NewsletterHappenings10 August 2018, No. 1761In-house version

Feature stories

Water impact: When over 15,000 tanks were restored, how did lives of smallholder farmers change?

(L-R) Dr Kiran K Sharma, Mr Harish Rao and Mr G Malsur.

Photo: G Chander

A unique mission of the state government of Telangana in India, that aims to restore over 46,000 tanks across the

state, will now assess the impact it is making. With over 15,000 tanks, restored, the soil, water changes as well as how lives of smallholder farmers have been impacted will be assessed by ICRISAT.

The ‘Mission Kakatiya’ of the Government of Telangana aims to improve minor irrigation infrastructure, strengthening community based irrigation management and with a comprehensive program for restoration of tanks. This scheme aims to restore around 46,531 tanks enumerated by the irrigation department. In Phase 1 and 2 of the project over 15,000 tanks have been restored.

An agreement for a scientific assessment of the impact of the first two phases of this initiative, was signed in August 2018, between the Ministry of Irrigation, Government of Telangana and ICRISAT.

Speaking at the formal signing, the Minister for Irrigation, Government of Telangana, T Harish Rao said, “There are a number of reported benefits including reports on in-bound

migration following the desilting of water tanks. We look forward to understand also how the change in availability of water has affected reverse migration. We need to look at many parameters including sustainability, more than just in monetary terms.”

The partnership was signed by G Malsur, Commissioner Common Area Development Authority, Ministry of Irrigation and Dr Kiran K Sharma, Deputy Director

General, (Acting), ICRISAT. “ICRISAT very much values the partnerships with the Government of Telangana in its development agenda,” said Dr Sharma. “This partnership project has immense significance in enumerating various benefits of the Mission Kakatiya Project, especially in promoting soil fertility and productivity, and the associated benefits on livelihoods of the smallholder farmers of Telangana.”

The two-year project will carry out economic assessment of benefits of ‘Mission Kakatiya’ to smallholder farmers to understand nutrient return to the soil and the productivity and profitability. Through stratified sampling, nutrient content of silt from across 30 districts will be assessed. Demonstration trials will be undertaken with different levels of silt along with balanced nutrient management for major crops. Overall 750 sites will be examined for soil and water health, besides crop diversity and impact on livelihood. Dr Girish Chander, Scientist, ICRISAT – IDC, who has been working on towards this initiative will work with the team to also analyze the silt made available for application on its suitability for and impact on farming in this region. g

Soil, water and socio-economic impact of Telangana state government’s Mission Kakatiya to be assessed by ICRISAT scientists

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Tying up with one of China’s oldest agri-science academies to accelerate modern research pursuits

Signing of MoU between ICRISAT and Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS).

Photos: PS Rao, ICRISAT

To foster joint academic and research pursuits and to explore future collaborative ventures, the Zhejiang

Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS), a non-profit agricultural research institution, signed an MoU with ICRISAT. The agreement facilitates the exchange of scientific materials, publications and information. Academic, research and other staff will participate in teaching, training, research for development programs and other agreed activities, especially in the fields of Genomics, Molecular Breeding and Phenomics.

Dr Lao Hongwu, President of ZAAS, who led the 6-member delegation from China, said, “I am excited to see this upstream science for product development at ICRISAT’s Centre of Excellence in Genomics and Systems Biology (CEGSB) and we look forward to see this happening at our academy as well, in collaboration with ICRISAT. Research at ZAAS focuses mainly on basic agricultural research and applications, high-tech agricultural innovation and service mechanism, covering almost all aspects of agricultural sciences except tea and fishery, to provide service and assistance for rural development of Zhejiang province and beyond. ZAAS will be celebrating its 110th anniversary this yearend

Dr Peter Carberry, Director General (Acting), ICRISAT, welcomed the collaboration between the two leading research institutes in Asia. On a more curious note, he enquired if the research publications are all in Chinese and was told that the English versions are also available. The host of the event, Dr Rajeev K Varshney, Research Program Director-Genetic Gains, ICRISAT, said, “Our collaboration with ZAAS will be a ‘win-win’ for accelerating product development by utilizing the expertise of both the institutes.”

The delegation comprising of officials from various ZAAS institutes included Dr Dai Jie, Office Director; Dr Li Guojing, Institute Director, Research Fellow, Institute of Vegetables; Dr Wang Jianjun, Deputy Director of Institute, Research Fellow, Institute of Crops and Nuclear Technology

Utilization; Dr Xu Pei, Research Fellow, Institute of Vegetables; and Dr Qi Yongbin, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Crops and Nuclear Technology Utilization. From ICRISAT, Dr Kiran K Sharma, DDG- Research (Acting) and several senior scientists and managers were present during the MoU signing on August 6. During this two-day visit, the ZAAS delegation interacted with Dr Pooran Gaur, Research Program Director – Asia, Dr Anthony Whitbread, Research Program Director – Innovation Systems for the Drylands and Dr Warwick Easdown, Regional Director-South/Central Asia, World Vegetable Center and scientists from their respective Research Programs. This is a step forward from Dr Varshney’s visit to ZAAS last year to explore the possibilities of collaborations, where the ZAAS leadership expressed their interest in interdisciplinary research collaborations with ICRISAT.

Seminar on the role of orphan genes specific to cowpea

Dr Xu Pei, one of the delegates, delivered a seminar titled ‘Orphan genes are involved in drought adaptations and ecoclimatic-oriented selections in domesticated cowpea’.

Orphan Genes (OGs) are genes that are restricted to a single species or a particular taxonomic group. So far, little is known about functions of OGs in domesticated crops. The study on OG-environmental adaptation relationships in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) identified 578 expressed cowpea OGs, of which 73.2% were predicted to be non-coding. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a strikingly high rate of OGs that were drought-inducible in roots only, as compared with conserved genes. Co-expression analysis further revealed the possible involvement of OGs in known stress response pathways.

Dr Xu Pei’s research finding indicated the orphan genes (OGs) are a valuable resource for identifying new genes related to species-characteristic environmental adaptations, and fosters a new insight that artificial selections on OGs might have contributed to balancing the adaptive and agronomical traits in domesticated crops in various ecoclimatic conditions. g

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A hackathon, data migration and capacity building – it was a busy month for ICRISAT’s efforts to modernize

databases and strengthen breeding data management. Crop breeding programs can be much more effective with modern data management tools. This is just what a workshop series across Africa with National Agricultural Research System (NARS) partners and ICRISAT staff aimed to do.

Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia; 35 participants; 16-20 JulyFor data management, a week-long workshop in Ethiopia, focused on hands-on training, preparing germplasm data from existing materials in Breeding Management System (BMS). It was a good opportunity for participants to prepare for the season, especially as they learnt to use electronic hand-held devices and capture field data. Significantly, data related to 38 trials and 4 nurseries were uploaded in just one week, giving a boost to the work on important crops for the semi-arid tropics – chickpea, groundnut and common bean, specific crops under TL III project and sorghum and finger millet under HOPE II project.

Workshops

Modern, cutting-edge, collaborative – management of breeding data receives a boost across Africa

Lilongwe, Malawi; 18 participants; 23-27 July It was task time at Lilongwe as participants at this workshop spent time migrating data into the BMS and exploring advanced features including field maps, barcode label and electronic data capture using tablet devices. Staff from ICRISAT breeding programs in Ethiopia, Kenya,

Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, besides staff from two Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions – the Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR), Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (ICAR-IIPR), Kanpur, participated in the workshop.

Participants at BMS data migration workshop.

Participants at the Hackathon.

Photo: ICRISAT

Photo: ICRISAT

Dr Tilahun Amede, Country Representative, ICRISAT-Ethiopia, addressing participants.

