Push-pull cropping system in maize. (Figure: CIMMYT)
Climate conditions in Nepal are suitable for the establishment of fall armyworm, which could cause considerable crop loss if not managed properly. The fall armyworm is a destructive pest that has a voracious appetite for maize and other crops. Through the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is working with the government of Nepal and other partners to address this imminent threat.
Chemical control of fall armyworm is too expensive and impractical for small-scale farmers, has negative human health effects, and can be a source of soil pollutants with a negative effect on biodiversity.
CIMMYT is currently evaluating the efficacy of push-pull cropping systems to control fall armyworm. Considered one of the most climate-smart technologies, push-pull systems use plant-pest ecology instead of harmful chemical insecticides to control weeds and insects. It is an environmentally friendly pest control method which is also economically viable for maize producers.
Napier grass is planted by farmers to prevent soil erosion in Kenya’s Tana River Basin. (Photo: Georgina Smith/CIAT)
This system involves two types of crops: Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and silverleaf desmodium legume (Desmodium uncinatum).
Desmodium plants are intercropped with the rows of maize and Napier grass surrounds the maize crop. Desmodium produces volatile chemicals that repel fall armyworm moths, while the Napier grass produces chemicals that attract female moths. The resulting push-pull system takes the pest away from the maize field.
An additional benefit is that desmodium improves nitrogen fertility through biological nitrogen fixation, which may reduce nitrogen input in the long-term. Desmodium also provides ground cover for maize, controlling soil erosion and offering protection from extreme heat conditions. Both desmodium and Napier grass are excellent fodder crops for livestock.
Because of all these reasons, push-pull technology is highly beneficial to smallholders who are dependent on locally available inputs for their subsistence farming. It can also have a positive spiral effect on the environment.
Researchers, policymakers and other agricultural partners participated in the workshop on fall armyworm. (Photo: Uttam/CIMMYT)
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), organized a training on fall armyworm on April 25, 2019 at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). Experts discussed the present outbreak status, progress on strategic research, and effective ways to control this destructive pest.
The event featured Dan McGrath, Entomologist and Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, and Joseph Huesing, Senior Biotechnology Advisor and Program Area Lead for Advanced Approaches to Combating Pests and Diseases at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Also attending were senior officials from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Department of Agricultural Extension, BARC, BWMRI and CIMMYT.
“Fall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it,” said Huesing in his overview of the fall armyworm infestation in Africa. He also mentioned that fall armyworm is generally followed by southern armyworm, so Bangladesh will need a strategy for managing multiple pests.
“Fall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it.”
— Joseph Huesing, USAID
Huesing explained that an effective approach for controlling fall armyworm and other pests is “knowledge, tools and policy.”
According to Huesing, Bangladeshi farmers have adequate knowledge about the pest and how to control it, especially compared to African farmers. The next step is securing the necessary tools to control fall armyworm, like spraying their fields with necessary insecticides by authorized personnel. Huesing emphasized the importance of appropriate policy implementation, particularly to ensure the registration of the right kind of insecticides assigned to effectively control fall armyworm.
Fall armyworm is a fast-reproducing species that can attack crops and cause devastation almost overnight. Even though the level of infestation in Bangladesh is still relatively light, more than 80 varieties of crops have already been attacked in 22 districts within just a few months.
Huesing indicated that safer options included handpicking of the pest, treating seeds, pheromone traps, flood irrigation and crop rotation. Currently, to help farmers learn more about the pest, the Department of Agricultural Extension is distributing factsheets and conducting awareness-raising workshops in different villages.
McGrath focused on the long-term management of fall armyworm and how Bangladesh can learn from the experience of Africa in order to avoid the same errors. McGrath suggested that weather forecasts were an important tool for helping determine when and where outbreaks might occur. Training relevant personnel is also a crucial aspect of reining in this plague. “Training the trainers has to be hands on. We need to put more emphasis on the field than on the classroom,” McGrath said.
This workshop was part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).
As part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has created a series of infographics explaining key information about fall armyworm.
These infographics will be translated and used to reach out to farmers in Bangladesh, through agrodealers and public sector partners. The principles and concepts presented in them — which champion the use of integrated pest management strategies — are relevant to countries across the region.
If you would like to use these infographics in other countries or translate them to other languages, please contact Tim Krupnik.
Fall armyworm is an invasive insect pest that can eat 80 different types of plants, but prefers maize. It spread throughout Africa in just two years, and was found in India in late 2018. Since then it has spread across South and South East Asia, where it presents a serious threat to food and income security for millions of smallholder farmers.
The infographics are designed to be printed as foldable cards that farmers can carry in their pocket for easy reference. The graphics provide an overview of fall armyworm biology as well as the insect’s ecology and lifecycle. They also describe how to identify and scout maize fields for fall armyworm and provide easy-to-follow recommendations for what to do if thresholds for damage are found. One of the infographics provides farmers with ideas on how to manage fall armyworm in their field and village, including recommendations for agronomic, agroecological, mechanical and biological pest management. In addition, chemical pest management is presented in a way that informs farmers about appropriate safety precautions if insecticide use is justified.
