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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.

Wheat genetic resource experts at CIMMYT plot global strategy

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The world’s keepers of wheat genetic resources must provide better access to seed and information from their collections, as well as meeting the rising demand for wheat’s wild relatives, DNA mapping populations, and genetic stocks. These conclusions emerged from a meeting of 12 internationally respected experts on the genetic resources of wheat, rye, and triticale. The specialists—who came from Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America—gathered at CIMMYT in Mexico 20-22 June 2006 to develop a global strategy for the conservation and use of the genetic resources of wheat and related species.

Participants decided on five priorities to reach the goals above: (1) developing an integrated information system on the world’s collections; (2) addressing deficiencies in the management of important collections; (3) ensuring that key collections are adequately backed-up; (4) addressing gaps in the genetic diversity conserved in global collections, with particular emphasis on wild relatives; and (5) augmenting collections of genetic stocks—materials that contain specific genetic characters, genes, or gene constructs.

The meeting was sponsored by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an initiative founded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). “Wheat is probably the largest and most important crop, in terms of number of collections and accessions conserved by national programs around the world,” says Brigitte LalibertĂ©, scientist at the Trust, which seeks to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide. “The proposed global wheat conservation strategy will guide the allocation of funds from the Trust to secure key reference collections in perpetuity.”

CGIAR Marketing Group meets in Nairobi

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Members of the CGIAR Marketing Group held their annual meeting on the ILRI campus in Nairobi last week. Each CG center can send two representatives, usually one from the fundraising side and the other from communications. This year CIMMYT was represented by Daisy Ouya, our writer/ editor based in Nairobi. During the business meeting, the group examined possibilities for improving its own profile and addressed the problem of getting more active representation from the fundraising / donor relations side of the group.

Several invited speakers, including Joachim Voss the DG of CIAT, and CGIAR consultant Howard Elliott, stimulated discussion. Romano Kiome, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya (and a member of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees) in his talk asked the question “How can we make agriculture relevant again?” He challenged the group to engage more in dialogue if it is to achieve greater clarity about the CG’s diverse audiences.

The group decided on a set of priority activities for the coming year to help promote the CGIAR and its member research centers. Projects will include the creation of a traveling exhibition / museum highlighting the CG’s work, and the production of a short video about the CGIAR.

Farmers discuss nitrogen sensor technology

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About 75 people, including farmers, technical advisers, representatives of farmers Unions, academics, government officials, (SAGARPA State vice-representative, and Chair of the Phytosanitary Authority Local Board), and the media attended a special event with CIMMYT scientist Ivan Ortiz Monasterio and research assistant Dolores Vázquez in Ciudad Obregon this week. The meeting, organized by the Asociación de Organismos Agrícolas del Sur de Sonora (AOASS), the umbrella institution for farmers unions, was held to discuss the results of this season’s trials of nitrogen sensor technology to optimize fertilizer applications. For the second year a group of wheat farmers in the Yaqui valley worked with CIMMYT to test the technology.

The infrared sensor, combined with computer software in a handheld computer, can give farmers an indication of how much fertilizer to apply. Optimizing the nitrogen fertilizer application can benefit the farmer by reducing costs and benefit the environment by reducing fertilizer runoff. This is one example of partnerships with Stanford University of studies on environmental impacts of agriculture in the Yaqui Valley. The demonstration data showed that during the 2005-2006 crop cycle, the average per hectare income from seven participating farmer’s fields was US $50 higher with the use of the sensor compared to traditional fertilizer practices.

All three farmers that talked about the technology at the meeting said they supported its use. Much of the sensor to work has been done in collaboration with Oklahoma State University. Several newspapers and television stations covered the event, including Sonora State’s main newspaper, El Imparcial. After the presentations, AOASS announced that they will support the necessary activities to spread the use of this technology more widely by farmers and they asked CIMMYT to prepare a proposal on how to do this.

Making the grade: World Bank to provide $850,000 budget boost for outstanding

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CIMMYT is one of only two centers in the CGIAR to achieve an “outstanding” level of performance in the annual appraisal conducted by the Secretariat and the Science Council. The announcement that CIMMYT had been given an “A” was made this week.

Every year the CGIAR looks at a set of performance indicators for each of the fifteen research centers to see if they are meeting expectations. The indicators range from how many peer-reviewed papers each scientist has published to how good the financial management has been over the year. They also include assessments of governance, impact and science quality. This year in addition to the two “outstanding” centers, 12 centers received “superior” ratings or a “B” grade and one a “satisfactory” or “C”. At the last review CIMMYT received a “C”, mainly due to the low level of the financial reserve.

The news about our jump from C to A could not come at a better time according to DG Iwanaga. “The outcome, I hope, will affect perceptions of the EPMR follow-up review team who will arrive this weekend,” he says, adding that the news shows CIMMYT is on the right track as a strong, science-based center in which investors and donors can have confidence.

Board of Trustees Chair Lene Lange said “Not just B but A for Outstanding! Congratulations to all of the CIMMYT community. Well done! Keep up the good work!”

Perhaps the best news of all is that based on the outstanding performance the World Bank will increase its allocation to the CIMMYT unrestricted core budget by $850,000. This money will give the center some more flexibility to fund key flagship product development as outlined in the center’s Business Plan and can cushion the impact of any unexpected donor reductions during the year. Masa thanks all CIMMYT staff for “helping the center make the jump from C to A.”

The road to ISO9000 for SIDU

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The seed health laboratory, part of CIMMYT’s Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit (SIDU), has just begun the process of obtaining ISO9000 accreditation with the International Standards Organization. Seed health certification is a major bottleneck that can delay the rapid, timely, and efficient international distribution of CIMMYT seed. That means that CIMMYT must have approved processes in place to ensure that any seed we distribute is disease and pest free.

Since 1998 CIMMYT has worked under the authority of the Mexican Phytosanitary Direction General (DGSV). Now that department also requires CIMMYT to obtain the ISO9000 certification. The accreditation process started on May 31 with a workshop given by CENCADE, a company hired to lead seed health personnel through the process of accreditation. The workshop was attended by 19 staff from SIDU, HR, ICT and Purchasing, as all of these groups will have to contribute to the process. The accreditation process will take approximately 6-7 months.

 

Published in 2006.

China and CIMMYT: new science agreement and support

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Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General, visited the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and had a fruitful meeting with Wang Jie, Vice President of NSFC. An agreement was signed with Han Jianguo, DG of the NSFC International Cooperation Department, for collaborative research between CIMMYT and Chinese scientists. Other key staff at the meeting included Bai Ge, DDG of the International Cooperation Department; Du Shengming, Executive DDG of the Life Science Department; NSFC scientists Zhang Yinglan, Luo Jing, and Zhang Yongtao; and He Zhonghu and Han Nanping from the CIMMYT-China office.

NSFC supports basic research in various disciplines. Applied and basic research in agriculture is conducted by the Life Science Department of NSFC, which seeks to improve the quality of science in China through international collaboration. NSFC has provided continuous support to China-CIMMYT collaborative research on wheat quality, the genetics of disease resistance in wheat and maize, and workshops and conferences, contributing more than US$ 300,000 over the last five years.

“The real value of the agreement is that the Chinese government provides us with money for science, through a merit-based selection process,” says Iwanaga. “Thanks to He Zhonghu’s efforts, we have this partnership. Now NSFC wants to formalize it through a memorandum of understanding that can serve as a model for their other contributions to the international science community.”

Research with China has resulted among other things in significant advances in the quality of Chinese wheat cultivars, and the CAAS-CIMMYT Wheat Quality Laboratory has become an internationally recognized center for wheat quality research. There is also good progress in understanding the genetics of resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew in Chinese wheats.

