News

Sorghum Cultivar: ICSV 1361063 (SAMBONI)

ariety and hybrid development for robust, responsive global to national breeding systems producing and delivering novel varieties and allied innovations at appropriate scale and scope What is the profile of Sorghum variety 12KNICSV-188 (IMPROVED DEKO)? Samboni or ICSV...

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Snapping trait for reducing labor burden on women and children

For reduced market barriers, diversified enterprise and livelihood opportunities, and increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich foods How is a pearl millet cultivar with a “snapping trait” reducing the labor burden on women and children in ESA? Finger millet is...

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Sorghum variety 12KNICSV-188 (IMPROVED DEKO)

For robust and responsive global to national breeding systems producing and delivering novel varieties and allied innovations at appropriate scale and scope What is the profile of Sorghum variety 12KNICSV-188 (Improved Deko)? Sorghum plays an important role in the...

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Chakti: Iron biofortified Pearl Millet

For reduced market barriers, diversified enterprise and livelihood opportunities, and increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich foods What is iron biofortified Pearl Millet (IPM)? Pearl millet is an important staple food in drier regions of Sub-Saharan Africa,...

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Women empowerment through bean flour

For reduced market barriers, diversified enterprise and livelihood opportunities, and increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich foods How are bean flours empowering women in the African region? When the country plunged into a crisis due to political unrest that...

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Farmers in southern Mali dial ‘S’ for success

Sènèkèla/Sandji mobile-based services make climate and agro-advisory information available to farmers under the CSAT project to significantly aid crucial on-farm decisions so that smallholders get more from their farms. A group of farmers in Mali’s Sikasso region...

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The Alliance joins Africa Agricultural Extension Week

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, jointly with other CGIAR institutions (AfricaRice, IITA, ILRI, CIP) actively participated in the 5th Africa Agricultural Extension Week (AAEW) held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala Uganda between 14-20th November...

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Making peanuts safe

Aflatoxin in peanuts remains an unsolved problem for people with a small food budget, and a private sector partner is providing solutions Contamination of peanuts and peanut products by aflatoxins pose serious health challenges for all populations. Consumed in high...

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Identity marker nuances in adoption of tandem technologies

Beer, barley, livestock, and milk: who adopts agricultural innovations in rural Rajasthan? Learnings emanating from the Green Revolution in India indicate that the ability of development intervention recipients to reap more of the economic and social benefits from new...

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Getting youth back to agriculture as service providers

For reduced market barriers, diversified enterprise and livelihood opportunities. How are youth being gainfully employed as mechanization service providers in the African region? About one-third of Africa’s nearly 500 million youth aged 15-35 are unemployed. The high...

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Bean Business Innovation Platforms

For reduced market barriers, diversified enterprise and livelihood opportunities, and increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich foods What are Bean Business Innovation Platforms? Bean Business Platforms are vehicles designed to implement program interventions by...

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Training ‘nutriprenuers’ to start up in Mali

To help aspiring entrepreneurs in Mali kick-start their food ventures, a five-day Smart Food workshop was recently conducted in the country’s Diola region. Women and men were trained in all aspects of producing value-added foods from sorghum, millet, groundnut and...

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Agroecological transformation for sustainable food systems

The urgency of agroecological transformation of agrifood systems linked to SDGs will be one of the game changers discussed at the UN World Food Systems Summit this year. Clearly the diversity of agriculture on this planet heralds the way to a variety of agroecological...

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A monk’s souvenir that became pigeonpea’s crown jewel

ICP 7035, a landrace of pigeonpea from India is a rare line with resistance to multiple diseases, is hardy and a consumer’s delight. Found by chance under unusual circumstances, the landrace has shown the importance of conserving biodiversity. Though It has proved to...

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Millet consumption survey provides largest baseline for India

Consumer survey about millets  The results of the first ever large-scale survey on millet consumption in India has been published, offering government, central and states and the private sector valuable insights into consumer trends to help further mainstream these...

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The benefits of investment in genomics research are manifold

The return on investment in crop genomics research is manifold but to realize the full potential and reap optimum benefits from it, there is a need for enhanced strategic investment in upstream research and enabling an environment for adoption of these technologies at...

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Genomics and breeding innovations in agriculture

Celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence: Bharat Ka Amrut Mahotsav - ICAR Lecture Series. Our scientists should work on short-duration, multiple stress-tolerant, nutritionally rich crop varieties that are suitable for mechanical harvesting,” Mr Narendra Modi,...

