Management, Development & Utilization of Various Crops Plants for Sustainable Food Availability

THE NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF Indonesia, ICABIOGRAD, is working with farmers to implement sustainable ways for management, development and utilization of rice, maize, colocasia, sweet potato and cassava for ensuring sustainable food availability and improving income and nutrition. One of the priorities of this BSF project is to counter the lack of seeds for farmers through the dissemination of locally adapted biotic- and abiotic-resistant targeted varieties.

The activities of the project have been developed based on the needs, challenges and preferences of the target population for the cultivation, conservation and utilization of the targeted crops, all of which were identified through a baseline survey conducted beforehand. Subsequently, on-farm conservation activities have been conducted in East Nusa Tenggara for some of the local varieties of maize, rice and beans. Similarly, in North Sumatra, on-farm conservation has been done by including 11 accessions of cassava and 5 accessions of sweet potato in farmyard and by evaluating several rice varieties for tolerance to floods.  

In addition, characterization against drought, salinity and flood stresses are being performed and improved varieties shared and disseminated. Two information systems – the National Information Sharing Mechanism (NISM) and the Agricultural Geographic Information System (AGIS) – have been introduced to 50 stakeholders to enable better management, sharing and dissemination of relevant information on PGRFA.

• Characterization & evaluation of target crops
• Conservation of crop genetic resources in farmer’s fields
• Diversification of agricultural products
• Training & capacity building in management, development & sustainable utilization of food crops
• Dissemination of information systems