ICRISAT :
GT Crop Improvement
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ICRISAT :
GT Crop Improvement
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Medium Term Plan (MTP) 2009-2011
Championing the Causes of the Poor through Agricultural
Research for Development
ICRISAT- 2: Sustaining Biodiversity of Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Small Millets, Groundnut, Pigeonpea and Chickpea for Current and Future Generations Project Overview and Rationale Rationale for the research within the context of the CGIAR System Priorities (SPs) and the mandate, goals and objectives of the center This research, through its active custodianship of a large proportion of the world’s germplasm, is delivering IPGs annually as its responsibility to the world community has been defined by FAO to be "in perpetuity". ICRISAT claims that 100% of this project's activities are encapsulated within the CGIAR System Priorities. ICRISAT is involved with the System-wide Genetic Resources Program (SGRP) in developing policies and practices for managing, acquiring and making available genetic resources that are consistent with international agreements. Knowledge, technologies and information on genetic resources is shared with other partners for sustainable use of biodiversity.
ICRISAT- 3: Producing more and better food of the staple cereals and legumes of the West and Central African (WCA) SAT (sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut) through genetic improvement Project Overview and Rationale Rationale for the research within the context of the CGIAR SPs and the mandate, goals and objectives of the center ICRISAT sees its research as a positive contribution, which its research is making to the millennium development goals (MDGs) in a region where food and nutritional security is regularly threatened. The research from this project is regionally oriented towards the large number of Sahelian countries from Senegal to Chad and owing to the consistency of environments across a broad swathe of West Africa the results from this project are used widely as IPGs and there is the strong likelihood of future spillover from this research from Sahelian country to Sahelian country.
ICRISAT- 4: Producing more and better food from staple cereals (sorghum and millets) and legumes (groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea) at lower cost in the eastern and southern African (ESA) SAT through genetic improvement Project Overview and Rationale Rationale for the research within the context of the CGIAR SPs and the mandate, goals and objectives of the center The use of improved varieties with inbuilt mechanisms to tolerate and resist many of the biotic and abiotic stresses faced by farmers in the ESA SAT is often cited as the easiest and most cost effective form of technology change in smallholder production systems. Yet, in ESA, gains from crop improvements have not been fully exploited to date. A number of key constraints hinder development, dissemination and adoption of improved varieties. Firstly, the focus of crop improvement is still national rather than regional, yet most national research institutes do not have adequate resources to pursue a full range of strategic, applied and adaptive research for each priority problem associated with ICRISAT's mandate crops. Secondly, breeders have not adequately tapped traits of economic importance available in local germplasm to develop market - and end user-preferred quality and nutritious cultivars that provide good yields under biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, for new varieties to make an impact at the farm level, viable seed systems are a prerequisite and should be linked to Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management (IGNRM) approaches that enhance productivity, and translate these into profitability through product market linkages and partnerships to encourage farmers to sustainably invest in productivity enhancing technologies and inputs This project places an emphasis on improving and strengthening the efficiency of breeding and cultivar evaluation for ICRISAT crops across the ESA region, while conserving and making maximum use of the natural genetic resource base. This will be achieved through new regionally-based institutional networking arrangements, which integrate traditional crop breeding, biotechnology and farmer participation. To facilitate adoption and impact from technological changes, scientific inputs and technical support will be provided to public and private sector institutions spearheading the harmonization of seed regulations and policies as well as those addressing biosafety issues in ESA. The project outputs are regionally oriented and their IPG nature also spills over into ICRISAT's West and Central African and Asian projects (Projects 3 and 6).
ICRISAT- 5: Producing more and better food at lower cost of staple cereals and legume hybrids in the Asian SAT (sorghum, pearl millets and pigeonpea) through genetic improvements Project Overview and Rationale Rationale for the research within the context of the CGIAR SPs and the mandate, goals and objectives of the center Sorghum and pearl millet are important cereal sources of dietary energy, and pigeonpea is an important source of dietary protein in much of the Asian SAT. Sorghum and pearl millet are also valuable as fodder crops (both green forage and stover). Pigeonpea is also now recognized for its potential as a valuable forage crop. Asia is a major region for these crops, growing sorghum on 11.7 million ha, which is 28% of the global area under this crop. Pearl millet is cultivated on 12 million ha (42% of the global area). Pigeonpea, though cultivated on only 4 million ha, accounts for 90% of the global area under this crop. Productivity of all these crops is low (700-900 kg ha-1) in the SAT Asian region (as well as in other SAT regions) due to the low yield potential of farmer cultivars and numerous biotic and abiotic constraints. Synthesis of research results over the years has shown that both in sorghum and pearl millet, hybrids have 25-30% grain yield advantage over improved open-pollinated varieties of comparable maturity. There have been continuing productivity gains both in sorghum and pearl millet, largely due to the adoption of high-yielding hybrids. In pigeonpea, improved varieties have been developed and released, but the productivity has remained stagnant so far, either due to lack of their significant and repeatable yield advantage over locals, or due to lack of adoption. Pigeonpea hybrids have shown at least similar grain yield advantage over improved open-pollinated varieties as observed in sorghum and pearl millet. Development of commercially exploitable cytoplasmic-nuclear male-sterility (CMS) in pigeonpea now offers the promise of enhancing its yield potential through hybrid technology. ICRISAT's research on these crops in Asia is oriented to complement those of the NARS and the private sector by restricting its role to the development of advanced breeding lines and hybrid parents, leaving the hybrid development, testing and release to NARS and the private sector. There is limited research collaboration with NARS in key strategic research areas as well. This approach has proved highly productive as reflected in the rapid and extensive uptake of ICRISAT-bred improved germplasm and potential hybrid parents of both sorghum and pearl millet by NARS and the private sector for hybrid development. The uptake of such materials in pigeonpea by NARS and the private sector has now started.
ICRISAT- 6: Producing more and better food at lower cost of staple open-pollinated cereals and legumes in the Asian SAT (sorghum, pigeonpea, chickpea and groundnut) through genetic improvements Project Overview and Rationale Rationale for the research within the context of the CGIAR SPs and the mandate, goals and objectives of the center This project is extremely relevant and pro-poor for the semi-arid tropics in Asia, where many farmers either cannot afford to buy hybrids/improved cultivar seed or have no access to them. There is little possibility of developing hybrids for commercial exploitation in chickpea and groundnut in the near future. Even in the case of sorghum and pearl millet, where commercial hybrids are available, nearly 30 to 40% area will continue to be under open-pollinated varieties as there may be no clear advantage of growing hybrids under harsh environmental conditions. Varieties will also continue to be popular with farmers because of their fodder value or specific adaptation requirements (nearly 4.5 million ha in pearl millet and 5.5 million ha in sorghum). ICRISAT mandate crops are important for food and nutritional security under rainfed subsistence farming conditions in Asia, which provide sustenance to the largest number of poor people in the world. Globally, Asia accounts for nearly 80% of the area in chickpea (~10 m ha), 90% in pigeonpea (~4 m ha), 55% in groundnut (~13 m ha), 35% in pearl millet (~12 m ha), and 25% in sorghum (~11 m ha). The pro-poor outputs of this project, although regionally oriented, have the potential to have a major impact on the MDGs in Africa and other regions, as Asian bred chickpea and pigeonpea varieties are well adapted in eastern and southern Africa (links to Project 4), and thus, are seen by ICRISAT as producing both Substantive Public Goods (SPGs) and IPGs for food and nutritional security in the SAT. There have been no changes in outputs in the past year. The project is in full accordance with ICRISAT's strategic plan and concentrates, where possible, on upstream pre-varietal release research, while the downstream elements are executed in full collaboration with partner NARS in Asia and SSA. |