Autor: Jill Cairns

Innovative approaches to integrating gender into conventional maize breeding: lessons from the Seed Production Technology for Africa project

Rachel Voss Jill Cairns Michael Olsen Esnath Tatenda Hamadziripi (2023)

The integration of gender concerns in crop breeding programs aims to improve the suitability and appeal of new varieties to both women and men, in response to concerns about unequal adoption of improved seed. However, few conventional breeding programs have sought to center social inclusion concerns. This community case study documents efforts to integrate gender into the maize-focused Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project using innovation history analysis drawing on project documents and the authors’ experiences. These efforts included deliberate exploration of potential gendered impacts of project technologies and innovations in the project’s approach to variety evaluation, culminating in the use of decentralized on-farm trials using the tricot approach. Through this case study, we illustrate the power of active and respectful collaborations between breeders and social scientists, spurred by donor mandates to address gender and social inclusion. Gender integration in this case was further facilitated by open-minded project leaders and allocation of funding for gender research. SPTA proved to be fertile ground for experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration around gender and maize breeding, and has provided proof of concept for larger breeding projects seeking to integrate gender considerations.

Artículo

Crop Breeding On-Farm Trials Tricot CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA GENDER CROPS BREEDING ON-FARM RESEARCH SOCIAL INCLUSION CITIZEN SCIENCE MAIZE

Replication Data for: Incorporating male sterility increases hybrid maize yield in low input African farming systems

Hugo De Groote Jill Cairns Michael Olsen (2021)

In sub-Saharan Africa, maize is a staple crop but yields remain sub-optimal. A novel hybrid seed technology offers the opportunity to reduce seed production costs and increase yields. This dataset contains data from on-farm and on-station trials collected in 2017 to 2019 in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe to assess this hybrid seed production technology. The results of the analysis are presented in the accompanying article.

Dataset

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

Toward greater sustainability: how investing in soil health may enhance maize productivity in Southern Africa

Christian Thierfelder Eric Paterson Lumbani Mwafulirwa Tim Daniell Jill Cairns Blessing Mhlanga (2022)

Climate change and soil fertility decline are major threats to smallholder farmers' food and nutrition security in southern Africa, and cropping systems that improve soil health are needed to address these challenges. Cropping systems that invest in soil organic matter, such as no-tillage (NT) with crop residue retention, have been proposed as potential solutions. However, a key challenge for assessing the sustainability of NT systems is that soil carbon (C) stocks develop over long timescales, and there is an urgent need to identify trajectory indicators of sustainability and crop productivity. Here we examined the effects of NT as compared with conventional tillage without residue retention on relationships between soil characteristics and maize (Zea mays L.) productivity in long-term on-farm and on-station trials in Zimbabwe. Our results show that relationships between soil characteristics and maize productivity, and the effects of management on these relationships, varied with soil type. Total soil nitrogen (N) and C were strong predictors of maize grain yield and above-ground biomass (i.e., stover) in the clayey soils, but not in the sandy soils, under both managements. This highlights context-specific benefits of management that fosters the accumulation of soil C and N stocks. Despite a strong effect of NT management on soil C and N in sandy soils, this accrual was not sufficient to support increased crop productivity in these soils. We suggest that sandy soils should be the priority target of NT with organic resource inputs interventions in southern Africa, as mineral fertilizer inputs alone will not halt the soil fertility decline. This will require a holistic management approach and input of C in various forms (e.g., biomass from cover crops and tree components, crop residues, in combination with mineral fertilizers). Clayey soils on the other hand have greater buffering capacity against detrimental effects of soil tillage and low C input.

Dataset

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

Replication Data for: Genome-Wide Association Mapping And Genomic Prediction Analyses Reveal the Genetic Architecture of Grain Yield and Flowering Time Under Drought and Heat Stress Conditions in Maize

Jill Cairns Raman Babu Manje Gowda Dan Makumbi Cosmos Magorokosho Michael Olsen Prasanna Boddupalli Yanli Lu XUECAI ZHANG (2018)

Drought stress, heat stress, and combination of drought stress and heat stress have been recognized as the major abiotic constraints to maize yields in the main production regions. The phenotypic data used in the current study had been published by Jill E. Cairns et al in 2013 in the journal of Crop Science 53 :1335–1346 ( https://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2012.09.0545). In this study, the association mapping and genomic prediction analyses were conducted in a collection of 300 tropical and subtropical maize inbred lines to reveal the genetic architecture of grain yield and flowering time under well-watered, drought stress, heat stress, and combined drought and heat stress conditions. The genetic architecture information of the grain yield and flowering time revealed in this study, and the genomic regions identified for the different trait-environment combinations are helpful accelerating the efforts on rapid development of the stress-tolerant maize germplasm through marker-assisted selection or genomic selection.

Dataset

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

CIMMYT Southern Africa Maize Regional On-Station (Stage 4) and On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials: Results of the 2019, 2021, and 2022 Seasons and Product Announcement

Mainassara Zaman-Allah Xavier-- Mhike Dagne Wegary Gissa James Gichuru Gethi THOKOZILE NDHLELA Manje Gowda Jill Cairns Suresh L.M. Aparna Das Nicholas J. Davis Prasanna Boddupalli (2022)

New and improved maize hybrids, developed by the CIMMYT Global Maize Program, are available for uptake by public and private sector partners, especially those interested in marketing or disseminating hybrid maize seed across Southern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones. Following a rigorous trialing and a stage-gate advancement process culminating in the 2022 Stage 5 trials, CIMMYT advanced a total of seven new elite maize hybrids in Southern Africa in 2022. Phenotypic data collected in Stage 4 and Stage 5 trials for the selected hybrids as well as information about the trial sites are provided in this dataset. These trials were conducted through a network of partners, including NARES and private seed companies, in Southern Africa under various management and environmental conditions.

Dataset

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

CIMMYT Southern Africa Maize Regional On-Station (Stage 4) and On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials: Results of the 2022 and 2023 Seasons and Product Announcement

Dagne Wegary Gissa Mainassara Zaman-Allah James Gichuru Gethi Cosmos Magorokosho Xavier-- Mhike THOKOZILE NDHLELA Jill Cairns Manje Gowda Amsal Tarekegne Suresh L.M. Vijay Chaikam Nicholas J. Davis Prasanna Boddupalli (2023)

New and improved maize hybrids, developed by the CIMMYT Global Maize Program, are available for uptake by public and private sector partners, especially those interested in marketing or disseminating hybrid maize seed across Southern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones. Following a rigorous trialing and a stage-gate advancement process culminating in the 2023 Stage 5 On-farm trials, CIMMYT advanced a total of three new elite maize hybrids in Southern Africa in 2023. Phenotypic data collected in Stage 4 and Stage 5 trials for the selected hybrids as well as information about the trial sites are provided in this dataset. These trials were conducted through a network of partners, including NARES and private seed companies, in Southern Africa under various management and environmental conditions.

Dataset

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA