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research: Genetic resources

At 50-year mark, CIMMYT scientists strive for gender equity

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Image designed by Gerardo Mejia/CIMMYT
Image designed by Gerardo Mejia/CIMMYT

This story is one in a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) stepped onto the global stage during the “Swinging Sixties.” The decade was defined by social upheaval dominated by left-right political tensions provoked in large measure by Cold War rivalries between the United States and the former Soviet Union.

It was 1966 when Mexico’s Office of Special Studies, formed in the 1940s as an agency of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to improve bean, maize, potatoes and wheat crops, became CIMMYT.

That same year, civil war exploded in Chad, China’s cultural revolution began, Indira Gandhi became India’s first woman prime minister and musician John Lennon met his future wife Yoko Ono. In the United States, the feminist National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed. Throughout the decade, as the Vietnam War rumbled and more than 30 countries declared independence in Africa, women in many developing countries struggled to gain basic human rights, including the chance to vote.

In wealthy western nations, the “Women’s Liberation Movement,” ultimately known as second-wave feminism, emerged, supplanting women’s suffrage movements and deepening debates over women’s rights.

At CIMMYT, efforts to meet agricultural needs of women farmers and those in charge of nutritional wellbeing within the household to bolster global food security took shape.

Women make up 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). However, rural women suffer systematic discrimination with regard to their ability to access resources for agricultural production and socio-economic development.

Now referred to as “gender issues” and “gender relations,” debates over how to address inequity on farms and in the workplace are ongoing at CIMMYT. Rather than focusing specifically on women’s rights, gender studies focus on how notions of women or men are determined through characteristics societies attribute to each sex. Gender relations consider how a given society defines rights, responsibilities, identities and relationships between men and women.

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to one-quarter of the world’s daily energy intake, and contributing 27 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to FAO.

Globally, if women had the same access to agricultural production resources as men, they could increase crop yields by up to 30 percent, which would raise total agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 4 percent, reducing the number of hungry people by up to 150 million or 17 percent, FAO statistics show.

SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS

From the outset, women scientists played a key role as maize and wheat researchers at CIMMYT.

Evangelina Villegas, who in 2000 became the first woman to win the World Food Prize, joined CIMMYT in 1967. She shared the prestigious award with CIMMYT colleague Surinder Vasal for efforts and achievements in breeding and advancing quality protein maize to improve productivity and nutrition in malnourished and impoverished areas worldwide.

Maize scientist Marianne Bänziger joined CIMMYT in 1992. When she was transferred to Zimbabwe in 1996 to lead the Southern African Drought and Low Soil Fertility Project (SADLF), she became the first woman scientist at CIMMYT posted to a regional office.

“In the good old days, women scientists were considered an oddity – women were considered something special, even though a scientist like Eva Villegas was very well integrated into CIMMYT,” said Bänziger, who now serves as CIMMYT’s deputy director general.

Bänziger’s work was centered on eastern and southern Africa, where the livelihoods of about 25 million people depend directly on agriculture and maize is the staple crop of choice. Drought and poor soil quality often erode food security and increase socio-economic pressures in the region.

Bänziger became known as “Mama Mahindi,” Swahili for “Mother Maize,” for her work developing stress-tolerant maize and for fostering the widespread access of seed producers and farmers to improved drought-tolerant maize now grown by at least 2 million households.

Denise Costich manages the world’s biggest maize gene bank at CIMMYT headquarters near Mexico City. She joined CIMMYT to work closely with farmers. She now holds farmer field days to help improve seed distribution. Her aims include understanding how best to move genetic resources from gene bank to field through breeding, so they become products that help improve food security.

“I was always encouraged to go as far as I could,” Costich said. “The way I prove that women can be scientists is by being a scientist. Let me get out there and do what I can do and not spend a lot of time talking about it.”

Wheat physiologist Gemma Molero spent two years inventing a hand-held tool for measuring spike photosynthesis, an important part of the strategy for developing a high-yielding plant ideotype. Now, Bayer Crop Science is interested in joining a collaborative project with CIMMYT, which will focus around use of the new technology.

Wheat scientist Carolina Saint Pierre has made important contributions towards obtaining the first permits for growing genetically modified wheat in open field trials in Mexico. The trials have allowed the identification of best-performing genetically modified wheat under water stress and helped understand the genetic control of physiological mechanisms related to drought.

WORKPLACE EQUITY

Despite a daycare at headquarters and other efforts to encourage gender equity, women scientists at CIMMYT continue to face different burdens than men in maintaining a work-life balance.

“Whether you are a western woman in a white-collar job worrying about a daycare or a woman farmer in a developing country worrying about her aging parents, women have a different level of responsibility,” said Jenny Nelson, manager of the Global Wheat Program.

A lot of women drop out of agricultural science after earning their doctoral degrees once they have a family, said Costich, acknowledging a challenge many women working in agricultural science face related to long hours and travel requirements.

“As a young woman I have to work very hard – I have to work even harder than men in the field to demonstrate my abilities and gain respect,” Molero said.

Overall, economists concur that gender inequity and social disparities have a negative impact on economic growth, development, food security and nutrition.

Through various projects, CIMMYT aims to address the challenges of gender equity to improve development potential. For example, CIMMYT researchers are among the leaders of a global push to encode gender into agricultural research in tandem with other international research partnerships.

In more than 125 agricultural communities in 26 countries, a field study of gender norms and agricultural innovation, known as “Gennovate,” is underway. The aim is to help spur a transformation in the way gender is included in agricultural research for development. Gennovate focuses on understanding how gender norms influence the ability of people to access, try out, adopt or adapt new agricultural technology.

CIMMYT scientist Sarah Hearne talks about gender equality in science. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés Arredondo/ CIMMYT)

Q+A: How women and girls can succeed in science, according to CIMMYT’s Sarah Hearne

Written by Matthew O'Leary on . Posted in News. 58 Comments on Q+A: How women and girls can succeed in science, according to CIMMYT’s Sarah Hearne

CIMMYT scientist Sarah Hearne talks about gender equality in science. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés Arredondo/ CIMMYT)
CIMMYT scientist Sarah Hearne talks about gender equality in science. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés Arredondo/ CIMMYT)

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientific change requires innovation and the best solutions emerge when a wide range of perspectives have been considered, if you don’t have representation from half of the population the scope for innovation is narrowed, said a leading molecular geneticist on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

“Women often look at problems from a different angle from men – not better, just different – and like men we have a different gender perspective – all perspectives are valid and of value,” said Sarah Hearne, who leads the maize component of the Seeds of Discovery project at the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement.

Her passion for science began in girlhood, stemming from a curiosity about how things work.

“I loved experimenting and figuring out how and why things happen; I used to dissect my grandma’s fish when they died to try to work out why they were floating in the tank – I was six at the time,” she said. “Thankfully my parents weren’t horrified by this and over the years my requests for microscopes, chemistry sets and supplies of organs to dissect were realized by Santa and the village butcher.”

Not all girls receive such encouragement. A study conducted in 14 countries found the probability for female students graduating with a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in a science-related field are 19, 8 and 2 percent respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37, 18 and 6, according to the United Nations.

In response, in December, U.N. member states adopted a resolution to establish an annual international day to mark the crucial role women and girls play in science and technological communities celebrated for the first time on Feb. 11 this year. The aim is to further the access of women and girls and their participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, training and research activities.

She kicked off her career in adulthood by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Plant Science at the University of Manchester and a doctoral degree at the University of Sheffield where she focused on work based across the University of Sheffield, the John Innes Center and Syngenta. Since graduating she has worked at two CGIAR centers in Latin America and East and West Africa.

She currently works with CIMMYT in the Seeds of Discovery project where she develops and applies tools to identify and enable the use of the valuable genetic variation present in genebanks for the benefit of farmers and consumers around the world.

She shared her views on women and girls in science in the following interview.

Q: Why is it important to have an increased number of woman and girls studying as well as working in scientific fields?

Girls rock!

Half the population is female but in science careers we are underrepresented, this imbalance becomes increasingly acute as you move up in career structures towards positions of more decision making.

Gender-balanced companies tend to have higher profitability and rank higher in terms of institutional health. This translates to the non-profit sector – impact instead of profitability is the measure of success. More women are needed in scientific research and development at all levels of organizations. This ideal requires a gender-balanced pool of potential applicants – something that is hard to obtain when women are underrepresented in sciences from school to university.

Q: What inspired you to follow a career in science and agriculture?

I grew up in Yorkshire, a rural area in the UK, my dad was an agricultural engineer and my mum still runs her own shop. Farming was an integral part of our community and our lives.

I loved science at school and was one of the few who studied chemistry and physics. Indeed, I was the only girl who studied the four sciences on offer. I enjoyed studying biology and environmental science the most, and after leaving school I deliberated whether to study genetics or plant science at university, eventually deciding to do a degree in applied plant science.

I spent my third year at university working with Zeneca – now Syngenta. My fellow interns and I were plunged into the deep end of applied research with very limited supervision; I LOVED IT! I got to research design, test, evaluate and develop tools and resources that mattered to the company and to farmers; my boss was very supportive and he encouraged me to try out some of my more “wacky” ideas…I was allowed to fail and learn from failure, developing better methods as a result. After earning my B.Sc. I applied for Ph.Ds., all the Ph.Ds. I applied for were focused on different aspects of crop improvement – I wanted to work with plant science that had an impact on people’s lives. The Ph.D. I chose was on maize molecular genetics and physiology working on Striga (a parasitic weed endemic to Africa) and drought. My Ph.D. experiences importantly gave me first-hand experience of the hard reality of the precariousness of food and nutritional security across vast swathes of the human population. When completing my Ph.D. I decided I wanted to be able to contribute to food security through research but I didn’t want to do this within a university setting- I thought that was too far from farmers. I came to know CIMMYT through my doctoral research and I have been working in the CGIAR system of agricultural researchers ever since completing my Ph.D.

Q: What challenges do women and girls face with regard to science today?

Perceptions: Women can face direct sexism related to their choice of class/degree/career not being considered gender appropriate, this often has cultural influence so while a girl may be more or less accepted in one culture she is not in another. Role models also pose a challenge. There are few female role models in many areas; those that exist have often sacrificed much personal life to be where they are. This gives a skewed picture to girls in an image-obsessed world where people are expected to be perfect in all aspects of life. Science is still very male dominated, especially agricultural science. Overt and unintentional sexism is rife in many organizations – women can be made to feel like a “token” staff member..

Being assertive and focused is often viewed very negatively when women display this behavior with gender-specific terms being used. I have been called “bossy, bitchy, emotional, aggressive, ice queen, scary, etc.”, my male colleagues exhibiting the same behavior are “driven, focused, tough, go-getters, etc.” I have never heard them being called bossy….

Inequality at home results in inequality in science. Women still tend to bear the brunt of home and childcare activities and this creates real or perceived impacts. Institutions and national governments don’t always help – shared maternity/paternity leave would be a good starting point.

Q: What is your advice to young aspiring female scientists?

Wow, there are lots of wisdom picked up and passed on I could share, here are a few I have found the most useful:

Personal: Check your own prejudice and ensure you treat others in an equal way. I get tired of hearing statements like “men can’t multi-task”… it is as offensive as “women can’t read maps”. If we want equality we have to ensure we model it ourselves.

Work on self-confidence, self-esteem and develop a good, self-depreciating sense of humor. Build a support network to help maintain these things and give you honest feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; ask lots of questions.

Don’t stress about titles, positions or detailed career paths – career paths don’t usually follow a straight or planned path and you discover more fulfilling things on the journey. Give yourself time to explore and discover an area of science you love and are inspired by; believe me it is worth every second invested. Happiness is more important that a title on a business card.

Pick your partners carefully, life is full of surprises and striving for equality shouldn’t stop in the classroom or workplace.

In school/the workplace, do not accept gender loaded statements; “you are bossy” should be quickly but firmly rebuked with “not bossy, simply assertive”. Speak out about gender bias –be it female, male, bi -or trans gender – and enable and support others to speak out. If someone says something that makes you feel uncomfortable, articulate this to them. In addition, I would advise that you should never, ever accept sexual harassment of yourself or others in the workplace. Report it and if needed shout and scream about it. It is a good idea to build a financial/family safety net for yourself so that you have the freedom to leave situations where there is unwillingness of employers to deal with sexual harassment.

Learn to program Python and a bit of Java. Data is getting easier to capture and as a result the volume of data we are processing grows year on year. Having the skills to manipulate and analyze this is increasingly critical – off the shelf solutions no longer work. Being able to program is an increasingly valuable skill and one many girls are not encouraged to explore.

Try to understand the gender climate of the organization you are working for – or want to work for – and seek out allies to navigate and – hopefully – start to influence the climate to a more gender neutral workplace.

Don’t view every decision as having gender bias – sometimes there really isn’t any- you just don’t like the decision.

Apply for jobs even when you don’t meet all of the requirements – if you can do half of the things well and can learn the others then apply- nothing ventured nothing gained (and few candidates, male or female, tick all of the boxes).

Learn how to negotiate and try not to enter a situation in which you are unaware of the facts about what you are arguing for. Women often feel uncomfortable to negotiate salaries – you feel worse when you realize a male colleague doing the same job is being paid more.

Don’t let anyone shout at you, and don’t let anyone talk over you – calmly, quietly, and privately explain how you want to be treated – if the shouting continues walk away from the situation.

Consider family issues whether you have a family or not; do you need to send an urgent request to someone at 5pm on a Friday? -This helps all colleagues – men have families too and we all need work-life balance.

 

Researchers race to rescue wheat sample in war-torn Syria

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After wheat seeds are planted in the greenhouse, the samples are then harvested and prepared to be sent to the laboratory for DNA extraction and genotyping. Photo: Carolina Sansaloni/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – With Syria torn apart by civil war, a team of scientists in Mexico and Morocco are rushing to save a vital sample of wheat’s ancient and massive genetic diversity, sealed in seed collections of an international research center formerly based in Aleppo but forced to leave during 2012-13.

The researchers are restoring and genetically characterizing more than 30,000 unique seed collections of wheat from the Syrian genebank of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which has relocated its headquarters to Beirut, Lebanon, and backed up its 150,000 collections of barley, fava bean, lentil and wheat seed with partners and in the Global Seed Vault at Svalbard, Norway.

In March 2015, scientists at ICARDA were awarded The Gregor Mendel Foundation Innovation Prize for their courage in securing and preserving their seed collections at Svalbard, by continuing work and keeping the genebank operational in Syria even amidst war.

“With war raging in Syria, this project is incredibly important,” said Carolina Sansaloni, genotyping and DNA sequencing specialist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is leading work to analyze the samples and locate genes for breeding high-yield, climate resilient wheats. “It would be amazing if we could be just a small part of reintroducing varieties that have been lost in war-torn regions.”

Treasure from wheat’s cradle to feed the future

Much of wheat seed comes from the Fertile Crescent, a region whose early nations developed and depended on wheat as the vital grain of their civilizations. The collections could hold the key for future breeding to feed an expanding world population, according to Sansaloni.

“An ancient variety bred out over time could contain a gene for resistance to a deadly wheat disease or for tolerance to climate change effects like heat and drought, which are expected to become more severe in developing countries where smallholder farmers and their families depend on wheat,” she explained.

Cross-region partners, global benefits

Sansaloni’s team has been sequencing DNA from as many as 2,000 seed samples a week, as well as deriving molecular markers for breeder- and farmer-valued traits, such as disease resistance, drought or heat tolerance and qualities that contribute to higher yields and grain quality.

They are using a high-end DNA sequencing system located at the Genetic Analysis Service for Agriculture (SAGA), a partnership between CIMMYT and Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), and with the support of a private company from Australia, Diversity Arrays Technology.

The sequencer at SAGA can read 1600 samples of seed at once and develops more data than ever before. The HiSeq 2500 boils down data and shows the information at a “sequence level”, for example, height variations among wheat varieties.

Worldwide, there are few other machines that produce this kind of data and most are owned by private companies, explained Sansaloni. This was the first non-Latin American based project used by the HiSeq 2500.

“The success of this project shows what a fantastic opportunity for international collaboration we now have,” Sansaloni said. “I can’t even put a value on the importance of the data we have collected from this project. It’s priceless.”

After data has been collected, seed samples will be “regenerated” by ICARDA and CIMMYT. That is, the process of restoring old seed samples with healthy new seeds.

ICARDA and CIMMYT will share seed and data from the project and make these results available worldwide.

“With these new seeds, we hope to reconstruct ICARDA’s active and base collection of seeds over the next five years in new genebank facilities in Lebanon and Morocco,” said Fawzy Nawar, senior genebank documentation specialist, ICARDA.

Funded through the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, the effort benefits both of the international centers, as well as wheat breeding programs worldwide, said Tom Payne, head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank. “ICARDA is in a difficult situation, with a lack of easy access to their seeds and no facilities to perform genotyping,” he explained. “This was the perfect opportunity to collaborate.”

Learning partnerships turn research into results for Mexican agriculture

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“CIMMYT is famous for helping farmers all over the world, but what fewer people know is that they also help Mexican researchers and students who will become the next generation of researchers through the courses and workshops they offer,” said Alejandro Ledesma, maize researcher at Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP). Above, Ledesma (L), receives certificate from CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, Juan Burgueño Ferreira, Head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit, and Kevin Pixley, Head of the Genetic Resources Program at a course on statistical analysis of genetic and phenotypic data for breeders held at CIMMYT. Photo: CIMMYT

The Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) project seeks to empower the next generation of Mexican scientists to use maize and wheat biodiversity to effectively meet the needs of Mexican agriculture in the future. By providing professional agricultural research and development opportunities for current and future maize and wheat scientists, SeeD works to ensure that the materials they develop will reach those who need it most. For this reason, SeeD is developing a platform of publicly available data and software tools that enable the efficient use of maize and wheat genetic resources. These genetic resources, or biodiversity, include more than 28,000 maize and 140,000 wheat samples, known as accessions, that are conserved in CIMMYT’s seed bank and available to researchers worldwide.

Genetic resources are the raw materials or building blocks used to develop new maize and wheat varieties needed to meet the demands of a growing population in a changing climate. Many of these maize and wheat accessions contain positive traits such as drought tolerance or disease resistance, which if bred into new varieties  have the potential to improve food security and livelihoods in countries such as Mexico in the global south.

However, the specific potential impact of SeeD on Mexican agriculture and society will only be realized if breeders and scientists effectively use the products resulting from the project. By inviting researchers, professors and students to participate in workshops, training courses and diverse research projects, a growing cadre of scientists is learning how to use the databases and software tools developed by SeeD and validating their utility.

Cynthia Ortiz places DNA samples into a thermal cycler in the CIMMYT Biosciences laboratory. Photo: Jennifer Johnson

“Sharing the knowledge generated by SeeD and making it available to the scientific community will help accelerate the development of new varieties that will benefit long-term food security in Mexico and the world,” said Cynthia Ortiz, a graduate student in biotechnology at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) in Mexico City.

Ortiz is conducting research for her Master of Science thesis mentored by SeeD scientist Sukhwinder Singh, who is helping her map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for phenological and grain yield-related traits in wheat varieties created by crossing synthetic wheat varieties with elite lines. She has participated in two SeeD workshops focusing on wheat phenotyping for heat, drought and yield as well as on the use of the maize and wheat molecular atlas, where she learned to use SeeD software such as Flapjack and CurlyWhirly to visualize the results of genetic diversity analyses.

“The materials SeeD has developed have opened the door for identifying genetic resources with positive traits such as heat and drought tolerance, or resistance to pests and diseases that affect crops all over the world,” Ortiz said. “And the best part is that at the same time, they have sought to protect the genetic diversity of these crops, using the native biodiversity we have in Mexico and the world to confront the challenge of ensuring food security.”

David Gonzalez, a recent graduate of the Chapingo Autonomous University in Texcoco, a city about 30 km (20 miles) from Mexico City, agrees. He worked with SeeD scientists Sarah Hearne and Terence Molnar on his Master of Science thesis, identifying genetic resources with resistance to the maize leaf disease “tar spot complex” (TSC) by using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and genomic selection.

David Gonzalez (L) scores maize plants for signs of tar spot disease alongside SeeD scientist Terence Molnar (R) in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Photo: Jennifer Johnson

“The software and databases SeeD develops for analyzing genotypic and phenotypic data are novel tools that can be used for research as well as academic purposes,” Gonzalez said. “They are a valuable resource that can be utilized by academic institutions to train students in genetic analysis.”

Gonzalez attended the CIMMYT training course “Technologies for Tropical Maize Improvement,” where he learned about new tools for field trial design, data analysis, doubled haploid technology, molecular markers, GWAS and genomic selection.

“This training, as well as the valuable help and support from CIMMYT scientists, really helped me develop myself professionally,” he said. “It was exciting to work with such an ambitious project, doing things that have never been done before to discover and utilize maize and wheat genetic diversity for the benefit of farmers. I look forward to using what I’ve learned in my future career to develop varieties that meet the needs of farmers in Latin America.”

SeeD is a joint initiative of CIMMYT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) through the MasAgro project. SeeD receives additional funding from the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE CRP) and Wheat (WHEAT CRP), and from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Learning partnerships turn research into results for Mexican agriculture

Written by on . Posted in News.

“CIMMYT is famous for helping farmers all over the world, but what fewer people know is that they also help Mexican researchers and students who will become the next generation of researchers through the courses and workshops they offer,” said Alejandro Ledesma, maize researcher at Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP). Above, Ledesma (L), receives certificate from CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, Juan Burgueño Ferreira, Head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit, and Kevin Pixley, Head of the Genetic Resources Program, at a course on statistical analysis of genetic and phenotypic data for breeders held at CIMMYT. Photo: CIMMYT
“CIMMYT is famous for helping farmers all over the world, but what fewer people know is that they also help Mexican researchers and students who will become the next generation of researchers through the courses and workshops they offer,” said Alejandro Ledesma, maize researcher at Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP). Above, Ledesma (L), receives certificate from CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, Juan Burgueño Ferreira, Head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit, and Kevin Pixley, Head of the Genetic Resources Program, at a course on statistical analysis of genetic and phenotypic data for breeders held at CIMMYT. Photo: CIMMYT

The Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) project seeks to empower the next generation of Mexican scientists to use maize and wheat biodiversity to effectively meet the needs of Mexican agriculture in the future. By providing professional agricultural research and development opportunities for current and future maize and wheat scientists, SeeD works to ensure that the materials they develop will reach those who need them most. For this reason, SeeD is developing a platform of publicly available data and software tools that enable the efficient use of maize and wheat genetic resources. These genetic resources, or biodiversity, include more than 28,000 maize and 140,000 wheat samples, known as accessions, that are conserved in CIMMYT’s seed bank and available to researchers worldwide.

Genetic resources are the raw materials or building blocks used to develop new maize and wheat varieties needed to meet the demands of a growing population in a changing climate. Many of these maize and wheat accessions contain positive traits such as drought tolerance or disease resistance, which, if bred into new varieties, have the potential to improve food security and livelihoods in countries such as Mexico in the global south.

However, the specific potential impact of SeeD on Mexican agriculture and society will only be realized if breeders and scientists effectively use the products resulting from the project. By inviting researchers, professors and students to participate in workshops, training courses and diverse research projects, a growing cadre of scientists is learning how to use the databases and software tools developed by SeeD and validating their utility.

Cynthia Ortiz places DNA samples into a thermal cycler in the CIMMYT Biosciences laboratory. Photo: CIMMYT/J. Johnson

“Sharing the knowledge generated by SeeD and making it available to the scientific community will help accelerate the development of new varieties that will benefit long-term food security in Mexico and the world,” said Cynthia Ortiz, a graduate student in biotechnology at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) in Mexico City.