Partners of the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project held their annual meeting May 7–9, 2019, in Lusaka, Zambia, to review the achievements of the past year and to discuss the priorities going forward. Launched in 2016, the STMA project aims to develop multiple stress-tolerant maize varieties for diverse agro-ecologies in sub-Saharan Africa, increase genetic gains for key traits preferred by the smallholders, and make these improved seeds available at scale in the target countries in partnership with local public and private seed sector partners.
The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and implemented together with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), national agricultural research systems and seed company partners in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The meeting was officially opened by the Deputy Director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu. “Maize in Africa faces numerous challenges such as drought, heat, pests and disease. Thankfully, these challenges can be addressed through research. I would like to take this opportunity to thank CIMMYT and IITA. Your presence here is a testament of your commitment to improve the livelihoods of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners are working together in the fight against challenges such as drought, maize lethal necrosis and fall armyworm. The STMA project applies innovative technologies such as high-throughput phenotyping, doubled haploids, marker-assisted breeding and intensive germplasm screening to develop improved stress-tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers. The project team is also strengthening maize seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa through public-private partnerships.
The efforts are paying off: in 2018, 3.5 million smallholder farmers planted stress-tolerant maize varieties in 10 African countries.
The deputy director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu (fourth from left), gives the opening address of the STMA Annual Meeting 2019. Left to right: Mick Mwala, University of Zambia; Tony Cavalieri, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT; Monde Zulu, ZARI; Mwansa Kabamba, ZARI; Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT; and Abebe Menkir, IITA.
Yielding results
CIMMYT researcher and STMA project leader Cosmos Magorokosho reminded the importance of maize in the region. “Maize is grown on over 35 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than 208 million farmers depend on it as a staple crop. However, average maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest in the world.” Magorokosho pointed out that the improved maize varieties developed through the project “provide not only increased yields but also yield stability even under challenging conditions like drought, poor soil fertility, pests and diseases.”
“STMA has proved that it is possible to combine multiple stress tolerance and still get good yields,” explained B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). “One of the important aspects of STMA are the partnerships which have only grown stronger through the years. We are the proud partners of national agricultural research systems and over 100 seed companies across sub-Saharan Africa.”
Keynote speaker Hambulo Ngoma of the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) addressed the current situation of maize in Zambia, where farmers are currently reeling from recent drought. “Maize is grown by 89% of smallholder farmers in Zambia, on 54% of the country’s cultivable land, but productivity remains low. This problem will be exacerbated by expected population growth, as the population of Zambia is projected to grow from over 17 million to 42 million by 2050,” he said.
STMA meeting participants pose for a group photo during the field visit to QualiBasic Seed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Down to business
On May 8, participants visited three partner local seed companies to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of producing improved maize seed for smallholder farmers.
Afriseed CEO Stephanie Angomwile discussed her business strategy and passion for agriculture with participants. She expressed her gratitude for the support CIMMYT has provided to the company, including access to drought-tolerant maize varieties as well as capacity development opportunities for her staff.
Bhola Nath Verma, principal crop breeder at Zamseed, explained how climate change has a visible impact on the Zambian maize sector, as the main maize growing basket moved 500 km North due to increased drought. Verma deeply values the partnership with the STMA project, as he can source drought-tolerant breeding materials from CIMMYT and IITA, allowing him to develop early-maturing improved maize varieties that escape drought and bring much needed yield stability to farmers in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.
At QualiBasic Seed, STMA partners were given the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the company’s operations, including the seed multiplication process in Zambia and the importance of high-quality, genetically pure foundation seed for seed companies.
Emmanuel Angomwile (left) and Stephanie Angomwile (center) answer visitors’ questions at their seed company, Afriseed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Young ideas
The meeting concluded with an awards ceremony for the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Africa, established by MAIZE in collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD). These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research-for-development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification. This is the second year of the MAIZE Youth Awards, and the first time it has been held in Africa. Winners include Hildegarde Dukunde of Rwanda and Mila Lokwa Giresse of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the change agent category, Admire Shayanowako of the Republic of South Africa and Ismael Mayanja of Uganda in the research category, and Blessings Likagwa of Malawi in the farmer category.
Winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Africa receive their awards at the STMA meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. From left to right: Admire Shayanowako, Blessings Likagwa, Ismael Mayanja and Hildegarde Dukunde. Fifth awardee Mila Lokwa Giresse not pictured. (Photo: J.Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Fall armyworm, a voracious pest now present in both Africa and Asia, has been predicted to cause up to $13 billion per year in crop losses in sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers throughout the region.
“In their haste to limit the damage caused by the pest, governments in affected regions may promote indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides,” say the authors of a recent study on fall armyworm management. “Aside from human health and environmental risks,” they explain, “these could undermine smallholder pest management strategies that depend largely on natural enemies.”
