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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.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: 26 March

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Read the Storify recap here.

 

Today’s sessions at the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security recognized Dr. Norman Borlaug’s legacy and the roles of wheat and wheat farmers around the world in the fight for global food security.

 

Participants packed the auditorium at the Universidad de La Salle Noreste in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, for a day focusing on the successes and shortcomings of the Green Revolution and the challenges in producing enough food for today’s  world and in the future. Keynote speakers included Sir Gordon Conway, professor at Imperial College London, and Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Howard G. Buffett answers questions from Sir Gordon Conway about the “Brown Revolution.” (Photo: Brenna Goth)

 

Speakers addressed past and current successes in agricultural research while stressing that problems persist.

 

“We live in a world of chronic crises,” Conway said during his talk on lessons learned from the Green Revolution, adding that, oftentimes, when one crisis is solved, another arises.

 

Not all of the poor benefitted from the Green Revolution; it passed by much of Africa and it led to increased reliance on synthetic fertilizers. At the same time, rising food prices, a need to increase food production, rising meat consumption and stressors including climate change challenge food security.

 

Sustainable intensification – through ecological and genetic approaches – can help, Conway said, as well as making sure people get the inputs they need.

More than 700 people attended the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security (Photo: Brenna Goth)

 

“We’ve got to intensify production,” he said. “We’ve got to get yields up.”

 

Buffett also stressed sustainability with his call for a “Brown Revolution,” or a focus on saving soil and the world’s ecosystem. Much of his philanthropic work focuses on farming and agriculture.

 

Farming is the most important profession in the world, Buffett said, yet he has met farmers who cannot feed their families.

 

“I said ‘This is wrong,’” Buffett commented. “We have to figure out how to do this better.”

 

He called on world leaders to support agriculture and said he remains a “pessimistic optimist” in facing global challenges.

 

Participants enjoyed the campus of La Salle University (Photo: Brenna Goth)

Dr. Borlaug took action when witnessing these challenges and didn’t back down to opposition, according to Summit speakers. Several presentations focused on their personal relationships with Dr. Borlaug and the impact he made on wheat research.

 

M.S. Swaminathan, known as the father of the Green Revolution in India, spoke about Dr. Borlaug’s impact on India through a video message. In another video message, Jeanie Borlaug-Laube, Dr. Borlaug’s daughter, said her father worked for everything he had and would tell young people to continue the fight to feed the world. Wheat breeder Sanjaya Rajaram, who started his career with Dr. Borlaug, recounted early mornings in the field and Dr. Borlaug’s kindness to Mexican staff.

 

Though Dr. Borlaug focused much of his career on fighting wheat stem rust, new factors threaten wheat production. Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, spoke about the need to breed varieties resistant to climate change and revisit triticale, a crop full of potential and Dr. Borlaug’s “unfinished business.”

 

Scientists today can learn from Dr. Borlaug’s communication skills, said Ronnie Coffman, professor at Cornell University and chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. Researchers must advocate for biotechnology to fight hunger, he said.

 

Regarding Dr. Borlaug’s response to opposition to the Green Revolution, Coffman said, “Borlaug did not waver before the naysayers and policymakers. We must draw on his conviction and share it with the world.”

 

The day ended with policy recommendations and a panel discussion on what Dr. Borlaug might do today. The Summit continues tomorrow with a focus on why wheat matters to the world. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST for live updates.

Conservation agriculture machinery arrives in Pakistan

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By Imtiaz Hussain and Imtiaz Muhammad/CIMMYT

 

CIMMYT’s Conservation Agriculture Program (CAP) is addressing the lack of good quality conservation agriculture (CA) seeders and multi-crop planters in Pakistan. Under the USAID-funded Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan, CAP will facilitate pilot testing and refining CA-based multi-crop seeders in cereal systems. CIMMYT-Pakistan imported multi-crop happy seeders, bed planters and zero tillage drills from India with the cooperation of CIMMYT-India. This machinery arrived at the National Agriculture Research Center, Islamabad, at the end of February.

Machinery is unloaded at the NARC, Islamabad. Photos: Awais Yaqub

CIMMYT brought CA to Pakistan in the 1980s with the introduction of zero tillage drills in rice-wheat areas. The technique helped solve the issue of late planting in ricewheat cropping systems. With the mechanization of harvesting, however, the burning of crop residue has become problematic. In addition, huge amounts of standing and loose residue affect the first-generation zero tillage drill. Farmers in Punjab hand-plant hybrid maize and cotton crops on already-made ridges and wide beds; there is also need to mechanize this operation.

The pilot testing of new seeders will start this year in cropping systems such as rice-wheat, maize-wheat, cotton-wheat and rain-fed wheat. The seeders will help farmers plant different crops under different levels of residue to reduce residue burning. CIMMYT will provide CA seeders to national agriculture research system partners for use in agriculture extension and adaptive research and for demonstrations in farming communities.

The activity will also promote the refinement and production of resource-conserving seeders through public-private partnerships in the project area.

Climate smart villages: local adaption to promote climate smart agriculture

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By M.L. Jat, Tripti Agarwal, R.S. Dadarwal and Promil Kapur/ CIMMYT and CCAFS

To witness firsthand the mainstreaming of climate-smart agriculture practices and innovative community-based adaptation strategies in India, Alok K. Sikka, deputy director general of the Natural Resource Management Division of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research’s (ICAR) and leader of ICAR’s National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), visited and interacted with farmers at a climate-smart village (CSV) in Haryana on 11 February.

AK Sikka (center) at Taraori CSV. Photo: Vikas

 

He was accompanied by D.K. Sharma, director of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, and P.C. Sharma, one of the Institute’s principal scientists, along with other scientists from ICAR and CIMMYT. Participants agreed that South Asian agriculture needs new technologies, community-based adaptation of relevant practices and the strengthening of local decision-making. The 27 CSVs being piloted in Haryana, India, will disseminate key climate-smart agricultural interventions, focusing on water, energy, carbon nutrient, weather and knowledge implemented through innovative partnerships and farmer cooperatives, according to M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping system agronomist.

The climate-smart villages are implemented through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), in close collaboration with NICRA and a range of innovative partnerships. Under CCAFS, CIMMYT in close collaboration with national agriculture research and extension systems, other CGIAR centers, farmer cooperatives, the Haryana Department of Agriculture and policy planners, have piloted several CSVs in Haryana for research and as learning sites. Sustainable intensification and conservation agriculture-based management systems are the key areas in which CIMMYT and these partners work together.

 

Visitors interacted with farmers and members of farmer cooperatives who are actively disseminating the practices to local communities. The model of innovation platforms for strategic participatory research and learning at CSVs was recognized as an effective method to link science with society. Sikka emphasized that the depleting water table, deteriorating soil health, escalating input costs and weather uncertainties constitute critical concerns and that current production systems are not sustainable.

Discussion regarding damage to conventional tillage based wheat crop due to excess moisture owing to heavy rains and back side a happy wheat crop under CA-Photo RS Dadarwal-CIMMYT. Photo: RS Dadarwal/CIMMYT-Karnal

 

He cited conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification, supplemented by more precise use of inputs like fertilizer, as the way to achieve resilience in production and natural resource conservation. Institutions and organizations must work with emerging technologies to address climate change and provide relevant options for farmers. CCAFS and NICRA are good examples of this.

Pioneering advocate of innovation, resource conservation and technology adoption visits South Asia

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By Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT

 

A former CIMMYT scientist recently returned to South Asia to share his expertise in conservation agriculture.

 

Peter Hobbs worked for CIMMYT as a regional agronomist from 1988 to 2002 and co-led the creation and management of the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Hobbs now works at Cornell University, most recently as associate director of International Programs. The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project invited Hobbs to Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai region of Nepal from 18 to 24 January, where he offered perspectives on South Asia’s progress in the last decade in ricewheat systems research, and heard comments from colleagues.

Former CIMMYT scientist Peter Hobbs. Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT
Former CIMMYT scientist Peter Hobbs. Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT

“Peter Hobbs is the pioneer of zero tillage wheat in South Asia – one of CIMMYT’s best contributions in this region after Norman Borlaug,” said R.K. Malik, a member of CSISA’s senior management team who accompanied Hobbs through India. Malik was a core member of the RWC during Hobb’s time and a champion of zero tillage (ZT) for sowing wheat in rice-wheat rotations. Malik recalled CIMMYT’s early efforts to introduce conservation agriculture in India. Hobbs was integral, bringing the first ZT machine to India from New Zealand in 1989 -the Aitchison drill which was later modified, improved and widely adopted in India.

 

He said that Hobbs applied innovative and multi-disciplinary approaches that united the efforts of the national research programs with an array of public and private stakeholders. “This technology was dependent on identifying champions in the areas where we worked to engage innovative farmers, energize the scientists involved and link them with local machinery manufacturers and farmers, Hobbs said. Hobbs shared observations on his travels through the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. “After seeing the fields in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, there is no question that ZT and reduced-tillage technologies do work and do provide benefits as long as they are done properly and the enabling factors are in place,” he said.

 

He stressed that farmers must have access to machinery, inputs and related expertise, perhaps through a network of service providers. “That means we have to look at the way research can help farmers – having a more participatory approach and providing incentives to scientists and extension workers based on accountability and performance is critical for success,” Hobbs stated. “The RWC and legacy of pioneering scientists like Peter Hobbs, Raj Gupta and R.K. Malik established the foundation for CIMMYT’s ongoing work and impact with farmers in the region through projects like CSISA,” said Andrew McDonald, CSISA project leader. “It was a true pleasure to have Peter’s insights into where we are succeeding and where we can do better. South Asia is changing quickly, but the core lessons from where we’ve come still resonate.”

 

Hobbs is optimistic about the potential of these technologies in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. “It was very rewarding to see that interest in resource- conserving technologies has grown and continues to thrive in this region, and specifically in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, where there is great potential to benefit farmers and also contribute to food security in a more environmentally friendly way.”

India festival takes technology to farmers

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By Raj Kumar Jat, M.L. Jat, R. Valluru, Raju Singh, Nikhil Singh, Jagman Dhillon and Raj Gupta/CIMMYT

  
A day-long “FarmFest” hosted by the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) allowed farmers to interact directly with researchers on issues including new planting machines, cultivar choices for early, timely and late planting, weed management options and crop diversification.

 

During the “Take it to the Farmers – FarmFest” event on 22 February, BISA showcased innovative, farmer-friendly sustainable intensification options. The trials focus on increasing yields using timely planting and increased nutrient inputs; increasing cropping intensity by using short season cultivars, relay and inter-cropping; and mechanization and marketing by substituting highvalue commodities for those that fetch lower prices. Farmers were shown soil conservation measures such as gully plugs, check dams and temporary structures to store rainwater, which reduce negative environmental impact and contribute to natural capital of environmental services.

 

About 1,500 farmers came from 7 districts to collect information and see the performance of 1,500 bread and durum wheat genotypes grown through new BISA shuttle breeding efforts. The efforts include collaboration among the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)-New Delhi, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU)- Ludhiana and CIMMYT-Mexico. The Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi VishwaVidyalaya University (JNKVV) agreed to participate next season.

 

The BISA research farm was established in November 2011 in a cotton production region that suffers from land degradation, large yield gaps and low cropping intensity. The farm’s successful conservation agriculture (CA) platform is attracting the attention of the Madhya Pradesh farmers. Scientists grow rice, wheat, maize, Indian mustard, pigeon pea and soybean without plowing or burning crop residues. Production on the 223-hectare farm is improving every season and costs are going down with the CA practices.

 

Many visiting farmers said they have watched the BISA farm evolve from their “pasture backyard to a granary.” They now want BISA to train them in CA and help them procure appropriate machinery. Ramlal Vishkarma of Sonpur village, whose son is a temporary worker on the BISA farm, said CA saves him US $26 to 32 per hectare each season in planting costs. He also stated that surface mulching helps conserve soil moisture and control cracks in black soils on his farm. In collaboration with JNKVV, the Directorate of Weed Science Research (DWSR), the State Agriculture Department and the seed company JPCL, BISA is promoting resource-conserving no-till agriculture to avoid residue burning, conserve ground water aquifers and provide “seeds of needs” to resource-poor smallholder farmers.

 

Participants were addressed by CIMMYT director general Thomas Lumpkin; V.S. Tomar, vice chancellor of JNKVV; S.K. Rao, JNKVV dean of faculty; and B.P. Tripathi, joint director of agriculture for the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Raj Kumar Jat and the BISA team coordinated visits for stakeholders to research and production plots. JNKVV volunteers explained new farm implements while M.L. Jat, Raj Kumar, Ravi Valluru, Raju Singh, Jagman Dhillon, Nikhil Singh and others discussed significant results of their research trials.

 

Tomar emphasized the need to develop climate-resilient, high-yielding varieties and recommended the promotion of low-cost sustainable intensification practices to improve farmers’ economic conditions. He appreciated the efforts of BISA-CIMMYT in introducing CA-based systems. Lumpkin encouraged farmers to adopt cost-saving technologies that offset ever-increasing input costs and low profits from farm outputs, adding that CA-based management practices buffer the negative effects of climatic extremes. He urged farmers to visit BISA regularly and tell researchers what would directly benefit them. M.L. Jat, CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist, facilitated a question-and-answer session between farmers and experts from BISA, DSWR and JNKVV.

 

Farmers’ feedback will help shape future research priorities at BISA, such as the need to bridge large management yield gaps, mechanization, weed management, soil moisture conservation, improved maize and wheat cultivars, quality seeds and training on new machinery and technologies

Development officer promotes SIMLESA Project

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By Isaiah Nyagumbo/CIMMYT

Starting a personal conservation agriculture plot and providing training via group theater are some of the tactics an extension development officer in Malawi is using to reach farmers.

Fredrerick Lukhere, the local extension development officer for the Mtuthama Extension Planning Area, has led by example as part of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project, which is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. A SIMLESA team visited fields in the Kasungu district on 12 February. The team was led by Isaiah Nyagumbo, SIMLESA Southern Africa objective 2 coordinator, and included Gift Mashango, program manager; Jefias Mataruse, research assistant; Cyprian Mwale, national coordinator; Donwell Kamalongo, national objective 2 coordinator; Keneth Chaula, assistant chief agricultural extension officer; and others from the local district office.

Fredrick Lukhere takes the time to explain maize-soybean rotations to farmers in Kasungu. Photo by Jefias Mataruse

More than 60 farmers, including 42 men and 20 women, participated in the tour. Initiated in 2010, SIMLESA activities in Malawi’s Kasungu District are in their fourth season. The project aims to improve the food security and incomes of 650,000 households in eastern and southern Africa within 10 years. Activities also aim to increase productivity by 30 percent and reduce downside risk by 30 percent through use of improved maize and legume varieties and conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification technologies.

Lukhere has promoted SIMLESA activities using innovative techniques. He reinforces innovation platforms and partnerships founded on the Area Stakeholder Panel, a local community-based institution. He strengthens partnerships with local NGOs such as CADECOM and Total Land Care, subcontracted by SIMLESA to scale out sustainable intensification technologies. He has single-handedly trained NGO staff on how to set up and implement outscaling activities using SIMLESA’s outscaling model involving maizelegume (soybean) rotations.

Exploratory trials involving maize and soybeans are testimony to Fredrerick Lukhere’s efforts in Kasungu, Malawi. Photo by Isaiah Nyagumbo

Lukhere has also ensured the success of core exploratory trials, which were established in 2010 with six farmers in the area. The trials provide a learning platform and are also a source of research data. To increase farmer confidence in the technologies tested, Lukhere set up his own conservation agriculture plot planted with maize in 2012 and has increased the area to 0.5 hectares. The healthy and well-managed maize crop stands as a testimony to Luhkere’s efforts. He also runs a small drama group that trains farmers on SIMLESA technologies and performs to visitors and farmers during field days.

As a result of Luhkere’s efforts, at least 37 farmers are hosting outscaling trials; 84 follower or volunteer farmers are using these technologies without any support; and another 140 farmers are working through CADECOM in the surrounding extension planning areas. Total LandCare also supports farmers by providing herbicides and loans and hosts SIMLESA trials in neighboring extension planning areas.

Afghan farmers visit conservation agriculture farm

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By Raj Kumar Jat/CIMMYT

Nine Afghan farmers, including four women, recently learned about conservation agriculture in Pusa, Bihar, India.

Their visit to the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) on 18 January focused on advances in conservation agriculture (CA)-based management, improved wheat varieties and climate change variability coping strategies. The visit was part of an agribusiness study tour organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Representatives of the Government of Bihar met with the farmers at BISA-Pusa to hear their reactions to the latest technological developments. The delegation was led by Mohamed Ali and facilitated by Vijay Prakash, project director of the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Department of Agriculture, Government of Bihar.

Raj Kumar Jat, cropping systems agronomist for BISA, gave an overview of BISA-CIMMYT research-for-development activities and strategies for the region to improve crop productivity and farm profitability. He explained that BISA develops and promotes CA-based best practices for maize- and wheatbased cropping systems that directly benefit farmers in the region. BISA collaborates with the State Agricultural University, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, different CIMMYT programs such as the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

Afghan farmers, officers from the government of Bihar and the staff of BISA-CIMMYT gather in wheat grown on permanent raised beds at the BISA Farm in Pusa Samastipur. Photo: Raj Kumar Jat

The delegation viewed agricultural machinery, strategic research trials and demonstration plots of wheat, maize, mustard and chickpea, which were planted on permanent raised beds using zero-tillage in laser-leveled fields. Jat explained different CA technologies and the comparative advantages of zero tillage, permanent raised bed planting and laser land leveling over conventional practices.

Farmers in the region face high labor costs and low labor availability, increasing energy prices and frequent climate variability, which require climate-resilient, lowcost alternatives to improve farm profitability. Jat said CA-based management practices can reduce production costs and improve resource-use efficiency, productivity and profitability. Planting different field crops on permanent raised beds using zero tillage reduces tillage and irrigation costs, improves water and nutrient-use efficiency and produces higher yields. He added that crop residue retention reduces weed population and improves soil fertility.

Inclusion of laser land leveling in conservation agriculture also saves water, promotes a uniform crop stand and improves nutrient-use efficiency and crop yields. Zero tillage seeding advances the sowing of different crops by one week, though the use of improved varieties and quality seed are equally important.

Growing more: sustainable intensification in southern Africa

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By Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT

The “double-up legume system” improves food security in Malawi by increasing yield and farmers’ incomes. Photos: Christian Thierfelder

Gently undulating plains and green maize fields dominate the landscape of central Malawi as far as the eye can see. The ridges, furrows and bare soil in between, resulting from traditional land preparation, are common. Heavy rainfalls and accelerated soil erosion turn the Chia Lagoon, connected to Lake Malawi, brown and murky. The continued loss of soil fertility and the need to adapt to climate variability led CIMMYT and its partners to introduce conservation agriculture (CA) in Malawi in 2005.

