CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 2, February 2006

The CIMMYT-convened Rice Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (RWC) reaches out to the poorest of the rural poor in India’s Bihar state.

Mrs. Lal Muni Devi and her family live in a windowless, single-room, thatched roof house in the village of Azad Nagar, half an hour’s drive from the city of Patna in Bihar state in India, in the impoverished eastern section of the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains. Most farms here are small and almost all farmers grow two crops a year; rice during the wet, monsoon season, and wheat on the same fields during the dry winter. The RWC conducts farmer-managed trials and demonstrates practices that conserve soil quality and water and cut farmers’ production costs. These include direct seeding of wheat and rice without previously cultivating the soil—a practice known as zero-tillage. In the case of rice, this involves the radical measure of growing it on dry land; that is, without flooding fields or puddling the soil.

But there’s a catch: Devi is not a farmer. She and her family are among the landless poor who cannot directly benefit from the new, resource-conserving practices that are starting to make a difference for smallholder farmers in her community. In fact, what little income she and her family earn comes from selling their labor to the farmers. They prepare the land for rice, for example, and transplant the rice seedlings from nurseries to the paddies. They also weed the wheat fields and harvest the crops, all by hand.

Providing opportunities for people like Devi is one part of an RWC project being implemented in partnership with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the district. “The landless are typically the core rural poor”, says Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT socioeconomist in South Asia. “But they are relatively invisible, difficult to reach, and often forgotten by agricultural research and development organizations. The challenge is to provide them with significant income-generating options by building on their skills and the limited assets they command.”

Devi’s house is lit only by small kerosene lamps. Inside, balls of wheat straw hang on twine from the roof. Oyster mushrooms grow on each ball, thriving in the relatively dark and damp interior of the house. There is a market for them in the nearby city and wheat straw is plentiful. The spores are readily available and, at 50 rupees a bag (the equivalent of about US$ 1.20), not expensive. The economics are good and the mushrooms don’t require much labor.

“I’ve just sold my first kilo and received 250 rupees,” she smiles, happy at the prospect of having cash for household needs. In Azad Nagar, women have formed a self-help group and are all growing the mushrooms, a proficiency they acquired through the project

This is the first season and the group represents a small, pilot initiative, but the impacts are already being felt. “Now we have tasted the delicacy ourselves, the oyster mushrooms, for the first time,” Devi says. The women recognize new bonds among themselves in their community and control the money they earn. “I need to buy some new clothes for the family,” Devi says. “And if there is something left, I want to buy some jewelry.”

For more information contact Olaf Erenstein (o.erenstein@cgiar.org)

June, 2005

A new study reports on the extensive use and benefits of CIMMYT wheat.

The advantage is clear: the use of CIMMYT wheat creates enormous benefits for those who grow them. Even by conservative estimates, every US $1 invested in wheat research by CIMMYT generates at least US $50 for those involved in growing CIMMYT-related wheats. According to the publication, Impacts of International Wheat Breeding Research in the Developing World, 1988-2002, farmers sowed CIMMYT-improved varieties on 62 million hectares in 2002.

“This report reaffirms the major contributions of CIMMYT wheat around the world, including areas of smallholder, resource-poor farmers,” says John Dixon, director of CIMMYT’s Impacts Targeting and Assessment Program. Farmers in developing countries yield 14 million more tons of wheat per year because of international wheat breeding research. In addition, 80% of wheat grown in developing countries has CIMMYT wheat in its family tree.

Because this report documents the successful adoption of modern wheat lines, policy-makers will be able to assess progress and set priorities for future research investment. Its conclusions support those found in two earlier studies, and the coverage extends to include many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

In countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, more than 75% of wheat marketed by private companies has CIMMYT ancestry. Widespread adoption of CIMMYT lines reflects the extensive use of partnerships and networks with other breeding programs to reach farmers with relevant varieties. This adoption and the subsequent higher on-farm yields generate enormous benefits for farmers, enhancing their food security and livelihoods (see box)—a central part of CIMMYT’s mission.

Check out our website to order this publication and click here to view a research summary of this report. (PDF)

CIMMYT E-News, vol 2 no. 11, November 2005

CIMMYT-Nepal makes progress against a disease in wheat that disguises itself as drought.

CIMMYT and partners in Nepal have identified new sources of genetic resistance to a disease that makes wheat plants looks as though they have been through a drought. The symptoms of foliar blight result from fungal infections, either spot blotch or the less well-known but related tan spot. These pathogens dry the wheat plant and shrivel grain. In the warm areas of South Asia, that appearance can lead farmers to blame drought rather than an infection. By “knowing the enemy,” as CIMMYT partner Ram Sharma puts it, it is easier to win the fight against the disease.

CIMMYT pathologist Etienne Duveiller and Sharma, who have both done work on the pathogens, have found an effective method to select for resistance: finding wheat with a heavy grain weight, early maturity, and resistance to both pathogens. Wheat that carries these three traits together makes for wheat with higher resistance. Through regional collaborative trials in South Asia, they have bred and identified wheat lines that look promising. While better than anything previously seen in the area, these wheats can still suffer up to 35% yield losses—and have a huge impact on resource poor farmers who grow their wheat for food, as most do in Nepal.

When the temperature soars to 26-28°C, however, no wheat can resist the disease. This is why it is so important to find wheat that matures early to avoid the abrupt rise in temperature accompanied by hot winds in late March and April. This becomes difficult as most farmers in the region are delayed planting wheat as they wait for their rice harvest to finish and the paddies to dry up.

In addition to genetic resistance, solutions can come in the form of good management. Surface seeding, when seed is broadcast on the mud directly after the rice harvest, allows earlier planting and gives the wheat crop a jump start on the heat. Crop rotation and soil nutrients are important because healthy soils help the crop resist the disease. Also, Duveiller and Sharma have found that wheat is better able to withstand the disease with proper soil moisture.

The CIMMYT-Nepal team expects that these new sources of resistance, coupled with good management practices, will limit the destructiveness of this disease. They know it can be done—foliar blight has already been substantially reduced in areas of South Asia such as Bangladesh through better wheat varieties. The challenge is to sustain progressive control of this threat across the warm wheat growing areas of South Asia.

For further information, contact Etienne Duveiller (e.duveiller@cgiar.org) or Ram Sharma (sharmar@cimmyt.exch.cgiar.org).

June, 2004

The densely populated Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia is highly dependent on agriculture and extremely poor, but significant tracts of agricultural land is under-used. Can it be made productive?

In the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, more than 300 million people live on less than 35 million hectares. They depend on that land for food, employment, and income. Most farm households produce rice in rotation with wheat, but to reduce the risk of losses in a region where the climate can seesaw from extreme drought to heavy flooding in the same year, they also plant a variety of other crops. A lack of tillage options and appropriate planting techniques has been a major obstacle for these under-used but potentially productive lands.

Farmer management practices and environmental and social conditions all contribute to land under-use and low productivity. Heavy rains, residual moisture from the last crop, poor drainage systems, insufficient irrigation water, alkaline or saline soils, and a lack of alternative cropping practices often make it challenging for farmers to plant winter season crops on time or plant any crops at all.. Some conditions simply exacerbate the problem. For example, in Uttar Pradesh, an estimated 1.2 million hectares are not used because of a high buildup of salts.

In India, the impoverished Ballia District in Uttar Pradesh is representative of conditions throughout the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. Most land is used for the main economic activity: agriculture. The farming community comprises small-scale and marginal agricultural enterprises that support a large number of landless laborers. Ninety percent of the population lives in rural areas. Cropping systems anchored by rice and wheat occupy most arable land.

Mapping and Understanding Land Use Patterns

A recently completed study by Parvesh Chandna and colleagues used remote sensing and GIS methodology to estimate and map the area of under-used land in Ballia District. The study, “Increasing the Productivity of Underutilized Lands by Targeting Resource Conserving Technologies – a GIS / Remote Sensing Approach,” was sponsored by the Asian Development Bank as one component of the project on “Sustaining the Rice Wheat Production Systems of Asia.” It is a collaboration between CIMMYT and the Rice-Wheat Consortium.

Chandra and his colleagues incorporated satellite images from four different dates that showed land-use patterns in farmers’ fields over time. The time-series satellite data helped to identify areas sown to wheat / barley and rice and to distinguish land in different ways, such as land that was planted late, left fallow, was waterlogged, or was saline. Using GIS tools, researchers aligned the images within the same geographic coordinates to accurately overlay spatial layers such as administrative boundaries. They also looked at in situ field observations and soil samples to ensure that satellite-derived information was accurate.

Chandna and his colleagues estimated that the area of under-used land during 2001-02 was about 76,000 hectares, or 27% of the cultivable area. Late planting was a big problem, particularly with wheat. Experiments have shown that timely wheat planting could increase production by up to one ton per hectare on average, with no additional inputs or changes. In Ballia, this practice could potentially increase wheat production by as much as 75,000 tons. Using these methods, researchers accurately and cost-effectively characterized five major land types that are not reaching their full potential.

More Appropriate Practices

More efficient use of land and other resources could turn one of the poorest regions of South Asia into a granary and help meet future requirements for food and income, but only if researchers know which farmers need which kinds of technology. Information from the Ballia study will allow researchers to match land-use characteristics with agricultural technologies and make land more productive.

Traditional tillage practices often delay planting in excessively wet or waterlogged soils, and sub-optimal management practices often fail to capitalize on limited water resources. Resource-conserving technologies such as zero tillage, surface seeding, and bed planting could help increase production and reduce costs on under-used land throughout the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Zero or reduced tillage for growing wheat after rice has been catching on fast in the region and is helping farmers increase productivity and reduce fallow land area. This crop planting system causes minimal soil disturbance by eliminating preparatory tillage such as plowing or harrowing. The reduction in land preparation time permits timely sowing of winter season crops, plus it allows optimal use of available soil moisture. There are also significant cost reductions and environmental benefits through reduced diesel consumption.

Furrow-irrigated raised bed planting technology allows farmers to intensify crops and saves costs on irrigation water. Farmers use the raised beds to grow crops and the furrows, where they sometimes plant an intercrop, for irrigation. In addition to being highly water-efficient, research has shown that bed systems offer major advantages for saline or sodic soils.

The simplest zero tillage option is surface seeding. Farmers just spread seed on excessively wet soil, on top of crop residues and without any land preparation. The practice is especially suitable for areas that have fine soils and poor drainage or where land preparation is difficult. An evaluation of soil moisture and seeding at the correct time is critical to its success. Surface seeding allows timely sowing in areas where planting machinery is not available, and it saves costs on labor, fuel, and tillage. Even the poorest farmers can adopt this practice.

These technologies could raise productivity in a sustainable manner and improve livelihoods for resource-poor farmers. However, effective promotion requires a well-organized database with information about the distribution of land types and problematic areas. Thanks to this study, scientists have a clearer picture of the problems, their location, and their relative importance. They have a much better idea of where technologies should be targeted to improve land use in a sustainable way for poor communities in the Eastern Indo Gangetic Plains. There are currently plans to scale-up the methodologies developed in this pilot study to cover an expanded area.

For information: Parvesh Chandna

In a recent New York Times article, journalist Justin Gillis reports on the planet’s looming threat of climate change, agriculture’s monumental challenge, and how CIMMYT is working diligently to mitigate these global hurdles.

The article, which appeared in the 05 June 2011 print edition, reports from CIMMYT’s Ciudad Obregón station where wheat variety testing takes priority. As one of the four staple crops that constitute most human calories, wheat production is crucial to ensuring global food security; a task that is becoming more difficult amid growing populations, a changing climate, and the depletion of natural resources, according to Gillis.

“There is just such a tremendous disconnect, with the people not understanding the highly dangerous situation we are in,” CIMMYT’s deputy chief Marianne Banzinger told Gillis.

Furthermore, food shortages do not just affect the population going to bed hungry. Gillis states that food shortages can and do lead to political unrest, citing past turmoil in Haiti and the recent political destabilization in Arab countries. But not all hope is lost, as many agricultural scientists and experts believe that sustainably increasing global agricultural production is feasible.

“It may be possible to make more productive and resilient in the face of climate change,” Gillis reports. “But how?” you might be wondering – through the introduction of new agronomical techniques and new varieties resistant to climate strains, such as heat and water stress, and new pests.

Read the entire article available on nytimes.com.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 3 no. 2, February 2006

Norman E. Borlaug, former CIMMYT wheat breeder, 1970 Nobel Peace Laureate, and scientist whose work helped spark the Green Revolution, was awarded the National Medal of Science by US President George W. Bush at a ceremony in the White House on 13 February 2006. The award was established in 1959 to recognize special achievements and outstanding contributions in the sciences.

Borlaug has dedicated more than five decades to ending world hunger and to boosting agricultural productivity in the developing world. He has been awarded more than 50 honorary doctorates from institutions in 18 countries, and has talked to more peasant farmers and visited more wheat fields than any living person. At 91 he continues to travel worldwide to promote improved farming. He also supports CIMMYT as a senior consultant and serves as Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M University.

Borlaug grew up on a small farm in Iowa, and attended a one-room schoolhouse for his first eight grades. He studied plant pathology at the University of Minnesota and was awarded his doctorate in 1941. Between 1944 and 1960, Borlaug served as the Rockefeller Foundation scientist in charge of wheat improvement under the Cooperative Mexican Agricultural Program. He later acted as a consultant to Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, and was assigned to the Inter-American Food Crop Program as an associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation.

With the establishment of CIMMYT in Mexico in 1963, Borlaug assumed leadership of the Wheat Program, a position he held until his official retirement in 1979. By the mid-1960s, he and partners took technical components of Mexican wheat technology to Asia, launching the so-called “Green Revolution.” Between 1964 and 1990, wheat production in India rose from 12 to 54 million tons, while wheat production in Pakistan increased from 4.5 to 14.5 million tons.

In 1988, Borlaug became President of the Sasakawa Africa Association and a Senior Consultant to Global 2000. During 1990-92, he was a member of the US President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. He also serves on many advisory boards, including the international juries of the annual World Food Prize, sponsored by the John T. Ruan Foundation, and the annual Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, sponsored by the Hunger Project.

Other recent honors conferred to Borlaug include the Danforth Award for Plant Science and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest national award.