Theme: Nutrition, health and food security

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the world’s food energy intake, and contributing 55 to 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. CIMMYT scientists tackle food insecurity through improved nutrient-rich, high-yielding varieties and sustainable agronomic practices, ensuring that those who most depend on agriculture have enough to make a living and feed their families. The U.N. projects that the global population will increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, which means that the successes and failures of wheat and maize farmers will continue to have a crucial impact on food security. Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which show heat waves could occur more often and mean global surface temperatures could rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius throughout the century, indicate that increasing yield alone will be insufficient to meet future demand for food.

Achieving widespread food and nutritional security for the world’s poorest people is more complex than simply boosting production. Biofortification of maize and wheat helps increase the vitamins and minerals in these key crops. CIMMYT helps families grow and eat provitamin A enriched maize, zinc-enhanced maize and wheat varieties, and quality protein maize. CIMMYT also works on improving food health and safety, by reducing mycotoxin levels in the global food chain. Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that colonize in food crops, and cause health problems or even death in humans or animals. Worldwide, CIMMYT helps train food processors to reduce fungal contamination in maize, and promotes affordable technologies and training to detect mycotoxins and reduce exposure.

CIMMYT scientist Sarah Hearne talks about gender equality in science. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés Arredondo/ CIMMYT)

Q+A: How women and girls can succeed in science, according to CIMMYT’s Sarah Hearne

Written by Matthew O'Leary on February 25, 2016. Posted in News. 58 Comments on Q+A: How women and girls can succeed in science, according to CIMMYT’s Sarah Hearne

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Scientific change requires innovation and the best solutions emerge when a wide range of perspectives have been considered, if you don’t have representation from half of the population the scope for innovation is narrowed, said a leading molecular geneticist on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

“Women often look at problems from a different angle from men – not better, just different – and like men we have a different gender perspective – all perspectives are valid and of value,” said Sarah Hearne, who leads the maize component of the Seeds of Discovery project at the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement.

Her passion for science began in girlhood, stemming from a curiosity about how things work.

“I loved experimenting and figuring out how and why things happen; I used to dissect my grandma’s fish when they died to try to work out why they were floating in the tank – I was six at the time,” she said. “Thankfully my parents weren’t horrified by this and over the years my requests for microscopes, chemistry sets and supplies of organs to dissect were realized by Santa and the village butcher.”

Not all girls receive such encouragement. A study conducted in 14 countries found the probability for female students graduating with a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in a science-related field are 19, 8 and 2 percent respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37, 18 and 6, according to the United Nations.

In response, in December, U.N. member states adopted a resolution to establish an annual international day to mark the crucial role women and girls play in science and technological communities celebrated for the first time on Feb. 11 this year. The aim is to further the access of women and girls and their participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, training and research activities.

She kicked off her career in adulthood by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Plant Science at the University of Manchester and a doctoral degree at the University of Sheffield where she focused on work based across the University of Sheffield, the John Innes Center and Syngenta. Since graduating she has worked at two CGIAR centers in Latin America and East and West Africa.

She currently works with CIMMYT in the Seeds of Discovery project where she develops and applies tools to identify and enable the use of the valuable genetic variation present in genebanks for the benefit of farmers and consumers around the world.

She shared her views on women and girls in science in the following interview.

Q: Why is it important to have an increased number of woman and girls studying as well as working in scientific fields?

Girls rock!

Half the population is female but in science careers we are underrepresented, this imbalance becomes increasingly acute as you move up in career structures towards positions of more decision making.

Gender-balanced companies tend to have higher profitability and rank higher in terms of institutional health. This translates to the non-profit sector – impact instead of profitability is the measure of success. More women are needed in scientific research and development at all levels of organizations. This ideal requires a gender-balanced pool of potential applicants – something that is hard to obtain when women are underrepresented in sciences from school to university.

Q: What inspired you to follow a career in science and agriculture?

I grew up in Yorkshire, a rural area in the UK, my dad was an agricultural engineer and my mum still runs her own shop. Farming was an integral part of our community and our lives.

I loved science at school and was one of the few who studied chemistry and physics. Indeed, I was the only girl who studied the four sciences on offer. I enjoyed studying biology and environmental science the most, and after leaving school I deliberated whether to study genetics or plant science at university, eventually deciding to do a degree in applied plant science.

I spent my third year at university working with Zeneca – now Syngenta. My fellow interns and I were plunged into the deep end of applied research with very limited supervision; I LOVED IT! I got to research design, test, evaluate and develop tools and resources that mattered to the company and to farmers; my boss was very supportive and he encouraged me to try out some of my more “wacky” ideas…I was allowed to fail and learn from failure, developing better methods as a result. After earning my B.Sc. I applied for Ph.Ds., all the Ph.Ds. I applied for were focused on different aspects of crop improvement – I wanted to work with plant science that had an impact on people’s lives. The Ph.D. I chose was on maize molecular genetics and physiology working on Striga (a parasitic weed endemic to Africa) and drought. My Ph.D. experiences importantly gave me first-hand experience of the hard reality of the precariousness of food and nutritional security across vast swathes of the human population. When completing my Ph.D. I decided I wanted to be able to contribute to food security through research but I didn’t want to do this within a university setting- I thought that was too far from farmers. I came to know CIMMYT through my doctoral research and I have been working in the CGIAR system of agricultural researchers ever since completing my Ph.D.

Q: What challenges do women and girls face with regard to science today?

Perceptions: Women can face direct sexism related to their choice of class/degree/career not being considered gender appropriate, this often has cultural influence so while a girl may be more or less accepted in one culture she is not in another. Role models also pose a challenge. There are few female role models in many areas; those that exist have often sacrificed much personal life to be where they are. This gives a skewed picture to girls in an image-obsessed world where people are expected to be perfect in all aspects of life. Science is still very male dominated, especially agricultural science. Overt and unintentional sexism is rife in many organizations – women can be made to feel like a “token” staff member..

Being assertive and focused is often viewed very negatively when women display this behavior with gender-specific terms being used. I have been called “bossy, bitchy, emotional, aggressive, ice queen, scary, etc.”, my male colleagues exhibiting the same behavior are “driven, focused, tough, go-getters, etc.” I have never heard them being called bossy….

Inequality at home results in inequality in science. Women still tend to bear the brunt of home and childcare activities and this creates real or perceived impacts. Institutions and national governments don’t always help – shared maternity/paternity leave would be a good starting point.

Q: What is your advice to young aspiring female scientists?

Wow, there are lots of wisdom picked up and passed on I could share, here are a few I have found the most useful:

Personal: Check your own prejudice and ensure you treat others in an equal way. I get tired of hearing statements like “men can’t multi-task”… it is as offensive as “women can’t read maps”. If we want equality we have to ensure we model it ourselves.

Work on self-confidence, self-esteem and develop a good, self-depreciating sense of humor. Build a support network to help maintain these things and give you honest feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; ask lots of questions.

Don’t stress about titles, positions or detailed career paths – career paths don’t usually follow a straight or planned path and you discover more fulfilling things on the journey. Give yourself time to explore and discover an area of science you love and are inspired by; believe me it is worth every second invested. Happiness is more important that a title on a business card.

Pick your partners carefully, life is full of surprises and striving for equality shouldn’t stop in the classroom or workplace.

In school/the workplace, do not accept gender loaded statements; “you are bossy” should be quickly but firmly rebuked with “not bossy, simply assertive”. Speak out about gender bias –be it female, male, bi -or trans gender – and enable and support others to speak out. If someone says something that makes you feel uncomfortable, articulate this to them. In addition, I would advise that you should never, ever accept sexual harassment of yourself or others in the workplace. Report it and if needed shout and scream about it. It is a good idea to build a financial/family safety net for yourself so that you have the freedom to leave situations where there is unwillingness of employers to deal with sexual harassment.

Learn to program Python and a bit of Java. Data is getting easier to capture and as a result the volume of data we are processing grows year on year. Having the skills to manipulate and analyze this is increasingly critical – off the shelf solutions no longer work. Being able to program is an increasingly valuable skill and one many girls are not encouraged to explore.

Try to understand the gender climate of the organization you are working for – or want to work for – and seek out allies to navigate and – hopefully – start to influence the climate to a more gender neutral workplace.

Don’t view every decision as having gender bias – sometimes there really isn’t any- you just don’t like the decision.

Apply for jobs even when you don’t meet all of the requirements – if you can do half of the things well and can learn the others then apply- nothing ventured nothing gained (and few candidates, male or female, tick all of the boxes).

Learn how to negotiate and try not to enter a situation in which you are unaware of the facts about what you are arguing for. Women often feel uncomfortable to negotiate salaries – you feel worse when you realize a male colleague doing the same job is being paid more.

Don’t let anyone shout at you, and don’t let anyone talk over you – calmly, quietly, and privately explain how you want to be treated – if the shouting continues walk away from the situation.

Consider family issues whether you have a family or not; do you need to send an urgent request to someone at 5pm on a Friday? -This helps all colleagues – men have families too and we all need work-life balance.

MasAgro named a project transforming Mexico by leading university

Written by on February 22, 2016. Posted in News. 1 Comment on MasAgro named a project transforming Mexico by leading university

**MasAgro named a project transforming Mexico. Photographer: MasAgro/CIMMYT**

MONTERREY, Mexico – The Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, in close collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was recognized by Universidad Tecnológico y Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) as being one of “10 projects that are transforming Mexico.”

“This project is transforming Mexico and, four years after its launch, it has benefited more than 200,000 farmers,” said Silverio García Lara, professor at ITESM’s School of Engineering and Science, Monterrey campus. “The project focuses on the base of the productive and economic pyramid,” explained the researcher, who favors “developing cutting-edge technologies to regenerate and renew Mexican farming.”

ITESM is involved in a project focusing on biotechnology for food security that applies cutting-edge technologies to analyze MasAgro’s new maize varieties and ensure they meet the nutrition and processing quality parameters of the Mexican market, explained Natalia Palacios, the person responsible for CIMMYT’s Maize Quality Laboratory, in an information bulletin that was broadcast when the winning project was presented at the 46th Research and Development Congress held on 20-22 January at ITESM’s Student Center, Monterrey campus.

“We are very proud of MasAgro because its results in the lab and especially in farmers’ fields have been widely recognized both nationally and internationally; today ITESM, a research partner that has collaborated with us since the beginning, also recognizes the project,” said Bram Govaerts, Leader of CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Strategy for Latin America.

Among MasAgro’s main achievements, Govaerts highlighted the adoption of sustainable intensification of basic grain production on half a million hectares. He also emphasized the development of 20 high yielding maize hybrids which, combined with MasAgro’s sustainable agronomic practices, have increased rainfed maize farmers’ income by 9-31%. According to Govaerts, 16 precision machines for use in different production situations, from subsistence to intensive or commercial farming, and different postharvest storage solutions are among the technologies that MasAgro offers.

“Our farmers out in the fields are very interested in innovating and obtaining new technologies coming from the labs and from international research institutions such as CIMMYT,” stated García Lara when presenting ITESM’s award for the work done by MasAgro.

Researchers race to rescue wheat sample in war-torn Syria

Written by on February 22, 2016. Posted in Features. 1 Comment on Researchers race to rescue wheat sample in war-torn Syria

After wheat seeds are planted in the greenhouse, the samples are then harvested and prepared to be sent to the laboratory for DNA extraction and genotyping. Photo: Carolina Sansaloni/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – With Syria torn apart by civil war, a team of scientists in Mexico and Morocco are rushing to save a vital sample of wheat’s ancient and massive genetic diversity, sealed in seed collections of an international research center formerly based in Aleppo but forced to leave during 2012-13.

The researchers are restoring and genetically characterizing more than 30,000 unique seed collections of wheat from the Syrian genebank of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which has relocated its headquarters to Beirut, Lebanon, and backed up its 150,000 collections of barley, fava bean, lentil and wheat seed with partners and in the Global Seed Vault at Svalbard, Norway.

In March 2015, scientists at ICARDA were awarded The Gregor Mendel Foundation Innovation Prize for their courage in securing and preserving their seed collections at Svalbard, by continuing work and keeping the genebank operational in Syria even amidst war.

“With war raging in Syria, this project is incredibly important,” said Carolina Sansaloni, genotyping and DNA sequencing specialist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is leading work to analyze the samples and locate genes for breeding high-yield, climate resilient wheats. “It would be amazing if we could be just a small part of reintroducing varieties that have been lost in war-torn regions.”

Treasure from wheat’s cradle to feed the future

Much of wheat seed comes from the Fertile Crescent, a region whose early nations developed and depended on wheat as the vital grain of their civilizations. The collections could hold the key for future breeding to feed an expanding world population, according to Sansaloni.

“An ancient variety bred out over time could contain a gene for resistance to a deadly wheat disease or for tolerance to climate change effects like heat and drought, which are expected to become more severe in developing countries where smallholder farmers and their families depend on wheat,” she explained.

Cross-region partners, global benefits

Sansaloni’s team has been sequencing DNA from as many as 2,000 seed samples a week, as well as deriving molecular markers for breeder- and farmer-valued traits, such as disease resistance, drought or heat tolerance and qualities that contribute to higher yields and grain quality.

They are using a high-end DNA sequencing system located at the Genetic Analysis Service for Agriculture (SAGA), a partnership between CIMMYT and Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), and with the support of a private company from Australia, Diversity Arrays Technology.

The sequencer at SAGA can read 1600 samples of seed at once and develops more data than ever before. The HiSeq 2500 boils down data and shows the information at a “sequence level”, for example, height variations among wheat varieties.

Worldwide, there are few other machines that produce this kind of data and most are owned by private companies, explained Sansaloni. This was the first non-Latin American based project used by the HiSeq 2500.

“The success of this project shows what a fantastic opportunity for international collaboration we now have,” Sansaloni said. “I can’t even put a value on the importance of the data we have collected from this project. It’s priceless.”

After data has been collected, seed samples will be “regenerated” by ICARDA and CIMMYT. That is, the process of restoring old seed samples with healthy new seeds.

ICARDA and CIMMYT will share seed and data from the project and make these results available worldwide.

“With these new seeds, we hope to reconstruct ICARDA’s active and base collection of seeds over the next five years in new genebank facilities in Lebanon and Morocco,” said Fawzy Nawar, senior genebank documentation specialist, ICARDA.

Funded through the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, the effort benefits both of the international centers, as well as wheat breeding programs worldwide, said Tom Payne, head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Germplasm Bank. “ICARDA is in a difficult situation, with a lack of easy access to their seeds and no facilities to perform genotyping,” he explained. “This was the perfect opportunity to collaborate.”

Maize lethal necrosis field day demonstrates promising maize germplasm

Written by on February 10, 2016. Posted in News.

Participants see a demonstration of artificial inoculation at MLN screening site. photo K. Kaimenyi /CIMMYT — Participants see a demonstration of artificial inoculation at MLN screening site. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT

NAIROBI — Since maize lethal necrosis (MLN) was first reported in Kenya in 2011, CIMMYT and its partners, including Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), have been intensively engaged in breeding for resistance to the disease, which was later confirmed to be present in D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

KALRO and CIMMYT invited public and private sector partners in eastern Africa to a MLN field day at the screening facility at KALRO-Naivasha on 20 January 2016. KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger officially opened the field day, which was attended by about 70 participants from national agricultural research organizations, multinational, regional and national seed companies, national plant protection agencies, international institutions, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and CIMMYT.

The field day demonstrated 21,074 maize germplasm entries from 16 institutions, including public and private sector partners. Several promising inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids with tolerance/ resistance to MLN were on display in the field blocks. These included MLN tolerant/resistant hybrids that are currently undergoing national performance trials (NPTs) in eastern Africa.

Kireger expressed his appreciation for the work being done at the facility and pointed out, “Last year there were very few germplasm entries offering promise against MLN at the screening site. Today we have seen materials that have potential to be released in the next two years or less.”

“Within the next few years, we can reach out to the farmers in eastern Africa with seed of MLN resistant varieties. We can now confidently tell farmers and the ministries of agriculture that there is a strong ray of hope,” he added.

Using molecular marker assisted breeding, CIMMYT is currently working on more than 25 elite inbred lines that are susceptible to MLN but are parental lines of several prominent commercial maize hybrids in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our vision of replacing a large set of commercial MLN-susceptible varieties with MLN-resistant hybrids is well on track. Within three or four years we hope to have at least 20 to 25 MLN-resistant hybrids released, scaled up and delivered to farmers in eastern Africa with the help of our seed company partners,” stated B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE.

Collaborative work at the MLN facility will continue to help partners identify MLN-resistant germplasm, including inbred lines and hybrids. “The work being done at the MLN screening facility is critical in successfully responding to the MLN epidemic in eastern Africa,” said L.M. Suresh , CIMMYT maize pathologist and manager of the MLN screening facility.

