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Bridging research and policy: how CIMMYT’s science shapes practice in South Asia

Written by dmedina on . Posted in Blogs.

Science without policy is just academia; policy without science is just guesswork. Through a blend of robust field research and policy advocacy, CIMMYT aims to bridge the gap between policy and practice in promoting sustainable agricultural practices through crop diversification in South Asia.

Taking Bangladesh as an example, CIMMYT’s work in the country highlights the critical need to link research with policy to achieve sustainable agricultural practices, enhance food security, and improve farmer livelihoods.

The power of research-informed policy

Bangladesh’s agriculture is highly rice-centric; although rational, this is risky and arguably unsustainable. This means there needs to be a focus on crop diversification, which is one of the approaches toward sustainable agriculture that can address socioeconomic and environmental challenges.

Recognizing these challenges, CIMMYT has been at the forefront of developing solutions by conducting extensive multi-location on-site and on-farm trials that consider the socioeconomic and pedoclimatic dimensions of farm households.

Additionally, CIMMYT analyzes historical policies and initiatives that have been implemented by the Bangladeshi government and international partners to promote crop diversification. Several opportunities for improvement were identified in past policies and project implementation; addressing these challenges requires bridging the gap between policies and research to scale up crop diversification efforts.

Through the RUPANTAR and CGIAR Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) projects, CIMMYT-Bangladesh has developed an analytical tool to understand the political economy of crop diversification policies and practices. When applied to agriculture policy research, this tool can be tailored to any country and policy context in South Asia.

Problem-solving for sustainable farming

Our policy-specific research, such as “Decoding the reality: Crop diversification and policy in Bangladesh”, has identified areas where policy and practical changes can drive significant improvements.

For example, while the government recognizes crop diversification in its agriculture policies starting with the Fifth Five-Year Plan, substantial funding for crop diversification efforts was only recently allocated. Integration of crop diversification into the government’s annual funding systems is essential to mainstream crop diversification in agriculture.

Many crop diversification policies and projects primarily focus on production, neglecting market systems development for new crops. Similarly, research suggests insufficient attention is paid to cold storage and other infrastructure needed to support diversification.

Most initiatives appear to have been project-driven, resulting in short-lived action without long-lasting impact. Insufficient coordination and support from government agencies appears to have affected projects led by both governments and development partners.

Stakeholder engagement spreads awareness

Without translating research into policy, we leave innovation on the shelf. CIMMYT-Bangladesh disseminates research findings to policymakers through the country Priority Investment Plan for the crop sector at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries through regional consultation workshops on accelerating the transformation process for sustainable and nutrition-sensitive food systems.

Looking ahead, CIMMYT’s efforts in South Asia remain dedicated to bridging the gap between research and policy. Ongoing projects aim to generate robust evidence, advocate for informed policy decisions, and foster partnerships across sectors. By continuing to lead in this space, CIMMYT strives to contribute to a more resilient agrifood system for South Asia.

Bangladesh to improve risk characterization at a granular level with Atlas

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Blogs.

Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. The climate risks are negatively impacting the country’s agricultural sector, which constitutes nearly 12% of the country’s GDP. Additionally, 40% of the country’s workforce rely on agriculture for a major portion of their income (BBS, 2021-22).

Despite these challenges, Bangladesh has demonstrated remarkable economic growth by strategically investing in climate resilience and disaster preparedness over the years. The country has gained global recognition as a leader in these areas, driving its overall development. However, escalating climate risks continue to pose threats to Bangladesh’s progress, particularly impacting the most vulnerable segments of society and jeopardizing the nation’s growth trajectory.

Photo: (Harikhali in Paigachha/CCAFS)

In response to these challenges, Bangladesh has made concerted efforts to develop climate adaptation strategies. A significant milestone was the launch of the GCA Global Hub on locally led adaptation by the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2022. This groundbreaking initiative aims to support one million climate-vulnerable migrants in Bangladesh. The government has also formulated policies, plans and programs to combat the impacts of climate change. The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), formulated in 2009 and updated in 2022, focuses on six thematic areas, with five and six emphasizing adaptation and mitigation, respectively. Another important initiative is the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, prepared in 2017, which categorizes the entire country into six hotspots. To safeguard the agricultural sector from climate change, Bangladesh has also developed vulnerability Atlases such as the ‘Bangladesh Climate and Disaster Risk Atlas: Volume 1 & 2’ and the ‘Climate Adaptation Services Bangladesh (Haor region).’

