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.

DG Martin Kropff’s 100 day perspective

Written by on October 26, 2015. Posted in Features.

OneCIMMYT Martin Kropff, CIMMYT Director General, emphasized CIMMYT’s achievements and new ways forward during a talk commemorating his first 100 days as DG, at CIMMYT headquarters in El Batбn, Mexico, on 20 October 2015.

After meeting 250 staff, partners and Board of Trustee members from around the world at Science Week 2015 and observing the organization in Mexico and several offices abroad, Kropff began initiating processes to frame a new strategy.

Globally, US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 5.7 billion are attributed annually to CGIAR wheat improvement. Thanks to CIMMYT support, 52,000 tons of drought tolerant maize seed were released in Africa in 2014. Kropff witnessed the work behind these impacts directly through his first 100 days of travel in China, India and Pakistan. In addition, he witnessed CIMMYT’s partnership with Australia at the International Wheat Conference and MasAgro’s success in collaborating with seed companies and farmers throughout Mexico.

“Institutional changes and strengthening internal processes will be key to realizing the success of our mission and fundraising goals to foster a healthy organizational culture,” Kropff stated during the talk.

Kropff emphasized that cuts in funding to CGIAR Research Programs are affecting all centers. “We must be more innovative, efficient, and donor-savvy than ever before,” he said. “The attention to food production that came after the 2008 food price crisis has shifted now to climate change, nutrition, and the refugee crisis. In response, a fundraising strategy for large initiatives will be implemented, targeting new donors and ways to reach them.

Kropff has been working with a team and management committee on a new strategy that will soon be finalized. “One CIMMYT’s” unifying vision and mission will emphasize scientific excellence, capacity building, and impact through partnerships. “In addition to getting better varieties to farmers faster,” Kropff said, “we are proposing the creation of a ‘CIMMYT Academy’ to consolidate training and capacity-building and bring in added research contributions from Ph.D. students of universities worldwide.”

He assured staff that CIMMYT would continue to adapt and foster innovative thinking to realize its vision of research-for-development on maize and wheat agrifood systems, thereby contributing to a world with less poverty, healthier and more prosperous people, more resilient ecosystems, and fewer global food crises.

Yield gap analysis key to meeting future crop demand

Written by on October 23, 2015. Posted in Blogs. 57 Comments on Yield gap analysis key to meeting future crop demand

Major crop yields are currently not increasing fast enough to meet demand on existing farmland. Ensuring food security while protecting rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands depends on achieving the highest possible yields with limited land, if we hope to feed a population of more than 9 billion people by 2050.

Crop productivity varies across the globe, depending on environment, inputs, and practices (Sadras et al., 2015). Calculating an area’s yield gap––the difference between irrigated or rainfed crops and actual yields––will allow us to estimate future yield increase and productivity gaps of crops and cropping systems.

The Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) seeks to provide the best available estimates of yield gaps globally using current average farm yields and yield potential (Yp) for irrigated environments, or water-limited yield potential (Yw) for rainfed environments (Van Ittersum et al., 2013). GYGA has calculated yield gaps for major food crops in participating countries across agroecological zones.

CIMMYT delegation meets with Turkey’s Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock

Written by on October 23, 2015. Posted in News.

Minister Kutbeddin Arzu presenting a traditional ceramic plate symbolizing wheat and fertility to CIMMYT DG Martin Kropff. Photo: Alexey Morgunov

In October CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, BOT Chair John Snape, GWP Director Hans-Joachim Braun, and IWWIP Head Alex Morgunov were received by Minister Kutbeddin Arzu, who was accompanied by Masum Burak, Director General of Turkey’s General Directorate of Policy and Agricultural Research.

Turkey-CIMMYT bilateral relations hark back to the 1980s, with the establishment of the cooperative winter wheat program, which has been highly successful in the areas of germplasm development, research, and variety release. The Cooperative Soil-Borne Pathogen program established in the early 2000s produced practical outcomes and developed into a recognized leader in its field. Turkey, as host country and partner, contributed substantially to its success. The results of this bilateral cooperation were discussed during the meeting with Minister Arzu.

Both Turkey and CIMMYT are driven by food security concerns and both contribute to enhancing crop production through the application of new technologies. There is great potential for future collaboration targeting maize germplasm development, conservation agriculture, and socioeconomic research. Minister Arzu and the CIMMYT delegation agreed to develop the vision and concepts that will define their future collaboration.

Drought-tolerant maize to the rescue as hunger threatens 1.5 million in Zimbabwe

Written by on October 21, 2015. Posted in Features.

