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Location: Bangladesh

For more information, contact CIMMYT’s Bangladesh office.

Scale-appropriate mechanization: the intercontinental connection

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CIMMYT aims to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers in the developing world by providing practical solutions for more efficient and sustainable farming. Among the options to improve efficiency, scale-appropriate and precise planting machinery is a crucial yet rarely satisfied need.

Mechanization efforts are ongoing across CIMMYT’s projects, with a strong focus on capacity building of functional small- and medium-scale engineering and manufacturing enterprises. Projects involved include ‘Farm Power and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification’ in eastern and southern Africa, funded by the Australian Center for International AgriculturalResearch (ACIAR) and the Cereal Systems Initiative in South Asia (CSISA), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. CSISA collaborates closely with the machinery research and development work done on the farms of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia in India, CIMMYT conservation agriculture (CA) projects funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the Agri-Machinery Program based in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, and the MasAgro Take It to the Farmer machinery and intelligent mechanization unit based in Mexico.

Applied research scientists and technicians assisting these projects work specifically to tackle problems in diverse farming conditions and for varying production systems. Despite their geographically diverse target areas, this team strives to reach a common focal point from which they can learn and compare technical advancements. These advancements are achieved through mutual machine technology testing programs, exchanging machines and expertise and evaluations of best solutions for scale-appropriate mechanization to boost sustainable intensification for resource poor farmers.

Recently, this collaboration model led to the export of several units of a toolbar-based, two-wheel tractor implement for bed shaping, direct seeding of different crops and precise fertilizer application. They will be tested by CIMMYT projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal. This multi-purpose, multi-crop equipment was developed to be CA-compatible and has been fine-tuned in Mexico, with design priorities that kept in mind the implement’s usefulness for smallholder farmers in other parts of the world. The machinery will be tested next in Zimbabwe and possibly India and Pakistan.

The team’s goal is to help developing countries and viable business models of local enterprises in specific regions to have access to good quality implements and tools at reasonable prices. This open-source prototyping strategy is based on the free sharing of technical designs and machinery construction plans. The strategy combines patent-free, lowcost replication blueprints of promising technologies with strong agronomical testing as the ultimate ‘make or break’ criterion. This crucial interaction sets CIMMYT’s engineering platforms apart from commercial options that determine research and development priorities based mainly on sales projections and marketing objectives.

The mechanization team strongly believes in the power of cross regional collaboration – a multidisciplinary work environment, connected intercontinentally with social stewardship and the potential to bring transformative changes to farmers’ fields across the developing world.

6th CSISA wheat breeding meeting reviews gains in South Asia

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On 11-12 September, 61 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal convened in Kathmandu, Nepal, for the 6th Wheat Breeding Review Meeting of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) objective 4 program.

Participants pose for a photo at the 6th CSISA Wheat Breeding review meeting, Kathmandu, Nepal, held 11-12 September.
Photo: Prakash Shrestha.

The meeting was organized by CIMMYT’s Kathmandu office and led by Dr. Arun Joshi. Other CIMMYT participants were Andrew McDonald and Cynthia Mathys. Participants included representatives of the Wheat Research Centre of Bangladesh (Dinajpur); Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Ghazipur; India’s Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal and Shimla; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and Indore; Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; Uttarbanga Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur and Powarkheda; Agharkar Research Institute, Pune; Govind Vallabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar; Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, Mohanpur, Distt. Nadia, W. Bengal; Nepal’s National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahwa; Nepal Agricultural Research Institute (NARI); Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC); Renewable Natural Resources (RNR); Research and Development Centre (RDC), Bajo; the Bhutanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forest; and SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The CSISA meeting began with remarks by the chief guest, Dr. Dil Bahadur Gurung, executive director of NARC, along with Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Mondal, Director General of BARI and McDonald and Joshi of CIMMYT. Within a wider framework of discussions concerning wheat improvement issues, the CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2013-14 cycle and established work plans for the 2014-15 crop cycle. McDonald presented a summary of all CSISA objectives and highlighted the substantial results obtained in wheat breeding. Mondal expressed his satisfaction that CSISA wheat breeding has regional recognition in South Asia and is trying its best to create linkages among regionally important research issues. Gurung highlighted the significance of collaborative research with a regional perspective and reported the successes being achieved by CSISA in wheat research and cropping systems in Nepal. He expressed his appreciation for new research efforts under CSISA and said that, “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security in the region.”

Four review sessions were conducted, chaired by Mondal, Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh, Dr. Girish Chandra Mishra and Joshi. Three sessions were platforms to present review reports and work plans from the 10 research centers; two other sessions discussed physiology, spot blotch, extension of wheat breeding activities and how to link wheat breeding with seed dissemination and capacity building in South Asia. Another session discussed conducting trials, weather data, advanced and segregating material in Kenya and submission of data booklets and reports. A major discussion was held to encourage the strengthening of existing links with CSISA objective 4 (wheat breeding) and other objectives of CSISA, which include linkages with hubs and other stakeholders,  and explored the possibilities of providing quality seeds from newly released improved varieties to farmers as quickly as possible. The inclusion of conservation agriculture and participatory variety selection were also encouraged.

Joshi also highlighted major achievements by the CGIAR Centers during the last six years of CSISA: breeding for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance gained momentum with around a dozen new varieties released and popularized in South Asia; germplasm exchange with CIMMYT increased significantly; the majority of advanced lines in CIMMYT trials carried resistance to Ug99 and other rusts; shuttling of segregating generations between South Asia and Kenya increased; use of physiological tools for heat and drought tolerance increased in the region; stronger links were formed among breeders, seed producers and farmers; and capacity building was promoted in the region. Many new topics were discussed, including the current status of wheat rusts in SAARC countries by Dr. Subhash Bhardwaj, DWR Shimla; the current status and future options for wheat breeding for salt-affected soils by Neeraj Kulshrestha, CSSRI, Karnal; capacity building options for crop protection at DWR for SAARC scientists by M.S. Saharan, DWR, Karnal; and how DWR can fast-track CSISA wheat varieties to farmers in the eastern Gangetic plains by Dr. Randhir Singh Poswal, DWR, Karnal. Dr. Shree Prakash Pandey of IISER Kolkata presented the outcome of new research on a WHEAT CRP project, “Deciphering phytohormone signaling in modulation of resistance to spot blotch disease for identification of novel resistance components for wheat improvement.” “SAARC Agriculture Centre – Its Introduction and Programs,” was presented by Dr. Tayan Raj Gurung, senior program specialist from SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), Dhaka. He stressed that regional collaboration on wheat breeding for salt-affected soils is urgently required in South Asia and recommended that CIMMYT play a leading role.