While significant progress has been made in risk mapping, there is room for improvement. For instance, the current Atlases operate at the district level, and there is immense potential to downscale them to the upazila (sub-district) level to achieve enhanced granularity. Additionally, transforming the Atlases from report format to a more interactive and user-friendly online one would be beneficial.

The Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA) project aligns with the goals of BCCSAP, focusing on location-specific climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in agricultural production. The Atlas will play a crucial role in quantifying localized climatic risks, assessing their impacts on agriculture today and in the future, and identifying key adaptation options to mitigate these risks. This knowledge will strengthen Bangladesh’s food security and reduce its vulnerability to climatic risks.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) will actively utilize the Atlas, leveraging agro-geospatial data to expedite decision-making processes. BARC will further leverage its expertise in geospatial tools, crop zoning information systems, GIS-based mobile apps, climate information databases and drought monitoring systems, further combined with the knowledge base of Atlas to ensure informed and evidence-based actions. Moreover, collaborating with ACASA to develop an advanced and interactive online Atlas expands the country’s scope and fosters stakeholder participation, enabling informed decision-making and refined risk characterization at a granular level.

Piece by Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh

Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA)

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

About ACASA

Increasing climatic risks make it imperative to identify spatial and temporal risks that are likely to impact agriculture. Adaptation options are thus needed to mitigate the negative impacts. Considering this, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) is working with national agriculture research systems in South Asia to develop the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA).

This comprehensive Atlas aims to provide granular-scale information for South Asian countries at the village scale by integrating various spatially explicit data sets together. It covers climate hazards, and the exposure of smallholder populations, farms, and crop and livestock enterprises to hazards. It will also look into the vulnerability of these populations to climatic risks, impacts on critical commodities in the region, and evidence of the effectiveness of different climate adaptation interventions.

The ACASA offers a unique set of tools that can facilitate improved investment targeting and priority setting, and support stakeholders’ decision-making and investments in agricultural technologies, climate information services, and policies. The intended beneficiaries of this Atlas include governments, insurance and agri-food industries, international and national donors, and adaptation-focused entities.

Driven by science and data, explore ACASA’s approach to safeguard South Asian Agriculture

P. Malathy, Director General of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka, delivering keynote address during ACASA Project Inception Meeting.

ACASA Objectives

  1. Increase the quality, availability, and utility of data and evidence.
  2. Improve climate adaptive capacity of agricultural systems and guide stakeholders on location-specific adaptation options, including gender-informed technologies, practices, and climate information services to address risks.
  3. Increase the resilience of small-scale producers to climate variability and change.

ACASA Workstreams

Climate Risk Assessment

Gridded risk analysis using historical crop yield data and satellite signatures; indicators of current and future hazards, exposure, and vulnerabilities.

 Assessment of Climate Impact on Commodities

Climate impact on commodities under current and future climate

 Portfolio of Adaptation Options

Decision trees, crop/livestock models, statistical and econometric models, and expert consultations

 UI/UX Development

An open-source, web-enabled, interactive, and dynamic Atlas development

 Capacity Strengthening of Stakeholders

Training materials, tools, tutorials, and country/regional level workshops

ACASA Advisory Panel

The advisory panel established under ACASA will identify potential users, use cases in different countries, and guide and review Atlas’ progress. The constituted panel will have the scientific advisory committee (SAC) and South Asia’s country team leaders, who will be instrumental in hosting and adapting the Atlas. Explore the dynamic team of ACASA’s advisory panel.

Reports

ACASA Project Inception Report

To discuss ACASA and its development, a 3-day inception meeting was held in Delhi, India, from 25th to 27th April 2023, marked by 70 distinguished guests from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India discussing the various aspects of Atlas. The inception meeting provided some valuable recommendations/highlights that will be instrumental in building the Atlas.

