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.
Representatives from the national agricultural systems in Bolivia and Ecuador visited CIMMYT at El BatĂĄn, Mexico, from 7-9 April to lay the framework for future collaboration to improve maize production.
A delegation from Bolivia and Ecuador visited CIMMYT on 7-9 April to discuss possible collaboration. (Photos: Xochiquezal Fonseca)
Presentations on advanced maize research at CIMMYT, including an introduction to MasAgro work in sustainable intensification were conducted for the delegation. After learning more about the extent of work undertaken by CIMMYT, Achacollo was impressed by the challenges facing Bolivia in establishing its own international quinoa center. The delegation members also visited the Agua FrĂa Experimental Station in Puebla, where Achacollo announced that the Bolivian government would create policies for young Bolivian researchers to train in similar facilities. âWe must invest in future generations so that they can provide the foundation of agricultural knowledge,â she said. âWe cannot be left behind.â
More than 700 people from nearly 70 countries joined with some of the greatest minds in agriculture and food security during 25-28 March to recognize the legacy of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and the future of wheat in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico.
CIMMYT organized the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security with the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative and the Patronato farmersâ association to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dr. Borlaugâs birth. Dr. Borlaug, known as the father of the Green Revolution, was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing high-yielding wheat varieties now used around the world. He began this research in Ciudad ObregĂłn working for CIMMYTâs predecessor organization.
The Summit built on Borlaugâs history in Sonoraâs Yaqui Valley to recognize his scientific contributions, remember his spirit and work ethic and ask what interventions are available today to help feed a growing population in the face of climate change and other challenges. Wheat was the focus of these discussions, with topics including precision agriculture, market outlook, the history of wheat and its importance in various parts of the world.
Norman Borlaugâs Legacy
âWithout fail, if you met Norman Borlaug, you remember him,â said CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin. Summit sessions included personal memories of Dr. Borlaug. Letters and reports from students at the Norman E. Borlaug Primary School, near Mexico City, were displayed at the CIMMYT research station.
CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin opens the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT
Jeanie Borlaug-Laube, Dr. Borlaugâs daughter, left a video message for the Summit reflecting on his life and work. Julie Borlaug, Dr. Borlaugâs granddaughter, arrived to present CIMMYT with the World Food Prize Foundationâs Norman E. Borlaug Medallion. CIMMYT is the Foundationâs fifth recipient of the medal, which recognizes organizations and heads of state who are not eligible for the World Food Prize but have made outstanding contributions to improving food security and nutrition.
Participants also witnessed CIMMYTâs continuation of Dr. Borlaugâs research with a visit to the Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Station (CENEB) during the Summit field day. Buses took participants to sites throughout the research station to learn about CIMMYT breeding program efforts, wheat improvement strategies and efforts to breed for rust resistance. The wheat physiology group demonstrated tools, including blimps and helicopters, used to measure wheat photosynthesis and other traits. The day recognized Dr. Borlaugâs fondness for Mexico by including a traditional barbeque and mariachi music.
The State of Wheat Today
Speaker sessions held at the Universidad La Salle Noroeste focused on the successes and shortcomings of the Green Revolution and current challenges in producing enough food. Wheat has socially evolved from the grain of âcivilized peopleâ to a crop for everyone, said food historian Rachel Laudan. Mechanized milling eliminated the need to devote significant time and back-breaking labor grinding wheat and led to consumption of the grain worldwide.
Speakers agreed that increasing wheat yield to meet worldwide demand is a challenge. âWe live in a world of chronic crises,â said Sir Gordon Conway, professor at Imperial College London, during his talk on lessons learned from the Green Revolution, adding that, oftentimes, when one crisis is solved, another arises.
