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A member of a women farmers group serves a platter of mung bean dishes in Suklaphanta, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)

Small but mighty

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in Features.

Nearly 65,000 farmers in Nepal, 40% of which were women, have benefited from the Agronomy and Seed Systems Scaling project, according to a comprehensive new report. This project is part of the Cereals Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and supported by USAID.

One of the project’s most recent successes has been in accelerating the adoption of the nutritious and stress-tolerant mung bean in rice-wheat farming systems.

Farmer Chhalu Bhattarai harvests her mung bean crop in Manikapur, Surkhet, Nepal. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
Farmer Chhalu Bhattarai harvests her mung bean crop in Manikapur, Surkhet, Nepal. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

Rice-wheat is the dominant cropping system in the lowland region of Nepal. Farmers typically harvest wheat in March and transplant rice in July, leaving land fallow for up to 100 days. A growing body of evidence shows, however, that planting mung bean during this fallow period can assist in improving farmers’ farming systems and livelihoods.

“The mung bean has multiple benefits for farmers,” says Narayan Khanal, a researcher at CIMMYT. “The first benefit is nutrition: mung beans are very rich in iron, protein and are easily digestible. The second benefit is income: farmers can sell mung beans on the market for a higher price than most other legumes. The third benefit is improved soil health: mung beans fix the nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil as well as improve soil organic content.”

Commonly used in dishes like dahl, soups and sprout, mung beans are a common ingredient in Asian cuisine. However, prior to the project, most farmers in Nepal had never seen the crop before and had no idea how to eat it. Encouraging them to grow the crop was not going to be an easy task.

Thanks to dedicated efforts by CIMMYT researchers, more than 8,000 farmers in Nepal are now cultivating mung bean on land that would otherwise be left fallow, producing over $1.75 million of mung bean per year.

The newfound enthusiasm for growing mung bean could not have been achieved without the help of local women’s farming groups, said Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT senior scientist and CSISA project leader.

Employees select and clean mung beans at Poshan Foods in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Employees select and clean mung beans at Poshan Foods in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
An employee selects mung beans at Poshan Foods, in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
An employee selects mung beans at Poshan Foods, in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
After mung bean is toasted, employees at Poshan Foods select the beans. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
After mung bean is toasted, employees at Poshan Foods select the beans. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Poshan Foods uses mung bean for a wide range of products but has been particularly successful with baby food, which includes important nutrition advice for parents. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Poshan Foods uses mung bean for a wide range of products but has been particularly successful with baby food, which includes important nutrition advice for parents. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)

Bringing research and innovations to farmers’ fields

Introducing the mung bean crop to farmers’ fields was just one of the successes of Agronomy and Seed Systems Scaling, which was an added investment by USAID in the wider CSISA project, which began in 2014. The project aims to move agronomic and crop varietal research into real-world impact. It has helped farmers get better access to improved seeds and machinery and strengthened partnerships with the private sector, according to Khanal.

CSISA support in business mentoring and capacity building of seed companies to popularize newly released, biofortified and stress-tolerant wheat varieties has led to seed sales volumes tripling between 2014 to 2019. The project also led to a 68% increase in the number of new improved wheat varieties since the inception of the project.

Nepal’s National Wheat Research Program was able to fast track the release of the early maturing variety BL 4341, by combining data generated by the project through seed companies and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) research station. Other varieties, including Borlaug 100 and NL 1327, are now in the pipeline.

Empowering women and facilitating women’s groups have been critical components of the project. Nepal has seen a mass exodus of young men farmers leaving the countryside for the city, leaving women to work the farms. CIMMYT worked with women farmer groups to expand and commercialize simple to use and affordable technologies, like precision seed and fertilizer spreaders.

Over 13,000 farmers have gained affordable access to and benefited from precision agriculture machinery such as two-wheel ‘hand tractors’ and ‘mini tillers.’ This is a major change for small and medium-scale farmers in South Asia who typically rely on low horsepower four-wheel tractors. The project also introduced an attachment for tractors for harvesting rice and wheat called the ‘reaper.’ This equipment helps to reduce the costs and drudgery of manual harvesting. In 2019, Nepal’s Terai region had almost 3,500 reapers, versus 22 in 2014.

To ensure the long-term success of the project, CSISA researchers have trained over 2,000 individuals from the private and public sector, and over 1,000 private organizations including machinery manufacturers and agricultural input dealers.

Researchers have trained project collaborators in both the public and private sector in seed systems, resilient varieties, better farming practices and appropriate agricultural mechanization business models. These partners have in turn passed this knowledge on to farmers, with considerable impact.

“The project’s outcomes demonstrates the importance of multi-year and integrated agricultural development efforts that are science-based, but which are designed in such a way to move research into impact and benefit farmers, by leveraging the skills and interests of Nepal’s public and private sector in unison,” said Krupnik.

“The outcomes from this project will continue to sustain, as the seed and market systems developed and nurtured by the project are anticipated to have long-lasting impact in Nepal,” he said.

Download the full report:
Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia: Agronomy and Seed Systems Scaling. Final report (2014-2019)

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is led by the International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT), implemented jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). CSISA is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cover photo: A member of a women farmers group serves a platter of mung bean dishes in Suklaphanta, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)

Interdrought 2020 congress proceedings now online

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Press releases.

The critical global challenge of significantly increasing food production by 2050 is exacerbated by water limitations. Droughts and water scarcity affect crop production across the world and global climate warming is aggravating this effect. A central challenge for researchers and policymakers is to devise technologies that lend greater resilience to agricultural production in drier environments.

The Interdrought 2020 congress presents the latest developments to address this global challenge.

Interdrought 2020 was scheduled to be held in Mexico City in March 2020. As it was not possible to proceed with the congress as a face-to-face meeting due to the travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizing committee has delivered the scientific program of the congress online. Congress proceedings are available at interdrought2020.cimmyt.org.

Today the organizing committee extended the reach of the congress proceedings to the global community by providing free online access to 43 presentations, 75 abstracts and 35 posters. The complete book of abstracts can also be downloaded. To date over 10,000 members of the scientific community have been invited to watch presentations and read the proceedings online.

Internationally recognized keynote speakers participated in the seven main sessions, supported by nine symposia convened by global experts, on topics ranging from breeding and management approaches to the basic science of plant–water relations.

State-of-the-art research and technology

Interdrought 2020 is an opportunity for scientific leaders from across the world to share the latest research and technology developments to advance plant production in water-limited situations. Interdrought 2020 embraces the philosophy of presenting and integrating results of both applied and basic research towards the development of solutions for improving crop production under drought-prone conditions.

Interdrought 2020, also known as Interdrought VI (IDVI) is the sixth congress in the series. It builds on the success of previous congresses held in Montpellier in 1995, Rome in 2005, Shanghai in 2009, Perth in 2013, and Hyderabad in 2017.

The congress was organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the University of Queensland. The organizers share a strong history of collaboration in crop research and agronomy that seeks to increase wheat’s tolerance to drought and its yield potential in hot conditions, such as those seen in Queensland, Australia, and Sonora, Mexico.

The organizers and the congress committee would like to thank major sponsors Corteva, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), the University of Queensland, and supporting sponsors in silico Plants, the Journal of Experimental Botany, Illumina, Analitek, and LI-COR. Our sponsors’ belief in the value of the scientific content enabled us to deliver congress proceedings to not only delegates but the broader scientific community.

For more information, please contact

Professor Graeme Hammer
Chair of the Interdrought 2020 congress committee
g.hammer@uq.edu.au

About CIMMYT

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.

QAAFI at the University of Queensland

The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) is a research institute of the University of Queensland supported by the Queensland Government via the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. QAAFI is comprised of four inter-related research centres working across crops, horticulture, animals, and nutrition and food sciences, with a focus on addressing challenges in the tropical and subtropical systems. For more information visit www.qaafi.uq.edu.au/about.

New Publications: Cropping pattern zonation of Pakistan

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Publications. 1 Comment on New Publications: Cropping pattern zonation of Pakistan

The tremendous diversity of crops in Pakistan has been documented in a new publication that will foster more effective and targeted policies for national agriculture.

