b"MZ: It sounds like a totally different world.VHV: Its very remote and disconnected from the rest of Colombia. BackA WORD FROM THE BORLAUGin the 1970s, CIAT had an experimental station there called Carimagua.TRAINING FOUNDATIONWhen I visited, it was a military base, but it was later reactivated as a research station. This station had been inactive for a long time, yet the impact of its research was still palpable among the inhabitants of the region. People were growing maize, rice and raising cattle with old technology and varieties lagging behind the rest of the country, but the impact of the deployment of these varieties and agronomic practices helped the economic development of the region; schools were built, electrification was installed and better roads are still being constructed. It made me think. If scientists were able to contribute in this way to a region in so much isolation and instability, I cant imagine what the potential could be. Today, that region is undergoing an agricultural boom and despite many problems, it is poised to become a major breadbasket for South America.Janet LewisThe Borlaug Training Foundation is a non-profit with the mission to develop plant scientists who fight hunger.Janet Lewis is a board member of the foundation as well as a consortium developer for the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (HeDWIC) and has been a wheat breeder in the public and private sectors. Training others was at the heart of Dr. Norman Borlaug's efforts and a critical Hoyos-Villegas back in the day with his first mentor, Idupulapati Rao of CIAT. foundation to the success of the Green Revolution. Creating great change in MZ: What is the biggest success you have seen ag scientists in theresponse to urgent needs requires a developing world have recently? coordinated effort. From a distance, VHV: I think that the work that the CIAT dry bean program has done incutting-edge research can set in motion the development of heat and drought tolerance in common bean is aamazing advancements. However, it great example of applied plant breeding to solve a big problem throughtakes trained people around the world to the smart use of germplasm and collaboration. HarvestPlus has alsotranslate these potential advancements done incredible work on the biofortification of a number of crops whileinto real-world impact. I'm encouraged maintaining high yields and disease resistance, such as zinc rice andby Valerio's response to this $10 million iron beans. The future of plant breeding in the developing world willquestion, which highlights the value, further involve the intersection of emerging technologies with practicalneed, and opportunity for exponential knowledge of plant breeding to deliver many other ideas to farmers andimpact through training.consumers. Hear our podcast episode with Valerio Hoyos-Villegas and Janet Lewis that reveals more of this story! Visit germination.ca/10-million-dollar-dream/44GERMINATION.CA JANUARY 2020"