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Tag: mechanization

Bringing mechanization to farmers’ doorsteps

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Blogs.

It is a winter morning in Ward 12 of Mutare Rural district in Zimbabwe. Farmers brave the cold weather to gather around several tents lined with a range of new agricultural machinery. The number of farmers increases, and the excited chatter gets louder as they attempt to identify the different machines on display. “That is a tractor, but it just has two wheels,” says one farmer. With enthusiasm, another identifies a multi-crop thresher and peanut butter machine and asks for the prices.

The scene typifies one of several settings for an awareness meeting conducted under the Feed the Future Zimbabwe Mechanization and Extension (Mechanization) Activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project operates in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland and Masvingo provinces and addresses the pressing need to improve farm power and machinery access for smallholder farmers in ten districts: Buhera, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Mutare rural, Bikita, Chiredzi, Chivi, Masvingo rural, Mwenezi and Zaka.

Awareness meetings provide community members the opportunity to interact with the Mechanization Activity Team and learn more about the machinery suitable for their farm operations. (Photo: CIMMYT)

In recent years, farmers in the region have faced a decline in cattle populations due to tick-borne diseases—the devastating ‘January disease’ (Theileriosis) hitting hardest—causing significant draft power losses. In addition, on-farm and off-farm activities have notoriously been identified as labor-intensive, time consuming and back-breaking due to the level of effort required to execute certain tasks. Activities such as post-harvest processing have also been traditionally carried out by women, who are thus disproportionally affected by drudgery. Collectively, these challenges have affected not only food production and the quality of farm yields, but also drastically impacted farming families’ potential to realize sufficient household food and income security.

“Finding the best model of extension of appropriate machinery and developing financing mechanisms for smallholder farmers has been the work of previous projects on appropriate-scale mechanization,” says Christian Thierfelder, research director for the Mechanization Activity. “In this activity, we are implementing a service provider model in Zimbabwe and are aiming to reach 150 service providers and 22,500 users of these machines in the next two years.”

Despite previous successes under initiatives such as FACASI and R4/ZAMBUKO, there remains a huge demand for affordable machines that improve farm labor and generate income for smallholder farmers. “We already see hundreds of farmers demanding to mechanize agricultural activities in our intervention areas,” explains Leon Jamann, chief of party for the project. “That is why our activity aims to collaborate with banks and microfinance institutions to bank these farmers at fair rates so that they can buy the machinery that they need and want.”

A launchpad for success

The awareness meetings have served as launchpads to acquaint farmers with appropriate machinery right at the ‘farm gate’ while affording them a chance to explore the full range on offer. Since its inception, the Mechanization Activity has showcased through live demonstrations the operation and performance of machinery including the two-wheel tractor and trailer, ripper, basin digger, boom sprayer, multi-crop thresher, feed chopper-grinder, groundnut sheller and peanut butter machine. Each machine harmonizes with on-farm and off-farm activities, easing the labor burden and improving efficiency in land preparation, harvesting and post-harvest tasks. The aim is to create demand for and trigger business interest in the machinery through a service provision model.

The model centers on the service provider, typically an individual who owns machinery and extends their services to others for a fee. In some cases, organized Internal Savings and Lending (ISAL) and Production, Productivity Lending and Savings (PPL) groups have expressed, through the awareness meetings, interest in procuring a machine for use within the group. This symbiotic relationship empowers service providers economically, while granting communities access to crucial services that improve their land and labor productivity.

In the next step, service providers are then linked with banks to finance their machinery. This ensures a sustainable approach, as the mechanization solutions are locally produced, financed and used. Enhancing these local capacities and linkages is at the core of the activity and ensures impact beyond the project life cycle.

From awareness to demand

So far, a total of 32 awareness meetings have been held across three operational hubs in Masvingo and Manicaland provinces reaching 1,637 farmers—843 females and 794 males. The impact is evident, with 475 service providers identified across 20 implementation wards.

232 participants are keen to acquire a two-wheel tractor, with a further 191 opting for trailers, 63 for rippers, 125 for multi-crop threshers, 166 for chopper grinders, 178 for peanut butter machines and 31 for groundnut shellers. Among the prospective service providers are those opting to purchase a single unit while others are choosing two, three or more units from the machinery on offer.

Beyond the numbers, the Mechanization and Extension Activity continues to appeal to women and youth through sustainable and climate-smart intensification of crop production using conservation agriculture practices, opportunities for employment creation and enhancing profitability.

Graduate intern Titos Chibi demonstrates the two-wheel tractor during an awareness meeting in Ward 10 in Bikita. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“I enjoyed learning about the service provider approach and learning about the machinery on display,” reflected Nyarai Mutsetse, a female farmer from Ward 12. “Other women even got the chance to try out the two-wheel tractor. From now on, we are going to save money in our groups and purchase some of these machines.”

