Theme: Nutrition, health and food security
As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the world’s food energy intake, and contributing 55 to 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. CIMMYT scientists tackle food insecurity through improved nutrient-rich, high-yielding varieties and sustainable agronomic practices, ensuring that those who most depend on agriculture have enough to make a living and feed their families. The U.N. projects that the global population will increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, which means that the successes and failures of wheat and maize farmers will continue to have a crucial impact on food security. Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which show heat waves could occur more often and mean global surface temperatures could rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius throughout the century, indicate that increasing yield alone will be insufficient to meet future demand for food.
Achieving widespread food and nutritional security for the world’s poorest people is more complex than simply boosting production. Biofortification of maize and wheat helps increase the vitamins and minerals in these key crops. CIMMYT helps families grow and eat provitamin A enriched maize, zinc-enhanced maize and wheat varieties, and quality protein maize. CIMMYT also works on improving food health and safety, by reducing mycotoxin levels in the global food chain. Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that colonize in food crops, and cause health problems or even death in humans or animals. Worldwide, CIMMYT helps train food processors to reduce fungal contamination in maize, and promotes affordable technologies and training to detect mycotoxins and reduce exposure.
Policy forum in Mozambique recommends scaling sustainable agriculture practices
For many small farmers across sub-Saharan Africa, the crop yields their livelihoods depend on are affected by low-quality inputs and severe challenges like climate change, pests and diseases. Unsustainable farming practices like monocropping are impacting soil health and reducing the productivity of their farms.
Sustainable intensification practices based on conservation agriculture entail minimal soil disturbance, recycling crop plant matter to cover and replenish the soil, and diversified cropping patterns. These approaches maintain moisture, reduce erosion and curb nutrient loss. Farmers are encouraged and supported to intercrop maize with nitrogen-fixing legumes — such as beans, peas and groundnuts — which enrich the soil with key nutrients. Farmers are equally advised to cultivate their crops along with trees, instead of deforesting the land to create room for farming.
These practices result in higher incomes for farmers and better food and nutrition for families. Adopting conservation agriculture also improves farmers’ climate resilience. Combined with good agronomic practices, conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification can increase yields up to 38 percent.
Since 2010, the Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project has promoted effective ways to produce more food while protecting the environment across Eastern and Southern Africa. In particular, the SIMLESA project aims at sustainably increasing the productivity of maize and legume systems in the region.
The SIMLESA project demonstrated the advantages of deploying low-carbon and low-cost mechanization adapted to smallholder farming: it addresses labor shortages at critical times like planting or weeding, boosting farmers’ productivity and yields. The SIMLESA project introduced mechanization in different phases: first improved manual tools like the jab planter, later draft power machinery innovations such as rippers, and finally motorized mechanization in the form of small four-wheel tractors.
From proof of concept to nation-wide adoption
In Mozambique, conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices have significantly expanded: from 36 farmers in six villages in four districts in 2010, to over 190,000 farmers in more than 100 villages in nine districts by the end of 2018. This remarkable result was achieved in collaboration with partners such as the Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM), extension workers, communities and private companies.
“Smallholder agriculture mechanization reduced the amount of labor required for one hectare of land preparation, from 31 days to just 2 hours. This enabled timely farming activities and a maize yield increase of about 170 kg per hectare, reflecting an extra 3-4 months of household food security,” said the national coordinator for SIMLESA in Mozambique, Domingos Dias.
Following its successes, SIMLESA and its partners have embarked on a series of meetings to discuss how to leverage public-private partnerships to expand conservation agriculture practices to other regions.
Throughout February and March 2019, a series of policy forums at sub-national and national levels will be held across the seven SIMLESA countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The first policy dialogue took place on February 7 in Chimoio, in Mozambique’s district of Manica. Key agriculture stakeholders attended, including representatives from CIMMYT, IIAM, the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as policy makers, private sector partners and international research institutes.
“We are delighted at SIMLESA’s unique strategy of involving multiple partners in implementing conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification practices. This has, over the years, allowed for faster dissemination of these practices and technologies in more locations in Mozambique, thereby increasing its reach to more farmers,” said Albertina Alage, Technical Director for Technology Transfer at IIAM. “Such policy forums are important to showcase the impact of conservation agriculture to policy makers to learn and sustain their support for scaling up conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification,” she added.
Forum participants called for better coordination between the public and the private sector to deliver appropriate machinery for use by smallholders in new areas. They recommended adequate support to enable farmers to better integrate livestock and a diverse cropping system, as well as continue with conservation agriculture trials and demonstration activities. Besides involving farmers, their associations and agro-dealer networks in scaling conservation agriculture initiatives, participants agreed to promote integrated pest and disease management protocols. This is considering the recent outbreak of the fall armyworm, which devasted crops in many countries across sub-Saharan Africa.
“The SIMLESA project is and will always be a reference point for our research institute and the Ministry of Agriculture in our country. The good progress of SIMLESA and the results of this forum will help to draw strategies for continuity of this program implemented by government and other programs with the aim to increase production and productivity of farmers,” Alage concluded.
The SIMLESA project is a science for development alliance, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in collaboration with national research institutes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The missing seed market
In Ethiopia, a World Bank study found that female farm managers produce 23 percent less yield per hectare compared to their male counterparts. This difference is explained partly by unequal access to information on improved seed varieties and what best agricultural practices to use. Despite half the farming workforce being women, the seed companies do not typically adapt their seed marketing strategy according to gender.
The “Gender-Responsive Approaches for the Promotion of Improved Maize Seed in Africa” guidebook, developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is filling this gap. Designed for seed companies, extension workers and development organizations, it explains how best to package information about improved seed and farming technologies for men and women, with the goal of increasing adoption rates.
“Since seeing is believing, the field demonstrations approach allows farmers to witness firsthand how well improved seed varieties perform on their farms right from planting to harvesting, compared to old or other varieties,” said Rahma Adam, gender and development specialist at CIMMYT. “But too often, not enough care is given in the selection of women as lead farmers. This minimizes opportunities for reaching out to more women.”
Based on research, the guidebook recommends that half of the demonstration plots should be managed by women. In fact, the panel of lead farmers should be diverse, representing different age, socioeconomic status and ethnic groups, among others. Indeed, an understanding and importance of the various agronomic practices from the time of planting, weed control or fertilizer application would vary across gender, age and socioeconomic groups.
“Given the turnover of seed varieties due to genetic improvements, men and women extension workers need to keep abreast not only of new technologies, but also of new ways of fostering awareness and encouraging adoption, for instance using digital platforms for faster and cheaper outreach,” the guidebook concludes.
Tools for field days and budgeting
A complementary handbook, “Gender-responsive tools for demos and field days data collection”, is under preparation. It will guide seed companies and extension workers on how to consider the diversity of the public attending farmer field days.
Another toolkit, “Gender-Responsive Budgeting Tool for the Promotion of Improved Maize Seed in Africa”, proposes how to efficiently allocate resources to reach out to targeted farmers to promote new varieties and farming practices. If, for instance, women farmers do not know as much as men farmers about certain improved maize varieties, then the best approach would be to direct the resources towards promoting the seed varieties among the women. Better still, since women are involved in making decisions about purchasing improved seeds in both male-headed and female-headed households, it is logical to allocate more resources targeting women farmers. An effective strategy would be to allocate a portion of the budget to field days, farm demonstrations, distribution of small seed packs, informational leaflets, showcase videos and disseminate radio messages, among others. “In fact, local radio is quite effective in informing farmers about upcoming field days or farm demonstration days,” said Simon Kiio, a field officer at Dryland Seed Ltd, a Kenyan seed company which distributes drought-tolerant SAWA and VIGA maize hybrids, among others, across Kenya.
“Whenever we make announcements on local radio to inform farmers about dates and locations for demo farm activities, we usually get more women attending than men. These women act as good marketing ambassadors for our products within their networks or groups,” Kiio explained.
Ultimately, by building gender-sensitive and cost-effective seed promotion programs, seed companies would generate more seed sales of improved maize varieties: seeds that are more tolerant to major stresses, better adapted to poor soils, and yielding more than the local, older varieties on the market.
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 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.
Assessing the effectiveness of a “wheat holiday” for preventing blast in the lower Gangetic plains
Wheat blast — one of the world’s most devastating wheat diseases — is moving swiftly into new territory in South Asia.
In an attempt to curb the spread of this disease, policymakers in the region are considering a “wheat holiday” policy: banning wheat cultivation for a few years in targeted areas. Since wheat blast’s Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum (MoT) fungus can survive on seeds for up to 22 months, the idea is to replace wheat with other crops, temporarily, to cause the spores to die. In India, which shares a border of more than 4,000 km with Bangladesh, the West Bengal state government has already instituted a two-year ban on wheat cultivation in two districts, as well as all border areas. In Bangladesh, the government is implementing the policy indirectly by discouraging wheat cultivation in the severely blast affected districts.
CIMMYT researchers recently published in two ex-ante studies to identify economically feasible alternative crops in Bangladesh and the bordering Indian state of West Bengal.
Alternative crops
The first step to ensuring that a ban does not threaten the food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, the authors assert, is to supply farmers with economically feasible alternative crops.
In Bangladesh, the authors examined the economic feasibility of seven crops as an alternative to wheat, first in the entire country, then in 42 districts vulnerable to blast, and finally in ten districts affected by wheat blast. Considering the cost of production and revenue per hectare, the study ruled out boro rice, chickpeas and potatoes as feasible alternatives to wheat due to their negative net return. In contrast, they found that cultivation of maize, lentils, onions, and garlic could be profitable.
The study in India looked at ten crops grown under similar conditions as wheat in the state of West Bengal, examining the economic viability of each. The authors conclude that growing maize, lentils, legumes such as chickpeas and urad bean, rapeseed, mustard and potatoes in place of wheat appears to be profitable, although they warn that more rigorous research and data are needed to confirm and support this transition.
Selecting alternative crops is no easy task. Crops offered to farmers to replace wheat must be appropriate for the agroecological zone and should not require additional investments for irrigation, inputs or storage facilities. Also, the extra production of labor-intensive and export-oriented crops, such as maize in India and potatoes in Bangladesh, may add costs or require new markets for export.
There is also the added worry that the MoT fungus could survive on one of these alternative crops, thus completely negating any benefit of the “wheat holiday.” The authors point out that the fungus has been reported to survive on maize.
A short-term solution?
In both studies, the authors discourage a “wheat holiday” policy as a holistic solution. However, they leave room for governments to pursue it on an interim and short-term basis.
In the case of Bangladesh, CIMMYT agricultural economist and lead author Khondoker Mottaleb asserts that a “wheat holiday” would increase the country’s reliance on imports, especially in the face of rapidly increasing wheat demand and urbanization. A policy that results in complete dependence on wheat imports, he and his co-authors point out, may not be politically attractive or feasible. Also, the policy would be logistically challenging to implement. Finally, since the disease can potentially survive on other host plants, such as weeds and maize, it may not even work in the long run.
In the interim, the government of Bangladesh may still need to rely on the “wheat holiday” policy in the severely blast-affected districts. In these areas, they should encourage farmers to cultivate lentils, onions and garlic. In addition, in the short term, the government should make generic fungicides widely available at affordable prices and provide an early warning system as well as adequate information to help farmers effectively combat the disease and minimize its consequences.
In the case of West Bengal, India, similar implications apply, although the authors conclude that the “wheat holiday” policy could only work if Bangladesh has the same policy in its blast-affected border districts, which would involve potentially difficult and costly inter-country collaboration, coordination and logistics.
Actions for long-term success
The CIMMYT researchers urge the governments of India and Bangladesh, their counterparts in the region and international stakeholders to pursue long-term solutions, including developing a convenient diagnostic tool for wheat blast surveillance and a platform for open data and science to combat the fungus.
A promising development is the blast-resistant (and zinc-enriched) wheat variety BARI Gom 33 which the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) released in 2017 with support from CIMMYT. However, it will take at least three to five years before it will be available to farmers throughout Bangladesh. The authors urged international donor agencies to speed up the multiplication process of this variety.
CIMMYT scientists in both studies close with an urgent plea for international financial and technical support for collaborative research on disease epidemiology and forecasting, and the development and dissemination of new wheat blast-tolerant and resistant varieties and complementary management practices — crucial steps to ensuring food security for more than a billion people in South Asia.
| Wheat blast impacts
First officially reported in Brazil in 1985, where it eventually spread to 3 million hectares in South America and became the primary reason for limited wheat production in the region, wheat blast moved to Bangladesh in 2016. There it affected nearly 15,000 hectares of land in eight districts, reducing yield by as much as 51 percent in the affected fields. Blast is devilish: directly striking the wheat ear, it can shrivel and deform the grain in less than a week from the first symptoms, leaving farmers no time to act. There are no widely available resistant varieties, and fungicides are expensive and provide only a partial defense. The disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum (MoT), can spread through infected seeds as well as by spores that can travel long distances in the air. South Asia has a long tradition of wheat consumption, especially in northwest India and Pakistan, and demand has been increasing rapidly across South Asia. It is the second major staple in Bangladesh and India and the principal staple food in Pakistan. Research indicates 17 percent of wheat area in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan — representing nearly 7 million hectares – is vulnerable to the disease, threatening the food security of more than a billion people. |
CIMMYT and its partners work to mitigate wheat blast through projects supported by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture.
Read the full articles:
- Averting Wheat Blast by Implementing a ‘Wheat Holiday’: In Search of Alternative Crops in West Bengal, India by Khondoker A. Mottaleb, Pawan K. Singh, Kai Sonder, Gideon Kruseman, Olaf Erenstein (PLOS One, February 2019)
- Alternative use of wheat land to implement a potential wheat holiday as wheat blast control: In search of feasible crops in Bangladesh by Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Pawan Kumar Singh, Xinyao He, Akbar Hossain, Gideon Kruseman, Olaf Erenstein (Land Use Policy, March 2019)
New CIMMYT pre-commercial maize hybrids available from eastern and southern Africa breeding programs
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is offering a new set of improved maize hybrids to partners in eastern and southern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones, to scale up production for farmers in these areas.
National agricultural research systems and seed companies are invited to apply for the allocation of these pre-commercial hybrids, after which they will be able to register, produce and offer the improved seed to farming communities.
The deadline to submit applications to be considered during the next round of allocations is March 17th, 2019. Applications received after that deadline will be considered during the following round of product allocations.
Information about the newly available hybrids, application instructions and other relevant material is available below.
Or download individual files below:
Appendix 2: Available Hybrids (IHYB18) (Product profile 1A)
Appendix 3: Available MLN tolerant Hybrids (MLN-HYB18) (Product profile 1A)
Appendix 4: Available Hybrids (ILHYB18) (Product profile 2)
Appendix 5: Available Hybrids (EHYB18) (Product profile 3)
Appendix 6a: Available Pro-A HYBS-17 (Product profile 3, southern Africa)
Appendix 6b: Available Pro-A HYBS-18 (Product profile 3, southern Africa)
Appendix 7: Trial Summary information 2018-eastern Africa
To apply, please fill out the CIMMYT Improved Maize Product Allocation Application Forms, available for download at the links below. Each applicant will need to complete one copy of Form A for their organization, then for each hybrid being requested a separate copy of Form B. Please be sure to use these current versions of the application forms.
FORM A – Application for CIMMYT Improved Maize Product Allocation
FORM B – Application for CIMMYT Improved Maize Product Allocation
Please send completed forms via email to GMP-CIMMYT@cgiar.org.
New infographics illustrate impact of wheat blast
Wheat blast is a fast-acting and devastating fungal disease that threatens food safety and security in the Americas and South Asia.
First officially identified in Brazil in 1984, the disease is widespread in South American wheat fields, affecting as much as 3 million hectares in the early 1990s.
In 2016, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and Bangladesh suffered a severe outbreak. Bangladesh released a blast-resistant wheat variety — developed with breeding lines from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) — in 2017, but the country and region remain extremely vulnerable.
The continued spread of blast in South Asia — where more than 100 million tons of wheat are consumed each year — could be devastating.
