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.

Global network to increase wheat yield, fight hunger

Written by on November 27, 2012. Posted in News.

To meet the global demand for wheat, wheat yield needs to be increased by 60% by 2050 or 1.6% per year. While scientific evidence suggests that the yield potential could be increased by 50% or more, the research needed is beyond the current capacity of individual institutions or national research programs. Therefore, the establishment of an international Wheat Yield Network (WYN) was proposed on 13 November 2012 during the Wheat Yield Funders’ Conference in Mexico City. The WYN follows on from a major three year effort by the Global Wheat Program and many international partners (who worked together as the Wheat Yield Consortium) with strong support from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) through the MasAgro initiative.

The meeting was officially opened by Francisco Javier Mayorga Castañeda, SAGARPA Secretary. Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, welcomed all participants on behalf of CIMMYT. Hans Braun, CIMMYT Global Wheat Program director, then provided an overview of the global wheat crisis, stating that increasing wheat yield is currently one of the biggest challenges to food security. However, investments in wheat research are low compared to other major crops, although wheat is currently second to rice as the main calorie source and the most important source of plant protein in human food. To achieve the goals of the proposed WYN – increasing the photosynthetic capacity of wheat, achieving high and stable harvest index and lodging resistance, and establishment of a state-of-the-art breeding platform to deliver new wheat lines from this work to the world – it is necessary not only to connect leading public and private research teams, but also to establish more research platforms in developing countries, such as the Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) near Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico.

During his presentation on the origins of the Wheat Yield Consortium, Lumpkin discussed the importance of wheat for achieving food security and raised the question whether wheat will be able to compete with other crops without increased research funding. “We need to supercharge wheat and make it competitive with maize,” he said. Helene Lucas, Wheat Initiative and INRA international coordinator, offered a global perspective on wheat programs and purpose of Wheat Initiative. Steve Visscher (BBSRC deputy chief executive and chief operating officer) and Saharah Moon Chapotin (division chief for agricultural research, USAID) outlined the public sector position, and John Bloomer (JMB Consulting (Pleshey) Ltd. director) summarized the perspective of the private sector.

Prior to the closed session, a discussion was held to cover possible future steps. It was reiterated by participants that the question is not whether a global platform to support wheat research is needed; the question is how to do it. A communiqué with results of the conference is currently being prepared.

More Kenyans to benefit from improved grain storage technologies

Written by on November 26, 2012. Posted in News.

“Maize research in the country has contributed to increased productivity by developing high yielding hybrid varieties that give quick returns to the farmers. However, 30% of post-harvest losses incurred during storage due to insect pests such as the larger grain borer and maize weevil; and lack of effective grain storage facilities negates the achievements,” noted Ephraim Mukisira, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) director, in a speech read on his behalf by Joseph Ochieng, KARI Food Crops assistant director, during the launch of the second phase of the Effective Grain Storage for Better Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP-II) in Nairobi, Kenya, on 2 November 2012. “In monetary terms, this loss translates to over 10 billion Kenya shillings (US$ 120 million). Therefore more effort is required in post-harvest management practices and marketing to fulfil millenium development goals and realize Vision 2030 [Kenya’s Blue Print to Industrialization],” added Mukisira.

EGSP-II (2012-2016) builds on the successes of the previous phase (2008-2011) and aims to improve food security and reduce vulnerability of resourcepoor farmers, particularly women farmers, in eastern and southern Africa through the dissemination of effective grain storage technologies. The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and will help smallholder farmers in Kenya acquire more than 4,000 metal silos that have proved effective against the larger grain borer and maize weevils – the most destructive storage pests. In addition, smallholder farmers are set to benefit from 24,000 super grain bags.

Mukisira lauded the efforts by national institutions, CIMMYT, and other stakeholders in promoting use of storage technologies, calling for strengthening these efforts even further to achieve economically acceptable post-harvest losses of less than 5%. According to B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT Global Maize Program director, heavy post-harvest losses prevent Kenya and other countries in the region from achieving food security.

The project’s three components — research, promotion, and policy advocacy for metal silos and super grain bag technologies— are geared towards successful development of a well-functioning and sustainable input chain to provide small-scale maize producers with effective storage technologies, clarified project coordinator Tadele Tefera. EGSP-II will address policy concerns to upscale metal silo technology and test new small-scale technologies based on hermetically sealed bags. Adoption of metal silos is quite expensive for the resourcepoor farmers, and thus has remained low; the new smallscale technology can provide a solution to this problem, as it is a cheap alternative targeting smallholder farmers.

Jones Govereh, CIMMYT policy economist, added: “As a result of lack of adequate awareness and access to appropriate technologies, farmers end up selling their maize soon after harvest, when prices are at their lowest, partly to curb the losses and partly to meet other financial needs. The same farmers are forced to buy the grains back at more than twice the price later in the season to meet their subsistence needs, resulting in a continual poverty trap.” EGSP-II, a major initiative in sub-Saharan Africa, aims to change the situation.

MasAgro made promising advances in its 2011 and 2012 activities

Written by on November 26, 2012. Posted in News.

On Monday 12 November CIMMYT and SAGARPA presented the first MasAgro Activities Report 2011-2012 at CIMMYT headquarters in Texcoco, State of Mexico.

In his welcome speech, Thomas Lumpkin stated that he is proud to collaborate with a country that has such a profound vision and a solid commitment to its people and to humanity. He added that he expects that other governments and foundations will follow Mexico’s example and pointed out that India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia have already taken their first steps in that direction.

Jorge Martínez Durán, who described his participation in MasAgro as a farmer, indicated that farmers do not want to be left behind as Mexico goes forward, and that MasAgro has given them the opportunity to make solid advances by providing them with information and training, which he considers to be the best tools for growth.

Participating in the ceremony were the Secretary of Agricultural and Livestock Development of the State of Mexico, Heriberto Ortega Ramírez, and the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), Francisco Mayorga Castañeda, who said that “there is no doubt that MasAgro’s impacts have paved the way for us to face the challenge of increasing production despite adverse climatic conditions, by strengthening research and technological innovation within the framework of national and international collaboration.”

On this point, Bram Govaerts, leader of MasAgro component “Take It to the Farmer,” said that although there is still much to be done, MasAgro has laid down solid bases all along the maize and wheat research, production, and marketing chains, and this will allow Mexico to advance towards having a farm sector that is more productive, prosperous, and sustainable.

To commemorate the occasion, Thomas Lumpkin presented a citation and a statuette of Dr. Norman Borlaug to Secretary Mayorga in recognition of his determined support for implementing a program that has placed Mexico in a position of international leadership in the area of research for food security and sustainable rural development in an environment of climate change.

Also attending the event were farmers, technicians, research cooperators, private sector representatives, federal and local authorities, journalists and representatives of the main international foundations and development agencies, who, all together, totaled 325 guests.

Masagro

Why invest in wheat research?

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on November 14, 2012. Posted in Videos.

Wheat is the most important food crop worldwide and a principal source of nutrients in some of the poorest countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. But wheat, like all living organisms, is unimaginably complex.

CIMMYT scientist Matthew Reynolds believes that for this reason we need a whole consortium of scientists to improve its yield. This video highlights work that has already been done to increase the productivity of wheat through research in spike photosynthesis, roots and breeding. Because when it comes down to it, crop yields cannot be improved overnight, certainly not sustainably. It takes time and investment, and by planning ahead we are actually trying to preempt a disaster, with research and with partnership.

Sharing experiences with effective grain storage in Africa

Written by on November 14, 2012. Posted in News.

A delegation from Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia — the target countries of the Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers (EGSP) Phase-II Project— visited Malawi during 22-23 October and Kenya during 25-26 October 2012 to share experiences with project implementation and to learn about the project’s impact on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The delegation comprised of officials from ministries of agriculture and national agricultural research systems from the four EGSP countries, and implementing partners (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and the Catholic Dioceses of Embu and Homa Bay in Kenya, World Vision in Malawi, Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, and University of Zimbabwe and the Department of Agricultural Mechanization in Zimbabwe).

The tour kicked off in Malawi with visits to Mchinji and Dowa districts. The delegates held discussions with the implementing partners and local artisans trained on metal silo fabrication, school representatives, farmer groups, and farmers who had benefitted from the first phase of the project. Everyone present praised the metal silo for its great results in protecting the grains against the larger grain borers and weevils. “This allows farmers to store maize more effectively and sell it when prices are as high as 47 kwacha [US$ 0.16] per kilogram and not when prices are at 18 kwacha [US$ 0.06] per kilogram,” says Andrew Kasalika, chairman of the Tayamba Group in Mlonyeni Extension Planning Area. “With metal silos, women do not have to climb into granaries, which is quite cumbersome,” added Christine Victory, Tayamba Group’s secretary, noting that the technology is also environmentally friendly, “Men do not have to cut trees to construct the granaries.”

