ICRISAT-Nigeria braces up for the 2013 cropping season
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n preparation for the 2013 wet season and to implement new and on-going projects in Nigeria, ICRISAT Nigeria organized a series of meetings with partners in April and May to deliberate and finalize work plans identified in the Accra meeting, and to review the 2012 trials and planned 2013 trials. Speaking at the meeting, ICRISAT Nigeria Country Representative Dr Hakeem Ajeigbe briefed the partners about their expected roles in the Groundnut Value Chain Project to be launched soon and implemented in five States in 2013, to be spread to 15 States in 2014. The project would aim to increase incomes and enhance livelihoods of the actors along the groundnut value chain through increased productivity by the adoption of farmer- and marketpreferred groundnut varieties, improved quality of grains and produce, and reduced transaction costs. Partners were briefed on the activities to be implemented by ICRISAT Nigeria in the CGIAR Research Program on GrainLegumes. The meeting had representatives from the Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria; Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority; Jigawa State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority; Katsina State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority; Green Sahel Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative; and ICRISAT. A training workshop was held on 25 April for Heads of Department (HOD) of Agriculture from 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kano State, where work plans were developed. Highlighting the importance of making farming less of a drudgery, Dr Ajeigbe
Photo: H Ajeigbe, ICRISAT
Participants of a training workshop for Local Government Area Heads of Departments of Agriculture.
spoke about the animal-drawn combine planter and processing equipment that would be introduced for small- and medium-scale farmers in the project implementation areas. The planters would be tested across different soil types in the Sudan and Sahel agro-ecological zones. Training workshops were also held for extension agents and selected HOD of Agriculture from 8 LGAs in Bauchi State; for 26 EAs from 17 LGAs in Kano State; and for extension agents based in Katsina, Jigawa and Dutse States. The training mainly covered developments in production technologies of groundnut, sorghum and pearl millet; participatory research and extension methods; farmers and farmer group selection, plot selection, and demonstration plot layout; identification of roles and functions of different partners; linkages to input-output markets and government agricultural support schemes. These activities were part of the CGIAR Research Programs on DrylandCereals, GrainLegumes and Dryland Systems. g
CIMMYT’s Asian partners learn about data management
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IMMYT-Asia held a training workshop on Maize Phenotypic Data Management at its ICRISAT campus on 1-4 May. The training was attended by 50 participants representing 22 institutions (national programs and seed companies) from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Dr PH Zaidi, CIMMYT-Asia senior maize physiologist stressed the importance of proper data management
for the modern maize breeder while Dr BS Vivek, CIMMYT-Asia senior maize breeder, explained what constitutes good data and its management in reference to CIMMYT software packages Fieldbook and Fieldlog. Practical sessions on the use of the utility tools of the software packages, and field and practical modules enabled the participants to understand the work flows in a maize breeding program. g
ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 24 MAY 2013 1572 5