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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.

CIMMYT sends largest ever seed shipment to revitalize agriculture in Haiti

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Hugo Plus seed bags ready to be sealed and shipped. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT
Hugo Plus seeds grown in Haiti in 2016. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has grown 150 tons of renewed, improved maize seed that will be sent to Haitian farmers to help jump-start the country’s seed sector, improve local food security and decrease malnutrition. This will be the largest seed shipment to any country in CIMMYT’s history.

In 1998, CIMMYT, together with the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment, introduced a new quality protein maize variety in Haiti. Named “Hugo” for CIMMYT maize breeder Hugo Córdova, the variety grew well under the island’s agro-ecological conditions and can decrease malnutrition and stunting among children that consume it. The product of decades of maize research in Haiti and Latin America, Hugo quickly became a favorite among farmers, but over time lost its genetic purity due to a lack of certified seed production and yields began to drop.

Now, CIMMYT is working to help Haiti build their seed sector from the ground up, from developing improved seed to replace old varieties to providing capacity development at every level of the maize seed value chain, with incredible results.

Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the lowest maize yields in the continent, and roughly 50 percent of the population is undernourished. These conditions have been exacerbated by a crippling earthquake in 2010, what is emerging as a longstanding drought, and devastating Hurricane Matthew in 2016 that affected 2 million people. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Haiti cannot achieve economic growth and national stability if food security is not addressed.

However, improving food security in Haiti is complicated by the fact that there are no formal seed companies, said Alberto Chassaigne, maize seed system specialist at CIMMYT.

“Farmers often sell their entire crop at harvest, leaving nothing for the next season, forcing them to plant simple maize grain that they buy from local markets rather than certified seed, drastically reducing yield over time,” said Chassaigne.

In 2015, CIMMYT launched the Mayi Plus initiative with the support of USAID-Haiti Feed the Future (FTF) to identify the most promising varieties for the future of maize farming in Haiti. The project would also work to produce a “renewed” Hugo to farmers in Haiti with greater genetic purity and yield, and provide capacity development to Haitians in the production and processing of seed of these improved varieties. This renewed Hugo, known as “Hugo Plus,” can produce up to seven tons per hectare, in comparison to traditional varieties currently planted in Haiti that produce on average less than one ton per hectare.

Through a systemic series of maize trials, scientists also found that new CIMMYT germplasm is already available that outperforms any other maize available in Haiti in both irrigated and rain-fed conditions.  These resilient varieties, named “Mayi Plus I” and “Mayi Plus II” are currently under multiplication to be introduced to Haitian farmers as soon as possible.

Hugo Plus seed growing in Haiti. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT
Hugo Plus seed growing in Haiti. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT

Four tons of renewed Hugo were produced in 2015, 2.7 tons of which were produced in Haiti.

In the winter cropping season of 2016-2017, CIMMYT produced 150 tons of renewed Hugo seed in Mexico to send to Haiti, 50 percent more than the 100 tons they had planned to send. “This is the largest seed shipment ever sent by CIMMYT,” said Arturo Silva Hinojosa, leader of the International Maize Improvement Consortium in Latin America. “An additional 15 tons of seed will be harvested in Haiti, up from 0-3 tons in previous years.”

20 of the 150 tons of renewed “Hugo Plus” have already arrived in Haiti, where they will be sold to farmers at affordable prices in “agricultural input boutiques” established by FTF and partners. The remaining 130 tons will be used by CIMMYT and FTF to develop a strategic seed reserve in Haiti that will serve as a backup in case of natural disasters so that the country has immediate availability of seed stock for re-planting. The CIMMYT team in Haiti is currently working to find the best locations to store the strategic maize seed reserve.

To ensure that the genetic purity of renewed Hugo and other improved maize varieties will be maintained, CIMMYT is providing capacity development to help start Haiti’s seed sector from scratch. Project partners identified entrepreneurs interested in establishing a seed enterprise, and CIMMYT has been providing these entrepreneurs with in-depth training in seed processing and marketing, guidance on the infrastructure for a seed processing plant, and contacts throughout the world of equipment appropriate for Haitian conditions.

In addition, CIMMYT established a two-week course in seed production and seed processing with a FTF partner to train 13 Haitian technicians, who will now be able to train other Haitians interested in working in the country’s maize seed sector. A training manual is being prepared in French and Creole, and replication workshops will be conducted in target food security corridors of USAID in Haiti.

“This improved seed, and a self-sustaining seed sector capable of producing and marketing it, can contribute towards improved foreign exchange savings and will create local employment,” said Huntington Hobbs, former leader of strategic planning and research coordination for CIMMYT’s MasAgro project. “Increased maize production will bolster Haiti’s economy by providing feed for emerging industries in poultry and egg production, as well as the main staple of Haitian food security.”

Hugo Plus on harvest day. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT
Hugo Plus on harvest day. Photo: L. Eugene/CIMMYT

CIMMYT researchers returned to Haiti in early June to advise seed companies on the installation of a seed processing plant, as well as to supervise trials and evaluations of new varieties and coordinate trainings in Haiti with trainers trained last February in Mexico.

In order to introduce local farmers to the new Hugo Plus maize variety and recognize CIMMYT’s contribution to Haiti’s food security through the Mayi Plus project, the USAID-Haiti Feed the Future Chanje Lavi Plante (CLP) project held a special event on June 21, 2016. The event was attended by farmers, agricultural input store managers and local partners, as well as staff from the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture and USAID who thanked CIMMYT for the recent 20 ton seed shipment.

“Hugo Plus is the result of many years of applied research work of CIMMYT in Haiti, and is a valuable alternative to the current varieties available in Haiti with such low yields,” said Micheal Wyzan, head of the office of economic growth and development at the Haiti mission of USAID. “We highly appreciate the fruitful collaboration between CIMMYT and the CLP project that allow farmers to increase their maize yields in the region.”

In his address to the audience, Alain Thermil, main liaison of Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture with USAID, stated that, “CIMMYT is a very important organization in the world, and it is vital to Haiti that we establish and maintain a close relationship with CIMMYT.”

Jean Robert Estime, director of the CLP project in Haiti, agreed. “Through CIMMYT interventions, good quality seed is now available to farmers in Haiti. We are very grateful to CIMMYT, a great international organization with a mandate to do research on maize and wheat worldwide that is doing very important work in Haiti.”

Farmers in Pakistan benefit from new zinc-enriched high-yielding wheat

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News.

Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discuss seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT.
Hans-Joachim Braun (left, white shirt), director of the global wheat program at CIMMYT, Maqsood Qamar (center), wheat breeder at Pakistan’s National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, and Muhammad Imtiaz (right), CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist and Pakistan country representative, discussing seed production of Zincol. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT.

ISLAMABAD (CIMMYT) – Farmers in Pakistan are eagerly adopting a nutrient-enhanced wheat variety offering improved food security, higher incomes, health benefits and a delicious taste.

Known as Zincol and released to farmers in 2016, the variety provides harvests as abundant as those for other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia.

Due to these benefits and its delicious taste, Zincol was one of the top choices among farmers testing 12 new wheat varieties in 2016.

“I would eat twice as many chappatis of Zincol as of other wheat varieties,” said Munib Khan, a farmer in Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi District, Punjab Province, Pakistan, referring to its delicious flavor.

Khan has been growing Zincol since its release. In 2017, he planted a large portion of his wheat fields with the seed, as did members of the Gujar Khan Seed Producer Group to which he belongs.

The group is one of 21 seed producer associations established to grow quality seed of new wheat varieties with assistance from the country’s National Rural Support Program (NRSP) in remote areas of Pakistan. The support program is a key partner in the Pakistan Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Over the 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons, 400 tons of seed of Zincol has been shared with farmers, seed companies and promotional partners,” said Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT country representative in Pakistan and a wheat improvement specialist.

Zincol resulted from the CIMMYT’s “biofortification” breeding research, focused on enhancing nutrient levels in the grain of key food crops. Scientists develop biofortified crops using diverse genetic resources, including wheat landraces and wild relatives with the genetic potential to accumulate zinc in the grain.

Genes for enhanced grain zinc content from those sources are crossed into adapted, high-yielding varieties, over repeated cycles of selection involving many thousands of plants.

“One year after the release of Zincol, wheat farmers on more than 320 hectares are sowing the variety,” Imtiaz said.

He also noted that 15 tons of Zincol seed was shared free of charge for testing with 600 farm families in Sukkar District, Sindh Province, through an initiative of World Vision-Canada and HarvestPlus, a CGIAR research program dedicated to the study and delivery of biofortified foods.

