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.

NuME: a key actor in agricultural innovation systems in Ethiopia

Written by on September 2, 2016. Posted in News.

A QPM field demonstration in East Wollega, Ethiopia, showing the performance of BHQPY545, a QPM variety with yellow grain. Photo: CIMMYT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) — The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project was selected as a key actor in agricultural and rural innovation in Ethiopia by the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems project (CDAIS).

Funded by the European Commission and implemented by AGRINATURA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CDAIS is a global partnership on capacity development for agricultural innovation systems (AIS), or collaborative arrangements that bring together several organizations working toward technological, managerial, organizational and institutional change in agriculture. CDAIS aims to make AIS more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers.

CDAIS identified NuME as one of the most successful projects in Ethiopia in its scoping study, largely based on its ability to demonstrate how multi-sectoral networks facilitate and speed-up the dissemination of quality protein maize (QPM) technologies and strengthen innovation. The QPM technology promoted is a biofortified type of maize with improved protein quality due to its enhanced amino acid profile that makes it more useful in human and animal nutrition.

QPM technology is a biofortified type of maize with improved protein quality due to its enhanced amino acid profile that makes it more useful in human and animal nutrition. Photo: CIMMYT

NuME is founded on a network of key implementing partners from Ethiopian research institutions, national agricultural research and extension systems, international non-governmental organizations, universities and public and private seed companies and is implemented in 36 woredas (districts) of the four major maize producing and consuming regions of Ethiopia. Such multi-sectoral networking of actors has proved to be one of the most important factors that can bring remarkably high rates of adoption of technologies bya large number of farmers in different countries.

All partners work together to ensure QPM spreads to as many farmers as possible. For example, Farm Radio International (FRI) collaborated with local radio stations, designing an appropriate multilingual participatory radio campaign on nutrition, protein and QPM benefits. Universities and Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education Training (ATVETs) produce agricultural experts with technical knowledge and skills in the field of QPM production and management. Meanwhile private sector seed companies produce and market QPM to meet the growing demand for the technology across the country.

The project has also brought the issue of QPM to the attention of policy makers and national agricultural development planners. As a result, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) and the Agricultural Transformation Council have included QPM as a priority commodity in the national agricultural development plan. In 2014, MoANR set the target to increase the QPM production area to 200,000 ha within three years (2015-17), an area that is approximately 10 percent of the total land area devoted to maize production in the country.

Learn more about what makes NuME a success here.

NuME is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by CIMMYT-Ethiopia in collaboration with various stakeholders from agriculture, nutrition and health sectors. The project is designed to contribute to the reduction of malnutrition, especially among women and young children, and to increase food security for resource-poor smallholder farmers in Ethiopia through the widespread adoption, production and utilization of QPM varieties and crop management practices that increase farm productivity.

CIMMYT Maize hybrids ranked first and third in nation-wide trials in India

Written by on September 2, 2016. Posted in News.

Farmers and seed company personnel observing RCRMH-2 in an on-farm demonstration during the spring season in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, India. Photo: UAS, Raichur

RAICHUR, India (CIMMYT) — Two hybrids from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) developed under the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project were ranked first and third among over 100 hybrids during the 2015 All-India Coordinated Maize Program (AICMP) trials. The trials took place during the summer-rainy season (commonly known as the “Kharif” season) – the major maize growing season in South Asia – which covered about 70 percent of South Asia’s total maize area.

AICMP, managed by the Institute of Maize Research in New Delhi, is one of the largest maize variety testing networks in South Asia. New maize hybrids from both the public and private sector are evaluated in over 30 locations across India’s different ecologies.

The two hybrids RCRMH-1 and RCRMH-2 – were submitted by the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Raichur, one of the key partners with CIMMYT in developing heat tolerant maize varieties in the region. The hybrids showed good performance by performing well across agro-ecologies, including stressed and un-stressed locations, competing well against both public and private sector varieties tested in the AICMP trials.

CIMMYT seeks to develop maize varieties that are tolerant to a range of stresses that South Asia experiences. For example, heat resilience is necessary in a region which experiences temperatures of over 40⁰C in the spring season, right when the crop needs to reproduce. The summer-rainy season in South Asia brings monsoon rains. However, in drought years (such as year 2015) the temperature may rise close to 40⁰C, and therefore maize crops face combined drought and heat stress. The selection strategy used by HTMA focuses on developing broad temperature resilience rather than tolerance to heat stress by exposing the hybrids across temperature regimes during selection process, which explains the success of the two hybrids in the AICMP trials. The performance of CIMMYT hybrids in these trials clearly indicate that the hybrids have wider adaptation to many stresses including areas with no stresses.

These two hybrids are among the first 18 hybrids licensed to CIMMYT partners for deployment and scale-out in stress-prone ecologies of South Asia.

University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur, India is one of the collaborators in CIMMYT’s Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative HTMA is a public-private alliance that targets resource-poor maize farming communities in South Asia who face weather extremes and climate change effects.

New Publications: Research sheds light on climate and yield risk in South Asia

Written by on August 31, 2016. Posted in Publications.

Want to learn more about CIMMYT's activities in Pakistan? Check out our news feed here. Photo: CIMMYT — Want to learn more about CIMMYT’s activities in Pakistan? Check out our news feed here. Photo: CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new paper by scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) highlight important risks to farmers’ yields in Pakistan due to climate change and call for current climate adaptation policies across South Asia to be revised in response.

Rice and wheat are the principal calorie sources for over a billion people in South Asia. Both of these crops are extremely sensitive to climate and agronomic management conditions under which they are grown.

Which is why climate change – projected to increase heat stress and variability across the region – is a huge threat to farmers growing these crops.

And while the influence of climatic conditions on crop growth have been widely studied, empirical evidence of the link between climate variability and yield risk in farmers’ fields is comparatively scarce.

Using data from 240 farm households, the paper “Climate variability and yield risk in South Asia’s rice–wheat systems: emerging evidence from Pakistan” responds to this gap and isolates the effects of agronomic management from climatic variability on rice and wheat yield risks in eight of Pakistan’s twelve agroecological zones. The authors’ results highlight important risks to farmers’ ability to obtain reliable yield levels for both crops, finding season-long and terminal heat stress have a negative effect on rice and wheat yields, with heat being particularly damaging to wheat.

The study also finds farmers have limited capacity to adapt to respond to climactic changes within a crop season, concluding that current climate change adaptation policies must be reviewed to increase resilience for Pakistan’s and South Asia’s cereal farmers, suggesting avenues for investment in improved crop research and development programs.

Read more about this study and more recent publications from CIMMYT researchers, below:

A direct comparison of remote sensing approaches for high-throughput phenotyping in plant breeding. 2016. Tattaris, M.; Reynolds, M.P.; Chapman, S. Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 113
Baseline simulation for global wheat production with CIMMYT mega-environment specific cultivars. 2016. Gbegbelegbe, S.D.; Cammarano, D.; Asseng, S.; Robertson, R.; Chung, U.; Adam, M.; Abdalla, O.; Payne, T.S.; Reynolds, M.P.; Sonder, K.; Shiferaw, B.; Nelson, G. Field Crops Research. Online First.
Climate variability and yield risk in South Asia’s rice–wheat systems: emerging evidence from Pakistan. 2016. Muhammad Arshad; Amjath-Babu, T.S.; Krupnik, T.J.; Aravindakshan, S.; Abbas, A.; Kachele, H.; Muller, K. Paddy Water Environment. Online First.
Genome wide association mapping of stripe rust resistance in Afghan wheat landraces. 2016. Manickavelu, A.; Joukhadar, R.; Jighly, A.; Caixia Lan; Huerta-Espino, J.; Ahmad Shah Stanikzai; Kilian, A.; Singh, R.P.; Ban, T. Plant Science 252: 222-229.

A Chat With: Mark Lynas – sustainable agriculture key to food security amid climate change

Written by on August 23, 2016. Posted in News.

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Sustainable agriculture must be adopted globally if natural ecosystems are to be protected as food production increases to feed a projected population of 9.7 billion by 2050, said author and environmentalist Mark Lynas.

An immediate move to transform overall agricultural practices is needed to overcome the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, said Lynas who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in September.

Rather than expanding agricultural production into new terrain, Lynas, who is a visiting fellow at the Cornell Alliance for Science, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said sustainable intensification agricultural practices are preferable to boost productivity while preserving environmental equilibrium.

A former critic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) Lynas changed his mind when he said it became clearer to him that there was a scientific consensus that genetic engineering was safe. In his current role at Cornell University, he now advises on public sector biotechnology in developing countries.

Lynas will deliver a presentation during a session entitled “Future Landscapes” at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference on Sept. 29, 2016.

He shared some views on the future of agriculture in the following interview.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces?

Well, it’s become something of a cliche now to talk about how we need to double world food supply by 2050 in order to feed the growing human population. I’m keen to add an environmental perspective to this statement. We need to double world food production but at the same time to shrink the area of cultivated land in order to protect natural ecosystems. With the ongoing crises in climate change and biodiversity loss, we cannot afford to plow up the rain forests or other ecologically valuable areas, so the only viable option is to sustainably intensify existing cultivated areas, hopefully with “rewilding” of spared lands. Obviously, this is a broad-brush assertion, and there is a lot of geographical complexity and nuance underlying this, that we should not forget.

Q: How does your area of specialization address these challenges? What innovation do you see improving agriculture?

I’m particularly focused on biotechnology in agriculture, which can help improve sustainability in many ways. Basically, if you can move from chemistry to biology in addressing challenges, from water use to yield to pest control, so much the better for the environment. An example would be the use of the Bt gene, which produces a protein in the plant that is toxic only to the pest itself and harmless to everything else, including us. That’s a much more sustainable option than indiscriminate insecticide sprays that have serious environmental and health impacts. However, because of their total opposition to genetic engineering, anti-GMO campaigners end up defending continued pesticide use, which is a very strange place for supposedly green activists to be. I’ve seen this at first hand in Bangladesh with the campaign against Bt brinjal. Anti-science superstition of this sort can end up being very environmentally damaging.

Q: What outcomes would you like to see from the CIMMYT conference?

CIMMYT experts were co-authors on a recent paper, “Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target” in Global Change Biology, that challenged the agriculture sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions significantly — by 1 billion tons a year — in order to contribute to meeting the 2 degrees C international climate change target. I thought this was a great initiative and I would love to see more attention given to it by other stakeholders at the CIMMYT conference. I really hope it becomes a talked about target that ends up being matched with real commitments and actions in the field.

A Chat With: U.S. nutritionist Julie Miller Jones speaks out about GE crops

Written by on August 16, 2016. Posted in News.

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of CIMMYT.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Leading nutritionist Julie Miller Jones aims to bust myths about biotechnology

by educating the general population on the benefits she believes genetically engineered (GE) crops can play in ending extreme hunger and malnutrition.

A shift away from the perception that GE crops are unsafe for the environment and human health is needed if they are to live up to their potential to increase food production and improve nutrition to meet the needs of growing global population, said Miller Jones who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in September.

Hunger and malnutrition are barriers to sustainable development, because they lead to lowered productivity, diminished health and limit the ability to improve livelihoods, she said. There are nearly 800 million people who suffer from hunger worldwide, the majority in developing countries, according to the United Nations.

A recent report released by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said there is no substantiated evidence that foods from GE crops are less safe than foods from non-GE crops. Miller Jones said the general public must be educated about how biotechnology can safely improve food crops and contribute to nourishing a global population projected to grow by more than 2 billion by 2050 to more than 9.7 billion.

GE technologies enable the insertion from one species to another of genetic material (DNA) responsible, for example, for the production of vitamin precursors, such as pro-vitamin A carotenoids. Specific genes from maize, daffodil or carrot, placed in a staple grain, can help address vitamin A shortages in many regions, said the nutritionist. Conventional breeding does not have this ability to insert desirable genes from one species to another, and GE technologies can therefore enhance the contribution of plant breeding in addressing significant public health problems, she said.

Miller Jones has followed wheat-breeding developments over the years. She is a big fan of Norman Borlaug, the late CIMMYT wheat breeder and 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate known as the Father of the Green Revolution for the high-yielding wheat varieties he produced, which are credited with saving more than a billion lives in the developing world.

Miller Jones is outspoken about the negative consequences of gluten-free diets and has written several research papers that dispel myths generated by claims that the protein found in wheat is unhealthy.

She is a certified nutrition specialist who is also a distinguished scholar and professor emeritus of nutrition of nutrition at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Interested in all aspects of nutrition science, she is actively involved in educating consumers against myths about nutrition and food safety. Currently, she is a scientific advisor to a number of groups such as the Healthy Grains Institute and the Grains Food Foundation that promote healthy diets and educates consumers on the benefits the right balance of grain-based foods.

Jones, who will speak during Session Five on “Future Landscapes” at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference on Sept. 29, 2016, shared some insights on the future of agriculture in the following interview.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT: What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT and Norman Borlaug have always been inspirations to me ever since I began my graduate work at the University of Minnesota nearly 50 years ago. I’m interested in nutrition and feeding the world, I taught students about the Green Revolution and the achievements of Borlaug and CIMMYT in the world food supply section of my class on current issues throughout my entire academic career.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces?

Producing enough food and communicating about the risks and benefits of anything we do. Communicating that there are risks to using GE crops, but these are assessed on a case-by-case basis.. What hasn’t been communicated effectively, so that the average person can understand and not fear the technology, is the risk of not using GE and other agricultural advancements. It’s ironic to me that those claiming to be interested in the environment often reject technologies that enable the use of fewer inputs and scarce resources and they do it in the name of the environment. All must communicate this in a non-defensive, clear way.

Q: How does your area of specialization address these challenges?

As a nutritionist and communicator, I want to work with breeders to ensure that nutrients are one of the aspects that are included in breeding programs. Further, I want to work with others to develop effective strategies to explain advancements in agriculture and plant breeding to reduce consumers’ fears and ease their acceptance and adoption.

China’s vice premier ushers in new era of agricultural collaboration

Written by on August 11, 2016. Posted in News.

China’s Vice Premier Liu Yandong (right) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT

TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new collaborative program promising to train Chinese Ph.D. and postdoctoral students annually at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) builds on the three decade relationship the organization holds with China.

The memorandum of understanding was signed during China’s Vice Premier Liu Yandong’s visit to CIMMYT on 9 August by the Secretary General of the Chinese Scholarship Council Liu Jinghui and CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff.

“In the face of climate change, water shortages and other challenges, innovative strategies to agricultural development are necessary for China’s future development,” Yandong said. “We hope to strengthen cooperation with CIMMYT — this will have a tremendous effect on both China and the world.”

Since 1970, more than 20 Chinese institutes have been involved in germplasm exchange and improvement, conservation agriculture and capacity building, with 56 Chinese researchers receiving their doctoral degrees with CIMMYT. Since the CIMMYT-China Office was opened in 1997, 26 percent of wheat grown in China has derived from CIMMYT materials.

Secretary General of the Chinese Scholarship Council Liu Jinghui (left) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to train 10 PhD and Postdoc students at CIMMYT each year. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT

During the visit, the vice premier discussed China’s new five-year plan (2016 – 2020) that focuses on innovation, international cooperation and green growth, to modernize agriculture in an environmental friendly way over the next 20 to 30 years.

Benefits of three decades of international collaboration in wheat research have added as much as 10.7 million tons of grain – worth $3.4 billion – to China’s national wheat output. Eight CIMMYT scientists have won the Chinese Friendship Award – the highest award for “foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress.”

New Publications: Study reveals new insights about machinery adoption in Bangladesh

Written by on August 10, 2016. Posted in Publications.

Local service provider Yunus operates various kinds of machinery that he offers to farmers in Barisal district, Bangladesh. Photo: S. Storr/CIMMYT

El Batan, MEXICO (CIMMYT) – A new study by scientists at The International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT) looks at large-scale adoption practices of agricultural machinery appropriate for smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, concluding that sustained emphasis on improving infrastructure, services and assuring credit availability is necessary to facilitate adoption.

There is strong advocacy for agricultural machinery appropriate for smallholder farmers in South Asia. Such “scale-appropriate” machinery can increase returns to land and labor, but high capital investment costs make it hard for farmers to own these machines. Increasing machinery demand has resulted in relatively well-developed markets for rental services for tillage, irrigation, and post-harvest operations.

Studying households that own machinery can provide insights into the factors that facilitate or limit adoption, which can help development planners, policy makers and national and international banks to target investments more appropriately. The study “Factors associated with small-scale agricultural machinery adoption in Bangladesh: census findings,” is the first recent study to examine these practices at large scale, using the case of Bangladesh.

The paper examines the adoption information gap in Bangladesh by reviewing the country’s historical policy environment that facilitated the development of agricultural machinery markets. It then uses recent Bangladesh census data from over 800,000 farm households to identify variables associated with the adoption of the most common smallholder agricultural machinery like irrigation pumps, threshers and power tillers.

Results of the study indicate that machinery ownership is positively associated with household assets, credit availability, electrification, and road density. These findings suggest that donors and policy makers should focus not only on short-term projects to boost machinery adoption, but also emphasize improving physical and civil infrastructure and services, as well as assuring credit availability to facilitate the adoption of scale-appropriate farm machinery.

Check out this study and other recent publications from CIMMYT researchers, below:

13C Natural Abundance of Serum Retinol Is a Novel Biomarker for Evaluating Provitamin A Carotenoid-Biofortified Maize Consumption in Male Mongolian Gerbils. 2016. Gannon, B.; Pungarcher, I.; Mourao, L.; Davis, C.R.; Simon, P.; Pixley, K.V.; Tanumihardjo, S.A. The Journal of Nutrition 146 : 1290-1297.
Does closing knowledge gaps close yield gaps? On-farm conservation agriculture trials and adoption dynamics in three smallholder farming areas in Zimbabwe. 2016. Cheesman, S.; Andersson, J.A.; Frossard, E. Journal of Agricultural Science. Online First.
Factors associated with small-scale agricultural machinery adoption in Bangladesh : census findings. 2016. Mottaleb, K.A.; Krupnik, T.J.; Erenstein, O. Journal of Rural Studies 46 : 155-168.
Fertilization strategies in Conservation Agriculture systems with Maize-Legume cover crops rotations in Southern Africa. 2016. Mupangwa, W.; Thierfelder, C.; Ngwira, A. Experimental Agriculture. Online First.
High temperatures around flowering in maize: effects on photosynthesis and grain yield in three genotypes. 2016. Neiff, N.;Trachsel, S.; Valentinuz, O.R.; Balbi, C.N.; Andrade, H.F. Crop Science 56 : 1-11.
Kenyan Isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici from 2008 to 2014 : virulence to SrTmp in the Ug99 race group and implications for breeding programs. 2016. Newcomb, M.; Olivera Firpo, P.D.; Rouse, M.N.; Szabo, L.J.; Johnson, J.; Gale, S.; Luster, D.G.; Wanyera, R.; Macharia, G.; Bhavani, S.; Hodson, D.P.; Patpour, M.; Hovmoller, M.S.; Fetch, T.G.; Yue Jin. Phytopathology 106 (7) : 729-736.
Targeting drought-tolerant maize varieties in Southern Africa : a geospatial crop modeling approach using big data. 2016. Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye; Sonder, K.; Cairns, J.E.; Magorokosho, C.; Amsal Tesfaye Tarekegne; Kassie, G.; Getaneh, F.; Abdoulaye, T.; Tsedeke Abate; Erenstein, O. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 19 : 75-92.
The adoption problem; or why we still understand so little about technological change in African agriculture. 2016. Glover, D.; Sumberg, J.; Andersson, J.A. Outlook on Agriculture 45 (1): 3-6.
The effect of major income sources on rural household food (in)security : evidence from Swaziland and implications for policy. 2016. Mabuza, M.L.; Ortmann, G.F.; Wale, E.; Mutenje, M. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 55 (2) : 209-230.
Weed management in maize using crop competition: a review. 2016. Mhlanga, B.; Chauhan, B.S.; Thierfelder, C. Crop Protection 88: 28-36.

CIMMYT and partners set the pace in maize and wheat research in Africa

Written by on July 27, 2016. Posted in News.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The recent inauguration of a new seed storage cold room at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) research center at Kiboko in Makueni County, about 155 kilometers from the capital, adds to the top notch research establishments managed by the national partners in Africa together with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This successful partnership continues to help farmers overcome crippling challenges in farming and to realize the yield potential of improved varieties.

Since its establishment in Africa, over 40 years ago, CIMMYT has prioritized high quality research work in state-of-the-art research facilities developed through long-standing partnerships with national research organizations, such as KALRO.

“If CIMMYT were to be established today, it would be headquartered in Africa because this is where smallholder farmers face the biggest challenges. At the same time, this is the place where outstanding work is being done to help the farmers rise above the challenges, and with great success,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT Director General during his recent visit to Kenya.

The cold room jointly inaugurated by Kropff, and KALRO Director General, Eliud Kireger will help store high value maize seeds with an array of traits including resilience to diseases, insect-pests and climatic stresses as drought and heat, for up to 10 years, without the need for seed regeneration every year, thereby avoiding risk of contamination and use of scarce resources. It will also help make seed readily available for distribution to national partners and seed companies to reach the farmers much faster.

Kireger conveyed his appreciation for the cold room and other research facilities established on KALRO sites, terming these achievements as “rewarding not just to KALRO and to the seed companies, but to many smallholders in Africa, who continue to be the inspiration behind every effort put into maize research and development work by KALRO and partners like CIMMYT.”

In addition to the seed storage cold room, Africa hosts the maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease screening facility in sub-Saharan Africa. The MLN screening facility was established in 2013 at KALRO Naivasha Center in Kenya in response to the outbreak of the devastating MLN disease in eastern Africa. The facility since then has supported both the private and public institutions to screen maize germplasm for MLN under artificial inoculation and in identifying MLN tolerant/resistant lines and hybrids.

Did you know? •Over 60,000 entries have been tested at the MLN screening site in Naivasha, Kenya since 2013. • 16 private and public institutions including seed companies and national research organizations have screened their germplasm for MLN. — *Combating MLN:*
• Over 60,000 entries have been tested at the MLN screening site in Naivasha, Kenya since 2013.
• 16 private and public institutions including seed companies and national research organizations have screened their germplasm for MLN. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

“The MLN screening facility (also a quarantine site) has been supporting the national partners in sub-Saharan Africa, key multinational, local and regional seed companies and CGIAR centers. This facility has become a major resource in the fight against MLN regionally,” added B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program as well as the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. “Tremendous progress has been made through this facility in the last three years. Several promising maize lines with tolerance and resistance to MLN have been identified, and used in breeding programs to develop improved maize hybrids. Already five MLN-tolerant hybrids have been released and now being scaled-up by seed companies for reaching the MLN-affected farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. As many as 22 MLN-tolerant and resistant hybrids are presently undergoing national performance trials in east Africa,” remarked Prasanna.

Another major focus of CIMMYT and partners in the region is to prevent the spread of MLN from the endemic to non-endemic countries in Africa. “This is a strong message to convey that we not only work hard to develop MLN resistant maize varieties for the farmers, but we are also very keen to control the spread of the disease” remarked Kropff during a visit to the site.

In Zimbabwe, an MLN quarantine facility has been established in 2016, in collaboration with the government. This facility is key for safe transfer of research materials, including those with MLN resistance into the currently MLN non-endemic countries in southern Africa, before they get to the partners.

In order to keep up with the emerging stresses and to accelerate development of improved maize varieties, the maize Doubled-Haploid (DH) facility was established in 2013 by CIMMYT and KALRO at the KALRO research center in Kiboko. This facility helps the breeders to significantly shorten the process of developing maize parental lines from 7–8 seasons (using conventional breeding) to just 2–3 seasons.

Over 92,000 Doubled-Haploid (DH) maize lines have been developed from CIMMYT bi-parental crosses. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

“Through the facility at Kiboko, we have been able to develop over 60,000 DH lines in 2015 from diverse genetic backgrounds. The DH facility also supports the national agricultural research organisations and small and medium enterprise partners in sub-Saharan Africa to fast-track their breeding work through DH lines,” said Prasanna.

For wheat research-for-development work in Africa, the largest stem rust phenotyping platform in the world sits at KALRO research center in Njoro, Kenya. The facility screens at least 50,000 wheat accessions annually from 20-25 countries. Following the emergence of the Ug99 wheat rust disease pathogen strain in Uganda, the disease spread to 13 countries in Africa. Close to 65 wheat varieties that are resistant to Ug99 stem rust disease have been released globally as a result of the shuttle breeding that includes selection from the screening site at KALRO Njoro.

“CIMMYT’s yearly investment of USD 37 million in Africa through various projects has translated into a success story because of the strong collaboration with our partners across Africa,” said Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT’s Regional Representative for Africa. He further added that “research work in Africa is not yet done. No institution, including CIMMYT, cannot do this important work alone. We need to, and will, keep on working together with partners to improve the livelihoods of the African smallholders.”

CIMMYT DG Martin Kropff studying an MLN affected plant. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

Key funders of CIMMYT work in Africa include, the USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Sygenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Australian Centre for International Research, CGIAR Research Program on Maize, Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada.

Ancient maize varieties provide modern solution to tar spot complex

Written by on July 25, 2016. Posted in Features.

Felix Corzo Jimenez , a farmer in Chiapas, Mexico, examines one of his maize plants infected with tar spot complex. Photo: J. Johnson/CIMMYT.

CHIAPAS, Mexico — In southern Mexico and Central America a fungal maize disease known as tar spot complex (TSC) is decimating yields, threatening local food security and livelihoods. In El Portillo, Chiapas, Mexico, local farmer Felix Corzo Jimenez sadly surveys his maize field.

“It’s been a terrible year. We’ll be lucky if we harvest even 50 percent of our usual yields,” he said, examining a dried up maize leaf covered in tiny black dots, and pulling the husk off of an ear to show the shriveled kernels, poorly filled-in. “Tar spot is ruining our crops.”

Named for the black spots that cover infected plants, TSC causes leaves to die prematurely, weakening the plant and preventing the ears from developing fully, cutting yields by up to 50 percent or more in extreme cases. Caused by a combination of three fungal infections, the disease occurs most often in cool and humid areas across southern Mexico, Central America and South America. The disease is beginning to spread – possibly due to climate change, evolving pathogens and susceptible maize varieties – and was reported in important maize producing regions of central Mexico and the northern United States for the first time last fall. To develop TSC resistant maize varieties that farmers need, the Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative is working to “mine” the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) genebank for native maize varieties that may hold genes for resistance against the disease.

The first stage of fungal maize disease TSC, with tiny, black “tar spots” covering the leaf. The spots will soon turn into lesions that kill the leaf, preventing photosynthesis from occurring. Photo: J. Johnson/CIMMYT.

The majority of maize varieties planted in Mexico today are susceptible to TSC, meaning that farmers would have to spray expensive fungicides several times each year to protect their crops against the disease, a huge financial burden that few can afford. Creating varieties with natural resistance to tar spot is an economical and environmentally friendly option that will protect the livelihoods of the region’s smallholder maize farmers.

“This project targets the many farmers in the region with limited resources, and the small local seed companies that sell to farmers at affordable prices,” says Terry Molnar, SeeD maize breeder.

The key to developing maize varieties with resistance to TSC lies in the genetic diversity of the crop. For thousands of years, farmers have planted local maize varieties known as landraces, or descendants from ancient maize varieties that have adapted to their environment. Over centuries of selection by farmers these landraces accumulated specific forms of genes, or alleles, which helped them to resist local stresses such as drought, heat, pests or disease.

These novel genetic traits found in landrace maize can help breeders develop improved maize varieties with resistance to devastating diseases such as TSC. However, it is quite challenging for breeders to incorporate “exotic” landrace materials into breeding programs, as despite their resistance to stresses found in their native environment, they often carry unfavorable alleles for other important traits.

A maize ear with shriveled kernels that are poorly filled, a major side effect of TSC that reduces farmer’s tields. — A maize ear with shriveled kernels that are poorly filled, a major side effect of TSC that reduces farmer’s yields. Photo: J. Johnson/CIMMYT.

To help breeders incorporate this valuable genetic diversity into breeding programs, SeeD works to develop “bridging germplasm” maize varieties, which are created by transferring useful genetic variation from landraces held in the CIMMYT genebank into plant types or lines that breeders can readily use to develop the improved varieties farmers need. These varieties are created by crossing landrace materials with CIMMYT elite lines, and selecting the progeny with the genetic resistance found in a landrace without unfavorable traits breeders, farmers and consumers do not want.

“The CIMMYT maize genebank has over 28,000 maize samples from 88 countries, many of which are landraces that may have favorable alleles for disease resistance,” Molnar says. “We all know that there is good material in the bank, but it’s scarcely being used. We want to demonstrate that there are valuable alleles in the bank that can have great impact in farmers’ fields.”

A susceptible maize variety infected with TSC (left) compared to a healthy maize plant , a resistant variety immune to the disease (right). Photo: J. Johnson/CIMMYT.

SeeD scientists began by identifying landrace varieties with genetic resistance to TSC. Trials conducted in 2011, 2012 and 2014 evaluated a “core set” – a genetically diverse subset of the maize germplasm bank – in search of resistant varieties. Of the 918 landrace varieties planted in 2011 and 2012, only two landraces—Oaxaca 280 and Guatemala 153—were outstanding for tolerance to the disease. Genotypic data would later confirm the presence of unique resistant alleles not currently present in maize breeding programs that could be deployed into SeeD’s bridging germplasm. This bridging germplasm will be available to breeders for use in developing elite lines and varieties for farmers.

“As a breeder, I’m excited to work with SeeD’s bridging germplasm as soon as it is available,” said Felix San Vicente, CIMMYT maize breeder working with the CGIAR Research Program on Maize and the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project.

Terry Molnar, maize breeder with SeeD, and Enrique Rodriguez, field research technician with SeeD, evaluate bridging germplasm for resistance to TSC. Photo: J. Johnson/CIMMYT.

Up to this point, most breeders have only used elite lines to develop hybrids, because landraces are extremely difficult to use. This practice, however, greatly limits the genetic diversity breeders employ. Using novel alleles from maize landraces allows breeders to develop improved hybrids while broadening the genetic variation of their elite germplasm. This novel genetic diversity is very important to protect crops from evolving pathogens, as it means the varieties will have several resistant alleles, including alleles that have never been used in commercial germplasm before.

“The more alleles the better,” said San Vicente, “as it protects the line longer. It provides a form of insurance to smallholder farmers as these varieties will have more genes for resistance, which reduces their risk of losing their crop.”

To ensure that farmers can access this improved seed, CIMMYT works with small local seed companies. “The price of seed will be very affordable,” according to San Vicente. “As CIMMYT is a non-profit, we provide our improved materials to seed companies at no cost.”

The TSC resistant bridging germplasm developed by SeeD has been tested in on-farm trials in TSC-prone sites in Chiapas and Guatemala, with promising results, and will be publicly available to breeders in 2017. In the meantime, local farmers look forward to seeing the results of this research in their own fields. “A variety with the disease resistance of a landrace and the yield and performance of a hybrid is exactly what we need,” says Corzo Jimenez.

Corzo Jimenez in his maize field infected with TSC. Varieties made from SeeD bridging germplasm would allow him to protect his crop without applying expensive fungicides. CIMMYT/Jennifer Johnson.

SeeD is a multi-project initiative comprising: MasAgro Biodiversidad, a joint initiative of CIMMYT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) through the MasAgro (Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture) project; the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE CRP) and Wheat (WHEAT CRP); and a computation infrastructure and data analysis project supported by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). To learn more about the Seeds of Discovery project, please go to http://seedsofdiscovery.org/.

CIMMYT receives collaboration award from the Yunnan provincial government

Written by on July 14, 2016. Posted in News.

Director Xingming Fan, from YAAS and Dan Jeffers representing CIMMYT at the Yunnan Provincial Awards Ceremony, 7 June, 2016. Photo: CIMMYT

KUNMING, China — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) received a collaboration award recognizing contributions made to improving maize and wheat productivity, from the government in China’s Yunnan Province at a conference last month. CIMMYT scientist Dan Jeffers was on hand to receive the award at a ceremony held at the Innovation Conference, where the keynote speaker was Communist Party of China Secretary Jiheng Li, who described changes currently being made in the government to foster innovation. Xingming Fan, from the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and CIMMYT’s collaborating partner responsible for establishing a CIMMYT office in the province, was recognized for the development of the Yunrui 88 maize hybrid, which is widely grown by farmers in Yunnan.

CIMMYT has been working in collaboration with scientists from the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS) Institute of Food Crops for more than 40 years. During this period, scientists have introduced more than 4,000 maize and 9,500 wheat and barley genotypes, which have been used in their breeding programs to develop cultivars for farmers with improved yield, stress tolerance, disease resistance and enhanced nutritional quality. The impact of this work has received global recognition and many prestigious awards within China. Xingming Fan, director of the Institute of Food Crops, focused on maize and professor Yaxiong Yu in wheat, have been instrumental in developing cultivars for Yunnan farmers, and broadening the genetic base for maize and wheat for all of China.

Twenty two maize hybrids have been released at the provincial level and one hybrid at the national level. Of these hybrids, several quality protein maize hybrids, including Yunyou 19, Yunrui 21, Yunrui 1 and the high oil hybrid Yunrui 8, have led to increased yields, stress tolerance and improved efficiency in animal husbandry in southern China. The unique grain characteristics in protein, starch and oil content have also benefited the food processing industry.

Due to the capacity of YAAS scientists and the location of Yunnan, CIMMYT placed a scientist at the academy to further expand collaborative efforts for the development of maize germplasm with high yields and improved stress tolerance for southern China and neighboring countries, as well as serving as donors of stress-resilient traits needed in China’s 33 million hectares of temperate maize.

Yunnan serves as an introduction point for CIMMYT’s wheat and barley experimental germplasm trails and for the ecological diversity of the province that allows YAAS scientists the potential to identify genotypes suited for use in the Yunnan breeding program as well to provide materials for over 20 organizations throughout China. The wheat varieties Yunmai 39 and Yunmai 42 have received provincial awards, and barley variety Yundamai 2 has set national yield records. CIMMYT wheat varieties cover 25 percent of Yunnan’s wheat area, and successful collaboration has led to staff training and the development of a shuttle breeding program with several countries.

Building Zambia’s drought-tolerant maize business

Written by on July 12, 2016. Posted in News.

LUSAKA, Zambia — For 62 year old Margaret Chisangano, life had been full of hard work. She used to rise early morning and carry out her tasks on her small farm – mainly growing maize without access to irrigation.

