Sustainable agrifood systems
Maize workshop sets stage for doubling production in India by 2025
Capacity development
The 58th All India Coordinated Annual Maize Workshop was held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, India during 4-6 April. The workshop brought together nearly 200 scientists in India working on maize research and development, as well as representatives from seed companies. The All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Maize was the first crop research project established in India in 1957 and served as a model for all following crop projects in the country.
Two-wheeled tractors key to smallholder mechanization in Africa
Capacity development
The Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project held its second review and planning meeting, as well as mid-term review, during a five-day event in Hawassa, Ethiopia. This was followed by country site visits by the review team.
SIMLESA’s seamlessly integrated solution for a perennial problem
Innovations
Southern Africa smallholder farmers can attain food security and more income through sustainable intensification of maize-based farming systems. This was revealed during recent field learning tours in Malawi and Mozambique last month. On show were farmer-tested improved maize–legume technologies being disseminated by CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project.
CIMMYT at the global forum for innovations in agriculture
Climate adaptation and mitigation
During 9-11 March, scientists from 90 countries gathered at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture in Abu Dhabi to discuss the looming topic of feeding nine billion people by the year 2050.
Researchers define and measure “sustainability”
Capacity development
Leading specialists on the sustainable intensification of agriculture tried to hammer out indicators for assessing “sustainability,” a development term that refers roughly to the health and longevity of a system, at a 13 February workshop in San Jose, California.
Extension bulletins raise awareness of conservation agriculture in Malawi
Innovations
CIMMYT, Washington State University and Total Land Care (TLC) recently published a series of extension bulletins to spread awareness of the potential benefits of conservation agriculture (CA) techniques for farmers in Malawi.
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).
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.