Theme: Innovations

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 farmers’ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.

SUPER WOMAN: Diane Holdorf promotes sustainability to support smallholders

Written by on May 29, 2015. Posted in Features.

SUPPORTING THE CONNECTIVITY OF RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITIES

International Women’s Day on March 8, offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women worldwide. This year, CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women they admire for their selfless dedication to either maize or wheat. In the following story, Amy Braun writes about her Super Woman of maize and wheat, Kellogg Company’s Diane Holdorf.

Diane Holdorf is a super woman and an inspiration to all of us at Kellogg Company. As Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Environmental Stewardship, Health and Safety at Kellogg, Diane has been the inspiration and force behind the expansion of the company’s global sustainability commitments to include specific goals supporting smallholders around the world as part of new public commitments for 2020.

She has also been an ambassador for responsible sourcing and sustainable agriculture within the company, and has done a tremendous job raising awareness with Kellogg employees and leaders on the important role that smallholders, and women in particular, play in food security within their communities.

Under her leadership, Kellogg also commissioned a study in 2014 to assess how the company’s supply chain could improve the productivity and livelihoods of some smallholders around the globe. Soon afterwards, she traveled with Kellogg’s CEO, to attend the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York City to make a public statement committing to support 15,000 smallholders adopt climate-smart agriculture practices by 2020.

Climate-smart agriculture can help improve livelihoods and boost climate resiliency.

Kellogg currently supports 65,000 smallholder farmer livelihoods across their 10 priority ingredients through the market. Statistics show that women represent an average of 41 percent of workers on smallholder farms and 11 percent of farm managers or owners, according to a 2015 report.

Diane is a passionate leader for sustainability. With her muddy boots, she spreads her passion to inspire an entire company. Her drive, communication skills and leadership has caused Kellogg not only to meet overall objectives, but she has also infected leaders and employees with a clear understanding that sustainability matters.

Diane has gone beyond the call of duty, demonstrating that a sound sustainability strategy is a tool that adds value to the company and consumers. Specifically, Diane has broadened Kellogg Company’s engagement on agricultural supply chains, with exceptional leadership related to wheat, maize and rice smallholders.

She has brought cross-functional teams to Thailand, Ghana, India and Mexico to learn about how these growers work – and to inspire us to find ways to work with research teams like the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and others to share our knowledge and technologies.

In fact, she led the team that brought quinoa growers from Bolivia to the United States to represent the only indigenous voice at the International Year of Quinoa Research Symposium.

As a member of the University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute‘s advisory board, she supports the connectivity of sustainability research, education and real-world opportunities.

Through various partnerships with CIMMYT, IRRI, Field to Market and industry associations, as well as with the United Nations, she fosters the collaboration needed to bring agriculture to the forefront of science and policy.

Well-respected by her peers in industry and non-governmental organizations, she is and will continue to be a super woman due to her dedication to sustainability and food.

Without her leadership, we would not be able to do the work we do with the thousands and thousands of smallholders around the world.

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

Harnessing Mexico’s Sun: CIMMYT Installs 920 Solar Panels in Green Initiative

Written by on May 18, 2015. Posted in News.

Mexico’s solar thermal and photovoltaic resources are among the world’s best. Just one square of 25 kilometers in the State of Chihuahua or the Sonoran desert would be sufficient to supply electricity to the entire country.¹ Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER) predicts the country will have 6 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy installed by 2020, although less than 1% of that is currently installed. The Mexican Government offers no direct subsidy to solar energy.

Demand for electricity in Mexico is increasing, and 22 GW will be needed by 2025. Energy costs are rising 8-10% annually. Despite little government intervention, the private solar sector in Mexico has been booming, experiencing triple-digit growth rates every three years over the past ten years and becoming one of the fastest growing solar energy markets globally.

CIMMYT is actively taking advantage of solar energy’s potential in Mexico.

“The project started a year and a half ago, when the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) offered to fund self-efficient energy projects,” said Francisco J. Peñafort Olivas, Facilities Manager at CIMMYT-El Batan. “They gave us €750,000 EUR this January to install 920 solar panels that produce 275 kilowatts (KW) of energy. This produces about 12% of the total amount of energy CIMMYT demands per month, saving us around US $35,000/year.”

Photo: Francisco Peñafort/CIMMYT

Peñafort pointed out that, unlike most organizations taking advantage of Mexico’s solar resources, CIMMYT requires energy 24/7 to power the genebank and other biosciences chambers. “We are planning to implement two more phases in this solar panel project and reach 495 KW of power, which would supply around 22% of CIMMYT’s energy and save nearly US $63,000 per year,” he said.

At least another €4 million EUR are needed for CIMMYT to achieve self-efficiency, but this is a step in the right direction. The solar panels have a 25-year warranty, and if a panel fails or falls below 80% efficiency, it is immediately replaced. “We also installed equipment to measure the energy we’re expending and monitor how each panel is working, and we’re sharing these data with CIMMYT’s genebank and the German Government,” said Peñafort.

CIMMYT is investing in other green initiatives as well. For example, it is replacing all the lights in the genebank with light-emitting diode lights, which will save around US $400 per year in energy. According to Peñafort, new energy-saving air conditioning systems are being installed throughout the campus. The solar panels are a long-term investment in CIMMYT going green and, in pursuit of self-sufficiency, the Center will continue to expand its solar program with other renewable initiatives.

¹ Assuming a net system efficiency of 15%, based on the SENER and the German Technical Cooperation Agency 2009 study “Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development in México”

New report highlights need for groundwater management solutions in Bangladesh

Written by on April 28, 2015. Posted in News.

The recent report “Groundwater Management in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Problems and Opportunities,” published by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, reveals that water resource policy in Bangladesh has focused largely on development and not enough on management, draining aquifers in intensively irrigated areas and sustaining expensive subsidies for dry-season irrigation pumping.

Unless water-use-efficient practices and policies are adapted and adopted, these challenges will become a serious threat to sustained agricultural growth in Bangladesh, according to Timothy Krupnik, CIMMYT agronomist and co-author in the study.

“Dry season rice production using irrigation helped Bangladesh to increase its total rice production from 18 million tons in 1991 to 33.8 million tons in 2013,” said Krupnik. “But this dramatic increase in rice production comes with costs – namely the high energy requirements to pump groundwater.”

Diesel pumps consume about 4.6 billion liters of diesel every year to lift groundwater for dry season rice production in Bangladesh, costing US $4 billion, in addition to U.S. $1.4 billion yearly of government energy subsidies for groundwater irrigation. These expenditures are unsustainable in the long-term, the report concludes, and counter to government policies to reduce energy subsidies and shift to cheaper, more energy-wise surface water irrigation.

The report highlights supply- and demand-side options for sustainable groundwater management. “Improving water-use efficiency through resource- conserving crop management practices such as direct-seeded rice and bed planting could help reduce groundwater demand from agriculture,” Krupnik said. “In surface water irrigated areas, farmers can use fuel-efficient axial flow pumps.” The CSISA-MI project is working with the private sector to help promote use of these pumps.

Water demand can also be reduced by rationalizing cropping patterns; for example, shifting from rice to more profitable crops like maize, according to Krupnik. Involvement of consumers, investment in improved water and agricultural technologies and support for farmers are needed.

Since the concept of “more water-more yield” is still prevalent among farmers, the report also emphasizes the need for policy and educational programs aimed at wise water use and volumetric water pricing. In addition to technical solutions, strong linkages and improved communications among organizations involved in groundwater management will be required.

Climate-smart agriculture achievements inspire support for BISA-CIMMYT in Bihar, India

Written by on April 28, 2015. Posted in News.

The Director of Agriculture (3rd from left) and the District Collector (2nd from right) view a demonstration of urea drilling in a standing wheat crop. Photo: Manish Kumar/CIMMYT

The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), CIMMYT and stakeholders are developing, adapting and spreading climate-smart agriculture technologies throughout Bihar, India. During the 2014-2015 winter season, BISA hosted visits for national and international stakeholders to view the progress of participatory technology adaption modules and climate-smart villages throughout the region.

“It is very encouraging to see the [BISA-CIMMYT’s] trials of new upcoming technology…We will be ready to support this,” wrote Dharmendra Singh, Bihar’s Director of Agriculture, in the visitor book during a state agriculture department visit to one of BISA’s research farms and climate-smart villages in Pusa. BISA, CIMMYT and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), in collaboration with local stakeholders and farmer groups, established 15 Borlaug climate-smart villages in Samastipur district and 20 in Vaishali district, as part of a 2012 research initiative to test various climate-smart tools, approaches and techniques.

Agriculture Production Commissioner (3rd from the left) discussing climate smart practices with farmers in Digambra village. Photo: Deepak/CIMMYT

“I could understand conservation agriculture better than ever after seeing the crop and crop geometry in the field today,” wrote Mangla Rai, former Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & Agriculture Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar. Raj Kumar Jat and M.L. Jat, CIMMYT cropping system agronomist and senior cropping system agronomist, respectively, showcased research trials on zero-tillage potato and maize, early-planted dual-purpose wheat, precision nutrient management in maize-wheat systems under conservation agriculture, genotype -by- environment interaction in wheat and crop intensification in rice-wheat systems through introduction of inter-cropping practices. Raj Kumar Jat also gave a presentation on how to increase cropping intensity in Bihar by 300% through timely planting and direct seeding techniques.

“Technologies like direct-seeded rice and zero-till wheat, which save both time and labor, should be adapted and transferred to Bihar’s farmers,” said Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, at a meeting of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees with the Chief Minister of Bihar and other government representatives. “BISA is a key partner in building farmer and extension worker capacity, in addition to testing and promoting innovative agriculture technologies.”

The Agriculture Minister of Bihar visiting a zero tillage wheat field in a climate-smart village ( Bhagwatpur) of Samstipur district. Photo: Deepak/CIMMYT

“State agriculture officials should support BISA to hold trainings on direct-seeded rice for fast dissemination across Bihar,” agreed Vijay Chaudhary, Agriculture Minister of Bihar, at a BISA field day. Chaudhary along with 600 farmers and officials visited a climate-smart village where farmers plant wheat using zero tillage. Zero-till wheat is sown directly into soil and residues from previous crops, allowing farmers to plant seed early and to avoid losing yields due to pre-monsoon heat later in the season. Direct-seeded rice is sown and sprouted directly in the field, eliminating labor- and water-intensive seedling nurseries.

During the Bihar Festival, 22-24 March, BISA-CIMMYT showcased conservation agriculture practices and live demonstrations of quality protein maize-based food products, with over 10,000 famers and visitors participating. Vijoy Prakash, Agriculture Production Commissioner of Bihar, and other Bihar government officials discussed with farmers about new BISA-CIMMYT agriculture practices and emphasized the need to “introduce conservation agriculture in the state government’s agricultural technology dissemination program.” Prakash, along with government representatives, has approved two BISA proposals for a training hostel and research.

Two-wheeled tractors key to smallholder mechanization in Africa

Written by on April 28, 2015. Posted in News.

The Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project held its second review and planning meeting, as well as mid-term review, during a five-day event in Hawassa, Ethiopia. This was followed by country site visits by the review team.

“The goal of FACASI is to improve farm power balance, reduce labor drudgery and minimize biomass trade-offs in eastern and southern Africa through accelerated delivery and adoption by smallholders of two-wheeled tractor (2WT)-based technologies,” said J.C. Achora, Knowledge and Information Manager, African Conservation Tillage Network. The meeting highlighted the importance of 2WT technologies to smallholders through five field visits, consisting of a youth community project, a vocational youth training institution, government research centers and manufacturing plants.

“Opportunities for use of two-wheeled tractors exist,” said Achora. “New projects coming up will ignite the demand for the two-wheeled tractors, and could trigger an increase in imports and manufacturing in Africa. Perhaps not too far in the future two-wheeled tractors could be the stepping stone to smallholder farm mechanization in Africa.”

FACASI participants learned and shared experiences on small-scale agricultural machinery, specifically the two-wheeled tractor, in diverse environments. Participants observed and drew lessons from services that support small-farm mechanization and associated business models.

Other places visited included the Hawassa research station for demonstrations of seeders and multi-use shellers and threshers, the Ato Tibebe Selemon Metal works, and the Selam Hawassa Business and Vocational College, which provides disadvantaged youth with practical training in metal fabrication and assembly and electrical installations. The last visit was to the Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC), which integrates engineering into machines and installs industrial facilities.

Poor soils a huge limitation for Africa’s food security

Written by on April 19, 2015. Posted in News.

TEXCOCO, MEXICO, April 19, 2015 – Sustainable Development Goals being addressed at the Global Soil Week cannot ignore dependence on maize as a staple food for millions in Africa, and the need to help smallholder farmers maximize yields in African soils.

Today, Berlin, Germany, hosts soil scientists from across the world who have converged for the Global Soil Week (GSW) to find solutions for sustainable land governance and soil management. Farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture are keen to see outcomes that will translate into healthier soils for sustainable development in Africa and elsewhere.

For Africa’s smallholder farmers, low-fertility soils with poor nitrogen-supplying capacity are only second to drought as a limiting factor. Consequently, farmers suffer low yields and crop failure, a situation that has crippled food security for more than half (60 percent) of the population in this region who depend on smallscale farm produce.

To improve productivity, farmers apply nitrogen fertilizers, which provide necessary nutrients the soil needs to feed plants. However, most farmers cannot afford to apply the required amount of fertilizers because the costs are too high for them. It is estimated that nitrogen fertilizer costs as much as six times more in Africa that in any other part of the world. “For my one-acre farm, I use a 50-kilogram bag that costs KES 4,000 [USD 42]. This is a lot of money, so I have to use very little to save for the next planting season,” says Ms. Lucy Wawera, a farmer in Embu County, Kenya.

Maize is the most important cereal crop in sub-Saharan Africa consumed by more than 650 million people. This dependence therefore dictates that solutions to Africa’s fragile food security also focus on improving maize production. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners are working through the Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) Project to address -nitrogen depleted soils. They are exploiting naturally occurring genetic variation in maize to develop new varieties that are nitrogen-use-efficient or better at utilizing the limited amounts of fertilizer that smallholders can afford in sub-Saharan Africa—typically less than 30 kilograms. These new varieties yield up to 50 percent more than current commercial varieties in nitrogen-poor soils. IMAS draws on strong collaboration between the public and private sectors involving the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council and DuPont Pioneer.

“Matching appropriate crop varieties to specific soil systems and ecologies can play a major role in improving productivity of fragile smallholder farming systems in Africa,” says Dr. Biswanath Das, a maize breeder at CIMMYT. “Increasing productivity on existing farmland will prevent encroachment into marginal or virgin lands which leads to further soil degradation.” Helping farmers deal with the challenge of low-fertility soils will remain a key focus for international and national actors in Africa throughout 2015, the UN International Year of Soils. Open discussion platforms should therefore be encouraged to facilitate comprehensive and inclusive dialogue on soil matters. A recent tweet-chat forum titled ‘#TalkSoil’ initiated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and Shamba Shape Up (a Kenyan television program on smallholder agriculture) brought together scientists, farmers, regulators and other actors to discuss a single topic – soil.

It is therefore important that GSW deliberations formulate sustainable solutions for farmers to build healthier soils, and to nurture and maintain them. This will not only arrest soil deterioration but also protect a critical livelihood for billions, and a source and ‘sustainer’ of life for us all – agriculture, deeply rooted and inseparable from soil.

Links for more information

·         IMAS Project: Overview |Update | Videos—Maize for hungry soils | Maize that thrives in poor soils
·         Follow the IMAS conversation on Twitter during #GlobalSoilWeek via #IMASPro
·         Global Soil Week 2015
·         International Year of Soils 2015
·         CIMMYT’s research on maize

For information on the IMAS project, please contact: Biswanath Das: IMAS Project Leader| Brenda Wawa: media contact

Mapping agricultural opportunity: how GIS contributes to food security

Written by on April 16, 2015. Posted in News.

Head of GIS Unit Kai Sonder demonstrating GPS — Photo credit: CIMMYT

Geography matters – 80% of all data has a spatial component, which is “why geographic information systems (GIS) are growing exponentially,” said Kai Sonder, head of CIMMYT’s GIS unit, during a presentation to CIMMYT Day attendees, explaining that GIS involves the mapping and analyzing of spatial and geographic data. “By 2050, 70% of all farmers living in maize and wheat growing areas in Latin America, Asia and Africa will experience yield losses of 15% and more,” said Sonder. The GIS unit is able to make this prediction by analyzing, mapping and modelling climate change implications, crop suitability, socioeconomic and other data sets affecting agricultural production across the globe. The GIS unit also uses spatial analysis for targeting or defining the potential for spreading technologies such as new maize or wheat varieties or conservation agriculture practices, or gauging the market potential for the small- and medium-scale seed companies working with CIMMYT. The unit curates and continuously updates a comprehensive collection of geospatial datasets and geographic databases for all maize- and wheat-producing countries in the developing world.

CIMMYT Day gives staff opportunity to explore colleagues’ work

Written by on April 16, 2015. Posted in News.

Comprising interactive presentations in English and Spanish on diverse aspects of the Center’s work, CIMMYT Day at El Batán on 10 April allowed more than 250 staff members to learn more about the science and get a first-hand understanding of CIMMYT activities and impact.

Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, and John Snape, Chair of the Board of Trustees, welcomed participants. Snape presented Lumpkin, who will leave CIMMYT in June, with a miniature statue of Dr. Norman Borlaug, in honor of his humanitarian spirit and commitment to developing world farmers.

The tours began with wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds explaining how this specialty contributes to improve wheat, elucidating wheat production environments and how they affect wheat, sources of useful new traits and the challenges of measuring and working with these traits. At the conservation agriculture experiment, Nele Verhulst, strategic research coordinator for this discipline in Latin America, astounded visitors by describing the yield increases possible through proper application of conservation agriculture’s three principles: reduced tillage, keeping crop residues on the soil, and careful use of crop rotations. In particular, the removal vs the retention of residues under zero tillage provided dramatic differences of 5.7 vs 7.9 tons per hectare (t/ha), respectively, with good rainfall, and of 3.6 vs 7.4 t/ha in drought years, due to the superior capture and retention of moisture on untilled soils with residues.

Jelle Van Loon, leader of machinery innovation and smart mechanization, demonstrated implements specially adapted for conservation agriculture, explaining that all are multi-use and multi-crop, to be most useful to farmers. Biosciences Greenhouse Laboratory Manager Ulises Gaona Ramírez demonstrated how to “separate the wheat from the chaff” using various methods, and gave everyone the opportunity to plant their very own wheat plant, which they were allowed to take home as a living souvenir. From there, participants visited the wheat and maize quality laboratories. Carlos Guzmán, head of the wheat quality laboratory, and Hector González, principal research assistant, explained the characteristics of different types of wheat used to create different food products, while Natalia Palacios, maize nutrition quality specialist, discussed the use of different maize varieties to make tortillas, the staple food of Mexico.

The day finished with a visit to the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank, during with Denise Costich, head of the maize germplasm bank, and Thomas Payne, head of the wheat germplasm bank, talked about their respective areas and led tours of the actual seed collections inside the Bank chamber, with support for Spanish-speaking visitors from Bibiana Espinosa, Paulina González and Martín Rodríguez.

Canadian foodgrains bank highlights CIMMYT’s Christian Thierfelder’s work in conservation agriculture

Written by on April 13, 2015. Posted in News.

Farmers admiring their maize-cowpea intercrop. Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT

Christian Thierfelder, CIMMYT senior agronomist stationed at Harare, Zimbabwe, was recently profiled by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for his work promoting conservation agriculture techniques for smallholder farmers in Africa. Conservation agriculture systems are not only better for soils but help make agriculture more ‘climate-smart’, argues Thierfelder. “The conventional system can only make use of the water that is in the ridge and not further down in the soil,” he said. “In conservation agriculture systems, there is access to deeper layers and a lot of water has infiltrated. The maize can actually access the water much better because of an improved root system.”
In addition, the techniques can provide far-reaching food security benefits to smallholder farmers. As conservation agriculture diminishes the risk of crop failure, it also allows farmers to reduce the land devoted to maize and to diversify the crops they produce. “Then there is room for new crops, cash crops, rotational crops, nutritional crops that help them to improve their diets and reduce malnutrition,” Thierfelder said. “That’s a very good way to overcome all of these problems at once.”To read the full article, click here.

