In arid and semi-arid regions, soil salinity and sodicity pose challenges to global food security and environmental sustainability. Globally, around 932 million hectares are affected by salinization and alkalinization. Due to growing populations, anthropogenic activities and climate change, the prominence of salt stress in soil is rising both in irrigated and dryland systems.
Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) employed long-term conservation agriculture practices in different agri-food systems to determine the reclamation potential of sodic soil after continuous cultivation for nine years, with the experimentâs results now published.
Using different conservation agriculture techniques on areas cultivating combinations of maize, wheat, rice and mungbean, the study used soil samples to identify declines in salinity and sodicity after four and nine years of harvesting.
Evidence demonstrates that this approach is a viable route for reducing soil sodicity and improving soil carbon pools. The research also shows that the conservation agriculture-based rice-wheat-mungbean system had more reclamation potential than other studied systems, and therefore could improve soil organic carbon and increase productive crop cultivation.
Cover photo: Comparison of crop performance under conservation agriculture and conventional tillage in a sodic soil at Karnal, Haryana, India. (Credit: HS Jat/ICAR-CSSRI)
âFor several years, weâve been building dense data sets with colleagues from the Indian Agricultural Research Council, which have allowed us to unravel complex farm realities through big data analytics, and to determine what agricultural management practices really matter in smallholder systems,â said Andrew McDonald â94, M.S. â98, Ph.D. â03, associate professor of soil and crop sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. âThis process has confirmed that planting dates are the foundation for climate resilience and productivity outcomes in the dominant rice-wheat cropping systems in the eastern sector in India.â
The research was conducted through the  Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CSISA, which is led by CIMMYT with the International Rice Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute as research partners, was established in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asiaâs cereal-based cropping systems.
Researchers found that farmers in eastern India could increase yield by planting wheat earlier â avoiding heat stress as the crop matures â and quantified the potential gains in yields and farm revenues for the region. They also found that the intervention would not negatively impact rice productivity, a key consideration for farmers. Rice alternates with wheat on the cropping calendar, with many farmers growing rice in the wet season and wheat in the dry season.
The study also provides new recommendations for rice sowing dates and types of cultivars, to accommodate the earlier sowing of wheat.
âFarmers are not just managing single crops. They are managing a sequence of decisions,â said McDonald, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Global Development. âTaking a cropping systems approach and understanding how things cascade and interlink informs our research approach and is reflected in the recommendations that emerged from this analysis. Climate resilient wheat starts with rice.â
The research is the result of years of collaboration with international groups and government agencies in India, which have identified the Eastern Ganges Plain as the area with the most potential growth in production. The region will become essential, McDonald said, as the demand for wheat grows, and climate change makes production more difficult and unpredictable; just this year, record heat waves in March and April and food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine â both of which prompted Indiaâs government to instate a ban on wheat exports â have highlighted the need for increased yields and more sustainable farming practices.
âIn the bigger sense, this research is timely because the hazards of climate change aren’t just a hypothetical,â McDonald said. âMany of these areas are stress-prone environments, and extreme weather already constrains productivity. Identifying pragmatic strategies that help farmers navigate current extremes will establish a sound foundation for adapting to progressive climate change.â
Poverty is endemic in the Eastern Ganges Plain, and the region is dominated by small landholders, with varying practices and access to resources. The breadth and specificity of the data collected and analyzed in the study â including field and household survey data, satellite data, and dynamic crop simulations â allowed researchers to understand regional small farmsâ challenges and the barriers to change.
âAt the end of the day, none of this matters unless farmers opt in,â McDonald said. âThereâs a spatial dimension and a household dimension to opportunity. If we can  target approaches accordingly, then we hope to position farmers to make management changes that will benefit the entire food system.â
The study was co-authored with researchers from the Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the International Rice Research Institute, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Bihar Agricultural University. The research was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development through grants to the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia, which is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
CIMMYT enumerators hold booklets with vignettes before their interaction with family farmers Kiran Devi (second from left) and Rishikesh Ram (third from left). (Photo: Nima Chodon /CIMMYT)
Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are conducting a study in the state of Bihar, India, to improve our understanding of women’s and men’s contributions to decision-making around wheat crop management. The results will help reach women with new varieties that meet their needs and priorities.
The study seeks to overcome a big challenge for research organizations and national policymakers: to design a better framework for faster turnover of improved varieties and increased access to women and marginalized farmers.
Wheat is the second-largest crop grown in Bihar after rice, with a production of 5-6 million tonnes of it every year. Despite women’s contributions to farming activities, from sowing to harvesting, traditional gender norms can undermine their access to productive resources and influence household decisions. Additionally, women’s workload in wheat agriculture is increasing, due to men’s departure to non-agricultural jobs, but women are still not necessarily recognized as capable farmers.
