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Agrodealers play a pivotal role in delivering the gains of the green revolution to millions of smallholders in Africa, providing access to key inputs like improved maize varieties. So far, seed systems research has mainly focused on the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of new varieties, and, to a lesser extent, why seed companies will […]

Recent innovations in digital imagery and sensors, packaged in what plant scientists call high-throughput phenotyping platforms, save money and time by replacing lengthy paper-based visual observations of crop trials with real-time big data collection and management. […]

MACHAKOS, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The scorching heat from the sun does not stop Mary Munini, a middle-aged smallholder farmer in Vyulya, Machakos County, from inspecting her distressed maize crop. Traces of worry cloud her face. “I will not harvest anything this season,” she says, visibly downcast. Like many other smallholder farmers […]

Imagine walking through a grocery store, doing your weekly shopping. Everything seems normal, but as you pick up a can, there’s no label. There’s nothing to tell you what the product is, and now you can’t reliably choose anything to eat this week. […]

A new technical manual, “Management of drought stress in field phenotyping,” provides a quantitative approach to drought stress phenotyping in crops that will help ensure drought screening trials yield accurate and precise data for use by breeding programs. Phenotyping is a procedure vital to the success of crop breeding programs that […]

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the MAIZE CRP Photo Contest. The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) launched the photo contest with the theme of ‘Harvest Diversity’ to highlight the diversity of maize, its harvest and use around the world. […]

A new video from the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project highlights the importance of gender equity and social inclusion to achieving project impacts and outcomes, helping to drive transformative change towards securing a food secure future for Africa. […]

Dr. Grace Malindi, 67, started Mgom’mera in 2014 with her sister Florence Kahumbe who had experience in running agro-dealer shops. Florence was key in setting up the business particularly through engagement with agro-dealers, while Grace’s background in extension was valuable in understanding their market. […]

Dr. Zubeda Mduruma, 65, is a plant breeder. Raised by farmers, Zubeda took to agriculture from a young age as she enjoyed helping her parents in the farm. […]

Sylvia Horemans started Kamano Seeds in April 2004 together with her late husband Desire Horemans. Silvia became the company’s Chief Executive Officer in 2016. […]

The recent release of the Nepali version of the 3-D animation video “How to identify & scout Fall Armyworm,” will help the farming community in Nepal prepare for and mitigate the effects of the potential arrival of this devastating insect pest. […]

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and BioSense Institute jointly won the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture Inspire Challenge in 2018 for machine learning for smarter seed selection. […]

http://simlesa.cimmyt.org/wp-content/uploads/MECH-UG-e-version.pdf […]

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is offering a new set of improved maize hybrids to partners in eastern and southern Africa and similar agro-ecological zones, to scale up production for farmers in these areas. […]

https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Tanzania-loses-Sh222bn-yearly-to-drought/1840340-4986988-5q02g3/index.htm […]

Stemphylium blight is one of the most damaging diseases that plagues lentil fields in South Asia, causing plants to shed leaves and loose twigs, ultimately leading to grain loss. In severe cases, yield losses as high as 90% have been reported in Bangladesh and other countries. Lentil production is an integral part of many nutrition-sensitive […]

Wheat blast is a fast-acting and devastating fungal disease that threatens food safety and security in the Americas and South Asia. First officially identified in Brazil in 1984, the disease is widespread in South American wheat fields, affecting as much as 3 million hectares in the early 1990s.  In 2016, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean, […]

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), in collaboration with the Bangladeshi NGO Agricultural Advisory Society (AAS), recently conducted video showings of yield-enhancing practices such as healthy rice seedling production and early wheat sowing throughout southern Bangladesh. Early wheat sowing and healthy rice seedlings are both […]

Mungbean is a relatively new crop in Nepal, so relevant research and development activities are still just emerging. In 2015, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), supported by USAID, started conducting participatory research and development, including market development activities for mungbean in partnership with the National […]

The application of fertilizers that do not meet the nutrient requirements (i.e. balanced nutrient application) of target crops is a widespread problem in India. Farmers overuse urea (N) and seldom apply secondary nutrients (Sulphur, Calcium, and Magnesium) and micro-nutrients (like Zinc, Iron, Copper, Boron, Molybdenum and Manganese) in their […]

Since 2013, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) has been sustainably intensifying kharif maize cultivation in a rainfed ecology on the north-central plateau of Odisha, India, in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts. Through the promotion of better-bet agronomy (e.g., suitable hybrids, line planting, nutrient and weed management), […]

Click the link below to read about how investments in research for development by the Australian Centre for Agriculture Research (ACIAR) through the SIMLESA program are reducing farmers’ risks and increasing the yields of maize and legumes by three and four times… https://allafrica.com/stories/201802260592.htm […]

The Soil Intelligence System (SIS) for India, a new $2.5 million investment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will help the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha rationalize the costs of generating high-quality soil data while building accessible geospatial information systems based on advanced geostatistics. The SIS initiative will […]

Demand for wheat is rising in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research. […]

Pakistan's Agricultural Innovation Program ships more than 70 tons of seed of high-yield disease-resistant wheat to 3,000 smallholder farmers. […]