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.
Family farmers produce more than 80% of the worldâs food, but often have the least amount of access to support.
As the UN Decade of Family Farming launched on May 29, 2019, I talked with Trevor Nicholls, CEO of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), on this topic.
On an article published on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Food Sustainability Index blog, we propose six key actions that can help family farmers thrive in the coming decade:
Invest in women and youth: Make family farming work for all
Attract young farmers into tech-smart farming
Make climate-resilient crops more accessible
Share practical plant health advice with family farmers
Help family farmers diversify and grow more from less land
Translate national and global goals into practical farming support
The indigenous peoples who lived in central and southern Mexico thousands of years ago developed a resilient intercropping system to domesticate some of the basic grains and vegetables that contribute to a healthy diet.
Today, small farmers in roughly the same areas of Mexico continue to use this flexible system called âmilpaâ to grow chili, tomatoes, beans, squashes, seasonal fruits and maize, which are essential ingredients of most Mexican dishes.
An analysis of the Mexican diet done in the context of a recent report by the EAT â Lancet Commission found that Mexicans are eating too much animal fat but not enough fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholegrains. As a result, a serious public health issue is affecting Mexico due to the triple burden of malnutrition: obesity, micronutrient deficiency and/or low caloric intake. The study also urges Mexico to increase the availability of basic foodstuffs of higher nutritional value produced locally and sustainably.
Although changing food consumption habits may be hard to achieve, the traditional diet based on the milpa system is widely regarded as a healthy option in Mexico. Although nutritional diversity increases with the number of crops included in the milpa system, its nutritional impact in the consumers will also depend on their availability, number, uses, processing and consumption patterns.
Unfortunately, milpa farmers often practice slash-and-burn agriculture at the expense of soils and tropical rainforests. For that reason, it is also important to address some of the production-side obstacles on the way to a healthier diet, such as soil degradation and post-harvest losses, which have a negative effect on agricultural productivity and human health.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) engages in participatory field research and local capacity-building activities with farmers, local partners and authorities to foster innovation and to co-create strategies and procedures that help farmers produce food sustainably.
Francisco Canul Poot in his land. (Photo: CIMMYT)
These efforts led Francisco Canul Poot, a milpa farmer from the Yucatan Peninsula, to adopt conservation agriculture concepts in his milpa and to stop burning soil residues since 2016. As a result, his maize yield grew by 70%, from 430 to 730 kg per hectare, and his income increased by $300 dollars. 15 farmers sharing property rights over communal land have followed his example since.
These outstanding results are encouraging more farmers to adopt sustainable intensification practices across Mexico, an important change considering that falling levels of nitrogen and phosphorus content in Mexican soils may lead to a 70 percent increase in fertilizer use by 2050.
By implementing a sustainable intensification project called MasAgro, CIMMYT contributes, in turn, to expand the use of sustainable milpa practices in more intensive production systems. CIMMYT is also using this approach in the Milpa Sustentable PenĂnsula de YucatĂĄn project.
At present, more than 500 thousand farmers have adopted sustainable intensification practices â including crop diversification and low tillage â to grow maize, wheat and related crops on more than 1.2 million hectares across Mexico.
TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) â More nutritious crop varieties developed and spread through a unique global science partnership are offering enhanced nutrition for hundreds of millions of people whose diets depend heavily on staple crops such as maize and wheat, according to a new studyin the science journal Cereal Foods World.
From work begun in the late 1990s and supported by numerous national research organizations and scaling partners, more than 60 maize and wheat varieties whose grain features enhanced levels of zinc or provitamin A have been released to farmers and consumers in 19 countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America over the last 7 years. All were developed using conventional cross-breeding.
Farmer and consumer interest has grown for some 60 maize and wheat varieties whose grain features enhanced levels of the essential micronutrients zinc and provitamin A, developed and promoted through collaborations of CIMMYT, HarvestPlus, and partners in 19 countries (Map: Sam Storr/CIMMYT).
âThe varieties are spreading among smallholder farmers and households in areas where diets often lack these essential micronutrients, because people cannot afford diverse foods and depend heavily on dishes made from staple crops,â said Natalia Palacios, maize nutrition quality specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and co-author of the study.
More than 2 billion people worldwide suffer from âhidden hunger,â wherein they fail to obtain enough of such micronutrients from the foods they eat and suffer serious ailments including poor vision, vomiting, and diarrhea, especially in children, according to Wolfgang Pfeiffer, co-author of the study and head of research, development, delivery, and commercialization of biofortified crops at the CGIAR program known as âHarvestPlus.â
âBiofortification â the development of micronutrient-dense staple crops using traditional breeding and modern biotechnology â is a promising approach to improve nutrition, as part of an integrated, food systems strategy,â said Pfeiffer, noting that HarvestPlus, CIMMYT, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are catalyzing the creation and global spread of biofortified maize and wheat.
âEating provitamin A maize has been shown to be as effective as taking Vitamin A supplements,â he explained, âand a 2018 study in India found that using zinc-biofortified wheat to prepare traditional foods can significantly improve childrenâs health.â
Six biofortified wheat varieties released in India and Pakistan feature grain with 6â12 parts per million more zinc than is found traditional wheat, as well as drought tolerance and resistance to locally important wheat diseases, said Velu Govindan, a breeder who leads CIMMYTâs work on biofortified wheat and co-authored the study.
