A sign indicates what conservation practices are being employed in a demonstration plot in Malawi. Photo : T. Samson/CIMMYT.
CIMMYT, Washington State University and Total Land Care (TLC) recently published a series of extension bulletins to spread awareness of the potential benefits of conservation agriculture (CA) techniques for farmers in Malawi.
The study, “Sustainable Intensification and Diversification on Maize-based Agroecosystems in Malawi,” took place over three years in the districts of Nkhotakota and Dowa, and was sponsored by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize through a Competitive Grants Initiative.
Over the study period, three different cropping systems — zero-tillage, conservation agriculture, and conventional tillage — were applied to smallholder farms. The three extension bulletins detail their respective impacts on crop yields and residue production, soil-water relations and the economic impacts for smallholder households.
The bulletins have been printed for distribution to Malawian extension agents and non-governmental organizations and, ultimately, to share with farmers.
The Findings
In the study, the zero-tilled maize plots incorporated only two of the three principles of CA – no tillage and residue retention – but not crop rotations, while conservation agriculture and conventional tillage incorporated diverse cropping systems.
It was found that crop rotations had the greatest impact on maize yields, leading to higher yields in conservation agriculture and conventional tillage than in continuous no-till maize.
Water infiltration was greatest in no-till maize and conservation agriculture, with 90 percent of applied water infiltrating into soils in the no-till plot and 60 percent under conservation agriculture, in Nkhotakota District. Sediment runoff was greatest in conventional tillage in both districts.
The study found that conservation agriculture used labor more efficiently than conventional tillage in smallholder plots, although variable costs were lowest in conventional tillage.
The authors of the bulletins are Dan TerAvest (Washington State University), John Reganold (Washington State University), and Christian Thierfelder (CIMMYT).
The bulletins are available in PDF format and can be downloaded here.
Heat and drought are a major cause of wheat yield losses worldwide, problems that scientists predict will worsen due to climate change.
As a wheat physiologist, Matthew Reynolds works to bolster crop yields and improve the capacity of wheat to survive stressful conditions, particularly in developing countries.
Wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds“Climate change puts farmer livelihoods at risk and can lead to vast food-crop losses in vulnerable environments,” said Reynolds, who was recently named a distinguished scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Reynolds, who plays a leading role in several international wheat initiatives, including the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (HeDWIC) and the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP), has developed new wheat lines based on combining complementary physiological traits.
In addition to improving wheat drought resilience, Reynolds, who also serves as a consultant for Bayer Crop Science, has developed physiological approaches for improving the yield potential of wheat, work that will underpin the new IWYP initiative, which has so far attracted more than US $50 million in funding.
He shared his views in the following interview after being named distinguished scientist.
Q: What provides inspiration for your work?
What inspires me about working for CIMMYT is how we apply science to real life problems by participating in a very exciting chain of events that preferentially benefits many of the least privileged members of society. Because of CIMMYT’s multicultural character and because we’re a focal point of applied wheat and maize research in the world, scientists at CIMMYT understand the agricultural problems of the developing world in quite a unique way.
Q. What is your most significant achievement?
The achievement I’m most satisfied about is that we’ve been delivering improved wheat technologies to national governments using a physiological approach – that’s something that 25 years ago nobody would have believed was possible. Our first intervention was to show the value of measuring wheat canopy temperature and now it’s a tool that everyone is adopting. Thermal imaging is an offshoot – it’s a very robust tool for measuring plant temperature. It helps us determine whether a plant is adapted when it is “cool” or if there’s something wrong with it when it’s too “warm.” It’s a wonderful diagnostic tool, kind of like a doctor’s stethoscope, except we can even measure it remotely now from the air on thousands of plots at once.
Q: What role does agriculture play in poverty alleviation?
While we can do something about the fact that almost one billion people go hungry globally, agriculture is only a small part of that equation. There are a lot of other elements that we have no control over – market forces, foreign policy and natural phenomena like climate instability – all of which can neutralize our efforts. The overarching incentive for our work was defined by the late CIMMYT wheat breeder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug, who famously said: “I cannot sit idly by in the midst of abject poverty and hunger and human misery.”
Q: What is the biggest challenge the world faces?
I think the challenge the world at large faces is to work towards greater unity and equality of opportunity. CIMMYT is in a sense the Red Cross of resources for farmers, but we try to pre-empt their problems and make an investment in their future. It’s been reaffirmed recently that the fundamental basis for sustainable economic growth is a vibrant agricultural sector. Our overarching aim is food security for all, focusing especially on resource-poor consumers and farmers. As a society, we expend enormous effort on controlling natural resources such as land, water, and minerals – irrespective of the cost and conflict that this causes, while, ironically, sustaining the planet’s resource base is secondary at best. That was perhaps justifiable before the advent of good communication and international cooperation, but it makes no sense anymore, especially with a crowded planet. I suppose it’s always much harder to get people to unite – something Borlaug was good at, although not without considerable effort.
Q: What is Borlaug’s legacy?
His main legacy in my opinion is making people conscious of humanitarian problems and implementing real solutions with absolute dedication. This is something most politicians and leaders only pay lip service to, to avoid upsetting the status quo, which is basically a massive and growing inequality in the world. While I was not raised a Catholic, I read a wonderful quote recently from Pope Francis that relates very much to CIMMYT’s mission. He said at his inauguration: “While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling. This imbalance results from ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to states, which are charged with providing for the common good.” At CIMMYT we are still — at least for now – charged with providing for the common good; let’s hope we can maintain that legacy.
Born out of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative and other CIMMYT-Africa maize projects, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project will improve the demand for and availability of high-quality, affordable, certified seed of drought-tolerant maize varieties for small-scale farmers across eastern and southern Africa.
“DTMASS aims to produce close to 12,000 tons of certified seed of drought-tolerant maize varieties by the end of its fifth year,” said Tsedeke Abate, DTMA project leader who will also lead DTMASS, speaking at the Uganda launch of the project in Kampala on 4 February. “This will benefit approximately 2.5 million people through the increased production and productivity of maize and the adoption of improved certified seed.”
According to Abate, DTMASS will strengthen the formal seed system, thereby reducing counterfeit seed use, lowering the risk of seed-borne maize diseases and helping to maintain productivity as climates change.
Working in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, DTMASS will encourage cross-country learning and collaboration, Abate explained: “We have the knowledge and technology – what remains is translating knowledge to action.”
DTMASS countries account for 41 percent of maize area and production, and over 252 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
A pillar of the project will be its strong partnerships with private and public seed companies, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations and national extension systems. Fifty-three seed companies have already agreed to produce seed of 71 drought-tolerant varieties.
These partnerships enable increased and improved certified seed to reach small-scale farmers, increase farm production and enhance productivity, according to Dr. Imelda Kashaija, deputy director at Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO). “This project is at the right place at the right time,” she said.
DTMASS launched officially on 17-18 November 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The goal for Uganda in 2015 is to produce 1,800 tons of improved maize seed.
Of the 1 billion food insecure people in the world, more than 30 percent are in South Asia. By 2030 it will be one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change-related food shortages, with maize, rice and wheat prices predicted to double in the next 20 years. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT
The Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, affirmed his support for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and its efforts to ensure food security, in a meeting with Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and with government, BISA and CIMMYT representatives on 3 February. As part of this, Manjhi agreed to support development of model villages in every district of Bihar, one of the fastest-growing and developing states in India.
“Ever-increasing energy prices, declining natural resources and variable climates have left farmers with diminishing returns,” Lumpkin said. “Bihar farmers need technologies that increase their profits under changing climates and economies.”
Launched in 2011 as a collaborative effort between CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), BISA is a non- profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, livelihood security and environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, a region that is home to more than 300 million undernourished people.
During the meeting, Lumpkin emphasized the need for the quick transfer to Bihar farmers of technologies such as direct-seeded rice and zero-tilled wheat, to reduce production costs and labor and energy use.
Direct seeding of rice eliminates the need for transplanting seedlings from bund nurseries, and sowing wheat with zero tillage allows earlier planting so the crop can mature and fill grain before pre- monsoon high temperatures.
Lumpkin highlighted BISA’s critical capacity-building role, to support farmers and extension workers who test and promote innovative agriculture technologies.
Government representatives from Bihar included Shri Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary to the chief minister; Shri Tripurari Sharan, principal secretary of agriculture; Shri Dharmendra Singh, director of agriculture; and Shri Gopal Singh, officer on special duty to the chief minister. CIMMYT and BISA attendees included John Snape, CIMMYT board chair; Hari Shanker Gupta, BISA Director General; Nicolle Birrell, CIMMYT board member; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT director of research- South Asia; M.L. Jat and Raj Kumar Jat, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomists; and Kumar Ashwani Yadav, senior advisor for India country relations.
From left to right: Raj Kumar Jat, Hari Shanker Gupta, Nicolle Birrell, Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, Thomas A. Lumpkin, Etienne Duveiller and M.L. Jat. Photo: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT
In work to help farmers in South Asia tackle changing climates and markets through resilient and productive cropping systems, scientists are now using a leading and longstanding model, the Agricultural Production System Simulator (APSIM).
To foster better use of soil and water through conservation agriculture and other resource- conserving practices, the Sustainable and Resilient Farming System Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI) project held an APSIM workshop for nine researchers from Bangladesh, India and Nepal at Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Bihar, India during 27-29 January. The workshop was inaugurated by the Honourable Vice Chancellor, Dr. M.L. Choudhary, accompanied by Research Director Dr. Ravi Gopal Singh.
The Vice Chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University, Dr. M.L. Choudhary, opens the APSIM Exposure Workshop. L-R: Ms. Alison Laing (CSIRO), Dr. Don Gaydon (CSIRO), Mr. Ashraf Ali (CIMMYT-Bangladesh), Dr. Ravi Gopal Singh (BAU) and Dr. Choudhary. Photos: Alison Laing (CSIRO) and Ashraf Ali (CIMMYT).
“The aim was to introduce these colleagues to the model and help them explore its adaptation and use,” said Md. Ashraf Ali, CIMMYT scientist and manager of SRFSI, which was launched in 2014 and is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
“Our research targets rice-based systems in eight districts across those three countries, where wheat is often a key part of the rotation and climate change is already constraining crop yields.”
– Mahesh Kumar Gathala
CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist
According to SRFSI lead scientist, Mahesh Kumar Gathala, a CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist based in Bangladesh, SERFI works in Bangladesh, SERFI works in northwestern Bangladesh, West Bengal and Bihar in India, and the eastern Terai region of Nepal. “Our research targets rice-based systems in eight districts across those three countries, where wheat is often a key part of the rotation and climate change is already constraining crop yields.”
Ved Prakash (L) and Swaraj Dutta (R) work on modeling exercises.
One response to climate change – conservation agriculture – involves a complex, knowledge-intensive suite of practices including reduced tillage, keeping crop residues on the soil surface and careful use of rotations. A model like APSIM can speed the design and adoption of approaches tailored to specific locations, Singh explained. “But to provide reliable results, the model has to be adapted for the soil, climate and other conditions of each area,” he said.
Led by Don Gaydon and Alison Laing from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and with practical assistance from Dr. Sanjay Kumar, BAU, and Ali, the course provided theory and practice on the APSIM user interface and how to manage data on soils, weather and soil dynamics such as residue decomposition and moisture levels. “We also looked at how to model direct-seeded rice and wheat crops, long-term crop rotations and cropping simulations under climate-change,” Ali said.
Once assembled, a project modelling team with members from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and CSIRO will identify relevant parameters, calibrate the model and test it for diverse locations. Ultimately they will analyze scenarios for diverse crop management options, both current and proposed.
“With APSIM we can virtually ‘extend’ SRFSI field trials into the future by twenty years or more, gaining insight on long-term system variability,” Gathala said. “We can also explore likely impacts of the region-wide outscaling of new management options from one farm or village, including effects of different options on sustainability or greenhouse gas emissions, which can be difficult or expensive to measure in the field.”
Ved Prakash (L) and Swaraj Dutta (R) work on modeling exercises.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) has collaborated with Digital Green (DG), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Government of Odisha, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) for a pilot project integrating information and communication technology (ICT)-based video-led dissemination models in 20 villages of Puri district in Odisha, India.
Farmers watch a video on disease control at a community video screening in Puri district, Odisha. Photo credit: Ashok Rai/CIMMYT
How the pilot works: DG trains and builds the skills of state agents to shoot and create videos with farmers on improved farming practices and then holds screenings for small groups of farmers using small-sized, low-cost, battery-run pico projectors. CSISA provides its technical inputs in video topic selection, content planning and story boarding. During the video screening, state agents keep track of the questions asked and have follow-up meetings with the farmers to check on the adoption of farming practices.
This CSISA–DG initiative has resulted in the production of videos on 10 technical themes reflecting the needs of local farming communities. Topics included the demonstration of new paddy, post-harvest and livestock management technologies and relevant successes by local farmers. So far, six videos on CSISA- promoted technologies have been produced. Ninety-one group screenings were held, with nearly 500 farmers in Puri district attending at least one of the video screenings. “Each video requires good planning, a good script and technical understanding of the subject,” said Sudhir Yadav, IRRI Irrigated Systems Agronomist and the CSISA Odisha Hub Manager.
“We aim at both increasing participation of the community and creating a two-way flow between research and extension,” said Rikin Gandhi, CEO of DG, during a presentation at the Borlaug 100 event organized by CIMMYT.
These videos inspire farmers to learn about and adopt new technologies and management practices. A video on the benefits of chopped straw as fodder in dairy management has helped farmers to enhance milk production, commented Suresh Parida, a farmer from one of the pilot villages. Farmers have also found it easier to identify pests and diseases in their crop after seeing a video of pest and disease management in paddies.
“As the actors in the video are local farmers from the area, it generates trust among the viewers to adopt a demonstrated practice,” said Avinash Upadhaya, Regional Manager of DG for Odisha, at a recent participatory stakeholder’s workshop in Puri. Farmers, mediators from KVK and project coordinators from DOA, CSISA and DG met to discuss the changes that the ICT model has brought and challenges in integrating it with traditional training methods. Ashok Lakra, a village agricultural worker of a pilot village highlighted the advantages of DG’s approach, stating “At a demonstration, we might miss some important information, but these videos deliver the entire package and cover all the points.”
“The best language that the farmer understands is the language of other farmers. This works as a good communication model to help in creating awareness and dissemination of improved technologies,” said Yadav.
Aye Aye Win, Senior Researcher at Zaloke Research Farm in Mongwa, was the last CIMMYT GWP trainee from Myanmar in Mexico (2002) and is currently the only wheat breeder in the country. Photos: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT
Given growing demand for maize and wheat in Myanmar and the increasing challenges to produce both crops, officials of the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s (MOAI) Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) and CIMMYT representatives met at DAR headquarters at Yezin during 24-27 January, to strengthen collaboration, with a focus on increasing farm productivity and training a new generation of Myanmar scientists.
Maize area, output and demand are growing with increased use of the grain in poultry and livestock feeds. Nine-tenths of the 450,000-hectare (ha) national maize area is rain-fed and grown with few inputs. It suffers from erratic precipitation among other things. Nearly one-third is sown to hybrid seed imported from Thailand. Small- and medium-scale local seed producers need stimulation and support.
Wheat is important for subsistence farmers in the eastern hills but also to meet the rising demand of a growing population with more urban inhabitants. National consumption yearly exceeds 0.5 million tons, only 0.18 million of which is produced in Myanmar (the rest is imported from Australia). Yields are low due to lack of inputs or new seed varieties. Farmers particularly need heat tolerant, rust resistant wheat varieties and resource-conserving cropping technologies.
Drying maize in Myanmar.
CIMMYT germplasm and other support are crucial for both crops in the country, but interactions have grown less frequent. The last Myanmar maize researcher to participate in training courses in Mexico came in 1999; the last wheat trainee, in 2002.
Participating in discussions were Dr. Tin Htut, director general, MOAI Department of Agricultural Planning, and DAR senior staff including Dr. Ye Tint Tun, DAR director general and U. Thant Lwin Oo, director for Maize & Other Cereals, Oil Seeds and Legumes.
CIMMYT was represented by Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general; Etienne Duveiller, regional representative for Asia; and administrative assistant Fabiola Meza. In addition to taking part in high-level discussions, they visited Dr. Win Win New, Director of the Aung Ban Agricultural Research Farm and Maize Breeder who conducts maize and wheat trials in southern Shan State and accompanied the team for field tours.
Collaboration discussion with DAR officials in Yezin.
These interactions grew out of visits in 2014 to Myanmar by Duveiller and Dan Jeffers, a CIMMYT maize breeder based in Yunnan, China.
Opportunities to address Myanmar’s concerns include regional collaboration with CIMMYT maize research in Yunnan and Hyderabad and training at BISA farms in India, for conservation agriculture and small-scale mechanization. CIMMYT and DAR are developing an agreement to facilitate collaboration.
In 2014, the work of The Machinery and Equipment Innovation Group began activities after signing of four contracts with four Mexican workshops. The local entrepreneurs will partner with the Farmer component of the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program that CIMMYT develops in collaboration with Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA). This platform aims to establish a space for technological collaboration where CIMMYT and small and medium local manufacturers will improve or refine prototypes, and develop new ones to respond to the needs of Mexican farmers more effectively.
This objective will be met by transferring technology, giving access to existing machinery and equipment prototypes for improvement, and by offering technical support for the development of new models to the small and medium local workshops that join The Machinery and Equipment Innovation Group. The new Platform will operate across the country with the support of MasAgro’s hubs.
This innovation platform will develop multipurpose and multi-cropping machinery and equipment to reduce tillage, the cost of adopting the new technology, fuel consumption and manual labor.
In 2014, the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program expanded its rural development and innovation networks to 10 Mexican regions through 50 research platforms and 233 demonstration modules of MasAgro technologies and sustainable agronomic practices.
The project developed by the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture (SAGARPA) and CIMMYT provides a framework that can be replicated to take advantage of research and innovation achievements and which secures returns on investments.
In 2014, SAGARPA invested nearly US $40 million in its partnership with CIMMYT to offer better opportunities to Mexican farmers. Six thousand Mexican farmers participated in over 170 training events across the country. MasAgro also offered more than 40 workshops on the adoption of different technologies and conservation agriculture practices to more than 1,300 farmers actively engaged in the program.
These workshops are adapted to the capacity building needs detected through hubs and cover subjects that include adoption of improved maize, wheat and barley varieties, fertilization diagnosis tools, precision machinery, access to new markets and postharvest technologies.
MasAgro also develops basic maize seed and pre-commercial hybrids. So far the program has delivered more than 15 tons of basic seed to Mexican seed companies. Once multiplied and marketed, this seed will be enough to sow two million hectares.
Bram Govaerts, MasAgro leader, explained that in 2014 the initiative established 21 postharvest trials across Chiapas, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala. These trials were designed to offer local solutions to farmers, including accessible options to store harvested grain and to prevent losses that in some cases can exceed 30 percent of their annual harvest.
He added that MasAgro adapts machinery to the needs of the communities where the program operates and operates and develops multiuse-multicrop implements to reduce production and storage costs for farmers. Last year four “smart” machinery protoypes were developed.
“MasAgro works with farmers who have one or two hectares of land, where they can im-prove their efficiency by using manual seeder-fertilizers, but also with farmers who own larger plots who need precision technology to estimate optimal nitrogen fertilizer doses,” Govaerts explained.
In addition, MasAgro successfully developed 44 integral fertility research protocols to improve soil quality in different production zones, in line with the United Nations Organiza-tion for Food and Agriculture (FAO) Year of Soil for 2015.
The program uses remote sensors to estimate exact doses of nitrogen fertilizer for maize and wheat on some 8,000 hectares throughout Mexico.
The arm that strengthens MasAgro is its conservation agriculture agronomy technicians certified by CIMMYT. Finally, by late 2014, MasAgro-Móvil information service had more than 2,700 users who receive weather and agronomic recommendations from technical experts.
Crop residues burning in a farmer’s field, Chiapas. Photo: Rodolfo Vilchis
“To increase my production, I don’t burn residues; I use them. I practice conservation agriculture.” This slogan was promoted by CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) from March to May 2015 through a communications campaign in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The campaign aimed to inform farmers and agronomists of the devastating effects of residue burning and its potential risks. It also focused on topics such as the benefits of residue retention, sustainable alternatives to conventional practices, and how burning contributes to global warming.
According to Mexico’s National Forestry Commission, 40% of forest fires start in farm plots, due mainly to residue burning and burning to clear land for farming. Forest fires release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that contribute to global warming and climate change. Global warming has already affected several agricultural areas in Mexico. For example, in 2014, there was a severe drought in Chiapas that lasted 45 days and caused all agricultural production to be lost, reinforcing the importance of MasAgro’s mission to promote environmentally friendly agronomic practices.
MasAgro was able to interact with its users through its mobile information service, MasAgro Movil, to carry out a scoping exercise. The exercise helped MasAgro identify farmers’ problems concerning residue and agricultural burning. With input from several farmers, MasAgro crafted key messages directed at solving issues such as reducing weed incidence, fertilizer use and soil erosion and conserving soil moisture.
Residue burning contributes to global warming by increasing the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
The campaign also dealt with topics such as the perceived benefits of burning versus sustainable alternatives that generate long-term benefits; the benefits of retaining residues in farm plots; residue burning and its contribution to global warming, and technical tips for handling residues. Finally, testimonials were gathered from farmers who have already experienced the benefits of retaining residues in their plots.
These key messages were transmitted through MasAgro’s communication outlets, such as using the hashtag #ChiapasNoQuema and MasAgro Movil in social media. In addition, four farmer interviews were broadcast on the regional radio station of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, and a series of articles were published in MasAgro’s online magazine EnlACe.
The campaign reached farmers in all corners of the state of Chiapas thanks to the strong support of many institutions, organizations, regional offices and service providers. Through the No Burning in Chiapas campaign, CIMMYT spearheaded the drive to promote sustainable practices while providing relevant information and technical assistance.
“We’ve got the germplasm and improved varieties, but what can we do to overcome the hurdle of farmer adoption of these technologies?” Jon Hellin, value chain and poverty specialist for CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program presented this challenge and how crop-index insurance may be part of the solution, at a high-level Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) webcast event Wednesday, 28 January in London. The event covered innovations in index insurance and how Nigeria can implement them, as part of a plan to safeguard its farmers from climate change effects.
“Unfortunately, threats like drought – the very reason for adopting climate-smart practices – also represent a huge risk that makes farmers reluctant to invest in new technologies”
– Jon Hellin
CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program
Benefits of Index Insurance
“Unfortunately, threats like drought – the very reason for adopting climate-smart practices – also represent a huge risk that makes farmers reluctant to invest in new technologies,” said Hellin. Traditional crop insurance gives payouts that are explicitly determined on measured loss for a specific client. Index insurance allows farmers to purchase coverage based on an index that is correlated with those losses, such as average yield losses over a larger area or a well-defined climate risk, e.g. erratic rainfall, that significantly influences crop yields.
This approach can address many of the problems that limit the application of traditional crop insurance, including lower transaction costs and eliminating the need for in-field assessments. In addition, because the insurance product is based on an objective index it can also be reinsured, allowing insurance companies to efficiently transfer part of their risk to international markets. This makes index insurance financially viable for private-sector insurers and affordable for small-scale farmers.
CIMMYT is involved in a CCAFS-supported crop index insurance project. One focus is to determine how crop index insurance can enhance adoption of drought tolerant maize varieties. CIMMYT, along with international partners and scientists, has been developing many such varieties under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) initiative. “When it comes to these varieties and exciting initiatives like crop index insurance, that’s where we can come together and get great win-wins,” Hellin stated.
