Farmer Kausila Chanara direct dry seeding rice in Ramghat, Surkhet, Nepal. Photo: P.Lowe/CIMMYT
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — Nepal will benefit from a new project that will strengthen the countryâs seed and fertilizer sectors, boost farmer income and increase the countryâs food security through 2021.
More than 70 percent of Nepalâs population works in agriculture, yet a profound lack of resources, infrastructure and networks have weakened rural economies, increased urban and international migration and strained the ability of families to avoid malnutrition. Two out of every three Nepalese suffer from food insecurity at some time during the year and the prevalence of stunting is nearly 40 percent.
âWith right seeds, resources and practices Nepalese farmers could produce 50 percent more food on their land, enough to not only eliminate domestic food insecurity but even become a food surplus country,â said Dyutiman Choudhary, coordinator and market development specialist for the five-year Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF).
Research has shown the better application of fertilizer and planting improved hybrid seeds are the two most impactful steps Nepalese maize farmers can take to boost income and grain yields in their fields. Adopting just these two practices can increase grain yields 1.8 and 1.4 tons per hectare, respectively.
Launched on August 1, NSAF will build competitive and vibrant seed and fertilizer systems that significantly expand seed production, marketing and distribution by enhancing the capacity and role of public, private and community sectors in seed and fertilizer value chains. It is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MOAD) and private sector.
During an event for the projectâs launch in Kathmandu, Choudhary presented an overview of the projectâs overarching strategy and key approaches being implemented to increase adoption of quality seed and integrated soil fertility management technologies for more than 100,000 smallholder farmers in 25 of Nepalâs 75 districts.
MOAD Secretary and Program Chair Suroj Pokharel and Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Embassy in Nepal Michael C. Gonzales also acknowledged the contribution of robust agriculture projects that support the Government of Nepalâs Agriculture Development Strategy through the promotion of innovations in digital technology and market research development to improve farming practices. Other event invitees included government representatives, the U.S Embassy, USAID, partner organizations, local media, project beneficiaries and other private stakeholders.
Learn more about the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF) through this infographic and fact sheet from the U.S. governmentâs Feed the Future initiative.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) â Members of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF) met representatives from eleven seed companies at a recent meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Representatives at the meeting discussed progress, challenges, lessons and implementation activities for 2016-17 and developed a work plan for 2107-18.
The discussion added to the Nepal Seed Vision 2013-2025 â a holistic, long-term vision for the countryâs seed sector development â which calls for the local development of 40 hybrid vegetable, maize and rice seeds. The plan also encourages the development of products by the private sector and set a target to develop and promote an additional 20 hybrids by the end of 2025.
Nepalâs seed sector is dominated by an informal seed system where farmers produce, retain and exchange their own seeds for subsequent seasons planting. The formal seed system covers about 10 percent of seed transactions, and the country currently imports nearly all its hybrid maize and vegetable seed to meet the increasing demand for high-yielding crop varieties.
The NSAF, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development, will provide public and private seed companies with parental lines of hybrid maize and other crops that are uniquely adapted to Nepalâs environment. The project also assists local seed companies to have strong R&D as well as facilitates business and market opportunities.
Dyutiman Choudhary, NSAF project coordinator, highlighted the important role of the private sector in developing and disseminating NSAF products and services to farmers and other end users during the meeting. Yagya Prasad Giri , director for crop and horticulture research at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), emphasized the importance of collaboration between public and private partners to bridge the demand and supply gap in quality seed production and marketing.
âEnhancing the capacity of local seed institutions is critical in order for the country to achieve its 2025 seed vision,â said Giri while opening the meeting.
Various departments of NARC also discussed progress under NSAF. In addition, CIMMYT and other NSAF representatives travelled to various districts in Nepal to evaluate project activities with various stakeholders.
The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project (NSAF) is a five year flagship project under the U.S. governmentâs Feed the Future initiative. NSAF aims to increase agricultural productivity and household income by helping farmers access improved seeds together with best management practices. Â
Participants of NSAF seed company partners annual review and planning meeting, Kathmandu. Photo: K.Ram/CIMMYT
CSRD workshop participants. Photo: M. Asaduzzaman/CIMMYT
DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) â Scientists from across South and Southeast Asia launched a new agenda earlier this week to boost community involvement in developing climate information and extension messaging services across the region.
âKey to climate services is emphasis on the service,â said Timothy Krupnik, a systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and South Asia project leader for Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD).
Researchers know how the regionâs farmers will be affected by climate change thanks to the development of climate models and other analyses, but there still is a lack of a strong support system that allows farmers to practically use this information.
âWe must be able to rapidly extend information to farmers and others who require climate information to inform their decision making, and to assure that research outputs are translated in an easy to understand way that communicates to farmers, extension workers and policy makers,â said Krupnik. âEqually important is feedback from farmers on the quality of climate services so they can be adapted and improved over time.â
The researchers, who gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a three-day workshop from September 17-19, 2017, evaluated how climate and agricultural extension advisories are currently produced and conveyed, and identified opportunities on how to improve these services for farming communities across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
âCSRDâs activities are relevant to the U.S. governmentâs commitment to building resilience of smallholder farmers and to ensure increased production, as well bolster country resilience,â said David Westerling, acting economic growth office director and Feed the Future team leader for the United States Agency for International Developmentâs mission in Bangladesh. âThat is why we are behind this effort.â
During the workshop, delegates assessed different ways to incorporate seasonal climate forecasts into farmer decision making, using several African countries as examples. Â For example, participants learned how to simply but effectively depict probabilistic forecasts in graphs to farmers during a group work discussion.
There were also experience sharing sessions on information and communication technology (ICT) in agricultural climate services. Giriraj Amarnath, researcher at the International Water Management Institute, Ishwor Malla, service director for ICT at Agri Private Limited and Md. Nadirruzzaman, assistant professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh indicated that ICT can be a cost-effective approach to transfer information to farmers who can, in turn, improve crop productivity using climate information shared their observation and experiences.
While ICT can serve as an important tool, participants emphasized the need for more face-to-face extension and interaction with farming communities to build trust in forecasts that would otherwise not be fully understood by downloading a mobile application or receiving an SMS message.
An analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for climate services in each country and across countries was completed to examine how participants can collaborate in south-south exchanges to support ongoing work in agricultural climate services.
On the last day of the workshop, climate index-based agricultural insurance was also discussed, after which participants proposed new institutional arrangements to improve agricultural climate information flow to farmers in each of their countries.
Elisabeth Simelton, climate change scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre in Vietnam and project manager at the Consortium Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS), said the workshop provided an interesting platform where scientists and climate service providers from different countries were able to meet and exchange their experiences and ideas through interactive formats, so that everybody can take something new and useful back to their respective countries.
The Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) is a global partnership that connects climate science, data streams, decision support tools, and training to decision-makers in developing countries.The workshop was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development on behalf of CSRD and is collaboratively organized by CIMMYT and CSRD through the SERVIR Support Team. This work was also implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on CCAFS. Read more about the workshop, participants and sponsors here.Â
At this yearâs UN Climate Talks, CIMMYT is highlighting innovations in wheat and maize that can help farmers overcome climate change. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — The Government of Nepal recently endorsed a new twenty-year agriculture development strategy that charts a progressive course of action to revitalize agriculture as an engine for economic growth and domestic food security.
At the center of this strategy is the recently launched the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project (PMAMP). The project will be implemented over the next decade and has research and development mandates for productivity enhancement and commercialization of major cereals, fisheries, fruits and vegetables.
PMAMP emphasizes wheat production as a priority, especially in the Terai â a very productive agricultural area â in order to achieve national self-sufficiency in wheat production within the next three years. Meeting this extremely ambitious goal will require an unprecedented increase in average yields of 10 percent per year, and a high level of strategic coordination among organizations contributing to agricultural development in Nepal.
The PMAMP leadership has requested that the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through its Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) act as a technical advisor and strategic partner to design and implement programs for staple crop production, including mechanization and seed systems.
On July 26-27 in Kathmandu, PMAMP and CSISA organized the first working group forum for wheat to begin to unite and coordinate efforts of 21 core public and private stakeholders working on extension, research and sector development.
Discussion at the forum emphasized the identification of proven best practices for sustainable intensification, consideration of scaling pathways for knowledge and technological innovations, knowledge gaps and areas for future research and joint work plan development for the 2017-2018 wheat season.
A four-member committee representing PMAMP, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), CSISA and the private sector has been created to guide implementation of the collaborative work plan for wheat intensification across Nepal.
Rajan Dhakal, senior agriculture officer at PMAMP, remarked that the forum was instrumental in identifying technical priorities and clarifying how the efforts of diverse partners can contribute to the food security goals of the Government of Nepal.
Y.P. Giri, chair and director of crops and horticulture at NARC, said he appreciated CSISAâs efforts to facilitate discussion and coordination across a diverse set of stakeholders through a common and action-oriented platform.
Drawing on the success of the wheat forum, PMAMP will convene meetings for maize and rice with support from NARC, CSISA and private sector partners this fall.
CIMMYT launched the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asiaâs cereal-based cropping systems. CIMMYT operates rural âinnovation hubsâ in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies, and to improve farmer access to market information and enterprise development. Learn more about CSISAâs impact here.
CIMMYTâs wheat working group will serve as a strategic partner and provide technical advice for Nepalâs Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project. Photo: CSISA Nepal
Dahit Traders founder Chullu Ram Chaudhary at his workshop in Bardiya district, Nepal. Photo: CIMMYT/CSISA/A.Khadka
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) – In 2015 Chullu Ram Chaudhary started Dahit Traders, which sells small-scale agricultural machinery in the Bardiya district of mid-western Nepal.
Dahit provides year-round employment to 20 local youths as mechanics and machine operators, and hires an additional 35 mechanics during rice and wheat planting and harvesting seasons. Chaudhary was motivated to found his company in 2014 while attending a machinery training organized by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).
Chaudhary began by focusing on two-wheel tractors and has since expanded his business to several nearby towns, now also providing machine repair services to surrounding districts. His core business has broadened to include a variety of attachments for power tillers, including seed drills, reapers and threshers, all of which are relevant and useful for small-scale farmers of Bardiya and surrounding districts.
Each expansion allows him to provide employment for local youth by creating sales, mechanic and support staff jobs, which has the added benefit of slowing migration from Nepalâs key agricultural production areas. About 1,500 Nepalese youth migrate for foreign employment daily due a lack of employment opportunity and capital constraints in their own communities, a phenomena that directly contributes to agricultural yield loss in Nepal, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
This absence of farm labor along with a lack of agricultural knowledge, irrigation and mechanization along with the inability to invest in new technology due to lack of capital also limits Nepalâs yield potential, despite having fertile soil and access to year-round farming. Many plots in Nepal are also very small, due to the traditional inheritance practice of splitting land between sons, further limiting production. Cereal and pulse yields are well below regional averages and present rates of increase wonât meet the long-term requirements.
