Working with smallholders to understand their needs and build on their knowledge, CIMMYT brings the right seeds and inputs to local markets, raises awareness of more productive cropping practices, and works to bring local mechanization and irrigation services based on conservation agriculture practices. CIMMYT helps scale up farmersâ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.
Maria Itria Ibba, a scientist at CIMMYT, received the inaugural Heroes Award from the Foundation for Innovation in Healthy Food. She received the award on October 29 at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Ibba, head of CIMMYTâs Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory, received the honor in recognition of her outstanding leadership in launching the foundationâs Coalition for Grain Fiber initiative.
Together with her team at CIMMYT, Ibba works on improving the processing and nutritional quality of the bread and durum wheat lines derived from the CIMMYT spring wheat breeding programs. The research they conduct combines genetics and cereal chemistry, and one of the main focuses is to improve wheat grain dietary fiber. This effort begins with the development of efficient screening methods and the identification of germplasm with unique dietary fiber profiles.
The coalition seeks to improve the nutrition in staple foods without impacting their taste, mouthfeel or consumer price. It is simultaneously dedicated to establishing profit incentives for farmers and other food suppliers that enhance public health by delivering increased nutrient foods.
According to the coalition, improvements in the nutritional content of white and whole wheat flour may ultimately save thousands of lives and billions of healthcare U.S. dollars globally.
âMost people across the world do not consume enough dietary fiber, which is essential in the fight against various diseases,â says Ibba. âIncreasing the dietary fiber content of a staple crop like wheat could have a significant positive impact on the health of wheat consumers. Our goal is to increase dietary fiber intake through the consumption of wheat products with greater fiber content.â
Maria Itria Ibba. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Plant breeders, food scientists, nutrition/health scientists and economists are partnering with the coalition to transform the food industry. They support non-GMO (not genetically modified organisms) approaches to increasing naturally occurring dietary fiber in grains.
Over 50 public and private-sector laboratory leaders in three countries and 23 U.S. states have engaged with the coalition, including from CIMMYT, Rothamsted Research, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, University of California, Davis, Cornell University and Bayer Crop Science.
âI feel humbled to have received the Heroes Award,â says Ibba. âI know that this award not only represents the work I have been doing, but also all the hard work that my team and my organization have been doing for several years.â
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrowâs problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources. For more information, visit cimmyt.org.
About the Foundation for Innovation in Healthy Food
FIHF builds coalitions of stakeholders that support increasing the nutritional value of the foods we consume, while preserving consumersâ food experiences.
About the Coalition for Grain Fiber
The coalition is enrolling grain fiber in the fight against chronic disease. By improving the nutritional content of white and whole wheat flour, it seeks to save thousands of lives and dramatically reduce healthcare costs.
The Sainsbury Laboratory, the John Innes Centre and 21 other institutes are joining forces in a major global effort to monitor plant pathogens. Led by CIMMYT, the initiative aims to strengthen wheat productivity in food-insecure areas of East Africa and South Asia.
In Ethiopia, regional government representatives endorsed in October 2023 the National Framework on Climate Services (NFCS), a tool designed to guide the establishment and delivery of climate services in key sectors: water and energy, agriculture, health, disaster risk management, and environmental protection.
This endorsement by regional state representatives marks an important step towards the implementation at regional and zonal levels of the NFCS, which was adopted at the national level in 2020.
Participants of the two-day workshop organized by the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute in partnership with CIMMYT (Photo: CIMMYT).
The adoption of the Framework concluded a two-day workshop organized by the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute in partnership with CIMMYT through the AICCRA project, which aims to scale climate-smart agriculture and climate information services for the benefit of millions of small-scale farmers in Ethiopia. The workshop was also attended by ministers, state ministers and heads of federal offices from the sectors affected by climate change.
Responding and adapting to climate change requires that all affected sectors cooperate and collaborate, stressed Fetene Teshome, General Manager of the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute, in his opening remarks. Experts and regional and local representatives should come together to establish a system that can gather quality information and disseminate it to its users, he added.
âWe canât tackle climate change easily, so we have to find ways to live with it and use it to our benefit,â said Habtamu Itefa, minister of water and energy. He urged the workshop participants to approach the NFCS as a system designed to outlive governments and called them to play an essential role in its implementation in their respective regions, zones, districts and kebeles (sub-districts).
âClimate services will bring meaningful changes in agricultureâ
Among the sectors most affected by climate change, agriculture accounts for about 40% of the GDP and employs more than 80% of the population, making it the backbone of the Ethiopian economy. It is thus crucial to address climate change impacts on the sector.
CIMMYT Senior Scientist, Kindie Tesfaye, explained how the AICCRA project works to enhance access to climate information services and validated climate-smart agriculture technologies in six African countries, including Ethiopia. As a stakeholder of the project, CIMMYT is training farmers, development agents, and local agricultural experts, and other agricultural value chain actors on the use of climate advisory services in collaboration with LERSHA, a digital platform providing farmers with contextualized weather forecast, inputs, mechanization and financial advisory services.
âWe consider climate as a major problem for the countryâs agricultural activities because the sector is heavily dependent on rain-fed production system and we believe that implementing this national framework on climate services will bring meaningful changes to the sector enabling it to manage climate risks successfully,â said Kindie Tesfaye.
The AICCRA project supported strengthening the function of the NFCS coordination team for multi- stakeholder engagement, supporting the endorsement of the framework and providing training on resource mobilization for its implementation. The project is also building capacity at different levels, promoting climate smart agriculture.
Productive in-depth discussions
Prior to the NFCS endorsement, participants shared inputs from their respective regions and sectors, providing inputs to the framework. Delegates mostly discussed capacity building needs, information delivery channels, synergetic cooperation among government institutions and mobilization of resources for implementation.
