopt agricultural innovations in order to sustainably increase food production and help achieve the “Zero Hunger” U.N. Sustainable Development Goal. However, these farmers seldom benefit from new techniques to shore up efforts to meet the goal.

“An agricultural scientist can tell a farmer when and how to plant for optimal results, but they do not farm in a bubble, their practice is affected by the ups and downs of daily life – not only by climate and agronomy but also by social and cultural complexities,” Camacho said.

“One of the biggest challenge is to recognize the heterogeneity of farmers and leave behind the idea of one size solution to their diverse problems and needs,” said Camacho. By understanding a farmer’s lifestyle, including access to resources and information, levels of decision making in the community and the role of agriculture in their livelihood strategy, researchers can best identify complementary farming practices and techniques that not only boost productivity but also improve livelihoods.

“It’s important to think about agricultural innovations as social processes for change in which technologies, like improved seeds or agronomic practices, are only one element,” said Camacho. “It is key that we recognize that changes will not only occur in the farmer’s field but also in the behavior of other actors in the value chain, such as input suppliers, traders, government officials and even researchers.”

Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.

When working with indigenous communities, she ensures cultural values of the milpa system are taken into account, thus promoting the agricultural tools and techniques that do not detract from the importance of the traditions associated with the milpa practice.

“The milpa system is a clear example of how agriculture in general and maize in particular contribute to the construction of the cultural identities of indigenous people. We should be aware of the consequences that innovations will have not only for environmental sustainability but also for the sustainability of the Mayan Culture,” she said.

“Let’s not forget, we can’t separate culture from agriculture,” Camacho finished.

 

Camacho studies the process in which researchers promote agricultural innovations and how farmers adopt them through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project, supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA). Together with other researchers, Camacho has documented how MasAgro is promoting innovations in different regions of Mexico by responding to specific regional challenges and opportunities. Currently she is supporting scaling efforts for these innovations by ensuring that they will be sustainable and inclusive.

In the same line of inclusiveness, Camacho is working with two projects in the milpa system. The first one is the Buena Milpa project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program and in collaboration with the Guatemala Agricultural Science and Technology Institute. The second one is the Milpa de Yucatan project sponsored by a private Mexican foundation in Yucatan Peninsula. Both projects promote sustainable intensification innovations in the milpa systems.

 

 

New Publications: Biological control program brings long-term benefits to pest resistance

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A young maize tassel is opened up to reveal stem borers hidden inside, and damage caused by their feeding, in a farmer's field in Embu district, Kenya. Stem borers are a class of insect pest, made up of a number of moth species distributed around the world, which lay their eggs at night on the underside of emerging leaves of young maize plants. The larvae, or caterpillars, that hatch from the eggs - i.e. the borers - quickly make their way inside the plant, where they feed undisturbed by predators. Young larvae feed on foliar tissue in the whorl, leading to perforations in unfolding leaves, and potential destruction of the growing point, while older larvae burrow into the stem, where they starve the growing plant of nutrients and can cause lodging. They feed extensively on tassels, ears, and stems. Borers' stealthy habits make them one of the most damaging pests for maize in Africa, and yet virtually invisible to farmers, who tend to attribute the damage to their crops to more visible pests. “Many farmers in Kenya don’t even know their maize fields have a stem borer problem, yet these insects cost them some 400,000 tons in lost harvest each year,” says CIMMYT maize breeder Stephen Mugo. Chemical pesticides can control borers, but must be applied soon after planting, and are difficult for resource-poor farmers to afford. “Even farmers who know about stem borers only notice the damage after it’s too late for chemical control. A seed-based technology is what we need,” says Mugo. In ongoing research, CIMMYT is collaborating with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to develop maize varieties that are resistant to stem borers, and to disseminate these to resource-poor smallholder farmers. “Maize that resists stem borer damage would take the guesswork out of stem borer pesticide usage by eliminating it altogether,” says Mugo. The work is part of the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project. For more information about stem borers in Kenya and CIMMY
A young maize tassel is opened up to reveal stem borers hidden inside, and damage caused by their feeding, in a farmer’s field in Embu district, Kenya. Photo: CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – A new review of a biological control (BC) program for control of stem borers implemented from 1993 to 2008, in an effort to reduce cereal yield losses due to stemborer attacks in East and Southern Africa, highlights the potential for BC programs to lift a large number of people out of poverty and create greater returns for consumers and producers.

In 1993 the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology program released four biological control agents to control the economically important stem borer pests Busseola fusca, Chilo partellus and Sesamia calamistis. Two of the natural enemies that were released were established and spread throughout the region. The researchers used an economic surplus approach, using bio-agents related data and market data from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, to determine the benefits of BC for producers and consumers.

More than 135,000 people were estimated to be lifted out of poverty annually due to the BC intervention, contributing an aggregate monetary surplus of $1.4 billion to the economies of the three countries, with 84 percent from maize production. The study also found that BC research and intervention is very efficient, with an internal rate of return of 67 percent – compared to the considered discount rate of 10 percent – and an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 33:1.

The authors of the study argue that these successful findings underscore the need for increased investment in BC research to sustain cereal production and improve poor living conditions.

Learn more about the study “Assessing the long-term welfare effects of the biological control of cereal stemborer pests in East and Southern Africa: Evidence from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT scientists, below.

  • Access to safe drinking water and human health: empirical evidence from rural Bhutan. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Ali, A., Nar Bahadur Chhetri Behera, B., Pradyot Ranjan Jena. In: Water Science and Technology. Vol. 16, no. 5, p. 1349-1360.
  • Agricultural technology adoption, commercialization and smallholder rice farmers’ welfare in rural Nigeria. 2016. Awotide, B. A., Karimov, A., Diagne, A. In: Agricultural and food economics. Vol. 4, no. 3.
  • Agrobiodiversity: prospects for a genetic approach to In situ conservation of crop landraces. 2016. Qualset, C.O., Castillo-Gonzales, F., Morgounov, A.I., Keser, M., Ozdemir, F. In: Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources. Vol. 29, issue 3, p. 278-280.
  • An alternative strategy for targeted gene replacement in plants using a dual-sgRNA/Cas9 design. 2016. Yongping Zhao, Congsheng Zhang, Wenwen Liu, Wei Gao, Changlin Liu, Gaoyuan Song, Wen-Xue Li, Long Mao, Beijiu Chen, Yunbi Xu, Xinhai Li, Chuanxiao Xie. In: Nature Scientific reports. 2016., vol.6, no. 23890.
  • Assessing the long-term welfare effects of the biological control of cereal stemborer pests in East and Southern Africa:  Evidence from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. 2016. Midingoy, S. G., Affognon, H. D. Macharia, I. Ong’amo, G. Abonyo, E. Ogola, G. De Groote, H. LeRu, B. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Vol. 23, p. 10-23.
  • Development of a maize 55 K SNP array with improved genome coverage for molecular breeding. 2017. Cheng Xu, Yonghong Ren, Yinqiao Jian, Zifeng Guo, Zhang Yan, Chuanxiao Xie, Junjie Fu, Hongwu Wang, Guoying Wang, Yunbi Xu, Zhang Li-Ping, Cheng Zou. In: Molecular Breeding. Vol.37, no.20, p.1-12.
  • Development of a multiple-hybrid population for genome-wide association studies: theoretical consideration and genetic mapping of flowering traits in maize. 2017. Hui Wang, Cheng Xu, Xiaogang Liu, Zifeng Guo, Xiaojie Xu, Shanhong Wang, Chuanxiao Xie, Wen-Xue Li, Cheng Zou, Yunbi Xu. In: Nature Scientific reports. Vol.7, no. 40239.
  • Elite Haplotypes of a Protein Kinase Gene TaSnRK2.3 associated with important agronomic traits in Common Wheat. 2017. Lili Miao, Xinguo Mao, Jingyi Wang, Zicheng Liu, Bin Zhang, Weiyu Li, Xiaoping Chang, Reynolds, M.P., Zhenhua Wang, Ruilian Jing. In: Frontiers in Plant Science. v.8, no.368.
  • Evaluation of the APSIM model in cropping systems of Asia. 2017. Gaydon, D.S., Singh, B., Wang, E., Poulton, P.L., Ahmad, B., Ahmed, F., Akhter, S., Ali, I., Amarasingha, R., Chaki, A.K., Chen, C., Choudhury, B.U., Darai, R., Das, A., Hochman, Z., Horan, H., Hosang, E.Y., Vijaya Kumar, P., Khan, A.S.M.M.R., Laing, A.M., Liu, L., Malaviachichi, M.A.P.W.K., Mohapatra, K.P., Muttaleb, M.A., Power, B., Radanielson, A.M., Rai, G.S., Rashid, M.H., Rathanayake, W.M.U.K., Sarker, M.M.R., Sena, D.R., Shamim, M., Subash, N., Suriadi, A., Suriyagoda, L.D.B., Wang, G., Wang, J., Yadav, R.K., Roth, C.H. In: Field Crops Research. Vol.204, p.52-75.
  • Farmers’ prioritization of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies. 2017. Khatri-Chhetri, A., Aggarwal, P.K., Joshi, P.K., Vyas, A.K. In: Agricultural Systems. Vol.151, p.184-191.

 

New Publications: Consumer preference for GM food in Pakistan

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A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT
A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – While genetically modified (GM) foods continue to be a topic of debate in much of the developed world, few studies have focused on consumers’ acceptance of GM food in developing countries.

A new study from researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) used a comprehensive primary dataset collected from 320 consumers in 2013 from Pakistan to analyze the determinants of consumer acceptability of GM foods in the country.

The researchers found that GM foods were more accepted among female consumers as compared to male consumers. In addition, older consumers were more willing to accept GM food compared to young consumers. The acceptability of GM foods was also higher among wealthier households. Low price is the key factor leading to the acceptability of GM foods.

Read the full study “Acceptability of GM Foods among Pakistani Consumers” here and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff below.

  • A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering-time adaptation in maize landraces. 2017. Romero Navarro, J. A., Wilcox, M. Burgueño, J. Romay, C. Swarts, K. Trachsel, S. Preciado, E. Terron, A. Vallejo, H. Vidal, V. Ortega, A. Espinoza Banda, A. Gomez, N. Ortiz-Monasterio, I. San Vicente, F.M. Guadarrama, A. Atlin, G.N. Wenzl, P. Hearne, S. Buckler, E. In: Nature genetics, vol. 49, p. 476-480. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v49/n3/full/ng.3784.html
  • Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem. 2017. Parihar, C.M., Jat, S.L. Singh, A.K. Majumdar, K. Jat, M.L. Saharawat, Y.S. Pradhan, S. Kuri, B.R. In: Energy, vol.119, p.245-256. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544216318746
  • Canopy temperature and vegetation indices from high-throughput phenotyping improve accuracy of pedigree and genomic selection for grain yield in wheat. 2017. Rutkoski, J., Poland, J. Mondal, S. Autrique, E. Gonzalez-Perez, L. Reynolds, M.P. Singh, R.P. Crossa, J. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 2. http://www.g3journal.org/content/suppl/. 2016./07/06/g3.116.032888.DC1
  • Crop model improvement reduces the uncertainty of the response to temperature of multi-model ensembles. 2017. Maiorano, A., Martre, P. Asseng, S. Ewert, F. MĂŒller, C. Rotter, R. Ruane, A.C. Semenov, M.A. Wallach, D. Wang, E. Alderman, P.D. Kassie, B.T. Biernath, C. Basso, B. Cammarano, D. Challinor, A.J. Doltra, J. Dumont, B. Eyshi Rezaei, E. Gayler, S. Kersebaum, K.C. Kimball, B.A. Koehler, A.K. Bing Liu O’Leary, G.J. Olesen, J.E. Ottman, M.J. Priesack, E. Reynolds, M.P. Stratonovitch, P. Streck, T. Thorburn, P.J. Waha, K. Wall, G.W. White, J.W. Zhigan Zhao Zhu, Y. In: Field Crops Research, vol.202, p.5-20. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429016301368
  • A genomic bayesian multi-trait and multi-environment model. 2016. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-LĂłpez, A. Toledo, F.H. PĂ©rez-HernĂĄndez, O. Eskridge, K. Rutkoski, J. Crossa, J. In: G3, vol.6, p.2725-2744. http://www.g3journal.org/content/early/. 2016./06/23/g3.116.032359.full.pdf+html
  • A hierarchical bayesian estimation model for multienvironment plant breeding trials in successive years. 2016. JarquĂ­n, D., Perez-Elizalde, S. Burgueño, J. Crossa, J. In: Crop Science, vol. 56, p. 1-17. https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/56/5/2260?search-result=1
  • A predetermined proportional gains eigen selection index method. 2016. Ceron Rojas, J.J., Toledo, F.H. SahagĂșn-Castellanos, J. Crossa, J. In: Crop Science, vol.56, p.1-12. https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/56/5/2436
  • ABCs of diversifying information resources among rice smallholders of Ghana. 2016. Misiko, M., Halm, E. In: The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, vol.22, no.3, p.271-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2015.1038281
  • Acceptability of GM Foods among Pakistani Consumers. 2016. Ali, A., Dil Bahadur Rahut Imtiaz, M. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol.7, no.2. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2016.1211216?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Closing the circle: Kanwarpal Dhugga works at CIMMYT

