Integrated Utilization of Cereal Mutant Varieties in Crop/Livestock Production Systems for Climate Smart Agriculture

There are three basic components to the work plan: 1) Develop cropping systems for cereal mutant varieties for improved food and feed production; 2) Improve farmer productivity; and 3) Evaluation.In compliance with recommendation No. 34: “Develop a CRP on mutant varieties for fodder” from the AGE Week (September 2011), an inter-disciplinary concept was drafted on the utilization of crop mutants for improved fodder quality. This concept note formed the basis of a Consultants Meeting held at the IAEA in Vienna (12-16th December 2011). Consultants were invited to develop the concept note into a proposal for a CRP; in addition 2 observers from the FAO (Rome) also attended along with relevant FAO/IAEA staff in Vienna. During the course of discussions it was decided that the new CRP should focus on cereals. The CRP proposes to develop agronomic practices that maximise yield and nutritional value of cereals as dual purpose food and feed crops using a range of contemporary mutant varieties. Cereals are grasses with edible starchy grains and include many staple crops, e.g. barley, maize, rice, sorghum and wheat. They are harvested for their grain for human consumption, but may also be harvested throughout their life cycle as fodder for animals. Cereals are adapted to a wide range of growing conditions, barley, for example, is a useful food and feed crop in cool, dry conditions whereas maize, for example, fits into cropping systems with a warm wet season. One of the first steps is to select existing mutant varieties in a range of countries. The type of mutant variety used will vary depending on the participating country. These will then be used in developing soil and water management practices that maximise biomass production. For fodder production, this often occurs before flowering, i.e. much earlier than standard harvests at grain maturity The CRP will establish the base line for agronomic practice for biomass production and feed value. It is important to note that in developed countries cereals are commonly separated into food and feed varieties, but this is a new concept for developing countries. It was made clear by the consultants that farmers in developing countries need cereal crops that can be exploited for both food and feed. It was also stressed that farmers should have the ability to vary the use of the crop depending on circumstances; such flexibility is important, ideally the crop may be harvested at any time as fodder (animal consumption). It may be sown and harvested early for rapid green fodder production or grown to maturity for grain yield (human consumption). The CRP aims to develop soil and water management systems that maximise yields of dual purpose (food and feed) mutant cereal varieties. Progress will be measured in terms of performance in the field (yield), and by animal and crop nutrition studies. The project involves three FAO/IAEA disciplines: 1) plant breeding and genetics, 2) soil and water management, and 3) animal nutrition. It is recommended that participating Member States (MSs) have in place (or put in place) integrated programmes involving all three disciplines. This is not expected to be a problem and the consultants were able to identify at least 6 countries where this was the case for barley alone (Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Peru and Uruguay). It is anticipated that more countries will apply than can be handled in a well-focused CRP programme. It was also acknowledged that there are many mutants of interest in developing cereal fodder crops, but that many of these are present in genetic stocks and not current varieties and would require a large pre-breeding effort outside the scope of this CRP. However, to accommodate demand for mutant stocks, it was agreed, where appropriate, that germplasm containing a range of target mutant traits (awnless, hooded, low lignin, etc) would be made available to all interested countries for use in other national programmes.