Climate change threatens to reduce global crop production, and poor people in tropical environments will be hit the hardest. More than 90% of CIMMYTâs work relates to climate change, helping farmers adapt to shocks while producing more food, and reduce emissions where possible. Innovations include new maize and wheat varieties that withstand drought, heat and pests; conservation agriculture; farming methods that save water and reduce the need for fertilizer; climate information services; and index-based insurance for farmers whose crops are damaged by bad weather. CIMMYT is an important contributor to the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
In a strategic move to improve food security and promote agricultural development, Syngenta Foundation Nigeria, one of the key partners in the Dryland Crops Program (DCP), has introduced a new initiative known as the AVISA Farmers’ Hub. The initiative was launched at an event in the Murya Community of Obi Local Government Area in the Nasarawa State of North Central Nigeria. The Farmers’ Hub aims to support and empower farmers in the region, contributing to the overall objectives of the DCP.
The introduction of the Farmersâ Hub comes at a time when smallholder farmers in the region are grappling with limited access to essential resources such as knowledge, high-quality inputs, modern technology, and reliable markets, all of which are critical for achieving high-quality agricultural productivity.
A farmers’ hub (FH) is an all-inclusive commercial platform that provides diverse inputs such as seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, and crop protection products, as well as price and weather information. In addition, it provides farmers with value-added services such as aggregation, cleaning, sorting and grading of produce, bulk sales, training, equipment leasing and rental, financing, and trade credit. Smallholder farmers can now take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Farmers’ Hub by transitioning from subsistence agriculture to a commercially oriented system.
Inside the farmerâs hub. The hub is all-inclusive platform offering a wide range of inputs including seeds, seedlings, fertilizers and more (Syngenta Foundation Nigeria).
During the event, the Country Program Manager of Syngenta Foundation Nigeria, Isaiah Gabriel, emphasized the foundation’s dedication to commercializing AVISA crops: “The foundation is working to facilitate the commercialization of cowpea, sorghum, groundnuts, and pear millet.â Gabriel also emphasized the importance of raising awareness among farmers and establishing a platform that provides smallholder farmers with improved seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, mechanization, and other value-added services. He urged farmers in the state to maximize their utilization of the Farmers’ Hub and its services, which are intended to facilitate improved seed production and service delivery.
The Farmers’ Hub was established with the goal of resolving access issues, optimizing yields, aggregating grains, and overcoming market challenges. Finally, the hub hopes to improve food security and increase the income of smallholder farmers.
Prof. Mary Yeye, the National Coordinator of AVISA, commended the initiative and emphasized the importance to farmers of taking advantage of the project and making prudent use of its resources as she addressed the participants.
Experts in attendance, that included Prof. Lucky Omoigui, a seed system specialist from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Prof. SG Gaya, a groundnut breeder from Bayero University Kano (BUK), and Prof, Alhassan Lalihu from the Federal University Lafia, discussed several of the obstacles to high agricultural productivity. These factors include restricted access to improved seeds, expensive fertilizers, and security concerns. The experts lauded the Farmers’ Hub as the final step in delivering resources to smallholder farmers. In addition, they urged all levels of government to intensify efforts to subsidize input costs and improve farmers’ security.
The program manager of the Nasarawa State Agricultural Development Program, Emmanuel Alanama, responded by thanking Syngenta Foundation for selecting Nasarawa State for this significant project. He acknowledged that 75 to 80 percent of the state’s population are farmers and expressed the willingness of the state government to collaborate and support any agricultural initiatives.
Farmers participating in a training session at the farmers hub. (Syngenta Foundation Nigeria)
Rowland Alaku, manager of the Farmers’ Hub, assured farmers that they would have guaranteed access to quality seeds. The farmers in attendance expressed their gratitude for the initiative and promised to utilize the hub fully in order to benefit their own farming endeavors.
Other dignitaries in attendance included Prof. Johnson Onyibe from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; Dr. Teryima Iorlamen from the University of Agriculture, Makurdi; and several village heads. More than 150 farmers, stakeholders, and government officials attended the event, highlighting its importance.
During his recent visit to Beijing, CIMMYT Director General, Bram Govaerts highlighted China’s remarkable investment in science and technology for food security, highlighting the positive impact on crop production and resilience to supply chain disruptions.
