October 27, 2017
ICRISAT’s team interacts with Iranian farmers and scientists to assess the potential for collaborations. Photo: ICRISAT
Extreme water shortages, overuse of groundwater, continued drought, degraded soils, increasing salinity and rising temperatures – Iran’s farmers battle a host of adversities. Rising temperatures and depletion of water resources have the highest levels of government worried.
As Dr Abbas Keshavarz, Deputy Minister for Crop Production, noted, “We have to save water to save our country. We need to do this with crops that can survive with less water. We have passed the point of replenishing what we use and groundwater is in crisis. About 55% of our irrigation water comes from groundwater.”
In dire need to transform Iran’s agricultural systems to cope with these challenges, several Iranian ministries have joined hands to escalate solutions. As part of these efforts, ICRISAT’s expertise in its mandate dryland crops was sought, with sorghum, millets and chickpea being seen as critical savior crops.
At the invitation of the Iranian Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), an ICRISAT delegation travelled to Iran during 1-6 October 2017 to assess opportunities for collaboration. Speaking to the team, Dr Eskandar Zand, Deputy Minister–Agriculture, and Head of AREEO, said, “If we are to achieve sustainable agriculture in Iran, these crops you are working on are very important.”
The delegation met with Iranian research institutes, representatives from CGIAR Centers with offices in Iran (CIMMYT, ICARDA, IRRI) and local farmers. Dr Peter Carberry, Deputy Director General – Research, ICRISAT, led discussions and noted, “All the areas of interest you mentioned are our areas of expertise.”
Iran currently produces sugarcane, wheat and maize, but as Dr Babak Nakhoda, Head, Department of Molecular Physiology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute pointed out, these crops require extensive irrigation, as opposed to crops like sorghum and millets that can grow on less water and fewer inputs.
Interacting with ICRISAT scientists, farmer Moobed explained, “We have had eight years of drought; four years ago, this was just desert. When I planted, it was 50oC and the maize did not produce. Now I have moved from maize to sorghum. I have a crop. And I turned the desert green with sorghum.”
However, there is little to no consumer awareness on the nutritional benefits of these crops, and even those with diabetes and gluten allergies continue to import grains like quinoa for their consumption. Even dairy producers, who could benefit from sorghum and millet for fodder are reluctant, since their existing practice of using maize fodder gives good results. Only foxtail millet (commonly known as gavar), an ancient grain of a specific area in southeast Iran, is eaten even today, especially during winter because of its warming effect and by those fasting during Ramadan because of its slow digestibility. However, the grain is restricted to this particular area.
Farmer Maleki and his son now grow foxtail and proso millet on their fields. Photo: ICRISATWith increasing temperatures and stresses, many farmers have little option but to switch to dryland crops. Farmer Maleki and his son selected millets to cope with environmental degradation and climatic changes. They used to have an orchard 25 years ago but irrigation led to high soil salinity and all their trees died. “We now grow foxtail and proso (common) millet. We really had no choice as nothing else could survive in these soils.”
After extensive interactions, experts noted that a change in Iran’s agriculture towards more sustainable dryland crops would only be successful if the entire value chain was considered. A holistic approach requiring soil and water management, capacity building of scientists and farmers, through to market development is needed. Several priority areas for collaboration were discussed, with particular emphasis on sorghum and millet industry development to target alternatives to maize and alfalfa in marginalized areas.
Collaborations in R&D on crop improvement to modernize breeding programs in the country and to promote the use of genomic tools to accelerate the process were emphasized, in addition to capacity building of scientists and extension staff. Another priority discussed was to make chickpea a part of the government’s program to enhance food security, with a strong crop improvement component. Better farm management practices, demo plots for farmers, and innovation platforms were also discussed as important ways forward, in addition to the development of consumer markets of Smart Food.
It was decided that immediate actions would include sharing of improved germplasm and genetic material from the ICRISAT genebank with AREEO researchers. Further, exchange programs for students and workshops for knowledge sharing between scientists will be facilitated, to monitor progress on the breeding programs.
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