Afghan and Indian researchers are collaborating to combat the wheat rust disease Karnal bunt. Photo: CIMMYT
DELHI, INDIA — Afghanistan is strategically located at the intersection of South, Central and West Asia, making it an incredibly geographically diverse country. Varying climates and terrains across the country have a direct impact on agriculture, including Afghanistanâs staple crop wheat, which is grown in in tropical climates in the east to cooler regions in the west.
However, various rust diseases affect wheat yields across the country. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, wheat rusts manifest as yellow, blackish or brown colored blisters that form on wheat leaves and stems, full of millions of spores. These spores, similar in appearance to rust, infect the plant tissues, hindering photosynthesis and decreasing the cropâs ability to produce grain.
While yellow rust is one of the most far-reaching diseases in Afghanistan and globally most devastating rust disease, Karnal bunt is another disease that while confined to the eastern part of Afghanistan, has proven challenging to combat with climate change creating more favorable conditions for the disease to spread in the region. In addition, the eastern province of Nangarhar is emerging as an important seed production hub in the country, raising concerns about Karnal bunt.
To counteract and contain Karnal bunt, CIMMYT and the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research jointly organized a three-day training program on Karnal bunt for Afghan researchers. Indu Sharma, former IIWBR director, stated this training is the beginning of a long collaboration between IIWBR and Afghanistanâs national agricultural research system. She also gave a detailed description of the Karnal bunt pathogen and its epidemiology, emphasizing the importance of detecting and how to combat Karnal bunt in Afghanistan.
During the workshop various principal scientists from IIWBR and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute discussed Indiaâs perspective and experience with wheat diseases, production strategies current research trends and genetic and biotechnological means for improving wheat. There was also a demonstration on preparing Karnal bunt-free seed samples for international shipping by IIWBR principal scientist M. S. Saharan.
In his address, IIWBR Director R. K. Gupta expressed his appreciation for the traineesâ active participation and looked forward to collaborating with them in the future. Sharma cited material exchange and screening of advanced lines for quality and disease resistance as opportunities for future collaboration.
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in Uttar Pradesh, India. CIMMYT/Petr Kosina
NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — Rice-wheat rotation is practiced by farmers on over 13 million hectares of farmland in South Asia, providing the primary source of food security in the region. However, climate change is projected to have a huge impact and reduce agricultural production 10 to 50 percent by 2050. Complex and local impacts from climate change and other challenges require solutions to risks that can be readily-adapted. Representatives from Bayer Crop Science recently visited the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) offices in India to discuss the potential for developing jointly managed sustainable approaches and technologies to address such challenges.
Sustainable intensification, which involves such conservation agriculture practices as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to increase profits, protect the environment, maintain and boost yields, is a potential solution that has worked to address the impact of climate change in South Asia. Such practices contribute to improved soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.
âSystems research with conservation agriculture practices like direct seeded rice, no-till wheat and recycling crop residues have shown tremendous potential to address the challenges of water and labor scarcity, conserve natural resources and lower the environmental footprint of South Asiaâs food bowl,â said M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist and the South Asia coordinator for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, collaboratively managed by the CGIAR consortium of international agricultural researchers.
During the Bayer meeting, challenges and opportunities were identified for direct seeded rice — which requires less labor and tends to mature faster than transplanted crops — and sustainable intensification programs throughout South Asia, particularly in India. Discussions were based on the success of other CIMMYT-Bayer collaborations across South Asia that aim to address agricultural challenges through sustainable intensification — including direct seeded rice — quantifying mitigation potential of conservation agriculture-based management in rice-wheat rotation and smart farm mechanization to make farm management more efficient and productive.
Moving forward, CIMMYT and Bayer will focus on agricultural systems research to ensure even more effective interventions with higher yields, collaborate to develop new sustainable technology and increase uptake throughout the region. Sustainable intensification practices are expected to continue to grow in the region thanks to these and other collaborations, along with the advent of technological advancements and increased adoption.
