Tag Archives: Harvests
CIMMYT partner harvests experimental lines of provitamin A-enriched orange maize, Zambia
Image by CIMMYT
Raphael Mutale, maize breeder at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), at work in the field following the harvest of orange maize lines on experimental plots at ZARI. This maize is orange because it contains high levels of beta-carotene, the same substance that give carrots their color. Beta-carotene is a provitamin, and is converted to vitamin A within the human body.
Maize is the staple food for more than one billion people in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, but it is generally poor in provitamin A. It is estimated that between one third and half of all Zambian children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, which weakens their vision and immune systems, retards their growth, makes them more vulnerable to various diseases, and reduces their quality of life. In all, night blindness and other health problems caused by vitamin A deficiency affect more than 5 million children and nearly 10 million pregnant women, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
CIMMYT works with ZARI as part of HarvestPlus, a CGIAR challenge program that uses biofortification to improve the nutritional value of staple foods. The HarvestPlus maize team uses conventional breeding to create maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties rich in provitamin A. In the research shown here, ZARI is evaluating advanced experimental varieties for yield and agronomic characteristics; the best of these will be tested for provitamin A content. Furthermore, scientists in CIMMYT and other organizations are now producing a new generation of varieties with more provitamin A than ever before. Alleles that can boost beta-carotene levels in grain, rare and previously found only in temperate maize, are being bred into tropical maize for developing countries.
For more about CIMMYT’s work in breeding biofortified maize rich in provitamin A, see the following e-news stories:
- "Rare genetic variant in maize gives grain more pro-vitamin A", 2010, available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/231-2010/617-rare-genetic-varia….
- "Formula for success", 2007, available online at: www.cimmyt.org/newsletter/63-2007/203-formula-for-success.
For more on the HarvestPlus’s Maize Team meeting, hosted in 2010 by ZARI, see CIMMYT’s blog story "Benefits of biofortification explored during meeting in Zambia" at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=3468.
For more on HarvestPlus, see: www.harvestplus.org/.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
A man harvests betel nut
Image by A Culinary (Photo) Journal
Goa: A man harvests betel nut (areca nut / supari) in the Sahakari Spice Farm
 Bloomberg |
Record Rice Harvests Seen Boosting Stockpiles to Decade High: Commodities
Bloomberg Enlarge image Record Rice Crop Boosting Stockpiles Record Rice Crop Boosting Stockpiles Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg A farmer checks his rice before harvest in a paddy field in Nong Phak Nak, Suphan Buri, Thailand. Rice stockpiles are poised to reach the … Record Rice Crop Boosting Stockpiles to Decade High: Commodities |
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Second Harvest's Lois Rockhill to retire
Muncie Star Press MUNCIE — After distributing 70 million pounds of food, providing more than 52 million meals to hungry families in East Central Indiana and serving for 23 years as the executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, … Parkland Launches Food Drive for Second Harvest TD Bank gives time, money to food bank Food Bank Leader to Retire |
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Archery deer, turkey harvests up from last year
KTVO JEFFERSON CITY,MO — The Missouri Department of Conservation reports bowhunters posted increases in both deer and turkey harvests during Missouri's 2011-12 archery deer and turkey hunting seasons, topping the previous year's figures by more than … |
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MYANMAR: Rice harvests lost in Kachin conflict zones
IRINnews.org KACHIN STATE, 6 January 2012 (IRIN) – The annual harvest season in Myanmar's northern Kachin State has come and gone but much of the rice crop has not been harvested or was never planted after fighting between government forces and the Kachin … |
 New York Daily News |
City Harvest's bounty grows at new food distribution center
New York Daily News City Harvest Executive Director Jilly Stephens and Vice President of Distribution and Transportation David Levy in the new City Harvest food distribution facility which will allow them to process and distribute more fresh veggies to needy families. … A new City Harvest facility is helping more NYC families; agency says need is … |
Local Harvests
Image by London Permaculture
The Good Food Swap!
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Sugar Falls as New Harvests Bolster Surplus Case; Cocoa Gains
BusinessWeek 11 (Bloomberg) — Sugar fell in London, heading for a fourth weekly decline, on signs new harvests will add to supplies. Cocoa advanced and coffee was little changed. Ukraine's sugar beet harvest was almost 29 percent larger than last year as of Nov. … Sugar Falls as New Harvests Bolster Prospects for Surplus; Cocoa Advances |
 USA Today |
California vineyards find night harvests yield benefits
USA Today By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Pickers harvest grapes during the middle of the night at Shafer Vineyards in Napa, Calif. It results in better wine, lower energy costs and happier workers, the owner says. By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Pickers harvest grapes … |
