CGIAR Central Asia and the Caucasus

CAC PROGRAM CELEBRATES ITS 10 YEARS

The year 2008 marks the 10th Anniversary of the CGIAR Program for Central Asia and the Caucasus, of which ICARDA is the Convening Center. Therefore, an International Conference on “Agricultural Research Competence for Central Asia and the Caucasus - Celebrating 10 years of CAC Program 1998-2008”, organized by the CAC Program Facilitation Unit, took place on 16th of September, 2008, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The conference was attended by almost 200 participants from the NARS of the region, ICARDA, led by Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General, ICARDA, other CG centers and Advanced Research Institutions, as well as several international organization and regional fora such as APAARI, AARINENA, ADB, World Bank, JICA, and others. Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, Chairman, GFAR and former Director General, ICARDA, was the Guest of Honor of the Conference.

In addition to ICARDA, there are presently eight other CG Centers and three Advanced Research Institutions working actively in the region together with the eight NARS of the CAC countries to promote sustainable development of agriculture. Although ICARDA-CAC Program was formally established in May, 1998, ICARDA’s cooperation with the countries of the region dates back to as early as the late 1980s. After the CAC countries gained their independence in 1991, their collaborative linkages with ICARDA were gradually strengthened. In this regard, a milestone event was the first meeting of all the NARS leaders of the region with their partners from ICARDA, several other CG Centers and international organizations in December, 1995, under the initiative of Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, the then Director General, ICARDA.

Since the establishment of the CGIAR-CAC program in 1998, Program partners have implemented close to 70 projects in the region. Significant achievements and impact were made in collection, conservation, documentation, and rational utilization of plant genetic resources, germplasm enhancement, seed production, natural resources management, water management at basin level, crop diversification, integrated pest management, livestock production and management of rangelands, socioeconomic and policy research and other areas, but above all in capacity building. About 15,000 national partners, including researchers, farmers and research administrators were trained.

In his welcome speech at the conference, Dr. Sherali Nurmatov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, DG, Uzbek Scientific Production Center of Agriculture, Uzbekistan, thanked ICARDA and all other partners of the CAC Consortium for their immense contributions to the sustainable development of agriculture in the region. Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General, ICARDA, gave an overview of the key achievements and impact of the Program during the last 10 years. Dr. Solh also thanked all the Program partners for their continuous support to the Program. Dr. Solh especially highlighted the visionary role of Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy is establishment of the Program. He also expressed ICARDA’s gratitude for Drs. Surendra Beniwal and Raj Paroda, former Regional Coordinators, ICARDA-CAC and Heads, PFU, for their outstanding contributions in establishing and developing the Program over the last 10 years.

Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, in his key note speech, highlighted the importance of the Program for the sustainable development of agriculture in the region and thanked all the NARS partners for their contributions. He emphasized the role of present and former NARS leaders in the success of the Program. Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy also wished the continuation of these successes in the years to come.

Drs. Raj Paroda, and Surendra Beniwal, former Regional Coordinators, ICARDA-CAC and Heads, PFU, as well as Acad. Jamin Akimaliev, Director General, Research Institute of Agriculture and Adviser to the Prime-Minister of Kyrgyzstan presented their greetings to the participants of the Conference.

Prof. Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, Dr. Raj Paroda, Dr. Surendra Beniwal, Acad. Mekhlis Suleimenov and 12 key NARS partners of the Program from the CAC countries who had been crucial in the establishment of the Program were presented by Dr. Mahmoud Solh with Awards recognizing their “tireless and enthusiastic individual commitments and leadership that significantly strengthened the collaborative CGIAR programs, thereby contributing to future food security and ecological sustainability of agriculture in the region”.

Dr. Christopher Martius, Regional Coordinator, ICARDA-CAC and Head, PFU, presented the future directions for the Program’s development based on the recommendations of the recently held External Review of the Program and priority areas identified by the national partners.

During the afternoon session, several presentations were made by the Consortium partners on various aspects of Program’s activities, including the importance of agricultural research collaboration in the region, seed production in Tajikistan, constraints and opportunities for water management in the region, utilization and adaptation of potatoes under warm summers in the region, small ruminant production, promotion of vegetables and wheat improvement in Kazakhstan.