Working with smallholders to understand their needs and build on their knowledge, CIMMYT brings the right seeds and inputs to local markets, raises awareness of more productive cropping practices, and works to bring local mechanization and irrigation services based on conservation agriculture practices. CIMMYT helps scale up farmersâ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.
Push-pull cropping system in maize. (Figure: CIMMYT)
Climate conditions in Nepal are suitable for the establishment of fall armyworm, which could cause considerable crop loss if not managed properly. The fall armyworm is a destructive pest that has a voracious appetite for maize and other crops. Through the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is working with the government of Nepal and other partners to address this imminent threat.
Chemical control of fall armyworm is too expensive and impractical for small-scale farmers, has negative human health effects, and can be a source of soil pollutants with a negative effect on biodiversity.
CIMMYT is currently evaluating the efficacy of push-pull cropping systems to control fall armyworm. Considered one of the most climate-smart technologies, push-pull systems use plant-pest ecology instead of harmful chemical insecticides to control weeds and insects. It is an environmentally friendly pest control method which is also economically viable for maize producers.
Napier grass is planted by farmers to prevent soil erosion in Kenya’s Tana River Basin. (Photo: Georgina Smith/CIAT)
This system involves two types of crops: Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and silverleaf desmodium legume (Desmodium uncinatum).
Desmodium plants are intercropped with the rows of maize and Napier grass surrounds the maize crop. Desmodium produces volatile chemicals that repel fall armyworm moths, while the Napier grass produces chemicals that attract female moths. The resulting push-pull system takes the pest away from the maize field.
An additional benefit is that desmodium improves nitrogen fertility through biological nitrogen fixation, which may reduce nitrogen input in the long-term. Desmodium also provides ground cover for maize, controlling soil erosion and offering protection from extreme heat conditions. Both desmodium and Napier grass are excellent fodder crops for livestock.
Because of all these reasons, push-pull technology is highly beneficial to smallholders who are dependent on locally available inputs for their subsistence farming. It can also have a positive spiral effect on the environment.
In November 2015, Jelle Van Loon set off for Zimbabwe, with a cross-section plan in his backpack. He spent two weeks working with a group of blacksmiths, searching Harare for parts and assembling machines in a bid to test whether the construction plans developed by his team were indeed designed to be built anywhere. âWe might have had to change a few things, but three working machines were built, proving the accessibility of the construction plans and inherent replicability of the designs.â
From studying agronomic engineering and crop modelling in Belgium to working on supply chain issues in Peru, Jelle Van Loon amassed a range of experience before joining the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2012. Soon after joining, he began shaping up a team to work on mechanization issues.
âFirst and foremost Iâm an agricultural engineer; I just happen to have a high affinity with mechanics,â he says. âI think my advantage is having a broad knowledge, being able to understand agronomy as well as mechanical engineering, and having studied agricultural economics in developing countries.â
This background has served him well in a role where a hands-on, multidisciplinary approach is crucial.
âMechanization doesnât necessarily mean building or creating more machines,â Van Loon explains, âbut rather introducing technology and farm equipment to farmers to facilitate their work, as well as supporting them on how and when to use it to increase production efficiency.â Many people also assume that mechanization only involves motorized equipment such as tractors, he adds, when in fact any tool, even simple hand tools, which facilitate farmer work and alleviate drudgery fit into this concept.
CIMMYTâs mechanization team carries out research and development on a range of farm equipment. Team members draw and design prototypes, test them in the field and develop protocols for experiments. Combining agronomy and mechanics, they work to create machinery that supports farmers in their day-to-day work at each stage of the crop cycle: from land preparation, planting and fertilization, to harvest and shelling. They also support the generation of new business models which can deliver appropriate machinery to farmers working within resilient agri-food systems.
Welcome to the machine
One of the biggest challenges is changing the way farmers work. Many are resistant to investing in new machinery because they are unsure of how to use it, and simply cannot afford the risk of failure. As such, the team also places an emphasis on extension work. They have set up centers where growers can learn about the equipment and rent out some model machines. They also build the capacity of service providers through training on functional engineering for blacksmiths and manufacturers, and market intelligence for small sector entrepreneurs.
