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.
According to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, one of the key constraints to improving food and nutritional security in Africa is the poor post-harvest management that leads to between 14 percent and 36 percent loss of maize grain, thereby aggravating hunger.
Read more here.
Since 2015, Harvest Plus, through the Livelihoods and Food Security Programme (LFSP), has collaborated with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS), and more than 30 national and international partners, in breeding biofortified crop varieties of vitamin A orange maize.
Read more here.
Itâs been eight years since maize lethal necrosis (MLN) was first reported on the African continent. When it appeared in Kenyaâs Bomet County in 2011, a sense of panic swept across the maize sector. Experts quickly realized that all maize varieties on the market were susceptible to this viral disease, which could wipe out entire maize fields.
Spearheaded by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a rapid regional response involving national agriculture research systems (NARS), national plant protection organizations and seed sector partners was set up. The response involved multiple approaches: rigorous surveillance, epidemiology research, disease management across the seed value chain, and screening and fast-tracking of the MLN-tolerant maize breeding program.
Now, CIMMYT and its partners are reflecting on the tremendous impact of transboundary coalition to contain the devastating disease.
âCountry reports show there are now much less incidents of MLN in the region. We have effectively contained this disease as no new country in sub-Saharan Africa reported MLN since Ethiopia in 2014. This is a great achievement of an effective public private partnership,â noted B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
He was speaking at the closure workshop for the MLN Diagnostics and Management project and the MLN Epidemiology project on October 15-17, 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya. Experts from research, plant health and seed sector organizations from eastern and southern Africa reflected on the tremendous impact of the transboundary coalition to contain MLN across the region.
âThe outbreak of the disease in Uganda in 2012 was a huge challenge as all the maize varieties and hybrids on the market were susceptible. With the support of CIMMYT and other partners in the national agriculture research systems, we got access to Bazooka, a high-yielding, drought- and MLN-tolerant maize variety that has helped in containing the disease,â said Godfrey Katwere, marketing manager for NASECO.
Until now, 19 MLN-tolerant and -resistant hybrids have been released, helping to keep the disease away from farmersâ fields and to stop its spillover to non-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Science in action
The MLN screening facility, established in Naivasha in 2013, has been key to a better understanding of the disease and to setting up MLN hybrid tolerance and resistance breeding efforts. The facility, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, has supported public and private partners to screen over 200,000 germplasm with around 300,000 rows of maize.
State-of-the-art epidemiology research has been carried out to identify how the disease could be transmitted and the best diagnostics methods along the seed value chain.
MLN is caused by the combination of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any of the viruses belonging to the Potyviridae family.
As part of the project, studies showed that moist soil had higher MCMV virus loads than dry soil. The studies â conducted by Benham Lockhart of University of Minnesota and Peg Redinbaugh, a professor at Ohio State University and Research Leader and Research Plant Molecular Geneticist at USDA â indicated that MCMV can stay active in runoff water, and helped in understanding how the disease is transmitted and how to define management protocols.
âCrop debris may also act as source of MCMV inoculum but for a limited period of up to two months,â said L.M. Suresh, CIMMYT Maize Pathologist, in reference to soil transmission studies conducted by CIMMYT. âA host-free period of two months is, therefore, recommended for effective management of MLN,â he noted.
Rapid and low-cost MLN-causing virus detection methods such as immunostrips and ELISA-based tests were adopted at scale.
âAfter optimizing the protocols for MLN virusesâ diagnosis suitable for African systems, we transferred these technologies to [national plant protection organizations] and seed companies, not just within the endemic countries but also to the non-endemic countries in southern and west Africa, through intensive trainings,â Prasanna explained. âWe created a digital MLN surveillance tool under the Open Data Kit (ODK) app for NPPOs and other stakeholders to effectively carry out MLN surveillance on the ground. The survey information is captured in real time in farmersâ and seed production fields coupled with rapid immunostrips MLN tests,â he remarked.
According to Francis Mwatuni, Project Manager of the MLN Diagnostics and Management project, this proactive and collaborative surveillance network has been an important outcome that helped curb MLN from spreading to non-endemic regions. âIn 2016, we only had 625 surveillance points. By 2019, the surveillance points in all the target countries stood at 2,442, which intensified the alertness on MLN presence and how to effectively deal with it,â Mwatuni said. In total, 7,800 surveillance points were covered during the project implementation period.