The Nkhotakota district, where conservation agriculture systems have been widely adopted, shows changes in the landscape, such as residue-covered soil surfaces along the roadsides. Farmers are embracing the new CA concepts and are successfully growing maize directly planted with a pointed stick. CIMMYT and partner organizations including Total LandCare and the Ministry of Agriculture, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, support these efforts. The impacts of CA in Malawi are obvious. More than 30,000 farmers in the central part of the country have been informed about the practices and now use them on their own fields, which is a direct result of CIMMYT science and the concerted efforts of private, governmental extension and national research organizations.

Farmer Christopher Helima shows a new drought-tolerant maize variety grown using conservation agriculture.

Farmer Belemoti Sikelo, from the Mwansambo Extension Planning Area, has participated in the program for more than eight years. “I used to be a farmer that always ran out of maize grain in February or March and had to work for other farmers in the area to enable my family and me to survive,” Sikelo said. “Since I started using conservation agriculture practices, we have always had enough food during the critical months. I have expanded the land area under conservation agriculture on my farm and I have also tried conservation agriculture without expensive herbicides; I believe it is possible to apply conservation agriculture techniques without chemical weed control, but it needs good management and residue cover to reduce the weed pressure. Farmers around me come and visit my demonstration plots and ask me about my secrets for a good-looking maize crop. They admire the fields where I have planted groundnuts and maize under conservation agriculture.”

Disease pressure on traditionally monocropped maize has forced farmers to rotate maize with cowpeas, groundnuts and pigeonpea. Through diversified crop rotations, they have managed to control the parasitic weed striga   (Striga asiatica L.), fungal diseases and damage from white grubs, the larvae of the black maize beetle (Phyllophaga ssp. and Heteronychus spp.). As an added advantage, they have improved family nutrition and have surplus produce to sell in local markets.

A team of researchers from Brazil, Malawi, Mexico and Zimbabwe visited longterm on-station and on-farm CA trials and demonstrations in central Malawi during 4-8 February to monitor progress and impact, in their quest to sustainably intensify smallholder farming systems.

The use of conservation agriculture multiplies these benefits. Legumes such as groundnuts, cowpeas and soybeans can be grown on flat soil with half the row spacing, which is not possible under the conventional ridge and furrow system. The increased plant population has more than doubled grain yield, provides better ground cover and reduces soil erosion. The need to grow more food on the same land area has spurred innovation. To increase legume production, farmers have started to adopt the “double-up legume system.” Growing legumes with different growth habits side-byside – for example pigeon pea with cowpea or groundnuts – increases farmers’ yields and incomes even more, while also improving food security.

Lastly, drought-tolerant maize varieties provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project were recently introduced and are being tested under different crop management systems. With the new stress-tolerant maize cultivars, farmers can now overcome seasonal dry spells and to grow longer season varieties. The risk of crop failure is reduced under conservation agriculture due to better moisture retention on residue-covered fields. This important benefit will be key in the coming years, as temperatures will likely increase and rainfalls become more erratic.

Maize interventions discussed in Pakistan

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By AbduRahman Beshir/CIMMYT

Partners with the Agricultural Innovation Program for Pakistan (AIP) are working to enhance availability and access to maize seeds and varieties. The AIP maize working group discussed problems and shared recommendations to help improve maize production and productivity during its inception meeting from 3-4 February in Islamabad.

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, chairman of PARC, leads a group discussion. On his left is Shahid Masood, a member of the plant sciences division of PARC. On his right are Michael Wyzan, USAID representative, and Imtiaz Muhammad, AIP interim project leader and CIMMYT country representative.

Maize follows wheat and rice as Pakistan’s third most important cereal crop and is first in productivity. Covering 1.14 million hectares with a national average grain yield of about 4.0 tons per hectare (t/ha), maize area, production and productivity increased by 14.5 percent, 26 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively, from 2010-11 to 2013, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The high demand for feed and food are the main forces driving the increased production of maize in Pakistan. Punjab and KPK provinces are the leaders in maize production. Most maize production receives irrigation, and the majority of maize farmers produce the crop in rotation with wheat and rice.

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Nutrient management tool wins award

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A tool developed by CIMMYT and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) offering site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) advice to help farmers achieve higher yields more efficiently recently won an innovation award.

Nutrient ExpertTM decision support tools received the best innovation award in the information and communications technology category at the Bihar Innovation Forum II, which recognizes innovations to improve rural livelihoods in India. These tools were in development by CIMMYT and IPNI for five years and were launched in June 2013.

In South Asia, 90 percent of smallholder farmers do not have access to soil testing. The computer-based support tools aim to provide them with simple advice on how to get the most from fertilizer inputs. An IPNI study funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE CRP) Competitive Grant Initiative (CGI) found that farming practices and the resources available to farmers vary hugely in east India.

The cutting-edge value of Nutrient ExpertTM is that it offers specific information at the farm level, where it can provide the greatest benefits. Nutrient ExpertTM is especially relevant because it was developed through dialogue and participation with stakeholders, which also raises awareness and eventual adoption by users.

