Theme: Capacity development

CIMMYT training courses play a critical role in helping international researchers meet national food security and resource conservation goals. By sharing knowledge to build communities of agricultural knowledge in less developed countries, CIMMYT empowers researchers to aid farmers. In turn, these farmers help ensure sustainable food security. In contrast to formal academic training in plant breeding and agronomy, CIMMYT training activities are hands-on and highly specialized. Trainees from Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from the data assembled and handled in a global research program. Alumni of CIMMYT courses often become a significant force for agricultural change in their countries.

Course on remote sensing using an unmanned aerial vehicle in Peru

Written by on July 19, 2013. Posted in News.

Course-on-remote-sensing-using-an-unmanned-aerial-vehicle Training on the use of remote sensing from an unmanned aerial vehicle was given at INIAP-Peru’s Vista Florida experiment station on 1-5 June 2013. The course was organized by INIAP, the University of Barcelona, Spain, and CIMMYT’s regional office in Colombia. Remote sensing is used in precision agriculture and for phenotyping crops that are important for the region, such as maize, rice, and sugar cane.

Course participants included 44 representatives from the International Potato Center (CIP), the University of Talca (Chile), INIA-Peru, and Peru’s Ministry of Agriculture, among other institutions. The course is one of several activities sponsored by the “Affordable field-based HTPPs” project led by José Luis Araus of the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Barcelona and funded by CRP MAIZE. During the event, a phenotyping platform developed within the framework of the project was presented to INIA.

The director of the Vista Florida station, Miguel Monsalve Aita, opened the course, which was given by distinguished academics and scientists such as José Luis Araus; Pablo Zarco and Alberto Hornero from the Sustainable Agriculture Institute, Córdoba, Spain; Antón Hernández, president of AirElectronics, Madrid, Spain; Carlos Poblete, Claudio Balbotín, and Gustavo Lobos from the University of Talca, Chile; Hildo MacLean and Susan Palacios from CIP, and Luis Narro from CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program.

The lectures focused on topics such as applying remote sensing in phenotyping; spectral and thermal remote sensing of stress from unmanned aircraft; image and data processing; use of software to process the gathered information; and thermal image analysis for diagnosing drought stress and controlling irrigation. In addition, Hildo MacLean showed how the Oktokopter–XL works. Luis Narro demostrated how to use the new version of the GreenSeeker for making recommendations on N application in maize and, Antón Hernández showed how the unmanned aircraft Sky Walker, which comes equipped with a flight programmer, an infrared camera, and a multispectral camera for collecting data, works. The aircraft used in the demonstration was donated to the Vista Florida station as part of the project’s contributions.

Another essential part of the course was the intensive training on subjects such as platform management, flight programming, and downloading and processing information that was provided to a group of technicians from INIA and private seed companies. Also, Given that INIA technicians who are in charge of the platform need to become thoroughly familiar with it, three technicians from Vista Florida will go to Spain in September to take a course on processing and interpreting images.

The course organizers wish to express their appreciation to the Vista Florida Maize Program.

Course-on-remote-sensing-using-an-unmanned-aerial-vehicle3

MasAgro presents high quality, high yielding maize hybrids to seed producers

Written by on July 19, 2013. Posted in News.

Investigation plot of hybrid seed production technology in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.

Mexican seed producers and researchers who participate in the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative met recently at El Cantón, a location close to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, where experimental plots aimed at producing high quality and higher yielding hybrid maize seed are planted.

“The purpose of these experimental plots is to adapt the best production technologies to three mega-environments (highland valleys, tropics, and subtropics), observe the performance of seed targeted for agricultural areas where MasAgro operates, and identify new locations where hybrid maize seed with high physical and genetic quality can be produced,” explained Félix San Vicente, leader of the maize component of MasAgro.

This strategy aims to coordinate the development and multiplication of hybrid maize seed adapted to rainfed areas that are a priority for MasAgro, as well as to promote its adoption among medium- and small-scale maize farmers.

People attending the field day received information on the yield of maize hybrids developed by participants in MasAgro’s Network of Seed Sector Members and Cooperators, which includes 35 Mexican seed companies and agricultural research institutes. Both white and yellow hybrids were presented––seven for highland valleys, five for the tropics, and four for the subtropics. The seeds were derived from simple and triple crosses that have higher adaptation and yield capacity. The materials presented are at the pre-commercial stage, but most are already available to seed companies that belong to the network.

Félix San Vicente, Leader of the maize component of MasAgro.

CIMMYT researchers explained that the objective is to endow seed currently being improved using conventional breeding methods with key agronomic traits such as adaptation capacity, high yield, days to flowering, and staggered sowing in order to better synchronize flowering.

Members of the MasAgro network hope to increase the hybrid

maize seed production area in the 2013 fall-winter cycle, thanks to the high adaptation capacity and good performance shown by materials developed for tropical, subtropical, and highland valley production areas targeted by MasAgro.

Also attending the event were representatives of 23 Mexican seed companies, as well as researchers from Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and academics from the Southern Regional University Center of Chapingo Autonomous University (UACh).

SIMLESA scientists receive agronomy training in South Africa

Written by on July 19, 2013. Posted in News.