Zincol harvests as high as other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT
Zincol yields as much other widely grown wheat varieties, but its grain contains 20 percent more zinc, a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many poor people in South Asia. Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT

Wheat: Vehicle for enhanced nutrition

Pakistan produces more than 25 million tons of wheat a year. The country has an annual per capita consumption averaging around 124 kilograms — among the highest in the world and providing over 60 percent of inhabitants’ daily caloric intake. The staple wheat-based foods are chappatis or a flat bread baked on the walls of large, cylindrical clay ovens.

Particularly in remote areas of Pakistan, human diets too often lack essential micronutrients such as zinc. According to a 2011 nutrition survey, 39 percent of children in Pakistan and 48 percent of pregnant women suffer from zinc deficiency, leading to child stunting rates of more than 40 percent and high infant mortality.

Zinc deficiency is also known to cause diarrheal disease, lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction and anorexia, according to the World Health Organization.

“Given its role as a key food staple, wheat with enhanced levels of zinc and other micronutrients can contribute to better nutrition,” said Velu Govindan, a CIMMYT wheat breeder who specializes in biofortification and helped develop Zincol.

“Zincol also carries the genetic background of NARC 2011, a popular, high-yielding Pakistan wheat variety that resists wheat stem rust, a deadly disease that threatens wheat worldwide,” Govindan added.

As part of AIP and HarvestPlus, as well as with numerous public and private partners and farmer seed production groups in Pakistan, CIMMYT is leading the extensive evaluation, distribution and seed production of Zincol, said Krishna Dev Joshi, a former CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist who worked on the project.

“With modest resources and limited amounts of seed, we tested and promoted Zincol over the last two years in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh, covering 15 districts and engaging nearly 700 farmers,” Joshi explained.

Joshi said farmer seed producers and private seed companies were able to provide another 100 tons of seed in 2016, enough to sow more than 2,500 hectares in 2017 and over half a million hectares in 2018.

“Zincol reached farmers nine years after the initial breeding cross in 2007, several years more quickly than is the norm in Pakistan, partly because it was tested simultaneously in national and provincial trials,” Joshi added. “Zincol is part of a suite of new, micronutrient-enhanced wheat varieties bred by CIMMYT and partners for use in South Asia, a region whose inhabitants consume 100 million tons of wheat each year.”

For India, Govindan and partners created a new biofortified wheat variety using synthetic parents crossed onto WH1105, a CIMMYT-derived high-yielding variety grown in India’s Northwestern Plain Zone. The new variety out-yields other popular varieties by as much as 8 percent and has a 20 percent higher zinc content, as well as good resistance to yellow rust disease. Another new Indian variety, Zinc Shakti, has a 40 percent greater grain zinc content and is being marketed by the private sector and spread via farmer-to-farmer seed sharing.

New Provitamin A maize platform fights hidden hunger in Tanzania

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Joyce Maru is a capacity development & communications specialist at the International Potato Center

A farmer prepares maize porridge using Provitamin A maize. Photo: R.Lunduka/CIMMYT
A farmer prepares maize porridge using Provitamin A maize. Photo: R.Lunduka/CIMMYT

Vitamin A deficiency is considered a major public health problem in Tanzania affecting over 30 percent of the population, mostly children in preschool and women of reproductive age.  It can result in morbidity, loss of vision or blindness and even death.

Provitamin A maize (PVA) is a special type of biofortified maize that contains high levels of beta-carotene. Beta-Carotene is an organic, red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits and gives PVA maize an orange color. It is converted to vitamin A in the body after consumption to provide additional nutritional benefits.

Biofortification enhances the nutritional value of staple food crops by increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through either conventional plant breeding, agronomic practices or biotechnology. This can significantly reduce the prevalence of “hidden hunger” due to micronutrient deficiency.

Maize – a staple food in Tanzania – can serve as a cheap and sustainable source of vitamin A, especially for vulnerable populations.  Stores of vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate PVA maize, according to HarvestPlus research.

PVA maize was recently introduced in Tanzania through the Building Nutritious Food Baskets Project (BNFB), a joint effort by the Government of Tanzania, Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and national seed companies. Two Provitamin A maize varieties – Meru VAH517 and Meru VAH519 – were released for commercial production by Meru Agro Tours and Consultants in September 2016.

To catalyze efforts to increase planting and consumption of PVA maize, different actors along the maize value chain launched a PVA maize platform for Tanzania.  The platform will serve as an information and knowledge center on PVA maize in the country by linking different stakeholders to relevant authorities on matters relating to PVA maize, as well as provide capacity development opportunities for members on critical gaps relating to PVA maize knowledge and biofortification in general.

Membership of the platform is expected to become multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary and include actors such as the ministry of health, school feeding programs and academic institutions. The platform will be led by national partners.

The International Potato Center is collaborating with a consortium of CGIAR research centers, the governments of Nigeria and Tanzania and national partners on BNFB, which is addressing hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable investments for the production and utilization of biofortified crops. The project mainly targets rural populations, especially young children under the age of five and women of reproductive age, in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Learn more about the Building Nutritious Food Baskets Project and read the full version of this story here.  

Breaking Ground: AbduRahman Beshir is revitalizing Pakistan’s maize sector

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TwitterBGAbduBreaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In Pakistan, maize is the third most important cereal crop after wheat and rice and it is the first in productivity among all the cereals. However, Pakistan imports about 90 percent of the hybrid seeds used to produce the crop, costing the country as much as $60 million annually. Furthermore, the genetic diversity of the currently available maize varieties is not diverse enough to adapt to the varied agro ecologies of Pakistan.

To address these issues, AbduRahman Beshir, maize improvement and seed systems specialist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and his team, working under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, are developing climate-resilient, biofortified and biotic stress-tolerant maize to enhance the maize seed sector.

“Pakistan can be considered as a new frontier for CIMMYT’s maize impacts,” Beshir said. “Except for some limited maize activities in the early 1980s, there were no coordinated research activities in the past 32 years. I am glad to revitalize and breathe new life into Pakistan’s maize sector.”

Almost half of children under age 5 are reportedly malnourished, Beshir said, adding that protein, vitamin A, and other micronutrient deficiencies in Pakistan are rampant, while the mortality rate is among the highest in South Asia.

Beshir’s work targets these underprivileged groups and in the foreseeable future, he hopes to see nutritional benefits improve significantly.

Throughout his life, Beshir has witnessed how small scale farmers are often unable to fulfill their basic needs as they struggle to get fair market prices for produce, in part due to middlemen and a lack of information in the market.

He grew up in Ethiopia, a country where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, accounting for 80 percent of employment, according to UNDP.  The livelihoods of Beshir’s grandparents and most of his relatives were dependent on agriculture, but his parents switched to a sideline business selling agricultural and food related products.

“I was brought up observing my parents’ entrepreneurial skills and efforts, but they wanted their children to pursue a career in science,” Beshir said, explaining how his parents encouraged him to attend university. “My father used to call me ‘doctor’ when I was a fourth grade pupil to inspire me in my education.”

Earning an undergraduate degree in agriculture and plant sciences was a life changing experience for Beshir, serving as an eye opener to the dire need for educated agricultural professionals to transform the livelihoods of rural farmers.

“Since then, I developed a passion on how to increase profits for rural farmers through technology promotion and targeted intervention.”

Beshir earned a Ph.D. in plant breeding from the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, in South Africa, and was awarded a gold medal for his research project highlighting the severity of malnutrition in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the ways quality protein maize seeks to address the issue.

Before joining CIMMYT in 2013, Beshir was the national partner in Ethiopia for a CIMMYT-led project on quality protein maize development and drought-tolerant maize for Africa.

“My involvement in these projects gave me a good grasp of how CIMMYT’s impact-oriented interventions practically change the life of farmers and brought a maize revolution in my country, in partnership with local institutions,” he said.

His current work in Pakistan mainly involves extensive testing of various maize products sourced from CIMMYT breeding hubs in Colombia, Mexico, Zimbabwe and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Since 2014, more than 2,200 maize entries have been tested through the project.

Test samples consist of biofortified maize, as well as maize varieties that can tolerate major biotic and abiotic stresses, and they have been evaluated on more than 300 different sites in Pakistan. Such large scale testing is unprecedented in the history of maize in Pakistan.

Beshir’s led efforts resulted in the allocation of 49 market ready maize products (hybrids and OPVs) to partners in less than three years, a process that would otherwise have taken eight to 10 years to develop even a single product. The allocation of the new maize products has also given partners access to CIMMYT’s parental lines and breeder seeds, so that they can continue to lead sustainable seed businesses even after the project ends.