It is now used by the Indian National Agricultural Research System and is a key intervention used by the CRP on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in its Climate Smart Villages. The Nutrient ExpertTM approach is also being applied to maize and wheat in other areas of Southeast Asia, China, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Remote sensing prepares for liftoff

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By Sam Storr/CIMMYT

Remote sensing experts, breeders, agronomists and policymakers discussed turning their research and experiences into tools to benefit farmers and increase food production while safeguarding the environment during CIMMYT’s workshop “Remote Sensing: Beyond Images” from 14-15 December 2013.

The "Sky Walker” advances phenotyping in Zimbabwe. Photo: J.L. Araus, University of Barcelona/CIMMYT
The “Sky Walker” advances phenotyping in Zimbabwe. Photo: J.L. Araus, University of Barcelona/CIMMYT

The event was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) and the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Maize and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).

Remote sensing devices make it possible to observe the dynamics of anything from single plants up to entire landscapes and continents as they change over time by capturing radiation from across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. For example, images taken by cameras in the thermal-to-visible end of the spectrum can reveal a broad range of plant characteristics, such as biomass, water use and photosynthesis efficiency, disease spread and nutrient content. Radar or light radar (LiDAR) imaging can be used to create detailed imaging of plant physical structure from the canopy down to the roots. When mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these sensors can rapidly survey much greater areas of land than is possible from the ground, particularly in inaccessible areas. It is hoped that such research will complement highthroughput phenotyping, opening the way for plant breeders to design larger and more efficient crop improvement experiments.

For agronomy research, remote sensing can provide new information about weather, crop performance, resource use and the improved genetic traits sought by crop breeders. It may also help global agriculture meet the challenge of achieving more with fewer resources and include more farmers in innovation. If methods can be found to share and connect this data, farmers will also benefit from greater transparency and more informed policymaking.

Opening the workshop, Thomas Lumpkin, CIMMYT director general, reminded participants of the urgency of meeting the growing demand for staple crops while overcoming crop diseases, resource scarcity and climate change-induced stresses. The advance of technologies and data processing tools allows researchers to see the potential contribution of remote sensing. “For thirty years, the remote sensing community has been on the cusp of doing something wonderful, and now we believe it can,” said Stanley Wood, senior program officer for BMGF. “What excites us is the amount of energy and enthusiasm and the knowledge that their work is important.” Several presentations showcased how remote sensing can be used to benefit smallholder farmers. For example, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project is looking at using rainfall data to target its interventions for the greatest impact.

Bruno GĂ©rard, director of CIMMYT’s Conservation Agriculture Program, spoke about the challenges of CIMMYT’s work in helping smallholder farmers to practice “more precise agriculture.” The spread of mobile phones and information and communications technologies (ICTs) in the developing world shows the potential for CIMMYT to bring recommendations derived from remote sensing to farmers and allows them to provide their own input. The workshop ended with a panel discussion on how to develop remote sensing services that will be adopted by intended users. Participants expect the workshop and similar activities will provide the strategic direction to drive a new generation of remote sensing applications that can bring real benefits to farmers.

For more information on the program, abstracts, participants and presentations, visit the MAIZE website.

CIMMYT strengthens ties with Mexico’s Science Council

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Research center directors from throughout Mexico met to identify possible collaborations on 25 November at CIMMYT-El BatĂĄn. Visitors, all from National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) centers, included Lorenzo Felipe Sanchez Teyer, director general of the YucatĂĄn Scientific Research Center A.C. (CICY); Pablo Wong-GonzĂĄlez, director general of the Center for Food Research and Development A.C. (CIAD); Mayra de la Torre, who is in charge of strategic programs for CIAD; and MartĂ­n Aluja Schuneman Hofer, director general of the Ecology Institute A.C. (INECOL).

Aluja received the 2013 National Award for Science and Arts in the technology, innovation and design category. This important award recognizes his invaluable contribution to promoting agriculture and strengthening the marketing of Mexican avocados, among other work to improve science and technology in Mexico. Congratulations Dr. Aluja! During the visit and meetings with CIMMYT researchers, attendees identified potential areas of collaboration with each CONACYT research center. They agreed on possible areas of focus, including impact modeling on long-term agricultural practices, social inclusion research, technological innovation, value chain and market research, nutritional quality and climate change.

Other CONACYT research centers participated in the first analysis and planning meeting for a national postgraduate program in plant genetic resources, held at CIMMYT on 13-14 November. The initiative is led by MasAgro- Biodiversity. Participation at the workshop included 21 national universities and research centers as well as the Northwest Center for Biological Research (CIBNOR), El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) and INECOL.

