A series of capacity-building programs, including the use of Plantix – a mobile app to detect pests/diseases in crops, best practices in chickpea and mustard farming, and demonstrations of micronutrient addition to soil, was recently conducted in four districts in Odisha state, India. Despite the prevailing conditions, officials successfully carried […]
The soil movement started in the Indian state of Odisha two-and-half years ago through the ICRISAT-led Bhoochetana project crossed an important milestone with the launch of a soil atlas and two modern soil testing laboratories of international standard. Dr Arun Kumar Sahoo, the State Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, […]
Kolar district, in India’s southern state of Karnataka, has been known for centuries as a district of tanks: its landscape is dotted with nearly 3,000 surface reservoirs excavated by successive ancient kingdoms to secure water for household use, livestock, irrigation and groundwater recharge. These tanks, together with shallow open wells, […]
Impressed with the rapid pace and impact of the Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) initiative and other interventions in Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mr Hargovind Kushwaha, Minister of State, UP Government, expressed satisfaction and willingness to scale up this approach to other parts of the Bundelkhand region with ICRISAT and […]
Mr Chowdappa, a farmer from Ramkuppam village in southern India, increased yield of bottle gourd by a third by simply planting a grafted variety of the vegetable. The switch to grafted vegetables helped him and over 400 farmers significantly increase income without much effort. “Last year, I cultivated 1500 seedlings […]
A water tank’s renovation in one of India’s most drought-prone regions benefited as many as 200 farm families last year and opened up aquaculture opportunities for an entire village. It also helped create a storage capacity of about 25,000 m3. The tank filled multiple times during last year’s monsoon and […]
Mr Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh state’s government, reviewed the progress of the Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) project in the state’s Bundelkhand region. The minister praised the concept of renovating traditional water tanks (Havelis) renovation and appreciated efforts of all partners and project team members. Mr […]
Investments in CGIAR research generate returns of 10 times the amount invested, a new report has found. The report, commissioned by the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation, found a 10 to 1 benefit-cost ratio on CGIAR investments of $60 billion in present value terms over almost five decades. Titled […]
To improve agricultural productivity by detecting soil nutrient deficiencies and remedying them, two state-of-the-art soil testing laboratories in Bhubaneshwar and Sambalpur are being set up and have begun dry runs. The referral laboratories are being set up in a convergence mode, with ICRISAT supporting the government laboratory staff for a […]
Low cost drought proofing strategies for windfall gains in drylands Technologies developed in a national CSR award-winning watershed project in India have helped over 20,000 farmers in southern India conserve 200,000 m3 of water and earn higher incomes through alternate livelihood options. The project has a scale-out potential of more […]
