Working with smallholders to understand their needs and build on their knowledge, CIMMYT brings the right seeds and inputs to local markets, raises awareness of more productive cropping practices, and works to bring local mechanization and irrigation services based on conservation agriculture practices. CIMMYT helps scale up farmersâ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.
Agronomy scientists got practical, hands-on advice on translating their research data into credible scientific publications during a five-day workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The 13 scientists have been conducting research for the past four years addressing sustainable intensification in Africa using conservation agriculture and improved maize and legume varieties as part of the SIMLESA program, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. The goal of the workshop was to help them accelerate production of publications based on their research.
Participants met with biometricians one-on-one to discuss the data and experiments they wanted to analyze, and the outputs of the statistical analyses for each data set were shared in feedback sessions. Feyissa Mekonnen, data manager for CIMMYTâs Global Conservation Agriculture Program and Socioeconomics Program, assisted with the analysis of the data, which was collected under objective 2 during phase 1 of SIMLESA. In the final session, participants received some hints on how to present statistical results in scientific publications.
Dr. Mulugetta Mekuria, the SIMLESA program coordinator, emphasized the need to transform research data into scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals for the benefit of the scientific and development communities. All the participants confirmed to Dr. Mekuria that they would complete draft papers by the end of July.
Agronomy scientists from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawai, Mozambique and Zimbabwe trained with biometricians and data analysts. Photo: CIMMYT
The workshop, held 26-31 May, was attended by scientists from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, organized by regional CIMMYT scientists Dr. Fred Kanampiu and Dr. Isaiah Nyagumbo and facilitated by five biometricians from the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa led by Yolisa Pakela-Jezille. It ended with a social event for participants and CIMMYT staff where Dr. Mekuria bid farewell to Dr. Kanampiu, who will be leaving CIMMYT at the end of July after 17 years.
By Tony Fischer (Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, ACT, Australia), Derek Byerlee (Independent Researcher, Washington, DC, USA), Greg Edmeades (Independent Consultant, Cambridge, New Zealand) Monograph No. 158 (2014) of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Co-authored by three former CIMMYT scientists and officially released at the recent Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, this book concludes that further, sustainable intensification of agriculture can produce enough food to meet the demand of a growing world population to 2050. Achieving this will require greater effort and investment in agricultural research, development and extension, especially in the developing world.
Moreover, the increased-but-efficient (i.e., environmentally friendly) use of inputs will challenge scientists and farmers alike, particularly in high-potential, high-input environments. The authors focus on the major grains maize, rice, soybean and wheat, but touch briefly upon 20 or so other crops. They see special potential in Sub-Saharan Africa, where intensification has barely begun and there is large scope for closing the âyield gapâ â the difference between farmersâ yields and those obtained on research stations.
The three authors coincided at CIMMYT in the late 1980s-early 1990s and afterward continued eminent careers in agricultural research for development. Byerlee headed socioeconomics research at CIMMYT and later led the team at the World Bank that produced the agencyâs influential 2008 World Development Report Agriculture for Development. Edmeades coordinated maize physiology research at CIMMYT and, notably, studies on drought and low-nitrogen tolerance whose principles were applied to develop maize varieties that benefit an estimated 3 million households in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A wheat physiologist, Fischer served as leader of CIMMYTâs global wheat program and subsequently as a program manager in crops and soils at ACIAR in Canberra, Australia. His research publications are widely cited, he has received numerous science and development awards and, in 2007, he was elected a Member of the Order of Australia. To download or order copies of the book, click here.
On 20-22 May, CIMMYT hosted a summit with researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a U.S. Department of Energy facility that is the largest multipurpose science laboratory in the U.S. and a committed member of the Knowledge Systems for Sustainability community of practice.
CIMMYT and ORNL began interacting in 2011, with CIMMYT leadership visiting ORNL in 2013. This summit was the formal realization of the commitment between the two groups. Bram Govaerts, associate director of CIMMYTâS Global Conservation Agriculture Program, gave an overview of the necessity for collaboration by referring to a recent National Geographic article, âFeeding 9 Billion,â that offered a five-step plan to sustainably increase the global food supply:
1. Freeze agricultureâs footprint
2. Grow more on the farms we already have
3. Use resources more efficiently
4. Shift diets
5. Reduce waste
Photos: AC Staff
The first four suggestions, Govaerts pointed out, were being directly addressed at the summit. Technology developed at ORNL will play a major role, through the improved use of big data, assessment tools, sensors and controls. One example described by Jay Gulledge, director of ORNLâs Environmental Services Division, is a laser-based infrared computed tomography spectroscopy tool that can read the greenhouse gas emissions of an area.
Virginia Dale, ORNL Corporate Fellow in the Environmental Services Division, addressed how farmers, data specialists and others are having different conversations around the same topics. âWhen people talk about food security, they mean different things; thereâs no agreement in the world.â To create a common starting point, Dale described ORNLâs efforts to determine specific environmental and socioeconomic sustainability indicators that add value to the entire community.
Photos: AC Staff
On the second day, the morning was dedicated to creative, collaborative brainstorming to specify work for each of the five task areas. Stan Wood, senior program officer in the Agricultural Policy and Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, noted a recurring tension among all task groups between focusing on external audiences versus serving internal scientistsâ needs. He described how the science community tends to ask for a model, while visitors to the Gates Foundation will ask âso what difference does it make?â Wood suggested focusing both on the practitioners (will it actually be helpful in the field?) and the beneficiaries (are they front and center?) to create a strong human narrative.
Molly Jahn, professor in the Laboratory of Genetics and Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reviewed the partnership potential including commercial and media groups, common resources and a focus on near-term rather than hypothetical goals. âWeâre on the edge, and not everything we commit to or try works,â she said. âChallenges happen, and that is part of the experiment. Those challenges themselves are deeply informative.â
CIMMYT Director General Tom Lumpkin closed the summit, describing Jahn as âa living matrix maker ⊠she gets us out of our silos.â He continued, âso much could be done if we had all of the data, all of the research projects that have disappeared into paper recycling and digital trash cans.â Acknowledging the senior CIMMYT staff present, Lumpkin emphasized that they are people who have spent time âon the ground, in the villages, who have looked farmers in the face. They can bring a lot to the discussion.â
The Invest in LAC Agriculture campaign kicked off 13 May to encourage increased investment and unlock the grain production potential of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The region is home to more than one-third of the worldâs freshwater resources and more than a quarter of its medium- to high-potential farmland.
Scaling up investments in agricultural development and research in LAC was one of the key policy recommendations of a groundbreaking report by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Global Harvest Initiative titled The Next Global Breadbasket: How Latin America Can Feed the World, released on 23 April (download the report here). This report illustrates the opportunities, obstacles and challenges that stand in the way of realizing LACâs agricultural potential, and how the public and private sectors can and must move forward together.
CIMMYT was among more than 30 partner organizations that contributed compelling evidence for policy action action and investment. In particular, CIMMYT shared its experience in improving extension services in Mexico by developing MasAgro-Móvil, a mobile information service that offers technical advice, grain price information and weather updates to more than 3,500 farmers who participate in the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project.
Bernardo GuillamĂłn, manager of the Office of Outreach and Partnerships, IDB, welcomes food security experts to the kickoff event for the Invest in LAC Agriculture Campaign. Photos: Ricardo Curiel
CIMMYT and the Mexican Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA) started MasAgro in 2010 to increase Mexicoâs maize and wheat productivity by developing improved maize seeds for rain-fed zones and promoting conservation practices among resource-constrained farmers, explained Bram Govaerts, associate director of the Global Conservation Agriculture Program, who represented CIMMYT at the launch event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Â MasAgro drew praise from the representatives of the partner institutions who spoke at the launch.
Ricardo SĂĄnchez, sustainable food security director for Latin America of The Nature Conservancy, commended the collaboration for offering opportunities to young farmers who wish to earn their livelihood from agriculture. Philippe Villers, president of GrainPro Inc., said that Mexico and CIMMYT were at the forefront of the Green Revolution of the 1970s and that today their partnership is developing extension systems that effectively achieve yield increases and reduce post-harvest losses.
The LAC report was further discussed at an afternoon briefing attended by members of Congress and their staffs as well as representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Agency for International Development, NGOs, foundations and think tanks, plus researchers and academics working in and for LAC.
By Cosmos Magorokosho, Mulugetta Mekuria and Tawanda Mushandu/CIMMYT
A strong hailstorm that ravaged the CIMMYT research station in Harare turned out to be an unplanned but effective demonstration for the Southern Africa Regional Officeâs partners day, held on 15 April.
Participants were excited about the low-cost maize storage silos on display and the efficacy of the SuperGrainbag, a hermetically sealed grain storage system. They also were surprised to see how well the lodging-resistant varieties had withstood the hail that had fallen two weeks earlier.
