Seed the World Group hosted a webinar to find a common ground between public and private breeding programs in North America and some possible paths forward. Fernando Gonzalez, a retired plant breeder from CIMMYT mentioned a noticeable uptick in the involvement of the private sector in breeding programs in Mexico.
Learn more about the primary goals underlying public and private breeding efforts.
Erratic climate patterns, global and regional conflicts, biodiversity degradation, and insufficient funding for agricultural research pose a serious risk to meeting global food production goals by mid-century, according to Cary Fowler, the U.S. special envoy for food security.âŻÂ
The world must produce 50-60% more food by 2050 to nourish a growing population. Yet global crop yields are projected to drop between 3-12% over the same period. Wheat yields in Africa and South Asia, two regions with the fastest growing and youngest populations, are expected to decline by 15% due to global warming. Food systems have also been disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, raising food and fertilizer prices, and exacerbating regional instability. âŻÂ
Fowler cites inadequate government funding for plant breeding programs as a contributor to an ineffective response to introducing improved climate-adaptable staple crops. âWith the state of current affairs, we are on our way to failing to feed the world by centuryâs end,â said Fowler.âŻÂ
Science and Innovation for a Food and Nutrition Secure World: CIMMYTâs 2030 StrategyÂ
Global peace and development efforts will demand a cross-sector and coordinated response. Through its 2030 Strategy, CIMMYT has laid out a robust series of investments in crop systems innovation, partnership, and sustainable development, to advance more resilient food systems. The 2030 Strategy consolidates CIMMYTâs target areas through three pillars: Discovery, SystemDev, and Inc. These pillars focus on research and innovation, systems approach, and strong partnerships and advocacy efforts with the private and government sectors to address an emerging food crisis.Â
âOur 2030 Strategy places research, innovation and partnership at the center of facing the challenges of the 21st century to solve tomorrowâs problems todayâfor greater food security and the prosperity of smallholder farmers. As we implement work plans, CIMMYT is proud of the achievements it has seen through projects in sub-Saharan Africa, our contribution to influential policy reports, and continued praise for our agri-development initiatives in Latin America. All these feats will help us deliver on and expand our efforts to reach our 2030 vision,â said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general. Â
CIMMYT remains prominent in developing sustainable solutions for farmers and policy actors Â
CIMMYT has achieved important progress in Eastern and Southern Africa. Projects such as the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub have brought together regional seed partners, government agencies, and CGIAR Research Centers, to reduce fertilizer prices, boost resilience to drought and pests, and facilitate market access for smallholders. Â
In the recent SPG Coalition report, CIMMYT featured prominently as a leading organization in climate-smart agriculture, nutrient-use efficiency, and pest and fertilizer management. This report informs researchers, non-governmental organizations and private sector partners in agrifood and climate policy development. Â
MasAgro, a research-for-development initiative, has received praise by international organizations and governments as an exemplary program for sustainable development in Latin America. Over 500,000 farmers in Mexico have adopted hardy maize or wheat varieties and resource-conserving agricultural practices. To maximize on the experience of MasAgro, CIMMYT has partnered with a CGIAR initiative: AgriLAC Resiliente. This initiative aims to bolster the competitiveness and sustainability of agrifood systems to respond to forced migrations in Central and South America which are worsened by regional food insecurity and conflict. Â
Science and innovation powered by partnership can deliver a food secure world Â
Climate change undoubtedly threatens global peace and agrifood systems. With over 130 countries depending on food imports, todayâs hyper-connected world demands collaborative partnership across all sectors to build up shockproof food systems. Through a grassroots approach to research and innovation, the CIMMYT 2030 Strategy is built upon decades of applied science which has impacted communities around the world, to continue influencing policy, pioneering innovations, and advocating for the development of a food secure future. Â
Women play a critical role in the future of food security. Female farmers face a significant disadvantage before they ever plow a field or sow a seed. Farming is a challenging profession, and it is even more challenging for women when they perform these functions whilst facing numerous constraints.
Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan, communications officer, showcases how fodder chopper technology is improving the lives of women farmers in rural Bangladesh.
Read more.
Millions of rural Indians, mostly farmers, are at the mercy of changing weather and climate change. Rising temperature and heat stress, unpredictable rainfall patterns, increasing drought-like situations, soil erosion and depleting water tables are leading to poorer yields and reduced income for farmers. While the agricultural sector and farmers are most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, it is also one of the sectors significantly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, contributing about 14% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
Good agronomy and soil management through conservation agriculture practices such as no-till farming, crop rotation, and in-situ crop harvest residue management are resource efficient and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The intensification of these conservation agriculture practices by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)âa regional project led by CIMMYT to sustainably enhance cereal crop productivity and improve smallholder farmersâ livelihoods in Bangladesh, India, and Nepalâand partners is helping smallholder farmers to improve their yield and income with less input costs.
