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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.

Texas A&M students step out into the wider world, visit CIMMYT

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During 19-29 June 2007, eight students from the Faculty of the Soil and Crop Science Department, Texas A&M University toured CIMMYT-El Batán and talked with center staff as part of an introductory trip to learn about international agricultural research. Accompanied by Ronald Cantrell, former Director of the CIMMYT Maize Program and Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Steve Hague, Texas A&M Professor in Cotton Breeding, the students are expected among other things to develop an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in underdeveloped agriculture systems. Their program included visits to the facilities of Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) and of Pioneer-Hibred in Mexico, as well as interacting with subsistence farmers in Tlaxcala State.

The trip came about when Cantrell was invited to give a seminar for Soil and Crop Science Department graduate students. “Participants expressed interest in study abroad,” Cantrell says, “and this coincided with a grant from Dr. Norman Borlaug for this purpose. They decided to use the grant to visit an international center, and asked me to coordinate it. Students applied for this ‘scholarship,’ and these are the ones chosen.” The group includes students from the undergraduate through PhD levels, and crop breeders, agronomists, and molecular biologists.

Dhananjay Mani, arrived at the University a year and a half ago from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India, and is studying for an MSc in plant breeding. He likes the emphasis on breeding at Texas A&M and the opportunity for contact with the University’s Distinguished Professor, Norman Borlaug. “Regarding CIMMYT, I observe one thing,” he says. “Everyone here is talking and thinking about the whole world, not just local issues, and especially people who really need agriculture.”

Jennifer Winn, an MSc student from Denton, Texas, USA, became interested in crop breeding after reading an autobiographical account of a medical missionary in Africa who was treating the major diseases that affect the poor. “He’d give his patients medicine, then hear a couple of days later that they died from malnutrition,” she says. “The book makes the point that malnutrition is the main cause of death in the developing world, and this emphasizes the importance of agriculture and agricultural research.” She has been impressed with the level of organization she observes in CIMMYT: “Programs are collaborating on a wide range of work—biofortification at the molecular level, then there’s Ken Sayre’s work at the field level. You cover every aspect of the plant!”

Outstanding again!

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For the second year in a row CIMMYT has been giving a ranking of “outstanding” in the annual performance measurement conducted by the CGIAR. CIMMYT was one of only two CGIAR centers to reach this, the highest performance level. The indicators look at a center’s overall performance in a very comprehensive way and include criteria about science quality and delivery, partnership, stakeholder perceptions, management, and governance.

CIMMYT Board Chair, Lene Lange, said “Congratulations to CIMMYT and to all of us! This is really fantastic news.” Her sentiment was echoed by the Board’s Program Committee Chair, Julio Berdegue, when he said, “Considering that the quality of the science explains half of the result, congratulations also to each member of the staff all around the world and at every level of the Center. Your very good work is the firm foundation of CIMMYT.”

The outstanding ranking will mean additional funding from the World Bank, beyond what had been budgeted for this year. That is good news, says DG Iwanaga, as it will help offset some anticipated decreases in core contributions from other partners.

Class act

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Seventy-four students graduated Friday, 18 May from an intensive, four-month English course at the Turkish-American Association in Ankara, Turkey. What makes the students and the course special is that they are all agricultural researchers with the government of Turkey and the course was organized by CIMMYT and ICARDA. It’s the second year in a row the course has been given. Turkey requires that its employees have proficiency in English before they can go abroad for advanced training, such as that offered by CIMMYT.

This course was designed to help bring as many young researchers to the required level as possible. Funding for the course was part of Turkey’s contribution as a member of the CGIAR. In addressing the graduates, Alexei Morgunov, the CIMMYT country representative in Turkey, congratulated them on the hard work they had done, pointing out that the knowledge and the friendships they had formed would stay with them throughout their careers. Morgunov was joined at the ceremony by Mesut Keser, the ICARDA country representative and by Masum Burak, the Director General of the General Directorate for Agricultural Research for Turkey. He thanked CIMMYT and ICARDA for their work in organizing the course. Morgunov said he hoped the course would become an annual event.