Participants also visited a seed treatment trial, where seed care treatments from Syngenta and Bayer are being evaluated for their effectiveness on a selected set of six hybrids. “Today we have not only seen excellent work on breeding for MLN resistance, but also very good research work being done on seed treatments. This is very important for seed companies,” said Maarten van Ginkel, consultant breeder, SeedCo. “From the trials we have seen today, we are assured that in the near future we will have MLN resistance introgressed in all our hybrids, enabling seed companies to improve the quality of seed delivered to the market.”

FAO has its finger on the ‘pulse’ when it comes to food security

Written by on February 9, 2016. Posted in News. 1 Comment on FAO has its finger on the ‘pulse’ when it comes to food security

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses under the motto “Nutritious seeds for a sustainable future.” Pulses, an annual leguminous crop yielding from one to 12 seeds (dry beans, kidney beans, dry peas, lentils and others), have been named by the FAO as essential in the fight for food security for their nutrient value and their key role in crop rotations through the ability to fix nitrogen.

When we plant the same species on the same land every year, we are engaging in what is called monoculture. Monoculture has unfavorable consequences for production, since it increases the incidence of weeds, pests and diseases, which become resistant to control methods.

To counteract this, one of the principles of Conservation Agriculture (CA) is crop rotation, which involves planting different crops in the same field in a specific order. Crop rotation reduces the incidence of pests and diseases by interrupting their life cycles; it also maintains weed control and promotes more appropriate nutrient distribution in the soil profile (crops that have deeper roots extract nutrients at a greater depth) and helps reduce the economic risk when an unforeseen event affects one of the crops. It also enables farmers to balance residue production because crops that produce few residues can be rotated with crops that produce a large amount.

Crop rotation should include pulses (leguminous crops) that make efficient use of water and provide soil nutrients (such as nitrogen) that are extracted by grains.

The year will be a unique opportunity to foster connections all along the food chain in order to benefit more from proteins derived from pulses, increase pulse production worldwide, make better use of crop rotation and face the challenges of commercializing pulses.

Will we feed humanity by 2050?

Written by on January 26, 2016. Posted in News.

Bram Govaerts, Leader of CIMMYT's program on Sustainable Intensification in Latin America, speaks at the Oxford Farming Conference. Photo: CIMMYT — Bram Govaerts, Leader of CIMMYT’s program on Sustainable Intensification in Latin America, speaks at the Oxford Farming Conference. Photo: CIMMYT

“Imagine a sports car designed to travel at high speed on paved highways, running on a gravel road. It’s going to break down, isn’t it? The same thing happens when agricultural technologies are applied without using smart agronomy to increase input use efficiency, protect the environment and ensure sustainability,” said Bram Govaerts, Leader of CIMMYT’s program on Sustainable Intensification in Latin America.

Govaerts presented at a keynote speech titled “Ending hunger: Can we achieve humanity’s elusive goal by 2050?” at the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, on 5-7 January. The conference has been held in Oxford for more than 70 years with the aim of contributing to the improvement and welfare of British agriculture. Farmers, researchers, politicians and economists from across the world attend the event. This year, the main theme was “Daring Agriculture,” including such subjects as global agriculture, innovation, sustainable intensification, technology and agribusiness.

As evidenced during the event, there are many challenges in agriculture. We need to produce more food with fewer resources and less environmental impact while reducing world hunger and poverty. In his speech, Govaerts highlighted the main challenges to achieving food security for a world population that is projected to reach nearly ten billion by 2050. These challenges include the growing demand for food, demographic changes and the impacts on agriculture of weather events such as El Niño. Govaerts also mentioned CIMMYT’s efforts aimed at fighting world hunger and how initiatives such as MasAgro are taking science to the farm.

“It was very exciting to talk about the sustainable strategies we’re working on with farmers, technicians, scientists, institutions and partners to be able to produce more with fewer resources and, especially, to produce intelligently by adapting technologies to the needs of farmers, by developing machine prototypes and by using appropriate varieties and post-harvest practices,” said Govaerts.

To see the presentation, click here.

Rebuilding livelihoods: CIMMYT helps Nepalese farmers recover from earthquake

Written by on January 15, 2016. Posted in Features. 1 Comment on Rebuilding livelihoods: CIMMYT helps Nepalese farmers recover from earthquake

A farmer uses a mini-tiller in the midwestern region of Nepal. Photo credit: CIMMYT/CSISA

The recent 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April, followed by a 7.3 magnitude aftershock on 12 May and several hundred additional aftershocks, has had huge negative impacts on the country’s agriculture and food security. Around two-thirds of Nepal’s population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, and agriculture contributes 33% of Nepal’s GDP. It is estimated that about 8 million people have been affected by the earthquakes, with smallholders in hilly regions being the hardest hit.

The earthquakes damaged or destroyed agricultural assets, undermining the longer-term food production capacity of farm families and disrupting critical input supply, trade, and processing networks. Farmers lost grain and seed stocks, livestock, agricultural tools and other inputs, and are facing significant labor shortages. Widespread damage to seed and grain storage facilities has affected smallholder farmers’ ability to secure their harvested crops during the rainy season.

In response to the devastation, USAID-Nepal has provided US$1 million to the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Nepal (CSISA-NP) for earthquake relief and recovery. The Earthquake Recovery Support Program will be implemented for a period of 13 months in close coordination with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), Department of Agriculture, Department of Livestock Services, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, and District Disaster Relief Committee. The districts that will receive support include Dolkha, Kavre, Khotang, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Ramechap, Sindhupalchowk, and Solukhumbu, which suffered particularly high levels of damage.

According to Andrew McDonald, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and CSISA Project Leader, “Even if seed is available, farmers’ ability to plant and harvest crops has been severely diminished due to the loss of draft animals and the exacerbation of labor shortages.” To aid them, the earthquake recovery program will provide more than 33,000 farming households with 50,000 grain storage bags, 30 cocoons for community grain storage, 400 mini-tillers and other modern agriculture power tools (e.g., seeders, reapers, and maize shellers), 800 sets of small agricultural hand tools, and 20,000 posters on better-bet agronomic practices for rice and maize.

“First we will focus on getting horse-powered mini-tillers into affected communities, and subsequently broadening the utility of these machines to power a host of essential agricultural activities including seeding, reaping, threshing, and shelling, as well as driving small pumps for irrigation,” said Scott Justice, Agricultural Mechanization Specialist, CSISA-NP.

CIMMYT scientists train farmers on how to use a power tiller in Dadeldhura, Nepal.
Photo credit: Lokendra Khadka/CSISA-Nepal

At the program’s inception workshop on 28 August, Beth Dunford, USAID-Nepal Mission Director, remarked that USAID-Nepal has arranged for a special fund to help earthquake-affected people. Beyond the devastation of houses and public infrastructure such as roads, the earthquake has seriously disrupted agriculture and the rural economy in the impacted districts. Re-establishing vital agricultural markets and services is key to how quickly these communities will recover from the earthquake, underlined Dunford.

To coordinate and monitor program activities effectively, management committees at the central, district, and local levels have been formed with the purpose of identifying the earthquake-affected areas within a district and ensuring efficient and transparent distribution of aid items.

MoAD Joint Secretary Rajendra Adhikari highlighted that the Ministry feels a real sense of ownership over this program and is committed to implementing program activities through its network. The farm machinery support program will be a perfect platform for MoAD to expand its farm mechanization program into other areas of the country. The Earthquake Recovery Support Program also aligns with the Nepalese Government’s agricultural development strategies, which focus on community-wide inclusive development.

Inaugural Paula Kantor Award recognizes work on agriculture, gender, improved diets

Written by on January 14, 2016. Posted in Features. 54 Comments on Inaugural Paula Kantor Award recognizes work on agriculture, gender, improved diets

El BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Post-doctoral fellow Soumya Gupta is the winner of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) announced on Thursday.

Gupta was recognized for research that “systematically and empirically assesses the empowerment of women in India as it relates to agricultural determinants and nutritional outcomes,” the group said in a statement.

The ICRW praised Gupta’s doctoral research at Cornell University for revealing that when women are empowered, they are better positioned to make their own choices in agriculture and help influence their own nutritional outcomes.

Gupta’s research showed that while diversification of production systems and diets is an important pathway to improved nutrition, the outcome is conditional on women’s status, the statement said.

Gupta found that empowered women tend to have better access to diet diversity and improved iron status.

“I could not imagine a more deserving researcher upon which to bestow the honor of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award,” said ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou. “Dr. Gupta’s work truly embodies the spirit and passion that Paula brought to her work every day. I see so many parallels between the important work that Paula was doing to better integrate gender into agriculture and rural development and Dr. Gupta’s field research.”

This is the first year that ICRW bestowed the award, which was designed to honor the legacy of the group’s former colleague Paula Kantor who died at age 46 in the aftermath of a Taliban attack in Pakistan last year.

At the time of her death, the prolific gender and development specialist was working at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on a project focused on understanding the role of gender in the livelihoods of people in major wheat-growing areas of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.

Kantor was widely recognized in the international development community as an established and respected professional and writer, who pushed the realms of gender research to engage men more effectively. She published more than a dozen peer-reviewed academic publications, 10 peer-reviewed monographs and briefs, 15 other publications and 10 conference papers during her lifetime.

“I am honored to be the first recipient of the Paula Kantor Award,” Gupta said. “There is a great need for better data (and metrics) in the field of agriculture, nutrition and women’s empowerment. In light of that, the Paula Kantor Award acknowledges the importance of gathering primary data for evidence-based research.”

“At the same time the award also recognizes the tremendous effort that goes into designing a field-based data collection activity that is methodologically robust, contextually relevant, and ethically sound,” she said.

“I am inspired by Paula’s work and life, and with this award look forward to continuing my research on the linkages between nutrition and agriculture with a focus on women’s empowerment, and contributing to policy reform in a meaningful way.”

Gupta will receive the award at ICRW’s 40th Anniversary celebration in New Delhi, India on January 20th.

Gupta will receive a commemorative plaque and the opportunity to meet with organizations, government officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations, and others in Delhi to discuss her work and the importance of understanding the connections between women’s empowerment, agricultural practices and nutritional outcomes.

Thirty years of supporting maize farmers in southern Africa

Written by on January 11, 2016. Posted in Features. 68 Comments on Thirty years of supporting maize farmers in southern Africa

Over 100,000 packets of nearly 1,200 hybrids and varieties developed by CIMMYT-Zimbabwe and partners were distributed to national agricultural research systems and private seed companies throughout eastern and southern Africa. Regional trial requests are in high demand from emerging seed companies across the region as well as Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and other countries in Asia and Latin America. Photo: Amsal Tarekegne/CIMMYT.

The year 2015 marked 30 years of CIMMYT’s Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO) developing new maize varieties adapted to smallholder farmer needs in Zimbabwe and across sub-Saharan Africa.

“Multiple stress tolerant and nutritious maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT-SARO have been released by partners throughout eastern and southern Africa,” said Amsal Tarekegne, CIMMYT-SARO Senior Maize Breeder.

CIMMYT-SARO and partners have also produced new maize varieties that yield 20-30% more than currently available widely grown commercial varieties under drought and low nitrogen stress conditions.

Farmers in eastern and southern Africa need maize varieties that are climate resilient, high-yielding and nutritious.