Children in a drought-stricken maize field in Gwanda District, southeast of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. Drought is the most frequently occurring natural hazard in Zimbabwe, made worse by the clear trend, since 1980,of decline in rainfall that the country has received each year. Photo: Desmond Kwande/Practical Action.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations, nearly 1.5 million (16 percent) of Zimbabwe’s 14 million people are feared to go hungry at the height of the 2015–16 lean season – a 164 percent increase on the previous year (Hunger hits 1.5 million in Zimbabwe as maize production halves-WFP). This is due to a dramatic decrease in maize production. The lean season is the period after harvest when food stocks run low.

Maize is Zimbabwe’s staple. At 742,000 tonnes, production has dropped by 53 percent compared to the 2014–15 season, according to the Southern African Development Community, of which Zimbabwe is a member.

“The situation in Zimbabwe is more extreme than most countries in the region but it is not unique,” WFP spokesperson David Orr told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. An estimated 27 million people in the region are food-insecure as a result of drought and inappropriate farming practices.

Mary Gunge, 45, and her family of six, live in drought-prone Chivi District, Masvingo Province. For the past five years, life has been difficult for Gunge and other smallholder farmers in this harsh, semi-arid environment. “There are no good rains to talk about anymore,” Gunge told visiting journalists recently. The rains in her area were too little, too late. Smallholders need urgent food aid to carry them to the next harvest in May and June next year.

Parts of Zimbabwe are experiencing unpredictable weather. Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Services says the country is experiencing more hot days and fewer cold days.

“We’re no longer sure when to start preparing the land for planting or when to start planting. It’s pretty much gambling with nature,” says Gunge.

Climate change will have a significant impact on southern Africa’s fragile food security, environmental experts have warned. It already costs southern Africa five to 10 percent of its gross domestic product. This implies a loss of between USD 10 and 21 billion annually in a region where nearly half the population is living on less than one dollar a day.

showcasing various maize varieties. CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela at this year’s CIMMYT field day. Partners, including the Government of Zimbabwe, witnessed CIMMYT’s work in its efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition in southern Africa. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT. — Showcasing various maize varieties. CIMMYT-SARO maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela at this year’s CIMMYT field day. Partners, including the Government of Zimbabwe, witnessed CIMMYT’s work in its efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition in southern Africa. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

To address this all-too-familiar situation, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)’s southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT–SARO) and its partners are working to increase the productivity of maize-based farming systems to ensure food and nutritional security, increase household incomes and reduce poverty.

“Using conventional breeding, CIMMYT and partners have produced new varieties which yield 20 to 30 percent more than currently available local varieties under drought and low soil nitrogen,” says Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT–SARO Representative. New maize varieties now account for 26 percent of maize hybrids grown in Zimbabwe.

By the end of this year, CIMMYT will establish a modern quarantine facility (Zimbabwe and CIMMYT to establish Maize Lethal Necrosis Quarantine Facility) to safely import maize breeding materials to southern Africa, and to enable local institutions to proactively breed for resistance against Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease.

More efficient use of the limited resources that smallholder farmers have is crucial for increasing food security. CIMMYT’s project on Sustainable Intensification of Maize–Legume Based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) focuses on increasing food production from existing farmland while minimizing pressure on the environment.

SIMLESA has successfully used the principles of conservation agriculture in Malawi and Mozambique.

“Making use of the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, conservation agriculture yields better when compared to conventional agricultural practices after two to five cropping seasons,” said Mekuria, who is also the SIMLESA Project Leader.

Trials in farmers’ fields in Malawi increased yields by 20 to 60 percent. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields increased by almost 60 percent using animal traction conservation agriculture. CIMMYT is also providing support to seed companies, including capacity building for technical and entrepreneurial skills, varietal release and registration, seed multiplication and commercialization.

Peter Setimela, CIMMYT–SARO Senior Seed System Specialist, says, “Developing drought-tolerant maize will increasingly become more critical especially now when most countries in the region continue to be affected by drought.”

In the past two years, 28 varieties have been released in southern Africa with greater tolerance to the main stresses in the region. These new varieties are expected to benefit almost 12 million people, helping to enhance food security, increase livelihoods and reduce poverty.

CIMMYT wheat breeder Ravi Singh wins China’s Friendship Award

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Gains in China’s agricultural productivity over the past 30 years are due in large measure to smallholder farmers who have readily adopted innovative farming practices introduced by scientists, said a top wheat breeder during a speech at the country’s annual Friendship Awards.

Ravi Singh, a chief wheat breeder and distinguished scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was among 50 foreigners from 21 countries working in China, who received the prestigious award in Beijing last month in recognition of their contributions to China’s development.