The review meeting enabled CSISA wheat researchers to highlight research achievements and increase their understanding of the newer challenges and provided opportunities for further improvements in the coming years.

CSISA: Making a Difference in South Asia

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Anu Dhar, Cynthia Mathys, Jennifer Johnson

Staff members of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) are developing and implementing projects aimed at improving agricultural production and standards of living for farmers in South Asia, with excellent results. At their “Seed Summit for Enhancing the Seed Supply Chain in Eastern India” meeting in Patna, Bihar on 14-15 May they worked to design solutions to improve the delivery of high-yielding seed varieties in eastern India, a region that has traditionally suffered from lack of access to these varieties and low seed replacement rates. The meeting, which included over 60 seed experts from the government, research and private sectors, focused on topics such as better-targeted subsidies on seeds, improved storage infrastructure and stronger extension systems to increase accessibility and adoption of improved seed varieties.

The roundtable “Sustainable Intensification in South Asia’s Cereal Systems: Investment Strategies for Productivity Growth, Resource Conservation, and Climate Risk Management” was held on 19 May in New Delhi. It brought together 20 firms and entrepreneurs to build collaborative action plans and joint investment strategies under CSISA to identify new product tie-ins, joint ventures, technical collaborations and shared marketing channels in order to bring high-tech farming ideas to India’s risk-prone ecologies.

In India, CSISA seeks to increase crop yields through the provision of more accurate, location-specific fertilizer recommendations to maize and rice farmers with the “Crop Manager” decision-making tool. The web-based and mobile Android application uses information provided by farmers including field location, planting method, seed variety, typical yields and method of harvesting to create a personalized fertilizer application recommendation at critical crop growth stages to increase yield and profit.

CSISA-Nepal has initiated a series of participatory research trials in farmers’ fields, in order to promote maize triple cropping, the practice of planting maize during the spring period after winter crop harvesting, when fields would usually be fallow. The practice, while proven to be highly remunerative, is not widely popular. The trials seek to determine optimum management practices for maize in order to encourage triple cropping and to generate additional income for farmers.

Greater gender equality in agriculture is also an important goal of CSISA, supported through the creation of Kisan Sakhi, a support group to empower women farmers in Bihar, India by “disseminating new climate-resilient and sustainable farming technologies and practices that will reduce women’s drudgery and bridge the gender gap in agriculture.” A CSISA-Bangladesh project has already had a positive impact on the lives of rural women, providing new farming and pond management techniques that have helped them to greatly increase the productivity of their fish ponds and gain new respect within their families and communities.

New USAID lead for climate-resilient cereals portfolio visits Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia

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Dr. Nora Lapitan, the new science advisor in the Bureau for Food Security of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and lead of USAID’s Climate-Resilient Cereals portfolio, visited the maize field trials being conducted in India as part of Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) during 17-21 June.

Nora Lapitan with the HTMA team at Kaveri Seeds field trials in Baijenki, Telangana. Photo: Kaveri Seeds staff

Lapitan is the project manager and provides technical oversight. Supported by USAID under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, the HTMA project is led by CIMMYT-Hyderabad. HTMA is a public-private alliance that targets resource-poor people of South Asia prone to face weather extremes and climate-change effects. The project connects several public sector agricultural research institutions in South Asia such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute; Maize & Millets Research Institute, Pakistan; National Maize Research Program, Nepal; Bhutan National Maize Program; and two Indian state agriculture universities – Bihar Agricultural University, Sabor and University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur, as well as Purdue University in the U.S. Additional participants include seed companies DuPont Pioneer, Vibha Agritech, Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds. This was Lapitan’s first trip to India, which she chose to start with HTMA maize field activity visits. She visited maize trials under managed heat stress at different sites in India, starting with the trials at the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Ludhiana on 17 June.

A team of scientists from BISA, including Dr. H.S. Sidhu, Parvider Romana and Manish Koth showed her HTMA trials and explained the activities. The next day she visited the HTMA trials at DuPont Pioneer sites in Jalandhar, Punjab, where Dr. S.K. Kaushik explained project activities, including various types of hybrid trials, heat stress symptoms in the field and promising heattolerant hybrids. After visiting the maize trials in Punjab, Lapitan traveled to southern India, visiting HTMA trials in Hyderabad and Baijenki, Karimnagar. In Hyderabad, she visited the trials planted at a CIMMYT site within the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus, where Dr. P.H. Zaidi, CIMMYT senior maize physiologist and HTMA project leader, explained ongoing HTMA field trials across sites in South Asia in collaboration with partners. M.T. Vinayan, CIMMYT India maize stress specialist, discussed trials planted at the Hyderabad site.

Nora Lapitan with the HTMA team at CIMMYT field trials in Hyderabad. Photo: K. Seetharam/CIMMYT-Hyderabad

The presentation was followed by a field tour, where Lapitan could see the performance of some of the most promising heat-tolerant maize hybrids. In the afternoon, Lapitan met with CIMMYT-Hyderabad staff, where Zaidi presented the office’s overall program and various ongoing projects. The next day, she and Zaidi visited HTMA trials at the Kaveri Seeds site at Baijenki, Telangana. Dr. N.P. Sarma, director of research; Dr. B.S. Dahiya, senior advisor; and Dr. Ramesh Chaurasia, maize breeder at Kaveri Seeds, explained the HTMA field trials at their site.

Lapitan took a field tour, where Chaurasia explained the details of the ongoing trials and showed her a number of promising heat-tolerant hybrids. “This is very exciting for our company; to see unique products like heat-tolerant hybrids identified within two years of the project start, which we are ready to take forward in largescale testing,” said Sarma. He further explained that there are very few options for such types of maize hybrids, and that this is a newly emerging market. It is certainly a unique option for resource-poor farmers to provide food during those hot and dry months and also feed for their livestock.

After completion of the field visits, Lapitan expressed her strong satisfaction with HTMA project activities, saying “it is exciting to see that partners are ready with first wave of products for deployment within two years. This is remarkable and I congratulate the HTMA team.”

Heat stress-resilient maize hybrids for Asian farmers

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The Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, is a public-private alliance that targets resource-poor people of South Asia who face weather extremes and climate-change effects. HTMA aims to create stable income and food security for resource-poor maize farmers in South Asia through development and deployment of heat-resilient maize hybrids.

