News Overview

A high-yielding and wilt resistant variety with a yield potential double to that of existing varieties* was developed through genomics-assisted breeding and released for cultivation in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra by the Central Varietal Release Committee, Government of India. Pusa Chickpea 20211 variety (aka Pusa Chickpea Manav) recorded an overall weighted mean yield of 2392 kg/ha with a

A new disease-resistant sorghum hybrid with 23-34% higher yield, best suited for brewing, food and forage and adaptable to diverse agro-ecologies in Zimbabwe and southern Africa was developed in partnership with Seed Co, a private seed company. The development and use of the new hybrid is a forerunner of the ICRISAT-led Sorghum and Pearl Millet Hybrid Parents Research Consortium that fosters public-private

It has been a year of both tremendous challenge and growth. Amid a global pandemic COVID-19, there has been creative innovation, adaptation, and more inclusive research. CRP-GLDC was able to innovate and leverage science to achieve outcomes benefitting millions of people across South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Latin, and Central America. This newsletter attempts to document and disseminate the global

ICRISAT’s socio-economic data sets for India at the district and village levels, collated over several decades, are vital for researchers, institutions and policy makers, agreed experts in a recent conference. These data sets continue to have great potential to support research and policy making, they said, and made recommendations on further use of the data. At the conference, Dr Shalander

A national seed systems strategy with special focus on drought tolerant crops such as sorghum and millets is in the making in Kenya. The strategy will leverage existing government initiatives, capitalize on agri-science innovations and use digital technologies for value chain linkage and market intelligence. For the purpose, high-level government officers and USAID’s project staff participated in a workshop to constitute a

To meet the growing global market demand for protein-rich chickpea, scientists have created new varieties that would contribute to greater nutrition security, health and climate resilience and replace existing obsolete varieties. In 2020, despite pandemic constraints, 10 new varieties (6 desi and 4 kabuli) were released through effective collaborations with National Agricultural Research Systems in Africa and Asia. The releases have recorded many

A survey in rural parts of Northern Nigeria shows that in spite of problems in accessing quality seeds and other inputs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of respondents still want to take up or continue crop farming as their prime source of income generation. Moreover, 40% of the respondents considered crop farming as a source of food security,

UE-APSAN Mali project trains next generation of modeling experts Budding agricultural researchers are being trained in crop modeling to take on pressing and ever-present challenges of land, climate and food security. In a recent training program at ICRISAT-Mali, eight students learned to model agrosystems with DSSAT software, taking into account smallholder farming constraints. Crop modeling is a process that describes