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‘Evolving demand for food crops research for sustainable intensification of agriculture’

‘Evolving demand for food crops research for sustainable intensification of agriculture’. Peter Craufurd With contributions from CIMMYT, ICRISAT, CIP, ICARDA, CIAT. Contents. What do we mean by Sustainable Intensification (SI)? Ethiopia’s context & trends in food crop production Yield gaps

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‘Evolving demand for food crops research for sustainable intensification of agriculture’

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  1. ‘Evolving demand for food crops research for sustainable intensification of agriculture’ Peter Craufurd With contributions from CIMMYT, ICRISAT, CIP, ICARDA, CIAT

  2. Contents • What do we mean by Sustainable Intensification (SI)? • Ethiopia’s context & trends in food crop production • Yield gaps • Evolving demand: systems research for SI & risk-reduction

  3. Sustainable intensification • ‘Sustainable intensification is about optimising productivity and a range of environmental and possible other outcomes’ • ‘Efficiency of inputs used relative to desired outputs; and desired outputs in relation to undesirable outputs’ Garnet & Godfray 2012 • CONTEXT specific • TIME & SPACE (landscapes not just field or communities ) • ‘Sustainable intensification needs a reduction in market transaction costs and improved productivity of commodity or labour that can be invested elsewhere.’ Lynam 2014

  4. Profitability of current & improved crop technology is limited Black bars – farmer practice Red bars – improved practice Harris and Orr, 2013 Median returns Note: large yield increase on small area = not much Take care in extrapolation; need for trade-off/bioeconomic models

  5. Context of agriculture Ethiopia • Hugediversity/heterogeneitybetween&withinfarmingsystems • Largestlivestock population in Africa (challenges &opportunities for crop & system intensification) • High climatevariability & vulnerability (risk & opportunity) • Limited land for crop expansion • Privatesector (especially SME) lessdevelopedthan in other countries • Dominance of public institutions, and lowprivatesectorrole in Agricultural Innovation Systems

  6. Trends in aggregate food crop area Area (ha)

  7. Trends in aggregate food crop area Opportunities for future expansion crop land are limited

  8. Trends in aggregate food crop yield Root & tuber yield not changed much : 70-80000 hg/ha

  9. In the last decade intensification, rather than extensification, major driver of production increase in cereals & pulses; roots & tubers area is increasing Production of maize in Ethiopia Source: CSA (courtesy DTMA)

  10. Yield gaps are an opportunity • Poor access to: • improved cultivars & quality seed • Pesticides • Irrigation • Extension… Source CSA 07/08

  11. Evolving research agenda for SI Accessible & functioning markets (value chains) are essential for SI • Where & for whom can SI work? • What can we do for those who cannot adopt SI? • Better targeting of ‘clients’; value-chains, farmer typologies, decision-support, bio-economic models • - Basket of interventions for SI, diversification & risk reduction that include crops, livestock & trees

  12. Evolving research agenda for SI • New cultivars (yield, biotic & abiotic tolerance, food & feed quality) major entry point • Need greater integration & promotion of crop/system management with new cultivars; missed opportunity • Invest in small-scale mechanisation; timing, frees up labour, gender-friendly, income generating options Hand-heldGreenseeker • Invest in precision agriculture for smallholders; fertilizer use & efficiency

  13. Evolving research agenda for SI • NRM interventions can be complex & knowledge intensive; investigate stepwise introduction of components; how to scale up? • Risks & opportunities of climate variability & other shocks; rapid release & seed production cultivars; seasonal weather forecasting, crop insurance linked to interventions • Community, watershed, landscape approaches for land & water management (climate smart landscapes) • Irrigation

  14. Systems research for SI • Agro-ecological zones (potential) • Crop, livestock, farm and landscape systems (scale) • Temporal changes (resilience) • Access to input/output markets; information; credit (enabling) • Farm size, assets, objectives (livelihood systems) • Design of systems • Future trajectories of change? • Tools for trade-off analysis & understanding farmer (& other stakeholder) decisions

  15. Invest in capacity building (& logistics) to scale-up – an example from India Bhoochetana Farm facilitators paid $2.50/d x 180d = $436,500 in 2012 • Favorable enabling environment - subsidized seed &nutrients ; investment in logistics/storage of seed, fertiliser; KN State Gov’t invested >$2m in soil testing • ICRISAT had 15 MSc and 2 PhD FTE in the field permanently, plus 1 FTE full-time for 10 years in KN Dept. Agric. • Collaboration with Digital Green for farmer-to-farmer videos • Be or find a champion!

  16. Thank you

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