ICARDA Caravan, Issue No. 20/21

News from the Drylands

Palestine/ICARDA Coordination Meeting

H.E. Dr Ibrahim Abu El-Naja (second from left), Minister of Agriculture, Palestine, speaking at the opening session of the Palestine/ICARDA Biennial Coordination Meeting. Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General (second from right); H.E. Dr Azzam Tubeileh (right), Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Palestine; and Dr Mohan Saxena (left), ICARDA ADG (At-Large), joined the Minister at the opening session.

he Palestine/ICARDA Biennial Coordination Meeting was held at ICARDA headquarters on 7-8 October 2004. The Palestinian delegation was led by H.E. Dr Ibrahim Abu El-Naja, Minister of Agriculture, and included H.E. Dr Azzam Tubeileh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture; Dr Walid Abd Rabboh, Consultant to the Minister; Mr Shaker Joudeh, Deputy to the Deputy Minister; Dr Ali Fataftah, Director of the Palestine National Agricultural Research Council; Mr Abdallah Al-Laham, UNDP Representative in Palestine; and Mr Younis Sbeih, Project Coordinator for the GEF/UNDP funded Project.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, the Director General, led the team of ICARDA scientists.

The meeting reviewed the ongoing collaboration and identified areas for future programs. At the opening session, H.E. Dr Abu El-Naja said that, with the rising population, the demand for food has increased dramatically; however, given the production constraints, local production is not enough to meet the growing demand. ICARDA’s research can contribute to the achievement of food security and improvement of the livelihoods of rural communities in Palastine, he said.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy reiterated ICARDA’s commitment to support agricultural production in Palestine, working with the national agricultural research system and international organizations. ICARDA is one of the first international agricultural research Centers to work on agricultural development in Palestine, he said. He noted that during the past decade of collaboration between Palestine and ICARDA, more than 82 Palestinians have been trained by ICARDA, and germplasm for cereals and legumes has been provided through two projects implemented jointly in the Palestinian territories. He thanked UNDP and other donors that are supporting agricultural research projects in the Palestinian Territories.

Palestine/ICARDA collaborative research activities have included: repatriation of genetic resources and nurseries—600 accessions of cereals and legumes; seeds of feed legumes for rangeland rehabilitation; nurseries of cereals and food legumes provided until 2000; and provision of seeds of wild fruit trees for reforestation efforts—capacity building, technical backstopping, access to information and documentation, and development of joint projects (Dryland Agrobiodiversity and Dryland Initiative).

Priority areas for future collaboration include: genetic resources and biodiversity conservation; integrated natural resources management mainly the scarce water; use of GIS/RS tools, integrated pest management, rangeland rehabilitation, property rights and policy development; and rehabilitation of agricultural research.

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