Climate change threatens to reduce global crop production, and poor people in tropical environments will be hit the hardest. More than 90% of CIMMYTâs work relates to climate change, helping farmers adapt to shocks while producing more food, and reduce emissions where possible. Innovations include new maize and wheat varieties that withstand drought, heat and pests; conservation agriculture; farming methods that save water and reduce the need for fertilizer; climate information services; and index-based insurance for farmers whose crops are damaged by bad weather. CIMMYT is an important contributor to the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
The 2021 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report warns that farmers and food workers globally face the intimidating challenge of producing food sustainably in a degrading environment. The global economic slowdown and climate change are making the situation even more difficult.
This yearâs report, titled Strengthening the Climate for Sustainable Agricultural Growth, argues that âaccelerating productivity growth at all scales of production is imperative to meet the needs of consumers and address current and future threats to human and environmental well-being.â
The report, produced by Virginia Tech, was presented at the 2021 Borlaug Dialogue, part of the World Food Prize events.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centerâs (CIMMYT) publicâprivate partnership model for the Integrated Agri-food Systems Initiative (IASI) contributes to one of six key strategies that accelerate productivity growth, according to the 2021 GAP Report.
âOur integrated methodology engages farmers in participatory research and innovation efforts, effectively improving small-scale systems,â said Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT. âThis results-backed strategy bridges yield gaps and builds resilience to the effects of climate change, with the main objective of giving access to enhanced nutrition and new market opportunities.â
The skillset and cumulative knowledge of small farmers worldwide shapes CIMMYTâs integrated development projects.
âThe Integrated Agri-food Systems Initiative (IASI) is designed to generate strategies, actions and quantitative, Sustainable-Development-Goals-aligned targets that have a significant livelihood of supportive public and private investment,â concludes the GAP Report.
The report argues that technology itself does not boost productivity and resilience. Instead, âpartnerships play an important role in enhancing human capital: a set of skills and knowledge by producers and others in the agricultural value chain are essential in a time of pandemics.â
For over a decade, the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE) and Wheat (WHEAT) have been at the forefront of research-for-development benefiting maize and wheat farmers in the Global South, especially those most vulnerable to the shocks of a changing climate.
From 2012 to 2021, MAIZE has focused on doubling maize productivity and increasing incomes and livelihood opportunities from sustainable maize-based farming systems. Through MAIZE, scientists released over 650 elite, high-yielding maize varieties stacked with climate adaptive, nutrition enhancing, and pest and disease resistant traits.
The WHEAT program has worked to improve sustainable production and incomes for wheat farmers, especially smallholders, through collaboration, cutting-edge science and field-level research. Jointly with partners, WHEAT scientists released 880 high-yielding, disease- and pest-resistant, climate-resilient and nutritious varieties in 59 countries over the life of the program.
To document and share this legacy, the MAIZE and WHEAT websites have been redesigned to highlight the accomplishments of the programs and to capture their impact across the five main CGIAR Impact Areas: nutrition, poverty, gender, climate and the environment.
We invite you to visit these visually rich, sites to view the global impact of MAIZE and WHEAT, and how this essential work will continue in the future.
CIMMYTâs relationship with Mexico is one of a kind: in addition to being the birthplace of the wheat innovations that led to the Green Revolution and the founding of CGIAR, Mexico is also where maize originated thousands of years ago, becoming an emblem of the countryâs economy and identity.
Honoring this longstanding connection and celebrating Mexicoâs key contribution to global wheat and maize production, Mexico City will host a photo exhibition from December 1, 2021, to January 15, 2022, in the Open Galleries Lateral, located on Paseo de la Reforma, one of cityâs most iconic promenades.
Titled âMaize and Wheat Research in Focus: Celebrating a Decade of Research for Sustainable Agricultural Development Under the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat,â the exhibition illustrates the impact of MAIZE and WHEAT over the last ten years. The selection of photographs documents the challenges faced by maize and wheat smallholders in different regions, and showcases innovative interventions made by national and regional stakeholders worldwide.
From pathbreaking breeding research on climate-smart varieties to helping farming families raise their incomes, the photos â taken by CGIAR photographers before the COVID-19 pandemic â capture both the breadth of the challenges facing our global agri-food systems and the spirit of innovation and cooperation to meet them head on.
Donât miss the chance to visit the exhibition if you are in Mexico City!
From October 31 to November 12, all eyes and cameras turned to Glasgow, where the 26th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention against Climate Change (COP26) took place in a hybrid format. With temperatures rising around the world and extreme weather events becoming increasingly frequent, country leaders and climate experts came together in Scotland to discuss the next steps in the fight against climate change.
Together with other CGIAR Centers, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) took part in this crucial conversation, drawing attention to the impact of climate change on smallholder agriculture and echoing CGIARâs call for increased funding for agricultural research and innovation.
Hereâs a summary of the events in which CIMMYT researchers and scientists participated.
âBecause farmers feed us all: using climate for a resilient food systemâ
November 6, 2021
Sponsored by the UK Met Office, this event focused on the effects of climate change on the resilience of food systems and how this impact is factored into decision-making. Speakers discussed the real-life application of climate risk information, highlighting the importance of global collaboration and multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing context-specific climate services.
Focusing on CIMMYTâs work in Ethiopia, research associate Yoseph Alemayehu and senior scientist Dave Hodson provided some insights on the wheat rust early warning system. This revolutionary mechanism developed by CIMMYT and partners helps farmers in developing countries predict this disease up to a week in advance.
âCOP26 highlighted the vulnerability of different agriculture sectors to climate change, including increased threats from pests and pathogens. From the work in Ethiopia on wheat rust early warning systems, strong partnerships and the application of advanced climate science can play an important role in mitigating some of the effects.â – Dave Hodson
âDeveloping Climate Resilient Food Systems Pathways: Approaches From Sub-Saharan Africaâ
November 8, 2021
Putting an emphasis on participatory governance and community-centered technologies, this event showcased innovative approaches to strengthen the resilience of African food systems, calling for increased investment in the scale-up of climate-smart agriculture practices to meet growing demand.
Joining from Zimbabwe, Christian Thierfelder, Principal Cropping Systems Agronomist gave an overview of CIMMYTâs work in southern Africa, explaining how the introduction of conservation agriculture back in 2004 helped farmers overcome low crop yields and boost their incomes.
âIf one thing was made clear at COP26, it is the urgent need for a change in the way we do agriculture. The status quo is not an option and we, as CIMMYT and part of the One CGIAR, will continue to generate the scientific evidence and climate-smart solutions to accelerate this change and address the climate challenges ahead of us, with farmers at the core of our work.â – Christian Thierfelder
â4 per 1000â Initiative Day
November 10, 2021
The “4 per 1000” Initiative, a multi-stakeholder partnership of more than 650 members on food security and climate change, held a day-long hybrid event to explore how healthy soils can help agriculture and forestry adapt to and mitigate climate change.
At the Partner Forum, Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT, stressed the urgent need to fund soil science to achieve its carbon sequestration potential, reiterating CIMMYTâs commitment to supporting this science with results-oriented actions that scale out sustainable practices and technologies.
âFor me, the main take-away of the summit is the growing consensus and understanding that we need to transform agriculture and food systems to achieve global emissions targets on time.â – Bram Govaerts
Cover photo: The action zone and the globe at the Hydro, one of the venues in Glasgow where COP26 took place. (Photo: Karwai Tang/UK Government)
During the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, Special Assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that a transboundary dialogue on mitigating air pollution was imperative to resolve Lahoreâs smog, which is mostly generated by Indian farmers burning crop residues.
ML Jat, a principal scientist at CIMMYT, speaks with The Times of India about the work of CIMMYT and its partners on diversification and carbon creditsâtwo futuristic ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in India.
ML Jat, principal scientist and sustainable intensification strategy leader at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), points out some advantages of the bewar system, a climate-resilient alternative to plantation agriculture in India.