Over 100 commercial seed firms have also been trained on how to produce MLN-free seed to facilitate trade within the endemic nations and to ensure the disease is not transferred to the non-endemic countries via contaminated seeds.
Sustaining the fight
Researchers continue to work to lessen MLNâs resurgence or new outbreaks. In 2018, incidents in all endemic countries, except Ethiopia, declined sharply. One suggested explanation for the upsurge in Ethiopia, especially in the northwestern region, was reduced use of pesticide for fall armyworm control, as compared to previous years where heavy application of these pesticides also wiped out MLN insect vectors, such as maize thrips and aphids.
At the end of the projects, partners urged for the scale-up of second-generation MLN-tolerant and -resistant varieties. They explained farmers would fully benefit from recent genetic gains of the new improved varieties and its protection against MLN.
âDespite the success registered, MLN is still a major disease requiring constant attention. We cannot rest as we redirect our energies at sustaining and building on the gains made,â said Beatrice Pallangyo, principal agricultural officer in Tanzaniaâs Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives.
After the success containing MLN, stakeholders suggested the need to stay alert on other transboundary pests and diseases such as the tar spot complex, which could be a major threat to Africaâs food security in case of an outbreak.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from Mexico and the German Julius KĂŒhn Institute (JKI) signed a Declaration of Intent to intensify joint research on disease-resistant and stress-tolerant wheat. Representatives of both institutions met in Berlin at the International Conference on Improving Drought Stress Tolerance of Crops.
Read more here.
Ever wondered why farmers prefer a certain maize variety over another? What crop traits different farmers value? How they make their seed selections at the market? Pieter Rutsaert, an expert in markets and value chains with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), analyzes the important factors that African farmers consider when purchasing maize varieties at agro-dealers and the implications for how the seed industry can better meet farmersâ needs.
Maize is the most important cereal crop in Africa, grown on over 29 million hectares of rainfed farmland and consumed daily by around 50% of the population. However, increasingly erratic weather patterns threaten the performance the maize varieties grown, putting household food security at risk.
âAfrican smallholders typically plant maize seeds they are familiar with, but these varieties often lack the attributes to tolerate harsher weather including droughts, extreme heat or disease stress,â Rutsaert explains.
âDespite the existence of maize varieties bred to stand up to harsher weather, their intrinsic attributes alone are not enough to convince farmers to leave their preferred varieties. These stress-tolerant varieties need to be properly marketed to be competitive and increase their market share.â
With previous experience as a marketing consultant in the food industry, Rutsaert brings unique skills and approaches to CIMMYTâs Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project, to help businesses develop new seed distribution and marketing strategies to get climate-resilient varieties into farmersâ fields.
Market intelligence on climate-smart seed
Rutsaert sees local agro-dealers as a strategic entry point for researchers to gather information on the varying farmer interests and conditions as information about seed demand is revealed at the point of purchase.
Despite large investments to support seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa, including investments to upgrade agro-dealer capacity, there is limited evidence into how women and men take decisions on maize seed purchases to support development initiatives.
âThe agro-dealer space is where farmers decide what inputs to buy. In addition to providing farmers access to inputs at competitive prices, front-line agro-dealers offer technical assistance, such as advice on input use and production practices, and short-term credit for input purchases.â
Thus, agro-dealers offer the chance to learn about farmersâ unique conditions and ensure they adopt the right variety. Gathering these insights has the potential to support locally owned small and medium enterprises that produce stress-tolerant varieties, suited for local conditions, says the marketing expert.
Marketing strategies for agro-dealers
Compared to multinational seed companies, local seed businesses are expected to show greater willingness to seek out traditionally underserved segments of the seed market, such as poorer farmers or those located in less-favored production regions. However, local seed producers and retailers generally lack marketing capabilities and have a limited understanding of the costs and benefits of different approaches to market their seed, Rutsaert says.
