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.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is offering a new set of improved maize hybrids to partners in eastern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones, to scale up production for farmers in these areas.
National agricultural research systems and seed companies are invited to apply for the allocation of these pre-commercial hybrids, after which they will be able to register, produce and offer the improved seed to farming communities.
The deadline for applications is February 10th, 2018.
*Please note: This form has been updated since the last cycle; please download a fresh copy from the link above. Applications using the old format may not be accepted.
Julio Huerta stands in a wheat field in northern Mexico. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT.
Based on publication records, CIMMYT scientists produce a lot more than just improved maize and wheat varieties, as important as that work has been for farmers, partners, and consumers.
In 2017, CIMMYT researchers contributed to nearly 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, many published in high-impact journals including Nature and Science. The articles emerged from partnerships with a broad range of international universities and research institutes and have been cited frequently by peers in recent years.
âCIMMYT is the worldâs largest distributor of publicly-available maize and wheat ‘germplasm,’ which includes breeding lines and other genetic resources in the form of seed,â said Marianne BĂ€nziger, CIMMYT deputy director general for research and partnerships. âBut the centerâs researchers also publish high-quality, cutting-edge science articles, not to mention mentoring and training several hundred students and professionals mostly from national research systems every year and interacting with thousands of farmers.â
Ravi Singh and Julio Huerta, CIMMYT wheat scientists, were recognized in 2017 among the top one percent of researchers for the frequency of citation of their articles by other science authors.
Among the many reports to which they contributed, Huerta and Singh were participants and co-authors in a study published in the eminent journal Science in 2009 and since cited by other researchers 441 times. The study described the molecular basis of a âwonderâ gene that, in tandem with other resistance genes, has helped protect wheat from three deadly fungal diseases for more than 50 years, providing farmers benefits in excess of $5 billion in harvests saved, according to a CIMMYT report on the findings.
The two scientists share authorship on at least a half-dozen other articles on wheat disease breeding and genetics that have been cited over 100 times.
âThese examples show that CIMMYT research substantially contributes to global science, in addition to the impact achieved in farmersâ fields,â said BĂ€nziger. âIt all builds on high-value partnerships with hundreds of researchers and professionals worldwide.â
With increasing global demand for wheat and increasing constraints (high temperatures, diseases) to wheatâs productivity, wheat breeders are looking for new methodologies to make breeding more efficient. A new study looks at refinements of genomic prediction models to help achieve this.
The authors write that genomic selection is becoming a standard approach to achieving genetic progress in plants, as it gets around the need to field-test the offspring at every cycle, but that the models commonly used in plant breeding are based on datasets of only a few hundred genotyped individual plants.
This study used pedigree and genomic data from nearly 59,000 wheat lines evaluated in different environments, as well as genomic and pedigree information in a model that incorporated genotype X environment interactions to predict the performance of wheat lines in Mexican and South Asian environments.
They found that models using markers (and pedigree) had higher prediction accuracies than models using only phenotypic data. Models that included genomic x environment had higher prediction accuracies than models that do not include interaction.
Association mapping reveals loci associated with multiple traits that affect grain yield and adaptation in soft winter wheat. 2017. Lozada, D. N., Mason, E.R., Md Ali Babar, Carver, B. F., Guedira, G. B., Merrill, K., Arguello, M. N., Acuna, A., Vieira, L., Holder, A., Addison, C., Moon, D. E., Miller, R. G., Dreisigacker, S. In: Euphytica v. 213 : 222.
Effect of trait heritability, training population size and marker density on genomic prediction accuracy estimation in 22 bi-parental tropical maize populations. 2017. Ao Zhang, Hongwu Wang, Beyene, Y., Fentaye Kassa Semagn, Yubo Liu, Shiliang Cao, Zhenhai Cui, Yanye Ruan, Burgueño, J., San Vicente, F.M., Olsen, M., Prasanna, B.M., Crossa, J., Haiqiu Yu, Zhang, X. In: Frontiers in Plant Science v. 8 : 1916.
Genomic prediction unifies animal and plant breeding programs to form platforms for biological discovery. 2017. Hickey, J.M., Tinashe Chiurugwi, Mackay, I., Powell, W., Eggen, A., Kilian, A., Jones, C., Canales, C., Grattapaglia, D., Bassi, F., Atlin, G.N., Gorjanc, G., Dawson, I., Rabbi, I., Ribaut, J.M., Rutkoski, J., Benzie, J., Lightner, J., Mwacharo, J., Parmentier, J., Robbins, K., Skot, L., Wolfe, M., Rouard, M., Clark, M., Amer, P., Gardiner, P., Hendre, P., Mrode, R., Sivasankar, S., Rasmussen, S., Groh, S., Jackson, V., Thomas, W., Beyene, Y. In: Nature Genetics v. 49, no. 9, p. 1297â1303.
Erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures are already causing crops to fail, threatening African farmersâ ability to ensure household food security, he said. Africa is the region most vulnerable to climate variability and change, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Small-scale family farmers, who provide the majority of food production in Africa, are set to be among the worst affected. Rusinamhodziâs work includes educating African farmers about the impacts of climate change and working with them to tailor sustainable agriculture solutions to increase their food production in the face of increasingly variable weather.
The worldâs population is projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, with 2.1 billion people set to live in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates farmers will need to increase production by at least 70 percent to meet demand. However, climate change is bringing numerous risks to traditional farming systems challenging the ability to increase production, said Rusinamhodzi.
Graphic created by Gerardo Mejia. Data sourced from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Rusinamhodzi believes increasing farmersâ awareness of climate risks and working with them to implement sustainable solutions is key to ensuring they can buffer climate shocks, such as drought and erratic rainfall.
âThe onset of rainfall is starting late and the seasonal dry spells or outright droughts are becoming commonplace,â said Rusinamhodzi. âFarmers need more knowledge and resources on altering planting dates and densities, crop varieties and species, fertilizer regimes and crop rotations to sustainably intensify food production.â
Growing up in Zimbabwe â a country that is now experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand â Rusinamhodzi understands the importance of small-scale agriculture and the damage erratic weather can have on household food security.
He studied soil science and agronomy and began his career as a research associate at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Zimbabwe learning how to use conservation agriculture as a sustainable entry point to increase food production.
Conservation agriculture is based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. It improves soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.
It is a sustainable intensification practice, which is aimed at enhancing the productivity of labor, land and capital. Sustainable intensification practices offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, unlocking agricultureâs potential to adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainable manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, while improving food and nutrition.
Tailoring sustainable agriculture to farmers
Smallholder farming systems in Africa are diverse in character and content, although maize is usually the major crop. Within each system, farmers are also diverse in terms of resources and production processes. Biophysically, conditions â such as soil and rainfall â change significantly within short distances.
Given the varying circumstances, conservation agriculture cannot be promoted as rigid or one-size fits all solution as defined by the three principles, said Rusinamhodzi.
The systems agronomist studied for his doctoral at Wageningen University with a special focus on targeting appropriate crop intensification options to selected farming systems in southern Africa. Now, with CIMMYT he works with African farming communities to adapt conservation agriculture to farmersâ specific circumstances to boost their food production.
Rusinamhodziâs focus in the region is to design cropping systems around maize-legume intercropping and conservation agriculture. Intercropping has the added advantage of producing two crops from the same piece of land in a single season; different species such as maize and legumes can increase facilitation and help overcome the negative effects of prolonged dry spells and poor soil quality.
Farmer Elphas Chinyanga inspecting his conservation agriculture plots in Zimbabwe. Photo: Peter Lowe/ CIMMYT
âThe key is to understand the farmers, their resources including the biophysical circumstances and their production systems, and assist in adapting conservation agriculture to local needs,â he said.
Working with CIMMYTâs Sustainable Intensification Program, Rusinamhodzi seeks to understand production constraints and opportunities for increased productivity starting with locally available resources.
Using crop simulation modeling and experimentation, he estimates how the farming system will perform under different conditions and works to formulate a set of options to help farmers. The options can include agroforestry, intercropping, improved varieties resistant to heat and drought, fertilizers and manures along with the principles of conservation agriculture to obtain the best results.
The models are an innovative way assess the success or trade-off farmers could have when adding new processes to their farming system. However, the application of these tools are still limited due to the large amounts of data needed for calibration and the complexity, he added.
Information gathered is shared with farmers in order to offer researched options on how to sustainably boost their food production under their conditions, Rusinamhodzi said.
âMy ultimate goal is to increase farmersâ decision space so that they make choices from an informed position,â he said.
Rusinamhodzi also trains farmers, national governments, non-profit organizations, seed companies and graduate students on the concepts and application of sustainable intensification including advanced analysis to understand system productivity, soil quality, water and nutrient use efficiency and crop pest and disease dynamics.
Support from Nepalâs banking sector has the potential to benefit seed companies across the country. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) â Nepalâs push to grow its seed sector is expanding to banking, with new financial measures expected to benefit seed companies across the country.
Nepal launched its National Seed Vision 2013-2025 to improve food security by increasing its domestic production of high quality seeds, and make them available and affordable to farmers. The seed replacement rate, or the percentage of area using certified quality seeds rather than the farm saved seed, is set to increase up to 30 percent for cereal crops and over 90 percent for vegetables.
However, there is a lack of financing from formal sources across agricultural value chains, which led the country to mandate that banks allocate 10 percent of their lending â around NPR 1.3 billion ($12.7 million) â to agriculture in 2017.
A value chain is the full set of activities businesses go through to bring a product or service from conception to delivery, in agriculture, this could involve everything from the development of plant genetic material to selling the final crop at market.
Value chain finance refers to financial products and services that flow to or through any point in a value chain that enables investments that increase actors’ returns, as well as the growth and competitiveness of the chain. This could dramatically improve Nepalâs seed sector by giving farmers, seed companies and banks access to more resources to grow.
In fact, if banks financed just 30 percent of seed company working capital, it would give an extra $2 million to invest in research and development activities, such as variety development, quality improvement, maintenance breeding and other vital functions that are currently not carried out by Nepali seed companies. These funds could also be invested in infrastructure development such as storage and seed processing facilities.
Participants concluded at a recent consultative meeting on financing seed business in Nepal that soft loans â loans that have lenient terms like low interest rates or extended grace periods â to seed companies that charge a government-mandated 5 percent interest rate are an ideal way to provide this extra working capital. The commercial banks offering these loans would benefit by reaching more farmers, thereby expanding their customer base and would reach the government-mandated agricultural financing target.
The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project provided a platform to banks and seed companies to share information and identify business opportunities to support NSAFâs seed system development approach during the meeting. Nearly 40 participants from national banks, seed companies and other governmental and non-governmental organizations participated.
Dyutiman Choudhary, NSAF coordinator, shared the overall seed system development approach of NSAF and the role of finance in seed business. An overview of successful cases and models of bank-seed company partnerships adopted in Asia and Africa was also given.
Banks requested additional information about risks in the seed business and sought guidance to assess and reduce risks associated to their loans. It was agreed that value chain finance through three-party agreements between banks, farmers and seed companies could be a viable approach that could be initiated immediately.
âThrough this sort of agreement, seed companies guarantee they will purchase seeds from farmers,â said the Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal Chair. âThis guarantees a market for seed, minimizing the risk of market failure for banks.â
Four national banks so far have shown interest in partnering with the NSAF seed companies to finance seed production with soft loans. A proposed working group comprised of banks, seed companies and the Government of Nepal will provide strategic direction to finance seed business. NSAF will lead the working group to guide strategic decisions on financing seed business by sharing evidence based information, providing a common platform and catalyzing innovations to ease access to finance by seed companies.
Speakers on panel “How Can CRISPR-Cas Technology Assist Small Holder Farmers Around the World?” at 2017 Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines Iowa. L-R: Kevin Pixley, leader of Seeds of Discovery and the Genetic Resources Program at CIMMYT; Feng Zhang, core member of Broad Institute; Neal Gutterson, member of CIMMYTâs board of trustees and vice president of research and development at DuPont Pioneer, in DowDuPont agriculture division; Nigel Taylor, interim director, Institute for International Crop Improvement, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Picture credit: World Food Prize
DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) â Gene editing technology could revolutionize the way scientists breed high-yielding drought, disease and pest resistant, quality plant seeds, greatly reducing the time it currently takes to develop new varieties, said a panel of expert scientists at the Borlaug Dialogue conference in Des Moines, Iowa.
Using CRISPR-Cas9 to select or suppress desired traits in a genome is almost as simple as editing a Microsoft Word document on a computer, said Feng Zhang, the originator of the technology who is a core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
To edit genes, a protein called Cas9 is programmed to create an RNA search string, which can search and edit paired DNA to alter a genome to achieve desired effects in plants, Zheng said.
âThereâs a lot of exciting opportunity to apply this technology in both human health and in agriculture,â he said.
Although the gene editing process itself is extremely fast, it will likely be several years before the benefits of the process for smallholder farmers begin to be realized, said Kevin Pixley, who leads the Seeds of Discovery project and the Genetic Resources Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
CIMMYT scientists aim to use the breakthrough technology to help smallholder farmers in the developing world address food security, nutrition shortcomings and economic threats to their livelihoods caused by climate change, pests and disease. Additionally, they see the potential to reduce the use of pesticides, and to boost nutrition through bio-fortification of crops.
âWe want sustainable agriculture that provides food and nutrition security for all, while enabling biodiversity conservation,â Pixley said. âCRISPR-Cas9 is an affordable technology that can help us close the technology gap between the resource rich and resource poor farmers of the world.â
CRISPR-Cas9 improved varieties could also reduce the risk of investing in fertilizers, grain storage or other technologies, thereby contributing to “double benefits” for smallholder farmers, Pixley said.
Poverty alleviation and improved livelihoods for farmers are part of the shared vision for CIMMYT and our research partners, and we see CRISPR-Cas9 as a technology that can make a significant contribution to achieving this aim, he added.
DELIVERING BENEFITS
âWe think about this as being about bringing abundant potential to agriculture through this technology,â said Neal Gutterson, a member of CIMMYTâs board of trustees and vice president of research and development at DuPont Pioneer, part of the agriculture division at DowDuPont.
âFor us, it’s part of the evolution of breeding systems, itâs targeted breeding thatâs enabled by CRISPR-Cas9 technology,â he said, describing joint research projects with CIMMYT and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
Currently, CIMMYT and DuPont Pioneer are researching the benefits of using CRISPR-Cas9 to combat maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in East Africa. MLN is caused by a combination of two viruses, which can only be treated by developing genetic resistance in the plant.
âWe can ultimately accelerate the delivery of improved products that are really highly performing, high yielding, and also resistant to that viral disease,â Gutterson said, explaining how the technology would benefit smallholders. âShould the disease spread outside of Africa weâll be poised to deliver solutions even faster.â
DuPont Pioneer and the Broad Institute have signed an agreement to allow universities and non-profit organizations to use the technology for agricultural research and product development.
The joint licensing relationship opens up democratic access to CRISPR-Cas9 for agriculture, Gutterson said, adding that research collaborations with CIMMYT and Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will facilitate access to the technology in the developing world, enriching the livelihoods of farmers.
The technology will also benefit non-commodity crops, known as âorphan crops,â said Nigel Taylor, interim director of the Institute for International Crop Improvement at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
âThe exciting thing about them is that they have huge potential because they have not undergone the improvement maize or rice have gone through,â Taylor said.
Donald Danforth and DuPont Pioneer are conducting joint research using CRISPR Cas9 into cassava brown streak virus disease, which is projected to spread from East Africa to Nigeria, the largest producer of cassava in the world.
âWe edited two of the genes, which means the virus cannot replicate properly in the plant,â Taylor said. âWeâre seeing the viral load is completely reduced.â
Taylor also said he would like to develop improved varieties of teff, which is widely grown in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where the seeds are used to make the food staple âinjera,â a sourdough flatbread.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
To ensure access to the technology, consumers, farmers and scientists in Africa must be involved, and questions about how new crops are regulated must be addressed, the scientists agreed.
âWe must engage in regulatory work with stakeholders,â Taylor said. âAfrican research centers and others around the world must be part of this conversation right now â communication and education about new technologies are essential.â
If scientists use CRISPR-Cas9 to rapidly convert popular varieties from, for example, MLN-susceptible to MLN-resistant, they will make a lasting contribution to farmer livelihoods in Africa, Pixley said.
âHowever, we canât yet assume that the benefits of these technologies will reach smallholder farmers,â he said.
âPublic opinion is largely unformed because few people know about CRISPR-Cas9, and since the regulatory framework is largely undefined, we have a great opportunity to help form it in a way to make the benefits of these technologies available to smallholder farmers.â
We need to begin by recognizing and respecting the sovereignty of every country to decide if, when and how they are going to use this technology, he added.
I think we have a great responsibility to provide accurate, complete and trustworthy information to the public as we bring this technology into the public domain and to the regulatory process, he said.
âWe know that it’s not going to be a magic bullet because no technology is, but we also think that itâs unethical to dismiss any technology without responsibly considering its possible contributions,â Pixley said.
The Borlaug Dialogue conference is held each year in Des Moines to coincide with World Food Prize celebrations. This year delegates feted the 2017 laureate Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, thematically focused on âThe Road out of Poverty.â
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) â A new book from Columbia University Press offers social sector organizations a how-to guide on applying new and creative methods to solve complex problems.
Design Thinking for the Greater Good tells 10 stories of the struggles and successes of organizations from across the world working in industries from healthcare to agriculture that have applied design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem solving, in order to truly understand the problems they wanted to solve, generate testable ideas and develop solutions for vulnerable groups who actually adopted them.
âOur path into the world of design thinking came originally through the for-profit world,â says Jeanne Liedtka, a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and co-author of the book, during her online course offered through Coursera. âFor almost a decade now, we’ve been studying design thinking as a methodology for improving business innovation and growth and examining its successful use in global corporations like IBM, Toyota and 3M.â
According to Liedtka, design methods are even more powerful in the social sector, since these organizations have to frequently navigate complex bureaucracies, work with limited resources and juggle a large range of stakeholder expectations, among other challenges.
MasAgro is also cited as a textbook example of how to develop new practices and technologies by building on traditional knowledge through innovation networks, or “hubs,” which are able to “cut through communication barriers, allowing MasAgro and the farmers to combine the old and the new into best practices that serve local farmers and communities,â according to the authors.
The authors conclude that MasAgro made innovation safe by relying on respected community leaders and innovation networks that develop, test and adapt agricultural methods and innovations that visibly outperform alternative agricultural practices.
âMasAgro has been acknowledged as an innovation in the social sector by design thinking experts because risk averse smallholder farmers in Mexico, whose annual income depends on one agricultural cycle determined by nature, have embraced new sustainable farming practices to improve their livelihoods,â said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYTâs regional representative for the Americas.
Purchase Design Thinking for the Greater Good at Columbia University Press here and check out Jeanne Liedtkaâs online course here.
MasAgro is a research for rural development project that promotes the sustainable intensification of maize and wheat production in Mexico, supported by SAGARPA and CIMMYT. Learn more about the project here.
Farmer Kausila Chanara direct dry seeding rice in Ramghat, Surkhet, Nepal. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — Nepal will benefit from a new project that will strengthen the countryâs seed and fertilizer sectors, boost farmer income and increase the countryâs food security through 2021.
More than 70 percent of Nepalâs population works in agriculture, yet a profound lack of resources, infrastructure and networks have weakened rural economies, increased urban and international migration and strained the ability of families to avoid malnutrition. Two out of every three Nepalese suffer from food insecurity at some time during the year and the prevalence of stunting is nearly 40 percent.
âWith right seeds, resources and practices Nepalese farmers could produce 50 percent more food on their land, enough to not only eliminate domestic food insecurity but even become a food surplus country,â said Dyutiman Choudhary, coordinator and market development specialist for the five-year Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF).
Research has shown the better application of fertilizer and planting improved hybrid seeds are the two most impactful steps Nepalese maize farmers can take to boost income and grain yields in their fields. Adopting just these two practices can increase grain yields 1.8 and 1.4 tons per hectare, respectively.
Launched on August 1, NSAF will build competitive and vibrant seed and fertilizer systems that significantly expand seed production, marketing and distribution by enhancing the capacity and role of public, private and community sectors in seed and fertilizer value chains. It is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MOAD) and private sector.
During an event for the projectâs launch in Kathmandu, Choudhary presented an overview of the projectâs overarching strategy and key approaches being implemented to increase adoption of quality seed and integrated soil fertility management technologies for more than 100,000 smallholder farmers in 25 of Nepalâs 75 districts.
MOAD Secretary and Program Chair Suroj Pokharel and Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Embassy in Nepal Michael C. Gonzales also acknowledged the contribution of robust agriculture projects that support the Government of Nepalâs Agriculture Development Strategy through the promotion of innovations in digital technology and market research development to improve farming practices. Other event invitees included government representatives, the U.S Embassy, USAID, partner organizations, local media, project beneficiaries and other private stakeholders.
Learn more about the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF) through this infographic and fact sheet from the U.S. governmentâs Feed the Future initiative.
Members of National Technical Committee of NSB evaluating BAW 1260, the breeding line used to develop BARI Gom 33. Photo: CIMMYT
DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — As wheat farmers in Bangladesh struggle to recover from a 2016 outbreak of a mysterious disease called âwheat blast,â the countryâs National Seed Board (NSB) released a new, high-yielding, blast-resistant wheat variety, according to a communication from the Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Bangladesh.
Called “BARI Gom 33,” the variety was developed by WRC using a breeding line from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a Mexico-based organization that has collaborated with Bangladeshi research organizations for decades, according to Naresh C. Deb Barma, Director of WRC, who said the variety had passed extensive field and laboratory testing. “Gom” means “wheat grain” in Bangla, the Bengali language used in Bangladesh.
âThis represents an incredibly rapid response to blast, which struck in a surprise outbreak on 15,000 hectares of wheat in southwestern Bangladesh just last year, devastating the crop and greatly affecting farmersâ food security and livelihoods, not to mention their confidence in sowing wheat,â Barma said.
Caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum, wheat blast was first identified in Brazil in 1985 and has constrained wheat farming in South America for decades. Little is known about the genetics or interactions of the fungus with wheat or other hosts. Few resistant varieties have been released in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, the countries most affected by wheat blast.
The Bangladesh outbreak was its first appearance in South Asia, a region where rice-wheat cropping rotations cover 13 million hectares and over a billion inhabitants eat wheat as main staple.
Many blast fungal strains are impervious to fungicides, according to Pawan Singh, a CIMMYT wheat pathologist. âThe Bangladesh variant is still sensitive to fungicides, but this may not last forever, so weâre rushing to develop and spread new, blast-resistant wheat varieties for South Asia,â Singh explained.
The urgent global response to blast received a big boost in June from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), which funded an initial four-year research project to breed blast resistant wheat varieties and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which also provided grant to kick-start the work in South Asia. Led by CIMMYT, the initiative involves researchers from nearly a dozen institutions worldwide.
Chemical controls are costly and potentially harmful to human and environmental health, so protecting crops like wheat with inherent resistance is the smart alternative, but resistance must be genetically complex, combining several genes, to withstand new mutations of the pathogen over time.
Key partners in the new project are the agricultural research organizations of Bangladesh, including the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), and the Instituto Nacional de InnovaciĂłn Agropecuaria y Forestal in Bolivia, which will assist with large-scale field experiments to select wheat lines under artificial and natural infections of wheat blast.
Other partners include national and provincial research organizations in India, Nepal and Pakistan, as well as Kansas State University (KSU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). The U.S. Agency for International Agricultural Development (USAID) has also supported efforts to kick-start blast control measures, partnerships and upscaling the breeding, testing and seed multiplication of new, high-yielding, disease resistant varieties through its Feed the Future project.
BARI Gom 33 was tested for resistance to wheat blast in field trials in Bolivia and Bangladesh and in greenhouse tests by the USDA-ARS laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. International partnerships are critical for a fast response to wheat blast, according to Hans-Joachim Braun, director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program.
âWorldwide, weâre in the middle of efforts that include blast surveillance and forecasting, studies on the pathogenâs genetics and biology, integrated disease management and seed systems, as well as raising awareness about the disease and training for researchers, extension workers, and farmers,â said Braun.
With over 160 million people, Bangladesh is among the worldâs most densely populated countries. Wheat is Bangladeshâs second most important staple food, after rice. The country grows more than 1.3 million tons each year but consumes 4.5 million tons, meaning that imports whose costs exceed $0.7 billion each year comprise more than two-thirds of domestic wheat grain use.
WRC will produce tons of breederâs seed of BARI Gom 33 each year. This will be used by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and diverse non-governmental organizations and private companies to produce certified seed for farmers.
âThis year WRC will provide seed to BADC for multiplication and the Department of Agricultural Extension will establish on-farm demonstrations of the new variety in blast prone districts during 2017-18,â said Barma.
As an added benefit for the nutrition of wheat consuming households, BARI Gom 33 grain features 30Â percent higher levels of zinc than conventional wheat. Zinc is a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many of the poor throughout South Asia and whose lack particularly harms the health of pregnant women and children under 5 years old.
With funding from HarvestPlus and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition, CIMMYT is leading global efforts to breed biofortified wheat with better agronomic and nutritional quality traits. The wheat line used in BARI Gom 33 was developed at CIMMYT, Mexico, through traditional cross-breeding and shared with Bangladesh and other cooperators in South Asia through the Center’s International Wheat Improvement Network, which celebrates 50 years in 2018.
Stable window 1 and 2 (W1W2) funding from CGIAR enabled CIMMYT and partners to react quickly and screen breeding lines in Bolivia, as well as working with KSU to identify sources of wheat blast resistance. The following W1 funders have made wheat blast resistance breeding possible: Australia, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, France, India, Japan, Korea, New Zeland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the World Bank. The following funders also contributed vital W2 funding: Australia, China, the United Kingdom (DFID) and USAID.
Maize (also known as corn) seed samples in CIMMYT’s seed bank. CIMMYT/file
DES MOINES, Iowa (CIMMYT) â Scientist Kevin Pixley holds a large, clear plastic bottle up to the light to illuminate the yellow corn kernels inside. He is leading a project to catalogue 178,000 corn and wheat seeds at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centerâs (CIMMYT) seed bank near Mexico City.
âThe difficulty farmers and researchers face is that no matter how hard they look they canât see inside a seed to predict its hardiness â they never know whether it will withstand the growing conditions it will experience,â said Pixley, who will speak at the 2017 Borlaug Dialogue symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 18.
CIMMYTâs mission is to apply maize and wheat science for improved livelihoods around the world.
âOur seed bank provides a sub-zero temperature refuge for the largest collection of maize and wheat seeds in the world,â explained Pixley, who leads CIMMYTâs Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) project. âRecent technological advances are accelerating our understanding of the inner workings of these seeds, making them ever more useful to researchers and farmers.
âThrough conservation, characterization and use of natural biodiversity, weâre not just helping to improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers in the present, but weâre building our capacity to thwart future threats to food security,â Pixley said. âEvery year we ship some 300,000 maize and wheat seed samples to farmers and researchers.â
Through the SeeD partnership between CIMMYT, Mexicoâs ministry of agriculture (SAGARPA) and the MasAgro (Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture) project, scientists are developing the capacity for farmers to prepare for specific or as yet unanticipated needs.
âSeeds of Discovery offers the next generation of Mexican scientists the training and technologies they need to support food security,â said Jorge Armando Narvaez Narvaez, Mexicoâs sub-secretary of agriculture.
âIn some ways our work has only just begun, but weâre leaps and bounds ahead of where we would be thanks to applying new technologies to secure the food and nutrition needs of our growing population,â Pixley said.
Current population trends and current climate change projections suggest that food insecurity is likely to rise. Farmer responsiveness to new practices and technologies will play a crucial role in determining if there will be adequate food production.
The study found that farmers mainly learn about new practices from each other through internal networks, but that depending on the type of information, may look beyond their close groups for input from research institutions and other external resources. In CA, producers mainly learn about machinery, crop rotation, minimum tillage and weeding from each other, but rely on research institutions for information about biofertilizers and pests. When information is obtained from external networks, producers tend to adopt new practices on a step by step basis, rather than as a collective uptake.
The majority of farmers in the study area adopted two to four CA practices, with only 21.5 percent of producers adopting an array of five or more CA practices, and less than ten percent adopting one or no practices. The most commonly adopted CA practices are those which reduce labor costs, increase yields and improve soil fertility such as weed management, use of quality seed and minimum tillage practices. The authors noted that many more farmers were willing to adopt a comprehensive CA package, but were hindered by a lack of resources and access to specialized machinery.
The results show that innovation diffusion must happen along several dimensions, through the first stage of innovation to adoption and adapting innovations to meet needs. These dimensions dynamically interact, and determine the dissemination of new ideas.
Producers rely on key actors within their internal networks to identify useful innovations, and on their entire internal network to spread the message. The studyâs authors stated that there is an urgent need to establish networks that focus on creating pathways for sharing knowledge, information and practices among actors at different levels.
        Impact of conservation agriculture on growth and development of rice-wheat and maize-wheat cropping system in western Indo-Gangetic plains. 2016. Choudhary, K.M., Nandal, D.P., Jat, M.L., Hooda, J.S., Verma, K.C. In: Annals of biology, vol.32, no.2 p.174-177.
        Impact of informal groundwater markets on efficiency of irrigated farms in India: a bootstrap data envelopment analysis approach. 2016. Manjunatha, A.V., Speelman, S. Aravindakshan, S., Amjath-Babu, T.S., Puran Mal In: Irrigation Science, vol.34, p.41-52.
        Implications of high temperature and elevated CO2 on flowering time in plants. 2016. Jagadish, K.S.V., Bahuguna, R.N. Djanaguiraman, M. Gamuyao, R. Prasad, V.P.V. Craufurd, P. In: Frontiers in Plant Science, vol.7, no. 913.
        Irrigation water saving through adoption of direct rice sowing technology in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: empirical evidence from Pakistan. 2016. Ali, A., Dil Bahadur Rahut, Erenstein, O. In: Water Practice and Technology, vol. 11, no. 3, p. 610-620.
        Identification and validation of single nucleotide polymorphic markers linked to Ug99 stem rust resistance in spring wheat. 2017. Long-Xi Yu, Shiaoman Chao Singh, R.P. Sorrells, M.E. In: PLoS One, v.12, no.2: e0171963.
        Identification of heat tolerant wheat lines showing genetic variation in leaf respiration and other physiological traits. 2017. Suzuky Pinto, R., Molero, G., Reynolds, M.P. In: Euphytica, v. 213, no. 76, p.1-15.
        Impacts of changing weather patterns on smallholder well-being: evidence from the Himalayan region of northern Pakistan. 2017. Ali, A., Dil Bahadur Rahut, Erenstein, O. In: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, v. 9, no. 2, p. 225-240.
        Implications of less tail end water on livelihoods of small farmers in Pakistan. 2017. Ali, A., Dil Bahadur Rahut, Imtiaz, M. In: Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 46, no. 1, p. 36-43.
    Improving agricultural knowledge management: The AgTrials experience. 2017. Hyman, G., Espinosa, H., Camargo, P., Abreu, D., Devare, M., Arnaud, E., Porter, C., Mwanzia, L., Sonder, K., Traore, S. In: F1000 Research, vol. 6, no. 317.
Haploid inducers are a specially developed maize genetic stock that are used to develop doubled haploid (DH) maize lines. DH maize lines are highly uniform, genetically pure and stable, making the maize breeding process more intuitive and efficient by simplifying logistics.
These improved second-generation tropically adapted haploid inducers will help more tropical maize breeding programs adopt DH technology and develop improved maize varieties faster than ever before, cutting down the time it takes to get improved maize varieties to the farmers that need them.
The original first-generation tropically adapted haploid inducer lines (TAILS) were developed by CIMMYT and the University of Hohenheim (UHo). Recognizing the scope to further improve the first-generation TAILs for various traits, CIMMYT initiated the development of second-generation haploid inducers for the tropics by transferring the haploid induction trait from first-generation TAILs to elite CIMMYT maize lines. Selections were made for higher haploid induction rates and superior agronomic performance.
The CIM2GTAILs showed high haploid induction rates (~8-15%) under CIMMYT-tested (sub)tropical conditions in Mexico and Kenya, besides better agronomic performance in terms of plant vigor, synchrony with tropical source populations, better standability, and resistance to important tropical foliar diseases and ear rots. CIMMYT will share specific quantity of seed of these CIM2GTAILs and will grant authorization for use of these CIM2GTAILs to interested applicants.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — When Francelino Rodrigues started at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2013, the majority of the maize and wheat trials were still being carried out by walking through the field and taking measurements manually.
Through a collaborative work initiative with colleagues from maize and wheat breeding programs, and with support from senior scientists, Rodrigues brought a whole new world of digital mapping and proximal high-resolution soil sensing to the centerâs trials thanks to his background in precision agriculture.
Precision agriculture makes use of technologies and farmers’ knowledge to determine the quantity, location and time resources need to be applied to grow crops. The information gained allows farmers to farm more sustainably; using less while maintaining and improving yields.
âI first discovered precision agriculture during an agricultural engineering undergraduate in Brazil,â explained Rodrigues. âI was fascinated by the idea of joining technology and agriculture, so I ended up going on to complete a master’s and a doctorate in precision agriculture applying it to coffee, sugarcane, and cereals crops.â
After completing his doctorate with an internship at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian government agency for scientific research, Rodrigues realized the importance of agricultural research for development and took on his post-doctoral position at CIMMYT within the biometrics team in remote sensing and precision agriculture.
âRemote sensing can provide information at different scales and for a range of applications, from crop management to high-throughput phenotyping and landscape assessment,â said Rodrigues, whose research focuses on the analysis and interpretation of spatial and temporal agricultural data sets built up by the use of proximal and remote sensing technologies, then seeing how it can be applied across CIMMYTâs work.
Preparing for radiometric calibration for a multispectral flight over maize Tar Spot Complex disease screening; CIMMYTâs station, Agua Fria, Mexico. Photo: CIMMYT archives.
Remote sensing devices make it possible to observe the dynamics from single plants up to entire landscapes and continents as they change over time by capturing radiation from across the electromagnetic spectrum.
âPrecision agriculture and remote sensing technologies are used by CIMMYT to develop tools and practices to help farmers manage their crops more efficiently, to speed up the breeding process by rapidly assessing plant traits and to better characterize agricultural landscapes as a  whole,â he said.
According to Rodrigues, one of the greatest challenges is making precision agriculture accessible to smallholder farmers who donât have the means to access new and expensive technology.  He is currently working on a public-private project using remote sensing data assimilation and crop modeling to build an online platform that farmers can use freely in their fields to make crop management decisions.
âSince I arrived at CIMMYT I have been exposed to a global network of world-class scientists,â said Rodrigues. âIt encourages me to pursue my passions and allowed me to do what I love; good science that improves lives.â
Rodrigues is excited about the long-term impact of CIMMYTâs research and positive about the future. âI love to work with a team of scientists from different disciplines and see that knowledge and results we generate contribute to a wider agenda,â he said.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â A new study shows how wheat breeders can more efficiently increase yield and improve their selections by using modern genetic tools.
Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, and provides one fifth of the protein and calories consumed globally. Demand for wheat by 2050 is predicted to increase by 70 percent from todayâs levels due to population growth and dietary changes, but new diseases, diminishing resources and climate change are making it harder for farmers to meet future needs.
Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently found that spring wheat breeders can incorporate genetic testing with traditional methods to increase yield and quality faster than ever before.
The studyâs authors examined the effects different environments had on spring wheat yield. By using genetic selection, they were able to predict complex traits more efficiently than if they had only used the traditional method of pedigree selection, where researchers choose the best plants from each generation to use for breeding the next generation.
According to the authors, developing genetic selection models is an important step to accelerate the rate of genetic gains and grain yields in plant breeding.
Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. Pariyar, S.R., Dababat, A.A., Sannemann, W., Erginbas-Orakci, G., Elashry, A., Siddique, S., Morgounov, A.I., Leon, J., Grundler, F. In: Phytopathology, vol. 106, no.10, p.1128-1138.
Genomic characterization of phenylalanine ammonia lyase gene in buckwheat. Thiyagarajan, K., Vitali, F., Tolaini, V., Galeffi, P., Cantale, C., Vikram, P., Sukhwinder-Singh, De Rossi, P., Nobili, C., Procacci, S., Del Fiore, A., Antonin, A., Presenti, O., Brunori, A. In: PLoS One, vol.11, no.3: e0151187.
Genomic prediction models for grain yield of spring bread wheat in diverse agro-ecological zones. Saint Pierre, C., Burgueño, J., Fuentes DĂĄvila, G., Figueroa LĂłpez, P., SolĂs Moya, E., Ireta Moreno, J., HernĂĄndez Muela, V.M., Zamora Villa, V., Vikram, P., Mathews, K., Sansaloni, C.P., Sehgal, D., JarquĂn, D., Wenzl, P., Sukhwinder-Singh, Crossa, J. In: Nature Scientific reports, vol.6, no. 27312.
Genomic prediction using phenotypes from pedigreed lines with no marker data. Ashraf, B., Edriss, V., Akdemir, D., Autrique, E., Bonnett, D.G., Janss, L., Singh, R.P., Jannink, J.L., Crossa, J. In: Crop Science, vol. 56, no. 3, p. 957-964.
