As a fast growing region with increasing challenges for smallholder farmers, Asia is a key target region for CIMMYT. CIMMYTâs 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.
Mr. Sikandar Hayat Bosan (left), Federal Minister of Food Security & Research, and Mr. Gregory Gottlieb (red tie), Director for USAID Pakistan, visited the stand and talked to Imtiaz Muhammad (far right), CIMMYT Country Representative in Pakistan, and AIP component leads about their programs. Photos: Amina Nasim Khan
The Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), led by CIMMYT and funded by USAID, presented the latest advances in agricultural technology and provided a platform for local industry to explore innovative technologies, products and services at the Pakistan Agriculture Conference and Expo 2015 in Islamabad.
The main attractions were the Zero-Tillage Happy Seeder, durum wheat, biofortified maize, goats bred through artificial insemination, alternate wetting and drying in rice, rice storage in hermetic bags and protected vegetable cultivation models. The AIP exhibit attracted many visitors including farmers, policymakers, agriculture experts and scientists from both public- and private-sector organizations, opening new avenues for AIP to connect with target groups and explore agricultural opportunities in Pakistan.
Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT Country Representative, Pakistan, at the AIP-maize component display.
India staff members (L-R) Anuradha Dhar, Meenakshi Chandiramani, Anu Raswant and Kailash Kalvaniya at the exhibit stall in the Mela at IARI, Pusa Campus. Photo: BISA/CIMMYT
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) organized the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela (Agriculture Science Fair) during 10-12 March. Initiated in 1972, the Mela is an important annual event for IARI to raise awareness about agricultural technological developments and for receiving feedback from farming communities. The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and CIMMYT India mounted an exhibit on their work and staff discussed farming practices and mechanization with several farmers and scientific community members, as well as handing out printed materials to visitors.
Agriculture has the potential to be âpart of the solution to reduce the impact of climate change,â according to Dr. R.S. Paroda, Chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences, who was one of nearly 100 participants at a launching and planning workshop for Flagship Projects on climate-smart agriculture of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS). Held on 24-25 February in New Delhi, the event was jointly organized by CIMMYT and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and other partnering countries.
Dr. Ayyappan, Secy DARE & DG, ICAR, felicitating the launch. Photos: CIMMYT-India.
In the fight against climate change, agriculture is both a perpetrator and a victim. Modern agriculture, food production and distribution are major contributors of greenhouse gases, generating about one-quarter of global emissions. Climate-smart agriculture addresses the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change by sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, building resilience in food-production systems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.
The workshop began with a presentation of CCAFS Flagship Project Portfolios, followed by group discussions on associated farming practices, policy, frameworks and recommendations on partnering with governments and other organizations. Clare Stirling, Senior Scientist with the Global Conservation Agriculture Program at CIMMYT, cited the Centerâs success in developing climate-smart villages in India and identified improved access to weather information, crop insurance and technology uptake by farmers as key focus areas.
Innovative business models and open innovation platforms for scaling project outputs across diverse agro-ecosystems were also defined. Md. Jalal Uddin of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute proposed integrating mitigation and adaption measures like the promotion of renewable energy, environment management systems, climate change trusts and resilience funds with CCAFS initiatives.
Key stakeholders for CCAFS flagship projects pose for a photo.
A final session on synergies and convergence opportunities covered topics such as contingency crop plans, weather-based index insurance and resilient technologies, all of which can be implemented in climate-smart villages. CIMMYT scientists P.H. Zaidi, Senior Maize Physiologist and Mahesh Gathala, Scientist and Cropping Systems Agronomist, outlined CIMMYT initiatives that support climate-smart agriculture, such as long-standing research on stress-resilient maize and sustainable cropping systems. Kaushik Majumdar, Director of the South Asia Program at the International Plant Nutrition Institute, and M.L. Jat, Senior Scientist with CIMMYTâs Global Conservation Agriculture Program, discussed initiatives to develop and disseminate climate-smart nutrient management tools and techniques for smallholder farming.
âThe CCAFS workshop set the stage for all CGIAR institutions to collaborate and make climate-smart agriculture a reality,â said Jat.
Water plays a vital role in crop production, but flooding in vulnerable regions also ruins crops and hinders aid agenciesâ efforts to reach people affected by crisis.
In this picture from the World Food Programme (WFP) taken by Amjad Jamal in 2012, vehicles laden with emergency supplies motor through floodwaters to deliver food aid to around 20,000 people stranded in Pakistanâs Sindh Province.
This third successive year of flooding caused the deaths of around 400 people and destroyed homes and agricultural livelihoods. WFP provided one-month food rations, including fortified wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, iodized salt and high energy biscuits.
Gender research and outreach should engage men more effectively, according to Paula Kantor, CIMMYT gender and development specialist who is leading an ambitious new project to empower and improve the livelihoods of women, men and youth in wheat-based systems of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
âFarming takes place in socially complex environments, involving individual women and men who are embedded in households, local culture and communities, and value chains â all of which are colored by expectations of womenâs and menâs appropriate behaviors,â said Kantor, who gave a brownbag presentation on the project to an audience of more than 100 scientists and other staff and visitors at El BatĂĄn on 20 February. âWe tend to focus on women in our work and can inadvertently end up alienating men, when they could be supporters if we explained what weâre doing and that, in the end, the aim is for everyone to progress and benefit.â
Funded by Germanyâs Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the new project will include 14 village case studies across the three countries. It is part of a global initiative involving 13 CGIAR research programs(CRPs), including the CIMMYT-led MAIZE and WHEAT. Participants in the global project will carry out 140 case studies in 29 countries; WHEAT and MAIZE together will conduct 70 studies in 13 countries. Kantor and Lone Badstue, CIMMYTâs strategic leader for gender research, are members of the Executive Committee coordinating the global initiative, along with Gordon Prain of CIP-led Roots, Tubers and Bananas Program, and Amare Tegbaru of the IITA-led Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics.
âThe cross-CRP gender research initiative is of unprecedented scope,â said Kantor. âFor WHEAT, CIMMYT, and partners, understanding more clearly how gendered expectations affect agricultural innovation outcomes and opportunities can give all of our research more âooomphâ, helping social and biophysical scientists to work together better to design and conduct socially and technically robust agricultural R4D, and in the end achieve greater adoption and impact.â
To that end, outcomes will include joint interpretation of results with CRP colleagues and national stakeholders, scientific papers, policy engagement and guidelines for integrating gender in wheat research-for-development, according to Kantor. âThe research itself is important, but canât sit on a shelf,â she explained. âWe will devise ways to communicate it effectively to partners in CGIAR and elsewhere.â
Another, longer-term goal is to question and unlock gender constraints to agricultural innovation, in partnership with communities. Kantor said that male migration and urbanization are driving fundamental, global changes in gender dynamics, but institutional structures and policies must keep pace. âThe increase in de facto female-headed households in South Asia, for example, would imply that there are more opportunities for women in agriculture,â she explained, âbut there is resistance, and particularly from institutions like extension services and banks which have not evolved in ways that support and foster the empowerment of those women.â
âTo reach a tipping point on this, CGIAR and the CGIAR Research Programs need to work with unusual partners â individuals and groups with a presence in communities and policy circles and expertise in fostering social change,â said Kantor. âHopefully, the case studies in the global project will help us identify openings and partners to facilitate some of that change.â
Kantor has more than 15 years of experience in research on gender relations and empowerment in economic development, microcredit, rural and urban livelihoods, and informal labor markets, often in challenging settings. She served four years as Director and Manager of the gender and livelihoods research portfolios at the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) in Kabul. âAREU has influenced policy, for example, through its work on governance structures at the provincial and district levels,â Kantor said. âThey will be a partner in the Afghan study.â
She added that working well in challenging contexts requires a complex combination of openness about study aims and content in communities, sensitivity and respect for relationships and protocol, careful arrangements for logistics and safety, diverse and well-trained study teams and being flexible and responsive. âReflections on doing gender research in these contexts will likely be an output of the study.â
After her first month at CIMMYT, Kantor, who will be based in Islamabad, Pakistan, said she felt welcome and happy. âMy impression is that people here are very committed to what they do and that research is really a priority. I also sense real movement and buy-in on the gender front. An example is the fact that, of all the proposals that couldâve been put forward for funding from BMZ, the organization chose one on gender. Thatâs big.â
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â A social media crowd sourcing campaign initiated to celebrate the achievements of women has led to more than a dozen published blog story contributions about women in the maize and wheat sectors.
Each year, International Womenâs Day gives the world a chance to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. This year, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) put out a call asking for blog contributions from the social media community.
CIMMYT asked readers to submit stories about women who have made a difference in the maize and wheat sectors, including women involved in conservation agriculture, genetic resources, research, technology and related socio-economics.
The âWho is Your Maize or Wheat Super Woman?â stories are featured on the CIMMYT website from Monday, March 2, 2015 in the lead up to International Womenâs Day on Sunday, March 8, 2015.
Contributions include blog stories about women from Britain, Canada, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, and the United States. Their stories will also be made available in Spanish-language.
The Feed the Future initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) featured CIMMYTâs Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project in a recent newsletter, highlighting it as an exemplary public-private partnership. Launched in 2013, the project is developing heat-resilient hybrid maize for resource-poor smallholder farmers in South Asia whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change.
The damaging effects of climate change on agriculture have already been felt throughout much of South Asia, and climate model studies predict that this trend will not end anytime soon. According to a 2009 report from the Asian Development Bank, maize production capacity in South Asia could decrease by 17 percent by the year 2050 if current climate trends continue. Due to the temperature sensitivity of key crops such as maize, farmers in the region urgently need access to seed of varieties that can withstand temperature stress. As climate change-related weather extremes threaten agriculture in South Asia, research and development partners are seeking solutions.
The HTMA ââŠbalances up-stream and down-stream research-for-development by leveraging CIMMYT germplasm with the research capacity and expertise of partners such as Purdue University, Pioneer-Asia and national programs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan,â said P.H. Zaidi, the project leader. HTMA private partners such as DuPont Pioneer and the regional seed companies Kaveri Seeds and Ajeet Seeds have direct ties to local markets and farming communities that will foster the widespread availability and use of the new hybrids, according to Zaidi.
Outputs of this partnership include new breeding lines with enhanced levels of heat tolerance. The first generation of heat-tolerant hybrids from those lines became available after the second year of the project, and a new set of elite, stress-resilient hybrid varieties will be released by the project every two years. Apart from this, early-generation lines are being shared for use in partnersâ breeding programs, strengthening their germplasm base and ensuring the continued development and delivery of heat-stress-resilient maize after the project ends, Zaidi said. According to the Feed the Future report: âThe new varietiesâŠshow great promise to be taken to scale and deployed in tropical climates beyond South Asia.â
Of the 1 billion food insecure people in the world, more than 30 percent are in South Asia. By 2030 it will be one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change-related food shortages, with maize, rice and wheat prices predicted to double in the next 20 years. Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT
The Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, affirmed his support for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and its efforts to ensure food security, in a meeting with Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and with government, BISA and CIMMYT representatives on 3 February. As part of this, Manjhi agreed to support development of model villages in every district of Bihar, one of the fastest-growing and developing states in India.
âEver-increasing energy prices, declining natural resources and variable climates have left farmers with diminishing returns,â Lumpkin said. âBihar farmers need technologies that increase their profits under changing climates and economies.â
Launched in 2011 as a collaborative effort between CIMMYT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), BISA is a non- profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, livelihood security and environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, a region that is home to more than 300 million undernourished people.