Green manures help Zambian and Malawian farmers feed crops and livestock

Written by on April 13, 2015. Posted in News.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has tasked CIMMYT with a new project to introduce green manure cover crops to smallholder farmers in eastern Zambia and central and southern Malawi.

Green manures can improve fertility, protect soils and provide fodder and grain for farm animals and humans. They also help substitute for mineral fertilizers, which are costly for landlocked African nations to produce or import. Most smallholder farmers cannot afford them and apply less than 10 kg per hectare of fertilizer to their crops, according to a 2013 study on profitable and sustainable nutrient management systems for eastern and southern African smallholder farming systems.

“This is less than one-tenth of average fertilizer rates in prosperous countries and a key reason why maize yields in southern Africa are around only one ton per hectare,” said Christian Thierfelder, CIMMYT conservation agriculture specialist based in southern Africa. “As a result, many farm families in the region remain food insecure and caught in a seemingly unbreakable cycle of poverty.”

With full participation of farmers, the project will test green manures in rotation with maize and as intercrops or relay crops in different farming systems, according to Thierfelder.

“Improved, high-yielding maize can show its potential only under good agronomic practices, such as optimal plant spacing, timely planting, good weed and pest control and adequate fertilization,” Thierfelder explained. “Farmers in Europe and the Americas have followed these basic principles for generations, and some of the ideas spread to Asia and Africa during the Green Revolution. But in Africa mineral fertilizers are most often used by rich farmers and for high-value crops.“

“Improved maize that tolerates drought and other stresses, coupled with conservation agriculture practices –minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and diversification through rotations and intercropping systems – are farmers’ best bet to escape the poverty trap,” Thierfelder said.

Keeping crop residues on the soil is a critical component of conservation agriculture, but the residues are traditionally fed to livestock, which also underpin smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. So the use of conservation agriculture hinges on the ability of a cropping system to produce enough biomass to feed farm animals while providing an adequate residue cover. This requires a source of fertilization to feed the cropping system.

The FAO-CIMMYT project will address this by allocating green manure cover crops for different uses. “Over the last five years, CIMMYT’s global conservation agriculture program has identified potential cover crop varieties that fit farmers’ needs,” Thierfelder said. “Velvet bean, lablab, cowpea, sunnhemp or jackbean can provide 10-50 tons per hectare of extra biomass for livestock. They can also leave 50-150 kilograms per hectare of nitrogen in the soil and do not need any additional fertilizer to grow. Finally, lablab and cowpea provide grain that humans can eat.”

One approach Thierfelder promotes is for a farmer to dedicate part of her land to grow maize under conservation agriculture practices, and other areas to sow green manures, nutritional and cash crops that increase soil fertility and household income. “In this way, a farmer can diversify and gradually have money to purchase mineral fertilizer, boost productivity and move out of poverty.”

Green manure cover crops are not new in Africa. Why should they work this time?

According to Thierfelder, there are examples of success in northern Mozambique with CIMMYT’s partner organization CARE International, using lablab and improved germplasm in cassava-based CA systems can increase cassava tuber yields from 4 to 13 tons per hectare, without using additional mineral fertilizer. “In Tanzania, lablab and other green manures are an important part of the cropping system,” he said. “In Zimbabwe, successful experiments with maize and green manures under an ACIAR-funded ZimCLIFFS project also provide hope. The FAO-CIMMYT project will guide the way on integrating green manures cover crops into these farming systems.”

Mother-baby trials promote conservation agriculture in Manica, Mozambique

Written by on April 13, 2015. Posted in Features.

A testament to increased climate variability and risk for farming systems already operating on the razor’s edge, the 2014-15 cropping season will be recognized as a sad write-off by most farmers in Central Mozambique. The rains started six weeks late and most of the rainfall fell in only two months (normally it’s distributed over four), followed by a long drought and some few showers at the end.

But with funds from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, partners from the Instituto de Investigação Agrária de Moçambique (IIAM) and CIMMYT are working with farmers in Manica Province, Mozambique, to test and promote conservation agriculture practices that better capture and retain precious precipitation, among other advantages.

As part of this, they have revived “mother-baby” trials, a participatory methodology pioneered over a decade ago by CIMMYT for testing drought tolerant maize in Africa and which was subsequently adapted for diverse agronomic practices and is used by researchers worldwide.

Drought-stricken maize: For most farmers around Machipanda village, Manica Province, Mozambique, the situation this season is bleak, auguring complete crop failure or a harvest of a few small maize cobs. Photos: CIMMYT

Comprising field experiments grown in farming communities, mother-baby trials feature a centrally-located mother trial that is set up with researchers’ support. Baby trials, which contain subsets of the mother-trial treatments, are grown, managed and evaluated by interested farmers.

Moving from “business as usual” to innovation

In Machipanda, a small village in Manica on the border with Zimbabwe, IIAM maize breeder Dr. David Mariote established three mother trials, each with two conservation agriculture-based systems and a conventional control plot, combined with four maize varieties from the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a traditional variety, in full rotation with cowpeas.

Farmers then put up the baby trials from a menu of practices that included direct seeding with no tillage, crop rotations, residue retention, herbicide applications, fertilizer use and improved varieties. Interest was high: 54 farmers grew baby trials and some even extended their plots beyond the designated areas, in the excitement of trying something new, according to Mariote.

“Conditions are changing fast; business as usual is no longer an option,” Mariote said. “We have to offer improved technologies that farmers can use to mitigate negative effects from climate change and improve their lives.”

Mariote witnessed first-hand the synergistic benefits of combining conservation agriculture and drought tolerant maize, as part of work in the Platform on Agriculture Research and Technology Innovation (PARTI), a project funded through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) via Feed the Future and implemented by CIMMYT in Central and northern Mozambique.

IIAM researcher David Mariote (right) with farmers of Manica Province, Mozambique.

With training from CIMMYT’s global maize program and technical backstopping from the CIMMYT global conservation agriculture program, Mariote sought new and stronger ways to spread these technologies. That’s when he hit upon mother-baby trials, which had never been used before with drought tolerant maize and conservation agriculture in tandem.

Farmers who grew baby trials unanimously agreed that new ways of farming are needed and that the trials had been eye-openers. In a community meeting, some said: “We often do not have money to buy expensive fertilizers but we have seen that with good agronomic practices and good maize varieties we can already increase our maize yields.”

More farmers in Machipanda have signed up for future baby trials and, as a clear indication of commitment and excitement about conservation agriculture and improved maize, they will use their own inputs to grow them.

SIMLESA’s seamlessly integrated solution for a perennial problem

Written by on April 13, 2015. Posted in News.

Southern Africa smallholder farmers can attain food security and more income through sustainable intensification of maize-based farming systems. This was revealed during recent field learning tours in Malawi and Mozambique last month. On show were farmer-tested improved maize–legume technologies being disseminated by CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project.

An on-farm maize-legume rotation exploratory trial in Tete Province, Mozambique. Photo by Isaiah Nyagumbo/CIMMY

Smallholder farmers interacted with non-governmental organizations and private-sector partners who have shown a great interest in the SIMLESA outscaling approach using lead farmers and learning sites. Some of the sites promote smallholder agriculture development by linking farmers with buyers and agrodealers, and by providing access to credit and technical training.

Conservation agriculture (CA) exhibited mixed fortunes and presented more opportunities for learning and information sharing. Due to the excessive rains experienced in January, maize on the conventional ridge and furrow farming systems was generally greener and taller than on the CA plots, although the positive rotation effects in CA were clearly evident from the healthy maize crop following soybeans. Also, some maize varieties under CA were more susceptible to diseases such as leaf rust and suffered more from pests such as white grubs which attacked maize roots.

Transforming agriculture through technology: One of the farmers in Mitundu district, Malawi, Mrs Grace Chitanje, leads in demonstrating the use of Li seeder equipment. Photo by Jefias Mataruse/CIMMYT

Main points from the learning tours included:

Linking the smallholder farmer to input and output markets is an integral part of SIMLESA Phase II’s smallholder commercialization thrust.
The participation of private-sector companies in SIMLESA demonstrations is a vital exit strategy to ensure sustainability and continued engagement with smallholders.
CA technologies performed rather poorly in periods of excessive rainfall, and particularly so for nitrogen-starved crops.
Using different maize varieties could help SIMLESA recommend the best CA-ready maize cultivars capable of tolerating diseases and pests in CA systems.

Read more on SIMLESA’s field tours here.

Malawi Principal Secretary praises CIMMYT contributions to climate change adaptation

Written by on April 13, 2015. Posted in News.

Malawi’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Erica Maganga, led a delegation of Government Principal Secretaries and seed company representatives to Mpilisi and Ulongue in Balaka District on 11 March to observe progress in conservation agriculture (CA) adoption, as part of the country’s Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Program (ASWAP).

“CIMMYT is on the forefront in promoting different options to farmers… previous challenges will now not be an issue here as farmers have been exposed to different solutions,” said Maganga, after seeing the benefits of a trial in Ulongue where maize is grown under CA using different types of residues. Over the last several years the country has actively pursued CA, implementing practices that include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues and rotating maize with leguminous crops.

Malawi is smaller than the state of Pennsylvania, yet supports 17.4 million people, half of whom live below the poverty line. Global climate change has disrupted the country’s traditional rain cycles, resulting in longer droughts or extreme floods. Maize is Malawi’s primary food crop, but unpredictable weather causes longer “hungry seasons” – the months until the next maize harvest, after the previous year’s grain has been eaten. With 85% of Malawian farmers depending upon rain-fed agriculture, erratic weather jeopardizes food security and livelihoods.

In 2006, 5 farmers were practicing conservation agriculture in Balaka District, Southern Malawi. Today, there are over 2,200. Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT

The Malawian government and farmers are working vigorously to address climate variability and support projects in affected communities. One example is Tiyanjane Nutrition Group, a beneficiary of CIMMYT’s ReSEED Maize Project funded by USAID. The group is involved in small-scale farming, value addition and sale of baked goods. Farmers use the proceeds to help orphans and other people in need and to buy inputs for better farming.

