The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis and massive disruptions to economies and livelihoods. As the global leader in agricultural research, CGIAR immediately took action to analyse and counter the pandemic’s potentially devastating impact on food security and nutrition worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, first through the existing research programs and then with the establishment of
As public sector breeding has modernized, it has become a more data intensive enterprise. Numerous applications and databases have been created for a wide variety of tasks from collecting field observations to analyzing genetics. However, this data still has to be manually passed and translated from one system to another. As a result, breeders have less time to unleash
By SOKHNA SALL SECK Empowering women and girls and the recognition and respect of their rights is critical to secure, sustainable and equitable global food systems. A Nov. 23 virtual discussion, co-hosted by IFPRI and the World Economic Forum (WEF), identified evidence on what works in advancing those goals and how food systems transformation can also contribute to to gender equality. The event was part of
One key function of the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub, established in July 2020, is to gather and share work happening across CGIAR. Accordingly, in a December 2020 internal seminar, nine researchers provided insights into their work during a series of rapid-fire presentations.
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
The IITA-Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies (CSAT) project continues to advance with activities in Mali and Niger. CSAT Mali and CSAT Niger are working to scale climate-smart technologies in Sahelian regions and provide farmers with options for better adaptation to climate change. Also, the project is funding research to develop additional opportunities for better adaptation in increased resilience. Being executed simultaneously in
Groundnut innovations with large kernels and high oleic content preferred by the confectionery industry in Bangladesh being developed in partnership with the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute was discussed during a training program that deliberated on groundnut value chain innovations. Researchers and extension staff from government and non-governmental organizations participated in the discussion. ICRISAT principal scientist Dr Janila Pasupuleti participated virtually
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