According to a September 7 press release, the World Food Prize Foundation said research on the corn, known as maize outside North America, has been ongoing for over three decades at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The new corn, developed through traditional plant breeding, contains nearly twice as much usable protein as other maize grown in the tropics and yields 10 percent more grain.

Based on CIMMYT studies, the new maize -- called "quality protein maize" or QPM -- can contribute to reducing protein deficiency, particularly in young children. In Colombia and Peru, malnourished children have been restored to health on controlled diets using quality protein maize.

Farmers grow conventional maize on an estimated 100 million hectares throughout the developing world. According to CIMMYT, a bumper crop of QPM is expected in the coming months from more than one million hectares currently under cultivation in 11 countries. Economists expect that by 2003, the number of hectares sown with QPM will triple to approximately 3.5 million hectares.

CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.cgiar.org) is the world's leading maize and wheat research center and employs more than 100 scientific staff from over 40 different nations. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT scientists work in more than 100 countries and with thousands of scientists and farmers worldwide.

Following is the text of the press release:

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September 7, 2000

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

35 YEARS IN THE MAKING, HIGH-PROTEIN, HIGH-YIELDING CORN TO PREVENT MALNUTRITION AMONG MILLIONS

Scientists Receive World Food Prize for Decades-Long Scientific Quest To Produce "Quality Protein Maize" for Developing Countries

MEXICO CITY and WASHINGTON, D.C., 7 September 2000 - A leading international science center announced today that it has overcome long scientific odds to develop, test, and distribute to developing countries varieties of high-protein corn that could prevent malnutrition among millions of people worldwide, many of them children.

The new corn -- known as maize outside North America -- contains nearly twice as much usable protein as other maize grown in the tropics and yields 10 percent more grain. In recognition of this work, the World Food Prize Foundation today tapped two scientists from the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where the research has been ongoing for over three decades, as the 2000 recipients of the World Food Prize. The new maize was developed through traditional plant breeding. A bumper crop of the maize -- called "quality protein maize" or QPM -- is expected in the coming months from more than one million hectares (2.5 million acres) currently under cultivation in 11 countries. Economists expect that by 2003, the number of hectares sown to QPM will triple to approximately 3.5 million hectares (8.75 million acres).

"Maize means survival for hundreds of millions of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America," said Professor Timothy Reeves, director general of CIMMYT. "The problem is that diets high in maize lack two essential amino acids needed to prevent malnutrition. These remarkable new varieties look and taste like normal maize, but the nutritive value of their protein is nearly equivalent to cow's milk."

"After three decades of work, we are ready to spur a revolutionary change in maize production around the world, where millions of farmers choose QPM -- and better nutrition -- for their families," said Surinder K. Vasal, PhD, CIMMYT maize breeder and co-recipient of the prize.

The varieties produce 70-100 percent more of two essential amino acids -- lysine and tryptophan -- than the most modern varieties of tropical maize. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which are needed by all cells in the body. But because most maize is deficient in lysine and tryptophan, maize-dependent diets can lead to malnutrition. According to the United Nations Development Program, almost one billion people living in developing countries are malnourished and most do not consume enough protein for good health.

Maize is the world's most widely grown cereal crop and an essential food source for millions of the world's poor. More than half of the world's malnourished children live in countries where maize is an important food. In 20 developing countries, primarily in Latin America and Africa, maize gruel is the main food mothers use to wean their babies, and maize is the single largest source of calories. But babies who subsist on maize can face a dangerous lack of protein during a critical stage of physical and mental development.

A chronic lack of protein in the diet leads to "kwashiorkor," a disease that produces the swollen belly, scaly skin, and spindly limbs of starving children. The World Health Organization links almost half of the 10 million annual deaths of children under age five to malnutrition.

"Quality protein maize provides the poor with a way they can improve their diet," said Evangelina Villegas, PhD, former CIMMYT cereal chemist and co-recipient of the prize. Villegas is the first woman ever to receive the World Food Prize. "It is easier and less expensive to convert to more nutritious varieties of maize than to change or supplement the diet. I have seen problems from malnourishment in many countries around the world. In hospitals in Ghana, I saw children dying because they didn't have nutritious food. I know our enhanced protein maize will not solve all of the world's nutrition problems, but it is a major improvement."

Based on CIMMYT studies, quality protein maize can contribute to reducing protein deficiency, particularly in young children. In Colombia and Peru, malnourished children have been restored to health on controlled diets using quality protein maize. In Ghana, the introduction of quality protein maize into a village plagued with severe child malnutrition resulted in healthier children and economic gains. Studies at Johns Hopkins University have also found evidence of its nutritional benefits.

Economic Gains

Farmers grow conventional maize on an estimated 100 million hectares (200 million acres) throughout the developing world. Eleven developing countries are growing quality protein maize and producing seed for future crops, and farmers in dozens more countries will plant QPM over the next several years. Trials in 22 international locations found that quality protein maize produced yields as much as ten percent higher than the best local hybrid maize varieties. QPM varieties also matched local hybrid maize varieties in terms of drought tolerance and disease resistance.

"Farmers will not adopt a new variety of maize just because the experts say it is healthy," said Reeves. "Better yields must be part of the package."

Maize demand is rising dramatically in Asia, both as an alternative to rice and as an ingredient in feed. As incomes rise in Asia, researchers expect that the use of maize in animal feed will increase by more than three percent each year between now and the year 2020. The high protein maize fattens pigs and poultry more efficiently, enabling poor farming families to increase their incomes. Pigs and poultry raised on this type of maize gain weight roughly twice as fast as animals fed on conventional maize, say the researchers.

"Because farmers can produce animals faster and with less feed using QPM, we should be able to reduce pressure on the land and make it unnecessary for farmers to move grain production into fragile production zones," said Reeves.

More Than Three Decades of Discovery

Quality protein maize is the result of more than three decades of scientific discovery. In 1963, scientists at Purdue University discovered the gene called opaque-2, which improves the nutritional quality of the maize by increasing its lysine and tryptophan content. Farmers initially showed little interest in opaque-2 maize because of its low yields, chalky-looking grain, and susceptibility to pests and diseases. But in 1970, with funding from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Vasal and Villegas began the arduous task of breeding maize that would overcome these drawbacks.

"Dr. Villegas and I worked on eliminating these problems through crossbreeding maize varieties almost continuously for over 30 years," said Vasal. "We also worked closely with CIMMYT plant breeder Hugo Cordova, who has spearheaded recent work to test and promote high-yielding QPM."

"Around 1982, through the use of innovative plant breeding methods, we saw a real possibility of completely changing the appearance of the opaque-2 kernel, improving yield, and working on the other problems, while maintaining protein quality," said Villegas. Among the methods tried was the use of modifier genes, which are genes that can counter the undesirable effects of the opaque-2 gene.

During the 1970s and 1980s, UNDP provided US$17 million in funding to CIMMYT for this research. Funding for CIMMYT's research comes through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), whose members include some 58 governments, private foundations, and multilateral organizations, including the World Bank.

Ian Johnson, chair of the CGIAR and vice president for environment and sustainable development at the World Bank, said, "The development of quality protein maize is people-centered science at its very best, providing better nutrition while fostering economic growth for the world's poor."

CIMMYT breeders continued to build on these efforts in the 1990s with support from the Nippon Foundation. In the early 1990s, there was a brief hiatus in CIMMYT QPM work because of funding cuts. But work has intensified dramatically over the past three years. CIMMYT has worked closely with developing nations to breed varieties of QPM well adapted to local environmental conditions. Derivatives are now grown on approximately one million hectares in developing nations, and interest has expanded dramatically. Hybrid maize production, which occurs throughout the developing world, requires new seeds each year. CIMMYT is helping countries develop their own seed-producing capabilities for hybrid quality protein maize. Sasakawa Global 2000, an international organization that works to spread improved farm technology in Africa, and whose co-founders include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, has successfully promoted QPM in Ghana and several other African nations. President Carter is a Future Harvest Ambassador. Other organizations and governments around the world are also helping farmers to grow QPM.

"We are promoting QPM varieties for nearly every hectare of land now sown to maize in developing countries," said Reeves. "We are not promoting one variety of maize with one genetic background, but dozens of varieties of maize that have the QPM trait. This serves to protect QPM maize from pests and diseases that might become significant threats to a single variety grown over large areas. Maize is also typically grown in complex cropping systems, and this reduces its vulnerability to pests and diseases as well."

Established in 1986 by Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug, the World Food Prize (www.wfpf.org) is awarded annually to individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. The prize, which is sponsored by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan, includes a cash award of US$250,000. Borlaug is a Future Harvest Ambassador.

"I was surprised at receiving the award, after all this time," said Villegas. "I'm grateful, but the most important thing is that it will raise people's awareness about malnutrition, especially helping young children in countries where maize is a staple."

CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.cgiar.org) is the world's leading maize and wheat research center and employs more than 100 scientific staff from over 40 different nations. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT scientists work in more than 100 countries and with thousands of scientists and farmers worldwide. CIMMYT is a Future Harvest Center and receives funding from public and private foundations as well as more than 58 countries, with the majority of funds administered through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Future Harvest (www.futureharvest.org) is a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and support for food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family, well-nourished children, and a better environment. Future Harvest supports research, promotes partnerships, and sponsors projects that bring research results to rural communities, farmers, and families in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Future Harvest is an initiative of 16 food and environmental research centers that receive funding from the CGIAR.