Dave Hodson, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) senior scientist delivered a large-scale overview of the current global wheat rust situation and the state of disease surveillance systems. He underscored the importance of comprehensive early warning systems and promising new detection tools that help to raise awareness and improve control. A new assessment of the early warning system for rust In Ethiopia showed a real impact on farmersâ interest, awareness, and farming practices to control the disease, as well as high-level policy changes.
Alison Bentley, CIMMYT Global Wheat Program director, described cutting-edge tools and methods by CIMMYT and, in particular, the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project to increase wheat productivity in the face of changing climates. In addition to the new approaches on the supply side, she argued, we also need increased research on the demand side to better understand why farmers will choose a new variety, the role of markets and gender, and how we can scale up these systems. Bentley emphasized the criticality of supporting public and private sector efforts to get more improved germplasm into farmersâ fields in less time.
Philomin Juliana, CIMMYT Global Wheat Program associate scientist highlighted the pivotal role that data plays in breeding decisions and line advancements in CIMMYTâs wheat breeding program. This has been facilitated by improvements in how data sets, like genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs), are shared with breeders. âCIMMYT has adopted a holistic, data-driven selection approachâ that leverages phenotypic data, genomic-estimated breeding values (GEBVs) and selection indices, Juliana explained.
In an interview with The Land, Alison Bentley, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), emphasized the importance of developing drought-tolerant wheat varieties to see better yields in tough seasons.
Wheat is the second most important staple crop in Ethiopia and a major pillar for food security. Based on fingerprinting analysis from 2018, about 87% of all wheat varieties grown in Ethiopia are CIMMYT-derived.
Domestic wheat production and productivity has nearly doubled over the past 15 years, due to improved farmer access to better varieties, agronomic practice recommendations and conducive marketing and supply chain policies. Nevertheless, due to population growth, higher incomes and accelerated urbanization, the demand for wheat in Ethiopia is increasing faster than productivity, with the demand for an additional 1.5 million tons of wheat per year satisfied through imports.
In 2018, the Government of Ethiopia set a policy to achieve wheat national self-sufficiency by 2023. Additional production would come primarily from the irrigated lowlands of the Awash valley, in the Afar and Oromia regions, where the current cotton mono-culture would be converted to a cotton-wheat rotation.
Preliminary yield trials conducted by Werer Agricultural Research Center and based on experiences in Sudan where climate conditions are similar, on-farm wheat grain yields of 4 tons per hectare can be achieved. The potential area for irrigated wheat-cotton is at present around 500,000 hectares, which, when fully implemented, has the potential to make Ethiopia self-sufficient for wheat production.
The challenges to develop the current lowland into productive farming systems are significant and include identifying high yielding, early maturing, heat-tolerant, rust-resistant wheat varieties with appropriate end-use quality.
Appropriate mechanization will be required to allow farmers to facilitate rapid preparation of fields for wheat sowing after harvesting cotton, as well as for mechanized harvesting. Tested packages of agronomic and land management practices will be needed to optimize the production systems while mitigating against soil salinization.
In coordination with the national research and extension systems, this project will evaluate and pilot wheat technologies and packages of practices to reach 1,000 smallholders and medium commercial farmers in the Awash valley, and enable them to use these technologies and practices on 10,000 hectares of irrigated land in the first year, following the conclusion of this project.
Objectives
Capacity of research and development practitioners working on irrigated lowland wheat developed.
Improved wheat elite lines evaluated, and pre-release seed multiplication initiated of variety candidates.
Tested package of agronomic practices are ready for scaling.
Demonstration and piloting of appropriate machineries (modern mechanization) for irrigated wheat production.
As the calendar turns to October 16, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) celebrates World Food Day. This yearâs theme is âOur actions are our future.â
They cover the journey of food (for example, cereals, vegetables, fish, fruits and livestock) from farm to table â including when it is grown, harvested, processed, packaged, transported, distributed, traded, bought, prepared, eaten and disposed of. It also encompasses non-food products (for example forestry, animal rearing, use of feedstock, biomass to produce biofuels, and fibers) that constitute livelihoods, and all the people, as well as the activities, investments and choices that play a part in getting us these food and agricultural products.