âWithout effective marketing strategies responding to the needs of different clients, farmers will stick to the seeds that they know, even when this might not be the best for their situation,â he continues.
Based on the market information gathered, Rutsaert works with agro-dealers to develop retail strategies, such as targeted marketing materials, provision of in-store seed decision support, and price incentives, to help women and men farmers get the inputs that work best.
Rutsaert says he is committed to use his private sector experience to improve CIMMYTâs understanding of the seed sector and build the capacity of local agro-dealers to distribute climate-resilient maize varieties throughout the African region.
The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project seeks to develop maize cultivars with tolerance and resistance to multiple stresses for farmers, and support local seed companies to produce seed of these cultivars on a large scale. STMA aims to develop a new generation of over 70 improved stress tolerant maize varieties, and facilitate the production and use of over 54,000 metric tons of certified seed. The STMA project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.
Small-scale maize farmers beset by erratic rainfall in the state of Karnataka, India, who adopted a new, drought- and heat-tolerant maize hybrid are harvesting nearly 1 ton more of grain per hectare than neighboring farmers who sow other maize varieties.
The climate-resilient hybrid RCRMH2 was developed in 2015 by the University of Agriculture Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R), Karnataka, as part of the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project. It was marketed in 2018 under the commercial name MRM4070 by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) in hot and dry areas of Karnataka, where crops are watered exclusively by rainfall.
âThis hybrid is made for our stress-prone areas, as it gives guaranteed yields in a bad year and is inferior to none under good rainfall conditions,â said Hanumanthappa, a farmer and adopter of the variety in Gadag District. âIn bad years, it can not only feed my family but also my cattle,â he added, referring to the hybridâs âstay-greenâ trait, which allows use of the leaves and stems as green fodder for livestock, after harvesting the cobs.
Droughts and high temperatures are a recurring problem in Karnataka, but suitable maize varieties to protect yields and income loss in the stateâs risk-prone agroecologies had been lacking.
Mahyco marketed some 60 tons of hybrid seed of MRM4070 in Karnataka in 2018 and, encouraged by the overwhelming response from farmers, increased the seed offering to 140 tons â enough to sow about 7,000 hectares.
A 2018-19 farmer survey in the contrasting Gadag District â with poor rainfall â and Dharwad District â good rainfall â found that farmers in Gadag who grew MRM4070 harvested 0.96 tons more grain and earned $190 additional income per hectare than neighbors who did not adopt the hybrid. In Dharwad under optimal rainfall, MRM4070 performed on a par with other commercial hybrids.
In addition to providing superior yields under stress, MRM4070 had larger kernels than other hybrids under drought conditions, bringing a better price for farmers who sell their grain. Â Â Â Â
Led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in collaboration with national maize programs, agriculture universities, and seed companies, and with funding from the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Initiative, HTMA was launched in 2012 to develop stress-resilient maize hybrids for the variable weather conditions and heat and drought extremes of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.Â
Grain-based foods â both whole-grain and refined, from which the bran has been removed â are a key part of healthy diets, according to a study published in the science journal Advances in Nutrition.
The study, co-authored by Julie Miller Jones of St. Catherine University, Carlos Guzman of the Universidad de CĂłrdoba and Hans-Joachim Braun of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), reviewed findings of more than 100 research papers from nutrition and medical journals as well as national health recommendations. It presents evidence for positive health impacts from diverse diets that include not more than 50% carbohydrates and the right mix of grain-based foods.
âEpidemiological studies consistently show that eating three 30-gram portions of whole-grain foods â say, half a cup of oats â per day is associated with reduced chronic disease risk,â said Miller Jones, Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University and first author of the study. âBut refined-grain foods â especially staple, enriched or fortified ones of the ânon-indulgentâ type â also provide key vitamins and minerals that are otherwise lacking in peopleâs diets.â
âCereal grains help feed the world by providing millions of calories per hectare and large amounts of plant-based protein,â said Braun, director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat. âThey are affordable, shelf stable, portable, versatile, and popular, and will play a key role as the world transitions to plant-based diets to meet future food needs.â
Folate fortification of refined grains has helped reduce the incidence of spina bifida, anencephaly, and other birth defects, according to Miller Jones. âAnd despite contributing to high sugar intake, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are typically consumed with nutritious foods such as milk, yogurt, and fruit,â she added.
All grain-based foods, refined and whole, are good sources of dietary fiber, which is essential for sound health but critically lacking in modern diets. âOnly 4 percent of the U.S. population, for example, eats recommended levels of dietary fiber,â she said.
Obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and other illnesses from unbalanced diets and unhealthy habits are on the rise in countries such as the U.S., driving up health care expenditures. The annual medical costs of obesity alone there have been estimated at nearly $150 billion.
âDietary choices are determined partly by lifestyle but also co-vary with daily habits and personal traits,â Miller Jones explained. âPeople who eat more whole-grain foods are more likely to exercise, not smoke, and have normal body weights, as well as attaining higher levels of education and socioeconomic status.â
According to the study, recommendations for grain-based foods need to encourage a healthy number of servings and replacing half of refined-grain foods with whole-grain products, as well as providing clearer and unbiased definitions of both types of grain-based foods.
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ABOUT CIMMYT:
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.
This research is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.
Ethiopia has huge potential and a suitable agroecology for growing wheat. However, its agriculture sector, dominated by a traditional farming system, is unable to meet the rising demand for wheat from increasing population and urbanization. Wheat consumption in Ethiopia has grown to 6.7 million tons per year, but the country only produces about 5 million tons per year on 1.7 million hectares. As a result, the country pays a huge import bill reaching up to $700 million per year to match supply with demand.
A new initiative is aiming to change this scenario, making Ethiopia wheat self-sufficient by opening new regions to wheat production.
âWe have always been traditionally a wheat growing country, but focusing only in the highlands with heavy dependence on rain. Now that is changing and the government of Ethiopia has set a new direction for import substitution by growing wheat in the lowlands through an irrigated production system,â explained Mandefro Nigussie, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). Nigussie explained that several areas are being considered for this initiative: Awash, in the Oromia and Afar regions; Wabeshebelle, in the Somali Region; and Omo, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR).
A delegation from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently met Ethiopian researchers and policymakers to discuss CIMMYTâs role in this effort. Ethiopiaâs new Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oumer Hussien, attended the meeting.
âWe understand that the government of Ethiopia has set an ambitious project but is serious about it, so CIMMYT is ready to support you,â said Hans Braun, director of the Global Wheat Program at CIMMYT.
Strong collaboration
CIMMYT and the Ethiopian government have identified priority areas that will support the new government initiative. These include testing a large number of advanced lines to identify the right variety for the lowlands; developing disease resistant varieties and multiplying good quality and large quantity early generation initial seed; refining appropriate agronomic practices that improve crop, land and water productivity; organizing exposure visits for farmers and entrepreneurs; implementing training of trainers and researchers; and technical backstopping.
CIMMYT has been providing technical support and resources for wheat and maize production in Ethiopia for decades. As part of this support, CIMMYT has developed lines that are resistant to diseases like stem and yellow rust, stress tolerant and suitable for different wheat agroecologies.
âThis year, for example, CIMMYT has developed three lines which are suitable for the lowlands and proposed to be released,â said Bekele Abeyo, wheat breeder and CIMMYT Country Representative for Ethiopia. âIn India, the green revolution wouldnât have happened without the support of CIMMYT and we would also like to see that happen in Ethiopia.â
âWith our experience, knowledge and acquired skills, there is much to offer from the CIMMYT side,â Abeyo expressed. He noted that mechanization is one of the areas in which CIMMYT excels. Through a business service providers model, CIMMYT and its partners tested the multipurpose two-wheel tractors in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and the southern regions. Good evidence for impact was generated particularly in Oromia and the south, where service providers generated income and ensured food security.
âImport versus export depends on a comparative advantage and for Ethiopia it is a total disadvantage to import wheat while having the potential [to grow more],â said Hussien. âThe Ministry of Agriculture is thus figuring out what it can do together with partners like CIMMYT on comparative advantages.â
Hussien explained that the private sector has always been on the sidelines when it comes to agriculture. With the new initiative, however, it will be involved, particularly in the lowlands where there is abundant land for development under irrigation and available water resources, with enormous investment potential for the private sector. This, he noted, is a huge shift for the agricultural sector, which was mainly taken care of by the government and smallholder farmers, with support from development partners.