Signing of the endorsement between the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute and representatives of the regional states (Photo: CIMMYT).
On the second day of the workshop, four different papers were presented on a seasonal climate update for the 2023 Bega season (October to December), on the impacts outlook for the upcoming Bega season, on the national state of the climate, and on climate risk management in agriculture extension.
The plenary discussion that followed was led by Fetene Teshome and offered an opportunity to the participants to raise their concerns on the implementation of the framework in their respective regional states. Many of the participants reflected on how the framework can accommodate the different ecology of various areas and how it can upgrade or replace dysfunctional meteorology infrastructures.
The Climate Risk Curriculum module that was prepared by AICCRA for agricultural extension workers was also launched during the workshop.
After years of struggles, a group of women farmers in a remote rural area of Tanzania are finally profiting and forging an enterprise based on local farmersâ high demand for certified seed of sorghum, a dryland crop first domesticated in Africa and used in food and drink, livestock feed and even building materials.
Based in Usoche village, Momba District, Songwe Region, Tanzania, the Jitegemee womens group formed in 2018 to improve their livelihoods through sorghum production. In 2022 the group produced and marketed over 3 tons of certified seed, benefiting from access to foundation and certified seed with support from project partnerships and linkages to global and local initiatives.
“Through us, many women are now educated and motivated to engage in seed production,â said Rodha Daudi Tuja, a representative of the Jitegemee group. âI think in the next season we are going to have many women seed entrepreneurs.â
Based on seed companiesâ inability to fully satisfy farmersâ high demand for quality seed of sorghum, the social and behavior change interventions component of the Dryland Crops program of CIMMYT, an international research organization with longstanding partnerships and impacts in eastern and southern Africa, worked with Tanzaniaâs Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC) to encourage youth and women to engage in the seed business, including marketing. Banking on previous experience, the initiative helped the women raise awareness among farmers about the value of quality, improved seed, using fliers, posters, t-shirts and caps.
âThe CIMMYT behavior change interventions and CBCC reached us through youth champions who trained us on the features and benefits of improved sorghum seed,â explained Tuja.
Jitegemee women’s group members proudly showcase the sorghum seeds they offer for sale. (Photo: CBCC)
Especially important was training the women received to grow âquality declared seedâ (QDS) at an event for 18 women and youth in Mbozi district conducted by The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI). QDS offers reliable quality in seed at an affordable price to farmers but is not formally inspected by official seed certification systems.
Immediately after the training, the group purchased 12 kilograms of foundation seedâgenetically uniform seed that, when grown under controlled results, produces seed of ensured genetic purity and varietal identityâof the popular Macia sorghum variety from the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) at Hombolo. They multiplied that seed following meticulous quality protocols on a leased, 1.6-hectare farm.
A previous arrangement to grow seed for a local company had fallen through after one cropping season, and the Jitegemee group ended up recycling the seed and growing it for grain for sale. Still, the group realized that selling seed could be a lucrative business, if they could only gain access to foundation seed or certified seed. As part of growing pains during that period, the group lost half its members.
âBefore our contact with the CIMMYT project we had a lot of challenges,â Tuja said. âFirst, we did not know about improved seed, we couldnât access information about new farming technologies, and we were doing subsistence agriculture. However, after the project we were able to access seed and information at the Youth Quality Centres and through radio programs.â
âI advise youth and my fellow women to join us because, before, we had no hope in sorghum production but now we are prospering. The demand for sorghum seed is very high, a lot of farmers are now demanding improved seeds, and our group alone cannot meet the growing demand for seed.â
We gratefully acknowledge Florian Ndyamukama, Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC), Tanzania, for contributing this story.Â
The Pakistan-China laboratory has developed wheat varieties that have shown an impressive 8-10% yield increase over local varieties, and CIMMYT has expressed interest in collaborating with the laboratory to further strengthen wheat variety development efforts.
Staff of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project conducted a three-day âtraining of trainersâ workshop on integrated soil fertility management and related practices for commercial rice farming, for 50 agricultural technicians from 50 farm cooperatives in districts of mountainous midwestern Nepal and its lowland Terai Region.
Held in Nepalgunj, midwestern Nepal, the workshop focused on the â4Rsâ for soil fertilizationâright source, right rate, right time, and right placeâalong with other best farming and soil nutrient stewardship practices for rice-based farming systems.
âSubject matter was comprehensive, covering variety selection, transplanting, weeding, management of nursery beds, fertilizer, irrigation, controlling pests and diseases and proper handling of rice grain after harvest,â said Dyutiman Choudhary, NSAF project coordinator and scientist at CIMMYT. âTopics relating to the integrated management of soil fertility included judicious application of organic and inorganic fertilizer, composting and the cultivation of green manure crops such as mungbean and dhaincha, a leguminous shrub, were also included.â
Support to sustainably boost Nepalâs crop yields
With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the NSAF project promotes the use of improved seeds and integrated soil fertility management technologies, along with effective extension, including the use of digital and information and communication technologies.
Agriculture provides livelihoods for two-thirds of Nepalâs predominantly rural population, largely at a subsistence-level. Rice is the nationâs staple food, but yields are relatively low, requiring annual imports worth some $300 million, to satisfy domestic demand.
Workshop participants attended sessions on digital agri-advisories using the Geokrishi and PlantSat platforms and received orientation regarding gender and social inclusion concerns and approachesâcrucial in a nation where 70% of smallholder farmers are women and exclusion of specific social groups remains prevalent.
âTopics in that area included beneficiary selection, identifying training and farmer field day participants, and support for access to and selection of improved seed and small-scale farm equipment,â explained Choudhary. âThe participants will now go back to their cooperatives and train farmers, local governments and agrovets on improved rice production.â
Nepal scientists and national research programs have partnered with CIMMYT for more than three decades to breed and spread improved varieties of maize and wheat and test and promote more productive, resource-conserving cropping systems, including rotations involving rice.
On July 17-18, 2023, 87 wheat scientists gathered to learn about new approaches and methods for wheat improvement in Faisalabad, Pakistan. CIMMYT and the Wheat Research Institute, Faisalabad (WRI-FSD) jointly organized a two-day training. The course covered two topics: high throughput genotyping technologies and high throughput phenotyping platforms. The trainees, who were able to attend in person or remotely and 27% of whom were women, hailed from 17 NARES partners across Pakistan.
Trainees at Faisalabad, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)
After being welcomed by the Director General of Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), Akhtar Ali, and CIMMYTâs Country Representative, TP Tiwari, participants received an update on the status of wheat in Pakistan from Muhammad Sohail, national wheat coordinator for the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC). Subsequently, WRI-FSD Director, Javed Ahmed, discussed wheat research in Punjab, where over 70% wheat is grown in Pakistan. Kevin Pixley, interim director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program, joined the proceedings remotely for a conversation about CIMMYT’s and CGIARâs collaboration with NARES. Participants discussed the modelâs successes, bottlenecks, the role of NARES, and the potential for capacity development. The conversation generated broad interest and suggestions for enhancing the partnershipâs effectiveness. Akhtar Ali, Muhammad Sohail, and Javed Ahmed all spoke very highly about CIMMYT’s support in Pakistan.
This event was organized as part of a collaborative project entitled âRapid development of climate resilient wheat varieties for South Asia using genomic selectionâ that is jointly managed by Kansas State University and CIMMYT with funding from the USAID Feed the Future program.
âTraining emphasized the need for an output-oriented researcher that covered the development of climate-resilient wheat varieties, given the environmental challenges we are experiencing like, drought and heat, and highlighted the importance of innovative methodologies and advanced tools for high throughput phenotyping and genotyping for sustainable and resilient wheat production in Pakistanâ said Muhammad Ishaq, a senior research officer and one of the training participants from Kohat Research Station, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
At the conclusion of the training, Javed, direct of WRI Faisalabad, commended CIMMYTâs support and suggested continuing the pace of training. Dr. Tiwari stressed the importance of such efforts will help Pakistanâs scientists develop and deploy climate resilient, impactful wheat varieties to boost wheat production and reduce wheat imports in the country.
It is a winter morning in Ward 12 of Mutare Rural district in Zimbabwe. Farmers brave the cold weather to gather around several tents lined with a range of new agricultural machinery. The number of farmers increases, and the excited chatter gets louder as they attempt to identify the different machines on display. âThat is a tractor, but it just has two wheels,â says one farmer. With enthusiasm, another identifies a multi-crop thresher and peanut butter machine and asks for the prices.
The scene typifies one of several settings for an awareness meeting conducted under the Feed the Future Zimbabwe Mechanization and Extension (Mechanization) Activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project operates in Zimbabweâs Manicaland and Masvingo provinces and addresses the pressing need to improve farm power and machinery access for smallholder farmers in ten districts: Buhera, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Mutare rural, Bikita, Chiredzi, Chivi, Masvingo rural, Mwenezi and Zaka.
Awareness meetings provide community members the opportunity to interact with the Mechanization Activity Team and learn more about the machinery suitable for their farm operations. (Photo: CIMMYT)
In recent years, farmers in the region have faced a decline in cattle populations due to tick-borne diseasesâthe devastating âJanuary diseaseâ (Theileriosis) hitting hardestâcausing significant draft power losses. In addition, on-farm and off-farm activities have notoriously been identified as labor-intensive, time consuming and back-breaking due to the level of effort required to execute certain tasks. Activities such as post-harvest processing have also been traditionally carried out by women, who are thus disproportionally affected by drudgery. Collectively, these challenges have affected not only food production and the quality of farm yields, but also drastically impacted farming familiesâ potential to realize sufficient household food and income security.
âFinding the best model of extension of appropriate machinery and developing financing mechanisms for smallholder farmers has been the work of previous projects on appropriate-scale mechanization,â says Christian Thierfelder, research director for the Mechanization Activity. âIn this activity, we are implementing a service provider model in Zimbabwe and are aiming to reach 150 service providers and 22,500 users of these machines in the next two years.â
Despite previous successes under initiatives such as FACASI and R4/ZAMBUKO, there remains a huge demand for affordable machines that improve farm labor and generate income for smallholder farmers. âWe already see hundreds of farmers demanding to mechanize agricultural activities in our intervention areas,â explains Leon Jamann, chief of party for the project. âThat is why our activity aims to collaborate with banks and microfinance institutions to bank these farmers at fair rates so that they can buy the machinery that they need and want.â
A launchpad for success
The awareness meetings have served as launchpads to acquaint farmers with appropriate machinery right at the âfarm gateâ while affording them a chance to explore the full range on offer. Since its inception, the Mechanization Activity has showcased through live demonstrations the operation and performance of machinery including the two-wheel tractor and trailer, ripper, basin digger, boom sprayer, multi-crop thresher, feed chopper-grinder, groundnut sheller and peanut butter machine. Each machine harmonizes with on-farm and off-farm activities, easing the labor burden and improving efficiency in land preparation, harvesting and post-harvest tasks. The aim is to create demand for and trigger business interest in the machinery through a service provision model.
