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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

DTMA, CIMMYT partner to produce drought-tolerant maize



The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), has produced a drought-resistant maize NaijaAgroNet reports.

Other partners and funders who will on Monday convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to take stock of the score-card, as a marathon maize project winds up after eight years include Consultative Group for International Research (CGIAR), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the Consultative Group for International Research (CGIAR).

DTMA  work in Africa on improved drought-tolerant maize, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was to help maize farmers in sub-Saharan Africa mitigate drought as well as contribute to a stronger food system in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, through more than 200 improved maize varieties aimed at helping farmers cope with climate change and low-fertility soils through collaboration.

A release copied to Ghana News Agency said DTMA has benefited from, and drawn on, rich partnerships with private and public institutions with concerted efforts by national research organisations, seed companies, including CIMMYT, IITA and CGIAR.

The DTMA partnership has released more than 200 drought-tolerant maize varieties that perform significantly better under moderate drought compared to varieties already on the market, while yielding at par with – or better – than these existing varieties when there is no drought.

The 13 DTMA target countries, NaijaAgroNet learnt, are Ghana, Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.According to the release, more than two million farmers have acquired and grown the new drought-tolerant varieties in DTMA target countries.


Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
 
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