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Farewell to the “Father of the Green Revolution in India”, M.S. Swaminathan

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT joins with members of the international development community to mourn the passing of renowned wheat geneticist and “Father of the Green Revolution in India,” Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan who died on September 27 at the age of 98.

Swaminathan devoted his life to sustainably feeding the world. His vision reshaped India almost overnight to a breadbasket for South Asia, through adoption of innovative high-yield wheat varieties and efficient farming techniques for Indian farmers. TIME magazine acclaimed him as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th Century, making him one of three from India to be named alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

M.S. Swaminathan. (Photo: MSSRF)

Swaminathan began his career in the world of academia. After earning his Ph.D. in plant genetics from Cambridge University in 1952, he moved to the United States to continue his research as a professor; however, his home country India eventually called him back home. With the crisis of a rapidly increasing population and low food production, Swaminathan returned to become a scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), where he later served as Director from 1961 to 1972.

It was during this time that he began his collaboration scientist Norman Borlaug, future Nobel Prize laureate and soon to be leader of CIMMYT wheat research. Swaminathan saw the value of the Mexican semi-dwarf wheat varieties, which were developed by Borlaug, for wheat production in India and requested that Borlaug send him a range of breeding materials containing the Norin dwarfing genes. The seeds arrived in 1963 along with Borlaug and the pair travelled the wheat-belt of India. Swaminathan arranged multi-location trials for the varieties and established an inter-disciplinary team to adapt the new varieties for Indian conditions.

Norman Borlaug with Swaminathan and Kohli, key promoters of modern varieties, in a seed production plot, India, 1964. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The next step was convincing local farmers to grow the varieties. By 1966, Swaminathan had established 2,000 model farms where farmers could see for themselves the benefits of the new wheats. Swaminathan’s final act in kickstarting the Green Revolution in India was to successfully lobby the Indian government to import 18,000 tons of the Mexican seed.

Just 4 years later India’s wheat harvest had doubled to 20 million tons, ending the nation’s dependence on wheat imports and saving millions from starvation. Swaminathan continued to work with the Indian government to maintain food security and long-term self-sufficiency across the country and the impact of his work earned him the first World Food Prize in 1987.

Swaminathan held a number of leadership roles in world agricultural and conservation organizations over his lifetime, including the FAO council, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the World Wide Fund for Nature (India), and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He also served as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Secretary to the Government of India at the Department of Agricultural Research and Education from 1972-79, as well as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines from 1982-88.

A humanitarian at heart

Not just a scientist, Swaminathan was an advocate and humanitarian. Shortly after winning the World Food Prize, he used the award funds to establish a research center, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), in Chennai, India. The MSSRF allowed him to work on his other passion, sustainable development, where he coordinated research and action on conservation of endangered species, protection of coastal ecosystems, precision farming, ecotechnology, community education and technical training, and programs for rural internet access.

M.S. Swaminathan won the World Food Prize in 1987. (Photo: World Food Prize)

He has received 84 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world and multiple awards including the Padma Shri (1967), Padma Bhushan (1972) and Padma Vibushan (1989) – the fourth, third and second highest civilian awards in India. He has also won numerous international awards including the 1994 UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize, the UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal in 1999 and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award in 2000.

“He was a real gentleman with a sharp memory,” recalls CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh. “I always admired his capacity and his ability to link complicated topics into a nice synthesis.”

He was an inspiration to thousands and will be greatly missed for his scientific brilliance, his pioneering advocacy and humanitarianism, and his life mission to reduce world hunger through improved technology for citizens from all levels of society.

The CIMMYT family extends its deepest condolences to the Swaminathan family.

The world’s future wheat will need to withstand the climate crisis

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

As hotter temperatures and drought become the norm in places used to growing wheat, yields will be reduced, climate change will have some effect on most of the world’s wheat. CIMMYT is working to strengthen seed systems as demand for staple crops like wheat is only expected to increase as the climate crisis makes the world’s food system more vulnerable.

Read the full story.

The world must act to avert a climate-induced food shortage, cautions Cary Fowler. CIMMYT has a strategy to strengthen agrifood systems.

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Blogs.

Erratic climate patterns, global and regional conflicts, biodiversity degradation, and insufficient funding for agricultural research pose a serious risk to meeting global food production goals by mid-century, according to Cary Fowler, the U.S. special envoy for food security.  

The world must produce 50-60% more food by 2050 to nourish a growing population. Yet global crop yields are projected to drop between 3-12% over the same period. Wheat yields in Africa and South Asia, two regions with the fastest growing and youngest populations, are expected to decline by 15% due to global warming. Food systems have also been disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, raising food and fertilizer prices, and exacerbating regional instability.   

Maize vendor at village market in Arsi Negele, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Fowler cites inadequate government funding for plant breeding programs as a contributor to an ineffective response to introducing improved climate-adaptable staple crops. “With the state of current affairs, we are on our way to failing to feed the world by century’s end,” said Fowler.  

Science and Innovation for a Food and Nutrition Secure World: CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy 

Global peace and development efforts will demand a cross-sector and coordinated response. Through its 2030 Strategy, CIMMYT has laid out a robust series of investments in crop systems innovation, partnership, and sustainable development, to advance more resilient food systems. The 2030 Strategy consolidates CIMMYT’s target areas through three pillars: Discovery, SystemDev, and Inc. These pillars focus on research and innovation, systems approach, and strong partnerships and advocacy efforts with the private and government sectors to address an emerging food crisis. 