Some of the varieties promising to end hunger in Africa are on display. Photos: Tawanda Mushandu, Irene Chakoma and Oswell Ndoro
The event drew more than 200 participants from various Zimbabwe government departments, private seed companies, universities, agriculture colleges, the donor community, diplomatic missions, agro-input companies, and other stakeholders. Economist Mulugetta Mekuria highlighted that the CIMMYT Harare station has evolved from a purely maize breeding station to a maize improvement and farming systems research station.
The participants visited programs showcasing technologies on effective grain storage; new drought-tolerant and disease-resistant hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs); and new technologies for phenotyping and sustainable intensification. They also learned about conservation agriculture technologies such as legumes that can be used effectively in soil improvement and crop rotation systems, low-cost field equipment suited to CA systems for smallholder farmers, and recommended agriculture input application for CA systems. The new hybrid and OPV maize varieties were classified according to maturity group, grain quality, disease resistance, plant aspect, and yield potential. Of particular interest were the germplasm products showing high yield potential, tolerance to low soil nitrogen and resistance to biotic stresses such as maize streak virus, northern leaf blight, grey leaf spot and cob rots.
John Govereh explains the use of the SuperGrainbag.
The Maize Physiology program showcased the nitrogen-use efficiency work in progress and the latest low-cost technologies that are supporting the breeding activities, and how they can help breeders choose the best germplasm. The day ended with a discussion during lunch where participants gave positive and constructive feedback on what they had seen and learned in the field, and more importantly, on what they would wish to see CIMMYT scientists develop in the future.
AfriseedsÂŽ David Lungu displays a cob of the companyâs maize at an outgrowerâs farm in Chongwe, Zambia. Photos: Florence Sipalla
Seed companies play an important role in providing smallholder farmers access to improved seed.
CIMMYTâs breeding and seed systems teams have been supporting Afriseed â a brand produced under the flagship of Stewards Globe Limited â to build its product offering and give farmers more options. The company has recently added high-yielding, drought-tolerant maize hybrids (GV635 and GV638) to its portfolio, which includes open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and legumes such as beans, cowpeas, groundnuts and soybeans. Stewards Globe has received technical assistance through the CIMMYT-led Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia (SIMLEZA) projects.
âWe donât have a breeding program, and we need the partnership until we are big enough to develop one,â said Stephanie Angomwile, the acting chief executive officer at Stewards Globe, which has been working with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) since 2010. Both AGRA and DTMA are funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF), while SIMLEZA is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
CIMMYT seed systems specialist Peter Setimela has a discussion with Stewards Globe acting chief executive officer Stephanie Angomwile, center, and production manager Emma Sekelechi at the Agriseeds production field on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia.
Afriseed production manager Emma Sekelechi got practical training on seed production and hand-pollination techniques during a visit to the CIMMYT-Harare research station in Zimbabwe, where she learned how to synchronize the flowering dates of the male and female parents. The training is important because the company is now making the transition from growing OPVs to hybrids, and hybrid production needs more technical skills than OPV production does. She also attended a weeklong training session for maize technicians held at the Natural Resources Development College (NRDC) in Lusaka, Zambia, supported by DTMA and SIMLEZA projects.
Afriseed works with approximately 170 smallholder farmers on contract to multiply seed, but it is exploring the option of working with fewer farmers who have larger plots of land. âOn-farm cleaning and storage of seedâ are challenges, Angomwile said. The company is working on an aggressive marketing drive to popularize the new varieties through demonstration plots, providing demonstration packs (100 grams each), working with more agro dealers and holding field days for farmers to evaluate the crops. âFake seed will not give you anything,â Afriseed marketing manager Mike Chungu told the farmers. âUse seed that comes from a reputable dealer and is approved by the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI).â
Identifying the socioeconomic constraints farmers face in adopting a technology is central to ensuring they adopt it sustainably. This is the work that the Pathways to Sustainable Intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa (Adoption Pathways) project is doing in collaboration with partners from national universities and agriculture research systems in Africa and Europe.
Adoption Pathways partners met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 10-12 April to review activities to date and to plan for 2014. The four-year project is funded by the Australian International Food Security Research Centre (AIFSRC) and managed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Project partners from seven institutions collaborating on the project in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania attended the meeting.
Participants included policymakers and vice-chancellors from universities as well as donor representatives â John Dixon, ACIAR principal adviser for research/cropping systems and economics and Liz Ogutu, ACIAR regional manager for Africa. Fentahun Mengistu, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), officially opened the meeting and described the project as one that represents a unique cross-country research and development effort.
âAfrica is at the tipping point,â said Dixon, adding that six of the worldâs top 10 fastest growing countries are in Africa. Dixon identified food, economic growth and sustainable intensification as keys to tapping global opportunities. âSustainable intensification of maize and legumes will increase resources productivity and reduce production risk,â he said.
