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Leveraging agricultural mechanization and service expansion to drive rural economies
No full textMechanization not only lessens the burdens of manual labor but also empowers rural communities by creating avenues for economic upliftment and poverty alleviation. At the intersection of prosperity and resilience, agricultural mechanization emerges as a catalyst for transformative change. By harnessing the efficiency and precision of modern machinery, farmers can achieve higher yields and unlock new avenues of income generation. Moreover, mechanization fosters climate resilience by enabling timely planting and harvesting, mitigating the adverse impacts of climatic variability, and safeguarding agricultural livelihoods against nature's uncertainties. By leveraging technology, agricultural mechanization provides a multifaceted solution, including rural employment generation and opportunities for farmer income, to tackle Bangladesh's agricultural challenges, paving the way for a sustainable and prosperous future.12 page
Increasing sorghum yields for smallholder farmers in Mali: the evolution towards a context-driven, on-farm, gender-responsive sorghum breeding program
No full textThis case study explores a decades long evolution towards a gender-responsive sorghum breeding program in Mali. With known disparities in men and women’s access to the resources that improve agricultural productivity and evidence that gender roles and responsibilities shape knowledge and preferences about varieties, there is need for methods that support gender-responsive processes in plant breeding programs. Gender-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches in plant breeding may increase varietal options available to diverse end-users, increase adoption, and limit negative impacts on vulnerable populations. We assess a participatory plant breeding program in Mali to identify determinants of gender-responsive breeding programs. The analysis uses a case study methodology that draws upon project reports, theses, articles, and experiential knowledge to understand how the sorghum breeding program transitioned over time. This case study details (a) more than a decade of sorghum breeding activities and research that led to (b) the inclusion of women in participatory plant breeding, culinary tests, and large-scale participatory selection in on-farm trials, reaching hundreds of women each year and (c) iterative co-learning processes to develop preferred sorghum varieties and increase sorghum yields on men and women’s fields. Analyses indicated that collaborations among many institutions on-farm with community actors, research across various disciplines such as agronomy and social sciences, context-specific breeding, and long-term funding were essential to increasing gender sensitivity and responsive in the breeding efforts
Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia. COVID Recovery and Resilience Activity: Comprehensive Assessment of Post-Harvest Enterprises, 21 November 2021- 30 June 2024
No full textThe assessment report 2024 is a summary of the progress based on the objectives set by the USAID-funded CSISA Project. This report highlights the objectives, the work approaches, and the results of the set objectives in the given period. The report also provides highlights of the business status of post-harvest enterprises working in the seven different districts - Kailai, Kanchanpur, Bunke, Bardiya, Shurket, Dang, and Kapilvastu - immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. The activities carried out by the project in coordination with both public and private stakeholders to achieve the set objectives are summarized in the report. CSISA supported 86 post-harvest enterprises across seven districts through the COVID-19 Response and Recovery program. CSISA supported 86 post-harvest enterprises by linking them with financial institutions such as banks and cooperatives, providing them with technical and financial training with materials support; however, 65 are actively operating their business and reaching out to 2,199 farmers who directly benefited from those post-harvest enterprises. Among 65 post-harvest business, 30 were from dairy processing, 14 from pickle production, 14 from sauce production, 5 from spice processing, and 2 from Agri-processing and drying. Similarly, a noteworthy 55% are owned by women, while 35% are owned by individuals from marginalized groups, including Dalit, Disadvantaged Janajatis, and Disadvantaged Madhesi communities. Similarly, a 46 to 93% increase in revenues growth was generated by the port-harvest enterprises across all the CSISA working districts.20 page
Destructive insect pests and diseases of mungbean and their integrated management
No full text27 page
Impact of diverse cropping patterns on greenhouse gas emissions: Assessing energy use efficiency in Dinajpur District, Bangladesh
No full textThis on-farm research trials briefly summarize the results of greenhouse gas emissions from a diversified cropping systems after one full cropping cycle. This trial was conducted in the Kalapukur and Indropara villages of the Dinajpur district, addressing total global warming potential, total energy use, and emissions intensity, which are crucial for achieving TAFSSA’s goals. Therefore, the trial aims to emphasize climate change effects to identify strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural land.17 page
Enhancing crop and labor productivity, profitability, and production economics through efficient crop diversification in Bangladesh: Comparing diversified cropping patterns in Dinajpur, Bangladesh
No full textRice-based cropping systems have a significant role in attaining self-sufficiency in food production and are considered to be the major contributor to the nation’s food basket in Bangladesh. Nowadays concern has been raised over the sustainability of this system due to natural resource degradation (tillage practices, high wages of labor, and overuse of groundwater), reduction in profitability, and declining yield growth rates. Intensive tillage practices demand more resources, damage soil quality, and reduce crop yields and profit margins. Crop diversification, agriculture mechanization, and proper labor productivity may improve resource-use efficiency and increase the productivity and profitability of intensive cropping systems. This research study focuses on accelerating the transformation of our agrifood systems by introducing different diversified cropping options, especially highlighting the production economics, labor productivity, and mechanization for the northern part of Bangladesh. The research trial was established at the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) in Dinajpur, Bangladesh in August 2022.10 page
Combining ability and genetic distance analysis of mid altitude sub-humid agroecology adapted maize inbred lines for high grain yield
No full textUnderstanding the combining ability effects, heterosis, and genetic relationships between parental lines would be helpful in the maize breeding program to develop high-yielding and genetically stable maize varieties for various contrasting environments. Hence, the objective of this study was to estimate combining ability effects, heterosis, genetic distance (GD) and associations for grain yield and other agronomic traits. Forty-five F1 diallel crosses, four commercial checks, and ten inbred lines were evaluated at Bako and Jima Agricultural Research Centers, Ethiopia. Significant differences were observed among environments, genotypes and genotype by environment interaction for grain yield and almost all studied agronomic traits. Combining ability analysis showed both additive and non-additive gene effects significantly controlled grain yield and all other studied traits. The preponderance of general combining ability (GCA) effects indicates the importance of additive gene action inheriting most agronomic traits. Lines L2, L7, and L9 were the best combiners for grain yield, whereas lines L3 and L4 had desirable GCA values to improve days to flowering and plant height. Among the top ten crosses, L6 × L9, L6 × L7 and L4 × L9 were good specific combiners and had 18.8 %, 17.2 % and 16.2 % grain yield advantage over the best check, BH546. These hybrids also had high mid and better-parent heterosis compared with other crosses. The associations of GD with mean of F1 and SCA effects were positive and highly significant for grain yield and some other traits. In contrast, correlations of GD with mid and better parent heterosis were non-significant for grain yield and most other traits. The results of this study are particularly useful for breeders who envisage combining conventional and molecular methods
Pathways to resilient dryland food systems in Africa: Strategic and tactical choices for accelerated impacts
No full textAfrica’s drylands form vital food systems, supporting a significant portion of its population and agricultural activity. However, they face persistent challenges with low productivity, limited market integration, and acute vulnerability to climate shocks. These issues contribute to structural poverty and high rates of undernourishment, highlighting the need for investments to improve rural incomes, enhance resilience, and foster economic growth.60 page
Conservation agriculture and weed management effects on weed community and crop productivity of a rice-maize rotation
No full textIn recent years, an increase in weed infestation, which is adversely affecting crop growth and productivity has been a major challenge facing the farmers of South Asia. The adoption of permanent bed in combination with residue retention-based crop management practices may reduce weed abundance and increase crop productivity. In a two-year field study, we evaluated the responses of different organic weed management practices with contrasting tillage and residue (R) management strategies to weed dynamics and crop productivity under rice-maize rotation. The main plot treatments consisted of zero-tillage direct seeded rice and zero-tillage maize (ZTR fb ZTM); ZTDSR and maize both on permanent raised beds with residue (PBDSR + R fb PBDSM + R); PBDSR and PBM without residue (PBDSR-R fb PBDSM-R) and conventional tillage puddled transplanted rice and conventional tillage maize (CTR fb CTM). The subplots comprised unweeded control; vermicompost mulch; P- enriched vermicompost mulch; live mulch with Sesbania spp. in rice and Pisum sativum in maize and weed-free. Total weed density and biomass in rice and maize at 30 days after sowing (DAS) were minimum for PBDSR + R fb PBDSM + R compared to remaining tillage and residue management practices in both years. Apart from weed-free treatment, the highest weed control index was found with live mulch. Yield of rice and maize were found higher in permanent beds along with residue retention-based practices. In rice, the weed-free treatment showed the highest grain yield and live mulch reported 9.8 and 6.8 % higher grain yield than vermicompost mulch and P-enriched vermicompost mulch respectively. Our study shows that conservation agriculture practices under rice-maize rotation is one of the ways to reduce weed density and improve crop productivity in South Asia and other similar agroecologies