ICRISAT Happenings

ICRISAT

Happenings

1 November 2013 No. 1595

In-house Newsletter

File photo: ICRISAT

Making agriculture more remunerative is key to drawing youngsters to the profession that has lost its lure.

Bringing rural youth back into agriculture The developing world will soon have the largest share of youth, and around 82% of them will be concentrated in Asia and Africa. How can agriculture be made more intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding for them? How can they be lured back into a profession that feeds the world?

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hese were some of the important issues discussed at the Regional Workshop on Youth and Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities held at Islamabad, Pakistan on 23-24 October, aimed at sharing regional and international knowledge and experiences to encourage the youth in agriculture.

In a presentation on “Agricultural research for development foresights for the youth: Global and regional dimensions of CGIAR perspectives,� Dr N Nagaraj, Principal Scientist (Economics) on behalf of ICRISAT Director General William D. Dar, gave insights on how to encourage the youth back into agriculture by proving that it is highly remunerative, and by promoting high-value agriculture and setting up agricultural transformation centers. Other key points

raised in the paper are: introducing ICT in farming for better information dissemination, targeted programs for schools and college/universities, more public investment in rural infrastructure, farm mechanization, and farm education and outreach.

Following detailed deliberations in the technical sessions, five major recommendations were suggested: 1) Include agriculture as a subject in school curricula; 2) Initiate continuous education for farmers through mass media, short courses, visits and exchange programs among member states of the Asia Pacific Association for Agriculture Research Institutions (APAARI); 3) Develop vocational training institutes in agriculture, covering topics such as value addition, dairy farming, poultry farming, farm mechanization to page 2 ...4

Bringing rural youth back into agriculture....from page 1 and alternative use of energy; 4) Access university curricula and the need of stakeholders and update the curriculum in agriculture; and 5) Focus on integrated research and development to get rid of the drudgery in agriculture.

The workshop was organized by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in collaboration with APAARI, Photo: APAARI Global Forum on Agricultural Research Participants of the workshop held in Islamabad, Pakistan.

(GFAR), International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Among those who attended the workshop were PARC ICRISAT, Food and Agricultural Organization of the Chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmad; APAARI Director General Dr United Nations (FAO), International Food Policy Simon Hearn; APAARI Executive Secretary Dr Raj S Research Institute (IFPRI), Bioversity Paroda; NARC Director General Dr Azeem Khan; CIMMYT International, International Centre for Maize and Director General Dr Thomas Lumpkin; ICARDA Director Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), and Australian General Dr Mahmoud Solh; ICRISAT Research Center for International Agricultural Research Program Director – Dryland Cereals, Dr Stefania Grando; (ACIAR). national and international experts; government officials and representatives from the private sector. g

Promoting entrepreneurship among African students

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bout 16 students and academicians from Africa had the opportunity to present their business ideas at a camp held on 11 October in Nairobi, Kenya. The camp aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among African students and creating a competitive agribusiness environment by scouting for innovations in agribusiness.

Called “Agbiz Idol Camp,” the event was conducted by ICRISAT’s Agri-Business Incubation (ABI-ICRISAT) Program as part of the Agri-Business Education Fair organized by the African Network for Agriculture, Agrofrestry and Natural Resources Education, and its partners under the Universities, Business and Research in Agricultural Innovation (UniBRAIN) initiative of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

declared winners in the academician category. The winners were all felicitated by Mr Ariho and Dr Francoise Driver, University of Mauritius, with an award and a certificate of participation.

ABI-ICRISAT shall assist the entrepreneurs in building their business plans and their incubation will be facilitated under the Creating Competitive Livestock Entrepreneurs in Agribusiness, Ghana.

As part of the Agri Business Education Fair, Mr Karuppanchetty shared best practices in handholding and mentoring business incubation centers under the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI) and the Global Agri-Business Incubation (GABI) network. g

Contestants were screened and evaluated under the two categories of entrepreneurs and academicians by a panel comprising of Mr Alex Ariho, UniBRAIN Facility Coordinator; Mr Ralph Von Kaufmann, former UniBRAIN Facility Coordinator; Mr SM Karuppanchetty, Chief Operating Officer, ABI-ICRISAT; and representatives from the UniBRAIN Agribusiness Innovation Incubator Consortia.

Ms Irene W Gichingiri and Mr Goodhope Shombe won the awards in the entrepreneur category, while Dr Hortense Atta Diallo and Dr Niran Thompson were 2 ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 1 NOVEMBER 2013 1595

Photo: RB Kumar, ICRISAT

Dr F Driver (left) congratulates Dr HA Diallo (center).

Also seen is Mr A Ariho (right).

Public-private partnership highlighted at Farmers’ Day in Karnataka, India

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n enthusiastic group of 1,100 farmers gathered to share their experiences as part of a pilot watershed program being implemented in four villages in Bellary district (Kodalu, Chikka Anantapur, Dodda Anantapur and Joga), state of Karnataka, India. This program is a public-private partnership between Jindal Steel’s JSW Foundation, ICRISAT and the Government of Karnataka, aimed at improving the sustainability and livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Photo: ICRISAT

Addressing the gathering of farmers and officials Drs SP Wani and DG William Dar along with Mrs and during the Farmers’ Day held on 24 October, Mr Jindal at the Farmers’ Day in Bellary district.

Director General William D. Dar highlighted the farmer-centric thinking approach of the JSW had benefited them. Mr Mallikarjuna, a farmer, said Foundation, and the importance of a public-private he harvested 1.6 tonnes of cotton last year, and is partnership model for the sustainable development expecting additional yields from adoption of of natural resources and to improve the livelihoods of improved management practices. smallholder farmers in drought-prone Bellary district.

Dr SP Wani, Acting Research Program Director – In his address, Mr Sajjan Jindal, Managing Director of Resilient Dryland Systems, explained the integrated JSW Foundation, stated that the partnership would watershed development program and the novelties not only transform the four villages covered by the of the public-private partnership initiative in which program but also all of the rainfed farms in Bellary wastewater treatment will enable farmers to use safe district. He and Mrs Sangita Jindal, Chair of JSW water for agriculture and also to improve sanitation Foundation, visited the fields where farmers have in the village. The project covers 7000 ha in four grown cotton and pigeonpea using improved soil villages and is benefiting 1260 farm families. test-based nutrient management. Mr Jindal expressed commitment to help farmers in the district The farmers also visited the exhibition stalls of ICRISAT, DoA and private seed companies, where increase their incomes through science-led they gathered information on improved management development with the help of ICRISAT. practices and new high-yielding cultivars of crops.

During the interactions, farmers explained how various interventions such as planting of Glyricidia on Dr Ramappa, Joint Director of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Bellary district and the bunds to generate N-rich organic matter for Director of the Watershed Development Department improving soil health, vermicomposting for safe were also present at the event. The activity was recycling of farm residues, farm ponds for harvesting jointly organized by ICRISAT and Karnataka’s rainwater for supplemental irrigation as well as Department of Agriculture. g conservation of soil moisture for better crop growth,

Photos: ICRISAT

Dr SP Wani explaining the benefits of ICRISAT’s hybrid pigeonpea.

Drs William Dar and SP Wani with Mrs and Mr Jindal at the ICRISAT stall.

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High-level delegation from Ghana and Uganda explores partnership opportunities with ICRISAT

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iming to study ICRISAT’s Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (ICRISAT-AIP) operations and explore opportunities to jointly promote entrepreneurship in the African continent, a high-level delegation of Ministers from Africa visited the ICRISAT headquarters on 28 October.

The three-member delegation was composed of Mr Aston Peterson Kajara, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Photo: H Mane, ICRISAT Development, Government of Uganda; Dr th AIP-ICRISAT staff with Mr AP Kajara (5 from left); Prof KM Musheibu Mohammed-Alfa, Deputy Minister nd Maredia (2 from left); and Dr M Mohammed-Alfa (3rd from left). of Environment, Science, Technology and Economic Development, Government of Ghana; and Dr Mohammed, on the other hand, expressed Prof Karim M Maredia, Professor and Director, World interest in partnering with AIP in setting up and Technology Access Program, Michigan State exploring funding opportunities for a science park in University, USA. Ghana. He is currently studying various working models in India, and assured support in exploring The ICRISAT-AIP team led by Dr Kiran K Sharma opportunities for collaboration with ICRISAT, beyond briefed the delegation on the Platform’s operations the scope of the current projects of UniBRAIN-FARA and activities in Africa. These activities involve and India’s Ministry of Food Processing. handholding of Agri-Business Incubators under the Universities, Business and Research in Agricultural Both the Ministers agreed to jointly provide soft Innovation (UniBRAIN) – Forum of Agricultural landing facilities for Indian seed companies so that Research in Africa (FARA) project, and the setting up local seed demand could be met and suitable crop of Food Testing Laboratories and Food Processing varieties could be promoted in the region. Further, Business Incubation Centers under the Indo-African Prof Karim invited AIP to explore opportunities to Forum Summit. closely work with the Michigan State University in promoting entrepreneurs in the area of food Mr Kajara expressed appreciation of AIP’s publicprocessing and nutrition in project mode. private partnership model and assured to extend all the help required by ICRISAT in the effective The ministerial delegation was taken around the offices implementation of projects in Uganda. He said his of the AIP incubatees by Chief Operating Officers Mr country would also support the provision of joint soft SM Karuppanchetty (ABI program); Mr S Aravazhi landing services to Indian agro-companies that wish (Innovation and Partnership program) and Dr Saikat to start operations in Uganda.

Datta Mazumdar (Nutriplus Knowledge program). g

ICRISAT at the Global Soil Week 2013

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hat soils are crucial for food, water and energy security was emphasized at the 2nd Global Soil Week held in Berlin, Germany on 27-31 October. The event’s theme was “Losing ground,” giving focus on the threat of loss of soil through degradation as well as insecurity or loss of land rights of marginalized crops around the world.

Dryland Systems, presented a lead paper on “Governance of land use and bio-fuel production in India: Strategies, challenges, potentials for integration”. The session was co-sponsored by The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

ICRISAT co-sponsored a session on “Integrated governance for energy security and sustainable land use” at the event on 29 October, where Dr Suhas P Wani, Acting Research Program Director – Resilient

The 2nd Global Soil Week was attended by 475 participants representing 73 countries and was devoted to understanding soils in the nexus, managing the nexus, and creating pathways to social change. g

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IFAD commends work on selection of farmer-preferred cultivars and improved seed access in Nepal and India

Photo: RAKCA, Sehore

Members of the supervision mission visiting pigeonpea trials in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.

Photo: JTDS

Farmers in Jharkhand interact with the mission members.

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supervision mission designated by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) reviewed the progress of the project “Sustainable management of crop-based production systems for raising agricultural productivity in rainfed Asia.” The mission was carried out by Dr Hari Upadhyaya, Executive Chairperson of the Center for Environmental and Agricultural Research, Extension and Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.

The mission conducted field visits in several project sites in Surkhet district in Nepal; and in Ranchi and Sarayakila districts of Jharkhand; and Sehore, Sajapur and Rajgarh districts of Madhya Pradesh in India on 18-26 October. It held extensive consultations with project partners and farmers participating in the project.

The wrap-up meeting was held on 28 October at the ICRISAT headquarters attended by Director General Dr William D. Dar, Deputy Director General for Research Dr CLL Gowda and Project Coordinator Dr Pooran Gaur. The mission appreciated the project’s progress, particularly in the selection of farmerpreferred cultivars and in improving access to quality seeds by small-scale farmers.

income-generating opportunities. The project involves four components: 1) Designing resilient productive cropping systems; 2) Technical support and scaling out and up of innovations; 3) Inclusive market-oriented development; and 4) Building of capacity within the national agricultural research system and among farmers.

The project partners include Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS) and Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) in Jharkhand; Rajamata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (RVSKVV) in Madhya Pradesh; State Project Management Unit of Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan (MPOWER), Rajasthan in India; Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Productivity Enhancement Project (SNRMPEP) in Laos; Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) in Nepal; and Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) in Vietnam.

Among those who participated in the field visits were Dr Tara Bahadur Gimire and Mr Bibek Sapkota in Nepal; Dr HS Gupta, Dr PK Singh and Mr Manoj Sinha in Jharkhand; and Dr HS Yadav, Dr VS Gautam, Dr AN Tikle, and Dr RP Singh in Madhya Pradesh. From ICRISAT, Dr Pooran Gaur accompanied the Mission in Madhya Pradesh and Dr GV Ganga Rao in Jharkhand. g

The four-year project is being implemented in Nepal (western mid-level hills region), India (Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan), Lao PDR (northern and southern areas) and Vietnam (Ha Tinh and Cao Bang provinces).

Its overall goal is to enhance the income of farmers engaged in rainfed agriculture through Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT sustainable, enhanced Dr H Upadhyaya (far left) with Drs WD Dar, CLL Gowda and P Gaur at the productivity and diversified wrap-up meeting in ICRISAT.

ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 1 NOVEMBER 2013 1595 5

Working towards a CGIAR Capacity Development Community of Practice

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dentifying principles and building blocks for a CGIAR capacity development strategy was the focus of a workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya on 21-25 October. A key output of the workshop was the launch of the CGIAR Capacity Development Community of Practice (CoP) to foster mutual learning, co-creation, sharing of best practices, and advocacy for a capacity development across the CGIAR system.

Representing ICRISAT at the workshop sponsored by the CGIAR Consortium were Drs G Dileepkumar and Rosana Mula, Knowledge Sharing and Innovation Global Leader and Learning Systems Unit Coordinator, respectively, who shared the Institute’s on-going innovative capacity building activities.

Among the key recommendations drawn from the workshop were: aligning capacity development with the on-going CGIAR reform process; pursuing opportunities for partnerships on capacity development; following a research and apply systems approach to capacity development; and coming up

Photo: ILRI

Participants of the workshop.

with a common impact framework for capacity development where the focus is on improving the quality of capacity development within the CGIAR Research Programs and integrating appropriate capacity development approaches in new initiatives.

The CoP composed of the workshop participants also identified the way forward towards the realization of key concerns in capacity development work. g

ICRISAT innovations showcased at crop science society conference in Uganda

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nnovations showcased by ICRISAT at the 11th African Crop Science Society Conference held in Uganda on 14-17 October included new resilient and highly productive crop varieties developed in partnership with farmers and national agricultural research organizations, ways of strengthening seed systems for informal and formal sectors, and knowledge and innovation dissemination approaches focusing on farmers as learners and trainers. The theme of the conference was “Sowing innovations for sustainable food and nutrition in Africa.”

ICRISAT’s Dr Patrick Okori presented a keynote paper on “Opportunities for increasing crop productivity through agro-ecological intensification,” demonstrating efforts by the Institute to sustainably increase productivity and cropping system resilience.

Using examples of ICRISAT’s work in Eastern and Southern Africa, he presented the Inclusive MarketOriented Development (IMOD) strategy as a pillar for sustainable intensification in which value-added innovations are deployed by farmers to capture larger rewards from markets and manage risks thereby improving food and nutrition security, and reducing poverty and environmental hazards.

ICRISAT’s innovations were also showcased through posters, exhibitions and oral presentations.

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The ICRISAT exhibition stall displayed both popular and new groundnut and pigeonpea varieties as well as technology dissemination literature. The stall was visited by Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture Mr Tress Buchanayadi and the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Ms Rhoda Tumuslime. Various stakeholders showed keen interest in accessing new legume varieties.

Mr Wills Munthali, Ms Veronica Guwela, Mr Oswin Madzonga and Mr Felix Sichali of ICRISAT also attended the Conference. g

Photo: ICRISAT

African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Ms Rhoda Tumuslime at the ICRISAT stall.

ICRISAT observes Open Access Week

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ommitted to promoting Open Access – encouraging and educating academic and research community about its potential – ICRISAT organized an Open Access Week observance on 24 October attended by more than 50 participants ranging from scientists and managers to officers, scholars, interns and partners. The event was part of the global Open Access Week celebration on 21-27 October.

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

“Being part of the research community, we Dr Venkadesan of ISB speaks on the state of open access. need to encourage Open Access in order to break past barriers of information exchange.

Giving his take on “Open Access initiatives in India This will help us gain access to the huge repository with special reference to agriculture,” Dr of knowledge and research information that can Veeranjaneyulu, Librarian, Acharya NG Ranga enhance our capacity to do better research in the Agricultural University (ANGRAU), made a future,” said Dr CLL Gowda, Deputy Director General presentation on the Indian perspective of open for Research, at the inauguration of the event and access, citing the various initiatives by the National the Open Access Booth.

Agricultural Research Systems.

On the occasion, Dr Venkadesan, Director, Learning Resource Centre, Indian School of Business delivered a lecture on “The state of Open Access: A report,” emphasizing that the movement can be successful only if the research community is educated about it and the various types of access routes.

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

The event was organized by the Knowledge Sharing and Innovation (KSI) Team and coordinated by Mr Chukka Srinivasarao, Senior Manager, Data Management and Mr Siva Shankar, Library Officer.

ICRISAT has been promoting open access repositories for: Publications – Open Access Respository – http://oar.icrisat.org ) Data (Dataverse – http://dataverse.icrisat.org/dvn) Educational Repositories (KSIConnect – http://ksiconnect.icrisat.org AgED Open Courseware – http://www.aged.icrisat.org) A central access point to all ICRISAT scientific information and data – http://EXPLOREit.icrisat.org

Dr CLL Gowda inaugurating the Open Access Booth.

ICRISAT Employees Co-operative Housing Society revived The ICRISAT Employees Co-operative Housing Society (IECHSL) Limited was revived recently under the supervision of the Office of the District Co-operative, Ranga Reddy District. The Society’s new officials are: President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Members

: Dr CN Reddy : Mr DY Giri : Mr M Timma Reddy : Mr K Srinivas : Mr Md Ameenuddin, Mr B Ashok Kumar, Mr K Prabhakar and Ms H Padmini

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 1 NOVEMBER 2013 1595 7

Congratulations!

Dr Chakradhar Thammineni, Special Project Scientist, Research Program – Dryland Cereals, was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Oral Presentation and Young Scientist Award for the year 2013 during the 7th Annual Convention of the Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy (ABAP) organized by the University of Delhi, South Campus on 18-20 October. His presentation was on the application of molecular tools for crop improvement. Dr Chakradhar is currently working in a collaborative program between SM Sehgal Foundation (SMSF) and ICRISAT.

Bone densitometry camp on 5 Nov The Field Medical Unit (FMU) is organizing a “Bone Densitometry Camp” on 5 November from 0900-1600 hrs. The test which helps detect calcium content in the bone and in diagnosing Osteoporosis and Osteopenia is a must for women. Walk into FMU at the given time and have your bone density evaluated.

Visitors’ log 28 October: Sixty Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering students from Gitam University, Hyderabad; and 55 students from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bijapur, Karnataka.

29 October: Dr Vergel C Concibido, Lead for Global Oilseeds & Cotton Plant Health, Monsanto, St Louis, Missouri, USA. 30 October: Ninety students from Bhavitha Junior College, Mahabubnagar; Dr Vergel C Concibido

and Dr Paulo Canci, Cotton Discovery Breeding Lead from Monsanto, St Louis, Missouri, USA. 31 October: Fifty-three biotechnology students from Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, Mumbai; and 15 senior officers of Government of Assam through Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad (see picture).

1 November: Eighteen International participants from ANGRAU; 60 agricultural students from UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka; and 24 students from De Paul Institute of Science and Technology, Kerala.

Director General William D. Dar wishes all staff members and their families a very happy Diwali!

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