 

Published in 2006

Accessing vital knowledge in data: CIMMYT hosts important crop information workshop

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One of the most important aspects of any crop breeding program is the collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of data for germplasm (e.g. wheat and maize seed) plant breeders use. This includes phenotypic (physical) and molecular characteristics, as well as their pedigree or ancestry. When a plant breeder is trying to combine useful characteristics to make a potentially useful variety, she has to find parents that are likely to produce offspring with those traits. That is where mining crop information databases is vital.

CIMMYT has been a leader in developing computer-based crop information systems. Now the International Crop Information System, (ICIS) has just held two weeks of meetings at El BatĂĄn. More than 40 scientists and data specialists, including a large contingent from the International Rice Research institute (IRRI), participated in the two-week event. The last time the group met at CIMMYT was in 2000.

Addressing the group, CIMMYT senior wheat breeder Richard Trethowan said that vital crop information was in danger of being lost because information systems developed in the past could not cope with the way breeding was being done today. The ICIS system is designed to address this constraint and CIMMYT is now converting its crop data to the new system. “ICIS is broad enough to handle information about a wide range of crops,” says Graham McLaren, the leader of the IRRI-CIMMYT program on research informatics.

The ICIS meeting was divided into two parts. The first week was for users and potential users such as breeders and data curators to learn how to make the best use of the system both in terms of putting in their current data and searching the electronic databases for useful information.

The second week was designed more for the people developing various aspects of the software. They reviewed development progress over the past year and planned activities for the next 12 months. The focus was on the use of ICIS for managing germplasm collections, seed inventories, and genotyping data.

The crop information software is being developed through an open source project and is freely available to institutions and breeders around the world as a global public good. In fact, one of the presentations came from the International Potato Center (CIP). CIP staff in Lima, Peru, were able to participate in the meeting via a video conference link.

Quality protein maize awareness workshop held in Harare

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In an effort to promote quality protein maize (QPM), CIMMYT, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research and Extension Service (AREX) in Zimbabwe, recently held a workshop on QPM awareness. QPM contains enhanced levels of the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which together with other amino acids in maize are essential for the production of protein in the human body. Protein malnutrition is a serious health problem in southern Africa.

In addition to promoting general awareness, the workshop concentrated on sensitizing and educating participants about the usefulness of QPM in both human and animal nutrition. It also stimulated discussion that organizers hoped would get people thinking about how to promote quality protein maize in Zimbabwe.

The workshop was attended by participants from the University of Zimbabwe, University of Midlands, poultry and livestock industry, departments of extension, researchers and NGOs. Presentations covered the development, utilization, and seed production of QPM. During the discussion it was clear that the participants saw the potential of QPM in mitigating malnutrition in Zimbabwe.

At present only one QPM openpollinated variety has been released in the country and there is a need to release more varieties. In the recent past the variety release committee has insisted on presentation of data from animal feeding trials for a variety to be released as a QPM variety.

However, during the course of the workshop (which was attended by several members of the variety release committee) it was agreed that a QPM variety could be released on the strength of its agronomic performance and high values of lysine and tryptophan from lab tests. High lysine and tryptophan in a QPM variety were seen as valueadded traits. It was agreed that feeding trials are no longer necessary as long as there is lab data to show that a candidate variety contains a high level of lysine and tryphtophan compared to non-QPM variety. At present QPM varieties have been released in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.

 

Published in 2006

Maize field tour in Bangladesh

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A high-level delegation from the government of Bangladesh has just taken a first-hand look at hybrid maize seed being produced by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). The group included M. Nurul Alam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC); M. Sahadad Hussain, Director General, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI); A. Bari, Director, Department of Agricultural Extension; M. Matiur Rahman, Director of Research, BARI; and officials from BADC itself.

With technical support from CIMMYT, BADC is producing hybrid maize seed from CIMMYT-derived materials developed by BARI. The group visited the seed production plots and farmers growing the hybrids. The farmer and their families had taken part in whole family training on maize production, one of the key tools CIMMYT and partners in Bangladesh use to ensure farm families get the most from growing maize.