Echoing the same sentiments, Patience Chadambuka was fascinated by the two-wheel tractor demonstration, and impressed that it could serve multiple purposes. “I can use it for different tasks—ferrying wood, land preparation and it can also help us raise money to take our children to school through service provision,” she said. “We are beginning to save the money, together with my husband because we would like to purchase the tractor and use it for our business.”

The Mechanization Activity awareness meetings paint a vivid picture of collaboration with other Feed the Future Zimbabwe Activities such as the Fostering Agribusiness for Resilient Markets (FARM), Resilience Anchors and Farmer to Farmer, among others. The activity harmonizes smallholder farmers with private sector enterprises, including machinery manufacturers, local mechanics, financial institutions and the Government of Zimbabwe. This collective cooperation is pivotal in helping smallholder farmers realize their mechanization business goals.

Seed fairs set for Mwenezi, Masvingo

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

CIMMYT holds the fourth edition of seed and mechanization fairs in Mwenezi and Masvingo rural districts, and introduces a groundbreaking mechanization component thanks to the Feed the Future Zimbabwe Mechanization and Extension Activity.

Read the full story.

Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: efficiency, inclusiveness, and resilience

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Blogs.

CIMMYT participated in the inaugural Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from September 27-29, 2023. The gathering provided space for focused dialogues to prioritize actions and strengthen technical networks for sustainable development of agricultural mechanization.

Bram Govaerts, CIMMYT director general, presented a keynote address on September 27 regarding climate change and mechanization. As a global thought leader and change agent for climate resilient, sustainable and inclusive agricultural development, CIMMYT has many specific initiatives centered on mechanization for facilitating machine innovations and scaling-up improved farming practices for sustainability and farmer competitiveness.

Bram Govaerts delivered a keynote address. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Collaboration is a hallmark of CIMMYT’s endeavors in mechanization, including a strong partnership with local governments across Latin America, Africa and Asia, and international cooperation agencies, supporting the Green Innovations Centers installed by GIZ-BMZ and working on accelerated delivery models together with USAID, in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, to name only a few. Further, local value chain actor engagement is crucial and necessary in this work to connect farmers with viable solutions.

CIMMYT has a long history of leading projects aimed at mechanizing the agricultural efforts of smallholder farmers, including the successful MasAgro Productor in Mexico and FACASI (farm mechanization and conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification) in East and South Africa. At present, the Harnessing Appropriate-Scale Farm Mechanization in Zimbabwe (HAFIZ) project is working towards to improve access to mechanization and reduce labor drudgery while stimulating the adoption of climate-smart/sustainable intensification technologies. The project engages deeply with the private sector in Zimbabwe and South Africa to ensure long-term efficacy.

The Scaling Out Small Mechanization in the Ethiopian Highlands project was active from 2017 to 2022 and increased access for smallholder farmers to planting and harvesting machines. Farmers using two-wheel tractors furnished by the project reduced the time needed to establish a wheat crop from 100 hours per hectare to fewer than 10 hours. CIMMYT’s work was in partnership with the Africa-RISING program led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ethiopia.

“At CIMMYT, we work knowing that mechanization is a system, not only a technology,” said Govaerts. “Sustainable mechanization efforts require infrastructure like delivery networks, spare parts and capacity development. Working with local partners is the best way to ensure that any mechanization effort reaches the right people with the right support.”

Read these stories about CIMMYT’s efforts to support equal access to agricultural mechanization and scaling up within local contexts.

One-minute science: Mechanization for agriculture

Mechanization is a process of introducing technology or farm equipment to increase field efficiency. CIMMYT’s mechanization work is context specific, to help farmers have access to the appropriate tools that are new, smart and ideal for their unique farming conditions.

New generation of farmers adopts mechanization, making farming more productive and profitable

Working with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), CIMMYT is leading mechanization efforts in Northern India. Combined with sustainable agriculture, the next generation of farmers now have access to tractors, seeders and other tools that are increasing yield and reducing back-breaking labor.

Gangesh Pathak with his father at the custom hiring center which provides custom hiring services to smallholder farmers in the region. (Photo: Vijay K. Srivastava/CIMMYT)

A promising partnership

The delivery of row seeders from India to Benin demonstrates a new path to sustainable South-South business relationships. Developed in India in an iterative design process with farmers, portable row seeders have been a great success. Working with GIC, CIMMYT facilitated a technology and materiel transfer of the portable row seeders to Benin.

A farmer pulls a row seeder in Benin, West Africa. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Solar powered dryers boost peanut production in Togo

Peanuts thrive as a crop in Togo and other West Africa countries, but post-harvest is threatened by aflatoxins, so the entire crop needs to dry. Traditionally, farmers, often women, have dried the peanuts in the open air, subject to weather and other pests. However, CIMMYT, working with GIC, has introduced solar-powered dryers, which speeds up the drying process by a factor of four.

