Innovations
Working with smallholders to understand their needs and build on their knowledge, CIMMYT brings the right seeds and inputs to local markets, raises awareness of more productive cropping practices, and works to bring local mechanization and irrigation services based on conservation agriculture practices. CIMMYT helps scale up farmers’ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.
Winners of 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Latin America announced
Capacity development
Seven young farmers, researchers and activists are advancing change, innovation and research in their communities.
Microsatellite data can help double impact of agricultural interventions
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Researchers argue data from small satellites can help target agricultural interventions to locations where impact will be greatest.
October is World Food Prize month at William Penn University
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Source: Oskaloosa Herald (30 Sep 2019)
This year’s speaker is Bram Govaerts, the global Director Innovative Business Strategies at CIMMYT.
Scientists propose a low-cost, reliable system to measure soil organic carbon
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Using existing sources of information, quantifying soil organic carbon would be a first step to increasing it, a crucial way to support climate change mitigation and agricultural resilience.
UN-sponsored report acknowledges CIMMYT’s use of data and technologies to promote sustainable farming in Latin America
Innovations
CIMMYT’s work featured on the Counting on the World to Act report, produced by SDSN and TReNDS.
Researchers are hunting for the “climate gene” that can save food plants
Innovations
Source: Aftenposten (24 Sep 2019)
CIMMYT’s plant breeding contributes to climate resilience of crops around the world.
Toolkits to deal with Asian droughts
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Source: The Third Pole (23 Sep 2019)
CIMMYT, ICIMOD and partners launched a Regional Drought Monitoring and Outlook System for South Asia.
Large-scale genomics will improve the yield, climate-resilience, and quality of bread wheat, new study shows
Innovations
Scientists identified significant new chromosomal regions for wheat yield and disease resistance, which will speed up global breeding efforts.
Ethiopian policymakers consider wider use of DNA fingerprinting
Innovations
This tool allows to identify varieties used by farmers and to track the adoption and impact of improved crops.
Digitalizing African agriculture: paving the way to Africa’s progress through transforming the agriculture sector
Innovations
AGRF 2019 discussed digital transformation as key driver of sustainable food systems in Africa.
Study proposes alternative to conventional technology adoption research in smallholder agriculture
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
An alternative conceptual framework uses a process-oriented approach to understand technological change that focuses more on the agency of different social actors in the agricultural system.
Bottlenecks between basic and applied plant science jeopardize life-saving crop improvements
Innovations
Bottlenecks between basic and applied plant science jeopardize life-saving crop improvements.
Genome editing, gene drives, and synthetic biology: Will they contribute to disease-resistant crops, and who will benefit?
Innovations
New paper outlines potential uses of genetic engineering technologies to address problems that affect resource-poor farmers and consumers.
Extensive use of wild grass-derived “synthetic hexaploid wheat” adds diversity and resilience to modern bread wheat
Innovations
New study shows that improved bread wheat varieties obtained from crosses of durum wheat and goat grass are helping to ensure the crop’s future.
CIMMYT research at the forefront of the digital revolution in African agriculture
Innovations
New leaflet highlights digital innovations for Africa as researchers share insights at the African Green Revolution Forum 2019.