Ortiz is conducting research for her Master of Science thesis mentored by SeeD scientist Sukhwinder Singh, who is helping her map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for phenological and grain yield-related traits in wheat varieties created by crossing synthetic wheat varieties with elite lines. She has participated in two SeeD workshops focusing on wheat phenotyping for heat, drought and yield as well as on the use of the maize and wheat molecular atlas, where she learned to use SeeD software such as Flapjack and CurlyWhirly to visualize the results of genetic diversity analyses.

“The materials SeeD has developed have opened the door for identifying genetic resources with positive traits such as heat and drought tolerance, or resistance to pests and diseases that affect crops all over the world,” Ortiz said. “And the best part is that at the same time, they have sought to protect the genetic diversity of these crops, using the native biodiversity we have in Mexico and the world to confront the challenge of ensuring food security.”

David Gonzalez, a recent graduate of the Chapingo Autonomous University in Texcoco, a city about 30 km (20 miles) from Mexico City, agrees. He worked with SeeD scientists Sarah Hearne and Terence Molnar on his Master of Science thesis research, identifying genetic resources with resistance to the maize leaf disease “tar spot complex” (TSC) by using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and genomic selection.

David Gonzalez (L) scores maize plants for signs of tar spot disease alongside SeeD scientist Terence Molnar (R) in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Photo: CIMMYT/J. Johnson

“The software and databases SeeD develops for analyzing genotypic and phenotypic data are novel tools that can be used for research as well as academic purposes,” Gonzalez said. “They are a valuable resource that can be utilized by academic institutions to train students in genetic analysis.”

Gonzalez attended the CIMMYT training course “Technologies for Tropical Maize Improvement,” where he learned about new tools for field trial design, data analysis, doubled haploid technology, molecular markers, GWAS and genomic selection.

“This training, as well as the valuable help and support from CIMMYT scientists, really helped me develop myself professionally,” he said. “It was exciting to work with such an ambitious project, doing things that have never been done before to discover and utilize maize and wheat genetic diversity for the benefit of farmers. I look forward to using what I’ve learned in my future career to develop varieties that meet the needs of farmers in Latin America.”

SeeD is a joint initiative of CIMMYT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) through the MasAgro project. SeeD receives additional funding from the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE CRP) and Wheat (WHEAT CRP), and from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Mobilizing gene bank biodiversity in the fight against climate change

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Ancestors of modern wheat (R) in comparison with an ear of modern cultivated wheat (L). Photo: Thomas Lumpkin/CIMMYT.

In a world where the population is expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050, grain production must increase to meet rising demand. This is especially true for bread wheat, which provides one-fifth of the total calories consumed by the world’s population. However, climate change threatens to derail global food security, as instances of extreme weather events and high temperatures reduce agricultural productivity and are increasing faster than agriculture can naturally adapt, leaving our future ability to feed the global population uncertain. How can we ensure crop production and food security for generations to come?

In order to continue feeding the planet, it is imperative that we identify crop varieties that display adaptive and quality traits such as drought and heat stress tolerance that will allow them to survive and flourish despite environmental stresses. For this reason, a recent study by Sehgal et al., “Exploring and mobilizing the gene bank biodiversity for wheat improvement,” was conducted to characterize wheat seed samples in the CIMMYT germplasm bank to identify useful variations for use in wheat breeding.

The study analyzed the genetic diversity of 1,423 bread wheat seed samples that represent major wheat production environments around the world, particularly regions that experience significant heat and drought. The tested samples included synthetic wheat varieties, which are novel bread wheat varieties created by making crosses between the progenitors of modern bread wheat, durum wheat and wild grassy ancestors; landraces, which are local varieties developed through centuries of farmer selection; and elite lines that have been selectively bred and adapted. The samples were analyzed through genotyping-by-sequencing, a rapid and cost-effective approach that allows for an in-depth, reliable estimate of genetic diversity.

The results of the study suggested that many of the tested landraces and synthetics have untapped, useful genetic variation that could be used to improve modern wheat varieties. When combined with elite wheat germplasm, this genetic variation will increase stress adaptation and quality traits as well as heat and drought tolerance, thus leading to new wheat varieties that can better survive under climate change. The study also found new genetic variation for vernalization, in which flowering is induced by exposure to cold, and for glutenin, a major wheat protein responsible for dough strength and elasticity. Based on the information generated by the study, over 200 of the diverse seed samples tested have been selected for use in breeding, since they contain new specific forms of genes conferring drought and heat stress tolerance. This new genetic diversity will help bread wheat breeding programs around the world create new varieties to feed the world’s growing population in a changing environment.

This research is part of CIMMYT’s ongoing Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) project, which is funded by the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project, as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT). SeeD works to unlock the genetic potential of maize and wheat genetic resources by providing breeders with a toolkit that enables their more targeted use in the development of better varieties that address future challenges, including those from climate change and a growing population.

To read the full study, please click here:

Citation:

Sehgal D, Vikram P, Sansaloni CP, Ortiz C, Pierre CS, Payne T, et al. (2015) Exploring and Mobilizing the Gene Bank Biodiversity for Wheat Improvement. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0132112. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132112

Related Publications:

Exploiting genetic diversity from landraces in wheat breeding for adaptation to climate change (2015) Lopes, M.S., El-Basyoni, I., Baenziger, P.S., Sukhwinder-Singh, Royo, C., Ozbek, K., Aktas, H., Ozer, E., Ozdemir, F., Manickavelu, A., Ban, T., Vikram, P.

Coping with climate change: the roles of genetic resources for food and agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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

From east Asia to south Asia, via Mexico: how one gene changed the course of history

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This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In 1935, Japanese scientist Gonjoro Inazuka crossed a semi-dwarf Japanese wheat landrace with two American varieties resulting in an improved variety, known as Norin 10. Norin 10 derived varieties eventually ended up in the hands of Norman Borlaug, beginning one of the most extraordinary agricultural revolutions in history. This international exchange of germplasm ultimately saved hundreds of millions of people from starvation and revolutionized the world of wheat.

The journey of semi-dwarf wheat from Japan to Mexico may have begun in the 3rd or 4th century in Korea, where short wheat varieties are thought to have originated. From East Asia, wheat breeders began to seek and utilize dwarfing genes to breed varieties with high yield potential, resistance to lodging and the ability to produce more tillers than traditional varieties.

The term Norin is an acronym for the Japanese Agricultural Experiment Station spelled out using Latin letters. From 150 centimeters (cm) that other varieties measured, Norin 10 reduced wheat plant height to 60-110 cm. The shorter stature is a result of the reduced height genes Rht1 and Rht2.

Pictured above is a cross between Chapingo 53 - a tall variety of wheat that was resistant to a fungal pathogen called stem rust - and a variety developed from previous crosses of Norin 10 with four other wheat strains. Photo: CIMMYT
Pictured above is a cross between Chapingo 53 – a tall variety of wheat that was resistant to a fungal pathogen called stem rust – and a variety developed from previous crosses of Norin 10 with four other wheat strains. Photo: CIMMYT

Norin 10 began to attract international attention after a visit by S.D. Salmon, a renowned wheat breeder in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to Marioka Agriculture Research Station in Honshu. Salmon took some samples of the Norin 10 variety back to the United States, where in the late 1940s Orville Vogel at Washington State University used them to help produce high-yielding, semi-dwarf winter wheat varieties, of which Gaines was the first one.

In neighboring Mexico, Norman Borlaug and his team were focusing their efforts on tackling the problem of lodging and rust resistance. After unsuccessfully screening the entire USDA World Wheat Germplasm collection for shorter and strong varieties, Borlaug wrote to Vogel and requested seed containing the Norin 10 dwarfing genes. Norin 10 was a lucky break, providing both short stature and rust resistance.

In 1953, Borlaug began crossing Vogel’s semi-dwarf winter wheat varieties with Mexican varieties. The first attempt at incorporating the Vogel genes into Mexican varieties failed. But after a series of crosses and re-crosses, the result was a new type of spring wheat: short and stiff-strawed varieties that tillered profusely, produced more grain per head, and were less likely to lodge. The semi-dwarf Mexican wheat progeny began to be distributed nationally, and within seven years, average wheat yields in Mexico had doubled. By 1962, 10 years after Vogel first supplied seed of the Norin 10 semi-dwarf progeny to Borlaug, two high-yielding semi-dwarf Norin 10 derivatives, Pitic 62 and Penjamo 62, were released for commercial production.

As the figure below indicates, these wheat varieties then led to a flow of other high-yielding wheat varieties, including Sonora 64 and Lerma Rojo 64, two varieties that led to the Green Revolution in India, Pakistan and other countries, and Siete Cerros 66, which at its peak was grown on over 7 million hectares in the developing world. The most widely grown variety during this period was the very early maturing variety Sonalika, which is still grown in India today.

[Reproduced from Foods and Food Production Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine]

In the early 1960s South Asia was facing mass starvation and extreme food insecurity. To combat this challenge, scientists and governments in the region began assessing the value of Mexican semi-dwarf wheat varieties for their countries. Trials in India and Pakistan were convincing, producing high yields that offered the potential for a dramatic breakthrough in wheat production but only after agronomy practices were changed. Without these changes, the Green Revolution would never have taken off.

From left to right: Norman Borlaug, Mohan Kohli and Sanjaya Rajaram at Centro de Investigaciones Agricolas del Noreste (CIANO), Sonora, Mexico, in 1973. (Photo: CIMMYT)
From left to right: Norman Borlaug, Mohan Kohli and Sanjaya Rajaram at Centro de Investigaciones Agricolas del Noreste (CIANO), Sonora, Mexico, in 1973. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Borlaug had sent a fewdozen seeds of his high-yielding, disease-resistant semi-dwarf wheat varieties to India to test their resistance to local rust strains. M.S. Swaminathan, a wheat cytogeneticist and advisor to the Indian Minister of Agriculture, immediately grasped their potential for Indian agriculture and wrote to Borlaug, inviting him to India. Soon after the unexpected invitation reached him, Borlaug boarded a Pan Am Boeing 707 to India.

To accelerate the potential of Borlaug’s wheat, in 1967 Pakistan imported about 42,000 tons of semi-dwarf wheat seed from Mexico, Turkey imported 22,000 tons and India 18,000 tons. At the time this was the largest seed purchase in the history of agriculture. Wheat yield improvement in both India and Pakistan was unlike anything seen before.

Fifty years on, we face new challenges, even though we have continued to make incremental increases to average yield. There is an ever-increasing demand for wheat from a growing worldwide population with changing dietary preferences. The world’s climate is changing; temperatures are rising and extreme weather events are becoming more common. Natural resources, especially ground water, are also being depleted; new crop diseases are emerging and yield increases are not keeping pace with demand.

Borlaug and his contemporaries kicked off the Green Revolution by combining semi-dwarf, rust resistant and photoperiod insensitive traits. Today, a new plan and commitment to achieving another quantum leap in wheat productivity are in place. The International Wheat Yield Partnership, an international public-private partnership, is exploiting the best wheat research worldwide to increase wheat yield potential by up to 50%. This one-of-a-kind initiative will transfer germplasm to leading breeding programs around the world.

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

CIMMYT team wins CCAFS recognition

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On 29 April, CIMMYT had a double reason to celebrate, picking up the award for “Best gender paper” and “Best science paper” (along with Bioversity), at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Science Conference in Copenhagen. The conference was part of a series of CCAFS meetings held from 29 April – 02 May, and was attended by various CIMMYT staff.

The best gender paper, titled ‘Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Kenya: How Does Gender Matter?’ and co-authored by Simon Wagura Ndiritu, Menale Kassie and Bekele Shiferaw, highlighted the differences between technologies adopted on female- and male-managed farm plots in Kenya. They found that whilst there were gender differences in the adoption of technologies such as the use of animal manure, soil and water conservation, other differences in the use of chemical fertilizers and improved seed may stem from the varying levels of access to resources for men and women, rather than gender itself. “This recognition inspires me to put more effort to produce more quality research that will bring excellent distinction to CIMMYT and myself,” said Kassie, while Ndiritu said “it is an encouragement to a young scientist,” adding that he is looking forward to having the paper published.

The winning science paper, ‘Assessing the vulnerability of traditional maize seed systems in Mexico to climate change’, was authored by David Hodson (FAO), and Mauricio Bellon (Bioversity) and Jonathan Hellin from CIMMYT. With climate change models predicting significant impacts in Mexico and Central America, particularly during the maize growing season (May – October), the paper assessed the capacity of traditional maize seed systems to provide farmers with appropriate genetic material, under the anticipated agro-ecological conditions. Their results indicated that whilst most farmers will have easy access to appropriate seed in the future, those in the highlands will be more vulnerable to climate change and are likely to have to source seed from outside their traditional supplies, entailing significant additional costs and changes to the traditional supply chain.

To share the good news, the Socioeconomics program hosted a get-together with the team in Nairobi, Kenya. During the cake cutting ceremony, the best gender paper award was dedicated to women farmers from Embu and Kakamega in Kenya’s Eastern and Western Provinces, where the data was collected. The Nairobi team also took the opportunity to initiate monthly seminars in order to share research findings hosted by the Global Maize Program and the Socioeconomics program and promote regular interaction among the team. The program directors, Bekele Shiferaw and B. M. Prasanna nominated Dan Makumbi, Hugo De Groote, Sika Gbegbelegbe, Fred Kanampiu, and Sarah Kibera, to form the organizing committee for the seminars.

Food historian Rachel Laudan visits CIMMYT

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CIMMYT genetic resources phenotyping coordinator Martha Willcox (left) reviews some of the many improved maize varieties that are shipped around the world from Mexico each year. (Photo: CIMMYT)
CIMMYT genetic resources phenotyping coordinator Martha Willcox (left) reviews some of the many improved maize varieties that are shipped around the world from Mexico each year. (Photo: CIMMYT)

On 19 November, CIMMYT hosted well-known food historian Rachel Laudan, who is currently conducting maize research and came to CIMMYT to interact with maize scientists to better understand the current state of maize in Mexico. Laudan’s website with links to her books, blog, and more may be found here. Read her recent article ‘A Plea for Culinary Modernism’ in Jacobin magazine here.

Martha Willcox (left) points out specific maize varieties being stored in the germplasm bank as author Rachel Laudan looks on. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Martha Willcox (left) points out specific maize varieties being stored in the germplasm bank as author Rachel Laudan looks on. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Watch Rachel Laudan discuss maize and the changing status of food staples globally during her visit to CIMMYT here.

XXI Latin American Maize Meeting

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Bolivia’s National Agricultural, Livestock and Forestry Innovation Institute (INIAF) and the CIMMYT-Colombia office organized the XXI Latin American Maize Meeting (XXIRLM) held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on 29-31 October 2015.

The meeting was organized within the agricultural innovation framework around four themes: genetic resources and biotechnology, genetic improvement, special and biofortified maize, and climate change and sustainable agricultural intensification. An expert gave a lecture on each one of the themes, followed by presentations by representatives of the participating institutions, which were reinforced by previously selected posters.

Bolivia has 11 million inhabitants and is self-sufficient in maize, producing 1.1 million tons on 430,000 ha each year. However, maize production could increase sustainably through the use of technologies such as improved seed and adequate crop management practices, including crop rotations (for example, with soybean on the 1.2 million ha sown to this crop). The goal of the XXIRLM was to discuss these and other subjects.

Johnny Cordero, Vice Minister of Rural Development and Lands, opened the meeting, which was attended by Carlos Osinaga, INIAF Director General, and Tito Claure, Coordinator of INIAF’s Maize Program. Juan Rissi, IICA representative in Bolivia, gave the first talk and said that in this age of productivity and competition, innovation is at the core of the agricultural sector’s tasks. Countries should therefore significantly increase their investment in research and development, strengthen the INIAs, and develop regional integration mechanisms to include INIAs, universities, research centers, the private sector, and farmer associations.

In the area of genetic resources, Terrance Molnar, CIMMYT, said that CIMMYT holds the world’s largest collection of maize genetic resources, with more than 27,000 accessions, whose potential is currently being assessed through the Seeds of Discovery project with the aim of providing genetic resources, knowledge, and tools that maize networks can use to accelerate the development of improved varieties that tolerate climate change and contribute to food security and sustainability. Four key objectives now being targeted are: drought tolerance, resistance to tar spot (Phyllachora maydis), resistance to maize lethal necrosis, and developing blue maize germplasm. Álvaro Otondo, INIAF Bolivia, mentioned that the area comprising northwestern Argentina and southwestern Bolivia has been proposed as a possible center of origin of maize based on ceramic artifacts found there that date from 7500-6200 BC.

Researchers at La Molina University evaluated 335 highland maize accessions from Peru’s central highlands and classified them into 22 races. The criteria that best differentiated these accessions were related to the crop’s vegetative stage and yield components. Researchers at CIF Pairumani, Bolivia, talked about the valuable experience they’ve had educating young students on genetic resource conservation using storytelling and the game of dominoes.

Ricardo Sevilla from La Molina University, Peru, proposed forming bulks of maize races using native germplasm and, when necessary, introductions. These bulks are later improved using recurrent selection to increase the frequency of favorable alleles of genes conferring adaptive traits, which are usually present in low numbers in native varieties. Selection gains of 5-10% have been achieved using this approach, depending on the selection criteria and the method used (half sibs, full sibs, self-pollinated families). In the area of biotechnology, researchers from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón and CIF Pairumani indicated they’re using new tools such as molecular markers, genomics, and another culture to develop haploids of some maize populations.

Luis Narro from CIMMYT and Sidney Parentony from EMBRAPA reviewed the history of maize breeding and came to the conclusion that breeding methods should exploit heterosis through the development of simple hybrids whose seed should be accessible to farmers at the right time, in places where they are needed, at a fair price. Hybrid seed use varies greatly in South American countries where double, triple, and simple hybrids are sown. For example, the area sown to hybrid seed covers more than 90% of the maize area in Argentina and Venezuela, 80% in Bolivia, and less than 50% in Colombia.

In Andean countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, farmers plant hybrid seed only of tropical maize (called hard yellow maize) (its use is above 80%). As for the Andean highland maize that is sown at altitudes above 2500 masl, the area sown to hybrid maize is zero, since all of the area is sown to open-pollinated varieties.

The convenience of using new technologies such as molecular markers, genomics, and doubled haploids to accelerate breeding progress was discussed. Molecular markers, genomics, and doubled haploids are being implemented in Argentina and Brazil, and doubled haploids are being produced in Chile. Other countries in the region such as Bolivia and Ecuador are interested in these technologies and have working agreements with CIMMYT.

Talks on genetic improvement were given by representatives from Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador, who said that new yellow maize hybrids with at least one CIMMYT parent have been released in their countries. In the case of Andean highland maize, ongoing work in Bolivia aims to increase maize productivity and incorporate resistance to ear rot into “cusco” type maize.

In the area of special and biofortified maize, CIMMYT researchers Félix San Vicente and Aldo Rosales highlighted the importance of maize varieties that are biofortified with provitamin A and high zinc content. They also reported CIMMYT’s progress in developing and releasing germplasm with high zinc, provitamin A, lysine, and tryptophan contents. They stressed the need to avoid grain losses due to poor storage and maintain the quality of products made from biofortified maize until they reach the consumer. High protein quality hybrids have been released in Bolivia and Ecuador in the past two years, and INTA Argentina is studying the nutritional quality of local maize.

In the area of special maize, representatives from Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru presented their work on “purple maize,” a type of maize with high anthocyanin content in the grain, cob, and stalk, whose nutraceutical properties are due to powerful antioxidants that help control obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, as well as prevent colon cancer and other diseases. Consumption of soft drinks, cookies, and desserts made from this type of maize has increased greatly in countries such as Peru. This type of maize is only grown by smallholder farmers; therefore, linking the purple maize production system to the food industry would be an excellent means of improving the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers who live in the poorest areas where this and other types of special maize are sown.

In the area of climate change and sustainable agricultural intensification, Kai Sonder from CIMMYT described changes in the weather at both the global and regional levels and highlighted the need to develop new varieties that tolerate multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. He also said it is necessary to set up networks that include germplasm evaluation and crop management practices adapted to farmers’ work environments and social conditions and promote sustainable agriculture, including precision agriculture, which means doing the right thing in the right place at the right time. Researchers from INTA Argentina and INIA Peru provided information on conservation agriculture and emphasized pest control, mechanization based on farm size and the type of crop, and recommendations on post-harvest management of maize grain. Argemiro Moreno did a field demonstration of the benefits of using the GreenSeeker to make more efficient use of nitrogen.

During the XXIRLM, replicas of an ear of maize of the “cusco” type were presented to outstanding maize researchers such as Gonzalo Ávila and Tito Claure from Bolivia, and Ricardo Sevilla from Peru. Finally, José Luis Zambrano, INIAP Ecuador, announced that the XXIIRLM will be held next year in Ecuador. The XXRLM was held last year in Lima, Peru.

The meeting was attended by representatives of national and international seed companies, NGOs, local governments, an agricultural bank, Bolivian universities such as Francisco Xavier University in Chuquisaca, Gabriel René Moreno de Santa Cruz University, Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba, Peru’s La Molina National Agricultural University, national research centers such as INTA-Argentina, INIAF-Bolivia, EMBRAPA-Brazil, CORPOICA-Colombia, INIAP-Ecuador, INIA-Peru, and international research organizations such as IICA, JAICA from Japan, KOPIA from Korea, CIAT, and CIMMYT.

Kew visits CIMMYT

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Bibiana Espinosa showing CIMMYT’s genetic collection. Photo: Marcelo Ortiz/CIMMYT
Bibiana Espinosa showing CIMMYT’s genetic collection. Photo: Marcelo Ortiz/CIMMYT

Kew is a world-leading botanical and mycological research institution. At Kew there are over 300 scientists, working on the latest scientific developments in plant and fungal research.

On 20 October, Kew’s Director of Science Kathy Willis, Senior Research Leader on Diversity & Livelihoods Tiziana Ulian, and Director of Development Alison Purvis, along with Patricia Dávila, Director of FESI-UNAM, visited CIMMYT Headquarters to discuss possible joint programs between CIMMYT and Kew. The visit also included presentations on CIMMYT and Kew by Marianne Banziger, CIMMYT Deputy Director General, and Willis, as well as a tour of the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center given by Bibiana Espinosa, Principal Research Assistant.  

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CIMMYT contributions are present in more than 26% of all major wheat varieties in China after 2000, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science. (Photo: CIMMYT)

New paths ahead for agricultural research

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CIMMYT contributions are present in more than 26% of all major wheat varieties in China after 2000, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science. (Photo: CIMMYT)
CIMMYT contributions are present in more than 26% of all major wheat varieties in China after 2000, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Since joining CIMMYT in June 2015, I’ve had the opportunity to learn first-hand the impact of its work around the world, and the appreciation for our work among our peers, partners, and friends.

For example, in China, three decades of partnership with CIMMYT have added $ 3.4 billion to wheat output, and Australia, a donor country, has benefited to the tune of A$ 30 million per year on an in-vestment in CIMMYT of just A$ 1 million. A recent study found that around $33 million invested in CGIAR wheat breeding yields $2-5 billion worldwide. When the devastating maize lethal necrosis disease broke out in eastern Africa in 2011, CIMMYT led a response to get resistant varieties in farmers’ fields within just four years.

Even from such few examples, it is clear that wherever CIMMYT is involved, we have a valuable and unique contribution to make.

There are many challenges to be addressed in the world, from insecurity and population movements to our changing climate. Fundamental to most is the issue of how we practice agriculture to sustainably feed the world, and maize and wheat rank among the most important crops for food security, responsible for 25% of global protein and calorie consumption. What is needed is sustained and increased investment in agricultural research, and organizations such as CIMMYT and its partners to carry it out.

