As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the worldâs 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 worldâs 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.
Kindie Tesfaye (CIMMYT) appears on Fana Television.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to widen, its effects on the agriculture sector are also becoming apparent. In countries like Ethiopia, where farming is the backbone of the nationâs economy, early preparation can help mitigate adverse effects.
Recently, Fana Broadcasting Corporate (Fana Television) organized a panel discussion on how the Ethiopian government and its partners are responding to this crisis. Analyzing this topic were Kindie Tesfaye from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mandefro Negussi of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Esayas Lemma from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The panelists highlighted Ethiopiaâs readiness in response to COVID-19. The country established a team from various institutions to work on strategies and to ensure no further food shortages occur due to the pandemic. The strategy involves the continuation of activity already started during the Bleg season â short rainy season â and the preparation for the Meher season â long rainy season â to be complemented by food production through irrigation systems during the dry season, if the crisis continues beyond September 2020.
Tesfaye indicated that CIMMYT continues to work at the national and regional levels as before, and is represented in the advisory team. One of the activities underway, he said, is the plan to use the Agro-Climate Advisory Platform to disseminate COVID-19 related information to extension agents and farmers.
Panelists agreed that the pandemic will also impact the Ethiopian farming system, which is performed collectively and relies heavily on human labor. To minimize the spread of the virus, physical distancing is highly advisable. Digital media, social media and megaphones will be used to reach out to extension agents and farmers and encourage them to apply all the necessary precaution measures while on duty. Training will also continue through digital means as face to face meetings will not be possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the impact of the twin scourges of disease and malnutrition in the world, but there is hope that new bio-fortified crops being introduced by organizations like Iowa-based Self-Help International can help combat the new coronavirus.
The Rendidor bio-fortified beans represent the first new crop introduced by Self-Help Nicaragua since 1999, when Self-Help began working in Nicaragua with the planting of Quality Protein Maize, or QPM, a high-protein corn variety that was developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.
A study on the impact of providing site-specific fertilizer recommendations on fertilizer usage, productivity and welfare outcomes in Ethiopia shows that targeted fertilizer recommendations encourage fertilizer investments and lead to improved maize productivity outcomes.
Enumerators manually shelling maize cobs to test grain moisture. (Photo: Hailemariam Ayalew/CIMMYT)
Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Department of Economics and Trinity Impact Evaluation unit (TIME), Trinity College Dublin, anticipate that the findings will provide valuable guidance to the design and delivery of improved extension services in developing countries.
Soil degradation and nutrient depletion have been serious threats to agricultural productivity and food security in Ethiopia. Over the years, soil fertility has also declined due to the increase in population size and decline in plot size. Studies have identified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) as being the nutrients most lacking and have called for action to improve the nutrient status of soils.
In response to this, in 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and agricultural research centers together developed regional fertilizer recommendations. These recommendations, about fertilizer types and application rates for different crops, were disseminated to farmers through agricultural extension workers and development agents.
However, adoption of fertilizer remains low â and average application rates are generally lower than recommended. One reason for these low adoption rates is that the information provided is too broad and not tailored to the specific requirements of smallholder farmers.
A study conducted on 738 farm households randomly selected from the main maize growing areas of Ethiopia â Bako, Jimma and the East Shewa and West Gojjam zones â shows that well-targeted fertilizer recommendations can increase fertilizer usage in smallholder maize production.
Maize is one of Ethiopiaâs most important crops in terms of production, productivity, and area coverage. It is a primary staple food in the major maize growing areas as well as a source of feed for animals and a raw material for industries.
The study examined the impact of providing site-specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers on fertilizer usage/adoption, farm productivity/production per hectare and consumer expenditure/welfare outcomes using a two-level cluster randomized control trial.
Tailored recommendations
CIMMYT researcher Hailemariam Ayalew examines maize crops during the study. (Photo: Hailemariam Ayalew/CIMMYT)
The Nutrient Expert decision-support tool, developed by the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) in partnership with the CGIAR Research Center on Maize (MAIZE), was used to give site-specific recommendations to each farmer. With this tool, researchers offered tailored recommendations, using information on fertilizer blends available in Ethiopia, current farmersâ practices, relevant inputs and field history, and local conditions. The experiment also considered whether coupling the site-specific recommendation with crop insurance â to protect farmersâ fertilizer investment in the event of crop failure â enhanced adoption rates.
