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MANILA - ICRISAT is quietly reinventing market-oriented agriculture, so you may not have heard of it. They call their approach  inclusive market-oriented development . For that, they use the acronym IMOD; I prefer the acronym iMODe, to call attention to the concepts of  inclusive  and  development , that which are ICRISAT's twin intellectual contributions to market-oriented agriculture, MOA.  The central idea is to link farmers to markets in an inclusive way order to escape poverty . Certainly a radical notion. To appreciate the importance of that, let us consider  Michael Porter’s  notion of the value chain, but in a modified manner. All things being equal, to a farm produce, there is value added along the way as it goes to the market.  In MOA, the value chain actors are : (1) input providers, (2) producers, (3) traders, (4) processors, and (5) marketers (fiji-taro-and-kava.com). I interpret that quite simply as that the chain is like this: Inputter --> Producer --> Trader -

MANILA - ICRISAT is quietly reinventing market-oriented agriculture, so you may not have heard of it. They call their approach  inclusive market-oriented development . For that, they use the acronym IMOD; I prefer the acronym iMODe, to call attention to the concepts of  inclusive  and  development , that which are ICRISAT's twin intellectual contributions to market-oriented agriculture, MOA.  The central idea is to link farmers to markets in an inclusive way order to escape poverty . Certainly a radical notion. To appreciate the importance of that, let us consider  Michael Porter’s  notion of the value chain, but in a modified manner. All things being equal, to a farm produce, there is value added along the way as it goes to the market.  In MOA, the value chain actors are : (1) input providers, (2) producers, (3) traders, (4) processors, and (5) marketers (fiji-taro-and-kava.com). I interpret that quite simply as that the chain is like this: Inputter --> Producer -->

NEW DELHI - It reads:   Agriculture Leadership Awards . With the eye of a teacher and a journalist, I see that India’s   Agriculture Today   Magazine online, a monthly, is in a class by itself in Asia. I would call it   The National Encourager.   I’m talking of editorial intent, not content. I’m based in Manila and when I think of our own aggie magazines in the Philippines published online or in print, that doesn’t encourage me. I see that the Agriculture Today Group is now in its 3rd year of sponsorship of the Agriculture Leadership Awards that it itself initiated and created in 2008. The Awards coincide with the annual Indian   Agriculture Leadership Summit , now one of India’s most prestigious events; EcoAgriculture says (ecoagriculture.org) the Summit is “ who’s who of India’s agriculture , agribusiness, polity, industry, government, media, development and intellectual classes coming together on a common platform to share their (views) on global issues, India’s farm sector a

MANILA - In Zimbabwe, I learn that  the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics , ICRISAT is telling a family that 9 kg/ha of nitrogen applied to corn is most profitable (icrisat.org). In the Philippines, I learn that  the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture , OPAPA, is recommending for corn as much as 425 kg/ha (about 9 bags) (openacademy.ph). Both are impossible! Isn’t 9 kg a little too little, and 9 kg times 47 a little too much? Juxtaposed like that, with those numbers we are forced to make a paradigm shift along with country-hopping, not to mention climate change. ICRISAT is talking to poor farmers and OPAPA is talking to rich farmers, or those who can afford to raise at least PhP 10,000 (about $220) for fertilizer alone for 1 corn cropping. ICRISAT must be talking of micro-dosing, using a bottle cap to measure out the fertilizer; OPAPA must be talking of macro-dosing, using unending fistfuls of fertilizer. The ICRISAT technology is tried and test

ADDIS ABABA - This one is about small farmers thinking big, big donors thinking sex, Africa thinking of a really big revolution. Africa needs a different kind of Green Revolution , USAID Mission Director  Thomas Staal  said (ethiopia.usembassy.gov). In fact, the African farmers were left behind by the Green Revolution that Borlaug wrought. Staal was speaking to the delegates to the by-invitation-only Borlaug Symposium 2010 in July. He was calling for a “Grassroots Green Revolution.” By the term “grassroots,” he referred to the small farmers, and he said they needed to become businessmen. Tillers thinking trade? That would require a continental paradigm shift. On second thought, perhaps it would require rather a tectonic shift. He was dreaming for the poor African farmers. Staal said the farmers must connect directly to the market, and when they do, this will spur growth in the small towns as well as “create economic opportunities for the landless and for the youth.” That i

This is the Inaugural Address for the International Conference on Plant Nutrition being held 11-13 August 2010 at the Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh campus of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT. The main organizers of the conference are ICRISAT and Infinitus Agri; the theme is “Plant Nutrition for Another Green Revolution.” The Chair of the organizing committee is William Dar; the Convener is Y Durgaprasad of Infinitus Agri. The original title of the manuscript is “Soil Health and Plant Nutrition: Critical Drivers for Food Security.” William D Dar Director General, ICRISAT In this part of India, you will see first-hand the severity of the problems of plant nutrition and soil health in the tropics, and how we in the Institute strive to address them to ensure the food and nutritional security of the poor and hungry. Being experts in the area of plant nutrition, you are well aware of its intricacies and importance in sustainabl