Summit attendees learn about CIMMYT research. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT
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, Conway said. At the same time, rising food prices, a need to increase food production, rising meat consumption and stressors such as climate change challenge food security today. Sustainable intensification â through ecological and genetic approaches â can help, Conway said, as well as making sure people get the inputs they need. âWeâve got to intensify production,â he said. âWeâve got to get yields up.â
Philanthropist Howard Buffett also stressed sustainability with his call for a âBrown Revolution,â or a focus on saving soil and the worldâs 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. âI said âThis is wrong,ââ Buffett commented. âWe have to figure out how to do this better.â
Looking Forward
Increasing demand for wheat combined with climate change and declining water availability could present challenges to food security. âThe time for wheat is arriving,â said Tray Thomas, founding partner of The Context Network, while addressing the wheat market outlook. âWe have the technology; we have the people; we have the demand for it.â
New agronomy and tools, untapped wheat genetic diversity, non-conventional breeding and intensification on all fronts could lift yields, stated Tony Fischer, honorary research fellow for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia. Conventional breeding is also helping, he added. âEven in the toughest environments, science can make progress.â
Changing how to breed and select crops and deciding where they are grown are all ways forward, added Robb Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto. Multi-faceted solutions to address ever-evolving problems are key. Computer-modeled and statistically based data science, for instance, can optimize farm management practices to improve productivity.
CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin sits with Mexican officials at the opening of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT
Advice can be distributed to farmers in most countries using cell phones. Biotechnology is also changing the way people think about breeding crops, Fraley said. About 17 million farmers in nearly 30 countries are using biotech crops. The Summit ended with the official launch of the International Wheat Yield Partnership, which aims to increase wheat yield potential by up to 50 percent in 20 years through collaboration between the public and private sectors.
CIMMYT researchers in eastern Zambia have discovered that farmers continue to grow land races alongside new, higher-yielding varieties as a risk-avoidance strategy. The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for the Eastern Province of Zambia (SIMLEZA)- Africa Rising project, funded by the USAID Feed the Future Initiative, hosted a field tour for researchers and journalists at the end of January.
They visited on-station experiments at the Msekera research station and trials on farmer fields, including conservation agriculture, cowpea, maize and soy variety trials. The Katete District, bordering Mozambique, looks very different from last yearâs field tour. In 2013, the trial plots featured green maize ready to tassel; this year, the plots have maize plants measuring 30cm. Maize in the trial plots was planted only a month ago due to the rainy seasonâs late start. Outside of the trial plots is maize as it commonly looks in Eastern Zambia; it varies in color, from dark green to yellow, and has an uneven crop stand.
SIMLEZA-Africa Rising staff, farmers and journalists visit a CA agronomy trial with hybrid maize in front of a field with dry-planted local maize in the Katete District, Eastern Zambia. Photo: Jens A. Andersson
Different planting dates and the levels and timing of fertilizer application are the major reasons for this variability. Among this variation one also observes very tall and already tasseling maize. These are low-yielding landraces that were dry-planted in October. Farmers will be able to harvest them in the next few weeks. Why would Zambian smallholder farmers plant low-yielding landraces when high-yielding, open-pollinated varieties (OPV) and hybrid varieties are available? The answer is usually sought at the household level; smallholder farmers are taken to prefer landraces for their taste and storability.
Yet, those reasons are only part of the answer. In Zambia, most farmers do grow and eat OPVs and hybrids. Certified seed is widely available from agrodealers and is distributed through the governmentâs Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), which provides smallholders with a package of 100 kilograms (kg) of basal fertilizer, 100 kg of top dressing fertilizer and 10 kg of hybrid maize seed for a nominal price. In addition, the Zambian government has instituted a good market for maize. Its Food Reserve Agency (FRA) offers high prices and buys locally and has turned maize into a lucrative cash crop.
Zambian farmers have responded to these institutional changes; they dedicate larger plots to the cultivation of hybrid maize. The SIMLEZA-Africa Rising project builds on these changes; in addition to improving agronomic practices for maize and legume cultivation in Eastern Zambia, it introduces and demonstrates new maize varieties, including drought-tolerant maize hybrids. The project expands farmersâ options for increased maize production. Three new varieties were recently released while collaboration from seed companies ensures that farmers can access them for fair prices.
