Location: India

During 21-22 November, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) hosted a major tribute ceremony for Norman E. Borlaug at its NASC complex in New Delhi. Some 200 participants attended the inaugural session, which featured a welcome and memorial address by Mangala Rai, secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), ICAR director general and former CIMMYT Trustee. There were memorial addresses by T Nanda Kumar, secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC); Mahmoud Solh, director general, ICARDA; M.S. Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF; and K.V. Thomas, honorable minister of state (Agriculture).

Thomas Lumpkin’s presentation, entitled “India’s ‘Annadaata’ — Father of the Green Revolution,” was very well-received, according to global wheat program director Hans Braun. Braun, along with CIMMYT distinguished scientist Ravi Singh and Raj Gupta, South Asia coordinator, delivery and adaptation of cereal technology, took part in the tribute and the 1.5-day technical sessions on increasing wheat yields, controlling wheat rust diseases, promoting conservation agriculture, managing climate change and abiotic stresses, and wheat quality improvement. A valedictory function was attended as well by Sharad Pawar, minister of agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Nearly 20 delegates from North Bengal Agriculture University’s agricultural outreach stations and several local farmers attended a conservation agriculture (conservation agriculture) traveling training seminar in India during 29-30 October 2009.

At a field owned by farmer Paras Nath and located in Paghra village of the Samastipur District, presenters explained laser-land leveling, zero-tillage, and bed planting. The first presenter, Sanjeev Kumar, service engineer from the laser manufacturing company Leica, Elcom Technologies Pvt Limited, in Gurgaon, India, described the use of the laser system and provided hands-on training for laser-land leveling, a practice that improves productivity and conserves irrigation water. Next, CIMMYT agronomist Raj Kumar demonstrated zero-till planting for lentils and bed planting for maize.

Participants then traveled to Rajendra Agriculture University’s (RAU), Pusa Farm, where they saw CA-based longterm experimental trials of rice-wheat and rice-maize systems. Following this, the delegation visited participatory trials of zero-till rice and listened to additional CA information and herbicide application techniques presented by CSISA hub manager Ravi Gopal. Finally, S. Chowdhury, CIMMYT seed production specialist, spoke about new wheat varieties suitable for the eastern Indo- Gangetic Plains.

Tortillas made from quality protein maize (QPM) are now being sold on the streets in Patna, the capital city of Bihar, India. CIMMYT-India donated a QPM tortilla unit to Magadh Credit Cooperative Society (MCCS) and the society is now selling five tortillas with curry for about US$ 0.25 (10-12 rupees). The program is based on a “meals on wheels” scheme and the food will be sold at mobile shops and Sudha milk booths across Patna. The goal is to provide affordable, healthy food to the city’s urban poor. CIMMYT and Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) are working to strengthen inbred production of hybrid QPM seed in eastern India to support this production chain.

Three years of sowing experience with conservation agriculture (CA) practices in a rice-wheat system at an agricultural outreach station (KVK) in the Jamui district of Bihar State in India have been successful. So far, results show that dry, direct-seeded rice or transplanted rice on permanent beds give higher yields than other crop establishment methods, said KVK agronomist P.K. Singh to visitors during a CA farmer’s field day.

Held on 19 October 2009, the event included 50 farmers, 10 service providers, and 9 representatives from the Bihar State Department of Agriculture. KVK’s program coordinator, R.N. Singh, opened the event with remarks on how increasing input costs and labor shortages are pushing up the cost of rice production in the predominantly rice-growing districts of Jamui and Lakheesarai. CA-based practices, he emphasized, are one way farmers can cut costs and improve yields, making farming more sustainable and economically viable. The district agricultural officer, Manoj Kumar, added that the introduction of winter maize will help diversify the current rice-wheat systems and will also improve productivity. He concluded with information about the government’s initiatives for and increased supply of quality seed and more mechanization.

Later in the day, farmers viewed various plots sown with different CA practices, during which they asked questions and saw CA machinery demonstrations. Dry, direct-seeded rice with anchored residues in a permanent no-till system caught the attention of many participants, along with the high-yielding, unpuddled transplanted rice on permanent beds. Farmers also discussed weed management practices for various crops with Ravi Gopal, agronomist for the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). The event was part of CSISA’s delivery objective for the central Bihar Hub.