During the meeting, Lumpkin emphasized the need for the quick transfer to Bihar farmers of technologies such as direct-seeded rice and zero-tilled wheat, to reduce production costs and labor and energy use.
Direct seeding of rice eliminates the need for transplanting seedlings from bund nurseries, and sowing wheat with zero tillage allows earlier planting so the crop can mature and fill grain before pre- monsoon high temperatures.
Lumpkin highlighted BISAâs critical capacity-building role, to support farmers and extension workers who test and promote innovative agriculture technologies.
Government representatives from Bihar included Shri Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary to the chief minister; Shri Tripurari Sharan, principal secretary of agriculture; Shri Dharmendra Singh, director of agriculture; and Shri Gopal Singh, officer on special duty to the chief minister. CIMMYT and BISA attendees included John Snape, CIMMYT board chair; Hari Shanker Gupta, BISA Director General; Nicolle Birrell, CIMMYT board member; Etienne Duveiller, CIMMYT director of research- South Asia; M.L. Jat and Raj Kumar Jat, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomists; and Kumar Ashwani Yadav, senior advisor for India country relations.
From left to right: Raj Kumar Jat, Hari Shanker Gupta, Nicolle Birrell, Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, Thomas A. Lumpkin, Etienne Duveiller and M.L. Jat. Photo: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT
Aye Aye Win, Senior Researcher at Zaloke Research Farm in Mongwa, was the last CIMMYT GWP trainee from Myanmar in Mexico (2002) and is currently the only wheat breeder in the country. Photos: Fabiola Meza/CIMMYT
Given growing demand for maize and wheat in Myanmar and the increasing challenges to produce both crops, officials of the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigationâs (MOAI) Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) and CIMMYT representatives met at DAR headquarters at Yezin during 24-27 January, to strengthen collaboration, with a focus on increasing farm productivity and training a new generation of Myanmar scientists.
Maize area, output and demand are growing with increased use of the grain in poultry and livestock feeds. Nine-tenths of the 450,000-hectare (ha) national maize area is rain-fed and grown with few inputs. It suffers from erratic precipitation among other things. Nearly one-third is sown to hybrid seed imported from Thailand. Small- and medium-scale local seed producers need stimulation and support.
Wheat is important for subsistence farmers in the eastern hills but also to meet the rising demand of a growing population with more urban inhabitants. National consumption yearly exceeds 0.5 million tons, only 0.18 million of which is produced in Myanmar (the rest is imported from Australia). Yields are low due to lack of inputs or new seed varieties. Farmers particularly need heat tolerant, rust resistant wheat varieties and resource-conserving cropping technologies.
Drying maize in Myanmar.
CIMMYT germplasm and other support are crucial for both crops in the country, but interactions have grown less frequent. The last Myanmar maize researcher to participate in training courses in Mexico came in 1999; the last wheat trainee, in 2002.
Participating in discussions were Dr. Tin Htut, director general, MOAI Department of Agricultural Planning, and DAR senior staff including Dr. Ye Tint Tun, DAR director general and U. Thant Lwin Oo, director for Maize & Other Cereals, Oil Seeds and Legumes.
CIMMYT was represented by Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general; Etienne Duveiller, regional representative for Asia; and administrative assistant Fabiola Meza. In addition to taking part in high-level discussions, they visited Dr. Win Win New, Director of the Aung Ban Agricultural Research Farm and Maize Breeder who conducts maize and wheat trials in southern Shan State and accompanied the team for field tours.
Collaboration discussion with DAR officials in Yezin.
These interactions grew out of visits in 2014 to Myanmar by Duveiller and Dan Jeffers, a CIMMYT maize breeder based in Yunnan, China.
Opportunities to address Myanmarâs concerns include regional collaboration with CIMMYT maize research in Yunnan and Hyderabad and training at BISA farms in India, for conservation agriculture and small-scale mechanization. CIMMYT and DAR are developing an agreement to facilitate collaboration.
For Ethiopian smallholder farmers who have for millennia used the traditional animal-drawn maresha plow, two-wheel tractors could increase their productivity while reducing labor. They appear better suited to the Highlands of Ethiopia, characterized by small, fragmented farms and hilly terrain, than four-wheel tractors, which are only well-suited for large- and medium-scale farmers who comprise about 10% of the countryâs estimated 14.7 million farmers. Two-wheel tractors are also very versatile and can be used for seeding, pumping water, threshing wheat and transporting heavy loads.
Although two-wheel tractors and their attachments are relatively cheap (about US $1,400) and easy to maintain, it is evident that most Ethiopian farmers wonât be able to purchase them individually. Still, they could hire the services of dedicated providers trained to use two-wheel tractors. To make mechanization accessible to smallholder farmers, on 1-5 June 2015 CIMMYT and its partners organized a training course for service providers from Debre Birhan, Sinana and Lemo woredas (districts). They were trained in the operation, maintenance, business, financial management and marketing of two-wheel tractors.
The service model being tested by CIMMYT and its partners has been adopted in Bangladesh, where a single two-wheel tractor can service up to 30 farmers. The initiative to disseminate two-wheel tractors in the Highlands of Ethiopia is supported by the United States Agency for International Developmentâs (USAID) Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program. After the course, trainees returned to their respective areas equipped with two-wheel tractors and various attachments, to start providing seeding, transport and water pumping services to local farmers.
Since the Growth and Transformation Plan was established by the Government of Ethiopia in 2011, tremendous progress has been made in the agricultural sector. Farmers now have access to better seeds and adequate quantities of fertilizer. Yields have increased dramatically, and improved connections between farmers and markets mean higher incomes for farmers and more food available for consumers in both rural and urban areas.
Sustaining such an increase in agricultural output, however, will require a proportionate increase in farm power. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency developed a draft national mechanization strategy in 2014, with the goal of increasing the farm power available to Ethiopian farmers 10-fold by 2025.
Participants in zero tillage wheat field. Photos: Naveed Ahmed Sheikh from Balochistan.
Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan and in collaboration with Balochistan Agriculture Research, CIMMYT has begun testing and spreading with farmers the practice known as âzero tillageâ to sow wheat in Balochistan, a province in southwest Pakistan that accounts for more than 40 percent of the countryâs land area but only five percent of the population.
Jaffarabad and Nasirabad are major rice- and wheat-growing districts in Balochistan. The predominant cropping systems are either fallow or rice, followed by a crop of wheat. Soils after rice are poorly-drained and hamper tilling for wheat, so wheat is not sown soon enough to avoid the high temperatures that arrive in spring, when the crop is filling grain. This seriously reduces yields.
Participants in field day at Usta Muhammad.
On 10 January, more than 100 participants gathered for a field day organized by AIP in Balochistan province to promote zero tillage for wheat. Involving the direct sowing of wheat seed into residues of the preceding rice crop, with no plowing, the practice has multiple benefits for farmers, soils and water use. These include more timely wheat planting, reduced land preparation costs, higher wheat yields and increased cropping system intensity (hence, productivity), according to agricultural experts Mr. Asmatullah Taran and Mr. Mehdi Hassan.
Intended for smallholder farmers, the event also drew progressive farmers, agricultural extension specialists and researchers from the Directorate of Agriculture Research Usta Muhammad Farm, Jaffarabad District, as well as renowned parliamentarians Mr. Khan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali and Mr. Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali, Speaker, Balochistan Provincial Assembly.
Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali addressing the farmers.
Dr. Muhammad Javaid Tareen, Director General of Balochistan Agriculture Research, praised AIP and partnersâ efforts to promote conservation agriculture practices such as zero tillage, said the practices would improve farmersâ livelihoods in the Nasirabad Zone and called on scientists to address the Provinceâs crop productivity constraints. Mr. Changaiz Khan Jamali, former Federal Minister for Science & Technology, said that agricultural research must address small farmersâ concerns and provide new techniques to the farming community.
