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.

GreenSeeker pocket sensor now available

Written by on September 5, 2012. Posted in News.

The GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor, an easy-to-use measurement device designed to assess the health of a crop, was introduced by Trimble on 6 August 2012. By positioning the sensor over a plant and pulling the trigger, the GreenSeeker instantly calculates the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which represents the health of the plant. Users can better determine the overall health and needs of a crop by gathering several readings from plants throughout a field. This can result in a more efficient use of fertilizer, which benefits both the farmer’s bottom line and the environment. Before farmers and farm advisers can apply this technology, it needs to be calibrated locally. Through the MasAgro project, the calibration of the GreenSeeker is conducted by national collaborators in 18 states in Mexico for its use in wheat and maize. CIMMYT is also involved in the calibration of the sensor in Asia and Africa.

For more information, visit the product’s website.

Alan Roelfs visits CIMMYT to teach about rust

Written by on August 29, 2012. Posted in News.

CIMMYT-El Batán had the privilege to host Alan Roelfs, an expert on rust research, as a visitor to the wheat program. Roelfs assisted with training as part of the “Advanced Wheat Improvement Course: Pathology Module” during 25 July – 15 August 2012. “Alan Roelfs equals rust,” said CIMMYT wheat pathologist Amor Yahyaoui, summarizing the significance of Roelfs’ expertise and fame.

Roelfs began working on wheat leaf rust as research aide for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) at Kansas State University, and later transferred to the Cooperative Rust Lab in Minnesota. At USDA he studied stem rust resistance, helped to modernize the stem rust race survey, and monitored spore and disease movement from Mexico to Canada. Roelfs first visited CIMMYT while at Minnesota. “CIMMYT was very different. The wheat and corn programs are now more blended,” he said about his first experiences in Mexico. Roelfs commended the role of CIMMYT in helping Mexico achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production: “Back then it was about improving the crop or not eating.”

A part of Roelfs’ work in Mexico was to track diseases and compare them to CIMMYT’s collection. “Field monitoring of leaf and stem rust populations was significantly different from what it is now,” says Roelfs. “Rust research is also now more like playing with genetics―trying to find out how to turn a trait on or off, depending on what we need it to do.”

Roelfs has visited CIMMYT frequently to attend scientific meetings or offer information on rust lines, and played a key role in the beginning of rust research at CIMMYT. For training, he draws on his vast experience with students with different abilities and backgrounds: “CIMMYT trainings are a very challenging task from the instructor’s perspective because the group is very diverse. There are people with PhD degrees and little field experience, along with people with purely practical experience. Furthermore, there are language barriers, as participants come from different countries.”

Besides training and scientific meetings, Roelfs is also working with CIMMYT scientists on a new edition of Rust Diseases of Wheat: Concepts and Methods of Disease Management, which was first published by CIMMYT in 1992. The new edition will include discoveries from the last 20 years.

MasAgro to offer farmers advice and information through cell phones

Written by on August 17, 2012. Posted in News.

masagromovil On 1 and 2 August 2012, representatives of public and private organizations interested in developing information technologies for the agricultural sector met at CIMMYT to participate in the MasAgro Movil Think Tank.

The objective of the meeting was to present the work that has been done by MasAgro partners to develop and promote Mexican farmers’ adoption of information services provided through mobile phones.

MasAgro Movil is a communications tool being used by “Take It to the Farmer”, MasAgro’s extension strategy, which is still at the pilot stage. According to Philippa Zamora, who is in charge of developing this project at CIMMYT, MasAgro Movil is a platform that can be used to send market recommendations and weather information to farmers using SMS messages.

“By giving farmers easy access to the information produced by MasAgro’s five innovation hubs, cell phones are expected to help increase farmers’ productivity and generate higher returns on the money they invest in production inputs,” said Bram Govaerts, leader of “Take It to the Farmer.”

CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin pointed out that because researchers involved in MasAgro understand how the different links in Mexico’s agri-food value chain operate, they can work with the private sector on developing business opportunities that will boost the productivity of Mexican farmers.

The business meetings of the MasAgro Movil Think Tank were inaugurated by Francisco Mayorga Castañeda, Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food. He congratulated CIMMYT for promoting, through MasAgro, public-private partnerships that foster sustainable rural development.