Results show that well-targeted fertilizer recommendations improve fertilizer usage and productivity of maize production. The intervention led to an increase of 5 quintals, or 0.5 tons, in average maize yields for plots in the treatment group. While the study did not find any evidence that these productivity gains led to household welfare improvements, it is likely that such improvements may take longer to realize.
The study found no differential effect of the site-specific recommendation when coupled with agricultural insurance, suggesting that the risk of crop failure is not a binding constraint to fertilizer adoption in the study setting. The findings of this research should help guide the design and delivery of improved extension services in relation to fertilizer usage and adoption in developing countries.
Cover photo:Â Workers harvesting green maize at Ambo Research Center, Ethiopia, 2015. (Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe)
There is no nationwide official data on how much rice in India is grown through DSR. M L Jat, principal scientist with Mexico-based CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), estimated that about 10 per cent of Indiaâs 44 million ha under rice cultivation is through DSR.
In the past few decades, many state governments have been encouraging farmers to move to DSR because it is easier on the environment, but without much success.
A new analysis by wheat scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) published in Scientific Reports includes insights and genetic information that will help in the efforts to breed yellow rust resistant wheat.
A new policy brief produced by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) lays out a clear case for the benefits and importance of conservation agriculture, and a road map for accelerating its adoption in Eastern India.
A collaborative effort by research and policy partners including ICAR, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and national academic and policy institutions, the brief represents the outputs of years of both rigorous scientific research and stakeholder consultations.
Eastern India â an area comprising seven states â is one of the worldâs most densely populated areas, and a crucial agricultural zone, feeding more than a third of Indiaâs population. The vast majority â more than 80% â of its farmers are smallholders, earning on average, just over half the national per capita income.
Conservation agriculture (CA) consists of farming practices that aim to maintain and boost yields and increase profits while reversing land degradation, protecting the environment and responding to climate change. These practices include minimal mechanical soil disturbance, permanent soil cover with living or dead plant material, and crop diversification through rotation or intercropping. A number of studies have shown the success of conservation agriculture in combatting declining factor productivity, deteriorating soil health, water scarcity, labor shortages, and climate change in India.
The road map lists recommended steps for regional and national policy makers, including
establishing a database repository on conservation agriculture for eastern India,
setting up common learning platform and sites for science-based evidence on CA,
developing an effective and productive supply chain system for CA machinery,
offering subsidies for CA machinery as incentives to farmers,
adopting pricing strategies to encourage market demand for sustained adoption of CA,
developing synergies for effective coordination between NARS and CGIAR institutions, and
A combine harvester equipped with the Super SMS (left) harvests rice while a tractor equipped with the Happy Seeder is used for direct seeding of wheat. (Photo: Sonalika Tractors)
Partners include the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Bihar Agricultural University, and the Department of Agriculture of the state of Bihar.
The agricultural market has been suffering since the government of Nepal imposed a lockdown from March 23, 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the country. A month after the lockdown, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) conducted a rapid assessment survey to gauge the extent of disruptions of the lockdown on households from farming communities and agribusinesses.
As part of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, CIMMYT researchers surveyed over 200 key stakeholders by phone from 26 project districts. These included 103 agrovet owners and 105 cooperative managers who regularly interact with farming communities and provide agricultural inputs to farmers. The respondents served more than 300,000 households.
The researchers targeted maize growing communities for the survey since the survey period coincided with the primary maize season.
Seed company staff harvesting maize during the lockdown. (Photo: Darbin Joshi/CIMMYT)
Key insights from the survey
The survey showed that access to maize seed was a major problem that farmers experienced since the majority of agrovets were not open for business and those that were partially open â around 23% â did not have much customer flow due to mobility restrictions during the lockdown.
The stock of hybrid seed was found to be less than open pollinated varieties (OPVs) in most of the domains. Due to restrictions on movement during the entire maize-planting season, many farmers must have planted OPVs or saved seeds.