“Our intervention is the first program in Pakistan to introduce and identify biofortified maize, including pro-vitamin A, quality protein maize, and zinc-enriched hybrids/open pollinated varieties suitable for Pakistan,” Beshir said, adding that the research also led to the inauguration of the first maize stem borer mass rearing facility in Pakistan.

The facility will help national programs develop maize germplasm tolerant to maize stem borer attacks.

“As imported hybrid seeds are simply unaffordable to millions of small scale maize farmers, our research will enable local companies to provide affordable options to farmers,” he said.

Surinder K. Vasal, former CIMMYT maize scientist and World Food Prize laureate, with Natalia Palacios, head of the CIMMYT maize quality laboratory, and Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general, helped unveil the plaque in honor of Dr. Evangelina Villegas. (Photo: A. Cortés/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT renames lab to honor Evangelina Villegas, World Food Prize laureate

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in News.

Surinder K. Vasal, former CIMMYT maize scientist and World Food Prize laureate, with Natalia Palacios, head of the CIMMYT maize quality laboratory, and Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general, helped unveil the plaque in honor of Dr. Evangelina Villegas. (Photo: A. Cortés/CIMMYT)
Surinder K. Vasal, former CIMMYT maize scientist and World Food Prize laureate, with Natalia Palacios, head of the CIMMYT maize quality laboratory, and Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general, helped unveil the plaque in honor of Dr. Evangelina Villegas. (Photo: A. Cortés/CIMMYT)

El BATAN, Mexico, (CIMMYT) – To celebrate and expand the legacy of the late Evangelina Villegas Moreno, a pioneering Mexican cereal chemist who won the 2000 World Food Prize for co-developing quality protein maize, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has named its maize quality laboratory in her honor.

A memorial plaque was unveiled on 6 June by Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, at the entrance of the CIMMYT lab that generates crucial grain quality data for the center’s global maize breeding efforts.

“What better way to honor Dr. Villegas’ accomplishments than to have a CIMMYT maize quality lab named after her?” Kropff said. “The center is proud to have counted among its ranks a professional like Dr. Villegas, a pioneering Mexican scientist whose contributions to nutrition and food security will continue to resonate in impoverished regions.”

Breeding lines and populations from CIMMYT’s maize program are used in 100 countries and result in high-yielding, resilient varieties and hybrids grown on at least 20 million hectares throughout the tropics and subtropics.

One derivative of that work, known as quality protein maize (QPM), was developed by Villegas and Surinder K. Vasal, another former CIMMYT maize breeder and distinguished scientist, with whom she shared the 2000 World Food Prize.

Maize grain is rich in carbohydrates but poor in protein. In particular, it is lacking in the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which are key protein building blocks in human diets. QPM grain contains more of those amino acids and so offers better nutrition for people with heavily maize-based diets, as is the case in parts of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

A 2009 study in the science journal Food Policy found that eating QPM instead of conventional maize resulted in respective 12 and 9 percent increases in growth rates for weight and height, in infants and young children with mild-to-moderate undernutrition and where maize constituted the major staple food.

“Today, almost 30 years after Villegas retired from CIMMYT, the chemical and analytical approaches she developed still underpin work to monitor protein quality in QPM,” said Natalia Palacios, CIMMYT maize nutrition quality specialist and current head of the renamed lab. Together with Kropff, Vasal and Villegas’ sister, Juana Villegas Moreno, Palacios helped unveil the new plaque in a ceremony attended by 100 current and former CIMMYT personnel and Villegas’ family members.

Groundbreaker in science and society

Known as “Eva” to colleagues, Villegas, who passed away in April 2017, was born in Mexico City in 1924 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biology at Mexico’s National Polytechnic Institute, at a time when higher education for women was still a novelty.

In 1950, she began her career as a chemist and researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Nutrition and at the Office of Special Studies, an initiative funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government that was CIMMYT’s precursor.

She returned to CIMMYT in 1967, after earning a Master of Science degree in cereal technology from Kansas State University and a doctoral degree in cereal chemistry and breeding from North Dakota State University.

Villegas worked with Vasal in CIMMYT’s QPM breeding program, which operated from 1970 to 1985. Requiring the capacity to select for intricate gene combinations before the advent of DNA markers or genetic engineering, the program could not have succeeded without the support of Villegas’ lab and science, according to Vasal.

“I would call it exemplary interdisciplinary work (for) a breeder and a biochemist,” said Vasal. “Her lab analyzed 26,000 grain samples or more a year and provided the data in time for us to sow or pollinate experimental lines. Eva also furnished valuable critical suggestions that improved our breeding work.”

In a message read at the unveiling, Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize recipient and former CIMMYT wheat scientist and program director, recalled Villegas’s significant contributions to the center’s wheat breeding research, which included establishing the center’s wheat industrial quality lab.

An inspiration in science to improve nutrition

Villegas’ prizes and professional recognitions include the 2000 Woman of the Year award of the Mexican Women’s Association, presented to her by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. In 2001 Villegas was named to Alpha Delta Kappa’s prestigious list of International Women of Distinction and received the Lazaro Cardenas Medal from the National Polytechnic Institute. In 2013 Kansas State University (KSU) honored Villegas with an Outstanding Alumni Award.

“As a scientist, as a woman and as a Mexican, Villegas will continue to inspire future generations working to enhance food security and nutrition for the disadvantaged,” said Palacios.

Fall armyworm devastates crops in sub-Saharan Africa: A quick and coordinated regional response is required

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The recent appearance of the fall armyworm, an insect-pest that causes damage to more than 80 crop species in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, poses a serious challenge and significant risk to the region’s food security.

In a recent interview, B.M. Prasanna, director of the Global Maize Program at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE, who is working at the forefront of CGIAR’s response, highlights the potential impact of the pest and how CGIAR researchers are contributing to a quick and coordinated response across the region.

Q: What is the fall armyworm and why is it so destructive?  

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an insect-pest which causes major damage to more than 80 crop species, including economically important crops, such as maize, rice, sorghum, wheat, sugarcane, several other vegetable crops and cotton.

It was first officially reported in Nigeria in early 2016 and has been officially confirmed in 11 and suspected in at least 14 other African countries, as of April 2017.

Q: What are the potential impacts of the pest in sub-Saharan Africa?

The fall armyworm poses a serious challenge and a significant, ongoing risk to Africa’s food security.

The pest’s ability to feed on a range of crop species means that smallholder farming systems in Africa, which are based on intercropping, are particularly vulnerable. Also, the rapid damage and migratory capacity of the pest, combined with its capacity to reproduce quickly in the right environmental conditions and its ability to rapidly evolve resistance to synthetic pesticides increase the region’s vulnerability.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where fall armyworm is currently devastating maize crops, estimates indicate 13.5 million tons of maize valued at $3 billion are at risk in 2017-2018, which is equivalent to over 20 percent of total production for the region (based on data from CABI, April 2017).

Q: What are the key challenges that countries in sub-Saharan Africa will face?

There is no doubt that smallholder farmers, particularly maize farmers, in sub-Saharan Africa will face a significant and ongoing risk from the fall armyworm. In particular, resource-poor smallholders will be severely affected due to their inability to control the pest using synthetic pesticides, currently the only way to effectively respond, which are very costly.

Q: What are three ways that countries in sub-Saharan African can strengthen resilience of food and agricultural systems to the potential effects of Fall Armyworm?

  1. Working groups need to be established quickly to develop and implement strategies to respond to the issue.  In particular, we need to develop a comprehensive, regional response centered on: Monitoring and early warning; Social and economic assessments of impacts, and forecasting; Integrated Pest Management (IPM); Development and dissemination of low-cost, effective and sustainable solutions and development of appropriate regulatory tools and policies to support the response.
  2. As this process unfolds, gaps, challenges and successes will need to be documented to inform capacity-building needs with a focus on understanding the capacity of individual countries to respond. While fall armyworm outbreaks across Africa is an emergency situation, it should also be an opportunity to review and understand regional food production and food security issues and as an opportunity to improve on systematic approaches to build capacity to prevent and respond to future threats of transboundary pests and pathogens in Africa.
  3. Strong coordination across different levels of government is required: “political coordination” (among the local governments, NPPOs, and sub-regional organizations), and “technical coordination” (fast-tracked testing and deployment of relevant technologies).

Q: What role do CIMMYT and CGIAR have in building capacity in the region’s ability to respond to Fall Armyworm?

CGIAR institutions, including CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), have significant strengths in building the region’s ability to respond to trans-boundary pathogens (e.g., previous examples include Maize Lethal Necrosis, wheat rust and insect-pests, such as fall armyworm.

