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Strengthening capacity and building national and regional partnerships in the seed sector

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

Hybrid seeds exhibit a significant potential to boost on-farm productivity and attain food security. Still, the availability, affordability and accessibility of such quality seeds remain a challenge for farmers in South Asia. Primarily driven by the demand from the poultry industry, maize productivity in the region is increasing annually. Yet, the hybrid maize seed coverage is below 50% in most South Asian countries.

In continuation of its capacity-building initiatives, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) conducted an International Training Workshop on Quality Hybrid Maize Seed Production and Seed Business Management in South Asia on August 15-18, 2022, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The four-day hybrid training was jointly organized by Nepal’s Seed Quality Control Center, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Seed Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal and CGIAR’s Seed Equal Initiative. Primarily, the event aimed at strengthening the capacity of seed stakeholders on the latest advances in quality hybrid maize seed production and establishing competitive hybrid seed business strategies.

Around 60 participants comprising of private seed company owners, national and international seed system specialists, maize breeders, crop inspectors, seed agronomists, marketers, policymakers and researchers working in hybrid seed production and marketing attended the training. Representatives were invited from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Principal trainer, John MacRobert, shared examples and knowledge in the principles of hybrid maize seed production and seed business. Former principal scientist of CIMMYT, MacRobert is currently the managing director of Mukushi Seeds Pvt Ltd in Zimbabwe and director of Quality Seed Pvt Ltd in South Africa. The training also involved group discussions and exercises on preparing a seed road map as well as developing profitable seed business plans. The participants used a seed business model canvas tool to chart their production plans, develop marketing strategies and diagnose profit. In 2018, MacRobert trained 15 private seed companies from Nepal and Pakistan on hybrid seed business mentorship course in Kathmandu. Since then, the participants brought in and shared rich practical experiences from their own businesses and regulatory organizations during this year’s program.

Joining MacRobert were 14 national and international experts from CIMMYT and other institutions, who delivered sessions related to hybrid maize breeding principles and techniques, seed quality control measures and regulations, and variety registration and licensing policies and procedures.

The forum offered an excellent learning opportunity for the national and international participants to exchange knowledge and experiences from seed specialists on developing competitive hybrid maize and seed production technologies that will bring cost-efficiency in production and maximize crop yields and business profits. It also served as a ground for establishing networks and collaborations. The mutual learnings will contribute to building national and regional partnerships in the seed sector.

Participants reflected on the learnings and benefits gained from the comprehensive course, which they would apply to improve maize productivity in their respective countries.

Muhammad Aslam, assistant professor from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in Pakistan, acknowledged the opportunity provided to him and his university. He mentioned the support of CIMMYT in Pakistan in strengthening the local maize seed industry, where the market share of local seed companies is gradually increasing due to the elite germplasm support and capacity development efforts by CIMMYT. He added that the practical knowledge gained from the training will enhance the university students’ skills.

Attendees at the International Training Workshop on Quality Hybrid Maize Seed Production and Seed Business Management in South Asia. (Credit: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

An ode to seeds

During the closing session of the training, Govinda Prasad Sharma, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, handed over diverse maize seeds to the NARC and seven private seed company partners of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project. CIMMYT acquired the elite maize parental lines and breeder seeds from its international maize breeding hubs in Mexico, Zimbabwe, Colombia and India. The seeds have the potential of yielding 6-7 metric tons per hectare for synthetics and more than 10 metric tons for hybrids–a significant increase from 3-5 metric tons of local seeds. More importantly, given the current climate challenges Nepali farmers are facing, these climate-resilient seeds reach maturity earlier than local varieties which reduces their exposure to drought. These seeds will also withstand Fall Armyworm infestations, a devastating pest threatening maize production in Nepal.

“Genetic materials that will not only enhance yield but diversify the gene pool of crops in Nepal is extremely important,” said Lynn Schneider, deputy director of the Economic Growth Office at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nepal. “Agriculture must combat climate change and malnutrition, which are critical for the South Asia region. So, I am really proud that we are working on these areas,” shared Schneider.

“Food security is a priority for the Government of Nepal,” explained Sharma. He mentioned maize as an essential commodity from the food and feed perspective for South Asia and plans to collaborate with the private sector and donor organizations to increase maize productivity in the country. “The event will definitely help in augmenting the activities and accelerate the pathway towards achieving food and feed security,” he added.

Moreover, a certificate of appreciation was presented to Nepal’s National Maize Research Program to recognize their effective collaboration in hybrid maize varietal promotion and source seed distribution. Similarly, three partner seed companies of the project were also recognized for the breakthrough in becoming the first recipients of the Government of Nepal’s research and development license to register and produce hybrid seeds on a commercial basis.

CIMMYT also launched an assessment report on Cereal Seeds Value Chain in Nepal that provides evidence-based recommendations for developing Nepal’s formal cereal seed sector, specifically maize and rice. The publication highlights the need for a well-performing seed system where high-quality seeds of a wide range of varieties and crops are produced and available in time and affordable to farmers.

Deepak Bhandari, executive director of NARC, also congratulated the authors and expressed the significance of formulating and implementing inclusive strategies to build a vibrant seed industry in Nepal. He also acknowledged the event organizers for conducting an exceptional international workshop on hybrid maize seeds for the public and private seed stakeholders.

Cover photo: Training attendees gather to discuss competitive hybrid maize seed production technologies and build relationships with seed systems professionals. (Credit: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

Subash Adhikari

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Subash Adhikari is an agricultural machinery engineer in CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in Nepal, which aims to strengthen cereal systems through using improved technology in seed variety, management and mechanization. The project is currently working on its Covid response, helping returned migrants and vulnerable and marginalized groups to access the financial and technical assistance necessary for their livelihood in agriculture production.

Adhikari started his career as a field research technician and conducted several research projects on the validation of agricultural machinery in Terai, Nepal. He later worked in the promotion and scaling of the machinery.

Adhikari is currently working to involve the private sector as a major partner in promoting technology and developing mechanics for repairing machinery with minimum help from the development project. He is interested in mapping machinery, photography and work management.

Rudriksha Rai Parajuli

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Rudriksha Rai Parajuli is a Technical Partnerships Manager with CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in Nepal. She has worked in the areas of farm-based agriculture research, extension, and adoption of sustainable soil management practices.

Parajuli’s professional experience is on building resilience of farmers in rural parts of Nepal whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and forest. She has worked on mainstreaming gender and social inclusion in development activities, and has extensive experience of leading policy influence and policy reform work with the Nepal Government and with non-government stakeholders.

At CIMMYT, Parajuli oversees implementation of the CSISA program, looking specifically at the adoption of mechanization, inclusion of poor and disadvantaged populations, and access to finance for individuals and small and medium agri-business who want to recover business lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project enters Phase 4.0

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in News.

CSISA India core team discuss deliverables for CSISA Phase 4 at the planning meeting held in Vizag, India, in November 2021. (Credit: Wasim Iftikar/CIMMYT)

The eastern Indo-Gangetic plains (EIGP) have a higher density of rural poverty and food insecurity than any other region. The region’s intensive rice-wheat cropping system has large yield gaps, which are far higher than anywhere in South Asia, coupled with an increasing environmental footprint due to conventional agricultural practices.

To sustainably enhance cereal crop productivity and improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), a science-driven and impacts-oriented regional project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), was launched in 2009.

Over the years, working with public and private partners, CSISA has helped smallholder farmers increase their yield and supported widespread adoption of resource-conserving and climate-resilient farming technologies and practices. Through three phases from 2009 to 2021, the project impacted nearly 8.5 million farmers (mainly smallholders) through its research and agri-system innovation interventions.

A new three-and-a-half-year commitment in India by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reinforces the project’s importance and value in reducing food insecurity and improving overall agri-food systems in the region.

“CSISA, over more than a decade, has built up a strong multi-institutional, interactive, and participatory team at all levels in the region,” said Peter Craufurd, project leader of CSISA in India. “It has developed competencies and skills that include problem-solving agronomy research, cross-cutting tools and analytics, policy reform, and capacity development to strengthen cropping systems for smallholder farmers in the region.”

Overview of CSISA Project investments with direct and indirect programs under each phase since its launch in 2009. (Credit: Timothy Krupnik/CIMMYT)

The overarching objective of CSISA 4.0 is to transform how agronomic research and extension are implemented and embedded in decision-making and policy processes, primarily in India, where CSISA has the most experience and influence. Phase 4.0 will leverage the investments made in India in the third phase and focus on institutionalizing interventions through partnerships with the national and state agricultural systems, including on-ground strategic partnerships with civil society and the private sectors. According to Craufurd, Phase 4.0 will further strengthen the pathways established and scale the impact, particularly the institutional research and development capacity and strategic partnerships thus far established in India, through its seven focussed work areas, including gender empowerment.

“We are confident of our strong partnership with the national systems led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to support Indian farmers with improved yield and productivity,” said R.K. Malik, CSISA India coordinator. “Over the last decade, CSISA has built a strong track record for agronomy at scale that can help transform agri-research delivery systems in the region. There is also the opportunity to make CSISA outputs and products portable or useable for other stakeholders addressing food insecurity in the region in the future.”

Implemented jointly with CGIAR partners the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the initiative has been a successful regional approach to impactful agronomy programming. The CSISA team hopes to continue supporting the smallholder farmers in the region to optimize yield and contribute to the region’s food security.

Saiful AKM Islam

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Saiful AKM Islam is a monitoring, evaluation and learning manager with the Innovation Science for Agroecosystems and Food Systems in Asia research theme in CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program. He has almost 18 years of experience with different organizations in the monitoring and evaluation field. He completed his master’s in social science from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and post-graduation diploma in development planning.

Islam has a good understanding of monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management systems especially the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) system and compliances. Prior to beginning this position, he worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a program specialist and Save the Children International as manager in research, monitoring and evaluation, and learning.

A farmer in the Ara district, in India's Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

Biological nitrogen fixation and prospects for ecological intensification in cereal-based cropping systems

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Among the inputs needed for a healthy soil, nitrogen is unique because it originates from the atmosphere. How it moves from the air to the ground is governed in part by a process called biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), which is catalyzed by specific types of bacteria.

Nitrogen supply is frequently the second most limiting factor after water availability constraining crop growth and so there is great farmer demand for accessible sources of nitrogen, such as synthetic nitrogen in fertilizer. This increasing demand has continued as new cereal varieties with higher genetic yield potential are being released in efforts to feed the world’s growing population.

Currently, the primary source for nitrogen is synthetic, delivered through fertilizers. Synthetic nitrogen revolutionized cereal crop (e.g., wheat, maize, and rice) production by enhancing growth and grain yield as it eliminated the need to specifically allocate land for soil fertility rejuvenation during crop rotation. However, synthetic nitrogen is not very efficient, often causing excess application, which leads to deleterious forms, including ammonia, nitrate, and nitrogen oxides escaping into the surrounding ecosystem, resulting in a myriad of negative impacts on the environment and human health. Nitrogen loss from fertilizer is responsible for a nearly 20% increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide since the industrial revolution. Notably, more nitrogen from human activities, including agriculture, has been released to the environment than carbon dioxide during recent decades, leading climate scientists to consider the possibility that nitrogen might replace carbon as a prime driver of climate change.

New research co-authored by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) scientists, published in Field Crops Research, posits that facilitating natural methods of gathering useable nitrogen in BNF can reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen being used in global agriculture.

As agricultural systems become more intensive regarding inputs and outputs, synthetic nitrogen has become increasingly crucial, but there are still extensive areas in the world that cannot achieve food and nutrition security because of a lack of nitrogen.

“This, together with increasing and changing dietary demands, shows that the future demand for nitrogen will substantially grow to meet the anticipated population of 9.7 billion people by the middle of the century,” said J.K. Ladha, adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at University of California, Davis, and lead author of the study.

Before the synthetic nitrogen, the primary source of agricultural nitrogen was gathered through BNF as bacteria living underground that convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen that can be utilized by crops. Therefore, legumes are often employed as a cover crop in rotating fields to replenish nitrogen stocks; their root systems are hospitable for these nitrogen producing bacteria to thrive.

