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Farmer Grace Malaitcha, from Zidyana, near Nkhotakota, Malawi, pictured in 2009 on her maize plot, which she cultivates using conservation agriculture (CA) practices. She previously used traditional hand-tillage methods, typically requiring 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare to prepare land for planting. In 2005 she adopted CA, known locally as "Ulimi Wosagalauza" (agriculture without plowing), with support from the NGO Total LandCare and CIMMYT in partnership. She now uses less than half the labor and produces more maize, and other crops too. This has enabled her to save money for other expenditures, and she has bought two pigs and built a brick and mortar pigsty. A pioneer in her community, Malaitcha has formed a CA club and trains other local farmers in crop management.
CIMMYT uses a system of innovation and learning “hubs” to spread CA practices, with key trial sites at the center of regional networks of collaborative CA research, demonstration and dissemination. CIMMYT has established hubs throughout Southern Africa.
Photo credit: Patrick Wall/CIMMYT.
Belita Maleko stands outside the new house she has built since starting to use conservation agriculture (CA) practices. “I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” she says. She has now been practicing and demonstrating CA for six years on her small farm in the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Farmer Chamkaur Singh in his wheat field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. The field was sown with a zero tillage wheat seeder known as a Happy Seeder, giving an excellent and uniform crop.
Singh is one of the farmer leaders working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
“I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” says Belita Maleko, of the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi. The signs in her field help visitors understand exactly what crops and activities she has deployed on each plot, and compare conservation agriculture (CA) with conventional practices.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Belita Maleko stands with one of her grandchildren outside the new house she has built since starting to use conservation agriculture (CA) practices. “I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” she says. She has now been practicing and demonstrating CA for six years on her small farm in the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Daimoniz Miondo is one of 800 farmers in Chipeni, Mvera Extension Planning Area, Dowa District, Malawi, who have adopted conservation agriculture in recent years. “I’m harvesting between 30 and 40 bags of maize now per acre, where I used to get only 15 or 20 bags,” says Miondo, who farms to support a household of seven. “Before conservation agriculture, there was a lot of erosion and the rain would wash away the fertilizer and affect the yields.”
Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
As well as his rainfed upland maize, Miondo also grows vegetables in a wetland garden known as a "dambo", and raises a small number of goats, pigs, and chickens. When asked if he misses ridging with a hoe, he says: “No! I use my free time to work in the dambo.” He has built a new house with the proceeds and time saved from conservation agriculture, and is building a new chicken coop.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here'," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
“I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” says Belita Maleko, of the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi. Visitors to her field can see the benefits of conservation agriculture (CA) in action, and compare it with conventional practices.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
A woman stands in the Vaishali district of Bihar, India. The female farmer is in a zero-till wheat plot.
Madhulika Singh/CIMMYT
Farmer Mohen Singh in his wheat field in Bihar, India. He and his brother, Raj Narayin Singh, are here growing BAAZ, a CIMMYT line not yet released, for seed production. It is a short-duration cultivar, reaching maturity in 120 days, and yielding around 5 tons/hectare, well above the Indian average.
The Singhs are among the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
The Singhs are highly innovative farmers; they grow many crops on their farm and are always willing to try new things. They have introduced conservation agriculture, with zero tillage and bed planting, onto all their wheat fields, where they grow maize and wheat in rotation. Working with CSISA, they act as farmer leaders, spreading new varieties and practices to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
“I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” says Belita Maleko, of the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi. Visitors to her field can see the benefits of conservation agriculture (CA) in action, and compare it with conventional practices.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
“I lost my husband in 1994, but I don’t complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,” says Belita Maleko, of the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi.
Maleko, a small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer, kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting conservation agriculture (CA) practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "I’d been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what I’m doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soil…some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maize—the best practice so they grow up together. “During peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I don’t mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widow—otherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
"I would advise all farmers to follow what I’m doing. After seven years, it’s amazing. I’ve seen the change," says farmer Jelimoti Sikelo of Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi. "People should not burn residues, because there is life. I’ve also seen that, in heavy storms, maize plants in conservation agriculture plots are less likely to lodge. I promise you, I will not stop using conservation agriculture."
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
Born in 1943, Sikelo's vigor and agility belie his 68 years as he moves through his fields, where he practices CA and demonstrates it to other farmers. "I started with conservation agriculture during the 2005-06 cropping season. The extension workers came and said ‘let’s start practices to use crop residues'. We intercropped maize and pigeonpea to improve the soil. In 2007, we found that pigeonpea was not beneficial because it matured late and the goats ate it, so we changed to cowpea," he says, reflecting the way CA practices must be adapted and tailored to each location and each individual farmer.
"Previously, food shortages were predominant, but with this technology [conservation agriculture], they are becoming less pronounced," says Sikelo. "I have also introduced the practice of conservation agriculture without herbicides; if you maximize your crop density and soil coverage, weed infestation is very low, so it’s a very economical practice." He has even found conservation agriculture useful in combating the parasitic weed Striga asiatica, or witchweed, which can severely affect maize crops in the region. "Before I used conservation agriculture, my field was full of witchweed; with conservation agriculture the witchweed has been reduced year by year."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID. Chaudhary carries out many different experiments, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations of his fields to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
A patch of weeds in a zero tillage wheat field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. The field was was sown with a zero tillage seeder known as a Happy Seeder, giving a generally excellent and uniform wheat crop. However, weeds can be troublesome in conservation agriculture (CA) systems. Weed control is a key component of good CA practices, and requires focused attention.
The crop belongs to farmer Chamkaur Singh, one of the farmer leaders working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Zero tillage wheat growing in the field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. It was sown with a zero tillage seeder known as a Happy Seeder, giving an excellent and uniform wheat crop.
The crop belongs to farmer Chamkaur Singh, one of the farmer leaders working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Brothers Mohen Singh (left) and Raj Narayin Singh (right) in their wheat field in Bihar, India. They are here growing BAAZ, a CIMMYT line not yet released, for seed production. It is a short-duration cultivar, reaching maturity in 120 days, and yielding around 5 tons/hectare, well above the Indian average.
The Singhs are among the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
The Singhs are highly innovative farmers; they grow many crops on their farm and are always willing to try new things. They have introduced conservation agriculture, with zero tillage and bed planting, onto all their wheat fields, where they grow maize and wheat in rotation. Working with CSISA, they act as farmer leaders, spreading new varieties and practices to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
A farmer stands in a field of direct-seeded rice (DSR) under zero tillage with anchored wheat residue in Haryana, India. This practice, according to B.R. Kamboj, Haryana hub manager, is performing well in Haryana. “Farmers are coming forward to adopt the technology,” says B.R. Kamboj. “One farmer of Kalvehri village has put more than 75% of total DSR area under zero tillage – that is 19 out of 25 acres – with anchored wheat residue. Performance at other locations is equally good. It may be one of the ways to avoid residue burning and help in good crop establishment, managing weeds effectively besides curtailing down the cultivation costs in DSR.”
Photo credit: B.R. Kamboj/CIMMYT
Farmer Mohen Singh in his wheat field in Bihar, India. He and his brother, Raj Narayin Singh, are here growing BAAZ, a CIMMYT line not yet released, for seed production. It is a short-duration cultivar, reaching maturity in 120 days, and yielding around 5 tons/hectare, well above the Indian average.
The Singhs are among the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
The Singhs are highly innovative farmers; they grow many crops on their farm and are always willing to try new things. They have introduced conservation agriculture, with zero tillage and bed planting, onto all their wheat fields, where they grow maize and wheat in rotation. Working with CSISA, they act as farmer leaders, spreading new varieties and practices to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID. Chaudhary carries out many different experiments, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations of his fields to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Farmer Raj Narayin Singh in his wheat field in Bihar, India. He and his brother, Mohen Singh, are here growing BAAZ, a CIMMYT line not yet released, for seed production. It is a short-duration cultivar, reaching maturity in 120 days, and yielding around 5 tons/hectare, well above the Indian average.
The Singhs are among the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
The Singhs are highly innovative farmers; they grow many crops on their farm and are always willing to try new things. They have introduced conservation agriculture, with zero tillage and bed planting, onto all their wheat fields, where they grow maize and wheat in rotation. Working with CSISA, they act as farmer leaders, spreading new varieties and practices to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary compares ears from early-sown wheat of variety PBW-502 (right, larger, sown on 2 November 2009), and the same variety sown 12 days later. Both were grown in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Chaudhary achieves bumper wheat yields by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He carries out many different experiments in his fields, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations to other farmers. He is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Daimoniz Miondo is one of 800 farmers in Chipeni, Mvera Extension Planning Area, Dowa District, Malawi, who have adopted conservation agriculture in recent years. “I’m harvesting between 30 and 40 bags of maize now per acre, where I used to get only 15 or 20 bags,” says Miondo, who farms to support a household of seven. “Before conservation agriculture, there was a lot of erosion and the rain would wash away the fertilizer and affect the yields.”
Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
As well as his rainfed upland maize, Miondo also grows vegetables in a wetland garden known as a "dambo", and raises a small number of goats, pigs, and chickens. When asked if he misses ridging with a hoe, he says: “No! I use my free time to work in the dambo.” He has built a new house with the proceeds and time saved from conservation agriculture, and is building a new chicken coop.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here'," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Children pose in a demonstration plot in a farmer's field in Malawi, where maize is cultivated using both conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional practices so that visitors can compare them. CA offers reliable harvests that mean freedom from hunger and food insecurity for children like these.
Government extension officers, the non-governmental organization Total LandCare, and CIMMYT have been supporting farmers in several Malawian communities to test CA in their fields and share it with their neighbors via demonstration plots. With adoption steadily spreading, farmers are seeing increased yields and crops that stay healthy under drought conditions that wilt conventionally-grown plots.
CA is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Farmer Ram Shubagh Chaudhary in his wheat fields, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. He alternates wheat and rice, and has achieved a bumper wheat crop by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID. Chaudhary carries out many different experiments, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations of his fields to other farmers.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Pictured from left to right are former CIMMYT wheat agronomist Peter Hobbs, former CIMMYT wheat program director and recognized wheat physiologist Tony Fischer, and the late Norman E. Borlaug. Peter Hobbs successfully championed zero tillage for wheat in the rice-wheat rotations of South Asia, along with other resource conserving practices, as part of the Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains.
Credit: T. Fischer/CIMMYT
Maize under conservation agriculture (CA) on a plot belonging to farmers Jelimoti and Belia Sikelo, where they both practice CA and demonstrate it to other farmers. Visitors to their fields, in Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi, can see the benefits for themselves, and compare different combinations of CA practices with conventional methods.
"I would advise all farmers to follow what I’m doing. After seven years, it’s amazing. I’ve seen the change," says Jelimoti. "People should not burn residues, because there is life. I’ve also seen that, in heavy storms, maize plants in conservation agriculture plots are less likely to lodge. I promise you, I will not stop using conservation agriculture."
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
"I started with conservation agriculture during the 2005-06 cropping season. The extension workers came and said ‘let’s start practices to use crop residues'. We intercropped maize and pigeonpea to improve the soil. In 2007, we found that pigeonpea was not beneficial because it matured late and the goats ate it, so we changed to cowpea," says Jelimoti, reflecting the way CA practices must be adapted and tailored to each location and each individual farmer.
"Previously, food shortages were predominant, but with this technology [conservation agriculture], they are becoming less pronounced," he says. "I have also introduced the practice of conservation agriculture without herbicides; if you maximize your crop density and soil coverage, weed infestation is very low, so it’s a very economical practice." He has even found conservation agriculture useful in combating the parasitic weed Striga asiatica, or witchweed, which can severely affect maize crops in the region. "Before I used conservation agriculture, my field was full of witchweed; with conservation agriculture the witchweed has been reduced year by year."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
In a farmer's field in Malawi, signs help visitors understand exactly what crops and activities have been deployed on each plot, and compare conservation agriculture (CA) with conventional practices.
Farmer Felix Twaya, of Lemu, Balaka, Malawi, cultivates about three acres of land. On one of his 0.1 hectare plots, he has been practicing conservation agriculture (CA) for three years. Previously, he would harvest 7 50 kg bags of maize from the plot. With CA, he is now harvesting 27 bags. “I will even begin using conservation agriculture in my cotton field,” he says.
Government extension officers, the non-governmental organization Total LandCare, and CIMMYT have been supporting farmers in several Malawian communities to test CA in their fields and share it with their neighbors via demonstration plots. With adoption steadily spreading, farmers are seeing increased yields and crops that stay healthy under drought conditions that wilt conventionally-grown plots.
CA is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Participants in the 2010 regional Wheat Improvement and Pathology course held in Nepal, in a zero-till field with Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) hub manager Dil Prasad Sherchan, and Janmejai Tripathi, senior scientist with Nepal's national wheat research program. The two-week course, which ran from 29 November to 12 December 2010, was organized by CIMMYT in collaboration with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), and held at the Wheat Research Center (WRC) in Bhairahawa, in Nepal's Terai region.
Twenty early and mid-career wheat breeders participated, from four countries involved in CSISA (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan). They came from diverse backgrounds, levels of experience, and organizations, and included several young women scientists.
The course, the first of its kind, was prepared and led by Arun Joshi, CIMMYT-Nepal wheat breeder, and stressed the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to wheat improvement. It included lectures on modern breeding methods and approaches, genetic diversity, wheat pathology, experimental design and statistical analysis, conservation agriculture, participatory variety selection, literature and data sources for wheat scientists, e-learning, and knowledge management.
For more information, see CIMMYT's blog story at: blog.cimmyt.org/?p=5961.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Zero tillage wheat growing in the field in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, India. It was sown with a zero tillage seeder known as a Happy Seeder, giving an excellent and uniform wheat crop.
The crop belongs to farmer Chamkaur Singh, one of the farmer leaders working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia through development and deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Felix Twaya, of Lemu, Balaka, Malawi, farms about three acres of land. On one of his 0.1 hectare plots, he has been practicing conservation agriculture (CA) for three years. Previously, he would harvest 7 50 kg bags of maize from the plot. With CA, he is now harvesting 27 bags. “I will even begin using conservation agriculture in my cotton field,” he says.
Government extension officers, the non-governmental organization Total LandCare, and CIMMYT have been supporting farmers in several Malawian communities to test CA in their fields and share it with their neighbors via demonstration plots. With adoption steadily spreading, farmers are seeing increased yields and crops that stay healthy under drought conditions that wilt conventionally-grown plots.
CA is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
A zero tillage wheat field on the farm of Ram Shubagh Chaudhary, in the village of Pokhar Binda, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is planted with five different varieties, all with the same date of sowing (or DOS, 14 November 2009, as shown on the sign), for the purpose of comparing the varieties' performances. Chaudhary achieves bumper wheat yields by retaining crop residues and employing zero tillage. He carries out many different experiments in his fields, including comparisons of varieties, sowing dates, herbicides, and other variables, and gives demonstrations to other farmers.
Chaudhary is one of the farmers working in partnership with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). CIMMYT is one of the many partners involved in CSISA, a collaborative project designed to decrease hunger and increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in South Asia, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID.
Photo credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT.
Farmers in Hereford Farm village, near Bindura, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe demonstrating a traditional mouldboard plow. Mr Munyoro, on the left, has experimented with modifying his plow into a ripper tine for opening planting furrows under a conservation agriculture (CA) system. At the time the photo was taken in 2008 he had been working with CIMMYT for four cropping seasons as part of a program exposing farmers to CA, implemented by CIMMYT from 2004/2005, with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Farmers experimenting with CA technology and trying things for themselves is an indicator of success for CIMMYT's work in disseminating and encouraging adoption of CA.
Photo credit: Thomas Lumpkin/CIMMYT.
Participants in a CIMMYT conservation agriculture (CA) workshop in India, May 2008, examine a multi-use, multi-crop zero tillage seeder. The left-hand tank contains small-grain seed, while tank on the right contains fertilizer, which is applied on the same pass in CA.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Young maize plants growing on wheat residues in permanent beds on a long-term conservation agriculture (CA) trial plot at CIMMYT's headquarters, El Batán, Mexico. The center's weather station for measuring meteorological data is visible behind.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Bram Govaerts, head of CIMMYT's conservation agriculture (CA) program in Mexico, talks about the different kinds of zero tillage seeders that can be used in CA to a visiting group from the Mexican media, at CIMMYT's headquarters, El Batán, Mexico in August 2009. El Batán is one of three locations in Mexico where long-term CIMMYT trials act as central hubs for collaborative CA research, demonstration and dissemination. As well as, for example, farmers and extension workers, the media are a key target audience for the hubs, as they provide an important means for diffusion. Many farmers are drawn to the hubs having first heard about CA through newspapers or television. This visit led to several stories in the media, focusing on the advantages of CA in mitigating the effects of drought, since Mexico was suffering a severe drought during the 2009 growing season.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Equipment for measuring greenhouse gases on a long-term conservation agriculture (CA) trial plot at CIMMYT's headquarters at El Batán, Mexico. In order to make a measurement, the chamber is covered and sealed, trapping the gases given off by the soil. These can then be captured and analyzed. This allows a comparison of CA with conventional agriculture; it has been found that, when the soil is not broken up by plowing as in CA, it emits less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
...not any more .....Agriculture it appears should be more precise than that for good yields. Check out this charity which is making a difference in Africa to ordinary subsistance farmers
check out their website for more details
www.farming-gods-way.org/FGW_files/Overview.htm
This is going to make a huge difference to many peoples lives and incomes in Africa, probably more than a whole host of NGOs
Daimoniz Miondo is one of 800 farmers in Chipeni, Mvera Extension Planning Area, Dowa District, Malawi, who have adopted conservation agriculture in recent years. “I’m harvesting between 30 and 40 bags of maize now per acre, where I used to get only 15 or 20 bags,” says Miondo, who farms to support a household of seven. “Before conservation agriculture, there was a lot of erosion and the rain would wash away the fertilizer and affect the yields.”
Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
As well as his rainfed upland maize, Miondo also grows vegetables in a wetland garden known as a "dambo", and raises a small number of goats, pigs, and chickens. When asked if he misses ridging with a hoe, he says: “No! I use my free time to work in the dambo.” He has built a new house with the proceeds and time saved from conservation agriculture, and is building a new chicken coop.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here'," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Daimoniz Miondo is one of 800 farmers in Chipeni, Mvera Extension Planning Area, Dowa District, Malawi, who have adopted conservation agriculture in recent years. “I’m harvesting between 30 and 40 bags of maize now per acre, where I used to get only 15 or 20 bags,” says Miondo, who farms to support a household of seven. “Before conservation agriculture, there was a lot of erosion and the rain would wash away the fertilizer and affect the yields.”
Conservation agriculture is a set of practices that includes eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
As well as his rainfed upland maize, Miondo also grows vegetables in a wetland garden known as a "dambo", and raises a small number of goats, pigs, and chickens. When asked if he misses ridging with a hoe, he says: “No! I use my free time to work in the dambo.” He has built a new house with the proceeds and time saved from conservation agriculture, and is building a new chicken coop.
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here'," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
Groundnuts under conservation agriculture (CA) in the field of small-scale maize and mixed-crop farmer Belita Maleko, of the Mwansambo extension planning area, Nkhotakota zone, central Malawi. Signs by the roadside help visitors understand exactly what crops and activities she has deployed on each plot, and compare CA with conventional practices.
âI lost my husband in 1994, but I donât complain because conservation agriculture is doing the work my husband would have done,â says Maleko, who kept on farming after she was widowed with help from her family. At the invitation of government extension officers and the non-governmental organization Total LandCare (TLC), she began adopting CA practices and sowing plots to demonstrate them to neighboring farmers in 2006. "Iâd been hearing about CA from the radio and other people, so I was very interested in trying it. They asked me to host a demo, and I said 'yes' and started applying the practices," she says. "This is my sixth year. Some other farmers visit me for advice; some come to field days to see what Iâm doing. Some just pass by and observe."
CA practices include eliminating traditional ridge-and-furrow tillage systems, keeping crop residues on the soil, and rotating or intercropping maize with other crops. In addition to labor and cost savings, the improved soil structure resists erosion and increases water infiltration and retention, a huge benefit when drought threatens in places like Malawi, where maize subsists on rain alone.
In Malawi draft animals are scarce and traditional cultivation for maize involves as many as 160,000 hoe strokes per hectare. It appeared strange and somehow unjust to neighbors when Maleko stopped hoe plowing and began to leave residues and stems from previous crops on her fields. "Some asked 'How can you do this?'" she says. "Others speculated that I was degrading the soilâ¦some people thought I was mad, but I said 'No, I'm not mad, I know what I'm doing.'"
She notes that those local farmers who are using CA have suffered less from this year's erratic rains. She has sown cowpea as an intercrop in one of the CA maize plots; she eats the pods and leaves and it boosts soil fertility. The plants are quite small as she had not been able to sow the cowpea at the same time as the maizeâthe best practice so they grow up together. âDuring peak period I was in the hospital nursing my daughter, but with conservation agriculture I was able to manage," she says, referring to the reduced labor requirements of CA.
Ongoing support and training from extension workers is crucial as farmers learn new ways of doing things, and how to apply CA most effectively. "I was trained to collect rainfall data; when I see it reaches above 30 millimeters, I sow," says Maleko. "When I have problems, I just go to my extension officer and ask for help. Some people say my husband is the extension worker, but I donât mind. Some women have stopped talking about me and started to practice conservation agriculture."
Maleko sees conservation agriculture as a blessing that has helped pay for school fees and homestead improvements. "I cannot stop practicing conservation agriculture, because I'm getting lots of benefits," she says. "I have enough time to grow other crops. I'm very happy because I've built another house with the proceeds. I don't even complain about being a widowâotherwise, I wouldn't have sent my children to school. Married women come to me and ask for food. I'm a happy woman."
Photo credit: T. Samson/CIMMYT.
For more, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story "Conservation agriculture in Malawi: 'We always have problems with rain here,'" available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/front-page-tems/aboutmediaresources/130....
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
Farmers of Lal Sariyatharasi village in west Champaran District of Bihar, India, using a zero till seed drill.
Conventional sowing of wheat crop after rice harvesting can be quite a difficult and costly affair taking about 5-7 tilling operations before a seedbed is prepared. This delays the crop sowing, which consequently affects the crop yield and eats into the farmer's margins. This can be overcome with with the zero till seed drill, which enables farmers to sow wheat directly after rice harvesting without prior seedbed preparation. Savings include fuel costs, running time for tractors and labor. Farmers have also recorded higher yields compared to traditional practices.
A brand new tank for seed and fertilizer, waiting to be incorporated into a new zero tillage seeder, being copied from the CIMMYT design for a Mexican firm which supplies technical advice to producers of barley for beer production. CIMMYT's multi-crop, multi-use seeder was designed and built at CIMMYT specifically for conservation agriculture, with many adaptations and alterations over time; the new seeder will be almost identical but for small grains only. Many replicas of CIMMYT's seeder have now been made, by companies producing it for sale, organizations and farmers themselves, all slightly modified for their users' needs.
Photo credit: CIMMYT.