“China is now the largest wheat producer in the world and continues to increase production and productivity while reducing the amount of land sown with wheat by about 20 percent – it’s a remarkable success story,” Singh said.

“I commend and salute the Chinese government for rigorously supporting agricultural research and development, and more importantly farmers, with transformative policies that were crucial to achieve goals.”

Singh’s key contributions to China’s agricultural development over the past 30 years involve sharing improved germplasm, knowledge about rust-disease resistance genetics and leading various types of training, including mentoring post-doctoral Ph.D. graduates as part of an agreement between CIMMYT and the Chinese government.

The Friendship Award, first established to recognize experts from the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s, abolished in the 1960s during the Cold War and reintroduced in the 1990s, is China’s highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress. Since its reinstatement, 1,449 Friendship Awards have been conferred, according to the Xinhua news agency.

CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China's Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout — CIMMYT scientist Ravi Singh receives Friendship Award from China’s Vice-Premier Ma Kai. CIMMYT/Handout

“The new generation of well-trained Chinese scientists with access to modern laboratories and field facilities are well equipped to find innovative solutions to the challenge of feeding an ever-increasing global population,” Singh said, referring to U.N. projections that the current population of 7.3 billion will increase 33 percent to 9.7 billion by 2050.

“I feel deeply grateful and satisfied with the remarkable progress China has made in enhancing food productivity and incomes of millions of women and men small-scale farmers who embraced innovations and responded to the crucial responsibility of enhancing food production,” he added.

Currently, the country consumes almost 117 million tons of wheat a year and produces about 130 million tons of wheat a year, according to the Wheat Atlas. China, home to 1.4 billion people, is the most populated country in the world and represents 19 percent of the world’s population, the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports.

Several CIMMYT scientists have received the China Friendship Award, including the 2014 World Food Prize laureate Sanjaya Rajaram, with whom Singh initiated his career at CIMMYT.

Additionally, Hans Braun, head of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat, noted agronomist Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT’s director general from 2008 to 2015, and scientists Surindar Vasal, Jose Luis Araus and Ken Sayre have been honored with the Friendship Award in previous years. Vasal was jointly awarded the World Food Prize with Eva Villegas in 2000.

“The Chinese government and people will never forget the positive contribution that foreign experts have made to China’s development and progress,” said the country’s Vice Premier Ma Kai at the 2015 Friendship Award ceremony.

Singh has also received three provincial friendship awards from China.

Global yield gaps for maize and wheat

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Global-Yield-Gaps-for-Maize-and-Wheat1 A yield gap refers to the difference between how much food a farm actually produces and how much food it would be capable of producing if appropriate practices, inputs, technologies and knowledge were applied.

The Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas seeks to provide the best available estimate of the world’s exploitable yield gap to better inform major crop-producing countries in creating solutions and investing in technologies to close these gaps.

Access atlas data here or click the poster to the right to view relative yield gaps for maize and wheat globally.

CSISA wheat breeders plan for future gains in South Asia

Written by on October 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Participants from four south Asian countries attended CSISA’s annual review meeting at Karnal, India. Photo: Bal Kishan Bhonsle

The growing interest of national agriculture research system (NARS) of South Asia in genetic gains and seed dissemination work in Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) objective 4 (wheat breeding), 50 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal assembled at Karnal, India on September 2-3, 2015 for the 7th Wheat Breeding Review Meeting of this project. The meeting was organized by CIMMYT’s Kathmandu office with support from CIMMYT-Delhi/Karnal office and led by Dr. Arun Joshi. Dr. Ravish Chatrath, IIWBR provided strong support as local organizer.

The other CIMMYT participants were Etienne Duveiller, Uttam Kumar and Alistair Pask. Participants included representatives of: the Wheat Research Centre of Bangladesh (Dinajpur); Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Ghazipur; India’s Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal and Shimla; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and Indore; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Uttarbanga Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur and Powarkheda; Govind Vallabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, Mohanpur, Distt. Nadia, W. Bengal; Nepal’s National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahwa; Nepal Agricultural Research Institute (NARI); Khumaltar of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Renewable Natural Resources (RNR), Research and Development Centre (RDC), Bajo, Bhutan.

The CSISA meeting began with remarks by the chief guest, Dr. Indu Sharma, Director, IIWBR, Karnal along with Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Mondal, Director General, BARI; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT, Delhi and Arun Joshi, CIMMYT, Kathmandu. Within a wider framework of discussing issues concerning wheat improvement, the CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2014-15 cycle, and established work plans for the coming crop cycle. Arun Joshi presented a summary of the achievements in wheat breeding over last 6 years and highlighted the impressive results obtained in varietal release, seed dissemination and impact in farmer fields. Dr. Etienne informed he challenges of climate change and the ways our program should be shaped to handle these issues. Dr. Mondal expressed his happiness that CSISA wheat breeding has been very successful in contributing to enhancement of wheat production and producitity in Bangladesh and other countries through a vigourous wheat breeding and seed dissemination with strong linkage with national centres.

Dr. Indu Sharma highlighted the significance of collaborative research with a regional perspective and told the audience about the successes being achieved by CSISA in wheat research especially in handling rust resistance and heat tolerance in south Asia. She expressed his appreciation for new research efforts under CSISA and said that “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security and livelihood of the farmers.” She also said that seeing new challenges there is much more need for such collaborative research efforts for the economic prosperity and good health of agriculture sector in south Asia.

Four review sessions were conducted, chaired by NARS colleagues Dr. Indu Sharma, Dr. Mondal, Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh and Dr. S.P. Khatiwada. Three sessions were used to present review reports and work plans from the 10 research centers, while two other sessions discussed progress in physiology, spot blotch and strengthening linkage of wheat breeding with seed dissemination and capacity building in South Asia. A major discussion was held to devise strategies to strengthen research to handle future threats to wheat such as yellow rust, early and late heat stress, water scarcity and to enable environment for fast track release of varieties so that new seed can reach to farmers as soon as possible.

Arun Joshi also highlighted major achievements in CSISA wheat breeding through very able collaboration by national centres in South Asia. He emphasized that breeding for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance gained momentum through CSISA by developing varieties with faster grain filling and flexibility to adapt to a range of sowing dates. Not only these new varieties were developed, improved networking with public and private sector seed hubs enabled fast track inclusion of these varieties in seed dissemination chain. The increase germplasm flow from CIMMYT, Mexico enriched Indian gene bank with a large reservoir of diverse set of genotypes for current and future used. The continued inclusion of resistance to Ug99 and other rusts in wheat lines kept diseases at bay and safeguarded farmers. There is increased use of physiological tools for heat and drought tolerance and stronger links were established between breeders, seed producers and farmers. Another significant achievement was strengthened capacity building in the region.

A talk on wheat research as Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) was delivered by Uttam Kumar, CIMMYT. Likewise progress on CRP project on spot blotch was presented by Shree Pandey and Ramesh Chand, India. A talk on wheat breeding at Bhutan was presented by Sangay Tshewang. He was happy to inform that through this networking and collaboration with CIMMYT, Bhutan was able to release three new wheat varieties after a gap of 20 years.

On the 2nd day, a visit to IIWBR was organized. Dr. Indu Sharma and her team of scientists led by Dr. Ravish Chatrath facilitated this visit. The participants were taken to different laboratories and current research activities were explained. The participants from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan expressed desire for increased exchange visits among research institutions of countries in south Asia.

The review meeting enabled CSISA wheat researchers to measure their achievements compared to the challenges being encountered and enabled an environment to discuss future strategies to augment research activities better tuned to future targets in the region. The participants were of the view that strong linkage and coordination between the national research program, the CIMMYT team and other stakeholders especially those in seed business is needed to achieve comprehensive progress towards increasing food availability and better livelihood of masses.

Transforming maize farming failures to successes in Kenya’s drylands

Written by on October 17, 2015. Posted in Features.

“I got over three bags of 50 kilograms each this season [despite drought] from my one-and-quarter-acre farm. This is amazing! I have never harvested anything beyond one-and-a-half bags in the past.”

Sarah’s smile is due to KDV4 drought-tolerant maize. Her first-time ‘drought insurance’ venture has paid off, and she’s harvested more despite the drought than she normally does even in good years. Photo credit: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

Drought is one of the biggest challenges that rain-dependent farmers in Africa face. As a result, millions of smallholders and their families become increasingly vulnerable to crop failure that leads to hunger and deeper poverty. What options do smallholders have in the face of drought?

For Mrs. Sarah Nyamai, a farmer from Kalimoni Village in Machakos County, Kenya, maize farming was not a priority until three years ago. She did not take maize farming very seriously – despite the fact that maize has been a staple food in her home for a long time – largely because of very poor yields often blamed on the unforgiving climate that characterizes eastern Kenya.

However, harsh climate is not the only problem that Sarah and hundreds of other farmers in her locality are grappling with. Poor-quality seed makes a bad situation much worse. This means that the likelihood of harvesting enough for the family table is very low. And this, despite the considerable time and resources farmers invest in working the land.

