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.
Maize under conservation agriculture (CA) in Malawi (Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT)
With many stresses facing agricultural food systems, including climate change, disease epidemics, growing populations, there is not one solution that will answer all the challenges. However, a foundational part of any attempt to strengthen food systems is the effort to conserve crop diversity. Maintaining a robust set of plant varieties serves as a building block for developing favorable traits, like increased yield, increased disease resistance, and drought tolerance, among others.
Dedicated to conserving crop diversity, the Crop Trust is a non-profit international organization with the mission of making that diversity available for use globally, forever, for the benefit of everyone.
On April 3, 2023, Crop Trust’s Executive Director, Stefan Schmitz, and Director of Programs, Sarada Krishnan, visited the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for the first time to examine CIMMYT’s maize and wheat genebanks, with the goal of establishing a set of standards for genebanks around the world. The parties also discussed future collaborations between the two institutions that will be best amplify each organization’s strengths.
A key part of the Crop Trust’s mission is support for collections of unique and valuable plant genetic resources for food and agriculture held in genebanks.
“CIMMYT is — and has been — one of the key partners in making sure crop diversity is safe and available for all of humanity,” said Schmitz. “Their maize and wheat genebanks serve a crucial role in assuring crop diversity, especially in Latin America.”
Maize seed samples, CIMMYT germplasm bank (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
CIMMYT manages the most diverse maize and wheat collections. CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, also known as a seed bank, is at the center of CIMMYT’s crop-breeding research. This remarkable, living catalog of genetic diversity comprises over 28,000 unique seed collections of maize and 123,000 of wheat.
“CIMMYT is honored to host the Crop Trust as any global solution requires global collaboration,” said CIMMYT Director General, Bram Govaerts.
Advances in genebank management
Representatives of the Crop Trust were eager to learn more about CIMMYT’s efforts in Digital sequence information (DSI). CIMMYT is using DSI to analyze structure, redundancies, and gaps within its own genebank and is now working to bring DSI tools to national genebanks in Latin America.
This visit builds on ongoing work, such as the third workshop of the Community of Practice for Latin America and the Caribbean on the use of genomic and digital tools for the conservation and use of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GRAA) held in November 2022.
In 2020, CIMMYT was the largest contributor to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, providing 173,779 maize and wheat accessions from 131 countries.
The Seed Vault, managed by the Crop Trust, is a repository collection holding duplicates of seeds from over 1,700 genebanks around the world.
CIMMYT’s most recent donation to the Seed Vault was in October 2022.
Colleagues from CIMMYT’s germplasm bank prepare a delivery of 263 accessions of maize and 3,548 accession of wheat. (Photo: Francisco Alarcón/CIMMYT)
“All CIMMYT staff we met were passionate about their work and welcomed us kindly, generously sharing their knowledge and time with us. We look forward to continuing our collaboration, to strengthen it, and make sure that the crop collections held at the CIMMYT genebank are safe and available, forever,” said Schmitz.
During the recent International Day of Plant Health, a group of experts from across the globe sat together in a webinar to discuss and address the challenges facing plant health management capacity in the Global South.
Like other crops, wheat – which makes up 20 percent of the human diet – is affected by threats to the global food system from persistent population growth and economic and climate pressures. These challenges are further exacerbated by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. There is an urgent need to prioritize climate resilient wheat varieties to protect this food staple.
Some five years after HeDWIC was launched in 2014 to incorporate the most advanced research technologies into improving heat and drought tolerance of wheat, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that climate change was having an impact on food security through increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and greater frequency of extreme weather events in its Special Report on Climate Change and Land.
“While some areas are becoming more conducive to wheat growing, crop yields are suffering in other regions around the world traditionally known as bread baskets,” said wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds, who leads HeDWIC at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
“Wheat is one of our fundamental crops, and we must spare no effort in protecting it from current and future challenges,” said Saharah Moon Chapotin, FFAR executive director. “Global collaborations are necessary to address global concerns, and these grants are bringing together international teams to share and build the science and research that will ensure the stability of this crop.”
To boost new ideas in “climate-proofing” crops, HeDWIC conducts virtual meetings that include all awarded research teams to take advantage of the collective global expertise in heat and drought resilience, leading to cross-pollination of ideas and further leverage of resources and capabilities.
In March, Reynolds led in-person discussions with some of the collaborating researchers at CIMMYT’s experimental research station on the outskirts of Ciudad Obregon, a city in Mexico’s Sonoran Desert, during CIMMYT’s annual Visitors’ Week.
Projects awarded in 2022
Exploring the potential of chlorophyll fluorescence for the early detection of drought and heat stress in wheat (FluoSense4Wheat)
“The HeDWIC mini proposal allows us to explore the potential of chlorophyll fluorescence for the early detection of drought and heat stress in wheat. The controlled irrigation conditions for wheat grown in Obregon give us the opportunity to quantify photosynthesis by fluorescence while drought develops. Detecting a drought-specific fluorescence response and/or the interaction between active and passive fluorescence is relevant for breeding selecting purposes as well as large spatial scale detection of drought by monitoring the plant.” – Onno Muller, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Germany
Physiological basis of amelioration of heat stress through nitrogen management in wheat
“Heat stress during grain filling can restrict the availability of carbohydrates needed for grain development. India has been experiencing sudden spikes in both minimum and maximum temperatures by 3 to 5 degrees above normal from late-February onwards, which is an important time for wheat grain-filling and has resulted in declining wheat productivity. Our team is examining the ability of pre-flowering nitrogen applications to support biomass accumulation and overcome the grain-filling source (carbohydrate) limitation during heat spikes. If successful, the results could have broad-reaching benefits given that farmers are familiar with and well-skilled in using nitrogen applications regimes in crop management.” – Renu Pandey, Division of Plant Physiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Can reproductive development be protected from heat stress by the trehalose 6-phosphate pathway?
