Training program on the principles and practice of sustainable cropping systems

Donors, policy-makers, researchers and farmers all agree on the urgent need for sustainable improvements in the productivity of agriculture - especially given projections for a doubling of food demand in the next 50 years. The design and implementation of sustainable practices is a huge challenge, even for researchers and extension workers with advanced training and extensive field experience. Without such skilled human resources, especially in developing countries, it is unlikely that the required innovations will be forthcoming. This project is part of an initiative established by CIMMYT to strengthen the practical knowledge of professionals in developing countries research and extension services who work in maize and wheat systems, and research and extension managers and policy makers in those countries whose decisions and support affect those professionals. ACIAR will be supporting two case studies within the overall research plan of the initaitive for the first year. The first study will look at sustainaing maize system productivity and sustainability in drought-prone rainfed maize systems in southern Africa: household labor and soil and water management, and the second will examine threats to sustained productivity and soil and water quality in rice-wheat cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia: issues in problem definition and the identification of options for farmers.