Tag: awards

CIMMYT team wins CCAFS recognition

Written by on December 22, 2015. Posted in News.

On 29 April, CIMMYT had a double reason to celebrate, picking up the award for “Best gender paper” and “Best science paper” (along with Bioversity), at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Science Conference in Copenhagen. The conference was part of a series of CCAFS meetings held from 29 April – 02 May, and was attended by various CIMMYT staff.

The best gender paper, titled ‘Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Kenya: How Does Gender Matter?’ and co-authored by Simon Wagura Ndiritu, Menale Kassie and Bekele Shiferaw, highlighted the differences between technologies adopted on female- and male-managed farm plots in Kenya. They found that whilst there were gender differences in the adoption of technologies such as the use of animal manure, soil and water conservation, other differences in the use of chemical fertilizers and improved seed may stem from the varying levels of access to resources for men and women, rather than gender itself. “This recognition inspires me to put more effort to produce more quality research that will bring excellent distinction to CIMMYT and myself,” said Kassie, while Ndiritu said “it is an encouragement to a young scientist,” adding that he is looking forward to having the paper published.

The winning science paper, ‘Assessing the vulnerability of traditional maize seed systems in Mexico to climate change’, was authored by David Hodson (FAO), and Mauricio Bellon (Bioversity) and Jonathan Hellin from CIMMYT. With climate change models predicting significant impacts in Mexico and Central America, particularly during the maize growing season (May – October), the paper assessed the capacity of traditional maize seed systems to provide farmers with appropriate genetic material, under the anticipated agro-ecological conditions. Their results indicated that whilst most farmers will have easy access to appropriate seed in the future, those in the highlands will be more vulnerable to climate change and are likely to have to source seed from outside their traditional supplies, entailing significant additional costs and changes to the traditional supply chain.

To share the good news, the Socioeconomics program hosted a get-together with the team in Nairobi, Kenya. During the cake cutting ceremony, the best gender paper award was dedicated to women farmers from Embu and Kakamega in Kenya’s Eastern and Western Provinces, where the data was collected. The Nairobi team also took the opportunity to initiate monthly seminars in order to share research findings hosted by the Global Maize Program and the Socioeconomics program and promote regular interaction among the team. The program directors, Bekele Shiferaw and B. M. Prasanna nominated Dan Makumbi, Hugo De Groote, Sika Gbegbelegbe, Fred Kanampiu, and Sarah Kibera, to form the organizing committee for the seminars.

CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives honor for wheat genetics, breeding

Written by on November 26, 2015. Posted in News. 57 Comments on CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives honor for wheat genetics, breeding

15273920523_9dd77c5145_o — Distinguished scientist and wheat breeder Ravi Singh at the CIMMYT Toluca research station in Mexico in October 2014. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientist Ravi Singh has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) this week for his “distinguished contributions to the field of agricultural research and development, particularly in wheat genetics, pathology and breeding.”

Singh, who leads wheat improvement and rust resistance research at the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), is among 347 members awarded the honor this year by the scientific organization AAAS, which also publishes the journal “Science.”

The fellows were honored due to their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

During more than 30 years at CIMMYT, Singh has made significant contributions to enhancing food security throughout the developing world. His work has led to the application of durable resistance to control fungal wheat rust diseases, which result in almost $3 billion in crop losses a year. As a result of this work, many farmers do not need to protect their crops with costly fungicides, boosting the potential for organic farming.

Singh’s research has shown that globally effective, durable resistance to leaf, yellow and stem rust fungi in wheat involves interactions of slow rusting genes that have additive effects and that the accumulation of four or five of these genes results in a level of resistance comparable to immunity.

His research group has identified 11 diverse slow rusting genes and discovered that some slow rusting genes confer partial resistance to multiple diseases. These include genes Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38, Lr46/Yr29/Sr58/Pm39, Lr67/Yr46/Sr55/Pm46 for leaf, yellow and stem rusts, and powdery mildew, respectively.

