Aparna Das
Aparna Das is a Technical Program Manager for the Global Maize Program, working with breeding teams to implement new strategies to improve the product delivery pipeline.
Tag: pathology
Pawan Kumar Singh
Pawan Kumar Singh is a senior scientist who heads CIMMYT’s wheat pathology group, where he researches wheat diseases with emphasis on Fusarium head blight, Septoria tritici blotch, tan spot, spot blotch, Stagonospora nodorum blotch and wheat blast.
As part of his work, Singh collects, isolates and characterizes different fungal isolates from naturally infected wheat spikes or leaves, and those with high aggressiveness are used in disease screening nurseries. He then characterizes wheat germplasm for reaction to different diseases, then selects promising lines with resistance and good agronomical traits to be compiled in international disease resistance nurseries. He also conducts genetic studies using bi-parental populations or association mapping panel to decipher underlying resistance factors, and identify linked molecular markers that could be used in marker-assisted selection.
Karim Ammar
Karim Ammar is a principal scientist and head of durum wheat and triticale breeding at CIMMYT. He conducts a globally-focused, extensive and proactive breeding effort to produce improved germplasm of high value and relevance to collaborators worldwide.
Durum wheat profitability requires sustained gains in genetic yield potential, adaptation to a wide range of water availability and temperature conditions, durable genetic protection against major pathogens and quality attributes that allow harvests to be marketed readily.
In addition, Ammar is involved in research that widens the genetic bases of resistance to rusts and septoria diseases, develops molecular tools to select more durable resistance, enhances breeding capacity for effective drought and heat tolerance, and to diversify quality characteristics of durum wheat grain. He also focuses on improving and promoting triticale as an input saving, low production cost feed and forage option in livestock-cereals operations.
Dave Hodson
David Hodson is a Senior Scientist with CIMMYT. He has over 20 years of experience executing and managing GIS-related projects and programs for agricultural research and development in developing countries.
For the last 10 years he has worked on developing and coordinating a Global Wheat Rust Monitoring System in response to the threat posed by wheat stem rust Ug99. The wheat rust monitoring system now covers approximately 40 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He also coordinates a surveillance system for Maize Lethal Necrosis in Eastern and Southern Africa.
In addition, Hodson is involved in projects using advanced modeling for wheat rust early warning, and also on improved pathogen and host diagnostics using molecular tools. His research focuses on the surveillance and monitoring of emerging cereal disease threats and the application of geo-spatial technology for improved decision support.
Bekele Geleta Abeyo
Bekele Geleta Abeyo works on germplasm development, variety release, early generation seed multiplication, demonstration and popularization of new wheat varieties with recommended packages to realize better yield gains on farmers’ fields with NARS partners for nine sub-Saharan African countries.
He facilitates germplasm exchange among NARs within and across countries, NARS capacity building through training and mentoring of young professionals, material support by developing competitive and compelling projects pertinent to the country, data and experience sharing, and joint publication of new research findings.
He also organizes national, regional and international conferences and workshops, creating networks among NARs in the region, representing CIMMYT and the Global Wheat Program (GWP) in various forums. He liaises with government officials, institutions, and offices at various levels for collaboration effective partnerships.
Value of CGIAR wheat estimated at up to $3.8 billion a year, research shows
A field at El Batán research station. CIMMYT/Julie Mollins
SYDNEY, Australia (CIMMYT) – About 70 percent of spring bread and durum wheat varieties released globally over the 20-year period between 1994 and 2014 were bred or are derived from wheat lines developed by scientists working for the 15-member CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers, according to new research.
Benefits of CGIAR wheat improvement research, conducted mainly by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), range from $2.8 billion to $3.8 billion a year, states a new policy brief, which highlights the economic benefits of international collaboration in wheat improvement research.
The research featured in the policy brief, which follows a series of global wheat impact assessments initiated by CIMMYT, was the focus of a keynote address at the 9th International Wheat Conference (IWC), hosted in Sydney, Australia from September 20 to 25, 2015.
“The policy brief shows the vital contribution CGIAR and CIMMYT have played in delivering international public goods in the form of improved maize and wheat varieties for resource poor consumers,” said Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Wheat.
“Values reflect the increasing use of high-yielding modern varieties on more land area and higher mean wheat prices during the period under review,” Braun said.
A primarily publicly funded breeding pipeline established by CIMMYT in the 1960s and 1970s to help stave off famine in Asia and other regions in the developing world, distributes about 600 elite lines a year worldwide through its international wheat improvement network.
About $30 million is invested in international wheat improvement research annually, mainly through publicly funded research conducted with CIMMYT, national partners, ICARDA and the Wheat CRP.
“Our findings indicate that international wheat improvement research continues to generate high returns,” Braun said.
“The influence of CIMMYT’s publicly funded research resounds throughout the developed world and in private industry. The private sector benefits from CIMMYT’s work, ultimately profiting from a trustworthy, streamlined wheat breeding system which eliminates the need for costly duplication of efforts.”
Globally, about 150 to 160 million tons of wheat are traded a year at a value of roughly $250 a ton.
“Agricultural sectors in wealthy donor countries also benefit from CIMMYT’s work,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, referring to investment in research and development for the poor as a “triple win.”
“The effectiveness and the return on public sector investment are extremely high,” Kropff said. Investment leads to more food and income for the rural poor, lower prices for the urban poor and extra stability and income for farmers.”
Wheat currently provides 20 percent of calories and 20 percent of protein to the global human diet. However, in some countries, such as Afghanistan, wheat provides more than half the food supply.
By 2050, the current global population of 7.3 billion is projected to grow 33 percent to 9.7 billion, according to the United Nations. Demand for food, driven by population, demographic changes and increasing global wealth will rise more than 60 percent, according to a recent report from the Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience. This demand can only be met if global investments in wheat improvement are significantly increased.
Lantican, M.A., T.S. Payne, K Sonder, R. Singh, M. Van Ginkel, M. Braun, O. Erenstein and H.J. Braun. (in press). Impacts of International Wheat Improvement Research In the World, 1994-2014. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Julie Mollins
News Editor & Media Manager
Global Wheat Program
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
E-mail: j.mollins at cgiar.org
Skype: juliemollins
Twitter:@jmollins
Related Research:
Braidotti, Gio. The international nature of germplasm enhancement [online]. Partners in Research for Development, Nov 2013: 27-29. Availability:<http://search.informit.com.au/ ISSN: 1031-1009. [cited 08 Sep 15].
Brennan, John P. and Kathryn J. Quade. Evolving usage of materials from CIMMYT in developing Australian wheat varieties. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 2006, 57, 947-952.