Women farmers at HTMA on-farm demonstrations at Dumarvana district, Nepal. Photo courtesy of PH Zaidi, CIMMYT. 
HEAT STRESS TOLERANT MAIZE
FOR SOUTH ASIA (HTMA)
FINAL EVALUATION REPORT
APRIL – SEPTEMBER 2016
This document was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared 
independently by David L. Beck, Ph.D. and Dil Bahadur Gurung, Ph.D. The authors’ views expressed in this publication 
do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States 
Government.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The HTMA External Evaluation Team wishes to acknowledge CIMMYT-India and all 
project partners and stakeholders for sharing your time and talent with us during the 
course of this review. Special thanks go to the Project Leader who was faithfully with us 
throughout our visits to Nepal and India. We are also grateful to HTMA field trials 
collaborators for arranging field signs and handouts and also for traveling long distances 
to meet us during the visit. As an evaluation team we count it a privilege to evaluate this 
uniquely effective project and hope that at least some of our observations and 
suggestions will provide useful guidance to project leadership and partners leading to 
greater impact. Finally, we extend our thanks to the U.S. Agency for International
Development, Bureau for Food Security, for its guidance and support throughout the 
course of the evaluation, and to Elizabeth Skewgar for editing of this document.
CONTENTS
ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. i
TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... iii
FIGURES..................................................................................................................................... iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ v
Program Background .......................................................................................................................... v
External Evaluation Overview ............................................................................................................ vi
Project Management ......................................................................................................................... vi
Research Project ...............................................................................................................................viii
Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................................xiii
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1
Program Background .......................................................................................................................... 1
Evaluation Overview ........................................................................................................................... 2
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT EVALUATION ................................................................................... 7
Project Management Findings............................................................................................................. 7
Project Management Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 17
Project Management Recommendations .......................................................................................... 18
Project Management Lessons Learned .............................................................................................. 20
3. RESEARCH PROJECT EVALUATION ......................................................................................... 21
Objective 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 23
Objective 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 31
Objective 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Objective 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 41
Objective 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 58
4. PROJECT FUTURE .................................................................................................................. 64
Project Management ........................................................................................................................ 64
Research Project ............................................................................................................................... 65
APPENDIX A: SCOPE OF WORK ................................................................................................. 67
APPENDIX B: EVALUATION PLAN .............................................................................................. 69
APPENDIX C: TRAVEL ITINERARY, LOCATIONS AND DATES OF FIELD VISITS .............................. 81
APPENDIX D: LIST OF PERSONS CONTACTED ............................................................................. 82
APPENDIX E: LIST OF MATERIALS REVIEWED ............................................................................ 84
APPENDIX F: PHOTOGRAPHS .................................................................................................... 88
Project Implementation Team Response to External Evaluation Report ................................... 93
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT i
ACRONYMS 
AFU Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal 
ASI Anthesis silking interval 
BARI Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bangladesh 
BAU Bihar Agricultural University, India 
BFS Bureau for Food Security 
CAAM CIMMYT-Asia association mapping (panel) 
CIMMYT International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (Centro 
Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo) 
DGDG Digalactosyldiacylglycerol (lipid involved in heat tolerance in plants) 
DH Doubled haploid 
DHTC Doubled haploid top cross 
DTMA Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa 
DTMA-AM DTMA association mapping (panel) 
EET External evaluation team
EQ Evaluation question 
FGD Focus group discussion
GBS Genotyping-by-sequencing 
GEBV Genomic estimated breeding value 
GMP Global Maize Program 
GS Genomic selection 
GWAS Genome-wide association study 
HTAM Heat tolerant association mapping (panel) 
HTMA Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for South Asia 
IBP Integrated Breeding Platform 
ICAR Indian Council of Agriculture Research 
ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics 
KII Key informant interview 
MNC Multi-national corporation 
MMRP Maize & Millets Research Institute, Pakistan 
MPS Multi-parent synthetic 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT ii
NARS National agricultural research system 
NMRP National Maize Research Program, Nepal 
OPV Open-pollinated variety 
PI Principal investigator 
PMC Project Management Committee 
PPP Public-private partnership 
PSC Project Steering Committee 
PVP Plant Variety Protection 
PVS Participatory varietal selection 
QTL Quantitative trait loci 
RCGS Rapid-cycle genomic selection 
RIL Recombinant inbred line 
SME Small & medium enterprises 
SNP Single nucleotide polymorphism 
UAS University of Agricultural Sciences, India 
USAID United States Agency for International Development 
VPD Vapor pressurized deficit (a measure of abiotic stress) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT iii
TABLES 
Table 1. Funds leveraged from other sources for HTMA activities. ............................... 11
Table 2. Description of multi-parent synthetic populations formed ................................ 36
Table 3. Field performance of multi-parent synthetics (MPS) and top progenies .......... 38
Table 4. HTMA hybrids at different stages of testing in 2016 ........................................ 42
Table 5. Selection of HTMA hybrids .............................................................................. 44
Table 6. First set of HTMA hybrids licensed to project partners for deployment ........... 45
Table 7. HTMA project partner hybrid selections .......................................................... 48
Table 8. DHTC hybrids selected by HTMA project partners .......................................... 50
Table 9. HTMA production of inbred lines and hybrid seeds ......................................... 51
Table 10. Quantitative observations of field trials .......................................................... 53
Table 11. Field trial descriptions and remarks ............................................................... 54
Table 12. Short-term training courses by HTMA ........................................................... 59
Table 13. HTMA graduate students in the U.S. and South Asia .................................... 60
Table 14. Evaluation plan summary for research questions .......................................... 70
Table 15. Evaluation plan summary for management questions ................................... 71
Table 16. Travel itinerary of the External Evaluation Team ........................................... 81
Table 17. List of persons contacted by the External Evaluation Team .......................... 82
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT iv
FIGURES 
Figure 1. Management structure for the HTMA Project. .................................................. 8
Figure 2. The “Perfect Alliance” of public-private partnerships in HTMA. ...................... 12
Figure 3. Flow diagram of HTMA objectives, activities, pathways, products, and impact
................................................................................................................................ 22
Figure 4. Manhattan plot showing genetic basis for leaf lipid metabolism in maize ....... 24
Figure 5. RNA expression of maize leaves exposed to optimal heat and stressed 
conditions ............................................................................................................... 26
Figure 6. Thermal variability of a corn field over the course of a day ............................ 28
Figure 7. Diagram of possible data flows over the life cycle of an annual seed crop .... 29
Figure 8. Example of sensors mounted on a high-clearance tractor ............................. 30
Figure 9. Schematic flow of rapid-cycle genomic selection (RCGS) ............................. 37
Figure 10. Participants in HTMA training courses held in India ..................................... 88
Figure 11. Comparison at harvest of new HTMA heat-tolerant hybrid ........................... 89
Figure 12. Comparison of leaves and tassels of heat-tolerant maize line ..................... 90
Figure 13. H. turcicum leaf blight ................................................................................... 91
Figure 14. Tassel sterility .............................................................................................. 92
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Program Background 
Millions of smallholder farmers in South Asia grow maize for subsistence or income 
under rain-fed conditions and the climate is becoming warmer and drier. While the 
demand for maize is significantly increasing due to several factors maize yields in the 
major maize-growing South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh) 
remain below 3 tons per hectare. At the same time, nearly 80 per cent of the maize 
growing area in this region is rain-fed and highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, 
including drought and high temperatures. Out of the estimated 6 million hectares of 
hybrid maize grown in South Asia, about a million hectares are highly vulnerable to high 
temperature stress especially during flowering. In some of these areas, drought and 
heat stress commonly occur at the same time. Maize varieties with tolerance to key 
abiotic stresses, especially high temperatures and water deficit, will play an important 
role in adaptation of farming communities, especially smallholders, to the changing 
climate. 
In order to address these challenges and opportunities the Heat Stress Tolerant Maize 
for South Asia (often shortened to Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia, or HTMA) project was 
initiated in January 2013 to enhance the adaptive capacity of resource-poor farm 
families in South Asia to climatic-change related risks and to increase their food and 
income security through accelerated development and deployment of heat stress 
resilient, high yielding maize hybrids. The project has 5 objectives:
1. Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance of maize to identify genes, 
component traits, and mechanisms that predict adaptation to stressful 
environments in South Asia. 
2. Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling adaptation of maize 
to heat stress in the tropical environments of South Asia. 
3. Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection for generating open-source multi￾parental synthetic populations and for further deriving doubled haploid (DH) lines 
with resilience to heat stress. 
4. Deploy heat stress resilient elite maize cultivars in the target agro-ecologies of 
South Asia through a regional alliance of public and private sector partners. 
5. Strengthen capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian maize breeding 
and local seed companies, to sustainably serve climate change-vulnerable maize 
production systems in the tropics. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT vi
External Evaluation Overview 
The overall aim of the external performance evaluation of the HTMA project was to 
provide empirical evidence to respond to evaluation questions designed to support 
lessons learned and continuous improvement for Bureau for Food Security's work in 
product development. The evaluation team assessed the effectiveness and 
contributions of the Project Management entity, and the progress toward research 
outputs and outcomes. This evaluation provides information and recommendations to
the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Food Security (BFS), to 
improve project effectiveness, better achieve intended outcomes, and foster greater 
access to new technologies, including high yielding heat stress resilient maize hybrids, 
to the smallholder farmers in South Asia. The evaluation took place from April - 
September 2016. Key data and information sources included over 20 interviews 
conducted with project partners, observation taken during visits to various heat stressed 
field sites, and project documents including annual reports, progress reports, and 
refereed journal articles. Evaluation questions (EQs) are listed in Appendix A and 
referenced throughout the text. EQ 7b, regarding the support of Missions, was not 
evaluated.
Project Management 
Findings 
CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) is the implementing 
partner and has the overall responsibility for HTMA project coordination and 
implementation, along with alliance partners and relevant stakeholders in the four 
targeted countries in South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Bhutan 
joined as a 5th country in 2015. The external evaluation team (EET) found that the 
HTMA project management is sound, has capable and dedicated leaders, and is 
functioning very well, largely to the credit of the Oversight Director (Global Maize 
Director of CIMMYT), and the Project Leader (the CIMMYT Asian Region Senior 
Scientist). (EQ 5a) 
A key aspect of HTMA is a public-private partnership (PPP). The observations of the 
evaluation team and most interviewees confirm strong project partnerships between 
CIMMYT, universities, public sector NARS (national agricultural research system), and 
private companies. CIMMYT, with its decades of experience in research and 
development through collaborative activities in the Asian region and globally is clearly 
the leader and key facilitator of the project. A majority of HTMA partners have met or 
exceeded their commitments to the project (EQ 6a). The project annual meeting 
provides a key opportunity for project management and partners to meet face to face 
and discuss results, plans, and challenges. Joint participation in project training 
workshops has provided further opportunities for public and private partners to build 
relationships and further teamwork. (EQ 5b) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT vii
Major project challenges include the time and resources needed both to pursue the 
upstream research identifying candidate genes for underlying heat tolerant mechanisms 
and for downstream research deploying superior heat tolerant hybrids. Added to this is 
the unexpected high number of top-performing hybrids under heat stress in the first 
wave plus the addition of 11 private sector partners resulting in the project being thrust 
into the deployment phase well in advance of the original project plan. The project 
needs to improve coordination with and participation of smaller project country partners 
who sometimes feel “overshadowed” by their Indian neighbor. Despite the stated 
intentions of many, the participation of women at all levels of the project is low. (EQ 5c) 
Recommendations 
 We do not recommend changes in the project management structure, which is 
functioning very well, except that the growth of private sector partners from 3 to 14 
may require increasing the number of senior private sector representatives on the 
Project Steering Committee (PSC) from 1 to 3. (EQ 4a) 
 Project management has leveraged funds from several sources to help finance the 
extra deployment work but we recommend that consideration be given to increasing 
staff and resource allocations. Our first priority for staffing increases would be to 
provide the project leader, who bears a heavy responsibility for the project in 
addition to his other duties, with a scientist assistant. (EQ 5a) 
 Project management needs to strengthen coordination with and participation among 
partners particularly the smaller project country NARS outside of India. We 
recommend that the project management give this high priority and implement more 
joint monitoring of on-going activities in these regions, exchange visits of 
researchers and technical staff, and provide further training opportunities for 
partners in the smaller project countries. Allocating a scientist/assistant to work with 
the project leader would also allow this team to increase communication and visits to 
these countries. (EQ 5b, 6c) 
 Despite the stated intentions of many, the participation of women at all levels of the 
project (including management, scientists, graduate students, and participants in 
training programs) is low. The gender imbalance remains and needs to be 
addressed immediately. (EQ 6c)
 Based on partners with differing cultures and mandates (both because of 
country/region and/or public/private sector) the project has the ongoing challenge to 
build further trust and understanding among its diverse collaborators. We 
recommend that project leaders need to continually look for complementarities and 
ways to further strengthen communication and relationships among public-private 
sector scientists/leaders. Unity is very hard to build but easy to rupture. It is also 
important that all partners bring something significant to the table to contribute to the 
project. We also encourage partners to have a greater willingness to share 
information and technology, particularly the private sector in the area of seed 
production research and product deployment. (EQ 6b) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT viii
 Interaction between BFS and the HTMA can be maintained by continuing regular 
attendance at the annual meeting, site visits, maintaining close communication and 
looking together for ways and resources to better achieve project objectives. (EQ 7a) 
Research Project 
The overall goal of the project is to enhance the adaptive capacity of the resource-poor 
farm families in South Asia to manage climate-change related risks, and increase their 
food and income security through accelerated development and inclusive deployment of 
new heat stress resilient high yielding maize hybrids. Evaluation findings (EQs 1 and 3) 
and recommendations (EQ 2) are found in the following sections, organized by project 
objectives.
Objective 1: Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance to identify 
component traits, genes, and genetic loci that predict or confer adaptation to 
stressful environments in South Asia. 
Findings 
A team of professors and graduate students from Purdue University are key project 
partners who have taken the lead addressing this challenging goal. This group has 
made major contributions to the basic science of heat tolerance in maize. They have 
shown that heat and drought tolerance are not the same and that the lipid composition 
in the cellular membranes (particularly the chloroplasts) are critical to the stability of 
maize under heat stress. They have used state of the art technologies such as lipidome 
analysis, RNA sequence profiling, and transposon tagged mutations to search for the 
biochemical and genetic mechanisms responsible for heat tolerance. They have applied 
genome-wide association studies (GWAS), quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, and 
linkage analysis to identify candidate genes for heat tolerance. In addition to the science 
we commend the Purdue principal investigator (PI) and his team for developing 
excellent working relationships with CIMMYT and other project partners. 
Recommendations 
 As quick as is practically possible, we recommend that the various on-going studies
should be completed, particularly those focusing on identifying candidate genes, and 
published in refereed journals. 
 We recommend that the project consider further sampling the 300+ ex-Plant Varietal 
Protection (PVP) lines that the Project PI currently has in his Purdue nursery (only 
23 have been used to date in the project) as sources of earliness, yield potential, 
and heat and drought tolerance. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT ix
Objective 2: Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling 
adaptation of maize to heat stress in the tropical environments of South Asia. 
Findings 
Identifying candidate genes for heat stress tolerance in maize hybrids is a challenging 
task for many reasons including the complexity of the plant, complexity of the abiotic 
stress, diversity in the testing environments, and G x E interactions. The HTMA project 
team has done outstanding work to identify and begin validating genes/haplotypes for 
heat tolerance in maize. Using precision phenotyping in multiple environments under 
heat stress and optimal conditions, followed by the application of appropriate bio￾statistical tools, the project has made significant progress both identifying heat stress 
tolerant germplasm and understanding the genetic basis for the tolerance response. 
The GWAS analysis of the HTMA panel was a high quality major effort to identify 
potential candidate genes which are being validated in different independent association 
mapping panels and bi-parental populations. The project’s application of methylation 
profiling in maize heat stress tolerance research is the first of its kind with results which 
may have great significance.
Recommendations 
 It is critical that the project scientists pull together the results of studies to clearly 
validate and confirm the most significant candidate genes for heat tolerance. In this 
context we commend the project team for recently developing a catalog in Excel 
format with genotypic and phenotypic information as it relates to heat tolerance of 
CIMMYT and project partner germplasm, and recommend that it be kept up to date 
with ongoing work. 
 A new Java tool to aid genomic selection has been developed and should prove 
useful. These data tools need to be made available to project partners as quickly as 
possible. 
 We recommend investigating the IBP (International Breeding Platform) Breeding 
Management System developed by the Generation Challenge Program which has 
many useful functions that may benefit the HTMA project. 
 We recommend several sources of additional germplasm. 
Objective 3: Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection (RCGS) for generating 
open-source multi-parental synthetic populations and for further deriving double 
haploid (DH) lines with resilience to heat stress. 
Findings 
The project is to be commended for forming six multi-parent synthetic (MPS) 
populations and for utilizing RCGS in their improvement. We support the use of the 
RCGS scheme for rapid cycle genetic improvement in synthetic populations plus the 
formation of early generation and DH lines derived from them. The project team wisely 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT x
distributed bulk seed of F2:3 families selected by partners on the basis of test cross 
performance at their target environment. Seven project partners from three countries in 
both the public and private sector received anywhere from 34 to 117 bulks which should 
be an excellent source of breeding material to develop heat stress tolerant inbreds. 
Although savings in time and field resources compared to conventional recurrent 
selection (RS) procedures were evident, important validation of the RCGS approach is 
pending field testing of the synthetics, their improved cycles, and eventually the double 
haploid lines derived from them. 
Recommendations 
 This is the only objective where the HTMA has fallen short of the declared 
milestones. Only six synthetics formed plus most delayed in their development. The 
synthetics serve a dual purpose as both a source of genetic variability for the 
development of inbred lines (whether conventional or DH) and per se as open￾pollinated varieties (OPVs). The project needs to determine what priority it will give 
to the formation, improvement, and testing of synthetics as OPVs. The results from 
our interviews show that demand for OPVs varies depending on the project partner 
and country. We recommend that yield trial evaluations be conducted to compare 
project synthetics and hybrids under a range of conditions from high heat stress to 
optimal conditions.
 The project needs to validate the effectiveness of RCGS for population (synthetic) 
improvement.
 We fully support the current proposal presented to the Indian Council of Agriculture 
Research (ICAR) to develop a DH facility in India to serve the Asian region.
Objective 4: Initiate deployment of heat stress resilient elite maize hybrids in the 
target agro-ecologies of South Asia through a regional alliance of public and 
private sector partners 
Findings 
Thousands of experimental hybrids generated by the HTMA were evaluated during the 
first four years of the project in a total of 237 locations under optimal conditions and 63 
locations under heat stress environments in the South Asia region. Hybrids 
demonstrating yields superior to the best commercial checks under both heat stressed 
and optimal condition were selected and advanced to next stages for further evaluation. 
The 24 first generation HTMA hybrids were planted in farmer' fields in demonstration 
blocks. During multiple field days, farmers selected 9 hybrids in Bangladesh, 8 in Nepal, 
14 in Pakistan, 6 in Bhutan, and 6 in India. Additionally, three of these hybrids ranked in 
the top four positions in the All India Coordinated Multi-Location Regional Trial in 2015. 
CIMMYT has provided a total of 26 licenses for 18 hybrids licensed to 8 partners (as 
some hybrids were licensed to more than one partner, but in different geographic areas) 
from all four target countries. Among the eight HTMA partners, three are NARS partners 
from Nepal, Bangladesh and India and five are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT xi
from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. CIMMYT also provided up to 1.0 kg seed of 
parental inbred line seed along with production research data on the inbreds to fast 
track hybrid production and for scaling up for the 2016-17 crop seasons. 
Thousands of second and third wave hybrids are working their way through the project’s 
testing system with promising results. Some of these hybrids include DH lines produced 
by Pioneer Hi-Bred India. Over 2,000 DH lines have been generously supplied to the 
project by Pioneer and thousands more are currently in development both at Pioneer 
and CIMMYT, Mexico. 
To generate consistent and accurate phenotypic data, the project has developed a new 
protocol for precision phenotyping for heat stress tolerance in maize to help ensure that 
data are collected by project partners. This information has been disseminated to 
researchers and technicians through an attractive and practical field manual entitled 
“Phenotyping for abiotic stress tolerance in maize – Heat stress” published by CIMMYT 
and by conducting several training workshops on this theme.
Recommendations 
 The testing system for HTMA hybrids allows flexibility from Stage-III onwards. For 
this we recommend that number of entries particularly for Stage–III and MLT should 
be same for two seasons/two years. Number of entries of the trials and testing 
locations should also be same to have data for two years. 
 Large plot demonstrations of hybrids in many locations have significantly contributed 
to farmer interest and willingness to adopt hybrid technology. Therefore, emphasis 
should be given on demonstrating hybrids in large plots at many locations as 
possible. Multiple field days should be organized regularly in every season and year 
by responsible NARS research programs and their collaborating partners. 
 In discussions with maize scientists and technicians from SME, we learned that their 
seed companies do not own sufficient land to conduct all sets of experimental trials 
provided by the project. In this situation, the seed companies either have to rent land 
to conduct these trials or need to conduct in farmer's fields’ which is not very 
practical for Stage-I to III trial sets. The HTMA partners from Nepal expressed their 
views that it is not practical for them to evaluate large trials common in Stages I, II, 
and III because of large entry numbers and the fact that they do not own land for 
testing. However, these companies can handle stage-III and MLTs. If testing of all 
stage of trial is mandatory even to the seed companies, we recommend that the 
project should either reduce its number of trial sets (from Stage-I or II trials) or 
reduce number of entries. 
 We strongly recommend that an unpublished study on “Combining ability, heterosis 
and G x E interaction in tropical maize under heat stress and optimal environments,”
completed in 2011, be written up and published, and also that more comprehensive 
and focused follow-up studies be conducted ideally lead by a Ph.D. student. We 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT xii
suggest that all four issues listed above be addressed but that priority be given to 
gene action and dosage effects.
Objective 5: Strengthen capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian 
maize breeding programs and local seed companies 
Findings 
The project team organized ten excellent short term training courses, on phenotyping 
for heat stress tolerance in maize, on genomic selection (molecular breeding), and on 
maize seed production. A total of 334 researchers and technical staff (significantly more 
than originally proposed) participated including 206 from India (61.7%), 61 from Nepal 
(18.3%), 35 from Pakistan (10.5%) and 32 from Bangladesh (9.6%). Women
participants in the short-term training courses ranged from 2 (5.7%) in Pakistan to 29 
(15.6%) in India averaging only 13.8% across all workshops. 
A total of 14 students (9 Ph.D. and 5 M.Sc.) from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and USA 
have been supported by the HTMA project to pursue degrees in plant breeding and 
molecular breeding at Purdue University in the USA and at various universities in South 
Asia. Of the total students, 7 Ph.D. students (2 at CIMMYT- India and 5 at Purdue 
University) have been fully supported by the project and the rest are supported for their 
research components. Three Ph.D. and 2 M.Sc. students have already completed their 
degrees. Students interviewed by the evaluation team have expressed full confidence 
that they can apply their new knowledge and skills in molecular breeding and precision 
phenotyping when they return to their home countries. All students interviewed indicated 
that professional short-term training courses organized by the project at CIMMYT￾Hyderabad and partnering countries in South Asia were well organized, well managed 
and very effective in helping trainees to obtain practical knowledge and skills in heat 
stress phenotyping, molecular breeding (genomic selection) and seed production. 
Recommendations 
 We strongly recommend that the short-term training courses be continued so that 
additional researchers/technical staff can benefit. Training is particularly needed for 
seed production (especially inbred line maintenance procedures), and for public 
sector partners in post-harvest technology, product promotion, and marketing. There 
is also high demand for training in molecular breeding. 
 The participation of women in both short and long term training is low and needs to 
be addressed. 
 Consider developing a HTMA hybrid maize seed production system network where 
seed companies and other producers can obtain technical backstopping, training, 
and other support. Additional staff time may be needed to support technical 
assistance on seed systems. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT xiii
 The project should provide additional US Davis model weather stations to Nepal, 
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan in order to generate quality and consistent data 
among the project’s partners. 
Lessons Learned 
 We do not suggest changing the project structure or objectives of HTMA. (EQs 4a
and 8a) 
 Objective 1: Precision phenotyping could be improved by new phenotyping methods 
that look at more traits over a greater number of plant development stages, using 
special sensors mounted on machinery that requires less field labor. (EQ 8b) 
 Objective 2: In field evaluations, individual locations and testers cause variation in 
results, so relaxed statistical thresholds may help identify promising genomic 
regions. (EQ 8b) 
 Objective 4: Expanding seed systems is difficult in the context of limited public 
capacity, conflicting private priorities, and heterogeneity in socioeconomic factors of 
adoption. We recommend that country/region specific practical modalities for hybrid 
seed production should be developed by NARS and seed companies. Line 
evaluations and socio-economic studies should be conducted in additional regions. 
Dedicated, specialist staff are needed. (EQs 4b and 8a) 
 We find that an increase in funding is justified due to rapid expansion in deployment 
activities, unexpected growth in the PPP, number of DH lines entering the research 
pipeline, and high demand for training. (EQ 8c) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 1
1. INTRODUCTION 
Program Background 
Millions of smallholder farmers in South Asia grow maize for subsistence or income 
under rain-fed conditions and the climate is becoming warmer and drier (Prasanna, 
2011). While the demand for maize is significantly increasing due to several factors, 
including changing diets and a rapidly growing poultry sector, maize yields in the major 
maize-growing South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh) remains 
below 3 tons per hectare (FAOSTAT, 2011). At the same time, nearly 80 per cent of the 
maize growing area in this region is rain-fed and highly vulnerable to extreme weather 
events, including drought and high temperatures. Out of the estimated 6 million 
hectares of hybrid maize grown in South Asia, about a million hectares are highly 
vulnerable to high temperature stress especially during flowering. In some of these 
areas, drought and heat stress commonly occur at the same time. Maize varieties with 
tolerance to key abiotic stresses, especially water deficit and high temperatures, will 
play an important role in adaptation of farming communities, especially smallholders, to 
the changing climate (Cairns et al., 2013) 
In order to address these challenges and opportunities the Heat Stress Tolerant Maize 
for South Asia (often shortened to Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia, or HTMA) project was 
initiated in January 2013 to enhance the adaptive capacity of resource-poor farm 
families in South Asia to climatic-change related risks and to increase their food and 
income security through accelerated development and deployment of heat stress 
resilient, high yielding maize hybrids. The program is supported by the Bureau for Food 
Security (BFS) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 
Work under HTMA focuses on the following five objectives: 
1. Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance of maize to identify genes, 
component traits, and mechanisms that predict adaptation to stressful 
environments in South Asia. 
2. Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling adaptation of maize 
to heat stress in the tropical environments of South Asia. 
3. Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection for generating open-source multi￾parental synthetic populations and for further deriving doubled haploid (DH) lines 
with resilience to heat stress. 
4. Deploy heat stress resilient elite maize cultivars in the target agro-ecologies of 
South Asia through a regional alliance of public and private sector partners. 
5. Strengthen capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian maize breeding 
and local seed companies, to sustainably serve climate change-vulnerable maize 
production systems in the tropics. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 2
Led by CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), the project 
includes university partners (Purdue University, University of Agricultural Sciences - 
Raichur, Bihar Agriculture University) national agricultural research partners 
(Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Maize & Millets Research 
Institute/Pakistan, Nepal Agricultural Research Council), and seed companies including 
Pioneer, Ajeet Seeds, and Kaveri Seeds. The project utilizes cutting-edge genomics 
tools to develop heat tolerant maize hybrids that outperform current varieties in the 
target countries. Partnership with private seed companies ensures that new varieties 
are tested in local environments and rapidly disseminated to smallholder farmers. The 
main product of the project is the development and deployment of heat stress resilient 
maize inbred lines and high yielding hybrids with other important agronomic adaptive 
traits. 
The project utilizes an innovative public-private partnership (PPP) to develop and 
deliver heat stress resilient and high-yielding maize cultivars in South Asia. The project 
focuses on leveraging the germplasm base and technical expertise of the lead center 
(CIMMYT) in breeding for abiotic stress tolerance, coupled with the research capacity 
and expertise of the resource partners (Purdue University; Pioneer-Asia; and the 
national programs in four major maize-growing South Asian countries: India, Pakistan, 
Nepal and Bangladesh) and strengths of private seed partners (initially 4, now grown to 
14 companies) in seed production and deployment. The private sector partners of the 
project play a key role in disseminating project products by multiplication of certified or 
quality declared seed of elite, best-bet hybrids, marketing and delivery of these products 
to the targeted maize-based farming communities in South Asia. The project also 
emphasizes strengthening human capital and sustainable local capacity in each of the 
target countries in South Asia for developing and deploying climate resilient maize 
germplasm. 
To accelerate the development and deployment of heat tolerant maize varieties the 
project is using new plant breeding strategies that utilize high-density genotyping based 
on next-generation DNA sequencing technology, genome-wide association studies 
(GWAS), rapid cycle genomic selection (RCGS), doubled haploid (DH) production, and 
field-based precision phenotyping in selected and managed heat stressed sites (Zaidi 
and Cairns, 2011). 
Evaluation Overview 
Evaluation Purpose 
The overall aim of the external performance evaluation of the Heat Tolerant Maize for 
South Asia (HTMA) project (Award # AID-BFS-G-11-00002) was to provide empirical 
evidence to respond to evaluation questions designed to support lessons learned and 
continuous improvement for Bureau for Food Security's work in product development. 
The evaluation team assessed the effectiveness and contributions of the Project 
Management entity, and the progress toward research outputs and outcomes. This 
evaluation provides information and recommendations to USAID/BFS to improve project 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 3
effectiveness, better achieve intended outcomes, and foster greater access to new 
technologies, including high yielding heat stress resilient maize hybrids, to the 
smallholder farmers in South Asia. 
Evaluation Team 
USAID/BFS contracted a two-member external evaluation team (EET) to conduct the 
evaluation of the HTMA project, which is being implemented by CIMMYT in India, 
Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan in South Asia and Bhutan (Bhutan joined in 2015). The 
evaluation team members are independent consultants who are senior maize breeders 
with a combined experience of research for development working in the public and 
private sectors. The evaluation team leader has global experience in maize breeding 
and seed systems in developing countries as well as in the U.S. The other technical 
team member has extensive experience in maize breeding and technology 
dissemination in the South Asia region, particularly Nepal. The team evaluated the 
overall performance of the project and its outputs in light of the project’s specific 
objectives, effectiveness and contributions of the project management, and provided 
recommendations according to the evaluation questions (EQ) in Appendix A. BFS 
Activity Managers and an M&E specialist provided guidance for the evaluation. 
Evaluation Methods 
Questionnaires were designed to project partners and stakeholders that included 
principal investigators (PIs), collaborating scientists, project staff, graduate students, 
and project stakeholders. The questionnaires were intended to answer the evaluation 
questions in the SOW, capturing the themes of project management (technical 
leadership, administration, financial management, monitoring and evaluation) and 
research program (research depth, breadth, rigor, collaboration, outreach and 
technology dissemination; human and institutional capacity building and gender 
inclusion). Evaluation questions on project research were focused on quality of research 
outputs, effectiveness of approaches adopted by the project; contributions to the project 
objectives from each partner, challenges encountered, and seed production of early 
generations, inbred line, hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs). Evaluation 
questions on project management were designed to answer quality of collaboration and 
partnership, research design and implementation, and public-private partnerships. 
Questionnaires were administered in person in a semi–structured interview format. 
Qualitative data (interview data and field notes of project observations) were used to 
address the evaluation questions. 
Data collection was carried out from May 13-15 and May 29-30, 2016 in Nepal by one of 
the evaluation team members and from May 17-25, 2016 in India by both members 
following the Evaluation Plan in Appendix B. Qualitative and quantitative data were 
collected from key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussion (FGDs), field 
observations and meetings with multiple stakeholders during the field visits of the 
evaluation team to India and Nepal. Visits were timed to coincide with the heat stress 
season (per itinerary in Appendix C). Qualitative data (interviews, FGDs, meetings, and 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 4
field notes of project observations) were used to address evaluation questions as 
outlined in the SOW covering research and management questions (Appendix D). Data 
and information were also obtained through the review of HTMA documents (Appendix 
E). Illustrative photos are presented in Appendix F. 
KIIs were carried out at CIMMYT-Hyderabad; University of Agricultural Sciences, (UAS), 
Raichur and Amritsar, Punjab in India from May 17-25, 2016. A semi-structured 
questionnaire was developed for KIIs and FGDs and followed during the interviews. 
HTMA leaders, collaborating project leaders (Co-PIs), collaborating 
scientists/researchers, private sector partners, graduate students and collaborating 
farmers were interviewed. Similarly, in Nepal, the data were taken in National Maize 
Research Program (NMRP), Chitwan, Bara, and Nawalparasi districts from May 13-15, 
2016 and in NARC-RARS, Nepalgunj from May 29-30, 2016. Two sittings of FGDs were 
conducted at Bara district in Nepal while visiting to the HTMA hybrid demonstration 
plots on May 13, 2016. The FGDs were conducted in small groups comprised of five 
farmers and discussion was guided by semi-structured questionnaire. Collective views, 
ideas, opinions, and motivations of the farmers were captured. 
The team attended a meeting organized at CIMMYT-Hyderabad on May 18, 2016 
where the HTMA project leader and project objective coordinators gave briefings. The 
HTMA project leader gave an overview of the project and progress achieved, and the 
coordinators for the five project objectives presented the progress for each objective. 
Discussions were followed after each presentation. The team also attended the 
presentation by the Co-PI of HTMA from UAS, Raichur on May 19, 2016 on project 
activities being conducted in Raichur and Bheemarayanagudi (B.Gudi) in Karnataka, 
India. The university faculty members and graduate students were also present at the 
meeting. Interviews with Co-PI and graduate students were conducted after the 
presentation. 
On May 24, 2016, a wrap up meeting was held at Amritsar, Punjab, where two project 
progress presentations were made by Co-PIs from Bangladesh and Nepal. Moreover, 
the HTMA project leader presented the progress of the project in Pakistan and Bhutan. 
The Co-PIs from Pakistan and Bhutan could not attend the meeting because of visa 
problems. The oversight maize director explained to the team how the project was 
initiated and where it is heading. 
The evaluation team visited selected research sites to see trials and products of heat 
stress tolerant maize inbred lines and hybrids. During the visit, the team discussed with 
selected farmers to learn about their interest and perception on HTMA products and the 
project. The team also met with group of farmers in the field visit site who came to see 
the performance of HTMA hybrids and interacted with them about the project. While 
visiting heat tolerant maize trials, the team made scores for each activity of the trials. A 
simple rating on a 1-5 scale (where 1 = excellent or desirable and 5 = poor or 
undesirable) was administered to estimate the quality of field plot execution. 
Observations were made on overall plot performance, including plant stand, proper 
bordering of plots, phenotypic expression for one or more traits associated with heat 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 5
stress, type and timing of irrigation applications, presence of diseases and/or insects, 
weed control and bird or other animal damage. The team visited the field trials of UAS, 
Raichur on May 19 and B.Gudi in Karnataka on May 20, 2016 and made observations. 
During the observation visits, the team discussed with the collaborating farmers about 
their perception and interest towards the HTMA products and the project. On May 21, 
2016, the team visited the hybrid demonstration fields maintained by Ajeeet seeds in 
Aurangabad, Maharastra. The hybrid demonstration plots and other field trials being 
implemented by Pioneer, Ajeet seeds and Kaveri seeds at Jullandhar, in Punjab were 
also observed by the evaluation team on May 23, 2016. 
One of the evaluation team members visited some HTMA implementation sites in Nepal 
from May 13-15, 2016 including NMRP, Rampur, Nichagad and Dumarwana in Bara 
and Gaindakot in Nawalparsi. The team member observed field trials being 
implemented by NMRP, Rampur and collaborating farmers. The Regional Agricultural 
Research Station (RARS) in Nepalgunj, which is another important HTMA testing site, 
was visited jointly by the evaluation team member with the HTMA project leader on May 
29, 2016. 
 
In addition, the team gathered information and data from project documents. The team 
reviewed HTMA final grant project proposal, Advisory Committee documents, 
proceedings of HTMA annual review and planning meetings (multiple years), project 
planning matrix for monitoring and evaluation, work plans and performance monitoring 
data for all years of the project, project reports (annual and semi-annual reports), project 
publications (e.g., journal articles, research briefs, fact sheets), and documents 
prepared and distributed during the training courses of the project. These documents 
were reviewed and studied prior to site visits in order to obtain comprehensive 
background information on the project and to identify key knowledge gaps. The 
information and data gathered were used in identifying strengths and challenges of the 
project and recommendations were drawn covering the whole range of evaluation 
questions. Quantitative data collected by the evaluation team during the field visits were 
tabulated to see frequency of counts of perception of scientists and farmers. 
This report is organized according to the management structure and by research 
objective, with the Evaluation Questions (EQ) are answered in context. Responses to 
each EQ are marked in the text (e.g., EQ 3b).
Limitations of the Evaluation 
The evaluation team was not able to visit all the project countries. Both members of the 
team visited India where heat stress materials were in the field under the public and 
private sector trials. Moreover, the coordination office of HTMA is located in India 
(CIMMYT-India), which helped to assess the project management. Since one of the 
team members (Dr. Dil Gurung) was from Nepal, trial site visits were made in Nepal to 
complement the observation in India. Dr. David Beck, the other team member and 
leader, could not visit Nepal. Neither team member visited Bangladesh, Pakistan or
Bhutan. Instead, Dr. Gurung interviewed the Co-PIs of Bhutan and Pakistan on May 
27th, 2016 via telephone. The Co-PIs from Bangladesh and Nepal joined the evaluation 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 6
team in Amritsar, Punjab, India and presented the progress and achievement of HTMA 
in their respective countries. The evaluation team did not quantitatively analyze the 
interviewee data, but qualitative results are presented. The role of USAID Missions in 
supporting HTMA objectives (EQ 7b) was not evaluated. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 7
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT EVALUATION
Project Management Findings 
CIMMYT is the implementing partner and has the overall responsibility for project 
coordination and implementation, along with alliance partners and relevant stakeholders 
in the four targeted countries in South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh). 
Bhutan joined as a 5th country in 2015. The CIMMYT office located on the International 
Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus, Hyderabad, India 
serves as the hub for project coordination and administration. The CIMMYT local 
support staff at Hyderabad support the HTMA project including corresponding 
operational and management costs of the office. The EET found the HTMA project 
management to be sound, with capable and dedicated leaders, and functioning very 
well. Over 90% of the interviewees expressed their strong support for project 
management including their excellent vision and oversight, as well as effective 
coordination and communication with HTMA partners. (EQ 5a) 
Project Leader 
The Project Leader (Fig. 1) coordinates overall activities of the partnership to deliver on 
project objectives as well as identifies and addresses potential obstacles to project 
implementation that may impact timely delivery of milestones. Also, the Project Leader 
serves as the primary project liaison with donors, the Project Management Committee 
(PMC) and the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The HTMA project leader and overall 
coordinator is a Senior Scientist in the CIMMYT Asian Regional Maize Program based 
at ICRISAT. He has a strong background in physiology and breeding and worked with 
CIMMYT on selection for various abiotic stresses including drought, low nitrogen, 
waterlogging, and now heat. He is from the Asian region having worked for 10 years 
with the Indian national agricultural research system (NARS) and almost 9 years for 
CIMMYT. He received universal praise from 100% of all interviewees for his character 
and ability including his professional yet collegial interactions, willingness to help, 
timeliness in responding to needs/problems, effectiveness in directing research efforts, 
and overall excellent communication.
Project Office 
The Project Office is responsible for the collation, review and submission of technical 
and financial reports on schedule to USAID. To allow for quality up-to-date assessments 
of the progress in meeting target milestones, annual review and planning meetings are 
organized involving representatives of all project partner organizations. These meetings 
include a participatory review of the previous year's results, development of annual work 
plans for the coming year, assessment of training needs, annual budget revision, and 
the PSC meeting to review the overall status of the project operations and to provide 
necessary guidance and direction, as needed. More than 70% of the interviewees from 
both the public and private sector expressed the multiple benefits of attending the 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 8
annual meetings, particularly the opportunity presented to interact personally with 
project partners both within and beyond their countries. 
FIGURE 1. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR THE HTMA PROJECT. 
Graphic courtesy of HTMA. 
Project Management 
Clearly, the coordination and management of the diverse group of public and private 
sector partners in the project requires significant skills. At the initiation of the project, 
this included 10 organizations with varying degrees of experience, expertise and 
perspectives. Today, the project has an additional 12 partners including one public 
Project 
Leader (PL) 
& Overall 
Coordinator 
(CIMMYT)
Project 
Oversight 
Director & 
Chair of PSC 
(CIMMYT)
Project 
Steering 
Committee￾PSC (leaders 
from NARS, PS, 
USAID, & PL)
Project 
Partners 
(Universities, 
Private Sector, 
NARS) 
Project 
Management 
Committee￾PMC (Principal 
Investigators & 
PL)
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 9
(NARS-Bhutan) and 11 private sector. The CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) has 
considerable experience in effectively coordinating several large public-private alliances 
through projects such as DTMA (Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa); the Affordable, 
Accessible, Asian Drought Tolerant Maize; and the IMIC-Asia (International Maize 
Improvement Consortium in Asia), which is a partnership with 28 seed companies in 
Asia. 
Project managers and partners face special opportunities and challenges in the design 
and implementation of the HTMA project. The project is a unique blend of upstream and 
downstream research where a diverse set of partners from various countries and the 
public and private sector are involved in the research design and execution of the 
project. The project benefits from CIMMYT’s experience in other CIMMYT global maize 
Projects in Asia and Africa. This includes the use of elite germplasm (i.e., drought 
tolerant, disease resistant) with associated genotypic and phenotypic information from 
previous projects. The excellent repeatable heat stress phenotyping protocols 
developed by HTMA are modeled on CIMMYT’s work on drought tolerance. Application 
of the protocols has led to a significant increase in phenotyping capacity for heat stress 
tolerance on-station and on-farm in the region. Successful research implementation has 
been catalyzed by the HTMA project’s training of over 300 individuals in phenotyping for 
heat stress tolerance and the application of molecular breeding tools. 
Project Management Committee 
The Project Steering Committee (PSC) provides the necessary guidance and oversight 
to the overall project management and coordination. The PSC is chaired by the Director 
of CIMMYT GMP and the members include leaders (or their representatives) of the 
NARS of the four partner countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal and 
Bangladesh), one senior representative of the private sector companies, one 
representative of USAID, and the Project Leader (ex-officio, Secretary). The PSC meets 
in person, at least once per year during project annual review and planning meetings, 
and also by web-based interactions, as necessary. 
The HTMA project oversight director and chair of the PSC committee has the 
background and skills that serve well in these roles. He is from the Asian region and 
formerly was an Indian team leader for the Asian Maize Biotechnology Network 
(AMBIONET). Currently he is CIMMYT’s GMP director where he has served as 
oversight director for various Asian regional projects. Thus, he has excellent experience 
managing global projects, a strong background in biotechnology, good familiarity with 
the maize crop and its environments particularly in Asia, and importantly good working 
relationships with many of the projects partners. 
One clear indication of the commitment of the HTMA project oversight director and 
project leader, especially in light of the projects success in developing competitive heat 
tolerant hybrids in such a short period of time, is the extent to which they leveraged 
resources from other projects to in a sense “keep the ball rolling” while the HTMA 
moved ahead of schedule into the product deployment stage. Table 1 shows a total 
estimate of almost $380,000 coming from three different project sources. These monies 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 10
were utilized for a range of HTMA project activities including genotyping, socio￾economic studies (including investigating seed costs and farmer demand), product 
deployment and seed production, plus capacity building. 
Tracking and assessing project progress against targeted milestones and mitigating 
concerns or challenges that may arise is the responsibility of the PMC. The PMC 
includes the Project Leader and Principal Investigators (PIs) from the partner 
institutions. 
The PMC meets on a regular basis (bi-monthly WebEx/Skype meeting) to discuss and 
obtain updates on project activities and bottlenecks, for taking corrective measures, or 
to submit issues to the PSC for their intervention. Two project monitoring teams, each 
including at least three PMC members and one PSC member, have been formed during 
the annual review meetings. These teams make monitoring visits at appropriate times 
during the maize crop season to review onsite the activities and progress made, 
followed by submitting a report highlighting lessons learned to the PSC. 
Project Planning Matrix 
The project has developed a detailed planning matrix (results framework), which maps 
how activities and inputs translate into specific milestones/deliverables and outcomes 
(leading to impacts). This has been an effective tool particularly for the PMC to regularly 
review attainment of the milestones and outcomes, reasons for any divergence and 
suggested measures for real-time corrective action. 
Based on the documentation provided to us and the interviews, the EET believes that 
the design, representation, and mandate of the PMC and PSC committees are all 
sound. Unfortunately, our team visit to India did not coincide with the annual review 
meeting so we cannot report on their work in action. Most interviewees had very positive 
comments about the project management but few specifically mentioned the work of the 
PMC or PSC. The project monitoring team idea is simple and novel and appears to 
have worked well. Finally, the new project website should significantly facilitate 
communication & coordination between management and project partners. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 11
TABLE 1. FUNDS LEVERAGED FROM OTHER SOURCES FOR HTMA ACTIVITIES. 
Activity Funds 
(US$) Source
Objective 2: GWAS studies 
1. Genotyping of 343 CIMMYT Asia lines in 
heat tolerant association mapping (HTAM) 
panel 
2. Genotyping of 160 CIMMYT Africa lines 
in heat tolerant association mapping 
(HTAM) panel 
3. Genotyping of 1200 DH lines derived 
from 10 heat tolerant x susceptible bi￾parental pedigree populations 
Objective 4.1: Socio economic studies
4. Cost of household survey and focused 
group discussion at four sites in two states 
(Punjab and UP) in India
5. Time for two scientists, one socio￾economist and one crop modelling specialist 
(10% each, total 20%) for three years
Objective 4.2: Product deployment and 
seed system work
6. Cost of bulk seed production of selected 
heat tolerant hybrids for MLTS and on-farm 
demonstrations/strip trials (@ approx. 
$40,000/year for years 2, 3, and 4)
7. Cost of seed production research for 
parental lines of selected hybrids (@ 
approx. $20,000/yr for two years)
8. Staff time (50%) of one nationally 
recruited scientist for three years (@ 
approx. $9,000/yr)
9. Staff time (50%) of one field technician 
for three years (@ approx. $4,000/yr)
Objective 5: Capacity building
10. Research cost, admission and tuition 
fee
12,005
3,710
42,000
52,000
64,500
120,000
40,000
27,000
12,000
6,280
Abiotic Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia 
(ATMA) project funded by GIZ, Germany 
Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) 
project co-funded by USAID and Gates 
foundation 
CRP-MAIZE
Abiotic Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia 
(ATMA) project funded by GIZ, Germany 
CRP-MAIZE
CRP-MAIZE
CRP-MAIZE
CRP-MAIZE
CRP-MAIZE
CRP-MAIZE
TOTAL 379,495
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 12
Project Partnerships 
The HTMA Project Leader describes the quality of collaboration and partnerships in the 
project as the “Perfect Alliance” (Fig. 2). The observations by the EET and most 
interviewees confirm strong project partnerships between CIMMYT, universities, public 
sector NARS, and private companies including both multi-national corporations (MNCs) 
and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). CIMMYT, with its decades of experience in 
research and development collaborative activities in the Asian region and global is 
clearly the leader and key facilitator of the project. Additionally, they are a major supplier 
of technology, particularly germplasm, phenotyping techniques for abiotic stress 
tolerance, and training. The EET found excellent collaboration between CIMMYT and 
US and Indian universities highlighted by the impressive number of graduate students 
(11) conducting their research with the project. Many of the Asian graduate students 
expressed their appreciation to CIMMYT for the opportunity to conduct their research on 
solid scientific themes that have practical importance in the region. Scientists 
representing private seed companies expressed their gratitude to CIMMYT and HTMA 
partners for the quality and comprehensive nature of the genotypic and phenotypic data 
being generated by the project. 
FIGURE 2. THE “PERFECT ALLIANCE” OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN HTMA. 
Graphic courtesy of PH Zaidi, CYMMYT 
The Purdue – CIMMYT – partnership is an excellent example of the quality collaboration 
that exists in the HTMA project. Purdue professors and graduate students, and the 
HTMA leadership and partners have developed excellent working relationships. Dr. 
Tuinstra, PI from Purdue, was involved in the development of the project and has 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 13
traveled to India typically twice per year since project inception to attend annual 
meetings, interact with project management and partners, and to take data in field trials. 
He himself stated that “the project is extremely well run and professional” and that 
CIMMYT-Hyderabad are “great hosts for his students”. He currently has five graduate 
students and one post-doctoral fellow working on the project many of whom spend 1-2 
months/year in India conducting their research and assisting with other aspects of the 
project. He credits the project leader for much of the HTMA success. The Purdue PI
believes that the HTMA PPP is a uniquely functional alliance unlike many of the 
“clumsy” partnerships he has observed in his career. The EET found that the Purdue PI 
has provided excellent scientific leadership, a professional work ethic, quality 
interactions with project personnel, and a healthy enthusiasm for the project’s research 
activities and results. The EET team also applauds the support given by the Project 
Leader and his staff to the Purdue team. 
Major Contributions of Project Partners (EQ 6a) 
The major partners contribute to the achievement of HTMA objectives in the following 
ways: 
CIMMYT 
- Germplasm – inbred lines for association mapping panel, elite tester lines, 
synthetics, and hybrids (Obj.1-4)
- Field based heat stress phenotyping (Obj.1-4)
- Implementation of GWAS (Obj.2) and RCGS scheme (Obj.3) 
- Coordination of multi-location testing for identifying best-bet products (Obj.4) 
- Organization of training/capacity building workshops (Obj.5) 
- Project M&E, coordination, and reporting 
- Portion of salaries (in-kind) of key scientists and technicians 
Purdue University 
- Germplasm – Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from elite temperate heat 
tolerant by susceptible lines and ex-Plant Varietal Protection (PVP) temperate 
lines (Obj.1-4)
- Expertise of professors and graduate students to address the dissection of heat 
stress tolerance in maize to identify genes/quantitative trail loci (QTL), 
component traits, and associated physiological/molecular mechanisms (Obj.1) 
- Training/capacity building (Obj.5) 
- Major financial support to 4 Ph.D. students and 2 professors 
NARS Institutions in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, & Pakistan 
- Working with national seed agencies to facilitate the importation of seed and the 
registration/release of HTMA hybrids (Obj.4) 
- Phenotyping of association mapping panel (Obj.2) 
- Participation in GS-based (genomic selection) breeding for deriving elite heat 
stress tolerant maize synthetics, inbreds, and hybrids (Obj.3) 
- Multi-location testing for identifying best-bet hybrids, followed by product 
deployment often in collaboration with private companies (Obj.4) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 14
- Significant in-kind support for field phenotyping of trials and nurseries including 
part of salaries of scientific and technical staff plus field labor. 
Pioneer Hi-Bred (MNC), Ajeet and Kaveri Seeds, India (SMEs) 
- Field-based heat stress phenotyping (Obj.2-4)
- Participation in GS-based breeding for deriving elite heat stress tolerant maize 
synthetics, inbreds, and hybrids (Obj.3) 
- Multi-location testing for identifying best-bet hybrids, followed by product 
deployment (Obj.4) 
- Major additional contribution by Pioneer is the generation and sharing of DH lines 
(currently over 2,000 with a commitment of 5,000 by completion of project) 
- Significant in-kind support for field phenotyping of trials and nurseries including 
part of salaries of scientific and technical staff plus field labor. 
Interviewees consistently expressed the benefits and effectiveness of the project PPP. 
Clearly, Pioneer’s generous commitment to produce thousands of DH lines is a major 
contribution to the project. Two professors from UAS, Raichur, India (who are PI and co￾PI to the project) indicated that their new interactions with the private sector have been 
very stimulating and that observing the private sectors efficiency and productivity was 
very motivating. 
In Bangladesh, it is much easier for Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI, a 
NARS) to import seed than the private sector companies. BARI has provided excellent 
support to private companies in Bangladesh to import breeder parental line seed and 
hybrids for multi-location yield trials. Additionally, BARI has organized numerous training 
courses which have strengthened the local SMEs in their R&D activities. The NARS in 
Nepal and Pakistan are working with their National Seed Boards to facilitate the 
importation of seed and the registration/release of HTMA hybrids in support of local 
SMEs. Additionally, the NMRP (Nepal) and Maize & Millets Research Program (MMRP, 
Pakistan) have presented a series of training courses to the benefit of many including 
private seed companies. 
Opportunities exist for the projects PPP to further research, capacity building and 
dissemination goals. In the rapidly expanding field of molecular biology and 
bioinformatics expect opportunities to arise for project partners to implement new 
molecular breeding and statistical analysis tools to further research goals. Over 80% of 
the interviewees highlighted the benefit of the projects training programs while at the 
same time requesting more particularly in the area of molecular breeding and seed 
production. 
The project encountered the following issues (e.g., legal, contractual, managerial, per 
EQ 6d) in operationalization of the public-private partnerships: 
 Pioneer was concerned about germplasm sharing clause in the HTMA research 
collaboration agreement where they were to contribute inbred lines to the HTAM 
panel for GWAS. Pioneer decided to share only the genotyping data of their lines 
and not the lines per se. Project addressed this issue by excluding Pioneer lines 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 15
from HTAM panel, and later agreed for use of Pioneer lines only in joint hybrids, i.e. 
HTMA (CIMMYT) line x Pioneer line crosses. 
 Vibha Seeds was one of the founder partners in the project with USD 200K/year in￾cash contribution to the project. However, in the early stage of the project the 
company went into bankruptcy in India and thus ended their partnership under 
HTMA. The project addressed this issue by opening the project to new private sector 
partners. Thus, in 2015, 11 seed companies from South Asia joined the project as 
new partners with significant in-kind contribution, if not in cash (which was 
acceptable to USAID). 
USAID Contributions to the HTMA & PPP 
The support of USAID/BFS toward achieving the HTMA project objectives was 
considered essential and gratefully acknowledged by the project management team. 
This contribution includes: 
- Partial financial support for salaries and allowances of key project scientific and 
administrative staff 
- Supplying operational funds for genotyping and phenotyping 
- Providing financial resources for conducting project annual meetings and training 
workshops 
USAID/BFS representative Dr. Nora Lapitan was involved from the start in the 
development of the HTMA project. Since then, she has been involved in project 
implementation and monitoring through regular participation in annual meetings, field 
tours, and serving on the Project Steering Committee. The baton has now been passed 
to Dr. Hailu Tefera, who recently attended his first HTMA annual meeting in Kathmandu, 
Nepal. The role of USAID Missions in supporting HTMA objectives was not evaluated. 
Gender in the HTMA Project 
The HTMA project both in its design and implementation is giving attention to gender. 
The major targeted outcome of the project is to develop and deliver heat stress tolerant 
and high yielding maize cultivars in South Asia where millions of men and women
farmers grow maize for subsistence or income. The welfare of women and children in 
local households in the region is directly dependent on maize yields and negatively 
affected by abiotic stresses such as heat and drought. The project has made a major 
effort to involve women smallholder farmers in participatory variety evaluation and on￾farm variety testing/demonstration activities at the many HTMA sites across South Asia. 
Interviewees from all participating countries commented on the good participation by 
women in the on-farm variety testing evaluations during field days where women 
provided valuable feedback in selection of maize hybrids including traits that are 
particularly important to women such as grain texture and other factors related to post￾harvest processing characteristics (Fig. 10).
The project has not been as successful in gender-equitable staffing. Currently, only one 
woman grad student, based at UAS, Raichur, is working directly on the HTMA project. 
Several interviewees commented that it is difficult to find trained women scientists who 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 16
are working at project HQ in Hyderabad. Prior to this year all graduate students working 
on the HTMA project were men. However, we were happy to learn that two women MS 
graduates are willing to work in the field. Over half of BARI, Bangladesh scientists are 
women but only one is working on the project. Apparently, women prefer to remain at 
BARI headquarters rather than work at outlying locations. A recently posted CIMMYT 
HTMA project position had 16 applicants, but only one was a woman. Women’s
participation in training activities has been variable but overall low ranging from 5.7% in 
Pakistan to 34.3% in Bangladesh. Finally, many of the interviewees stated that the 
project outputs are largely neutral from a gender perspective. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 17
Project Management Conclusions 
The project structure, management, and design are on solid ground. The leadership and 
direction provided by the oversight director and project leader are particularly 
noteworthy. CIMMYT management and staff have faithfully provided guidance, 
germplasm, training, and technical support to help project partners and accomplish 
project objectives. The annual meeting/workshop provides a key opportunity for project 
management and partners to meet face to face and discuss results, plans, and 
challenges. (EQ 5a) Coordination and communication among the project partners in the 
public and private sector (PPP) is unusually good and most HTMA partners have kept 
or exceeded their commitments to the project. (EQ 5b) 
Despite the stated intentions of many, and the two women graduate students (out of a 
total of 14) that joined the project for the first time this year, the participation of women 
at all levels of the project is low. (EQ 5a) 
Many opportunities exist to strengthen project partnerships and improve communication 
particularly for partners based in smaller countries. NARS scientists particularly from 
Nepal feel overshadowed by their giant neighbor to the east in their participation in the 
HTMA project. Several interviewees particularly from Nepal expressed the need to 
improve coordination among partners within countries such as between seed 
companies, cooperatives, collaborating farmers, and extension agencies. Concerns 
expressed by interviewees from the smaller project countries such as Nepal and Bhutan 
were that in some cases the number and/or size of the field trials were difficult for them 
to handle. At the same time, some of the same partners expressed the need for more 
locations of relatively large plot on-farm trial/demonstrations to both obtain more 
information on hybrid performance and allow greater farmer exposure to these materials 
in farmer’s fields. (EQ 5b) 
The most recent project training course on seed production and business management, 
which included major contributions from the private sector on the teaching side, is a 
good model for future courses. The private sector’s significant investment in this training 
course, including covering the travel expenses of participants from their companies, was 
a major benefit. (EQ 5b) 
Project managers are challenged for time and resources needed to pursue both the 
upstream research identifying candidate genes for underlying heat tolerant mechanisms 
and for downstream research deploying superior heat tolerant hybrids, particularly given 
the unexpectedly high number of top-performing hybrids under heat stress in the first 
wave, and the addition of 11 private sector partners resulting in the project being thrust 
into the deployment phase well in advance of the original project plan. (EQ 5c) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 18
Project Management Recommendations 
 We do not recommend changes in the project management structure, which is 
functioning very well, except that the growth of private sector partners from 3 to 14 
may require increasing the number of senior private sector representatives on the 
PSC from 1 to 3 (EQ 4a). 
 Project management has leveraged funds from several sources to help finance the 
extra deployment work but we recommend that consideration be given to increasing 
staff and resource allocations. Our first priority for staffing increases would be to 
provide the project leader, who bears a heavy responsibility for the project in 
addition to his other duties, with a scientist assistant. (EQ 5a) 
 Project management needs to strengthen coordination with and participation among 
partners particularly the smaller project country NARS outside of India. We 
recommend that the project management give this high priority and implement more 
joint monitoring of on-going activities in these regions, exchange visits of 
researchers and technical staff, and provide further training opportunities for 
partners in the smaller project countries. Allocating a scientist/assistant to work with 
the project leader would also allow this team to increase communication and visits to 
these countries. (EQs 5b, 6c) 
 Despite the stated intentions of many, the participation of women at all levels of the 
project (including management, scientists, graduate students, and participants in 
training programs) is low. The gender imbalance remains and needs to be 
addressed immediately. (EQ 6c) 
 Based on partners with differing cultures and mandates (both because of 
country/region and/or public/private sector) the project has the ongoing challenge to 
build further trust and understanding among its diverse collaborators. We 
recommend that project leaders need to continually look for complementarities and 
ways to further strengthen communication and relationships among public-private 
sector scientists/leaders. Unity is very hard to build but easy to rupture. It is also 
important that all partners bring something significant to the table to contribute to the 
project. We also encourage partners to have a greater willingness to share 
information and technology, particularly the private sector in the area of seed 
production research and product deployment. (EQ 6b) 
 Interaction between BFS and the HTMA can be maintained by continuing regular 
attendance at the annual meeting, site visits, maintaining close communication and 
looking together for ways and resources to better achieve project objectives. (EQ 7a) 
 Future external reviews could be improved by the following suggestions (EQ 8c): 
- Schedule the evaluation earlier in the project phase 
- Consider having 3 rather than only 2 external evaluation team members 
- Provide review team more time to visit additional project countries 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 19
- Allow at least one reviewer the opportunity to attend the project annual meeting
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 20
Project Management Lessons Learned 
In an introductory presentation of the HTMA project, the project leader showed a slide 
entitled “the perfect alliance” referring to the complementarity and quality of 
collaboration among the public and private sector participants in the project (Fig. 2). 
This lesson learned about the importance of the PPP was stated in the following 
insightful way by an interviewee from the public sector: 
“Overall an excellent complementary approach that works best with SME. We 
have realized many benefits from the PPP in terms of exchange of knowledge, 
ideas, strategies for product development, marketing of the product, etc. 
Strengths of the public institutions includes: trained manpower to conduct 
research, capacity building of students and visibility of the work through 
publications in standard research journals. However, once we develop a hybrid it 
is very difficult for us to disseminate the hybrid through the seed chain over large 
areas. In contrast the strength of the private sector institutions is in scaling up 
released hybrids through efficient seed production, branding, marketing and their 
wide network of seed system specialists. Interactions are more difficult with large 
companies with extensive R&D who often have more reservations and 
restrictions on collaboration.” 
One of the major challenges for the HTMA project is the breadth of its objectives which 
span from upstream research identifying candidate genes for underlying heat tolerant 
mechanisms to downstream research of deploying superior heat tolerant hybrids. 
Achieving these research goals require major investments of resources and time. The 
remarkable progress made by the project, now in its fifth and final year, is a testament 
to the dedication and hard work of management, scientists, and staff. As the key 
targeted fruits of the project (i.e. candidate genes and superior lines and hybrids) are 
just beginning to be identified, we highly recommend that the project be extended to a 
second phase. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 21
3. RESEARCH PROJECT EVALUATION 
Research under HTMA focuses on the five interrelated objectives (Fig. 3): 
1. Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance of maize to identify genes, 
component traits, and mechanisms that predict adaptation to stressful 
environments in South Asia. 
2. Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling adaptation of maize 
to heat stress in the tropical environments of South Asia. 
3. Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection for generating open-source multi￾parental synthetic populations and for further deriving doubled haploid (DH) lines 
with resilience to heat stress. 
4. Deploy heat stress resilient elite maize cultivars in the target agro-ecologies of 
South Asia through a regional alliance of public and private sector partners. 
5. Strengthen capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian maize breeding 
and local seed companies, to sustainably serve climate change-vulnerable maize 
production systems in the tropics. 
For each objective, evaluation findings, conclusions, recommendations, and lessons 
learned are presented below. EQs 1 and 3 are addressed with high specificity in the 
“Findings” section under each Objective. Interpretations and judgments (EQ 2) based 
on these findings are in “Conclusions,” and proposed activities for HTMA management 
based on these conclusions are in “Recommendations.” Implications for design changes 
for this or similar projects (EQ 4) are in “Lessons Learned” sections. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 22
 
FIGURE 3. FLOW DIAGRAM OF HTMA OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, PATHWAYS, PRODUCTS,
AND IMPACT
Graphic courtesy of HTMA 
Application of 
molecular breeding 
tools
Multi-location trials
Precision phenotyping 
under heat stress
Double haploid 
production
Products - Early generation line 
bulks, elite lines, synthetics, and 
hybrids
Further 
breeding
Seed Production
Demonstration and Promotion -
On-Farm Trials, Field Days
Farmer adoption of heat 
tolerant maize
Identify and validate 
favorable genes/haplotypes 
for heat tolerance
Dissect expression of heat 
tolerance (genes, component 
traits, mechanisms)
Maize Germplasm
Obj. 1 Obj. 2
Obj. 2 &
3
Obj. 4
Obj. 4 
Obj. 4 
Obj. 5
Training in precision 
phenotyping, molecular 
breeding & seed 
production
Obj. 3 &
4
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 23
Objective 1 
Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance to identify component traits, 
genes, and genetic loci that predict or confer adaptation to stressful 
environments in South Asia. 
Very little is known about the biochemical and physiological mechanisms that contribute 
to the expression of field heat tolerance in maize and other crops. However, one key 
cellular response to heat stress is associated with changes in membrane fluidity (Sung 
et al., 2003). Several studies at Purdue University have shown genetic variation in 
maize for membrane lipid composition and heat tolerance. A team from Purdue 
University, led by Dr. Mitch Tuinstra, are key project partners who have taken the lead 
addressing Objective 1.
Findings 
 In a major project study tissue samples from the HTAM panel (described in greater 
detail under Objective 2) were collected from replicated heat stress and optimal 
condition trials, lipid sample extracted, and submitted for lipidome analyses at the 
Kansas Lipidomics Center at Kansas State University. Data received on lipid profile 
(saturated and unsaturated lipids) and statistical analyses of lipidomics dataset were 
completed, indicating that lipid profiles are heritable. A total of 236 molecules were 
identified from each inbred, of these the most significant 112 were selected for 
further analysis. 
 DGDG (digalactosyldiacylglycerol) lipids are known for their involvement in thermal 
tolerance in plants. The galactolipid unsaturation ratio (DGDG ratio) is the ratio of 
36:6 (36 carbons: 6 unsaturations) molecules to 36:5 (36 carbons: 5 unsaturations) 
molecules. As the saturations increases under heat stress, the number of the 36:5 
molecules will increase leading to a reduction in the galactolipid unsaturation ratio. 
Correlation analysis was carried-out between grain yield of HTAM panel test 
testcrosses under optimum temperature and heat stress, with different galactolipid 
molecules produced by the inbreds under heat stress. Under heat stress, the yield of 
the testcrosses shows a significant negative correlation (-0.39) with the DGDG 
unsaturation ratio, as opposed to yield under optimal conditions (-0.19 correlation), 
suggesting that yield under heat stress correlates with an increase in the saturation 
levels of DGDG lipids. Thus the hypothesis was proposed that greater saturation of 
membranes at high temperatures contributes to improved stability. 
 GWAS for lipidome profiles identified numerous peaks for lipid saturation data. A 
candidate gene analyses for GWAS peaks indicated a number of single nucleotide 
polymorphisms (SNPs) and QTLs showing a significant association (Fig. 4). 
Candidate genes were identified for many of these loci (e.g. structural genes 
involved in lipid metabolism such as fatty acid desaturases and head group 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 24
modification). Transposon knockouts of FAD8 candidate genes have been identified. 
These two loci were not only detected by association mapping in the HTAM but 
independently by linkage analyses in bi-parental populations (Fig. 4, blue arrows).
Preliminary results indicate these transposon mutants have lipid saturation 
phenotypes and on-going field studies in Asia suggest changes in heat stress 
tolerance. 
FIGURE 4. MANHATTAN PLOT SHOWING GENETIC BASIS FOR LEAF LIPID METABOLISM IN 
MAIZE
The plot shows marker associations for lipid unsaturation index (DGDG 36:6/36:5) in 
maize leaves collected in managed stress field trials in Hyderabad India in 2014. 
Vertical green bars indicate candidate genes associated with leaf lipid metabolism in 
maize. Horizontal purple bars show the positions of QTL peaks detected for lipid 
unsaturation index measured in bi-parental populations of the Nested Association 
Mapping Panel of maize. Red arrows show marker associations detected by QTL and 
GWAS analyses that coincide with candidate genes. Green arrows show marker 
associations detected by GWAS associations that are coincident with known candidate 
genes for this trait. Graphic courtesy of HTMA. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 25
 Populations for QTL mapping were formed to validate results of linkage analysis for 
heat-stress tolerance by GWAS. Backcross populations were developed using three 
heat stress tolerant tropical maize inbreds as donors and B73 as the recurrent 
susceptible parent. Additionally, RILs were formed based on the heat susceptible by 
tolerant lines (B73 x Mo17), (B73 x B97) and (B73 x CML322). Lines from these 
populations evaluated under heat stress in Hyderabad, India in one or two years 
showed significant variation for heat stress tolerance. QTL analysis for heat stress 
tolerance traits and profiles of the maize lipidome indicate several significant 
genomic regions associated with heat stress tolerant phenotypes. Several of these 
regions were also detected in the GWAS panel. 
 A second major experiment looked at RNA-sequence data to examine global gene 
expression patterns of heat-tolerant and susceptible lines under optimal and high￾temperature conditions to identify differentially regulated genes. Five lines with 
contrasting patterns of heat stress tolerance or susceptibility (Fig. 5) were planted in 
a growth chamber study to characterize gene expression patterns under optimal and 
several heat stress treatments. Bioinformatic analysis of RNAseq data showed 
significant variation in gene expression at each temperature treatment and among 
genotypes (Fig. 5) Quantitative PCR was used to validate the RNAseq studies and a 
replicated field trial under heat stress used to confirm heat stress response. Based 
on these results, the project proposed a first hypothesis on the gene networks that 
confer tolerance to heat stress in maize, and identified potential candidate 
genes. Work is ongoing to validate these genes using transposon knockouts. Field 
trials in Asia this year suggest that several of the knockout mutants show sensitivity 
to high temperature stress. 
 The project is using transposon tagged mutations for functional characterization of 
candidate genes for heat tolerance. Genes of interest include those associated with 
abiotic stress tolerance in the literature plus those discovered in the HTMA project. 
Growth chamber and field studies of 10 genes known to play a role in abiotic stress 
tolerance showed no clear heat stress phenotypes. New transposon tagged mutants 
of maize are now being developed for additional candidate genes identified by 
GWAS, linkage analysis, and RNAseq profiles. QTL and GWAS candidates include: 
Ch1FAD8-B, Ch1FAD8-C, Ch9FAD7-A. RNAseq candidates include: BAG, beta￾galactoidase, CLB2, Fes1A-Fes1C, HSP26, MYB4, PLC6, PLC-like. 
 As maize has two (duplicate) Co-PIs of many genes, validation by knockout with 
transposons has been difficult. To address this problem, project scientists are also 
knocking out candidate genes in sorghum because it has less genome duplication. 
They are looking at knockouts of several candidate genes in sorghum including 
the FAD7 and FAD8 genes which are prime candidate genes previously identified by 
the project in maize. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 26
FIGURE 5. RNA EXPRESSION OF MAIZE LEAVES EXPOSED TO OPTIMAL HEAT AND STRESSED 
CONDITIONS
Graphic courtesy of M. Tuinstra, Purdue University 
Conclusions 
The research work lead by Dr. Tuinstra and colleagues on the project has made a major 
contribution to the basic science of heat tolerance in maize. They have shown that heat 
and drought tolerance are not the same and that the lipid composition in the cellular 
membranes (particularly the chloroplasts) are critical to the stability of maize under heat 
stress. They have used state of the art technologies such as lipidome analysis, RNA 
sequence profiling, and transposon tagged mutations to search for the biochemical and 
genetic mechanisms responsible for heat tolerance. They have applied GWAS, QTL 
mapping, and linkage analysis to identify candidate genes for heat tolerance. 
Recommendations 
 As quick as is practically possible, we recommend that the various on-going studies 
should be completed, particularly those focusing on identifying candidate genes, and 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 27
published in referred journals. Research manuscripts currently in the draft stage 
include: 
“Genetic architecture of the leaf lipidome in nested association mapping 
populations of maize” Ryan Gibson, Rajdeep Khangura, Mitch Tuinstra, and Guri 
Jopal 
“Maize tolerance to heat stress is modulated by differential transcriptional 
response” Nicola Carraro, Rajdeep Khangura, Ross Zhan, Mitch Tuinstra, and 
Guri Jopal 
“Galactolipid saturation and remodeling associated with field-based high 
temperature tolerance in maize” Ryan Gibson et al. 2017 
 We recommend that the project consider further sampling the 300+ ex-PVP lines 
that the Purdue PI currently has in his Purdue nursery (only 23 have been used to 
date in the project) as sources of earliness, yield potential, and heat and drought 
tolerance. Many of these lines are also available crossed to African drought tolerant 
subtropical lines. 
Lessons Learned
The precision phenotyping protocol for maize under heat stress developed by the 
project requires extensive labor in the field over multiple locations to measure a series 
of traits at particular points in time. However, the maize growth cycle is long and 
important changes in plants under heat stress may occur even over the course of a 
given day (Fig. 6). 
 New phenotype methods (phenomics) look at more traits over a greater number of 
plant development stages but require less field labor (Fig. 7Figure 7; “Strategic 
study” 2014; White et al. 2012; Furbank and Tester 2011). These techniques involve 
the use of special sensors mounted on tractors, drones, or other devices (Fig. 8). 
 The use of phenomics approaches should be explored to capture key responses 
without inordinate expenditures of time and labor. Project collaborator Dr. Tuinstra is 
currently conducting research in this area at Purdue and would be an excellent 
resource to explore the applicability to HTMA. (EQ 8b) 
 With the added work on Phenomics and associated crop modeling and statistical 
analysis, we recommend that the project hire a Bio-statistical/phenomics/modeling 
expert (at 1.0 FTE). (EQ 8b) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 28
FIGURE 6. THERMAL VARIABILITY OF A CORN FIELD OVER THE COURSE OF A DAY
Thermal images acquired over the corn field at 0.4-m pixel resolution showing the Tc – 
T changes at four different times of the day. The greatest thermal variability between 
corn variety plots is obtained at midday, continuing during the afternoon. Image 
courtesy of J.A. Berni, 2009.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 29
Image courtesy of J.W. White, 2012 
FIGURE 7. DIAGRAM OF POSSIBLE DATA FLOWS OVER THE LIFE CYCLE OF AN ANNUAL SEED 
CROP
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 30
FIGURE 8. EXAMPLE OF SENSORS MOUNTED ON A HIGH-CLEARANCE TRACTOR
High clearance tractor in operation over young cotton plants at Maricopa, AZ. 
Replicated sets of sensors allow simultaneous measurement of canopy height, 
temperature, and spectral reflectance at three bandwidths. Image courtesy of J.N. 
Cobb, 2014. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 31
Objective 2 
Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling adaptation of maize 
to heat stress in the tropical environments of South Asia. 
Our use of the term haplotypes refers to a group of genes within an organism that was 
inherited together from a single parent. The word "haplotype" is derived from the word 
"haploid," which describes cells with only one set of chromosomes, and from the word 
"genotype," which refers to the genetic makeup of an organism. GWAS, in which more 
than a million SNPs may be assayed in hundreds of individuals, represents a powerful 
new tool for investigating the genetic architecture of complex traits. 
Findings 
 GWAS, based on high-density genotyping (genotyping-by-sequencing; GBS) was 
used to identify important genomic regions conditioning heat tolerance. The HTMA 
project is both validating and introgressing favorable alleles/haplotypes identified by 
GWAS, in elite South Asia-adapted tropical maize germplasm. 
 A new association mapping panel (HTAM) was formed consisting of 534 total inbred 
lines sourced from: a) Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa - association mapping 
(DTMA-AM) panel – 106 lines, b) CIMMYT-Asia-Association Mapping (CAAM) 
panel, including lines with heat tolerance and susceptibility. – 343 lines, c) Maize 
and Millet Research Institute (MMRI), Sahiwal, Pakistan (52 lines), d) Elite parental 
lines (ex-PVP) representing well-defined heterotic patterns for temperate 
environments of the US (provided by the Purdue University) – 23 lines, and e) Lines 
from Kaveri Seeds, India – 10 lines. 
 Prior to the start of the HTMA project, the DTMA-AM panel were extensively 
phenotyped under drought stress in Latin-America, Africa and Asia. Similarly, the 
CAAM panel, was characterized for drought, heat and optimal conditions in multiple 
locations in South Asia. Both DTMA-AM and CAAM panels have been extensively 
genotyped with 1536 (Illumina-Golden Gate), 55K (Illumina-Infinium) and GBS 
(around 700K SNPs) marker systems, thereby enabling greater depth for GWAS 
studies. 
 The HTMA panel was crossed to elite Asia adapted tester lines representing the A 
and B heterotic groups and evaluated over two seasons in 9 locations under both 
heat stress and optimal conditions. Grain yield, tassel blasting, tassel sterility, leaf 
firing, and anthesis silking interval (ASI) were the main phenotypic traits of interest. 
The entire HTMA panel was genotyped with GBS at Cornell University resulting in 
900K SNPs per sample. The complete HTMA panel genotypes and test-cross 
phenotypes were then used for GWAS analysis. 
 Nine significant haplotype blocks were found to be associated with grain yield under 
heat stress across 10 locations and two testers. These blocks explained from 4 to 
12% of the phenotypic variation individually while effect size varied up to 440 kg/ha. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 32
For ASI under heat, a total of 10 haplotype blocks were significantly associated 
across both testers although few were found in the same chromosome bin as those 
for yield. 
 Ten haplotypes identified in GWAS are being validated in different independent 
association mapping panels or bi-parental populations. The haplotypes were 
carefully selected for their stability across various phenotyping locations, and testers. 
Among them are tester dependent and independent effects that were identified and 
being used accordingly. The haplotypes are being targeted in introgressions into 
CML451, CL02450 and CML472 backgrounds with multiple heat, drought, and 
heat+drought tolerant donors. The first set of 1,023 DH lines with introgressed 
genomic regions will also establish the significance of these haplotypes in the 
specific tester backgrounds to which they have been introgressed. 
 Additionally, nine bi-parental DH populations from heat susceptible by tolerant lines 
are currently being phenotyped along with a subset of TCs to validate 25 putative 
genomic heat tolerant regions based on GWAS. 
 In comparisons with the DTMA panel, four genomic regions were found in common 
with the HTMA panel for grain yield, and 3 regions for ASI. One important gene 
identified in the DTMA and HTMA panel for yield and independently in a CML 
highland panel is acc1 (acetyl coA carboxylase) whose function is to provide the 
malonyl-CoA substrate for fatty acid biosynthesis. 
 Methylated DNA Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (MeDIP-Seq) is a method to study 
whole genome DNA. It can compare DNA methylation modification patterns between 
samples that are subjected to differential treatments including different reactions to 
abiotic stress. DNA methylation is known to play an important role in gene regulation 
and transposable element silencing. Gene element methylation is associated with 
reduced or silenced transcription whereas gene body methylation more commonly 
correlates with transcriptionally active genes. As part of the exploratory genotyping 
methodologies that could aid in a better understanding and application of heat stress 
tolerance, the project conducted MeDIP-Seq on a set of contrasting heat reaction 
lines from the HTAM panel. DNA samples from 5 heat tolerant and 5 susceptible 
lines along with two bulks (one tolerant and susceptible) were sent to BGI for 
MeDIP-Seq analysis. Results showed that heat tolerant samples had reduced CpG 
element methylation and increased gene body methylation. The impact of this
marked difference as it relates to heat tolerance mechanisms is being pursued by 
the project.
Conclusions
Identifying candidate genes for heat stress tolerance in maize hybrids is a challenging 
task for many reasons including the complexity of the plant, complexity of the abiotic 
stress, diversity in the testing environments, and genetic/environment (G x E) 
interactions. We congratulate the project team for their outstanding work to identify and 
begin validating genes/haplotypes for heat tolerance in maize. Using precision 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 33
phenotyping in multiple environments under heat stress and optimal conditions, followed 
by the application of appropriate bio-statistical tools, the project has made significant 
progress both identifying heat stress tolerant germplasm and understanding the genetic 
basis for the tolerance response. The GWAS analysis of the HTAM panel was a high 
quality major effort to identify potential candidate genes which are being validated in 
different independent association mapping panels and bi-parental populations. The 
projects application of methylation profiling in maize heat stress tolerance research is 
the first of its kind with results which may have great significance.
Recommendations
 It is critical that the project scientists pull together the results of studies to clearly 
validate and confirm the most significant candidate genes for heat tolerance. In this 
context we commend the project team for recently developing a catalog in Excel 
format with genotypic and phenotypic information as it relates to heat tolerance of 
CIMMYT and project partner germplasm, and recommend that it be kept up to date 
with ongoing work.
 A new Java tool to aid genomic selection has been developed and should prove 
useful. These data tools need to be made available to project partners as quickly as 
possible.
 We recommend investigating the IBP (International Breeding Platform) Breeding 
Management System developed by the Generation Challenge Program which has 
many useful functions that may benefit the HTMA project.
 Inbred lines are available through the USDA-ARS Germplasm Enhancement of 
Maize (GEM) project based at Ames, IA with a second research station in Raleigh, 
North Carolina. Publically available elite lines developed by this project typically 
have between 50 and 75% temperate and 25 to 50% tropical germplasm. Since its 
inception, the GEM program has released 286 lines. Lines particularly those 
developed at the hot and humid research station in North Carolina, should have 
valuable alleles for heat tolerance. 
 Expand evaluation of ex-PVP lines. To date the project has looked at 23 ex-PVP 
lines. Dr. Tuinstra now has over 300 ex-PVP lines in his nursery, with some being 
crossed to African drought tolerant lines. The main value of this material is earliness 
and heterosis for yield. A weakness is that temperate materials such as these often 
have above average susceptibility to diseases. 
 Consider use of lines available from EMBRABA (Brazil) and Kasetsart University 
and the NARS in Thailand.
Lessons Learned
Quoting from the Annual Progress Report (1 October, 2014 to 30 September, 2015): 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 34
“GWAS analyses are ongoing exercises as this involves integrating and revising 
updated multi-location evaluations continuously from the breeding program. The 
G x E effects are generally pronounced for yield related traits and hence multiple 
iterations of GWAS analyses need to be carried out to account for such effects. 
Besides locations, testers exert considerable influence on yield related traits and 
need to be accounted as well. Hence in our analyses, we have identified 
genomic regions that are effective across each tester and cluster of locations for 
further validation in independent panels/biparental populations. Wherever 
possible, we have identified genomic regions that may work across locations as 
well as different testers by lowering P-value thresholds.” 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 35
Objective 3 
Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection (RCGS) for generating open-source 
multi-parental synthetic populations and for further deriving double haploid (DH) 
lines with resilience to heat stress. 
Recurrent selection (RS) procedures have been very effective in maize breeding to 
develop improved source populations with increased desirable allele frequencies 
particularly for complex, polygenic traits such as drought and heat tolerance. However, 
these methods are time consuming and resource-demanding as they involve several 
steps including progeny formation, progeny testing often in multiple environments, 
selection, and intermating of superior families. Genomic selection (GS) exploits high 
density marker information to predict the total genetic value of an individual based on a 
model set of training individuals that are genotyped and phenotyped at representative 
locations. 
RCGS is a procedure designed to incorporate GS into RS procedures reducing the 
need to phenotype each set of intermated progenies. RCGS serves to significantly save 
resources (particularly field and labor costs) as it involves only one season of 
phenotyping at representative locations. In subsequent generations, intermated 
individuals are only genotyped and their genetic value predicted based on previously 
estimated marker effects. The resulting improved populations can be used directly as 
synthetics (OPVs) or as source populations for the derivation of inbred lines using 
conventional or DH technology. 
Findings 
The project has formed only 6 multi-parent synthetic (MPS) populations (Table 2) using 
the schematic flow presented in Fig. 9. For MPS-1 and MPS-2, over 400 test-cross 
progenies per synthetic of F2:3 families were phenotyped in target environments with 
project partners under optimal (3 locations) and natural heat stress (8 locations). The 
top 5% of the progenies based on across location performance (both optimal and heat 
stress) were selected from each synthetic and intermated to form cycle 1. For MPS-3 
and MPS-4, over 600 F2:3 families were derived from each population and crossed with 
two early maturity testers from the opposite heterotic group (CML-470 and CML-474). 
Testcrosses were evaluated during Spring-2015 under 4 optimal and 7 heat stress 
locations. The top 5% of the progenies based on across location performance were 
selected from each population and intermated to form cycle 1. Unique to MPS-5 and 
MPS-6 is that F2:3 families’ per se performance were evaluated under natural heat 
stress in only 2 locations during Spring-2015 and the top 10% of progenies across 
locations selected for intermating to form cycle 1.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 36
TABLE 2. DESCRIPTION OF MULTI-PARENT SYNTHETIC POPULATIONS FORMED
Syntheti
c
Heterotic Group Source 
Lines 
(#)
Progeny Evaluated Environments
Type Number Optimal 
Conditions
Heat 
Stress
MPS-1 A 10 TC 406 3 8
MPS-2 B 10 TC 470 3 8
MPS-3 A 11 TC 600 4 7
MPS-4 B 12 TC 600 4 7
MPS-5 A 8 F2:3 300 - 2
MPS-6 B 8 F2:3 300 - 2
 Grain yield performance data for the MPS synthetics is shown in Table 3. The mean 
grain yields for MPS-1 and MPS-2 testcrosses were 4.85 and 4.40 t/ha under heat 
stress and 6.15 and 5.0 ton/ha under optimal conditions, respectively. Yield of the 
selected fraction (5%) were 18.1 and 22.7% above the trial mean under heat stress 
and 2.6 and 0.2% above the trial mean under optimal conditions. For MPS-3 and 
MPS-4 testcrosses, mean grain yields were 4.5 and 3.9 t/ha under heat stress and 
7.7 and 6.0 t/ ha under optimal conditions. The percent gain over trial mean of the 
selected fraction was 18.9 and 18.2 % under heat stress and 2.28 and 3.1 % under 
optimal temperature conditions. For F2:3 families from MPS-5 and MPS-6, grain 
yield was 2.30 and 0.89 t/ha under heat stress in two environments. Mean yields of 
the selected fraction (top 5%) under heat stress was 3.82 and 1.73 t/ha for MPS-5 
and MPS-6, respectively. The percent gain over trial mean of the selected fraction 
was 65.9 and 73.6% under heat stress condition for MPS-5 and MPS-6, 
respectively. Further testing is needed but yield potential looks promising under heat 
stress but less so under optimal conditions for most of the MPS. 
 With MPS-1, 2, 3 & 4 the percent gain in grain yield of the selected fraction over the 
trial mean of test-crossed families under heat stressed conditions averaged about 
20%. However, with the F2:3 families from MPS-5 and MPS-6 the grain yield of the 
selected fraction outperformed the population mean by close to 70%. This is not 
surprising based on the known environmental sensitivity of inbred lines and the likely 
masking effect of this by the testers and resulting heterosis in testcross progenies. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 37
FIGURE 9. SCHEMATIC FLOW OF RAPID-CYCLE GENOMIC SELECTION (RCGS) 
RCGS is used for fast-track development and delivery of improved source populations 
with heat stress tolerance. In HTMA, Year 1 = 2013, Year 2 = 2014, Year 3 = 2015, 
Year 4 = 2016, and Year 5 = 2017. Image courtesy of HTMA/CIMMYT Grant Proposal. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 38
TABLE 3. FIELD PERFORMANCE OF MULTI-PARENT SYNTHETICS (MPS) AND TOP PROGENIES
Synthetics Grain yield of 
MPS under heat 
stress and 
optimal conditions 
(t/ha)
Grain yield of 
selected fraction 
(top 5%) of 
progenies (t/ha)
Percent gain of 
selected fraction 
(5%) progenies 
over trial mean
Heat 
stress
Optimal Heat 
stress
Optimal Heat 
stress
Optimal
MPS-1 (HG-A) 4.85 6.15 5.73 6.31 18.1 2.6
MPS-2 (HG-B) 4.40 5.00 5.40 5.80 22.7 0.2
MPS-3 (HG-A) 4.50 7.70 5.30 7.80 18.9 2.2
MPS-4 (HG-B) 3.90 6.00 4.80 6.20 18.2 3.1
MPS-5 (HG-A) 2.30 NA 3.82 NA 65.9 NA
MPS-6 (HG-B) 0.89 NA 1.73 NA 73.6 NA
 Two rounds of rapid cycling have been completed with genotyped based selection of 
plant types for heat stress tolerance in MPS-1 and MPS-2. For each cycle 
generation, approximately 1,000 plants from each of the population bulks were 
maintained, and genotyped with a selected set of 96 polymorphic SNPs with highest 
marker effects spanning across the genome. The breeding value of each plant was 
estimated and approximately 5% or 50 plants with the highest genomic estimated 
breeding value (GEBV) selected for intermating and formation of the next cycle. 
 A total of 365 F2:3 families from MPS-3, 4, 5, and 6 were selected based on the field 
evaluations previously described and genotyped using KASP assays. A 
polymorphism analysis of the parental lines used to form the synthetics was 
conducted using 1250 SNP assays. SNPs from each synthetic with good call rates 
and minor allele frequency of >0.25 were selected for genotyping of the F2:3 
families. As the appropriate number of markers and families to be included in the 
estimation set to make GS successful is not yet worked out for multi-parent 
synthetics, the project has wisely delayed rapid cycle advancement in MPS-3, 4, 5, 
and 6 pending the outcome of improvement obtained in MPS-1 and MPS-2. Bulks of 
C1-C3 of MPS-1 and MPS-2 have recently been submitted for DH induction. 
Conclusions 
The project formed 6 MPS populations and utilized RCGS in their improvement. We 
support the use of the RCGS scheme for rapid cycle genetic improvement in synthetic 
populations plus the formation of early generation and DH lines derived from them. The 
project team distributed bulk seed of F2:3 families selected by partners on the basis of 
test cross performance at their target environment. Seven project partners from three 
countries in both the public and private sector received anywhere from 34 to 117 bulks 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 39
which should be an excellent source of breeding material to develop heat stress tolerant 
inbreds. 
Although savings in time and field resources compared to conventional RS procedures 
were evident, important validation of the RCGS approach is pending field testing of the 
synthetics, their improved cycles, and eventually the double haploid lines derived from 
them. A decision on whether it is more efficient to select F2:3 families per se or their 
testcrosses can be made when performance data are available for all six synthetics and 
their improved cycles. 
The biggest challenge encountered by the project implementing the RCGS approach is 
that plant sampling, DNA extraction, analysis, and selection must be completed before 
flowering. This requires very close coordination with the laboratory, international 
shipping agencies, and the Indian authorities. The project has successfully managed 
this to date including implementing a fast track approach tool to facilitate the process. 
Many of the project partners interviewed were not aware of the research with RCGS. 
This could be due to the limited amount of field trials with these materials and/or lack of 
interest in synthetics as compared to hybrids. With the exception of interviewees from 
Nepal and Bhutan, most project partners indicated that farmer demand in their regions 
was largely for hybrids. 
Recommendations 
 This is the only objective where the HTMA has fallen short of the declared 
milestones. Only six synthetics formed plus most delayed in their development. The 
project selected between 8 and 12 lines from the same heterotic group but diverse 
sources to form the six MPS. Only in MPS-1, 4 of the 10 parental materials used 
were sister lines which can promote inbreeding depression and lower yield which 
should be avoided. Synthetic formation by heterotic group is ideal for inbred line 
development but not necessarily for synthetic per se performance. Synthetics 
containing lines from both heterotic groups A & B would be expected to outperform 
those from Groups A or B alone. However, with the high demand for hybrids in the 
region the EET supports the project’s work to form synthetics based on heterotic 
groups. 
 To date the HTMA project has produced and tested thousands of largely yellow￾grained hybrids; in contrast only six synthetics (mostly white and yellow bi-color) 
have been developed. The synthetics serve a dual purpose as both a source of 
genetic variability for the development of inbred lines (whether conventional or DH) 
and per se as OPVs. In principal, as data are not yet available, we support the 
projects work on developing and improving synthetics using RCGS as source 
germplasm for the derivation of inbred lines. However, the project needs to 
determine what priority it will give to the formation, improvement, and testing of 
synthetics as OPVs. The results from our interviews show that demand for OPVs 
varies depending on the project partner and country. Most (public sector) partners 
from the smaller project countries tended to request the development and testing of 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 40
synthetic whereas those from India preferred hybrids. Assuming the project decides 
to prioritize synthetics as OPVs a more aggressive approach is needed to form and 
test more synthetics. In EET interviews researchers and students from all countries 
except India indicated that demand for synthetics could be significant if their yield 
was competitive with commercial hybrids. We recommend that yield trial evaluations 
be conducted to compare project synthetics and hybrids under a range of conditions 
from high heat stress to optimal conditions.
 The project needs to validate the effectiveness of RCGS for population (synthetic) 
improvement. We recommend that field evaluations of MPS-1 and MPS-2 C0, C1, 
C2, and C3 be conducted under heat and optimal conditions to obtain an initial 
evaluation of the effectiveness of the RCGS approach for heat stress tolerant 
improvement in maize. Similarly, evaluations of genetic gains in MPS-3, 4, 5, & 6 
should be completed just as soon as improved cycles are available.
 Pioneer Hi-Bred has been most generous providing over 2,000 DH lines with a 
commitment to supply a total of 5,000 by the end of the project. However, the project 
would be wise to pursue a regional public source of inbred lines in addition to the 
facility in CIMMYT, Mexico. We fully support the current proposal presented to the 
Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to develop a DH facility in India to 
serve the Asian region.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 41
Objective 4 
Initiate deployment of heat stress resilient elite maize hybrids in the target agro￾ecologies of South Asia through a regional alliance of public and private sector 
partners. 
Findings 
 Thousands of experimental materials generated by CIMMYT were evaluated both 
on-station and on-farm in a four-year period at 237 locations under optimal 
conditions and 63 locations under heat stress environments in South Asia. Materials 
were tested in a series of evaluations during the experimentation phase. About 
1,500 to 2,000 hybrids are evaluated in Stage-I at 5 locations. These hybrids were 
developed using 500 lines of diverse genetic background received from the HTAM 
panel. These lines were crossed with two testers, and evaluated extensively in years 
1 & 2 across temperature/vapor pressurized deficit (VPD) regimes. While the data 
served for the GWAS study, the lines with high GCA under heat stress were used in 
developing new experimental hybrid combinations. As far as the upstream objectives 
are concerned, the first set of hybrids will be available for testing in spring 2017. 
 To generate consistent and accurate phenotypic data, the project has developed a 
new protocol for precision phenotyping for heat stress tolerance in maize to help 
ensure that are collected by project partners. This information has been 
disseminated to researchers and technicians through an attractive and practical field 
manual entitled “Phenotyping for abiotic stress tolerance in maize – Heat stress” 
published by CIMMYT and by conducting several training workshops on this theme. 
 The testing system for evaluating HTMA hybrids includes various trial stages (I to V). 
Stages I-III are compulsory to follow by all partners, whereas from Stage-III onwards 
more flexibility is permitted. Partners can implement the process as per their own 
agro-ecological conditions. The experimental data required for a variety release or 
registration from National Seed Board or Variety Release Committee may be 
different from one country to another in South Asia. In Nepal, the National Seed 
Board is responsible for variety release of crops, and at least two years of data from 
Coordinated Varietal Trial (CVT) plus two years of Farmers' Field Trial (FFT) are 
required. With the HTMA project evaluation, Stage-III may substitute for CVT and 
MLT as FFTs. 
 Hybrids which are significantly superior to Pioneer 31Y45, a popular commercial 
check in the region, are “jumped up” to Stage-IV or Stage-V Multi-Location Testing 
(MLT) trials, while others which are equal or better than the best checks across 
locations are selected and advanced to Stage-II trials. The best commercial checks 
used in the trials were P31Y45, P30V92, DKC9108, 900M Gold and 30V92. 
 In Stage-II, about 150 to 200 promising hybrids from Stage-I are evaluated in the 
South Asia region at 10-15 locations and best performing hybrids are advanced. At 
Stage-III, 15-20 hybrids are evaluated both in on-station and on-farmer's field trials 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 42
at 20 to 25 locations. Selections of demonstrated hybrids in field trials are also done 
by farmers and stakeholders by organizing multiple field days by project partners. 
Generally, 20 -25 hybrids including checks are included at this stage of evaluation. 
All partners have strictly followed HTMA protocol in Stages-1 to III as these steps 
are mandatory. An example of the spring 2016 season with stage of testing, trial 
descriptions and number of entries are shown in Table 4. 
TABLE 4. HTMA HYBRIDS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF TESTING IN 2016 
Code Description Number 
of entries
Reps Rows/
plot
Stage-I Hybrids 
1 DEIIYW Early maturing yellow and white hybrids 
Design-II
45 2 2
2 DEWH Early maturing white hybrids - Diallel 15 2 1
3 DEYH Early maturing yellow hybrids - Diallel 90 2 1
4 DMIIYW Medium maturing yellow and white 
hybrids - Design-II
75 2 2
5 DMWH Medium maturing white hybrids - Diallel 20 2 1
6 DMYH Medium maturing yellow hybrids - Diallel 165 2 1
7 TTI Temperate x tropical crosses 40 2 1
8 TWH Three way cross hybrids 55 2 1
9 DHTC DHTC with CML474 (HG-A) (3 trials) 370 2 1
10 DHTC DHTC with CML470 (HG-B) (4 trials) 385 2 1
Total crosses 1260
Stage-II Hybrids 
1 AHSII-1 Evaluation of stage 2 hybrids (Set 1) 55 2 2
2 AHSII-2 Evaluation of stage 2 hybrids (Set 2) 35 2 2
3 AHSII-3 Evaluation of stage 2 hybrids (Set 3) 20 2 2
Total crosses 110
Stage-III Hybrids
1 AHSIII-1 Evaluation of stage 3 hybrids (Set 1) 35 2 3
2 AHSIII-2 Medium maturing white hybrids - Diallel 20 2 3
3 AHSIII-3 Medium maturing yellow hybrids - Diallel 25 2 3
Total crosses 80
Stage-IV Hybrids
1 MLT-1 Multi-location evaluation of stage-IV 
hybrids
14 1 8
Stage-V Hybrids
1 MLT-2 Multi-location strip trials of stage-V 
hybrids
Various 1 8-10
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 43
 Greater flexibility in the evaluation process occurs after Stage–III based on various 
factors including collaborators preferences and the specific agro-ecologies or target 
environments. In Stage-IV, approximately 14 hybrids including checks are planted in 
larger plots on-farms at 50-60 locations. In Stage-V, 8-10 hybrids are demonstrated 
in farmer's fields in large plots up to 500 locations. Standard checks were used for 
comparing yield and other important traits of hybrids under evaluation. Selection of 
hybrids is being carried out by farmers and other stakeholders by organizing multiple 
field days by the concerned research stations or by HTMA partners. Finally, based 
on results from large scale testing across many locations, HTMA partners in South 
Asia are targeting to release 1-2 outstanding hybrids for their own country. 
 The project has generated thousands of experimental materials and has extensively 
evaluated potential heat tolerant maize hybrids in HTMA partnering countries 
including Bangladesh (9,486 genotypes), Bhutan (525), India (13,435 including seed 
companies), Nepal (10,842) and Pakistan (2,226 genotypes) in a four-year period. In 
2016 alone, a total of 1,490 Stage-I to Stage-III hybrids were evaluated and best-bet 
hybrids advanced to MLT trials where farmers and other stakeholders made their 
selections during multiple field days organized in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and 
Pakistan in 2015. These hybrids were evaluated under Multi- Location Testing of 
Stage–IV in 237 locations under optimal conditions and 63 locations under heat 
stress environments in South Asia. 
 Hybrid testing included examining abiotic heat stress tolerance traits such as ASI, 
tassel blasting and leaf firing, biotic stress including disease (H. turcicum leaf blight 
and banded leaf and sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani Kühn)), and insect resistance, 
plus important agronomic traits such as plant and ear height and lodging resistance. 
A total of 24 best–bet hybrids selected from various advanced stage trials during 
spring 2014 along with 3-4 commercial hybrids and 2-3 NARS hybrids were planted 
in demonstration trials at four locations each in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. 
During the late grain-filling stage, HTMA hybrid field days were organized in India, 
Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Invitees included local farmers, seed company 
representatives, staff from government agencies, input suppliers and national 
program scientists from both partners and non-partnering institutions. Each 
participant had the opportunity to score each hybrid as per their criteria and 
preferences, and their responses were then compiled and shared with participants. 
Compilation of the selection of hybrids across locations in all four partner countries 
showed that all the 24 HTMA hybrids were selected by some partners (Table 5). On 
the basis of performance of hybrids across locations, the HTMA hybrids were 
grouped into three major categories: a) six hybrids with broad/wide adaptation 
suitable across agro-ecologies, b) thirteen hybrids with adaptation to specific maize 
mega-environments, and c) five hybrids with adaptation to niche markets within a 
mega-environment. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 44
TABLE 5. SELECTION OF HTMA HYBRIDS 
Selected in on-farm demonstration trials conducted in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and 
Pakistan in 2015. 
Hybrids No of 
selected 
hybrids
Type of 
Adaptation
Yield level Target group
ZH101442, ZH 
111765,
ZH114233,
ZH11129, 
ZH138386, 
ZH111698
6 Wider 
adaptation 
across the 
agro￾ecologies
Yield 
superior to
best check 
(>10.8 t/ha)
National programs and 
multi-national seed 
companies
ZH137855, 
ZH152, 
ZH116072, 
ZH111948, 
ZH101429, 
ZH116108, 
ZH111948, 
ZH111737, 
ZH137856 , 
ZH151, 
ZH111656, 
ZH137998, 
ZH111948
13 Reasonable 
adaptation 
within 
specific 
agro￾ecologies
Yield at par 
with best 
check (10.8 
t/ha)
Medium size private 
enterprises and South 
Asian Universities
ZH111471, 
ZH153, ZH154, 
ZH137097, 
ZH116078
5 Specific 
adaptation/ 
niche 
markets 
within sub 
agro￾ecologies
Yield equal 
to average
mean of all 
checks (9.3 
t/ha)
Small enterprises
Total 24
 Of the first generation wave of hybrids, 24 out of 26 heat stress tolerant hybrids 
demonstrated were chosen by farmers of Bangladesh (9), Nepal (8), Pakistan (14), 
Bhutan (6), and India (6). CIMMYT provided licenses to HTMA partners for 
deployment of 18 best hybrids (Table 6). Three of the licensed HTMA hybrids 
(CAH1511, CAH1512 and CAH 153) ranked first, second and fourth in the All India 
Coordinated Regional Trials (AIRCP) in 2015. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 45
TABLE 6. FIRST SET OF HTMA HYBRIDS LICENSED TO PROJECT PARTNERS FOR 
DEPLOYMENT
Two hybrids (CAH 1521 and CAH 1513) were licensed to three seed companies, and 
CAH 151 was licensed to two seed companies. Licensing of a hybrid to more than one 
Seed Company does not create a problem in seed marketing because CIMMYT hybrid 
licensing policy allows only one license for each agro-ecology/market. Hybrids are only 
licensed to multiple partners for geographically differentiated target markets. 
Country Partners Status Name of licensed hybrids No. of licensed 
hybrids 
Bangladesh BARI NARS CAH1510, CAH1514, 
CAH1516 and CAH14124
4
ACI Ltd SME CAH1521 and CAH1513 2
Pakistan Zamindara 
Seeds
SME CAH1519, CAH1510 and 
CAH151
3
Jullundar 
Seeds
SME CAH1521 and CAH1424 2
Hisell Seeds SME CAH1513, CAH127, CIH122 
and CAH155
4
Nepal NMRP NARS CAH1520, CAH158, 
CAH1513, CAH1521 and 
CAH1515
5
India UAS, Raichur NARS CAH1511, CAH1512, 
CAH1526 and CAH156
4
Ajeet Seeds SME CAH151 and CAH153 2
Total 26
 A second wave of 47 promising heat tolerant hybrids have been identified after 
extensive testing in Stage-II in the South Asia region. Hybrids with yields equal to or 
better than the best checks were selected and advanced to the next stage for further 
evaluation. These hybrids are being evaluated at various locations in partnering 
countries in South Asia. 
 A total of 1097 experimental hybrids (Stage-I) developed by CIMMYT using 
promising heat tolerant lines were evaluated in 2016 in both optimal and heat stress 
environments at various locations in South Asia. Promising hybrids were selected 
based on the following criteria: 
o Yield equal or better than the popular heat tolerant commercial hybrid Pioneer 
30Y45. 
o Flowering time equal to or less than the commercial checks. The commercial 
hybrids used for comparing days to flowering and anthesis were BIO9544, 
D2244, P844 and P1855. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 46
o Hybrids which had significantly superior yield compared to 30Y45 entered directly 
into MLTs while the second best group was promoted to Stage-II trials in Spring 
2016.
 The project has begun to group testing sites according to VPD. VPD is a good 
indication of the moisture in the atmosphere and is a good measure of heat stress. 
Locations with optimal temperature conditions have low VPD whereas heat stressed 
sites have high VPD. A total of 110 Stage-II hybrids selected from spring 2015 and 
80 hybrids selected from spring 2014 and 2015 seasons were evaluated in 177 
locations in South Asia during the spring season of 2016. Among the top 10% best 
performing across sites, 65 hybrids were selected and advanced to Stage–III 
evaluation. Mean yield of hybrids grouped based on location VPD ranged from 1.65 
to 10.98 t/ha. 
 A total of 45 promising hybrids were selected from Stage–III from spring 2014 and 
2015. These were evaluated during the spring season of 2016 at 147 locations in 
South Asia. Testing locations were characterized for VPD into high (>5.0 kPa), 
medium (3-5 kPa), and low (<3.0 kPa) categories. 
o High VPD: The top 10% of hybrids were evaluated in five high-VPD locations in 
India. High-VPD locations are extremely severe stress environments. The mean 
grain yields of all hybrids in five locations is higher than the checks, where yields 
ranged from 2.52 to 4.53 t/ha. These high-VPD 5 locations in India are extremely 
important for evaluation and selection of hybrids suitable for heat stress including 
drought tolerance. 
o Medium VPD: Stage–III hybrids were evaluated at five medium-VPD locations in 
the spring season of 2016: Lalmonirhat, Ishuward, and Barisal in Bangladesh, 
Rampur in Nepal and Sabor in India. Medium-VPD locations are also severe 
environments from heat stress perspectives for evaluation and selection of 
hybrids. The mean grain yield of all hybrids across all locations was significantly 
higher than the checks. Hybrids tested at Lalmonirhat, Bangladesh showed lower 
mean grain yields (5.46 t/ha) while hybrids at Sabor, India had the highest mean 
grain yields (6.86 t/ha). Both high-VPD and medium-VPD locations are important 
stress environments for evaluation and selection of hybrids for stress tolerance 
and also for deployment of HTMA hybrids. 
o Low VPD: The low-VPD locations provide a relatively favorable environment. 
Three locations were in Pakistan (Faisal1, Sahiwal and Faisal2), 4 in Bangladesh 
(Jessor, Gazipur, Savar, and Bittipara1) and three in India (Aurangabad, 
Hoshiryarpur and Bittipara2). The observed hybrid performance showed HTMA 
material superior to the checks in 4 locations and lower than the checks in 6 
locations. The susceptible check is more competitive with HTMA hybrids in low￾VPD locations, while being outperformed in medium and high-VPD locations. 
 A total of 59 superior hybrids have been selected by NARS and other partners in 
South Asia (Table 7). Partners have selected their hybrids based on the 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 47
performance of hybrids at their own locations. Number of hybrids selected ranged 
from one hybrid by Lal Teer Seeds in Bangladesh to 13 Bihar Agricultural University 
(BAU), Bihar, India. The highest range of grain yield among the selected hybrids was 
observed at MMRI in Pakistan (11.0 to 12.3 t/ha). 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 48
TABLE 7. HTMA PROJECT PARTNER HYBRID SELECTIONS
Selections based on multi-location testing trials in spring season in South Asia in 2016. 
Institute/Country Selected hybrids Number of 
selected 
hybrids
Range of 
grain yield 
(t/ha)
NMRP, Nepal ZH141592, ZH15445, ZH169, ZH1621, 
ZH15374, ZH1622 & VH12337
7 6.1 - 7.4
BARI, 
Bangladesh
ZH15445 1 2.1 - 8.1
BRAC, 
Bangladesh
ZH141592, ZH15445, ZH15381 & 
ZH138088
4 6.5 - 9.2
Lar Teer Seeds, 
Bangladesh
ZH15445 1 0.4 - 9.5
Supreme 
Seeds, 
Bangladesh
ZH141592, VH12337 & ZH1620 3 3.3 - 9.2
MMRI, Pakistan CAH 1516, CAH 153, CAH1510 &
CAH1511
4 11 - 12.3
UAS, Raichur, 
India
CAH 153, CAH 152, CAH 1511, 
ZH1621, ZH15381, VH12337, & 
ZH138088) VH12333
8 5.0 - 6.6
Pioneer Hi-Bred 
International
ZH1620, ZH141592, ZH15374, 
CAH1511, CAH153 & ZH114228
6 4.2 - 6.1
Kaveri Seeds Z590-35, Z732-1, Z733-8, Z-590-35, 
Z590-38 & Z733-15
6 5.5 - 7.2
Ajeet Seeds, 
India
Z822-3, Z822-6, Z822-7, Z478-3, Z376-
3 & Z376-7
6 6.5 - 7.3
BAU, Bihar, 
India
CAH153, CAH152, CAH1511, CAH151, 
ZH114228, ZH1621, ZH15445, 
ZH15374, ZH15381, ZH15383, 
ZH1622, ZH14159 & ZH1620
13 4.7 - 6.2
Total 59
 DH is a proven technique used to develop homozygous lines rapidly in allogamous 
crops. DH technology shortens the breeding cycle significantly by rapid development 
of completely homozygous lines in 2-3 generations, instead of the 6-8 generations 
required by the conventional inbred lines development process to derive lines with 
more than 99% homozygosity. Haploids can be produced using both anther culture 
and, more recently, through haploid inducers. This technique requires two 
generations to reach to D1 plants (even only 8 months in case of Pioneer technique, 
where they use an immature embryo for the induction process). Anther culture is 
another option, but this method is not popular in the case of tropical maize because 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 49
of the low DH induction rate. DH technology undoubtedly provide a powerful means 
to modernize the maize breeding operations through simplified logistics and 
significantly less resource investment, deriving completely homozygous lines for 
hybrid development and deployment.
 Because DH production can be difficult, the project has been wise to outsource this 
work to experienced laboratories at Pioneer and CIMMYT. Pioneer has produced 
2,428 DH lines for the project to date. 1,030 DH lines are now under line increase 
with a subset to be used to evaluate and validate genomic regions for heat 
tolerance. A total of 755 DH top cross (DHTC) hybrids have been evaluated for the 
first time at various locations in South Asia (Table 8). Based on heat tolerance traits 
and grain yield, 66 promising Stage-I DHTC hybrids have been selected by partners 
and advanced to Stage-II. 
 CIMMYT-Hyderabad has been supplying limited quantities (up to 1 kg) of breeder or 
research seed of inbred lines and F1 hybrids to project partners. Also, CIMMYT has 
been producing sufficient seeds of all kind of experimental materials required for the 
successive breeding and evaluation seasons. Collaborators have been receiving 
complete trial sets since the beginning of the project. Partners have begun to 
produce their own inbred line and F1 hybrid seed as shown in Table 9. In total 
HTMA partners produced 293 kg of parental lines seed and 20.7 of F1 hybrid seeds. 
The low volume of seed production by project partners was largely due to the 
widespread drought and heat in South Asia and the limited quantities of inbred seed 
available from CIMMYT. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 50
TABLE 8. DHTC HYBRIDS SELECTED BY HTMA PROJECT PARTNERS
Selections based on multi-location testing trials in spring season in South Asia in 2016.
Location Name of DHTC 
trials
Selected DHTC hybrids No. of 
hybrids
Range of 
grain yield 
(t/ha)
BRAC, 
Bangladesh
16S DHTC -35 ZH16277, ZH16297 & ZH16307 3 3.77-4.26
16S DHTC -45 ZH16386 ZH16391 & ZH16396 3 2.96-8.57
16S DHTC -65 ZH16386, ZH162553, ZH16598 & 
ZH16606
4 2.76-10.30
16S DHTC -75 ZH1620 1 2.17-9.38
Lal Teer Seed, 
Bangladesh
16S DHTC-36 ZH16277 & ZH16282 2 2.94-9.46
16S DHTC-46 ZH16384 1 2.86-8.09
Subtotal, Bangladesh 14
NMRP, Nepal 16S DHTC -13 ZH 16162, ZH16153 & ZH16131 3 7.30–8.40
16S DHTC -23 ZH16224, ZH1695 & ZH16171 3 4.65-6.54
16S DHTC -33 ZH16310, ZH16304 & ZH16294 3 4.42-5.96
16S DHTC -43 ZH16345, ZH16402 & ZH16421 3 4.87-6.64
16S DHTC -53 ZH16471, ZH16450 & ZH16441 3 5.26-6.93
16S DHTC -63 ZH16527, ZH16616 & ZH16615 3 6.95-8.42
16S DHTC -13 ZH1662 ZH16153 & ZH16131 3 7.32-8.40
Subtotal, Nepal 21
Pioneer 
Hi-bred International
16S DHTC -2 ZH16203 1 6.91-8.61
16S DHTC -3 ZH16322 1 9.19-11.25
16S DHTC -4 ZH16405 1 8.82-9.39
16S DHTC -5 ZH16445 1 7.17-9.4
16S DHTC -6 ZH16524 & ZH16552 2 8.13-8.59
16S DHTC -7 ZH16646 1 9.21-10.14
Sub total, Pioneer 7
BAU, Bihar, 
India 
16S DHTC -2 ZH16212 & ZH16218 2 6.07-7.55
16S DHTC -3 ZH16262 1 7.00-9.83
16S DHTC -4 ZH16348, ZH16397, ZH16399, 
ZH16400 & ZH16424 
5 5.11-5.48
16S DHTC -5 ZH16434, ZH16458, ZH16465 & 
ZH16494
3 9.33-10.19
16S DHTC -6 ZH16552 & ZH16593 2 5.49-6.6.37
16S DHTC -7 ZH16639 1 5.05-6.19
Sub total, BAU 14
UAS, Raichur, 
India 
16S DHTC -21 ZH1667, ZH16228 & ZH16192, 
ZH16199, & ZH16234 
5 3.86-4.50
16S DHTC -81 ZH16757, ZH16727, ZH16763 
ZH16760 & ZH16729
5 3.15-3.51
Sub total, UAS 10
Total 66
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 51
TABLE 9. HTMA PRODUCTION OF INBRED LINES AND HYBRID SEEDS
Organization Inbred lines Seed 
produce
d (kg)
Hybrid name Seed 
produced 
(kg)
Total
seed 
produce
d (kg)
NMRP, Rampur, 
Nepal 
CAL1465 0.1 CAH158 (CAL1412/
CML286)
0.45
CAL1412 2.2 CAH1521(CAL1421
/CML451)
0.70
CAL1421 2.5 CAH1513(CAL1465
/CML451)
0.05
CZL0718 1.5 CAH1515(0718/CM
L451)
1.5
CML286 0.55
CML451 0.95
Subtotal, NMRP 7.8 2.7 10.5
BARI, 
Bangladesh
CAL158 40
CAL159 41
CAL1441 42
CAL1510 50
CML451 76
Sub total, BARI 249 249
ACI Seeds, 
Bangladesh
CAL1421 6 CAH1521 3.5
CAL1465 7 CAH1513 4.5
CML451 3.5
Subtotal, ACI 16.5 8.0 24.5
Ajeet Seeds, 
India
Inbred lines 
of CAH 151 
10 CAH 151 5
Inbred lines 
of CAH153
10 CAH153 5
Sub total, Ajeet 20 10 30
Total 293.3 20.7 314
 NARS partners are supporting the commercialization of HTMA hybrids for project 
partners by filing for release/registration of these materials with their national 
authorities. Two HTMA hybrids (Z583-2 & Z584-1) have been released for the state 
of Bihar upon the submission of proposals by BAU, Bihar, India to the varietal 
release committee. NMRP, Rampur, Nepal is in the process of submitting two 
proposals for two licensed hybrids (CAH151 and CAH153) for registration to the 
Nepalese National Seed Board. BARI, Bangladesh is also in the process of 
submitting four licensed hybrids to their national seed board for registration. 
 A socio-economic household survey study was carried out in Punjab and in Uttar 
Pradesh (UP) in India. The analyzed household level survey data conducted in 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 52
Punjab and Uttar Pradesh showed that 69% of respondents in UP were found willing 
to pay a higher price for seeds of maize varieties that are more heat tolerant. The 
share of respondents, willing to pay a higher price for such varieties was 80% for 
Punjab. 
 The project has obtained an updated future climate data set from recent Coupled 
Model Inter-comparison Project – Phase 5 (CMIP5) database, where current and 
future heat stress spots in South Asia were identified. Maps that show the impact of 
climate change on rain-fed and irrigated maize across South Asia and yield 
advantage of heat tolerant varieties over the current ones have been generated. 
 The EET visited HTMA yield trials in 7 different locations in India during 18-23 May 
2016. One member of the EET visited HTMA field trials in 3 locations in Nepal during 
13-15 and 29-30 May, 2016. These sites included on-station, on-farm, and on-farm 
farmer-managed fields. Other on-farm trials are managed both by the researchers 
and cooperating farmers. Planting dates ranged from 2 December 2015 to 25 March 
2016, largely representing the spring and the main season. At all sites both 
qualitative and quantitative observations were taken to estimate the quality of field 
execution and likelihood of experimental results to contribute toward project 
objectives. A simple 1 to 5 rating scale (with 1= excellent or desirable, and 5= poor 
or undesirable) was used to estimate a series of key factors that commonly affect 
crop performance, and an overall plot quality rating was also taken. Ratings are 
presented in Table 10, and field trial descriptions and EET remarks are in Table 11. 
The crop stage during our visits ranged from early flowering to the physiological 
maturity and harvesting stage. All trials at all sites that we observed had an 
appropriate experimental design, consistent with the project’s objectives. 
o Plant stand was excellent at all sites (ratings of 1-1.5) with the exception of UAS￾Raichur, India. This location also had a problem with border rows for proper 
competition, which were not planted in several trials. All other sites had excellent 
bordering. The year 2016 was a very dry and hot year in most testing locations. 
Depending upon the site, anywhere from 5 to 10 irrigation applications were 
made. Management of the type and timing of irrigation was very good at most 
sites. Ratings were worse at the Nepal locations because of delayed irrigations 
due to the common occurrence of nationwide power outages. Root and stalk 
lodging was low at most sites (ratings of 1-2) with the exception of the fields at 
Pioneer and Kaveri Seeds in the Punjab, India where a major storm with high 
winds and rain struck the night before our visit. Weeds were well managed in all 
the field trials both in India and Nepal. We have not observed any weed problem 
in the fields and has found excellent in terms of agronomic practices as well as 
overall field management. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 53
TABLE 10. QUANTITATIVE OBSERVATIONS OF FIELD TRIALS
Factors affecting plot quality were rated by the EET on a 1-5 scale, where 1 = excellent or desirable, 3 = average, and 5 = 
poor.
Collaborator, Location Date of Planting Crop Stage
Plant Stand
Bordering
Irrigation
Lodging
Weeds
Disease
Insects
Damage
Heat stress
Overall
NMRP, Rampur, Nepal 2 Dec - 22 Feb 2016 Dough to harvest 1 1 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 1
Gaindakot and 
Dumarwana, Nepal
15 Nov - 24 Feb 
2016
Grain filling to harvest 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 1 1 2
RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal 18 Mar 2016 Early grain filling 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
CIMMYT, Hyderabad, 
India
15 25 Mar 2015 Early flowering to grain filling 1 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1 1.5 1 2.5 1
UAS, Raichur, India 17 Mar 2016 Early grain filling 2.5 2 2 1.5 1 1 2.5 1 2 2.5
UAS, B.Gudi, India 19 Mar 2016 Early grain filling 1.5 1 1 1 1.5 1 1 1 2 1.5
Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds, 
Punjab, India
18 Feb - 19 Mar 
2016
Flowering to dough 1 1 1 2 1.5 1 2 1 1 1
Kaveri Seed, Hoshiarpur,
Punjab, India
5 Feb 2016 Dough to harvest 1.5 1 1.5 3.5 2 1 1 1 2 3
Ajeet Seeds, 
Aurangabad, India
23 Jan - 1 Feb 2016 Physiological maturity to 
harvest
1 1 1.5 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
Ajeet Seeds, Hosiarpur, 
Punjab, India
16 Feb 2016 Dough to harvest 1 1 1.5 2.5 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 2
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 54
TABLE 11. FIELD TRIAL DESCRIPTIONS AND REMARKS
Collaborator, Location Trial Descriptions Remarks
NMRP, Rampur, 
Nepal
Evaluation of heat tolerant hybrids for 
Turcicum blight and other agronomic 
traits, including MLTs and test crosses of 
doubled-haploid (DH) hybrids
Overall uniform field with excellent agronomic management. Major problem 
is drought which is complicated by the frequent power outages which 
affected the planned irrigation application. Minimal heat stress symptoms 
observed. Maize stem borer and turcicum leaf blight present but damage 
likely to be minimal.
Gaindakot and 
Dumarwana, Nepal
Multi-location trials (MLT) and on-farm 
demonstrations of selected heat stress 
tolerant hybrids
Good agronomic management but fields significantly affected by drought. A 
severe outbreak of turcicum leaf blight occurred at Gaindakot which is 
known to be a hot spot for this disease. None of the varieties tested showed 
resistance at this site. Minimal heat stress symptoms observed.
RARS, Nepalgunj, 
Nepal
Evaluation of selected heat tolerant 
hybrids including test crosses of DH lines
Overall uniform fields with excellent agronomic management. Plots largely 
free of disease and insect pests. Modest amount of leaf firing and tassel 
blasting observed.
CIMMYT, Hyderabad, 
India
Evaluation of early and medium maturity 
heat tolerant yellow and white hybrids in 
strip and MLTs; DH per se line evaluation
Uniform fields with excellent agronomic management. No disease and 
insect pests observed. Heat stress symptoms including tassel blasting, leaf 
firing, leaf rolling, and pollen sterility observed.
UAS, Raichur, India Evaluation of selected heat tolerant 
hybrids including early maturing yellow
and white grained hybrid types in strip 
and MLTs
Main concern is variable plant stands and lack of border rows in some 
trials. No diseases observed but stem borer found in three trials. Drought 
affected crop growth. Modest amount of heat stress symptoms observed.
UAS, B.Gudi, India Evaluation of selected heat tolerant 
hybrids including early maturing yellow 
and white grained hybrid types in strip 
and MLTs
Overall uniform field with good agronomic management. No diseases 
observed, with minor presence of stem borer. Modest expression of heat 
stress symptoms such as tassel blasting and leaf firing observed.
Pioneer Hi-Bred 
Seeds, Punjab, India
Strip and MLTs including DH test crosses, 
CIMMYT x Pioneer hybrids, early and 
medium maturing yellow and white 
hybrids
Overall uniform field with excellent agronomic management. Plants were 
healthy, vigorous and tall compared to other sites we visited in India. No 
diseases observed, although stem borer damage found in several plots. 
Lodging was a problem for certain entries. No heat stress symptoms 
observed.
Kaveri Seed, 
Hoshiarpur, Punjab, 
India
MLTs of selected heat resilient hybrids Significant incidence of root and stalk lodging occurred partially due to a 
storm that struck the night before our visit. No disease or insect pests 
observed. Modest expression of heat stress symptoms observed.
Ajeet Seeds, 
Aurangabad, India
Strip and MLTs of early maturing yellow￾grained heat tolerant hybrids
Fields were uniform and extremely well managed. No disease or insect pest 
issues. Modest expression of heat stress symptoms observed.
Ajeet Seeds, 
Hosiarpur, Punjab, 
India
Strip and MLTs of selected heat tolerant 
hybrids
Overall good agronomic management and plot quality. No disease issues 
although minor damage by the maize stem borer observed. Minimal 
expression of heat stress symptoms.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 55
o All field trials observed in Indian locations were free of major disease problems 
and received a rating of 1. Gaindakot and Rampur, Nepal, were the only sites 
where significant disease occurred, including H. turcicum leaf blight and the 
banded sheath and leaf blight. Gaindakot is known to be a hot spot for H. 
turcicum in the spring season. However, the site was rated as 3 (or intermediate) 
as the disease incidence was not severe and likely will have minimal effect on 
plot yields. Although the Asian stem borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) was observed at 
several sites, its occurrence at low levels suggests it will not present a problem. 
Bird and animal damage ratings were 1 or excellent at all locations. 
o The main heat stress symptoms observed were leaf firing, leaf rolling, tassel 
blasting and pollen sterility. Even though we observed these symptoms at all but 
one of the Indian locations and at Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS), 
Nepalgunj in Nepal, their occurrence was low with ratings in the 1 to 2 range. On 
the one hand, the presence of these symptoms is a positive indication that the 
site is being exposed to the necessary heat stress. At most sites the plots 
showing maximum heat stress symptoms were the heat susceptible checks. 
Conclusions 
Field execution of the HTMA trials we visited was very good to excellent. Eight out of 
ten locations had overall plot quality ratings of 1 to 2 and should yield useful data. 
Particular attention should be given to data coming from The UAS-Raichur, India site 
because of bordering problems, as well as the Kaveri Seeds, Punjab, India site because 
of heavy root and stalk lodging. 
During the course of our external evaluation of HTMA, the EET heard little about several 
important issues that need be addressed when developing abiotic stress tolerant maize 
hybrids (per Betran et al. 2003): 
- The relationship between inbred and hybrid performance under stress; 
- The comparative performance of inbreds selected for stress tolerance versus 
conventionally selected inbreds; 
- Gene action and dosage effects;
- The type of tester most appropriate for developing stress tolerant hybrids. 
Our main source of information about these topics has come from a yet to be published 
thesis abstract entitled “Combining ability, heterosis and G x E interaction in tropical 
maize under heat stress and optimal environments.” by P. Devi (Limagrain), S.S Verma 
(GBPUAT, Pantnagar), and B.S. Vivek (CIMMYT, India). P. Devi was formerly a 
graduate student with the HTMA project. We never had access to the data set from this 
study. However, this research suffers from: 
- Lack of sufficient inbreds (9 with 6 HT and 3 susceptible) 
- Insufficient testing environments within and over years - utilization of only 8 
testing environments under optimal and heat stressed conditions during Rabi 
2010, Spring 2011, and Kharif 2011. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 56
- Conclusions that are not consistent with the literature – the authors concluded 
that “additive genetic effects appeared to be more important for grain yield under 
optimal conditions, but both additive and non-additive genetic effects were more 
important under extreme and moderate heat stress conditions in this set of inbred 
lines.” 
- Publication delay due to departure of the graduate student to work with the 
private sector. 
Recommendations 
 The testing system for HTMA hybrids allows flexibility from Stage-III onwards. For 
this we recommend that number of entries particularly for Stage–III and MLT should 
be same for two seasons/two years. Number of entries of the trials and testing 
locations should also be same to have data for two years. 
 Large plot demonstrations of hybrids in many locations have significantly contributed 
to farmer interest and willingness to adopt hybrid technology. Therefore, emphasis 
should be given on demonstrating hybrids in large plots at many locations as 
possible. Multiple field days should be organized regularly in every season and year 
by responsible NARS research programs and their collaborating partners. 
 In discussions with maize scientists and technicians from SME, we learned that their 
seed companies do not own sufficient land to conduct all sets of experimental trials 
provided by the project. In this situation, the seed companies either have to rent land 
to conduct these trials or need to conduct in farmer's fields’ which is not very 
practical for Stage-I to III trial sets. The HTMA partners from Nepal expressed their 
views that it is not practical for them to evaluate large trials common in Stages I, II, 
and III because of large entry numbers and the fact that they do not own land for 
testing. However, these companies can handle stage-III and MLTs. If testing of all 
stage of trial is mandatory even to the seed companies, we recommend that the 
project should either reduce its number of trial sets (from Stage-I or II trials) or 
reduce number of entries. 
 We strongly recommend that not only should the Devi et al. study, completed in 
2011, be written up and published, but that more comprehensive and focused follow￾up studies be conducted, ideally lead by a Ph.D. student. We suggest that priority 
among the issues raised above be given to gene action and dosage effects. 
Lessons learned 
As the project looks to the future, seed production probably stands as the greatest 
opportunity and challenge for the project to make significant impact in farmer’s fields. 
Although the private sector will continue to lead in the seed realm, the public sector 
including CIMMYT, NARS, and NGOs will continue to play important roles in the South 
Asia region. Most partners in smaller countries except India have not yet developed 
confidence in hybrid seed production and the seed business. (EQ 4b) 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 57
 We recommend that country/region specific practical modalities for hybrid seed 
production should be developed by NARS and seed companies, which could be 
commercial contract or cooperative type models where whole villages/areas or 
communities are involved. Key lessons can be learned from The Hill Maize 
Research Project where during 2011, 195 community based seed production groups 
in Nepal produced and distributed OPV seed to approximately 50,000 households in 
20 targeted hill districts. NARC/NMRP-Nepal and CIMMYT were key collaborators in 
this effort. A separate seed production project should be designed by each country 
with a hybrid deployment plan and specific seed road map developed and 
implemented so that seed is sustainably produced and multiplied. Subsidies or other 
incentive packages (crop insurance possibly with revolving financial account for 
seed production) could be used to promote seed production activities. Also, we 
recommend that the project consider developing a HTMA hybrid maize seed 
production system network where seed companies and seed producers can obtain 
technical backstopping and other support as and when necessary. 
 Expand seed production research for inbreds/hybrids. With the ahead-of-schedule 
deployment of hybrids, the project team made a great effort to provide parental line 
seed and SPR information such as male and female line flowering time, male pollen 
production, and female seed quality and quantity along with additional 
recommendations to assist producers of hybrid seed. Most of the information is 
based on line per se evaluations in two locations including Hyderabad and a nearby 
site about 100 km away. With G x E typically large for inbred line evaluations, efforts 
should be made to conduct these studies in additional regions in India and possibly 
other project countries. 
 Cost of seed is often a critical factor affecting farmer demand and adoption of 
hybrids. The household socio-economic studies survey carried out by the project 
was conducted only in the Punjab and Utter Pradesh areas of India. We recommend 
in the next phase that similar studies on product targeting, product pricing and 
farmer adoption of heat tolerant maize hybrid seed be conducted in additional 
project countries as the socio-economic conditions may be different affecting farmer 
demand for seed and a willingness to pay a higher price. 
 With all of the seed production activities we believe are essential for the future 
success of the HTMA, we recommend that the project support at least 0.5 FTE of a 
seed production specialist and 2.0 FTE for seed technician/experts to lead the seed 
production research and training efforts, continue maintenance and production of 
breeder seed, and provide technical backstopping to project partners. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 58
Objective 5 
Strengthen capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian maize breeding 
programs and local seed companies. 
Findings 
 Capacity building is one of the important objectives of the Heat Tolerance Maize for 
South Asia (HTMA) project. The project aims to enhance the capacity of maize 
researchers/technicians in the public and private sectors and strengthening 
institutional capacity of alliance partners. Two types of training provided to project 
partners includes: 1) Short-term professional training on phenotyping for heat stress 
tolerance in maize, molecular breeding including genomic selection, and seed 
production; and 2) long term training for graduate students to pursue Ph.D. and M.S. 
degrees in plant breeding/biotechnology from Purdue University, USA; UAS, 
Raichur, India; BAU, Bangladesh and AFU, Rampur, Nepal. The third type of activity 
includes strengthening the institutional capacity of maize breeding programs through 
supplying elite germplasm and other support such as supplying weather stations for 
research stations of HTMA partners. 
 Ten short-term professional training courses were organized by the HTMA project at 
CIMMYT- Hyderabad and also jointly organized at partnering project countries 
(Table 12). From 2013 to 2016, the project has trained a total of 334 people (228 
men and 46 women). 
o By topic: Six of these training courses were on precision phenotyping for heat 
stress tolerance in maize in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan with a total 
of 195 participants. Two courses on molecular breeding including genomic 
selection were taught at CIMMYT-Hyderabad for a total of 118 participants. The 
most recent course focused on maize seed production and seed business 
management where 21 people participated.
o By gender: From a gender perspective, participation of women in courses on 
precision phenotyping for heat stress tolerance in maize was 12.8%, for 
molecular breeding 16.9 %, and for maize seed production and seed business 
management 4.9%. Broken out by country, participation by women was 34.4% in 
Bangladesh followed by 15.6% in India, 6.6% in Nepal and 5.7% in Pakistan. The 
overall participation of women in all training programs was only 13.8%. 
o By country: The total number of persons trained by country was 206 people 
(61.7%) for India, 61 people for Nepal (18.3%), 35 people for Pakistan (10.5%) 
and 32 people for Bangladesh (9.6%). 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 59
TABLE 12. SHORT-TERM TRAINING COURSES BY HTMA 
Yea
r
Date Title Location Number of participants
Total Men Women
1 23 Jan 2013 Genomic selection in 
maize
Hyderabad, 
India
27 22 5
1 6-7 May
2013
Precision phenotyping for 
heat stress tolerance 
Hyderabad, 
India 
32 26 6
2 16 Jan 2014 Phenotyping heat stress 
tolerance in maize
Rampur, 
Nepal 
30 28 2
2 20-30 May, 
2014
Phenotyping for heat 
stress tolerance and seed 
production
Yousafwala, 
Pakistan
35 33 2
2 12-17 May 
2014
Statistical and genomic 
analysis
Hyderabad, 
India
62 49 13
3 17 Apr 2015 Phenotyping for heat 
stress tolerance and seed 
production
Rampur, 
Nepal
31 29 2
3 21 Apr 2015 Phenotyping for heat 
stress tolerance and seed 
production
Gazipur, 
Bangladesh
32 21 11
3 15 May 2015 Phenotyping for heat 
stress tolerance and data 
management
Hyderabad, 
India
35 33 2
3 12 Aug 2015 Genomic selection using 
data generated under 
HTMA
Hyderabad, 
India
29 27 2
4 28-30 Mar
2016
Maize seed production 
and seed business 
management course
Hyderabad, 
India
21 20 1
Total 334 288 46
 Training workshops were organized in a timely fashion such that course topics 
coincided with critical field activities. Workshop instructors were experienced in their 
subject area and well-prepared to deliver lectures and lead field discussions. 
Trainees in the phenotyping for heat tolerance courses obtained practical skills and 
knowledge about field protocols for recording heat stress data for numerous maize 
traits, using field screening tools, plus data management and analysis. Participants 
from the molecular breeding workshops learned about genotyping methods, analysis 
and data interpretation. Graduates of the maize seed production and seed business 
management workshop learned valuable lessons about a range of topics including 
parental inbred line seed increase, hybrid production, quality control, post-harvest 
seed conditioning, marketing, etc. 
 The HTMA project has supported long-term graduate training for 14 people from 
Bangladesh, Nepal, India and the USA (Table 13).
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 60
TABLE 13. HTMA GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE U.S. AND SOUTH ASIA
Home 
country
Degre
e
Major Project Title University Graduatio
n Date
Banglades
h 
Ph.D. Molecular 
breeding 
Genetic dissection for heat stress tolerance in tropical 
maize (Zea mays L.)
BARI, 
Bangladesh 
Dec. 2017
Nepal Ph.D. Molecular 
breeding 
Phenotyping and QTL Analysis of Heat Stress 
Associated Traits in Maize
AFU, Nepal Dec. 2017
India M.S.* Plant breeding Genetic architecture of reproductive traits in tropical 
maize under heat stress
UAS, Raichur July 2015
India M.S.* Plant breeding Early generation testing of maize (Zea mays L.) for 
heat stress tolerance
UAS, Raichur July 2015
India Ph.D. Plant breeding Studies on genetic gains with genomic selection for 
heat stress tolerance in maize (Zea mays)
UAS, Raichur July 2017
India M.S.* Plant breeding Genetic analysis for heat stress tolerance in maize UAS, Raichur June 2016
India** M.S. Plant breeding Inheritance studies of heat stress tolerance in tropical 
maize
UAS, Raichur June 2017
India** M.S. Plant breeding Effect of genotype x environment interaction on 
combining ability under heat stress
UAS, Raichur June 2017
USA Ph.D.* Plant breeding Genetic Regulation of Maize and Sorghum under 
Abiotic Stress
Purdue 
University
May 2015
USA Ph.D. Plant breeding Heat Stress Tolerance in Maize Purdue 
University
May 2016
USA Ph.D. Plant breeding Mutants of Genes for Abiotic Stress Tolerance Purdue 
University
May 2016
USA Ph.D. Plant breeding Mapping Genes for Heat Stress Tolerance in Maize Purdue 
University
May 2016
USA Ph.D.* Plant breeding Maize Lipidome and Heat Adaptation Purdue 
University
May 2015
USA** Ph.D.* Plant breeding Validation of Genes for Heat Stress Tolerance in 
Maize
Purdue 
University
May 2015
students con * Degree completed ** Women 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 61
o Of the 14 graduate students, 9 students are/were enrolled in Ph.D. programs and 5 
students for Master’s degrees. Of the total, 7 students (2 at CIMMYT- India and 5 at 
Purdue University) are fully supported by the HTMA project. The rest students are 
supported only for their research components. The selection of candidates for 
graduate studies was conducted consistent with the project proposal. The candidates 
were chosen on a competitive basis with both written exams and formal interviews 
required. The time line given in the project proposal has been strictly followed. 
o Three Ph.D. students have already completed their degrees in Plant Breeding from 
Purdue University, USA. In addition, 3 students have also completed their MSc 
degree in Plant breeding from University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur, 
India. 
o Research projects assigned to the graduate students included either molecular 
related activities associated with HTMA objectives 1, 2 & 3 (9 students) or breeding 
activities associated with objective 4 (5 students). 
o A Ph.D. student from Bangladesh’s research topic is to identify the genomic 
regions for ASI and grain yield in DH testcrosses and to conduct QTL mapping and 
genomic selection for heat tolerance (with a special focus on tassel blasting and 
leaf firing) in tropical maize. The focus of the Ph.D. research project of a student 
from Nepal is on QTL mapping of DH lines derived from synthetic populations with 
an emphasis on investigating the effect of heat stress on pollen and silk viability. 
When interviewed by the EET, both Ph. D students expressed the practical benefit 
of their graduate training with the HTMA project. They specifically mentioned the 
valuable experience obtained conducting field research under heat stress, the 
application of molecular breeding tools, the use of smart technology such as hand 
held devices for data collection in the fields, and the use of excellent statistical 
tools for data analysis. They also expressed their views that QTL mapping and 
genomic selection were very useful and applicable for conditions in their respective 
countries. 
 In a separate interview with the EET, three graduate students from UAS-Raichur, India 
highlighted how the protocols for phenotyping for heat stress tolerance traits, and field 
screening tools were very practical and effective. These students also expressed the 
very useful knowledge they have gained using molecular breeding tools and statistical 
analysis. 
 All of the graduate students interviewed indicated that the research focus of the HTMA 
project was very important for the region and their countries. Several students who 
had participated in harvest of yield trials commented about the superior performance 
of the best HTMA hybrids compared to commercial checks. 
 Many of the graduate students expressed the need for longer term (3-4 months) 
practical training in biotechnology including wet lab technique experience, potentially 
in India, Mexico, or the USA. The three graduate students from UAS-Raichur 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 62
requested the opportunity to spend time at CIMMYT Hyderabad to learn more about 
how the HTMA project functions and to have more interaction with project scientists. 
 The HTMA project aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions and staff for 
developing field phenotyping capacity for heat stress tolerance and effective data 
capture and management. The project has provided and established 6 US Davis 
weather stations: one each to Kaveri Seeds Pvt Ltd at Baijenki, India; Kaveri seeds at 
Punjab, India; BAU, Sabor, India; and at UAS, Raichur, India.
Conclusions 
Professional training courses organized by the project at CIMMYT-Hyderabad and 
partnering countries in South Asia were well organized, well managed and very effective 
in helping trainees to obtain practical knowledge and skills in heat stress phenotyping, 
molecular breeding (genomic selection) and seed production. The project team is to be 
commended for organizing these ten excellent short term training courses, which is
double the amount in the project proposal. Significantly more researchers and technical 
staff were trained than originally proposed. 
The project’s accomplishments in training were excellent not only in quantity but also 
quality. Workshop instructors were experienced in their subject area and well-prepared to 
deliver lectures. Course participants appreciated the practical knowledge gained plus the 
hands on experience. Trainee graduates have returned to their home countries and 
produced quality field data under heat-stressed environments leading to the advancement 
of promising hybrids. 
Recommendations 
 We strongly recommend that the short-term, professional training courses be 
continued so that additional researchers/technical staff can benefit. We suggest that 
priority be given to courses on seed production, followed closely by molecular 
breeding, then heat stress phenotyping. 
 It is absolutely essential that inbred line maintenance procedures with excellent quality 
control and good agronomic management are strictly adhered to as low production or 
contamination of inbred lines at early stages must be avoided. We note that parental 
line and F1 production of licensed hybrids was low in most partner countries (Table 9) 
and suggest that this topic have top priority in future seed production courses. 
 Training in post-harvest technology, product promotion and marketing is needed 
particularly for the public sector partners using community based seed production 
modalities. Private companies using commercial seed production systems commonly 
have expertise in these areas although the scale and methodologies for their 
application may be different. 
 Based on EET interviews with HTMA partners, 75% of researchers, and graduate 
students from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan requested the opportunity to 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 63
participate in a medium term training (3-5 month) course on molecular breeding held 
either in CIMMYT/ICRISAT-Hyderabad; CIMMYT, Mexico; or Purdue University, USA. 
 The participation of women in both short and long term training was considerably low 
and needs to increase in the next phase. 
 Consider developing a HTMA hybrid maize seed production system network where 
seed companies and other producers can obtain technical backstopping, training, and 
other support. 
 Dr. Sadananda, CIMMYT seed production specialist, has decades of valuable 
experience in the public and private sector seed industry. We understand that he 
currently is allocating 0.2 FTE to the HTMA project but in our view this is not enough. 
We recommend that the project support at least 0.5 FTE for a seed production 
specialist and 2.0 FTE for seed technician/experts to lead the seed production 
research and training efforts, continue maintenance and production of breeder (and 
possibly foundation) seed, and provide technical backstopping to project partners. 
 The project should provide additional US Davis model weather stations to Nepal, 
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan in order to generate quality and consistent data 
among the project’s partners. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 64
4. PROJECT FUTURE 
Project Management 
As the HTMA project looks to the future, we do not suggest changing the project structure 
or the five objectives. However, a re-consideration of the emphasis and associated 
resource allocation for each objective is warranted. The tremendous positive response of 
the projects partners to the performance of the 1st-generation HTMA hybrids in large￾scale demonstrations in four countries resulted in licensing of 18 out of 24 HTMA pre￾commercial hybrids from CIMMYT. This resulted in a more rapid shift in project focus on 
deployment and seed system work, ahead of the project schedule. Among the hybrids, 6 
had broad adaptation across agro-ecological zones in the South Asian region and 12 had 
good adaptation in specific mega-environments. Additionally, the outstanding 
performance of HTMA hybrids during the main maize season (kharif/rainy season), which 
is prone to drought and heat in the All-India coordinated trials led to three HTMA hybrids 
(including #1) among the top five in comparison with several hybrids nominated by the 
Indian public sector institutions as well as seed company hybrids. This broad adaptation 
of superior HTMA hybrids suggest they likely possess both heat and drought tolerance. 
This should open up new opportunities to expand the scope of HTMA to the main maize 
season which is largely grown as rainfed maize and covers over 70% of maize area in 
South Asia. Combining heat and drought tolerance in newer project products should be a 
high priority. Such products would have the potential for use not just in the spring but 
kharif (main rainy season) and rabi (winter) seasons potentially impacting millions of 
households. (EQ 8a) 
We believe an increase in project funding is justified for various reasons including: 
- projects success in achieving and going beyond milestones in most areas 
- rapid expansion in deployment activities with commercial release of many HTMA 
hybrids (Note: to date management has leveraged funds from outside the project 
to help finance much of this work) 
- effective functioning and growth of the PPP including the addition of +1 NARS and 
+11 private sector in 2016 
- number of DH lines entering the pipeline 
- large demand for training 
- possibility of significantly expanding the project target area 
If funding is restricted in the future, we suggest the following by objective: 
1. Maintain: Basic research on underlying heat tolerant mechanisms is a logical area 
to reduce funding. However, expenses are largely being covered by Purdue 
University and the added scientific and morale boost provided by Dr. Tuinstra and 
his students in a critical area with limited published research results more than 
justify the investment. 
2. Reduce: Excellent progress has been made to identify, validate, and introgress 
favorable genes/haplotypes for heat tolerance. Although much work still remains 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 65
we believe that funds allocated to this objective could be reduced without negative 
consequences for the project. 
3. Pending: Implementing RCGS to improve heat tolerant synthetic populations is the 
only objective behind schedule. We cannot make recommendations at this time 
because evaluations of the synthetics formed to date and their improved cycles 
using RCGS are still pending. However, the project needs to make a decision on 
the priority of synthetic vs. hybrid development (see discussion below). 
4. Increase: For the deployment of heat stress tolerant hybrids we recommend a 
major increase in resource allocation. 
5. Maintain/increase: It is noteworthy that despite the fact that the project significantly 
exceeded its milestones in training/capacity building the number one request from 
those we interviewed was for more training particularly in the areas of molecular 
breeding and seed production. With 12 new project partners the demands for 
training will likely increase. 
Research Project 
Recommendations to bring about more effective and efficient achievement of objectives 
in future programming in HTMA or similar research projects are detailed in the “Lessons 
Learned” sections above. These include: 
 Objective 1: Precision phenotyping could be improved by new phenotyping methods 
that look at more traits over a greater number of plant development stages, using 
special sensors mounted on machinery that requires less field labor. (EQ 8b) 
 Objective 2: In field evaluations, individual locations and testers cause variation in 
results, so relaxed statistical thresholds may help identify promising genomic regions. 
(EQ 8b) 
 Objective 4: Expanded seed systems may hold the key to future success, but this is 
difficult in the context of limited public capacity, conflicting private priorities, and 
heterogeneity in socioeconomic factors of adoption. (EQs 4b and 8a)
o We recommend that country/region specific practical modalities for hybrid seed 
production should be developed by NARS and seed companies. 
o Line evaluations and socio-economic studies should be conducted in additional 
regions. 
o Dedicated, specialist staff are needed.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 66
APPENDICES
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 67
APPENDIX A: SCOPE OF WORK 
Evaluation Purpose 
The purpose of this external performance evaluation of the Heat Tolerant Maize for South 
Asia project is to provide empirical evidence to respond to evaluation questions designed 
to support Lessons Learned and continuous improvement for BFS’s work in product 
development. The evaluation also assesses what is working well and what is not working 
well in implementation, assess progress toward outputs, outcomes, and provide 
information and recommendations that BFS can use to improve project effectiveness and 
better achieve intended outcomes. 
More specifically, the evaluation assesses the overall quality of the project and its outputs 
in light of Feed the Future Research Strategy and the project’s specific objectives.
Further, the EET evaluates the effectiveness and contributions of the Project 
Management entity, and provides recommendations on subsequent structure of future 
research projects (from research directions to management styles). In addition, the EET
provides recommendations to inform the development of new investments in heat tolerant 
maize cultivars in South Asia. 
Audience and Intended Uses 
These results are to be used by USAID to establish, i) whether continued funding of the 
current award is warranted or ii) to develop a future RFA (including project design) to 
address heat tolerance in maize. 
Evaluation Questions 
Research 
1. To what extent did the project generate robust and quality research outputs using 
disciplinary-appropriate metrics? 
2. How effective were the approaches used (e.g., genomics and doubled-haploid) for 
accelerating the development of heat tolerant varieties? What technical challenges 
were encountered, if any? 
3. What contributions has this project made in terms of; 
a) Development of new germplasm with tolerance to abiotic stress; 
b) Development of new technologies or approaches; 
c) Likelihood of new varieties usable by farmers; 
d) Production of early generation seeds by partners from inbred lines, OPVs and/or 
hybrids (if applicable). 
4. Given that the project is primarily aimed at products or elite lines which have 
development timelines beyond the scope of the award; 
a) What changes in project structure, including management, research, partnerships, 
etc., would increase the likelihood of success for: development of new varieties 
and experimental hybrids with heat tolerance and production of early generation 
seeds by the partners? 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 68
b) What components should this project include to support the HTMA improved 
varieties seed system to maximize dissemination to small-holder farmers in the 
future?
Management 
5. What worked, what did not work and what could be improved to better achieve project 
objectives in terms of: 
a) management and coordination; 
b) quality of collaborations or partnerships and; 
c) research design and implementation 
6. This project involved public-private partnerships (PPPs). 
a) What types of contributions did each partner make to project objectives? 
b) In what ways could these partnerships be improved to better achieve project 
objectives? 
c) What type of opportunities are there for these and other partnerships to further 
research, capacity and dissemination goals? 
d) What particular challenges, e.g., legal, contractual, managerial, did the project 
encounter in the PPPs, if any? How were these challenges addressed? 
7. What types of support did (a) USAID/BFS and (b) Missions provide to the project? In 
what ways, if any, did this support contribute to attaining project objectives? How 
could this interaction be improved? 
8. For future programming in research projects, what changes would bring about more 
effective and efficient achievement of objectives, in terms of; 
a) management; 
b) research (design, implementation, communications, stakeholder involvement). 
c) other areas. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 69
APPENDIX B: EVALUATION PLAN 
The scope of this performance evaluation covers two main areas: research and 
management (APPENDIX A: SCOPE OF WORK). The research aspect of the evaluation 
focuses on the maize heat tolerant varieties developed by the project including both the 
modern molecular tools used to accelerate their development and the methodologies 
being implemented to disseminate seed into the hands of farmers. The management 
aspect covers how effectively project management provided vision, research direction, 
strengthened partnerships, and overall facilitated the application and implementation of 
the appropriate tools and resources leading to the development and dissemination of heat 
tolerant maize varieties. This includes an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the 
project’s unique public-private sector partnerships. A summary of knowledge and 
outcomes, illustrative indicators, and data sources is provided in Table 14 for research 
evaluation questions and in Table 15 for management evaluation questions. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 70
TABLE 14. EVALUATION PLAN SUMMARY FOR RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Evaluation 
Questions
Knowledge/Outcome Illustrative Indicators Source of Data
1. Robust and 
quality research 
outputs
Presence of quality and robust research 
outputs leading to better understanding of the 
physiology, mechanisms, and genetics of 
heat stress tolerance in maize
Peer reviewed research publications, other 
publications and reports, adoption of project 
outputs by other researchers
Project documents, 
literature search, 
interviews with project 
management and 
collaborators, site visits
2. Technical 
approaches to 
accelerate 
development of 
heat-tolerant 
varieties
Extent to which the approaches were effective 
for developing heat tolerant varieties; 
Information about application of modern 
molecular breeding tools and techniques 
available
Validation of favorable genes/haplotypes 
controlling heat stress tolerance; effective 
implementation of RCGS and GWAS; Successful 
production in targeted quantities of homozygous 
inbred lines using double haploid technology; 
degree of breeder confidence in the use of the 
new molecular tools; Problems encountered
Review of reports; 
interviews with PIs, 
program management, 
partner collaborators, 
graduate students; site 
visits
3. Project 
contributions:
a) germplasm
b) new tech
c) new varieties
d) early 
generation seed 
production
The number/type of breeding products 
developed and produced more efficiently 
utilizing modern molecular technologies; 
dissemination and utilization of new 
approaches by project partners; exposure to 
and dissemination of projects products 
increasingly to farmers
Series of heat tolerant inbred lines, hybrids, and 
synthetics available; Elite breeding products in 
the seed production pipeline; new biotechnology 
tools or approaches being adopted; On-farm trials 
being conducted in project target areas; Evidence 
of demonstration plots and field days for 
promotion of projects products; farmers’ 
perceived benefit of products; private sector 
perspective on cost of goods and seed sale profit 
potential 
Review of reports, 
interviews with NARS and 
private sector PIs, project 
management, site visits
4(a). Changes in 
project structure
Options on project structure modifications to 
increase efficiency and speed delivery of
products
New ideas on management structure, new 
technology adoption, resource sharing, in-kind 
support, partnership building, strengthening links 
with advanced institutions, outsourcing.
Interviews with project 
management and 
scientific staff, and NARS 
and private sector 
collaborators.
4(b). Support 
seed systems to 
maximize 
dissemination
HTMA learning from seed dissemination 
activities of other projects; potential for seed 
dissemination to farmers at acceptable price 
and quantity; obstacles to seed production 
and dissemination in partner 
countries/regions.
HTMA fosters effective and sustainable HICD 
among project partners; project supports the on￾going supply of quality breeder and foundation 
seed; project nurtures the developing 
collaboration between the public and private 
sectors; extent to which project has engaged the 
right partners taking advantage of collaborators’ 
strengths.
Review of other related 
project reports, interviews 
particularly with NARS 
and private sector 
collaborators, input from 
seed production 
specialists
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 71
TABLE 15. EVALUATION PLAN SUMMARY FOR MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
Evaluation Questions Knowledge/Outcome Illustrative Indicators Source of Data
5. What worked, did not, 
or needs improvement in: 
a) management and 
coordination
b) collaboration or 
partnerships
c) research design and 
implementation
Research activities are effectively 
managed and administered with 
clearly articulated vision; Advisory 
committees exercise appropriate and 
effective scientific oversight plus 
sound operational input; Contribution 
of management and coordination, 
partnerships and research design to 
effective implementation? 
Evidence that project staff and collaborators 
report effective and regular communication with 
project management; Indications of effectiveness 
in scope, quality and accessibility of project 
databases and overall information management;
extent to which management and coordination, 
partnerships and research design contributed to 
effective implementation; Areas needing 
improvement.
Project documents; 
review reports; interviews 
with management, PIs, 
collaborating researchers 
and stakeholders; site 
visits
6. In project PPP:
a) partner contributions 
to objectives
b) how to improve 
partnerships
c)opportunities to further 
research, capacity, 
dissemination
d) legal, contractual, or 
managerial challenges
Public-private partnerships 
functioning effectively; Increased 
scientific collaboration and exchange; 
Increased linkages with project 
product promotion and dissemination 
activities; contributions of PPP to 
project objectives.
Increase in number of public and private sector 
collaborators; Degree to which collaborators met 
their financial and in-kind commitments; 
Timeliness and completeness of reporting; 
Support for projects policies for seed allocation, 
data sharing, etc.; Number and type of 
opportunities developed for scientific 
collaboration; extent to which the right partners 
were selected and leveraged to maximize their 
strengths, resulting in major contributions to
project objectives. Challenges encountered with 
PPP?
Project documents; 
review reports; interviews 
with management, PIs, 
collaborating researchers 
and stakeholders 
particularly in NARS and 
the private sector; site 
visits
7. Support from a) 
central office and b)
Missions
USAID missions and BFS are 
engaged with project management, 
collaborators, and outreach activities. 
Contributions of missions and BFS to 
project objectives
Evidence of good communication between 
USAID missions and BFS and project 
management, PIs, and collaborators; 
Demonstration of USAID mission role in 
identification of research priorities and presence 
of and assistance with linkages in participating 
countries.
Project documents; 
review reports; interviews 
with management, PIs, 
collaborating researchers 
and stakeholders, USAID 
representatives; site visits
8. Future projects:
a) management
b) research
c) other
Role of project management and 
advisory committees in project 
research and dissemination activities.
Project communication processes.
Extent of participation by project 
stakeholders.
Evidence of good participation and effective 
communication at project meetings; Gaps, 
barriers, and challenges limiting project progress.
Interviews with project 
management and staff, 
PIs from NARS the 
private sector and US 
Universities, and other 
stakeholders. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 72
Evaluation data collection activities 
A primary means of quantitative and qualitative data collection was through Power Point 
presentations given by project staff during our first full day together in Hyderabad, India. 
These included presentations by Purdue and CIMMYT staff covering the five major 
objectives of the project. To facilitate travel by project partners outside India, country 
presentations from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan were scheduled later 
(May 24) in Amritsar. 
A second critical source for data collection was the KIIs and observations taken by the 
EET throughout our stay including during field visits of research and demonstration trials 
(Table 16). 
Important themes for the primary data collection included: quality of research design 
and implementation, appropriateness of use of modern molecular tools, public-private 
sector collaboration, product scale-up and dissemination activities, capacity building, 
effectiveness of project management, monitoring and evaluation, and gender inclusion 
in the project. 
Interviewees (Table 17) included: the PI, collaborating scientists and stakeholders for 
NARS, private sector partners, project management and staff, graduate students, 
trainees and farmers. EET took advantage of the presence of Oversight Director of the 
Project in CIMMYT and Chair of the ESC, Project PI from Purdue University, and 
Project PIs from Nepal and Bangladesh in India during part of the trip. Over the May 17-
24 period, Dr. David Beck and Dr. Dil Bahadur Gurung of the EET visited various 
locations in India where HTMA field trials and demonstration blocks were being 
conducted by both public and private sector partners of the project. 
For the field trial visits the EET took both quantitative (Table 10) and qualitative (Table 
11) observations. The quantitative data included ratings on a 1-5 scale (where 
1=excellent or desirable and 5=poor or undesirable) for the following: 
 Overall plot quality 
 Germination and plant stands 
 Proper bordering of plots 
 Phenotypic expression of one or more traits associated with heat stress 
 Type and timing of irrigation applications 
 Presence of diseases and/or insects 
 Weed control 
 Bird or other animal damage 
This simple rating tool, commonly used by maize breeders, can rapidly and effectively 
be used to estimate the quality of field plot execution. Additionally, the EET took 
qualitative observations at the testing/demonstration sites focusing on research design 
and implementation, effectiveness of data collection and processing, consistency of 
research with project objectives, monitoring and evaluation activities, plus 
communication and dissemination strategies. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 73
One area of special interest was to observe the quality and extent of research 
collaboration in public–private partnerships for scope and quality of collaboration 
opportunities, quality of research projects, scientific interaction, sharing of information, 
and joint efforts in product promotion. 
Data Collection Approvals 
No data collection approvals are envisioned at this time. Confidentiality of responses to 
interview questions were maintained, and no names or identification were attached to 
them. Interview notes were coded with the general category of stakeholder and 
individual names kept separately to limit potential for disclosure.
Data Collection Instruments 
The following section contains three interview protocols as examples of the type of the 
format and types of questions that were asked during interviews. Interview protocols 
were developed for each type of group interviewed including: Project Management, PIs 
and Collaborating Researchers, and Stakeholders and other Partners. 
a. Protocol for interviews of management personnel 
Introduction: 
The purpose of this interview is to assess the perspective of the management entity and 
the operations of the HTMA team in general, and the progress of the project. Interviews 
are confidential; results will be generalized such that it will not be possible to attribute 
comments to individuals. 
Our aim is to better understand the how research activities are proceeding, how the 
various project partners interact with each other and external groups and what factors 
might improve HTMA's ability to attain its objectives. 
I have several questions that will take approximately 45 minutes of your time. Do you 
have any questions before we begin? 
Questions: 
1. First, could you explain your role and responsibilities in management for the 
HTMA project? 
2. Thinking back to the beginning of the project in 2013, is the research progressing 
as laid out in the project documentation? 
Prompt: Can you identify particular activities that highlight the progress (e.g. new 
breeding lines, application of molecular techniques, journal articles, etc.)? 
Prompt: Are there activities that are ahead of schedule? Is anything falling 
behind? 
Prompt: Can you give me some examples? What do you think are the main 
reasons why these HTMA activities are not progressing as planned? Or are 
ahead of schedule? 
3. Public-private partnerships are integral to the success of the project. What do 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 74
you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the projects partnerships? 
Prompt: What are key contributions from the different partners? 
Prompt: In what ways can these partnerships be improved? 
Prompt: As managers what particular challenges (e.g. legal, contractual, 
financial, etc.) have you encountered and how were they addressed? 
4. How successful has HTMA been in fostering partnerships with local 
organizations or agencies, universities, and other stakeholders? 
Prompt: What types of connections has HTMA established? What has HTMA 
done with partner organizations to advance the aims of the project? 
Prompt: Do you think the partnerships work well? Are there partnerships that 
seem to work better than others? Why? 
Prompt: Have there been important contributions from these stakeholders or 
partners to HTMA research? Could you give us some examples? 
Prompt: Are there important countries or partners that are being left out of the 
HTMA program? 
5. The incorporation of molecular breeding technologies has been essential for 
accelerating the HTMA projects development of improved varieties. How do you see the 
projects progress with these tools? 
Prompt: Which technologies have worked most effectively? 
Prompt: Which tools have been more difficult to implement? 
Prompt: In what ways, if any, have links with US universities and CIMMYT helped 
in the adoption of these tools? How could it be improved? 
Prompt: How well is the project dealing with addressing the massive amounts of 
data produced using these technologies? 
Prompt: What new biotechnology tools do you for see the project adopting in the 
future 
6. Project heat tolerant maize varieties are soon to be disseminated to small-holder 
farmers. What components do you consider essential to maximize the effectiveness of 
this dissemination? What tools or training may be needed by local farmers? 
Prompt: How effective has the project been in supporting seed production and 
distribution and how do you see its role in the future? 
Prompt: What about promotional activities? 
7. Are there any significant new directions for the HTMA due either to significant 
challenges encountered or to important findings or discoveries from the research? 
Prompt: How has HTMA been able to provide additional resources toward new 
opportunities or promising directions? 
Prompt: Does the HTMA program structure or budget allow short-term changes 
to facilitate investigation of newly emerging research themes? 
8. One of the objectives of the HTMA is to support training and capacity building of 
the projects public and private sector partners. From your perspective how effective has 
the project been in accomplishing this?
Prompt: Are their gaps for public and private sector partners that have not been 
adequately addressed? What areas if any should have been addressed? 
Prompt: How does the project identify perspective graduate students for 
advanced study?
Prompt: How has the project benefitted from research findings of graduate 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 75
students? 
Prompt: How effective have the training programs/workshops been in terms of 
number of participants, appropriateness of subject matter, etc.? 
Prompt: How were the workshop candidates selected? 
Prompt: What themes are planned for future courses? 
Prompt: What research facilities have been established or improved? 
9. How has HTMA included consideration of gender in its design and 
implementation? 
Prompt: Can you give us some detail on any gender specific findings, outputs or 
outcomes of HTMA's work? 
Prompt: What about the participation of women in the project either as 
researchers or as participants/local partners in the project. How are women 
integrated in the various activities of the project? 
Prompt: Were there specific efforts to engage women, women-owned enterprises 
or address the special needs of women farmers? 
10. We have talked about many different things. Are there any additional issues that 
you would like to raise which have not been discussed? 
b. Protocol for interviews of PIs and Collaborating Researchers 
Introduction: 
The purpose of this interview is to assess the perspectives of member of the research 
teams funded under the Heat Stress Tolerance Maize for South Asia Project. We are 
conducting confidential interviews of project management and staff along with PIs and 
staff from collaborating public and private research partners, plus other relevant 
stakeholders. Interviews are confidential; results will be generalized such that it will not 
be possible to attribute comments to individuals. 
Our aim is to better understand how research activities are proceeding, how the various 
activities of HTMA are being implemented and how the research teams interact with 
each other and external groups and what factors might improve HTMA's ability to attain 
its objectives. 
I have several questions that will take about 45 minutes of your time. Do you have any 
questions before we begin? 
Questions: 
1. Could you first describe the research that you are doing with the HTMA? 
2. Could you share one or two of the most important research findings or products 
of your work? 
Prompt: How do you judge the quality of the various research activities being 
implemented under your project?
3. Public-private partnerships are integral to the success of the project. What do 
you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the projects partnerships? 
Prompt: What are key contributions from the different partners?
Prompt: In what ways can these partnerships be improved? 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 76
Prompt: As researchers what particular challenges (e.g. legal, contractual, 
financial, etc.) have you encountered and how were they addressed? 
4. What have been the key opportunities and challenges in using rapid cycle 
genomic selection? 
Prompt: How effective is using rapid cycle genomic selection in terms of time, 
quality and efficiency in accelerating the breeding cycle? 
Prompt: What challenges were encountered using this method and how were 
they overcome? 
5. What progress is being made in the production of double haploid lines? How will 
public and private sector partners' benefit from these lines? 
Prompt: Has your organization produced DH lines for the project and if so how 
many? 
Prompt: How are the DH lines performing under heat stress? 
Prompt: Do partnering country collaborators need special skills for maintaining 
DH lines? 
6. How many multi-parent synthetic populations have been developed by the 
project and how are they performing? Does the project plan to develop additional 
synthetics? Do you expect significant adoption by farmers? 
7. Are there any significant changes to the project due either to significant 
challenges you have encountered or due to important findings or discoveries from the 
research? 
Prompt: Can you give me some examples? 
Prompt: Do you see possibilities for new directions in a new research program? 
Explain? 
Prompt: Have there been any missed opportunities? Can you give me some 
examples? 
8. How successful has HTMA been in fostering partnerships with local 
organizations or agencies, universities, and other stakeholders? 
Prompt: What types of connections has HTMA established? What has HTMA 
done with partner organizations to advance the aims of the project? 
Prompt: Do you think the partnerships work well? Are there partnerships that 
seem to work better than others? Why? 
Prompt: Have there been important contributions from these stakeholders or 
partners to HTMA research? Could you give us some examples? 
Prompt: Are there important countries or partners that are being left out of the 
HTMA program? 
9. In your opinion, how effective is the management of HTMA project by the 
leadership team? 
Prompt: What is your experience with the management staff in terms of: 
a. Professional/collegial interactions 
b. Fiscal interactions (promptness, clarity) 
c. Promptness and effectiveness of managing problems 
d. Quality of the solutions to problems 
e. Clarity of goals and objectives 
f. Degree to which planning is collaborative 
g. Degree to which data collection and analysis are supported 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 77
h. Degree to which findings are appropriately disseminated 
Prompt: How often do you communicate with HTMA? Do you feel like you are 
included in substantive dialogue about the program, findings, interventions and 
ideas? 
Prompt: What suggestions for improvement do you have for the management 
team? 
10. In what ways does your research project or HTMA in general consider gender? 
Prompt: Can you give us any gender specific findings, outputs or outcomes from 
your work? 
Prompt: What about the participation of women in the project either as 
researchers or as participants/ local partners. How are women integrated in the 
various activities of this project? 
11. We have talked about many different things. Are there any additional issues that 
you would like to raise which have not been discussed? 
c. Protocol for interviews of Project Stakeholders and other Partners 
Introduction: 
The purpose of this interview is to assess the perspectives of stakeholders and partners 
involved with or knowledgeable about the HTMA. We are conducting confidential 
interviews of project management and staff along with PIs and staff from collaborating 
public and private research partners, plus other relevant stakeholders. Our aim is to 
better understand how research activities are proceeding, how the various partners of 
the HTMA project interact with each other and external groups, and what factors might 
improve HTMA’s ability to attain its objectives. 
I have several questions that will take about 45 minutes of your time. Interviews are 
confidential; results will be generalized such that it will not be possible to attribute 
comments to individuals. Do you have any questions before we begin? 
Questions: 
1. Could you first discuss how you have been involved with HTMA? 
Prompt: Who do you work with? What activities have you been involved in? 
2. From your perspective, how is the project meeting its potential? What could it be 
doing differently that would improve its eventual impact? 
Prompt: Are the research themes addressed by HTMA scientists appropriate 
from your perspective? 
Prompt: Do you know about any key research findings from the project? Could 
you provide specific examples? 
Prompt: In what ways has this project had a positive impact in your country or for 
your organization? Are there any particular challenges or gaps? 
Prompt: What about other efforts, such as the dissemination of maize 
germplasm, information, knowledge or other outputs? 
Prompt: Are there topics or directions that are not being address that should be? 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 78
Prompt: Are there stakeholders that are not involved that should be? 
3. The HTMA project includes people from multiple countries and institutions. How do 
you view the quality of communication and coordination among the collaborators? 
Prompt: To what extent does decision making include perspectives from multiple 
partners or collaborators? 
Prompt: How well does international collaboration work on this project? Do you 
feel like there is a team-based approach to the research? Why or why not? 
Prompt: How do you think that the collaborative interaction could be improved? 
4. From your knowledge, in what ways does the HTMA provide training opportunities for 
researchers and others? 
Prompt: Does your organization participate in HTMA research or training? Please 
describe the modalities of this participation? 
Prompt: Are the proper people being trained in the proper area and at the proper 
level? 
Prompt: Are women adequately represented in the training program? 
Prompt: Is the HTMA properly prioritizing its training (short term workshops vs. 
long term graduate training)? 
Prompt: Have you seen any outcomes of the training – such as people from your 
organization who have been able to contribute to new research or activity? 
5. What are the key lessons learned from on-farm testing and participatory varietal 
selection (PVS) trials by the project to date? 
Prompt: How have farmers benefitted such as increasing their opportunity to 
select and express their preferences for characteristics such as yield, 
standability, quality, etc. 
Prompt: How have researchers benefitted in understanding the strengths and 
weaknesses of the varieties and their adaptation to local conditions? 
6. What promotional tools such as demonstration plots, PVS, field days, use of media, 
etc. have been most effective in the region? 
Prompt: What lessons have been learned regarding the size, number and 
location of demonstration plots? 
Prompt: To what degree has the use of field days and the media increased 
farmer exposure to the new heat stress tolerant varieties? 
Prompt: To what degree has the use of on farm testing, PVS, and field days 
increased farmer exposure to the new heat stress tolerant varieties? 
7. How is the seed allocation policy working for project partners? How could this be 
improved? How is seed production progressing among the projects partners? Who is 
maintaining seed of parental lines? Who is producing foundation seed? Are appropriate 
quality control mechanisms in place? 
Prompt: What are the key HTMA OPVs and hybrids in production? 
Prompt: Are inbred lines being properly maintained? 
Prompt: Is sufficient foundation seed being produced? 
Prompt: How effective are the quality control mechanisms now in place? 
8. What information has the project generated on seed production characteristics of 
their inbred lines? 
Prompt: What data is available for pollen production and duration of male lines? 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 79
Prompt: What information is available on seed yield, grade-out, and ear rot 
resistance of female lines? 
Prompt: Is sufficient flowering data available from multi-locations to determine the 
appropriate male and female split for hybrid seed production? 
9. We have talked about many different things. Are there any additional issues that you 
would like to raise which have not been discussed? 
Methodology for Data Analysis 
Semi-structured interviews were conducted following traditional interview methods in 
which interviewers aim to engage the interviewee in a substantive conversation about 
their research and development activities. In-depth conversations guided by interview 
instruments provided the opportunity for an information flow that is not constrained by 
pre-determined response categories. The written interview questions were used as a 
structured guide for the interviewer to follow and to ensure all relevant questions are 
asked of all respondents and allow for comparison of responses. 
 
Interviews with key informants were captured in notes or directly into a laptop, which 
were expanded into more complete notes including summaries at the end of each day 
of interviewing. Summaries included specific insights or key findings from the interviews. 
With on-site visits, EET members met each evening to review notes, summarize key 
findings for the day, and identify key questions for further exploration. 
Data on field ratings taken by the EET were proofed and interpreted using basic 
descriptive statistics. Along with field note observations, these were used to estimate 
the quality and relevance to the projects objectives of the research trials and 
demonstration blocks. 
Following the completion of the on-site visits and interviews, the two members of the 
EET met to synthesize interview notes and field data observations. The EET also 
incorporated key findings from the desk review and formal presentations given by 
project staff and partner country PIs. The EET looked for both commonalities and 
differences in interview responses and other sources of information based on project 
position/role, country of origin, and whether the individual is working in the public or 
private sector. All information was considered in light of the evaluation questions 
established for the review, integrating key themes of project management (technical 
leadership, administration, and monitoring and evaluation) and research program 
(research depth, breadth and rigor, collaboration, outreach and technology 
dissemination, human and institutional capacity building, and gender inclusion). The 
EET then triangulated all the information to develop an overall project assessment, 
including accomplishments and shortcomings. Based on the evidence and 
considering project goals and objectives, the EET developed a set of 
recommendations to assist USAID and HTMA in the future. 
Methodological Limitations 
a. Interview participant selection bias 
Based on project documentation, consultation with the project leader, and availability of 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 80
project staff and partners, we developed a list of proposed individuals to interview. 
These include project management and scientific staff; PIs from NARS the private 
sector and US universities; key representatives from partner stakeholders, and graduate 
students. Overall, we believe our interview candidates well represent the major phases 
of the project. However, one limitation is the participation of project partners (PIs) from 
Bhutan and Pakistan who did not attend our meetings in India due to visa difficulties. 
We requested that they supply a Power Point country review presentation focusing on 
their involvement and progress with the HTMA project to date which was followed up 
with a phone interview. 
b. Interviewee recall bias 
KIIs focused largely on the interviewees’ opinions, actions and assessments of program 
activities as participants and collaborators since project inception in 2013. We did not 
expect problems with recall bias given that the project has only recently begun and is 
still in operation. The EET attempted to identify inconsistencies through comparison 
across interviews and by fact checking with program documentation. 
c. Interviewee response bias 
Open-ended interview questions are constructed to inquire about multiple perspectives 
on an issue, and similar questions are asked of numerous project participants, such that 
it should be possible to recognize issues of response bias. In analysis of responses to 
interview questions we examined responses of different stakeholders and different 
individuals from within stakeholder groups for convergence or disagreement. Through 
triangulation of assessments and understandings of different individuals we were able to 
come to a set of conclusions that identify areas of consensus and areas of 
disagreement. 
d. Interviewer bias 
Common sources of interviewer bias can include: 
- Facial expression or inflection of the interviewer can bias responses, 
encouraging or discouraging particular lines of conversation. 
- In international contexts, race and ethnicity of the interviewer can bias responses 
of interviewees such that they may be more open with individuals who are more 
like them. 
- Interviewer can also make the mistake of presenting leading questions or ‘putting 
words into people’s mouths’. 
- Prior association with a particular group or scientist can lead to biased 
interpretation of data. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 81
APPENDIX C: TRAVEL ITINERARY, LOCATIONS AND DATES 
OF FIELD VISITS 
The external evaluation team visited India and Nepal, two of the four major countries 
participating in the HTMA (Table 16). However, due to time and resource constraints the 
two EET members were limited to travel to India together and one member to Nepal. 
Time and resources did not permit travel to Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan. 
Interviews by phone or Skype were scheduled for project partner PIs from Bhutan and 
Pakistan. 
TABLE 16. TRAVEL ITINERARY OF THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION TEAM
Dates Activities/Sites Travel Options Night stay
17-May Arrival of EE Team Hyderabad
18-May Project overview followed by individual 
presentations by project objective; visit 
HTMA trials at CIMMYT Hyderabad; 
conduct interviews with HTMA staff and 
partners.
Hyderabad
19-May Visit University of Agricultural Sciences 
(UAS) at Raichar; attend seminar on UAS￾Raichar HTMA project accomplishments; 
Visit trials at Raichar.
By road (180km/3hrs) Raichur
20-May Interview UAS-Raichar project PI and Co￾PI; Visit trials at B.Gudi including farmer 
discussion.
By road (Raichur to 
B.Gudi-100km/2hrs and 
B.Gudi to Hyderabad￾120km/3hrs)
Hyderabad
21-May Meet with managing director, research 
director, and corn breeder at Ajeet Seeds, 
Aurangabad; Visit trials at Aurangabad.
Flight Aurangabad
22-May Travel day to Punjab (Amritsar) Flights Amritsar
23-May Meet with Pioneer staff and collaborating 
farmer at Jalandhar, Punjab. Visit HTMA 
managed trials by Pioneer; At Hoshiarpur, 
Punjab meet with staff and visit HTMA trials 
managed by Ajeet & Kaveri Seeds
By road Amritsar
24-May HTMA representative country presentations 
for Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, & Bhutan; 
conduct interviews with PI from Bangladesh 
and Nepal; Wrap-up session - D. Beck; 
D.B. Gurung; B.M. Prasanna
Flight Return to 
Delhi
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 82
APPENDIX D: LIST OF PERSONS CONTACTED 
TABLE 17. LIST OF PERSONS CONTACTED BY THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION TEAM 
Role Organization
Global Maize Director CIMMYT
Project Leader & Senior scientist CIMMYT
Maize breeder CIMMYT
IRS Scientist CIMMYT
Maize Stress Specialist CIMMYT
Project Scientist CIMMYT
Farm Manager CIMMYT
Seed Production Officer CIMMYT
Ph.D. Student AFU/NMRP/CIMMYT
Ph.D. Student BAU/BARI/CIMMYT
PI and Professor Purdue University
South Asia Maize Director Pioneer Hi-bred International, Asia
Pioneer Research Director for Crops, 
Asia
Pioneer Hi-bred International , Asia
Senior Maize Breeder Kaveri Seeds Private Limited,
Vice-Chancellor UAS, Raichur,
Director of Education UAS, Raichur
Dean of Agriculture College, B.Gudi UAS, Raichur, B.Gudi
Professor (Plant Breeding) UAS, Raichur
Assistant Professor (Plant Breeding 
Biotechnology) 
UAS, Raichur
Ph.D. Student UAS, Raichur
MS Student UAS, Raichur
MS Student UAS, Raichur
Assistant Professor (Seed Science) UAS, Raichur
Farmer Doranahalli, Yadgiri, B.Gudi
Farmer Doranahalli, Yadgiri, B.Gudi
Managing Director Ajeet Seed Company Pvt Ltd, Aurangabad
Research Director Ajeet Seed Company Pvt Ltd, Aurangabad
Maize Breeder Ajeet Seed Company Pvt Ltd, Aurangabad
Research Scientist Pioneer Hi-bred International, Jullandhar
Technician, Pioneer Pioneer Hi-bred International, Jullandhar
Research Assistant Pioneer Hi-bred International, Jullandhar
Farmer Kartarpur, Jullandhar
Agriculture Officer Kaveri Seeds Pvt Ltd, Seena, Hosiyarpur
Technician Kaveri Seeds Pvt Ltd, Seena, Hosiyarpur
Farmer Kaveri Seeds Pvt Ltd, Seena, Hosiyarpur
Agriculture Officer Ajeet Seeds Pvt Ltd, Jatpur, Hosiyarpur
Farmer Ajeet Seeds Pvt Ltd, Jatpur, Hosiyarpur
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 83
Maize Coordinator & Co-PI NMRP, Nepal 
Senior Scientist (Agronomy) NMRP, Nepal
Senior Scientist (Plant Pathology) NMRP, Nepal
Senior Scientist (Agronomy) NMRP, Nepal
Scientist (Entomology) NMRP, Nepal
Scientist (Agronomy) NMRP, Nepal
Scientist (Breeding) NMRP, Nepal
Scientist (Plant Pathology) NMRP, Nepal
Technician NMRP, Nepal
Technician NMRP, Nepal
Technician NMRP, Nepal
Regional Director & Maize Breeder RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Technical officer RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Technical officer RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Technical Officer RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Technical officer RARS, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Farmer Nichgad Municipality-5, Nepal
Farmer Gadimai Municipality-15, Dumarwana, Nepal
Farmer Bharatpur Municipality- Ananadapur, Nepal
Farmer Gaindakot Municipality -8, Gaindakot, Nepal
Principle Research Officer BARI, Bangladesh
Maize Coordinator Renewable Natural Resources Research and 
Development Centre, Wengkhar, Bhutan
Director, Maize and Millet Research Maize and Millet Research Institute, Pakistan
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 84
APPENDIX E: LIST OF MATERIALS REVIEWED 
HTMA Project Documents and References 
1st year work-plan (1 October, 2012 – 30 September, 2013) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership
2nd year work-plan (1 October, 2013 – 30 September, 2014) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
3rd year work-plan (1 October, 2014 – 30 September, 2015) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
4th year work-plan (1 October, 2015 – 30 September, 2016) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
1st Semi-annual report (1 October, 2012 – 31 March, 2013) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
2nd Semi-annual report (1 April, 2013 – 30 September, 2013) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
3rd Semi-annual report (1 October, 2013 – 31 March, 2014) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
4th Semi-annual report (1 April, 2014 – 31 March, 2015) Heat stress resilient maize for 
South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
Semi-annual progress report for: Heat stress resilient maize for South Asia through a public￾private sector partnership (HTMA) (1 October, 2012 – 31 March, 2013) 
Annual progress report (1 October, 2013 – 30 September 2014) Heat stress resilient maize 
for South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
Annual progress report (1 October, 2014 – 30 September 2015) Heat stress resilient maize 
for South Asia through a public-private sector partnership 
Project Planning Matrix: Heat stress resilient maize for South Asia through a public-private 
sector partnership 
Grant proposal: Heat stress resilient maize for South Asia through a public-private sector 
partnership, CIMMYT, September 10, 2012 
Proceedings of annual review and planning meeting of the project “Heat Tolerant Maize for 
Asia (HTMA)”, 30-31 July, 2013, Kathmandu, Nepal 
Proceedings of the 2nd project steering committee (PSC) meeting of the “Heat Tolerant 
Maize for Asia (HTMA)” Project, 31 July, 2013, Kathmandu, Nepal 
External Evaluation of Heat Tolerant Maize for South East Asia Scope of Work, USAID 
2016
Published/accepted for publication 
Akula Dinesh, Ayyanagouda Patil, P. H. Zaidi, P. H. Kuchanur, M. T. Vinayan, K. 
Seetharam (2016). Line X tester analysis of tropical maize inbred lines under heat 
stress for grain yield and secondary traits. Maydica 61 (M5): 1-6.
Akula Dinesh, Ayyanagouda Patil, P. H. Zaidi, P. H. Kuchanur, M. T. Vinayan, K. 
Seetharam (2016). Genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium and population 
structure in CIMMYT inbred lines, selected for heat tolerance study. Maydica (in 
press). 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 85
 Akula Dinesh, Ayyanagouda Patil, P. H. Zaidi, P. H. Kuchanur, M. T. Vinayan, K. 
Seetharam (2016). Genetic analysis of tropical maize (Zea Mays L.) inbred lines 
under heat stress. Bioscan Journal (in press). 
Akula Dinesh,Ayyanagouda Patil, P. H. Zaidi, P. H. Kuchanur, M. T. Vinayan, K. 
Seetharam and Ameragouda (2016). Dissection of heat tolerance mechanism in 
tropical maize. Research on Crops (Accepted).
Tesfaye, K., Zaidi, P.H, Gbegbelegbe, S., Boeber, C., Seetharam, K., Rahit, D., 
Erenstein, O. (2016). Ex-ante impact analysis and targeting of heat stress 
tolerant maize under climate change in South Asia. Theoretical and Applied 
Climatology (in press) 
Zaidi, P.H.; M. Zaman-Allah, S. Trachsel, K. Seetharam, J.E. Cairns and M.T. Vinayan 
(2016). Phenotyping for abiotic stress tolerance in maize – Heat stress. A field 
manual. CIMMYT: Hyderabad, India. 
Articles under preparation 
Alam, A. Seetharam, K. Vinayan, M.T. and Zaidi, P.H. (2016). Dissecting traits 
associated with heat tolerance in maize. 
Babu et al. (2017). Genome wide association analyses reveal genomic regions and 
metabolic pathways influencing heat tolerance in tropical maize 
Carraro, Nicola, Rajdeep Khangura, Ross Zhan, Mitch Tuinstra, and Guri Jopal (2016). 
Maize tolerance to heat stress is modulated by differential transcriptional 
response. 
Gibson, Ryan, Rajdeep Khangura, Mitch Tuinstra, and Guri Jopal (2017). Genetic 
architecture of the leaf lipidome in nested association mapping populations of 
maize.
Gibson, Ryan, et.al. (2017). Galactolipid saturation and remodeling associated with 
field-based high temperature tolerance in maize. 
Krishna J., P.H. Kuchanur,
 P. H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, M. T. Vinayan, K. Seetharam 
and B. Arunkumar (2017). Genetic analysis and association of stress tolerance 
traits in maize (Zea mays L.). 
Krishna J., P.H. Kuchanur,
 P.H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, M. T. Vinayan, K. Seetharam 
(2017). Inheritance and association of secondary traits under heat stress 
tolerance in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). 
Krishna J., P.H. Kuchanur,
 P.H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, M.T. Vinayan, K. Seetharam 
(2017). Combining ability s and heterosis of heat stress tolerance traits in tropical 
maize (Zea mays L.). 
Krishna J., P.H. Kuchanur,
 P.H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, M. T. Vinayan, K. Seetharam 
(2017). Association and path analysis for grain yield and its attributing traits 
under heat stress tolerance in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). 
Ranganatha, C.N., P.H. Kuchanur, P.H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, K. Seetharam and 
M.T. Vinayan (2017). Early generation testing and genomic selection in Maize 
(Zea mays L.) for heat stress tolerance. 
Ranganatha, C.N., P.H. Kuchanur, P.H. Zaidi, Ayyangouda Patil, M. T. Vinayan, K. 
Seetharam and J.P. Nidugundi (2017)..
 Genetic variability and association of 
traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.) under heat stress condition. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 86
Shrikant , Ayyanagouda Patil, P. H. Zaidi, P. H. Kuchanur, M. T. Vinayan, K. Seetharam 
(2017). Functional polymorphism for crtRB1 gene loci in tropical maize inbred 
lines. 
Tuinstra, M. et al. (2016). Maize leaf transcriptome re-modulation in response to heat 
stress. 
Vinayan, M.T. et al. (2017) Genotype x environment interactions under heat stress in 
maize and identification of donor lines. 
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Cairns, J.E., J. Crossa, P.H. Zaidi, P. Grudloyma, C. Sanchez, J.L. Araus, S. Thaitad, 
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donors in maize. Crop Science Vol. 53(4): 1335-1346.
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HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 88
APPENDIX F: PHOTOGRAPHS 
FIGURE 10. PARTICIPANTS IN HTMA TRAINING COURSES HELD IN INDIA
Photos courtesy of P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 89
FIGURE 11. COMPARISON AT HARVEST OF NEW HTMA HEAT-TOLERANT HYBRID
Harvest of spring 2016 trial at Hyderabad, India, showing a new HTMA heat tolerant 
hybrid (CAH-151) and one of the popular commercial hybrids (P30Y45) for the spring 
market. Photo courtesy of P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 90
FIGURE 12. COMPARISON OF LEAVES AND TASSELS OF HEAT-TOLERANT MAIZE LINE 
A heat stress susceptible inbred line with severe leaf firing & tassel blast (left) and a 
tolerant line (right) under heat stress during Spring 2014 at Hyderabad, India. Photo 
courtesy of P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT. 
.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 91
FIGURE 13. H. TURCICUM LEAF BLIGHT
Turcicum leaf blight observed on a susceptible hybrid in the field of Mr. Tilak Prasad 
Kandel at Gaindakot, Nawalparasi, Nepal in 2016. Photo courtesy of D.B. Gurung. 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 92
FIGURE 14. TASSEL STERILITY
Tassel sterility observed in a heat stress susceptible hybrid at UAS-Raichur research 
station located in B.Gudi, India in 2016. Photo courtesy of D.B. Gurung.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 93
Project Implementation Team Response to 
External Evaluation Report
Response of the Project Implementation Team on the Report of External 
Evaluation Team on the “Heat tolerant maize for Asia (HTMA)” Project
Introduction
The two-member external evaluation team (EET) of the project USAID-funded Project on Heat tolerant 
maize for Asia (HTMA) visited South Asia during May 16-24, 2016, to evaluate the progress and activities 
of the on-going project. They visited the project lead center (CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India) and some of the 
project partner locations, interviewed the staff implementing/managing the project, post-graduate 
students working under HTMA, project partners, as well as groups of farmers at various project sites. They 
have also reviewed the project documents, including approved project proposal, annual work plans, semi￾annual and annual reports submitted to USAID. The EET has critically reviewed various aspects of the 
project, including project objectives, milestones, research approach, project execution on the ground, 
major achievements of the project so far, public-private partnerships (PPP) under the project and the 
overall progress made till the 4
th year of the project. Based on this, the EET formulated a comprehensive 
evaluation report, which was forwarded by the USAID for responses by the HTMA Project implementation 
and management team. 
The HTMA management team has gone through the final evaluation report, and would like to express 
sincere appreciation of efforts put in by EET for this comprehensive report. All the key aspects of the 
project have been critically reviewed and well-captured in the report. The report also clearly highlighted
the successes and major achievements of the project so far. 
Through this response, the HTMA team would like formally acknowledge the following factors that 
enabled the remarkable success of the project:
1. Strong confidence and trust of the NARS (National Agricultural Research Systems) and seed company 
partners from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan in HTMA project partnership; 
2. Constructive and solid engagement of the USAID Feed-the-Future management in project execution
3. Excellent collaboration of the HTMA project partner from the US, the Purdue University 
4. A dynamic and diverse PPP for effective deployment of the heat resilient hybrids in South Asia. 
As highlighted by the EET, we recognize some key technical factors that contributed to the success of the 
project:
1. Proper selection and definition of target population environments (TPE) for the HTMA work;
2. Well-defined and documented field phenotyping protocol for heat stress, and its effective execution;
3. Emphasis on quality and consistent precision phenotyping across the network of phenotyping sites; 
4. Strategic use of genomics-enabled tools, including GWAS, GS and DH technology
5. The germplasm strength of CIMMYT that led to exciting products, including heat resilient inbred lines 
and hybrids, besides technical trainings, offered to both public and private sector partners.
The EET made some key recommendations on various project objectives as well as on project 
management for further strengthening the project. These were much appreciated by the HTMA team,
and the responses to these recommendations/suggestions are as below:
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 94
Objective-wise recommendations by EET & responses of the HTMA team
Objective 1: Dissect the expression of heat stress tolerance to identify component traits, genes, 
and genetic loci that predict or confer adaptation to stressful environments in South Asia.
 As quick as is practically possible, we recommend that the various on-going studies should be 
completed, particularly those focusing on identifying candidate genes, and published in refereed 
journals.
HTMA team: Agreed. By mid of year-5 at least one research article will be submitted for publication in 
a high-quality refereed journal. 
 We recommend that the project consider further sampling the 300+ ex-Plant Varietal Protection (PVP) 
lines that the Project PI currently has in the Purdue nursery (only 23 have been used to date in the 
project) as sources of earliness, yield potential, and heat and drought tolerance. 
HTMA team: Agreed. A total 97 temperate lines were test-crossed with tropical testers, evaluated 
across temperature regimes, and 23 lines were identified for further use in the project. Additional ex￾PVP temperate lines will be imported for use in the project. 
Objective 2: Identify and validate favorable genes/haplotypes controlling adaptation of maize to heat 
stress in the tropical environments of South Asia.
 It is critical that the project scientists pull together the results of studies to clearly validate and confirm 
the most significant candidate genes for heat tolerance. In this context we commend the project team 
for recently developing a catalog in Excel format with genotypic and phenotypic information as it 
relates to heat tolerance of CIMMYT and project partner germplasm, and recommend that it be kept 
up to date with ongoing work. 
HTMA team: Agreed. The database of the heat stress genotypic and phenotypic data is being regularly 
updated after every crop season and published periodically through the CIMMYT’s public database
platform – Dataverse.
 A new Java tool to aid genomic selection has been developed and should prove useful. These data 
tools need to be made available to project partners as quickly as possible. 
HTMA team: The Java-based tool was demonstrated by CIMMYT in the last training course on genomic 
selection, and the partners were encouraged to use it in their genomic selection approach based 
breeding program. 
 We recommend investigating the IBP (International Breeding Platform) Breeding Management 
System developed by the Generation Challenge Program which has many useful functions that may 
benefit the HTMA project. 
HTMA team: The HTMA team is keeping track on the progress on BMS, which has not kept pace with 
the requirements of the CIMMYT maize and wheat breeding programs, which are quite large in 
operations. CIMMYT management is reviewing the options to explore other possible breeding 
management systems that suit the requirements.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 95
 We recommend several sources of additional germplasm.
HTMA team: The Project team will keep exploring all possible sources for further widening the 
germplasm base of the project, as long as the germplasm exchange has no proprietary issues and can 
effectively contribute to the development of international public goods.
Objective 3: Implement rapid-cycle genomic selection (RCGS) for generating open-source multi-parental 
synthetic populations and for further deriving doubled haploid (DH) lines with resilience to heat stress.
 This is the only objective where the HTMA has fallen short of the declared milestones. Only six 
synthetics formed plus most delayed in their development. The synthetics serve a dual purpose as 
both a source of genetic variability for the development of inbred lines (whether conventional or DH) 
and per se as open-pollinated varieties (OPVs). The project needs to determine what priority it will 
give to the formation, improvement, and testing of synthetics as OPVs. The results from our interviews 
show that demand for OPVs varies depending on the project partner and country. We recommend 
that yield trial evaluations be conducted to compare project synthetics and hybrids under a range of 
conditions from high heat stress to optimal conditions.
HTMA team: Originally four multi-parent populations (MPS), two each in early and medium maturity 
in heterotic group A & B, were planned to be constituted in the project for source population 
improvement and derivation of improved heat tolerant lines for rapid cycle genomic selection. 
However, a total of six populations were constituted using lines with different heat tolerance traits 
identified after extensive evaluation of HTAM panel, including two populations in early maturity group, 
and four in medium maturity, two each for high Tmax - low VPD and high Tmax – high VPD 
combinations. Out of the six populations, two were advanced to C3, including one cycle of phenotypic 
and two cycles of marker-only selections using genetically estimated breeding values (GEBVs), and 
submitted for DH induction in June-2016. Other 4 populations were advanced to C1 on the basis of 
phenotypic selection, marker effects were estimated, and being used for next two generations of 
marker-only selections for advancing to C3 by year-5 of the project followed by submission for DH￾induction. 
With regard to the possibility of using the MPS as OPVs, we have received such a demand from public 
sector partners from Nepal and Bhutan. We are multiplying seed of all MPS for sharing with public 
sector partners from Nepal and Bhutan for evaluation in spring 2017. 
 The project needs to validate the effectiveness of RCGS for population (synthetic) improvement.
HTMA team: All three cycles, including one phenotypically selected (C1) and two marker-only selected 
(C2 & C3), are submitted for DH induction. The effectiveness of RCGS will be estimated by head-to￾head comparison of the performance of DH lines from all three cycles. Selected superior DH lines based 
on phenotypic data could be potentially used for constituting improved populations/synthetics.
 We fully support the current proposal presented to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) 
to develop a DH facility in India to serve the Asian region.
HTMA team: Thanks! ICAR has already cleared the DH proposal and this was submitted to the 
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, more than two years ago! CIMMYT is 
pursuing hard to get this over-due proposal funded, as there is a strong demand from the NARS as well 
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 96
as SME seed companies in Asia with maize breeding programs for the DH development service through 
CIMMYT.
Objective 4: Initiate deployment of heat stress resilient elite maize hybrids in the target agro-ecologies 
of South Asia through a regional alliance of public and private sector partners
 The testing system for HTMA hybrids allows flexibility from Stage-III onwards. For this we recommend 
that number of entries particularly for Stage–III and MLT should be same for two seasons/two years. 
Number of entries of the trials and testing locations should also be same to have data for two years.
HTMA team: After one year of extensive across-locations (25-30 sites) testing in replicated trials in 3-
4 rows plot size, the most promising hybrids are selected within each TPE and taken forward for large 
scale MLT evaluation (40-50 sites) across temperature & VPD regimes in bigger plot size (8-10 
rows/plot). As the project mostly focuses on developing and developing single-cross hybrids (through 
evaluation in a large number of diverse locations), we found it effective to advance promising hybrids 
after one year of extensive testing, and helped in fast-tracking the product as well, without any major 
issues in next stage testing. 
 Large plot demonstrations of hybrids in many locations have significantly contributed to farmer 
interest and willingness to adopt hybrid technology. Therefore, emphasis should be given on 
demonstrating hybrids in large plots at many locations as possible. Multiple field days should be 
organized regularly in every season and year by responsible NARS research programs and their 
collaborating partners.
HTMA team: Agreed. The on-farm demonstrations have been very useful in getting the attention of 
local farmers, and new partnership in the project. This activity will be further scaled-up, to the extent
of resources available in the project, possibly in the next phase. 
 In discussions with maize scientists and technicians from SME, we learned that their seed companies 
do not own sufficient land to conduct all sets of experimental trials provided by the project. In this 
situation, the seed companies either have to rent land to conduct these trials or need to conduct in 
farmer's fields’ which is not very practical for Stage-I to III trial sets. The HTMA partners from Nepal 
expressed their views that it is not practical for them to evaluate large trials common in Stages I, II, 
and III because of large entry numbers and the fact that they do not own land for testing. However, 
these companies can handle stage-III and MLTs. If testing of all stage of trial is mandatory even to the 
seed companies, we recommend that the project should either reduce its number of trial sets (from 
Stage-I or II trials) or reduce number of entries. 
HTMA team: We appreciate the concern. In the HTMA research collaboration agreements each 
partner agreed to provide in-kind contribution to the project, i.e., 1.0 ha of dedicated field for 
phenotyping, and scientific & technical staff for conducting the trials. It is always ensured that total 
trials for each partner never exceed the agreed limit. 
 We strongly recommend that an unpublished study on “Combining ability, heterosis and G x E 
interaction in tropical maize under heat stress and optimal environments,” completed in 2011, be 
written up and published, and also that more comprehensive and focused follow-up studies be 
conducted ideally lead by a Ph.D. student. We suggest that all four issues listed above be addressed 
but that priority be given to gene action and dosage effects.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 97
HTMA team: Agreed. One Ph. D. student will be assigned for the follow-up study on the findings of 
2011 project done by a Ph.D. student in another project (CSISA), especially to work on gene action and 
dosage effects in heat tolerance in tropical maize. 
Objective 5: Strengthen the capacity of alliance partners, including South Asian maize breeding 
programs and local seed companies 
 We strongly recommend that the short-term training courses be continued so that additional 
researchers/technical staff can benefit. Training is particularly needed for seed production (especially 
inbred line maintenance procedures), and for public sector partners in post-harvest technology, 
product promotion, and marketing. There is also high demand for training in molecular breeding.
HTMA team: Agreed. Training/workshops on the above-mentioned aspects by the EET will be 
considered for possible implementation in the next phase of the project. 
 The participation of women in both short and long term training is low and needs to be addressed.
HTMA team: Agreed. In each case, including project staffing, training courses, studentship & 
participation in on-farm demonstration, best efforts were made to increase the participation of 
women participants. Participation of women participants was satisfactory in case of on-farm 
demonstrations, and also in in-country training courses, especially in Nepal & Bangladesh. However, 
in other cases, despite the best efforts by CIMMYT as well as project partners, women participation 
was relatively low; this is basically because of the reason that the the ratio of women in agricultural
research is relatively low in South Asia. Further efforts will have to be made by all the partner 
institutions to increase the participation of women in the project. 
 Consider developing a HTMA hybrid maize seed production system network where seed companies 
and other producers can obtain technical backstopping, training, and other support. Additional staff 
time may be needed to support technical assistance on seed systems.
HTMA team: Valid suggestion! Besides HTMA, the International Maize Improvement Consortium 
(IMIC) Phase-II is another excellent platform for strengthening the capacity of SME seed companies in 
the region, and for providing the required technical backstopping on hybrid maize seed production. 
 The project should provide additional UC-Davis model weather stations to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan 
and Pakistan in order to generate quality and consistent data among the project’s partners.
HTMA team: Agreed. Provision will be made in next phase for providing essential field equipment 
support, including UC-Davis weather stations. 
Recommendations by EET on project management & response of the HTMA-team: 
 We do not recommend changes in the project management structure, which is functioning very well, 
except that the growth of private sector partners from 3 to 14 may require increasing the number of 
senior private sector representatives on the PSC from 1 to 3 (EQ 4a).
HTMA team: Agreed. Will present this suggestion to PSC for implementation.
HEAT TOLERANT MAIZE FOR ASIA (HTMA) FINAL EVALUATION REPORT 98
 Project management has leveraged funds from several sources to help finance the extra deployment 
work but we recommend that consideration be given to increasing staff and resource allocations. Our 
first priority for staffing increases would be to provide the project leader, who bears a heavy 
responsibility for the project in addition to his other duties, with a scientist assistant. (EQ 5a).
HTMA team: This suggestion will be considered by the CIMMYT management, as staff increases are 
subject to availability of funding available for the project.
 Project management needs to strengthen coordination with and participation among partners 
particularly the smaller project country NARS outside of India. We recommend that the project 
management give this high priority and implement more joint monitoring of on-going activities in 
these regions, exchange visits of researchers and technical staff, and provide further training 
opportunities for partners in the smaller project countries. Allocating a scientist/assistant to work 
with the project leader would also allow this team to increase communication and visits to these 
countries. (EQs 5b, 6c).
HTMA team: This activity is subject to availability of required resources, and will be considered in the 
next phase of the project.
 Despite the stated intentions of many, the participation of women at all levels of the project (including 
management, scientists, graduate students, and participants in training programs) is low. The gender 
imbalance remains and needs to be addressed immediately. (EQ 6c)
HTMA team: Agreed. This point has been already addressed above. 
 Based on partners with differing cultures and mandates (both because of country/region and/or 
public/private sector) the project has the ongoing challenge to build further trust and understanding 
among its diverse collaborators. We recommend that project leaders need to continually look for 
complementarities and ways to further strengthen communication and relationships among public￾private sector scientists/leaders. Unity is very hard to build but easy to rupture. It is also important 
that all partners bring something significant to the table to contribute to the project. We also 
encourage partners to have a greater willingness to share information and technology, particularly 
the private sector in the area of seed production research and product deployment. (EQ 6b).
HTMA team: Agreed. Despite the challenges, HTMA has been quite successful in implementing the 
PPP model in the ongoing phase. We will certainly explore ways and means to further strengthen this 
aspect of the project in the possible next phase. 
 Interaction between BFS and the HTMA can be maintained by continuing regular attendance at the 
annual meeting, site visits, maintaining close communication and looking together for ways and 
resources to better achieve project objectives. (EQ 7a)
HTMA team: It must be recognized that the BFS team, including the USAID Program Officer of the 
Project (Nora Lapitan earlier and Hailu Wordofa now) have never missed the annual meetings of the 
project, and have consistently provided excellent inputs for further improvement of the project through 
effective online/F2F communications. We are also particularly grateful for USAID management which 
has highlighted the HTMA project as one of the success stories.
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 Future external reviews could be improved by the following suggestions (EQ 8c):
- Schedule the evaluation earlier in the project phase
- Consider having 3 rather than only 2 external evaluation team members
- Provide review team more time to visit additional project countries
- Allow at least one reviewer the opportunity to attend the project annual meeting
HTMA team: These suggestions may be considered by the USAID. 
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