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Theme: Nutrition, health and food security

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

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

Provitamin A biofortified orange maize reaches farmers in Zambia

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provitaminaA_HarvestPlusWith over 50% of Zambian children under five vitamin A deficient, Zambia faces a major public health problem. This has resulted in several government intervention programs including vitamin A supplementation and sugar fortification, efforts which will soon be complemented by the release of three orange maize hybrids with higher levels of provitamin A carotenoids (compounds converted to vitamin A when consumed) developed by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) and funded by HarvestPlus.

The release, dissemination, and promotion plans of these new hybrids were discussed during 18-21 March 2013 when the HarvestPlus maize project held its 10th planning and review meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The meeting was co-organized by CIMMYT and HarvestPlus and attended by experts from various disciplines including nutritionists, biochemists, biologists, social scientists, public health specialists, and crop development experts from Zambia and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. CIMMYT was represented by scientists Kevin Pixley and Thanda Dhliwayo.

The first days of the meeting focused on knowledge sharing, identification of gaps in the development and dissemination of provitamin A maize, and lessons learned from the Zambian experience as the project plans to expand to other countries in the region. On 20 March participants visited a ZamSeed seed production site where one of the hybrids is being multiplied, an orange maize demonstration plot, and a provitamin A maize testing site at SeedCo Zambia. Later, they visited the Sibuyunji Agricultural Camp in the Sibuyunji District where farmers shared their thoughts on provitamin A orange maize. “We are very happy to have orange maize as an option to avert vitamin A deficiency in our children,” said a farmer growing one of the orange maize varieties. Taking advantage of the farmer-expert interactions, the day ended with a question-and-answer session between the farmers and the multidisciplinary expert team. The questions ranged from agronomy and orange maize production to its nutritional benefits.

The last day of the meeting was devoted to country presentations and the project’s expansion plans. It was also announced that after 10 years of dedicated culminating in the release of the 3 varieties in Zambia, Kevin Pixley would be unable to continue as HarvestPlus maize crop leader due to his appointment as CIMMYT Genetic Resources Director. Thanda Dhliwayo (CIMMYT) and Abebe Menkir (IITA) will co-lead the maize crop activities for HarvestPlus effective immediately.

ZimCLIFS integrates crop and livestock production research in Zimbabwe

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DSCN4727 In 2012, three CG centers—the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), CIMMYT, and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)—launched a joint project called Integrating Crops and Livestock for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods in Zimbabwe (ZimCLIFS). The goal of the project is to develop ways to increase agricultural production, improve household food security, alleviate poverty, and thereby reduce food-aid dependency in rural Zimbabwe through better integration of crop and livestock production and market participation. The inception workshop, held 17–19 October 2012, was attended by international project managers and local stakeholders, including research, extension, private-sector, and NGO personnel, and farmers, totaling 41 participants.

The project objectives are as follows:

  • Increase productivity of smallholder crop and livestock farming systems in four districts in two contrasting agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe by identifying and adapting appropriate technologies and management practices.
  • Improve farmers’ access to resources, technologies, information, and markets by characterizing and strengthening value chains for crops (maize, sorghum, and legumes) and livestock (goats and cattle).
  • Increase the knowledge and skills of research, extension, and agribusiness staff, enabling the first two groups to design and implement integrated farming systems and value chain research, and the latter to apply knowledge generated by the project elsewhere in Zimbabwe.

Since its launch, the project has established field trials on 102 farm sites at a time when the cropping season had already started in the high-potential subhumid Murehwa and Goromonzi districts of Mashonaland East Province, where CIMMYT leads the agronomic activities including conservation agriculture as well as socio-economic components of the project. To support work on these trials, project partners including extension and NGO personnel convened on 16 January 2013 for a data collection training workshop facilitated by staff from ILRI and CIMMYT. The workshop sought to orient partners to the project’s objectives, activities, and operational framework; create awareness of the different types of agronomic experiments implemented in the 2012–13 season; train participants on data collection tools and expectations for the different types of agronomic experiments; and review trial implementation progress. Presentations covered topics such as ethics in agricultural research and the various ZimCLIFS activities and their data collection needs. “We thank the ZimCLIFS team for organizing this meeting, as it has helped to clarify our roles in this project and the direction it is taking,” remarked an extension officer from the Murehwa District in her closing remarks.

On 25 and 26 January 2013, two representatives of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, project manager John Dixon and consultant George Mburathi, visited ZimCLIFS staff at the CIMMYT office in Harare and project sites in Goromonzi to see how far the project had progressed. They witnessed conservation agriculture trials in which maize is grown along with livestock-palatable and unpalatable legume species, with the palatable species used to feed livestock and the unpalatable species used to generate biomass for soil cover in the subsequent season, given that livestock graze communally in the area. For example, mucuna (Mucuna pruriens) would be used to feed livestock, while residues from fish-poison-bean (Tephrosia vogelii) or dry sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) would be used to provide soil cover in the subsequent season as a new approach to managing residue cover provision in crop-livestock environments. They also visited a site where maize (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and mucuna rotation and intercropping were being tested with a view to intensifying maize-legume production. Other agronomic trials established by the project address the issues of residue types and residue rates in conservation agriculture systems where livestock competition exists. The visitors also witnessed cowpea screening and forage production trials that seek to demonstrate hay and silage making from legume sources such as cowpea and hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab). Dixon also visited a local abattoir and a goat market as part of appreciating the value chain in livestock production.

Within its first season, ZimCLIFS has established trials in high- and low-potential sites with 303 farmers, about 63% of the targeted 480 households, an impressive start according to Dixon. The project runs until July 2015. Dry season activities will focus on livestock feeding, value chain studies, and establishment of innovation platforms as vehicles for dissemination and increased productivity.