Chisangano lives in a rural village in Chongwe District of Zambia’s Lusaka Province. Average temperatures and erratic rainfalls in the region have been increasing, making it a daily challenge to feed her five grandchildren.

Margaret Chisangano harvested and sold 25 tons of drought tolerant maize from her 7-hectare plot in 2015, from 7.5 tons the previous season. This year, she expects to double her yields. With the extra income, Chisangano can feed her entire family and buy clothes, medicine and school supplies for her grandchildren. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT — Margaret Chisangano harvested and sold 25 tons of drought tolerant maize from her 7-hectare plot in 2015 – up from 7.5 tons the previous season. This year, she expects to double her yields. With the extra income, Chisangano can feed her entire family and buy clothes, medicine and school supplies for her grandchildren. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT

“Due to the harsh climate, farming was like gambling with nature,” she says. “Relying on the government’s relief food was only a temporary solution that did not solve our larger issues.”

Many farmers like Chisangano in rural Zambia are struggling to maintain their harvests while climate change makes it harder every year to produce a successful harvest. In the face of the drought crippling southern Africa, drought tolerant maize can reduce risks for farmers and allow for more consistent crop production in the face of climate variability. This enables farmers to allocate more land to higher-value crops with better economic returns, improving food security and incomes.

CIMMYT is working to improve access to good-quality maize through production and deployment of affordable and improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers throughout Zambia. Kamano Seed Company is one of six seed companies that CIMMYT partners with to improve maize production and marketing for small-scale farmers. The company provides drought-tolerant maize seeds, fertilizers and training to help farmers commercialize their production.

The company also focuses on increasing productivity and market access for farmers to drought-tolerant maize seed, and trains farmers on how to properly apply fertilizer that can help double or quadruple their maize yields. Many farmers Kamano works with are growing maize commercially for the first time.

Chisangano was one of the first female farmers to join the contract farming project. Like many rural women in Zambia, she had little access to economic opportunities outside of subsistence farming.

To invest in developing agribusinesses, Kamano Seed Company is establishing links with banks to access loans to pay the farmers for their maize seed to avoid side marketing. The smallholder farmers also receive training in business skills, including record keeping, and the basics of contract farming.

“This new knowledge to look at farming as a business, and the training in record keeping, has changed my farming enterprise,” said Chisangano. “Before, we did not treat farming as a business, and as a result we couldn’t earn any profits.”

Investing in agribusinesses development allows farm families to have a more consistent source of food and income throughout any given year, according to Nokutula Zimba, Kamano Seed Company senior marketing and sales officer. “In the long term, these farming activities help communities withstand future food crises and increase income-earning opportunities.”

Kamano Seed Company works with extension agencies to train smallholder farmers on quality standards, field inspection and isolation distances to ensure the seed they produce meets the required standards. Photo: Kamano Seed Company

In addition to on-the-ground development, CIMMYT provides input for greater seed policy reforms in southern Africa to facilitate easy seed movement across borders, and to make the variety release and registration processes more efficient.

Click here to learn more about what CIMMYT is doing to help maize farmers grow their business here.

Led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and implemented through in-country public and private partnerships, the Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling Project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development and emphasizes the scaling up and scaling out of drought tolerant maize seed and uptake by smallholder farmers. The project aims to produce close to 12,000 metric tons of certified seed for use by approximately 2.5 million people in six countries in eastern and southern Africa by the end of 2020.

Drought-tolerant maize a boon to farmers in Zambia hit by El Niño

Written by on July 8, 2016. Posted in Features.

“With consistently impressive harvests thanks to DT maize varieties, I’m always assured that my family will have enough food, and I can earn a decent income from selling some grain," said Piri, a smallholder farmer in Petauke District, Zambia. Photo: CIMMYT/Rodney Lunduka. — “With consistently impressive harvests thanks to DT maize varieties, I’m always assured that my family will have enough food, and I can earn a decent income from selling some grain,” said Piri, a smallholder farmer in Petauke District, Zambia. Photo: CIMMYT/Rodney Lunduka.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – Drought-related challenges in Africa call for proactive interventions rather than reactive ones. Every so often a drought hits, jolting the development community into action, and leading to the delivery of food aid to millions of people facing starvation — beneficial efforts in the short term, but futile for achieving lasting change.

The need for sustainable strategies that guarantee households remain food secure even when natural disasters strike is widely recognized throughout the international agriculture-for-development community and supported by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

CIMMYT plays a significant role in supporting these efforts in Africa by developing drought-tolerant (DT) maize and wheat seeds that give smallholder farmers long-term solutions to recurring drought. Drought-tolerant maize varieties are scaled out through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project.

The drought that has gripped much of southern Africa during the 2015/2016 agricultural season due to a disruptive El Niño went on record as the worst in 50 years, affecting an estimated 40 million people. While Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe declared the drought a national disaster, Zambia managed to meet its national maize production average, thanks largely to smallholder farmers, who plant roughly 51% of the total cultivated land in the country.

As in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in Zambia rain performance determines crop performance; however, despite the late and erratic rains in 2015-2016, smallholder farmers have reason to smile. This good fortune is evident in Petauke district in Zambia’s Eastern Province, roughly 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital Lusaka, where granaries are packed to the brim thanks to the bountiful maize harvest.

At the recommendation of a fellow farmer, 36-year-old Miriam Piri, a mother of six, started planting a DT maize variety in 2013 under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project. Realizing she was getting a bigger yield from the DT variety than a local one, Miriam continued to plant it.

“I grow DT maize variety PAN53 on roughly two hectares of land, and for the last three years my yields have been impressive,” said Piri. “I was a little anxious about my harvest because of poor rains, but I got the highest yield ever in three years!”

For its ability to thrive in both dry and wet conditions, and in low- to mid-altitude regions, PAN 53 is easily one of the most popular DT varieties in Zambia. In addition to its impressive yields, farmers enjoy the hybrid’s flint-type grain, which makes for easier and quicker pounding, and its densely packed cobs, which add up to more grain. PAN 53 is also resistant to leaf blight, gray leaf spot and ear rot.

Every season Piri plants 40 kilograms (90 pounds) of PAN 53, from which she harvested 45 50-kg bags in 2013. This was followed by yields of 35, 50 and 70 bags in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“Going forward, I will plant both local and drought-tolerant varieties for my family’s consumption and sale, respectively. I sell the DT maize exclusively to the government and wholesalers, so I get a fair price. With this income, I can focus on other projects,” Mwanza said. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

PAN 53 is produced and distributed by Pannar, the largest independent seed group in South Africa, and one of the largest seed suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa. Pannar has the third largest market share in Zambia.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, Zambia is expected to substantially exceed national requirements this consumption year given its maize production of 2.87 million metric tons (MT) in 2016, combined with an estimated maize carryover stock of approximately 667,500 MT.

A few doors down from Piri is 66-year-old Piri Mwanza, who also plants DT maize. For Mwanza, planting a DT maize hybrid at the onset of this year’s drought was a risk he was willing to take. Throughout 44 years as a farmer, he knew only the local maize variety until an agro-dealer convinced him to try something new. He invested $37 to buy 20 kilograms of DT maize seed and fertilizer for his one-hectare farm. Despite poor rains, he harvested 55 bags of maize compared to 40 bags the previous year with the local variety.

“I’m impressed with my harvest, and will continue investing in DT maize even when the season gets better and the rains normalize,” said Mwanza.

Planting drought-tolerant varieties has proven to be a sustainable strategy for improving food security. Continuous efforts by CIMMYT’s DTMASS project to promote the benefits of improved varieties will go a long way toward convincing smallholder farmers to adopt them.

Emergency seed project brings relief to drought-affected farmers in Ethiopia

Written by on July 6, 2016. Posted in Features.

ADDIS ABABA — As Ethiopia struggles with its worst drought in 50 years, farmers pin their hopes on seed delivered through emergency seed projects.

“The situation last year was so bad that we could only laugh or cry,” said Rameto Tefo, a smallholder farmer from Tsiaroa district in central Ethiopia. “We were highly affected by the drought and we are now reliant on the assistance of the government and organizations such as CIMMYT. Without the seed provided to us from CIMMYT through the emergency seed project, I would have had to beg from my neighbors or just plant grain and hope that it germinated.”

Rameto Tefo lost his entire harvest to drought last year. Without the maize seed provided through the emergency seed project, he said he would have had to beg his neighbors to provide food for his two wives and eight children. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

Tefo would have had a difficult time begging for seed from his neighbors; the drought in this district was so severe that most farmers lost all their harvest. Furthermore, the effects of the strongest El Niño on record continued from 2015 into 2016 and the short belg rains that normally fall during March and April were erratic and scarce. By late April, the ground was once again dry and cracked, but the day before we visited Tsiaroa in early May, torrential rain had washed away roads and flooded houses and fields. No one knew whether this was late belg rains, or the start of the main rainy season, which would normally not occur until June.

In this district alone, 67 villages were affected by drought last year and produced little or no harvest. This meant that farmers were unable to save seed for planting this season, and also lacked the income to purchase seed. According to Bekele Abeyo, CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) senior wheat breeder/pathologist for sub-Saharan Africa, immediate large-scale support is critical to ensure that the food shortages encountered during 2016 do not balloon into a future crisis for Ethiopia. Abeyo is currently leading the emergency seed project being implemented by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Ethiopian government with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The project’s primary partner, Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Under this project, 50 tons of maize seed are being supplied to Tsiaroa district – enough for each of 4,000 farmers to plant 0.5 ha with improved, drought resistant maize.

In contrast to normal rain patterns, heavy rainfall fell in central Ethiopia in early May, between the usual short (March-April) and main (June-September) rainy seasons. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

“We are optimistic that the high quality maize varieties provided through the emergency seed project will help ensure the future food security of this region,” said Dagne Wegary, CIMMYT maize breeder and maize seed coordinator for the emergency seed project. “Thanks to the long-established network of CIMMYT experts, government development agents, and district focal people, we are able to provide a complete package of improved seed and agronomy advice.”

Boti Decheso helps Demetu Edao carry maize seed received through the emergency seed project back to their farms. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

Nearby Zewai Dugda district was also severely affected by the drought, and now has more than 20,000 farmers in need of emergency seed assistance. CIMMYT is working alongside the government and other organizations to provide seed to 4,400 farmers under the emergency seed project.

It’s a complex logistical task to ensure that the correct farmers receive the right amount of seed, but storekeeper Embete Habesha in Zewai Dugda has everything under control. Farmers may request one of four varieties of drought-tolerant maize (three hybrids and one open-pollinated variety). Habesha is responsible for collecting information and fingerprint signatures from the farmers who receive seed. They are optimistic that – with normal growing conditions – they will be able to achieve yields of up to 4.4 tons/hectare.

Demetu Edao was one of the farmers scheduled to receive seed on the day we visited. She has a 1-ha plot in the village of Ubobracha where she grows teff and wheat, in addition to maize, and she uses the income to pay the school fees for her six children. Edao said she is grateful not only for the seed, but also for the assistance and agronomy advice she receives from government development agents and agriculture experts. Her neighbor and fellow farmer, Boti Decheso, joked that while he looks young, he feels old with the pressure of providing for a wife and two young children. Decheso hopes to use this seed to produce a successful harvest and save some seed for next year, while also ensuring his family has enough to eat. Any surplus maize will be sold so that the family can purchase some livestock and diversify its livelihood as a buffer against future financial and environmental shocks.

Through the emergency seed project implemented by CIMMYT, more than 226,000 households will benefit from the provision of maize, wheat, and sorghum seed. “We hope that this provision of emergency seed will enable Ethiopian smallholder farmers to quickly recover from the devastating drought of 2015,” said Abeyo. “Our unique and strong links with the Ethiopian government, the formal seed sector, farmers’ cooperatives, and partners such as ATA have allowed CIMMYT to quickly respond to farmers’ needs and provide more than 2,700 tons of seed to help ensure Ethiopia’s future food security.”

In Zewai Dugda, storekeeper Embete Habesha discusses her store records with Tadele Asfaw, CIMMYT-Ethiopia program management officer and member of the Seed Procurement Committee for the emergency seed project funded by USAID. Photo: E.Quilligan/CIMMYT

HarvestPlus World Food Prize laureates benefit more than 10 million people

Written by on June 30, 2016. Posted in News.

HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis is one of four winners of the 2016 World Food Prize. Graphic design: Bose Zhou — HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis is one of four 2016 World Food Prize laureates. Graphic design: Bose Zhou

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis is one of four winners of the 2016 World Food Prize, honored for international research leading to a substantial increase in the availability of nutritious biofortified crops for millions of poor people.

Bouis was recognized specifically for pioneering work that established a multi-institutional approach to biofortification as a global plant breeding strategy, World Food Prize organizers said in a statement on Tuesday. The interdisciplinary, collaborative HarvestPlus program was launched in 2003 and is now part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.

Bouis, who works with the CGIAR International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), has directed initiatives that have led to the release or testing of such crops as iron- and zinc-fortified beans, rice, wheat and pearl millet, along with vitamin A-enriched cassava, maize and the orange-fleshed sweet potato in more than 40 countries.

The three other laureates, Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga and Jan Low of the CGIAR International Potato Center (CIP) are being recognized for work leading to the development of the biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato. Andrade and Mwanga, plant scientists in Mozambique and Uganda, bred the Vitamin A-enriched potato using genetic material from CIP and other sources, while Low structured the nutrition studies and programs that convinced almost two million households in 10 separate African countries to plant, purchase and consume the nutritionally fortified food, the statement said.

Although orange-colored sweet potatoes are common in some parts of the world, in parts of Africa white sweet potatoes have historically been more typical. Breeding potatoes so they can synthesize more vitamin A means they can be grown in poor areas to benefit consumers and smallholder farmers who cannot afford to buy or grow food high in micronutrients.

Due to the combined efforts of the four World Food Prize laureates, more than 10 million people are now gaining nutritional benefits from biofortified crops, and the potential exists to benefit several hundred million more people in the coming decades, the statement said.

“The impact of the work of all four winners will be felt around the globe, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize. “It is particularly poignant that among our 2016 recipients are two African scientists who are working on solutions to tackle malnutrition in Africa, for Africa.”

Some 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, which occurs when food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals, according to the World Health Organization. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most affected by hidden hunger.

Andrade, Mwanga, Low and Bouis will receive the World Food Prize at a ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 13, the main event during the annual Borlaug Dialogue symposium. The late Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Norman Borlaug, a wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), established the World Food Prize 30 years ago.

CIMMYT scientists have won the prestigious award twice. Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal received it in 2000 for their work developing quality protein maize with an adequate balance of amino acids using biofortification techniques. They provided nutritional options for people with diets dominated by maize and with no adequate alternative source of protein.

Wheat breeder Sanjaya Rajaram, who worked with both CIMMYT and the CGIAR International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), won in 2014 for producing a remarkable 480 wheat varieties, which produce yields that are estimated to feed more than 1 billion people a year.

HARVESTPLUS MAIZE AND WHEAT

While the orange sweet potato is a highlight, biofortified wheat and maize are part of the overall HarvestPlus success story, benefiting thousands of resource-poor farmers and consumers.

“This news shows that it is vital to keep up the fight and serves as encouragement for partners, collaborators and donors to pursue biofortification more vigorously to achieve greater global impact on food and nutritional security,” said CIMMYT wheat breeder Velu Govindan.

CIMMYT maize and wheat scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency, or “hidden hunger,” through HarvestPlus to help improve nutrition in poor communities where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable. Micronutrient deficiency is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.

The wheat component of the HarvestPlus program involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels.

“Breeding these varieties involves the use of diverse genetic resources, including wheat landraces, ancestors and wild relatives, with high genetic potential to accumulate zinc in the grain, which are combined with adapted wheat to obtain high-yielding varieties with high zinc grain concentration,” said Carlos Guzman, head of the Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory at CIMMYT, adding that such varieties have been shown to have higher iron values in grain than conventional varieties.

A project to develop superior wheat lines combining higher yield and high zinc concentrations in collaboration with national agriculture program partners in South Asia has led to new biofortified varieties 20 to 40 percent superior in grain zinc concentration, which are already available for farmers in India and Pakistan. Other national partners, such as Bolivia, are also close to releasing biofortified wheat varieties developed through collaboration with CIMMYT.

Additionally, a recent HarvestPlus study revealed that modern genomic tools such as genomic selection hold great potential for biofortification breeding to enhance zinc concentrations in wheat.

Scientists working with HarvestPlus have developed vitamin A-enriched “orange” maize. Orange maize is conventionally bred to provide higher levels of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, a natural plant pigment found in such orange foods as mangoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and meat, converted into vitamin A by the body.

Vitamin A is essential for good eyesight, growth and boosting immunity. Almost 200 million children under the age of 5 and 19 million pregnant women are vitamin A deficient, and increasing levels through maize kernels is an effective means of boosting it in the diet.

Maize breeders are currently working on developing varieties with 50 percent more pro-vitamin A than the first commercialized varieties released. In Zambia, Zimbawe and Malawi, 12 varieties, which are agronomically competititve and have about 8ppm provitamin A, have been released.

Provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body. Stores of Vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate orange maize, according to HarvestPlus research. The study also shows preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for six months experienced an improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. The findings indicate an improvement in night vision.

Researchers are also developing maize varieties high in zinc. Scientists expect the first high zinc hybrids and varieties will be released in 2017. Further efforts are starting in such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Results from the first nutrition studies in young rural Zambian children indicate that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for the vulnerable population.

Smallholders in Rwanda and Zambia to enhance wheat productivity through new project

Written by on June 28, 2016. Posted in Features.

A contractor operating his Combine harvester in wheat field Boru Lencha village, Hetosa district in Ethiopia. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT — A contractor operating his combine harvester in a wheat field in Hetosa district, Ethiopia. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT

KIGALI, Rwanda (CIMMYT) – The recent designation of wheat as a strategic crop for Africa by the African Union in 2013 reflects the rising importance of wheat production on the continent. Since then, efforts have intensified to incorporate wheat production into existing farm systems and to help smallholders grow it to meet rising demand and reduce the economic impact of the high cost of imports.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is contributing to these efforts through a project launched this month in Kigali, Rwanda. The four-year Enhancing Smallholder Wheat Productivity through Sustainable Intensification of Wheat-based Farming Systems in Rwanda and Zambia (SWPSI) project aims to enhance the potential of wheat produced by smallholder farmers to bolster food security.

“Given the increasing opportunities in wheat research, CIMMYT is happy to work with partners to help farmers adopt improved technologies, establish innovation platforms and strengthen wheat value chains in the two countries,” said Bekele Abeyo, Ethiopia country representative and wheat breeder at CIMMYT.

Zambia and Rwanda rank 46th and 59^th respectively in the list of wheat-producing nations, topped by China. Production in Zambia, where wheat grows on more than 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres), is largely undertaken by medium and largescale commercial operations in irrigated conditions with very little smallholder production. On the other hand, in Rwanda wheat is grown on about 35,000 hectares in rainfed conditions mainly by smallholder farmers.

“The contrast between the two countries will help generate wider lessons on variations and give an opportunity to test whether wheat is still a potential crop to produce profitably under smallholder systems,” said Moti Jaleta, CIMMYT SWPSI project leader.

The new project will target 4,000 smallholder farmers in the two countries, with a focus on increasing wheat productivity from the current 2.1 tons per hectare to an average of 4.5 tons per hectare.

Smallholders will also benefit from improved technologies, which include rust-resistant and high-yielding wheat varieties, such good agronomic practices as row planting, precise fertilizer application, plant density and planting dates. Additionally, threshing technologies to enhance grain quality and efforts to link farmers with established traders and millers to help them secure markets for their wheat surplus will be undertaken.

The project mandate includes a scoping study on the potential for smallholder wheat production in Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the consortium of agricultural researchers, the CGIAR Research Program on WHEAT, SWPSI will be implemented under the leadership of CIMMYT in close collaboration with the Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), the Rwanda Agriculture Board and the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute.

Speaking during the launch, the acting executive director of CCARDESA, Simon Mwale, noted the rising demand for wheat, particularly in southern Africa, which also has a very conducive climate for wheat farming.

“Inclusion of Rwanda in the project is a unique opportunity for CCARDESA, and it will facilitate strong collaboration and new learning opportunities, being a new country to be covered by CCARDESA,” he said.

Experts hope SWPSI will contribute to the broader focus of the strategy to promote African wheat production and markets.

Some 30 key stakeholders met at a side event organized by CIMMYT at the recent 7th Africa Agricultural Science Week (AASW) to discuss how best to implement the region’s wheat strategy. The AASW and FARA General Assembly is the principal forum for all stakeholders in African agriculture science, technology and innovation to share solutions to some of the most pressing challenges the continent faces. CIMMYT’s SWPSI project is key to supporting the wheat for Africa strategy whose goal is to increase agricultural productivity and food security throughout the region.