At the online meeting, Prasanna shared CIMMYTâs research and development on FAW management in maize, including breeding for insect-pest resistance, screening maize germplasm against FAW under artificial infestation, and collaborative approaches on integrated pest management of FAW.
Key points from the discussion:
Collaborative efforts are important in managing FAW, and international R&D collaboration is as important as country-level research efforts.
CIMMYT has made significant progress in breeding FAW-tolerant maize hybrids (with native genetic resistance); three such hybrids have been released by national partners in Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan, and Ghana, and several more countries in Africa are in the pipeline for release and deployment of these hybrids.
Insect resistance management is critical wherever Bt maize varieties have been already released or in the process of release.
Both conventionally derived and Bt-based resistant maize varieties have their own importance in FAW management.
Need to intensify breeding activities for developing elite maize germplasm with FAW resistance together with other important traits, and fast-track deployment of FAW-tolerant elite maize hybrids.
Possible to achieve synergies between host plant resistance and other IPM approaches for sustainable management of FAW.
Researchers interested in accessing germplasm from CIMMYTâs breeding program can source through a standard material transfer agreement.
Dr Prasanna responded to several queries from the participants of the meeting. Australian researchers and CIMMYT showed interest in further research collaboration. Dr Ramesh Raj Puri, DAF Extension Officer, facilitated the meeting.
Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Farming Systems in Zambia (SIFAZ) is driven by the need to address systemic productivity and sustainability challenges in Zambian smallholder farming systems. This project is implemented in a research-for-development approach where applied research is conducted alongside scaling-up of sustainable and climate-smart crop production and land management practices within selected pilot areas in the three agro-ecological zones (AEZ) of Zambia.
SIFAZ strives to test, promote and enhance the uptake of sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) including mechanization among smallholder farmers while fostering market linkages and creating an enabling environment for sustainable agriculture growth. Such efforts will contribute to the governmentâs development priorities, which are framed by the Vision 2030 (Republic of Zambia, 2006) of âa prosperous middle-income nation by 2030â including an efficient, competitive, sustainable and export-led agriculture sector that assures food security and increased income.
The SIFAZ project cycles I and II are being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with CIMMYT and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in Zambia, with funding from the European Union (EU) for a period of seven years (2019-2026). Under the SIFAZ project, CIMMYT is leading the implementation of adaptive research and is currently working on establishing on-station and on-farm and field testing in and around three research centers in the southern, eastern and northern provinces of Zambia; the research approach includes co-development of on-farm trials using mother and baby trials; mechanization and socio-economics research.
To achieve this, SIFAZ supports three closely interlinked outputs:
Sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) co-developed with farmers and made available for scaling up.
Farmers trained, mentored and capacitated to use SIPs, better manage farmer enterprises and engage value chain actors.
Enabling institutional and policy environment for scaling and adoption of SIPs by smallholder farmers established.
In 2023, India reached a record wheat harvest of over 110 million tons. A partnership between CIMMYT and the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) now allows farmers to pre-order advanced wheat varieties, transforming the nation’s agriculture.
To address agriculture’s 25% contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, researchers created AGREE. This user-friendly tool, which UC Davis and CIMMYT developed, helps estimate emissions from various agricultural activities.
The Sainsbury Laboratory, the John Innes Centre and 21 other institutes are joining forces in a major global effort to monitor plant pathogens. Led by CIMMYT, the initiative aims to strengthen wheat productivity in food-insecure areas of East Africa and South Asia.
IISER Bhopal, CIMMYT and the University of Michigan have joined forces to harness cutting-edge satellite technology. Their research underscores the urgent need to address this environmental challenge and the critical role of technology in understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of agricultural practices.
CIMMYT targets some of the worldâs most pressing problems: ending poverty, ensuring food for the future, mitigating climate change and improving the lives of farmers and consumers (especially women). CIMMYT is a CGIAR Research Center and has long been the worldâs leading center for research on maize and wheat. This research capacity is being harnessed to achieve the crucial goals of climate resilience, and food and nutrition security.
Most of the worldâs people depend on annual grain crops for their survival. Yet some of the worldâs poorest men and women produce cereals. Annual grain farming has exacerbated climate change. The worldâs great challenges of achieving climate resilience and nutrition security are being addressed by focusing CIMMYTâs research and development (R&D) on maize, and wheat, as well as on underutilized grain and legume crops.
Highlights from the 2022 Annual Report:
Annual cereal farming tends to release carbon into the atmosphere, while degrading the soil. Improving the soil takes years, and the high annual variation in weather demands long-term experiments. Field trials by CIMMYT over many years show that farmers can return carbon to the soil by using minimum tillage, rotating cereals with legumes, and by applying animal manure and strategic amounts of nitrogen fertilizer. As soil fertility improves, so do farmersâ yields.
Eleven million farmers in India alone produce maize, usually without irrigation, exposing families to climate-related disaster. Twenty new hybrids bred by CIMMYT out-perform commercial maize, even in drought years. One thousand tons of this heat-tolerant maize seed have now been distributed to farmers across South Asia.
Farmer Yangrong Pakhrin shells maize on his verandah in Gharcau, Kanchanpur, Nepal. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Some wheat is rich in zinc and iron, which prevent anemia, especially in children. Yet naturally-occurring phytic acid in wheat blocks the bodyâs absorption of these minerals. A technique developed by CIMMYT lowers the cost of assaying phytic acid, so plant breeders in developing countries can identify promising lines of wheat faster. CIMMYT is also helping to reduce food imports by learning how other crops, like cassava and sorghum, can be blended with wheat to make flours that consumers will accept.
Some wheat hotspots are warm, dry, and subject to plant diseases. CIMMYT collaborates with plant breeders worldwide through the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN) to test promising new wheat lines in these tough environments. As more places become warmer and drier with climate change, CIMMYT and allies are developing wheat varieties that will thrive there.
Harvesting more maize in the future will depend on higher yields, not on planting more land. In plant breeding programs in Africa, South Asia and Latin America, CIMMYT and partners are already developing maize varieties and hybrids that will be released in just a few years. A review of these efforts reveals that annual yield increases will be about twice the rate achieved from 1973 to 2012.
Sorghum, millets, pigeon pea, chickpea and groundnuts have been favorite food crops in Africa for centuries. They are already adapted to warm, dry climates. CIMMYT is now working with national research programs to ensure that new crop varieties have the traits that male and female farmers need. Seed systems are being organized to produce more of Africaâs preferred crops.
A group member harvests groundnut in Tanzania. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Researchers can only breed new crop varieties if someone saves the old ones from extinction. CIMMYT does that with its world-class collection of wheat and maize seed. In 2022, CIMMYTâs two separate wheat and maize germplasm banks were combined into one. Modern techniques, such as vacuum-sealed seed packets and QR codes, allow rapid response to requests for seed from plant breeders around the world.
CIMMYT is helping Nepali farmers to plant maize in the lowlands, in the spring, when most land lies fallow. In 2022, CIMMYT provided training and investment to 2,260 farmers (35% women), who earned, on average, an additional $367 in one year. The added income allowed these farmers to invest in health care and schooling for their children.
Mexican farmers are saving money, harvesting more and selling their grain more easily. Some 4,000 farmers are now selling on contract to food manufacturing companies. The farmers lower production costs by using CIMMYT innovations in irrigation, fertilizer application and ecological pest control. Yields increase, the soil improves, and farmers find a ready market for their harvest.
The stories we have highlighted in this article are just some of the ones included in the Annual Report. See the full text of all the stories in âHarvesting Successâ to learn how CIMMYT scientists are doing some of the most important research, for some of the worldâs best causes.
India can applaud a hallmark in national food production: in 2023, the harvest of wheatâIndiaâs second most important food cropâwill surpass 110 million tons for the first time.
This maintains India as the worldâs number-two wheat producer after China, as has been the case since the early 2000s. It also extends the wheat productivity jumpstart that begun in the Green Revolutionâthe modernization of Indiaâs agriculture during the 1960s-70s that allowed the country to put behind it the recurrent grain shortages and extreme hunger of preceding decades.
âNewer and superior wheat varieties in India continually provide higher yields and genetic resistance to the rusts and other deadly diseases,â said Distinguished Scientist Emeritus at CIMMYT, Ravi Singh. âMore than 90 percent of spring bread wheat varieties released in South Asia in the last three decades carry CIMMYT breeding contributions for those or other valued traits, selected directly from the Centerâs international yield trials and nurseries or developed locally using CIMMYT parents.â
Wheat grain yield in Indian farmersâ fields rose yearly by more than 1.8 percentâsome 54 kilograms per hectareâin the last decade, a remarkable achievement and significantly above the global average of 1.3 percent. New and better wheat varieties also reach farmers much sooner, due to better policies and strategies that speed seed multiplication, along with greater involvement of private seed producers.