“There are ways in which BNF could be a core component of efforts to build more sustainable and regenerative agroecosystems to meet nitrogen demand with lower environmental footprints,” said Timothy Krupnik, Senior System Agronomist at CIMMYT in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Plant scientists have often hypothesized that the ultimate solution for solving the ever-growing nitrogen supply challenge is to confer cereals like wheat, maize, rice, with their own capacity for BNF. Recent breakthroughs in the genomics of BNF, as well as improvements in the understanding how legumes and nitrogen bacteria interact, have opened new avenues to tackle this problem much more systematically.

“Enabling cereal crops to capture their own nitrogen is a long-standing goal of plant biologists and is referred to as the holy grail of BNF research,” said P.M. Reddy, Senior Fellow at The Energy Research Institute, New Delhi. “The theory is that if cereal crops can assemble their own BNF system, the crop’s internal nitrogen supply and demand can be tightly regulated and synchronized.”

The study examined four methods currently being employed to establish systems within cereal crops to capture and use their own nitrogen, each with their advantages and limitations. One promising method involves identifying critical plant genes that perceive and transmit nitrogen-inducing signals in legumes. Integrating these signal genes into cereal crops might allow them to construct their own systems for BNF.

“Our research highlights how BNF will need to be a core component of efforts to build more sustainable agroecosystems,” said Mark Peoples, Honorary Fellow at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia. “To be both productive and sustainable, future cereal cropping systems will need to better incorporate and leverage natural processes like BNF to mitigate the corrosive environmental effects of excess nitrogen leaking into our ecosystems.”

Besides the efforts to bring BNF to cereals, there are basic agronomic management tools that can shift focus from synthetic to BNF nitrogen.

“Encouraging more frequent use of legumes in crop rotation will increase diversification and the flow of key ecosystem services, and would also assist the long-term sustainability of cereal-based farming systems­,” said Krupnik.

Read the study: Biological nitrogen fixation and prospects for ecological intensification in cereal-based cropping systems

Cover photo: A farmer in the Ara district, in India’s Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

Hera Lal Nath

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Hera Lal Nath has been working as a field office coordinator with CIMMYT in Bangladesh since 2015 through participatory and adaptive research for the development of farm communities. He has been involved with several projects focusing on sustainable agrifood system development in partnership with different private and public organizations. He leads a regional team aiming to address mechanization issues with a focus on market base machine innovation, including low-tech solutions of agriculture applications and increasing access to machineries services.

Nath has experience with different international organizations and the UN, where he also led multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams in different geographical contexts to heighten farmer knowledge and improve livelihoods. As agroecosystems and food security is an enduring process, Nath always concentrates on today’s issues that may provide solutions to yesterday or tomorrow’s problems.

Masud Rana

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Masud Rana is a Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Officer working with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program based in Bangladesh. He is currently working for the Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia (CSISA) project.

Mustafa Kamal

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Mustafa Kamal is a GIS and remote sensing analyst in CIMMYT, leading the GIS, remote sensing and data team in Bangladesh as part of the Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program’s Innovation Sciences in Agroecosystems and Food Systems theme across Asia.

Kamal’s core expertise is in earth observation and geospatial data science, scientific and cloud computing, webGIS, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), advance landcover-landuse classification, and tool development. He contributes to research and innovation of irrigation and agro-meteorological advisory, crop identification and yield prediction, disaster and crop monitoring, landscape diversity, and climate analytics. He has published many peer-reviewed papers, reports, and training manuals, and provided teaching/training.

Kamal’s interdisciplinary background in urban and rural planning and disaster management helps him to integrate and lead an interdisciplinary team to provide solutions for sustainable agrifood systems.

Khandakar Shafiqul Islam

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Khandakar Shafiqul Islam is a hub coordinator with CIMMYT in Bangladesh. He is responsible for implementing different projects at field level involving government, non-government and private sector organizations, along with managing resources.

Md. Mizanur Rahman

Md. Mizanur Rahman

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Mizanur Rahman is a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer with the Sustainable Agrifood System (SAS) program’s Innovation Sciences in Agroecosystems and Food Systems theme across Asia. His role involves developing and implementing logical and conceptual data flows for analytical processes supporting decision-making at the project and donor level. He has more than 18 years of progressive experience with 12 years in research, monitoring, and evaluation.

Conservation agriculture practices revive saline and sodic soils

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

In arid and semi-arid regions, soil salinity and sodicity pose challenges to global food security and environmental sustainability. Globally, around 932 million hectares are affected by salinization and alkalinization. Due to growing populations, anthropogenic activities and climate change, the prominence of salt stress in soil is rising both in irrigated and dryland systems.

Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) employed long-term conservation agriculture practices in different agri-food systems to determine the reclamation potential of sodic soil after continuous cultivation for nine years, with the experiment’s results now published.

Using different conservation agriculture techniques on areas cultivating combinations of maize, wheat, rice and mungbean, the study used soil samples to identify declines in salinity and sodicity after four and nine years of harvesting.

Evidence demonstrates that this approach is a viable route for reducing soil sodicity and improving soil carbon pools. The research also shows that the conservation agriculture-based rice-wheat-mungbean system had more reclamation potential than other studied systems, and therefore could improve soil organic carbon and increase productive crop cultivation.

Read the full publication: Long-term conservation agriculture helps in the reclamation of sodic soils in major agri-food systems

Cover photo: Comparison of crop performance under conservation agriculture and conventional tillage in a sodic soil at Karnal, Haryana, India. (Credit: HS Jat/ICAR-CSSRI)

Afghan wheat landrace shows promise for rust resistance

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Rust pathogens are the most ubiquitous fungal pathogens that continue to pose a serious threat to wheat production. The preferred strategy to combat these diseases is through breeding wheat varieties with genetic resistance.

Landraces are a treasure trove of trait diversity, offer an excellent choice for the incorporation of new traits into breeding germplasm, and serve as a reservoir of genetic variations that can be used to mitigate current and future food challenges. Improving selection efficiency can be achieved through broadening the genetic base through using germplasm pool with trait diversity derived from landraces.

In a recent study, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) used Afghan landrace KU3067 to unravel the genetic basis of resistance against Mexican races of leaf rust and stripe rust. The findings of this study not only showcase new genomic regions for rust resistance, but also are the first report of Lr67/Yr46 in landraces. This adult plant resistance (APR) gene confirms multi-pathogenic resistance to three rust diseases and to powdery mildew.

Using genotype sequencing and phenotyping, the authors also report an all-stage resistance gene for stripe rust on chromosome 7BL, temporarily designated as YrKU. The genetic dissection identified a total of six quantitative trait locus (QTL) conferring APR to leaf rust, and a further four QTL for stripe rust resistance.

Although use of landraces in wheat breeding has been practiced for a long time, it has been on a limited scale. This study represents a significant impact in breeding for biotic stresses, particularly in pest and disease resistance.

Read the full study here: Identification and Characterization of Resistance Loci to Wheat Leaf Rust and Stripe Rust in Afghan Landrace “KU3067”

Cover photo: Yellow rust screening takes place at a CIMMYT experimental station in Mexico. (Credit: Sridhar Bhavani/CIMMYT)

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

New CIMMYT maize hybrid available from South Asian Tropical Breeding Program

Written by Sarah Fernandes on . Posted in News.

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?
How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

CIMMYT is happy to announce a new, improved tropical maize hybrid that is now available for uptake by public and private sector partners, especially those interested in marketing or disseminating hybrid maize seed across rainfed tropics of South Asia and similar agro-ecologies. NARS and seed companies are hereby invited to apply for licenses to pursue national release and /or scale-up seed production and deliver these maize hybrids to farming communities.

Product Code CIM19SADT-01
Target agroecology Tropical, rainfed lowlands of South Asia
Key traits Medium maturing, single-cross hybrid; yellow, semi-dent kernels; high yielding; drought-tolerant; and resistant to TLB, FSR, and BLSB
Performance data Download the CIMMYT Asia Regional On-Station (Stage 4) and On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials: Results of the 2019 to 2021 Seasons and Product Announcement from Dataverse.
How to apply Visit CIMMYT’s maize product allocation page for details
Application deadline The deadline to submit applications to be considered during the first round of allocations is 26 Aug 2022. Applications received after that deadline will be considered during subsequent rounds of product allocations.

 

The newly available CIMMYT maize hybrid, CIM19SADT-01, was identified through rigorous trialing and a stage-gate advancement process which started in 2019 and culminated in the 2020 and 2021 South Asia Regional On-Farm Trials for our South Asian Drought Tolerance (SADT) and Drought + Waterlogging Tolerance (SAWLDT) maize breeding pipelines. The product was found to meet the stringent performance criteria for CIMMYT’s SADT pipeline. While there is variation between different products coming from the same pipeline, the SADT pipeline is designed around the product concept described below:

Product Profile Basic traits Nice-to-have / Emerging traits Target agroecologies
SADT (South Asian Drought Tolerance) Medium maturing, yellow, high yielding, drought tolerant, and resistant to TLB and FSR FER, BLSB, FAW Semi-arid, rainfed, lowland tropics of South Asia, and similar agroecologies
FER: Fusarium Ear Rot; BLSB: Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight; FAW: Fall Armyworm; TLB: Turcicum Leaf Blight; FSR: Fusarium Stalk Rot

 

Applications must be accompanied by a proposed commercialization plan for each product being requested. Applications may be submitted online via the CIMMYT Maize Licensing Portal and will be reviewed in accordance with CIMMYT’s Principles and Procedures for Acquisition and use of CIMMYT maize hybrids and OPVs for commercialization. Specific questions or issues faced with regard to the application process may be addressed to GMP-CIMMYT@cgiar.org with attention to Nicholas Davis, Program Manager, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT.

APPLY FOR A LICENSE

Growing confidence in the maize business

Written by Aayush Niroula on . Posted in Blogs.

Maize grain aggregator invests in developing storage for coping with increased grain production. (Credit: Aayush Niroula/CIMMYT)

Him Lal Neupane has been in the business of agriculture for more than a decade. His company Annupurna Suppliers, in Banke District, Nepal, trades in agri products and has an annual turnover of around $626,000, up from $195,000 eight years ago.

Recently, Neupane has been heavily investing in maize. He says involvement from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in market strengthening has given him the confidence to go big on the crop. He encountered CIMMYT through the meetings led by the organization in the district, as part of its Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project. In the meetings, he was able to hear perspectives on maize production from leading market experts, as well as government officials. Getting direct access to high level government representatives and agricultural scientists was incredibly fruitful and raised his confidence to invest in maize. He also got to air his own grievances about the industry and learn more from other farmers.

“I learnt that the project was invested in training farmers to produce better quality maize,” said Neupane. “If we get quality products from farmers, I immediately deduced that there is a great chance that the product will keep doing well in the market.”

Neupane’s confidence in investing in maize has increased thanks to market strengthening from CIMMYT. (Credit: Aayush Niroula/CIMMYT)

In 2022, Neupane bought a truck and has been constructing a massive storage facility that can store up to 4 million kilograms of produce. He has plans for proper grading and drying of maize in the facility to sell to industrial buyers.

The majority maize in Nepal is used as feed for the poultry industry, so there is high value for the crop in the market. “Since Nepal is a big consumer of poultry products and will remain so, it is inevitable that locally produced maize will sell,” explained Neupane.

Neupane went into agriculture because he could not secure employment after completing higher education. He grew up learning and practicing farming, so he understood farmers’ plights and wanted to start a company that would improve their lives. He also wants to grow the industry to curb the country’s maize import dependence, which has been affected by recent disruptions like the Ukraine conflict and the pandemic. Annually, Nepal imports around $120 million worth of maize, which depletes the country’s foreign currency reserves.

CIMMYT’s efforts in developing the maize market through value chain coordination and private public partnerships intend to help stakeholders at every level of the industry, from farmers to suppliers like Neupane, whose company’s growth represents a strong reinforcement of confidence in domestic maize production.