Agro-ecological approaches offer culturally appropriate, low-cost pest control strategies that can be easily integrated into existing efforts to improve smallholder incomes and resilience through sustainable intensification. Researchers suggest these should be promoted as a core component of integrated pest management programs in combination with crop breeding for pest resistance, classical biological control and selective use of safe pesticides.
However, the suitability of agro-ecological measures for reducing fall armyworm densities and impact must be carefully assessed across varied environmental and socioeconomic conditions before they can be proposed for wide-scale implementation.
To support this process, researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) reviewed evidence for the efficacy of potential agro-ecological measures for controlling fall armyworm and other pests, consider the associated risks and draw attention to critical knowledge gaps. Findings from the Africa-wide study indicate that several measures can be adopted immediately, such as sustainable soil management, intercropping with appropriately selected companion plants and the diversification of farm environments through management of habitats at multiple spatial scales.
Read the full article “Agro-ecological options for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda JE Smith) management: Providing low-cost, smallholder friendly solutions to an invasive pest” in the Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 243, 1 August 2019, pages 318-330.
Intercropping options for mitigating fall armyworm damage. (Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT)
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
DUN LAOGHAIRE, Ireland and TEXCOCO, Mexico — Irish humanitarian aid agency GOAL has joined CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) in the fight against fall armyworm, a devastating insect pest that experts say threatens the food security of millions of people in Africa.
The fall armyworm has caused significant damage to maize crops in sub-Saharan Africa since its arrival to the region in 2016.
A study on the impact of the fall armyworm in eastern Zimbabwe reveals that nearly 12 percent of crops are lost annually due to the infestation. And the study states that if the problem spreads throughout the entire country tonnes of grain to the value of $32 million could be lost.
GOAL Zimbabwe has now teamed up with CIMMYT to identify conditions that promote fall armyworm infestation in order to educate farmers on best practices to fight the problem.
Regular weeding, conservation agriculture, use of manure and compost, and ending pumpkin intercropping have been found to help prevent infestation.
Mainassara Zaman-Allah, co-author of the study and abiotic stress phenotyping specialist at CIMMYT said, “Given the limited coverage of the study in terms of area and season, it would be interesting to replicate it all over the country through the involvement of governmental agricultural departments, so that we get the full picture around the fall armyworm problem at a larger scale.”
Gift Mashango from GOAL Zimbabwe, said, “The fall armyworm has further worsened the food security situation of smallholder farmers who are already coping with an ailing economy and climate change. Besides the adverse effects posed to the environment by chemical methods of combating the pest, the smallholder farmer cannot afford to meet the associated costs, hence the need to come up with innovative cost-effective farming systems like climate smart agriculture.”
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT – the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center – is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty.
CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat, and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.
GOAL is an international humanitarian aid agency working in 13 countries to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in our world, and those affected by humanitarian crises, have access to the fundamental rights to life. With its head office in Ireland, GOAL envisions a world where poverty and hunger no longer exist; where communities are prepared for seasonal shocks; where structural and cultural barriers to growth are removed and where every man, woman and child has equal rights and access to resources and opportunities.
Foliar damage to maize leaves due to adult fall armyworm in Zimbabwe. (Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT)
The fall armyworm, an invasive insect-pest native to the Americas, has caused significant damage to maize crops in sub-Saharan Africa since its arrival to the region in 2016. An integrated approach, including improved agronomic practices, is necessary in order to fight against the invasive caterpillar. However, little is known about the most effective agronomic practices that could control fall armyworm under typical African smallholder conditions. In addition, more information is needed on the impact of fall armyworm on maize yield in Africa, as previous studies have focused on data trials or farmer questionnaires rather than using data from farmer fields. In a new study published by researchers with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), investigators set out to understand the factors influencing fall armyworm damage and to quantify yield losses due to fall armyworm damage.
The study examined damage in smallholder maize fields in two districts of eastern Zimbabwe. “We estimated the yield losses due to fall armyworm damage at 11.57 percent in the study area. Extrapolated to the whole of Zimbabwe, this would amount to a loss of 200,000 tons of grain, or a value of more than $32 million using the average global price of maize of $163 per ton in 2018,” said Frederic Baudron, cropping systems agronomist at CIMMYT and main author of the study.
Practices such as infrequent weeding or planting on land that had previously been fallow were found to increase fall armyworm damage to maize — most likely because they increased the amount of fall armyworm host plants other than maize. Conversely, practices hypothesized to increase the abundance of natural enemies of fall armyworm — such as minimum and zero tillage or the application of manure and compost — were found to decrease fall armyworm damage. Intercropping with pumpkins was found to increase damage, possibly by offering a shelter to moths or facilitating plant-to-plant migration of the caterpillar. Fall armyworm damage was also higher for some maize varieties over others, pointing to the possibility of selecting for host plant resistance.
