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Browsing by Author "Hellin, Jonathan"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Adapting no-tillage agriculture to the conditions of smallholder maize and wheat farmers in the tropics and sub-tropics
    Erenstein, Olaf; Sayre, Ken D.; Wall, Patrick C.; Dixon, John; Hellin, Jonathan (2006)
    "The purpose of this paper is to summarize some of CIMMYT's experiences with the adaptation of NT to smallholder conditions in the tropics and sub-tropics. The scope of the present paper is too narrow to review all of CIMMYT's NT experiences over the years. Instead, this chapter will focus on three contrasting cases of ongoing research and development across the developing world. These cases follow a section that discusses NT in relation to CA. Following the case studies, the paper continues with a discussion on NT innovation systems and impact pathways." (Excerpt from Introduction)
  • Adoption and economic impact of improved wheat varieties in the developing world
    Dixon, John; Nalley, L.; Kosina, P.; La Rovere, R.; Hellin, Jonathan; Aquino, P. (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2006)
    This paper discusses the impacts of the adoption of genetically improved wheat lines and varieties. The increasing wheat productivity that has occurred during the past century has contributed to increased food security and poverty reduction. The adoption of improved wheat varieties occurs at different rates for different regions. Adoption rates are dependent on the level of education of the farmer, the resource base, the availability of credit, and the methods of technology transfer. While studies have shown that the largest benefits have gone to farmers in irrigated areas, there are many other benefits involved with improved wheat varieties such as lower food prices and poverty reduction. [summary by record creator]
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    Impact of Vetiveria Zizanioides (vetiver grass) live barriers on maize production in Honduras
    Hellin, Jonathan; Haigh, M. (Beijing, P. R. China: Tsinghua University Press, 2002)
    The authors investigated the use of grass strips as a soil conservation method in maize production on steeplands in Central America. Soil tended to accumulate above the strips and to scour immediately below the strips. Over a three-year test period, the authors noted no significant difference in yields between control and test plots except in the drought year of 1997 when maize planted above the grass barriers benefitted from the water stored in the accumulated soil. The authors concluded that the grass barriers by themselves did not provide enough benefit to encourage widespread adoption. They did suggest, however, that replacing the grass with a harvestable crop could improve the benefits of the technology.
  • Livelihoods, poverty and targeting in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: A spatial mapping approach
    Hellin, Jonathan; Erenstein, Olaf; Chandna, P. (New Delhi, India: CIMMYT and the Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (RWC), 2007)
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    Setting the agenda: Climate change adaptation and mitigation for food systems in the developing world
    Wollenberg, Eva; Herrero, Mario; Wassmann, Reiner; Neufeldt, Henry; Vermeulen, Sonja; Rosswall, Thomas; Campbell, Bruce; Hellin, Jonathan; Jarvis, Andrew; Challinor, Andrew; Snook, Laura; Smakhtin, Vladimir; Kinyangi, James M. (Copenhagen, Denmark:The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), 2012)
    New agricultural development pathways are required to meet climate change adaptation and mitigation needs in the food systems of low-income countries. A research and policy agenda is provided to indicate where innovation and new knowledge are needed. Adaptation requires identifying suitable crop varieties and livestock breeds, as well as building resilient farming and natural resources systems, institutions for famine and crop failure relief, and mechanisms for rapid learning by farmers. Mitigation requires transitioning to ‘low climate impact’ agriculture that reduces emissions while achieving food security, economic well-being and sustainability. Efficient interventions, incentives for large-scale shifts in practices, and monitoring systems are required. Integrated assessments of adaptation and mitigation are needed to better understand the synergies and trade-offs among outcomes.
  • U-impact pathway for diagnosis and impact assessment of crop improvement
    Dixon, John; Hellin, Jonathan; Erenstein, Olaf; Kosina, Petr (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2007)
    Agricultural research has contributed enormously to poverty reduction and increased food security worldwide. Wheat crop improvement is a good example of this contribution. Public investments in wheat research from the Green Revolution onwards led to significant productivity increases: following the widespread adoption of semi-dwarf varieties, annual yield growth rates peaked at 2.75% p.a. in the 1980s. Since then, public and private investments in crop (including wheat) research have been modest despite the potential of such research to contribute substantially to the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving hunger and poverty by 2015. Drawing on a wide spectrum of recent literature, the present paper broadens the usual frame of reference for diagnosing the adoption of improved technology and measuring impact. The adoption of improved varieties and management practices is influenced on the supply side by the nature and performance of the input delivery pathway from research to the farm (input value chains), and on the demand side by the characteristics of the farm household system and the marketing or value-adding chains from the farm to the consumer (output value chains). These three elements (input value chains, farm household system characteristics, and output value chains) can be viewed as a U-impact pathway. This pathway determines the rate and extent of adoption of improved varieties and practices, the magnitude of direct and indirect impacts, and the potential for feedback loops leading to improved functioning of the input and output value chains. The U-impact pathway provides a framework to identify an expanded set of beneficiaries from crop improvement which extend beyond the common focus on producers and final consumers; conventional surplus analysis can then be used to estimate the wider benefits to crop improvement. Additional metrics may be needed to estimate impact related to non-economic benefits, such as poverty, health and social capital. The implication of this fuller accounting of impacts is that the benefits accruing to agricultural research may be greater, and more widely distributed across the economy, than previously recognized by research managers and policy-makers. This strengthens the case for maintained or increased public and private sector investment in crop improvement.