A recent survey by the project found that once farmers are aware of SIMLEZA maize varieties, nearly half cultivate them. Why do farmers in this part of rural Zambia continue to grow landraces next to high-yielding ones, instead of switching to high-yielding varieties altogether? For farmers in Kawalala village, it is about agronomic and institutional risks. Dry-planting is a gamble, as limited first rains may result in crop failure and necessitate replanting. Zambian farmers are therefore reluctant to use expensive seeds and fertilizer when dry-planting; they often only apply basal fertilizer after the maize has germinated. âWe only plant certified seed with good rains; otherwise, you lose money,â explained farmer Gertrude Banda.
But the highly uneven maize crop stand in Kawalala is not merely a difference between early-planted, tallgrowing landraces and late-planted hybrids. Farmers also delayed planting hybrids on account of late payments by the FRA for last seasonâs crop; they lacked the cash to buy seeds and fertilizers in time. Others had to wait for the FISP input packages that were distributed late â even now, as their maize turns yellow, some farmers are still waiting for their FISP top dressing fertilizer.
With institutional risks such as late payment and input delivery, it is clear that there remains a niche for local maize varieties. But this niche may soon be filled by OPVs that cost less and produce greater yield, such as the MV409 variety, introduced by SIMLEZA-Africa Rising. OPVs do not require farmers to purchase new seed annually. New hybrid varieties may take time to be adopted by the majority of farmers, but farmers in Kawalala involved in the project are convinced that they will increasingly be grown.
Speakers addressed visions for the future of wheat and agriculture research and improvement during the final day of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security.
The challenges related to producing enough food for the global population in 2050 are immense, speakers agreed, but complex solutions are possible. Wheat will play a large role in meeting those goals.
âI believe, in the bottom of my heart, that we do have the tools and capabilities to achieve the incredible goal of doubling food supply in a sustainable way,â said Robb Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto.
Fraley spoke about the future of agriculture technology and the partnerships that will make its implementation possible. Changing how to breed and select crops and deciding where they are grown are all ways forward.
Dr. Norman Borlaug is remembered at the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. (Photo: Brenna Goth)
Multi-faceted solutions to address ever-evolving problems are key, according to Fraley. Computer-modeled and statistically based data science, for instance, can optimize farm management practices to improve productivity. Advice can be distributed to farmers in most countries using cell phones.
âThese tools, which have virtually no barrier to adoption, will be transformational,â Fraley said.
Biotechnology is also changing the way people think about breeding crops, Fraley said. About 17 million farmers in nearly 30 countries are using biotech crops.
Public-private partnerships can help bring this technology to farmers. For example, Water Efficient Maize for Africa â a partnership including Monsanto and CIMMYT â is using genetics from multiple sources to produce biotech and non-biotech maize hybrids.
âI think this kind of model can work for every crop,â Fraley added.
Opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops is a complicated movement with important policy implications, said Robert Paarlberg, professor of political science at Wellesley College. He added that the near future of staple crops is ânot particularly brightâ because the gene revolution hasnât reached farmersâ fields.
The gene revolution faces institutional barriers never posed to the Green Revolution, Paarlberg presented. Waning donor commitments in the 1990s tasked private companies with promoting GM crops. Anti-corporation activists then began to speak out against the technology.
GM crops have been reframed from promising to hazardous waste, he said. High regulation barriers â such as requiring biosafety laws, committees and reviews to introduce GM crops â leave developing countries âstuck,â Paarlberg added.
âEven if public opinion changes, how do you relax these regulations?â he asked.
He predicted that, within five years, GM cotton will be grown on every continent and GM feed crops will be used everywhere but food staple crops may not be grown at all.
Other types of agricultural innovations were presented at the conference. Rikin Gandhi, CEO of Digital Green, explained how he is using videos made âby farmers, for farmersâ to spread information and encourage new practices in India.
Social networks, such as local extension workers, are particularly effective in disseminating information. Digital Greenâs website now has 2,800 videos that can be shown and distributed using technology that is locally available.
Increasing yield â through multiple actors in the agricultural system â is key, speakers agreed.
âThe time for wheat is arriving,â said Tray Thomas, founding partner of The Context Network, while addressing the wheat market outlook. âWe have the technology; we have the people; we have the demand for it.â
Technology investment is key, he said, as well as advances from hybrid seed, new traits and new systems.
Innovation and research have already helped, said independent researcher Derek Byerlee. Without CGIAR germplasm research from 1965 to 2004, land area used for agricultural purposes in 2004 would have been 18 to 27 million hectares greater. Broad-based investment in crop research and development is the best way to save forests, he said.
Regardless of the technology, partnerships can help.
Steve Jennings, head of programme policy for Oxfam in the United Kingdom, urged people to adopt partnerships when incentives align and research is the solution to a mutually understood problem.
Participants also learned more about the newly announced International Wheat Yield Partnership, which aims to increase wheat yield potential by up to 50 percent in 20 years through collaboration between the public and private sector.
Wheatâs importance in the world was the focus of day three of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. Wheatâs history, production needs and methods of improvement were among the topics of discussion.
CIMMYT receives the World Food Prize’s Norman E. Borlaug medallion. (photo: Brenna Goth)
Wheat has socially evolved from the grain of âcivilized peopleâ to a crop for everyone, said food historian Rachel Laudan. Mechanized milling eliminated the need to devote significant time and back-breaking labor  grinding wheat and led to consumption of the grain worldwide.
âWheat has touched every corner of the world,â Laudan said. Today, tortillas, noodles, breads and other regional products are available in nearly every country.
This global dependence on wheat highlights the importance of its nutritional value, according to Wolfgang Pfeiffer, deputy director of operations for HarvestPlus. The organization is working on biofortification, which can pack crops with minerals at no additional cost, he said.
Current efforts focus on zinc-dense wheat, though biofortication in general requires branding, marketing and advocacy. Biofortified crops have been released in 27 countries, and HarvestPlus is working to demonstrate the viability of biofortification as a global solution.
Apart from improving nutrition, increasing wheat yield to meet worldwide demand is a challenge, said Tony Fischer, honorary research fellow for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia.
However, new agronomy and tools, untapped wheat genetic diversity, non-conventional breeding and intensification on all fronts could lift yields. Conventional breeding is also helping, Fischer said.
âEven in the toughest environments, science can make progress,â he added.
Factors such as water use and climate change challenge wheat production and present uncertainty, said independent scholar Uma Lele and Graham Farquhar, professor at the Australian National University.
Declining water availability is causing discussions, debates and conflicts worldwide, yet research and development on water management and rainfed agriculture is often ignored. This complacency could lead to sudden food shortages or dramatic rises in prices, Lele said.
âWeâll wake up and say that we should have paid more attention to water,â she added.
Farquhar said farmers have faced challenges presented by climate change before but that water use efficiency for drought tolerance is becoming increasingly important. Some grain-producing areas, including Australia, Central America, Chile, Mexico and southern Africa, are projected to become drier.
Summit sessions emphasized that agricultural research offers tools to help.
The use of wheatâs distant relatives â such as rye and triticum â can help improve salt tolerance, biomass, disease and insect resistance, said Ian King, researcher at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. The university works with a UK consortium to increase the gene pool of wheat and the screening of germplasm produced at Nottingham will take place at CIMMYT.
Additionally, genomic selection and precision phenotyping improve breeding efficiency, said Jesse Poland, assistant professor at Kansas State University.
Bruno Gerard, director of CIMMYTâs Conservation Agriculture Program, explained sustainable intensification and precision agriculture principles. Technological breakthroughs allow for more research thatâs better, easier, faster and cheaper.
Not every solution will work in every country. Speakers addressed regional differences with specific presentations on wheat in Mexico, China, India, Central and West Asia and North Africa. After, a panel discussion focused on how private-public partnerships can be used to foster collaboration in addressing these challenges.
A special highlight of the day  occurred during the Summit dinner. CIMMYT was honored with the World Food Prize Foundation Norman E. Borlaug Medallion. CIMMYT is the Foundationâs fifth recipient of the medal, which recognizes organizations and heads of state who are not eligible for the World Food Prize but have made outstanding contributions to improving food security and nutrition.
Summit speakers Sir Gordon Conway, Ronnie Coffman, Per Pinstrup-Andersen (2001 World Food Prize Laureate) and Robb Fraley (2013 World Food Prize Laureate) presented the award, along with Julie Borlaug, Dr. Borlaugâs granddaughter. Marianne BĂ€nziger, CIMMYT’s deputy director general for research and partnerships, accepted the medal on CIMMYTâs behalf.
The Summit ends tomorrow with sessions focusing on the future of wheat and food security.
Todayâs sessions at the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security recognized Dr. Norman Borlaugâs 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 ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico, for a day focusing on the successes and shortcomings of the Green Revolution and the challenges in producing enough food for todayâs  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.
âWe live in a world of chronic crises,â 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 â through ecological and genetic approaches â 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)
âWeâve got to intensify production,â he said. âWeâve got to get yields up.â
Buffett also stressed sustainability with his call for a âBrown Revolution,â or a focus on saving soil and the worldâs 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.
âI said âThis is wrong,ââ Buffett commented. âWe have to figure out how to do this better.â
He called on world leaders to support agriculture and said he remains a âpessimistic optimistâ in facing global challenges.
Participants enjoyed the campus of La Salle University (Photo: Brenna Goth)
Dr. Borlaug took action when witnessing these challenges and didnât 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. Borlaugâs impact on India through a video message. In another video message, Jeanie Borlaug-Laube, Dr. Borlaugâs 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. Borlaugâs 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 CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program, spoke about the need to breed varieties resistant to climate change and revisit triticale, a crop full of potential and Dr. Borlaugâs âunfinished business.â
Scientists today can learn from Dr. Borlaugâs 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. Borlaugâs response to opposition to the Green Revolution, Coffman said, âBorlaug 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.
CIMMYTâs 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.
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 Researchâs (ICAR) and leader of ICARâs 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 Instituteâs 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.
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 Asiaâs progress in the last decade in ricewheat systems research, and heard comments from colleagues.
Former CIMMYT scientist Peter Hobbs. Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT
âPeter Hobbs is the pioneer of zero tillage wheat in South Asia â one of CIMMYTâs best contributions in this region after Norman Borlaug,â said R.K. Malik, a member of CSISAâs senior management team who accompanied Hobbs through India. Malik was a core member of the RWC during Hobbâs time and a champion of zero tillage (ZT) for sowing wheat in rice-wheat rotations. Malik recalled CIMMYTâs 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. âThis 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. âAfter 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,â he said.
He stressed that farmers must have access to machinery, inputs and related expertise, perhaps through a network of service providers. âThat means we have to look at the way research can help farmers â having a more participatory approach and providing incentives to scientists and extension workers based on accountability and performance is critical for success,â Hobbs stated. âThe RWC and legacy of pioneering scientists like Peter Hobbs, Raj Gupta and R.K. Malik established the foundation for CIMMYTâs ongoing work and impact with farmers in the region through projects like CSISA,â said Andrew McDonald, CSISA project leader. âIt was a true pleasure to have Peterâs insights into where we are succeeding and where we can do better. South Asia is changing quickly, but the core lessons from where weâve come still resonate.â
Hobbs is optimistic about the potential of these technologies in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. âIt 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.â
By Raj Kumar Jat, M.L. Jat, R. Valluru, Raju Singh, Nikhil Singh, Jagman Dhillon and Raj Gupta/CIMMYT
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A day-long âFarmFestâ 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 âTake it to the Farmers â FarmFestâ 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 farmâs 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 âpasture backyard to a granary.â 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 âseeds of needsâ 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 farmersâ 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.
Farmersâ 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
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 Malawiâs 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 SIMLESAâs outscaling model involving maizelegume (soybean) rotations.
Exploratory trials involving maize and soybeans are testimony to Fredrerick Lukhereâs 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 Luhkereâs 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 Luhkereâs 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.
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.
The âdouble-up legume systemâ improves food security in Malawi by increasing yield and farmersâ 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. âI 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,â Sikelo said. âSince 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.â
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 âdouble-up legume system.â Growing legumes with different growth habits side-byside â for example pigeon pea with cowpea or groundnuts â increases farmersâ 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.
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 Pakistanâs 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.
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.
