ICARDA
News
INTERNATIONAL
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS |
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| 29 July 2004 |
For
more information contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG) |
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Medicinal Plant Conference in Tunisia
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An
international conference on Promoting Medicinal, Herbal and Aromatic Plants
(MAP) in the Mediterranean Basin was held in Djerba, Tunisia, on 1-3
June 2004. The conference was organized by the Institute for Arid Lands
(IRA), ICARDA, USDA-ARS in an effort to bring together medicinal plants
experts from the region and initiate regional networking to support the
conservation, management, and sustainable utilization of medicinal and herbal
plants. More than 150 participants attended the conference from Algeria,
Egypt, France, Greece, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, ICARDA, and USDA-ARS. The conference was inaugurated by H.E. the Secretary of State for Scientific Research in Tunisia. Other officials from local authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture were also present. Representatives of the organizing committee including IRA’s General Director, ICARDA’s Regional Coordinator for North Africa, and a USDA-ARS specialist welcomed the audience and highlighted the importance of MAP in the economy, society, environment and biodiversity of the region and the world. A field trip to the southern part of Tunisia was organized to enable the participants from various countries as well as the Tunisian MAP sector partners such as farmers, doctors, pharmacists, and MAP manufacturers to get a view of the medicinal plants and the conditions they grow in. The area that was visited is located in the arid zone (Tataouine, Douirat, and Medenine) with an annual rainfall of less than 250 mm. The MAP species (Thymus, Artemisia, Rosmarinus) are endemic to the region and grow in spontaneous conditions. Most of them are collected by the local people for sale and might disappear if they were not protected. To prevent this, IRA, with the support of its partners, has started to acclimatize these species to drip irrigation and crop management practices. IRA, ICARDA and USDA-ARS presented a proposal on the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. After discussion, the participants agreed on the following major recommendations: create a regional MAP network; organize a periodical MAP regional meeting; create a newsletter covering MAP activities; implement regional projects for MAP sector development; establish regulations for the MAP exploitation; implement a regional strategy taking into account potentialities and research results; and promote bilateral cooperation on MAP domain. The participants thanked the host country, IRA, ICARDA and USDA-ARS for their support and backstopping efforts in this project. |
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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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