Smallholding peanut farmers Aicha Gaba and Aïssetou Koura lay peanuts into a solar dryer in Koumonde, Togo. (Photo: Laré B. Penn/University of Lome)

A business model for mechanization is providing hope in Burkina Faso

Working with partners in Burkina Faso, CIMMYT is facilitating smallholder mechanization with a model of cascading effects: one farmer mechanizing can then use their skills and eqBMZuipment to help their neighbors, leading to community-wide benefits.

Pinnot Karwizi fills a mechanized sheller with dried maize cobs. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)

Visit our mechanization page to read stories about ongoing mechanization initiatives.

Fodder Technology Chops Backbreaking Labor in Half for Bangladeshi Women

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

Women play a critical role in the future of food security. Female farmers face a significant disadvantage before they ever plow a field or sow a seed. Farming is a challenging profession, and it is even more challenging for women when they perform these functions whilst facing numerous constraints.

Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan, communications officer, showcases how fodder chopper technology is improving the lives of women farmers in rural Bangladesh.

Read more.

Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

In 2015, the General Assembly of the African Union committed to retiring the hand hoe to museums and pushing for sustainable agricultural mechanization on the African continent.

Today, approximately 75-82% of smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa rely on human or animal draft power for primary tillage operations. Mechanization helps to reduce drudgery, increases productivity, and contributes to food security and increased livelihoods.

What is Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity?

The Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to improve smallholder farmers’ access to farm power and machinery to enhance their land and labor productivity.

This is achieved through three integrated components that stimulate demand for scale-appropriate machinery.

Components:

  1.  Identification of demand-driven smallholder farm machinery and building capacity of manufacturing companies to produce, repair, and import machinery for smallholder agricultural production systems.
  2. Building the capacity of local service providers to purchase, operate, and maintain farm machinery to provide mechanized services to small-scale agricultural value chain actors.
  3. Coordinate and collaborate with other FTF activities to build the capacity of interested local service providers.

What are the objectives?

  • Assess and build the capacity of smallholder machinery manufacturers and suppliers to manufacture demand-driven farm machinery.
  • Enhance land and labor productivity and income through the establishment of mechanization service provision to small scale agricultural value chain actors.
  • Promote the use of the machinery through demonstrations and other demand creation activities, and inclusive training of rural women and youth in post-harvest processing of agricultural produce to generate increased income.
  • Coordinate and collaborate with other mechanization and Feed the Future activities to build capacity of the interested service providers to be agricultural extension agents to their customers during the cropping season.
  • Support service providers, manufacturers, and distributors to access credit to acquire machinery or mechanized services.

The project sites are located in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland and Masvingo provinces with project presence implemented across 10 districts.

The Mechanization and Extension Activity will directly benefit 150 service providers who in turn will reach up to 22,500 women and men smallholder farmers through provision of mechanized services. In addition, the mechanization activity will identify and build the capacity of 30 rural mechanics and 30 technicians drawn from local farm machinery manufacturing companies and/or small and medium enterprises.

Mechanisation to re-configure smallholder production

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in In the media.

The introduction of mechanisation in agricultural practices has ensured the promotion of technology and conservation of agriculture to stimulate smallholder production and the preservation of climate-proofing farming practices in Zimbabwe.

CIMMYT hosted a meeting, to discuss how the HAFIZ project has set the foundation for harnessing farm mechanization in Zimbabwe, shaping the future of mechanisation policies and interventions in Zimbabwe. As well as future initiatives to improve technology to sustain growth and master the impact of climate change.

Read the story.

Moben Ignatius

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

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.

Ajay Kumar

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Ajay Kumar is Senior Research Associate of CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in India. Ajay Kumar has been actively engaged in planning, coordinating CSISA activities of eastern UP hub.

What’s the link between two-wheel tractors and elephants?

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Publications.

CIMMYT principal scientist Frédéric Baudron has two main research interests: making mechanization appropriate to smallholders and biodiversity conservation.

Wondering how these two intersect, a colleague of Baudron once asked him what the link was between an elephant and a tractor?

Now, in the recent report, “Addressing agricultural labour issues is key to biodiversity-smart farming research,” published in Biological Conservation, Baudron and other contributors have answered that question, examining trade-offs between labor and biodiversity conceptually, as well as in the specific context of Indonesia and Ethiopia.

This research continues work CIMMYT has done on the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity, including Commodity crops in biodiversity-rich production landscapes: Friends or foes? The example of cotton in the Mid Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe and Sparing or sharing land? Views from agricultural scientists

Innovations in agricultural technology have led to undeniable achievements in reducing the physical labor needed to extract food from fields. Farm mechanization and technologies such as herbicides have increased productivity, but also became on the other hand major threats to biological diversity.