Access to fertilizers such as urea, DAP and MOP was another major problem for farmers since more than half of the cooperatives and agrovets reported absence of fertilizer stock in their area. The stock of recommended pesticides to control pests such as fall armyworm was reported to be limited or out of stock at the cooperatives and agrovets.
Labor availability and use of agricultural machineries was not seen as a huge problem during the lockdown in the surveyed districts.
It was evident that food has been a priority for all household expenses. More than half of the total households mentioned that they would face food shortages if the lockdown continues beyond a month.
During the survey, around 36% of households specified cash shortages to purchase agricultural inputs, given that a month had already passed since the lockdown began in the country. The majority of the respondents reported that the farm households were managing their cash requirements by borrowing from friends and relatives, local cooperatives or selling household assets such as livestock and agricultural produces.
Most of the households said that they received food rations from local units called Palikas, while a small number of Palikas also provided subsidized seeds and facilitated transport of agricultural produce to market during the lockdown. Meanwhile, the type of support preferred by farming communities to help cope with the COVID-19 disruptions â ranging from food rations, free or subsidized seed, transportation of fertilizers and agricultural produce, and provision of credit â varied across the different domains.
The survey also assessed the effect of lockdown on agribusinesses like agrovets who are major suppliers of seed, and in a few circumstances sell fertilizer to farmers in Nepal. As the lockdown enforced restrictions on movement, farmers could not purchase inputs from agrovets even when the agrovets had some stock available in their area. About 86% of agrovets spoke of the difficulty to obtain supplies from their suppliers due to the blockage of transportation and product unavailability, thereby causing a 50-90% dip in their agribusinesses.
Seed company staff harvesting maize during the lockdown. (Photo: Darbin Joshi/CIMMYT)
Immediate actions to consider
Major takeaways from this survey are as follows:
Currently, food access is a priority and households are spending more money on food. However, as and when the lockdown eases, the need for cash to buy agricultural inputs and services is likely to emerge and may require attention.
Accessing maize seed and fertilizer was a problem in many communities during the maize season. Similarly, a shortage of rice seed, particularly hybrids, can be an issue for farmers unless efforts are made right away.
To help cope with the COVID-19 disruptions, a one-size-fits-all relief package would not be effective for farming communities living in different domains. Major support should be on facilitating transport and distribution of seed and fertilizers, access to food supplies through the local governmentâs schemes, and provision of soft loans.
Agrovets have an important contribution as the last mile service providers and they were hit hard by the lockdown. Therefore, facilitating agrovet businesses to operate and transport seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides from suppliers to agrovet business points will be essential to restore businesses and deliver agri-inputs to farmers.
The survey findings were presented and shared with the government, private sector, development partner organizations and project staff over a virtual meeting. This report will serve as a resource for the project and various stakeholders to design their COVID-19 response and recovery strategy development and planning.
Kiyasi Gwalale walking through her baby trial in Chebvute, Masvingo. Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT
It was an early morning on March 12, 2020, when we entered Kiyasi Gwalaleâs field in the Chebvute area of Masvingo, southern Zimbabwe. Gwalale participates in the Zambuko Livelihoods Initiative, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Zambuko initiative aims to increase rural resilience against the negative effects of climate change. More than 70% of smallholders in Zimbabwe farm on sandy soils that are low in soil fertility and are increasingly affected by the vagaries of climate. The Gwalale family is an example of one of the millions affected.
In Chebvute, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has established trials to test the effectiveness and productivity of conservation agriculture and climate resilient crop species since 2018. This has been in the form of âmother and babyâ trials.
A traditional tool of breeders, âmother trialsâ show different technologies to farmers to allow them to select the best option. In Chebvute, these trials were amplified to demonstrate farmersâ crop management practices such as conservation agriculture, crop rotation with legumes and different drought-resilient crop varieties.
A baby trial with DT maize, cowpea and white sorghum in Chebvute. Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT
Baby trial farmers taking after their âmothersâ
Since 2019, the best options have been taken on by follower farmers in so called âbaby trialsâ, where they use a subset from the mother trials to gain first-hand experience with the technology. Learning by doing is a central concept of this approach.
Gwalale as a âbaby trial farmerâ learned from the mother trials that drought-tolerant maize varieties out-yield traditional varieties under conservation agriculture, but need to be rotated with legumes to also improve the soil and the nutrition of the farm household. In addition, she realized that planting white sorghum is a drought-resilient strategy in this area as small grains are less affected by in-season dry-spells.
Gwalale and her family have been resident in Chebvute for 15 years but farm only on 0.4 ha of land. With her husband and three children, she grows maize, sorghum, groundnuts and Bambara nuts. What she gets from these fields is barely enough to survive.
In the 2019/20 cropping season, a devastating drought lasting from mid-December to mid-January destroyed all her hopes that this year would be a better season. Instead, she went on an educational journey to find out how improved farming practices can make a difference in her own life.
âWe planted this baby trial for the first time in December 2019, as we had seen from the nearby mother trials that these varieties planted under no-tillage seem to grow better than our own. We planted the baby at the same times as our own crops, but instead of tilling the soil and clearing the land, which we are used to, we just planted in riplines without tillage and covered the soil with mulch,â explains Gwalale.
âWhen the drought came, all my other crops in the tilled fields started to wilt and die â some did not even germinate. We could not believe what was happening in this baby trialâ.
CIMMYT scientist Christian Thierfielder pleased with the results in another baby trial plot in Chebvute. Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT
Resounding results in the baby trial
All crops in the baby trial survived the dry-spell and when the rains started to fall again in January, they continued to grow very well. Gwalale replanted the crops in the affected fields but they never caught up with the baby trial. Even after using the ripper to make more riplines, it was too late to experience the same wonder seen in the baby trial. âFor now, we are yet to see how much we will get from this small field, but we learned a big lesson and want to expand our land area with this way of planting next year,â she says.
More than 200 baby trial farmers in Chebvute, the majority of which are women, have experienced the same in their own baby trials and realized that it does not take much effort to achieve food security.
Timely planting, conserving the soil and the moisture with conservation agriculture, effective weeding and application of adequate plant nutrients are the key ingredients of success. This can be learned effectively in a small plot such as a baby trial. Farmers have realized that it is possible to make a difference when they apply the principles of sustainable agriculture in their farming systems. The interventions introduced will help them to become more climate-resilient and ultimately more food secure.
Developed by CABI in partnership with leading researchers and institutions, the portal is a free-to-access platform that enables the sharing of research data, insights and outputs, and includes a range of key features such as posting research updates, identifying collaborators, and posting questions to the community.
The Research Collaboration Portal is the official platform for the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium. B. M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) and co-chair of the portal steering committee commented, âThe fall armyworm research collaboration portal will serve as an effective platform for communicating on research actions of the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium, led by CIMMYT and IITA. We encourage all the members of the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium to actively contribute to the portal.â
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an invasive insect pest that feeds on more than 80 plant species, causing major damage to maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane but also other vegetable crops and cotton.
The pest is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. However, in 2016 it was reported for the first time in Africa, where it is causing significant damage to maize crops and has great potential for further spread and economic damage.
Fall armyworm has since spread to the Near East and Asia and, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it will likely soon be present in southern Europe. The FAO says that once fall armyworm is a resident pest in a country, it is there to stay and farmers need significant support to manage it sustainably in their cropping systems through integrated pest management activities.
The Fall Armyworm Research Collaboration Portal, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands under the Action on Invasives program, will also encourage researchers to post preprints of research articles to the new agriRxiv, which offers researchers and students access to preprints across agriculture and allied sciences.
The portal will help reduce the duplication of research into fall armyworm prevention and management, provide a route for the rapid sharing of results and highlight opportunities for collaboration â encouraging rapid, iterative experimentation and global teamwork to address the spread and impact of fall armyworm.
In 2019, CIMMYT continued to perform groundbreaking crop research and forge powerful partnerships to combat hunger and climate change, preserve maize and wheat biodiversity, and respond to emerging pests and diseases. Â
Bill Gates spoke about the âessential role of CGIAR research centers in feeding our futureâ and together with other stakeholders urged us to âdo even better.â In his Gates Notes blog, he highlighted the great example of CIMMYTâs drought-tolerant maize, which helps resource-poor farmers withstand increasing climate risks.Â
Over the course of the year, we supported our national partners to release 82 maize and 50 wheat varieties. More than 14,000 farmers, scientists, and technical workers across the world took part in over 900 training and capacity development activities. CIMMYT researchers published 386 peer-reviewed journal articles.Â
In 2019, CIMMYT also marked the end of a decade of achievements in seed security. CIMMYT celebrated being the largest depositor at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault with 173,779 accessions from 131 countries. The most recent deposit included 15,231 samples of wheat and 332 samples of maize.Â
Innovative solutions like DNA fingerprinting â a method used to identify individual plants by looking at unique patterns in their genome â brought state of the art research into farmerâs fields, providing valuable insights into the diversity of wheat varieties grown in Afghanistan and Ethiopia.  Â
CIMMYT also continued to play a key role in the battle against fall armyworm, coordinating a global research-for–development consortium to build an evidence-based response against the pest in both Africa and Asia.Â
Through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), CIMMYT helped women find business opportunities and empowered female entrepreneurship with the help of mechanization solutions.Â
The year 2019 showed us that while CIMMYTâs work may begin with seeds, our innovations support farmers at all stages of the value chain. The year ahead will be a challenging one as we continue to adjust to the ânew normalâ of life under COVID-19. We hope you enjoy this Annual Report as we look back on the exciting year that was 2019.  Â
A unique consortium of global and Pakistan scientists has helped to drive the countryâs recent growth in annual maize output to 6.3 million tons â nearly double the 2010 output â and energized the domestic production of affordable, quality seed of more nutritious and climate-resilient maize varieties.
With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), support from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and other national experts, and coordination by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the seven-year Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan has contributed to the dramatic growth in national maize productivity that began in the early 2000âs, when more farmers adopted hybrid seed and better management practices.
âA key AIP focus has been to reach smallholder and marginal farmers with affordable maize seed from domestic suppliers, thus reducing maize seed imports that cost Pakistan nearly $80 million in 2018-19,â said AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT maize seed system specialist for South Asia. âAs part of this, the program has provided dozens of private companies with market-ready maize products and parental seed, as well as training in product marketing and business management and supporting the production and distribution of 175 tons of maize seed for on-farm demonstrations and promotion.â
âThe testing of diversified maize products and release of new varieties represent encouraging progress,â said AbduRahman Beshir (foreground), CIMMYT maize seed system specialist, speaking during a traveling seminar, âbut only advances in quality seed production and a competitive seed business at scale, with a strong case for investment by the private sector, will allow farmers to benefit.â (Photo: Waheed Anwar/CIMMYT)
Products from AIP have included more nutritious, diversified maize lines and varieties with tolerance to drought, infertile soils and insect pests, reducing the risk of smallholder farm families for whom losing a crop is catastrophic, according to Syed Khadem Jan, a farmer from Bajaur District of the tribal areas of Pakistan.
âOur area is very fragmented and maize yields have averaged less than 2 tons per hectare, due to the lack of improved varieties and management practices,â Jan said. âThe new maize seed with drought-tolerance is what farmers are looking for and will help to secure our food and livelihoods.â
Pakistan farmers sow maize on 1.3 million hectares in diverse ecologies ranging from 30 meters above sea level on the arid plains of Sindh Province to nearly 3,000 meters in the Karakoram mountain range of Gilgit Baltistan Province and as part of complex, irrigated cropping rotations in Punjab Province and small-scale, rain-watered farms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Yellow maize is used widely in poultry feed and white maize for various foods including unleavened roti. Despite rising domestic demand for maize, production in Pakistan faces challenges that include a lack of maize varieties for various uses and ecologies, a weak seed delivery system, high seed prices, and unpredictable weather.
Since 2014, AIP has supported the testing by public and private partners in Pakistan of more than 3,000 maize products from breeding programs of CIMMYT and partners such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The extensive testing resulted in the identification of 60 new maize hybrids and varieties which CIMMYT handed over, together with their parental lines and breeder seed, to 16 public and private partners, according to Beshir.
âThe maize seed distributed through AIP is enough to sow some 9,000 hectares, potentially benefitting nearly 110,000 families,â he said. âSimilarly, CIMMYT has shared over 150 elite maize lines that have various preferred traits to foster variety registration, on-farm demonstrations, high-volume seed production, and intensive marketing. These contributions have broadened the genetic diversity and resilience of Pakistanâs maize and, through fast-track testing, saved partners at least eight years and considerable money, over having to develop them on their own from scratch and to pass them through conventional adaptation trials.â
Syed Khadam Jan, maize farmer from Bajaur District, Pakistan, holds a box of seed of a new climate-resilient maize variety from CIMMYT and the Pakistan Maize and Millet Research Institute. (Photo: Khashif Syed/CIMMYT)
Biofortified varieties provide better nutrition
Through AIP and national partners such as the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, farmers are testing pro-vitamin-A-enriched maize hybrids that are also remarkably high-yielding, helping to address one of the countryâs chronic nutritional deficiencies. With the same aim, in 2017 the national variety evaluation committee approved the release of two âquality protein maizeâ hybrids, whose grain has enhanced levels of the amino-acid building blocks for protein in humans and other monogastric animals.
Thanking USAID and the government of Pakistan, as well as 22 public and private partners across the maize value chain, Muhammed Imtiaz, CIMMYT country representative for Pakistan and AIP project leader, underscored the importance of specialty maize products for vulnerable communities.
âStrengthening âAgriculture-to-Nutrition Pathwaysâ is a centerpiece of AIP and part of CIMMYT efforts to provide nutritious food for the needy,â Imtiaz said. âThe introduction and evaluation of quality protein, Provitamin A and zinc enriched maize products represent a significant contribution both for the maize seed sector and Pakistanâs agricultural transformation.â
Addressing a 2020 AIP meeting, Muhammad Azeem Khan, PARC Chairman, urged stakeholders to use the new maize varieties. âI want to reiterate the importance of collaboration among public and private stakeholders to produce seed at scale, so that the diverse maize varieties can make it to the farmers’ fields as quickly as possible,â he said.
Maize seed producers acknowledge the value of AIP training and support in new business models. âWe are grateful to CIMMYT for reviving and helping the crawling maize seed industry to walk,â said Aslam Yousuf, Managing Director of HiSell Seeds Private Ltd. Company. âNow we need to learn to run.â
Dating back to the 1960s, the research partnership between Pakistan and CIMMYT has played a vital role in improving food security for Pakistanis and for the global spread of improved crop varieties and farming practices. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace laureate and first director of CIMMYT wheat research, kept a close relationship with the nationâs researchers and policymakers.
Cover photo: Participants at a February 2020 maize working group meeting of the Pakistan Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) with seed of maize parental lines shared by CIMMYT. (Photo: Awais Yaqub)
The benefits of perennials are not so clear, says CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff. CIMMYT tested wheat perennials, but the grain turned out not to last for years, says program leader Hans-Joachim Braun.
Wheat, in its own right, is one of the most important foods in the world. It is a staple food for more than 2.5 billion people, it provides 20% of the protein consumed worldwide and, according to the FAO, supplies more calories than any other grain. Its long-term productivity, however, is threatened by rising temperatures, among other factors. Stress from heat, an increasing trend due to climate change, affects its performance, a fact that requires urgent solutions bearing in mind that, according to some estimates, the world’s population will reach 9 billion by the year 2050.
Nearly 65,000 farmers in Nepal, 40% of which were women, have benefited from the Agronomy and Seed Systems Scaling project, according to a comprehensive new report. This project is part of the Cereals Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and supported by USAID.
One of the project’s most recent successes has been in accelerating the adoption of the nutritious and stress-tolerant mung bean in rice-wheat farming systems.
Farmer Chhalu Bhattarai harvests her mung bean crop in Manikapur, Surkhet, Nepal. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
Rice-wheat is the dominant cropping system in the lowland region of Nepal. Farmers typically harvest wheat in March and transplant rice in July, leaving land fallow for up to 100 days. A growing body of evidence shows, however, that planting mung bean during this fallow period can assist in improving farmers’ farming systems and livelihoods.