Gender exclusion in agriculture
Given social norms and household-and-farm labor division based on gender, women are often confined to specific roles in the agricultural production system. In smallholder farming communities of South Asia like Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, men’s increasing involvement in non-agricultural activities has increased women’s workloads in every sphere of agricultural production. However, these long-held assumptions of their role can lead to exclusion from decision-making, limiting their control over what, how, and how much a crop is produced, their economic wellbeing, including household food security.
The CIMMYT study on “Intra-household gender dynamics in decision-making for wheat crop management in India (Bihar)” investigates women’s and men’s roles in production decisions. Led by Hom Gartaula, Gender, and Social Inclusion Specialist at CIMMYT, it covers eight villages â four in Darbhanga and four in Madhepura district â with 25 houses considered in each village.
As part of the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for improved livelihoods in Asia and Africa (AGG) Â project, the research study will help gain deeper insights into the intra-household gender dynamics. It will also help in untangling who does what, how wheat cultivation and management decisions are organized within the households and the perceptions of the male and female farmers around why decisions are made in such a way.
Farmer Devi points at the vignette that aligns with her household decision-making process. (Photo: Nima Chodon /CIMMYT)
Storytelling through household decision-making scenarios
In traditional rural societies, survey-based data collection might not be the best way to evaluate women’s agency, as the deeply rooted cultural restrictions might not allow them to talk openly about sensitive issues, like their relationship with a spouse. This study uses an innovative storytelling approach to data collection: using vignettes, farmers are given short stories to relate to their household circumstances. Stories are also easier to remember and help build a connection with the characters quickly.
The vignettes approach was first applied in the context of smallholder maize production in Kenya under the AGG project. According to Rachel Voss, the leader of the Kenyan study, âUsing vignettes to explore decision-making in both East Africa and South Asia allows us to learn and compare across these regions and across crops. Gender relations in Indian wheat and Kenyan maize production might look similar in some ways, but very different in other ways, and our research and programming will need to respond to those differences.â
In this study, five vignettes with fictitious husband and wife characters are presented to participants to represent the different ways production and consumption decisions are made in the household. These vignettes describe how they engage in key decisions like seed procurement, labor hired, and harvest used for consumption or sale. With guidance from evaluators, respondents identify which scenario best aligns with the decision-making process in their household.
Researchers feel this qualitative data, gathered through a storytelling approach, could guide the reach of gender interventions in a more effective way. Gartaula and the team explained that the participants can build connections to a character in the story without biases, expressing their experiences in household decision-making through vignettes. They also observed that sometimes what the participant shared is the opposite of their assumption of women being excluded from decisions.
Rethinking gender roles
Traditional gender roles are deeply entrenched in the region. In the farming communities of rural Bihar, one might assume that who does what in wheat-rice cultivation is obvious, and it has been well studied in the past. However, investigating the stereotypes around gender to understand practices within households is an innovative aspect of this study.
For example, landless couple Pappu Paswan and Kamini Devi of village Kamtaul in Darbhanga district have been cultivating wheat on leased farm plots for many years. Devi is engaged in every aspect of decision-making. “We cultivate in leased plots of different sizes, spread across, requiring more effort and time in attending to them. We discuss additional labor during harvest and if there is money enough to pay them,” said Devi pointing her finger at the vignette illustrating ‘cooperation’ in household decision-making. They produce enough for their consumption, but when possible, “I advise my husband to sell some for income,” she added.
Despite contributing to decisions jointly with Pappu when it comes to farm labor and household finances, Devi has little or no knowledge of seed varieties and access. Her husband informs that it was UP262 (wheat seed variety) they have been cultivating for the last two years.
In Rishikesh Ram’s household, land ownership and livelihood specialization were factors in decision-making. He owns the land and makes all farming decisions, including how much will be saved for consumption at home. His wife, Kiran Devi, a nurse at the village primary health center, is hardly involved in any farming work. “As the income from her job contributes to expenses at home, decisions about loans or payment for labors on the farm are joint decisions,” Ram said.
“In these two households of the diverse decision-making process, different approaches to messaging and relevant extension services must be explored to address the issues of exclusion, access, and knowledge gaps in these households,” Gartaula observed.
Bridging the gender gap in agri-food systems
With the feminization of agriculture in the region, women’s contribution to agricultural production is likely to increase. Policy and research interventions must recognize this growing population and support their full economic and social contributions as cultivators, entrepreneurs, and laborers. However, whether women’s growing role in wheat production leads to increased decision-making authority and empowerment is still unknown. But hope is that AGG-supported gender research in South Asia and East Africa will help guide actions on gender and social inclusion in agri-food systems and support cross-learning between the regions.
Representatives from CIMMYT and ICAR begin planning research for the Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TASSA) CGIAR Initiative. (Photo: Vikram/ICAR-CSSRI)
CGIAR researchers are taking an innovative approach to analyzing crop and farming systems, by emphasizing nutritional yield. âThis is an unusual perspective for an agronomist to apply to our work,â said Timothy Krupnik from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). âHowever, farmers in India recognize the critical need to produce more nutritious food that is environmentally sustainable without losing yield levels.âTo meet this need, more than 25 researchers from CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Researchâs Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI) met from 25-27 May in Karnal, in Indiaâs Haryana state, to plan a collaborative research program on nutrition-smart agriculture.