Specific examples of CGIAR/CIMMYT expertise that will be important in the fall armyworm response include:

  1. Development and dissemination of crowd-source based tools and digital surveillance systems and analysis of the data collected across countries for a strong monitoring and early warning system.
  2. Systematic and large-scale assessment of the present and potential socio-economic impact of fall armyworm in Africa, and the development of forecasting tools to understand potential losses
  3. Review of the efficacy of different fall armyworm management options (learning from experiences of the United States, Brazil and Mexico), and adapting this information to the African context
  4. Determining the efficacy of cultural control options against fall armyworm, including early versus late planting of crops like maize, handpicking, soil and habitat management, crop hygiene, etc.
  5. Evaluating the impacts on-going integrated pest management (IPM) initiatives and the impacts of the fall armyworm invasion on the effectiveness of these interventions
  6. Developing and implementing appropriate insect resistance monitoring and management strategy in fall armyworm affected countries
  7. Analysis of the effects of conservation agriculture on fall armyworm management and the influence of fall armyworm incidence on diverse cropping systems
  8. Testing and introgression of conventionally-derived resistance (from identified CIMMYT and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service [USDA-ARS] germplasm sources) into Africa-adapted maize germplasm, followed by fast-tracked varietal release, seed scale-up and delivery of improved maize hybrids/varieties through public-private partnerships (e.g., MLN is a great example of this).
  9. Developing a “Fall Armyworm Information Portal”, similar to the MLN Information Portal and Wheat Rust Tracker (led by CIMMYT), as a one-stop portal for relevant information.

Q: CIMMYT recently co-hosted an emergency meeting on the strategy for effective management of fall armyworm in Africa. What were the key outcomes and next steps for the response to this issue?

The emergency meeting was an opportunity to assess the present and potential damage due to fall armyworm and to devise a holistic control strategy.

CIMMYT, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly hosted a Stakeholders Consultation Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya (April 27-28, 2017). About 150 experts and stakeholders from 24 countries in Africa, and five outside Africa (Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Britain and the United States) participated, with participants from government, national plant protection agency, national agricultural research systems in Africa, as well as scientists from international agricultural research organizations, and representatives of service providers, non-governmental organizations, development partners, donor agencies and the media.

Discussions covered the present status of the pest in Africa as well as contingency plans to manage the pest, assessment of current control options being used. Experts from the U.S. and U.K. provided expertise and insight on the response to fall armyworm in the U.S. and Brazil.

Action points and recommendations on four key areas were developed to ensure an effective, coordinated response:

  • Contingency planning and awareness generation;
  • Fall armyworm monitoring and early warning;
  • Socio-economic impact assessments and modeling of potential losses;
  • Development and Dissemination of fall armyworm management options;
  • Coordination of Institutional Interventions for fall armyworm management in Africa.

FAO is expected to convene a regional workshop in early June to engage and coordinate with relevant regional organizations who will be involved in the response.

CIMMYT and CGIAR have responded and will continue to address the issue over the following months. For more information see these recent publications: Multi pronged approach key for effectively defeating fall army worm in Africa; Scientists tackle deadly fall armyworm infestation devastating maize in Southern Africa and Global experts and stakeholders meet to develop fall armyworm emergency strategy for Africa.

Similarly, international coverage of the fall armyworm crisis has been extensive and includes the following:

This article was originally posted by CGIAR.

 

As climate change threatens to increase the incidence of plant pests and diseases, action must be taken to protect smallholder farmers and global food security.

At this year’s UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

New Publications: Sustainable agriculture boosts water savings in India

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Farmer weeding maize field in Bihar, India. Photo: CIMMYT/M. DeFreese
Farmer weeding maize field in Bihar, India. Photo: CIMMYT/M. DeFreese

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In northwestern India, growing maize is being advocated as an alternative to rice to address resource degradation challenges such as declining water tables and climate change induced variability in rainfall and temperature.

Sustainable agriculture practices have proven to increase farmer income, improve irrigation productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the cereal systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), a fertile area extending over 2.5 million square kilometers across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

The IGP currently abstracts 25 percent of global groundwater withdrawals, sustaining agricultural productivity across the region. However, aquifers are being depleted at rates faster than they can recharge, threatening food security for more than 500 million people.

In response, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) observed the impact of sustainable conservation agriculture practices like zero-tillage (ZT) and permanent bed planting (PB) in irrigated maize-based systems integrated with legumes in the IGP of northwestern India.

ZT and PB practices reduced irrigation water requirement by up to 65 and 98 hectares per millimeter, respectively, compared to conventional tillage systems, resulting in a water productivity boost of nearly 20 percent. Net profit from maize-based systems under ZT was over 30 percent higher than conventional systems.

The study concludes that by adopting sustainable practices like ZT and PB, farmers can sustainably increase productivity throughout the IGP region.

Read the study “Conservation agriculture in irrigated intensive maize-based systems of north-western India: Effects on crop yields, water productivity and economic profitability,” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff, below.

  • Comparative performance of top-cross maize hybrids under managed drought stress and variable rainfed environments. 2016. Menkir, A., Meseka, S., Bossey, B. Ado, S., Obengantiwi, K., Yallou, C., Coulibaly, N., Olaoye, G., Alidu, H., Crossa, J. In: Euphytica, vol.212, p.455-472.
  • Conservation agriculture in irrigated intensive maize-based systems of north-western India: effects on crop yields, water productivity and economic profitability. 2016. Parihar, C.M., Jat, S.L., Singh, A.K., Kumar, B., Singh, Y., Pradhan, S., Pooniya, V., Dhauja, A., Chaudhary, V., Jat, M.L., Jat, R.K., Yadav, O.P. In: Field Crops Research, vol.193, p.104-116.
  • Control of Helminthosporium leaf blight of spring wheat using seed treatments and single foliar spray in Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal. 2016. Sharma-Poudyal, D., Sharma, R.C., Duveiller, E. In: Crop Protection, vol.88, p.161-166.
  • Dairy farm households, processor linkages and household income: the case of dairy hub linkages in East Africa. 2016. Rao, E.J.O., Omondi, I., Karimov, A., Baltenweck, I. In: The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 95-108.
  • Detection of wheat stem rust races TTHSK and PTKTK in the Ug99 race group in Kenya in 2014. 2016. Fetch, T.G., Zegeye, T., Park, R.F., Hodson, D.P., Wanyera, R. In: Plant Disease, vol. 100, no. 7, p. 1495.
  • Occurrence and population dynamics of the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus thornei (Sher and Allen) on wheat in Bolu, Turkey. 2017. Imren, M., Ciftci, V., Senol Yildiz, Kutuk, H., Dababat, A.A. In: Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, vol. 41, no. 1, p. 35-41.
  • Population structure and genetic diversity analysis of germplasm from the Winter Wheat Eastern European Regional Yield Trial (WWEERYT). 2017. Beil, C. T., Manmathan, H. K., Anderson, V. A., Morgounov, A.I., Haley, S. D. In: Crop Science, vol. 57, p. 1-9.
  • QTL mapping for grain zinc and iron concentrations and zinc efficiency in a tetraploid and hexaploid wheat mapping populations. 2017. Velu, G., Yusuf Tutus, Gomez-Becerra, H.F., Yuanfeng Hao, Demir, L., Kara, R., Crespo-Herrera, L.A., Orhan, S., Yazici, A., Singh, R.P., Cakmak, I. In: Plant and Soil, vol. 411, no. 1, p. 81–99.
  • Ratooning pigeonpea in maize-pigeonpea intercropping: productivity and seed cost reduction in eastern Tanzania. 2017. Rusinamhodzi, L., Makoko, B. Sariah, J. In: Field Crops Research, vol.203, p.24-32.

Moving zinc-enriched wheat into the mainstream

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Agricultural scientists are calling on support to add zinc-biofortification as a core trait in the world's largest wheat breeding program. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
Agricultural scientists are calling for support to make zinc-biofortification a core trait in the world’s largest wheat breeding program. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – In an effort to stamp out hidden hunger, scientists are calling for support to make zinc-biofortification a core trait in the world’s largest wheat breeding program.

At least 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, or hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

Zinc deficiency remains a crucial health issue in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As a key nutrient in red meat, it is prevalent in areas of high cereal and low animal food consumption.

It is vital in times of rapid human growth such as pregnancy, infancy and puberty. Compared to adults, children, adolescents as well as pregnant and lactating women have an increased need for zinc. Deficiency harms growth and development and can cause respiratory infections, diarrheal disease and a general weakening of the immune system.

One way to tackle hidden hunger is through biofortified crops, which have been bred to contain higher amounts of minerals and vitamins. These crops help to improve health in poor communities where other nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable.