Thinking beyond the local market
As it stands now, Ethiopia is the third largest wheat producing country in Africa and has great market potential for the region. With more production anticipated under the new initiative, Ethiopia plans to expand its market to the world.
âWe want our partners to understand that our thinking and plan is not only to support the country but also to contribute to the global effort of food security,â Hussien explained. However, âwith the current farming system this is totally impossible,â he added. Mechanization is one of the key drivers to increase labor, land and crop productivity by saving time and ensuring quality. The government is putting forward some incentives for easy import of machinery. âHowever, it requires support in terms of technical expertise and knowledge transfer,â Hussien concluded.
Cover photo: A wheat field in Ethiopia. (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/ILRI)
B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, is interviewed by France 24 on the aflatoxin crisis in Kenya. Watch here.
âIf we can put a man on the moon, we can solve 800 million people going to bed hungry every day. Wheat is a crucial part of that challenge,” said Martin Kropff, director-general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) at the first International Wheal Congress held in Saskatoon.
Read more here.
Seed of drought-tolerant maize developed through long-running global and local partnerships in Africa is improving nutrition and food security in northern Uganda, a region beset by conflicts and unpredictable rainfall.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been working with Ugandaâs National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) and local seed companies to develop and disseminate maize seed of improved stress-tolerant varieties. Under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) projects, farmers are now using varieties such as the UH5051 hybrid, known locally as Gagawala, meaning âget rich.â
For two decades, most of the population in northern Uganda has lived in internally displaced peopleâs camps and depended on food aid and other relief emergencies for their livelihoods due to the insurgency by the Lordâs Resistance Army (LRA).
Gulu, one of the affected districts, has been on a path to recovery for the past few years. With the prevailing peace, Geoffrey Ochiengâ and his wife can now safely till their 4.5 acres of land to grow maize and other staples. They are able to feed their family and sell produce to meet other household needs.
However, farmers in this region, bordering South Sudan, are facing more erratic rains and the uncertain onset of rainfall. Thanks to new drought-tolerant and disease-resistant maize varieties, the Ochiengâ family can adapt to this variable climate and secure a good maize harvest even in unreliable seasons.
Tolerance is key
âThe popularity of this drought-tolerant variety among the farmers has been growing thanks to its good yield and reliability even with poor rains and its resistance to common foliar diseases like northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot, plus good resistance to the maize streak virus,â explained Daniel Bomet, a NARO maize breeder. âMaturing in slightly over four months, Gagawala can produce two to three maize cobs, which appeals to farmers.â
Ochiengâ has been planting UH5051 maize since 2015. Before adopting the new hybrid, Ochiengâ was growing Longe 5, a popular open-pollinated variety that is less productive and not very disease-resistant.
âWhat I like about UH5051 is that even with low moisture stress, it will grow and I will harvest something,â Ochiengâ said. Under optimal conditions, he harvests about 1.2 metric tons of maize grain on one acre of UH5051 hybrid.
With the old Longe 5 variety, he would only harvest 700 kg. âIf the rains were delayed or it didnât rain a lot, I would be lucky to get 400 kg per acre with the Longe 5, while I get twice as much with the hybrid,â Ochiengâ explained.
Thanks to this tolerant maize variety, he can pay his childrenâs school fees and provide some surplus grain to his relatives.
Out with the old, in with the new
âOne key strategy to improve our farmersâ livelihoods in northern Uganda is to gradually replace old varieties with new varieties that can better cope with the changing climate and problematic pests and diseases,â said Godfrey Asea, the director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) at NARO. âLonge 5 for instance, has been marketed for over 14 years. It has done its part and it needs to give way to new improved varieties like UH5051.â
The Gulu-based company Equator Seeds has been at the core of the agricultural transformation in northern Uganda. From 70 metrics tons of seed produced when it started operations in 2012, the company reached an annual capacity of about 7,000 to 10,000 metric tons of certified seed of different crops in 2018. Working with dedicated out-growers such as Anthony Okello, who has a 40-acre piece of land, and 51 farmer cooperatives comprising smallholder farmers, Equator Seeds produces seed of open-pollinated hybrid maize and other crops, which reaches farmers through a network of 380 agro-dealers.