The pain when there is no gain… and the “insurance” DT maize offers in bad years

“There is nothing as bad as buying food when you can grow it in your farm. Money needs to be used to buy other necessities but not food. Not when you can grow and harvest to feed your family,” Sarah observes.

The planting season in Kalimoni Village falls during the March–May long rains. This year, the rainfall was not only very low but also poorly distributed, spelling doom for any good harvest.

Despite this bleak outlook, there is hope for farmers who took preventive measures. Sarah’s face lights up as she harvests a healthy maize cob on her one-and-a-quarter-acre farm. She planted – for the first time – a drought-tolerant (DT) maize variety called KDV4. Her ‘drought insurance’ venture paid off, and she has much to smile about. “I got over three bags of 50 kilograms each this season from my one-and-quarter-acre farm. This is amazing! I have never harvested anything beyond one-and-a-half bags in the past. This is very good seed! And it tastes better too!” Sarah enthuses.

A picture of robust health and vitality: like most other improved DT maize varieties, KDV4 truly comes into its own in drought, and does even better when there is no drought. Photo credit: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

KDV4 is one of the DT varieties sold in Kenya’s eastern drylands alongside other improved varieties, developed by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project in close partnership with public and private partners including local seed companies in Kenya.

Sarah purchased a three-kilogram packet of the KDV4 variety from Dryland Seeds Limited (DSL), the main supplier of DT maize seed in the eastern region. Besides KDV4 maize – an open pollinated variety – DSL also stocks a number of hybrid varieties tailored especially for this region. One such hybrid is DSLH103, locally known as Sawa, a Kiswahili name that loosely translates into ‘the good one’.

Mr. Joseph Mulei is one of the farmers who has planted Sawa. “Sawa has very good yield. I like it particularly because it matures early. If we get good rains in the first two weeks, I am assured of very good harvest from Sawa,” explains Mulei.

Sawa statistics, the story is spreading, but much more remains to be done

Statistics too stand by and reaffirm the Sawa label. On average, hybrids like Sawa give farmers up to 49 percent more grain than open pollinated varieties, and 15 percent more than hybrids currently on the market.

Both Joseph and Sarah have taken the initiative to educate their fellow farmers on the benefits of certified DT seed. Mulei has been particularly influential in his capacity as a leader of 25 farmers in the area. They both concur that it is important for more farmers to plant the improved varieties since they are a guarantee to improving food security.

Yet despite this assurance, improved varieties in the eastern region are still not widespread according to Mr. Ngila Kimotho, the Managing Director of DSL. “More collaborative effort is needed to create awareness on the improved DT varieties, and more importantly, to ensure that the seeds are available for the farmers,” adds Ngila. The company has conducted several awareness campaigns including field demonstrations and radio programs in a bid to reach as many farmers as possible.

What is CIMMYT doing to spread DT maize?

Through its new project Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS), CIMMYT is working with seed companies like DSL to meet the current demand and improve access to good-quality DT maize. DTMASS plans to produce close to 12,000 metric tonnes of certified seed for approximately 400,000 households – or 2.5 million people – in seven countries in eastern and southern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia).

DTMASS will make determined efforts to reach as many farmers as possible as an integral part of project goals. Consequently, many more farmers will enjoy the benefits of good yields even in the moderate droughts so common in most of Africa’s maize belt.

New cookbook features your favorite maize and wheat recipes

Written by on October 14, 2015. Posted in News.

Maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the world’s food energy intake, and contributing as much as 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Given the significant role the two food staples play in the human diet, earlier this year, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) asked social media followers to submit their favorite maize and wheat recipes. These contributions are now compiled in the “A Grain a Day” recipe book, published to coincide with World Food Day on October 16.

Scientists at CIMMYT are working to ensure the ongoing production of high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of maize and wheat to improve both the quantity and nutritional quality of these crops.

Globally, an estimated 800 million people do not get enough food to eat and more than 2 billion suffer from micronutrient deficiency, or “hidden hunger,” according to U.N. food agencies.

One in nine people worldwide are chronically undernourished and more than one quarter of children are too short for their age, as a result of nutritional deficiencies, according to a new report from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Almost half of all child deaths under age five are due to malnutrition, which kills about 3.1 million children per year, IFPRI reports in the 2015 Global Hunger Index.

Improving the micronutrient content of crops through biofortification can help tackle hidden hunger and improve human health.

Biofortification is method whereby scientists combine conventional plant breeding and lab work to improve the micronutrient content of maize and wheat. At CIMMYT, this process is being used to boost pro-vitamin A and zinc levels in maize and iron and zinc concentrations in wheat.

Share pictures of any recipes you create from the book via the @CIMMYT Twitter feed, using the #GrainaDay hashtag.

SADC ambassadors hear how CIMMYT-SARO is helping to achieve regional food security

Written by on October 13, 2015. Posted in News.

Peter Setimela addresses SADC ambassadors. Photo: Masego Forembi/Botswana Embassy.

Peter Setimela, senior seed system specialist at the CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO), made a presentation to regional ambassadors on CIMMYT’s work helping to achieve food security in southern Africa, during a meeting organized by the Botswana Embassy on 27 July in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The meeting brought together ambassadors from 13 countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) that make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC). At a time when the SADC region is grappling with acute maize deficits, the ambassadors invited CIMMYT to highlight its work on stress tolerant maize, as well as on maize biofortified with pro-vitamin A and quality protein maize, which could contribute to reducing malnutrition in the region.

Maize production in southern Africa is the lowest in the world, yet its food security is highly dependent on maize. The region has a maize deficit, with only Zambia recording a surplus during the current agricultural season. While all countries had a bumper harvest last season, South Africa recorded a 33% reduction this season, with reports indicating it will import up to 900,000 tonnes of maize to supplement this year’s harvest. Zambia has been the source market for maize in the past three years, but this year, the country was affected by low rainfall and is expecting reduced maize output, although there is still a surplus.

In his presentation, Setimela highlighted the food security challenges SADC will face in coming years, and recommended urgent action. “We need to reduce poverty and improve nutrition by promoting climate-resilient and nutritious maize.” He also recommended taking steps to improve farmers’ agricultural practices, such as conservation agriculture, as well as their decision- making in crop production and marketing, and giving them opportunities for value-addition.

He emphasized that CIMMYT is working to help farmers cope with drought and climate change, and pointed out that “developing drought tolerant maize will become more critical, especially now that most countries in the region are being affected by the negative effects of drought or, in some cases, flooding.” Food scarcity and unpredictable changes in food availability in SADC are also due to the scourge of HIV and AIDS.

Setimela ended his presentation by urging the ambassadors to support their national research systems to work in partnership with private seed companies and non-governmental organizations on producing stress and drought tolerant maize varieties.

Over the years, the agricultural sector in SADC has become less attractive to investors and has been relegated behind other economic sectors such as mining and manufacturing. Nonetheless, broad-based agricultural research and development has strong potential to drive economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve food security and nutrition.

Book celebrates maize “secret scientists” on International Day of Rural Women

Written by on October 12, 2015. Posted in Features. 59 Comments on Book celebrates maize “secret scientists” on International Day of Rural Women

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Rural women play a critical role in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

Women provide innumerable benefits to agricultural systems around the world at all levels of the value chain, but their contributions often go unrecognized. This year, for the U.N. International Day of Rural Women (IDRW) on October 15, the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) would like to honor the significant contributions that women make to agriculture around the world by sharing photos and stories via our social media channels from our new book: “Portraits of Women Working with Maize in Mexico.”

The book seeks to shine light on the often unseen contributions that rural women make to their families, communities, countries and the world through agriculture.

“As part of its emphasis on contributing to gender equality and equity in agricultural research for development, MAIZE has increased investments to expand the evidence base on how gender norms and relations intertwine with agricultural practices and innovation and the implications of this for agricultural research and development,” said Lone Badstue, CIMMYT strategic leader for gender research, who also works on the MAIZE CRP, which is administered by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural research.

“This documentary initiative expands these efforts, portraying an often overlooked side of maize-based livelihoods in Mexico, through images and testimonies of different women, who describe in their own words, their lives as farmers, food makers, artisans and vendors.”

The goal of assuring the food security and livelihoods of rural women is at the heart of many of MAIZE’s projects and activities.

The cross-CRP gender study “GENNOVATE” launchedin 2014 promises to integrate gender-sensitive approaches across MAIZE work in order to better serve rural women as theyadopt agricultural technology.

In 2014, MAIZE also implemented the “Gender Matters in Farm Power” project, led by the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), which is investigating opportunities to empower men and women through scale-appropriate mechanization. Other activities included efforts to integrate gender into participatory varietal section, the creation of a gender strategy for maize seed system development and initiatives to integrate gender into advisory services and small-scale entrepreneurship.

The participation of rural women is crucial to the success of the MAIZE CRP.