The program is part of Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA), a CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative aiming to propel evidence into impact through engagement with public and private partners across the farm production-to-consumption continuum. The Initiative will achieve productive, environmentally-sound agrifood systems that support equitable access to sustainable healthy diets in the worldâs most poverty-dense region.
Through three days of workshops, attendees met with more than 200 men and women farmers. They developed a common understanding of the research objectives, designed research for multi-criteria analysis of crop and farming systems with an emphasis on nutritional yield, and developed a joint action plan for data collection and analysis.
To provide attendees with context for the research program, Temina Lalani-Shariff, CIMMYT Regional Director for South Asia, presented an overview of CGIAR activities in India and CGIAR Research Initiatives globally. HS Jat, Principal Scientist (Agronomy) from ICAR-CSSRI also presented some of the instituteâs ongoing research and experiments that are examining the effects of different crop rotations on the production of nutritious foods. This included a visit to ICAR-CSSRIâs research trials later in the day.
Workshop participants visit ICAR-CSSRI research trials. (Photo: Vikram/ICAR-CSSRI)
From the ground up
To improve on the participatory design of research and to tailor the Initiativeâs work to on-the-ground needs, the second day of the program was dedicated to visiting farmers in the states of Haryana and Punjab. There, researchers discussed the proposed research priorities and experimental design with the farmers. The design and priorities were later amended based on this feedback.
During the workshop, researchers had a chance to run focus groups with farmers in Indiaâs Haryana and Punjab states. (Photo: Timothy Krupnik/CIMMYT)
âThis was an incredibly useful workshop for us,â said PC Sharma, Director of ICAR-CSSRI. âThis represents a new way of thinking about how to approach crop rotations and production. Having the help of farmers and colleagues in the nutrition community to design our research means we can address multiple issues in one research program. This increases the value of our research and spreads the benefits wider.â
To conclude the workshops, groups presented on their field visits and selected crop rotations and management practices as part of agronomic trial design for nutrition-sensitive and environmentally efficient cropping systems, including consideration of implementation and data collection.
A climate change hotspot region that features both small-scale and intensive farming, South Asia epitomizes the crushing pressure on land and water resources from global agriculture to feed a populous, warming world. Continuous irrigated rice and wheat cropping across northern India, for example, is depleting and degrading soils, draining a major aquifer, and producing a steady draft of greenhouse gases.
Through decades-long Asian and global partnerships, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has helped to study and promote resource-conserving, climate-smart solutions for South Asian agriculture. Innovations include more precise and efficient use of water and fertilizer, as well as conservation agriculture, which blends reduced or zero-tillage, use of crop residues or mulches as soil covers, and more diverse intercrops and rotations. Partners are recently exploring regenerative agriculture approaches â a suite of integrated farming and grazing practices to rebuild the organic matter and biodiversity of soils.
Along with their environmental benefits, these practices can significantly reduce farm expenses and maintain or boost crop yields. Their widespread adoption depends in part on enlightened policies and dedicated promotion and testing that directly involves farmers. We highlight below promising findings and policy directions from a collection of recent scientific studies by CIMMYT and partners.
Getting down in the dirt
A recent scientific review examines the potential of a suite of improved practices â reduced or zero-tillage with residue management, use of organic manure, the balanced and integrated application of plant nutrients, land levelling, and precise water and pest control â to capture and hold carbon in soils on smallholder farms in South Asia. Results show a potential 36% increase in organic carbon in upper soil layers, amounting to some 18 tons of carbon per hectare of land and, across crops and environments, potentially cutting methane emissions by 12%. Policies and programs are needed to encourage farmers to adopt such practices.
Another study on soil quality in Indiaâs extensive breadbasket region found that conservation agriculture practices raised per-hectare wheat yields by nearly half a ton and soil quality indexes nearly a third, over those for conventional practices, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60%.
Ten years of research in the Indo-Gangetic Plains involving rice-wheat-mungbean or maize-wheat-mungbean rotations with flooded versus subsoil drip irrigation showed an absence of earthworms â major contributors to soil health â in soils under farmersâ typical practices. However, large earthworm populations were present and active under climate-smart practices, leading to improved soil carbon sequestration, soil quality, and the availability of nutrients for plants.
The field of farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary, Pokhar Binda village, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India, who has been testing zero tillage to sow wheat directly into the unplowed paddies and leaving crop residues, after rice harvest. Chaudhary is one of many farmer-partners in the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), led by CIMMYT. (Photo: P. Kosina/CIMMYT)
Rebooting marginal farms by design
Using the FarmDESIGN model to assess the realities of small-scale, marginal farmers in northwestern India (about 67% of the population) and redesign their current practices to boost farm profits, soil organic matter, and nutritional yields while reducing pesticide use, an international team of agricultural scientists demonstrated that integrating innovative cropping systems could help to improve farm performance and household livelihoods.