“The HeDWIC funding provides a unique opportunity to test how the regulatory sugar, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) can protect wheat yields against increasingly common chronic and acute heat stress events. We have already shown that T6P spray increases wheat yields significantly in field conditions under a range of rainfall in wet and dry years. With increasing likelihood of heat stress events in the years ahead, in unique facilities at CIMMYT, we will test the potential of T6P to protect reproductive development from catastrophic yield loss due to chronic and acute heat.” – Matthew Paul, Rothamsted Research, UK
Investigating tolerance of heat resilient wheat germplasm to drought
“Over the last decade, we have developed heat tolerant wheat germplasm at the University of Sydney that maintains yield under terminal heat stress. In our new HeDWIC project, this material will be tested under combined drought and heat stress under field conditions. This will provide plant breeders with highly valuable information on field tested germplasm for use in accelerated breeding programs targeting combined heat and drought tolerance. The work is critical for future food security considering the inextricable link between temperature and plant water demand, and the increased frequency and intensity of heat and drought events under projected climate change.” – William Salter, University of Sydney, Australia
Novel wheat architecture alleles to optimize biomass under drought
“Wheat Rht-1 dwarfing genes were an essential component that led to spectacular increases in grain yields during the Green Revolution. Although Rht1 and Rht2 are still used widely in wheat breeding 50 years after they were introduced, they are suboptimal under drought conditions and are often associated with a yield penalty. Using a more extensive range of Rht-1 dwarfing alleles that were developed at Rothamsted, we will introduce them into CIMMYT germplasm to optimize biomass and ultimately increase grain yields under drought stress.” – Steve Thomas, Rothamsted Research, UK
Additional comments from 2021 awardees
“This opportunity has enabled the collection of significant amounts of data that will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in crop physiology and root biology. It has also provided early career researchers with opportunities to gain hands-on experience, develop important skills, and grow their networks. Additionally, this initiative has stimulated further ideas and collaborations among researchers, fostering a culture of innovation and cooperation that is essential for progress.” – Hannah Schneider, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands
“The project is a unique opportunity for research groups from around the world to coordinate efforts on identifying ways to improve heat tolerance of wheat.” – Owen Atkin, Australian National University, Australia
“It is important to understand how high temperature limits crop growth and yield and to identify genetic variation that can be used for breeding climate resilient crops. This project has already begun to develop new methods for rapidly screening growth and physiological processes in genetically diverse panels which we hope will be invaluable to researchers and breeders.” – Erik Murchie, University of Nottingham, UK
“This project will provide novel phenotyping screens and germplasm to breeders and lay the groundwork for genetic analysis and marker development.” – John Foulkes, University of Nottingham, UK
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an international organization focused on non-profit agricultural research and training that empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis. Applying high-quality science and strong partnerships, CIMMYT works to achieve a world with healthier and more prosperous people, free from global food crises and with more resilient agri-food systems. CIMMYT’s research brings enhanced productivity and better profits to farmers, mitigates the effects of the climate crisis, and reduces the environmental impact of agriculture.
CIMMYT is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
Delegates with other officials in front of the seminar room. (Photo: Biswajit/BWMRI)
Representatives from Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) paid a visit to Bangladesh to see the valuable work of the Precision Phenotyping Platform (PPP).
PPP was established in response to the devastating wheat blast disease, which was first reported in the country in 2016.
Technical and financial support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Australian Commission for International Agricultural Research and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, along with other funders, has contributed to the effort to combat the disease.
This is achieved by generating precise data for wheat blast resistance in germplasm in Bangladesh, as well as other wheat growing countries. This PPP has been used to screen elite lines and genetic resources from various countries.
On February 16 and 17, 2023, two groups of national and international delegations visited the BWMRI-CIMMYT collaborative research platform PPP at the BWMRI regional station in Jashore, Bangladesh.
The first group was made up of representatives from both the Australian Commission for International Agricultural Research and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. This included seven commissioners under the direction of Fiona Simson, along with ACIAR senior officials from Australia and India.
The other group was from BARC, which was led by Executive Chairman Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, along with Golam Faruq, Director General of BWMRI, and Andrew Sharpe, Bangabandhu Research Chair, Global Institute of Food Security (GIFS), University of Saskatchewan in Canada.
Both delegations were welcomed by Muhammad Rezaul Kabir, the Senior Wheat Breeder at BWMRI. Kabir gave a brief presentation about the platform and other wheat blast collaborative research programs in the seminar room.
The delegations then went to the PPP field, where BWMRI researchers Kabir and Robiul Islam, as well as CIMMYT researcher Md. Harun-Or-Rashid, explained further information about the BWMRI-CIMMYT collaborative research. Both commissioners and delegates appreciated seeing the work being conducted in person by the national and international collaborations of BWMRI and CIMMYT on wheat blast research.
Visitors observing blast disease symptoms in wheat leaves. (Photo: Muhammad Rezaul Kabir/BWMRI)
“It is important, innovative work, that is affecting not only Bangladesh but many countries around the world that are now starting to be concerned about the impacts of wheat blast,” commissioner Simson said. “This study is very important for Australia and we are pleased to be contributing to it.”
Lindsay Falvey, another commissioner, added, “This is a wonderful experiment, using high-level science and technologies to combat wheat blast in Bangladesh. The experiment is well-planned. Overall, it is an excellent platform.”
ACIAR delegate Eric Huttner added to the praise for the project. “The platform is performing extremely well for the purpose of evaluating lines, resistance to the disease and that’s very useful for Bangladesh and rest of the world,” he said. “This is a gift that Bangladesh is giving to the neighboring countries to protect wheat.”
The delegates pledged to share their expert advice with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh in order to increase investments and improve facilities for agricultural research programs in the country.
Golam Faruq, Director General of BWMRI discussing the PPP with Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman of BARC (Photo: Md. Harun-Or-Rashid/CIMMYT)
“This is an excellent work,” Executive Chairman of BARC, Bokhtiar said. “We can get more information from screening activities by using bioinformatics tools and training people through the BARC-GIFS program.”
Pawan Kumar Singh, Head of Wheat Pathology at CIMMYT-Mexico and Project Leader, coordinated the visits virtually and expressed his thanks to the delegations for their visit to the platform. This PPP, within a short span of few years, has been highly impactful, characterizing more than 15,000 entries and releasing several resistant varieties in countries vulnerable to wheat blast.
Stewards Global, trading as Afriseed, is a Zambia seed systems intervention success story. Thanks to support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other partners such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Afriseed is transforming rural farmers’ livelihoods through supplying drought tolerant maize seed.
