research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Strengthening the capacity of maize technicians in Zambia

Written by on May 7, 2012. Posted in News.

course-in-Zambia During the week of 15-20 April 2012, 36 maize technicians participated in a training session in Lusaka, Zambia. The participants were selected from seven seed companies in Zambia, national agricultural research organizations, and NGOs involved in agricultural research and extension in the eastern province of Zambia. The objective of the course was to update maize technical staff on implementing on-station and on-farm trials, seed production, and the use of secondary traits in selecting superior genotypes under low nitrogen, heat and drought trials, and it combined both lectures and field work.

Well-managed experiments provide the foundation of all research towards germplasm improvement. Technicians are responsible for many day-today field activities and much agronomic management, making their training crucial in strengthening the capacity of national programs. The course was organized by three CIMMYT projects—Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia (SIMLEZA) and Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS.—in collaboration with the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI). It was designed to give technicians greater insight into key processes within germplasm development, variety testing and release, and seed production. Emphasis was given to the importance of trial uniformity, good agronomic management practices, and standardizing measurements.

Each project contributed specialized content to the course: under DTMA the focus was on how to select genotypes under managed drought and heat stress, develop a seed production strategy using seed road maps and maintain trial uniformity. The SIMLEZA project emphasized on-farm testing using the Mother-Baby Trial approach while under IMAS the emphasis was on developing low nitrogen sites and important traits to select for production under low nitrogen. CIMMYT thanks the course organizers and resource persons, Kambambe Mwansa and Franscico Miti of the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute, and CIMMYT’s Peter Setimela, Jill Cairns, Biswanath Das and Sebastian Mawere.

Workshop on enabling technologies and environments for climate resilient future farming systems in Jharkhand, India

Written by on May 5, 2012. Posted in News.

A two-day workshop on potential technologies and policy environments for smallholder rainfed maize farming systems of Jharkhand state, India was organized jointly by Birsa Agriculture University (BAU), CIMMYT, and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) during 16-17 April, 2012 at Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. The outcomes of the workshop will form part of CIMMYT’s IFAD-funded project on “Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Maize-Livestock Farming Systems in Hill Areas of South Asia” and the MAIZE CGIAR Research Program (CRP).

There were 69 participants in total, including scientists, extension agents (KVKs), and students from BAU; key officials from the state department of agriculture National Food Security Mission (NFSM); and scientists from IPNI, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and CIMMYT. The workshop was inaugurated by BAU vice chancellor M.P. Pandey, while sessions and break-out group discussions were facilitated by Kaushik Majumdar, director of IPNI’s South Asia Program; JS Choudhary, state NFSM director; AK Sarkar, dean of the College of Agriculture at BAU; ILRI scientist Nils Teufel; CIMMYT scientists M. L. Jat and Surabhi Mittal; and IPNI deputy director T. Satyanarayana.

The workshop was made up of presentations on key topics, break-out group discussions, and a brainstorming session. The overall key themes were: (1) current status, constraints, and opportunities in different regions of Jharkhand , (2) conservation agriculture in maize and wheat systems, (3) approaches for crop-livestock integration, (4) integrated farming systems for food and nutritional security, (5) optimizing nutrient management for improved yield and profitability, and (6) approaches for inclusive growth for Jharkhand.

The five break-out groups discussed conservation agriculture (CA); site-specific nutrient management (SSNM); integrated farming systems and crop livestock interactions; enabling policies; and knowledge gaps, partnerships, networks and scaling-out strategies. The discussion outcomes were particularly focused on technology targeting and enabling environments and policies.

Agriculture in Jharkhand is at very low cropping intensity (~114%), despite good rainfall in most districts. The most critical issues include: rolling topography with very small holdings, leading to severe erosion due to lack of appropriate rainwater harvesting; soil acidity; lack of high-yielding stress-tolerant cultivars; very limited mechanization; and poor farmer access to inputoutput markets, coupled with resource poverty.

