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ICARDA

Annual Report

2005

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

Copyright © 2006 ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in theDry Areas)

All rights reserved. ICARDA encourages fair use of this material for non-commercialpurposes with proper citation.

Citation:

ICARDA. 2006. ICARDA Annual Report 2005. International Center for AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria. vi+156 pp.

ISSN: 0254-8313

AGROVOC descriptors: Cicer arietinum; Lens culinaris; Vicia faba; Hordeum vulgare;Triticum aestivum; Triticum durum; Lathyrus sativus; Aegilops; Medicago sativa; Pisumsativum; Trifolium; Trigonella; Vicia narbonensis; safflower; feed legumes; clover;shrubs; fruit trees; goats; ruminants; sheep; livestock; agricultural development; dry-land farming; farming systems; animal production; crop production; agronomiccharacters; biodiversity; biological control; disease control; pest control; pest resist-ance; drought resistance; genetic maps; genetic markers; genetic resistance; geneticresources; genetic variation; land races; germplasm conservation; plant collections;microsatellites; land use; pastures; grassland management; steppes; rangelands;reclamation; environmental degradation; irrigation; water harvesting; water manage-ment; harvesting; rural communities; rural development; social consciousness; train-ing; human resources; development; malnutrition; nutritive quality; poverty;mechanical methods; remote sensing; research networks; research; resource conser-vation; resource management; seed production; stubble cleaning; Sunn pest; sustain-ability; temperature resistance; cold; vegetation; geographical information system;diffusion of information; agroclimatic zones; arid zones; semi-arid zones; interna-tional cooperation; Middle East; North Africa; West Asia; Central Asia and theCaucasus.

AGRIS category codes: A50, A01, E10, F01, F30, H10, H20, H60, L01, U30

All responsibility for the information in this publication remains with ICARDA. Theuse of trade names does not imply endorsement of, or discrimination against, anyproduct by the Center. Maps have been used to support research data, and are notintended to show political boundaries.

ICARDA Annual Report 2005

Management of Scarce Water Resources and Mitigation of Drought in Dry Areas

Foreword v

Highlights of the Year 1

ICARDA’s Research Portfolio 10Key Features of ICARDA’s Research Stations 11

Mega-Project 1: Management of Scarce Water Resources andMitigation of Drought in Dry Areas 12

Mega-Project 2: Integrated Gene Management: Conservation, Enhancement and Utilization of Agrobiodiversity in Dry Areas 22

Mega-Project 3: Improved Land Management to Combat Desertification and Increase Productivity in Dry Areas 58

Mega-Project 4: Improvement, Intensification and Diversification ofSustainable Crop and Livestock Production Systemsin Dry Areas 71

Mega-Project 5: Poverty and Livelihood Analysis and Impact Assessmentin Dry Areas 88

Mega-Project 6: Knowledge Management and Dissemination for Sustainable Development in Dry Areas 99

International CooperationNorth Africa Regional Program 106Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program 108West Asia Regional Program 110Arabian Peninsula Regional Program 111Highland Research Regional Network 113Central Asia and the Caucasus Regional Program 117Latin America Regional Program 118

Support ServicesGeographic Information Systems Unit 120Computer and Biometrics Support Unit 121Communication, Documentation and Information Services 123Human Resource Development Unit 124

Contents

Contentsiv

AppendicesJournal Articles 127Graduate Theses Produced with ICARDA’s Joint Supervision 130Agreements Signed in 2005 130Restricted-Fund Projects 131Collaboration with Advanced Research Institutes and

Regional and International Organizations 137Research Networks Coordinated by ICARDA 145Financial Information 146Board of Trustees 148Senior Staff 150Acronyms 153ICARDA Addresses 155

Foreword

The year 2005 was an important milestone in the efforts

of ICARDA and its partners in meeting the global chal-

lenges of agriculture in dry areas through the application

of science. In an assessment of all 15 CGIAR Centers

(based on science quality and relevance, impacts, part-

nerships, and financial and institutional health), conduct-

ed by the CGIAR in collaboration with the Science

Council and the World Bank, ICARDA was rated "out-

standing" - one of only two centers to receive this rating.

To maintain - and even exceed - this level of perform-

ance, the Center restructured its research portfolio in

2005. Ongoing research projects were carefully

reviewed, and consolidated under six Mega-Projects,

focusing on core issues: water management, crop

improvement, desertification, crop-livestock systems,

poverty and livelihoods, and knowledge dissemination.

This consolidation, we believe, will optimize synergies,

sharpen our poverty focus, and use the Center's collec-

tive skills and resources most effectively.

Monitoring and evaluation is a continuous, ongoing

process at ICARDA. Three Center-Commissioned External

Reviews (CCER) took place during the year, focusing on

specific areas: integrated gene management, natural

resource management, and human capacity building.

While the report on human capacity building had not

been finalized at the time of going to press, the other

two CCER reports were extremely positive. However,

they did identify some opportunities for improvement;

the Center has already begun taking the necessary

action to respond to the recommendations of those

reports.

Improved varieties remain the backbone of agricultural

development efforts. ICARDA's integrated, multi-discipli-

nary approach to plant breeding continued to pay rich

dividends. In 2005, fifteen improved varieties of different

crops (wheat, barley, chickpea, faba bean, lentil, for-

ages) were released in countries within and beyond the

CWANA (Central and West Asia and North Africa)

region.

ICARDA and the United Nations University, Japan, signed

an agreement to launch a new South-South partnership

to combat desertification. This global network on inte-

grated natural resources management, named

'CWANA-Plus Partnership', will target the vast

CWANA region, as well as large parts of China,

South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The objectives

include sharing expertise and facilities, training

developing-country scientists, expanding post-

graduate degree programs in integrated land

management, and promoting improved practices

among small-scale farmers.

ICARDA and CIMMYT, with a common interest in

wheat improvement research, have long worked

closely together. The two centers further strength-

ened their collaboration by establishing a joint

ICARDA/CIMMYT Wheat Improvement Program for

the CWANA region at ICARDA. A Director was

appointed to lead the program. Also, the two

centers, in partnership with national programs,

launched a Global Rust Initiative (GRI) in

September 2005 in response to a sudden, large-

scale outbreak of a new strain of wheat stem rust.

Several countries in East Africa are affected; small-

scale farmers in Kenya have lost as much as half

their wheat harvest. The CWANA region stands at

risk, so immediate action needs to be taken. The

GRI embodies all that the CGIAR System stands for

– expertise in strategic research, global partner-

ships, a focus on resource-poor smallholder farm-

ers, and the ability and commitment to react

swiftly to challenges.

Nobel Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug, father of the

Green Revolution, visited ICARDA headquarters in

May 2005 and addressed the "CWANA Wheat

Meeting", jointly organized by ICARDA and CIM-

MYT.

The Center suffered a major blow when Dr Robert

D. Havener – one of ICARDA's founding fathers

and a mentor to many of our scientists – passed

away in August 2005. His memory will continue to

inspire us.

The achievements of ICARDA and its partners pre-

sented in this Annual Report would not have been

possible without the strong support of our donors.

We thank them for their trust in ICARDA's work and

for their continued support.

Margaret Catley-Carlson

Chair, Board of Trustees

Adel El-Beltagy

Director General

Highlights of the Year

Dr Norman Borlaug visits

ICARDADr Norman E. Borlaug, NobelPeace Prize Laureate and father ofthe Green Revolution, visitedICARDA in May 2005 to addressthe participants of the “CWANAWheat Meeting” and review thewheat improvement research inthe region. Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA DirectorGeneral, and Dr Robert Havener,former Chair of ICARDA’s Boardof Trustees, paid tribute to DrBorlaug for his valuable contribu-tions to agricultural research,spanning six decades.


