IVol. 12 IARI-CIMMYT Special Issue 19961

Dr. Borla 9 Addresses Thirty-fourth Convocation of IARI

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Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug add­ressing the 34th Convocation of IARI onFebruary 9, 1996

Gandhi, the then Prime Minister ofIndia. At the scientific level, he said, Dr.B.P. Pal, Dr. A.B. Joshi, Dr. M.S.Swaminathan and Dr. M.V. Rao playedthe key roles.

During the late 1950's and early1960's food deficits in India had beenrequiring importation of 3 to 4 milliontonnes of grain per year. However, be­cause of a bad monsoon in 1965 and1966, imports exploded upwardly to 10million tonnes, and India was in direstraits. It was during this period that,after three years of testing on experi­ment stations, the high-yielding Mexicanwheat varieties were considered as apossible way to break the worseningfood deficit.

Chopra; former Directors of IARI,Dr. A.B. Joshi, Dr. H.K. Jain and Prof.S.K. Sinha; the present Director, Prof.R.B. Singh, and the Dean & JointDirector (Education), Prof. AnupamVarma. At the Convocation, Dr. Borlaugwas conferred D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) bythe Director, IAR!.

Delivering the Convocation Address,Dr. Borlaug recounted the events lead­ing to the tremendous take-off in wheatproduction in India. At the political lev­el, he said, the key people who madethis happen were the then Minister ofAgriculture, Shri C. Subramaniam andhis Permanent Secretary, Mr. Sivaramanand subsequently late Mrs. Indira

INDIAN AG CULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE(INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH)

NEW DELHI 110012

The 34th Convocation of the IndianAgricultural Research Institute (IARI)was held on February 9, 1996. NobelLaureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug of In­ternational Maize and Wheat Improve­ment Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico, whowas the Chief Guest, delivered theConvocation Address. Prominent amongthose present on the occasion were' :honourable Union Minister of Agri­culture, Rural Areas and Employment,Dr. Jagannath Mishra; honourable Min­ister of State for Department of Agricul­tural Research and Education (DARE),Capt. Ayub Khan; the Secretary, DAREand Director General, ICAR, Dr. R.S.Paroda; former Directors General ofICAR, Dr. a.p. Gautam and Prof. V.L.

Dr. Borlaug receiving D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) from Dr. Jaganri'ath Mishra, honourable UnionMinister of Agriculture, Rural Areas and Employment at the Convocation, as Capt. AyubKhan, honourable Minister of State for Department of Agricultural Research and Educa­tion (extreme right) looks on

Dr. Borlaug said continuing research·and new technology generation are thekey to meeting the world food demandsof the 21 st century. He called upon thestudents receiving the degrees to workharder to realize this goal. He exhortedthem to work fearlessly and experimentwith new ideas. Their ambition shouldbe such as to reach for the stars."Though we may never get there, sure­ly we will get a little 'stardust' on us if wetry", he said.

In his report, Prof. R.B. Singh,Director of the Institute said that theInstitute has played a pivotal role intransforming Indian agriculture throughdevelopment of new technologies andtrained manpower. The Institute hasbeen continuously upgrading itsresearch, and setting new priorities tomeet the futuristic challenges by makipguse of modern biological tools andsocial sciences. The Institute hasdeveloped several new high-yielding anddisease resistant varieties in variouscrop plants, which are cultivated indifferent parts of the country.

Recently, the Institute has laidgreater emphasis on inter-disciplinary re­search and cropping system for sustain­able agriculture so that we prepare ourgraduates and scientists to meet thechallenges and opportunities of agricul­tural development beyond 2000 AD. Dr.Singh visualized that the demands for

A lady student receiving the degree at the Convocation

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accelerate labour displacement in ruralareas prove true. Dr. Borlaug said thatthe consumer has been the main bene­ficiary of the Green Revolution. The re­ally important attribute of the new tech­nologies was that they simultaneouslyprovided farmers with increased profitsand consumers with more bountiful andreliable food supplies which, in turn,led to declining real food prices. He saidthe Green Revolution also taught manypolitical leaders in the Third World thata dynamic agricultural sector can nei­ther be initiated nor sustained withoutthe support of dynamic research andtechnology delivery systems.

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, Chief Guest; Capt. Ayub Khan, honourable Minister of State forDARE, and Dr. R.S. Paroda, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR (extreme right)at the Convocation

For the 1966-67 season, approxi­mately 240,000 hectares were plantedwith the seed of Mexican varieties. ByMarch 1967, tremendous euphoria wasgenerated for the new wheat varieties,Dr. Borlaug added. The Green Revolu­tion signified a new era in agricultural.research and development in the ThirdWorld, one in which modern principlesof genetics and plant breeding, agrono­my, plant pathology, entomology andeconomics were applied to developtechnologies appropriate to the condi­tions of local farmers. The impact of thehigh-yielding wheat and rice technolo­gies on food production has been enor­mous. In 1964-65, there were probablyless than 5,000 hectares planted withthe new high-yielding semi-dwarf wheatand rice varieties worldwide. By 1990,there were more than 130 million hect­ares growing these plant types.

Dr. Borlaug said, contrary to theprediction of some critics, it is now welldocumented that India's resource-poorfarmers, with only relatively brief lagtime, adopted the new seed/fertilizertechnologies about as frequently as themore resource-privileged, large-scalefarmers. Nor did the prediction thatGreen Revolution technologies would

challenges, inter-disciplinary researchprogrammes for developing a strategyfor sustaining productivity, particularly atsmall holding level, and training theyounger generation to make them com­petent are the needs of the hour. Aneed has also been felt to develop astrong scientific base in the country. Forthis purpose, the Institute is strengthen­ing research efforts in basic sciencesby the establishment of advanced cen­tres in disciplines of 'Biosystematics','Biochemistry', 'Biotechnology', 'Plant Pa­tho logy', 'Economics' and 'Extension'.To disseminate the research findingsand its adoption by the farming com­munity, a comprehensive technology as­sessment, refinement and transferprogramme has been initiated by the in­stitute. A window of commercializationto popularise IAR! technology and todistribute seed, planting materials andother products is being established.

In his report, Prof. Anupam Varma,Dean and Joint Director (Education) ofthe Institute highlighted the importantachievements of the Post-graduateSchool. The Institute has awarded sofar, 2132 M.Sc. and 2730 Ph.D. de­grees. These include 132 M.Sc. and 78Ph.D. students from several other coun­tries. He stated that in this Convocationthe number of IARI degree holders

Prof. R.B. Singh, Director, IARI explaining to Dr. Borlaug the ongoing research on wheat would cross the 5000 mark. Theat IARI

non-food grains and non-crop commod­ities are likely to increase even fasterwith the improvement in the overall qual­ity of living in the country. Therefore, in­crease in the production of quality non­food grains and non-crop commoditiesshould be one of the future priorities ofthe nation. The Green Revolution erawitnessed a degradation of environmentowing to intensive agriculture practice.He, therefore, stressed that efforts in increasing food production should be eco­friendly. The changing global scenariohas posed the challenge that ouragricultural products will have to behighly competitive both on yield and Dr. Borlaug with Dr. M.V. Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University

quality characteristics. To meet such (second from left) and scientists of IARI in a gladioli field

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alumni of Indian Agricultural ResearchInstitute have played a major role in thedevelopment of national agriculturalresearch system in India and othercountries.

Division of Agricultural Physics; Dr. B.M. Agricultural Chemicals were presentedSharma, Senior Scientist, Division 9f Ag- 'Faculty Awards' for the year 1995 forricultural Economics, and Dr. Suresh their outstanding efforts in teaching andWalia, Senior Scientist, Division of guidance.

Delhi Farmers Accord Rous·ng Welcome to Dr. BorlaugDuring 1994-95, he said, the stu­dents of the Institute performed excel­lently in academics. In the AgriculturalResearch Service Examination of 1994,out of 186 scientists recruited in vari­ous fields of agricultural sciences, 97(52.1%) were from IARI. In 17 out of21 disciplines, the Institute's studentsranked first.

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug visited Delhivillages on February 14, 1996 whichhave been adopted by IARI for front­line extension work. Hundreds of farm­ers accorded him a rousing receptionat village Auchandi near Delhi. Theypresented souvenirs to express their

gratitude to the 'Father of the Green.Revolution.' Sporting a green turban(pagadi) and sitting on a hand wovencarpet, Dr. Borlaug spoke of his longassociation with Delhi farmers. A groupof school children presented a colorfulcultural programme on the occasion.

A publication, namely, 'IARI Wheat- The Pathway to Plenty' was releasedby the Chief Guest. Another publicationon human resource development wasreleased by Dr. R.S. Parada, Secretary,DARE and DG, ICAR.

The second Dr. B.P. Pal MemorialAward for the year 1995 was awardedto Dr. Shyam Prakash, Senior Scientist,National Research Centre (NRC) onPlant Biotechnology for his significantresearch contributions in the field ofgenetics and plant breeding. The ninthSukumar Basu Memorial Award for1993-94 was awarded to Dr. JagadisChandra Tarafdar, Senior Scientist, Cen­tral Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodh­pur, Rajasthan for his outstandingresearch contribution in the field of soilscience. Dr. S.S. Bains Memorial Awardfor 1993-94 was awarded to Dr. J.C.Tamak, Senior Technical Assistant(Agronomy), Chaudhary Charan SinghHaryana Agricultural University Region­al Research Station, Kamal for his sig­nificant research on 'the effect of phos­phorus, sulphur and boron applicationon growth, yield and quality of sunflow­er (MSFH B)'.

Dr. V.D. Gaur, National Fellow, Di­vision of Microbiology; Dr. K.R. Koundal,Professor, NRC on Plant Biotechnology;Dr. P.S.N. Sastry, Principal Scientist,

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug being welcomed by farmers at village Jaunti·Tatesar, Delhi. Dr. Borlaughad worked with some of these farmers in 1960's when Mexican wheats were introduced jnthis village. Also seen in the piccture is Prof. A.B. Singh, Director, IARI (extreme left)

Delhi farmers offering pagadi to Dr. Borlaug

Dr. Borlaug addressing Delhi farmers in village Auchandi. Prof. R.B. Singh (right) is seentranslating the speech of Dr. Borlaug in Hindi

The visit started with a 'welcome'accorded by a large group of farmersin Jaunti-Tatesar village where he hadworked in the mid-sixties. Here Dr.Borlaug had visited the first wheat

demonstration plot of bigh-yielding Mex­ican wheats grown about thirty yearsago. He met several farmers and IARIscientists who initiated Institute-villagelinkage programme in Punjab Khor,

Jaunti-Tatesar, Auchandi and GarhiRan~hala. Dr. Borlaug appreciated thewheat and gram demonstrations laid outby IARI Unit of Transfer of Technology.He showed interest in off-season nurs­eries prepared by farmers in the villag­es. Several organisations put up theirstalls in the agricultural exhibitionorganised by IARI at the senior second­ary school ground, Auchandi. Dr.Borlaug and Prof. R.B. Singh, Director,IARI planted trees to commemorate thespecial occasion.

The high point of the visit was thenostalgic meeting of Dr. Borlaug with hiscontemporaries in the villages who re­membered him as a young and ener­getic wheat breeder. Many pleasantrieswere exchanged which filled Dr. Borlaugwith sweet memories of the past.

Dr. Borlaug's mpressions on His Visit to IA IThe following is the text of Dr.

Borlaug's letter dated March 19, 1996to Dr. R.B. Singh, Director, IARI :

Dear Dr. Singh:

I want to thank you for the manycourtesies that you extended to me dur­ing the time when I was in New Delhiduring the second week of February. Ienjoyed very much all of the diverse ac­tivities and am very grateful to you alsofor the many kindnesses which you ex­tended to my daughter Jeannie and son­in-law Rex Laube on their first visit toIndia.

I also want to extend my thanks toyou and the Board of Governors of thePost-graduate School of the Indian Ag­ricultural Research Institute, for yourthoughtfulness and kindness for award­ing me the honorary Doctorate Degreefrom your great Institution. This was anevent that I will always remember. Theenthusiasm of the students particularlyimpressed me, and I am a firm believerthat spirit and enthusiasm in any orga­nization, be it educational, research,

extension or production program, is avital component which is necessary forIhat organization to be effective.

The half day which I had an oppor­tunity to spend reviewing the researchprogram at IARI was of course fasci­nating for me, for that brought back fondmemories of the early days when thefirst Mexican wheats were being testedthere at IARI. I was particularly pleasedthat it so happened that Dr. M.V. Rao,now Vice-Chancellor at Andhra PradeshAgricultural University, was also presentduring the explanations that were excel­lently made by your research staff. Asyou well know, Dr. Rao played a keyrole in assisting Dr. ~.S. Swaminathanand others, in launching the wheat rev­olution many years ago.

In connection with the researcb pro­gram at IARI, I was impressed by thenumber of crops on which you are work­ing and the excellence of the field plotsand the explanation of the research pro­gram itself. I cannot remember so muchgood research work going on in horti-

cultural and floricultural crops as youdemonstrated to me on my current vis­it. I am a firm believer in breadth anddepth of investigation, because thereare many crops which until now havenot received their merited support ininvestigation and consequently, to seehow your breeding program has beenbroadened, is very encouraging from mypoint of view.

Dr. Singh, I would especially like tothank you for the wonderful experienceI had in revisiting three of the villageswhich were pioneers in the Green Rev­olution. Thirty years ago, I had the priv­ilege of visiting the first village demon­stration plot of the high-yielding Mexi­can wheats that were grown at the vil­lage Jaunti-Tatesar. Your very greatthoughtfulness in making it possible forme to revisit that village brought backfond memories. On that great occasionthirty years ago, I remember after ob­serving the excellent plots, being invit­ed to have a cup of tea in the home ofthe elderly gentleman who was presenton the occasion of Februarv 14. 1996.

It was particularly gratifying that the per­son who was the owner of the landwhere the first plot was installed in1966, was still alive and was part of thevillage delegation which I had an op­portunity to meet. It was evenmore touching that the villag­ers saw fit to give me a caneexpressing their rememberanceof that occasion more than thir­ty years ago. Obviously, theythought that at my age I shouldbe using a cane, and I certain­ly will use it from the standpointof the great psychological stim­ulation I received on beinggranted this award.

The cultural program thatwas presented by three villag­es together, namely, Jaunti­Tatesar, Auchandi and PunjabKhor was fascinating. It gaveme a great insight into manycultural aspects of these threevillages. The songs and danc­es of the students were veryimpressive, as well as was thehuge group of younger stu­dents, who enthusiastically tookpart in the program. The fes­tive spirit that was manifest ev­erywhere in the three villageson that morning of February 14,is a memory that I will cherishand always carry with me. I want tothank you and all the members of yourCommittee who made this revisit tothose villages a memorable occasionthat I will carry with me through the restof my life.

On our return from Ludhiana toDelhi, we decided to come by train, rath­er than by automobile, so that we wouldget a better view of the wheat plantings,rather than returning by road where the

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug

view of the fields is often blocked bybuildings along the highway. I can truth­fully say that on many occasions as thetrain rolled southward, as far as the eyecould see, I saw beautiful uniformed

field of green wheat, assuring anotherbountiful harvest. When I began collab­orating with my many Indian friends inthe middle 1960's, I never could havedreamed then that I would live to see

this wonderful transformationthat has come over Indianagriculture. The agriculturalcrops production statisticspaint the picture very well,but they do not capture thespirit which was a part ofmaking that transformation inproduction and carrying it for­ward up to the present time,and which will continue to im­prove it to meet further ex­panding food needs for yourcountry for the next decades.

The role that you at IARIhave played in making thewheat and other crop revolu­tionary changes is of tremen­dous consequence for all ofthe people of India. More­over, what you have accom­plished has become a mod­el that many other develop­ing countries are trying tocopy. Keep up the good workand congratulations to all ofyou.

Sincerely,

L~Golden Era of IARI-CIMMYT Collaboration

The Indian Agricultural Research In­stitute (IARI) has a long history of scientif­ic and technical collaboration with theInternational Maize and Wheat Improve­ment Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico, datingback to the early 1960's when Dr. NormanE. Borlaug visited the subcontinent as aguest of the Government of India. A

subsequent general agreement providedfor informal cooperation on a variety ofefforts. A formal Memorandum of Under­standing between the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) and the inter­national Maize and Wheat ImprovementCentre (CIMMYT) was signed at NewDelhi on March 15, 1974 in keeping with

the desire to develop, promote and accel­erate close collaborative efforts in the fieldof maize and wheat improvement. Furtherstrengthening in the relationship betweenICAR and CIMMYT was marked by thesigning of the formal work plans betweenthe two institutions, covering 1989-91,1992-94 and 1995-97.

features of tall height, non-responsive­ness to inputs and photo-sensitivity.

WheatSystematic wheat improvement work

was started in India in 1905 with the estab­lishment of the Indian (the then Imperial)Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa,Bihar. In the initial years, indigenouswheats were collected from diverseagroclimatic niches of the country. Selec­tion and hybridization amongst theselocal types with the objectives to breed for

Semi-dwarf wheats developed byNobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaugand his associates at CIMMYT, Mexicoreached India in 1962 from the Interna­tional Spring Wheat Rust Nursery throughUSDA. When the nursery was grown atthe Botany Division of the Indian Agricul­tural Research Institute, New Delhi, wheat

- scientists spotted the Mex­ican semi-dwarfs Pictic 62and Penjamo 62 with stro­ng short stems, high tillering,bold heads and goodrust resistance. Dr. M.S.Swami nathan, the thenHead of the Division of Bot­any invited Dr. Borlaug toIARI in 1963 who arrangedto supply 100 kilogramseeds of each of four variet­ies (Sonora 63, Sonora 64,Lerma Rojo and Mayo 64),all identified by JARI scien­tists, and small samples of613 advanced lines. Thesevarieties significantly out­yielded the Indian check V?­rieties, NP 824 and C 306by 15 - 30% margin whentested at seven locations.Indian wheat breeders se­lected two Mexican ad­

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan (left) with Dr. Borlaug in a wheat field vanced lines Kalyansonaat IARI in 1963

(1966) and Sonalika (1967) which hadbetter disease resistance and better per­formance. Kalyansona, a very high-yield­ing variety combining high levels of rustresistance was identified independentlyby IARI, Uttar Pradesh Agricultural Uni­versity (now G.B. Pant University of Agri­culture and Technology) and Punjab Ag­ricultural University (PAU) from the Mex­ican line S 227. This variety was a selec­tion from Mexican cross (Penjamo sib x

Gabo 55) No. 8156 with an average yieldof 4.4 tlha at the time of release in 1967.Sonalika had emerged from aselection inline S308which was susceptible to Mex­ican pathotypes of leaf rust. It has amberand bold grains, resistance to stem and

disease resistance, particularly rusts, re­sulted in the release of several varieties inNP (New Pusa) series. Some of theseselections like NP 4 (a highly adaptiveand best quality wheat isolated from thelocal stock Mundia) became very popularin India and other countries. It won firstprize for grain quality in several exhibi­tions organised in Australia and America.The development of NP 809 possessingresistance to all the three rusts was themost important landmark in wheat im­provement. However, all the varietiesdeveloped till 1965 belonged to the sameyield group with the characteristic

Areas Identified for MutualCooperation during 1995·97

Development of collaborative re­search projects of mutual inter­est

• Exchange of visiting scientists

• Creation of opportunities forIndian scientists to participate inthe international trials andnurseries

Exchange of germplasm breed­ing material and participation inthe international trials and nurs­eries

Joint publication of scientific find­ings, exchange of scientific liter­ature, information and method­ology

Promotion of regional collabora­tion within tropical Asia, and

Import and export of scientificmaterial/equipment, as requiredin the programme of commoninterest mutually agreed upon.

The cumulative effect of the joint col­laboration can be gauged by the quantumjump achieved by India in wheat and maizeproduction culminating in the beginningand consolidation of Green Revolution.Truly, the period of scientific and technicalcollaboration between IARI and CIMMYTcan be termed as the golden era of mutualcooperation.

CIMMYT is a global, non-profit agri­cultural research and training centre ded­icated to helping the poor in low-incomecountries. From its headquarters in Mex­ico and through its 16 regional offices, theCentre works to increase the productivityof farmers throughout the developing worldand to protect natural resources critical toagriculture. Research concentrates onmaize and wheat - two crops that arevitally important to reducing poverty andensuring food security for the poor.

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Dr. N.L. Dhawan, first Project Coordinator (Maize); Dr. E.W. Sprague, Coordinator (Maize),Rockefeller Foundation; Dr. Joginder Singh, former Project Coordinator (Maize), and Dr. N.N.Singh, Project Director (Maize) (from left to right)

Dr. 5.5. Singh, Principal Scientist, IARI (extreme right) with Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, Director (WheatProgram), CIMMYT (second from left) and other International scientists at CIMMYT, Mexico

Year Area Yield Production(1000 hal (kg/ha) (1000 tonnes)

1961-66 13191 830 109501970 16626 1209 200931980 21962 1437 315601990 23500 2120 498501995 25490 2560 65240

wheat materials generated under CIMMYTWheat Programme, the enhancement inproductivity to the tune of 0.5 to 1tlha hasbeen achieved. The increment in yield ismainly due to their better adaptability,higher biomass, ability to maintain green­ness for longer duration, increase in tillernumber, bold heads and high tolerance todiseases. There is further scope of im­provement rn these genotypes. Thus it isobvious once again that with the contribu­tion of new wheat materials (winter xspringcrosses) by CIMMYT and the efforts ofIndian plant breeders, wheat again willhave asignificant role in ushering in anew'Super Green Revolution' in near future.

Source. FAG Production Yearbooks

The Government of India constituteda very high power committee comprising

Area, Productivity and Production of Wheat inIndia

Maize

Now more than 50% of the wheat area inthe country is under IARI wheats whichspeaks of the popularity of IARI varieties.

One of the greatest contributionsmade by these varieties has been theland saved to the extent of 53 millionhectares which otherwise would havebeen additionally required for the produc­tion of wheat at 1995 level. IARI varietieswere responsibl'e for about 50 per cent ofthis land saving. In the current decade,with the introduction of winter x spring

Wheat breeders of IARI and the stateagricultural universities got impetus fromthe performance of Kalyansona andSonalika and started developing high-yield­ing dwarf wheats often taking these twovarieties as one of the base parents intheir breeding programmes. Wheat vari­eties developed and released, essential­ly by IARI and other Indian scientists,during this p.eriod (1970-90) were invari­ably resistant to rusts, tolerant to Karnalbunt and with better grain quality. Adultplant resistance along with better qualitywas one of the criteria for the release ofwheats during 1980's. IARI came out withHD series of varieties (developed by lateMr. V.S. Mathur and his associates), outof which HD 2329 and HD 2285 are worthmentioning. HD 2329 released in 1985 fortimely sown, high fertility conditions occu­pies 4 million hectares over Punjab,Haryana, parts of Rajasthan, western UttarPradesh and Delhi, the heart of wheatland in the country, while HD 2285 re­leased for late sown, high fertility condi­tions occupied about 1 million hectares.

leaf rusts with an average yield of 4.2 tlha.These two varieties spread very fast with­in the country, with the result wheat pro­duction of 16.5 million tonnes wasachieved in 1968 compared with 11.3million tonnes in 1967 This was the firstevidence that a wheat revolution wasunder way.

Drs. E.J. Wellhausen and U.J. Grant fromUSA, and Dr. N.L. Dhawan from India in1953 to suggest an effective approach toincrease the productivity of maize cropand to coordinate the research so as toavoid duplications and to provide betteraccess to indigenous and exoticgermplasm. Rockefeller Foundation gavesupport in the initial stages to the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research (ICAR)for establishing the All India CoordinatedMaize Improvement Project (AICMIP) in1957, to provide the much needed geneticvariability, field and laboratory equipment,and, above all, their maize specialists,Drs. E.W. Sprague, L.R. House, G.B. Baird,B.C. Wright, B.A. Krantz, W.R. Young, B.L.Renfro and W.R. Freeman. The AICMIPhas been particularly fortunate to have thecontinued support and cooperation of Drs.E.W. Sprague, B.L. Renfro and 1. Izunofrom Inter Asian Maize ImprovementProgramme, Bangkok and Maize Pro­gramme of International Maize and WheatImprovement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico.Dr. N.L. Dhawan, the first Project Coordi­nator along with Dr. E.W. Sprague laid thefoundation for maize research in India.

By 1955, it was felt that the seedproduction of some of the maize hybridsdeveloped in India with high grain yieldwas not commercially viable in view of thesusceptibility of the parental inbred linesto downy mildew and inadequate plantvigour. However, these hybrids had dentgrain type in contrast to the flint kernels ofthe traditionally grown local varieties. Itwas also recognized that the Indian maizevarieties lacked adequate level of geneticdiversity to help in the production of high­yielding maize hybrids. Use of temperategermplasm in conjunction with file mate­rials'of Indian origin also failed to providecommercially viable maize hybrids. It,therefore, became evident that for com­mercial cultivation in India, maize hybridsshall have to be indigenously synthesizedfrom diverse genetic sources particularlythose originating from the subtemperateand subtropical parts of the world withjudicious use of local materials. In such a

programme, yields of both the seed par­ents and of the hybrid were to be takeninto consideration. For meeting theseneeds, the materials were introduced fromcentral and south America, particularlyfrom the Mexican, Columbian andCarribean maize programmes. Availabili­ty of enormous genetic variability and ofseveral testing sites as well as the off­season nursery facility at Hyderabad un­der the administrative control of IARIhelped to accelerate the programme inwhich all the elite materials were evaluat­ed per se and a large number of hybridswere developed and evaluated in amatterof four years. Among these, four double­cross hybrids with yellow semi- flint grains,namely, Ganga 1, Ganga 101, RanjitandDeccan were recommended in 1961 forcommercial cultivation. Ganga 1 wasearly in maturity while the other threewere of full season maturity. The newhybrids were named in such a way as toensure that they were not associated withany specific institution or state in order toshare equal credit to all the participatingstations. Soon after the first major re­lease, a number of double top-cross hy­brids were recommended for release.These hybrids were unconventional in­volving asingle cross and avariety, whichin later years proved to be agreat successsince they showed high yield, wider adapt­ability and greater convenience in seedproduction. To date, 11 maize hybrids,Ganga 1, Ganga 101, Ranjit, GangaSafed2, Histarch, Him 213, Ganga 3, Ganga 5,Ganga 4, Ganga 9 and Ganga 11, devel­oped by IARI centre of AICMIP have beenrecommended for release at the nationallevel by the Central Sub-committee onCrop Standards, Relf;ase and Notificationof Varieties.

India is the first country in the world torelease six composite and three high ly­sine maize varieties for commercial culti­vation. Out of the first series of compos­ites released by the Central Sub-commit­tee on Crop Standards, Release and No­tification of Varieties, four composites,namely, Jawahar, Kisan, Vikram and Sanaand two high lysine maize varieties, Shaktiand Rattan were developed by IARI

centre of AICMIP. Later on many com­posites, such as, Dhawal, Arun, Huinus,Diara and Diara 3 having wider adapta­tion were developed and released for cul­tivation throughout the country, apart fromPusa Composite 1and Pusa Composite 2released for specific states.

Production and protection technolo­gies for cultivation of maize were alsodeveloped by IARI centre of AICMIP.

ICAR-CIMMYT collaboration underthe earlier agreements brought progresson materials with resistance to severalkey biotic constraints of maize productionin India, including turcicum leaf blight,downy mildew, and maize borers. Underthe present agreement, ICAR andCIMMYT will conduct work on the man­agement of maize genetic resources, thedevelopment of hybrids, and maize farm­ing in areas where maize is not atradition­al crop. The guiding principle in this col­laborative programme is to maximize theefficiency of research efforts. It is alsoexpected that the resulting products willbe equally useful for indian farmers as forthose in other regions or countries whoseprogrammes CIMMYT assists.

Banded leaf and sheath blight of maize. IARI hasa collaborative project with CIMMYT for themanagement of this disease in Asian region

Towards this, CIMMYT is playing a keyrole by providing advanced trainings toyoung agricultural scientists from the de­veloping countries including India.

Human Resource Development

Asignificant aspect of ICAR-CIMMYTcollaboration is t~e development of hu­man resources to meet the challengingneeds of maize and wheat production.

Prof. A.B. Singh, Director, IARI (extreme left) addressing the participants of the 6th AsianRegion Maize Workshop. Also seated on the dias are: Dr. S.K. Vasal, Maize Specialist, CIMMYT,Mexico; Dr. N.N. Singh, Project Director (Maize), IARJ and Dr. Shivaji Pandey, Maize Specialist(CIMMYT), Cali, Colombia (South America)

Prof. A.B. Singh, Director, JARI with the participants of the 6th Asian Region Maize Workshopin IARI museum

Collaborative Maize Programme InOperation

General collaboration

• Introduction, evaluation andutilisation of specific germplasmfor breeding programme

• Development of advanced technol­ogy for suitable high-yieldi ng maizehybrids and composites for khar;f,rab; and spring seasons in differ­ent maturity groups and grain colourwith special reference to short du­ration cultivars for multiple crop­ping systemsBreeding for maize genotypes tol­erant to abiotic factors like waterstresses (excess water, drought)and coldExchange of tolerant/resistant ma­terials for biotic factors like diseas-es/pests and identification of multi­ple sources of resistance to theseconstraints and their utilisation inbreeding programmeBiotechnology in relation to maizeimprovement (efforts here wouldconcentrate on producing inbredlines for good hybrids through useof haploids), andEvaluating the socio-economic im­pact of maize research.

Specific collaborative projects

Genetic resources - exploration,cataloguing and conservationProduction of maize under droughtDevelopment and evaluation oflines and materials for early matur­ing hybrids/varietiesProduction of maize under excesssoil moisture (waterlogging) condi­tionsGenetic improvement of maize forresistance to turcicum leaf blightand downy mildew

• Identification and improvement ofmaize genotypes resistant to band­ed leaf and sheath blightSynthesis of gene pools resistantto post-flowering stalk rot of maize

• Development of borer resistantmaize germplasm in south andsouth-east Asia, and

• Investment in maize research andimpact in India.

Prof. limo hy Reeves· AVisionary on the Food Front Possible Areas of Future Collaboration

Prof. Timothy Reeves

Prof. Timothy Reeves, who tookover as Director General, CIMMYT,Mexico on October 1,1995 is avisionaryon the food front. In describing hisvision for the Centre's future, Prof.Reeves notes that, 'given the rapidpace of population growth inpoor countries, we must obviouslycontinue to develop new technologiesthat increase food production, both infavored and in more hostileenvironments. The economic impor­tance to poor people of those newtechnologies is truly difficult to overstate;and we must therefore keep CIMMYT atthe forefront of science.'

'But at the same time, we must payvery close attention to the ecological,sociological, and political realities thatincreasingly affect our ability to helpfarmers be more productive. We need todevelop varieties, and maize and wheatproduction systems, that are more effi­cient - that can more effectively utilizesoil nutrients, water and sunlight for theproduction of food - tum it into grain for

For wheat scientists, a trainingprogramme is organised every year for sixmonths which provides opportunities forthe participants to update their knowl­edge. Several IARI scientists have al­ready visited CIMMYT in the past for ex­change of ideas and information.

food production. Yield stability understressed conditions will be as importantas increasing yield potential.'

He adds that a sustainability per­spective will permeate the CIMMYTresearch agenda. 'We must recognizethat the natural environment is chang­ing. Addressing widespread concernsaboutbiodiversity, soil degradation, andthe quality of natural resources in maizeand wheat farming systems wiil be crit­ical to our continued success, and tothe future well-being of the developingworld's poor.'

Prof. Reeves' 28-year career inagricultural research encompasses ex­tensive field experience as an agrono­mist specializing in soil managementand sustainable farming systems. Justprior to his appointment in CIMMYT, hewas a Foundation Professor of Sus­tainable Agricultural Production at theUniversity of Adelaide and Head of theUniversity's Department of Agronomyand Farming Systems. He served asGeneral Manager of Operations in theVictorian Department of Agriculture andRural Affairs in 1990, during afive-yearstint as a Regional Manager for thesame organization. He also served asDirector of the Department's RutherglenResearch Institute, a farming systemsresearch centre, from 1980 to 1986.Along the way, Prof. Reeves and hisfamily spent some years in east Africa,working to develop maize-based cashand subsistence cropping systems forsemiarid environments.

Five workshops were alreadyorganised by CIIV1MYT for the benefit ofmaize workers from Asian region. The 6thAsian Region Maize Workshop wasorganised in India from October 30 to 31,1995 at Punjab Agricultural University,Ludhiana and from November 1to 3, 1995

Whe t

• Enhancement of germplasm forlodging resistance and yield con­tributing characteristics

Genetical and molecular aspectsof durable resistance to rusts

• Development of synthetichexaploid wheats using Indianvarieties, and

Development of genotypes resis­tant to Karnal bunt.

Maize

• Tailoring maize for industrial uses,e.g., oil, specialized starches, babycorn, sweet corn, etc.

• Transfer of male sterile mecha­nism for hybrid breeding

• Exploitation of heterosis throughlatest technologies with emphasison single cross development

• Biochemical and molecular basisof resistance in case of major foliardiseases and downy mildews

• Variability in Rhizoctonia solaniofbanded leaf and sheath blight ofmaize using biochemical, molecu­lar and genetic parameters

Study of host and pathogen asso­ciated factors of dry stalk rots ofmaize, and those which predis­pose plants for infection, and

• Identification of suitable biocidesand botanical insecticides for thecontrol of maize stalk borer, Chilopartellus in the field and storedgrain insects in stored maize.

at the Indian Agricultural Research Insti­tUfe~ New Delhi. A total of 134 maizescientists from 13 countries, namely,Bangladesh (1), PR China (4), Indonesia(3), Laos PDR (1), Myanmar (1), Nepal(2), Philippines (3), Sri Lanka (1), Taiwan(2), Thailand (8), Vietnam (2), Mexico (6)and India (100) -participated in this work-

shop. The workshop discussed at lengththe seed situation in Asia, researchableissues in seed production, role of publicand private sectors and integration of mod­ern techniques with plant breeding formaize improvement, besides the status ofcollaborative research projects in theregion.

Advanced training on all aspects ofmaize improvement technology for youngscientists/personnel engaged in maize re­search and seed production in the regionwill be provided in future at the Director­ate of Maize Research (DMR), IARI or atsuitable places suggested by CIMMYT.The training programme will be impartedjointly by DMR, IARI and CIMMYT maizespecialists.

Or. Sanjaya Rajaram Takes Over as Director of CIMMYT Wheat Pro ram

IARI alumnus, and a native ofVaranasi, India, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaramhas been appointed as Director of theCIMMYT Wheat Program at Mexico. Dr.Rajararn obtairied his M.Sc. in Genet­ics from IARI in 1965, and Ph.D. inPlant Breeding from the University ofSydney, New South Wales, Australia in1968. He began work for CIMMYT as awheat pathologist under the celebratedbreeder and Nobel Laureate Dr. NormanE. Borlaug. In 1972, Dr. Rajaram wasnamed head of bread wheat breedingand, in 1988, head of germplasm im­provement, including bread wheat, atCIMMYT. During his illustrious career,Dr. Rajaram has helped train severalhundred young wheat scientists fromnearly 40 African, Asian, and LatinAmerican countries and supervis~d nu­merous M.Sc. and Ph.D. candidates inMexico and elsewhere. Largely as aresult of his research and leadership,the CIMMYT bread wheat section hascontributed significantly to the develop­ment and release of more than 375wheat cultivars sown on 30 million hect­ares in 49 countries. Dr. Rajaram is afellow of both the Amercian Society ofAgronomy and Crop Science Society ofAmerica, and has received the KingBaudouin International Agricultural Re­search Award, the Order of QuetzalAward, the E.C. Stakman Award, an ap­pointment as Honorary Research Pro­fessor with the Chinese Academy of

Agricultural Sciences, and more recent­ly the Borlaug Award in New Delhi,India. He has authored or co-authoredmore than 50 publications, 75 confer­ence proceedings, 39 research bulletinsand 11 book chapters.

Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram

Announcing Dr. Rajaram's' new ap­pointment, Prof. Timothy Reeves, Direc­tor General of CIMMYT -said, 'In addi­tion to his contributions to sustainablefarming systems as the author of count­less high-yielding, resource efficientwheat varieties, he has a tremendousrapport with national programs ­CIMMYT's primary partners in develop­ing and spreading useful new technolo­gies for poor farmers'. Prof. Reevesadded: 'With this decision, we have putinto place a person who can help takeCIMMYT into the 21st century. Wheatis fast becoming the most important

cereal grain in many developing coun­tries and, as world population explodesat a rate of an extra 200 mouths perminute to be fed - an additional MexicoCity each 12 weeks - the urgency ofenhanced wheat production has neverbeen greater. We believe Dr. Rajaramhas the vision, the knowledge, the skilland very importantly, the commitment tomeet this challenge. Poverty alleviationand sustainable food security are ourobjectives and we believe that thesenoble outcomes are underpinned by in­creased productivity in farmers' fields.Few have contributed more to the well­being of poor farmers than Rajaram andI am delighted with his appointment'.

'CIMMYT's future is firmly linkedwith that of national programs', said Dr.Rajaram. 'A major thrust of my tenurewill be strengthening that relationshipand ensuring that we are true partners'.Dr. Rajaram also said that he will inte­grate disciplines in the wheat programand emphasize team work, promoting acollaborative setting.

Reacting to Dr. Rajaram's C\Ppoint­ment as Director of CIMMYT WheatProgram, Prof. R.B. Singh, Director,IARI said 'IARI has enjoyed an extreme­ly fruitful partnership with CIMMYT fordecades. This partnership will further bestrengthened under the dynamic lead­ership of Dr. Rajaram. We wish him allsuccess in his new position.'

Published by Planning. Publications and Information Unit on behalf of the Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi - 110 012; andprinted at Venus Printers and Publishers, B-6218. Naraina Industria! Area, Phase-II, New Delhi - 110 028. Scientist-in-Charge : Dr. O.K. Mitra. Editor: C. Thomas