The model centers on the service provider, typically an individual who owns machinery and extends their services to others for a fee. In some cases, organized Internal Savings and Lending (ISAL) and Production, Productivity Lending and Savings (PPL) groups have expressed, through the awareness meetings, interest in procuring a machine for use within the group. This symbiotic relationship empowers service providers economically, while granting communities access to crucial services that improve their land and labor productivity.
In the next step, service providers are then linked with banks to finance their machinery. This ensures a sustainable approach, as the mechanization solutions are locally produced, financed and used. Enhancing these local capacities and linkages is at the core of the activity and ensures impact beyond the project life cycle.
From awareness to demand
So far, a total of 32 awareness meetings have been held across three operational hubs in Masvingo and Manicaland provinces reaching 1,637 farmersâ843 females and 794 males. The impact is evident, with 475 service providers identified across 20 implementation wards.
232 participants are keen to acquire a two-wheel tractor, with a further 191 opting for trailers, 63 for rippers, 125 for multi-crop threshers, 166 for chopper grinders, 178 for peanut butter machines and 31 for groundnut shellers. Among the prospective service providers are those opting to purchase a single unit while others are choosing two, three or more units from the machinery on offer.
Beyond the numbers, the Mechanization and Extension Activity continues to appeal to women and youth through sustainable and climate-smart intensification of crop production using conservation agriculture practices, opportunities for employment creation and enhancing profitability.
Graduate intern Titos Chibi demonstrates the two-wheel tractor during an awareness meeting in Ward 10 in Bikita. (Photo: CIMMYT)
âI enjoyed learning about the service provider approach and learning about the machinery on display,â reflected Nyarai Mutsetse, a female farmer from Ward 12. âOther women even got the chance to try out the two-wheel tractor. From now on, we are going to save money in our groups and purchase some of these machines.â
Echoing the same sentiments, Patience Chadambuka was fascinated by the two-wheel tractor demonstration, and impressed that it could serve multiple purposes. âI can use it for different tasksâferrying wood, land preparation and it can also help us raise money to take our children to school through service provision,â she said. âWe are beginning to save the money, together with my husband because we would like to purchase the tractor and use it for our business.â
The Mechanization Activity awareness meetings paint a vivid picture of collaboration with other Feed the Future Zimbabwe Activities such as the Fostering Agribusiness for Resilient Markets (FARM), Resilience Anchors and Farmer to Farmer, among others. The activity harmonizes smallholder farmers with private sector enterprises, including machinery manufacturers, local mechanics, financial institutions and the Government of Zimbabwe. This collective cooperation is pivotal in helping smallholder farmers realize their mechanization business goals.
IISER Bhopal, CIMMYT and the University of Michigan have joined forces to harness cutting-edge satellite technology. Their research underscores the urgent need to address this environmental challenge and the critical role of technology in understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of agricultural practices.
One of the worldâs largest crop pathogen surveillance systems is set to expand its analytic and knowledge systems capacity to protect wheat productivity in food vulnerable areas of East Africa and South Asia.
Researchers announced the Wheat Disease Early Warning Advisory System (Wheat DEWAS), funded through a $7.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdomâs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, to enhance crop resilience to wheat diseases.
The project is led by David Hodson, principal scientist at CIMMYT, and Maricelis Acevedo, research professor of global development and plant pathology at Cornell Universityâs College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This initiative brings together research expertise from 23 research and academic organizations from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe, the United States and Mexico.
Wheat DEWAS aims to be an open and scalable system capable of tracking important pathogen strains. The system builds on existing capabilities developed by the research team to provide near-real-time model-based risk forecasts and resulting in accurate, timely and actionable advice to farmers. As plant pathogens continue to evolve and threaten global food production, the system strengthens the capacity of countries to respond in a proactive manner to transboundary wheat diseases.
The system focuses on the two major fungal pathogens of wheat known as rust and blast diseases. Rust diseases, named for a rust-like appearance on infected plants, are hyper-variable and can significantly reduce crop yields when they attack. The fungus releases trillions of spores that can ride wind currents across national borders and continents and spread devastating epidemics quickly over vast areas.
Wheat blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporte oryzae Tritici, is an increasing threat to wheat production, following detection in both Bangladesh and Zambia. The fungus spreads over short distances and through the planting of infected seeds. Grains of infected plants shrivel within a week of first symptoms, providing little time for farmers to take preventative actions. Most wheat grown in the world has limited resistance to wheat blast.
âNew wheat pathogen variants are constantly evolving and are spreading rapidly on a global scale,â said Hodson, principal investigator for Wheat DEWAS. âComplete crop losses in some of the most food vulnerable areas of the world are possible under favorable epidemiological conditions. Vigilance coupled with pathogen-informed breeding strategies are essential to prevent wheat disease epidemics. Improved monitoring, early warning and advisory approaches are an important component for safeguarding food supplies.â
Previous long-term investments in rust pathogen surveillance, modelling, and diagnostics built one of the largest operational global surveillance and monitoring system for any crop disease. The research permitted the development of functioning prototypes of advanced early warning advisory systems (EWAS) in East Africa and South Asia. Wheat DEWAS seeks to improve on that foundation to build a scalable, integrated, and sustainable solution that can provide improved advanced timely warning of vulnerability to emerging and migrating wheat diseases.
âThe impact of these diseases is greatest on small-scale producers, negatively affecting livelihoods, income, and food security,â Acevedo said. âUltimately, with this project we aim to maximize opportunities for smallholder farmers to benefit from hyper-local analytic and knowledge systems to protect wheat productivity.â
The system has already proven successful, contributing to prevention of a potential rust outbreak in Ethiopia in 2021. At that time, the early warning and global monitoring detected a new yellow rust strain with high epidemic potential. Risk mapping and real-time early forecasting identified the risk and allowed a timely and effective response by farmers and officials. That growing season ended up being a production record-breaker for Ethiopian wheat farmers.
