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Tag: big data

Fredrick Otiato

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Fredrick Otiato is a highly analytical and process-oriented researcher with extensive expertise in research methodologies, data management, and statistical analysis. He holds an MSc in Applied Statistics from the University of Nairobi and a BSc in Statistics from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. With a career spanning more than a decade in roles such as Senior Research Analyst and Data and Insights Manager, Fredrick has led complex data operations and supported the design and analysis of both qualitative and quantitative research. He has also contributed to various research projects, resulting in multiple scientific publications. Passionate about using data to drive meaningful insights, Fredrick is dedicated to creating actionable outcomes that foster growth and development.

Harshit Rajan

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Harshit Rajan is the GIS Specialist in the SAS program at CIMMYT. His role revolves around geospatial activities, primarily centered around his roles within CSISA and SIS. Within the confines of CIMMYT, his professional pursuits are firmly directed toward two critical areas: Drainage class mapping and Digital Soil Mapping, both of which are augmented by cutting-edge machine-learning techniques.

 

 

Moben Ignatius

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Moben Ignatius is the Agriculture Research Associate in the SAS program at CIMMYT. His role revolves around fostering sustainable agricultural practices and innovative technologies and methods that cater to Rice-Wheat cropping systems.

His previous work role extended to forging alliances with diverse organizations and governmental bodies to advocate for the expansion of these beneficial agricultural techniques. Employing meticulous monitoring, evaluation, and data-driven surveys, ensuring the successful execution and scalability of projects.

Bhavani Pinjarla

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Dr. Bhavani P is the Geospatial Analyst in the Sustainable Agrifood Systems program at CIMMYT. She obtained a Ph.D. degree from the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad on the research topic “Spatio-temporal Assessment of Agricultural Performance and its Drought Vulnerability using Long-term Satellite and Climate Data”.

Dr. Bhavani P. provides solutions to farmers (at various scales – farmers to policy level) using remote sensing and geoprocessing. She acquired contemporary professional knowledge, climate data processing, machine learning techniques for image processing, R, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) with programming proficiency in JavaScript, and Python.

Kabita Kunwar

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Kabita Kunwar is the ICT and Data Analyst in the Sustainable Agrifood Systems program at CIMMYT. She specializes in data collection app administration, digital advisories, fintech, and facilitating digital finance for agribusinesses. Kabita is driving the adoption of proven technologies and advisories to benefit smallholder farmers and agribusinesses in Nepal.

Pankaj Koirala

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Pankaj Koirala has a PhD in Economics and currently contributes to CSISA Ukraine project within CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program. He conducts research in agricultural systems, climate change, and sustainability, especially focusing on survey data and human/farmer’s behaviors, socioeconomic and institutional contexts. Currently, he engages in studies to understand the impacts of climatic variables on food and nutritional security, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Koirala has published peer-reviewed scientific papers on Economic Policy and Analysis, sustainability, and others and served as a reviewer in various peer-reviewed journals.

Mekides Woldegiorgis Gardi

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Mekides Woldegiorgis Gardi is a Post-Doctoral Fellow (System Agronomist – Crop Modelling) in the Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Ethiopia.

Lokesh Chaudhary

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Lokesh Chaudhary is an agronomist with expertise in seed physiology, crop modelling, precision agriculture and GIS GNSS. He is currently learning about drone piloting, data collection and processing.

At CIMMYT, Chaudhary works on resilient climate agriculture, under which technology transfer is done. Expertise in agronomy, seed and machinery is required and used extensively. He supports in the execution of farmers participatory and on-station demonstrations/research trials on climate-resilient agricultural practices, monitors day-to-day field activities (irrigation, fertilizer, herbicide, insecticide, etc.) and conducts data collection of the farmers participatory/research trials.

Gatien Falconnier

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Gatien Falconnier is a systems agronomist interested in the impact of sustainable agricultural intensification on food security and income, in the smallholder context of sub-Saharan Africa. His work combines on-farm and on-station experimentation, crop and farm modelling, to explore scenarios of change in farmers practices, with current and future climate.

Anurag Ajay

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Anurag Ajay is Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in India.

Ajay seeks to improve the way data is collected and used in the project. He is improving the system of data processing and sharing data publicly. He generates data-driven evidence-based insights that help take key project management decisions and are used for effective planning of project activities. He is the key resource person for programming digital surveys.

Ajay had been actively engaged in planning, coordinating, and facilitating collection of key performance indicator (KPI) data to measure project progress.

Maxwell Mkondiwa

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Maxwell Mkondiwa is a CIMMYT Associate Scientist – Spatial Economist based in New Delhi, India. He joined CIMMYT in January 2022.

His research focuses on ex-ante and ex-post spatial economic assessments of the adoption potential and impact of agricultural technologies. The general fields in which he conducts his research include spatial economics, economics of agricultural research, production economics, marketing economics (industrial organization), development economics, applied spatial Bayesian econometrics, and economic applications of mathematical optimization.

He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, an MSc in Applied Economics from University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, an MSc in Research Methods from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and a BSc in Agricultural Economics from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Bunda College Campus).

Sustainability of rice production in the Northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Rice is a vital crop for India, contributing around 30 percent of calories consumed in the country and providing a crucial source of income from exports. However, due to climate change and conversion of land for other uses, rice growing area in India is projected to decline by 6-7 million hectares (ha) by 2050, while production must increase by 1.1% annually over the next four decades to achieve rice self-sufficiency for the country.

As there is limited opportunity to horizontal expansion of cultivable land, the predicted increase in demand must be met through increasing rice yields in regions with low yields and maintaining existing yields in high-yielding areas. This must be achieved using sustainable farming practices: currently, 90 percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of monsoon season cropped cereals in India is caused by rice cultivation, as is 80 percent of the energy and water used in agriculture.

Scientists found that in the Northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India, yield gaps were small (ca. 2.7 t ha−1, or 20% of potential yield) mainly because of intensive production system with high input use. Using management data from 4,107 individual farmer fields, the study highlighted scope to reduce nitrogen (N) inputs without compromising yields in this intensive production system.

Findings show evidence of and methodology for the quantification of yield gaps and approaches that can improve resource-use efficiency, providing a possible alternative approach that could be reproduced elsewhere for other crops and contexts. It is recommended that future research focuses on ways to reduce other production inputs without compromising the yields in such intensive production systems.

This paper is the result of Harishankar Nayak’s PhD training in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) jointly supervised by the researchers at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Read the study: Rice yield gaps and nitrogen-use efficiency in the Northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India: Evidence based insights from heterogeneous farmers’ practices

Cover photo: A farmer stands in his rice field at a Climate-Smart Village in the Vaishali district of Bihar, India, as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). (Photo: DK Singh/CIMMYT)

Md. Saiful Islam

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Saiful Islam is a Research Coordinator and Cropping Systems Agronomist with the Innovation Science for Agroecosystems and Food Systems in Asia research theme in CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Bangladesh.

Currently, he has experiments run by local collaborators at over 50 farmers’ fields in the north-west region of Bangladesh. Capacity development with researchers, extension agents, and farmers is an important part of the team’s work. He and their team share results through publications, ranging from scientific articles to extension leaflets, and scale recommendations for farmers through the innovation networks.

Islam works closely with farmers, farmer organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, and agricultural research and development institutions to help rural people with food and nutritional security for a given community.

K.M. Zasim Uddin

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K.M. Zasim Uddin is an agricultural development officer with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Bangladesh. He has a masters in agronomy from Rajshahi University

He is part of projects including the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), Fall Armyworm R4D and Management (FAW), Big data analytics for climate-smart agricultural practices in South Asia (Big Data² CSA), and Climate Services for Resilient Development in South Asia (CSRD). His main responsibilities are research and development on agricultural mechanization for the CSISA Mechanization and Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA). He has participated in versatile training, workshops and conference programs across Asia.

Uddin has worked in different national and international non-government organizations and companies for more than 13 years, including in research and development at Syngenta Bangladesh Limited and on the Borga Chasi Unnayan Program at BRAC. He also worked as an agriculture officer under the Char Livelihood Program, funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development.

Mustafa Kamal

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Mustafa Kamal is a GIS and remote sensing analyst in CIMMYT, leading the GIS, remote sensing and data team in Bangladesh as part of the Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program’s Innovation Sciences in Agroecosystems and Food Systems theme across Asia.

Kamal’s core expertise is in earth observation and geospatial data science, scientific and cloud computing, webGIS, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), advance landcover-landuse classification, and tool development. He contributes to research and innovation of irrigation and agro-meteorological advisory, crop identification and yield prediction, disaster and crop monitoring, landscape diversity, and climate analytics. He has published many peer-reviewed papers, reports, and training manuals, and provided teaching/training.

Kamal’s interdisciplinary background in urban and rural planning and disaster management helps him to integrate and lead an interdisciplinary team to provide solutions for sustainable agrifood systems.