Mayorga Castañeda also emphasized that right from the beginning, MasAgro Movil will have access to 80,000 farmers who will receive advice from 2,000 technicians belonging to the Strategic Program in Support of the Production Chain of Mexico’s Maize and Bean Farmers (PROMAF). For this reason, he is confident the project will be a great success.

Capacity building in gender mainstreaming for SIMLESA

Written by on August 15, 2012. Posted in News.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) initiative held its third workshop on gender mainstreaming at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during 24-27 July 2012. Following recommendations from the previous meeting in Tanzania, this workshop aimed to compile field-related case studies on gender mainstreaming activities, and to harmonize gender mainstreaming action plans for five SIMLESA countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Twenty participants from these five countries attended, and, for the first time, extension officers from SIMLESA sites in each of the five countries also participated. The workshop was opened by Dagne Wegary on behalf of SIMLESA Program Coordinator Mulugetta Mekuria, and facilitated by Forough Olinga, Gender Expert at the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Enock Warinda, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit leader at ASARECA, Daisy Namono, Consultant, and Ruth Nankinga, Administrative Assistant at ASARECA. Bekele Shiferaw, CIMMYT Socioeconomics Program Director, and Menale Kassie, Socioeconomist and SIMLESA Objective 1 Coordinator, also contributed encouragement and insight on mainstreaming gender within SIMLESA. The extension officers shared their field experiences which were then used to identify good practices and potential case studies for further development. At the end of the workshop, the participants developed country gender mainstreaming action plans to be funded and implemented, created a format for the case studies, and agreed to submit at least eight case studies to Olinga and Namono for evaluation by 26 August 2012. To follow up, Namono will visit SIMLESA countries to finalize the case studies for publication before the end of the year.

Scientists from SIMLESA Spillover countries visit Kenya

Written by on August 14, 2012. Posted in News.

A delegation of scientists from South Sudan, Rwanda, and Uganda —the spillover countries of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) initiative— visited Embu, Kenya, during 18-20 July 2012, to gain hands-on experience in implementing the program and to learn about its impact on livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

The delegation comprised Leonidas Dusengemungu, Albert Ruhakana, and Alphonse Nyobanyire from Rwanda; Luka Atwok, Anna Itwari, and Cirino Oketayoyt from South Sudan; and Drake N. Mubiru, William Nanyenya, and Godfrey Otim from Uganda. The scientists found the visit very educative and informative. They learned about the implementation of SIMLESA in Kenya and the role of national agricultural research institutions, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in particular, in the process. They also gained insights into the innovation platform establishment and arising challenges, maize-beans intercropping and timing, challenges and coping strategies for the implementation of SIMLESA, and the level of adaptation of SIMLESA technologies in Kenya.

In his introductory remarks, Stephen Njoka, KARI-Embu Center Director, explained the Center’s mandate, activities, opportunities, and challenges in conducting agricultural research in Kenya. He noted that research programs at KARI-Embu range from food crops and crop health, natural resource management, horticultural and industrial crops, animal production and health research, outreach and partnerships, to cross-cutting programs, such as socioeconomics and applied statistics. The Center also offers advisory services, such as technical support for partners and capacity development for other service providers, including extension service providers and NGOs. Alfred Micheni, KARI Agronomist and SIMLESA Site Coordinator for eastern Kenya, explained that the western and eastern sites in Kenya had been selected because of their potential for the highest impact. This was determined by their agricultural production constraints: low soil fertility, erratic rainfall, high cost of farm inputs, high incidences of pests and diseases, high cost of credit, and small land sizes.

The scientists had a chance to interact with farmers participating in SIMLESA during a farmers’ field day in Kyeni Division, Embu County, on 20 July 2012. The field day was hosted by the Kyeni Innovation Platform and showcased various treatments under conservation agriculture (CA): maize-legume intercrop, minimum tillage, furrows and ridges, use of herbicides, residue retention, and variety selection. The scientists also had the opportunity to compare the robust crops under CA with those under conventional agricultural practices which were unable to cope with the prolonged drought in the region.