“CIMMYT through ReSEED is demonstrating drought-tolerant maize varieties to farmers,” Maganga said. “I want to urge seed companies to be proactive in providing these new maize varieties to farmers.”

The delegation also visited farmers who adopted CA practices such as intercropping pigeonpea with maize. Other demonstrations showcased crop diversification, promotion of indigenous crops, nutrient management, good agriculture practices and construction of infiltration pits and lowland tracts to manage water runoff and filter pollutants.

Mphatso Gama explaining how CA works with Principal Secretary ofAgriculture Erica Maganga looking on. — Mphatso Gama explaining how CA works with Principal Secretary of
Agriculture Erica Maganga looking on.

The high-level delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, the Principal Secretary for Trade and Industry, the Principal Secretary for Finance, the Principal Secretary for Transport and Public Works, the Principal Secretary for Local Government and Infrastructure Development, the Principal Secretary for Lands and Housing Development, the Principal Secretary for Nutrition, HIV & AIDS, the Principal Secretary for Youth, and the Principal Secretary for Economic Planning and Development. Seed companies including Monsanto, Pannar Seed, Chemicals and Marketing Company, Total LandCare Malawi and Self Help Africa also participated.

Research highlights solutions for groundwater management in Bangladesh

Written by on April 10, 2015. Posted in News.

A recent research report ‘Groundwater Management in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Problems and Opportunities’, published by the USAID Feed the Future Funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, highlights that the policy focus in Bangladesh so far has been largely on ‘resource development’ and not sufficiently on ‘resource management.’ This has resulted in drawdown of aquifers in intensively irrigated areas and high expenditure on subsidies to support the energy costs of pumping water for dry season irrigation. Unless water use efficiency practices and policies are adapted and adopted, these challenges in groundwater irrigation can become a serious threat to sustain agricultural growth in Bangladesh.

“Dry season rice production using irrigation helped Bangladesh to increase its total rice production from 18 million tons in 1991 to 33.8 million tons in 2013. However, this dramatic increase in rice production comes with costs – namely the high energy requirements needed to extract groundwater by pumps, which is a concern giving mounting fuel and electricity prices in South Asia” said Timothy Krupnik, CIMMYT Agronomist and co-author in this study.

Diesel pumps consume about 4.6 billion litres of diesel every year to pump groundwater for dry season rice production, costing USD 4.0 billion. This cost is in addition to USD 1.4 billion of yearly energy subsidies supplied by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) to maintain groundwater irrigation. Such considerable investments add to the energy cost burden, and may not be financially sustainable in the long-term, the report says. This conclusion is underscored by the GoB’s interest to reduce energy subsidies and shift from ground to surface water irrigation, which is energy-wise less expensive.

The report highlights several supply- and demand-side solutions for sustainable groundwater management. Improving water use efficiencies through the adoption of resource conserving crop management practices such as direct-seeded rice and bed planting could help in reducing groundwater demand for agriculture. In surface water irrigated areas, use of more fuel efficient axial flow pumps that the CSISA-MI project is working with the private sector to scale out, is also crucial.

Water demand for irrigation can also be reduced by rationalizing cropping patterns – specifically by shifting from rice to more profitable crops like maize, and to other food security cereals like rice, in areas where groundwater is a concern. Involvement of water users, investments in improved water and agricultural technologies, and providing extra support for farmers making transition to less water demanding crops is needed.

Since the concept of ‘more water-more yield’ is still prevalent among farmers, the report also highlights the need for policy to focus more on awareness raising through educational programs aimed at wise water use and volumetric water pricing. In addition to technical solutions, strong linkages and improved communications between different organizations involved in the management of groundwater resources will also be required to shift to a more water productive, and less costly, agricultural production system in Bangladesh.

CIMMYT–SARO@30

Written by on April 8, 2015. Posted in Features.

Targeting increasing farm-level food security and productivity to mitigate the effects of climate risk and change: Through the SIMLESA Project, smallholder farmers practice sustainable intensification principles, such as zero or minimum tillage, maize–legume intercropping, and maize–legume rotations. In the photo, Mr. Ringson Chitsiko (standing), Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, officially opens CIMMYT–SARO's 30th anniversary celebrations. On the extreme left is the International Livestock Research Institute’s Representative for Southern Africa, Dr. Sikhalazo Dube. To the PS’s left is the Principal Director in the Department of Research and Specialist Services, Mrs. Denisile Hikwa. Dr. Olaf Erenstein (in striped shirt), Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program; and partly in the picture is Dr. Eric Craswell, SIMLESA Project Steering Committee Member. — Targeting increasing farm-level food security and productivity to mitigate the effects of climate risk and change: Through the SIMLESA Project, smallholder farmers practice sustainable intensification principles, such as zero or minimum tillage, maize–legume intercropping, and maize–legume rotations. In the photo, Mr. Ringson Chitsiko (standing), Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, officially opens CIMMYT–SARO’s 30th anniversary celebrations. On the extreme left is the International Livestock Research Institute’s Representative for Southern Africa, Dr. Sikhalazo Dube. To the PS’s left is the Principal Director in the Department of Research and Specialist Services, Mrs. Denisile Hikwa. Dr. Olaf Erenstein (in striped shirt), Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program; and partly in the picture is Dr. Eric Craswell, SIMLESA Project Steering Committee Member.

