Sharing new drought tolerant maize with farmers in Yunnan Province, China
Farmers in the village of Songshuwa, Yunnan Province, China, receive samples of seed of new drought tolerant varieties from Fan Xingming (left), then Director General of the Institute of Food Crops, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS) and now YAAS Director, during a visit by participants in the Asian Maize Network (AMNET). Maize is the main crop in southwest China and the preferred staple food for many ethnic minority populations. Drought is the primary constraint on maize production: in 2008, when this photo was taken, drought had been a problem in 6 of the last 10 years in Songshuwa. Farmers also seek varieties with good yields, disease resistance, feed quality, and other desirable characteristics.
CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China. Between March 2005 and October 2008 YAAS participated in AMNET, which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and led by CIMMYT, and brought together scientists from five Southeast Asian countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—to develop and deliver drought tolerant maize varieties for poor farmers in drought-prone regions.
A key benefit of AMNET was that it enabled the sharing of breeding material between countries; the YAAS team incorporated material from CIMMYT and Thailand into their breeding program to produce high-performing, stress tolerant hybrids, and shared elite materials with the other AMNET countries. For the Chinese, as for the other participants, the connections formed were also very important. “We have close relationships with Thailand and Vietnam, and have made many visits between us,” said Fan. "Friendships are blooming among the AMNET countries.”
Fan was keen to see these friendships, and YAAS’s relationship with CIMMYT, continue. "Many of the hybrids we’ve already released use CIMMYT germplasm—without it we couldn’t make such good hybrids for farmers and we couldn’t make such a big impact on incomes or development,” he said in 2008—and indeed, YAAS continues to be an important CIMMYT partner.
Photo credit: Eloise Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more about AMNET, see CIMMYT's May 2008 e-news story "Asian maize network tackles drought," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/37-2008/152-asian-maize-network....
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.
Sharing new drought tolerant maize with farmers in Yunnan Province, China
Farmers in the village of Songshuwa, Yunnan Province, China, receive samples of seed of new drought tolerant varieties from Fan Xingming (left), then Director General of the Institute of Food Crops, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS) and now YAAS Director, during a visit by participants in the Asian Maize Network (AMNET). Maize is the main crop in southwest China and the preferred staple food for many ethnic minority populations. Drought is the primary constraint on maize production: in 2008, when this photo was taken, drought had been a problem in 6 of the last 10 years in Songshuwa. Farmers also seek varieties with good yields, disease resistance, feed quality, and other desirable characteristics.
CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China. Between March 2005 and October 2008 YAAS participated in AMNET, which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and led by CIMMYT, and brought together scientists from five Southeast Asian countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—to develop and deliver drought tolerant maize varieties for poor farmers in drought-prone regions.
A key benefit of AMNET was that it enabled the sharing of breeding material between countries; the YAAS team incorporated material from CIMMYT and Thailand into their breeding program to produce high-performing, stress tolerant hybrids, and shared elite materials with the other AMNET countries. For the Chinese, as for the other participants, the connections formed were also very important. “We have close relationships with Thailand and Vietnam, and have made many visits between us,” said Fan. "Friendships are blooming among the AMNET countries.”
Fan was keen to see these friendships, and YAAS’s relationship with CIMMYT, continue. "Many of the hybrids we’ve already released use CIMMYT germplasm—without it we couldn’t make such good hybrids for farmers and we couldn’t make such a big impact on incomes or development,” he said in 2008—and indeed, YAAS continues to be an important CIMMYT partner.
Photo credit: Eloise Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more about AMNET, see CIMMYT's May 2008 e-news story "Asian maize network tackles drought," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/37-2008/152-asian-maize-network....
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.