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Theme: Climate adaptation and mitigation

Climate change threatens to reduce global crop production, and poor people in tropical environments will be hit the hardest. More than 90% of CIMMYT’s 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.

Maize breeding on track for climate change in Africa, scientist urges bigger investments

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A farmer dries maize on his rooftop in Zimbabwe. CIMMYT/ F. Sipalla
A farmer dries maize on his rooftop in Zimbabwe.
CIMMYT/ F. Sipalla

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A comprehensive study of genetic gains resulting from long term breeding work on improved hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) in eastern and southern Africa shows that with appropriate funding, maize yields can continue to increase in extreme heat and drought conditions.

Investments into maize breeding and seed systems must expand to keep up with the capacity to withstand climate variability in the region, said Jill Cairns, one of the authors of the study, emphasizing that maize breeding is on track to meet the challenges of climate change in Africa.

The region is currently experiencing large climate variability, including the 2014-2015 drought; the 2015-2016 El Nino and severe drought and flooding in 2016-2017.

“We see evidence that increased investment works,” said Cairns, a maize physiologist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Zimbabwe. “Although our breeding work has led to higher genetic gains, yields remain lower, reflecting smaller research investments over time. On the other hand, in countries like the United States and China, which have become the top two maize producers worldwide, we see the beneficial impact of steady investments.”

Varieties released by CIMMYT’s partners in sub-Saharan Africa between the years 2000 and 2010, showed that genetic gains for yields made through this improved maize germplasm compare favorably with similar studies in other regions in better growing conditions — in China and the United States, for example.

On average, under optimal conditions, CIMMYT maize breeders increased yields by 109 kilograms per hectare per year, under managed drought conditions, 33 kilograms per hectare per year and under random drought conditions, 23 kilograms per hectare per year. By comparison, in China, under optimal conditions, gains were estimated at 95 kilograms per hectare per year and in the United States, 65 to 75 kilograms per hectare per year.

“Breeding is a long term investment but it ultimately pays off through improved varieties for smallholder farmers,” said Jill Cairns, a maize physiologist with CIMMYT in Zimbabwe, describing the impact of the breeding program in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been underway for more than 30 years.

“We’re constantly changing the breeding pipeline to ensure that the genetic gains are continuously increased,” she added. “Gains are illustrated by sustained increases in grain yield over time. In fact, we expect to see a higher genetic gain through the more recent hybrids developed by CIMMYT maize breeding team than those reported in the study undertaken on hybrids released between 2000 and 2010 because we’ve added a lot of new tools and we are incorporating many new technologies to further increase gains.”

The study confirmed that the lowest genetic gains occurred under low nitrogen conditions where little fertilizer was used, Cairns said, emphasizing the importance of increasing the potential for genetic gains to boost grain yields in areas with poor soil fertility throughout the region.

Scientists working with the CIMMYT maize breeding program primarily focus on developing hybrids, which result from the deliberate crossing of genetically diverse inbred lines that exhibit a wide variety of traits that are relevant for smallholders in the tropics.

Improved OPVs were developed at CIMMYT, using selected sets of inbred lines to reflect traits of the parental lines.  In general, genetic gains in the OPVs released during the period under review were found to be higher than for the hybrids, although grain yields in the hybrids were certainly higher.

Resource-poor farmers in some African countries tend to use drought-tolerant improved OPVs, especially where the maize seed sector is weak or improved hybrid seeds are unavailable or unaffordable.

“Accessing hybrid seeds can be a real challenge for resource-poor, smallholder farmers in some areas,” Cairns said. “Hybrids also pose a conundrum for farmers in extremely drought-prone areas, where the tendency is to minimize the risk by using low-cost improved OPVs rather than investing in relatively higher-cost hybrid seeds.”

Yield gain in the CIMMYT-derived hybrids in eastern and southern Africa during the study period is comparable with gains reported in the United States and China. However, absolute yields in the region are still lower, reflecting the opportunity to further improve the yield potential of tropical maize, including in stress-prone environments.

Additionally, maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa, where maize accounts for 50 percent of cereal production in over 50 percent of countries, are still the lowest in the world.  National maize yields in 30 countries in the region remain much lower than yields were in the U.S. Corn Belt in 1926 before hybrids were introduced!

Since the CIMMYT breeding program started in Zimbabwe in 1985 (part of the southern Africa region where maize accounts for 45 percent of calories and 43 percent of protein from cereals consumed), scientists have focused on increasing drought tolerance, among other important traits. Currently, the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project operates in 11 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

Continual evaluation is a critical component of crop improvement, according to scientists.

“Quantifying genetic gain each year is an integral part of our product development process,” said B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. “This enables us to measure the progress being made, and to make necessary adjustments for continuous improvement of the performance of our products in the target agro-ecologies we serve.”

The research benefits are far-reaching.

In these two first-ever reviews evaluating genetic gains through CIMMYT’s maize breeding program in eastern and southern Africa, we get a clear understanding of benefits and impact of improved maize hybrids and OPVs released during 2000 to 2010, said Marianne Bänziger, who previously led the CIMMYT maize program, and is now deputy director general of research and partnerships at the organization.

“Use of improved seed has been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa and greater uptake is mostly a question of where the seed sector reaches,” Bänziger said. “The issue of variety replacement is complex. Working with governments and seed companies is a key part of our role.”

The dissemination and adoption of drought tolerant maize could generate as much as $590 million for farmers over a seven-year period, Cairns said. “As we take stock of the important role our work has played in this impoverished and environmentally harsh region, we’re grateful for the vital funding we receive from various agencies, especially the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the CGIAR research program MAIZE.”

Read the research papers:

Gains in Maize Genetic Improvement in Eastern and Southern Africa: 1. CIMMYT Hybrid Breeding Pipeline

Gains in Maize Genetic Improvement in Eastern and Southern Africa: II. CIMMYT Open-Pollinated Variety Breeding Pipeline

Breaking Ground: David Guerena transfers world-class science to smallholder farmers

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TwitterBG_DavidGuerenaBreaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – David Guerena is fascinated by what he learns from smallholder farmers about the interactions between agriculture and the environment.

He recently joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where, as soil scientist-systems agronomist, he leads the soils/nutrient management activities for the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Feed the Future Program.

Guerena’s work involves the strategic planning and execution of multidisciplinary spatial agronomy programs across complex ecologies. In addition to strict biophysical work, which involves integrating chemistry, biology, and physics into agricultural systems, he also engages in socio-economic and market facilitation dynamics research.

“Humanity has been eking out a cultivated living from the earth for around 10,000 years,” Guerena said. “Smallholder farmers are the direct link to this collective knowledge, which has shaped and defined human history. I really enjoy witnessing farmers reap satisfying harvests from their own efforts, but via outputs from agronomic systems research of which I have been a part.”

“Agriculture is intensely satisfying. A seed, fertile soil, water and sunshine eventually turn into food. This is such a simple process, yet millions of people around the world don’t get enough to eat. I draw inspiration from being a part of positively changing this dynamic.”

Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Guerena has always been fascinated by the natural sciences and international travel. He decided to pursue a career in international agriculture by obtaining his Ph.D. from Cornell University, specializing in crop and soil science. Prior to joining CIMMYT, he worked as a soil scientist and agriculture innovations manager at One Acre Fund, served as an international research fellow with the World Agroforestry Center and a Borlaug Fellow in international food security.

CIMMYT provided a unique opportunity for Guerena to work on global food systems. “Together, maize and wheat make up a significant proportion of the global food supply – maize and wheat research is a globally important mandate,” he said. “CIMMYT has also left an indelible mark on human history through facilitating the Green Revolution.”

Currently, Guerena is working on spatial agronomy programs, focusing on questions such as how to move from blanketed to site-specific agronomic recommendations across complex agro-ecologies in the developing world. Guerena will also investigate how digital technologies like SMS, smartphones, image recognition, and remote sensing data can be used and integrated into agronomy programming for smallholder farmers living in poverty.

Precision agronomy, a farming management concept based on observing, measuring, and responding to inter- and intra-field variability in crops, is already transforming agricultural efficiency in the developed world, but these advancements have not yet reached the developing world.

This is of the utmost importance, as worldwide, the vast majority of farmers are smallholders producing most of the global food supply. CIMMYT is not only looking at ways to put its top-level science into the hands of farmers, but also at ways to use these technologies to turn farmers themselves into world-class agronomists. This approach may be a way to bypass cumbersome agricultural knowledge generation and dissemination systems and reach farmers directly, at scale.

The project receives support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

CIMMYT doctoral student wins award for outstanding thesis

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CIMMYT post-doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis. Photo: S. Cheesman
CIMMYT doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis. Photo: S. Cheesman

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – CIMMYT doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis.

This ETH prize awards 5,000 Swiss Francs ($4,988) annually to the student with the most outstanding thesis in Agricultural Science. The prize is financed by a private fund set up in 1994 by the late banking doyen Hans Vontobel.

Cheesman conducted her thesis project “Finding the truth in wishful thinking: an on-farm study on maize-based conservation agriculture systems in Southern Africa” while working with CIMMYT in Zimbabwe on a post financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).

The thesis investigated the effects of conservation agriculture (CA) on maize yields and soil carbon stocks, as well as other plant nutrient stocks in the soil. It is based on data collected on 125 on-farm research sites CIMMYT had established between 2004 and 2009 in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The results showed that yields could quickly increase with CA, whereas soil carbon stocks showed – after up to only seven years of CA practice – limited response under the prevailing conditions of Zimbabwe. Farmers also generally adapt CA systems to their conditions rather than adopt the system, due to the fact that there are many more factors besides improved yields – such as preferences in crops grown, availability of inputs and access to other sources of income – that influence why a farmer adopts a technique.

Cheesman discusses with farmer what data he should be recording from his demonstration field. Photo: Pietro Bomio
Cheesman discusses with farmer what data he should be recording from his demonstration field. Photo: Pietro Bomio

The award panel consisted of Maja Baumann, granddaughter of Vontobel, Bruno Studer, professor and chair of the molecular plant breeding group at ETH Zürich and Sarah Springman, professor and rector of ETH Zürich.

Baumann cited Cheesman’s valuable hard data about conservation agriculture – a topic that has been strongly debated in recent years – and contribution to sustainable agriculture as main reasons for her selection. Further the jury appreciated that the thesis investigated both biophysical and socio-economic aspects, allowing for a better understanding of conservation agriculture’s impact.

Cheesman completed her thesis under the supervision of Emmanuel Frossard, professor at ETH Zürich, CIMMYT Senior Cropping Systems Agronomist Christian Thierfelder and Neal Eash, professor at the University of Tennessee. Professor Johan Six from ETH Zürich evaluated the work as external examiner.

“Stephanie Cheesman’s collaborative project between CIMMYT and the Swiss institutions funded by SDC highlights the strong interest of all organizations to extend sustainable agriculture intensification, with the aim of increasing food and nutrition security and eradicate poverty amongst smallholder farmers in southern Africa,” said Thierfelder.

Cheesman’s thesis is available online through ETH-Zürich’s library here.  

Ruth Kamula, a community-based seed producer in Kiboko, Kenya, planted KDV-1, a drought tolerant (DT) seed maize variety developed with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as part of CIMMYT's Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. "I am trying my hand at DT maize seed production because it will lift me and my family out of poverty. It is our lifeline during this time of drought," she says. (Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT)

Breakthroughs in agriculture for action on climate change

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Farmers in Lushoto, in the Tanga region of Tanzania, are working with researchers to test different forage varieties like Brachiaria for yield and drought resilience. (Photo: Georgina Smith/CIAT)
Farmers in Lushoto, in the Tanga region of Tanzania, are working with researchers to test different forage varieties like Brachiaria for yield and drought resilience. (Photo: Georgina Smith/CIAT)

The facts are startling. More than 2 billion people worldwide suffer from micronutrient deficiency – 795 million of whom are undernourished. The challenge to nutritiously and securely feed the growing population is further exacerbated by climate change which has led to extreme weather patterns and decreasing crop yields. With more than 10% of the world’s population living on less than $1.90 per day, the imperative to transform food systems in a way that simultaneously improves lives, livelihoods and the condition of natural resources is clear.

Climate change presents a formidable challenge as one of the biggest constraints to improving food systems, food security and poverty alleviation around the world, especially for the world’s most vulnerable people. The impacts of climate change and poverty are closely interconnected as climate change impacts land  availability, rainfall, and disease. With poor people disproportionately dependent on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods, these communities are thus especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The increasing frequency and intensity of climatic shocks impinges on their ability to sell an agricultural surplus, meaning less reinvestment in their farms and other livelihood activities, and less ability to purchase a nourishing diet.

The breakthrough Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, while far from perfect, represented an historic and ambitious new phase for climate action, and opened a door for the agricultural sector to take a leading role. “We recognize that the agricultural sector has a key role to play in increasing resilience to climate shocks. Food security, food production, human rights, gender, ecosystems and biodiversity were all explicitly recognized in the Paris agreement and these are issues at the core of our work,” according to Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director of the CGIAR System Organization.

Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, CGIAR and its partners are developing climate-smart technologies to help farmers adapt to climate change as well as mitigate agriculture’s contribution to climate change. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) brings together the expertise in agricultural, environmental and social sciences to identify and address this nexus between agriculture and climate change. Innovations such as drought tolerant crops, agricultural insurance schemes and management practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are just a few of the technologies being developed by CGIAR.

In Africa, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working on drought tolerant maize which offers African farmers significant benefits, producing up to 30 percent more grain than conventional varieties under drought. Through beneficial partnerships with governments, private sector and local NGO’s, researchers have fast-tracked varietal releases and fostered competitive seed markets, allowing for widespread access to quality seed at an affordable price.

