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From cutting-edge research to work saving seeds in communities, even our small actions can have a big impact on saving crop diversity and putting it to good use. Read the latest news highlighting these efforts and more.
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Alta Sierra Alfalfa Gives High Hopes to Farmers in the Atacama Desert and Beyond
“Alfalfa is what our livelihoods depend on, what our animals eat. It is important for my family now, and it was for former generations – double the value,” says Mauricio Moyo, a smallholder farmer in the Putre region of Chile’s At...
27 Nov 2024
Kauke Alfalfa Gives Farmers’ Livelihoods a Boost in Chile’s Central Valley
“It produced tremendous amounts, beyond my expectations, especially during the summer months, when nothing else grows. So, I cut the alfalfa and stored it away to feed my horses during those harsh months.”
Juan Luis Acuña...
23 Aug 2024
A BOLD Future for Alfalfa: More with Less Water
Nazarov Arken doesn’t hesitate when asked about the problems facing alfalfa growers like himself.
“There’s our problem,” said the farmer from Yenbek in southeastern Kazakhstan, squinting through the late-summer haze at some...
13 Sep 2023
An Alfalfa That Loves the Cold
Zhongcao No. 3. When you first hear that name, you can be forgiven for thinking it’s an expensive perfume. But actually, it’s a Chinese variety of alfalfa.
It stands out for more than just its unusual moniker. This variety has...
25 Apr 2023
7 May 2020
![At Estancia Los Niños, Rene Milicevic shows us one of the three 60+ year old alfalfas that Jorge Ivelic from INIA collected in Magallanes [growing behind the ‘daisy’]. This unique sample is now included in the Crop Wild Relatives pre-breeding trials at INIA Kampenaike. Tolerance to drought and frost are traits that researchers are looking for in Magallanes. In the central part of Chile, researchers are searching for drought and heat tolerance. Photo: LS Salazar/Crop Trust](/fileadmin/_processed_/1/d/csm_BI5A1289_018999e7d0.jpg)
Greener Grows the Alfalfa in Chile
“You need to see it to believe it,” says Viviana Barahona, agronomist and extensionist at the Chilean Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) in Cauquenes, Chile.
“Picture this: you are standing in a yellow field, a...
19 Aug 2021
19 Aug 2021
Honeybees Sweeten the Deal for Kazakhstani Alfalfa Farmers
They say you get more flies with honey, but an experiment on alfalfa in Kazakhstan found you also get greater yields with honeybees.
The experiment is part of the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) Project, a global initiative to adapt...
17 Jun 2021
17 Jun 2021
New Alfalfa Varieties Take Root
From the dry, freezing winters of Kazakhstan and Inner Mongolia (China), to the parched summers of central Chile, to the blistering heat of Australia, alfalfa—also known as lucerne—is the go-to crop to provide livestock with...
4 Mar 2021
4 Mar 2021
Patagonian Farmers Welcome Climate-Resistant Alfalfa
This slideshow presents a brief, but wide-ranging, look at the importance of alfalfa in Chile’s Magallanes region. More specifically, it highlights how and why our partners at the Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA) are...
13 Jul 2020
13 Jul 2020
Wild Plants from Four Continents Deliver Climate Change Lifeline for Crops
Nearly 5,000 seed samples of crop wild relatives saved in challenging, six-year effort to secure the future of food.
Bonn, Germany and Washington, DC (3 DECEMBER 2019)—As the world grapples with the challenge of sustainably...
12 Mar 2019