Tag: biodiversity

Forests in the land of the Ese'eja Native Community of Infierno, in Peru's Madre de Dios department. (Photo: Yoly Gutierrez/CIFOR)

Safeguarding biodiversity is essential to prevent the next COVID-19

Written by Alison Doody on April 8, 2020. Posted in Features. 11 Comments on Safeguarding biodiversity is essential to prevent the next COVID-19

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

While the world’s attention is focused on controlling COVID-19, evidence points at the biodiversity crisis as a leading factor in its emergence. At first glance, the two issues might seem unrelated, but disease outbreaks and degraded ecosystems are deeply connected. Frédéric Baudron, systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Florian Liégeois, virologist at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) share their insights on the current COVID-19 crisis and the link between biodiversity loss and emerging infectious diseases.

What trends are we seeing with infectious diseases like COVID-19?

We see that outbreaks of infectious diseases are becoming more frequent, even when we account for the so-called “reporting bias”: surveillance of such events becoming better with time and surveillance being better funded in the North than in the South.

60% of infectious diseases are zoonotic, meaning that they are spread from animals to humans and 72% of these zoonoses originate from wildlife. COVID-19 is just the last in a long list of zoonoses originating from wildlife. Other recent outbreaks include SARS, Ebola, avian influenza and swine influenza. As human activities continue to disturb ecosystems worldwide, we are likely to see more pathogens crossing from wildlife to humans in the future. This should serve as a call to better manage our relationship with nature in general, and wildlife in particular.

Researchers in Zimbabwe enter the cave dwelling of insectivorous bats (Hipposideros caffer) to conduct fecal sampling for viral research. (Photo: Florian Liégeois/IRD)

Why are we seeing more cases of diseases crossing from animals to humans? Where are they coming from?

Evidence points to bushmeat trade and consumption as the likely driver for the emergence of COVID-19. The emergence of SARS and Ebola was also driven by bushmeat consumption and trade. However, when looking at past outbreaks of zoonoses caused by a pathogen with a wildlife origin, land use changes, generally due to changes in agricultural practices, has been the leading driver.

Pathogens tends to emerge in well known “disease hotspots,” which tend to be areas where high wildlife biodiversity overlaps with high population density. These hotspots also tend to be at lower latitude. Interestingly, many of these are located in regions where CIMMYT’s activities are concentrated: Central America, East Africa and South Asia. This, in addition to the fact that agricultural changes are a major driver of the emergence of zoonoses, means that CIMMYT researchers may have a role to play in preventing the next global pandemic.

Smallholders clear forests for agriculture, but they also have an impact on forests through livestock grazing and fuelwood harvesting, as on this picture in Munesa forest, Ethiopia. (Photo: Frederic Baudron/CIMMYT)

How exactly does biodiversity loss and land use change cause an increase in zoonotic diseases?

There are at least three mechanisms at play. First, increased contact between wildlife and humans and their livestock because of encroachment in ecosystems. Second, selection of wildlife species most able to infect humans and/or their livestock — often rodents and bats — because they thrive in human-dominated landscapes. Third, more pathogens being carried by these surviving wildlife species in simplified ecosystems. Pathogens tend to be “diluted” in complex, undisturbed, ecosystems.

The fast increase in the population of humans and their livestock means that they are interacting more and more frequently with wildlife species and the pathogens they carry. Today, 7.8 billion humans exploit almost each and every ecosystem of the planet. Livestock have followed humans in most of these ecosystems and are now far more numerous than wild vertebrates: there are 4.7 billion cattle, pigs, sheep and goats and 23.7 billion chickens on Earth! We live on an increasingly “cultivated planet,” with new species assemblages and new opportunities for pathogens to move from one species to another.

Wildlife trade and bushmeat consumption have received a lot of attention as primary causes of the spread of these viruses. Why has there been so little discussion on the connection with biodiversity loss?

The problem of biodiversity loss as a driver of the emergence of zoonoses is a complex one: it doesn’t have a simple solution, such as banning wet markets in China. It’s difficult to communicate this issue effectively to the public. It’s easy to find support for ending bushmeat trade and consumption because it’s easy for the public to understand how these can lead to the emergence of zoonoses, and sources of bushmeat include emblematic species with public appeal, like apes and pangolins. Bushmeat trafficking and consumption also gives the public an easy way to shift the blame: this is a local, rather than global, issue and for most of us, a distant one.

There is an inconvenient truth in the biodiversity crisis: we all drive it through our consumption patterns. Think of your annual consumption of coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, textiles, fish, etc. But the biodiversity crisis is often not perceived as a global issue, nor as a pressing one. Media coverage for the biodiversity crisis is eight times lower than for the climate crisis.

The Unamat forest in Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios department, Peru. (Photo: Marco Simola/CIFOR)

Agriculture is a major cause of land use change and biodiversity loss. What can farmers do to preserve biodiversity, without losing out on crop yields?

Farming practices that reduce the impact of agriculture on biodiversity are well known and form the foundation of sustainable intensification, for which CIMMYT has an entire program. A better question might be what we can do collectively to support them in doing so. Supportive policies, like replacing subsidies by incentives that promote sustainable intensification, and supportive markets, for example using certification and labeling, are part of the solution.

But these measures are likely to be insufficient alone, as a large share of the global food doesn’t enter the market, but is rather consumed by the small-scale family farmers who produce it.