CIMMYT’s respected training tradition continues

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Ten wheat breeders from national agricultural research systems (NARSs) in Asia, Africa and Latin America have participated in the 2007 Intermediate Wheat Improvement course, which is drawing to a close after three successful months. “This course addresses the strong demand from our partners for comprehensive hands-on training for field breeders, and shows CIMMYT’s ongoing commitment to supporting capacity building in NARS partners,” says Petr Kosina, CIMMYT’s capacity building coordinator.

Course participants have been exposed to all aspects of CIMMYT’s multidisciplinary research approach. In addition to wide-ranging classes, they have spent most of their time in the field at Ciudad Obregón, Sonora State, in northern Mexico, getting involved in many of the activities of the breeding cycle. “Learning about CIMMYT breeders’ methodologies has been very useful,” says Stephan de Groot from South Africa, “and we’ve had the chance to see a wider perspective.” Adel Hagras of Egypt also values the experience of learning how the center works: “CIMMYT is a holy place for wheat breeding!” he says. At Obregón, the trainees selected germplasm that would be particularly valuable for the conditions in their countries and for their own research. They will receive seed of these lines next year, giving them direct and early access to promising materials.

Even more than the tangible benefits, they value the relationships they have built. In working here, the trainees have become part of the broad CIMMYT family and have created and strengthened links with other scientists. Luis Ponce Molina from Ecuador has appreciated the opportunity to share experiences and meet people working in the same area. “It’s important to have a good network,” he says. “The course has created possibilities for me for future collaboration.”

CIMMYT seems to have left a good impression: according to Stephan the highlight of the course was “the general positive mentality of all the breeders and researchers in working together, their professional attitude and their enthusiasm in the field.” There is still plenty to pack in before the trainees return home next week, and they will be leaving with new knowledge, new partners, and new inspiration. The course may be finishing, but their relationship with CIMMYT is just beginning: we’ll be in touch soon!

Soil carbon experts gather at CIMMYT

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Ever heard of the terms “carbon trading” or “carbon inventories?” They are now routinely bandied about by governments seeking to balance economic development with reduced impacts on global climates. In the context of today’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which mentions agriculture as a key factor for mitigating climate change, this week CIMMYT hosted eight international experts as part of the workshop “New Technologies to Assess Soil Carbon Levels,” organized by wheat agronomist Ken Sayre and held at El Batán on Monday, 30 April 2007. After the workshop, participants spent the remainder of the week running tests on the station.

“CIMMYT’s long-term trials on conservation agriculture, which feature a range of practices and residue levels, provide a valuable platform for testing our instruments and methods for measuring soil carbon,” says Charles Rice, Professor of Soil Microbiology at Kansas State University, USA, and US National Director of the Consortium for Agricultural Soil Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases.

Also participating were César Izaurralde, leader of the USAID project on advanced soil carbon technologies, and Jorge Etchevers, Professor of Soil Fertility at the Colegio de Postgraduados, Mexico, who with former CIMMYT wheat director Tony Fischer helped launch the long-term conservation agriculture trial at El Batán.

Borlaug accorded fond welcome in northwestern Mexico

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The CIMMYT research station and the city of Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, in northwestern Mexico, had reason to celebrate over the last week. Norman Borlaug paid a five-day visit to the city in the Yaqui Valley where he did his original wheat research work. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who celebrated his 93rd birthday just a few weeks ago, came to spend time with some of the farmers with whom he had worked in the early days when the Yaqui Valley was very poor.

He flew to Obregón directly from Texas, where he has been receiving medical treatment, and was both surprised and touched to see staff at the airport form a line to greet him as he stepped off the airplane. “It wasn’t quite a red carpet but it was the red carpet treatment,” said Chris Dowswell, Borlaug’s assistant.

In addition to attending social functions, Borlaug came to see and learn more about GreenSeeker, a technology that helps farmers fine-tune manage nitrogen fertilizer use. CIMMYT and Oklahoma State University (OSU) have actively participated in the development and promotion of the practice. More than 75 farmers, extension agents, and staff members of CIANO, the INIFAP research station in Obregón, attended a half-day symposium and field visit on the subject. In a 15- minute address in Spanish, Borlaug told participants about the difficulties of smallholder farmers in developing countries and how technologies like the GreenSeeker might help them to economize on fertilizer use, the most costly of production inputs. OSU engineer John Solie described the practice and its origins. The final speaker was Bill Raun, a prime developer of GreenSeeker, former CIMMYT agronomist, and currently OSU Regents Professor, who concluded his remarks with a poem he composed in Spanish for Borlaug. Both Raun and Borlaug received a standing ovation.

At a luncheon at the CIMMYT station, students from the Colegio Teresiano de la Vera Cruz in Ciudad Obregón presented Borlaug with a birthday cake. They had just completed a project for the school’s cultural week that focused on Borlaug and his work in the Yaqui Valley. Borlaug also met with the participants in the CIMMYT wheat improvement course.

Photo: Jorge Castro, a past president of El Patronato de Sonora, a key farmer association in the region that has benefited from and supported CIMMYT’s work, talks with Borlaug. Castro’s father and Borlaug contemporary, Óscar Castro Encino, looks on.

Agua Fría staff promote CIMMYT’s work

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On 7 March 2007, Jesús González, of CIMMYT’s Agua Fría research station, talked of CIMMYT’s aims and achievements to an audience of 400 during the traveling exhibition “No maize, no country,” organized by the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares of CONACULTA, Mexico’s public agency for cultural promotion. The exhibition, held in Huauchinango, Puebla, this year, is designed to foster reflection and discussion regarding the importance and potential of maize in Mexico, as well as the challenges and opportunities of globalization.

This is not the first time that Agua Fría colleagues have publicized CIMMYT’s work to outside audiences: like staff at CIMMYT research stations worldwide, for years they have taken part in promotional activities and attended visits from representatives of academic institutions, community support organizations (like the Fundación Miguel Alemán), and farmer associations from the states of Veracruz and Mexico. Agua Fría is located in Puebla State near the border of Veracruz, and is an ideal location to test and demonstrate maize of humid, lowland tropical adaptation.

Inaugurated formally in 2000, Agua Fría has grown and developed significantly. Those who work at the station are grateful for the contributions of CIMMYT management and the enormous dedication of staff who contributed to station development, including Raymundo López, Philippe Monneveux, Dan Jeffers, David Bergvinson, and Alejandro López. Up until 2002, for example, the station had only provisional offices, no telephone service, and no connection to Internet. The 3.5 kilometer road leading to the station from the highway was nearly impassible in the rainy season, making the station accessible only on foot, or by having the bus towed in with a tractor. Today, the access road is paved and facilities are fully functional for staff and visitors.

CIMMYT at the Fair

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The 27th annual Texcoco Horse Fair opened on Saturday, 24 March and CIMMYT was there. The Corporate Communications design group has put together a display booth to show both CIMMYT’s flagship products and give examples of how the center works around the world. (It’s in the agricultural pavilions area, a hundred meters or so west of the Teatro del Pueblo.)

On Wednesday evening, Mike Listman, from Corporate Communications, and Natalia Palacios, from the Global Maize Program, gave a lively and well-received presentation that included a brief talk about what CIMMYT does and a demonstration of the extraction of DNA from a banana, using common household chemicals like salt, meat texturizer, dish soap, and alcohol.

Miguel Mellado, Ma. Concepción Castro, and the design team provided invaluable support for the presentation and in designing and mounting the booth.

Successful workshop for plant breeders in Beijing

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Plant breeders and postgraduates majoring in genetics and breeding gathered at the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science in Beijing between 19 and 22 March to learn more about genotype by environment interactions and breeding simulations. Among the key speakers were José Crossa, Yunbi Xu and Jiankan Wang from CIMMYT. Topics covered by the CIMMYT scientists ranged from an overview of experimental designs in plant breeding given by José Crossa to a quick course in marker assisted breeding from publications to practice given by Yunbi Xu; and an introduction to a genetics and breeding simulation tool by Jiankang Wang. The four-day workshop was sponsored by CAAS and the Generation Challenge Program of the CGIAR.

Advanced wheat improvement

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Eight breeders from developing countries arrived in El Batán this week to attend the Advanced Wheat Improvement course. They come from India, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt, Ecuador and South Africa and will study wheat improvement techniques in Mexico for the next three months. The new course is currently the longest being offered in the CG system. On Saturday, participants move to Ciudad Obregón, where the real work begins.

