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
25 November 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Minister of Agriculture Opens the Executive Committee Meeting
of ICARDA Board in Oman
Opening session. From left: H.E. Khalfan bin Saleh Al Na'abi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, ICARDA; H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al-Khalili, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries; H.E. Dr Rawiah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, Minister of Higher Education; Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson, ICARDA Board Chair; H.E. Mohammed Al-Oraimi, Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs; and Mr Omar Al-Marhoon, DG of Administration and Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The 44th Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the ICARDA Board of Trustees was held in Muscat, Oman, 5-7 November 2004. His Excellency Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al-Khalili, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Oman, opened the meeting. Her Excellency Dr Rawiah bint Saud Al-Busaidi, Minister of Higher Education, Oman, presided over the opening ceremony. Speaking on behalf of H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al-Khalili, the Undersecretary H.E. Eng. Khalfan bin Saleh Al Naabi welcomed the Chairperson and the members of the EC to the Sultanate of Oman and thanked them for choosing the country to hold their meeting. He highlighted the progress made by the Sultanate in the field of agriculture and expressed appreciation for ICARDA’s contribution, through the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program, to the research achievements made by the national scientists. He expressed hope for further expansion of the collaboration, particularly in the field of date palm production, rangeland management, and protected agriculture.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General, presented an overview of ICARDA’s mandate, research and training activities and achievements. He highlighted the progress in the collaborative research between the Sultanate of Oman and ICARDA.

Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson, Chair of the ICARDA Board and Executive Committee of the Board, thanked H.E. Dr Rawiah bint Saud Al-Busaidi for presiding over the opening session and H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al-Khalili for hosting the meeting and providing excellent hospitality. She extended special thanks to H.E. Eng. Khalfan bin Saleh Al-Naabi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and his staff for their valuable contribution and painstaking efforts for the success of the meeting.

The EC members visited the collaborative research activities in Oman on 7 November. Dr Catley-Carlson and Prof. Dr El-Beltagy inaugurated the Seed Technology Unit at Rumais, established in collaboration with ICARDA. The national staff, who received training at ICARDA, proudly explained the operations of the Unit to them.
ICARDA EC Chair and Members accompanied by H.E. Undersecretary of Agriculture and Fisheries listen to the presentations from Omani scientists during the inauguration of the Seed Technology Unit at Rumais.

The members then visited the Agricultural Research Center, where they saw the application of soilless culture techniques and Integrated Production and Protection Management program (IPPM) for the production of high quality vegetables and fruits under protected agriculture, food science laboratory, biotechnology laboratory, bio-control laboratory and toxicology laboratory. The members were greatly impressed with the quality of research at these laboratories and the extension of the IPPM activities to the farming communities. Research outputs from these efforts are helping to enhance farmers' income in the face of deteriorating availability of water and land because of sea water intrusion.
Visit to Research Facilities
Soilless production system at Rumais Research Station in Oman
Biotechnology laboratory
Bio-control laboratory
During the course of the meeting, H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al-Khalili, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, received the Executive Committee Chair and Members in his office in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. He shared with them the challenges of agriculture in the Sultanate of Oman and emphasized the importance of research. Oman is privileged to have the longest crop duration and biodiversity for date palm in the region. The indigenous knowledge of farmers is valuable in conserving the precious date palm genetic resources. However, because of the expansion of date palm planting along the roads, there has been an increase in disease-related problems, which call for increased attention. The Minister also expressed his concern about the spread of witches-broom disease in lemon and suggested that solutions to this problem be developed speedily. Prof. Dr El-Beltagy briefed the Minister on the regional workshop on date palm organized by ICARDA in May 2004, and the integrated project developed for the GCC countries, which will cover the major issues related to date palm.

H.E. the Minister, the Board Chair and the DG took the opportunity to express their appreciation for the work of the scientists and researchers of the Agriculture Research Center in Oman, and for their dedication and outstanding achievements within APRP research activities. Fifteen scientists and researchers, led by Dr Ahmed Al-Bakri, Assistant Director General, Agriculture Research Center, received a certificate of appreciation for their contributions.

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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