Theme: Innovations

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 farmers’ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.

Farmers visit a field from Total LandCare demonstrating conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification practices in Angónia, Tete province, Mozambique.

Policy forum in Mozambique recommends scaling sustainable agriculture practices

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on February 27, 2019. Posted in Features.

*A woman stands on a field intercropping beans and maize in Sussundenga, Manica province, Mozambique. (Photo: Luis Jose Cabango)*

For many small farmers across sub-Saharan Africa, the crop yields their livelihoods depend on are affected by low-quality inputs and severe challenges like climate change, pests and diseases. Unsustainable farming practices like monocropping are impacting soil health and reducing the productivity of their farms.

Sustainable intensification practices based on conservation agriculture entail minimal soil disturbance, recycling crop plant matter to cover and replenish the soil, and diversified cropping patterns. These approaches maintain moisture, reduce erosion and curb nutrient loss. Farmers are encouraged and supported to intercrop maize with nitrogen-fixing legumes — such as beans, peas and groundnuts — which enrich the soil with key nutrients. Farmers are equally advised to cultivate their crops along with trees, instead of deforesting the land to create room for farming.

These practices result in higher incomes for farmers and better food and nutrition for families. Adopting conservation agriculture also improves farmers’ climate resilience. Combined with good agronomic practices, conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification can increase yields up to 38 percent.

Since 2010, the Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project has promoted effective ways to produce more food while protecting the environment across Eastern and Southern Africa. In particular, the SIMLESA project aims at sustainably increasing the productivity of maize and legume systems in the region.

The SIMLESA project demonstrated the advantages of deploying low-carbon and low-cost mechanization adapted to smallholder farming: it addresses labor shortages at critical times like planting or weeding, boosting farmers’ productivity and yields. The SIMLESA project introduced mechanization in different phases: first improved manual tools like the jab planter, later draft power machinery innovations such as rippers, and finally motorized mechanization in the form of small four-wheel tractors.

From proof of concept to nation-wide adoption

In Mozambique, conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices have significantly expanded: from 36 farmers in six villages in four districts in 2010, to over 190,000 farmers in more than 100 villages in nine districts by the end of 2018. This remarkable result was achieved in collaboration with partners such as the Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM), extension workers, communities and private companies.

“Smallholder agriculture mechanization reduced the amount of labor required for one hectare of land preparation, from 31 days to just 2 hours. This enabled timely farming activities and a maize yield increase of about 170 kg per hectare, reflecting an extra 3-4 months of household food security,” said the national coordinator for SIMLESA in Mozambique, Domingos Dias.

Following its successes, SIMLESA and its partners have embarked on a series of meetings to discuss how to leverage public-private partnerships to expand conservation agriculture practices to other regions.

Throughout February and March 2019, a series of policy forums at sub-national and national levels will be held across the seven SIMLESA countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

The first policy dialogue took place on February 7 in Chimoio, in Mozambique’s district of Manica. Key agriculture stakeholders attended, including representatives from CIMMYT, IIAM, the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as policy makers, private sector partners and international research institutes.

*Participants of the SIMLESA policy forum in Chimoio, Manica province, Mozambique, pose for a group photo.*

“We are delighted at SIMLESA’s unique strategy of involving multiple partners in implementing conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification practices. This has, over the years, allowed for faster dissemination of these practices and technologies in more locations in Mozambique, thereby increasing its reach to more farmers,” said Albertina Alage, Technical Director for Technology Transfer at IIAM. “Such policy forums are important to showcase the impact of conservation agriculture to policy makers to learn and sustain their support for scaling up conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification,” she added.

Forum participants called for better coordination between the public and the private sector to deliver appropriate machinery for use by smallholders in new areas. They recommended adequate support to enable farmers to better integrate livestock and a diverse cropping system, as well as continue with conservation agriculture trials and demonstration activities. Besides involving farmers, their associations and agro-dealer networks in scaling conservation agriculture initiatives, participants agreed to promote integrated pest and disease management protocols. This is considering the recent outbreak of the fall armyworm, which devasted crops in many countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

“The SIMLESA project is and will always be a reference point for our research institute and the Ministry of Agriculture in our country. The good progress of SIMLESA and the results of this forum will help to draw strategies for continuity of this program implemented by government and other programs with the aim to increase production and productivity of farmers,” Alage concluded.

The SIMLESA project is a science for development alliance, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in collaboration with national research institutes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Breaking Ground: Fernando H. Toledo researches new models of analysis under simulated scenarios

Written by Leslie Domínguez on February 14, 2019. Posted in Features.

Genomics is a wide theme of interest for geneticists. As part of the efforts to advance on this subject, Fernando H. Toledo, associated scientist in agricultural statistics at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is working on the research of genomic selection models to increase accuracy. His research considers several complex traits and environmental conditions under climate change scenarios.

The research in which Toledo works is multidisciplinary — it involves genetics and breeding knowledge, as well as statistics and computer science. “This work is fundamental for the breeding and farming community. Our aim is to allow breeders to pursue precise selection of new genetic materials with good performance and ensuring food security in the field under varying environmental conditions.”

Fernando H. Toledo was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but grew up in Curitiba, Paraná, one of the biggest agricultural states in the country. He obtained his engineering degree, with a major in crop science, at Paraná Federal University.

He got his master’s degree in genetics and plant breeding at Lavras Federal University, under the supervision of Magno Ramalho, one of the most prestigious breeders in Brazil. During his Ph.D. in quantitative genetics at the Agricultural College of the University of São Paulo, Fernando was advised by Roland Vencovsky, known as the father of quantitative genetics in the country. “The main lesson I took from both of them was that biometrics science must try to answer the breeders’ questions.”

Toledo got a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) to spend a season at CIMMYT in 2013, where he developed part of his thesis about the use of selection indices under the supervision of José Crossa.