Left to right: Carlos Moisés Hernåndez, Denise Costich, Lorenzo Felipe Sanchez Teyer, Kevin Pixley, Mayra de la Torre, Martín Aluja Schuneman Hofer, Pablo Wong-Gonzålez, Natalia Palacios, Sara Hearne, Isabel Peña, Carolina Saint-Pierre, Francelino Rodrigues, Carlos Guzmån and Gilberto Salinas. Photo: Xochiquezatl Fonseca/CIMMYT
Left to right: Carlos Moisés Hernåndez, Denise Costich, Lorenzo Felipe Sanchez Teyer, Kevin Pixley, Mayra de la Torre, Martín Aluja Schuneman Hofer, Pablo Wong-Gonzålez, Natalia Palacios, Sara Hearne, Isabel Peña, Carolina Saint-Pierre,
Francelino Rodrigues, Carlos GuzmĂĄn and Gilberto Salinas. Photo: Xochiquezatl Fonseca/CIMMYT

The CONACYT system includes 27 research institutes that focus on science and technology. Research areas and objectives include natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities, technological development and innovation and financial support for postgraduate studies. Inocencio Higuera, deputy director general of CONACYT’s public centers who visited CIMMYT in August 2013, said CONACYT is extremely important to Mexico. CIMMYT has signed academic and scientific collaboration agreements with CONACYT centers including ECOSUR, CIAD, INECOL, CICY and the Social Anthropology Research and Study Center (CIESAS). These five-year agreements establish collaboration and cooperation terms and conditions for the development and implementation of specific research projects as well as academic exchange and training.

CIMMYT recognizes the importance of exchanging scientific knowledge and strengthening research with institutes that have solid infrastructure and expertise in anthropology and social impact, biotechnology, ecological management, nanotechnology, nutrition and high-quality human resources development.

Agronomists learn precision-conservation agriculture

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By M.L. Jat and Tripti Agarwal /CIMMYT

Wheat agronomists in India learned about precision-conservation agriculture and received the tools to continue their education at a workshop in November.

Nearly 40 participants attended “Precision-Conservation Agriculture for Improving Wheat Productivity in South Asia,” which was organized by CIMMYT, the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) and the International Plant Nutrition Institute – South Asia Program (IPNI), with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The workshop was held 26 to 27 November at the DWR in Karnal, India.

Agronomists receive GreenSeeker training at a DWR field. Photo: RK Sharma, DWR
Agronomists receive GreenSeeker training at a DWR field. Photo: RK Sharma, DWR

Attendees represented nine of the All India Coordinated Research Centres on Wheat and Barley Improvement (AICRCW&BI) located in different state agricultural universities as well as CIMMYT, IPNI, three Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, the State Department of Agriculture in Karnal and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). The goal of the workshop was to train scientists in blending precision and conservation agriculture, an important strategic initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), said M.L. Jat, senior cropping systems agronomist for CIMMYT.

The event aimed to raise awareness about Nutrient Expert, a software tool that helps determine fertilizer requirements, and GreenSeeker, an optical sensor that measures Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), an indicator of crop development and health. In 2009, IPNI and CIMMYT started working with the Nutrient Expert Decision support tool in close collaboration with national agricultural research and extension systems. The tool gained wide acceptance after private organization and corporations began providing it to farmers.

Targeting widespread adoption of both technologies, each coordinated research center received a GreenSeeker tool and Nutrient Expert software. Participants were engaged and motivated to learn about and implement the tools in farmers’ fields. Kaushik Majumdar, director of IPNI in South Asia, applauded the workshop collaboration and continuous efforts on implementing site-specific nutrient management. Etienne Duveiller, director of research for CIMMYT-South Asia, urged a multidisciplinary approach to address yield potential in germplasm and agronomy.

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Partners should expand their innovation and training efforts and construct an action plan to reach farmers, said DWR Project Director Indu Sharma. She also proposed discussion of technology adoption and said training scientists is one way to move forward on agricultural issues. She cited a report on farmers who said they obtained 7 to 9 ton per hectare grain yield with higher nutrient applications.

In addition, she mentioned the need to bridge the production gaps of 15 to 20 percent in high productive zones and up to 35 percent in low productive zones through best-bet agronomic management practices. Regarding training, she emphasized the dissemination of knowledge. “Learning from the best farmers who are harvesting with higher productivity is required to ensure sustainable development,” she said. Participants said they appreciated the knowledge they gained during the workshop. CIMMYT, DWR and IPNI extended their support to participating institutes for future precision conservation agriculture endeavors.

Australian ambassador visits program in Ethiopia

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By Dagne Wegary/CIMMYT

The Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia paid her first visit to a CIMMYT program this month and commended efforts to improve livelihoods in resource-poor rural households.

On her 7 November visit, Ambassador Lisa Filipetto learned about activities under the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program, which have been implemented in different parts of Ethiopia since 2010. She visited SIMLESA sites in northwest Ethiopia, where work is conducted by the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI). Maize-based farming in the region is characterized by unsustainable production systems, including monocropping, repeated tillage and residue removal. SIMLESA promotes new crop varieties and production practices such as intercropping, maize-legume rotations, reduced tillage and year-round residue coverage. Farmers who have traditionally monocropped maize appreciate the new practices, which help them increase harvests while replenishing soil fertility.

