Press Releases 2002

Press Releases – 2002

1. Dealing with drought, 5 August,2002 2. Golden Millet, Naturally!, 6 July, 2002 3. US$ 1 million Tata grant for ICRISAT watershed project, 24 June, 2002 4. Project for Improvement of Grain Legumes in Rainfed Asia, 19 June, 2002 5. The Potential of Legumes, June, 2002 6. DFID (PSP) and ICRISAT's Rabi Cropping in Rice Fallows, 28 May, 2002 7. Workshop on Rabi Cropping in Rice Fallows, 28 May, 2002 8. ICRISAT Ventures into Social Marketing, 17 May, 2002 9. Aflatoxin: A Deadly Hazard, 1 May, 2002 10. ICRISAT Ventures into Social Marketing, 29 April, 2002 11. ICRISAT's New Vision: Agricultural Research for Impact, 28 April, 2002 12. Tata-ICRISAT Tie-up, 27 March, 2002 13. Poisoned groundnut - handle with care, 6 March, 2002

1)Dealing with drought, 5 August, 2002

Water is vital for agriculture. In the semi-arid tropics, where agriculture is predominantly rainfed and drought a recurring phenomenon, efficient water management practices like effective watersheds are becoming integral government policy. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) along with national agricultural system (NARS) partners has been working on technologies to manage drought for rainfed crops for the last 30 years. Rainfed agriculture, which depends on the monsoon, generally faces long dry spells during the cropping season. This year's drought is the worst in a decade.

But help is at hand. ICRISAT researchers and partners have developed and evaluated a number of options to suit various local conditions.

If crops are already planted at the onset of monsoon but drought is affecting the established crops:

 Employ soil/water conservation measures such as interculturing to loosen the surface soil, which helps break the capillary movement of water through evaporation. It also helps remove weeds and minimises competition for water.  Open dead furrows after every 10th crop row to increase infiltration and reduce runoff loses of rainwater.  Thin crops to minimise evapo-transpiration. How much thinning is required depends on the severity of soil moisture conditions.  Postpone fertilizer and insecticide application until the soil moisture situation improves.  Use available stored water efficiently for life-saving irrigation with drip or sprinkler systems. If crops are yet to be planted and monsoon is delayed:

 Sow short-duration varieties of the desired crops - preferably legumes like green gram, black gram, cowpea, pigeonpea and soybean after monsoon rains arrive.  Sow on contours to reduce runoff losses and increase rainwater infiltration in soil.  Grow fodder crops with available soil moisture - at least fodder for livestock will be ensured.  Harvest rainfall water at field and community levels for use as supplemental irrigation if needed during the crop maturity.  If rains are very late, forgo a kharif crop and use stored soil moisture for a rabi crop. Especially in black soils sow short-duration crops like chickpea, safflower, sunflower or sorghum.

Long-term strategies to cope with drought

"The authorities should frame policy to deal with drought on a long-term basis," says Dr William D Dar, Director General of ICRISAT. "The issue of considering water efficiency and not merely availability is a recent development."

It is estimated that in the next 50 years, India's irrigation capacity requirements will increase by 50%, and the demand for domestic and industrial water will rise at an even faster rate. Now the question is - is the available water being used efficiently? Increasing usage of available water resources becomes quite significant in this context. In the 1993/94 season, about 36% of water resources were actually utilised. But experts say that a 10% improvement in this ratio would translate into 14 million additional hectares of irrigated land.

