technological innovations

This journal aims to improve understanding about how agriculture and related food policies and programs in South Asia (specifically in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan) can be better conceptualised and implemented in order to enhance impacts on nutrition outcomes, especially those of young children and adolescent girls. While agriculture has the potential to improve nutrition through several pathways, this potential is currently not being realised in the region. »

This discussion paper evaluates the effectiveness of an information and communication technology (ICT) mediated approach to deliver agricultural information in a field experiment conducted among small-scale maize farmers in eastern Uganda. Results showed that video is effective in delivering information. However, the incremental effects of IVR and SMS technologies were found to be limited. »

This working paper describes the newly developed tool ‘Intelligent agricultural Systems Advisory Tool’ (ISAT) that generates and disseminates data drive location specific advisories that assist farmers in anticipating and responding to emerging conditions through the season. The messaging system worked well in picking appropriate location specific message and delivering to the mobiles of the registered farmers. This study has demonstrated the opportunities available to harness the untapped power of digital technologies to provide actionable advisories timely to smallholder farmers using appropriate data analytics and information dissemination systems. »

This report summarizes findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. Targeted efforts and interventions are needed to promote mechanization in each segment of the value chain and at scale. This leverages the potential of agriculture to drive growth and employment, particularly in rural economies. »

This review summarizes the current techniques used for site-directed genome editing in plants, focusing on the CRISPR/Cas system, and discuss their current and future applications for crop biology. The use of these technologies in crop biology has opened up a new era of genome editing-mediated crop breeding. »

This report provides a contextualized review of drones as a vital precision agriculture-enabling technology and its range of relevant uses for providing detailed and on-demand data in order to enhance decision-making by farmers and hence facilitate much needed support. The report considers drone technology for precision agriculture as a potential game-changer for the African continent. »