By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

CIMMYT is leading collaborative research efforts to control the deadly maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease that is devastating crops in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. First identified in farmers’ fields in eastern Africa in 2011, MLN results from the combined infection of two plant viruses and can cause nearly 100 percent crop loss.

Surveillance, avoiding seed movement from disease-prone areas, instituting maize-free seasons and the development and use of resistant maize varieties can help prevent its spread. CIMMYT is spearheading efforts to identify sources of MLN resistance, developing a strategy to contain the disease and studying the disease and insects that contribute to its spread.

In addition, CIMMYT has produced fact sheets and videos to raise awareness on MLN, in addition to organizing meetings and workshops to train partners from national research programs in eastern Africa on how to identify the disease and curb its spread. “We have to come together to stop the disease, as it affects food security for those who depend on maize,” said CIMMYT pathologist George Mahuku during a Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK) congress from 6 to 8 November. “Developing MLN-resistant varieties is the most cost-effective way to deal with the disease.” He also said the recently-launched CIMMYT-Kenya Agricultural Research Institute MLN Screening Facility and Maize Doubled Haploid Facility would help speed development of MLN-resistant varieties.

The MLN facility was established with funding support from both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture while the DH Facility was established with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During the three-day event, issues that affect the seed sector – including MLN – were addressed. Mahuku described the disease and research efforts to control it, while dispelling fears about its transmission through seed. “Seed movement is crucial for us to increase productivity and widen our genetic base, but the seed should be clean, produced in MLN-free areas and certified MLN-free to minimize accidental introduction of MLN viruses,” he said. Mahuku stressed the need for more research on the disease’s seed transmission rate and alternative hosts.

CIMMYT will partner with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) to study transmission of MLN through aphids, beetles and thrips, as well as their interactions with the MLN viruses. Mahuku also urged seed companies to recognize MLN symptoms and notify scientists if they spot them on their farms. Scientists can then investigate and design and adopt appropriate strategies for combating it.

He encouraged stakeholders to practice maize-free seasons to reduce sources of infection. MLN has created an emergency for sectors caught unaware and without funding to immediately address the disease. “We encourage the [seed] industry to set aside some funds for these kinds of emergencies,” said Esther Kimani, general manager of phytosanitary services at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS). Existing commercial hybrids in Kenya have already been tested for MLN, said STAK Executive Officer Evans Sikinyi during a field tour of Marula farm in Naivasha, where CIMMYT is testing a large selection of experimental and commercial varieties under MLN infection.

The participants also toured the Maize Lethal Necrosis Screening Facility in Naivasha and were invited to submit seed for screening at the facility. Mahuku also called for the standardization of screening protocols. “If we are speaking the same language, we will move far,” he said. “We need to develop and use standardized protocols to ensure that the same material can be planted in 10 different areas in different countries for screening purposes, and this information can be harmonized.”

Participants will carry the messages of progress, hope and caution to colleagues, partners and farmers back home. “We will use lessons learned on this trip to strengthen surveillance of the disease in South Sudan,” said Cirino Oketayot, head of the research unit in South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Tourism, Animal Production, Fisheries, Cooperatives and Rural Development. Added Gloria Ngila, the general manager of Dryland Seeds: “This helps one realize how much CIMMYT is working with the government to alleviate the problem.” The STAK congress was attended by seed sector representatives from Burundi, India, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.

By Moti Jaleta/CIMMYT

Farmers showcased the benefits of conservation agriculture in retaining soil moisture, reducing erosion and improving organic matter during field demonstrations in Ethiopia last week. The demonstrations were hosted by the Conservation Agriculture and Smallholder Farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa (CASFESA) project in Jabitehnan and South Achefer Districts.

The project, which is funded by the European Union International Fund for Agricultural Development, aims in part to show that conservation agriculture is sustainable and profitable, through demonstrations in randomly-selected villages in several African countries. Each conservation agriculture demonstration plot in 28 villages was visited by neighboring farmers in the last two months, raising awareness about the technology. The farmers’ field day and endof- season field evaluation were held during 9-10 November for farmers hosting conservation agriculture demonstrations, as well as extension and development agents in the demonstration villages and researchers from CIMMYT and the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute. Other attending included delegates from the Amhara Region Bureau of Agriculture, Amhara Seed Enterprise, Merkeb Multipurpose Marketing Cooperative Union, the Jabitehnan and South Achefer District Office of Agriculture and the West Gojjam Zone Administration and Agriculture Office.

Farmers hosting demonstration plots said they saw conservation agriculture as a productivity-enhancing, labor-saving technology. Maize planted on conservation agriculture plots germinated three-to-four days earlier than that planted on conventional tillage plots. It was better anchored to the soil and resisted the wind without lodging. Intercropping cowpea with maize as a forage crop was introduced this season to reduce the pressure on the use of maize residue as livestock feed. Apart from its feed value, cowpea and maize intercropping suppressed weed germination and growth both on conventional and conservation agriculture plots.

Maize plants on both types of plots with cowpea intercropping were less dry than those on plots with only maize. Though farmers pledged to expand conservation agriculture technologies on their farms during the coming production season, they voiced concerns about the challenges of crop residue retention due to the local practice of free communal grazing on stubble after harvest. District and zonal administrators asked farmers to put community-based bylaws and enforcement mechanisms in place that restrict free grazing and livestock movements in farm plots after harvest. Participants brainstormed other solutions to facilitate the use of conservation agriculture in the region.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Maize stover – the part of the crop left over after grain harvest – provides a promising option for feeding livestock in India, according to research by CIMMYT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Now, the two organizations are working together to select and breed dual-purpose maize varieties optimized for both grain and stover production.

Maize production is rapidly increasing in India, largely due to the growing poultry industry, and is replacing crops such as rice, sorghum, legumes and wheat in some areas, said CIMMYT maize breeder P.H. Zaidi, who is helping lead research on the topic. To be sustainable, the crop must be able to produce a high grain yield and quality stover as fodder for domestic and commercial use. “Dual-purpose maize is needed to meet both the poultry industry demand for grain and the demand for good quality stover to feed cattle,” Zaidi said. In India, maize is largely treated as a single-purpose crop grown for grain, ignoring its potential for stover.

CIMMYT has been studying the possibility of dual-purpose maize for the past several years. In 2009, a focused study began in collaboration with ILRI under the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project and continued with support from the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE.  Maize stover is underutilized in India, Zaidi said. Though sorghum stover is more commonly used in the region, steers fed maize stover gained similar amounts of weight, according to recent ILRI research. “Contrary to widespread perceptions among farmer and fodder traders, quality stover from superior dual-purpose maize varieties can replace sorghum stover in dairy production in India,” said Michael Blümmel, operating project leader for ILRI. “It decreases the feeding cost substantially.”

CIMMYT and ILRI already know that increasing the use of maize stover as animal fodder in India could “mitigate fodder shortages and halt increasing fodder costs,” according to this September blog post by Zaidi. The study on stover quality in commercial maize hybrids found variability but that “stover from some high-yielding popular (maize) hybrids is on par with or even better than the best sorghum stover traded.” “From a breeding standpoint, the major challenge with dual-purpose maize is to keep high yields,” Zaidi said. “In terms of increasing use, the major challenge is changing the negative perception and assumption that maize fodder is inferior to that of sorghum, which is not true.”

To address these challenges, CIMMYT and ILRI organized a workshop on dual-purpose maize at the International Crops Research. Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Hyderabad, India, on 22 October. Participants came from the Directorate of Maize Research, the Sehgal Foundation and seed companies, including Godrej AgroTech, Limagrain Bioseed, Pioneer Hi- Bred and VNR Seeds. O.P. Yadav, project director of the Directorate of Maize Research in New Delhi, said he expected to gain “new insights into the needs and opportunities for including maize stover traits into the All India Coordinated Maize Program (AICMP).”

