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
15 September 2008
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
ACIAR project in Iraq: Phase II begins
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has approved a new phase of a large-scale collaborative project in Iraq. Phase I, "Better crop germplasm and management for improved production of wheat, barley and pulse and forage legumes in Iraq", ran for 3 years (ending in June 2008) in Ninevah Governorate in northern Iraq. It was funded by ACIAR and AusAID. Phase II, with the same donors, will run for 3 more years, with a total budget of AUD 6.5 million, with $4.7 million provided by the donors, AusAID/ACIAR and $1.5 million provided as in-kind support by collaborators. It will be led by ICARDA and implemented in Iraq by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) through two institutions, the State Board of Agricultural Research in Baghdad and the Directorate of Agriculture in Ninevah, and the University of Mosul. The Australian partners are the University of Adelaide, University of Western Australia, and the Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food.
ACIAR/AusAID collaborators at a zero-till demonstration plot in Syria. Standing, left to right: Drs Abdul Sattar Al-Rajbu (University of Mosul); Sa'ad Mohammed (State Board of Agric. Research, Baghdad); Raad Hameed (Directorate of Agric., Ninevah); Kadambot Siddique (Univ. of Western Australia); Saleh Bader (Director General, State Board of Agric. Research), David Coventry (Univ. of Adelaide). Front: Walter Anderson (Dept. of Agriculture & Food, Western Australia). All four Iraqi scientists visited Australia on a study exchange program following a project meeting in April.

Project activities were designed to closely match Iraqi priorities, specifically the MOA's national strategy. Phase II will build on the previous phase, to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability of crops in the drylands of northern Iraq. Like the first phase, it will focus on development, evaluation and promotion of conservation agriculture methods: minimum soil disturbance through zero-tillage; retention of vegetative cover through stubble mulching; use of new varieties; and diversification of crop rotations. . Several other components will be integrated into this framework: testing and promotion of improved varieties, community-based systems to ensure that seed of the new varieties is available;
Availability of locally manufactured equipment will be a key factor in adoption of conservation agriculture techniques. Project partners inspect seeders made by a Syrian firm on an experimental basis.
and promotion of improved crop management methods such as time and depth of sowing, IPM and weed management. The project will use Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing data to improve planning and promote adoption. Adoption and impact will be monitored through surveys and socio-economic analyses.

 Capacity building will be a major part of the project. Resource teams from partner institutions (and where needed, from institutions in other countries), will provide training for Iraqi researchers, students, extension staff and farmers on various subjects - conservation cropping, plant improvement, agronomy, GIS, biometrics, crop modeling, seed production, and adoption/impact analysis.

What outcomes do we expect?
•
 Farmers in Ninevah, and elsewhere in northern Iraq, will widely adopt conservation agriculture methods
•
 Farmer groups and community entrepreneurs will be able to produce and sustainably market seed and zero-tillage machinery at village level
•
 National agricultural agencies will have developed sufficient technical capacity to plan, implement and monitor R&D programs.

Results from the project area will generate widely adapted technologies. To maximize spillover benefits to neighboring areas with similar production systems and constraints (e.g. Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil in northern Iraq, as well as Najaf in the south), the project will support visits by researchers, extension officers and leading farmers to project sites in Ninevah. They will see for themselves how the new technologies work, and what benefits they can bring.
 

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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