Building on the experience of CIMMYT’s hill maize project in the state, the participants agreed that optimizing cropping systems deploying CA practices could alleviate many of these problems, and sustainably increase crop production and productivity. Integrating CA with SSNM has shown promising results in improving nutrient use efficiency, currently another bottleneck in productivity gains due to inappropriate nutrient use. Crop-livestock integration is also key, as animals dominate farming in Jharkhand.

To implement these technologies and practices on a large scale, policy support is crucial. The outcomes of the workshop are being documented to serve as a policy paper for prioritization and implementation of technologies by the state, with the goal of arresting land degradation, improving crop productivity, and improving resource use efficiency and farm profitability.

Jharkhand8

MELISA: Mechanization for SIMLESA

Written by on May 4, 2012. Posted in News.

Farm mechanization has progressed little if at all in sub-Saharan Africa, due to a lack of demand, promotion of unsuitable or unreliable machines, little support infrastructure, promotion of inappropriate machinery, an overriding development focus on seeds and fertilizer, and negative perceptions about the social and equity effects of mechanization.

During 10-13 April 2012, more than 50 participants from 12 countries in eastern and southern Africa took part in a workshop organized by the CIMMYT global conservation agriculture program to re-explore the issue and help develop a proposal for the project “Mechanization, entrepreneurship, and conservation agriculture to leverage sustainable intensification in eastern and southern Africa” (MELISA), which will build upon the ACIAR-funded project SIMLESA. The group included agronomists, socioeconomists, agricultural engineers, and private sector representatives.

Re-opening the debate about mechanization was deemed timely because farming in the region relies on increasingly fewer draft animals, tractor hiring schemes have collapsed, field labor is in ever-shorter supply, and the extreme drudgery of many farm operations often falls to women and generally makes agriculture unattractive to the young.

The project is expected to build on experiences with small-scale, intensified farming systems in South Asia—for example, 80% of all operations in Bangladesh are mechanized and mostly done by service providers—and on SIMLESA networks and activities to test and promote conservation agriculture. Both small-scale mechanization and conservation agriculture promise to improve smallholders’ “power” budget: mechanization increases the supply, whereas conservation agriculture reduces the demand by about half; thus smaller, more affordable sources of power, such as two-wheel tractors, can be used. Similarly, shifting from draft animals to tractors would free up substantial biomass (a pair of oxen consumes about nine tons of forage per year) that can be left as residues on the soil. As specific objectives, MELISA will:

evaluate and demonstrate small-scale motorized conservation agriculture technologies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, using expertise, knowledge, skills, and implements from Africa, South Asia, and Australia;
test site-specific market systems to support mechanization in those countries;
identify improvements in national policies and markets for wide adoption; and
create awareness and share knowledge about mechanization.

The project will be submitted to ACIAR Australia and, if approved, could start in late 2012.

MELISA

CIMMYT lauded for outstanding technical support and partnership in Nepal

Written by on April 25, 2012. Posted in News.

On 04 April 2012 CIMMYT received an “Award of Honor” from the Society of Agricultural Scientist of Nepal (SAS-N). The award, in a form of a plaque, was handed over by Mr. Om Prakash Yadav, Chief Guest and Honorable Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives. “This recognition is given to CIMMYT International for the many contributions in maize and wheat research and development in Nepal,” said Yadav.

The-award Receiving the prize on behalf of CIMMYT, Nepal country representative Guillermo Ortiz-Ferrara thanked the Society for the recognition. “On behalf of the director general of CIMMYT, Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, the center’s management, and colleagues who have been based in Nepal and the region for more than 26 years, we thank SAS-N for this great honor,” he said. “I would like to give special thanks to the government of Nepal and the MoAC for hosting CIMMYT’s regional office. Finally, we thank the many government and non-government organizations for their long-standing partnership and collaboration.”

SAS-N is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to agricultural research and development in Nepal. It serves as a shared forum for agricultural scientists and researchers throughout the country and in various agricultural and related institutions. The Society aims to safeguard their professional integrity and improve research standards, thereby fostering economic development through agriculture growth. Some 300 participants in the meeting presented 135 papers on food security, agro-biodiversity, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, nutrition, plant breeding, pathology, crop and soils management, physiology, micro nutrients, irrigation, agro forestry, climate change, and socioeconomics.