âItâs beyond just designing the machine. Itâs really about taking products out to the field, seeing what works well and where, and then thinking about how we can get these products into the hands of farmers.â
Building on the work being carried out in Mexico, Van Loon is always looking at how other regions can also benefit from the mechanization unit and opportunities for collaborating with colleagues and partners in Africa and Asia. Equipment developed for farmers in Africa or Latin America could be adapted for use in South Asia or vice versa, but this requires a solid understanding of each regionâs unique opportunities and challenges.
He points to the example of the two-wheel tractor engine, developed in China and popularized in Asia during the 1980s, when famine and the loss of draft animals prompted governments to subsidize that particular piece of equipment at the right time. The tractor is ubiquitous in countries such as Bangladesh, but it is unclear whether the same success is replicable in Africa and Latin America, neither of which has the same conditions, second-hand markets or import facilities. âWeâre trying to learn from cross-regional efforts to scale up. Being able to understand different areas helps us find the weakest links and create more enabling environments,â Van Loon explains.
He and his team are continuously developing and evaluating new ideas, trialing ways of embedding mechatronics or sensory-based technology into their machines to help capture data and ease farmer workloads. Finding a way to keep these low-cost and convenient for farmer use may be a challenge, but positive testimonials from farmers keep him excited about the possibilities.
âI think itâs worthwhile to follow through on wild new ideas and see what happens because when it works out, the positive impact and change we help create is all that matters,â Van Loon notes.
âAnd more so, the cool thing about working in mechanization is we can go as far as our creativity lets us.â
Jelle Van Loon demonstrates machinery for visitors at CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. (Photo: Gerardo MejĂa/CIMMYT)
Fall armyworm, a voracious pest now present in both Africa and Asia, has been predicted to cause up to $13 billion per year in crop losses in sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers throughout the region.
âIn their haste to limit the damage caused by the pest, governments in affected regions may promote indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides,â say the authors of a recent study on fall armyworm management. âAside from human health and environmental risks,â they explain, âthese could undermine smallholder pest management strategies that depend largely on natural enemies.â
Agro-ecological approaches offer culturally appropriate, low-cost pest control strategies that can be easily integrated into existing efforts to improve smallholder incomes and resilience through sustainable intensification. Researchers suggest these should be promoted as a core component of integrated pest management programs in combination with crop breeding for pest resistance, classical biological control and selective use of safe pesticides.
However, the suitability of agro-ecological measures for reducing fall armyworm densities and impact must be carefully assessed across varied environmental and socioeconomic conditions before they can be proposed for wide-scale implementation.
To support this process, researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) reviewed evidence for the efficacy of potential agro-ecological measures for controlling fall armyworm and other pests, consider the associated risks and draw attention to critical knowledge gaps. Findings from the Africa-wide study indicate that several measures can be adopted immediately, such as sustainable soil management, intercropping with appropriately selected companion plants and the diversification of farm environments through management of habitats at multiple spatial scales.
Read the full article âAgro-ecological options for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda JE Smith) management: Providing low-cost, smallholder friendly solutions to an invasive pestâ in the Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 243, 1 August 2019, pages 318-330.
Intercropping options for mitigating fall armyworm damage. (Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT)
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
In India’s state of West Bengal, the success of men and women farmers and agri-entrepreneurs is paving the way for the out-scaling of climate-smart conservation agriculture practices for sustainable intensification across the region.
Through the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (SRFSI) project, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is improving productivity, profitability and sustainability across the Eastern Gangetic Plains.
MARPLE team members Dave Hodson and Diane Saunders (second and third from left) stand for a photograph after receiving the International Impact award. With them is Malcolm Skingle, director of Academic Liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (first from left) and Melanie Welham, executive chair of BBSRC. (Photo: BBSRC)
The research team behind the MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) diagnostic kit won the International Impact category of the Innovator of the Year 2019 Awards, sponsored by the United Kingdomâs Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
The team â Diane Saunders of the John Innes Centre (JIC), Dave Hodson of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Tadessa Daba of the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) â was presented with the award at an event at the London Science Museum on May 15, 2019. In the audience were leading figures from the worlds of investment, industry, government, charity and academia, including the U.K.âs Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Chris Skidmore.
The BBSRC Innovator of the Year awards, now in their 11th year, recognize and support individuals or teams who have taken discoveries in bioscience and translated them to deliver impact. Reflecting the breadth of research that BBSRC supports, they are awarded in four categories of impact: commercial, societal, international and early career. Daba, Hodson and Saunders were among a select group of 12 finalists competing for the four prestigious awards. In addition to international recognition, they received ÂŁ10,000 (about $13,000).
âI am delighted that this work has been recognized,â Hodson said. âWheat rusts are a global threat to agriculture and to the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries such as Ethiopia. MARPLE diagnostics puts state-of-the-art, rapid diagnostic results in the hands of those best placed to respond: researchers on the ground, local government and farmers.â
On-the-ground diagnostics
The MARPLE diagnostic kit is the first operational system in the world using nanopore sequence technology for rapid diagnostics and surveillance of complex fungal pathogens in the field.
In its initial work in Ethiopia, the suitcase-sized field test kit has positioned the country â one of the regionâs top wheat producers â as a world leader in pathogen diagnostics and forecasting. Generating results within 48 hours of field sampling, the kit represents a revolution in plant disease diagnostics. Its use will have far-reaching implications for how plant health threats are identified and tracked into the future.
MARPLE is designed to run at a field site without constant electricity and with the varying temperatures of the field.
âThis means we can truly take the lab to the field,â explained Saunders. âPerhaps more importantly though, it means that smaller, less-resourced labs can drive their own research without having to rely on a handful of large, well-resourced labs and sophisticated expertise in different countries.â
In a recent interview with JIC, EIAR Director Tadessa Daba said, âwe want to see this project being used on the ground, to show farmers and the nation this technology works.â
The MARPLE team uses the diagnostic kit in Ethiopia. (Photo: JIC)
Development of the MARPLE diagnostic kit was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agricultureâs Inspire Challenge. Continued support is also provided by the BBSRCâs Excellence with Impact Award to the John Innes Centre and the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat project, led by Cornell University and funded by the UKâs Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa receive their awards at the STMA meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. From left to right: Admire Shayanowako, Blessings Likagwa, Ismael Mayanja and Hildegarde Dukunde. Fifth awardee Mila Lokwa Giresse not pictured. (Photo: J.Bossuet/CIMMYT)
LUSAKA, Zambia (CIMMYT) â The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) officially announced the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa at an awards ceremony held on May 9, 2019, in Lusaka, Zambia. These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 to innovation in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research for development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification. The awards, an initiative of MAIZE in collaboration with Young Professionals for Agricultural Research and Development (YPARD), were offered in three categories: farmer, change agent, and researcher.
The MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards aim to identify young innovators who can serve to inspire other young people to get involved in maize-based agri-food systems. This is the second year of the award, which was launched in 2018 with a first cohort of winners from Asia. Part of the vision is to create a global network of young innovators in maize based systems from around the world.
2019 award recipients were invited to attend the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project meeting in Lusaka, May 7-9, where they had the opportunity to present their work. The project meeting and award ceremony also allowed these young innovators to network and exchange experiences with MAIZE researchers and partners. Looking forward, award recipients may also get the opportunity to collaborate with MAIZE and its partner scientists in Africa on implementing or furthering their innovations.
Dukunde is a graduate in Human Nutrition and serves as a Sales Associate for Agrifood Business Consulting Ltd. She has been at the forefront of preventing aflatoxin contamination in Rwanda by helping smallholder farmers to access low-cost post-harvest equipment, namely DryCardâą and Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags. The DryCardâą is an inexpensive device developed by University of California Davis researchers for determining if dried food is dry enough to prevent mold growth and aflatoxin contamination during storage and reducing post-harvest losses.
Mila Lokwa Giresse (Democratic Republic of the Congo) â Category: Change Agent
Giresse is the CEO of Mobile Agribiz. This company develops the Mobile Agribiz App, an innovative tool to enhance the pest and disease diagnostics of fall armyworm in maize. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to easily detect the pest across maize crops at any stage of the production cycle. The app aims to assist farmers, extension workers, and agribusinesses in democratic republic of Congo with early detection and accurate diagnosis. Through SMS and smart alert notifications, the Mobile Agribiz App provides farmers with constant reminders and real-time information on how to detect, manage, and address fall armyworm on maize.
Blessings Likagwa (Malawi) â Category: Farmer
Likagwa lives in Mtunthama, Malawi, where he works on his familyâs farm. From a young age he has had an interest in farming and for the past eight years he has been involved in growing a variety of crops, especially maize and cassava. In the future he hopes to use his bachelorâs degree in Community Development and his interest in technology to help smallholder farmers in Malawi and Eastern Africa adapt to the challenges of climate change and rapid population growth. Since 2018, in collaboration with UNICEF and Kyoto University, he has investigated how drone technology can improve agricultural performance and benefit Malawiâs smallholders.
Ismael Mayanja (Uganda) â Category: Researcher
Mayanja is a 2019 graduate of Makerere University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering. He is currently assisting research at Makerere University to ascertain and quantify post-harvest losses associated with transportation of agricultural produce in the markets of Kampala district, Uganda. His primary research interest lies in post-harvest handling and technology, motivated by the reported 40% post-harvest loss of agricultural produce by farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. He developed a bicycle-powered maize cleaning machine to increase efficiency and reduce time dedicated to cleaning maize at several primary schools in Uganda.
Admire Shayanowako (Republic of South Africa) â Category: Researcher
Shayanowako is a researcher at the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) – University KwaZulu-Natal. His research focuses on the parasitic weed Striga, also known as witch weed, which causes severe crop losses to millions of small-scale African maize farmers. The goal of the project is to combine breeding for Striga resistance in maize with a soil fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. strigae (FOS) that is highly specific in its pathogenicity to Striga and acts as a biological control agent. The breeding approach aims to develop at least partial host resistance in open pollinated maize germplasms that are adapted to the semi-arid regions. When partial host resistance is augmented with biological control agent FOS, parasitic effects of Striga decline overwhelmingly. Currently, the breeding component of the research has embarked on identification of quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling Striga resistance in maize through genomic based approaches.
For further information, contact:
Jennifer Johnson
Communications Officer, CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE)
Telephone: +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1036
Email: j.a.johnson@cgiar.org
A new fact sheet debunking myths about agricultural labor and mechanization has been presented at the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) end of project review meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The fact sheet, based on a recent study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), shows African farming households are far more dependent on hire labor markets, and much more inclined to hire mechanization services, than previously assumed.
Over 50 agriculture for development specialists are gathering from May 11 to 17, 2019, to review the FACASI projectâs progress. The project investigated how small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractors with attachments, can be used to improve farm power balance, reduce labor drudgery, and promote sustainable intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa. The project also built the capacity of farmers to use size-appropriate machinery and trained hire service providers, to increase the equitable availability of mechanization services.
At the review meeting, participants will focus on widening the availability and use of small mechanization through commercialization, social inclusion, policy implications, and how to best use research outputs. They will also get to see two-wheel tractors in action and meet project farmers in visits to different districts around Zimbabwe.
In attendance are representatives from the projectâs funder, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and partners including Ethiopiaâs Ministry of Agriculture, the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands Agriculture Water Climate and Rural Resettlement, the University of Southern Queensland, service providers and training centers from Zimbabwe, and private sector representatives from Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
For further information on CIMMYTâs agricultural mechanization work in Africa:
Testing SeedAssure, a decision support tool, on a tablet in the field. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet)
Should we reinvent the way we advise African smallholder farmers?
Development organization professionals from the agriculture, health, education, conservation and humanitarian sectors will gather from April 30 to May 2, 2019 in Kampala, Uganda for the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development ICT4D conference organized by Catholic Relief Services. The aim of this conference is to explore which digital innovations could accelerate progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. Jens Andersson, a social scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), will speak on how we could reinvent advisory services for African smallholder farmers, such as through decision support tools. The following interview reflects his thoughts on the issue.
Q: Some experts say that current agronomic research does not properly advise smallholder farmers. Farmers are given blanket recommendations on key subjects such as crop varieties, fertilizer use and seed spacing. Why do you think that we need to reinvent advisory services?
A: Smallholder farmers with limited resources often canât afford fertilizer and seed. Â They also donât reach agronomic management levels assumed by the blanket recommendations given by agricultural extension services. They may not have enough cash to invest, enough labor to carry out tasks â such as weeding â as frequently as recommended, or they may not prioritize crop production as a part of their livelihood. Consequently, input investments and agronomic management vary considerably from field to field and so does the fertility of those fields. Standard advice simply is not enough, given the diversity of farmersâ situations.
The challenge is to identify the key factors shaping maize yields in farmersâ fields and to identify how a farmer could more efficiently use his or her available inputs and available labor. It is not about telling farmers what to do, but about providing options that suit each farmerâs situation. Technologies such as remote sensing and ICTs can help tremendously in data collection for assessing the conditions of farmersâ fields and better tailoring agronomic advice to their specific situation.
Q: Since 2015, CIMMYT has been working with research, extension and development partners in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania to develop strategies to Take Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA). Can you explain the overall approach on how to scale advice to farmers?
A: With ICTs, we can now link and integrate very diverse types of geospatial data, such as soil data, climate and weather data, as well as socio-economic data such as market prices and population densities. Mobile internet and GPS enable us to have such data available for any location. When combined with information obtained from farmers about their field conditions and preferences, agronomic advice can become location-specific.
This approach requires that agronomic data be collected in a geospatial manner. Therefore, TAMASA has conducted numerous agronomic experiments across agricultural landscapes in major maize growing areas in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania to establish a geographical distribution of soil nutrient availability and fertilizer responses. Such information can be used to model crop responses to fertilizer, and — when combined with fertilizer and crop price information — can provide nutrient recommendations for an individual field through an ex-ante spatial assessment framework. With this approach, extension providers can improve fertilizer recommendations, increasing farmersâ fertilizer use efficiency, productivity and profitability.
For example, in a trial conducted with 435 farmers in Nigeria, using the decision support tool Nutrient Expert resulted in farmers investing more in inputs and agronomic management and doubling their maize yields from 2 to 4 tons per hectare on average.
Q: What digital innovations do you want to showcase at the ICT4D conference? Which type of users are you targeting?
A: Providing location- or field-specific advice at scale requires understanding what information farmers need and what extension services they use. This is probably best illustrated with the example of the Maize-Variety-Selector (MVS) â a mobile phone application developed by TAMASA. Using climate data, information on the growth characteristics of specific maize varieties and multilocational agronomic trials, this application can advise on the most suitable maize varieties for a particular location and for a preferred planting and harvesting date. The application provides options tailored to farmersâ preferences and farming conditions.
Yet, such advice is of limited value in situations where the advised crop varieties are not available in local agro-dealer shops, or when farmers canât be sure they are actually buying the variety of their choice due to poor packaging and labeling practices, as is sometimes the case in Nigeria.
In addition, government extension services in sub-Saharan Africa are overburdened and not capable of reaching many individual farmers: there is usually only one extension worker for every 2,500 farmers or more.
To improve extension outreach in Western Kenya, TAMASA developed a plant density and seed requirement mobile phone application â Maize-Seed-Area (MSA) â in consultation with both extension workers and agro-dealers. Using this application, extension workers reported they could now provide information on specific maize varieties because the application has a built-in database of available maize varieties.
The Maize-Seed-Area (MSA) mobile phone application.
Experiences of agro-dealers were different, as some found that their customers had made up their minds about what variety to buy before entering an agro-dealer shop. Agro-dealers reported that their customers particularly liked the seed requirement calculator, which provides immediate advice on how much seed to buy of a particular variety. In a phone survey, farmers indicated that they trusted the agro-dealersâ advice when it was provided by the mobile phone application.
Q: TAMASA has been exploring the use of decision support tools for large-scale agronomic investments such as country-wide fertilizer subsidy programs. Could you explain your approach to this issue and its potential applications?
A: Some regional soil fertility programs and African governments aim to improve farmersâ yields and incomes through costly, large-scale distribution of fertilizers or soil inputs. Generating more site-specific agronomic recommendations at scale and taking into account the spatial diversity of a landscape, market prices and other supply chain elements will optimize the impact of such operations.
TAMASA has integrated various geospatial datasets such as the ISRIC World Soil Informationâs SoilGrids, the World Bankâs Living Standards Measurement Study agriculture dataset (LSMS-ISA), and the Global Yield Gap Atlas. Thanks to the ex-ante spatial assessment framework, we can better target future areas of intervention that currently have low maize yields but could potentially have profitable fertilizer usage.
Mapping predictive yield response and profitability can give us precious insights. For instance, many Ethiopian farmers face acid soils, and the government and development agencies have been thinking about lime distribution at scale to combat this issue. We could potentially create a lime dashboard by adapting the ex-ante spatial framework and provide key information to policymakers at the local and national level.
Q: Are you looking for potential partners at the ICT4D conference to help scale up this work?
A: At the ICT4D conference, we are looking forward to teaming up with new development partners, seed producers and governments to make these field- and farmer-specific advisory applications and decision support tools for agronomic investments more widely available to African smallholder maize farmers.