Singh was a co-investigator for research that led to the cloning of pleiotropic geneLr34, a landmark in understanding the genetic mechanism for slow rusting resistance that is conferred by a unique gene belonging to ABC (ATP Binding Cassette) transporter of PDR (Pleiotropic Drug Resistance) subfamily.

His research team have identified and designated 25 genes in wheat, including: Sr8b, Sr55, Sr57 and Sr58 for stem rust resistance; Lr31, Lr46, Lr61, Lr68 and Lr72 for leaf rust resistance; Yr18, Yr27, Yr28, Yr29, Yr30, Yr31, Yr46, Yr54 and Yr60 for yellow rust resistance; Pm39 and Pm46 for powdery mildew resistance; Bdv1 for barley yellow dwarf virus tolerance; SuLr23 for suppression of leaf rust resistance; Sb1 for spot blotch resistance; and Ltn1, Ltn2 and Ltn3 for leaf tip necrosis.

More recently, his research group identified various Quantitative Trait Loci that confer slow rusting resistance to stem rust including the highly virulent Ug99 stem rust race-group.

Singh was also part of the global research team that isolated the wheat gene Lr67, revealing how it hampers fungal pathogen growth through a novel mechanism. CIMMYT scientists created and field tested genetic mutations of Lr67, to pinpoint the gene’s exact location in the wheat genome.

CIMMYT-derived wheat cultivars with durable rust resistance cover more than 25 million hectares in the developing world, contributing billions of dollars through enhanced yield potential and yield savings in epidemic years.

Singh’s research team has also developed various widely grown current wheat varieties in various countries with enhanced grain yield potential of five to 15 percent combined with heat and drought tolerance and good processing quality.

More recently, the team also initiated breeding wheat with enhanced levels of grain zinc and iron concentration in grain, which are being tested in India and Pakistan to improve the nutrition of women and children with chronic micronutrient deficiency.

Singh has penned 200 peer reviewed journal articles, 26 book chapters/extension publications, 80 published symposia, and 212 symposia abstracts that he has authored and co-authored.

He has also received the “Outstanding CGIAR Scientist Award,” the 2015 China Friendship Award, and awards from China’s provincial governments in Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, American Phytopathological Society and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India.

Singh and the other new AAAS fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin in February during the organization’s 2016 annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

CIMMYT is recognized for its role in strengthening Malawi’s maize seed system

Written by on November 13, 2015. Posted in Features.

Kennedy Lweya, Seed Business Development Specialist for East and Southern Africa, receives an award on behalf of CIMMYT during the Seed Trade Association of Malawi Congress and Expo. Photo: CIMMYT

CIMMYT recently received an award in recognition of its efforts and contributions towards developing and strengthening Malawi’s maize seed system. Kennedy Lweya, Seed Business Development Specialist for East and Southern Africa, received the award on behalf of CIMMYT, during the Seed Trade Association of Malawi Congress and Expo––the first of its kind––held on 22–23 October 2015 at the Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe.

Many of these accomplishments have been achieved through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, which has helped farmers withstand the effects of a drought that continues to affect millions of smallholders who depend on maize as their staple food.

Upon receiving the award, Lweya noted, “This signifies recognition of tremendous work undertaken by CIMMYT scientists globally and in Malawi, in particular, to improve maize systems. More importantly, the award is an endorsement of the value that public-private partnerships bring in improving livelihoods and food security in the developing world.”

Paula Kantor Award nominees must show gender research success in India

Written by on November 12, 2015. Posted in News. 650 Comments on Paula Kantor Award nominees must show gender research success in India

A farmer at work weeding in a maize field close to the Pusa site of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), in the Indian state of Bihar. CIMMYT/M. DeFreese

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new award recognizes contributions to the livelihoods and economic empowerment of women made by a former giant in the field of international gender research.

The inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, to be given to a young female researcher of Indian origin, aims to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of gender and empowerment of women and girls in India.

