The world needs better management of water, soil, nutrients, and biodiversity in crop, livestock, and fisheries systems, coupled with higher-order landscape considerations as well as circular economy and agroecological approaches.
CIMMYT and CGIAR use modern digital tools to bring together state-of-the-art Earth system observation and big data analysis to inform co-design of global solutions and national policies.
Our maize and wheat genebanks preserve the legacy of biodiversity, while breeders and researchers look at ways to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture.
Ultimately, our work helps stay within planetary boundaries and limit water use, nutrient use, pollution, undesirable land use change, and biodiversity loss.
CIMMYT is happy to announce three new, improved tropical maize hybrids that are now available for uptake by public and private sector partners, especially those interested in marketing or disseminating hybrid maize seed across southern Africa and similar agroecologies in other regions. NARES and seed companies are hereby invited to apply for licenses to pursue national release, scale-up seed production and deliver these maize hybrids to farming communities.
The deadline to submit applications to be considered during the first round of allocations is January 26, 2024. Applications received after that deadline will be considered during subsequent rounds of product allocations.
The newly available CIMMYT maize hybrids were identified through rigorous, years-long trialing and a stage-gate advancement process which culminated in the southern Africa Stage 5 On Farm Trials. The products were found to meet the stringent performance and farmer acceptance criteria for CIMMYT’s breeding pipelines that are designed to generate products tailored for smallholder farmers in stress-prone agroecologies of southern Africa.
A recent meta-analysis by Leonard Rusinamhodzi a systems agronomist at CIMMYT and Sigrun Dahlin from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences provides an overview of how many agroecological practices are not widely adopted because of their high labor requirements.
Latest advances in sensor technology and data processing allow early detection, mapping and monitoring of crop infestation, helping prevent large-scale outbreaks.
A recent study published in Nature Scientific Reports, assesses the capability of very high-resolution satellite (VHRS) imagery and high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) imagery for high-throughput phenotyping and detecting impacts of wheat rusts in earlier crop growth stages. UAVs and VHRS offer high potential for nonintrusive, extensive, rapid and flexible measurements of plant biophysical properties at very high spatial and temporal scales.
The study—led by CIMMYT in partnership with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Lincoln Agritech Ltd from New Zealand—establishes that these advanced sensor technologies are emerging as gamechangers in crop health management. They save time, complement traditional disease scoring methods and field surveys, and are cost-effective.
Further, the study establishes that multispectral VHRS sensors can pave the way for the upscaling of disease severity assessment from plot to regional scales at early growth stages.
Wheat rust is a global challenge
Globally, crop infections are an increasing threat to crop production and food security. Increased cross-border trade and travel, coupled with a changing climate are resulting in increased frequency and severity of crop disease outbreaks. Of all the diseases that affect wheat, wheat rusts are among the most damaging, capable of causing epidemics on a vast scale with significant economic and production losses. As of date, global losses from wheat rusts equate to 15 million tonnes per year (USD $2.9 billion). In Ethiopia, a major stripe/yellow-rust epidemic in 2010 affected an estimated 600,000 hectares, resulting in production losses of 15–20% and causing economic losses of USD $250 million. Similarly, a stem/black rust (SR) epidemic from 2013-2014 infected approximately 40,000 hectares. SR, which can cause 100% crop loss within weeks, is re-emerging as a major concern to wheat production.
Early detection, monitoring and timely intervention is key
Rapid early-season detection, monitoring and timely control of wheat rusts in susceptible varieties are critical to avoid large-scale outbreaks, especially in countries where fungicides are scarcely available or too costly for smallholders. UAV-based high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) has been recently investigated to support wheat improvement breeding, in particular, to assess plant growth development, canopy architecture, physiology, reaction to abiotic stress, crop disease and insect pest response, and wheat yield.
Figure 1
Spectral and thermal measurements at the plant and canopy levels allow for monitoring the interactions between plant germplasm and environmental (abiotic and biotic) factors. The current study identifies several spectral features from UAV and VHRS multispectral imagery that have strong assessment power for the detection of combined wheat rust diseases at early crop growth stages.
