This technology describes the introduction of line sowing techniques and the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method for rice cultivation in the District of Muzaffargarh in Pakistan and its economic implications based on a cost-benefit analysis. The main hazards affecting agricultural livelihoods, including rice cultivation, of this region are dry...

I want to tell the whole world to switch to organic farming. There is nothing to fear and you will find it highly beneficial.” Meet Muhammad, a farmer from Pakistan who has been farming organically for many years now

No dig beds not only save from back-breaking work of digging but also create favourable conditions for microbial life in the soil. In this video, Nasira Habib shares how she prepares no-dig beds to grow vegetables and flowers in her organic home garden.

Bokashi is a nutrient-dense, fast-acting and soil-regenerating fertiliser. It helps increase the amount of organic matter in the soil and create conducive conditions for microbial activity. Nasira Habib explains how you can make bokashi at your garden or farm.

This technology describes the introduction of ridge sowing, Farm Yard Manure (FYM), and multi-cropping and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for okra, sunflower, and sugarcane production in the Ghotki district in Pakistan. It provides also a cost-benefit analysis of this improved farming practice compared to the traditional practice. The main...

The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) today approved an FAO project designed to transform Pakistan’s Indus River Basin by improving agriculture and water management to make this vital food-producing region more resilient to climate change. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has provided FAO with a grant of nearly $35...

More than twenty years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations contributed to the growing recognition of the role of pollination in agricultural production, with the publication of “The Pollination of Cultivated Plants in the Tropics”. Since that time, the appreciation of pollinators has grown, alongside the...

More than twenty years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations contributed to the growing recognition of the role of pollination in agricultural production, with the publication of “The Pollination of Cultivated Plants in the Tropics”. Since that time, the appreciation of pollinators has grown, alongside the...

The Sindh Peoples Long March was a massive public action that involved a 16-day walk of over 200 km from a small fishing village in the Indus River Delta region and culminated at the Governor House, Sindh, in Karachi. The long march, which started on 10 October 2018 and ended...

Quinoa, once a staple food of only the indigenous people in the Andes, has become a darling of food aficionados around the world in recent years. So popular it has grown that even some fast food restaurant chains have now dishes and salads with it on their menus. Its exceptional...

In 2010, severe flooding killed nearly 2 000 people in Pakistan and wiped out 1.6 million homes. Whole villages were submerged, and families lost not only their homes, but also their livestock and standing crops – 2.4 million hectares of soon-to-be-harvested crops were destroyed, and estimated agriculture losses stood at...

This publication provides guidance on using a common methodology for monitoring pollinator diversity and abundance, as part of the GEF supported Project “Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture, through an Ecosystem Approach” implemented in seven countries - Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa. The project...

The two studies in this report explore these issues further using empirical quantitative surveys as well as qualitative fieldwork from a cross-section of developing economies in South and SouthEast Asia. The first study is an empirical investigation of the digital gender divide amongst the poor (broadly called the Bottom of...

Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

The Gwadar-Lasbela Livelihoods Support Project will cover the two coastal districts of Gwadar and Lasbela in the province of Balochistan, where over 60 per cent of the population live in poverty. The project will primarily target poor rural households in 382 villages in Gwadar and Lasbela, including small-scale landowners or landless...

This publication provides guidance on the natural history of wild bees and their potential exposure to pesticides, as part of the GEF supported Project “Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture, through an Ecosystem Approach” implemented in seven countries – Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa....

As part of our larger strategy to adapt smallholders in drylands to climate change, ICARDA’s science has sharpened its focus on producing more with less in irrigated and agropastoral systems, and sustainably intensifying cereal-based rain-fed production systems through research platforms in Egypt, Ethiopia and Morocco.

Zinc is an important nutrient for human health, especially for the growth of children (Caulfield and Black 2004). In 2011 Pakistan’s National Nutrition Survey found that zinc deficiency is high (47 percent) among children under-five years of age and women of child-bearing age. Nearly 42 percent of non-pregnant women, 48...

Grassland-based systems are no longer seen exclusively as livestock production enterprises but as multiple use systems with important consequences for the global environment. They are crucial for the protection of ecosystem goods and services, for tourism and for mitigating climate change. Well-managed grasslands provide important benefits such as increased water...

The report stresses progress in linking research innovations to results in farmers' fields in a number of areas. These research-for-development initiatives are testing technology and policy packages with farmers in their production situations. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa ICARDA leads the wheat component of the regional initiative on Support to...