As a key staple, wheat provides 20 percent of the world’s dietary energy and protein, therefore it’s an ideal vehicle for biofortification, said Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

CIMMYT scientists are calling for funds to make increased zinc grain content a core trait in its global wheat breeding program. CIMMYT-derived wheat cultivars have contributed to more than half of the wheat varieties grown in developing countries.

“In wheat breeding, including zinc as core trait – as done with high and stable yield, drought and heat tolerance and disease resistance – would have huge health benefits in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Ravi Singh, who leads CIMMYT’s wheat improvement program. “Around 70 percent of the wheat varieties grown in these regions derive from CIMMYT breeding research.”

In the early 2000s, scientists conducted large-scale screening for high zinc content in traditional wheat and their wild relatives from CIMMYT’s wheat germplasm bank. The search was successful, revealing diverse genetic resources with traits that became the building blocks for zinc-enriched wheat.

CIMMYT initiated biofortification breeding in 2006 and four biofortified wheat varieties have been released in South Asia. Promotion of zinc-biofortified wheat varieties in India and Pakistan is in the early stages and further testing and scaling out to other countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Ethiopia is underway, the scientists confirmed.

Studies in India have shown that regular consumption of zinc-enriched wheat improves the overall health of women and children, said Govindan.

Extensive global presence of CIMMYT-derived varieties means that, once the program adds enhanced grain zinc levels as a core trait, many wheat farmers and consumers throughout the developing world will automatically reap the benefits of better nutrition.

However, increased funding is needed to make the jump to full inclusion of high zinc content, according to Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and CGIAR’s research program on wheat.

“Each added trait in a breeding program requires a significant increase in the number of breeding lines grown and evaluated, adding significant costs” Braun said.

CIMMYT’s wheat breeding program is currently funded at around $15 million per annum. In 2016, it distributed 14.5 tons of seed of experimental wheat lines in more than 500,000 small envelopes to nearly 300 partners in 83 countries. Globally, this makes CIMMYT the most important wheat germplasm provider together with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

For more information on zinc-biofortified wheat visit this science brief.

Maize lethal necrosis quarantine facility opens avenues for introducing novel maize germplasm in southern Africa

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An aerial view of the MLN quarantine facility in Zimbabwe. Photo: Mainassara Zaman-Allah/CIMMYT
An aerial view of the MLN quarantine facility in Zimbabwe. Photo: Mainassara Zaman-Allah/CIMMYT

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) quarantine facility in southern Africa was officially opened in Zimbabwe on April 20, 2017 to enable safe introduction and exchange of novel maize germplasm from CIMMYT to partners in southern Africa.

Set up by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), with the approval of the government of Zimbabwe, the work for establishing the facility at the Plant Quarantine Station at Mazowe, outside Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, was initiated in the last quarter of 2015.  The five hectare MLN quarantine facility funded by the United States Agency for International Development, is the first of its kind in southern Africa and will be used to safely import elite maize breeding materials from CIMMYT to southern Africa.

MLN is a devastating disease that causes huge economic losses if it occurs, particularly for smallholder farmers who frequently do not have means to control it. MLN was first detected in Kenya in 2011, and has since been reported in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is caused by a double infection of maize plants by two viruses: the maize chlorotic mottle virus and the sugarcane mosaic virus. Severe infestation can result in total yield loss. MLN-causing viruses are transmitted not only by insect vectors, but also by seed. There is an urgent need to prevent the deadly disease from moving further south.

The MLN quarantine facility is now functional. To date, over two hectares of land have been planted successfully with maize breeding materials imported from Kenya for the purpose of proactively breeding for MLN while at the same time preventing movement of the disease from endemic areas. Personnel have been trained to safely conduct activities at the site. The facility operates under strict quarantine regulations and is closely monitored and approved by Zimbabwe’s Plant Quarantine Services to ensure that the maize materials introduced are MLN-free.

“This modern quarantine facility is expected to uphold safety when importing maize breeding materials to southern Africa, and to facilitate local and regional institutions to proactively breed for resistance against the MLN disease,” said Zimbabwe’s Minister for Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made, while officially opening the facility.

Dr Made also said “I am confident that the quarantine facility will play a significant role in curbing the spread of MLN, while at the same time facilitating on-going work of developing new maize varieties that are resistant to the disease.”

“This MLN quarantine facility, and the collaborative efforts between institutions of the government of Zimbabwe, especially the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS) and CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office, are key to prevent the possible spread of MLN in southern Africa, and to develop and deploy elite maize varieties with MLN resistance and other farmer-preferred traits,” said B.M. Prasanna, Director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program and CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, while speaking at the same occasion.

CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director and CGIAR Research Program MAIZE Director B.M. Prasanna, shakes hands with Zimbabwe’s Minister for Agriculture, Joseph Made, after the official opening of the MLN quarantine facility. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director and CGIAR Research Program MAIZE Director B.M. Prasanna, shakes hands with Zimbabwe’s Minister for Agriculture, Joseph Made, after the official opening of the MLN quarantine facility. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

CIMMYT and the government of Zimbabwe have so far conducted two nation-wide MLN surveys. In the first, no incidence of MLN was recorded. Results of the second survey are still being assessed. To strengthen the phytosanitary work at this MLN quarantine facility, CIMMYT will also offer capacity building to DR&SS researchers through trainings, technical assistance, and advisory services.

MLN is a reality that cannot be ignored. Partners have to work together to control its spread through finding practical solutions to tackle this complex challenge, including strengthening MLN disease diagnostic and surveillance capacity. In addition, intensive inter-institutional efforts to develop and deploy improved maize varieties that incorporate MLN resistance should be continued. The commercial seed sector must also play a key role by producing and delivering MLN-free healthy seed to farmers.

Until seed companies in the MLN-endemic countries have produced 100 percent MLN-free, clean commercial seed, and have necessary certification from the national plant protection offices, the potential risk of MLN entering southern Africa and the consequent damage to maize producers from significantly outweighs the benefits of commercial seed trade.

MLN can only be effectively prevented and tackled through concerted inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary action. The key actions include: enforcement of synchronized maize plantings and a maize-free period of at least three to four months in a year in severely affected areas; creation of an extension corps specifically dedicated to creating awareness on MLN management among the farming communities and monitoring and implementation of standard operating procedures for production of MLN-free clean seed at various points along the seed value chain, to be used by all players in the seed industry.

CIMMYT developed and released, through national partners in eastern Africa, nine MLN-tolerant maize hybrids in the last three years. Four among these hybrids are already being seed scaled-up and commercialized by seed company partners in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. As many as 19 MLN-tolerant hybrids are under national performance trials in eastern Africa.

New Publications: Maize variety replacement lags in sub-Saharan Africa

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Sarah Nyamai, a farmer from Kalimoni Village in Machakos County, Kenya, harvests drought tolerant maize. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Sarah Nyamai, a farmer from Kalimoni Village in Machakos County, Kenya, harvests drought tolerant maize. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI (CIMMYT) — A new study has revealed that sub-Saharan Africa’s maize variety turnover continues to fall behind the rest of the world.

The study – which observed nearly 500 maize varieties grown across 13 African countries during the 2013-2014 main crop season – found that the average age of maize seed being planted in the region is 15 years, compared to 3 to 5 years in the U.S. and other world regions such as Latin America and Asia, making sub-Saharan Africa slower in maize variety turnover.

“We have witnessed a positive and accelerated trend over the last decade, but the performance of maize is still much lower than what could be achieved with improved varieties and good agronomic management practices,” said Tsedeke Abate, lead author of the study.

The current low yield and slow variety turnover of the region contrasts sharply with the tremendous progress made to develop and release significant numbers of varieties. A record annual rate of 73 varieties were released from 2000-2014, compared to 12 varieties per year in the preceding five decades combined.

According to Abate, a major challenge is ensuring these newly released varieties are widely adopted by farmers, which is key for successful variety renewal and replacement. The study found adoption rates for hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) were just 37 and 21 percent, respectively, across the surveyed countries. Critical to successful adoption is sound government policy that facilitates increased investments in agriculture, availability and affordability of inputs like seeds and fertilizer, a strong extension system and market access for products, the authors of the study argue.

“This information should inform our breeding strategies to look at adaptability of the varieties in different agroecologies, and how this affects resources currently being used in breeding programs in the region,” said Abate. Maize provides more calories than any other crop for over 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, so ensuring high-quality, improved seed is being grown is vital for ensuring food security in the region.

The study also indicates that many farmers have higher preference for open pollinated varieties due to affordability, ease of storage, high poundability, high flour-to-grain ratio and favorable taste. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating production, processing and consumption traits that are valued by farmers, not just yield and stress tolerance. This can allow national breeding efforts to rid biased and inappropriate varietal promotions, and therefore low adoption of new varieties.

One of the key recommendations the study suggests is that all varieties older than 10 years should be eligible for replacement, to reverse the current slow varietal turnover.

Read the full study “Characteristics of maize cultivars in Africa: How modern are they and how many do smallholder farmers grow?” and learn more about CIMMYT’s latest publications below.

  • But what do rural consumers in Africa think about GM Food? 2016. De Groote, H., Gitonga, Z., Kimenju, S.C., Keter, F., Ngigi, O. In: AgBioForum, vol.19, no.1, p.54-65.
  • By-laws formulation and enforcement in natural resource management: lessons from the highlands of eastern Africa. 2016. Mowo, J., Masuki, K., Lyamchai, C., Tanui, J., Adimassu, Z., Kamugisha, R. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol.25, no.2, p.120-131.
  • Characterization of Research Nodes: an integrative approach through indexing. 2016. Das, K.K., Bhattacharya, P.M., Ghosh, A.K., Dhar, T., Pradhan, K., Chowdhury, A.K., Joshi, P.K., Gathala, M.K. In: International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management, vol.7, no.5, p.1083-1092.
  • Combined linkage and association mapping identifies a major QTL (qRtsc8‑1), conferring tar spot complex resistance in maize. 2016. Mahuku, G., Jiafa Chen, Shrestha, R., Narro, L., Osorio Guerrero, K.V., Arcos, A.L., Yunbi Xu. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol.129, p.1217-1229.
  • Identification and mapping of adult plant resistance loci to leaf rust and stripe rust in common wheat cultivar kundan. 2017. Ren, Y., Singh, R.P., Basnet, B.R., Caixia Lan, Huerta-Espino, J., Lagudah, E.S., Ponce-Molina, L.J. In: Plant Disease, vol.101, no.3, p.456-463.
  • Identification of genomic regions for grain yield and yield stability and their epistatic interactions. 2017. Sehgal, D., Autrique, E., Singh, R.P., Ellis, M., Sukhwinder-Singh, Dreisigacker, S. In: Nature Scientific reports, vol. 7, no. 41578.
  • Integrating islands of knowledge for greater synergy and efficiency in crop research. 2017. Borrell, A., Reynolds, M.P., In: Food and energy security vol. 6, no. 7, p. 26–32.
  • Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. 2017. Ritzema, R.S., Frelat, R., Douxchamps, S., Silvestri, S., Rufino, M.C., Herrero, M., Giller, K.E., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Teufel, N., Paul, B., Wijk, M.T. van. In: Food Security, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 115–131.
  • Maize market participation among female- and male-headed households in Ethiopia. 2017. Marenya, P., Kassie, M., Jaleta Debello Moti, Dil Bahadur Rahut. In: Journal of Development Studies, vol.53, no,4, p.1-14.

Breaking Ground: Hands on experience gives Carolina Camacho insight into farming best practices

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TwitterCamachoEL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Tending her own crops gives Carolina Camacho insights into the challenges farmers face that she could never have learned in a classroom.

Growing up in the metropolis of Mexico City, the historical and political importance of agriculture was never lost on Camacho, who works as a principal researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“As a teenager, I would debate my sister over the most pressing issue that faced our country, Mexico. For me it was always in agriculture,” Camacho said. “I strongly believe if we are to improve our country, we must improve the lives of our campesinos (smallholder farmers).”

With no knowledge of farming, but with a passion to bring about change, she took to the field, studying crop science at Chapingo University, on the outskirts of the city in the State of Mexico. Having to brave early morning starts, she learned the basics of agriculture, and a love for the genetic diversity of maize.

Mexico, considered the birthplace of maize, is home to a rich diversity of varieties that has evolved over years of domestication by farmers. Camacho was introduced to this diversity firsthand, interning at CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank as an undergraduate.

Interested in discovering how conserving maize diversity played out in farmers’ fields she gravitated towards an on-farm conservation project in rural Mexico. Working with indigenous farmers, Camacho learned how traditional knowledge and practices relate to environmental management, agricultural production and the diversity of native maize varieties.

After earning a master’s degree in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources, Camacho felt that crop science was isolated from the daily life of farmers. Thus, in a move to study the relationship between humans and plants, she embarked on a multidisciplinary doctoral in the sociology of rural development at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

While conducting her research, Camacho lived with indigenous farmers in Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest in the state of Chiapas. Alongside local Mayan farmers she cultivated her own milpa – a farming system used by indigenous farmers in Latin America, which typically involves intercropping maize, beans and squash. Her hands-on fieldwork allowed her to study cultivation practices outside the scope of purely agronomic activities, but also as political, social and cultural actions.

“Farming alongside the Tzeltal people, I saw how my own cultivation practices were interwoven with everyday life,” said Camacho. “Farming was influenced by religious ceremonies, health and family affairs as well as political struggles for land. It had to cope, adapt and overcome these challenges.”

Today, these lessons learned guide Camacho as she investigates how agricultural innovations, including drought-tolerant crops, fertilizer and land management approaches can be farmer inclusive and tailored to local contexts as part of CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification strategy for Latin America.

Sustainable intensification aims to enhance the productivity of labor, land and capital. They offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, including unlocking the agricultural potential to adapt production systems to climate change, sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, improved food and nutrition security, and ultimately reduce rural poverty.

CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.
CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how agricultural innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. Photo: CIMMYT/ Courtesy of Carolina Camacho

Smallholder farmers, who manage small plots of land and handle limited amounts of productive resources, produce 80 percent of the world’s food. The United Nations calls on these farmers to adopt agricultural innovations in order to sustainably increase food production and help achieve the “Zero Hunger” U.N. Sustainable Development Goal. However, these farmers seldom benefit from new techniques to shore up efforts to meet the goal.

“An agricultural scientist can tell a farmer when and how to plant for optimal results, but they do not farm in a bubble, their practice is affected by the ups and downs of daily life – not only by climate and agronomy but also by social and cultural complexities,” Camacho said.

“One of the biggest challenge is to recognize the heterogeneity of farmers and leave behind the idea of one size solution to their diverse problems and needs,” said Camacho. By understanding a farmer’s lifestyle, including access to resources and information, levels of decision making in the community and the role of agriculture in their livelihood strategy, researchers can best identify complementary farming practices and techniques that not only boost productivity but also improve livelihoods.

“It’s important to think about agricultural innovations as social processes for change in which technologies, like improved seeds or agronomic practices, are only one element,” said Camacho. “It is key that we recognize that changes will not only occur in the farmer’s field but also in the behavior of other actors in the value chain, such as input suppliers, traders, government officials and even researchers.”

Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.

When working with indigenous communities, she ensures cultural values of the milpa system are taken into account, thus promoting the agricultural tools and techniques that do not detract from the importance of the traditions associated with the milpa practice.

“The milpa system is a clear example of how agriculture in general and maize in particular contribute to the construction of the cultural identities of indigenous people. We should be aware of the consequences that innovations will have not only for environmental sustainability but also for the sustainability of the Mayan Culture,” she said.

“Let’s not forget, we can’t separate culture from agriculture,” Camacho finished.

 

Camacho studies the process in which researchers promote agricultural innovations and how farmers adopt them through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project, supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA). Together with other researchers, Camacho has documented how MasAgro is promoting innovations in different regions of Mexico by responding to specific regional challenges and opportunities. Currently she is supporting scaling efforts for these innovations by ensuring that they will be sustainable and inclusive.

In the same line of inclusiveness, Camacho is working with two projects in the milpa system. The first one is the Buena Milpa project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program and in collaboration with the Guatemala Agricultural Science and Technology Institute. The second one is the Milpa de Yucatan project sponsored by a private Mexican foundation in Yucatan Peninsula. Both projects promote sustainable intensification innovations in the milpa systems.