Charles Nkonge, SIMLESA National Coordinator, stressed the importance of the innovation platforms used by the program to evaluate and scale out maizelegume intensification technologies and knowledge in a participatory manner. Other strategies for scaling out include farmer exchange visits and participatory exploratory demonstrations. Nkonge stressed the importance of the participatory nature of the evaluations; through cooperation between the farmers and other collaborators, experimental designs of some of the treatments were adjusted to achieve more efficiency. For instance, the design of maize-pigeon pea intercropping trial was changed from intercropping of one pigeon-pea row between two rows of maize, giving one crop of maize and pigeon pea per season, to five rows of maize between two rows of pigeon pea and one row of common beans between two rows of maize. With the new design, two crops of maize, two crops of beans, and one crop of pigeon pea are harvested every year. This demonstration of successful practices allowed the representatives from SIMLESA Spillover countries to leave Kenya feeling optimistic about the new partnership.

SIMLESA farmers from western and eastern Kenya share their experiences

Written by on August 8, 2012. Posted in News.

A delegation of 20 farmers, research technicians, and Ministry of Agriculture officials from western Kenya visited their counterparts in eastern Kenya during 12-13 June 2012 to learn and share their experiences with implementing Sustainable Intensification of Maize- Legume based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project. Before meeting their counterparts, the visiting farmers toured on-station SIMLESA trials at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI-Embu) where Charles Mugo, KARI technician, took them through the various trials and treatments: maize and beans under minimum tillage, bean under conventional tillage, bean under minimum tillage, bean under furrow and ridge tillage, and maize and bean under furrows and ridges.

The farmers had a chance to see trials addressing the livestockresidue retention conflict among the mixed farming communities. SIMLESA has partnered with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to try out alternative fodder species. Treatments under these trials include retaining all, half, or a quarter of the residues on each plot, and intercropping the maize with Desmodium to fix nitrogen in the soil and provide animal feed.

The performance of the on-station trials and a visit to the Kyeni Innovation Platform in Embu County encouraged the farmers to scale out conservation agriculture (CA). “They are able to conserve water, especially in this area characterized by low, scarce and erratic rainfall. It has not rained for almost one and a half month in the area,” said Teresa Maitha Njiru, a member of the Kyeni Innovation Platform, explaining why her crops were robust, particularly those under furrows and ridges. Njiru, who has been practicing CA for the last four cropping seasons, hailed the practice for its productivity, environmental friendliness, and cost effectiveness. Above all, she appreciated that it is not labor-intensive. “Hakuna Kazi hapa, there is no work here,” she said, referring to the little time required to prepare and manage a CA plot. “And I only spray three days after planting for weed control,” she added.

The furrows and ridges technology stood out also for Titus Miriti from Chuka. “Ridges and furrows technology has the greatest and best effect on crop performance and the greatest benefit because this area is arid. It is very good in water retention,” Miriti pointed out, stating that CA is much more rewarding than the conventional practice.

Benson Nyakundi, technician at KARI-Kakemega and trip coordinator, noted that the CA technologies were important in boosting food security in Kenya. “New technologies like these being implemented by SIMLESA are critical in fighting food insecurity that is rampant in the country.” Lorna Oketch, Siaya County agricultural officer, praised SIMLESA for making extension services and providers a part of the project implementation team. “This will go a long way in sustaining the project even beyond the project timeframe.” The exchange visit was organized and facilitated by John Achieng and Alfred Micheni, SIMLESA site coordinators for western and eastern Kenya, respectively.

Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences explores collaboration and partnership in Southern Africa

Written by on August 3, 2012. Posted in News.

CIMMYT-Southern Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe, hosted a delegation from the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), China, on 20 July 2012. The delegation was led by He Xingze, Chief and Chairman of Board of Trustees, who was accompanied by long-time CIMMYT collaborator Fan Xingming, director general of the Institute of Food Crops of YAAS. The delegation explored opportunities to strengthen and support maize breeding capacity in Southern Africa.

Fan acknowledged the long-standing collaboration between CIMMYT and the Chinese agricultural research institutions, as well as CIMMYT’s range of collaborative research activities and presence in China. Mulugetta Mekuria, Isaiah Nyagumbo, Jill Cairns, and Cosmos Magorokosho presented highlights of CIMMYT-Southern Africa research activities and partnership modalities. Progress and achievements of the Drought Tolerant Maize in Africa (DTMA), NSIMA (New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa), Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), and Conservation Agriculture (CA) projects were discussed, and the delegation visited the station facilities and met the support staff. They had the opportunity to meet Danisile Hikwa, principal director of Department of Research and Specialist Services of Zimbabwe. They are traveling to South Africa to visit the University of Natal and ARCGrain Crops Institute of South Africa.

