May 18, 2015
Source: CIMMYT Blog
by P.H. Zaidi
Participants at training course at NMRP, Rampur on 17th April, 2015. Photo: NMRP
Nepal’s National Maize Research Program (NMRP) and CIMMYT organized a training course on developing stress tolerant maize for Nepali scientists at the NMRP in Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, on 17 April 2015. The event was part of CIMMYT’s Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project supported by the United States Agency for International Development under its Feed the Future initiative. The course provided an opportunity to learn the principles, tools and techniques involved in developing high yielding maize hybrids with enhanced tolerance to major abiotic stresses such as drought and heat.
Maize is Nepal’s second most important food crop in both cultivated area and total production, and also makes up nearly 20% of the total calorie intake per capita. Developing high yielding, stress tolerant maize has never been more vital. A decadelong civil war coupled with climate change effects has left Nepal a severely food deficient country, with two out of every three Nepalis facing food insecurity each year. According to the FAO, the impact of the recent major earthquake on food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers is expected to be high. Crop damage and farmers’ inability to harvest in earthquake affected areas are likely to exacerbate an already serious situation. Disruption of maize planting operations may also severely reduce the area sown to the crop in regions most affected by the earthquake.
Ensuring that high yielding, improved varieties continue to be developed in Nepal is vital for smallholder farmers to have reliable seed that can thrive despite these many challenges. “Developing stress tolerant maize varieties and hybrids is important to ensure sustainable maize production in Nepal,” said NMRP Coordinator K.C. Govind.
Since 1966, 170 Nepali researchers have come to CIMMYT to work on advancing agricultural stability in their country and worldwide. Nearly 30 participants attended this most recent training, including maize breeders, agronomists and field technicians from NMRP and seven other research stations working on maize in Nepal.
During the course, Govind gave an overview of maize research in the country and emphasized the effects of climate change on national production. A.R. Sadananda, CIMMYT Maize Seed System Specialist, followed with a talk on testing and deploying selected hybrids. P.H. Zaidi, Senior Maize Physiologist and HTMA Project Leader, gave lectures on developing stress tolerant maize hybrids, on maize phenology and physiology, and on how maize responds to heat stress; he also provided the technical details of precision phenotyping and the selection criteria used for heat stress breeding.
In his concluding remarks, Govind mentioned the course was a great opportunity for maize researchers and field staff to learn many useful aspects of maize improvement and thanked CIMMYT and USAID for the support provided to the Nepali maize program.