The food we choose and the way we produce, prepare, cook and store it make us an integral and active part of the way in which an agri-food system works.
A sustainable agri-food system is one in which a variety of sufficient, nutritious and safe foods is available at an affordable price to everyone, and nobody is hungry or suffers from any form of malnutrition. The shelves are stocked at the local market or food store, but less food is wasted and the food supply chain is more resilient to shocks such as extreme weather, price spikes or pandemics, all while limiting, rather than worsening, environmental degradation or climate change. In fact, sustainable agri-food systems deliver food security and nutrition for all, without compromising the economic, social and environmental bases, for generations to come. They lead to better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.
Letâs fix the system
The contradictions could not be starker â millions of people are hungry or undernourished, while large numbers are chronically overweight due to a poor diet. Smallholder farmers produce more than one-third of the worldâs food, yet are some of the worst affected by poverty, as agriculture continues to be an unpredictable sector. Agri-food systems are major contributors to climate change, which in turn threatens food production in some of the worldâs poorest areas. Rampant food loss and waste, side by side with people relying on food banks or emergency food aid.
The evidence is there for all to see â there has never been a more urgent need to transform the way the world produces and consumes food.
This year, for World Food Day, we bring you four stories about CIMMYTâs work to support sustainable agri-food systems.
Better production
CGIAR centers present methodology for transforming resource-constrained, polluting and vulnerable farming into inclusive, sustainable and resilient food systems that deliver healthy and affordable diets for all within planetary boundaries.
CIMMYT scientists expect to sharply ramp up new wheat varieties enriched with zinc that can boost the essential mineral for millions of poor people with deficient diets. Newly-developed high-zinc wheat is expected to make up at least 80% of varieties distributed worldwide over the next ten years, up from about 9% currently.
A woman makes roti, an unleavened flatbread made with wheat flour and eaten as a staple food, at her home in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. (Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT)
Better environment
Understanding the relationship between climate change and plant health is key to conserving biodiversity and boosting food production today and for future generations.
Assessing value chain developmentâs potential and limitations for strengthening the livelihoods of the rural poor, a new book draws conclusions applicable across the development field.
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)
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With the past decade identified as the warmest on record and global temperatures predicted to rise by as much as 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2050, the worldâs staple food crops are increasingly under threat.
A new review published this month in the Journal of Experimental Botany describes how researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and collaborators are boosting climate resilience in wheat using powerful remote sensing tools, genomics and big data analysis. Scientists are combining multiple approaches to explore untapped diversity among wheat genetic resources and help select better parents and progeny in breeding.
The review â authored by a team of 25 scientists from CIMMYT, Henan Agricultural University, the University of Adelaide and the Wheat Initiative â also outlines how this research can be harnessed on a global level to further accelerate climate resilience in staple crops.
âAn advantage of understanding abiotic stress at the level of plant physiology is that many of the same tools and methods can be applied across a range of crops that face similar problems,â said first author and CIMMYT wheat physiologist Matthew Reynolds.
Abiotic stresses such as temperature extremes and drought can have devastating impacts on plant growth and yields, posing a massive risk to food security.
Harnessing research across a global wheat improvement network for climate resilience: research gaps, interactive goals, and outcomes.
Addressing research gaps
The authors identified nine key research gaps in efforts to boost climate resilience in wheat, including limited genetic diversity for climate resilience, a need for smarter strategies for stacking traits and addressing the bottleneck between basic plant research and its application in breeding.
Based on a combination of the latest research advances and tried-and-tested breeding methods, the scientists are developing strategies to address these gaps. These include:
Using big data analysis to better understand stress profiles in target environments and design wheat lines with appropriate heat and drought adaptive traits.
Exploring wheat genetic resources for discovery of novel traits and genes and their use in breeding.
Accelerating genetic gains through selection techniques that combine phenomics with genomics.
Crowd-sourcing new ideas and technologies from academia and testing them in real-life breeding situations.
These strategies will be thoroughly tested at the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Network (HeDWIC) Hub under realistic breeding conditions and then disseminated to other wheat breeding programs around the world facing similar challenges.
One factor that strongly influences the success and acceleration of climate resilience technologies, according to Reynolds, is the gap between theoretical discovery research and crop improvement in the field.
âMany great ideas on how to improve climate-resilience of crops pile up in the literature, but often remain âon the shelfâ because the research space between theory and practice falls between the radar of academia on the one hand, and that of plant breeders on the other,â Reynolds explained.
Translational research â efforts to convert basic research knowledge about plants into practical applications in crop improvement â represents a necessary link between the world of fundamental discovery and farmersâ fields and aims to bridge this gap.
Main research steps involved in translating promising technologies into genetic gains (graphical abstract, adapted from Reynolds and Langridge, 2016). Reprinted under licence CC BY-NC-ND.
The impacts of this research, conducted under HeDWIC â a project led by CIMMYT in partnership with experts around the world â will be validated on a global scale through the International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN), with the potential to reach at least half of the worldâs wheat-growing area.
The results will benefit breeders and researchers but, most importantly, farmers and consumers around the world who rely on wheat for their livelihoods and their diets. Wheat accounts for about 20% of all human calories and protein, making it a pillar of food security. For about 1.5 billion resource-poor people, wheat is their main daily staple food.
With the world population projected to rise to almost ten billion by 2050, demand for food is predicted to increase with it. This is especially so for wheat, being a versatile crop both in terms of where it can grow and its many culinary and industrial uses. However, current wheat yield gains will not meet 2050 demand unless serious action is taken. Translational research and strategic breeding are crucial elements in ensuring that research is translated into higher and stable yields to meet these challenges.
Nigeria’s National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has approved the commercialization of TELA Maize seedsâa drought-tolerant and insect-protected variety aimed at enhancing food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
The TELA Maize Project in Nigeria is part of an international consortium coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), and the National Agricultural Research Systems of seven countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
BISA and CIMMYT gather for a virtual 10 year celebration.
A decade ago, a foundation was laid with a vision to secure food, nutrition, livelihoods, and the environment in South Asia. The Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA) was formed and the principles were set following the path of Norman Borlaug to translate the agrarian challenges into opportunities by collaborating with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). BISA was established as an independent, non-profit research organization.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of BISA, Bram Govaerts, Director General, CIMMYT-BISA, gathered BISA staff for a virtual celebration on 5 October 2021. He congratulated BISA colleagues and said â[âŠ] BISA has continued to expand Norman Borlaugâs vision and legacy. It has […] been committed and achieved excellence in science, seeds and partnerships by touching lives of millions of farmers and consumers.â
âPerhaps one of the most impactful outcomes of BISAâs work has been its contribution to build a strong and wide network for evaluating and disseminating new high yielding and climate-resilient wheat varieties for southern Asia in close partnership with ICAR and national agricultural research systems. CIMMYT-BISA has not only contributed towards this but will also make sure that Indiaâs farmers are the happiest. Efforts will and have been made towards their income generation, livelihood for families, a clean environment and building of future agricultural resilience,â he added.
Pramod Aggarwal, Regional Program Leader, BISA and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), gave suggestions for the way forward and BISA’s future collaborations. He said, âItâs time to strengthen BISA and further expand it to other South Asian countries.â
Arun Joshi, Managing Director, BISA, spoke about the achievements of BISA throughout the last decade and about the establishment of the âFarms of the Futureâ. âBISA farms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. BISAâs no residue burning, efficient resource management, precision phenotyping, climate resilient germplasm, quality seed and capacity development activities are just a few examples of BISAâs successful programs,â he said.
âBISA has been scaling climate smart agriculture technologies not only in Indian villages but to other countries of South Asia, as well, and has supported African colleagues in capacity development.â Joshi recalled the support provided by numerous funding partners, by ICAR (Government of India), state governments (Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra), other governmental institutions, CIMMYTâs Board of Trustees and Management Committee team members and different research programs to strengthen BISA.
