Orange maize in Zambia: Crop development and delivery experience

Abstract

Biofortified vitamin A "orange" maize can help address the adverse health effects of vitamin A deficiency. By 2016, HarvestPlus and its partners had developed six orange maize varieties and delivery efforts have reached more than 100,000 farming households in Zambia. HarvestPlus has established the proof of concept, that vitamin A maize varieties can be developed without compromising yield levels and that these varieties can deliver sufficient quantities of vitamin A to improve nutrition. The delivery program has also shown that farmers are willing to grow orange maize varieties and consumers are willing to buy and eat orange maize products. This paper summarizes the country's nutritional and consumer backgrounds, the crop development and release of orange maize varieties, the delivery efforts in Zambia and impact measurement. It also synthesizes lessons learned and future challenges.

Genetic analysis of grain yield and agronomic traits of early provitamin A quality protein maize inbred lines in contrasting environments

“…The range of PVA concentrations (6.50-9.82 µg/g DW) recorded for the top 15 hybrids in the current study was moderate compared with the 15 µg/g DW target set by the Harvest-Plus challenge programme (Harjes et al, 2008;Simpungwe et al, 2017). The PVA concentrations observed for the hybrids in the current study corroborated with the report by Andersson et al (2017), who indicated that although some progress has been made with respect to the improvement of PVA carotenoids in developed maize varieties in SSA, with over 40 varieties released, the PVA levels of these varieties range between 6 and 10 µg/g.…”

Carotenoids in Cereal Food Crops: Composition and Retention throughout Grain Storage and Food Processing

“…Most of the initial efforts have been focused on maize from temperate regions that reached levels of provitamin A carotenoids in the endosperm as high as 19 µg/g [74]. These improved lines were then used in conventional breeding crosses to develop varieties adapted to sub-Saharan Africa's areas; the first provitamin A-fortified maize variety was released in Zambia in 2012 and contained provitamin A carotenoids at levels of 7-8 µg/g [75], which corresponded to half of the target level of 15 µg/g set for the fortification of provitamin A maize by HarvestPlus, a global partnership programme that aims to the development and promotion of biofortified crops for a better nutrition [74].…”

“…Association mapping studies were subsequently carried out that revealed the existence of favourable polymorphisms in the LYCE and the β-carotene hydroxylase 1 (CrtRB1) genes; so, PCR-based markers were designed for both LCYEand CrtRB1-based polymorphisms and used in MAS programs to develop fortified maize lines with β-carotene concentrations up to 26 µg/g (Table 1) and total provitamin A as high as 30 µg/g [46]. These improved sources of provitamin A were used to develop new tropical hybrids with a provitamin A content of 9-11 µg/g that were released in Zambia in 2015 [75]. Breeding programs are still in course to develop tropical hybrids that meet or exceed the full 15 µg/g provitamin A HarvestPlus target.…”

Molecular Breeding for Nutritionally Enriched Maize: Status and Prospects

“…Allelic variation in key genes has been exploited to identify and develop DNA markers associated with BC and BCX, the main carotenoids with PVA activity. Use of MAS in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) analysis has been more effective than biochemical screening alone Simpungwe et al, 2017).…”

“…Despite the awareness campaigns, school feeding schemes that are funded by non-government organizations (NGOs) and the government remain a substantial part of the market for high PVA maize, raising questions about what will happen when that support is not sustained. Influencing national policy on balanced nutrition and health appears to be the most viable way to create and sustain demand for PVA-enhanced maize because most governments in the target countries provide subsidies to farmers and buy most of the grain as part of a national food security strategy (Simpungwe et al, 2017).…”