âThe mung bean has multiple benefits for farmers,â says Narayan Khanal, a researcher at CIMMYT. âThe first benefit is nutrition: mung beans are very rich in iron, protein and are easily digestible. The second benefit is income: farmers can sell mung beans on the market for a higher price than most other legumes. The third benefit is improved soil health: mung beans fix the nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil as well as improve soil organic content.â
Commonly used in dishes like dahl, soups and sprout, mung beans are a common ingredient in Asian cuisine. However, prior to the project, most farmers in Nepal had never seen the crop before and had no idea how to eat it. Encouraging them to grow the crop was not going to be an easy task.
Thanks to dedicated efforts by CIMMYT researchers, more than 8,000 farmers in Nepal are now cultivating mung bean on land that would otherwise be left fallow, producing over $1.75 million of mung bean per year.
The newfound enthusiasm for growing mung bean could not have been achieved without the help of local womenâs farming groups, said Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT senior scientist and CSISA project leader.
Employees select and clean mung beans at Poshan Foods in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
An employee selects mung beans at Poshan Foods, in Butwal, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
After mung bean is toasted, employees at Poshan Foods select the beans. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Poshan Foods uses mung bean for a wide range of products but has been particularly successful with baby food, which includes important nutrition advice for parents. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Bringing research and innovations to farmersâ fields
Introducing the mung bean crop to farmersâ fields was just one of the successes of Agronomy and Seed Systems Scaling, which was an added investment by USAID in the wider CSISA project, which began in 2014. The project aims to move agronomic and crop varietal research into real-world impact. It has helped farmers get better access to improved seeds and machinery and strengthened partnerships with the private sector, according to Khanal.
CSISA support in business mentoring and capacity building of seed companies to popularize newly released, biofortified and stress-tolerant wheat varieties has led to seed sales volumes tripling between 2014 to 2019. The project also led to a 68% increase in the number of new improved wheat varieties since the inception of the project.
Nepalâs National Wheat Research Program was able to fast track the release of the early maturing variety BL 4341, by combining data generated by the project through seed companies and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) research station. Other varieties, including Borlaug 100 and NL 1327, are now in the pipeline.
Empowering women and facilitating womenâs groups have been critical components of the project. Nepal has seen a mass exodus of young men farmers leaving the countryside for the city, leaving women to work the farms. CIMMYT worked with women farmer groups to expand and commercialize simple to use and affordable technologies, like precision seed and fertilizer spreaders.
Over 13,000 farmers have gained affordable access to and benefited from precision agriculture machinery such as two-wheel âhand tractorsâ and âmini tillers.â This is a major change for small and medium-scale farmers in South Asia who typically rely on low horsepower four-wheel tractors. The project also introduced an attachment for tractors for harvesting rice and wheat called the âreaper.â This equipment helps to reduce the costs and drudgery of manual harvesting. In 2019, Nepalâs Terai region had almost 3,500 reapers, versus 22 in 2014.
To ensure the long-term success of the project, CSISA researchers have trained over 2,000 individuals from the private and public sector, and over 1,000 private organizations including machinery manufacturers and agricultural input dealers.
Researchers have trained project collaborators in both the public and private sector in seed systems, resilient varieties, better farming practices and appropriate agricultural mechanization business models. These partners have in turn passed this knowledge on to farmers, with considerable impact.
âThe projectâs outcomes demonstrates the importance of multi-year and integrated agricultural development efforts that are science-based, but which are designed in such a way to move research into impact and benefit farmers, by leveraging the skills and interests of Nepalâs public and private sector in unison,â said Krupnik.
âThe outcomes from this project will continue to sustain, as the seed and market systems developed and nurtured by the project are anticipated to have long-lasting impact in Nepal,â he said.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is led by the International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT), implemented jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). CSISA is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Cover photo: A member of a women farmers group serves a platter of mung bean dishes in Suklaphanta, Nepal. (Photo: Merit Maharajan/Amuse Communication)
Bram Govaerts, Director of CIMMYT’s Integrated Development Program, says Mexico already has projects like MasAgro whose potential can be activated and integrated as an investment.