Mr. Jamali was grateful for the efforts of USAID and CIMMYT to improve smallholder famersâ incomes and assured the farmers and agricultural professionals that efforts would be made to improve research facilities and access to new technologies in Balochistan.
A Pakistani farmer carries seed of a new wheat variety for on-farm testing. Photo: Anju Joshi/CIMMYT
Lack of good seed of appropriate varieties is holding back harvests of smallholder wheat farmers in rugged, rain-fed areas of Punjab, Pakistan, said a group of farmers to some 50 representatives of seed companies, input dealers, and research, extension and development organizations, at a workshop in Chakwal, Punjab, on 18 September 2014.
âNinety-five percent of farmers in Pothwar, a semi-arid region of bare and broken terrain, use farm-saved seed of obsolete varieties, invariably with limited use of modern agricultural technologies and inputs, resulting in poor crop establishment and low yields,â said Krishna Dev Joshi, CIMMYT wheat improvement specialist based in Pakistan. âTheir yields average only 0.6 tons per hectare, whereas progressive farmers in irrigated areas get ten times that much.â
Joshi said only three varieties cover 83 percent of the regionâs wheat area and the same cultivars have been used for an average of 24 years. âOne of these, C591, is a variety that was recommended in 1934 and is still grown on about 14 percent of the regionâs nearly 0.6 million hectares of wheat area.â
According to Akhlaq Hussain, ex-Director General, Pakistan Department of Federal Seed Certification and Registration, one problem is that, despite their low yields, the older varieties have many traits that the farmers like. For example, they give stable yields under low inputs and harsh growing conditions and provide the preferred flavor and long-lasting good texture in chapattis.
Muhammad Tariq, Director of the Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Chakwal, Punjab, said there are few producers or suppliers of suitable, quality seed, fertilizer or other farm inputs for such marginal areas. They may be considered unattractive markets, but more than 70 percent of Pakistani wheat farmers are smallholders, cultivating between one and five hectares of land, according to Tariq.
Such farmers harvest on average only 1.5 tons per hectare and urgently need better seed and technology to raise their yields, said Joshi. âFarmers at the workshop complained they could not get access to high-yielding varieties of their choice,â he explained. âThey also criticized the long time â typically three years â required to obtain seed of new varieties, once the varieties are officially released.â
Given this need and the lack of legitimate suppliers, fraudulent seed dealers and middlemen often market inferior or false products. âLast year I bought a bag of seed labelled âGalaxy,â a new, high-yielding variety,â said Haji Muhammad Aslam Ochallee, a farmer from Khushab District, âbut the seed inside was of an entirely different variety.â
Some seed dealers may mix seed or sell grain in bags labelled âcertified seedâ at low prices to lure smallholders, and big landlords may sell cheap seed illegally to neighbors, said Qaiser Rasheed, Managing Director of the company Robert Cotton Association. âAll these practices cheat farmers, distort markets and erode farmersâ trust in the formal seed sector,â Rasheed observed.
Pothwarâs problems reflect Pakistanâs overall food security challenge, according to Joshi. âA 2014 bulletin by the World Food Program shows that more than 27 million people in Pakistan are highly-to-severely food insecure,â he said. âThe big concern is that most smallholders and vulnerable people live in districts that will need special attention to improve food security.â
Activating the Wheat Seed Value Chain
As a part of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, a project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), CIMMYT is working with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), BARI in Punjab, seed companies and farmers to close gaps in the wheat seed value chain for rain-fed Punjab.
Workshop participants cited the need for better communication and coordination of research and extension agencies with commercial input suppliers sector and, especially, better marketing of new wheat varieties to farmers. âIf stakeholders donât integrate and coordinate, small-scale farmers will remain deprived of modern technologies and innovations, such as wheat varieties that resist new and virulent disease strains,â said Joshi.
