Atlas DCL CGIAR - Research Program on Dryland Cereals and Legumes Agri-Food Systems (DCL)

This Atlas is part of DCL’s effort to set research and development program priorities. The objective is to include the geographic dimensions of DCL crop production in our overall crop and dryland systems improvement research and development. Most of the data is public domain and available online. We expect to update this Atlas in the future when new data comes available. We are especially interested in new information on biotic constraints to DCL crop production. We welcome your feedback and suggestions about how we can improve this online resource

Priority regions for research on dryland cereals and legumes

Dryland cereals and legumes are important crops in farming systems across the world. Yet they are frequently neglected among the priorities for international agricultural research and development, often due to lack of information on their magnitude and extent. Given what we know about the global distribution of dryland cereals and legumes, what regions should be high priority for research and development to improve livelihoods and food security? This research evaluated the geographic dimensions of these crops and the farming systems where they are found worldwide. The study employed geographic information science and data to assess the key farming systems and regions for these crops. Dryland cereal and legume crops should be given high priority in 18 farming systems worldwide, where their cultivated area comprises more than 160 million ha. These regions include the dryer areas of South Asia, West and East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central America and other parts of Asia. These regions are prone to drought and heat stress, have limiting soil constraints, make up half of the global population and account for 60 percent of the global poor and malnourished. The dryland cereal and legume crops and farming systems merit more research and development attention to improve productivity and address development problems. This project developed an open access dataset and information resource that provides the basis for future analysis of the geographic dimensions of dryland cereals and legumes