Using official records and geospatial modeling to describe the location, extent, and management of 25 major and minor crops grown in 144 districts of Pakistan, the publication “Cropping Pattern Zonation of Pakistan” offers an invaluable tool for resource planning and policymaking to address opportunities, challenges and risks for farm productivity and profitability, according to Muhammad Imtiaz, crop scientist and country representative in Pakistan for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“With rising temperatures, more erratic rainfall and frequent weather extremes, cropping pattern decisions are of the utmost importance for risk mitigation and adaptation,” said Imtiaz, a co-author of the new publication.

Featuring full-color maps for Pakistan’s two main agricultural seasons, based on area sown to individual crops, the publication was put together by CIMMYT and the Climate, Energy and Water Research Institute (CEWRI) of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), with technical and financial support from the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Pakistan’s main crops–wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane—account for nearly three-quarters of national crop production. Various food and non-food crops are grown in “Rabi,” the dry winter season, October-March, and “Kharif,” the summer season characterized by high temperatures and monsoon rains.

Typically, more than one crop is grown in succession on a single field each year; however, despite its intensity, farming in Pakistan is largely traditional or subsistence agriculture dominated by the food grains, according to Ms. Rozina Naz, Principal Scientific Officer, CEWRI-PARC.

“Farmers face increasing aridity and unpredictable weather conditions and energy shortage challenges that impact on their decisions regarding the type and extent of crops to grow,” said the scientist, who is involved in executing the whole study. “Crop pattern zoning is a pre-requisite for the best use of land, water and capital resources.”

The study used 5 years (2013-14 to 2017-18) of data from the Department of Agricultural Statistics, Economics Wing, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Islamabad. “We greatly appreciate the contributions of scientists and technical experts of Crop Science Institute (CSI) and CIMMYT,” Imtiaz added.

View or download the publication:
Cropping Pattern Zonation of Pakistan. Climate, Energy and Water Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. 2020. CDMX: CEWRI, PARC, and CIMMYT.

See more recent publications from CIMMYT researchers:

1. Plant community strategies responses to recent eruptions of PopocatĂ©petl volcano, Mexico. 2019. Barba‐Escoto, L., Ponce-Mendoza, A., GarcĂ­a-Romero, A., Calvillo-Medina, R.P. In: Journal of Vegetation Science v. 30, no. 2, pag. 375-385.

2. New QTL for resistance to Puccinia polysora Underw in maize. 2019. Ce Deng, Huimin Li, Zhimin Li, Zhiqiang Tian, Jiafa Chen, Gengshen Chen, Zhang, X, Junqiang Ding, Yuxiao Chang In: Journal of Applied Genetics v. 60, no. 2, pag. 147-150.

3. Hybrid wheat: past, present and future. 2019. Pushpendra Kumar Gupta, Balyan, H.S., Vijay Gahlaut, Pal, B., Basnet, B.R., Joshi, A.K. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 132, no. 9, pag. 2463-2483.

4. Influence of tillage, fertiliser regime and weeding frequency on germinable weed seed bank in a subhumid environment in Zimbabwe. 2019. Mashavakure, N., Mashingaidze, A.B., Musundire, R., Gandiwa, E., Thierfelder, C., Muposhi, V.K., Svotwa, E.In: South African Journal of Plant and Soil v. 36, no. 5, pag. 319-327.

5.  Identification and mapping of two adult plant leaf rust resistance genes in durum. 2019. Caixia Lan, Zhikang Li, Herrera-Foessel, S., Huerta-Espino, J., Basnet, B.R., In: Molecular Breeding v. 39, no. 8, art. 118.

6. Genetic mapping reveals large-effect QTL for anther extrusion in CIMMYT spring wheat. 2019. Muqaddasi, Q.H., Reif, J.C., Roder, M.S., Basnet, B.R., Dreisigacker, S. In: Agronomy v. 9 no. 7, art. 407.

7. Growth analysis of brachiariagrasses and ‘tifton 85’ bermudagrass as affected by harvest interval. 2019. Silva, V. J. da., Faria, A.F.G., Pequeno, D.N.L., Silva, L.S., Sollenberger, L.E., Pedreira, C. G. S. In: Crop Science v. 59, no. 4, pag. 1808-1814.

8. Simultaneous biofortification of wheat with zinc, iodine, selenium, and iron through foliar treatment of a micronutrient cocktail in six countries. 2019. Chunqin Zou, Yunfei Du, Rashid, A., Ram, H., Savasli, E., Pieterse, P.J., Ortiz-Monasterio, I., Yazici, A., Kaur, C., Mahmood, K., Singh, S., Le Roux, M.R., Kuang, W., Onder, O., Kalayci, M., Cakmak, I. In: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry v. 67, no. 29, pag. 8096-8106.

9. Economic impact of maize stem borer (Chilo partellus) attack on livelihood of maize farmers in Pakistan. 2019. Ali, A., Issa, A.B. In: Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology v. 7, no. 2, pag. 311-319.

10. How much does climate change add to the challenge of feeding the planet this century?. 2019. Aggarwal, P.K., Vyas, S., Thornton, P.K., Campbell, B.M. In: Environmental Research Letters v. 14 no. 4, art. 043001.

11. A breeding strategy targeting the secondary gene pool of bread wheat: introgression from a synthetic hexaploid wheat. 2019. Ming Hao, Lianquan Zhang, Laibin Zhao, Shoufen Dai, Aili Li, Wuyun Yang, Die Xie, Qingcheng Li, Shunzong Ning, Zehong Yan, Bihua Wu, Xiujin Lan, Zhongwei Yuan, Lin Huang, Jirui Wang, Ke Zheng, Wenshuai Chen, Ma Yu, Xuejiao Chen, Mengping Chen, Yuming Wei, Huaigang Zhang, Kishii, M, Hawkesford, M.J, Long Mao, Youliang Zheng, Dengcai Liu In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 132, no. 8, pag. 2285-2294.

12. Sexual reproduction of Zymoseptoria tritici on durum wheat in Tunisia revealed by presence of airborne inoculum, fruiting bodies and high levels of genetic diversity. 2019. Hassine, M., Siah, A., Hellin, P., Cadalen, T., Halama, P., Hilbert, J.L., Hamada, W., Baraket, M., Yahyaoui, A.H., Legreve, A., Duvivier, M. In: Fungal Biology v. 123, no. 10, pag. 763-772.

13. Influence of variety and nitrogen fertilizer on productivity and trait association of malting barley. 2019. Kassie, M., Fantaye, K. T. In: Journal of Plant Nutrition v. 42, no. 10, pag. 1254-1267.

14. A robust Bayesian genome-based median regression model. 2019. Montesinos-Lopez, A., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Villa-Diharce, E.R., Gianola, D., Crossa, J. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 132, no. 5, pag. 1587-1606.

15. High-throughput phenotyping platforms enhance genomic selection for wheat grain yield across populations and cycles in early stage. 2019. Jin Sun, Poland, J.A., Mondal, S., Crossa, J., Juliana, P., Singh, R.P., Rutkoski, J., Jannink, J.L., Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Velu, G., Huerta-Espino, J., Sorrells, M.E. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 132, no. 6, pag. 1705-1720.

16. Resequencing of 429 chickpea accessions from 45 countries provides insights into genome diversity, domestication and agronomic traits. 2019. Varshney, R.K., Thudi, M., Roorkiwal, M., Weiming He, Upadhyaya, H., Wei Yang, Bajaj, P., Cubry, P., Abhishek Rathore, Jianbo Jian, Doddamani, D., Khan, A.W., Vanika Garg, Annapurna Chitikineni, Dawen Xu, Pooran M. Gaur, Singh, N.P., Chaturvedi, S.K., Nadigatla, G.V.P.R., Krishnamurthy, L., Dixit, G.P., Fikre, A., Kimurto, P.K., Sreeman, S.M., Chellapilla Bharadwaj, Shailesh Tripathi, Jun Wang, Suk-Ha Lee, Edwards, D., Kavi Kishor Bilhan Polavarapu, Penmetsa, R.V., Crossa, J., Nguyen, H.T., Siddique, K.H.M., Colmer, T.D., Sutton, T., Von Wettberg, E., Vigouroux, Y., Xun Xu, Xin Liu In: Nature Genetics v. 51, pag. 857-864.

17. Farm typology analysis and technology assessment: an application in an arid region of South Asia. 2019. Shalander Kumar, Craufurd, P., Amare Haileslassie, Ramilan, T., Abhishek Rathore, Whitbread, A. In: Land Use Policy v. 88, art. 104149.

18. MARPLE, a point-of-care, strain-level disease diagnostics and surveillance tool for complex fungal pathogens. 2019. Radhakrishnan, G.V., Cook, N.M., Bueno-Sancho, V., Lewis, C.M., Persoons, A., Debebe, A., Heaton, M., Davey, P.E., Abeyo Bekele Geleta, Alemayehu, Y., Badebo, A., Barnett, M., Bryant, R., Chatelain, J., Xianming Chen, Suomeng Dong, Henriksson, T., Holdgate, S., Justesen, A.F., Kalous, J., Zhensheng Kang, Laczny, S., Legoff, J.P., Lesch, D., Richards, T., Randhawa, H. S., Thach, T., Meinan Wang, Hovmoller, M.S., Hodson, D.P., Saunders, D.G.O. In: BMC Biology v. 17, no. 1, art. 65.

19. Genome-wide association study for multiple biotic stress resistance in synthetic hexaploid wheat. 2019. Bhatta, M.R., Morgounov, A.I., Belamkar, V., Wegulo, S.N., Dababat, A.A., Erginbas-Orakci, G., Moustapha El Bouhssini, Gautam, P., Poland, J.A., Akci, N., Demir, L., Wanyera, R., Baenziger, P.S. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences v. 20, no. 15, art. 3667.

20.  Genetic diversity and population structure analysis of synthetic and bread wheat accessions in Western Siberia. 2019. Bhatta, M.R., Shamanin, V., Shepelev, S.S., Baenziger, P.S., Pozherukova, V.E., Pototskaya, I.V., Morgounov, A.I. In: Journal of Applied Genetics v. 60, no. 3-4, pag. 283-289.

21. Identifying loci with breeding potential across temperate and tropical adaptation via EigenGWAS and EnvGWAS. 2019. Jing Li, Gou-Bo Chen, Rasheed, A., Delin Li, Sonder, K., Zavala Espinosa, C., Jiankang Wang, Costich, D.E., Schnable, P.S., Hearne, S., Huihui Li In: Molecular Ecology v. 28, no. 15, pag. 3544-3560.

22. Impacts of drought-tolerant maize varieties on productivity, risk, and resource use: evidence from Uganda. 2019. Simtowe, F.P., Amondo, E., Marenya, P. P., Rahut, D.B., Sonder, K., Erenstein, O. In: Land Use Policy v. 88, art. 104091.

23. Do market shocks generate gender-differentiated impacts?: policy implications from a quasi-natural experiment in Bangladesh. 2019. Mottaleb, K.A., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O. In: Women’s Studies International Forum v. 76, art. 102272.

24. Gender differences in the adoption of agricultural technology: the case of improved maize varieties in southern Ethiopia. 2019. Gebre, G.G., Hiroshi Isoda, Rahut, D.B., Yuichiro Amekawa, Hisako Nomura In: Women’s Studies International Forum v. 76, art. 102264.

25. Tracking the adoption of bread wheat varieties in Afghanistan using DNA fingerprinting. 2019. Dreisigacker, S., Sharma, R.K., Huttner, E., Karimov, A. A., Obaidi, M.Q., Singh, P.K., Sansaloni, C.P., Shrestha, R., Sonder, K., Braun, H.J. In: BMC Genomics v. 20, no. 1, art. 660.

Breaking Ground: Maria Itria Ibba and the lab that bakes bread

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

The rising and shifting demand for wheat, with rapid urbanization and increasingly globalized food markets, is pushing farmers more than ever to produce high-quality grain, according to the scientist who leads wheat quality research in the world’s foremost publicly-funded wheat breeding program.

“Wheat quality is becoming more and more important, as the industrial production of bread and other wheat-based foods increases to meet the demands of city dwellers, working women, and wheat consumers in wheat-importing countries,” said Maria Itria Ibba, head of the Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“Companies that produce and market food for such consumers demand high, consistent quality in grain they purchase and we have to help wheat farmers to meet stringent requirements.”

This is so important that CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program — whose contributions figure in more than half of the wheat varieties released worldwide — directly uses lab data on milling, processing and end-use quality to decide which bread and durum wheat lines to move forward in its breeding programs, according to Ibba.

“Assessing quality is a huge task, because wheat is used to make hundreds of different foods, including all kinds of leavened bread, flat breads, pastas, noodles and steamed bread,” said Ibba. “Our lab is an integral part of breeding, analyzing thousands of grain samples from thousands of wheat lines each year for nearly a dozen quality parameters.”

Cut out for quality

A native of Viterbo, Italy, Ibba has led the Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory since 2019 and is uniquely qualified for the job, with a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology, a master’s degree in biotechnology for the safety and quality of agricultural products — both from the University of Tuscia, Viterbo — and a doctorate in crop science from the Washington State University. Her Ph.D. dissertation addressed “low-molecular-weight glutenin subunit gene family members and their relationship with wheat end-use quality parameters.”

With a mother who studied medicine and a father who worked at the Italian Space Agency, Ibba said that in school she always enjoyed science subjects such as biology and chemistry. “They were easy for me to understand and I really liked how, after studying them, I was able to explain and understand many things around me.”

Ibba said the biggest challenges for her and her lab team are to understand wheat quality needs and conduct faster and better analyses.

“Several of the tests we do are expensive, time-consuming, and require skilled personnel and significant amounts of grain,” she explained, citing the use of exotically named devices such as the “Quadrumat Senior mill,” the “mixograph,” and the “alveograph,” to list a few. “We’re continuously looking for novel methods that are quicker, use smaller samples of grain, and with lower costs.”

Understanding the biochemical and genetic bases of wheat grain and flour quality traits is key to this, according to Ibba, but wheat quality traits are so complex genetically that DNA markers are of little help in breeding. “We’ve begun to explore whole genome selection for wheat quality traits, in collaboration with Kansas State University, but this will never completely replace the laboratory tests.”

Let’s talk health and nutrition

A staple of tours for the hundreds of visitors that come each year to CIMMYT in Mexico, the wheat quality laboratory combines the razzle-dazzle of high-tech devices with hands-on, sensory attractions such as inflating dough balls and freshly baked test loaves.

Ibba’s work includes talking to visitors about wheat, its important history and role in human nutrition and food, and concerns in the popular media regarding wheat and health.

“I think people know more now about what gluten is and its importance, but there is still the need to talk about gluten and wheat so that people can make informed decisions based on scientific facts,” she said. “I was happy to see the recent article from CIMMYT on a review study which, among many other things, showed there was no scientific evidence for the idea that eating refined flour is bad for your health.”

“Wheat provides about 20 percent of calories and protein for more than 4.5 billion people in developing countries,” Ibba pointed out. “There’s an increasing focus on understanding and improving the nutritional quality of wheat and its products because of the greater overall interest in diets and in the nutritional value of diverse foods.”

Amarech Desta (left) is the chairwoman of Tembo Awtena, a womens’ seed producer association in the Angacha district of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP). As part of the Wheat Seed Scaling project, the group received early-generation seed and a seed thresher from CIMMYT. “In 2016 we sold more than $7,400 worth of seed,” Desta said. “Our success attracted 30 additional women farmers in 2017, bringing the total membership to 133.” (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/CIMMYT)

Ethiopian wheat farmers adopt quality seed and a vision for a more profitable future

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Press releases. 1 Comment on Ethiopian wheat farmers adopt quality seed and a vision for a more profitable future

Amarech Desta (left) is the chairwoman of Tembo Awtena, a womens’ seed producer association in the Angacha district of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP). As part of the Wheat Seed Scaling project, the group received early-generation seed and a seed thresher from CIMMYT. “In 2016 we sold more than $7,400 worth of seed,” Desta said. “Our success attracted 30 additional women farmers in 2017, bringing the total membership to 133.” (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/CIMMYT)
Amarech Desta (left) is the chairwoman of Tembo Awtena, a womens’ seed producer association in the Angacha district of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP). As part of the Wheat Seed Scaling project, the group received early-generation seed and a seed thresher from CIMMYT. “In 2016 we sold more than $7,400 worth of seed,” Desta said. “Our success attracted 30 additional women farmers in 2017, bringing the total membership to 133.” (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/CIMMYT)

High-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties used by Ethiopian wheat farmers between 2015 and 2018 gave them at least 20% more grain than conventional varieties, profits of nearly $1,000 per hectare when they grew and sold seed, and generally improved food security in participating rural households.

These are the result of a project to rapidly multiply and disperse high-quality seed of new improved varieties, and the work of leading Ethiopian and international research organizations. The outcomes of this project have benefitted nearly 1.6 million people, according to a comprehensive new publication.

“Grown chiefly by smallholders in Ethiopia, wheat supports the livelihoods of 5 million farmers and their families, both as a household food crop and a source of income,” said Bekele Abeyo, wheat scientist of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), leader of the project, and chief author of the new report. “Improving wheat productivity and production can generate significant income for farmers, as well as helping to reduce poverty and improve the country’s food and nutrition security.”

Wheat production in Ethiopia is continually threatened by virulent and rapidly evolving fungal pathogens that cause “wheat rusts,” age-old and devastating diseases of the crop. Periodic, unpredictable outbreaks of stem and stripe rust have overcome the resistance of popular wheat varieties in recent years, rendering the varieties obsolete and in urgent need of replacement, according to Abeyo.

“The eastern African highlands are a hot spot for rusts’ spread and evolution,” Abeyo explained. “A country-wide stripe rust epidemic in 2010 completely ruined some susceptible wheat crops in Oromia and Amhara regions, leaving small-scale, resource-poor farmers without food or income.”

The Wheat Seed Scaling project identified and developed new rust-resistant wheat varieties, championed the speedy multiplication of their seed, and used field demonstrations and strategic marketing to reach thousands of farmers in 54 districts of Ethiopia’s major wheat growing regions, according to Abeyo. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the project and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) was a key partner.

Using parental seed produced by 8 research centers, a total of 27 private farms, farmer cooperative unions, model farmers and farmer seed producer associations — including several women farmer associations — grew 1,728 tons of seed of the new varieties for sale or distribution to farmers. As part of the work, 10 national research centers took part in fast-track variety testing, seed multiplication, demonstrations and training. The USDA Cereal Disease Lab at the University of Minnesota conducted seedling tests, molecular studies and rust race analyses.

A critical innovation has been to link farmer seed producers directly to state and federal researchers who supply the parental seed — known as “early-generation seed”— according to Ayele Badebo, a CIMMYT wheat pathologist and co-author of the new publication. “The project has also involved laboratories that monitor seed production and that test harvested seed, certifying it for marketing,” Badebo said, citing those accomplishments as lasting legacies of the project.

Abeyo said the project built on prior USAID-funded efforts, as well as the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) and Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) initiatives, led by Cornell University and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Protecting crops of wheat, a vital food in eastern Africa, requires the collaboration of farmers, governments and researchers, according to Mandefro Nigussie, Director General of EIAR.

“More than 131,000 rural households directly benefited from this work,” he said. “The project points up the need to identify new resistance genes, develop wheat varieties with durable, polygenic resistance, promote farmers’ use of a genetically diverse mix of varieties, and link farmers to better and profitable markets.”

RELATED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS:

Achievements in fast-track variety testing, seed multiplication and scaling of rust resistant varieties: Lessons from the wheat seed scaling project, Ethiopia.

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Bekele Abeyo, Senior Scientist, CIMMYT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:

Simret Yasabu, Communications officer, CIMMYT. s.yasabu@cgiar.org, +251 911662511 (cell).

PHOTOS AVAILABLE:

Seed scaling in Ethiopia

ABOUT CIMMYT:

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.

A wheat field in Pakistan, ready for harvest. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT and Pakistan: 60 years of collaboration

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Publications. 1 Comment on CIMMYT and Pakistan: 60 years of collaboration

A new fact sheet captures the impact of CIMMYT after six decades of maize and wheat research in Pakistan.

Dating back to the 1960s, the research partnership between Pakistan and CIMMYT has played a vital role in improving food security for Pakistanis and for the global spread of improved crop varieties and farming practices.

Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and first director of CIMMYT wheat research, kept a close relationship with the nation’s researchers and policymakers. CIMMYT’s first training course participant from Pakistan, Manzoor A. Bajwa, introduced the high-yielding wheat variety “Mexi-Pak” from CIMMYT to help address the national food security crisis. Pakistan imported 50 tons of Mexi-Pak seed in 1966, the largest seed purchase of its time, and two years later became the first Asian country to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, with a national production of 6.7 million tons.

CIMMYT researchers in Pakistan examine maize cobs. (Photo: CIMMYT)
CIMMYT researchers in Pakistan examine maize cobs. (Photo: CIMMYT)

In 2019 Pakistan harvested 26 million tons of wheat, which roughly matches its annual consumption of the crop.

In line with Pakistan’s National Food Security Policy and with national partners, CIMMYT contributes to Pakistan’s efforts to intensify maize- and wheat-based cropping in ways that improve food security, raise farmers’ income, and reduce environmental impacts. This has helped Pakistani farmers to figure among South Asia’s leaders in adopting improved maize and wheat varieties, zero tillage for sowing wheat, precision land leveling, and other innovations.

With funding from USAID, since 2013 CIMMYT has coordinated the work of a broad network of partners, both public and private, to boost the productivity and climate resilience of agri-food systems for wheat, maize, and rice, as well as livestock, vegetable, and fruit production.

Download the fact sheet:
CIMMYT and Pakistan: 60 years of collaboration

Cover photo: A wheat field in Pakistan, ready for harvest. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)

Blast and rust forecast

Written by Matthew O'Leary on . Posted in Features. 1 Comment on Blast and rust forecast

An early warning system set to deliver wheat disease predictions directly to farmers’ phones is being piloted in Bangladesh and Nepal by interdisciplinary researchers.

Experts in crop disease, meteorology and computer science are crunching data from multiple countries to formulate models that anticipate the spread of the wheat rust and blast diseases in order to warn farmers of likely outbreaks, providing time for pre-emptive measures, said Dave Hodson, a principal scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) coordinating the pilot project.

Around 50,000 smallholder farmers are expected to receive improved disease warnings and appropriate management advisories through the one-year proof-of-concept project, as part of the UK Aid-funded Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate (ARRCC) program.

Early action is critical to prevent crop diseases becoming endemic. The speed at which wind-dispersed fungal wheat diseases are spreading through Asia poses a constant threat to sustainable wheat production of the 130 million tons produced in the region each year.

“Wheat rust and blast are caused by fungal pathogens, and like many fungi, they spread from plant to plant — and field to field — in tiny particles called spores,” said Hodson. “Disease strain mutations can overcome resistant varieties, leaving farmers few choices but to rely on expensive and environmentally-damaging fungicides to prevent crop loss.”

“The early warning system combines climate data and epidemiology models to predict how spores will spread through the air and identifies environmental conditions where healthy crops are at risk of infection. This allows for more targeted and optimal use of fungicides.”

The system was first developed in Ethiopia. It uses weather information from the Met Office, the UK’s national meteorological service, along with field and mobile phone surveillance data and disease spread modeling from the University of Cambridge, to construct and deploy a near real-time early warning system.

CIMMYT consultant Madan Bhatta conducts field surveys using Open Data Kit (ODK) in the mid-hills of Nepal. (Photo: D. Hodson/CIMMYT)
CIMMYT consultant Madan Bhatta conducts field surveys using Open Data Kit (ODK) in the mid-hills of Nepal. (Photo: D. Hodson/CIMMYT)

Initial efforts focused on adapting the wheat stripe and stem rust model from Ethiopia to Bangladesh and Nepal have been successful, with field surveillance data appearing to align with the weather-driven disease early warnings, but further analysis is ongoing, said Hodson.

“In the current wheat season we are in the process of comparing our disease forecasting models with on-the-ground survey results in both countries,” the wheat expert said.

“Next season, after getting validation from national partners, we will pilot getting our predictions to farmers through text-based messaging systems.”

CIMMYT’s strong partnerships with governmental extension systems and farmer associations across South Asia are being utilized to develop efficient pathways to get disease predictions to farmers, said Tim Krupnik, a CIMMYT Senior Scientist based in Bangladesh.

“Partnerships are essential. Working with our colleagues, we can validate and test the deployment of model-derived advisories in real-world extension settings,” Krupnik said. “The forecasting and early warning systems are designed to reduce unnecessary fungicide use, advising it only in the case where outbreaks are expected.”

Local partners are also key for data collection to support and develop future epidemiological modelling, the development of advisory graphics and the dissemination of information, he explained.

The second stage of the project concerns the adaptation of the framework and protocols for wheat blast disease to improve existing wheat blast early warning systems already pioneered in Bangladesh.

Example of weekly stripe rust spore deposition forecast in Nepal. Darker colors represent higher predicted number of spores deposited. The early warning system combines weather information from the Met Office with field and mobile phone surveillance data and disease spread modeling from the University of Cambridge. (Graphic: University of Cambridge and Met Office)
Example of weekly stripe rust spore deposition forecast in Nepal. Darker colors represent higher predicted number of spores deposited. The early warning system combines weather information from the Met Office with field and mobile phone surveillance data and disease spread modeling from the University of Cambridge. (Graphic: University of Cambridge and Met Office)

Strong scientific partnership champions diversity to achieve common goals

The meteorological-driven wheat disease warning system is an example of effective international scientific partnership contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, said Sarah Millington, a scientific manager at Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Group with the Met Office.

“Diverse expertise from the Met Office, the University of Cambridge and CIMMYT shows how combined fundamental research in epidemiology and meteorology modelling with field-based disease observation can produce a system that boosts smallholder farmers’ resilience to major agricultural challenges,” she said.

The atmospheric dispersion modeling was originally developed in response to the Chernobyl disaster and since then has evolved to be able to model the dispersion and deposition of a range of particles and gases, including biological particles such as wheat rust spores.

“The framework together with the underpinning technologies are transferable to forecast fungal disease in other regions and can be readily adapted for other wind-dispersed pests and disease of major agricultural crops,” said Christopher Gilligan, head of the Epidemiology and Modelling Group at the University of Cambridge.

Fungal wheat diseases are an increasing threat to farmer livelihoods in Asia

Wheat leaf rust can be spotted on a wheat plant of a highly susceptible variety in Nepal. The symptoms of wheat rust are dusty, reddish-orange to reddish-brown fruiting bodies that appear on the leaf surface. These lesions produce numerous spores, which are spread by wind and splashing water. (Photo: D Hodson/CIMMYT)
Wheat leaf rust can be spotted on a wheat plant of a highly susceptible variety in Nepal. The symptoms of wheat rust are dusty, reddish-orange to reddish-brown fruiting bodies that appear on the leaf surface. These lesions produce numerous spores, which are spread by wind and splashing water. (Photo: D Hodson/CIMMYT)

While there has been a history of wheat rust disease epidemics in South Asia, new emerging strains and changes to climate pose an increased threat to farmers’ livelihoods. The pathogens that cause rust diseases are continually evolving and changing over time, making them difficult to control.

Stripe rust threatens farmers in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, typically in two out of five seasons, with an estimated 43 million hectares of wheat vulnerable. When weather conditions are conducive and susceptible cultivars are grown, farmers can experience losses exceeding 70%.

Populations of stem rust are building at alarming rates and previously unseen scales in neighboring regions. Stem rust spores can spread across regions on the wind; this also amplifies the threat of incursion into South Asia and the ARRCC program’s target countries, underscoring the very real risk that the disease could reemerge within the subcontinent.

The devastating wheat blast disease, originating in the Americas, suddenly appeared in Bangladesh in 2016, causing wheat crop losses as high as 30% on a large area, and continues to threaten South Asia’s vast wheat lands.

In both cases, quick international responses through CIMMYT, the CGIAR research program on Wheat (WHEAT) and the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative have been able to monitor and characterize the diseases and, especially, to develop and deploy resistant wheat varieties.

The UK aid-funded ARRCC program is led by the Met Office and the World Bank and aims to strengthen weather forecasting systems across Asia. The program is delivering new technologies and innovative approaches to help vulnerable communities use weather warnings and forecasts to better prepare for climate-related shocks.

The early warning system uses data gathered from the online Rust Tracker tool, with additional fieldwork support from the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), funded by USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, both coordinated by CIMMYT.

Hans Braun, Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), inspects wheat plants in the greenhouses. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Crossing boundaries

Written by Marta Millere on . Posted in Features.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views or position of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Daily life as we know it has grinded to a halt and crop scientists are pondering next steps in face of the global COVID-19 crisis. Hans Braun, Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, joins us for a virtual chat to discuss the need for increased investment in crop disease research as the world risks a food security crisis.

What have you learned from your work on contagious wheat diseases that we can take away during this time?

Wheat epidemics go back to biblical times. Wheat scientists now believe Egypt’s “seven bad years” of harvest referenced in the Bible were due to a stem rust outbreak.

So, we know what happens when we have a crop epidemic: diseases can completely wipe out a harvest. I have seen subsistence farmers stand in front of their swaying, golden wheat fields, but there is not a single grain inside the spikes. All because of wheat blast.

There are a lot of parallel issues that I see with COVID-19.

The epidemiology models for humans which we see now have a lot in common with plant epidemiology. For example, if you take a wheat field sown with a variety which is rust-resistant and then you get a spore which mutates and overcomes the resistance — like COVID-19 overcomes the human immune system — it then takes about two weeks for it to sporulate again and produce millions of these mutated spores. They sporulate once more and then you have billions and trillions of spores — then the wheat fields at the local, national and, in the worst case, regional level are severely damaged and in worst case are going to die.

The problem is that since we cannot quarantine wheat, if the weather is favorable these spores will fly everywhere and — just like with COVID-19 — they don’t need a passport to travel.

Could you elaborate on that? How can wheat diseases go global?

Usually it takes around 5 years, sometimes less, until a mutation in a rust spore can overcome the resistance of a wheat variety. Every so often, we see rust epidemics which cover an entire region. To monitor this movement, the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative of Cornell University and CIMMYT, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and DFID, established a global rust monitoring system that provides live data on spore movements.

For example, if you have a new race of stem rust in Yemen — and in Yemen wheat matures early — and then farmers burn the straw, their action “pushes” the spores up into the air, thus allowing them to enter the jet stream and cover 2,000 to 5,000 kilometers in a short period of time. Spores can also be carried on clothes or shoes by people who walked into an infected wheat field. Take Australia, for example, which has very strict quarantine laws. It is surrounded by sea and still eventually they get the new rust races which fly around or come with travelers. One just cannot prevent it.

Stem rust resistant (left) and susceptible (right) wheat plants at the stem rust phenotyping facility in Njoro, Nakuru County in Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Stem rust resistant (left) and susceptible (right) wheat plants at the stem rust phenotyping facility in Njoro, Nakuru County in Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Could climate change exacerbate the spreading of crop diseases?

Yes, the climate and its variability have a lot to do with it. For example, in the case of yellow rust, what’s extremely important is the time it takes from sporulation to sporulation. Take a rust spore. It germinates, then it grows, it multiplies and then once it is ready it will disperse and infect wheat plants. From one dispersal to the next it takes about two weeks.

In the last decades, in particular for yellow rust, new races are better adapted to high temperature and are multiplying faster. In a Nature paper, we showed that 30 years ago yellow rust was not present in the Great Plains in the US. Today, it is the most important wheat disease there. So there really is something going on and changing and that’s why we are so concerned about new wheat disease races when they come up.