SIMLESA-ARC-trainees Fifteen young scientists from SIMLESA partner and spillover countries were recently trained by the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC-SA) on various aspects of agronomy and innovation learning platforms (ILePs), including conservation agriculture principles, nitrogen fixation, experimental design and field layout, agro-climatology principles, and data collection and analysis.

The training took place during 06-17 May 2013 at three ARC institutes: Institute for Soil, Climate and Water (ARC-ISCW), Plant Protection Research Institute (ARC-PPRI), and Grain Crops Institute (ARC-GCI), and aimed to expose the scientists to grain production information and to enable assimilation of terms, theories, and principles through practice. The training was based on experiential learning principles and employed a variety of interactive learning methods, scientific presentations, discussions, multiple practical sessions in the laboratory, and field demonstrations.

During field visits, such as the one to SOYGRO, a company manufacturing rhizobium inoculant and related products, trainees got to experience how the grain industry functions in South Africa from manufacturing and packing to the distribution processes.

Trainees also visited the NAMPO Harvest Day in Bothaville, Free State, taking place during the NAMPO Agricultural Trade Show, one of the largest privately organized and owned exhibitions in the world and the largest agricultural machinery and livestock show in the Southern Hemisphere. The show draws more than 650 exhibitors each year from all over the world, including Australia, Sweden, the USA, Italy, Brazil, and Germany. Another visit on the program was to the Unit of Environmental Sciences and Management at the North-West University, where Professor Driekie Fourie introduced the trainees to the University research programs and related study fields. Before the trip, Professor Johnny van den Berg from the University had given an introductory talk on integrated pest management.

The program was coordinated by CIMMYT agronomist Fred Kanampiu, Yolisa Pakela-Jezile from ARC-CO, and Annelie de Beer from ARC-GCI. Participants are expected to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills to train their colleagues.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding between ARC and CIMMYT under SIMLESA, ARC is responsible for organizing capacity building of scientists and extension officers in the five target countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania) and the seven spillover countries (Uganda, Botswana, Rwanda, and South Sudan). SIMLESA is funded by the Australian government through ACIAR.

International scientists compare hot models at CIMMYT

Written by on July 3, 2013. Posted in News.

AgMIP_workshop_original-cropped Hot models were the main topic of conversation at El Batan during 19-21 June 2013, when international experts from 18 leading research institutions participated in a workshop on “Modeling Wheat Responses to High Temperature.”

This workshop was organized by CIMMYT’s Wheat Physiology group and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in collaboration with the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP).

One key goal of CCAFS and AgMIP is to enhance global climate change impact assessment and adaptation capacity.

This workshop focused on understanding where and why crop simulation models diverge in their simulation of wheat responses to high temperatures. According to one of the workshop organizers, CIMMYT post-doc Phillip Alderman, “Previous studies by AgMIP-Wheat showed that temperature effects are one of the largest limitations in modeling the impacts of climate change. We hope that this workshop will enhance our understanding of wheat responses to high temperatures and facilitate further discussions on improving modeling to predict climate change impacts on wheat.”

The AgMIP-Wheat team will now embark on a systematic analysis of temperature response algorithms, as well as continuing their evaluation of wheat models, using CIMMYT wheat physiology data from high temperature environments.

This research is expected to instigate better policy decisions aimed at improving the food security of thousands of smallholder farmers in least-developed countries who depend on wheat as a staple food and who are most likely to be impacted by climate change.

Building capacity of East African seed companies through training

Written by on July 2, 2013. Posted in News.

Seed production workshop participants visited a hybrid seed field at East African Seeds in Uganda.

In recent years seed companies in Tanzania and Uganda have seen tremendous growth, resulting largely from the uptake of new drought tolerant maize varieties from both national and international organizations (see Table 1). This is accompanied by an increasing number of improved maize varieties taken up by the companies, growth in seed production, and general expansion of the companies’ work volume, which results in need for more well-trained technical staff. Recognizing this, several companies in the region turned to CIMMYT with a request for a training course to equip seed technicians with skills to produce seed of various classes and to supply farmers with quality seeds. In response to the request, CIMMYT organized two training sessions: from 8-10 January 2013 in Tanzania and from 10-12 June 2013 in Uganda.

Delivered by James Gethi, Biswanath Das, and Mosisa Worku Regasa, together with Godfrey Asea in Uganda, the course covered all aspects of the seed value chain, including seed processing, quality control of seed production, customer service, contracting growers, maize varieties and their characteristics, seed storage, marketing strategies, and handling of unsold stock; it also touched on agronomy.

In Tanzania the course attracted 25 participants from 8 seed companies; in Uganda there were 39 attendees from 14 seed companies, the Uganda Seed Trade Association (USTA), and the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI).

“Capacity building in local seed companies is important,” said Bob Shuma, executive director of the Tanzania Seed Trade Association (TASTA), encouraging participants to seek opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge of the seed business from CIMMYT and other partners. “Products and services of good quality are key in the process of building customers’ trust, which contributes to the success of the company. This can only be achieved through training and adherence to laws and regulations set by the government,” he added.

To determine the effectiveness of the course and delivery methods, participants were evaluated before and after the course. The pre- and post-course quizzes indicated an improvement of knowledge in both countries by over 34%. Those with top scores on the quiz were recognized for their outstanding performance, and all participants received a CD with resource materials and a copy of The Seed Business Management in Africa (MacRobert 2009).