On March 18, CIMMYT Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO) celebrated 30 years of agricultural research and development.

The colourful ceremony, held amid pomp and fanfare, was attended by more than 300 people representing donors, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, Zimbabwe government departments, seed companies and farmer associations. The celebration included an on-station tour, with CIMMYT–SARO showcasing its work.

CIMMYT–SARO has been operating in Zimbabwe since March 1985 with the support of the government of Zimbabwe, and other public and private-sector partners, including the University of Zimbabwe and the Department of Research and Specialist Services. In Zimbabwe, CIMMYT conducts experiments at its main station, as well as at Muzarabani and Chiredzi sub- stations. There are also on-farm trials across the country.

Officially commemorating CIMMYT–SARO’s 30-year anniversary (SARO@30), Zimbabwe’s Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr. Joseph Made, said, ‘’The regional office has been focusing on developing new maize varieties adapted to smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and the mid-altitude agroecologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, the office has expanded to include development of research technologies for conservation-agriculture systems, sustainable intensification of production of smallholder farms and postharvest research activities.”

Stay on course, but also look beyond yield
In a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Ringson Chitsiko, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Made applauded CIMMYT’s research work on developing a stock of maize since this was a major staple in the country, and beyond. Although CIMMYT and its partners had introduced various technologies for increasing yields, the Center had to develop more technologies to mitigate the effects of climate change and other challenges.

The minister advised: “CIMMYT needs to work harder and be alert, especially in the face of the ever-growing population, climate change and variability, and new threats through maize diseases and pests. I urge CIMMYT to continue pursuing its mandate for the benefit of the Southern African region.”

In support of this goal and in recognition of CIMMYT’s sustained presence and commitment to the SADC region and Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe government in 2012 renewed the Host Country Agreement, according CIMMYT–SARO diplomatic status. ‘’We are jointly working towards signing a new collaborative agreement to strengthen maize research to combat a new threat in the form of maize lethal necrosis [MLN] disease recently discovered in East Africa and which has a potential to wipe out an entire maize crop if it spreads to Southern Africa,’’ Made said.

MLN caused 100 percent crop loss for some Kenyan farmers between 2011 and 2012, and cases were also reported in Uganda and Tanzania.

Speaking at the same occasion, Dr. Olaf Erenstein, Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program who represented Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General, said CIMMYT, since its establishment in Mexico in 1966 currently has 13 representative offices around the world. Its mandate and mission is to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to ensure global food security and reduce poverty. The regional office, he said, is serving its purpose in contributing to increasing food security.

Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT — Just one year shy: John Chifamba (foreground, in blue shirt, and cap, facing the camera), receives his long-service certificate. With 29 years of service under his belt, he’s been with CIMMYT–SARO for almost as long as it has existed.

‘Easy Friday’: Reflect, Celebrate, Play, Plan for The Future
As part of the continued celebrations, March 27 was ‘Easy Friday: CIMMYT–SARO hosted a luncheon and sports day for its staff. Thirteen long-serving employees who served for between 15 and 29 years were honored for their commitment. The employees were from administration, finance, Global Maize Program and Conservation Agriculture Program.

Sixty-two year-old Mr. John Chifamba, a recorder who has worked for CIMMYT for 29 years, said, “CIMMYT is my home. I have gained considerable on-the-job experience in maize research. “Any plans of leaving CIMMYT?” To this, Chifamba said an emphatic no. “Very soon, it will be retirement time and I will find a plot to utilize the good agricultural practices I have seen and learned at CIMMYT.“

Joining hands: From Zambia to Afghanistan
Mekuria continued: ‘’Our partnership approach will give us more capacity to meet with our constituents at the highest level, strengthening our relationships with governments as they formulate the most effective agricultural policies for the good of their people and natural resources.”

CIMMYT–SARO is part of the world’s largest public drought and low nitrogen stress research network. Every year 500,000 envelopes of maize seeds are sent to over 70 institutions worldwide. The demand for CIMMYT–SARO maize germplasm extends from Zambia to Afghanistan.

During the past 10 years, sustainable intensification strategies based on the principles of conservation agriculture (CA) have been successfully promoted in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Making use of the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, CA increases yields when compared to conventional agricultural practices after two to five cropping seasons. Trials on farmers’ fields in Malawi, for example, increased yields by 20 to 60 percent. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields were increased by almost 60 percent using animal traction CA technologies.

Major highlights during the 30 years existence of CIMMYT in Zimbabwe include the development and release of more than 50 maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) adapted to drought-prone regions. These new varieties are expected to benefit almost 12 million people, helping to enhance food security, increase livelihoods and reduce poverty in Southern Africa.

CIMMYT’s seed system activities and support in training and technical assistance have led to the emergence of smaller domestic seed companies in the various Southern African countries. Farmers’ access to seed has improved. In addition, the Center has trained more than 200 technicians and graduate students through short- and long-term training in their various disciplines. Nearly 30 percent of these trainees are women. Trainees are drawn from southern Africa, the rest of Africa, and beyond.