Even with heavy rain, drought tolerant maize performs well for farmers in Zimbabwe
Farmer Edina Chioreso shows off some of her fine crop of healthy maize ears, of a new drought tolerant variety she has been testing out. She participates in on-farm trials of varieties developed through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, a CIMMYT-led partnership involving researchers from 13 nations in sub-Saharan Africa that aims to accelerate drought tolerant maize development and deployment, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Where Chioreso lives in Murewa District, Zimbabwe, lack of rain is usually the biggest problem for maize growers. However, heavy rains during the 2011 growing season illustrated how important it is for drought tolerant varieties to give high yields not just when water is scarce, but whatever the weather. The new varieties proved able to hold their own in 2011, producing up to 25% higher yields than commercially-available varieties.
Photo credit: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's 2011 e-news story "Too much of a good thing: Drought-tolerant maize faces rain aplenty in Zimbabwe," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/newsletter/511-2011/1218-too-much-of-a-....
Even with heavy rain, drought tolerant maize performs well for farmers in Zimbabwe
Farmer Edina Chioreso shows off some of her fine crop of healthy maize ears, of a new drought tolerant variety she has been testing out. She participates in on-farm trials of varieties developed through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, a CIMMYT-led partnership involving researchers from 13 nations in sub-Saharan Africa that aims to accelerate drought tolerant maize development and deployment, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Where Chioreso lives in Murewa District, Zimbabwe, lack of rain is usually the biggest problem for maize growers. However, heavy rains during the 2011 growing season illustrated how important it is for drought tolerant varieties to give high yields not just when water is scarce, but whatever the weather. The new varieties proved able to hold their own in 2011, producing up to 25% higher yields than commercially-available varieties.
Photo credit: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's 2011 e-news story "Too much of a good thing: Drought-tolerant maize faces rain aplenty in Zimbabwe," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/newsletter/511-2011/1218-too-much-of-a-....