research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Capacitating farmers and development agents through radio

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on March 9, 2021. Posted in News.

Representing CIMMYT, Kinde Tesfaye (on the left) took part in the live radio programs. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The continuing increase in the number of farming families has led to a growing emphasis on approaches on how to reach more people at a time. Among others, individual, group and mass-media approaches to agricultural extension and advisory services have been used concurrently.

This year, the global COVID-19 pandemic presented yet another challenge to the agriculture sector due to travel restrictions and limited face-to-face interactions. This has obstructed capacity building for farmers as well as development agents to deliver seasonal and intra-seasonal agroclimate advisories for farmers to support farm decisions.

Realizing the importance of mass media in extension, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)-EA used live show radio program on Sunday mornings to provide climate advisories on the 2020 Kiremt (main cropping) season to farmers and extension workers on a two-weekly basis between June and November. The live show also allows listeners to call in and ask questions and provide feedback. Besides the climate agro-advisories, COVID-19 alerts and precautionary measures were provided to the radio audience.

Extremely low climate induced risk perception

CIMMYT-CASCAID II project baseline assessment indicates that the rural communities in the project intervention areas have an extremely low climate induced risk perception and are also quite resistant to change. The areas are also highly prone to recurring droughts. Erratic rainfall distribution and dry spells are common. Large areas of barren and uncultivable land, water shortage, poor soil quality, soil erosion due to high run off rate are adversely affecting the farming systems. Research shows that simple adaptation actions such as watershed management, changing planting dates and crop varieties could greatly reduce the climate variability and change impacts. However, communities being poorly linked to scientists and policy makers lack information about climate change adaptation options and government schemes related to the same. There are also challenges of communicating scientific research in simplified ways that are appropriate to local stakeholder needs.

In recent years, the use of improved technologies has been increasing due to the progressive national agricultural development policy and strategy that is in place coupled with advisories provided to help farmers to make timely and appropriate farm level decisions and practices.

Agroclimate advisory – the fourth production factor

The provision of agroclimate advisory is considered as the fourth production factor after labor, land, and capital and critical to the agricultural sector as climate and its associated adverse effects can negatively affect agricultural activities and productivities. Thus, ensuring the accessibility of relevant time sensitive forecast based advisory information to farming communities helps improve productivity and yields higher returns.

The advice will also assist smallholder farmers to manage climate risks through informed decisions such as identifying optimum planting time/sowing windows, planting density at the start of the rainy season, while at the same time managing fertilizer application. Moreover, it also benefits farmer decisions and practices on soil water, weeds, diseases, and pest management throughout the growing season. By monitoring weather and crop growth during the season, the same forecast information can assist in predicting crop yields well in advance of crop maturity and to allow farmers to decide whether to sell the product immediately after harvest or store it until it commands better prices later in the year.

Radio for disseminating agroclimate information

In Ethiopia, the use of ICT for the accumulation and dissemination of agroclimate information and other agricultural updates is still low. Radio transmission covers a large percentage of the country with most of the households own a radio. This makes the use of radio programs one of the most cost-effective channels for conveying weather forecast information and agricultural knowledge to rural communities which ultimately facilitate informed decision-making and adoption of new technologies and practices.

In collaboration with its partners, the CIMMYT-CASCADE II project through Fana FM radio implemented a six-month (June-November 2020) live radio program providing seasonal advisories at the start of the main season in June using seasonal forecast from the National Meteorology Agency which was downscaled to Woreda/Kebele level by EIAR, CCAFS-EA and CIMMYT. This was followed by a biweekly or monthly Wereda specific agro-climate advisories which focus on fertilizer application, weeding, crop protection, soil and water management and climate extremes such as flood and droughts.

The program also included experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, EIAR, and CGIAR Centers to provide professional explanations and updates from the perspective of in situational readiness to support issues coming from the radio audience. The program created an opportunity for the federal government to prepare in time on some activities like importing agricultural inputs such as pesticides and fungicides to control the outbreak of pests and diseases (e.g., desert locust infestation and wheat rust outbreak). The platform also provided an opportunity to reach to millions of farmers to convey COVID-19 prevention messages such as physical distancing, use of masks, handwashing and other precautions that need to be taken while working in groups.

The transformative value of maize

Written by Nima Chodon on March 8, 2021. Posted in Photos.

The state of Odisha, in the east of India, ranks sixth in rice production in the country. Agriculture in Odisha’s tribal-dominated plateau region, however, is characterized by depleted soils along with low and variable rice yields. During the monsoon season, more than 60,000 hectares of land are left fallow, due to lack of knowledge and to farmers’ low risk tolerance.

In districts like Mayurbhanj, over 50% of the population belongs to tribal groups. Women there are mostly engaged in traditional roles: being at home looking after family, farm and livestock while their men are away as migrant laborers or with menial jobs. Women working on farming used to be considered daily wage laborers, as if they were only supporting their husband or family who were officially the farmers.

The last few years, with the introduction of maize cultivation and its promotion predominantly for women farmers, a significant change in the perception of women’s role is unfolding in the region.

In 2013, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) began working in the plateau region through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), improving farming systems for higher yields and providing sustainable livelihood options for tribal farmers. Since then, farmers in the region have achieved considerable production of maize in the monsoon season — and women have particularly led this transformation.

Farmers from this region — 28% of which were women — converted 5,400 hectares of fallow lands into successful maize cultivation areas. Not only has this new opportunity helped improve family income, but also women’s identity as resilient and enterprising farmers.

This impact was possible through the applied research efforts of the CSISA project along with partners like Odisha’s State Department of Agriculture, the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS), the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and two federations of women’s self-help groups supported by PRADAN.

On International Women’s Day, we share the story of these successful farmers who have made maize cultivation a part of their livelihoods and a tool for socioeconomic development.

Transforming fallow lands into golden maize fields

Women working in the fields used to be considered daily wage laborers, but today they are acknowledged as enterprising farmers who transformed fallow lands into golden maize fields.

In the season 2019/2020 alone, in all four districts where CSISA is actively engaged — Bolangir, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Nuapada — improved maize cultivation was adopted by 7,600 farmers — 28% of which were women — in 5,400 hectares of fallow land, resulting in considerable production of quality maize in the region. Since many of the women in the districts are smallholder farmers or without agriculture land, farming also happens on leased land through self-help groups.

Learning and implementing best maize cultivation practices

CSISA supports the farmers all the way from sowing to crop harvesting, ensuring the produce is shiny and golden. Through self-help groups, farmers have access to fertilizers and machines to weed and earth-up their fields. Researchers have introduced seed cum fertilizer drills for maize sowing, which make fertilizer placement more uniform and crop establishment easier, saving time and helping these women manage both household responsibilities and the farm.

Quality knowledge for quality grain

To strengthen the capacity of farmers, the project team trains them continuously on grain quality parameters like moisture level, foreign matters, infestation rate. Most of the participants are farmers from women collectives and self-help groups. They have gradually advanced in their knowledge journey, going from general awareness to subject-specific training.

Marketing gurus

Even though many large poultry feed mills operate in Odisha, most of their maize comes from outside the state. Women self-help groups are bridging that gap. In collaboration with the State Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, the CSISA project has cultivated a network of market actors including producers, providers of agricultural inputs and development partners. Market access to these value chains will help women, all the way from planting to produce marketing.

Extending the collaboration, in the four districts of Odisha and beyond

A considerable increase in maize production has improved incomes for families across the regions, as well as their food security. It has also created opportunities for women to raise their social and economic standing.

There are opportunities for CSISA and its partners to continue collaborating in the project region and beyond. CIMMYT has worked with Odisha’s State Department of Agriculture, the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS), the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), women’s self-help groups, farmers’ producer groups, private seed companies and many other collectives.

Weathering the crisis

Women have shouldered the responsibility and led their families out of the COVID-19 crisis. When men were left jobless and stranded as migrant workers during lockdown, many women associated with the CSISA project began generating income by selling green corn. This small income helped ensure food to feed their families and wellbeing in this critical period.

The road ahead

With the purpose of advocating this positive transformation in similar conditions, CSISA is committed to expand maize intensification in the plateau region of Odisha and engaging more farmers. Ongoing research and studies are focusing on improving the outreach, to help women increase their maize area and productivity with better-bet agronomy. This will contribute to secured income in coming years and the sustainability of the initiative.

A shop attendant displays drought-tolerant maize seed at the Dryland Seed Company shop in Machakos, Kenya. (Photo: Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT)

Out with the old, in with the new

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 2, 2021. Posted in Director General's corner.

For several decades, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has worked with partners and farmers to improve maize and wheat varieties. Packed with “upgrades” such as tolerance to environmental stresses, tolerance to diseases and pests, boosted nutrient content, higher yield potential and storage capabilities, and improved efficiency in using water and fertilizers, these seeds are rolled out by CIMMYT and its partners to create new opportunities for easier and better lives for farmers.

Together with national research partners, farmers, local governments and seed companies, CIMMYT’s work in seed systems has reaped results. Its experts are eager to put this experience into further action as CGIAR embarks on the next ten years of its journey to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. And rightly so: investments in CGIAR research — mainly through their contributions to enhancing yields of staple food crops — have returned ten-fold benefits and payoffs for poor people in terms of greater food abundance, lower prices of food, reduced food insecurity and poverty and reduced geographical footprint of agriculture. A large part of this impact is the result of CIMMYT’s day to day efforts to create a better world.

A Bangladeshi woman cuts up feed for her family's livestock. They did not previously have animals, but were able to buy them after her husband, Gopal Mohanta, attended a farmer training from CIMMYT and its partners, which gave him access to better seed, technologies, and practices. Mohanta planted a wider range of crops, and in 2005 he planted maize for the first time, using improved seed based on CIMMYT materials. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT) — A Bangladeshi woman cuts up feed for her family’s livestock. They did not previously have animals, but were able to buy them after her husband, Gopal Mohanta, attended a farmer training from CIMMYT and its partners, which gave him access to better seed, technologies, and practices. Mohanta planted a wider range of crops, and in 2005 he planted maize for the first time, using improved seed based on CIMMYT materials. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)

Replacing old varieties, not as easy as it sounds

Slow variety turnover — that of more than ten years — makes farmers vulnerable to risks such as climate change and emerging biotic threats. On the other hand, planting improved varieties that match farmers’ needs and the geography they work in, can increase productivity gains and improve the nutritional status of smallholders and their families. This, in turn, contributes to increased household incomes. Indirectly, the benefits can reach the surrounding community by providing increased employment opportunities, wage increases and affordable access to food.

Despite its tremendous benefits, varietal turnover is no small feat.

When it comes to seeds, detailed multi-disciplinary research is behind every new variety and its deployment to farmers. Just as the production of a new snack, beverage or a car requires an in-depth study of what the customer wants, seed systems also must be demand-driven.

Socioeconomists have to work hand-in-hand with breeders and seed system specialists to understand the drivers and bottlenecks for improved varietal adoption, market needs, and gender and social inclusion in seed delivery. Bottlenecks include the lack of access by farmers — especially for resource-poor, socially-excluded ones — to reliable information about the advantages of new varieties. Even if farmers are aware of new varieties, seeds might not be available for sale where they live or they might be too expensive.

Possibly the most complex reason for slow variety turnover is risk vulnerability: some farmers simply can’t afford to take the risk of investing in something that might be good but could also disappoint. At the same time, seed companies also perceive a certain risk: they might not be interested in taking on an improved variety that trumps the seeds from older but more popular varieties they have on stock. For them, building and marketing a new brand of seeds requires significant investments.

Agricultural seed on sale by a vendor near Islamabad, Pakistan. For improved crop varieties to reach farmers, they usually must first reach local vendors like these, who form an essential link in the chain between researchers, seed producers and farmers. (Photo: M. DeFreese/CIMMYT)

New approaches are yielding results

Despite the complexity of the challenge, CIMMYT has been making progress, especially in Africa where slow variety turnover is creating roadblocks for increased food security and poverty alleviation.

Recent analysis of the weighted average age of CIMMYT-related improved maize varieties in 8 countries across eastern and southern Africa reveals that the overall weighted average age has decreased from 14.6 years in 2013 to 10.2 years in 2020. The remarkable progress in accelerating the rate of variety turnover and deploying the improved genetics — with climate resilience, nutritional-enhancement and grain yield — are benefiting more than eight million smallholders in Africa.

In Ethiopia, CIMMYT, EIAR and ICARDA’s work led to the adoption of improved rust-resistant varieties, corresponding productivity gains and economic benefits that, besides the urgent need to fight against the damaging rust epidemic, depended on a combination of enabling factors: pre-release seed multiplication, pro-active policies and rust awareness campaigns. The estimated income gain that farmers enjoyed due to adopting post-2010 varieties in 2016/2017 reached $48 million. For the country itself, the adoption of these varieties could save $65 million that otherwise would be spent on wheat imports.

Bill Gates echoes this in Chapter 9 of his new climate book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, as he describes CIMMYT and IITA’s drought-tolerant maize work: “[…] experts at CGIAR developed dozens of new maize varieties that could withstand drought conditions, each adapted to grow in specific regions of Africa. At first, many smallholder farmers were afraid to try new crop varieties. Understandably so. If you’re eking out a living, you won’t be eager to take a risk on seeds you’ve never planted before, because if they die, you have nothing to fall back on. But as experts worked with local farmers and seed dealers to explain the benefits of these new varieties, more and more people adopted them.”

Bidasem director general María Ester Rivas (center) stands for a photo with her seed processing team. Bidasem is a small seed company based in the city of Celaya in the central Mexican plains region known as the Bajío. Despite their small size, Bidasem and similar companies play an important role in reaching small farmers with improved seed that offers them better livelihoods. (Photo: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT)

Holistic action needed if we are to reach farmers with genetic innovations

Now more than ever, with increased frequency and intensification of erratic weather events on top of the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, successful seed systems require the right investments, partnerships, efforts across disciplines, and enabling policies.

Varietal release and dissemination systems rely greatly on appropriate government policies and adoption of progressive seed laws and regulations. CGIAR’s commitment to farmers and the success of national seed systems is described in the recently launched 10-year strategy: “CGIAR will support effective seed systems by helping national governments and private sector companies and regulators build their capacities to play their roles successfully. New initiatives will be jointly designed along the seed distribution chain, including for regional seed registration, import and export procedures, efficient in-country trialing, registration and release of new varieties, and seed quality promotion through fit-for-purpose certification.”

In line with CGIAR’s ambitious goals, to provide farmers with a better service, small- and medium-size seed companies need to also be strengthened to become more market-oriented and dynamic. According to SPIA, helping local private seed dealers learn about new technology increases farm-level adoption by over 50% compared to the more commonly used approach, where public sector agricultural extension agents provide information about new seed to selected contact farmers.

CIMMYT socioeconomics and market experts are putting this in practice through working with agrodealers to develop retail strategies, such as targeted marketing materials, provision of in-store seed decision support and price incentives, to help both female and male farmers get the inputs that work best.

Within the new CGIAR, CIMMYT scientists will continue to work with partners to strongly improve the performance of wheat and maize in smallholder farmers’ fields. Concerted efforts from all actors conforming the entire seed system are essential to achieve our vision: to transform food systems for affordable, sufficient and healthy diets produced within planetary boundaries. Wheat and maize seed systems will form the basis to fulfill that vision and provide a tried and tested roadmap for other crops, including legumes, vegetables and fruits. Together, we can keep a finger on the pulse of farmers’ needs and build healthy diets for a better tomorrow from the ground up.

Water pumped from a deep irrigation well, called a tube well, at a wheat farm in west India's Gujarat state. (Photo: Meha Jain)

Groundwater depletion in India could reduce winter cropped acreage significantly in years ahead

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on February 24, 2021. Posted in Press releases.

India is the world’s second-largest producer of wheat and rice and is home to more than 600 million farmers. The country has achieved impressive food-production gains since the 1960s, due in part to an increased reliance on irrigation wells, which allowed Indian farmers to expand production into the mostly dry winter and summer seasons.

But those gains have come at a cost: The country that produces 10% of the world’s crops is now the world’s largest consumer of groundwater, and aquifers are rapidly becoming depleted across much of India. Indian government officials have suggested that switching from groundwater-depleting wells to irrigation canals, which divert surface water from lakes and rivers, is one way to overcome projected shortfalls.

In a study published in the journal Science Advances, scientists conclude that a switch to canal irrigation will not fully compensate for the expected loss of groundwater in Indian agriculture.

The authors estimate that if Indian farmers lose all access to groundwater in overexploited regions, and if that irrigation water is not replaced with water from other sources, then winter cropped acreage could be reduced by up to 20% nationwide. However, that scenario seems highly unlikely and was included in the study only as an upper-bound estimate.

It seems more likely that any future groundwater shortfalls would be at least partially offset by increases in canal irrigation. But even if all Indian regions currently using depleted groundwater switch to canal irrigation, winter cropped acreage could still decline by 7% nationwide and by 24% in the most severely affected locations, according to the researchers.

Water alternatives needed

“Our results highlight the critical importance of groundwater for Indian agriculture and rural livelihoods, and we were able to show that simply providing canal irrigation as a substitute irrigation source will likely not be enough to maintain current production levels in the face of groundwater depletion,” said study lead author Meha Jain, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability.

“We need coordinated efforts to solve this water availability and food security issue, which should be supported by science-led policy decisions on what strategies and technology solutions to scale out to improve irrigation efficiency,” said co-author Balwinder Singh, a Cropping Systems Simulation Modeler at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The study analyzed high-resolution satellite imagery and village-level census data and focused on winter cropped acreage. While nearly all Indian farmers plant crops during the monsoon to take advantage of seasonal rains, winter agriculture is mainly reliant on groundwater irrigation and now accounts for 44% of the country’s annual cropped acreage for food grains.

“These findings suggest that other adaptation strategies, in addition to canal expansion, are needed to cope with ongoing groundwater losses,” Jain said.

The possibilities include switching from winter rice to less water-intensive cereals, increased adoption of sprinklers and drip irrigation to conserve water in the fields, and policies to increase the efficiency of irrigation canals.

While groundwater depletion is becoming a global threat to food security, and the extent of current and projected groundwater depletion are well documented, the potential impacts on food production remain poorly quantified. The study is the first to use high-resolution empirical data, including census data about the irrigation methods used in more than 500,000 Indian villages, to estimate the crop production losses that may occur when overexploited groundwater is lost.

“Understanding the complex relationship between food security and water availability is crucial as we prepare for future rainfall variability due to global climate change,” said co-author Gillian Galford of the University of Vermont.

The proliferation of deep (>30 meters) irrigation wells called tube wells since the 1960s has enabled Indian farmers to increase the number of seasons when crops are planted in a given year. This increase in “cropping intensity” is credited for much of the country’s food-production gains.

Maps showing state-by-state Indian winter cropped area loss estimates due to groundwater depletion in coming decades, with and without replacement by canals. Darker shades of pink and red indicate greater projected losses. The map on the left (A) shows projected winter cropped acreage losses if all critically depleted groundwater is lost, with no replacement. The map on the right (B) shows projected winter cropped acreage losses if groundwater irrigation is replaced with canals, using national-level regression coefficients. (Graph: Jain et al. in Science Advances 2021)

Big data for food security

The researchers used satellite data to measure Indian winter cropped area, a key determinant of cropping intensity. They then linked the satellite data to census information about the three main types of irrigation infrastructure in India: shallow “dug wells,” deeper tube wells and canals that divert surface water.

Linking the two datasets allowed them to determine the relative efficacy of each irrigation method. That, in turn, enabled them to estimate potential future acreage losses and the ability of canal expansion to fill the gap.

The study’s worst-case scenario found that winter cropped area could decrease by up to 20% nationwide and by 68% in the most severely affected regions, if farmers lose all access to groundwater and if that irrigation water is not replaced from another source. The expected losses would largely occur in northwest and central India, according to the study.

The researchers also found that increased distance from existing irrigation canals is strongly associated with decreased acreage planted with winter crops. In the future, a greater reliance on canals could increase inequities related to irrigation access, according to the authors.

“This suggests that while canals may be a viable form of irrigation for those who live near canals, they may lead to more unequal access to irrigation across villages compared to wells, with negative impacts for those who live farther from canals,” the authors wrote.

In addition, the lakes and rivers that feed irrigation canals rise and fall in response to rainfall variability, unlike deep groundwater wells. So, a greater reliance on canal irrigation in the future would result in increased sensitivity to year-to-year precipitation fluctuations, as well as any long-term trends due to human-caused climate change.

The authors of the Science Advances study, in addition to Jain and Galford, are Ram Fishman of Tel Aviv University; Pinki Mondal of the University of Delaware; Nishan Bhattarai of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability; Shahid Naeem, Upmanu Lall and Ruth DeFries of Columbia University; and Balwinder Singh of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The work was funded by a NASA New Investigator Award to Jain and two NASA Land Cover and Land Use Change grants, one awarded to R.S. DeFries and one to Jain.

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RELATED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS:

Groundwater depletion will reduce cropping intensity in India

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Balwinder Singh – Cropping Systems Simulation Modeler, CIMMYT

Meha Jain – Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:

Rodrigo Ordóñez – Communications Manager, CIMMYT. r.ordonez@cgiar.org

Jim Erickson – Lead Public Relations Representative, University of Michigan. ericksn@umich.edu

Breaking Ground: Dyutiman Choudhary builds strong agribusinesses for sustainable economic growth

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on February 24, 2021. Posted in Features.

Agricultural market systems play a pivotal role in food security, livelihood development and economic growth. However, the agricultural sector in Nepal is constrained by a lack of spatially-explicit technologies and practices related to improved seed and fertilizer. Embracing these challenges, Dyutiman Choudhary, a scientist in market development with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), works to strengthen the seed and fertilizer market systems and value chains, with the ultimate goal to ensure demand-driven, inclusive and market-oriented cereal production.

Nepal’s agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers. As farming is mostly semi-commercial and subsistence in nature, many smallholder farmers are isolated from markets and lack knowledge about the latest farming technologies and inputs. They are unable to upgrade their farms to increase productivity for generating marketable surplus to make profitable income. Agribusiness entities in Nepal — such as seed companies, agrodealers and importers — face market development challenges and lack the commercial and business orientation to develop and deliver new technologies to farmers. Output market linkages are weak and loosely integrated, leading to poor coordination, weak information flow and lower return to actors.

This is where Choudhary’s expertise in agribusiness management fits in to make a difference.

Born and raised in Shillong, a hill station in northeastern India with a distinctive charm, he was enrolled as an engineering student. However, his interest took a sudden turn when he got drawn towards biological sciences and ultimately decided to leave the engineering course by stepping into agribusiness management. “I realized I was walking in the right direction as I was fascinated to learn about the livelihood benefits of agroforestry and the scope of agribusiness in fostering overall economic growth.”

He joined CIMMYT in 2017 as an expert in market development, but his roles and responsibilities transitioned to working as a Lead for the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project within four months of his appointment. His role involves leading an interdisciplinary team of scientists, partners and experts to develop a synergistic market system. The NSAF team fosters public private partnerships, improves access to support services and strengthens inclusive value chains in a supportive policy environment.

Choudhary’s research focuses on assessing crops, seed and fertilizer value chains; developing commercial and inclusive upgrading strategies with businesses and stakeholders; assessing competitiveness of seed companies; lobbying for policies to foster the growth of seed and fertilizer business; and building pathways for public and private sector services to market actors and smallholder farmers.

Dyutiman Choudhary (seventh from left) with seed producers during a field visit. (Photo: Dipak Kafle)

A roadmap to innovative market systems

Choudhary introduced the vision of a market system approach and put together a strategic roadmap in collaboration with a team from CIMMYT researchers from the Global Maize program, the Sustainable Intensification program and the Socioeconomics program. The roadmap addressed the concerns of low crop productivity, poor private sector growth and a less supportive policy environment inhibiting agricultural innovations in Nepal.

“Seed and fertilizer market systems in Nepal are uncompetitive and lack influx of new knowledge and innovations that restricts agriculture growth,” Choudhary explained.

Having prior experience as a regional lead for high-value products and value chains for South Asia and an inclusive market-oriented development expert in Eastern and Southern Africa, Choudhary carries unique capabilities for putting together a winning team and working with diverse partners to bring about a change in farming practices and build a strong agribusiness sector in Nepal.

Under his leadership, Nepalese seed companies are implementing innovative and competitive marketing approaches to develop newly acquired hybrid varieties under their brands. The companies are upgrading to build business models that cater to the growth of seed business, meet market demands and offer innovative services to smallholder farmers to build a sustainable national market. Facilitating financing opportunities has enabled these enterprises to produce strategic business plans to leverage $2 million to finance seed business. Improved value chain coordination mechanisms are increasing demand of seed company’s products and enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to output markets.

There is a renewed interest and confidence beaming from the private sector to invest in fertilizer business due to improved knowledge, communication and collaborative methods. The government committed to support balanced soil fertility management and allocated $2.4 million in 2019 to initiate fertilizer blending in Nepal.

The landscape is changing, and policy makers are considering new ideas to strengthen the delivery of targets under the Government of Nepal’s National Seed Vision 2013-2025 and the Agriculture Development Strategy 2015-2035.

Dyutiman Choudhary (left) welcomes the Feed the Future team leader to the CIMMYT office in Nepal. (Photo: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

Dyutiman Choudhary shows a demonstration plot during a field visit with USAID and project partners in Nepal. (Photo: Darbin Joshi)

Dyutiman Choudhary (left) receives a token of appreciation at an International Seed Conference organized in Nepal. (Photo: Bandana Pradhan/CIMMYT)

Competitiveness fosters productivity

The results of Choudhary’s work have the potential to transform Nepalese agriculture by unleashing new investments, changes in policies and practices, and innovative business management practices. “Despite a huge change in my TOR and the challenges to deliver impactful outcomes, I was able to successfully steer the project to produce exciting results that made the donor to declare it as their flagship project in Nepal,” he explained. “At the end of the day, reflecting upon the work achieved with my team and the stakeholders in co-creating solutions for complex issues brings me immense satisfaction.”

An amiable individual, he feels close to natural science and loves interacting with farmers. “I’ve always enjoyed traveling to biodiversity-rich locations, to understand local cultures and livelihood practices, so as to gauge the drivers of innovation and adaptation to change among diverse rural populations.”

“Keeping up the momentum, I want to continue to support growth in agribusiness management in less favorable regions, helping stakeholders in the farm-to-fork continuum to leverage the potential of innovations in research, development and delivery.”

A farmer holds a maize ear. (Photo: Cristian Reyna)

Classic milpa maize intercrop can help feed communities forgotten by development

Written by Mike Listman on February 12, 2021. Posted in News.

The traditional milpa intercrop — in which maize is grown together with beans, squash, or other vegetable crops — can furnish a vital supply of food and nutrients for marginalized, resource-poor communities in the Americas, according to a study published today in Nature Scientific Reports.

One hectare of a milpa comprising maize, common beans, and potatoes can provide the annual carbohydrate needs of more than 13 adults, enough protein for nearly 10 adults, and adequate supplies of many vitamins and minerals, according to the study. The research was based on data from nearly 1,000 households across 59 villages of the Western Highlands of Guatemala and is the first to relate milpa intercropping diversity with nutritional capacity, using multiple plots and crop combinations.

“The milpa was the backbone of pre-Columbian agriculture in North America, Mexico, and Central America,” said Santiago López-Ridaura, specialist in agricultural systems and climate change adaptation at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and lead author of the article.

“Milpa production anchored around locally-adapted maize is still an essential food and nutritional lifeline for isolated, often indigenous communities throughout Mexico and Central America, and can be tailored to improve their food and nutritional security, along with that of small-scale farmers in similar settings,” he added.

Maize for feed or food and nutrition?

In modern times, some 1 billion tons of maize are harvested yearly from about 200 million hectares worldwide. Much of this output results from intensive monocropping of hybrids that yield an average 10 tons per hectare, in places like the U.S.

This massive world harvest goes chiefly for animal feed, corn starch, corn syrup, ethanol, and myriad industrial products, but in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia, maize remains a critical food staple, often grown by smallholder farmers with yields averaging around 1.5 tons per hectare.

The Western Highlands of Guatemala is among the world’s poorest regions — a mountainous area ill-served by markets and where communities battered by food insecurity and malnutrition sow crops at altitudes of up to 3,200 meters, according to Cristian A. Reyna-Ramírez, a co-author of the study from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Mexico.

“Fully two-thirds of farmers in this region grow milpas based on maize but varying the intercrops with potatoes, faba bean, and even fruit trees,” Reyna-Ramírez said. “Our study showed that combinations such as maize-common bean-faba bean, maize-potatoes, and maize-common bean-potatoes provided the most carbohydrates, proteins, zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, folate, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin and vitamin C.”