Climate smart agriculture
Over 70% of Bihar’s population is engaged in agriculture production, with wheat and rice as the two major crops grown in the state. Bordering Uttar Pradesh, Buxar, is one of the many rural districts in Bihar, with over 108,000 hectares of land used for agriculture. The area is plain, fertile and has good irrigation facilities. The rice-wheat cropping system forms the dominant practice here, and pulses and other non-cereal crops are grown additionally during winters.
CSISA began promoting zero tillage in wheat cultivation in the area in 2010. Along with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), and local agriculture departments, awareness and frontline demonstrations on different best management practices were conducted to inform farmers of alternative approaches to cultivating wheat and rice sustainably. Farmers were used to conventional farming methods, with more input costs and labor-intensive practices. In addition, as farmers were growing long-duration rice varieties, they typically sowed wheat in late November to early December, which meant harvesting in late April/May. Harvesting wheat this late caused yield losses due to terminal heat stress at the grain filling stage. With increasingly hot temperatures in recent years due to climate change, yield loss in wheat is imminent.
To help curb these yield losses, researchers and officials began promoting early sowing of wheat through a technology called zero tillage in the region, with sowing recommended before mid-November. As expected, this helped farmers to escape high temperature stress at the time of the dough stage, thus, saving grain shrinkage and yield loss at harvest. Zero tillage technology is a tested method with the potential to increase crop productivity through better time management and reduced input cost.
Deepak Kumar Singh, scientist at CSISA who has been supporting agri-extension efforts in the region for nearly a decade recalled how CSISA and partners were able to get more farmers on board with zero tillage and early wheat sowing:
“The best practices of zero till technology and early wheat sowing were encouraged widely through exposure visits, demonstration trials on progressive farmers’ fields, and providing support from local KVKs for machines and quality seeds, including the promotion of private service providers,” he said.
As more farmers were reached through field events, with visible on-field results during public harvest activities held at demonstration fields by CSISA and KVKs, the region gradually adopted early wheat sowing, zero tillage and direct seeded rice technologies. Currently, in the district, it is estimated that over 40% of wheat cultivation under the rice-wheat system is through zero till, helping farmers obtain better yield and profits.
Rice-wheat cropping systems, resilient and sustainable in increasingly changing climate
Rajapur, a small village in Buxar district, boasts 100% adoption of zero tillage in wheat cropping. We met farmer Rahul Rai whose family has been involved in farming for generations. The family owns over thirty acres of land with agriculture as the primary source of income. His father and his siblings were used to conventional farming methods. The produce from their farm was sufficient for household consumption and with the little extra left, they sold and made some income. On the significance of agriculture and farming for his family, Rahul Rai says, “this farmland has been feeding and supporting 17 members in our joint household.”
When young Rahul Rai got down to work in the family fields in the early 2000s, he was keen to explore possibilities to improve the income generated from the farm. Initially, like many others, he was engaged in intensive farming. According to Rai, “with the input costs rising daily, including scarce labor and soil health deterioration, bringing in some extra income seemed unsustainable”.
He first met researchers from the CSISA project and local KVK scientists in early 2011 in the neighboring village. The team was there to inform farmers about conservation agriculture practices and how to better manage yield and maintain soil health. Rai soon became more curious about the benefits of adopting these new methods over conventional practices. He started with a few acres with zero tillage and began sowing wheat by early November, as recommended by the scientists. In Rabi 2022-23, his wheat fields were sown by November 11, compared to the early years when the sowing date was around December.
With more participation and engagement with CSISA, in 2017, he joined other farmers from the region on an exposure visit to Patna organized by the CSISA-KVK network. In Patna, at the Indian Council of Agri Research – Research Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER), Rai and the visiting farmers were introduced to conservation agri-technologies for rice-wheat and other cropping systems. During the visit, they were informed about crop rotation and diversification, new seed varieties that are resilient and adaptable to changing climates, efficient use of plant protection chemicals and fertilizer and various subsidies from the center/state government to farmers. He later accompanied other progressive farmers on a CSISA-led travel seminar to Gorakhpur in 2017, where he observed acres and acres of wheat fields cultivated through zero tillage and early sowing that had yielded 6-7 tons per hectare (t/ha) on average.