In Kenya, the delegation visited Kamuthatha Boarding Primary School in Embu County, which has acquired six 2,700-kilogram metal silos. Nethy Kathungu, the deputy principal, shared the enormous benefits of metal silos: increased quality of grain and thus increased quality of food for the pupils; reduced postharvest losses (previously amounting to 60% of stored grain); price hikes no longer affecting the school during times of scarcity, as they can now store enough to feed all 450 pupils; no need for pesticides; and less storage space required to store the same amount of grain. As a result, the school saves about Ksh 300,000 (US$ 3,600) per year.

The delegates also visited Gikinyukia Agro-Enterprise Self-Help Group in Mbeere South District, Embu County. The Group participates in collective maize, sorghum, and green grams marketing, and owns three 1,800-kilogram metal silos. According to Gibson Wachira Muchiri, the Group chairman, the plan is to assist every member in acquiring a metal silo through the Group’s fund.

The delegates found the visit very educative and informative, especially officials from Zimbabwe and Zambia who will be implementing the project for the first time. The visit allowed them to witness the implementation of EGSP in Kenya and Malawi as well as the role of different partners in the process. The visits also helped the delegates to identify issues that need to be addressed for the second phase to be successful. These include cost-sharing for sustainability of the project, creating a sense of ownership, and producing a sufficient amount of maize for the metal silos to be fully utilized.

Speaking to the delegates, B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program director, reiterated the importance of the project in enhancing nutrition and food security of smallholder farmers and consumers. He called on the delegates to be the champions of the project and asked them to take it to the next level: “We can only be a catalyst, but we would like you to be the drivers of this movement. You should stimulate demand for the technology. CIMMYT derives its strength from people like you.” Noting that awareness was critical to the success of the project, Prasanna also encouraged the officials to raise awareness among the target beneficiaries, women, women self-help groups, schools, and women-dominated organizations in particular.

KARI science conference highlights joint Kenya-CIMMYT impacts

Written by on November 13, 2012. Posted in Features.

As a celebration of one of the center’s most valued research partnerships, CIMMYT director general Thomas Lumpkin gave a keynote address during the 13th Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) Biennial Scientific Conference and Agriforum on 22 October 2012 at the institution’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference theme was “Agricultural Innovation System for Improved Productivity and Competitiveness in Pursuit of Vision 2030”, and there were more than 200 speakers and 60 exhibitors including CIMMYT, which was one of the event’s sponsors.

Chief guest and Kenyan Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Hon Gideon Ndambuki, said the conference reflected government aspirations for a forum to share breakthroughs in agricultural research by the national research systems and their partners. He challenged participants to “walk the talk” by adopting on their own farms the technological innovations discussed in the conference.

Ndambuki also lauded KARI’s efforts to supply drought tolerant crops for farmers in arid and semiarid lands. “This is especially crucial at this time when the whole world is going through the global phenomena of climate change effects,” said Ndambuki. “The seeds help farmers to adapt to these changes, have also become appropriate for areas that earlier had high rainfall, and help to demonstrate that the climate change effects are indeed real.”

Synergies for success

KARI director Ephraim Mukisira highlighted the excellent KARI-CIMMYT partnership and its importance to address challenges such as maize lethal necrosis and wheat stem rust. “The Ug99 disease on wheat is now getting under control with new varieties developed by KARI in partnership with CIMMYT,” said Mukisira, adding that resistant varieties have been released to farmers in this planting season.

In his keynote, Lumpkin called for applied science to tackle today’s food security challenges. “Only new technologies, including stress tolerant germplasm and appropriate agronomy, will help farmers produce more food,” he said. He also signaled the rising use of wheat in Africa, due to income growth and the demand for convenience foods as more women enter the workplace. “Africa will pay 12 billion dollars to import 40 million tons of wheat this year,” he said. “This heavy dependence on imports is making the region highly vulnerable to global market and supply shocks. Affected nations need to invest in wheat research and development.”

Finally, Lumpkin cited KARI-CIMMYT collaboration to assess maize lethal necrosis in Kenya and to develop resistant varieties, and praised public-private partnerships in Kenya to generate, test, and deploy elite drought and low nitrogen tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers. Many farmers who visited a CIMMYT display at the event were keen to get new varieties for diverse ecological zones, underlining the importance of center partnerships with the seed sector.