ACASA Use Case Report

The ACASA project places significant importance on the practical applications of the Atlas. Various stakeholders could utilise Atlas to enhance investment in agricultural adaptation technologies and climate information services. Drawing from the diverse perspectives of the panellists during the inception meeting, a consolidated report was prepared on how ACASA team and its partners will be prioritising and developing use cases based on geographical and thematic considerations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On-farm-Maize Select

Written by Leslie Domínguez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

The On-farm-Maize Select project will pilot a new genomics-driven selection method based on on-farm performance of Stage 1 maize breeding materials that is expected to deliver increased rates of genetic gain to the farmers through:

  • More accurate selection for the conditions of small-scale producers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially women and the poorest farmers, who often apply fewer inputs.
  • Improved sampling of the diversity of on-farm conditions across the entire target population of environments (TPE).
  • Improved understanding of the diversity of socio-economic factors, agronomic management (especially by women), and environmental on-farm conditions across the TPE.
  • Genomic-assisted rapid recycling of parents (population improvement) to reduce breeding cycle time.
  • Improved social inclusion in breeding processes, leading to greater gender responsiveness and wider appeal of breeding outputs.

The hypothesis is that generating genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) based on on-farm phenotyping will lead both to increased selection accuracy for performance under farmer management, including challenging conditions that women and the poorest farmers face, and enable rapid cycling of parents by reducing the number of years of testing before new crosses are made. This hypothesis will be initially tested by estimating expected genetic gain on-station and on-farm based on the genetic correlation between on-station and gender-disaggregated on-farm performance of the same set of genotypes, as well as the repeatability of selection on-station versus on-farm. The value of on-farm versus on-station testing for estimating GEBVs for parent selection and early-stage advancement will be confirmed in two selected CIMMYT maize breeding pipelines (one each in eastern and southern Africa – EA-PP1 and SA-PP1) by comparing the performance on-farm of a sample of Stage 1 breeding lines from the second cycle of on-farm vs on-station selection. The efficacy and costs of undertaking on-farm genomic selection versus on-station selection at Stage 1 of the two selected breeding pipelines will also be evaluated.

Key Outputs

  • The genetic correlation between, and accuracy of estimation of, on-farm and on-station breeding values will be measured in terms of ability to predict performance under farmer management. This will enable comparison of the relative efficiency of direct selection on-farm versus indirect selection on-station. We expect that increased on-farm genetic gains will be achieved if the genetic correlation between on-farm and on-station performance is 0.8 or less.
  • Elite breeding populations improved for on-farm performance will be generated, and products extracted from them will be compared on-farm with those selected the same founder populations using conventional on-station selection (comparison of the products of the pipelines will not be possible until the second project phase, if approved).
  • Separate GEBVs generated for lines under the management of male and female farmers, with genetic correlations estimated to ensure that performance on female-managed farms is adequately weighted in selection indices.
  • Genomic-assisted on-farm sparse testing network, experimental design and capacity developed.
  • Improved representativeness of results due to enhanced gender and social inclusion approaches in the on-farm trial design.

Expected Outcomes

  • Greater rates of genetic gain delivered on-farm through more extensive sampling of TPEs
  • Improved accuracy of selection based on performance in farmers’ fields in the TPE.
  • Incorporation of farmer-preferred traits in selection decisions supports faster replacement of older hybrids with newer products.

The Australian High Commission, ACIAR and BARC delegates recognizes the BWMRI-CIMMYT collaborative wheat blast research platform in Bangladesh

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Delegates with other officials in front of the seminar room. (Photo: Biswajit/BWMRI)

Representatives from Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) paid a visit to Bangladesh to see the valuable work of the Precision Phenotyping Platform (PPP).

PPP was established in response to the devastating wheat blast disease, which was first reported in the country in 2016.

Technical and financial support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Australian Commission for International Agricultural Research and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, along with other funders, has contributed to the effort to combat the disease.

This is achieved by generating precise data for wheat blast resistance in germplasm in Bangladesh, as well as other wheat growing countries. This PPP has been used to screen elite lines and genetic resources from various countries.

On February 16 and 17, 2023, two groups of national and international delegations visited the BWMRI-CIMMYT collaborative research platform PPP at the BWMRI regional station in Jashore, Bangladesh.

The first group was made up of representatives from both the Australian Commission for International Agricultural Research and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. This included seven commissioners under the direction of Fiona Simson, along with ACIAR senior officials from Australia and India.

The other group was from BARC, which was led by Executive Chairman Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, along with Golam Faruq, Director General of BWMRI, and Andrew Sharpe, Bangabandhu Research Chair, Global Institute of Food Security (GIFS), University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Both delegations were welcomed by Muhammad Rezaul Kabir, the Senior Wheat Breeder at BWMRI. Kabir gave a brief presentation about the platform and other wheat blast collaborative research programs in the seminar room.

The delegations then went to the PPP field, where BWMRI researchers Kabir and Robiul Islam, as well as CIMMYT researcher Md. Harun-Or-Rashid, explained further information about the BWMRI-CIMMYT collaborative research. Both commissioners and delegates appreciated seeing the work being conducted in person by the national and international collaborations of BWMRI and CIMMYT on wheat blast research.

Visitors observing blast disease symptoms in wheat leaves. (Photo: Muhammad Rezaul Kabir/BWMRI)

“It is important, innovative work, that is affecting not only Bangladesh but many countries around the world that are now starting to be concerned about the impacts of wheat blast,” commissioner Simson said. “This study is very important for Australia and we are pleased to be contributing to it.”

Lindsay Falvey, another commissioner, added, “This is a wonderful experiment, using high-level science and technologies to combat wheat blast in Bangladesh. The experiment is well-planned. Overall, it is an excellent platform.”

ACIAR delegate Eric Huttner added to the praise for the project. “The platform is performing extremely well for the purpose of evaluating lines, resistance to the disease and that’s very useful for Bangladesh and rest of the world,” he said. “This is a gift that Bangladesh is giving to the neighboring countries to protect wheat.”

The delegates pledged to share their expert advice with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh in order to increase investments and improve facilities for agricultural research programs in the country.

Golam Faruq, Director General of BWMRI discussing the PPP with Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman of BARC (Photo: Md. Harun-Or-Rashid/CIMMYT)

“This is an excellent work,” Executive Chairman of BARC, Bokhtiar said. “We can get more information from screening activities by using bioinformatics tools and training people through the BARC-GIFS program.”

Pawan Kumar Singh, Head of Wheat Pathology at CIMMYT-Mexico and Project Leader, coordinated the visits virtually and expressed his thanks to the delegations for their visit to the platform. This PPP, within a short span of few years, has been highly impactful, characterizing more than 15,000 entries and releasing several resistant varieties in countries vulnerable to wheat blast.

Integrated initiative launches in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

Written by Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan on . Posted in News.

TAFSSA inception workshops in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. (Credit: CIMMYT/CGIAR)

CGIAR, in collaboration with government agencies and other relevant stakeholders, held country launches of the Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) Initiative in three of its four working locations: Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

TAFSSA, which also operates in Pakistan, aims to deliver a coordinated program of research and engagement, transforming evidence into impact through collaboration with public and private partners across the production-to-consumption continuum. The end result will be productive and environmentally sound South Asian agrifood systems that support equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, as well as contributing to improved farmer livelihoods and resilience, while conserving land, air and groundwater resources.

A vision for South Asian agrifood systems

The three country-level launch events provided a platform for CGIAR’S partners to discuss TAFSSA’s five key areas:

  1. Facilitating agrifood system transformation through inclusive learning platforms, public data systems, and collaborations.
  2. Changing agroecosystems and rural economies to increase revenue and sustain diverse food production within environmental constraints.
  3. Improving access to and affordability of sustainably produced healthful foods through evidence and actions across the post-harvest value chain.
  4. Addressing the behavioral and structural factors of sustainable healthy diets
  5. Building resilience and limiting environmental impact.

The three inception events in Nepal, India and Bangladesh also provided a space for open debate on creating partnerships to achieve common goals, through multidisciplinary conversation on each focal area. Breakout sessions were also held according to emphasis area, explaining the initiative and its components clearly and providing opportunities to brainstorm with participants on how to build more stakeholder-responsive activities.

More than 70 participants attended each inception session, both in-person and online, representing government agencies, CGIAR and its research centers working on TAFSSA, international organizations working in the region, academic institutions, and other key stakeholder groups.

Project endorsements

At the launch event in Nepal on June 9, Temina Lalani Shariff, regional director for South Asia at CGIAR, described TAFSSA as a gateway to the rest of CGIAR’s global research efforts. She explained, “More than 100 partners from around the world will exchange their knowledge, skills and expertise through CGIAR’s new platform to work together for agriculture development.”

Purnima Menon, TAFSSA co-lead and senior research fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), presented the project in India on June 15. “The research portfolio and engagement plan we’re proposing is really intending to cut across the food system,” said Menon. “We want to engage people in production systems, people in the middle of the value chain, and consumers, to build the research portfolio. The idea is to do so in a way that is interlinked with the five new CGIAR impact areas and that amplifies CGIAR’s research on the ground.”

Introducing TAFSSA in Bangladesh on July 18, Timothy J. Krupnik, Initiative lead and senior agronomist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), stated, “The approach we’ve taken while developing this Initiative was to first look at agrifood crisis issues in South Asia. We evaluated key challenges in this region which has world’s highest concentrations of hunger and poverty.” He highlighted climate change, resource constraints and social structural inequalities, all of which will be addressed by TAFSSA through several focus areas.

Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Chairman of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) welcomed these ideas at the TAFSSA Bangladesh launch. “If we want to create an intelligent society or nation, if we want sustainability, we must provide nutrition for all,” said Bokhtiar. “In this region, I believe that combining science, technology and innovation in the TAFSSA initiative will deliver good results.”

Shariff also attended the launch in Bangladesh, where she remarked, “We are here to share a common path to work together to confront the challenges. For that, cooperation is the essential component which is common across Nepal, India and Bangladesh.”

At each of the launch events, TAFSSA was announced as a flagship initiative in South Asia by Martin Kropff, managing director of Resilient Agrifood Systems (RAFS) at CGIAR. He expressed confidence that it would be the first regional program to deliver significant development results and acknowledged that the planned collaboration and partnership with national research institutes would ensure TAFSSA’s success.

Farmer Tara Miah stands in his wheat field in Rajguru, Barisal, Bangladesh. (Photo: Ranak Martin/CIMMYT)

The past, present and future of agricultural research

Written by AFM Nazmul Alam on . Posted in News.

On November 13, 2020, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) held a virtual meeting to update Bangladesh’s Minister for Agriculture Md Abdur Razzaque on their organizations’ ongoing research activities regarding the development of sustainable, cereal-based farming systems.

The purpose of this event was to inform influential stakeholders of the implications of the impending transition to One CGIAR for collaborative research activities in Bangladesh and how CIMMYT will continue its support to the its partners in the country, including the government and other CGIAR centers. The event was chaired by CIMMYT’s Director General Martin Kropff, who called-in from CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico, and Razzaque, who attended the event as a special guest. Around 21 participants from various government offices including the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) were in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Razzaque thanked CIMMYT for its support in increasing maize and wheat production in Bangladesh — as the main source of germplasm for these two crops — which has been crucial for assuring food and income security and helping the country reach towards the Sustainable Development Goals. He expressed his gratitude for CIMMYT’s help in mitigating the threats posed by pests and diseases, and supporting climate information services which have enabled farmers to avoid crop losses in mung bean, and he requested that CIMMYT to intensify its research on cropping systems, heat- and disease-tolerant wheat varieties, and the introduction of technologies and farming practices to sustainably increase production and reduce wheat imports.

Martin Kropff gives an overview of CIMMYT research in Bangladesh during a virtual meeting with stakeholders. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Martin Kropff gives an overview of CIMMYT research in Bangladesh during a virtual meeting with stakeholders. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT’s country representative for Bangladesh, guided participants through the history of CIMMYT’s engagement in Bangladesh from the 1960s to the present and outlined the organization’s plan for future collaboration with the government. In addition developing wheat blast-resistant varieties, exchanging germplasm and seed multiplication programs for disease-resistant varieties, Krupnik described collaborative efforts to fight back against fall armyworm, research in systems agronomy to boost crop intensity and the use of advanced simulation models and remote sensing to assist in increasing production while reducing farm drudgery, expensive inputs, water and fuel use, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

He also highlighted efforts to create a skilled work force, pointing to CIMMYT’s collaboration with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) on appropriate agricultural mechanization and USAID-supported work with over 50 machinery manufacturers across the country.

“This historical legacy, alongside world-class scientists and committed staff, germplasm collection, global impact in farmer’s fields, next generation research and global network of partners have made CIMMYT unique,” explained Kropff during his closing remarks, which focused on the organization’s research and collaboration on climate-smart and conservation agriculture, high-yielding, stress- and disease-tolerant maize and wheat variety development, value chain enhancement, market development, precision agronomy and farm mechanization in Bangladesh.

He expressed his gratitude towards the Government of Bangladesh for supporting CIMMYT as an international public organization in the country, thus enabling it to continue delivering impact, and for recognizing the benefits of the transition to a more integrated network of international research centers through One CGIAR, under which CIMMYT and other centers will strengthen their support to the government to help Bangladesh achieve zero hunger.

Climate Services for Resilient Development in South Asia (CSRD)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) is a global partnership that connects climate and environmental science with data streams to generate decision support tools and training for decision-makers in developing countries. Translating complex climate information into easy to understand actionable formats to spread awareness in the form of climate services is core to CSRD’s mission. CSRD works across South Asia (with emphasis on Bangladesh), the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia), and in South America (Colombia) to generate and provide timely and useful climate information, decision tools and services. In South Asia, CSRD focusses the development, supply and adaptation of agricultural climate services to reduce vulnerability by increasing resiliency in smallholder farming systems. These goals are strategically aligned with the Global Framework for Climate Services.

Project description

CSRD in South Asia aims to have the impact by increasing climate resilient farm management, indicated by increased use of climate services and climate information to inform farmers on how to better manage their production systems.  CSRD also aims to develop and validate models for agricultural climate services that can be replicated in other regions with similar farming systems and climate risks, while also fine-tuning weather and climate advisories to be most useful to farmers’ decision-making. A series of sustained contributions to CSRD’s Action and Learning Framework Pillars 1-4, detailed below, are envisioned as major project outcomes:

  • Pillar 1: Create the solution space:
    CSRD works to establish a problem-focus, to engage key stakeholders, to create a platform for sustained communication and collaboration, and to build synergies among relevant programs.
  • Pillar 2: Utilize quality data, products, and tools
    CSRD provides access to useful and available information and technology, and to develop tailored products and services responsive to problem-specific needs.
  • Pillar 3: Build capacities and platforms
    CSRD supports the use of targeted products and services, and to promote sustainability, scalability, and replicability.
  • Pillar 4: Build knowledge
    A key goal of CSRD’s work is to identify and promote good practices among the global climate services community and to support research efforts and innovation that increase the effectiveness of climate services.

Outputs

CSRD in South Asia will ultimately generate the following broad outputs and services:

Download the report summarizing CSRD activities, achievements, and challenges during the first year (from November 2016 through December 2017).

The CSRD consortium in South Asia is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), International Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), University de Passo Fundo (UPF), and the University of Rhode Island (URI). This consortium provides strength and technical expertise to develop relevant climate products that can assist farmers and other stakeholders with relevant information to improve decision making, with the ultimate goal of increasing resilience to climate-related risks. The CSRD consortium also works to assure that climate information can be conveyed in ways that are decision-relevant to farmers and other agricultural stakeholders.