Godfrey Asea, crop breeder and cereal research leader at NaCRRI, and Masagazi Cliff-Richard, USTA chairman and managing director of Pearl Seeds Ltd, who participated in the course in Uganda, thanked CIMMYT for organizing the training and urged everyone to use the newly-acquired knowledge to produce and supply quality seed to Ugandan farmers. “Uganda needs an improved seed industry,” said Cliff-Richard emphasizing the value of the course. Tanzania-Group-photograph2

The CRP MAIZE will be hosting a side event on the role of maize in Africa at the Africa Agriculture Science Week (15-20 July) on 16 July in Accra, Ghana. Join us if you can and follow the AASW Blog and #AASW6 on Twitter.

Nebraska Declaration on Conservation Agriculture signed

Written by on June 17, 2013. Posted in News.

8623227856_28319de0bf_z After months of discussions and debates on the scientific evidence regarding conservation agriculture for small-scale, resource-poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, a group of 40 scientists reached a consensus on the goals of conservation agriculture and the research necessary to reach these goals. The discussions leading to the signing of the Nebraska Declaration on Conservation Agriculture on 5 June 2013 began during a scientific workshop on “Conservation agriculture: What role in meeting CGIAR system-level outcomes?” organized by the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA, during 15-18 October 2012. Several CIMMYT scientists contributed to the Lincoln workshop and the subsequent draft of the convention. “Not every participant agreed to sign. It went too far for some conservation agriculture purists and not far enough for others. This is usually the case when a consensus between 50 scientists and experts is sought,” said Bruno Gerard, director of CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP), pointing to an interesting read in that respect, ‘Conservation agriculture and smallholder farming in Africa: The heretics’ view’ by Giller et al. (2009).

According to the Declaration, most efforts to date in developing countries have promoted conservation agriculture as a package of three practices: minimum disturbance of soil, retention of sufficient crop residue, and diversified cropping patterns. However, the situation on the ground shows limits of this strict definition, as there is little evidence of conservation agriculture wide adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but there is some evidence of adoption of one or two of the components. To play a significant role in low-productivity, resource-poor agricultural systems, broader efforts going beyond a focus on the package of the three main practices are necessary. Emphasis needs to be placed on diagnostic agronomy and participatory on-farm research to identify the constraints faced by farmers and to guide farmers in finding solutions to them. As there is a range of sound agronomic, economic, and/or social reasons for choosing not to adopt the three-component conservation agriculture package, it is necessary to systematically assess the suitability and viability of management options and practices while considering farmers’ objectives and constraints, the Declaration stresses.

Rigorous and coordinated research is needed to assess and better understand the process of adoption of conservation agriculture. Unless the farmers’ reasons for choosing to adopt or not to adopt a certain practice are known, a wider adoption of conservation agriculture practices is unlikely.

“I think the declaration is useful as conservation agriculture principles should be seen as a way to sustainable intensification and not an end by itself,” commented Gerard. “The declaration fits well with the present efforts of GCAP and the Socioeconomics Program to put conservation agriculture in a broader context, and to better understand adoptability and constraints to adoption, which are agroecology-, site-, and farm-specific. Furthermore, it stretches the importance of systems research to integrate field level agronomy work within a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary framework.”

Promising CIMMYT maize inbreds and pre-commercial hybrids identified against maize lethal necrosis (MLN)

Written by on June 14, 2013. Posted in News.

The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease first appeared in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 2011 and quickly spread to other parts of Kenya, as well as to Uganda and Tanzania. Caused by a synergistic interplay of maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any of the cereal viruses in the family, Potyviridae, such as Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV), or Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), MLN can cause total crop loss if not controlled effectively.

A regional workshop on MLN and the control strategies was organized by CIMMYT and KARI during February 12-14, 2013 in Nairobi, which was attended by some 70 scientists, seed company breeders and managers, and representatives of ministries of agriculture and regulatory authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and the USA. The Workshop led to identification of important action points steps for effectively controlling the disease.

CIMMYT scientists have been working closely with virology experts from USDA-ARS and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to develop suitable protocols for testing the responses of maize germplasm against MLN, and to identify promising inbred lines and hybrids with resistance to MLN. During the 2012-2013 crop season, the CIMMYT-KARI team undertook extensive screening of inbred lines, pre-commercial and commercial hybrids in Naivasha and Narok in Kenya, under high natural disease pressure and artificial inoculation, respectively.

A trial featuring 119 commercial maize varieties (released in Kenya) under artificial inoculation during 2012-2013 revealed that as many as 117 varieties were susceptible to MLN. Another set of trials including 335 elite inbred lines, 366 pre-commercial hybrids and 7 commercial hybrids (as checks) under MLN artificial inoculation in Narok, and another set of trials comprising 350 elite inbred lines and 135 pre-commercial hybrids under natural disease pressure in Naivasha, led to identification of some promising CIMMYT inbred lines as well as pre-commercial hybrids showing resistance or moderate resistance. These results offer considerable hope to combat, through breeding efforts, the deadly MLN disease that has severely affected maize harvests and discouraged farmers from growing maize in eastern Africa.