CIMMYT and the Bayer Crop Science team are looking for practical solutions to future challenges in South Asian agriculture. CIMMYT/Deepak
Bayer representatives at the meeting included: Hartmut van Lengerich, head of cereals and fungicides; Juergen Echle, global segment manager of rice herbicides; Christian Zupanc, global segment manager of rice fungicides; Mahesh Girdhar, global crop manager of rice and Rajvir Rathi, vice president of public and government affairs. CIMMYT representatives included: Tek Sapkota, mitigation specialist; Balwinder Singh, crop modeling specialist and Alwin Keil, senior economist.
NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — Ram Kanwar Malik, senior agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), has received the 2015 Derek Tribe Award from the Crawford Fund, for his âoutstanding contributions to making a food secure world by improving and sustaining the productivity of the rice-wheat system of the northwestern and eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.”
The award recognizes Malikâs more than 30 years of work in agricultural research and development dedicated to improving the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers in India. He led the development of a management solution for herbicide resistant Phalaris minor, a major wheat weed. This pioneering research is estimated to have prevented farmers from losing nearly 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of wheat and to have raised wheat productivity in the grain basket states of Haryana and Punjab, between 1992 and 2000.
âFor developing countries like India where farmers are smallholders and marginalized and investment in research is low, the development of new technologies and the process of delivery are inseparable,â said Malik, highlighting his life-long passion for understanding the need for farmer participation in research. âIn fact, a top-down approach could put up barriers to the adoption of new technologies. Listening to farmers and tailoring technologies to serve their needs thus become paramount.â
Malikâs collaborative work with national and international partners and farmer participatory approaches has also led to achievements in the adoption and spread of climate-resilient technologies such as zero-tillage, laser land leveling and direct-seeded rice, as well as policy changes at the government level.
Recently, Malik played an instrumental role in advocating for the early sowing of wheat in Bihar, which can double a farmerâs yield and avoid crop failure caused by higher temperatures and an early summer. Malikâs team has created a network of more than 2,000 service providers to provide easy access for smallholder farmers to machinery and modern farming technologies.
To learn more about the Crawford Fund and Derek Tribe award read the full press release here.Â
Visitors at the BISA-CIMMYT display. CIMMYT/Meenakshi Chandiramani
NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) â India’s Krishi Unnati Mela national agriculture fair, which was hosted by Indiaâs Department of Agriculture and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in March, attracted thousands of farmers who attended to learn about the latest agricultural innovations.
The fair was inaugurated by the countryâs Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who urged farmers to adopt a “three pillars” support system to insulate themselves from crop losses by farming sustainably. The prime minister recommended growing timber on extra land while adopting animal husbandry and other activities. Modi also presented awards to the best performing states of 2014-2015 and visited exhibitions demonstrating the latest advancements in Indiaâs agriculture sector.
CIMMYT Country Representative Etienne Duveiller and Meenakshi Chandiramani, CIMMYT-India office manager attend the fair. CIMMYT/R.S. Tripathi
Delegates had the opportunity to visit some 500 stalls set up by public and private sector companies to display new crop varieties, modern technologies and inputs. The Borlaug Institute for South Asia and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center displayed joint research activities underway at sites across India.
Farmers and researchers visiting the display learned about farming practices and technology from interpretive staff and through information brochures, which were made available in regional languages.
Climate change is likely to have a huge impact on cereal farmers in India. CIMMYT/Emma Quilligan
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Developing cereal crops that can withstand the effects of climate change will require global, integrated efforts across crops and disciplines, according to a recent research paper published in the journal “Global Food Security.”
The authors of âAn integrated approach to maintaining cereal productivity under climate changeâ argue that cropping systems could become more resilient in the face of climate change through better coordination. Needs include characterizing target agro-ecosystems, Â standardization of experimental protocols, comparative biology across cereals (and possibly other crops)Â and data sharing.
Better integration of research effort across the major cereal crops â including wheat, rice, maize, pearl millet and sorghum â is expected to boost productivity under heat and drought stress, thus helping to increase food security for people in less developed countries, many of which will be severely affected by climate change.
âMost of the big challenges in crop improvement are transnational, therefore a better globally integrated research effort is a triple win scenario,â according to  Matthew Reynolds, head of wheat physiology at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and lead author of the paper. âItâs more efficient since duplication of effort is reduced, itâs synergistic since we learn simultaneously from multiple crops and environments [or cropping systems], and itâs faster to achieve impacts because outputs are disseminated more broadly.â
The paper itself is the result of a workshop held in New Delhi in November 2013, which was the first of its kind to bring together researchers from leading universities, CGIAR agricultural research centers, national agricultural research systems and the private sector â working across the five crops â to discuss areas of common interest and potential collaboration.
Wheat, rice, maize, pearl millet, and sorghum make up nearly 45 percent of calories consumed per capita worldwide and about 55 percent in least developed countries, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Cereal production is under threat from climate change, which subjects crops to heat and drought stress. Diminishing water supplies, increasing populations, urbanization, shifting diets and increasing demand for fodder and fuel is also putting pressure on cereal production. Taking all these factors into account, researchers project that yield growth rates of 1.2 percent to – 1.7 percent will be required to meet global demand and reduce malnutrition.
The authors of the paper, including representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, identified priority traits for heat and drought tolerance across the cereal crops, and also called for more effective collaborations so that these traits can be modelled, tested at common phenotyping platforms and the resulting data shared with other researchers worldwide as global public goods.
âThis paper has provided a baseline about what needs to be done,â said O.P. Yadav, director of the Central Arid Zone Research Institute at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. âIt has also shown what is achievable, once various institutes decide to work together with a common goal and become collaborative stakeholders in increasing the resilience of diverse cropping systems.â
A farmer feeds harvested wheat crop into a thresher as a woman collects de-husked wheat in a field at Kunwarpur village, Allahabad in India’s Uttar Pradesh website. Credit: Handout
V.K. Mishra and Ramash Chand are professors at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. Arun Joshi is a wheat breeder at CIMMYT. Any views expressed are their own.
One of the side-effects of the Green Revolution, which began in the 1960s and led to large increases in crop production, has been a change in the cropping patterns in many parts of India.
Farmers have shifted to crops with higher yields. In the Indo-Gangetic plains, for example, rice and wheat have replaced many other crops. This has reduced crop diversity, affected dietary patterns, and led to malnutrition due to a poor supply of proteins, vitamins, iron and zinc.
Wheat is the staple diet in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Farmers in those states typically have very small landholdings and consume about 70 per cent of the food they produce. One essential mineral missing from their diet is zinc. A zinc deficiency leads to malfunctioning of several proteins and enzymes, and manifests itself in a variety of diseases, including diarrhea, skin and respiratory disorders.
One way of making up for this kind of deficiency is to provide fortification by adding missing nutrients to food, but this is complex for several reasons, including price increases, the problem of quality control, and the possibility of adulteration.
We tested the genetic bio-fortification technology for enhancing the zinc content in wheat crops under the HarvestPlus project of CIMMYT and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bio-fortification is a seed-driven technology that enables crops to extract a higher amount of zinc from the soil and store it in the edible parts.
Through cross-breeding, we produced several thousand wheat genotypes and screened them for high zinc content and high yield. In India, a new variety would be unacceptable if it does not deliver a higher yield than the varieties already under cultivation. We isolated several of these cross-bred varieties that had both high zinc and high yield, and put them through field trials. The existing varieties of wheat crop had 29 parts per million (ppm)Â of zinc and the varieties we selected had 40 to 45 ppm of zinc.
These field trials were conducted at 70 different locations. Two specific varieties of wheat were then distributed to about 5,000 farmers for cultivation.
The next stage is national trials, which will be conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The first thing that ICAR does is to put the recommended varieties to disease trial. The ICAR tests take about three years. One of the varieties, BHU-35, has recently cleared the disease-testing stage and is ready to be released in Uttar Pradesh for cultivation, after a few more regulatory clearances.
Seven other varieties are currently undergoing disease testing, and in the next few years, many other zinc-rich wheat crops will be ready for cultivation.
Conservation agriculture (field at right) protects wheat from damage due to water stagnation experienced in a conventional field, visible in the blackening of the wheat (left field). CIMMYT/Tek Sapkota
Julianna White is program manager for low emissions agriculture at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. Tek Sapkota is a scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvment Center and lead author of the study. Any opinions expressed are their own.
Research shows conservation agriculture increases the income of farmers, moderates canopy temperatures, improves irrigation productivity and reduces greenhouse gas emissions in cereal systems in the Indo-Gangetic plains.
In an August 2015 article in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture, researchers report that a comprehensive literature review and evidence collected from on-farm trials showed that conservation agriculture – defined as minimal soil disturbance and permanent soil cover combined with appropriate rotations – improved farmersâ income, helped crops sustain or adapt to heat and water stresses, and reduced agricultureâs contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in cereal systems in South Asia.
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. CIMMYT/Petr Kosina
Farmers reap economic benefits
Conservation agriculture recommends minimal soil disturbance, most commonly tillage. Farmers who practiced zero tillage saved 23 percent in production costs by avoiding preparatory tillage and reducing the number of times fields were irrigated, while reaping the same or slightly higher yields.
Minimizing heat stress
High temperatures during the maturity stage cause wheat to decrease grain size, lowering overall yields, a phenomenon known as âterminal heat effect.â Farmers who practice conservation agriculture avoid this heat stress because residues left on the surface of the field conserve soil moisture, enhancing transpiration and creating a cooling effect â thus avoiding reduced yields caused by terminal heat effect.
Efficient use of water resources
Researchers found multiple examples that the zero tillage component of conservation agriculture led to significant water savings in both rice and wheat systems. Water savings accrued across systems. In rice-wheat systems, retention of wheat residues reduces water use in rice, and retention of rice residues causes reduced water use in wheat. Non-requirement of preparatory tillage advances the planting times thereby increasing rainwater-use efficiency and utilizing residual moisture from the previous crop.
Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions
Minimizing soil disturbance allows for soil carbon to accumulate, causing a net soil carbon gain. Although scientists are still debating the extent of soil carbon sequestered through conservation agriculture, indirect emissions reductions are numerous: less power and fuel consumption due to decreased tillage in conservation agriculture, decreased labor from machines and humans, and slower depreciation of equipment.
Business-as-usual production practices such as conventional tillage and farmersâ nutrient and irrigation management systems are greenhouse gas-intensive, while zero tillage reduces energy consumption in land preparation and crop establishment and efficient use of water resources reduces energy needs from pumping. Leaving residues in the field increases soil health and fertility, thereby reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.
Researchers found that, on average, farmers could save 36 liters of diesel per hectare, equivalent to a reduction in 93 kg CO2 emission per hectare per year by practicing zero tillage for land preparation and crop establishment in the rice-wheat system typical on the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Given that 13.5 million hectares are under rice-wheat system cultivation in the region, this represents a reduction of 12.6 megatons of CO2 equivalent.
New technologies increase uptake of conservation agriculture
Despite excellent productivity, economic gains and environmental benefits, adoption of conservation agriculture in South Asia is still relatively slow, most likely due to various technological and socio-economic factors. It takes years and ample evidence for farmers to change the entrenched habit of tillage with planting. And it is a process.
For example, some farmers have adopted zero-tillage in wheat production, primarily to facilitate early planting, lower production costs and increase yields (and therefore profitabilitiy). However, these same farmers still prefer to practice tillage and puddling (wet-tillage) in their rice crops for weed control and reduction in percolation loss of water/nutrient. Also, farmers tend to burn crop residues to facilitate planting with the zero-tillage drill. To realize the full potential of conservation agriculture, all crops in rotation have to be brought under zero tillage, and crop residues will have to be used as soil surface mulch.
Due to the recent development of the âTurbo Happy Seeder,â which can drill seed and fertilizer directly through loose and anchored crop residues, farmers are gradually moving towards zero tillage across the agriculture system.
Farmers who practice conservation agriculture also must adjust their nutrient management systems in order to maximize crop productivity decrease costs. Conventional fertilizer recommendations have been calibrated based on tillage-based systems are thus not necessarily appropriate for conservation agriculture systems, including nutrient stewardship (applying the right source of fertilizer at the right time in right place using right method).
Crop residue management is essential for continuous coil cover, an important component of conservation agriculture, but farmers are faced with competing uses of crop residue as livestock feed, fuel, mulch and compost. Local adaptive research is needed to address strategic residue and nutrient management, weed control and scale-appropriate machinery development.
Such a paradigm shift in crop management requires a mindset transition among farmers and other value chain actors, including researchers, extension agents, market players and other institutions. Though it is recognized that transition takes time, recent progress and development in weed control and nutrient management systems signal that practice of conservation agriculture is growing across the region, including among different socio-economic groups and farm typologies.
