View allAll Photos Tagged HighYield
This isn't your grandfather's fruit orchard. "High yield" cultivation treats the trees very differently. I don't know how it works.
The grasses have matured signaling the time to harvest, the time for joyful celebration, the time of successful growth of a people and culturing species in both the agricultural and human cultural sense of the word.
We have matured and risen far beyond our wildest expectations when we first embarked on our trip beyond the trees to the fields and the plows. High yields and mechanizations have since moved in to replace that initial glow of success from our species, but yet it is so marvelous that we were able to learn the skills necessary to break our slavery and bondage to the land and nature, therefore becoming semi-immortal in a sense with our destiny.
We are less the serendipitously reliant beings upon that blasted thing called fate, but we are now somewhere in between the majestic apes and divine angels in a gray area of humanism. And here I stand today with digital technology that can capture this analog moment of nature's cycles in action whereby I can marvel at our semi-immortal status and the lineage of events that brought this forth into our destiny.
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Colorado National Guard members of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) team member, processes through the decontamination station after performing COVID-19 testing at a state veterans home in Aurora, Colorado, April 29, 2020. At the direction of Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado CERFP is assisting the state emergency operations center and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment increase testing procedures and enabling state and local officials with an increased capability where needed. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer)
An improved wheat variety grows in the field in Islamabad, Pakistan. The variety, known as NARC-2009, is based on a wheat line developed by CIMMYT and shared with partners as part of an international nursery distributed by CIMMYT's International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN). Following testing and evaluation, it was released as a commercial variety in 2009 by Pakistan's National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, under its wheat program for rainfed areas. As well as giving high yields, NARC-2009 is drought tolerant, resistant to the diseases stripe and leaf rust, and has good grain quality.
Photo credit: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Pakistan, see: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=Pakistan.
Colorado Army National Guard Soldiers from the 3650th Maintenance Company, and the Colorado National Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) team members pose for a group photo in a clean zone during COVID-19 testing at a state veterans home in Aurora, Colorado, April 29, 2020. At the direction of Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado CERFP is assisting the state emergency operations center and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment increase testing procedures and enabling state and local officials with an increased capability where needed. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer)
Members of the Colorado National Guard assist San Miguel County and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment with a COVID-19 drive-up testing station in Telluride, Colorado, March 17, 2020. The two specialized teams, 8th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package are Colorado’s resident trained and equipped experts in biological hazards. Colorado’s 8th WMD-CST and CERFP are available to the governor and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region Eight. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Jason Reed)
Consolata Nyaga, a smallholder farmer on the slopes of Mt Kenya, in the district of Embu, prepares her maize plot for planting. She does this all by hand using a hoe, and it is hard work. Her farm, or “garden”, consists of a hectare and a quarter of land, and includes milk cows, coffee, bananas, and beans. However, the most important crop is the half hectare of improved maize she grows every season.
"Let me tell you, if you eat potatoes and cabbages and eat rice, you cannot have energy to dig,” she says. “Yes, maize has got very big energy. You see somebody like myself after 56 years cannot dig unless you eat something good!”
The maize variety Nyaga grows feeds her and gives her the cash to put her 10 children through school. It is based on material from CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), which have been working in collaboration to provide farmers with new improved varieties. These varieties are more drought-tolerant and insect resistant, give higher yields under proper management, and are quality protein maize (QPM), meaning they have enhanced levels of essential amino acids. CIMMYT and KARI work with organizations on the ground to demonstrate the advantages of these varieties. Nyaga and the community group of which she is the treasurer have been quick to adopt the improved materials; her neighbors are also curious about the new maize, and come to field days on her farm to learn about it.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's October 2006 e-news story "No Maize, No Food," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/82-2006/257-no-maize-no-food.
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-....