Adopting technologies that improve the productivity of labor benefits farmers in multiple ways, including a reduction of economic poverty, time poverty (i.e., lack of discretionary time, reducing labor drudgery), and child labor. Conversely, technologies that promote biodiversity often increase the burden of labor, leading to limited adoption by farmers. Therefore, there is a need to develop biodiversity-smart agricultural development strategies, which address biodiversity conservation goals and socio-economic goals, specifically raising land and labor productivity. This is especially true in the Global South, where population growth is rapid and much of the world’s remaining biodiversity is located.

“Without accounting for labor issues biodiversity conservation efforts will not be successful or sustainable,” said Baudron. “Because of this, we wanted to examine what biodiversity-smart agriculture might look like from a labor point of view.”

Research has quantified that farming families in Africa who use tractors expended an average of 640 labor hours per hectare in maize cultivation. In contrast, farmers not using tractors spent over 1100 hours for the same yield.

Practicing tractor operation at Toluca experiment station (Photo: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT)

Trade-offs

While that is a clear win for reducing the heavy physical toil of farming, there are potential negative effects on biodiversity. In many countries in the Global North, the rise of tractors and other big machinery has led to larger and more rectangular fields and the removal of farm trees and hedgerows, all of which is associated with lower biodiversity. The same is now happening in parts of the Global South.

“A trade-off implies that one goal can only be achieved at the expense of another goal,” said Baudron. “It is not always a conscious choice; however, as farmers often adopt labor-saving techniques without considering the effects on biodiversity, simply because they lack options, and sometimes the necessary context.”

In Indonesia, the transition from harvesting rubber to producing palm oil has reduced the amount of physical labor, but biological diversity has decreased. However, innovations such as reducing fertilizer usage to avoid nutrient leaching into soil have been possible without compromising yield, and with the benefit of lower costs to farmers.

In Ethiopia, labor-saving technologies like the use of small-scale combine harvesters have been compatible with high biodiversity.

“I tell my colleagues a two-wheel tractor that allows mechanization with little negative environmental consequence (compatible with a mosaic of small, fragmented fields, with on-farm scattered trees, etc.) contributes to a landscape that works for people and biodiversity, including elephants,” said Baudron.

Forging scaling partnerships in Latin America: Scaling specialists meet to strengthen future collaborations and learn from past experiences

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in News.

On May 26, 2023, representatives from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂŒr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) hosted a scaling networking event at CIMMYT headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. This event marked the culmination of a Scaling Readiness Training organized by the One CGIAR Portfolio Performance Unit (PPU), which included 30 participants from various CGIAR centers working on various One CGIAR Initiatives.

Consequently, the Scaling Networking Event was happy to bring together scaling experts from the CGIAR training together with other experts from GIZ, CIMMYT, and other academic and non-governmental organizations. The participants exchanged learnings, ideas, and methodologies for scaling agricultural innovations. Fortunately, this did not remain just an abstract exercise as the attendees were also eager to explore future joint scaling projects. Because collaboration is one of the most important factors in scaling innovations, the purpose of the event was to establish new collaborative initiatives and partnerships.

GIZ and CIMMYT have a long history of collaboration in Mexico and elsewhere. In Africa, for example, a group of mechanization specialists from CIMMYT recently provided training in this area to strengthen the work of the GIZ Green Innovation Centers for the agricultural and food sectors. In this event, both organizations explained what they meant by scaling and how they have worked on it using tools such as the Scaling Scan. The Scaling Scan is another example of the collaboration between GIZ and CIMMYT (and the Netherlands Development Organization SNV) and is a tool that analyzes bottlenecks and opportunities in scaling and innovation.

Both organizations noted a need to explore a wider space to connect sectors and actors interested in scaling innovations developed by agricultural research. Looking at different scaling approaches, the Scaling Readiness framework was presented as the official scaling practice in One CGIAR. Also, the University of Chapingo and the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico showed the tools they are using from analyzing social networks and Geographical Information Systems. They showed the connections with people that scaling requires and the importance of basing scaling assessments on quantitative data.

Plenary discussion to identify the best ways to carry out collaborations (Photo: Ronay Flores/CIMMYT)

The Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI) and GIZ Mexico also discussed the difficulties that come with deciding what to scale and how to do so responsibly. Given current environmental concerns, GIZ Mexico emphasized the need to scale technologies at the intersection between biodiversity and agriculture.  CEMEFI started a dialogue among scaling specialists about how to scale while also taking social factors into account. The major topics that came out of this discussion were the need to engage communities more, spend time with them planning interventions, and examine power relations.