CCAFS and CIMMYT continue research and implementation of low emissions agriculture across the globe. See also the regional focus on conservation and climate-smart agriculture in South Asia.
Kropff with with CIMMYT Bihar staff. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT
NEW DELHI — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Director General Martin Kropff presented the organizationâs draft strategy with its unifying vision of âOne CIMMYTâ at the staff session in the Delhi office during his India visit from 24 February to 3 March. Kropff highlighted that CIMMYTâs excellent scientific work, global presence, partnerships and people are its strengths. However, the organization needs to focus on engaging with new donors and increasing organizational effectiveness in the future.
In the meeting, Kropff shared reflections on his eight months at CIMMYT, emphasizing that improving integration among different projects, teams and geographies through shared values and teamwork will help to achieve a common mission: âMaize & Wheat Science for Improved livelihoods.â
Kropff examines zero tillage wheat in Bihar. Photo: Nynke Kropff-Nammensma/CIMMYT
Staff discussed different elements of the strategy in smaller group breakout sessions and suggested various steps to raise scientific excellence, increase capacity building and to achieve the One CIMMYT objective across all regions. The groups agreed that the âwill play a key role in bringing innovative ideas and developing the next generation of well-trained scientists.
During his first visit to the state of Bihar, Kropff visited BISA research farm at Pusa, where he was accompanied by Hari S. Gupta, Director General of BISA, senior officials from Rajendra Agriculture University and CIMMYT scientists. Raj Kumar Jat, BISA cropping systems agronomist, explained the positive impacts of long-term conservation agriculture research on productivity, profitability and soil health at the farm. Kropff saw demonstrations of small farm mechanization, climate-smart practices and the latest research tools and techniques for breeding crop varieties.
The team visited the research platform of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in Patna. R.K. Malik, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, highlighted that research results have shown that using shorter hybrid rice varieties can help facilitate an early rice harvest and advance wheat sowing. This will help combat the adverse effects of climate change such as rising heat during the wheat ripening phase and will increase wheat productivity in Bihar. Kropff also interacted with women farmers and service providers to understand their business development services around service provision model.
Kropff and the CIMMYT-BISA team then met with Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister to discuss how CIMMYT and BISAâs work on new technologies could be helpful to double the productivity in the state with less cost and less water while improving the soil quality. The meeting was also attended by the senior officials of the state government and the Agricultural Production Commissioner of Bihar.
M.L. Jat shows resilient cropping system options for eastern Indo-Gangetic plains at BISA farm
CIMMYT Senior Scientist M.L. Jat has received Indiaâs National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) fellowship in Natural Resource Management for his âoutstanding contributions in developing and scalingâ conservation agriculture-based management technologies for predominant cereal-based cropping systems in South Asia.
Research such as M.L.âs is more important every day, as we learn to do more with less on a planet with finite resources and changing climate. Sustainable innovation, including climate-smart agriculture, is a major theme at the ongoing COP21 climate talks where global leaders are gathered to decide the future of our planet. M.L. tells us below how CA can play a part in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the future of CA in South Asia.
What are the major threats global climate change poses to South Asian agriculture?
South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change. With a growing population of 1.6 billion people, the region hosts 40% of the worldâs poor and malnourished on just 2.4% of the worldâs land. Agriculture makes up over half of the regionâs livelihoods, so warmer winters and extreme, erratic weather events such as droughts and floods have an even greater impact. Higher global temperatures will continue to add extreme pressure to finite land and other natural resources, threatening food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the urban poor.
How does CA mitigate and help farmers adapt to climate change?
In South Asia, climate change is likely to reduce agricultural production 10â50% by 2050 and beyond, so adaptation measures are needed now. Climate change has complex and local impacts, requiring scalable solutions to likewise be locally-adapted.
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices such as CA not only minimize production costs and inputs, but also help farmers adapt to extreme weather events, reduce temporal variability in productivity, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, according to numerous data on CA management practices throughout the region.
What future developments are needed to help South Asian farmers adapt to climate change?
