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
28 August 2008
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
ICARDA team meets President of Chile
Friends in high places. H.E. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, listens as ICARDA breeder Dr Salvatore Ceccarelli (left) explains collaborative research plans.
ICARDA has worked with national partners in Latin America for many years, and these partnerships are expanding. Barley breeders Drs Salvatore Ceccarelli and Stefania Grando visited Chile this month, at the invitation of three key national institutions – the Institute of Agricultural Development (INDAP), the University of Chile and the Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA). They met with policy makers, scientists, farmers and students, to explore the possibilities of collaboration with ICARDA, aimed at improving rural livelihoods. The target area is the Secano Interior – a largely dry region in central Chile, with poor soils and low rainfall, whose small-scale farmers have been largely been by-passed by modern agricultural technologies. Farmers as well as national researchers were keen to increase the level of farmer participation in research; and specifically, to adopt participatory plant breeding methods, which ICARDA has pioneered in several countries in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.

The highlight of the visit was a short meeting with H.E. Madame Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile. Prof. Edmundo Acevedo of the University of Chile – a former ICARDA scientist who worked on cereal stress physiology – presented her with a brochure on participatory plant breeding, published by ICARDA in Spanish. Dr Ceccarelli described plans for participatory testing and evaluation of new barley varieties adapted to conditions in the Secano Interior. The President was all encouragement; and keen to learn about the technical issues as well as implementation plans. With support at this level, we will work towards institutionalizing participatory approaches within partner institutions, to impact directly on food security and livelihoods in Chile’s dry areas.
 

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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