The recently-adopted sustainable development goals respond to this need. Among them are the objectives of ending malnutrition by 2030, doubling the productivity and incomes of small-scale producers, especially women, introducing sustainable and resilient agricultural practices, and ensuring access to the world’s treasure of genetic diversity.

There is a clear consensus between CIMMYT’s work and global priorities identified at the highest level; the question is how we can use our partnerships to effectively mobilize resources in pursuit of these goals.

Traditional donors are rightly concerned about aid dependency, leading a call to move from aid to trade. In practice, this means working more closely with the agrifood sector to ensure that consumers always enjoy access to affordable, appropriate, safe, and nutritious food.
Another answer is that many of the poor no longer live in poor countries. Emerging economies are increasingly important partners in their own development, and in the development of other nations in similar circumstances.

Finally, there is always value in greater coordination and collaboration with new partners. Many development NGOs make extensive use of agricultural research, but too few are closely involved in it.

Agricultural research must be responsive to the needs of society, and can only be scaled out and sus-tained by governments, the private sector, and NGOs. Nonetheless, core funding for agricultural research is essential to the impacts it generates. Funding organizations themselves enable the employment of the brightest minds, development of effective institutional capacities, and the flexibility to engage in overlooked but essential research priorities.

In 2016, CIMMYT will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Fifty years of impact felt in farmers’ fields around the world, of continually expanding our research portfolio and collaboration with partners so that, to-day, CIMMYT is more prepared than ever before to respond to global needs. But it is not enough. New business models, strategies, and partnerships are needed for agricultural research to fulfill its promise to the world. The upcoming CIMMYT strategy for 2016-2030 will set out a framework for our future.

CIMMYT empowers a new generation of maize breeders in Zambia

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Photo: Participants in the maize breeding course in Zambia. Photo: Cosmos Magorokosho/CIMMYT.
Photo: Participants in the maize breeding course in Zambia. Photo: Cosmos Magorokosho/CIMMYT.

CIMMYT recently conducted an intensive three-week training course in Zambia for 38 young maize breeders–including 12 women–to provide them the knowledge and skills needed to apply modern maize breeding methods in their agricultural research and development programs. Participants from national programs and private seed companies from 12 African countries and Pakistan attended the course.

Moses Mwale of the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) officially opened the course, and said the training was critical as agriculture contributes over 40% of Zambia’s gross domestic product and provides 70% of all employment in Africa; up to 80% of the African population lives in rural areas and is heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

According to Mwale, “Despite its immense potential, maize has underperformed in Africa in recent years. The major cause is lack of investment, reliance on rainfed agriculture, low usage of improved seed, and the lack of adequate agricultural research and development, resulting in low production, productivity, and high transaction costs in agribusiness ventures.”

For the first time, a significant part of the course was devoted to the subjects of crop management and gender mainstreaming in maize research and development.

CIMMYT agronomist Isaiah Nyagumbo presented the crop management practices recommended to boost yields, productivity, and income, and to conserve natural resources. He emphasized that investments in maize breeding pay off when crop management on farm is improved. Nyagumbo also demonstrated new land preparation equipment recommended for use with conservation agriculture, including jab planters, dibble sticks, Li seeder or planting hoe, and animal traction rippers.

Vongai Kandiwa, CIMMYT gender specialist, spoke about “Leveraging Gender Awareness in Maize Breeding and Seed Deployment.” Revealing existing evidence of gender gaps in technology awareness and adoption, she highlighted the importance of developing maize technologies that meet the needs of both men and women farmers. Kandiwa also shared insights on gender-responsive approaches for conducting on-farm trials and building awareness, especially of newly released varieties.

During the training course, CIMMYT physiologist Jill Cairns briefed participants on preparing and making effective presentations––a challenge for both distinguished and new scientists.

Several scientists highlighted recent developments in maize improvement such as the use in maize breeding of doubled haploids, molecular tools, transgenics, and precision phenotyping. Key themes included advanced phenotyping by CIMMYT physiologist Zaman Mainasarra, who demonstrated the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for digital imaging and fast, cost-effective, and accurate phenotyping data collection.

Other subjects included theoretical conventional breeding, breeding for abiotic stress in line with climate change, breeding for biotic stresses with emphasis on preventing the spread of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease, and breeding for improved nutritional quality (quality protein maize and pro-vitamin A maize). Max Mbunji of HarvestPlus gave a presentation on Zambia’s progress on developing and delivering pro-vitamin A maize over the past seven years.

Variety release and registration, seed production, and seed business management in Africa were also featured during the course. Trainees learned how to scale up breeder seed to certified seed, maintain genetic purity and quality, and support upcoming seed companies, while complying with existing seed legislation, policies, and procedures in different countries.

Participants went on a field trip to HarvestPlus, where they learned more about pro-vitamin A analysis. They also visited ZARI’s Nanga Research Station to observe drought screening and seed production activities conducted by Zambia’s national maize breeding program.

At the end of the course, one of the participants, Annah Takombwa, acting technical affairs manager at Zimbabwe’s National Biotechnology Authority, said, “Many thanks for affording me the opportunity to take part in GMP’s New Maize Breeders Training. It was a great honor and privilege. I am already applying the skills and knowledge gained in my day-to-day activities.”

CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) maize breeders Cosmos Magorokosho, Stephen Mugo, and Abebe Menkir of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized and coordinated the course. Participants were sponsored through various GMP projects, including Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scale-up, the Doubled Haploids project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa, Improved Maize for African Soils, USAID Heat project, MLN project, HarvestPlus, and private seed companies ZAMSEED and SEECDCO.

CSISA wheat breeders plan for future gains in South Asia

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Participants from four south Asian countries attended CSISA’s annual review meeting at Karnal, India. Photo: Bal Kishan Bhonsle
Participants from four south Asian countries attended CSISA’s annual review meeting at Karnal, India. Photo: Bal Kishan Bhonsle

The growing interest of national agriculture research system (NARS) of South Asia in genetic gains and seed dissemination work in Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) objective 4 (wheat breeding), 50 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal assembled at Karnal, India on September 2-3, 2015 for the 7th Wheat Breeding Review Meeting of this project. The meeting was organized by CIMMYT’s Kathmandu office with support from CIMMYT-Delhi/Karnal office and led by Dr. Arun Joshi. Dr. Ravish Chatrath, IIWBR provided strong support as local organizer.

The other CIMMYT participants were Etienne Duveiller, Uttam Kumar and Alistair Pask. Participants included representatives of: the Wheat Research Centre of Bangladesh (Dinajpur); Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Ghazipur; India’s Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal and Shimla; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and Indore; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Uttarbanga Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur and Powarkheda; Govind Vallabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, Mohanpur, Distt. Nadia, W. Bengal; Nepal’s National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahwa; Nepal Agricultural Research Institute (NARI); Khumaltar of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Renewable Natural Resources (RNR), Research and Development Centre (RDC), Bajo, Bhutan.

The CSISA meeting began with remarks by the chief guest, Dr. Indu Sharma, Director, IIWBR, Karnal along with Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Mondal, Director General, BARI; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT, Delhi and Arun Joshi, CIMMYT, Kathmandu. Within a wider framework of discussing issues concerning wheat improvement, the CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2014-15 cycle, and established work plans for the coming crop cycle. Arun Joshi presented a summary of the achievements in wheat breeding over last 6 years and highlighted the impressive results obtained in varietal release, seed dissemination and impact in farmer fields. Dr. Etienne informed he challenges of climate change and the ways our program should be shaped to handle these issues. Dr. Mondal expressed his happiness that CSISA wheat breeding has been very successful in contributing to enhancement of wheat production and producitity in Bangladesh and other countries through a vigourous wheat breeding and seed dissemination with strong linkage with national centres.

Dr. Indu Sharma highlighted the significance of collaborative research with a regional perspective and told the audience about the successes being achieved by CSISA in wheat research especially in handling rust resistance and heat tolerance in south Asia. She expressed his appreciation for new research efforts under CSISA and said that “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security and livelihood of the farmers.” She also said that seeing new challenges there is much more need for such collaborative research efforts for the economic prosperity and good health of agriculture sector in south Asia.

Four review sessions were conducted, chaired by NARS colleagues Dr. Indu Sharma, Dr. Mondal, Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh and Dr. S.P. Khatiwada. Three sessions were used to present review reports and work plans from the 10 research centers, while two other sessions discussed progress in physiology, spot blotch and strengthening linkage of wheat breeding with seed dissemination and capacity building in South Asia. A major discussion was held to devise strategies to strengthen research to handle future threats to wheat such as yellow rust, early and late heat stress, water scarcity and to enable environment for fast track release of varieties so that new seed can reach to farmers as soon as possible.

Arun Joshi also highlighted major achievements in CSISA wheat breeding through very able collaboration by national centres in South Asia. He emphasized that breeding for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance gained momentum through CSISA by developing varieties with faster grain filling and flexibility to adapt to a range of sowing dates. Not only these new varieties were developed, improved networking with public and private sector seed hubs enabled fast track inclusion of these varieties in seed dissemination chain. The increase germplasm flow from CIMMYT, Mexico enriched Indian gene bank with a large reservoir of diverse set of genotypes for current and future used. The continued inclusion of resistance to Ug99 and other rusts in wheat lines kept diseases at bay and safeguarded farmers. There is increased use of physiological tools for heat and drought tolerance and stronger links were established between breeders, seed producers and farmers. Another significant achievement was strengthened capacity building in the region.

A talk on wheat research as Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) was delivered by Uttam Kumar, CIMMYT. Likewise progress on CRP project on spot blotch was presented by Shree Pandey and Ramesh Chand, India. A talk on wheat breeding at Bhutan was presented by Sangay Tshewang. He was happy to inform that through this networking and collaboration with CIMMYT, Bhutan was able to release three new wheat varieties after a gap of 20 years.

On the 2nd day, a visit to IIWBR was organized. Dr. Indu Sharma and her team of scientists led by Dr. Ravish Chatrath facilitated this visit. The participants were taken to different laboratories and current research activities were explained. The participants from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan expressed desire for increased exchange visits among research institutions of countries in south Asia.

The review meeting enabled CSISA wheat researchers to measure their achievements compared to the challenges being encountered and enabled an environment to discuss future strategies to augment research activities better tuned to future targets in the region. The participants were of the view that strong linkage and coordination between the national research program, the CIMMYT team and other stakeholders especially those in seed business is needed to achieve comprehensive progress towards increasing food availability and better livelihood of masses.

Changing the pace of maize breeding in Africa through doubled-haploid technology

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Participants being taken through the doubled-haploid breeding process by the DH Facility Manager, Sotero Bumagat (extreme right). B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Participants being taken through the doubled-haploid breeding process by the DH Facility Manager, Sotero Bumagat (extreme right). B. Wawa/CIMMYT

Two words – accelerated breeding – are synonymous to doubled-haploid (DH) based maize breeding. This was the core message shared with 56 maize breeders from 10 African countries who recently participated in a two-day training workshop organized by CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program (GMP) in Nairobi, Kenya, from September 23–24, 2015. The breeders benefited from the knowledge and experience of resource persons from public and private institutions in France, Germany and USA who have dedicated years of research on the DH technology that is changing the pace of maize breeding.

The resource persons for the training workshop included Tim Cupka (AgReliant Genetics, USA), Thomas Lubberstedt (Iowa State University, USA), Wolfgang Schipprack (University of Hohenheim, Germany), Dominic Marc and Regis Brassart (Limagrain, France), and CIMMYT’s B.M. Prasanna, Vijay Chaikam, Yoseph Beyene and Sotero Bumagat.

The DH technology shortens the breeding cycle significantly by developing 100 percent homozygous lines within 2–3 seasons compared to conventional breeding that takes at least 7–8 seasons to develop inbred lines with 98–99 percent homozygosity. While tracing the evolution of DH technology in maize, B.M Prasanna, Director of both GMP and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE remarked, “This is a significant reduction of time, labor and important resources. There is a great opportunity for maize breeders in Africa to modernize the breeding programs using DH technology, coupled with molecular markers. It is particularly important to enhance genetic gains while effectively dealing with an array of stresses crippling maize production in sub-Saharan Africa.”

While commercial seed industries across the world have benefited significantly from this technology, the uptake among the institutions of the national agricultural research systems (NARS) and the small- and medium-scale enterprise (SME) seed companies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is significantly low. This is due to various reasons, particularly lack of awareness about the power of DH technology.

To address this challenge, CIMMYT in partnership with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) established the maize DH facility – the first of its kind in SSA – at the Kiboko Maize Research Station in Kenya in September 2013. The facility offers DH development service to NARS and SME seed companies – with financial support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Establishing and operating such a facility requires significant technical know-how and is not an easy task,” said Prasanna. “It is more practical for our NARS and SME seed company partners to utilize the facility at Kiboko to develop DH lines with diverse genetic backgrounds through the DH development service offered by CIMMYT, make effective selections, and use well-selected DH lines in hybrid breeding programs. The purpose of the training workshop is to make breeders aware of the tremendous opportunities to integrate DH lines in maize breeding programs”.

Sure-footed progress – Africa’s maize breeding on the right path

It is estimated that about 70 to 80 percent of new maize hybrids being produced currently by major seed companies in the world, especially in North America and Europe, contain one or more doubled-haploid lines, with DH-based maize hybrids covering about 40 to 50 million hectares worldwide.

Tim Cupka, a highly experienced maize breeder at AgReliant Genetics, USA, emphasized that DH technology has changed the face of maize breeding in his organization. “The developed world is intensively practicing DH-based maize breeding. There is so much value that can be created through this technology not just for public and private maize breeding programs and seed companies in Africa, but ultimately for the farmers,” noted Tim.

For farmers and breeders, the greatest value is that DH technology reduces the amount of time (by one-third) it takes to create new commercial hybrids. “Instead of taking 12 years to develop a superior hybrid, we are now developing new hybrids within 6 to 7 years, which means we can get superior genetics to the farmers much faster than ever before! This is key to strengthening the livelihood of millions of farmers across the world. That is our success as breeders,” Tim concluded.

GMP in Africa has effectively integrated DH and molecular marker technologies in its product development pipeline. More than 92,000 DH lines have been developed so far from CIMMYT bi-parental populations at the DH facilities at Kiboko and Agua Fria, Mexico. In addition, significant contributions have been made over the last few years by Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer in developing DH lines in CIMMYT’s Africa-adapted maize genetic backgrounds through the Water Efficient Maize for Africa and Improved Maize for African Soils projects. “CIMMYT has so far released 32 DH-based maize hybrids in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa between 2012 and 2015.These hybrids showed excellent performance under optimum, drought and low-nitrogen stress conditions,” reported Yoseph Beyene, a CIMMYT Maize Breeder based at Nairobi, Kenya. He also added that the five DH lines have been recently identified for release as CIMMYT maize lines.

In addition, more than 5,000 DH lines have been screened by CIMMYT for maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease under artificial inoculation at the MLN Screening Facility at Naivasha, Kenya; promising lines have been identified offering tolerance to the disease. Therefore, DH technology can be a powerful tool to accelerate development of MLN-tolerant maize hybrids for sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants at the workshop got an opportunity to visit the DH facility at Kiboko in Makueni County, Kenya, where they saw the DH breeding process. The tour was facilitated by Sotero Bumagat, Maize DH Facility Manager, CIMMYT–Kenya. “This is a new experience and a very enriching one,” remarked Lwanga Kasozi from the Agricultural Research Institute in Tanzania. “I have seen and understood DH-based breeding both in theory as well as practice. It is my desire to see our organization in Tanzania embrace this technology. I will play my part to share this experience and knowledge.”.

Participants of the doubled-haploid maize breeding workshop. B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Participants of the doubled-haploid maize breeding workshop. B. Wawa/CIMMYT

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), also nominated its scientists to participate in the training workshop. In addition, AGRA sponsored the participation of nine maize breeders from different NARS institutions in SSA to participate in the workshop.