In a personal message to Dr. Hira Kaji Manandhar, President of SAS-N, Lumpkin sent his regrets for not being able to attend the event and said: “CIMMYT is very honored by your award. The agriculture research and farmer community of Nepal has been of priority importance to CIMMYT for over 40 years. Many Nepali scientists and staff are and have been part of the CIMMYT team. In recent years we have been expanding our portfolio of development projects in Nepal and are even planning construction of a building, perhaps as Nepal’s part of CIMMYT’s Borlaug Institute for South Asia, near Kathmandu”.

In a message of congratulations to SAS-N, Marianne Bänziger, CIMMYT deputy director general for research and partnerships, said: “We are very honored indeed for CIMMYT to receive this prestigious Award of Honor from the Society of Agricultural Scientists in Nepal. It should be testimony to the extremely fruitful and highly-valued collaboration that we have with scientists and institutions in Nepal for more than two decades. It is a partnership of mutual respect, complementary skills, joint leanings, and successes. We highly appreciate the support, hospitality and friendship that our staff experience, both those that are posted in Nepal as well as when others who visit. Without our collaboration with Nepal, CIMMYT and its programs would be less.”

SIMLESA: Celebrating two years of achievements, defining the future

Written by on April 24, 2012. Posted in News.

During 19-23 March 2012, over 200 researchers, policy makers, donors, seed specialists, and NGO representatives from Africa and Australia gathered in Arusha, Tanzania, for the second SIMLESA (Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa) Annual Regional Planning and Review Meeting. Representation from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), which generously supports the work, included nine members of the organization’s Commission for International Agricultural Research.

Participants shared lessons from the last two years and discussed better ways to design and implement future activities. Ten sessions addressed issues including project implementation, Australian-African partnerships, program and partner progress and lessons, and communications and knowledge management.

SIMLESA

A key message was that SIMLESA had consolidated and strengthened activities across all objectives, maximizing gains from integration, innovation, information, and technology diffusion for greater impacts on livelihoods and agroecosystems. It was noted that the use of integrated systems can foster productive intensification of agriculture and, indeed, the Innovation Platform Framework, supported by science and partnerships, can contribute to productive, sustainable and resilient maize-legume systems. For even greater impact, the program should rely on stronger leadership from agribusiness, while supporting the public sector’s role, and ensure a farm-income focus to reduce poverty.

Another key message was to strengthen Australian-African partnerships through better delivery of research products, capacity building under any of ACIAR’s four thematic areas, bridging research and extension, strengthening policy and socioeconomic research, and building individual and institutional capacity.

SIMLESA25 Speaking at the SIMLESA’s second “birthday party,” Joana Hewitt, chairperson of the ACIAR Commission for International Agricultural Research, reiterated the Australian government’s commitment to long-term partnerships with African governments. Participants also heard of the new SIMLESA Program in Zimbabwe, focusing on crop-livestock interactions. During the dinner, Kenya and Mozambique were recognized for their efforts in promoting and strengthening local innovation platforms.

In addition to SIMLESA’s program steering committee and the mid-term review team, the event drew representatives from USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program, from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa. SIMLESA is centered in five countries— Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique—with spillovers benefiting Uganda, Sudan, and Zambia. Representatives from all those countries interacted at the meeting.

A SIMLESA “village” and poster presentations allowed partner representatives and researchers to showcase achievements, and visits to Karatu and Mbulu—Tanzanian sites where SIMLESA is present— demonstrated how the project is transforming agriculture.

The voice of farmers in Malawi and Mozambique: Mother-baby trials

Written by on March 21, 2012. Posted in News.

In February 2012 several CIMMYT staff working in Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), including project leader Mulugetta Mekuria, Peter Setimela, and Isaiah Nyagumbo, as well as the national coordinators, made field visits and met with farmers who are collaborating in participatory trials in their own fields. SIMLESA is a four year program that was launched in March 2010 and is being funded by the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR). The project has adopted mother-baby trials (MBT), where farmers choose varieties that interest them from a central “mother” trial and test them out on their own farms in “baby” trials, as a way of evaluating new drought tolerant maize and legume varieties under farmer-managed conditions.

