ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
18 March 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Agriculture Minister Visits ICARDA Activities in Eastern Afghanistan
Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, H.E. Said Hussain Anwari (center), with Moeen ud Din (left), ICARDA’s Officer-in-Charge in the Eastern Zone, visiting the Sheesham Bagh Research Station in Afghanistan.
H.E. Sayed Hussain Anwary, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MOAL), Afghanistan, visited ICARDA’s Eastern Zone activities at Sheesham Bagh Research Station on 6 March 2004. He was accompanied by the Deputy Minister MOAL, H.E. Mohammed Sharif, and other senior officials of the Ministry; the Governor and Deputy Governor of Nangrahar Province, Afghanistan; and the Deputy Head of Mission of Italy in Afghanistan, H.E. Carlo Batori. The visitors were received by Mr Moeen ud Din, ICARDA’s Officer-in-Charge (OIC) in the Eastern Zone of Afghanistan.
The officials visited the seed-health and seed-testing laboratory in Nangrahar, and saw the new building and related facilities, machinery, citrus and olive nurseries, research trials, and the newly refurbished meteorological station at the Sheesham Bagh Research Station.
H.E. Sayed Hussain Anwary appreciated ICARDA’s work in Afghanistan, adding that the rehabilitated Sheesham Bagh Research Station is “a symbol of real hard work of ICARDA in Afghanistan.” He reiterated the commitment of MOAL to continue working with ICARDA to achieve the dream of an agriculturally self-sufficient Afghanistan.
Mr Moeen ud Din briefed the visitors about ICARDA’s activities in the different districts of Nangrahar. He thanked the Minister and other high- ranking officials of Nangrahar Province for their cooperation and support to ICARDA in the implementation of its projects.

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H.E. Mr Mohammed Sharif, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, sharing his impressions of the visit. -- The officials toured the Seed Testing Laboratory, established by ICARDA, at the Sheesham Bagh Research Station.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
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