Innovations
Working with smallholders to understand their needs and build on their knowledge, CIMMYT brings the right seeds and inputs to local markets, raises awareness of more productive cropping practices, and works to bring local mechanization and irrigation services based on conservation agriculture practices. CIMMYT helps scale up farmers’ own innovations, and embraces remote sensing, mobile phones and other information technology. These interventions are gender-inclusive, to ensure equitable impacts for all.
Happy Seeder, happy farmers: tillage in a single pass
Capacity development
Gulshad Nabi (Chand) is a progressive farmer from Chak Dahir, Tehsil Muridke in the Sheikhupura District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. He cultivates wheat and basmati rice, which constitute his family’s only source of livelihood. Heavy tillage and burning of rice residues are the common practices for growing wheat in the region, resulting in the loss of soil nutrients, air pollution and poor food security and livelihoods for farmers like Gulshad.
Center pivot crop irrigation system conserves water
Innovations
The Center Pivot System saves a significant amount of water while allowing the measured distribution of a precise amount to plants.
Conservation agriculture minimizes unfavorable environmental impacts
Innovations
Scientists aim to improve rural incomes and livelihoods through sustainable management of agro-ecosystem productivity and diversity, while minimizing unfavorable environmental impacts.
Farmer interventions in water distribution have profound impact
Innovations
Children from Hidalgo, Mexico, help water run over the furrows of a field where conservation agriculture is practiced.
On World Water Day, photos show role water plays in food security
Innovations
Water plays a vital role in irrigation and food production, accounting for 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, according to U.N. Water.
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.
Maize and wheat Super Women campaign highlights diversity
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
A social media campaign initiated to celebrate the achievements of women has led to more than a dozen published blog story contributions about women in the maize and wheat sectors.
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).
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.
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.