The delegation expressed their intention to visit the region again for a substantive technical discussion with CIMMYT and its partners.

They wished to thank the senior CIMMYT management for arranging and facilitating their visit and for the hospitality accorded to them in Harare.

Visiting CIMMYT-Kenya to improve competency in breeding insect-resistant maize

Written by on August 1, 2012. Posted in News.

During 1-8 July 2012, scientists from Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania visited CIMMYT-Kenya to get hands-on experience in developing insect-resistant maize using conventional approaches. Among the visiting scientists were Patrick Paulo (Meru Agro Seed Company, Tanzania), Charles Makangala (Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Tanzania), Pedro Fato (National Institute of Agronomic Research (IIAM), Mozambique), Sheila Juma (IIAM-Chokwe), and Charles Singano and Kesbell Kaonga (both from the Ministry of Agriculture, Malawi).

The visit was organized and facilitated by the Insect Resistance Maize for Africa (IRMA Conventional III) project and focused on management of stem borer pests in maize production, breeding for resistance to stem borers and postharvest pests, and mass rearing of stem borer pests for use in a practical maize breeding program. Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT principal scientist/maize breeder and IRMA project coordinator, noted that the visit provided a forum to share experiences in mass rearing, breeding, and pest control among participating countries. “The visit was a great opportunity for the visiting scientists to learn about improving the quality of phenotyping data for insect resistance, and thus increase breeding gains,” said B.M. Prasanna, Global Maize Program director.

To understand how mass rearing facility is set up, equipped, and managed, the scientists visited a functional stem borer insectary at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)-Katumani, Machakos. They also visited IRMA field trials at KARI’s Kiboko and Embu research stations to observe stem borer trials and nurseries, as well as trials for storage pests and scoring of leaf damage by stem borers.

A visit to a postharvest pest resistance screening facility at Kiboko provided an opportunity to carry out a sample analysis for maize weevils and larger grain borers, scoring in the multiple choice trial on maize cob damage, and artificial infestation using the borer Chilo partellus. Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT scientist/ entomologist, facilitated the field and lab practices.

Paulo called the visit an “eyeopener” and a great learning opportunity for the visiting scientists. “I have improved my knowledge on breeding for insect resistance and improved my skills in scoring techniques and insect mass rearing,” added Makangala. Mugo called on the scientists to use their newly acquired knowledge, as well as technologies, to improve livelihoods of the people in their countries by reducing losses due to pests.

Training scientists in maize information management

Written by on July 31, 2012. Posted in News.

During 19-21 June 2012, researchers, technicians, and students from the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Improved Maize for African Soil (IMAS), and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) projects attended a course on the use of Fieldbook at the Kiboko Research Station, Kenya. The objective of the training was to familiarize technicians and students with Fieldbook, a tool developed by CIMMYT maize breeders for managing experiments and data analysis using R software. Participants learnt how to create an inventory, a seed increase nursery, a nursery to form single crosses, and a stock list. The course also covered consolidating inventories, generating trials, and data analysis for single- and multi-location sites.

Yoseph Beyene, CIMMYT maize breeder, explained that Fieldbook is used to prepare seed for nurseries and trials, make field books and maps, generate stock lists for different pollinations, manage stocks and trial data, conduct statistical analysis, apply selection indices, maintain and manage pedigree information, and generate shipment lists, labels, and bar codes. He also noted the flexibility of the tool; while it is tailored to maize, it can be adapted for other crops as well.

Reiterating the importance of the training, Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT principal scientist/maize breeder and team leader of the IRMA and WEMA projects, gave an overview of CIMMYT global research and explained its guiding principles: demand driven, high impact partnerships (public and private); cutting edge science; state-of-the-art technologies; and effectiveness, efficiency, and quality.