âThrough dozens of publicâprivate partnerships and farmer participatory trials, weâre testing and promoting high-zinc wheat varieties in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nepal, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe,â Govindan said. âCIMMYT is also seeking funding to make high-zinc grain a core trait in all its breeding lines.â
Pfeiffer said that partners in this effort are promoting the full integration of biofortified maize and wheat varieties into research, policy, and food value chains. âCommunications and raising awareness about biofortified crops are key to our work.â
For more information or interviews, contact:
Mike Listman Communications Consultant
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
m.listman@cgiar.org, +52 (1595) 957 3490
A recent study shows the slow adoption of conservation agriculture practices in sub-Saharan Africa, despite their multiple benefits for smallholder farmers. In Zimbabwe, it is estimated that no more than 2.5% of cropland is cultivated under conservation agriculture principles.
One of the constraints is the lack of appropriate machinery and tools that reduce drudgery. âAddressing a wide set of complementary practices, from nutrient and weed management and judicious choice of crop varieties to labor demand, is key to making conservation agriculture profitable and feasible for a greater number of farmers,â said Christian Thierfelder, Principal Scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Farmers in the district of Murehwa, in Zimbabweâs Mashonaland East Province, have embraced sustainable farming systems. They are benefitting from higher yields and new sources of income, and they are improving soil fertility.
Netsai Garwe (left) and Cosmas Garwe in their maize field, Ward 4, Murewa district, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Cosmas and Netsai Garweâs homestead copes well despite the erratic weather. They own a lush one-acre field of maize and well-fed livestock: 18 cows, 9 goats and 45 free-range chickens. Two years after a crop-livestock integration initiative funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) ended, the family still benefits from the conservation agriculture practices they learnt.
âWe were taught the value of minimum tillage using direct seeding, rotation, mulching and weeding to ensure that our maize crop thrived,â explained Cosmas Garwe. âIntercropping and crop rotation with legumes like soybean, pigeon pea and velvet beans really improved our soil,â said Netsai Garwe.
Like the Garwes, more than 2,000 farmers in Murehwa district are scaling the production of lablab and velvet beans, which implies almost complete adoption. Effective extension support, local innovation platforms, and access to profitable crop and livestock markets have been key drivers for widespread adoption.
Better soil and cash cows
Many of these smallholder farmersâ fields have been under cultivation for generations and the granitic sandy soils, predominant in the area, have become very poor in soil organic matter, a key component of soil fertility.
âNitrogen-fixing green manure cover crops such as velvet beans, lablab and jack beans can provide an affordable way for smallholder farmers to bring back soil fertility, especially nitrogen, into the soil,â explained Thierfelder. âOnce the soils become responsive to mineral fertilizer again, a combination of leguminous crop rotations, manure use and in-organic fertilizer will provide stable and sustained crop yields of maize, their main food crop, even under a changing climate.â
Starting the second year the Garwes tried conservation agriculture on a 0.4-hectare plot, their yields improved, realizing 1.2 tons. As an additional benefit, the cover crops could be used as new animal feed sources, so they could keep maize crop residues as soil cover and increase the amount of organic matter in the soils.
Adoption of green manure cover crops was not easy at first, but farmers from Murehwa quickly realized that lablab and velvet beans improved the fattening of cattle and poultry. Drying the cover crop, they were able to produce protein-rich hay bales, sought-after in winter when other fodder stocks usually run low.
Better-fed, healthier animals meant better sales, as the Garwes could now get around $1,200 for one cow. Neighboring farmers soon found this new crop-livestock system appealing and joined the initiative.
Cattle fattening pens at Cosmas and Netsai Garwe’s homestead. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Saving for a dry day
The economic opportunities for farmers in Murehwa go beyond cow sales. In 2013, the Klein Karoo (K2) seed company offered contracts to farmers for the production of lablab seed. Suddenly the crop became highly profitable, which trigged adoption by almost all the farmers in the area.
As explained by extension officer Ngairo, âthere is lablab and velvet beans grown everywhere, at homestead plots, school gardens⊠using ripline seeding techniques and showing the widespread adoption of conservation agriculture practices in the ward.â
Better incomes from livestock, fodder and lablab seeds had ripple effects for these Murehwa communities.
Lilian Chimbadzwa shows the house they were able to build in 2013 using proceeds from lablab sales. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Since they adopted lablab and conservation agriculture practices in 2013, Kumbirai and Lilian Chimbadzwa transformed their asset base. They were able to complete their four-bedroom house, connect their homestead with the national electricity network and send their daughter to a nearby boarding school.
Despite prolonged dry spells during the last season and the threat of fall armyworm, these farmers have been coping much better than those practicing conventional tillage farming.
âFarmers taking up lablab and other leguminous cover crops have not only improved their incomes, but also the resilience of their farming systems,â explained Isaiah Nyagumbo, Cropping Systems Agronomist at CIMMYT. âConservation agriculture practices such as mulching help retain soil moisture, while pests and diseases are less prominent in diversified fields planted with stress tolerant maize varieties and legume cover crops.â
Crop rotation of maize and velvet bean at Kumbirai and Lilian Chiambadzwa’s plot has guaranteed high yields in an El Nino season. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
For CIMMYT and other institutions willing to scale sustainable intensification practices in Africa, there is plenty to learn from the farmers in Murehwa.