Their faith in using our new varieties and implementing the agricultural practices recommended by MAIZE makes them beacons in their communities, operating as “secret scientists.” They complete hands-on, on-the-ground research for MAIZE, experimenting to determine the viability of products and practices to their neighbors and paving the way for smallholder farmers worldwide to successfully use and benefit from them.

Their feedback is essential, as we cannot achieve our goal of sustainably increasing production for the 900 million poor consumers for whom maize is a staple food without first closing the gender gap in agriculture.

According to the U.N Food and Agriculture Organization, if women in agriculture were afforded the same rights and opportunities as men, they could increase their farm yields by an estimated 20 to 30 percent and feed up to 150 million more people worldwide. This makes rural women some of our greatest partners in the fight to eradicate hunger and poverty.

We invite you to share your own photos and stories of rural women with us this week using the hashtag #IDRW, to contribute to a global conversation on the world’s “secret scientists”—recognizing our “behind the scenes” partners who are so crucial to the success of our research and projects and work every day to protect and promote global food security—rural women.

BOOK: Portraits of Women Working with Maize in Mexico

http://repository.cimmyt.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10883/4478/57042.pdf?sequence=1

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc0opvkPoh4

Setting the stage for delivering high zinc wheat in South Asia

Written by on October 6, 2015. Posted in News.

Public and private sector partners in HarvestPlus’ biofortified wheat research and dissemination network in South Asia got together at ICRISAT, Hyderabad, on 10-11 September to discuss progress on breeding research, producing seed for target populations, and strategies for accelerating seed production and fast-tracking commercialization of biofortified zinc-rich wheat varieties.

Partners from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as delegates from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), various state agricultural universities, NGOs, small and medium-size private seed companies, processors, millers, and progressive farmers discussed topics such as critical gaps and opportunities in outreach strategies, priority upscaling interventions, and policy incentives for fast-track adoption of improved high Zn wheat varieties.

ICAR Deputy Director General (Crop Science) J.S. Sandhu inaugurated the workshop with a formal presentation on India’s Consortia Research Platforms (CRP) for improving nutritional quality of major staples and emphasized the extraordinary nutritional challenges that country faces, e.g., some of the highest rates of childhood stunting and malnutrition in the world. Wolfgang Pfeiffer, HarvestPlus Director (Product Development and Deployment), highlighted the success of HarvestPlus partners in disseminating nutrient-dense wheat, reaching 50,000 farm households and providing biofortified wheat to a quarter of a million household members by 2015. Parminder Virk, Product Development Manager at HarvestPlus, urged participants to set up a fast-track commercialization pipeline to enable nutrient rich wheat varieties to reach smallholder farmers fast.

CIMMYT Wheat Breeder Velu Govindan discussed advances in the development of competitive high Zn wheat germplasm at CIMMYT, Mexico, to satisfy the needs of national program partners, while Arun Joshi, Senior Wheat Breeder, CIMMYT-South Asia, emphasized the crucial role of public and private sector partners in ensuring farmers have rapid and long-term access to nutrient rich wheat seed. Ravish Chatrath, IIWBR, summarized the results of a special biofortified wheat trial conducted across locations in India.

HarvestPlus Wheat Biofortification meeting held at ICRISAT, in Patancheru. Photo credit : HarvestPlus.

V.K. Mishra, Banaras Hindu University, reported that farmer-participatory varietal selection trials have enabled the identification and release of competitive high Zn wheat varieties for fast-track commercialization in the eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India. The new varieties are not only nutritionally superior, but also drought tolerant and resistant to rusts and other foliar diseases. They are being commercialized in India as truthfully-labeled seed under different names by private companies and farmers’ seed production networks.

Martin Kropff visits China

Written by on October 5, 2015. Posted in News.

Martin Kropff made his first official visit to China as CIMMYT Director General from 28 August to 1 September. He was accompanied by his wife and by Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT’s former DG. Major activities included meeting with Jiayang Li, President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and visiting the potential site for a new China-CIMMYT center in Tongzhou, located an hour’s drive from CAAS headquarters. Kropff also met with Jiangguo Zhang, Vice-Minister and Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA), and officially presented a statue of Norman Borlaug to him in recognition of SAFEA and Jiangguo Zhang’s personal support for the CIMMYT-China collaboration.

The visitors from CIMMYT also had a fruitful discussion with the China Scholarship Council (SCC), which has sponsored 18 visiting scientists at CIMMYT. Liu Jinghui, SCC Secretary General, was very impressed with CIMMYT’s impact both worldwide and in China and agreed to increase the allowance of visiting scientists and postgraduate students from US$ 900 per month to US$ 1400 at CIMMYT HQ and all regional offices. Each year, SCC will offer more than 10 scholarships, ranging from 12 to 24 months, to train at CIMMYT. A memorandum of understanding between CIMMYT and SCC will be signed soon. In addition to these activities, Kropff visited China’s National Nature Science Foundation and met with CIMMYT Board Member Feng Feng.

