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funder_partner: India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

http://agriculture.gov.in/

Intercropping

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

The Intercropping project aims to identify options for smallholder farmers to sustainably intensify wide-row crop production through the addition of short-duration, high-value intercrop species and to help farmers increase their productivity, profitability and nutrition security while mitigating against climate change.

The focus is on intensification of wide-row planted crops: dry (rabi) season maize in Bangladesh, eastern India (Bihar and West Bengal states) and Bhutan, and sugarcane in central north India (Uttar Pradesh state). The primary focus is to sustainably improve cropping system productivity, however, the effects of wide-row, additive intercropping at the smallholder farm level will be considered, including potential food and nutrition benefits for the household.

There are many potential benefits of wide-row, additive intercropping, beyond increased cropping system productivity and profitability: water-, labor- and energy-use efficiencies; improved nutrition and food security for rural households; empowerment for women; and (over the longer term) increased soil health.

Little research has been conducted to date into wide-row, additive intercropping (as distinct from traditional replacement intercropping) in South Asian agroecologies. To successfully and sustainably integrate wide-row, additive intercropping into farmers’ cropping systems a range of challenges must be resolved, including optimal agronomic management and crop geometry, household- and farm-scale implications, and potential off-farm bottlenecks.

This project aims to identify practical methods to overcome these challenges for farming households in Bangladesh, Bhutan and India. Focusing on existing wide-row field crop production systems, the project aims to enable farmers to increase their cropping system productivity sustainably and in a manner that requires relatively few additional inputs.

Project activities and expected outcomes:

  • Evaluating farming households’ initial perspectives on wide-row, additive intercropping.
  • Conducting on station replicated field trials into wide-row, additive intercropping, focusing on those aspects of agronomic research difficult or unethical to undertake on farms.
  • Conducting on farm replicated field trials into wide-row, additive intercropping.
  • Determining how wide-row, additive intercropping could empower women. Quantify the long-term benefits, risks and trade-offs of wide-row, additive intercropping.
  • Describing key value/supply chains for wide-row, additive intercropping. Determine pathways to scale research to maximize impact.
  • Quantifying changes in household dry season nutrition for households representative of key typologies in each agroecological zone.

Enhancing the resilience of our farmers and our food systems: global collaboration at DialogueNEXT

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

“Achieving food security by mid-century means producing at least 50 percent more food,” said U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, Cary Fowler, citing a world population expected to reach 9.8 billion and suffering the dire effects of violent conflicts, rising heat, increased migration, and dramatic reductions in land and water resources and biodiversity. “Food systems need to be more sustainable, nutritious, and equitable.”

CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy aims to build a diverse coalition of partners to lead the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems. This approach addresses factors influencing global development, plant health, food production, and the environment. At DialogueNEXT, CIMMYT and its network of partners showcased successful examples and promising directions for bolstering agricultural science and food security, focusing on poverty reduction, nutrition, and practical solutions for farmers.

Without healthy crops or soils, there is no food

CIMMYT’s MasAgro program in Mexico has enhanced farmer resilience by introducing high-yielding crop varieties, novel agricultural practices, and income-generation activities. Mexican farmer Diodora Petra Castillo Fajas shared how CIMMYT interventions have benefitted her family. “Our ancestors taught us to burn the stover, degrading our soils. CIMMYT introduced Conservation Agriculture, which maintains the stover and traps more humidity in the soil, yielding more crops with better nutritional properties,” she explained.

CIMMYT and African partners, in conjunction with USAID’s Feed the Future, have begun applying the MasAgro [1] model in sub-Saharan Africa through the Feed the Future Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I), where as much as 80 percent of cultivated soils are poor, little or no fertilizer is applied, rainfed maize is the most widespread crop, many households lack balanced diets, and erratic rainfall and high temperatures require different approaches to agriculture and food systems.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CIMMYT are partnering to carry out the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) movement in Africa and Central America. This essential movement for transforming food systems endorsed by the G7 focuses on crop improvement and soil health. VACS will invest in improving and spreading 60 indigenous “opportunity” crops—such as sorghum, millet, groundnut, pigeon pea, and yams, many of which have been grown primarily by women—to enrich soils and human diets together with the VACS Implementers’ Group, Champions, and Communities of Practice.

The MasAgro methodology has been fundamental in shaping the Feed the Future Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub, an effort between government agencies, private, and public partners, including CGIAR. AID-I provides farmers with greater access to markets and extension services for improved seeds and crop varieties. Access to these services reduces the risk to climate and socioeconomic shocks and improves food security, economic livelihoods, and overall community resilience and prosperity.

Healthy soils are critical for crop health, but crops must also contain the necessary genetic traits to withstand extreme weather, provide nourishment, and be marketable. CIMMYT holds the largest maize and wheat gene bank, supported by the Crop Trust, offering untapped genetic material to develop more resilient varieties from these main cereal grains and other indigenous crops. Through the development of hardier and more adaptable varieties, CIMMYT and its partners commit to implementing stronger delivery systems to get improved seeds for more farmers. This approach prioritizes biodiversity conservation and addresses major drivers of instability: extreme weather, poverty, and hunger.

Food systems must be inclusive to combat systemic inequities

Successful projects and movements such as MasAgro, VACS, and AID-I are transforming the agricultural landscape across the Global South. But the urgent response required to reduce inequities and the needed investment to produce more nutritious food with greater access to cutting-edge technologies demands inclusive policies and frameworks like CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy.

“In Latin America and throughout the world, there is still a huge gap between the access of information and technology,” said Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras, Laura Elena Suazo Torres. “Civil society and the public and private sectors cannot have a sustainable impact if they work opposite to each other.”

Ismahane Elouafi, CGIAR executive managing director, emphasized that agriculture does not face, “a lack of innovative science and technology, but we’re not connecting the dots.” CIMMYT offers a pathway to bring together a system of partners from various fields—agriculture, genetic resources, crop breeding, and social sciences, among others—to address the many interlinked issues affecting food systems, helping to bring agricultural innovations closer to farmers and various disciplines to solve world hunger.

While healthy soils and crops are key to improved harvests, ensuring safe and nutritious food production is critical to alleviating hunger and inequities in food access. CIMMYT engages with private sector stakeholders such as Bimbo, GRUMA, Ingredion, Syngenta, Grupo Trimex, PepsiCo, and Heineken, to mention a few, to “link science, technology, and producers,” and ensure strong food systems, from the soils to the air and water, to transform vital cereals into safe foods to consume, like fortified bread and tortillas.

Reduced digital gaps can facilitate knowledge-sharing to scale-out improved agricultural practices like intercropping. The Rockefeller Foundation and CIMMYT have “embraced the complexity of diversity,” as mentioned by Roy Steiner, senior vice-president, through investments in intercropping, a crop system that involves growing two or more crops simultaneously and increases yields, diversifies diets, and provides economic resilience. CIMMYT has championed these systems in Mexico, containing multiple indicators of success from MasAgro.

Today, CIMMYT collaborates with CGIAR and Total LandCare to train farmers in southern and eastern Africa on the intercrop system with maize and legumes i.e., cowpea, soybean, and jack bean. CIMMYT also works with WorldVeg, a non-profit organization dedicated to vegetable research and development, to promote intercropping in vegetable farming to ensure efficient and safe production and connect vegetable farmers to markets, giving them more sources for greater financial security.

Conflict aggravates inequities and instability. CIMMYT leads the Feed the Future Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS) which aims to deliver latest knowledge and technology to small scale producers to increase agricultural productivity, strengthen local and regional value chains, and enhance community resilience in war-torn countries like Sudan. CIMMYT has developed a strong partnership funded by USAID with ADRA, CIP, CRS, ICRISAT, IFDC, IFPRI, ILRI, Mercy Corps, Near East Foundation, Samaritan’s Purse, Syngenta Foundation, VSF, and WorldVeg, to devise solutions for Sudanese farmers. SASAS has already unlocked the potential of several well-suited vegetables and fruits like potatoes, okra, and tomatoes. These crops not only offer promising yields through improved seeds, but they encourage agricultural cooperatives, which promote income-generation activities, gender-inclusive practices, and greater access to diverse foods that bolster family nutrition. SASAS also champions livestock health providing food producers with additional sources of economic resilience.

National governments play a critical role in ensuring that vulnerable populations are included in global approaches to strengthen food systems. Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Victor Villalobos, shared examples of how government intervention and political will through people-centered policies provides greater direct investment to agriculture and reduces poverty, increasing shared prosperity and peace. “Advances must help to reduce gaps in development.” Greater access to improved agricultural practices and digital innovation maintains the field relevant for farmers and safeguards food security for society at large. Apart from Mexico, key government representatives from Bangladesh, Brazil, Honduras, India, and Vietnam reaffirmed their commitment to CIMMYT’s work.

Alice Ruhweza, senior director at the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, and Maria Emilia Macor, an Argentinian farmer, agreed that food systems must adopt a holistic approach. Ruhweza called it, “The great food puzzle, which means that one size does not fit all. We must integrate education and infrastructure into strengthening food systems and development.” Macor added, “The field must be strengthened to include everyone. We all contribute to producing more food.”

Generating solutions, together

In his closing address, which took place on World Population Day 2024, CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts thanked the World Food Prize for holding DialogueNEXT in Mexico and stressed the need for all partners to evolve, while aligning capabilities. “We have already passed several tipping points and emergency measures are needed to avert a global catastrophe,” he said. “Agrifood systems must adapt, and science has to generate solutions.”

Through its network of research centers, governments, private food producers, universities, and farmers, CIMMYT uses a multidisciplinary approach to ensure healthier crops, safe and nutritious food, and the dissemination of essential innovations for farmers. “CIMMYT cannot achieve these goals alone. We believe that successful cooperation is guided by facts and data and rooted in shared values, long-term commitment, and collective action. CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy goes beyond transactional partnership and aims to build better partnerships through deeper and more impactful relationships. I invite you to partner with us to expand this collective effort together,” concluded Govaerts.

[1] Leveraging CIMMYT leadership, science, and partnerships and the funding and research capacity of Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry (SADER) during 2010-21, the program known as “MasAgro” helped over 300,000 participating farmers to adopt improved maize and wheat varieties and resource-conserving practices on more than 1 million hectares of farmland in 30 states of Mexico.

Visual summaries by Reilly Dow.

Building global capacity to combat wheat blast

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

Researchers and experts from 15 countries convened in Zambia, between 4-15 March 2024, for an international training on wheat blast disease screening, surveillance, and management.

Wheat blast, caused by pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum, is threatening global wheat production especially in warmer and humid regions. The disease was first observed in Parana state of Brazil in 1985 and subsequently spread to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. Outside of South America, wheat blast incidences were recorded for the first time in Bangladesh in 2016 and in Zambian wheat fields in 2018.

To mitigate the impact of this potential plant pandemic, the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), in collaboration with CIMMYT and other partners, organized a comprehensive training for building research capacity and raising awareness within the local and international community, especially in at-risk countries.

“This collaborative effort, supported by various international partners and funders, underscores the importance of global cooperation in addressing agricultural challenges such as wheat blast. The objective of the training was to empower researchers with knowledge and tools for enhanced wheat production resilience in regions vulnerable to this destructive disease,” said Pawan Kumar Singh, principal scientist and project leader at CIMMYT. Singh collaborated with Batiseba Tembo, wheat breeder at ZARI-Zambia, to coordinate and lead the training program.

Thirty-eight wheat scientists, researchers, professors, policymakers, and extension agents from countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia, and Zimbabwe convened at the Mt. Makulu Central Research Station in Chilanga, Zambia.

“Wheat blast is a devastating disease that requires concerted efforts to effectively manage it and halt further spread. The disease is new to Africa, so developing capacity amongst country partners before the disease spreads more widely is critical,” said Tembo.

Participants at the International Training on Wheat Blast Screening and Surveillance. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Highlights from the training: discussions, lab exercises, and field visits

During the training, participants engaged in lectures, laboratory exercises, and field visits. There were insightful discussions on key topics including the fundamentals of wheat blast epidemiology, disease identification, molecular detection of the wheat blast pathogen, isolation and preservation techniques for the pathogen, disease scoring methods, disease management strategies, and field surveillance and monitoring.

The course also provided practical experience in disease evaluation at the Precision Phenotyping Platform (PPP) screening nursery located in Chilanga research station. This involved characterization of a diverse range of wheat germplasm with the aim of releasing resistant varieties in countries vulnerable to wheat blast. Additionally, participants undertook field visits to farmers’ fields, conducting surveillance of wheat blast-infected areas. They collected samples and recorded survey data using electronic open data kit (ODK) capture tools.

Participants listen to a lecture by B.N. Verma, director of Zambia Seed Co., on the history of wheat production in Zambia. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“The killer disease needs to be understood and managed utilizing multi-faceted approaches to limit the expansion and damages it can cause to global wheat production. The Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) is willing to share all the strategies it deployed to mitigate the effect of wheat blast,” said Golam Faruq, BWMRI’s director general.

Participants visited seed farms to gain practical insights into seed production processes and quality assurance measures. These visits provided first-hand knowledge of seed selection, breeding techniques, and management practices crucial for developing resistant wheat varieties. Participants also visited research sites and laboratories to observe advanced research methodologies and technologies related to wheat blast management. These visits exposed them to cutting-edge techniques in disease diagnosis, molecular analysis, and germplasm screening, enhancing their understanding of effective disease surveillance and control strategies.

Field visit. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“The training and knowledge sharing event was a significant first step in developing understanding and capacity to deal with wheat blast for partners from several African countries. It was wonderful to see the efforts made to ensure gender diversity among participants,” said Professor Diane Saunders from the John Innes Centre, UK.

Ethiopian researchers travel to India to strengthen knowledge regarding increasing wheat productivity

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

The irrigated lowlands of Afar and Oromia in Ethiopia are vital areas for the cultivation of wheat and increasing their productivity is crucial to attaining food security in the light of extended drought and other climate shocks.

Adaptation, Demonstration, and Piloting of Wheat Technologies for Irrigated Lowlands of Ethiopia (ADAPT-Wheat) is a three-year project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with the objective of identifying, verifying, and adopting wheat technologies that increase wheat production and productivity in Afar and Oromia.

As part of ADAPT-Wheat’s capacity building mission, four Ethiopian wheat researchers from different disciplines visited the Indian Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barely Research (IIWBR), Land force (Dasmesh Mechanical Works), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), and National Agro Industries from 13 -22 March 2024.

At CSSRI, the researchers learned how to reclaim salt-affected soils through the use of salt tolerant crops, improve management of water usage, and employ cover crops in salt-affected soils to reduce soil temperature and evapotranspiration. They also visited a sodic and saline microplot facility used to screen genotypes under the desired salinity and sodicity stresses. The researchers witnessed ongoing activities such as agrochemical/ biological/hydraulic technologies to reclaim salt-affected soils, the use of poor-quality irrigation water for crop production and the adoption of ameliorative technologies for salinity management.

The Ethiopian researchers also attended an international conference organized by the Indian Society of Soil Salinity and Water Quality, “Rejuvenating salt affected soil ecologies for land degradation neutrality under changing climate.”

At IIWBR, researchers visit a gene bank. (Photo: CIMMYT)

They learned about breeding methods, and advances in yield enhancement, disease resistance, sustainable agricultural practices, innovative farming methods, genetic stocks developed for grain protein, iron, and zinc enhanced wheat varieties, phytic acid levels, gluten strength, and grain texture.

At Dasmesh Mechanical Works, they learned the operation and maintenance of equipment ADAPT-Wheat has purchased from Dasmesh, including machines for plowing, land leveling, planting, and threshing.

The visit to BISA included an introduction to Conservation Agriculture methods, such as fertilizer use efficiency and crop residue management, which will ultimately help improve productivity back in Ethiopia. They also viewed an ongoing experiment on Precision–Conservation Agriculture Based Maize-Wheat Systems.

Finally, the researchers visited the CIMMYT-India office and met with Mahesh Kumar Gathala, systems agronomist and lead scientist.

“We are proud to host our Ethiopian colleagues. Collaborating with them allowed us to learn as much from them as they hopefully learned from us during their visit,” said Gathala.

A visit to CSSRI. (Photo: CIMMYT)

For Daniel Muleta (irrigated wheat project coordinator), Shimelis Alemayehu (agronomist), Hailu Mengistu (wheat breeder) and Lema Mamo (soil scientist) all from Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the visit to India was beyond their imagination and gave them the opportunity to participate in salinity workshop, visited different institutions and gained experience. Shimelis said “even though the workshop was for experience sharing the travel made was beyond that”.

The team acknowledged CIMMYT-Ethiopia and CIMMYT India offices and EIAR management.

Unlocking the power of collaboration in global wheat science

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

CIMMYT Global Wheat Program (GWP) scientists visited National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) partners in Pakistan, Nepal, and India during February 2024. The key purpose was to review current approaches and explore new opportunities to enhance collaborative wheat improvement activities.

NARS partners described their current priorities and recent changes in their activities, while CIMMYT shared recent modernization efforts of its wheat breeding and highlighted opportunities to enhance collaborative wheat improvement. GWP representatives included Interim Wheat Director Kevin Pixley, and scientists Naeela Qureshi, Velu Govindan, Keith Gardner, Sridhar Bhavani, T.P. Tiwari, and Arun K Joshi.

Representatives from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and CIMMYT meet to identify chances for improved cooperation in wheat breeding research. (Photo: Awais Yaqub/CIMMYT)

Planning the future of South Asian wheat

In each country, CIMMYT and NARS leaders held a one-day meeting to review and plan their wheat improvement partnership, with attendance from 25-30 wheat scientists in each country. The sessions aimed to review and identify bottlenecks to the wheat impact pathway in each country, describe recent changes in the breeding programs of CIMMYT and NARS partners, and prioritize and agree updates to the NARS-CIMMYT wheat improvement collaborations.

NARS partners highlighted their wheat improvement programs through field visits to research stations. Visitors attended Wheat Research Institute (ARI), Faisalabad and National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad in Pakistan; National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahawa and National Plant Breeding & Genetics Research Center (NPBGRC), Khumaltar in Nepal; and Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in India.

The GWP team also visited: Faisalabad Agricultural University, with a special focus on collaborative zinc biofortification work in Pakistan; farmers’ fields in Nepal to see participatory evaluations of elite wheat lines (candidates for release as new varieties) and to hear from farmers about challenges and expectations from improved varieties; and the Lumbini Seed Company to learn about the crucial role of seed companies, bottlenecks, and opportunities in the pathway from research to impact in farmers’ fields.

NARS scientists and directors in all three countries were enthusiastic about the opportunities for enhanced partnership to adopt some of the modernizing technologies that AGG has brought to CIMMYT. Partners are especially keen to –

  1. Receive earlier generation varieties, segregating breeding lines to empower them to select in their own environments.
  2. Model and explore strategies to shorten their breeding cycles.
  3. Apply quantitative genetics tools to better select parents for their crossing blocks.
  4. Adopt experimental designs that improve efficiency.
  5. Explore opportunities for co-implementing improvement programs through shared testing schemes, communities of practice (e.g. for quantitative genetics or use of exotic germplasm to address challenges from climate change), and more.
A highlight of the trip in Nepal: visiting on-farm trials, where farmers share insights about their preferences for improved varieties, where they often mentioned tolerance over lodging. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“The visit provided CIMMYT and NARS wheat scientists with the opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas, and to explore ways of enhancing collaborations that will strengthen our joint impact on wheat farmers and consumers,” said Pixley.

Following these visits, the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) soon reached out to CIMMYT to request a similar review and planning meeting, with a vision to modernize and strengthen their wheat improvement partnership.

Arun K Joshi receives prestigious Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award

Written by Richa Sharma Puri on . Posted in News, Press releases.

The Society for the Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research (SAWBAR), ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal, bestowed the prestigious Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award 2023 for outstanding contribution in the field of Wheat Crop Improvement.

T Mohapatra, former secretary of India’s Department of Agricultural Research and Education and director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Gyanendra Singh, director of the Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research (IIWBR) at ICAR, presented the award at the ceremony on March 27, 2024.

As recipient of this award Joshi, who is the managing director of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), CIMMYT country representative for India, and CIMMYT regional representative for South Asia, also delivered the Sh. VS Mathur memorial lecture during the ceremony. In his speech, Joshi spoke about past and present developments in wheat improvement and emphasized the importance of wheat across the globe, touching on the post-Green Revolution era and the critical timeline of events in wheat improvement. He delved into the factors responsible for variations in wheat yield and how to meet the rising demand for wheat consumption.

Arun Kumar Joshi receives the Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Joshi advised that countries like India must bridge the yield gap by improving management in farmers’ fields, co-learning from other spring wheat-growing countries like Mexico and Egypt, and investing in science to address climate change. He also discussed opportunities to integrate modern science across all disciplines: genomics, gene editing, mechanization, robotics, AI, weed management, water, and nutrient use efficiency.

Talking about the future of wheat production, Joshi stressed the need to focus on traits that will be more important in the future, with an emphasis on accelerated genetic gain, gene-edited wheat, and how to breed heat-tolerant (40° C) varieties using various innovative tools and technologies.

About CIMMYT:

CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow’s problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.

CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources.

For more information, visit cimmyt.org.

About the Society for the Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research (SAWBAR):

SAWBAR was founded in 2007 and is housed at ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research Karnal (Haryana) India. The Society presently has 300 life members and more than 320 annual and student members. SAWBAR is playing a significant role in bringing wheat and barley researchers on one platform for the exchange of innovative research and dissemination of knowledge related to the latest research happenings in the area of wheat and barley improvement. Annually, SAWBAR gives awards to pioneer cereal workers in various award categories.

About the Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award:

The Sh. VS Mathur Memorial Award was constituted in year 2018 in the memory of eminent wheat worker Sh. VS Mathur. Mathur was one of the pioneer wheat workers who worked tirelessly with MS Swaminathan and HK Jain and developed a large number of high-yielding wheat varieties viz. Heera, Moti, Janak (HD 1982), Arjun (HD 2009), HD 2177, HD 2182, HD 2204, HD 2236, HD 2278, HD 2281, HD 2285, HD 2329, HD 2307 and HD 2327 for various regions of India.

A marine engineer embarks on making life easier for farmers in his native village, by establishing a one-stop shop agri-business center

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in Features.

On the northern banks of the Ganges lies the city of Begusarai, in India’s Bihar State. Amid the expected structures of a city—temples and transit hubs—is a five-acre business hub dedicated to agriculture. This center, called the Bhusari Cold Storage Center, includes a 7,000-ton cold storage facility for vegetables, a dry grain storage area, outlets for farmer inputs and outputs, a farmer training center, a soil testing laboratory, and a farm implement bank. The brainchild of Navneet Ranjan, this facility works in collaboration with state partners, CIMMYT, and the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project.

In the decade since its formation, the center has served nearly 100 villages in and around Begusarai, helping thousands of smallholder farmers access equipment, knowledge, and seeds they otherwise do not have access to.

“Since coming to the center I have not only benefited in using mechanized services at a small price but also learned about new schemes and incentives provided to smallholder farmers by the government,” said Ram Kumar Singh, a farmer from the village of Bikrampur. A similar story was related by Krishadev Rai from the village of Sakarpura, who said the laser land leveler machine at the center dramatically lowered costs associated with irrigation and other inputs, including information about different fertilizers and varietal seeds available at the market.

Farmers from the region have benefited immensely from the services of the center. According to Anurag Kumar, a CIMMYT senior research associate with CSISA, “The existence of the state-of-the-art center in the last decade has helped over 25,000 smallholder farmers avail themselves of services and information on farming and agriculture.” He said the center has also helped promote conservation agriculture technologies, implement climate-resilient farming practices, and build the capacity of smallholder farmers.

Ranjan, a native of the region, is a marine engineer by education but has diversified experiences from different sectors. A decade ago, Ranjan returned home after pursuing higher education and working in distant cities in India and abroad.

