Dryland Agrobio      No. 1       April-June 2000

ICARDA

Established in 1977, ICARDA is one of the 16 international centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Based at Aleppo, Syria, ICARDA serves the entire developing world in the improvement of lentil, barley and faba bean; developing countries in dry areas in the improvement of on-farm water-use efficiency, management and rehabilitation of rangelands, and management and nutrition of small ruminants; and the West Asia and North Africa region for the improvement of bread and durum wheat, chickpea, and the management of farming systems and the natural resources on which these are based.
        ICARDA established its Genetic Resources Unit (GRU) in 1983, since when its ex situ collections of ICARDA's mandate crop genetic resources have been increased from 57,000 to 120,000 in 1999. Demand for germplasm from ICARDA's collections has been steadily growing. Presently, the GRU distributes about 30,000 seed samples annually, of which a third is provided to ICARDA's breeding programs, a third to national programs in CWANA, and a third to users in other parts of the world.

ICARDA, PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria       
Telephone: (963-21) 2213433, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105, 2219380             
E-Mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG                 Web site: http://www.cgiar.org/icarda

IPGRI

IPGRI is another of the 16 CGIAR centers. Its regional office for CWANA is located at ICARDA's headquarters from which IPGRI scientists, in collaboration with national programs, conduct research, assist in collection, documentation, conservation and training activities which cover a range of species, including vegetables, tree crops, native shrubs, grasses, and neglected and underutilized species.
        IPGRI's strategy in CWANA is set out within an overall mandate and mission with the following objectives: (1) to assist countries, particularly developing nations, to assess and meet their needs for conservation of plant genetic resources, and to strengthen links to users of plant genetic resources; (2) to build international collaboration in the conservation and use of plant genetic resources; (3) to develop and promote improved strategy and technologies for plant genetic resources, and integrated methods of conservation; (4) to provide an information service on plant genetic resources; (5) to ensure conservation and use of specific gene pools, especially those not covered by other CG centers.

IPGRI CWANA Office, c/o ICARDA, PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria     
Telephone: (963-21) 2231412, 2213433            Fax: (963-21) 2225105, 2213490
E-Mail: IPGRI-WANA@CGIAR.ORG                Web site: http://www.cgiar.org/ipgri

ACSAD

ACSAD, an affiliation of the Arab League, was established in 1971. The Ministries of Agriculture of 16 countries in North Africa and the Near East are members of ACSAD, which has established a data bank and an extensive herbarium of arid zone plants. Recent relevant activities include: a survey and evaluation of wheat and barley landraces in Arab countries and the production of improved lines; a survey of rangelands and fodder resources in Arab countries, together with the propagation of 50 species of shrubs, grasses and legumes for the rehabilitation of degraded rangelands; research on grazing management; survey and evaluation of native and exotic varieties and wild relatives of fruit trees (olive, pistachio fig, almond, and grape vine) resulting in a field genebank of species; monitoring of desertification using GIS and satellite imagery; soil and water resource management, including water harvesting; animal breed surveys and research on the genetic resources of sheep, goats and camels.

ACSAD, PO Box 2440, Damascus, Syria      Telephone: (963-11) 5323039, 5323087
Fax: (963-11) 5323063
E-Mail: acsad@net.sy