â80% of farmers in northern Uganda still use farm-saved or recycled seed, which we consider to be our biggest competitor,â Tonny Okello, CEO of Equator Seeds remarked. âCurrently, about 60% of our sales are in maize seed. This share should increase to 70% by 2021. We plan to recruit more agro-dealers, establish more demonstration farms, mostly for the hybrids, to encourage more farmers to adopt our high yielding resilient varieties.â
The two-decade unrest discouraged seed companies from venturing into northern Uganda but now they see its huge potential. âWe have received tremendous support from the government, non-governmental organizations, UN and humanitarian agencies for buying seed from us and distributing it to farmers in northern Uganda and South Sudan, to aid their recovery,â Okello said.
Social impact
The Ugandan seed sector is dynamic thanks to efficient public-private partnerships. While NARO develops and tests new parental lines and hybrids in their research facilities, they have now ventured into seed production and processing at their 2,000-acre Kigumba Farm in western Uganda through NARO Holdings, their commercial arm.
âBecause the demand for improved seed is not always met, NARO Holdings started producing certified seed, but the major focus is on production of early generation seed, which is often a bottleneck for the seed sector,â Asea said.
Another innovative collaboration has been to work with the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) establishments to produce maize seed. âWhen we started this collaboration with UPS, we knew they had some comparative advantages such as vast farmland, ready labor, mechanization equipment and good isolation, which are important for high-quality hybrid maize seed production,â Asea explained. The UPS facility in Lugore, Gulu, which has 978 hectares of land, produces foundation seed of UH5051.
âPrisons offer a big potential to support the growing seed industry,â he said. âTogether with CIMMYT, we should build further the capacity of UPS to produce foundation and certified seeds. It provides much-needed income for the institutions. The inmates, in addition to being remunerated for farm labor, are engaged in positive outdoor impactful activities. This skill is helpful for their future reintegration in the society.â
Two scientists working in the worldâs leading public wheat breeding program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have been recognized with awards and fellowships this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.
Hans-Joachim Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, has been honored with the American Society of Agronomyâs International Agronomy Award.
Alexey Morgunov, CIMMYT principal scientist and head of the Turkey-based International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP) received the distinction of Fellow from the Crop Science Society of America. Braun was also distinguished with this fellowship.
Excellence in agronomy
The American Society of Agronomyâs International Agronomy Award recognizes outstanding contributions in research, teaching, extension, or administration made outside of the United States by a current agronomist. Braun received the distinction during an awards ceremony and lecture on November 12, 2019. The award committee made its selection based on criteria including degrees, professional positions, and contributions and service to the profession such as publications, patents, and efforts to develop or improve programs, practices, and products.
The award recognizes Braunâs achievements developing and promoting improved wheat varieties and cropping practices that have benefited hundreds of millions of farmers throughout Central Asia, South Asia and North Africa. Nearly half the worldâs wheat lands overall â as well as 70 to 80% of all wheat varieties released in Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and North Africa â are derived from the research of CIMMYT and its partners.
âI am honored to be recognized by my fellow agronomists,â Braun said. âThis award highlights the importance of international research collaboration, because the food security challenges we face do not stop at national borders.â
Braun began his 36-year CIMMYT career in Mexico in 1983. From 1985 to 2005, he led the International Winter Wheat Improvement Program in Turkey, implemented by CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). As director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program since 2004 and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat since 2014, he is responsible for the technical direction and implementation of a program that develops and distributes wheat germplasm to more than 200 collaborators in more than 100 countries, grown on over half the spring wheat area in developing countries.
Crop fellows
Braun and Morgunov were also chosen as Fellows, the highest recognition bestowed by the Crop Science Society of America. Members of the society nominate worthy colleagues based on their professional achievements and meritorious service. Fellows are a select group: only three out of every 1,000 of the societyâs more than 4,000 active and emeritus members receive the honor.
Morgunov joined CIMMYT in 1991 as a spring wheat breeder, working with former Global Wheat Program Director and World Food Prize laureate Sanjaya Rajaram. In 1994, he moved to Turkey to work as winter wheat breeder, and then to Kazakhstan, where he worked to develop and promote new wheat varieties for the Central Asia and the Caucasus region. He has led the International Winter Wheat Improvement Program in Turkey since 2006. In this role, he has been responsible for the release of more than 80 varieties in the region. He also completed a national inventory for wheat landraces in Turkey.
âI am pleased to be recognized as [a Crop Science Society of America] Fellow,â Morgunov said. âI hope this award brings more attention to the importance of finding, saving and using the vast diversity of crop varieties in the world, for resilient crops and healthy food for all.â
Braun and Morgunov were formally recognized as Fellows on November 13.
The annual meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America convenes around 4,000 scientists, professionals, educators, and students to share knowledge and recognition of achievements in the field. This yearâs meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas.
Delhiâs fight against air pollution has more failures than success. As the Supreme Court lashed out at Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on November 6, 2019, for not taking enough measures to curb crop residue burning in their farms, it also asked these states to reward farmers who refrained from doing so with Rs 100 per quintal of crop.
So what is Haryana doing right? The state started early, says S Narayanan, member secretary, Haryana Pollution Control Board.
It identified villages where farm fires were rampant last year and just as the kharif season began in June, it started distributing machines that can eliminate crop residue burning. âWe did quite well on the technological front and supplied machines like Super sms, Rotavator, Happy Seeder and Zero Till Seed Drill,â he says.
âAny new technology takes time to be adopted,â says Kailash Chand Kalwania of the non-profit CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre). Last year, many farmers were given such machines on subsidy. They used it in small patches.
This year, they saw that the overall cost was less and the yield was high. Read more here.
Assessments of wheat lines from around the world in disease trials and found a total of 19 local and international lines with good resistance to stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB). Four lines from CIMMYT and ICARDA showed consistently low SNB response across all environments against 42 different SNB fungal isolates. Read more here.
Populations in Central America are rising rapidly, but staple crop production seems unable to keep up with increasing food demands.
Maize yields are particularly low compared to other regions. Cumulatively, farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua produce maize on nearly 2.5 million hectares, with a large proportion of these maize systems also including beans, either through relay cropping or intercropping. Though potential yields are estimated to be as high as 10 metric tons per hectare, average production remains low at around 2.28.
There is clearly immense opportunity for improvement, but it is not always obvious which issues need tackling.
Yield gap analysis â which measures the difference between potential and actual yield â is a useful starting point for addressing the issue and identifying intensification prospects. It is not a new concept in applied agronomy, but it has not been adequately applied in many regions. For example, Analyses of Central America tend to be grouped with the rest of Latin America, making it difficult to provide recommendations tailored to local contexts.
I see a more comprehensive understanding of the regionâs specific crop production limitations as the first step towards improving food security.
Along with fellow researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other institutions, we set out to identify the main factors limiting production in these areas. We established field trials in six maize and bean producing regions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which represent about three-quarters of the maize producing area. We assessed factors such as water stress, nutrient deficiency, pressure from pests and diseases, and inter-plant competition, hypothesizing that optimized fertilization and supplementary irrigation would have the greatest effects on yields.
We found that while improved fertilization improved maize yields by 11% on average, it did not have a significant effect on bean production. Irrigation had no effect, though this was mainly due to good rainfall distribution throughout the growing season in the study year. On average, optimized planting arrangements increased maize yields by 18%, making it the most promising factor we evaluated.
It was interesting though perhaps unsurprising to note that the contribution of each limiting factor to yield gaps carried across all sites and no single treatment effectively increased yields consistently across all sites. The trial results confirmed that production constraints are highly dependent on local management practices and agroecological location.
With this in mind, we recommend that development actors aiming to increase crop production begin by conducting multi-year, participatory experiments to understand the primary causes of yield gaps and identify the limitations specific to the areas in question, as this will allow for more effective research and policy efforts.
Read the full article âFactors contributing to maize and bean yield gaps in Central America vary with site and agroecological conditionsâ in The Journal of Agricultural Science.