At present, Rai’s family cultivates only zero till wheat in their fields and direct seeded rice on a few acres where irrigation facilities are well established. Rai asserts that until 2014, the wheat yield was about 10-15 quintals per acre (3.5-4 t/ha), rising to around 20-25 quintals per acre on average (5.5 t/ha in 2023) in recent years, thanks to conservation agriculture practices.
Today, the CSISA team has system optimization and demonstration trials on fields owned by Rai’s family where they conduct trials to demonstrate the importance and feasibility of different agri-practices and compare yields at harvest. Rai, a champion farmer who has been involved with CSISA for nearly a decade, said, “I am a collaborator with CSISA now. The data gathered from my fields on the compounding benefits of conservation agriculture technologies is used to promote the best practices and technology adoption across our district and state.”
One village at a time
Presently, Rajapur village has 100% zero tillage adoption. Despite most farmers being smallholders, this level of zero tillage adoption in wheat is impressive. Zero-till-based crop establishment, with appropriate diversification in crops grown, is economically beneficial and improves soil health. All these practices and technologies ensure lower greenhouse emissions and support climate change mitigation efforts. Above all, smallholder farmers are food secure and contributing in their small way to national and global food security.
To scale the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, CSISA and partners are collaborating with farmers in the district/state â many of whom are already 50-80% in zero tillage adoption. The team on the ground are conducting system optimization trials on farmers’ fields to generate data and evidence to support and strengthen policies and assist in integrating market intelligence to support access and availability of technology to all smallholders. Every year steadily, through a smallholder farmer, a village, a district, the effort is to slowly expand the area under conservation agriculture across the state and region and ensure increased system productivity and sustainability of agriculture.
In 2015, the General Assembly of the African Union committed to retiring the hand hoe to museums and pushing for sustainable agricultural mechanization on the African continent.
Today, approximately 75-82% of smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa rely on human or animal draft power for primary tillage operations. Mechanization helps to reduce drudgery, increases productivity, and contributes to food security and increased livelihoods.
What is Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity?
The Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to improve smallholder farmersâ access to farm power and machinery to enhance their land and labor productivity.
This is achieved through three integrated components that stimulate demand for scale-appropriate machinery.
Components:
What are the objectives?
The project sites are located in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland and Masvingo provinces with project presence implemented across 10 districts.
The Mechanization and Extension Activity will directly benefit 150 service providers who in turn will reach up to 22,500 women and men smallholder farmers through provision of mechanized services. In addition, the mechanization activity will identify and build the capacity of 30 rural mechanics and 30 technicians drawn from local farm machinery manufacturing companies and/or small and medium enterprises.
The introduction of mechanisation in agricultural practices has ensured the promotion of technology and conservation of agriculture to stimulate smallholder production and the preservation of climate-proofing farming practices in Zimbabwe.
CIMMYT hosted a meeting, to discuss how the HAFIZ project has set the foundation for harnessing farm mechanization in Zimbabwe, shaping the future of mechanisation policies and interventions in Zimbabwe. As well as future initiatives to improve technology to sustain growth and master the impact of climate change.
Read the story.
How many times have we seen innovative ideas launched into the marketplace, seeming to offer answers to key problems, only to see them fail to make the impact that we expected? In the modern world, having a great idea is not enough to ensure market success. Even when new products, processes or technologies have been carefully and successfully tested in trials and studies, the process of scaling and launching them often leads to disappointing results.
History of the Scaling Scan
“The Scaling Scan is a necessary breakthrough for those connected with meaningful impact. The Scaling Scan is accessible, practical, grounded in the reality, and most importantly, a watershed rethinking the ‘bigger is better’ logic of scaling.”
Rob McLean, CIMMYT scaling coordinator senior program specialist in Policy and Evaluation at IDRC and author of “Scaling Impact”
The Scaling Scan was developed to improve this process and ensure that new innovations have the best chance of success. Traditionally, scaling an innovation has often resulted in âlinearâ thinking, where the project team focuses on the advantages of their new product and relies on these for launch. The Scaling Scan encourages teams to broaden their thinking into areas within the overall private and public sector environments where they may have less experience, but which can greatly help or hinder the success of new ideas. It looks at 10 âingredientsâ to consider, discuss, and develop strategies to address â ranging from end-user financing and business cases to national strategies and regulations.
The first version of the Scaling Scan was launched in 2017 following cooperation between scaling expert Lennart Woltering at CIMMYT and the Public Private Partnership Lab (PPPLab), a research consortium based in the Netherlands. A second, updated version was released the following year. The tool has been implemented through workshops held around the world, with trained moderators to encourage discussion, share ideas and develop expertise. These discussions resulted in five action steps:
More than 1,200 participants attended the workshops that were held in English, Spanish and French. Half of the workshops were held in Africa, with the rest divided between Asia and North and South America, including 11 in Mexico. In 2022, an online version was made available through the launch of a new website, https://scalingscan.org/ with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂŒr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the One CGIAR Mitigate initiative. This has further increased the availability of and access to scaling information.
“The Scaling Scan pushes users to go beyond a narrow focus on scaling an innovation. It is a great tool that enables practical thinking about the multiple pathways to impact at scale and the range of stakeholders that need to be considered in scaling process.”
Kelly Hayley Price, DRC senior evaluation officer
3rd edition Scaling Scan Launch                   Â
On September 14, 2023, the 3rd edition of the Scaling Scan will be launched. With the support of GIZ, FAO, Alliance, and SNV, the tool has been enhanced to include some changes inspired by discussions at the workshops. There is increased consideration of gender roles and how these might affect, or be affected by, a scaling program. Likewise, the impact of climate change is also included. In terms of usability, the Scaling Scan has been adapted to make it more accessible to use without a moderator, meaning that users will be able to benefit even if they have difficulty getting to a workshop. It has also been designed to make it easier to customize the Scaling Scan to fit oneâs own needs, rather than requiring the standard version used in workshops.
To find out more about the Scaling Scan, please visit https://scalingscan.org/, or email e.valencia@cgiar.org for more information.
The Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe (LIPS-Zim) project implemented by CIMMYT and various research institutions in partnership with the government expects to increase incomes and ensure food security for more than 50,000 rural Zimbabweans.
Read the full story.
Latin America is a particularly rich source of neglected crops, which have been replaced by a small number of modern varieties that have come to dominate global commodity markets. However, CIMMYT has utilized various methodologies and developed new initiatives to highlight the value of neglected crops and create market opportunities for smallholders.
What are the crucial practices, to help enhance the contribution to local communities and the preservation of their cultural heritage?
Read the full story.
In plant breeding, efforts to increase the rate of genetic gains and enhance crop resilience to the effects of climate change are often limited by the inaccessibility and costs of phenotyping methods. The recent rapid development of sensors, image-processing technology and data analysis has provided new opportunities for multiple scales phenotyping methods and systems. Among these, satellite imagery may represent one of the best ways to remotely monitor trials and nurseries planted in multiple locations, while standardizing protocols and reducing costs.
This is because relevant data collected as part of crop phenotyping can be generated from satellite images. For instance, the sensors onboard the SkySat satellite constellation of Planet Labs have four spectral bandsâblue, green, red, and infraredâwhich can be used to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is a measure of vegetation and its greenness, and various canopy traits like ground cover, leaf area index and chlorosis. It can also be used to monitor plot establishment and phenological parameters.
The use of satellite-based phenotyping in breeding trials has typically been restricted by low resolution, high cost and long intervals between fly-overs. However, the advent of a new generation of high-resolution satellitesâsuch as the SkySat constellationânow offers multispectral images at a 0.5m resolution with close to daily acquisition attempts on any place on Earth. This could be a game changer in terms of the scale at which yield trials can be conducted, enabling more precise variety placement and thereby increasing genetic diversity across farmerâs fields and reducing the probability of disease epidemics. It could also revolutionize the capacity for research in realistic field conditions, since traits can be measured throughout the cycle in a highly standardized way, over multiple sites at low cost. For example, an image which covers 25 km2 can monitor an entire research station at a cost of about US$300.
To test the suitability of this technology, a team of researchers from CIMMYT set out to evaluate the reliability of SkySat NDVI estimates for maize and wheat breeding plots of different sizes and spacing, as well as testing its capacity for detecting seasonal changes and genotypic differences.
Both their initial findings, recently published in Frontiers in Plant Science, and more recently acquired data, show that the SkySat satellites can be used to monitor plots commonly used in wheat and maize nurseries. While wheat yield plots usually are 1.2m wide, maize plots tend to consist of at least two rows, resulting in a width of 1.5m. Plot length ranges from 2-4m. The authors also discuss on other factors to be considered when extracting and interpreting satellite data from yield trials, such as plot spacing.
