. "Executive Summary." Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2008.
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Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
TABLE ES-1 Priority Technologies and Applications for Improving Agriculture
Focus of Technology
Tier I High Priority for Development
Tier II High Priority for Additional Exploration
Natural Resources Management
Soil management techniques
Integrated water management
Climate and weather prediction
Soil-related nanomaterials
Manipulation of the rhizosphere
Remote sensing of plant physiology
Improving Genetics of Crops and Animals
Annotated crop genomes
Genome-based animal breeding
Site-specific gene integration
Spermatogonial stem cell transplantation
Microbial genomics of the rumen
Overcoming Biotic Constraints
Plant-mediated gene silencing
Biocontrol and biopesticides
Disease-suppressive soils
Animal vaccines
Energy Production
Solar energy technologies
Photosynthetic microbe-based biofuels
Energy storage technology
Although these technologies offer many opportunities to address the challenges to agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, a broader set of factors will influence the ability of a technology to have a positive impact on productivity:
A system-wide approach: Agricultural production is a complex system; consequently, agricultural technologies are interdependent. For example, it is difficult to improve livestock or increase meat or milk production if the animals are chronically infected with pathogens and are fed low-quality, poorly digestible forages. Solving the problem of poor agricultural productivity requires a multifaceted approach.
Local expertise and participation: Agricultural technologies developed in industrialized countries may not always work in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Crop breeding requires the evaluation of traits under local environmental conditions; weather prediction algorithms need data collected at the ground level; farmers need an opportunity to provide input and acquire information. These tasks require a committed, trained, local workforce—a
