ICRISAT Happenings (13 Sep 2013)

ICRISAT

Happenings In-house Newsletter

13 September 2013 No. 1588

Photo: A Diama, ICRISAT

Participants of the training workshop.

Innovation platforms to help strengthen sustainable seed systems in West and Central Africa Innovation platforms have been initiated in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Cameroon as a vehicle to reinforce interaction among actors of the seed value chain, towards enhancing sustainable seed systems of staple crops to improve food security and agricultural production in West and Central Africa.

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o address the capacity building needs of the innovation platforms, a training workshop was conducted on 3-6 September participated by all major actors of the seed value chain – researchers, seed producers, grain producers, traders, agro dealers, transporters, processors, wholesalers, retailers, farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, and consumers of various products.

The training workshop was undertaken as part of the project “Unlocking the opportunities to enhance sustainable seed systems of staple crops (sorghum, pearl millet, maize, cowpea and groundnut) to improve food security and agricultural production in West and Central Africa” launched in 2011.

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Innovation platforms to help strengthen ....from page 1 “One attribute of the innovation platforms is that the actors get to know each other’s requirements and are ready to work to enhance individuals and platforms, thus facilitating their access to good quality seed, markets and other agricultural inputs and credit. It also gives them the capacity to lobby policymakers for pro-poor policies. This goes along with actualizing, reinforcing and moving faster along the IMOD trajectory,” said Dr Bonny N’tare, Assistant Director, West and Central Africa and Principal Scientist – Breeding, addressing the participants.

The training workshop took into account the key bottlenecks in the seed value chain identified across all the platforms, such as innovation platform mechanisms, seed production systems, seed legislation and quality control, marketing, and creating and managing small-scale businesses.

According to Harouna Yossi, Director of the Centre Régional de Recherche Agricole of IER-Sotuba, “The training of trainers will allow members of the innovation platforms to develop powerful tools to not only produce quality seeds but also to manage seed companies for the benefit of all stakeholders in the national seed industry.”

The training workshop was facilitated by Dr Lamissa Diakité (Regional Project Coordinator), M’piè Bengali (Specialist in Innovation Platforms), and Amadou

Photo: A Diama, ICRISAT

Dr B N’tare presents a certificate to a workshop participant.

Sidibé (Seed Technologist) from the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER); and ICRISAT’s Dr N’tare who gave a presentation on variety development, maintenance and release.

Each topic during the workshop was developed as a module and presented in French and the local language (Bamanankan) to the 35 participants from 3 regions in Mali (Kita, Kolokani and Sikasso). The modules will be developed into a training guide for trainers and distributed in other participating countries.

The project is funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through CORAF/ WECARD and coordinated by IER in partnership with ICRISAT, whose role is to provide backstopping in capacity building and research methodologies. g

Photo: A Diama, ICRISAT

Participants of the training workshop proudly display their certificates.

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Strengthening pearl millet hybrid parents improvement and seed production

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

Dr MCS Bantilan addresses the participants of the course.

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Capacity building is an important component for harnessing the full potential of latest technology to achieve greater crop productivity,” said Dr MCS Bantilan, Director, Research Program on Markets, Institutions and Policies speaking on behalf of Director General William Dar at the opening of the Third International Training Course on Pearl Millet Hybrid Parents Improvement and Seed Production held at ICRISAT headquarters on 10 September.

“This course will contribute to ICRISAT’s mission of improving food security, ending poverty and sustaining the environment through research for development and purposeful partnerships,” she added.

The course aims to train young scientists and those new to pearl millet improvement in the theory and practice of pearl millet breeding with special reference to biotic and abiotic stresses; seed production, processing and marketing; alternative uses and commercialization; and methods of conducting good trials.

Welcoming the participants, Dr Stefania Grando, Director, Research Program on Dryland Cereals, emphasized that countries in sub-Saharan Africa could exploit hybrid technology in pearl millet to

increase crop productivity, as has been successfully achieved in India. She appealed to the participants to share the constraints they face in their pearl millet improvement program. Dr SK Gupta, Senior Scientist, briefed the participants about the objectives of the training and gave a detailed account of the 10-day program.

As many as 29 participants from Niger, Sudan, Mali, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and India are attending this interactive lecture-cum-field demonstration-oriented course.

The resource persons have been drawn from ICRISAT and experts from public and private institutions, notable among them being OP Yadav, IS Khairwal and G Harinarayana, former Project Coordinators of the All India Coordinated Pearl Millet Improvement Project; RS Mahala; Paresh Verma; Michael Blummel of ILRI; Anand Pandravada; RK Gumber and others from central and state institutes.

The trainees will also attend the International Workshop on Pearl Millet Genome Sequencing on 13 September, and will visit a pearl millet research farm and a seed processing center during the course. The training program, which will conclude on 19 September, is supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals. g

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

Participants from 10 countries who attended the training course.

ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 13 SEPTEMBER 2013 1588 3

MG+ Retreat reinvigorates the Institute’s strategic focus

Photos: PS Rao, ICRISAT

DG William Dar delivers his message.

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wenty members of ICRISAT’s Management Group (MG) and Research Committee (RC) gathered for a three-day MG+ Retreat on 4-6 September to brainstorm on refocusing the Institute’s strategic plan to 2020 towards achieving the vision of prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics.

The program was a mix of discussions, demonstrations and experiential learning, focused on building cohesion and teamwork among the MG and RC members and at the same time in aligning individual programs to achieve better results. The workshop also carried out a review and thorough analysis of the status of the Inclusive Market Oriented Development (IMOD) approach and its implementation, using various frameworks and tools to reinforce this model.

In his message, Director General William D. Dar stressed the need for the MG and RC members to think out of the box and commit to strengthening the IMOD approach, and keeping in mind the importance of the CGIAR Research Programs.

The three-day activity was spent developing a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie among the

Photo: J Kane-Potaka, ICRISAT

Working in a spirit of camaraderie towards achieving ICRISAT’s goal of empowering smallholder farmers.

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Prof Go from the Asian Institute of Management facilitates the workshop.

participants to ensure a high degree of synergy; a thorough analysis of food security and value chain analysis relating to ICRISAT’s activities; case studies to explore new tools and frameworks for implementing IMOD, including scenario planning and business planning; and finding ways to revise an existing venture/project that was at the core of ICRISAT’s existence and which included the Institute’s five mandate crops. The activity also saw participants to page 5 ...4

Photo: J Kane-Potaka, ICRISAT

MG+ members deep in discussion at the retreat.

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

Dr Dar gives away a certificate to Dr Shoba Sivasankar, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals.

Also seen is Prof M Luz.

Workshop on gender research maps out platform for priority setting

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ural women in developing countries rely on agriculture, and it is widely acknowledged that gender should be a major consideration in agricultural development for the rural poor. With gender as a cross-cutting theme across the CGIAR Research Programs, the first workshop on strategic gender research under the ICRISAT-led CGIAR Research Programs on Dryland Cereals and on Grain Legumes kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya on 4-5 September.

Photo: ICRISAT

Dr CG Goodrich, Ms S Agrawal and gender consultants at the workshop held in Nairobi.

The two CGIAR Research Programs aim to systematically consider and address gender disparities, constraints and opportunities in legumes and dryland cereals research and development and contribute to the promotion of gender equality in agricultural development in general. Gender research and analysis will be used to (a) strengthen the relevance and targeting of legumes and dryland cereals research for development for enhanced impacts and (b) inform and deepen the relevance of other research themes of the program.

The gender research will examine and investigate the specific contributions of women and men in the cultivation of grain legumes and dryland cereals and in the value chain; their differential access to and control over resources; and their rewards in the target production contexts. It will also identify a typology of farming households involved in the cultivation and production of these crops and the gender relations in these typologies.

Findings from the study will help Dryland Cereals and Grain Legumes in planning and priority setting, as the findings are expected to improve the systematic

targeting of different categories of women and men and the gender relations that condition technology choice and adoption, and how benefits are shared.

The study will also seek to throw light on other areas of research of the gender-related constraints and opportunities faced by women along the value chain, including technology access and adoption; and inequalities in access to and control over resources and services. These in turn will help in developing strategies to address gender inequalities and identify aspects of technology design/ development needed for research to be responsive to gender differences in terms of access, adoption and the distribution of benefits from new legume and dryland cereal technology.

ICRISAT was represented in the workshop by Dr Chanda Gurung Goodrich (Principal Scientist – Empower Women), Ms Sweta Agrawal (Gender Consultant), and five independent gender consultants (2 from ESA, 2 from WCA and 1 from India) who were hired to conduct the study, and develop the work plan and methodologies for research. g

MG+ Retreat ....from page 4 reviewing the application and integration of ICRISAT’s strategic plan in the context of change, followed by group presentations by four teams on how ICRISAT could extend its reach to the farmers through IMOD.

Management (AIM), Manila, composed of Profs Mike Luz and Gulliver Go. g

Held at the Leonia Holistic Destination at Shamirpet, Hyderabad, the retreat was facilitated by faculty members from the Asian Institute of Participants of the MG+ retreat.

Photo: PS Rao, ICRISAT

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Exploring agri-business opportunities for young entrepreneurs

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ith the intention of promoting youth in agribusiness, the AgriBusiness Incubator (ABI) Program of AIP-ICRISAT organized a workshop on Agri-business opportunities for young entrepreneurs at Ratnapuri Institute of Technology, College of Polytechnic, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh on 6 September.

Photo: VES The event was part of ICRISAT’s SM Karuppanchetty interacts with students and staff of Vennela partnership with the Vennela Educational Society.

Educational Society (VES), in which agribusiness opportunities and in availing better AIP-ICRISAT will provide technical support employment prospects. He underlined the need to in the production and cultivation of vegetables, tap into existing and emerging agribusiness hybrid pigeonpea seed, other crops, and dairy opportunities and link the youth to technology and production for the Society’s agriculture curriculum. funding avenues, so that they could promote farming The workshop was intended to develop and expose as a business and learn how to use the partnership as the participants to farm production, capacity a trading, agribusiness information and agribusiness building, financial and marketing skills and value link platform. addition under the guidance of agricultural and Among those who spoke during the workshop were agribusiness experts, so that they can develop their Mr Suneel Vemu (Agribusiness Development own agri-enterprises.

Associate) and Mr Harshvardhan Mane (Seed Business Speaking on the occasion, Mr Karuppanchetty, Chief Officer) of ICRISAT- ABI. The workshop was attended

by Dr VRR Datla, Secretary, Vennela Educational Operating Officer, ICRISAT-ABI, explained how the Society, its staff and more than 60 students. g partnership would help students in exploring

Delegation from Niger’s Directorate General of Agriculture visits Sadoré center

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iger’s Director General of Agriculture, Mr M Ibrahim Harouna, and a delegation of central managers from the Directorate General of Agriculture, visited the ICRISAT Sahelian Center in Sadoré, Niger on 14 August to learn about the Institute’s seed production plans for the rainy and post-rainy seasons of 2013-14 and to visit seed multiplication plots.

appreciation of the seed unit’s storage facility, its contents and the production and marketing of fruit planting material that has been transferred to the women of Sadoré village. Director General of Agriculture, Mr Harouna has promised to formalize a partnership to facilitate the wider dissemination of ICRISAT-developed crop varieties. g

The Directorate General of Agriculture is Niger’s implementing agency for the West African Agricultural Productivity Project – a major World Bank development project in the region.

After a brief introduction and welcome by Regional Scientist Dr Falalou Hamidou, the group was shown around the genebank, seed production fields, seed unit storage facilities, crop diversification and millet breeding plots, and the Sadoré village nursery. The delegation expressed 6 ICRISAT HAPPENINGS 13 SEPTEMBER 2013 1588

Photo: A Diama, ICRISAT

The delegation from Niger’s Directorate General of Agriculture during their visit to ICRISAT Sadoré.

ICRISAT sets up knowledge center in remote village in Maharashtra, India

Photos: ICRISAT

Dr M Bhattarai (far left) addresses students during the launch of the Kinkhed-ICRISAT Community Knowledge Centre.