CIMMYT’s work is highly relevant to breeding activities in Brazil. It dates back to the 1950s when Brazilian breeders and geneticists took maize populations and varieties to be important resources of their current germplasm. “The public and private sectors in Brazil recognize the importance of CIMMYT, which awoke my interest in working in a relevant institute for agriculture in developing countries.”

In 2015, Toledo applied for a postdoctoral position at the Biometrics and Statistics Unit of the Genetic Recourses Program at CIMMYT. He started working as an associate scientist in 2017.

As part of this unit, Toledo is currently involved in the planning and analysis of field trials comprising phenotypic and genomic data. He is developing new models and methods for these analysis as well as plant breeding simulations. “Genomic selection has been used over CIMMYT’s breeding programs before but there are still a lot of improvements to implement, so new models of analysis can be tested under simulated scenarios, which results in better recommendations for breeders.”

On top of that, he is implementing new open-source high-performance software products to facilitate the use of cutting-edge methods for data analysis. “I really like the connection we can build at CIMMYT in terms of practical work for breeders and the development of new statistical methods, models, tools and software we release to attend their requirements, with the main aim of improving precision during the selection of the best genetic materials.”

Led by Juan Burgueño, senior biometrician and head of the Biometrics and Statistics Unit, Toledo is training students, scientists and partners regarding statistical concepts and data analysis. “These trainings courses are a great opportunity to share our work with others and to learn the scientists’ needs in order to improve our capabilities.”

Toledo’s main inspiration to continue his work at CIMMYT is having the opportunity to generate knowledge for others in developing countries. “Our work is driven by the breeders’ needs and that usually helps them to improve their understanding by using what we developed for them and making it a forward-backward relation, which is fascinating.”

Maize farmer Raham Dil stands for a portrait with his push row planter. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)

Precision planters boost maize yields in Pakistan

Written by on February 13, 2019. Posted in Features.

*A farmer uses a tractor-operated precision maize planter. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)*

In the northwestern province of Pakistan, near the Afghan border, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is helping connect farmers with precision planters to support higher maize yields and incomes. Maize is one of the most important cereals in Pakistan, but in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa yields are significantly lower than the national average. The majority of maize farmers in this province have less than five acres of land and limited access to resources, including high-quality maize seed and mechanization.

Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, CIMMYT introduced push row planters in 2016 to help farmers to get a uniform crop stand and save labor costs and time as compared to traditional planting practices. CIMMYT has since then partnered with Greenland Engineering to import tractor-operated precision maize planters. These precision planters allow farmers to plant two rows of maize in one pass and evenly distribute both seeds and fertilizer.

“Optimum planting density in combination with nutrient supply is key to getting the maximum maize yield,” says Muhammad Asim, a senior researcher with the Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI). “The precision planter helps farmers achieve this while also getting a uniform crop stand and uniform cobs.”

*Maize farmer Jalees Ahmed (right) operates his push row planter. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)*

Jalees Ahmed, a smallholder maize farmer from the Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, received a push row planter through CIMMYT’s AIP program. He used to hire six laborers to plant one acre of maize, but with the push row planter, Jalees only needs to hire one laborer and benefits from a more uniform crop.

Raham Dil, another farmer in the Mardan district, recently purchased a push row planter for his farm which he also rents to fellow farmers in the area.

Both Ahmed and Dil say these planters have made it easier to support their families financially. Interest in precision planters continues to grow.

Last fall, more than 80 farmers attended a field day in the Nowshera district where CIMMYT researchers demonstrated how to use the precision planter to sow maize. CIMMYT’s country representative for Pakistan, Imtiaz Muhammad, highlighted the importance of mechanized maize planting for farmers and CIMMYT’s commitment to improve maize-based system productivity in less developed regions of the country.

*Farmers in Nowshera district attend a demonstration on how to use the tractor-operated precision maize planter. (Photo: Kashif Syed/CIMMYT)*

The Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan is led by CIMMYT and funded by USAID. This project seeks to increase productivity and incomes by testing and promoting modern practices for agriculture’s major sub-sectors in the country.

The director general of ICAR, Trilochan Mohapatra (second from left), and the president of ISAE, I.M. Mishra (fourth from left), present the ISAE Team Award 2018 to the joint team of BISA and PAU.

BISA and PAU awarded for collaborative work on residue management

Written by Emma Orchardson on February 8, 2019. Posted in News.

The Borlaug Institute for South Asia-Punjab Agricultural University (BISA-PAU) joint team recently received an award from the Indian Society for Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) in recognition of their work on rice residue management using the Super Straw Management System, also known as Super SMS.

Developed and recommended by researchers at BISA and PAU in 2016, the Super SMS is an attachment for self-propelled combine harvesters which offers an innovative solution to paddy residue management in rice-wheat systems.

The Punjab government has made the use of the Super SMS mandatory for all combine harvesters in northwestern India.

The Super SMS gives farmers the ability to recycle residues on-site, reducing the need for residue burning and thereby reducing environmental pollution and improving soil health. Instead, the Super SMS helps to uniformly spread rice residue, which is essential for the efficient use of Happy Seeder technology and maintaining soil moisture in the field.

Harminder Singh Sidhu, a senior research engineer with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) working at BISA, stressed the need for more sustainable methods of dealing with residue. “Happy Seeder was found to be a very effective tool for direct sowing of wheat after paddy harvesting, using combine harvesters fitted with Super Straw Management System.”

BISA-PAU researchers received the ISAE Team Award 2018 at the 53^rd Annual Convention of ISAE, held from January 28 to January 30, 2019, at Baranas Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state.

The director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Trilochan Mohapatra, presented the award, acknowledging it as “a real team award which is making a difference on the ground.”

The recipients acknowledged the role of local industry partner New Gurdeep Agro Industries for its contributions to promoting the adoption of this machinery. Within eight months of commercialization in the Indian state of Punjab, over 100 manufacturers had begun producing the Super SMS attachment. Currently, more than 5,000 combine harvesters are equipped with it.

Call for interest: Development trait prioritization as part of a sub-Saharan African crop variety replacement strategy

Written by on January 31, 2019. Posted in News.

The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) is looking to provide matching funding (up to US$ 35,000) for two projects with AbacusBio to characterize the users of new crop varieties and identify a value-weighted set of traits to be included as breeding targets in a product profile system.

The winning CGIAR crop breeding program will work directly with AbacusBio with EiB support to deliver on the projects.

This project represents an opportunity for CGIAR members of EiB to take a leap forward in the definition of client-focused variety replacement.

For more details on the project and how to apply, please refer to this page and the project proposal. Applications will be received January through February.

Call for nominees for the 2019 Maize Youth Innovators Awards – Africa

Written by on January 28, 2019. Posted in News.

Nominations are now open for the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Africa! These awards are part of the efforts that the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) is undertaking to promote youth participation in maize-based agri-food systems. These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men below 35 years of age who are implementing innovations in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research for development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification.

Young people are the key to ensuring a food-secure future and agricultural sustainability. However, rural youth face many challenges related to unemployment, underemployment and poverty. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, facilitating young people’s participation in agriculture has the potential to drive widespread rural poverty reduction among young people and adults alike. In Africa, where over 300 million smallholder-farming families grow and consume maize as a staple crop, the human population stands at 1.2 billion people, 60 percent of whom are below the age of 25.

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. Part of the vision is to create a global network of young innovators in maize-based systems from around the world.

Award recipients will be invited to attend the annual Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, from May 7 to May 9, where they will receive their awards and will be given the opportunity to present their work. The project meeting and award ceremony will also allow these young innovators to network and exchange experiences with MAIZE researchers and partners. Award recipients may also get the opportunity to collaborate with MAIZE and its partner scientists in Africa on implementing or furthering their innovations.

MAIZE invites young innovators to apply and CGIAR researchers and partners to nominate eligible applicants for any of the following three categories:

Researcher: Maize research for development (in any discipline)
Farmer: Maize farming systems in Africa
Change agent: Maize value chains (i.e., extension agents, input and service suppliers, transformation agents, etc.)

We ask nominators/applicants to take into account the following criteria and related questions:

Novelty and innovative spirit: To which specific novel findings or innovation(s) has this young person contributed? (in any of the three categories mentioned above)
Present or potential impact: What is the present or potential benefit or impact of the innovation(s) in maize-based agri-food systems?

Applications should be submitted online through this form by March 15, 2019.

Key dates:

Opening date for nominations: January 21, 2019
Closing date for nominations: March 15, 2019 (Please note: Nominations received after the closing date will not be considered)
Notification of winners: March 22, 2019

Information documents:

A PDF version of this Call for Nominees is available here.
Nomination/Application Guidelines can be found here.
The Application Form can be found here and is also available on the MAIZE and YPARD websites.

For any questions or issues, contact maizecrp@cgiar.org.

This award is sponsored by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) in collaboration with YPARD (Young Professionals for Agricultural Development).

New publications: Role of Modelling in International Crop Research

Written by Emma Orchardson on January 18, 2019. Posted in Publications.

“Crop modelling has the potential to significantly contribute to global food and nutrition security,” claim the authors of a recently published paper on the role of modelling in international crop research. “Millions of farmers, and the societies that depend on their production, are relying on us to step up to the plate.”

Among other uses, crop modelling allows for foresight analysis of agricultural systems under global change scenarios and the prediction of potential consequences of food system shocks. New technologies and conceptual breakthroughs have also allowed modelling to contribute to a better understanding of crop performance and yield gaps, improved predictions of pest outbreaks, more efficient irrigation systems and the optimization of planting dates.

While renewed interest in the topic has led in recent years to the development of collaborative initiatives such as the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, further investment is needed in order to improve the collection of open access, easy-to-use data available for crop modelling purposes. Strong impact on a global scale will require a wide range of stakeholders – from academia to the private sector – to contribute to the development of large, multi-location datasets.

Resource-poor farmers worldwide stand to gain from developments in the field of crop modelling. Photo: H. De Groote/CIMMYT. — Resource-poor farmers worldwide stand to gain from developments in the field of crop modelling. (Photo: H. De Groote/CIMMYT)

In “Role of Modelling in International Crop Research: Overview and Some Case Studies,” CGIAR researchers outline the history and basic principles of crop modelling, and describe major theoretical advances and their practical applications by international crop research centers. They also highlight the importance of agri-food systems, which they view as key to meeting global development challenges. “The renewed focus on the systems-level has created significant opportunities for modelers to participant in enhancing the impact of science on developments. However, a coherent approach based on principles of transparency, cooperation and innovation is essential to achieving this.”

The authors call for closer interdisciplinary collaboration to better serve the crop research and development communities through the provision of model-based recommendations which could range from government-level policy development to direct crop management support for resource-poor farmers.

Read the full article in Agronomy 2018, Volume 8 (12).

Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers below:

A framework for priority-setting in climate smart agriculture research. 2018. Thornton, P.K., Whitbread, A., Baedeker, T., Cairns, J.E., Claessens, L., Baethgen, W., Bunn, C., Friedmann, M., Giller, K.E., Herrero, M., Howden, M., Kilcline, K., Nangia, V., Ramirez Villegas, J., Shalander Kumar, West, P.C., Keating, B. In: Agricultural Systems v. 167, p. 161-175.
Cereal consumption and marketing responses by rural smallholders under rising cereal prices. 2018. Mottaleb, K.A., Rahut, D.B. In: Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies v. 8, no. 3, p. 461-479.
Community typology framed by normative climate for agricultural innovation, empowerment, and poverty reduction. 2018. Petesch, P., Feldman, S., Elias, M., Badstue, L.B., Dina Najjar, Rietveld, A., Bullock, R., Kawarazuka, N., Luis, J. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 131-157.
Fit for purpose? A review of guides for gender-equitable value chain development. 2018. Stoian, D., Donovan, J.A., Elias, M., Blare, T. In: Development in Practice v. 28, no. 4, p. 494-509.
Gendered aspirations and occupations among rural youth, in agriculture and beyond: a cross-regional perspective. 2018. Elias, M., Netsayi Mudege, Lopez, D.E., Dina Najjar, Kandiwa, V., Luis, J., Jummai Yila, Amare Tegbaru, Gaya Ibrahim, Badstue, L.B., Njuguna-Mungai, E., Abderahim Bentaibi. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 82-107.
Genome-wide association study reveals novel genomic regions for grain yield and yield-related traits in drought-stressed synthetic hexaploid wheat. 2018. Bhatta, M.R., Morgounov, A.I., Belamkar, V., Baenziger, P.S. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences v. 19, no. 10, art. 3011.
Identificacion de areas potenciales en Mexico para la intervencion con maiz biofortificado con zinc = Identification of potential areas in Mexico for intervention with biofortified high-zinc maize. 2018. Ramirez-Jaspeado, R., Palacios-Rojas, N., Salomon, P., Donnet, M.L. In: Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana v. 4, no. 3, p. 327 – 337.
Impact of climate-change risk-coping strategies on livestock productivity and household welfare: empirical evidence from Pakistan. 2018. Rahut, D.B., Ali, A. In: Heliyon v. 4, no. 10, art. e00797.
Impact of conservation agriculture on soil physical properties in rice-wheat system of eastern indo-gangetic plains. 2018. Kumar, V., Kumar, M., Singh, S.K., Jat, R.K. In: Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences v. 28, no. 5, p. 1432-1440.
Impact of ridge-furrow planting in Pakistan: empirical evidence from the farmer’s field. 2018. Hussain, I., Ali, A., Ansaar Ahmed, Hafiz Nasrullah, Badar ud Din Khokhar, Shahid Iqbal, Azhar Mahmood Aulakh, Atta ullah Khan, Jamil Akhter, Gulzar Ahmed. In: International Journal of Agronomy v. 2018, art. 3798037.
Introduction to special issue: smallholder value chains as complex adaptive systems. 2018. Orr, A., Donovan, J.A. In: Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies v. 8, no. 1, p. 2-13.
Local dynamics of native maize value chains in a peri-urban zone in Mexico: the case of San Juan Atzacualoya in the state of Mexico. 2018. Boue, C., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Rodriguez Sanchez, L.M., Hellin, J. J., Fuentes Ponce, M. In: Journal of Rural Studies v. 64, p. 28-38.
Local normative climate shaping agency and agricultural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. 2018. Petesch, P., Bullock, R., Feldman, S., Badstue, L.B., Rietveld, A., Bauchspies, W., Kamanzi, A., Amare Tegbaru, Jummai Yila. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 108-130.
Maize seed systems in different agro-ecosystems; what works and what does not work for smallholder farmers. 2018. Hoogendoorn, C., Audet-Bélanger, G., Boeber, C., Donnet, M.L., Lweya, K.B., Malik, R., Gildemacher, P. In: Food security v. 10, no. 4, p. 1089–1103.
Mapping adult plant stem rust resistance in barley accessions Hietpas-5 and GAW-79. 2018. Case, A.J., Bhavani, S., Macharia, G., Pretorius, Z.A., Coetzee, V., Kloppers, F.J., Tyagi, P., Brown-Guedira, G., Steffenson, B.J. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 131, no. 10, p. 2245–2266.
Potential for re-emergence of wheat stem rust in the United Kingdom. 2018. Lewis, C.M., Persoons, A., Bebber, D.P., Kigathi, R.N., Maintz, J., Findlay, K., Bueno-Sancho, V., Corredor-Moreno, P., Harrington, S.A., Ngonidzashe Kangara, Berlin, A., Garcia, R., German, S.E., Hanzalova, A., Hodson, D.P., Hovmoller, M.S., Huerta-Espino, J., Imtiaz, M., Mirza, J.I., Justesen, A.F., Niks, R.E., Ali Omrani., Patpour, M., Pretorius, Z.A., Ramin Roohparvar, Hanan Sela, Singh, R.P., Steffenson, B.J., Visser, B., Fenwick, P., Thomas, J., Wulff, B.B.H., Saunders, D.G.O. In: Communications Biology v. 1, art. 13.
Qualitative, comparative, and collaborative research at large scale: an introduction to GENNOVATE. 2018. Badstue, L.B., Petesch, P., Feldman, S., Prain, G., Elias, M., Kantor, P. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 1-27.
Qualitative, comparative, and collaborative research at large scale: the GENNOVATE field methodology. 2018. Petesch, P., Badstue, L.B., Camfield, L., Feldman, S., Prain, G., Kantor, P. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 28-53.
Transaction costs, land rental markets, and their impact on youth access to agriculture in Tanzania. 2018. Ricker-Gilbert, J., Chamberlin, J. In: Land Economics v. 94, no. 4, p. 541-555.
What drives capacity to innovate? Insights from women and men small-scale farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 2018. Badstue, L.B., Lopez, D.E., Umantseva, A., Williams, G.J., Elias, M., Farnworth, C.R., Rietveld, A., Njuguna-Mungai, E., Luis, J., Dina Najjar., Kandiwa, V. In: Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security v. 3, no. 1, p. 54-81.

Seeds go digital

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on January 17, 2019. Posted in News.