The year 2005 was yet another important mile-

stone in ICARDA’s efforts towards fulfilling its glob-

al mandate of alleviating poverty and protecting

the natural resource base in dry areas. The major

achievements reported in this chapter and else-

where in this Annual Report reflect the collective

efforts of the Center, in partnership with national

programs, sister centers, advanced research insti-

tutes and donors. ICARDA continues to build on

these achievements to contribute to the United

Nations Millennium Development Goals related to

agriculture.

Key events and achievements

Farmer Saleh Al-Jaseem hugged Dr

Norman Borlaug and thanked him for

his contribution to the development of

new wheat varieties, when Dr Borlaug

visited his field near Aleppo

Agricultural Research Center.

Visit to a durum seed multiplication plot in Al-Kam’mari in Aleppo province. Farmer

Fayez Abelraz’zak Dandal briefed Dr Norman Borlaug on seed multiplication of

wheat varieties released through the Syria/ICARDA collaborative program.

CGIAR Performance

Assessment Ranks

ICARDA “Outstanding”

In the performance assess-

ment for 2005, conducted

by the CGIAR Secretariat

and the Science Council, in

collaboration with the World

Bank, ICARDA emerged as

an “outstanding” Center.

Commenting on the good

news, Prof. Dr Adel El-

Beltagy, Director General of

ICARDA, said, “Excellent! I

am really delighted to hear

this wonderful news. This is

the outcome of unwavering

efforts of the Board, man-

agement team, and all the

scientists and other staff of

ICARDA.”

The following key perform-

ance indicators were used,

among others, in the assess-

ment: percentage MTP out-

put targets achieved in

2005; Science Council rat-

ing of Center outcome

statements; SC/SPIA rating

of the overall impact

assessment; SC/SPIA rating

of two impact studies car-

ried out during 2003–05;

quality and relevance of

current research; institution-

al health; financial health;

staff diversity; and stake-

holder perceptions.


Highlights of the Year2

Dr Borlaug commended ICARDAfor its work in the dry areas. “Ican see the tremendous impactthat your research and extensionhas made to increasing food pro-duction here in Syria and theneighboring countries,” he said.

In his lecture “From the Green tothe Gene Revolution: a 21stCentury Challenge,” Dr Borlaug

discussed the Green Revolution,the science behind it, and the fac-tors that contributed to success.He also spoke of the enormouspotential of transgenics; and theneed for a ‘Marshall Plan’ for sub-Saharan Africa to provide thebasic social and economic infra-structure needed to enable thecontinent to become self-sufficientin food production.

Looking to the future, Dr Borlaughighlighted the need to doublecurrent food production levels tofeed the global population in2050; and, correspondingly, theneed to increase output fromlands already in production,through a stronger focus on inte-grated soil health and soil fertilitymanagement.

Global Rust Initiative:

safeguarding wheat production

The Global Rust Initiative (GRI)was launched in September 2005at an international meeting inNairobi, Kenya. It was formedfollowing the disastrous outbreakof a new strain of wheat stemrust, Ug99, first identified inUganda in 1999. The GRI is aninterdisciplinary R&D consortiumthrough which appropriate wheatvarieties that possess stable resist-ance to the new stem rust raceswill be rapidly developed anddeployed.

The Initiative is being led byICARDA and CIMMYT, in coop-eration with the KenyaAgricultural Research Instituteand the Ethiopian AgriculturalResearch Organization. Hon.Kipruto Arap Kirwa, Minister ofAgriculture, Kenya, inauguratedthe launch. Nobel Laureate DrNorman Borlaug delivered thekeynote address.

Wheat stem rust, caused by thefungus Puccinia graminis, hascaused huge losses in recentdecades. In 1950 it destroyed near-ly 70% of wheat sown in NorthAmerica. One strain, first reportedin Uganda in 1999, has nowspread to other parts of EastAfrica. Small-scale farmers inKenya have lost as much as 50% of

their wheat; and both Uganda andEthiopia are severely affected.

The disease now threatens tospread to the Middle East, Asiaand the Americas, because thepathogen spores can be transport-ed by wind over long distances.Stem rust control measures willspill over to two other importantdiseases, yellow rust and leaf rust.

In his opening address at the GRIsummit, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy,ICARDA Director General, saidICARDA was pleased to be apartner in the Initiative. He con-gratulated members of the ExpertPanel on the Stem Rust Outbreakin East Africa for their useful

report and said "the report fore-warns us of the challenges thatrusts can bring, and how to fore-arm ourselves to meet those chal-lenges."

The project has long-term objec-tives to control the spread ofUg99 globally through a researchagenda involving breeding vari-eties resistant to Ug99; pathogensurveillance, monitoring andearly warning system; identifica-tion and characterization of newsources of resistance ; capacitybuilding; accelerated seed multi-plication; use of fungicides; andknowledge sharing and decisionsupport systems for policymakers.

GRI summit participants. Among those seated in the front row are: Hon. Kipruto Arap

Kirwa (fifth from right), Minister of Agriculture, Kenya; Nobel Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug

(fourth from right); Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (fifth from left), Director General of ICARDA.

IFAD team visits ICARDA

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)has been a strong supporter ofICARDA since the inception of theCenter. A delegation from IFADvisited ICARDA in May 2005 toreview the progress of IFAD-fund-ed projects and discuss futureplans. The team, led by Mr JamesCarruthers, IFAD Assistant-

President, Program ManagementDepartment, included Ms MonaBishay, Director, Near East andNorth Africa Division; MrAbdelhamid Abdouli, SyriaCountry Program Manager; andothers.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICAR-DA Director General, gave thedelegation an overview of the

Center’s work. Directors of the sixnew Mega-Projects of ICARDAalso presented an overview oftheir respective programs. TheIFAD delegation then visitedICARDA’s research facilities, andinteracted with a number of sci-entists. Mr Carruthers reaffirmedIFAD’s commitment to supportICARDA’s research projects.

Educating children about

biodiversity

Biodiversity loss will affect futuregenerations – so it is importantthat children are made aware ofthe problem and its ramifications.The Dryland AgrobiodiversityProject, funded by GEF/UNEPand coordinated by ICARDA,worked with the Ministries ofEducation in Jordan, Lebanon,Palestine and Syria, to promotesuch awareness. The projectorganized lectures, field visitsand documentary film shows forschool children, and distributed

CIMMYT Board meets at ICARDA

The Board of Trustees of CIMMYTheld its annual meeting at ICAR-DA headquarters in November2005. ICARDA Board Chair DrMargaret Catley-Carlson, andBoard Chair Elect Dr GuidoGryseels, were present in Aleppospecially to welcome them. TheCIMMYT Board toured ICARDA’sresearch facilities and programs,followed by a day of field visits inHama, Afamia and Homsprovinces.

Since the ecoregion served byICARDA is home to wheat, one ofCIMMYT’s two mandate crops, theCIMMYT Board was visiting its‘second home’. The two centers col-laborate very closely. For example,each holds about 15,000 germplamaccessions from the other’s collec-

tion, duplicated for safe-keeping. Ajoint ICARDA/ CIMMYT wheatimprovement program, in opera-tion since 1980, has led to dramaticproduction increases in theCWANA (Central and West Asiaand North Africa) region.

To further strengthen the part-nership, the two Directors

General – Prof. Dr El-Beltagy ofICARDA, and Dr Masa Iwanagaof CIMMYT – signed a revisedagreement of collaboration duringthe CIMMYT Board meeting. Thenew agreement is designed topromote synergy between thetwo centers and use new modali-ties to increase the effectivenessand impact of their work.


3Highlights of the Year

Dr Alex McCalla (second from left), outgoing Board Chair of CIMMYT, thanked

ICARDA for hosting the CIMMYT Board meeting. Seen with him are: Dr Masa

Iwanaga (left), DG of CIMMYT; Dr Lene Lang (center), incoming Board Chair of CIM-

MYT; Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson (second from right), Board Chair of ICARDA; and

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (right), DG of ICARDA.

IFAD delegation, led by Mr James Carruthers (left), IFAD Assistant-President, and

including Ms Mona Bishay, Director, Near East and North Africa Division; Mr

Abdelhamid Abdouli, Syria Country Program Manager; Ms Mylene Kherallah,

Regional Economist; and Ms Annina Lubbock, visited ICARDA’s genebank.

pamphlets and brochures explain-ing the causes and potentialimpacts of biodiversity loss.

As part of this effort, a postercontest was organized for schoolchildren in the age group of 10-14years. Children were asked to cre-ate drawings or paintings thatreflected various aspects of biodi-versity, including crop diversity,degradation, and the role of farm-ers and communities in tradition-al agriculture. The paintingsclearly showed the huge pool ofcreative talent, and also the effec-tiveness of the program in raisingawareness. Four paintings werechosen from each country. Thewinners were taken on a tour ofproject sites in Jordan, Lebanonand Syria, and awarded T-shirtsand other gifts.

National genebank

inaugurated in Turkmenistan

During the 8th ICARDA-CACRegional Coordination Meeting,

held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan,in March 2005, H.E. BegenchAtamuradov, Minister ofAgriculture, Turkmenistan, alongwith Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy,Director General of ICARDA,inaugurated the nationalgenebank of Turkmenistan.

Mr Atamuradov opened theCoordination meeting. He alsodelivered a message from thePresident of Turkmenistan to theparticipants. “As a result of ICAR-DA collaboration, there has beenconsiderable progress inTurkmenistan in crop improve-



The West Asia Dryland Agrobiodiversity Project helped introduce agrobiodiversity into school curricula in four countries.

It also organized a poster competition for children on agrobiodiversity. Here are some of the winning posters.

H.E. Begench Atamuradov, Minister of Agriculture, Turkmenistan, and Prof. Dr Adel

El-Beltagy, Director General of ICARDA, opening the national genebank of

Turkmenistan.



ment and development of produc-tion technologies, e.g. for growingfodder crops on saline soils,” saidthe President in his message.

The meeting brought together 54participants, including CAC NARSand ICARDA scientists, heads ofNARS from the CAC region, a rep-resentative from the AsianDevelopment Bank, and H.E. RejepSaparov, Head of the Office of thePresident of Turkmenistan.

“Healing Wounds” – how the

CGIAR Centers help rebuild

agriculture

H.E. Obaidullah Ramin,Afghanistan’s Minister ofAgriculture, Animal Husbandryand Food, launched “HealingWounds” in February 2005 inKabul. Healing Wounds is thereport of a study, led by DrSurendra Varma, Head ofCommunication and InformationServices at ICARDA, of theCGIAR’s role in rebuilding agri-culture across CWANA, Asia,sub-Saharan Africa, LatinAmerica and the Pacific. Thereport was produced at ICARDAand published by the CGIAR.

“The Government of Afghanistanis happy that the CGIAR and theFuture Harvest Consortium choseKabul for the main launch ofHealing Wounds,” said MinisterRamin. “I will personally presenta copy to President HamidKarzai.”

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy,Director General of ICARDA,explained the genesis and signifi-cance of Healing Wounds andpresented examples of the workof the CGIAR centers in

Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine andother countries affected by con-flict and natural disasters.

“Healing Wounds consolidatesthe information from the CGIARcenters on rebuilding agriculture.The case studies covered in thereport were analyzed to draw les-sons that could be used to makethe partnerships betweenresearch and aid organizationsmore efficient,” he said.