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First high oleic groundnut cultivars commercialized in India

There is a demand for high-oleic groundnut varieties particularly by the food processing industry for its enhanced shelf-life benefits and by consumers for health benefits. To contribute to the CGIAR sub-IDO “Increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich foods”, a...

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ICRISAT optimizes seed-chip genotyping in groundnut

Chips away time and cost from groundnut breeding. Researchers at ICRISAT have established seed-chip genotyping for groundnut as a significantly faster and cheaper method for genotyping than the oft-used leaf-disc technique. In a recent research publication, they have...

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Can India sustain high growth of pulses production?

India has made remarkable progress in enhancing production of pulses during the past 15 years. During 2005-06, the total production of pulses in India was 13.38 million MT, which increased to 25.58 million MT during 2020-21. This shows an impressive growth of 91% or a...

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Work on a ‘forgotten foods’ manifesto begins in Africa

To trigger research and value chain actions as well as advocacy and promotion of indigenous and forgotten foods in Africa, an extensive consultation with all stakeholders in food systems is expected to result in a continent level manifesto. This manifesto on forgotten...

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Mighty millets super grains of power

The United Nations General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored resolution to mark 2023 as the international year of millets. We delve into India’s millet production, their nutritional value and how the Indian government is promoting millets and its cultivation....

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Partnering for nutrition sensitive agriculture in Sudan

Promoting improved crop varieties, strengthening seed systems and nutrition sensitive agriculture were identified areas of intervention that can help Sudan transform its food and agro-pastoral systems. Representatives of IFAD, WFP and ICRISAT, during a recent...

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Improved tropical forages: A low-emissions livestock diet

In the soil just below the hooves of livestock live the Earth’s life support system—as plants decompose, trillions of bacteria, fungi and other soil microorganisms can either turn it into carbon or nitrogen that stays in the soil or into the world’s most powerful...

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Burkina Faso releases its first pearl millet hybrid

High-yieldng, downy mildew-resistant and suitable for food and fodder. Developed by ICRISATand evaluated by INERA Burkina Faso recently approved the commercial use of its first pearl millet hybrid called Nafagnon. With the approval, the single-cross hybrid also became...

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Cold- and Disease-Tolerant Winter-Sown Chickpea Varieties

ICARDA scientists developed packages of improved winter-sown chickpea varieties and better production practices for improved farmer incomes.  Chickpea is a staple crop that brings major economic advantages to smallholder family-farm households across Central, West...

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Quick-maturing legumes for fallow land in South Asia

ICARDA scientists introduced early-maturing legume varieties that grow within short rice fallow seasons in South Asia, combating regional nutritional deficiencies and increasing farmers’ incomes.    South Asian diets rely heavily on legumes, yet demand outstrips...

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Extra early biofortified lentils for South Asia

ICARDA biofortified lentil varieties can mature quickly within the short fallow season and are a rich source of protein, iron, and zinc, helping fight regional deficiencies.  Every year in South Asia, vast tracts of land lie idle (fallow) between harvests of crops...

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CRP-GLDC Updates its Theory of Change

The CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals, 'CRP-GLDC' is a complex undertaking. Scientists in seven CGIAR centers (ICRISAT, IITA, ICARDA, ICRAF, ILRI and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the CIAT) and three non-CGIAR centers (CIRAD,...

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A good pearl millet hybrid gets even better

A team of researchers in India has bettered an immensely popular pearl millet hybrid, HHB 67 Improved, endowing it with 58% higher resistance to downy mildew (DM) disease. The latest improvement has also increased the hybrid’s blast resistance by 12%, grain yield by...

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Better beans for Africa

Insufficient iron in diets is a leading cause of anemia, a condition that particularly affects pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under the age of five. Through collaborative plant breeding efforts with farmers and other partners, CGIAR scientists...

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High-iron pearl millet for better health

Pearl millet is a nutritious and affordable staple crop in parts of India, relied on by many resource-poor farming families and rural communities. Yet overall dietary health remains poor – 59% of children under the age of five in India are anemic, generally due to a...

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Better beans for Africa

Insufficient iron in diets is a leading cause of anemia, a condition that particularly affects pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under the age of five. Through collaborative plant breeding efforts with farmers and other partners, CGIAR scientists have developed and scaled up hundreds of varieties of iron-biofortified beans in an effort to address the problem. 