Seed Assure app testing in the field in Kiboko, Kenya. Photo credit: CIMMYT. — *Seed Assure app testing in the field in Kiboko, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)*

Many Kenyan maize farmers are busy preparing their seed stock for the next planting season. Sowing high quality seeds of stress-tolerant varieties is a cost-effective way for African smallholder farmers to boost their harvests while being resilient to evolving crop pests and diseases as well as an erratic climate. However, even if a majority of farmers buy their seeds, they are often of dubious quality or of old, outdated varieties, which do not cope well against increasing drought and heat shocks or emerging diseases.

Insufficient seed quality control

The African seed sector has long been plagued by counterfeit seeds and a complex and costly certification process, which hampers access to better, higher-yielding, wide-ranging varieties for farmers.

Since the 1990s, national agencies could not keep up with the seed trade growth to handle the certification processes. Backlogs of certification requests and erroneous seed checks make it costly for private seed companies to produce and commercialize new varieties. As a result, maize varieties grown by farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are old: 28 years old on average for hybrids and up to 40 years old for open-pollinated varieties.

“A lot of the national certification systems in the region are overwhelmed. They do not have enough seed inspectors with proper training and tools to carry out compliance checks effectively and in a timely manner. The licensing, labeling and branding protocols and regulations are equally not in full force, and much of the work still needs to be digitized. This slows the entire process,” said Kate Fehlenberg, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) Project Manager at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), at a recent Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) seed policies’ harmonization event in Nairobi.

Go digital

To solve this certification bottleneck, seed actors are looking at digital solutions for faster, more accurate seed quality checks for both seed producers and regulators. One Kenyan company, Cellsoft Ltd., has developed SeedAssure, a cloud-based platform that enables digital seed inspections. Data necessary for quality seed production, pest and disease surveillance, and the required checks to apply for a commercial license can be shared in real-time on a common platform that links seed companies, inspectors and local authorities. Such a tool not only enables optimal quality in seed production, but expedites the licensing, certification and trade processes with traceable data records.

SeedAssure is rapidly being rolled out across eastern and southern Africa with support across the seed value chain. This includes regional trade bodies like COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), national regulators such as the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI), to research and development organizations like CIMMYT and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). So far, 15 seed companies in seven countries in the region have been testing SeedAssure.

Transboundary data-sharing to boost regional seed trade

Kinyua Madhan from Zamseed and Nicolai NASECO testing SeedAssure on smartphone in the field in Kiboko, Kenya. Photo credit: CIMMYT. — *Visitors test SeedAssure on a smartphone during a field visit in Kiboko, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)*

To boost regional seed trade, all actors along the seed value chain and across the region must embrace this digital revolution and “speak the same language”. This means adopting the same rules to identify and register a new variety, and using a common platform to easily share data between countries.

Currently, despite efforts to harmonize seed trade policies across the region, such as the COMESA Seed Harmonization Implementation Program (COMSHIP), passed in 2014, most countries still use different protocols to name and register seed varieties. One variety could have a different name in each country it is sold in. Data used for quality control are still often on paper rather than online, with each country performing its own tests. Seed companies must apply for new variety registration, with new data for each country they operate in. This all costs them time and money.

Adopting a unique identifier for seed products and digitalization can help alleviate this harmonization issue, easing comparable data sharing across border. Since November 2017, CIMMYT has adopted a Variety Identification Number (VIN) system. It is like a unique barcode for each variety which contains information about the organization that produced the variety, the year of release, the crop and specific traits such as drought-tolerance, the country where it is produced, etc. SADC and COMESA have just adopted this VIN system. COMSHIP is setting digital seed variety catalogues using the VIN, and soon regional seed labels. It will facilitate cross-border seed trade and help track seed fraud.

The 2019 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) held this week in Berlin is debating how digitalization is transforming the farming sector. This is particularly relevant for the African seed sector as digital innovations could make seed certification and quality control cheaper, faster and more transparent, while narrowing the space for fake seed. Seed companies would then be encouraged to release more new improved varieties, and ultimately accelerate our research impact for African farmers.

Breaking Ground: Breeder Marcela C. Andrade bolsters maize with hardiness from ancestral races

Written by Mike Listman on January 16, 2019. Posted in Features.

As the world heats up and water grows scarce, threatening the productivity of humankind’s preferred crops, breeder Marcela Carvalho Andrade and her colleagues at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working to toughen maize, drawing resilience traits from landraces, the forerunners of modern maize.

For decades, scientists have sought to utilize the hardiness of maize landraces, which evolved over millennia of farmer selection for adaptation to diverse and sometimes harsh local settings in Mexico, Central and South America.

But crossing elite varieties with landraces brings along wild traits that are difficult and costly to purge, including lower grain yields, excessive tallness or a tendency to fall over in strong winds. For this and for their genetic complexity, landraces are seldom used directly in breeding programs, according to Andrade.

Crosses that home in on genetically complex traits

“Our strategy is to cross selected landraces with elite maize lines, thus developing improved lines that can be directly incorporated and recycled in breeding programs,” explained Andrade, who joined CIMMYT in 2016.

The traits sought include better resilience under high temperatures, drought conditions or the attacks of rapidly-evolving crop diseases. “All these features will be critical for the future productivity of maize,” said Andrade.

One of the world’s three most important crops, maize contributes over 20% of the calories in human diets in 21 low-income countries, as well as being used in industry, biofuels, and feed for livestock and poultry.

Andrade and the maize breeding team develop new lines that carry a 75 percent genetic contribution from the elite source and 25 percent from a landrace. The aim she said is to get the good components from both sides, while broadening maize’s genetic diversity for use by breeders and ultimately farmers.

The resulting lines and hybrids are tested for yield, resilience and overall agronomic performance, under both normal growing conditions and “stressed” environments; for example, in plots grown at sites with high temperatures or reduced water availability.

“We can thus identify landraces that offer traits of interest, as well as generating improved breeding lines to strengthen the resilience of elite maize without reducing its yield,” said Andrade, noting that the research employs conventional cross-pollination and selection.

According to Andrade, CIMMYT has carried out large-scale molecular analysis of its maize seed collections, which number around 28,000 and comprise landraces from 70 countries.

“Over the past years, CIMMYT has used genetic diversity analyses of its maize collections to select landraces for use in drought tolerance breeding or for finding lines that are resistant to newly important diseases such as Maize Lethal Necrosis or Tar Spot,” she explained. “Genetic diversity analysis allows us to narrow the number of candidate landrace sources that we need to cross and assess in the field.”

The viral disease Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) has devastated crops in eastern Africa since its appearance there in 2011.

The researchers have also found landrace sources of resilience against Tar Spot Complex, a maize disease of the Americas that can cause 50 percent or greater yield losses in infected crops.

Benefiting breeding and farmers

Andrade said the breeding team expects to release a first wave of landrace-derived, improved maize lines in 2019, some featuring enhanced drought tolerance and others that provide better resistance to Tar Spot.

“The lines we offer will be freely available to breeders worldwide and must yield well and show superior resilience,” Andrade explained. “They will have reasonable agronomics—ear and plant height and standability, for example. The lines will not be perfect, but breeders won’t hesitate to use them because we’ve ensured that they are superior for at least one crucial trait and reasonably competitive for most other traits.”

From Brazil to the world

Growing up in a small town and having direct contact with her father’s dairy farm in Minas Gerais, a mainly rural state in Brazil, Andrade finds her CIMMYT work enormously satisfying. “My dad and a few uncles were farmers and complained some years that their crops didn’t yield well,” she says. “I knew I wanted to help them somehow.”

Andrade obtained Bachelor and Master’s degrees in agronomy/plant science from the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), one of Brazil’s premier institutions of higher education. She later completed a Doctorate in Genetics and Plant Breeding at UFLA, in partnership with Ohio State University.

She credits CIMMYT maize scientist Terry Molnar, her supervisor and mentor, with teaching her the complex ins and outs of maize breeding. “I am a plant breeder and worked previously with vegetables, but I learned the practical aspects of maize breeding from Terry.”

Looking ahead, Andrade sees herself continuing as a plant breeder. “I don’t see myself working in anything else. I would eventually like to lead my own program but, at this point in my career, I’m happy to help transfer landrace traits to modern maize varieties.”

The itsy bitsy spider can make a big impact in agriculture

Written by on January 15, 2019. Posted in Features.

*Face of an adult male Phidippus audax male jumping spider. (Photo: Opoterser/Wikimedia Commons)*

A new study explores how conservation agriculture in southern Africa supports spider populations and diversity in fields, which could help mitigate pest damage and potentially lead to higher yields for farmers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), herbivorous insects such as aphids, caterpillars and weevils destroy about one fifth of the world’s total crop production each year. Spiders can help keep voracious pests in-check, but conventional farming practices (e.g. tilling, crop residue removal and monoculture) can harm or drastically reduce these beneficial bio-control agents.

There are more than 45,000 identified spider species around the world. From glaciers to tropical rainforests, they inhabit every terrestrial ecosystem on earth. Some can even live in tidal zones, and at least one species inhabits fresh water. While we tend to associate spiders with webs, only about 50 percent of the species catch their prey this way; the rest hunt on plants, on the ground or below it, using a variety of tactics such as stalking, stabbing, crushing – even seduction.

Although spiders have been around for 300 million years, some species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Drastic reductions in vegetation – whether from a new parking lot or a tilled field – removes the food source that attracts their prey. Bare ground exposes their nesting sites and themselves, which makes it harder to hunt and easier to be hunted by birds and small mammals.

At the Chinhoyi University of Technology experimental farm in Zimbabwe, a team of researchers aimed to determine the response of spiders under different agricultural practices. Conventional farmers often prepare their fields for planting by physically breaking up and inverting the top 6-10 inches of soil. This practice of ploughing prepares a fine soil tilth, which makes it easier to plant; it breaks up and buries weeds, and reduces soil compaction to aerate the soil. But tilling also increases topsoil erosion from wind and water. It accelerates soil carbon decomposition, reduces soil water infiltration and disrupts microorganisms living in the soil, including beneficial insects and spiders.

The researchers conducted two experiments over the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 cropping seasons to see how tilling, crop residue retention (i.e. leaving stalks and post-harvest organic matter in the field), fertilizer application and weeding affected ground- and plant-wandering spider species. They hypothesized that spider abundance and diversity would increase with lower levels of soil disturbance and more plant cover.

The results showed direct seeding into no-till soil increased the abundance of spiders and the diversity of species. Mulching also showed a positive effect. Contrary to their hypotheses and results from temperate regions, the application of fertilizer and intense weeding did not affect the spider community. The researchers attributed this to the difference in climatic conditions (tropical vs. temperate) of this study in southern Africa.

“Often the government’s and farmer’s immediate reaction to a crop pest issue is to apply a pesticide, but we can make use of biological control agents, which may be cheaper and less damaging for the environment,” says Christian Thierfelder, a co-author of the study. Thierfelder is a cropping systems agronomist and conservation agriculture specialist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with long-term experience in sustainable intensification.

“Spiders, ants and beetles all do a really good job with little or no cost to the farmer,” he adds. “For us, it’s quite fascinating to see simple agronomic practices to affect and control crop pests. This also provides new avenues of dealing with the fall armyworm, an invasive species which has devastated crops across the majority of sub-Saharan Africa countries.”

A robust number of studies from Europe, Australia and North America have shown the link between conservation agriculture and biodiversity, but Thierfelder says that research on biodiversity in agronomic systems is relatively new in southern Africa. While the study in Zimbabwe helps fill this gap, more research is needed to show the connection between the abundance of spiders, beetles and ants with the suppression of insect pest activity.

