CIMMYT's Blog

Monday 08 March is International Women’s Day (IWD). On this date, the global community takes a moment to celebrate the economic, political, and social advances women have made worldwide. It also provides an opportunity to address gender issues that are not yet fully resolved.

IWD is an official holiday in more than 15 countries and is informally celebrated in many more.  Various organizations take the day as an opportunity to increase awareness of human rights issues. This year, for example, the International Committee of the Red Cross is focusing on women who have been displaced by armed conflicts; while the United Nations’ theme is “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.”

CIMMYT is proud of its numerous women scientists—a profession in which women are still often underrepresented—as well as its female staff and colleagues. We invite you to read our 2008 Newsletter article on women in the CGIAR and to investigate what IWD events are happening near you.

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During the Iran-CIMMYT Joint Meeting on 16-17 February 2010, CIMMYT and Iran vowed to continue their collaborative efforts and signed a CIMMYTIran work plan for 2010.

The meeting, which was held at the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII) in Karaj, Iran, also included discussion among CIMMYT and International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP) representatives, Iranian officials, and senior scientists from six Iranian research institutes. Representative of attending institutions presented institute overviews and possible areas for further collaboration. Also agreed upon was a 2009-2012 work plan for Iran and IWWIP.

The meeting was chaired by Hans-Joachim Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, and Mostafa Aghaee, director general of SPII. Also in attendance were Alexei Morgounov (head IWWIP), Beyhan Akin (CIMMYT-Turkey), Yuksel Kaya (Turkey), Mesut Keser (ICARDA-Turkey), Mohammad Reza Jalal Kamali (CIMMYT-Iran), and Mohammad Ali Kamali, deputy head of Iran’s Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO).

Over 30 other participants represented Iran’s Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, SPII, the Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI), the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI), the Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), and the Iranian Research Institute for Plant Protection (IRIPP).

Tags: Iran

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They infiltrate our food supply through staple crops and lay waste to unsuspecting consumers. Dubbed the invisible enemy, aflatoxin is one of the most potent naturally-occurring toxins. It is produced by fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus, and is a damaging type of mycotoxin. To better protect the food supply from this threat, during 01-13 February 2010, CIMMYT-El Batán hosted a workshop on mycotoxin detection in maize for members of its maize and wheat pathology teams.

The course, led by Veera Reddy of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), focused on implementing the ELISA technique to identify resistant genotypes that result in reduced mycotoxins in grain. Though several tools for assaying mycotoxins in grain exist, the ELISA technique is cheaper than other options and allows large samples to be tested.

Breeding maize resistant to mycotoxins, specifically aflatoxins and fumonisins, is vital for ensuring a safe food supply. Both are wide-spread in nature, thrive in humid conditions, and frequently inhabit fields of cereal crops, such as maize. Mycotoxins in general are extremely resilient and once grain is contaminated, which can happen in the field and during storage, they prevail through digestion, cooking, and freezing. In this way, mycotoxins can reach humans not only through grain, but also through milk or meat from livestock raised on infected feed. And once consumed by humans, mycotoxins can cause cancer, liver disorder, birth defects, weakened immune systems, and even death.

The objective of the course was to implement at CIMMYT the ELISA assay for routine screening of maize in order to detect sources of resistance and make progress in the management of mycotoxin contamination. Participants agreed that the course presented valuable information and that they are now ready to apply the ELISA technique.

“We needed a cheap, simple, and robust assay that could be used to test large numbers of samples and could easily be implemented in our breeding program,” said George Mahuku, senior maize scientist/ pathologist. “We are very happy that through this course we were able to achieve our objectives and now the pathology group is motivated and ready to go.”

Tags: aflatoxin, ICRISAT, mycotoxin, pathology

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Peter Wenzl joins CIMMYT as the new manager of the Crop Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL), though part of his time will be dedicated to a new initiative called Seeds of Discovery.

