Priorities for wheat in the eastern Indo-Gangetic plains

Authors: PARK, ALEX - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS; MCDONALD, ANDREW - INTERNATIONAL MAIZE & WHEAT IMPROVEMENT CENTER (CIMMYT); DAVIS, ADAM

Submitted to: Global Food Security Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/2/2018
Publication Date: 3/2/2018
Citation: Park, A.G., Mcdonald, A.J., Davis, A.S. 2018. Priorities for wheat in the eastern Indo-Gangetic plains. Global Food Security Journal. 17:1-8.

Interpretive Summary: Growing populations in India and Nepal are consuming more wheat, with the potential to undermine regional food security. Helping farmers achieve maximum yield potential (i.e., reducing yield gaps) in this area offers a pathway to improving food supplies, however a better understanding of yield gaps is needed to realize these production gains. Yield gaps assessment based on agricultural experiment station trials can be costly and results difficult to generalize. In contrast, empirical production surveys implemented on-farm across environmental and socio-economic gradients offer an opportunity to diagnose causes of yield gaps at scale. We use such data from Bihar, India and the Terai region of Nepal (N = 1020 farms) to identify production factors that contribute to wheat yield and yield stability. Our analyses highlight two important features of farmers that achieve high, stable wheat yields: they 1) build soil fertility and 2) match cultivar traits and sowing date to local environmental conditions to realize maximum yield potential. Agronomic and outreach interventions that help producers implement such practices in locally relevant ways will help advance wheat intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains.

Technical Abstract: Rising wheat consumption and population growth in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain have the potential to undermine regional food security. Ameliorating significant yield gaps in this area offers a pathway to improving food supplies, however a better understanding of yield gaps is needed to realize these production gains. Yield gaps assessment based on agricultural experiment station trials can be costly and results difficult to generalize. In contrast, empirical production surveys implemented on-farm across environmental and socio-economic gradients offer an opportunity to diagnose causes of yield gaps at scale. We use such data from Bihar, India and the Terai region of Nepal (N = 1020 farms) to identify production factors that contribute to wheat yield and yield stability. Our analyses highlight two salient features of farmers that achieve high, stable wheat yields: they 1) build soil fertility and 2) match cultivar traits and sowing date to local environmental conditions to realize maximum yield potential. Agronomic and policy interventions that help producers implement such practices in locally relevant ways will help advance wheat intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains.