established in 1975, provides evidence-based policy solutions to sustainably end hunger and malnutrition and reduce poverty. The Institute conducts research, communicates results, optimizes partnerships, and builds capacity to ensure sustainable food production, promote healthy food systems, improve markets and trade, transform agriculture, build resilience, and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is considered in all of the Institute's work. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world, including development implementers, public institutions, the private sector, and farmers' organizations, to ensure that local, national, regional, and global food policies are based on evidence. IFPRI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium.

No abstract

Multiple cropping is a farming practice involving two or more crop species or genotypes growing together and coexisting for a certain period. It is getting importance as farmers intensifying land use to remain competitive and provide the increasing world demand for different crop originated products and in many subsistence or low-input/resource-limited agricultural systems on the fringes of modern intensive agriculture. By providing actual yield gains without increased inputs, or greater stability of yield with decreased inputs, multiple cropping becomes one unique route to delivering sustainable intensification. Innovations by agricultural scientists in pesticides, no-till instrumentation, rotation of legumes and grasses for tap-rooted and fibrous-rooted crops, and breeding crops tailored to specific systems and environments create intensified multiple cropping farming more successful. With this connection, the experiment was carried out to study effect of intercropping combinations (rice with four different vegetables) on land use efficiency using the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) and total return per unit area based on benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Intercropping combinations had significant effect on LER and BCR for total return. Result showed that the lowest cost of production was found in sole rice under monoculture compared to all other cases of polyculture. But sole rice cultivation under monoculture is less profitable than the production of vegetable-rice intercropping. Vegetable cultivation along with rice crop is remunerative in both yield and economical point of view.

Modern day agriculture is dependent on the use of chemical agents for maximizing crop yield. This practice has perilous effects on the ecosystem if used in an unchecked manner. The present paper develops a mathematical model of an agricultural system that incorporates the cumulative effect of the chemical agents like pesticides, fertilizers etc. Dynamical behaviour of the system, such as boundedness, permanence and stability, are studied. Numerical simulations are carried out to study the changes in the behaviour of the system due to varying levels of potency of the chemicals. Based on these, an effort is made to determine the conditions necessary for a sustainable and productive agricultural system in presence of chemical agents. Applicability of the model in related scenarios is also discussed.