Blogs
DTMA launches new project to improve seed scaling in Eastern Africa
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Born out of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative and other CIMMYT-Africa maize projects, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project will improve the demand for and availability of high-quality, affordable, certified seed of drought-tolerant maize varieties for small-scale farmers across eastern and southern Africa.
Chief Minister of Bihar assures support to BISA
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, affirmed his support for the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and its efforts to ensure food security, in a meeting with Thomas A. Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, and with government, BISA and CIMMYT representatives on 3 February.
Crop model gives scientists a window on future farming in the Eastern Gangetic Plains
Capacity development
In work to help farmers in South Asia tackle changing climates and markets through resilient and productive cropping systems, scientists are now using a leading and longstanding model, the Agricultural Production System Simulator (APSIM).
Spreading innovation: new partnerships drive change in Odisha
Capacity development
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) has collaborated with Digital Green (DG), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Government of Odisha, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) for a pilot project integrating information and communication technology (ICT)-based video-led dissemination models in 20 villages of Puri district in Odisha, India.
Myanmar and CIMMYT assess needs and joint maize and wheat research
Innovations
Officials of Myanmar’s Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and CIMMYT representatives met to strengthen collaboration, with a focus on increasing farm productivity and training a new generation of Myanmar scientists.
Two-wheel tractors to increase smallholder farm power in Ethiopia
Capacity development
For Ethiopian smallholder farmers who have for millennia used the traditional animal-drawn maresha plow, two-wheel tractors could increase their productivity while reducing labor.
CIMMYT formally welcomes four local workshops to the machinery and equipment innovation group
Capacity development
In 2014, the work of The Machinery and Equipment Innovation Group begun activities after signing of four contracts with four Mexican workshops.
“No burning in Chiapas” GCAP campaign
Climate adaptation and mitigation
“To increase my production, I don’t burn residues; I use them. I practice conservation agriculture.” This slogan was promoted by CIMMYT’s Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) from March to May 2015 through a communications campaign in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The campaign aimed to inform farmers and agronomists of the devastating effects of residue burning and its potential risks. It also focused on topics such as the benefits of residue retention, sustainable alternatives to conventional practices, and how burning contributes to global warming.
Index insurance to safeguard farmers from climate change
Climate adaptation and mitigation
“We’ve got the germplasm and improved varieties, but what can we do to overcome the hurdle of farmer adoption of these technologies?” Jon Hellin, value chain and poverty specialist for CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program presented this challenge and how crop-index insurance may be part of the solution, at a high-level Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) webcast event Wednesday, 28 January in London.
Zero tillage for smallholder wheat farmers in Balochistan, Pakistan
Innovations
Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan and in collaboration with Balochistan Agriculture Research, CIMMYT has begun testing and spreading with farmers the practice known as “zero tillage” to sow wheat in Balochistan, a province in southwest Pakistan that accounts for more than 40 percent of the country’s land area but only five percent of the population.
Pakistan wheat farmers call for quality seed of the right varieties
Capacity development
Lack of good seed of appropriate varieties is holding back harvests of smallholder wheat farmers in rugged, rain-fed areas of Punjab, Pakistan, said a group of farmers to some 50 representatives of seed companies, input dealers, and research, extension and development organizations, at a workshop in Chakwal, Punjab, on 18 September 2014.