Reducing the negative impact of food production on biodiversity is likely to require a global, concerted effort similar to the Paris Agreements for climate. As the COVID-19 pandemic is shocking the world, strong measures are likely to be taken globally to avoid the next pandemic. There is a risk that some of these measures will go too far and end up threatening rural livelihoods, especially the most vulnerable ones. For example, recommending “land sparing” — segregating human activities from nature by maximizing yield on areas as small as possible — is tempting to reduce the possibility of pathogen spillover from wildlife species to humans and livestock. But food production depends on ecosystem services supported by biodiversity, like soil fertility maintenance, pest control and pollination. These services are particularly important for small-scale family farmers who tend to use few external inputs.

How can we prevent pandemics like COVID-19 from happening again in the future?

There is little doubt that new pathogens will emerge. First and foremost, we need to be able to control emerging infectious diseases as early as possible. This requires increased investment in disease surveillance and in the health systems of the countries where the next infectious disease is most likely to emerge. In parallel, we also need to reduce the frequency of these outbreaks by conserving and restoring biodiversity globally, most crucially in disease hotspots.

Farming tends to be a major driver of biodiversity loss in these areas but is also a main source of livelihoods. The burden of reducing the impact of agriculture on biodiversity in disease hotspots cannot be left to local farmers, who tend to be poor small-scale farmers: it will have to be shared with the rest of us.

Cover photo: Forests in the land of the Ese’eja Native Community of Infierno, in Peru’s Madre de Dios department. (Photo: Yoly Gutierrez/CIFOR)

Why heirloom tortillas are an endangered species

Written by Mary Donovan on March 6, 2020. Posted in In the media.

Corn is one of the most widely produced crops in the world, and Mexico is home to at least 60 recorded unique landraces, the traditional, locally adapted strains. Preserving these ancient varieties is key for future sustainability, explains geneticist Martha Willcox, who works with the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to conserve the genes of dwindling crops. But left in the hands of aging campesinos, ancestral maize is at risk of becoming extinct. And the consequent loss of biodiversity, the FAO warned in its 2010 report, will have a major impact on the ability of humankind—which will number nine billion by 2050—to combat food insecurity in the face of climate change.

One-minute science: Trent Blare and blue maize products

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 4, 2020. Posted in Videos.

Some of Mexico’s favorite dishes are taking on a new hue with blue corn chips, blue tortillas or blue tamales. But should breeders, millers, processors and farmer organizations invest in expanding the production of blue maize and blue maize products? Are consumers really interested, and are they willing to pay more?

CIMMYT markets and value chain specialist Trent Blare explains, in one minute, the results of his study, which gives insight into Mexican consumers’ preferences and demand for blue maize tortillas. Consumers near Mexico City perceived blue maize tortillas to taste better and were willing to pay up to a third more to buy them for special family events or to consume them in a restaurant .

Corn Fed: A Tortilla Revolution in Queens

Written by Mary Donovan on December 2, 2019. Posted in In the media.

Food entrepreneur Jorge Gaviria had the idea to small-scale farmers one by one who had surplus corn, buy it from them at market price and then import it to the United States. He partnered with CIMMYT to build up relationships with farmers, working out intricate systems that would determine fair prices and ensure that they were only buying surplus corn.

Blue maize is all the rage, but are consumers willing to pay?

Written by Jennifer Johnson on October 17, 2019. Posted in Features. 2 Comments on Blue maize is all the rage, but are consumers willing to pay?

Step into supermarkets or restaurants in Mexico City and surrounding towns and you might see products made from blue maize — food which would not have been available just a few years ago. Some of Mexico’s favorite dishes are taking on a new hue with blue corn chips, blue tortillas or blue tamales. But should breeders, millers, processors and farmer organizations invest in expanding the production of blue maize and blue maize products? Are consumers really interested, and are they willing to pay more?

These are some of the questions researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico set out to answer. They set up study to test consumer preferences and willingness to pay for this blue maize tortillas.

Maize is a main staple crop in Mexico and tortillas form the base of many traditional dishes. Blue maize varieties have existed for thousands of years, but until recently they were mostly unknown outside of the farming communities that grew them. In addition to its striking color, the grain has gained popularity partly due to its health benefits derived from anthocyanin, the blue pigment which contains antioxidants.

Trent Blare (left), economist at CIMMYT and leader of the study, conducts a choice experiment with interviewee Luis Alcantara. (Photo: Carolyn Cowan/CIMMYT)

“Demand for blue maize has skyrocketed in the past few years,” said Trent Blare, economist at CIMMYT and the leader of the research.” Three years ago, white and blue maize sold at the same price. One year ago, blue maize cost just a few Mexican pesos more, and now blue maize is worth significantly more. However, we still lack information on consumer demand and preferences.”

According to Blare, the end goal of the study is to explore the demand for blue maize and try to better understand its market potential. “If we want farmers who grow blue maize to be able to get better market value, we have to know what the market looks like.”

This research received funding from Mexico’s Agency for Commercialization Services and Agricultural Market Development (ASERCA), which has been working with farmer organizations on post-harvest storage solutions for their maize. As blue maize is softer than typical white or yellow varieties, it requires special storage to protect it against insects and damage. In order to help provide farmers with the correct maize storage technology, ASERCA and others in Mexico will benefit from a deeper understanding of the market for blue maize in the region. In addition, researchers were interested to know if there is a premium for growing blue maize, or for making tortillas by hand. Premiums could help convince farmers to invest in post-harvest technologies and in the production of blue maize.

“There is this idea that demand should come from producers, but there are many steps along the maize value chain. We’re basically going backwards in the value chain: is there demand, is there a market, going all the way from the consumer back to the farmer,” Blare explained.

“There was an interesting gender aspect to this research: it was mostly women buying and making these maize-based foods, and women were more willing to pay a premium for blue maize,” said Miriam Perez (right), research assistant and interviewer. (Photo: Carolyn Cowan/CIMMYT)

A matter of taste

The study was conducted in Texcoco, just outside of Mexico City, where CIMMYT’s global headquarters are based. This town in the State of Mexico was chosen because of its long history growing and consuming blue maize. Interviews were held in three different locations, a local traditional market and two local shopping malls, in order to ensure that different socioeconomic groups were included.

“There is a certain pride in the blue tortilla. As Mexicans, the tortilla is something that brings us together,” said Mariana Garcia Medina, research assistant and interviewer. (Photo: Carolyn Cowan)

The team interviewed 640 consumers, asking questions such as where do they buy different types of tortillas, in which dishes they use different types of tortillas and if they faced difficulties in purchasing their preferred tortilla. The team also conducted sensory analysis and attributes, and gave study participants a choice between handmade blue maize tortillas, handmade white maize tortillas, and machine-made white maize tortillas.

The interviewees were given three different scenarios. Would they be willing to pay more for blue tortillas compared to other tortillas if eating quesadillas at a restaurant? To serve during a special event or visit from a family member? For everyday use?

The answers allowed researchers to quantify how much more consumers were willing to pay and in what circumstance, as they were given different price points for different types of tortillas in different scenarios.

True colors

The researchers found that preferences for blue and white maize were distinct for different dishes, and that there was a particular preference for blue maize when used in traditional dishes from this region, such as tlacoyos or barbacoa. A majority of consumers was willing to pay more for higher quality tortillas regardless of the color, as long as they were made handmade and fresh from locally grown maize. Interviewers also saw a noticeable difference in preference for blue tortillas depending on the situation: blue tortillas are demanded more for special occasions and in traditional markets.

“I found it fascinating that there is a difference in blue maize consumption based on the circumstance in which you are eating it.” Blare said. “This is one of the innovations in our demand study — not analyzing the demand for a food product in general but analyzing differences in demand for a product in different contexts, which is important as food is such an important component for celebrations.”

“We think there is potential to replicate this in other places in Mexico, to see consumer preference and price willingness for blue maize and other value-added maize products,” said Jason Donovan, senior economist at CIMMYT. “This will not just inform farmers and markets but also how to do this kind of research, especially in middle-income economies. This study is the first of its kind.”

“As a Colombian, it really surprised me that Mexicans were able to distinguish between white and blue maize tortillas even when blindfolded! It really shows the importance of maize to their diet and culture,” said Diana Ospina Rojas (left), research assistant and interviewer. (Photo: Carolyn Cowan/CIMMYT)

Still got the blue

Overall, the results revealed that women were willing to pay 33% more for blue maize tortillas while men were willing to pay 19% more. For every additional year of education, a consumer was willing to pay 1% more for blue maize tortillas. Interestingly, a person’s income had no effect on her or his willingness to pay for more blue maize tortillas. Many people interviewed expressed a preference for blue maize, but commented that they cannot always find it in local markets.

The information collected in these choice experiments will help farmers, breeders, and other actors along the maize value chain make more informed decisions on how to best provide blue maize varieties to the public — and give consumers what they want.

“It was a very interesting experience, I’ve never participated in a survey like this before and I think it is important to take the time to think about our decisions about food,” said Brenda Lopez, one of the interviewees in the choice experiment. Lopez preferred the handmade tortillas, especially those made with blue maize. “I think they have more flavor,” she said. “I just bought handmade tortillas in the market before participating in this survey, but I had to buy white because there was no blue available.”

Another interviewee, Luis Alcantara, agreed. “I prefer blue because of the flavor, the texture, even the smell,” he said. “At home we eat machine-made tortillas because it is hard to find handmade tortillas, and even if you do, they are not blue. We would buy blue if we could.”

Cover photo: Blue maize tortillas (Photo: Luis Figueroa)

CIMMYT staff members take a selfie during CIMMYT's Science Week 2018. (Photo: Alfredo Saenz for CIMMYT)

Investing in diversity

Written by Marta Millere on May 22, 2019. Posted in Videos.

For more than 50 years, CIMMYT has been dedicated to safeguarding and using maize and wheat genetic diversity for the betterment of millions of peoples’ lives around the globe. To accomplish this mission, CIMMYT relies on the diversity of its staff.

Just as there is no future for our food security and health of ecosystems without plant and animal biodiversity, an organization can only go so far without diversity and inclusion. These are no longer trendy keywords, they ensure success. According to recent studies, as organizations become more inclusive — in terms of age, gender, sexual orientation, race — the performance of their staff can skyrocket by 30% or more.

On the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, we sat down with CIMMYT’s Director of Human Resources, Monika Altmaier, to discuss what organizations can do to become better, more resilient and efficient through investing in the diversity of staff.

Q: How do you see CIMMYT using diversity to support its growth and goals?

Monika Altmaier: As a research organization, we need to be innovative to stay relevant. Hiring diversity fosters just that. Different backgrounds provide different approaches, therefore speeding up the process of locating the best solution. According to experts, inclusive organizations are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market. Combining peoples’ diverse perspectives opens doors to innovation.