New research in the district has started to test how climate-adapted push-pull systems support smallholder farmers in overcoming the invasive fall armyworm using biological means. These systems involve conservation agriculture, green manure and legume intercropping, and planting high-productivity fodders surrounding the plots. This would also reduce the reliance on pesticides, which may be harmful for humans and the environment.
Researchers, policymakers and other agricultural partners participated in the workshop on fall armyworm. (Photo: Uttam/CIMMYT)
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), organized a training on fall armyworm on April 25, 2019 at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). Experts discussed the present outbreak status, progress on strategic research, and effective ways to control this destructive pest.
The event featured Dan McGrath, Entomologist and Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, and Joseph Huesing, Senior Biotechnology Advisor and Program Area Lead for Advanced Approaches to Combating Pests and Diseases at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Also attending were senior officials from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Department of Agricultural Extension, BARC, BWMRI and CIMMYT.
âFall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it,â said Huesing in his overview of the fall armyworm infestation in Africa. He also mentioned that fall armyworm is generally followed by southern armyworm, so Bangladesh will need a strategy for managing multiple pests.
âFall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it.â
— Joseph Huesing, USAID
Huesing explained that an effective approach for controlling fall armyworm and other pests is âknowledge, tools and policy.â
According to Huesing, Bangladeshi farmers have adequate knowledge about the pest and how to control it, especially compared to African farmers. The next step is securing the necessary tools to control fall armyworm, like spraying their fields with necessary insecticides by authorized personnel. Huesing emphasized the importance of appropriate policy implementation, particularly to ensure the registration of the right kind of insecticides assigned to effectively control fall armyworm.
Fall armyworm is a fast-reproducing species that can attack crops and cause devastation almost overnight. Even though the level of infestation in Bangladesh is still relatively light, more than 80 varieties of crops have already been attacked in 22 districts within just a few months.
Huesing indicated that safer options included handpicking of the pest, treating seeds, pheromone traps, flood irrigation and crop rotation. Currently, to help farmers learn more about the pest, the Department of Agricultural Extension is distributing factsheets and conducting awareness-raising workshops in different villages.
McGrath focused on the long-term management of fall armyworm and how Bangladesh can learn from the experience of Africa in order to avoid the same errors. McGrath suggested that weather forecasts were an important tool for helping determine when and where outbreaks might occur. Training relevant personnel is also a crucial aspect of reining in this plague. âTraining the trainers has to be hands on. We need to put more emphasis on the field than on the classroom,â McGrath said.
This workshop was part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).
As part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has created a series of infographics explaining key information about fall armyworm.
These infographics will be translated and used to reach out to farmers in Bangladesh, through agrodealers and public sector partners. The principles and concepts presented in them â which champion the use of integrated pest management strategies â are relevant to countries across the region.
If you would like to use these infographics in other countries or translate them to other languages, please contact Tim Krupnik.
Fall armyworm is an invasive insect pest that can eat 80 different types of plants, but prefers maize. It spread throughout Africa in just two years, and was found in India in late 2018. Since then it has spread across South and South East Asia, where it presents a serious threat to food and income security for millions of smallholder farmers.
The infographics are designed to be printed as foldable cards that farmers can carry in their pocket for easy reference. The graphics provide an overview of fall armyworm biology as well as the insectâs ecology and lifecycle. They also describe how to identify and scout maize fields for fall armyworm and provide easy-to-follow recommendations for what to do if thresholds for damage are found. One of the infographics provides farmers with ideas on how to manage fall armyworm in their field and village, including recommendations for agronomic, agroecological, mechanical and biological pest management. In addition, chemical pest management is presented in a way that informs farmers about appropriate safety precautions if insecticide use is justified.
Partners of the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project held their annual meeting May 7â9, 2019, in Lusaka, Zambia, to review the achievements of the past year and to discuss the priorities going forward. Launched in 2016, the STMA project aims to develop multiple stress-tolerant maize varieties for diverse agro-ecologies in sub-Saharan Africa, increase genetic gains for key traits preferred by the smallholders, and make these improved seeds available at scale in the target countries in partnership with local public and private seed sector partners.
The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and implemented together with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), national agricultural research systems and seed company partners in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The meeting was officially opened by the Deputy Director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu. âMaize in Africa faces numerous challenges such as drought, heat, pests and disease. Thankfully, these challenges can be addressed through research. I would like to take this opportunity to thank CIMMYT and IITA. Your presence here is a testament of your commitment to improve the livelihoods of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,â she said.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners are working together in the fight against challenges such as drought, maize lethal necrosis and fall armyworm. The STMA project applies innovative technologies such as high-throughput phenotyping, doubled haploids, marker-assisted breeding and intensive germplasm screening to develop improved stress-tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers. The project team is also strengthening maize seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa through public-private partnerships.
The efforts are paying off: in 2018, 3.5 million smallholder farmers planted stress-tolerant maize varieties in 10 African countries.
The deputy director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu (fourth from left), gives the opening address of the STMA Annual Meeting 2019. Left to right: Mick Mwala, University of Zambia; Tony Cavalieri, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT; Monde Zulu, ZARI; Mwansa Kabamba, ZARI; Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT; and Abebe Menkir, IITA.
