In response to rapidly-changing food preferences in Pakistan, including a latent unmet demand for pasta products, CIMMYT-Pakistan has been working to develop the country’s durum wheat market and varieties that satisfy the required grain quality attributes, in addition to high yields and disease resistance.

The CIMMYT Australia ICARDA Germplasm Evaluation Project (CAIGE) organized a visit for Australian breeders to Turkey during 19 April-3 May. Participants learned about the germplasm evaluation and selection activities by the International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP, a joint enterprise of CIMMYT and the Government of Turkey), the CIMMYT-Turkey Soil Borne Pathogen (SBP) program and the Regional Rust Research Center.

Project team gathers in Kathmandu to plan for the 2015 monsoon cropping season.

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.