Wenzl will primarily focus on facilitating user interaction with the Global Maize and Wheat Programs, the Genetic Resources Center, the Generation Challenge Program, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He will also oversee the strengthening of CRIL as CIMMYT increases its engagement in molecular breeding and embarks on ambitious new initiatives. His work will include crafting a CIMMYT-wide strategy for informatics, and identifying appropriate CRIL priorities that are within current staff and funding means. Wenzl will also strengthen links with other data and knowledge management units in CIMMYT, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the CIMMYT website team.

As CRIL manager, Wenzl will work with Guy Davenport who continues to oversee the Crops Informatics and Computational Biology team, José Crossa who oversees the Biometrics and Statistics team, and Jiankang Wang who oversees Simulation and Modeling.

Tags: CRIL

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To better understand variety release procedures for improved maize seed in sub-Saharan Africa, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and CIMMYT conducted a study of 13 countries during 2007-08. Findings from this study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, were recently published in a report titled Variety Testing and Release Approaches in DTMA Project Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the report’s major findings is that efficient and timely variety release is hindered by variable, inconsistent, and misunderstood seed laws and procedures. Such constraints deny farmers access to and benefits from improved germplasm and damage SSA seed marketing.

Of the 13 countries surveyed, only 7 have published guidelines on how testing for distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS) should be conducted, and what traits are to be recorded. Such tests are important because they ensure that the varieties being released are unique and differ from all known varieties in at least one characteristic. It was also found that among polled countries expenses for DUS testing ranged from no cost at all to US $600.

The two organizations that are responsible for deciding if maize varieties are suitable for release are the National Seed Authority (NSA) and the National Variety Release Committee (NVRC). The study shows that NVRCs vary widely among SSA countries; some are dominated by the private sector while others are controlled mainly by the public sector, and the frequency of NVRC meetings differ by country. Additionally, the number of new varieties annually released varies, with South Africa releasing more than 60 while other countries may fail to release any.

This convoluted system is costly and duplicative, as the same variety must be tested in all countries where it is being targeted for marketing. This results in a low number of variety releases and delays profits expected by seed companies while they wait for their new varieties to be registered from one country to the next.

The report contains several recommendations on how to improve the rate of varietal release, and thus have more seed of improved varieties available in the market. They include regional harmonization of seed laws; promoting the use of data from other countries; simplification of variety testing; and regular NVRC meetings.

Tags: Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DTMA, IITA, publication

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Peter Walker, who worked at CIMMYT from 1975 to 1980, died at his home in Mexico City on 17 November 2009 after a short illness. He was 77.

During his time at CIMMYT, Walker set up and managed the Statistical Services Unit, using a DG Nova 3 computer to analyze the results of large sets of international cooperative breeders’ trials, initially for maize and later for wheat, durum, barley, and triticale. In addition to managing the unit, he also worked with programming and statistics.

Walker was born in Leeds, England, in 1932. He studied mathematics and statistics at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and began a long and varied career in tropical biometrics in 1960 in Nigeria. He came to CIMMYT following work as an overseas liaison officer at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in the UK. After leaving CIMMYT, his subsequent career took him to Syria, Zimbabwe, back to Nigeria, and finally to Sri Lanka.

He retired in 1994 to live in Mexico. Walker is survived by his wife Nydia, as well as by two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

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 On 17 February 2010 CIMMYT launched a new public- private collaborative project for improved food security in Africa. The initiative, known as Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), will spearhead the creation and sharing of new maize varieties that use fertilizer more efficiently and help smallholder farmers get higher yields, even where soils are poor and little commercial fertilizer is used. For this project, CIMMYT is partnering with the DuPont Business, Pioneer Hi-Bred; the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); and the South African Agricultural Research Council (ARC). IMAS is funded with USD 19.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The launch, which followed two days of IMAS stakeholder meetings, was held at the Serena Hotel in Kenya and attended by Nairobi media. The distinguished panel of speakers was headlined by KARI Director Ephraim Mukisira, and included Shadrack Moephuli, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mohammed Jeenah, Executive Director for Research and Development, ARC; Lloyd Le Page, Senior Manager, Technology Acceptance and Sustainable Development, Pioneer Hi-Bred; and Marianne Bänziger and Wilfred Mwangi from CIMMYT. “Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya must optimize the use of its soils for agriculture to increase food security, and do this while facing climate change, escalating input costs, and a deteriorating natural   resource base,” Mukisira said, as he officially announced the project to the world. “The IMAS project will apply scientific innovations to provide long-term solutions for African farmers, developing maize varieties suited to Kenya’s diverse farming ecologies.”

The stakeholder meetings brought together some 50 participants from the previously-mentioned organizations. In addition to the high-quality technical and planning discussions, the impressive enthusiasm and project “buy-in” evident among partners pleased project leader Gary Atlin, associate director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program. “We will succeed, and we will have impact,” Atlin said, in a wrap-up session after the first day. Former CIMMYT maize physiologist and “father” of the center’s research on drought and low-nitrogen tolerance in maize, Greg Edmeades, took part as a special consultant.

Tags: Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IMAS, KARI

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The CIMMYT community welcomes its new Global Maize Program Director, Boddupalli M. Prasanna, who will join us on 10 March and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. A native of India, Prasanna holds a M.Sc. (1987) and Ph.D. (1991) in genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). In 1991 he took up a scientist appointment at IARI and, since 2005, has worked there as a National Fellow & Principal Scientist of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). During 1998-2005, Prasanna served as the India team leader for the Asian Maize Biotechnology Network (AMBIONET), a CIMMYT-facilitated project to foster the use of molecular markers for maize improvement.

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Nearly 30 attendees from public and private sector institutions in Mexico gathered on 03 February 2010 to discuss hybrid maize for Mexican highlands. The meeting was part of the project “Increasing the productivity and profitability of maize in the State of Mexico,” which has been in operation since 2007 and is jointly implemented by USDA, SAGARPA, and CIMMYT. The project strives to explore and identify the best hybrids, not only for yield, but for quality properties as well.

From trials by CIMMYT, ICAMEX (an advanced research institution in Mexico State), and the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock (INIFAP), the project selected three new hybrids in 2009 to promote: one from CIMMYT, one from a national program, and one from a private seed company. Discussion at the meeting focused on how these promising hybrids should be promoted in 2010. The meeting, which was coordinated by José Luis Torres, senior researcher with the Global Maize Program, also included discussions about trials in farmers’ fields; a survey of variety preferences among farmers; trials for advanced hybrid testing; breeding and production of seed; quality analyses; and collaboration with institutions working with the genetic breeding of white, yellow, and blue grain for the Mexican highlands.

For the CIMMYT hybrid selected, ICAMEX expressed interest in releasing and promoting it. They also are preparing new farmerlevel trials to further evaluate more high-yielding hybrids with desirable characteristics, such as good grain quality, cooking time, and nixtamalizacion.

Tags: hybrids, INIFAP, Mexico, SAGARPA, USDA

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The University of Minnesota recently announced CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh as the recipient of its 2010 E.C. Stakman Award. Established in 1955 by plant pathologist E.C. Stakman, a pioneer in combating wheat diseases, the award is given to individuals for outstanding achievements in plant pathology. Stakman was also a former professor of Norman Borlaug.

“I feel extremely honored and humbled to receive this highly prestigious award,” Singh said. “Dr. Stakman was a mentor to Dr. Borlaug and is largely responsible for sending him to Mexico in 1944. You wonder whether Dr. Stakman knew or even guessed that this decision was going to change history and save millions of lives.”

Singh, who has been with CIMMYT for over 25 years, is world-renowned for his efforts to control wheat rusts and has trained over 400 young scientists. With this award he joins a long list of notable scientists, including I. A. Watson, who was dean of Sydney University’s College of Agriculture and a former pupil of Stakman himself, and 2007’s recipient, the late Bent Skovmand, former head of wheat genetic resources at CIMMYT, director of the Nordic Gene Bank, and key player in the development of the Svalbard International Seed Bank. Congratulations, Ravi!

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