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Theme: Nutrition, health and food security

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the world’s food energy intake, and contributing 55 to 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. CIMMYT scientists tackle food insecurity through improved nutrient-rich, high-yielding varieties and sustainable agronomic practices, ensuring that those who most depend on agriculture have enough to make a living and feed their families. The U.N. projects that the global population will increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, which means that the successes and failures of wheat and maize farmers will continue to have a crucial impact on food security. Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which show heat waves could occur more often and mean global surface temperatures could rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius throughout the century, indicate that increasing yield alone will be insufficient to meet future demand for food.

Achieving widespread food and nutritional security for the world’s poorest people is more complex than simply boosting production. Biofortification of maize and wheat helps increase the vitamins and minerals in these key crops. CIMMYT helps families grow and eat provitamin A enriched maize, zinc-enhanced maize and wheat varieties, and quality protein maize. CIMMYT also works on improving food health and safety, by reducing mycotoxin levels in the global food chain. Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that colonize in food crops, and cause health problems or even death in humans or animals. Worldwide, CIMMYT helps train food processors to reduce fungal contamination in maize, and promotes affordable technologies and training to detect mycotoxins and reduce exposure.

Bihar to subsidize zero-tillage and maize

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On 09 August, the government of Bihar State, India, announced a 25% subsidy for the purchase of zero-tillage seeders, bed planters, and maize threshers. According to Raj Gupta, facilitator of the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the decision emerged in part from a meeting in March 2005 that involved the Chief Minister of Bihar, the Minister of Agriculture, the DG of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and other relevant actors.

“I also participated,” says Gupta. “Among other things, we discussed the promotion of quality protein maize and resource-conserving technologies as a strategy for transforming agriculture in Bihar. Now they have also decided to replace some of the winter wheat area with winter maize, whose productivity is nearly double that of wheat.”

With a population of 100 million, Bihar is one of India’s most densely populated and disadvantaged states and has been a particular target of RWC efforts to offer viable alternatives for resource-poor farmers in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. Land-use studies by Parvesh Chandna, CIMMYT affiliate scientist and expert in geographic information systems and remote sensing, have also contributed. This outcome shows the effectiveness of concerted, science-based efforts to influence policy.

Corpoica maize ‘V-114’ released in Colombia

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Last 25 July, more than 180 farmers and staff from CIMMYT and CORPOICA, Colombia’s agriculture research organization, gathered in the field of Isabel Cristina Cardenas at Los Palmitos, near Sincelejo, Sucre Department, Colombia, to celebrate the release of the new variety V-114. A product of CIMMYT research in Mexico, Thailand, Peru, and Colombia, and with key contributions from Colombian scientists in evaluation and promotion, V-114 was formerly known as Iquitos 9328 and was developed by Hugo Cordova, Carlos De Leon, Luis Narro and other CIMMYT staff, together with CORPOICA. CIMMYTs Asian Regional Maize Program also improved the variety’s resistance to downy mildew, an important disease of maize in this region of Colombia, prior to its introduction. CORPOICA staff at the ceremony included Paolo Bianchi, Director of the organization’s Turipaná Research Station, while CIMMYT was represented by Luis Narro and me.

Farmers at the field day listed for researchers some of their most highly-valued traits in an improved variety. These included low production costs, yields above 3 t/ha, suitability for use under zero-tillage and for intercropping with cassava, resistance to insect pests, and that the seed can be saved and replanted.

When asked about their experience growing V-114, farmers had the following comments:

  • V-114 looks like a local variety (criollo) and they think it contains local germplasm because it has variation for kernel color (yellow to reddish) and cob shape. They like this as they associate it with stability and stress tolerance.
  • Farmer Rigoberto Romero said that when he planted recycled seed of V-114 he obtained the same (good) performance from the second crop as he obtained in the first season, when he planted official (‘certified’) seed.
  • Farmer Silvio Tovar said that he planted 5 kg of seed as an intercrop with cassava, and harvested 1 ton of maize (equivalent to more than 4 t/ha).

The field day was a celebration of several years of work by CIMMYT and CORPOICA scientists, and a couple years of participatory evaluation work with farmers. It was a pleasure to see the excellent interaction between CORPOICA extension staff and farmers, who exchanged sincere questions, important advice, and quite a few jokes. In addition to lunch, each farmer at the field day was given 5 kg of seed of V-114.

Award for Zhonghu He

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Zhonghu He, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and Country Representative in China received the Taishan Scholars Award, the highest honor for individual scientists from the Shandong Provincial Government. The ceremony was held on July 6, 2006, in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province.

Taishan is a famous Mountain and it is considered a symbol of Shandong. This award is based on our work in Shandong and Dr. He was nominated by the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science (Shandong AAS).