Yielding results
CIMMYT researcher and STMA project leader Cosmos Magorokosho reminded the importance of maize in the region. âMaize is grown on over 35 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than 208 million farmers depend on it as a staple crop. However, average maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest in the world.â Magorokosho pointed out that the improved maize varieties developed through the project âprovide not only increased yields but also yield stability even under challenging conditions like drought, poor soil fertility, pests and diseases.â
âSTMA has proved that it is possible to combine multiple stress tolerance and still get good yields,â explained B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). âOne of the important aspects of STMA are the partnerships which have only grown stronger through the years. We are the proud partners of national agricultural research systems and over 100 seed companies across sub-Saharan Africa.â
Keynote speaker Hambulo Ngoma of the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) addressed the current situation of maize in Zambia, where farmers are currently reeling from recent drought. âMaize is grown by 89% of smallholder farmers in Zambia, on 54% of the countryâs cultivable land, but productivity remains low. This problem will be exacerbated by expected population growth, as the population of Zambia is projected to grow from over 17 million to 42 million by 2050,â he said.
STMA meeting participants pose for a group photo during the field visit to QualiBasic Seed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Down to business
On May 8, participants visited three partner local seed companies to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of producing improved maize seed for smallholder farmers.
Afriseed CEO Stephanie Angomwile discussed her business strategy and passion for agriculture with participants. She expressed her gratitude for the support CIMMYT has provided to the company, including access to drought-tolerant maize varieties as well as capacity development opportunities for her staff.
Bhola Nath Verma, principal crop breeder at Zamseed, explained how climate change has a visible impact on the Zambian maize sector, as the main maize growing basket moved 500 km North due to increased drought. Verma deeply values the partnership with the STMA project, as he can source drought-tolerant breeding materials from CIMMYT and IITA, allowing him to develop early-maturing improved maize varieties that escape drought and bring much needed yield stability to farmers in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.
At QualiBasic Seed, STMA partners were given the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the companyâs operations, including the seed multiplication process in Zambia and the importance of high-quality, genetically pure foundation seed for seed companies.
Emmanuel Angomwile (left) and Stephanie Angomwile (center) answer visitorsâ questions at their seed company, Afriseed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Young ideas
The meeting concluded with an awards ceremony for the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa, established by MAIZE in collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD). These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research-for-development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification. This is the second year of the MAIZE Youth Awards, and the first time it has been held in Africa. Winners include Hildegarde Dukunde of Rwanda and Mila Lokwa Giresse of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the change agent category, Admire Shayanowako of the Republic of South Africa and Ismael Mayanja of Uganda in the research category, and Blessings Likagwa of Malawi in the farmer category.
Winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa receive their awards at the STMA meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. From left to right: Admire Shayanowako, Blessings Likagwa, Ismael Mayanja and Hildegarde Dukunde. Fifth awardee Mila Lokwa Giresse not pictured. (Photo: J.Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Fall armyworm, a voracious pest now present in both Africa and Asia, has been predicted to cause up to $13 billion per year in crop losses in sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers throughout the region.
âIn their haste to limit the damage caused by the pest, governments in affected regions may promote indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides,â say the authors of a recent study on fall armyworm management. âAside from human health and environmental risks,â they explain, âthese could undermine smallholder pest management strategies that depend largely on natural enemies.â
Agro-ecological approaches offer culturally appropriate, low-cost pest control strategies that can be easily integrated into existing efforts to improve smallholder incomes and resilience through sustainable intensification. Researchers suggest these should be promoted as a core component of integrated pest management programs in combination with crop breeding for pest resistance, classical biological control and selective use of safe pesticides.
However, the suitability of agro-ecological measures for reducing fall armyworm densities and impact must be carefully assessed across varied environmental and socioeconomic conditions before they can be proposed for wide-scale implementation.
To support this process, researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) reviewed evidence for the efficacy of potential agro-ecological measures for controlling fall armyworm and other pests, consider the associated risks and draw attention to critical knowledge gaps. Findings from the Africa-wide study indicate that several measures can be adopted immediately, such as sustainable soil management, intercropping with appropriately selected companion plants and the diversification of farm environments through management of habitats at multiple spatial scales.
Read the full article âAgro-ecological options for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda JE Smith) management: Providing low-cost, smallholder friendly solutions to an invasive pestâ in the Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 243, 1 August 2019, pages 318-330.
Intercropping options for mitigating fall armyworm damage. (Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT)
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
CIMMYT field workers working on wheat crossing as part of the breeding process. (Photo: CIMMYT)
In early 2019, an article published by European climate researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) journal questioned the climate resilience of modern wheat varieties. The article suggested that modern wheat varieties showed reduced climate resilience as a direct result of modern breeding methods and practices, a claim that researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) vehemently rebuke.
In a rebuttal letter published in the June issue of PNASa group of scientists, including CIMMYTâs Susanne Dreisigacker and Sarah Hearne, strongly contradict the finding that breeding has reduced climate resilience in European wheat, citing significant flaws in the authorsâ methodology, data analyses and interpretation.
âThis article discredits European plant breeders and wheat breeders in general, who have been working over many decades to produce a wide range of regionally adapted, stable varieties which perform well under a broad range of climate change conditions,â said CIMMYT wheat molecular geneticist Susanne Dreisigacker.
Among other flaws, they found a number of omissions and inconsistencies.
The article shows a lack of understanding of commonly used terms and principles of breeding theory, criticizing newer wheat varieties for demonstrating a decrease in âclimatic response diversity.â Less diversity in wheat response â that is, more stable yields despite the influence of climate change â is a benefit, not a threat, to farmers.