The project connects several public sector agricultural research institutions in South Asia, such as the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute; the Maize & Millets Research Institute, Pakistan; National Maize Research Program, Nepal; and Bhutan Maize Program. Also involved in the project are two state agriculture universities from India – Bihar Agriculture University, Sabor and University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Raichur – as well as seed companies in the region including DuPont Pioneer, Vibha Agritech, Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds and international institutions including Purdue University and CIMMYT.

The “2nd Annual Progress Review and Planning Meeting for the HTMA Project” was held 22-23 July at UAS, Raichur in Karnataka, India. The meeting was attended by scientists and representatives from the collaborating institutions in South Asia, Purdue University and CIMMYT. Dr. Nora Lapitan represented USAID at the meeting. To take advantage of the presence of renowned scientists at this newly established agricultural university, the inaugural session of the meeting was organized as a special seminar on “Global initiatives on climate resilient crops.”

Dr. B.V. Patil, director of education at the university, organized the seminar for UAS staff and students. In his welcome speech Dr. Patil highlighted the importance of the HTMA public-private alliance, especially for addressing such complex issues as developing and deploying heat stress-resilient maize. Dr. BM Prasanna, director of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program, lectured on “Adapting Maize to the Changing Climate,” talking about the importance of climate change effects and CIMMYT initiatives on different continents in the development and deployment of stress-resilient maize hybrids.

This was followed by another highprofile lecture on “Climate-Resilient Crops: A Key Strategy for Feed the Future,” which was delivered by Lapitan. She spoke about the priorities of the FTF initiative, including efforts to reduce poverty and malnutrition in children in target countries through accelerated inclusive agricultural growth and a high-quality diet. The inaugural session was followed by a series of HTMA annual review and planning technical sessions. In the first, Dr. P.H. Zaidi, HTMA project leader and CIMMYT senior maize physiologist, presented updates on the project’s execution and the progress achieved at the end of the second year. The project has met agreed milestones, and is even ahead on some fronts.

This was followed by detailed progress reports on objectives given by each collaborating partner. Professor Mitch Tuinstra of Purdue University presented on membrane lipid profiling in relation to heat stress, as well as identifying quantitative trait loci for heat stress tolerance and component traits by joint linkage analysis. The leads from each of the public and private sector partners presented the results of the HTMA trials conducted at their locations, and also shared a list of top-ranking, best-bet heat-tolerant maize hybrids to take forward for large-scale testing and deployment. During the project’s first two years, each partner identified promising and unique maize hybrids suitable for their target environment. In molecular breeding, Zaidi presented the results of the association mapping panel, and Dr. Raman Babu, CIMMYT molecular maize breeder, presented the progress made on genotyping and association analysis. Dr. M.T. Vinayan, CIMMYT maize stress specialist for South Asia, presented a progress report on genomic selection for heat stress tolerance.

Nora Lapitan of USAID addressing the audience in HTMA seminar at UAS Raichur. Photo: UAS, Raichur photographer

Dr. K. Seetharaman, CIMMYT special project scientist in abiotic stress breeding and Dr. A.R. Sadananda, CIMMYT maize seed system specialist , presented jointly on the HTMA-product pipeline, including the promising heat stress-resilient hybrids ready for deployment, and a series of new hybrids ready for testing across locations in target environments. Dr. Christian Boeber, CIMMYT socio-economist, talked about progress in HTMA product targeting, pricing and adoption, summarizing the ongoing work on crop-modelling, reviewed work on the IMPACT model component, presented the survey tool and reviewed study sites in heat stress-prone ecologies of South Asia. Zaidi and Tuinstra presented the progress in project capacity building, including nine Ph.D. student fellowships. three workshops/training courses including in-country courses on “Precision phenotyping for heat stress tolerance” in Nepal and Pakistan, and a course on “Statistical analysis and genomic selection.” Project progress was critically reviewed by the project steering committee (PSC) headed by Prasanna, who expressed high satisfaction on its overall development. Speaking for USAID, Lapitan said: “I am highly impressed with the progress in the HTMA project. Within a period of two years there is a first wave of heat-tolerant hybrids ready for large-scale testing and deployment. This is one of the 26 projects in our climate-resilient cereals portfolio, but this project successfully demonstrated excellent balance between up-stream and down-stream research. We have made impressive progress, and are rather ahead on some milestones. I consider it a model project.”

Other PSC members also expressed their satisfaction, and agreed that HTMA has made tremendous progress in products for heat stress ecologies in the partners’ target environments. After discussing the progress in detail, project partners discussed the work plan and research activities for the third year. A parallel group discussion on objectives helped finalize the workplans and activities for each partner during the project’s third year.

HTMA-Project Steering Committee meeting.

Finally, the PSC met and discussed the overall progress of the project in detail. In addition to Prasanna chairing the PSC, members include Dr. Mohammda Munir, chief scientific officer, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council; Dr. Yagna Gajadhar Khadka, director, crops and horticulture, Nepal Agricultural Research Council; Dr. Khalid Sultan, research director, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute; Dr. B.V. Patil, director of education at UAS; Tuinstra; Dr. N.P. Sarma, Kaveri Seeds; and Zaidi as member secretary.

Overall, the PSC members expressed their satisfaction with ongoing activities and the progress being made by HTMA, particularly the close collaboration with partner institutions. “I sincerely hope that the same momentum is maintained for rest of the project, which is certainly going to have a strong impact on the maize farming community in stressprone agro-ecologies of South Asia,” said Munir.

The meeting was also attended by special guests, including Drs. Navin Hada and Danielle Knueppel from USAID in Nepal, and Dr. Mahendra Prasad Khanal and Mr. Dilaram Bhandari from the Agricultural Ministry of Nepal. They stated their appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the meeting for the project model and noted HTMA’s fast-track progress. Khanal said, “We need to have a similar project for maize research and development in Nepal, since we are also pushing for hybrid varieties, and we should use a similar public-private partnership model for the product development and deployment.”

Boosting productivity of smallholder farms in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

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By Mahesh Gathala, TP Tiwari, Pat Wall/CIMMYT

CIMMYT will lead a new research initiative to make agriculture more productive, profitable   and sustainable for smallholder farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of Nepal, Bangladesh and India.
Launched in Dhulikhel, Nepal, on 4 July, the five-year  US$6.8 million regional research initiative, Sustainable  and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification in  the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI), will tap the  agricultural potential of the area and target 7,000  farmers to test and adopt appropriate new technology  and farming approaches.

The program, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), will operate in eight districts: two in northwest Bangladesh, two in the eastern Terai of Nepal and two each in the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal.