BISA’s Ludhiana team gathers for a celebration
Celebrations galore Â
In addition to the virtual celebration with the leadership of BISA and CIMMYT, numerous teams scattered across India celebrated the success and fruitful journey of BISA. The teams at BISA farms in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Pusa (Bihar), and Ludhiana (Punjab) marked the occasion by gathering at a COVID-19-appropriate distance and paid regards to Norman Borlaug and spoke about the objectives and vision of BISA.
BISA’s Jabalpur team gathers for a celebration
The New Delhi team celebrated by garlanding the statue of Borlaug, that stands in front of the office of BISA based at the National Agriculture Science Complex (NASC).
Capturing the decade-long journey
The ten-year journey of BISA is captured in “A Decade of Research in Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) 2011-2021,” a research highlights report that was unveiled during the virtual celebration and that will soon be available online. Arun Joshi explained that the document encapsulates the spirit of BISA and its achievements throughout the last ten years. Its sixteen themes define the work of BISA and its reach across South Asia.
The report also informs of BISA’s outreach activities throughout the last decade and its impact on climate resilient agriculture. Themes such as âManaging Rice Residue Burningâ, âClimate Smart Village Approachâ, âPrecision Phenotyping in Wheat Breedingâ, âDeveloping Improved Crop Insurance Productsâ, âMainstreaming Gender in Climate-Resilient Agricultureâ reveal how BISA scaled up these approaches with its advanced technology mechanisms. In addition, every theme captures information related to funding and research partners.
Overall, the ten-year report is a robust document which showcases how millions of farmers in South Asia have benefitted from the strong scientific partnership of BISA and national programs.
Rice-wheat cropping rotations are the major agri-food system of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia, occupying the region known as the âfood basketâ of India. The continuous rice-wheat farming system is deceptively productive, however, under conventional management practices.
Over-exploitation of resources leaves little doubt that this system is unsustainable, evidenced by the rapid decline in soil and water resources, and environmental quality. Furthermore, continuous cultivation of the same two crops over the last five decades has allowed certain weed species to adapt and proliferate. This adversely affects resource-use efficiency and crop productivity, and has proven to negatively influence wheat production in the Western Indo-Gangetic Plains under conventional wheat management systems.
Studies suggest weed infestations could reduce wheat yields by 50-100% across the South Asian Indo-Gangetic Plains. Globally, yield losses from weeds reach 40%, which is more than the effects of diseases, insects, and pests combined.
Herbicides are not just expensive and environmentally hazardous, but this method of chemical control is becoming less reliable as some weeds become resistant to an increasing number common herbicides. Considering the food security implications of weed overgrowth, weed management is becoming increasingly important in future cropping systems.
How can weeds be managed sustainably?
Climate-smart agriculture-based management practices are becoming a viable and sustainable alternative to conventional rice-wheat cropping systems across South Asia, leading to better resource conservation and yield stability. In addition to zero-tillage and crop residue retention, crop diversification, precise water and nutrient management, and timing of interventions are all important indicators of climate-smart agriculture.
In a recently published 8-year study, scientists observed weed density and diversity under six different management scenarios with varying conditions. Conditions ranged from conventional, tillage-based rice-wheat system with flood irrigation (scenario one), to zero-tillage-based maize-wheat-mung bean systems with subsurface drip irrigation (scenario 6). Each scenario increased in their climate-smart agriculture characteristics all the way to fully climate-smart systems.
At the end of 8 years, scenario six had the lowest weed density, saw the most abundant species decrease dramatically, and seven weed species vanish entirely. Scenario one, with conventional rice-wheat systems with tillage and flooding, experienced the highest weed density and infestation. This study highlights the potential of climate-smart agriculture as a promising solution for weed suppression in northwestern India.
The 2021 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report warns that farmers and food workers globally face the intimidating challenge of producing food sustainably in a degrading environment. The global economic slowdown and climate change are making the situation even more difficult.