The training was appreciated by both young and experienced researchers, who considered it crucial for understanding Fieldbook concepts. “The training was timely and inspiring. I never imagined that creating nursery and trial designs could be achieved in less than 10 minutes, provided one has the technical knowhow of using the Fieldbook software,” said James Mwololo, a PhD student at Makerere University, Uganda. “I gained the skills and knowledge on how the Fieldbook can be used in managing breeding programs, right from nursery and trial designing, planting, data collection, and data analysis based on R and SAS interfaces. This forms a strong foundation for my career development as a researcher in the plant breeding context, because I will be able to establish and manage sound breeding programs,” he added.

Lewis Machida, who was first exposed to Fieldbook in 1997 but never received any formal training on its use, also appreciated the course: “The training gave me the opportunity to learn what I didn’t know about using Fieldbook,” he said. The participants were encouraged to continue using Fieldbook, as it is the only way to become proficient in its use. The training was facilitated by Mugo, Beyene, Andrew Chavangi, and Joseph Kasango.

Discussing the importance of seed systems

Written by on July 25, 2012. Posted in News.

As we endeavour to reach more farmers with improved varieties, seed systems are becoming increasingly important for CIMMYT in Africa, and a number of projects are generating germplasm to meet the varied abiotic and biotic challenges in smallholder agriculture. To improve effectiveness and collaboration amongst projects in seed systems activities, a coordination meeting was held on 3–4 July 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was attended by scientists from Global Maize Program (GMP) projects: Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA), Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia (SIMLEZA), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), HarvestPlus, and Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA).

The agenda included seed initiatives in different countries, coordination between projects, seed production research priorities, demonstrations, and variety seed production. Seed road maps and seed delivery strategies for projects and/or countries working in partnership with seed companies and the National Agriculture Research Systems (NARS) were also discussed. Participants also considered more effective ways to convey key messages to stakeholders involved in seed delivery, the Socioeconomics Program’s involvement in maize seed systems, and global policy changes affecting seed systems. Special focus was placed on gender equity and the inclusion of female farmers in demonstrations and field days. Where male farmers form the majority, they should be encouraged to bring their wives and other female household members to field days and demonstrations to ensure family participation in decision making. However, following the results of a survey indicating that significant proportions of farms are managed by female-headed households, the group also recognised the need for developing promotional strategies specifically targeting women.

seed-systems-meeting-group-photo

CIMMYT recognizes the growing importance of seed systems and is increasing its staff capacity accordingly to provide appropriate support and expertise. The latest additions to the team are seed systems specialists James Gethi and Mosisa Regasa.

DTMA building capacity for maize research in the Kingdom of Swaziland

Written by on July 10, 2012. Posted in News.

DTMA19 During 25 – 30 June 2012, CRP MAIZE and FAO-Swaziland supported the participation of 32 maize researchers and technicians in a maize training course in Mbabane, Swaziland. The course attracted agricultural researchers and extension staff from the Department of Agricultural Research and Special Services (DARSS), NGOs, and seed companies. MAIZE supported participants from Botswana and Lesotho. Course objectives included a refresher for researchers and technical staff on implementing field trials, seed production, and use of Fieldbook software. The training combined theory and field practicals on experimental design, data analysis, and identification of maize pests and diseases. The training was officially opened by the FAO representative in Swaziland, Michael Connelly, who emphasized the importance of trial management and variety testing in Swaziland.

The course gave researchers and technicians insights into variety testing. This was particularly relevant for Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, as they don’t have breeding programs and depend on CIMMYT’s regional trials to identify maize germplasm adapted to their countries. The participants were very eager to learn how to design, implement, and analyze mother-baby trials, which evaluate new maize varieties with farming communities. The mother trial is grown in the center of the community and contains 12-20 new and old varieties, and farmers grow subsets of four varieties each in baby trials in their own fields, using their own management practices. At harvest, they provide feedback about the new varieties, referring to traits that are important to them such as yield, taste, or storage pest resistance.

“I wish to thank CIMMYT for conducting the course,” said Similo Mavimbela, a senior research officer from the DARSS. “It is my feeling that the participants benefited from the expertise of CIMMYT and gained better understanding of the experimental designs. We are now going to employ the most relevant design for different experiments and save time and space. We also have better understanding of the MBTs approach to implement on-farm trials. With support from FAO, we will be implementing the on-farm trial this season so skills obtained from this course will be put to good use.” Mavimbela added that they had also learnt how to use Fieldbook software to prepare seed, produce seed labels, design trials, and analyze data.