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ugust 24 was a red-letter day in the lives of the poor households of Kinkhed village in Akola district of Maharashtra in India. The day saw the inauguration of the Kinkhed-ICRISAT Community Knowledge Centre in a village where ICRISAT has been conducting its Village Level Studies (VLS) since 1975, know known as the Village Dynamics Studies in South Asia (VDSA) project.

The facility was set up under the ICRISAT Village Dynamics Studies in South Asia project with grant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on the request of the village community in Kinkhed.

The knowledge center inaugurated by Dr Madhusudan Bhattarai (Principal Scientist, Research Program – Markets, Institutions and Policies), is expected to benefit poor households, especially those children going to school but who have no access to computer literacy.

tropic areas of India, where ICRISAT’s Village Level Study program has been running for the last 40 years.

Also present during the inauguration were Mr VK Chopde, Resident Staff of ICRISAT; local partners Mrs Gayatrirai S Kambe (Zilla Parishad member, Akola), Mr Sangeet Kambe (Panchayat Samiti member, Murtizapur), Mr Thale (Revenue Officer, Kinkhed), Mr DM Wankhade (Principal of ZP School, Kinkhed); and about 150 prominent members of the community, panchayat and taluka members, village sarpanches of nearby villages, school principals, and others. The chairpersons of the program, Mr RA Kolkhede and Mr DM Wankhade, spoke of the benefits of the ICRISAT Village Level Surveys conducted in the village through the decades. g

Villagers and local stakeholders have committed to strengthen the knowledge center and turn it into a model center where over 1000 students from Kinkhed and 6 other villages will get the opportunity to learn computer basics.

The grant is one among six such community-driven development (CDD) or village grant experiments initiated by ICRISAT in selected villages of semi-arid

Photos: M Bhattarai, ICRISAT

Students inside the Community Knowledge Centre.

ISRC news

Wellness and nutrition lecture

The results of the rangoli competition held on 12 September are out! The lucky winners are as follows:

Dr Anuradha, a nutritionist from Continental Hospital, Gachibowli, will speak on “Wellness and Nutrition” on 20 September at the F Bentley Conference Center, between 1400 and 1500 hrs.

1st prize: Ms Sreevidya and Ms Alekhya 2nd prize: Ms Sunita and Ms Anjamma 3rd prize: Ms B Poornima and Ms K Preethi

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New appointment Ms Smitha Sitaraman, Senior Science Writer-cum-Editor, has been appointed as Communication Manager, Strategic Marketing and Communication, from 16 August in the SMG Cadre.

Team ICRISAT congratulates her and wishes her all success.

Visitors’ log 9-13 September: Eight agricultural journalists from Philippines visited ICRISAT to learn about its research for development programs and initiatives benefiting smallholder farmers. The journalists also interacted with ICRISAT scientists and visited various programs and facilities (see picture, top right).

9-11 September: Six Ethiopian scientists met with Director General William Dar as part of a USAIDsponsored visit to study the Institute’s genetic transformation and chickpea improvement research. They also met with Drs R Varshney, P Pathak, PM Gaur, HD Upadhyaya, GV Ranga Rao and KK Sharma and visited AIP (see picture, bottom right).

Photo: MM Sharma, ICRISAT

Photo: MM Sharma, ICRISAT

10 September: Ninety-eight students from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai; and Dr B Mishra, former Director, Directorate of Rice Research.

12 September: Sixty students from St Ann’s School, Malkajgiri, Hyderabad.

11 September: Sixty-nine students from St Ann’s School, Malkajgiri, Hyderabad; and Dr Andrew Jacobs, Program Leader and Dr Stuart Roy, Research Fellow from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, Australia.

13 September: Thirty-eight students from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Kalahandi, Odisha; and 28 students from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

ICRISAT-Patancheru (Headquarters) Patancheru 502 324 Andhra Pradesh, India Tel +91 40 30713071

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ICRISAT-Niamey BP 12404 Niamey, Niger (Via Paris) Tel +227 20722529

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