In the Manica Province of Mozambique, SIMLESA has been able to gear up its MBT activities through collaboration with farmers’ association IDEEA-CA, reaching out to more farmers through the association’s networks in and around the province. Improved varieties, appropriate use of commercial fertilizers, and the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) practices have the potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of poor resource farmers in the region. The “yellow trial”, for example—with replications with and without fertilizer—demonstrates the advantages of using fertilizers.

The trials have provided a voice for farmers as they try out new drought tolerant maize and legume varieties in their fields and have the opportunity to influence seed companies to multiply the varieties they prefer. “It took me two seasons to appreciate the yields of the new hybrid,” said Marcello Chikukwa of Sussundenga District. “I was suspicious of the small plant size as compared to our local variety. But I realised that the local variety takes long to mature and had too much herbage, and the stem was very tall but the yields were very low.”

The testimony of farmers like Chikukwa is building momentum as farmers gain exposure to new drought tolerant maize and legumes in combination with CA practices and fertilizer use. The project also facilitates the creation of seed road maps, collaborating with diverse partners to produce certified seed and run promotion activities. Seed companies like Dengo Commercial in Mozambique are participating in seed production and promotion of new drought tolerant varieties, which are expected to produce good yields despite erratic rainfall in the region. Nine maize varieties and ten soya bean varieties are being promoted in three districts of Mozambique and six districts in Malawi.

DG meets with Tunisian Minister of Agriculture

Written by on March 21, 2012. Posted in News.

CIMMYT’s director general Thomas Lumpkin met with Mohamed Ben Salem, the Minister of Agriculture of Tunisia, on 11 February 2012 in Tunis, Tunisia, during a visit to the region focusing on fortifying CIMMYT’s presence in Africa. From CIMMYT, Lumpkin was accompanied by Wilfred Mwangi, liaison officer for Africa, and Karim Ammar, head of the durum wheat program and a Tunisian national.

Wheat is currently the number one imported crop into Africa and, at approximately 216 kilos per person per year, the North Africa region has the highest wheat consumption per capita in the world. Tunisia already imports an estimated 2 million tons of wheat per year, and with low yields and a growing population, wheat production is a major concern for the country. 61% of Tunisia’s total land area is categorized as arid, and erratic rainfall and weather patterns are the primary concern for the country’s wheat producers. In 2010, for example, an extended period of drought halved the country’s wheat production. Diseases and pests such as Hessian fly also cause problems.

Lumpkin-Tunisia2eq

During the meeting, which aimed at re-establishing links and partnerships in the region, Lumpkin and Ben Salem discussed opportunities for activities in line with the WHEAT CGIAR Research Program (CRP) lead by CIMMYT in partnership with ICARDA. They talked about improved varieties and agronomic techniques developed at CIMMYT, and the potential for establishing a research platform in Tunisia aimed at achieving higher yields.

CIMMYT’s activities in Tunisia date back to the period 1966-1977, when a comprehensive project known as “The Wheat Project” was implemented by the Government of Tunisia, CIMMYT, USAID, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The goals of the project were to introduce and adapt Mexican semi-dwarf high-yielding wheat varieties and to train Tunisian scientists in agricultural research and extension methods. During the project, 55 Tunisian nationals were trained at CIMMYT in Mexico, and to this day many refer to the varieties developed as “Mexican wheats”.

Lumpkin continued with his visits to the region by heading to Rabat, Morocco to meet with officials alongside Mahmoud Sohl, director general of ICARDA, to link activities in the region with the WHEAT CRP. He also joined CIMMYT’s Hans Braun, director of the global wheat program and Cheraé Robinson, director of fundraising and strategic partnerships, at the Global Food Security Forum, held in Rabat during 07-09 March 2012, where he spoke as a panelist on the subject of Investment and Innovation: Key Building Block of Food Security. Lumpkin will end his recent tour of Africa in Tanzania for the annual meetings of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project at the end of March.

