Agrobiodiversity
Where do we see our world in 2050?
What will food systems, agriculture and the environment look like in 2050? Given current trends, there is a range of highly contrasting outcomes
In one scenario, these bedrocks of society will have continued down their current path and faced significantly greater challenges than they do today.
Derlyn Lourido, champion in information management: PestDisPlace
Institutional data collection, clean-up, and preservation have been one of the most important assignments of Derlyn Lourido, Data Systems Analyst at CIAT, who has gradually made scientists aware of the importance of sharing their data and implementing the Open Access Policy.
“We are developing environmentally sustainable and productive livestock systems”: Michael Peters
Michael Peters and his team have been developing tropical forage varieties that enable improved animal productivity, better adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses, while being environmentally friendly, through the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Genetic breakthrough on tropical grass could help develop climate-friendly cattle farms
The discovery of genes responsible for asexual reproduction in a tropical grass may reduce negative impacts of cattle farming. The grass captures carbon, reduces gas emissions from soils, restores degraded land, and improves cattle health and productivity.
Multilayered information to improve livestock production systems in Colombia
Livestock production sometimes has a negative connotation due environmental issues, ethical views and human health questions. A response to this — mostly from the developed world — is for a transition to a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Electronic scarecrows that monitor crops
Satoshi Ogawa and Manabu Ishitani wanted to find a way to simultaneously monitor climatic conditions and crop performance in real-time. So Ogawa, a researcher at CIAT’s biotechnology lab, and Ishitani, a molecular biologist and the lab’s leader, acquired e-kahashi, a Japanese technology that they deployed in CIAT’s experimental rice fields.
More bang for the climate buck: study identifies hotspots for adaptation funding
By combining the latest crop models and local expertise in Vietnam, Uganda and Nicaragua, scientists developed a process to pinpoint where cash crops and food security is most threatened by climate change. The tool can help streamline climate spending
Webinars help journalists navigate climate change and agriculture storytelling
A series of webinars on climate change and agriculture allowed a scientific experts and more than 100 journalists discuss how to cover these stories in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Using cost-benefit analysis to enhance our understanding of livestock management practices in the lowland of Ethiopia
A new cost-benefit analysis by CIAT examines three practices for improved livestock management in Ethiopia: improved rangeland, restoration of degraded land, and fodder cropping. Preliminary findings suggest all three practices are better than business as usual and can be scaled up.
Sustainable land use systems: A way to help achieve Colombia’s climate change mitigation and peacebuilding goals
Colombia has set ambitious targets to mitigate climate change and achieve stability. One promising approach to help achieve those simultaneously is designing and promoting sustainable land use systems that incorporate the views of all the stakeholders in the value chain.
About agrobiodiversity research at CIAT
CIAT develops more resilient and productive varieties of cassava and common bean, together with tropical forages for livestock. We also help improve rice production in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The superior crop varieties that result from our collaborative work offer many valuable traits, such as high yield and stress tolerance, which are vital for guaranteeing global food supplies in the face of rapidly rising demand, shifting disease and insect pressures, rampant environmental degradation, and the looming threat of climate change.
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This CIAT Blog was launched in January 2016. For articles related to agrobiodiversity prior to this date, visit our former blog. Please note the old AgBio blog is no longer updated.