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
22 January 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Turning Milk and Milk Products into Money
Dr Safouh Rihawi discussing with farmers the use of straw ammoniation in strategic feeding of ewes.
Two groups of farmers from El Bab area, northwest of Aleppo, along with representatives from the local extension office, visited ICARDA headquarters at Tel Hadya, 6-7 January. The aim of the visit was to obtain first-hand knowledge of specific technologies that will be tested in their communities using participatory research tools under the project “Community-Based Action Research on Integrated Small Ruminant Production Systems and Dairy Processing Technologies,” which is designed to help sheep milk producers in northern Syria improve their incomes.
On their way to ICARDA the farmers stopped in Bershaya village in El Bab area, where they were introduced to on-farm tested technologies by ICARDA’s Small Ruminant Project staff, for improved collection of milk by using a milking ramp that eases women’s workload when milking, and the operation of a homestead milk processing plant that ensures hygienic and safe production of cheese and yogurt.
At ICARDA’s sheep unit, the visiting farmers saw the facilities and on-going research in improving milk processing. Muhi El-Dine Hilali, ICARDA’s milk technologist, demonstrated the use of commercial starters to improve the quality of yogurt and cheese products to meet the taste of consumers. These technologies will be used in the communities selected.
Farmer Hussain El-Satouf El-Dali from Abu Jabbar village, El Bab, shows interest in the use of improved starters for better yogurt production.

Experiments on low-cost feeding trials, involving optimum feed composition and urea-treated straw for fattening of Awassi lambs, demonstrated by Birgitte Hartwell, ICARDA’s livestock production specialist, attracted special attention of the farmers who currently use expensive fattening systems.
Dr Safouh Rihawi, ICARDA’s livestock nutritionist, demonstrated the utilization of by-products to make feed-blocks for strategic feeding of ewes, and how to treat straw with urea. The application of new feeding methods has the potential to increase productivity per ewe and per flock. These technologies will be used in participatory research trials in El Bab under specific terms of agreement that were introduced to the farmers by Dr Malika Martini, ICARDA’s socioeconomist.
The farmers were happy to be introduced to the small-ruminant research activities at ICARDA, and expressed their willingness to collaborate with the project. The two groups purposely included both men and woment because of the different roles they play in the production of milk and its processing into milk derivatives. The technologies to be applied will also be gender sensitive.
The project on small-ruminant production systems is a joint and multidisciplinary effort of a research team involving ICARDA’s small-ruminant, socioeconomic, and forage projects, led respectively, by Drs Luis Iniguez, Aden Aw-Hassan, and Asamoah Larbi. It evolved from on-farm research undertaken in the same area in the last three years, and targets community action in order to effectively capture market opportunities and improve farmers’ incomes. Three Japanese scientists have also contributed to the activities of this project, for which major funding comes from Japan.

The research team: Farmers and ICARDA researchers.
Dr Malika Martini discussed the terms of agreement of the community-based research plan.

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.
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