Employing diverse staff allows us to be more creative, competitive and improves our best practices. It provides a fresh pair of eyes. For me, diversity is an asset that enables us to learn about ourselves and others and grow, as people and professionals. Figuring out how people think and why is so interesting.

Q: What is CIMMYT doing to attract and retain more diverse talent?

MA: We have just finished sharpening our Gender and Diversity in Research and the Workplace policy. This document outlines how CIMMYT integrates gender and social inclusiveness in its research and innovation for development. Also, it describes what needs to be done to promote gender equality and diversity at all stages of employment, from securing new talent to retaining it.

Creating a 360-degree induction in multiple languages for all of our staff has been high on our agenda ever since hearing opinions of staff from 46 countries that gathered at our Science Week last year. This induction course will outline what is expected from everyone at CIMMYT: respect and dignity for all colleagues and stakeholders, regardless of gender identity and expression, disability or health status.

On a monthly basis, when doing outreach, HR post vacancy announcements that are attractive to people from different countries, that use gender-sensitive language and invite everyone, especially women to apply. We include colleagues of different genders, nationalities, and from various research and administration units in the selection and interview process. We scrutinize shortlists and make sure we are giving everyone the same opportunity.

One thing that is harder to change is the market. Still today, in some countries women do not get the same opportunities as men, not to talk about people from marginalized communities and members from the LGBTQ community. I hope that this will change because equality not only helps companies, but also countries, to have a happier population. CIMMYT works closely with universities across the world to make sure that more and more talent trickles where it is most needed: into research for development.

Monika Altmaier (center) takes a selfie with CIMMYT scientists during CIMMYT's Science Week 2018. (Photo: Alfredo Saenz for CIMMYT) — Monika Altmaier (center) takes a selfie with CIMMYT scientists during CIMMYT’s Science Week 2018. (Photo: Alfredo Saenz for CIMMYT)

Q: In line with hiring diversity, how is CIMMYT attracting millennial talent (people who are mainly born between 1980 and 2000)?

MA: Millennials are a vast workforce. In just a couple years they will reach the peak of representation in the labor force. There is no issue with attracting millennials: thankfully, our mission resonates with them and they are already working for us across all of our offices.

With this Millennial-centric shift, however, the key thing is to meet the needs that they express. Studies say, and I see this in all of our offices, that young people want a more collaborative approach to work. They want to embrace relationships, transparency, dialogue and creativity.

At CIMMYT’s HR, we are exploring different approaches to talent management and succession planning. Traditionally, one progresses hierarchically. But the world, even the research world, is moving too fast to be satisfied with that. We are currently putting our focus on training, which helps with functional evolution. We are exploring the geographic mobility of staff both within the organization and outside, within our vast network of partners, including those within CGIAR. We are also putting more emphasis on work-life balance, which is said to improve employee retention by more than 50%. In the future, we plan to explore functional mobility, too, and encourage young people to think outside the box they may have preselected for themselves at the beginning of their careers.

Q: What do you think about investing in cognitive diversity?

MA: Cognitive diversity helps teams solve problems faster because it unites people with diverse perspective or information processing styles. Basically, how people think about or engage with new uncertain and complex situations.

It’s not easy to surface cognitive diversity and equally complex to harness its benefits. At CIMMYT, we started with doing psychometric testing when hiring team leaders. These tests are designed to measure candidates’ personality characteristics and cognitive abilities. They show if people would fit in a team. Since then we have expanded to testing research and admin teams. In my experience, such tests are highly trustworthy and interesting, and can help team building.

Learn more about job opportunities at CIMMYT

Ventura Oliveros Garcia holds a photograph of her father, Santos Oliveros, who was one of the maize farmers who donated seed to CIMMYT’s genebank in 1966-67. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)

Tracing maize landraces, 50 years later

Written by Carolyn Cowan on May 22, 2019. Posted in Features. 2 Comments on Tracing maize landraces, 50 years later

Maize is more than a crop in Mexico. While it provides food, feed and raw materials, it is also a bloodline running through the generations, connecting Mexico’s people with their past.

The fascinating diversity of maize in Mexico is rooted in its cultural and biological legacy as the center of origin of maize. Landraces, which are maize varieties that have been cultivated and subjected to selection by farmers for generations, retaining a distinct identity and lacking formal crop improvement, provide the basis of this diversity.

As with any cultural legacy, the cultivation of maize landraces can be lost with the passage of time as farmers adapt to changing markets and generational shifts take place.

Doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-Rodríguez, from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, and researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have undertaken a new study that traces the conservation and abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexico’s second smallest state.

The study is based on a collection of 93 maize landrace samples, collected by Ángel Kato as a research assistant back in 1966-67 and stored in CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank. Researchers traced the 66 families in Morelos who donated the samples and explored the reasons why they abandoned or conserved their landraces.

Doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-Rodríguez (left) interviews maize farmer Roque Juarez Ramirez at his family home in Morelos to explore his opinions on landrace conservation. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)

Tracing landrace abandonment

In six cases, researchers were able to interview the original farmers who donated the samples to CIMMYT. In other cases, they interviewed their family members, most frequently the sons or daughters, or alternatively their grandchildren, siblings, nephews or widows.

The study reveals that maize landrace cultivation has diminished significantly within the families. Only 13 of the 66 families are still cultivating the same maize seed lots as in 1966-67 and there was consensus that the current social, economic and physical environments are unfavorable for landrace cultivation.

Among the reasons for abandonment are changes in maize cultivation technologies, shifting markets for maize and other crops, policy changes, shifting cultural preferences, urbanization and climate change.

