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.
Mechanization is a process of introducing technology or farm equipment to increase field efficiency. CIMMYTâs mechanization work is context-specific, to help farmers have access to the appropriate tools that are new, smart and ideal for their unique farming conditions. Â
Jelle Van Loon, CIMMYT mechanization specialist, explains how his team prototypes innovations that allow precision farming and supports different actors in the value chain from importers to policy-makers to create broader availability of farm equipment. Â
Early Maturing Short Duration High Yielding White Maize open-pollinated variety. (Photo: MMRI)
Pakistanâs maize sector achieved a remarkable milestone in 2019 by releasing ten new maize varieties developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for commercial cultivation. The new varieties were released by two public sector research institutes.
The Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) in Yousafwala, one of the leading and the oldest maize research institutes in Pakistan, released four open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) sourced from CIMMYT. The varieties, named Gohar-19, CIMMYT-PAK, Sahiwal Gold, and Pop-1 are the newest additions to Pakistanâs maize variety list. All the varieties are short-duration, which means they can be harvested quickly to rotate land for the next crop. They can also be grown in the main and off season, which makes them suitable for many different cropping systems.
The Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) in Quetta received approval for six of CIMMYTâs white kernel OPVs from the Provincial Seed Council (PSC), a government body responsible for variety registration in Balochistan. The varieties are named MERAJ-2019, MAHZAIB-2019, NOOR-2019, PAGHUNDA-2019, SILVER-2019, and SAR-SUBZ-2019. They are early-maturing with high yielding potential & drought tolerance. Drought stress is a major challenge for farmers in the Balochistan province, which covers 45% of Pakistanâs territory.
A group of maize experts visits maize research and seed production fields at the Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) in Yousafwala, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Muhammad Arshad, Director of MMRI, acknowledged CIMMYTâs efforts to deploy the wide range of maize germplasm in the country. Arshad added that the Institute is working with partners to widely distribute these seeds to smallholder farmers at a reasonable price. âWe are able to harvest maize yields from these early maturing varieties by applying 4-6 irrigations, unlike other varieties that require a minimum of ten irrigations per crop cycle,â said Syed Asmatullah Taran, Director of Cereal Crops at the Agricultural Research Institute in Quetta, Balochistan. âThese are the first ever released maize varieties in our province,â he added, applauding CIMMYT for this milestone.
Muhammad Imtiaz, CIMMYT’s Country Representative for Pakistan and leader of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), appreciated MMRI and ARI for their dedication and impactful efforts to strengthen the local maize seed system. Imtiaz explained that these new varieties will help cash-strapped smallholder farmers improve their livelihoods.
Through the AIP project, CIMMYT and its partners are helping new seeds reach farmers. âWe expect to see more releases in 2020, as many varieties are in the pipeline,” said CIMMYTâs Seed Systems Specialist for South Asia, AbduRahman Beshir. “What is important is to scale up the seed production and distribution of these varieties so that farmers can get their share from the interventions. Water-efficient maize varieties will not only contribute to climate change adaptation strategy, but will also support the livelihood of marginal farmers.â Beshir also emphasized the importance of private sector engagement for seed delivery.
A maize field is prepared manually for planting in Balochistan province, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Maize is Pakistanâs third most important cereal following wheat and rice, encompassing an area of 1.3 million hectares. Maize productivity is also among the highest in South Asia, with national yields reaching almost 5 tons per hectare.
Despite its growing demand, maize production in Pakistan faces various challenges such as a lack of diverse genotypes suitable for various uses and ecologies, a weak seed delivery system unable to reach marginal farmers, high retail price of seeds and unpredictable weather conditions due to climate changes. Â
To enhance the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality maize seeds, the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, led by CIMMYT and funded by USAID, is working with partners to benefit smallholder farmers across the country. The project focuses on the development and deployment of market-ready maize products sourced from different breeding hubs and systematically testing their adaptation in order to accelerate seed and varietal replacement in Pakistan. In the last six years, AIPâs public and private partners were able to access over 60 finished maize products and more than 150 parental lines from CIMMYT and IITA for further testing, variety registration, demonstration and seed scale up.
The Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) Gene Editing Project uses gene editing technology to transform four elite CIMMYT maize lines which are susceptible to a devastating maize disease known as MLN. The disease first appeared in Kenya in 2011, and by 2013 it had reduced maize yields across the country by an average of 22%, resulting in loss of production worth $180 million and forcing many smallholder farmers to abandon planting maize. By 2014 it had spread to D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, hence posing a major threat to the food security and livelihoods of millions of Africans.
CIMMYT and its partners have responded to the problem by successfully developing MLN-tolerant hybrids through conventional backcrossing, which takes approximately 4-5 years. On the other hand, with the use of a gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, the breeding process can be accelerated, thereby reducing the time required to 2-3 years only, so that smallholders get faster access to improved maize varieties.
In partnership with Corteva Agriscience â which has significant expertise in the genome-editing field and who is the technology owner â and KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization), CIMMYT scientists have been able to make a breakthrough via the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The technology, Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) along with CRISPR-associated System (Cas) containing Protein 9, functions to replicate natural mutations in maize that will help strengthen its resistance to MLN. At the same time, this precisely targeted crop improvement process eliminates the transfer of many undesirable genes that would often accompany the desired ones as with the case in traditional backcrossing.
Under this project, four CIMMYT inbred lines, that are parents of two commercial hybrids in eastern Africa but susceptible to MLN, have been selected to undergo gene editing to become MLN-resistant. The edited, MLN-resistant lines will in turn be used to produce MLN-resistant hybrids which will still carry all the farmer-preferred agronomic traits including drought tolerance, similar to other elite maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT and released through partners.
CIMMYT is working in close collaboration with KALRO and other partners from the public and private sectors to increase the number of MLN-resistant Africa-adapted inbred lines and hybrids, as well as to make deployment efforts. By 2025, subject to compliance with regulatory procedures, commercial seeds of the gene-edited MLN-resistant elite maize hybrids will be available to up to 20,000 smallholder farmers for approximately 40,000 hectares of planting. In line with the CGIAR Principles on the Management of Intellectual Assets and CIMMYTâs constant endeavor to treat its improved germplasm as international public good, the MLN-resistant hybrids will be available royalty-free and seed companies entering into commercialization/licensing agreements in connection with this project will not be allowed to charge smallholder farmers higher seed cost. In this way, more farmers in MLN-affected countries in eastern and Central Africa can eventually benefit from increased supply of high-yielding, MLN-resistant and affordable maize products.
Members of the Enterprise Breeding System (EBS) advisory committee met on January 17-18, 2019, to review progress on the development of a full-spectrum breeding data management software.
CGIAR plant breeders currently rely on a suite of different software projects to make use of the data that is crucial to developing better varieties. Developed under the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB), the EBS aims to provide a single solution that links data across new and existing applications so that the entire breeding data workflow â from experiment creation to analytics â can be accessed from a single user-friendly dashboard.
Development of the system is well underway, with the goal of providing a “minimum viable implementation” to pilot users at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 2020. More advanced functions, institutions and crops will be added to the EBS over the next three years.
Working between breeders and developers to ensure needs are translated into software functions, the EBS team has trained CIMMYT staff and consultants as requirements analysts, five of whom presented to members of the EBS advisory committee the meeting on progress in the five “domains” of breeding software functions.
Sharing bits and bytes
Rosemary Shresthra introduced experiment creation, where users can quickly select the type of experiment they wish to run and automatically set up all the steps needed to complete it in the EBS.
Kate Dreher took the attendees through field implementation, where it is possible to map fields in the system and connect them to a range of plot data collection tools developed by external projects.
Ricardo LeĂłn outlined the germplasm management component of the system, where the seed inventory is kept, and new entries made after trials are harvested to go on to the next stage.
Pedro Medeiros explained how an analytics request manager will allow EBS users to push their data to different analytics tools that support decision-making and, ultimately, their ability to deliver better varieties that meet farmers’ needs.
Finally, Star Gao, a breeding informatics specialist for the Genomic and Open-Source Breeding Informatics Initiative (GOBii), showed how users will be able to request phytosanitary, genotypic and quality analysis of samples from their trials through the EBS system. The system will provide an overview of the status of all samples submitted for analysis with different service providers, in addition to the ability to connect with various databases.
“We can do all this because all information in the EBS is treated the same way, from experiment creation through implementation,” said EBS coordinator Tom Hagen in summary.
The EBS advisory group, which includes user representatives from CIMMYT and IRRI breeding teams alongside EiB staff, ended the day by discussing and prioritizing new functions that could be added to the EBS over the next three years.
A new small-scale agricultural machinery leasing scheme became operational in Amhara region, Ethiopia, in December 2019. The initiative offers farmers and group of farmers the opportunity to buy agricultural machineries with only 15-20% advance payment and the rest to be paid during a three-year period. Three farmers participated in the pilot phase of the project.
This initiative, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the German Development Agency (GIZ), is one more step to expand small-scale agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia. CIMMYT and GIZ have explored this area of work since 2015, in collaboration with government and private partners.
Subsistence modes of production, shortage of quality agricultural inputs and farm machinery services are some of the impediments to expand agricultural productivity and enhance food security in Ethiopia.
Small-scale agricultural mechanization, in the Ethiopian context, improves the quality of field operations. For example, farmers are benefiting from row planting, optimal plant population, more precise seed and fertilizer placement, efficient utilization of soil moisture during planting window. The timing of operations is also very important â delays in planting could have a serious negative impact on yield, and harvesting and threshing must be done at a time when there is no labor shortages. Small-scale mechanization drastically saves time and labor compared to conventional crop establishment systems, and reduces yield loss at the time of harvesting and threshing.
Farmers walk by irrigated potato fields during a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Despite these advantages, the adoption rate has been too low. A survey conducted by IFPRI and Ethiopiaâs Central Statistical Agency in 2015 shows that only 9% of farmers in Ethiopia use machine power to plough their land, harvest their output, or thresh their crops. A significant number of farmers continues to use conventional farming systems, using animal and human labor.
Ephrem Tadesse, small-scale mechanization project agribusiness specialist with CIMMYT, said that most of the land holdings in Ethiopia are small and fragmented, and thus not suitable for large agricultural machineries.
CIMMYT and its partners introduced the two-wheel tractor and tested it in different parts of the country. One of the challenges has been the issue of access to finance to buy tractors and their accessories, because of their relatively high costs for individual farmers to buy with their own cash, noted Ephrem.
CIMMYT and GIZ have been working with selected microfinance institutes to pilot a machinery leasing scheme for small-scale agricultural mechanization. For several years, they have partnered with Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share in the Amhara region and with Oromia Capital Goods Lease Finance Business Share Company in the Oromia region. In December 2019, three farmers in the Machakel district of the Amhara region were the first ones to receive their machines through this scheme.
Farmers in the district of Machakel participate in a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Tesfaw Workneh is the father of one of the beneficiaries. âThis is great opportunity for farmers like my son to access small-scale agricultural machinery,â said Tesfaw. His son only paid 30,000 Ethiopian birr, about $1,000 â that is 20% of the total cost to own the different agricultural implements. Now, he is able to provide service to other farmers and get income, he explained.
Several types of machinery are being considered for this leasing scheme, using the two wheel-tractor as the source of power: planters, harvesters/reapers, threshers/shellers, trailers and water pumps.
For farmers like Alemayew Ewnetu, this kind of machinery is a novelty that makes farming easier. âToday, my eyes have seen miracles. This is my first time seeing such machineries doing everything in a few minutes. We have always relayed on ourselves and the animals. Now I am considering selling some of my animals to buy the implements,â said Alemayew.
Demelsah Ynew, Deputy Director of Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share, noted that his company was established six years ago to provide services in the manufacturing sector. However, after a discussion with CIMMYT and GIZ, the company agreed to extend its services to the agriculture sector. When revising our role, he noted, we considered the limitations farmers have in adopting technologies and the vast opportunity presented in the agricultural sector. Demelsah explained that to benefit from the leasing scheme, farmers will have to fulfill a few minimal criteria, including being residents of the area and saving 15-20% of the total cost.
If not practiced sustainably, agriculture can have a toll on the environment, produce greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. However, sustainable farming methods can do the opposite â increase resilience to climate change, protect biodiversity and sustainably use natural resources.
One of these methods is conservation agriculture.
Conservation agriculture conserves natural resources, biodiversity and labor. It increases available soil water, reduces heat and drought stress, and builds up soil health in the longer term.
What are the principles of conservation agriculture?
Conservation agriculture is based on the interrelated principles of minimal mechanical soil disturbance, permanent soil cover with living or dead plant material, and crop diversification through rotation or intercropping. It helps farmers to maintain and boost yields and increase profits, while reversing land degradation, protecting the environment and responding to growing challenges of climate change.
To reduce soil disturbance, farmers practice zero-tillage farming, which allows direct planting without plowing or preparing the soil. The farmer seeds directly through surface residues of the previous crop.
Zero tillage is combined with intercropping and crop rotation, which means either growing two or more crops at the same time on the same piece of land, or growing two different crops on the same land in a sequential manner. These are also core principles of sustainable intensification.
How is conservation agriculture different from sustainable intensification?
Sustainable intensification is a process to increase agriculture yields without adverse impacts on the environment, taking the whole ecosystem into consideration. It aims for the same goals as conservation agriculture.
Conservation agriculture practices lead to or enable sustainable intensification.
What are the benefits and challenges of conservation agriculture?      Â
Zero-tillage farming with residue cover saves irrigation water, gradually increases soil organic matter and suppresses weeds, as well as reduces costs of machinery, fuel and time associated with tilling. Leaving the soil undisturbed increases water infiltration, holds soil moisture and helps to prevent topsoil erosion. Conservation agriculture enhances water intake that allows for more stable yields in the midst of weather extremes exacerbated by climate change.
While conservation agriculture provides many benefits for farmers and the environment, farmers can face constraints to adopt these practices. Wetlands or soils with poor drainage can make adoption challenging. When crop residues are limited, farmers tend to use them for fodder first, so there might not be enough residues for the soil cover. To initiate conservation agriculture, appropriate seeders are necessary, and these may not be available or affordable to all farmers. Conservation agriculture is also knowledge intensive and not all farmers may have access to the knowledge and training required on how to practice conservation agriculture. Finally, conservation agriculture increases yields over time but farmers may not see yield benefits immediately.
However, innovations, adapted research and new technologies are helping farmers to overcome these challenges and facilitate the adoption of conservation agriculture.
How did conservation agriculture originate?
Belita Maleko, a farmer in Nkhotakota, central Malawi, sowed cowpea as an intercrop in one of her maize plots, grown under conservation agriculture principles. (Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT)
The term âconservation agricultureâ was coined in the 1990s, but the idea to minimize soil disturbance has its origins in the 1930s, during the Dust Bowl in the United States of America.
CIMMYT pioneered no-till training programs and trials in the 1970s, in maize and wheat systems in Latin America. In the 1980s this technique was also used in agronomy projects in South Asia.
CIMMYT began work with conservation agriculture in Latin America and South Asia in the 1990s and in Africa in the early 2000s. Today, these efforts have been scaled up and conservation agriculture principles have been incorporated into projects such as CSISA, FACASI, MasAgro, SIMLESA, and SRFSI.
Farmers worldwide are increasingly adopting conservation agriculture. In the 2015/16 season, conservation agriculture was practiced on about 180 mega hectares of cropland globally, about 12.5% of the total global cropland â 69% more than in the 2008/2009 season.
Is conservation agriculture organic?
Conservation agriculture and organic farming both maintain a balance between agriculture and resources, use crop rotation, and protect the soilâs organic matter. However, the main difference between these two types of farming is that organic farmers use a plow or soil tillage, while farmers who practice conservation agriculture use natural principles and do not till the soil. Organic farmers apply tillage to remove weeds without using inorganic fertilizers.
Conservation agriculture farmers, on the other hand, use a permanent soil cover and plant seeds through this layer. They may initially use inorganic fertilizers to manage weeds, especially in soils with low fertility. Over time, the use of agrichemicals may be reduced or slowly phased out.
How does conservation agriculture differ from climate-smart agriculture?
While conservation agriculture and climate-smart agriculture are similar, their purposes are different. Conservation agriculture aims to sustainably intensify smallholder farming systems and have a positive effect on the environment using natural processes. It helps farmers to adapt to and increase profits in spite of climate risks.
Climate-smart agriculture aims to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change by sequestering soil carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and finally increase productivity and profitability of farming systems to ensure farmersâ livelihoods and food security in a changing climate. Conservation agriculture systems can be considered climate-smart as they deliver on the objectives of climate-smart agriculture.
Wheat provides, on average, 20% of the calories and protein for more than 4.5 billion people in 94 developing countries. To feed a growing population, we need both better agronomic practices and to grow wheat varieties that can withstand the effects of climate change and resist various pests and diseases.
Watch CIMMYT Wheat Physiologist Carolina Rivera discuss â in just one minute â choosing and breeding desirable wheat traits with higher tolerance to stresses.
Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) presented last week at the International Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG) in San Diego, USA.
PAG is the largest agricultural genomics meeting in the world, bringing together over 3,000 leading genetic scientists and researchers from around the world to present their research and share the latest developments in plant and animal genome projects. It provides an important opportunity for CIMMYT scientists to highlight their work translating the latest molecular research developments into wheat and maize breeding solutions for better varieties.
To meet global food demand by 2050, agricultural production must increase by 60% â while at the same time minimizing harm to the environment. This is the process of sustainable intensification, recommended by organizations like the United Nations and the EAT Lancet Commission as a key strategy for transforming our struggling global food systems.
Genomics is crucial to sustainable intensification. By studying a plant or animalâs genetic architecture, researchers can better understand what drives crop or livestock productivity, quality, climate resilience, and resistance to pests and diseases. With this information scientists can speed up efforts to develop better varieties and stay ahead of climate- and disease-related threats.
Philomin Juliana stands next to the logo of the PAG conference. (Photo: CIMMYT)
At the conference, wheat scientist Philomin Juliana shared her findings on successfully identifying significant new chromosomal regions for wheat yield and disease resistance using the full wheat genome map. Juliana and her colleagues have created a freely-available collection of genetic information and markers for more than 40,000 wheat lines which will accelerate efforts to breed superior wheat varieties. She also discussed the value of genomic and high-throughput phenotyping tools for current breeding strategies adopted by CIMMYT to develop climate-resilient wheat.
Principal scientist Sarah Hearne discussed the smarter use of genebank exploration for breeding. Germplasm banks are reserves of native plant variation representing the evolutionary history of the crops we eat. They are a vital source of genetic information, which can accelerate the development of better, more resilient crops. However, it is not easy for breeders and scientists to identify or access the genetic information they need. Using the whole genebank genotypic data, long-term climate data from the origins of the genebank seeds and novel analysis methods, Hearne and her colleagues were able to identify elite genetic breeding material for improved, climate resilient maize varieties. They are now extending this approach to test the value of these data to improve breeding programs and accelerate the development of improved crops.
Distinguished scientist Jose Crossa discussed the latest models and methods for combining phenomic and genomic information to accelerate the development of climate-resilient crop varieties. He highlighted the use of the Artificial Neural Network â a model inspired by the human brain â to model the relationship between input signals and output signals in crops. He also discussed a phenotypic and genomic selection index which can improve response to selection and expected genetic gains for all of an individual plantâs genetic traits simultaneously.
Sarah Hearne presents on the smart use of germplasm banks to accelerate the development of better wheat and maize varieties. (Photo: Francisco Gomez)
Principal scientist Kanwarpal Dhugga gave a presentation on approaches to improve resistance against maize lethal necrosis (MLN) in Africa. MLN is an aggressive disease that first appeared in Kenya in 2011, devastating maize production. It has since spread to neighboring countries. Under a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dhugga and his colleagues at CIMMYT and Corteva Agriscience have identified a small genomic region explaining more than 50% of variation in MLN resistance. They are currently validating a few candidate genes in this region. Once done, they will use gene editing directly in elite lines from eastern Africa to accelerate the development of improved, disease resistant maize hybrids.
Genomic breeder Umesh Rosyara demonstrated the genomic selection pipeline and other tools at a workshop using the online Galaxy software. Galaxy is an open-source software that allows users to access powerful computational analysis tools. The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) has set up an instance of Galaxy that contains a suite of bioinformatics analysis tools, R-packages â a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics â and visualization tools to manage routine genomic selection (GS) and genome wide association studies (GWAS) analysis. This allows crop breeders and genomic scientists without a programming background to conduct these analyses and create crop-specific workflows.
âPAG is currently the main international meeting touching both crop and livestock genomics, so itâs an invaluable chance to connect and share insights with research and breeding colleagues around the world,â said Hearne. âItâs also an important forum to highlight how we are linking upstream and field, and help others do the same.â
Kanwarpal Dhugga (left) takes a selfie with his colleagues in the background during the PAG conference. (Photo: Kanwarpal Dhugga/CIMMYT)
Seed banks, like the one at CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico, are part of planning for the future of food. CIMMYT protects the biodiversity of maize and wheat with more than 30,000 samples of maize and 150,000 of wheat.
A farm worker applies fertilizer in a field of Staha maize for seed production at Suba Agro’s Mbezi farm in Tanzania. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa are generally low. This is in large part because of low fertilizer use. A recent study of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa showed that just 35% of farmers applied fertilizer. Some possible reasons for this could be that farmers may be unaware of the efficacy of fertilizer use; or have degraded soils that do not respond to fertilizer; they may not have the cash to purchase it; or because unpredictable rainfall makes such investments risky. It may also be because local fertilizer prices make their use insufficiently profitable for many farmers.
To better understand the potential fertilizer demand in a particular location, it is important to know how crops respond to fertilizer under local conditions, but it is critical to understand crop responses in terms of economic returns. This requires information about local market prices of fertilizers and other inputs, as well as the prices that a farmer could receive from selling the crop.
While national-level fertilizer prices may be available, it is necessary to consider the extent to which prices vary within countries, reflecting transportation costs and other factors. In the absence of such data, analysis of household-level behaviors requires assumptions about the prices smallholder farmers face â assumptions which may not be valid. For example, evaluations of the returns to production technologies settings have often assumed spatially invariant input and output prices or, in other words, that all farmers in a country face the same set of prices. This is at odds with what we know about economic remoteness and the highly variable market access conditions under which African smallholders operate.
An obstacle to using empirical data on sub-national disparities in fertilizer prices is the scarcity of such data. A new study focused on the spatial discrepancies in fertilizer prices. The study compiled local market urea price in eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 2010-2018 and used spatial interpolation models â using points with known values to approximate values at other unknown points â to predict local prices at locations for which no empirical data was available. It was conducted by scientists at University of California, Davis, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The authors note that this is the first major attempt to systematically describe the spatial variability of fertilizer prices within the target countries and test the ability to estimate the price at unsampled locations.
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in eight East African countries.
âOur study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries and gives a much more accurate representation of the economic realities faced by African smallholders than the picture suggested by using national average prices,â said Camila Bonilla Cedrez, PhD Candidate at University of California, Davis. âWe show that in many countries, this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand, and environmental conditions.â
Urea prices were generally found to be more expensive in remote areas or away from large urban centers, ports of entry or blending facilities. There were some exceptions, though. In Benin, Ghana and Nigeria, prices went down when moving away from the coast, with the possible explanation being market prices in areas with higher demand are lower. In other locations, imports of fertilizer from neighboring countries with lower prices may be affecting prices in another country or region, much like political influence. Politically, well-connected villages can receive more input subsidies compared to the less connected ones.
âThe performance of our price estimation methods and the simplicity of our approach suggest that large scale price mapping for rural areas is a cost-effective way to provide more useful price information for guiding policy, targeting interventions, and for enabling more realistic applied microeconomic research. For example, local price estimates could be incorporated into household-survey-based analysis of fertilizer adoption,â explained Jordan Chamberlin, CIMMYT spatial economist. âIn addition, such predictive âprice mapsâ can be incorporated into targeting and planning frameworks for agricultural investments. For example, to target technology promotion efforts to the areas where those technologies are most likely to be profitable.â
Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in nine West African countries.
âThe evidence we have compiled in this paper suggests that, while investments in more comprehensive and spatially representative price data collection would be very useful, we may utilize spatial price prediction models to extend the value of existing data to better reflect local price variation through interpolation,â explained Robert J. Hijmans, professor at University of California, Davis. âEven if imperfect, such estimates almost certainly better reflect farmersâ economic realities than assumptions of spatially constant prices within a given country. We propose that spatial price estimation methods such as the ones we employ here serve for better approximating heterogeneous economic market landscapes.â
This study has illustrated new ways for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Â The authors suggest that an important avenue for future empirical work would be to evaluate the extent to which the subnational price variation documented is a useful explanatory factor for observed variation in smallholder fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, after controlling for local agronomic responses and output prices. One way to do that may be to integrate input and output price predictions into spatial crop models, and then evaluate the degree to which modeled fertilizer use profitability predicts observed fertilizer use rates across different locations.
In Nepal, it takes at least a year to collate the demand and supply of a required type and quantity of seed. A new digital seed information system is likely to change that, as it will enable all value chain actors to access information on seed demand and supply in real time. The information system is currently under development, as part of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
In this system, a national database allows easy access to an online seed catalogue where characteristics and sources of all registered varieties are available. A balance sheet simultaneously gathers and shares real time information on seed demand and supply by all the stakeholders. The digital platform also helps to plan and monitor seed production and distribution over a period of time.
Screenshot of the DESIS portal, still under development.
Challenges to seed accessÂ
Over 2,500 seed entrepreneurs engaged in production, processing and marketing of seeds in Nepal rely on public research centers to get early generation seeds of various crops, especially cereals, for subsequent seed multiplication.
âThe existing seed information system is cumbersome and the process of collecting information takes a minimum of one year before a seed company knows where to get the required amount and type of seed for multiplication,â said Laxmi Kant Dhakal, Chairperson of the Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (SEAN) and owner of a seed company in the far west of the country. Similarly, more than 700 rural municipalities and local units in Nepal require seeds to multiply under farmers cooperatives in their area.
One of the critical challenges farmers encounter around the world is timely access to quality seeds, due to unavailability of improved varieties, lack of information about them, and weak planning and supply management. Asmita Shrestha, a farmer in Surkhet district, has been involved in maize farming for the last 20 years. She is unaware of the availability of different types of maize that can be productive in the mid-hill region and therefore loses the opportunity to sow improved maize seeds and produce better harvests.
In Sindhupalchowk district, seed producer Ambika Thapa works in a cooperative and produces hybrid tomato seeds. Her problem is getting access to the right market that can provide a good profit for her efforts. A kilogram of hybrid tomato seed can fetch up to $2,000 in a retail and upscale market. However, she is not getting a quarter of this price due to lack of market information and linkages with buyers. This is the story of many Nepali female farmers, who account for over 60% of the rural farming community, where lack of improved technologies and access to profitable markets challenge farm productivity.
At present, the Seed Quality Control Center (SQCC), Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Bio-diversity Conservation (CCDABC) and the Vegetable Development Directorate (VDD) are using paper-based data collection systems to record and plan seed production every year. Aggregating seed demand and supply data and generating reports takes at least two to three months. Furthermore, individual provinces need to convene meetings to collect and estimate province-level seed demand that must come from rural municipalities and local bodies.
A digital technology solutionÂ
CIMMYT and its partners are leveraging digital technologies to create an integrated Digitally Enabled Seed Information System (DESIS) that is efficient, dynamic and scalable. This initiative was the result of collaboration between U.S. Global Development Lab and USAID under the Digital Development for Feed the Future (D2FTF) initiative, which aimed to demonstrate that digital tools and approaches can accelerate progress towards food security and nutrition goals.
FHI 360 talked to relevant stakeholders in Nepal to assess their needs, as part of the Mobile Solutions Technical Assistance and Research (mSTAR) project, funded by USAID. Based on this work, CIMMYT and its partners identified a local IT expert and launched the development of DESIS.
The Digitally Enabled Seed Information System (DESIS) will help to create market and research linkages for Nepal’s seed system.
DESIS will provide an automated version of the seed balance sheet. Using unique logins, agencies will be able to place their requests and seed producers to post their seed supplies. The platform will help to aggregate and manage breeder, foundation and source seed, as well as certified and labelled seed. The system will also include an offline seed catalogue where users can view seed characteristics, compare seeds and select released and registered varieties available in Nepal. Users can also generate seed quality reports on batches of seeds.
âAs the main host of this system, the platform is well designed and perfectly applicable to the needs of SQCC,â said Madan Thapa, Chief of SQCC, during the initial user tests held at his office. Thapa also expressed the potential of the platform to adapt to future needs.
The system will also link farmers to seed suppliers and buyers, to build a better internal Nepalese seed market. The larger goal of DESIS is to help farmers grow better yields and improve livelihoods, while contributing to food security nationwide.
DESIS is planned to roll out in Nepal in early 2020. Primary users will be seed companies, agricultural research centers, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, agrovets, cooperatives, farmers, development partners, universities, researchers, policy makers, and international institutions. The system is based on an open source software and will be available on a mobile website and Android app.
âIt is highly secure, user friendly and easy to update,â said Warren Dally, an IT consultant who currently oversees the technical details of the software and the implementation process.
Farmers in Nepal show their most popular digital tool, a mobile phone, during a training. (Photo: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)
As part of the NSAF project, CIMMYT is also working to roll out digital seed inspection and a QR code-based quality certification system. The higher vision of the system is to create a seed data warehouse that integrates the seed information portal and the seed market information system.
Digital solutions are critical to link the agricultural market with vital information so farmers can make decisions for better production and harvest. It will not be long before farmers like Asmita and Ambika can easily access information using their mobile phones on the type of variety suitable to grow in their region and the best market to sell their products.
CIMMYT’s multi-crop, multi-use zero-tillage seeder at work on a long-term conservation agriculture trial plot at the center’s global headquarters in Mexico. Maize crop residues are visible in the foreground. (Photo: CIMMYT)
New research published in Field Crops Research by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) responds to the question of whether wheat varieties need to be adapted to zero tillage conditions.
With 33% of global soils already degraded, agricultural techniques like zero tillage â growing crops without disturbing the soil with activities like plowing â in combination with crop residue retention, are being considered to help protect soils and prevent further degradation. Research has shown that zero tillage with crop residue retention can reduce soil erosion and improve soil structure and water retention, leading to increased water use efficiency of the system. Zero tillage has also been shown to be the most environmentally friendly among different tillage techniques.
While CIMMYT promotes conservation agriculture, of which zero tillage is a component, many farmers who use CIMMYT wheat varieties still use some form of tillage. As farmers adopt conservation agriculture principles in their production systems, we need to be sure that the improved varieties breeders develop and release to farmers can perform equally well in zero tillage as in conventional tillage environments.
The aim of the study was to find out whether breeding wheat lines in a conservation agriculture environment had an effect on their adaptability to one tillage system or another, and whether separate breading streams would be required for each tillage system.
The scientists conducted parallel early generation selection in sixteen populations from the breeding program. The best plants were selected in parallel under conventional and zero-till conditions, until 234 and 250 fixed lines were obtained. They then grew all 484 wheat lines over the course of three seasons near Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, under three different environments â zero tillage, conventional tillage, and conventional tillage with reduced irrigation â and tested them for yield and growth traits.
The authors found that yields were better under zero tillage than conventional tillage for all wheat lines, regardless of how they had been bred and selected, as this condition provided longer water availability between irrigations and mitigated inter-irrigation water stress.
The main result was that selection environment, zero-till versus conventional till, did not produce lines with specific adaptation to either conditions, nor did it negatively impact the results of the breeding program for traits such as plant height, tolerance to lodging and earliness.
One trait which was slightly affected by selection under zero-till was early vigor â the speed at which crops grow during the earliest stage of growth. Early vigor is a useful adaptive trait in conservation agriculture because it allows the crop to cope with high crop residue loads â materials left on the ground such as leaves, stems and seed pods â and can improve yield through rapid development of maximum leaf area in dry environments. Results showed that varieties selected under zero tillage showed slightly increased early vigor which means that selection under zero tillage may drive a breeding program towards the generalization of this useful attribute.
The findings demonstrate that CIMMYTâs durum wheat lines, traditionally bred for wide adaptation, can be grown, bred, and selected under either tillage conditions without negatively affecting yield performance. This is yet another clear demonstration that breeding for wide adaptation, a decades-long tradition within CIMMYTâs wheat improvement effort, is a suitable strategy to produce varieties that are competitive in a wide range of production systems. The findings represent a major result for wheat breeders at CIMMYT and beyond, with the authors concluding that it is not necessary to have separate breeding programs to address the varietal needs of either tillage systems.
This work was implemented by CIMMYT as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT).
Hafiz Uddin, a farmer from Ulankhati, Tanpuna, Barisal, Bangladesh. He used seeder fertilizer drills to plant mung beans on one acre of land, which resulted in a better yield than planting manually. (Photo: Ranak Martin)
Over the last few decades, deteriorating soil fertility has been linked to decreasing agricultural yields in South Asia, a region marked by inequities in food and nutritional security.
As the demand for fertilizers grows, researchers are working with government and businesses to promote balanced nutrient management and the appropriate use of organic amendments among smallholder farmers. The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) has published a new policy brief outlining opportunities for innovation in the region.
Like all living organisms, crops need access to the right amount of nutrients for optimal growth. Plants get nutrients â like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, in addition to other crucially important micronutrients â from soils and carbon, hydrogen, oxygen from the air and water. When existing soil nutrients are not sufficient to sustain good crop yields, additional nutrients must be added through fertilizers or manures, compost or crop residues. When this is not done, farmers effectively mine the soil of fertility, producing short-term gains, but undermining long-term sustainability.
Nutrient management involves using crop nutrients as efficiently as possible to improve productivity while reducing costs for farmers, and also protecting the environment by limiting greenhouse gas emissions and water quality contamination. The key behind nutrient management is appropriately balancing soil nutrient inputs â which can be enhanced when combined with appropriate soil organic matter management â with crop requirements. When the right quantities are applied at the right times, added nutrients help crops yields flourish. On the other hand, applying too little will limit yield and applying too much can harm the environment, while also compromising farmersâ ability to feed themselves or turn profits from the crops they grow.
Smallholder farmers in South Asia commonly practice poor nutrition management with a heavy reliance on nitrogenous fertilizer and a lack of balanced inputs and micronutrients. Declining soil fertility, improperly designed policy and nutrient management guidelines, and weak fertilizer marketing and distribution problems are among the reasons farmers fail to improve fertility on their farms. This is why it is imperative to support efforts to improve soil organic matter management and foster innovation in the fertilizer industry, and find innovative ways to target farmers, provide extension services and communicate messages on cost-effective and more sustainable strategies for matching high yields with appropriate nutrient management.
Cross-country learning reveals opportunities for improved nutrient management. The policy brief is based on outcomes from a cross-country dialogue facilitated by CSISA earlier this year in Kathmandu. The meeting saw researchers, government and business stakeholders from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka discuss challenges and opportunities to improving farmer knowledge and access to sufficient nutrients. Several key outcomes for policy makers and representatives of the agricultural development sector were identified during the workshop, and are included in the brief.
Extension services as an effective way to encourage a more balanced use of fertilizers among smallholder farmers. There is a need to build the capacity of extension to educate smallholders on a plantâs nutritional needs and proper fertilization. It also details how farmersâ needs assessments and human-centered design approaches need to be integrated while developing and delivering nutrient application recommendations and extension materials.
Nutrient subsidies must be reviewed to ensure they balance micro and macro-nutrients. Cross-country learning and evidence sharing on policies and subsidies to promote balanced nutrient application are discussed in the brief, as is the need to balance micro and macro-nutrient subsidies, in addition to the organization of subsidy programs in ways that assure farmers get access the right nutrients when and where they are needed the most. The brief also suggests additional research and evidence are needed to identify ways to assure that farmersâ behavior changes in response to subsidy programs.
Market, policy, and product innovations in the fertilizer industry must be encouraged. It describes the need for blended fertilizer products and programs to support them. A blend is made by mixing two or more fertilizer materials. For example, particles of nitrogen, phosphate and small amounts of secondary nutrients and micronutrients mixed together. Experience with blended products are uneven in the region, and markets for blends are nascent in Bangladesh and Nepal in particular. Cross-country technical support on how to develop blending factories and markets could be leveraged to accelerate blended fertilizer markets and to identify ways to ensure equitable access to these potentially beneficial products for smallholder farmers.
Whenever seed is transferred between countries, continents or regions there is an inherent risk that new plant pathogens could spread to previously non-infested areas â with potentially devastating consequences. FAO estimates that these pathogens are responsible for the loss of up to 40% of global food crops, and for trade losses in agricultural products exceeding $220 billion each year.
With old and new pests and diseases causing devastation across the world, it is becoming increasingly important to consider plant health. This is especially true at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), an organization which processes and distributes enormous quantities of seed each year and in 2019 alone sent over 10,000 tons to more than 100 partners in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.
Amos Alakonya joined CIMMYT in July 2019, and as head of the organizationâs Seed Health Unit he is acutely aware of the need to mitigate risk throughout the seed production value chain.
In the lead up to this yearâs International Phytosanitary Awareness Week, the plant pathologist sits down to discuss pests, screening procedures, and explain why everyone should be talking about seed health.
Amos Alakonya, head of CIMMYT’s Seed Health unit. (Photo: Eleusis Llanderal/CIMMYT)
Can you start by telling us about the CGIAR Germplasm Health Unit consortium and what it does?
