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.

Global maize experts discuss biofortification for nutrition and health

Written by Jennifer Johnson on April 5, 2018. Posted in News.

Over two billion people across the world suffer from hidden hunger, the consumption of a sufficient number of calories, but still lacking essential nutrients such as vitamin A, iron or zinc. This can cause severe damage to health, blindness, or even death.

At the 4^th annual Latin American Cereals Conference (LACC) in Mexico City from 11 to 14 March, presenters discussed global malnutrition and how biofortification of staple crops can be used to improve nutrition for farming families and consumers.

Wolfgang Pfeiffer of HarvestPlus presents on malnutrition and stunting. Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT.

“A stunted child will never live up to its full potential,” said Wolfgang Pfeiffer, director of research and development at HarvestPlus, as he showed a slide comparing the brain of a healthy infant versus a stunted one.

Hidden hunger and stunting, or impaired development, are typically associated with poverty and diets high in staple crops such as rice or maize. Biofortification of essential nutrients into these staple crops has the potential to reduce malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies around the world.

“Maize is a staple crop for over 900 million poor consumers, including 120-140 million poor families. Around 73% of farmland dedicated to maize production worldwide is located in the developing world,” said B.M. Prasanna, director of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) at LACC.

The important role of maize in global diets and the rich genetic diversity of the crop has allowed for important breakthroughs in biofortifcation. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has over 40 years of experience in maize breeding for biofortification, beginning with quality protein maize (QPM), which has enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan, essential amino acids, which can help reduce malnutrition in children.

B.M. Prasanna discusses the history of maize biofortification at the LACC conference. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT.

“Over 50 QPM varieties have been adopted in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, and three new QPM hybrids were released in India in 2017 using marker assisted breeding,” said Prasanna.

In more recent years, CIMMYT has worked with MAIZE and HarvestPlus to develop provitamin A maize to reduce vitamin A deficiency, the leading cause of preventable blindness in children, affecting 5.2 million preschool-age children globally, according to the World Health Organization. This partnership launched their first zinc-enriched maize varieties in Honduras in 2017 and Colombia in 2018, with releases of new varieties planned in Guatemala and Nicaragua later this year. Zinc deficiency can lead to impaired growth and development, respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and a general weakening of the immune system.

“There is a huge deficiency of vitamin A, iron and zinc around the world,” said Natalia Palacios, maize nutritional quality specialist at CIMMYT. “The beauty of maize is its huge genetic diversity that has allowed us to develop these biofortified varieties using conventional breeding methods. The best way to take advantage of maize nutritional benefits is through biofortification, processing and functional food,” she said.

Natalia Palacios discusses the development of biofortified varieties such as provitamin A and zinc-enriched maize. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT.

The effects of these varieties are already beginning to show. Recent studies have shown that vitamin A maize improves vitamin A status and night vision of 4-8 year old rural children in Zambia.

“Biofortified crops are in testing in over 60 countries, 7.5 million households are growing biofortified crops, and over 35 million household members are consuming them,” said Pfeiffer. “It is critical to involve farmers in the development of biofortified crop varieties before they are released, through participatory variety selection.”

Overall, the conference presenters agreed that ending hidden hunger will require cooperation and partnerships from multiple sectors and disciplines. “Partnerships with seed companies are crucial for biofortified maize to make an impact. This is not just about technological advances and developing new products, this is about enabling policies, stimulating demand, and increasing awareness about the benefits of these varieties,” said Prasanna.

Young women scientists who will galvanize global wheat research

Written by Mike Listman on March 28, 2018. Posted in News.

CIUDAD OBREGÓN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – As more than 200 wheat science and food specialists from 34 countries gathered in northwestern Mexico to address threats to global nutrition and food security, 9 outstanding young women wheat scientists among them showed that this effort will be strengthened by diversity.

Winners of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award pose in front of the statue of the late Nobel Peace laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. Included in the photo are Amor Yahyaoui, CIMMYT wheat training coordinator (far left), Jeanie Borlaug Laube (center, blue blouse), and Maricelis Acevedo, Associate Director for Science, the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat Project (to the left of Jeanie Borlaug Laube). Photo: CIMMYT/Mike Listman — Winners of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award pose in front of the statue of the late Nobel Peace laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. Included in the photo are Amor Yahyaoui, CIMMYT wheat training coordinator (far left), Jeanie Borlaug Laube (center, blue blouse), and Maricelis Acevedo, Associate Director for Science, the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat Project (to the right of Jeanie Borlaug Laube). Photo: CIMMYT/Mike Listman

Winners of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) Early Career Award joined during 21-23 March an on-going wheat research training course organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“As my father used to say, you are the future,” said Jeanie Borlaug Laube, daughter of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, and mentor of many young agricultural scientists. Speaking to the WIT recipients, she said, “You are ahead of the game compared to other scientists your age.”

Established in 2010 as part of the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project led by Cornell University, the WIT program has provided professional development opportunities for 44 young women researchers in wheat from more than 20 countries.

The award is given annually to as many as five early science-career women, ranging from advanced undergraduates to recent doctoral graduates and postdoctoral fellows. Selection is based on a scientific abstract and statement of intent, along with evidence of commitment to agricultural development and leadership potential.

Women who will change their professions and the world

Weizhen Liu, a 2017 WIT recipient and postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, is applying genome-wide association mapping and DNA marker technology to enhance genetic resistance in tetraploid and bread wheat to stripe rust, a major global disease of wheat that is spreading quickly and becoming more virulent.

“I am eager to join and devote myself to improving wheat yields by fighting wheat rusts,” said Liu, who received her bachelors in biotechnology from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, in 2011, and a doctorate from Washington State University in 2016. “Through WIT, I can share my research with other scientists, receive professional feedback, and build international collaboration.”

Mitaly Bansal, a 2016 WIT award winner, currently works as a Research Associate at Punjab Agricultural University, India. She did her PhD research in a collaborative project involving Punjab Agricultural University and the John Innes Centre, UK, to deploy stripe and leaf rust resistance genes from non-progenitor wild wheat in commercial cultivars.

“I would like to work someday in a position of public policy in India,” said Bansal, who received the Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug scholarship in 2013. “That is where I could have the influence to change things that needed changing.”

Networking in the cradle of wheat’s “Green Revolution”

In addition to joining CIMMYT training for a week, WIT recipients will attend the annual Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) technical workshop, to be held this year in Marrakech, Morocco, from 14 to 17 April, and where the 2018 WIT winners will be announced.

The CIMMYT training sessions took place at the Norman Borlaug Experiment Station (CENEB), an irrigated desert location in Sonora State, northwestern Mexico, and coincided with CIMMYT’s 2018 “Visitors’ Week,” which took place from 19 to 23 March.