“By finding out about landrace continuity in farmers’ fields and the factors driving change, we were able to better understand the context in which these landraces are currently cultivated,” said McLean-Rodríguez. “Our study also allowed us to evaluate the importance of ex situ conservation in facilities like CIMMYT’s Germplasm Bank.”

Juarez and Oliveros’s grandson shows the family’s heirloom maize: maíz colorado (left) and Ancho maize. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)

Maize biodiversity conservation

Maize landraces can be conserved “in situ” in farmers’ fields and “ex situ” in a protected space such as a germplasm bank or community seed bank.

“These conservation strategies are complementary,” explained McLean-Rodríguez. “Ex situ conservation helps to secure landraces in case of unpredictable conditions that threaten their conservation in the field, while in situ cultivation allows the processes that generated maize’s diversity to continue, allowing the emergence of mutations and the evolution of new potentially beneficial traits.”

The loss of landraces in farmers’ fields over 50 years emphasizes the importance of ex situ conservation. CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank holds 28,000 samples of maize and its wild relatives from 88 countries, spanning collections dating back to 1943. Safeguarded seed stored in the Germplasm Bank is protected from crises or natural disasters, and is available for breeding and research. Traits found in landraces can be incorporated into new varieties to address some of the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges like changing climates, emerging pests and disease, and malnutrition.

McLean-Rodríguez recalls an aspect of the study that she found particularly rewarding: “Many of the families who had lost their landrace for one reason or another were interested in receiving back samples of their maize from the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank. Some were interested due to personal value, while others were more interested in the productive value. They were very happy to retrieve their maize from the Germplasm Bank, and it would be very interesting to learn whether the repatriated seed is cultivated in the future.”

A family tradition

One of the families to take part in the study was farmer Roque Juarez Ramirez and his wife, Ventura Oliveros Garcia, whose father was one of the donor farmers from Morelos. “I was so happy to hear the name of my father, [Santos Oliveros],” recalls Oliveros, remembering the moment McLean-Rodríguez contacted her. “He had always been a maize farmer, as in his day they didn’t cultivate anything else. He planted on his communal village land [ejido] and he was always able to harvest a lot of maize, many ears. He planted an heirloom variety of maize that we called arribeño, or marceño, because it was always planted in March.”

Juarez senses his responsibility as a maize farmer: “I feel that the importance [of maize farming] is not small, but big. We are not talking about keeping 10 or 20 people alive; we have to feed a whole country of people who eat and drink, apart from providing for our families. We, the farmers, generate the food.”

Filling vessels of champurrado, a Mexican maize-based sweet drink, and presenting samples of the family’s staple maize — maíz colorado and the Ancho landrace — Oliveros describes what maize means to her: “Maize is very important to my family and me because it is our main source of food, for both humans and animals. We use our maize variety to make pozole, tortillas, tamales, atole, quesadillas, picadas and many other foods.”

The Juarez-Oliveros family substituted the Ancho seed lot from Olivero’s father with another seed lot from the Ancho landrace obtained from her husband’s family. The Ancho landrace is used to make pozole, and continues to be widely cultivated in some municipalities of Morelos, including Totolapan, where the family resides. However, researchers found other landraces present in the 1966-67 collection, such as Pepitilla, were harder to trace 50 years later.

Maíz colorado (left), or red maize, is an important part of the family’s diet. The family’s Ancho maize (right) has characteristically wide and flat kernels, and is a key ingredient of the pozole stew. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)

The study shows that landrace abandonment is common when farming passed from one generation to the next. Older farmers were attached to their landraces and continued cultivating them, even in the face of pressing reasons to change or replace them. When the younger generations take over farm management, these landraces are often abandoned.

Nonetheless, young farmers still value the cultural and culinary importance of landraces. “Maize has an important traditional and cultural significance, and is fundamental to our economy,” said Isaac Juarez Oliveros, son of Roque and Ventura. “I have been planting [maize landraces] since I was around 15 to 20 years old. I got my maize seed from my parents. I believe it is important for families to keep planting their maize, as it has become tradition passed down through many generations.”

The family’s son, Isaac Juarez Oliveros, stands outside the maize storage room where they store and dry their harvested maize for sale and consumption. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)

The legacy for future generations

Global food security depends on the maintenance of high genetic biodiversity in such key staple food crops as maize. Understanding the causes of landrace abandonment can help to develop effective landrace conservation strategies. The authors suggest that niches for landrace conservation and even expansion can be supported in the same manner that niches have been created for improved maize and other commercial crops. Meanwhile, management of genetic resources is vital, both in the field and in germplasm banks, especially in developing countries where broader diversity exists.

For Oliveros, it is a matter of family legacy: “It means a lot to me that [my family’s seed] was preserved because it has allowed my family’s maize and my father’s memory to stay alive.”

“Farmers who cultivate landraces are providing an invaluable global public service,” state the authors of the study. “It will be key to encourage maize landrace cultivation in younger farmers. Tapping into the conservation potential of the current generation of farmers is an opportunity we should not miss.”

Read the full study:
The abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexico: a tracing study using a multi-level perspective

Funding for this research was provided by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and Wageningen University.

A special acknowledgement to the families, focus group participants and municipal authorities from the state of Morelos who kindly devoted time to share their experiences with us, on the challenges and rewards of maize landrace conservation.

Maize ears from CIMMYT's collection, showing a wide variety of colors and shapes. CIMMYT's germplasm bank contains about 28,000 unique samples of cultivated maize and its wild relatives, teosinte and Tripsacum. These include about 26,000 samples of farmer landraces — traditional, locally-adapted varieties that are rich in diversity. The bank both conserves this diversity and makes it available as a resource for breeding. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

The Molecular Maize Atlas encourages genetic diversity

Written by on March 13, 2019. Posted in Features.

Imagine walking through a grocery store, doing your weekly shopping. Everything seems normal, but as you pick up a can, there’s no label. There’s nothing to tell you what the product is, and now you can’t reliably choose anything to eat this week.

Now switch gears and imagine a germplasm bank. Without the right labeling on these different varieties, it’s difficult to tell what’s new and what’s already been discovered when working on new research projects.

That’s where the Molecular Maize Atlas steps into play.

About nine years ago, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) started an initiative called the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD). This initiative facilitates easier access to and use of maize and wheat genetic resources.

SeeD achieves impact through five main components: genotyping, phenotyping, software tools, pre-breeding and capacity building.

“One of the aims of Seeds of Discovery was to best characterize germplasm,” says Sarah Hearne, a molecular geneticist and maize lead of SeeD. “At CIMMYT, our international germplasm bank holds in trust one of the largest and most diverse publicly available maize collections in the world.”

However, Hearne says this germplasm bank used to look like a grocery store without any labels or without labels that would allow someone to select a can of value. To combat this, SeeD decided to work on a labeling process for the germplasm bank: the Molecular Maize Atlas.

The Molecular Maize Atlas is an information platform that brings genotypic data resources and associated tools together. This genotypic data provides unifying information across landraces and acts as a common backbone, which other valuable information, like phenotypic data, can be added to.

Read the full article on SeedWorld.

Recent research in Southern Ethiopia found that agricultural areas with the highest tree cover also experienced the most productivity in crop, feed and fuel. (Photo: Mokhamad Edliadi/CIFOR)

Growing need for food is reason for more biodiversity

Written by on March 8, 2019. Posted in News.

Deep within southern Ethiopia’s agroforestry landscapes, where farmers grow grain and keep cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys, researchers counted more than 4,100 birds as part of an assessment on agricultural productivity and biodiversity.

The researchers also counted some 4,473 individual trees from 52 tree species in the same study, which they believe is the first to link key indicators of biodiversity to more than one indicator of agricultural productivity, considering three products people in rural communities value most: fodder, fuel and food.

This has led to two important new conclusions: that encouraging biodiversity on and around agricultural land likely increases its productivity, and that measurements of productivity must be broadened to include what matters for local livelihoods.

Too often, agricultural productivity is measured through a very narrow lens, such as “mere” crop yields alone. But, according to the study, that has “disregarded local perspectives of what is actually important to people in terms of ecosystem services.

Take, for instance, trees: in addition to potentially growing food, they also benefit crop yield by controlling erosion; capture nutrients for the soil through their roots; help regulate the climate; and provide habitats for animals and insects, including natural enemies of crop pests. The study found that in this region of Ethiopia, agricultural productivity was higher in areas with heavy tree cover than in landscapes where trees had been removed for more crop space.

“We need to understand what would be the best way to produce food with minimum negative consequences on biodiversity,” says lead researcher Frédéric Baudron, challenging the assumption of trading one for the other in faith that agricultural intensification and biodiversity conservation can be achieved at once.

This study comes amid concerns that a rising demand for food and fuel to serve the world’s growing population – projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 – will drive greater agricultural expansion and intensification.

The proliferation of both would likely cause real harm to landscapes and biodiversity, threatening the essential natural constituents of the world’s ability to feed itself, warns Baudron. “That has serious implications for the sustainability of our global food production system,” he says. “We need biodiversity as an essential input.”

He also raises the issue of justice. Biodiversity loss hits hardest the millions of small farmers in developing countries – who make up the majority of farmers worldwide – because they depend almost exclusively on ecosystem services, and not external inputs, for production. And the resulting edible output is crucial for everyone; family farms produce more than 80 percent of the world’s food in value terms, according to FAO statistics.

Baudron says the study’s findings play into how small family farms should be managed through policy and in major restoration efforts, given that tree placement and configuration have enormous implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services it provides.

In other words, biodiversity shouldn’t be a bonus of productive landscapes. The study suggests, rather, that productive landscapes should be designed to make the most of all of the services provided by biodiversity.

The work was part of ‘The Agrarian Change Project’, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.

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The itsy bitsy spider can make a big impact in agriculture

Written by on January 15, 2019. Posted in Features.

*Face of an adult male Phidippus audax male jumping spider. (Photo: Opoterser/Wikimedia Commons)*

A new study explores how conservation agriculture in southern Africa supports spider populations and diversity in fields, which could help mitigate pest damage and potentially lead to higher yields for farmers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), herbivorous insects such as aphids, caterpillars and weevils destroy about one fifth of the world’s total crop production each year. Spiders can help keep voracious pests in-check, but conventional farming practices (e.g. tilling, crop residue removal and monoculture) can harm or drastically reduce these beneficial bio-control agents.

There are more than 45,000 identified spider species around the world. From glaciers to tropical rainforests, they inhabit every terrestrial ecosystem on earth. Some can even live in tidal zones, and at least one species inhabits fresh water. While we tend to associate spiders with webs, only about 50 percent of the species catch their prey this way; the rest hunt on plants, on the ground or below it, using a variety of tactics such as stalking, stabbing, crushing – even seduction.