Researchers with the CIMMYT-led and USAID-supported Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) projects partner with national researchers and meteorological agencies on ways to work towards solutions to mitigate the threat of wheat blast and increase the resilience of smallholder farmers in the region. These include agronomic methods and early warning systems so farmers can prepare for and reduce the impact of wheat blast.
This series of infographics shows how wheat blast spreads, its potential effect on wheat production in South Asia and ways farmers can manage it.
This work is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. CSISA partners include CIMMYT, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
CIMMYT and its partners work to mitigate wheat blast through projects supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the CGIAR Research Program on WHEAT and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture.
This article was originally published on the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.
Women’s equality crucial for Ethiopia’s agricultural productivity
The Government of Ethiopia recently announced an ambitious goal to reach wheat self-sufficiency by 2022, eliminating expensive wheat imports and increasing food security.
However, a new report based on a four-year research project on gender and productivity in Ethiopia’s wheat sector indicates that a lack of technical gender research capacity, a shortage of gender researchers and low implementation of gender-focused policies is hampering these efforts. Read more here.
New partnership announced for sustainable maize production in Colombia
Palmira (Colombia), February 14, 2019 — AGROSAVIA, Colombia’s leading not-for-profit organization for agricultural research and technology transfer, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have signed a five-year agreement that aims to boost maize production.
The new project will develop maize varieties adapted to the country’s farming conditions, and will promote sustainable intensification technologies and practices among Colombian farmers.
“We should be able to release the first high-yielding maize variety for Colombia in three years”, said Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT’s director of Innovative Business Strategies and regional representative for the Americas.
To achieve this goal, CIMMYT will provide AGROSAVIA’s breeding program with two thousand advanced lines, developed by combining native maize from Colombia with conventionally improved varieties.
“At both institutions we believe that Colombia can increase production to close the big gap between domestic maize consumption and imports”, said AGROSAVIA’s Executive Director, Juan Lucas Restrepo. “With this agreement, we will have more powerful local capacities and once again a Colombian maize research program for Colombians”.
Although experts agree that Colombian farmers could potentially produce more than 10 tons per hectare, the country’s average yield is currently 3.6 tons per hectare.
“With this agreement, the sister CGIAR centers CIMMYT and CIAT give a first step in the implementation of Maize for Colombia, an ambitious plan that will sustainably increase Colombia’s maize output by building on the learnings and achievements of a successful project implemented in Mexico called MasAgro,” said Govaerts.
Colombia’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Andrés Valencia, CIAT’s Director General, Rubén Echeverría, Juan Lucas Restrepo, and Bram Govaerts participated in the launch ceremony for the new agreement, which was signed at CIAT’s headquarters.
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:
Bram Govaerts, Director of Innovative Business Strategies and Regional Representative for the Americas, CIMMYT
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:
Ricardo Curiel, Communications Officer, CIMMYT. r.curiel@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1144
Breaking Ground: Fernando H. Toledo researches new models of analysis under simulated scenarios
Genomics is a wide theme of interest for geneticists. As part of the efforts to advance on this subject, Fernando H. Toledo, associated scientist in agricultural statistics at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is working on the research of genomic selection models to increase accuracy. His research considers several complex traits and environmental conditions under climate change scenarios.
The research in which Toledo works is multidisciplinary — it involves genetics and breeding knowledge, as well as statistics and computer science. “This work is fundamental for the breeding and farming community. Our aim is to allow breeders to pursue precise selection of new genetic materials with good performance and ensuring food security in the field under varying environmental conditions.”
Fernando H. Toledo was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but grew up in Curitiba, Paraná, one of the biggest agricultural states in the country. He obtained his engineering degree, with a major in crop science, at Paraná Federal University.
He got his master’s degree in genetics and plant breeding at Lavras Federal University, under the supervision of Magno Ramalho, one of the most prestigious breeders in Brazil. During his Ph.D. in quantitative genetics at the Agricultural College of the University of São Paulo, Fernando was advised by Roland Vencovsky, known as the father of quantitative genetics in the country. “The main lesson I took from both of them was that biometrics science must try to answer the breeders’ questions.”