While wheat is the major focus of the system, pathogens with similar biology and dispersal modes exist for all major crops. Discoveries made in the wheat system could provide essential infrastructure, methods for data collection and analysis to aid interventions that will be relevant to other crops.
In the vast landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is the backbone of many communities, the quest for improved maize varieties is a vital step for ensuring food security in the face of climate change. Women, who represent approximately half the clients of maize breeding programs, have been essential in the realm of agricultural research. While significant gender-based differences in trait preferences exist in many African-staple crops, these appear less drastic in maize. However, there are gendered differences in management practices and productivity in maize-based systems.
After decades of work on maize improvement projects, CIMMYT has made a bigger commitment to researching, supporting and delivering drought and heat tolerant maize to smallholders in Zimbabwe. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Recognizing the need to bridge this gap, the CIMMYT-NARES (National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems) regional maize breeding networks in eastern and southern Africa have embarked on a transformative journey to empower farmers, especially women, through their innovative approach to maize breeding. The breeding networks are focused on ensuring smallholder farmers have access to a steady stream of climate-resilient and nutritionally enriched maize varieties that thrive in todayâs stress-prone environments. To ensure these new maize varieties meet the needs of diverse users, including women, the breeding networks continue to adapt approaches to increase gender-responsiveness.
Linking science with the realities on the ground
Testing the performance of potential new maize hybrids coming from the breeding pipelines within farmersâ realities is critical to the ultimate success of these new varieties. In collaboration with over 400 farmers in southern Africa, the CIMMYT-NARES maize breeding network conducts extensive on-farm trials to evaluate the performance of these new maize varieties. A similar approach is adopted in eastern Africa. What sets these trials apart is the fact that over 40% of these trials are led by female plot managers. Farmers evaluate these varieties within the context of their own realities, including their own management practices, and provide valuable feedback to the breeding teams on the potential of new varieties.
By involving women in decision-making processes, CIMMYT-NARES networks ensure that their preferences and needs are considered when selecting the most promising hybrids for product advancement, announcement to partners, varietal releases and ultimately commercialization. This inclusive approach not only empowers women but also harnesses the collective knowledge and experience of the farming community. CIMMYTâs research recently showed that there is a relatively high degree of joint management within maize plots, and since 2022, the on-farm trials included a target of approximately 30% jointly managed plots.
Gender is only one axis of social difference that impacts agricultural production, variety selection, and end uses. Social differences including marital status, age, education level, ethnicity, wealth, access to capital, market access and livelihood orientation do play a role in the adoption of new varieties and farm productivity. By embracing the diversity within farming communities, CIMMYT-NARES networks are actively working towards understanding different farm types, while ensuring that the improved maize varieties are tailored to meet the diverse demands of the regions.
As the CIMMYT-NARES maize breeding networks continue to make innovative strides in breeding climate-resilient and nutritionally enriched maize varieties, they are not only transforming agriculture but also empowering individuals and communities. Through collaborative efforts, with the woman farmer at the heart of the approach, they are paving the way for a future where farming communities can thrive and contribute to food and nutritional security.
India can applaud a hallmark in national food production: in 2023, the harvest of wheatâIndiaâs second most important food cropâwill surpass 110 million tons for the first time.
This maintains India as the worldâs number-two wheat producer after China, as has been the case since the early 2000s. It also extends the wheat productivity jumpstart that begun in the Green Revolutionâthe modernization of Indiaâs agriculture during the 1960s-70s that allowed the country to put behind it the recurrent grain shortages and extreme hunger of preceding decades.
âNewer and superior wheat varieties in India continually provide higher yields and genetic resistance to the rusts and other deadly diseases,â said Distinguished Scientist Emeritus at CIMMYT, Ravi Singh. âMore than 90 percent of spring bread wheat varieties released in South Asia in the last three decades carry CIMMYT breeding contributions for those or other valued traits, selected directly from the Centerâs international yield trials and nurseries or developed locally using CIMMYT parents.â
Wheat grain yield in Indian farmersâ fields rose yearly by more than 1.8 percentâsome 54 kilograms per hectareâin the last decade, a remarkable achievement and significantly above the global average of 1.3 percent. New and better wheat varieties also reach farmers much sooner, due to better policies and strategies that speed seed multiplication, along with greater involvement of private seed producers.
âThe emergence of Ug99 stem rust disease from eastern Africa in the early 2000s and its ability to overcome the genetic resistance of older varieties drove major global and national initiatives to quickly spread the seed of newer, resistant wheat and to encourage farmers to grow it,â Singh explained. âThis both protected their crops and delivered breeding gains for yield and climate resilience.â
CIMMYT has recently adopted an accelerated breeding approach that has reduced the breeding cycle to three years and is expected to fast-track genetic gains in breeding populations and hasten delivery of improvements to farmers. The scheme builds on strong field selection and testing in Mexico, integrates genomic selection, and features expanded yield assays with partner institutions. To stimulate adoption of newer varieties, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR, of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR) operates a seed portal that offers farmers advanced booking for seed of recently released and other wheat varieties.
Private providers constitute another key seed source. In particular, small-scale seed producers linked to the IIWBR/ICAR network have found a profitable business in multiplying and marketing new wheat seed, thus supporting the replacement of older, less productive or disease susceptible varieties.
Farm innovations for changing climates and resource scarcities
Following findings from longstanding CIMMYT and national studies, more Indian wheat farmers are sowing their crops weeks earlier so that the plants mature before the extreme high temperatures that precede the monsoon season, thus ensuring better yields.
