As a fast growing region with increasing challenges for smallholder farmers, Asia is a key target region for CIMMYT. CIMMYT’s work stretches from Central Asia to southern China and incorporates system-wide approaches to improve wheat and maize productivity and deliver quality seed to areas with high rates of child malnutrition. Activities involve national and regional local organizations to facilitate greater adoption of new technologies by farmers and benefit from close partnerships with farmer associations and agricultural extension agents.
As part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has created a series of infographics explaining key information about fall armyworm.
These infographics will be translated and used to reach out to farmers in Bangladesh, through agrodealers and public sector partners. The principles and concepts presented in them — which champion the use of integrated pest management strategies — are relevant to countries across the region.
If you would like to use these infographics in other countries or translate them to other languages, please contact Tim Krupnik.
Fall armyworm is an invasive insect pest that can eat 80 different types of plants, but prefers maize. It spread throughout Africa in just two years, and was found in India in late 2018. Since then it has spread across South and South East Asia, where it presents a serious threat to food and income security for millions of smallholder farmers.
The infographics are designed to be printed as foldable cards that farmers can carry in their pocket for easy reference. The graphics provide an overview of fall armyworm biology as well as the insect’s ecology and lifecycle. They also describe how to identify and scout maize fields for fall armyworm and provide easy-to-follow recommendations for what to do if thresholds for damage are found. One of the infographics provides farmers with ideas on how to manage fall armyworm in their field and village, including recommendations for agronomic, agroecological, mechanical and biological pest management. In addition, chemical pest management is presented in a way that informs farmers about appropriate safety precautions if insecticide use is justified.
In India’s state of West Bengal, the success of men and women farmers and agri-entrepreneurs is paving the way for the out-scaling of climate-smart conservation agriculture practices for sustainable intensification across the region.
Through the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI) project, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is improving productivity, profitability and sustainability across the Eastern Gangetic Plains.
Participants in the five-year workshop for the SRFSI project in Kathmandu in May 2019 stand for a group shot. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Over 50 stakeholders from the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI) project engaged in three days of reflection and planning in Kathmandu, Nepal, in early May 2019. Partners from four countries focused on identifying key learnings across a range of topics including value chains, business models, agricultural extension, capacity building, innovation platforms and policy convergence. After almost five years of project activities, there was naturally plenty of vibrant discussion.
The cross-cutting themes of gender and climate change were considered within each topic, to capture project outputs beyond participation and farm level impact. Discussions around gender confirmed the benefits of targeted women’s participation and ensuring that women’s availability was accommodated. Working within the SRFSI project, researchers have identified new business opportunities for women, with benefits for individuals and community groups. In terms of business models, it was highlighted that promoting gender-inclusive strategies for all partners, including the private sector, is necessary. Ensuring a wide range of partnership institutions, such as NGOs with women-centric programs, is also beneficial for reaching more women.
In the five-year SRFSI workshop, participants discussed research outputs and planned the year ahead. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification techniques have been confirmed as contributing to climate-resilient farming systems, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Importantly, the project has demonstrated that these systems can be profitable, climate smart business models in the Eastern Gangetic Plains. They were also seen as fitting well with government plans and policies to address climate change, which was demonstrated by convergence with country and NGO programs that are focused on climate change adaptation.
In keeping with the recently approved no-cost extension of the SRFSI project until June 2020, the final sessions identified remaining research questions in each location and scaling component, and project partners nominated small research activities to fill these gaps. The final year of SRFSI is an excellent opportunity to capture valuable lessons and synthesise project outputs for maximum impact.
The Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification Project is a collaboration between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the project funder, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
Cynthia Carmona will always remember the directive her supervisor gave to a researcher panicked by mounting paperwork: You go and work on the science. We’ll take care of the admin part.
“They already have their hands full with research and building partnership strategies. They shouldn’t have to be concerned about whether or not an invoice has been sent,” she says.
Growing up in the Mexican state of Sonora, Carmona was aware of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) Obregon experimental station from a young age. “It was an organization that I knew existed, but all I knew was that they worked on wheat.”
After studying international relations at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City, Carmona spent a couple of years working in government and the private sector but she remained on the look-out for global-facing opportunities. Drawn to the opportunity to work with donors, Carmona joined CIMMYT’s Project Management Unit (PMU) six years ago.
“When I first arrived it was more of a grant management unit and we were divided by grant cycle. One person would work on proposals, another on contracts and so on, so you didn’t really get to see the whole process from start to finish.”