Ranjan met recently with CSISA representatives to share his motivation, hopes, and aspirations about the reach and impact of the Bhusari Center for farmers of Begusarai and beyond.

How did the Bhusari Agri-business center, popularly known as Bhusari Cold Storage, come into being?

In 2012, driven by a deep-rooted desire to bridge the significant societal gap between my professional advancements in the corporate world and the enduring struggles within my rural hometown in Bihar, I founded the Bhusari Agri-business Center. The name “Bhusari” was thoughtfully chosen, as it represents approximately 50 villages in the area, traditionally, and collectively known by this moniker, underscoring our commitment to the region’s agricultural heritage and community.

From the start, we knew we wanted our center, born from a combination of my family’s initial investment and funding secured through a State Bank of India loan alongside a significant subsidy from the Government of Bihar, to serve as a comprehensive agri-business solution. We designed this project not only as a business venture but as a social enterprise aimed at improving the livelihoods of local farmers by ensuring better returns for their produce, disrupting the traditional agricultural value chain that often left them exploited.

The establishment of Bhusari Cold Storage stands as a testament to the potential of marrying native understanding with professional management to foster socio-economic development in rural areas.

During an interactive session with progressive farmers, Ranjan listens to a farmer express his expectation from the Bhusari center. (Photo: CIMMYT)

What has been your biggest achievement with the establishment of Bhusari Cold Storage?

If I were to pinpoint our most significant achievement, it would be the creation of the farm implement bank. This initiative has helped revolutionize the agricultural landscape for the small-scale farmers in our area by providing them with access to modern farming equipment.

Before the inception of this bank, many farmers in our region faced challenges because of outdated farming techniques and the lack of access to modern machinery, which often resulted in inefficient farming practices and high operational costs. Introducing zero tillage, planters, harvesters, and especially the laser land leveler, has been a game-changer. This farm implement bank has also popularized the use of advanced agricultural technologies among the farming community. The positive effects of these modern farm implements have been many, including reduced labor costs, improved crop yields, and more sustainable farming practices.

How has a project like CSISA and other partners supported farmers and the efforts of agri-entrepreneurs like you in the region?

The support from CSISA and its partners has helped enhance the capabilities of farmers and bolster the efforts of agri-entrepreneurs in the region. CSISA’s contribution, particularly through its project scientists and field technicians, has been pivotal in training farmers. This collaboration has led to a significant increase in awareness and adoption of advanced agricultural implements and practices, including zero tillage and land levelers, among the farming community.

The center has conducted extensive training programs for many farmers, thanks to the resources, knowledge, and technology facilitated by CSISA, the State Department of Agriculture, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). This partnership has enabled us to disseminate knowledge and tools to the farmers and drive the adoption of innovative farming techniques that lead to higher efficiency and reduced costs. The collaboration with CSISA and state partners has been a cornerstone in our mission to modernize agriculture in the region, making significant strides towards sustainable farming practices, and enhancing the livelihoods of the local farming community. Through these collective efforts, we have been able to empower farmers with the skills and technologies necessary to thrive in a competitive and evolving agricultural landscape.

Navneet Ranjan with Sarah Fernandes, CIMMYT global communications manager (2nd from left), during her visit to the Bhusari Cold Storage center with CSISA colleagues. (Photo: CIMMYT)

What do you hope for next for Bhusari or other endeavors in agri-business to support smallholder farmers?

Looking ahead, our vision for Bhusari and future agri-business endeavors deeply focuses on empowering smallholder farmers by enhancing their access to financial resources and tailored agricultural solutions. By addressing the financial barriers that often hinder farmers’ ability to invest in their operations, we aim to unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation in the agricultural sector. A key priority is to streamline the process so that these farmers can obtain credit lines and working capital more efficiently.

Additionally, recognizing farmers’ diverse needs and challenges in different regions, we are committed to making customized farm implements more readily available. These tailored tools are essential for increasing agricultural efficiency and productivity, as farming practices and conditions vary greatly across regions. To complement these efforts, we plan to expand our training programs and provide more customized knowledge to farmers.

Ultimately, the aim is to scale up this model and create several other replicable projects across Bihar and beyond. By demonstrating the success of these initiatives, we hope to inspire and facilitate similar transformations in other regions, fostering a more sustainable, efficient, and prosperous agricultural landscape for smallholder farmers.

Cover photo: Founder Navneet Ranjan (5th from right) and CIMMYT colleagues with beneficiary farmers at the Bhusari center in Begusarai, Bihar. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT) 

Enhancing wheat breeding efficiency in South Asia through early germplasm access

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

Wheat field. (Photo: CGIAR)

In the dynamic landscape of wheat breeding, early access to germplasm emerges as a strategic catalyst for accelerating variety turnover and meeting the evolving challenges faced by farmers in South Asia. Since its inception, the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat (AGG) project has pioneered new tools to optimize the wheat breeding process. One such tool, the efficient and low-cost 3-year breeding cycle, has been fine-tuned in Mexico, using the Toluca screenhouse and field advancement in Obregón, laying the groundwork for faster variety turnover.

The inaugural set of lines generated through this enhanced breeding cycle is already undergoing Stage 1 trials in the Obregón 2023-24 season. However, the innovation doesn’t stop there; to expedite the variety release process and garner robust data from the Target Population of Environments (TPE), Stage 2 lines are being rigorously tested at over 20 sites in South Asia through collaboration with National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES) partners. In the seasons spanning 2021-2024, a total of 918 Stage 2 lines underwent rigorous trials, aiming to provide early access to improved wheat lines for testing and release by NARES and establish a genetic correlation matrix between Obregón selection environments and diverse sites across South Asia.

These extensive trials serve a dual purpose. Firstly, they facilitate early access to improved wheat lines for testing and release by NARES, bolstering the agricultural landscape with resilient and high-yielding varieties. Secondly, they contribute to the establishment of a genetic correlation matrix between the selection environments in Obregón and the diverse sites across South Asia. This matrix becomes a guiding compass, aiding in selecting the most promising lines for broader TPEs in South Asia and beyond.

Transformative impact on wheat varieties in South Asia

Through the support of our partners and funders from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), great achievements have been recorded throughout the region. India, a prominent player in wheat cultivation, stands as a testament to the transformative impact of early access to advanced lines. The top three varieties, namely DBW187, DBW303, and DBW 222, covering over 6 million hectares, trace their roots to CIMMYT varieties. Adopting a fast-track approach through early-stage testing of these advanced lines at BISA sites in India, supported by the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project, facilitated the release of these varieties two years ahead of the regular testing process. This expedited varietal release was complemented by the innovative early seed multiplication and dissemination approach introduced by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Recent additions to this accelerated channel include varieties such as DBW 327, DBW 332, DBW 370, and 371, promising further advancements in wheat cultivation.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the early access to advanced lines has been a catalyst for releasing high-yielding, climate-resilient, and nutritious wheat varieties. In 2023 alone, 12 new varieties were released, with the renowned ‘Akbar-19,’ introduced in 2019, covering a substantial 42% of cultivated land in Punjab. Data released by the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), shows that this variety, known for its high yield potential, disease resistance, and enriched zinc content, has significantly contributed to increased wheat production in the region.

Nepal

Guided by policy interventions in the national varietal testing process, Nepal has experienced the fast-track commercialization of high-yielding and climate-resilient wheat varieties. Allowing multilocation testing of CIMMYT nurseries and advanced elite lines, Nepal released six biofortified zinc wheat varieties in 2020. The expeditious seed multiplication of these released and pre-release varieties has facilitated the rapid spread of new and improved wheat varieties.

The strategic utilization of early access to wheat germplasm in South Asia holds promise in accelerating variety turnover, offering farmers resilient and high-performing wheat varieties. Collaborative efforts between research institutions, government bodies, and international organizations exemplify the power of innovation in transforming agriculture. With an ongoing dedication to refining breeding cycles, expanding testing initiatives, and fostering collaboration, the AGG project contributes to building a sustainable and resilient agricultural future in South Asia. Early access to wheat germplasm emerges as a practical approach in this scientific endeavor, laying the foundation for a climate-resilient and food-secure region. The successes witnessed in India, Pakistan, and Nepal underscore the transformative potential of this approach, offering tangible benefits for agricultural communities in South Asia and beyond. In navigating the complexities of a changing climate and growing food demand, early access to wheat germplasm remains a pragmatic ally, propelling agricultural innovation and resilience to new heights.