CIMMYT scientist receives award from China for wheat research

Written by on January 3, 2016. Posted in News. 1 Comment on CIMMYT scientist receives award from China for wheat research

Award recipients (L-R) Minggang Xu, Shaokun Li, Ming Zhao, and Zhonghu He. Photo: CIMMYT

BEIJING, China (CIMMYT) – Top wheat scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other research institutions are the recipients of a prestigious award from China’s State Council.

Zhonghu He, distinguished scientist and country liaison officer in China, together with CIMMYT’s long-term collaborators from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science and agricultural science academies in seven provinces, received the award for developing high yielding, disease resistant, and broadly-adapted varieties from CIMMYT germplasm. China’s President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li KeQiang of the State Council attended the ceremony last week at the Great Hall of The People in Beijing.

“This award is the result of more than 30 years of CIMMYT-China collaboration, reflecting the importance of our work in the country” said He. The award recognized work leading to 18,000 CIMMYT wheat accessions stored in Chinese gene banks, adaptation of CIMMYT wheats to China through multi-locational trials and molecular markers, successful breeding for multiple resistance to rusts and powdery mildew based on adult plant resistance, the development and extension of 45 leading varieties derived from CIMMYT germplasm and the training of Chinese scientists. This success is also largely due to the long-term commitment of CIMMYT scientists such as Sanjaya Rajaram, Ravi Singh, and Javier Peña.

Wheat harvest in Songzanlinsi, Yunnan, China. Photo: R. Saltori

CIMMYT and China started collaborating in the early 1970s, shuttle breeding between Mexico and China to improve wheat disease resistance was initiated in the mid-1980s, and the CIMMYT-China Office was opened in 1997. More than 20 Chinese institutes have been involved in germplasm exchange and training.

Chinese wheat breeders have increasingly used CIMMYT breeding stocks to generate new wheat varieties, with CIMMYT germplasm contributing about 7 percent of the genetic material in Chinese wheat varieties during the past three decades and about 9 percent after 2004. More than 26 percent of all major wheat varieties released in China since 2000 contain CIMMYT germplasm, contributing to higher yield potential, rust resistance, and better quality wheat. Overall, 3.8 million to 10.7 million tons of added wheat grain worth between $ 1.2 billion and $ 3.4 billion (based on 2011 prices) have been produced as a result of CIMMYT germplasm, according to the “Impact of CIMMYT Wheat Germplasm on Wheat Productivity in China” authored by Jikun Huang and his colleagues at the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).

Cereal systems initiative speeds growth of mechanized technologies in India, report shows

Written by on January 3, 2016. Posted in News.

CSISA contributes to increased adoption of climate-resilient practices. Photo: CIMMYT

NEW DELHI, India (CIMMYT) — Major impacts of CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) include success in increasing access to and affordability of modern farming technologies and practices for smallholder farmers across India, according to a new report.

The initiative, which began in 2012, resulted in positive impacts and has built a robust service economy to improve access to new technologies for smallholder farmers, said Andrew McDonald, CSISA project leader.

“India has a large number of smallholders, especially in eastern states where the average landholding size is decreasing and machine ownership by farmers is often not economically viable,” McDonald said. “Unless we build a robust service economy to facilitate uptake of new technologies, they would be beyond the reach of most smallholders.”

CSISA has developed a network of nearly 2,000 service providers in eastern India over the past three years to accelerate the expansion of sustainable intensification technologies, resulting in improved yields of up to 20 percent and increased farmer incomes through cost savings of $100 per hectare, the publication reports.

The report also details CSISA’s contribution to increased adoption of climate-resilient practices such as early planting of wheat and the use of zero-tillage seed drills, which help farmers overcome labor shortages during rice cultivation through mechanical rice planting.

“CSISA has built a compelling body of evidence for the importance of early planting to combat the negative effects of rising temperatures,” McDonald said.

“As a result, public perception and official recommendations have changed, and more than 600,000 farmers are now planting wheat earlier in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.”

Additionally, CSISA helped popularize hybrid maize, which has increased yields and improved food security.

“Enhancing the productivity of the rice-wheat cropping systems in South Asia’s Indo-Gangetic Plains is essential for ensuring food security for more than 20 percent of the world’s population,” said McDonald. “CSISA, in close collaboration with national wheat programs, has released new wheat varieties with higher yield potential, which perform well even in stress-prone areas.”

These results were achieved during CSISA’s second phase, from 2012 to 2015, through collaborative work with national research and extension systems, research institutes, state governments, non-governmental organizations, private companies and farmers,.

Read the report:

interactive web page , magazine format , pdf

About CSISA

Led by CIMMYT, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) aims to sustainably improve cereal productivity, food security and increase farmers’ income in South Asia’s Indo-Gangetic Plains, home to the region’s most important grain baskets. www.csisa.org

For more information, contact:

Anuradha Dhar

Communications Specialist

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

a.dhar@cgiar.org

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

From east Asia to south Asia, via Mexico: how one gene changed the course of history

Written by on January 3, 2016. Posted in Features. 59 Comments on From east Asia to south Asia, via Mexico: how one gene changed the course of history

This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In 1935, Japanese scientist Gonjoro Inazuka crossed a semi-dwarf Japanese wheat landrace with two American varieties resulting in an improved variety, known as Norin 10. Norin 10 derived varieties eventually ended up in the hands of Norman Borlaug, beginning one of the most extraordinary agricultural revolutions in history. This international exchange of germplasm ultimately saved hundreds of millions of people from starvation and revolutionized the world of wheat.