Although spiders have been around for 300 million years, some species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Drastic reductions in vegetation – whether from a new parking lot or a tilled field – removes the food source that attracts their prey. Bare ground exposes their nesting sites and themselves, which makes it harder to hunt and easier to be hunted by birds and small mammals.

At the Chinhoyi University of Technology experimental farm in Zimbabwe, a team of researchers aimed to determine the response of spiders under different agricultural practices. Conventional farmers often prepare their fields for planting by physically breaking up and inverting the top 6-10 inches of soil. This practice of ploughing prepares a fine soil tilth, which makes it easier to plant; it breaks up and buries weeds, and reduces soil compaction to aerate the soil. But tilling also increases topsoil erosion from wind and water. It accelerates soil carbon decomposition, reduces soil water infiltration and disrupts microorganisms living in the soil, including beneficial insects and spiders.

The researchers conducted two experiments over the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 cropping seasons to see how tilling, crop residue retention (i.e. leaving stalks and post-harvest organic matter in the field), fertilizer application and weeding affected ground- and plant-wandering spider species. They hypothesized that spider abundance and diversity would increase with lower levels of soil disturbance and more plant cover.

The results showed direct seeding into no-till soil increased the abundance of spiders and the diversity of species. Mulching also showed a positive effect. Contrary to their hypotheses and results from temperate regions, the application of fertilizer and intense weeding did not affect the spider community. The researchers attributed this to the difference in climatic conditions (tropical vs. temperate) of this study in southern Africa.

“Often the government’s and farmer’s immediate reaction to a crop pest issue is to apply a pesticide, but we can make use of biological control agents, which may be cheaper and less damaging for the environment,” says Christian Thierfelder, a co-author of the study. Thierfelder is a cropping systems agronomist and conservation agriculture specialist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with long-term experience in sustainable intensification.

“Spiders, ants and beetles all do a really good job with little or no cost to the farmer,” he adds. “For us, it’s quite fascinating to see simple agronomic practices to affect and control crop pests. This also provides new avenues of dealing with the fall armyworm, an invasive species which has devastated crops across the majority of sub-Saharan Africa countries.”

A robust number of studies from Europe, Australia and North America have shown the link between conservation agriculture and biodiversity, but Thierfelder says that research on biodiversity in agronomic systems is relatively new in southern Africa. While the study in Zimbabwe helps fill this gap, more research is needed to show the connection between the abundance of spiders, beetles and ants with the suppression of insect pest activity.

For more information, read Spider community shift in response to farming practices in a sub-humid agroecosystem in southern Africa.

This research was jointly funded by Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD). The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) supported this study through Christian Thierfelder’s contributions.

Preserving native maize and culture in Mexico

Written by Matthew O'Leary on May 21, 2018. Posted in Features.

Felipa Martinez shows off some of her family’s maize from last year’s harvest. Photo: Matthew O’Leary

Felipa Martinez, an indigenous Mexican grandmother, grins as she shows off a bag bulging with maize cobs saved from last harvest season. With her family, she managed to farm enough maize for the year despite the increasing pressure brought by climate change.

Felipa’s grin shows satisfaction. Her main concern is her family, the healthy harvest lets her feed them without worry and sell the little left over to cover utilities.

“When our crops produce a good harvest I am happy because we don’t have to spend our money on food. We can make our own tortillas and tostadas,” she said.

Her family belongs to the Chatino indigenous community and lives in the small town of Santiago Yaitepec in humid southern Oaxaca. They are from one of eleven marginalized indigenous communities throughout the state involved in a participatory breeding project with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to naturally improve the quality and preserve the biodiversity of native maize.

These indigenous farmers are custodians of maize biodiversity, growing seeds passed down over generations. Their maize varieties represent a portion of the diversity found in the 59 native Mexican races of maize, or landraces, which first developed from wild grasses at the hands of their ancestors. These different types of maize diversified through generations of selective breeding, adapting to the environment, climate and cultural needs of the different communities.

In recent years, a good harvest has become increasingly unreliable, as the impacts of climate change, such as erratic rainfall and the proliferation of pests and disease, have begun to challenge native maize varieties. Rural poor and smallholder farmers, like Martinez and her family, are among the hardest hit by the mounting impacts of climate change, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

These farmers and their ancestors have thousands of years of experience selecting and breeding maize to meet their environment. However, climate change is at times outpacing their selection methods, said CIMMYT landrace improvement coordinator Martha Willcox, who works with the community and coordinates the participatory breeding project. Through the initiative, the indigenous communities work together with professional maize breeders to continuously improve and conserve their native maize.

Despite numerous challenges, farmers in the region are unwilling to give up their maize for other varieties. “The native maize, my maize grows best here, it yields well in our environment. The maize is sweeter, it is heavier,” said Don Modesto Suarez, Felipa’s husband. “This maize has been grown by our grandfathers and this is why I will not change it.”

Una mujer de la comunidad Chatino prepara tortillas muy grandes de maíz criollo que son muy apreciadas en los mercados locales. Foto: Matthew O’Leary

This is because a community’s native maize varieties are adapted to their specific microclimate, such as elevation and weather patterns, and therefore may perform better or be more resistant to local pests and diseases than other maize varieties. They may also have specific characteristics prized for local culinary traditions — for example, in Santiago Yaitepec the native maize varieties have a specific type of starch that allows for the creation of extra-large tortillas and tostadas that are in high demand in local markets.