Kantor, a gender and development specialist working with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), died tragically on May 13 at age 46, in the aftermath of a Taliban attack on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan.

She formerly worked as senior rural development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). The non-profit organization initiated the award to acknowledge Kantor’s 20 years of experience in executing policy research and programmatic work related to integrating gender into agriculture and rural development.

“Dr Kantor’s work was largely driven by her desire and passion to improve lives in the global south, especially those of women and girls,” ICRW said in a statement issued to solicit nominations.

“She was a prolific researcher who participated in and worked with several initiatives to better the lives and improve livelihoods for women in conflict-prone and terrorist-affected areas.”

The award will be presented to the winner at the ICRW’s 40th anniversary celebrations in New Delhi, India in January. In subsequent years, the award will be open to researchers of all origins and honor research throughout the developing world, the statement said, adding that nominations must be received by December 7.

At the time of her death, she was working on a new CIMMYT research project focused on understanding the role of gender in the livelihoods of people in major wheat-growing areas of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.

“Paula’s death was a massive blow to the entire development community,” said Martin Kropff, director general at CIMMYT. “Through her work she was helping to lift up a segment of the global population facing major threats to food security and gender equality. This award serves to recognize the major role she was playing to help empower men and women to determine their own future.”

Although women play a crucial role in farming and food production, they often face greater constraints in agricultural production than men. Rural women are less likely than men to own land or livestock, adopt new technologies, access credit, financial services, or receive education or extension advice, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Globally, if women had the same access to agricultural production resources as men, they could increase crop yields by up to 30 percent, which would raise total agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 4 percent, reducing the number of hungry people by up to 150 million or 17 percent, FAO statistics show.

For more information on how to nominate candidates for the award, please visit the ICRW website

Winners of the 2015 World Food Prize announced

Written by on October 28, 2015. Posted in News.

Based on information from the Sustainable Intensification Program Science Dissemination Team

Photo: World Food Prize winner Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. Photo courtesy of worldfoodprize.

“It is difficult to express in words how honored and deeply touched I am by this recognition,” said Sir Fazle Hasan Abed upon receiving the 2015 World Food Prize award on 16 October in Des Moines, Iowa. “The real heroes in our story are the poor themselves and, in particular, women struggling with poverty who overcome enormous challenges each day of their lives. Through our work across the world we have learnt that countries and cultures vary, but the realities, struggles, aspirations and dreams of poor and marginalized people are remarkably similar.”

Originally from Bangladesh, Abad is founder and chairperson of BRAC, and the prize was awarded to him because of his outstanding contributions to improving global food production and distribution for the benefit of the poorest of the poor. During the ceremony, which was held in the state capitol, Abad thanked everyone and expressed how honored he felt by the prize, but noted that he should not be recognized by the prize, but everyone who worked for the BRAC organization over the past 43 years, because it was through their efforts that new pathways were found for keeping millions of people in Bangladesh and other countries in Africa and Asia out of poverty.

Another award winner was Eric B. Pohlman, who was selected to receive the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application 2015, which was won by Dr. Bram Govaerts in 2014. Pohlman, who is the Director of the One Acre Fund, was recognized for the work he has done through the Fund, by applying its extension model in Rwanda, where it has helped train more than 1,000 extension workers who have supported more than 130,000 farm families.

This event also included other activities such as discussion panels that sought to find solutions to the problems of climate change and food security. Conservation agriculture, precision agriculture, and climate-smart technologies were some of the alternatives they discussed.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram was the recipient of the World Food Prize 2014.

CIMMYT wheat breeder Ravi Singh wins China’s Friendship Award

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Gains in China’s agricultural productivity over the past 30 years are due in large measure to smallholder farmers who have readily adopted innovative farming practices introduced by scientists, said a top wheat breeder during a speech at the country’s annual Friendship Awards.

Ravi Singh, a chief wheat breeder and distinguished scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was among 50 foreigners from 21 countries working in China, who received the prestigious award in Beijing last month in recognition of their contributions to China’s development.

“China is now the largest wheat producer in the world and continues to increase production and productivity while reducing the amount of land sown with wheat by about 20 percent – it’s a remarkable success story,” Singh said.

“I commend and salute the Chinese government for rigorously supporting agricultural research and development, and more importantly farmers, with transformative policies that were crucial to achieve goals.”

Singh’s key contributions to China’s agricultural development over the past 30 years involve sharing improved germplasm, knowledge about rust-disease resistance genetics and leading various types of training, including mentoring post-doctoral Ph.D. graduates as part of an agreement between CIMMYT and the Chinese government.

The Friendship Award, first established to recognize experts from the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s, abolished in the 1960s during the Cold War and reintroduced in the 1990s, is China’s highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress. Since its reinstatement, 1,449 Friendship Awards have been conferred, according to the Xinhua news agency.

CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China's Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout — CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China’s Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout

“The new generation of well-trained Chinese scientists with access to modern laboratories and field facilities are well equipped to find innovative solutions to the challenge of feeding an ever-increasing global population,” Singh said, referring to U.N. projections that the current population of 7.3 billion will increase 33 percent to 9.7 billion by 2050.

“I feel deeply grateful and satisfied with the remarkable progress China has made in enhancing food productivity and incomes of millions of women and men small-scale farmers who embraced innovations and responded to the crucial responsibility of enhancing food production,” he added.

Currently, the country consumes almost 117 million tons of wheat a year and produces about 130 million tons of wheat a year, according to the Wheat Atlas. China, home to 1.4 billion people, is the most populated country in the world and represents 19 percent of the world’s population, the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports.

Several CIMMYT scientists have received the China Friendship Award, including the 2014 World Food Prize laureate Sanjaya Rajaram, with whom Singh initiated his career at CIMMYT.

Additionally, Hans Braun, head of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, noted agronomist Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT’s director general from 2008 to 2015, and scientists Surindar Vasal, Jose Luis Araus and Ken Sayre have been honored with the Friendship Award in previous years. Vasal was jointly awarded the World Food Prize with Eva Villegas in 2000.

“The Chinese government and people will never forget the positive contribution that foreign experts have made to China’s development and progress,” said the country’s Vice Premier Ma Kai at the 2015 Friendship Award ceremony.

Singh has also received three provincial friendship awards from China.

Reflections of a wheat trainee: Zaki Afshar, Afghanistan

Written by on October 5, 2015. Posted in Features. 1 Comment on Reflections of a wheat trainee: Zaki Afshar, Afghanistan

Zaki Afshar grew up in the small city of Puli Khumri in northern Afghanistan, and visited his father’s seven-hectare farm every weekend. In this farming locality where the staple crops are wheat and rice, Afshar saw the impact agriculture could have on a community.

“A big part of why I chose agriculture was because I saw how hard the farmers worked and still suffered,” said Afshar. “I wanted to know how I could help them. Why were they not using the advanced technologies I saw available in other parts of the world?”

According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 60% of Afghan citizens rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Wheat is the chief crop in Afghanistan, covering 2.5 million ha and providing about 60% of the daily calorie intake of an average Afghan. “We have a very basic agricultural system,” explained Afshar. “You will only see machinery used for plowing and threshing, not for sowing or even harvesting.”

Afshar attended Balkh University in Mazari Sharif and received a degree in Agricultural Plant Science. He currently works at the CIMMYT-Afghanistan office as a project associate in the wheat improvement program. The CIMMYT-ARIA (Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan) joint wheat breeding program is relatively small and new. Afshar’s dream upon starting at CIMMYT was eventually to join the wheat breeding team. Last March, Afshar was able to make this dream a reality, by participating in CIMMYT’s 2015 Basic Wheat Improvement Course (BWIC). This three-month intensive course at the Norman E. Borlaug Experiment Station in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, targets young and mid-career scientists and focuses on applying breeding techniques in the field.

“On my first field visit after returning home, I realized how different things were in Kabul than in Obregón,” said Afshar. “Because our program is very new, we have fewer breeders and need more training. I am excited to share with them everything I learned in Mexico.”

In Obregón, Afshar was able to meet scientists from all over the world and learn about breeding methods used in various regions worldwide. For Afshar it was extremely important to come to Mexico to receive his training. At the end of the BWIC, Afshar was honored with the most improved wheat breeder award.

“Through this course I learned how to be a breeder, how different breeders work and new information in wheat breeding,” said Afshar. “The most exciting moment was when I joined my team back in Afghanistan. It was easy for me to score and differentiate between different types of rust, and I realized that everyone in the field was paying attention to what I had to say.”

Why GM wheat may be the key to stave off world hunger

Written by on September 21, 2015. Posted in Blogs.

Sanjaya Rajaram is the 2014 World Food Prize laureate for scientific research that led to an increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons. Any views expressed are his own.

Unless global policymakers redouble their efforts to properly support a strategy to ensure a future food supply, the current hunger crisis threatens only to get worse.

A gathering of more than 500 scientists at the 2015 International Wheat Conference in Sydney, Australia, provides an opportunity to revisit these matters.

Already almost 800 million people worldwide – about one in nine people – are undernourished and do not get enough food to eat to lead a healthy active life, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

By 2050, the current global population of 7.3 billion is projected to grow 33 percent to almost 10 billion, according to the United Nations.

A recent report from the Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience projects that food demand, driven by population growth, demographic changes and increasing global wealth, will rise more than 60 percent.

The majority of hungry people live in developing countries where almost 14 percent of the population is undernourished, the FAO states in its 2015 “State of Food Insecurity in the World” report. The current refugee crisis in Europe provides dramatic evidence that wealthy countries must increase investments that will help promote food security and political stability in poor countries.

BOLSTERING FOOD SECURITY

Investments in agricultural science must be at the top of the list. Wheat currently provides 20 percent of calories and 20 percent of protein to the global human diet. In order to keep up with population growth, we must increase wheat production from the current annual 700 million metric tons a year to 1 billion. We also face the threat of climate change-related global warming.

Over the past 50 years, the 15-member CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers – where I worked for most of my career with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) – have been helping smallholder farmers to increase crop yields and stave off devastating diseases.

To date, however, scientists have been unable to sufficiently increase yields to meet demand through hybridization. Production must grow 70 percent over the next 35 years – an achievable goal if annual wheat yields are increased from a current level of below 1 percent to at least 1.7 percent. It is time to invest in biotechnology to ensure yields can provide nourishment for an ever-hungrier planet.

Simultaneously, we must maintain balance in the food chain and restore depleted carbon in the soil. Such concerns as disease resilience, seed diversity, water management and micronutrient imbalance must be tackled.

Governments and the private sector must more fully support research efforts to accelerate the development of new wheat varieties or face the risk of further global insecurity related to price

CIMMYT receives “Excellence Through Stewardship” certification

Written by on June 8, 2015. Posted in News.

CIMMYT has been awarded an Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS) certificate of achievement for successfully completing the ETS audit requirements for its operations in Mexico and Kenya. ETS is a global, not-for-profit industry-coordinated organization dedicated to “promote the responsible management of agricultural technology, through encouraging product stewardship and quality management systems practices and by educating the public.” The ETS audit was an independent third-party review of CIMMYT’s quality management system and standard operating procedures (SOP) for transgenic research. “The successful ETS certification is an important milestone in implementing and modeling – teaching and demonstrating – responsible stewardship of transgenic research,” according to Kevin Pixley, Director of CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources Program. CIMMYT is the first CGIAR center to achieve ETS certification.