Understanding what drives farmers to take up different sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) â such as zero/minimum tillage, maize-legume intercropping, maize-legume rotations, new maize and legume varieties and using chemical fertilizer â is important. The project has developed several policy briefs based on research to share its outputs with a wider audience. âDonât just push policymakers but push them with evidence,â said Wilfred Mwangi, CIMMYTâs regional representative for Africa. Mwangi emphasized the need for policy dialogue and more capacity building.
The project has helped train 18 early-career economists in research design and implementation. An additional 120 people have gained practical experience in conducting surveys through their participation as enumerators or supervisors. Mengistu said the project has âplanted seeds for impactâ because different countries can benefit from the regional approach to tackling development challenges.
Photo: Semu Yemane/EIAR
Referencing a policy brief on the SIPs adopted by farmers in Ethiopia, he noted that farmers who implemented a suite of multiple agronomic practices were able to double or even triple their income from maize. Menale Kassie, the Adoption Pathways project leader, shared some of the projectâs key achievements, which include establishing panel data, analysis to determine gaps in technology adoption through a gender lens, impact analysis and risk assessment. âWe need policy dialogue, followed by policy advocacy,â Kassie said. âWe would be happy if our products are used by our partners.â
Policymakers, including top university administrators, pledged their support for policy advocacy. âWe will help support this project through linkages with policymakers and the Ministry of Agriculture,â said James Tuitoek, professor and vice-chancellor at Egerton University in Kenya. Angelo Macuacua, professor and vice-chancellor at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, thanked the project for inviting the vice-chancellors to participate in the meeting.
âIt helps us understand, in detail, the work the researchers are doing,â he said. Other vice-chancellors at the meeting were Professor Phiri Kanyama and Professor Gerald Monela from Malawiâs Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (formerly known as Bunda College) and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania.
The importance of monitoring and evaluation in project implementation was emphasized by AIFSRCâs Ogutu. âResults from this project will not only help farmers, there is potential on a larger scale,â she said. The meeting provided partners an opportunity to closely interact, share their research results and plan for the next phase of activities.
The Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP) Phase-II held a series of field days in Malawi and Zambia to raise awareness and demonstrate the efficacy of metal silos in protecting stored grains against weevils and larger grain borers â the two most destructive storage insect pests of maize. The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Farmers feel properly stored grain from a metal silo during the field day at Banda Jessyâs farm in Chimtende Camp, Katete District, Zambia. Photos: Wandera Ojanji
During the events, farmers compared the good-quality grain stored in a silo to the damaged grain stored in traditional structures and gunny bags. Artisans and extension officers also demonstrated the proper use and handling of a metal silo. The first field day was held on 8 April at Banda Jessyâs farm in Chimtende Camp, Katete District, Eastern Province, Zambia. More than 160 farmers, metal silo artisans, agricultural officers and local leaders attended the event.
Metal silos have many benefits, said Dolan Mulumbu, Chimtende camp officer. They have the ability to store grain for many years without damage, donât require insecticides, are portable and are insect- and rodent-proof. They also give farmers flexibility on when to sell their grain and allow them to store grain for their families. Greyson Phiri, Sambira Village headman, thanked CIMMYT for bringing the metal silo technology to farmers.
The second field day in Zambia was held on 9 April at Peter Mwanzaâs homestead in the Kamlaza Agricultural Camp, Chipata District, Eastern Province. The field day was attended by more than 270 farmers from the camp. Most farmers in the area sell their grain immediately after harvest for fear of it being destroyed by post-harvest pests.
Moffat Khosa, of the Zambian Ministry of Agricultureâs Department of Mechanization, urged farmers to adopt the technology to help them avoid selling their grain immediately after harvest â when the prices average US$ 10 per 50 kilogram bag â and sell at a higher price later in the season. He challenged farmers to invest in post-harvest technologies as much as they are investing in other farm inputs, such as seed and fertilizer.
Chilese Mabengwa and Zidana Mbewe, district extension officers for Katete and Chipata, respectively, demonstrate proper use and handing of metal silos during the field day at Banda Jessyâs farm in Chimtende Camp, Katete District, Zambia.
More than 240 farmers attended the third field day on 11 April at Frank Renadiâs farm in Kapsala Village, Chigonti Extension Planning Area, Lilongwe District, Malawi. It was attended by Wilfred Lipita, controller of Agriculture Extension and Technical Services; Godfrey Chingâoma, director of Crop Development; his deputy, Bartholomew Ngauma; Penjani Theu, program manager, Lilongwe Agricultural Development Division; district development officers from Lilongwe and Mchinji; and local leaders from Chigothi. Lipita urged farmers to take advantage of the 50-50 cost-sharing offer from the project to acquire metal silos, adding that those who cannot afford to pay 50 percent can opt for cheaper super grain bags.