Dr. He has provided strong scientific leadership in Chinese wheat improvement, particularly in the establishment of a standardized quality testing system and the development of a regional quality program. The CAAS-CIMMYT wheat quality lab has become internationally recognized for its active and productive activities in promoting Chinese wheat quality, and shares around 70% of wheat quality activities in China. Dr. He, together with the wheat team in Shandong AAS, developed and promoted noodle quality wheat cultivar Jinan 19, which contributed more than 4 million ha in Shandong province for the last five years. It won the second prize from Chinese government in 2005.

In total, 70 people received awards, and the areas include literature, education, math and physics, engineering, medicine, biology, and agriculture In agriculture, four scientists were selected. As part of the award, the provincial government will grant 60,000 US $ per year for five years to Dr. He for providing leadership to the wheat program at Shandong AAS.

Turkey dinner

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The TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA office in Ankara held a dinner on 1 July to welcome Alex Morgounov while saying farewell to Arne Hede and Hans-Joachim Braun.

Alex, not a really a newcomer to Turkey having worked in the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP), 1994-1998, has returned now to lead the program. He still remembers many colleagues from his previous experiences in Turkey and started full speed from day one.

Arne, based in Turkey since 2002, has accepted a position with the Swedish SIDA project “Support to Seed Sector Development in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” to be based Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Arne will stay in close contact with the IWWIP, in which SIDA is a key partner. Hans will return to Mexico as Director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.

He came to Turkey in 1985 and contributed to the establishment of IWWIP. He was Director of CIMMYT’s Rainfed Wheat Systems program until its amalgamation with Intensive Agro-Ecosystems to form the new Global Wheat Program. Arne received a plaque noting his contributions to wheat improvement in the IWWIP. A plaque given to Hans noted personal achievements and remembrances from the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA office staff. Both Hans and Arne thanked the TURKEY-CIMMYT-ICARDA staff for their support and warmth over the years.

The cycle continues: clean seed for our partners

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This week a truck arrived at El Batán with wheat seed from CIMMYT’s 2006 Mexicali quarantine nurseries (a wheat multiplication site free of wheat diseases like Karnal Bunt). CIMMYT annually distributes several tons of wheat seed through SIDU’s International Wheat Improvement Network to cooperators in over 100 countries.

Clean, healthy seed is a must. After several more months of seed cleaning, washing, inspecting, treating, field book printing, packing and boxing the new seed will be ready for distribution in early 2007. SIDU appreciates the hard work of Cosme Rivera, Leonardo MĂĄrquez, JosĂ© Luis Coss, Salvador Madrigal, Miguel Borja, and JesĂșs Perales.

Conserving wheat, rye, triticale

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Starting Tuesday, 20 June and ending on 22 June, a group of eminent scientists from around the world will meet under the auspices of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and CIMMYT to plan a strategy for the conservation of wheat, rye and triticale germplasm from a global perspective. All sessions will be held in the Sasakawa room and are open to CIMMYT staff.

Payne on the radio

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payne en el radioTom Payne, head of the CIMMYT wheat collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Genetic Resources Center will be heard on the stations of National Public Radio in the United States later this month. He was interviewed this week for a story about the launching of a new genebank project in Norway. The interview was conducted over the telephone by NPR journalist Dan Charles from a studio in Washington DC. NPR sent their Mexico City journalist, Karina Pais to record Tom’s answers to the questions.

Norway announced that it will dig a large cave deep inside a frozen mountain on the arctic island of Svalbard with the capacity to hold copies of all the world’s crop seed varieties. Norway says the arctic cold will provide a failsafe backup for the world’s major genebanks, like the one at CIMMYT, which depend on electricity to keep their refrigeration equipment running. The Norwegian project is expected to be ready in 2007.

The road to ISO9000 for SIDU

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The seed health laboratory, part of CIMMYT’s Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit (SIDU), has just begun the process of obtaining ISO9000 accreditation with the International Standards Organization. Seed health certification is a major bottleneck that can delay the rapid, timely, and efficient international distribution of CIMMYT seed. That means that CIMMYT must have approved processes in place to ensure that any seed we distribute is disease and pest free.

Since 1998 CIMMYT has worked under the authority of the Mexican Phytosanitary Direction General (DGSV). Now that department also requires CIMMYT to obtain the ISO9000 certification. The accreditation process started on May 31 with a workshop given by CENCADE, a company hired to lead seed health personnel through the process of accreditation. The workshop was attended by 19 staff from SIDU, HR, ICT and Purchasing, as all of these groups will have to contribute to the process. The accreditation process will take approximately 6-7 months.

 

Published in 2006.

Quality protein maize awareness workshop held in Harare

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In an effort to promote quality protein maize (QPM), CIMMYT, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research and Extension Service (AREX) in Zimbabwe, recently held a workshop on QPM awareness. QPM contains enhanced levels of the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which together with other amino acids in maize are essential for the production of protein in the human body. Protein malnutrition is a serious health problem in southern Africa.

In addition to promoting general awareness, the workshop concentrated on sensitizing and educating participants about the usefulness of QPM in both human and animal nutrition. It also stimulated discussion that organizers hoped would get people thinking about how to promote quality protein maize in Zimbabwe.

The workshop was attended by participants from the University of Zimbabwe, University of Midlands, poultry and livestock industry, departments of extension, researchers and NGOs. Presentations covered the development, utilization, and seed production of QPM. During the discussion it was clear that the participants saw the potential of QPM in mitigating malnutrition in Zimbabwe.

At present only one QPM openpollinated variety has been released in the country and there is a need to release more varieties. In the recent past the variety release committee has insisted on presentation of data from animal feeding trials for a variety to be released as a QPM variety.

However, during the course of the workshop (which was attended by several members of the variety release committee) it was agreed that a QPM variety could be released on the strength of its agronomic performance and high values of lysine and tryptophan from lab tests. High lysine and tryptophan in a QPM variety were seen as valueadded traits. It was agreed that feeding trials are no longer necessary as long as there is lab data to show that a candidate variety contains a high level of lysine and tryphtophan compared to non-QPM variety. At present QPM varieties have been released in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.

 

Published in 2006

CIMMYT active in Njoro, Kenya

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Technical staff of the Njoro Agricultural Research station of KARI in Kenya have completed planting a large stem rust screening trial. Ten thousand different wheat samples from more than 30 countries were planted as part of the Global Rust Initiative.

CIMMYT, ICARDA, and national partners are testing the samples to assess the world’s wheat germplasm for vulnerability to Ug99, the new and virulent form of stem rust that is now in eastern Africa. In addition, the team hopes to identify sources of potential resistance that could be used in breeding programs to produce new varieties resistant to the disease.

Past outbreaks of stem rust have destroyed up to 40% of wheat production in affected countries. The Njoro station is in the middle of Kenya’s wheat growing area near Nakuru. This region is a known hot-spot for rust diseases like Ug99, where local wheat is already infected by the fungus, and so makes a perfect test ground.

Rick Ward, co-facilitator of the Global Rust Initiative, went to Njoro to monitor the planting. The actual screening for susceptibility will take place in late August or September, when the wheat plants mature.

 

 

Published 2006

Conserving the genetic heritage of maize

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Experts from around the world met at headquarters this week to begin hammering out a strategy to ensure the long-term conservation of the genetic diversity of maize, a central pillar of humanity’s food security. Pivotal to this issue is the well-being of gene banks. Both national and international gene banks have not fared well, as investment in public sector agricultural research has steadily declined and fierce competition for dwindling resources in the agricultural sciences has risen.

The meeting, sponsored by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the World Bank, and CIMMYT, was called to initiate a global response to this growing crisis, with nothing less at stake than the survival of the genetic heritage of this essential crop. At a time when molecular genetics opens new opportunities daily to exploit genetic resources carrying resistance to combat plant diseases, insect pests, and threats such as drought, soil salinity, and heat stress, collecting and preserving the basic sources of resistance traits takes on added importance.

Given the global distribution and subsequent evolution of maize, the job is too large for a single institution or nation—thus the need for a broad-based solution, says maize genetics expert and meeting co-organizer Major Goodman of North Carolina State University.

“With the experience and expertise at this meeting,” says Suketoshi Taba, director of the CIMMYT maize gene bank, “we are posed to discuss and make recommendations, based on ground-level reality, to address the threats to conserving the genetic treasures of maize and to focus our efforts and resources.”

 

 

Published 2006

Safe in Nepal

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It has been a trying two weeks for staff in the CIMMYT South Asia Regional Office in Kathmandu, Nepal. During the time of large daily demonstrations, often met with military force, the government ordered daytime curfews. This made operating the office difficult.

“We in the CIMMYT office have been working whenever the curfews permit, says Memo Ortiz Ferrara, the CIMMYT regional coordinator in Nepal. “If the curfews start late in the day, we come to the office to do some urgent work. When the curfews are declared for the whole day, we of course stay at home.”

Late last week, some international organizations and embassies were preparing to evacuate their international staff as the crisis worsened but on Monday, when the King of Nepal agreed to many of the opposition demands, the situation in Nepal stabilized. Demonstrations have stopped and the daytime curfews have been lifted. All CIMMYT staff in the regional office are safe and the office is working normally.

Memo Ortiz Ferrara wants to thank Director General Masa Iwanaga and members of the Management Committee for their moral support during the crisis.

 

Published 2006