More than 19 gigatons of groundwater is extracted each year in northern India, much of this to flood the regionâs puddled, transplanted rice crops. A recent experiment calibrated and validated the HYDRUS-2D model to simulate water dynamics for puddled rice and for rice sown in non-flooded soil using zero-tillage and watered with sub-surface drip irrigation. It was found that the yield of rice grown using the conservation agriculture practices and sub-surface drip irrigation was comparable to that of puddled, transplanted rice but required only half the irrigation water. Sub-surface drip irrigation also curtailed water losses from evapotranspiration and deep drainage, meaning this innovation coupled with conservation agriculture offers an ecologically viable alternative for sustainable rice production.
Given that yield gains through use of conservation agriculture in northern India are widespread but generally low, a nine-year study of rice-wheat cropping in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains applying the Environmental Policy Climate (EPIC) model, in this case combining data from long-term experiments with regionally gridded crop modeling, documented the need to tailor conservation agriculture flexibly to local circumstances, while building farmersâ capacity to test and adapt suitable conservation agriculture practices. The study found that rice-wheat productivity could increase as much as 38% under conservation agriculture, with optimal management.
Key partner organizations in this research include the following: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research (IIFSR), Agriculture University, Kota; CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan; the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA); the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences, Cornell University; Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt; UM6P, Ben Guerir, Morocco; the University of Aberdeen; the University of California, Davis; Wageningen University & Research; and IFDC.
Generous funding for the work cited comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The CGIAR Research Programs on Wheat Agri-Food Systems (WHEAT) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), supported by CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements), The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and USAID.
Cover photo: A shortage of farm workers is driving the serious consideration by farmers and policymakers to replace traditional, labor-intensive puddled rice cropping (shown here), which leads to sizable methane emissions and profligate use of irrigation water, with the practice of growing rice in non-flooded soils, using conservation agriculture and drip irrigation practices. (Photo: P. Wall/CIMMYT)
Written by Bea Ciordia on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Nitrogen-Efficient Wheat Production Systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains through Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) Technology project aims to raise awareness of the benefits of new nitrogen-efficient wheat production systems among stakeholders in India.
By introducing technologies that maintain crop yield and quality, even with a reduced amount of nitrogen fertilizer, this project will also lessen the footprint of food production systems and combat environmental degradation.
Written by Bea Ciordia on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Transforming Smallholder Food Systems in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (Rupantar) project aims to define the processes and practices (technical options, scaling interventions, policy settings and implementation) that can be applied to achieve sustainable, efficient, diversified food systems at scale in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
Home to 450 million people, this region has the world’s highest concentration of rural poverty and strong dependence on agriculture for food and livelihoods. Productivity remains low and diversification is limited due to poorly developed markets, sparse agricultural knowledge and service networks, inadequate development of available water resources, and low adoption of improved, sustainable production practices.
Rupantar builds on existing work and partnership networks to link research outputs and development goals through the demonstration of inclusive diversification pathways, definition of processes for scaling to the millions of smallholder farmers in the region, and generating a better understanding of the policies that support diversification.
Research objectives
Defining the processes and practices (technical options, scaling interventions, policy settings and implementation) that can be applied to achieve sustainable, efficient, diversified food systems at scale in the Eastern Gangetic Plains.
Understanding the context for diversification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains.
Defining and implementing diversification pathways using collaborative and inclusive approaches.
Deepening understanding of the trade-offs and synergies associated with diversification pathways.
Engaging and communicating with change-makers to ensure outputs are used and integrated into independent programs.
Project outcomes
Demonstrated pathways for equitable and sustainable diversified food systems in the EGP.
Improved evidence-based policies for planning and development programs that promote diversification.
Self-sustaining diversification pathways that are owned by local partners and promoted without ongoing project support.
Spot blotch, a major biotic stress challenging bread wheat production is caused by the fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana. In a new study, scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) evaluate genomic and index-based selection to select for spot blotch resistance quickly and accurately in wheat lines. The former approach facilitates selecting for spot blotch resistance, and the latter for spot blotch resistance, heading and plant height.
Genomic selection
The authors leveraged genotyping data and extensive spot blotch phenotyping data from Mexico and collaborating partners in Bangladesh and India to evaluate genomic selection, which is a promising genomic breeding strategy for spot blotch resistance. Using genomic selection for selecting lines that have not been phenotyped can reduce the breeding cycle time and cost, increase the selection intensity, and subsequently increase the rate of genetic gain.
Two scenarios were tested for predicting spot blotch: fixed effects model (less than 100 molecular markers associated with spot blotch) and genomic prediction (over 7,000 markers across the wheat genome). The clear winner was genomic prediction which was on average 177.6% more accurate than the fixed effects model, as spot blotch resistance in advanced CIMMYT wheat breeding lines is controlled by many genes of small effects.
âThis finding applies to other spot blotch resistant loci too, as very few of them have shown big effects, and the advantage of genomic prediction over the fixed effects model is tremendousâ, confirmed Xinyao He, Wheat Pathologist and Geneticist at CIMMYT.
The authors have also evaluated genomic prediction in different populations, including breeding lines and sister lines that share one or two parents.
Spot blotch susceptible wheat lines (left) and resistant lines. (Photo: Xinyao He and Pawan Singh/CIMMYT)
Index selection
One of the key problems faced by wheat breeders in selecting for spot blotch resistance is identifying lines that are genetically resistant to spot blotch versus those that escape and exhibit less disease by being late and tall. âThe latter, unfortunately, is often the case in South Asiaâ, explained Pawan Singh, Head of Wheat Pathology at CIMMYT.
A potential solution to this problem is the use of selection indices that can make it easier for breeders to select individuals based on their ranking or predicted net genetic merit for multiple traits. Hence, this study reports the first successful evaluation of the linear phenotypic selection index and Eigen selection index method to simultaneously select for spot blotch resistance using the phenotype and genomic-estimated breeding values, heading and height.
This study demonstrates the prospects of integrating genomic selection and index-based selection with field based phenotypic selection for resistance in spot blotch in breeding programs.
Wheat leaves showing symptoms of heat stress. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Across South Asia, including major wheat-producing regions of India and Pakistan, temperature extremes are threatening wheat production. Heatwaves have been reported throughout the region, with a century record for early onset of extreme heat. Monthly average temperatures across India for March and April 2022 exceeded those recorded over the past 100 years.
Widely recognized as one of the major breadbaskets of the world, the Indo-Gangetic Plains region produces over 100 million tons of wheat annually, from 30 million hectares in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, primarily supporting large domestic demand.
The optimal window for wheat planting is the first half of November. The late onset of the 2021 summer monsoon delayed rice planting and its subsequent harvest in the fall. This had a knock-on effect, delaying wheat planting by one to two weeks and increasing the risk of late season heat stress in March and April. Record-high temperatures over 40â°C were observed on several days in March 2022 in the Punjabs of India and Pakistan as well as in the state of Haryana, causing wheat to mature about two weeks earlier than usual.
In-season changes and effects
Prior to the onset of extreme heat, the weather in the current season in India was favorable, prompting the Government of India to predict a record-high wheat harvest of 111 million tons. The March heat stress was unexpected and appears to have had a significant effect on the wheat crop, advancing the harvest and likely reducing yields.
Departure of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the period from March 22 to April 7 from the average of the previous five years. The NDVI is a measure of the leaf area and the greenness of vegetation. The yellow areas in the Punjabs of India and Pakistan, as well as in the state of Haryana, indicate that wheat matured earlier than normal due to elevated temperatures. Maximum temperatures reached 40â°C on March 15 and remained at or above this level throughout the wheat harvesting period. (Map: Urs Schulthess/CIMMYT).
In the North-Western Plains, the major wheat basket of India, the area of late-sown wheat is likely to have been most affected even though many varieties carry heat tolerance. Data from CIMMYT’s on-farm experiments show a yield loss between 15 to 20% in that region. The states of Haryana and Punjab together contribute almost 30% of Indiaâs total wheat production and notably contribute over 60% of the government’s buffer stocks. In the North-Eastern Plains, in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, around 40% of the wheat crop was normal or even early sown, escaping heat damage, whilst the remainder of late-sown wheat is likely to be impacted at a variable level, as most of the crop in this zone matures during the third and fourth week of March.
The Government of India has now revised wheat production estimates, with a reduction of 5.7%, to 105 million tons because of the early onset of summer.
India has reported record yields for the past 5 years, helping it to meet its goal of creating a reserve stock of 40 million tons of wheat after the 2021 harvest. It went into this harvest season with a stock of 19 million tons, and the country is in a good position to face this year’s yield loss.
In Pakistan, using satellite-based crop monitoring systems, the national space agency Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SPARCO) estimated wheat production reduction close to 10%: 26 million tons, compared to the production target of 29 million tons, for the 2021-22 season.
We recommend that systematic research be urgently undertaken to characterize and understand the impacts of elevated temperatures on the health of field-based workers involved in wheat production. This is needed to develop a holistic strategy for adapting our global cropping systems to climate change.
India had pledged to provide increased wheat exports to bolster global supplies, but this now looks uncertain given the necessity to safeguard domestic supplies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian government supported domestic food security by providing free rations â mainly wheat and rice â to 800 million people over several months. This type of support relies on the availability of large buffer stocks which appear stable, but may be reduced if grain production and subsequent procurement levels are lower than desired.
We are already seeing indications of reduced procurement by governments with market prices running higher than usual. However, although the Food Corporation of India has procured 27% less wheat grain in the first 20 days of the wheat procurement season compared to the same period last year, the Government of India is confident about securing sufficient wheat buffer stocks.
As with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, it is likely that the most marked effects of both climate change and shortages of staple crops will hit the poorest and most vulnerable communities hardest.
A chain reaction of climate impacts
The real impacts of reduced wheat production due to extreme temperatures in South Asia demonstrate the realities of the climate emergency facing wheat and agricultural production. Direct impacts on farming community health must also be considered, as our agricultural workforce is pushed to new physical limits.
Anomalies, which are likely to become the new normal, can set off a chain reaction as seen here: the late onset of the summer monsoon caused delays in the sowing of rice and the subsequent wheat crop. The delayed wheat crop was hit by the unprecedented heatwave in mid- to late March at a relatively earlier stage, thus causing even more damage.
Preparing for wheat production tipping points
Urgent action is required to develop applied mitigation and adaptation strategies, as well as to plan for transition and tipping points when key staple crops such as wheat can no longer be grown in traditional production regions.
A strategic design process is needed, supported by crop and climate models, to develop and test packages of applied solutions for near-future climate changes. On-farm evidence from many farmersâ fields in Northwestern India indicates that bundled solutions â no-till direct seeding with surface retention of crop residues coupled with early seeding of adapted varieties of wheat with juvenile heat tolerance â can help to buffer terminal heat stress and limit yield losses.
Last but not least, breeding wheat for high-temperature tolerance will continue to be crucial for securing production. Strategic planning needs to also encompass the associated social, market and political elements which underpin equitable food supply and stability.
South Asia was the epicenter of the Green Revolution, a historic era of agricultural innovation that fed billions of people on the brink of famine.
Yet despite the indisputably positive nutritional and developmental impacts of the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the era of innovation also led to the widespread use of farming practicesâlike intensive tilling, monoculture, removal and burning of crop residues, and over-use of synthetic fertilizerâthat have a deleterious effect on the soil and cause off-site ecological harm. Excess pumping of irrigation water over decades has dried out the regionâs chief aquifer.
South Asiaâs woes illustrate the environmental costs of intensive food production to feed our densely-populated planet. Currently, one billion hectares of land worldwide suffers from degraded soils.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) works with two of the worldâs most widely cultivated and consumed cereal crops. To grow enough of these staple foods to feed the world, a second Green Revolution is needed: one that avoids the mistakes of the past, regenerates degraded land and reboots biodiversity in farm areas.
M.L. Jat, a CIMMYT Principal Scientist, has spent 20 years studying and promoting sustainable agricultural practices for maize- and wheat-based farming systems. In the following Q&A, Jat tells us about regenerative agriculture: integrated farming and grazing practices intended to rebuild soil organic matter and restore degraded soil biodiversity.
Q: What major components or practices are part of regenerative agriculture?
A: Regenerative agriculture is a comprehensive system of farming that harnesses the power of soil biology to rebuild soil organic matter, diversify crop systems, and improve water retention and nutrient uptake. The depletion of biodiversity, degradation of soil health, warming, and drier weather in farm areas have necessitated a reversal in agriculture from âdegeneration to regeneration.â
The practices address food and nutritional security challenges while protecting natural resources and lowering agricultureâs environmental footprint, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. CIMMYT has worked for years to research and promote conservation agriculture, which contributes to the aims of regenerative agriculture, and is already practiced on more than 200 million hectares globally â 15% of all cropland â and is expanding at a rate of 10.5 million hectares per year.
Q: What are the potential roles of major food crops â maize, rice, and wheat â in regenerative agriculture systems?
A: Regenerative agriculture is âcrop neutral;â that is, it is applicable to almost all crops and farming systems. The worldâs rice, wheat, and maize crops have an enormous physical and ecological footprint on land and natural resources, but play a critical role in food and nutrition security. Considering that anthropogenic climate change has reduced the global agricultural total factor productivity by about 21% in the past six decades, applying regenerative agriculture approaches to these systems represents a momentous contribution toward sustainable farming under increasing climatic risks.
Q: What elements or approaches of regenerative agriculture are applicable in India and how can they be applied?
A: Regenerative practices for maize and wheat systems in India include no-tillage, crop residue recycling, legume inter-cropping and cover crops, crop diversification, integrated nutrient management, and precision water management.
The potential area of adoption for regenerative agriculture in India covers at least 50 million hectares across a diversity of cropping systems and agroecologies â including irrigated, rainfed, and arid farmlands â and can be approached through appropriate targeting, investments, knowledge and capacity enhancement, and enabling policies.
In the breadbasket region of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, regenerative agriculture can help address the aforementioned second-generation problems of the Green Revolution, as well as contributing to the Indian governmentâs Soil Health Mission and its COP26 commitments.
Q: In order to get regenerative agriculture off the ground in South Asia, who will be involved?
A: Adapting and applying regenerative agricultureâs portfolio of practices will require the participation of all stakeholders associated with farming. Application of these principles is location- and situation-specific, so researchers, extension functionaries, value chain actors, philanthropists, environmentalists, NGOs, farmers, and policy planners all have a role to play in the impact pathway.
