Small-scale wheat and maize farmers in Afghanistan are facing many constraints. These include a lack of improved and adapted crop varieties, a lack of good quality seed and inadequate production technologies. These constraints are exacerbated by the lack of trained extension officers and agricultural scientist in the Ministry of Agriculture. The CIMMYT project on "Wheat and maize productivity improvement in Afghanistan" was designed to address these constraints in a structured and collaborative manner. This project builds on the success the "Seeds of Strength" project and continuity is ensured as the same team leader, Dr. Osmanzai, is in charge of the project, the project is continuing to work with its partners and stakeholders.

In collaboration with the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), the project obtained several screening nurseries and yield trials from International Agricultural Research Centres. These trials were composed of experimental and commercially available maize and wheat germplasm adapted to the Afghan agro-ecological conditions. After harvest and trial data analysis, project officers discussed the results with scientists from ARIA and collaborators from FAO. A total of 27 promising wheat lines and a group of experimental sub tropical maize cultivars were jointly identified for further testing. Of particular interest this year, were CIMMYT wheat experimental materials selected in Iran in 2002. Preliminary observation indicate that one of these cultivars (Vee"s"/Nacl/1-66-22/3/Vee"s"/Snb"s"//1-66-22) has very good resistance to rust and produces superior yield compared to the local varieties.

The verification of performance and acceptability of both wheat and maize in local farmers' fields were researched collaboratively with local NGOS and international organisations.
For wheat, the project uses two different approaches:
i. A traditional approach where demonstrations are planted in farmer's fields and the farmer's assessments are recorded informally using semi structured interviews during field days. The varieties included in these demonstrations are released in the country and available where the security situation allows it. Using this approach in the province of Parwan, farmers showed a keen interest for Sohla due to its better response to rust and good yield and as such the project offered its assistance to make sure this demand was met.
ii. The second approach is a participatory technology development approach (PTD) implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation. In a typical PTD day, farmers are invited to visit a research station and observe yield trials of promising varieties. Farmers then mark with a red tag the varieties they prefer and their assessment is taken into consideration by the breeder in selecting a line for advancement and subsequent release.

For maize, the project provided collaborating NGOs with seed of open pollinated maize varieties that were then distributed to rural communities. In most cases, farmers planted a demonstration plot and provided informal feedback to the NGO. These demonstrations resulted in the identification of two promising varieties; Rampur 9433 and Pozarica 8731. According to farmers' comments, these two varieties performed well, however their maturity length was not short enough to fit optimally with their cropping system. The project is now looking for shorter season cultivars.

The project activities in seed multiplication are implemented via two schemes, a formal and an informal one:
i. The main partners for the formal scheme are ARIA and the FAO through the Improved Seed Enterprise (ISE) program. The objective for seed distribution is to produce enough quantities of breeder seed to be offered to agencies or organisations that will produce certified seed after the official release of a variety. The wheat increases are conducted on research stations where progeny blocks and head rows of more then 20 promising wheat cultivars have been planted and harvested. The maize increases are centralised at the ISE farm in Helmand Province; three cultivars were planted for seed increase on a total of 8.5 ha.
ii. Results of informal seed multiplication schemes are difficult to obtain due to the difficult security situation in the country. However, anecdotal evidence is supporting claims of the project's impact. For example, our partner the Norwegian Project Office - Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan (NPO-RRAA) reported that farmers who had planted some of the project's open pollinated cultivars in 2003 had bartered and sold more then two tons of these varieties in 2004. The area under improved varieties was then multiplied by more then 10-fold as a result of this resilient farmer to farmer seed distribution system.

The project has also provided information for the release of one durum wheat cultivar, Parva-2, whose good performance was identified and documented thanks to data collected during the first phase.

The project has built human capacity through technical workshops conducted nationally. During the past year, five technical workshops were conducted. They covered topics including: Potential and constraints to agricultural development in Daikundi; Introduction and discussion of yellow rust and practical exercises for scoring in the field; and, An introduction to CIMMYT's work, research methodologies, variety evaluation and field day. A total of 70 participants, including farmers, NGO workers, and officers from research stations attended these workshops.

Despite the logistical difficulties and the difficult security situation in some parts of Afghanistan, the project "Wheat and maize productivity improvement in Afghanistan" is progressing successfully towards its purpose thanks to its research, extension, and formal and informal capacity building activities.

In collaboration with researchers in the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), 126 promising wheat and maize varieties have been identified, 6 of which are potential candidates for official release nationally. Such research lacks value unless its results are disseminated promptly and effectively. Promising varieties, as well as appropriate crop management practices, are being demonstrated on farm in collaboration with a strong network of NGOs and government partners.

There is strong anecdotal evidence that the varieties introduced by the project are being adopted, and in some instances farmers are making the case that they provide an alternative to illegal practices. This is particularly evident in Alingar district in the Laghman province, where the project works in collaboration with farmers and the Norwegian Project Office, and where a double cropping of improved wheat and maize varieties introduced by the project is potentially beneficial to the farmers. Such a combination improves the productivity of wheat based cropping systems and provides farmers with a viable option to replace poppy production. The gross margin of the double cropping wheat based system is still inferior when compared to poppy mono-cropping. However farmers mention that the inherent risk of seeing their poppy crop destroyed by the authorities make a viable wheat-maize rotation interesting. We are obviously not claiming that this is a unique response to poppy cultivation in the country, but present it as part of a possible solution.

Finally, the project contributes effectively to an evident improvement of the institutional and individual capacity of our partners. We are making good progress towards our aim of developing a strong core team of well trained national scientists working in the public, private and NGO sectors.