Far in the South and seeking food security: East Timor farmers adopt improved maize seed

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CIMMYT photo
Buddhi Kunwar, Informal Seed Production Advisor, Seeds of Life Program, MAF-East Timor (third from right wearing a hat and with sunglasses hanging from shirt) with members of Community Seed Production Group at ‘Sele’ maize harvest ceremony.”

Through five years of on-farm trials supported by the governments of East Timor and Australia using locally-suited crop varieties provided by five centers of the CGIAR-Consortium, small-scale farmers in East Timor learned about and acquired seed of improved varieties of maize and other key food crops, as well as improved cropping practices. The hungry season for the major staple, maize, was significantly reduced among the adopters and, with more recent support from the “Seed of Life” project and East Timor’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, farming communities are producing improved maize seed to satisfy local demand.

A mountainous nation at the very end of the 4,200 kilometer-long Indonesian Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, East Timor has poor soils and limited irrigation that barely support farming of its staple crops, maize and rice. It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but 80% of East Timor’s working population practices agriculture. The struggles leading up to the country’s independence in 1999 left widespread food insecurity. Rural inhabitants—particularly in the uplands—suffer a several-month-long hungry season, when annual stocks of the staples and of root crops (cassava, sweet potato, taro, arrowroot) run out.

Launched in 2000 with support from the governments of Australia and East Timor, the Seeds of Life initiative organized more than 3,000 on-farm demonstrations in the initial 5 years of the project to raise awareness among farmers about improved varieties and cropping practices for maize, rice, groundnut, sweet potato, and cassava. Through more than 1,000 on-farm trials during 2006-10, East Timor’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) found that an improved open-pollinated maize variety “Sele,” derived from CIMMYT breeding programs, yielded nearly 50% more grain on average than traditional varieties. During 2008-11, nearly 28,000 households obtained seed of Sele and by 2010 more than 70% of those families (up from only 58% in 2006-07) were harvesting enough maize grain for their entire year’s food needs. Overall, Seeds of Life’s efforts to identify, multiply, and distribute seed of higher-yielding, more nutritional varieties of the food crops farmers grow have measurably improved the food security and general welfare of participating households.

“A major bottleneck for maize has been the shortage of quality seed of improved varieties,” says Buddhi Kunwar, Informal Seed Production Advisor of MAF who has been working in Seeds of Life. “Despite intensive efforts, the supply of MAF-released Sele seed was only 32 tons in 2011 and 89 tons in 2012, far below the nation’s total maize seed requirement. To address this, we have included community-based seed production as a key part of the Seeds of Life’s most recent phase, which began in 2011 and runs through 2016.”

In community-based seed production, organized groups of farmers operating close to their homes produce, store, and market maize seed, initially with training and other backstopping from MAF or non-government organizations (see the list below). Each group eventually operates on its own, once members gain experience in producing quality seed and marketing or distributing it within the group and their community.

During 2011, more than 700 community-based seed production groups were facilitated by MAF and non-government organizations. Of these, 320 were growing Sele, using 5 kilograms of certified seed they received to sow a 2,000 m2 seed plot. That year 289 groups produced a total of 46 tons of seed, which was stored in airtight steel drums and used to meet the seed requirements of group members and, with the seed left over, for barter or sale.

One problem encountered was grazing animals: these consumed the entire maize seed crops of 31 groups. “During the 2012-13 maize cropping season, MAF and NGO extension officers have selected seed plots that are well protected by fencing in most locations,” says Kunwar, “and a few communities have introduced ‘tara bandu’–a traditional social rule to restrain animals–to protect seed plots.”

In 2012-13 Seeds of Life operates in 11 of East Timor’s 13 districts, including 45 sub-districts and 135 villages. There are 680 community-based seed producer groups supported by MAF extension and another 400 groups supported by non-government organizations. According to Kunwar, Phase 3 of Seeds of Life runs from February 2011 through January 2016 and will support more than 1,000 community seed production groups for subsistence seed production and 50 farmer associations for commercial seed production, covering all 13 districts. The groups produce seed of maize as well as seed of improved varieties of rice and peanuts and cuttings of cassava and sweet potato.

For more information: B.M. Prasanna, Director, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT (b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org), or Buddhi Kunwar, Seeds of Life Program, MAF (buddhi.kunwar@seedsoflifetimor.org)

Australian funding for Seeds of Life comes through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and ACIAR; it is managed by ACIAR. The Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) within The University of Western Australia coordinates Australian-funded activities. Adapted lines of food crops for on-farm tests were provided by CIMMYT, IRRI, CIP, ICRISAT, and CIAT. Field work has been led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), with facilitation by non-government organizations such as CARE-International, Mercy Corps, Hivos, USC-Canada, World Vision International (WVI), and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug

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CIMMYT fights hunger and poverty in the developing world through smarter agriculture. We are the world’s number one caretaker and developer of maize and wheat, two of humanity’s most vital crops. Maize and wheat are grown on 200 million hectares in developing countries. 84 million of those hectares are planted with varieties of CIMMYT seed. We also maintain the world’s largest maize and wheat seed bank at our headquarters in Mexico.

We are probably best known for prompting the Green Revolution, which saved millions of lives across Asia and led to CIMMYT’s Norman Borlaug receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Because of population growth, natural resource degradation, and climate change the current challenge is to feed more people, with less resources, and in a more environmentally responsible way than ever before. It can be done.

Pakistan: Innovation to boost agriculture

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NARC-17Pakistan ushered in a new era of agricultural research earlier this month when the Ministry of Food Security and Research, CIMMYT, USAID, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), and key agricultural leaders from throughout Pakistan gathered in Islamabad on 08 March 2013 to announce the Pakistan ‘Agricultural Innovation Program’ (AIP). This $30 million project seeks to revitalize the contribution of science-supported innovation to the economic growth of Pakistan’s agricultural sector by utilizing the Agricultural Research for Development paradigm.

“Pakistan’s agricultural productivity has fallen behind comparable countries with similar agroecologies,” said Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General. “There is a tremendous potential for growth, but we must act now.” Under AIP, commissioned projects and competitive grants will address key objectives to increase productivity within the cereals/cereal systems, livestock, and horticulture sectors. Whilst CIMMYT will manage and take responsibility for the overall AIP portfolio and the cereals/cereal systems component, the program will also draw on the expertise of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the University of California, Davis. UC Davis will also assist in linking Pakistan research systems to agriculture science and innovation in the USA via the human resources development component of AIP; which will make a particular effort to engage women scientists in Pakistan. PARC is the hosting partner and will also oversee the competitive grants portfolio and ensure that AIP is led and executed by national partners.

The relationship between CIMMYT and Pakistan spans five decades. In 1961, Pakistani FAO trainee Manzoor Bajwa, who was working with Norman Borlaug, selected Mexipak, a high-yielding wheat that went on to become the country’s most popular variety and one of the original megavarieties of the Green Revolution. After a large import of Mexipak seed from Mexico, Pakistan harvested 7 million tons of wheat in 1968, making it the first country in Asia to become self-sufficient in the crop. Most of Pakistan’s wheat crop (24 million tons in 2012) is produced with varieties derived from the CIMMYT/Pakistan collaboration. During the 1990s-early 2000s, CIMMYT helped Pakistani research to launch conservation agriculture in South Asia.

Now, AIP hopes to foster a demand-driven, results-oriented science research community and enhance linkages between Pakistan’s agricultural research and innovation communities, the wider global community of agricultural scientists, and the private and civil society sectors. Research is one among many contributors to increase food security and economic growth; but by creating a dynamic, responsive, and competitive system of science and innovation partnerships, the Agricultural Innovation Program hopes to rapidly boost agricultural production, productivity, and value.

For additional information contact Interim AIP project leader Rick Ward (r.ward@cgiar.org) or CIMMYT Pakistan Country Liaison Officer Muhammad Imtiaz (m.imtiaz@cgiar.org)

New doubled haploid facility will strengthen maize breeding in Africa

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CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program will establish and operate a maize doubled haploid (DH) facility in Kiboko, Kenya. With financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this centralized DH facility will be able to produce at least 100,000 DH lines per year by 2016, thus strengthening maize breeding programs in Africa and improving breeding efficiency. The DH technology will reduce the cost and time for breeding work as it enables rapid development of homozygous maize lines and fast-tracking development and release of elite maize varieties. The facility will be built at the Kiboko Experimental Station on 20 hectares of land provided by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). The Maize DHAfrica Project will both establish the facility and refine the DH technology in collaboration with the University of Hohenheim, Germany.

Doubled-Haploid“One of the important ways to increase genetic gains and accelerate the development and deployment of improved varieties is to reduce the time needed for inbred development,” said B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program director. “The technology would also allow breeders to couple molecular marker-based selection for important traits such as disease resistance and quality at an early generation.” A project planning and review meeting held in Nairobi during 18-19 February 2013 was attended by representatives from national agriculture research systems, Kenya Seed Company, Seed Trade Association of Kenya, University of Hohenheim, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and CIMMYT. “This technology will help us significantly improve maize food security in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Joseph Ochieng, KARI deputy director (food crops and crop protection), who spoke on behalf of the institute’s director Ephraim Mukisira. The KARI official emphasized the importance of educating stakeholders on this novel technology to ensure they understand its benefits and use the DH lines efficiently in breeding programs.

The DH facility will also serve as a training hub for scientists and technical personnel from national programs and small and medium-sized seed companies that may not have advanced breeding facilities. It will enhance CIMMYT’s capacity to generate DH lines for effective use in Africa-based breeding programs such as the Drought Tolerant Maize in Africa (DTMA), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), and the Maize HarvestPlus in Africa.

“We are fully enthused and geared towards establishing a state-of-the-art DH Facility in Kiboko,” said Sotero Bumagat, CIMMYT maize DH operations manager and project leader. During a visit to the field site in Kiboko, Bumagat explained the proposed layout of the facility and received very positive feedback. Seed sector stakeholders who participated in the meeting expressed excitement and anticipation to see the DH facility established and operational in 2013. “This is a technology that the seed sector in Africa has been waiting for,” said Willy Bett, managing director of the Kenya Seed Company and member of the Project Steering Committee. “Faster breeding of improved maize varieties is quite important for effectively managing problems such as the maize lethal necrosis disease,” said Evans Sikinyi, executive officer of the Seed Trade Association of Kenya.

Doubled-Haploid2

New postharvest storage technologies for Latin America

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7178682264_898e3326d3The 2nd Latin American Convention on Airtight Storage sponsored by the global company GrainPro, Inc was held during 1-2 March 2013 in Antigua, Guatemala. More than 50 participants from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the USA, and other countries attended the event.

Presented at the event were the latest airtight storage technologies used to ship, preserve, and maintain the quality of raw materials and food grains produced in the region. For example, CaribecafĂ© SKN/ NKG (Colombia) explained how they apply new technology to high quality coffee, and Zamorano University (Honduras) described its uses in bean, maize, and sorghum. Luis Gerardo RamĂ­rez (CIMMYT-MĂ©xico) described the MasAgro program which is currently evaluating GrainPro technology in the Mexican state of Chiapas. “We are ready to extend the technology to small farmers in other regions of Mexico through the MasAgro hubs,” added RamĂ­rez.

Other technologies presented were plastic bags known as SuperGrainbagsTM-IVR, which were evaluated by CIMMYT and the Technological Institute of Monterrey under the supervision of Silverio García. Results indicated that the bags are appropriate for storing and protecting maize and other basic grains from postharvest pests. Furthermore, since they do not require insecticide use, they are environmentally friendly, as well as 100% recyclable. “If we can’t avoid postharvest losses, we can’t achieve food security,” said García. “By applying these technologies, we are opening a new chapter in the weakest link of the maize production chain in Latin America.”

In his speech, Jordan Dey, vice-president of Food Security, pointed out that according to UN estimates, global postharvest losses account for 25% of all grain production, an amount that would be enough to feed the world’s most vulnerable people.

Convention participants thanked CIMMYT’s Institutional Relations for Latin America, headed by Isabel Peña, for providing teaching materials and for its support during this new stage aimed at disseminating new postharvest technologies throughout the region.

Zinc-rich wheat reaches communities in eastern India

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India6In the continuous effort to increase awareness of wheat biofortification and its use to improve health and quality of life in eastern India, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Mahamana Krishak Samiti farmers’ cooperative, CIMMYT, and HarvestPlus, with support from M/s Shyam Seed Company, organized a series of farmer-scientist interactions and field visits on 5, 15, 20, 24, and 28 February 2013 in about 20 villages in the Mirzapur and Chandouli districts, Uttar Pradesh. The series focused on training and advocacy among women groups, monitoring and data recording in participatory variety selection trials, monitoring of seed multiplication undertaken by M/s Shyam Seed Company, problem resolution by farmers, seed multiplication strategies, pre-release of mini-kit trials, and varietal release. Over 70 farmers interested in HarvestPlus experiments participated at each location. “They were optimistic about zinc-enriched wheat varieties and keen to know when these varieties would be available for cultivation,” said CIMMYT wheat breeder Arun Joshi.

Prior to each event, the BHU/HarvestPlus team (Balasubramaniam Arun, Ramesh Chand, and Vinod Kumar Mishra) introduced the project’s objectives and the importance of biofortified wheat varieties. Chandra Prakash Srivastava and Girish Chandra Mishra covered the role of zinc and iron for human health, while soil scientist Satish Kumar Singh focused on crop production and zinc level distribution in different soil types. Saket Kushwaha from BHU explained the importance of a well-planned economic strategy to maximize the gains from nutrient-rich wheat varieties.

Participants attended a hands-on training on HarvestPlus trials sowing to learn about experimental design with focus on plot area, number of lines, and amount of seed to be sown, and to observe soil samples collection demonstrations. They later discussed conventional and zero-till drill for experimental planting, their experience with biofortified varieties and quality seed production, balanced use of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, sulfur, and boron based on soil analysis, and the importance of maintaining the purity and quality of tested and multiplied seeds.

BHU scientists along with Chhavi Tiwari, HarvestPlus research associate, organized women scientist interaction sessions to educate women on the importance and role of micronutrient-enriched wheat in daily lives and its subsequent positive impact on the society. The participating women ranged from school-going girls to working women, women farmers, housewives, and elderly women, representing various educational, economic, and social levels of the region. During the meetings, participants received a Hindi write-up on the importance of biofortified wheat in India, and discussed issues such as nutritious food, consequences of iron and zinc deficiency, and the women’s desire to work with BHU biofortification projects. Rekha, a farmer from the Pidkhir village said, “I did not know one type of wheat can be different from the other because it contains zinc. I did not know this nutrient is so important, or that I would be able to grow this wheat in near future.” The participants were also taught to identify good genotypes and most of them agreed that the new wheat varieties would have a great social impact through improving people’s health.

Wolfgang Pfeiffer from HarvestPlus lauded the farmers and national research systems for promoting the nutrient rich varieties and thus for contributing to eradication of the malnutrition problem in South Asia and elsewhere. “I’d like to encourage more women to participate in the HarvestPlus program. We are approaching the seed delivery phase and their views will be particularly important,” he added.

Following the farmers program, Ravi Prakash Singh, distinguished scientist and head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Improvement Program, visited BHU on 7 March 2013. He reviewed the collaborative research and praised BHU for its work within HarvestPlus. “I hope that BHU will take the lead and will be the first center to release the first ever biofortified wheat in South Asia,” Singh encouraged BHU’s scientists.

India’s Economic Survey and Budget 2013: What’s in store for agriculture?

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In the latest Union Budget, which was presented by India’s finance minister P. Chidambaram to the Parliament on 28 February 2013, the Government of India re-emphasized its commitment to inclusive growth with special focus on human development and gender sensitivity, particularly in education, skill development, and health related programs, and on economically and ecologically sustainable development models.

According to the Economic Survey 2012-13, the average annual growth rate in agriculture and allied sectors was 3.6% during the 11th plan period (2007-12). While this is an improvement from 2.5% in the previous period, it is still below the expected growth of 4%, which is the minimum desired level and a prerequisite for an overall inclusive rural economy growth and development, and farm income enhancement. The agriculture sector needs urgent reforms to boost crop yields and private investment, motivate farmers, and feed the growing population. Therefore, a 22% budget increase has been announced for the Ministry of Agriculture; overall 4,943 million USD (Rs 27,049 crore) has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and 624 million USD (Rs 3,415 crore) has been allocated for agricultural research. The agricultural credit target for 2013-14 is kept at 127.9 billion USD (Rs 7 lakh crore).

One of the targeted activities focuses on providing more affordable and accessible credit to small farmers to enable new technology adoption. Commercial banks have been included to cover short-term crop loans; farmers who have repaid their past loans in time will be entitled to receive another loan at a 4% interest rate. Other goals include matching equity grants to registered farmer producer organizations, credit guarantee funds for small farmers’ agribusiness corporations, and dedicated women banks.