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Build trust, build lives…

“Farmers thought we were coming to steal their money!” Microfinance specialist Lamine Sountoura remembers the first time he tried convincing farmers in Mali to warehouse their produce a decade ago. Sountoura and his colleagues from Soroyiriwaso Microfinance Institute were trekking through villages and hamlets in Sikasso region on a mission…

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Building capacity in crop modeling today for a better tomorrow

Young Malawian researchers are being trained in crop modeling to tackle land, water and climate related challenges facing agriculture and smallholder farmers. During a recently-held training program, 11 researchers from Malawi’s national research organizations learned...

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Ensuring the safety of our seeds

With the recent shipment of 3702 accessions, 91% of ICRISAT’s genebank collection has been safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The shipment included 2041 accessions of sorghum, 969 of pearl millet, 39 of pigeonpea, 221 of finger millet, 80 of...

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Reviving the pulse in food security

World Pulses Day, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, raises awareness about the nutritional benefits of a global wonder food: pulses. CGIAR, the world's largest global agricultural innovation network, is working hard with FAO...

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Two women-led food processing units opened in India

ICRISAT’s training and capacity building program empowers women from tribal communities of Telangana state to start their entrepreneurial ventures. Ms Satyavathi Rathod, Minister for Scheduled Tribes, Women and Child Welfare of India’s Telangana state, recently...

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Publishing metrics and agricultural science

Having achieved an H-index of 100, Dr Rajeev Varshney explains what the metric means in scientific publishing and why it is a milestone, especially in an agricultural scientist’s life. H-index is an author-level metric that measures both productivity and citation...

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Cues to making crop improvement in Africa gender responsive

A cluster of activities are helping make The Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) Project’s crop improvement efforts gender-responsive. The activities include: Gender responsiveness in product profiling, Youth...

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Giving Africa’s new crop varieties a data boost digitally

To increase adoption of new improved varieties in Africa, a webinar was recently organized under the aegis of the AVISA project to familiarize seed system stakeholders with SEEDx, a mobile application developed by ICRISAT that facilitates data-driven decision making....

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Delivering livelihood resilience in 2021

Between COVID-19 and the intensifying impact of the climate crisis, farmers face unprecedented threats and challenges to their livelihoods, particularly in vulnerable dry regions. ICARDA’s mission to provide vital livelihoods resilience through innovative agricultural science is more urgent than ever.

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Video: How Iron Beans Gained Ground in Rwanda

“We eat these beans at home. I saw change in my child, who became healthier and weighed very well,” says Jaqueline Mushimiyimana, a farmer in Nyanza District in southern Rwanda. She stands proudly in front her bean field, hoe in hand.   Mushimiyimana and her family...

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GLDC Newsletter 2020

It has been a year of both tremendous challenge and growth. Amid a global pandemic COVID-19, there has been creative innovation, adaptation, and more inclusive research. CRP-GLDC was able to innovate and leverage science to achieve outcomes benefitting millions of...

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Brainstorming sessions on groundnut value chain innovations

Groundnut innovations with large kernels and high oleic content preferred by the confectionery industry in Bangladesh being developed in partnership with the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute was discussed during a training program that deliberated on...

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The Dreamers: Scaling seeds of success

Members of the Dreamers Group in Zambezia province, Northern Mozambique, were smiling all the way to the bank in the just ended farming season, 2019/2020. This year they generated more than 2,277,000 MZN (US$31,625) from the production and sale of soybean and common...

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Sorghum and millet grow money for the Mariko family

Use of improved seed triples yields, credit through warrantage system leads to big gains. Access to fertilizer is a serious constraint in Sola Bougouda, Mali. Farmers looking for hardy and resilient crops that need less fertilizer than maize have shifted to sorghum...

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Gross Margin Analysis – A tool for better farm management

A training session for farmers in Niger. In order to guide farmers in Niger to make better informed decisions about their farming activities, a training on Gross Margin Analysis was organized to empower them with necessary skills to determine their farms’...

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Research Fellow – CRP-GLDC Capacity Development Data

The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) invites applications for a twelve-month research fellowship for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activities of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals...

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Rapid, Low-Cost Aflatoxin detection using AI

Aflatoxin is carcinogenic mycotoxin that cripples the immune system. It is widely present in our food and is one of the major natural toxins that humans consume. Yet, there is no easy way to monitor & limit its occurrence in our supply chain. Current detection...

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Resilient rural women of the drylands

Special Feature: International Day of Rural Women – October 15 Long before COVID constraints crept in, ‘resilience’ was and is the operative word for agri-food systems research in the semi-arid tropics. And when the pandemic happened, all we did was factor it into...

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Realtime Rice-fallow Intensification System (rRIS)

Large tracts of arable land are left fallow due to the lack of real-time in-season and replanting site-specific information. This project aims to bridge that information gap to enable the utilization of fallow land for crop diversification, a key pillar of agriculture...

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DryArc – Time to Grow, Nourish, Sustain, Together

World Food Day is an opportunity to reflect on how we can join forces to support vulnerable communities who struggle to put food on their table every day. DryArc, a CGIAR initiative targeting water-scarce regions, embraces the new ways of thinking, digitization of...

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Cameroon’s “Bean Sharer”

After learning about the benefits of improved bean varieties, one woman has singlehandedly taken up the challenge of distributing beans across her community. Magdalene Atungsiri is a farmer and retired research technician with Cameroon’s Agricultural Research...

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On a mission to nurture hunger-free drylands

The 95th Governing Board meeting, held virtually, affirmed ICRISAT’s commitment to a hunger-free world and its readiness in transitioning to the One CGIAR and operating efficiently despite COVID constraints. The ICRISAT Strategy 2021-25 that was approved by the Board,...

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ICARDA Gets Quality Legume Seeds to Lebanon

As part of the ICARDA/LARI joint capacity development project funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), ICARDA provided the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) with 722 Kg of quality legume seeds. This activity was encouraged by...

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Why We Save Seeds in Uganda

Saving seeds, safeguarding agro-biodiversity Seed remains the most vital input in food production and consequently, access to seeds is crucial in ensuring farmers’ food security and livelihoods. Farmers in Africa have engaged in seed saving practices for millennia...

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Striding towards streamlined crop improvement programs

To better accomplish its mission by providing improved crop varieties to smallholder farmers, ICRISAT is overhauling its breeding program with regional crop improvement hubs, improved inventory processes, new facilities and capacity building to make them more rapid,...

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Double harvest for half the effort

Peter Mwangofi is a pigeonpea farmer from Karonga district in Malawi. He relies on the crop for both food and income. Over the past few years, Mwangofi has seen a decline in pigeonpea produce, mainly due to land pressure, as he now has a smaller landholding than he...

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Legumes grow money: Success script of seed systems in Malawi

An estimated US$ 40 million per annum, up from US$ 17 million in 2009, was infused into Malawi’s economy during Phase-I from legume export states a 2016 impact report of the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project. Project investments on increased adoption of...

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Engaging Kenyan youth in bean business to boost income

For Ms. Grace Wambui getting into agriculture did not come as her first option. A chance encounter got her here. After school, she started a small business selling motorbikes spare parts and operated a mobile money kiosk at the growing Kiambogo Shopping centre in...

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Adding value to smallholder farming in Malawi

Smallholder farmers in Malawi, with support from a seed development project and government initiatives, have successfully set up a groundnut oil producing enterprise, thereby boosting incomes and opening up market opportunities. They formed a cooperative of 118...

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Enabling Niger farmers to turn seed producers

An intensive training workshop for aspiring seed producers in Niger equipped them with necessary knowhow and techniques to scientifically produce groundnut, cowpea, pearl millet and sorghum seeds in Zinder region. A formal partnership with a seed company was also...

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Better dietary options for healthier children

In rural Malawi, over 16,000 people, including young children, have benefited from 'Care Groups' that train people to prepare nutritious meals using local produce. A 2018 integrated survey by the National Statistical Office of Malawi listed Dedza district among those...

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Malian farmer sets an example as a successful seed producer

Farmer field schools in Mali are not only training local farmers in best practices for optimum crop yields, they’re also providing improved variety seeds to them, encouraging them to become seed producers themselves.  Africa RISING’s large-scale Diffusion of...

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New chickpea varieties on the way

Three new improved varieties of chickpea – adapted to local conditions – have been identified for release in Malawi, following farmer participatory research, by the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project (MSIDP). Chickpea is an important cash crop grown mostly in...

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New highly productive sorghum varieties released

Three improved sorghum varieties with a yield potential of approximately 4 tons per hectare and tolerant to grey leaf spot, rust and other common diseases were released in Malawi early this year. These new varieties replace two varieties released in 1993, and have...

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We have talented farmers!

Innovator, champion and change leader Oumar Koné is not only a seed producer and a farmer, he is an innovator. When Koné joined USAID’s Feed the Future-funded Farmers’ Field School he put all his energy and ability into learning. Very focused and detail-oriented, Koné...

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Secret to on-off fertility discovered in pigeonpea

New study reveals how in some lines male sterility can be reversed to produce hybrids faster and cheaper Researchers have identified how temperature controls male fertility in some lines of pigeonpea and have unraveled the phenomenon’s molecular mechanism in a...

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Does the smallholder farmer have access to quality inputs?

With the onset of kharif (monsoon) in the southern states of India, the majority of farmers have started procurement of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Amidst COVID-19 induced disruptions in input production and distribution, the state governments...

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Post-Covid agri reforms: Odisha could be frontrunner

Many reforms in the Indian agricultural sector were long due for want of enabling rules in States or differences between State and Central  Governments. Covid-19, it appears, is ironing out those creases, paving the way for major reforms. As the pandemic hit during...

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Reviving the farm economy

The return of migrant workers to their villages offers an opportunity to give agribusiness a leg-up. For the first time in years, amidst the Covid-19 crisis, the general population in India seem to have become increasingly aware of the importance of the migrant...

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Nurturing innovation by protecting its architects

ICARDA has long committed to Open Data & Open Access of research by applying approaches that maximize access to science and innovation that work towards a greener future. Open access offers several benefits such as improving access to research, increasing...

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Covid-19 and food security | India and its jobs crisis

India is the country with the highest economic growth rate, albeit at a cost of growing unemployment, underemployment and job insecurity. With the arrival of the SARS-Cov2 coronavirus, the country faces not just a health crisis but also a social one, highlighted by...

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West Africa is threatened by a desert locust invasion

East Africa is continuing to be invaded by desert locusts. A group of researchers from CIRAD recently conducted several simulations to assess the risk of locusts spreading to Chad. In four out of five cases, swarms were predicted to arrive in Chad by mid-June 2020,...

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Containing COVID19 impacts on Indian Agriculture

The ongoing health crisis around COVID19 has affected all walks of life. Protecting lives of people suffering from the disease as well as frontline health responders have been the priority of nations. Governments have swung into actions since the Corona virus attack...

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Vouchers instead of food

COVID-19: How citizen-led social protection could help to cushion food systems in informal settlements. One week ago, private food deliveries by Kenyan citizens were pouring into informal settlements in Nairobi, where 60-70% of residents live. These donations were...

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Biocontrol reduces Maruca pod borer population by 85%

Scientists based at CGIAR-IITA’s climate change station in Benin are happy with the results of the just-concluded experimental release of wasps. These wasps, which are natural enemies of the Maruca pod borer, were released two years ago to go after the destructive...

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First Lady of Niger leads millet movement

Niger recently celebrated the second annual International Millet Festival (FESTIMIL), aimed at enhancing the production, processing and consumption of millets, so as to create wellbeing and better dietary diversity. The festival is led by the First Lady, Dr Lalla...

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IITA launches IYPH website

By now, we know that 2020 is the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). Throughout the year, partners and stakeholders in agriculture shall increase awareness among the public and policymakers on the importance of healthy plants and the necessity to protect them...

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COVID-19-measures, daily laborers and their nutrition

Containing COVID-19 is indispensable. But without social safety nets, the effects on daily laborer in Africa could be disastrous. Drive along any major road connecting an African city with the hinterland early in the morning before sunrise. Each city has its distinct...

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Barren shelves: COVID-19 and panic buying of food

People rush to supermarkets and buy what they can carry. Comprehensible, but unnecessary. To cut a long story short: COVID-19 has not affected the food availability in countries. Yet, when Ryan Buckley who prepares for field research with us at ICRISAT reaches his...

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Brokering research crucial for climate-proofing drylands

Of the 12 interventions identified for agriculture by the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) in its September report, ‘Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience’, research and development has a role to play in nine interventions. That is just...

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Open data to boost Groundnut breeding initiatives

Groundnut is among the key grain legumes playing a vital role in enhancing human nutrition and farm biophysical features. Groundnut provides opportunities for smallholder and women farmers and boosts economies at the household and macro levels. However, agricultural...

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When science and industry synergize to develop better crops

Setting priorities for research in hybrid pearl millet, sorghum and pigeonpea in India Over 70 participants from 40 public and private sector institutions recently discussed and selected the highest research priorities to develop hybrid parents and hybrids of sorghum,...

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Cowpea receives more research support

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), also known as black eyed pea or niebé, is a legume crop grown by peasant farmers in the dry savannah areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the high protein content in its grains, cowpea is commonly regarded as poor man’s meat. This hardy...

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African farmers helping to grow quality seed for ‘neglected’ crops

Though Uganda has some of the lowest agricultural productivity in the world, efforts to bring smallholder farmer groups into the seed production process are helping to reverse that dismal standing. In the process, some farming regions have been transformed from hungry, poverty-stricken outposts to vibrant communities.

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Sorghum goes pop: Success stories from a Nigerian initiative

Have you heard of ‘pop’ sorghum or ‘diet’ sorghum flour?  If you haven’t, you are missing updates on an ancient grain that is gaining popularity in Nigerian markets and in nearby regions as well. Industries with guidance from researchers have picked up suitable...

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Dynamic modelling to help improve farm output

ICRISAT and ICAR scientists developing System Dynamics Modelling for Indian agriculture Can policy makers ‘see’ the outcomes of their decisions even before implementing them? Researchers at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and...

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Pre-breeding efforts for better traits in pigeonpea

Annual Review Meeting of GCDT-ICRISAT collaborative research project and participation in Pigeonpea Field Day With a view to using new and diverse sources of genetic variations in pigeonpea, the Pre-breeding Theme at ICRISAT is leading the drive to use wild Cajanus...

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Short and mid-early pigeonpea varieties steal the show

Pigeonpea Network Group (Asia) Workshop-cum-Field Day 2019 Pigeonpea researchers from across Asia hailed a short and mid-early variety of pigeonpea that is also high-yielding and disease-resistant, at a recent brainstorming session to benchmark region-specific...

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Can African smallholders farm themselves out of poverty?

A great deal of research on agriculture in Africa is organised around the premise that intensification can take smallholder farmers out of poverty. The emphasis in programming often focuses on technologies that increase farm productivity and management practices that...

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Workshop on gene editing held at ICRISAT

Twenty crop scientists from Asia and Africa were trained for two weeks at ICRISAT on gene-editing tools, including the increasingly popular CRISPR/Cas technology. From trait selection to validation of edited plants, specific sessions were conducted on designing...

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African Plant Breeders Association launched in Ghana

The African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) was launched recently to bring together plant breeders from several African nations to work towards achieving food security in Africa through breeding. Dr Sagri Bambangi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in Ghana,...

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Putting new-age agronomy to test in Indian farms

A group of farmers in India’s Telangana state is breaking new ground in their farms with recently learnt scientific agronomic practices to improve crop productivity. The group of 36, from five villages in Warangal Rural district,

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Consolidated efforts to modernize crop improvement in Ghana

A Regional Coordinated Trial (RCT) is helping Cowpea Improvement Program in Ghana, thanks to Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) and Bayer projects in West Africa. The regional trials involve genetic materials...

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Sorghum flour with high shelf life hits Nigerian markets

In a first-of-its-kind enterprise in Nigeria, a large-scale flour mill has come up with processed sorghum flour with a shelf life as high as 6 months. Typically, sorghum flour has a short shelf life of less than 3 months. This innovative product is opening new...

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Launch of CRP-GLDC Newsletter “Gender Research in the Drylands”

On Rural Women’s Day, 15 October 2019, CRP-GLDC launches its newsletter “Gender Research in the Drylands”, celebrating the indomitable spirit, resilience and conviction of smallholder rural women. Its rich content delves into the dynamics that goes into empowering rural women.and how access and intersectionality enable that, together with capacity building.

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Forage sorghum hybrid hailed as a landmark cultivar in India

A new sorghum hybrid developed using ICRISAT breeding material was recently given special recognition as the Outstanding Forage Hybrid 2019 for revolutionizing forage sorghum production in India. This is significant considering that currently, India – the world’s...

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Seeding entrepreneurship in groundnut farmers of south India

ICRISAT and PJTSAU partner to set up Seed Business Ventures in Telangana Groundnut cultivation in Telangana, India, could soon make gigantic leaps of improvement as a recently-launched entrepreneurship initiative is set to amplify the reach of enhanced seed varieties....

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Farmers in Tanzania urged to embrace drought tolerant crops

Against the backdrop of changing climatic conditions in Africa, scientists, administrators and seed enterprises have urged the farming community in Tanzania to adopt hardy crops like sorghum. “Farmers, mainly those in low rainfall areas, can embrace sorghum which is...

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Hands-on training program on aflatoxin detection

To check for aflatoxin contamination in their products, groundnut value chain stakeholders in Bangladesh attended a hands-on training program. Participants learnt to use the ELISA kit and were informed of the dangers of aflatoxin contamination. Forty participants...

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CRP-GLDC Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Internship

The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) invites applications for a six-month internship for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activities of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (CRP-GLDC). The...

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The stories of ‘sorghum’ Agatha and ‘seed’ Mary

Why linking with the private sector is important for the AVISA project writes Jayashree Balasubramanian, Lead Communications, ICRISAT Passion can be a very tasty ingredient. It is with a large dose of this passion that Ms Agatha, an unusual food processor in Tanzania,...

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Improve soya bean yield

SOYA bean has a high potential for income generation particularly for smallholder farmers who can improve their yields, says International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Soybean breeder Godfree Chigeza. Mr Chigeza said the current soya bean yields of one...

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Chapatis of pearl millet for a changing climate

Original post on: Crop Wild Relatives The people of rural India love their bajra chapatis. These flatbreads made of pearl millet flour are a highly nutritious staple in the diet of millions of Indians. And farmers love pearl millet because it will grow where other...

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Bridging the knowledge gap among crop breeders in SSA and SA

A new training model has shown how NARS can move ahead in deploying new tools and technologies to accelerate genetic gains and enhance operational efficiency of breeding and pipelines. This was demonstrated at an international training course tailored to bridge the...

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Lentil farming and gender norms in Ethiopia

Although lentils are a critical source of income in parts of Ethiopia, not enough attention has been paid to farmers’ limited access to reliable information and improved seed varieties. Furthermore, the gender aspects of lentil production are rarely studied; gender...

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Now, get critical seed data in one click

A modern digital seed ‘catalog’ and seed ‘roadmap’ tool is now available for information about the quality and availability of seeds in one click. This innovative tool will ultimately enable farmers in several African countries to access seed varietal information quickly and help them plan seed production over a long period.

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Legumes beckon, children of soil return to roots in Africa

It was a gamble that 30-year-old Fuseini Zaanyeya realizes was worth taking. For, quality healthcare and primary education are well within reach since he returned to agriculture under the third phase of Tropical Legumes Project. TL III aims to boost legume production...

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Nigerian Agriculture Minister endorses groundnut thresher

A motorized groundnut thresher is reducing drudgery for women farmers in rural Nigeria. Introduced in 2015, over 50 threshers have already been distributed to farmer groups and cooperatives. Recently at the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) fair, Chief Audu...

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Focus on partnerships and innovation at CRP GLDC meetings

A renewed focus on innovation and establishing new partnerships was high on the agenda at the recent joint meeting of the Research Management Committee (RMC) and the Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Drylands...

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Flagship Program 3 reviews progress, strategizes for 2019

Creating complementarities and synergies and harmonizing approaches were the key takeaways from the meeting of the GLDC’s Flagship Program 3 on Integrated farm and household management held in Nairobi, Kenya on 1-2 October. Sixteen scientists from IITA, SLU,...

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3 sorghum varieties released in Nigeria

Nigeria’s National Committee on Variety Naming, Registration and Release on 26 July 2018, approved the registration and release of two medium-maturing sorghum varieties, SAMSORG 47 as ZAUNA-INUWA, SAMSORG 48 as KAURA BORNU, and an early medium-maturing variety,...

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Increasing Youth Engagement in Feed the Future

A key goal of Feed the Future is to increase youth empowerment and livelihoods, because supporting and empowering youth can help to sustainably reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty. With one third of the total population — about 2.3 billion people —between...

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A thriving community of women seed producers

By Agathe Diama, Head-Regional Information – WCA, West & Central Africa Program It started with just three women farmers who were part of a pilot from Pagou village, Burkina Faso, who were trained on improved groundnut seed production in 2015. The three women...

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Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains

The report — Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains — summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which...

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Media Releases

Burkina Faso releases its first pearl millet hybrid

High-yieldng, downy mildew-resistant and suitable for food and fodder. Developed by ICRISATand evaluated by INERA Burkina Faso recently approved the commercial use of its first pearl millet hybrid called Nafagnon. With the approval, the single-cross hybrid also became...

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