CGIAR Central Asia and the Caucasus

Initiation of the Regional Program

Following the approval of the proposal by the CGIAR, a Collaborative Research Program on Sustainable Agricultural Production in Central Asia and the Caucasus was jointly initiated by the eight CG Centers and the eight CAC NARS in 1998. Thus, the Program was started in September 1998, after its approval by the Program Steering Committee (PSC) in its meeting held on 28-29 September 1998 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Also a Program Facilitation Unit (PFU) was established in the Regional CAC Program Office of ICARDA in Tashkent to provide a facilitation function for the inter-center and inter-NARS initiatives in the region. Later, in 2002, IRRI joined as the ninth Consortium partner for providing support for rice research and development.

In 2004, the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) joined the Consortium as a new partner to strengthen vegetable research and development activities in the region. In 2005, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and Michigan State University also became Consortium partners to contribute to management of saline environment through use of halophytic plants and integrated pest management (IPM), respectively. However, CIP continues to hold the responsibility of developing IPM practices for potato. In 2007, a sub-regional office of the PFU-ICARDA was opened in Tbilisi, Georgia, to provide a further enhanced facilitation and support to the collaborative activities of the Consortium partners in the Caucasus.