Los Baños, Philippines
May 15, 2002

A cropping system that unites millions of farmers across South Asia promises to play a key role in helping to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Rice and wheat are traditionally planted in rotation in eastern Afghanistan, as they are on much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which extends east of Afghanistan through Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Restoring a productive rice-wheat system in Afghanistan is essential to reviving Afghan
agriculture, ensuring food security, and setting the war-torn country on the road to economic recovery.

"We must focus our attention on re-establishing food security as quickly as possible," said a senior aid official. "Restoring Afghanistan's agricultural sector has multiple benefits. Historically, 80 percent of the population depends on farming and grazing. Revitalizing this sector not only will reduce dependency on international food assistance, but give employment to former combatants, help stabilize the security environment, and spur the economy."

The World Bank estimates that cereal production, the mainstay of Afghanistan's food security, has fallen by almost 40 percent since 1999 and is only half of what it was during the prewar years. In addition to wheat, rice is a major staple for the Afghan people, who consume on average 17 kilograms per capita per year (equal to 30 kilograms of unmilled rice). Historically, Afghanistan is largely self-sufficient in rice. However, in the past decade, during which time the country's total rice requirement rose by 42 percent, the area planted to the grain fell by 35 percent, yields fell six percent to 1.79 tons per hectare (less than half of the world average), and total rice production plunged by 43 percent. As a result, rice imports have risen 20 fold, from 5,000 to more than 100,000 tons per year, at an annual cost of more than US$15 million.

Imported rice accounts for some 30 percent of Afghan consumption of the grain, a figure roughly parallel to the one-third of the Afghan people who depend on international food aid.

Ensured productivity

The rice-wheat system is the focus of an on-going, ten-year scientific effort to ensure the continued productivity of the 13.5 million hectares of the Indo-Gangetic Plain where the system is practiced, as well as a further 10.5 million hectares in China.

"It's crucial that the rice-wheat farmers of South Asia continue to be able to harvest their crops and so feed the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them," warned Ronald P. Cantrell, director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). "And, today, it's a pressing need that the rice-wheat farmers of Afghanistan receive assistance in restoring the productivity of their farms."

In a global effort to assist rice-wheat farmers in South Asia, the national agricultural research and extension systems of Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh have joined forces with scientists from IRRI and other Future Harvest centers - including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement
Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India, the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka, and the International Center for Potatoes in Peru - to form the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC). The consortium is funded mainly by the
Asian Development Bank.

The RWC grew out of a joint project between IRRI and CIMMYT that started in 1990 as part of a major new effort to help rice-wheat farmers find sustainable new strategies and technologies to improve their lives. Fundamental to the project right from the start has been farmer participation, to ensure the research is demand-driven. Equally important has been close collaboration among scientists from all the countries involved, including representatives of the often antagonistic neighbors India and Pakistan.

After the first phase of the project was completed in 1994, the project members established the Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, a major system-wide eco-regional initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which includes the Future Harvest centers named above. The aim of the project has been to promote research that is fundamental to achieving enhanced productivity and the sustainability of rice-wheat cropping systems in South Asia.

Of particular note has been the project's success in getting farmers to move away from the high-input farming strategies introduced since the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s towards more sustainable, profitable and environmentally friendly technologies.

Precision farming

In addition to this fundamental strategy, the consortium has adopted several other key principles. One of the first of these is the "precision farming" concept, which advances resource-conserving technologies that can increase crop productivity, while at the same time reducing crop production costs, increasing farmers' income, and sustainably improving the quality of each farm's natural resources.

Jagdish Kumar Ladha, IRRI soil nutritionist and rice-wheat coordinator, said that years of intensive cropping in rice-wheat areas has seriously depleted the level of soil nutrients available to future crops. "Additionally, the inappropriate use of fertilizers, which has been rampant in the region, has also adversely affected local soils," Dr. Ladha added.

He explained that precision farming teaches farmers about site-specific nutrient management and how to apply nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in ways that avoid further nutrient depletion. "Every field is different, so farmers need to be quite specific about what each crop will need," Dr. Ladha stressed.

One of the great successes of the consortium has been the introduction of a simple tool known as the leaf color chart (LCC) to help farmers determine the amount of nitrogen a rice or wheat crop needs. A recent study found that 175 farmers from India's Haryana state were successfully using the LCC to cut their use of nitrogen fertilizer by up to 20 percent. Other precision farming techniques, such the deep placement of nitrogen tablets (or briquettes) and controlled-release fertilizers, helped further reduce
farmers' application of nitrogenous fertilizer by up to 30 percent.

Researchers have enjoyed success in helping grain growers cut their water use, in some cases achieving savings of up to 40 percent. This has been achieved by helping farmers introduce new strategies such as cultivating rice on raised irrigated beds rather than in puddled soils with standing
water. They have also learned how to adapt rice production to leave the soil in suitable condition for the following wheat crop.

Efficient resource use

"The future sustainability of such an agricultural system strongly depends on maximizing input use efficiency and reducing the cost of cultivation," explained Dr. Ladha, who added that the consortium research team is intensively monitoring the rice-wheat ecosystem. "Technological options for producing more rice and wheat through the more efficient use of resources such as water, labor, fertilizer and crop-protection agents is a major challenge that needs an integrated approach based on farmer participation.

"Other technologies being considered for integration into the rice-wheat system," said Dr. Ladha, "include land-leveling for water savings, growing rice in un-puddled conditions for greater water and labor savings, alternative practices for weed and residue management for environmental protection and nutrient savings, and the conjunctive use of organic and inorganic nutrient sources for balanced nutrient management and fertilizer savings."

More collaboration and trust

According to Raj K. Gupta, the consortium's regional facilitator, and Peter Hobbs, a CIMMYT agronomist, there is no doubt the consortium is already one of the finest examples of collaboration in South Asia, providing clear evidence that countries in the region can work together to help their citizens improve their lives.

"The major challenge for the consortium members is to find new ways to ensure the food security of the region's millions of grain consumers while at the same time making rice-wheat farming more profitable," Dr. Hobbs explained. "While funding is a key constraint because many donor agencies
are placing less emphasis on agriculture, we have to be optimistic."

IRRI is the world's leading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with offices in 11 other countries, it is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of  16 Future Harvest centers funded the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies.

For more information, visit the Web sites of the CGIAR (http://www.cgiar.org) or
Future Harvest (http://www.futureharvest.org).

Future Harvest is a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and supports food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family, well-nourished children, and a better environment. Future Harvest supports research, promotes partnerships, and sponsors projects that bring the results of agricultural research to rural communities, farmers, and families in Africa, Latin
America and Asia.

Web (IRRI): http://www.irri.org; Web (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org 
Web (Riceweb): http://www.riceweb.org; Web (Riceworld): http://www.riceworld.org