“Given the limited coverage of the study in terms of area and season, it would be interesting to replicate it all over the country through the involvement of governmental agricultural departments, so that we get the full picture around the fall armyworm problem at a larger scale,” said Mainassara Zaman-Allah, co-author of the study and abiotic stress phenotyping specialist at CIMMYT.
This study is unique in that it is the first to collect information on agronomic practices that can affect fall armyworm damage using data taken directly from smallholder farmer fields. “Many papers have been written on pest incidence-damage-yield relationships, but with researchers often having control over some of the potential sources of variation,” said Peter Chinwada, TAAT Fall Armyworm Compact Leader at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), another co-author of the study.
“Our study was driven by the desire to determine fall armyworm incidence-damage-yield relationships under typical African smallholder farmer conditions which are characterized by a diversity of cropping systems, planting dates and “pest management practices” that may have been adopted for purposes which have nothing to do with managing pests. Unravelling such relationships therefore requires not only institutional collaboration, but the meeting of minds of scientists from diverse disciplines.”
The results of the study suggest that several practices could be promoted to control fall armyworm in its new home of Africa. “Farmers have already been informed of the results by their extension agents; the NGO GOAL, present in Zimbabwe, shared the findings,” Baudron said. “The next step is to test some of the recommendations suggested in the paper to control fall armyworm such as good weed management, conservation agriculture, use of manure and compost, and stopping pumpkin intercropping. These approaches will need to be refined.”
This work was implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), GOAL, and the University of Zimbabwe. It was made possible by the generous support of Irish Aid, Bakker Brothers and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). Any opinions, findings, conclusion, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of Irish Aid, Bakker Brothers and MAIZE.
The director of Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services, Cames Mguni, gives official remarks during the CIMMYT field day. (Photo: Catherine Magada/CIMMYT)
On March 14, 2019, over 200 of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) partners in southern Africa, including national research organisations, private seed companies and funders, attended the annual partners field day in Harare, Zimbabwe.
“For the last 34 years, CIMMYT’s regional office has expanded its research work, from maize breeding to sustainable cropping practices and recently appropriate mechanization and post-harvest,’’ said Cames Mguni, Director of Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services. “The development of drought and heat tolerant maize varieties helps farmers get better yields and cope better during drought years such as the current 2018/19 season.”
Elijah Nyabadza, Dean of the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Agriculture, highlighted the strong collaboration between the University and CIMMYT in conducting joint research and building cutting-edge skills of the next generation of agricultural scientists and practitioners in the region.
Welthungerhilfe country director Regina Feindt said the partner field day was ‘’a very valuable experience and a great opportunity to gain technical know-how and exchange with colleagues across the region.’’
CIMMYT showcases research impact
At the event, CIMMYT country representative for Zimbabwe Cosmos Magorokosho walked partners through breeding lines that include special lines testing for resistance to diseases such as fall armyworm, maize streak virus and weevil. Maize breeder Amsal Tarekegne explained how, in product development, various inbred lines are combined to create new hybrids. These new hybrids, added seed systems specialist Peter Setimela, are made available to smallholder farmers for performance testing for stress tolerance and nutritional traits under different environments before being released to seed companies for multiplication.
Two Zimbabwean seed companies present at the field day highlighted the benefits of collaboration with CIMMYT. Chrispen Nyamuda, an agronomist from Zadzamatura seed company, explained that many varieties popular with farmers, which are heat-tolerant and resistant to diseases like maize streak virus and grey leaf spot disease, were developed thanks to their collaboration with CIMMYT. Another partner from Mukushi Seeds described the working partnership with CIMMYT as mutually beneficial. “We exchange lines, plant in different environments and share the results,” he explained. “We are also tapping germplasm from the world through CIMMYT’s global reach.”
Over the last couple of years, CIMMYT has intensified maize breeding efforts aimed at improving the nutritional value of maize, particularly higher content in provitamin A and better quality protein. Maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela explained that more than 15 new hybrids with higher levels of provitamin A have been released in southern Africa, including five in Zimbabwe.
Thokozile Ndhlela (first from right) shares advances in provitamin A maize breeding in Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Agronomists Christian Thierfelder and Isaiah Nyagumbo shared some conservation agriculture techniques adopted by smallholder farmers. Farmers can realize better yields and improve their climate resilience by combining conservation agriculture principles such as minimum soil disturbance, crop rotation and soil cover, with use of stress tolerant maize varieties, appropriate mechanization and other complementary practices. Frederic Baudron, who leads the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) initiative, explained how small mechanization like two-wheel planters could address labour shortages, reduce drudgery and generate opportunities for rural youth. Significant drudgery reductions have already been observed in wheat planting in Rwanda, and in post-harvest operations like shelling and threshing in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
CIMMYT researcher Isaiah Nyagumbo explains conservation agriculture techniques during the annual partners field day. (Photo: Catherin Magada/CIMMYT)
The International Maize Improvement Consortium one year on
Following the annual partners field day, members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) held a field day to select varieties from the IMIC Southern Africa demo plot, which carries a wider selection of materials. Launched in May 2018, IMIC is a public-private partnership initiative established as part of CIMMYT’s mission to increase seed breeding and production innovations.