Success for entrepreneurs like Chaudhary allows farming households to access innovative, scale-appropriate technology, increase employment for youth and boost cropping system productivity, all of which are needed to sufficiently and sustainably increase food production for future generations. In addition to providing training on machinery, CSISA linked Chaudhary with SKT Traders â a national-level importer of small-scale machinery â and provided technical support to Dahit Traderâs mechanics on machinery operation, repair and maintenance.
To increase awareness of scale-appropriate machinery, CSISA and Dahit Traders conducted joint demonstrations of equipment in farmersâ fields in order to help farmers see the potential for these machines to reduce drudgery, increase efficiency and enable them to establish micro enterprises based on custom-hired services.
Sweeping “Aditya,” an improved wheat variety, into the floor duct of a seed cleaning machine at Unique Seed Co. Pvt. Ltd near Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) â Four Nepalese seed companies are showing signs of significant growth, with seed sales increasing nearly 60 percent since 2014.
About 70 percent of Nepal’s population is employed in the agriculture and forestry sector, accounting for 34 percent of the countryâs gross national product. While farmers still face many challenges in accessing new technology, market opportunities and other inputs, Nepalâs seed industry is beginning to grow thanks to new investments in seed company operations and facilities. There are currently 20 locally registered seed companies that provide about 50 % of the nationâs formal seed supply system.
The four  companies â New Shreeram, Lumbini Seed Company, GATE Nepal Pvt. Ltd. and Unique â are part of a group of 10 Nepalese companies that have worked with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) since 2014 to improve their marketing and sales strategies, business development, product range and quality.
This growth is notable in Nepalâs emerging cereal seed industry, which is composed primarily of small- to medium-scale enterprises that often lack business plans, have relatively low operating capital and have limited processing and storage facilities. These companies produce open-pollinated crop varieties, which are then released and registered by Nepalâs National Seed Board.
Half of the companies working with CIMMYT have so far been able to secure financial resources of up to $200,000 each from Nepalâs Ministry of Agricultural Development.
âThese additional funds have allowed the seed companies to expand their facilities to include seed storage buildings, processing plants and laboratories,â said Upadhaya. âThey have also included newly released iron- and zinc-rich varieties in their product lines.â
Some companies have also introduced innovative incentives for their producers by bearing the transportation costs of seed from the farmersâ fields to the company stores as a way to boost sales, according to Upadhaya.
The Seed Entrepreneursâ Association of Nepal (SEAN) â the seed companiesâ umbrella organization â has increased its membership from 600 in 2014 to 1,000 in 2016, formed three regional chapters and contributed a unified voice to discussions around agricultural policies of interest to the seed industry, said Laxmi Kanta Dhakal, SEAN Chairman.
Tons of seed sold from 2014 to 2016.
As a result of these new technologies and investments, seed sold by these companies increased significantly and reached marginal areas of the country through new development networks and private sector traders.
New contractual agreements have since been signed between seed companies, informal groups and cooperatives for the production of seed. As outlined in Nepalâs Agricultural Development Strategy (2015-2025), these initiatives will help promote inclusive growth and an effective seed sector in Nepal.
CIMMYT launched the CSISA in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asiaâs cereal-based cropping systems. CIMMYT operates rural âinnovation hubsâ in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to increase the adoption of various resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies, and to improve farmer access to market information and enterprise development. Learn more about CSISAâs impact here.
Breaking Ground is a regular series featuring staff at CIMMYT
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â David Guerena is fascinated by what he learns from smallholder farmers about the interactions between agriculture and the environment.
Guerenaâs work involves the strategic planning and execution of multidisciplinary spatial agronomy programs across complex ecologies. In addition to strict biophysical work, which involves integrating chemistry, biology, and physics into agricultural systems, he also engages in socio-economic and market facilitation dynamics research.
âHumanity has been eking out a cultivated living from the earth for around 10,000 years,â Guerena said. âSmallholder farmers are the direct link to this collective knowledge, which has shaped and defined human history. I really enjoy witnessing farmers reap satisfying harvests from their own efforts, but via outputs from agronomic systems research of which I have been a part.â
âAgriculture is intensely satisfying. A seed, fertile soil, water and sunshine eventually turn into food. This is such a simple process, yet millions of people around the world donât get enough to eat. I draw inspiration from being a part of positively changing this dynamic.â
Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Guerena has always been fascinated by the natural sciences and international travel. He decided to pursue a career in international agriculture by obtaining his Ph.D. from Cornell University, specializing in crop and soil science. Prior to joining CIMMYT, he worked as a soil scientist and agriculture innovations manager at One Acre Fund, served as an international research fellow with the World Agroforestry Center and a Borlaug Fellow in international food security.
CIMMYT provided a unique opportunity for Guerena to work on global food systems. âTogether, maize and wheat make up a significant proportion of the global food supply â maize and wheat research is a globally important mandate,â he said. âCIMMYT has also left an indelible mark on human history through facilitating the Green Revolution.â
Currently, Guerena is working on spatial agronomy programs, focusing on questions such as how to move from blanketed to site-specific agronomic recommendations across complex agro-ecologies in the developing world. Guerena will also investigate how digital technologies like SMS, smartphones, image recognition, and remote sensing data can be used and integrated into agronomy programming for smallholder farmers living in poverty.
Precision agronomy, a farming management concept based on observing, measuring, and responding to inter- and intra-field variability in crops, is already transforming agricultural efficiency in the developed world, but these advancements have not yet reached the developing world.
This is of the utmost importance, as worldwide, the vast majority of farmers are smallholders producing most of the global food supply. CIMMYT is not only looking at ways to put its top-level science into the hands of farmers, but also at ways to use these technologies to turn farmers themselves into world-class agronomists. This approach may be a way to bypass cumbersome agricultural knowledge generation and dissemination systems and reach farmers directly, at scale.
Farmer Sunita Baineya checking her maize as it comes out of a shelling machine powered by 4WT in Sirkohiya, Bardiya. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â Small-scale mechanization is becoming more important on smallholder farms in Nepal as young people, particularly men, migrate away from rural areas in large numbers, leaving women to take on even bigger responsibilities.
Some 13 million people â about 50 percent of Nepalâs population â live in the hills and mountains where most subsistence farming takes place. Women traditionally contribute more agricultural labor than men in these rural areas, typically undertaking time-consuming tasks such as weeding, harvesting, threshing and milling in addition to household chores. Two-thirds of women in Nepal are self-employed or engaged in unpaid family labor.
Nepal has the lowest ratio of men to women in all of South Asia and the proportion of rural households headed by women jumped from 15 to 25 percent between 2001 and 2011. As a result, rural women face many challenges, their potential curtailed in part due to the difficulty accessing credit. Despite a 2002 amendment to the countryâs Land Act, the practice of male succession means that women only own property in a fifth of rural households.
âAlmost everywhere there are changes, but maybe particularly so in the mountains,â said Scott Justice, a rural mechanization specialist with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia project in Nepal (CSISA-NP), who works with smallholders as part of efforts to help improve livelihoods. âTasks like the upkeep of terraces, plowing or service hiring are getting delayed or passed on to women, at the same time as the prices of hiring are going up.â
Following the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, CSISA-NP was contracted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help affected farming communities recover by providing grain storage tools, farm machinery and training, reaching 33,150 earthquake-affected households.
CSISA-NP, a project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with the International Rice Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute and funded by USAID, aims to address the gender imbalance by increasing access to affordable machinery options to increase farm income while reducing drudgery for women.
An as yet unpublished study on the spread of mini-tillers has shown approximately 7,000 mini-tillers sold in hill districts, Justice said.
âA key priority for the government and projects like ours is getting owners to use the [mini-tiller] engine to power other machinery like wheat and rice threshers, mini-maize shellers, pumps and maybe even reapers and planter-seeder attachments,â said Justice.
âA small cadre of machinery importers who, along with CIMMYTâs market development efforts, are increasingly attuned to small farmersâ needs, bringing in a new generation of small and inexpensive machinery ideas and products emerging from China,â he said. âThese qualities make it easier for women and their households to access and use such technologies.â
One of the technologies identified by CSISA-NP is a small, lightweight, precision hand cranked fertilizer spreader, which is growing in popularity because it can increase rice and wheat yields by 5 to 10 percent while cutting labor by half or more. CSISA has trained 150 service providers to use the fertilizer spreader, while cooperating private sector partners have imported over 500 of these spreaders in advance of the 2016-2017 wheat season.
CSISA focuses on the creation of a sustainable private machinery and service sector that serves farmersâ needs. A core group of approximately 15 to 20 (mostly) small businesses are constantly traveling and scouring the markets in China for new machinery and new ideas. One challenge is to encourage them to look more broadly in Asia for innovative scale appropriate technologies that meet the needs of both women and men in Nepal.
âOur activities are based on more than two decades of CIMMYT experience of small-scale mechanization in Nepalâs Terai area â rather than joining farmersâ experiments, we join in small and mid-sized machinery importersâ marketing experiments,â explained Justice.
CSISA is led by CIMMYT with the International Rice Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute and funded by USAID. It was established in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asiaâs cereal-based cropping systems.Â
An Earthquake Recovery Support Program beneficiary operates the lightweight and versatile mini-tiller, which is easier and more cost-effective than using bullocks to plough fields. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT
Since the programâs beginning in June 2015 a suite of agricultural assets including mini-tillers and other farm machines, seed and grain storage facilities, agricultural hand tools, technical training and agronomy support have been implemented through its completion this September. Beneficiaries came from across eight of the most risk-prone affected districts in Nepal.
Last yearâs earthquake seriously undermined Nepalâs food security with losses estimated at more than $280 million in the agriculture sector alone. Nearly two-thirds of the countryâs population relies on agriculture for their livelihood, which has made it even tougher for farmers affected by the earthquake. The quakes destroyed grain and seed stockpiles, killed and injured livestock, wrecked tools and implements and collapsed regional irrigation and agricultural marketsâ infrastructure.
While the programâs monitoring and evaluation activities are still underway, initial estimated impacts show the storage bags and cocoons distributed are expected to save about 2,700 tons of grain and seed. In addition, agricultural hand tools have helped sustainable agriculture take hold, and agronomy guides have provided information on new production technologies and management practices. Distributed mini-tillers can also cover 700 hectares of land, reducing drudgery for women in particular due to their light weight. Mechanics trained by the program also ensure mini-tillers will be repaired and available locally, which encourages continued demand for the machines.
CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff, observes a mini-tiller in operation during his visit in March this year to Nuwakot, one of the districts benefiting from the Earthquake Recovery Support Program in Nepal. Photo: A. Rai/CIMMYT
Subarna Bhandari, one of the recipients from Sindhupalchowk district, operated his mini-tiller for a total of 120 hours, earning approximately $540 within 3 months. The combined 8 machines that were distributed in his area would therefore help the recipients earn over $4,000. Another beneficiary previously needed three pairs of bullocks for two rounds of plowing at a cost of roughly $60. Thanks to the mini-tiller, the same activity now only costs $14.
