An international conservation agriculture (CA) workshop to be held during China Science Week (30 June–4 July 2015) will bring CIMMYT CA researchers, colleagues and national researchers together with the objective of building agro-ecological capacity among researchers in western China. At the workshop, hosted by CIMMYT-China, participants will discuss subjects such as CA successes and the science and practical agronomy underpinning CA, and will view field displays of CA benefits.

The workshop will advance international exchange and future collaboration through CIMMYT-China’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP). China, a vital component of GCAP, plays an ever-increasing role in agricultural development across Asia and Africa. For example, GCAP-China collaborator Zhang Anping from the Nanjing Research Institute of Agricultural Mechanization recently returned from a 12-month machinery development program in Zimbabwe sponsored by the Chinese Government. Zhang will be hosting CIMMYT-GCAP on an agricultural machinery tour in Shandong Province following China Science Week.

Internationally renowned experts will be joined by CIMMYT’s GCAP team who will provide training and present CA research, development and extension practices, and share their expertise on CA issues that arise across Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Danny Decombel, Crop Nutritionist who has lived and worked in China for 27 years, will provide insights on nutrient and plant management and monitoring systems. Carl Timler of Wageningen University will provide hands-on training on the use of Farm DESIGN computer models and other farming system analytical tools. Farm DESIGN is a product of Wageningen University’s Farming Systems Ecology group.

National scientists will discuss new technologies, scientific advances and scholarly publications in China. Representatives from Gansu Agricultural University, The Grassland Institute of Lanzhou University, Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and local agronomy consultants, in partnership with GCAP-China, will also be organizing the event.

In addition to the workshop, a participatory learning field day will be held at Dingxi Research Station in Gansu Province. During the field day, participants will learn about challenges to CA adoption, and will view demonstrations of conventional vs. CA treatment of water-holding capacity, infiltration, runoff, soil strength, plant nutrition levels and crop water use.

CIMMYT representatives attending will include Bruno Gerard, GCAP Director; M.L. Jat, Senior Cropping System Agronomist; Frederic Baudron, Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) Project Leader; Santiago Lopez Ridaura, GCAP Systems Agronomist; and Tim Krupnik, Systems Agronomist.

Also in attendance will be professors John Bennett (University of Southern Queensland Australia), Enamel Haque (Murdoch University Perth Australia) and Jeremy Whish (CSIRO Australia). National representatives include Yang Changrong, expert in agro-ecology; Lan Yubin, leading expert in precision agriculture at South China Agricultural University; Pan Genxing, expert in soil biology and amendments at Nanjing Agricultural University; and Wang Yingkuan, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Agricultural & Biological Engineering and Vice Secretary General of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering.

A workshop to select case studies in Nepal for the Global Study on Gender Norms and Capacities for Agricultural Innovation was hosted by CIMMYT on 3 June 2015. This was the first meeting held by CIMMYT-Nepal since the devastating earthquake that hit the country in April, reaffirming staff commitment to continuing research despite the challenges and losses being faced across the country.

The workshop aimed to identify villages in Nepal that could become part of the Study’s South Asia case selections on gender norms and agency in agriculture and natural resource management in South Asia. It was organized by the CGIAR in collaboration with CIMMYT and Tahseen Jafry, Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University. Sixteen workshop participants representing the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), non-governmental organizations, Biodiversity International and CIMMYT gave their input and suggestions as to which communities to target.

Thousands of young Nepalese men—1,500 a day, by some estimates—migrate every week to work as laborers in the Persian Gulf, India or Malaysia, leaving women to head households and manage smallholder farms in remote areas. According to a World Bank study, this has a negative impact on the level of labor market participation by women from those households. Women make up 62% of the agricultural work force in Nepal, but only around 8% of female laborers receive equal pay for their work.

Strain on infrastructure due to the earthquake is putting even more pressure on vulnerable communities, especially in the countryside. This makes the Global Study even more important to better understand the gender dynamics in rural Nepalese communities and identify what the CGIAR can do to improve livelihoods.

A framework that provides guidance for considering both economic and gender dimensions was used in the case selection process, followed by a discussion to set criteria for identifying sites when looking at gender in wheat and maize in Nepal. Participants adopted three criteria for analyzing potential districts, including identifying: (1) potential wheat and maize producing districts in Nepal; (2) districts falling under the Study’s economic and gender dimensions; and (3) one district each for the four maize and wheat segments used to determine a location’s dimensions in terms of economic status vs gender gap. After successfully identifying potential districts in Nepal for the Global Study, participants suggested that the study team contact district officials to arrange detailed selection and field visits with farmers’ groups.

The event was opened and closed by Arun Joshi, CIMMYT-Nepal Senior Wheat Breeder, and facilitated by Kanchan Lama, Gender Specialist with Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), and Suman Dhakal, Assistant Lecturer, Institute of Agriculture in Rampur, Nepal, and resource person for the Nepal Global Study team. Also participating in the workshop was K.C. Dilli, CIMMYT-Nepal Monitoring Officer.

Twenty-two scientists, engineers, technicians and local manufacturers of agricultural machinery working in and with CIMMYT participated in an Agro-machinery Professionals’ Jamboree held in Jhenaidah District, Bangladesh, 27-30 April 2015. The objective of the Jamboree was to acquaint participants with agro-machinery such as seeders and reapers and develop their troubleshooting and operating skills. Participants shared their experiences and the challenges they face in the field, and brainstormed solutions together.

During the Jamboree, mock challenges similar to complications commonly found in the field were presented so participants could try to solve them. They learned the necessary theory and facts through demonstrations, question-and-answer sessions and multimedia presentations. Participants also described difficulties they commonly face in the field and found the best possible solutions through interactive discussions.

“It was a wonderful workshop where we shared our real-life experiences to help farmers achieve common goals,” said Jamboree participant Mohammad Hasanuzzaman.

Facilitators Arshadul Haque, Senior Scientific Officer, and Rezaul Karim, Scientific Officer, both from the Engineering Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, called upon the participants to become change leaders in Bangladesh’s agricultural machinery revolution. Team leader Abdul Momin, CSISA-CIMMYT Cropping System Agronomist, emphasized the need to hold this type of event at least once before every cropping season to continue to build staff capacity.

The International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP) held its 2015 International Winter Wheat Traveling Seminar in Azerbaijan and Georgia on 24 May. More than 40 participants from 18 countries attended the seminar, which covered more than 1,000 kilometers in four days.

Winter wheat is a major food crop in Central and West Asia, where it covers 14 million hectares. IWWIP, a cooperative program between CIMMYT, Turkey’s Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), develops germplasm for Central and West Asia and serves as a mechanism for global winter wheat germplasm and knowledge exchange.

Every two years, IWWIP conducts international traveling seminars to assess progress in the development, adoption and impact of new varieties and gather feedback from partners. Previous seminars have been conducted in Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria and Romania. This year’s seminar was funded by Turkey’s Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry and by FAO’s Central Asia Office, which also provided technical support and supported three participants.

IWWIP winter wheat varieties and spring wheat varieties from international centers occupy more than 70% of Azerbaijan’s total wheat area and contribute substantially to food security through their high yields and resistance to stripe rust, a disease prevalent in the region.

Participants gathered in Baku then went on to visit Azeri Research Institute of Farming, the Genetic Resources Institute, and Gobustan and Terter Experiment Stations. “Participants were very impressed by the experimental and breeding work at all sites visited,” said Alexey Morgounov, Head of IWWIP. “There is an established system of wheat germplasm screening, selection of superior germplasm, official testing and release, multiplication and promotion.”

In Georgia, the group participated in a field day at Lomtagora Farm, where new winter wheat varieties were identified and promoted.  The group also visited the Georgian National Research Center experiment station and reviewed the crop research being conducted there. Lomtagora Farm hosted a summary meeting featuring several key presentations on food security, application of new genomic tools and fast multiplication and promotion of new varieties. Recommendations for future IWWIP activities discussed at the meeting included expanding and improving current breeding and germplasm exchange activities and focusing on training young wheat breeders in Turkey.

“An important outcome of the seminar was the establishment of personal connections between participants, as well as building formal ties,” said Morgounov. “The group was highly impressed by the new generation of young, intelligent and driven wheat breeders and researchers in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and we look forward to a successful seminar in 2017.”