The three-day Inception and Planning Meeting that launched the program was attended by 84 participants from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Mexico and Nepal.  SRFSI is managed by CIMMYT on behalf of multiple partners including the national research and extension systems of Bangladesh, India and Nepal, Indian and Australian universities, national and international nongovernmental organizations, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia and four CGIAR Centers (CIMMYT, the International Rice Research Institute, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Water Management Institute).

The project was officially initiated by the Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Glenn White, together with the Executive Director of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Dr. Dil Bahadur Gurung; the Joint Secretary of the Nepal Ministry of Agricultural Development, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Adhikari; Dr. Claire Glendenning of the Australian Department of Foreign Affair and Trade; and Dr. John Dixon, principal adviser for ACIAR.

“This initiative will help to raise agricultural productivity in a region which has the potential to become one of Asia’s great food bowls,” White told the gathering of scientists and development practitioners.

The EGP is home to some 300 million people, with the world’s highest concentration of rural poverty and a strong dependence on agriculture for food security and livelihoods. The region is dominated by small farms with many female farmers who have little access to credit, quality seeds, fertilizers, irrigation or formal extension services. They also have to contend with climate-related risks and extreme events such as floods, drought and cold snaps.

“This program will allow farmers to test a range of innovations to help them boost food production, including conservation agriculture and efficient use of water resources, while strengthening their ability to adapt and link to markets and support services,” White said. “Our aim is to enable at least 130,000 farmers to adopt these technologies within the next 10 years.”

Gurung and Adhikari lauded the long-term partnership between CIMMYT and Nepal, as well as the ACIAR support of this project, and assured that the Ministry will extend its full support.

Key Objectives of the SRFSI

The Eastern Gangetic Plains region has the potential to become a major contributor to South Asian regional food security, but rice and wheat productivity remain low and diversification is limited because of poorly developed markets, sparse agricultural knowledge and service networks, and inadequate development of available water resources and sustainable production practices. Labor shortages – mainly during sowing and harvesting – are becoming more acute. These factors lead to smallholder vulnerability to climate and market risks that limit investments in new technologies.

SRFSI will undertake several high-priority activities to reduce these factors:

‱ Improving farmers’ access to inputs, services and market information in order to reduce the risk associated with adopting new practices.

‱ Removing policy barriers to technology adoption.

‱ Analyzing the appropriateness of technologies, service provider models, markets and policies for women farmers, and adjusting them where necessary, to help ensure food security and gender equity in the region.

‱ Developing new knowledge among farmers, researchers, extension and change agents, service providers, agro-dealers and others involved in agriculture. This has been identified as the key to achieving widespread adoption of new technologies and reductions in poverty in the EGP.

‱ Investing heavily in capacity building at multiple levels, from field days to short courses to linkages with advanced research institutions. Ultimately the project focal communities, where all aspects of the project activities are put into place to achieve the desired change, will become demonstration or learning sites for institutions or individuals interested in agricultural development, where they can observe the technological changes and talk with farmers and farmer organizations about the importance of the different components of the project in bringing about agriculture change.

Stress-resilient maize hybrids developed for Asian tropics

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By K. Seetharam, M.T. Vinayan and P.H. Zaidi/CIMMYT

The development of maize germplasm with combined drought and water-logging tolerance and a strong product line ready for deployment in Asia’s stress-prone, rain-fed production systems are notable successes of a CIMMYT project nearing its official end date.

Participants closely watch water-logging-tolerant hybrids developed under the ATMA project. Photo: Do Van Dung

Maize production in tropical Asia is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The erratic distribution of monsoon rains causes intermittent drought and water-logging within a single crop season, especially in eastern India, Bangladesh and other parts of South and Southeast Asia, and is the major cause of the low productivity of rain-fed maize. About 80 percent of maize in the Asian tropics is grown as a rain-fed crop.

Maize yields in irrigated systems are more than double those of rain-fed maize but the production capacity of irrigated systems in Asia is close to saturation. Rain-fed areas must play a greater role in meeting the increasing demand for maize in Asia.

The private seed sector focuses largely on irrigated systems and is not producing stress-tolerant varieties. However, small and medium seed companies and public sector institutions are beginning to show interest in abiotic stress tolerant maize germplasm from CIMMYT.

To develop this germplasm, CIMMYT, in collaboration with national partners in South and Southeast Asia, launched Abiotic Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (ATMA) in May 2011, supported by GIZ, Germany. Partners include the Directorate of Maize Research (DMR); Maharana Pratap Agriculture University (MPUAT); Udaipur and Acharya N.G. Ranga Agriculture University (ANGRAU); the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI); Vietnam’s National Maize Research Institute (NMRI), the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of Philippines (UPLB); and the University of Hohenheim (UoH) in Stuttgart, Germany. CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India, hosted the final year progress review meeting during 17-18 February.

ATMA hybrids combine drought and water-logging tolerance. Photo: P.H. Zaidi

B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, highlighted the need and importance of maize breeding for rain-fed conditions. This was followed by a talk on the power of genomic selection in breeding for polygenic traits, which was delivered by Albert Melchinger from UoH. O.P. Yadav, director of the DMR, New Delhi, spoke about the importance of abiotic stress-resilient maize hybrids and appreciated recent developments in the area. Partner institutions presented the results of trials conducted in their target environments.

P.H. Zaidi, senior maize physiologist and project coordinator, presented the across-environment results of the trials conducted in partner countries. Raman Babu, maize molecular breeder, gave an update on identifying large effect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for water-logging tolerance and progress in genomic selection. Apart from established breeding methods and a phenotypic selection approach, methods include genomewide association studies (GWAS) and rapid-cycle genomic selection (RC-GS). Results of socioeconomic studies demonstrating the high demand for water stress-resilient maize varieties with combined drought and waterlogging tolerance in eastern India and Bangladesh were presented by Surabhi Mittal, CIMMYT socioeconomist.

Participants toured ATMA trials at the CIMMYT-Hyderabad experiment station as well as the state-of-the-art phenotyping system for drought and waterlogging stress. Zaidi explained how effectively the data on growing degree days (GDD) and from the soil moisture profile probe are used in managing drought at the desired level of intensity and uniformity. “Such a well-defined phenotyping system is the key to success, which can assure breeding gains for complex traits such as drought or water-logging, whether using conventional or molecular breeding approaches,” said Dang Ngoc Ha, vice director of the NMRI.

Though the project is approaching its official end, partners aim to carry it forward by formulating a new proposal to submit to a potential donor. “In case no immediate funding is arranged, we should take the products forward using our own institutional resources, as this is much-needed type of product for our maize farmers living in stress-prone ecologies,” O.P. Yadav said.

In his concluding remarks, Prasanna praised the contributions of partnering institutions throughout the project duration, which resulted in a strong germplasm base and product pipeline for complex traits such as drought, water-logging and the new product with combined stress tolerance.

Innovative farm machinery transforms agriculture in Bangladesh

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By Anuradha Dhar/CIMMYT

A new CIMMYT book, Made in Bangladesh: Scale-appropriate machinery for agricultural resource conservation, highlights the innovative machinery that can be used with two-wheeled tractors (2WT) for sustainable farming and gives detailed technical designs to help standardize production quality, making the machines more accessible to farmers.

A local service provider uses a 2WT-based seed drill. (Photo by Color Horizon)

Agricultural mechanization in South Asia is helping conserve natural resources, improve productivity and increase profits, but many small-scale farmers have yet to benefit. Factors such as high costs and farmers’ lack of access to credit make the machinery unaffordable for resource-poor farmers. However, Bangladesh leads by example and has been a hotbed of innovation, particularly with the 2WTs that are more appropriate for small-scale farmers than the four-wheel variety. Bangladesh has a strong agricultural tradition – nearly twothirds of its population works in agriculture. It has achieved near self-sufficiency in rice production and has rapidly developed its agricultural sector over the past 20 years, despite being ranked 146th on the global human development index and having roughly half the per capita income of India. Bangladesh’s agriculture sector contributes 19 percent to the country’s gross domestic product. This is the bright side.

The other side, however, is that farmers’ land-holdings are very small – an average farming household owns just 0.2 hectares or less – and Bangladesh is home to intensive cropping rotations. Every square centimeter of arable land is used 1.8 times a year, putting intense pressure on natural resources and making the system unsustainable in the long term. Farmers have to continually adapt to challenges including climate change, rising temperatures and increasing fuel prices to sustain productivity.

Many farmers are using innovative agricultural machinery to improve the precision and speed of planting and harvesting operations while reducing fuel, irrigation water and labor requirements. With the introduction of cheap, easy-to-operate and easy-to-maintain 2WTs, agriculture in Bangladesh has become highly mechanized during the last decade. Nearly 80 percent of farmers use 2WTs because they are versatile and can be fitted with a variety of innovative auxiliary equipment for planting, threshing and irrigation.

Made in Bangladesh highlights these innovations and includes reviews and designs of the machinery used with 2WTs for resource-conserving practices, including zero tillage and strip tillage seed and fertilizer drills, bed planters, axial flow irrigation pumps, strip tillage blades, improved furrow openers and seed metering mechanisms. Each chapter has scaled technical designs of the machinery, developed with computer-aided drafting to allow manufacturers in Bangladesh and beyond to reproduce and make improvements on the machines. “Many of the machines in the book are inspiring innovations,” said Timothy Krupnik, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist and one of the book’s authors. “Bangladesh is often seen in a negative light – most international media focuses on its political tragedies, grinding poverty and pressing environmental concerns. But, if you live in Bangladesh, you get inspired every day by the creative ways that many of the world’s poorest people come up with creative solutions to the problems they face. All of the machines in the book were either designed and made in Bangladesh, or borrowed from other machines in South and Southeast Asia and then were manufactured in Bangladesh.”

CSISA-MI is helping increase the adoption of resource-conserving machines by farmers. (Photo: Timothy Krupnik)

The book’s technical designs can be easily replicated by machinery manufacturers, scientists or farmers. “The drawings were developed in a reverse engineering process, where I measured the machines manually and immediately sketched them on paper by hand,” said co-author Santiago Santos Valle. “Once back in the office, I produced the computer-aided drawings using the hand-made sketches.” Spending hours of work recreating these sketches on the computer, Santos Valle painstakingly created all the technical designs in the book.

A learning module on technical drawing interpretation and instructions on how to use the drawings have also been included. Standardization and Affordability There is a great need for small-scale farmers to adopt new machinery to overcome rural labor shortages in places like Bangladesh. “Wheat and maize yields decline between 1 and 1.5 percent per day when planted late, so you can imagine the effect if you use the machines to reduce tillage,” Krupnik explained. “Applying seed and fertilizer in one go can save seven to eight days that farmers would have otherwise spent plowing and preparing the land.” One of the most significant problems confronting mechanization in South Asia is design standardization. “Bangladesh has been a ‘hot bed’ of innovation, particularly for the two-wheel tractor,” said Andrew McDonald, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist and co-author. “But much of this innovation has not reached farmers at scale because commercialization has been impeded by the lack of standardization. Essentially, most workshops create a unique machine every time a new piece is fabricated, which drives up costs to both manufacture and repair the machinery. Quality control is also an issue.”

He emphasized that CIMMYT is playing a catalytic role to ensure high-quality machinery is available at a reasonable cost in Bangladesh. The organization is helping formalize the design elements of innovative machinery and working with workshops and industrial houses to implement these designs. In the USAID-Bangladesh Mission funded project, Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI), CIMMYT works with the NGO International Development Enterprises (iDE) to develop and execute business models to encourage companies and agricultural manufacturers to produce and distribute the machines through commercial mechanisms.

In turn, agricultural service providers are linked to finance entities and farmers to purchase machines and to assure demand in the field. These efforts receive technical backing from CIMMYT scientists, who assure that land is planted with reduced tillage implements or irrigated with energy efficient pumps. As a result, the adoption of these machines has significantly increased in the last few months – the machinery is now being used on over 2,000 hectares of new land in southern Bangladesh alone – more than a four-fold increase compared to the year before.

The machines included in the book have wide applicability outside of Bangladesh, such as in smallholder farming contexts in Asia and Africa. “We want the work done in Bangladesh to inspire agricultural machinery manufacturers to reproduce and improve machines in other countries,” Krupnik said. “For this reason the book is free and available through open access and can be downloaded, printed and shared with others as widely as possible.” The PDF version of the book is available from the CIMMYT repository.

Machinery book published in Bangladesh

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A new, open-source book on agricultural machinery in Bangladesh is now available online. Made in Bangladesh: Scale-appropriate machinery for agricultural resource conservation was written by authors from CIMMYT and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute. The book was a product of the USAID-funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanical and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) and CSISA Bangladesh projects, as well as the EU-funded Agriculture, Nutrition and Extension Project (ANEP) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research-funded Rice-Maize Project.

Machinery-Book

The book details the functions and designs of smallscale agricultural machinery used in conjunction with two-wheel tractors (2WTs). 2WTs are used extensively in Bangladesh and several other countries, and the small-scale implements extend the usefulness of the 2WTs. Most implements are compatible with conservation agriculture-based management practices while the book’s technical drawings allow manufacturers and engineers to reproduce and improve upon the original designs. The PDF version of the book, which is found here in the CIMMYT repository, is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The book will soon be translated and released in Bangla. For more information, contact Tim Krupnik, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, at t.krupnik@cgiar.org.

Asia wheat breeders review progress and look ahead

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By Arun Joshi /CIMMYT

Over the past five years, more than a dozen new stress tolerant wheat varieties have become available to farmers in South Asia, through breeding research and partnerships as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), according to Arun K. Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder. Joshi said that germplasm exchange with CIMMYT had increased significantly; that most advanced breeding lines in CIMMYT trials were resistant to Ug99 stem rust and other rusts; more segregating generation lines from South Asia were being sent to Njoro, Kenya, for stem rust resistance screening; the use of physiological tools to select for heat and drought tolerance in the region had increased; links among breeders, seed producers and farmers had strengthened; and capacity building had been promoted.

Photo: Mohammad Shahin Sha Mahin for CIMMYT
Photo: Mohammad Shahin Sha Mahin for CIMMYT

These and other achievements, as well as challenges and opportunities for improvement, came to light in two recent review meetings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. From 6 to 8 October, 56 scientists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, as well as representatives of government councils and ministries, research centers, agricultural institutes and universities, convened for CSISA’s 5th wheat breeding review meeting. Participants also attended the 2nd review and work plan meeting for the project, “Increasing the productivity of the wheat crop under conditions of rising temperatures and water scarcity in South Asia,” funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany. The meetings were organized by Joshi, team leader of the two projects in South Asia, and facilitated by CIMMYT’s Dhaka office, led by T.P. Tiwari. CIMMYT was represented in the meetings by scientists from Bangladesh, India and Nepal and a consultant from Cambridge.

The CSISA meeting reviewed the progress of the 2012-13 wheat cycle and established work plans for the 2013-14 crop cycle. The event was inaugurated by chief guest Khalid Sultan, director of research at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), and R.P. Dua, assistant director general for the Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR). Dua praised the regional focus and presence of CSISA wheat breeding, and Sultan said “the South Asia-CIMMYT collaboration is paramount to the food security of the region.” Ten participating research centers presented reports and work plans.

Participants discussed how to strengthen links among wheat breeding, fast-track seed production, distribute new, improved varieties to farmers and work on conservation agriculture and participatory variety selection. Wheat breeders, pathologists, physiologists, agronomists and soil scientists attended the “Increasing the productivity of the wheat crop” meeting, which addressed project work plans and progress in breeding and agronomy.

Six Indian research centers reported on progress in evaluating more than 3,300 wheat lines screened last cycle for early sowing, as well as the 2013-14 work plan. The top 50 lines will be used to develop two trials in India: one for the northwestern plains and one for the central and peninsular zone, Joshi said. He also presented the highlights of the molecular research by Marion Roder, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany, and Susanne Dreisigacker, CIMMYT molecular breeder, in screening some 3,000 wheat lines for genes controlling vernalization and response to changes in day length.

‘The 50 PACT’ Conference: collaborate for better food security in South Asia

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The-50-PACTFarmers need to be more involved in developing and refining technology. This was one of the key conclusions of a technology working group comprised of leading Asian scientists, representatives of farmer groups and entrepreneurs who met during “The 50 Pact,” an international conference jointly organized by the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to celebrate 50 years of Dr. Norman Borlaug’s first visit to India. Held in New Delhi during 16-17 August, the event brought together more than 200 participants from agriculture institutions, the government, think tanks, industry, and civil society of various countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United States.

South Asia is the most populous region in the world and several models predict that this region is going to be dramatically impacted by climate change. “We must devise new ways to feed more people with less land, less water and under more difficult climate change conditions,” said Thomas Lumpkin, Director General of CIMMYT, highlighting a significant challenge that requires critical innovations, collaborations and commitments to solve food insecurity and strengthen agriculture in South Asia. This sentiment was echoed by others in the opening session of the conference, including S. Ayyappan, director general of ICAR, government of India, R.S. Paroda, president of Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), R.B. Singh, president of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Swapan Datta, ICAR and Marianne BĂ€nzinger of CIMMYT. Remembering their personal interactions with Dr. Borlaug, “the Nobel laureate with a heart for the poor,” and his association with CIMMYT and India, they also felt the need to make a pact to bring about a second green revolution in the South Asia region. M.S. Swaminathan, a legendary figure in Indian agriculture, paid tribute to Dr. Borlaug for his immense contribution in agriculture during the opening ceremony. “From Bengal famine to Right to Food Act of India, it has been a historic transition and Dr. Borlaug played a very important role in this transition through his work in the last 50 years,” Swaminathan said. Jeanie Laube Borlaug, chairperson of BGRI and the daughter of Dr. Norman Borlaug, presented Swaminathan with the Dr. Norman Borlaug Award.

The-50-PACT2Technology and innovations will play a key role
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka will have to work together to find regional solutions to food insecurity. Representatives from these countries talked about different agricultural developments during the post-green revolution period and emerging challenges and opportunities. They also highlighted how the BISA, with its mandate, furthers research on farming systems in addition to focusing on an eco-regional approach involving other CG centers. Utilizing all technologies, including molecular breeding, biotechnology, precision agronomy, and mobile-based decision making will be crucial. The session on technology highlighted this and also pushed for greater involvement of farmers at every step of new technology development. It is important to capture the process of adoption of innovation by farmers and use new technology to provide feedback to the researchers. The group advocated for increased political will and a better policy environment on the adoption of GM crops. Making agriculture profitable is important for producers and the entire agricultural value chain. Ramesh Chand of ICAR said that his recent analysis in India shows the real farm income is not declining, but the income gap between agricultural and non-agricultural income is widening. Agricultural infrastructure is not well developed, investments are low and land fragmentation is increasing. These are major concerns for this sector. The participants talked about a need for an enhanced cyber infrastructure for crop research, open access to agriculture database, and strengthening the value chain balancing the role of market, price, and technologies.

Greater regional synergy needed
More emphasis on synergy, partnerships, farmer’s welfare, productivity, profitability, and nutrition will be critical to address the problem of hidden hunger and food security in this region. Other areas to focus on include providing access to and the use of cutting edge research and new technologies that are not yet available in the region, ensuring commitments from governments and other donors for investments in agricultural research, advocating for a policy environment that embraces new technologies and invests in agricultural research, building a regional platform of collaboration with partners from all sectors, research centers, governments, the scientific world, and the farming community who share our mandate to transform farmers’ lives in the region.

Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation project launched

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CIMMYT and International Development Enterprises (iDE) announced the initiation of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation in Bangladesh
CIMMYT and International Development Enterprises (iDE) announced the initiation of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation in Bangladesh

In south-western Bangladesh, the world’s largest delta with plentiful fresh surface water, more than 600,000 hectares of land are fallowed without crop in the dry season.

Responding to this problem, CIMMYT and International Development Enterprises (iDE) are pleased to announce the initiation of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project to sustainably intensify cropping on fallow and low-productivity lands. This US$13-million, five-year project, supported by the Feed the Future Initiative and administered by the USAID mission in Bangladesh, was launched on 1 July 2013.

CSISA-MI is a sister initiative falling under the CSISA-Bangladesh program, connecting CIMMYT, IRRI, and WorldFish as partners. The MI initiative aims to unlock agricultural productivity in southern Bangladesh by conducting research and market development to increase the availability and adoption of resource-conserving irrigation equipment, and to scale farm machineries to respond to rural labor scarcity and high costs, while also encouraging crop management practices based on conservation agriculture (CA). Southern Bangladesh is constrained by numerous factors, including farmers’ inability to invest in resource-conserving and productivity-enhancing machinery, high cost of water pumping, and lack of awareness about the potential for dry season crops like wheat, maize, sunflower, and legumes.

CSISA-MI responds to these problems by developing smart business models to link farmers with agricultural service providers, and service providers with machinery and irrigation equipment dealers, to boost the use of irrigation and machinery for CA throughout the region. The project will also bridge the gap between the public and private sectors by facilitating partnerships with the government of Bangladesh and private sector partners engaged in irrigation, agricultural mechanization, and extension.

CSISA-MI will create broad access to low-cost surface water irrigation and smart agricultural machinery and other services to enable farmers to optimize water, labor, time, seed, and fertilizer use in their fields during the dry season. Research topics will focus on the improvement of irrigation water use efficiency and agricultural water management as well as enhancement of the use of fuel-saving axial flow pumps (AFPs) and other equipment for surface water irrigation. Further research and the development of value chains will focus on seed-fertilizer drills compatible with two-wheeled tractors for strip tillage, bed planters, multi-crop reapers, and rice transplanters used to reduce turn-around time between crops.

Machineries and cropping practices will be fine-tuned to the diverse agro-ecological conditions of the region through on-farm action research and experimentation in farmers’ fields. CSISA-MI harnesses the power of the market to align incentives toward large-scale, smart-technology adoption. The initiative has already made significant progress. Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with leading firms, including RFLP ran Group and ACI Agribusiness, have been signed to accelerate the commercial availability of AFPs, bed planters, and seed-fertilizer drills.

Research battles wheat spot blotch disease

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wheat-spot-blotch-diseaseAfter screening some 500 wheat lines and varieties at 6 sites in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, a group of scientists were able to identify 35 genotypes that resist spot blotch. This is the number-one disease of wheat in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, seriously damaging the crops of farmers—who are mostly smallholders—on some 9 million hectares.

The results were reported at a meeting of participants in two projects of WHEAT, the CGIAR Research Program on this crop, at Mohanpur Campus of IISER-Kolkata, India, on 24 June 2013. Funded through multi-year competitive grants from WHEAT, the two project are “Deciphering phytohormone signaling in modulation of resistance to spot blotch disease for identification of novel resistance components for wheat improvement,” led by Shree P. Pandey, IISER-Kolkata, and “Spot blotch of wheat: Delivering resistant wheat lines and diagnostic and molecular markers for resistance,” led by Ramesh Chand of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Among other things, participants discussed year-one outcomes and laid plans for the coming crop cycle.

Chand reported on the seedling stage resistance found in the wheat tested. In this type of resistance, the pathogen is present on wheat seedlings for up to 25 days without any infection, exhibiting responses such as lesion mimic and tissue necrosis, which appear to attenuate pathogen effects. The resistance gene Sr2 was also found in most of the resistant seed.

Exciting moments in the meeting were the discussions of biochemical and histo-pathological parameters and their possible integration in the resistance screening. Pandey and his team reported novel research to understand phytohormone signals that regulate wheat’s resistance against Bipolaris sorokiniana–the causal pathogen of spot blotch—and which are synthesized in response to the pathogen’s attack. The IISER group is assembling a dictionary of signaling genes that can serve as genomic tools for resistance breeding in wheat. “Expression of these DNA ‘words’ changes when plants are attacked by the spot blotch pathogen,” said Pandey. “Deciphering this word choice can elucidate the chain of command in plants in to the pathogen, helping breeders to design plants better-equipped with resistance genes.”

Finally, there was a report on the field performance of the 500 lines at two other locations, UBKV Coochbehar and RAU Pusa.

In addition to the scientists mentioned above, participants included WHEAT manager Victor Komerell; CIMMYT researcher Arun Joshi; Prof. V.K. Mishra, BHU, Varanasi; Prof. Apurba Chowdhury; Dr. P.M. Bhattacharya, UBKV; and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar; as well as other wheat researchers from IISER-K.

“The partners here submitted separate proposals for the projects,” said Komerell. “This meeting furnishes an example of how WHEAT has encouraged them to collaborate.”

Thomas Lumpkin and Marianne BĂ€nziger visit CIMMYT offices and projects in Bangladesh

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35Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, and Marianne BĂ€nziger, deputy director general for research and partnerships, visited CIMMYT-Bangladesh during 20-23 February 2013 to meet with CIMMYT-Bangladesh personnel, government officials, and representatives from key national agricultural research systems. They toured the fields of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) and visited the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institution (BARI) stations at Jamalpur and Gazipiur.

On 20 February, Lumpkin and BĂ€nziger accompanied the staff of CIMMYT-Bangladesh —cropping system agronomists T.P. Tiwari (country liaison officer), Mahesh Kumar Gathala, and Timothy Krupnik, and agricultural economist Frederick Ross— to a dinner meeting with Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) Secretary Monzur Hossain, MoA Additional Secretary M.A. Hamid, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Executive Chairman Wais Kabir, BARI Director General Rafiqul I. Mondal, and government scientists. The dinner discussion covered the general state of agriculture in the country and the long-standing collaboration between the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and CIMMYT, a partnership established in 1973 and formalized in 1982. Hossain and Kabir highlighted the importance of the collaboration and lauded CIMMYT for its continuous support in terms of enhancing BARI capacity to promote maize and wheat in Bangladesh as part of the quest to achieve food security in the country. “CIMMYT-Bangladesh has a very strong presence with a great, proactive team,” added Kabir. Lumpkin then briefed the distinguished guests on CIMMYT’s regional focus, including the latest developments regarding the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), and thanked the GoB for facilitating CIMMYT’s work in the country.

The following day, Dinabandhu Pandit, CIMMYT-CSISA cropping systems agronomist, organized a field tour to the Mymensingh Hub of the CSISA-BD project. Accompanied by farmers and staff of partner organizations (IRRI, BARI, Department of Agriculture and Extension, Bangladesh Agricultural University, CARE Bangladesh, and ASPADA), Pandit led the team across the Old Brahmaputra River to Char Jelkhana to observe on-going activities initiated in the 2011/12 winter season. The location used to be limited to black gram cultivation and grazing, but thanks to the successful demonstration of maize and wheat by CIMMYT-CSISA on this charland (charlands are islands formed by river sedimentation) and in neighboring villages, local farmers have expanded the area under maize and wheat cultivation by 743% (4.7 ha to 39.4 ha). They are planning to further expand these crops next year.

Upon their return to Dhaka, the team visited the BARI campus in the Gazipur District. Mondal welcomed the CIMMYT director general and deputy director general and explained BARI’s focus and reach before a tour of the station to observe wheat and maize breeding work coordinated by senior wheat breeder Naresh Chandra Barma and BARI Hybrid Maize Program leader Bhagya Rani Banik.

On the last day of the visit, a breakfast meeting was held with USAID representatives David Yanggen and Anar Khalilov. Lumpkin and BĂ€nziger acknowledged and thanked USAID for supporting CIMMYT-Bangladesh through the CSISA-BD project, and briefed USAID on CIMMYT’s focus in the region. They discussed the importance of diversification and sustainable production of maize in Bangladesh, as well as ways to enhance adoption of new technologies. Yanggen and Khalilov agreed that the forthcoming proposal from CIMMYT emphasizing agricultural mechanization and surface irrigation for southern Bangladesh is a very exciting initiative that USAID is keen to support. They appreciated CIMMYT’s work in Bangladesh and encouraged CIMMYT-CSISA to continue developing short, simple, and effective communication materials on successes in the field.

Following breakfast, Lumpkin and BĂ€nziger visited the office of CIMMYT-Bangladesh to meet the staff, discuss their thoughts and concerns, and thank everyone for their good work.21

CIMMYT-Bangladesh, February 2013: distinguished guests and donors

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VIP-in-GangladeshAs farmers in southern Bangladesh –the country’s most impoverished region– face increasing costs of agricultural labor and negative effects of climate change, CIMMYT-Bangladesh partners with farmers and agricultural service providers throughout the region to turn these challenges into opportunities. This work to improve farmers’ livelihoods by developing affordable irrigation and efficient machinery has drawn attention from donors and distinguished guests, many of whom recently visited some of the region’s areas to see the changes brought by CIMMYT in action.

On 06 February 2013, Saharah Moon Chapotin (team leader for agricultural research at USAID) and Tony Cavalieri (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BMGF) visited activities conducted under the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) funded by USAID’s Feed the Future initiative with support from the BMGF. CSISA-BD is a collaborative project of CIMMYT, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and WorldFish aiming to sustainably increase productivity of cereal-based farming systems by developing innovative agricultural technologies –including small-scale agricultural machinery and conservation agriculture– and market linkages to raise household incomes. Accompanied by cropping system agronomists Timothy J. Krupnik and Samina Yasmin (CIMMYT-CSISA), Global Wheat Program associate director and wheat pathologist Etienne Duveillier (CIMMYT), regional agronomist Andrew McDonald (CIMMYT), and director of IRRI in Bangladesh Timothy Russell, the team visited the Patuakhali region of southern Bangladesh, where preliminary results of rainfed maize field trials managed by farmers showed both yield increase (1.5 t/ha) over conventional management practices and reduced production costs. Farmers have seized this opportunity and are increasingly growing maize to sell to tourists at premium prices in the nearby beach district. The guests also visited IRRI rice screening trials, WorldFish activities to introduce micronutrient dense fish species, and women’s producer groups involved in maize cultivation.

The following week, the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena and USAID Mission Director in Bangladesh Richard Green visited CSISA-BD activities in the Shatkira district. After a welcome from CIMMYT agronomists Krupnik and Md. Shahjahan, and IRRI and WorldFish delegates, they learned about CIMMYT’s efforts to test, refine, and extend labor-saving and cost-reducing conservation agriculture machinery to farmers through agricultural service networks, and through the study and promotion of two-wheel tractors to power fuel-efficient, surface water irrigation pumps (axial flow pumps, AFPs) used particularly for bed-planted maize fields. Ambassador Mozena commented, “I have seen a CIMMYT project funded by USAID and working with the Government of Bangladesh to help increase food security. Wonderful things are happening right here. I saw a beautiful maize field grown with new technology. If you don’t have this machinery and you are using only day labor, it is very hard to cultivate enough land. This machinery really works.”

Two days later, a European Union delegation visited the EU-funded Agriculture, Nutrition and Extension Project (ANEP) in Barisal, Bangladesh, one of the poorest regions subjected to tidal flooding and low annual crop productivity. ANEP is a partnership between CIMMYT, International Development Exchange (iDE), Save the Children, WorldFish, Community Development Center (CODEC), CEAPRED, and BES-Nepal. The EU delegation included Philippe Jacques (head of EU cooperation in Bangladesh), JoĂŁo Anselmo (attachĂ© to the EU delegation), Marion Michaud (ANEP-EU task force manager based in Nepal), and Roselyn Mullo (ECHO regional nutrition coordinator). ANEP focuses on increasing cropping intensity in Barisal to enable farmers to grow two economically viable crops per year. Krupnik and Yusuf Ali demonstrated how small-scale machinery used for strip tillage and bed planting can help farmers to plant dry season crops such as wheat, maize, and legumes, while reducing costs and saving irrigation water. “Within ANEP, CIMMYT partners with iDE to develop seasonal crop production business plans tailored to specific villages and farmers’ organizations. These production plans help farmers to make better decisions on how to assure timely harvesting, aggregation of grain, and delivery of maize to the market to obtain premium prices,” added Krupnik.