Within CGIAR we have a cluster called Genebank Platform whose main function is to support CGIAR efforts in conservation and distribution of germplasm. Â Ten CGIAR Centers have germplasm banks that work closely with germplasm health units to ensure that they only distribute plant materials free from pests and diseases.
What is the procedure for introducing seed at CIMMYT?
At CIMMYT, researchers must follow the correct procedure when bringing in seed. Once someone has identified the need to bring in seed, contacted a supplier and agreed on the genotypes and amount required, the responsibility is transferred to the Seed Health Unit. We take care of communication with the seed supplier and provide support in acquisition of the necessary phytosanitary documentation that will ensure compliance with host country rules.
For instance, we will process and provide a plant import permit allowing us to bring in the seed while also stipulating the conditions it must meet before entry into Mexico. This document is used as the standard guide by the authorities in the supplier country, commonly referred to us National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO). The NPPO will then perform a pre-shipment verification and issue a phytosanitary certificate if the seed meets the standards stated in the import permit.
Because we distribute our materials as public goods, we ensure that all seed sent out or received can be used and distributed without restrictions from the supplier or the recipient. This is achieved by the signing of a standard material transfer agreement that complies with International treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This is done through CIMMYTâs legal unit.
Petri dishes and a microscope in Amos Alakonya’s lab. (Photo: Eleusis Llanderal/CIMMYT)
Once we have received all the necessary documents, materials are cleared through customs and delivered to the lab, where we begin our analysis. The first thing we do is assess the material visually and confirm there is no discoloration and no foreign material like soil or seeds from other species. At the next stage, we set up several assays to detect fungi, bacteria and viruses. We only release seed to scientists or allow distribution after weâve confirmed they are free from injurious pathogens. Overall, this process takes between 25 and 40 days, so scientists must plan ahead to avoid any inconvenience.
That sounds like a complex process. Do you face any challenges along the way?
There are several challenges but we work around them. One of the biggest ones is meeting up with time expectations. For example, every scientist wants to make sure that theyâre on track, but sometimes the seed takes longer than expected to arrive or the documentation gets misplaced which means the seed cannot be released from customs in time.
Even after a delay, the seed has to still pass through the standard health testing procedure. Sometimes we find that the supplierâs NPPO hasnât carried out the right tests, so we bring in seed that turns out to be non-compliant and may end up being destroyed as a result. However, we only recommend seed destruction in cases where we canât mitigate.
Thatâs why itâs crucial that everyone â at all stages of the seed production value chain â is aware of the risks and appropriate mitigation processes. These include checking seed before planting, regular field inspections, and observing field hygiene and spraying regimes.
The theme for this yearâs event focuses on transboundary threats to plant health. Are there any emerging ones that youâre concerned about?
Currently there are three main concerns. The first is Maize Lethal Necrosis. The disease was initially reported in the USA and Peru in 1977, but since 2011 the disease has been invading farms in east and central Africa. Because of this, maize breeders in the region cannot send seed directly to their partners in other regions of the world without going through a quarantine field station in Zimbabwe. This comes with additional costs and time burden to the program.
Weâre also very concerned about wheat blast, which is now present in Bangladesh where we have trials and share seed in both directions. We have therefore already put in place screening tools against wheat blast to ensure we do not introduce it into experimental fields in Mexico.
And finally, we have the fall armyworm. This pest is indigenous to South America where it is less ferocious, but ever since it reached Africa around 2016 it has been causing destruction to maize and costing farmers lots of money to control through application of chemicals. This emerging disease really undermines food security efforts.
This is obviously an important topic to raise global awareness about. Why do you think it is so crucial to discuss seed health within CIMMYT internally as well?
Amos Alakonya, head of CIMMYT’s Seed Health unit. (Photo: Eleusis Llanderal/CIMMYT)
Itâs very important that everyone working at CIMMYT, and especially those working with seed, is aware of the potential risks because about 30% of maize and 50% of wheat grown worldwide can be traced to CIMMYT germplasm. And itâs even more important for Mexico because most of our wheat breeding program is based here and it is also the center of origin for maize. With partners in more than 100 countries we have to be extremely vigilant. If anything goes wrong here, many countries will be at risk.
Ultimately, we want people to be aware of the important role they play in ensuring phytosanitary compliance because prevention is better than cure. We would like to envisage a situation where everybody in CIMMYT is aware of the mitigation processes that have been put in place to ensure safe seed exchanges.
Will you continue working to raise awareness beyond this yearâs event?
Yes. In December 2018, the United Nations declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health. Everybody will be encouraged to take this opportunity to inform people about the importance of seed health, especially as it relates to food security, environmental conservation and economic empowerment.
Itâs exciting because this event only happens every 30 to 50 years, so this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the work we do every day, both as a unit and in collaboration with our global partners.
Cover photo:
A mixture of maize seeds seen in close-up. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
This month, the worldâs eyes are upon global leaders gathered in Madrid for COP25 to negotiate collective action to slow the devastating impacts of climate change.
According to the UN, the world is heading for a 3.2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, leading to a host of destructive climate impacts, including hotter and drier environments and more extreme weather events. Under these conditions, the worldâs staple food crops are under threat.
A new video highlights the work of the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Network (HeDWIC), a global research and capacity development network under the Wheat Initiative, that harnesses the latest technologies in crop physiology, genetics and breeding to help create new climate-resilient wheat varieties. With the help of collaborators and supporters from around the world, HeDWIC takes wheat research from the theoretical to the practical by incorporating the best science into real-life breeding scenarios.
