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
23 September 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
ICARDA-Sponsored Candidate Wins Thalwitz Scholarship
Mr Sayat Shortan, an economist at the Scientific Production Center of Grain Farming, Kazakhstan, won the prestigious IFAR/Wilfried Thalwitz Scholarship to pursue his research on the Socioeconomic Aspects of Crop Diversification in Northern Kazakhstan in collaboration with ICARDA.

The Wilfried Thalwitz Scholarship awards $10,000 to a promising young scientist working on research that makes a direct contribution to the application of agricultural and rural development policy, and encourages cooperation among national research institutes and the CGIAR Centers.

Mr Shortan is currently working with ICARDA on implementing the ADB-funded project on "Water and Soil Fertility Management." The project identified alternative crops to promote crop diversification - a priority area for agricultural policy in Kazakhstan.

Mr Shortan's project will take those results further by identifying alternative crops used by farmers in profitable and sustainable farming systems that maintain soil fertility, as well as listing the main constraints for the adoption of alternative crops recommended by scientists based on on-station research. The results will be presented to local and national policy makers and donors.

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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