South Africa commits to building capacity

Written by on March 9, 2012. Posted in News.

During 20-25 February 2012, 16 scientists from partners of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project and national agricultural research systems from Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique, met at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa, for a capacity building workshop.

The workshop was the first of its kind conducted under the SIMLESA project, which is supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and coordinated by CIMMYT. The week-long training covered biometry, principles of conservation agriculture and soil science, and executing the concept of innovation platforms. Practical examples, working groups, and a visit to the Institute of Soils, Climate and Water made the training interactive and interesting. Participants also developed country action plans for implementing innovation platform activities.

The CEO and President of ARC, Shadrack Moephuli, addressed the participants and reaffirmed ARC’s commitment to contributing to improved food security through initiatives such as SIMLESA. He expressed his gratitude to both ACIAR and CIMMYT, and acknowledged the collaborative research activities being undertaken. Yolisa Pakela-Jezile, Senior Manager, ARC Training services, described the forthcoming country trainings and the opportunities for post-graduate studies in South African universities for scientists from SIMLESA and national agricultural research systems.
Finally, SIMLESA Program Coordinator, Mulugetta Mekuria acknowledged ARC’s support for the capacity building objective of SIMLESA. He also briefed the ARC CEO and the Executive Directors of Research, Development, and Technology Transfer on SIMLESA’s progress to date, and extended an invitation to the 2nd SIMLESA Annual Review and Planning meeting in March.

SIMLESAvisit-at-the-ISCW-ARC-trainingEQ

Cultivating CIMMYT’s links with Africa: A meeting with the African Development Bank

Written by on February 27, 2012. Posted in News.

On 10 February 2012, CIMMYT’s Director General, Thomas Lumpkin, visited the headquarters of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Tunis, Tunisia, accompanied by Wilfred Mwangi, Liaison Officer for Africa, and Karim Ammar, Head, Durum Wheat Program. In his meeting with the Bank’s President, Donald Kaberuka, Lumpkin presented CIMMYT’s major projects and activities on wheat and maize research and development in Africa, including breeding, biotechnology, agronomy, socioeconomics, seed systems, and human resources development. “The AfDB President was keenly interested in biotechnology, and we discussed examples of successful projects and the potential benefits for Africa,” said Lumpkin.

MG_4329 The group also discussed the MAIZE CRP and CIMMYT’s strong partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Institutional linkages such as these can be very beneficial to African smallholder farmers, as demonstrated by the major projects accomplished by CIMMYT’s Africa offices, such as Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA), and Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS). “CIMMYT has had an enormous impact on wheat in Africa. Most cultivars are CIMMYT derived and many wheat scientists from African NARS have been trained at CIMMYT,” said Ammar.

It is hoped that these successes can continue, given the strength of the CIMMYT cadre of researchers currently based in Africa. Of the 38 African-based IRS, 29 are African scientists from seven different countries, and the directors of both the Socioeconomics Program and the Global Maize Program are based in Nairobi. “Africa has become the nucleus for maize research and development of CIMMYT,” stated B.M. Prasanna, Director of the Global Maize Program.

Throughout the meetings, CIMMYT’s desire to assist West African countries in maize and wheat production was expressed. CIMMYT is currently leading the WHEAT CRP in conjunction with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), an initiative with a strong focus on Africa. Lumpkin emphasized the need for this CRP to also address wheat needs in African countries which are not traditionally wheat growers, but where wheat consumption may be rapidly increasing. According to FAO, Algeria’s bread and durum wheat imports rose 41.5 percent to a record 7.42 million tons in 2011, and the continent’s most populous nation, Nigeria, imports 4 million tons of wheat per year according to the USDA, with annual per capita wheat consumption currently about 25 kg.

Follow-up activities with the AfDB will be co-ordinated by Mwangi, who has already had further meetings with the Bank’s executive staff. “It was an excellent meeting and gave us the opportunity to highlight the major investments CIMMYT is making in Africa”, said Mwangi. The meeting formed part of a series of CIMMYT activities in Tunisia, Kenya, and Nigeria, designed to strengthen ties with local partners, donor organizations, and CGIAR institutions in the region.