“A large percentage of resource-poor farmers and consumers live in tropical environments, which are most vulnerable to climate change. By providing research-based knowledge and tools, CGIAR helps farmers adapt, bringing food security and prosperity to these areas,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general and CGIAR System Organization Board Chair. “CGIAR-led research on drought tolerant maize has helped more than 5 million households in 13 countries become more resilient to climate change.”

Ruth Kamula, a community-based seed producer in Kiboko, Kenya, planted KDV-1, a drought tolerant (DT) seed maize variety developed with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as part of CIMMYT's Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. "I am trying my hand at DT maize seed production because it will lift me and my family out of poverty. It is our lifeline during this time of drought," she says. (Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT)
Ruth Kamula, a community-based seed producer in Kiboko, Kenya, planted KDV-1, a drought tolerant (DT) seed maize variety developed with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as part of CIMMYT’s Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. “I am trying my hand at DT maize seed production because it will lift me and my family out of poverty. It is our lifeline during this time of drought,” she says. (Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT)

In Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines, researchers from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are developing rice management techniques, known as alternate wetting and drying, in irrigated lowland areas which could save water and reduce greenhouse gas  emissions while maintaining yields.

To ensure that agricultural innovation is developed where needed, CGIAR is prioritizing responsive, farmer driven technologies, particularly in relation to climate-smart solutions.

In Senegal, CGIAR-led research on digital advisory and climate information services are reaching farmers with improved seasonal forecasts via radio and SMS – information that is helping farmers adapt to climate change and improve resilience to climate shocks.

In India, researchers from CCAFS are establishing well-designed agricultural insurance schemes which will enhance resilience to climatic shocks and help protect farmers during bad harvests. CCAFS is also working in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to help major agribusiness companies improve their ability to trace, measure and monitor climate-smart agriculture progress, among others, by developing science-based indicators.

“The challenge we now have is how to take these innovations to scale, reaching millions rather than thousands of farmers. This requires a transformation in the way we partner and deliver our science, as well as targeting and bundling together climate-smart agriculture innovations,” outlined Kropff.

“We recognize that responding effectively to the challenges of climate change hinges on dramatic changes in the way we work,” continued Grainger-Jones. “We have a responsibility to foster paradigm shifts which can prepare us for the challenges we face.

Research led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is doing just that, testing the impact of feeding animals with climate-smart Brachiaria grass, of which some varieties can tolerate drought and waterlogging, while others have produced more and better forage.

At its core, CGIAR is committed to transforming agriculture and food systems that will enable the most vulnerable to better nourish their families and improve productivity and resilience.

“As the world’s largest agricultural research for development partnership, CGIAR is in a unique position to respond to the world’s most complex development challenges. We are committed to leading world class climate change science to increase resilience to sustain the planet’s fragile ecosystem,” reflected Grainger-Jones.

Elwyn Grainger-Jones, CGIAR System Organization Executive Director and Martin Kropff, Director General of CIMMYT and Board Chair of CGIAR System Organization recently participated in the: ‘Climate change research and partnerships for impact on food and nutritional security’ event during the opening of the new CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change and Food Security (CCAFS) office at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

New Publications: Study shows benefits and trade-offs of conservation agriculture in southern Africa

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Farmers inspect a demonstration plot during a conservation agriculture field day near Songani in Zomba district, Malawi. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
Farmers inspect a demonstration plot during a conservation agriculture field day near Songani in Zomba district, Malawi. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT

Smallholder farmers throughout southern Africa continue to be constrained by high rainfall variability and lack of access to agricultural inputs, resulting in poor harvests and challenges from food shortages to malnutrition.

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices such as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation have been promoted as a useful set of tools that could improve farmer resilience to these challenges. However, matching CA practices to agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions remain contentious.

In a recent study conducted by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with other partners, empirical data and results from a cropping system model were combined to quantify benefits and trade-offs, in terms of sowing opportunity, yield, and yield variability, from adopting CA practices in southern Africa.

Simulated results in the study showed that some practices like direct seeding and farming in a basin planting system prepared late and at the onset of the rains improved timeliness of operations, and enabled earlier planting across all locations compared to conventional systems. Mechanized CA systems also offered farmers potential flexibility on when to plant.

However, timely planting of CA systems did not translate into higher yields when carried out during periods of high rainfall variability. Yield benefits of early plantings in CA were only apparent in Zimbabwe.

The authors conclude that draught power mechanized CA systems offer farmers the capacity to plant closer to optimum dates, and that model-generated optimum planting dates could be used to provide farmers with site-specific planting date recommendations.

Learn more about the study “Planting date and yield benefits from conservation agriculture practices across Southern Africa” here and more new publications from CIMMYT staff below.

  1. Breeding value of primary synthetic wheat genotypes for grain yield. 2016. Jafarzadeh, J.; Bonnett, D.G.; Jannink, J.L.; Akdemir, D.; Dreisigacker, S.; Sorrells, M.E. PLoS One 11 (9): e0162860.
  2. Control of Helminthosporium leaf blight of spring wheat using seed treatments and single foliar spray in Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal. 2016. Sharma-Poudyal, D.; Sharma, R.C.; Duveiller, E. Crop Protection 88: 161-166.
  3. Development and validation of KASP assays for genes underpinning key economic traits in bread wheat. 2016. Rasheed, A.; Weie Wen; Fengmei Gao; Shengnan Zhai; Hui Jin; Jindong Liu; Qi Guo; Yingjun Zhang; Dreisigacker, S; Xianchun Xia; He Zhonghu. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 129: 1843-1860.
  4. Dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are associated with both type I FHB susceptibility and low anther extrusion in two bread wheat populations. 2016. Xinyao He; Singh, P.K.; Dreisigacker, S.; Sukhwinder-Singh; Lillemo, M.; Duveiller, E. PLoS One 11 (9): e0162499.
  5. Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. 2016. Pariyar, S.R.; Dababat, A.A.; Sannemann, W.; Erginbas-Orakci, G.; Elashry, A.; Siddique, S.; Morgounov, A.I.; Leon, J.; Grundler, F. Phytopathology 106 (10): 1128-1138.
  6. Genomic regions associated with root traits under drought stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). 2016. Zaidi, P.H.; Seetharam, K.; Krishna, G.; Krishnamurthy, S.L.; Gajanan Saykhedkar; Babu, R.; Zerka, M.; Vinayan, M.T.; Vivek, B. PLoS One 11 (10): e0164340.
  7. Pm55, a developmental-stage and tissue-specific powdery mildew resistance gene introgressed from Dasypyrum villosum into common wheat. 2016. Ruiqi Zhang; Bingxiao Sun; Chen, J.; Aizhong Cao; Liping Xing; Yigao Feng; Caixia Lan; Peidu Chen. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 129: 1975-1984.
  8. Stem rust resistance in a geographically diverse collection of spring wheat lines collected from across Africa. 2016. Prins, R.; Dreisigacker, S.; Pretorius, Z.A.; Schalkwyk, H. van.; Wessels, E.; Smit, C.; Bender, C.; Singh, D.; Boyd, L.A. Frontiers in Plant Science 7 (973): 1-15.
  9. Wheat quality improvement at CIMMYT and the use of genomic selection on it. 2016. Guzman, C.; Peña-Bautista, R.J.; Singh, R.P.; Autrique, E.; Dreisigacker, S.; Crossa, J.; Rutkoski, J.; Poland, J.; Battenfield, S.D. Applied and Translational Genomics 11: 3-8.

CIMMYT scientist takes lead role in American Agronomy Society’s sustainable intensification community

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Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT (right) has assumed leadership of the recently formed Sustainable Intensification community, part of the American Society for Agronomy’s (ASA) Environmental Quality section. Above, Krupnik partners on project with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on farming system diversity studies and potential for sustainable intensification in Bangladesh. Photo: A. Kurishi /CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), has assumed leadership of the recently formed Sustainable Intensification community of the American Society for Agronomy’s (ASA) Environmental Quality section.

Krupnik founded the community in 2016 with the previous leader, Cameron Pittelkow, assistant professor at the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Vara Prasad, professor at the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University and director of the university’s Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, joined Krupnik in 2016 as vice leader of the community.

ASA is a scientific society dedicated to promoting the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global agronomy. The society’s goals include understanding how agriculture affects the environment and how agricultural management can be improved to promote air, soil and water quality through its environmental quality section. The ASA currently has over 8,000 members.

“The sustainable intensification community provides a forum for advancing interdisciplinary science to improve the  productivity of the world’s crop and livestock systems through studies that utilize agronomic, economic, environmental and social sustainability criteria to develop actionable recommendations,” says Krupnik.

Sustainable intensification (SI) is a key agricultural policy priority in both developing and developed nations. SI farming puts methods into place that increase food production from existing farmland while minimizing pressure on the environment. Farmers using these approaches in turn minimize agricultural land expansion, and consequently biodiversity loss, while maximizing the use and flow of ecosystem services to and from farmlands.

CIMMYT staff taking measurements of water infiltration rate. Photo: T. Krupnik/CIMMYT

The SI community is one of six communities of scientists under the society’s Environmental Quality section. The community brings together members from across the ASA to examine the challenges, limitations and opportunities for SI in agronomic production systems across the globe.

“The work we do tackles the trade-offs between increased farming systems productivity and the risk of environmental pollution, or undesirable social outcomes,” according to Krupnik. “The community is a platform for advancing these issues within the ASA, while also advocating for solutions to some of agriculture’s most pressing sustainability problems.”

The ASA’s first SI session was held in November 2016 at the ASA’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Symposia speakers included David Cleary, director of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, Achim Dobermann, director and Chief Executive at Rothamsted Research, Bruno Gerard, director of the Sustainable Intensification program at CIMMYT, Sieg Snapp, professor of soils and cropping systems ecology at Michigan State University and Pablo Tittonell, director of the natural resources and environment program at the National Agricultural Technology Institute in Argentina and former chair professor of the Farming Systems Ecology group  at Wageningen University.

Another SI symposium and interactive breakout discussion section on how to assess synergies and tradeoffs between indicators for SI will be held at an upcoming ASA meeting in Tampa, Florida.

More information about the ASA’s SI community can be found here.

Study reveals diversity “blueprint” to help maize crops adapt to changing climates

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EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientists have unlocked evolutionary secrets of landraces through an unprecedented study of allelic diversity, revealing more about the genetic basis of flowering time and how maize adapts to variable environments, according to new research published in Nature Genetics journal. The discovery opens up opportunities to explore and use landrace diversity in new ways to help breeders adapt crops to climate change and other emerging challenges to crop production.

Farmers worldwide have been ingeniously adapting landrace maize varieties to their local environments for thousands of years. In this landmark study, over 4,000 landraces from across the Americas were analyzed and their DNA characterized using recent advances in genomics.

A unique experimental strategy was developed to study and learn more about the genes underlying maize adaptation by researchers with the MasAgro Biodiversidad program and the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative.

Significantly, the study identified 100 genes, among the 40,000 that make up the maize genome, influencing adaptation to latitude, altitude, growing season and the point at which maize plants flower in the field.

Flowering time helps plants adapt to different environments. It is measured as the period between planting and the emergence of flowers, and is a basic mechanism through which plants integrate environmental information to balance when to make seeds instead of more leaves. The seeds form the next generation making flowering time a critically important feature in a plant’s life cycle.

Over the next century, increasingly erratic weather patterns and environmental changes projected to result from climate change mean that such crops as maize will need to adapt at an unprecedented rate to maintain stable production globally.

“This research offers a blueprint of how we can rapidly assess genetic resources for a highly variable crop species like maize, and identify, in landraces, those elements of the maize genome which may benefit breeders and farmers,” said molecular geneticist Sarah Hearne, who leads maize research within MAB/SeeD, a collaboration led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with strong scientific partnerships with Mexico’s research institute for agriculture, livestock and forests (INIFAP), the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University (UAAAN) in Mexico and Cornell University in the United States.

“This is the most extensive study, in terms of diversity, that has been conducted on maize flowering,” said Martha Willcox, maize landrace improvement coordinator at CIMMYT . “This was achieved using landraces, the evaluation of which is an extremely difficult and complex task.”

The groundbreaking study was supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) initiative. Additional support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, Cornell University and the National Science Foundation facilitated the completion of vast quantities of data analysis.

“The knowledge we have gained from this work gives us something similar to a manual of ‘how to go on a successful treasure hunt;’ within the extensive genetic diversity that exists for maize. This knowledge can accelerate and broaden our work on developing resilient varieties, building upon millennia of natural and farmer selection in landraces,” Hearne said.

CORRECT CITATION:

Romero-Navarro, J. A., Willcox, M., Burgueño, J. Romay M. Swarts, K., Trachsel, S., Preciado, E., Terron, A., Vallejo Delgado, H., Vidal, V., Ortega, A., Espinoza Banda, A., Gómez Montiel, N.O., Ortiz-Monasterio, I., San Vicente, F., Guadarrama Espinoza, A., Atlin, G., Wenzl, P., Hearne, S.*, Buckler, E*. A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering time adaptation in maize landraces. Nature Genetics. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3784.html
*Corresponding authors

New Publications: How to maintain food security under climate change

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Farmer Bida Sen prepares rice seedlings for transplanting in Pipari, Dang. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
Farmer Bida Sen prepares rice seedlings for transplanting in Pipari, Dang. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT

El BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Wheat, rice, maize, pearl millet, and sorghum provide over half of the world’s food calories. To maintain global food security under climate change, there is an increasing need to exploit existing genetic variability and develop crops with superior genetic yield potential and stress adaptation.

Climate change impacts food production by increasing heat and water stress among other environmental challenges, including the spread of pests, according to a recent study published by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). If nothing is done to currently improve the crops we grow, wheat, maize and rice are predicted to decrease in both tropical and temperate regions. Wheat yields are already slowing in most areas, with models predicting a six percent decline in yield for every 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperature.

While breeding efforts in the past have traditionally focused on increasing yield rather than survival under stresses, researchers are now working to use existing genetic diversity to create varieties that can withstand extreme weather events with yield stability in both “good” and “bad” years to better prepare our global food system for future climate variability.

The study “An integrated approach to maintaining cereal productivity under climate change” concludes the opportunity to share knowledge between crops and identify priority traits for future research can be exploited to increase breeding impacts and assist in identifying the genetic loci that control adaptation. The researchers also emphasize a more internationally coordinated approach to crop phenotyping and modeling, combined with effective sharing of knowledge, facilities, and data, will boost the cost effectiveness and facilitate genetic gains of all staple crops.

Learn more about this study and other recent publications from CIMMYT scientists, below.

  1. Africa’s changing farm size distribution patterns: the rise of medium-scale farms. Jayne, T.S.; Chamberlin, J.; Traub, L.; Sitko, N.J.; Muyanga, M.; Yeboah, K.; Anseeuw, W.; Chapoto, A.; Ayala Wineman; Nkonde, C.; Kachule, R. Agricultural Economics 47 (Supple.): 197-214.
  2. An integrated approach to maintaining cereal productivity under climate change. Reynolds, M.P.; Quilligan, E.; Bansal, K.C.; Cavalieri, A.J.; Chapman, S.; Chapotin, S.M.; Datta, S.K.; Duveiller, E.; Gill, K.S.; Jagadish, K.S.V.; Joshi, A.K.; Koehler, A.K.; Kosina, P.; Krishnan, S.; Lafitte, R.; Mahala, R.S.; Muthurajan, R.; Paterson, A.H.; Prasanna, B.M.; Rakshit, S.; Rosegrant, M.W.; Sharma, I.; Singh, R.P.; Sivasankar, S.; Vadez, V.; Valluru, R.; Prasad, V.P.V.; Yadav, O.P.; Aggarwal, P.K. Global Food Security 9 : 9-18.
  3. Application of unmanned aerial systems for high throughput phenotyping of large wheat breeding nurseries. Haghighattalab, A.; Gonzalez-Perez, L. Mondal, S.; Singh, D.; Schinstock, D.; Rutkoski, J.; Ortiz-Monasterio, I.; Singh, R.P.; Goodin, D.; Poland, J. Plant Methods 12: 35.
  4. Effect of traditional and extrusion nixtamalization on carotenoid retention in tortillas made from provitamin A biofortified maize (Zea mays L.). 2016. Rosales-Nolasco, A.; Agama-Acevedo, E.; Bello-Pérez, L.A.; Gutiérrez-Dorado, R.; Palacios-Rojas, N. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 64 (44): 8229-8295.
  5. Grain yield, adaptation and progress in breeding for early-maturingand heat-tolerant wheat lines in South Asia. Mondal, S.; Singh, R.P. Mason, E.R.; Huerta-Espino, J.; Autrique, E.; Joshi, A.K. Field Crops Research 192: 78-85.
  6. The marketing of specialty corns in Mexico: current conditions and prospects. López-Torres, J.; Rendon-Medel, R.; Camacho Villa, T.C. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agricolas 15: 3075-3088.
  7. Mining centuries old In situ conserved turkish wheat landraces for grain yield and stripe rust resistance genes. Sehgal, D.; Dreisigacker, S.; Belen, S.; Kucukozdemir, U.; Mert, Z.; Ozer, E.; Morgounov, A.I. Frontiers in Geenetics 7 : 201.
  8. Molecular characterisation of novel LMW-m and LMW-s genes from four Aegilops species (Sitopsis section) and comparison with those from the Glu-B3 locus of common wheat. Cuesta, S.; Guzman, C.; Alvarez, J.B. Crop and Pasture Science 67: 938-947.
  9. Relay intercropping and mineral fertilizer effects on biomass production, maize productivity and weed dynamics in contrasting soils under conservation agriculture. Mhlanga, B.; Cheesman, S.; Maasdorp, B.; Mupangwa, W.; Thierfelder, C. Journal of Agricultural Science. Online First.
  10. The evolution of the MasAgro hubs: responsiveness and serendipity as drivers of agricultural innovation in a dynamic and heterogeneous context. Camacho Villa, T.C.; Almekinders, C.; Hellin, J.; Martinez-Cruz, T.E.; Rendon-Medel, R.; Guevara-Hernández, F.; Beuchelt, T.D.; Govaerts, B. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 22 (5) : 455-470.

Water-saving maize holds potential to boost farmer resilience to climate change in Pakistan

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Evaluating CIMMYT's white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT
Evaluating CIMMYT’s white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – New varieties of white maize in Pakistan have the potential to both quadruple savings of irrigation water and nearly double crop yields for farmers, thereby building food security and conserving badly needed water resources for the country.

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in Pakistan, which at a production rate of four tons per hectare, has one of the highest national yields in South Asia. Maize productivity in Pakistan has increased almost 75 percent from levels in the early 1990s due to the adoption and expansion of hybrid maize varieties. The crop is cultivated both in spring and autumn seasons and grows in all provinces throughout the country.

However, Pakistan is expected to be severely affected by climate change through increased flooding and drought, and is already one of the most water stressed countries in the world. If the country is to be able to meet future food demand, new maize varieties that can grow with less water under harsher conditions must be developed and adopted by farmers.

The Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – an area particularly reliant on white maize for food, unlike other parts of the country where yellow maize is predominantly used for animal feed – recently tested nine white maize varieties (hybrids and open-pollinated varieties) provided by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that demonstrated tolerance to water stress conditions.

Two of the early-maturing, open-pollinated varieties gave above average seed yields even though farmers irrigated the fields just twice, compared to the usual eight to ten times necessary with currently grown varieties. These varieties can also be harvested in less than 100 days and yield seven to 10 tons per hectare (ha) under good management practices – over twice the national average of four tons per ha – giving farmers time to grow another crop within the same season and produce nearly double the current national average yield.

Team of researchers evaluating CIMMYT's white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT
Team of researchers evaluating CIMMYT’s white maize germplasm at CCRI. Photo: CIMMYT

CCRI will distribute about 1000 kilograms of these seeds to about 100 farmers across the province in the coming autumn season, which farmers will be allowed to keep for subsequent seasons. These varieties will not only contribute to climate mitigation strategies but also help farmers adopt new, sustainable cropping systems. In addition to meeting food demand, these new varieties also can alleviate the scarcity of livestock feed in Pakistan, contributing to the country’s food and nutritional security.

The CIMMYT-led Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), which receives support from the United States Agency for International Development, is helping to bring affordable, climate resilient and water efficient maize options to market. Since the launch of the program in 2013, Pakistani researchers have identified more than 80 CIMMYT hybrids and open-pollinated varieties that are well adapted to the country’s diverse environments.

Learn more about how AIP is sustainably increasing agricultural productivity across Pakistan here.

New Publications: Africa’s future cereal production

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Cereal yields in sub-Saharan Africa must increase to 80 percent of their potential by 2050 to meet the enormous increase in demand for food. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Cereal yields in sub-Saharan Africa must increase to 80 percent of their potential by 2050 to meet the enormous increase in demand for food. Above, Phillis Muromo, small-scale farmer in Zaka in Zimbabwe. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Cereal yields in sub-Saharan Africa must increase to 80 percent of their potential by 2050 to meet the enormous increase in demand for food, according to a new report.

Currently, sub-Saharan Africa is among the regions with the largest gap between cereal consumption and production, with demand projected to triple between 2010 and 2050. The study “Can Sub-Saharan Africa Feed Itself?” shows that nearly complete closure of the gap between current farm yields and yield potential is needed to maintain the current level of cereal self-sufficiency by 2050. For all countries, such yield gap closure requires a large, abrupt acceleration in rate of yield increase. If this acceleration is not achieved, massive cropland expansion with attendant biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions or vast import dependency are to be expected.

Learn more about how Africa can meet future food demand in the feature “Can sub-Saharan Africa meet its future cereal food requirement?” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT scientists below.

  • Genomic regions associated with root traits under drought stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). 2016. Zaidi, P.H.; Seetharam, K.; Krishna, G.; Krishnamurthy, S.L.; Gajanan Saykhedkar; Babu, R.; Zerka, M.; Vinayan, M.T.; Vivek, B. Plos one, 11(10): e0164340.
  • Can sub-Saharan Africa feed itself? 2016. Ittersum, M.K. van; Bussel, L.G.J. van; Wolf, J.; Grassini, P.; Wart, J. van; Guilpart, N.; Claessens, L.; De Groote, H.; Wiebe, K.; Mason-D’Croz, D.; Haishun Yang; Boogaard, H.; Oort, P.J.A. van; Van Loon, M.P.; Saito, K.; Adimo, O.; Adjei-Nsiah, S.; Agali, A.; Bala, A.; Chikowo, R.; Kaizzi, K.; Kouressy, M.; Makoi, J.H.; Ouattara, K.; Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye; Cassman, K.G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS, 113 (52): 14964-14969.
  • QTL mapping for grain zinc and iron concentrations and zinc efficiency in a tetraploid and hexaploid wheat mapping populations. 2016. Velu, G.; Yusuf Tutus; Gomez-Becerra, H.F.; Yuanfeng Hao; Demir, L.; Kara, R.; Crespo-Herrera, L.A.; Orhan, S.; Yazici, A.; Singh, R.P.; Cakmak, I. Plant and Soil, online first.
  • Control of Helminthosporium leaf blight of spring wheat using seed treatments and single foliar spray in Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal. 2016. Sharma-Poudyal, D.; Sharma, R.C.; Duveiller, E. Crop Protection, 88: 161-166.
  • Breeding value of primary synthetic wheat genotypes for grain yield. 2016. Jafarzadeh, J.; Bonnett, D.G.; Jannink, J.L.; Akdemir, D.; Dreisigacker, S.; Sorrells, M.E. Plos one, 11 (9): e0162860.

 

 

Crop and bio-economic modeling for an uncertain climate

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workshop
Gideon Kruseman, CIMMYT ex-ante and foresight specialist presents household level bio-economic models at workshop. CIMMYT/Khondoker Mottaleb

Gideon Kruseman is CIMMYT’s ex-ante and foresight specialist.

The potential impact of climate change on agriculture and the complexity of possible adaptation responses require the application of new research methods and tools to develop adequate strategies. At a recent five-day training workshop titled “Crop and Bio-economic Modeling under Uncertain Climate,” scientists applied crop and bio-economic models to estimate biophysical and economic impacts of climate variability and change.

Crop system modeling is used to simulate yields for specific weather patterns, nutrient input levels and bio-economic household modeling involves using quantitative economic methodology to incorporate biological, chemical and/or physical processes to analyze the impact of technology development, policy interventions and such exogenous shocks as extreme weather events on the decision-making processes of smallholder farmers and related development indicators. Events influence results in two ways: the probability of occurrence will shape decision-making and actual occurrence will shape realized results.

During the training, which was organized and hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which took place in November in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, scientists examined how technology development and policy or development interventions may influence farm household decisions on resource allocation and cropping patterns.

The training was beneficial due to its “holistic approach to solve smallholder agricultural production problem using decision support tools,” said Theodrose Sisay from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research.

Attendees learned in practical terms how shifting weather patterns will change farmer perception of the probability of occurrence of extreme events, which may influence subsequent cropping patterns and technology choices. Cropping system models shed light on the effects of different weather patterns on crop yields under varying management practices. Bio-economic household modeling then places those results in the context of smallholder livelihood strategies.

Bio-economic household model results demonstrated the conditions under which cropping patterns are likely to change as a result of resource constraints and household preferences. The analysis illustrated how cropping patterns may shift as a result of climate change:

bem-before-after-cc

Before climate change.                                          After climate change.

Figure: comparison of model results of climate change scenarios

The workshop was organized under the Global Futures & Strategic Foresight (GFSF) project and the “Flagship 1” component of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), which in part explores global and regional foresight modeling tools.

Participants included representatives of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), as well as researchers from agricultural research institutes and universities from Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.

This was the third and last of a series of training workshops offered to same group of trainees since 2014. Not only did the 16 participants learn how to apply crop and bio-economic models allowing them to estimate biophysical and economic impacts of climate variability and change, but they also learned how to assess different adaptation options.

The tools they worked with included the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT), and a bio-economic household model using Gtree with the general algebraic modeling system (GAMS). The training involved plenary discussions, group work, and individual hands-on exercises.

The training program served as a refresher course on GAMS, said Janvier Egah, a socio-economist from Benin.

“Over time, I had forgotten everything,” he added. “With this training, I remembered the notions of the past course and learned new concepts such as integrating the costs of climate change in bio-economic models. These models interest me particularly and I want to write and submit proposals to apply them.”

The participants came with their own input data for the DSSAT cropping system model and learned how to calibrate the model. The participants developed climate change scenarios, ran simulations and interpreted the simulation outputs using graphical and statistical interfaces.

Workshop participants. Photo credit: CIMMYT
Workshop participants. Photo credit: CIMMYT

The participants, who have worked together in these workshops on three different occasions, indicated a strong willingness to continue collaborating after the conclusion of the project. They took steps to develop a concept note for a collaborative research grant with a major component related to the use of crop and bio-economic models.

The workshop had a stronger component related to the economic analysis of household decision-making than previous training sessions, and trainees used simulation models based on mathematical programming techniques.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants expressed interest in pursuing further analysis of this type in the future as a complement to crop growth modelling.

Agricultural biodiversity key to future crop improvement

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The CGIAR is one of the biggest suppliers and conservers of crop genetic diversity. CIMMYT's genebank contains around 28,000 unique samples of maize seed—including more than 24,000 landraces; traditional, locally-adapted varieties that are rich in diversity—and 150,000 of wheat, including related species for both crops. Photo: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT.
The CGIAR is one of the biggest suppliers and conservers of crop genetic diversity. CIMMYT’s genebank contains around 28,000 unique samples of maize seed—including more than 24,000 landraces; traditional, locally-adapted varieties that are rich in diversity—and 150,000 of wheat, including related species for both crops. Photo: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT.

NEW DELHI — Conserving and using agricultural biodiversity to create better crops can help meet several sustainable development goals and stave off further species extinctions, according to scientists at the first International Agrobiodiversity Congress.

About 75 percent of plant genetic diversity worldwide has been lost since the beginning of the 20th century and 30 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.  Meanwhile, humans only consume about 1.5 percent of edible plants and only three of these – rice, maize and wheat – contribute nearly 60 percent of calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants. This huge loss in biodiversity due to environmental degradation caused by humans – what many scientists refer to as earth’s “sixth extinction”– is detrimental to global food security and the environment.

“Just a 7-10 percent loss of any major food crop would result in prices quadrupling,” says Howarth Bouis, founder of HarvestPlus and 2016 World Food Prize winner. “Non-staple food prices in India have [already] risen by 50 percent over the past 30 years.” A lack of agricultural diversity puts the world’s entire food chain at risk if a shock – such as increased instances of drought or crop diseases due to rising temperatures from climate change – were to destroy a particular type of crop.

As part of a global response to these challenges, researchers in collaboration with farmers are gathering seed to conserve and protect in genebanks across the world for future generations. These banks are the foundation of agriculture, food security and dietary diversity.

“We don’t know what scientists will need in 30 years,” says Marie Haga, executive director of the Crop Trust. “We need to conserve the entire spectrum [of seeds]. If it’s not being used right now, that does not mean it won’t be critically important in the future.”

New advancements in DNA-sequencing and phenotyping technologies have also created an opportunity to actively use the genetic information of these seeds that did not exist just a few years ago. Crop breeders can now more rapidly and effectively identify seeds that have traits like enhanced nutritional qualities, drought or heat tolerance, or disease resistances to create better crops that withstand challenges related to malnutrition, climate change, disease and more.

For example, in 2012 approximately 23 percent of Kenya’s maize production was lost due to an outbreak of the disease Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN). Thanks to the efforts of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other partners, there are now 13 hybrid varieties with tolerance to MLN – created in just four years.

Delegates to the congress also tackled issues regarding the effective and efficient management of genebanks, biosafety and biosecurity, intellectual property rights, access to germplasm, benefit sharing from use of germplasm, and farmers’ role in conservation of genetic resources and other related themes.

The Congress culminated with the adoption of “The Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management” that recommended harmonizing multiple legal systems across countries to facilitate the safe transfer of genetic resources, developing and implementing an Agrobiodiversity Index to help monitor the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity in breeding programs, promoting conservation strategies for crop wild relatives and other strategies to strengthen agricultural biodiversity’s role in agricultural development.

Target for 10 million more climate-smart farmers in southern Africa amid rising cost of El Niño

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EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – El Niño may have passed, but food security in southern Africa will continue to deteriorate until next year, as farmers struggle to find the resources to rebuild their livelihoods. Currently, around 30 million people in southern Africa require food aid, expected to rise to 50 million people by the end of February 2017.

Two Zimbabwe-based scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) highlighted predictions that El Niño will become more frequent and severe under climate change, and that heat stress will reduce maize yields in southern Africa by 2050. Research centers, development agencies and governments must work together to respond to climate predictions before food crises develop, they said.

 

Q: What do climate predictions say and how do they inform CIMMYT’s work?

Comparing a new heat and drought-tolerant maize variety in Zimbabwe. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira
A new stress-tolerant maize variety compared in Zimbabwe. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira

Jill Cairns: Using climate projections we identified what future maize growing environments are going to be like, what traits will be needed for these environments and where the hotspots of vulnerability will be in terms of maize production.

We identified that heat stress is going to become a more important issue for maize in southern Zimbabwe, and southern Africa generally.

Previously we had no heat screening in the whole of Africa for maize breeding, and four years ago we set up heat screening networks. Through that we are starting to get maize varieties that do well under heat and drought.

This was meant to be for 2050, but now we have seen in this last El Niño that heat stress is a real problem. We actually have varieties now, thanks to the identification of the problem and the pre-emptive work towards it.

 

Q: What can be done for farmers in drought-stricken areas?

Drought in southern Africa caused by El Niño. CIMMYT/GIS Lab
Drought in southern Africa during El Niño. CIMMYT/GIS Lab

Christian Thierfelder: We have systems with adaptation qualities. For example, conservation agriculture increases water infiltration and maintains higher levels of soil moisture. So in times of dry spells, these systems can produce more, and live from the residual moisture in the soil.

Stress-tolerant maize is selected under drought and heat stress besides other biotic and abiotic stresses, and specifically adapted to such circumstances. We know that the varieties themselves can help farmers’ yields by 30 to 50 percent, but if you combine that with other technologies, and we have seen that this last year, you can have yield gains of over 100 percent with conservation agriculture and improved seed for example under drought conditions.

We have seen this year in Malawi, in communities that were heavily affected by El Niño, that we harvested almost two tons more maize per hectare in comparison to the conventional systems. I think this is a huge benefit that we really have to roll out.

 

Q: What can be achieved over the next five to seven years?

Christian Thierfelder: Our biggest aim is to improve and increase the resilience of farming systems. We are not looking at a single technology like drought tolerant maize or conservation agriculture in isolation, but looking at it more from livelihoods perspective and a farming systems perspective.

Besides technologies, we also need other climate-smart options and approaches that support farmers to respond to a changing climate. Farmers also need cash if they have failed in a drought year, and small loans or microfinancing will be critical to buy things from scratch and re-initiate farming.

We have the technologies, we have researched them and we know their impact on a small scale. What we want to do now is encourage public and private organizations, including seed companies, that work in that space to come together with us and jointly find solutions.

We as CIMMYT can only tackle a certain proportion of the farming system with our technologies and approaches. We have other CGIAR centers that specialize in legumes, cassava and livestock, and we partner a lot with international NGOs like Concern, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, World Vision, Total LandCare and the national agriculture research and extension systems to help us with scaling.

If we really come together now, if we have a coherent and joint multidisciplinary approach, I think in seven years’ time we will have reached many more farmers. We will target 10 million farmers practicing climate-smart agriculture in the next five to seven years.

Sustainable agriculture poised to save Mayan rainforests from deforestation

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Tour of field trials sown with MasAgro maize materials in Hopelchen, Campeche, Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Tour of field trials sown with MasAgro maize materials in Hopelchen, Campeche, Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Sustainable farming practices allow smallholder farmers to improve maize yields without increasing land, which has proven to reduce deforestation in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula according to an independent report commissioned by the Mexico REDD+ Alliance and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Conservation agriculture, a sustainable intensification technique that includes minimal soil movement, surface cover of crop residues and crop rotations, was successfully trialed in the south east of Mexico to protect biodiversity and counter rainforest loss caused by a creeping agricultural frontier, as part of a rural development project the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro).