Presentations covered the available variations of dual-purpose traits in pipeline maize hybrids, targeted genetic enhancement for developing dual-purpose cultivars, association mapping to identify genomic regions related to maize quality and the economic impact of improved maize stover feed. Genomics-assisted breeding could be a useful for breeding dualpurpose maize and ILRI and CIMMYT developed a genomics selection-based 2014 work plan.

As part of the priorities defined in the workshop, CIMMYT, ILRI, AICMP and the private sector will work together to research pipeline hybrids and analyze the most popular released hybrids for feedfood- fodder traits. Participants also said targeted genetic enhancement should continue to generate superior food, feed and fodder traits for hybrids. The organizations will work to determine the importance farmers place on grain and stover traits, Blümmel said. Crop scientists, livestock scientists and key actors in fodder value chains such as farmers, fodder traders and middlemen, feed processors, dairy producers and seed enterprises all need to be involved in crop improvement for dual-purpose maize, he said.

For further reading: Potential for dual-purpose maize varieties to meet changing maize

demands 

By Surabhi Mittal/CIMMYT and Dharini Parthasarathy/CCAFS South Asia

This blog post was originally posted by CCAFS here.

What kind of voice-based messaging service will farmers pay for? An eight-month pilot study by CCAFS and CIMMYT is working with farmers in India to find out.
One of the big questions that should be exercising minds at the current Climate Talks in Poland is how smallholder farmers can better manage climate risks. One solution that has been discussed at length – and tried widely – is using mobile phones to deliver climate-related information to farmers; it is seen as being an efficient, cost-effective and quick way to get targeted messages to large audiences such as smallholder farmers.

But are the gains from this type of information dissemination as obvious as they appear?
Does writing or recording a message, punching in a number and pressing send really transform farmers’ abilities to cope with erratic weather events or their willingness to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices?

Read the full post here.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Congratulations to two CIMMYT scientists who received fellowships this month. Wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds (pictured left) became a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) while wheat breeder Zhonghu He (pictured right) received a fellowship from the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). Both awards were presented earlier this month in Florida. They are based on professional achievements and are only awarded to the top 0.3 percent of each society. He, based in China, was promoted to CIMMYT distinguished scientist last year and received the CSSA fellowship in 2009. Reynolds is based in Mexico and received the ASA fellowship in 2011. “I’m honored to be given this award,” Reynolds said. “It’s nice to be recognized.”

By Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT

Researchers with CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) in Ethiopia have found that use of agroforestry systems involving an indigenous tree could mitigate climate change effects in Ethiopian smallholder wheat systems. Specifically, their study showed that maximum temperatures under the canopy of Faidherbia albida, a nitrogen-fixing, acacia-like species found throughout African savannas, were constantly 4 to 5°C lower than temperatures outside the canopy.

By 2050, the maximum daily temperature in wheat-growing areas of Ethiopia is predicted to rise by 2 to 3°C. This could significantly reduce yields of wheat, a crop that accounts for 18 percent of Ethiopia’s cereal area and nearly a fifth of its cereal production. The crop is key to the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers who grow it. CIMMYT researchers are studying the effect of scattered trees that are currently common in farmers’ field.

Keeping trees in fields for the production of firewood and fencing materials is extremely common in Ethiopia. “But these trees have other functions and may positively affect the productivity of crops underneath,” said Frédéric Baudron, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist based in Ethiopia. In addition to more wheat-friendly temperatures, the benefits of F. albida in wheat systems are manifold, according to Baudron. “Soil moisture increases greatly under the canopy, resulting in a greener wheat crop for a longer period of time,” Baudron said. “The presence of F. albida also fosters longer wheat leaf blades, a greater number of tillers per plant, longer spikes and a higher number of seeds per spike — all of which translates into higher stover and grain yields.” Moreover, the incidence of wheat diseases like fusarium wilt and head smut diminishes under the tree canopy.

