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 January 2009
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
ICARDA-ICRISAT expand partnership
A new agreement to expand collaboration between ICARDA and ICRISAT: greater impacts on poverty, hunger and livelihoods.
A new agreement will enable ICARDA and ICRISAT – two of the world's premier centers for research on dryland agriculture – to increase synergy and contribute even more effectively to fighting hunger and poverty. The Collaborative Research Agreement was signed on 4 December in Maputo, Mozambique, during AGM-08, by the two Directors General: Dr Mahmoud Solh of ICARDA and Dr William Dar of ICRISAT. Also present were Dr Stein Bie, Chair of ICRISAT's Board of Trustees; Dr Maarten van Ginkel and Dr David Hoisington, Deputy Directors General - Research at ICARDA and ICRISAT respectively; and Dr Kamel Shideed, ICARDA's Assistant Director General for International Cooperation.

The agreement will specifically address new collaborative research in several areas: genetic resources, chickpea improvement, legume genomics, natural resource management and socio-economic and policy research. This will create a research platform for joint ICARDA-ICRISAT efforts in South Asia and facilitate the operations of ICARDA's new office in New Delhi, India, which opened last month.
 

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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