The Central Bihar Hub for Conservation Agriculture (CA), the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), and Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU) organized a traveling seminar for farmers on 2-3 October 2009 in Bihar, India. The seminar, whose theme was the application of CA technologies to rice/wheat and rice/maize systems, began at the Regional Maize Research and Seed Production Center in Begusarai, continued in farmers’ fields at Bachwara (Samastipur) and Krishnawara (Vaishali), and ended at RAU in Pusa, Samastipur. Scientific and technical guidance was provided by Dr. S. Chowdhury, CIMMYT-India; Dr. M. Kumar, RAU agronomist; Dr. M.L. Chaudhari, Vice-Chancellor, RAU; Dr. I.S. Solanki, Head, IARIRS, Pusa; and Mr. Ravi Gopal, Hub Manager, CSISA.

Participating farmers from 10 districts of central Bihar viewed trials in farmers’ fields and listened to local farmers talk about their experiences with new technologies, such as zero-till for rice-wheat, that have increased their yields and reduced their production costs. A technology that particularly caught their eye was the double no-till rice-wheat and rice-maize system with residue retention, outstanding due to its intense biological activity, good crop growth, and fertile soil conditions. Farmers asked questions about specific subjects such as weed management in rice, the effect of residues for conserving moisture (of particular interest in this dry year), and nutrient management strategies.

On the second day, participants gathered for a technical meeting at RAU Pusa to discuss issues related to the adoption of CA technologies. Among other subjects, results of long-term rice-wheat and rice-maize trials and of farmer participatory research were presented, and strategies for reducing production costs and increasing farm productivity were discussed. Vice-Chancellor Chaudhari explained that RAU is strengthening its seed production and technology transfer capabilities for the benefit of farmers. Of particular use to farmers was the opportunity to present their views, success stories, and experiences with CA technologies, aswell as to voice problems relating to crop production, productivity, and marketing. Potential solutions (growing pulses to diversify the cropping systems; green manuring to help restore soil fertility and micronutrient availability) were suggested by attending scientists and technical staff.

 More than 100 farmers in India benefited from a traveling seminar on conservation agriculture (CA) organized by CIMMYT and held in the Samastipur and Begusarai districts during 28-29 March 2009.

After opening remarks by Dr. Solanki, head of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s regional Pusa research station, farmers visited CIMMYT run experimental CA plots at Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU) and the Regional Maize Research & Seed Production Center. They observed CA wheat seed production at the Adaptive Research Station, Begusarai, and saw several farmer participatory trials planted with zero-till (ZT) wheat, ZT maize, or bed planted with sugarcane and wheat intercropping. Also at the Adaptive Research Station, assistant agronomist Ashok Mahraj discussed on-station productivity improvements due to the adoption of CA practices in 2006, and the need to make local farming economically viable despite higher input prices and farm wages.

Other presenters included Dr. M. Kumar, RAU agronomist, who discussed the present status of zero-tilled wheat in Bihar state; Dr. R. Liak and Dr. P.K. Jha who spoke about the results of long-term CA experiments in ricewheat systems in connection with soil changes; Dr. S. Chowdhury, wheat breeder and CIMMYT consultant, who described new wheat varieties; and Ravi Gopal, CA agronomist, who explained overall practices in a rice-wheat CA system.

For their part, farmers from Katihar, Purnea, Khagaria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Muzafarpur, and East Champaran learned how to improve yields and cut production costs for major crops, through participatory collaboration with scientists and extension workers on targeted CA modules.

Lene Lange, chair of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees, recently visited the headquarters of our sister institute, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, India. It was her first visit to the campus in 20 years and she was shown the ICRISAT lab facilities and germplasm bank and visited some field activities. Lange was particularly interested in discussing issues surrounding the new global interest in biofuels as well as public-private sector partnerships. Her hosts for the visit were ICRISAT Deputy Director General, Dyno Keatinge and former CIMMYT scientist, David Hoisington.