An annual gathering organized by the CIMMYT global wheat program at CENEB, Visitors’ Week typically draws hundreds of experts from the worldwide wheat research and development community. Participants share innovations and news on critical issues, such as the rising threat of the rust diseases or changing climates in key wheat farmlands.

Through her interaction with Visitors’ Week peers, Liu said she was impressed by the extensive partnering among experts from so many countries. “I realized that one of the most important things to fight world hunger is collaboration; no one can solve food insecurity, malnutrition, and climate change issues all by himself.”

A strong proponent and practitioner of collaboration, Norman E. Borlaug worked with Sonora farmers in the 1940-50s as part of a joint Rockefeller Foundation-Mexican government program that, among other outputs, generated high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. After bringing wheat self-sufficiency to Mexico, the varieties were adopted in South Asia and beyond in the 1960-70s, dramatically boosting yields and allowing famine-prone countries to feed their rapidly-expanding populations.

This became known as the Green Revolution and, in 1970, Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions. Borlaug subsequently led CIMMYT wheat research until his retirement in 1979 and served afterwards as a special consultant to the Center.

When a new, highly virulent race of wheat stem rust, Ug99, emerged in eastern Africa in the early 2000s, Borlaug sounded the alarm and championed a global response that grew into the BGRI and associated initiatives such as DGGW.

“This is just a beginning for you, but it doesn’t end here,” said Maricelis Acevedo, a former WIT recipient who went on to become the leader of DGGW. Speaking during the training course, she observed that many WIT awardees come from settings where women often lack access to higher education or the freedom to pursue a career.

“Through WIT activities, including training courses like this and events such as Visitors’ Week and the BGRI workshop,” Acevedo added, “you’ll gain essential knowledge and skills but you’ll also learn leadership and the personal confidence to speak out, as well as the ability to interact one-on-one with leaders in your fields and to ask the right questions.”

CIMMYT is a 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 generous support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) under UK aid, the DGGW project aims to strengthen the delivery pipeline for new, disease resistant, climate-resilient wheat varieties and to increase the yields of smallholder wheat farmers.

Scientists seek key to boost yields, ensure future food supply

Written by on March 23, 2018. Posted in Features.

We must improve the productivity of our key crops if we are to feed the world's growing population, say scientists. — Reducing the length of time it takes to naturally breed more productive crop varieties is key to feed the world’s growing population, say scientists. Photo: CIMMYT archives

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Crop genetic gains remain too low, and international scientists are making a concerted effort to determine how best to increase yields to ensure there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet by 2050.

The complex task of increasing genetic gains – the amount of increase in performance achieved per unit time through artificial selection – involves considering many variables, including genotypes and phenotypes – selecting crop varieties with desired gene traits and considering how well they perform in a given environment.

Two new research papers by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners at Australia’s University of Queensland and Spain’s University of Barcelona published in “Trends in Plant Science” highlight some of the best available tools and strategies for meeting the challenge.

Currently, crop breeding methods and agronomic management put annual productivity increases at 1.2 percent a year, but to ensure food security for future generations, productivity should be at 2.4 percent a year.

By 2050, the United Nations projects that the current global population of 7.6 billion will grow to more than 9.8 billion, making yield increases vital.

The results of grain yield increases each year are a function of the length of the breeding process, the accuracy of which breeders can estimate the potential of new germplasm, the size of the breeding program, the intensity of selection, and the genetic variation for the trait of interest.

“Reducing the length of the breeding process is the fastest way for breeders to increase their gains in grain yield per year,” said HuiHui Li, quantitative geneticist based at CIMMYT Beijing.

Speed breeding and other new techniques have the potential to double gains made by breeders some crops. Speed breeding protocols enable six generations of crops to be generated within a single year, compared to just two generations using traditional protocols.

Pioneered by scientist Lee Hickey at University of Queensland, speed breeding relies on continuous light to trick plants into growing faster, which means speed breeding can only be undertaken in a controlled environment.

Tapping into larger populations increases the probability of identifying superior offspring, but breeding is an expensive and time consuming process due to the variables involved.

One challenge scientists face is high-throughput field phenotyping, which involves characterising hundreds of plants a day to identify the best genetic variation for making new varieties. New phenotyping tools can estimate key traits such as senescence, reducing the time of data collection from a day or more to less than an hour.

“If breeders could reduce the cost of phenotyping, they can reallocate resources towards growing larger populations,” said Mainassara Zaman-Allah, a senior scientist at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe and a key contributor to the paper “Translating High Throughput Phenotyping into Genetic Gain.”

“Limitations on phenotyping efficiency are considered a key constraint to genetic advance in breeding programs,” said Mike Olsen, maize upstream trait pipeline coordinator with CIMMYT, based in Nairobi. “New phenotyping tools to more efficiently measure required traits will play an important role in increasing gains.”

New tools and techniques can only help contribute to food security if they are easily available and adopted. The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, launched in 2017, will play a pivotal role in ensuring these new tools reach breeding programs targeting the developing world.

Translating high-throughput phenotyping into genetic gain

Fast-forwarding genetic gain

Field trial design workshop for smallholder farmers who grow maize landraces

Written by on March 20, 2018. Posted in News.

As part of the efforts of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program aimed at improving food security based on maize landraces in marginal areas of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a workshop on trial design was held from 19-21 February to improve the precision of data on improved maize landraces in smallholder farmers’ fields. Attending the workshop were partners from the National Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) and the Southern Regional University Center of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh).

The objective was to continue to have positive impacts on the marginalized communities of Oaxaca, by adapting to the hillside conditions and poor, uneven and broken up soils that often characterize the plots of farmers who grow maize landraces. The very varied trial designs in farmers’ fields, plus the varied population structure of maize landraces make it difficult for scientists to create efficient designs.

The training workshop was led by Dr. Martha Willcox, CIMMYT Maize Landrace program, and designed by Dr. Juan Burgueño and Mr. Claudio Ayala, who sought to facilitate breeding research in smallholder farmers’ fields and to continue to work for the benefit of more than 400 Oaxacan farmers. The project’s multi-disciplinary base includes genetic improvement, agronomic management and biostatistics in order to generate greater value and scientifically confirm the benefits that are being achieved in the fields of the country’s poorest farmers.

It should be noted that during the four years that MasAgro has worked on participatory breeding (2014-2017), INIFAP, UACh and CIMMYT have found that in marginalized communities, maize landraces with the characteristics mentioned above not only yield more, but also generate higher returns on investments, which benefits farmers. Smallholder farmers grow maize in many ecological niches outside the areas most favorable for intensive commercial agriculture and in areas where hybrid improvement programs have not been introduced or worked due to the extreme conditions, including fog, drought and disease. Maize landraces are better adapted to those areas and have the culinary qualities needed to make every-day and festive local dishes.

In addition, not only has maize production for home consumption improved, but farmers are now linked to gastronomic markets. During project years and with its help, maize began to be exported, with 10,000 kilograms exported in 2014 and more than 900,000 kg exported in 2017.

Global grain research and food industry experts meet to address rising malnutrition

Written by Mike Listman on March 14, 2018. Posted in News.

Wheat fields at the Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. Photo: M. Ellis/CIMMYT.

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) — Malnutrition is rising again and becoming more complex, according to the head of the world’s leading public maize and wheat research center.

“After declining for nearly a decade to around 770 million, the number of hungry people has increased in the last two years to more than 850 million,” said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in the opening address of the 4^th Latin American Cereals Conference.

“Those people suffer from calorie malnutrition and go to bed hungry at night, which is a terrible thing,” Kropff added. “But the diets of 2 billion persons worldwide lack essential micronutrients — Vitamin A, iron, or zinc — and this especially affects the health and development of children under 5 years old.”

Kropff noted that some 650 million people are obese, and the number is increasing. “All these nutrition issues are interconnected, and are driven by rising population, global conflicts, and — for obesity — increasing prosperity, in developed and emerging economies.”

“The solution? Good, healthy diets,” said Kropff, “which in turn depend on having enough food available, but also diverse crops and food types and consumer education on healthy eating.”

The world’s quickly-rising population needs not only more food but healthier, more nutritious food, according to Julie Miller Jones, Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University, and Carlos Guzmán, who leads wheat quality research at CIMMYT.

Held in Mexico City during 11-14 March and co-organized by CIMMYT and the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), the 4^th Latin American Cereals Conference has drawn more than 220 participants from 46 countries, including professionals in agricultural science and production, the food industry, regulatory agencies, and trade associations.

“We are dedicated to spreading information about cereal science and technology, processing, and the health benefits of cereals,” said Hamit Köksel, president of the ICC and professor at Hacettepe University, Turkey, to open the event. “Regarding the latter, we should increase our whole grain consumption.”

Köksel added that ICC has more than 10,000 subscribers in 85 countries.

Breeding micronutrient-dense cereals

One way to improve the nutrition and health of the poor who cannot afford dietary supplements or diverse foods is through “biofortification” of the staple crops that comprise much of their diets.

Drawing upon landraces and diverse other sources in maize and wheat’s genetic pools and applying innovative breeding, CIMMYT has developed high-yielding maize and wheat lines and varieties that feature enhanced levels of grain zinc and are being used in breeding programs worldwide.

“In the last four years, the national research programs of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have released six zinc-biofortified wheat varieties derived from CIMMYT research,” said Hans Braun, director of the center’s global wheat program. “Zinc-Shakthi, an early-maturing wheat variety released in India in 2014 whose grain features 40 percent more zinc than conventional varieties, is already grown by more than 50,000 smallholder farmers in the Northeastern Gangetic Plains of India.”

New zinc biofortified maize variety BIO-MZN01, recently released in Colombia. Photo: CIMMYT archives

CIMMYT is focusing on enhancing the levels of provitamin A and zinc in the maize germplasm adapted to sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Improved quality protein maize (QPM) varieties, whose grain features enhanced levels of two essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, is another major biofortified maize that is grown worldwide, according to Prasanna Boddupalli, director of CIMMYT’s global maize program.

“Quality protein maize varieties are grown by farmers on 1.2 million hectares in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” said Prasanna, in his presentation, adding that provitamin-A-enriched maize varieties have also been released in several countries in Africa, besides Asia.

A major partner in these efforts is HarvestPlus, part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), which supports the development and promotion of the biofortified crop varieties and related research.

“Biofortified crops have been released in 60 countries,” said Wolfgang Pfeiffer, HarvestPlus global director for product development and commercialization, speaking at the conference. “The pressing need now is to ‘mainstream’ biofortification, making it a standard component of breeding programs and food systems.”

Whole grains are good for you

A central issue on the conference agenda is promoting awareness about the importance of healthy diets and the role of whole grains.

“Participants will discuss the large body of published studies showing that whole grain foods, including processed ones, are associated with a significantly reduced risk of chronic diseases and obesity,” said Carlos Guzmán, who leads wheat quality research at CIMMYT and helped organize the conference. “There is a global movement to promote the consumption of whole grains and the food industry worldwide is responding to rising consumer demand for whole grain products.”

Guzmán also thanked the conference sponsors: Bimbo, Bastak Instruments, Brabender, Foss, Chopin Technologies, Perten, Stable Micro Systems Scientific Instruments, Cereal Partners Worldwide Nestlé and General Mills, Stern Ingredients-Mexico, World Grain, the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, and Megazyme.

To learn more about the Latin American Cereals Conference and the International Gluten Workshop, click here.

New zinc-biofortified maize variety BIO-MZn01. (Photo: CIMMYT)

First zinc maize variety launched to reduce malnutrition in Colombia

Written by Jennifer Johnson on February 28, 2018. Posted in News.

Left to right: Miguel Lengua, director general of Maxi Semillas S.A.S; Bram Govaerts, Latin America regional director at CIMMYT; Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general; Howdy Bouis, interim HarvestPlus CEO; and Felix San Vicente, CIMMYT maize breeder; at the launch of new biofortified zinc maize. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)

Cali, Colombia (CIMMYT) — A new zinc-enriched maize variety was released in Colombia on February 23 to help combat malnutrition in South America.

Zinc is an essential mineral that plays an important role in human development but is not naturally produced by humans. Zinc deficiency can lead to impaired growth and development, respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and a general weakening of the immune system. In Colombia, an average of 22 percent of the population is affected by zinc deficiency. However, in certain regions, such as the pacific coast and Amazonia, up to 65 percent of the population is deficient in zinc.

The new variety, known as BIO-MZN01, was developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with the support of HarvestPlus in collaboration with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff speaks at the launch of zinc-enriched maize. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)

“The support that CIMMYT and CIAT have received from HarvestPlus has been fundamental in allowing our researchers to develop crops with enhanced vitamin and mineral content,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general. “The improved maize that we present today is an important example of the impact we can have when we work together in partnership.”

The minimum daily requirement for zinc is 15mg, but not everyone has access to foods with naturally occurring quantities of zinc, which makes this zinc-enriched maize variety a boost for nutrition in a region where maize is a staple food.

BIO-MZN01 contains 36 percent more zinc on average than other maize varieties, meaning that arepas (a common maize-based Colombian dish) made of this new variety offer consumers up to five times more zinc than those made with traditional varieties. Additionally, BIO-MZN01 can yield up to 6 to 8 tons per hectare(t/ha), nearly double the national average in Colombia of 3.7 t/ha and is tolerant to several maize diseases that are common in the region, including rust, turcicum leaf blight, and gray leaf spot. Another advantage is it can be grown between 0 and 1400 meters above sea level during both cropping seasons in the country.