Targeting and access to CA sustainable intensification technologies, knowledge, and training – such as precision water and nutrient management or mechanized CA solutions specific to a farmerâs unique landscape – will be critical to cope with emerging risks of climate variability. Participatory and community-based approaches will be critical for scaled impact as well. For example, the climate smart village concept allows rural youth and women to be empowered not only by becoming CA practitioners but also by serving as knowledge providers to the local community, making them important actors in generating employment and scaling CA and other climate-smart practices.
Where do you see your research heading in the next 10-15 years?
Now that there are clear benefits of CA and CSA across a diversity of farms at a regional level, as well as increased awareness by stakeholders of potential challenges of resource degradation and food security in the face of climate change, scaling up CA and CSA interventions will be a priority. For example, the Government of Haryana in India has already initiated a program to introduce CSA in 500 climate smart villages. Thanks to this initiative, CA and CSA will benefit 10 million farms across the region in the next 10-15 years.
Climate-Smart Villages
Climate-Smart Villages are a community-based approach to adaptation and mitigation of climate change for villages in high-risk areas, which will likely suffer most from a changing climate. The project began in 2011 with 15 climate-smart villages in West Africa, East Africa and South Asia, and is expanding to Latin America and Southeast Asia. CIMMYT is leading the CCAFS-CSV project in South Asia.
El BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â Post-doctoral fellow Soumya Gupta is the winner of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) announced on Thursday.
Gupta was recognized for research that “systematically and empirically assesses the empowerment of women in India as it relates to agricultural determinants and nutritional outcomes,” the group said in a statement.
The ICRW praised Guptaâs doctoral research at Cornell University for revealing that when women are empowered, they are better positioned to make their own choices in agriculture and help influence their own nutritional outcomes.
Gupta’s research showed that while diversification of production systems and diets is an important pathway to improved nutrition, the outcome is conditional on womenâs status, the statement said.
Gupta found that empowered women tend to have better access to diet diversity and improved iron status.
âI could not imagine a more deserving researcher upon which to bestow the honor of the inaugural Paula Kantor Award,â said ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou. “Dr. Guptaâs work truly embodies the spirit and passion that Paula brought to her work every day. I see so many parallels between the important work that Paula was doing to better integrate gender into agriculture and rural development and Dr. Guptaâs field research.â
This is the first year that ICRW bestowed the award, which was designed to honor the legacy of the group’s former colleague Paula Kantor who died at age 46 in the aftermath of a Taliban attack in Pakistan last year.
At the time of her death, the prolific gender and development specialist was working at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on a project focused on understanding the role of gender in the livelihoods of people in major wheat-growing areas of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
Kantor was widely recognized in the international development community as an established and respected professional and writer, who pushed the realms of gender research to engage men more effectively. She published more than a dozen peer-reviewed academic publications, 10 peer-reviewed monographs and briefs, 15 other publications and 10 conference papers during her lifetime.
âI am honored to be the first recipient of the Paula Kantor Award,â Gupta said. âThere is a great need for better data (and metrics) in the field of agriculture, nutrition and womenâs empowerment. In light of that, the Paula Kantor Award acknowledges the importance of gathering primary data for evidence-based research.â
âAt the same time the award also recognizes the tremendous effort that goes into designing a field-based data collection activity that is methodologically robust, contextually relevant, and ethically sound,” she said.
“I am inspired by Paulaâs work and life, and with this award look forward to continuing my research on the linkages between nutrition and agriculture with a focus on womenâs empowerment, and contributing to policy reform in a meaningful way.”
Gupta will receive the award at ICRWâs 40th Anniversary celebration in New Delhi, India on January 20th.
Gupta will receive a commemorative plaque  and the opportunity to meet with organizations, government officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations, and others in Delhi to discuss her work and the importance of understanding the connections between womenâs empowerment, agricultural practices and nutritional outcomes.
Maize is a stable crop that requires less water, has lower input costs and earns farmers greater profit thanks to its growing demand as food and feed for livestock. Tribal farmers in Odisha are increasing maize yields with the use of new technologies and improved agronomic practices. Photo: Ashwamegh Banerjee/CIMMYT
Badbil is a remote and deeply impoverished tribal village in the plateau region of Mayurbhanj in the east Indian state of Odisha. The village is home to 200 families belonging to four indigenous tribes who have traditionally grown a local rice called Sathia.
Due to regularly occurring droughts and declining rainfall, families have started giving up rice cultivation. The rice cropâs high demand for water has resulted in about a 40% decline in total rice production in Indiaâs eastern states during severe droughts, with an estimated loss of US$ 800 million. As a result, Mayurbhanjâs plateau area is now considered unsuitable for growing rice and remains fallow for most of the year.
âFarmers also face the problem of nutrient-depleted lateritic and acidic soils, which are dominant in these areas and commonly dismissed as degraded and unproductive by the local population,â said R.K. Malik, CIMMYT Senior Agronomist.
CSISA contributes to increased adoption of climate-resilient practices. Photo: CIMMYT
NEW DELHI, India (CIMMYT) — Major impacts of CIMMYTâs Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) include success in increasing access to and affordability of modern farming technologies and practices for smallholder farmers across India, according to a new report.
The initiative, which began in 2012, resulted in positive impacts and has built a robust service economy to improve access to new technologies for smallholder farmers, said Andrew McDonald, CSISA project leader.
âIndia has a large number of smallholders, especially in eastern states where the average landholding size is decreasing and machine ownership by farmers is often not economically viable,â McDonald said. âUnless we build a robust service economy to facilitate uptake of new technologies, they would be beyond the reach of most smallholders.â
CSISA has developed a network of nearly 2,000 service providers in eastern India over the past three years to accelerate the expansion of sustainable intensification technologies, resulting in improved yields of up to 20 percent and increased farmer incomes through cost savings of $100 per hectare, the publication reports.
The report also details CSISAâs contribution to increased adoption of climate-resilient practices such as early planting of wheat and the use of zero-tillage seed drills, which help farmers overcome labor shortages during rice cultivation through mechanical rice planting.
âCSISA has built a compelling body of evidence for the importance of early planting to combat the negative effects of rising temperatures,â McDonald said.
âAs a result, public perception and official recommendations have changed, and more than 600,000 farmers are now planting wheat earlier in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.â
Additionally, CSISA helped popularize hybrid maize, which has increased yields and improved food security.
âEnhancing the productivity of the rice-wheat cropping systems in South Asiaâs Indo-Gangetic Plains is essential for ensuring food security for more than 20 percent of the worldâs population,â said McDonald. âCSISA, in close collaboration with national wheat programs, has released new wheat varieties with higher yield potential, which perform well even in stress-prone areas.â
These results were achieved during CSISAâs second phase, from 2012 to 2015, through collaborative work with national research and extension systems, research institutes, state governments, non-governmental organizations, private companies and farmers,.
Led by CIMMYT, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) aims to sustainably improve cereal productivity, food security and increase farmersâ income in South Asiaâs Indo-Gangetic Plains, home to the regionâs most important grain baskets. www.csisa.org
For more information, contact:
Anuradha Dhar
Communications Specialist
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
In eastern India, CSISA increased adoption of early sowing of wheat and zero tillage by demonstrating the benefits in farmersâ fields. Photo: Vinaynath Reddy.
Growth rates of staple crop yields in South Asia are insufficient to meet the regionâs projected demands. Forty percent of the worldâs poor live in South Asia, and the area comprising eastern India, Bangladesh, and Nepal has the worldâs largest concentration of impoverished and food insecure people. At the same time, resource degradation, declining labor availability, and climate change (frequent droughts and rising temperatures) pose considerable threats to farming system productivity and rural livelihoods. By 2050, 30% of South Asiaâs wheat crop is likely to be lost due to higher temperatures, experts say.
A farmer at work weeding in a maize field close to the Pusa site of the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), in the Indian state of Bihar. CIMMYT/M. DeFreese
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new award recognizes contributions to the livelihoods and economic empowerment of women made by a former giant in the field of international gender research.
The inaugural Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research, to be given to a young female researcher of Indian origin, aims to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of gender and empowerment of women and girls in India.
Kantor, a gender and development specialist working with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), died tragically on May 13 at age 46, in the aftermath of a Taliban attack on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan.
She formerly worked as senior rural development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). The non-profit organization initiated the award to acknowledge Kantorâs 20 years of experience in executing policy research and programmatic work related to integrating gender into agriculture and rural development.
âDr Kantorâs work was largely driven by her desire and passion to improve lives in the global south, especially those of women and girls,â ICRW said in a statement issued to solicit nominations.
âShe was a prolific researcher who participated in and worked with several initiatives to better the lives and improve livelihoods for women in conflict-prone and terrorist-affected areas.â
The award will be presented to the winner at the ICRWâs 40th anniversary celebrations in New Delhi, India in January. In subsequent years, the award will be open to researchers of all origins and honor research throughout the developing world, the statement said, adding that nominations must be received by December 7.
At the time of her death, she was working on a new CIMMYT research project focused on understanding the role of gender in the livelihoods of people in major wheat-growing areas of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
âPaulaâs death was a massive blow to the entire development community,â said Martin Kropff, director general at CIMMYT. âThrough her work she was helping to lift up a segment of the global population facing major threats to food security and gender equality. This award serves to recognize the major role she was playing to help empower men and women to determine their own future.â
Although women play a crucial role in farming and food production, they often face greater constraints in agricultural production than men. Rural women are less likely than men to own land or livestock, adopt new technologies, access credit, financial services, or receive education or extension advice, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Globally, if women had the same access to agricultural production resources as men, they could increase crop yields by up to 30 percent, which would raise total agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 4 percent, reducing the number of hungry people by up to 150 million or 17 percent, FAO statistics show.
For more information on how to nominate candidates for the award, please visit the ICRW website
The rates of growth of staple crop yields in South Asia are insufficient to meet the projected demands in the region. With 40 percent of the worldâs poor living in South Asia, the area composed of eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal has the largest concentration of impoverished and food insecure people worldwide. At the same time, issues of resource degradation, declining labor availability and climate change (frequent droughts and rising temperatures) pose considerable threats to increasing the productivity of farming systems and rural livelihoods. Thirty percent of South Asiaâs wheat crop is likely to be lost due to higher temperatures by 2050, experts say.
âThese ecologies are regionally important for several reasons,â said Andrew McDonald, Project Leader, Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia, CIMMYT. âFirst, they have a higher density of rural poverty and food insecurity than any other region. Second, yield gaps for cereal staples are higher here than elsewhere in South Asia â highlighting the significant growth potential in agriculture.â
According to McDonald, there has been some successes due to increased investment and focus on intensification in these areas over the past 10 years. A CIMMYT-led initiative, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) has contributed to major outcomes such as rapid uptake of early-planted wheat, the use of zero-tillage seed drills and long-duration, high-yielding wheat varieties in eastern India.
CSISA, in close collaboration with national partners, has been working in this region since 2009 to sustainably enhance the productivity of cereal-based cropping systems, as well as to improve the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers.
âClimate-resilient practices are gaining confidence in the areas we are working. More than 500,000 farmers adopted components of the early rice-wheat cropping system in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh last year,â said R.K. Malik, Senior Agronomist, CIMMYT. âEarly sowing can protect the crop from late-season heat damage and increase yields. Itâs a non-cash input that even smallholders can benefit from and is one of the most important adaptations to climate change in this region.â
To increase the spread of these innovations and increase farmersâ access to modern farming technologies, CSISA is working to strengthen the network of service providers.
âThis region has a large number of smallholder farmers and ownership of machines by smallholders is often not economically viable,â highlighted Malik. âIn Indian states of Bihar, Odisha and eastern Uttar Pradesh, CSISA has facilitated more than 2,100 progressive farmers to become local entrepreneurs through relevant skills, information and training during the last three years.â
The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have recently approved Phase III of CSISA, running from December 2015 to November 2020. Building on the momentum and achievements of Phase I and II, Phase III will work to scale up innovations, strengthen local capacity and expand markets to support the widespread adoption of climate-resilient agricultural technologies in partnership with the national and developmental partners and key private sector actors.
âCSISA has made its mark as a âbig tentâ initiative that closes gaps between research and delivery, and takes a systems approach that will continue to be leveraged in Phase III through strategic partnerships with national agricultural systems, extension systems and agricultural departments and with civil society and the private sector,â said McDonald.
Implemented jointly with International Rice Research Institute and International Food Policy Research Institute, the main four outcomes of Phase III focus on technology scaling, mainstreaming innovation into national systems, development of research-based products and reforming policies for faster technology adoption.