It is essential to mobilize communities to work towards implementing soil and water conservation measures developed by scientists for the rainfed areas. For example:

 Integrated watershed management should be adopted for conserving water and using it efficiently through rainwater harvesting. Diversion of rainwater into dugout ponds, mini-percolation tanks, dry wells, sunken gully silt traps, water tanks and checkdams should be taken up under watershed development programs.  Soil organic matter also needs to be improved in the long term. Nitrogen-fixing shrubs like Gliricidia and Leucaena can be grown on bunds to improve the water- holding capacity of the soil.  Vermicomposting farm residues and weeds can add valuable organic matter to the soil. Earthworms both improve fertility and increase water-holding capacity of the soil.  Balanced and integrated use of nutrients and environment-friendly pest management options can increase the productivity of rainfed agriculture through efficient use of conserved soil and water resources.  Increase green cover with suitable plants.  Use improved varieties that resist pests and tolerate drought.  Educate farmers on appropriate soil and water conservation technologies.  Establish community-based systems for water resources auditing and use at village level to avoid over exploitation of groundwater.  Desilting existing water harvesting structures to increase storage capacity. The silt can then be used as a valuable source of plant nutrition.

2) Golden Millet, Naturally!, 6 July, 2002

An exciting finding has revealed that some of ICRISAT's pearl millet genotypes with yellow endosperm appear to have beta-carotene levels comparable to those of "Golden Rice".

Beta-carotene, also known as provitamin A, is a substance found in food that we must take into our bodies to make vitamin A. There are several such substances, called precursors, but the best is beta-carotene, because our bodies can make two molecules of vitamin A (retinol) from each molecule of beta-carotene.

"The "golden millet" is an exciting new alternative that deserves further development, keeping in mind that it would reduce but not eliminate the need for vegetables and other sources of pro-vitamin A," says Dr William D Dar, Director General of ICRISAT. Dr Dar adds, "golden millet is an important substitute to golden rice where rice production is not possible." "To have a staple food with a natural high content of beta-carotene would be the easiest way to alleviate vitamin A deficiency, which is one of the most important nutritional problems in developing countries," stated Juergen Erhardt, a researcher from the University of Hohenheim, who helped analyze the beta-carotene content of some of ICRISAT's millet genotypes.

Vitamin A deficiency causes hundreds of thousands of cases of irreversible blindness every year, especially among children in developing countries. There have been many studies examining the possibility of using foods naturally rich in vitamin A or provitamin A to combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. The results of Dr Erhardt's analysis are quite close to what ICRISAT scientists had earlier found using different extraction methods. Although excited about the finding, Dr CT Hash, ICRISAT Millet Breeder, said, "Dr Erhardt and I feel that some more time is needed to optimize the extraction procedure and analyze the isomers to more accurately calculate the potential intake of retinolequivalents from pearl millet grain."

Dr Hash also added that millet grains containing a substantial amount of pro-vitamin A would be acceptable to farmers "if this higher nutritional value can be delivered in locally-adapted, pest- and disease-resistant cultivars that have reasonable yield potential." Thus development of these breeding lines was relatively simple and low cost, but slow. Several additional years of research, at very modest levels of funding support, have brought us to the current position where ICRISAT's collaborators at the University of Hohenheim are just completing studies that will show the range of genetic variation that is available in cultivated pearl millet germplasm, and should serve as the basis for a follow-up research funding proposal.

"Golden millet is the ideal show-case to demonstrate what global research, development and extension teams can do by effectively linking conventional plant breeding, participatory research methods, and the tools of molecular biology to address a major health issue of the world's poorest people using naturally occurring crop genetic variation," Dr Dar adds. Pearl millet is the most important staple food grain in the SAT where no other grain crop can as reliably contribute to household food security. People living there have yet to benefit from the "biotechnology revolution", or even the "green revolution" that dramatically increased food grain production on irrigated lands over a generation ago. Here is something we can do for those people--the question is whether there is the political will in the donor and research communities to make a reasonable attempt to do so.

3) US$ 1 million Tata grant for ICRISAT watershed project, 24 June, 2002

An important ICRISAT-Tata-ICAR joint project called Combating Land Degradation and Increasing Productivity in MP and Rajasthan has been granted a US$ 1 million from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The partners are the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Sri Digvijay Singh, inaugurated the project for Dewas and Guna districts on 20 June at Bhopal. State Ministers Mahendra Singh (Agriculture), Ajay Singh (Rural Development and Panchayat), Professor MS Swaminathan, eminent agricultural scientist and World Food Prize Laureate, the Directors General of ICAR and ICRISAT, Dr Punjab Singh and Dr William Dar were present at the gathering.

Both the DG's discussed issues related to rainfed agriculture in India, the potential for improving livelihoods for small farmers and strategies to achieve food security while minimizing land degradation - in short, the ICRISAT-Tata-ICAR initiative in India.

The idea is to achieve a convergence of various development programmes concerning watersheds so that the activities focus on livelihoods in general and are not limited to soil and water conservation. This programme was initiated following a planning workshop on Combating land degradation and increasing productivity in Madhya Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan in March 2002. Tata-ICRISAT examined the feasibility of replicating the impressive results of the Adarsha Watershed at Kothapally, Andhra Pradesh, in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. After developing a workable implementation plan for the consortium, ICRISAT Director General Dar called on Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Industries Limited, in early June at Bombay House to update him on the progress. Mr Tata said, "I am impressed with the activities of your institute and I would like to be apprised frequently with the progress of this very interesting project."

Dr Dar also called on Mr Rusi Lala, Director, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, in Mumbai and debriefed him on the Tata-ICRISAT initiative. Mr Lala's appreciation was such that he agreed that the Sir Dorbaji Tata Trust would provide US$ 1 million for the project implementation in Dewas and Guna districts of Madhya Pradesh and Bundi district in eastern Rajasthan.

A multidisciplinary team of ICRISAT scientists, led by Dr SP Wani, will provide technical backstopping to NGO partners like Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation and Samaj Pragati Sahayog in Madhya Pradesh. Additional technical know-how will be provided by Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya and ICAR institutions like the Indian Institute of Soil Science, the Directorate of Soybean Research and the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering.

4) Project for Improvement of Grain Legumes in Rainfed Asia, 19 June, 2002

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) agency of Italy has provided a grant of US$ 1.3 million towards the Improvement of Grain Legumes in Rainfed Asia project. The project partners are ICRISAT, India, China, Nepal and Vietnam. Over two days (19-20 June) ICRISAT is hosting a meeting with Indian collaborators to come up with a work plan for the implementation of the project.

The priority legumes that are being considered: Groundnut, Chickpea and Pigeonpea and the goal of the program is to affect a sustainable increase in agricultural productivity through wider adoption of legumes in cropping systems in Asia. The use of better- adapted legume varieties and production technologies (that ICRISAT has developed) will improve the well being of the rural poor.

The Objectives of the Planning Meet are:

 Selection of trial locations  Participatory rural appraisal (PRAs)  Integrated crop management (ICM) management The meeting also details the expected outputs and the implementation processes. The participants include Dr NB Singh, ADG ICAR, Dr MD Jeswanii, leader of Pulse IPM Team - NCIPM, Dr MS Basu, Director NRGC, Dr PS Bharodia, Principal Scientist, GAU, Dr A Satyanarayana, Director Extension, ANGRAU, Dr T Yellamanda Reddy, Principal Scientist, ARS Anantapur, Dr B Raghu Rami Reddy, Technical Director, Rural Development Trust, Mr Surendra Behar, State Project Director, Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Society and others.

5) The Potential of Legumes, June, 2002

The Rice/Wheat system, an important one in the Indo Gangetic plane, has provided food security for the last three decades. But lately the system has been showing signs of fatigue. Farmers and agri-workers have been finding that rice/wheat system is not cost- effective. Also legumes, chickpea, pigeonpea, and peanuts, are an essential component of people's diets. These legumes, in fact, are the protein component that has, according to the FAO statistics, diminished in the recent past. Along with the area used to crop the legumes.

To keep the system sustainable - i.e., replenish the soil for the next crop with nitrogen - and increase the protein in people's diets - the farmers have to introduce legumes in the rice/wheat system.

Legumes are also the major crops and therefore income generators for smallholding farmers, especially women. Apart from which large areas of farmland - nearly 14 million ha - are left fallow (without crops) after a harvest of rice. These are potential areas where legumes can be introduced.

With the technologies available in ICRISAT - short duration crops and watershed management - crops like chickpea can be grown profitably in residual rice fallows with the existing soil moisture.

Farmers save on: - Additional irrigation - Tillage - Additional fertilizer

This is a low-cost input technology for sustainability of rice/wheat systems.

The advantages of this technology are many: Chickpea, for instance, can produce a maximum of 40 to 70 kgs of Nitrogen per ha. It is also the least thirsty crop - maximum water-use-efficiency (kg grain per hectare per mm of water). Also chickpea and pigeonpea are inherently drought-adapted crops. In fact, a Bangladeshi farmer said that, 'chickpea is a drought loving crop.'

The advantage with legumes is that they can be closely integrated in crop-livestock enterprises of small-scale producers enabling them to participate in the expanding market of livestock products.

ICRISAT and other International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs; such as CIMMYT, IRRI, CIP, IWMI) have jointly formed a rice-wheat consortium and are working towards greater inclusion of legumes in the rice-wheat systems. Rehabilitation of Chickpea in Nepal: A difference in the lives of people

A few years ago Nepal was devastated when the deadly botrytis gray mold (BGM) epidemic of 1997/98 destroyed the chickpea crop, the damage was two fold. Not only did the farmers lose their investment, they refused to cultivate chickpea the following season as they normally did in the rice fallows.

But the use of chickpea variety developed by ICRISAT partner, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and some off-the-shelf Integrated Pest and Disease Management technologies (commonly called Integrated Pest Management, IPM) also developed by ICRISAT and its collaborators in India and Nepal, has helped reestablish chickpea in Nepal. In fact, the use of these technologies, apart from seeds of BGM tolerant chickpea variety (that was developed by ICRISAT) resulted in a two to six-fold increase in seed yield and higher net-incomes.

The good news kept spreading, and by the end of 2000/01, 1100 farmers were sowing chickpea. The best news is that by the end of 2001/02, the ICM techniques will have been firmly adopted by 7000 farmers.

Take the case of Krishna Kumari Sherestha, from the tiny village of Lalbandi, in Sarlahi district of Nepal. She was originally a tomato farmer who has shifted to chickpea cultivation and is now producing up to 4 tons of chickpea per hectare. A high yield by any standards. She has been selling the seeds of the Chickpeas variety 'AVARODHI' to other farmers and to traders.

6) DFID (PSP) and ICRISATchr(39)s Rabi Cropping in Rice Fallows, 28 May, 2002

ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, invites you to a Press Conference, at their Patancheru campus at 10.30 am Thursday May 30 2002, to hear firsthand about the outcome of the Workshop on Rabi Cropping in Rice Fallows. This important international workshop, funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) Plant Sciences Research Programme (PSP), will have finalized a plan of action to utilize the potentially rich 14 million hectares of fallow land in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Of the 14 million hectares 11.6 million hectares are located in the northeastern parts of India. Introducing the commercially in-demand chickpea in this vast tract of land could positively influence the socio-economics of the country.

The workshop has brought together the main players in a major project concerning rabi cultivation in rice fallows in South Asia. Dr Dave Harris of DFID-PSP, Dr Shahidur Bhuiyan of USAID, Bangladesh, Dr Shanmugasundaram from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre (AVRDC), Dr RK Gupta from the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), Dr JS Samra, DDG Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Mr AM Musa of PROVA, Bangladesh will address the press about the conclusions of the workshop and about the scope of scaling up the project for another 2½ years.

We would be happy to have a representative of your esteemed publication at the meeting.

For those who would like to use it, group transport has been arranged on Thursday to leave the Press Club in Basheerbagh at 09.15 and the Press Club in Somajiguda at 09.30.

7) Workshop on Rabi Cropping in Rice Fallows, 28 May, 2002

Scientists are meeting this week to discuss a problem of immense proportions. For uncounted generations, South Asian farmers, who till some of the world's most productive soils, have had to leave land fallow for months after harvesting a single crop of rice. Between cropping seasons, farmers traditionally just wait for the next rains, simply because there is nothing else they could do. The soil, once drained of the water that nourishes their rice, becomes hard as rock, making cultivation impossible. A total of 14 million hectares in eastern India, southeastern Nepal and northwestern Bangladesh have been, for hundreds of years, left fallow. A waste? Undeniably. An unsolvable problem? Fortunately, no. Growing legumes, especially chickpea (Cicer arietinum) may be the answer. The roots of this nutritious legume are so tough that they can penetrate as deep as one metre into the rock-hard soils.

ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, is hosting the international workshop, which is funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) Plant Sciences Research Programme (PSP). The workshop, which starts today (28 May) and concludes on Thursday (30 May), has brought together the main players in a major project concerning rabi cultivation in rice fallows in South Asia. The scientific meeting will investigate progress made in introducing and promoting legumes, primarily chickpea, into rice fallows after the rice has been harvested.

The workshop will investigate feedback from farmers, their problems and perceptions, and explore means of sensitising them to the possibilities of growing chickpea – using technologies developed by ICRISAT and DFID-PSP like rapid tillage, sowing short- duration crops and seed priming. The 3-day workshop will also scope out the possibility of scaling up the project for another 2½ years.

Dr CR Hazra, Agricultural Commissioner (GOI), will grace the proceedings. Participants include representatives of CRS and Gramin Vikas Trust from India, LI-BIRD and FORWARD from Nepal, and PROVA from Bangladesh. Also attending are Dr Dave Harris of DFID-PSP, Dr Shahidur Bhuiyan of USAID Bangladesh, Dr Shanmugasundaram from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre, and Dr RK Gupta from the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement. Footnote: Chickpea in AP. In 1986 only 60,000 hectares were sown to chickpea in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. By 2002 this figure had quintupled to 300,000. Even more impressive are the production figures: from less than 300 kg/ha in 1986 to more than 1000 kg/ha six years later. Putting these data together spells a tenfold increase in chickpea in the state. The significance of the penetration of chickpea into farmers' fields in Andhra Pradesh is important to understand – the crop is nontraditional in southern India. In fact, southerners call it 'Bengal gram' because they're used to importing it from Bengal and other northern states.

8) ICRISAT Ventures into Social Marketing, 17 May, 2002

ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, is making a concerted effort to initiate social marketing strategies to: (1) Attract funds from the development investors, (2) Tap the private sectors and other non-traditional funding sources, and (3) Become financially self-sustaining by using its infrastructure and knowledge base. This marketing strategy is crucial because of the rapidly changing agricultural research environment across the world. There has been a decline of over 50% of public or ODA (overseas development assistance) funds for agricultural research. At the same time, there has been a marked increase in private sector investments.

“We have to go to social marketing to identify assets of the institute that could be further developed to generate some revenues for ICRISAT. This is an approach to focus on key products for development,” says Dr William D Dar, Director General, ICRISAT.

Keeping these dynamics in mind, ICRISAT hosted a Strategic Marketing Workshop conducted by two American training facilitators John Riggan of The Conservation Company and Richard Steckle of AddVenture Networks, Inc USA was held here in ICRISAT-Patancheru during the first week of March.

The Ford Foundation, through a grant to the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research), funded the facilitators. This CG-Ford program is meant to help develop and widen the funding base of each of 16 centers, of which ICRISAT is one.

The workshop sought to create awareness of the need for alternative funding sources – mainly foundations and the private sector – through social marketing and strategic business alliances. The idea is to tap new resources and identify ICRISAT's niche or comparative advantages. The main output was a Global Action Plan for CGIAR and ICRISAT's strategic marketing. And the result was the identification of strategic assets for social marketing. A strategic asset is a unique product, capacity or service, which has direct or intrinsic value.

The workshop helped identify nine assets for further development. They are:

 Science/Biotech park: ICRISAT will build joint venture projects that assist start- up biotech companies to establish a service platform that will fuel a strong and dynamic agri-business.  Community information centers for people empowerment  Novel food products/novel traits: ICRISAT will pioneer uncommon or non- traditional use of food products  Watersheds: Although watershed work is not new, ICRISAT, along with partners in local government institutions, has developed a new model for developing and managing watersheds sustainably  Seed Systems: This initiative, chiefly designed for Africa, involves identifying and supporting viable markets for seeds  Africa Market Gardens: Another Africa centric initiative, these gardens are designed to make the most of extremely poor farming conditions  Village Level Studies: These studies are in demand globally. They are a valuable panel data that provides an in-depth understanding of livelihoods  Eco Tourism: This idea will bring stakeholders to ICRISAT to gain an appreciation for the natural resources of the research farm at Patancheru  Genebank: ICRISAT's extensive collection of seeds will provide the raw material for improvement of crops in India and through the dry tropics

9) Aflatoxin: A Deadly Hazard, 1 May, 2002

Facts about Aflatoxin: Things that you need to know... Aflatoxins cause cancer and trigger mutations, especially to genes involved in the production of liver cancer. They are also immunosuppressive, which means, like HIV, they make you susceptible to other health disorders.

Aflatoxin contamination is harmful to both humans and animals. Poultry, cattle and sheep are especially susceptible. More facts:

In 1994, more than 200,000 broiler chickens died in Ranga Reddy District as a result of Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut cake in chicken feed.

 Nearly 25% of the milk supplied in Hyderabad through retail outlets is contaminated with Aflatoxin.  The exact number of humans infected is not well known but there have been several reports indicating high levels of aflatoxins in the blood and urine of people. ICRISAT's research assessed Aflatoxin contamination in such food items as groundnuts, chillies, and various spices like ginger, black pepper, turmeric and coriander.  In a survey of supermarkets across the city it was found that a large number of other groundnut products like chikkies (or peanut crunch), peanut butter, and milk-based confectionary were contaminated.  Studies reveal that milk, including popular brands meant for infants, is also contaminated. The milk used in children's formula often comes from cattle fed with contaminated food.

"A recent survey carried out in the rural regions in India showed that 21% of groundnut samples contained non-permissible Aflatoxin levels," says Dr William D Dar, the Director General of ICRISAT. "ICRISAT has developed cost-effective tools for estimation of Aflotoxins"

Aflatoxins act very slowly and prolonged consumption can lead to liver cancer in humans. A person's chances of contracting cancer are compounded significantly if he/she also carries the hepatitis B virus, which causes jaundice. In India, an estimated 20 million people are hepatitis B carriers. Importantly, the most commonly used cooking products are frequently contaminated.

One of the major drawbacks in fighting Aflatoxins is the fact that there is no awareness about it in India. Western countries, on the other hand, have strict regulations governing the testing of food products for Aflatoxins. "Concerns over Aflotoxin contamination of Indian groundnut in both domestic and international markets restrict access of groundnuts produced by marginal farmers to these important and lucrative markets," Dr Dar adds.

It is a vicious cycle. For various reasons, both small and large businesses rarely test their cattle and poultry feed for contamination. This inaction leads to widespread and silent Aflatoxin infection. At present there are no easily accessible and inexpensive techniques or tools to check for infection in humans in India. But ICRISAT will begin work on this problem soon.

The institute has developed very inexpensive tools for estimating Aflatoxin infection in foods and feeds. ICRISAT also has the technology to reduce the contamination levels at the crop production level. The scientists at the institute are aware of some of the factors that lead to the production of Aflotoxin at the farm level. Farmers are welcome to avail of this technology to help avert potential disaster.

But first, they need to acknowledge that:

 Their animals' health is affected – especially in the case of poultry. Chickens die within the first week of contamination. Feed suppliers, therefore, use the existing technology to check for contamination.  Farmers cannot export their produce (like groundnuts) to developed nations because of stringent regulations.  People need to become aware and demand for a consumer action that will ensure that basic food supplies are not contaminated.

For more information please contact Dr Farid Waliyar, Principal Scientist, Crop Management and Utilization for Food Security, ICRISAT, Ph: 3296161 or Dr DVR Reddy.

10) ICRISAT Ventures into Social Marketing, 29 April, 2002

ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, is making a concerted effort to initiate social marketing strategies to: (1) Attract funds from the development investors, (2) Tap the private sectors and other non-traditional funding sources, and (3) Become financially self-sustaining by using its infrastructure and knowledge base. This marketing strategy is crucial because of the rapidly changing agricultural research environment across the world. There has been a decline of over 50% of public or ODA (overseas development assistance) funds for agricultural research. At the same time, there has been a marked increase in private sector investments.

"We have to go to social marketing to identify assets of the institute that could be further developed to generate some revenues for ICRISAT. This is an approach to focus on key products for development," says Dr William D Dar, Director General, ICRISAT.

Keeping these dynamics in mind, ICRISAT hosted a Strategic Marketing Workshop conducted by two American training facilitators John Riggan of The Conservation Company and Richard Steckle of AddVenture Networks, Inc USA was held here in ICRISAT-Patancheru during the first week of March. The Ford Foundation, through a grant to the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research), funded the facilitators. This CG-Ford program is meant to help develop and widen the funding base of each of 16 centers, of which ICRISAT is one.

The workshop sought to create awareness of the need for alternative funding sources – mainly foundations and the private sector – through social marketing and strategic business alliances. The idea is to tap new resources and identify ICRISAT's niche or comparative advantages. The main output was a Global Action Plan for CGIAR and ICRISAT's strategic marketing. And the result was the identification of strategic assets for social marketing. A strategic asset is a unique product, capacity or service, which has direct or intrinsic value.

The workshop helped identify nine assets for further development. They are:

 Science/Biotech park: ICRISAT will build joint venture projects that assist start- up biotech companies to establish a service platform that will fuel a strong and dynamic agri-business.  Community information centers for people empowerment  Novel food products/novel traits: ICRISAT will pioneer uncommon or non- traditional use of food products Watersheds: Although watershed work is not new, ICRISAT, along with partners in local government institutions, has developed a new model for developing and managing watersheds sustainably  Seed Systems: This initiative, chiefly designed for Africa, involves identifying and supporting viable markets for seeds  Africa Market Gardens: Another Africa centric initiative, these gardens are designed to make the most of extremely poor farming conditions  Village Level Studies: These studies are in demand globally. They are a valuable panel data that provides an in-depth understanding of livelihoods  Eco Tourism: This idea will bring stakeholders to ICRISAT to gain an appreciation for the natural resources of the research farm at Patancheru  Genebank: ICRISAT's extensive collection of seeds will provide the raw material for improvement of crops in India and through the dry tropics

For more information contact: Barry Shapiro, Head Resource Mobilization Office, ICRISAT, Ph: 3296161.

11) ICRISAT's New Vision: Agricultural Research for Impact, 28 April, 2002

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid tropics (ICRISAT) has a direct focus on the world's poorest people. The 'SAT' part of the institute's acronym is significant. The semi-arid tropics of the world are home to 38% of all poor people living in developing countries. Of these, 75% live in rural areas. The SAT also contains over 45% of world's hungry and more than 70% of the world's malnourished children. Despite remarkable advances in agricultural research, poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition remain primary issues throughout the SAT. And since agriculture will continue to be the backbone of SAT economies, including that of India, in the foreseeable future – productivity gains are essential to achieve food security, poverty alleviation and the economic viability of agriculture. ICRISAT's Vision and Strategy to 2010 is geared to deal with challenges and issues of the SAT. It is a long-term, people-oriented approach by problem-based, impact-driven science with effective delivery systems that focuses on Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. “We need to be relevant. The science we do must impact on the poor people/farmers in the SAT,” says Dr William D Dar, the Director General of ICRISAT. ICRISAT will address these challenges by: • Enhancing productivity, quality and use of SAT crops • Effectively managing SAT – a fragile and risk-prone environment • Diversifying income-generating options and commercialization of SAT crops The agricultural research milieu has changed dramatically during the last 20 years. One of the trends has been a gradual shift away from ODA (overseas development assistance) from the developed countries towards the private sector. Another important shift has been towards environmental considerations over the problems of basic agriculture. ICRISAT, keeping these factors in mind, is working towards strengthened and diversified partnerships – including the private sector – for greater impact. The institute also recognizes that productivity increases can be achieved through genetic and natural resource management and delivery systems. ICRISAT's research strategy is founded on six global themes, which focus on problem- based, impact-driven regional and local projects. They are: Harnessing biotechnology for the poor Crop management and utilization for food security and health Water, soil, and agro-biodiversity management for ecosystem health Sustainable seed supply systems for productivity Enhancing crop-livestock productivity and systems diversification SAT futures and development pathways ICRISAT is one of Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR's) 16 centers and is known as a Future Harvest Centres.

12) Tata-ICRISAT Tie-up, 27 March, 2002

The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) concluded a Planning Workshop on Combating land degradation and increasing productivity in Madhya Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan -- an additional project to the ongoing Asian Development Bank funded project on combating land degradation, and increasing productivity and incomes for the rural poor. The number of stakeholders in this project indicate the great level of interest in solving the problem. Besides the Tata Trust and ICRISAT, also present were representatives from the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF), the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), the Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), the Samaj Pragathi Sahayog, the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), the Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture, Udaipur, the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihood Project. Also present were two international institutes, the International Livestock Research Institute and the International Water Management Institute.

Formally launching the Tata-ICRISAT project, ICRISAT Director General Dr William D Dar emphasized that the work conducted in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan must affect other parts of India and could even be applied to Africa. "Water is considered life," said he, "and when there is no water there is no agriculture and no life." Expressing great hope in the project, he said that the project will help minimize land degradation, and would do much to improve the lives of rural people. The strategy to implement this project will be participatory watershed management adopting a holistic system approach.

In an overview of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust activities in India, Mr M Gorakshkar mentioned that the Trust has completed 70 years this month. The Trust has expanded from education and health to natural resource management and livelihood generation. Of the three kinds of grants given by the trust, namely Capital, Corpus and Program, ICRISAT has been sanctioned a Program Grant, from which project funding will be made available over the next five years.

Poisoned groundnut - handle with care, 6 March, 2002

A group of poisonous fungi could become a severe threat to India's groundnut industry unless appropriate steps are taken. This was the view of experts attending an international conference on aflatoxins infection in groundnuts, being held at ICRISAT, Hyderabad.

Groundnut plants are attacked by Aspergillus fungi, which later produce toxic compounds known as aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are carcinogens, associated with liver cancer and possibly other diseases. They affect both beings and animals. Cattle can fall severely ill, or even die, if the consume infected groundnut. A lactating mother is at risk, not only of falling ill herself, but also of passing the poison to her baby, through breast milk.

How can small-scale farmers detect and control aflatoxin contamination at a reasonable cost? This is discussed intensively by various institutions in India and abroad: ICRISAT, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, University of Reading, UK, University of Belfast, National Research Center for Groundnut, Junagadh, AME, based in Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh Rural Reconstruct Mission, STAAD, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Veterinary Biological Research Institute, the Directorate of Oilseeds Development and the private sector-poultry industry. But the most important participants were farmers themselves, who added their perspective on the effectiveness (and cost- effectiveness) of various control methods. This interaction gave farmers a better understanding of the aflatoxin problem. while scientists got the opportunity to discuss their products with the end-users (farmers).

Unfortunately, as ICRISAT plant pathologist Dr Farid Waliyar points out, “Farmers do not receive a price premium for aflatoxin-free groundnuts, so there are no real financial incentives for them to spend their scare resources on aflatoxin