Science for speedy breeding

KARI and CIMMYT are establishing a maize doubled haploid facility at the KARI Kiboko Station. A technology that renders homozygous inbred lines in a year, rather than through many years of self-pollination, its use by public maize breeding programs and seed companies in developing countries had been constrained by the lack of tropical/subtropical inducers. CIMMYT and the University of Hohenheim have recently developed tropicalized haploid inducer lines and provided training in their use for African breeders. The doubled haploid approach will speed the delivery of improved maize varieties to farmers, and the Kiboko facility will play a key role, according to Lumpkin. “Through this important facility that will specially serve African institutions, we hope to generate at least 60,000 doubled haploid lines annually by 2016,” he said.

Australia and CIMMYT continue support for wheat and maize research in Afghanistan

Written by on November 12, 2012. Posted in News.

After a decade of successful work in Afghanistan, CIMMYT has begun a new phase of a project supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The four-year phase entitled “Sustainable Wheat & Maize Production in Afghanistan” began in October 2012 and builds upon research and development and capacity building activities of the previous phases with a greater emphasis on rainfed wheat and hybrid maize.

The livelihoods of approximately 80% of the Afghan population depend on agriculture and related activities. The central crop in Afghanistan is wheat, providing about 60% of daily calorie intake for an average Afghan. Afghanistan’s annual per capita wheat consumption of 180 kilograms places the country among the top wheat consumers worldwide. While wheat constitutes the most important grain crop in Afghanistan, occupying about 80% of all cereals area, maize is a grossly underutilized food and feed option in the country. It ranks third in importance as far as area and production are concerned, but the current production levels are low at about 0.3 million tons (a considerable decrease from about 0.7 million tons in the 1960s and 1970s). This is expected to change with the Government of Afghanistan’s recently renewed emphasis on maize. CIMMYT, with support from AusAID and ACIAR, has been working towards sustainable growth in wheat and maize production and productivity in the war-torn country.

Agriculture in Afghanistan generally faces various constraints and challenges, including severe droughts and great agro-climatic diversity. However, following a decade of concerted efforts on part of researchers, seed producers, and the farming community, wheat production and productivity is now showing a positive trend. Furthermore, the 10 wheat and 4 maize CIMMYT genotypes that were released in Afghanistan in the past 10 years have contributed to the growth of a public-private partnership within the seed industry, which is expected to produce up to 12% of Afghanistan’s wheat certified demand. Nevertheless, serious issues remain, including the absence of an in-country wheat breeding program and the stark fact that more than 80% of certified seed produced in the country is still Ug99 susceptible. There is also a need to initiate agro-climatic zonespecific varietal testing and to reach out to farmers with zone-specific crop management knowledge.

These are some of the issues to be addressed by the new phase of the project. Additionally, the project will create information management hubs in the provinces of Nangarhar, Herat, Balkh, and Kabul. These hubs, led by the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) and engaging all stakeholders and partners, will undertake baseline and subsequent annual surveys to assess levels of technology adoption. They will also study factors affecting adoption, including the role of children and women in wheat- and maize-based cropping systems, and engage in technology assessment, demonstration, and dissemination.

The current phase aims to empower ARIA to assume a leadership role in all the spheres of technology development and dissemination. To realize this plan, annual workshops will be held to eventually hand over the leadership and coordination role to ARIA and national partners. Implementation of this project in Afghanistan will draw support from in-country partners including, but not limited to, ICARDA-Afghanistan, FAO, the French Agricultural Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency in Kabul, NGOs, seed organizations, farmers, and private sector to ensure sustainable gains.

Ugandan farmers also coating seed for Striga control

Written by on November 7, 2012. Posted in News.

A Striga infested maize field in Tororo, Uganda.

In Tororo, Uganda, farmers have been losing most of their maize crop to witchweed. However, they now feel that there is hope as research by CIMMYT and its partners is pro viding a solution. During a recent field day in Tororo, farmers Selina and Charles Emoit hosted their peers at an on-farm demonstration of 15 improved maize varieties. Farmers had the opportunity to observe the trial and select the best performing varieties.