Toledo got a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) to spend a season at CIMMYT in 2013, where he developed part of his thesis about the use of selection indices under the supervision of José Crossa.
CIMMYT’s work is highly relevant to breeding activities in Brazil. It dates back to the 1950s when Brazilian breeders and geneticists took maize populations and varieties to be important resources of their current germplasm. “The public and private sectors in Brazil recognize the importance of CIMMYT, which awoke my interest in working in a relevant institute for agriculture in developing countries.”
In 2015, Toledo applied for a postdoctoral position at the Biometrics and Statistics Unit of the Genetic Recourses Program at CIMMYT. He started working as an associate scientist in 2017.
As part of this unit, Toledo is currently involved in the planning and analysis of field trials comprising phenotypic and genomic data. He is developing new models and methods for these analysis as well as plant breeding simulations. “Genomic selection has been used over CIMMYT’s breeding programs before but there are still a lot of improvements to implement, so new models of analysis can be tested under simulated scenarios, which results in better recommendations for breeders.”
On top of that, he is implementing new open-source high-performance software products to facilitate the use of cutting-edge methods for data analysis. “I really like the connection we can build at CIMMYT in terms of practical work for breeders and the development of new statistical methods, models, tools and software we release to attend their requirements, with the main aim of improving precision during the selection of the best genetic materials.”
Led by Juan Burgueño, senior biometrician and head of the Biometrics and Statistics Unit, Toledo is training students, scientists and partners regarding statistical concepts and data analysis. “These trainings courses are a great opportunity to share our work with others and to learn the scientists’ needs in order to improve our capabilities.”
Toledo’s main inspiration to continue his work at CIMMYT is having the opportunity to generate knowledge for others in developing countries. “Our work is driven by the breeders’ needs and that usually helps them to improve their understanding by using what we developed for them and making it a forward-backward relation, which is fascinating.”
Experts analyze food systems at EAT-Lancet Commission report launch in Ethiopia
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission published a groundbreaking report linking healthy diets and sustainable food systems. It proposed scientific targets that meet both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement action plan to reduce carbon emissions. Since then, more than 20 launch events have been scheduled around the globe, including Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On February 7, the African Union hosted the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets for sustainable food systems. Government officials, researchers and experts attended the “Food Systems Dialogue on Ethiopia” and developed a list of recommendations going forward. Some of these included at least 10 percent resource allocation to agriculture, the creation of functional and efficient internal markets for enhancing food distribution within the country, post-harvest loss reduction, and stronger collaboration between government and other stakeholders.
“The report has drawn the attention of policy makers, civil society and donors,” said Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye, a researcher and crop modeler at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “The event was a good opportunity to create awareness on the chronic problems of stunting and malnutrition in Africa, and agriculture’s central role in contributing to effective solutions.”
Tesfaye Fantaye said CIMMYT’s work is well aligned with the report’s recommendations. In addition to research on sustainable intensification approaches that improve livelihoods while reducing the environmental footprint, CIMMYT explores ways to reduce postharvest losses and increase the nutritional quality of food through biofortification.
During a high-level side event, the commissioners indicated that the report is in-line with the different African Union policies and strategies, including the Malabo Declaration on Agriculture and Postharvest Losses, Agenda 2063 and Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).
“The power of food is its connection. If we get it right, it brings us to a healthy people and a healthy planet,” said Gunhild Anker Stordalen, the founder and executive chair of EAT Foundation.
Precision planters boost maize yields in Pakistan
In the northwestern province of Pakistan, near the Afghan border, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is helping connect farmers with precision planters to support higher maize yields and incomes. Maize is one of the most important cereals in Pakistan, but in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa yields are significantly lower than the national average. The majority of maize farmers in this province have less than five acres of land and limited access to resources, including high-quality maize seed and mechanization.
Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, CIMMYT introduced push row planters in 2016 to help farmers to get a uniform crop stand and save labor costs and time as compared to traditional planting practices. CIMMYT has since then partnered with Greenland Engineering to import tractor-operated precision maize planters. These precision planters allow farmers to plant two rows of maize in one pass and evenly distribute both seeds and fertilizer.