Challenges and Opportunities
Scientifically-validated crop-index insurance schemes need indices that are affordable and attractive to stakeholders, particularly farmers and the insurance industry and other refinements. However, as demonstrated by examples from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal, if implemented correctly index insurance can build resilience for smallholder farmers not only by ensuring a payout in the event of a climate shock, but also by giving farmers the freedom to invest in new technology and inputs, such as seed.
“The Nigerian government’s interest in crop insurance will allow us to test different approaches for bundling insurance with technologies, making it attractive to farmers and private sector actors,” Hellin proposed.
Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from Africa RISING speaks at the event.
Developing a global ‘community of practice’ for sustainable intensification (SI) and the need to define indicators for measuring SI activities were highlighted at the cross-learning SI event hosted by Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) on 28 January in New Delhi, India.
A group of 50 participants from USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Africa RISING, USAID’s Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, the Innovation Lab for Small-scale Irrigation, CIMMYT, the International Food Policy Research Institute, International Livestock Research Institute and International Rice Research Institute attended the event and shared perspectives on SI in African and South Asian contexts.
Applying principles of SI in mixed crop-livestock systems is key to achieving better food security and improved livelihoods, while minimizing negative impacts on the environment. The full-day program looked at the approaches taken by SI projects of CSISA and Africa RISING, collaborative research opportunities by the Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab and the Innovation Lab for Small-scale Irrigation and the perspectives of donors who fund SI projects.
Andrew McDonald, CSISA Project Leader, outlines South Asia agricultural systems and the CSISA initiative.
“We need broad systems programs to make impacts truly happen,” said Thomas Lumpkin, Director General, CIMMYT, talking about CSISA’s cropping systems approach at the start of the event. He added, “We should get more value chains involved and look at regional and global levels to extract maximum value from our R4D projects.” Andrew McDonald, CSISA Project Leader, talked about the history and context of CSISA, highlighting its 10-year vision of success that aims to significantly increase the incomes and staple crop productivity of 6 million farm families by 2018.
Christian Witt, Senior Program Officer at BMGF, gave a brief overview of the Foundation’s global and regional strategies in SI, which highlighted significant investments in digital soil mapping in Africa and work with CIMMYT to merge soil data with agronomic research. “We are also enhancing communication within farming communities through informal methods. A good example is our partnership with Digital Green,” he added.
Christian Witt, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, talks about emerging agricultural R4D priorities at the foundation.
The event provided CSISA an opportunity to discuss its current status in India and Bangladesh and to outline the potential future direction of CSISA as a regional initiative, now that CSISA Phase II is being renewed. A series of presentations also outlined the project’s progress and emerging priorities in strategic agronomic, livestock, socio-economic and policy research and rice and wheat breeding.
Following the event, a group of 13 representatives accompanied members of CSISA’s leadership team on a tour of CSISA sites in Bihar and Odisha over the course of a week in January and February. The tour was designed to enable cross-learning among the flagship SI investments of USAID.
We are happy to announce the online publication of the French and Portuguese translations (Gestion des entreprises semencières en Afrique and Gestão da Indústria de Sementes em África) of a book on seed company management authored by John MacRobert, former CIMMYT researcher and seed systems expert, and first published in English and Spanish.
Given the growing importance of the seed sector around the world, MacRobert shares decades of experience in maize seed production and management in Africa. These books are practical guides for emerging seed companies that want to explore new markets.
“We’ve got the germplasm and improved varieties, but what can we do to overcome the hurdle of farmer adoption of these technologies?” Jon Hellin, value chain and poverty specialist for CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program presented this challenge and how crop-index insurance may be part of the solution, at a high-level Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) webcast event Wednesday, 28 January in London. The event covered innovations in index insurance and how Nigeria can implement them, as part of a plan to safeguard its farmers from climate change effects.
“Unfortunately, threats like drought – the very reason for adopting climate-smart practices – also represent a huge risk that makes farmers reluctant to invest in new technologies”
– Jon Hellin
CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program
Benefits of Index Insurance
“Unfortunately, threats like drought – the very reason for adopting climate-smart practices – also represent a huge risk that makes farmers reluctant to invest in new technologies,” said Hellin. Traditional crop insurance gives payouts that are explicitly determined on measured loss for a specific client. Index insurance allows farmers to purchase coverage based on an index that is correlated with those losses, such as average yield losses over a larger area or a well-defined climate risk, e.g. erratic rainfall, that significantly influences crop yields.
This approach can address many of the problems that limit the application of traditional crop insurance, including lower transaction costs and eliminating the need for in-field assessments. In addition, because the insurance product is based on an objective index it can also be reinsured, allowing insurance companies to efficiently transfer part of their risk to international markets. This makes index insurance financially viable for private-sector insurers and affordable for small-scale farmers.
CIMMYT is involved in a CCAFS-supported crop index insurance project. One focus is to determine how crop index insurance can enhance adoption of drought tolerant maize varieties. CIMMYT, along with international partners and scientists, has been developing many such varieties under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) initiative. “When it comes to these varieties and exciting initiatives like crop index insurance, that’s where we can come together and get great win-wins,” Hellin stated.
Challenges and Opportunities
Scientifically-validated crop-index insurance schemes need indices that are affordable and attractive to stakeholders, particularly farmers and the insurance industry and other refinements. However, as demonstrated by examples from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal, if implemented correctly index insurance can build resilience for smallholder farmers not only by ensuring a payout in the event of a climate shock, but also by giving farmers the freedom to invest in new technology and inputs, such as seed.
“The Nigerian government’s interest in crop insurance will allow us to test different approaches for bundling insurance with technologies, making it attractive to farmers and private sector actors,” Hellin proposed.
Participants in zero tillage wheat field. Photos: Naveed Ahmed Sheikh from Balochistan.
Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan and in collaboration with Balochistan Agriculture Research, CIMMYT has begun testing and spreading with farmers the practice known as “zero tillage” to sow wheat in Balochistan, a province in southwest Pakistan that accounts for more than 40 percent of the country’s land area but only five percent of the population.
Jaffarabad and Nasirabad are major rice- and wheat-growing districts in Balochistan. The predominant cropping systems are either fallow or rice, followed by a crop of wheat. Soils after rice are poorly-drained and hamper tilling for wheat, so wheat is not sown soon enough to avoid the high temperatures that arrive in spring, when the crop is filling grain. This seriously reduces yields.
Participants in field day at Usta Muhammad.
On 10 January, more than 100 participants gathered for a field day organized by AIP in Balochistan province to promote zero tillage for wheat. Involving the direct sowing of wheat seed into residues of the preceding rice crop, with no plowing, the practice has multiple benefits for farmers, soils and water use. These include more timely wheat planting, reduced land preparation costs, higher wheat yields and increased cropping system intensity (hence, productivity), according to agricultural experts Mr. Asmatullah Taran and Mr. Mehdi Hassan.
Intended for smallholder farmers, the event also drew progressive farmers, agricultural extension specialists and researchers from the Directorate of Agriculture Research Usta Muhammad Farm, Jaffarabad District, as well as renowned parliamentarians Mr. Khan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali and Mr. Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali, Speaker, Balochistan Provincial Assembly.
Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali addressing the farmers.
Dr. Muhammad Javaid Tareen, Director General of Balochistan Agriculture Research, praised AIP and partners’ efforts to promote conservation agriculture practices such as zero tillage, said the practices would improve farmers’ livelihoods in the Nasirabad Zone and called on scientists to address the Province’s crop productivity constraints. Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali, former Federal Minister for Science & Technology, said that agricultural research must address small farmers’ concerns and provide new techniques to the farming community.
Mr. Jamali was grateful for the efforts of USAID and CIMMYT to improve smallholder famers’ incomes and assured the farmers and agricultural professionals that efforts would be made to improve research facilities and access to new technologies in Balochistan.
In 2014, the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program expanded its rural development and innovation networks to 10 Mexican regions through 50 research platforms and 233 demonstration modules of MasAgro technologies and sustainable agronomic practices.