What began as a start-up in 2007 has since grown to be one of the leading companies in Zambia’s seed industry. “I started this company with a team of three people. We did not have much, but we had a compelling vision,” says founder Stephanie Angomwile. “Initially, we were multiplying and distributing legume seed to the market as we had observed the deficit where it was very difficult for any serious farmer to procure improved and high-performing seed.”
“Having set up the business, we were fortunate to get AGRA’s support to secure proper industrial premises where we could focus our operations and serve the Zambian market,” she explains. “Using a basic drum seed dresser, we were able to churn out 100 metric tons of seed per season, which was quite impressive considering how rudimentary our equipment was.”
At this point, USAID bought into their vision and furnished Afriseed with a processing plant that could handle, sort, treat, and package seeds for both legume and maize. The company then pivoted to working with maize seed, based off the observation that most farmers were obtaining yields lower than the genetic potential of existing varieties.
“To do so, it was quite clear that we needed an institution that could help us break into the maize seed industry dominated by large multinational seed companies,” Angomwile explains. “This led us to partner with CIMMYT, which is a partnership that still exists today and has enabled us to accelerate our market penetration strategy through providing us with high-performing drought-tolerant genetics which are growing in popularity among farmers.”
Stephanie Angomwile gives a tour to representatives from the USAID special envoy and CIMMYT during a visit to Afriseed. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The impact of CIMMYT support
Since 2017, CIMMYT has been working with Afriseed to help smallholder farmers access new and improved varieties that are drought-tolerant and can withstand seasonal weather variations induced by climate change. “As CIMMYT, our role is not only to breed improved genetic material that farmers can take up, but also to support business development for the private sector through intensive capacity building programs that position such entities to be sustainable and to excel in the absence project support,” explains Hambulo Ngoma, an agricultural economist working with CIMMYT. The organization has provided Afriseed with two high performing varieties so far: AFS 635 and AFS 638. In addition, CIMMYT has supported Afriseed in stimulating demand within the smallholder farmer market through facilitating the establishment of demonstration plots and designing targeted seed marketing strategies.
During CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts’ recent visit to Zambia, Ngoma highlighted that the organization is aware that small-to-medium enterprises may be constrained with regards to marketing budgets and market development investments. “As such, when we are convinced that there is a business case and an opportunity for a food security transformation, we usually support promising entities such as Afriseed with knowledge and resources to stimulate demand,” he said. “This is of extreme importance as farmers growing old, recycled seed from ancient varieties need to transition to new, improved varieties.”
Govaerts said, “We are happy we could contribute to the success of Afriseed in our own small way and we hope our partnership will take you to the next level.”
Afriseed has since grown and now comprises nearly 200 workers: 90 permanent staff and 110 casual workers during the peak season. Production has surged to an excess of 10,000 metric tons per season and there is a growing customer base stretching throughout all regions of the country. Angomwile is very grateful to have had a partner like CIMMYT, which facilitated Afriseed’s membership to the International Maize Consortium (IMC), a global body that provides access to an expanded genetic pool bringing exposure to new genetic gains. “Being a member of IMC is definitely an advantage for us as an entity because the seed supply market is highly competitive,” she explains. “So, we can now quickly become aware of the new genetic materials available and ask our research and development team — established through the immense support from CIMMYT — to develop new varieties for our target market.”
Through a series of exchange visits and trainings, CIMMYT has mentored the research and development team who are now in a position to breed their own varieties without external support. “The number of farmers in high potential areas that are remotely located that are still growing recycled seed is still quite large,” says Peter Setimela, a seed systems specialist who was part of the mentoring team. “We need to continuously render extensive support to entities such as Afriseed such that the seed quality deficiency gap can be greatly reduced.”
As the rains have been in abundance during this 2022/23 season, there is high anticipation that farmers who have grown seed from reputable seed suppliers such as Afriseed, are set for a bumper harvest.
Cover photo: Afriseed staff preparing legume seeds for processing in Zambia. (Photo: Agricomms)
Although the technologies exist, many farmers have little information on how to implement them.
Seed companies and senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture could play a key role in disseminating information, as could mobile phone technology and emerging digital innovation platforms.
The Wheat Disease Early Warning Advisory System (Wheat DEWAS) project is bringing new analytic and knowledge systems capacity to one of the world’s largest and most advanced crop pathogen surveillance systems. With Wheat DEWAS, researchers are building an open and scalable system capable of preventing disease outbreaks from novel pathogen strains that threaten wheat productivity in food vulnerable areas of East Africa and South Asia.
The system builds from capabilities developed previously by multi-institutional research teams funded through long-term investments in rust pathogen surveillance, modelling, and diagnostics. Once fully operationalized, the project aims to provide near-real-time, model-based risk forecasts for governments. The result: accurate, timely and actionable advice for farmers to respond proactively to migrating wheat diseases.
The Challenge
Farmers growing wheat face pathogen pressures from a range of sources. Two of the most damaging are the fungal diseases known as rust and blast. Rust is a chronic issue for farmers in all parts of the world. A study in 2015 estimated that the three rust diseases — stem, stripe and leaf — destroyed more than 15 million tons of wheat at a cost of nearly $3 billion worldwide. Wheat blast is an increasing threat to wheat production and has been detected in both Bangladesh and Zambia. Each of these diseases can destroy entire harvests without warning, wiping out critical income and food security for resource-poor farmers in vulnerable areas.
The Response
Weather forecasts and early-warning alerts are modern technologies that people rely on for actionable information in the case of severe weather. Now imagine a system that lets farmers know in advance when dangerous conditions will threaten their crop in the field. Wheat DEWAS aims to do just that through a scalable, integrated, and sustainable global surveillance and monitoring system for wheat.
Wheat DEWAS brings together research expertise from 23 research and academic organizations from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe, the United States and Mexico.
