News Releases 2008

1. Science innovations help dryland farmers deal with food and financial crisis (24 December 2008)

2. ICRISAT’s Agri-Business Incubator awarded as best in Asia-Pacific (17 December 2008)

3. ICRISAT creates impacts in Africa (26 November 2008) 4. ICRISAT initiates agreements with new partners on food processing

research (20 November 2008) 5. The American Society of Agronomy honors ICRISAT scientist (13

November 2008) 6. Combating Desertification is Key to Tackling Global Food Crisis (3

November 2008) 7. ICRISAT advocates rescue plan for dryland farmers (24 October 2008) 8. ICRISAT to re-establish center in Nigeria (25 September 2008) 9. Australian Foreign Minister visits ICRISAT headquarters (10 September

2008) 10. International Public Goods developed by ICRISAT improve agricultural

productivity (4 September 2008) 11. ICRISAT pigeonpea climbs the mountains of Uttarakhand (29 August

2008) 12.Bias against drylands will affect food security (22 August 2008) 13. ICRISAT and DBT to establish new facility for agri- biotechnology

research (14 August 2008) 14.Community watersheds combat drought (7 August 2008) 15.Crop breeders on verge of beating Africa’s most noxious weed use cutting

edge science technique (7 August 2008)

16. ICRISAT now a top ranking global research institution (31 July 2008) 17. ICRISAT scientist elected President of the International Congress of

Entomology (29 July 2008) 18. ICRISAT earns its second ‘Outstanding’ rating (24 July 2008) 19.World's first CMS pigeonpea hybrid commercialized (15 July 2008) 20.Land degradation threatens dryland populations (16 June 2008) 21.Science leads to adaptation with climate change (5 June 2008) 22.Scientific Innovations will Trigger Green Revolution in Africa (2 June 2008) 23.Cutting edge science helps the poor overcome soaring food prices (27

May 2008) 24.Sweet Sorghum: A New Smart Biofuel Crop that Ensures Food Security

(12 May 2008) 25. ICRISAT launches Center of Excellence in Genomics and Bio-Food

Knowledge Center (20 March 2008) 26. ICRISAT’s germplasm to strengthen the collection at the Svalbard Global

Seed Vault (25 February 2008) 27.Development of smart crops for biofuels ensures food and environmental

security (15 February 2008)

28. ICRISAT signs MOU with Crop and Food Research, New Zealand (30 January 2008)

29. ICRISAT signs MOU with Philippine science journalists association (16 January 2008)

1)Science innovations help dryland farmers deal with food and financial crisis

The global food crisis followed by the current financial crisis has inflicted further hardships to poor farmers of the semi-arid tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, scientific innovations developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) are empowering these farmers to cope with the crisis.

According to the Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William Dar, the global financial crisis coming closely on the heels of the global food crisis has hit dryland farmers hard. “These poor dryland farmers have very little margin for risks, and when two shocks come one behind the other, their ability to recover is quite diminished,” Dr Dar said.

“ICRISAT’s scientific innovations strengthen farmers to deal with situations such as this,” Dr Dar said. “Even when events happen that are far beyond the control of the dryland farmer, ICRISAT’s interventions give him the resistance to tide over the crisis with less damage.”

Although food prices have fallen from their peaks in early 2008, they are still higher than what the prices were before they soared in 2007. This can affect poor dryland farmers, who are usually net food buyers. Due to the financial crisis, there is also a shortfall in credit available to farmers and prices of inputs are also high. This could have an adverse impact on poor farmers, both in terms of reduced investments in agriculture and lesser food for their families.

In addition to contributing to the national food basket, agriculture in the semi-arid regions of developing countries supports the livelihoods of a large segment of these countries’ population. In India, for instance, two-thirds of cultivated lands are semi-arid. Hence, an adverse impact on dryland farming can result in decreased livelihood options for a substantial percentage of the population.

Drought tolerant crops

The crops that ICRISAT works on, namely pearl millet, sorghum, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut have greater tolerance to drought and can grow in semi-arid conditions. ICRISAT’s research focuses on improving the productivity

of these crops, developing early maturing varieties and hybrids, and developing drought and disease tolerance.

Advanced technology to deal with farmers’ needs

To hasten the speed of crop improvement and overcome limitations inherent to conventional crop breeding, ICRISAT harnesses crop biotechnology. Using molecular marker assisted selection and breeding, ICRISAT developed a pearl millet hybrid – HHB 67 Improved – that is resistant to downy mildew disease. Using the same technology, ICRISAT scientists in Nairobi identified and transferred genes that confer Striga resistance to sorghum. Striga is among the deadliest weeds in Africa.

When the genes for resistance is not available within the same plant, then ICRISAT scientists have successfully identified and introduced genes from different organisms. Through this transgenic research, ICRISAT has developed groundnut resistant to the Indian peanut clump virus and the rosette disease, and chickpea and pigeonpea resistant to the pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera).

Providing options to farmers

Through community watershed management, ICRISAT provides options to the dryland farmer. Through this approach, ICRISAT and partners provide technological options through natural resource management, soil and water conservation, improved cropping patterns, better crops and diversified livelihoods.

ICRISAT’s model on integrated community watershed management is being replicated in India, China, Thailand and Vietnam. The model is also being adapted for a few pilot studies in eastern and southern Africa.

Diversifying the bread basket

For the farmers living in the Sahel at the edge of the Sahara desert, it is important to diversify the bread basket, to increase the income from multiple sources. Through its African Market Garden and Sahelian Eco-Farm, ICRISAT promotes crop diversification through the cultivation of vegetable and fruit trees along with food crops. These are then irrigated with low-pressure drip irrigation systems.

More bang for the buck

The fertilizer microdosing technique introduced by ICRISAT in different parts of sub-Saharan Africa allows poor farmers to apply small, affordable and effective amounts of fertilizer for improved soil health and crop production. Farmers who use microdosing apply 6 gram doses of fertilizer - about a full bottle cap or a

three-finger pinch - in the hole where the plant is placed at the time of planting. Crops in some parts of Africa are so starved of nutrients such as phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen that addition of even this micro amount often doubles crop yields.

The poor farmers of the drylands have no control over global developments. At most of the times they do not understand the cause and effect of these changes. When ICRISAT’s scientific innovations helps them overcome their day-to-day problems, their resilience to global challenges gets strengthened.

2)ICRISAT’s Agri-Business Incubator awarded as best in Asia-Pacific

The Agri-Business Incubator at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ABI-ICRISAT) won the prestigious AABI (Asian Association of Business Incubation) Award for the year 2008. The award was presented by Mr Saffar Annuar, President of AABI at the 13th General Assembly held in Seoul, Korea, recently.

The Asian Association of Business Incubation promotes business incubation activities by facilitating information exchanges among incubators, incubator clients and related organizations in Asia Pacific. It is composed of organizations operating incubation programs in the Asia-Pacific region. There are more than 1,000 incubators in this region.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, this is a significant achievement for the second time for ABI-ICRISAT. ABI had received the national award for Best Business Incubator for 2005 from the Government of India in May 2006.

“This is a recognition of our initiatives in public-private partnership and highlight ICRISAT’s unique model of incubation in agri-business. ABI-ICRISAT is an innovative institutional mechanism to facilitate technology commercialization and reach out to farmers through agri-business ventures,” Dr Dar said.

“Through ABI-ICRISAT, we could make a difference to the livelihood of nearly 30,000 farmers through various products and services to over 60 incubated ventures. Currently, we are replicating similar agri-business incubator initiatives in partnership with domestic and international agricultural research institutes,” Dr Dar added.

ABI-ICRISAT was established with support from the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in the year 2003.

ABI-ICRISAT promotes technology commercialization through public-private partnership under the Agri-Science Park at ICRISAT. It provides opportunity for entrepreneurs to incubate agricultural technologies so that they become effective agri-business ventures. ABI-ICRISAT also provides a range of services that include agricultural technologies, business consultancy, facilitation of funding, and provision of infrastructure and facilities at ICRISAT, Patancheru. Entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to tap the expertise of ICRISAT's scientists.

ABI-ICRISAT has pioneered the commercialization of the sweet sorghum-based ethanol venture. It has also successfully commercialized ICRISAT’s groundnut ICGV 91114 and chickpea variety JG 11 in Andhra Pradesh, India, together with Aakruthi Agricultural Associates of India. It has also incubated 35 ventures and generated direct employment for over 550 and mobilized US$8 million for the companies that it has incubated.

ABI-ICRISAT has also facilitated the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to establish five Business Processing and Development (BPD) Units across India.

More recently, ABI-ICRISAT has been accredited as an outreach Center for Technopreneur Promotion Program (TePP) by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. TePP is jointly operated by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) of DST to tap the vast innovative potential of the citizens of India. TePP is a mechanism to promote individual innovators to become technology-based entrepreneurs (Technopreneurs).

Similar initiatives have resulted in developing and operating business incubators in collaboration with national agricultural research systems – the Investigação Agrária de Moçambique (IIAM) of Mozambique and the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) of Mauritius. In India, ABI-ICRISAT has helped initiate an agri-business incubator for the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Coimbatore, and partnered with the Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park (STEP), Thapar University, Patiala, Punjab, on co-business incubation.

For further information, contact Dr Kiran Sharma at k.sharma@cgiar.org.

3)ICRISAT creates impacts in Africa

Farmers in eastern and southern Africa (ESA) were growing pigeonpea that gave low yields, took very long to mature, were susceptible to wilt and often suffered from terminal drought stress. But this situation was reversed when scientists from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) adapted pigeonpea in ESA, screened for resistance to wilt and incorporated bold white grain preferred by farmers and markets in the medium- and long-duration varieties.

After evaluation, a large number of these varieties were released in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. In eastern Kenya, over 10,000 hectares of medium-duration varieties resistant to wilt and cropped two times a year are being grown by farmers. Likewise, in northern Tanzania, two long-duration varieties, which are high yielding, having white bold grain and resistant to wilt are being grown in over 50,000 hectares. In Malawi two long-duration varieties have been released and pigeonpea seed is now included in the country's subsidy program.

Interventions specially designed for Africa

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the Institute's scientific innovations in sub-Saharan Africa are designed considering the difficult conditions faced by dryland farmers of the continent.

"The drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to more than 300 million people, the majority of whom have been left at the margins of global development. They continuously struggle to maintain and improve their livelihoods and ensure community survival in hostile natural environments. The contributions they make to the preservation of critical habitats, the maintenance of dryland biodiversity and its resilience, the enrichment of global culture, as well as their quest for progress and a better life deserve the strongest international support," Dr Dar said.

As the only international agriculture research institute working for improved agricultural productivity in the semi-arid tropics, ICRISAT is well placed to provide international public goods support in dryland agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Dar added. In this regard, ICRISAT has steadily increased its investments and pursued its commitments to SSA, which include strategic partnerships, capacity building and impact-oriented innovations for the continent's poorest of the poor. ICRISAT's interventions are focused on enhancement and management of genetic resources, agricultural diversification, agro-ecosystem sustainability and improving markets, policies and institutions.

Pan-African initiatives

It was not only the breeding and promotion of farmer-preferred varieties of pigeonpea in ESA that endeared ICRISAT to the communities; the Institute has

also successfully implemented two interventions in many countries across SSA, which are fertilizer microdosing and the improvement of seed systems.

The fertilizer microdosing technique allows resource poor farmers to apply small, affordable and effective amounts of fertilizer to their impoverished land for improved soil health and crop production. It has the potential to end widespread hunger in drought prone areas of Africa, where soils are depleted and smallholder farmers rarely produce enough to feed even their own families.

Farmers who use microdosing apply 6 gram doses of fertilizer - about a full bottle cap or a three-finger pinch - in the hole where the plant is placed (at the time of planting). That translates to about 67 pounds of fertilizer for every 2.5 acres. The African crops are so starved of nutrients such as phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen that addition of even this micro amount often doubles crop yields.

The other project addresses the availability of quality seeds to farmers at reasonable and affordable cost. ICRISAT teamed up with a number of partners including the private sector to implement initiatives that encompass a number of critical activities such as the maintenance of breeder seeds, the production of foundation seeds and regional harmonization of seed policies. The initial activities started in Malawi, and are currently being scaled-up in several countries in West Africa through the West Africa Seed Alliance (WASA), and in eastern and southern Africa through the Eastern and Southern Africa Seed Alliance (ESASA) initiatives.

Promotion of other improved crops

Ethiopia has long been a producer of chickpea. However, the chickpea it produced were of the small-seeded varieties, thus limiting commercialization to local markets as international buyers sought larger-seeded varieties.

Working with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), ICRISAT introduced a range of large-seeded varieties from its germplasm collection and the breeding program at its global headquarters in Patancheru, India. The outcome was that Ethiopia became a chickpea exporting country and its farmers benefited from an improved income. Following the Ethiopian success, the production of chickpea has now spread to Mozambique and Malawi in southern Africa and to Tanzania and Kenya in eastern Africa.

If it was chickpea that improved farmers' incomes in eastern and southern Africa, it was the development of farmer-preferred varieties and hybrids of pearl millet and sorghum that has led to more money in farmers' pockets in Nigeria in West and Central Africa. ICRISAT in partnership with the Nigerian national agricultural research system developed a wide range of pearl millet and sorghum varieties and hybrids that are preferred by farmers, and some of these varieties also have the traits required by the markets.

Pearl millet farmers gave the highest priority to early maturity. With drought as the major constraint to pearl millet production in the north-eastern part of Nigeria, the smallholder farmers who grow pearl millet needed early maturing varieties to ensure an early end to the annual hunger period and food security for their families. For sorghum, high yield was ranked of highest importance.

Another success story is the production and release over the last eight years of rosette-resistant groundnut varieties in Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia Adoption studies in Uganda show that the new varieties have been adopted by up to 50% of the groundnut farmers in the major growing areas.

It's all in the genes

Through gene-flow studies and follow-up research ICRISAT scientists transferred the genes of desirable traits from experimental lines into farmer-preferred varieties to increase zinc and iron content in pearl millet and sorghum. Further, ICRISAT scientists identified and transferred genes that confer resistance to Africa's most deadly weed, Striga, to farmer-preferred varieties of sorghum using marker assisted selection techniques, giving farmers the option to raise Striga-free sorghum.

Low-cost aflatoxin testing takes Malawian groundnut to Europe

Improvement, in collaboration with the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi, of a food quality control system was through the development of a low-cost aflatoxin testing kit using the ELISA technique. The ability to accurately detect and quantify aflatoxin contamination at an affordable cost, allowed farmers in Malawi to re-establish groundnut exports to the quality-conscious European market, and stimulated interest in the approach in Mozambique and Zambia. Many other African countries are benefiting from this technology and appropriate management practices that reduce the initial aflatoxin contamination are being employed.

Agroecosystems development

The concept of the African Market Garden based on low-pressure drip irrigation systems was tested first on-station and around Niamey, then in several Sahelian (adjacent to the Sahara) countries. To date, ICRISAT's partners have replicated this model in eight countries, significantly adding to the intensity of work done worldwide. In the next three years, a generic strategy by which Sahelian farmers, with access to either river or groundwater, can substantially enhance their livelihoods by producing heat-tolerant vegetables will be established.

ICRISAT will continue to support efforts made by resource poor farmers and their communities to better adapt themselves to their changing environment in order to

maintain and improve this environment, ensure adequate food security, and generate substantial income for an improved livelihood.

4)ICRISAT initiates agreements with new partners on food processing research

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) initiated the functioning of the NutriPlus Knowledge Center in the Agri-Science Park @ ICRISAT with the signing of one Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and announcing two prospective agreements today.

The Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William Dar, signed the MOU with Mr V Bhaskar Rao, Managing Director, Nandan Biomatrix Ltd., at the global headquarters of ICRISAT at Patancheru, near Hyderabad, India.

Through this MoU, Nandan Bio Matrix Ltd., which had established research and development facilities in the Agri-Science Park (ASP) at ICRISAT, will be handing their equipment over to NutriPlus Knowledge Center. Nandan Biomatrix will become a member of NutriPlus and continue to operate as a NutriPlus partner under the ASP.

The two MOUs that are on the anvil are with GreenPort Corporation and Yes Bank Ltd.

Speaking after signing the MOU, ICRISAT Director General Dr William Dar said that the agreements further strengthen the Institute’s partnerships with the private sector. “Through the NutriPlus Knowledge Center we want to strengthen enterprise in the food processing industry, which will in turn link with the poor farmers of the dryland to improve their livelihoods,” Dr Dar said.

Dr Dar said that India produces about 600 million tons of food products, yet India’s share in international food trade is only 1.5%, with value addition standing at 8% of the total production. There is so much promise for public and private sector to come together to substantially increase the production of value-added products. This will in turn result in higher economic returns to the farmers.

Dr Dar added that the Agri-Science Park @ ICRISAT is part of the Genome Valley of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the NutriPlus Knowledge Center is a very important initiative for the development of horticulture and food products.

ICRISAT, he said, is a pioneer in bringing the strength and capacity of the public and private sector. “We are here to catalyze and facilitate this process for the NutriPlus Knowledge Center.”

Speaking about the funding for NutriPlus, Dr Dar said that the Government of Andhra Pradesh has made a contribution of Rs 2 crores, and ICRISAT contribution in kind would be to the tune of Rs 4.5 crores. The total outlay over a period of five years is expected at Rs 30 crores, of which the Government of India will contribute Rs 5 crores.

According to Dr Barry Shapiro, Managing Director of the ASP at ICRISAT, the NutriPlus Knowledge Center will blend the commercial vigor of the private sector with the scientific and technical expertise of ICRISAT to deliver projects and products that will strengthen the hands of the poor farmers.

The NutriPlus Knowledge Center received the first tranche of funding from the Government of Andhra Pradesh in early 2008.

NutriPlus will be a platform for R&D to develop new food products and innovation in food processing with focus on cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and medicinal and aromatic plants. It will be developed as a public-private partnership model and backstop food processing related research requirements for ICRISAT and partners.

The objectives of NutriPlus include:

Make available technologies ready for commercialization and transfer; Provide infrastructure and platform for innovation and research for the

private sector; Take up collaborative and contract research; Align strategically with food research Institutions (in India and abroad); Provide knowledge support to the private sector; Undertake training and capacity building programs for partners; and Offer food safety testing and services.

It is planned that the NutriPlus Knowledge Center will be developed over a period of 5 years with a total outlay of approximately US$ 5.25 million. It will also collaborate with several central and state government organizations, IITs and agricultural research universities in India.

The collaborations are also from countries outside India. In January 2008, ICRISAT and Crop and Food Research, a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand, signed a MOU in Lincoln, New Zealand for developing NutriPlus.

For further information, contact Mr A R Ilyas, Chief Operating Officer of ASP at a.ilyas@cgiar.org.

5)The American Society of Agronomy honors ICRISAT scientist

A senior scientist of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr Hari D Upadhyaya, was honored as a Fellow of the prestigious American Society of Agronomy at its Annual Meeting held at Houston, USA, recently. Dr Upadhyaya is Principal Scientist (Genetic Resources) at ICRISAT.

The American Society of Agronomy is a respected professional society that honors a selected few each year with this highest recognition. At the felicitation function, Dr Kenneth J Moore, President of the American Society of Agronomy, presented the certificate to Dr Hari Upadhyaya for his outstanding research contributions that reflects a continuum of high quality basic, strategic and applied research.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the honor for Dr Upadhyaya again strengthens the recognition of the world-class competence of ICRISAT’s scientific team, and the Institute’s contribution to cutting edge scientific innovations.

Dr Upadhyaya’s strategy to select “mini core” germplasm is now an international public good and has captured the imagination of scientists around the world as a gateway to exploit diversity in germplasm collections. A mini core collection is a 1% subset of the total number of accessions representing the entire genetic diversity of the total collection.

Using mini core approach, Upadhyaya has identified trait specific, genetically diverse and agronomically superior parental lines for plant breeders to develop high-yielding broad-based cultivars.

Dr Upadhyaya has been a practical plant breeder and has developed a large number of early-maturing, disease- and aflatoxin-resistant groundnut breeding lines. Several of these lines have desirable traits such as resistance to foliar diseases and fresh seed dormancy, some of which have been released as varieties in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania.

His genetic studies on resistance to wilt in chickpea provided scientific basis for breeding wilt resistant cultivars and contributed to ICRISAT winning the CGIAR’s

prestigious King Baudouin Award in 2002. Similarly, genetic studies on traits related to adaptation, productivity, and quality in groundnut have contributed significantly to the successful breeding of early-maturing cultivars.

For further information, contact Dr HD Upadhyaya at h.upadhyaya@cgiar.org.

6)Combating Desertification is Key to Tackling Global Food Crisis

Even as national governments make strong efforts to fight off bankruptcy for their financial institutions, the lands that support their farmers and ensure food security for their populations are facing ever-increasing threats of degradation.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the business as usual cannot continue when it comes to dealing with land degradation.

“The health of our lands is the basis of our food chain and our climate, and of the livelihoods of our poorest peoples. Without healthy lands, people cannot thrive. Without a healthy atmosphere, land and biological systems cannot be sustained. Science tells us that the dynamics of land, climate and biodiversity are intimately connected. And we know that the lives of the poor hang in the balance, because they depend directly on these ecosystem services,” Dr Dar stated.

Dr Dar said that positive impacts on combating land degradation can come only with the application of good science. “ We live on a precious planet that hosts abundant, diverse and intelligent life that is unique in the universe. If we fail to combat land degradation and desertification, the consequences can be disastrous. We must use science to become better stewards of our precious inheritance.”

The world is seeing a food, energy, climate and credit crisis, each having repercussions on every sphere of human activity. Land degradation will add to the adverse impact of each of these problems.

According to the 2008 Global Hunger Index, 33 countries are showing alarming levels of hunger. Though the right to food is a basic human right, there are close to a billion people who suffer from chronic hunger. The FAO’s 2006 State of Food Insecurity Report cites agricultural growth as being critical for reducing hunger.

Failing to take measures to address desertification, land degradation and drought threats to sustainable land management will have a severe impact on food and water security, Dr Dar said. The UNCCD mechanism provides the platform for

bringing together policy makers and global scientific institutions to combat land degradation and desertification.

The Committee on Science and Technology (CST) of UNCCD is collaborating with five international research bodies, including ICRISAT, to bring together the best of research on bio-physical and socio-economic monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation, to support decision-making in land and water management.

The CST will take the lead in generating a baseline based on the most robust data available on biophysical and socio-economic trends and gradually harmonizing relevant scientific approaches in affected areas to enable better decision-making.

It will also improve knowledge of the interactions between climate change adaptation, drought mitigation and restoration of degraded land in affected areas, which will enable development of tools to assist decision-making and put in place effective knowledge-sharing systems at the global, regional, sub-regional and national levels. Eventually this will support policymakers and end users, and engage science and technology networks and institutions to support UNCCD implementation.

As an advanced international agricultural research institute working in the semi-arid tropics, which is the frontier for preventing land degradation and desertification, ICRISAT and partners are spearheading many initiatives. These are in synergy with the strategy of UNCCD, and include:

Implementation of the ICRISAT-developed a “microdosing” technique in semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa, which involves the application of small, affordable quantities of fertilizer with the seed at planting time or as a top dressing 3 or 4 weeks after emergence. This enhances fertilizer use efficiency and improves productivity.

The Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) project in barren, unproductive soils that are widespread in the West African Sahel. This combines simple effective techniques such as zaï holes, Conservation Agriculture, planting-basin cultivation, trenches and land scarification that concentrate limited water and nutrient resources close to the plant roots, reduces erosion and prevents water loss.

Planting of high-value crops that restore organic matter and soil texture earn a handsome profit for the poor from fruit and gum trees, hardy leafy vegetables and legumes in the Sahel.

In Asia, ICRISAT has partnered with other organizations and has evolved a new consortium watershed management model based on a holistic systems approach called the Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management (IGNRM) strategy.

Dr Dar concluded that with sound science backstopping strong policy the battle against land degradation and desertification can be won to prevent bankruptcy of soil, one of the greatest assets of all economies.

7)ICRISAT advocates rescue plan for dryland farmers

Even as governments of developed and developing countries are bailing out banks, insurance companies and financial institutions to prevent them from going bankrupt and starting a domino effect, they continue to neglect the poor farmers in their countries, an action that can have short- and long-term adverse impacts on national and global economies.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), it is not just Wall Street that needs bailing out, but the “side streets”, where poor farmers across the world, especially those working the drylands of developing countries, need policy, institutional and financial bailout.

As of July 2008, the world population is estimated to be 6.6 billion. A staggering one billion of these are utterly poor people, most of whom live in the dryland areas of the world. When seen in conjunction with the present day food crisis and unabated rise in food prices that are affecting the common man, who, more than the poor, has a right to substantial assistance from governments?

Working over decades with poor farmers in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, ICRISAT believes that it is essential to strengthen the resource base and incomes of the poor farmers. Dr Dar added: “These farmers are the backbone of any economy, and if their conditions are not improved, the economy will suffer adverse impacts that will be difficult to repair.”

There is much that governments can do to support these farmers, Dr Dar said. In addition to financial support, there is need for supportive policies, improved infrastructure, improved access to better quality seeds and inputs, irrigation support, and support for establishing more effective institutions.

Poor farmers, especially those in the drylands, are suffering from the lack of governmental support. Cutting-edge agricultural research can achieve substantial improvements in crop yields and farmers’ income. So it falls to reason that agricultural research itself should be supported better through government funds.

“It is worth mentioning that less than 10% of public spending in developing countries goes to agriculture even though this sector commonly accounts for about half of their Gross Domestic Product. And less than 1% of public spending goes to agricultural research; research that is vital to the innovation that opens new livelihood opportunities,” Dr Dar said.

“Let me mention that for every $1 invested in international agricultural research, $ 9 worth of additional food is produced in developing countries where it is needed most,” he emphasized.

ICRISAT is working at different levels and is adopting innovative strategies to pursue its vision of improving the well-being of the poor of the semi-arid tropics in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Its mission is to help reduce poverty, enhance food and nutritional security and protect the environment of the semi-arid tropics.

The methods used by ICRISAT for improving crop productivity and increasing farmers’ income are: integrated genetic and natural resource management; development and use of effective agri-biotechnological tools; agro-ecosystem development and management; research on markets, policies and institutions; development of effective public-private-people partnerships; and the development of a pro-poor biofuel package that provides for food, fuel and feed security.

Even as the governments step in to prevent the escalating global financial crisis, it is their proactive measures in supporting the poor farmers that can prevent a much deeper and long-lasting global crisis from happening.

8)ICRISAT to re-establish center in Nigeria

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will soon re-establish its center in Nigeria. This intent was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

ICRISAT Director General Dr William D Dar and the Executive Director of ARCN, Dr BY Abubakar, signed the MOU recently. The Chair of ICRISAT’s Governing Board, Dr Stein Bie, was present during the signing function.

ARCN will facilitate ICRISAT’s re-establishment in Nigeria through this MOU. ICRISAT had research collaboration with the Nigerian Government since 1987, with a research center at Kano, which was later closed down.

According to Dr Dar, the MOU will strengthen collaboration with Nigeria, and with the re-established Center ICRISAT scientists and their counterparts from the national agricultural research system of Nigeria will be able to work together closely on agricultural research. This will be a boost to collaborative research in Nigeria and neighboring regions.

Under the MOU, ARCN and ICRISAT will implement joint research programs in Nigeria; ensure mutual cooperation and collaboration among scientists; facilitate exchange of germplasm, breeding material, scientific information and techniques; and also focus on capacity development.

ICRISAT will initiate a regional research and training program on its mandate crops (mainly sorghum and millet) and natural resource management in West and Central Africa from a central base in Nigeria.

9)Australian Foreign Minister visits ICRISAT headquarters

The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Honorable Stephen Smith, visited the global headquarters of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru, near Hyderabad today (10 September).

Hon Stephen Smith was accompanied by Ms Victoria Walker, Counsellor of the Political and Economic section of the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, Dr Christian Roth, Program Officer, ACIAR and Dr Kuhu Chatterjee, ACIAR, who saw the progress made in the collaborative research projects between ICRISAT and Australian organizations. They were also informed about the genotyping services that ICRISAT provides in collaboration with the Diversity Array Technology Pvt. Ltd. of Canberra, and visited the integrated watershed management and crop demonstration plots on campus.

ICRISAT Deputy Director General (Research), Dr David Hoisington, welcomed the Minister on behalf of Director General, Dr William Dar, and stated that ICRISAT’s relationship with Australia has been strong and steady since 1975. Some of the projects in collaboration with Australian agricultural research organizations are:

Re-starting groundnut cultivation in Timor Leste, where ICRISAT is an active partner in the “Seeds of Life” project, initiated by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), to re-construct agriculture in Timor Leste ( East Timor).

Improving groundnut yield in Papua New Guinea and Australia, supported by ACIAR, and using elite groundnut germplasm lines from ICRISAT.

Accelerated genetic improvement of chickpea, funded by the Council of Grain Grower Organisations Ltd of W. Australia, and in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Food of the Australian Government, the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) of the Univ. of Western Australia, and the Punjab Agricultural University in India to develop early maturing, disease resistant, desi chickpea breeding lines.

Increasing grain legumes production in Myanmar, involving farmer participatory selections of improved varieties and crop management practices, including Rhizobium inoculation. Improving dual-purpose sorghum crop, to increase the productivity and fodder quality of postrainy sorghum.

Improving the quality of pearl millet residues for livestock. Supported by ACIAR, the project is high-priority for ICRISAT, the International Livestock Research Institute, and Indian national programs.

10)International Public Goods developed by ICRISAT improve agricultural productivity

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a public-funded advanced agricultural research institute, has generated research products that have a significant impact on improving agricultural productivity in the semi-arid tropics in the developing countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These research products – improved crop varieties and hybrids, technologies and research tools – have been designated as International Public Goods (IPGs), and are available without patent protection for the benefit of mankind across the globe.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the IPGs generated by the Institute have strengthened agricultural productivity and livelihood security of the poor farmers. They have contributed to the strengthening of conventional and modern crop improvement technologies, natural resource management, genebank management, village level studies, improvement of seed systems and development of markets for agricultural produce.

Biotechnology and crop improvement In the past five years ICRISAT has made breakthroughs in genomics with the development of protocols and information/analysis systems for the molecular characterization and gene mining of mandate crops, and their pests, diseases and bio-control agents.

ICRISAT developed transgenic lines containing genes for resistance to insects (Helicoverpa armigera) in chickpea and pigeonpea; resistance to peanut clump,

bud necrosis and rosette virus in groundnut; resistance to Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in groundnut; elevated levels of beta-carotene in groundnut and pigeonpea; sulfur-containing amino acids in pigeonpea and improved drought tolerance in groundnut. These lines are at different stages of development.

Rich and diverse germplasm collectionICRISAT draws its strength for crop improvement research from its rich and diverse germplasm collection. The genebank at ICRISAT has 118,882 accessions from 144 countries) o f its mandate crops and small millets.

A total of 94,390 germplasm and improved breeding lines have been shared with cooperators in 144 countries. Out of this, the national agricultural research partners have released 609 varieties in 77 countries utilizing germplasm and breeding lines from ICRISAT. During the last 5-year period (2003-2007) alone, 21 national programs globally released 85 hybrid/varieties.

Agroecosystems development ICRISAT initiated the development of agricultural ecosystems by involving a consortium of partners to improve the management of natural resources in micro-watersheds. The consortium’s watershed research began in a few pilot sites in Andhra Pradesh, India, and significantly expanded to several other states in India and to China, Vietnam and Thailand in Asia, and is now replicated in sub-Saharan Africa (eg, Rwanda).

The concept of the African Market Garden based on low-pressure drip irrigation systems was tested first on-station and around Niamey, then in several Sahelian (adjacent to the Sahara) countries. To date, ICRISAT’s partners have replicated this model in eight countries, significantly adding to the intensity of work done worldwide. In the next three years, a generic strategy by which Sahelian farmers, with access to either river or groundwater can substantially enhance their livelihoods by producing heat-tolerant vegetables will be established.

Other significant IPGs developed for the sub-Saharan region are: downscaling of short and medium term meteorological forecasts prediction work and analysis of its acceptance by farmers, management and monitoring of aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut, fertilizer micro-dosing (phosphorus in West Africa and nitrogen in southern Africa)

Social science research ICRISAT’s Village Level Studies (VLS) conducted in Indian villages over three decades continues to provide better understanding of livelihood options, household economics and needs of poor farmers to help design suitable technology and formulate appropriate policy. The Village Level Studies is an IPG and has proved to be one of the most valuable contributions of ICRISAT to the knowledge base on rural household economies. The wealth of information provided by the VLS helps scientists identify and understand socio-economic, agro-biological, and institutional constraints to agricultural development in the semi-arid tropics.

Along with partners, the Institute developed policy instruments for technology delivery, market development, and agricultural diversification in the drylands. In Africa, ICRISAT and partners also developed strategies for seed system development, directly linked with crop improvement activities, covering informal (seed village system) and formal quality seed production and distribution (including hybrid seed production methodologies) and institutional arrangements for seed certification and policy intervention.

11)ICRISAT pigeonpea climbs the mountains of Uttarakhand

Pigeonpea (red gram, tuvar dal, arhar dal) varieties developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) are becoming popular over the hill slopes of Uttarakhand in North India, and providing an opportunity to the farmers to improve pulse production in the state.

The program is being implemented by ICRISAT in collaboration with Vivekananda Parvathiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (VPKAS), Almora, and the Uttarakhand Department of Agriculture, Dehradun.

The annual demand for pulses in Uttarakhand is 0.3 million tons, but the present production is only 0.06 million tons, leading to a huge protein deficit among the poor of this state.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the successful effort of promoting the cultivation of pigeonpea in new niches such as Uttarakhand has once again highlighted the importance of the Institute’s research in improving the agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes in tough terrains, where a large proportion of rich top soil has been washed away with heavy annual rains.

Dr KB Saxena, ICRISAT’s Principal Pigeonpea Breeder and leader of the project, explained that the inspiration for promoting pigeonpea in Uttarakhand came from ICRISAT’s success in spreading the cultivation of pigeonpea in the sloping hills of southern China. In Uttarakhand, the first success was registered when the experiments conducted by the VPKAS rigorously tested ICRISAT’s short-duration pigeonpea ICPL 88039 in the hills, after which ICPL 88039 was released in 2007 under the popular name “VL Arhar 1”. Dr Vinay Mahajan, Principal Scientist at VPKAS, believes that VL Arhar 1 will suit cropping systems of the hills and farmers will have a good choice for protein-rich food.

To undertake the promotion of this pigeonpea a special project was initiated in 2006. The first testing program was launched in the 2007 rainy season. A total of 375 on-farm demonstrations were conducted in 13 districts and 67,400 kg of seed was harvested from 112 ha. with mean productivity of 600 kg per hectare. In 2007-08 a total of 1183 farmers of 408 villages cultivated VL Arhar 1. Most

farmers felt happy because they harvested encouraging yields and made good profits in the very first trial.

The most interesting observation was that elevations up to and above 2200 m also recorded high yields. Amazingly, most pigeonpea areas in Uttarakhand are waste and rocky lands where no food crop could be grown earlier. It can also be grown as an intercrop with mango and litchi. The crop sown between 15 May to 10 June produced good yields and also allowed farmers to plant a second crop in the same land.

With the farmers being satisfied with pigeonpea cultivation the total area in 2008 has increased 15-fold, from 112 ha to more than 2000 ha. Pigeonpea is a profitable crop with high yields and little inputs. However, the production constraints at different altitudes and important issues like seed availability, value addition and marketing need to be studied and addressed. Also elaborate programs have been made for large-scale quality seed production, training, and monitoring.

For more information, contact Dr KB Saxena at k.saxena@cgiar.org.

12)Bias against drylands will affect food security

Correcting the policy bias against dryland agriculture can help solve the current global food crisis and enhance the livelihoods of poor farmers. This was revealed in a policy paper on dryland agriculture issued by Dr William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

Dr Dar stated that less than 10% of public spending in developing countries goes to agriculture, even though this sector commonly accounts for about half of their Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, less than 1% of public spending goes to agricultural research, which is vital to the innovation that is the engine for new livelihood opportunities. Of that only a small proportion is invested in dryland agriculture.

Dryland agriculture is struggling against a headwind of policies that are biased in favor of the “favored lands” (those with plenty of water). They also favor the influential urban populations that are concentrated in coastal mega-cities, and the familiar cereal grains that they consume: rice, wheat and maize, Dr Dar said.

The bias is expressed in grain price supports for the heavily traded commodities, export subsidies by many nations, preferential research and development investments, and others. By artificially reducing the prices of the major grains, these policies inadvertently hobble poor dryland farmers in their struggle to

compete in the local and regional marketplace by growing the drought-hardy grains: sorghum, millet, and food legumes.

