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research: Genetic resources

CIMMYT to lead global MAIZE alliance as CGIAR enters fifth decade

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manosA new era began this week with the launch of the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, a US$170 million global alliance to expand and accelerate research into maize, on 06 July 2011. The announcement was made during a celebration of the CGIAR’s 40th birthday, held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, marking a new direction for the CGIAR and demonstrating that after four remarkable decades it remains vigorous and committed to addressing emerging challenges.

“This program aims to double the productivity of maize farms, while also making those farms more resilient to climate change and reducing the amount of land used for growing the crop,” said Carlos Perez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair. “As a result, farmers’ incomes are expected to rise and their livelihood opportunities to increase, contributing to rural poverty reduction in developing countries.” Maize is the preferred staple food source for more than 900 million people, including one third of the world’s malnourished children. The program’s first target group is smallholder farmers, among the most vulnerable people in developing countries, particularly those who live in stress-prone environments and have poor market access. Forty million smallholder farm family members are expected to see direct benefits by 2020 and 175 million by 2030.

The program will be implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA), together with over 350 public and private partners worldwide. CIMMYT studies show that the demand for maize in the developing world is expected to double between now and 2050. Meanwhile, agriculture is under pressure from population growth, climate change, and natural resource degradation. Future expansion of maize area will come at the cost of crop diversity, forests, and erodible hill slopes. Fertilizer, water, and labor costs are also rising.

The challenge for MAIZE therefore is to find sustainable ways to grow significantly more maize on less land than ever before. The program is based on nine strategic initiatives, reflecting priorities for maize research. These are:

  • Socioeconomics and policies for maize futures
  • Sustainable intensification and income opportunities for the poor
  • Smallholder precision agriculture
  • Stress tolerant maize for the poorest
  • Towards doubling maize productivity
  • Integrated postharvest management
  • Nutritious maize [bio-fortified varieties]
  • Seeds of discovery [mobilizing maize genetic diversity]
  • New tools and methods for NARS and SMEs

All the strategic initiatives also include capacity building to empower a new generation of women and men scientists. The program is expected to provide enough maize to meet the annual food demands of an additional 135 million consumers by 2020 and 600 million by 2030.

“This is a highly ambitious project to address world hunger,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General. “It will take an enormous amount of work and cooperation between public and private sector institutions to meet the goals. The global challenges facing mankind are immediate and chronic; the time to act is now. Millions of lives depend on our ability to develop sustainable solutions to feed more people with fewer resources than ever before.”

For more information, see the proposal document at: http://staging.cimmyt.org/en/what-we-do/ maize-and-wheat-cgiar-programs

Willkommen, Herr BundesprÀsident!

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The long-standing and fruitful relationship between Germany and CIMMYT received a boost on 01 May 2011 when, as part of an official tour of Latin America, the President of the Republic of Germany, Christian Wulff, visited CIMMYT headquarters to learn more of the center’s work and discuss strengthened partnerships. President Wulff was accompanied by his wife, Bettina, and nearly 60 distinguished guests including German vice ministers and members of parliament, embassy personnel, and business and media representatives. Greeting the guests were CIMMYT Director General Tom Lumpkin and several of the center’s German and German-speaking staff.

After touring the main exhibition hall showcasing Dr. Norman Borlaug’s achievements and contributions to agricultural development, including his Nobel Prize of 1970 and the Aztec Eagle of the same year from Mexico, the entourage attended a presentation by Hans-Joachim Braun, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program. The talk addressed food security and related constraints—climate change, the rising demand for grains, the increasing scarcity of resources like land, water, and fertilizer—as well as CIMMYT’s work in the developing world and its relationship with Germany, a long-term and significant supporter of the center. To name just a few examples, German contributions have funded work on stress tolerant maize for Africa, a regional wheat network for Central Asia, and wheat pathology research for South Asia. German staff at CIMMYT and our partnerships with German universities and institutes have been of enormous¡ value in getting improved technology to farmers.

The whirlwind tour then moved to the seed bank, with exhibitions of maize and wheat genetic resources outside and a visit inside to the upper seed storage chamber. In an impromptu closing statement, President Wulff thanked CIMMYT and described his positive impression of the visit and Braun’s presentation, which he called one of the clearest and most fact-based he had ever heard. Reports on the visit in the German media have referred to CIMMYT as a “highly-regarded research center.In addition to Lumpkin and Braun, CIMMYT staff interacting with the guests included Marianne BĂ€nziger, deputy director general, research and partnerships; Scott Ferguson, deputy director general, corporate services; Peter Wenzl, head of the crops research informatics lab; Susanne Dreisigacker, molecular biologist and head of marker applications in wheat; GIS expert Kai Sonder; agricultural economist Tina Beuchelt; Marc Rojas, coordinator of the International Strategy for Maize Improvement; and Petr Kosina, assisting with the event management.

Healthy seed: key to CIMMYT germplasm exchange

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NoemiSeed is the lifeblood of CIMMYT’s work. Unfettered shipments, both incoming and outgoing, depend on CIMMYT and partners’ ability to keep seed clean from pathogens and to properly document seed health. To promote protocol consistency among Mexican seed technicians, a weeklong seed-health workshop was held during 29 November-03 December 2010 at CIMMYT-El Batán.

Monica Mezzalama, head of CIMMYT’s seed health laboratory, led the course, which 11 technicians from State Committees of Plant Health, and INIFAP attended. The participants, which came from 10 Mexican states, spent the majority of the course inside the El Batán seed health laboratory exploring various detection methods of seed borne fungi, bacteria, and viruses affecting maize and wheat. In the long-run, these methods will help the technicians ensure seed viability and health in their own laboratories.

GrupoOn Tuesday, 30 November, the participants took a break from the lab to enjoy the fresh air of the TlaltizapĂĄn station where they learned field inspection and sample collection procedures. The course focused on diseases prevalent in Mexico and included presentations from Monica Mezzalama as well as two guest lecturers, Ana MarĂ­a HernĂĄndez, plant pathologist, and Gustavo Mora, plant disease epidemiologist, both professors from the Colegio de Postgraduados, Texcoco, Mexico. The workshop was the first of its kind, and due to resounding positive feedback, it is hoped to be continued annually. Thanks to all that made the course possible, a special thanks to NoemĂ­ Valencia, seed health laboratory supervisor; Gabriela JuĂĄrez, research assistant; Laura RodrĂ­guez, training office assistant; and Óscar Bañuelos, TlatizapĂĄn station superintendent.

India and CIMMYT agree to establish new research institute for South Asia

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256EL BATAN, 06 September 2010—On a historic day for CIMMYT, Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin and Dr. S Ayyappan, Director General of  the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),  signed a joint declaration of intent in the presence of H.E. Mr. Sharad Pawar, Honorable Minister of Agriculture of India, to establish the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). Located in India but serving the entire region, BISA will constitute a state-of-the-art, international agricultural research and development organization that applies cutting-edge technologies to improve cropping systems and help farmers address current and emerging challenges to food security such as climate change, natural resource scarcities, and rising market demand. According to the declaration, the new institute commemorates the “
fond and respectful memory of the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, and his contribution to the Green Revolution of India and of South Asia.”

“BISA will support and pursue advanced research, but our desire is ultimately that the research reach farmers’ fields,” said Minister Pawar. “It has to
if it is going to be in the name of Dr. Borlaug.”

CIMMYT put its best face forward to greet the Minister and a distinguished delegation that included Mr. Ajit Pawar, Minister for Energy and Water Resources, Government of Maharashtra; Mr. Jayant Patil, Minister for Rural Development, Government of Maharashtra; Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); Mr. Dinesh Kumar Jain, Ambassador of India to Mexico; Mr. Mukesh Khullar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Mr. Vimlendra Sharan, Private Secretary to Honorable Agriculture Minister of India; and Mr. Dinkar Asthana, Counsellor, Embassy of India to Mexico.

In the El Batån reception lobby, the visitors viewed a recently-built display for prominent awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize given to Dr. Borlaug in 1970 and the 2000 World Food Prize shared by retired CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist Surinder K. Vasal and former CIMMYT Biochemist Evangelina Villegas.

They later toured the Wellhausen-Anderson Crop Genetic Resources Center and maize, wheat, and conservation agriculture demonstration plots.

One of the day’s highlights was the planting of an India-CIMMYT friendship tree in the pine grove near the memorial tree of Dr. Borlaug. The day closed with a gala dinner and ceremony at a leading Indian restaurant in Mexico City. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, made the first public announcement of BISA in his Independence Day address on 15 August 2010.

“This is a major juncture for CIMMYT, and we are extremely grateful for the interest and support of the Indian government in this new endeavor,” said Lumpkin.

A media release and other materials describing BISA, including a link to the complete text of Dr. Singh’s address, are available at staging.cimmyt.org.

Day 2 of the 2010 technical workshop of Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in St. Petersburg

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Second day of the 2010 Technical workshop started with Session 4 on ‘Molecular Studies of Rust Pathogens chaired by Solomon Assefa (DG of Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research):

  • Sophien Kamoun (The Sanisbury Laboratory, John Innes Center, UK) focused on Exploiting Pathogen Effectors in Breeding and Deployment of Disease Resistance (N/A)
  • ‘How sweet is Parasitic Life?’ asked Ralf Voegele (Hohenheim University, Germany) in his presentation describing nutrient uptake in rust fungi
  • One of few women scientists in the workshop, Cristina Cuomo (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA), presented Comparative Genomics of Rust Fungi

To the session 5 on ‘Pathogen Evolution’ chaired by M. Yaqub Mujahid (National Agricultural Research Center, Pakistan) included:

4655266659_925d84290e_bDuring the special luncheon ‘Jeanie Borlaug Laube’s Women in Triticum Award’ was presented to the first 5 awardees – Hale Ann Tufan (Turkey); Jemanesh Kifetew Haile (Ethiopia); Esraa Alwan (ICARDA), Jessica Rutkoski (USA) and Maricelis Acevedo (USA), followed by special presentation by Eija Pehu (The World Bank) on ‘Gender equity in agricultural research and extension’

Thomas Lumpkin (DG of CIMMYT, Mexico) chaired the session 6 focused on ‘Advancing Rust Resistance Breeding: Germplasm and Tools’:

IMG_2048-arrangedThe last session (7) was panel discussion on ‘Delivering  Rust Resistant Wheat to Farmers’ chaired by Arun Joshi (CIMMYT, Nepal). Panelists included Peter Njau (KARI, Kenya), Girma Bedada (EIAR, Ethiopia), Mahmood Osmanzai (CIMMYT, Afghanistan) and M. Azab (ARC, Egypt).

The 2010 BGRI technical workshop was closed by pithy and acerbic summarizing presentation of Bob McIntosh (PBI, Uni of Sydney, Australia)

Comprehensive crop portal presentation

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CIMMYT staff got a sneak peak at the new crop resource portal GENESYS on Tuesday 13 April 2010. Mohamed Fawzy Farag Nawar from Bioversity International demonstrated how easy it is to use the new portal and explained why Bioversity, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture have teamed up for this project.

“The number one reason we created this system is because, until now, other systems didn’t have complete characterization and trait data,” Nawar said. “GENESYS will make the huge amount of currently existing work and date available to the public.”

GENESYS is built upon previous crop data systems, such as the CGIAR’s SINGER. The idea is to create a comprehensive portal where users can easily find accessions using improved search tools that incorporate characterization and evaluation data along with environmental data from the accession’s collection point. The portal contains 22 crops and 2 million accessions. For more information visit: http://www.genesys-pgr.org/.

Biotechnology: Potential boon for smallholder farmers, if prioritized

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Though not a magic bullet “cure all,” agricultural biotechnologies can and should be used in developing countries to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, but farmers themselves need to be involved in decision making, according to participants at an international technical conference on agricultural biotechnologies last week.

During 01-04 March 2010, roughly 300 people from nearly 70 countries attended the International Technical Conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10), organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and held in Guadalajara, Mexico. Attendees included representatives from international organizations, civil society, national governments, and national agricultural research programs. Their goal in gathering was to assess the progress of biotechnologies across various agricultural sectors—crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries, and agro-industries—and to generate a forward-looking consensus on ways that biotechnologies can assist smallholder famers in developing countries.

Investment in and improvement of agriculture is vital for the more than one billion people who go to bed hungry each night, as well as for many farming families who survive on only a few dollars a day. Adoption of effective and cost-efficient agricultural biotechnologies is one way to address the food demands of a rapidly expanding and more affluent world population, while also confronting the challenges of increasing land degradation and climate variability.

“Two billion people live on small farms, about one-third of our population,” said Rodney Cooke, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), while addressing the general session. “Investment in agriculture is two-anda- half-to-three times more effective in increasing the income of the poor than non-agricultural investments.”

The FAO predicts that by 2050 there will be a 70% increase in food demand, requiring at least 170 million more acres of cropland. Meeting this demand looks difficult, because crop yields have slowed from an annual increase of 3-6% to only 1-2%, in the last decade.

Agricultural biotechnologies can sustainably improve food security and help smallholder farmers escape poverty. However, many of these advanced technologies are underutilized in developing countries, where a large portion of smallholder farmers live. Overcoming this will require increased investments, international cooperation, effective national policies and regulatory frameworks, and collaboration with farmers and the various value-chain actors, said ABDC-10 participants. Several farmers and farmer representatives in attendance repeatedly stressed the importance of bottom-up development in applying biotechnology.

During the conference, participants divided their time between plenary sessions in the morning and small group meetings in the afternoon. Topics included region and sector-specific issues, as well as multidisciplinary topics such as empowering public participation in decision making; prioritizing the role of the farmer; and development of genomic resources. All participants discussed successes and failures in biotechnology projects in developing countries. The CGIAR was responsible for leading several group sessions; participating CG members included the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), CIMMYT, and the Generation Challenge Program (CGP).

CIMMYT director general Tom Lumpkin addressed the plenary session in a presentation on the use of biotechnology in the CGIAR. Tom Payne, head of CIMMYT’s wheat germplasm bank, was a panel member for a group session on the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources. Jean-Marcel Ribaut, Carmen de Vicente, and Rajeev Varshney (ICRISAT) of the GCP also presented on accessing genetic resources, genomic applications, and molecular breeding in developing countries, respectively.

“To meet the challenges of increased food demand in a sustainable way, biotechnologies are essential for the future,” Lumpkin said, stressing as well that such technologies need to show tangible results and the efficient use of time and money.

Payne explained that the CGIAR has 11 gene banks conserving over 530,000 samples of wild and domesticated crops in public trust, but that these genetic resources are not always accessible or useful to breeders. “There are so many accessions but so little information,” he said, adding that the CGIAR is collaborating on a new portal to improve access to the genetic resources (www.global-alis.org).

Additionally, CIMMYT was represented at the ABDC-10’s knowledge share fair, providing publications and information on the center’s biotechnology work. Highlighted projects included rust resistance wheat, nitrogen use efficient maize for African soils, water-efficient maize for Africa, and the conservation and use of maize and wheat genetic resources.

A new face at CRIL

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Peter Wenzl joins CIMMYT as the new manager of the Crop Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL), though part of his time will be dedicated to a new initiative called Seeds of Discovery.

Wenzl will primarily focus on facilitating user interaction with the Global Maize and Wheat Programs, the Genetic Resources Center, the Generation Challenge Program, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He will also oversee the strengthening of CRIL as CIMMYT increases its engagement in molecular breeding and embarks on ambitious new initiatives. His work will include crafting a CIMMYT-wide strategy for informatics, and identifying appropriate CRIL priorities that are within current staff and funding means. Wenzl will also strengthen links with other data and knowledge management units in CIMMYT, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the CIMMYT website team.

As CRIL manager, Wenzl will work with Guy Davenport who continues to oversee the Crops Informatics and Computational Biology team, José Crossa who oversees the Biometrics and Statistics team, and Jiankang Wang who oversees Simulation and Modeling.