The launch ceremony was attend-ed by a host of dignitaries,including Minister Ramin; H.E.Mohamed Sharif, DeputyMinister of Agriculture; DrEdwin C. Price Jr., ViceChancellor of Texas A&MUniversity; and representativesfrom CIP, CIMMYT, IPGRI,AVRDC, DFID, USAID, FAO,DACAAR, IFDC and MercyCorps.

The media was well representedas well – BBC, Free Radio

Europe, Al-Jazeera TV, RadioTehran, Chinese News Agency,Internews Afghanistan, Voice ofAmerica and many others.

H.E. Obaidullah Ramin (center), Afghanistan Minister of Agriculture, Animal

Husbandry and Food, along with Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (right), Director General of

ICARDA, and Dr Serge Verniau (left), FAO Representative in Afghanistan, launched

“Healing Wounds” in Kabul on 24 February 2005.

New research portfolio

of ICARDA

On 1 January 2005, ICARDA

implemented a realigned

research portfolio which

consolidated its 19 research

projects into six Mega-

Projects (MPs).

The new portfolio is

designed to be a coherent

poverty-focused program,

to address the key problems

of the dry areas, optimize

synergy in research, and

bring to bear on the

Center’s collective knowl-

edge, expertise and

resources in the most effec-

tive and efficient manner

possible (see page 10 for

more information).



Crop Country Variety name Other name Pedigree Special featuresBarley Ethiopia Mezezo Released for short rainy season

Baso Released for short rainy season

Libya Wadi attba 2Wadi attba 1

Chickpea Australia Nafice FLIP97-503-CLIMAS High yielding and disease resistantAlmaz FLIP97-530-CLIMAS High yielding and disease resistant

Azerbaijan Narmin FLIP 95-65C FLIP85-86C x FLIP86-5C High yield, Ascochyta blight resistance, suitable for early spring planting

Ethiopia ICCV-92033

Kazakhstan ICARDA-1 FLIP 96-137C FLIP91-105C x ILC3385 High yield, Ascochyta blight resistance, suitable for early spring planting

Kyrgyzstan Rafat FLIP98-121C (FLIP90-15C x ILC5362) High yield, Ascochyta blight resistance, x FLIP93-2C suitable for early spring planting

Faba Bean Ethiopia PGRC/E 25041-2-2

Forages Ethiopia Wasie ILAT-LS-LS-B22 ILAT-LS-LS-B22 low β-ODAP, moderately resistant to powdery mildew disease

Lentil Australia Boomer CIPAL 402 ILL 5722 x Palouse High yield, tall and vigorous growthNipper CIPAL 203 (Indianhead x ILL 5588) High yield, moderately resistant

x ILL 5588 to Ascochyta blight and Botrytis grey mold diseases

WF Wheat Kyrgyzstan Almira F.474S10.1

Varieties released in 2005

Center-Commissioned

External Reviews

A Center-Commissioned

External Review (CCER) of

ICARDA’s natural resource

management and socioeco-

nomics research took place

from 28 March to 7 April 2005

at the Center’s headquarters.

The CCER Panel was chaired

by Dr Donald Slack, Professor

and Head, Department of

Agricultural and Biosystems

Engineering, University of

Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Dr Patrick Cunningham,

Professor of Animal Genetics,

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

and formerly Director of the

Animal Production and Health

Division at FAO; Dr Fatima

Nassif from Institut National de

la Recherche Agronomique,

Settat, Morocco; and Dr Peter

Midmore, Professor of Applied

Economics, School of

Management and Business,

University of Wales,

Aberystwyth, U.K., served as

Panel members. Dr Kjersti

Larsen, ICARDA Board mem-

ber, served as Observer on the

Panel. Dr Slack presented the

Panel report at ICARDA on 7

April 2005.

A draft report of the CCER of

the Integrated Gene

Management program, which

commenced in 2004, was pre-

sented on 25 April at ICARDA

by the Chair of the review

Panel, Dr Calvin Qualset,

Professor Emeritus, University of

California. Prof. Mahmud

Duwayri, University of Jordan,

formerly with FAO; Prof. Ivan

Buddenhagen, Consultant, for-

merly with the University of

California, Davis; and Dr

Mogens Lemonius, Consultant,

formerly with FAO, served as

Panel members.