Revolutionizing farming in Malawi through conservation agriculture

Written by on February 24, 2012. Posted in News.

CIMMYT first introduced conservation agriculture (CA) to the Mwansambo and Zidyana communities of Nkotakhota District, Malawi, in 2005. Assisted by regional NGO Total Land Care (TLC), the project initially targeted just six farmers in each community. Currently, the project is focusing on “Understanding the Adoption and Application of Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa”, and involves governmental extension agencies, field coordinators from TLC and researchers for Chitedze Research Station, and is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Copy-of-SAM_0415 Since 2005, farmers, extension officers, and researchers have joined forces in starting a revolution from traditional farming systems in Malawi to locally adapted CA systems. The number of farmers practicing CA in the TLC communities of Central Malawi has grown from the initial 12 in 2005 to over 30,000 in 2012. This extension of CA was largely due to the development of an innovation network with different actors: Researchers assured training and quality implementation of the new technologies in target communities; the network facilitated participatory interaction and dialogue with farmers; and farmers raised social capital, subsequently boosting interest in the project within their own communities and the surrounding areas. These successful results enabled TLC and other partners to attract further funding and they linked farmers with input suppliers and a soft loan program for herbicides and improved seed. Farmers can currently access the input loan at seeding and pay back the amount for both inputs at harvest. Linking farmers to input markets was a major success, but more work needs to be done to also develop output markets for increased production from CA fields.

During 11-15 February 2012, scientists from the CIMMYT Southern Africa Regional Office visited target communities in Central Malawi, where farmers told them of the economical and environmental benefits of producing maize under CA. “Thanks to higher yields from CA and less labor, I have school fees and more spare time to bake doughnuts and sell them on the market,” said Nepiala Thope, a farmer from Chinguluwe. Other farmers are experimenting with growing maize under CA in rotation with other crops such as groundnuts, cowpeas, and cotton. This is a breakthrough for agriculture in Malawi, where maize is traditionally grown as a monocrop, attracting major pests and diseases such as striga, white grubs, cutworms, stalk and grain borers, and various blights. It is hoped that the reduction in pests and diseases, sustainable intensification of maize cropping systems, and increased income through CA will help farmers in the region to improve their food security and livelihoods, and overcome hunger and malnutrition.

Crop rotations in conservation agriculture systems equal healthy profits and soils in Zambia’s Eastern Province

Written by on February 14, 2012. Posted in News.

During 06-10 February 2012, a team of CIMMYT scientists travelled to six communities in Zambia’s Eastern Province to monitor progress on activities implemented under the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia (SIMLEZA) project, funded by USAID as part of Barack Obama’s “Feed the Future” initiative. The team was joined by national partners from governmental extension services, field coordinators from Total Land Care, Zambian researchers from Msekera Research Station, IITA, and CIP, and a group of farmers from Monze, in Zambia’s Southern Province. Journalists from two radio stations, one daily newspaper, and Zambian television covered the visit.

The SIMLEZA project began in October 2011 and exhibits a large variety of validation trials using improved maize and legume varieties, in conjunction with conservation agriculture (CA), to sustainably increase productivity on farmers’ fields. The validation trials currently demonstrate maize grown either as a sole crop, intercropped, or planted in full rotation with legumes. Farmers in the Eastern Province are excited about these new ways of farming; they want to shift from traditional, monocropped systems to more profitable crop rotations. In field discussions, farmers commended the other benefits of CA: Reductions in labor, effectiveness of weed control through judicious use of herbicides, increased moisture conservation, and reduced surface run-off and soil erosion. The project also has a strong emphasis on involving women in the extension of new technologies to improve their livelihoods.

Identifying a suitable market for alternative crops such as cowpeas or soyabeans remains a challenge in the Eastern Province, though the SIMLEZA project is addressing this by targeting bottlenecks in the value chain. Through involvement of agro-dealers, the availability of improved seed and markets for produce will be facilitated and processing skills will be enhanced. CIMMYT also collaborates with IITA scientists in this project to make use of their expertise in legume production and processing.