As a public-private partnership, CSRD is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UK AID, the UK Met Office, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), ESRI, Google, the American Red Cross, and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Researchers, policymakers and other agricultural partners participated in the workshop on fall armyworm. (Photo: Uttam/CIMMYT)

Bangladesh increases efforts to fight fall armyworm

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in News.

Researchers, policymakers and other agricultural partners participated in the workshop on fall armyworm. (Photo: Uttam/CIMMYT)
Researchers, policymakers and other agricultural partners participated in the workshop on fall armyworm. (Photo: Uttam/CIMMYT)

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), organized a training on fall armyworm on April 25, 2019 at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). Experts discussed the present outbreak status, progress on strategic research, and effective ways to control this destructive pest.

The event featured Dan McGrath, Entomologist and Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, and Joseph Huesing, Senior Biotechnology Advisor and Program Area Lead for Advanced Approaches to Combating Pests and Diseases at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Also attending were senior officials from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Department of Agricultural Extension, BARC, BWMRI and CIMMYT.

“Fall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it,” said Huesing in his overview of the fall armyworm infestation in Africa. He also mentioned that fall armyworm is generally followed by southern armyworm, so Bangladesh will need a strategy for managing multiple pests.

“Fall armyworm cannot be eradicated. It is endemic and farmers have to learn to manage it.”
— Joseph Huesing, USAID

Huesing explained that an effective approach for controlling fall armyworm and other pests is “knowledge, tools and policy.”

According to Huesing, Bangladeshi farmers have adequate knowledge about the pest and how to control it, especially compared to African farmers. The next step is securing the necessary tools to control fall armyworm, like spraying their fields with necessary insecticides by authorized personnel. Huesing emphasized the importance of appropriate policy implementation, particularly to ensure the registration of the right kind of insecticides assigned to effectively control fall armyworm.

Fall armyworm is a fast-reproducing species that can attack crops and cause devastation almost overnight. Even though the level of infestation in Bangladesh is still relatively light, more than 80 varieties of crops have already been attacked in 22 districts within just a few months.

Huesing indicated that safer options included handpicking of the pest, treating seeds, pheromone traps, flood irrigation and crop rotation. Currently, to help farmers learn more about the pest, the Department of Agricultural Extension is distributing factsheets and conducting awareness-raising workshops in different villages.

McGrath focused on the long-term management of fall armyworm and how Bangladesh can learn from the experience of Africa in order to avoid the same errors. McGrath suggested that weather forecasts were an important tool for helping determine when and where outbreaks might occur. Training relevant personnel is also a crucial aspect of reining in this plague. “Training the trainers has to be hands on. We need to put more emphasis on the field than on the classroom,” McGrath said.

This workshop was part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).

On-the job training boosts drought monitoring skills in Bangladesh

Written by on . Posted in News.

A two-week on the job training took place in March on the application of remote sensing in drought monitoring and crop mapping in Kathmandu, Nepal to build the capacity of young and mid-career professionals. The training was organized with the support of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)-led Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) initiative in South Asia, alongside the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The training introduced participants from Bangladesh’s apex agricultural research body, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) to remote sensing techniques for monitoring and forecasting weather patterns.

Suraya Parvin (left), Senior Scientific Officer of BARC, discussing with the facilitator in the training. Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.
Suraya Parvin (left), Senior Scientific Officer of BARC, discussing with the facilitator in the training. Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.

The training strengthened the remote sensing capabilities of professionals from BARC and BARI in using satellite-based remote sensing tools and crop mapping to monitor drought risks. During the training, participants were exposed to a number of remote sensing and geographic information systems tools including SPIRITS, QGIS, ArcMap, GeoCLIM as well as a foundation course to Google Earth Engine. Additionally, open source platform to perform online and offline data collection using mobile application training was provided.This learning exchange took place in order to address the risks for agricultural drought in portions of north-western Bangladesh where farmers may lack access to, or cannot afford irrigation. This leads to bottlenecks in crop productivity and can impair the livelihoods of smallholder farmers reliant on variable and unpredictable precipitation. Access to quality drought monitoring and forecasting could assist farmers in adapting to these climactic risks. Meteorological and agricultural research institutions play a crucial role in providing improved information flow and drought risks advisories to farmers.