Participating IMIC members came from seed companies based in Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At the field day, they were advised by research associate Obert Randi on the layout of the demonstrations for materials under development for different traits, resilience to fall armyworm and maize streak virus, materials improved for vitamin A and quality protein and stress tolerant lines.
After going through the selections, participating IMIC members proceeded to the Quarantine Facility in Mazoe, where they explored around 2,300 double haploid lines undergoing screening maize lethal necrosis (MLN) as well as multiplication for distribution to non-MLN prevalent countries.
The final part of the field day provided space for the members to share research learnings and input on how to move the consortium forward. The field day concluded with an inaugural meeting of the steering committee chaired by CIMMYT regional representative for Africa Stephen Mugo, where participants discussed a number of issues including membership, procedures for conducting field days, training and research prioritization.
Both field days offered an opportunity to highlight the extended impact of CIMMYT’s research in southern Africa through strong partnerships and commitment to research on maize breeding, sustainable farming practices, mechanization and socio-economic impacts of all programming.
Following the recent emergence and rapid spread of the fall armyworm pest in Africa, the Breeding for Resistance to Fall Armyworm in Africa project is beginning the process of identifying and developing new varieties of maize resistant to the pest.
The community of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) joins former colleagues of John A. Mihm, CIMMYT’s maize entomologist during the 1970s-90s, in honoring his memory and valuable work. John passed away on January 25, 2019, at the age of 72.
Special maize populations developed by Mihm and his CIMMYT contemporaries are critical in today’s global quest for new maize varieties to resist the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), according to B.M. Prasanna, director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
“The insect-resistant maize germplasm developed by Mihm is proving an invaluable resource in our fight against this pest, underpinning progress in the development of resistant varieties,” said Prasanna.
Crop entomologists were laboriously placing young insect larvae onto plants in greenhouses and in the field until 1976, when Mihm developed the “bazooka.” A plastic tube with a valve that quickly and easily delivered a uniform mixture of corn grits and insect larvae into individual maize plants, the innovation allowed researchers to infest hundreds of plants in a single morning.
Originally from the Americas, fall armyworm has caused major damage to maize crops in Africa since 2016. The pest is now spreading rapidly in Asia, with incidence on maize crops confirmed in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and southern China.
“Without proper controls, fall armyworm could reduce maize grain harvests in Africa alone by an amount worth as much as US$4.6 billion,” Prasanna explained, citing a 2018 report from the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI).
With support from UNDP, Mihm greatly refined CIMMYT practices to rear larvae of maize insect pests and to apply them efficiently so that researchers could identify resistant plants and use them to breed elite, resilient varieties.
After leaving CIMMYT in 1994, Mihm worked for the U.S. company “French Agricultural Research” in studies on sources of resistance in maize to corn rootworm (Diabrotica spp). He eventually retired happily to his farm in Minnesota, according to Florentino Amasende, a former CIMMYT field assistant who was a close friend and colleague of Mihm.
“John was a friend, a mentor and even a father figure for me,” said Amasende, who with support from Mihm for his university studies rose to seed production specialist in leading seed companies. “My family and I are eternally grateful for the opportunities he gave me.”
The importance of maize in Asian cropping systems has grown rapidly in recent years, with several countries registering impressive growth rates in maize production and productivity. However, increasing and competing demands — food, feed, and industry — highlight the continued need to invest in maize research for development in the region. Maize experts from around the world gathered to discuss these challenges and how to solve them at the 13th Asian Maize Conference and Expert Consultation on Maize for Food, Feed, Nutrition and Environmental Security, held from October 8 to 10, 2018, in Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
More than 280 delegates from 20 countries attended the conference. Technical sessions and panel discussions covered diverse topics such as novel tools and strategies for increasing genetic gains, stress-resilient maize, sustainable intensification of maize-based cropping systems, specialty maize, processing and value addition, and nutritionally enriched maize for Asia.
The international conference was jointly organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Indian Institute of Maize Research (ICAR-IIMR), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).
In Asia, maize is rapidly growing in its importance, due to high demand. Maize productivity in the region is growing by 5.2 percent annually compared to a global average of 3.5 percent. However, this is not enough. “Asia produces nearly 80 million tons of maize annually, but demand will be double by the year 2050,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general, in his opening address at the conference. “We need to produce two times more maize in Asia, using two times less inputs, including water and nutrients. Climatic extremes and variability, especially in South and South East Asia, will make this challenge more difficult. Continued funding for maize research is crucial. We need to work together to ensure that appropriate innovations reach the smallholder farmers.”