CIMMYT has had a clear policy guiding its work in transgenic crops since the mid 2000s. Principles include respecting sovereignty and safety and assisting partners to responsibly avail the technologies, if their countries have the legal framework and regulatory capacity and if they request CIMMYT collaboration or assistance. Transgenic research is a small part of CIMMYT’s breeding portfolio and no CIMMYT-derived wheat or maize variety currently sown by farmers is transgenic. CIMMYT’s involvement in transgenic research can help ensure that transgenic crops remain an accessible option for resource-poor farmers.

World Food Prize laureate Rajaram honored at World Food Forum

Written by on April 28, 2015. Posted in News.

From right to left: Alejandro Violic, retired CIMMYT training specialist, Sanjaya Rajaram and Juan Izquierdo, FAO consultant. Photo: Juan Izquierdo, FAO consultant

Sanjaya Rajaram, recipient of the 2014 World Food Prize, told more than 200 participants at the World Food Forum in Santiago, Chile, on 14 April, that he held hopes for a “second Green Revolution.”

Speaking to an audience that included the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche Guajardo, Rajaram talked about feeding the world’s growing population and the challenges that farmers face to achieve this, which include rising temperatures and more extreme and erratic rainfall. Rajaram emphasized the importance of small-scale agriculture, genetically-modified crops and biofortified crop varieties to provide more nutritious food.

The event included a special recognition for Rajaram’s outstanding work at CIMMYT, along with Dr. Norman Borlaug, to develop more than 500 wheat varieties.

The Forum was organized by CROPLIFE,whose members include Dow, FMC, DuPont, BASF, Bayer, Monsanto, Syngenta and Arista.

Celebrating CIMMYT: what will the next 50 years hold?

Written by on April 16, 2015. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT_Ceremony_1 — Photo credit: CIMMYT

A year of celebrations in honor of Dr. Norman Borlaug’s birth centennial was officially closed last Thursday 9 April in a ceremony at CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico.

“If he (my father) were here,” said Jeanie Borlaug Laube, who chairs the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, “he would remind you that it is your moral imperative to speak up and protest for the world’s right to science-based innovation.” She was addressing an audience of government representatives, private sector partners, researchers, CIMMYT trustees, and diplomats including the Australian and Belgian ambassadors to Mexico.

The occasion also marked the celebration of a double achievement for CIMMYT: the 2014 World Food Prize being awarded to Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, former global wheat program director, and the 2014 Borlaug Field Award to Dr. Bram Govaerts, leader of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project.

During his distinguished career, Rajaram led work that resulted in the release of more than “480 varieties of bread wheat in 51 countries, occupying more than 58 million hectares,” said Prof. John Snape, Chair of CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees. “A feat unlikely to ever be surpassed by another wheat breeder.”

Rajaram’s merits were also recognized by Mexican government representatives at the World Food Prize ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, on 16 October 2014. Enrique Martínez y Martínez, head of Mexico’s Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA), congratulated him for developing varieties and technologies that have helped boost wheat productivity in Mexico and the rest of the world.

During the ceremony, Martínez y Martínez signed and renewed SAGARPA’s technical collaboration agreement with CIMMYT for the implementation of MasAgro, CIMMYT’s major project in Mexico. “MasAgro boosts a new model of agricultural extension based on sustainable technologies and capacity building activities that match Mexico’s Farmer’s Confederation’s development vision,” said Mexican Senator Manuel Cota, who is also President of the Farmer’s Confederation and of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

By the end of 2014, there were over 200,000 farmers linked to MasAgro on more than 440,000 hectares across Mexico. “To address farmer’s needs we must pursue scientific excellence as Norman Borlaug did,” stressed Dr. Bram Govaerts, MasAgro leader. “We must go out to the field and get our hands dirty; take risks and be bold in our research; let innovation flow and get rid of false illusions of control,” Govaerts added.

After the ceremony, Dr. Borlaug’s family, government officials and CIMMYT laureate scientists unveiled a statue of Dr. Borlaug at the Center facilities.