New varieties DBW187, DBW303, DBW327, DBW332 and WH1270 can be planted as early as the last half of October, in the northwestern plain zone. Recent research by Indian and CIMMYT scientists has identified well-adapted wheat lines for use in breeding additional varieties for early sowing.
Resource-conserving practices promoted by CIMMYT and partners, such as planting wheat seed directly into the unplowed fields and residues from a preceding rice crop, shave off as much as two weeks of laborious plowing and planking.
Weeds in zero-tillage wheat in India. (Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT)
âThis âzero tillageâ and other forms of reduced tillage, as well as straw management systems, save the time, labor, irrigation water and fuel needed to plant wheat, which in traditional plowing and sowing requires many tractor passes,â said Arun Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder and regional representative for Asia and managing director of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). âAlso, letting rice residues decompose on the surface, rather than burning them, enriches the soil and reduces seasonal air pollution that harms human health in farm communities and cities such as New Delhi.â
Sustainable practices include precision levelling of farmland for more efficient irrigation and the precise use of nitrogen fertilizer to save money and the environment.
Science and policies ensure future wheat harvests and better nutrition
Joshi mentioned that increased use of combines has sped up wheat harvesting and cut post-harvest grain losses from untimely rains caused by climate change. âAdded to this, policies such as guaranteed purchase prices for grain and subsidies for fertilizers have boosted productivity, and recent high market prices for wheat are convincing farmers to invest in their operations and adopt improved practices.â
To safeguard Indiaâs wheat crops from the fearsome disease wheat blast, native to the Americas but which struck Bangladeshâs wheat fields in 2016, CIMMYT and partners from Bangladesh and Bolivia have quickly identified and cross-bred resistance genes into wheat and launched wheat disease monitoring and early warning systems in South Asia.
âMore than a dozen wheat blast resistant varieties have been deployed in eastern India to block the diseaseâs entry and farmers in areas adjoining Bangladesh have temporarily stopped growing wheat,â said Pawan Singh, head of wheat pathology at CIMMYT.
Building on wheatâs use in many Indian foods, under the HarvestPlus program CIMMYT and Indian researchers applied cross-breeding and specialized selection to develop improved wheats featuring grain with enhanced levels of zinc, a micronutrient whose lack in Indian diets can stunt the growth of young children and make them more vulnerable to diarrhea and pneumonia.
âAt least 10 such âbiofortifiedâ wheat varieties have been released and are grown on over 2 million hectares in India,â said Velu Govindan, CIMMYT breeder who leads the Centerâs wheat biofortification research. âIt is now standard practice to label all new varieties for biofortified traits to raise awareness and adoption, and CIMMYT has included high grain zinc content among its primary breeding objectives, so we expect that nearly all wheat lines distributed by CIMMYT in the next 5-8 years will have this trait.â
A rigorous study published in 2018 showed that, when vulnerable young children in India ate foods prepared with such zinc-biofortified wheat, they experienced significantly fewer days of pneumonia and vomiting than would normally be the case.
Celebrating joint achievements and committing for continued success
The April-June 2018 edition of the âICAR Reporterâ newsletter called the five-decade ICAR-CIMMYT partnership in agricultural research ââŠone of the longest and most productive in the worldâŠâ and mentioned mutually beneficial research in the development and delivery of stress resilient and nutritionally enriched wheat, impact-oriented sustainable and climate-smart farming practices, socioeconomic analyses, and policy recommendations.
Speaking during an August 2022 visit to India by CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, Himanshu Pathak, secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) of Indiaâs Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Director General of ICAR, âreaffirmed the commitment to closely work with CIMMYT and BISA to address the current challenges in the field of agricultural research, education and extension in the country.â
âThe ICAR-CIMMYT collaboration is revolutionizing wheat research and technology deployment for global food security,â said Gyanendra Singh, director, ICAR-IIWBR. âThis in turn advances global peace and prosperity.â
India and CIMMYT wheat transformers meet in India in February, 2023. From left to right: Two students from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI); Arun Joshi, CIMMYT regional representative for Asia; Rajbir Yadav, former Head of Genetics, IARI; Gyanendra Singh, Director General, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR); Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general; Harikrishna, Senior Scientist, IARI. (Photo: CIMMYT)
According to Govaerts, CIMMYT has concentrated on strategies that foster collaboration to deliver greater value for the communities both ICAR and the Center serve. âThe way forward to the next milestone â say, harvesting 125 million tons of wheat from the same or less land area â is through our jointly developing and making available new, cost effective, sustainable technologies for smallholder farmers,â he said.
Wheat research and development results to date, challenges, and future initiatives occupied the table at the 28th All India Wheat & Barley Research Workersâ Meeting, which took place in Udaipur, state of Rajasthan, August 28-30, 2023, and which ICAR and CIMMYT wheat scientists attended.
Generous funding from various agencies, including the following, have supported the work described: The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of UKâs Government (FCDO), the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research (FFAR), HarvestPlus, ICAR, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funders of the One CGIAR Accelerated Breeding Initiative (ABI), and the Plant Health Initiative (PHI).
Intention, collaboration and commitment are critical to bridging the research and practice gap. Gender development practitioners and researchers from CGIAR centers, universities, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), civil society, and donor representatives this week shared insights from their research and work at the gender conference in New Delhi, India.
The discussion and exchange promises to create collaborations and opportunities devoted to improving the conditions and agency of women, youth and Indigenous communities in the Global South. âTransformative research can lead to meaningful impact,â said Angela Meentzen, senior gender researcher at CIMMYT. âWe have been looking forward to this conference because coming together as researchers, scientists and development practitioners, we can discuss and share insights from each otherâs practices and experiences from the field.â
Angela Meentzen (third from left) with CIMMYT colleagues from Asia and Africa at the CGIAR Gender 2023 conference in New Delhi. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)
Leading researchers and scientists from CIMMYT Asia and Africa presented their research and enriched the gender discussions at the conference. Meentzen said that CIMMYT is proud to support gender research that contributes meaningfully to transformative change and impact.
Below are highlights of four research poster presentations by our researchers (of the six presented by CIMMYT) at the conference:
Scientist Vijayalaxmi Khed examined how women manage excess workload (working inside and outside the house), a clear trade-off between productive and leisure time without change in domestic responsibilities. Due to domestic workload, she found that womenâs time away from farms does not translate into leisure. Another important finding was that women with more agency had less time for leisure, unlike for men.
In her poster presentation, she concluded that rural womenâs nexus of time poverty and decision-making has âclear implications for the development and diffusion of laborsaving technologies in agriculture.â
Working on the same study with Khed, Vijesh Krishna explored the relationship between womenâs involvement in agricultural activities and decision-making. His presentation, âFarm managers or unpaid laborers?â, from the study covering 347 wheat-farming households across two years, concludes that âdespite playing a crucial role in wheat farming in central India, most women lacked the ability to influence decisions.â
Michael Euler, agriculture and resource economist, in his poster presentation explained how an on-farm trial to improve gender-intentional breeding and varietal adoption in maize was designed by CIMMYT breeders and researchers.
The study hypothesized that gender dynamics in household labor allocation and decision-making in maize systems influence trait preferences and farmersâ adoption of varieties. So, researchers conducted on-farm trials and household surveys with individual women and men household members to capture differences in their trait preferences in maize cultivationâproduction systems, seed demand and seed accessâwith 800 smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Euler emphasized the influence of socioeconomic and agroecological factors, including bioticâabiotic stress, in the household decisions on maize varietal adoption.
He concluded that the study results will help âguide the product development of regional maize breeding programs and strengthen communitiesâ adaptation to the changing environmental conditions for maize cultivation.â
Adoption of a weeding technology may lead to labor displacement of marginalized women laborers
Presenting a poster for the same session as Euler, Maxwell Mkondiwaâin a study coauthored with colleagues Khed and Krishnaâhighlighted how rapid diffusion of a laborsaving technology like herbicides could exclude the marginalized further. The study occurred in Indiaâs state of Bihar, looking at nonfarming rural poor, primarily women, from socially marginalized groups.
From data on chemical weeding, the study analyzed the technologyâs impact on inequalityâ highlighting how marginalized women laborers who work on manual weeding are then replaced by men who apply herbicides.
He stressed that not enough research is devoted to understanding whether farmer adoption of laborsaving technologies worsens economic inequalities or reinstates labor into better tasks. âWe hope the evidence we generated will help researchers and policymakers develop relevant actions toward more inclusive innovations, and support laborers with new skills for the transitions,â said Mkondiwa.
Maxwell Mkondiwa presents his poster under the session Gender Dynamics in Agri-Food System Innovation at the CGIAR Gender 2023 conference. (Photo: M Mkondiwa/CIMMYT)
Women exhibit limited technical knowledge and experience social benefits differently in male-headed households of CASI technology adoption
Emma Karki, in her poster, explained that there is limited knowledge of the impact of technology adoption on women in a male-headed household in South Asiaâwith decision powers generally resting with male household members. The research tried to understand the gendered differences in the evaluation of technology adoption in male-headed households using conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) technology as a case study.
The study focused on identifying the commonalities and differences in the experiences and evaluation of CASI technology. Results indicated that âdespite technology adoption, women had limited mechanistic understanding compared to men, with similar limitations on womenâs time use and capacity development,” said Karki.
For future CASI promotion, Karki concluded: âReducing information gaps and incorporating technological preferences of women needs prioritizing, including creating opportunities for them to access knowledge and engage both men and women in critical discussions surrounding gender norms.â
Similarly, Moti Jaletaâs research presentation highlighted the challenges of mechanization adoption for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, primarily women. âIntentional research, whether in gender or social development, helps identify problems and opportunities for change,â endorsed Jaleta.
Meaningful research helps achieve gender and social inclusion goals
The âFrom Research to Impact: CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and ICAR Conference 2023â, between October 9-12, 2023, in New Delhi, gathered researchers from 68 countries. In her inaugural address at the conferenceâs opening, the President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu affirmed, âFor ecologically sustainable, ethically desirable, economically affordable and socially justifiable production, we need research which can enable conditions to reach these goals.â
At the end of the four-day conferenceâwith 60 research presentations and six plenary sessionsâthe organizers and participants reflected on their resolve âFrom Research To Impact,â and the promise to recognize and collectively address the gender and social inequities in agrifood systems development.
On October 4, 2023, Sieglinde Snapp, program director of the Sustainable Agrifood System (SAS) program, along with the country representative of CIMMYT and project lead of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project (NSAF) Dyutiman Choudhary, visited the National Soil Science Research Center (NSSRC) under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). The chief of NSSRC, Shree Prasad Vista, and his team welcomed Snapp and the team from CIMMYT. In the meeting, Vista presented an overview of NSSRC’s work and emphasized the collaborative work with NSAF. He focused on the achievements NSSRC has accomplished with the joint efforts of NSAF. He highlighted the launch of the Digital Soil Map and new fertilizer recommendations. He also reflected on the benefits of soil health cards to the farmers that NSAF supported. In addition, he prioritized the importance of collaboration to improve the livelihood of farmers. He appreciated the cross-learning that CIMMYT has been providing for knowledge transfer and adopting best management practices. After the meeting, the team visited the NSSRC’s laboratory, which provided insights about their soil research activities.