Mir Matin, theme leader of Geospatial Solutions, ICIMOD, organized the training on behalf of CSRD and ICIMOD, alongside Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, capacity building specialist, ICIMOD. ICIMOD’s Bhoj Raj also facilitated sessions on application of these tools.

“Bangladesh, especially the northern region, is most susceptible to drought and it is difficult to grow year-round crops here,” said Suraya Parvin, senior scientific officer of BARC. “To increase the cropping intensity in this region, drought monitoring is very essential. I think this training was extremely useful to prepare us for this challenge.”

The CSRD partnership and ICIMOD are working together to establish user-oriented platforms for the provision of easily accessible, timely and decision relevant scientific information, in the form of climate services. “This training, and the applied science products that will come from it, will be a crucial part of efforts to increase the resilience of Bangladesh’s smallholder farmers to climatic risks,” said Timothy J. Krupnik, systems agronomist, CIMMYT and CSRD project leader. “Working with the graduates of the training on a day-to-day basis, we expect to deepen BARC and BARI’s contributions to applied climate services in Bangladesh.”

CSRD is a global partnership whose core mission is to translate actionable climate information into easy to understand formats to spread awareness and use of climate services. The Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD)  consortium in South Asia is led by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), International Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), University de Passo Fundo (UPF), and the University of Rhode Island (URI). 

New initiative strengthens agricultural drought monitoring in Bangladesh

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A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD.
A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – A new joint effort will strengthen or establish drought monitoring and early warning systems in Bangladesh, as well as provide information on local cropping systems in South Asia to boost farmer resilience to climate change.

Regionally specific winter season drought and dry spells during the monsoon are a reoccurring concern in Bangladesh. Drought leads to reduced farming productivity, and climate change predictions suggest further decreases in precipitation in coming years. Additionally, there are uncertainties about where monsoons will flood in the rainy season, limiting groundwater recharge. If farmers are unable to adapt to these changes, bottlenecks in crop productivity and increased food insecurity are likely to result.

The effort will be led by Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) and SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya – a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – using Earth observation data.

A workshop jointly hosted by a number of organizations was recently held at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh to discuss the development of these agricultural monitoring services. The workshop brought together key partners to discuss anticipated methods, work plans and the user engagement process for effective development and long-term sustainability of the agricultural drought monitoring service.

Under this partnership, BARC is working to strengthen capacity of national research and agricultural extension institutes to use geographic information systems and remote sensing approaches for drought risk management.

(L-R) Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council and Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD
(L-R) Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council and Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist. Photo: Santosh Raj Pathak/ICIMOD

Shams Uddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, noted that groundwater accessibility is a growing concern due to continued drought. The government has posed restrictions on deep well extraction, except for drinking water, to conserve crucial groundwater resources. He added that access to good quality drought monitoring and early warning information could help develop climate services to help farmers adapt to these challenges.

Muhammad Jalal Uddin, executive chairman of BARC, emphasized the need to adopt new technologies including remote sensing applications to improve predictability of climate hazards like floods and droughts. He added that with the adoption of improved agricultural practices, Bangladesh has become self-sufficient in rice, but that further work is needed to attain overall nutrition sufficiency.

Promoting and enabling climate services that increase farmer resilience to the impacts of climate variability can positively change behaviors and affect policy in developing countries. To do this, collaborators are working together to establish information communication technology platforms to provide user-oriented, easily accessible, timely and decision-relevant scientific information in the form of climate services.

Birendra Bajracharya, regional program manager of the Mountain Environment Regional Information System program at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), highlighted opportunities of using Earth observation data products for addressing societal challenges. He emphasized the user-centric “services” used by ICIMOD increase the sustainable use of Earth observation information and geospatial technologies for environmental management and improve resilience to climate change in the region.

Read the full workshop summary from ICIMOD here.

CSRD is a a public-private partnership supported by USAID, Department for International Development (DFID), the Met Office, Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, ESRI, Google, the American Red Cross and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.