The article authors contradict the common knowledge among farmers and plant breeders that new elite wheat varieties are generally more productive than older varieties; new cultivars are only approved if they show added value in direct comparison to existing varieties.
The articleâs claim of long-term losses of climate resilience in “European wheat” is unsubstantiated. The authors extensively used data from three small countries â the Czech Republic, Denmark and Slovakia â which contribute less than five percent of Europe’s wheat supply. Three of the five most important wheat producers in Europe â Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom â were not accounted for in the analysis.
The authors failed to report the actual wheat yields in their study, neglected to publish the underlying data with the manuscript and have up to now declined requests to make the data available.
Europe is one of the worldâs major wheat producers and threats to its wheat production due to climate change would have serious consequences for worldâs food security. Luckily, say the scientists who published the rebuttal letter, this fear is unfounded.
âWheat producers and bread consumers around the world will be relieved to learn that breeders have not ignored climate change after all,â said letter lead-author Rod Snowdon, from the Department of Plant Breeding at Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany.
The full rebuttal letter by 19 international plant breeders, agronomists and scientists, is available on the PNAS site and reprinted in its entirety below.
Reduced response diversity does not negatively impact wheat climate resilience
Kahiluoto et al. (1) assert that climate resilience in European wheat has declined due to current breeding practices. To support this alarming claim, the authors report yield variance data indicating increasingly homogeneous responses to climatic fluctuations in modern wheat cultivars. They evaluated âresponse diversity,â a measure of responses to environmental change among different species jointly contributing to ecosystem functions (2). We question the suitability of this measure to describe agronomic fitness in single-cultivar wheat cropping systems. Conclusions are made about âlong-term trends,â which in fact span data from barely a decade, corresponding to the duration of a single wheat breeding cycle. The authors furthermore acknowledge increasing climate variability during the study period, confounding their analysis of climate response in the same time span.
The underlying data are not published with the manuscript. Thus, the assertion that there is âno inherent trade-off between yield potential and diversity in weather responsesâ (1) cannot be verified. Inexplicably, the analysis and conclusions ignore absolute yields, which increase over time through breeding (3â6). Furthermore, incompatible data from completely different ecogeographical forms and species of wheat are apparently considered together, and the dataset is strongly biased toward a few small countries with minimal wheat production and narrow agroclimatic gradients.
The study assumes that increased response diversity among different cultivars is associated with yield stability. In contrast, the common, agronomic definition of yield stability refers to the ability of a single cultivar to stably perform well in diverse environments, without excessive responses to fluctuating conditions. Response diversity measures that ignore absolute yield do not support statements about food security or financial returns to farmers.
Cultivar yield potential, stability, and adaptation are enhanced by multienvironment selection over long breeding time frames, encompassing climate fluctuations and a multitude of other relevant environmental variables. Translation to on-farm productivity is promoted by national registration trials and extensive, postregistration regional variety trials in diverse environments. The unsurprising conclusion that planting multiple cultivars enhances overall production stability mirrors longstanding farming recommendations and practice (7). The availability of robust performance data from a broad range of high-performing cultivars enables European farmers to manage their production and income risks.
Kahiluoto et al. (1) speculate about âgenetic erosionâ of modern cultivars due to a âlack of incentives for breeders to introduce divergent material.â To substantiate these claims, the authors cite inadequate genetic data from non-European durum wheat (8), while explicitly dismissing clearly opposing findings about genetic diversity in European bread wheat (9). Short-term reductions in response diversity in five countries were misleadingly reported as a âlong-term declineâ in climate resilience in âmost European countries,â although six out of seven countries with sufficient data showed no long-term decline. The article from Kahiluoto et al. and the misrepresentation of its results distorts decades of rigorous, successful breeding for yield potential and stability in European wheat and misleads farmers with pronouncements that are not supported by relevant data.
References:
1 H. Kahiluoto et al., Decline in climate resilience of European wheat. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 116, 123â128 (2019).
2 T. Elmqvist et al., Response diversity, ecosystem change, and resilience. Front. Ecol. Environ.1, 488â494 (2003).
3 S. De Schepper, M. De Loose, E. Van Bockstaele, P. Debergh, Ploidy analysis of azalea flower colour sports. Meded. Rijksuniv. Gent. Fak. Landbouwkd. Toegep. Biol. Wet.66, 447â449 (2001).
4 I. Mackay et al., Reanalyses of the historical series of UK variety trials to quantify the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to trends and variability in yield over time. Theor. Appl. Genet.122, 225â238 (2011).
5 F. Laidig et al., Breeding progress, environmental variation and correlation of winter wheat yield and quality traits in German official variety trials and on-farm during 1983-2014. Theor. Appl. Genet.130, 223â245 (2017).
6 T. WuÌrschum, W. L. Leiser, S. M. Langer, M. R. Tucker, C. F. H. Longin, Phenotypic and genetic analysis of spike and kernel characteristics in wheat reveals long-term genetic trends of grain yield components. Theor. Appl. Genet.131, 2071â2084 (2018).
7 P. Annicchiarico, âGenotype x environment interactions: Challenges and opportunities for plant breeding and cultivar recommendations.â (Food and Agriculture 201 Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 2002), FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 174.