After visiting the seed production and grain production fields, the group attended a farmer’s rally where growers, seed producers from the public and private sectors, seed dealers, local level extension officers, NGOs and researchers participated and exchanged views.

The policy implication of this visit and meeting is that the CIMMYT whole family training approach for maize will continue with national and CIMMYT support. BADC will produce hybrid maize seed on 161 hectares of land in 2006 with contact growers contributing 20% of the total seed requirement and DAE will do country-wide demonstrations with these hybrids for farmer awareness and adoption.

The field visit was arranged by CIMMYT Affiliate Scientist, Nur-E-Elahi.

 

Published 2006

Scientific renewal

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Three scientists from Pakistan have just concluded a two-week visit to CIMMYT that included a stopover in ObregĂłn during the harvest. The visitors were Nafees Sadiq Kisana, National Coordinator for Wheat, Barley and Triticale, Mukhtar Alam, International Cooperation Office Ministry of Agriculture, and Liaquat Ali Hashmi, International Liaison & Training Officer with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).

For Kisana it was a homecoming. In 1983 he was a Wheat Program trainee with CIMMYT for eight months. “It was interesting to see how much the work at Obregón has developed in that time,” he says. For Mukhtar Alam, the visit to Mexico and CIMMYT was a first, though he says CIMMYT was not a new name for him. “I heard about CIMMYT from the time I was a student,” he says. “But coming here I found CIMMYT friendlier, more open and more focused than I had expected.”

As a result of this visit, and a visit to CIMMYT last year of the PARC chairman, Pakistan will again start sending visiting scientists to CIMMYT. There has been no coordinated program for almost a decade, but starting later this year the first of up to 30 mid-career Pakistani agricultural scientists will spend time at CIMMYT. “It will be useful for our scientists, who are well-qualified to give focus to their work and exposure to an international organization,” says Ali Hashmi.

The program is being funded by the government of Pakistan in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Minister visits

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Mr. M.K. Anwar, Minister of Agriculture for Bangladesh visited CIMMYT for two days this week. In addition to a welcome presentation by the Director General, he toured the Genebank, Biotech, and Cereal Quality labs and saw the Crop Research Informatics Lab (CRIL). The minister noted that wheat production in Bangladesh was declining and hoped CIMMYT could assist in solving the leaf blight problem plaguing Bangladeshi wheat farmers. CIMMYT is currently working with the Bangladesh Wheat Research Centre on this problem.

CIMMYT hosts high level visitors

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Showing our best to some high level donor representatives was the name of the game the week of March 20 as CIMMYT played host to several important visitors. Ms Jacqueline Schafer, Assistant Administrator Bureau of Economic Growth Agriculture and Trade (EGAT), USAID came with three colleagues. Their original plan to leave in mid afternoon was shelved when Ms Schafer decided to stay longer and spend more time with CIMMYT staff. Among the stops on her tour – an explanation of conservation agriculture work for small holder farmers. Mr. Fernando Delgado, Field Superintendent in Toluca came to make an enthusiastic presentation on the long term conservation agriculture plots at El Batan.

Former Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, also visited. He was escorted on his tour by Director General Iwanaga and several of CIMMYT’s Japanese scientists. These visits gave CIMMYT staff the chance to talk about the impact of agricultural research for development and key roles Centers like CIMMYT play in helping alleviate poverty. This message is especially important at a time when donor countries are assessing their funding priorities. A

Also visiting CIMMYT headquarters were the Palestinian Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Walid Abed Rabboh, and Dr. Amor Chermiti Director General of INRA, the national agricultural research program of Tunisia.

 

Published 2006

Wheat yield symposium in Obregon

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From March 20 to 24, approximately 130 participants from more than twenty nations attended the week-long “International Symposium on Wheat Yield Potential: Challenges to International Wheat Breeding,” held at Ciudad Obregon. The symposium was sponsored by CIMMYT and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) with the aim of charting a course for wheat research in developing countries for the coming decade and beyond.

