It is challenging to disseminate information across far-flung areas of rural Zambia as extension officers must travel vast distances to reach farmers. The Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) MasAgro Africa Rapid Delivery Hub, managed by CIMMYT and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) helps alleviate these issues by engaging with existing mobile phone networks
After a decade of rigorous effort, CIMMYT, along with public-sector maize research institutes and private-sector seed companies in South Asia, have successfully developed and released 20 high-yielding heat-tolerant (HT) maize hybrids across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. CIMMYT researchers used a combination of unique breeding tools and methods including genomics-assisted breeding, doubled haploidy (a speed-breeding approach where genotype is
Climate change poses a threat to yields and food security worldwide, with plant diseases as one of the main risks. An international team of researchers, surrounding professor Senthold Asseng from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has now shown that further spread of the fungal disease wheat blast could reduce global wheat production by 13% until 2050. The result
Typically looking like a small caterpillar growing up to 5 cms in length, the fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda) is usually green or brown in color with an inverted “Y” marking on the head and a series of black dots along the backs. Thriving in warm and humid conditions, it feeds on a wide range of crops including maize,
Soybeans are a significant source of oil and protein, and soybean demand has been increasing over the last decade in Malawi and Zambia. Soybean contributes to human nutrition, is used in producing animal feed, and fetches a higher price per unit than maize, thus serving as a cash crop for smallholder farmers. These are among the main factors contributing
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10% of the global population suffers from food poisoning each year. Aflatoxins, the main contributor to food poisoning around the world, contaminate cereals and nuts and humans, especially vulnerable groups like the young, elderly, or immune-compromised, and animals are susceptible to their toxic and potentially carcinogenic effects. Fungi contamination occurs all along the
CIMMYT applies high quality science to develop more resilient agrifood systems. This year three scientists from CIMMYT are included in Clarivate’s 2023 Analysis of the most highly cited academic papers. While CIMMYT’s mission does explicitly require academic publication from its scientists, “the recognition reflects extensive networking with academia, opening doors for new technologies to benefit resource-poor farmers and consumers as
In Zambia, smallholder farmers obtain their seed from a variety of sources. Over 75 percent of farmers in Zambia have adopted certified maize seed and about 30 percent in southern Africa, overall. The private sector has been instrumental in creating demand for certified and timely delivery of seed to remote areas, and the Government of Zambia’s Farmer Input Support