CEREAL SYSTEMS INITIATIVE

IN SOUTH ASIA (CSISA)

Presented by Thelma Paris

(IRRI)

Goal of CSISA

Overall objective of CSISA

To help reduce poverty and improve the

well-being of rural and urban men and

women by increasing the annual income of

up to 7 million poor rural households

(farming about 1 ha/hhld) by at least

$289/hh/yr

- IRRI, CIMMYT, ILRI

Year 1-3:

8-12 hubs

+$300/yr for 60,000

farm households in

1500 villages

Year 4-10:

Upscaling through

project-related

investments to +400

hubs

+$350/yr for 6 million

farm households in

90,000 villages

Cereal Systems Initiative For South Asia

(CSISA)

Objectives of CSISA 1. Widespread delivery and adaptation of production and postharvest

technologies to increase cereal production and raise incomes

2. Crop and resource management practices for sustainable future cereal-based systems

3. High-yielding, abiotic stress-tolerant, disease-resistant rice varieties for current and future cereal and mixed crop-livestock systems

4. High-yielding, stress -tolerant and disease-resistant wheat inbred lines and hybrids for current and future cereal and mixed crop-livestock systems.

5. High-yielding, heat-tolerant and disease-resistant maize inbred lines and hybrids for current and future cereal and mixed crop-livestock systems.

6. Technology targeting and improved policies for inclusive agricultural growth (IPR, constraints to adoption; policies) - IFPRI

7. Creating a new generation of scientists and professional agronomists for cereal systems research and management.

8. Project management, communication and impact assessment

Hubs

• Focus on 9 hubs representing key intensive cereal production systems in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal

• The hubs provide a basis for active learning about mechanisms for rapid adoption and intensification of improved cereal seed and crop management practices, for understanding critical components of public-private sector partnerships, and for developing business plans and supporting policies to stimulate private-sector investments.

• Improved cultivars and hybrids of maize, rice, and wheatselected under conservation agriculture practices will be developed and management concepts for future cereal systems will be designed and evaluated, alongside policy analysis and advocacy, and capacity building at all levels

Location of the hubs

• Punjab, Pakistan - CIMMYT

• Punjab, India - CIMMYT

• Haryana - CIMMYT

• Eastern UP - IRRI

• Bihar – IRRI and ILRI

• Tamil Nadu - IRRI

• Nepal – CIMMYT and ILRI

• Dinajpur, Bangladesh – CIMMYT and ILRI

• Gazipur, Bangladesh - IRRI

Research questions (Obj 6.2)

• What factors limit rapid productivity growth in

farmers fields in intensive rice based systems?

• What constrains farmer adoption of improved

germplasm & RCT?

• Are there gender/equity concerns?

• Where are the equitable growth opportunities

located?

• How attractive are the proposed interventions &

how can they best be adapted and enhanced?

Technologies

• Improving cereal productivity; nutrient

quality of crop residues for animal feed;

improving cropping systems

• Evaluation of rice genotypes for DSR in

rice-wheat systems

• Crop establishment methods, Water

management, weed management, nutrient

management, post harvest

• Resource –conserving technologies

(RCTs) eg zero tillage on rice and wheat

Current Technology Interventions in Gazipur

10

Intervention Season Area (Hac.)

Locations(No of sub-dist)

Collaborator

Delivery of AWD in Boro Rice Boro/Rabi 2009-10

160 10 DAE/BRRI

Seeding of Wheat by PTOMS Rabi 2009-10

- 4 BARI/DAE

Seeding of Hybrid Maize by PTOMS

Rabi 2009-10

1.3 1 BARI/DAE

Relaying of hybrid Maize with existing Potato

Rabi 2009-10

10 3 BARI/DAE

Inclusion of short duration mustard in Boro-T.aman

cropping pattern

Rabi 2009-10

24 3 DAE/BARI

Mixed cropping of DSR Boro Rice with Mustard

Rabi 2009-10

5 4 DAE/BARI

Bed planting of different crops under Wheat/Maize-mungbean-

T.aman cropping pattern

Rabi 2009-10

3.1 2 BARI

BARI – Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute

BRRI – Bangladesh Rice Research Institute

Objective 6.2 Baseline Surveys

Purpose & Design

• Collect data to analyze project influence on

– Technology adoption

– Success of various delivery models

– Incomes and livelihoods

• Provide results to inform

– Decisions on improving technology delivery

– Improve participation of the poor in new technologies

Data collected

• Focus group discussions (different social

groups)

• Village Survey

– e.g. infrastructure, institutions, prices within village

• Village Census (all hh in selected villages)

– as sampling frame for hh survey

for classification

• Baseline Household Survey (IRRI, CIMMYT,ILRI)-

common structured questionnaire

• Cost and returns of farmers’ practice vs with technology

(IRRI)

Sampling Procedure

• 3 districts per hub

– selected by cropping pattern with hub

manager

• 3 sub-districts per district

– randomly amongst those with CSISA activity

• 2 villages per sub-district

– 1 each randomly amongst those with/without

CSISA activity

Household survey

• 18 farmers randomly selected

– per village

– 18 villages per hub

• Structured questionnaire

– Survey is on-going….

– delay in Tamil Nadu

• Expected completion: February, 2011.

Gender and equity concerns

• Women in eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal play crucial roles as unpaid family workers, farm managers, income earners in cereal intensive production systems and livestock management

• Women are primarily caretakers of food security, children’s health and nutrition

• With increasing migration of men, women’s roles are beginning to shift from unpaid family workers to de facto farm managers

• Despite their crucial roles they have less access to assets and resources compared to men in the same system

• Any technology will have different effects on men and women due to gender specific roles and responsibilities

• International and national agricultural research institutions should ensure that the poor and socially excluded groups benefit from technologies

• Poor women farmers should be given opportunities to technologies (seeds of improved rice and non-rice crop varieties), improved knowledge on traits of new varieties, new cropping practices, and inputs while landless women should be given access to land they can rent

Research questions on gender

• What are the gender roles and gender-differentiated constraints in farm (cereal production, postharvest and livestock management?

• What are the social and economic consequences of labor saving technologies on the welfare of men and women? (farming and landless)

• In what ways will the project benefit the poor men and women farmers?

-Climate

-Rainfall

- Abiotic stresses

-Topography

-Pests

-Diseases

-Weeds

Social norms

Kinship

Social class

Caste system

Farm wages

Male labor outmigration

Gender roles and relations

(labor, income generation, decision-making)

Access to assets and resources

Land, Livestock

Farm labor

Knowledge

New CNRM practices

Seeds, Machinery

ASSETS

Performance of Livelihoods systems

Physical and biological conditions

Social, economic

and cultural circumstances

Rice Non-rice Livestock Fisheries Off-farm Non-farm

Fig 1. Framework for understanding gender roles in agriculture

Increase productivity, Reduce poverty and hunger

Promote gender equality, Improve health and nutrition GOALS

Farming

Practices and

Technologies

Typology of rice production

systems and gender roles

Pro

du

cti

on

en

vir

on

men

ts

Rainfed

Irrigated

Poor GoodAccess to market

Strategies for addressing gender

issues • Site characterization and initial problem diagnosis – gender analysis

• Understanding constraints – collect information on livelihood activities, and coping mechanisms – roles (labor, income, decision-making) of men and women in crop production, post harvest, livestock and other livelihood activities ( off-farm, non-farm)

• Identify opportunities and access to resources eg seeds

• Planning and evaluation – involve men and women in evaluation of technologies eg new lines/varieties, and new farming practices

• Training – enhance women’s technical knowledge and skills in all aspects of crop production and post harvest, production of seeds (including storage)

• Training - enhance women’s roles as leaders* and as key agents of change eg dissemination of technologies through networking

*Leadership training for women (professionals and women farmers and provide support

• Encourage young women to engage their careers in agriculture eg

women interns and provide support eg. female interns

Village Level Surveys- Gender

disaggregated information

• Number of male and female headed households

• Educational attainment of boys and girls, adult

men and adult women

• Wage rates of male and female workers during

normal and peak periods

• Who does what crop and livestock major

operations?

Household surveys – Gender

disaggregated variables • Sex of household head

• Human capital - Gender disaggregated family, hired labor requirements in rice, wheat and maize by activity (by operation), permanent labor

• Characteristics of principal male and principal female - age, years in school, years in farming, primary occupation, secondary occupation

• Number of household members

• Total in households

• Working on farm, full time, partime

• Schooling/studying

• Working/employment off-farm

staying out of village (some tine of year)

• Male and female adults >15 years old

• Male and female members between 6 to 15 years old

• Male and female children (<6 years old)

• Average monthly household expenditure and involvement in decisions

• Decision making: MaleFemaleJointly

Case studies

1. Assessing the economic and social

consequences of the widespread adoption of

RCTs and other labor saving technologies on

men and women agricultural workers

2. Water use efficiency and water saving from

DSR and laser land leveling

3. Greenhouse gas emissions under reduced

tillage for rice and wheat

Gender issues in resource conserving

technology (RCT)

Objective: To uncover how widespread

adoption of RCTs and other labor saving

technologies on agricultural labor

displacement:

– Changes in labor inputs in cereal

production have changed

– Changes on livelihoods

– Changes on family welfare

Village census

Purposive sampling of villages where

agricultural machines are used for almost two

years

Census was conducted among farming and

landless households with female members

actively involved in farming

Census was done to assess available labor

supply at household level

Select households and conduct household

surveys (December 2010)

Labor contribution in crop production of

female and male household members

Crop production activity

Farming Households

Landless Households

Female Male Female MaleNursery preparation 16 84 - -

Land preparation 19 81 - -

Transplanting 68 32 94 6

Direct seeding 40 60 55 45

Weeding 52 48 83 17

Irrigation 39 61 55 45

Fertilizer application 37 63 55 45

Pesticide application 25 75 - -

Harvesting 43 57 55 45

Post-harvest 41 59 52 48Female from landless households participate in farm activities more than female members from farming households. Male and female landless workers are not involved in activities such as nursery preparation, land preparation and pesticide application . More female from farming households contribute to transplanting and weeding.

Labor contribution in crop production of

female and male household members

Crop production activity

Farming Households

Landless Households

Female Male Female MaleNursery preparation 16 84 - -

Land preparation 19 81 - -

Transplanting 68 32 94 6

Direct seeding 40 60 55 45

Weeding 52 48 83 17

Irrigation 39 61 55 45

Fertilizer application 37 63 55 45

Pesticide application 25 75 - -

Harvesting 43 57 55 45

Post-harvest 41 59 52 48Female from landless households participate in farm activities more than female members from farming households. Male and female landless workers are not involved in activities such as nursery preparation, land preparation and pesticide application . More female from farming households contribute to transplanting and weeding.

Challenges

• Lack of female social scientists in the teams

* Assign one female social scientist as PI in EUP, India

* Trained 3 female social scientists in the leadership course for Asian

women in R,D and E

* Included 3 female interns to do costs and returns analysis

• How to strengthen the interaction between biophysical scientists

(hub managers) and social scientists (work in progress)

• Insufficient resources (funds and staff) to implement a Gender

Strategy

* Recently recruited a female SouthAsia woman as PDF

* USAID provided funds for hiring a consultant to develop a gender

assessment for the new project Expansion of CSISA in Bangladesh

• For large grants to earmark funds to implement gender strategy

Challenges

• What incentives to give to respondents

who participate in time taking interviews?

• How to anticipate/avoid the backlash of

well-intended interventions on women

• How to show positive outcomes of the

technological interventions on women

given the limited time frame for funding

Opportunities

• Include additional key variables to assess

gender disparities on key assets

• Identify opportunities to strengthen, build

or restore assets due to loss in livelihoods

• For the methodology of this case study to

be replicated in other hubs

• Provide a case of good practice

addressing the gender asset gap

• For IARCS in CGs, NARES and NGOs to

work together

Preferential analysis-

Preferential analysis through voting for the best lines/varieties