The classic “milpa” intercrop comprises maize, beans, and squash. The bean plant climbs the maize stalk to reach sunlight and its roots add nitrogen to the soil; the squash leaves shade the soil, conserving moisture and inhibiting weed growth. Milpa systems are often grown on steep hillsides at a wide range of altitudes. (Photo: Cristian Reyna)

Better diets and routes out of poverty?

With typical landholdings of less than a quarter hectare and households averaging six members, Guatemala’s Western Highlands inhabitants cannot depend on the milpa alone to satisfy their needs, López-Ridaura cautioned.

“As with many smallholder farm communities, lack of land and general marginalization traps them in a vicious circle of poverty and malnutrition, forcing them to experiment with risky cash crops or for working-age members to undertake dangerous and heartbreaking migrations to find work and send back remittances,” he explains.

According to López-Ridaura, this study points the way for tailoring milpa systems to help communities that still rely on that intercrop or others that could benefit from its use.

Looking forward

Natalia Palacios Rojas, CIMMYT maize quality and nutrition expert and a co-author of this article, notes that calculations of this and other milpa studies consider raw nutrients and that research is needed on the nutritional contributions of cooked food and non-milpa foods such as poultry, livestock, home-garden produce, and purchased food.

“Further work should also address the effects of storing milpa produce on its nutrient stability and how the seasonal availability of milpa crops impacts diets and nutrition,” Palacios said.

The authors are grateful for funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, under the Buena Milpa project, as well as the support of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize.

Read the full article:
Maize intercropping in the milpa system. Diversity, extent and importance for nutritional security in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

$21m USAID project to boost agriculture mechanisation

Written by Bea Ciordia on February 11, 2021. Posted in In the media.

USAID has started the implementation of a $21.4 million project led by CIMMYT, the International Development Enterprises (iDE), and the Georgia Institute of Technology to support the mechanization of agriculture in Bangladesh.

Lightbulb moments

Written by Madeline Dahm on February 9, 2021. Posted in Features.

The challenges facing our food system are growing, both in size and in complexity. In order to tackle these issues and meet the needs of our changing world, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) understands the importance of assembling a workforce that is diverse, creative and representative. In addition to encouraging STEM careers and hiring more women in scientific positions, we must also foster a more encouraging scientific community for women whose careers are just sparking.

Whether it is through a school field trip, a first internship or a PhD thesis project, CIMMYT is committed to encouraging young women to step into the lab and the fields, and up to the challenge, as we strive to create a more equitable community. On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are inspired by the words of some of the many brilliant women whose scientific careers are just beginning, lighting the pathway to a more equitable future.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is particularly meaningful to CIMMYT’s new Global Wheat Program (GWP) Director, Alison Bentley. Listen and watch as she tells her story, from her first lightbulb moment on a high school field trip, to a leadership position in the wheat research world.

In celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, CIMMYT is participating in a unique marathon event, carrying a global conversation with CGIAR women scientists that are leading change and creating solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Powered by Women in Research and Science (WIRES), a new employee-led resource group at CGIAR, the event will showcase the many ways women scientists are transforming the way we look at our food, land and water systems around the world. In addition to learning about cutting-edge science, you’ll be able to engage with inspiring speakers in 13 different countries.

Join CIMMYT’s discussion on February 11, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. CST, and learn about the journeys of the 2020 Bänziger Award recipients, an engaging Q&A with four CIMMYT scientists, and our vision for a more equitable workforce. Register for the event.

Digital nutrient management tool reduces emissions, improves crop yields and boosts farmers’ profits

Written by Alison Doody on January 15, 2021. Posted in News.

A farmer in the Ara district, in India's Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT) — A farmer in the Ara district, in India’s Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

An international team of scientists, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), has demonstrated how better nutrient management using digital tools, such as the Nutrient Expert decision support tool, can boost rice and wheat productivity and increase farmers’ income while reducing chemical fertilizer use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Reported today in Nature Scientific Reports, the results show how the farmer-friendly digital nutrient management tool can play a key role in fighting climate change while closing the yield gap and boosting farmers’ profits.

The researchers tested the Nutrient Expert decision tool against typical farmer fertilization practices extensively using approximately 1600 side-by side comparison trials in rice and wheat fields across the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India.

The study found that Nutrient Expert-based recommendations lowered global warming potential by 12-20% in wheat and by around 2.5% in rice, compared to conventional farmers’ fertilization practices. Over 80% of farmers were also able to increase their crop yields and incomes using the tool.

Agriculture is the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in India. To tackle these emissions, crop scientists have been working on new ways to make farming more nutrient- and energy-efficient. Of the many technologies available, improving nutrient-use-efficiency through balanced fertilizer application — which in turn reduces excess fertilizer application — is key to ensuring food security while at the same time contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on climate change.

The work was carried out by CIMMYT in collaboration with farmers, and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Scientists from the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the former International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) also contributed to this study.

Researchers tested the Nutrient Expert decision tool against typical farmer fertilization practices extensively using approximately 1600 side-by side comparison trials in rice and wheat fields across the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India (Graphic: CIMMYT).

Precise recommendations

Nutrient Expert, which was launched back in 2013, works by analysing growing conditions, natural nutrients in the soil, and even leftover nutrients from previous crops to provide tailored fertilizer recommendations directly to farmers phones. The tool also complements the Government of India’s Soil Health Cards for balanced and precise nutrient recommendations in smallholder farmers’ fields.

Each farmer’s field is different, which is why blanket fertilizer recommendations aren’t always effective in producing better yields. By using nutrient management tools such as Nutrient Expert, farmers can obtain fertilizer recommendations specific to the conditions of their field as well as their economic resources and thus avoid under-fertilizing or over-fertilizing their fields.

“While efficient nutrient management in croplands is widely recognized as one of the solutions to addressing the global challenge of supporting food security in a growing global population while safeguarding planetary health, Nutrient Expert could be an important tool to implement such efficient nutrient management digitally under smallholder production systems,” said Tek Sapkota, CIMMYT climate scientist and first author of the study.

Sapkota also argues that adoption of the Nutrient Expert tool in rice-wheat systems of India alone could provide almost 14 million tonnes (Mt) of extra grain with 1.4 Mt less nitrogen fertilizer use, and a reduction of 5.3 Mt of carbon (CO2) emissions per year over current practices.

However, technological innovation alone will not achieve these positive outcomes.

“Given the magnitude of potential implications in terms of increasing yield, reducing fertilizer consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, governments need to scale-out Nutrient Expert-based fertilizer management through proper policy and institutional arrangements, especially for making efficient use of the nearly 200 million Soil Health Cards that were issued to farmers as part of the Soil Health mission of the Government of India,” said ML Jat, CIMMYT principal scientist and co-author of the study.

Read the study:
Crop nutrient management using Nutrient Expert improves yield, increases farmers’ income and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

A researcher from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) demonstrates the use of a farming app in the field. (Photo: C. De Bode/CGIAR)

Taking stock of value chain development

Written by Steven M on January 7, 2021. Posted in Features.

In 1967 Albert O. Hirschman, the pioneering development economist, published Development Projects Observed. Based on an analysis of a handful of long-standing World Bank projects, the book was an effort, as Hirschman writes in the preface, “to ‘sing’ the epic adventure of development — its challenge, drama, and grandeur.” He sang this epic not in the register of high development theory, but rather through the ups and downs and unexpected twists of real-world development projects.