8 F. Henkrar et al., Genetic diversity reduction in improved durum wheat cultivars of Morocco as revealed by microsatellite markers. Sci. Agric.73, 134â141 (2016).
9 M. van de Wouw, T. van Hintum, C. Kik, R. van Treuren, B. Visser, Genetic diversity trends in twentieth century crop cultivars: A meta analysis. Theor. Appl. Genet. 120, 1241â1252 (2010).
Maize is more than a crop in Mexico. While it provides food, feed and raw materials, it is also a bloodline running through the generations, connecting Mexicoâs people with their past.
The fascinating diversity of maize in Mexico is rooted in its cultural and biological legacy as the center of origin of maize. Landraces, which are maize varieties that have been cultivated and subjected to selection by farmers for generations, retaining a distinct identity and lacking formal crop improvement, provide the basis of this diversity.
As with any cultural legacy, the cultivation of maize landraces can be lost with the passage of time as farmers adapt to changing markets and generational shifts take place.
Doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-RodrĂguez, from the SantâAnna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, and researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have undertaken a new study that traces the conservation and abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexicoâs second smallest state.
The study is based on a collection of 93 maize landrace samples, collected by Ăngel Kato as a research assistant back in 1966-67 and stored in CIMMYTâs Maize Germplasm Bank. Researchers traced the 66 families in Morelos who donated the samples and explored the reasons why they abandoned or conserved their landraces.
Doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-RodrĂguez (left) interviews maize farmer Roque Juarez Ramirez at his family home in Morelos to explore his opinions on landrace conservation. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)
Tracing landrace abandonment
In six cases, researchers were able to interview the original farmers who donated the samples to CIMMYT. In other cases, they interviewed their family members, most frequently the sons or daughters, or alternatively their grandchildren, siblings, nephews or widows.
The study reveals that maize landrace cultivation has diminished significantly within the families. Only 13 of the 66 families are still cultivating the same maize seed lots as in 1966-67 and there was consensus that the current social, economic and physical environments are unfavorable for landrace cultivation.
Among the reasons for abandonment are changes in maize cultivation technologies, shifting markets for maize and other crops, policy changes, shifting cultural preferences, urbanization and climate change.
âBy finding out about landrace continuity in farmersâ fields and the factors driving change, we were able to better understand the context in which these landraces are currently cultivated,â said McLean-RodrĂguez. âOur study also allowed us to evaluate the importance of ex situ conservation in facilities like CIMMYTâs Germplasm Bank.â
Juarez and Oliverosâs grandson shows the familyâs heirloom maize: maĂz colorado (left) and Ancho maize. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)
Maize biodiversity conservation
Maize landraces can be conserved âin situâ in farmersâ fields and âex situâ in a protected space such as a germplasm bank or community seed bank.
âThese conservation strategies are complementary,â explained McLean-RodrĂguez. âEx situ conservation helps to secure landraces in case of unpredictable conditions that threaten their conservation in the field, while in situ cultivation allows the processes that generated maizeâs diversity to continue, allowing the emergence of mutations and the evolution of new potentially beneficial traits.â
The loss of landraces in farmersâ fields over 50 years emphasizes the importance of ex situ conservation. CIMMYTâs Maize Germplasm Bank holds 28,000 samples of maize and its wild relatives from 88 countries, spanning collections dating back to 1943. Safeguarded seed stored in the Germplasm Bank is protected from crises or natural disasters, and is available for breeding and research. Traits found in landraces can be incorporated into new varieties to address some of the worldâs most pressing agriculture challenges like changing climates, emerging pests and disease, and malnutrition.
McLean-RodrĂguez recalls an aspect of the study that she found particularly rewarding: âMany of the families who had lost their landrace for one reason or another were interested in receiving back samples of their maize from the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank. Some were interested due to personal value, while others were more interested in the productive value. They were very happy to retrieve their maize from the Germplasm Bank, and it would be very interesting to learn whether the repatriated seed is cultivated in the future.â
Ventura Oliveros Garcia holds a photograph of her father, Santos Oliveros, who was one of the maize farmers who donated seed to CIMMYTâs germplasm bank in 1966-67. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)
A family tradition
One of the families to take part in the study was farmer Roque Juarez Ramirez and his wife, Ventura Oliveros Garcia, whose father was one of the donor farmers from Morelos. âI was so happy to hear the name of my father, [Santos Oliveros],â recalls Oliveros, remembering the moment McLean-RodrĂguez contacted her. âHe had always been a maize farmer, as in his day they didnât cultivate anything else. He planted on his communal village land [ejido] and he was always able to harvest a lot of maize, many ears. He planted an heirloom variety of maize that we called arribeño, or marceño, because it was always planted in March.â
Juarez senses his responsibility as a maize farmer: âI feel that the importance [of maize farming] is not small, but big. We are not talking about keeping 10 or 20 people alive; we have to feed a whole country of people who eat and drink, apart from providing for our families. We, the farmers, generate the food.â
Filling vessels of champurrado, a Mexican maize-based sweet drink, and presenting samples of the familyâs staple maize â maĂz colorado and the Ancho landrace â Oliveros describes what maize means to her: âMaize is very important to my family and me because it is our main source of food, for both humans and animals. We use our maize variety to make pozole, tortillas, tamales, atole, quesadillas, picadas and many other foods.â
The Juarez-Oliveros family substituted the Ancho seed lot from Oliveroâs father with another seed lot from the Ancho landrace obtained from her husbandâs family. The Ancho landrace is used to make pozole, and continues to be widely cultivated in some municipalities of Morelos, including Totolapan, where the family resides. However, researchers found other landraces present in the 1966-67 collection, such as Pepitilla, were harder to trace 50 years later.