During a randomized trial conducted in Ethiopia, six bread wheat varieties with differing rust resistance were monitored using UAV and VHRS. In total, 18 spectral features were tested to assess stem and yellow rust disease progression and associated yield loss. Spectral properties of the wheat canopy (e.g., pigmentation, moisture, and biomass) are altered under rust disease stress. Using multispectral images and derived vegetation indices, it is possible to determine crop susceptibility to diseases and consequently can be used for detection and monitoring of wheat rusts.
Figure 2
Recent research on wheat, maize and dry bean demonstrated strong and significant correlations between vegetation indices extracted from UAV and VHRS imagery, confirming the feasibility of VHRS-HTP targeting biomass and yield; however, such satellite applications for plant breeding programs are still scarce.
Looking ahead to upscaling
This study provides valuable insight into the upscaling capability of multispectral sensors for disease detection from UAV imagery at 5 cm per pixel to pan-sharpened satellite imagery at 50 cm per pixel, demonstrating a first step towards upscaling disease detection from plot to regional scales. Further work will expand and improve current methodology to examine the VHRS detection capability towards machine and deep learning techniques (e.g., convolutional neural network) to allow for continuous monitoring systems, focusing on both single and mixed rust diseases under different treatments (e.g., variable fungicide rates, irrigation rates).
The early detection of diseases through spectral analysis and the integration of machine learning algorithms offers invaluable tools to mitigate the spread of infections and implement prompt disease management strategies.
Figures (1-2):
Field trial captured at varying spatial resolutions:
(a) SkySat false color composite (NIR-R-G) at 50 cm pixels (booting stage; 2020-10-17)
(b) UAV false color composite (NIR-R-G) at 5 cm pixels (heading stage; 2020-10-29)
Jared Crain, a research assistant professor of plant pathology, collaborates with CIMMYT on wheat genomics. Leading the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics at K-State, Crain and his team annually analyze DNA from 19,000 plants.
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) has emerged as a major threat to farming communities across Africa, including Zimbabwe. This destructive pest feeds on a wide range of crops, including maize, posing a significant challenge to food security. To combat this pest, the project “Evaluating Agro-ecological Management Options for Fall Armyworm in Zimbabwe” was initiated in October 2018 with support from USAID. It aims to address research gaps on fall armyworm management and cultural control in sustainable agriculture systems.
The project has implemented research trials in ten (10) districts across Zimbabwe, with work reaching close to 9,000 beneficiaries in target areas being exposed and applying new control practices that reduce the damage of FAW without heavily relying on chemical pesticides. This has been supported by a strong focus on agronomy trainings, field days, documentation, education through technical videos, knowledge sharing, and developing farmer manuals. In addition, the project supports Farmer Field Schools involving all relevant players in the farming communities to mainstream cultural practices in fall armyworm management.
Key objectives
The overall objective is to explore climate-adapted push pull systems and low-cost cultural control options for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. This project focused on research trials in Murehwa (Mashonaland East) and Mhondoro Ngezi (Mashonaland West), where the proof of concept was developed. After the inception phase it expanded to establishing demonstration sites and Farmer Field Schools in the Manicaland province, conducting trainings with farmers, and promoting knowledge sharing with Agritex officers and engaging with all relevant players in the target localities. Through continuous research and collaborative efforts, this project aims to develop sustainable and eco-friendly strategies to manage all armyworm infestations.
Wheat DEWAS, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, is expanding to strengthen wheat resilience in East Africa and South Asia. The collaborative effort is led by CIMMYT and Cornell University, which includes 23 organizations across continents.
In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT is studying the long-term effectiveness of integrated farming practices, including tillage, no-tillage, mulching with maize residues, and cowpea rotation. This experiment in a distinct agricultural context provides insights into sustainable strategies and soil carbon stocks.
CIMMYT and partners in Kenya recently marked the 10th anniversary of two major facilities that have been crucial for maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa. The Maize Doubled-Haploid (DH) facility and the Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) screening facility at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) centers in Naivasha and Kiboko, respectively, have made immense contributions to the rapid development of higher-yielding, climate-resilient and disease-resistant maize varieties for smallholder farmers across the continent.
An aerial photo of the Naivasha Research Center. (Photo: CIMMYT)
“These two facilities have been instrumental in furthering KALRO’s mission to utilize technology in the service of Kenya’s smallholder farmers,” said KALRO Director General/CEO, Eliud Kireger. “They also exhibit the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that is necessary for us to meet all the challenges to our food systems.”
“Deploying a higher yielding maize variety may not be impactful in eastern Africa if that variety does not have resistance to a devastating disease like MLN,” said CIMMYT’s Director General Bram Govaerts. “These two facilities demonstrate the holistic methods which are key to working towards a more productive, inclusive and resilient agrifood system.”
Maize DH facility
Hybrid maize varieties have much higher yields than open-pollinated varieties and are key to unlocking the agricultural potential of maize producing countries. The doubled haploid process is an innovative technology producing within a year genetically true-to-type maize lines that serve as building blocks for improved maize hybrids.
Unlike conventional breeding, which takes at least 7 to 8 generations or crop seasons to develop parental lines, DH lines are generated within two seasons, saving significant time, labor and other resources. DH maize lines are highly uniform, genetically stable, and are more amenable to the application of modern molecular tools, making them perfect resources for breeding elite maize hybrids.
Workers in the Kiboko Double Haploid facility. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The aim of CIMMYT’s maize DH facility is to empower the breeding programs throughout the low-and middle-income countries in Africa by offering a competitive, accessible, not-for-profit DH production service that will accelerate their rate of genetic gain and fast-track development of improved maize varieties for farming communities.
Since 2017, the DH facility has delivered 280,000 DH lines from 1,840 populations of which 20% were delivered to public and private sector partners. CIMMYT maize breeding programs and partner organizations have embraced the use of DH technology, with many of the newest maize hybrids released in Africa being derived from DH lines. The facility has also served as a training ground so far for over 60 scientists and hundreds of undergraduate students in modern breeding technologies.
“Before 2013, DH technology was mainly employed by private, multinational corporations in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America,” said CIMMYT’s DH Facility Manager, Vijay Chaikam. “But the DH facility operated by CIMMYT at the KALRO Kiboko research station is specifically targeted at strengthening the maize breeding programs by the public sector institutions as well as small-and medium-size enterprise seed companies in Africa.”
The maize DH facility at Kiboko, Kenya, was established with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and inaugurated in September 2013. The facility includes an administrative building, seed quality laboratory, training resources, artificial seed dyer, a cold-storage seed room, a chromosome doubling laboratory, greenhouse and a state-of-the-art irrigation system to support year-round DH production in the 17-hectare nursery.
MLN screening facility
MLN is a devastating viral disease that can decimate farmers’ fields, causing premature plant death and unfilled, poorly formed maize ears, and can lead to up to 100 percent yield loss in farmers’ fields. Though known in other parts of the world for decades, the disease was first identified in eastern Africa in 2011. By 2015, MLN had rapidly spread across eastern Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. CIMMYT scientists quickly discovered that almost all the commercial maize cultivars in eastern Africa were highly susceptible to the disease.
Against this backdrop, CIMMYT and KALRO recognized the urgent need for establishing a screening facility to provide MLN phenotyping service and effectively manage the risk of MLN on maize production through screening of germplasm and identifying MLN-resistant sources. The facility was built with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and inaugurated in September 2013.
Resistant and susceptible line at the Maize Lethal Necrosis facility. (Photo: CIMMYT)
“The MLN screening facility is a key regional resource in breeding for resistance to a devastating viral disease. The facility is indeed one of the key factors behind successful management of MLN and helping stem the tide of losses in eastern Africa,” said Director of the Global Maize Program at CIMMYT and One CGIAR Plant Health Initiative, B.M. Prasanna. “Fighting diseases like MLN, which do not respect political boundaries, requires strong regional and local collaboration. The successes achieved through the MLN Screening facility in the past 10 years embody that spirit of collaboration.” Indeed, farmers in the region now have access to over twenty genetically diverse, MLN-tolerant/resistant maize hybrids released in eastern and southern Africa.
The facility is the largest dedicated MLN screening facility in Africa and has evaluated over 230,000 accessions (over 330,000 rows of maize) from CIMMYT and partners, including over 15 national research programs, national and multinational seed companies. The facility covers 20 hectares, of which 17 hectares are used for field screening of germplasm. Dedicated laboratories and screen houses cover the remaining 3 hectares.
“MLN phenotyping service is conducted under stringent quarantine standards and the high-quality data is shared with all the CGIAR and public and private partners. The MLN screening service has helped breeding programs across the continent, aided in undertaking epidemiological research activities, and supported capacity building of students from diverse institutions, and regional stakeholders regarding MLN diagnosis and best management practices,” said CIMMYT’s Maize Pathologist in Africa, L.M. Suresh.
“The output of MLN resistant lines and hybrids has been remarkable,” said Director of Phytosanitary and Biosecurity at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), Isaac Macharia. “And the facility has strictly adhered to quarantine regulations.”
In Uganda, the MLN facility was crucial in the “release of the first-generation MLN tolerant hybrids and dissemination of MLN knowledge products that minimized the economic impact of MLN,” said the Director of Research of the National Crops Resources Research Institute, Godfrey Asea.
Peter Mbogo, maize breeder with Seed Co Group, said, “This is the only quarantine facility in the world where you can screen against MLN under artificial inoculation. It has been an excellent return on investment.”
The LIPS-ZIM program led by CIMMYT and partners, addresses livestock disease challenges in Zimbabwe. This collaborative effort aims to enhance livestock productivity and control diseases affecting smallholder farmers.
Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is predominantly subsistence-oriented, with maize as the main staple crop and limited use of external inputs. To promote sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, Zimbabwe has developed a 10-year framework (2018-2028) that emphasizes the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). However, the adoption of CSA practices remains limited in the country. Agroecological practices (AE) and the systemic perspective embedded in agroecological approaches hold great potential to address climate change and enhance agricultural sustainable intensification in Zimbabwe. RAIZ was conceived as the research component of the “Team Europe Initiative” (TEI) on “Climate-Smart Agriculture for Resilience Building”, formulated by the European Union (EU) delegation in Zimbabwe together with its member states.
Led by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), in partnership with CIMMYT and the University of Zimbabwe, with funding from the European Union, RAIZ operates along a gradient of declining rainfall from Murewa in Natural Region II to Mutoko in Natural Region IV. Both districts are in the Mashonaland East province. Under RAIZ, CIMMYT leads Work Package 3 which involves ‘developing the capacity of extension and advisory services on agroecological approaches’ is actively involved in research and development activities, including the creation of training materials and the establishment of on-farm trials. In efforts to address challenges associated with low soil fertility on Zimbabwe’s granitic sandy soils. CIMMYT scientists working on RAIZ are testing the contribution of organic fertilizers and conservation agriculture in building up soil organic carbon and bringing back soil life to these mostly dead soils. These efforts aim to support farmers in adopting sustainable and climate-smart agricultural practices, ultimately contributing to the long-term resilience and prosperity of Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector.
Key objectives
The overall objective is to support government in the development and implementation of scientifically tested agroecological approaches which will enhance agricultural production and resilience to climate change in Zimbabwe.
In addition, the project focuses on protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It will provide scientific evidence and experience for the design of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) at the plot, farm, and landscape levels, contextualized for mixed crop–livestock farms under sub-humid to semi-arid environments.
New drought-resistant sorghum varieties bring hope for farmers in Africa
Scientists have identified drought-resistant, high-yielding sorghum genotypes that have the potential to revolutionize agriculture in dry regions of Africa. Sorghum, a staple food for millions in sub-Saharan Africa, has long been threatened by devastation from drought.
But now, researchers from the African Centre for Crop Improvement, the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the University of Life Sciences have discovered genetic resources that thrive under adverse conditions, yielding promising results and providing hope for a future that is more sustainable.
The study looked at 225 sorghum genotypes in various conditions, including non-stressed conditions and pre- and post-anthesis drought stress. The researchers used advanced statistical analysis, such as the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) method, to identify the most resilient and high-yielding genotypes.
The results revealed a vast diversity in the genetic resources of sorghum and provided a pathway for selecting promising genotypes for regions prone to drought. In addition, the study highlighted the significant impact of environmental conditions on grain yield, with genotypes showing variable responses to different growing environments.
A farmer inspecting sorghum on his farm in Tanzania. (Photo: CBCC)
For example, genotypes G144 (Kaura Short Panicle-1) and G157 (Kaura Mai Baki Kona) displayed higher grain yield in drought-stressed environments and were among the top performers. Not only do these genotypes outperform registered cultivars, but they also possess traits valued by farmers, making them ideal candidates for future breeding programs. In addition to drought tolerance, genotypes G119 and G127 displayed remarkable stability and high yield under non-stressed conditions, showing their potential as all-around performers in a variety of environments.
Farmers in dry areas of sub-Saharan Africa that are characterized by pre- and post-anthesis drought stress stand to gain a great deal from these newly identified sorghum strains. Adoption of these high-yielding and drought-resistant genotypes could increase food production and strengthen farmers’ resilience against the effects of climate change.
The findings of these super sorghum genotypes offer farmers facing the challenges of climate change a glimmer of hope. By adopting these new drought-resistant strains, African farmers can improve their food security and strengthen their communities, paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable future.
The Gwanda Provincial Veterinary Laboratory, now renovated as part of the Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe (LIPS-ZIM) project, will help detect and control livestock diseases. CIMMYT is working with ILRI and other partners to improve livestock productivity and support smallholder farmers.
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 government’s development priorities, which are framed by the Vision 2030 (Republic of Zambia, 2006) of “a prosperous middle-income nation by 2030” 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.
This article uses research into the organic food market in France to show that biological factors can play an important part in influencing the structure and organization of markets. The authors use this to point out that while many studies of market agencing discuss in detail the role played by social and material agents, biological agents should be an equally important part of such research.
Over the last four decades, there has been considerable research into Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which looks at the effect of various agents on markets. However, in the majority of cases, the agents discussed have been material (for example, shopping trolleys) or social (human habits or economic motives). The research which forms the basis of this article was originally carried out as a study of how French organic-produce collectives tried to influence markets to suit their needs and ideals. On reviewing the data, it appeared to the authors that there were additional agents affecting their marketing, which derived from biological factors. Unlike the material and social agents, farmers were only able to control these biological factors with great difficulty, if at all. For example, the inability to use chemical inputs on crops meant that crop rotation over a multi-year period was essential; however, wholesalers’ traditional structures expected a farmer to supply the same produce in the same quantity year after year. In cases such as this, altered supply chain arrangements needed to be negotiated between the suppliers and the wholesalers.
The authors made four sets of observations showing the market-shaping effect of biological agents.
Measures taken by established organic farmers to avoid price competition from new market entrants — the well-established farmers had chosen to start growing crops which required more expertise, time or equipment (such as Belgian endives or onions), rather than less complex standard crops such as potatoes.
Biological processes which necessitate altering the traditional market production and supply structures — for example, the need for crop rotation as mentioned above.
Natural agents will affect crop yields and introduce variability in quality and quantity, which the market needs to allow for. The authors give examples of pests, viral infections and weather as agents that affect all farming, but in the case of organic farming are particularly troublesome.
After harvest, produce will naturally experience ripening/aging, and then degradation in quality. Standard industrial ways of controlling these biological processes utilize methods and agents that are unacceptable or even harmful when dealing with organic produce, for instance, spraying with chemicals.
Following these observations, the authors make a series of propositions and suggest research questions which could result from them, for instance:
How does the action of biological entities affect the establishment of market norms/the way prices are set?
How do representations of the market take account of biological processes?
In conclusion, the authors demonstrate how the effect of biological agents on markets is already inextricably intertwined with the effects of material and social agents. Future research, to be truly comprehensive, needs to look in equal depth at all other possible influences on the market.
