Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia: Project Overview

Alwin Keil

Africa RISING–CSISA Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Meeting, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 11-13 November 2013

Project Goal… To increase food, nutrition, and income security in South Asia through sustainable intensification of cereal-based systems

CSISA’s geographyInnovation ‘hubs’ across South Asia

Focus on the IGP: soilsand water resources to feed South Asia

Watergroundwater

surface water

Insects-DiseasesYellow/ Stem rustsAphids and Stem borers

Nutrients-Soilsfertilizer cost depleted soils

Energydiesel cost

biofuels

Climate Changeheat, drought, extreme events

Demandpopulation growth

changing diets

Converging Challenges

CSISA: A ‘big tent’ initiativeIntegrates disciplines and organizations

• Development of agricultural technologies + support services

• Future-oriented cropping systems research

• Breeding for high-yielding and stress-tolerant cereal varieties

• Relevant policy analysis

• Strategic partnerships (public + private sectors) to increase the scale and longevity of interventions

• Strengthen markets and enterprise development

• Capacity development through trainings and demonstrations

Implementing Partners

● International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

● International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

● International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

● International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

● World Fish (involved in Bangladesh only)

CSISA’s Objectives● Objective 1: Widespread dissemination of

production and postharvest technologies to increase cereal production, resource efficiency, and income. Innovation hubs

● Objective 2: Crop and resource management practices for future cereal-based systems. Research platforms

● Objective 3: High-yielding, heat- and water-stress-tolerant rice varieties for current and future cereal and mixed crop-livestock systems. Rice breeding led by IRRI

CSISA’s Objectives (cont.)● Objective 4: High-yielding, heat- and water-stress

tolerant, and disease-resistant wheat varieties for current and future cereal and mixed crop-livestock systems. Wheat breeding led by CIMMYT

● Objective 5: Improved policies and institutions for inclusive agricultural growth. Policy research led by IFPRI

● Objective 6: Project management, data management, communication, and monitoring & evaluation.

Phase I vs. Phase II● Phase I: 2009-2011

India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan

Lead centre was IRRI

● Phase II: 2012-2015 India, Bangladesh, Nepal

Lead centre is CIMMYT

● Transition from Phase I to Phase II: Donor-driven shift in priorities in India to Bihar/EUP and

Odisha, and in Bangladesh from the North to the South

Transition support for Phase I hubs in Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu

Top-down focus on research + technologies ( little impact)

What distinguishes CSISA: ‘Messy middle’ btw science-led + outcomes oriented

Bottom-up focus on community engagement ( don’t scale + often inappropriate tech.)

CSISA works to bridge the best of both approaches

Achieving impact at scale

● Research-for-development Led by research organizations, but still accountable for

achieving impact on the ground CIMMYT acts as lead convening centre of a consortium of

research institutions and public and private partner organizations

● CSISA endeavors to reach 2 million farm hhs by the end of Phase II (Sept 30, 2015)

● Works through partners and change agents, not only directly with farmers

Operational Model for Going to Scale in CSISA Phase II

INNOVATION + DURABLE PRODUCTS + SUPPORT TO CHANGE AGENTS

• Areas united by similar agricultural systems, production opportunities and challenges

• Provide a geographic focus for collaborative innovation, learning, and dissemination

• Brings together regional partners – private sector, GOs & NGOs, universities, farmer groups

• Provide a basis for local identification and participatory testing of improved seed and appropriate management technologies

Underlying the CSISA approach is the ‘Hub’

•There is no universal template for agricultural development

•Blending scientific rigor with participatory, demand-led approaches to technology development is a must

•Technologies alone are typically insufficient (markets, capital, risk, communications …)

Axioms for success with innovation hubs

CSISA technical entry points

Water productivity

Labor productivity

Soil fertility

Climate resilience

Yield Profitability

Conservationagriculture (CA)

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Site-specific nutrient management

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Scale-appropriate mechanization

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Laser land leveling *** * * ***

Elite germplasm ** ** *** **

System intensification(more crops/yr)

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Post-harvest storage ***

Improved livestock feeding

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Strengthened seed systems

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Bihar and Eastern UP

● Early wheat sowing● Zero-till wheat● Direct-seeded rice

Odisha● Site-specific nutrient mgmt● Integrated weed mgmt● Varietal demonstrations

● Mechanical rice transplanting● Rice nurseries● Maize seeding techniques

● Maize intensification● Laser land levelling● Zero-till pulse sowing

All hubs are working in conjunction with national partners, such as the State Departments and Bringing the Green Revolution to Eastern India

Research Platforms

● Karnal, Haryana: Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI)

● Patna, Bihar: Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Research Complex for the Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER)

● Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute

● Gazipur, Bangladesh

All conduct research on crop establishment methods, alternative cropping systems, economics of production, environmental impacts, etc.