MaĂz colorado (left), or red maize, is an important part of the familyâs diet. The familyâs Ancho maize (right) has characteristically wide and flat kernels, and is a key ingredient of the pozole stew. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)
The study shows that landrace abandonment is common when farming passed from one generation to the next. Older farmers were attached to their landraces and continued cultivating them, even in the face of pressing reasons to change or replace them. When the younger generations take over farm management, these landraces are often abandoned.
Nonetheless, young farmers still value the cultural and culinary importance of landraces. âMaize has an important traditional and cultural significance, and is fundamental to our economy,â said Isaac Juarez Oliveros, son of Roque and Ventura. âI have been planting [maize landraces] since I was around 15 to 20 years old. I got my maize seed from my parents. I believe it is important for families to keep planting their maize, as it has become tradition passed down through many generations.â
The familyâs son, Isaac Juarez Oliveros, stands outside the maize storage room where they store and dry their harvested maize for sale and consumption. (Photo: E. Orchardson/CIMMYT)
The legacy for future generations
Global food security depends on the maintenance of high genetic biodiversity in such key staple food crops as maize. Understanding the causes of landrace abandonment can help to develop effective landrace conservation strategies. The authors suggest that niches for landrace conservation and even expansion can be supported in the same manner that niches have been created for improved maize and other commercial crops. Meanwhile, management of genetic resources is vital, both in the field and in germplasm banks, especially in developing countries where broader diversity exists.
For Oliveros, it is a matter of family legacy: âIt means a lot to me that [my familyâs seed] was preserved because it has allowed my familyâs maize and my fatherâs memory to stay alive.â
âFarmers who cultivate landraces are providing an invaluable global public service,â state the authors of the study. âIt will be key to encourage maize landrace cultivation in younger farmers. Tapping into the conservation potential of the current generation of farmers is an opportunity we should not miss.â
A special acknowledgement to the families, focus group participants and municipal authorities from the state of Morelos who kindly devoted time to share their experiences with us, on the challenges and rewards of maize landrace conservation.
MARPLE team members Dave Hodson and Diane Saunders (second and third from left) stand for a photograph after receiving the International Impact award. With them is Malcolm Skingle, director of Academic Liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (first from left) and Melanie Welham, executive chair of BBSRC. (Photo: BBSRC)
The research team behind the MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) diagnostic kit won the International Impact category of the Innovator of the Year 2019 Awards, sponsored by the United Kingdomâs Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
The team â Diane Saunders of the John Innes Centre (JIC), Dave Hodson of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Tadessa Daba of the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) â was presented with the award at an event at the London Science Museum on May 15, 2019. In the audience were leading figures from the worlds of investment, industry, government, charity and academia, including the U.K.âs Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Chris Skidmore.
The BBSRC Innovator of the Year awards, now in their 11th year, recognize and support individuals or teams who have taken discoveries in bioscience and translated them to deliver impact. Reflecting the breadth of research that BBSRC supports, they are awarded in four categories of impact: commercial, societal, international and early career. Daba, Hodson and Saunders were among a select group of 12 finalists competing for the four prestigious awards. In addition to international recognition, they received ÂŁ10,000 (about $13,000).
âI am delighted that this work has been recognized,â Hodson said. âWheat rusts are a global threat to agriculture and to the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries such as Ethiopia. MARPLE diagnostics puts state-of-the-art, rapid diagnostic results in the hands of those best placed to respond: researchers on the ground, local government and farmers.â
On-the-ground diagnostics
The MARPLE diagnostic kit is the first operational system in the world using nanopore sequence technology for rapid diagnostics and surveillance of complex fungal pathogens in the field.
In its initial work in Ethiopia, the suitcase-sized field test kit has positioned the country â one of the regionâs top wheat producers â as a world leader in pathogen diagnostics and forecasting. Generating results within 48 hours of field sampling, the kit represents a revolution in plant disease diagnostics. Its use will have far-reaching implications for how plant health threats are identified and tracked into the future.
MARPLE is designed to run at a field site without constant electricity and with the varying temperatures of the field.
âThis means we can truly take the lab to the field,â explained Saunders. âPerhaps more importantly though, it means that smaller, less-resourced labs can drive their own research without having to rely on a handful of large, well-resourced labs and sophisticated expertise in different countries.â
In a recent interview with JIC, EIAR Director Tadessa Daba said, âwe want to see this project being used on the ground, to show farmers and the nation this technology works.â
The MARPLE team uses the diagnostic kit in Ethiopia. (Photo: JIC)
Development of the MARPLE diagnostic kit was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agricultureâs Inspire Challenge. Continued support is also provided by the BBSRCâs Excellence with Impact Award to the John Innes Centre and the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project, led by Cornell University and funded by the UKâs Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Ethiopiaâs Ministry of Agriculture held a workshop on March 23, 2019, with the main stakeholders of the agricultural research and seed sectors to discuss how Quality Protein Maize (QPM) production and demand could be expanded, to ensure lasting nutrition benefits for consumers and incomes for farmers.