Under the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)-led project Trees4Food, funded by the Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC) and managed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), GCAP-Ethiopia studies interactions between food crops and various indigenous trees in wheat- and maize-based systems. In the case of F. albida, there are no tradeoffs between the provision of tree products and the crop yield underneath. Research aims to come up with management practices – such as proper fertilization rates, genotypes of crops, pruning management and tillage practices – that maximize the existing synergy.

With other tree species commonly found in Ethiopian fields (such as Acacia tortilis, Cordia africana, or Croton macrostachyus), these tradeoffs are often substantial. In that case, research aims to come up with management practices that minimize competition. The project is being implemented in Ethiopia as well as Rwanda.

CIMMYT is taking the next step in bringing Afghanistan a much-needed intervention to improve wheat research and production, an official for the country said at a meeting last month. With support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), CIMMYT-Afghanistan held the “Conservation Agriculture: Concept and Application” training event in Kabul from 28 to 29 October.

Thirty-five participants from the Afghanistan Agricultural Extension Project (AAEP), the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), CIMMYT, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Kabul University and other stakeholder organizations attended the program. Wheat accounts for 60 percent of an average Afghan’s caloric intake, but domestic wheat production falls short of the country’s needs. This happens in part because more than half of Afghanistan’s wheat is rainfed, but rainfall is often scarce and irregular in those areas. Moreover, wheat is often the sole crop for those farmers, making them food-insecure and economically vulnerable.

“Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes reducing or eliminating traditional tillage, keeping crop residues on the soil and using intercropping or crop rotations,” said Rajiv Sharma, senior scientist and country liaison officer for CIMMYT-Afghanistan. “Its benefits include saving resources like time, labor and fuel, as well as reducing farmers’ risk, promoting diversified cropping and more effectively capturing and retaining rainfall in the soil.”

In his inaugural speech, Mir Aminullah Haidari, deputy minister for technical affairs for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), congratulated CIMMYT for its work in support of the country’s wheat research and production. Mohammad Qasem Obaidi, director of ARIA, welcomed the participants and thanked CIMMYT for organizing the training. Sharma said he hoped ARIACIMMYT would use the 2013-14 season to experiment with conservation agriculture interventions throughout Afghanistan.

Harminder Singh Sidhu, senior research engineer for CIMMYT, introduced the participants to different types of conservation machines available and used globally, which were imported by CIMMYT for the event. Attendees watched field demonstrations of two- and four-wheel zero tillage seed drills, raised bed planters and two-wheel tractors. H.S. Jat, CIMMYT agronomist, introduced conservation agriculture concepts, principles and procedures. He later helped wheat agronomists from six ARIA stations plan conservation agriculture experiments relevant to their local conditions. Participants expressed satisfaction and were excited to try new machines and new ways of conserving resources at their experiment stations and in farmers’ fields.

By Sam Storr/CIMMYT

To bolster maize exports to the European Union (EU), Peru is taking measures to ensure its grain is free from mycotoxins, according to CIMMYT maize pathologist Henry Ngugi. “They wanted to establish a testing mechanism because they are trading maize, for which they have to meet strict European Union (EU) standards. They have a project with CIMMYT, which brings them to me” explained Ngugi, who at the request of SENASA, the Peruvian National Agrarian Health Service, led a training course on the subject in Mexico from 21 October to 1 November.

Toxic compounds released by fungal infections in common food grains, mycotoxins spoil 25 percent of global food production, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Beyond the economic losses they cause, mycotoxins are associated with cancer, stunted growth, birth defects and, on occasion, with mass casualties. Course participants were trained to set up an affordable laboratory with all necessary safety features, and on rapid and affordable methods of analysis for aflatoxins and fumonisins in food commodities. Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent carcinogen known in nature, and fumonisins have been linked to the neural tube defect in embryo formation.

The training emphasized the use of laboratory sessions to prepare trainees to perform the analyses themselves upon returning to their home countries. Although testing for mycotoxins is an established practice in the developed world, a lack of expertise can hinder the participation of other countries in trade. The World Bank believes that EU restrictions on mycotoxins cost Africa US $670 million in lost exports each year. The potential benefits to Peruvian maize farmers and exporters are clear, but Ngugi, an expert with more than 10 years of experience in Toxic compounds released by fungal infections in common food grains, mycotoxins spoil 25 percent of global food production, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Beyond the economic losses they cause, mycotoxins are associated with cancer, stunted growth, birth defects and, on occasion, with mass casualties. Course participants were trained to set up an affordable laboratory with all necessary safety features, and on rapid and affordable methods of analysis for aflatoxins and fumonisins in food commodities. Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent carcinogen known in nature, and fumonisins have been linked to the neural tube defect in embryo formation. The training emphasized the use of laboratory sessions to prepare trainees to perform the analyses themselves upon returning to their home countries.

Although testing for mycotoxins is an established practice in the developed world, a lack of expertise can hinder the participation of other countries in trade. The World Bank believes that EU restrictions on mycotoxins cost Africa US $670 million in lost exports each year. The potential benefits to Peruvian maize farmers and exporters are clear, but Ngugi, an expert with more than 10 years of experience in consuming contaminated grains in the last few years,” Ngugi said. “Because of that, this issue does not draw as much attention, but in the long run it could have a lot of consequences.”

Many Latin American staples – such as maize, nuts, chili peppers and beans – are vulnerable to mycotoxin contamination. A 2004 study conducted by the United States Department of Health (USDA) in Guatemala found that half of maize samples collected from local markets would exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for fumonisin consumption if eaten regularly. “We know the problem exists,” Ngugi said. “But we cannot attract donor funding because if you ask people, they don’t have data.”

By Jack McHugh/CIMMYT

Soil’s role in the ecosystem is the basis of food security and sustainable farming, scientists learned at a conference in China last month. More than 40 researchers from the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences Research Institutes of Desertification Control, Agricultural Resources and Environment and Crop Research were trained on mechanization and soil health in northwest China.

The two-day course was developed and presented by Jack McHugh, cropping system agronomist for CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program based in China. The training provided participants with the theory behind conservation agriculture, controlled traffic farming and soil as a forgotten provider of ecosystem services. McHugh – with language support from research scientists Ma Fan and Wie Jinyin – spoke about fostering healthy soils in modern mechanized farming systems. The course was aimed to facilitate and develop a culture of conservation agriculture at the academy and raise awareness about the importance of soil for food security.

The presentations on salinity and sodicity raised the most interest among researchers because the issues are widespread in the desert farming conditions in Ningxia. The training highlighted salinity and sodicity management approaches that could be used in conjunction with current solutions common in the region. “

Thank you for giving us a wonderful training class on soil health science,” said course participant Zhao Ying, soil research scientist for the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment. “It’s very useful for improving my theoretical knowledge of soil science, and I look forward to soil improvement methods next time.”

By Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT

Next time you are on the International Livestock Research Institute’s Addis Ababa campus, which hosts CIMMYT-Ethiopia, you can see the demonstration plot set up by the local Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) team.

The plot has four treatments for wheat and maize: conventional tillage and flat planting, conventional tillage and bed planting, conservation agriculture and flat planting and conservation agriculture and bed planting. A two-wheel tractor was used for tillage, bed shaping and planting. The plot will serve as a demonstration and training site for CIMMYT partners and visitors. The plot is the first demonstration site at the office since it was opened in 1987.

Visitors interested in seeing CIMMYT-promoted conservation agriculture technology in Ethiopia previously had to drive from Addis Ababa to the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) research stations at Ambo(120 km), Melkassa (106 km) or Debre Zeit (48 km).

By Wandera Ojanji/CIMMYT

The wide adoption of metal silos for grain storage by smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa requires the identification of policy gaps, incentives and disincentives and institutional partnerships, according to CIMMYT policy economist Jones Govereh.

Metal silos are effective long-term storage facilities, protecting grain from pests such as grain borers and maize weevils. While lauding the decision of some governments to reduce the corporate tax on farming from 30 percent to 25 percent in 2010, Govereh called on them to include galvanized metal sheets imported solely for grain storage silos under the tax exemptions in place for other agricultural imports. “Farmers are not going to realize the benefits of storage investments without proper policies in place,” Govereh said. “Governments in the region need marketing and storage policies that support a liberalized marketing environment and avoid a maize marketing monopoly, which distorts investments in storage technologies. We also need policies that facilitate better coordination of public-private operations to avoid overlaps and conflicts.”

Govereh spoke during the regional annual review and planning meeting of the Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers (EGSP) Phase-II Project held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 20-21 August. Building on the successes of the previous phase (2008-2011), EGSP-II (2012-2016) is improving food security and reducing the vulnerability of resourcepoor farmers – particularly women farmers – in eastern and southern Africa through the dissemination of metal silos. The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The annual review had three main objectives: to evaluate progress, achievements and challenges; to exchange ideas, information and research outputs among CIMMYT, SDC and other key partners; and to plan for the future.

The meeting was attended by implementing partners in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, CIMMYT project staff and SDC representatives. The meeting allowed participants to share ideas and information on implementation, raise awareness on promotion and dissemination of effective grain storage technologies and consult stakeholders on effective post-harvest technologies, policy environment and market issues. The project also held exchange visits to Kenya and Malawi for key partners. Participants shared experiences on project implementation, learned about the project’s impact on smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and discussed challenges. Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT entomologist and project coordinator, praised national teams and partners for achieving research and dissemination targets for the year.

Hugo De Groote, CIMMYT economist, said metal silos have a major impact on farmers’ livelihoods. Those who have not adopted the technology sell most of their maize at harvest (when prices are at their lowest because the supply is at its peak) while adopters sell much of their grain in the fifth month at higher prices, he said. Adopters stored their maize for two months longer than non-adopters and were food secure for one month longer. Vongai Kandiwa, CIMMYT gender and development specialist, noted the importance of mainstreaming gender in the project to minimize the risk of creating, maintaining or exacerbating gender gaps.

Stakeholders also reported several challenges, including an inadequate number of skilled and competent artisans with entrepreneurship skills; lack of fabrication materials; expensive materials; low awareness and knowledge of the technology; and inadequate extension services.To overcome these challenges, stakeholders agreed to boost awareness through promotional events, engage in capacity building of collaborators and strengthen the artisan network. Olaf Erenstein, director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program, thanked the implementing partners and other stakeholders for their dedication and commitment and SDC for its continued support.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS) formed a working group this week to address challenges in commercializing improved seed to benefit smallholder farmers. The two initiatives – funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – will combine efforts to ensure farmers have access to improved maize seed. PASS works with seed companies while DTMA partners with research institutes and seed companies to develop and deploy drought-tolerant maize seed. “We want to create synergies by combining efforts to reach more farmers,” said Tsedeke Abate, DTMA project leader.

Donors and research institutions invest in breeding improved seed to benefit farmers, which requires efforts by different members of the seed value chain. Research institutions, seed companies and other partners are needed to bridge the gap between researchers and farmers. This entails working with seed companies and agro-dealers to ensure they stock enough seed and have good distribution networks to reach farmers across the continent. The working group was formed during a meeting held at AGRA’s Nairobi offices on 28 October; scientists from the Tropical Legumes II project, led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), also attended. The organizations have similarities regarding their work, programs and funding. “We want to learn more about this area and see how we can work together,” said Joseph DeVries, PASS director. “We have new varieties in our seed banks; we have to get them to farmers,” he added, explaining farmers will benefit from higher-yielding, insectand drought-resistant varieties.