CIMMYT thanks the course organizers and resource persons Cinisani Tfwala, Abraham Cutter Dlamini, Hanson Hlophe, Thembinkosi Gumedze, and Similo Mavimbela from the DARSS, Michael Connelly of FAO-Swaziland, and CIMMYT’s Peter Setimela, Cosmos Magorokosho, Jill Cairns, Sebastian Mawere, and Simba Chisoro.
DTMA21

Training on statistical analysis in agricultural research in Kabul, Afghanistan

Written by on July 10, 2012. Posted in News.

The agricultural research network in Afghanistan has been increasing in size and strength ever since reconstruction activities in the country began. Major disciplines such as crop improvement and agronomy have been developing new crop varieties and production management techniques that help Afghan farmers increase their harvests. Agricultural statistics and, in particular, the statistical analysis of crop research results are areas that have yet to see major infrastructure establishment or capacity building. Research data generated every year need to be properly analyzed and interpreted in order to formulate technical recommendations.

CIMMYT-Afghanistan organized a two-day training course on “Statistical Analysis in Agricultural Research” on June 25-26, 2012, at the CIMMYT office in Kabul under the ACIAR-sponsored project “Sustainable Wheat and Maize Production in Afghanistan.” The course was conducted by Dr. Girish Chandra Mishra, Professor of Agricultural Statistics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. It was attended by eight researchers from ARIA (Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan), two from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), and one from JDA (Joint Development Associates), an NGO engaged in agricultural research and extension in northern Afghanistan.

The course was inaugurated by Mr. Abdul Latif Rasekh, Acting Director of ARIA, who expressed satisfaction with its timeliness, given that data generated by ARIA research stations need to be analyzed for formulating valid recommendations. Dr. Rajiv Sharma, CIMMYT-Afghanistan CLO, recalled that at the first ARIA-CIMMYT wheat workshop, the need for such training was highlighted by most wheat researchers. He also talked about the need to apply relevant statistical principles not only in data analysis but also when designing experiments.

KABUL1 Dr. Mishra began the course by reviewing basic statistical concepts and discussing the statistical tools and concepts needed to design and analyze field experiments that would lead to scientifically valid interpretations. He went on to describe how to choose experimental designs, lay out field experiments, and analyze and interpret the results. He had the participants do useful exercises as well as analyze data for hands-on experience. All the participants were keenly interested and excited to have the opportunity to analyze and interpret data from their own experiments. The general feeling at the end of the two-day event was that it should have lasted at least a week. Upon presenting certificates to course participants, Mr. Qasem Obaidi, ARIA Director, thanked Dr. Mishra and CIMMYT for the capacity building effort and expressed his wish that a follow-up course be held to help consolidate the gains and enable Afghan researchers to learn more about experimental design and analysis.

CIMMYT-CAAS-Seed industry interface on rapid-cycle maize breeding

Written by on July 9, 2012. Posted in News.

To strengthen the modern technology-driven maize breeding in China, “CIMMYT-CAAS-Seed Industry Interface on Rapid-cycle Maize Breeding” was held on June 9, 2012 in CIMMYT-CAAS Joint International Research Center based in Beijing. Co-sponsored by CIMMYT, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP), the workshop was attended by 52 scientists and managers from 23 seed companies and public sector institutions in China. Their aim was to establish a dynamic interface between the CIMMYT-CAAS maize team and the seed industry to begin rapid-cycle, genomic selection-based maize breeding, under an initiative titled “Eight + One”—that is, eight seed companies plus the CAAS institute of crop sciences—as an industry/institution collaboration platform for commercial maize breeding.

Senior managers addressing participants included David Bergvinson, senior program officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; GCP director Jean-Marcel Ribaut; Shumin Wang, deputy director, CAAS-ICS; and from CIMMYT, Gary Atlin, associate director of the CIMMYT global maize program, and Kevin Pixley, director of the genetic resources program.

CAAS

Scientists presented on CIMMYT work in genomic selection (concept and CIMMYT activities, Xuecai Zhang), double haploid approaches in maize breeding (Daniel Jeffers), marker-assisted selection in maize breeding (Yunbi Xu), modeling and simulation in plant breeding (Jiankang Wang), bioinformatics and computing needs for genomic selection (Gary Atlin), and our breeding pipeline and examples from lowland tropical maize breeding (Xuecai Zhang). BGI-Shenzhen’s Gengyun Zhang described the company’s genotyping platforms and service. A group discussion addressed rapid-cycle maize breeding through industry-institution collaboration, such as the molecular breeding network in China, coordinated genotyping and phenotyping, use of temperate and tropical DH inducers, environmental data collection, and standardization of maize trials.

Participants also attended an “Open Day for Chinese Breeders,” a concurrent session of the 3rd Annual Meeting of Integrated Breeding Platform Project organized by GCP and CAAS, were introduced to IB FieldBook and IBP Analysis Tools. “(This workshop) came at a right time and brought us right information and knowledge for accelerating maize commercial breeding,” said Zanyong Sun, Vice president of Beijing Denong Seed Co. The workshop’s chief organizer, maize molecular breeder Yunbi Xu, sees it as an important first step for industry institution initiatives. “We’ll establish a common genotyping and MAS platform to serve the Chinese maize breeding community,” he said.

Using double haploid in maize breeding

Written by on July 6, 2012. Posted in News.

The use of doubled haploids in maize breeding was first proposed more than half a century ago. Today, the in vivo haploid induction technique is routinely used in maize inbred line development, in both the public and the private sector. The DH technology enhances maize breeding in two ways: 1) it reduces the time required to produce completely homozygous inbred lines. Whereas six or more generations of self-pollination are needed to traditionally produce inbreds, DH technology produces inbreds in only two generations; and 2) because the higher genetic variance among DH lines compared to F2 plants, or selfed F3 or F4 families, improves the effectiveness of selection.

DH technology in maize breeding was the theme of a training workshop organized by the University of Hohenheim (UH) and CIMMYT at Stuttgart, Germany, during 11-15 June 2012. The program was organized under the ‘Abiotic stress tolerant maize for Asia’ (ATMA) project funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). A total of 21 scientists, including maize breeders and physiologists from Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Vietnam, UH, and CIMMYT attended the weeklong course. Experts on DH technology from UH, CIMMYT, and German seed companies served as resource persons on the course, delivering lectures on various aspects of DH technology in maize breeding. Mornings were devoted to lectures whilst in the afternoons, participants undertook hands-on, practical project in various aspects of DH line development and production.

Day-1 presenters included UH’s Wolfgang Schipprack; Vanessa Prigge, an ex-PhD student of UH and CIMMYT who is currently working as a Potato Breeder in SaKa Pflanzenzucht GbR, and T. Wegenast, Dow AgroSciences. In the afternoon, participants worked on identification of haploid kernels from various DH-induced populations and planted haploid kernels on germination paper for development of seedlings. DH lab members at UH explained and demonstrated the selection of haploid kernels and developing seedlings for colchicine treatment for chromosome doubling.

On the second day, B. Schilling and B. Devezi of the UH-DH lab jointly presented various aspects of management of greenhouses, safety issues, and requirements for running a successful DH program. E. Senger a PhD student at UH, and Vijay Chaikam, CIMMYT, also shared their experiences. During the afternoon, preparation of colchicine solution, preparation of maize seedling for colchicine treatment, application of colchicine treatment, and the transplanting the seedlings in greenhouse were demonstrated to the participants.

Participants also visited the UH-DH research station at Eckartsweier, where Schipprack detailed various field based aspects of DH development including selection of plants for transplanting in field, organized demonstration of mechanized transplanting of D0 plants, management of D0 nursery, and identification of false positives in the nursery. After the D0 nursery, participants visited the DH inducer development and maintenance nursery, D2 nurseries, and the isolation block for production of induction crosses. On the final day of the workshop, UH’s A.E. Melchinger delivered a lecture on the application of marker-based prediction strategies for DH lines and discussed various models and approaches for prediction of DH lines. George Mahuku shared updates on DH line production and development of tropical inducer lines at CIMMYT, and talked about possible models for use of DH technology by national breeding programs in Asia. Participants appreciated the initiatives and efforts of CIMMYT and UH, and discussed various options to get DH technology into their breeding programs.

Avinash Singode, Directorate of Maize Research, Bhagya Rani Banik, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, and Le Quy Kha, National Maize Research Institute, were very supportive of the course and expressed their sincere thanks to organizers. P.H. Zaidi, Project Coordinator, ATMA, thanks Prof. Melchinger and Schipprack and his team for their time, efforts, and inputs in jointly organizing the workshop, and emphasized the need to follow up on this in the hope that within one year, each participating institution will have access to DH technology in their program, at least through Model-1 (send their most elite population to CIMMYT, and get back DH lines), as suggested by Mahuku.

China-CIMMYT impact: celebrating 30 years of collaborations

Written by on June 25, 2012. Posted in News.

CIMMYT director general Tom Lumpkin, Global Wheat Program director Hans Braun, and Global Maize Program director B M Prasanna visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) during 16-18 May 2012. As part of the visit, CAAS President Li Jiayang highlighted CIMMYT’s contributions to Chinese agricultural development and named CIMMYT as a CAAS strategic partner for international collaboration. An agreement was also signed between CAAS and CIMMYT to further promote collaboration on applied biotechnology in crop improvement. A workshop was held on 18 May 2012 to celebrate the 30-year China-CIMMYT collaboration. There were more than 60 participants, including Ren Wang, CAAS vice president, deputy director general Liu Zhiming from the Ministry of Science and Technology, and division director Yinglan Zhang from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Lumpkin described CIMMYT’s new development and collaboration role with China, followed by presentations from CIMMYT liaison officer Zhonghu He and five partners from CAAS and from the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong, and Ningxia.

MOA As indicated in Ren Wang’s speech, CIMMYT has the largest investment in China among CGIAR centers. Five collaborative research programs led by CIMMYT scientists stationed in China have been established at CAAS, Yunnan and Sichuan. This has created a new model for CGIAR-China collaboration and increased CIMMYT’s impact in China. CIMMYT is also the first international center to establish collaborative projects with the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

CIMMYT wheat germplasm has contributed significantly to wheat production in China. More than 90,000 wheat accessions were introduced to China and 14,000 genotypes were stored in national and provincial genebanks, accounting for around 55% of introduced wheat germplasm in China. More than 260 improved varieties were released from CIMMYT germplasm, and the accumulated planting area for these varieties has reached 45 million hectares.

More than 1,000 tropical inbred lines and populations from CIMMYT were introduced to China. CIMMYT germplasm has played a significant role in subtropical maize breeding in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. CIMMYT tropical maize germplasm has also been used as a donor for breeding temperate maize in northern China, as occurred in the two leading temperate hybrids Nongda 108 and Zhengdan 958.

CIMMYT-China collaborations have also had an impact on the application of molecular technology. Forty functional markers were developed, validated, and used in various wheat breeding programs, and three advanced lines developed from molecular markers are expected to be released in the next few years. These markers have been widely used to characterize Chinese and CIMMYT germplasm. A novel method for mapping quantitative trait genes, the ICIM, was developed and used in many countries. Breeding simulation tools are used to optimize the complicated breeding strategies. Nine training courses have been held in China, Mexico, IRRI, and Australia to promote new tools and methods. QTL analysis through joint linkage-LD mapping was developed and used to understand molecular mechanisms for drought tolerance. The genes related to the biosynthesis of proV A have been cloned and used to develop functional markers for molecular breeding. Chip-based and sequencing-based genotyping techniques have been used for genetic diversity analysis, haplotype map construction, and association mapping in maize. More than 400 papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including several papers in high-impact journals such as Genetics (2007), PNAS (2010), and Nature Genetics (2010, 2012).

CHINA-CIMMYT-30years-collaboration-seminar Bed planting has produced significant impact in the provinces of Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan, bringing among other benefits a 30% reduction in input use. Bed planting is particularly advantageous at saving water. Conservation agriculture techniques combined with new winter wheat varieties have been broadly extended in traditional spring wheat areas, allowing farmers to take advantage of climate change to increase yields and reduce input use.

CIMMYT trained scientists play a leading role in China. Over 800 Chinese scientists and administrators have visited CIMMYT and more than 200 scientists have participated in various training courses or visiting scientist programs and more than 60 postgraduates were trained. Among them, more than 60 serve at a research professor level or became presidents of provincial academies or directors of research institutes. As of 2012, more than 20 training courses and international conferences have been jointly organized, with more than 3,500 participants.