What could an epidemiologist specialized in human viruses take from this?

Well, I think human epidemiologists know very well what happens in a case like COVID-19. Ordinary citizens now also start to understand what a pandemic is and what its related exponential growth means.

Maybe you should ask what policymakers can learn from COVID-19 in order to prevent plant epidemics. When it comes to epidemics, what applies to humans applies to plants. If there is a new race of a given crop disease, in that moment, the plant does not have a defense mechanism, like humans in the case of COVID-19, because we haven’t developed any immunity. While in developed countries farmers can use chemicals to control plant diseases, resource-poor farmers do not have this option, due to lack to access or if the plant protective has not been registered in their country.

In addition to this, our lines of work share a sense of urgency. If “doomsday” happens, it will be too late to react. At present, with a human pandemic, people are worried about the supply chain from food processing to the supermarket. But if we have an epidemic in plants, then we do not have the supply chain from the field to the food processing industry. And if people have nothing to eat, they will go to the streets and we will see violence. We simply cannot put this aside.

What other lessons can policymakers and other stakeholders take away from the current crisis?

The world needs to learn that we cannot use economics as the basis for disease research. We need to better foresee what could happen.

Let’s take the example of wheat blast, a devastating disease that can destroy the wheat spike and was initially confined to South America. The disease arrived in Bangladesh in 2016 and caused small economic damage, maybe 30,000 tons loss in a small geographic area — a small fraction of the national production but a disaster for the smallholder farmer, who thus would have lost her entire wheat harvest. The disease is now controlled with chemicals. But what if chemical resistance is developed and the disease spreads to the 10 million hectares in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India and the south of Pakistan. Unlikely? But what if it happens?

Agriculture accounts for 30% of the global GDP and the research money [going to agriculture] in comparison to other areas is small. Globally only 5% of R&D is invested in research for development related to agriculture. Such a discrepancy! A million U.S. dollars invested in wheat blast research goes a long way and if you don’t do it, you risk a disaster.

If there is any flip side to the COVID-19 disaster, it is that hopefully our governments realize that they have to play a much more serious role in many areas, in particular public health and disease control in humans but also in plants.

A Lloyd’s report concluded that a global food crisis could be caused by governments taking isolating actions to protect their own countries in response to a breadbasket failure elsewhere. I’m concerned that as the COVID-19 crisis continues, governments will stop exports as some did during the 2008 food price crisis, and then, even if there is enough food around, the 2008 scenario might happen again and food prices will go through the roof, with disastrous impact on the lives of the poorest.

This article was originally published by the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT):
Crossing boundaries: looking at wheat diseases in times of the COVID-19 crisis.

Cover photo: Hans Braun, Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), inspects wheat plants in the greenhouses. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Wheat curl mites: What are they and how can we fight them?

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in Videos. 1 Comment on Wheat curl mites: What are they and how can we fight them?

The wheat curl mite, a pesky wheat pest which can cause up to 100% yield losses, is a significant threat to wheat crops worldwide. The pest has been confirmed in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and parts of South America. Almost invisible to the naked eye, the microscopic pest is one of the most difficult pests to manage in wheat due to its ability to evade insecticides.

We caught up with Punya Nachappa, an assistant professor at Colorado State University, at this year’s International Plant Resistance to Insects (IPRI) Workshop to discuss wheat curl mites and how to fight them. She explains how the mite cleverly avoids insecticides, how climate change is leading to increasing populations and why breeding for host plant resistance is the main defense against outbreaks.

Injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from wholegrain teff flour. (Photo: Rod Waddington)

From popcorn to roti

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Photos. 1 Comment on From popcorn to roti

When asked to picture a food made of whole grains, your first thought might be a loaf of brown, whole-wheat bread. But wholegrain dishes come in all forms.

Take a virtual journey around the world to see the popular or surprising ways in which whole grains are eaten from Mexico to Bangladesh.

Popcorn, a wholegrain food and source of high-quality carbohydrates eaten across the world. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
Popcorn, a wholegrain food and source of high-quality carbohydrates eaten across the world. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
Roasted and boiled maize ears on sale in Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)
Roasted and boiled maize ears on sale in Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)
Maize-flour tortillas, a staple food eaten daily in Mexico and across Central America. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)
Maize-flour tortillas, a staple food eaten daily in Mexico and across Central America. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)
Githeri, a staple food made with maize and beans, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Githeri, a staple food made with maize and beans, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)
A loaf of whole-wheat bread, which could look brown or white in color, depending on how the wheat flour is processed. (Photo: Mattie Hagedorn)
A loaf of whole-wheat bread, which could look brown or white in color, depending on how the wheat flour is processed. (Photo: Mattie Hagedorn)
A woman in Bangladesh prepares roti, an unleavened whole wheat bread eaten across the Indian sub-continent. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)
A woman in Bangladesh prepares roti, an unleavened whole wheat bread eaten across the Indian sub-continent. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)
Tabbouleh, a Levantine salad made with a base of soaked bulgur wheat. (Photo: Moritz Guth)
Tabbouleh, a Levantine salad made with a base of soaked bulgur wheat. (Photo: Moritz Guth)
Granola, a popular breakfast food made with a base of rolled, whole oats. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
Granola, a popular breakfast food made with a base of rolled, whole oats. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
Injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from wholegrain teff flour. (Photo: Rod Waddington)
Injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from wholegrain teff flour. (Photo: Rod Waddington)
A plate of cooked brown rice will accompany a meal in the Philippines. (Photo: IRRI)
A plate of cooked brown rice will accompany a meal in the Philippines. (Photo: IRRI)
A basket contains an assortment of whole, unprocessed maize and wheat kernels. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)
A basket contains an assortment of whole, unprocessed maize and wheat kernels. (Photo: Alfonso Cortes/CIMMYT)

ICARDA’s Mustapha El-Bouhssini explains how crop pests are moving in a warming world

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in Videos. 2 Comments on ICARDA’s Mustapha El-Bouhssini explains how crop pests are moving in a warming world

Insect resistance in plants is needed now more than ever. The UN, which has named 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health, estimates that almost 40% of food crops are lost annually due to plant pests and diseases.

Earlier this month, a group of wheat breeders and entomologists came together for the 24th Biannual International Plant Resistance to Insects (IPRI) Workshop, held at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

We caught up with Mustapha El-Bouhssini, principal scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to discuss insect pests and climate change. He explains how pests such as the Hessian fly — a destructive wheat pest which resembles a mosquito — and the chickpea pod borer are extending their geographical ranges in response to rising temperatures.

An assortment of whole, unprocessed maize and wheat kernels is displayed in a basket. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Whole grains

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Explainers. 1 Comment on Whole grains

The most recent dietary guidelines provided by the World Health Organization and other international food and nutrition authorities recommend that half our daily intake of grains should come from whole grains. But what are whole grains, what are their health benefits, and where can they be found?

What are whole grains?

The grain or kernel of any cereal is made up of three edible parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.

Each part of the grain contains different types of nutrients.

  • The bran is the multi-layered outer skin of the edible kernel. It is fiber-rich and also supplies antioxidants, B vitamins, minerals like zinc, iron, magnesium, and phytochemicals — natural chemical compounds found in plants that have been linked to disease prevention.
  • The germ is the core of the seed where growth occurs. It is rich in lipids and contains vitamin E, as well as B vitamins, phytochemicals and antioxidants.
  • The largest portion of the kernel is the endosperm, an interior layer that holds carbohydrates, protein and smaller amounts of vitamins and minerals.
The grain or kernel of maize and wheat is made up of three edible parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm. (Graphic: Nancy Valtierra/CIMMYT)
The grain or kernel of maize and wheat is made up of three edible parts: the bran, the germ and the endosperm. (Graphic: Nancy Valtierra/CIMMYT)

A whole grain is not necessarily an entire grain.

The concept is mainly associated with food products — which are not often made using intact grains — but there is no single, accepted definition of what constitutes a whole grain once parts of it have been removed.