Genetic gains in yield and yield related traits under drought stress and favorable environments in a maize population improved using marker assisted recurrent selection. Bankole, F., Menkir, A., Olaoye, G., Crossa, J., Hearne, S., Unachukwu, N., Gedil, M. In: Frontiers in Plant Science, v.8, no.808.
Genetic yield gains in CIMMYTâs international elite Spring Wheat yield trials by modeling the Genotype X environment interaction. Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Crossa, J., Huerta-Espino, J., Autrique, E., Mondal, S., Velu, G., Vargas, M., Braun, H.J., Singh, R.P. In: Crop Science, v. 57, p.789-801.
Genome-wide association mapping and genome-wide prediction of anther extrusion in CIMMYT spring wheat. Muqaddasi, Q.H., Reif, J.C., Zou Li, Basnet, B.R., Dreisigacker, S., Roder, M.S. In: Euphytica, v. 213, no. 73, p.1-7.
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1,000 people from across the globe were selected to participate in a 10-day innovation lab in August to find transformative solutions to development. Photo: UNLEASH
âInnovationâ may be just another development buzzword, but adopting the principles behind it is crucial if organizations hope to attract funding and achieve lasting impact.
Finding and applying new approaches to solve a problem or unmet need was, like many development concepts, first applied by the private-sector. Innovation is critical for companies to foster an environment where creative ideas are turned into new and successful products, in order to gain a competitive edge.
However, this process is inherently risky â new ideas take time and money to bring to fruition, and experimenting is not a viable option for development organizations with limited funding serving people with limited resources.
Thatâs why innovation labs â specific areas or events dedicated to brainstorming ideas and working on new products, technological or otherwise â can serve as âsafeâ spaces for organizations to explore unconventional, even radical ideas to inspire change or uncover new opportunities that could enhance their goals.
Daniela Vega (center in red) and team working on sustainable supply chains in the fashion industry at UNLEASH. Photo courtesy of D. Vega/CIMMYT
âInnovation allows us to explore radical ideas that can potentially create disruptive solutions to some of the big challenges we work with,â said Daniela Vega, a projects coordinator and liaison officer to the Americas at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Vega was one of 1,000 young people from 129 countries who recently participated in UNLEASH, a 10-day innovation lab in Denmark, to develop transformative solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) â a 17-goal development agenda launched by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.
âCreative ideas and innovative solutions to sustainable livelihoods should be a core component of what we do,â said David Guerena, a soil scientist and systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Guerena was part of one of 200 teams that were split across 10 âfolk high schoolsâ where they worked through an innovation process with facilitators and experts, then refined their ideas before reconvening in Aarhus, Denmark, to pitch the solutions they had developed for the SDGs.
Farmazon â an e-commerce platform that links smallholder farmers to buyers, agricultural advisers, input suppliers and transport providers â is one of hundreds of new ideas created by UNLEASH participants to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Image credit to D. Guerena/CIMMYT
Farmazon â an online platform that links smallholder farmers to buyers, agricultural advisers, input suppliers and transport providers â was the finished product of Guerenaâs team that targeted SDG1 and SDG2 (eliminating poverty and hunger) by reducing inefficiencies in agricultural value chains. Their pitch, which included a skit that involved each member speaking different languages to convey the ways a poor farmer, a restaurant owner and others may struggle to communicate their needs, earned them âMost Collaborative Team.â
âEven though we work in research for development, we need to remember that our discoveries must be commercially viable and deliver value to have a positive impact on society,â said Aziz Karimov, a CIMMYT development economist whose team won second place in UNLEASHâs âSustainable Consumption & Productionâ category which targeted SDG 12. A key component of UNLEASH was teaching those participating how to pitch their ideas to investors, like preparing due diligence documents for investors and taking different approaches to fundraising, depending on whether the investor is focused on profit or impact.
Karimov and his team created Sustainable Matching, an online platform that allows buyers and suppliers to find each other and make connections in order to reach sustainable goals with the aim of reducing negative environmental impact. It will be the worldâs first and only online supply fair for the textile and fashion industry focused on sustainable materials (including agricultural and forest products).
âI believe actual deals will result from some of the ideas I saw in waste, health and climate,â said Michael Blakeley, managing director of enterprise and industry development at Nathan Associates Inc. âThat is powerful for just one weekâs time and probably a fraction of the cost of traditional development programs.â
Soil scientist and systems agronomist David Guerena (right photo, 5th from the left) and agricultural and development economist Aziz Karimov (left photo, 5th from the left), represent CIMMYT at UNLEASH. Photos: UNLEASH
Both Guerena and Karimov emphasized development organizations should create spaces for researchers to participate in collaborative exercises like they did in order to challenge traditional approaches and discover out-of-the-box solutions to the challenges they face daily. Funding and capacity building is a core component of development, but fostering an environment open to new solutions can potentially create high-impact, low-cost solutions.
UNLEASH plans to hold annual innovation labs through 2030 dedicated to the SDGs, where young innovators can add value directly and access a unique ecosystem of corporations, think-tanks, foundations, non-profits, angel investors and more. Participants from this year will create a virtual integrated community to stay in touch, receive mentorship, guidance and expertise as well as funding to help them develop their business solutions.
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EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — When Francelino Rodrigues started at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2013, the majority of the maize and wheat trials were still being carried out by walking through the field and taking measurements manually.