The unit has evolved since then, and growing responsibility means that the team is now divided by specialty, from donor relations and resource mobilization to grant management and monitoring and evaluation. “The structure we have now definitely gives you a broader understanding of each project.”
Carmona stresses that even though PMU staff don’t work in the field or in laboratories, they do make significant contributions to project implementation by encouraging smoother processes, alleviating administrative problems and ‘speaking a common language’ between researchers and management. When she took on the role of grant management coordinator, she impressed upon her team the extent to which their action or inaction could affect the projects they support. “Making things happen was my favorite part of the role, and I saw my job as that of an ‘issue solver’.”
Carmona is currently based in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she is serving as interim project manager on CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project.
“I’m very excited about this new opportunity. CSISA has always been a flagship project for CIMMYT, so when they invited me to help them it was like a dream come true.”
She first visited Nepal in December 2018, where she spent time shadowing the outgoing manager who provided her with an introduction to the country, the region and the project itself.
“It was like a two-week bootcamp. But even though it was intense, I didn’t feel overwhelmed.”
Working in PMU, Carmona explains, provides a solid background for project management and an understanding of how CIMMYT projects work, from start to finish, as well as how to communicate with funders and build shared knowledge by bringing people together, from scientists and researchers to program and service unit staff.
Besides learning about how a project is run on-the-ground, Carmona is most looking forward to gaining field experience while in Nepal. “Talking to farmers and project teams, listening to their experiences and witnessing CIMMYT’s work on-the-ground really gives you a sense of belonging and a connection to our mission.”
Abdelfattah A. Dababat (Amer) is the CIMMYT Country Representative in Türkiye and the leader of the Soil Borne Pathogens.
In 2009, he received a second post doctorate offer from CIMMYT to work on the soil borne pathogens. More than 600 scientists/students were benefited from the symposiums, workshops, and courses which he has organized since 2010.
He has co-supervised/co-supervising more than 45 Master and PhD students from around the world and he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and more than 150 proceedings, abstracts, and 2 manuals, books, and book chapters.
He obtained his BSc in 1996 from Al-Najah National University and his MSc in 1999 from the University of Jordan in Amman. From 2009 to 2013 he worked at the Palestinian Agriculture Research Center for a trilateral project among Germany, Israel, and Palestine. In 2003, he received a PhD scholarship offer from the German KAAD to complete his PhD studies at Bonn University where he also did his post doctorate from 2007 to 2009.
Wei Xiong is an interdisciplinary researcher focusing on the interactions between agricultural production and environment, with specific experiences in climate change and agriculture, development of agricultural system modeling tools, evaluation of climate-smart agriculture, and Genotype by Environment Interaction analysis.
Xiong is good at using cutting-edge technologies (such as cloud computing, machine learning, big data, HPC, and bioinformatics) in G×E×M interaction analysis, with a track record of improving short- and long-term agricultural forecast models at the local, national, and global scales. He is also interested in smart agriculture, agricultural AI, and innovative predictive approaches from genomics to phenomics.
The Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program aims to enhance and protect the productivity of wheat in Pakistan by supporting research that leads to the identification, adoption, and optimal agronomic management of new, high yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. The main goal of the project is to facilitate efforts of scientific institutions in Pakistan to minimize adverse effects of wheat rusts — including the highly virulent Ug99 stem rust disease — through surveillance and genetically resistant varieties.
As part of the U.S. government’s assistance to Pakistan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Pakistan’s Ministry of Agriculture have identified the development of wheat varieties with resistance to virulent rust strains as a goal for improving food security and related agricultural production challenges. This document outlines a project for providing cereal rust protection for wheat production in Pakistan.
This wheat production enhancement project is a multi-partner, collaborative research and development program that includes human resource development. The primary external partners — USDA, CIMMYT, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas — work cooperatively with Pakistan research organizations to refine work plans and implement research and development activities in rust surveillance, pre-breeding, breeding, seed, and agronomy as described in objectives section.
Objectives
Rust pathogen surveillance
Pre-breeding to enhance the diversity and utility of rust resistant wheat breeding parent
Accelerated breeding to develop and test rust resistant, high performance candidate wheat varieties
Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Eastern Gangetic Plains region of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal is home to the greatest concentration of rural poor in the world. This region is projected to be one of the areas most affected by climate change. Local farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change: erratic monsoon rains, floods and other extreme weather events have affected agricultural production for the past decade. The region’s smallholder farming systems have low productivity, and yields are too variable to provide a solid foundation for food security. Inadequate access to irrigation, credit, inputs and extension systems limit capacity to adapt to climate change or invest in innovation. Furthermore, large-scale migration away from agricultural areas has led to labor shortages and increasing numbers of women in agriculture.
The Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project aims to reduce poverty in the Eastern Gangetic Plains by making smallholder agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable while safeguarding the environment and involving women. CIMMYT, project partners and farmers are exploring Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification (CASI) and efficient water management as foundations for increasing crop productivity and resilience. Technological changes are being complemented by research into institutional innovations that strengthen adaptive capacity and link farmers to markets and support services, enabling both women and men farmers to adapt and thrive in the face of climate and economic change.
In its current phase, the project team is identifying and closing capacity gaps so that stakeholders can scale CASI practices beyond the project lifespan. Priorities include crop diversification and rotation, reduced tillage using machinery, efficient water management practices, and integrated weed management practices. Women farmers are specifically targeted in the scaling project: it is intended that a third of participants will be women and that at least 25% of the households involved will be led by women.
Understand farmer circumstances with respect to cropping systems, natural and economic resources base, livelihood strategies, and capacity to bear risk and undertake technological innovation
Develop with farmers more productive and sustainable technologies that are resilient to climate risks and profitable for smallholders
Catalyze, support and evaluate institutional and policy changes that establish an enabling environment for the adoption of high-impact technologies
Facilitate widespread adoption of sustainable, resilient and more profitable farming systems
Zero-tillage service provision is key to facilitating adoption.
Service provider Azgad Ali and farmer Samaru Das have a fruitful relationship based on technology promoted through CIMMYT’s SRSFI project.
Bablu Modak demonstrates his unpuddled mechanically transplanted rice.
CIMMYT’s SRFSI team and the community walk through the fields during a field visit in Cooch Behar.
The International Wheat Improvement Program was established as a cooperative international research effort by the Turkish national wheat research program and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 1986. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Rural Areas (ICARDA) joined the program in 1990, integrating its highland wheat breeding program.
The main objective of IWWIP is to develop winter/facultative wheat germplasm for the region of Central and West Asia. IWWIP is fully integrated into the national Turkish wheat program, with a strong connection to partners within and outside the region, such as eastern Europe and the United States.
The program is governed by a steering committee. Three coordinators — Beyhan Akin from CIMMYT, Mesut Keser from ICARDA and Fatih Ozdemir from the Turkish national wheat research program — provide technical leadership.
IWWIP focuses on the development of elite wheat lines for rainfed and irrigated areas in Central and West Asia.
Since the inception of the program, more than 105 winter wheat varieties originating from IWWIP germplasm have been released. Germplasm from IWWIP is sent each year to approximately 100 cooperators in 50 countries, making it an important vehicle for the global exchange of winter wheat germplasm.
Core traits for rainfed areas are yield and yield stability, drought and heat tolerance, resistance to three cereal rusts and soil-borne diseases — nematodes, crown and root rots —, and end-use quality. Other traits considered for specific areas are resistance to Septoria leaf blight and insects. For irrigated and high-rainfall areas, breeding focuses on yield potential, cereal rusts, Septoria and quality.
Germplasm with special traits, such as resistance to stem rust and Russian wheat aphid, and Sun pest vegetative stage resistance, is developed in nurseries and shared with IWWIP cooperators. IWWIP distributes four International Winter Wheat Nurseries each year, targeted for semiarid and irrigated conditions: Facultative and Winter Wheat Observation Nurseries (FAWWONs) FAWWON-SA and FAWWON-IRR, and the replicated International Winter Wheat Yield Trials (IWWYTs) IWWYT-SA and IWWYT-IRR.
In 2018, IWWIP established a speed-breeding facility at the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute in Menemen, Izmir, with the capacity to grow 20,000 plants in one cycle. This facility allows for greater genetic gain by increasing the number of generations per year and reducing the time it takes to incorporate new traits into elite germplasm.
IWWIP uses multi-location testing in Turkey as well as shuttle breeding globally, serving as a successful model for a jointly operated breeding program between national and international institutes. Shuttle breeding to improve drought and heat tolerance and cold tolerance has been working well and produces novel germplasm with abiotic stresses tolerance.
Major IWWIP contributions:
Close cooperation with CIMMYT’s Soil Borne Pathogens Group to identify genotypes with resistance to nematodes and root rots, used in breeding programs in the region and beyond.
A national inventory of wheat landraces in Turkey (2009-2014), with collections from over 1,500 farmers from 68 provinces. The collected material was characterized and deposited in the Turkish Gene Bank in Ankara. The best accessions are currently used as parents, undergoing further study by the Turkish National Program and IWWIP, and being used in the development of primary synthetic winter wheat for breeding diverse and resilient wheat varieties.
High-quality data that has increased selection efficiency to develop yellow-rust-resistant cultivars.
Substantial improvement in stem rust resistance through shuttle methodology between Turkey and Kenya.
Publication of NDVI and digital photos for germplasm evaluation under irrigated and drought conditions.
IWWIP has played a major role in building the capacity of young researchers through long-term practical training at CIMMYT, ICARDA, and Turkish national wheat breeding programs; participation in traveling seminars; support for participation in regional conferences and IWWIP annual meetings; and on-site visits of IWWIP breeders.
Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation was initiated in 1999 with the objective of increasing the food security of farm families in the hills of Nepal by raising the productivity and sustainability of maize-based cropping systems. The HMRP went through three phases between 1999 and 2010, the fourth and final phase began in August 2010 and concluded in 2015. There are two key outcomes for the project.
First, farm households in the hills of Nepal, especially those belonging to women, poor and disadvantaged groups, have improved food security and income.
Second, the National Seed Board, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council and the Department of Agriculture enforce quality control in both public and private institutions.
OBJECTIVES
Farm households in the hills of Nepal, especially of poor and disadvantaged groups, have improved food security and income.
Available varieties and technologies are used
Poor and disadvantaged households have increased access to quality maize seed and proven technologies
Groups/cooperatives supply quality seeds at competitive market prices
Poor and disadvantaged maize producing households will have access to multiple agricultural interventions for enhanced productivity
The National Seed Board (NSB), NARC, and the DoA allow decentralization of the source seed production system
Public and private institutions obtain seed inspection mandate and license
CBSP/cooperatives manage supply of quality seed
The NSB and NARC consider HMRP’s experience in variety development, certification and release system
The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) is a non-profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition and livelihood security as well as environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, which is home to more than 300 million undernourished people. BISA is a collaborative effort involving the CIMMYT and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. The objective of BISA is to harness the latest technology in agriculture to improve farm productivity and sustainably meet the demands of the future. BISA is more than an institute. It is a commitment to the people of South Asia, particularly to the farmers, and a concerted effort to catalyze a second Green Revolution.
BISA was established on October 5, 2011, through an agreement between the Government of India (GoI) and CIMMYT and was bolstered by the globally credible name of Nobel Laureate Norman Ernest Borlaug. The institution draws on the decades of experience and success by CIMMYT, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and a global network of partners in using research to generate tangible benefits for farmers internationally. BISA is supported by a growing number of national stakeholders in South Asia. It is committed to stronger collaborations for accelerated impact, most prominently with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the three state governments (Punjab, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh) where BISA farms are located.
Objectives
Ensure access to the latest in research and technologies that are currently not available in the region
Strategize research aimed at doubling food production in South Asia while using less water, land and energy
Strengthen cutting-edge research that validates and tests new technologies to significantly increase yield potential
Develop technologies for higher productivity in rice, maize and wheat based farming systems
Design research outputs targeted to small and marginal farmers across the region
Build on CIMMYT’s vast germplasm resources, and make research products and know-how developed by BISA freely available to stakeholders
Create a new generation of scientists to work with new technologies through training programs that will retain them in South Asia
Enable researchers to pursue multiple strategies and research possibilities while simultaneously allowing for more meaningful collaboration with national institutions
Build a forum with partners from all sectors – research centers, governments, science community, businesses and farmers – to transform farmers’ lives and improve food security in the region
Develop a policy environment that embraces new technologies and encourages investments in agricultural research
Develop and utilize BISA as a regional platform that focuses on agricultural research in the whole of South Asia
Fall armyworm is an invasive insect pest that can eat 80 different types of plants, but prefers maize. It spread throughout Africa in just two years, and was found in India in late 2018. Since then it has spread across South and South East Asia, where it presents a serious threat to food and income security for millions of smallholder farmers.
Download the infographics:
