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  International Fund for Agricultural Development

Programme for farmer-participatory improvement of grain legumes in rainfed Asia

Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Information
TAG Number: 532
Grant Amount: USD 1,300,000 (Total project cost is USD 2,300,000)
Countries: China, India, Nepal and Viet Nam
Implementing organizations: International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of participating countries
Grant type: Agricultural Research Grant
Duration: Four years
Grant approval: 25 April 2001
Starting date: 13 May 2002
Closing date: 31 March 2006 (Completion date: 30 September 2005)
    

Background

Approximately one third of Asia’s population of 3 000 million people live below the poverty line. This figure is expected to double over the next half century. Food security and the incomes of the region’s future population will depend crucially on successful, sustainable intensification of agriculture and on the reversal of present trends towards land degradation.

The past successes of Asian countries in meeting the food needs of their fast-growing populations have depended largely on the spread of Green Revolution technology for cereal production. Legumes initially received relatively little attention, despite their importance in balancing human and animal diets and their potential, through biological nitrogen fixation and improved phosphate utilization, for improving soil fertility. More recently, legumes have received heightened research and development attention, but yield gains have been less spectacular than with cereals and productivity improvements have been distributed unevenly, both within and between countries.

 
Grain legumes such as groundnut, chickpea and pigeon pea, have long been important to Asian diets and health. Expanded legume production would help reduce the current protein deficiencies that limit the growth and performance of many people, especially women, children and the poor. Legumes provide additional sources of edible oils (e.g. groundnut). As components of crop diversification, they can become new cash crops to supplement farmer incomes, while residues can improve the nutrition of livestock. The increased biomass that legumes contribute to cropping systems through nitrogen fixation and better phosphate utilization has minimal cash cost. Residues from leguminous crops help reverse declines in soil organic matter levels – declines that are a major contributory factor in decreasing crop responses to more costly added nutrients.

Grant purpose

The general objective is to improve the well-being of the rural poor in the Asia region through sustainable increases in agricultural productivity based on wider adoption of grain legumes in cropping systems.

Specific objectives include to:

  • create or enhance capacity at field level for farmer-participatory research and extension (FPRE) programmes on grain legumes in rainfed areas;
  • use this enhanced capacity to generate better adapted grain legume varieties and production technologies so as to expand the role of grain legumes in the sustainable intensification of rainfed cropping systems; and
  • generate sufficient motivation among farmers and participating local institutions – through practical demonstrations of the utility of FPRE and achievement of tangible results – for the approach to be replicated and sustained using local and national resources.

Components

Trial locations

Selected local partners at each of the 20 trial locations will bring together stakeholders, including representatives of IFAD loan-financed development projects operating in the area, to identify and analyse problems relating to legume system improvement.

Participatory research and development

Potential solutions emerging from dialogue with stakeholders at the trial locations will be investigated by the farmers on their own land, in association with researchers, in the framework of a participatory research and development programme.

Integrated crop management research

Following a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) survey to identify priority biological and physical constraints, including socio-economic factors affecting legume production in rainfed Asia, an Integrated Crop Management (ICM) programme of research and application will be conducted.

Impact

Outcomes expected from the project include:

  • development of institutional mechanisms and human capacity for farmer-participatory improvements to grain legume varieties and cropping systems that have the commitment of farmers and are effective, replicable and sustainable;
  • availability of an initial series of grain legume cultivars better matched to the needs of resource-poor farmers in the selected areas, and that are ready for wider distribution either after, or without the need for, further adaptation;
  • a set of associated soil management practices showing promising adoptability among farmers;
  • a full range of viable IPM technologies validated on selected IFAD project sites for scaling up and adoption into existing cropping systems, and capable of improving overall productivity and sustainability; and
  • profiles of the varietal characteristics of groundnut, chickpea and pigeon pea preferred by farmers, processors and consumers in the selected locations, to guide future selection programmes.

Links to other IFAD loans

Links to related research results

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

ICRISAT Publication

Contact

Dr Shyam N. Nigam
Project Coordinator
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Patancheru 502 324
Andhra Pradesh, India
Telephone: INT+91+ 40 329 6161
Fax: INT+91+ 40 324 1239
E-mail: s.nigam@cgiar.org

Contact in IFAD

Mr Douglas Wholey
Technical Adviser (Agronomist)
Technical Advisory Division, IFAD, Rome
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