Notes on trial results

The details of the promising CIMMYT elite inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids against MLN are presented in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively. The results presented in Table 1 are based on evaluation of CIMMYT inbred lines in four independent trials, two under artificial inoculation (Narok) and two under natural disease pressure (Naivasha) during 2012-2013. In each trial, entries were replicated (minimum two), and MLN severity scores (on a 1-5 scale basis) were recorded three or more times during the crop cycle, from the vegetative to the reproductive stage. The highest average MLN severity score (max. MLN score), recorded at any stage during the trial, is presented as representative of a given entry.

The data must be critically assessed and cautiously used by stakeholders and partners. More weight should be given to data from artificially inoculated trials, since trials under natural disease pressure are more liable to ‘disease escapes’ and identification of false positives. Caution must be exercised when using specific lines identified as potentially resistant (R) or moderately resistant (MR), especially when classification is based on data from only one trial (even under artificial inoculation). Please note that in such cases, the responses of the lines need to be validated by CIMMYT through further trials.

CIMMYT is working closely with both public and private sector partners to significantly expand the MLN evaluation network capacity in eastern Africa, and will continue the intensive efforts to identify/develop and deliver new sources of resistance to MLN.

For further information on:
MLN research-for-development efforts undertaken by CIMMYT, please contact: Dr BM Prasanna, Director, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT, Nairobi, Kenya; Email: b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org.
Availability of seed material of the promising lines and pre-commercial hybrids, please contact: Dr Mosisa Regasa (m.regasa@cgiar.org) if your institution is based in eastern Africa, or Dr James Gethi (j.gethi@cgiar.org) if your institution is based in southern Africa or outside eastern and southern Africa.

Additional resources

UPDATE: Promising CIMMYT maize inbreds and pre-commercial hybrids identified against maize lethal necrosis (MLN) in eastern Africa
Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in Kenya and Tanzania: Facts and actions (Download )
KARI-CIMMYT maize lethal necrosis (MLN) screeing facility (1.43 MB)
Maize lethal necrosis: Scientists and key stakeholders discuss strategies as the battle continues

Videos

MLN: A farmer’s plea

Maize lethal necrosis disease: A new challenge
for maize scientists in eastern Africa

Media coverage

Deadly maize disease resurfaces in N. Rift. Business Daily, 31 May 2013.

Fresh viral maize disease worries farmers. Daily Nation, 31 May 2013.

Alert out in Coast over maize disease. Daily Nation, 31 May 2013.

Extension personnel urged to lead by example in promoting metal silos

Written by on June 13, 2013. Posted in News.

Metal-Silos5 Agricultural extension service staff members in Zambia have been challenged to be the first adopters of metal silos to help promote the technology for effective grain storage. “I implore you, extension workers, to be the first adopters and users of the metal silo technology. As citizens that live side by side with farmers, go and be the first to practice what you will be preaching. You must lead by example,” stated Bert Mushala, the Permanent Secretary, Provincial Administration, Office of the President, Eastern Province, in a speech read on his behalf by his assistant Beenzu Chichuka at the official opening of the Improved Postharvest Management Training Workshop for Extension and Media Personnel held during 27- 28 May 2013 in Chipata, Zambia. “Farmers learn by seeing. Therefore, before they start using the metal silos, they want to see the chief executives, the business executives, extension workers, journalists, and other opinion leaders in the forefront, zealously storing maize in the metal silos,” he added.

The purpose of the training was to build technical capacity on hermetic grain storage technologies, such as metal silos and super grain bags, among extension and media staff in the project implementation districts of Chipata and Katete. The workshop intended to create awareness on the importance of grain post-harvest management, help gain insights into different factors affecting post-harvest management, and provide a better understanding of traditional and improved post-harvest technologies and their use in grain loss reduction, summarized Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT entomologist and the Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP II) coordinator. Ivor Mukuka, EGSP national coordinator for Zambia and ZARI chief agricultural research officer, noted that this was part of the process of sharing information on EGSP as a means of promoting effective grain storage and thus helping smallholder farmers safely keep their grains for longer and sell when the time and price are right.

Reiterating the importance of the technology, Mushala noted that self-sufficiency in food grains in the country does not depend only on increased production and productivity, but also on minimizing losses both in the field and during storage. Over the years, supporting organizations and other partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, have poured colossal amounts of resources into the production component of the sector. “The resultant improved yield gains, especially in maize, have largely been wasted through post-harvest losses,” regretted Mushala, adding that “this project is therefore unique and outstanding to us in Zambia as it focuses on the comparatively neglected storage aspects. It is the first one of its kind and could not have come at a better time.”

Mushala then reminded the journalists that they had an enormous task of educating the masses on the new form of storage as many citizens, even in urban areas, are engaged in agriculture. “Go and empower the masses with this information so that together, we can reduce on-farm storage losses to zero,” Mushala urged the participants. Eastern Province Agriculture coordinator Obvious Kabinda called for commitment: “You must have confidence and belief in the technology if you are to successfully promote it to others.”

The messages did not get lost on the participants. “I have gained good knowledge of the technology and, like other trainees, will be using it to ensure that farmers are aware of its existence, have access to it, and are able to adopt the metal silos,” said Michelo Lubinda, a producer with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS), confirming the usefulness of the workshop.

Tefera thanked the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and the Ministry of Agriculture for their commitment in implementing the project in Zambia, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for funding the project.

The training was organized by CIMMYT, ZARI, and the Department of Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture, and facilitated by Tefera, Mukuka, CIMMYT agricultural economist Hugo De Groote, EGSP policy economist Jones Govereh, and senior mechanization specialist Moffat Khosa and principal agricultural engineer Egbet Munganama from the Department of Mechanization Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia.