A recent study by socioeconomists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Bangladesh examined the role of fertilizer traders in influencing farmer decision-making on which fertilizer to apply and at what rate.
In developing countries, the emerging private sector is gradually filling the gap between supply and demand of agricultural extension services. In Bangladesh, most farmers still rely on either their own experience or that of their peers, but increasingly seek suggestions from traders when deciding on the amount and dose of fertilizer to be applied, due to the constraints associated with public agricultural extension services. These private fertilizer traders are increasingly prominent as information sources in the more accessible, intensive and commercially-oriented boro rice production systems.
Using primary data collected from 556 randomly selected farm households in Bangladesh, the study examined farmersâ chemical fertilizer use and the associated rice production efficiency based on different information sources that farmers rely on, such as fertilizer traders, government extension agents, and personal experience.
The research show that farmers who relied on traders statistically had a higher production efficiency than those who did not. These results suggest that fertilizer traders are in fact supplementing government agricultural extension activities by providing useful information which supports resource-poor farmers to mitigate market failures and achieve higher production efficiency.
This study was supported by USAID through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia â Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, as well as USAID and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the second phase of the CSISA project.
Farmers in Bangladesh practice traditional puddling of the soil before transplanting rice. (Photo: P. Wall/CIMMYT)
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
New farm-level research into agricultural labor in eastern and southern Africa found that a lack of farm power is costing smallholders in productivity, demonstrating a far higher demand for mechanization than commonly thought.
âThe high number of households already hiring farm power challenges common myths that suggest smallholder farms depends almost entirely on labor as itâs provided by family members. The demand for mechanized farm power is there, the supply isnât and that is the issue,â he explained.
Unlike studies before it, the research avoided country-level indicators, such as the share of fallow land or population density, to assess the need for mechanized farming operations. Instead, it gathered detailed labor data from households in eight sites dominated by smallholder agriculture across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
The study demonstrated that households that invest in agricultural power improve food production.
âTo increase farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability, African farmers need greater access to affordable farm machinery to optimize processes,â Baudron said.
Small-scale mechanization appropriately sized for small farms â such as technologies based on two-wheel tractors, including direct planters â represents a shift away from conventional mechanization strategies dependent on large machines, leading to land consolidation and the disappearance of otherwise-productive small farms, Baudron said.
âGovernments in the region need to create an enabling environment for mechanization supply chains to develop,â he explained. âThis includes the creation of mechanization policy instruments, such as subsidies and training, that further respond to smallholder demand.â
Training and supporting hire service providers has shown to improve the equitable access to mechanization, which reduces labor drudgery and promotes sustainable intensification practices.
The research also presented a more nuanced analysis of the interrelations between male and female labor than usually presented in academic studies. It found women provide less labor than men and hired labor and suggests reducing drudgery among women relies upon understanding menâs chores and improving both as a two-way process.
In all sites studied rural women found that the priority for mechanization should be given to crop establishment, which would benefit both men and women. Land preparation and planting are tasks commonly performed by males, but their optimization influences weeding and postharvest tasks, primarily completed by women.
âThese interconnections between menâs and womenâs tasks have rarely been mentioned before, and should be tapped into for gender-sensitive interventions,â said Baudron.
Florence Ochieng harvests green maize on her 105-acre family farm near Kitale, Kenya. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
Five persistent myths related to labor in African smallholder agriculture, challenged
Myth 1: Labor is abundant and cheap; thus, farm power does not limit agricultural productivity
Reality: It is commonly believed farm power does not limit agricultural productivity because there is an abundant amount of cheap labor options in southern and eastern Africa. However, the farm-level study showed a lack of farm power is holding back productivity and illustrated a much higher demand for mechanization than macroeconomic analyses, pointing to a problem of access rather than a lack of demand. It revealed the importance of labor or other sources of farm power in explaining the variability of land productivity. It also found that investments in farm power at the farm level improved land productivity.
Myth 2: Most of the labor is provided by women
Reality: Across the eight sites studied, women were found to provide just 7 to 35% of the labor invested in household farming, far less than the often-claimed percentage of 60 to 80%. Overall, the farm-level study found women tended to provide less labor for farming than men and hired labor. Even when considering female-headed households alone, women were only the main providers of labor in half of the sites â hired labor or children were we the main providers of labor.
