This toolkit is a collection of technologies designed to optimize wheat cultivation across Africa. These technologies have been meticulously selected to address the challenges encountered in wheat production, processing, commercialization, and storage, ensuring a more resilient and profitable wheat sector. By integrating these technologies into your projects or business plans, you can maximize yields while minimizing environmental impacts and reducing labor intensity. Each technology in the toolkit comes with the option to receive technical support, ensuring effective and sustainable implementation.
9 results
Efficient Harvesting, Smarter Fleet Management Combine harvesters are versatile agricultural machines capable of performing multiple harvest operations in a single process. They come in various sizes to cater to different farming needs, handling crops like wheat, maize, rice, soybean, and more. Efficient management and fleet selection are crucial for optimizing performance and minimizing costs. These machines significantly reduce grain losses and labor expenses, making them essential for wheat farming and increasing production in labor-scarce areas.
Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Farming In regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where dry tropical conditions and diminishing soil fertility pose significant challenges to wheat production, the adoption of Minimal Tillage and Surface Mulching of Soils is paramount. Traditional farming practices, characterized by excessive tillage and minimal organic matter incorporation, have led to the degradation of crucial soil functions, including nutrient retention and water management. With dwindling water resources due to drought spells and overexploitation, Conservation Agriculture (CA) emerges as a cost-effective solution. CA enhances wheat grain yields, ensures resilience to water scarcity, and benefits both farmers' incomes and the environment by promoting soil biodiversity, reducing emissions, and sequestering carbon, making it a vital strategy for sustainable wheat production in dryland farming systems.
Smart Irrigation, Bountiful Harvests Furrow Irrigated Raised Bed Wheat Production is an efficient cultivation technique that optimizes water use in wheat farming. By creating raised beds and controlled furrows, this method reduces water consumption, improves soil moisture, and enhances crop productivity. It addresses the challenge of limited freshwater supply for agriculture, making it a crucial practice for dryland wheat cultivation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Wheat cultivation in high temperature regions ICARDA has developed heat and drought-tolerant wheat varieties. These varieties mature in 90 days, resist heat, drought, diseases, and pests, and increase wheat grain harvests. They are tested and adapted to local conditions before release. This innovation benefits farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Reduce wheat losses due to Hessian fly and increase yield The Hessian Fly Resistant Wheat Varieties technology addresses a critical threat to wheat production in North Africa and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Hessian fly, a destructive pest, causes substantial losses by laying eggs on wheat leaves, leading to larvae that form protective structures. These resistant wheat varieties offer a natural defence, providing the most effective control method. By adopting this technology, farmers can safeguard their crops from severe damage, ensuring stable wheat production. Crop surveillance and extension messaging further optimize the use of these invaluable varieties, securing food security in affected regions.
Balanced Protection for Sustainable Harvests Integrated Management of Insects, Diseases, and Weeds in Wheat (IPM) is an approach designed to minimize the use of chemical pesticides while maximizing natural control mechanisms for pests. It involves a combination of biological, mechanical/physical, and cultural techniques tailored to local conditions. IPM is crucial in preventing the emergence of pesticide-resistant pests, ensuring lasting crop protection, and maintaining food safety and environmental integrity.
Low cost storage technologies for grain Large post-harvest losses of bean occurs across Sub-Sahara Africa because of improper storage techniques resulting in pest infestation that threatens the food security and livelihoods of farmers. As a result, farmers may opt to sell their produce immediately after harvest when market prices are at their lowest as a risk avoidance strategy. Grain storage pests such as weevils (bruchids) can be controlled by physical, chemical and biological methods. Some of the physical methods include use of hermitic storage bags and containers. The hermetic storage technology for grains avoids grain damage using sealed bags that prevents movement of air and moisture. The bags preserve the quality of grains and obstruct the entry of insects and microbial organisms through depletion of oxygen levels and accumulation of carbon dioxide. These conditions prevent damage by insects like weevils, moths and mites, curb development of fungi like aflatoxin that contaminate the grain, and maintain the taste and color characteristics of food. Hermitic bags allow for storage of grain without the need to apply chemicals.
Growing Resilient Wheat, Even in the Hottest Seasons. The technology of "Expanded Production of Irrigated Wheat" is crucial due to the impact of heat stress on traditional wheat cultivation in the hot rainy seasons of Sub-Saharan Africa. The innovative approach involves growing wheat during the cool season (winter production) to circumvent heat-related crop damage. However, this necessitates the implementation of irrigation systems due to limited precipitation. The technology enables stable, high wheat grain yields and quality, promoting a climate-resilient food value chain and allowing wheat cultivation in non-traditional dryland areas. Successful implementation not only advances self-sufficiency but also reduces the need for expensive wheat imports in various key regions of Africa.
Rust-Resistant Wheat for a Flourishing Future The development of "Yellow Rust and Stem Rust Resistant wheat" technology is a critical response to the devastating impact of these fungal diseases on wheat production in Sub-Saharan Africa. These diseases have historically caused severe yield losses and the rapid spread of virulent strains, such as the Ug99 stem rust, has further exacerbated the problem. The introduction of rust-resistant wheat varieties, through collaborative efforts like those of ICARDA and national partners, plays a vital role in preventing disease outbreaks, safeguarding wheat crops, and ultimately enhancing food security in key wheat-producing regions.
The PDF will have all the pitch brochures in this toolkit.
Please wait while the PDF is being created...
Toolkit PDF ready: