As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the worldâs food energy intake, and contributing 55 to 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. CIMMYT scientists tackle food insecurity through improved nutrient-rich, high-yielding varieties and sustainable agronomic practices, ensuring that those who most depend on agriculture have enough to make a living and feed their families. The U.N. projects that the global population will increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, which means that the successes and failures of wheat and maize farmers will continue to have a crucial impact on food security. Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which show heat waves could occur more often and mean global surface temperatures could rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius throughout the century, indicate that increasing yield alone will be insufficient to meet future demand for food.
Achieving widespread food and nutritional security for the worldâs poorest people is more complex than simply boosting production. Biofortification of maize and wheat helps increase the vitamins and minerals in these key crops. CIMMYT helps families grow and eat provitamin A enriched maize, zinc-enhanced maize and wheat varieties, and quality protein maize. CIMMYT also works on improving food health and safety, by reducing mycotoxin levels in the global food chain. Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that colonize in food crops, and cause health problems or even death in humans or animals. Worldwide, CIMMYT helps train food processors to reduce fungal contamination in maize, and promotes affordable technologies and training to detect mycotoxins and reduce exposure.
EL BATAN, Mexico â Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was announced as the 2017 Global Agronomy Section Vice Chair of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) on March 29.
CIMMYT principal scientist Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio.
The ASA is a scientific society dedicated to promoting the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global agronomy. The Global Agronomy Section, one ASAâs eight divisions, deals with international agriculture or agricultural issues outside the United States.
As Section Vice Chair, Ortiz-Monasterio, who works in CIMMYTâs Sustainable Intensification Program, will help Presiding Chair Sjoerd Duiker oversee the coordination of the Global Agronomy Sectionâs programs and services. The Vice Chair position rotates to Section Chair after the first year of service. Ortiz-Monasterio will also serve as a member of the Nomination Committee for Section Vice Chair and Section Representative to the Board of Directors.
Ortiz-Monasterio said he sees the Vice Chair position as a chance to enhance relations between the CGIAR and the association.
âAs Vice Chair and Chair of the Global Agronomy Section of ASA, I hope to bring a closer involvement of the CG with the American Society of Agronomy,â he said.
Ortiz-Monasterio has worked at CIMMYT since 1989, first in the Global Wheat Program and, since 2009, as Principal Scientist with the Sustainable Intensification Program. Over his scientific career he has penned more than 150 publications that include more than 65 articles in international refereed journals, 18 book chapters, as well as numerous abstracts and conference papers.
The honorary trophy of the International Gluten Workshop is shown in the wheat quality laboratory at CIMMYT. The 13th workshop, which occurs every three years, will be hosted by CIMMYT in Mexico City in 2018. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortez
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â International wheat and gluten experts will gather in Mexico City for the 2018 13th International Gluten Workshop to discuss all aspects of the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and triticale.
Delegates at the event, hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), can expect to discuss such topics as gluten and grain quality, genetics and breeding for wheat quality improvement, manufacturing quality, gluten industrial uses, and effects of other grain components on quality. Current controversies over so-called ancient grains and the role of gluten in contemporary popular culture, health and diets are also on the agenda.
âThe conference will leave no stone unturned no matter what aspect of the protein is of interest,â said Carlos Guzman, head of the Wheat Chemistry and Quality Laboratory at CIMMYT.
âWe expect the entire global gluten community to attend — not only scientists and veteran gluten experts — but people from across the entire wheat quality community, including private sector wheat product producers, nutritionists and laypeople interested in the latest dietary fads,â added Guzman who is hosting the conference for CIMMYT.
As the worldâs leading research center on wheat, CIMMYT is at the forefront of research into gluten and grain, studying not only how it affects wheat quality, but exploring nutritional and socioeconomic aspects of the protein in both Global South and North.
More information about the 13th Gluten Workshop will be forthcoming. The event, which was most recently held in 2015 at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, occurs every third year in a different location.
For information on how to get involved, please contact:
Scientists agree maize originated in Mexico thousands of years ago. CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â For Mexicans, the âchildren of corn,â maize is entwined in life, history and tradition. It is not just a crop; it is central to their identity.
Even today, despite political and economic policies that have led Mexico to import one-third of its maize, maize farming continues to be deeply woven into the traditions and culture of rural communities. Furthermore, maize production and pricing are important to both food security and political stability in Mexico.
One of humanity’s greatest agronomic achievements, maize is the most widely produced crop in the world. According to the head of CIMMYTâs maize germplasm bank, senior scientist Denise Costich, there is broad scientific consensus that maize originated in Mexico, which is home to a rich diversity of varieties that has evolved over thousands of years of domestication.
The miracle of maizeâs birth is widely debated in science. However, it is agreed that teosinte (a type of grass) is one of its genetic ancestors. What is unique is that maizeâs evolution advanced at the hands of farmers. Ancient Mesoamerican farmers realized this genetic mutation of teosinte resembled food and saved seeds from their best cobs to plant the next crop. Through generations of selective breeding based on the varying preferences of farmers and influenced by different climates and geography, maize evolved into a plant species full of diversity.
The term âmaizeâ is derived from the ancient word mahiz from the Taino language (a now extinct Arawakan language) of the indigenous people of pre-Columbian America. Archeological evidence indicates Mexicoâs ancient Mayan, Aztec and Olmec civilizations depended on maize as the basis of their diet and was their most revered crop.
Maize is entwined in the history and traditions of Mexico. Artwork by Marcelo Ortiz
As Popol Vuh, the Mayan creation story, goes, the creator deities made the first humans from white maize hidden inside a mountain under an immovable rock. To access this maize seed, a rain deity split open the rock using a bolt of lightning in the form of an axe. This burned some of the maize, creating the other three grain colors, yellow, black and red. The creator deities took the grain and ground it into dough and used it to produce humankind.
Many Mesoamerican legends revolve around maize, and its image appears in the regionâs crafts, murals and hieroglyphs. Mayas even prayed to maize gods to ensure lush crops: the tonsured maize godâs head symbolizes a maize cob, with a small crest of hair representing the tassel. The foliated maize god represents a still young, tender, green maize ear.
Maize was the staple food in ancient Mesoamerica and fed both nobles and commoners. They even developed a way of processing it to improve quality. Nixtamalization is the Nahuatl word for steeping and cooking maize in water to which ash or slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) has been added. Nixtamalized maize is more easily ground and has greater nutritional value, for the process makes vitamin B3 more bioavailable and reduces mycotoxins. Nixtamalization is still used today and CIMMYT is currently promoting it in Africa to combat nutrient deficiency.
White hybrid maize (produced through cross pollination) in Mexico has been bred for making tortillas with good industrial quality and taste. However, many Mexicans consider tortillas made from landraces (native maize varieties) to be the gold standard of quality.
âMany farmers, even those growing hybrid maize for sale, still grow small patches of the local maize landrace for home consumption,â noted CIMMYT Landrace Improvement Coordinator Martha Willcox. âHowever, as people migrate away from farms, and the number of hectares of landraces decrease, the biodiversity of maize suffers.â
Women representing four generations from a maize farming family in Chiapas, Mexico. CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
Diversity at the heart of Mexican maize
The high level of maize diversity in Mexico is due to its varied geography and culture. As farmers selected the best maize for their specific environments and uses, maize diverged into distinct races, according to Costich. At present there are 59 unique Mexican landraces recorded.
Ancient maize farmers noticed not all plants were the same. Some grew larger than others, some kernels tasted better or were easier to grind. By saving and sowing seeds from plants with desirable characteristics, they influenced maize evolution. Landraces are also adapted to different environmental conditions such as different soils, temperature, altitude and water conditions.
âSelection for better taste and texture, ease of preparation, specific colors, and ceremonial uses all played a role in the evolution of different landraces,â said Costich. âMaizeâs genetic diversity is unique and must be protected in order to ensure the survival of the species and allow for breeding better varieties to face changing environments across the world.â
âOrganisms cannot evolve if there is no genetic, heritable variation for natural selection to work with. Likewise, breeders cannot make any progress in selecting the best crop varieties, if there is no diversity for them to work with,â she said.
Willcox agrees maize diversity needs to be protected. âThis goes beyond food; reduced diversity takes away a part of civilizationâs identity and traditions. Traditional landraces are the backbone of rural farming in Mexico, and a source of tradition in cooking and ceremonies as well as being an economic driver through tourism. They need to be preserved,â she said.
A CIMMYT staff member at work in the maize active collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT) CIMMYT/Xochiquetzal Fonseca
Today, CIMMYTâs Maize Germplasm Bank contains over 28,000 unique collections of maize seed and related species from 88 countries.
âThese collections represent and safeguard the genetic diversity of unique native varieties and wild relatives and are held in long-term storage,â said Costich. âThe collections are studied by CIMMYT and used as a source of diversity to breed for traits such as heat and drought tolerance and resistance to diseases and pests, and to improve grain yield and grain quality.â
CIMMYT’s germplasm is freely shared with scientists and research and development institutions to support maize evolution and ensure food security worldwide.
Willcox said  on-farm breeding by Mexican farmers also continues and preserves maize diversity and the culinary and cultural traditions surrounding maize are the reason there is such a wealth of landraces in existence today.
âThe diversity preserved in farmersâ fields is complementary to the CIMMYT germplasm bank collection because these populations represent larger population sizes and diversity than can be contained in a germplasm bank and are subjected to continuous selection under changing climatic conditions,â she added.
Examples of some of the 59 native Mexican maize landraces. Photo courtesy of CIMMYT Maize Germplasm Bank
HARARE (CIMMYT) — As CIMMYT joins the world in celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May, it can take pride in the diverse maize varieties it develops which have improved the livelihoods and health of smallholder farmers globally.
These varieties have brought tremendous benefits to smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over 90 percent of agricultural production in SSA is rainfed, which puts farmers at risk for drought and heat in addition to the poor soil fertility, pests and diseases they face. Drought alone damages about 40 percent of all maize crops in SSA, endangering the livelihoods and food security of millions of smallholder farmers.
Stress tolerant maize not only reduces risks for farmers in the face of unpredictable environmental and biological conditions, it also allows more stable crop production. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) breeds high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties with farmer-preferred traits such as drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, and disease and insect pest resistance. Many of these varieties also have increased nutritional traits such as high protein quality and increased provitamin A content, which help increase childrenâs weight and height growth rates and reduce childhood blindness.
âSince working with CIMMYT, we have unlocked our production potential,” says Sylvia Horemans, marketing director of Zambia-based Kamano Seeds. Since 2012 Kamano Seeds has benefitted from CIMMYT to strengthen its work in maize breeding, seed production and marketing. Photo: CIMMYT
âIncreasing adoption of these stress tolerant maize varieties is helping African farmers cope with drought and climate change, improve yields at household level and thereby enhance the livelihoods and food security of tens of millions of farmers,â said Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT-Southern Africa maize breeder.
These drought-tolerant varieties have proven resistant despite harsh conditions brought on in southern Africa by an intense El Niño, according to Magorokosho. âSignificant impacts have been observed in plots of smallholder farmers who grow these varieties.â
In 2014, over 54,000 metric tons of certified seed of the stress tolerant maize varieties were produced and delivered by partner seed companies for planting by smallholders. By the end of that year, more than five million smallholders had planted the improved drought tolerant varieties on over two million hectares, benefiting more than 40 million people in 13 countries in SSA.
Today, there are more than 200 stress tolerant maize varieties that yield the same or more than commercial varieties under average rainfall, and more importantly, produce up to 30 percent more than commercial varieties under moderate drought conditions. Armed with these improved varieties, CIMMYT is assuming a greater role to ensure stress tolerant maize reaches nearly five and a half million smallholder households in SSA by the end of 2019.
âEven with a little rain, this seed does well,â says a smallholder farmer Philip Ngolania, in south-central Kenya, referring to a drought-tolerant maize variety he planted during the 2015 crop season. âWithout this seed, I would have nothing. Nothing, like my neighbours who did not use the variety.” Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
âIn close collaboration with our partners, we were able to create excitement about what can be achieved with drought tolerant maize in Africa,â said Tsedeke Abate, leader of CIMMYTâs Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project. CIMMYT is working with national agricultural research systems, international research centers, and other development programs to disseminate improved maize seed to smallholder farmers in SSA through small-and medium-sized seed companies.
âThe work we have undertaken on drought tolerant maize has created significant impacts. However, several challenges still remain,â cautioned B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. One of these challenges is maize lethal necrosis (MLN), which emerged in Kenya in 2011 and has since devastated maize crops across East Africa. CIMMYT is working to generate improved stress tolerant maize varieties with resistance to MLN and other major diseases.
Maize production in Africa is growing rapidly, making maize the most widely cultivated crop on the continent, and the staple food of more than 300 million people. Providing farmers with diverse, improved seed choices will thus strengthen food security, health and livelihoods in SSA.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â When a strange maize disease suddenly appeared in 2011 in Bomet, a small town 230 kilometers (143 miles) west of Kenyaâs capital city, Nairobi, scientists from CIMMYT and Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization were thrown into disarray. The disease, later identified as Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), became a nightmare for maize scientists leading many to work around the clock to find a solution to stop its rapid spread. As intensive research and screening work started, it became apparent that there was a dire need to fill a glaring information gap on the disease, particularly regarding MLNâs geographic distribution, the number of farmers affected, the levels of yield loss and the impact of those losses.
To address this gap, surveys were conducted with groups of male and female farmers in over 120 sub-locations of Kenyaâs maize production zones in a recent study âCommunity-survey based assessment of the geographic distribution and impact of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in Kenya.â Â The results estimate maize losses from MLN at half a million tons per year with the highest losses reported in western Kenya. Â The study identified an urgent need to develop improved maize varieties resistant to MLN and emphasized the need for farmers to be informed and adapt appropriate agronomic practices to cope with the disease.
Read more about this research and other related studies on MLN from CIMMYT Scientists.
Community-survey based assessment of the geographic distribution and impact of maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in Kenya. 2016. Hugo De Groote, Francis Oloo, Songporne Tongruksawattana, Biswanath Das. Crop Protection Volume 82, April 2016, Pages 30â35
MLN pathogen diagnosis, MLN-free seed production and safe exchange to non-endemic countries. 2015. Monica Mezzalama, Biswanath Das, B. M. Prasanna
Genome-wide association and genomic prediction of resistance to maize lethal necrosis disease in tropical maize germplasm. 2015. Manje Gowda, Biswanath Das, Dan Makumbi, Raman Babu, Kassa Semagn, George Mahuku, Michael S. Olsen, Jumbo M. Bright, Yoseph Beyene, B. M. Prasanna. Theoretical and Applied Genetics
File picture shows impact of wheat blast. CIMMYT/Etienne Duveiller
El BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â International scientists are on high alert as they develop tactics to fight a deadly wheat disease that has emerged in Bangladesh, affecting a large portion of the countryâs wheat growing area.
Wheat blast, first identified in Brazil in 1985 and widespread throughout South America, deforms grain, causing it to bleach, shrivel and shrink. At its worst, the fast-moving disease can decimate a crop, leading to the urgent need for a multi-pronged approach to fight it.
The recent appearance of the disease, which is caused by the plant fungus pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, in six districts in southern Bangladesh is estimated to have affected 15 percent of the countryâs total wheat growing area of 436,000 hectares (1.08 million acres).
âWe need to fight this disease on various fronts â both in the short and long term,â said Etienne Duveiller, principal scientist and wheat pathologist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), adding that strategies include preventing the distribution of infected seed, sowing seed at designated optimal times, introducing foliar spray of triazole fungicides and developing disease-resilient seed.
âItâs paramount that infected seeds are identified and that seeds are sown at the best time to avoid rains at the sensitive stage when wheat plants develop the spike where grains form, but weâve also been working to identify resistant genetic materials â germplasm â for use in developing new varieties, a vital part of the longer term fight against the disease,â he said.
CIMMYT scientists are working with national agriculture programs on this work, setting up germplasm exchanges and testing genotypes in hot spot areas where the disease occurs, Duveiller said, adding that a smallholder farmer in one of the worst-hit areas said he expected to harvest 80 percent less wheat as a result of the disease. The problem compounds over time because farmers keep seed and replant it in subsequent years.
Scientists believe wheat blast spreads by various means, including airborne distribution, from crops planted in rotation with wheat and sexual hybridization.
âWeâre not sure what the potential scale of wheat blast spread might be because weâre still trying to understand how it survives from wheat crop to wheat crop, we urgently need investments to understand it,â said Hans Braun, director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program.
âIt takes only a few days from the first symptoms occurring until major damage is caused by the fungus,” he added. “This short window makes chemical interventions difficult and prophylactic application of fungicides is too expensive for smallholder farmers. Breeding resistant varieties is the best and possibly the only option to control the disease in the long term.â
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in Uttar Pradesh, India. CIMMYT/Petr Kosina
NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — Rice-wheat rotation is practiced by farmers on over 13 million hectares of farmland in South Asia, providing the primary source of food security in the region. However, climate change is projected to have a huge impact and reduce agricultural production 10 to 50 percent by 2050. Complex and local impacts from climate change and other challenges require solutions to risks that can be readily-adapted. Representatives from Bayer Crop Science recently visited the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) offices in India to discuss the potential for developing jointly managed sustainable approaches and technologies to address such challenges.
Sustainable intensification, which involves such conservation agriculture practices as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to increase profits, protect the environment, maintain and boost yields, is a potential solution that has worked to address the impact of climate change in South Asia. Such practices contribute to improved soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.
âSystems research with conservation agriculture practices like direct seeded rice, no-till wheat and recycling crop residues have shown tremendous potential to address the challenges of water and labor scarcity, conserve natural resources and lower the environmental footprint of South Asiaâs food bowl,â said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist and the South Asia coordinator for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, collaboratively managed by the CGIAR consortium of international agricultural researchers.
During the Bayer meeting, challenges and opportunities were identified for direct seeded rice — which requires less labor and tends to mature faster than transplanted crops — and sustainable intensification programs throughout South Asia, particularly in India. Discussions were based on the success of other CIMMYT-Bayer collaborations across South Asia that aim to address agricultural challenges through sustainable intensification — including direct seeded rice — quantifying mitigation potential of conservation agriculture-based management in rice-wheat rotation and smart farm mechanization to make farm management more efficient and productive.
Moving forward, CIMMYT and Bayer will focus on agricultural systems research to ensure even more effective interventions with higher yields, collaborate to develop new sustainable technology and increase uptake throughout the region. Sustainable intensification practices are expected to continue to grow in the region thanks to these and other collaborations, along with the advent of technological advancements and increased adoption.
CIMMYT and the Bayer Crop Science team are looking for practical solutions to future challenges in South Asian agriculture. CIMMYT/Deepak
Bayer representatives at the meeting included: Hartmut van Lengerich, head of cereals and fungicides; Juergen Echle, global segment manager of rice herbicides; Christian Zupanc, global segment manager of rice fungicides; Mahesh Girdhar, global crop manager of rice and Rajvir Rathi, vice president of public and government affairs. CIMMYT representatives included: Tek Sapkota, mitigation specialist; Balwinder Singh, crop modeling specialist and Alwin Keil, senior economist.
A milling machine for preparing nixtamalized maize dough was presented to Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization by the Mexican embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. CIMMYT/Brenda Wawa
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Although maize is a staple food for millions of Kenyans it is usually consumed in one of five ways: roasted or boiled; mixed with beans, or in ugali (a dough-like dish made from maize flour, millet flour or sorghum flour) and porridge. This is nothing compared to over 600 dishes derived from maize in Mexico, about 300 of them made through a process called nixtamalization or lime-cooking.
The process includes cooking and steeping dried maize grain in water and food-grade lime (calcium hydroxide), rinsing the maize to remove the outer kernel cover (pericarp) and milling it to produce dough that can be consumed in different ways, according to Natalia Palacios, maize quality specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This method, first developed in Mesoamerica where the crop was originally cultivated, has existed in the region for thousands of years.
If adapted, modern nixtamalization technology could increase maize uses and offer Kenyans invaluable benefits. Food-grade lime is rich in calcium, providing nutritional and health benefits. Nixtamalized food products such as tortillas (small circular-shaped flatbreads) are said to have same nutritional value as milk. About 94 percent of Mexicans eat tortillas, with 79 kilograms (174 pounds) per capita being consumed in rural areas and 57 kilograms per capita in urban areas every year.
By removing the pericarp, the technology contributes to reduce aflatoxin fungal contamination levels in maize kernels by 30 to 60 percent. Due to aflatoxins, Kenya has suffered maize production losses and, more importantly, a loss of human lives. In 2004, 124 people died due to aflatoxin contamination, and 155,000 90-kilogram bags of maize had to be discarded, according to government reports. Nixtamalization technology may therefore also contribute to increasing food safety for Kenyan consumers, who, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, are not fully aware of the harvest, drying and storage techniques necessary to prevent mycotoxin growth and contamination.
Participants prepare tortillas from nixtamalized dough. Photo: CIMMYT/Brenda Wawa
The benefits of nixtamalization will soon become a reality for Kenyans following the official presentation of nixtamalized maize mills to the Cabinet Secretary of Kenyaâs Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries by Mexicoâs ambassador to Kenya, Erasmo MartĂnez, which took place on 4 April 2016 in Nairobi. This event marked the official launch of a new project titled âExpanding maize utilization as food and enhancing nutrition improved health and development in Kenya through processing technologies from Mexico,â which will contribute to disseminating new technology across the country. The three-year project will be led by the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation (KALRO).
The launch was followed by a week of training of 27 trainers from the public and private sectors led by CIMMYT and its collaborators from the tortilla industry in Mexico City and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The training focused on building the capacity of partners who will be the major drivers of the commercialization of nixtamalized products.
âGeographically Mexico is very far from Kenya, but we want to bring a technology that is benefiting millions of people in Mexico every day, and itâs my hope that this will go beyond Kenya,â MartĂnez said, lauding this milestone.  The Mexican embassy and the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation and Development played a crucial role in bringing the technology to Kenya.
âThis technology is important because of its value addition to our food sector through reduction of aflatoxin exposure, increased market and income opportunities for youth and women, which will attract and improve their involvement in agribusiness,â said Sicily Kariuki, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Youth, who played a key role in the initial discussion on transferring this technology to Kenya.
KALRO will support raising awareness of the technology among small- and medium-sized companies, increasing their investment opportunities. KALRO is the custodian of the equipment donated by the Mexican government that is being used for training. CIMMYT will support this work by providing technical and capacity building expertise.
âWe will help to evaluate and monitor grain quality besides developing resilient maize to ensure we have improved materials that fit the purpose of an efficient nixtamalization,â Palacios said. CIMMYT will also continue to collaborate with its partners on research aimed at finding further scientific evidence of the use of nixtamalization as a way of decreasing aflatoxin exposure.
Maize is a staple food for 900 million poor consumers globally, who often rely on small-scale farmers for the food they find in the market. For these farmers, improved seeds that can thrive in the challenging environments they live are a gateway to higher yields and a better life. With traits offering greater resilience to drought, disease and other stresses, improved varieties allow farming families to invest more in their livelihoods and childrenâs futures.
One example is Leskari Ngoidma, a farmer from northern Tanzania, who in 2015 planted the drought tolerant maize variety HB513 known locally as ngamia, the Kiswahili word for camel. âI got 15 bags of maize from my one-acre farm. In a year when the rains are really bad like they were in 2015, I usually only manage to harvest at the most five bags. This is good seed!â
Through the platform provided by the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture works with over 300 governmental, non-governmental and private sector partners â especially from local seed sectors â to give small-scale farmers access to the best agricultural technologies. In 2015, these partnerships led to at least 64Â new maize varieties being approved for release in 15 countries.
Peter Mutisya, sales and marketing director at MultiAgro Trading Main Suppliers (MAMS), described the popularity of an improved maize variety first released in 2013 in Tanzania. Yielding 8.5 to 10 tons per hectare under optimal conditions, successful on-farm demonstrations mean that in 2016 the company will produce 50 tons of MAMSH093 seed in Tanzania for the October short rains, with plans to spread to Kenya and Uganda. âWomen farmers particularly love this maize variety because of its sweet taste and the quality protein it offers,â said Mutisya.
In addition to higher and more stable yields, most of the varieties combine several special traits into one seed. Three varieties in South Africa combine drought and heat tolerance, perform well in soils with low phosphorous and low nitrogen and are resistant to the diseases gray leaf spot, maize streak virus, and turcurium leaf blight.
In western Africa, 15 maize varieties released in 2015 will help farmers resist the deadly witchweed disease, or Striga. In Latin America, four new maize varieties were released with resistance to the tar spot complex disease that has emerged as an epidemic in recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, 10 new maize varieties with quality protein content were released in 2015.
Learn more about how improved seeds are helping maize farmers throughout Africa and globally here.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Locally adapted marketing initiatives by an innovative seed company are leading farmers in the area around one of Tanzaniaâs largest agricultural towns to plant Lubango, a high-performing, drought-tolerant maize variety.
Lubango, which means âblessedâ in local Sukuma language, was first produced by IFFA Seed in 2015 and is already replacing traditional seeds on farms across Tanzania as a result of the company’s hands-on, targeted marketing approach. Headquartered in the city of Arusha since 2008, IFFA now dedicates more than 140 hectares (345 acres) of Nzega farmland to Lubango production to meet the increasing demand for the seed.
Demonstration plots in 10 of Tanzania’s 12 districts have made a big impact, said Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA seed promotions manager, who believes that demonstration plots are the most effective of all the marketing tools because they allow farmers to see direct benefits in their fields.
âLubango was created with the smallholder farmer in mind,” Mponda said. “It’s drought-tolerant, affordable, high-yielding, and great tasting.”
âVisits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,â said farmer Michael Kumbere. âI made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.â
Part of Mpondaâs work involves ensuring farmers are equipped with smart agronomic practices. For example, farmers who plant and space crops in a straight line, as opposed to haphazardly scattering seeds, create ample space for weeding, save on inputs such as fertilizer and  efficiently use sunlight and soil nutrients.
âAs seasons pass, I’m amazed at the progress farmers have made by accepting changes in their farming practices to maximize gains,â Mponda said, adding that novel promotion strategies are necessary to compete with the numerous other seed companies in the country.
âWe’re certainly leveraging modern marketing methods to raise awareness on drought-tolerant varieties, and Lubango in particular. So far, audio-visual tools are a hit,â Mponda said.
âThis was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,â said Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer for more than 30 years, referring to Lubango.  With Lubango, farmers with more than two acres (.81 hectares) of land can save up to 50 percent on their seed purchase, at least $13 compared to similar brands, which can be invested in fertilizer or paid labor. Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. CIMMYT/Kelah KaimenyiIFFA Seed recently produced a short film detailing the life cycle of Lubango maize from planting to harvest, and sharing farming tips and tricks at every stage. The video will be screened at all farmer field days and other relevant events hosted or attended by the company. Audio announcements are broadcast at Nzegaâs local railway station, a previously untapped channel, and the company produces flyers for distribution to farmers at events and seed purchase areas. Mponda is keen on large-scale visual outputs, and has identified billboards and television adverts as his next course of action.
Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, CIMMYTâs Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project works closely with IFFA Seed Company and other private partners throughout eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers through 2020.
CIAT field day om Palmira, Colombia. Photo Luis Narro/CIMMYT.
PALMIRA, COLOMBIA — A field day was organized at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to show the advances of CIMMYTâs HarvestPlus project in Colombia and throughout Latin America. 58 participants representing regional agriculture, education and health sectors, Colombian agricultural institutions, seed producing companies and producersâ guilds, non-governmental organizations and food processing and supply companies. CIAT and CIMMYT staff involved in HarvestPlus also attended the event.
Conferences held during the field day aimed to show participants the benefits of a biofortification program. Meike Anderson, a HarvestPlus crop development specialist of presented strategic priorities for developing and commercializing biofortified crops, emphasizing more than 2 billion people worldwide suffer from hidden hunger, or micronutrient deficiencies.
HarvestPlus was created to combat hidden hunger, and operates in over 40 countries with more than 200 partners. The project began in 2004 and is now in the dissemination phase. HarvestPlus is directly in line with the CGIARâs goal to ensure improved crop varieties are designed to have high in nutritional value. HarvestPlus in turn has prioritized the development of maize seed with high zinc and provitamin A content. In Colombia 20% of the population is zinc deficient as it much of the population in other Latin American countries including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.
Maize is the staple food of around a third of malnourished children all over the world. In Colombia 25% of children under 5 years of age present vitamin A deficiency. Biofortified food could have a huge impact improving diet in Colombia and across the globe.
CIMMYT aims to include higher protein quality, lysine, zinc and provitamin A in biofortified maize. To date, there are at least 10 biofortified varieties than after released that can be sown by farmers for both urban and rural consumers, all which were on display during the field day. A farm-to-plate strategy including beans, rice, cassava and yams should also be implemented.