DTMA traveling workshop combines peer learning and evaluation

Written by on June 10, 2013. Posted in News.

DSC_5209-Group-photo-at-trial-field-in-Mozambique Covering 2,400 km, a multinational team toured Drought Tolerant Maize in Africa (DTMA) trial and demonstration plots in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe from 21–30 April in a traveling workshop that combined peer learning and project monitoring and evaluation. The team of 17 was made up of breeders from the national programs, DTMA scientists, and DTMA Advisory Board Chair Dave Westphal. Participants had the opportunity to compare notes, gain new knowledge based on the experiences of colleagues in other countries, and gauge themselves against their peers based on practical, real-life results. “Having a diverse group like this is very educational,” said DTMA Seed Systems Objective Leader John MacRobert.

DTMA addresses a real need in the region: “Drought is part and parcel of our farming systems,” said Zamseed veteran breeder Verma Bhoola when he hosted the team at the company’s farm. “Over 90% of maize grown in Zambia is rainfed, so prone to drought,” he said, emphasizing the importance of breeding for drought tolerance not only in Zambia but also in the rest of Africa, where most maize farming depends on rain patterns that are increasingly unpredictable as a result of climate change. “Twenty-five percent of maize production in Africa is threatened by frequent drought, while 40% is affected by occasional drought,” said DTMA project leader Tsedeke Abate during a feedback session at the end of the workshop.

The project is making significant strides. “We are on track in terms of overall production of drought-tolerant maize seed,” said Abate. More than 100 varieties have been released in 13 countries. “Zimbabwe is leading in seed production, with over 7,000 metric tons of drought-tolerant seeds produced by the end of 2012,” he said.

The tour ended with awards for the top-performing teams in breeding and dissemination. Malawi won top honors in both categories, for the trial plots at the research station and a well-managed demonstration plot in Mkanda Village, on the outskirts of Lilongwe, run by the Vibrant Mkanda Women’s Group. “This really demonstrates what DTMA is doing in partnership with the seed companies and national programs,” said Westphal. DTMA aims to produce and market 70,000 tons of seed annually by 2016.

Confined field trial of drought-tolerant maize yields promising results

Written by on June 7, 2013. Posted in Features.

The fourth confined field trial of MON87460, a genetically modified maize variety developed to tolerate moderate drought, recently concluded at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Kiboko with promising results.

The Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project has been conducting field trials of MON87460 since 2010. The most recent trial was planted on 28 November 2012 and harvested on 16 April 2013. Throughout the season, the genetically modified plants outperformed those without the drought-tolerance-enhancing gene, including commercial checks.

This was even more evident at harvest, with ears from the genetically modified plants looking superior to the conventional checks. Charles Kariuki, center director at KARI-Katumani, who was present during the harvesting, was particularly impressed with the performance of the WEMA 18, 36, 41, 50, and 55 entries. “From these, we should be able to generate high quality data to back these impressive performances,” he said. Kariuki urged the project to nominate the conventional entries (without the MON87460 gene), that were also tested in the trials and performed very well, to the Kenya National Performance Trials to fast-track their commercial release.

Murenga Mwimali, WEMA’s national coordinator for Kenya, was looking forward to the outcomes of the data analysis to ascertain this yield performance in detail, comparing the performance against those without the gene and the commercial checks: “This will enable us to make informed conclusions on the potential benefits of MON87460.” Representatives from the regulatory authorities—the Kenya National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS)—also lauded the WEMA team for their good confined field trial management.

Biosafety training for harvest staff

The day before the harvest, required training on regulatory compliance was conducted for everyone expected to participate in the harvest. The training covered management requirements and standard operating procedures for confined field trials as well as biosafety requirements for planting, harvesting, and post-harvest monitoring. The 46 participants were drawn from WEMA partner institutions (CIMMYT, African Agricultural Technology Foundation, KARI, and Monsanto), as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, KEPHIS, and NBA.

Jane Otadoh, assistant director for biotechnology in the Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the importance of training to enable staff to effectively handle confined field trials. “There is lack of awareness, information, and knowledge on biotechnology in Kenya, and more so on confined field trial operations, requirements, and regulations. This training is to help you understand the process, the role of scientists, the regulatory process, and the regulators,” she said. She reiterated the ministry’s support for technology that boosts agricultural productivity.

James Karanja of the KARI-Katumani biotechnology program took participants through the standard operating procedures for harvesting confined field trials. Julia Njagi, biosafety officer at NBA, noted that staff training was critical to ensure compliance with biosafety regulations while performing the trials. As part of confined field trial management and regulatory compliance, all harvested materials including grains had to be destroyed by burning and burying, to avoid unintended release of genetically modified materials into the environment.

Eveline Shitabule, an inspector with KEPHIS, noted that training helped the participants to understand and follow instructions to ensure compliance. Having competent and well-trained personnel is one of the three pillars of compliance, the other two being a secure facility and records that are accessible and understandable.

Participants said they gained valuable knowledge during the workshop that improved their ability to work on confined field trials.

Nepalese wheat researchers trained on spot blotch disease in India

Written by on June 5, 2013. Posted in News.

Spot blotch is one of the major diseases in the wheat growing regions of Nepal and the knowledge allowing researchers to identify and understand the disease is thus crucial. A group of 12 wheat technical research staff from Nepal visited Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, India, during 18-21 March 2013 with that purpose exactly: to learn more about the spot blotch disease and participatory varietal selection. The training was coordinated by CIMMYT wheat breeder Arun Joshi under the CRP WHEAT Strategic Initiative 5: durable resistance and management of diseases and insect pests. The main resource persons for the training were Ramesh Chand, Vinod Kumar Mishra, and B. Arun; Naji Eisa (Yemen), Conformt Sankem (Nigeria), Chhavi Tiwari, and Punam Yadav (India), all PhD students from BHU, facilitated the program.

The training covered identification of spot blotch pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana in the field and the lab; preparation of Bipolaris inoculum using colonized sorghum grain; understanding the spot blotch disease infection process; creating artificial epiphytotic in the polyhouse and the field; screening wheat genotypes under high humidity and temperature in the polyhouse; recording disease severity in field and polyhouse conditions; and increasing data reliability in research on spot blotch of wheat and barley.

Participants first visited the pathology laboratory in the Mycology and Plant Pathology department, where they learned to identify B. sorokiniana under the microscope and to prepare Bipolaris inoculums from colonized sorghum grain. The infection process was explained using different samples available in the lab, as was a new technique for evaluation of spot blotch resistance in barley and wheat using monoconidial culture of the most aggressive isolate of B. sorokiniana developed at BHU. Participants observed the collection of the blotched portions of infected leaves for the production of conidia by associated fungal hyphae. They were also trained in conidia collection for further multiplication and categorization into different classes based on the aggressiveness of isolates.

In-Field On the second day, participants visited the polyhouse and research station to learn about screening wheat genotypes
under high humidity and temperature. They recorded the disease severity a number of times and saw that if inoculation is done properly the susceptible genotypes burn. The variation among genotypes for resistance to spot blotch disease was explained with the help of repeated disease notes and developing area under disease progress curve. Participants also observed the CRP project on spot blotch carried out at BHU in collaboration with the Nepal Wheat Research Program. The visiting team fruitfully interacted with the BHU wheat researchers, especially with Chand and Mishra, as well as with master’s and doctoral students working on spot blotch. A planned one-hour question-and-answer session expanded to three hours due to the visitors’ enthusiasm and wide-ranging questions.

On their final day, the team visited three participatory varietal selection sites where Harikirtan Singh, the lead farmer, demonstrated the performance of the most popular and newly developed lines under different seeding conditions (surface seeding, zero tillage, and conventional tillage) and multiplication of a number of agronomically superior zinc-rich wheat lines selected from the HarvestPlus project.

The training also allowed participants to visit other research experiments and trials associated with the Cereal System Initiative South Asia (CSISA) and HarvestPlus projects, and to learn to identify agronomically superior biotic and abiotic resistant varieties.

The Nepalese team regarded the visit highly successful as it provided an excellent opportunity to work with the most recent tools and techniques in spot blotch and other wheat researches and to enrich their experience on proper data recording and conduct of participatory varietal selection trials.

WEMA reaches out to local communities in Kenya

Written by on June 5, 2013. Posted in Features.

WEMA13 On 02 May 2013, the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project organized a sensitization workshop for local community leaders, provincial administration members, agricultural extension workers, farmers, and representatives of farmer groups. The meeting was held at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Kiboko and attracted over 40 participants from the neighboring maize growing areas in the Makueni and Machakos counties in eastern Kenya, along with representatives from CIMMYT, Monsanto, African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum, and the Ministry of Agriculture. It aimed to explain WEMA’s work on development of drought-tolerant and insect-resistant maize varieties using both conventional and genetic engineering techniques. It was also an opportunity for WEMA to demystify myths, allay fears, and enlighten participants on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and confined field trials.

In his opening remarks, E.O. Mungabe, KARI-Katumani center deputy director, noted that the use of genetic engineering in crop breeding still triggers panic among some Kenyans. However, the emerging challenges of climate change, diseases such as maize lethal necrosis, and pests like the larger grain borer call for new approaches, as conventional ways of breeding alone might not overcome or solve these problems. “It is necessary that we combine our conventional breeding techniques with genetic engineering to effectively respond to these emerging challenges. Think positively of genetic engineering as a technology that has the potential to address them,” Mungabe explained the situation to the participants. “Africa is a drought-prone continent with approximately 300 million people depending on agriculture for their livelihood,” said Murenga Mwimali, WEMA-Kenya national project coordinator, reminding participants that due to climate change, the incidences and severity of droughts will increase. Combined with insect and pest attacks, this could make maize farming an unrewarding enterprise if these issues are not addressed. Mwimali then briefed the participants on the progress todate in developing drought-tolerant and insect-resistant maize varieties using biotechnology and conventional breeding techniques. “Trials show that these new varieties,” Mwimali added, “will yield 25% more than commercial hybrids.”

Joseph Bii of KARI-Kiboko Rangeland Research Station stressed that 80% of Kenya’s land is classified as arid or semiarid. It is therefore important to develop maize varieties that can tolerate the little and erratic rainfall experienced in these areas to enable farmers to continue the production of Kenya’s main staple crop and an important fodder crop for livestock, maize.

The meeting then focused on the topics of GMOs and confined field trials within the scope of WEMA. The project has so far conducted four confined field trials for genetically modified drought tolerant maize variety MON87460 with promising results; another currently conducted confined field trial with genetically modified maize variety resistant to stem borers (MON810) is progressing well. It might take a few more years before farmers can plant the genetically modified maize varieties, but the drought-tolerant CKH110078 conventional variety developed from the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) materials is likely to be available this year, according to Mwimali. In addition, 14 water efficient WEMA hybrids are already in national performance trials in Kenya and could, therefore, be released as early as next year.

The participants welcomed the opportunity to exchange ideas and get clarifications on many GMO issues: sources of seed and price implications; implications of recycling seed; cross-pollination of GMOs with their local varieties; as well as the reasons why WEMA has not improved local varieties such as Kinyanya. The farmers were also advised on sources of seed and appropriate varieties for their region, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service through their SMS service, and warned against relying on agro-dealers for information as they are in the business to sell.

The stakeholders toured the MON810 trial and the WEMA confined field trial facility, where they had a chance to observe a genetically modified crop for the first time. It was heartening for the meeting organizers to hear most of the farmers speak positively of the technology and the varieties in the trial, with many expressing their eagerness to try out the genetically modified varieties.

WEMA22

Giving power to African farmers: learning from the Indian experience

Written by on June 4, 2013. Posted in News.

Bhopal-096 From 29 April to 10 May, 16 agricultural engineers, agronomists, machinery importers, and machinery manufacturers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe took part in a study tour in India organized by CIMMYT, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and the Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC). The tour was organized as part of the “Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification” (FACASI) project to identify opportunities for exchange of technologies and expertise between India and Africa and strengthen South-South collaborations in the area of farm mechanization. The project is funded by AIFSC and managed by ACIAR.

India is the world’s largest producer of pulses, and the second largest producer of wheat, rice, potatoes, and groundnuts. But would India’s agricultural performance be that high if the number of tractors in the country was divided by six and the number of draught animals by three? Such a reduction in farm power would bring Indian agriculture close to the current situation of Kenya and Tanzania. In India, most agricultural operations are mechanized, including planting, harvesting, threshing, shelling, and transportation to the market; in Africa, these are generally accomplished manually. Bringing African agriculture closer to the situation in India is the goal of the FACASI project. This tour was designed as the first step in the construction of an enduring trilateral partnership between Africa, India, and Australia, consolidated by CIMMYT, to facilitate exchange of research and development results in the area of farm mechanization.

During his opening speech, S. Ayyapan, ICAR director general, stressed the importance of farm mechanization for agricultural intensification, pointed at the commonalities between the circumstances of Indian and African smallholders, and invited the group to develop concrete country-specific proposals regarding possible partnerships with India. The participants then spent five days at the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state, where they were exposed to various low-cost gender-friendly technologies for post-harvest operations and weeding; sowing, fertilizing, spraying, and harvesting technologies adapted to animal traction; two-wheel and four-wheel tractors; as well as conservation agriculture based technologies. Through calibration exercises and other field activities, participants gained hands-on experience with these machines. The group also visited the Central Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute in Budni.

The second part of the study tour took place in the states of Punjab and Haryana, where the group interacted with scientists from the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), and was exposed to various Indian innovations including laser land levelers operated by two-wheel tractors, relay direct seeders, multi-crop planters, crop threshers, and rotary weeders. They also participated in a discussion session organized by a farmer cooperative society at Noorpur-Bet focusing on institutional innovations encouraging farmer access to mechanization, and interacted intensively with Indian agribusinesses such as National Agro-Industry, Dashmesh Mechanical Engineering, Amar Agro Industries, and All India Machinery Manufacturers Association.

The study tour was concluded by a visit of the Central Soil and Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) in Karnal to observe the role of conservation agriculture in reclaiming degraded land, and a visit to the Indian Wheat Research Centre in Karnal.

The lessons learnt in India will be put in practice in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe through the FACASI project. The study tour has generated several ideas for the development of new machines by African engineers and created contacts between Indian manufacturers and African machinery importers which may materialize into business opportunities.

High up and hyperspectral

Written by on June 3, 2013. Posted in News.

The aircraft operated near CIMMYT station in Ciudad Obregon ready for hyperspectral imagery collection.

Last week CIMMYT obtained a new hyperspectral camera and thus significantly expanded its remote sensing capabilities. Pablo J. Zarco-Tejada, director of QuantaLab remote sensing laboratory, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (IAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain, and his team spent 13-17 May 2013 at the Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, installing the new camera on the remote sensing platform they delivered during their last visit in February 2013.

Zarco-Tejada and his team also trained a pilot and CIMMYT staff on the use of the hyperspectral remote sensing equipment, which was obtained through a capacity building project between CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program and QuantaLab-IAS-CSIC, funded by MAIZE and WHEAT CRPs under Strategic Initiative 3.

Hyperspectral flight line acquired near the CIMMYT station at Obregon acquired at 40 cm resolution on 15 May 2013 (left). Areas with dense vegetation and trees orchards shown in red (top inserts). The graph shows the full hyperspectral signatures extracted from the imagery from healthy and stressed vegetation pixels, and from a soil target after radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction methods are conducted in the laboratory at CIMMYT.

Hyperspectral technology uses the most advanced remote sensing cameras that are sensitive to the visible and near infrared spectral regions. This allows for acquisition of hundreds of images at once, each of them covering a different and narrow spectral region in a continuous mode. While multispectral cameras widely used for crop monitoring through remote sensing methods can acquire only five or six spectral bands at once, the new hyperspectral imager owned and operated by CIMMYT obtains 250 spectral bands at the same time, covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum between the visible and the near infrared regions. This opens up tremendous new and powerful avenues for research on early crop stress detection, physiological assessment, conservation agriculture, plant breeding, disease detection, etc.

The thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral cameras are installed on the same aircraft which allows researchers to obtain both thermal and multi/hyperspectral images concurrently. With resolutions ranging between 20 and 50 centimeters, it is possible to target single experimental plots as well as within-field spatial variability in commercial fields. The cameras acquire 250 bands of 6.4-nanometer width in the 400-885 nanometer region, scanning swaths of 500 meters at 30-50 centimeter pixel resolution.

This makes it possible to calculate several new spectral indices related to photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll content, carotenoids, xanthophylls, and anthocyanins, as well as measure physiological and structural indicators, which can be used to map nitrogen status and derive nitrogen recommendations to improve wheat quality. Most importantly, the new hyperspectral imager allows for early detection of stress using narrow-band indices related to light-use efficiency, as well as for quantifying chlorophyll fluorescence emissions by the plant, which is the focus of current cutting-edge international research on canopy photosynthesis. This has proved to be a better physiological indicator than other traditional vegetation indices.

The hyperspectral camera was tested over an area near CENEB and is now fully operational for phenotyping and physiological and agronomic research. Image processing methods and hyperspectral analysis procedures were used for signature extraction from the imagery and observation of the spectral differences between healthy and stressed vegetation pixels.

Members of CIMMYT, IAS-CSIC (Spain) and the aircraft crew during the flight tests conducted to test the new hyperspectral camera.

Configuration of the new hyperspectral camera for different operation modes and the identification of successful remote sensing indices will continue through research collaboration between CIMMYT and QuantaLab-IASCSIC. The algorithms and state-of-the-art methods for the processing of the imagery, as well as field instrumentation required for the flights, are now available at CENEB. The same instruments are planned to be used during the upcoming cropping season in El Batán and Toluca.

Collaborative wheat breeding for durable resistance to stripe rust in China

Written by on May 31, 2013. Posted in News.

Chinese-wheat-grower Breeding of durable resistance to stripe rust —the greatest biotic threat to wheat production in the largest wheat producer and consumer in the world, China— was the major theme of a workshop jointly organized by the CIMMYT-Sichuan office and the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) at the SAAS Plant Breeding Institute in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, on 18 May 2013. The workshop aimed to promote the adoption of second-generation parents and slow-rusting breeding strategies in spring wheat-producing areas of China and to facilitate collaborative breeding strategies between SAAS and its sister organizations in neighboring provinces. The workshop consisted of a seminar and a discussion session on germplasm and breeding strategies led by Gary Rosewarne (CIMMYT Global Wheat Program senior scientist) and Bob McIntosh (Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney), and followed by a field visit to the Southern China Field Station at Xindu.

China has the largest area prone to stripe rust epidemics in the world. Traditionally, the disease has been controlled through genetic strategies focused on incorporating major seedling resistance genes to provide immunity. However, this method places strong pressure on the fungus to evolve and overcome these genes. Since the 1950s, the development of virulent pathotypes to widely used resistance genes has caused numerous serious stripe rust epidemics, with the major ones in 1990 and 2002 resulting in the loss of 2.65 and 1 million tons of grain, respectively. Given China’s importance in the world’s wheat production and consumption, any threat to the country’s wheat production has implications for global food security.

CIMMYT has pioneered breeding of durable resistance to stripe rust through the incorporation of multiple, slow-rusting loci, a breeding strategy well established at SAAS but largely ignored by most other wheat breeders in China who still focus on major seedling resistance. At the beginning of this century, SAAS and CIMMYT established a shuttle breeding system to introduce slowrusting loci into Sichuan germplasm. Five high-yielding but susceptible Sichuan lines were sent to Mexico each year for three years; Ravi Singh, CIMMYT distinguished scientist and head of Bread Wheat Improvement, then made single backcrosses with several CIMMYT donor lines. The resulting lines were advanced in Toluca and Obregón, Mexico, and large populations of early generation materials were sent back to Sichuan for further advancement and final selection. Fixed lines from these first generation crosses have shown good levels of resistance in China, along with yields comparable to those of the check varieties. There is currently a range of second generation parental lines with slow-rusting loci in Chinese backgrounds; it is expected that with these as donors, researchers should be able to raise yield potential further while maintaining resistance.

The workshop resulted in a proposed collaborative strategy which would allow breeders representing different regions of China to receive several lines of second generation Chinese slow-rusting donors and to conduct single backcrosses with some of their elite germplasm that has become susceptible. Chinese scientists involved in the process will be invited to help select early generation materials using the bulk selection methodology. After selection, large early generation populations will be sent back to the regions for further selection and advancement under local conditions. “We anticipate that through this mentoring process, breeders will feel comfortable adopting new breeding strategies that can increase their efficiencies and ensure that durable stripe rust resistant lines are released throughout China,” explained Rosewarne.

China12