“Optimum planting density in combination with nutrient supply is key to getting the maximum maize yield,” says Muhammad Asim, a senior researcher with the Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI). “The precision planter helps farmers achieve this while also getting a uniform crop stand and uniform cobs.”
Jalees Ahmed, a smallholder maize farmer from the Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, received a push row planter through CIMMYT’s AIP program. He used to hire six laborers to plant one acre of maize, but with the push row planter, Jalees only needs to hire one laborer and benefits from a more uniform crop.
Raham Dil, another farmer in the Mardan district, recently purchased a push row planter for his farm which he also rents to fellow farmers in the area.
Both Ahmed and Dil say these planters have made it easier to support their families financially. Interest in precision planters continues to grow.
Last fall, more than 80 farmers attended a field day in the Nowshera district where CIMMYT researchers demonstrated how to use the precision planter to sow maize. CIMMYT’s country representative for Pakistan, Imtiaz Muhammad, highlighted the importance of mechanized maize planting for farmers and CIMMYT’s commitment to improve maize-based system productivity in less developed regions of the country.
The Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan is led by CIMMYT and funded by USAID. This project seeks to increase productivity and incomes by testing and promoting modern practices for agriculture’s major sub-sectors in the country.
Smallholder wheat production can cut Africa’s costly grain imports
International scientists are working with regional and national partners in sub-Saharan Africa to catalyze local wheat farming and help meet the rapidly rising regional demand for this crop.
The specialists are focusing on smallholder farmers in Rwanda and Zambia, offering them technical and institutional support, better links to markets, and the sharing of successful practices across regions and borders, as part of the project “Enhancing smallholder wheat productivity through sustainable intensification of wheat-based farming systems in Rwanda and Zambia.”
“Work started in 2016 and has included varietal selection, seed multiplication, and sharing of high-yielding, locally adapted, disease-resistant wheat varieties,” said Moti Jaleta, a socioeconomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) who leads the project. “Our knowledge and successes in smallholder wheat production and marketing will also be applicable in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania.”
Maize is by far the number-one food crop in sub-Saharan Africa but wheat consumption is increasing fast, driven in part by rapid urbanization and life-style changes. The region annually imports more than 15 million tons of wheat grain, worth some US$ 3.6 billion at current prices. Only Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa grow significant amounts of wheat and they are still net importers of the grain.
“Growing more wheat where it makes sense to do so can help safeguard food security for people who prefer wheat and reduce dependence on risky wheat grain markets,” Jaleta explained. “We’re working in areas where there’s biophysical potential for the crop in rain-fed farming, to increase domestic wheat production and productivity through use of improved varieties and cropping practices.”
In addition to the above, participants are supporting the region’s wheat production in diverse ways:
- Recommendations to fine-tune smallholder wheat value chains and better serve diverse farmers.
- Testing of yield-enhancing farming practices, such as bed-and-furrow systems that facilitate efficient sowing and better weed control.
- Testing and promotion of small-scale mechanization, such as power tillers, to save labor and improve sowing and crop establishment.
- Exploring use of hand-held light sensors to precisely calibrate nitrogen fertilizer dosages throughout the cropping season.
Innocent Habarurema, wheat breeder in the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), cited recent successes in the release of improved, disease resistant wheat varieties, as well as engaging smallholder farmers in seed multiplication and marketing to improve their access to quality seed of those varieties.
“The main challenge in wheat production is the short window of time between wheat seasons, which doesn’t allow complete drying of harvested plants for proper threshing,” Habarurema explained. “Suitable machinery to dry and thresh the wheat would remove the drudgery of hand threshing and improve the quality of the grain, so that it fetches better prices in markets.”
Critical wheat diseases in Zambia include spot blotch, a leaf disease caused by the fungus Cochliobolus sativus, and head blight caused by Fusarium spp., which can leave carcinogenic toxins in the grain, according to Batiseba Tembo, wheat breeder at the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI).
“Developing and disseminating varieties resistant to these diseases is a priority in the wheat breeding program at Mt. Makulu Agricultural Research Center,” said Tembo. “We’re also promoting appropriate mechanization for smallholder farmers, to improve wheat production and reduce the enormous drudgery of preparing the soil with hand hoes.”
Participants in the project, which runs to 2020, met at Musanze, in Rwanda’s Northern Province, during February 5-7 to review progress and plan remaining activities, which include more widespread sharing of seed, improved practices, and other useful outcomes.
“There was interest in trying smallholder winter wheat production under irrigation in Zambia to reduce the disease effects normally experienced in rainfed cropping,” said Jaleta, adding that the costs and benefits of irrigation, which is rarely used in the region, need to be assessed.
Project participants may also include in selection trials wheat varieties that have been bred to contain enhanced grain levels of zinc, a key micronutrient missing in the diets of many rural Africa households.
“The project will also push for the fast-track release and seed multiplication of the best varieties, to get them into farmers’ hands as quickly as possible,” Jaleta said.
In addition to CIMMYT, RAB, and ZARI, implementing partners include the Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). Generous funding for the work comes from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.
Cobs & Spikes: Jump-starting Haiti’s maize seed sector
Haiti has the lowest maize yields in Latin America and the Caribbean, and around half of the population is undernourished. Five hurricanes in the past decade and a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010 have only exacerbated these issues. In 2017, CIMMYT sent 150 tons of new and improved maize seed to the Caribbean nation to jump-start its maize seed sector, improve food security and decrease malnutrition. It was the largest seed shipment to any country in CIMMYT’s history.
In this episode, CIMMYT’s Seed Systems Lead for Africa and Latin America, Arturo Silva Hinojosa, discusses why CIMMYT sent this seed and organized trainings, how they overcame major roadblocks, and what’s in store for the future.
Learn more about the project by reading “Seeds of Hope” from the CIMMYT 2017 Annual Report.
You can listen to our podcast here, or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or Google Play.
Call for interest: Development trait prioritization as part of a sub-Saharan African crop variety replacement strategy
The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) is looking to provide matching funding (up to US$ 35,000) for two projects with AbacusBio to characterize the users of new crop varieties and identify a value-weighted set of traits to be included as breeding targets in a product profile system.
The winning CGIAR crop breeding program will work directly with AbacusBio with EiB support to deliver on the projects.
This project represents an opportunity for CGIAR members of EiB to take a leap forward in the definition of client-focused variety replacement.
For more details on the project and how to apply, please refer to this page and the project proposal. Applications will be received January through February.
Researchers and friends recall John Mihm, former CIMMYT maize entomologist
The community of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) joins former colleagues of John A. Mihm, CIMMYT’s maize entomologist during the 1970s-90s, in honoring his memory and valuable work. John passed away on January 25, 2019, at the age of 72.
Special maize populations developed by Mihm and his CIMMYT contemporaries are critical in today’s global quest for new maize varieties to resist the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), according to B.M. Prasanna, director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.
“The insect-resistant maize germplasm developed by Mihm is proving an invaluable resource in our fight against this pest, underpinning progress in the development of resistant varieties,” said Prasanna.
Originally from the Americas, fall armyworm has caused major damage to maize crops in Africa since 2016. The pest is now spreading rapidly in Asia, with incidence on maize crops confirmed in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and southern China.
“Without proper controls, fall armyworm could reduce maize grain harvests in Africa alone by an amount worth as much as US$4.6 billion,” Prasanna explained, citing a 2018 report from the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI).
With support from UNDP, Mihm greatly refined CIMMYT practices to rear larvae of maize insect pests and to apply them efficiently so that researchers could identify resistant plants and use them to breed elite, resilient varieties.
After leaving CIMMYT in 1994, Mihm worked for the U.S. company “French Agricultural Research” in studies on sources of resistance in maize to corn rootworm (Diabrotica spp). He eventually retired happily to his farm in Minnesota, according to Florentino Amasende, a former CIMMYT field assistant who was a close friend and colleague of Mihm.
“John was a friend, a mentor and even a father figure for me,” said Amasende, who with support from Mihm for his university studies rose to seed production specialist in leading seed companies. “My family and I are eternally grateful for the opportunities he gave me.”