To address the issues of supply-demand mismatch in oilseeds, high food inflation, declining water tables, climate change, meeting nutritional requirements, and achieving overall food security, the government announced establishment of two new institutions: Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology in Ranchi, Jharkhand, and National Institute of Biotic Stress Management for Plant Protection in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Furthermore, 91 million USD (Rs 500 crore) has been allocated to crop diversification programs in the next fiscal year to promote technological innovation and encourage farmers to grow crop alternatives. Other incentives in agriculture include introducing new crop varieties rich in micronutrients such as iron-rich bajra, protein-rich maize, and zinc-rich wheat, which is already among CIMMYT research areas. In addition, more budgetary support was announced to encourage the ongoing green revolution efforts in eastern Indian states.

For more information, contact Surabhi Mittal (s [dot] mittal [at] cgiar [dot] org).

CIMMYT-Bangladesh, February 2013: distinguished guests and donors

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VIP-in-GangladeshAs farmers in southern Bangladesh –the country’s most impoverished region– face increasing costs of agricultural labor and negative effects of climate change, CIMMYT-Bangladesh partners with farmers and agricultural service providers throughout the region to turn these challenges into opportunities. This work to improve farmers’ livelihoods by developing affordable irrigation and efficient machinery has drawn attention from donors and distinguished guests, many of whom recently visited some of the region’s areas to see the changes brought by CIMMYT in action.

On 06 February 2013, Saharah Moon Chapotin (team leader for agricultural research at USAID) and Tony Cavalieri (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BMGF) visited activities conducted under the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) funded by USAID’s Feed the Future initiative with support from the BMGF. CSISA-BD is a collaborative project of CIMMYT, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and WorldFish aiming to sustainably increase productivity of cereal-based farming systems by developing innovative agricultural technologies –including small-scale agricultural machinery and conservation agriculture– and market linkages to raise household incomes. Accompanied by cropping system agronomists Timothy J. Krupnik and Samina Yasmin (CIMMYT-CSISA), Global Wheat Program associate director and wheat pathologist Etienne Duveillier (CIMMYT), regional agronomist Andrew McDonald (CIMMYT), and director of IRRI in Bangladesh Timothy Russell, the team visited the Patuakhali region of southern Bangladesh, where preliminary results of rainfed maize field trials managed by farmers showed both yield increase (1.5 t/ha) over conventional management practices and reduced production costs. Farmers have seized this opportunity and are increasingly growing maize to sell to tourists at premium prices in the nearby beach district. The guests also visited IRRI rice screening trials, WorldFish activities to introduce micronutrient dense fish species, and women’s producer groups involved in maize cultivation.

The following week, the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena and USAID Mission Director in Bangladesh Richard Green visited CSISA-BD activities in the Shatkira district. After a welcome from CIMMYT agronomists Krupnik and Md. Shahjahan, and IRRI and WorldFish delegates, they learned about CIMMYT’s efforts to test, refine, and extend labor-saving and cost-reducing conservation agriculture machinery to farmers through agricultural service networks, and through the study and promotion of two-wheel tractors to power fuel-efficient, surface water irrigation pumps (axial flow pumps, AFPs) used particularly for bed-planted maize fields. Ambassador Mozena commented, “I have seen a CIMMYT project funded by USAID and working with the Government of Bangladesh to help increase food security. Wonderful things are happening right here. I saw a beautiful maize field grown with new technology. If you don’t have this machinery and you are using only day labor, it is very hard to cultivate enough land. This machinery really works.”

Two days later, a European Union delegation visited the EU-funded Agriculture, Nutrition and Extension Project (ANEP) in Barisal, Bangladesh, one of the poorest regions subjected to tidal flooding and low annual crop productivity. ANEP is a partnership between CIMMYT, International Development Exchange (iDE), Save the Children, WorldFish, Community Development Center (CODEC), CEAPRED, and BES-Nepal. The EU delegation included Philippe Jacques (head of EU cooperation in Bangladesh), JoĂŁo Anselmo (attachĂ© to the EU delegation), Marion Michaud (ANEP-EU task force manager based in Nepal), and Roselyn Mullo (ECHO regional nutrition coordinator). ANEP focuses on increasing cropping intensity in Barisal to enable farmers to grow two economically viable crops per year. Krupnik and Yusuf Ali demonstrated how small-scale machinery used for strip tillage and bed planting can help farmers to plant dry season crops such as wheat, maize, and legumes, while reducing costs and saving irrigation water. “Within ANEP, CIMMYT partners with iDE to develop seasonal crop production business plans tailored to specific villages and farmers’ organizations. These production plans help farmers to make better decisions on how to assure timely harvesting, aggregation of grain, and delivery of maize to the market to obtain premium prices,” added Krupnik.

Women driving changes in agriculture

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Marianne BĂ€nziger is the Deputy Director General for Research and Partnerships for CIMMYT.

mbanziger_womensDayMarianne started her career with CIMMYT as a post-doctoral fellow in 1994 working in Maize Physiology to develop varieties tolerant to low soil fertility and drought. She was based at the CIMMYT office in Zimbabwe during 1996-2004, after which she was appointed Director of the Maize Program, based in Nairobi. In 2009 Marianne became the DDG-Research. In that capacity, she led the development of the CGIAR research programs for maize and wheat.

Why did you choose agriculture?

I chose agriculture because it’s a science that impacts people’s lives. It’s as simple as that. I was also attracted to that it builds up on a wide range of disciplines – biology, chemistry, math, socioeconomics.

Your maize breeding work in Eastern and Southern Africa had, and still has, an enormous impact. Do you think that as a woman you gave a specific gender perspective to your research?