Australian-Ambassador-to-Ethiopia-briefed-on-the-peformances-of-SIMLESA-activties

Filipetto was accompanied by scientists from CIMMYT-Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), SIMLESA partners. Dr. Biru Yitaferu, director general of ARARI, and Likawent Yeheyis, director of livestock research for ARARI, welcomed the visiting team. Yitaferu highlighted ARARI’s managerial structure, mandates, missions and resource capacities while Yiheyis presented an overview of SIMLESA work in the region.

Presentations showcased the program’s extensive research and development activities including conservation agriculture-based exploratory trials; farmer participatory variety selection (PVS) for maize, grain legumes and forage and fodder varieties; and technology implementation in South Achefer and Jabitenan districts, which is aided by ARARI researchers and district agricultural offices.
Ambassador-Lisa-Filipetto-and-SIMLESA

Filipetto visited a SIMLESA site hub in South Achefer and saw activities of the Abchikli Farmers’ Training Center on conservation agriculture-based intercropping, as well as PVS trials with hybrid and open-pollinated maize and varieties of sweet lupine – a multi-purpose legume crop traditional in Ethiopia. Four of the sweet lupine varieties in the trials are under the final stage of evaluation for future commercial release. Yeheyis said Amhara’s agriculture bureau will include conservation agriculture, maize-legume intercropping and maize-fodder/forage relay cropping in its regular extension program. This will contribute significantly to adoption of the technologies by a wider range of farming communities in the region, according to Yeheyis.

At the end of her visit, Filipetto expressed great interest in partnering with CIMMYT to improve livelihoods in the region. SIMLESA in Ethiopia is funded by Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

China: farmers benefit from knowledge transfer

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By Jack McHugh /CIMMYT

Jack McHugh, CIMMYT, and Yuan Hanmin, NAAFS, introduce participants to conservation agriculture in Litong district. The presentation was organized and supported by Bei Bing (in foreground) from the Agricultural Technology Promotions Centre in Wuzhong City.
Jack McHugh, CIMMYT, and Yuan Hanmin, NAAFS, introduce participants to conservation agriculture in Litong district. The presentation was organized and supported by Bei Bing (in foreground) from the Agricultural Technology Promotions Centre in Wuzhong City.

A conservation agriculture demonstration site and informal farmer field school opened recently in northern China, raising awareness about useful new technology among farmers and other stakeholders. Organizations in Wuzhong City, Ningxia, – including CIMMYT, the Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Ningxia Bei Li Feng Zhongye Seed Company, the Wuzhong City and Litong District Agricultural Technology Promotion Centre, the Qingdao Peanut Machinery Manufacturing Company and the villagers of Litong District – are working together to build an innovation platform (IP). The IP will aim to transfer knowledge and technology to improve agronomic practices of the farmers in the district and beyond. “We hope to develop champion farmers who will share their knowledge with others and thus provide valuable feedback to the community of practice associated with the platform,” said Jack McHugh, a CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist based in China.

The 20-hectare conservation agriculture demonstration site and field school are particularly useful for female farmers in Litong District, where many men participate in long-term, off-farm work. The training gives women access to the knowledge, skills and capacity to operate farms more profitably while using less labor. “Our purpose is to introduce affordable technology that makes conservation agriculture possible,” McHugh said. “We have great expectations for its future development because we are developing a community of practice.”

A demonstration site during winter irrigation shows a conservation agriculture (CA) field (left) and conventionally (CK) planted field (right). The CA field was planted on 14 October while the CK field was planted at the end of September.
A demonstration site during winter irrigation shows a conservation agriculture (CA) field (left) and conventionally (CK) planted field (right). The CA field was planted on 14 October while the CK field was planted at the end of September.

This month, CIMMYT agronomists saw the benefits of the Chinese zero-tillage turbo seeder introduced by the Qingdao Peanut Machinery Manufacturing Company. The seeder allows seed to be sown and fertilizer applied directly into unplowed soil. The winter wheat crop was planted late with some concern, but the seeder “did a great job,” McHugh said. The 50-horsepower tractor seeder and 20-horsepower tractor mini-turbo seeder will be refined to enhance crop flexibility, field setup and ease of operation. At the informal field school held last month at the innovation platform demonstration site, McHugh and Professor Yuan Hanmin from the agricultural academy in Ningxia gave a presentation on the basics of conservation agriculture. Participants included 32 farmers – 40 percent female – who raised questions about fertilization with the turbo seeder and the impacts of residue on rice transplanting. “We were able to show – through Professors Yuan’s pictures of his work over the last decade in Ningxia – that these and other concerns held by the farmers are readily addressed,” McHugh said. “We emphasized that this presentation was a generic introduction to conservation agriculture and that the innovation platform would work closely with farmers to address specific issues they may have when introducing the technology into their farming operations.” The projects are receiving attention throughout the region. Recent events have been documented by the Wuzhong daily newspaper and with interviews by local television stations from Yinchuan and Wuzhong cities.