Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes
Learning more about soil ecology
Last April, the Soils and Landscapes for Sustainability Research Area at CIAT, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota (UMN) and the National University of Colombia at Palmira, held a training course entitled “Soil Ecology: Methodologies for the Assessment of Agroecosystems”.
Inspired by the past, empowered for the future: CIAT looks forward to its next 50 years
Officially unveiled today, our annual report, “Building a Sustainable Food Future: CIAT in Review 2017-2018,” features our primary actions and achievements over the past year. In addition to highlighting many of the pioneering efforts we have launched, the report examines future directions for years to come.
How can we measure the health of soil simply and cheaply?
CIAT, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, are looking for mechanisms to measure soil quality in a simple way and at a lower cost, so that they can be used by farmers themselves to evaluate the effect of different varieties of tropical forages and their management on the health of your own soil.
New microbial biotechnology platform launched in Vietnam
The Common Microbial Biotechnology Platform inaugurated on February 1st 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam, can help your business benefit from interactions between soil microbial communities and crops.
Helping build sustainably productive farming systems through the work of the Asian Cassava Breeders, and Forage Legumes, Networks
Researchers from eight Asian countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam – gathered on December 12-13, 2017 in Haikou City, China, to form the Asian Forage Legumes Network. This is in response to the increasing pressure for...
Soil carbon sequestration – when aspirations and reality collide
This piece celebrates December 5, World Soils Day, and was first posted on the Thrive Blog, of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems. Just a few weeks ago, we published a study stating that farm land soils, if managed properly, have the potential to...
The vision for a deforestation-free Amazon
The Amazon Vision Program, an initiative of the Colombian government, with the support of the Governments of Norway, United Kingdom and Germany, seeks to promote a new model of development in the Amazon that will improve the living conditions of its inhabitants through productive alternatives that do not cause deforestation to the already battered forest.
What’s life like for an IPCC lead author?
CIAT’s Ngoni Chirinda talks about what it all means to be a lead author for the IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
IPCC taps CIAT scientists as lead authors for much-anticipated climate change reports
Dr. Louis Verchot and Dr. Ngonidzashe Chirinda, both of CIAT’s research program on Soils and Landscapes for Sustainability, will be contributing to upcoming reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
New study shows micro-nutrients can boost African crop yields by 25 percent
A new study shows that adding tiny, ‘micro’ amounts of certain nutrients to the soil, could boost crop yields in Africa by up to 25 percent. The findings suggest that micronutrients are more critical for boosting yields in Africa than previously realized.
Marcela Quintero
Director, Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) Research Area
M.quintero@cgiar.org