“Next year CIMMYT will celebrate its 50th anniversary,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general. “For 50 years Mexico has been the cradle of CIMMYT’s global agricultural innovation. Our challenge now is to ask what the next 50 years will hold.”

Presidential award in recognition of critical breakthrough in maize breeding in Zimbabwe

Written by on March 4, 2015. Posted in News.

Called the “Robert Gabriel Mugabe Award” (after the Zimbabwean president), it is presented bi-annually for critical breakthroughs in research. The USD 15,000 award was presented by acting President and Vice-President, Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, to the Crop Breeding Institute’s National Maize Breeding Programme, for outstanding research in the production and release of the maize variety ZS265.

“This variety, for which it is receiving the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Award is a truly Zimbabwean-bred non-GMO white-grained variety with excellent tolerance to diseases, drought and low nitrogen and therefore suitable for production under dryland conditions,” read part of the citation.

CIMMYT works in partnership with the Department of Research and Specialist Services in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development. “We congratulate the national maize breeding program for winning this prestigious award. CIMMYT is proud and pleased that our partner is engaged, committed and as excited we ourselves are!” said Dr. Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT–Southern Africa representative. “Food insecurity can be overcome if we can bring together new knowledge and skills to farmers in a very sustainable manner. There will be crop production challenges unless we integrate climate change, soil fertility and water,” he cautioned.

Magorokosho observed, “Considering that the Zimbabwe program has faced several challenges over the last several years, this is indeed a true achievement which will go down in history books, similar to the famous significant milestone that was reached in Zimbabwe in 1960 when SR-52, the world’s first single-cross hybrid, was released and made available for commercial planting.”

The Zimbabwe Maize Breeding Programme receives the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Award for Outstanding Research, at the10th Zimbabwe International Research Symposium, 13 February 2015. From left to right: Eng.G. Magombo (ZERA Chief Executive Officer); D. Kutywayo; Honorable O. Muchinguri-Kashiri (Zimbabwe Minister of Higher & Tertiary Education, Science &Technology Development); Dr. M.J. Tumbare; T. Chigama; P. Mphoko (Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe); P. Mabodza; Honorable E.D Mnangagwa (Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe); Dr. C. Mutimaamba; V. Tamirepi (holding trophy); P. Mazibuko; and Prof. I. Sithole-Niang; R. Mukaro. Photo: Courtesy of IBP

The variety was phenomenally successful not just in Zimbabwe, but across Africa. By 1970, 98 percent of Zimbabwe’s commercial maize area was sown to SR-52. The variety is still being grown today in of Africa, especially for green cobs.

In partnership with CIMMYT–Zimbabwe and in response to declining soil fertility and recurrent droughts as a result of climate change, the Zimbabwe national maize breeding team pioneered the development of drought and low nitrogen tolerant maize varieties in the late 1990s.

This culminated in the commercial release, since 2006, of two open pollinated varieties (ZM421 and ZM521) and seven hybrids (ZS261, ZS263, ZS265, ZS269, ZS271, ZS273 and ZS275) with combined tolerance to drought and low nitrogen. These varieties are white and of early-to-medium maturity. ZS261 is a protein-enhanced maize variety which was commercialized in Zimbabwe in 2006, while ZS263 and ZS265 have proven to be popular drought-tolerant varieties.

Also in partnership with CIMMYT–Kenya, the national maize breeding team started conventional breeding insect-resistant varieties in the country in 2009. This was in response to serious field losses from stem borer and postharvest storage losses to the maize weevil and larger grain borer. Two conventionally-bred white maize hybrids that are resistant to the stem borer will be released for commercial use this year.

In recognition of their sterling effort in using plant breeding to address low maize productivity on smallholder farms, CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project awarded the “Best Maize Breeding Team in Southern Africa” prize to Zimbabwe a record five times from 2008 to 2014.