Currently the SIMLEZA project operates in six target communities, but it aims to impact 20,000 households in the Eastern Province by 2014.

40 years of the CGIAR: what are its impacts?

Written by on December 6, 2011. Posted in News.

felista_cropped On 02 December 2011, the CGIAR celebrated its 40th anniversary. To commemorate this event, they are publishing stories illustrating the work of each of the CGIAR centers. Today was the turn of CIMMYT; go to the CGIAR website to read about how Felista Mateo is working with CIMMYT and the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project to plant new varieties of maize and pigeon pea using conservation agriculture techniques, thus increasing her yields and making her farming practices more sustainable.

11th Asian Maize Conference is the BIGGEST yet

Written by on November 28, 2011. Posted in News.

The 11th Asian Maize Conference “Addressing climate change effects and meeting maize demand for Asia” took place during 07-11 November 2011 in Nanning, China. Nearly 375 scientists and resource personnel from 22 maize-growing countries participated, along with representatives of several large seed companies and NGOs.

AMC
The conference was jointly organized by CIMMYT and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and hosted by the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GXAAS) and the Guangxi Maize Research Institute (GMRI). The choice of location recognizes the increasing demand for maize in China; whilst China grows more maize than any other crop, and produces 180 million tonnes annually, it also imports nearly 14 million tonnes. China’s expanding middle class is eating more poultry, eggs, and pork; meat consumption in China has tripled since 1980 and China currently accounts for half the world’s consumption of pork. Of the total maize produced in Asia, 70% is used to feed animals, whilst just 23% is used for direct consumption.

Maize consumption is also increasing in other Asian countries: in Indonesia, imports of maize are estimated to double from 2010 levels to 3.2 million tonnes this year, and at 16 million tones, Japan is the world’s largest importer of maize. These increases are expected to continue.

The conference was opened by Yangrui Li (President, GXAAS), Ren Wang (Vice-President, CAAS), Thomas Lumpkin (Director General, CIMMYT), and Chen Zhangliang (Vice-Governor, Guangxi Provincial Government). They highlighted the growing importance of maize in the developing world, especially Asia, and the need for strong international collaborations to address challenges in maize-based systems.

Keynote speakers included BM Prasanna (Director, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT), Shihuang Zhang (Chief Expert, Crop Science Institute, CAAS), Greg Edmeades (retired scientist and former CIMMYT Maize Physiologist), Daniel Jeffers (Maize Breeder, CIMMYT-China), Gary Atlin (Associate Director, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT), Roberto Tuberosa (University of Bologna, Italy), Kevin Pixley (Director, Genetic Resources Program, CIMMYT), Adrian Johnson (Vice-President, International Plant Nutrition Institute), Bekele Shiferaw (Director, Socioeconomics Program, CIMMYT), and Yiqing Song (CAAS), along with many invited speakers. They covered a range of topics from conservation agriculture systems, to site-specific nutrient management and nutritionally improved maize. Sessions also highlighted recent developments in the CIMMYT-led MAIZE comprehensive research program, including technological advances such as the use of double haploids, phenotyping tools, and the large-scale genotyping initiative, Seeds of Discovery.

Participants also discussed the increasing frequency of natural disasters in Asia, and the effects these have on food production. Floods in Pakistan, droughts in China, and water stress in India have all impacted the ability of Asian maize producers to meet consumption demands.

The conference concluded with a Maize Field Day, organized by Cheng Weidong at the GMRI research station, where landraces and promising hybrids were demonstrated. Participants praised the success of the conference, with Bijender Pal (Senior Maize Breeder, Bioseed) stating: “The conference was very well organized, with excellent lectures by the experts on various key aspects, and a comprehensive treatment of the key issues for maize in Asia.”

Warming up to the conference with the MAIZE Asia Interface

As a preface to the Asian Maize Conference, almost 70 scientists, representatives of private sector seed companies, members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium of Asia, and NGOs participated in the MAIZE Asia interface on 07 November 2011. Chaired by CIMMYT’s Director General, Thomas Lumpkin, the meeting aimed to present the main strategic initiatives and vision of the MAIZE project to key Asian partners and stakeholders, outline challenges, promote collaborations, and discuss how to disseminate relevant technologies for the benefit of smallholder maize farmers in Asia.

Conservation agriculture for rainfed smallholder maize systems of eastern India

Written by on November 14, 2011. Posted in News.

During 19-23 October 2011, Birsa Agriculture University (BA7U), Jharkhand, India, hosted a short course on “Conservation Agriculture in Rainfed Small Holder Maize Farming Systems”, under the aegis of the IFAD “Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Maize- Livestock Farming Systems in Hill Areas of South Asia” project. The course aimed to provide practical exposure on key elements of conservation agriculture (CA), including calibration and operation of planting machinery, and component technologies of CA-based crop management solutions. Over 25 participants attended, including researchers and extension agents from BAU, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), State Department of Agriculture, NGOs, private sector, and service providers from across Jharkhand.

The course was inaugurated by A. K. Sarkar, Acting Vice Chancellor, BAU, with assistance from D.K. Singh ‘Dron’, Assistant Director of Research, BAU, Ken Sayre, CA Consultant, CIMMYT, and coordination by ML Jat, Senior Cropping Systems Agronomist, GCAP, CIMMYT. The course covered the basics of CA, with particular relevance to smallholder rainfed farming systems, including the calibration and operation of CA machinery, component technologies of residue, nutrient, weed management, and diversification, and how these technologies can be adapted for the region through partnerships with stakeholders, including farmers. A range of CA machinery (manual and animal-drawn, two- and four-wheel tractors), introduced to the region by CIMMYT and particularly suited to rainfed smallholder farmers, was demonstrated. Participants also shared their experiences of IFAD CA projects undertaken so far and discussed strategies for balancing crop-livestock integration, in relation to CA, as livestock is an important factor in rainfed farming systems.

The concept of ‘Basic-Strategic Research-Delivery’ continuums within the hubs concepts of South Asia (CSISA) and Mexico (MasAgro) were explained to the participants. It was highlighted that in IFAD, a similar pattern is being followed for a value chain solution of technology packages to the farmers. CHINA8

Saudi Ambassador visits CIMMYT

Written by on October 31, 2011. Posted in News.

CIMMYT welcomed H.E. Hussein M. Alassiri, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Mexico, to the El Batán headquarters on 20 October 2011. During his visit, the Ambassador was greeted by Director General Thomas Lumpkin, who highlighted the global challenges facing food security as well as describing CIMMYT’s programs which have been particularly successful in arid to semi-arid regions; Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), and Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA). In addition to describing the history and mission of CIMMYT, Lumpkin also presented the Borlaug Institute for South Asia as CIMMYT’s newest initiative to tackle growing food insecurity.

The visit proceeded with a tour of the seed bank and a presentation by Iván Ortiz-Monasterio on developments in nitrogen use efficiency technologies, followed by Roberto Javier Peña who provided the Ambassador with a background of CIMMYT’s work on wheat quality. Hans-Joachim Braun was also present to give an overview of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.

Saudi Arabia is ranked 19th in the world’s wheat importers, currently importing nearly 2 million metric tons of wheat, primarily from Germany, Canada, and the USA. Average estimated annual consumption of wheat by Saudi inhabitants is currently 110 kg per person. Although self-sufficient in wheat throughout the 1980s, Saudi Arabia announced in 2008 that domestic wheat production will cease in 2016, in order to conserve the country’s dwindling water resources. Over the next five years, wheat production will reduce at a rate of 12.5% annually.

The Ambassador’s visit to CIMMYT focused on areas of mutual interest including advances in research and development of wheat productivity, water use efficiency, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Initiative which supports investment in low-income countries with a high potential to increase agricultural productivity. CIMMYT will be working with the Ambassador to send samples of seed collected in the Arabian Peninsula to Saudi researchers for further testing.