The project intends to distribute 7,500 super grain bags to smallholder farmers in the Lilongwe and Mchinji districts for demonstration. âThe crop in the field needs to be protected from maize weevils and larger grain borers, rodents and ambient moisture fluctuations,â Lipita said. âWhere the crop has done well, there is need for farmers to jealously guard the crop so that there are no post-harvest losses.â
The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program has successfully completed its first phase with significant outputs that helped improve the food and nutritional security of smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa.
SIMLESA, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), was launched in 2010 to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities in Africa through productive and sustainable maize-legume systems and risk management strategies that conserve natural resources. It is managed by CIMMYT and implemented by partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. With lessons from these core countries, the program is also implemented in Botswana, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.
SIMLESAâs contribution to improving system productivity and profitability was highlighted in a meeting held in April. Photos: Seifu Mahifere
SIMLESAâs first phase ended with its Fourth Annual Regional Review, Planning and Program Steering Committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 7-11 April. Sileshi Getahun, Ethiopiaâs state minister  of agriculture and the guest of honor, said the program has paid âsubstantial dividendsâ to sustainable agricultural development in eastern and southern Africa. The second phase of SIMLESA, which will also be funded by ACIAR, is expected to launch in July. âSIMLESA is a model for many regional and sub-regional collaborative projects to address agricultural intensification [in Africa],â Getahun told more than 120 representatives of SIMLESA partner organizations attending the event.
Mulugeta Mekuria, program coordinator, outlined the programâs main achievements in developing conservation agriculture (CA)-based sustainable intensification options, technology adoption by both female and male farmers, capacity building  for national agricultural research systems (NARS) of partner countries and the creation of enhanced partnerships and collaboration for a common goal. He noted in particular that SIMLESA has contributed to the release of 40 new maize varieties, which have yield advantages of 10 to 30 percent when compared to existing commercial varieties in its program countries. The program also trained more than 3,000 agricultural scientists in the maize and legume production value chains and engaged more than 40,000 farmers (almost half of them women) through farmer field days and exchange programs.
John Dixon, ACIAR principal research advisor, expressed ACIARâs commitment to support SIMLESA. The program is considered a flagship program and is being adopted by donors as a framework for sustainable intensification. Fentahun Mengistu, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and SIMLESA Program Steering Committee member, underlined that SIMLESA has significantly contributed to the generation and adoption of user-preferred maize and legume technologies, as well as information and knowledge that improve system productivity and profitability of the target farming systems. âThe outcome of SIMLESA, in terms of human capacity and research facility building, will improve our efficiency and impact in agricultural research in the future,â Fentahun said. Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT Socioeconomic Program director and SIMLESA Program Management Committee chair, said SIMLESA II will have a broader technological focus on systems and impact orientation as well as the creation of more partnerships and scaling out of program results.The week-long event featured country-specific achievements from Australia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, backed by poster displays showing success stories.
Remarks are given at the SIMLESA review meeting. Photo: Seifu Mahifere
Participants also visited maize and legume seed production, forage and irrigated intercropping trials and the Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre, showcasing SIMLESA-supported technologies. They also saw an ultra-modern export company that cleans, grades and packages legumes and is linked with SIMLESA research teams in Ethiopia.
The SIMLESA Program Steering Committee commended SIMLESA for its substantive progress and NARS partners for their professionalism and skill during the meeting.
By Pankaj Singh, Parvinder Singh, H.S. Sidhu and M.L. Jat/CIMMYT
A delegation from Colorado State University, United States, and the University of Adelaide, Australia, visited the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ludhiana, Punjab, on 10 March. The visit focused on advances in precision agriculture as well as conservation agriculture (CA) and climate change. Etienne Duveiller, BISA director of research, gave an overview of the institute as well as its research and development activities.
BISA research focuses on wheat and maize germplasm and precision and conservation agriculture to address degradation of land and water resources, high labor costs, low labor availability, increasing input costs and climate variability. He emphasized that BISA works closely with the regional public and private sectors. H.S. Sidhu, senior research engineer at BISA, explained that most BISA land is farmed using CA practices and is successfully producing maize, wheat, soybeans, mustard, pigeon peas, cotton and rice under zero tillage and without burning residue, using second generation machines. This showcases the uses of CA for different cropping systems and its benefits to the farming and scientific community. Uttam Kumar and Ravi Valluru explained the development of high-yielding varieties of wheat for South Asia using a genomic selection approach for tolerance to heat stress and drought. They also showed advanced international breeding lines and hybrid wheat screening.
Representatives from two universities visited BISA in March. Photo: CIMMYT
M.L. Jat, senior cropping systems agronomist and South Asia leader for CIMMYT and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), explained that CA-based crop management technologies have been developed and deployed in several production systems and ecologies. With the recent focus on the importance of CA, more strategic research on precision agriculture such as nutrient placement, water usage, cultivars and weed management has been initiated. Jat also explained how climate change and water scarcity are causing adverse impacts on productivity, mainly due to terminal heat stress.
A field trial on wheat genotype and management interactions to adapt cultivars to contrasting management systems and planting time was also discussed to enhance crop and water productivity. Sidhu, Jat and the CIMMYT-BISA team working on the farm coordinated visits to various research trials and demonstrations of the latest CA machinery while Parvinder Singh and Pankaj Singh also shared their experiences.
To demonstrate small-scale CA mechanization, the two-wheel tractor-operated turbo âhappy seederâ and laser leveller were also displayed. The visitors were impressed with the ability of the high clearance seeder and tractor to seed relay wheat into standing cotton.
CIMMYT and the Department of Agriculture Research, Punjab, held a one-day training for agriculture extension workers in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, to share information, promote collaboration and encourage the dissemination of technologies from the USAID-Feed the Future funded Agriculture Innovation Program (AIP).
Held at the Regional Agriculture Research Institute (RARI) on 10 March, the training was attended by 28 workers from the Department of Agriculture Extension, Punjab, and 22 students from the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB). Ghulam Hussain, director of RARI, lauded CIMMYT and USAID efforts in strengthening agriculture research in the country, especially in southern Punjab.
Researchers, extension workers and students learn in the field. Photos: Ahsan Irshad
RARIâs Manzoor Hussain highlighted the instituteâs efforts to develop wheat varieties for southern Punjab. He also emphasized the collaboration between research and agriculture extension. Imtiaz Hussain, CIMMYT cropping system agronomist, briefed the participants about AIP activities and shared conservation agronomy experience in Pakistanâs different cropping systems. Muhammad Akhter, from the Agronomic Research Station (ARS), Bahawalpur, presented on relay cropping of wheat in standing cotton. This technique allows farmers to plant wheat on time without land preparation and save on cultivation costs. Liaqat Ali explained the method of ridge planting for wheat, which involves land preparation, shallow tillage with cultivators and the use of ridgers to make ridges and furrows. Ridge planting can help farmers achieve 10 percent higher wheat grain yields and 30 to 40 percent savings in water over traditional techniques.
Tanveer Ahmed, executive director of Agriculture Extension, Bahawalpur, praised the collaboration between agriculture extension and research for technology transfer to farmers. After the seminar, participants visited field trials and demonstrations at RARI and ARS, Bahawalpur. Field demonstrations included information about salient characteristics of wheat varieties including Fareed-06, Maraj-08 and Aas-11, performance of wheat varieties in early and late planting, the balanced use of nutrients for wheat crops, relay cropping of wheat in standing cotton on flat and beds and ridge planting of wheat. During the field visit, researchers explained the methodologies of field technologies and answered questions. Participants from the extension department said these activities should be continued in the future to improve links between research and extension.
By Walter Mupangwa and Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT
The quiet Khokwe village in the Chanje Central Block in Chipata district, Zambia, was buzzing with activity on 2 April when six traditional chiefs visited the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia-Africa Rising (SIMLEZA-Africa Rising) project.
Traditional leaders in African societies hold deep-rooted power in the communities, make important decisions on land use and distribution and guide villagers in times of change and uncertainty. Smallholder farmers in the Eastern Province face high labor costs and low labor availability and are confronted with the negative effects of climate variability, which require climate-resilient, low-cost alternatives to improve farm productivity. Conservation agriculture (CA)- based management practices, combined with drought-tolerant maize varieties, as suggested by SIMLEZA-Africa Rising, can reduce production costs and improve resource-use efficiency, productivity and profitability. Farmers from communities surrounding Khokwe warmly welcomed the six chiefs drawn from Chewa- and Tumbuka-speaking tribes of eastern Zambia.
CIMMYTâs Walter Mupangwa explains how the animal-drawn direct seeder works while Duncan Tembo of Agro-Chemicals shows the chiefs the different herbicides and pesticides available to farmers.
Nyao traditional dancers known as âGule Wankuluâ and Ngoni dancers also joined the farmers in welcoming and entertaining the chiefs, who were accompanied by two representatives from the Ministry of Chiefs Affairs, village headmen, councilors and officers from the District Agricultural Coordinatorâs Office (DACO). They were invited by the SIMLEZA-Africa Rising project team with representatives from CIMMYT, community agricultural committees, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), the National Agricultural Information Service (NAIS), Total LandCare (TLC) and the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI). SIMLEZA-Africa Rising is funded by USAID-Feed the Future. The chiefs visited trial sites in Khokwe, including a maize regional on-farm trial.
Farmers are directly involved in selecting the best maize varieties from the 20 that are being tested, which was emphasized in explaining participatory varietal selection. Most crops appeared stressed by drought, as the area had not received any rain for one month. ââThese varieties are really drought-tolerant,ââ remarked Chief Magodi as participants left the maize regional on-farm trial to visit a maize mother-baby trial, where 12 drought-tolerant maize varieties are being tested. At the CA trial, the chiefs studied maize crops planted under zero tillage in rotation or intercropped with cowpeas.
The chiefs observed that maize in the ridge and furrow system was severely moisture-stressed while maize on the CA plots was still green and growing well. ââI never knew that there are such activities happening in our district,ââ exclaimed Chief Misholo from the Chiparamba block in Chipata district, adding that the visit was an âeye-openerâ for him.
Chiefs wearing yellow and white SIMLEZA-Africa Rising T-shirts and caps visit a conservation agriculture field during a tour of SIMLEZA-Africa Rising project. Photos: Walter Mupangwa
CIMMYTâs Walter Mupangwa highlighted environmentally-friendly products used on CA fields and the procedures farmers should follow when using herbicides. for weed control. Next to the CA field, new animal traction seeding equipment was showcased, including the animal traction direct seeder, Magoye ripper tines and a hand-held no-till planter. An agro-dealer from ATS Agro-Chemicals, part of the SIMLEZA-Africa Rising innovation network, displayed the herbicides and pesticides available for smallholder farmers in the region. Farmers were keen on interacting with the traditional leaders on farming-related issues. Main discussion points included the need to improve market links and information flow for soybean and maize crops.
Chief Mbanâgombe encouraged farmers to diversify the crops they grow in the face of low prices for maize. The chiefs strongly advocated for SIMLEZA-Africa Rising to set up trials in their areas to help disseminate technology to more farming households within their jurisdiction. The chiefsâ visit is a major breakthrough for the SIMLEZA-Africa Rising project. The support of traditional leaders is a main driver of change toward more sustainable intensification.
By H.S. Jat, R.S. Dadarwal, Love K. Singh and J.M. Sutaliya/CIMMYT
The Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), one of Indiaâs leading agricultural research institutes, has partnered with CIMMYT to develop a technical bulletin in Hindi on conservation agriculture practices as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA).
The bulletin was recently released at the spring farmersâ fair âRabi Kisan Melaâ organized by CSSRI in Karnal, Haryana. The bulletin aims to increase awareness among farmers about sustainable intensification and the latest conservation agriculture technologies. R.S. Paroda, former director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and chairman of the Haryana Farmers Commission, launched the bulletin at the fairâs inauguration and advised farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices to combat shrinking land and declining water resources. He praised the conservation agriculture research-for-development efforts in Haryana by ICAR, CIMMYT, the Department of Agriculture and other institutions and advocated for faster adoption of conservation agriculture to address the emerging challenges of climate change.
Progressive farmers were recognized for using conservation agriculture practices. Photo: CIMMYT
The fair provided a platform for more than 3,000 farmers from the states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to participate and interact with researchers, extension agents and policymakers on the issues of salt-affected soils management, conservation agriculture, precision agriculture, farm mechanization and options for climate-resilient farming under diverse production systems. During the fair, 25 progressive farmers were congratulated for their efforts. The CIMMYT-Haryana team also used an exhibition to disseminate resource-conserving and climate-smart agricultural technologies.
By Meenakshi Singh, Raj Kumar Jat and Raj Gupta/CIMMYT
A recent field day in Bihar, India, showed farmers have confidence in conservation agriculture and donât need agri-input subsidies but rather easy access to quality inputs and fair compensation for their produce.
During a field day on 12 March, about 100 farmers shared their experiences regarding zero tillage and its benefits and travelled through seven villages to see the performance of zero-till crops. The non-governmental organization (NGO) GUVVS is developing alternate options for rural improvement and has been working in several areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal since 2011. Indiaâs Eastern Gangetic Plains are characterized by fragmented land holdings and resource-poor farmers who consistently face drought or floods. These conditions and the suboptimal crop management practices make agriculture risky.