Generally speaking, however, a processed grain is considered “whole” when each of the three original parts — the bran, germ and endosperm — are still present in the same proportions as when the original one. This definition applies to all cereals in the Poaceae family such as maize, wheat, barley and rice, and some pseudocereals including amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa.

Wholegrain vs. refined and enriched grain products

Refined grain products differ from whole grains in that some or all of the outer bran layers are removed by milling, pearling, polishing, or degerming processes and are missing one or more of their three key parts.

For example, white wheat flour is prepared with refined grains that have had their bran and germ removed, leaving only the endosperm. Similarly, if a maize kernel is degermed or decorticated — where both the bran and germ are removed — it becomes a refined grain.

The main purpose of removing the bran and germ is technological, to ensure finer textures in final food products and to improve their shelf life. The refining process removes the variety of nutrients that are found in the bran and germ, so many refined flours end up being enriched — or fortified — with additional, mostly synthetic, nutrients. However, some components such as phytochemicals cannot be replaced.

A hand holds grains of wheat. (Photo: Thomas Lumpkin/CIMMYT)
A hand holds grains of wheat. (Photo: Thomas Lumpkin/CIMMYT)

Are wholegrain products healthier than refined ones?

There is a growing body of research indicating that whole grains offer a number of health benefits which refined grains do not.

Bran and fiber slow the breakdown of starch into glucose, allowing the body to maintain a steady blood sugar level instead of causing sharp spikes. Fibers positively affect bowel movement and also help to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, the incidence of type 2 diabetes, the risk of stroke, and to maintain an overall better colorectal and digestive health. There is also some evidence to suggest that phytochemicals and essential minerals — such as copper and magnesium — found in the bran and germ may also help protect against some cancers.

Despite the purported benefits, consumption of some wholegrain foods may be limited by consumer perception of tastes and textures. The bran in particular contains intensely flavored compounds that reduce the softness of the final product and may be perceived to negatively affect overall taste and texture. However, these preferences vary greatly between regions. For example, while wheat noodles in China are made from refined flour, in South Asia most wheat is consumed wholegrain in the form of chapatis.

Popcorn is another example of a highly popular wholegrain food. It is a high-quality carbohydrate source that, consumed naturally, is not only low in calories and cholesterol, but also a good source of fiber and essential vitamins including folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, pantothenic acid and vitamins B6, A, E and K. One serving of popcorn contains about 8% of the daily iron requirement, with lesser amounts of calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.

Boiled and roasted maize commonly consumed in Africa, Asia and Latin America are other sources of wholegrain maize, as is maize which has been soaked in lime solution, or “nixtamalized.” Depending on the steeping time and method of washing the nixtamalized kernels, a portion of the grains used for milling could still be classed as whole.

Identifying wholegrain products

Whole grains are relatively easy to identify when dealing with unprocessed foods such as brown rice or oats. It becomes more complicated, however, when a product is made up of both whole and refined or enriched grains, especially as color is not an indicator. Whole wheat bread made using whole grains can appear white in color, for example, while multi-grain brown bread can be made primarily using refined flour.

In a bid to address this issue, US-based nonprofit consumer advocacy group the Whole Grains Council created a stamp designed to help consumers identify and select wholegrain products more easily. As of 2019, this stamp is used on over 13,000 products in 61 diïŹ€erent countries.

However, whether a product is considered wholegrain or not varies widely between countries and individual agencies, with a lack of industry standardization meaning that products are labelled inconsistently. Words such as “fiber,” “multigrain” and even “wholegrain” are often used on packaging for products which are not 100% wholegrain. The easiest way to check a product’s wholegrain content is to look at the list of ingredients and see if the flours used are explicitly designated as wholegrain. These are ordered by weight, so the first items listed are those contained more heavily in the product.

As a next step, an ad-hoc committee led by the Whole Grain Initiative is due to propose specific whole grain quantity thresholds to help establish a set of common criteria for food labelling. These are likely to be applied worldwide in the event that national definitions and regulations are not standardized.

A researcher collects field data at CIMMYT’s experiment station in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso CortĂ©s/CIMMYT)

New publications: Breeders can benefit much more from phenotyping tools

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Publications.

In crop research fields, it is now a common sight to see drones or other high-tech sensing tools collecting high-resolution data on a wide range of traits — from simple measurement of canopy temperature to complex 3D reconstruction of photosynthetic canopies.

This technological approach to collecting precise plant trait information, known as phenotyping, is becoming ubiquitous, but according to experts at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other research institutions, breeders can profit much more from these tools, when used judiciously.

In a new article in the journal Plant Science, CIMMYT researchers outline the different ways in which phenotyping can assist breeding — from large-scale screening to detailed physiological characterization of key traits — and why this methodology is crucial for crop improvement.

“While having been the subject of debate in the past, extra investment for phenotyping is becoming more accepted to capitalize on recent developments in crop genomics and prediction models,” explain the authors.

Their review considers different contexts for phenotyping, including breeding, exploration of genetic resources, parent building and translations research to deliver other new breeding resources, and how these different categories of phenotyping apply to each. Some of the same tools and rules of thumb apply equally well to phenotyping for genetic analysis of complex traits and gene discovery.

The authors make the case for breeders to invest in phenotyping, particularly in light of the imperative to breed crops for warmer and harsher climates. However, wide scale adoption of sophisticated phenotyping methods will only occur if new techniques add efficiency and effectiveness.

In this sense, “breeder-friendly” phenotyping should complement existing breeding approaches by cost-effectively increasing throughput during segregant selection and adding new sources of validated complex traits to crossing blocks. With this in mind, stringent criteria need to be applied before new traits or phenotyping protocols are incorporated into mainstream breeding pipelines.

Read the full article in Plant Science:
Breeder friendly phenotyping.

A researcher flies a UAV to collect field data at CIMMYT’s experiment station in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso CortĂ©s/CIMMYT)
A researcher flies a UAV to collect field data at CIMMYT’s experiment station in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso CortĂ©s/CIMMYT)

See more recent publications from CIMMYT researchers:

  1. Genome-wide association study to identify genomic regions influencing spontaneous fertility in maize haploids. 2019. Chaikam, V., Gowda, M., Nair, S.K., Melchinger, A.E., Prasanna, B.M. In: Euphytica v. 215, no. 8, art. 138.
  2. Adapting irrigated and rainfed wheat to climate change in semi-arid environments: management, breeding options and land use change. 2019. Hernandez-Ochoa, I.M., Pequeno, D.N.L., Reynolds, M.P., Md Ali Babar, Sonder, K., Molero, A., Hoogenboom, G., Robertson, R., Gerber, S., Rowland, D.L., Fraisse, C.W., Asseng, S. In: European Journal of Agronomy.
  3. Integrating genomic resources to present full gene and putative promoter capture probe sets for bread wheat. 2019. Gardiner, L.J., Brabbs, T., Akhunova, A., Jordan, K., Budak, H., Richmond, T., Sukhwinder-Singh, Catchpole, L., Akhunov, E., Hall, A.J.W. In: GigaScience v. 8, no. 4, art. giz018.
  4. Rethinking technological change in smallholder agriculture. 2019. Glover, D., Sumberg, J., Ton, G., Andersson, J.A., Badstue, L.B. In: Outlook on Agriculture v. 48, no. 3, p. 169-180.
  5. Food security and agriculture in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. 2019. Lopez-Ridaura, S., Barba‐Escoto, L., Reyna, C., Hellin, J. J., Gerard, B., Wijk, M.T. van. In: Food Security v. 11, no. 4, p. 817-833.
  6. Agronomic, economic, and environmental performance of nitrogen rates and source in Bangladesh’s coastal rice agroecosystems. 2019. Shah-Al Emran, Krupnik, T.J., Kumar, V., Ali, M.Y., Pittelkow, C. M. In: Field Crops Research v. 241, art. 107567.
  7. Highlights of special issue on “Wheat Genetics and Breeding”. 2019. He Zhonghu, Zhendong Zhao, Cheng Shun-He In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering v. 6, no. 3, p. 207-209.
  8. Progress in breeding for resistance to Ug99 and other races of the stem rust fungus in CIMMYT wheat germplasm. 2019. Bhavani, S., Hodson, D.P., Huerta-Espino, J., Randhawa, M.S., Singh, R.P. In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering v. 6, no. 3, p. 210-224.
  9. China-CIMMYT collaboration enhances wheat improvement in China. 2019. He Zhonghu, Xianchun Xia, Yong Zhang, Zhang Yan, Yonggui Xiao, Xinmin Chen, Li Simin, Yuanfeng Hao, Rasheed, A, Zhiyong Xin, Zhuang Qiaosheng, Ennian Yang, Zheru Fan, Yan Jun, Singh, R.P., Braun, H.J. In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering v. 6. No. 3, p. 233-239.
  10. International Winter Wheat Improvement Program: history, activities, impact and future. 2019. Morgounov, A.I., Ozdemir, F., Keser, M., Akin, B., Payne, T.S., Braun, H.J. In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering v. 6, no. 3, p. 240-250.
  11. Genetic improvement of wheat grain quality at CIMMYT. 2019. Guzman, C., Ammar, K., Velu, G., Singh, R.P. In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering v. 6, no. 3, p. 265-272.
  12. Comments on special issue on “Wheat Genetics and Breeding”. 2019. He Zhonghu, Liu Xu In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, v. 6. No. 3, p. 309.
  13. Spectral reflectance indices as proxies for yield potential and heat stress tolerance in spring wheat: heritability estimates and marker-trait associations. 2019. Caiyun Liu, Pinto Espinosa, F., Cossani, C.M., Sukumaran, S., Reynolds, M.P. In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, v. 6, no. 3, p. 296-308.
  14. Beetle and maize yield response to plant residue application and manual weeding under two tillage systems in northern Zimbabwe. 2019. Mashavakure, N., Mashingaidze, A.B., Musundire, R., Gandiwa, E., Thierfelder, C., Muposhi, V.K. In: Applied Soil Ecology v. 144, p. 139-146.
  15. Optimizing dry-matter partitioning for increased spike growth, grain number and harvest index in spring wheat. 2019. Rivera Amado, A.C., Trujillo, E., Molero, G., Reynolds, M.P., Sylvester Bradley, R., Foulkes, M.J. In: Field Crops Research v. 240, p. 154-167.
  16. Small businesses, potentially large impacts: the role of fertilizer traders as agricultural extension agents in Bangladesh. 2019. Mottaleb, K.A., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O. In: Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies v. 9, no. 2, p. 109-124.
  17. Heterogeneous seed access and information exposure: implications for the adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties in Uganda. 2019. Simtowe, F.P., Marenya, P. P., Amondo, E., Regasa, M.W., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O. In: Agricultural and Food Economics v. 7. No. 1, art. 15.
  18. Hyperspectral reflectance-derived relationship matrices for genomic prediction of grain yield in wheat. 2019. Krause, M., Gonzalez-Perez, L., Crossa, J., Perez-Rodriguez, P., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Singh, R.P., Dreisigacker, S., Poland, J.A., Rutkoski, J., Sorrells, M.E., Gore, M.A., Mondal, S. In: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics v.9, no. 4, p. 1231-1247.
  19. Unravelling the complex genetics of karnal bunt (Tilletia indica) resistance in common wheat (Triticum aestivum) by genetic linkage and genome-wide association analyses. 2019. Emebiri, L.C., Sukhwinder-Singh, Tan, M.K., Singh, P.K., Fuentes DĂĄvila, G., Ogbonnaya, F.C. In: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics v. 9, no. 5, p. 1437-1447.
  20. Healthy foods as proxy for functional foods: consumers’ awareness, perception, and demand for natural functional foods in Pakistan. 2019. Ali, A., Rahut, D.B. In: International Journal of Food Science v. 2019, art. 6390650.
  21. Northern Himalayan region of Pakistan with cold and wet climate favors a high prevalence of wheat powdery mildew. 2019. Khan, M.R., Imtiaz, M., Farhatullah, Ahmad, S., Sajid Ali.In: Sarhad Journal of Agriculture v. 35, no. 1, p. 187-193.
  22. Resistance to insect pests in wheat—rye and Aegilops speltoides Tausch translocation and substitution lines. 2019. Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Singh, R.P., Sabraoui, A., Moustapha El Bouhssini In: Euphytica v. 215, no. 7, art.123.
  23. Productivity and production risk effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zambia. 2019. Amondo, E., Simtowe, F.P., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O. In: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management v. 11, no. 4, p. 570-591.
  24. Review: new sensors and data-driven approaches—A path to next generation phenomics. 2019. Roitsch, T., Cabrera-Bosquet, L., Fournier, A., Ghamkhar, K., JimĂ©nez-Berni, J., Pinto Espinosa, F., Ober, E.S. In: Plant Science v. 282 p. 2-10.
  25. Accountability mechanisms in international climate change financing. 2019. Basak, R., van der Werf, E. In: International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics v. 19, no. 3, p. 297-313.
  26. Enhancing the rate of genetic gain in public-sector plant breeding programs: lessons from the breeder’s equation. 2019. Cobb, J.N., Juma, R.U., Biswas, P.S., Arbelaez, J.D., Rutkoski, J., Atlin, G.N., Hagen, T., Quinn, M., Eng Hwa Ng. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 132, no. 3, p. 627-645.
A farmer checks the drip irrigation system at his rice field in India. (Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI)

Systems thinking at work in South Asia’s food production

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in News. 1 Comment on Systems thinking at work in South Asia’s food production

A farmer checks the drip irrigation system at his rice field in India. (Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI)
A farmer checks the drip irrigation system at his rice field in India. (Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI)

In 2009, state governments in Northwest India implemented a policy designed to reduce groundwater extraction by prohibiting the usual practice of planting rice in May and moving it to June, nearer the start of monsoon rains.

Although the policy did succeed in alleviating pressure on groundwater, it also had the unexpected effect of worsening already severe air pollution. The reason for this, according to a recent study published in Nature Sustainability, is that the delay in rice planting narrowed the window between rice harvest and sowing of the subsequent crop — mainly wheat — leaving farmers little time to remove rice straw from the field and compelling them to burn it instead.

Even though burning crop residues is prohibited in India, uncertainty about the implementation of government policy and a perceived lack of alternatives have perpetuated the practice in Haryana and Punjab states, near the nation’s capital, New Delhi, where air pollution poses a major health threat.

Land preparation on a rice field with a two-wheel tractor. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
Land preparation on a rice field with a two-wheel tractor. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
A farmer uses a tractor fitted with a Happy Seeder. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
A farmer uses a tractor fitted with a Happy Seeder. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
A farmer checks the drip irrigation system at his rice field in India. (Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI)
A farmer checks the drip irrigation system at his rice field in India. (Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI)
Wheat crop in conservation agriculture. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
Wheat crop in conservation agriculture. (Photo: Vedachalam Dakshinamurthy/CIMMYT)
A farmer ploughs a rice field with a water buffalo. (Photo: Licensed from Digitalpress - Dreamstime.com; Image 11205929)
A farmer ploughs a rice field with a water buffalo. (Photo: Licensed from Digitalpress – Dreamstime.com; Image 11205929)

Decades of research for development have enabled researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and other partners to identify potential solutions to this problem.

One particularly viable option focuses on the practice of zero tillage, in which wheat seed is sown immediately after rice harvest through the rice straw directly into untilled soil with a single tractor pass.

In a new blog published as part of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Field Notes series, CIMMYT scientists Hans Braun and Bruno Gerard discuss the combination of agronomic and breeding conditions required to make zero tillage work, and propose a fundamental shift away from current incentives to maximize the region®s cereal production.

Read the full article:
Field Notes – Systems thinking at work in South Asia’s food production

One-minute science: Suchismita Mondal on breeding resilient wheat

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Videos.

Reduced water availability for irrigation and increasing temperatures are of great concern. These two factors can considerably affect wheat production and reduce grain yields.

Watch CIMMYT Wheat Breeder Suchismita Mondal explain — in just one minute — how breeders are developing wheat varieties that have stable grain yield under low water availability and high temperatures.