NAIROBI, Apr 10 (IPS) – As agrifood programs within the International South buckle beneath the burden of local weather change, biodiversity, and even air pollution, specialists similar to Dr. Himanshu Pathak name for pressing revolutionary options, as, on the present tempo, the issues of the International South are going to accentuate with escalating local weather change.
Pathak is the director basic of the Worldwide Crops Analysis Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a world analysis institute targeted on dryland agriculture. He has over 32 years of expertise in local weather resilience, soil and crop administration, and sustainable agricultural programs.
Chatting with IPS on the CGIAR Science Week, he shared his insights into the deepening rural poverty and starvation throughout the International South and what it might take to construct agricultural resilience and sustainability.
“Altering local weather, growing temperature, and growing air pollution are going to accentuate the issue of degradation of its land, water, and air. To unravel these issues, we strongly imagine that new science and new know-how might be very helpful to handle these challenges. New science means creating new varieties which can be resistant or tolerant to climatic modifications,” he mentioned.
“Varieties which can be excessive yielding and on the identical time higher in nutrient content material, which can assist in selling soil fertility, won’t degrade the soil. As soon as we develop these varieties and new applied sciences, we’ve got to achieve these applied sciences to the farmers by a conducive coverage setting.”
ICRISAT is on the frontlines of creating much-needed options by its regional stations in eight totally different nations in Africa and, in all, working with about 80 nations on totally different elements of their analysis actions, similar to on amended crops like millets, sorghum, pulses, pigeon peas, chickpeas, and oilseed-rich groundnuts.
“We do crop enchancment, enhance yield by creating new varieties, and enhance nutrient content material by creating bio-fortified varieties. We additionally work on handle soil, water, vitamins, fertilizer, and, in fact, local weather motion, and we’re actively engaged in social sciences, capability constructing, schooling, coaching, and instructing.”
On why farmers don’t at all times undertake new science and applied sciences, Pathak mentioned they discover it troublesome to take action “with out good coverage and help and with out good incentives. And there’s additionally an important want for capability constructing and ability growth of farmers, as at the moment’s applied sciences are fairly information intensive.”
Emphasizing that farmers want to enhance their expertise and information to “perceive and undertake these new applied sciences, new varieties, new water administration, and so forth. And to attain all of these items, there’s a want for partnership. Partnership amongst analysis organizations, partnership amongst farmers, donors, and policymakers.”
For sustainable modifications, he spoke of an pressing have to contain girls farmers, as gender equality is a central a part of the answer, as is youth involvement. Stressing that it is a totally different technology of youth and that to draw and retain them in agriculture will take embracing new applied sciences similar to digital agriculture, synthetic intelligence, and precision agriculture, and equally essential, agriculture needs to be market-oriented.
Reiterating the crucial function that science and know-how play, David Guerena, a analysis scientist on the Alliance Biodiversity Worldwide–CIAT, spoke to IPS about the necessity to take heed to what farmers are saying to grasp their extra most popular varieties and even what attracts them to those varieties. This understanding may also help breeders make extra knowledgeable selections in the direction of more practical options which can be higher tailored to native settings. Stressing that AI and machine studying options for agriculture, particularly round breeding and breeding companies, are additionally well timed and significant and that, moderately than leaving farmers behind, know-how can join farmers to analysis.
“It will be important that we converse to farmers instantly to assist customise agricultural advisory companies and linkages to markets. AI can be efficiently interfacing with breeding groups. We now have additionally seen how cellular cash switch fashions similar to MPESA have performed in rural ecosystems in supporting smallholder farmers to transact with ease,” he mentioned.
Dr. Stephen Mutuvi from the Alliance Biodiversity–CIAT and primarily based in Arusha, Tanzania, makes a speciality of Pure Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Studying. He leads the machine studying operations within the group’s totally different tasks, specializing in synthetic intelligence.
He advised IPS that AI is a part of the answer, as “you possibly can simply document farmers as they converse, for example, and folks with out literacy ranges can convey their messages by simply having their voices and conversations recorded.”
“After which utilizing AI to transcribe their phrases robotically and making use of superior fashions like these just like ChatGPT to research the information. So, we’re at a really attention-grabbing area the place the superior applied sciences in AI are additionally attending to be helpful and to be of impression to the direct customers, who’re the farmers on this case.”
Guerena pressured the necessity to discover concord between indigenous information, which has sustained agriculture for 1000’s of years, and superior scientific information. Saying that indigenous information offers a historic understanding and science is extra fashionable and extra superior and that the 2 are central to creating lasting options.
However a scarcity of entry to post-production stays a ache level for smallholder farmers within the International South. Pathak says supporting farmers to entry good costs for his or her produce is crucial: “Market-friendliness, gender-friendliness, and naturally nature-friendliness of agriculture might be extraordinarily essential in constructing agricultural resilience and sustainability.”
As is so usually the case, he affirms that innovation and science are extra invested in growing yields as elements of post-harvest, post-production, and entry to markets are left unattended. He asserts that though growing manufacturing is essential, it isn’t ample.
“And subsequently, we’re working for the complete agri-food system, ranging from seed to provide, after which every kind of worth addition and connecting farmers with markets. So, worth addition, agri-food processing, and post-harvest administration of the commodities are extraordinarily essential,” Pathak mentioned. “Onwards, together with growing productiveness by creating new varieties and new soil and water administration applied sciences, we even have to offer equal, if no more, significance to post-harvest administration for agri-value addition.”
IPS UN Bureau Report,
Comply with @IPSNewsUNBureau
Comply with IPS Information UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights Reserved. Authentic supply: Inter Press Service
