Research Highlights of the CIMMYT Wheat Program 1999-2000

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Hobbs on the zero-till planters from New Zealand. The modified planter worked well and was remarkably low priced. But largely due to researcher/leadership skepticism, nothing happened for several years, as occurred in Pakistan. Several factors were essential for effecting change in both countries, but perhaps most important were two dynamic NARS scientists, Dr. R.K. Malik, weed scientist at HAU in Haryana, India, and Dr. Mustaq Gill, director of the on-farm water management program in the Punjab, Pakistan. Both shared Hobbs’ conviction that new, more efficient, economical, and sustainable technologies were needed for the rice-wheat system. They viewed zero-till wheat planting and direct farmer participation as fundamental to developing relevant technologies and getting them out to farmers quickly. They both developed the approach of placing zero till planters in the villages with motivated staff to work with farmers. The similarity of what occurred in both cases is striking. From a total of about 20 ha planted in a number of farmers’ fields two or three years ago, each program planted nearly 6,400 ha of zero-till wheat during the 1999/00 crop cycle. Tremendous farmer demand exists for zero-till planters in both countries, and manufacturers are striving to meet demand. At least 500 planters will be sold in Pakistan this year. Many farmers now realize that zero-till wheat after paddy rice is a new, integral part of normal production technology for the irrigated paddy ricewheat cropping system. In addition to higher, more stable yields from more timely wheat planting, farmers are saving about 98 liters of diesel fuel per hectare by reducing the number of tillage passes (up to 10) normally used to plant wheat after flooded paddy rice. Irrigation water savings average nearly 20%, and many annual weeds such as Phalaris minor appear to be less prolific under zero-till. The potential effects of this technology are revolutionary, for it offers real progress towards making farmers’ production systems more sustainable, input efficient, and profitable. The events in the province of Punjab in Pakistan and the state of Haryana in India constitute a clear lesson on how to more efficiently introduce new, relevant technologies to small-scale farmers. The technologies need to address real problems and must be tested and understood by the people who will be directly involved with farmers. Researchers should strive for direct farmer participation as early as feasible, i.e., even during the development stage of the technology. Furthermore, when major changes are being made in farmer practices such as converting to zero-till planting, appropriate machinery and equipment, new or modified, will be needed. Someone needs to make sure that the proper prototypes are developed and that some entity will be able to build adequate numbers of good quality machines. Irrigated Bed Planting Systems in Northwest Mexico Irrigating crops through furrows or corrugations is not a new technology. It is practiced in parts of West Asia (Turkey and Iran), in Pakistan and China, and is one of the more common irrigation systems in western USA. This irrigation system is more commonly used for row crops such as maize, cotton, dry beans, and soybeans but is also used for small grains such as wheat. Small grains are generally planted on the flat with the irrigation furrows 70-100 cm apart. Far more common (especially among small farmers in South Asia and China) is irrigated wheat planted on the flat with flood irrigation, though the same farmers may grow other crops with furrow irrigation. Almost all surface-irrigated systems combine heavy tillage with crop residue incorporation (maybe the minority) or crop residue removal, often by burning (probably the majority). Flood irrigation for wheat is practiced on essentially all the irrigated rice-wheat area (about 25 million ha). However, there is at least that much area or more under surface irrigated production systems where wheat is grown in rotation with other crops besides rice. 2
Given these circumstances, the changes that have occurred in farmers’ production practices over the past 25 years in northwest Mexico, especially in the Yaqui Valley of Sonora, have given scientists and farmers the opportunity to develop more sustainable irrigated production systems. This is also an example of farmers taking the lead in modifying production practices, well ahead of most researchers and machinery manufacturers. Twenty-five to thirty years ago, nearly all farmers in the Yaqui Valley planted their wheat on the flat and used flood irrigation. The wheat production system was characterized by extensive tillage and crop residue burning and by heavy dependence on herbicides to control weeds. Today more than 95% of farmers plant their wheat on beds and use furrow irrigation (70-100 cm between furrows). The major innovation that farmers introduced was to plant on top of each bed 2-3 defined rows, spaced 15-40 cm apart, depending on bed width and row number. This simple modification offered new wheat management options that allowed farmers to dramatically improve production efficiency and reduce production costs. By simply changing to furrow irrigation, they realized an average savings of 25% in irrigation water. By planting 2 or 3 defined rows on top of each bed, farmers were able to gain new advantages for wheat by utilizing management practices such as: • Pre-seeding irrigation, which allowed the weed population to be controlled mechanically at planting and enhanced crop establishment, especially in heavy, crust-forming soils. • Mechanical weeding in the furrows and between the rows after crop emergence; this, combined with pre-seeding irrigation, has reduced herbicide use from 70-80% of farmers 25 years ago to less than 10% at present. • Band application of fertilizers in the bed at planting, followed by banding of side-dress nitrogen at critical times after crop emergence (instead of the more inefficient N broadcast application or application in the irrigation water), which can dramatically improve N use efficiency and enhance grain quality. • Decreasing intra-plant competition and using lower seed rates, which reduces crop lodging. The clear advantages of planting wheat on beds made it likely to be useful in other similar areas, especially where irrigated wheat is grown in rotation with other upland crops or with rice. Basic to its dissemination was a training program initiated in 1994 to bring visiting scientists to CIMMYT-Mexico. During the wheat crop cycle in Ciudad Obregon (located in the Yaqui Valley), these scientists study the bed planting system so they can later test its utility in their home areas. Since 1994, over 39 agronomists, mainly from Asia, but also from Africa and Latin America, have been trained in bed planting. Research, development, and extension programs for bed planting are currently underway in India, Pakistan, China, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and several Central Asian republics. In most cases, similar improvements in production efficiency are being obtained, including irrigation water savings of 25-50%. Although the lack of adequate bed planting machinery has been a common constraint, each country is working on developing appropriate machines. In the summer of 2000, trials were initiated in India to investigate the feasibility of growing rice on beds in rotation with wheat (R. Gupta, pers. comm.). Some extremely favorable results were obtained, including more than 50% savings in irrigation water compared to transplanted puddled rice. Grain yields were similar in both systems. Nearly all farmers in the Yaqui Valley continue to use fairly extensive tillage and considerable crop residue burning. However, farmers using the bed planting system have quickly realized that if the same bed width is used for all crops in their production system, they can reduce tillage by reusing the same bed for succeeding crops. Therefore, it is common practice to till, make new beds, and plant wheat. After the wheat harvest, the straw is removed for fodder or burned (most common), and the same beds are then used to plant soybean. After the soybean harvest, tillage is performed again, before planting wheat or another crop. 3
Page 2 and 3: Research Highlights of the CIMMYT W
Page 4 and 5: Table of Contents New Conservation
Page 6 and 7: Foreword We are pleased to initiate
Page 10 and 11: Burning is practiced due to a lack
Page 12 and 13: (0.64 million ha), and Bolivia (0.2
Page 14 and 15: New Bread Wheats for High Rainfall
Page 16 and 17: CIMMYT scientists have published on
Page 18 and 19: Taken together these data indicate
Page 20 and 21: Evaluating Advanced Materials Targe
Page 22 and 23: this may simply reflect a lack of v
Page 24 and 25: eleased in more than 30 countries u
Page 26 and 27: Parallel enhancement of yield compo
Page 28 and 29: Taken together, these factors sugge
Page 30 and 31: of improved seed and new technologi
Page 32 and 33: The high cost of hybrid seed is one
Page 34 and 35: Only a few cultivars performed well
Page 36 and 37: in CAC. In Turkey, the advantage ov
Page 38 and 39: ows, 2 m long). One plot was inocul
Page 40 and 41: Table 2. Wheat production statistic
Page 42 and 43: Based on farmers’ preferences, 12
Page 44 and 45: Global Monitoring of Wheat Rusts, a
Page 46 and 47: Monitoring nurseries The nurseries
Page 48 and 49: controlled by several QTLs with sma
Page 50 and 51: environments with strong disease pr
Page 52 and 53: eselections, studies at CIMMYT have
Page 54 and 55: References Johnson, R. 1978. Practi
Page 56 and 57: spike. Interaction between Lr19 and
Page 58 and 59:
variation in the trait. Both grain
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the variation in yield (Figure 2).
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References Amani, I., R.A. Fischer,
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in ECSA rely heavily on CIMMYT whea
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the pivotal role of Kulumsa in the
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Regional wheat quality classificati
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Table 5. Regional screening nurseri
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In 1992-93 the CIMMYT office in Tur
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In addition to shuttle breeding sev
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the CIMMYT wheat breeding program.
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Five participants thought the level
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35. Skovmand, B.; López C., C.; S
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94. Tanner, D.G. 1999. Principles a
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182. Díaz de León, J.L.; Escoppin
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258. Mujeeb-Kazi, A.; Delgado, R.;
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CIMMYT-Derived Bread Wheat, Durum W
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Research Highlights of the CIMMYT Wheat Program 1999-2000

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