Kropff also visited the CIMMYT office at CAAS and attended presentations by CIMMYT staff stationed at four locations. He mentioned that he will continue the work Tom Lumpkin did in China, which is the reason they decided to travel together. Maize and wheat are, respectively, the first and third leading crop in China. CIMMYT has worked with China for over 35 years; it opened its China office in 1997 and will continue to expand its collaboration.

Kingbird released in Ethiopia to combat new stem rust threat

Written by on October 5, 2015. Posted in Features.

Kingbird released in Ethiopia to combat new stem rust threat. Credit: Linda McCandless

Farmers in Ethiopia are banking on Kingbird, the latest variety of wheat to be released by the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR). Kingbird is resistant to Ug99, the devastating race of stem rust first identified and subsequently race-typed as TTKSK in 1999, and TKTTF, a new stem rust race identified in 2012 that raged through so many Ethiopian farmers’ fields in 2013 and 2014.

The scourge of wheat farmers the world over, stem rust can quickly turn a wheat field into black stalks empty of grain when environmental conditions are optimal.

The new variety was evaluated at multiple locations in Ethiopia during the 2014 season and approved for release in 2015. “Kingbird offers new hope for resource-poor farmers in stem rust prone areas of Ethiopia,” said Fentahun Mengistu, EIAR Director General. “It is expected to replace the varieties Hawi and Pavon-76 in lowland areas, and complement Kakaba, Ogolcho, Shorima and a few other mid-altitude varieties.”

As Ronnie Coffman, vice-chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), the international network of scientists, breeders and national wheat improvement programs that cooperated on the release of Kingbird, pointed out, crop diseases do not respect international boundaries. “Wheat farmers the world over are threatened by outbreaks of new races of yellow and stem rust of wheat on an almost yearly basis. It takes persistent and continually evolving international efforts to protect staple crops like wheat on a global scale.”

“Kingbird’s multi-disease resistance attributes combined with good bread-making quality and good yield performance led to its release in South Africa and Kenya a few years back,” said Ravi Singh, senior wheat scientist at CIMMYT, whose team is instrumental in making the initial crosses for most new wheat introductions in the developing world.

The pipeline for developing varieties such as Kingbird has been directed by the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project at Cornell University, acting as BGRI secretariat, since 2008. CIMMYT, the international Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), national agricultural research systems, and 22 other institutions assist in the effort. Generous support is provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department of International Development (DFID).

To read more on Kingbird’s development and spread and the efforts to protect world wheat production, check out the BGRI blog, “How Kingbird moved across East Africa.” A poster abstract by Zerihun Tadesse, wheat breeder at the EIAR, may be found here.

Rust-resistant wheat varieties, new rust races, surveillance, monitoring, and gene stewardship will be topics at the 2015 BGRI Technical Workshop, 17-20 September, and the International Wheat Congress, 20-25 September, both in Sydney, Australia. Follow the conversations at #BGRI2015 and #IWC9.

CIMMYT wheat breeder Sridhar Bhavani talks about the recently discovered virulence of TKTTF on Robin in Kenya, and Digelu in Ethiopia, and the new Kingbird release here.

WEMA hybrid launch to benefit maize farmers in Africa

Written by on October 5, 2015. Posted in News. 1 Comment on WEMA hybrid launch to benefit maize farmers in Africa

Through the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project, 13 maize hybrids were approved for commercial production by relevant authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa between October 2014 and March 2015. This means that farmers will soon access these hybrids and benefit from higher yields within their specified environments.

WEMA provides farmers with maize varieties that produce higher yields under moderate drought and are protected from insect damage by their pest resistance. As a key player in the WEMA partnership, CIMMYT contributes its technical expertise, particularly in breeding, to the project.

“Our main focus is to give farmers durable solutions,” explains Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT Regional Representative for Africa and maize breeder who also coordinates CIMMYT’s work in WEMA. “These seeds are bred with important traits that meet farmers’ needs, and have the ability to give higher yields within specific environments.”

All hybrids released under the WEMA project will be sold to farmers under the trade name DroughtTEGO™. “Tego” is Latin for cover, protect or defend. The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), which coordinates the WEMA project, has sub-licensed 22 seed companies in the four countries to produce DroughtTEGO™ seeds to sell to farmers.View the full story here and read more about WEMA and the newly released hybrids.