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

kanwarpalBreaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Growing up on a small farm in India’s northwest Punjab state, Kanwarpal Dhugga was a young boy when the first Green Revolution wheat varieties arrived in his village. Now stationed in Mexico as Principal Scientist and head of biotechnology for agricultural development at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Dhugga has witnessed vast changes in his boyhood community.

“It was tight for families there, living from season to season with no extra money to spend,” Dhugga said, reflecting on the period during the 1960s before new high-yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties began to reshape agricultural potential throughout Asia. “Farmers used to plant a mixture of wheat and chickpeas.  If rains were good, you got good wheat yield; if there was a drought, you got at least chickpeas.”

The use by farmers of the new, high-yielding wheat varieties developed by the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, who was head of the wheat program at CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico, coincided with the introduction of electric power to Dhugga’s area.  Electricity enabled pumping underground water for irrigation, making farming more predictable. Within a couple of years, everyone was growing new, more resilient semi-dwarf wheat varieties and yields had increased substantially.

The community was poor and without many educational resources. Dhugga recalls sitting on the ground at elementary school in India and carrying his books in a satchel along with a burlap gunnysack, which he used as a mat to sit on. Despite challenges, his perseverance and determination eventually took him to Punjab Agricultural University, where he earned a master’s degree in plant breeding, then to the University of California, Riverside for a doctoral degree in botany and plant genetics, and finally for a post-graduate degree at Stanford University, where he worked directly with Peter Ray, renowned biologist and now a Stanford emeritus professor.

“I started in genetics and finished in biochemistry,” Dhugga explained. “Science grew on me and I became so fixated that I couldn’t live without it, and that after I had no clue growing up what I wanted to become in life. The vision extended only as far as the next year.”

From 1996 through 2014, he worked at DuPont-Pioneer, the multinational seed producer, where his work included leading research on expressing high-value industrial polymers in maize grains and soybean seeds, developing in-field screening tools to screen maize hybrids for stalk strength, improving nitrogen use efficiency in maize, and on developing a combined genetic marker x metabolites model for predicting maize grain yield, demonstrating that the combined model was more effective than genetic markers alone.

“I was a developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics for a company that was providing high-quality maize seed to farmers around the world, but I felt like something was missing – a social component,” Dhugga said.

Taking a job at CIMMYT, where the focus is on helping improve food security for poor smallholder farmers in the developing world, satisfied this urge, according to Dhugga. “It felt like completing a circle, given where I came from and the role of CIMMYT in improving farmers’ food security and incomes.”

At CIMMYT, he is leading work to apply a recent technology for what is commonly called “gene editing.” Known as the CRISPR-Cas9 system, it allows researchers to enhance or turn off the expression of “native” genes as well as modify the properties of the translated proteins in crops like maize or wheat more simply and effectively than with other methods, including transgenics.

“To deactivate a gene and thus learn about what it does used to be a major undertaking that took years, and even then you didn’t find some of the things you wanted to,” Dhugga explained. “With the new technology, you can find what you’re looking for in much less time. That’s the main focus of my work right now.”