Farmers in Bhagalpur, a district in Bihar near the Ganges River, face a variety of challenges. Low areas flood during the rainy season while rice in the uplands and midlands suffer from a lack of surface and ground water. Winter crops are sown late, resulting in low productivity. Excess soil moisture during winter crop seeding, terminal heat stresses in late-planting wheat, weeds and low-quality seed are some of the main issues hindering agriculture in the region.
Raj Kumar Jat explains weed management in maize to farmers. Photo: CIMMYT
With maize and wheat seed and other support from CIMMYT, Meenakshi Singh, GUVVS coordinator, has introduced new rice, wheat and pigeon pea cultivars with heat tolerance, water-logging tolerance and other adaptations. GUVVS also introduced resourceconserving zero till technology and new seeds through the seed production chain. Seed is provided to farmers in seven villages. Farmers get 20 to 30 kilograms of free seed from the NGO. They then repay the same amount of seed at harvest and sell what remains to fellow farmers. The NGO redistributes the collected seed to other farmers. GUVVS also provides new certified planting material for fruit tree crops at one-third of the cost for use by resource-poor farmers.
During the field day, farmer Bhola Yadav said zero-till technology has taken root in his village and is being practiced on more than 1,000 acres. The farmer-to-farmer distribution of quality seed has reached 500 farmers in the seven villages of Bhagalpur. Along with new seeds, they are promoting zero till for rice, wheat, maize, pigeon pea, pearl millet, chickpea and lentils. Zero tillage helped them in the early planting of the crops.
Raj Gupta, team leader for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) Research Station Development, praised the farmersâ efforts and answered questions about conservation agriculture. Raj Kumar Jat, BISA cropping systems agronomist, responded to questions related to weed management and fertilizer use.
J.S. Sandhu (center) and M.C. Diwakar (left) discuss the merits of the mid-October planting of wheat genotype CSW-18 (in foreground) with Raj Gupta, Raj Kumar Jat and I.S. Solanki. (Photo: CIMMYT)
A three-day agricultural festival held in India allowed farmers to articulate their production technology needs in the presence of policymakers, researchers and extensionists. The Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU) organized FarmFest from 8-11 March in Pusa, India, and a field day in Mathlupur. The theme of the FarmFest was âMaking Agriculture Profitable under Changing Scenarios.â
FarmFest interactive sessions were attended by Gurubachan Singh, chairman, Agricultural Scientistsâ Recruitment Board (ASRB); Mangla Rai, agriculture advisor to the chief minister, Government of Bihar; J.S. Sandhu, agriculture commissioner, Government of India; N.N. Singh, former vice-chancellor, Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi; M.C. Diwaker, director, Directorate of Rice Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India; R.K. Mittal, vice chancellor, RAU; Gopalji Trivedi, former horticulture commissioner, RAU; and H.P. Singh former vice chancellor, RAU.
Raj Gupta, team leader for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) Research Station Development and Raj Kumar Jat, cropping systems agronomist, gave a tour of the conservation agriculture hub and briefed the visitors about agricultural research for development activities at BISA, Pusa. Participants collected information on innovative soil-water-crop management practices being developed for smallholder and resourcepoor farmers. Interactions between policymakers and farmers on the BISA farm helped the officials understand the farmersâ needs and how to make agriculture profitable under changing socioeconomic and climatic scenarios and the competing end-use of natural resources.
Mangala Rai talks with farmers and researchers about the importance of cultivar choices in different agro-ecologies for improving wheat productivity. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Discussions focused on the contributions Bihar farmers can make to sustainable ecosystem intensification by shifting from conventional agriculture to conservation agriculture, replacing low-value crops with high-value commodities and further intensifying existing cropping systems practiced in irrigated and rainfed upland and lowland ecologies with appropriate crop cultivar choices. Sandhuâs speech focused on crop diversification and conservation agriculture, especially the permanent raised bed system of crop planting. He also asked the farmers to plant long-duration, water-logging tolerant pigeon pea and to develop intercropping systems. He told farmers to visit the BISA farm and take advantage of the innovative crop production technologies evolving there.
Gubachan Singh was concerned about declining farm holding size and factor productivity. He asked scientists to reorient their research to focus on the needs of smallholder farmers. Rai reminded farmers of the power of cooperative efforts in procuring farm inputs and marketing their produce. Without policy corrections such as buying in retail and selling in bulk, it is difficult to make agriculture profitable, but collective efforts can help.