CIMMYT, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), public and private programs and agencies, and farmers themselves have been developing, refining, and scaling out conservation agriculture-based regenerative agriculture practices for some three decades in South Asia. CIMMYT and BISA will continue to play a key role in mainstreaming regenerative agriculture in local, national, and regional development plans through science-based policy and capacity development.
Q: Farmers constitute a strong economic and political force in India. How can they be brought on board to practice regenerative agriculture, which could be more costly and knowledge-intensive than their current practices?
A: We need to pursue business âunusualâ and harness the potential opportunities of regenerative agriculture to sequester soil carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture practices can offer farmers additional income and certainly create a âpull factorâ for their adoption, something that has already started and will constitute a strong business case. For example, innovative business models give farmers an opportunity to trade ecosystem services and carbon credits through repurposing subsidies and developing carbon markets for private sectors. CIMMYT, along with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and private partners such as Grow Indigo, are already helping to put in place a framework to acquire carbon credits through regenerative agriculture in India.
There is growing awareness that not all rural women are alike and that social norms and technological interventions affect women from different castes in distinct ways. The caste system in South Asia, which dates back over 3,000 years, divides society into thousands of hierarchical, mostly endogamous groups. Non-marginalized castes are classified as âgeneral casteâ while those living in the social margins are categorized as âscheduled casteâ and âscheduled tribeâ. Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe farmers face both social and economic marginalization and limited access to information and markets, despite government efforts to level up social inequalities.
In India, women of all castes are involved in farming activities, although their caste identity regulates the degree of participation. General caste women are less likely to be engaged in farming than women of lower castes. Despite their level of participation across caste groups, women are rarely recognized as âfarmersâ (Kisan) in Indian rurality, which restricts their access to inputs, information and markets.
Gender experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners investigated caste-gender relations among wheat farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Indiaâs second-largest state by area. The team conducted focus group discussions and interviews in a village community, and carried out a review of GENNOVATE research in the same area. The team also carried out a survey involving about 800 wheat farmers from 18 village communities across the state.
Women work in the fields in India’s Madhya Pradesh state. Our study found that women are involved in all aspects of agricultural work on family farms. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The study, published last month in Gender, Technology, and Development, revealed five key findings:
First, caste distinctions are sharp. There is little interaction between women and men farmers from the scheduled caste category â even between subcastes in this category â and other castes. They live in separate enclaves, and land belonging to scheduled caste farmers is less fertile than others.
Second, all women are fully involved in all aspects of agricultural work on the family farm throughout the year.
Third, despite their strong participation in farming activities, women across caste groups are normatively excluded from agricultural decision-making in the household. Having said that, the findings were very clear that some individual women experience greater participation than others. Although women are excluded from formal agricultural information networks, they share knowledge with each other, particularly within caste groups.
Fourth, about 20 years ago, women across caste groups were being employed as hired agricultural laborers. Over the past four years, increasing mechanization is pushing many women off the field. While scheduled caste women compensate for the employment loss to a certain degree by participating in non-farm activities, general caste women are not able to move beyond the village and secure work elsewhere due to cultural norms. Women therefore face a collapse in their autonomy.
Fifth, gender poses a greater constraint than caste in determining an individualâs ability to make decisions about farm and non-farm related activities. However, a significant difference exists across the caste groups, presenting a strong case for intersectionality.
Challenging social norms in agriculture
The results of the study show that caste matters in the gendered evaluations of agricultural technologies and demonstrates the importance of studying womenâs contributions and roles in wheat farming in South Asia.
Agriculture in India is also considered to be broadly feminizing, with men increasingly taking up off-farm activities, leaving women to as primary cultivators on family fields and as hired laborers. However, rural advisory services, policy makers, and other research and development organizations are lagging behind in recognizing and reacting appropriately to these gendered changes. Many still carry outdated social norms which view men as the main decision-makers and workers on farms.
Funding for this study was provided by the Collaborative Platform for Gender Research under the CGIAR Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets as well as the International Development Research Center of the Government of Canada, the CGIAR Research Programme on Wheat (CRP WHEAT https://wheat.org/), CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The paper additionally drew on GENNOVATE data collected in India in 2015â16 with financial support from CRP WHEAT. Development of the GENNOVATE research methodology was supported by the CGIAR Gender and Agricultural Research Network, the World Bank, and the CRP WHEAT and CRP MAIZE, and data analysis was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Cover photo: A woman harvests wheat in Madhya Pradesh, India. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Collaboration between food security institutions and research organizations has contributed to improvements in global grain production that have benefitted millions of farmers around the world â and must continue today. This message was highlighted during a ceremony hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to recognize the legacy of World Food Laureate and former CIMMYT Wheat Program Director Sanjaya Rajaram.