âThe emergence of Ug99 stem rust disease from eastern Africa in the early 2000s and its ability to overcome the genetic resistance of older varieties drove major global and national initiatives to quickly spread the seed of newer, resistant wheat and to encourage farmers to grow it,â Singh explained. âThis both protected their crops and delivered breeding gains for yield and climate resilience.â
CIMMYT has recently adopted an accelerated breeding approach that has reduced the breeding cycle to three years and is expected to fast-track genetic gains in breeding populations and hasten delivery of improvements to farmers. The scheme builds on strong field selection and testing in Mexico, integrates genomic selection, and features expanded yield assays with partner institutions. To stimulate adoption of newer varieties, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR, of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR) operates a seed portal that offers farmers advanced booking for seed of recently released and other wheat varieties.
Private providers constitute another key seed source. In particular, small-scale seed producers linked to the IIWBR/ICAR network have found a profitable business in multiplying and marketing new wheat seed, thus supporting the replacement of older, less productive or disease susceptible varieties.
Farm innovations for changing climates and resource scarcities
Following findings from longstanding CIMMYT and national studies, more Indian wheat farmers are sowing their crops weeks earlier so that the plants mature before the extreme high temperatures that precede the monsoon season, thus ensuring better yields.
New varieties DBW187, DBW303, DBW327, DBW332 and WH1270 can be planted as early as the last half of October, in the northwestern plain zone. Recent research by Indian and CIMMYT scientists has identified well-adapted wheat lines for use in breeding additional varieties for early sowing.
Resource-conserving practices promoted by CIMMYT and partners, such as planting wheat seed directly into the unplowed fields and residues from a preceding rice crop, shave off as much as two weeks of laborious plowing and planking.
Weeds in zero-tillage wheat in India. (Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT)
âThis âzero tillageâ and other forms of reduced tillage, as well as straw management systems, save the time, labor, irrigation water and fuel needed to plant wheat, which in traditional plowing and sowing requires many tractor passes,â said Arun Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder and regional representative for Asia and managing director of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). âAlso, letting rice residues decompose on the surface, rather than burning them, enriches the soil and reduces seasonal air pollution that harms human health in farm communities and cities such as New Delhi.â
Sustainable practices include precision levelling of farmland for more efficient irrigation and the precise use of nitrogen fertilizer to save money and the environment.
Science and policies ensure future wheat harvests and better nutrition
Joshi mentioned that increased use of combines has sped up wheat harvesting and cut post-harvest grain losses from untimely rains caused by climate change. âAdded to this, policies such as guaranteed purchase prices for grain and subsidies for fertilizers have boosted productivity, and recent high market prices for wheat are convincing farmers to invest in their operations and adopt improved practices.â
To safeguard Indiaâs wheat crops from the fearsome disease wheat blast, native to the Americas but which struck Bangladeshâs wheat fields in 2016, CIMMYT and partners from Bangladesh and Bolivia have quickly identified and cross-bred resistance genes into wheat and launched wheat disease monitoring and early warning systems in South Asia.
âMore than a dozen wheat blast resistant varieties have been deployed in eastern India to block the diseaseâs entry and farmers in areas adjoining Bangladesh have temporarily stopped growing wheat,â said Pawan Singh, head of wheat pathology at CIMMYT.
Building on wheatâs use in many Indian foods, under the HarvestPlus program CIMMYT and Indian researchers applied cross-breeding and specialized selection to develop improved wheats featuring grain with enhanced levels of zinc, a micronutrient whose lack in Indian diets can stunt the growth of young children and make them more vulnerable to diarrhea and pneumonia.
âAt least 10 such âbiofortifiedâ wheat varieties have been released and are grown on over 2 million hectares in India,â said Velu Govindan, CIMMYT breeder who leads the Centerâs wheat biofortification research. âIt is now standard practice to label all new varieties for biofortified traits to raise awareness and adoption, and CIMMYT has included high grain zinc content among its primary breeding objectives, so we expect that nearly all wheat lines distributed by CIMMYT in the next 5-8 years will have this trait.â
A rigorous study published in 2018 showed that, when vulnerable young children in India ate foods prepared with such zinc-biofortified wheat, they experienced significantly fewer days of pneumonia and vomiting than would normally be the case.