According to Dr Dar, a lesson of 2008 is that dependence on just a few globally traded crops can expose developing countries to risks that originate far from their shores. Skyrocketing maize and rice prices caused food shortages and high prices in poor, import-dependent countries. Over-dependence on a few crops also creates agro-ecological risks, such as vulnerability to climate change (which may increase drought frequency) and crop disease epidemics (such as the new Ug99 strain of stem rust currently threatening wheat).

“We suspect that the world may come to regret its under-investment in dryland grain crops as climate change kicks in, increasing the need for more robust, drought-hardy crops and crop traits for plant breeding”, Dr Dar added.

Planting high-value crops

ICRISAT’s studies have shown that crop diversification has been helping dryland farmers. Demand for fruit, vegetable, livestock and fish products by urban dwellers are increasing as their incomes rise. By selling into these markets, dryland farmers are beginning to tap a portion of this growing wealth for themselves. High-value crop culture also earns more “income per drop” of water used, an important consideration in water scarce areas. It is also more labor-intensive, increasing employment opportunities for the poor.

There have also been successful development models that can be replicated in other areas to help dryland farmers. Some examples are:

Industry-driven models. Rewarding connections have been built between central highland farmers in Kenya and urban markets in Nairobi and worldwide. Traditional cultivation of maize as well as industrial crops (tea, coffee) since the 1970s has been supplemented with horticultural fresh-produce crops and dairy products. Investments in roads and other infrastructure were key to success. Farmer incomes are now substantially higher than in neighboring countries within the same agro-ecosystems. Industrial contracts from food processing and marketing enterprises, and contract farming are becoming increasingly successful in many developing countries.

Marketing boards and cooperatives. In recent decades, governments have launched marketing boards and farmer cooperatives to advance farmer interests. A few were resounding successes, such as the ‘White Revolution’ in India sparked by dairy farmers in Gujarat State and expanded nationally by India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB); and the growth of the Kenya Cooperative Creamery (KCC). Both initiatives have been remarkable in overcoming the challenges of collecting mass quantities of highly perishable products over enormous

rural areas, adding value and increasing sales through disciplined logistics and cooperation, impressive marketing, and major technical innovations. However, even these successes have evolved over time to ensure more involvement by smallholders.

Producer marketing groups (PMGs). These groups are owned and run by the farmers or jointly with private-sector partners, often with assistance from NGOs, research partners, government agencies and others. ICRISAT has engaged closely with PMGs to study their potential and constraints. “We’ve worked with partners to stimulate ten PMGs in Kenya since 2003/04, and in Asia we are closely engaged in consortia to develop sweet sorghum bioethanol and for the integrated management of watersheds,” observed Dr Dar.

Research on PMGs has found that they hold high promise, for example increasing farmer incomes by 23% in Kenya. To fully reach their potential, supportive steps are urgently needed in areas such as legal status, crop insurance, credit access, infrastructure, management skills, and market intelligence gathering capabilities.

Working with farmers to drive change

ICRISAT will continue to draw attention to the policy challenges facing these dryland poor, Dr Dar concluded. “We consider it a privilege and an honor to work side-by-side with them to overcome these challenges. “ The combination of innovative farmers and a supportive policy framework can help correct the bias against dryland farmers.

13)ICRISAT and DBT to establish new facility for agri- biotechnology research

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is collaborating with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, to establish a DBT-ICRISAT Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops (PTTC) at ICRISAT’s global headquarters at Patancheru, near Hyderabad in India.

The proposed project was recently approved by the DBT. The approval comes with a funding commitment of Rs 248.79 million (US$ 6.25 million) for five years (2008-2013).

According to the Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William Dar, the PTTC will strengthen transgenic research for crop improvement by providing a platform, building synergies among institutions. ICRISAT will continue to harness

transgenic research to solve problems that cannot be solved through conventional breeding.

The mission of PTTC will be to “translate transgenic technology and harness its products to meet the needs of agricultural growth”. Transgenic technology, also known as genetic modification or engineering, involves the import of genes from another organism to improve the resistance to disease or pest, or to improve productivity in agricultural crops.

The aim of establishing PTTC is to facilitate a coordinated approach for the translation of existing genetic engineering technologies in developing transgenic crop varieties for product development and commercialization. Under this, priority crops and constraints will be identified and a well-coordinated approach set in place.

PTTC will evaluate and advance the potential of new genetic engineering options to enhance agricultural productivity. PTTC will also provide expertise and facilities for the production and assessment of transgenic crop plants developed through collaborative projects.

This platform will serve as a facility of reference to strengthen national, regional and international linkages and collaboration in transgenic research and development, exchange of materials and information, as well as support training, consultation and technology commercialization. This platform is expected to generate research products that are national and international public goods.

For further information, contact Dr Kiran K Sharma at k.Sharma@cgiar.org.

14)Community watersheds combat drought

The monsoons came late over the semi-arid regions of central India this year. While several farming villages suffered from drought, Kothapally village in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh had water in their wells for drinking and irrigating crops.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and a consortium of partners including international, national, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) empowered the people of Kothapally to cope with drought for more than nine years through community watersheds.

“Thanks to ICRISAT, water shortage in our village belongs to the past,” says Mohammed Azam, farmer in Kothapally. ”We have enough water, but the villages that did not pick up the innovations are suffering.”

Adds Azam: “The productivity in Kothapally has increased immensely due to the water saving systems but also because of ICRISAT’s improved crop varieties, integrated pest management and the judicious application of fertilizers. I was one of the first farmers to adopt these ideas and today I can send my five grandchildren to good schools in town.”

T Janaiah, another Kothapally farmer, emphasizes: “I have benefited incredibly. Ten years ago our groundwater level was about 300 feet deep and today we are at about 60 feet thanks to the water saving facilities that we built together with our partners from ICRISAT. Even with a late monsoon we have sufficient drinking and irrigation water.”

The community watershed at Kothapally has become a model replicated in many other sites in India, China, Thailand and Vietnam, and now in East and Central Africa.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the use of community watersheds as an entry point for agricultural and rural development, has converged many interventions to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods of poor farmers.

Dr SP Wani, ICRISAT’s principal scientist on watersheds, said, “Once we found solutions for immediate problems, the farmers became our ambassadors for implementing these interventions.”

The people of Kothapally have embraced many new technologies. The construction of check dams were based on the community needs and executed by the villagers themselves. The introduction of improved varieties and hybrid crops, integrated pest management, the restoration of wastelands together with a continuously growing groundwater level resulted in significant higher yields and greater income for the poor.

Women farmers play a key role in utilizing new technologies. Several women’s self-help groups were trained in vermicomposting. They in turn trained others in neighboring villages. B Lakshmi, 47, from Kothapally, received the Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy fellowship for Rural Prosperity in 2007 for training peers in vermicomposting.

Scaling out in Asia

The consortium’s success in Kothapally led to its replication in other Indian states. The state government took the lead in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand, the Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust funded the spread of the program. In select watersheds in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, the Confederation of Indian Industry supported the projects.

The idea also spread to other parts of Asia – China, Thailand and Vietnam. The Asian Development Bank supported watershed projects in these countries, which included introduction of improved crop varieties, rainwater harvesting, rehabilitation of farm ponds, introduction of legumes, vegetables and fruit in the cropping systems, innovative integrated pest management techniques and diversifying cultivation with horticultural crops, and increasing incomes with the rearing of pigs and rabbits.

Into sub-Saharan Africa

A team of researchers from East and Central Africa (ECA) visited India in March 2004 and identified ICRISAT’s watershed experience as a potential solution to many of the challenges being faced in their region. Rwanda took the lead through its agricultural research institute and initiated implementation of pilot sites for the adaptation and demonstration of Indian experiences.

A pilot integrated watershed management project was initiated at Lake Kivu learning sites in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo in 2006 as part of the Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research for sub-Saharan Africa.

Measuring success

An ICRISAT-led consortium undertook a comprehensive assessment of impact of watershed programs in India. The assessment shows that community watershed is a growth engine for development of dryland areas. Watersheds recorded an average benefit to cost ratio of 2 with an internal rate of return of 27%. Only 1% of the watersheds studied showed less than 1 benefit to cost ratio in the country.

In 2007-08, 500 farmers’ participatory action research trials for enhancing water use efficiency were conducted in the states of AP, Rajasthan, MP and Chattisgarh. They demonstrated that crop yields could be doubled with balanced nutrient management along with the use of improved cultivars and suitable landform treatments.

For further information, contact Dr Suhas P Wani at s.wani@cgiar.org.

15)Crop breeders on verge of beating Africa’s most noxious weed use cutting edge science technique

Every year the Striga weed attacks and kills Africa’s most important food crops in more than 40 million hectares of farmland often leaving farmers with no harvest

Nairobi, Kenya – Agricultural researchers have successfully identified and transferred genes that confer resistance to Africa’s most deadly weed (Striga)

using the novel marker assisted selection technique successfully for the first time in the history of crop breeding in Africa.

Researchers have managed to confer resistance to Striga in sorghum, overcoming a barrier that has for decades held back scientists’efforts to protect key food crops - sorghum, millet, maize and rice, from this destructive weed. These crops are primary food sources for 300 million people across sub-Saharan Africa.

Striga(Striga hermonthica), also known as witchweed, destroys between 40 to 100 percent of a complete season’s crop, its annual crop damage across Africa estimated at seven billion dollars (US$7 billion). Currently, the weed threatens to wipe out cereal crops in most of Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda, national agricultural research institutes in the two countries have warned.

“Scientists have searched for the solution to Striga damage using a variety of methods, but without much success,” says Dr Dionysious Kiambi, a molecular geneticist with the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). “Through marker assisted selection, we have determined the precise segments of the sorghum genome known to confer Striga-resistance and have transferred them to farmer-preferred varieties through conventional breeding with very promising results”.

Marker assisted selection is a new technique which entails use of genetic landmarks (markers) to tag and transfer specific genes or group of genes that control characteristics of interest such as improved crop productivity, resistance to diseases or pests, or tolerance to stresses like floods and drought. This is the first time the technology has been used successfully for crop improvement in Africa.

ICRISAT scientists has been working with national and international collaborators for several years experimenting with marker assisted selection in search for Striga resistance genes from other sorghum varieties conserved in gene-banks across the world. They found one sorghum variety (N13), that is neither high-yielding nor drought-tolerant, to possess the highly sought after Striga-resistance genes.

Segments of the N13 sorghum DNA containing genes for Striga-resistance were tagged with markers and crossed with farmer varieties using conventional breeding. The use of markers enabled scientists to precisely transfer only the Striga- resistance genes to farmer-preferred sorghum varieties without jeopardising farmer-desired characteristics such as drought-tolerance and higher yields.

“We had to make sure that other genetic information from N13 was not transferred to farmer varieties alongside the qualitative trait loci with Striga-

resistance. We were not replacing any genetic components of farmer varieties, we are just adding to it,” says Dr Kiambi. “The resulting variety is almost identical to the original farmer variety plus the component that confers Striga resistance.”

ICRISAT has been collaborating with scientists from the University of Hohenheim in Germany and national agricultural research institutes of Eritrea, Kenya, Mali and Sudan. The team has to date created five Striga-resistant sorghum varieties whose initial trials on-station have been able to ward off Striga attacks, some as effectively as the donor parent, sorghum N13. In Kenya, Mali and Sudan, scientists are currently testing the new witchweed-resistant varieties in farmer fields.

Researchers in Africa have for decades experimented with a number of “potentially successful” techniques for managing this deathly weed including breeding for Striga tolerance in various crops, promotion of rotational cropping of cereals with legumes such as groundnuts, cowpeas and soybean in order to break the weed’s breeding circle, as well as the use of biological and herbicidal control methods.

Africa ’s resource-poor farmers manage Striga primarily by weeding, a pointless, back-breaking activity which comes too late. By the time the crop sprouts, the weed, whose seeds reside in the soil, has long-since attached to plant roots and begun sapping off plant nutrients in earnest. Striga is a prolific seed producer, whose seeds lie dormant in the soil for up to two decades.

Crop breeders are enthusiastic about marker assisted breeding because it significantly reduces the duration required to produce improved crop. While conventional breeding is a hit-or-miss technique that requires scientists to wait for the crops to grow to maturity in order to observe expression of desired traits like Striga-resistance, marker assisted breeding enables scientists to check for the transfer of the trait as early as when the plant is only two weeks old, and focus on plants with the desired trait. This has more than halved the amount of time crop breeders need to develop improved varieties.