The official launch of BIO-MZN01 was held at CIAT in Palmira, Colombia, and was attended by local farmers, seed companies, and government officials as well as CIMMYT, HarvestPlus and CIAT staff. As part of the launch, visitors and staff were invited into the field to see the variety firsthand and learn more about its properties and the history of its development.

“The conservation and utilization of genetic diversity have been crucial for the development of this new biofortified variety, as well as other CIMMYT varieties with improved nutrition or resistance to climate change,” said Natalia Palacios, maize nutritional quality specialist at CIMMYT. “This has been an inter-institutional and interdisciplinary effort at all levels of the maize value chain.”

Other products of the CIMMYT/HarvestPlus partnership include zinc-enriched wheat and biofortified provitamin A maize, which helps to prevent blindness in children.

“We have been working with CIMMYT since HarvestPlus began,” said Marilia Nutti, the regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at HarvestPlus. “The greatest advantage of working with CIMMYT is their quality research—CIMMYT has all of the knowledge of maize and wheat, and maize is a big part of the diet in Latin America. Meanwhile, HarvestPlus and CIAT already had the partnerships on the ground in Colombia to ensure that this improved zinc maize could get to farmers and consumers. This has truly been a win-win partnership to improve nutrition.”

A farmer examines a zinc-enriched maize plant. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The scientific work conducted at CIMMYT, HarvestPlus and CIAT reaches the hands of farmers through local seed companies such as Maxi Semillas S.A.S., a partner of CIMMYT Colombia for the past 40 years that will be commercializing the new variety. “These varieties are the product of an incredibly long and costly investigation that we do not have the resources to conduct ourselves. In turn we work to ensure that the variety can reach the hands of the farmers and consumers that need it most,” said Miguel Lengua, director general of Maxi Semillas S.A.S.

The variety will be sold at a similar price to currently available maize varieties in Colombia, and certified seed will be available beginning in August.

BIO-MZN01 will also form part of a new initiative in Colombia called “Semillas para la Paz,” or Seeds for Peace, which seeks to provide improved seed varieties as an alternative to illicit crops. The program, organized by the Colombian government and the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation (CORPOICA), will promote the cultivation of nine different crops, including maize and beans. Over 20 tons of this new zinc-enriched maize variety will be produced by Maxi Semillas for this program, along with an iron-enriched biofortified bean variety developed by CIAT with HarvestPlus.

Seed savers celebrate “Doomsday Vault” tenth anniversary

Written by on February 22, 2018. Posted in News.

CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank has its entire collection backed up in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Photo: CIMMYT archives

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — The “Doomsday Vault,” that safeguards fall-back collections of key food crop seeds in the arctic cold of Longyearbyen, Norway, marks its tenth anniversary this year. To celebrate, leaders in the conservation of crop genetic resources are gathering next week to discuss best practices and to encourage sustainable use of the resources.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault sits 1,300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle; the farthest north commercial flights will take you. It is described as the world’s largest secure seed storage and was established by the Norwegian Government in February 2008. Repurposing an abandoned coal mine, the global seed vault is set deep into the natural permafrost of the Norwegian island of Svalbard.

Over the last decade, seed-preserving institutions worldwide have shipped backup collections of seed and other plant parts for storage in the vault, which now holds nearly 900,000 varieties of essential crops, representing over 4,000 plant species, which could be drawn upon to restart agriculture in case of a catastrophe.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the top contributor to the vault, with over 150,000 unique collections containing a total of nearly 50 million seeds and representing roughly 85 percent of the entire CIMMYT germplasm bank collection.

The target is to have 90 percent of the CIMMYT entire collection backed up at Svalbard within two years, according to Thomas Payne, head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank, which is located in Mexico. CIMMYT’s Maize Germplasm Bank, led by Denise Costich, has already reached that goal.

“We send seeds every other year, accumulating packets until we have a critical mass and sending them in a large, single shipment,” Payne said.

Preparing and shipping the seed involves intricate coordination and painstaking work. For starters, seed must be sent in the winter to avoid it sitting on hot airport tarmacs. Additionally, the Svalbard vault opens for new deposits only a few times a year, so shipping logistics need to match up those dates.

The CIMMYT Wheat Germplasm Bank aims to have 90 percent of its collection backed up at Svalbard within two years. Photo: CIMMYT archives. — CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank aims to have 90 percent of its collection backed up at Svalbard within two years. Photo: CIMMYT archives.

Only seed of the highest quality is sent to Svalbard, in part to ensure that the stored seed retains as long as possible its ability to germinate.

CIMMYT Germplasm Bank seed collections are regularly tested for germination capacity by placing a batch of seeds in a wet paper towel for 7-10 days. When less than 85 percent of a unique collection is viable, then the entire collection is replaced with fresh seed grown from the viable portion.

“There are seed collections at CIMMYT that still meet the minimum viability standard after more than 50 years under storage,” Payne said, noting that the center’s long-term collections are kept at minus 18 degrees Centigrade and in low humidity.

Payne said the center keeps duplicate collections in Mexico of all the seed it sends to Svalbard and monitors those Mexico back-ups to keep tabs on the viability of its Svalbard deposits.

Payne explained “To check seed viability, we have to take seeds out of storage, representing a loss of several hundred seeds. It’s almost a self-defeating process, balancing viability testing with sufficient quantities of seed to test and distribute.”

Payne said scientists are seeking new, non-invasive ways to test seed viability, potentially by checking seed respiration rates or rapid germination imaging technologies.

The government of Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust cover the cost of storage and upkeep of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, coordinating shipments in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. Established in 2006, the Crop Trust supports the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide and helps to fund CIMMYT’s work to collect and conserve maize and wheat genetic resources. The CGIAR Genebank Platform also supports CIMMYT’s maize and wheat germplasm bank.

CIMMYT's Germplasm Bank staff preparing a seed shipment to send to Svalbard. Photo: Alfonso Cortés/ CIMMYT — CIMMYT’s Germplasm Bank staff prepare a seed shipment set for Svalbard. Photo: Alfonso Cortés/ CIMMYT

Learn more about the activities of the Maize Germplasm Bank here, and about the Wheat Germplasm Bank here.

The Maize and Wheat Germplasm banks at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center are funded by Global Crop Diversity Trust, the CGIAR Genebank Platform and Germany’s development agency.

Scientists confirm value of whole grains and wheat for nutrition and health

Written by on February 15, 2018. Posted in Press releases.

New study flattens claims that gluten and wheat are bad for human health. Photo: CIMMYT archives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new, exhaustive review of recent scientific studies on cereal grains and health has shown that gluten- or wheat-free diets are not inherently healthier for the general populace and may actually put individuals at risk of dietary deficiencies.

Based on a recent, special compilation of 12 reports published in the scientific journal Cereal Foods World during 2014-2017, eating whole grains is actually beneficial for brain health and associated with reduced risk of diverse types of cancer, coronary disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and overall mortality.

“Clear and solid data show that eating whole-grain wheat products as part of a balanced diet improves health and can help maintain a healthy body weight, apart from the 1 percent of people who suffer from celiac disease and another 2 to 3 percent who are sensitive to wheat,” said Carlos Guzmán, wheat nutrition and quality specialist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which produced the compilation.

Guzmán said wheat and other grains are inexpensive sources of energy that also provide protein, digestible fiber, minerals, vitamins, and other beneficial phytochemicals.

“Among wheat’s greatest benefits, according to the research, is fiber from the bran and other grain parts,” he explained. “Diets in industrialized countries are generally deficient in such fiber, which helps to regulate digestion and promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.”

Guzmán and hundreds of other grain quality and health specialists will meet for the 4th Latin American Cereals Conference and the 13th International Gluten Workshop, organized jointly by CIMMYT and the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC) in Mexico City from 11 to 17 March 2018.

Contributing to humankind’s development for the last 10,000 years, wheat is cultivated on some 220 million hectares (539 million acres) worldwide. The crop accounts for a fifth of the world’s food and is the main source of protein in many developing and developed countries, and second only to rice as a source of calories globally. In the many countries where milling flours are fortified, wheat-based foods provide necessary levels of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin A.

Inhabitants in developing and industrialized countries are experiencing higher incidences of diabetes, allergies, inflammatory bowel disorder, and obesity. A profitable industry has developed around gluten- and wheat-free food products, which the popular press has promoted as beneficial for addressing such disorders. But much scientific evidence contradicts popular writings about these food products.

“Much of the anti-grain messaging comes from publications produced by supposed ‘specialists’ who are not nutritionists, and are often built on faulty premises.” according to Julie Miller Jones, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emerita at St. Catherine University, U.S.A., and a key contributor to the review studies in the compilation.

“Causes of obesity and chronic disease are complex, and it is not only simplistic but erroneous to name a single food group as the cause or the cure for these problems,” Miller Jones explained. “We do know that we consume large portions, too many calories, and too few fruits, vegetables, or whole grains. Instead today’s lifestyles encourage consumption of many high calorie foods and beverages that contain few nutrients. Then the risks of poor diets are often amplified by our sedentary lifestyles.”

CIMMYT scientists are concerned that the negative portrayal of wheat to promote the lucrative gluten-free fad diet industry will discourage low-income families from consuming the grain as part of an affordable and healthy diet, particularly in areas where there are few low-cost alternatives.

Consumer Reports magazine reported in January 2015 that sales of “gluten-free” products soared 63 percent between 2012 and 2015, with almost 4,600 products introduced in 2014 alone. Retail sales of gluten-free foods in the United States were estimated at $12.2 billion in 2014 and by 2020 the market is projected to be valued at $23.9 billion, Statistica reports.

However, wheat biofortified through breeding or fortified during milling with zinc and iron can play a vital role in diets in areas where “hidden hunger” is a concern and where nutritional options are unaffordable or unavailable. About 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

The compilation draws on more than 1,500 peer-reviewed studies regarding the dietary and health effects of eating cereals and wheat-based foods.

CIMMYT specialists also worry that misinformation about wheat might affect investments in vital research to sustain wheat production increases of at least 60 percent by 2050, the output required to keep pace with rising population and demand, according to Hans Braun, director of the center’s global wheat program.

“Climate change is already constraining wheat production in regions such as South Asia, where more than 500 million inhabitants eat wheat-based foods,” Braun said. “Worldwide, the crop is threatened by deadly pest and disease strains, water shortages, and depleted soils.”

“As we have seen in 2008, 2011, and just recently in Tunisia and Sudan, grain shortages or price hikes in bread can lead to social unrest,” Braun added. “The international community needs to speed efforts to develop and share high-yielding, climate-resilient, and disease-resistant wheat varieties that also meet humanity’s varied nutritional demands.”

The compilation was produced with special permission from AACC International.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS

Mike Listman
Communications officer, CGIAR Research Program on Wheat
tel: +52 (55) 5804 7537
cel: +52 (1595) 114 9743
Email: m.listman@cgiar.org

New Publications: Storage of maize products results in vitamin loss

Written by on February 15, 2018. Posted in Publications.

New Pubs

Biofortification of crops through traditional breeding techniques has become very common in the fight against malnutrition globally. Biofortified provitamin A maize is bred to produce increased carotenoids (a naturally occurring molecule also found in carrots) to reduce vitamin A deficiency (VAD). VAD affects 190 million children globally and causes an estimated 500,000 cases of preventable blindness per year. A study in 2014 showed that provitamin A maize, was as effective as a high-dose supplement at increasing vitamin A stores in Zambian children.

However, processing and storage can drastically reduce the level of carotenoids in these foods by the time they are consumed. The authors of a new study explain that processing of maize grains makes vitamins more bioavailable, but that exposure to heat, light and air can oxidize carotenoids, reducing the amount remaining in food.

The study shows that when stored for six months in traditional conditions, up to 65 percent of provitamin A may be lost, but it differs among maize varieties, with some varieties losing 40 percent of their carotenoid content in the first two weeks.

The study also examined processing and cooking methods of biofortified maize and eggs from hens who ate this maize to find the best and worst conditions for carotenoid retention. They found that boiling whole grain maize into porridge had the best retention rates of any tested processing methods, with retention rates over 100 percent, and deep frying maize and scrambling eggs had the lowest retention rates of around 70 and 80 percent, respectively.

Overall, the authors say cooking allowed both maize and eggs to retain upwards of 80 percent of effects carotenoid content, but storage at or above room temperature quickly degraded the carotenoid content. They suggest that whole grain and courser ground maize may be a good way to retain more provitamin A while sitting on a shelf, but say more research is necessary.

Read the full study “Retention of Carotenoids in Biofortified Maize Flour and β-Cryptoxanthin-Enhanced Eggs after Household Cooking” and check out other publications by CIMMYT staff below:

A white paper on global wheat health based on scenario development and analysis. Savary, S., Djurle, A., Yuen, J., Ficke, A., Rossi, V., Esker, P.D., Fernandes, J.M.C., Del Ponte, E.M., Kumar, J., Madden, L.V., Paul, P., McRoberts, N., Singh, P.K., Huber, L., Pope de Vallavielle, C., Saint-Jea, S., Willocquet, L. In: Phytopathology v. 107, no. 10, p. 1109-1122.
Characterization of leaf rust and stripe rust resistance in spring wheat ‘Chilero’. Ponce-Molina, L.J., Huerta-Espino, J., Singh, R.P., Basnet, B.R., Alvarado Beltrán, G., Randhawa, M.S., Caixia Lan, Aguilar Rincón, V.H., Lobato-Ortiz, R., García Zavala, J.J. In: Plant disease v. 102, no. 2, p. 421-427.
Evaluation of grain yield of heat stress resilient maize hybrids in Nepal. Koirala, K.B., Giri, Y.P., Rijal, T.R., Zaidi, P.H., Ajanahalli, R.S., Shrestha, J. In: International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology v. 5, no. 4, p. 511-522.
Genetic analysis of heat adaptive traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). Krishnaji Jodage., Kuchanur, P.H., Zaidi, P.H., Patil, A., Seetharam, K., Vinayan, M.T., Arunkumar, B. In: International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences v. 7, no. 1, p. 3237-3246.
Genetic analysis of morpho-physiological traits and yield components in F2 partial diallel crosses of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Abidine Fellah, Z.E., Hannach, A., Bouzerzour, H., Dreisigacker, S., Yahyaoui, A.H., Sehgal, D. In: Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía v. 70, no. 3, p. 8237-8250.
Genomics selection in plant breeding : methods, models, and perspectives. Crossa, J., Pérez-Rodríguez, P., Cuevas, J., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Jarquín, D., De los Campos, G., Burgueño, J., Camacho-González, J. M., Perez-Elizalde, S., Beyene, Y., Dreisigacker, S., Ravi Gopal Singh, Zhang, X., Gowda, M., Roorkiwal, M., Rutkoski, J., Varshney, R. K. In: Trends in Plant Science v. 20, no. 11, p. 961-975.
Grain yield and stability of white early maize hybrids in the highland valleys of Mexico. Torres Flores, J. L., Mendoza García, B., Prasanna, B.M., Alvarado Beltrán, G., San Vicente, F.M., Crossa, J. In: Crop Science v. 57, no. 6, p. 3002-3015.
High-throughput measurement methodologies for developing nutrient-dense crops. Guild, G., Parkes, E., Nutti, M., Palacios-Rojas, N., Stangoulis, J. In: African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development v. 17, no. 2, p. 11941-11954.
Retention of carotenoids in biofortified maize flour and β-Cryptoxanthin-Enhanced eggs after household cooking. Sowa, M., Jiaoying Yu, Palacios-Rojas, N., Goltz, S. R., Howe, J. A., Davis, C.R., Rocheford, T., Tanumihardjo, S. A. In: ACS Omega no. 2, p. 7320-7328.
Risk assessment and spread of the potentially invasive Ceratitis rosa Karsch and Ceratitis quilicii De Meyer, Mwatawala and Virgilio sp. Nov. using life-cycle simulation models : implications for phytosanitary measures and management. Tanga, C. M., Khamis, F. M., Tonnang, H., Rwomushana, I., Mosomtai, G., Mohamed, S. A., Ekesi, S. In: PLoS One v. 13, no. 1:e0189138

Deadly strain of wheat stem rust disease surfaces in Europe

Written by Matthew O'Leary on February 8, 2018. Posted in News.

Wheat stem rust was reported by the Greeks and Romans, and the latter sacrificed to the gods to avoid disease outbreaks on their wheat crops. Photo: CIMMYT/Petr Kosina — Wheat stem rust was reported by the Greeks and Romans, and the latter sacrificed to the gods to avoid disease outbreaks on their wheat crops.
Photo: CIMMYT/Petr Kosina

As reported today in Communications Biology, an international team of researchers led by the John Innes Centre, U.K., found that 80 percent of U.K. wheat varieties are susceptible to the deadly stem rust strain. The group also confirmed for the first time in many decades that the stem rust fungus was growing on barberry bush, the pathogen’s alternate host, in the UK.

“This signals the rising threat of stem rust disease for wheat and barley production in Europe,” said Dave Hodson, senior scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and co-author on the study.

A scourge of wheat since biblical times, stem rust caused major losses to North American wheat crops in the early 20th century. Stem rust disease was controlled for decades through the use of resistant wheat varieties bred in the 1950s by scientist Norman Borlaug and his colleagues. Widespread adoption of those varieties sparked the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

In 1999 a new, highly-virulent strain of the stem rust fungus emerged in eastern Africa. Spores of that strain and variants have spread rapidly and are threatening or overcoming the genetic resistance of many currently sown wheat varieties. Scientists worldwide joined forces in the early 2000s to develop new, resistant varieties and to monitor and control outbreaks of stem rust and yellow rust, as part of collaborations such as the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative led by Cornell University.

Barberry is a shrub found throughout the temperate and subtropical regions. Photo: CIMMYT archives — Barberry is a shrub found throughout the temperate and subtropical regions. Photo: John Innes Centre

The Communications Biology study shows that 2013 U.K. stem rust strain is related to TKTTF, a fungal race first detected in Turkey that spread across the Middle East and recently into Europe. It was the dominant race in the 2013 stem rust outbreak in Germany and infected 10,000 hectares of wheat in Ethiopia’s breadbasket the same year.

Because disease organisms mutate quickly to overcome crop resistance controlled by single genes, researchers are rushing to identify new resistance genes and to incorporate multiple genes into high-yielding varieties, according to Ravi Singh, CIMMYT wheat scientist who participated in the reported study.

“The greatest hope for achieving durable resistance to rust diseases is to make wheat’s resistance genetically complex, combining several genes and resistance mechanisms,” Singh explained.

Barberry, which serves as a spawning ground for the stem rust fungus, was largely eradicated from the U.K. and U.S. last century, greatly reducing the spread and genetic diversification of rust disease races. Now barberry is being grown again in the U.K. over the last decade, according to Diane G.O. Saunders, John Innes Centre scientist and co-author of the study.

“The late Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug said that the greatest ally of the pathogen is our short memory,” Saunders stated. “We recommend continued, intensive resistance breeding. We would also welcome work with conservationists of endangered, barberry-dependent insect species to ensure that planting of common barberry occurs away from arable land, thus safeguarding European cereals from a large-scale re-emergence of wheat stem rust.”

Click here to read the John Innes Centre media release about the Communications Biology report and view the report.

“Bazooka” maize makes a bang in Uganda

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on February 1, 2018. Posted in News.

Unprecedented droughts have hit Uganda’s farmers hard in recent years, affecting household income and food security by drastically cutting maize yields, a staple crop in the country. In 2016, at least 1.3 million people in Uganda faced hunger and urgently needed food aid after a dry spell decimated harvests, leaving some with less than one meal per day. When MLN, a maize disease with the ability to cause extreme or complete crop loss in maize, arrived in Uganda in 2013, farmers needed a variety that could cope.

Enter, “bazooka,” a new maize variety that is giving hope to Ugandan farmers facing climate change-related drought and MLN.

Developed by Uganda’s National Crops Research Resources Institute (NaCRRI) and National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) using traditional breeding methods and materials from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), bazooka maize has natural resistance to drought and MLN. Produced and distributed by the Naseco seed company, bazooka is gaining immense popularity in Uganda.

300 million people depend on maize as their main food source in sub-Saharan Africa, where many smallholder farmers do not have access to irrigation systems, and extended drought can be a death sentence for their crops. Now, with new drought tolerant varieties such as bazooka, they can expect better harvests.

To read the full story, please click here to view the original article from Seed World and CS Monitor.

A fall armyworm on a damaged leaf in Nigeria, 2017. (Photo: G. Goergen/IITA)

New technical guide to help farmers protect against fall armyworm

Written by on January 30, 2018. Posted in News.

Nairobi, Kenya (CIMMYT) – A new comprehensive integrated pest management (IPM)-based technical guide produced by international experts will help scientists, extension agents and farmers to tackle the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), which has rapidly spread across the African continent in the last two years, decimating maize crops in its path.

“Fall Armyworm in Africa: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management,” jointly produced by Feed the Future, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), provides tips on fall armyworm identification as well as technologies and practices for effective control.

Native to North America, the fall armyworm has recently emerged as a major threat in Africa, where it has been identified in over 30 countries since it was first confirmed on the continent in January 2016. The pest can potentially feed on 80 different crop species but has a preference for maize, which poses a significant threat to the food security, income and livelihoods of over 300 million African smallholder farm families that consume maize as a staple crop.

“The potential impact of the fall armyworm as a major food security and economic risk for African nations cannot be overstated,” said Martin Kropff, director general at CIMMYT.

If proper control measures are not implemented, the fall armyworm could cause extensive maize yield losses of up to $6.2 billion per year in just 12 countries in Africa where its presence has been confirmed, according to the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI).

“The fall armyworm poses an enormous and wide-scale risk to the livelihoods of several million African smallholders, and requires urgent deployment of an IPM strategy and quick response from all stakeholders,” said B.M. Prasanna, director of MAIZE and the Global Maize Program at CIMMYT. “The Fall Armyworm Integrated Pest Management Guide provides comprehensive details on the best management practices to help smallholder farmers effectively and safely control the pest while simultaneously protecting people, animals and the environment.”

To read “Fall Armyworm in Africa: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management,” please click here.

"The Wizard and the Prophet" looks at the world’s most threatening challenges through the eyes of scientists Norman Borlaug (left) and William Vogt. (Photos: CIMMYT, AICBC)

Are you a wizard or a prophet?

Written by on January 23, 2018. Posted in Features.

Charles Mann’s The Wizard and the Prophet released today seeks to reconcile two worldviews spurred by agronomist Norman Borlaug and ecologist William Vogt, to help us better understand how we can feed 10 billion people by 2050; without destroying our planet in the process.

Borlaug, the “wizard” of the book, launched his vision from a small parcel of “badly damaged land” near Mexico City that would become the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). He was a key figure in developing high-yielding wheat varieties that saved millions from starvation in the 1960s, launching a global Green Revolution and becoming an emblem for “techno-optimism,” or the view that science and technology will meet humanity’s growing demands.

Vogt’s 1948 book “The Road to Survival” became the blueprint for today’s modern environmental movement, prophesizing that unless humankind drastically reduces consumption, its growing numbers and appetite will overwhelm the planet’s resources. His novels and speeches inspired conservationists from Rachel Carson to Paul Ehrlich, and defined our concept of “environment” as an entity that deserves respect and protection.

Mann uses the views of Borlaug and Vogt as endpoints on a “wizard-prophet” spectrum to illustrate different approaches experts are taking to solve four great, complex challenges of our time: food, water, energy and climate change.

But who is right? We, humans, are the only species on Earth that have been able to bend nature to our will. For thousands of years we burned forests to kill insects and encourage the growth of useful species, then later turned the planet into our “personal petri dish,” as Mann puts it, with the rise of agriculture and creation of crops like maize, which allowed Mesoamerican civilizations to grow and flourish. Today, violence and poverty are at an all-time low due to the wizardly-successes of Borlaug and others

However, Mann cautions past successes are no guarantee of the future. Vogt’s Malthusian predictions didn’t come to pass, but Borlaug’s wizardry also had unintended social and environmental consequences. Fertilizer runoff, over-extraction of groundwater and the burning of fossil fuels are creating an increasingly inhospitable planet and arguably pushing us closer to Vogt’s envisioned planetary limits than ever before.

Norman Borlaug works with researchers in the field. (Photo: CIMMYT archives)

Both Borlaug and Vogt identified as environmentalists trying to solve the same monumental challenge of having too many people to feed but not enough resources. Their ideological heirs are also working to solve equally challenging problems but are bitterly opposed, in large part because the argument is less about facts and more about values.

Prophets see humans as living in a finite world with constrained limits imposed by the environment, while wizards believe human ingenuity gives us an endless array of tools to manage the environment for our needs.

Mann doesn’t take either side, but rather offers solutions proposed by both prophets and wizards. He cites efforts to change the way photosynthesis works in rice at the International Rice Research Institute, but also initiatives like the domestication of wild perennial plants at the Land Institute. Both prophets and wizards have multiple, on-going efforts to meet all four challenges that Mann covers in the book. He says that it’s possible individual efforts won’t work, but the odds of all efforts failing are equally small.

Most importantly, there are many individuals and organizations today that are attempting to embrace both ideologies. CIMMYT, an organization that was founded by the original wizard, now incorporates sustainable agriculture practices into its work globally, with an emphasis on social inclusion.

The Wizard and the Prophet’s in-depth mix of biographical, historical, philosophical and scientific detail allows us to confront our wizard/prophet bias, and leaves one with a greater sense of respect for those with differing views on how we should shape our world in the 21^st century.

Buy “The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World” here.

Emergency seed fuels quick farm recovery in drought-affected Ethiopia

Written by Mike Listman on January 11, 2018. Posted in Features.

Worker rogueing a wheat seed production plot. Photo: CIMMYT/A.Habtamu.

In response to Ethiopia’s worst drought in 50 years and the country’s critical shortage of maize and wheat seed for sowing in 2016, Ethiopian organizations, seed producers, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) partnered to deliver to farmers over 3,400 tons of high quality seed that was sown on more than 100,300 hectares.

“We went three years without rain,” says farmer Usman Kadir, whose 1.5-hectare homestead in Wanjo Bebele village, Halaba Special Woreda, supports a household of 11 persons. “We were able to eat thanks to emergency food programs.” In 2017, Kadir used emergency maize seed to sow half a hectare and harvested 3 tons, getting his farm back on its feet. “If more new improved varieties come, we want to work with you and expand our farming operation.”

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S. Ethiopia mission, seed relief complemented international and national food aid, helping farm families to quickly grow crops after several seasons of erratic or failed rains in Ethiopia and the catastrophic 2015-16 El Niño droughts. At that time, more than 10 million people struggled to find food, as eastern Ethiopia faced crop losses from 50 to 90 percent of expected yields.

“This effort helped rescue the food security and livelihoods of more than 271,000 rural households and 1.6 million individuals in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP regions, and strengthened seed systems to address future climate, disease, and pest crises,” said Bekele Abeyo, CIMMYT wheat scientist who led the seed relief initiative.

Farmers are using maize and wheat varieties suitable for drought-affected areas and resistant to prevalent crop diseases. Photo: CIMMYT/A.Habtamu — Farmers are growing maize and wheat varieties suitable for drought- and disease-affected areas. Photo: CIMMYT/ A. Habtamu

Wheat and maize: Mainstays of food security

Agriculture provides 42 percent of Ethiopia’s GDP, 77 percent of employment, and 84 percent of exports. Subsistence, smallholder farmers predominate, making their living from less than two hectares of land. Wheat and maize are the most important crops for food security; they are also at the center of Ethiopia’s increasingly vibrant agricultural output markets and have been the focus in recent years of public investment to raise national production.

Maize and wheat production in Ethiopia depends on rainfall, making the unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change exceptionally detrimental here. Various studies predict an average 30 percent reduction in farm incomes due to climate change impacts, including greater extremes in temperatures and rainfall (floods, droughts) and the emergence of new pest and disease strains. Research shows that reduced precipitation is already holding back wheat yields.

To address this, experts identified maize and wheat varieties suitable for drought-affected areas and highly resistant to prevalent crop diseases. Of the maize varieties, some 10 percent were quality protein maize, which carries enhanced levels of key amino acids for protein synthesis in humans.

“This effort also provided training for district and zonal development agents in crop protection, agronomy, drought mitigation practices, and seed systems,” said Abeyo. “Finally, five women seed producer associations received wheat seed threshers and a large union of farmer seed producer cooperatives received a maize sheller through the initiative. This equipment will greatly expedite their operations and contribute to the expanded and more reliable access of farmers to affordable, quality seed in the future.”

Partners and contributors

Emergency relief seed was sourced through diverse CIMMYT partnerships, including producers in the USAID-funded “Drought Tolerant Maize for Seed Scaling Project” (DTMASS) and “Wheat Seed Scaling Initiative.” Stakeholders included the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR), the Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BoANR), public and private seed companies/enterprises, farmer cooperative unions, federal and regional research institutes, and non-government organizations working in target areas. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) helped deliver seed to drought-affected districts and jointly organized training and workshops.

Click here to read a full report on the emergency seed relief initiative.

Innovation leads South Asia’s new Green Revolution

Written by on January 9, 2018. Posted in News.

Agricultural leaders from across South Asia recently gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh to create a roadmap on how to best help farmers cope with climate change while meeting future food demand. Photo: Photo credit: CIMMYT/ M. DeFreese — Agricultural leaders from across South Asia recently meet to discuss how to best tackle climate change while meeting future food demand. Photo: CIMMYT/ M. DeFreese

Fifty years ago, economists and population experts predicted millions were about to die from famine.

India and other Asian countries were expected by scholars like Paul Ehrlich in The Population Bomb to be especially hard hit in the 1970s and 1980s, given the region’s high population growth rates.

South Asia braced for mass starvation as hunger and malnutrition spread while multiple droughts plagued India and neighboring countries – but it never happened.

Instead, rice and wheat yields more than doubled in Asia from the 1960s to 1990s, grain prices fell, people consumed nearly a third more calories and the poverty rate was cut in half – despite the population growing 60 percent.

Improved rice and wheat varieties combined with the expanded use of fertilizers, irrigation and supportive public policies for agriculture led to this dramatic growth in food production and human development that would become known as the Green Revolution.

Today, South Asia faces new, but equally daunting challenges. By 2050, the United Nations predicts the world’s population will grow by more than two billion people, 30 percent of which will be in South and Southeast Asia. These regions are also where the effects of climate change, like variable rainfall and extreme flooding, are most dire.

Wheat, maize and rice yields in South Asia could decrease by as much as 30 percent over this century unless farmers adopt innovations to mitigate rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns.

Agricultural leaders from across South Asia recently gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh to create a roadmap on how to best help farmers cope with climate change while meeting future food demand.

“South Asian agriculture needs to be transformed as it was during the Green Revolution,” according to ML Jat, principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and co-author of a recent policy brief detailing the policy dialogue in Bangladesh. “Holistic management and more efficient use of resources to protect soil, water and air quality is necessary to improve both agricultural and human health.”

Public policies across the region currently subsidize agrochemicals, irrigation and unsustainable tilling, making it an uphill battle for many who promote sustainable intensification – a set of practices that adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources – as an alternative to these environmentally destructive practices.

Sustainable intensification advocates in South Asia have found that conservation agriculture – a sustainable management paradigm based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment – could be greatly expanded to benefit farmers across the region.

Conservation agriculture was first adopted in South Asia in the mid-1990s for no-till wheat farming and has since spread to cover more than 5 million hectares of farmland, mostly in India. Precision land levelers, machines equipped with laser-guided drag buckets to level fields so water flows evenly into soil — rather than running off or collecting in uneven land — were also adopted during this time, which significantly boosted conservation agriculture’s impact.

“When these technologies are combined with improved seed, like HD-2967, Munal, HDCSW 18, the benefits for farmers are even greater,” said Jat.

Despite this growth, conservation agriculture is practiced on just two percent of South Asia’s arable land, and very limited farmers end up adopting the complete set of sustainable intensification practices necessary to fully boost production while conserving the environment.

“While some practices like zero-till wheat have become very popular, growing rice in submerged fields remains a common practice which is one of the major obstacle in the adoption of full conservation agriculture in irrigated intensive rice-wheat systems of South Asia,” said Jat.

Policies that support farmers with few resources to take chances to experiment with conservation agriculture, such as guaranteeing a cash payout if crops fail or free access to zero-till machinery, can give people the incentive and protection they need to permanently shift the way they farm.

In addition to on-the-ground policy commitments, delegates in Bangladesh declared conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification should be at the heart of South Asia’s development agenda not only to improve national food security but to meet international obligations.

“If we don’t make South Asia’s farming sustainable, we will fail to meet international commitments on climate change, poverty and the environment, including the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Raj Paroda, Chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Science (TAAS).

Delegates at the meeting called for a significant boost in funding towards conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification efforts, as well as the need to incorporate sustainable intensification practices in existing publicly-funded agricultural development initiatives.

Finally, the delegates created a platform where regional leaders, national agricultural research centers, donors and international research organizations can share knowledge, success stories, new technologies and expertise.

Read the full policy brief of the Scaling Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification in South Asia meeting here.