“If stakeholders donât integrate and coordinate, small-scale farmers will remain deprived of modern technologies and innovations, such as wheat varieties that resist new and virulent disease strains”
â Krishna Dev Joshi
CIMMYT Wheat Improvement Specialist
Farmers recommended establishing village committees to choose and access seed of new varieties and help foster truth in labeling. They particularly called for strict punishment for those selling fake seed.
For their part, seed companies said the lack of reliable irrigation or storage facilities hinders seed production in Pothwar. âBecause of this, seed must be transported over long distances, raising costs, which in turn discourages buyers and cuts profits,â said one company representative.
The workshop forged an agreement to allow private seed companies to produce pre-basic and basic seed, supervised by concerned breeders and with support from Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, to speed the marketing of new varieties. One result was that Robert Cotton Association has received pre-basic and basic seeds of two wheat varieties, Chakwal50 and Dharabi11, originally developed and released by BARI, which will provide technical backstopping.
Other action points agreed on at the workshop included the following:
On-farm trials and demonstrations that allow farmers to learn about and choose from new, high-yielding wheat varieties. To address this, AIP-wheat has already launched participatory varietal selection trials in which farmers and researchers jointly evaluate 14 new, high-yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties of diverse genetic backgrounds on the farms of 65 smallholders across Pothwar. In addition, to help farmers assess and improve crop management practices, the project is conducting 20 on-farm, participatory experiments on fertilizer use and 107 trials on pre-soaking seed, a practice that improves germination and crop establishment.
Community-based seed production linked with private companies and supported by proper equipment and training in quality seed production. Achievements to date include seed of 9 new varieties being multiplied directly with 52 Pothwar farmers on more than 42 hectares.
World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan Intern Describes Experience with CIMMYT in Turkey
The prestigious Borlaug-Ruan International Internship provides high school students an all-expenses-paid, eight-week hands-on experience, working with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading international research centers.
Adam Willman, a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern from Iowa, USA, spent last summer working for CIMMYTâs Soil Borne Pathogens (SBP) Division in EskiĆehir, Turkey, working and studying root lesion nematodes under Dr. Abdelfattah âAmerâ Dababat and Dr. GĂŒl Erginbas Orakcı.
Willman said âEveryone I worked with had something different and interesting to teach me. I experienced a wide variety of the work that is ongoing at CIMMYT-Turkey. These experiments focused on the overall goals of reducing food loss from disease and pests that can plague farm fields across the globe.â
Willmanâs work also included assisting Elfinesh Shikur Gebremariam from Ankara University with Fusarium fungus, Fateh Toumi from Ghent University and Jiang Kuan Cui from Chinaâs Ministry of Agriculture with cereal cyst nematodes. âI was exposed to both the threat that plant diseases pose to food security and the cutting-edge research to combat thisâ he added.
Willman also commented on the unique opportunity to experience Turkeyâs people and culture, saying âI witnessed the amazing kindness, generosity and hospitality of everyone from the director of the research institute, to CIMMYT researchers and workers, to everyday strangers. I am very thankful for my time and experience at CIMMYT-Turkey.â
In a final message he thanked Dr. Dababat, Dr. Erginbas and all of the workers and researchers at SBP.
âWorking with SBP for eight weeks truly changed my life and gave me the perspective on my education that I am still utilizing today. I hope to in the future become a plant pathologist and continue researching the many diseases and pests that affect the crops that we, as a planet, depend on. Global food security is within reach, and the scientists and workers at SBP are helping us obtain this goal,â Willman concluded.
Adam Willman (5th from the left) with the SBP pathogens division, students, visitors and Global Wheat Program Director Dr. Hans Braun during a field day in EskiĆehir. This photo was taken in the field of the Transitional Zone Agriculture Research Institute (TZARI) in Eskisehir, Turkey.
