The CGIAR's assistance to alleviate the immediate food crisis in Afghanistan has already been described. Strategic longer term assistance focuses on building formal seed systems; soil and water management; livestock, feed, and rangeland improvement; and horticulture. A central objective is to involve Afghan partners closely to create ownership, strengthen their capabilities, and ensure that research priorities and products are appropriate to farmers' interests and means.

As in other rehabilitation settings, information can play a crucial role. Satellite remote sensing and GIS technology is being applied in Afghanistan by ICARDA and Michigan State University, a Future Harvest Consortium member, to assist in rangeland management. Landsat and MODIS images and existing GIS are used to determine and display grass cover, height, and total forage amounts in grass-dominant rangelands in the country. These maps help farmers direct their herds to optimum pastures and reduce overgrazing.

A vast swath across the Indo-Gangetic Plain of highly-populated South Asia depends on rice and wheat grown in rotation for its food supply. This area includes the troubled border area between India and Pakistan, where continuing low-level conflict has spread fear and insecurity. Nepal and Bangladesh have also endured their share of conflicts and disasters.

This zone had become a showcase for improved agricultural production, thanks to the new wheat and rice technologies introduced during the Green Revolution of the 1970s/80s. But in 1990, studies by IRRI and CIMMYT revealed some worrisome findings. Yields were leveling off or even beginning to decline, suggesting deterioration in the natural resource base under such intensive cropping. What was the cause, and how could it be fixed?

Several CGIAR Centers (ICRISAT, IWMI, and CIP, led by CIMMYT and IRRI) teamed up with these national partners to form the Rice-Wheat Consortium in 1994. Their work was made possible through support from the Asian Development Bank, the government of The Netherlands, the Department for International Development (United Kingdom), the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United States Agency for International Development, the government of Japan, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

The project is succeeding in finding ways to help farmers implement more sustainable practices. One approach is known as `precision farming'—applying inputs only where they are needed, rather than blanketing entire fields with high rates of inputs. A simple leaf color chart is helping farmers determine whether they need to add nitrogen fertilizer, and at what rate. A study found that 175 farmers in India's Haryana State were cutting their fertilizer rates by up to 20%. Controlled-release and deeply-placed fertilizers have increased nutrient efficiency by another 30%. Reducing rates of input usage also saves big money—one of the main attractions that motivates farmers to change.

Other land-saving topics under study include salt and water balances; the cultivation of rice on raised beds; weed management in ricewheat systems; crop diversification, including potatoes; and the introduction of legume crops into rice-wheat systems. Efforts to improve water use are also paying off. In some cases, water savings of up to 40% have been observed. Techniques such as cultivating rice on raised beds are contributing to these savings.