Curated Content

Purpose: To expand innovations in agriculture insurance and ensure quality implementation on the ground through the coordination of the Global Action Network, to help accelerate the availability and adoption of agriculture (index) insurance as part of a broader risk management strategy.

The greatest need is to deliver targeted and timely information to farmers based on their needs. The empowerment that comes from providing farmers with informed options is transformational, especially for women and youth.

Apps4Ag is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and responsive Apps4Ag database to better support access to, and uptake of ICT and mobile applications by individuals and institutions involved in value chain development.

The CCAFS Mitigation Options Tool estimates greenhouse gas emissions from multiple crop and livestock management practices in different geographic regions, providing policy-makers across the globe access to reliable information needed to make science-informed decisions about emission reductions from agriculture. CCAFS0MOT joins several empirical models to estimate GHG emissions from different land uses and suggests mitigation options that are compatible with food productions. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen, in partnership with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute of Environment, are developing the tool. CCAFS-MOT has also received support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). CCAFS is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors.

Maize is the most-produced cereal worldwide. In Africa alone, more than 300 million people depend on maize as their main food crop. In addition, maize is also very important as feed for farm animals. Currently, approximately 1 billion tons of maize are grown in more than 170 countries on about 180 million hectares of land. 90% of the world’s production is yellow maize, but in Africa, 90% of the total maize production is white maize. Maize production in Africa is very low: while the average yield worldwide is approximately 5.5 tons/hectare/year, production in Africa stagnates at around 2 tons/hectare/year.

This handbook has been prepared by CropLife International as part of a training course on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The objective of the course is to provide an overall understanding of the concepts of IPM, together with the principles for implementation in all crops. In this handbook, and during the course, it is assumed that participants are aware of IPM, but are not fully familiar with the concepts, and practical principles of implementation.

The handbook contains all the information that should be presented in the training course, together with some additional background information.

The main target groups of the course are pesticide retailers and agricultural extension officers, although farmers could also be included. With the understanding of IPM provided by the course, participants should be able to understand the practical implementation of IPM in actual farm and crop situations.

We began the year with the creation and announcement of a new strategic plan to take us forward through 2021 (page 2). This new plan sets goals for us both internally and externally to help us succeed as we carry out our mission to help smallholder farmers succeed.

To bridge the gap between research and practice in rice production, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) developed the Rice Knowledge Bank (RKB)—a digital extension service that provides practical knowledge solutions, specialized for small-scale farmers in developing countries.

RKB showcases rice production techniques, agricultural technologies, and best farming practices based on IRRI’s pool of knowledge from research findings, learning and media resources, and in-country projects.

The timeliness and quality of land preparation are critical to rice production. NERICA varieties are no exception. Good soil tillagepractices generally enhance ef cient fertilizer-use, soil porosity and aeration and then have positive impacts during germination, seedling emergence and stand establishment stages of plant growth,in addition to weed control.

This manual provides an overview of technical response options to water scarcity. It focuses onwhat individual farmers can do at the eld level, with a brief discussion on response options at theirrigation system level. The manual is meant as a support document for training on water manage-ment in rice production. It combines scienti c background information (with many literature refer- ences for further reading) with practical suggestions for implementation. The target audience is people involved in agricultural extension or training with an advanced education in agriculture or water management, who wish to introduce sound watermanagement practices to rice farmers (such as staffof agricultural colleges and universities, scientists,irrigation operators, and extension officers).