Having planted the maize coated with the chemical imazapyr, Selina said she had seen wonderful results on her farm. Previously, the couple would get almost nothing from the farm as a result of Striga infestation. “What used to be seen from my farm is not what is seen today,” said Selina expressing her joy at being able to save her crop. To ensure that the experiment was successful, Selina explained that they had a different person planting each plot to avoid mix-ups; after germination, some variations were observed on the crops in the field. “Despite all the variations, each one of them has a cob which is better than what I used to get,” said Selina urging fellow farmers to collaborate with researchers to ensure good yields. Selina thanked all the Striga project collaborators who had collectively made it possible to fight the weed on her farm.

Farmers-selecting-varieties The field day was attended by James Ogwang, director of National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) at Namulonge; Godfrey Asea, maize breeder and head of the Cereals Program; Pearl and NASECO seed companies representatives; Sammy Waruingi from BASF; and CIMMYT maize breeder Dan Makumbi and research assistant Edna Mageto. Ogwang urged the farmers to plant only certified seed and move beyond border issues to work together in Striga management. Asea thanked the government and farmers for their support in the fight against Striga. He said the farmers had become good project ambassadors.

“Striga is a big challenge to maize production,” said Eva Musenero, District Production Officer, thanking the partners for the efforts towards eliminating the pest. She also urged farmers to embrace new weed management technologies. The farmers who participated in the field day were keen to know how they could access the best performing varieties.

New maize brings hope to farmers in Striga-infested regions in Tanzania and Uganda

Written by on November 6, 2012. Posted in News.

For many years, farmers in Tanzania have desperately tried to control the parasitic flowering plant Striga spp.—popularly known as witchweed—that can make maize farming nearly impossible in regions of heavy infestation. In Tanzania Striga infests an estimated 0.6 million hectares over 10 regions, causing yearly losses to farmers of some 1.7 million tons of grain worth US$ 350 million. For lack of cost-effective control measures for this pest, some farmers have stopped growing maize.

However, there is now hope, thanks to a new maize variety, that is effective in controlling Striga. The variety, TAN222, has the added advantage of being high yielding 3.7 tons per hectare, according to Isaka Mashauri, director of Tanseed International, the company that is commercializing the variety in Tanzania.

Many years of joint research by CIMMYT, BASF (a multinational producer and supplier of agrochemicals), and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have resulted in a solution and source of hope for farmers. It involves coating seed of a herbicide-tolerant maize variety with the systemic herbicide imazapyr. When the seed is sown and sprouts, any Striga plants that attack it are killed. As part of this research, the partners developed herbicide tolerant maize lines based on a natural mutation in maize.

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is promoting this technology among farmers and extension agencies in areas of sub-Saharan Africa where Striga is prevalent. In Tanzania, the seed company Tanseed International has used the herbicide tolerant lines from this effort to develop and market the maize variety TAN222.

Anatia Mike, a farmer in Muheza District, Tanzania, tried using herbicide-coated seed of TAN222 and managed to harvest 1.2 tons of grain per hectare from her Striga infested farm, where previously she was getting yields of only 0.5 tons. At a recent field day organized by the research partners on Mike’s homestead to demonstrate the efficacy of this technology, Karimu Mtambo, the Director of Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Cooperatives, lauded the practice as the best and most effective in controlling Striga and improving maize yields, and called on farmers to adopt it together with other good agricultural practices.

Also present were Mashauri; Denis Tumwesigye Kyetere and Gospel Omanya, Executive Director and Seed Systems Manager, respectively, AATF; BASF representative Sammy Waruingi; Ibrahim Matovu, Muheza District Commissioner; and from CIMMYT agronomist Fred Kanampiu and breeder Dan Makumbi.

Kyetere promised full support from AATF in scaling out the technology, and Kanampiu called on the government to put in place mechanisms like herbicide registration for commercial use that would facilitate speedy adoption of the technology. He also urged seed companies to work with the Ministry of Agriculture to educate farmers on its use. Matovu promised to have Striga control included in the district agenda, particularly in budgeting.

Recent conference gets wheat back on Africa’s map

Written by on November 5, 2012. Posted in News.

DSCN0042 Wheat is increasingly in demand in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of income growth and the demand for convenience foods as more women enter the workplace, but sub-Saharan countries and Africa as a whole produce only about 30% and 40%, respectively, of their domestic requirements, causing a heavy dependence on imports and making the region highly vulnerable to global market and supply shocks.

This was one conclusion reached by some 250 researchers, policymakers, farmer, and seed company representatives who attended the conference “Wheat for food security in Africa: Science and policy dialogue about the future of wheat in Africa,” held in Addis Ababa during 08-12 October 2012. Organized by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), CIMMYT, ICARDA, IFPRI, the African Union, and WHEAT-the CGIAR research program, the event was intended to raise awareness about the potential to grow wheat and reduce the region’s imports of the crop, as well as to discuss policy, institutional, and infrastructure constraints. “In 2012, African countries will spend about US$12 billion to import some 40 million tons of wheat,” said Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s global wheat program. “If Africa does not push for wheat self-sufficiency, it could face more hunger, instability and even political violence, as bread riots in North Africa showed in recent years.”

Participants hailed from 23 African nations, as well as from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and included 4 ministers of agriculture (Burundi, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe) and the directors of national agricultural research programs of 16 countries in Africa. Deemed a great success by participants and organizers, the event and the issues discussed were reported widely in regional and global media, including major outlets such as Nature, New Scientist, Le Monde, BBC Radio, and Deutsche Welle, as well as key wire services like Reuters-Thomson, Associated Press, and Bloomberg. An equally important outcome was the “Addis Declaration” formulated by conference participants and intended to get wheat onto Africa’s policy map as a strategic product for food security, according to Bekele Shiferaw, director of CIMMYT’s socioeconomics program and a co-author of a major report1 on wheat farming in Africa. “Unlocking the potential of wheat will require changes in attitudes, policy and donor support for adapting farming systems, empowering African farmers, and developing value chains for seeds, input supply, and output markets,” Shiferaw said.

The busy four-day agenda included visits to Ethiopia’s premier agricultural research stations at Kulumsa and Debre Zeit. The conference program committee would like to thank all who contributed, but special recognition goes to logistics team of Petr Kosina, Bekele Abeyo, and Dave Hodson. Presentations, publications, media reports, and posters are available on the conference web page.

Ravi Singh receives Crop Science Research Award

Written by on November 5, 2012. Posted in News.

Ravi P. Singh, distinguished scientist and head of Bread Wheat Improvement, was awarded the 2012 Crop Science Research Award by the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA). Singh is the first CIMMYT scientist to receive this award.

The award was presented at the CSSA annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 24 October 2012, and recognized Singh’s achievements in fighting wheat diseases, rusts in particular. “Wheat rusts are among the world’s most important diseases,” said Singh. “A century of research and breeding has helped to reduce the losses caused by rusts, but new biotypes continue to emerge.”

A fellow of numerous scientific associations, Singh has contributed to the development of over 200 wheat cultivars; 20 of which are resistant to Ug99 and have been released and taken up by farmers in developing countries. His approaches for generating high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat lines have changed wheat breeding at CIMMYT and at breeding programs worldwide. Though an eminent scientist himself, Singh recognizes that science alone cannot solve the critical problems facing agriculture: “Policies to ensure efficient use of water, nutrients, and prices will be important to enhance productivity and profitability.”

USAID and CIMMYT visit the 1st community-managed maize seed company in the hills of Nepal

Written by on November 1, 2012. Posted in News.

PHOTO-NEPAL21 The community based seed production (CBSP) program is one of the most successful interventions of the Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) Phase IV in Nepal. Through this program, the project has significantly contributed to the increase in maize seed replacement rate, maize productivity, and income of smallholder and resource-poor farmers in the hills of the country. To observe the successes achieved so far, teams from USAID-Nepal, CIMMYT-Mexico, and HMRP visited a community-managed seed company in the Thumpahkar Village of Sindupalchowk district, located about 100 km north-east of Kathmandu, on 12 October 2012. The USAID team comprised of John Stamm (General Development Office director, USAID-Nepal), Luis Guzman (Feed the Future team leader, USAID-Nepal), Shanker Khagi (South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy country coordinator), and Lindsey Moore (USAID-Bangladesh). CIMMYT’s Thomas Short (deputy director general for Corporate Services), Nellooli P. Rajasekharan (International Human Resources director), G. Ortiz Ferrara (HMRP team leader), Nirmal Gadal (HMRP agronomist), and Dilli KC (HMRP seed value chain and marketing expert) were also present, along with about 35 seed growers, including the management team of the company.

The meeting was chaired by Gunda Bahadur Dhami, chairperson of Sindhu-Tuki Seed Production Cooperative Ltd. During a brief presentation, the company’s coordinator D.B. Bhandari summarized the institutional graduation of the farmers’ groups to a cooperative and later to a private seed company. Starting in 2005, the cooperative developed into a private seed company in 2010 with the technical support from HMRP. It currently works with 300 members organized in 14 CBSP groups. Bhandari also discussed the company’s current activities, future plan, operational model, membership policy, marketing activities, and approaches to gender and sustainability.

Stamm acknowledged the project team and congratulated farmers on the impact achieved so far. “USAID-Nepal considers HMRP a very successful project, and your seed company is a model for economic development of rural areas,” he said. Rajasekharan then thanked the HMRP team for organizing the field visit and expressed CIMMYT’s commitment to support the project staff in their work aiming to improve food security among Nepalese maize farmers. Short added: “I echo Raj’s words in congratulating the members of this seed company, but I also take the opportunity to thank the two donors of HMRP, USAID and SDC, for their financial and technical support given to the project.” Ortiz Ferrara stressed that “sustainability is the prime concern of HMRP, and the entire project activities are built on the clearly defined roles and responsibilities of the multiple stakeholders.

This small seed company is now operating on its own resources, and this is only one of the 195 CBSP groups coordinated by HMRP in 20 hill districts.” Responding to a question raised by Khagi regarding the competitiveness of improved maize seed, a female maize seed grower said: “The new maize varieties are high yielding, disease and lodging tolerant, have good taste, and the grain can be stored for a longer time.” Dhami followed: “We are just learning to walk and there is still a lot to do to help small farmers in our hill area to achieve food security and increase their income.” He thanked the guests for their valuable time and their continuing collaboration with the recently established seed company. At the end of the discussion, the team observed the seed processing plant, seed store house, and the community seed bank.

Interview with Ravi Singh

Written by on October 31, 2012. Posted in Features.

1. What kind of research do you specialize in?
My long-term research interest has been to enhance the genetic understanding of resistance to wheat rusts and to achieve durable resistance by developing high-yielding wheat germplasm that has adequate to near-immune levels of resistance based on diverse combinations of minor genes.

2. Why do you think it is important?
Wheat rusts are among the world’s most important diseases. A century of research and breeding effort has helped reduce the losses but new biotypes continue to emerge and cause significant losses. Use of minor gene combinations offers an unique opportunity to achieve long-term, or durable, resistance. This will protect wheat crops without the need of utilizing fungicides and thus enhance farmers’ income while protecting environment.

3. How did you get started in agriculture?
Although my grandparents were farmers and I enjoyed spending time in villages during vacations in my childhood days, my start in agriculture was accidental. When I was growing up in India most of my peers dreamt to become engineers, medical doctors, or civil servants. I was planning to become doctor and studied biology in school. To enter medical school, we had to go through competitive entrance tests. I missed the entrance test the first year as I was in bed for various months due to severe jaundice. So, I took the admission for agriculture, considering it to be relatively easy degree, to prepare for the medical entrance exam. However, when I realized that I was doing extremely well without putting much effort, I decided to stay with agriculture and give it my full effort. I started to set my own milestones during BS and MS programs and completed these degrees by establishing new records.

4. Your field has changed since you began your studies? What are some of the most important/exciting changes you’ve seen?
My PhD was in the area of genetics of rust resistance in wheat from the University of Sydney. This experience brought me to CIMMYT where I started as rust pathologist assigned to the bread wheat breeding program. Soon, I started to learn and contribute to wheat breeding while maintaining activities in wheat pathology and genetics. In other words, I was doing three jobs. This helped me integrate the three disciplines in a more effective manner. When biotechnology initiated at CIMMYT, I embraced it as a new tool and collaborated both with CIMMYT groups as well as outside partners to enhance my knowledge. Science is evolving continuously and, as breeders, we must be open to new science, and to using it where it can be applied more efficiently. Agriculture research and the CGIAR centers have had a roller-coaster ride during my career at CIMMYT. The need for good science, the need for solutions to enhance food production — especially considering climate change scenarios which project limited water availability and temperature stresses — will require serious efforts from scientists, policy makers, and farmers.

5. If you were a researcher just starting out, what would you pursue?
Any researcher starting must see what has worked and what can be done to make it better. Researchers can always contribute based on what they have learned or can learn. This is the way to move forward.

6. What are the most important/critical challenges facing food security/global hunger?
We have to recognize that science alone cannot solve all critical challenges facing agriculture. Implementation of policies to ensure efficient use of water, nutrients, and prices will be important to enhance productivity and profitability. I believe that sufficient food can be produced if there is a will and openness to adopt new technologies that are productive and sustainable.

7. What things/people inspire you to do your work?
Hard working people at all levels, who are ready to give what they have, inspires me a lot. At the end of the day the progress made in work is also inspiring to continue doing better and looking forward for the next day.

CIMMYT scientist wins award from Crop Science Society of America

Written by on October 31, 2012. Posted in News.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (26 October 2012) — CIMMYT (The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) announced today that the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) has given CIMMYT’s Dr. Ravi P. Singh its 2012 Crop Science Research Award.The award was presented at the CSSA annual meeting in Cincinnati, OH and recognizes Dr. Singh’s work fighting wheat diseases. The award is given to one person annually. Dr. Singh is the first CIMMYT scientist to receive the honor.

Dr. Singh is recognized as one of the foremost authority on rust diseases of wheat. He has identified 20 genes for different traits in wheat and molecular markers for several major and minor rust resistance genes. Singh’s contributions to wheat genetics, pathology and breeding have resulted in the release of over 200 wheat cultivars, including 20 that are resistant to Ug99 stem rust, in numerous developing countries. His methodology for developing high yielding cultivars with durable rust resistance and the breeding lines derived from this work have changed not only wheat breeding at CIMMYT but also in numerous breeding programs both in developing and developed countries. His competence and the respect of fellow scientists are widely recognized, and Singh has helped train over 500 developing country scientists and served as advisor for 18 MS and PhD students.

Dr. Singh is a Distinguished Scientist and the Head of Bread Wheat Improvement at CIMMYT. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Banaras Hindu University, India, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Sydney. Singh has authored or co-authored 150 refereed journal articles, 24 book and book chapters and reviews, 77 symposia proceedings, and 182 abstracts. He is a fellow of numerous scientific organizations, including ASA, CSSA, APS and National Academy of Agricultural Science of India, and has received awards such as International Service in Crop Science Award from CSSA, Outstanding CGIAR Scientist, E.C. Stakman Award from the the University of Minnesota, and Jinding and Caiyun Medals from the Sichuan and Yunnan Province Governments of China.

The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), founded in 1955, is an international scientific society comprised of 6,000+ members with its headquarters in Madison, WI. Members advance the discipline of crop science by acquiring and disseminating information about crop breeding and genetics; crop physiology; crop ecology, management, and quality; seed physiology, production, and technology; turfgrass science; forage and grazinglands; genomics, molecular genetics, and biotechnology; and biomedical and enhanced plants.

About CIMMYT
Headquartered in Mexico, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT) is a not-for-profit agriculture research and training organization. The center works to reduce poverty and hunger by sustainably increasing the productivity of maize and wheat in the developing world. CIMMYT maintains the world’s largest maize and wheat seed bank and is best known for initiating the Green Revolution, which saved millions of lives across Asia and for which CIMMYT’s Dr. Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium and receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies.

For more information, please contact:
Chris Cutter, CIMMYT, c.cutter@cgiar.org, +52 (1) 595 104 9846

Wheat is not a rich man’s crop

Written by on October 25, 2012. Posted in Features.

When food prices rise, people go hungry. Hunger leads to anger, social unrest, and protests such as those seen in 2008 and 2011 in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean.

map-wheat-africa-locations — **Locations of food riots 2008-2011.**

The poor are most vulnerable to these price rises, as they spend a greater proportion of their earnings on food. However, contrary to popular belief, many of these people do not depend on maize, rice, or cassava – they grow and eat wheat.

map-wheat-africa_2 — **Countries where more than 35% of peoples’ protein requirements come from wheat.**

In the developing world, wheat is the second most important food crop after rice. It is food for 2.5 billion people, and for more than 1 billion people living on less than $2 per day. In Egypt, for example, where more than 1 in 5 people live in poverty, wheat provides 35% of their daily calories, and almost 40% of their protein requirements.

Wheat also provides income for farmers in more than 80 developing countries, and CIMMYT believes that there is great potential for more countries to grow more, disease resistant and high yielding, wheat – without increasing the total land area under cultivation. CIMMYT strives to help developing countries to increase their wheat production at a rate that allows land to be freed for other crops. Through increased adoption of improved wheat varieties, better agronomic practices, and effective post-harvest storage, farmers and consumers in developing countries could develop sustainable food systems, become less dependent on imports, and more resilient against food price rises.