We join in congratulating this truly outstanding team, and look forward to their future feats.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram presented with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2015 Award, the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians

Written by on January 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is pictured on the far right, with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in the center of photo.

On 9 January 2015, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, the India-born plant scientist who led wheat breeding research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) based in Mexico for more than three decades, received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award in Gandhinagar, India. The award, presented by Honorable H.E. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India, is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indians.

India’s Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, praised the diaspora for putting India on the global map. “The whole world admires the Indian community not due to the money but the values they live with,” he said.

The event marks the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa. Only one other Mexican citizen of Indian ancestry received the award in the past decade: Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi, who received the award for his contributions to literature in 2013.

The Union Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh attended the event. He praised the contributions of the Indian diaspora at the award celebration, saying India is proud of them and they are an example of India’s indomitable spirit.

Last year, Dr. Rajaram received the World Food Prize for his contribution in increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tons in the years following the Green Revolution. His improved varieties increased the yield potential of wheat by 20 to 25 percent. Today, Rajaram’s wheats are grown on some 58 million hectares worldwide.

Dr. Rajaram is renowned for his generosity in sharing his expertise to support research and the development of technologies that have improved food security in India and globally. His accomplishments include training or mentoring more than 700 scientists from dozens of developing countries. This enabled Indian farmers to grow improved wheat varieties on some 8 million hectares, including India’s most popular wheat variety, PBW 343. He also led CIMMYT efforts to apply the concept of durable resistance to rust–the most damaging wheat disease worldwide

CIMMYT young agricultural scientist receives 2014 Borlaug Field Award

Written by on October 22, 2014. Posted in News.

BGovaerts_bio On 15 October, Dr. Bram Govaerts, Associate Director of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), received the 2014 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application Endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation during the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa.

The 2014 Borlaug Field Award, as the prize is known, acknowledges “researchers under 40 who emulate the scientific innovation and dedication to food security demonstrated by the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug.” Bram was recognized for his leadership in developing sustainable intensification strategies in Mexico where he leads the MasAgro project and its “Take it to the Farmer” component, an innovative research and capacity building extension model that borrows its name from the late Nobel Laureate’s inspiring words.

To further celebrate this achievement, CIMMYT is making available a selection of Bram’s peer-reviewed articles. Consult the articles here.

The 2014 World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, former director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, who received the “Nobel Prize of Agriculture” on 16 October, described Bram as “one of the new generation of hunger fighters who brings innovation, passion and an incredible dedication to the field.”

CIMMYT celebrates Bram’s achievement and is proud to make the most important findings of his research available to the agriculture and development community.

CIMMYT-led climate project is finalist at Asia Mobile Tech Awards

Written by on July 30, 2014. Posted in News.

By Katie Lutz

A CIMMYT-led project was named as a finalist for the 2014 mBillionth Award South Asia thanks to its mobile platform that helps farmers adapt to changing climate conditions.

“Dissemination of climate-smart agro-advisories to farmers in CCAFS benchmark sites of India” was launched in August 2013 under the leadership of Dr. Surabhi Mittal, a senior agricultural economist based in India, in cooperation with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). In the past 10 months, the project has helped 1,200 male and female farmers in eight Indian villages to gain more knowledge about climate-smart technology and adopt technologies to lessen their risks from climate fluctuations. The project also measured how receiving information on mobile telephones will affect farmers.

More than 300 entries were submitted for the award, which honors the most influential and leading practices in the mobile and telecommunications industry in South Asia. It was presented 18 July by the Digital Empowerment Foundation and Vodafone in a ceremony at the India Habitat Center. The CIMMYT project received acknowledgment for its impact on small farmers from Sanjeev Gupta, joint secretary of the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, and M.V. Ashok, chief general manager of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

CIMMYT’S director general, Dr. Thomas A. Lumpkin, congratulated everyone involved with the project. “This shows your technological leadership,” he said in a staff email announcing the award. “Use this to energize your activities.”