An innovative two-day ‘hackathon’ encouraged ICRISAT staff in Africa, to bring high quality research datasets to open access under FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse) principles, The result – nearly 35 high quality datasets from across Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Zimbabwe were submitted to ICRISAT open data repository with CGIAR core metadata standards. These datasets are now available as global public goods. This is part of a series started at ICRISAT headquarters in India for organizing data and capacity building of the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture.

The workshops and hackathon were conducted by the Statistics, Bioinformatics and Data Management unit of ICRISAT, led by Dr Abhishek Rathore, Theme Leader. g

Dr Jacques Wery, Deputy Director General-Research, International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),

New videos

On Systems Approach

Youth Day specialInterview with Ms Hermela Gebremariam, World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan Intern Fairfield, Iowa, USA. On Public Private Partnerships

Photo: ICRISAT

4 ICRISAT Happenings 08 August 2018 1761

Announcement

Awards for best poster and oral presentationsMajor themes: ▪ Trailblazer sciences for climate-smart agriculture ▪ Advances in biotic and abiotic stress management ▪ Artificial intelligence: an escalating technology in

agricultureResearchers, students and academicians are invited to submit abstracts on any of the above themes.

A chance to present your ideaDo you have an idea on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its applications in plant breeding/plant biotechnology/crop protection/crop physiology/crop modeling?

Applications are invited in the form of short write-ups. Selected best ideas will get an opportunity to present it at this international forum.

In the media

ICRISAT to study impact of Mission Kakatiya

ICRISAT will make a comprehensive study on the three phases of Mission Kakatiya and submit a report to the Telangana Government.

Rooting out hunger from classrooms, says Akshaya Patra

Partnering with ICRISAT and also supporting the state government’s campaign to promote smart foods, The Akshaya Patra Foundation provides

more than 1,600 meals which include millets daily.

ICRISAT and ICAR recommend steps for increasing domestic production of pulses

Recommendations include a multi-pronged approach where high quality seeds should be made available to farmers along with making it more profitable for them to grow pulses.

Hyderabad could see a demand for 10,000 blockchain professionalsEleven01 has entered into partnerships with Government of Telangana, T-Hub, ESCI, Tech Mahindra, Nucleus Vision, ICRISAT, Centre for Good Governance, Commonwealth Youth Innovation Centre and others.

Deadline: 15 August 2018 for online registration and abstract submission. Contact: Pratap: lsu@cgiar.org, +91 9701522279, Devashish: icrisatlsulp07@cgiar.org, +91 9515681181 for registration.

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New publications

New projectsIdentifying the genomic regions and genes for drought and heat tolerance in groundnutFunder: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF), Government of IndiaGrant Period: 1 August 2018 – 31 July 2021Research Program: Genetic GainsPrincipaI Investigator: Dr Manish K Pandey

Enhancing Groundnut Productivity in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka through Farmer Acceptable Climate Smart Strategies and Weather Based Crop Management AdvisoriesFunder: Earth System Sciences Organization (ESSO), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India through Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune

Grant Period: 1 August 2018 – 31 July 2021Research Program: ICRISAT Development Center, AsiaPrincipaI Investigator: Drs AVR Kesava Rao and Sreenath Dixit

Economic Assessment of Mission Kakatiya in terms of Plant Nutrients Equivalent, Increased Yields and Farmers Income

Funder: Irrigation and Command Area Development Department, Government of Telangana

Grant Period: 3 August 2018 – 2 August 2020

Research Program: ICRISAT Development Center, Asia

PrincipaI Investigator: Dr Sreenath Dixit

Mapping rootable depth and root zone plant-available water holding capacity of the soil of sub-Saharan Africa

Authors: Leenaars JGB, Claessens L, Heuvelink GBM, Hengl T, Ruiperez González M, van Bussel LGJ, Guilpart N, Yang H and Cassman KG

Published: 2018, Geoderma (TSI), 324. pp. 18-36. ISSN 00167061

http://oar.icrisat.org/10533/

Mental models of soil management for food security in peri-urban India

Authors: Friedrichsen CN, Daroub SH, Monroe MC, Stepp JR and Wani SP

Published: 2018, Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems, 3 (1). pp. 1-16. ISSN 2575-1220

http://oar.icrisat.org/10534/

Minerals content of extruded fish feeds containing cricket (Acheta domesticus) and black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fractions

Authors: Irungu FG, Mutungi CM, Faraj AK, Affognon HD, Tanga C, Ekesi S, Nakimbugwe D and Fiaboe KKM

Published: 2018, International Aquatic Research. pp. 1-13. ISSN 2008-4935

http://oar.icrisat.org/10535/

Vegetation changes in the Miombo Woodlands in Northwestern Zimbabwe: A case study of Nkayi District 1990 to 2017

Authors: Chirima A, Mundy P, Ncube N and Van Rooyen AF

Published: 2018, Vegetation. InTech, pp. 43-57. ISBN 978-953-51-3830-3

http://oar.icrisat.org/10536/

Pattern of genetic inheritance of morphological and agronomic traits of sorghum associated with resistance to sorghum shoot fly, Atherigona soccata

Authors: Riyazaddin M, Ashok Kumar A, Munghate RS, Gaddameedi A, Kavi Kishor PB and Sharma HC

Published: 2018, Euphytica (TSI), 214(2) (32). pp. 1-20. ISSN 0014-2336

http://oar.icrisat.org/10537/

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) contrasting for the transpiration response to vapour pressure deficit also differ in their dependence on the symplastic and apoplastic water transport pathwaysAuthors: Tharanya M, Sivasakthi K, Barzana G, Kholova J, Thirunalasundari T and Vadez VPublished: 2018, Functional Plant Biology (TSI). pp. 1-18. ISSN 1445-4408http://oar.icrisat.org/10538/

Connect with us: ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR System OrganizationAbout ICRISAT: www.icrisat.orgICRISAT’s scientific information: EXPLOREit.icrisat.org

Editorial: Jayashree B and Rajani K; Design: Bharathi T; Web: Fareeduddin M, Circulation: Prasad SV and Vinay R

ICRISAT @ Workplace – Our work, our place

Do you have something to share? Share @Workplace or write to us at icrisathaps@cgiar.org

Introducing David Johnson – Director of Corporate Services

It is amazing how a single idea can be interpreted and expressed in different ways by the human mind. This week, on Workplace, we asked:

“Quick! What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see this?”

Rajesh Kanwar: Lord Ganesha

M Sita Mahalakshmi: The hand with five fingers and long nails or multi fingerdN

Rajani Kumar: Extended family

Jayashree B: Let there be light...!

Arabinda Kumar Padhee: Lord Ganesha comes spontaneously! Let the quest for light shine in our lives.

Somayajulu VN: Lord Ganesha.

Satish Nagaraji: As diverse/branched as ICRISAT with a single vision/root

Mr David Johnson joined ICRISAT on August 6 as Director of Corporate Services. He is a UK national, certified auditor and accountant with over 17 years international experience, with oversight in risk management, governance and control

systems. He has extensive experience in emerging economies and fragile country environments in a diverse range of organizations, including international institutions, private sector, civil society and the United Kingdom Government. He is a leader with proven experience of productive and constructive engagement at senior levels with governance bodies, governments, donor partners and

New@ICRISAT

international agencies to enhance and improve business processes.

Prior to joining ICRISAT, David was working as Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Before that he worked as Director of Internal Oversight of the United Nations, World Food Programme, Italy, as well as Head of Department, Department for International Development, Government of UK.

David will be leading two portfolios within ICRISAT – Finance and Operations.

We welcome David to Team ICRISAT.

Photo: Rajani K, ICRISAT