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A decade of maize impact, celebrating 10 years of success with CIMMYT’s maize DH and MLN screening facilities. By John BakumNovember 30, 2023 CIMMYT and partners in Kenya recently marked the 10th anniversary of two major facilities that have been crucial for maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa. The Maize Doubled-Haploid (DH) facility and […]

Suraj Lal Chaudhary, the owner of Suraj Agrovet Center, lives with 14 members in a joint family in Baruwagaun village of Lamahi Municipality-02 of Dang district. The agrovet was established in 2009 and registered formally in 2013 to supply agricultural inputs in his locality. When COVID-19 started, he faced difficulties managing his business […]

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and ICAR’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) hosted their annual network meeting on 27 September 2023. The one-day CSISA-ICAR led meeting organized at NAAS complex, New Delhi, focused on the fourteen years of collaboration and milestones achieved while discussing new opportunities for strengthening […]

Bhagawati Pariyar is an entrepreneur who, since 2020, has run a pickle business with support from her husband in Birendranagar Municipality-7, Surkhet district. Having started in poultry farming, the low prices she was getting for broiler meat and the high production costs led her to shift to pickle production. There were challenges at first and

In a significant collaborative effort, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) with the DSR-Odisha Project organized a state-level workshop for service providers (SPs) in Bhubaneswar on  September 15. These SPs for mechanized direct seeded rice (DSR) and mechanized weeding were also taken on a field tour to mechanized DSR clusters in […]

An exposure visit was organized aimed at spreading awareness and building the capacity of farmers and service providers (SPs) on mechanized direct seeded rice (DSR). 32 individual farmers and SPs from six districts (Bargarh, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj and Puri) of Odisha, along with five project field staff, visited Bapatla district of […]

Nepal is a country with a long history of agriculture. However, in recent years, farmers have faced many challenges, including climate change, pests and diseases, and limited market access. To help farmers overcome these challenges, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) works to increase the adoption of resource-conserving and […]

In Jhenaidah city in Khulna Division, southwest Bangladesh, Mawa Engineering Workshop has emerged as a successful business venture in the realm of agrimachinery. A modest initiative, begun in 1950 to produce mustard seed grinding machines, has developed into a thriving enterprise with a noticeable influence on the region’s agriculture scenario. […]

कृषि नेपालको अर्थतन्त्रको मेरुदण्ड हो । नेपालको कृषि, जलस्रोत व्यवस्थापन, खाद्य सुरक्षा, गरिबी न्यूनीकरण र समग्र विकासका लागि […]

By Dr. Suresh, L.M.:  The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya will begin its next phenotyping (screening/ indexing) cycle 2023 at the beginning of October 2023, interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for screening.   In 2013, […]

Rice is the primary staple crop in Nepal, but its production faces severe challenges due to climate change, erratic rainfall, drought, declining groundwater levels, fuel and fertilizer shortages, and rising prices. Climate change is causing more extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, which can damage crops and reduce yields. […]

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) works to increase the adoption of resource-conserving and climate-resilient technologies and improve farmers’ access to market information and enterprise development. CSISA supports women farmers by improving their access and exposure to modern and improved technological innovations, […]

By Dr. Suresh, L.M.:  The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya will begin its next phenotyping (screening/ indexing) cycle 2023 at the beginning of April 2023, interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for screening. In 2013, […]

By Wangari Ndirangu (11th Nov 2022): Scientists from the East and South African region have mooted a collaborative approach to contain the challenges posed by pests and diseases in food production. The experts who are working on an Integrated Pest and Disease Management packages to address the recent invasion of Fall Army Worms (FAW) menace

Achievements and next steps discussed at the review meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. October 4, 2022 By Susan Otieno: The Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat (AGG) Project, which is halfway through its implementation, continues to register impressive achievements. At a meeting focusing on the project’s Maize component, held in Nairobi […]

By Dr. Sures,L.M.:  The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya will begin its next phenotyping (screening/ indexing) cycle 2022 at the beginning of October 2022, interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for screening. In 2013, […]

By Dr. Suresh,L.M. (2nd,March, 2022):  The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya will begin its phenotyping (screening/ indexing) cycle of 2022 at the beginning of April 2022 and in other four intervals, interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize […]

By Dr. Suresh, L.M.: The maize lethal necrosis (MLN) artificial inoculation screening site in Naivasha, Kenya will begin its phenotyping (screening/ indexing) cycle of 2022 at the beginning of January 2022 and in other four intervals, interested organizations from both the private and public sectors are invited to send maize germplasm for […]

a). County extension officers and lead farmers visit the regional MLN screening unit at Naivasha: Fourty county extension officers and lead farmers from Uasin Gishu county and Tana River county and 5 KALRO facilitators visited the MLN screening unit at Naivasha on 27th October 2021. They were taken round by Mr. Wilson Njenga and Mr.

Dr. Suresh,L.M. (November, 2021): For a decade, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have been at the forefront of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional effort to contain and effectively manage maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in Africa. When the disease was first reported in Kenya 2011 it spread […]

Read the latest news from the just concluded Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative. This issue highlights the impact the project has had on farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, how it has helped build resilience of Africa’s smallholder farmers and how the improved maize varieties will enable partners to reach farmers on time to plant

Amondo, E., Simtowe, F., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O., 2019. Productivity and production risk effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zambia. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 11, 570-591. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-03-2018-0024 Awata, L. A. O., Ifie, B. E., Tongoona, P., Danquah, E., Jumbo, M. B., […]

Joshua Masinde Over 400 farmers from Manyatta in Embu County were on February 7, 2020, invited to a demonstration farm to witness the performance of various high yielding, early to medium maturing, drought tolerant maize varieties. Such occasions aim to encourage them to adopt varieties whose traits they preferred the most. They were invited by

Read the latest news from the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative. This issue highlights stories on how stress tolerant maize is improving the lives of smallholder farmers in northern Uganda, after a two-decade civil war; why stress tolerant maize varieties are good for Africa and how CIMMYT and its partners are making systems

The Stress Tolerant Maize in Africa (STMA) project team in Nigeria used street theater to drum up messages on how to mitigate stresses affecting maize production in the country. The messages targeted mainly the youth, informing them that with the right stress-resilient seed varieties and the application of recommended agronomic practices, they can […]