Today, a new group of researchers have taken up a similar challenge. Value Chain Development and the Poor: Promise, delivery, and opportunities for impact at scale, a new book edited by Jason Donovan, Dietmar Stoian and Jon Hellin, surveys over two decades of academic and practical thinking on value chains and value chain development. While value chain development encompasses a broad variety of approaches, it has largely focused on improving the ability of small scale, downstream actors — such as smallholders in agri-food value chains — to capture more value for their products or to engage in value-adding activities. Value chain development approaches have also focused on improving the social and environmental impacts of specific value chains. Donovan, Stoian and Hellin’s book assesses these approaches through careful analysis of real-world cases. The book was published with support from the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and on Policies, Institutions, and Markets.

Lessons learned

The book takes an unsparing look at what has and hasn’t worked in the field of value chain development. It begins by dissecting the drivers of the high degree of turnover in approaches that characterizes the field. The editors argue that “issue-attention cycles” among project stakeholders, coupled with monitoring and evaluation metrics that are more focused on tracking project implementation rather than producing robust measurements of their social impact, too often lead to the adoption — and abandonment — of approaches based on novelty and buzz.

The unfortunate consequences are that strengths and limitations of any given approach are never fully appreciated and that projects — and even entire approaches — are abandoned before they’ve had a chance to generate deep social impacts. Moreover, the opportunity to really learn from development projects — both in terms of refining and adapting a given approach to local conditions, and of abstracting scalable solutions from real development experiences — is lost.

A recurring theme throughout the book is the tension between the context-sensitivity needed for successful value chain development interventions and the need for approaches that can be scaled and replicated. Programs must develop tools for practitioners on one hand and demonstrate scalability to funders on the other. For example, a chapter on maize diversity and value chain development in Guatemala’s western highlands illustrates how an approach that was successful in Mexico — connecting producers of indigenous maize landraces with niche markets — is ill-suited to the Guatemalan context, where most producers are severely maize deficient. And a chapter reviewing guides for gender-equitable value chain development highlights how — for all their positive impact — such guides often overlook highly context- and culturally-specific gender dynamics. Intra-household bargaining dynamics and local masculinities, for example, can play critical roles in the success or failure of gender-focused value chain development interventions.

This new book takes an unsparing look at what has and hasn’t worked in the field of value chain development.

Finally, while lauding the valuable impact many value chain development initiatives have achieved, the editors warn against an exclusive reliance on market-based mechanisms, especially when trying to benefit the poorest and most marginalized of smallholders. In the case of Guatemala’s maize-deficient highland farmers, for example, the development of niche markets for native maize proved to be a poor mechanism for achieving the stated goal of preserving maize biodiversity and farmers’ livelihoods. Non-market solutions are called for. Based on this and similar experiences, the editors note that, while value chain development can be a valuable tool, to truly achieve impact at scale it must be coordinated with broader development efforts.

“The challenge of ensuring that value chain development contributes to a broad set of development goals requires transdisciplinary, multisector collaboration within broader frameworks, such as integrated rural-urban development, food system transformation, and green recovery of the economy in the post COVID-19 era,” write the editors.

This bracing and clear reflection on the promise and limitations of current development approaches is not only timely; it is perhaps more urgent today than in Hirschman’s time. While tremendous gains have been made since the middle of the 20^th century, many stubborn challenges remain, and global climate change threatens to undo decades of progress. Projects like Value Chain Development and the Poor and the ongoing Ceres2030 initiative provide development practitioners, researchers, funders and other stakeholders a much needed assessment of what can be built upon and what needs to be rethought as they tackle these gargantuan challenges.

Embracing uncertainty

At the time Development Projects Observed was published, the study and practice of development was already entering a crisis of adolescence, as it were. Having achieved quasi-independence from its parent discipline of economics, it had to settle on an identity of its own.

Hirschman’s book represented one possible way forward — an understanding of development practice as a blend of art and science. The book’s most famous concept, that of the Hiding Hand, illustrates how planners’ optimism could fuel enormously complex and challenging projects — undertakings that might never have been attempted had all the challenges been known beforehand. At the same time, projects’ inevitable failures and shortcomings could spur creative local responses and solutions, thus ensuring their eventual success and rootedness in their specific context.

As Michele Alacevich points out in the Afterword to the book’s most recent reissue, the World Bank’s response to Hirschman’s book demonstrates the road that development research and practice ultimately took. The book was disregarded, and the Bank turned to the growing literature on cost-benefit analysis instead. “Whereas Hirschman’s analysis had placed uncertainty — an unmeasurable dimension — center stage, cost-benefit analysis assimilated it to risk, therefore turning it into something measurable and quantifiable,” Alacevich writes. Faced with a newfound awareness of the limits to the field’s powers and abilities — a rite of passage for all prodigies — development institutions appeared to try to outrun these limitations through ever-increasing technification.

The issue-attention cycles identified by Stoian and Donovan may represent a new, more frenetic and self-defeating iteration of this discomfort with uncertainty. If so, Value Chain Development and the Poor serves as an urgent call for development institutions and practitioners to make peace with the messiness of their vocation. As Hirschman observed decades ago, only by embracing the uncertainty and art inherent in development work can its students and practitioners further the enormously complex scientific understanding of the endeavor, and, crucially, generate broad and lasting social change.

The eBook is available for free (Open Access):
Value Chain Development and the Poor: Promise, delivery, and opportunities for impact at scale

Cover image: A researcher from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) demonstrates the use of a farming app in the field. (Photo: C. De Bode/CGIAR)

Surender Prasad stands next to his Happy Seeder-mounted tractor in Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

An aspiration for entrepreneurship

Written by Nima Chodon on December 22, 2020. Posted in News.

The agricultural sector is possibly the largest livelihood provider in India, with the smallholder farming community in the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains making the bulk of it. They are the community responsible for growing the food available on our table. In celebration of India’s National Farmer’s Day on December 23 — known in Hindi as Kisan Diwas — we share the story of a farmer-turned-entrepreneur from eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners have invested in supporting smallholder farmers to implement best farming practices and improve yields through sustainable intensification.

“I am a farmer and I am hopeful of a future for my children in the farming sector,” says Surender Prasad, a 52-year-old farmer from Umila village in Santkabir Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh. Prasad is one of the innovative farmers in and around the district who has time and again strived to introduce new implements and technologies on his farm — often a big risk for smallholders like him.

In 2014, Prasad met researchers from CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project while visiting the village Lazar Mahadeva during an inter-district traveling seminar. After seeing the farmer demonstration plots for himself — which, incidentally, is one of the best ways of raising farmer awareness in the region — Prasad was convinced of the efficiency of transplanting rice by machine and using zero tillage in wheat production.

Through his continued association with the project, Prasad has now adopted both practices, in addition to direct seeded rice (DSR) and Laser Land Levelling. With a single 35 horsepower tractor, cultivator and harrow, Prasad was able to improve his wheat grain yield by one ton per hectare during the 2014-15 cropping season, and secure improved profit margins as a result.

Encouraged by these results, in 2018 Prasad purchased a 55 horsepower New Holland Tractor, a Happy Seeder, a tractor-mounted sprayer and other machinery for custom hire under the state government’s machinery bank scheme. His aspiration for entrepreneurship grew in the months following these purchases and he has since established himself as a local service provider, alongside his role as a farmer. According to Prasad, his continued association with CSISA and its network of partners helped him gain better technical knowledge and skills as well as confidence with using conservation agriculture-based machinery, thanks to trainings provided by the project team.

Surender Prasad stands in his field, where wheat grows under rice-crop residue. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT) — Surender Prasad stands in his field, where wheat grows under rice-crop residue. (Photo: Ajay K Pundir/CIMMYT)

A budding entrepreneur

Today Prasad is an important entrepreneur in the region, providing custom hiring services for Happy Seeder and DSR and promoting agricultural mechanization in his community. Going forward, scale-appropriate farm mechanization will help farmers in the area to intensify their cropping system at a lower cost, supported by use of the conservation agriculture approaches encouraged by the CSISA project team, which have been shown to improve yields, reduce farmer costs and preserve natural resources. For example, using these best management practices Prasad was able to harvest an additional 1.1 tons of wheat from the 10 acres of land owned by him and his brother, and most farmers in his village now follow his crop management advice.

He is quick to adopt new ideas and has become something of an influencer in the area, earning him friends among the farming community and helping the CSISA team reach more farmers with new innovations.

This year the opportunity for hiring out mechanization services has been immense, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created difficulties for farmers engaged in rice transplanting. As a result, Prasad managed to sow 90 acres of DSR on his own farm and in the nearby village, as well as seeding 105 acres of wheat in the fall 2020 season. “Thanks to mechanization we were far less affected by the COVID-19 disruptions and managed to plant rice and then wheat without much delay,” he explains. Prasad also provided tractor-mounted sprayer services for applying herbicides and insecticide on 90 acres of rice crop. Considering these successes, he has now planned to offer year-round extension services.

“I feel overwhelmed after serving my own community as a service provider,” says Prasad. “I feel proud of myself when other farmers come asking for my assistance.” Endorsing his contribution as an innovative farmer, the Department of Agriculture for the Government of Uttar Pradesh recognized him with awards in 2015 and 2019. He attributes his success to his exposure to CSISA interventions and support and believes that CSISA acted as a facilitator, encouraging him to use his ideas for his own benefit and for the benefit of the larger agrarian community around him.

Surender Prasad drives his Happy Seeder-mounted tractor in Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT) — Surender Prasad drives his Happy Seeder-mounted tractor in Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo: Ajay K Pundir/CIMMYT)

Breaking Ground: Gokul Paudel finds the best on-farm practices for South Asia

Written by Madeline Dahm on December 18, 2020. Posted in Features.

Gokul Paudel is an agricultural economist working to streamline farming practices in South Asia. He seeks to understand, learn from and improve the efficiency of on-farm management practices in a vast variety of ways. Although he joined the International Improvement Center for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT) right after university, Paudel’s on-farm education started long before his formal courses.

“I was born in a rural village in Baglung district, in the mid-hills of Nepal. My parents worked on a small farm, holding less than half a hectare of land,” he says. “When I was a kid, I remember hearing that even though Nepal is an agricultural country, we still have a lot of food insecurity, malnutrition and children who suffer from stunting.”

“I would ask: How is Nepal an agricultural country, yet we suffer from food insecurity and food-related problems? This question is what inspired me to go to an agricultural university.”

Paudel attended Tribhuvan University in Nepal, and through his coursework, he learned about plant breeding, genetic improvement and how Norman Borlaug brought the first Green Revolution to South Asia. “After completing my undergraduate and post-graduate studies, I realized that CIMMYT is the one organization that contributes the most to improving food security and crop productivity in developing countries, where farmers livelihoods are always dependent on agriculture,” he explains.

Approaching the paradox

Paudel is right about the agriculture and food paradox of his home country. Almost two thirds of Nepal’s population is engaged in agricultural production, yet the country still has shockingly high numbers in terms of food insecurity and nutritional deficiency. Furthermore, widespread dissemination of unsustainable agronomic practices, like the use of heavy-tilling machinery, present similar consequences across South Asia.

If research and data support the claim that conservation agriculture substantially improves crop yields, then why is the adoption of these practices so low? That is exactly what Paudel seeks to understand. “I want to help improve the food security of the country,” he explains. “That’s why I joined the agricultural sector.”

Paudel joined CIMMYT in 2011 to work with the Socioeconomics Program (SEP) and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), providing regional support across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

His work is diverse. Paudel goes beyond finding out which technological innovations increase on-farm yield and profit, because success on research plots does not always translate to success on smallholder fields. He works closely with farmers and policy makers, using surveys and high-tech analytical tools such as machine learning and data mining to learn about what actually happens on farmers’ plots to impact productivity.

Gokul Paudel holds up two bags of wheat crop-cuts in a farmer's field in India. (Photo: CIMMYT) — Gokul Paudel holds up two bags of wheat crop-cuts in a farmer’s field. (Photo: CIMMYT)

A growing future for conservation agriculture

Over the last two decades, the development of environmentally sustainable and financially appealing farming technologies through conservation agriculture has become a key topic of agronomic research in South Asia.

“Conservation agriculture is based on three principles: minimum disturbance of the soil structure, cover crop and crop rotation, especially with legumes,” Paudel explains.

Leaving the soil undisturbed through zero-till farming increases water infiltration, holds soil moisture and helps to prevent topsoil erosion. Namely, zero-till farming has been identified as one of the most transformative innovations in conservation agriculture, showing the potential to improve farming communities’ ability to mitigate the challenges of climate change while also improving crop yields.

Still, the diffusion rate of zero-tillage has remained low. Right now, Paudel’s team is looking at a range of factors — such as farmers’ willingness to pay, actual demand for new technologies, intensification under input constraints, gender-disaggregated preferences and the scale-appropriateness of mechanization — to better understand the low adoption rates and to find a way to close the gap.

Can farm mechanization ease South Asia’s labor shortage?

In South Asia, understanding local contexts is crucial to streamlining farm mechanization. In recent years, many men have left their agricultural jobs in search of better opportunities in the Gulf countries and this recent phenomenon of labor out-migration has left women to take up more farming tasks.

“Women are responsible for taking care of the farm, household and raising their children,” says Paudel. “Since rural out-migration has increased, they have been burdened by the added responsibility of farm work and labor scarcity. This means that on-farm labor wages are rising, exacerbating the cost of production.”

The introduction of farm machinery, such as reapers and mini-tillers, can ease the physical and financial burden of the labor shortage. “Gender-responsive farm mechanization would not only save [women’s] time and efforts, but also empower them through skills enhancement and farm management,” says Paudel. However, he explains, measures must be taken to ensure that women actually feel comfortable adopting these technologies, which have traditionally been held in the male domain.

Gokul Paudel records the total above-ground biomass of maize and other maize yield attributes in a farmer’s field in Kanchunpur, Nepal. (Photo: Ashok Rai/CIMMYT)

From farm-tech to high-tech

Right now, amidst the global lockdown due to COVID-19, Paudel’s field activities are highly restricted. However, he is capitalizing on an opportunity to assess years’ worth of data on on-farm crop production practices, collected from across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

“We are analyzing this data-set using novel approaches, like machine learning, to understand what drives productivity in farmers’ fields and what to prioritize, for our efforts and for the farmers,” he explains.

Although there are many different aspects of his work, from data collection and synthesis to analysis, Paudel’s favorite part of the job is when his team finds the right, long-lasting solution to farmers’ production-related problems.

“There’s a multidimensional aspect to it, but all of these solutions affect the farmer’s livelihood directly. Productivity is directly related to their food security, income and rural livelihoods.”