Special acknowledgment must be given to the symposium organizers and implementers: Matthew Reynolds, chair of the organizing committee; Diana Godinez (administrative support); Arnoldo Amaya (travel and logistics); Rodrigo Rascon and Albertina de Gracia (local logistics); Ma. Teresa Rodriguez (computer and logistical support); Carmen Espinosa, Eleuterio Dorantes, and Petr Kosina, visas; and David Poland, Miguel Mellado and the CIMMYT Graphic Design Unit, extended abstracts and posters.

 

Published 2006

A World Tour: Program Director Profiles

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noticias4Now that all of CIMMYT’s new program directors have been officially installed, it is time to get acquainted with them, as well as their ideas and plans for the programs. This month we feature Marianne BĂ€nziger, director of the African Livelihoods Program.

She recently made history by becoming CIMMYT’s first ever female director, yet Marianne BĂ€nziger, director of the African Livelihoods Program (ALP), refers to herself as “a smallholder farmer at heart.” Fortunate, then, that she heads a program with smallholder African farmers at its heart.

The ALP is one of CIMMYT’s largest and most multifaceted programs, working in and for a continent where, despite strides in agriculture in the rest of the world, food security still eludes 150 million people. “African agriculture continues to struggle under the interrelated constraints in infrastructure, education, politics, policies, technology, and health issues,” says BĂ€nziger, speaking from nearly a decade’s experience living and working in the continent. “However, through combined efforts, Africa could solve its food security issues, and even become a net exporter of goods originating from a vibrant agricultural sector,” she says.

BĂ€nziger has a track record of building strong teams from diverse quarters. She envisions the ALP as drawing on and focusing CIMMYT’s maize and wheat expertise to improve the livelihoods of the smallholder farmer in Africa. “It’s people who must power the process, so our program puts effective partnerships at the fore of its agenda,” she says. She expects ALP impacts to show up soon in several key areas, including:

  • New maize varieties and production packages that stabilize and increase farm-level productivity, improve nutrition, help farmers deal with climate and market variability, add value, and replenish natural resources.
  • Partnerships with other researchers, farming communities, extension staff, policy makers and civil society at large to increase resource-poor farmers’ access to input and produce markets.
  • An “honest broker” approach on genetically modified food crops.
  • True enhancement of Africa’s human and institutional capacities.

After spending much of her childhood on a 14-hectare farm in the hills of her native Switzerland, BĂ€nziger joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where she earned BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees, the latter in crop physiology in 1992. She joined CIMMYT as a postdoctoral fellow soon afterwards. In 1996, she was posted to the center’s research program in Zimbabwe—the first female scientist of the organization to work in a regional program—where she launched the Southern Africa Drought and Low Soil Fertility (SADLF) project. As part of this, she coordinated the work of CIMMYT and partners to develop improved, drought tolerant maize varieties for small-scale farmers in Africa. Always keeping the small-scale farmer in mind, she fostered the adoption of new approaches whereby breeders replicate farmers’ actual constraints on research stations and farmers take part in varietal testing and selection. The “stress-breeding” methodology and “mother-baby” participatory trials have spread to 16 countries in eastern and southern Africa. Most importantly, enough seed of the drought-tolerant maize, which yields 30% more than previously-sown varieties under dry conditions, has been produced to sow a million hectares in southern Africa alone in 2005.

Often asked whether gender has constrained her career, BĂ€nziger responds philosophically: “As a newcomer in any field, you have to establish your credentials, irrespective of your gender. In Africa, I find myself in the company of many strong, high-ranking, and well respected women in various professions.” This year BĂ€nziger relocated to the CIMMYT-ALP office in Nairobi, Kenya. “Wherever I am, I will continue doing my bit to help smallholder farmers in Africa achieve their hopes for the future—a decent standard of living, a better life for their children, and independence from food aid,” she says.