Advanced training on conservation agriculture focuses on creating sustainable agronomic systems

Written by Richa Sharma Puri on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT-BISA-ICAR organized a two-week training program on conservation agriculture (CA) to demonstrate how CA can be a sustainable farming method and an effective tool for farmers and scientists in both irrigated and rainfed systems to manage agrifood system risks.

Participants engage in various activities during the two-week course. (Photo: Richa Sharma Puri/CIMMYT)

The training was jointly conducted by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI). It was held at the BISA research facilities in Jabalpur and Ludhiana, India, and ICAR-CSSRI in Karnal, India, from 9 December to 24 December 2023.

Creating resilient agrifood systems

Conservation agriculture is an ecosystem approach to agricultural land management based on three interrelated principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop diversification. It helps farmers boost yields, regenerate natural resources, reduce cultivation costs, and create resilient production systems. This helps protect the environment and enhance livelihoods of rural populations, especially in the Global South.

In this region, the rural population depends on natural resources – land, freshwater, and coastal fisheries – for survival. However, the depletion of soil fertility, scarcity of water resources, exacerbated by environmental pollution and climate change-induced stresses, prove challenging to irrigated and dryland agriculture production systems. This puts agrifood systems in South Asia and Africa under tremendous pressure.

Despite the benefits, farmers face significant barriers to adopting CA practices. Lack of knowledge and skills, limited access to appropriate seeds and equipment, lack of policy support, under-developed value chains, and non-acceptance of the fact that CA can yield better results and long-term benefits often prevents farmers from adopting CA practices. Hence, capacity development is vital for the adaptation and scaling of CA-based technologies among smallholder farmers.

To cater to these needs, an Advanced Course on Conservation Agriculture in Asia – a Gateway for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Agrifood Systems was launched in 2010. Later, it was expanded to North Africa. The course links scientific advances and multidisciplinary approaches for upgrading the skills of participants for sustainable intensification and diversification of production systems, enhancing resilience, and conserving natural resources. Since its inception, this training series has directly benefited about 220 researchers, development personnel, and policymakers from 20 countries.

The 12th edition of the training in India saw mid-career researchers and development officers from Morocco, Egypt, Bangladesh, and India participate. Approximately 40% of the attendees were women.

Highlights from the India training program 

The inaugural session commenced on 9 December 2023 at the NASC Complex in New Delhi, India. Present at the opening ceremony were chief guest S.K. Chaudhari, deputy director general – Natural Resource Management, ICAR; Arun Joshi, CIMMYT regional representative and managing director of BISA; and Mahesh K Gathala, course coordinator, and Alison Laing, agroecologist from CIMMYT in Bangladesh.

During the welcome address, Joshi informed that CIMMYT and BISA are committed to capacity development of national partners around the world. Chaudhari emphasized the effectiveness in facilitating innovations in CA management. “Under increasing climate variability and change, the need to manage agronomic risks is even more significant and CA is an effective tool for farmers and scientists in irrigated and rainfed systems,” he said.

Participants were introduced to the genesis, background, and objectives of the course by Gathala. Resource persons across diverse disciplines informed the participants about innovative and cutting-edge research in all aspects of CA in both irrigated and dryland cropping systems, including advanced agronomy; mechanization; farm, soil, and water interactions; plant protection, health and crop breeding; climate resilience; farming systems simulation and analysis; agribusiness management; women’s empowerment and gender equity; and agricultural extension and out-scaling. Participants also gained practical knowledge and skills at the BISA research stations where extensive trainings were conducted under the guidance of Ravi Gopal Singh, Raj Kumar, and Lalit Sharma, course coordinators. They organized a series of sessions, along with the hands-on training, at the CA experiment farm in the BISA research facilities. Participants also toured 500 acres of farms at each of the locations. They visited farm facilities such as wheat research trials, molecular laboratory, precision nitrogen nutrition facility, seed processing unit, and farm machinery section.

Workshop participants conduct activities with farmers in the field. (Photo: Richa Sharma Puri/CIMMYT)

The group also visited ICAR-CSSRI facilities in Karnal where R.K. Yadav, director, ICAR- CSSRI, welcomed the participants and highlighted the international and national collaboration activities at CSSRI and how long-term experiments on CA are managing and generating science-based evidence to inform policy and capacity building.

Special visits were organized to farm machinery manufacturers in the region to facilitate industry-participant interactions. Participants visited the Landforce factory at Amargarh, a leading manufacturer of all ranges of farm equipment – from seeding to harvesting and processing. This firm is equipped with the latest manufacturing facilities and techniques such as robotic welding, assembling and automated paint. Later, the group visited the National Agroindustry at Ludhiana, a top manufacturer of planters including bed planters, zero till drills, Happy Seeders, pneumatic and precise planters.

Finally, participants were taken to the farmer fields to interact with the farmers and observe the impact first-hand. They met with a progressive farmer group at Karnal who shared their experiences of practicing CA for the last few years. Post these visits and learning sessions, a closing ceremony was organized at CSSRI at Karnal which was chaired by R.K. Yadav and attended by special guests Rajbir Singh, ADG-ICAR and ML Jat, global director RFFS, ICRISAT. “The session on CA machinery was very helpful and carbon credit was an essential part of our learning. We also got an opportunity to exchange our ideas and experiences with researchers from Morocco, Egypt, and Bangladesh. We sincerely thank the organizers for making us confident and technically smart CA personnels,” said a participant from India.

CIMMYT-BISA-ICAR partnership brings huge benefits in South Asia

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

A climate resilient agriculture program for the state of Bihar, India, launched in 2019 by the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the state government, was operating in 190 villages and had by 2022 improved water, soil nutrient, energy, labor and time use efficiency by at least 20% with around 35% higher yields and a reduced environmental footprint, as well as helping rice-wheat farmers to diversify their production with crops such as maize, millet and mungbean, among others.

This is just one of the achievements cited in a recent 2023 end-of-year reflection involving members of the BISA Executive Committee in New Delhi, India, including Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT and BISA, and Arun Kumar Joshi, managing director of BISA.

“BISA has achieved significant milestones and is progressing towards organizational goals,” said Joshi. “The long-standing and productive partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and agricultural councils of other countries in South Asia became more robust, as strategies that focused on building capacities and improving seed systems for the whole of South Asia were implemented.”

Established jointly by CIMMYT and ICAR in 2011, BISA is a non-profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, livelihood security and environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, home to more than 300 million undernourished people. Its work harnesses the latest genetic, digital, resource management technologies, and research-for-development approaches.

BISA’s flagship projects benefit millions of farmers and include the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA), the testing of experimental wheat that carries grass genes associated with the inhibition of nitrification in the soil near crop roots, a climate resilient agriculture program for South Asia, and implementation of the CGIAR Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) initiative.

“Of the top 10 bread wheat varieties in India, 6 are derived from the ICAR-CIMMYT-BISA collaboration,” Joshi explained.

“BISA has grown tremendously in the last few years,” said Govaerts. “The diverse arena of projects shows the capabilities and potential that BISA holds today. The flagship programs are undoubtedly creating a huge impact and would contribute to solving tomorrow’s problems today.”

BISA has renewed and diversified its research projects each year, according to T.R. Sharma, deputy director general of Crops, ICAR. “BISA’s impact on genetic innovation in wheat through ICAR-CIMMYT-BISA collaboration is indeed praiseworthy,” he said. Govaerts also attended an interactive session with CIMMYT-BISA India staff, presenting an analysis of the CIMMYT 2030 strategy and encouraging everyone’s contributions towards the goals.

India transforms wheat for the world

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Features.

India can applaud a hallmark in national food production: in 2023, the harvest of wheat—India’s second most important food crop—will surpass 110 million tons for the first time.

This maintains India as the world’s number-two wheat producer after China, as has been the case since the early 2000s. It also extends the wheat productivity jumpstart that begun in the Green Revolution—the modernization of India’s agriculture during the 1960s-70s that allowed the country to put behind it the recurrent grain shortages and extreme hunger of preceding decades.

“Newer and superior wheat varieties in India continually provide higher yields and genetic resistance to the rusts and other deadly diseases,” said Distinguished Scientist Emeritus at CIMMYT, Ravi Singh. “More than 90 percent of spring bread wheat varieties released in South Asia in the last three decades carry CIMMYT breeding contributions for those or other valued traits, selected directly from the Center’s international yield trials and nurseries or developed locally using CIMMYT parents.”

Wheat grain yield in Indian farmers’ fields rose yearly by more than 1.8 percent—some 54 kilograms per hectare—in the last decade, a remarkable achievement and significantly above the global average of 1.3 percent. New and better wheat varieties also reach farmers much sooner, due to better policies and strategies that speed seed multiplication, along with greater involvement of private seed producers.

“The emergence of Ug99 stem rust disease from eastern Africa in the early 2000s and its ability to overcome the genetic resistance of older varieties drove major global and national initiatives to quickly spread the seed of newer, resistant wheat and to encourage farmers to grow it,” Singh explained. “This both protected their crops and delivered breeding gains for yield and climate resilience.”

CIMMYT has recently adopted an accelerated breeding approach that has reduced the breeding cycle to three years and is expected to fast-track genetic gains in breeding populations and hasten delivery of improvements to farmers. The scheme builds on strong field selection and testing in Mexico, integrates genomic selection, and features expanded yield assays with partner institutions. To stimulate adoption of newer varieties, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR, of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR) operates a seed portal that offers farmers advanced booking for seed of recently released and other wheat varieties.

Private providers constitute another key seed source. In particular, small-scale seed producers linked to the IIWBR/ICAR network have found a profitable business in multiplying and marketing new wheat seed, thus supporting the replacement of older, less productive or disease susceptible varieties.

Farm innovations for changing climates and resource scarcities

Following findings from longstanding CIMMYT and national studies, more Indian wheat farmers are sowing their crops weeks earlier so that the plants mature before the extreme high temperatures that precede the monsoon season, thus ensuring better yields.

New varieties DBW187, DBW303, DBW327, DBW332 and WH1270 can be planted as early as the last half of October, in the northwestern plain zone. Recent research by Indian and CIMMYT scientists has identified well-adapted wheat lines for use in breeding additional varieties for early sowing.

Resource-conserving practices promoted by CIMMYT and partners, such as planting wheat seed directly into the unplowed fields and residues from a preceding rice crop, shave off as much as two weeks of laborious plowing and planking.

Weeds in zero-tillage wheat in India. (Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT)

“This ‘zero tillage’ and other forms of reduced tillage, as well as straw management systems, save the time, labor, irrigation water and fuel needed to plant wheat, which in traditional plowing and sowing requires many tractor passes,” said Arun Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder and regional representative for Asia and managing director of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). “Also, letting rice residues decompose on the surface, rather than burning them, enriches the soil and reduces seasonal air pollution that harms human health in farm communities and cities such as New Delhi.”

Sustainable practices include precision levelling of farmland for more efficient irrigation and the precise use of nitrogen fertilizer to save money and the environment.

Science and policies ensure future wheat harvests and better nutrition

Joshi mentioned that increased use of combines has sped up wheat harvesting and cut post-harvest grain losses from untimely rains caused by climate change. “Added to this, policies such as guaranteed purchase prices for grain and subsidies for fertilizers have boosted productivity, and recent high market prices for wheat are convincing farmers to invest in their operations and adopt improved practices.”

To safeguard India’s wheat crops from the fearsome disease wheat blast, native to the Americas but which struck Bangladesh’s wheat fields in 2016, CIMMYT and partners from Bangladesh and Bolivia have quickly identified and cross-bred resistance genes into wheat and launched wheat disease monitoring and early warning systems in South Asia.

“More than a dozen wheat blast resistant varieties have been deployed in eastern India to block the disease’s entry and farmers in areas adjoining Bangladesh have temporarily stopped growing wheat,” said Pawan Singh, head of wheat pathology at CIMMYT.

Building on wheat’s use in many Indian foods, under the HarvestPlus program CIMMYT and Indian researchers applied cross-breeding and specialized selection to develop improved wheats featuring grain with enhanced levels of zinc, a micronutrient whose lack in Indian diets can stunt the growth of young children and make them more vulnerable to diarrhea and pneumonia.

“At least 10 such ‘biofortified’ wheat varieties have been released and are grown on over 2 million hectares in India,” said Velu Govindan, CIMMYT breeder who leads the Center’s wheat biofortification research. “It is now standard practice to label all new varieties for biofortified traits to raise awareness and adoption, and CIMMYT has included high grain zinc content among its primary breeding objectives, so we expect that nearly all wheat lines distributed by CIMMYT in the next 5-8 years will have this trait.”

A rigorous study published in 2018 showed that, when vulnerable young children in India ate foods prepared with such zinc-biofortified wheat, they experienced significantly fewer days of pneumonia and vomiting than would normally be the case.

Celebrating joint achievements and committing for continued success

The April-June 2018 edition of the “ICAR Reporter” newsletter called the five-decade ICAR-CIMMYT partnership in agricultural research “…one of the longest and most productive in the world…” and mentioned mutually beneficial research in the development and delivery of stress resilient and nutritionally enriched wheat, impact-oriented sustainable and climate-smart farming practices, socioeconomic analyses, and policy recommendations.

Speaking during an August 2022 visit to India by CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts,  Himanshu Pathak, secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Director General of ICAR, “reaffirmed the commitment to closely work with CIMMYT and BISA to address the current challenges in the field of agricultural research, education and extension in the country.”

“The ICAR-CIMMYT collaboration is revolutionizing wheat research and technology deployment for global food security,” said Gyanendra Singh, director, ICAR-IIWBR. “This in turn advances global peace and prosperity.”

India and CIMMYT wheat transformers meet in India in February, 2023. From left to right: Two students from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI); Arun Joshi, CIMMYT regional representative for Asia; Rajbir Yadav, former Head of Genetics, IARI; Gyanendra Singh, Director General, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR); Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general; Harikrishna, Senior Scientist, IARI. (Photo: CIMMYT)

According to Govaerts, CIMMYT has concentrated on strategies that foster collaboration to deliver greater value for the communities both ICAR and the Center serve. “The way forward to the next milestone — say, harvesting 125 million tons of wheat from the same or less land area — is through our jointly developing and making available new, cost effective, sustainable technologies for smallholder farmers,” he said.

Wheat research and development results to date, challenges, and future initiatives occupied the table at the 28th All India Wheat & Barley Research Workers’ Meeting, which took place in Udaipur, state of Rajasthan, August 28-30, 2023, and which ICAR and CIMMYT wheat scientists attended.

Generous funding from various agencies, including the following, have supported the work described: The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of UK’s Government (FCDO), the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research (FFAR), HarvestPlus, ICAR, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funders of the One CGIAR Accelerated Breeding Initiative (ABI), and the Plant Health Initiative (PHI).

Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: efficiency, inclusiveness, and resilience

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

CIMMYT participated in the inaugural Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from September 27-29, 2023. The gathering provided space for focused dialogues to prioritize actions and strengthen technical networks for sustainable development of agricultural mechanization.

Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general, presented a keynote address on September 27 regarding climate change and mechanization. As a global thought leader and change agent for climate resilient, sustainable and inclusive agricultural development, CIMMYT has many specific initiatives centered on mechanization for facilitating machine innovations and scaling-up improved farming practices for sustainability and farmer competitiveness.

Bram Govaerts delivered a keynote address. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Collaboration is a hallmark of CIMMYT’s endeavors in mechanization, including a strong partnership with local governments across Latin America, Africa and Asia, and international cooperation agencies, supporting the Green Innovations Centers installed by GIZ-BMZ and working on accelerated delivery models together with USAID, in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, to name only a few. Further, local value chain actor engagement is crucial and necessary in this work to connect farmers with viable solutions.

