Drought Resistant Maize (corn)
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A farmer stands amid his dying corn field due to a severe drought.
Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.
photo: Nguyen Chung, Thanh Nien News
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Maize is one of the world's most widely planted, versatile, and important crops. A staple food produced by small holders throughout Latin America, and large parts of Asia and Africa, a successful harvest depends on adequate rainfall. Biotechnology has helped develop new varieties that can deliver significant yields even in the face of drought conditions. DROP DOWN for more...
Maize is the staple crop for more than 300 million African farmers. Drought is a persistent threat, and one dry season can devastate a family's financial well-being, and too often even their lives. The biology of water metabolism in plants is complicated, and can involve as many as 200 separate genes or more. Such complex traits have been beyond the ability of traditional plant breeders to improve easily, but the recent development of computer assisted breeding and more sophisticated genetic analysis has brought drought tolerant plants within the imagination of modern plant breeders, and their efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Public sector scientists with the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project have produced drought tolerant maize varieties for farmers who depend on rain that improve yields under drought conditions by as much as 40% over traditional varieties (Drought tolerant maize provides extra 9 months of food for farming families; Impact of adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties on total maize production in south Eastern Zimbabwe).
Adding the tools of biotechnology to the effort, a parallel project led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation is aiming to deliver Water Efficient Maize for Africa (). They are working in five east African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania) not only to develop water efficient varieties, but also to combine such traits with proven insect resistance technology (Kenyan scientists seek approval to release insect-protected maize variety to farmers to boost food security, ). Scientists in both Uganda and Kenya hope recent political developments will allow them quickly to move forward with field trials on the path to putting these imp[roved seeds into the hands of African farmers who so desperately need them (Uganda biotech law opens door to disease-resistant GMO crops; Feature: Kenyan farmers mull large-scale cultivation of genetically modified maize).
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