The chief of NSSRC briefs Sieg Snapp on farmers’ health card. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Following the visit to NSSRC, Snapp and CIMMYT colleagues visited the NARC Head Office within the same premises. The Executive Director of NARC, Dhurbaraj Bhattari, welcomed the delegates in his office. The ED presented an overview of NARC and its primary focus. He emphasized the importance of collaborative work with CIMMYT. After the presentation, the delegates from CIMMYT, NARC and NSSRC discussed critical issues regarding sustainable agricultural practices. The primary focus of the meeting was the strategies to boost sustainable agricultural productivity to enhance crop yields, value chain enhancement for farmer’s benefits, policy development for collaboration and harmonization to encourage horizontal and vertical cooperation between different stakeholders, need for investment in research and infrastructure at the grassroots level for addressing the challenges faced by farmers.
Addressing the meeting, Snapp focused on the importance of partnership aligning with CIMMYT’s latest strategies to facilitate knowledge transfer and the adoption of best practices. She also raised her concerns regarding the loss of crops between harvest and storage. She reflected on the commitment of CIMMYT to improving agriculture through science and innovation to change the livelihood of farmers. She showed her commitment to ongoing collaboration for sustainable agricultural development.
The meeting provided a platform to strengthen the longstanding collaboration between CIMMYT and NARC to address the challenges faced by farmers to enhance agricultural productivity through sustainable approaches. The Executive Director of NARC extended heartfelt gratitude for CIMMYT’s support, which has played a pivotal role in transforming the lives of countless farmers. He also expressed hope for continued collaboration in the future.
The CIMMYT and NSSRC team at NSSRC offices. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Snapp visited CIMMYT Nepal from October 3-7, 2023. 2023. During her visit, she interacted and engaged with various stakeholders, including Nepal staff, farmers in the field, agricultural cooperatives, government authorities, seed growers, suppliers and feed mills.
The Africa Biennial Biosciences Communication (ABBC 2023) Symposium, held in Nairobi, Kenya, provided a platform for experts, scientists, policymakers and stakeholders to discuss the evolution of genetic improvement tools in agriculture and the critical role that communication plays in ensuring these advancements are aligned with societal needs. The theme of the symposium, “Evolution of Genetic Improvement Tools in Agriculture: Is Communication Matching Up?” sparked insightful discussions and revelations regarding the intersections of technology, communication and sustainability.
Biotechnology underpins sustainable agriculture by providing potential solutions that enable agricultural systems to better address underlying health, livelihood and nutrition challenges. The quest for innovative and tech-enabled options for sustainable agriculture offers valuable lessons contributing to long-term food security. For example, through the applications of genome editing technologies, nutritional enhancements and reduced reliance on agrochemicals are both possible.
A case study presentation by Kevin Pixley, director of the Dryland Crops Program (DCP) and interim director of the Global Wheat Program, “How will communication about new breeding tools impact the development of sustainable food systems and one health-focus on crop science,” detailed how communication plays a vital role in informing consumers and society at large about the positive impacts that new breeding tools can have by contributing to sustainable food systems.
Kevin Pixley speaks during the panel discussion at the ABBC 2023 symposium in Nairobi. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
Transparent communication builds trust and impacts consumersâ ability to make informed decisions regarding genome-edited or other products. “In order to communicate effectively, we need to be transparent and provide information that consumers are seeking,â Pixley said. âUnderstanding their questions and concerns is the first step.” He gave examples of communication challenges, discussed various levels of transparency and urged for proactive approaches to communicate the benefits of genetic improvement technologies. Pixley further pointed out that the credibility of the communicator plays a crucial role in shaping public perception and emphasized the importance of tailoring communication to different cultural contexts and audiences.
During the panel discussion, âSystems thinking toward sustainable food/feed supply and one health. What is the role of communication?” experts from various fields, discussed the interconnectedness of food systems, human and animal health, the environment and communication. Acknowledging the complexity of the interconnected food production and consumption cycle, Pixley suggested that a holistic approach is necessary and called for a paradigm shift towards a thriving agricultural ecosystem.
The discussions delved into the role of communication in promoting economic, social and environmental sustainability solutions. The dialogue revealed the importance of involving farmers, policymakers and development partners to ensure holistic solutions.
Miscommunication and misinformation were also addressed, with the speakers recognizing the need to address perceived risks and demonstrate the safety and benefits of genetic advancements. Also discussed was the importance of simplicity and tailored messaging for various stakeholders, including policymakers, farmers and consumers.
In conclusion, the panelists agreed that effective communication is essential to realize the potential benefits offered by biotechnologies.
Mithika Linturi, cabinet secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, engages with the DCP team at CIMMYT’s exhibition stand. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
At the sorghum festival, Pixley and the DCP team showcased CIMMYT’s efforts in sorghum breeding and genetic improvement. They underscored the collaborative work with NARES partners and emphasized the importance of co-designing, co-developing and co-implementing projects to ensure sustainability and shared ownership. “A successful program requires collaboration, sharing resources and building sustainable networks,â said Pixley. âOur efforts are driven by the collaboration of various stakeholders.” The symposium also witnessed CIMMYT showcasing millet and sorghum at the exhibition, where the DCP team engaged with many participants.
All these discussions demonstrated the critical role that communication plays in shaping the trajectory of genetic improvement tools in modern agriculture. Transparent, culturally sensitive and proactive communications are essential to achieve social license for novel technologies, such as genome editing, to contribute to sustainable food systems, improved farmersâ livelihoods and food security for farmers and consumers.
