News
Industrial water run-off can sustainably boost crop production
Climate adaptation and mitigation
This irrigation reservoir at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia’s highlands captures water from a nearby beer distillery, diverting it from a river.
CIMMYT at the global forum for innovations in agriculture
Climate adaptation and mitigation
During 9-11 March, scientists from 90 countries gathered at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture in Abu Dhabi to discuss the looming topic of feeding nine billion people by the year 2050.
Presidential award in recognition of critical breakthrough in maize breeding in Zimbabwe
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The Zimbabwe Maize Breeding Programme was honored on 13 February 2015, as the 2014/2015 Presidential Award winners in agricultural research during a ceremony attended by more than 1,500 people at the Research Council of Zimbabwe’s 10th International Research Symposium held in Harare.
USAID’s Feed the Future initiative highlights CIMMYT heat tolerant maize breeding
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The Feed the Future initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) featured CIMMYT’s Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project in a recent newsletter, highlighting it as an exemplary public-private partnership. Launched in 2013, the project is developing heat-resilient hybrid maize for resource-poor smallholder farmers in South Asia whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change.
Prioritize food security, not conflict, wheat scientist advises
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Heat and drought are a major cause of wheat yield losses worldwide, problems that scientists predict will worsen due to climate change.
DTMA launches new project to improve seed scaling in Eastern Africa
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Born out of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative and other CIMMYT-Africa maize projects, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project will improve the demand for and availability of high-quality, affordable, certified seed of drought-tolerant maize varieties for small-scale farmers across eastern and southern Africa.
Chief Minister of Bihar assures support to BISA
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, affirmed his support for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and its efforts to ensure food security, in a meeting with Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and with government, BISA and CIMMYT representatives on 3 February.
“No burning in Chiapas” GCAP campaign
Climate adaptation and mitigation
“To increase my production, I don’t burn residues; I use them. I practice conservation agriculture.” This slogan was promoted by CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) from March to May 2015 through a communications campaign in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The campaign aimed to inform farmers and agronomists of the devastating effects of residue burning and its potential risks. It also focused on topics such as the benefits of residue retention, sustainable alternatives to conventional practices, and how burning contributes to global warming.
Index insurance to safeguard farmers from climate change
Climate adaptation and mitigation
“We’ve got the germplasm and improved varieties, but what can we do to overcome the hurdle of farmer adoption of these technologies?” Jon Hellin, value chain and poverty specialist for CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program presented this challenge and how crop-index insurance may be part of the solution, at a high-level Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) webcast event Wednesday, 28 January in London.
The International Maize Improvement Consortium for Asia (IMIC-Asia): partnership for targeted impacts
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Improved maize to boost yields in nitrogen-starved African soils
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Sub-Saharan African farmers typically apply less than 20 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare of cropland — far less than their peers in any other region of the world. In 2014, partners in the Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) project developed 41 Africa-adapted maize varieties that respond better to low amounts of nitrogen fertilizer and are up for release in nine African countries through 24 seed companies.
Scientists seal agreement to boost adaptability of wheat to climate change
Climate adaptation and mitigation
