Blogs – Page 160

World Water Day

Written by on March 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Celebrate World Water Day

Water plays a vital role in irrigation and food production, accounting for 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, according to U.N. Water. Additionally, statistics show that water consumption for agricultural use is projected to increase by about 20 percent by 2050.

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Global efforts to protectively boost sustainable water use are reflected in proposed global anti-poverty development goals due to replace the current U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire at the end of 2015.
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The inclusion of water in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” will mark a significant shift from the current development framework, which only included water as a subordinate target within the environment MDG 7.

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World Water Day, which falls on March 22, offers an opportunity to celebrate the role this indispensable resource plays in agricultural production, food security and distribution. At the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) we asked members of our online community to share pictures illustrating some of the ways they use water.

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Center pivot crop irrigation system conserves water

Written by on March 20, 2015. Posted in News.

This picture by Alfonso Cortes shows a center pivot irrigation system in Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Photo credit: CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortes

The Center Pivot System saves a significant amount of water while allowing the measured distribution of a precise amount to plants.

This maize crop has been cultivated using conservation agriculture techniques.

Through conservation agriculture, scientists aim to improve rural incomes and livelihoods through sustainable management of agro-ecosystem productivity and diversity, while minimizing unfavorable environmental impacts.

Conservation agriculture minimizes unfavorable environmental impacts

Written by on March 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Bram Govaerts, associate director of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) demonstrates to collaborators how straw retains water by avoiding surface runoff at an experimental station.

Govaerts stands on the right, while a man to the left uses a stopwatch to observe how much time passes before the water begins to run.

The project is part of MasAgro, a program focused on the sustainable modernization of agriculture in Mexico. Through conservation agriculture, scientists aim to improve rural incomes and livelihoods through sustainable management of agro-ecosystem productivity and diversity, while minimizing unfavorable environmental impacts.

Farmer interventions in water distribution have profound impact

Written by on March 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Water program targeting smallholders sustains food insecure households

Written by on March 20, 2015. Posted in News.

Water plays a major role in smallholder farmer crop production, and CARE International’s Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development (GRAD) program aims to sustain food security for food insecure households in rural Ethiopia.

In this picture from CARE taken by Josh Estey, shows Desta Seba, 28, and his wife Hana Eliyas, 25. They have four children. The family farms 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of land, cultivating bananas, chat, coffee, haricot bean, inset, maize and teff.

They have three goats, eight chickens and four cows. They only eat meat once a year. Before GRAD the family would eat two meals a day consisting of inset and maize. Through GRAD they have been able to save money for the first time in their lives and they can now buy such essential items for their family as salt, soap and baby food.

GRAD aims to graduate 50,000 thousand food insecure households from the Ethiopian government’s productive safety net in 16 targeted woredas (villages) and increase each household income by $365 dollars a year.

For more information, follow CARE on Twitter @CAREintuk

Floodwaters put food security at risk by halting crop production

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

Water plays a vital role in crop production, but flooding in vulnerable regions also ruins crops and hinders aid agencies’ efforts to reach people affected by crisis.

In this picture from the World Food Programme (WFP) taken by Amjad Jamal in 2012, vehicles laden with emergency supplies motor through floodwaters to deliver food aid to around 20,000 people stranded in Pakistan’s Sindh Province.

This third successive year of flooding caused the deaths of around 400 people and destroyed homes and agricultural livelihoods. WFP provided one-month food rations, including fortified wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, iodized salt and high energy biscuits.

For more information, follow WFP on Twitter @WFP

Sustainable land and water management improve productivity

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

The World Food Programme (WFP) provides support to the Ethiopian government’s Growth and Transformation Plan, a development agenda which addresses food security. WFP School Meals and Managing Environmental Resources to Enable Transition (MERET) programs support sustainable land and water management to improve productivity in food-insecure communities.

In this picture, taken by WFP staffer Kiyori Ueno, children are eating porridge made of maize and haricot beans produced by local farmers at the Udassa Repi Elementary School in Butajira, a project supported by Dubai Cares.

Through the School Meals program, WFP provides a daily hot meal to almost 700,000 school children to promote increased attendance and enrollment, reducing drop outs in food insecure areas. The program also supports formal education by developing schools into community resource centers that promote good nutrition and environmental awareness.

For more information, follow WFP on Twitter @WFP

Lack of rain can jeopardize maize seed production

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

This photo was taken at the Tool Baye Seed Cooperative processing unit in Kaolack, Senegal.

Daniella Van Leggelo Padilla took this picture to show the quality of the certified maize seeds that were being sold at a subsidized price thanks to the World Bank West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP/PPAAO).

Due to a late — and poor — rainfall in 2014, farmers lost their crops, putting them in a precarious position for the fall harvest.

The WAAPP program was able to shore up this loss by providing Senegalese farmers with short cycle, drought-resistant seeds to help them salvage the season’s crops.

Learn More: Seeding hope for smallholder farmers in Senegal

For more information, follow World Bank Water on Twitter @WorldBankWater

Gravity water flow project aids farmers in Ethiopian village

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in Features.

Farmers face a range of challenges related to crop production. Nguse Adhane, a smallholder farmer who lives in a small village in Ethiopia, collects his water from a spring source, which runs dry for months at a time.

Charity WaterAid and its partner Development Inter Church Aid Commission are building a gravity flow scheme, which will mean the 875 village residents will not have to depend on an unreliable water source.

Adhane, shown in this picture taken by Guilhem Alandry, has cattle and grows tomatoes, pepper, maize, teff, wheat, lentils and onions on his small farm.

“When I collect water from here for my crops, the roots become dry,” he said.

“There are worms in the water and this impacts on the crops. The cattle become distended after they drink the water as there are worms in it.

“Because there is no water, we cannot water our crops. We have a shortage of water. Our irrigations have been dry for a month now. The rains start in June.”

“If we have water, we will be very happy,” he said.

For more information, follow @WaterAid on Twitter

Industrial water run-off can sustainably boost crop production

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

KULUMSA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) — An irrigation reservoir at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia’s highlands captures water from a nearby beer distillery about 168 km (105 miles) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.

Before the irrigation project was constructed, the industrial runoff poured into the nearby river and had a negative effect on the health of local residents. Now it nourishes crops growing in neighboring fields during the dry season or in periods of drought. It can store up to 38,195m3 of water.

“The irrigation project has been a key investment – it’s very instrumental for accelerating seed multiplication of improved high-yielding rust resistant varieties for local wheat projects,” said Bekele Abeyo, a senior scientist and wheat breeder working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“It allows us to advance wheat germplasm and seed multiplication of elite lines twice a year, which we couldn’t do previously. This cuts the time by half from the currently required eight to 10 years to four to five years for the development and release of new varieties through conventional breeding.

An additional pond with the capacity to capture 27,069m3 of natural water from the river, generates the capacity to irrigate more than 30 ha of land during the off season. The project resulted from the joint investment of the East Africa Agricultural Productivity Program, the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat Project and CIMMYT.

The construction of the ponds began in April 2012. Sprinkler irrigation was completed in 2014 and management of the project was handed over to the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center.

On World Water Day, photos show role water plays in food security

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

World Water Day, which falls on March 22, offers an opportunity to celebrate the role this indispensable resource plays in agricultural production, food security and distribution.

At the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) we asked members of our online community to share pictures illustrating some of the ways they use water.

Their contributions can be seen on our special coverage page.

Twitter followers are also asked to share pictures via the #WaterIs hashtag and by mentioning @CIMMYT.

On World Water Day, photos show role water plays in food security

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

The inclusion of water in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” will mark a significant shift from the current framework, which included water as a subordinate target within the MDG 7 environment target.

World Water Day on 22 March offers an opportunity to celebrate the role this indispensable resource plays in agricultural production, food security and distribution.

At the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) we asked members of our online community to share pictures illustrating some of the ways they use water.

Their contributions can be seen on our special coverage page.

Twitter followers are also asked to share pictures via the #WaterIs hashtag and by mentioning @CIMMYT.

To see the contributions, please click here.

CIMMYT at the global forum for innovations in agriculture

Written by on March 17, 2015. Posted in News.

During 9-11 March, scientists from 90 countries gathered at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture in Abu Dhabi to discuss the looming topic of feeding nine billion people by the year 2050.

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Population is rising and natural resources are fading. Innovations in agriculture that use less of the world’s natural resources and address global warming, improve nutrition, ensure global food security and reduce poverty are critical, according to Jon Hellin, value chain and poverty specialist for CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program. Hellin presented his research on crop index insurance and its effect on farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies.

Studies confirm the value of biofortification

Written by on March 17, 2015. Posted in News.

A study published early this month in the Journal of Nutrition shows that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for children in vulnerable areas of rural Zambia.

“This adds to the growing body of evidence supporting the efforts of HarvestPlus, a CGIAR global effort to end hidden hunger and to which CIMMYT contributes through the development of maize and wheat with enhanced levels of vitamin A, zinc, and iron,” said Natalia Palacios, CIMMYT Maize Nutrition Quality Specialist and co-author in the study. “Maize is an important staple food for 900 million people living on less than $2 each day, but a diet rich in maize cannot always provide the nutrients needed by the body.”

Zinc plays important roles in human health, and zinc deficiencies are associated with stunting and a weak immunological system, making the malnourished more susceptible to common infections. More than 17 percent of the global population is at risk of zinc deficiency.

The study found that when the biofortified maize provided by CIMMYT was fed as a staple to Zambian children, their zinc intake was more than sufficient for their dietary needs.

The higher zinc level (34 µg zinc per gram, versus 21 µg) meant that the biofortified maize greatly outperformed the control diet, while biofortified grain was shown to be more efficient than Zn-enriched flour at getting the nutrient absorbed into the body.

This research joins another study in Zambia that revealed orange maize to be an effective way of reducing vitamin A deficiency in young children, which globally causes 500,000 to go blind each year. HarvestPlus has supplied 10,000 farming households in Zambia with orange maize, supported by government recognition of the value of biofortification in its National Food and Nutrition Strategic plan.

Maize and wheat global gender study: coding large-scale data to reveal the drivers of agricultural innovation

Written by on March 9, 2015. Posted in News.

Over the last week, MAIZE and WHEAT CRP investigators from the global cross-CRP study on gender in agricultural innovation met at El Batán from 26 Feb to 1 March to take stock of progress so far and plan the next steps in the implementation of this unique research initiative.

From left to right: Patti Petesch, Diana Lopez, Paula Kantor, Vongai Kandiwa, Dina Najjar, Lone Badstue, Anuprita Shukla and Amare Tegbaru. Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT

The study will draw on interviews and focus groups with men and women engaged in small-scale farming around the world, to hear in their words how they practice and innovate in agriculture, and what factors, especially gender relations, they feel have influenced their success and failures. Through rigorous analysis both of the broader patterns in the data and delving deep into the case studies, the aim is to develop strategic research publications as well as practical observations and tools to integrate gender-sensitivity into agricultural research and development.

The appetite for more knowledge about the role of gender was clear at Gender and Development Specialist Paula Kantor’s well-attended brown bag lunch on Friday, introducing the GIZ-funded project on gender constraints to wheat R4D in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.

As CIMMYT Gender Specialist Lone Badstue opened the workshop, she reflected on how quickly gender research has advanced since the CRPs were set up in 2011. From less than one full-time gender-specialist on staff, there are now the equivalent of eight full-time staff working with the CRPs on gender and 20 large projects with gender-integration.

At the workshop, the gender specialists shared their experiences of the 19 case studies conducted under MAIZE and WHEAT so far, before settling down to discuss data quality control and coding.