Through the successful collection of six satellite images in Central Mexico during the rainy season and parallel monitoring of a maize trial in Zimbabwe, the researchers demonstrate the flexibility of this tool. Beyond the improvement of spatial resolution, the researchers suggest that the next challenge will be the development and fine-tuning of operational procedures that ensure high quality, standardized data, allowing them to harness the benefits of the modern breeding triangle, which calls for the integration of phenomics, enviromics and genomics, to accelerate breeding gains.
Read the full study: Satellite imagery for high-throughput phenotyping in breeding plots
This research was supported by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, and the One CGIAR Initiatives on Digital Innovation, F2R-CWANA, and Accelerated Breeding.
Dilshad Gani is the Financial Analyst in the Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program at CIMMYT in Patna, India.
Harshit Rajan is the GIS Specialist in the SAS program at CIMMYT. His role revolves around geospatial activities, primarily centered around his roles within CSISA and SIS. Within the confines of CIMMYT, his professional pursuits are firmly directed toward two critical areas: Drainage class mapping and Digital Soil Mapping, both of which are augmented by cutting-edge machine-learning techniques.
The inaugural Rwanda National Seed Congress, which took place in Kigali on July 31 and August 1, 2023, marked a significant milestone for the country’s seed industry. Themed âPrivate Sector Strategic Roadmap for the Seed Industry 2030â, the event brought together key stakeholders from the government, public, and private sectors to address challenges and opportunities in the national seed value chain.
Discussions centered around pertinent issues concerning the seed sector in general, with a particular focus on the Rwandan National Seed Strategic Roadmap. This document, which was developed through consultations with various stakeholders, provides a comprehensive plan to steer the industry towards success and sustainable growth.
âEnhancing and managing the seed system is a complex endeavor that requires the collaboration of various stakeholders,â said Chris Ojiewo, CGIAR Seed Equal Initiative lead. âThis is where public-private partnerships come in as a valuable tool for nurturing the growth and expansion of the seed industry.â
During a presentation entitled Public-private Partnership: A Tool for Development and Strengthening of the Seed Sector, Ojiewo highlighted the growing importance of collaboration and partnerships in the current seed system. He emphasized that the processes and elements that shape the seed sector are complex and extensive, making it too much for any one organizationâwhether public or privateâto handle alone.
The way forward
During the congress, several key recommendations were proposed  to increase the potential of the seed industry. The government was encouraged to seek accreditation with major seed industry quality organizations, such as the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) certification schemes, while adopting International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) to establish an improved regulatory environment conducive to industry growth.
The empowerment of the National Seed Association of Rwanda (NSAR) as an advocate and facilitator for the seed industry was also highlighted as an essential measure. The government’s support in enabling the seed association to become increasingly self-regulatory is seen as crucial to the industry’s growth over the next seven years, with private seed industry players developing internal systems to ensure compliance with rules and regulations.
Another key recommendation for increasing sustainable improved seed use in Rwanda was the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), which will play a critical role in promoting the country as a seed production and trade investment destination.
Ojiewo emphasized the importance of such partnerships, noting that âPPPs have the potential to transform the seed industry by leveraging the strengths of different organizations.â He further highlighted that in addressing the challenges of global food security and sustainable development, the way forward becomes clear through collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to advancing agricultural progress through collaborative efforts.
The congress also focused on attracting affordable financing to scale up investments throughout the seed value chain. It was considered essential to involve industry financial players in the development of optimal financing structures to support the expansion of the industry.
As a result of the successful event, plans have already been made for the second National Seed Congress in 2024. Scheduled to take place in Kigali on July 29 and 30, 2024, the next event aims to build on the achievements of the first congress and further drive the growth of Rwanda’s seed industry.
CGIARâs Seed Equal Initiative helps farmers by providing them with better seeds that are nutritious, preferred in the market, and that can withstand climate change. These varieties have been carefully developed to exhibit significant genetic advancements, ultimately benefiting farmers. It also makes sure that women and other marginalized groups have fair access to these seeds.
Scientists from CIMMYT, founded in Mexico in 1966, have pursued decades of participatory research with Mexicoâs smallholder maize farmers to improve their local varieties for traits like yield and insect resistance, while preserving their special grain quality, as well as testing and promoting zero-tillage and other resource-conserving farming practices.
Smallholder farm operations account for more than 80% of all farms worldwide and produce roughly 35% of the worldâs food, according to FAO census data and follow-up studies.
An estimated two-thirds of the Mexicoâs farmers are smallholders, typically working challenging agroecologies scattered across the countryâs mountainous terrain and applying generations-old subsistence practices to grow low-yielding local maize varieties.
Ancient milpa multicropping systems can lift up the present and future
The milpa intercrop â in which maize is grown together with beans, squash, or other vegetable crops â has a millennial history in the Americas and can furnish a vital supply of food and nutrients for marginalized, resource-poor communities.
One hectare of a milpa comprising maize, common beans, and potatoes can provide the annual carbohydrate needs of more than 13 adults, enough protein for nearly 10 adults, and adequate supplies of many vitamins and minerals, according to a CIMMYT-led study in the western highlands of Guatemala, an isolated and impoverished region, reported in Nature Scientific Reports in 2021.
But milpas are typically grown on much smaller areas than a hectare, so households cannot depend on this intercrop alone to satisfy their needs. A solution? Customized milpas that merge farmersâ age-old wisdom and practices with science-based innovation.
An example is planting fruit trees â guava, avocado, mango, peaches, or lime among others â among milpa crops in lines perpendicular to hill slopes. The practice was tested and promoted in the Los Tuxtlas region of the state of Veracruz by Mexicoâs National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) and the Colegio de Postgraduados (ColPos) and has been refined by farmers in other areas through CIMMYT-led innovation networks.
In Los Tuxtlas the practice provided added income and nutrition, dramatically reduced erosion, improved land and water-use efficiency by around 50%, and boosted soil health and fertility.
In the state of Puebla and other parts of South and southwestern Mexico, milpa-fruit tree intercrops have worked well on steep hillsides. In the state of Oaxaca, for example, versions of the practice have notably improved farming by indigenous communities in the Mixe and Mazateca regions, supported by outreach of the Mexican Agency for the Sustainable Development of Hillsides (AMDSL), a partner in a CIMMYT research hub in the region.
Research by AMDSL and CIMMYT on smallholder plots in two Oaxaca municipalities where farmers have been combining milpas with peach and avocado production and conservation agriculture practices for more than a decade found that cropping diversification, together with use of zero tillage and keeping crop residues on the soil rather than removing or burning them, raised total yearly crop outputs by as much as 1.7 tons per hectare and reduced farmersâ risk of catastrophic crop losses due to droughts or other climate extremes.
Blue maize pleases diners and delivers profits
Farmersâ local maize varieties yield less than hybrids but are still grown because they provide ideal grain quality for traditional foods, as well as marketable stalks and leaves to feed farm animals and maize husks for wrapping tamales, to name a few products.
Building on longstanding partnerships with INIFAP and the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh) to improve local varieties and preserve maize genetic diversity in Mexico, CIMMYT breeders have recently developed improved blue maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties.
Sought by restauranteurs worldwide for its flavor and beauty, blue maize grain normally comes from native varieties grown by smallholder farmers on small plots with low yields and variable quality.
The new CIMMYT varieties are derived from traditional Guatemalan, Mexican, and Peruvian landraces and feature higher yields, more consistent grain quality, and enhanced resistance to common maize diseases, offering smallholders and other Mexican farmers a profitable product for the countryâs booming restaurant industry and for export chains.
Parental inbred lines of the new hybrids have been distributed to private and public partners, who are developing their own hybrids and OPVs in Mexico. CIMMYT continues to test the new hybrids under various farming systems to ensure they produce stable yields when grown in farmersâ fields.
Data driven extension
Using cutting-edge data systems, CIMMYT has leveraged information from nearly 200,000 plots representing more than 26,000 hectares across diverse agroecologies to offer Mexican farmers â including smallholders â site-specific recommendations that make their farming systems more productive, resilient, and sustainable. The initiative was supported by MasAgro, an integrated development partnership of Mexico and CIMMYT during 2010-21 and funded by Mexicoâs Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).
Ravi Nandi joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2023 as an Innovation Systems Scientist. He is an accomplished agricultural economist with over 12 years of experience in interdisciplinary research focusing on the markets, food environment, agrifood value chains, and socioeconomics.
His expertise lies in analyzing and improving different aspects of agri-food value chains, and farmer collectives, linking farmers to the market with a particular focus on governance, sustainability, innovations, and scaling. He explores institutional innovations that connect production and market-based interventions, and intricate interplay between agriculture, markets, and nutrition to address crucial issues such as poverty reduction, food security, nutrition, sustainable rural livelihoods, and resilience outcomes.
Ravi has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, policy briefs, chapters, books and blogs.