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.org
18 December 2007
Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG), Ravi R. Prasad (r.prasad@cgiar.org)
 
Award for Dr Ken Street
Dr Ken Street receives the Memorial N.I. Vavilov Medal from Dr N.I. Dzyubenko, Director, Vavilov Institute of Research.
Dr Kenneth Street of ICARDA's Genetic Resources Section has been awarded the Memorial N.I. Vavilov Medal, in recognition of his "exceptional contribution to the Vavilov global collection of crop genetic resources".

This highly prestigious honor was given during the celebration marking the 120th anniversary of N.I. Vavilov, the founding father of genetic resource conservation. Dr Street received the medal from Dr N.I. Dzyubenko, Director of the Vavilov Institute of Research (VIR), during the 2nd International Vavilov Conference on 'Crop Genetic Resources in the 21st Century: Current Status, Problems and Prospects', held in St. Petersburg, Russia, 26-30 November.

From 1999 onwards, Dr Street has coordinated Australian funded collaborative VIR-ICARDA projects that have led to major outcomes. VIR has donated 8400 accessions to the ICARDA genebank, greatly increasing its ecogeographic coverage. Collaborative projects have enabled VIR scientists to:
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 georeference their cereal and food legume collections
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 regenerate and study important parts of their collection under different field conditions
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 collect over 4500 valuable accessions through a series of collection missions in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

 

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org) is one of the 15 international research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICARDA 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 countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research 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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