If the on-station results are successfully replicated on-farm, Africa’s biggest cereal crop menace – Striga - may well be reigned in, boosting agricultural production, food security and farmer incomes across the continent.

About ICRISAT:

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. Its mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT, is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative

Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). For more information, visit www.icrisat.org

About the CGIAR: The CGIAR, established in 1971, is a strategic partnership of countries, international and regional organizations and private foundations supporting the work of 15 international Centers. In collaboration with national agricultural research systems, civil society and the private sector, the CGIAR fosters sustainable agricultural growth through high-quality science aimed at benefiting the poor through stronger food security, better human nutrition and health, higher incomes and improved management of natural resources. For more information, please visit www.cgiar.org .

16)ICRISAT now a top ranking global research institution

Bouncing back from a challenging period in the nineties, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) turned itself around to join the ranks of top international agricultural research centers today.

Delivering a keynote address on ICRISAT's turnaround at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, India, recently, the Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William D Dar, said that the turnaround was made possible by pursuing a strategy that built synergies across the Institute's core strengths, especially its human resources. Dr Dar was invited by the premier business school in India to talk about ICRISAT's turnaround in the last nine years.

"The aspects of change included making the governance and organizational structure more effective; fine-tuning the organizational strategy and institutional culture for success; strengthening organizational capacity and institutional innovations; improving financial performance and delivering impacts," Dr Dar said.

Through this concerted effort, ICRISAT surmounted the challenges it faced during the mid-1990s, to be rated as an 'Outstanding' Center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) for two consecutive years - 2006 and 2007. Prior to this, ICRISAT was also rated as 'Superior' from 2003 to 2005. These top ratings by the CGIAR recognize ICRISAT's good science, great impacts, institutional health and financial health. It places ICRISAT's performance on top of the 15 international agricultural research institutes of the CGIAR.

ICRISAT's Governing Board, with a well-diversified membership and a good mix of regional, gender and multi-disciplinary skills, significantly strengthened governance at the Institute. The Board ensured strong and dynamic leadership and an effective oversight covering strategy, program, resource and risk

management. The Board also established robust financial and internal control systems and introduced effective delegation of authority.

Organizationally, programs and projects were unified into thematic groups driven by a lean organizational structure, Dr Dar said. The research themes were streamlined into four, namely: 1) crop improvement; 2) agro-ecosystems development; 3) biotechnology; and 4) institutions, markets, policy and impacts. Broad responsibilities and authority were delegated to the Directors of the African regional hubs. Regional work plans were developed and aligned with the Institute's medium term plan.

ICRISAT's research strategy focuses on integrated genetic and natural resource management (IGNRM), and results are delivered through public-private-farmer partnerships. The Agri-Science Park (ASP) at ICRISAT was established to strengthen these partnerships, enhancing the development, promotion and utilization of ICRISAT's innovations.

ICRISAT has delivered cutting edge research impacts across the globe, said Dr Dar. A total of 609 improved varieties and hybrids developed by ICRISAT and partners have been released in 77 countries between 1976 and 2007.

Other innovations include hybrid pearl millet developed through molecular-marker selection technology, and the world's first pigeonpea hybrid commercially released in India as Pushkal.

According to Dr Dar, ICRISAT's effective planning and management has ensured sound financial health for the Institute. Innovative resource mobilization strategies included tapping non-traditional sources for special project funding, marketing the Institute's work, cutting edge products and impacts, and emphasizing cost optimization.

These measures have resulted in a leap in ICRISAT's financial health in the last five years, with gross revenue of US$24.2 million in 2003 growing to US$42.1 million in 2007. The Institute also registered a financial surplus during these five years.

17)ICRISAT scientist elected President of the International Congress of Entomology

A scientist from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr Hari C Sharma, Principal Scientist – Entomology, has

been elected as the President of the Council of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE).

Dr Sharma was elected President at the 23 rd International Congress of Entomology, held from 6 to 12 July at Durban, South Africa. Over 2,500 delegates from 102 countries participated in the ICE in Durban.

Dr Sharma will hold the office of President of the ICE till the next Congress in 2012 in Daegou, South Korea. This is for the first time in the 102-year history of the International Congress of Entomology that an Asian has been elected to this post, which is the highest level of recognition for an entomologist by his peers.

Congratulating Dr Sharma, Director General of ICRISAT Dr William Dar said that Dr Sharma’s election as the President of the ICE is a recognition of the world-class talent at ICRISAT. This is another indicator of ICRISAT’s tradition of using world-class science for the benefit of the poor and marginal farmers of the semi-arid tropics.

In his acceptance speech Dr Sharma said: “The office bearers of the ICE and I will make all efforts to advance the cause of the science of entomology for fighting hunger and serving humanity. It was in Durban in 1914 that the ‘Great March to Independence’ was undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi, and nearly a century later, let us commit ourselves to undertake the Great March to fight hunger, poverty, and disease through excellence in the science of entomology for the service of mankind and the environment.”

For further information, contact

Dr Hari C Sharma at h.Sharma@cgiar.org.

18)ICRISAT earns its second ‘Outstanding’ rating

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has been rated “Outstanding” based on the performance-linked measurements of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), for the second year in a row.

The ‘Outstanding’ rating recognizes ICRISAT’s good science, great impacts, institutional health and financial health. It places ICRISAT’s performance on top of the 15 international agricultural research institutes that are members of the CGIAR.

According to the Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William D Dar, the second consecutive ‘Outstanding’ rating is a manifestation that ICRISAT is in tune with the changing institutional context and task environment in pursuing its mission of helping bring about pro-poor growth and sustainable development in the semi-arid tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Dar dedicated this success to the poor farmers and poor people in the dry tropics of the world. “Our commitment to delivering results that are profound and superior led to this reward,” he said.

The CGIAR Performance Measurement (PM) System is a regular annual feature in the CGIAR monitoring and evaluation system. Performance is measured along three dimensions – results, potential to perform and stakeholder perceptions. The PM system provides Centers with a method to better understand their own performance and demonstrate accountability.

The significant indicators that contributed to ICRISAT’s outstanding rating are:

1. Results – outputs, outcomes and impact:

Output targets achieved 98% (49 out of 50) Outcomes assessment 7.80 (scale 1-10) Center commitment to document impacts 7.30 (scale 1-10) Overall impact assessment performance 8.55 (scale 1-10)

2. Potential to perform – quality and relevance of research:

Peer-reviewed publications 3.10 per scientist Publications with developed country partners 49%

3. Institutional health – governance, culture of learning and change, diversity:

Financial health – short-term solvency, long-term financial stability and efficiency of operations:

Short-term solvency (liquidity) in days 206 (range 90-120) Long-term financial stability in days 148 (range 75-90) Efficiency of operations (indirect cost ratio) 23 (out of 30)

The CGIAR Performance Measurement System is also used as an input in CGIAR member fund allocation decisions. The present assessment of ICRISAT results in an additional $1.10 million annual allocation from the World Bank over their base allocation of $0.98 million for ICRISAT, bringing the total to $2.08 million. The World Bank is one of the donors to ICRISAT.

Since 2000, ICRISAT has been able to steadily strengthen its ability to increase donor funding for the Institute. In the last five years the Institute has consistently registered a budgetary surplus. ICRISAT’s gross revenue grew from US$24.2 million in 2003 to US$ 42.1 million in 2007.

19)World's first CMS pigeonpea hybrid commercializedRed gram or pigeonpea is an important pulse crop of India where it is grown on about 3.5 million ha. It is a favorite dal (tuar or arhar) of Indian cuisine. It is a very suitable crop for rainfed agriculture because it is drought tolerant, needs minimum inputs and produces reasonable yields under unfavorable agro-ecological conditions.

Over the past 50 years, pigeonpea productivity has not increased in spite of several new varieties being released. To achieve a breakthrough in yield, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) developed an innovative breeding technology to develop commercial hybrids in this crop, the first such attempt in any food legume. ICRISAT is working with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, State Agricultural Universities, Seed Corporations, and private seed companies in this effort.

After 25 years of intense research, the world's first cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) based pigeonpea hybrid ICPH 2671 was developed by ICRISAT in 2005, and has been named as "Pushkal" by Pravardhan Seeds. This hybrid is suitable for cultivation in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Pushkal was launched today by the Director General of ICRISAT, Dr William D Dar. Also present were Mr Murahari Rao, Managing Director of Pravardhan Seeds and senior officials from ICRISAT and Pravardhan Seeds.

Launching the hybrid for cultivation, Dr William Dar said that the world is witnessing marked volatility in food and energy prices. Reduced global stocks, climate change, rising human population, natural calamities such as droughts, coupled with speculative response to the market signals are a few reasons for spiraling prices of food and other essential commodities. Expressing his concern, Dr Dar said that nearly every agricultural commodity is fueling the rising price trend.

Stressing the need for urgent attention, Dr Dar said that the bulk of food proteins in India are derived from pulse crops that are generally grown under low-input and risk-prone marginal environments with low and unstable yields. The Green

Revolution of the 1970s ignored legumes that are a major source of protein in the developing world. At present the protein availability in India is less than one-third of the recommended dietary allowance.

Since the food production balance in India will always remain in favor of cereals, the issue of protein availability assumes greater significance. Options such as increasing the pulses growing area, intensive cropping, and enhanced inputs have limited scope in India. Therefore, to harvest additional protein the cultivation of hybrid legumes is the most prudent alternative, Dr Dar opined.

Dr CLL Gowda, Global Theme Leader, Crop Improvement, ICRISAT, said that the CMS based hybrid seed technology is ready for take off with all its major components in place. The major responsibility, now, is to take this research product to the clients - the farmers of rainfed agriculture.Considering the high yield potential of the technology, it is expected that farmers with both small and large holdings will adopt the hybrids. Since small scale and resource poor farmers predominantly cultivate pigeonpea, it will be important to keep the seed cost within the reach of the farmers, he said.

Dr KB Saxena, the scientist behind this breakthrough, said that the new technology promises to break the yield barrier, which has been plaguing Indian agriculture for the past five decades. In achieving this milestone, Dr. Saxena and his team struggled for 35 years to overcome various scientific hurdles. He was very optimistic about the adoption of the hybrid technology. He further mentioned that in achieving this goal the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provided full support in the research and development of this technology.

At ICRISAT the experimental hybrids have recorded 20% to150% yield advantage over the best checks, ideal for bringing the next quantum jump in yield. Eminent agricultural scientist Dr MS Swaminathan had mentioned that, "hybrid pigeonpea technology is like dwarfing genes in wheat and rice and this will create a second green revolution" in India. This breakthrough is the result of ICRISAT's strong public-private partnership.

On the basis of results from three years and 21 test locations, ICRISAT scientists believe that hybrid technology in pigeonpea has become a profound success. One of the important outcomes of the research program is Pushkal (ICPH 2671). This high yielding, disease (wilt and sterility mosaic) resistant hybrid was bred at ICRISAT and gives about 30-40% yield advantage over the popular variety Maruti. The seed production of the parental lines of Pushkal has been tried successfully.

Mr Murahari Rao, M.D. Pravardhan Seeds, said that hybrid pigeonpea technology has a great potential for enhancing yield and farmers will surely accept this hybrid and other hybrids. He also thanked ICRISAT for providing the genetic material for development of Pushkal.

For further information, contact Dr KB Saxena, Principal Pigeonpea Breeder, ICRISAT, at k.saxena@cgiar.org.

20)Land degradation threatens dryland populations

The survival of more than 250 million people living in the drylands of the developing world is being threatened by a chronic problem – land degradation.

Drylands cover about 41% of the earth’s surface. The poor people in the drylands depend mainly on rainfed agriculture and natural rangelands for their survival. Their livelihoods are at risk due to land degradation, which is exacerbated by increasing population growth that is putting considerable pressure on fragile land resources.

However, science-based innovations can be mobilized to help arrest land degradation. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) headquartered in Patancheru in southern India, addresses the problem of land degradation through sustainable land management (SLM) techniques.

According to ICRISAT Director General Dr William D Dar, “Investing in SLM to control and prevent land degradation in the wider landscape is an essential and cost-effective way to deliver other global environmental benefits, such as maintenance of biodiversity, mitigation of climate change and protection of international waters”.

ICRISAT is the executing agency and coordinator of the Desert Margins Program (DMP) funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). DMP is a collaborative initiative among nine sub-Saharan African countries – Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe, which are assisted by five Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and three advanced research institutes. The DMP focuses on better understanding land and biodiversity degradation and finding ways to counter them.

ICRISAT, jointly with a sister CGIAR Center the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) based in Syria, is catalyzing a global research program called ‘Oasis’ to intensify the effort against dryland degradation and desertification. Oasis brings the best global science partnerships to bear across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

To address the issue of poor soil fertility, some consider this a greater food-production constraint than drought in semi-arid Africa, ICRISAT has developed a “microdosing” technique that involves the application of small, affordable quantities of fertilizer with the seed at planting time or as a top dressing 3 or 4 weeks after emergence. This enhances fertilizer use efficiency and improves productivity.

The Institute is also testing two market development strategies to address constraints such as difficult access to fertilizer and credit; insufficient flow of information and training to farmers; and inappropriate policies. In West Africa, the ‘Warrantage’ or inventory credit system aims to resolve the farmers’ capital constraint. Farmers place part of their harvest in a local storehouse in return for loans, which they use to pay debts and start various income-earning activities to tide over the long dry season. The stored grain is sold later in the year when prices are high, and the farmer is able to repay the loan. ICRISAT has also succeeded in getting private fertilizer companies to sell fertilizers in small packs that smallholder farmers can afford.

The Institute has partnered with other organizations and has evolved a new consortium watershed management model to control land degradation and improve rural livelihoods. The approach is built on the principle of harnessing the strengths of the consortium partners for the benefit of all the stakeholders, and is based on a holistic systems approach called the Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management (IGNRM) strategy.

The Drylands Eco-farm (DEF) is an innovative trees-crops-livestock system for rainfed crop production. Fast-growing, drought tolerant Australian Acacias and a high value tree crop (Zizyphus mauritania) are intercropped with annual crops. It also incorporates principles of crop rotation, mulch application, windbreaks and nitrogen fixing trees. Profits from the DEF are 3-5 times higher than profits from current cropping systems.

The Institute is also undertaking Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) project in barren, unproductive soils that are widespread in the West African Sahel. This combines simple effective techniques such as zaï holes, planting-basin cultivation, trenches and land scarification that concentrate limited water and nutrient resources close to the plant roots. In addition the planting of high-value crops that restore organic matter and soil texture earn a handsome profit for the poor from fruit and gum trees, hardy leafy vegetables and legumes.

Besides developing and promoting these techniques to curb land degradation and improve the quality of agricultural soil, ICRISAT is putting great emphasis on strengthening the national capacities in studying climate, soil, vegetation and livestock trends and dynamics, standardization of methodologies to ensure data quality. It is also looking at building effective partnerships with national (NGOs, rural communities and CBOs), regional and international institutions and the private sector.

21)Science leads to adaptation with climate change

As the world celebrates Environment Day, science is continuously mobilized to help mitigate the threats caused by global warming and climate change.

Along with this, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad in southern India, is intensively working with its partners to develop science-based strategies that empower vulnerable communities to cope with climate change in the dry tropics of the world.

These strategies will help farmers to face the challenges of climate change on two fronts:

Short to medium-term : Helping farmers and their support agents to cope better with current rainfall variability as a prerequisite to adapting to future climate change.

Medium to longer-term : Adapting dryland crops (sorghum, millet, groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea) to grow in a warmer world.

“Climate variability and change is an important consideration for ICRISAT given our mandate for the improvement of rainfed farming systems in the dry tropics of the developing world,” says ICRISAT’s Director General William D Dar.

Satellite data shows that the dry tropics, where rainfed agriculture provides 60% of the world’s food, will be the most vulnerable to climate change. ICRISAT data shows that increases in temperature will have a significant (8% to 30%) reduction in grain yields of dryland crops. Nevertheless, due to their evolutionary advantage, dryland crops are better adapted than other major food crops (rice, maize and wheat) to environmental stresses such as drought.

“ ICRISAT believes that the ability of agricultural communities and agricultural stakeholders must first be enhanced to enable them to cope better with current climatic variability if they are to adapt to the predicted future increases in climate variability,” added Dr Dar.

Watershed management has also contributed to improving the resilience of agricultural incomes despite the high incidence of drought as evidenced from the drylands of India. This shows that where rural communities have viable livelihoods, adaptation to climate change is feasible.

ICRISAT has identified long-term strategies that will result in crop varieties and cropping systems that are adapted to a changing environment. An Integrated Genetic and Natural Resources Management (IGNRM) approach is pursued which considers factors such as:

Higher temperature tolerance Increased root stresses due to soil salinity, acidity, nutrient availability,

drought, flooding Changed severity and distribution of pests and diseases Migration of dryland crops into geographical areas already marginal for

crops currently being grown

Dr Dar confidently affirms, “ICRISAT is well placed to respond to this challenge with goals of developing resilient ecosystems and crops. Along with our partners, we recognize the importance of the issue and firmly believe that our approach will benefit the livelihoods of communities who are the most vulnerable to climate change. World Environment Day is an excellent reminder about our mission in the dry tropics.”

ICRISAT is one of 15 global agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It works with a wide array of lead organizations dealing with meteorological services and climate science research worldwide. Research focuses on making better use of natural resources and developing innovations that have a high probability of success.

22)Scientific Innovations will Trigger Green Revolution in Africa

Scientific innovations can help bring about Africa’s Green Revolution. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad in southern India, is working with other institutions in the global initiative to bring about a green revolution in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking at an international conference titled Israel and the Green Revolution in Africa held on 1 June in Jerusalem, and addressing politicians, policy makers, scientists and other distinguished participants, Dr William D Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, said, “I am certain that MASHAV and ICRISAT can provide critical leadership in this Revolution, particularly in the dry areas, which are our bread and butter.” The drylands cover about 40% of Africa’s arable landmass, and about 25% of Africa’s populations live and work in these areas. According to the United Nations Human Development Index these areas cover most of the poorest nations on earth, and the farmers here earn less than one US dollar a day.

“African governments need to be more supportive of their rural poor, “ Dr Dar added, “They need to adopt policies that encourage, rather than penalize agriculture. Developed countries need to break with their past habits of huge

subsidies to domestic farmers that create unfair competition with the poor in the developing world.”

Rising food prices hurt the rural poor, and the rising cost of fertilizer, essential for increasing food production, is a double blow. In this context, Dr Dar cited the scientific innovations that ICRISAT and partners are mobilizing to help bring about Africa’s Green Revolution. Methods such as microdosing and planting-basin cultivation can deliver three dollars worth of extra gain for each dollar’s worth of extra fertilizer when combined with the use of improved crop cultivars. “We need the support of donors and the leadership of the countries themselves to roll this out on a large scale.” said Dr Dar. ICRISAT is also screening over a hundred tree and vegetable crop varieties to help African farmers identify horticultural crops that can diversify the production system and increase incomes.

Drought and heat waves will increase with climate change in the coming years, and farmers need to prepare now by saving water to be used sparingly to overcome these situations. Drip irrigation greatly increases the efficiency of water use. ICRISAT and partners have promoted more than 2,500 small-scale drip irrigation market gardens in four countries of Africa, which raised incomes 5 to 7 times. Immediate funding to gear up ongoing seed multiplication and the expansion of tree nurseries is also required stated Dr Dar.

For farmers with no irrigation potential and limited market access, ICRISAT has been developing Dryland Ecofarm systems that are crop-tree-vegetable-livestock systems that focus on rainwater harvesting. Besides reducing climatic and market risks by half, these systems can be used to bio-reclaim degraded lands.

Given Israel’s historic agricultural expertise, Dr Dar suggested five priorities for the Israeli research and development community – (1) develop and disseminate high-value horticulture crops; (2) build entrepreneurial capacity of African farmers; (3) hydrological surveys and irrigation feasibility studies, with attention to sustainability; (4) new irrigation facilities based on drip-irrigation; and (5) develop or rehabilitate seasonal dams to capture surface rainwater and raise water tables.

For every $1 invested in international agricultural research, $9 worth of additional food is produced in developing countries where it is needed most, concluded Dr Dar.

23)Cutting edge science helps the poor overcome soaring food prices

The poorest of the poor, especially those in the drylands, are hardest hit by soaring food prices. Even as the urban poor are the most vulnerable, the rural poor also suffer since most of them are net buyers of food. In sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank estimates that more than 100 million people will be pushed back to poverty after seven years of progress. But cutting edge scientific innovations can help the poor overcome this problem.

Fundamental changes are making agriculture more expensive, such as rising fuel costs, a growing middle class that demands more food, and the use of maize (corn) by the bioethanol industry. The cost of production, particularly for fertilizer is going up faster than food prices. Since fertilizer requires large amounts of energy to produce, higher food prices are likely here to stay.

In the drylands, the prices of crops like sorghum, millet and legumes have increased by 20 to 40% in the past year. They continue to increase sharply during this period known as the “hungry season” in sub-Saharan Africa. It is during this time when last year’s food stocks in poor countries dwindle to a minimum before the 2008 harvest is reaped. Price trends are now on a parallel pattern that caused famine in Niger in 2005.

Nevertheless, scientific innovations in crop cultivation techniques can help poor farmers cope with soaring food prices, say experts from the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). According to Dr William D Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, “On-farm yields of cereal crops in the drylands can be doubled or tripled with modest inputs, such as low rates of fertilizer combined with highly responsive crop varieties, particularly hybrids, and low-cost rainwater harvesting”. ICRISAT is one of 15 global agricultural research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

More specifically, Dr Dar cited the scientific innovations that have been found effective in producing food at lower cost. These include: planting-basin cultivation, fertilizer microdosing, use of improved crop varieties and hybrids, improved seed systems, tree-crop integration, gravity-fed drip irrigation, growing new types of crops, integrated pest management and value-added to sorghum by producing bioethanol as well as grain and feed from sweet sorghum.

Planting-basin cultivation begins by scooping small basins by hand-hoe that concentrate rainwater and plant nutrients at the base of the plant, where roots are most dense. Coupled with this, small doses of fertilizer (less than a tenth of the rates used in developed countries), applied in combination with small amounts of manure in these moist basins and planting improved crop varieties (especially hybrids) can double or triple yields.

Improved crop varieties use fertilizer more efficiently, are more resilient to drought, pests and diseases and incorporate grain quality traits demanded by the market. Likewise, h ybrid varieties can turbo-charge yields through their fertilizer responsiveness and robust growth. To make these varieties available to poor farmers at the right time, improved seed systems are required to multiply seeds in the right quantities.

Another new farming system technique is to grow special trees in the same field as crops. The trees collect additional nutrients from the soil, and farmers slice off the branches to allow leaves to drop off onto the soil surface, adding nutrients for the young growing crops. These trees and leaves also protect the soil from erosion by wind and water. While boosting crop yields, the trees also provide higher-value products such as fruits, gums, cosmetics, and renewable energy (in the form of firewood).

Irrigation is a third new technique, but practiced in more efficient ways than in the past. “Drip irrigation” delivers tiny amounts of water drop-by-drop to each plant through a plastic tube, providing just the amount the plant or tree needs for optimal growth. Fertilizer mixed with the drip water also improves its efficiency of usage. ICRISAT has pioneered inexpensive drip irrigation systems suitable for sub-Saharan Africa. It has also identified the matching trees and vegetable crops that deliver high profits when drip-irrigated. Situated near urban areas, these lush ‘m arket gardens’ connect poor farmers to increasingly affluent middle class markets, giving them easy access to better technologies and infrastructure.

A fourth technique is “integrated pest management” which cuts the costs and hazards of pesticide sprays on legumes, allowing farmers to obtain higher prices from organic food markets. The demand for better-quality food from cities in the developing world as well as from overseas markets for dryland crops like chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut can become an engine for development, said Dr Dar. That demand “pull” links farmers to processors and sellers who, in turn provide farmers with new technologies that assure the processors of a constant supply of top-quality produce.

Another “pull” factor that can lift rural areas out of poverty, is the new bioethanol market. Rather than export precious cash to overseas oil producers, it can be invested into the poor rural areas to stimulate development. This need not come at the expense of food production or the environment. Sweet sorghum is a ‘smart’ crop that produces food (grain) and fuel (stalk juice) on the same plant, plus vital livestock feed. After crushing to extract the sugar-rich juice that ferments into bioethanol, the residual stalk material is prized as feed for cattle, goats and sheep.

In the 1990s, the world grew complacent with food security. As food prices declined, it was assumed that investments in agricultural research and development could also be allowed to decline.

“Now we’ve received a harsh wake-up call. Unless we re-invigorate agriculture and lift it to a new level of productivity and efficiency, the world will face more hunger, more poverty, more despair, and more anger,” Dr Dar warned. “We do not have the luxury of an easy excuse. We must not say that “it can’t be done”, because we know it can be,” he added. “Big increases in food production are within our reach, so we must grab this opportunity right now. There is no other choice but to do so, since we will be judged on this choice by the world’s poor and hungry.”

 

24)Sweet Sorghum: A New Smart Biofuel Crop that Ensures Food Security

In these days of soaring food prices worldwide , imagine a crop that provides food, livestock feed and biofuel. It grows in dry conditions, tolerates heat, salt and waterlogging, and provides steady income for poor farmers. Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], a plant that grows to a height of 8 to 12 feet and looks like corn but with the grain on top rather than on the side of the plant, has all these qualities.

“Sweet sorghum provides an opportunity for developing countries to re-direct oil money that used to go overseas back into their own rural economies,” says Dr. William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), one of the 15 allied centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

“We consider sweet sorghum an ideal ‘smart crop’ because it produces food as well as fuel,” Dr. Dar adds. “With proper management, smallholder farmers can improve their incomes by 20% compared to alternative crops in dry areas in India.”

In partnership with Rusni Distilleries and some 791 farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, ICRISAT helped to build and operate the world’s first commercial bioethanol plant, which began operations in June 2007. Locally produced sweet sorghum is used as feedstock.

The process is simple. To produce ethanol, the sorghum stalks are crushed yielding sweet juice that is fermented and distilled to obtain bioethanol, a clean burning fuel with a high octane rating.

The grain can be used for food, chicken or cattle feed. Yet if it has been damaged by disease, no problem – it can also be used to make bioethanol, protecting farm incomes that would otherwise be lost.

The crushed stalks, called bagasse, can be burned to provide energy for the distillery. However research by ICRISAT’s sister center, the International

Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), has found that the bagasse value can be doubled if it is compacted in nutritious blocks and fed to cattle.“

Similar public-private-farmer partnership projects with ICRISAT, local industries and farmers are also underway in the Philippines, Mexico, Mozambique and Kenya, as countries search for alternative fuels.

India intends to use a 10% ethanol blend to save an estimated 80 million liters (21 million gallons) of gasoline each year to ease the country’s growing need for gasoline and to reduce carbon emissions.

Sweet Sorghum’s Advantages Sweet sorghum in India costs $1.74 to produce a gallon of ethanol, compared with $2.19 for sugarcane and $2.12 for corn.

It has high positive energy balance, producing about 8 units of energy for every unit of energy invested in its cultivation and production, roughly equivalent to sugarcane but four times more than for corn. Only 0.8 unit of energy is produced in fossil fuel production for every unit invested.

In the United States, the diversion of corn to bioethanol uses has contributed to increasing food prices. Since food-quality grain of sweet sorghum is not used in ethanol production, and is not in high demand in the global food market, it has little impact on food prices and food security. Sweet sorghum hybrids have almost equal yields of grain as from grain sorghum hybrids and significantly higher stalk yields, so “food production would not be forfeited by switching from regular sorghum to sweet sorghum,” says ICRISAT sorghum breeder Dr. BVS Reddy. Improved sweet sorghum technology could even raise sorghum grain production significantly.

It is also easier and cheaper to grow sweet sorghum than other biofuel crops in India. Sweet sorghum grows on “free” rainwater, whereas sugarcane requires costly irrigation. Sweet sorghum is also more water-efficient: sugarcane consumes two and a half units of water to produce one unit of ethanol, whereas sweet sorghum produces one unit of ethanol from one unit of water.

Some recent reports have raised concerns that the cultivation of certain biofuel crops produces more greenhouse gases than is being saved. This is less likely to be the case for sweet sorghum, although research is needed to assess this carefully. Sweet sorghum is grown on already-farmed drylands that are low in carbon storage capacity, so the issue of clearing rainforest, of great concern for oil palm and sugarcane, does not apply.

Sweet sorghum will not replace sugarcane in parts of the developing world where those crops are well established, emphasizes Dr. Reddy. However, the need for irrigation and high rainfall makes it difficult to expand sugarcane production without moving into ecologically sensitive areas like rainforests.

Fifth largest grain crop Sorghum is the world’s fifth largest grain crop—behind rice, corn, wheat and barley. It is grown on more than 42 million hectares (107 million acres) in 99

countries. United States, Nigeria, India, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina are the leading producers.

According to ICRISAT scientists, an estimated 50% of the grain sorghum area -- 5.1 million hectares (12.9 million acres) in Asia and 12.64 million hectares (32.0 million acres) in sub-Saharan Africa, could be sown with sweet sorghum.

Improved varieties for greater yieldScientists from ICRISAT and from India’s National Research Centre for Sorghum (NRCS) have developed varieties of sweet sorghum that would contribute to a reliable and steady supply of sweet juice for ethanol production.

Until recently, lack of steady sorghum feedstock throughout the year has constrained India’s efforts to expand ethanol production.

ICRISAT`s current efforts are to help provide a consistent supply by developing photoperiod and temperature-insensitive hybrids (flowering and maturity less influenced by day length and temperature changes) that can be planted any time during the year.

More Commercial Capability The Rusni Distillery at the Mohammed Shahpur Village in the Medak district of Andhra Pradesh, India, now produces about 40 kiloliters (10,568 gallons) of ethanol every day from locally grown sweet sorghum and some other feedstocks.

Money that formerly went to overseas oil suppliers now stays at home to benefit the poor. Harvesting and processing the stalks provides about 40,000 person-days of labor per year at the distillery. Sweet sorghum was planted last year on about 1370 acres (540 ha) in the region with planned expansion to 2,000 acres to provide feedstock for the prototype distillery.

In addition to Rusni Distilleries, TATA Chemicals, a unit of one of India’s largest multinational enterprises joined the ICRISAT-Private Sector Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium in late 2007. Under the agreement, ICRISAT will supply seeds for sweet sorghum varieties and hybrids along with technical support to farmers. TATA will contract local farmers to produce sweet sorghum on nearly 10,000 acres in Maharashtra State and will build a plant capable of producing up to 30 kiloliters (7,926 gallons) of ethanol per day. The Jade Grupo Cooperativo, Mexicano, Mexico, and Praj Industries, Pune, India have also joined the consortium.

The India experience is also serving as a model for other parts of the developing world. ICRISAT and five private companies in the Philippines have developed a memorandum of understanding to form a sweet sorghum consortium, and similar consortia are being formed in Uganda, Nigeria, Mozambique and South Africa.

In the public-private-farmer partnership model developed by ICRISAT, scientists develop sweet sorghum hybrids and test new cultivars with smallholder farmers. Distilleries provide farmers with improved seed and technical advice, offer a guaranteed price for the feedstock, and transport the harvested stalks for processing. Distilleries are developing decentralized stalk crushing stations to

reduce transportation and handling costs, and to make it easier for farmers to retain the bagasse for animal feed. The goal is to develop a competitive biofuel industry that benefits the rural poor and is environmentally sustainable while not cutting into the food supply chain.

Interest in sweet sorghum’s ethanol potential is not confined to the developing world. With growing concern about the use of corn grain for bioethanol, the US Government is exploring the potential of sweet sorghum, as are several university and private sector groups. An International Conference on Sorghum for Biofuel, sponsored by the Office of International Research Programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas A&M, will be held in Houston, Texas in August 2008.

Amidst today’s soaring food and oil prices, sweet sorghum is indeed a smart crop that contributes to household food security and helps livelihoods of the rural poor in the semi-arid tropics, now populated by about a billion people—the poorest of the poor.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT's mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT belongs to the Alliance of Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Working in 55 countries, ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru ( Hyderabad), Andhra Pradesh, India and maintains regional hubs and country offices in sub-Saharan Africa.

Much of ICRISAT’s research focuses on “smart crops” and production systems that increase incomes of poor dry land farmers without compromising their need for food and feed or harming the environment.

Sorghum World Production 50% in Africa and Asia could be converted to Sweet Sorghum

Units: Production in 000 tons

Country  

Total Quantity Average 2004-2006

U.S. 9,518

Nigeria 9,207

India 7,055

Mexico 6,005

Sudan 4,060

China 2,463

Argentina 2,460

Ethiopia 2,077

Brazil 1,745

Australia 1,671

Burkina Faso 1,502

Egypt 868

Tanzania , United Rep of 820

Niger 781

Mali 674

Chad 575

Cameroon 560

Venezuela , Bolivar Rep of 514

Uganda 429

Mozambique 317

Yemen 309

Ghana 302

France 275

Saudi Arabia 244

South Africa 243

Colombia 226

Bolivia 220

Italy 207

Togo 200

Rwanda 193

Pakistan 164

Benin 163

El Salvador 151

Somalia 146

Senegal 130

Kenya 116

Haiti 90

Nicaragua 86

Uruguay 79

Zimbabwe 78

Thailand 78

Burundi 70

Mauritania 64

Côte d'Ivoire 61

Ukraine 53

Eritrea 52

Guatemala 48

Central African Republic 44

Malawi 40

Honduras 37

Guinea 36

Russian Federation 35

Israel 32

Gambia 28

Korea , Dem People's Rep 27

Spain 25

Guinea-Bissau 21

Zambia 20

Paraguay 20

Botswana 17

Sierra Leone 14

Morocco 13

Hungary 10

Ecuador 10

Panama 9

Lesotho 8

Uzbekistan 8

Serbia and Montenegro 6

World 57,966

 

25)ICRISAT launches Center of Excellence in Genomics and Bio-Food Knowledge Center

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has launched a Center of Excellence in Genomics (CEG) at its global headquarters at Patancheru, India, in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. ICRISAT is also announcing the launch of a Bio-Food Knowledge Center (BFKC) in its Agri-Science Park with financial support from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The CEG, through the financial support of DBT, strengthens the existing molecular breeding facilities at ICRISAT to a high throughput, cost-effective facility, which can be used for crop improvement research. The facility, which is fully operational, is available for researchers from agricultural research institutes throughout India and globally via ICRISAT’s network of partners.

The BFKC, for which the Andhra Pradesh Government made the first tranche of funding available, will be a platform for R&D and innovation in food processing with focus on cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and medicinal and aromatic plants.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the collaboration with the Indian Government for the CEG and the Andhra Pradesh Government for the BFKC are examples of ICRISAT’s strengthening relationship with the national and the state governments in India and in other countries. “Though these

projects are funded by national and state governments, their impacts will flow to all the 55 countries that ICRISAT works in.”

Center of Excellence in Genomics

The CEG is a result of a Memorandum of Agreement signed by Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, and Dr MK Bhan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India, in December 2006. The DBT has financially provided US$ 1 million for establishing the CEG.

The CEG has started providing the following services:

· High-throughput, low-cost, allele detection platforms, to help with molecular-marker assisted breeding.

· Access to large-scale field screening for abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity.

· Biometrics (agricultural statistics) and bioinformatics (information management and analysis) support.

· Training courses for scientists and students from Indian institutes in the use of high-throughput methods in breeding and research.

According to Dr William Dar, in addition to having state-of-the-art equipment, the CEG will also provide training for building the capacity of national scientists from India and other countries. As the CEG was launched, 19 scientists from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research institutes started their training on molecular breeding techniques at the CEG.

“The CEG will provide new technological options, build capacity of scientists and also accelerate crop improvement by reducing the time required to develop new varieties by half,” Dr Dar said.

Dr Simon Best, Chair of the ICRISAT Governing Board, said that the CEG illustrates the cutting-edge science and technology research that ICRISAT is doing to improve crop productivity in the drylands. Ultimately its research products will benefit the poor farmers of the drylands.

Dr Mangala Rai, Vice-Chair of ICRISAT Governing Board and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said that the premier facility on agri-biotechnology has the potential for improving natural resources management through genetic improvement of crops.

Bio-Food Knowledge Center

The BFKC is a public-private partnership venture in the Agri-Science Park at ICRISAT. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has provided financial support of US$ 500,000 for the establishment of the BFKC at ICRISAT.

Dr Barry I Shapiro, Managing Director, Agri-Science Park @ICRISAT, said: “ Food biotechnology interventions play a major role in adding value to the food processing industry. This added value can be realized if a conducive research platform is available, which is capital and knowledge intensive. Given ICRISAT’s strengths as a world-class research center, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has sanctioned financial support for the establishment of the BFKC.”