Celebrating joint achievements and committing for continued success
The April-June 2018 edition of the âICAR Reporterâ newsletter called the five-decade ICAR-CIMMYT partnership in agricultural research ââŠone of the longest and most productive in the worldâŠâ and mentioned mutually beneficial research in the development and delivery of stress resilient and nutritionally enriched wheat, impact-oriented sustainable and climate-smart farming practices, socioeconomic analyses, and policy recommendations.
Speaking during an August 2022 visit to India by CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, Himanshu Pathak, secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) of Indiaâs Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Director General of ICAR, âreaffirmed the commitment to closely work with CIMMYT and BISA to address the current challenges in the field of agricultural research, education and extension in the country.â
âThe ICAR-CIMMYT collaboration is revolutionizing wheat research and technology deployment for global food security,â said Gyanendra Singh, director, ICAR-IIWBR. âThis in turn advances global peace and prosperity.â
India and CIMMYT wheat transformers meet in India in February, 2023. From left to right: Two students from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI); Arun Joshi, CIMMYT regional representative for Asia; Rajbir Yadav, former Head of Genetics, IARI; Gyanendra Singh, Director General, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR); Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general; Harikrishna, Senior Scientist, IARI. (Photo: CIMMYT)
According to Govaerts, CIMMYT has concentrated on strategies that foster collaboration to deliver greater value for the communities both ICAR and the Center serve. âThe way forward to the next milestone â say, harvesting 125 million tons of wheat from the same or less land area â is through our jointly developing and making available new, cost effective, sustainable technologies for smallholder farmers,â he said.
Wheat research and development results to date, challenges, and future initiatives occupied the table at the 28th All India Wheat & Barley Research Workersâ Meeting, which took place in Udaipur, state of Rajasthan, August 28-30, 2023, and which ICAR and CIMMYT wheat scientists attended.
Generous funding from various agencies, including the following, have supported the work described: The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of UKâs Government (FCDO), the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research (FFAR), HarvestPlus, ICAR, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funders of the One CGIAR Accelerated Breeding Initiative (ABI), and the Plant Health Initiative (PHI).
In Nepal, the International Water Management Institute and CIMMYT conducted research on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS) in collaboration with local governments in Gurbakot Municipality of Surkhet and Haleshi Tuwachung Municipality of Khotang.
The research found a noticeable shift in farmers’ interest in farming practices, where successful implementation of innovation and scaling, it’s crucial to have farmers’ interest and ownership in interventions.
AÂ recent webinar organized by CIMMYT brought together three experts to discuss the importance of millets as key contributors to improving food and nutrition security and resilience to climate change. Offering a wealth of knowledge and insights, the panel discussion was moderated by Kevin Pixley, director of the Dryland Crops Program (DCP), who led a dynamic and engaging discussion highlighting CIMMYT’s work on dryland crops, the climate resiliency and versatility of millets, and biofortification initiatives.
“Millet improvement programs are central to regional dryland crop improvement networksâ, stated Harish Gandhi, breeding lead for DCP. Providing a comprehensive overview of the program, Gandhi emphasized its significance in addressing food and nutrition security as well as climate resilience. “With partners, we are co-designing and co-implementing crop improvement strategies, catalyzing the development of effective and sustainable crop improvement networks”, he said. The dryland crop improvement networks bring together 17 National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) in Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa working jointly to cultivate the potential and impacts of sorghum, pearl millet, groundnut, cowpea, bean, pigeon pea and chickpea. The program is aligned with CGIAR and the CIMMYT 2030 Strategy to transform agrifood systems through a dense network of impactful partnerships for enhanced sustainability, productivity and profitability.
The climate resiliency and adaptability of millets to arid and semi-arid regions make them a staple for smallholder farmers in Africa. “Millet is a drought-tolerant, climate-resilient crop with profound nutritional benefits. It’s rich in iron, zinc and other essential nutrients, making it a promising food against malnutrition and diet-related diseases”, emphasized Maryam Dawud, project lead at the Lake Chad Research Institute in Nigeria. Highlighting the significance of millets in building resilient agricultural systems, Dawud also explored innovations in millet consumption in diverse food products, including gluten-free options.
Biofortified pearl millets from South Asia and West Africa. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Mahalingam Govindaraj, senior scientist at HarvestPlus-Alliance Bioversity and CIAT, gave insights into crop biofortification, underlining the pressing need for crop nutritional enhancement due to widespread deficiencies, especially in the Global South. He introduced the HarvestPlus developed Biofortification Priority Index (BPI) which enables decision makers to make informed decisions about crop selection, target nutrients and countries. Additionally, Govindaraj highlighted the success of biofortification in enhancing essential micronutrients, especially in pearl millet, and discussed the science, technology and innovations that help to drive the mainstreaming of biofortification within CGIAR and NARES breeding and testing programs.
During the Q&A session, the speakers addressed questions from the audience of more than 150 participants, clarifying misconceptions and expanding on their subjects. Questions from the engaging audience span a wide range of themes and included the significance of different millet types and why they are frequently grouped together; the correlation between zinc and iron content in pearl millets, particularly in relation to their high fiber content; and the strategic approach of dryland crops in supporting capacity building for the NARES, among many other topics.
As the webinar came to a close, it was evident that millets are more than just cereals; they offer a promising solution to a variety of global food system challenges. From their resilience in harsh climates to their rich nutritional value and potential for innovation in various food products, millets stand as a beacon of hope in developing climate-resilient agriculture for a sustainable future.
Climate change poses a significant challenge to agricultural production and food security worldwide. âRising temperatures, shifting weather patterns and more frequent extreme events have already demonstrated their effects on local, regional and global agricultural systemsâ, says Kevin Pixley, Dryland Crops Program director and Wheat Program director a.i. at CIMMYT. âAs such, crop varieties that can withstand climate-related stresses and are suitable for cultivation in innovative cropping systems will be crucial to maximizing risk avoidance, productivity and profitability under climate-changed environments.â
In a new study published in Molecular Plant, scientists from CIMMYT, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and national agricultural research programs in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda to predict novel traits that might be essential for future varieties of popular crops. Having surveyed nearly 600 agricultural scientists and stakeholders, they identify likely agronomic changes in future cropping systems seeking sustainability, intensification, resilience and productivity under climate change, as well as associated essential and desirable traits, especially those that are not currently prioritized in crop improvement programs.
Focusing on six crops which hold vital importance for African food security and CIMMYT and CGIARâs missionâmaize, sorghum, pearl millet, groundnut, cowpea and common beanâthe authors review opportunities for improving future prioritized traits, as well as those they consider âblind spotsâ among the experts surveyed.
Predicting future essential traits
The results of the study speak to the need for considering cropping systems as central to climate change resilience strategy, as well as the need to reconsider the crop variety traits that will eventually become essential.
Overall, experts who participated in the survey prioritized several future-essential traits that are not already targeted in current breeding programs â mainly water use efficiency in pearl millet, groundnut, and cowpea; adaptation to cropping systems for pearl millet and maize; and suitability for mechanization in groundnut. The survey confirmed that many traits that are already prioritized in current breeding programs will remain essential, which is unsurprising and consistent with other recent findings. While smarter and faster breeding for currently important traits is essential, the authors suggest that failure to anticipate and breed for changing needs and opportunities for novel characteristics in future varieties would be a big mistake, compromising farmersâ resilience, improved livelihood opportunities, and food security in the face of changing climate.
Groundnuts. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Importantly, the authors explain, the predicted future-essential traits include innovative breeding targets that must be prioritized. They point to examples such as improved performance in inter- or relay-crop systems, lower nighttime respiration, improved stover quality, or optimized rhizosphere microbiome, which has benefits for nitrogen, phosphorous and water use efficiency.
The authors emphasize that the greatest challenge to developing crop varieties to win the race between climate change and food security might be innovativeness in defining and boldness to breed for the traits of tomorrow. With this in mind, they outline some of the cutting-edge tools and approaches that can be used to discover, validate and incorporate novel genetic diversity from exotic germplasm into breeding populations with unprecedented precision and speed.
The future direction of oilseeds appears to be closely tied to patents around seed technology, as industry and governments plan for a net-zero future. CIMMYT’s germplasm bank is available worldwide and relies heavily on collaborations with public and private entities, where breeding is a critical part of partnerships to further foster thriving markets.
As hotter temperatures and drought become the norm in places used to growing wheat, yields will be reduced, climate change will have some effect on most of the worldâs wheat. CIMMYT is working to strengthen seed systems as demand for staple crops like wheat is only expected to increase as the climate crisis makes the worldâs food system more vulnerable.
