New climbing beans featured in Sci-Dev

The recent release of 15 improved climbing bean varieties in Rwanda features in the latest edition of the online development magazine Sci-Dev.

The beans, developed by the CIAT and its partner, the Rwandan Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR), are well-suited to rainy, high-altitude areas, and include varieties with disease resistance. Some could triple the yields of the more commonly grown bush beans.

The article Beans climb to new heights in Rwanda discusses the traits and potential of the new varieties, which could be introduced in similar areas across Eastern and Central Africa.

Click for more information on the climbing release, and for more about CIAT's role in the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), and the work to expand PABRA's work to countries in West Africa.

Use of Organic Fertilizers

As of February, CIAT's Library is exhibiting books, thesis, reports and other documents on "Use of Organic Fertilizers”. The exhibition includes: cover crops, green manure, biofertilizers, composting, organic farming, agroecology, among others. Some of the publications are listed below:

• Agroecology and the search for a truly sustainable agriculture [on line]. Altieri, Miguel Angel; Nicholls, Clara Inés. 2005. http://www.agroeco.org/doc/agroecology-engl-PNUMA.pdf
  



• Agricultura orgánica : Fundamentos para la región andina. Benzing, Albrecht. 2001.
  


• Compost production : A manual for Asian farmers. Chen, Zueng-Sang; Bejosano Gloria, Cristina (eds.). 2005
  



• Biological husbandry : A scientific approach to organic farming. Stonehouse, Bernard. 1981.




• Cover crops in West Africa : Contributing to sustainable agriculture = Plantes de couverture en Afrique de l'Ouest : Une contribution à l'agriculture durable. Buckles, Daniel; Etèka, A.; Osiname, O.; Galiba, M.; Galiano, G. (eds.). 1998.




• Agricultura orgánica en Colombia : Un enfoque analítico y sintético. Zúñiga E., Orlando; Pohlan, Jürgen (eds.). [2001].
  A future for the land : Organic practice from a global perspective. Conford, Philip (ed.). 1992.




• Agricultural sostenible : (Ecológica u orgánica). Díaz Alvarez, José Ramón; Chacón Castela, Eugenion Angel (eds.). 2003.




• Agroecología : bases científicas para una agricultura sustentable. Altieri S., Miguel Angel; Hecht, Susanna B; Liebman, Matt; Magdoff, Fred; Norgaard, Richard B; Sikor, Thomas O. 1996.




• Workhop from Subsistence to Sustainable Agriculture : Policies, Strategies, and Implementation (2002, Johannesburg, South Africa). From susbsistence to sustainable agriculture in Africa: Papers presented. Breth, Steven A. (ed.). 2004.
  Soil tillage in agroecosystems. El Titi, Adel. 2003.




• Agroecología en el trópico : Ejemplos de Cuba : La biodiversidad vegetal, cómo conservarla y multiplicarla. Leyva Galán, Angel; Pohlan, Jürgen. 2002.




• Manual de agricultura orgánica. Ramírez Castaño, Gustavo. 1999.

Listado completo de la exposición en PDF (44 kb).

New digital story - Chayote success in Vietnam

A new CIAT digital story looks at the success of our Asia office in improving the livelihoods of chayote farmers in Vietnam’s northern uplands.

(If you have problems viewing the video stream here, you can watch it directly on Blip TV).

The delicious, nutritious shoots of the chayote plant are very popular with wealthy diners in Hanoi. By reforming the market chain and improving the links between producers, distributors and retailers, the Smallscale Agroenterprise Development in the Uplands (SADU) project has enabled farmers in the district of Tan Lac to gain a small but significant slice of the lucrative chayote trade.

SADU was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Four-and-a-half minutes in length, Chayote – a CIAT/SADU success story, gives an insight into the project and the farmers who have benefitted from it.

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Script in English

Chayote a CIAT/SADU success story

Hanoi is booming. And this growing city has a growing appetite for the shoots of the chayote plant.

At the city’s Long Bien night market, business is brisk. Some 6 tons of chayote shoots are bought and sold here each day.

Through SADU, a project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, CIAT is helping farmers from the Muong ethnic minority in Tan Lac, an upland district in the northwest of Vietnam, to gain a small but significant slice of this lucrative trade.

Chayote grows very well in Tan Lac but simply producing the crop is not enough. Having good links to outside markets, like Hanoi, is essential.

In 2007 the government of Vietnam supported a chayote pilot in Tan Lac but farmers struggled to find buyers for their crop. It was clear to SADU that farmers needed to be linked to the market. The project successfully supported the development of a local collection network and promoted links between the new collectors and buyers in the provincial capital, and in Hanoi.

SADU has helped farmers turn chayote into profit.

First the shoots are harvested, bundled and weighed. Then the bundles are then transported by motorbike to the lowlands, where they are loaded into trucks ready to make the 3 hour journey to Hanoi. The collectors must coordinate their supplies to ensure they meet the daily minimum volume required by their buyers.

At midnight the chayote arrives in Long Bien market, where it is snapped up by retailers and restaurants.

The system is proving highly profitable. Last year the 200 participating farmers earned USD 20,000 from just 4 hectares of chayote shoots. Many new farmers in Tan Lac are investing in this crop, and next season cultivated areas are expected to double.

Other remote upland areas have tried to cash in on the chayote boom. But without establishing strong market links, they can’t find any buyers. Their crop stands abandoned in the field.

But even where chayote has been profitable, farmers understand that relying on one high-value crop is risky. Now that a local network of collectors has been established, farmers have many more options and the prospects are good.

At the meeting hall in Quyet Chien commune government officers, collectors and CIAT researchers are discussing the best way forward. Chayote fruits have been identified as the easiest next step in diversifying production.

The intervention by CIAT highlights the strategic importance of market linkages for improving livelihoods in the remote areas of Vietnam.

In the uplands of Tan Lac, chayote is just the beginning.

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Guión en español

El chayote en Vietnam: una historia de éxito del CIAT en Asia

Hanoi se desarrolla rápidamente. Y la apetencia de esta ciudad en crecimiento por los tallos de la planta del chayote va en aumento.

En el mercado nocturno Long Bien, el comercio es intenso. Allí se compran y venden diariamente unas 6 toneladas de tallos de chayote.

Por medio de un proyecto de desarrollo de pequeñas agroempresas en las tierras altas de la RDP de Laos y Vietnam, conocido como SADU y financiado por la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación, el CIAT está ayudando a agricultores de la minoría étnica Muong, en el distrito Tan Lac, localizado en las tierras altas del noroeste de Vietnam, a que tengan una participación pequeña pero significativa, en este rentable comercio.

El chayote crece muy bien en Tan Lac, pero no es suficiente producirlo. Es esencial tener buenos vínculos con mercados externos, como el de Hanoi.

En el 2007, el gobierno de Vietnam apoyó un proyecto piloto de chayote en Tan Lac, pero para los agricultores fue muy difícil encontrar compradores. Para SADU fue claro que los agricultores tenían que vincularse al mercado. El proyecto apoyó exitosamente el desarrollo de una red local de recolección y promovió vínculos entre los nuevos recolectores y compradores en la ciudad capital de la provincia, al igual que en Hanoi.

SADU ha ayudado a los agricultores a convertir el cultivo de chayote en ganancia.

Primero se cosechan, empacan y pesan los tallos. Luego, los fardos son transportados en moto a las tierras bajas, donde se pasan a camiones preparados para hacer el viaje de 3 horas a Hanoi. Los recolectores deben coordinar sus suministros para asegurar que reúnen el volumen diario mínimo requerido por sus compradores.

El chayote llega al mercado de Long Bien hacia la medianoche, donde es ávidamente comprado por los minoristas y restaurantes.

El sistema está probando ser muy rentable. El año pasado, los 200 agricultores que participan en el proyecto ganaron USD 20,000 en apenas 4 hectáreas. Muchos de los nuevos agricultores en Tan Lac están invirtiendo en este cultivo, y se espera que las áreas sembradas se dupliquen en la siguiente estación de siembra.

Otras áreas apartadas de tierras altas han tratado de sacar provecho del auge del chayote. Pero sin establecer vínculos de mercado fuertes, no pueden encontrar compradores y los cultivos son abandonados.

Pero aun en las áreas donde el chayote es rentable, los agricultores comprenden que es arriesgado depender de un solo cultivo de alto valor. Ahora que se ha establecido una red local de recolectores, los agricultores tienen muchas más opciones y las perspectivas son buenas.

En la casa comunal de Quyet Chien, los oficiales del gobierno comunal, los recolectores y los investigadores del CIAT discuten el mejor camino a seguir. Se han identificado los frutos del chayote como el siguiente paso más fácil para diversificar la producción.