Other varieties may not meet farmers’ specific needs or climate, and many families do not want to give up their cultural attachment to native maize, said Flavio Aragon, a genetic resources researcher at the Mexican National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (INIFAP) who collaborates with Willcox.

CIMMYT and INIFAP launched the four-year participatory plant breeding project to understand marginalized communities’ unique makeup and needs – including maize type, local climates, farming practices, diseases and culture – and include farmers in breeding maize to suit these needs.

“Our aim is to get the most out of the unique traits in the native maize found in the farmer’s fields. To preserve and use it to build resistance and strength without losing the authenticity,” said Aragon.

“When we involve farmers in the process of selection, they are watching what we are doing and they are learning techniques,” he said. “Not only about the process of genetic selection in breeding but also sustainable farming practices and this makes it easier for farmers to adopt the maize that they have worked alongside breeders to improve through the project.”

Suarez said he appreciates the help, “We are learning how to improve our maize and identify diseases. I hope more farmers in the community join in and grow with us,” he said.

When disease strikes

Chatino men stand in a maize field in Santiago Yaitepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Tar spot complex threatened harvests, but work in participatory breeding with CIMMYT has helped local communities to improve their native maize without loosing preferred traits. (Photo: Matthew O'Leary) — Chatino men stand in a maize field in Santiago Yaitepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Tar spot complex threatened harvests, but work in participatory breeding with CIMMYT has helped local communities to improve their native maize without loosing preferred traits. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary)

Changes in weather patterns due to climate change are making it hard for farmers to know when to plant their crops to avoid serious disease. Now, a fungal disease known as tar spot complex, or TSC, is increasingly taking hold of maize crops, destroying harvests and threatening local food security, said Willcox. TSC resistance is one key trait farmers want to include in the participatory breeding.

Named for the black spots that cover infected plants, TSC causes leaves to die prematurely, weakening the plant and preventing the ears from developing fully, cutting yields by up to 50 percent or more in extreme cases.

Caused by a combination of three fungal infections, the disease occurs most often in cool and humid areas across southern Mexico, Central America and into South America. The disease is beginning to spread, possibly due to climate change, evolving pathogens and introduction of susceptible maize varieties.

“Our maize used to grow very well here, but then this disease came and now our maize doesn’t grow as well,” said Suarez. “For this reason we started to look for maize that we could exchange with our neighbors.”

A traditional breeding method for indigenous farmers is to see what works in fields of neighboring farmers and test it in their own, Willcox said.

Taking the search to the next level, Willcox turned to the CIMMYT Maize Germplasm Bank, which holds over 7000 native maize seed types collected from indigenous farmers. She tested nearly a thousand accessions in search of TSC resistance. A tedious task that saw her rate the different varieties on how they handled the disease in the field. However, the effort paid off with her team discovering two varieties that stood up to the disease. One variety, Oaxaca 280, originated from just a few hours north of where the Suarez family lives.

Farmer Modesto Suarez (left) and neighbors were originally cautious to plant Oaxaca 280 in their fields, but were pleased with the results. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary)

After testing Oaxaca 280 in their fields the farmers were impressed with the results and have now begun to include the variety in their breeding.

“Oaxaca 280 is a landrace – something from Mexico – and crossing this with the community’s maize gives 100 percent unimproved material that is from Oaxaca very close to their own,” said Willcox. “It is really a farmer to farmer exchange of resistance from another area of Oaxaca to this landrace here.”

“The goal is to make it as close as it can be to what the farmer currently has and to conserve the characteristics valued by farmers while improving specific problems that the farmers request help with, so that it is still similar to their native varieties and they accept it,” Aragon said.

Expanding for impact

Willcox and colleagues throughout Mexico seek to expand the participatory breeding project nationwide in a bid to preserve maize biodiversity and support rural communities.

“If you take away their native maize you take away a huge portion of the culture that holds these communities together,” said Willcox. Participatory breeding in marginalized communities preserves maize diversity and builds rural opportunities in areas that are hotbeds for migration to the United States.

“A lack of opportunities leads to migration out of Mexico to find work in other places, a strong agricultural sector means strong rural opportunities,” she said.

To further economic opportunities in the communities, these researchers have been connecting farmers with restaurant owners in Mexico City and the United States to export surplus grain and support livelihoods. A taste for high-quality Mexican food has created a small but growing market for the native maize varieties.

The next generation: The granddaughter of Felipa Martinez and Modesto Suarez stands in her grandparent's maize field. (Photo: Matthew O'Leary) — The next generation: The granddaughter of Felipa Martinez and Modesto Suarez stands in her grandparent’s maize field. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary)

Native maize hold the building blocks for climate-smart crops

Native maize varieties show remarkable diversity and climate resilience that grow in a range from arid to humid environments, said Willcox. The genetic traits found in this diversity are the building blocks that can be used to develop varieties suitable for the changing crop environments predicted for 2050.

“There is a lot of reasoning that goes into the way that these farmers farm the land, the way they decide on what they select for,” said Willcox. “This has been going on for years and has been passed down through generations. For this reason, they have maize of such high quality with resistance to local challenges, genetic traits that now can be used to create strong varieties to help farmers in Mexico and around the world.”

It is key to analyze the genetic variability of native maize, and support the family farmers who conserve it in their fields, she added. This biodiversity still sown and selected throughout diverse microclimates of Mexico holds the traits we need to protect our food supplies.

To watch a video on CIMMYT’s work in this community, please click here.

This work has been conducted as part of the CIMMYT-led MasAgro project in collaboration with INIFAP, and supported by Mexico’s Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE.