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Pesticide use cut: Misuse and overuse of insecticide sprays by Asian rice farmers is dangerous to human health and damaging to the environment. IRRI researchers, in partnership with the Vietnamese Department of Plant Protection and Leyte State University, have launched an innovative public information campaign in the Mekong River Delta that is reaching some 92 percent of the delta’s 2.3 million farm households. Insecticide use has decreased by 72 percent. Paddy output in the delta increased to 14 million tons (up from 11 million tons). The campaign is being extended to one million rice farmers in the Red River Delta. The campaign won Scotland’s St. Andrew’s Environmental Prize. (www.irri.org)
Aquaculture boosts farm incomes: Integrated aquaculture/agriculture (IAA) techniques developed by World Fish Center and partners are boosting farm incomes and productivity. Farms using IAA techniques produce 1.3 to 1.6 tons of fish per hectare, compared to less than 900 kg/ha commonly achieved. On average, the integrated pond/vegetable garden of IAA farms generate 72 percent of household income and are essential for food and nutrition security among poor farming communities in Asia. (www.worldfishcenter.org)
China’s newest food crop: ICRISAT researchers have successfully introduced pigeonpea in Guangxi province, China. Pigeonpea is a hardy, drought-tolerant food legume high in protein and B vitamins and offers the added benefit of fixing nitrogen and other nutrients in the soil. The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is working to promote pigeonpea cultivation in three more provinces characterized by harsh, dryland farming conditions. This research effort received China’s Love Ball and Friendship Awards. (www.icrisat.org)
Halting malaria at its source: Research by IWMI and partners is addressing public health aspects of water use in agriculture. The CGIAR Systemwide Initiative on Malaria and Agriculture (SIMA) is developing improved water management practices for better mosquito control. Traditionally, malaria prevention efforts have relied on pesticides or pharmaceutical drugs. As mosquitoes develop resistance to pesticides and as drugs lose their effectiveness against the malarial parasite, SIMA is working to develop improved water management practices that curb malaria at its source: stagnant pools of water common in irrigated agriculture. (www.cgiar.org/iwmi/sima)
Forest policy for ecosystem health: CIFOR researchers are developing guidelines for improved timber production that minimizes harm to forest ecosystems by using site-sensitive harvesting techniques. These guidelines have reduced impacts of heavy machinery on forest soils (e.g. soil compaction) by 25 percent, and increased carbon sequestration in the remaining vegetation by 50 percent. (www.cifor.org)
[Source: http://www.cgiar.org/ ]