 

 

New Publications: Biological control program brings long-term benefits to pest resistance

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A young maize tassel is opened up to reveal stem borers hidden inside, and damage caused by their feeding, in a farmer's field in Embu district, Kenya. Stem borers are a class of insect pest, made up of a number of moth species distributed around the world, which lay their eggs at night on the underside of emerging leaves of young maize plants. The larvae, or caterpillars, that hatch from the eggs - i.e. the borers - quickly make their way inside the plant, where they feed undisturbed by predators. Young larvae feed on foliar tissue in the whorl, leading to perforations in unfolding leaves, and potential destruction of the growing point, while older larvae burrow into the stem, where they starve the growing plant of nutrients and can cause lodging. They feed extensively on tassels, ears, and stems. Borers' stealthy habits make them one of the most damaging pests for maize in Africa, and yet virtually invisible to farmers, who tend to attribute the damage to their crops to more visible pests. “Many farmers in Kenya don’t even know their maize fields have a stem borer problem, yet these insects cost them some 400,000 tons in lost harvest each year,” says CIMMYT maize breeder Stephen Mugo. Chemical pesticides can control borers, but must be applied soon after planting, and are difficult for resource-poor farmers to afford. “Even farmers who know about stem borers only notice the damage after it’s too late for chemical control. A seed-based technology is what we need,” says Mugo. In ongoing research, CIMMYT is collaborating with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to develop maize varieties that are resistant to stem borers, and to disseminate these to resource-poor smallholder farmers. “Maize that resists stem borer damage would take the guesswork out of stem borer pesticide usage by eliminating it altogether,” says Mugo. The work is part of the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project. For more information about stem borers in Kenya and CIMMY
A young maize tassel is opened up to reveal stem borers hidden inside, and damage caused by their feeding, in a farmer’s field in Embu district, Kenya. Photo: CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – A new review of a biological control (BC) program for control of stem borers implemented from 1993 to 2008, in an effort to reduce cereal yield losses due to stemborer attacks in East and Southern Africa, highlights the potential for BC programs to lift a large number of people out of poverty and create greater returns for consumers and producers.

In 1993 the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology program released four biological control agents to control the economically important stem borer pests Busseola fusca, Chilo partellus and Sesamia calamistis. Two of the natural enemies that were released were established and spread throughout the region. The researchers used an economic surplus approach, using bio-agents related data and market data from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, to determine the benefits of BC for producers and consumers.

More than 135,000 people were estimated to be lifted out of poverty annually due to the BC intervention, contributing an aggregate monetary surplus of $1.4 billion to the economies of the three countries, with 84 percent from maize production. The study also found that BC research and intervention is very efficient, with an internal rate of return of 67 percent – compared to the considered discount rate of 10 percent – and an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 33:1.

The authors of the study argue that these successful findings underscore the need for increased investment in BC research to sustain cereal production and improve poor living conditions.

Learn more about the study “Assessing the long-term welfare effects of the biological control of cereal stemborer pests in East and Southern Africa: Evidence from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT scientists, below.

  • Access to safe drinking water and human health: empirical evidence from rural Bhutan. 2016. Dil Bahadur Rahut, Ali, A., Nar Bahadur Chhetri Behera, B., Pradyot Ranjan Jena. In: Water Science and Technology. Vol. 16, no. 5, p. 1349-1360.
  • Agricultural technology adoption, commercialization and smallholder rice farmers’ welfare in rural Nigeria. 2016. Awotide, B. A., Karimov, A., Diagne, A. In: Agricultural and food economics. Vol. 4, no. 3.
  • Agrobiodiversity: prospects for a genetic approach to In situ conservation of crop landraces. 2016. Qualset, C.O., Castillo-Gonzales, F., Morgounov, A.I., Keser, M., Ozdemir, F. In: Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources. Vol. 29, issue 3, p. 278-280.
  • An alternative strategy for targeted gene replacement in plants using a dual-sgRNA/Cas9 design. 2016. Yongping Zhao, Congsheng Zhang, Wenwen Liu, Wei Gao, Changlin Liu, Gaoyuan Song, Wen-Xue Li, Long Mao, Beijiu Chen, Yunbi Xu, Xinhai Li, Chuanxiao Xie. In: Nature Scientific reports. 2016., vol.6, no. 23890.
  • Assessing the long-term welfare effects of the biological control of cereal stemborer pests in East and Southern Africa:  Evidence from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. 2016. Midingoy, S. G., Affognon, H. D. Macharia, I. Ong’amo, G. Abonyo, E. Ogola, G. De Groote, H. LeRu, B. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Vol. 23, p. 10-23.
  • Development of a maize 55 K SNP array with improved genome coverage for molecular breeding. 2017. Cheng Xu, Yonghong Ren, Yinqiao Jian, Zifeng Guo, Zhang Yan, Chuanxiao Xie, Junjie Fu, Hongwu Wang, Guoying Wang, Yunbi Xu, Zhang Li-Ping, Cheng Zou. In: Molecular Breeding. Vol.37, no.20, p.1-12.
  • Development of a multiple-hybrid population for genome-wide association studies: theoretical consideration and genetic mapping of flowering traits in maize. 2017. Hui Wang, Cheng Xu, Xiaogang Liu, Zifeng Guo, Xiaojie Xu, Shanhong Wang, Chuanxiao Xie, Wen-Xue Li, Cheng Zou, Yunbi Xu. In: Nature Scientific reports. Vol.7, no. 40239.
  • Elite Haplotypes of a Protein Kinase Gene TaSnRK2.3 associated with important agronomic traits in Common Wheat. 2017. Lili Miao, Xinguo Mao, Jingyi Wang, Zicheng Liu, Bin Zhang, Weiyu Li, Xiaoping Chang, Reynolds, M.P., Zhenhua Wang, Ruilian Jing. In: Frontiers in Plant Science. v.8, no.368.
  • Evaluation of the APSIM model in cropping systems of Asia. 2017. Gaydon, D.S., Singh, B., Wang, E., Poulton, P.L., Ahmad, B., Ahmed, F., Akhter, S., Ali, I., Amarasingha, R., Chaki, A.K., Chen, C., Choudhury, B.U., Darai, R., Das, A., Hochman, Z., Horan, H., Hosang, E.Y., Vijaya Kumar, P., Khan, A.S.M.M.R., Laing, A.M., Liu, L., Malaviachichi, M.A.P.W.K., Mohapatra, K.P., Muttaleb, M.A., Power, B., Radanielson, A.M., Rai, G.S., Rashid, M.H., Rathanayake, W.M.U.K., Sarker, M.M.R., Sena, D.R., Shamim, M., Subash, N., Suriadi, A., Suriyagoda, L.D.B., Wang, G., Wang, J., Yadav, R.K., Roth, C.H. In: Field Crops Research. Vol.204, p.52-75.
  • Farmers’ prioritization of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies. 2017. Khatri-Chhetri, A., Aggarwal, P.K., Joshi, P.K., Vyas, A.K. In: Agricultural Systems. Vol.151, p.184-191.

 

New Publications: Consumer preference for GM food in Pakistan

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A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT
A day laborer in Islamabad, Pakistan pauses from his work of harvesting wheat by hand. Photo: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – While genetically modified (GM) foods continue to be a topic of debate in much of the developed world, few studies have focused on consumers’ acceptance of GM food in developing countries.

A new study from researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) used a comprehensive primary dataset collected from 320 consumers in 2013 from Pakistan to analyze the determinants of consumer acceptability of GM foods in the country.

The researchers found that GM foods were more accepted among female consumers as compared to male consumers. In addition, older consumers were more willing to accept GM food compared to young consumers. The acceptability of GM foods was also higher among wealthier households. Low price is the key factor leading to the acceptability of GM foods.

Read the full study “Acceptability of GM Foods among Pakistani Consumers” here and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff below.

