News from
the Drylands
The Western Australian Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Honorable Kim Chance, visited ICARDA in January to promote collaboration between Australian research organizations and universities, and the Center. He toured ICARDA’s laboratories including the genebank which has supplied many samples of genetic material that has benefited agriculture in Australia.
ADB Project Launched in Central Asia
The work plan and budget for an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project on “Improving Rural Livelihoods through Efficient On-Farm Water and Soil Fertility Management in Central Asia” were finalized at an inception workshop held in Tashkent in February. Scientists from Central Asia and representatives from NARS, SDC, USAID, GTZ, ICARDA, and IWMI were
present.
Traveling through Sudan
A national traveling workshop in Sudan in January attracted more than 100 farmers, 60 scientists, and professors, students and extensionists. The group visited research stations and farmers’ fields around the country to observe advances in food legumes and wheat research.
Tune In
ICARDA-Afghanistan is producing a weekly radio program on agriculture which is aired on 28 local radio stations all over the country. The program features interviews with farmers, researchers, and extensionists, and provides information on technologies for improved agricultural production. Farmers, who now identify closely with the program, usually meet in groups to listen to the broadcasts.
Conference on Herbaria Science
The First International Conference on Herbaria Science on ‘Strategy of the Egyptian Herbaria,’ was held in March in Egypt. Participants from Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and FAO attended the conference to discuss and develop strategies to enhance the herbaria sciences and technologies in the overall framework of social and economic development.
Belgian Parliamentary Delegation
Members of the Belgian Parliament, including the Honorable Senator Anne-Marie Lizin, President, Senate Commission for Foreign Affairs and Defense, met with the Director General and scientists at ICARDA in February to discuss the Center’s efforts in rehabilitating agriculture in the conflict-affected countries in the region.
Kyrgyz Parliamentary Delegation
A delegation, led by H.E. Mr Aleksander Kostyuk, Minister of Agriculture, visited ICARDA in June to further collaboration with the Center. The delegation discussed rainfed winter cereal production and identified several promising lines of winter and facultative bread wheat for evaluation in Kyrgyzstan.
Wheat Website Online
A new wheat landrace website, featuring information on more than 15,000 bread wheat landrace accessions and the climatic parameters associated with their collection, was launched in June. The development of the website was funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. The URL is www.icarda.org/bwl_db.
New Wheat and Vetch Varieties for Central Asia and the Caucasus
Two varieties of bread wheat, ‘Azametly-95’ and ‘Nurlu-99’ from CIMMYT-ICARDA-Turkey nurseries were released in March in Azerbaijan. The varieties have resistance to a number of diseases, including yellow rust, and are suitable for growing in irrigated low-lands and foothills. In Kyrgyzstan, ‘Jamin,’ was released as a spring crop for the mountainous areas; this is the first facultative wheat variety released in the country since 1978. Three new varieties of vetch, ‘Abigi,’ ‘Abika,’ and ‘Abiza,’ belonging to winter forage legumes were released in Georgia.
Conference on Yellow Rust
ICARDA scientists with their partners organized the Second Yellow Rust Conference in March in Pakistan. More than a 100 participants from 26 Pakistani research institutions and 18 countries attended the conference to discuss approaches to epidemiology, biotechnology, breeding and disease monitoring for managing yellow rust.
International Sunn Pest Conference
Scientists from 23 countries met at ICARDA headquarters on 19-22 July for the Second International Conference on Sunn Pest. The conference, which attracted more than 130 participants, featured 50 oral presentations and 30 poster sessions on a variety of topics including the socioeconomics of Sunn pest; integrated managment, including chemical, biological and host resistance options; and biology and ecology of Sunn pest.
New Lentil Varieties in Africa
‘Tershale’ and ‘Alem Tina,’ two new varieties of red lentil with resistance to rust and wilt root-rot complex were released in Ethiopia. So far, Ethiopia has released seven varieties of lentil, all of which originated from ICARDA-supplied germplasm.
Two varieties of yellow lentil, ‘Chaouia’ and ‘Abda’ were released in Morocco; these varieties mature early which allows them to escape Orobanche (a parasitic weed) attacks.
Natural Pastures Discussed on TV
The causes of degradation of natural pastures, and their rehabilitation, were the subject of a one-hour TV program that was aired on 9 May on ‘Al-Manar,’ a Lebanese station that transmits globally via satellite. Mr Adel Nassar of ICARDA’s Terbol office participated in the program and discussed the productivity and biodiversity of natural pastures, and the role of communities and NGOs in their protection.
Al-Saeed Prize to Yemen
Yemen’s Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (AREA) won the Al-Saeed Prize for Science and Literature in 2003. AREA Chairman, Dr Ismail Muharram, won the award for his study on ‘Alternatives to Qat Growing.’ Qat is a mild stimulant that is in high demand in Yemen. Around 30 studies competed for the prize.
Improving Dairy Production
Fifteen Bedouin women in Syria attended a traveling workshop in June to discuss strategies to facilitate milk collection and improve dairy quality. Some of the technologies that were demonstrated included a newly-designed milking ramp and commercial starters for yoghurt and cheese.
