Covid-19 has highlighted opportunities for improved agri-food systems – digital extension systems, increased farm mechanization, decentralized markets and improved farmgate procurement…

Diversification of farms is often advocated for bringing diet diversity to rural households and improving nutrition, but how does it compare to market access? This blog traverses an extensive review…

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....

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.

According to the UN report on Youth 2015, Africa constitutes 19% of the global youth population with 60% of the entire continent aged below 25, making it the youngest continent in the world. In Tanzania, youth unemployment stands at 11.5 %, despite the high economic...

UE-APSAN Mali project trains next generation of modeling experts Budding agricultural researchers are being trained in crop modeling to take on pressing and ever-present challenges of land, climate and food security. In a recent training program at ICRISAT-Mali, eight...

“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...

A survey in rural parts of Northern Nigeria shows that in spite of problems in accessing quality seeds and other inputs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of respondents still want to take up…

Market-driven chickpea innovations record many firsts in Africa and Asia. To meet the growing global market demand for protein-rich chickpea, scientists have created new varieties that would contribute to greater nutrition security, health and climate resilience and...

A national seed systems strategy with special focus on drought tolerant crops such as sorghum and millets is in the making in Kenya. The strategy will leverage existing government initiatives, capitalize on agri-science innovations and use digital technologies for...

ICRISAT’s socio-economic data sets for India at the district and village levels, collated over several decades, are vital for researchers, institutions and policy makers, agreed experts in a recent conference. These data sets continue to have great potential to...

With newer diseases affecting chickpea crops, it is increasingly important to detect and manage them on time. With a view to develop and disseminate standardized protocols for detection, phenotyping and management of chickpea diseases, a group of chickpea experts came...

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...

A new disease-resistant sorghum hybrid with 23-34% higher yield, best suited for brewing, food and forage and adaptable to diverse agro-ecologies in Zimbabwe and southern Africa was developed in partnership with Seed Co, a private seed company. The development and use...

A high-yielding and wilt resistant variety with a yield potential double to that of existing varieties* was developed through genomics-assisted breeding and released for cultivation in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra by the Central Varietal...

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...

Neglected or overlooked local food crops could well be making a comeback into markets in Africa thanks to the work of a consortium of scientists. ‘Orphan’ crops, which include a range of neglected or overlooked plants producing fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and...

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...

The IITA-Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies (CSAT) project continues to advance with activities in Mali and Niger. CSAT Mali and CSAT Niger are working to scale climate-smart technologies in Sahelian regions and provide farmers with options for better adaptation...

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...

Demand for peanut oil in India is increasing and a dependable supply of quality seed of varieties that combine both high oil and high oleic traits are highly desirable for increased shelf life and consumer health benefits, said Mr Tushar Tumar from Kedut Foods and...

Beans are a staple food in most rural households in Tanzania. They are both a food and income-generating crop in most households. Kagera region is one of the leading producers of common beans in Tanzania. The most popular traditional dish in the area is beans mixed...

Discussion sessions with Nigerian Agriculture Minister “Concrete outcomes of research are indispensable tools in sourcing funds for agricultural research”, – Mr Manir Babba Dan’agundi, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture Colleges and Institutions....

Millets have sometimes been hailed as the next quinoa but researchers collating a global database of millet products have found this ancient grain to be orchestrating a silent food revolution that could see quinoa outstripped. The “Millet Finder”, launched today,...

A webinar was organized on 5 November to connect partners and deliberate on ways to increase private sector engagement in African agriculture. The webinar, a collaborative activity of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) with Grow...

How to achieve Sustainable Development Goal no. 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030 Ambitious food value-chain initiatives pursue multiple development objectives of reducing poverty, malnutrition and environmental footprint by increasing smallholders’ productivity and incomes...

Bean researchers are almost always cooped up in the laboratory and farm trials looking into various ways of improving production and productivity. They spend months and even years looking at solutions that will maximize bean yields to ensure food and nutrition...

Locusts, Fall armyworm, wheat blast, banana Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 and UG99 - a virulent strain of wheat stem rust, are some of the emerging crop health threats that require to be addressed efficiently to safeguard food security. This was emphasized by...

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’...

Taking a Country-Level Approach to Documenting Diffusion of Agricultural Innovations in Ethiopia Shining a Brighter Light: Comprehensive Evidence on Adoption and Diffusion of CGIAR-Related Innovations in Ethiopia is a new report that focuses on the success of...

Farmers in Mali, who volunteered to grow climate-resilient and locally adapted varieties of sorghum, pearl millet, groundnut and cowpea crops under the UE-APSAN-Mali project, demonstrated the superior features of their crops during a field visit by other farmers, seed...

Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and Grow Africa Partnership will be hosting a webinar on the 5th of November 2020 between 14h00-16h00 (WAT). With the theme “Technology-driven modernisation of African Agriculture – what role for the private...

In Malawi, children under five years suffer malnutrition, with the national prevalence of under-five stunting at about 37%. Additionally, about 34% of women of reproductive age are suffering from anaemia. High iron bean varieties could help address these micronutrient...

An updated CGIAR livestock feeds database for sub-Saharan Africa is now available. Containing the nutritive values of over 44,000 forage and fodder samples, the updated database can be accessed by researchers, development agents and agricultural extension workers in...

Did you know that with just a small space you can set up a kitchen garden with various crops including beans? Increasing land scarcity especially in urban and peri-urban areas calls for fresh ideas for ensuring a regular supply of fresh food. Kitchen gardens offer a...

Across Africa, farmers’ access to agricultural advisory services is limited due to the weak extension systems. This is even worse with the COVID-19 pandemic where there have been restrictions on travel and gatherings. To close this gap, the Cereal Growers...

Virtual trainings through the Digital AgroClimate Advisory (DACA) was greatly appreciated by trainees as a novel and useful tool in decision making in bean crop production. Participants shared that DACA helped them to expand their understanding of how to make an...

ICRISAT-led project transforms tribal women into first-generation entrepreneurs by helping them produce healthy, nutritious foods from dryland crops. Mr Allola Indrakaran Reddy, Minister for Endowment, Law, Forest and Environment, Telangana, recently inaugurated a...

A little box that can predict the amount of harmful aflatoxin contained in a handful of sample groundnuts… sounds like a far-fetched notion? Not anymore. A collaboration between Pure Scan AI and ICRISAT to create a portable aflatoxin detector has won the Inspire...

The Savanah Agriculture Research Institute of the Council for Scientific Industrial Research (CSRI-SARI), has introduced high yielding groundnut varieties to farmers in the Pusiga District of the Upper East Region. The groundnut varieties, SARINUT 1 and SARINUT 2,...

For the longest time when one mentions Maasai, the image that comes to mind is of young men—warriors—living in the wilderness, moving their livestock from one seasonal pasture to another, coping with the vagaries of nature and the dangers of attack from wild animals....

Over 150 rural youth in Niger joined an entrepreneur incubation program, participating in their first practical training in integrated pest management (e.g. insect rearing), market gardening, fruit tree nurseries and smart compost production. Equipped with these...

Fodder chopping machines are proving to be a great help to livestock farmers in rural Niger, by providing suitable feed to their animals while saving their time and effort. In five villages, groups of farmers are making the most of an initiative to provide these...

To achieve the full genetic potential and higher profits for smallholder farmers, modern crop improvement programs, strong seed delivery system, better market access, support of national and local government agencies and a conducive policy environment is a must. These...

Enthused by positive nutritional outcomes among children and women in its first phase, activities of the Giri Poshana diet diversification program in Telangana, India, are set to be scaled up to benefit more of the state’s tribal population. Two years after it began,...

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...

Two groundnut varieties with high oleic acid content, developed by ICRISAT together with the Indian Counci l of Agricultural Research-Directorate of Groundnut Research, are among the 17 biofortified varieties of eight crops that Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi...

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...

“The vision of CGIAR breeding is to have world-class breeding programs to have CGIAR-and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) breeding networks that generate genetic gains above 1.5% per annum. And the average area-weighted age of varieties in farmers’ fields...

Using chickpea as the case species, one of the proposed 11 hubs of DivSeek International will develop and refine tools to accelerate the use of its natural genetic diversity to advance crop improvement. Scientists in this hub will be studying the genetic determinants...

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...

Researchers argue that trade-offs in value-chain interventions need to be explicitly recognized within the wider agri-food system to achieve the Goals, suggesting a ‘do no harm’ agenda. Managing trade-offs in agri-food systems for outcomes that ‘do no harm’ is central...

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...

IITA joins the rest of the world to spotlight the people who feed the world—women. We can recognize a rural woman from a distance. Her clothing is usually different from the urban woman’s; it is loose-fitting, mismatched, and often, this woman carries a baby with a...

2020 is a unique year. We have spent most of it ‘surprised’ by the turn of events. In early 2020, we found ourselves in a global health pandemic. We started by learning that we could not travel from one country to another. At first, we thought it will be a few weeks,...

What is the potential impact of climate change on cereal production, and in particular on maize, one of the most sensitive tropical crops to heat and water stress? A study coordinated by CIRAD and published in Global Change Biology assesses the impact of temperature...

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...

Achieving food and nutritional security and economic prosperity is possible within an equitable system where structural barriers are removed and traditional gender norms and stereotypes are broken. With additional stress on food security caused by social and economic...

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,...

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...

To enable crop researchers and policymakers access information on the three Tropical Legumes projects under one roof, a digital hub has been developed to capture learnings and impacts of crop varietal development and distribution initiatives taken up under the...

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...

A group of women across four regions of south-western Niger have grown 84,000 trees to earn US$ 20,400 (CFA 11,200,000) in just three months. Their entrepreneurial quest, an example of besting odds in harsh environs, has seen the women bond over fruit trees while...

Aspiring researchers who attended ICRISAT’s capacity building programs in gender and youth research in East and Southern Africa say their learnings from the programs involving extensive field work have given them a strong orientation in these areas vis-à-vis...

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,...

Every year after the rice harvest in South Asia, a vast area of over 15 million hectares lies idle (fallow) until the next rice planting season several months later. The region’s food needs are fast accelerating along with burgeoning populations, so scientists in...

To make quality seeds of improved sorghum easily accessible, a consortium of institutions is taking up 3000 tons of seed production this year to supply more than 10% of India’s farmers, who are often deterred from cultivating improved sorghum owing to non-availability...

In their effort to ensure food and nutrition security in the face of rising carbon dioxide levels and climate change, researchers at ICRISAT, in a first of its kind study, have demonstrated what elevated CO2 does to chickpea and have uncovered the molecular basis for...

One year after it began, Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) project is being strengthened to magnify its impact potential with a two-year supplementary grant from USAID…

When fall armyworm first arrived on the African continent in 2016, the potential loss of crops was estimated to potentially cost farmers over USD 13 billion per year throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the livelihoods of millions. Native to the Americas, fall...

Dr Rajeev Varshney from the Center of Excellence in Genomics and Systems Biology, ICRISAT, sheds light on his recent research in an interview with BioTechniques, a MEDLINE peer-reviewed, open access journal. Please can you give us a short summary of your article,...

Two pearl millet varieties with 7.0% and 5.4% higher green forage yields as compared to national check Giant Bajra, were released for cultivation in five south India states…

For those seeking to create a win-win for farmers, marketers and consumers of grain legumes and dryland cereals, this handy 15-pager has valuable information. Covering a five-year period starting 2020, this booklet aims to guide policy makers, development partners,...

ICRISAT’s efforts in feedstocks development appreciated on World Biofuel Day India has made good progress in blending bioethanol with gasoline (petrol) and biodiesel with diesel, said Dr Ashok Kumar Are, Principal Scientist, ICRISAT, while pointing out the need for...

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...

A superior export-quality confectionery groundnut variety that comes with a higher cost benefit ratio compared to local checks was released for cultivation in the Northern Transitional Agro-climatic Zone of Karnataka, India. The variety ICGV 06189 comes with superior...

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...

A soil-borne pathogen, new to chickpea growing regions in India, was detected during a real-time survey being conducted regularly to study the spike in soil-borne diseases. After intensive morphological and molecular characterization, the pathogen was identified as...

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...

The dry, gravelly red-hued soils of drought-prone Anantapur, in the heart of Southern India, might seem an unlikely spot for the largest peanut-growing district in the world. But the profitable, resilient crop, known locally as groundnut, stretches over upwards of...

Two new groundnut varieties with high oleic acid content developed by ICRISAT in association with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Directorate of Groundnut Research would be made available to the farming community in Telangana from the next season. This was...

High-yielding chickpea and finger millet varieties with yield potential of up to 3 tons per hectare had their first-ever official release in Malawi. The release aligns well with the government’s crop diversification agenda for food and income security and the funding...

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...

A recently launched project, with a focus on iron- and zinc-fortified hybrids and open-pollinated varieties of sorghum and pearl millet, anticipates improved food and nutrition security for 120,000 smallholder households in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The three-year...

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...

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...

A new groundnut variety, with 28% higher yields of oil and pods compared to zonal checks, has been released in Chhattisgarh state, India. This variety, Chhattisgarh Mungfali-1 (CGM-1), is the first ever groundnut variety released by Indira Gandhi Krishi...

A farmers’ cooperative in Mali has experienced a significant increase in production of quality seeds, setting an example for other farmer organizations in Mali and neighboring countries. They are using both rainy season and dry season varieties to enhance their yields...

Protein and micronutrient-packed legumes like cowpea, groundnut, beans or chickpea are important crops for small farmers in developing countries to improve family diets and soils. Yet for years, legume cultivation has been hampered by poor yields and returns. Engaging...

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...

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...

Seed demand is expected to outstrip supply by nearly twice in the coming seasons, based on expert opinions from seven African countries compiled by the AVISA research project. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing one of its biggest farming crises in living memory. COVID-19 is...

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...

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...

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...

Plant breeding is a key challenge for resilience to climate change among agricultural producers. A new far-reaching project is aimed at strengthening networks and institutional capacities in this field in three West African countries. With almost 9 million euros of...

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...

Farmers in 13 states of Nigeria will receive improved seeds of sorghum, pearl millet, cowpea and rice as a part of an initiative to cushion the pandemic’s impact on food…

The World Food Programme has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause one of the worst food crises since World War II. It predicts a doubling of the number of people going hungry – more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. While wealthier people stay...

Measurement can improve interventions and help smallholder farmers adapt better A household’s vulnerability to climate shocks and its resilience to recover can now be measured, suggests a recently published study. The study’s authors have turned their measurement...

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...

ICRISAT-led AVISA project is partnering with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to enhance uptake of modern technologies, including improved crop varieties.  The new partnership will utilize AGRA’s extensive networks to bridge gaps in market access...

To ensure nutrition sufficiency in children, pregnant women and lactating mothers of tribal communities in Telangana, India, during times of lockdown, ready-to-eat foods containing millets, sorghum and pulses produced by ICRISAT are being provided at their doorstep....

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...

Easing of lockdown restrictions to revive Indian economy may suggest end of Covid-19 ordeal for agriculture. But gaps in food value chains show fight is far from over. Accustomed to healthy demand, India’s vegetable and fruit growers were in for a rude shock when the...

Cowpea and groundnut are considered ‘golden grains’ for many women farmers in West Africa, as they make decent money processing these pulse grains into oil or popular snacks, while the leaves are good fodder for their animals. Yet legume cultivation has been limited...

This paper uses smallholder households panel data from 2006 to 2014 in three semiarid regions India, makes a key contribution to literature on drought resilience. Understanding why are some farmers able to respond to drought but others are not? How can smallholders...

Located at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)campus in Patancheru, India, the feed technology research platform of the Feed and Forage Development Program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) provides...

Farmers in Mali are improving their incomes , earning better livelihoods and enjoying more fulfilling lives through interventions that provide improved varieties of sorghum as well as training in good agriculture practices. Particularly encouraging are the case...

Double yields from improved varieties, access to storage facilities and timely credit through the warrantage system has kept sorghum farmers in Mali from selling their harvest at throwaway prices during a glut, helping them earn 50% more income. Farmers are now able...

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...

A group of Indian farmers who made their entrepreneurial debut last year increased their income by as much as US$ 982 (₹ 75,000) per hectare with good quality seed of high-yielding groundnut varieties and improved technology. Handholding by ICRISAT in pre-production...

Information alone does not change eating habits. Together with the Billian Music Family in Mathare, we experiment with trend-setting music. You probably place a lot of faith and trust in information – depending on the source. As a scientist, I do the same. In the...

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...

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,...

While these measures will begin to help, the impact witnessed by farm sector and other vulnerable groups requires more intervention, Shalander Kumar and Arabinda K Padhee. The disruptions on rural livelihoods and food supplies from COVID-19 lockdown have worried all...

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...

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...

At first glance, the COVID-19 crisis appears to have nothing to do with the climate emergency. Over the last month, COVID-19 has eclipsed climate change and many other global challenges as the most pressing issue we face worldwide. Between learning to manage life on...

To fight the pandemic, it is clear that regular markets must be suspended temporarily. These are places where large groups of people gather and spread the virus; maintaining social distance in such places is very difficult so closure is the only option. But there must...

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...

Charting the 12 year course of the Tropical Legumes project An engaging read while in lockdown Sowing Legume Seeds, Reaping Cash: A Renaissance within Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (A Springer Open publication)…

Increasing market demand for dryland crops in Kenya and Tanzania owing to IFAD-funded project interventions across the agriculture value chain for three years has led to last mile delivery plans…

Growing certified improved seed of millets and legumes is a profitable business enterprise for farmer cooperatives in Mali. Improved seed summon twice the market rate and the turnover is so high that existing storage facilities can accommodate only a quarter of the...

Makueni Agribusiness Ventures is a ten-member farmer group that participated in an AVCD funded good agricultural practices (GAPs) and modern farming training lead by ICRISAT. ICRISAT provided foundation seed for community seed for the short rain season. Through the...

Farmers in Eastern Kenya are seeing an increase in yield from their crops and earning better incomes than before. Over 144,000 farming households have been provided with 1,000 tons of improved high-quality seeds of drought-tolerant cereals and legumes, resulting in...

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...

Especially for young people, diverse portfolios for rural populations should be the core part of a well-thought out rural investment strategy, say researchers. The first results of the Kenyan census conducted in 2019 reveal a gradual demographic transition towards...

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...

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...

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...

Demand for sorghum and pearl millet as major food, feed and fodder crop continues to increase globally.  However, in the last 50 years, these grains have largely been abandoned in favor of the more popular maize, wheat, rice and soya beans. This is because of...

About 8.3 million people living in Kenya’s rural areas farm to feed themselves. They typically have just a few acres of land and depend on rain to grow their crops. This makes them extremely vulnerable to changes in the weather. Many already struggle. As with other...

As Nitya Rao and colleagues show, a lot is known about the effects of climate change on women. Most research focuses on women’s vulnerability as a result of reliance on natural resources, lower access to resources and information, and gender and social norms that...

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...

Machine-harvestable chickpea variety ‘Phule Vikram’, which was launched two years ago in India, is helping farmers circumvent labor shortage during harvest in major chickpea producing states like Maharashtra. Besides reducing cost, Vikram is also proving highly...

In 2019, the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (CRP-GLDC) initiated a study to understand ‘youth realities, youth aspirations and youth opportunity structures’ in the drylands of East Africa[1] for a background paper to support the designing...

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,...

Biofortification Pearl millet scientists discussed the 'Future micronutrient breeding strategy in pearl millet', and agreed that phenotyping for micronutrient trait was the most important component needed to strengthen and mainstream biofortification activity in pearl...

A recent training course sought to enable young scientists, professors and breeders in the area of genomics-assisted crop breeding for climate-resilient agriculture. The participants were from partner institutes both from the public and private sector. “It is the need...

USAID delegation visited Mali to see impacts from projects undertaken by three CGIAR institutions A recent study revealed that sorghum and millet yields increased up to 51% and 72% respectively during the period 2014-2019 in Mali. This was achieved by enhancing...

A Seed Revolving Fund initiative for sorghum and groundnut value chains has been launched in Tanzania to tackle the challenge of limited access of quality seeds of improved varieties in rural regions. The ‘Seed Revolving Fund, Youth Engagement and Gender Inclusion’...

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...

India and Australia have joined hands in a multi-institutional project to enhance drought tolerance in chickpea. The project, ‘Functional Genomics of Chickpea to enhance drought tolerance’, will see The University of Western Australia (UWA), ICAR-Indian Agricultural...

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.

Training programs on silage making, animal health and laboratory management were held in Niger for researchers, extension service workers and farmers to improve crop-livestock systems in the region. Silage making to improve utilization of stover A study conducted in...

Around a hundred scientists from varied disciplines, who gathered to discuss an India-UK joint research program, called for more interdisciplinary research to make Indian agriculture sustainable in a changing world and to ensure food security. The first General...

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...

Salient features: High oleic and high-yielding varieties Contain 53% oil More than 78% oleic acid Oleic to linoleic acid ratio of 17 Produce more than 3 tons of pods per hectare in the rainy (kharif) season Where and when to cultivate: Recommended for cultivation in...

The facilities aim to create sustainable business opportunities around nutritious diets for tribal farmers in Telangana In a bid to boost nutrition and income, farmers from tribal communities in the South Indian state of Telangana will shortly take to...

If school children in Uganda have taken to a super-nutritious traditional fermented millet drink called bushera and if an India-inspired peanut bar is a popular item in Zambian supermarkets, a training initiative in partnership with the India-Africa Forum Summit...

Access to quality seed remains a big challenge for farmers in Africa. With increasing drought situations and deteriorating soil quality, especially in the Sudanian and Sahelian zones, improving access to seed of climate-smart varieties is part of the solution. Spurred...

CGIAR, the world’s largest global agricultural research network, has traditionally focused on rural areas. But now cities are attracting its gaze. There are two compelling reasons for this shift. First, urban dwellers in Africa often have higher rates of malnutrition...

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...

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...

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...

Food systems can be effectively transformed by identifying drivers of food choice and factors influencing personal food environments, thereby enabling effective strategies to link agriculture and nutrition. This was one of the key messages at the recent conference of...

More than 20 years after the last groundnut seed variety was registered in the seed catalog, the groundnut breeding program in West and Central Africa is set to be enhanced through the registration of seven improved groundnut varieties in Burkina Faso. The...

Exciting times ahead as public and private institutions come together to promote millets Seed research stakeholders and representatives of private seed companies from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, met with scientists, millet breeders and seed systems...

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...

Partnerships are key to deliver on ICRISAT’s mission of ‘Science of Discovery to Science of Delivery’. To discuss several of ICRISAT’s ongoing collaborative programs including CINTRIN, TIGR2ESS, MillNET_i, Dr Rajeev Gupta, Principal Scientist and Theme Leader,...

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...

Two varieties of dual-purpose (food and fodder) pearl millet were shown to increase weight and overall growth in sheep, according to a study conducted in Niger. These two varieties could be considered as good quality fodder for crop-livestock systems in the country....

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,...

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,

ICRISAT’s chickpea researchers have developed a breeding protocol that holds the potential to create new varieties of chickpea in half-time.

Climate change makes the challenge of crop protection highly formidable, said Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), even as he called for a “global plan” for “global pests” like Fall armyworm at the inaugural...

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...

Globally, agriculture is witnessing significant technological advancement, best exemplified by the Agriculture 4.0 movement. India, one of the world’s largest food producers and consumers, has to stay abreast of the growth. Remote-sensing imaging for monitoring crop...

A course designed to modernize National Agricultural Research System (NARS) breeding programs for improving genetic gains of 9 dryland cereals and grain legumes and to strengthen seed systems in 14 African and Asian countries was held recently in Arusha, Tanzania. The...

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...

To strengthen the competencies of Indian scientists in climate change-related topics and to foster a generation of high-level teachers in India, 30 scientists/assistant professors and 16 students were selected for undergoing training in European partner institutes at...

Advanced breeding lines which included high-oleic groundnut and those with market-preferred kernel size, shape and color were selected for further trials by National Agricultural Research System (NARS) partners from Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Laos PDR and Vietnam....

Five improved varieties of groundnut and three of sorghum with the best market traits were selected for active promotion in Tanzania after discussions with AVISA project partners and all stakeholders along the value chain. This is to build on the adoption to date of...

Adoption of new varieties can never be successful until efficient seed delivery systems are in place. To increase the efficacy and impact of the existing ‘seed revolving fund initiative’ for groundnut and sorghum crops a decision to form a steering committee was taken...

A recent capacity-building exercise conducted in Nigeria trained a multidisciplinary team of researchers in the use of remote sensing in their respective areas of work. Remote sensing technology – a rapid and efficient approach to estimate croplands…

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...

Over a period of 12 years  (2007-2019), the Tropical Legumes projects led to the development of 266 improved legume varieties and production of about 497,901 tons of certified seeds of the target legume crops. These seeds have been planted on about 5.0 million ha by...

Developing crop varieties that meet the needs of all stakeholders, with farmers, value chain actors and end-use consumers having specific needs for attributes of breeds or varieties, is a challenging task. Defining, communicating and….

In a first, the National Variety Release Committee (NVRC) of Ethiopia, announced the release of a high-yielding chickpea variety developed in collaboration with ICRISAT using marker assisted backcrossing (MABC)….

Scouting for natural enemies of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (FAW) in both Asia and Africa, and establishing mass-rearing facilities will aid the biological control program in the fight against the voracious pest. A five-day workshop, organized by...

Eight months of the year was the most farmer Seydou Yolo’s harvest would last to feed his family of two wives and fifteen children. From then on, cattle would have to be sold to feed the family for the following four months…

Two women’s associations in Sikasso, Mali are changing the status of pearl millet and sorghum, using these crops to diversify and improve food and nutrition security. Sikasso is one of the most prosperous agricultural regions in southern Mali, where farming is...

Developed at ICRISAT, these lines have been selected by the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Pigeonpea Six high-yielding pigeonpea pre-breeding lines derived from wild Cajanus species with an average yield potential ranging from 1,400- 3,000 kg/ha,...

Alhaji Sani Usman remembers what being a groundnut farmer in Nigeria’s Kano state entailed a few decades ago – prosperity, respect and global admiration, manifest in the fabled pyramids of groundnut stacks that reached for the skies following harvest. “The groundnut...

Jean Goita has come a long way since his days as a grain producer in his hometown of Yorosso. Today he is a respected seed producer covering nine communes of Yorosso district in Sikasso region of Southern Mali. Goita and 10 other members of his district were trained...

Discussions at the recently concluded congress of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) reflected the seed community’s focus on seed production in a changing environment, the association’s Secretary-General Dr Andreas Wais said. “The attendance we had at...

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....

Over 6 million households benefit through the years of the Tropical Legumes Project In early 1970s, a journey to improve Ethiopia’s chickpea production started in a bid to mitigate low productivity of landraces, poor farming practices, biotic and abiotic stresses,...

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...

The first trait-specific high oleic groundnut varietal trial conducted under the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Groundnut (AICRP-G) in 2017 has paved the way for the testing and release of high oleic groundnut varieties in India. High oleic groundnuts are...

Sayilesi Gwizima, 59, from Mchinij district, central Malawi, grows CG 7 groundnut variety. Not unlike many farmers, Gwizima fell for the variety’s large seed size and high fat content, which makes for high returns at the market…

The CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research hosted a webinar on ‘Culture, choice and action in legume seed systems in East and North Uganda‘ on 10 May 2019. The webinar was organized in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and...

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...

Over 100 participants from eight South and South-East Asian countries attended the “Regional Workshop on Fall Armyworm Management in Asia” organized in Hyderabad. The Fall Armyworm (FAW) is one of the most destructive crop pests and has invaded crops in India and...

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...

Two projects were recently launched to adopt climate-smart agricultural technologies in Niger and Mali for increasing food security and improving rural livelihoods. The projects, ‘Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies

The CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals Agri-food Systems (GLDC) held a session at the Beating Famine Sahel conference, which ran from 26th February to 28th February 2019, in Bamako (Mali). During this conference organised by the World...

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...

Heralding a significant milestone for soybean research in Africa, the recent launch of the Optima Soy Africa (OSA) platform harnesses partnerships to ensure the development of market-driven soybean varieties and technologies and their dissemination. The platform is...

Development practitioners are increasingly interested in examining the distributional impacts of technical change and innovations in agriculture. The general expectation should be that equal chance and opportunities are accorded to everyone regardless of class, caste,...

CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals is working on genetic improvement of the important crop cowpea to develop high-yielding varieties with resistance to diseases and pests and to increase its production and consumption, as this article from The...

Simba is a village located about 170 km east of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. On 3 October 2018, Mr Kossima Kaboré was the first producer in the village to harvest the improved sorghum variety named Jakunbe. This former gold miner rejoices on his discovery: “I sowed at...

In Mozambique and Malawi, the agriculture sector offers huge potential to improve the lives of rural households, which make up a signficiant share of the local population and depend mainly on farming for their livelihoods. Estimates suggest that agriculture employs up...

Pre-breeding utilizes wild species with tolerance to climate change, diseases and pests Hyderabad, 25 October 2018: The largest producer of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) in the world, India could increase its production three times, provided there are varieties resistant...

India leads in prioritizing nutrition in breeding The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has established minimum levels of iron and zinc to be bred into national varieties of pearl millet. The news comes during the National Year of Millets and as the...

Timely access to quality seeds by smallholder farmers is a major enabler for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Farmers with the appropriate variety of seeds and related packages can reap substantial rewards in terms of improving food security and reducing...

India’s tribal population is generally at risk of malnutrition owing to its dependence on primitive agricultural practices, poverty, illiteracy, and poor personal and environmental hygienic practices.