  • A study of allelic diversity underlying flowering-time adaptation in maize landraces. 2017. Romero Navarro, J. A., Wilcox, M. Burgueño, J. Romay, C. Swarts, K. Trachsel, S. Preciado, E. Terron, A. Vallejo, H. Vidal, V. Ortega, A. Espinoza Banda, A. Gomez, N. Ortiz-Monasterio, I. San Vicente, F.M. Guadarrama, A. Atlin, G.N. Wenzl, P. Hearne, S. Buckler, E. In: Nature genetics, vol. 49, p. 476-480. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v49/n3/full/ng.3784.html
  • Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem. 2017. Parihar, C.M., Jat, S.L. Singh, A.K. Majumdar, K. Jat, M.L. Saharawat, Y.S. Pradhan, S. Kuri, B.R. In: Energy, vol.119, p.245-256. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544216318746
  • Canopy temperature and vegetation indices from high-throughput phenotyping improve accuracy of pedigree and genomic selection for grain yield in wheat. 2017. Rutkoski, J., Poland, J. Mondal, S. Autrique, E. Gonzalez-Perez, L. Reynolds, M.P. Singh, R.P. Crossa, J. In: G3, vol. 7, no. 2. http://www.g3journal.org/content/suppl/. 2016./07/06/g3.116.032888.DC1
  • Crop model improvement reduces the uncertainty of the response to temperature of multi-model ensembles. 2017. Maiorano, A., Martre, P. Asseng, S. Ewert, F. MĂŒller, C. Rotter, R. Ruane, A.C. Semenov, M.A. Wallach, D. Wang, E. Alderman, P.D. Kassie, B.T. Biernath, C. Basso, B. Cammarano, D. Challinor, A.J. Doltra, J. Dumont, B. Eyshi Rezaei, E. Gayler, S. Kersebaum, K.C. Kimball, B.A. Koehler, A.K. Bing Liu O’Leary, G.J. Olesen, J.E. Ottman, M.J. Priesack, E. Reynolds, M.P. Stratonovitch, P. Streck, T. Thorburn, P.J. Waha, K. Wall, G.W. White, J.W. Zhigan Zhao Zhu, Y. In: Field Crops Research, vol.202, p.5-20. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429016301368
  • A genomic bayesian multi-trait and multi-environment model. 2016. Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Montesinos-LĂłpez, A. Toledo, F.H. PĂ©rez-HernĂĄndez, O. Eskridge, K. Rutkoski, J. Crossa, J. In: G3, vol.6, p.2725-2744. http://www.g3journal.org/content/early/. 2016./06/23/g3.116.032359.full.pdf+html
  • A hierarchical bayesian estimation model for multienvironment plant breeding trials in successive years. 2016. JarquĂ­n, D., Perez-Elizalde, S. Burgueño, J. Crossa, J. In: Crop Science, vol. 56, p. 1-17. https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/56/5/2260?search-result=1
  • A predetermined proportional gains eigen selection index method. 2016. Ceron Rojas, J.J., Toledo, F.H. SahagĂșn-Castellanos, J. Crossa, J. In: Crop Science, vol.56, p.1-12. https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/56/5/2436
  • ABCs of diversifying information resources among rice smallholders of Ghana. 2016. Misiko, M., Halm, E. In: The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, vol.22, no.3, p.271-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2015.1038281
  • Acceptability of GM Foods among Pakistani Consumers. 2016. Ali, A., Dil Bahadur Rahut Imtiaz, M. In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, vol.7, no.2. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2016.1211216?scroll=top&needAccess=true

New Publications: Wheat stem rust resistance identified in Kazakhstan and Russia

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Examining Ug99 stem rust symptoms on wheat. Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT
Examining Ug99 stem rust symptoms on wheat. Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Stem rusts have proven to be a challenge to wheat farmers in Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly with higher rainfall in recent years.

Western Siberia in Russia and northern Kazakhstan grow more than 15 million hectares (ha) of wheat, and is expected to have an important impact on global food security as part of the “Eurasian wheat belt” – the only region in the world with a significant amount of uncultivated arable land that is at the same time experiencing rising agricultural productivity.

Wheat stem rust disease is highly mobile and has the capacity to turn a healthy looking crop, only weeks away from harvest, into nothing more than a tangle of black stems and shriveled grains at harvest. Stem rust was not considered a threat until 2015, when a local epidemic occurred in Russia and neighboring areas of Kazakhstan, affecting more than 1 million ha. It occurred again in 2016 though the spread, severity and losses were less.

In response, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with partners characterized a set of 146 spring wheat varieties and breeding lines identified as stem rust resistant in Kenya and the Kazakhstan–Siberia region for the presence of major genes. Over nine genes with resistance were identified, and adult plant resistance to stem rust was observed in 26 genotypes.

Learn more about the study “Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff, below.

  • Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem. 2017. Parihar, C.M.; Jat, S.L.; Singh, A.K.; Majumdar, K.; Jat, M.L.; Saharawat, Y.S.; Pradhan, S.; Kuri, B.R. Energy 119 : 245-256.
  • From stakeholders’ narratives to modelling plausible future agricultural systems. Integrated assessment of scenarios for Camargue, Southern France. 2017. Delmotte, S.; Couderc, V.; Mouret, J.C.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Barbier, J.M.; Hossard, L. European Journal of Agronomy 82 : 292-307.
  • Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. 2017. Ritzema, R.S.; Frelat, R.; Douxchamps, S.; Silvestri, S.; Rufino, M.C.; Herrero, M.; Giller, K.E.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Teufel, N.; Paul, B. ; Wijk, M.T. van. Food Security 9 (1) : 115–131.
  • Planting date and yield benefits from conservation agriculture practices across Southern Africa. 2017. Nyagumbo, I.; Mkuhlani, S.; Mupangwa, W.; Rodriguez, D. Agricultural Systems 150 : 21-33.
  • Sustainable crop intensification through surface water irrigation in Bangladesh? A geospatial assessment of landscape-scale production potential. 2017. Krupnik, T.J.; Schulthess, U.; Zia Ahmed; McDonald, A. Land Use Policy 60 : 206-222.
  • Adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina in a geographically diverse collection of Aegilops tauschii. 2016. Kalia, B.; Wilson, D.L.; Bowden, R.L.; Singh, R.P.; Gill, B. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. Online First.
  • Detection of wheat stem rust races TTHSK and PTKTK in the Ug99 race group in Kenya in 2014. 2016. Fetch, T.G.; Zegeye, T.; Park, R.F.; Hodson, D.P.; Wanyera, R. Plant Disease 100 (7) : 1495.
  • Disease impact on wheat yield potential and prospects of genetic control. 2016. Singh, R.P.; Singh, P.K.; Rutkoski, J.; Hodson, D.P.; Xinyao He; Jorgensen, L.N.; Hovmoller, M.S.; Huerta-Espino, J. Annual Review of Phytopathology 54 : 303-322.
  • Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99. 2016. Shamanin, V.; Salina, E.; Wanyera, R.; Zelenskiy, Y.; Olivera, P.; Morgounov, A.I. Euphytica 212 (2) 287-296.
  • Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. 2016. Pariyar, S.R.; Dababat, A.A.; Sannemann, W.; Erginbas-Orakci, G.; Elashry, A.; Siddique, S.; Morgounov, A.I.; Leon, J.; Grundler, F. Phytopathology 106 (10) : 1128-1138.
Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder who has advanced the development of nutrient-rich millet and wheat varieties with higher yield potential, disease resistance and improved agronomic traits, has won the 2016 Young Scientist Award for Agriculture presented by India’s Society for Plant Research. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

“Young Scientist Award” winner fights hidden hunger with high zinc wheat

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Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder who has advanced the development of nutrient-rich millet and wheat varieties with higher yield potential, disease resistance and improved agronomic traits, has won the 2016 Young Scientist Award for Agriculture presented by India’s Society for Plant Research. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder who has advanced the development of nutrient-rich millet and wheat varieties with higher yield potential, disease resistance and improved agronomic traits, has won the 2016 Young Scientist Award for Agriculture presented by India’s Society for Plant Research. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A scientist who has advanced the development of nutrient-rich millet and wheat varieties with higher yield potential, disease resistance and improved agronomic traits has won the 2016 Young Scientist Award for Agriculture presented by India’s Society for Plant Research.

Velu Govindan, a wheat breeder from India working with the HarvestPlus project at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), received the award last week for high-yielding, nutritious wheat varieties tolerant to rust diseases and climate change-induced heat and drought stress.

“I’m so honored,” said Govindan. “It’s a terrific vote of confidence for the work we’re doing at CIMMYT and through HarvestPlus to develop nutritious staple crops that significantly reduce hidden hunger and help millions of people lead better, more productive lives in the global south.”

CIMMYT scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency or “hidden hunger” by biofortifying crops to boost nutrition in poor communities where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable. About 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

The wheat component of HarvestPlus, which is part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR global agricultural research project, involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels.

Govindan has been actively involved in the recently released wheat variety Zinc Shakthi – meaning “more power” – which has been adopted by some 50,000 smallholder farmers in India. In addition, two new varieties are projected soon to be widely adopted throughout the fertile northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India.

“We’ve released ‘best bet’ varieties in India and Pakistan to ensure fast-track adoption of high zinc wheat,” Govindan said. “Farmers are adopting it, not only for its nutritional benefit, but also for its superior agronomic features like competitive yield, rust resistance and other farmer preferred traits.”

Before joining CIMMYT eight years ago, Govindan worked at the International Crops Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), where he initiated the development of an iron-rich pearl millet called Dhanashakti – meaning “prosperity and strength” – which was commercialized in 2012 in the Indian state of Maharashtra, where it is now used by more than 100,000 smallholder farmers.

In addition to his primary responsibility of breeding nutrient-rich wheat varieties, Govindan works with the Global Wheat Program’s spring wheat breeding team at CIMMYT. The spring bread wheat program develops high yielding and climate resilient varieties, which are distributed to more than 80 countries in the wheat growing regions of the developing world.

Through its annual awards ceremony, the Society for Plant Research, which has also produced the international journal Vegetos since 1988, recognizes individual contributions from across a broad spectrum of plant-based research, including agriculture, biotechnology, industrial botany and basic plant sciences.