Carolina Gonzalez, HarvestPlus economist, also presented socioeconomic studies prioritizing biofortification in Colombia during the event, identifying areas on the Atlantic coast as the greatest in need due to high levels of vitamin A and zinc deficiency. Sonia Gallego, post harvest Research Assistant of HarvestPlus, provided information from retention and nutrition studies on biofortified maize, emphasizing how important maize grain processing and conservation from harvest to food production are for vitamin A and zinc availability in the human body.
Discussing the benefits of biofortified maize, whcih should be available to Colombian farmers in 2017. Photo: Marleni Rosero/HarvestPlus-CIAT.
Field activities were also presented by CIMMYT researchers Felix San Vicente and Luis Narro. They emphasized the importance of delivering to farmers biofortified maize seeds that still produce yields that can compete with their competitors. During an event hosted earlier in the year evaluating biofortified hybrids, the grain yield of the best hybrid was nearly ten tons per hectare, which is on par with the best performing maize used as a control group. This proves that high zinc or protein content does not cause farmers a loss in yield â just gains in nutritional. Biofortification also proved to have no effect on other traits like disease resistance, grain type or plant architecture.
At the end of the field day, teams identified institutions and companies that will take charge of varietal release and the seed production process in Colombia, including CORPOICA, Fenalce, Semivalle and Semillas Guerrero. In addition, CIMMYT will simultaneously sow plots to demonstrate to seed companies and other institutions the agronomic traits of different varieties.
Government programs that provide food for school children were also identified as potential collaborators to meet high demand for maize and malnourished children in that state of Valle del Cauca. Colombia demands is 1,200,000 tons of maize for food uses annually, with many producers and processing companies interested in the benefits of using biofortified maize and other crops.
Everyone who attended the workshop evaluated plant and grain traits and compared experimental plot yields. As a result, the seed companies decided to organize agronomic evaluation plots starting in 2016 and establish semi-commercial plots of hybrids, with the goal to release the first biofortified maize in 2017.
Among workshop attendees were CORPOICA and ICA, seed companies Semivalle, Maxisemillas, Semillas del pacĂfico and Procampo, producers guilds FENALCE, FEDERECAFE and ARDECAN, non-governmantal organizations including CETEC, FIDAR and CLAYUCA and companies FundaciĂłn Naturaleza y Vida and Pampa also attended.
Malawian smallholder farmer Dyless Kasawala of Kasungu District demonstrates her maize-legume rotation technologies. Through SIMLESA, she has managed to attain household food security in an area plagued by frequent droughts. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira
Delegates gathered in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, for the sixth SIMLESA annual review and planning meeting to discuss the projectâs progress and achievements, share lessons learned over the past six years, and deliberate over potential improvements for implementing activities in the project’s final two years.
âThe SIMLESA project has targeted increasing farm-level food security and productivity in the context of climate risk and change,” said Bright Kumwembe, Â principal secretary of Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, speaking on behalf of the minister. “The program has become a model to many regional and sub-regional collaborative projects that address agricultural intensification. In this respect, the challenge to NARSÂ lies especially in developing technologies, information and knowledge that sustainably increase agricultural productivity and at the same time reduce down-side risks.â
As part of the meeting, participants visited three farmers in Kasungu District who are involved in on-farm trials assessing conventional farming practices, conservation agriculture with no herbicide application, conservation agriculture using herbicides and conservation agriculture including maize-legume crop rotations. Farmer Dyless Kasawala, was observed to have managed to improve soil fertility in her fields, increase her maize yield and improve food security in her household.
Farmers in the area are engaging in agro-processing activities, such as extracting oil from groundnuts, to add value to their farming enterprises.
Established in 2010 and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), SIMLESA has as its primary objective to improve food security for 650,000 small farming households by increasing food production and incomes of vulnerable farmers with commercial viability by 2023. Ongoing SIMLESA Phase II activities will conclude in June 2018.
âThe Program Steering Committee (PSC) recognizes the hard work of all participants and especially the dedicated scientists in the national programs. SIMLESA is on track to deliver significant impacts in the next two years, âsaid Eric Craswell, committee co-chair.
Delegates discussed the favorable Mid-Term Review (MTR) conducted last year. âSIMLESA I and II is a complex program with many partner countries, agencies, science disciplines, and objectives. Despite that complexity, the MTR found the program on the whole to be well-managed by CIMMYT, and the NARS partners had a strong sense of ownership of the program. It was very evident that the whole SIMLESA team is determined to meet the objectives of the program, to contribute and to work as a team,” Craswell said.
Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA project leader, highlighted the 2015 MTR recommendations, which indicate that SIMLESA should rebalance plans and activities of all program objectives and various program-wide themes; ensure that the science which underpins the development of sustainable intensification packages and policy dialogue is completed and published in extension reports and peer-reviewed literature; and refocus its monitoring and evaluation processes, communication plans and gender activities.
To achieve these changes, each country and the program as a whole should prepare, within the approved budget, a revised work plan extending to the end of SIMLESA II. The program would then be able to make an informed decision on what to prioritize and what needs to be phased out, Mekuria said.
Participants discussed key issues in phase II, related to MTR recommendations, concluding that the goals should include:
consolidating activities during the 2016-2018 period, with no new activities implemented during the remaining life of the program
documenting scientific outputs for all the research conducted and synthesize the lessons learned
streamlining logframe activities and developing a revised work plan
scaling-out available technologies in collaboration with partners; and
redesigning the project’s livestock component to align it with SIMLESA objectives.
SIMLESA program steering committee co-chair Eric Craswell told participants to refocus their work through scaling up activities. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira
John Dixon, ACIAR principal advisor/research program manager, cropping systems and economics, said the 2015 SIMLESA review had highlighted the commitment to the program by national partners.
âThis gives us the opportunity to rebalance plans, focus on areas that can be brought together and synthesize results,” Dixon said. “Now is the time to scale-up by taking our research to farmers through extension, non-governmental organizations and farmersâ associations â moving from doing, to handing over the research.â
M. Sadeeq Tahir, the first QPM farmer in Pakistan who tested the newly introduced QPM hybrids in his field. Photo: M. Ashraf
ISLAMABAD â The maize sector in Pakistan is benefiting from an upsurge in investments leading to new varieties from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that have the potential to increase production, enhance nutrition and strengthen national industry.
Maize is the third most important cereal crop in Pakistan, which at a production rate of four tons per hectare, has one of the highest national yields in South Asia. Maize productivity in Pakistan has increased almost 75 percent from levels in the early 1990s due to the adoption and expansion of hybrid maize varieties. The crop is cultivated both in spring and autumn seasons and grows in all provinces throughout the country.
However, the lack of a strong national seed system has caused Pakistan to import more than 85 percent of its hybrid maize seed at a cost averaged about $50 million annually since 2011. When coupled with other factors including a limited source of seed providers and non-relaxation of duties on imported seed, this causes the unit price of hybrid maize seed to be the most expensive in South Asia.
PROJECTÂ BOOSTSÂ SEED
A project launched in 2013, CIMMYTâs Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), led to a large-scale evaluation of maize varieties, which have since resulted in more than 1,000 diverse genotypes tested for favorable traits across Pakistan. Currently, 20 public- and private-sector companies are partnering with CIMMYT to test new varieties and deploy locally-adapted products.
USAID Mission Director John Groarke (center) during the launching ceremony of the first QPM hybrids in Pakistan. Photo: Awais Yaqub
In just two years since the launch of this initiative, more than 80 CIMMYT-derived hybrids and open pollinated varieties of maize have been identified and adapted to diverse ecologies in Pakistan. In the first phase, CIMMYT allocated 49 maize products for registration, commercial release, further seed scale-up and delivery in the target geographies in Pakistan. This maize germplasm was sourced from CIMMYTâs regional maize breeding hubs mainly from Colombia, Mexico and Zimbabwe. With the help of national partners, these improved varieties are being put in the hands smallholder farmers throughout the country.
Seed businesses in Pakistan now have the leverage to run a competitive domestic market for maize seed, thanks to these new varieties. Diverse new lines are also more nutritious, mature earlier and are more tolerant to drought. They can also be delivered at an affordable price which is a huge step forward compared to the limited options smallholder farmers had before AIP started.
Biofortification, or the enhancement of the nutritional value of a crop, has been a cornerstone of CIMMYTâs work in developing improved varieties. Quality Protein Maize (QPM) was the first new hybrid product to reach farmers in Pakistan. Â Demonstration seeds from the first two biofortified maize hybrids in Pakistan were officially distributed to farmers this February by the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), one of the national partners to AIP. The two QPM hybrids, originally from CIMMYT-Colombia, will reach about 300 farmers this season and further distribution is expected by 2017.
M. Hashim Popalzai (center) handing over samples of maize parental lines. At the left Mr. Faisal Hayat from the seed company Jullundur Private Ltd. receiving the seed and at the right Nadeem Amjad, PARC Chairman. Photo: M. Waheed Anwar
âWe know how precious (CIMMYTâs) parental seeds are,â said Muhammad Hashim Popalzai from Pakistanâs Ministry of National Food Secuirity and Research. Â âAt times it will take up to eight years to develop inbred lines and another 3-4 years to constitute hybrid seeds, however, we are getting them easily under the AIP program.â
Although developing new seeds takes time, the benefits could make a huge contribution to Pakistanâs economy, health and livelihoods for farmers across the country.
âThese parental seeds will help us to produce the seed locally,â said Faiysal Hayat, deputy manager of seed company Jullundur Private Ltd., adding that they will also âenable us to provide quality seed at an affordable price to farmers.â
In reviewing the progress of AIP maize activities, Abdu Rahman Beshir, CIMMYTâs maize improvement and seed systems specialist said: âThe overwhelming interest and collaborations from public-private stakeholders of Pakistanâs maize sector are the main thrust for CIMMYTâs maize varietal deployment drive in Pakistan.â
Subsequent activities in quality seed production and enhanced product positioning will further reinforce the encouraging gains of AIP which aims to have a vibrant maize seed system in Pakistan, according to Beshir.
Martin Kropff is CIMMYT director general and Juergen Voegele is senior director World Bankâs Agriculture Global Practice.
(Photo: J. Cumes/CIMMYT)
What do a chapati, a matza, or couscous have in common? The answer is wheat, which is a source for one-fifth of the calories and protein consumed globally.
Yet, stable, assured funding for public research for this important food grain remains elusive.
For 45 years, world-class scientists from two research centers of CGIAR â the worldâs only global research system that focuses on the crops of most importance to poor farmers in developing countries â have battled the odds to provide wheat and nourish the worldâs growing population. Their innovations have helped to boost wheat yields, fight debilitating pests and ward off diseases, improving the lives of nearly 80 million poor farmers.
Wheat plays a big role in feeding the human family. Over 1.2 billion resource-poor consumers depend on wheat as a staple food.
Small Investment, big gains: Research for free public goods shows the way
A new report by the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat shows that for an annual investment of roughly $30 million, the benefits gained from wheat research are in the range of $2.2 billion to $3.1 billion each year, from 1994 to 2014. Put another way, for every $1 invested in wheat breeding, $73 to $103 were returned in direct benefits, helping producers and consumers alike. Surely these healthy numbers — which are conservative because they do not include benefits from traits other than yield — would whet the appetite of any hard-nosed economist or bean counter looking for a convincing return on investment.
