Agronomic Gain: Evolution of Integrated Spatial Agronomy Programs.

Agronomic gain: Evolution of integrated spatial agronomy programs Khagendra R. Baral1, David Guerena1*, Shashish Maharjan1, Andrew McDonald1 1International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Kathmandu, Nepal *Corresponding author. E-mail: d.guerena@cgiar.org Abstract Despite substantial advances in global food production over the past few decades there are still regional hotspots of food security. The two primary hotspots include much of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These two regions share a few commonalities, high agronomic productivity potential, diverse and varied agroecologies, high concentrations of smallholder farms (<10 ha), and underresourced agro-extension services. New approaches are needed to address these problems. The integration of mobile and smart-phone technologies as a data collection tool along with remote sensing data, geospatial statistics, and site-specific agronomic validation trials may be a modern paradigm to address these constraints. We illustrate this paradigm with concrete example methodologies, datasets, and analysis from a case study in Nepal. We argue that these methodologies may be efficient at addressing spatial variability and delivering farmer-appropriate regionally adapted solutions.