La intervención del CIAT destaca la importancia estratégica de los vínculos de mercado para mejorar los medios de vida en las zonas apartadas de Vietnam.

En las tierras altas de Tan Lac, el chayote es sólo el comienzo.

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Daniel Debouck - guardian of biodiversity

CIAT's Daniel Debouck is featured in the latest edition of Geneflow.

The annual magazine, produced by CGIAR sister-center Bioversity International, promotes "awareness of the importance of the Earth's agricultural biodiversity and the role it plays in improving people's lives and livelihoods."

In the two-page feature, Daniel describes his work as manager of CIAT's gene bank at the institution's headquarters in Colombia, which is one of the largest repositories of plant genetic material in the world. He also outlines the importance of protecting and conserving genetic diversity:

"I believe that one of the longest-lasting contributions you can make to society is the conservation and study of our biological heritage," he says.

Downloadable PDFs of the latest edition of Geneflow will shortly be made available on the publications section of the Bioversity International website.

In the meantime, you can click on the picture above to open the screenshot on the CIAT flickr page. Then click "All Sizes" to increase the size of the text.

Daniel was central to the CGIAR's successful bid to overturn the controversial "Enola" yellow bean patent. You can read about the culmination last year, of a decade-long battle to protect small bean producers in Latin America on the CIAT blog and CAS-IP blog, as well as a detailed background to the case here.

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Cassava under threat

Pest and disease outbreaks put SE Asia on high alert

CIAT scientists and their partners in Southeast Asia have issued urgent preliminary guidelines to tackle deadly pest and disease outbreaks that have crippled cassava production in parts of the region.

The move follows a CIAT investigation into reports from Thailand’s eastern and northeastern regions, of damaged and stunted cassava plants with low root yields.

Cassava is an essential pro-poor crop in the region, where it is grown by around 5 million smallholders, mainly to supply the starch processing and animal feed industries. In Thailand alone, the industry is worth US$1.5 billion annually, and the country accounts for three-quarters of the world’s cassava exports.

CIAT entomologist, Dr Tony Bellotti, was part of the investigation team that traveled from CIAT headquarters in Colombia to the region: “When we arrived at the plantations in Thailand, I was stunned. Straight away I realized we’ve got real problems.”

A drive around the Korat region, about three hours from the capital, Bangkok, confirmed the worst: the road was flanked by field-after-field of affected plants.

One troubling discovery was the large number of mealybugs – well-known cassava pests in Latin America and Africa, but rarely a problem for cassava producers in SE Asia. The sap-sucking insects weaken plants, resulting in leaf distortion, and lower root yields.



The Thai fields were also found to be infested by tropical whitefly and red mites, while Cassava Bacterial Blight (CBB) and Brown Leaf Spot disease were also widespread. Although seen before, none of these pest and disease problems had previously caused significant losses in Thailand.

Some analysts now predict a cut in Thai cassava output by at least 30% this season; some farmers face losses as high as 80%. Some have already abandoned their crop.

Dr. Tin Maung Aye, a cassava specialist in CIAT’s Asia office said: “These pests and diseases will place a huge strain on Thailand’s cassava production. Not only will the incomes of smallholder farmers be greatly affected, but so will those of the many laborers employed in the cassava industry. There will be widespread economic and social implications.”

Double-trouble
Then, more bad news as farmers in neighboring Vietnam began to report problems in their cassava crops. The team again found mealybugs, tropical whitefly and red mites, but the main problems were not pests, but diseases.

“The CBB was incredible,” said CIAT pathologist Dr Elizabeth Alvarez. “The disease was just oozing from the stems. I’ve worked with cassava for 30 years and I’d never seen anything like it.”

They also found symptoms known as “Witches’ Broom”, still new to Vietnamese farmers. This is typified by discoloration and distortion of cassava leaves, and shortening of the branches and stems. When the affected cassava is uprooted, the roots are thinner and smaller.

Further investigations are underway, and CIAT is now investigating reports that fields in Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines have also been affected.

“It’s no surprise if these problems are spreading quickly,” continued Tony Bellotti. “If the mealybug, for example, can find its way from its native Latin America, across the Atlantic to Africa, and then to Asia, it can find its way around the Mekong region and beyond.

“We can be fairly sure that China and Myanmar will be hit soon, and in time, Indonesia too,” he said.

“Cassava production in SE Asia has enjoyed an extended honeymoon period. That period is now over.”

Taking control
CIAT Asia is working with national partners to provide cassava management guidelines. “This is a red alert,” said Tin Maung Aye. “We’re still coming to terms with the scale of the problem, but without decisive action, we expect a huge slump in cassava output in SE Asia. That would be devastating for rural livelihoods in the region.

“The spread is almost certainly caused by the movement of infected planting material,” Tin continued. “One of the first responses is for the authorities in affected countries to impose strict quarantine regulations on the movement of cassava, especially the stems used as planting material, and of related species, like jatropha.

“Farmers also need to be trained to select and safely store clean planting material, and to identify pests and diseases. Establishing an effective surveillance and monitoring system with a Geographic Information System (GIS) database is essential.

“We will also need to develop an Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) strategy, based primarily on biological control. With sufficient and well-focused donor support, the current attempts to develop an effective IPM strategy could be strengthened very quickly, which will help protect next season’s crop. Over the medium to longer term, the biological control and IPDM strategy would be strengthened and include release of natural enemies to control pests and the insects that carry the diseases. Breeding of cassava varieties with greater pest and disease resistance would become a priority.

“As a result of generous, long-term support from the Nippon Foundation, CIAT and partners have had an extremely positive impact on cassava production in SE Asia, and the livelihoods of cassava farmers. We are therefore well-placed to provide solutions to the current pest and disease outbreaks,” he continued.

“But there is no time to lose.”

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CIAT’s main recommendations at this stage are:

• Select pest and disease-free plants in the field for collection of stems as planting material
• Store stems for planting in a cool, dry place, and if necessary dip in a systemic insecticide such as Thiamethoxam
• Avoid application of foliar pesticides – they can affect beneficial biological control agents
• Restrict the movement of cassava planting stakes, especially from infected areas and restrict the movement of related species such as jatropha
• Train extension staff and farmers in the identification of the various pests and diseases and develop a network of trained professionals in the region and a GIS-based system to monitor pests and diseases
• Initiate research into the identification and control of all observed pests and diseases, and their vectors
• Initiate a breeding programme to develop resistance to pests and diseases.

For more information, contact Rod Lefroy (r.lefroy@cgiar.org).

Improved climbing beans offer a lifeline to African farmers

Farmers in Rwanda will soon benefit from new climbing bean varieties that promise significantly higher yields, and which could challenge the dominance of bush beans in the country.



Extensive trials by CIAT and the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), have shown that the new varieties can quadruple the yields compared to the more commonly-grown bush beans. The varieties grow in poor soils and are well-suited to warmer, mid-altitudes regions. The different varieties of improved ‘climbers’ are also less vulnerable to certain diseases, including root rot, ascochyta blight and bean common mosaic virus.

Beans are a vital subsistence crop in many parts of Africa, as well as an important income-earner for farmers. But rapid population growth means there is a pressing need for farmers to intensify food production. CIAT, and its research partners, are now promoting a switch to the cultivation of hardier climbing beans as one possible solution.

The new climbing bean seeds were officially released to farmers in Rwanda by CIAT research partner the Institut de Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR) last Friday (15th January). Improved varieties have already gained popularity and are now increasingly grown in Eastern and Central Africa, including Burundi, South West Uganda, Eastern DRC and Eastern Kenya.

“We’re tremendously excited about a real opportunity to significantly increase bean yields for hundreds of thousands of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr Robin Buruchara, coordinator for CIAT Africa. “CIAT and its PABRA partners have been working for a long time on developing climbing varieties suitable to the environments where many bean consumers live."

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Helping beans gain ground in West Africa

By Olive Thiong’o – CIAT Africa

As the West and Central Africa Bean Research Network (WECABREN) regional meeting began today, the air was thick with expectation of improving ways to intensify bean production in the region, despite the expected effects of climate change.

WECABREN is the most recent entrant to the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), with 11 member countries, including: Central African Republic, Cameroon, Togo, Congo Brazzaville, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Conakry, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Representatives from these countries include scientists from various research organisations, (including National Agricultural Research Organisations -NARS), who are working with their respective governments for agricultural development.

Running from 18-21 January, in Accra, Ghana, the meeting will focus on the steps to be taken in PABRA’s new phase (2009 - 2013). It will review and assess earlier bean production efforts of the countries, particularly the last two years of PABRA’s 2003-2008 phase, including the planting methods used; pests and diseases encountered and how they were handled; weather conditions affecting or aiding productions; and market opportunities and constraints. These will then help define the way forward, for the new phase of PABRA, what can be done differently or better in the next 5 years. This opportunity to share knowledge and ideas amongst representatives from these countries is seen as essential for developing plans for the new phase.

In his opening remarks, by Dr Asafo-Adjei Baffour, a senior research scientist of the Crops Research Institute (CRI) on behalf of the Director, said: “Though the common bean (Phaseolus) is not popular in West Africa, there is tremendous potential for bean production in Ghana. For this reason, backed by the fruitful collaboration between CRI and CIAT in the cassava project, we hope that our relationship will be extended to beans for the benefit of Ghanaians and all of Africa.”

The three main objectives of the WECABREN network go hand in hand with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, seeking to improve incomes, empower people and alleviate poverty. In this new PABRA phase, countries like Ghana -where groundnuts, cowpeas and soybeans are the main grain legumes - will be encouraged to grow the common bean, in order to meet these objectives.

“Due to the changes in climatic conditions that will greatly affect farmer livelihoods, it is pertinent to intensify bean production,” said Dr Robin Buruchara, CIAT Africa coordinator and PABRA facilitator. “The enlarged scope of production will serve the ever increasing markets and need for the crop in the bean-scarce region.”

With presentation of bean work reports from most of the member countries, and CIAT-PABRA experts in nutrition, wider impact and breeding activities among others, West Africa looks forward to identifying ways to move forward in genetic improvement, integrated pest and disease management and reaching the beneficiaries.

Life after COP15 - agriculture is part of the solution

CIAT’s Andy Jarvis on why there are reasons to be optimistic after COP15.

As the dust settles following the United Nations’ COP15 Climate Change summit last month, it is important to evaluate some of its small, but significant successes.



CIAT was present in Copenhagen, contributing to a unified message from many like-minded institutions, that agriculture must be included in any plans to address climate change.

And while the conference will be remembered for the failure of national governments to agree strict, binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions, this overshadows the progress made with respect to recognizing the role of agriculture in tackling climate change.

In short, there are reasons to be optimistic.

Part of the problem, part of the solution
There is no doubt about it, agriculture is a major part of the climate change problem. It is a net contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through livestock production and the use of chemical fertilizers, as well as through indirect contributions, such as food transportation.

But agriculture is also a significant part of the solution to climate change. There are many opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, which at the same time enhance on-farm productivity and contribute to climate change adaptation.

These include many of the lines of work in which CIAT is directly involved, for example, the use of improved forages to improve livestock production, and better soil fertility management. Such eco-efficient practices – which CIAT strongly endorses and promotes – can significantly reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment, and the sector’s future contributions greenhouse gas emissions.

COP15’s recognition of the importance of agriculture in tackling climate change is, therefore, no small achievement. Now we need to carry that momentum forward.

Adaptation – funding the future
In addition, eco-efficient agriculture can help small producers adapt effectively to the effects of climate change. Already, the rural poor in many developing countries are among the first victims, as they suffer the effects of unpredictable rains, and the increasing frequency of drought.

By improving agricultural practices and funding adaptation research and implementation, eco-efficient agriculture can both improve environmental sustainability and improve rural livelihoods.

While COP15 saw great international focus on the role of forest protection in mitigating climate change, the event also saw the pendulum swing towards the creation of an adaptation fund. At CIAT, our message is – clear: any adaptation fund must give due prominence to agriculture.

We will continue to lobby strongly for this.

So, while many commentators were disappointed with some of the outcomes of COP15 - and CIAT is no exception - we must not dwell on this. Instead we must continue to apply pressure, to ensure that agriculture continues to be prominent in any discussions on climate change in 2010, and that COP16 in Mexico City in November makes up for the shortcomings of COP15, and builds on some of its under-reported achievements.

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While in Copenhagen, CIAT launched its “adaptation road map” concept, which we are using to evaluate the most appropriate actions for confronting climate change in developing countries. The flyers are available here. We have already completed our first national study of agriculture and climate change in Laos and we will soon issue one for Colombia, and one for Thailand later in the year.

• Read what The Economist made of the importance of agriculture at COP15 here.
• For more information about the COP15 side event Agriculture & Rural Development Day (ARDD), see here.
• For CIAT pictures from COP15, ARDD, and Forest Day, see the Flickr set here.
• For the CGIAR's coverage of COP15 and the associated side events, see here.