CIMMYT has a long history of leading projects aimed at mechanizing the agricultural efforts of smallholder farmers, including the successful MasAgro Productor in Mexico and FACASI (farm mechanization and conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification) in East and South Africa. At present, the Harnessing Appropriate-Scale Farm Mechanization in Zimbabwe (HAFIZ) project is working towards to improve access to mechanization and reduce labor drudgery while stimulating the adoption of climate-smart/sustainable intensification technologies. The project engages deeply with the private sector in Zimbabwe and South Africa to ensure long-term efficacy.

The Scaling Out Small Mechanization in the Ethiopian Highlands project was active from 2017 to 2022 and increased access for smallholder farmers to planting and harvesting machines. Farmers using two-wheel tractors furnished by the project reduced the time needed to establish a wheat crop from 100 hours per hectare to fewer than 10 hours. CIMMYT’s work was in partnership with the Africa-RISING program led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ethiopia.

“At CIMMYT, we work knowing that mechanization is a system, not only a technology,” said Govaerts. “Sustainable mechanization efforts require infrastructure like delivery networks, spare parts and capacity development. Working with local partners is the best way to ensure that any mechanization effort reaches the right people with the right support.”

Read these stories about CIMMYT’s efforts to support equal access to agricultural mechanization and scaling up within local contexts.

One-minute science: Mechanization for agriculture

Mechanization is a process of introducing technology or farm equipment to increase field efficiency. CIMMYT’s mechanization work is context specific, to help farmers have access to the appropriate tools that are new, smart and ideal for their unique farming conditions.

New generation of farmers adopts mechanization, making farming more productive and profitable

Working with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), CIMMYT is leading mechanization efforts in Northern India. Combined with sustainable agriculture, the next generation of farmers now have access to tractors, seeders and other tools that are increasing yield and reducing back-breaking labor.

Gangesh Pathak with his father at the custom hiring center which provides custom hiring services to smallholder farmers in the region. (Photo: Vijay K. Srivastava/CIMMYT)

A promising partnership

The delivery of row seeders from India to Benin demonstrates a new path to sustainable South-South business relationships. Developed in India in an iterative design process with farmers, portable row seeders have been a great success. Working with GIC, CIMMYT facilitated a technology and materiel transfer of the portable row seeders to Benin.

A farmer pulls a row seeder in Benin, West Africa. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Solar powered dryers boost peanut production in Togo

Peanuts thrive as a crop in Togo and other West Africa countries, but post-harvest is threatened by aflatoxins, so the entire crop needs to dry. Traditionally, farmers, often women, have dried the peanuts in the open air, subject to weather and other pests. However, CIMMYT, working with GIC, has introduced solar-powered dryers, which speeds up the drying process by a factor of four.

Smallholding peanut farmers Aicha Gaba and Aïssetou Koura lay peanuts into a solar dryer in Koumonde, Togo. (Photo: Laré B. Penn/University of Lome)

A business model for mechanization is providing hope in Burkina Faso

Working with partners in Burkina Faso, CIMMYT is facilitating smallholder mechanization with a model of cascading effects: one farmer mechanizing can then use their skills and eqBMZuipment to help their neighbors, leading to community-wide benefits.

Pinnot Karwizi fills a mechanized sheller with dried maize cobs. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)

Visit our mechanization page to read stories about ongoing mechanization initiatives.

Conservation agriculture helps smallholder farmers to be more resource efficient

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in Features.

Millions of rural Indians, mostly farmers, are at the mercy of changing weather and climate change. Rising temperature and heat stress, unpredictable rainfall patterns, increasing drought-like situations, soil erosion and depleting water tables are leading to poorer yields and reduced income for farmers. While the agricultural sector and farmers are most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, it is also one of the sectors significantly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, contributing about 14% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

Farmer Rahul Rai prepares his field for wheat plantation with zero tillage – Buxar, Bihar (photo: Deepak K. Singh/CIMMYT)

Good agronomy and soil management through conservation agriculture practices such as no-till farming, crop rotation, and in-situ crop harvest residue management are resource efficient and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The intensification of these conservation agriculture practices by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)—a regional project led by CIMMYT to sustainably enhance cereal crop productivity and improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal—and partners is helping smallholder farmers to improve their yield and income with less input costs.

Climate smart agriculture

Over 70% of Bihar’s population is engaged in agriculture production, with wheat and rice as the two major crops grown in the state. Bordering Uttar Pradesh, Buxar, is one of the many rural districts in Bihar, with over 108,000 hectares of land used for agriculture. The area is plain, fertile and has good irrigation facilities. The rice-wheat cropping system forms the dominant practice here, and pulses and other non-cereal crops are grown additionally during winters.

CSISA began promoting zero tillage in wheat cultivation in the area in 2010. Along with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), and local agriculture departments, awareness and frontline demonstrations on different best management practices were conducted to inform farmers of alternative approaches to cultivating wheat and rice sustainably. Farmers were used to conventional farming methods, with more input costs and labor-intensive practices. In addition, as farmers were growing long-duration rice varieties, they typically sowed wheat in late November to early December, which meant harvesting in late April/May. Harvesting wheat this late caused yield losses due to terminal heat stress at the grain filling stage. With increasingly hot temperatures in recent years due to climate change, yield loss in wheat is imminent.

To help curb these yield losses, researchers and officials began promoting early sowing of wheat through a technology called zero tillage in the region, with sowing recommended before mid-November. As expected, this helped farmers to escape high temperature stress at the time of the dough stage, thus, saving grain shrinkage and yield loss at harvest. Zero tillage technology is a tested method with the potential to increase crop productivity through better time management and reduced input cost.

Deepak Kumar Singh, scientist at CSISA who has been supporting agri-extension efforts in the region for nearly a decade recalled how CSISA and partners were able to get more farmers on board with zero tillage and early wheat sowing:

“The best practices of zero till technology and early wheat sowing were encouraged widely through exposure visits, demonstration trials on progressive farmers’ fields, and providing support from local KVKs for machines and quality seeds, including the promotion of private service providers,” he said.

As more farmers were reached through field events, with visible on-field results during public harvest activities held at demonstration fields by CSISA and KVKs, the region gradually adopted early wheat sowing, zero tillage and direct seeded rice technologies. Currently, in the district, it is estimated that over 40% of wheat cultivation under the rice-wheat system is through zero till, helping farmers obtain better yield and profits.

Rice-wheat cropping systems, resilient and sustainable in increasingly changing climate

Rajapur, a small village in Buxar district, boasts 100% adoption of zero tillage in wheat cropping. We met farmer Rahul Rai whose family has been involved in farming for generations. The family owns over thirty acres of land with agriculture as the primary source of income. His father and his siblings were used to conventional farming methods. The produce from their farm was sufficient for household consumption and with the little extra left, they sold and made some income. On the significance of agriculture and farming for his family, Rahul Rai says, “this farmland has been feeding and supporting 17 members in our joint household.”

When young Rahul Rai got down to work in the family fields in the early 2000s, he was keen to explore possibilities to improve the income generated from the farm. Initially, like many others, he was engaged in intensive farming. According to Rai, “with the input costs rising daily, including scarce labor and soil health deterioration, bringing in some extra income seemed unsustainable”.

He first met researchers from the CSISA project and local KVK scientists in early 2011 in the neighboring village. The team was there to inform farmers about conservation agriculture practices and how to better manage yield and maintain soil health. Rai soon became more curious about the benefits of adopting these new methods over conventional practices. He started with a few acres with zero tillage and began sowing wheat by early November, as recommended by the scientists. In Rabi 2022-23, his wheat fields were sown by November 11, compared to the early years when the sowing date was around December.

Wheat yield data gathered meticulously over a decade from Rahul Rai’s fields (Data: CSISA MEL team)

With more participation and engagement with CSISA, in 2017, he joined other farmers from the region on an exposure visit to Patna organized by the CSISA-KVK network. In Patna, at the Indian Council of Agri Research – Research Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER), Rai and the visiting farmers were introduced to conservation agri-technologies for rice-wheat and other cropping systems. During the visit, they were informed about crop rotation and diversification, new seed varieties that are resilient and adaptable to changing climates, efficient use of plant protection chemicals and fertilizer and various subsidies from the center/state government to farmers. He later accompanied other progressive farmers on a CSISA-led travel seminar to Gorakhpur in 2017, where he observed acres and acres of wheat fields cultivated through zero tillage and early sowing that had yielded 6-7 tons per hectare (t/ha) on average.

At present, Rai’s family cultivates only zero till wheat in their fields and direct seeded rice on a few acres where irrigation facilities are well established. Rai asserts that until 2014, the wheat yield was about 10-15 quintals per acre (3.5-4 t/ha), rising to around 20-25 quintals per acre on average (5.5 t/ha in 2023) in recent years, thanks to conservation agriculture practices.

Today, the CSISA team has system optimization and demonstration trials on fields owned by Rai’s family where they conduct trials to demonstrate the importance and feasibility of different agri-practices and compare yields at harvest. Rai, a champion farmer who has been involved with CSISA for nearly a decade, said, “I am a collaborator with CSISA now. The data gathered from my fields on the compounding benefits of conservation agriculture technologies is used to promote the best practices and technology adoption across our district and state.”

One village at a time

Presently, Rajapur village has 100% zero tillage adoption. Despite most farmers being smallholders, this level of zero tillage adoption in wheat is impressive. Zero-till-based crop establishment, with appropriate diversification in crops grown, is economically beneficial and improves soil health. All these practices and technologies ensure lower greenhouse emissions and support climate change mitigation efforts. Above all, smallholder farmers are food secure and contributing in their small way to national and global food security.

To scale the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, CSISA and partners are collaborating with farmers in the district/state – many of whom are already 50-80% in zero tillage adoption. The team on the ground are conducting system optimization trials on farmers’ fields to generate data and evidence to support and strengthen policies and assist in integrating market intelligence to support access and availability of technology to all smallholders. Every year steadily, through a smallholder farmer, a village, a district, the effort is to slowly expand the area under conservation agriculture across the state and region and ensure increased system productivity and sustainability of agriculture.

Adaptation Atlas is a positive step towards climate resilient agriculture

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

Photo: (IWMI/Nirmal Sigtia)

India holds an impressive record in agricultural production. We are among the largest producers of milk, pulses, tea, spices, cashew, jute and bananas. Additionally, we rank as the second-largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables. Our agricultural sector has experienced notable growth, with production increasing from 3 to 127 times since the 1970s. We have also witnessed a substantial boost in agricultural productivity, with yields per hectare rising from 0.7 to 2.3 tons during the same period.

Despite these achievements, we face pressing challenges that threaten our agricultural landscape. Water scarcity, soil degradation, pest and disease outbreaks, and the intensifying impacts of climate change need urgent attention.

In India, we observe that minimum temperatures are rising faster than maximum temperatures. We also witness a more pronounced temperature increase during the rabi (winter) season than the kharif (monsoon) season. Rainfall is becoming more variable with increasing episodes of extreme rainfall. These climate risks increase our food and livelihood insecurity.

We need advanced technological interventions and optimized resource allocation to address these challenges. Our development path, “Amrit Kaal,” necessitates climate-friendly practices prioritizing low carbon, water, nitrogen and energy usage. To further realize this vision, adopting 5Ms based on better markets, regional planning for monsoons, improved mechanization, management of micro-irrigation and new fertilizers, and mainstreaming the insurance is pivotal.

India has undertaken research, development and policy initiatives to build resilience in our food production system. However, the growing challenges of climate extremes demand sustained global efforts. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) therefore, welcomes international collaboration to exchange experiences and knowledge in climate action. We believe that collective efforts and shared expertise will strengthen our adaptation strategies.

In this regard, the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA) project can play a vital role. ICAR is glad to support ACASA and will deploy a team of young scientists to contribute to and benefit from this Adaptation Atlas. Furthermore, we are pleased to offer our website as a platform to host the Atlas, facilitating its broader utilization within our country. We thank the Borlaug Initiative in South Asia (BISA) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for initiating this project in India.

Together, let us pave the way toward a climate-resilient future for agriculture, safeguarding our farmers’ livelihoods and securing food for future generations.

Piece by Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) and Director General-Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), India

Building technical capacity for emerging agri-research science and big data management

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in News.

CSISA collaborates with Chaudhury Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University to provide students with opportunities to engage in the latest agri-research and big data management. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Working alongside smallholder farmers, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project, has forged partnerships at the state and center levels to bridge the gap between innovation and the adoption of sustainable agricultural systems. In its current phase (2022-2025) in India, CSISA is helping mainstream innovation processes into the programing of national and state institutes through joint extension and research activities, including capacity building initiatives. Chaudhury Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (CCSHAU) is one of Asia’s biggest agricultural universities, located at Hisar in state of Haryana, India. Initially a campus of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, it became an autonomous institution in 1970 and contributed significantly to both the Green and White Revolutions in India.

Together with CCSHAU, CSISA recently initiated a landscape diagnostic survey (LDS) under the university’s rural agricultural work experience (RAWE) program for students graduating with an honors Bachelor of Science in agriculture. The twin objectives of this initiative were to gain an understanding of the existing challenges and opportunities for different cropping systems in Haryana through a bottom-up approach and to prepare students for careers in agriculture by building their practical skills in digital agriculture and big data management. This, explained CCSHAU Vice Chancellor B.R. Kamboj, who led the collaboration with CSISA, would provide recent graduates with the opportunity to “design a survey schedule, collect data in digital format, understand how farmers are adopting new technologies, and the learnings and challenges associated with each cropping system.”

Developing solutions for tomorrow’s problems

The predominant cropping systems practiced within the three ecologies of Haryana state are: the rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS); the cotton-wheat cropping system (CWCS); and the pearl millet-mustard cropping system (PMCS). The landscape diagnostic survey was carried out in parts of Sirsa and Hisar districts (for CWCS), Rewari and Mahendergarh districts (for PMCS) and Panipat, Yamunanagar, and Kurukshetra districts (for RWCS). The entire survey design was based on farmers’ participatory engagement and the cropping system framework.

A thorough process of survey design, including the training of master trainers, followed by orientation for students, was undertaken by the university’s RAWE faculty with support from CSISA’s technical team and participating KVKs. Students collected data from farming households using questionnaires and analyzed them using different analytical tools and techniques. Based on farmers’ responses, important data points about the region’s three crucial cropping systems were recorded and a book entitled Cropping Systems of Haryana – Challenges and Opportunities was published earlier this year, documenting the research process, data generated, results, and conclusions.

This has been a unique experience for both students and faculty that culminated in a research program with hands-on training. In the long run, this approach to capacity building for students is expected to support fieldwork and studies that help develop solutions to tomorrow’s problems in agricultural development. “The commitment of CCSHAU to implement a strong RAWE program under the technical guidance of CSISA, with support from the district KVKs, and student participation made this publication a strong endorsement and reference for similar RAWE programs across states and central universities,” acknowledged Peter Craufurd, CSISA project lead for India.

Lessons from the field

The survey helped build students’ capacity to design and understand data collection methods, analysis, and management with actual field exposure. Additionally, the qualitative data-gathering experience allowed them to develop their understanding of farmers’ perspectives in adopting or rejecting a particular technology or recommendation. Sharing her experience of the field sessions, RAWE student Muskan– group leader for the rice-wheat cropping system survey, said, “This process of data gathering, and field exposure is very motivating. I have a better understanding of our farmers’ practices and challenges.”

Another participating RAWE student and group leader for the cotton-wheat cropping system survey, Nilanchal Nishan said, “this exposure has helped me understand how policies and technology advancements affect farmers and their interaction with these changes over the years”.

“The entire process, from training to data management and curation, was fascinating for us,” said Aman Kumar, who led the pearl millet-mustard cropping system (PMCS) survey. He added that such field exposure will make students more aware of the trends and prevalent practices in the agricultural sector and help them choose their future field of research and study in a way that is in sync with real-time developments. These sentiments were echoed by RC Aggarwal, deputy director general for education at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), who called for more collaborations and capacity development exercises of this nature to be initiated in other state agriculture universities.

Read the full publication: Cropping Systems of Haryana – Challenges and Opportunities