âKeeping cattle for farm labor is costly and tedious because they need feed and fodder throughout the year, even when they are not in use,â says Mitra Shrestha, a farmer from Nuwakot district. âHowever, the mini-tiller needs fuel only when it is being used. In one hour the machine can cultivate an area that would require a pair of cattle to work an entire day,â she adds.
Shrestha uses the surplus time she can now spare for vegetable farming and other household chores. âIn fact, I now also use the mini-tiller for land preparation of potatoes, since it can till deeper and make ridges.â
Beyond the earthquake program, CSISA is moving some of its activities into these districts so that it can build upon the momentum created around scale-appropriate mechanization over the last year. The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer project, led by CIMMYT, also works in the earthquake zone.
Caption: Chetana Patil, Joint Director of Agriculture (left), discusses the strength of new heat-tolerant maize hybrids with farmers. Photo: UAS, Raichur
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CIMMYT) — Â Launched by CIMMYT in January 2013 in collaboration of five public sector institutions and three seed companies from four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan), the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project is a public-private partnership that targets resource-poor maize farmers in South Asia who face weather extremes and climate change effects.
Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, HTMA receives significant contributions from various partner institutions and companies. As a result of meticulously planned research on fast-track development and deployment of heat tolerant maize hybrids in South Asia, within three years the first 18 heat resilient hybrids were licensed to HTMA partners for deployment and scale-out. The projectâs outputs attracted the attention of other players in the region, especially private seed companies, who expressed their interest in becoming a part of HTMA. A total of 12 new partners (five seed companies each from Bangladesh and Pakistan and two from Nepal) formally joined the project. They participated for the first time in the projectâs annual review and planning meeting jointly organized by the Nepal Agricultural Research Program (NARC) and CIMMYT in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 25-26 July 2016.
Executive Director Yamraj Pandey, NARC, Nepal, chaired the inaugural session of the fourth annual review and planning meeting. In his opening remarks, Pandey emphasized the importance of stress resilient maize hybrids for coping with climate change effects and highlighted the remarkable progress HTMA has made in such a short period, giving farmers in stress-prone maize growing Asian environments much-needed heat tolerant hybrids. B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and of CRP-MAIZE, gave an overview of the new CGIAR research program on Maize Agri-food Systems, its focus and priorities, and highlighted the importance of stress-resilient maize for improving food security and livelihoods, especially in regions vulnerable to climate change, such as the Asian tropics.
Hailu Tefera, Agricultural Resource Specialist, Bureau for Food Security, USAID, gave an update on the FTF initiative and highlighted its priorities, which include reducing poverty and malnutrition in children in target countries through accelerated inclusive agricultural growth and a high-quality diet. He also informed meeting participants that on 7 July 2016, the US Congress passed the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), which will make FTF into law. Senior CIMMYT maize physiologist and HTMA project leader P.H. Zaidi shared the latest progress made under HTMA including the identification of genomic regions for key heat tolerant traits, development of improved heat tolerant populations using genomic selection, testing of new hybrid combinations, identification of promising hybrids, and the latest capacity development efforts.
At a series of technical sessions, project objective leaders, including Mitch Tuinstra, Purdue University professor, Sudha Nair, CIMMYT molecular maize breeder, and M.T. Vinayan, CIMMYT maize stress specialist for South Asia, presented the latest research results in each objective. HTMA leaders from public and private sector partners presented results of HTMA trials conducted at their locations/countries, and shared a list of top-ranking, best-bet heat-tolerant maize hybrids that will be subjected to large-scale testing and then deployed. They also described efforts aimed at disseminating HTMA hybrids through on-farm demonstrations and farmer-participatory selection of final products.. Most impressive was that each partner has identified a second batch of promising hybrids suitable for their target markets/agro-ecologies.
Caption: HTMA team at 4th annual review and planning meeting during 25-26 July, 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: UAS, Raichur
The project started a unique initiative aimed at developing hybrids using elite maize lines from Pioneer and HTMA. Kamal Pandey from Pioneer highlighted the performance of CIMMYT x Pioneer hybrids, which revealed the significant heterosis between CIMMYT and Pioneer maize germplasm, and should help identify promising joint hybrids suitable for stress-prone ecologies of South Asia. Zaidi and Tuinstra jointly presented HTMAâs progress on capacity development and provided updates on student research projects, including nine Ph.D. and six M.Sc. students, plus a total of 10 workshops/training courses organized so far on subjects such as precision phenotyping, molecular breeding, data management and seed systems. A total 303 participants have been trained, including researchers from public sector institutions and seed companies in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by over 50 program leaders, scientists and representatives from collaborating institutions in South Asia, including BARI (Bangladesh), Nepalâs National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Pakistanâs Maize and Millet Research Institute, Bhutanâs national maize program, and two of Indiaâs state agricultural universities. Also in attendance were partner seed companies in the region, including Pioneer Hi-Bred, Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds (India), and new seed company partners including Sean Seeds and Hariyali Community Seeds (Nepal); Jullundhar Pvt. Ltd., Kanzo Quality Seeds, CKD Seeds & Fertilizers, Hisell Seeds, and Zamindara Seeds (Pakistan); and Lalteer Seeds, Krishibid, BRAC, ACI Ltd., and Supreme Seeds (Bangladesh). International institutions such as Purdue University, USAID and CIMMYT also participated in the event.
The projectâs progress and updates were critically reviewed by the project steering committee (PSC) headed by Prasanna, who expressed great satisfaction with its overall progress and achievements. Speaking for USAID, Hailu Tefera said they are highly impressed with HTMAâs progress and consider it a model public-private partnership. Other PSC members also expressed their satisfaction and agreed that the HTMA team deserves special appreciation for the remarkable progress they have achieved within just four years.
CIMMYT is collaborating with national partners in Nepal to support the expansion of registered hybrid maize and to help increase the cropâs productivity throughout the country. Photo: Ashok Rai/CIMMYT
Maize is the second most important food crop in Nepal, after rice. It contributes approximately 25 percent of Nepalâs food basket and occupies around 26 percent of the total cropped area. Maize productivity (2.3 tons per hectare) in Nepal is still quite low compared to the global average of 5.5 tons per hectare (t/ha).
Growing demand from Nepalâs poultry industry cannot be met by growing only open-pollinated varieties. Because of their high productivity, quality and profitability, higher-yielding hybrids have become increasingly popular among farmers. However, most maize hybrids are only approved for sale and cultivation in the central and eastern Terai, east of the Narayani River. To meet market demand, farmers in many areas, especially in western Nepal, sometimes purchase non-approved hybrid seeds. These hybrid seeds are not registered at Nepalâs Seed Quality Control Centre and are traded through informal channels.
Not wishing to risk a government penalty for violating the seed policy, traders have not distributed many high-performing hybrids, thereby restricting their local production, fair distribution and widespread availability, which could benefit many farmers in Nepal. Of the estimated 2,500 tons of hybrid maize grown in Nepal annually, only 1,000 tons are registered hybrids.
In 2014 and 2015, the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and Nepalâs National Maize Research Program (NMRP) partnered to evaluate maize hybrids in six additional districts (Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Surkhet and Dadeldhura) in western Nepal. Trials were conducted in spring in the Terai and in summer in the mid-hills; they were monitored by a team of NMRP stakeholders. Performance data for variety release and registration were shared with Nepalâs National Seed Board (NSB).
Of the ten hybrids evaluated, four (TX 369, Bioseed 9220, Rajkumar and Nutan) were found to be agronomically superior, producing more than 6 t/ha. They also had tight husk cover, which provides moderate resistance to northern leaf blight and grey leaf spot. Based on the evaluation results, the NSB has registered and approved the four hybrid varieties for sale in western Nepal.
Highlighting the need to increase farmersâ access to registered hybrids, Dilaram Bhandari, NSB member and Director of the Crop Development Directorate of Nepalâs Department of Agriculture, said, âWe have to adopt this modality for other hybrids as well, since new hybrids expand outside the recommendation domains quite frequently.â
Puniram Chaudhary in Kailali District explains the advantages of growing new lentil variety Black Masuro over the local variety. Photo: Narayan Khanal
KATHMANDU, NEPAL (CIMMYT) â Farmers in Nepal are benefiting from the work done by the Cereal Systems Initiative of South Asia (CSISA) in Nepal, which promotes public-private partnerships with small and medium enterprises in the seed sector to aid sustainable intensification of wheat- and maize-based cropping systems over the past two years.
Representatives of these enterprises have received business mentoring, participated in an exercise on creating business plans, collaborated with Indian seed companies and attended a âtheory of changeâ workshop. Subsequently, two seed companies (GATE Nepal Pvt. Ltd. and Unique Seed Company) requested technical support from CIMMYT to organize field demonstrations of new wheat and lentil varieties for farmers in six strategic districts in the hills and terai (plains) of Nepal. In terai demonstrations were held in Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur. Â In hill districts demonstrations were held in Surkhet and Dadeldhura. Altogether, CIMMYT provided support for 60 wheat and lentil field demonstrations during the 2015-2016 winter season in collaboration with national agriculture research system partners.
A team of professionals, which included representatives from District Agriculture Development Offices (DADOs), Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), CSISA-Nepal, seed companies and the media, attended the demonstrations from 13-17 March 2016. They observed three treatments: a farmersâ variety under farmersâ management; an improved variety under farmersâ management and an improved variety under improved management. The visitors also viewed seed production plots, interacted with farmers about key lessons learned and discussed possible strategies for scaling out wheat and lentil technology through public-private partnerships.
During the visit, it was clear that farmers understood the advantages of growing quality seed of recently released wheat varieties such as Vijay, compared to the local varieties. Some farmers asked for wheat varieties with physical features and cooking qualities similar to those of NL 297, an old variety. At one of the participatory variety selection (PVS) plots, senior wheat breeder Madan Bhatta proposed NARCâs pipeline variety BL4341 as an alternative to NL 297. Milan Paudel, GATE Nepal agriculture officer, became keenly interested in BL4341 and said he would collect seed from the trial plot so his company could multiply it.
Women farmers selected wheat variety Danfe at the PVS trial in Gadhi VDC, Surkhet District. Photo: Narayan Khanal
The team also observed the wheat field of farmer Ram Chandra Yadav, who had planted Vijay on 3 ha using a zero-tillage seed drill. Yadav is also a local service provider of the zero-tillage seed drill promoted by the CSISA project. During the current wheat season, he has provided paid services on 18 hectares (44.5 acres) belonging to other farmers. The team also witnessed the success of new wheat varieties WK 1204, Dhawalagiri and Danphe in the hill district of Surkhet, where farmers planted a significant area with seed saved from their previous harvest.
Lentils were also in focus, most farmers liked the performance of new variety Black Masuro across districts in the terai. Rabendra Sah, senior technical officer of the National Grain Legume Research Program, said that to get higher yields, farmers should sow Black Masuro by 15 October.