Assistance for resistance

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One of the questions Norman Borlaug often asks when talking about rusts in the major cereals is why rice is not susceptible to rust fungi but wheat, barley and other cereals are. That question inspired a workshop on rust immunity systems organized by Ronnie Coffman of Cornell University and held last week at the CIMMYT Obregón station. Among the participants were representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Texas A & M University, Purdue University, the University of Minnesota and of course CIMMYT. Rob Horsch of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also participated. As a result of the workshop, the participants have been asked to prepare a concept note for submission to the Foundation for potential funding for rust resistance work.

Australian Nuffield Scholars ask searching questions of CIMMYT researchers

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Eleven winners of the prestigious 2006 Nuffield Farming Scholarships in Australia visited CIMMYT during 5-7 March 2007, as part of a study tour covering three continents and diverse farming systems and market arrangements.

The Nuffield Foundation and Trust both derive from the Lord Nuffield (William Morris, 1877-1963), a British engineer and businessman who founded Morris Motors and donated substantial sums during his lifetime to charity. The Foundation initially supported health and social well-being but, in the years immediately following World War II, expanded its objectives to include agricultural advancement, and the first Nuffield Farming Scholarship was launched in 1947. The Trust now exists as a separate body, independent of the Nuffield Foundation, and promotes agricultural, horticultural, forestry, and countryside management education in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Nuffield scholars gain a deep understanding and global perspective of politics, cultures, and challenges associated with agriculture, and typically go on to become highly influential in their fields. Among the worldwide bodies that support Nuffield Scholars are associations in Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, and Zimbabwe. Their questions covered diverse and sometimes challenging topics, such as the purpose and nature of CIMMYT partnerships with private companies, or our methods for conserving diversity in seed collections.

Project 11 meetings touch on CIMMYT knowledge and impacts

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Seeking to review progress and plan future contributions to CIMMYT research, nine members of Project 11, “Knowledge, targeting and strategic assessment of maize and wheat farming systems,” met in El Batán during 19-20 February 2007. Reports and MTP planning covered the Project’s four “pillars,” which correspond to MTP project outputs: knowledge/capacity building; value addition; diversity/gene valuation; and targeting and impacts assessment. Participants reported that CIMMYT guides the thesis research of a large number of advanced degree students, that methods have been developed to measure household welfare effects from on-farm conservation and use of crop genetic diversity, and training on conducting impact studies was completed during 2006 in Turkey, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Achievements slated for 2007 include the launch of the IRRI-CIMMYT knowledge-sharing portal, renewal of the popular “Maize and Wheat Facts and Futures” publication series, analyses of maize and wheat value chains, publications on crop diversity and cereal intensification, and the completion of ex ante impact studies on diverse CIMMYT initiatives, including drought tolerant maize in sub-Saharan Africa.

Whistle-stop tour

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Sixteen members of the Illinois Farm Bureau paid a brief visit to El Batán on Wednesday. The group included maize, wheat, and soybean farmers and they are on a study tour to learn about Mexican agriculture. At CIMMYT they heard presentations from Kevin Pixley about CIMMYT’s Maize Program, Javier Peña about nutritional enhancement in maize, and Pedro Aquino about our impacts and targeting work in Mexico. The tour was capped with visit to the Wellhausen- Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center with Tom Payne acting as guide. For many the tour was an eye-opener, and the visitors had many questions about agriculture in the developing world. After two and a half hours at CIMMYT, the group moved on to the University of Chapingo.

“Dedication” for a lifetime’s dedication: Cordova honored by Central American network

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The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Central American Cooperative Program for the Improvement of Crops and Animals (PCCMCA)—a network established by Edwin J. Wellhausen and L. Sterling Wortman with Rockfeller Foundation support in 1954—will be dedicated personally to CIMMYT maize breeder and Distinguished Scientist Hugo Cordova.

“This is a great honor and distinction for more than 30 years of support to maize research and development in the region,” says Cordova.

The meeting, entitled “Cambios globales: Tendencias, efectos y perspectives para la agricultura de Mesoamérica y El Caribe hacia el 2020,” will be held in Antigua, Guatemala, during 23-27 April 2007.