For more information, read Spider community shift in response to farming practices in a sub-humid agroecosystem in southern Africa.

This research was jointly funded by Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD). The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) supported this study through Christian Thierfelder’s contributions.

Farmer Gudeye Leta harvests his local variety maize in Dalecho village, Gudeya Bila district, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Reducing high yield gaps with decision-support apps

Written by Emma Orchardson on January 15, 2019. Posted in Features.

Ethiopia is Africa’s third largest producer of maize, after Nigeria and South Africa. Although the country produces around 6.5 million tons annually, the national average maize yield is relatively low at 3.5 tons compared to the attainable yield of 8.5 tons. This high yield gap — the difference between attainable and actual yields — can be attributed to a number of factors, including crop varieties used, farm management practices, and plant density.

The Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale (TAMASA) project aims to narrow maize yield gaps in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania through the development and scaling out of decision-support tools, which provide site-specific recommendations based on information held in crop and soil databases collected from each country. These help farmers to make decisions based on more accurate variety and fertilizer recommendations, and can contribute to improving maize production and productivity.

One such tool is Nutrient Expert, a free, interactive computer-based application. It can rapidly provide nutrient recommendations for individual farmers’ fields in the absence of soil-testing data. The tool was developed by the International Plant Nutrition Institute in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and research and extension service providers.

In Ethiopia, regional fertilizer recommendations are widely used, but soil fertility management practices can vary greatly from village to village and even between individual farmers. This can make it difficult for farmers or extension agents to receive accurate information tailored specifically to their needs. Nutrient Expert fills this gap by incorporating information on available fertilizer blends and giving customized recommendations for individual fields or larger areas, using information on current farmer practices, field history and local conditions. It can also provide advice on improved crop management practices such as planting density and weeding, thereby helping farmers to maximize net returns on their investment in fertilizer.

Data calibration was based on the results of 700 multi-location nutrient omission trials conducted in major maize production areas in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. These trials were designed as a diagnostic tool to establish which macro-nutrients are limiting maize growth and yield, and determine other possible constraints.

In Ethiopia, CIMMYT scientists working for the TAMASA project conducted nutrient omission trials on 88 farmer fields in Jimma, Bako and the Central Rift Valley in 2015 to produce a version of Nutrient Expert suitable for the country. Researchers trialed the app on six maize-belt districts in Oromia the following year, in which Nutrient Expert recommendations were compared with soil-test based and regional ones.

Researchers found that though the app recommended lower amounts of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, overall maize yields were comparable to those in other test sites. In Ethiopia, this reduction in the use of NPK fertilizer resulted in an investment saving of roughly 80 dollars per hectare.

Results from Nutrient Expert trials in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania showed improved yields, fertilizer-use efficiency and increased profits, and the app has since been successfully adapted for use in developing fertilizer recommendations that address a wide variety of soil and climatic conditions in each of the target countries.

The World Bank’s 2016 Digital Dividends report states that we are currently “in the midst of the greatest information and communications revolution in human history.” This shifting digital landscape has significant implications for the ways in which stakeholders in the agricultural sector generate, access and use data. Amidst Africa’s burgeoning technology scene, CIMMYT’s TAMASA project demonstrates the transformative power of harnessing ICTs for agricultural development.

Learn more about different versions of Nutrient Expert and download the free software here.

TAMASA is a five-year project (2014-2019) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeking to improve productivity and profitability for small-scale maize farmers in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Read more about the project here.

Group photo during the IMIC-Africa inception workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, in May 2018. (Photo: CIMMYT)

International Maize Improvement Consortium for Africa ramps up seed innovations

Written by Carolyn Cowan on January 10, 2019. Posted in News.

Maize is the most important staple food crop in sub-Saharan Africa, providing food security and a source of income to more than 200 million households. Nonetheless, maize yields in this region rank among the lowest worldwide.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) launched the International Maize Improvement Consortium for Africa (IMIC-Africa) in May 2018, to better engage with a committed set of partners from the public and private sector, and to achieve enhanced maize yields in Africa.

Members of IMIC-Africa share a vision: meeting the challenges of maize production by scaling out and fully exploiting the potential of improved climate-resilient and stress-tolerant varieties in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cultivated on over 35 million hectares of typically rainfed land across sub-Saharan Africa, maize is subject to the vagaries of climate, suffering occasional to frequent drought stress. Other regional challenges include poor soil quality, characterized by nitrogen deficiency, and the ongoing threat of transboundary pathogens and pests, such as the voracious fall armyworm. In addition, farmers generally have inadequate access to improved seed that could help them achieve higher yields.

Although the challenges are complex, the effective use of improved, climate-resilient and multiple-stress-tolerant maize varieties has achieved tangible results in this region. Elite drought-tolerant (DT) maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT have demonstrated at least 25-30 percent grain yield advantage over non-DT maize varieties in sub-Saharan Africa under drought stress. CIMMYT has also derived elite heat-tolerant maize hybrids for sub-Saharan Africa, and during the recent outbreak of maize lethal necrosis (MLN), the rapid development and deployment of elite MLN-resistant hybrids was instrumental in the containment of this threat to eastern Africa.

Modelled on its successful counterpart initiatives in Asia (IMIC-Asia) and Latin America (IMIC-LatAm), there is hope that IMIC-Africa will follow a similar pattern of success.

The consortium is comprised of a diverse array of member institutions, including seed companies, national programs and foundations.

Its key objective is to enhance members’ capacity for germplasm development in their own breeding programs through provision of early generation or advanced maize lines. The subsequent multi-location testing of elite pre-commercial maize hybrids throughout sub-Saharan Africa by members will serve to identify products that can advance to commercialization and deployment.

“IMIC-Africa has a growing membership aimed at formalizing the sharing of maize lines under development with public and private maize breeding programs,” said CIMMYT scientist and Africa regional representative Stephen Mugo. “The consortium will also support a vibrant germplasm testing network, offer opportunities for training and cross learning among members, and grant access to other special services offered by CIMMYT including MLN testing, doubled haploid development and molecular quality assurance/quality control.”

The work of the consortium will ultimately benefit the farming community through the targeted development of maize varieties that express traits jointly identified and prioritized by consortium members and that are specifically adapted to the suite of agro-ecologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Traits of relevance include tolerance to abiotic stresses, disease and insect-pest resistance and higher yielding hybrids.

“IMIC-Africa will contribute to food security in Africa by broadening access to and use of stress-tolerant improved maize germplasm as well as strengthening maize breeding programs, thus improving farmers’ access to improved maize varieties,” Mugo explained.

In September 2018, members of IMIC-Africa held their first annual field day and visited the CIMMYT and Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) facilities in Kiboko and Naivasha.

Membership of IMIC-Africa is open to all organized and registered private commercial seed companies, corporations, and organized and registered public agencies or organizations involved in maize crop research and improvement, hybrid seed production or maize seed marketing.

For further information about membership and eligibility, please contact B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize: b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org.

Finding the story behind weeds

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on January 8, 2019. Posted in News.

Field technicians use their cameras during the Photovoice training. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The main focus of the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project is on conservation agriculture technologies. Since farmers may face an increase in weeds after adopting zero-till planters, however, more research is needed about how farmers are dealing with weed.

One of the research objectives of the project is to understand farmers’ knowledge, perception, and practices of conservation agriculture. To this end, researchers are using the Photovoice methodology in Cooch Behar (West Bengal, India), Rongpur (Bangladesh) and Sunsari (Nepal) to collect relevant data on weed management practices.

Photovoice is a visual qualitative research method that allows people to express their perspectives through photographs. Photography can be used for evaluation purposes, through storytelling exercises.

On December 6-7, 2019, field technicians in Bangladesh, India and Nepal participated in a training about this methodology. They learned the rationale of Photovoice, its technical and logistic aspects, as well as the ethical considerations and the need to collect consent forms.

Participants also learned how to take pictures of inter-row cultivation and weeds on the farm, and how to confirm the geolocation of the farm.

Worth a thousand words

Using the Photovoice method, 30 households will be explored, including their labor allocation and decision-making dynamics around the implementation of conservation agriculture practices.

The effectiveness of this approach will emerge as smallholder farmers present their perspectives through photographs accompanied by their narratives.

Activities will be monitored on weekly basis.

The SRFSI project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, is set to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder agriculture in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India and Nepal, by promoting sustainable intensification based on conservation agriculture technologies.

Cobs & Spikes podcast: Hello Tractor and agricultural innovation

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on January 4, 2019. Posted in Podcasts.

For small-scale farmers, mechanization and other appropriate technologies have a big impact in agricultural production and yield. However, they might lack the resources to buy these tools. Hello Tractor is trying to improve this.

Dubbed the “Uber for the farm”, the company’s app easily allows tractor owners to rent their machinery to farmers and includes features that can help enhance a tractor owner’s business and operations. In this episode, we’re talking to Martha Haile, Chief Operations Officer at Hello Tractor, about the company’s success and social innovation in agriculture.

You can listen to our podcast here, or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or Google Play.

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

Experts identify policy gaps in fertilizer application in India

Written by on December 21, 2018. Posted in News.

*A farmer in Ara district, Bihar state, applies NPK fertilizer, composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)*

NEW DELHI (CIMMYT) — Imbalanced application of different plant nutrients through fertilizers is a widespread problem in India. The major reasons are lack of adequate knowledge among farmers about the nutritional requirement of crops, poor access to proper guidelines on the right use of plant nutrients, inadequate policy support through government regulations, and distorted and poorly targeted subsidies.

This context makes it necessary to foster innovation in the fertilizer industry, and also to find innovative ways to target farmers, provide extension services and communicate messages.

A dialogue on “Innovations for promoting balanced application of macro and micro nutrient fertilizers in Indian agriculture” facilitated discussion on this issue. Representatives from key fertilizer industries, state governments, research institutions and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research gathered in New Delhi, India, on December 12, 2018. This dialogue was part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and was organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI).

CIMMYT scientist and CSISA project leader Andrew McDonald presents the new Soil Intelligence System for India, which employs innovative and rapid approaches to soil health assessments. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

The Director General of the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI), Shri Satish Chander, pointed out that new-product approvals in India take approximately 800 days. However, he explained, this delay is not the biggest problem facing the sector: other barriers include existing price controls that are highly contingent on political myths.

IFPRI researcher Avinash Kishore presented evidence contradicting the myth that farmers are highly sensitive to any price change. He presented data demonstrating that farmers’ demand for Urea and DAP remained highly price inelastic during periods of steep price increases, in 2011 and 2012.

Sheetal Sharma, soil scientist for nutrient management at IRRI, co-chaired a session on field evidences on the soil health card scheme and farmers incentives for change. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

The Director of the South Asia Program at IPNI, T. Satyanarayana, highlighted the importance of micronutrients in promoting balanced fertilization of soils and innovative methods for determining soil health.

Andrew McDonald, from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), presented the new Soil Intelligence System for India, which employs innovative approaches to soil health assessments.

Farmers’ representative Ajay Vir Jakhar elaborated on the failure of underfunded extension systems to reach and disseminate relevant, factual and timely messages to vast numbers of farmers.

Other representatives from the fertilizer industry touched upon the need to identify farmer requirements for risk mitigation, labor shortages and site-specific nutrient management needs for custom fertilizer blends. Participants also discussed field evidence related to India’s soil health card scheme. Ultimately, discussions held at the roundtable helped identify relevant policy gaps, which will be summarized into a policy brief.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia project is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.