The ceremony, held at the CIMMYT Experimental Station in Toluca, State of Mexico, officially dedicated the Station in honor of Sanjaya Rajaram, honoring his memory as an âenemy of world hungerâ and one of the scientists who has most contributed to global food security.
The Indian-born naturalized Mexican researcher, who was the third person from CIMMYT to receive the World Food Prize, was recognized for having developed more than 480 high-yielding and adaptable wheat varieties that have been planted on approximately 58 million hectares around the world.
“For this impressive achievement, which seems easy to summarize in one sentence, Raj became a giant of the âright to foodâ and one of the fiercest enemies of hunger in the world,” said CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts.
âBuilding on the work of Dr. Norman Borlaug, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram was a driving force in making CIMMYT into the extraordinary institution that it is today,â said Claudia Sadoff, Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact of CGIAR, a global research partnership of which CIMMYT is a member.
âThe challenges of today compel us to redouble our efforts to breed more resilient and more nutritious crops, as Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram did, Sadoff added. âThis ceremony reminds us that Dr Rajaramâs legacy and the ongoing efforts of CIMMYT and CGIAR scientists must answer that.â
Awards for international cooperation in food security
At the event, CIMMYT presented awards to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard CasaubĂłn, and of Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), VĂctor Villalobos ArĂĄmbula, for their promotion of food security and social inclusion in Mexico and Latin America.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico expressed his gratitude for the Norman E. Borlaug and reaffirmed his commitment to “work in the international arena as we have done, but now we will have to work harder, with greater intensity.”
The Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, VĂctor Villalobos ArĂĄmbula, emphasized that Mexico, Latin America and CIMMYT play an important role in the struggle to improve the conditions of small-scale farmers and the resilience of agri-food systems, noting that more than 300,000 farmers grow maize, wheat and associated crops on over one million hectares in Mexico using sustainable technologies from the CIMMYT-led MasAgro project, now called Crops for Mexico.
âThroughout this administration,â he said, âwe have designed, implemented and refined, through collaboration between SADER and CIMMYT, sustainable development strategies with a systemic approach that facilitates the participation of producers in more integrated and efficient value chains both in Mexico and in other countries.â
India’s Ambassador to Mexico, Pankaj Sharma, highlighted that his nation owes a large part of its Green Revolution to the “Sonora” wheat variety, which was developed in Mexico, a country that is considered one of the cradles of agriculture at a global level, with arable land accounting for 15 percent of the total land dedicated to agriculture in the world.
Report on the results of the Crops for Mexico initiative
CIMMYTâs Wheat Germplasm Bank Curator and Genotyping Specialist Carolina Sansaloni presented highlighted impacts from Crops for Mexico, the main cooperative project between the Government of Mexico — through the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development — and CIMMYT, and a flagship initiative in the application of technologies in sustainable agriculture.
The project has been in operation for more than a decade in 28 states in Mexico, with the collaboration of more than 100 national and international partners and private and public sector agencies in 12 regions, offering research infrastructure and training development for sustainable agronomic practices, she explained.
She reported that the results of 40 platforms, 500 demonstration modules and two thousand extension areas have an impact on more than one million hectares and benefit 300,000 maize, wheat and bean producers, with the use of high-yield varieties.
Rosalinda Muñoz Tafolla, a maize farmer in Amacuzac, in the Mexican state of Morelos, explained that her drive to produce healthy food led her to participate in Crops for Mexico, where CIMMYT’s support and advice has enabled her to dramatically increase her farmâs productivity while protecting the soil and conserving natural resources.
She explained that with the conservation agriculture system she learned to improve soil conditions, planted a new maize variety, and was supported in marketing her harvest at a good price and selling 2,000 maize ears (mostly weighing 200 grams each).
Jai Prakash Rajaram (left) receives the Padma Bhushan Award on behalf of his late father, Sanjaya Rajaram, from the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. (Photo: Government of India)
The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, presented the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award for Science & Engineering (Posthumous) to the relatives of Sanjaya Rajaram. The award was received by Rajaramâs son and daughter, Jaiprakash Rajaram and Sheila Rajaram, at a ceremony in New Delhi, India, on March 28, 2022.
The Padma Awards, instituted in 1954, are one of India’s highest civilian honors. Announced annually on the eve of Republic Day, January 26, they are given in three categories: Padma Vipbhushan, for outstanding and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan, for distinguished service of the highest order; and Padma Shri, for distinguished service.
The award seeks to recognize achievement in all fields of activities and disciplines involving a public service item.
Padma Bhushan Award diploma and medal. (Photo: Courtesy of Jai Prakash Rajaram)
Sanjaya Rajaram, who passed away in 2021, was a 2014 World Food Prize laureate and former wheat breeder and Director of the Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Among his many accomplishments, he personally oversaw the development of nearly 500 high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat varieties. These varieties, which have been grown on at least 58 million hectares in over 50 countries, increased global wheat production by more than 200 million tons, benefiting hundreds of millions of resource-poor people who rely on wheat for their diets and livelihoods.