DADO officials acknowledged CIMMYTâs contribution to seed system development and mechanization. They proposed an improved model for producing seed of major food crops in public-private partnerships. In this model, seed companies agree to make contractual arrangements with seed producer groups and cooperatives to produce and market truthfully labeled (TL) seed. Once the contract is signed, DADOs will provide source seed to the seed companies at a subsidized rate, and the seed will be multiplied by producer groups and cooperatives. The TL seed thus produced will then be distributed through different food security related projects.
Given that DADOs from Surkhet and Kanchanpur are keen to participate in this model, CIMMYT has agreed to further strengthen such partnership arrangements. There is a growing realization that the CIMMYT can mobilize private seed companies in Nepal to utilize the network of farmer groups and cooperatives to scale out technologies/varieties.
This story appeared originally on the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative website to mark Earth Day on April 22, 2016. Linda McCandless is associate director for communications, International Programs, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell University. She also oversees communications for the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project.
SINDHULPALCHOWK, Nepal (BGRI) — Farming the terraced hillsides above the Indrawati River Valley of Nepal, Nabaraj Sapkota and his wife Muthu Dei experience the impacts of climate change on an almost daily basis. Erratic rains make planting difficult. Warm, misty conditions and prolonged winter temperatures increase the incidence of wheat rusts that reduce yield. Unpredictable hailstorms flatten wheat and rice before they can be harvested.
âWhen we need rain, there is no rain. And when we donât need rain, there is plenty of rain,â says Nabaraj. âWe used to only have rain from May through July, now we have rain and mist from November.â
Khim lal Bastola grows wheat, maize and rice in rotation and sustains four generations in his 12-person household near Pokhara. âThe change is obvious: man produces something with his hard labor but strong winds and hailstorms destroy it,â he said.
âThe climate change scenario for Nepal â where temperature are likely to increase and precipitation is likely to be more erratic â will disproportionally affect smallholder farmers,â said Dhruba Thapa, a senior scientist with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council. âFor Nepal, the cost of not adapting to climate change will be high.â
Like many farmers in Nepal, Bastola and the Sapkotas need technical assistance to help them adapt to climate change. They eagerly soak up the education offered by people like Thapa, Sarala Sharma, and Sunita Adhibari, NARC scientists who distribute disease resistant varieties of wheat and help farmers learn to identify diseases.
Scientists and farmers also soak up training from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), and specialists like Dave Hodson, a wheat surveillance specialist with CIMMYT, who shows them how to scout for wheat rust and upload data into the global RustTracker monitoring system.
FARMING PERVASIVE BUT DIFFICULT IN NEPAL
Farming in Nepal is hard, backbreaking labor predominantly done by hand in fields rarely more than one-quarter of an acre in size. Men plow the small plots on the terraced hillsides with oxen. Women break up the clods with heavy adzes. Although rarely above subsistence level, small farms are of vital importance in sustaining the multi-generational communities scattered throughout the Himalayas in the high hills to the north, the temperate mid-hills, and the subtropical terai to the south.
The livelihoods of more than 75 percent of the people in Nepal are based on agriculture and forestry, and almost 65 percent of the agriculture is rainfed, Nepal is among the 25 nations in the world with the lowest GDP per person and also ranks among the 25 with the greatest decrease in forested land. Rural populations are heavily clustered in river basins whose annual monsoon-fed flood cycles are likely to be exacerbated by warming. Deforestation adds to the problem, intensifying flooding and contributing to the likelihood of landslides.
HELPING FARMERS ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Using disease resistant and improved seeds, and adopting different planting and harvesting calendars helps farmers adapt to climate change.
In Chhampi, north of Kathmandu, Krishna Bahadur Ghimire and the local farmersâ cooperative of which he is president, are now producing improved rice, wheat and maize on 140 ropanis of land. Ghimere supplies beans, rice, eggplant, soybeans, wheat and vegetable seeds to his neighbors. He started farming on one ropani of land (~ 500 sq.m) in 1997 but switched to the seed business when he found himself having to drive two hours to Kathmandu to get the improved varieties he needed.
âOur local varieties were not climate smart. We went to Kathmandu to get improved seeds from the Nepalese Agricultural Research Center because their seeds are more disease resistant, higher yielding, and higher quality,â said Ghimire, who has worked with Thapa for 11 years. Â âNew varieties are less lodging and scattering during storms and high winds than the local ones.â
âFarmers need climate smart crops that have been improved for yield and disease resistance, but they also need seeds adapted for variable weather conditions whether we have drought or excess rainfall,â said Thapa. âNARC screens many lines and then provides seeds of promising lines to farmers for participatory variety selection trials, like with Ghimireâs group.â
Naparaj, the Sindhulpalchowk farmer, initially received 300 grams of seven varieties of improved wheat from Thapa. âI was thinking how I could uplift them (my neighbors),â said Naparaj. âI thought to myself, the lives of these people must be uplifted through improved seeds which would give them good production. We used to get one muri (~3.5 liters or 70 kg) of wheat per one ropani (~ 500 sq.m.). Now we are threshing three or four times more. It is a huge profit.â
Ghimereâs 25-year-old nephew Saroj Kumar Bista, speaks of another problem affecting farmers that requires gender-sensitive initiatves. âMany young men are going to the Middle East to work and not moving into the farming sector,â he said.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Godhavari, where Manju Khavas, Radha Basnet and Janaki Silwalâs sons have gone to the Middle East or Japan to work. Their husbands work off the farm, leaving them in charge. âAt first we were overwhelmed,â said the 52-year-old Khavas. âWe could not find someone to dig the fields. Now it is easier because of the handheld tractor.â
Thapa introduced improved eight or nine varieties of wheat to their community as well as agronomic practices like planting in rows, incorporating manure for fertilizer, and using handheld tractors (similar to heavy duty rototillers).