“Our 2030 Strategy places research, innovation and partnership at the center of facing the challenges of the 21st century to solve tomorrow’s problems today—for greater food security and the prosperity of smallholder farmers. As we implement work plans, CIMMYT is proud of the achievements it has seen through projects in sub-Saharan Africa, our contribution to influential policy reports, and continued praise for our agri-development initiatives in Latin America. All these feats will help us deliver on and expand our efforts to reach our 2030 vision,” said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general.  

CIMMYT remains prominent in developing sustainable solutions for farmers and policy actors  

CIMMYT has achieved important progress in Eastern and Southern Africa. Projects such as the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub have brought together regional seed partners, government agencies, and CGIAR Research Centers, to reduce fertilizer prices, boost resilience to drought and pests, and facilitate market access for smallholders.  

In the recent SPG Coalition report, CIMMYT featured prominently as a leading organization in climate-smart agriculture, nutrient-use efficiency, and pest and fertilizer management. This report informs researchers, non-governmental organizations and private sector partners in agrifood and climate policy development.  

A CIMMYT staff member gives a farmer training session in Boiragee, Bangladesh. (Photo: S. Mojumder Drik/CIMMYT)

MasAgro, a research-for-development initiative, has received praise by international organizations and governments as an exemplary program for sustainable development in Latin America. Over 500,000 farmers in Mexico have adopted hardy maize or wheat varieties and resource-conserving agricultural practices. To maximize on the experience of MasAgro, CIMMYT has partnered with a CGIAR initiative: AgriLAC Resiliente. This initiative aims to bolster the competitiveness and sustainability of agrifood systems to respond to forced migrations in Central and South America which are worsened by regional food insecurity and conflict.  

Science and innovation powered by partnership can deliver a food secure world  

Climate change undoubtedly threatens global peace and agrifood systems. With over 130 countries depending on food imports, today’s hyper-connected world demands collaborative partnership across all sectors to build up shockproof food systems. Through a grassroots approach to research and innovation, the CIMMYT 2030 Strategy is built upon decades of applied science which has impacted communities around the world, to continue influencing policy, pioneering innovations, and advocating for the development of a food secure future.  

Harnessing new high-resolution satellite imagery to plant breeding

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Publications.

In plant breeding, efforts to increase the rate of genetic gains and enhance crop resilience to the effects of climate change are often limited by the inaccessibility and costs of phenotyping methods. The recent rapid development of sensors, image-processing technology and data analysis has provided new opportunities for multiple scales phenotyping methods and systems. Among these, satellite imagery may represent one of the best ways to remotely monitor trials and nurseries planted in multiple locations, while standardizing protocols and reducing costs.

This is because relevant data collected as part of crop phenotyping can be generated from satellite images. For instance, the sensors onboard the SkySat satellite constellation of Planet Labs have four spectral bands—blue, green, red, and infrared—which can be used to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which is a measure of vegetation and its greenness, and various canopy traits like ground cover, leaf area index and chlorosis. It can also be used to monitor plot establishment and phenological parameters.

High-resolution RGB orthomosaic of wheat experiments, assessing the effect of plot size and spacing in the spectral signature, collected from SkySat satellite images. (Photo: Gilberto Thompson)

The use of satellite-based phenotyping in breeding trials has typically been restricted by low resolution, high cost and long intervals between fly-overs. However, the advent of a new generation of high-resolution satellites—such as the SkySat constellation—now offers multispectral images at a 0.5m resolution with close to daily acquisition attempts on any place on Earth. This could be a game changer in terms of the scale at which yield trials can be conducted, enabling more precise variety placement and thereby increasing genetic diversity across farmer’s fields and reducing the probability of disease epidemics. It could also revolutionize the capacity for research in realistic field conditions, since traits can be measured throughout the cycle in a highly standardized way, over multiple sites at low cost. For example, an image which covers 25 km2 can monitor an entire research station at a cost of about US$300.

To test the suitability of this technology, a team of researchers from CIMMYT set out to evaluate the reliability of SkySat NDVI estimates for maize and wheat breeding plots of different sizes and spacing, as well as testing its capacity for detecting seasonal changes and genotypic differences.

Both their initial findings, recently published in Frontiers in Plant Science, and more recently acquired data, show that the SkySat satellites can be used to monitor plots commonly used in wheat and maize nurseries. While wheat yield plots usually are 1.2m wide, maize plots tend to consist of at least two rows, resulting in a width of 1.5m. Plot length ranges from 2-4m. The authors also discuss on other factors to be considered when extracting and interpreting satellite data from yield trials, such as plot spacing.

Through the successful collection of six satellite images in Central Mexico during the rainy season and parallel monitoring of a maize trial in Zimbabwe, the researchers demonstrate the flexibility of this tool. Beyond the improvement of spatial resolution, the researchers suggest that the next challenge will be the development and fine-tuning of operational procedures that ensure high quality, standardized data, allowing them to harness the benefits of the modern breeding triangle, which calls for the integration of phenomics, enviromics and genomics, to accelerate breeding gains.

Read the full study: Satellite imagery for high-throughput phenotyping in breeding plots

This research was supported by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, and the One CGIAR Initiatives on Digital Innovation, F2R-CWANA, and Accelerated Breeding.

Catalyzing smallholder farming in Mexico

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Blogs.

Scientists from CIMMYT, founded in Mexico in 1966, have pursued decades of participatory research with Mexico’s smallholder maize farmers to improve their local varieties for traits like yield and insect resistance, while preserving their special grain quality, as well as testing and promoting zero-tillage and other resource-conserving farming practices.

Farmer Maria Luisa Gordillo Mendoza harvests a plot of maize grown with conservation agriculture techniques in her field in Nuevo MĂ©xico, Chiapas. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Smallholder farm operations account for more than 80% of all farms worldwide and produce roughly 35% of the world’s food, according to FAO census data and follow-up studies.

An estimated two-thirds of the Mexico’s farmers are smallholders, typically working challenging agroecologies scattered across the country’s mountainous terrain and applying generations-old subsistence practices to grow low-yielding local maize varieties.

Ancient milpa multicropping systems can lift up the present and future

The milpa intercrop — in which maize is grown together with beans, squash, or other vegetable crops — has a millennial history in the Americas and can furnish a vital supply of food and nutrients for marginalized, resource-poor communities.

One hectare of a milpa comprising maize, common beans, and potatoes can provide the annual carbohydrate needs of more than 13 adults, enough protein for nearly 10 adults, and adequate supplies of many vitamins and minerals, according to a CIMMYT-led study in the western highlands of Guatemala, an isolated and impoverished region, reported in Nature Scientific Reports in 2021.

But milpas are typically grown on much smaller areas than a hectare, so households cannot depend on this intercrop alone to satisfy their needs. A solution? Customized milpas that merge farmers’ age-old wisdom and practices with science-based innovation.

An example is planting fruit trees — guava, avocado, mango, peaches, or lime among others — among milpa crops in lines perpendicular to hill slopes. The practice was tested and promoted in the Los Tuxtlas region of the state of Veracruz by Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) and the Colegio de Postgraduados (ColPos) and has been refined by farmers in other areas through CIMMYT-led innovation networks.

Planted milpa crops in lines perpendicular to the slope on a steep hillside in Chiapas, Mexico. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

In Los Tuxtlas the practice provided added income and nutrition, dramatically reduced erosion, improved land and water-use efficiency by around 50%, and boosted soil health and fertility.

In the state of Puebla and other parts of South and southwestern Mexico, milpa-fruit tree intercrops have worked well on steep hillsides. In the state of Oaxaca, for example, versions of the practice have notably improved farming by indigenous communities in the Mixe and Mazateca regions, supported by outreach of the Mexican Agency for the Sustainable Development of Hillsides (AMDSL), a partner in a CIMMYT research hub in the region.

Research by AMDSL and CIMMYT on smallholder plots in two Oaxaca municipalities where farmers have been combining milpas with peach and avocado production and conservation agriculture practices for more than a decade found that cropping diversification, together with use of zero tillage and keeping crop residues on the soil rather than removing or burning them, raised total yearly crop outputs by as much as 1.7 tons per hectare and reduced farmers’ risk of catastrophic crop losses due to droughts or other climate extremes.

Blue maize pleases diners and delivers profits

Farmers’ local maize varieties yield less than hybrids but are still grown because they provide ideal grain quality for traditional foods, as well as marketable stalks and leaves to feed farm animals and maize husks for wrapping tamales, to name a few products.

Building on longstanding partnerships with INIFAP and the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh) to improve local varieties and preserve maize genetic diversity in Mexico, CIMMYT breeders have recently developed improved blue maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties.

Sought by restauranteurs worldwide for its flavor and beauty, blue maize grain normally comes from native varieties grown by smallholder farmers on small plots with low yields and variable quality.

The new CIMMYT varieties are derived from traditional Guatemalan, Mexican, and Peruvian landraces and feature higher yields, more consistent grain quality, and enhanced resistance to common maize diseases, offering smallholders and other Mexican farmers a profitable product for the country’s booming restaurant industry and for export chains.

Selection of corn varieties for the state of Morelos, Mexico. (Photo: ACCIMMYT)

Parental inbred lines of the new hybrids have been distributed to private and public partners, who are developing their own hybrids and OPVs in Mexico. CIMMYT continues to test the new hybrids under various farming systems to ensure they produce stable yields when grown in farmers’ fields.

Data driven extension

Using cutting-edge data systems, CIMMYT has leveraged information from nearly 200,000 plots representing more than 26,000 hectares across diverse agroecologies to offer Mexican farmers — including smallholders — site-specific recommendations that make their farming systems more productive, resilient, and sustainable. The initiative was supported by MasAgro, an integrated development partnership of Mexico and CIMMYT during 2010-21 and funded by Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).

Smallholder Mexican farmers adopt resource-conserving innovations: slowly and in bits

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Blogs.

Small-scale farmers in Mexico often adopt conservation agriculture innovations gradually and piecemeal, to fit their diverse agroecological and socioeconomic contexts and risk appetites, according to studies and the on-farm experience of CIMMYT.

Research and extension efforts need to consider this in work with smallholders, said Santiago Lopez-Ridaura, a CIMMYT specialist in agricultural systems and climate change adaptation.

“Farmer practices typically involve heavy tillage before seeding, growing maize as a monocrop, and removing crop residues after harvest for use as forage,” explained Lopez-Ridaura. “Full-on conservation agriculture (CA) is a radical shift, requiring farmers to reduce or eliminate tillage, keep a permanent cover of crop residues on the soil, and diversify the crops they grow. It can support more intense yet environmentally friendly farming, reducing erosion, improving soil fertility and water filtration, boosting crop yields, and saving farmers money. However, it also requires purchasing or contracting specialized sowing implements and fencing fields or agreeing with neighbors to keep livestock from eating all the residues, to name just a few changes.”

Conserving crop residues favors production systems and provides various benefits. (Photo: Simon Fonteyne/CIMMYT)

Lopez-Ridaura and colleagues published a 2021 analysis involving farmers who grew maize and sorghum and keep a few livestock on small landholdings (less than 4 hectares), with limited mechanization and irrigation, in the state of Guanajuato, Central Mexico.

They found that scenarios involving hybrid maize plus a legume crop with zero-tillage or keeping a residue mulch on the soil provided an average net profit of some US $1,600 (MXP 29,000) per year, in addition to ecological benefits, added forage, and more stable output under climate stress.

“Using a modeling framework from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) that combines bioeconomic simulation, risk analysis, adoption theory, and impact assessment, we not only confirmed the worth of conservation agriculture but found that disaggregating CA into smaller component packages and including a more productive crop and variety were likely to increase farmers’ adoption, in riskier settings.”

Advancing more sustainable farming in Mexico

Conservation agriculture can generate substantial economic and environmental benefits under marginal conditions, particularly by enhancing climate change resilience, increasing soil organic matter, and retaining soil moisture. In Central Mexico dryland maize yields rose by 38-48%, after 10 years of implementing CA.

CIMMYT’s multi-crop, multi-use zero tillage seeder at work on a long-term conservation agriculture (CA) trial plot, left, at the center’s headquarters at El BatĂĄn, Mexico. (Photo credit: CIMMYT)

CIMMYT has studied and promoted zero-tillage for maize and other resource-conserving practices in Mexico for more than three decades, but efforts to spread sustainable farming and use of improved maize and wheat varieties redoubled thanks to MasAgro, a research initiative led by the Center and supported by the government of Mexico during 2010-21. Testimonials such abound of Mexican smallholder farmers who have adopted and benefited from CA practices through CIMMYT and national partners’ efforts in MasAgro and other initiatives.

  • Looking to lower his farm costs without losing output, wheat and oil crop farmer Alfonso Romo of Valle de Mayo, state of Sonora, began practicing CA in 2010. “We’ve learned a lot and this year (2022) we obtained the same yields as we used to get through conventional practices but, following more sustainable farming methods, with a 30 and even 40% savings in fertilizer.”
  • With CA practices he adopted in 2018 through MasAgro, maize farmer Rafael Jacobo of Salvatierra, state of Guanajuato, obtained a good crop despite the late dispersal of irrigation water. Seeing his success and that of other nearby farmers, neighbor Jorge Luis Rosillo began using CA techniques and has noticed yearly improvements in his soil and yields. “I did everything the technicians recommended: keeping the residues on the soil and renewing only the sowing line on soil beds
. There are lots of advantages but above all the (cost) savings in land preparation.”
The Milpa Sustentable project in the Yucatan Peninsula is recognized by the UN as a world example of sustainable development. (Photo: CIMMYT)
  • Farmers in the Milpa Sustentable project in the YucatĂĄn Peninsula have improved maize yields using locally adapted CA methods, in collaboration with the Autonomous University of YucatĂĄn. Former project participant Viridiana Sei said she particularly liked the respectful knowledge sharing between farmers and project technicians.
  • CA practices have allowed more than 320 women farmers in the Mixteca Region of the state of Oaxaca to provide more and better forage for the farm animals they depend on, despite drought conditions, through the Crop and Livestock Conservation Agriculture (CLCA) project supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). According to farmer MarĂ­a MartĂ­nez Cruz, “… it hasn’t rained much and everything’s dry, but our verdant oat crop is allowing us to keep our farm animals fed.”
  • With CLCA support and facing Mexico’s increasingly fickle rainy season, farmer Mario GuzmĂĄn Manuel of San Francisco ChindĂșa village in Oaxaca began using CA and says he’ll never go back to the old practices. “We used to do as many as two harrow plowings to break up the soil, but if we leave the residues from the previous crop, they hold in the soil moisture more effectively. People hang onto the old ways, preferring to burn crop residues, but we should understand that this practice only deprives the soil of its capacity to produce.”

A Mexican farm research program gains praise and interest for use abroad

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Blogs.

Leveraging the leadership, science, and partnerships of the Mexico-based CIMMYT and the funding and research capacity of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) during 2010-21, the program known as “MasAgro” has helped up to 500,000 participating farmers to adopt improved maize and wheat varieties and resource-conserving practices on more than 1 million hectares of farmland in 30 states of Mexico.

Tlaltizapan Experimental Station in Morelos, Mexico is used through the winter for drought and heat trials and through the summer for yield-trials and biofortification. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

As a result of MasAgro research hubs operating across Mexico’s multiple and diverse agroecologies to promote the sustainable intensification of maize and wheat farming systems — including improved varieties and resource-conserving, climate-smart practices — yields of project participants for maize were 20% higher and for wheat 3% higher than local averages. Similarly, average net incomes for participating maize farmers were 23% greater and 4% greater for wheat farmers, compared to local averages.

The MasAgro biodiversity component gathered and analyzed one of the world’s largest-ever samplings of maize and wheat genetic diversity, including CIMMYT’s own vast seed bank collections, to help identify and characterize new genes of interest for breeding. As one result, more than 2 billion genetic data points and over 870,000 data entries from associated field trials are freely available to the scientific community, via the project’s online repository.

MasAgro has involved national and local research organizations, universities, companies, and non-government organizations working through more than 40 research platforms and 1,000 demonstration modules, while building the capacity of thousands of farmers and hundreds of technical and extension experts who serve them.

State-level partners sign on to MasAgro

Through MasAgro, CIMMYT entered into research and development partnerships with 12 Mexican states. An example is the mountainous, central Mexican state of Guanajuato, home to the El Bajío region, one of Mexico’s most productive farm areas but which also suffers from soil degradation, water scarcity, and climate change effects — challenges faced by farmers throughout Mexico. The governor of Guanajuato visited CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico in June 2023 to review progress and agree on follow-up activities.

MasAgro generated more sustainable production and irrigation systems in Guanajuato, Mexico. (Photo: ACCIMMYT)

CIMMYT has worked with Guanajuato state and local experts and farmers themselves to test and promote innovations through 7 research platforms reaching nearly 150,000 hectares. As of 2020, new crop varieties and resource-conserving, climate-smart management practices had helped underpin increases of 14% in irrigated wheat production and, under rainfed farming systems, improved outputs of 28% for beans, 150% for local maize varieties and 190% for hybrid maize, over state averages.

An integral soil fertility initiative has included the analysis and mapping of more than 100,000 hectares of farmland, helping Guanajuato farmers to cut costs, use fertilizer more effectively, and reduce the burning of crop residues and associated air pollution.

Service centers for the rental and repair of conservation agriculture machinery are helping to spread practices such as zero tillage and residue mulches. Supported by CIMMYT advisors, Guanajuato farmers are entering into equitable and ecologically friendly production agreements with companies such as Nestle, Kellogg’s, and Heineken, among other profitable and responsible public-private arrangements.

Acclaim and interest abroad for MasAgro

MasAgro has received numerous awards and mentions as a model for sustainable agricultural development. A few examples:

Dignitaries applaud MasAgro launch at CIMMYT. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
  • The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) mentioned the program as an example of successful extension.
  • The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cited MasAgro for promoting productive and sustainable agriculture.
  • The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) lauded MasAgro for promoting climate-resilient agriculture.
  • During the 2018 G20 summit in Argentina, MasAgro was considered a model for coordinating agricultural research, development, innovation, technology transfer, and public-private partnerships.
  • Bram Govaerts, now Director General of CIMMYT, received the 2014 Norman Borlaug Field Award for his work at the time as leader of MasAgro’s farmer outreach component.
  • MasAgro research hubs were recently used as a guide by USAID for efforts in Sudan and Eastern Africa. They have also been replicated in Guatemala and Honduras.

Moving out and beyond

In Central America and Mexico, the inter-connected crises of weak agri-food systems, climate change, conflict, and migration have worsened, while small-scale farmers and marginalized sectors remain mired in poverty.

Capitalizing on its experience in MasAgro, CIMMYT is a major partner in the recently launched CGIAR initiative, AgriLAC Resiliente, which aims to build the resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness of agrifood systems and actors in Latin America and the Caribbean, helping them to meet urgent food security needs, mitigate climate hazards, stabilize vulnerable communities, and reduce forced migration. The effort will focus on farmers in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Farmer Marilu Meza Morales harvests her maize in ComitĂĄn, Mexico. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

As described in a 2021 science journal article, CIMMYT also helped create the integrated agri-food system initiative (IASI), a methodology that was developed and validated through case studies in Mexico and Colombia, and leverages situation analysis, model predictions, and scenarios to synchronize public and private action toward sustainable, equitable, and inclusive agri-food systems.

“CIMMYT’s integrated development approach to maize system transformation in Mexico and Colombia laid the foundations for the IASI methodology by overcoming government transitions, annual budget constraints, and win-or-lose rivalries between stakeholders, in favor of equity, profitability, resilience and sustainability,” said Govaerts.

The 2021 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) report “Strengthening the Climate for Sustainable Agricultural Growth” endorsed IASI, saying it “
is designed to generate strategies, actions and quantitative, Sustainable-Development-Goals-aligned targets that have a significant likelihood of supportive public and private investment.”

SPG Coalition: CIMMYT is a leading organization for climate-smart agriculture, nutrient-use efficiency, and pest and fertilizer management

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Blogs.

The Coalition on Sustainable Productivity Growth for Food Security and Resource Conservation (SPG Coalition) brings together researchers, non-governmental organizations, and private sector partners to advance a world with greater access to nutritious food and affordable diets. The Coalition recognizes that increasing the productivity of natural resources through climate adaptation and mitigation is instrumental to reaching this goal.

In a recent report, the SPG Coalition provides a path forward for NGOs, research institutions, and government agencies to strengthen agrifood and climate policies. The report contains real-life, evidence-based examples to further the sustainable production and conservation of natural resources, detailing the potential impacts on social, economic, and environmental conditions.

CIMMYT features prominently in the report as a leading organization focused on 4 main areas: climate-smart agriculture, nutrient-use efficiency (NUE), and pest and fertilizer management.

Nutrient-use efficiency and fertilizer management

While chemical fertilizers increase crop yields, excessive or improper use of fertilizers contributes to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and increases labor costs for smallholders. Efficient NUE is central to nutrient management and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Women using spreader for fertilizer application. (Photo: Wasim Iftikar/CSISA)

In India, CIMMYT, along with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), CGIAR Research Centers, and regional partners, tested digital tools like the Nutrient Expert (NE) decision support tool which measures proper fertilizer use for optimized yields and provides nutrient recommendations based on local soil conditions.

The majority of smallholders who applied the NE tool reported higher yields while emitting less GHG emissions by 12-20% in wheat and by around 2.5% in rice as compared with conventional fertilization practices. Farmers also recorded double economic gains: increased yields and reduced fertilizer costs. Wider government scaling of NE could enhance regional food security and mitigate GHG emissions.

The Feed the Future Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, led by CIMMYT and USAID, advocates for climate-smart agriculture by linking smallholders with improved seed, providing capacity-building programs, and promoting efficient fertilizer use. With a vast network established with the support from the Government of Nepal, NSAF successfully provides smallholders with expanded market access and nutritious and climate-resilient crop varieties.

Climate-smart maize breeding 

Since its arrival to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2016, fall armyworm (FAW) has devastated maize harvests for countless smallholders on the continent. Economic uncertainty caused by unstable yields and climate stressors like drought coupled with this endemic pest risk aggravating food insecurity.

Fall armyworm. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT and NARES Partner Institutions in Eastern and Southern Africa are spearheading a robust pest management project to develop, screen, and introduce genetically resistant elite maize hybrids across SSA. South Sudan, Zambia, Kenya, and Malawi have already deployed resistant maize varieties, and eight other countries in the region are projected to release their own in 2023. These countries are also conducting National Performance Trials (NPTs) to increase awareness of host plant resistance for the sustainable control of FAW and to sensitize policymakers on accelerating the delivery of FAW-tolerant maize varieties.

The establishment of FAW screening facilities in Africa permits more rapid detection and breeding of maize varieties with native genetic resistance to FAW, facilitating increased deployment of these varieties across Africa. The sustainable control of FAW demands a rapid-response effort, overseen by research organizations and governments, to further develop and validate genetic resistance to fall armyworms. Achieving greater impact for maize smallholders is critical to ensuring improved income and food security in Africa. It is also paramount for biodiversity conservation and removing labor burden on farmers applying additional synthetic pesticides to prevent further losses by the pest.

“The SPG Coalition report emphasizes the power of partnership to enhance financial and food security for smallholder communities in the Global South. This is fully in line with the recently launched CIMMYT 2030 strategy. It’s also an important reminder to assess our strong points and where more investment and collaboration is needed,” said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general.

CIMMYT director general and cropping system scientist to receive the 2023 Glenn Anderson Lectureship Award

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News.

The Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) will bestow on Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT, the 2023 Glenn Anderson Lectureship Award, during the upcoming International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP2023) in Lyon, France, on August 21, 2023.

Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general, participates in the World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The award honors the legacy of Robert Glenn Anderson (1924-81), eminent Canadian agricultural scientist and former CIMMYT wheat research director who helped ignite in India the “green revolution,” a rapid modernization of agriculture during the 1960s-70s and by which that nation went from grain shortages and hunger to becoming a leading grain exporter.

A bioscience engineer and soil scientist who is a PhD graduate from Belgium’s Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and has worked in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Govaerts will give the keynote address “Agrifood system for a food and nutrition secure world: From efficiency to resilience,” describing in part the relevance of CIMMYT and its partners’ work.

“Early warning and surveillance systems are key to building resilience in food insecure communities and regions,” said Govaerts. “Supporting this, in concert with national agricultural research systems and private partners, CIMMYT crop breeding programs yearly disseminate dozens of disease resistant, climate resilient varieties of maize, wheat, and dryland cereals, where they are most needed.”

“The Center’s science and partnerships have helped prevent the spread of deadly crop pests and diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” he added, “and we have new ‘Glenn Andersons’ who are doing exactly what is needed to strengthen global food security, with plant health innovations and systemic thinking.”

Borlaug’s wish: Take it to the farmer

Working with scientists, training specialists, extension agents, farmers, and communications and technology experts, a CIMMYT program led by Govaerts for over a decade in Mexico applied the admonition of Norman E. Borlaug, Nobel laureate and colleague of Anderson, to “take it to the farmer,” combining the right seed with the right conservation agriculture production practices embedded in integrated markets, while recognizing and incorporating farmer knowledge.

“Ongoing efforts of the Center and national and local partners are promoting the adoption of conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification to transform food systems throughout the Global South” Govaerts explained. “The training offered, and the advisory systems supported by CIMMYT’s work aim to empower women and disadvantaged social groups, while offering opportunities for fulfilling livelihoods to a new generation of farmers who will grow nutritious food for all.”

A CIMMYT scientist since 2007 as a Post-doctoral Fellow, Maize and Wheat based Cropping Systems Management, and current director general, in 2014 Govaerts received the World Food Prize’s “Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application from the World Food Prize” for the development and spread of sustainable agricultural systems. He is A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and, in 2020, was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) for outstanding contributions to the field of agronomy.

The Robert Glenn Anderson lecture series on the security of the world food supply was first given at joint meetings of the Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) and American Phytopathological Society (APS) in 1986 and an endowment fund was then established by the CPS. More recently, the Lecture has been given at the International Congresses of Plant Pathology (ICPP1998 to 2018).

As a Robert Glenn Anderson lecturer, Govaerts enters the hallowed company of other distinguished scientists who have been invited to give the address, including Norman E. Borlaug (1992); Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Emeritus Professor of Cornell University (2000), South African researcher Jennifer A. Thomson (2015); and late World Food Prize laureate and CIMMYT wheat director, Sanjaya Rajaram (2019).

For more information or interviews:

Ricardo Curiel
Communications manager to the director general
CIMMYT
r.curiel@cgiar.org

CIMMYT announces 2030 Strategy

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Features.

The world’s food systems are under threat by escalating armed conflicts, economic stagnation, the effects of the climate crisis and natural resource degradation. Against this backdrop, the next seven years are crucial in meeting the challenges of keeping the world’s growing population fed and secure.

Recognizing that business as usual will not be sufficient, CIMMYT has embarked on a journey to proactively face the new challenges of the 21st century. This novel approach to agrifood systems is the core of CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy, which has the potential to shape the future of agriculture.

Ethiopian Seed Enterprise maize crop for multiplying seedlings of DT maize. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

“We understand that the challenges facing food security are complex, varied and rapidly changing. For instance, the effects of COVID-19 and Ukraine-Russia conflict on food systems are still being felt today. With that in mind, we set out to develop a strategy that is both robust and nimble. The best way to create a sustainable and inclusive strategy was to engage directly with CIMMYT scientists and staff, the people on the front lines of this effort to deliver food and nutrition security to the world,” said CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts.

Looking back to move forward

The first step in crafting the 2030 Strategy was looking at where does CIMMYT want the world to be in 2100. In answering this question, CIMMYT crafted a long-term vision of how it wants to engage in a changing world and achieve the transformation to a food and nutrition secure world within planetary boundaries. CIMMYT has integrated the use of foresight and specifically a set of 2030 Food and Agriculture scenarios to explore potential changes in intervention areas over the strategic period and help prepare engagements in different contexts across the globe. These scenarios are a decision-making tool that has underpinned the development of the strategy to ensure that it is context-driven and focused on the most pressing challenges facing the agrifood systems in which CIMMYT operates.

From the future CIMMYT looks back at its history and examines how its core business has evolved over the years to proactively meet ever-changing needs across the world.

At each stage of CIMMYT’s evolution, it has taken its strengths and the skills it has built and added to its experience, and expanded on what it delivers while maintaining the core strengths.

Norman Borlaug teaching trainees. (Photo: CIMMYT)

In CIMMYT’s earliest days, the mission was developing and improving germplasm and agronomic practices, then CIMMYT began working more closely with farmers (1980s), broadened emphasis in genetic improvements (2000), embarked on sustainable multidisciplinary projects (2010s), and most recently, advancing technologies in participatory innovation systems (2015-2022). All leading to the mission codified in the 2030 Strategy: accelerating food systems transformation by using the power of collective action.

Now, in 2023, CIMMYT’s progress is being shaped by the CGIAR mission statement: “To deliver science and innovation that advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.”

Building the Strategy

To define the 2030 Strategy, CIMMYT responded to the following core questions:

  • What does success look like?
  • Where can CIMMYT deliver the most value?
  • How can CIMMYT deliver value for communities?

“As an organization, we have concentrated on strategies that foster collaboration and adapt them for a non-profit international organization whose vision is not to grow as an institution but to deliver greater value for the communities they serve, to innovate for the end users of their products and to ensure a better future for our global community,” said Govaerts.

The tools used to develop the elements of this strategic plan leveraged the framework provided in the CGIAR Research and Innovation Strategy to guide the process. Staff from across the Center engaged in a consultative process to develop the objectives for following strategic components: Excellence in Science and Innovation, Excellence in Operations, Talent Management, Resource Mobilization, Partnership, and Influence.

Developing the Excellence in Science and Innovation component serves as an example of this collaborative, bottom-up approach. Planning was led by the Emerging Thought Leaders Group, made up of 24 early and mid-career scientists across the breadth of CIMMYT’s global and program portfolio. The group worked collaboratively with CIMMYT researchers and staff to first delineate the challenges facing agri-food systems and then workshopped solutions which now serve as the foundation of the 2030 Strategy.

Workshop participants study seed samples in CIMMYT’s Seed Health Laboratory. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

“Each component complements the others,” said Govaerts. “This is our answer to the core questions. Only by working collectively can we initiate sustainable solutions that reach everyone.”

Together, the components create a network to support CIMMYT’s three pillars: Discovery (research and innovation), SystemDev (working collaboratively to innovate foundational systems), and Inc. (incubating startups and new ways of doing business in the agri-food system space).

CIMMYT is leading the way in shaping a sustainable and prosperous agricultural landscape

The goal to facilitate food security where sustainable agriculture is part of the solution to the climate crisis and agriculture provides an avenue to build household resilience and enables communities to pull themselves out of poverty requires the strategic use of resources. CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy, built from the bottom up on a foundation over 50 years’ experience and the expertise of scientists, staff, and farmers maximizes resources, enhances dynamic partnerships, and both retains and recruits a world-class staff in a world of growing challenges to food security.

Read the 2030 Strategy: Science and Innovation for a Food and Nutrition Secure World: CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy 

Hot, dry, windy events on the rise in Kansas wheat fields

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

Kansas is experiencing a record-breaking year for hot, dry, windy (HDW) — the nation’s largest winter wheat producer — hit worse than any other state. CIMMYT researchers act to avert food insecurity as temperatures climb, atmospheric pressure increases — generating faster and longer gusts of wind and unpredictable weather conditions.

Click here to read the full story.

 

Country moving forward from wheat importer to self-sufficiency

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Features.

Wheat is critical to millions of households in Pakistan as it serves a dual role as a foundational part of nutritional security and as an important part of the country’s economy. Pakistan’s goal to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production is more attainable with the release of 31 wheat varieties since 2021.

These new seeds will help the country’s 9 million hectares of cultivated wheat fields become more productive, climate resilient, and disease resistant—a welcome development in a region where climate change scenarios threaten sustained wheat production.

The varieties, a selection of 30 bread wheat and 1 durum wheat, 26 of which developed from wheat germplasm provided by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) were selected after rigorous testing of international nurseries and field trials by partners across Pakistan. During this period, three bread wheat varieties were also developed from local breeding programs and two varieties (one each of durum and bread wheat) were also developed from the germplasm provided by the ICARDA. These efforts are moving Pakistan closer to its goal of improving food and nutrition security through wheat production, as outlined in the Pakistan Vision 2025 and Vision for Agriculture 2030.

Harvesting wheat in Tandojam, Pakistan (Photo: CIMMYT)

Over multiple years and locations, the new varieties have exhibited a yield potential of 5-20% higher than current popular varieties for their respective regions and also feature excellent grain quality and attainable yields of over seven tons per hectare.

The new crop of varieties exhibit impressive resistance to leaf and yellow rusts, compatibility with wheat-rice and wheat-cotton farming systems, and resilience to stressors such as drought and heat.

Battling malnutrition

Malnutrition is rampant in Pakistan and the release of biofortified wheat varieties with higher zinc content will help mitigate its deleterious effects, especially among children and women. Akbar-2019, a biofortified variety released in 2019, is now cultivated on nearly 3.25 million hectares. Farmers like Akbar-2019 because of its 8-10% higher yields, rust resistance, and consumers report its good chapati (an unleavened flatbread) quality.

“It is gratifying seeing these new varieties resulting from collaborative projects between Pakistani wheat breeding programs and CIMMYT along with funding support from various donors (USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, HarvestPlus, and FCDO) and the government of Pakistan,” said Ravi Singh, wheat expert and senior advisor.

Closing the yield gap between research fields and smallholder fields

Releasing a new variety is only the first step in changing the course of Pakistan’s wheat crop. The next step is delivering these new, quality seeds to markets quickly so farmers can realize the benefits as soon as possible.

Increasing evidence suggests the public sector cannot disseminate enough seeds alone; new policies must create an attractive environment for private sector partners and entrepreneurs.

Field monitoring wheat fields (Photo: CIMMYT)

“Pakistan has developed a fast-track seed multiplication program which engages both public and private sectors so the new varieties can be provided to seed companies for multiplication and provided to farmers in the shortest time,” said Javed Ahmad, Wheat Research Institute chief scientist.

Strengthening and diversifying seed production of newly released varieties can be done by decentralizing seed marketing and distribution systems and engaging both public and private sector actors. Marketing and training efforts need to be improved for women, who are mostly responsible for household level seed production and seed care.

A concerted effort to disseminate the improved seed is required, along with implementing conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification, to help Pakistan’s journey to self-sufficiency in wheat production.

Bram Govaerts appointed as CIMMYT Director General

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in News.

Bram Govaerts, renowned scientist and leader, has been appointed as CIMMYT’s Director General for the period 2023-2028 as of July 1, 2023, after holding the position on an interim basis for two years and steering the organization through the unprecedented global challenges of the pandemic and ongoing food insecurity.

Under Govaerts’ leadership, CIMMYT has expanded its research portfolio and strengthened its work in key regions. Govaerts has also started an effort to streamline internal processes and operations to speed up CIMMYT’s response capacity and impact across the world.

Bram with Zamseed staff holding pro-vitamin A orange maize (Photo: Katebe Mapipo/CIMMYT)

Govaerts holds a PhD in Bioscience Engineering – Soil Science, a master’s degree in Soil Conservation and Tropical Agriculture, and a bachelor’s degree in Bioscience Engineering, all from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He has also received multiple awards during his career: the Development Cooperation Prize from the Belgian Federal Government in 2003, the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application in 2014, the Premio Tecnoagro, awarded by an organization of 2,500 Mexican farmers in 2018, and Fellow of The American Society of Agronomy (ASA). In addition to leading CIMMYT, Govaerts is an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.

“With Bram’s appointment, I am excited and confident about CIMMYT’s future,” said Margaret Bath, Chair of CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees. “We look forward to many great days ahead for CIMMYT staff across the globe, who lift smallholder farmers and their communities to achieve better and more sustainable livelihoods and to ensure that food security is delivered, and human potential maximized.”

An Example of International Cooperation: China and CIMMYT

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

Awais Rasheed has established a high-throughput KASP molecular breeding platform and made outstanding contributions to promoting China-Pakistan cooperation. He has discovered and validated 90 KASP markers available for wheat breeding, accounting for 60 percent of similar markers internationally, which are widely used in China and 15 other countries.

Read the full story here.