The journey of semi-dwarf wheat from Japan to Mexico may have begun in the 3^rd or 4^th century in Korea, where short wheat varieties are thought to have originated. From East Asia, wheat breeders began to seek and utilize dwarfing genes to breed varieties with high yield potential, resistance to lodging and the ability to produce more tillers than traditional varieties.

The term Norin is an acronym for the Japanese Agricultural Experiment Station spelled out using Latin letters. From 150 centimeters (cm) that other varieties measured, Norin 10 reduced wheat plant height to 60-110 cm. The shorter stature is a result of the reduced height genes Rht₁ and Rht₂.

Pictured above is a cross between Chapingo 53 - a tall variety of wheat that was resistant to a fungal pathogen called stem rust - and a variety developed from previous crosses of Norin 10 with four other wheat strains. Photo: CIMMYT — Pictured above is a cross between Chapingo 53 – a tall variety of wheat that was resistant to a fungal pathogen called stem rust – and a variety developed from previous crosses of Norin 10 with four other wheat strains. Photo: CIMMYT

Norin 10 began to attract international attention after a visit by S.D. Salmon, a renowned wheat breeder in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to Marioka Agriculture Research Station in Honshu. Salmon took some samples of the Norin 10 variety back to the United States, where in the late 1940s Orville Vogel at Washington State University used them to help produce high-yielding, semi-dwarf winter wheat varieties, of which Gaines was the first one.

In neighboring Mexico, Norman Borlaug and his team were focusing their efforts on tackling the problem of lodging and rust resistance. After unsuccessfully screening the entire USDA World Wheat Germplasm collection for shorter and strong varieties, Borlaug wrote to Vogel and requested seed containing the Norin 10 dwarfing genes. Norin 10 was a lucky break, providing both short stature and rust resistance.

In 1953, Borlaug began crossing Vogel’s semi-dwarf winter wheat varieties with Mexican varieties. The first attempt at incorporating the Vogel genes into Mexican varieties failed. But after a series of crosses and re-crosses, the result was a new type of spring wheat: short and stiff-strawed varieties that tillered profusely, produced more grain per head, and were less likely to lodge. The semi-dwarf Mexican wheat progeny began to be distributed nationally, and within seven years, average wheat yields in Mexico had doubled. By 1962, 10 years after Vogel first supplied seed of the Norin 10 semi-dwarf progeny to Borlaug, two high-yielding semi-dwarf Norin 10 derivatives, Pitic 62 and Penjamo 62, were released for commercial production.

As the figure below indicates, these wheat varieties then led to a flow of other high-yielding wheat varieties, including Sonora 64 and Lerma Rojo 64, two varieties that led to the Green Revolution in India, Pakistan and other countries, and Siete Cerros 66, which at its peak was grown on over 7 million hectares in the developing world. The most widely grown variety during this period was the very early maturing variety Sonalika, which is still grown in India today.

[Reproduced from Foods and Food Production Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine]

In the early 1960s South Asia was facing mass starvation and extreme food insecurity. To combat this challenge, scientists and governments in the region began assessing the value of Mexican semi-dwarf wheat varieties for their countries. Trials in India and Pakistan were convincing, producing high yields that offered the potential for a dramatic breakthrough in wheat production but only after agronomy practices were changed. Without these changes, the Green Revolution would never have taken off.

From left to right: Norman Borlaug, Mohan Kohli and Sanjaya Rajaram at Centro de Investigaciones Agricolas del Noreste (CIANO), Sonora, Mexico, in 1973. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Borlaug had sent a fewdozen seeds of his high-yielding, disease-resistant semi-dwarf wheat varieties to India to test their resistance to local rust strains. M.S. Swaminathan, a wheat cytogeneticist and advisor to the Indian Minister of Agriculture, immediately grasped their potential for Indian agriculture and wrote to Borlaug, inviting him to India. Soon after the unexpected invitation reached him, Borlaug boarded a Pan Am Boeing 707 to India.

To accelerate the potential of Borlaug’s wheat, in 1967 Pakistan imported about 42,000 tons of semi-dwarf wheat seed from Mexico, Turkey imported 22,000 tons and India 18,000 tons. At the time this was the largest seed purchase in the history of agriculture. Wheat yield improvement in both India and Pakistan was unlike anything seen before.

Fifty years on, we face new challenges, even though we have continued to make incremental increases to average yield. There is an ever-increasing demand for wheat from a growing worldwide population with changing dietary preferences. The world’s climate is changing; temperatures are rising and extreme weather events are becoming more common. Natural resources, especially ground water, are also being depleted; new crop diseases are emerging and yield increases are not keeping pace with demand.

Borlaug and his contemporaries kicked off the Green Revolution by combining semi-dwarf, rust resistant and photoperiod insensitive traits. Today, a new plan and commitment to achieving another quantum leap in wheat productivity are in place. The International Wheat Yield Partnership, an international public-private partnership, is exploiting the best wheat research worldwide to increase wheat yield potential by up to 50%. This one-of-a-kind initiative will transfer germplasm to leading breeding programs around the world.

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

A farmer in his barren field in Sewena, Ethiopia. (Photo: Kyle Degraw/Save the Children)

Is the next food crisis coming? Are we ready to respond?

Written by on January 3, 2016. Posted in Director General's corner. 1 Comment on Is the next food crisis coming? Are we ready to respond?

One of the strongest El Niños on record is underway, threatening millions of agricultural livelihoods – and lives.

At least ten million people in the developing world are facing hunger due to droughts and erratic rainfall as global temperatures reach new records coupled with the onset of a powerful El Niño – the climate phenomenon that develops in the tropical Pacific and brings extreme weather across the world. Warmer than usual waters in the Pacific have made this year’s El Niño a contender for the strongest on record, currently held by the 1997 El Niño, which caused over $35 billion in global economic losses and claimed an estimated 23,000 lives. These extreme El Niños are twice as likely to occur due to climate change, according to a letter published in Nature magazine by researchers at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Who is most at risk?

Watch this video to learn more about El Niño's impact on weather globally. (Source: World Meteorological Organization) — Watch this video to learn more about El Niño’s impact on weather globally. (Source: World Meteorological Organization)

Nearly 40 million people will be in need of emergency food assistance this year – a 30 percent increase over previous estimates – due in large part to added stress from El Niño, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

This El Niño has resulted in severe drought throughout Central America, the Caribbean and Ethiopia, and is predicted to lead to flooding in the Horn of Africa and drought in southern Africa in the coming months. It has also disrupted the Indian monsoon and led to drier conditions in Southeast Asia and Indonesia, which has resulted in devastating wildfires across the country.

The El Niño phenomenon is often followed by a transition to La Niña, another driver of global weather patterns. If this were to happen again, it would mean more severe drought in the eastern Horn of Africa, and hurt crops like sugar, palm oil, and rice in Asia.

Responding to and mitigating El Niño’s effects

A shop attendant displays drought-tolerant seed at the Dryland Seed Company shop in Machakos, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Ensuring farmers are equipped with climate resilient varieties that can withstand extreme stresses such as drought or waterlogging is an essential measure to counteract the side effects of El Niño. For example, after planting a drought tolerant maize variety developed by CIMMYT, farmers in Tanzania produced nearly 50 percent more grain than they normally would under the same conditions using other commercial varieties. In South Asia, CIMMYT has developed maize varieties that are tolerant to waterlogging and provide a safety net in years with heavy rains or flooding.

Equipping farmers with good agronomic practices and tools to reap the benefits of these crops is equally important. Ensuring farmers adjust planting times is critical for crops to adapt to changing weather patterns, while smart water management practices such as no-till farming can help raise wheat yields while reducing water and fuel costs. Precision land levelers – machines that level fields so water flows evenly into soil, rather than running off or collecting in uneven land – have enabled farmers in South Asia to save up to 30 percent more water, use less fertilizer and produce more grain yield.

Crop-index insurance is another tool that can serve as both a preventive and responsive measure to support smallholders during natural disasters. It allows farmers to purchase coverage based on an index that is correlated with those losses, such as average yield losses over a larger area or a well-defined climate risk – like drought – that significantly influences crop yields. If implemented correctly, index insurance can build resilience for smallholder farmers not only by ensuring a payout in the event of climate shocks like those caused by El Niño, but also by giving farmers the incentive to invest in new technology and inputs, such as seed.

So – are we prepared for this storm? Since 2003, nearly one-quarter of all damage and losses from climate-related disasters have occurred in the agricultural sector in developing countries. While global food security will likely not suffer another shock like that of 2007-08, primarily because global stocks of maize, wheat and rice are so large, natural disasters resulting from El Niño combined with climate change are playing out into unchartered territory, posing a real threat to people’s lives and livelihoods.

This isn’t the time to be complacent. We need to take preventive measures, and long-term investments in agricultural research will help us be prepared for future shocks and ensure crops and livelihoods can withstand more frequent natural disasters.

CIMMYT marks 50 years of innovation in agricultural science for development

Written by on January 1, 2016. Posted in News. 1 Comment on CIMMYT marks 50 years of innovation in agricultural science for development

Mark your calendars! CIMMYT will celebrate its 50th anniversary during a three-day event from September 27 to 29, 2016.

We will be celebrating throughout the year, with the capstone event to be held in Mexico in September 2016.

We will showcase CIMMYT’s successes, impacts, and partnerships, and we will look toward the future: What will CIMMYT need to become in the next 50 years?

What do the complex challenges of the future mean for agricultural research-for-development at large?

The following themes will be in focus:

Maize and wheat science is fundamental for food security and sustainable development.
CIMMYT has made impacts well beyond the size of our institution, and is a key player in addressing research-for-development challenges of the future.
Our partnerships enable us to make impacts with our research, and we want to highlight and strengthen those partnerships.

We look forward to exploring these topics with CIMMYT50 participants, and to planning for a future with continued impact.

Information about the program and logistics will be available soon.

For any questions about the event, please contact the CIMMYT50 executive committee at cimmyt50@cgiar.org.

Shedding light on a hot topic, and what the future holds

Written by on December 22, 2015. Posted in Features.

Maize is the most widely cultivated crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and one of the few crops that have profound effects on the livelihoods of millions of people there.

To illustrate the point, sample these critical thresholds beyond and around the halfway mark:

more than half the cereal acreage is devoted to maize production in more than half of the SSA countries; and,
maize accounts for nearly half of the calories and protein intake in eastern and southern Africa, and for one-fifth of calories and protein intake in West Africa.

With the SSA population likely to double by 2050, maize production is facing a formidable challenge from biophysical and socioeconomic limitations. Climate change will further compound the crisis in maize production, undermining food security and poverty reduction in the region.

Although climate change is a global phenomenon, its impacts vary depending on region and season. In order to formulate appropriate adaptation options and to assure timely responses, we first need a better understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on maize yield and production at different spatial and temporal scales.

To help fill this gap for SSA, a forthcoming article in the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management entitled Maize systems under climate change in sub-Saharan Africa: potential impacts on production and food security (early edition available online) assesses the baseline impact of climate change in a business-as-usual scenario. The study indicates that maize production and food security in most parts of SSA are likely to be severely crippled by climate change, although the projected impacts will vary across countries and regions.

Facts and figures from the study:

These results highlight the need for greater investment in maize research, particularly on developing maize varieties that tolerate both drought and heat in order to minimize or offset the inevitable impacts of climate change on maize production in sub-Saharan Africa and reduce food insecurity in the continent.