Commercialization challenges discussed included production of breeder and foundation seed, seed quality, unsold seed stocks, effective branding and packaging of seed and inadequate promotion of new varieties by seed companies through demonstrations. “Breeding a great variety is no guarantee of farmer adoption,” said Regina Richardson, a PASS associate program officer in charge of commercialization. Participants said demonstrations effectively raise farmers’ awareness of new varieties but are expensive to host. “I’m proud to say that we have touched the lives of researchers and farmers,” Abate said. “We have released over 140 maize varieties that have a yield advantage of 20 to 30 percent over the farmers’ traditional varieties. Many of the products coming out of the DTMA breeding pipeline have been commercialized by our partners; mainly seed companies and community-based seed producers,” he added.

Abate called for an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional approach to policy. DeVries added that –in addition to seed– fertilizer and crop management play important roles in ensuring farmers benefit from improved seed. DTMA maize breeder Dan Makumbi highlighted the challenges seed companies face in seed production, such as inadequate irrigation facilities and lack of personnel to maintain the lines. Emmanuel Monyo, ICRISAT’s Tropical Legumes project leader, said ICRISAT benefitted from the existence of about 500 small seed companies during the deployment of improved seed to farmers in India. “Partnerships that have targets and interest changed the adoption of basic seed,” Monyo said. He also highlighted the role of “women’s groups that had been empowered to produce and market legume seed,” as a strategy that contributed to the successful deployment of seed. Partners agreed to continue sharing information by participating in each other’s meetings, sharing success stories and continuing to provide technical backstopping for seed companies and national programs.

Scientists need to capture and refine farmers’ conservation agriculture innovations. This recommendation came from the National Travelling Seminar on Conservation Agriculture held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) from 16 to 25 September. The event was jointly organized by the Natural Resource Management division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), CIMMYT and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA).

The seminar evaluated existing conservation agriculture research in India to link different institutions, identify research gaps and decide on future priorities of conservation agriculture research for development. “Since the conservation agriculture principles are sitespecific, this travelling seminar gave the opportunity to various scientists from multiple disciplines and institutes to come together to discuss them onsite and harmonize the results,” said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist and coordinator of the seminar. An ICAR grant for conservation agriculture research supported the event.

M. Dadlani, joint director of research for IARI, talked about the crucial role IARI —India’s premier agricultural research institute— played in starting conservation agriculture practices. They began experimenting with conservation agriculture in 2005, and, in 2010, “conservation agriculture trials were started at its research farms under a challenge program involving many multidisciplinary scientists,” Dadlani said. H.S. Gupta, director of IARI, highlighted the need for a common, neutral platform for policy makers, researchers, private sector representatives, non-governmental organizations, CGIAR institutions and farmers to assess local and regional needs, exchange information, and define priorities for the implementation of conservation agriculture, especially for resource-poor smallholder farmers. “Mining nutrients from the soil is a major concern,” he said. “At Pusa, there has been an increase in system productivity and the length of the cropping season due to conservation agriculture adoption. These factors prompt the idea of making conservation agriculture a flagship program at IARI.”

More than 25 senior researchers from 11 ICAR institutions, state agricultural universities and CIMMYT visited conservation agriculture research platforms in different cropping systems and ecologies (irrigated, mixed and rain-fed systems) at New Delhi, Karnal, Ludhiana, Jabalpur and Patna. The scientists and farmers participated in interactive discussions. Farmers should receive a clear message from all institutions, participants said, and therefore need the convergence of investments and research. Farm innovations also need to be aligned with the latest scientific developments. “The breeders have to come out with new materials for a specific challenge,” said Alok K. Sikka, ICAR deputy director general. “Conservation agriculture goes far beyond zero-tilling and resource conservation technologies. Conservation agriculture is a package that has to be followed in a systems approach.”

Areas identified for in-depth strategic research include the study of water-nutrient and crop-livestock interactions under conservation agriculture, design and development of conservation agriculture machinery suited to different farming systems and a better understanding of weed, disease and pests in conservation agriculture conditions to hasten the development of integrated pest management strategies.