I lived in Africa for almost 15 years and it was impossible to ignore the people — the families — who struggled to improve their livelihoods. I saw them every day. We interacted frequently with both men and women farmers. In the environments we worked, the concern of the women farmers was more on avenues that improved household food security while the men were more concerned about selling their crops and generating income. Of course, families need both: Enough food to eat and income to pay for education fees, health costs, and things like farm inputs.

Another very obvious learning was that Africa has many strong women who drive change across the continent. You find them among farmers, among professionals, and among researchers alike.

Did you work differently as a woman breeder?

There have been books written about differences in men and women “behavior” or “traits” – In my opinion, these are stereotypes and they often break down. Every person puts their imprint, their personality, on their work, for better or worse, whether with “male” and “female” stereo-typed traits.

Did you have rural women in mind when you were developing different varieties of maize?

Interacting with farmers in Africa, I tried to understand how they make decisions and how those decisions link with and meet up with real options in the value chain. For instance, there was a stronger preference for hybrids by male farmers while female farmers preferred OPVs (open-pollinated varieties, which allow farmers to save seeds). We created an integrated breeding program that offered both OPVs and hybrids. The first generation of successful products was OPVs, “women typed” products. However, the reason for them to become available early on had to do with the seed sector ability to scale them up more rapidly as compared drought tolerant hybrids, not whether they were “female” or “male” preferred. The lesson learned is that researchers can craft gender differentiated options, we however need to understand the value chain to ensure that those options indeed become available and accessible at farm level.

Why did women prefer OPVs?

It gave them a greater sense of security about their ability to feed their families. Because they could save seed from year-to-year they felt more in control of their lives. Men preferred hybrids because they had a higher yield which meant more money in the market.

Unfortunately, preferences too often get treated as an either/or issue. We involved schools in rural areas in executing on-farm trials. I remember one particular instance talking to the headmaster of a school located in a drought prone area. I learned that classes had only one schoolbook which they had to share and pass around more than 50 children. Except for two old benches everybody was sitting on the floor. I asked him if the children – under these circumstances – were able to get a quality education and go to secondary school later on. He said the greatest concern wasn’t the lack of benches or books but that the children came to school and fell asleep because they were hungry. They were hungry because they only got one meal a day.

That school was in a drought-prone area and it made me once again realize how real and prominent food insecurity was. So, if you are a mother in such an environment, clearly the first thing you are concerned about is feeding your family and have a sense of control that you can achieve that. Setting food security as a priority does not mean that the woman would not want to grow hybrids as her family becomes more food secure. She also wants income for books and school fees. She would like to see her children learning a profession and likely leave agriculture. We must understand that poverty and hunger are intertwined and do our best to address both.

What do you think are the priorities to empower rural women in regions where we work?

Last week, I was in India at a meeting with farmers – both men and women – and one of the women stood up and said, “We want to have the same access to information and opportunities as men have.”

In the past, women have been deprived of information, of access to credit, and of the same opportunities offered to men. Fortunately many organizations including governmental organization begin to put more proactive gender strategies in place. We can and must ensure that more women get access to empowering information and opportunities. In our case, we are right now engaging in a gender audit of our projects, looking for new avenues to empower women. This is not just about analyzing how women or men think, but asking ourselves how we can empower women through our interventions. We however also have to accept that certain, indeed many, interventions have benefits to men and women alike. So doing a gender audit isn’t about being able to tick off the box and say ‘we addressed the gender aspects of this project’. It is about enriching our understanding how interventions, people, society, value chains, opportunities connect and then choosing more effective interventions that improve the livelihoods of the poor.

What advice would you give to young women scientists?

Pursue your dreams and be what you would like to be. I’d offer that advice to everyone, independent of whether they are a woman or a man, tall or short, or one nationality or the other.

Women entering the workforce raises wheat consumption

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MasonNicole Mason is an assistant professor of International Development at the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University.

Currently on long-term assignment with the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute in Lusaka, Zambia, Mason completed her PhD in Agricultural Economics at MSU in August 2011. Her research focuses on various dimensions of agricultural input and output subsidy programs in Africa, including political economy aspects as well as program effects on smallholder farmer behavior, poverty, inequality, and maize market prices. Prior to joining MSU, Mason served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and worked with the Partnership to Cut Hunger & Poverty in Africa. Mason was an invited speaker at the conference “Wheat for food security in Africa: Science and policy dialogue about the future of wheat in Africa,” held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during October 2012, and organized by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), CIMMYT, ICARDA, IFPRI, the African Union, and WHEAT-the CGIAR research program.

What drew you to international development research and outreach?

During my undergraduate studies at Allegheny College, I took a class entitled “Understanding Environmental Problems in Africa,” taught by the applied economist and returned Peace Corps volunteer Dr. Terrence Bensel. He piqued my interest in Africa and the Peace Corps, and I decided to join the Peace Corps after college. I had the privilege of serving as a volunteer in the rural community of Dalein in the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea in West Africa. I worked with smallholder farmers and women’s gardening cooperatives and saw firsthand the critical role that agriculture plays in the livelihoods of so many rural Africans. These experiences inspired me to pursue a career in international agricultural development research, capacity building, and outreach.

What drew you to work on the trends and drivers of wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa?

In the summer of 2007, I worked with colleagues from the Food Security Research Project and the Zambia Central Statistical Office to implement an Urban Consumption Survey in four cities in Zambia (Lusaka, Kitwe, Mansa, and Kasama). We interviewed over 2,000 households and asked them about all of the food and non-food items they had consumed in the preceding 30 days. We also visited many food retail outlets in the four cities, including supermarkets, bakeries, small grocers, and roadside and mobile vendors. I was struck by how popular bread and other wheat products were among respondents of all income groups. It was also interesting to see the long queues for bread in the supermarkets and the vendors selling bread at a slight markup right outside the supermarket to people who wanted to avoid the long lines inside. I learned that similar things were happening in other African cities and towns, and decided to work with MSU agricultural economist Thomas S. Jayne and CIMMYT socioeconomist Bekele Shiferaw to delve into the factors driving rising wheat consumption in Africa.