Colorado National Guard members of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) team member, processes through the decontamination station after performing COVID-19 testing at a state veterans home in Aurora, Colorado, April 29, 2020. At the direction of Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado CERFP is assisting the state emergency operations center and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment increase testing procedures and enabling state and local officials with an increased capability where needed. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer)
Members of the Colorado National Guard assist San Miguel County and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment with a COVID-19 drive-up testing station in Telluride, Colorado, March 17, 2020. The two specialized teams, 8th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package are Colorado’s resident trained and equipped experts in biological hazards. Colorado’s 8th WMD-CST and CERFP are available to the governor and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region Eight. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Jason Reed)
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-....
Members of the Colorado National Guard assist San Miguel County and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment with a COVID-19 drive-up testing station in Telluride, Colorado, March 17, 2020. The two specialized teams, 8th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package are Colorado’s resident trained and equipped experts in biological hazards. Colorado’s 8th WMD-CST and CERFP are available to the governor and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region Eight. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Jason Reed)
A Bangladeshi woman grinds maize and chickpeas together as she prepares food. Head of the household Mohammed Abu Taher has transformed the family's lives since he started growing high-yielding maize varieties alongside their other crops, after receiving training provided by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) with support from CIMMYT.
The maize gives a good yield and sells for a high price. This income boost has meant that as well as making homestead improvements like a new house for their pigs, the family is now able to spend more money on the children’s education, and think about obtaining more land. They also use some of their maize to make chapatis and other foods, as well as feeding it to their livestock and poultry. "By eating maize the cows give more milk and the cattle become healthy," says Taher . "Also when we started to consume the maize ourselves we feel stronger with more energy than before."
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
A Chinese farmer holds hybrid maize kernels of the Yunrui 88 variety, developed by the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Yunnan Province, China, using CIMMYT and local germplasm. It is high-yielding, resistant to important diseases, and drought tolerant, and farmers report that the ears can be stored for longer and are better for animal feed. It was released in 2009 and is now the most popular hybrid in the area. CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China.
Photo credit: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.
A researcher checks up on wheat seed stored in a climate-controlled warehouse at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. Making improved seed available to farmers can enable them to achieve better yields, food security and incomes. CIMMYT works in partnership with local institutions like WRC across the world, with scientists working hand-in-hand. In Bangladesh WRC is a key CIMMYT partner, in a collaboration that helps reach farmers with improved varieties, technologies and practices.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Farmer Bishnu Maya in her maize plot, which forms the lion's share of her 0.6 hectares of steep, terraced land in Belhara village, Dhankuta district, in the mid-hills of Nepal. She is a widowed mother of three and a "dalit," meaning she is a member of one of the poorest castes, considered "untouchable" in Nepal’s traditional hierarchical system. She works hard, tending millet, tomatoes, cucumbers, and various livestock on her tiny farm in addition to maize. However, traditional maize varieties have one small ear per plant and are very tall, making them low-yielding and prone to lodging (i.e., falling over), and Maya was never able to grow enough for the whole year. She struggled to feed her family and to send her children to school.
Maya's life began to change when she was invited to take part in participatory evaluations of improved maize varieties developed for the mid-hills region. She decided to plant a variety called Manakamana-3, which with its two large ears per plant gave her higher yields, as well as resisting lodging with its shorter, sturdier stalk and staying green as it matured, making a better feed for her livestock. The project also advised Maya to plant intercropped vegetables in addition to maize, bringing her additional food and income. “Now I have enough food and can sell some surplus to pay for my children’s education," she says.
The project was part of the Hill Maize Research Program (HMRP), a long-term collaboration between CIMMYT, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), and other partners. The project focused on women farmers and disadvantaged groups like dalits, testing and promoting technologies that can be implemented by the farmers themselves. Participating farmers have observed 20-50% higher grain yields with the new varieties. "We know this program is for us. We would not have participated in the trials if it wasn't," says Maya. She now demonstrates the new variety to other farmers.
According to a report released in 2010, more than two decades of joint efforts between researchers from Nepal and CIMMYT have helped boost the country's maize yields 36% and those of wheat by 85%. As a result, farmers even in the country's remote, mid-hill mountain areas have more food and brighter futures.
Photo credit: D. Mowbray/CIMMYT.
For more on the HMRP and CIMMYT's relationship with Nepal, see the following:
2010 e-news, "Nepal-CIMMYT partnerships reach the unreached": www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/869....
2006 e-news, "People of the Clouds": www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/254....
Nepal-related stories on CIMMYT's blog: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=nepal.
Bishnu Maya appears as one of three women discussing their lives as maize farmers on the CIMMYT video "Maize for Life", available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ls53idLkUg.
A Bangladeshi woman grinds maize and chickpeas together as she prepares food. Head of the household Mohammed Abu Taher has transformed the family's lives since he started growing high-yielding maize varieties alongside their other crops, after receiving training provided by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) with support from CIMMYT.
The maize gives a good yield and sells for a high price. This income boost has meant that as well as making homestead improvements like a new house for their pigs, the family is now able to spend more money on the children’s education, and think about obtaining more land. They also use some of their maize to make chapatis and other foods, as well as feeding it to their livestock and poultry. "By eating maize the cows give more milk and the cattle become healthy," says Taher . "Also when we started to consume the maize ourselves we feel stronger with more energy than before."
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Farmer Bishnu Maya in her maize plot, which forms the lion's share of her 0.6 hectares of steep, terraced land in Belhara village, Dhankuta district, in the mid-hills of Nepal. She is a widowed mother of three and a "dalit," meaning she is a member of one of the poorest castes, considered "untouchable" in Nepal’s traditional hierarchical system. She works hard, tending millet, tomatoes, cucumbers, and various livestock on her tiny farm in addition to maize. However, traditional maize varieties have one small ear per plant and are very tall, making them low-yielding and prone to lodging (i.e., falling over), and Maya was never able to grow enough for the whole year. She struggled to feed her family and to send her children to school.
Maya's life began to change when she was invited to take part in participatory evaluations of improved maize varieties developed for the mid-hills region. She decided to plant a variety called Manakamana-3, which with its two large ears per plant gave her higher yields, as well as resisting lodging with its shorter, sturdier stalk and staying green as it matured, making a better feed for her livestock. The project also advised Maya to plant intercropped vegetables in addition to maize, bringing her additional food and income. “Now I have enough food and can sell some surplus to pay for my children’s education," she says.
The project was part of the Hill Maize Research Program (HMRP), a long-term collaboration between CIMMYT, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), and other partners. The project focused on women farmers and disadvantaged groups like dalits, testing and promoting technologies that can be implemented by the farmers themselves. Participating farmers have observed 20-50% higher grain yields with the new varieties. "We know this program is for us. We would not have participated in the trials if it wasn't," says Maya. She now demonstrates the new variety to other farmers.
According to a report released in 2010, more than two decades of joint efforts between researchers from Nepal and CIMMYT have helped boost the country's maize yields 36% and those of wheat by 85%. As a result, farmers even in the country's remote, mid-hill mountain areas have more food and brighter futures.
Photo credit: D. Mowbray/CIMMYT.
For more on the HMRP and CIMMYT's relationship with Nepal, see the following:
2010 e-news, "Nepal-CIMMYT partnerships reach the unreached": www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/869....
2006 e-news, "People of the Clouds": www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/254....
Nepal-related stories on CIMMYT's blog: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=nepal.
Bishnu Maya appears as one of three women discussing their lives as maize farmers on the CIMMYT video "Maize for Life", available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ls53idLkUg.
A maize hybrid being tested on drought screening plots at the Thai Department of Agriculture’s Nakhon Sawan Field Crops Research Center, where screening is carried out in the dry season to allow fine control of water availability. CIMMYT has a long relationship with Thailand, supplying materials to for inclusion in the national breeding program, and between March 2005 and October 2008 Thailand participated in the Asian Maize Network (AMNET), which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and led by CIMMYT, and brought together scientists from five Southeast Asian countries to develop and deliver drought tolerant maize varieties for poor farmers in drought-prone regions.
As part of AMNET, the Thai breeders crossed lines from the national program with new drought tolerant materials provided each year by CIMMYT. “We screen for drought tolerance in the dry season and downy mildew resistance in the rainy season, and take the best materials forward each year,” explained Pichet Grudloyma, senior maize breeder, in 2008. “We now have many promising hybrids coming through.” Funding from the project also had a big impact on the team’s capacity to screen those hybrids. “We had a small one to two hectare facility before; now we have four hectares with a perfect controlled-irrigation system. Because we’ve been in AMNET, we have good varieties and good fieldwork and screening capacity.” Thailand also took on a role in seed distribution, receiving and sharing seed from the AMNET member countries, and testing the varieties on the drought screening plots at the Research Center.
For Grudloyma, this collaborative approach was a big change. “We’ve learned a lot and gained a lot from our friends in different countries. We each have different experiences, and when we share problems we can adapt knowledge from others to our own situations.” The Thai researchers can come up with many examples of things they have learned from their AMNET partners. “We learned how to evaluate farmer preferences better from the Philippines team,” said Amara Traisiri, an entomologist working on responding to these preferences. “We now use their method in all our field trials with farmers and we’re getting a more accurate picture of what farmers want.” This information caused the group to include ease of hand harvest as another trait to consider in their breeding program, after realizing how important it is to farmers.
The project built capacity and relationships that will endure, according to Grudloyma. “Our station is now very good at working with drought,” he said, “and we’ll continue cooperation and providing germplasm. We already have plans for collaboration with China and Vietnam.” CIMMYT’s role in providing germplasm and access to new knowledge and technologies was vital, as was its leadership. “It’s very hard to get hold of germplasm from anywhere except CIMMYT,” said Grudloyma. “It’s also difficult to come together: we needed an international organization to coordinate and facilitate regional interaction. With CIMMYT everything is easier.”
Photo credit: Eloise Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more about Thailand and AMNET, see CIMMYT's March 2008 e-news story "New maize and new friendships to beat Thai drought," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/37-2008/159-new-maize-and-new-f....
Bangladeshi farmer Sree Gorachandroy and his wife, of the village of Baikunthapur, Chirirbandar, used to grow an older wheat variety that gave them a low yield and discouraged them from growing wheat. Their life turned around when they attended a training session: "I learned a lot from this training—how to cultivate high-yielding new varieties and how to preserve the seeds," says Gorachandroy. As part of the training, they were able to see the new varieties in action, and were motivated to try them out for themselves.
"I harvested a good amount of grain. The surrounding people were also motivated by seeing my crops in the field and wanted to purchase seed from me. I kept my own seed and sold the rest for seed."
By growing improved wheat and selling it for seed, the couple have been able to earn more money for themselves and their family. They keep the seed in their home in airtight bags, as the trainers showed them, and so preserve it for the next season. In 2011 they were able to preserve 200 kg of seed, but hope to keep 400 or 500 kg next year.
"In the future I plan to grow more wheat and store more seed, as well as the portion I will eat," says Gorachandroy. "I have plans to cultivate other crops—maize, jute, as well as rice. Through producing wheat seed I have plans to develop my house, as well as get some pieces of land. My daughter is going to school now, and we have money for this."
By collaborating with national partners in Bangladesh to provide training sessions like the one the Gorachandroys attended, CIMMYT is able to take the benefits of its research directly to farmers, facilitating access to and adoption of improved seed, technologies and practices that can ultimately offer farmers better livelihoods.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Wheat spikes of an improved wheat variety growin in the field in Islamabad, Pakistan. The variety, known as NARC-2009, is based on a wheat line developed by CIMMYT and shared with partners as part of an international nursery distributed by CIMMYT's International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN). Following testing and evaluation, it was released as a commercial variety in 2009 by Pakistan's National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, under its wheat program for rainfed areas. As well as giving high yields, NARC-2009 is drought tolerant, resistant to the diseases stripe and leaf rust, and has good grain quality.
Photo credit: A. Yaqub/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Pakistan, see: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=Pakistan.
Army Sgt. Jorge Rios, a team leader with the Florida National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) search and extraction team, programs his State Law Enforcement Radio before the team heads out to recon areas impacted by Hurricane Michael. The CERF-P is comprised of Soldiers and Airmen from various units across the state who come together to provide support for large-scale natural and manmade disasters. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Carmen Fleischmann)
Members of the Colorado National Guard assist San Miguel County and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment with a COVID-19 drive-up testing station in Telluride, Colorado, March 17, 2020. The two specialized teams, 8th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package are Colorado’s resident trained and equipped experts in biological hazards. Colorado’s 8th WMD-CST and CERFP are available to the governor and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region Eight. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Jason Reed)
Pichet Grudloyma, senior maize breeder at the Thai Department of Agriculture’s Nakhon Sawan Field Crops Research Center, shows off maize hybrids being tested on the center's drought screening plots. CIMMYT has a long relationship with Thailand, supplying materials to for inclusion in the national breeding program, and between March 2005 and October 2008 Thailand participated in the Asian Maize Network (AMNET), which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and led by CIMMYT, and brought together scientists from five Southeast Asian countries to develop and deliver drought tolerant maize varieties for poor farmers in drought-prone regions.
As part of AMNET, the Thai breeders crossed lines from the national program with new drought tolerant materials provided each year by CIMMYT. “We screen for drought tolerance in the dry season and downy mildew resistance in the rainy season, and take the best materials forward each year,” explained Grudloyma in 2008. “We now have many promising hybrids coming through.” Funding from the project also had a big impact on the team’s capacity to screen those hybrids. “We had a small one to two hectare facility before; now we have four hectares with a perfect controlled-irrigation system. Because we’ve been in AMNET, we have good varieties and good fieldwork and screening capacity.” Thailand also took on a role in seed distribution, receiving and sharing seed from the AMNET member countries, and testing the varieties on the drought screening plots at the Research Center.
For Grudloyma, this collaborative approach was a big change. “We’ve learned a lot and gained a lot from our friends in different countries. We each have different experiences, and when we share problems we can adapt knowledge from others to our own situations.” The Thai researchers can come up with many examples of things they have learned from their AMNET partners. “We learned how to evaluate farmer preferences better from the Philippines team,” said Amara Traisiri, an entomologist working on responding to these preferences. “We now use their method in all our field trials with farmers and we’re getting a more accurate picture of what farmers want.” This information caused the group to include ease of hand harvest as another trait to consider in their breeding program, after realizing how important it is to farmers.
The project built capacity and relationships that will endure, according to Grudloyma. “Our station is now very good at working with drought,” he said, “and we’ll continue cooperation and providing germplasm. We already have plans for collaboration with China and Vietnam.” CIMMYT’s role in providing germplasm and access to new knowledge and technologies was vital, as was its leadership. “It’s very hard to get hold of germplasm from anywhere except CIMMYT,” said Grudloyma. “It’s also difficult to come together: we needed an international organization to coordinate and facilitate regional interaction. With CIMMYT everything is easier.”
Photo credit: Eloise Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more about Thailand and AMNET, see CIMMYT's March 2008 e-news story "New maize and new friendships to beat Thai drought," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/37-2008/159-new-maize-and-new-f....
Colorado National Guard members of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) team member, processes through the decontamination station after performing COVID-19 testing at a state veterans home in Aurora, Colorado, April 29, 2020. At the direction of Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado CERFP is assisting the state emergency operations center and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment increase testing procedures and enabling state and local officials with an increased capability where needed. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer)
A healthy ear of drought tolerant maize grown by farmer Mary Sikirwayi. Maize is life for her and her family, and she grows a number of varieties. Mostly she eats white maize like this, which she grinds and cooks to produce Zimbabwe’s staple food, sadza. She also grows other types of maize of different colors for animal feed and medicinal purposes.
Where Sikirwayi lives in Murewa District, Zimbabwe, lack of rain is usually the biggest problem for maize growers. In 2011 she participated in on-farm trials of drought tolerant varieties, held in collaboration between CIMMYT, local agricultural extension workers, and farmers. These were part of 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.
However, heavy rains during the 2011 growing season offered a different challenge to the new maize varieties, illustrating how important it is for them to give high yields not just under drought, but whatever the weather. Sikirwayi is pleased with their performance: her small farm produced 5.5 tons of maize in 2011, increased from only 3.5 tons the previous year.
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-....
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.
Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda.
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U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Miles Madrid, Colorado Air National Guard, 140th medical squadron, Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado, delivers COVID-19 test samples to a refrigeration unit during COVID-19 drive up testing in Greeley, Colorado, April 23, 2020. Nearly 70 Colorado National Guard members from the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) tested residents in the Greeley area. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer)
A researcher checks up on wheat seed stored in a climate-controlled warehouse at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. Making improved seed available to farmers can enable them to achieve better yields, food security and incomes. CIMMYT works in partnership with local institutions like WRC across the world, with scientists working hand-in-hand. In Bangladesh WRC is a key CIMMYT partner, in a collaboration that helps reach farmers with improved varieties, technologies and practices.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
A farmer leader in the Saraguro area of Loja Province, Ecuador surveys his wheat field. Prior to the 2010 release, of the wheat variety "INIAP Vivar 2010", farmers working with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) had been testing it for several years in their own plots. Named in honor of the late CIMMYT scientist Hugo Vivar, the variety is among the first products of a campaign launched in 2008 to renew Ecuador’s diminished wheat production.
Vivar gives high yields of good-quality grain, and is tolerant to drought, which has become increasingly common. It is far more resilient than earlier varieties under the rugged conditions of mountainous southern Ecuador, offering a consistent yield advantage of about 80%. Its performance bodes well for INIAP’s work to reduce Ecuador’s dependence on imported wheat, but could also generate extra income for farmers. It is based on a line developed by CIMMYT, and its good drought tolerance probably comes from a line in its pedigree that resulted from crosses made at CIMMYT between domesticated wheat and related wild species.
Until 2008, wheat research in Ecuador was in decline, as was wheat cultivation, thanks to cheap imports. While other staples were relatively unaffected, the global food price crisis of 2008 revealed this hole in the country's food security. When wheat prices spiked, Ecuador's government cushioned the blow by temporarily subsidizing imported wheat at great cost. Its long-term response was to institute a vigorous program to revitalize the nation's wheat production. Working with INIAP, the government set out realistic goals and provided about USD 4.3 million over 5 years for intensified wheat research and promotion.
The central aim of the new initiative is to expand Ecuador’s wheat area to about 50,000 hectares, enough to satisfy at least 30% of domestic demand, up from 3%. Less than two years after the 2008 decision, INIAP was already releasing improved varieties, the first in Ecuador since the early 1990s, including Vivar for southern Ecuador and San Jacinto for the country’s central and northern zones.
INIAP was able to release Vivar and San Jacinto so soon after the start of the initiative for two reasons. One was the government’s decision to thoroughly refurbish INIAP’s research infrastructure as well as to hire and train dozens more scientists and technicians. Equally crucial was CIMMYT’s unswerving support for local wheat research even during its time of relative dormancy in Ecuador. If that service had ceased, INIAP’s new wheat team would have been forced to start essentially from scratch, adding many years to the process of variety development.
Photo credit: Nathan Russell/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's 2010 e-news story "Ecuador's wheat awakening," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/872....
A researcher checks up on wheat seed stored in a climate-controlled warehouse at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. Making improved seed available to farmers can enable them to achieve better yields, food security and incomes. CIMMYT works in partnership with local institutions like WRC across the world, with scientists working hand-in-hand. In Bangladesh WRC is a key CIMMYT partner, in a collaboration that helps reach farmers with improved varieties, technologies and practices.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Water Based Insulation Adhesive for Coil Lines
Product comes in black and white, both come in 5 gallon pails and 50 gallon drums. (5 gallon pail - white is shown above)
More information about this product can be found at
The governor of Loja Province, Ecuador (left) and a local farmer inaugurate a new center for storing and processing grain, in the Saraguro area of Loja, while Julio César Delgado (behind), the director general of the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), looks on. The center will give farmers an advantage in the face of volatile prices. The inauguration, on 15 July 2010, was held alongside the launch of "INIAP Vivar 2010", a drought tolerant, high-yielding wheat variety based on a line developed by CIMMYT and named in honor of the late scientist Hugo Vivar. These are among the first benefits of a campaign launched in 2008 to renew Ecuador’s wheat production.
Until 2008, wheat research in Ecuador was in decline, as was wheat cultivation, thanks to cheap imports. While other staples were relatively unaffected, the global food price crisis of 2008 revealed this hole in the country's food security. When wheat prices spiked, Ecuador's government cushioned the blow by temporarily subsidizing imported wheat at great cost. Its long-term response was to institute a vigorous program to revitalize the nation's wheat production. Working with INIAP, the government set out realistic goals and provided about USD 4.3 million over 5 years for intensified wheat research and promotion.
The central aim of the new initiative is to expand Ecuador’s wheat area to about 50,000 hectares, enough to satisfy at least 30% of domestic demand, up from 3%. Less than two years after the 2008 decision, INIAP was already releasing improved varieties, the first in Ecuador since the early 1990s, including Vivar for southern Ecuador and San Jacinto for the country’s central and northern zones.
INIAP was able to release Vivar and San Jacinto so soon after the start of the initiative for two reasons. One was the government’s decision to thoroughly refurbish INIAP’s research infrastructure as well as to hire and train dozens more scientists and technicians. Equally crucial was CIMMYT’s unswerving support for local wheat research even during its time of relative dormancy in Ecuador. If that service had ceased, INIAP’s new wheat team would have been forced to start essentially from scratch, adding many years to the process of variety development.
Photo credit: Nathan Russell/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's 2010 e-news story "Ecuador's wheat awakening," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/872....
Water Based Insulation Adhesive for Coil Lines and Spray-booth Applications
Product comes in white in both 1 gallon and 5 gallon pails. (5 gallon pail is shown above)
More information about this product can be found at
A gravity separator is used to clean seed as part of the seed production process at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. Improved seed like this helps farmers to achieve better yields, food security and incomes. CIMMYT works in partnership with local institutions like WRC across the world, with scientists working hand-in-hand. In Bangladesh WRC is a key CIMMYT partner, in a collaboration that helps reach farmers with improved varieties, technologies and practices.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Wheat seed is stored in a climate-controlled warehouse at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute's Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. Making improved seed available to farmers can enable them to achieve better yields, food security and incomes. CIMMYT works in partnership with local institutions like WRC across the world, with scientists working hand-in-hand. In Bangladesh WRC is a key CIMMYT partner, in a collaboration that helps reach farmers with improved varieties, technologies and practices.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Jorge Coronel (right), who leads the work of the cereals program of Ecuador’s National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) in southern Ecuador, works with his team to prepare a display of the wheat variety "INIAP Vivar 2010" for its official launch, held on 15 July 2010 in the Saraguro area of Loja Province. Named in honor of the late CIMMYT scientist Hugo Vivar, the variety is among the first products of a campaign launched in 2008 to renew Ecuador’s diminished wheat production.
Vivar gives high yields of good-quality grain, and is tolerant to drought, which has become increasingly common. It is far more resilient than earlier varieties under the rugged conditions of mountainous southern Ecuador, offering a consistent yield advantage of about 80%. It is based on a line developed by CIMMYT, and its good drought tolerance probably comes from a line in its pedigree that resulted from crosses made at CIMMYT between domesticated wheat and related wild species. Prior to its 2010 release, farmer leaders working with INIAP had been testing Vivar for several years in their own plots. Its performance bodes well for INIAP’s work to reduce Ecuador’s dependence on imported wheat, but could also generate extra income for farmers.
Until 2008, wheat research in Ecuador was in decline, as was wheat cultivation, thanks to cheap imports. While other staples were relatively unaffected, the global food price crisis of 2008 revealed this hole in the country's food security. When wheat prices spiked, Ecuador's government cushioned the blow by temporarily subsidizing imported wheat at great cost. Its long-term response was to institute a vigorous program to revitalize the nation's wheat production. Working with INIAP, the government set out realistic goals and provided about USD 4.3 million over 5 years for intensified wheat research and promotion.
The central aim of the new initiative is to expand Ecuador’s wheat area to about 50,000 hectares, enough to satisfy at least 30% of domestic demand, up from 3%. Less than two years after the 2008 decision, INIAP was already releasing improved varieties, the first in Ecuador since the early 1990s, including Vivar for southern Ecuador and San Jacinto for the country’s central and northern zones.
INIAP was able to release Vivar and San Jacinto so soon after the start of the initiative for two reasons. One was the government’s decision to thoroughly refurbish INIAP’s research infrastructure as well as to hire and train dozens more scientists and technicians. Equally crucial was CIMMYT’s unswerving support for local wheat research even during its time of relative dormancy in Ecuador. If that service had ceased, INIAP’s new wheat team would have been forced to start essentially from scratch, adding many years to the process of variety development.
Photo credit: Nathan Russell/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's 2010 e-news story "Ecuador's wheat awakening," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/872....
Hybrid maize ears of the Yunrui 88 variety, developed by the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Yunnan Province, China, using CIMMYT and local germplasm. It is high-yielding, resistant to important diseases, and drought tolerant, and farmers report that the ears can be stored for longer and are better for animal feed. It was released in 2009 and is now the most popular hybrid in the area. CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China.
Photo credit: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.
Army Sgt. James Kemper and Sgt. R.C. Samples, support staff with the Florida National Guard's 3-20th Special Forces Group, familiarize CERF-P members with HARRIS radios. The CERF-P will use these radios to coordinate aerial rescues during their recon of areas impacted by Hurricane Michael. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Carmen Fleischmann)
Hybrid maize seed and ears of the Yunrui 88 variety, developed by the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), Yunnan Province, China, using CIMMYT and local germplasm. It is high-yielding, resistant to important diseases, and drought tolerant, and farmers report that the ears can be stored for longer and are better for animal feed. It was released in 2009 and is now the most popular hybrid in the area. CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China.
Photo credit: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.
Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda. Full captions to follow soon. For more information contact n.palmer@cgiar.org
Members of the Florida National Guard's CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERF-P) program their HARRIS radios prior to departing for a reconnaissance mission in areas impacted by Hurricane Michael. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Carmen Fleischmann)
Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda. Full captions to follow soon. For more information contact n.palmer@cgiar.org
Ok - so a totally self indulgent cow picture. This is part of a 5000 cow herd on a dairy farm in Southern California that I had the privilege of visiting. Cows were in super condition - well looked after despite the herd size and the 40C heat. Totally different set of problems that we see when milking cows in Northern Ireland. These cows are sprayed almost continuously with water to keep them cool. Interesting to see a different system and scale of farming on the other side of the world.
CIMMYT maize breeder Dan Jeffers (left) and Fan Xingming, Director of the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), discuss the performance of new maize hybrids during a visit to a farmer in Yunnan Province, China. Hybrid varieties such as Yunrui 8 and Yunrui 88 have been developed by YAAS using CIMMYT and local germplasm. They are high-yielding, resistant to important diseases, and drought tolerant, and farmers report that the ears can be stored for longer and are better for animal feed—all of which makes them very popular with farmers. CIMMYT has a strong and healthy collaboration with YAAS, an important part of the center's growing relationship with China.
Photo credit: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT.
For more about CIMMYT and China, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=6188.