A changing landscape

About 160 km away from where he lives now, Paudel’s parents still own the farm he grew up on — though they no longer work on it themselves. They are proud to hear that his work has a direct impact on communities like theirs throughout the country.

“Every day, new problems are appearing due to climate change — problems of drought, flooding and disease outbreak. Though it’s not good news, it motivates me to continue the work that I’m doing,” says Paudel. “The most fascinating thing about working at CIMMYT is that we have a team of multidisciplinary scientists working together with the common goal of sustainably intensifying the agricultural systems in the developing world.”

A researcher from the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) walks through a wheat field in India. (Photo: BISA)

Solving South Asia’s sustainability issues will require a systems approach to crop management

Written by Alison Doody on December 17, 2020. Posted in News.

New research by an international team of scientists, including scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), shows that adopting a portfolio of conservation agriculture and crop diversification practices is more profitable and better for the environment than conventional agriculture.

Reported last month in Nature Scientific Reports, the results of the study should encourage farmers and policymakers in South Asia to adopt more sustainable crop management solutions such as diversifying crop rotations, direct-seeding rice, zero tillage and crop residue retention.

Rice-wheat has for a long time been the dominant cropping system in the western Indo-Gangetic plains in India. However, issues such as water depletion, soil degradation and environmental quality as well as profitability have plagued farmers, scientists and decision makers for decades. To tackle these issues, researchers and policymakers have been exploring alternative solutions such as diversifying rice with alternative crops like maize.

“Climate change and natural resource degradation are serious threats to smallholder farmers in South Asia that require evidence-based sustainable solutions. ICAR have been working closely with CIMMYT and partners to tackle these threats,” said SK Chaudhari, deputy director general of the Natural Resource Management at ICAR.

In the study, CIMMYT scientists partnered with the ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Swami Keshwan Rajasthan Agriculture University and Cornell University to evaluate seven cropping system management scenarios.

The researchers measured a business-as-usual approach, and six alternative conservation agriculture and crop diversification approaches, across a variety of indicators including profitability, water use and global warming potential.

Wheat grows under a systematic intensification approach at the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in India. (Photo: BISA)

They found that conservation agriculture-based approaches outperformed conventional farming approaches on a variety of indicators. For example, conservation agriculture-based rice management was found to increase profitability by 12%, while decreasing water use by 19% and global warming potential by 28%. Substituting rice with conservation agriculture-based maize led to improvements in profitability of 16% and dramatic reductions in water use and global warming potential of 84% and 95%. Adding the fast-growing legume mung bean to maize-wheat rotations also increased productivity by 11%, profitability by 25%, and significantly decreased water use by 64% and global warming potential by 106%.

However, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and study co-author M.L. Jat cautioned against the allure of chasing one silver bullet, advising policymakers in South Asia to take a holistic, systems perspective to crop management.

“We know that there are issues relating to water and sustainability, but at the same time we also know that diversifying rice — which is a more stable crop — with other crops is not easy as long as you look at it in isolation,” he explained. “Diversifying crops requires a portfolio of practices, which brings together sustainability, viability and profits.”

With South Asia known as a global “hotspot” for climate vulnerability, and the region’s population expected to rise to 2.4 billion by 2050, food producers are under pressure to produce more while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and damage to the environment and other natural resources.

“Tackling these challenges requires strong collaborative efforts from researchers, policymakers, development partners and farmers,” said Andrew McDonald, a systems agronomist at Cornell University and co-author of the study. “This study shows this collaboration in action and brings us closer to achieving resilient, nutritious and sustainable food systems.”

“The results of this study show that one-size doesn’t fit all when it comes to sustainable crop management,” said PC Sharma, director of India’s ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI). “Farmers, researchers and policymakers can adopt alternative crop rotations such as maize-wheat or maize-wheat-mung bean, but they can also improve existing rice-wheat rotations using conservation agriculture methods.”

Farmer Tara Miah stands in his wheat field in Rajguru, Barisal, Bangladesh. (Photo: Ranak Martin/CIMMYT)

The past, present and future of agricultural research

Written by AFM Nazmul Alam on December 17, 2020. Posted in News.

On November 13, 2020, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) held a virtual meeting to update Bangladesh’s Minister for Agriculture Md Abdur Razzaque on their organizations’ ongoing research activities regarding the development of sustainable, cereal-based farming systems.

The purpose of this event was to inform influential stakeholders of the implications of the impending transition to One CGIAR for collaborative research activities in Bangladesh and how CIMMYT will continue its support to the its partners in the country, including the government and other CGIAR centers. The event was chaired by CIMMYT’s Director General Martin Kropff, who called-in from CIMMYT’s headquarters in Mexico, and Razzaque, who attended the event as a special guest. Around 21 participants from various government offices including the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) were in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Razzaque thanked CIMMYT for its support in increasing maize and wheat production in Bangladesh — as the main source of germplasm for these two crops — which has been crucial for assuring food and income security and helping the country reach towards the Sustainable Development Goals. He expressed his gratitude for CIMMYT’s help in mitigating the threats posed by pests and diseases, and supporting climate information services which have enabled farmers to avoid crop losses in mung bean, and he requested that CIMMYT to intensify its research on cropping systems, heat- and disease-tolerant wheat varieties, and the introduction of technologies and farming practices to sustainably increase production and reduce wheat imports.

Martin Kropff gives an overview of CIMMYT research in Bangladesh during a virtual meeting with stakeholders. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT’s country representative for Bangladesh, guided participants through the history of CIMMYT’s engagement in Bangladesh from the 1960s to the present and outlined the organization’s plan for future collaboration with the government. In addition developing wheat blast-resistant varieties, exchanging germplasm and seed multiplication programs for disease-resistant varieties, Krupnik described collaborative efforts to fight back against fall armyworm, research in systems agronomy to boost crop intensity and the use of advanced simulation models and remote sensing to assist in increasing production while reducing farm drudgery, expensive inputs, water and fuel use, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

He also highlighted efforts to create a skilled work force, pointing to CIMMYT’s collaboration with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) on appropriate agricultural mechanization and USAID-supported work with over 50 machinery manufacturers across the country.

“This historical legacy, alongside world-class scientists and committed staff, germplasm collection, global impact in farmer’s fields, next generation research and global network of partners have made CIMMYT unique,” explained Kropff during his closing remarks, which focused on the organization’s research and collaboration on climate-smart and conservation agriculture, high-yielding, stress- and disease-tolerant maize and wheat variety development, value chain enhancement, market development, precision agronomy and farm mechanization in Bangladesh.

He expressed his gratitude towards the Government of Bangladesh for supporting CIMMYT as an international public organization in the country, thus enabling it to continue delivering impact, and for recognizing the benefits of the transition to a more integrated network of international research centers through One CGIAR, under which CIMMYT and other centers will strengthen their support to the government to help Bangladesh achieve zero hunger.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center works in Colombia to enhance grain quality

Written by Bea Ciordia on December 15, 2020. Posted in In the media.

Natalia Palacios, Maize Quality Specialist at CIMMYT, spoke about the center’s work in Colombia and the future of maize production in the program ‘Tierra de Sueños’ (Land of Dreams).

Listen to the episode here: https://www.rcnradio.com/colombia/el-centro-internacional-de-mejoramiento-maiz-y-trigo-trabaja-en-colombia-por-la-calidad