Together, the researchers are focused on six interlinked work packages:
Work package
Lead
Objectives
Data Management
Aarhus University; Global Rust Reference Center
Maintain, strengthen and expand the functionality of the existing Wheat Rust Toolbox data management system
Create new modules within the Toolbox to include wheat blast and relevant wheat host information
Consolidate and integrate datasets from all the participating wheat rust diagnostic labs
Develop an API for the two-way exchange of data between the Toolbox and the Delphi data stack
Develop an API for direct access to quality-controlled surveillance data as inputs for forecast models
Ensure fair access to data
Epidemiological Models
Cambridge University
Maintain operational deployment and extend geographical range
Productionalize code for long-term sustainability
Multiple input sources (expert, crowd, media)
Continue model validation
Ensure flexibility for management scenario testing
Extend framework for wheat blast
Surveillance (host + pathogen)
CIMMYT
Undertake near-real-time, standardized surveys and sampling in the target regions
Expand the coverage and frequency of field surveillance
Implement fully electronic field surveillance that permits near real-time data gathering
Target surveillance and diagnostic sampling to validate model predictions
Map vulnerability of the host landscape
Diagnostics
John Innes Centre
Strengthen existing diagnostic network in target regions & track changes & movement
Develop & integrate new diagnostic methodology for wheat rusts & blast
Align national diagnostic results to provide a regional & global context
Enhance national capacity for wheat rust & blast diagnostics
Information Dissemination and Visualization Tools
PlantVillage; Penn State
Create a suite of information layers and visualization products that are automatically derived from the quality-controlled data management system and delivered to end users in a timely manner
Deliver near real time for national partners to develop reliable and actionable advisory and alert information to extension workers, farmers and policy makers
National Partner Capacity Building
Cornell University
Strengthening National partner capacity on pathogen surveillance, diagnostics, modeling, data management, early warning assessment, and open science publishing
A section of key speakers at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
The formation of regional crop improvement networks took center stage at a meeting held in January 2023 in Accra, Ghana. The meeting convened more than 200 scientists and stakeholders in dryland crops value chains from 28 countries from Africa and across the globe to co-design a network approach.
The meeting followed a series of consultative visits and discussions between three CGIAR research centers — the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) — African National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs), and other common-visioned partners during 2021 and 2022. These earlier discussions gathered insights, brainstormed, and co-designed approaches to empower national programs to deliver impact through their crop improvement programs.
“The idea is to add value to the existing capacities in National Agricultural Research and Extension Services, through networks where the partners agree on the goals and resources needed to achieve desired outcomes. So, it’s really a collaborative model,” said Harish Gandhi, breeding lead for dryland legumes and cereals at CIMMYT. He added that the teams have been learning from and aiming to add value to existing models such as the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), USAID Innovation Labs, and Innovation and plant breeding in West Africa (IAVAO).
Paradigm shift for African National Agricultural Research Institutes
Making the opening remarks, Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General, Paul Bosu said that at the very least, African countries should aim to feed themselves and transition from net importers to net exporters of food. “Dryland legumes and cereals, especially millet and sorghum, are very well adapted to the continent and offer great opportunity towards achieving food security”, said Bosu. He applauded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners for investing in research on these crops.
Representing West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Ousmane Ndoye noted that research in dryland legumes and cereals is a valid and needed action amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest in different parts of the world. He added that the first and crucial step to increasing food production especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the availability of sufficient quantities of seed.
Director General of Uganda’s National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Ambrose Agona observed that a paradigm shift should occur for desired transformation in agriculture. He noted that African governments ought to commit adequate budgets to agriculture and that seed funding should serve to complement and amplify existing national budgets for sustainability.
He commended efforts to consult NARIs in Africa and noted that the quality of ideas exchanged at the meeting strengthen the work. “The NARIs feel happier when they are consulted from the very beginning and contribute to joint planning unlike in some cases where the NARIs in Africa are only called upon to make budgets and are excluded from co-designing projects”, said Agona.
Participants following the proceedings at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
Challenge to deliver effectively
During his remarks at the meeting, CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts noted that the focus legume and cereal crops are key to transforming and driving diversification of food systems in Africa. “It is therefore an honor and a privilege to work together with partners to improve cereal and legume systems. We will put forward our experience in breeding and commit to innovative systems approaches towards achieving impact and leverage what we are already good at, to become even better,” said Govaerts.
Referencing his visit with the United States Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler to Southern Africa in January 2023, Govaerts narrated witnessing firsthand a food, energy and fertilizer crisis impacting Zambian and Malawian farmers. He challenged the meeting participants to envision the future impact they would like to see their breeding programs have as they design and strategize at the meeting. He pointed out that farmers are more interested in the qualities and characteristics of varieties released than the institutions responsible for the release.
CIMMYT Global Genetic Resources Director and Deputy Director General, Breeding and Genetics, Kevin Pixley also underscored the need to generate more impact through adoption of improved varieties in Africa. Pixley noted that on average, fewer than 30 percent of farmers are using improved varieties of sorghum, millet, and groundnut across the countries with ongoing work.
The meeting heard One CGIAR’s commitment to deliver resilient, nutritious and market preferred varieties as part of its Genetic Innovation Action Area, alongside improving systems and processes for sustainability from CGIAR Senior Director Plant Breeding and Pre-Breeding, John Derera. Speaking in the capacity of IITA’s Breeding Lead, Derera noted the progress made in IITA cowpea breeding program, including its modernization, owing to strong partnerships, cross learning and germplasm exchange between institutions.
PABRA Director & Leader of the Bean Programme at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Jean-Claude Rubyogo, pointed out that despite remarkable achievements, such as those witnessed in the bean research, more effort is needed to tackle the challenges of climate change and also increase understanding of consumers traits.
Commenting on innovative pathways to improve adoption of improved varieties, the Director General of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) in Zaria, Nigeria, Mohammad Ishiyaku observed the tendency for some seed companies to continue selling specific seed varieties for years, even when the productivity of the variety is low. He noted the seed companies always claimed consumer preferences concluding then that amidst investor demands, breeders ought to keenly investigate the expectations of consumers and famers to arrive at the best parameters for breeding choices.
