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30 march 2012 no 1512 karnataka chief minister dv sadananda gowda 3rd from left welcomes director general william dar to his camp office in bengaluru also seen are l to r dr subir hari singh additional chief secretary and development commissioner gok drs narayan gowda vc university of agricultural sciences bengaluru sp wani icrisat sb dandin vc university of horticultural sciences bagalkot ml jat cimmyt k krishnappa icrisat and m ramesha irri impact-oriented and farmer-centered research icrisat leads cgiar centers in bhoochetana mission the bhoochetana program in karnataka india is a farmer participatory model that emerged from icrisat s scaling up of long-term strategic on-station research on natural resource management in collaboration with local partners bhoochetana adopts the principles of consortium convergence capacity building and collective action with the state department of agriculture acting as the lead agency t he bhoochetana program is based on learnings from the on-farm adarsha watershed in kothapally which has been scaled-up in karnataka the initial phase was carried out through the sujala-icrisat watershed that started with 13 watersheds in 2005 in six districts of the state this science-based productivity enhancement initiative is now the flagship project of the government of karnataka gok benefiting three million smallholder farmers in rainfed areas over the last three years in 2011 alone it covered 3 million hectares in 30 districts riding on this wave of success gok sought icrisat s help in mobilizing other cgiar consortium centers to provide technical support in establishing learning sites in four revenue divisions of karnataka primarily aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity on 24 march icrisat director general william dar led a delegation of seven cgiar consortium centers icrisat irri ilri iwmi cimmyt ifpri and icarda to bengaluru for a meeting with a high level committee of gok officials the strength of the cgiar can be harnessed in facilitating convergence to benefit farmers in to page 2 4

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icrisat leads cgiar centers from page 1 karnataka bhoochetana has served as a good example of hand-holding support to the state government its scaling up of holistic science-led development has greatly benefited smallholder farmers said dr dar he also emphasized the need to address the agriculture sector s holistic development through an inclusive market-oriented development imod approach having market-entry points appropriate institutional mechanisms developing climateresilient farming villages and addressing the physical scarcity of water with appropriate policy interventions and strengthened institutions the urgent need to increase production productivity and profits and ensure sustainability was highlighted as important for climate-resilient agriculture icrisat s strategic on-farm research combined with its comprehensive assessment of water for food and integrated water resource management approach has substantially reduced yield gaps and improved farmers livelihoods in karnataka as part of the bhoochetana program an analysis of 90,000 soil samples collected from farmers fields from 30 districts was done by icrisat and the department of agriculture doa leading to soil fertility maps and the publication of the soil fertility atlas the bhoochetana program has enabled farmers to harvest 23-66 more yields of various crops maize sorghum pearl millet finger millet chickpea pigeonpea groundnut green gram soybean and vegetables etc economic returns from the improved balanced nutrient management practices ranged from 1.2 to 14.6 starting 2012 the gok has decided to cover 5 million hectares of rainfed area and to extend the project to irrigated crops like rice and sugarcane covering 0.5 million hectares this new program with active technical support from the cgiar consortium centers will be funded by the gok dr dar presenting an icrisat flyer titled weathering the perfect storm to chief minister gowda singh additional chief secretary and development commissioner and other officials of the doa dr sp wani presented a concept note on improving rural livelihoods through innovative scaling-up of scienceled participatory research for development the cgiar consortium center representatives also briefly presented their technologies that can benefit farmers in karnataka mr ranganath revealed that karnataka s stagnant agricultural growth rate in 2000-2008 had seen an increase of 5.9 in 2009-2010 which further rose to 13.3 in 2010-2011 collaborating with cgiar consortium centers will be a game changer for karnataka and we look forward to a good learning experience for various departments in the state he stressed he also urged icrisat to be the nodal agency to lead the consortium and nominated the secretary of agriculture as the nodal person representing the gok later the cgiar consortium center representatives led by dr dar visited karnataka s chief minister dv sadananda gowda the chief minister while appreciating icrisat s help in improving karnataka s agriculture emphasized the need for more impactat the meeting chaired by mr sv ranganath chief oriented research to benefit smallholder farmers secretary gok and attended by dr subir hari cgiar institutions in india have developed many technologies that can help improve the country s agriculture sector more farmers will benefit by scaling up the science-led and knowledge-based development of agriculture to ensure that farmers are protected from frequent drought steps must be taken to formulate a special action plan in collaboration dr dar along with senior officials from gok and cgiar partners during the with cgiar the chief minister gok-cgiar workshop for improving rural livelihoods in karnataka pointed out g 2 icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512

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cgiar independent science and partnership council ispc meets in delhi dr dar speaking at the cgiar-ispc meeting in new delhi ispc chair dr ken cassman left addressing the participants t he 5th meeting of cgiar s independent science and partnership council ispc was held at the nasc complex new delhi on 26-29 march the meeting was co-hosted by icrisat and the indian council of agricultural research icar participants included the ispc the standing panel on impact assessment spia representatives of cgiar consortium centers ciat cimmyt icrisat icarda world agro-forestry worldfish irri ilri iwmi and ifpri and officials and staff of icar-hq and other icar national research centers icrisat was represented in the meeting by dg william dar ddg-r dave hoisington rpds cll gowda cynthia bantilan oscar riera-lizarazu and assistant rpd suhas wani welcome messages were delivered by ispc chair dr ken cassman icar-dg dr s ayyappan and dr dar followed by cgiar updates presented by the ispc consortium board consortium office and fund office dave hoisington gave an update on the revision of cgiar research programs crps 3.5 on grain legumes and 3.6 on dryland cereals updates were also provided on crp 1.3 on aquatic agricultural systems iclarm and crp 3.7 on livestock and fish ilri ispc members had a special meeting on 26 march with the consortium office and centers involved in crps 3.5 and 3.6 to clarify issues on the revisions necessary for both proposals other sessions included presentations and discussions on strategies and trends foresight analysis setting priorities and learning from others conservation agriculture the crp review process spia activities contributions of agriculture to human nutrition and partnerships all presentations and the summary of the meeting will be available on the cgiar website g abi trains edii participants on incubation and entrepreneurship a s part of the indian technical and economic cooperation itec sponsored international training program on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship through incubation organized by the entrepreneurship development institute of india edii a group of 41 participants from asia and africa visited the agri-business incubation abi program of icrisat s agribusiness and innovation platform aip on 23 march the program designed for professionals promoting innovations through planned entrepreneurship interventions aims at capacity building of business incubation managers in incubator practices identifying support mechanisms for incubators technology commercialization and devising financing strategies for clients mr karuppanchetty mr saikat datta mazumdar and mr s aravazhi served as speakers during the training g participants of the edii training course at patancheru icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512 3

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cgiar communication heads meet in rome c ollective communication is now underway in the new cgiar towards this the heads of communication of the consortium of centers including those of two crps and the fund office met at bioversity international headquarters in rome last week to thresh out joint communication initiatives related to the cgiar reform icrisat was represented by communication director rex navarro presided over by ms enrica porcari acting director of communication of communication heads from cgiar consortium centers who met in rome the cgiar consortium and facilitated by ms simone staiger ciat 4 understanding the progress and operational supported by six resource persons the meeting aspects of the new cgiar website to be launched sought to strengthen systemwide communication by in april operationalizing this in the context of the new 5 harnessing social media in sharing the we are cgiar and its research programs crps one cgiar message specifically the meeting aimed to 1 design communication strategy elements in the context of a 6 establishing common climate change messages changing cgiar environment 2 prepare plans to awareness of each center s work on climate put the elements e.g branding targeting web and change communication and exploring social media into action 3 discuss and align opportunities for joint outreach activities common crp communication and media 7 reviewing gcard 2010 and establishing approaches and 4 plan joint communication a common ground for gcard 2012 campaigns and events for rio+20 and gcard communication activities 2012 8 understanding the one common system during the inaugural session dr emile frison ocs communication scheme its objectives director general bioversity international pointed experiences of first implementing centers and out the importance of systemwide communication strategies for linking across other centers by raising the collective voice of the cgiar which is the group also had a virtual interaction with dr still minimal he also emphasized that branding the pamela anderson director general of cip and the new cgiar should mutually complement and center liaison to the consortium board who supplement those of the centers and that donors still provided an overview of current challenges in want one-on-one interaction with the latter in terms communicating the new cgiar likewise two cases of crps he also mentioned that lead centers will of communicating crps were presented ccafs and assume a major role in fundraising forests trees and agroforestry in which overall the three-day meeting focused on the following 1 discussing the progress achievements and coherence of communicating the new cgiar 2 an understanding of how challenges and opportunities of the new cgiar are transformed into key messages for various groups 3 processing center management feedback on the cgiar branding guidelines and implementing these once approved by the consortium board 4 icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512 management and communication was essentially decentralized with participating centers and partners actively involved in collectively sharing messages in a google pagerank google pr done by the consortium office among centers icrisat was on top with an eight 8 on a 1-10 scale pagerank is one of the methods google uses to determine a webpage s relevance or importance where webpages receive a higher pagerank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results g

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farmer exchange visits in zimbabwe patricia masikate of icrisat-bulawayo talks to farmers about bana grass women farmers in insiza show off their mucuna field to farmers from gwanda and matobo e mbracing seneca s words that travel and change of place share new vigor to the mind icrisat-bulawayo recently organized an exchange visit of farmers in zimbabwe through the challenge program for water and food cpwf the cpwf aims to improve the integrated management of rainwater to improve smallholder productivity and livelihoods and reduce risk in the dry areas of the limpopo basin crop-livestock production systems are predominant in the limpopo basin and livestock production constitutes the main income source in these mixed farming systems optimum benefits are often not realized due to feed shortages especially during the dry season icrisat-bulawayo established a foodfodder crop production trial on-farm in three districts in zimbabwe on-station trials were also established to evaluate the potential productivity of feed crops and as adjuncts to feed shortages during the dry season on 19 march 17 farmers and 3 extension officers from gwanda and matobo districts visited farmers fields in insiza to explore options for growing feed crops for their livestock they looked at mucuna and bana grass as alternate feed lively questions and discussion in the fields demonstrated farmers willingness to experiment with these options and learn from their neighbors about what was successful this was a particularly instructive exercise as inadequate rainfall had resulted in poor establishment of feed crops in their own fields to see the crops doing well in another district was therefore important after the field visits farmers gathered at a central location for the moment of truth ­ to determine whether or not their cattle would eat the alternate feed crops four or five cows were released into a kraal with tubs of bana grass and mucuna hay and illustrated that these exotic fodder crops are palatable and that farmers would have no problem feeding these supplements to their animals on 20 march four farmers and three extension officers from insiza joined the previous group to visit matopos research station a presentation on the potential production of the different food and fodder crops maize dual purpose sorghum rhodes grass and mucuna was made farmers had an opportunity to visit experimental sites set up a season ago with a variety of dualpurpose sorghums they also visited the range and pasture departments to learn more on indigenous grasses and how they can rehabilitate their rangelands and the beef and small stock section where they learned about livestock husbandry farmers also received fodder production manuals a significant number of farmers have indicated willingness to devote part of their crop fields to fodder crops the visit served as an opportunity for them to see a variety of fodder crops and to select what they would like to experiment on in the next season g icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512 5

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abi participates in isba 2012 t he agri-business incubation program abi of icrisat s agribusiness innovation platform aip participated in isba 2012 held at pune on 17-19 march organized by the science and technology park of university of pune it was the sixth annual conference of the indian science and technology entrepreneurs parks steps and business incubator association isba isba promotes business incubation activities in the country through exchange of information sharing of experience and networking assistance among indian business incubators steps and other organizations engaged in the promotion of start-up enterprises the conference was attended by about 70 incubator managers over 100 incubatee companies ceos and support organizations and about 50 international participants from asia africa brazil europe and usa inaugurating the conference through video conference dr sam pitroda advisor to the prime minister of india public information infrastructure and innovation stressed that technologies being developed in our research centers need to be affordable to be scalable and thereby sustainable and so that they can reach the masses mr karuppanchetty at isba 2012 isba 2012 had 12 sessions on topics such as innovation entrepreneurs and incubation funding opportunities role of academia in industry design branding benchmarking indian incubators etc an investor-startup forum was also held icrisat was represented by mr karuppanchetty coo and mr jonathan philroy assistant manager of abi mr karuppanchetty coordinated a session on incubation international experiences support programs and made a presentation on business incubation a tool for empowering people g seminar on insect biochemistry at gulbarga university d r hc sharma principal scientist entomology was the chief guest at the national seminar on recent advances in insect biochemistry held on 27-28 march at gulbarga university karnataka the event was sponsored by the university grants commission ugc government of india in his keynote address on application of modern tools of biotechnology in insect control dr sharma highlighted the important role of insects in the ecosystem and the need to understand their biology ecology and metabolism for advancing our understanding of their role in sustainable crop production several students and faculty expressed interest in working with icrisat prof et puttiaiah vice chancellor of gulbarga university presided over the function dr barkat hussain visiting fellow from sher-e-kashmir university of agricultural sciences and technology skaust-k and mr rajendra munghate scientific officer also attended the seminar a review of the progress of the isopom helicoverpa project was also carried out during the seminar one of the helicoverpa-resistant lines icpharl 4979-7 provided by the project to the farmers in gulbarga region has been found to be promising further testing of which will be done for possible release to the farmers g dr hc sharma elucidates on biotechnology and insect control 6 icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512

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trivsa workshop held at bhubaneswar he bill melinda gates foundation bmgffunded project on tracking varietal change for future assessment of the impact of crop genetic improvement research in south asia trivsa conducted its annual review workshop on 23-24 march at kalinga institute of information technology kiit bhubaneswar orissa led by the international rice research institute irri in collaboration with icrisat and nars partners from bangladesh bhutan nepal sri lanka and india the project aims to generate systematic and comprehensive information on improved cultivars extent of adoption national strength in human capital resources and research investments on crop improvement in south asia this is done in conjunction with a sister project titled diffusion of improved varieties in africa diva covering similar initiatives in sub-saharan africa around 15 partners participated in the workshop including douglas gollin chairman designate of the standing panel on impact assessment spia and mumukshu patel from the gates foundation mr sam mohanty head of social science division irri gave the opening remarks during the workshop dr cynthia bantilan rpd for markets institutions and policies mip reflected on the importance of diffusion studies in agricultural t partners at the trivsa project annual review workshop in bhubaneswar research decision making while mr gollin spoke on lessons from spia experiences in asia and africa following project principal investigator takashi yamano s talk on the background and objectives of the workshop partners presented the progress made initial results and revised work plans for 2012 icrisat s role in the project involving tracking the diffusion of new technologies of its five mandate crops ­ sorghum pearl millet groundnut chickpea and pigeonpea ­ in india and the progress in all the research activities were reported by drs cynthia bantilan and d kumara charyulu the workshop culminated in discussions on innovative approaches to track diffusion of new technologies and key issues for developing phase-ii of the project proposal g new hprc advisory committee meets at patancheru he newly-formed advisory committee of the icrisat-private sector hybrid parents research consortia hprc phase 3 2009-2013 held its 4th meeting at icrisat-patancheru on 28 march private sector representatives dr suresh k gupta jk agri-genetics dr rs mahala pioneer overseas corporation and dr ar sadananda vibha agritech participated along with drs cll gowda and o riera-lizarazu and observers drs belum reddy kb saxena and sk gupta from icrisat t on behalf of icrisat dr cll gowda welcomed the new members of the committee and dr suresh k gupta was elected as the chairperson for 2011-2013 the committee discussed how to further strengthen hprc the status of member seed companies with pending dues action taken on the august 2011 meeting and the possibility of upgrading membership to include private companies from ssa tentative dates for the pearl millet sorghum and pigeonpea scientists field day in 2012 and a field day for postrainy season sorghum in the first week of february 2013 on the request of private sector representatives were finalized dr o riera-lizarazu talked on the platform being established for genome sequencing of pearl millet and urged private sector companies to join the effort dr rosana mula presented the highlights of a study on the impact of pearl millet and sorghum hprc and hprc s significant contributions to the products from member seed companies and the public sector g the advisory committee of icrisat-hprc at patancheru icrisat happenings 30 march 2012/1512 7

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visitors log 26 march mohamed said muya permanent secretary ministry of agriculture food security and cooperative united republic of tanzania and 70 farmers from warangal 27 march thirty farmers from yavatmal and 95 farmers from jharkhand 28 march fifty farmers from atma warangal district 29 march twenty-two international delegates from nird 30 march forty-one students of biotechnology from smt vg women s degree college gulbarga karnataka mohamed said muya at the rs paroda genebank in patancheru good friday program the icrisat prayer group invites everyone to a program on 3 april on the occasion of good friday to contemplate on the death and resurrection of jesus christ and its significance in our lives today the program will be held at rw cummings auditorium from 12:30-1:15 pm the dg has approved the extended lunch hour g blood donation camp at patancheru the field medical unit fmu at patancheru is organizing a blood donation camp on 10 april staff members are requested to volunteer for this cause which could save a few lives to register call extension 2638 g new publication screening techniques for pearl millet diseases order code ibe 089 thought for the week anticipate the difficult by managing the easy ­ lao tzu

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