Focus on Medicinal Plants
A team of 13 members of the Medicinal Plant Committee of Aleppo, Syria, visited ICARDA on 30 June 2004 to discuss the importance of preserving the diversity of medicinal plants in Syria and their role in providing additional incomes to farmers. Mr Mohamed Omar, Head of the Aleppo Chamber of Agriculture, led the team.
ICARDA; Institut des Régions Arides, (IRA) Tunisia; and USDA-ARS, organized a conference on 1-3 June 2004 in Djerba, Tunisia to promote the sustainable use of medicinal, herbal and aromatic plants in the region and create a network of medicinal plant experts. More than 150 participants from 7 countries attended the conference.
Living with the Desert
The ICARDA DG, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, made a keynote presentation at an international conference on “Living with the Desert” held at the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan on 19-20 May 2004. The conference was held to review global research on managing dryland natural resources and anthropogenic adaptation to the desert.
DG and CAC Head Honored
The Azerbaijan Agricultural Academy conferred honorary doctorate degrees on Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA DG, and Dr Raj Paroda, Head, CGIAR Program for CAC. The degrees were awarded to honor their valuable contributions to strengthening agricultural research in Azerbaijan.
IPM Training Course
A regional course on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to mitigate the impact of diseases and insect pests in cereals was conducted in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 18-23 May 2004 by ICARDA, CIMMYT, and GTZ. Twenty-two participants attended the course which included both laboratory and field work.
ICARDA/Oman Sign MoU
The Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in Syria, H.E. Mr Hilal Ben Salem Al-Sayabi, visited ICARDA on 22 August 2004 to sign an agreement to establish a Seed Technology Unit in Oman. This work will be done in cooperation with the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program of ICARDA.
Farmers’ Field Day
More than 250 Syrian farmers attended a winter chickpea field day in Idlib Province, Syria on 2 June 2004. ICARDA has been recommending that farmers shift from the traditional spring planting of chickpea to early or late winter. Three chickpea varieties with tolerance to Ascochtya blight and cold have been released in Syria. The field day was held to obtain farmers’ feedback on the performance of the varieties.
Collaboration with Japan
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Syrian State Board of Planning, and ICARDA signed an agreement to strengthen agricultural research and human resource development in Afghanistan and Syria by organizing courses and workshops on a variety of topics ranging from station management to participatory plant breeding. The project is designed to run for five years.
Pakistan Minister Visits ICARDA
The Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Pakistan, H.E. Mr Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, visited ICARDA on 24-25 July 2004. H.E. Mr Rind met with the DG, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy, and discussed ICARDA’s work in Pakistan including crop improvement, water harvesting and management, the introduction of salt-bush for improving livestock feed, and the socioeconomics of dry-area agriculture in Balochistan. H.E. Mr Rind signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Prof. Dr El-Beltagy to strengthen the collaboration between ICARDA and Pakistan.
Protected Agriculture in Afghanistan
A team of ICARDA staff and technicians constructed a new Protected Agriculture Center and six green houses to grow high-value crops at the Badam Bagh Research Station in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2004. Two courses were also conducted to train both growers and trainers on protected agriculture in marginal land and water deficit areas, the installation and site selection of green houses, and nursery establishment and transplants production. These activities were part of the USAID-RAMP project.
Child Nutrition Seminar
ICARDA’s Natural Resource Management Program inaugurated a Development Seminar Series in October. Dr Shibani Ghosh presented a seminar on the nutritional well-being of children in Syria. The seminar was attended by policy makers from national institutions.
Sudanese Minister Meets Scientists
Four ICARDA scientists had the privilege of meeting Sudan’s Minister of Science and Technology, H.E. Prof. Al-Zubair Bashir Taha, on 23 August 2004. They discussed ICARDA’s work in Sudan and H.E. Prof. Taha requested the Center’s assistance in solving the problem of Orobanche infestation, which has grown serious enough to be discussed at the federal level.
Japanese Fellows at ICARDA
ICARDA is hosting three of the 11 Japanese Fellows who were selected for the Japan-CGIAR Fellowship Program that was launched this year. The fellowship was started by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to strengthen international partnership by supporting young or mid-career Japanese scientists interested in international research for development.
New Chickpea in Australia
A new large-seeded kabuli chickpea variety selected from ICARDA-supplied germplasm was released in Australia in August. The ‘Kimberely Large’ has a 6% yield advantage over the currently grown variety and represents the latest product of the collaboration between Australia and ICARDA.
Conference on Grain Legumes
ICARDA scientists made 10 presentations at the Fifth European Conference on Grain Legumes held on 7-11 June 2004 in Dijon, France. The posters were on breeding, pathology, virology, biotechnology and IPM techniques of lentil, chickpea, and faba bean.
New Potato Pest
ICARDA and CIP staff spotted the Colorado Potato Beetle for the first time in Afghanistan. The beetle significantly reduces yields by eating potato leaves. Researchers are working on developing pest management options to control this insect.
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