Maize is the second most cultivated cereal in Ethiopia, with 66% of cereal-farming households cultivating maize on 2.1 million hectares. 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. With increasing pressures from climate change and population growth, maize is likely to be key to meeting the challenges of food and income security.
Despite its high productivity, maize grain does not provide balanced protein for human consumption. It is deficient in two essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, putting those who consume maize without alternative protein sources at risk of malnutrition and stunted growth and development. Infants and young children are especially at risk. Complementary and alternative sources of protein such as legumes or animal products â meat, eggs and milk â are often inaccessible or unaffordable to the poorest households.
QPM is a type of maize, developed through conventional breeding, that contains nearly twice the amount of tryptophan and lysine compared to common varieties. Research shows that eating QPM can improve quality protein intake among young children and QPM is nutritionally advantageous over conventional maize, especially for families with an undiversified diet dominated by maize.
Since 2012, CIMMYT has been working with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the Ministry of Agriculture and other strategic partners like the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG2000) and Farm Radio International, to improve food and nutritional security in Ethiopian farming communities through the promotion and expansion of QPM under the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project. This project built on the achievements of a previous project called Quality Protein Maize Development (QPMD). Both projects were financed by the government of Canada.
Workshop participants discuss the challenges of promoting QPM. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Ethiopians are willing to pay for QPM
During the workshop, CIMMYT senior scientist and NuME project leader Adefris Teklewold talked about the favorable conditions that had contributed to the projectâs success and which are also grounds for sustainability: government policies and strategies, technical knowledge and technology, and the productive collaboration among partners.
The NuME project operated in 36 woredas, or districts, of the Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions. More than 68% of the target population is now aware of the nutritional benefits of QPM, boosting the demand for the nutritious maize.
Four QPM varieties have been released since the beginning of the project and at least two promising varieties are in the pipeline. Figures show an adoption rate of 11% in the projectâs target areas. Today, the main issue to reach out more people is shortage of seed.
The project team trained people in food preparation and organized events to demonstrate the benefits of QPM. One fifth of the 1,788 QPM demonstrations were managed entirely by women. Through demonstrations and blind tastings, people could check that QPM maize did not affect the taste or functional properties of traditional foods like dabo bread or injera flatbread. For instance, they realized that injera using QPM also stayed moist and could be rolled easily. In addition, a recent study on school feeding revealed that dishes made from QPM received wider acceptance.
A woman in Jimma, Oromia region, participates in a blind tasting of QPM maize products. (Photo: Samuel Diro/CIMMYT)
Beyond the NuME project
Germame Garuma, Director General of Extension at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that âQPM is an important solution to help us improve the nutrition situation in the country.â The Ethiopian government now aims to ensure 10% of the total maize growing area is planted with QPM. Ethiopia has included QPM as a key intervention in national strategies and programs, such as the Agriculture Growth Program-II and the Seqota Declaration.
Garuma called on all government offices at various levels and NGOs working in the agriculture and nutrition sector to continue the promotion of QPM. Workshop participants drew a roadmap with four focus areas: overall coordination, dissemination, technology generation and seed production. With the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, more families will be able to improve their diet with QPM in the future.
Dagmo Nour, Project Manager at Global Affairs Canada, expressed interest in engaging further with CIMMYT and its partners to ensure the sustainability and scaling of QPM efforts by addressing critical issues with Ethiopian seed systems.
Workshop participants pose for a group photograph.
DUN LAOGHAIRE, Ireland and TEXCOCO, Mexico â Irish humanitarian aid agency GOAL has joined CIMMYTÂ (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) in the fight against fall armyworm, a devastating insect pest that experts say threatens the food security of millions of people in Africa.
The fall armyworm has caused significant damage to maize crops in sub-Saharan Africa since its arrival to the region in 2016.
A study on the impact of the fall armyworm in eastern Zimbabwe reveals that nearly 12 percent of crops are lost annually due to the infestation. And the study states that if the problem spreads throughout the entire country tonnes of grain to the value of $32 million could be lost.
GOAL Zimbabwe has now teamed up with CIMMYT to identify conditions that promote fall armyworm infestation in order to educate farmers on best practices to fight the problem.
Regular weeding, conservation agriculture, use of manure and compost, and ending pumpkin intercropping have been found to help prevent infestation.
Mainassara Zaman-Allah, co-author of the study and abiotic stress phenotyping specialist at CIMMYT said, âGiven the limited coverage of the study in terms of area and season, it would be interesting to replicate it all over the country through the involvement of governmental agricultural departments, so that we get the full picture around the fall armyworm problem at a larger scale.â
Gift Mashango from GOAL Zimbabwe, said, âThe fall armyworm has further worsened the food security situation of smallholder farmers who are already coping with an ailing economy and climate change. Besides the adverse effects posed to the environment by chemical methods of combating the pest, the smallholder farmer cannot afford to meet the associated costs, hence the need to come up with innovative cost-effective farming systems like climate smart agriculture.â
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT â the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center â 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.
GOAL is an international humanitarian aid agency working in 13 countries to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable in our world, and those affected by humanitarian crises, have access to the fundamental rights to life. With its head office in Ireland, GOAL envisions a world where poverty and hunger no longer exist; where communities are prepared for seasonal shocks; where structural and cultural barriers to growth are removed and where every man, woman and child has equal rights and access to resources and opportunities.
