Climate adaptation and mitigation
Climate change threatens to reduce global crop production, and poor people in tropical environments will be hit the hardest. More than 90% of CIMMYT’s work relates to climate change, helping farmers adapt to shocks while producing more food, and reduce emissions where possible. Innovations include new maize and wheat varieties that withstand drought, heat and pests; conservation agriculture; farming methods that save water and reduce the need for fertilizer; climate information services; and index-based insurance for farmers whose crops are damaged by bad weather. CIMMYT is an important contributor to the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
HTMA offers stress-resilient maize hybrids to meet Bangladesh’s growing demand
Capacity development
CIMMYT’s Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project held a hybrid maize field day during 21-22 April at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s (BARI) Regional Agricultural Research Stations (RARS) in Khoirtola, Jessore and Gazipur. The event was attended by over 60 participants, including local maize farmers, Bangladeshi seed company representatives, agricultural input dealers, Bangladesh government seed system officers and BARI maize researchers.
Well-positioned for next phase, CSISA India plans for monsoon cropping season
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Project team gathers in Kathmandu to plan for the 2015 monsoon cropping season.
Maize protects Colombian coffee from climate change
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Preliminary results have shown that a maize-coffee cropping system acts like a huge atmospheric carbon sink, capturing up to 60 times more carbon than a coffee-bean system during one cycle of the associated temporary bean crop. In addition, maize creates a more adequate microclimate for coffee’s growth and development because it reduces air temperature, helps to maintain soil moisture and decreases daytime-nighttime soil temperature fluctuations. This has a buffer effect that benefits soil biochemical processes and improves crop productivity.
SUPER WOMAN: Julie King tames wild relatives of wheat, improving resilience
Climate adaptation and mitigation
SUPER WOMAN: Suchismita Mondal develops climate change resilient wheat
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Suchismita Mondal was inspired by the humble flour tortilla to take up a career as an international wheat breeder.
Seeds for needs in Malawi
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Malawi launched five projects on food security, fisheries and environment.
World Food Prize laureate Rajaram honored at World Food Forum
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Sanjaya Rajaram, recipient of the 2014 World Food Prize, told more than 200 participants at the World Food Forum in Santiago, Chile, on 14 April, that he held hopes for a “second Green Revolution.”
Climate-smart agriculture achievements inspire support for BISA-CIMMYT in Bihar, India
Climate adaptation and mitigation
During the 2014-2015 winter season, national and international stakeholders visit climate-smart villages throughout the region to view the progress of technology adoption.
Mapping agricultural opportunity: how GIS contributes to food security
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Innovation key to wheat yield potential advances, says in-coming CIMMYT DG
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Martin Kropff, incoming CIMMYT director general, joined the global wheat community at the CIMMYT research station in Ciudad Obregon in Mexico for annual Visitors’ Week.
Green manures help Zambian and Malawian farmers feed crops and livestock
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has tasked CIMMYT with a new project to introduce green manure cover crops to smallholder farmers in eastern Zambia and central and southern Malawi.
Mother-baby trials promote conservation agriculture in Manica, Mozambique
Climate adaptation and mitigation
A testament to increased climate variability and risk for farming systems already operating on the razor’s edge, the 2014-15 cropping season will be recognized as a sad write-off by most farmers in Central Mozambique. The rains started six weeks late and most of the rainfall fell in only two months (normally it’s distributed over four), followed by a long drought and some few showers at the end.
CIMMYT joins global move to adopt climate-smart agriculture
Capacity development
Climate-smart agriculture can be “an effective tool to address climate change and climate variability,” according to Kai Sonder, head of CIMMYT’s geographic information systems (GIS) unit, who was one of 754 participants from 75 countries, including 39 CIMMYT representatives, at the third annual Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture, held in Montpellier, France, during 16-18 March.
Global partnership propels wheat productivity in China
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Benefits of three decades of international collaboration in wheat research have added as much as 10.7 million tons of grain – worth US $3.4 billion – to China’s national wheat output.
Malawi Principal Secretary praises CIMMYT contributions to climate change adaptation
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Malawi’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Erica Maganga, led a delegation of Government Principle Secretaries and seed company representatives to Mpilisi and Ulongue in Balaka District on 11 March to observe progress in conservation agriculture (CA) adoption, as part of the country’s Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Program (ASWAP).