Science products like improved wheat lines from CIMMYT, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and ICARDA, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas â both members of CGIAR â are freely available to all and keep the global wheat research enterprise humming. Each year CIMMYT alone distributes half a million packets of corn and wheat seed from its research to 346 partners in public and private breeding programs spread across 79 countries where these crops are mainstays of peopleâs diets.
Today, the rapid spread of wheat varieties adapted to diverse ecologies is one of agricultural scienceâs unsung success stories. Almost half the worldâs wheat land is sown to varieties that come from research by CGIAR scientists and their global network of partners. Even as wheat-free diets are on the rise in industrialized countries â whether due to personal preference, or medical necessity such as celiac disease â it is increasingly clear that wheat will remain an important grain in the diets of millions of people living in emerging economies.
(Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
Food in a changing climate: The future is here
So what could possibly be wrong with the scenario painted above? After all, CIMMYT has been around for five decades, and public funding has kept the wheels of discovery science turning and delivering improved varieties of the food crops that farmers demand and consumers need.
The big outlier, our known unknown, is climate change. For every one degree Celsius increase in growing season temperatures, wheat production decreases by a whopping 6 percent.
To beat the heat, CIMMYT scientists are working to reshape the wheat plant for temperature extremes and other environmental factors. New goals include dramatically enhancing wheatâs use of sunlight and better understanding the internal signals whereby plants coordinate their activities and responses to dry conditions and high temperatures.
Food demand is projected to rise by 20 percent globally over the next 15 years with the largest increases in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and East Asia where the map of hunger, poverty and malnutrition has an overlay of environmental stress and extreme resource degradation.
Climate change is already playing havoc with the global food system.
In 2009, one-fifth of Mexicoâs corn production was lost due to drought. In 2011, extreme weather events such as cyclones destroyed one-third of Sri Lankaâs rice crop, and badly damaged rice paddies in Madagascar, one of the worldâs poorest countries. Two successive seasons of poor rainfall from El Niño have decimated Africaâs corn harvest and left millions facing hunger this year.
Looking to the future, rising food demand â driven inexorably by population, rapid urbanization and increasing global wealth â shows no sign of abating. To meet food needs by increasing productivity, cereal yields â not wheat alone â would need to increase at 3 percent a year, a number that is 40 percent higher than the 2.1 percent gains achieved from 2000 to 2013. Alas, plant breeders do not have the luxury of complacency. New varieties take more than a decade to develop, test, and deploy through national certification and seed marketing or distribution systems.
CGIAR crop scientists are rushing to meet the challenges. In a taste of the future, a team of topnotch scientists at CGIARâs Lima-based International Potato Center and NASA will test growing potatoes under Martian conditions to demonstrate that hardy spuds can thrive in the harshest environments.
As the worldâs policy makers begin to grapple with the interconnected nature of food, energy, water and peace, every dollar invested in improving global food and nutrition security is an investment in the future of humanity.
To develop crops, livestock, fish and trees that are more productive and resilient and have a lower environmental signature, CGIAR is calling for an increase in its war chest to reach $1.35 billion by 2020. Is anybody listening?
Celebrating “CIMMYT 50” in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) — Improved maize varieties, crop management practices and sustainable intensification characterize valuable contributions made by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) over the past 50 years, said a Zimbabwe government official at recent anniversary celebrations, calling for renewed investments in agricultural development in the country.
CIMMYT-Southern Africa maize breeder Cosmos Magorokosho, showcasing CIMMYT’s work as part of CIMMYT50 commemorations. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
Under the theme ââturning research into impact,ââ the April 11 celebrations at the CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office in Harare were attended by more than 300 people, including members of CIMMYTâs board of trustees, donors, representatives from non-governmental organizations, research institutions, national agricultural research systems from eastern and southern Africa, the diplomatic community, farmer associations and seed companies.
âI’d like to highlight the long-standing partnership between CIMMYT and its African partners and the efforts being made to sustainably increase the productivity of maize-based systems to ensure food and nutritional security, increase household incomes and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa,â said Joseph Made, Zimbabweâs Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, during a speech.
During the “CIMMYT 50” event, the world’s leading research center on maize and wheat showcased its work by conducting an on-station tour, a field trip to observe crop-livestock integration activities and a visit to the maize lethal necrosis quarantine facility being established in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, addresses the CIMMYT50 commemoration in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
Made acknowledged that CIMMYTâs research work has resulted in the development of hundreds of improved maize varieties and crop management practices and more recently, sustainable intensification options that are now spreading through the region.
However, Made also emphasized the need for continued investment âin view of the ever-growing population and the adverse effects of climate change and variability.â
âWhat is currently happening is that governments are preoccupied with short-term problems at the expense of long-term problems,â said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general, citing new challenges, such as climate change, that are shifting or shortening growing seasons, resulting in irregular rainfall and weather patterns.
âSuch challenges can be overcome partly by giving farmers early warning, especially via mobile phone, of the coming seasonâs expected weather, and improved seed to withstand drought, heat, floods and short growing seasons,â Kropff said, adding that 40 percent of CIMMYTâs activities take place in Africa.
CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff celebrating 50 years of CIMMYT at the organizationâs Southern Africa Regional Office. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
Extensive research activities take place in Harare, other substations and on-farm trials.
From 2007 to 2014, over 200 unique drought-tolerant and nutrient use-efficient maize varieties were released through more than 100 private sector companies in 14 African countries.
In 2014 alone, CIMMYT supported the production of nearly 52,000 tons of certified drought-tolerant maize seed, enough to plant over 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) and touch the lives of people in approximately 5.2 million households.
CIMMYT continues to make an impact in Africa by building the capacity of national institutions, enterprises, researchers and farmers, and ensuring that gender and culture are integrated in every intervention.
The main “CIMMYT 50” celebratory commemorative event will be held in Mexico City from September 27 to 29 2016.
![âThis was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,â says Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer of over 30 years regarding Lubango. âI can already tell that I will have a good harvest from the double cobs on each plant.â Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.](http://staging.cimmyt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/kelah_4.jpg)