The largest share of female labor tended to be invested in activities characterized by high drudgery, weeding and postharvest in particular, although this varied across sites. Weeding was also the main task performed by men in four of the sites studied. In fact, the study revealed that weeding tended to be a shared task between men, women, children, and hired labor, and not as dominated by female labor as commonly thought.
Myth 3: Agricultural tasks are carried out almost entirely by family labor
Reality: The study showed the majority of farming households in the region hire labor to complete agricultural tasks. Farm power hired included human labor, draught animals and, to a much lesser extent, tractor power.
This challenges the common view of Africa being dominated by family farms which, according to FAO, ârely mainly on the labor of family members.â African farming households may be far more dependent on labor markets than commonly assumed, and thus far more inclined to hire mechanization services.
Myth 4: Consolidation, by enabling âefficientâ mechanization, would have a positive impact on agricultural productivity
Reality: The study found the maximum land productivity a farm can achieve decreased with increasing farm area in the majority of sites. This supports the so-called ânegative farm sizeâproductivity relationshipâ which has been reported by other studies in eastern and southern Africa.
Mechanization should not be a cause of consolidation â it should rather be driven by economic development. The concept of âappropriate mechanizationâ embraced by CIMMYT argues that machines should adapt to farm size, and not the opposite. Recent research and development initiatives taking place in the region point to the potential of using small single-axle tractors for agricultural mechanization in areas dominated by small and fragmented fields.
Myth 5: African agriculture is characterized by a wide gender gap
Reality: Research across all eight sites provided little evidence of a consistent gender gap. Land productivity was found not to differ significantly between male-headed households and female-headed households.
The research suggests the limited evidence of any substantial gender gap may stem from the fact that resources are highly inadequate across all sites, limiting large inequalities to manifest. This is not to deny the usefulness of current interventions targeting women-headed households, but rather to highlight the importance of preserving, strengthening, and tapping on social mechanisms in rural communities.
The Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program aims to enhance and protect the productivity of wheat in Pakistan by supporting research that leads to the identification, adoption, and optimal agronomic management of new, high yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. The main goal of the project is to facilitate efforts of scientific institutions in Pakistan to minimize adverse effects of wheat rusts â including the highly virulent Ug99 stem rust disease â through surveillance and genetically resistant varieties.
As part of the U.S. governmentâs assistance to Pakistan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Pakistanâs Ministry of Agriculture have identified the development of wheat varieties with resistance to virulent rust strains as a goal for improving food security and related agricultural production challenges. This document outlines a project for providing cereal rust protection for wheat production in Pakistan.
This wheat production enhancement project is a multi-partner, collaborative research and development program that includes human resource development. The primary external partners â USDA, CIMMYT, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas â work cooperatively with Pakistan research organizations to refine work plans and implement research and development activities in rust surveillance, pre-breeding, breeding, seed, and agronomy as described in objectives section.
Objectives
Rust pathogen surveillance
Pre-breeding to enhance the diversity and utility of rust resistant wheat breeding parent
Accelerated breeding to develop and test rust resistant, high performance candidate wheat varieties
Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Uncategorized.
MasAgro Farmer, a component of CIMMYTâs MasAgro project, develops a sustainable intensification strategy for maize, wheat and similar grains by building hubs based on research platforms, demonstration modules and extension areas where sustainable farming practices and technologies are tested, improved and adapted. In 2015, main achievements included:
Average maize and wheat yields obtained by farmers participating in MasAgro were 20.5 percent and 2.8 percent higher, respectively, than the average yields achieved in the regions of Mexico where they live.
The average net income of maize and wheat farmers participating in MasAgro was 23 percent and 4 percent higher, respectively, than the average net incomes of their region in Mexico.
MasAgro set up 12 hubs with 43 research platforms and 452 demonstration modules that developed, tested, adapted and disseminated sustainable farming practices and technologies.
46 technicians were certified in sustainable agriculture and another 55 begun their training in 2015. CIMMYT has so far certified 294 MasAgro technicians.
4,009 extension areas were registered in MasAgroâs electronic field books.
MasAgro experts developed 17 new machinery prototypes and produced 26 precision farming tools and machines for sustainable farming of maize, wheat and similar grains.
OBJECTIVES
To promote conservation and precision agriculture practices to sustainably increase maize and wheat production in Mexico.
To develop skills and to transfer knowledge and technologies specifically adapted to meet the needs of the small scale farmer.
To reduce the impact of climate change in agriculture.
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