CIMMYT is collaborating with DuPont-Pioneer to fine map, isolate and validate a major gene in maize for resistance to maize lethal necrosis, which appeared in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 and has caused major losses to maize crops, decreasing food security and the ability of the smallholder farmers to provide for their families.

“We already know a locus that confers high levels of resistance against the combination of viruses that cause the disease,” he said. “Once we have the specific gene, we can edit it directly in elite maize lines used for hybrid production in Africa, eliminating the need for generations of expensive crosses to get uniform lines with that gene.”

Dhugga greatly respects living systems and, rather than viewing his work as inventing new methods, believes he is drawing out the best potential of nature.

“The biology for these processes is already there in nature; we just need to rediscover and apply it to benefit farmers and ensure food security,” he said.

New Publications: Wheat stem rust resistance identified in Kazakhstan and Russia

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Examining Ug99 stem rust symptoms on wheat. Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT
Examining Ug99 stem rust symptoms on wheat. Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Stem rusts have proven to be a challenge to wheat farmers in Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly with higher rainfall in recent years.

Western Siberia in Russia and northern Kazakhstan grow more than 15 million hectares (ha) of wheat, and is expected to have an important impact on global food security as part of the “Eurasian wheat belt” – the only region in the world with a significant amount of uncultivated arable land that is at the same time experiencing rising agricultural productivity.

Wheat stem rust disease is highly mobile and has the capacity to turn a healthy looking crop, only weeks away from harvest, into nothing more than a tangle of black stems and shriveled grains at harvest. Stem rust was not considered a threat until 2015, when a local epidemic occurred in Russia and neighboring areas of Kazakhstan, affecting more than 1 million ha. It occurred again in 2016 though the spread, severity and losses were less.

In response, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with partners characterized a set of 146 spring wheat varieties and breeding lines identified as stem rust resistant in Kenya and the Kazakhstan–Siberia region for the presence of major genes. Over nine genes with resistance were identified, and adult plant resistance to stem rust was observed in 26 genotypes.

Learn more about the study “Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff, below.

  • Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem. 2017. Parihar, C.M.; Jat, S.L.; Singh, A.K.; Majumdar, K.; Jat, M.L.; Saharawat, Y.S.; Pradhan, S.; Kuri, B.R. Energy 119 : 245-256.
  • From stakeholders’ narratives to modelling plausible future agricultural systems. Integrated assessment of scenarios for Camargue, Southern France. 2017. Delmotte, S.; Couderc, V.; Mouret, J.C.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Barbier, J.M.; Hossard, L. European Journal of Agronomy 82 : 292-307.
  • Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. 2017. Ritzema, R.S.; Frelat, R.; Douxchamps, S.; Silvestri, S.; Rufino, M.C.; Herrero, M.; Giller, K.E.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Teufel, N.; Paul, B. ; Wijk, M.T. van. Food Security 9 (1) : 115–131.
  • Planting date and yield benefits from conservation agriculture practices across Southern Africa. 2017. Nyagumbo, I.; Mkuhlani, S.; Mupangwa, W.; Rodriguez, D. Agricultural Systems 150 : 21-33.
  • Sustainable crop intensification through surface water irrigation in Bangladesh? A geospatial assessment of landscape-scale production potential. 2017. Krupnik, T.J.; Schulthess, U.; Zia Ahmed; McDonald, A. Land Use Policy 60 : 206-222.
  • Adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina in a geographically diverse collection of Aegilops tauschii. 2016. Kalia, B.; Wilson, D.L.; Bowden, R.L.; Singh, R.P.; Gill, B. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. Online First.
  • Detection of wheat stem rust races TTHSK and PTKTK in the Ug99 race group in Kenya in 2014. 2016. Fetch, T.G.; Zegeye, T.; Park, R.F.; Hodson, D.P.; Wanyera, R. Plant Disease 100 (7) : 1495.
  • Disease impact on wheat yield potential and prospects of genetic control. 2016. Singh, R.P.; Singh, P.K.; Rutkoski, J.; Hodson, D.P.; Xinyao He; Jorgensen, L.N.; Hovmoller, M.S.; Huerta-Espino, J. Annual Review of Phytopathology 54 : 303-322.
  • Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99. 2016. Shamanin, V.; Salina, E.; Wanyera, R.; Zelenskiy, Y.; Olivera, P.; Morgounov, A.I. Euphytica 212 (2) 287-296.
  • Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. 2016. Pariyar, S.R.; Dababat, A.A.; Sannemann, W.; Erginbas-Orakci, G.; Elashry, A.; Siddique, S.; Morgounov, A.I.; Leon, J.; Grundler, F. Phytopathology 106 (10) : 1128-1138.

Breaking Ground: Xuecai Zhang prepares future generation of crop breeders

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TwitterBG8Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN (CIMMYT) — Xuecai Zhang wants to merge traditional maize breeding methods with new software and other tools to help improve farmers’ yields faster than ever.

“In the next three decades we need to increase agricultural production by 70 percent to meet projected food demand,” said Zhang, a maize genomic selection breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “However, crop yields, while improving, are not increasing quickly enough to meet this challenge. We must explore new methods and technologies that can speed up our crop breeding processes if we hope to feed a world with over 2.3 billion more people by 2050.”

Growing up in Henan province, China, Zhang’s mother was a teacher who instilled a love of science in him from a young age.

“I loved exploring outside and seeing how plants grew — I always wanted to know how they worked,” said Zhang. “Maize was naturally interesting to me because it’s the second most grown crop in Henan, and is becoming a very important crop in China overall.”

Zhang first arrived at CIMMYT in 2009 while completing a doctorate in applied quantitative genetics. He subsequently returned as a postdoctoral fellow in 2011 to undertake molecular breeding and coordinate CIMMYT’s maize genomic selection program.

Since his return, he has focused mainly on helping breeders and statisticians work together to create new tools that can help accelerate the breeding process through genomic selection.

“It’s crucial that as breeders, we’re able to use genomic selection in our work,” Zhang said. “Not only does it speed up the breeding process to deliver better, faster results to farmers in the field, applied well it’s also a more cost-effective option.”

Conventional plant breeding is dependent on a researcher going into the field, observing the characteristics of a plant based on how its genotype interacts with the environment, then painstakingly selecting and combining those materials that show such favorable traits such as high yield or drought resistance.  This process is repeated again and again to develop new varieties.

Genomic selection adds DNA markers to the breeder’s toolkit. After initial field evaluation breeders are able to use DNA markers and advanced computing applications to select the best plants and predict the best combinations of plants without having to wait to evaluate every generation in the field. This speeds up the development of new varieties as more cycles of selection and recombination can be conducted in a year compared with field selection alone.

The cost of hiring a human to go and collect phenotypic data for conventional breeding is increasing, while conversely the costs associated with genomic selection are getting lower as genotyping and computing technology becomes more affordable, according to Zhang.

“Breeders need to think about where the technology is pushing our field,” he said. “They will increasingly have to be versed statisticians and computer scientists to effectively apply genomic selection to their work, and I want to help ensure they have the skills and tools to make the most of the technology.”

Zhang has helped demonstrate to breeders in Latin America, Africa and Asia of the value of genomic selection by showing that the technique can improve the prediction accuracy of successful varieties in comparison to conventional breeding. He also credits joint efforts like the GOBII project, a large-scale public-sector effort supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to apply genomic selection techniques to crop breeding programs across the developing world, as key towards curating the necessary data for genomic breeding programs.

“In the future, I hope to continue to help build better tools for breeders to move towards genomic selection,” Zhang said. “I chose to breed maize because of the potential impact it has to help smallholder farmers globally. Compared with other crops the yield potential of maize is very high, so I want to ensure we are using the best resources available that will help maize reach its full potential.”

Breaking Ground: Monica Mezzalama keeps vital check on seed health and biosafety

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Monica Mezzalama, head of CIMMYT's Seed. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT.
Monica Mezzalama, head of CIMMYT’s Seed Health Laboratory. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT.

Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — At the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) it all starts with a seed. Each year, the non-profit receives requests and sends more than 700,000 packets of seed to researchers, agricultural organizations and farmers around the world from its headquarters near Mexico City. These seeds stand up to climate change, produce higher yields with fewer resources and provide the nutrition a growing global population needs.

However, before each seed travels across an international border, it is essential to ensure that each one has a clean bill of health, free from virus, fungus and bacteria pathogens. Infected seeds must be controlled or there is a risk that plant pathogens will spread, affecting crop health and potentially threatening food security.

That is where plant pathology expert Monica Mezzalama, head of CIMMYT’s Seed Health Laboratory, gets involved.

“Seed movement around the world is regulated to limit the spread of pathogens across international borders,” said the senior scientist. “I coordinate and supervise seed health testing to ensure all seeds that pass through CIMMYT meet these international standards and do not pose a risk.”

Securing the health of seeds ensures that researchers, breeders and partner organizations don’t encounter infected seed and is essential to maintaining efficient agricultural research that has impact, she added.

Since taking the helm of the Seed Health Laboratory 15 years ago, all seed that has been inspected on its way out of CIMMYT must meet certification. If unhealthy seed is found it must be quarantined and destroyed under the law, explained Mezzalama.

Seeds arriving from partner organizations, researchers or farmers are also tested for disease and granted a “seed release” by Mezzalama and her team. Authorized seed then moves on to CIMMYT researchers to be studied for disease resistance, heat tolerance and micronutrient content and added into international breeding programs. Others are placed in the maize and wheat germplasm bank, where over 175,000 different varieties are preserved on behalf of humanity and are freely available to all upon request.

A curiosity for disease and a passion to cure led Mezzalama to a career as a plant pathologist. While studying for an undergraduate degree in agronomy in her hometown of Turin, Italy, she visited nearby vineyards to study plant pathogens for the first time.

“It was working in the vineyards where I first saw plant pathogens at work and where I saw the impact they have on farmers, and what it means for their livelihoods,” she said.

After graduating in 1986, Mezzalama began her first job at CIMMYT working alongside virologist Peter Burnett on a project dedicated to barley yellow dwarf (BYD) virus, which effects barley, wheat, maize, rice and other grasses worldwide. The experience opened her mind to a new world where she learned the inner workings of plant pathogens and started to study for a doctoral degree in plant pathology in Italy.

Since returning to CIMMYT in 2001, Mezzalama has led the Seed Health Laboratory, set institutional biosafety protocols to protect against harmful incidents, which include regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as well as guidelines to follow, and participated in several research projects. Most recently, she joined a project to control the spread of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), a devastating virus that poses a severe risk to food security in eastern Africa.

The complex disease results from the infection of two deadly viruses, maize chlorotic mottle virus and sugar cane mosaic virus. It spreads through infected maize seed and insect pests. Mezzalama’s skill in plant pathology detection was called upon to organize the opening of seed health laboratories in Kenya and Zimbabwe and also train staff on how to detect seed infected with MLN or the two associated viruses.

Currently, Mezzalama is in the final stages of developing a standard of detection protocol, providing the agriculture industry with knowledge of best practices and affordable tools to detect MLN infected maize seed.

“There are several products and methods that may be used for MLN detection in seed, these must be tested to see which obtain the most accurate results efficiently while taking into price into account,” she said.

Accuracy, time and cost are important factors when developing MLN detection protocols as common practice, implemented by partners in Kenya and other impacted countries, she explained.

Key donors to CIMMYT’s efforts in controlling MLN include the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), and the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), CGIAR Fund Donors and other generous contributors to CIMMYT maize research.

A ton of seed shipped to the doomsday vault at Svalbard

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT gene bank specialists — shown here with the shipment destined for Svalbard — conserve, study and share a remarkable living catalog of genetic diversity comprising over 28,000 unique seed collections of maize and over 140,000 of wheat (Photo: Alfonso CortĂ©s/CIMMYT).

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Staff of the gene bank of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have sent 56 boxes of nearly 28,000 samples of maize and wheat seed from the center’s collections, to be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Located on Spitsbergen Island in Norway’s remote Arctic Svalbard Archipelago, 1,300 kilometers south of the North Pole, the vault provides free, “safe deposit” cold storage for back-up samples of seed of humanity’s crucial food crops.

“CIMMYT has already sent  130,291 duplicate samples of our maize and wheat seed collections to Svalbard,” said Bibiana Espinosa, research associate in wheat genetic resources. “This brings the total to nearly  158,218 seed samples, which we store at Svalbard to guard against the catastrophic loss of maize and wheat seed and diversity, in case of disasters and conflicts.”

Thursday’s shipment contained 1,964 samples of maize seed and 25,963 samples of wheat and weighed nearly a ton, according to Espinosa.

The wheat seed came from 62 countries and nearly half the samples comprised “landraces” — locally-adapted varieties created through thousands of years of selection by farmers.

“Of the maize samples, 133 contained seed of improved varieties, 51 were of teosinte — maize’s direct ancestor — and 1,780 were of landraces,” said Marcial Rivas, research assistant for maize genetic resources. “Many landraces are in danger of permanent loss, as farmers who grew them have left the countryside to seek work and changing climates have altered the landraces’ native habitats.”

The government of Norway and the Crop 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.  CIMMYT’s maize and wheat germplasm bank is supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Genebanks.

Study reveals diversity “blueprint” to help maize crops adapt to changing climates

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EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientists have unlocked evolutionary secrets of landraces through an unprecedented study of allelic diversity, revealing more about the genetic basis of flowering time and how maize adapts to variable environments, according to new research published in Nature Genetics journal. The discovery opens up opportunities to explore and use landrace diversity in new ways to help breeders adapt crops to climate change and other emerging challenges to crop production.

Farmers worldwide have been ingeniously adapting landrace maize varieties to their local environments for thousands of years. In this landmark study, over 4,000 landraces from across the Americas were analyzed and their DNA characterized using recent advances in genomics.

A unique experimental strategy was developed to study and learn more about the genes underlying maize adaptation by researchers with the MasAgro Biodiversidad program and the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative.

Significantly, the study identified 100 genes, among the 40,000 that make up the maize genome, influencing adaptation to latitude, altitude, growing season and the point at which maize plants flower in the field.

Flowering time helps plants adapt to different environments. It is measured as the period between planting and the emergence of flowers, and is a basic mechanism through which plants integrate environmental information to balance when to make seeds instead of more leaves. The seeds form the next generation making flowering time a critically important feature in a plant’s life cycle.

Over the next century, increasingly erratic weather patterns and environmental changes projected to result from climate change mean that such crops as maize will need to adapt at an unprecedented rate to maintain stable production globally.

“This research offers a blueprint of how we can rapidly assess genetic resources for a highly variable crop species like maize, and identify, in landraces, those elements of the maize genome which may benefit breeders and farmers,” said molecular geneticist Sarah Hearne, who leads maize research within MAB/SeeD, a collaboration led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with strong scientific partnerships with Mexico’s research institute for agriculture, livestock and forests (INIFAP), the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University (UAAAN) in Mexico and Cornell University in the United States.

“This is the most extensive study, in terms of diversity, that has been conducted on maize flowering,” said Martha Willcox, maize landrace improvement coordinator at CIMMYT . “This was achieved using landraces, the evaluation of which is an extremely difficult and complex task.”

The groundbreaking study was supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. Additional support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, Cornell University and the National Science Foundation facilitated the completion of vast quantities of data analysis.

“The knowledge we have gained from this work gives us something similar to a manual of ‘how to go on a successful treasure hunt;’ within the extensive genetic diversity that exists for maize. This knowledge can accelerate and broaden our work on developing resilient varieties, building upon millennia of natural and farmer selection in landraces,” Hearne said.

CORRECT CITATION:

Romero-Navarro, J. A., Willcox, M., Burgueño, J. Romay M. Swarts, K., Trachsel, S., Preciado, E., Terron, A., Vallejo Delgado, H., Vidal, V., Ortega, A., Espinoza Banda, A., Gómez Montiel, N.O., Ortiz-Monasterio, I., San Vicente, F., Guadarrama Espinoza, A., Atlin, G., Wenzl, P., Hearne, S.*, Buckler, E*. A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering time adaptation in maize landraces. Nature Genetics. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3784.html
*Corresponding authors