A group photo of over 200 scientists and stakeholders in dryland crops value chains that participated at the Drylands Legumes and Cereals Network Meeting in Accra, Ghana in January 2023. (Photo: Eagle Eye Projects)
International Year of Millets, 2023
The gathering commemorated the International Year of Millets by listening to a keynote address on “Millets for food and nutritional security and mitigating climate change – #IYM2023” by Lake Chad Research Institute, Nigeria, Research Director, Zakari Turaki. The keynote was followed by statements on the importance of millets for various countries and wider Africa from: Sanogo Moussa Daouda, representing Director General of Mali’s Institut d’Économie Rurale (IER); Ibrahima Sarr, Director of Senegal’s Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles’s Centre National de Recherches Agronomiques; Hamidou Traore, Director of Burkina Faso’s Institut de L’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles; and Ambrose Agona, Director General of NARO, Uganda.
High-level statements on approaches to gender integration in agricultural research and development were delivered by Scovia Adikini, NARO millet breeder, Geoffrey Mkamillo, Director General of Tanzania’s Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Francis Kusi of Ghana’s Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), and Aliou Faye, Director of Senegal’s Regional Center of Excellence on Dry Cereals and Associated Crops (CERAAS).
AVISA Achievements
Finally, this meeting marked the transition from the recently ended Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Systems in Africa (AVISA) project to align with One CGIAR initiatives under the Genetic Innovation Action Area, with specific focus on dryland crops.
Solomon Gyan Ansah, the Director of Crop Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana, acknowledged the success of AVISA Project and commended the forum’s efforts to build on the gains made by the project in developing the new approach.
“By the end of 2022, AVISA project partners had reached 4.8 million farmers with 30,600 metric tons of seed of improved legume and cereal varieties, covering almost one million hectares of land”, revealed Chris Ojiewo, Strategic Partnerships and Seeds Systems Lead. Other achievements supported by the AVISA Project include upgrading of NARES facilities and building capacities of researchers through short- and long-term trainings.
The meeting was hosted by Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Ghana’s Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), and was organized by CIMMYT, in partnership with IITA and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT (ABC).
Crop breeding has the potential to significantly contribute to addressingthe global challenges of poverty, malnutrition, hunger, gender inequality, environmental degradation and climate change.Rapid population growth, climate change and market crises in low-income and middle-income countries mean that crop breeding must be far more agile and professional than ever before. Data-driven, modernized breeding with tools and technologies such as genomic selection, quantitative genetics, high-throughput phenotyping and bioinformatics, are needed toaccelerate and advance improvement in varieties.
Across the CGIAR-NARES(National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems) crop breeding networks, there is huge opportunity to reach the full potential to improve the lives of farmers and consumers: to share innovations to their full potential; reduce costs associated with services such as bioinformatics; de-fragment disparate data and incompatible technologies; apply consistent standards; and improve access to tools, technologies and shared services.
This Initiative aims to improve the genetic, economic, social and environmental performance of breeding programs across the CGIAR-NARES breeding network.
This objective will be achieved through:
Undertaking strategic modernization so that breeding schemes are designed using the most up-to-date methods, namely: quantitative genetics and computer simulation, including modeling of adoption and benefits across the breeding network, and budget forecasting for management of the portfolio and operational improvements.
Delivering cost-effective shared services through coordinating services such as genotyping and data management, leading to efficiency and greater bargaining power in purchasing or contracting equipment, software and services, ultimately enabling the generation and analysis of high-quality and consistent data across the breeding network.
Implementing performance management of consistent, connected operations through a dedicated performance management team supporting breeding programs and data management teams in describing, harmonizing and adopting standard operating protocols, workflow charts and quality controls across the networks.
Making smarter use of data, enabling CGIAR-NARES networks to share standardized data, creating larger and more powerful datasets that can be readily analyzed and interpreted.
Promoting innovation and research exchange through developing and implementing change management plans, and supporting region-specific capacity building to increase global adoption of modernized breeding tools, technologies and shared services across the network.
This Initiative will work with breeding programs serving countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, along with Asia and Latin America. High-priority countries for the Initiative include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia in Africa, and Bangladesh and India in South Asia.
Proposed 3-year outcomes include:
Varieties are developed 30% faster for 70% of targeted breeding programs.
Shared services reduce costs by 25% in a majority of target programs, making modernized breeding more accessible across the global CGIAR-NARES networks.
At least 70% of targeted breeding programs make data-driven decisions using genomic, phenotypic and environmental data at more than one major decision point.
At least a 70% improvement of Initiative’s targeted breeding programs in at least 50% of impact area tracking indicators as a result of CGIAR-NARES leadership.
Increased capacity in at least 15 NARES institutions, demonstrated by increased access to tools, technologies and shared services (of more than one type) more than once a year.
A least 70% of the Initiative’s targeted continuous breeding programs increase or add at least one target to their modernization plan.
Standardized protocols shared in a common system.
Harmonized operations enabling consistent data generation.
Adoption of quality management system within facilities.
Establishment of Breeding Pipeline Improvement Monitoring System to support informative performance monitoring that reduces the complexity of breeding activities to the core metrics material for decision-making, as aligned to shared goals.
Establishment of performance monitoring system to track implementation of standardized processes and quality of operations along with modernization progress and the impacts of the resulting breeding program.
Smallholder farmers and agricultural extension officers assessing Integrated Pest Management Packages (IPMs) treatments against fall armyworm at the Plant Health Innovation Platform at the KALRO Kiboko Research Station in Kenya. (Photo: Peter Kinyumu/CIMMYT)
CGIAR’s Plant Health Initiative (PHI) is testing integrated pest management (IPM) packages against fall armyworm (FAW) in partnership with smallholder farmers and agricultural extension officers at the Plant Health Innovation Platform at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Kiboko Research Station in Kenya.
The IPM packages comprise 18 combinations of treatments, including maize varieties with native genetic resistance to FAW, biopesticides, biological control agents, push-pull system, and bean varieties.
“This is a unique opportunity to identify eco-friendly and cost-effective IPM packages against a major pest like FAW through participatory engagement of smallholder farmers and extension personnel,” said BM Prasanna, Global Maize Program Director at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and CGIAR Plant Health Initiative Lead. “Also In our efforts against FAW, three FAW-tolerant maize hybrids have been recommended for release after national performance trials in Kenya.”
CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director and CGIAR Plant Health Initiative Lead, BM Prasanna explaining to smallholder farmers and agricultural extension officers; CGIAR’s Plant Health Initiative (PHI) testing of integrated pest management (IPM) packages against fall armyworm (FAW) at KALRO Kiboko, Kenya. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Participatory assessment
Participating farmers and extension personnel made their first assessment of the IPM combinations at the vegetative stage on November 8, 2022.
“With this second assessment on February 7, 2023, farmers and extension personnel are evaluating the same IPM combinations for their yield potential, which means the plants need to be not only healthy but also productive. The farmers are also looking at the quality of the maize ears, and the level of ear and kernel damage by the pest, if any. These assessments both at the vegetative and reproductive stages are critical for us to conclude this experiment and draw appropriate inferences,” Prasanna said.
Researchers will analyze the efficacy of the scoring of different IPM treatments by the farmers and from the vegetative/foliar and reproductive/harvest stages. In addition, scientists will conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each IPM treatment to identify relevant IPM packages that can be potentially scaled. Prasanna noted the initial scoring by the scientists and farmers were highly comparable.
The trials engaged farmers and extension workers from five different counties in Kenya. “The Plant Health Initiative is keen on co-creation and co-validation and taking an inclusive, participatory approach to innovations,” said Prasanna. He added that such an approach is vital for buy-in by the farmers, who need to be active partners in effectively scaling the selected IPM packages.
Farmers participating in the Field Day at the Innovation Platform applauded the initiative to involve them in validating solutions to manage FAW and expressed their eagerness to have the innovations in their hands. The farmers also had opportunities to ask questions, provide preliminary verbal feedback, and receive immediate clarification from the scientists to their queries.
”I know a farmer who has trained his two sons to go to every plant and kill the armyworm physically. You can imagine the time and energy that takes,” said Justice Kimeu, a farmer from Makueni County, Kenya. “Let the innovative methods we have seen here reach every farmer across the country.”
A participant giving his preliminary observations on the Integrated Pest Management Packages (IPMs) treatments against fall armyworm at the Plant Health Innovation Platform at the KALRO Kiboko Research Station in Kenya. (Photo by Peter Kinyumu/CIMMYT)
Plant Health Innovation Platform catalyzes collaboration
The Plant Health Innovation Platform at Kiboko brings together different innovations developed by the collaborating institutions: CIMMYT, KALRO, International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), AgBiTECH, Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), and Farmfix Africa.
“Robust data is being generated on the efficacy and cost-benefit of various IPM combinations. After data analysis, 2-3 few specific IPM packages will be identified based on efficacy against FAW, cost effectiveness, affordability to smallholder farmers, and potential for rapid scale up,” Prasanna said.
Besides the FAW Innovation Platform at Kiboko, Kenya, the CGIAR Plant Health Initiative is operating eight other Innovation Platforms in Benin, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Lebanon, Philippines, Ecuador, and Colombia. Each of these platforms bring together diverse institutions engaged in developing game-changing solutions in managing key pests and diseases in the Initiative’s primary crops that include maize, banana, cassava, potato, sweet potato, rice, yam, sorghum, wheat, millets, legumes, and vegetables.
Inadequate seed supply and delivery systems, sometimes also misaligned with user and market demand, mean that smallholders often recycle seed or use older varieties, leaving them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Small-scale farmers, especially women and other disadvantaged groups, are particularly vulnerable to climate-related challenges, such as more frequent and severe droughts and erratic rainfall. Additionally, farmers may not be well informed about varietal options available to them or may be reluctant to experiment with new varieties. These challenges threaten agricultural production and can compromise their ability to meet their own food, nutrition and income needs.
Improved varieties, innovations and approaches developed and promoted by CGIAR and partners could transform agrifood systems and reduce yield gaps, “hunger months” and other disparities. However, limited access to and use of affordable, quality seed of well-adapted varieties with desired traits, means these bottlenecks remain.
This Initiative aims to support the delivery of seed of improved, climate-resilient, market-preferred and nutritious varieties of priority crops, embodying a high rate of genetic gain to farmers, ensuring equitable access for women and other disadvantaged groups.
This objective will be achieved through:
Supporting demand-driven cereal seed systems for more effective delivery of genetic gains from One CGIAR cereal breeding, as well as improving government, private sector and farmer-based capacity to deliver productive, resilient and preferred varieties to smallholders.
Boosting legume seed through a demand-led approach that builds on growing demand for grain legumes. This multistakeholder approach will strengthen partnerships to provide efficient, more predictable and demand-led access to quality seed of new varieties.
Scaling and delivering vegetatively propagated crop seed through sustainable enhanced delivery pathways that efficiently target different market segments and farmer preferences.
Supporting partnerships (including with smallholders), capacity building and coordination to ensure uptake of public-bred varieties and other innovations by providing technical assistance for national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) and foundation seed organizations in early-generation seed production and on-farm demonstrations.
Developing and implementing policies for varietal turnover, seed quality assurance and trade in seeds by leveraging global expertise and experience to generate both the evidence and engagement necessary to advance efficient, sustainable, and inclusive seed markets that promote varietal turnover and wider adoption.
Scaling equitable access to quality seed and traits in order to reach the unreached and provide inclusive accesswhile addressing gender and social constraints and the digital divide.
Engagement
This Initiative will work in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania as a priority,followed by other countries in Latin America, South and Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Outcomes
Proposed 3-year outcomes include:
Robust tools developed and used by funders, developers, researchers and extension staff to sustainably measure and monitor key seed system metrics.
Increase of 10% in the quantity of quality seed of improved “best-fit” and farmer-preferred varieties available to farmers in representative crops and geographies due to increased capacity of seed companies and other seed multipliers (including farm-based seed actors).
Public and private seed enterprises adopting innovative and transformative models for accessing, disseminating and multiplying quality early-generation seed, reducing cost and increasing output.
Reduction of 5% in weighted average varietal age for priority crops in selected countries.
Government partners in policy design and implementation actively promote policy solutions to accelerate varietal turnover, adoption and quality seed use.
Resource-poor farmers in low-income and middle-income countries will hugely benefit from improved crop varieties that perform better in terms of nutritional quality, income generation, water and nutrient use, stability of yields under climate change, and the needs of both women and men as farmers and as consumers.