What did you discover?

I expected urbanization to be a key factor driving rising wheat consumption in Africa but surprisingly, our results suggest that after controlling for other factors like GDP, total population, and the prices of bread and products that are complements or substitutes for bread, changes in the percentage of the total population that resides in urban areas don’t have a significant effect on country-level wheat consumption. This was surprising because in most countries in Africa (Ethiopia is an exception), wheat consumption is much higher in urban than in rural areas. We’re still investigating this finding to unpack what is going on. One possibility is that it’s not urbanization per se that drives wheat consumption but rather the demographic and socioeconomic changes that go along with it. These are things like rising incomes and increased labor force participation by women.

What did you observe about gender and wheat consumption in Africa?

A key finding of our study related to gender is that rising labor force participation by women—especially if it rises faster than labor force participation by men—has a significant, positive effect on country-level wheat consumption. We suspect that this is because wheat products (bread, pasta, chapati, etc.) take less time to prepare than many other popular staple carbohydrates like maize meal porridge (called nshima in Zambia and consumed widely in eastern and southern Africa). When women work more outside of the home, they have less time to devote to food preparation and may prefer quicker options like these wheat products.

What types of changes (policy, research, etc.) do you think would help women and families in sub-Saharan Africa?

This is really broad. But in general, I believe women provide most of the labor for agricultural production in Africa but often don’t have much control over the revenue from the sales of products they helped to produce. Women also tend to have less access to productive assets and technologies that could help raise agricultural productivity. Empowering women—for example, through formal education as well as adult education on improved farming practices and business/management skills, improving their access to credit, etc.—is critical not only for improving the well-being of women but also that of their children, families, and communities.

To see the full study on rising wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa by Mason, Jayne, and Shiferaw,  please visit http://fsg.afre.msu.edu/papers/idwp127.pdf

 

Published 2013

Maize lethal necrosis: Scientists and key stakeholders discuss strategies as the battle continues

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29A recently-emerged disease in Eastern Africa, maize lethal necrosis (MLN), remains a serious concern. A regional workshop on the disease and its management strategies was held during 12-14 February 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the workshop brought together nearly 70 scientists, seed company breeders and managers, and representatives of ministries of agriculture and regulatory authorities in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as experts from the U.S.A.

The key objective of the meeting was to “establish a strong interface between research and regulatory institutions in Eastern Africa to effectively tackle the MLN challenge, including the ongoing efforts and further steps to identify and deploy disease-resistant germplasm, and to create a system that can ensure a constant flow of varieties,” explained B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT Global Maize Program director. Prasanna highlighted the difficulties faced by the maize farming community from the disease, and emphasized the need to accelerate deployment of MLN resistant maize varieties and to generate necessary awareness among the relevant stakeholders on management strategies. “It is necessary to break the MLN disease cycle and tackle the problem from multiple perspectives,” added KARI director Ephraim Mukisira. He mentioned that besides partnering with CIMMYT on breeding for MLN resistant varieties, KARI will also be distributing seed of alternative crops to farmers in affected areas. “As a dairy farmer, I will be planting napier grass instead of maize this season,” noted Mukisira.

The first signs of a new disease appeared in 2011 and 2012 in the Rift Valley Province, Kenya. A team of CIMMYT and KARI scientists identified it as MLN, a disease caused by a double infection of the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and the sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and transmitted by insects. According to Godfrey Asea, plant breeder and head of the Cereals Program at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Kampala, MLN was also identified in Uganda. Furthermore, symptoms of MLN have been cited in Tanzania, said Kheri Kitenge, maize breeder at the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Arusha.

Scientists, particularly breeders, have made significant progress in tackling the disease. Studies are already underway at two field sites (Naivasha and Narok) where responses of a wide array of inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids are being evaluated under high natural disease pressure and artificial inoculation. Participants visited the Sunripe Farm in Naivasha, where they observed KARI-CIMMYT MLN trials under natural disease pressure. A trial under artificial inoculation in Naivasha featuring nearly 175 commercial maize varieties is showing high levels of susceptibility to MLN. Researchers remain hopeful as some of the elite inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids developed under projects such as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) or Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) are showing resistance to the disease.

During the farm visit, KARI pathologist Anne Wangai and her team showed how to generate artificial inoculum for MCMV and SCMV, as well as the enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) based technique for pathogen diagnosis at the national agricultural research laboratories at the KARI campus. The participants observed an artificial inoculation of maize seedlings in the field, followed by a discussion on some of the major changes in maize seed demand resulting from MLN incidence. “The maize seed industry is under stress in Kenya due to the need to replace some popular but MLN-vulnerable varieties as soon as possible,” explained Evans Sikinyi, Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK) executive officer. All stakeholders agreed that the foremost priority is to identify and speed deployment of MLN resistant maize varieties. “We also have to enhance the diagnostic capacity in the labs and ensure there is a rapid response and surveillance on MLN,” added Esther Kimani, general manager of phytosanitary services at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).

In the concluding session of the workshop, stakeholders identified key research areas and discussed partnership opportunities.

High expectations among stakeholders as WEMA Phase II kicks off

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IMG_9890During 4-8 February 2013, stakeholders of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for the Fifth Review and Planning Meeting to discuss achievements and challenges of the recently concluded WEMA Phase I (2008-2013) and to plan for the second phase of the project (2013-2017) which begins in March this year. In the past four years, WEMA has made several key achievements, including the successful application and approval of permits to conduct confined field trials for transgenic varieties in Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. Kenya and Uganda are now in their third year of trials, South Africa in its fourth. The project has also managed to submit conventional drought tolerant maize hybrids into the national performance trials in Kenya. “It is expected that farmers will have these WEMA conventional maize seeds by 2014,” says Denis Kyetere, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) executive director. CKH110078, one of the hybrids developed from the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) materials, is in its final stage of approval in Kenya.

Emily Twinamasiko, Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization director general and WEMA Executive Advisory Board chair, was pleased with the achievements made in 2012 and commended all teams and the operations committee for their great efforts. Natalie DiNicola, Monsanto vice president for Africa and Europe, commented on the indicators of success: “The project will never be successful until the farmer has a product to plant and options to choose from.” Getting the seed to the farmers was stressed also by Ephraim Mukisira, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) director, who called for speedy deployment of the varieties: “KARI wants to see the product with the farmer. The scientists must work hard so that impact can be seen and be seen today.”

B.M. Prasanna, Global Maize Program director, thanked Monsanto for donating the drought tolerant and Bt genes. “This is a tremendous opportunity to address some of the biggest challenges to African smallholder farmers [drought and stem borer infestation]. MON810 presents yet another great opportunity for WEMA to tap into the products from the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa project to develop a product that addresses many of the insect related constraints.” He added that new but exciting challenges were posed by maize lethal necrosis, particularly because it has allowed the WEMA team to assure partners that the materials being produced are resistant to the disease. During a visit to trials at KARI-Kiboko, stakeholders observed WEMA varieties, many of which have outperformed some of the best local hybrid checks on the market. They also visited the confined field trials for Bt MON810 and drought tolerant MON87460 that are in their first and fourth seasons of trials, respectively.

Shifting attention from successes to challenges, Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT principal scientist and co-chair of the WEMA Product Development team, spoke of the major lessons learnt by the team in Phase I that are crucial for the success of the second phase: continuous training in trials modernization and modern breeding techniques is necessary, as is a good quality assurance program for the exchange of germplasm between the private and public sectors to minimize the risk of inappropriate germplasm exchange. The stage is now set for Phase II after the meeting streamlined WEMA II milestones and developed the WEMA II 2013 work plans.

Lawrence Kent from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation noted that “with great privilege comes lots of responsibilities. We therefore expect great success from WEMA.” This sentiment was shared by other stakeholders, who were impressed by the achievements of Phase I and thus have high expectations for Phase II. “WEMA continues to be a success because of the combined and dedicated efforts within the partnership: the national agricultural research systems, CIMMYT, Monsanto, and AATF. All these partners have continued to work together, celebrating project gains and resolving any challenges together for the good of the larger goal and promise to smallholder farmers, a promise of food security and better livelihoods,” stated Kyetere. “A food secure continent is among the greatest inheritance and legacy we can leave the generations that are coming after us, our children and to our children’s children.”

First ever high-level foreign delegation visits BISA-Ludhiana

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20130206_160220On 6 February 2013, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ladowal, Punjab, India, received a delegation consisting of eight members of the German Parliament —Harald Ebner, Alexander SĂŒĂŸmair, Max Lehmer, Heinz Paula, Alois Gerig, Eric Schweickert, Mechthild Heil, and Gabriele Groneberg— and Sabine Raddatz (counselor for Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, India). The first ever high-level foreign delegation was welcomed by the CIMMYT-BISA team including Raj Gupta, ML Jat, HS Sidhu, Christian Böber, Tek Sapkota, and other BISA staff.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss food security issues in the context of resource degradation and climate change, and BISA’s role in assisting South Asian national agriculture research systems in addressing these challenges. In the beginning, Raj Gupta provided background information on the vision, mission, and partnerships of CIMMYT/BISA with national agriculture research systems. ML Jat then summarized the themes currently covered by BISA activities: (1) research infrastructure and farm development; (2) research on new maize and wheat germplasm, precision conservation agriculture, climate resilient production systems, and farm typology smart mechanization; (3) capacity enhancement through advanced courses, programs for visiting scientists, students, and interns, and exposure visits; and (4) partnerships and networking.

The delegation visited BISA farm and facilities to observe and better understand activities focusing on water table depletion, labor scarcity, residue burning, soil health deterioration, and climate change. The BISA team demonstrated no-till wheat with seven-ton surface residue of Sasbenia planted with front mounted knife roller (developed by BISA) and rear mounted turbo Happy Seeder in a single pass, and explained the advantages of this eco-friendly technology (including time, energy, and cost savings; reduction of environmental pollution; and climate adaptation). The long-term effects of residues on the likelihood of fungal disease manifestation were of particular interest to the German delegation. “There has been no evidence so far showing that keeping residuals might lead to a higher likelihood of diseases in the future,” Gupta addressed the concerns. “However, it will be monitored under the long-term conservation agriculture trials.”

When the delegation noticed a completely damaged winter maize crop on the other side of the fence of the BISA field, they were curious about what happened. “This is a result of severe frost injury, which shows the importance of developing cold tolerant maize germplasm,” explained ML Jat. Abiotic stress tolerant germplasm development is one of the issues on BISA’s agenda.

The visitors also observed BISA efforts on sustainable intensification of the cotton-wheat system, the second most important wheat based system in South Asia. They then discussed the application of pesticides and herbicides, assessment of different irrigation technologies, and crop management systems. Before leaving the BISA site, the delegation visited the new generation precision conservation agriculture machinery developed, adapted, and currently fin-etuned at BISA-Ludhiana. “BISA can play a critical role in smart farm mechanization in South Asia and other parts of the world by creating connections between stakeholders,” commented Er Baldev Singh, president of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association of India.

The members of parliament appreciated HS Sidhu and his team for their work on smart mechanization innovation for smallholder farmers.

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