As part of this event, scaling practitioners from three One CGIAR Research Initiatives, of which CIMMYT is a member, presented their scaling reflections. They shared their work and some research questions that are now being investigated in the Digital Initiative, the Latin American “AgriLAC” Initiative, and the Mitigation Plus Initiative. Some of the questions addressed in the event included what criteria should be chosen to select innovations, how to bring different scaling processes together, and finally, how to develop scaling strategies that could be supported by the digital and technological enabling conditions and tools.

Before the event concluded, the participants still had sufficient energy to debate and support the idea of creating a Latin American scaling community of practice to continue exchanging scaling experiences in the region, not only with partners but between scaling researchers and practitioners. The expected result would be to strengthen scaling work so that the most relevant practices to make agri-food systems resilient and sustainable could be adopted, adapted, or transformed to suit each community and its needs in each context.

What then were the final learnings for this event? The importance of scaling with partners; the need to address social inclusion in scaling by understanding power relations; and the sharing of varied scaling experiences and processes. All of this was highlighted at the end of the meeting, which gave closure to the day but an initial drive towards future potential collaborations that were created out of it.

New generation of farmers lead the way in making farming more productive and profitable

Written by Nima Chodon on . Posted in Features.

In the Indo-Gangetic Plains of northern India, nearly 70% of the population is involved in agriculture and extension services. Despite the abundantly fertile soil and farmers’ resilience, the adoption of agricultural innovations and productivity in the region has been slow.

This slow progress is often attributed to comparatively low levels of agricultural mechanization in the region and small land holdings of individual farmers, which often makes them risk averse to new technologies. However, times are changing.

Farmer Gangesh Pathak, in his recently harvested field using combine harvester machine, discuss Kharif – summer crops – schedule with CIMMYT Agronomist Ajay K Pundir. (Photo: Vijay K. Srivastava/CIMMYT)

Through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project, researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), working closely with the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and partners, have led the transition from traditional farming to sustainable intensification agricultural practices in the region, helping the region slowly but steadily realize its full potential. Over the years, working extensively with progressive farmers, CSISA scientists have helped optimize the cost of inputs and increase productivity through new technology adoption and capacity building for these farmers.

Krishnamohan Pathak, a farmer in his early sixties from the village of Patkhaoli, first learned about conservation agriculture practices when he attended a field event in Nonkhar village in Deoria district, Uttar Pradesh. CSISA researchers invited farmers from Nonkhar and neighbouring villages to attend a field day event, an exposure activity, on zero tillage wheat and direct seeded rice (DSR) technologies. Zero tillage allows farmers to plant directly without plowing or preparing the soil, minimizing soil movement. Pathak was one of the farmers who got to see first-hand the advantages of these sustainable agricultural practices.

Seeing merit in these practices, Pathak continued to engage with CSISA scientists and in 2013-2014, adopted zero tillage, and directly seeded rice in his family-owned fields.

“The CSISA field team encouraged me to buy a rice planter which has helped manage paddy transplantation on time, and wheat after that through zero till,” Pathak said.

Pathak later participated in other agri-technology events and CSISA field trial activities. In 2018, he joined other progressive farmers from the region who attended a training at ISARC (IRRI South Asia Regional Centre) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on direct seeded rice, organized by CSISA researchers to build capacity and raise awareness of the conservation agriculture method.

The next generation leads the way

Today, Pathak is one of the key influential farming members in the region. He has now, however, passed the baton to his 37-year-old son Gangesh Pathak. “I have occupied myself with other local leadership activities after my son has been active in the fields. I am not so skilled at using these machines, their maintenance and their services. The younger generation seems much better at adapting,” he said.

Gangesh has been involved actively in farming ever since he finished his graduation, trying to make it lucrative. He has enjoyed recent success growing wheat and rice through new technology and practices. Standing in the fields recently harvested with the new improved wheat variety DBW 187, grown through early sowing – a method which goes against the traditional practice of planting after November – and zero tillage, he is happy with his 5.5 ton per hectare yield.

He spoke enthusiastically about the farming machinery he has procured to reduce drudgery in his farms and the hiring services provided to smallholder farmers in the region. After his father bought the transplanter in 2014, the family added larger machines such as the Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Laser Land Leveller, Straw Reaper, and Direct Seeded Rice machine.

Farmer Gangesh Pathak explains the use of machinery that has enabled conservation agriculture practices in his fields and helped improve yields and income. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)

According to Gangesh, this has been possible thanks to the support from the local agriculture authorities and guidance from the CSISA team, who told his father about the various schemes offered by the central and state government to support farmers to adopt more productive and sustainable agricultural technologies.

Ajay Kumar Pundir, CIMMYT agronomist, based in Uttar Pradesh and leading CSISA’s efforts, stressed the importance of access to agricultural mechanization and support.

“Our job just does not end at informing and training farmers about better-bet agricultural practices. Along with other public and private stakeholders, we must support and ensure their availability and access – machines, quality seeds, timely information – for farmers to adopt it,” he said.

Custom hiring center help scale mechanization

With so much farm machinery, the Pathaks soon began extending hiring services. Custom hiring is a promising enterprise opportunity for farmers as they can use the machinery on their farms and earn extra income by extending services to other farmers at a reasonable cost, which helps cover diesel and maintenance costs. Gangesh made about 2.5 lakhs (USD $3,033.76) in profit during the 2022-2023 Rabi (winter crops) through hay machine hiring services, where around 250 farmers used these services.

Once the word spread, demand for hiring services by smallholder farmers, challenged by scarce labor for sowing and harvesting, started growing. Gangesh was encouraged by the good profits and was keen to share the benefits of such hiring services to as many farmers as possible, and he helped establish a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) with his father, Krishnamohan. FPO is a group made up of farmer-producers who are entitled to a host of benefits, including quality seeds, technical support, market access, under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW).

The FPO, started by the Pathaks in 2020, with 75 members (farmers) initially, currently boasts of around 300 farmers. Almost all FPO members have availed the custom hiring services for all farming purposes and various crops. Farmers, “particularly smallholders who cannot afford to purchase these machines for less than a few acres of land, are happy with the custom hiring services. It helps reduce their input cost by almost 50% along with other FPO member benefits,” Gangesh said.

Community-based technology demonstrations by CSISA and KVK and partners are ongoing to scale-out proven technologies and practices like early wheat sowing, zero tillage, and direct seeded rice. Gangesh is hopeful that farmers in the region, despite the emerging climate crisis concerns – already being felt in the region – can produce more and improve their income. He reckons that diversifying between rice-wheat cropping systems, mechanizing and system optimization through better advisories, and improved access to technologies as recommended by agronomists, will help farmers stay ahead of the curve.

About CSISA

Established in 2009, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is a science-driven and impacts-oriented regional initiative for increasing the productivity of cereal-based cropping systems. CSISA works in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. CSISA activities in India focus on the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, dominated by small farm sizes, low incomes, and comparatively low agricultural mechanization, irrigation, and productivity levels. Learn about CSISA (India) Phase 4.0  

A promising partnership

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Features.

In August 2022, the arrival of a container ship at the port in Cotonou, Benin signaled a major milestone in a developing South-South business relationship that holds the potential to produce a massive change in agricultural practices and output in Benin and across West Africa.

The delivery of six-row seeder planters from India marks the initial fruit of a collaboration between Indian manufacturer Rohitkrishi Industries and Beninese machinery fabricator and distributor Techno Agro Industrie (TAI) that has been two years in the making.

Connecting partners in the Global South

A major area of focus for the Green Innovation Centers for the Agriculture and Food Sector (GIC) projects launched in 15 countries by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s special initiative One World No Hunger is fostering cooperation between nations in the Global South.

Krishna Chandra Yadav laser levels land for rice planting in Sirkohiya, Bardiya, Nepal (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

This story began through the partnership between the Green Innovation Centers for the Agriculture and Food Sector and The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to increase agricultural mechanization in 14 countries in Africa and 2 in Asia.

GIC in India has been working with Rohitkrishi to develop appropriate mechanization solutions for smallholding farmers in India since 2017.

Under this new cross-border goal, GIC India discussed with Rohitkrishi the opportunity to adapt machines to the agroecological and socio-economic systems of African countries where continued use of traditional farming methods was drastically limiting efficiency, productivity, and yield. Rohitkrishi assessed the need and pursued this opportunity for long-term business expansion.

Small machines for smallholders

Before connecting with farmers and manufacturers in Benin, Rohitkrishi was busy solving problems for smallholding farmers in India, where large manufacturers focus on agricultural machinery designed and produced to meet the needs of the bigger, commercial farms. Sameer Valdiya of GIC India and Sachin Kawade of Rohitkrishi put their heads together to develop a plan for producing machines that could make a difference—and then convince smallholding farmers to try them.

A farmer pulls a row seeder, Maharashtra, India. (Photo: Green Innovation Center-India)

By adapting an existing machine and incorporating continuous feedback from farmers, they created a semi-automatic planter. This unique, co-creative process was accompanied by an equally important change in farmer mindset and behavior—from skepticism to the demonstrated impact and cost-benefit of the planter that was clear to each farmer.

These farmers were the first to adopt the technology and promoted it to their peers. Their feedback also drove continued improvements—a fertilizer applicator, new shaft and drive, safety features, night-lights and (perhaps most importantly) a multi-crop feature to make it useful for planting potatoes, ginger, and turmeric.

Today, Rohitkrishi has distributed 52 semi-automatic planters across India, and these machines are being used by up to 100 farmers each. Users are seeing a 17-20 percent increase in productivity, with an accompanying increase in income, and 30 percent of users are women.

The seeders are a roaring success, but Rohitkrishi is focused on continued improvement and expansion. As they continue to respond to adjustments needed by farmers, the company plans to sell 1000 semi-automatic planters per year by 2025. Reaching that goal will require both domestic and foreign sales.

Market opportunity meets technological need

Thanks to the active partnership of CIMMYT and Programme Centres d’Innovations Vertes pour le secteur agro-alimentaire (ProCIVA), TAI in Benin emerged as a promising early adopter of Rohitkrishi’s planters outside India. Seeing a remarkable opportunity to establish a foothold that could open the entire West African market to their products, Rohitkrishi began the painstaking process of redesigning their machine for a new context.

This ambitious project faced numerous challenges–from language barriers, to the definition of roles amongst major players, to major COVID-19 and supply chain delays. The arrival of the seeders, however, is a major accomplishment. Now Rohitkrishi and TAI will begin working with government representatives and farmer-based organizations to ensure the equipment performs well on the ground and meets Benin’s agroecological requirements.

Once final testing is completed in the coming months, Rohitkrishi’s seeders will have the chance to demonstrate what a difference they can make for soy and rice production in Benin.

“When developing countries with similar contexts and challenges forge alliances and business connections to share their knowledge, expertise, and problem-solving skills with each other, this kind of direct South-South collaboration produces the most sustainable advances in agricultural production, food security, and job creation,” said Rabe Yahaya, agricultural mechanization specialist at CIMMYT.

Scale mechanization through a starter pack that comprises a two-wheel tractor – a double row planter as well as a trailer and sheller (Photo: CIMMYT)

Meanwhile, CIMMYT is studying this pilot project to identify opportunities for reproducing and expanding its success. Through the Scaling Scan–a web-based, user-friendly tool to assess ten core ingredients necessary to scale-up any innovation–CIMMYT is helping Rohitkrishi and TAI set ambitious and reachable goals for scalability.

Most importantly, the Scaling Scan results will identify areas for course correction and help Rohitkrishi and its partners continue to be sensitive to farmer feedback and produce equipment better suited to needs on the ground.

Ethiopian machines for Ethiopian farmers

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Techno-Nejat owner Usman Abdella, operations manager Ali Mussa, and GIZ project manager Ralf Barthelmes with a recently completed seed cleaner at Techno-Nejat workshop in Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

In many sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia, smallholder farmers of legume, wheat, and maize struggle to maintain their own food security, produce higher incomes, and promote economic growth and jobs in agricultural communities.

As farmers, fabricators, and aid workers collaborate to move forward on this problem, innovative solutions are moving out into the field – and generating new ideas across the continent.

Where are machines for small farmers?

Machines tailored to local needs and conditions can often make a big difference–but most agricultural technology is designed and produced to meet the requirements of massive, commercial farms. To help close this gap, Green Innovations Centers (GIC) work to connect smallholding farmers with locally produced technology that can transform their business, their family lives, and their local economies.

Launched in 2014 by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s special initiative, ONE WORLD No Hunger, the GIC collaborate with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to increase agricultural mechanization in 14 countries in Africa and two in Asia.

Technician at Techno-Nejat workshop, Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

The need for seed

Informal seed systems, in which farmers save and reuse seed, and exchange low quality seed with other farmers, are prevalent among Ethiopian smallholder farmers. Seed cleaning plays an important role in helping farmers build high-yielding seed development systems by removing seed pods and other chaff, eliminating seeds that are too small or infected, and refining the seeds to a high-quality remainder.

After GIC staff in Ethiopia identified seed cleaning as a critical need for smallholding farmers in the country, researchers set out to develop a solution that was affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local demands.

Local machines for local farmers

In 2022, GIC Ethiopia partnered with Techno-Nejat Industries in Adama, Ethiopia, to design and produce a first run of mobile seed cleaners for use by smallholding farmers across the country. Techno-Nejat has an established track record in agricultural fabrication and was eager to take on the new collaboration.

In early March, the company completed the initial delivery of eight seed cleaners. The machines process chickpea, soy, wheat, and barley seed with a maximum capacity of 1.5 tons per hour. With wheels and a compact, efficient design, they are also easy to move from one farmer’s property to another. At a cost of US $7,500 and a production time of 55 days, the machines have potential both for expansion within Ethiopia and scaling up for export.

Mr. Zogo, owner of Techno Agro Industrie in Benin, with Ali Mussa, Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

Seeding future collaboration

Smallholding farmer cooperatives will take delivery of the first eight seed cleaners in the coming weeks. And while Ethiopian farmers are ready to experience the immediate benefits for their operations, this innovation is also showing promise for additional collaboration.

“Through existing GIC networks, we have connected with Techno Agro Industrie, a company manufacturing seed cleaners in Benin,” said Techno-Nejat’s owner Usman Abdella. “We welcome partnership opportunities, and we extend the red carpet,” Usman said.

As funding for GIC’s mechanization effort winds down, this organic, private Ethiopia-Benin partnership holds promise to generate continued benefits of innovation after the project has concluded, fostering South-South collaboration within Africa.

Ethiopia’s Experience of Wheat Production Exemplary to African Countries: CIMMYT

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in In the media.

Rabe Yahaya, agricultural mechanization expert at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), spoke to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) about the country’s wheat production.

Ethiopia is the second largest wheat grower in Africa and has high levels of demand for the crop. Shortages of grains, cereals and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict are leading the Ethiopian government to focus heavily on increasing the country’s productivity to rely less on imports.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recently launched national exports of wheat/ “We have made Ethiopia’s wheat export dream a reality,” he said.

Yahaya highlighted the role of CIMMYT in improving Ethiopia’s wheat production; around 70 percent of varieties grown in the country come from the organization’s germplasm. He also praised Ethiopia’s tax free imports on agricultural machineries and strong extension system, saying that other countries could learn from the success of these initiatives.

The interview took place at a working group on mechanization organized by the Green Innovation Centers (GIC) and CIMMYT to promote the use of machinery in agriculture.

Read the original article: Ethiopia’s Experience of Wheat Production Exemplary to African Countries: CIMMYT

Mini-tillers bolster Nepal maize farmers’ food supplies and profits, new study shows

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Publications.

Use of lightweight, 5-9-horsepower mini-tillers by smallholder farmers in Nepal’s mid-hills cut tillage costs and boosted maize yields by facilitating timely maize cultivation, thus enhancing food self-sufficiency and farm profits and reducing rural poverty, a new study by an international team of scientists shows.

Published in the Journal of Economics and Development, the study reports findings of an on-farm survey involving more than 1,000 representative households from 6 districts of the mid-hills, a region of steep and broken terrain where rainfed maize is a staple crop, outmigration of working-age inhabitants makes farm labor scarce and costly, and farmers on small, fragmented landholdings typically till plots by hand or using ox-drawn plows.

“Conventional two- or four-wheel tractors are difficult to operate in the mid-hills’ rugged topography,” said Gokul P. Paudel, researcher working together with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany, and lead author of the study. “Farms are small and the mini-tillers are a good fit. Very small farms — those comprising less than 0.4 hectares of land and normally not served by hired farm labor or larger machinery — benefited the most from mini-tiller adoption.”

The paper is the first to provide empirical linkages between small-scale farm mechanization and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly No Poverty (SDG-1) and Zero Hunger (SDG-2).

“Given its rural poverty and the resulting outmigration from farm areas to cities and to other countries, Nepal has increasingly become a labor-exporting country,” explained Paudel, who partnered in this study with researchers from the Asian Development Bank Institute and Cornell University. “Our research can help guide investments by Nepal and other developing countries in scale-appropriate farm mechanization, supporting those who wish to remain on rural homesteads and make a go of it.”

Machine operators starting the mini-tiller in the Kavrepalanchok district in the mid-hills of Nepal. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The science team found that farm size, labor shortages, draft animal scarcity, and market proximity were major factors that facilitate the adoption of appropriate mechanization in Nepal, according to Tim Krupnik, CIMMYT systems agronomist and study co-author.

“Smallholder farms dominate more than two-thirds of agricultural systems globally,” Krupnik said. “Interest in scale-appropriate farm mechanization is growing rapidly, particularly among donors and governments, and practical empirical measures of its impact are crucial.” The findings of the latest study fill this knowledge gap and provide sufficient evidence to prioritize the spread of appropriate technologies among smallholder farmers.

Krupnik noted that, through its office in Nepal and strong shared research and capacity-building activities, CIMMYT has worked for almost four decades with Nepali scientists and development partners, including the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), to raise the productivity and sustainability of the country’s maize- and wheat-based farming systems.

In addition to strong government partnerships, CIMMYT works closely in Nepal with a range of non-government organizations, and importantly, hand-in-hand with private farm machinery manufacturers, retailers, and mechanics.

The study described was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Academy for International Agricultural Research (ACINAR) commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and carried out by ATSAF e.V. on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the One CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA), and generous funders who contribute to the CGIAR Trust Fund.

Read the study: The contributions of scale-appropriate farm mechanization to hunger and poverty reduction: Evidence from smallholder systems in Nepal

Cover photo: In the Palpa district in the mid-hills of Nepal, a woman farmer tills the soil for maize seeding. (Photo: Gokul Paudel/CIMMYT)