Ravi Singh receives prestigious prize

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The University of Minnesota recently announced CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh as the recipient of its 2010 E.C. Stakman Award. Established in 1955 by plant pathologist E.C. Stakman, a pioneer in combating wheat diseases, the award is given to individuals for outstanding achievements in plant pathology. Stakman was also a former professor of Norman Borlaug.

“I feel extremely honored and humbled to receive this highly prestigious award,” Singh said. “Dr. Stakman was a mentor to Dr. Borlaug and is largely responsible for sending him to Mexico in 1944. You wonder whether Dr. Stakman knew or even guessed that this decision was going to change history and save millions of lives.”

Singh, who has been with CIMMYT for over 25 years, is world-renowned for his efforts to control wheat rusts and has trained over 400 young scientists. With this award he joins a long list of notable scientists, including I. A. Watson, who was dean of Sydney University’s College of Agriculture and a former pupil of Stakman himself, and 2007’s recipient, the late Bent Skovmand, former head of wheat genetic resources at CIMMYT, director of the Nordic Gene Bank, and key player in the development of the Svalbard International Seed Bank. Congratulations, Ravi!

Wheat: our daily bread

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El BatĂĄn hosted two wheat events in December 2009 to support a collaborative research agreement between the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) and CIMMYT, which was signed in October 2009. Both events were coordinated by Roberto J. Peña, head of wheat grain quality, Global Wheat Program, and Petr Kosina, manager, Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building.  The first event, a workshop titled “Main stakeholders in the wheat production, marketing, and processing chain,” took place on 03-04 December and attracted nearly 40 experts from the three wheat sectors (production, marketing, and processing). The goals of the workshop were to 1) identify common problems  faced by farmers, industrialists, and end users; 2) set priorities for the three sectors; and 3) make commitments to solve the identified problems.

Overall, they agreed that there is poor communication among the different sectors of the wheat chain and that the CIMMYT-hosted workshop was a step toward fixing this problem. Other major issues discussed included: biotic stresses, diseases, and rusts; the availability of appropriate varieties; adequate technology packages for high yield and quality; management practices; training for scientists and for farmers; and the need for better communication between farmers-producers-industry. Eduardo Villaseñor Mir, coordinator of  Small Grain Cereals from Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP), said it was positive that the workshop brought multiple sectors together. “In the past, the presence of the industry has been sporadic and poorly attended. Fortunately, in this forum representatives of the main Mexican industries were present,” he said. “For the first time we were able to know what the industry really thinks of needs. A conclusion from the forum was that the wheat produced locally is perfectly useful for diverse industrial processes.”

This was one of the first times that farmers and industrialists have discussed as equals issues related to wheat. At the end of the workshop, all agreed that coordinated and responsible teamwork is the best way to achieve a successful wheat chain. Discussion outcomes will be   published in a proceedings, accompanied by audiovisual resources, and made available to participants, SAGARPA, and other institutions and agencies.

The following week, from 07-10 December 2009, 17 wheat breeders and agronomists discussed wheat quality   in a course organized by Peña that covered the genetic, chemical, and biochemical bases of wheat quality, along with laboratory demonstrations of the   necessary tools and approaches to select for quality in a breeding program. The course also highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary and coordinated breeding work for high yields, disease resistance, and good quality.

Wheat genebank safety duplications shipments

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One of the wheat germplasm bank’s activities is to send duplicates of its accessions to other banks for safekeeping to avoid losing its seed collections in case of man-made or natural disasters.

CIMMYT currently has duplicates of its germplasm collection in three locations: the USDA’s National Plant Genetic Resources Preservation Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), a CGIAR center located in Syria; and the recently constructed Svalbard Global Seed Vault, in Norway.

The last seed shipment this year, containing 76,756 accessions, was sent on 08 December to Fort Collins. In February, 20,769 accessions from the wheat collection were sent to Svalbard, and there are currently 196 boxes containing 76,311 accessions ready to be shipped to ICARDA in January 2010.

There’s no doubt 2009 was a very busy year for the people who work in the wheat germplasm bank; besides their daily operations, they also helped prepare the duplicate shipments. The supervisors in this area recognize the efforts made by each of its team members.

They are also grateful to staff in the seed distribution unit of International Nurseries and the Seed Health Laboratory for their help with the documentation and logistics of the shipments.

Wheat physiology course

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A select group of eight scientists from China and India traveled to Mexico for a two-week wheat course that ran from 23 November until 04 December. Led by Matthew Reynolds, CIMMYT wheat physiologist, the course focused on phenotyping for physiological trait-based breeding and gene discovery. The first week was held at El BatĂĄn and focused on the theoretical aspects of physiology in breeding. For the second week, participants traveled to TlaltizapĂĄn to practice practical application. Procedures covered included biomass and root sampling; yield component estimation; mega-environment breeding; and the measurement of canopy temperature.

The course was funded by the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) and is a build-up for GCP Phase II, which involves the application and delivery of genetic diversity and trait information (gathered during Phase I). In Phase II, GCP will devote half of its resources to seven main priorities, one of which is to increase drought tolerance for wheat in China and India.

Seed Warriors – film

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CIMMYT’s deputy director general for reserarch and partnerships, Marianne Bašnziger, will be featured in the new documentary film Seed Warriors: http://seedwarriors.org

In the remote Norwegian town of Longyearbyen, just 1000 kilometres from the North Pole, politicians from around the world came to celebrate the opening of the world’s first global seed bank. After years of difficult negotiations and searching for the right spot, this was deemed to be the safest place on earth. Eventually, 4.5 million seed samples will be stored in this »Doomsday Vault« and ensure the continued existence of biodiversity.

But is the dream of global food security achievable? By 2050 temperatures worldwide are expected to rise by at least 2 degrees. This will result in a 30 per cent drop in production of food crops. By this time global food demand will have doubled. How will we feed the world?

In SEED WARRIORS we hear from the scientists behind this ambitious project and examine the reality of the fight against hunger.

In Kenya, where drought is a recurring problem, we meet Zachary Muthamia, the director of the National Seed Bank, who is using the limited resources available to him to preserve his country’s existing biodiversity and send copies of Kenya’s unique plant heritage to Norway before his energy eating generators die for good. And we meet Marianne Ba¹nziger, one of the world’s leading experts on maize. She’s using the same biodiversity to develop non-genetically modified seeds that yield 20 to 30 percent more than existing seeds and thrive in conditions of drought.
But time is running out.

Teosinte monitoring trip

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diploperennisAA CIMMYT team donned their expedition gear in November 2009 and set off to collect samples of teosinte, a wild relative of maize that is disappearing. The team obtained a special permit from the Mexican Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to monitor and gather annual teosinte samples from known locations in the Balsa river regions of Guerrero and MichoacĂĄn and the central plateau regions of Jalisco and Guanajuato.

The 12-person team divided into three groups and visited nearly 50 sites total. Victor Chavez and Marcial Rivas of the maize germplasm bank each led a team of five; Suketoshi Taba, head of the maize germplasm bank, and David Ellis of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) made up the third group. The groups primarily explored areas had been identified by Jesus Sanchez of the University of Guadalajara as teosinte sites. In addition, members asked local farmers for assistance locating the plants, resulting in the discovery of several new annual teosinte locations.

During their exploration, scientists stumbled upon what they believe to be the perennial teosinte Zea diploperennis near Uruapan, MichoacĂĄn. Samples were taken for further analysis. As of now, the only known natural population of this plant is in the Sierra de ManantlĂĄn Biosphere Reserve, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

Bent Skovmand: the viking in the wheat field

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BentSkovOn 02 December 2009, a reception was held in New York City for a recently published book based on the life of the late Bent Skovmand, former head of CIMMYT wheat genetic resources. The Viking in the Wheat Field, written by Susan Dworkin, tells a hidden but heroic story of scientists—many associated with CIMMYT—for whom increasing the world’s food supply has been nothing less than a life’s calling. It is a story of passion, commitment, and scientific discovery. The reception was attended by about 50 people, including Bent’s wife Eugenia and daughter Astrid, Tom Payne, head of genetic wheat resources at CIMMYT, and friends of CIMMYT Cal Qualset and Bob Goodman.