However, many smallholder farmers still grow old varieties, in part because they derive inadequate benefits from recent breeding efforts. To trigger timely adoption, new varieties must be widely available and affordable to farmers, and offer a step-change in performance through higher rates of genetic gain. A faster pace of varietal turnover is critical – to enable farmers to adapt and advance rapidly as climatic and market conditions change.
Breeding programs also need a greater focus on developing farmer- and consumer- preferred varieties adapted to distinct production environments, markets and end uses. This can be facilitated by smarter design of breeding programs; stronger partnerships between CGIAR, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and strengthened organizational capacity.
This Initiative aims to develop better-performing, farmer-preferred crop varieties and to decrease the average age of varieties in farmers’ fields, providing real-time adaptation to climate change, evolving markets and production systems.
The objective will be achieved through:
Re-focusing breeding teams and objectives on farmers’ needs, in particular the needs of women, through achievable product profiles and breeding pipelines targeting prioritized regions and market segments.
Reorganizingbreeding teams to drive efficiency gains through the coordinated engagement of specialists and processes using a common organizational framework, stage gates, key performance indicators and handover criteria.
Transforming towards inclusive, impactful CGIAR-NARES-SME breeding networks with empowered partners, along with customized capacity building, standardized key performance indicators, and by dividing labor and resources across partners according to comparative advantage and aligned with national priorities.
Discovering optimum traits and deployments through agile, demand-driven and effective trait discovery and deployment pipelines, and development of elite donor lines with novel and highly valuable traits.
Acceleratingpopulation improvement and variety identification through optimizing breeding pipelines (trailing, parent selection, cycle time, use of Breeding Resources tools and services, etc.), with the goal of assuring all programs deliver market-demanded varieties that deliver greater rates of genetic gain per dollar invested.
Engagement
This Initiative will work with breeding programs serving countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia, along with Asia and Latin America.Priority countries for the Initiative includeGhana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa, and Bangladesh and India in South Asia.
Outcomes
Proposed 3-year outcomes include:
At least 75% of breeding pipelines are oriented towards specific market segments, enabling greater focus on farmers’ needs, drivers of adoption, distinct impact areas and the strategic allocation of resources.
At least 70% of breeding pipelines use a revised organizational framework that provides operational clarity and effectiveness for specialized teams pursuing breeding outputs.
At least 80% of the breeding networks have implemented documented steps toward stronger partnership models where NARES and SMEs have increased breeding capacity, and make greater scientific, operational and decision-making contributions to the breeding process.
At least 50% of breeding pipelines are supported by a dedicated trait discovery and deployment program that delivers high-impact traits in the form of elite parental lines.
At least 70% of breeding pipelines have increased the rate of genetic gain in the form of farmer-preferred varieties, with at least 50% providing significantly improved varieties delivered to seed system recipients.
CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director and CGIAR Plant Health Initiative Lead, BM Prasanna cutting a ribbon at the entrance of a new shed housing, marking the commissioning of five new seed drying machines courtesy of the of the Accelerating Genetic Gains (AGG) Project. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)’s research station at Kiboko, Kenya, where several partner institutions including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), conduct significant research activities on crop breeding and seed systems, is now equipped with five new seed drying machines along with a dedicated shed to house these units, a cold room for storing breeding materials, and an additional irrigation dam/reservoir. These infrastructural upgrades are worth approximately US $0.5 million.
During the commissioning of the new facilities on February 7, 2023, CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director, BM Prasanna thanked the donors, Crops to End Hunger (CtEH) Initiative and Accelerated Genetic Gains (AGG) project, that supported the upgrade of the research station, and recognized the strong partnership with KALRO.
“Today is a major milestone for CIMMYT, together with KALRO, hosting this center of excellence for crop breeding. This facility is one of the largest public sector crop breeding facilities in the world, with hundreds of hectares dedicated to crop breeding. These new facilities will enable CIMMYT and KALRO crop breeders to optimize their breeding and seed systems’ work and provide better varieties to the farming communities,” said Prasanna.
Kenya suffered one of its worst droughts ever in 2022, and the newly commissioned facilities will support expedited development of climate-resilient and nutritious crop varieties, including resistance to major diseases and pests.
Visitors at the KALRO research station in Kiboko, Kenya, looking at the newly commissioned cold room storage. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
Improvements and enhancements
The efficiency of the seed driers capabilities to quickly reduce moisture content in seed from above 30% to 12% in two to three days, reducing the time taken for seed drying and allowing for more than two crop seasons per year in a crop like maize.
The additional water reservoir with a capacity of 16,500 cubic meters will eliminate irrigation emergencies and will also enhance the field research capacity at Kiboko. Reliable irrigation is essential for accelerating breeding cycles.
At the same time, the new cold room can preserve the seeds up to two years, preventing the loss of valuable genetic materials and saving costs associated with frequent regeneration of seeds.
KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger officiating the opening of the cold room storage facility at KALRO research station at Kiboko, Kenya. Looking on is CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director, BM Prasanna. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)
World-class research center
“The Kiboko Research Center is indeed growing into an elite research facility that can serve communities in entire sub-Saharan Africa through a pipeline of improved varieties, not only for maize but in other important crops. This will not only improve climate resilience and nutrition, but will contribute to enhanced food and income security for several million smallholder farmers,” said Prasanna.
KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger appreciated the establishment of the new facilities and thanked CIMMYT and its partners for their support.
“Today is a very important day for us because we are launching new and improved facilities for research to support breeding work and quality seed production. This research station is in Makueni County, a very dry area yet important place for research because there is adequate space, especially for breeding,” said Kireger. “We are significantly improving the infrastructure at Kiboko to produce and deliver better seed to our farmers.”
For more than three decades, CIMMYT has conducted research trials at the Kiboko Research Station, focusing on drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, and resistance to pests and diseases, such as fall armyworm and stem borer. The maize Double Haploid (DH) facility established in 2013 at Kiboko, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, offers DH line production service for organizations throughout Africa, and is key to increasing genetic gains in maize breeding.
Decisions on how to invest scarce resources in CGIAR-NARES genetic innovation systems have been predominantly supply-driven and therefore potentially out-of-sync with the demands of smallholders, consumers and agro-industry. The turnover of improved crop varieties developed by CGIAR and its NARES partners (National Agricultural Research and Extension Services) has been slow. Small-scale seed businesses lack incentives to actively promote new varieties given weak demand. Little is known about the drivers of varietal replacement and product substitution, and the role of downstream market actors such as traders, processors and consumers in this process.
There is a clear need for demand- and data-driven processes to guide genetic innovation systems, but efforts to advance this remain incomplete and fragmented within CGIAR. Current product profile design is strongly biased towards agronomic and stress-tolerance traits, with little systematic identification and integration of traits that contribute to wider social impact.
This Initiative aims to maximize CGIAR and partners’ returns on investment in breeding, seed systems and other Initiatives based on reliable and timely market intelligence that enables stronger demand orientation and strengthens co-ownership and co-implementation by CGIAR and partners.
This objective will be achieved through:
Gathering market intelligence by collecting data to map global and regional challenges across CGIAR’s five impact areas, translating them into regional market segments and priorities for genetic innovation by identifying drivers of demand as well as variation by gender, age and social group.
Designing new-generation, gender-intentional target product profiles for each market segment using market intelligence.
Generating behavioral intelligence based on what drives farmers, consumers and private-sector decisions to adopt new varieties and supporting other Initiatives in identifying cost-effective inclusive strategies for accelerating varietal uptake.
Developing pipeline investment cases by estimating the potential impact and return on investment across CGIAR’s five impact areas of the portfolio of breeding pipelines serving the market segments and developing recommendations for the portfolio optimization and prioritization.
Developing institutional scaling and monitoring, evaluation, learning and impact assessment (MELIA) by establishing a collaboration hub across Genetic Innovation Initiatives and partners to develop scaling mechanisms for the adoption of institutional standards and processes in market segmentation and gender-intentional product profile design, and to conduct rigorous MELIA of the portfolio.
Engagement
This Initiative has a global and regional focus, with countries being prioritized as a result of the Initiative’s work.
Outcomes
Proposed 3-year outcomes include:
At least three transdisciplinary teams across CGIAR and partners in prioritized regions are empowered in co-implementation of market and behavioral intelligence and co-design of product profiles.
At least 10 CGIAR partners in prioritized regions adopt institutional standards and processes for market segmentation and product profile design, sharing of market and behavioral intelligence and monitoring of outcomes.
At least five seed suppliers, food companies and NGOs in prioritized regions use market and behavioral intelligence from the Initiative in strategic decision-making.
At least three research leaders and investors make investment decisions using pipeline investment cases and the Initiative’s investor dashboard and the increased availability of information and transparent, holistic analyses of high-impact opportunities attract increased investments in underinvested and new-opportunity market segments.
Dr Dumisani Kutwayo (second left) receives state of art Maize Lethal Necrosis test kits from Dr Wegary Dagne (second from right). (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The best results in combating pests and diseases exacerbated by climate change and protecting agricultural food systems originate from strategic partnerships between national governments and international research organizations. Such a synergy between Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) was recognized for its effectiveness at an event hosted by Zimbabwe Plant Quarantine Services on January 9, 2023.
“The mandate of ensuring that Zimbabwe is protected from plant diseases and invasive pests is one which cannot be attained by government alone, but together with partners such as CIMMYT,” said Dumisani Kutywayo, Chief Director of DRSS.
Dagne Wegary Gissa, CIMMYT senior scientist in maize breeding, presented Kutywayo with the latest advanced PCR testing kits for detecting maize lethal necrosis. “We are committed to ensuring that we support Zimbabwe with improved maize and wheat varieties but also with rapid disease detection,” said Gissa.
Kutywayo and senior directors were given a tour of the plant quarantine services station, where they observed where all introduced maize seed is quarantined and tested before being incorporated into the local seed systems. Tanyaradzwa Sengwe, a seed health and quality expert, summarized the quarantine procedures and explained how the day-to-day operations between the two institutes are being implemented. This involves the management of imported seed, protocols of seed management and biosafety measures for the quarantine facility.
Government officials take part in a field visit of the quarantine facility set up by CIMMYT in Mazowe, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Expanding partnerships
Zimbabwe can now accelerate its crop improvement programs, Gissa indicated, because CIMMYT has provided the government access to doubled haploid (DH) technology. This technology significantly shortens the breeding cycle from seven years to approximately 3-4 years. DH technology has become an integral part of many commercial maize breeding programs, as DH lines offer several economic, logistic and genetic benefits over conventional inbred lines. Further, new advances in DH technology continue to improve the efficiency of DH line development and fuel its increased adoption in breeding programs worldwide.
CIMMYT-Zimbabwe has facilitated access for Zimbabwe’s maize breeding program to a CIMMYT DH facility in Kenya. Busiso Mavankeni, the head of the Crop Breeding Institute, related how it was very expensive for governments of developing countries to keep up with the latest breeding technology trends and so collaborating with CIMMYT is helping Zimbabwe. “Having access to the DH facility has been a great boon to our breeding program,” said Mavankeni.
CIMMYT and Zimbabwe are also engaged in capacity building exercises; involving training sessions across a variety of food system frameworks. Nhamo Mudada, Head of Plant Quarantine Services, acknowledged the multiple trainings ranging from disease identification and prevention systems to entomology related concepts. “Our technical capabilities have increased significantly, and we strongly attribute this to CIMMYT’s knowledge sharing mandate,” Mudada said.
“This sustainability is enabled by ensuring that our systems can screen genetic materials coming into the country and detect diseases which may be foreign to the agroecological region. CIMMYT has, over the years, supported the government not only from a financial perspective but also from a technical capacity perspective.
“Having reliable partners such as CIMMYT who generously invest in government priorities helps our country to be well positioned against threats to our food security,” said Kutywayo, “The key for creating and maintaining sustainable innovation is for development partners like CIMMYT to work within existing national frameworks,” said Kutywayo. “As the adverse effects of climate change intensify, such strategic partnerships are the only way to establish appropriate responses.”
“Our goal is to serve as critical partners for Zimbabwe’s agrifood programs. We have dedicated ourselves to be a long-term partners and will provide as much support as we can to ensure Zimbabwe’s food security,” Gissa said.