This is business unusual. IMIC-Asia is a partnership of over 40 institutions (seed companies, national programs and foundations) formed by CIMMYT to develop and share improved maize inbreds and hybrids for targeted impacts on the hybrid maize scenario in Asia. This is all done through a shared research investment. Modelled on ICRISATâs successful consortium on pearl millet, IMIC-Asia, which was established in 2010, has so far developed and distributed over 1,500 improved inbred lines developed by CIMMYT to members for use in new inbred line development or in heterotic hybrid combinations of the partners. IMIC germplasm incorporates trait priorities jointly identified by members while still maintaining the typical vast genetic diversity of CIMMYT germplasm. Through the germplasm selected at field days, members have also sampled the diversity in terms of tolerance to major abiotic stresses (drought and heat) and biotic stresses, a key strength in CIMMYTâs tropical maize germplasm base.
Whether it is training on maize breeding, field based phenotyping for abiotic stresses, statistical and genomic data management imparted through this consortium or evaluation of pre-release hybrid combinations of partners, IMIC-Asia has added value to the research portfolio of member companies. The consortium members helped in establishing a strong collaborative testing network for identifying best-bet pre-release products, which now serves as a precursor for such products to be further evaluated at the national or state level as a part of the varietal release process. CIMMYT hybrid combinations are in the process of being allocated to interested members, especially small and medium enterprises for commercialization and deployment. In 2014 alone, 10 new members were inducted into IMIC-Asia.
Riding on this success, the consortium will be entering its second phase in mid-2015, all with renewed vigor, member strength and innovative research ideas/activities.
For membership in IMIC-Asia or for more details, please contact: BS Vivek (bvivek@cgiar.org) or AR Sadananda (a.r.sadananda@cgiar.org), CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India.
The wheat plant protection group attend interactive group meeting at IIWBR, Karnal, India. Photo: CIMMYT
Among the worldâs most destructive and hated crop pests, the sap-sucking insects known as aphids are engaged in dramatic evolutionary battles with predators that include wasps whose larvae hatch and pupate in aphid bodies, devouring them from inside.
Rather than a new science fiction/horror film, this scenario is actually the basis for innovative pest control, as described by topic experts at two presentations of their interactive program âAphids and their biological control on wheat, barley and maizeâ for wheat scientists in India and Nepal on 24 and 26 November 2014.
âThe 34 participants, including 26 in Nepal and 8 in India, heard short lectures on maize and wheat aphids and other insect pests, followed by videos on aphid biology and their biological control,â said Arun Joshi, CIMMYT wheat breeder based in Nepal who helped organize the programs, in conjunction with the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barely Research (IIWBR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Karnal and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). âThey learned about the special traits of the biological control agents that can be used in South Asia, as well as how to rear and spread them in crop fields, with the idea of training farmers in these skills.â
The participants in Nepal. Photo: CIMMY
The main presenter, Prof. Urs Wyss, Institute of Phytopathology, University of Kiel, Germany, has produced over 70 films on insect pest biology and bio-control. Prof. Chandra Prakash Srivastava, Head, Department of Entomology, Banaras Hindu University, India, spoke to both groups about maize and wheat insect pests and their management.
âThis is the first program on wheat insect pest management and biological control at IIWBR (former DWR, Karnal) in two decades,â said Dr. Indu Sharma, IIWBR project director. Joshi said that NARC colleagues made similar comments in praise of the program.
The training program was organized in response to mounting evidence of crop damage from aphids in Peninsular and northwestern India and the Terai and Midhills of Nepal. It was conducted at IIWBR, Karnal, through Dr. Indu Sharma and Dr. M.S. Saharan and in Nepal through Dr. Yagya Prasad Giri, Head, Entomology, NARC.
Other institutions represented in India included:
Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and
Technology, Kanpu.
Agriculture Research Station, Niphad, Maharashtra.
Agriculture Research Station, Durgapura, Rajasthan.
Centre of Excellence for Research on Wheat, S.D.
Agriculture University, Vijapur, Gujrat.
Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.
G.B. Pant Univ. of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar.
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