DTMA & WEMA: Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties and Water Efficient Maize Varieties

Enhance farm's resilience with DTMA and WEMA maize varieties, ensuring consistent yields even in unpredictable weather.

These seed technologies, developed through conventional and biotechnological methods, bolster the maize plant's ability to withstand acute soil drying and low water supply. They outperform traditional varieties under various levels of water stress, offering resilience in both dry and intermittently wet climates.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Project adoption18

Technology integrated in the 2PAU, BRIDEP, AFMPFNSHoA, EFPFP, EFPP, ENSURE, ESFSP, PADCV-PTA, PADDAMAG, Post-Cyclone Recovery Programme, PROCAVA, PUPSAN, PURPA, Regenerative agri, RVCTP, SAPZ-II, SEPAREF, and EFPP(AEFPF) projects.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

Others: Positive medium

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive medium

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Does not improve environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Dependence on Rainfall: Over 90% of African maize farming is rainfed, leaving crops vulnerable to unpredictable weather patterns.
Yield Instability: Conventional varieties are highly sensitive to water availability, leading to inconsistent yields.
Crop Failure Risk: Insufficient rainfall can result in complete crop loss, jeopardizing livelihoods.

Solution

Enhanced Resilience: DTMA and WEMA outperform conventional varieties under various water stress levels.
Increased Productivity: Adoption of these varieties leads to substantial increases in maize grain production.
Improved Crop Resilience: Crops become more robust, with heightened resistance to dry spells and low rainfall.

Key points to design your project

This technology addresses water stress in Sub-Saharan maize production, improving productivity and resilience to adverse rainfall. It contributes to climate resilience and SDGs, particularly in food security and poverty reduction. Gender-inclusive access further promotes equitable agricultural development.

To integrate this technology into your project, and create a list of project activities and prerequisites and plan these activities:

- Considering the technology cost of 0.8 to 1.2 USD per kg and a requirement of 25 kg per ha, estimate the quantity of seeds needed for your project.

- As the technology is available in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, include the delivery cost to the project site and account for import clearance and duties if relevant.

A team of trainers could provide training and support during project installation. Include the cost for training and post-training support for using the technology.

Communication support for the technology should be developed (flyers, videos, radio broadcasts, etc.)

For better optimization of the improved maize variety, it is recommended to associate this technology with Imazapyr resistant maize for Striga management (IR maize), Specialized pre-plant fertilizer blending and N topdressing, Maize-legume rotation and intercropping.

To implement the technology in your country, you could collaborate with agricultural development institutes and seed multiplication companies.

0.6 ton/Ha

Yield increase

20—30 %

Larger grain harvest than common type

IP

Unknown

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
2PAU Emergency Food Production Programme	Côte d’Ivoire	Direct: 800,000	161.96 million 2022–2023	2,279 tons maize seeds distributed 134 million cassava cuttings distributed 84,144 tons fertilizers provided 30% increase in food production targeted
BRIDEP Multinational - Projet de Développement Intégré Burundi-Rwanda	Burundi Rwanda	Direct: 120,000	139,09 million 2024 - 2031	6,000 ha marshlands developed 60 km climate-resilient roads rehabilitated 1,700 tons certified produced 22,000 additional jobs created
AFMPFNSHoA Additional Financing to Multinational Programme for Food & Nutrition Security in the Horn of Africa	Somalia	Direct : 100,000	5.4 million 2022–2026	100 tons of certified forage seeds distributed 16,500 farmers access TAAT technologies 30% increase in forage production expected Fodder banks established in 6 locations
EFPFP Emergency Food Production Facility Project	Malawi	Direct: 500,000	20.85 million 2022–2026	70,000 tons fertilizer distributed 2,500 tons certified seeds supplied 500 extension agents trained 300 tablets and 300 motorcycles distributed
EFPP Guinea Emergency Food Production Programme	Guinea	Direct: 35,750 Indirect: 73,800	25.23 million 2022–2024	2,000 tons of rice seeds distributed 750 tons of maize seeds distributed 4,845 tons NPK provide 3,185 tons urea provide
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained
ESFSP Emergency Support to Food Security Project	Guinea-Bissau	Direct: 46,635 Indirect: 69,953	6.5 million 2022–2024	1,253 tons certified cereal seeds 1,350 tons fertilizer provided 32,096 hectares land seeded 37,335 tons additional production expected
PADCV-PTA Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Direct: 900,000 Indirect: 2,000,000	321 million 2024–2029	62,000 tons certified seeds produced 5,200 ha rice fields developed 600 km resilient roads rehabilitated 30,000 people trained
PADDAMAG Project to Support Agropastoral Development, Digitization and Market Access	Guinea	Direct: 5,735 Indirect: 401,450	32.85 million 2023–2029	4,000 ha land prepared 100 km of rural roads rehabilitated 12 processing facilities built 3 collection markets & 2 wholesale markets established
Post-Cyclone Recovery Programme Post Cyclone IDAI and Kenneth Emergency Recovery and Resilience Programme	Mozambique	Direct: 100,000 Indirect: 500,000	58,24 million 2022–2026	100,000 farmers received certified seeds & fertilizers 500 km rural roads repaired 20 bridges repaired 920m irrigation infrastructure repaired
PROCAVA Inclusive Agri-Food Value Chain Development Project	Mozambique	Direct: 50,800	105.45 million 2024–2028	11 hatcheries, 8 cold storage provided 3 high-tech weather radars installed 1.2 → 2 t/ha maize & 0.6 → 1 t/ha soybean expected 170,000 tons poultry production expected
PUPSAN Emergency Production and Food & Nutrition Security Project	Mali	Direct: 35,274	7.04 million 2023–2026	1,027.14 tons certified seeds distributed 2,234 tons fertilizers provided 8,819 ha cultivated land production 11,145.6 tons additional production expected
PURPA Projet d’Urgence pour le Renforcement de la Production Agricole	Burkina Faso	Direct : 210,000 Indirect: 612,000	38.87 million 2022–2024	8,710 tons certified seeds 36,000 tons of high-quality fertilizer distributed 11,350 farmers trained 210,000 farmers have access to emergency climate services
Regenerative agri Multinational - Evidence-based regenerative agriculture to address climate change in Africa	Nigeria Ethiopia	Direct: 200,000 Indirect: 500,000	975,000 2023 - 2026	200,000 farmers targeted 40–60% increase productivity products targeted 30% improvement in livelihoods targeted 20 regenerative conducted per country
RVCTP Additional Financing to the Rice Value Chain Transformation Programme	Gambia	Direct: 20,000	3.5 million 2022–2025	3,000 tons subsidized fertilizer 1,000 farmers trained 20,000 new beneficiaries registered 2 tons peanut seeds purchased
SAPZ-II Multinational- Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains in Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones	Nigeria	Direct: 1,100,000 Indirect: 900,000	625,00 million 2025–2030	1,000,000 jobs created 2 billion USD private investments mobilized 2,000,000 farmers trained 6,000 ha developed for Agro-Industrial Hubs
SEPAREF Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response to Food Crisis	Burundi Comoros Somalia South Sudan	Direct: 40,000 Indirect: 10,000,000	10.56 million 2022–2025	10,000 tons seeds produced 1,600,000 farmers registered on distribution platforms 4,000 training 4 food security models developed
EFPP(AEFPF) Emergency Food Production Project (AEFPF)	Zimbabwe	Direct: 180,000	25.5 million 2022–2026	2 → 4 t/ha increased yields (corn and wheat) 15,000 ha of drought-tolerant corn propagated 60,000 tons of fertilizer distributed 400 000 tons additional expected

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
South Africa	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid		–		–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 1: no poverty

Selection: Choose the appropriate DTMA or WEMA variety based on local climate and soil conditions.
Planting: Follow standard maize planting practices, ensuring optimal soil and fertilizer management.
Nutrient Optimization: In low-fertility soils, supplement with inorganic fertilizers to enhance nutrient uptake.
Complementary Practices: Consider legume intercropping, manure application, and mulching for added nutrients and water retention.