Over a year ago, the MasAgro project, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture (SAGARPA), partnered with local organization Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan to test a sustainable intensification strategy in Hopelchen, a small community in the state of Campeche, where indigenous and Mennonite farmers grow maize following traditional farming practices.

Technician Vladimir May Tzun visits Santa Enna research platform to make fertility checks in Hopelchen, Campeche. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Technician Vladimir May Tzun visits Santa Enna research platform to make fertility checks in Hopelchen, Campeche. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Decades of plowing the fields without crop rotation and applying agrochemicals to control pests have degraded the soils in Hopelchen. As a result, farmers are prone to convert rainforest areas into growing fields to address diminishing crop yields. In an effort to curb this practice, MasAgro introduced conservation agriculture to improve soil fertility and water availability on the fields of five participant farmers.

A key moment during the project was when producers saw the benefits of conservation agriculture after two months of drought. Participant farmers achieved more developed maize cobs than those who did not, according to findings in the MasAgro case study featured in the report, “Experiences on sustainable rural development and biodiversity conservation in the Yucatan Peninsula.”

The positive results have sparked the interest of farmers from adjacent communities who want to get involved in the MasAgro project, said Pronatura’s field manager of sustainable agriculture, Carlos Cecilio Zi Dzib.

Maize growing in Santa Enna demonstration module in Hopelchen, Campeche, Mexico.
Maize growing in Santa Enna demonstration module in Hopelchen, Campeche, Mexico.

“MasAgro has been very successful in the Peninsula,” said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT’s regional representative in Latin America. “In the course of its second year of implementation, MasAgro has established a research platform and offered training to 150 farmers, who have attended events organized in collaboration with TNC and Mexico’s Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Research Institute.”

“This work is an effort to document the experiences of some of the sustainable rural initiatives and projects that contribute to reduce deforestation in the region, and thus make their contribution to the conservation and sustainable management of the Mayan Forest in the Yucatan Peninsula,” wrote report authors Carolina Cepeda and Ariel Amoroso.

SAGARPA and CIMMYT plan to present achievements of their MasAgro partnership, including the Hopelchen farmers’ success story, during the United Nations’ thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 13), which will take place from December 4 to 17 in Cancun, Mexico.

Drought- and heat-tolerant maize tackles climate change in southern Africa

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Appollonia Marutsvaka and Alice Chipato of Zaka District in Zimbabwe. If widely adopted, drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties could help farmers cope with drought and heat stresses. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Appollonia Marutsvaka (left) and Alice Chipato of Zaka District in Zimbabwe. If widely adopted, drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties could help farmers cope with drought and heat stresses. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

HARARE (CIMMYT) — “We are no longer sure when to prepare the land for planting or when to start planting. It’s pretty much gambling with nature,” complains 62-year old Appollonia Marutsvaka of Zaka district, Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. “Most of the time the rains are not enough for crop production. If the situation persists, then most of us who have small farms will sink deeper into poverty, because we depend on agriculture for our livelihoods.”

Most farmers in Zaka argue that they only get one good harvest every five to six years. Changes in weather patterns have turned agriculture into a gamble with nature for smallholder farmers.

It is estimated that maize yields in Zimbabwe and South Africa’s Limpopo Province will decrease by approximately 20-50 percent between now and 2045. This predicted decline will pose a major problem, as maize is the region’s main staple food. Low yields in this region are largely associated with drought stress, low soil fertility, weeds, pests, diseases, low input availability, low input use, and inappropriate seeds.

After years of work on maize improvements projects, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), made a bigger commitment to researching, supporting and getting drought-tolerant maize into the hands of smallholder farmers. To date, with substantial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, drought-tolerant varieties have been delivered to three million farmers across Africa.

“Given the accumulating evidence of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to develop more climate resilient maize systems. Adaptation strategies to climate change in maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to include improved seeds with tolerance to drought and heat stress and improved management practices,” says Jill Cairns, CIMMYT senior maize physiologist.

Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT senior maize breeder, with new experimental hybrid maize on display at the Chiredzi Research Station, Zimbabwe. Scientists here have developed new heat- and drought-tolerant maize varieties. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT senior maize breeder, with new experimental hybrid maize on display at the Chiredzi Research Station, Zimbabwe. Scientists here have developed new heat- and drought-tolerant maize varieties. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

CIMMYT, together with partners under the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), developed drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties through its breeding program in sub-Saharan Africa.

Heat tolerance was not previously a trait in African breeding programs. CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)’s work highlighted the importance of heat tolerance in future climates, and in 2011 CIMMYT started breeding for this trait. During the past year, the El Niño induced drought has demonstrated the need for maize which is also heat-tolerant. If CIMMYT had not started working on these varieties in 2011, it would have taken until 2021 to have a drought and heat tolerant maize variety.

A recent media tour of Zaka and Chiredzi districts in Zimbabwe, where CIMMYT conducted regional on-farm variety trials for the new climate-proof seed varieties, revealed that the new drought- and heat-tolerant maize is an important way of combating climate-change induced food shortages. Research carried out by CIMMYT revealed that under experimental conditions, the new varieties doubled maize yields when compared to the yields of commercial varieties.

Smallholder farmer Marutsvaka, who participated in the on-farm variety trials, says: “In the past, I harvested nothing as my crops were literally burnt by the scorching heat. During the 2015-2016 growing season, I realized almost 200 kilograms of white grain.” One of the challenges of these new maize varieties is the time taken between testing and seed availability on the market. For example, some of these new maize varieties would only be on the market during the 2018-2019 agricultural season.

The 2014 African Agriculture Status Report states that the vital food producers face a risk of being overwhelmed by the pace and severity of climate change. The authors called for the adoption of climate-smart agriculture that will help make crops more resilient to future extreme weather events.

Appollonia Marutsvaka shows off her drought- and heat-tolerant maize cobs harvested through a CIMMYT project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Appollonia Marutsvaka shows off her drought- and heat-tolerant maize cobs harvested through a CIMMYT project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

“For our farmers to be productive and ensure food security, we need to build resilience to help them mitigate the onset of climate change,” observed Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT senior maize breeder. “We are talking about a situation when the rain does not come at the right time or the length of the [growing] season is shortened as a result of drought and other stresses, such as heat.”

He added that helping small-scale farmers adopt climate-smart farming techniques would “prepare them for even more serious challenges in the future… this means we need both to adapt agriculture to climate change and to mitigate climate change itself.’’

However, getting a new strain of maize out of the research station is not the same as getting it to the fields. Creating a distribution chain in Africa has been a bigger challenge than inventing the product itself.

Gabriel Chiduku, a sales and marketing representative for Klein Karoo, a private seed company which introduced the CIMMYT developed seed of drought-tolerant varieties to Zaka farmers, told the farmers that the seed is readily available.

With the drought- and heat-tolerant maize varieties, Zaka farmers are producing three tons per hectare of maize, up from less than a ton.