The BFKC will develop a platform for R&D, innovation, technology transfer, and commercialization in food processing focusing on cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables. It will be developed as a public-private partnership model and also backstop food processing related research requirements for ICRISAT mandate crops.

The objectives of the BFKC include:

· Pool available technologies for commercialization and transfer;

· Align strategically with food research Institutions ( India and Abroad);

· Provide infrastructure and platform for innovation and research for the private sector;

· Take up collaborative and contract research;

· Provide knowledge support to the private sector;

· Undertake trainings and capacity building programs for the Industry; and

· Offer food safety testing and services.

The knowledge center will be completely developed over a period of 5 years with a total outlay of approximately US$ 5.25 million. It will also collaborate with several central and state government organizations, IITs and agricultural research universities.

The collaborations are also from countries outside India. In January 2008, ICRISAT and Crop and Food Research, a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Lincoln, New Zealand. Through the MOU, both organizations will work together to develop the proposed Bio Food Knowledge Center (BFKC) at the Agri-Science Park within ICRISAT. Early discussions have identified many opportunities to leverage New

Zealand’s world-class agri science for the benefit of progressing ICRISAT’s mission and goals and significantly accelerate the commissioning of the BFKC.

For further information, contact Dr David Hoisington at d.Hoisington@cgiar.org, Global Theme Leader on Biotechnology, or Dr Barry Shapiro at b.Shapiro@cgiar.org, Managing Director of the Agri-Science Park.

26)ICRISAT’s germplasm to strengthen the collection at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) joined the group of international organizations that will deposit seeds of germplasm of mandate crops at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to be inaugurated on 26 February.

Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, is at Svalbard for the opening celebrations on 25 and 26 February for the global initiative to store the seeds of agricultural crops from across the world in a specially created seed vault. The Svalbard archipelago is half way between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole.

Located in a remote, yet accessible location within a mountain under permafrost (permanently frozen layer) conditions, the Svalbard Seed Vault has a natural temperature of minus 6 degree centigrade (-6 °C). The vault is further cooled to -18°C and is designed to provide ultimate secure protection against catastrophes to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

According to Dr William Dar, ICRISAT’s participation in the duplicate conservation of seeds in the vault adds a special significance to the project – it gives increased protection to global agriculture from climate change. The seeds of germplasm that will be transferred by ICRISAT are those of hardy dryland crops that can withstand climate change when it happens. These are the seeds of sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut and six small millets.

“Mandated to increase agricultural productivity in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, our crops have the ability to withstand the perils of climate variability and change,” Dr Dar said. “Including our seeds to be stored in the Svalbard seed vault means that we are storing the seeds of hope for prosterity.”

Though a global disaster may or may not happen, seeds stored in genebanks (such as the one at ICRISAT) are routinely used to re-start agriculture in areas affected by natural disasters and civil strife. For instance, sorghum germplasm

lost during civil wars in Ethiopia and Rwanda was replenished from the collection stored in the ICRISAT genebank. ICRISAT repatriated germplasm to several countries: Botswana (sorghum), Iran (chickpea), Nepal (chickpea), Kenya (pigeonpea), Sudan (sorghum), Zambia (sorghum, pearl millet, pigeonpea, groundnut and finger millet), and India (all crops).

ICRISAT will deposit seeds of 20,000 germplasm accessions in the first installment this year, which will be the first year of the 5-year schedule during which the Institute will transfer about 110,000 germplasm accessions. The Global Crop Diversity Trust, one of the agencies supporting the project and a partner of ICRISAT, is providing the financial support for the transfer of sample.

The samples being sent to Svalbard are duplicates of the collection at ICRISAT’s gene bank. Among the largest public-funded genebanks globally, the facility at ICRISAT’s headquarters at Patancheru, India, holds 118,882 accessions of various crops, along with their wild relatives, representing 144 countries.

ICRISAT’s collection has benefited the crop improvement efforts of many national agricultural research systems. Sixty-six germplasm accessions of various crops have been released directly as cultivars in 44 countries contributing to food security. In addition, a vast number of germplasm accessions distributed have been used as building blocks for numerous varieties and hybrids that are cultivated in many parts of the world. More than 75 national programs have released 602 varieties (as of December 2007) of ICRISAT mandate crops, using ICRISAT-supplied breeding material (developed from the germplasm).

The Nordic Gene Bank and the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) invited ICRISAT to deposit its germplasm collections at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. ICRISAT accepted and signed the Standard Deposit Agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food in September 2007.

In December 2007, ICRISAT and GCDT also signed a partnership agreement to ensure the long-term availability of funds for the conservation, characterization and distribution of germplasm (seeds) in the ICRISAT’s Genebank for the benefit of agriculture and food security for mankind.

Under the agreement, the Trust will commit US$ 8 million and ICRISAT US$ 2 million, totaling an endowment of US$ 10 million. The proceeds from the endowment will be used for genetic resources conservation and management activities at ICRISAT. As per the agreement, the endowment’s support for the sorghum germplasm collection began in 2007, pearl millet will begin from 2008 and chickpea in 2009, to be followed by other ICRISAT mandate crops.

The aim is to raise at least US$ 450,000 per year from the endowment to meet critical operational needs such as regeneration, characterization, conservation,

viability testing and supply of the crop collections held in trust at ICRISAT, thereby providing long-term conservation funds.

For further information, contact Dr CLL Gowda at c.gowda@cgiar.org, or Dr HD Upadhyaya at h.upadhyaya@cgiar.org.

27)Development of smart crops for biofuels ensures food and environmental security

While the global debate rages on whether the biofuel revolution is causing imbalances in food security systems and increasing the emissions of greenhouse gases, the ‘smart’ biofuel crops developed, utilized and promoted by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) ensure energy and environmental security.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the time has come to ensure that only smart biofuel crops are developed and utilized so that they can link the poor farmers of the drylands to the biofuel market, without compromising on their food security, or causing environmental damage.

“Smart biofuel crops are those that ensure food security, contribute to energy security, provide environmental sustainability, tolerate the impacts of climate change on shortage of water and high temperatures, and increase livelihood options,” Dr Dar said.

Through its BioPower Strategy, ICRISAT is developing and promoting sweet sorghum as a major feedstock for bioethanol. Sweet sorghum is a carbon dioxide neutral crop, which is a big contributory factor of being called a smart crop.

ICRISAT-bred sweet sorghum varieties and hybrids have increased sugar content in the juice in their stalks. ICRISAT’s rainy season varieties give 42% higher sugar yield, and rainy season hybrids give a 20% increased sugar yield.

Sweet sorghum has a strong pro-poor advantage since it has a triple product potential – grain, juice for ethanol, and bagasse (crushed stalk waste) for livestock feed and power generation. Its highlight is that there is no compromise on farmers’ food security, since the grain is available for the farmers, along with the sugar-rich juice from the stalk that can be distilled to ethanol.

There are other benefits also. It is a cost-effective and competitive feedstock. It has a shorter crop cycle of 4 months compared to the 12 months of sugarcane. It has a water requirement of 4,000 cubic meter to produce a kiloliter of bioethanol, compared to 36,000 cu.m required for sugarcane. Putting all the factors together, the feedstock cost to produce one kiloliter of ethanol from sweet sorghum is US$ 81.6, whereas it is US$ 111.5 for sugarcane and US$ 89.2 for maize.

Sweet sorghum is tolerant to water scarcity and high temperatures, two qualities which will keep the crop in good stead when the climate changes with global warming.

It also has high water use efficiency. While sorghum requires 310 kg of water per kg of dry matter, maize requires 370 kg of water per kg of dry matter.

Sweet sorghum is a carbon dioxide neutral crop that makes it environment friendly, and does not add to greenhouse gas emissions. During its growth cycle, a hectare of sweet sorghum cultivation absorbs and emits 45 tons of carbon.

The crop also has a good energy balance, that is unit of energy generated per unit of fossil-fuel energy invested in its cultivation. Sweet sorghum generates 8 units of energy for every unit of fossil-fuel energy invested, which compares favorably with sugarcane’s 8.3, and for corn it is only 1.8 units.

It has been studied that gasoline blended with ethanol has lower emissions when run through an automobile engine than pure gasoline. E85, the fuel with 85% ethanol, has only 1 part per million concentration of nitrogen oxide whereas gasoline has 9 ppm.

ICRISAT's initiative to produce biofuels is not limited to bioethanol from sweet sorghum alone. Through its watershed development project, it is promoting the cultivation of Pongamia and Jatropha, from which biodiesel can be extracted.

ICRISAT is promoting the cultivation of these biodiesel crops by marginalized communities such as tribal groups and women’s self-help groups and ensuring that they are planted on wastelands. The groups get additional income after harvesting and crushing the seeds, selling the oil, and selling the seedcake (the residue after crushing) to farmers as an organic fertilizer. Some of the oil is used to power village diesel engines such as generators and irrigation pumps.

“Likewise, our biodiesel initiatives produce green fuel and rehabilitate degraded lands, enhance greenery, conserve rainwater, and provide a sustainable income source for the landless and marginal farmers,” said Dr Dar.

The issues of food versus fuel, climate change and environment, land use, and impact on poverty alleviation vis-à-vis biofuels call for stimulating and informed science-based policy-making. That means a framework to promote biofuels

should be linked to national and regional poverty reduction, food security and climate proofing strategies.

For further information, contact Dr Belum VS Reddy at b.reddy@cgiar.org and Dr Suhas P Wani at s.wani@cgiar.org.

28)ICRISAT signs MOU with Crop and Food Research, New Zealand

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Crop and Food Research, a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently, in Lincoln, New Zealand, which would mutually benefit India and New Zealand in crop science research.

The MOU, which was signed earlier by ICRISAT Director General William Dar and was carried to New Zealand by the joint ICRISAT-Government of Andhra Pradesh delegation, was countersigned by Crop and Food Research CEO Mark Ward.

According to Dr William Dar, the collaboration will strengthen the partnership between ICRISAT and New Zealand’s national research institutes, and will leverage mutual strengths in agriculture and food science research.

Both organizations will work together to develop the proposed Bio Food Knowledge Center (BFKC) at the Agri-Science Park within ICRISAT. Early discussions have identified many opportunities to leverage New Zealand’s world-class agri science for the benefit of progressing ICRISAT’s mission and goals and significantly accelerate the commissioning of the BFKC.

The signing of the MOU is one of the key outcomes from a joint ICRISAT and Government of Andhra Pradesh delegation currently visiting New Zealand. The delegation also met with two prominent Cabinet Ministers, Honorable Pete Hodgson, Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Economic Development and Tertiary Education; and Hon Jim Anderton, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry and Biosecurity.

ICRISAT will continue to explore collaboration with other Crown Research Institutes, namely AgResearch and HortResearch.

For further information, contact Dr Barry Shapiro at b.Shapiro@cgiar.org or Mr AR Ilyas at a.r.ilyas@cgiar.org.

29)ICRISAT signs MOU with Philippine science journalists association

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Philippine Science Journalists Association Inc. (PSciJourn) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Quezon City, Philippines, recently to forge partnership, cooperation and coordination on matters relating to innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development.

ICRISAT Director General William Dar and PSciJourn President Angelo Palmones signed the MOU with senior ICRISAT and PSiJourn officials as witnesses.

PSciJourn is a non-stock and non-profit association of science journalists, science and technology (S&T) communicators and advocates committed to create a science consciousness and culture in the Philippines. It supports public and private efforts in developing a science-oriented citizenry by promoting public awareness, understanding and appreciation of S&T. PSciJourn creates a pool of science journalists, and works out training and scholarships programs for S&T journalists.

With the MOU, ICRISAT and PSciJourn agree to undertake joint activities aimed at increasing the level of the people’s awareness in innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development to attain scientific excellence and relevance in agriculture in the semi-arid tropics, and in the Philippines.

Both organizations will promote a higher level of S&T consciousness and understanding among media practitioners in the Philippines. Specifically, they shall jointly undertake activities that include development of media releases, media seminars, trainings, conferences, workshops and roundtable discussions. ICRISAT and PSciJourn will map out a work plan containing proposals and details of projects and activities to implement the MOU.

Meanwhile, in the same event, the new set of officers and members of the board directors of PSciJourn were inducted into office by Dr Dar.

For further information, contact Dr Rex Navarro at rex.Navarro@cgiar.org.