Field visit in Ludhiana, India, during the 13th Asian Maize Conference. (Photo: Manjit Singh/Punjab Agricultural University)
Climate-resilient maize and sustainable intensification
A major theme emphasized at the conference was climate resilience in maize-based systems. South Asia is a hotspot for vulnerability due to climate change and climate variability, which poses great risks to smallholder farmers. “Climate resilience cannot be brought by only a single technology — it has to be through a judicious mix of several approaches,” said B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
Great advances have been made in developing climate-resilient maize for Asia since the last Asian Maize Conference, held in 2014. Many new heat- and drought-tolerant maize varieties have been developed through various projects, such as the Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA), and Affordable, Accessible, Asian (AAA) maize projects. Through the HTMA project, over 50 CIMMYT-derived elite heat-tolerant maize hybrids have been licensed to public and private sector partners in Asia during the last three years, and nine heat-tolerant maize hybrids have been released so far in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
Sustainable intensification of maize-based farming systems has also helped farmers to increase yields while reducing environmental impact, through conservation agriculture and scale-appropriate mechanization. Simple technologies are now available to reduce harvest time by up to 80 percent and hired labor costs by up to 60 percent. Researchers across the region are also working to strengthen the maize value chains.
B.S. Dhillon (center) receives the MAIZE Champion Award for his pioneering work in maize breeding. (Photo: Manjit Singh/Punjab Agricultural University)
Science and appropriate technologies
CIMMYT has been focusing on developing and deploying new technologies that can enhance the efficiency of maize breeding programs; these include doubled haploid (DH) technology, high-throughput field-based phenotyping, and genomics-assisted breeding. The conference emphasized on the need for Asian institutions to adapt such new tools and technologies in maize breeding programs.
Another topic of interest was the fall armyworm, an invasive insect pest that has spread through 44 countries in Africa and was recently reported in India for the first time. “This pest can migrate very quickly and doesn’t require visas and passports like we do. It will travel, and Asian nations need to be prepared,” Prasanna said. “However, there is no need for alarm. We will be looking at lessons learned from other regions and will work together to control this pest.”
In addition to grain for food and feed, specialty maize varieties can provide beneficial economic alternatives for smallholder maize farmers. Conference participants had the opportunity to hear from Indian farmers Kanwal Singh Chauhan and Yugandar Y, who have effectively adopted specialty maize varieties, such as baby corn, sweet corn and popcorn, into life-changing economic opportunities for farming communities. They hope to inspire other farmers in the region to do the same.
On October 10, conference delegates participated in a maize field day organized at the BISA farm in Ladhowal, Ludhiana. Nearly 100 improved maize varieties developed by CIMMYT, ICAR and public and private sector partners were on display, in addition to scale-appropriate mechanization options, decision support tools, and precision nutrient and water management techniques.
The conference concluded with a ceremony honoring the winners of the 2018 MAIZE-Asia Youth Innovators Award. The awards were launched in collaboration between the CGIAR Research Program on Maize and YPARD (Young Professionals for Agricultural Development) to recognize the contributions of innovative young women and men who can inspire fellow youth to get involved in improving maize-based agri-food systems in Asia. Winners of the first edition of the awards include Dinesh Panday of Nepal, Jie Xu of China, Samjhana Khanal of Nepal, and Vignesh Muthusamy of India.
Participants listen to a briefing during the field visit of the 13th Asian Maize Conference, in Ludhiana, India. (Photo: Manjit Singh/Punjab Agricultural University)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) — African farmers have lost millions of dollars in earnings since 2016 due to the loss of crops to the voracious fall armyworm.
Since the initial shock, farmers, researchers, extension officers, agribusinesses, governments and donors have reacted quickly to fight the invasive pest in various ways, including with pesticides, agroecological approaches and new seeds.
Yet the situation is far from under control. A more coordinated research-for-development (R4D) action plan is urgently needed to ensure that effective and affordable solutions reach smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa so they can sustainably combat the devastating pest.
Smallholder farm socioeconomics are highly complex, which makes adoption of any new technology or practice a challenge. “We must look at the big picture to design safer, accessible, effective and sustainable solutions against fall armyworm,” said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which jointly coordinated “Fall Armyworm Research for Development: Status and priorities for Africa,” an international conference held from Oct. 29 to 31 at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hosted by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium, the conference was aimed at drawing a science-based roadmap to combat the hungry caterpillar. The partners organizing the conference were the African Union Commission (AUC), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), CIMMYT, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Vulnerable smallholder farmers
African leaders consider the invasive fall armyworm “a big threat for African food security,” said Amira Elfadil, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, at the opening of the conference.
The caterpillar has munched through thousands of hectares of maize, sorghum and a few other commercial crops across Africa and is causing severe concerns among food and agriculture experts and policymakers. Since it was first detected in Nigeria and São Tomé, the moth has spread across more than 40 African countries and has been seen in India since July 2018. It could also invade Europe and other continents.
“Fall armyworm has been the fastest pest to expand across the continent,” said Eyasu Abraha, Ethiopia’s state minister for agriculture development.
The pest is a familiar foe to agricultural experts and farmers in the Americas who have fought against it for several decades. However, the pest has found an ideal environment to flourish in Africa, with diverse agro-ecologies and a warmer climate all year round amplifying its persistent threat.
It has a host range of more than 80 plant species, including maize, a staple food on which millions of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa depend for food and income security. It can cause total crop losses, and at advanced larval development stages can be difficult to control even with synthetic pesticides. The female fall armyworm can lay up to a thousand eggs at a time and produce multiple generations very quickly without pause in tropical environments. The moth can fly 100 km (62 miles) a night, and some moth populations have even been reported to fly distances of up to 1,600 kilometers in 30 hours, according to experts.
Entomologists are trying to fill a knowledge gap on how the fall armyworm behaves and migrates throughout Africa.
Solutions that may work to combat the pest in Brazil or North America may not be applicable for the agricultural context in Africa where most farmers are low-resource smallholders, struggling to access new knowledge and technologies.
The conference organized by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium attracted the interest of a large group of participants. (Photo: African Union Commission)
High cost of ineffective collaboration
Hans Dreyer, director of FAO’s plant protection division, listed many collaborative initiatives, including national task forces and expert working groups, which contributed to document and inform the current state of knowledge.
There are still many knowledge and technical gaps. Some resourceful information platforms are already available for the farmers and extension workers, including the fall armyworm web portal created by CABI, the mobile farmer Q&A service PlantVillage, or Precision Agriculture for Development’s text messaging advisory service MoA-Info.
“The cost of not collaborating is pretty severe,” said Regina Eddy, who leads the Fall Armyworm Task Force at the USAID Bureau for Food Security. The real gamechanger will be that “all experts in the room agree on a common and concrete research-for-development agenda and how to organize ourselves to implement it effectively,” she added.
During the conference, the experts debated intensely on the technical gaps and the best ways to combat the pest through an integrated pest management strategy, including how to scout the caterpillar in the crop field, establish monitoring and surveillance systems, pest control innovations and appropriate policy support to accelerate introduction of relevant innovations.
Safe, sustainable, farmer-centered solutions
Short-term responses to the pest at present include synthetic pesticide use. However, there are public health and environment concerns over some of the toxic pesticides being used in Africa to control the fall armyworm.
Brian Sobel from Catholic Relief Services recalled witnessing a woman in Malawi who, in an effort to combat the pest, sprayed much more chemical pesticide on her maize than necessary.
The rapid increase of the pesticide market in Africa has led to the circulation of plenty of banned or counterfeit products, some very toxic for the farmer, said Steven Haggblade, a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University in the United States. Farmers are often not well trained in the use of such chemicals and do not protect themselves during application, he said.
Pesticide use has many negative trade-offs, said Paul Jepson, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University. Natural enemies like parasitic wasps are also often far more vulnerable to pesticides than fall armyworm larvae, which are hard to reach and hide themselves in the maize whorls for instance.
Continental action plan
A key recommendation made by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium is to develop common methodologies and research protocols to ensure data from various studies across the continent are better used and compared. For example, how best could the true impacts of the fall armyworm on food and seed security, public health and environment be measured? Collaborative research could include multilocation assessment of the relationship between observed crop damages and yield losses, which is key to determine the efficacy of a pest control innovation.
Conference participants also agreed to work on defining economic and action thresholds for fall armyworm interventions, to ensure better recommendations to the farming communities.
Because no one solution can fit all farmers and socioeconomic contexts, advice must include use of environmentally safer pesticides, low-cost agronomic practices and landscape management and fall armyworm-resistant varieties, among other integrated pest management tools.
Enhanced cooperation between countries to access new technologies and manage the transboundary pest is seen as a priority. Consortium experts also urge an integrated pest management approach, initiated based on farmers’ needs. Controlling the fall armyworm in the long run will require important investments into research-for-development for generating and sharing knowledge and addressing technical gaps with farmers.
For more information on fall armyworm, this conference and the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium, please contact B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and of the CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE, at b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org.
DES MOINES (Iowa) — At the plenary of the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue, a global panel of experts gave an overview of the origins of the fall armyworm, how it is spreading around the world, and how governments, farmers and researchers are fighting against this pest.
Pedro Sanchez, research professor in tropical soils at the University of Florida and 2002 World Food Prize Laureate, shared background information on the history of the fall armyworm and the early attempts to neutralize it, decades ago. He pointed out that once-resistant varieties were eventually affected by this pest.
The Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Martin Kropff, shared the most recent developments and explained how organizations are working together to respond to this pest. “We want to have science-based, evidence-based solutions,” Kropff said. “We have to solve the problem based on science, and then to develop and validate and deploy integrated pest management technologies.”
The director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture, Mandefro Nigussie, reminded that in addition to affecting people and the environment, fall armyworm “is also affecting the future generation,” as children were pulled out of school to pick larvae.
The response against fall armyworm cannot be done by governments alone, panelists agreed. It requires the support of multiple actors: financing the research, producing research, promoting the results of the research and implementing appropriate measures.
Rob Bertram, chief scientist at USAID’s Bureau for Food Security predicted the fall armyworm will continue to be a “serious problem” as it moves and migrates.
The director general and CEO of the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization, Eluid Kireger, emphasized the importance of global collaboration. “We need to borrow the technologies that are already working”.
The fall armyworm was also discussed during the Corteva Agriscience Forum side event, on a session on “Crop security for food security”. The Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, B.M. Prasanna, was optimistic about the efforts to tackle this voracious pest. “I’m 100 percent confident that the pest will be overcome, but it requires very solid synergistic and coordinated actions at the national level, at the regional level and at the continental level.”
CIMMYT is co-leading the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium. “Fall armyworm is not going to be the only threat now and forever; there will be more insects, pests and pathogens moving around,” Prasanna said. “Global connectedness is exacerbating this kind of problem, but the solution lies also in global connectedness.”
B.M. Prasanna and I joined colleagues at the 13th Asian Maize Conference and stressed the need for continued funding for maize research, keeping in mind climate change and the challenge of the insatiable fall armyworm, which spread to India this year.
NAIROBI (Kenya) — As the invasion of the voracious fall armyworm threatens to cause US$3-6 billion in annual damage to maize and other African food staples, 35 organizations announced today the formation of a global coalition of research for development (R4D) partners, focused on developing technical solutions and a shared vision of how farmers should fight against this pest. After causing extensive crop damage in Africa, the presence of the fall armyworm was recently confirmed in India.
The new Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium will serve to develop and implement a unified plan to fight this plant pest on the ground. Focusing on applied research, the consortium joins other global efforts and coordinates with international bodies working against this pest. The Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium will be co-led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
“This pest caught us all by surprise and it continues eating away at maize and other crops that are important for the food security and livelihoods of African farmers. We can no longer afford to work in isolation,” said the Director General of CIMMYT, Martin Kropff. “Many organizations in the public and private sector are working intensively on different approaches,” he added, “but farmers are not interested in half solutions. They want to have integrated solutions, supported by strong science, which work effectively and sustainably.”
Consortium members will coordinate efforts to pursue a wide range of options for fighting fall armyworm, with a strong emphasis on integrated pest management, which includes host plant resistance, environmentally safer chemical pesticides, biological and cultural control methods, and agronomic management.
The Deputy Director General for Partnerships for Delivery at IITA, Kenton Dashiell, said that efforts are underway to identify and validate biopesticides, or “very safe products that don’t harm the environment or people but kill the pest.” In some areas, Dashiell explained, farmers may need to consider temporarily switching to a food crop that is not susceptible to armyworm.
A fall armyworm on a damaged leaf in Nigeria, 2017. (Photo: G. Goergen/IITA)
The Vice President of Program Development and Innovation at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Joe DeVries, said his organization is serving as a bridge between scientists and farmers. AGRA is developing a network of “village-based advisers” across 15 countries who will be connected to farmers via a “private sector-led” extension system to help farmers deal with fall armyworm infestations. AGRA and its partners already have trained more than 1,000 advisers and expect to add several thousand more who can “quickly bring to farmers the latest knowledge about the best methods of control.”
The Chief Scientist at the Bureau of Food Security of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Rob Bertram, expressed his excitement about the formation of the consortium, both for its immediate relevance for fighting fall armyworm and as a forerunner of “more resilient” agriculture systems in Africa, which is likely to see similar threats in the future. CIMMYT and USAID, together with global experts, developed an integrated pest management guide to fight fall armyworm, available in English, French and Portuguese.
The Director General of Development at the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences (CABI), Dennis Rangi, noted that the ability for people to more rapidly travel around the world is also making it easier for plant pests to hop from continent to continent. “Today we are focusing on the fall armyworm, tomorrow it could be something different,” he said.
The members of the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium will hold their first face-to-face meeting on October 29-31, 2018, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This international conference will be organized by CIMMYT, IITA, AGRA, CABI, FAO, icipe, FAO, USAID and the African Union Commission.
The technical coordinators of the consortium are B.M. Prasanna, Director of the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE and Global Maize Program at CIMMYT, and May-Guri Saethre, Deputy Director General of Research for Development at IITA.
PARTNERS OF THE FALL ARMYWORM R4D INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM
Leads:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Members:
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Bayer
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Biorisk Management Facility (BIMAF)
Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)
Center for Agriculture and Biosciences (CABI)
Corteva
CropLife International
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Lancaster University
Leibniz Institute DSMZ (German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures)
Michigan State University (MSU)
Mississippi State University (MSU)
North-West University (NWU)
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO)
Oregon State University (OSU)
Rothamsted Research
Syngenta
UK Department for International Development (DFID)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
University of Bonn
University of Florida (UFL)
University of Greenwich
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Wageningen University and Research (WUR)
West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research (CORAF/WECARD)
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
MEDIA CONTACTS
For more information, please contact:
Geneviève Renard, Head of Communication, CIMMYT g.renard@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004, ext. 2019.
Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, IITA k.lopez@cgiar.org, +234 0700800, ext. 2770