How does Khavas count improvement? âWhen we were 7 or 8 members in the family, the produce of this land was not enough. Now the produce is enough for 13 to 14 people,â she said. Wheat yields are so improved that she and her friends want a wheat threshing machine so they donât have to thresh the greater quantities by hand.
Although the women said they have yet to âevaluateâ climate change, they noted the âenvironment has been spoilt.â
âDuring the harvesting season of the wheat, we suffer from the fear of rain,â said Khavas. âHailstorms also scare us. The moment the wheat becomes yellow, we begin to feel afraid whether we will be able to harvest it or not. And then when the wheat is harvested amid the fear of rain, in the paddy rice planting time, there is no rain.â
MORE TRAINING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
Dave Hodson, a surveillance expert with CIMMYT and the BGRI, travels to countries like Nepal to train scientists on using handheld tablets to scout for disease and input data into global disease tracking and monitoring systems that can help to predict disease outbreaks.
Since 2008, the BGRI has held five 2-week training sessions on the âArt and Science of Rust Pathology and Wheat Breedingâ in Asia for scientists in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), including scientists from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan. The course is slated to be on-line this summer.
Nepalese farmers lack understanding of meteorological data and how to reduce risks in agriculture and farming. Sushila Pyakurel, who works with ICDO Lalitpur, has helped initiate Climate Field Schools in Nepal where farmers learn the effects of climate change, identifying crops most suitable to grow, seed selection, scheduling farm operations/farm management practices, and adaptation strategies/methodologies.
One of the new areas of expansion for the BGRI is the new Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project, a $24M effort funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make wheat for smallholder farmers around the world more heat tolerant and disease resistant in the face of climate change. It builds on the successes of the 2008-2015 Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project, which initiated and funded the SAARC training courses.
DEDICATION: April 25, 2016: For smallholder farmers in Nepal, the challenges of climate change are disastrous enough. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal on 25 April 2015, less than one month after the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative team visited. More than 9,000 people died and almost 900,000 homes were destroyed. Some of the hardest hit areas were Sindhulpalchowk and Chhampi. This Earth Day blog is dedicated to the resilient farmers of Nepal. It is the BGRIâs sincerest hope that their families are well on their way to recovery.
A farmer uses a mini-tiller in the midwestern region of Nepal. Photo credit: CIMMYT/CSISA
The recent 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April, followed by a 7.3 magnitude aftershock on 12 May and several hundred additional aftershocks, has had huge negative impacts on the countryâs agriculture and food security. Around two-thirds of Nepalâs population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, and agriculture contributes 33% of Nepalâs GDP. It is estimated that about 8 million people have been affected by the earthquakes, with smallholders in hilly regions being the hardest hit.
The earthquakes damaged or destroyed agricultural assets, undermining the longer-term food production capacity of farm families and disrupting critical input supply, trade, and processing networks. Farmers lost grain and seed stocks, livestock, agricultural tools and other inputs, and are facing significant labor shortages. Widespread damage to seed and grain storage facilities has affected smallholder farmersâ ability to secure their harvested crops during the rainy season.
In response to the devastation, USAID-Nepal has provided US$1 million to the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Nepal (CSISA-NP) for earthquake relief and recovery. The Earthquake Recovery Support Program will be implemented for a period of 13 months in close coordination with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), Department of Agriculture, Department of Livestock Services, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, and District Disaster Relief Committee. The districts that will receive support include Dolkha, Kavre, Khotang, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Ramechap, Sindhupalchowk, and Solukhumbu, which suffered particularly high levels of damage.
According to Andrew McDonald, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and CSISA Project Leader, âEven if seed is available, farmersâ ability to plant and harvest crops has been severely diminished due to the loss of draft animals and the exacerbation of labor shortages.â To aid them, the earthquake recovery program will provide more than 33,000 farming households with 50,000 grain storage bags, 30 cocoons for community grain storage, 400 mini-tillers and other modern agriculture power tools (e.g., seeders, reapers, and maize shellers), 800 sets of small agricultural hand tools, and 20,000 posters on better-bet agronomic practices for rice and maize.
âFirst we will focus on getting horse-powered mini-tillers into affected communities, and subsequently broadening the utility of these machines to power a host of essential agricultural activities including seeding, reaping, threshing, and shelling, as well as driving small pumps for irrigation,â said Scott Justice, Agricultural Mechanization Specialist, CSISA-NP.
CIMMYT scientists train farmers on how to use a power tiller in Dadeldhura, Nepal. Photo credit: Lokendra Khadka/CSISA-Nepal
At the programâs inception workshop on 28 August, Beth Dunford, USAID-Nepal Mission Director, remarked that USAID-Nepal has arranged for a special fund to help earthquake-affected people. Beyond the devastation of houses and public infrastructure such as roads, the earthquake has seriously disrupted agriculture and the rural economy in the impacted districts. Re-establishing vital agricultural markets and services is key to how quickly these communities will recover from the earthquake, underlined Dunford.
To coordinate and monitor program activities effectively, management committees at the central, district, and local levels have been formed with the purpose of identifying the earthquake-affected areas within a district and ensuring efficient and transparent distribution of aid items.
MoAD Joint Secretary Rajendra Adhikari highlighted that the Ministry feels a real sense of ownership over this program and is committed to implementing program activities through its network. The farm machinery support program will be a perfect platform for MoAD to expand its farm mechanization program into other areas of the country. The Earthquake Recovery Support Program also aligns with the Nepalese Governmentâs agricultural development strategies, which focus on community-wide inclusive development.
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.