A CCER of ICARDA’s activities

in Human Resource

Development and Capacity

Building of NARS was conduct-

ed from 4 to 10 June 2005 at

the Center’s headquarters. The

Panel consisted of Prof. Dr

Richard A. Jones, Yale

University, USA (Chair); Dr

Abderrazak Daaloul, Director

General, Agricultural

Production, Ministry of

Agriculture, Tunisia; and Dr

Kausar Malik, Director General,

Pakistan Atomic Energy

Commission and formerly

PARC Chair. Prof. Dr Richard

Gareth Wyn Jones, ICARDA

Board member, served as

Observer on the CCER Panel.



Challenge Programs

ICARDA is a partner in three ofthe CGIAR pilot ChallengePrograms (CPs):

• Water and Food: ICARDAreceived funding for three proj-ects in this CP through the com-petitive grants program: two forwork on scarce waterresources/drought in theKarkheh River Basin, Iran; andone for work on integrated genemanagement in the Nile RiverBasin within Eritrea.

• HarvestPlus: ICARDA is respon-sible in this CP for identifyingbarley and lentil germplasmwith high concentration of β-carotene, iron, and zinc.

• Generation: ICARDA is a fullmember of the GenerationConsortium and is involved ina series of commissionedresearch projects and one com-petitive grant project.

Systemwide and ecoregional

programs and other CGIAR

initiatives

ICARDA leads the EcoregionalProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and the Caucasus(ERP-CAC) and continues to par-ticipate in Systemwide Programs:Systemwide Genetic ResourcesProgram, Systemwide LivestockProgram, Systemwide Programon Integrated Pest Management,Community Action and PropertyRights Initiative, Systemwide SoilWater and Nutrient ManagementProgram, Systemwide Programon Participatory Research andGender Analysis, and theComprehensive Assessment ofWater Management.

ICARDA was co-convener withICRISAT of a Challenge Programpre-proposal on ‘Desertification,Drought, Poverty and Agriculture’that has evolved into ‘Oasis’recently and approved as a newSystemwide Program by theAlliance Executive to link Centerefforts to combat desertification insupport of the UN Convention.

ICARDA is currently the convenerof the INRM group of the AllianceExecutive. The Center is also anactive partner in six projects onInformation Technology andKnowledge Management, andleads the project entitled‘Utilization of IntelligentInformation Systems for PlantProtection’. ICARDA also partici-pates in a number of other Inter-Center Initiatives including theConsortium for the SpatialInformation, International CropInformation System network,activities of the Standing Panel onImpact Assessment, Inter-CenterTraining Group, and Global OpenFood and Agriculture University.

Other collaboration

ICARDA had a joint appoint-ment of a senior scientist withIFPRI until August 2005; theposition will be re-filled in 2006.The other joint appointments are:one with IWMI on marginalquality water and the other withILRI on small ruminant health.ICARDA has a barley breederposted at CIMMYT, who man-ages the ICARDA/CIMMYT bar-ley improvement program forLatin America.

ICARDA hosts a senior visitingscientist from CIRAD (Centre de

Cooperation Internationale enRecherche Agronomique pour leDeveloppement), France, and asenior visiting scientist and post-doctoral fellow from JIRCAS(Japan International ResearchCenter for Agricultural Sciences). The Program Facilitation Unit(PFU) of the ERP for CAC, withinICARDA’s regional office inTashkent, hosts an EnvironmentManagement Officer supportedby the Global Mechanism of theUNCCD and a scientist fromAVRDC. Additionally, the PFUhouses the Central Asia and theCaucasus Association ofAgricultural Research Institutions(CACAARI).

ICARDA’s West Asia regionaloffice in Amman, Jordan, housesthe secretariat of the regionalforum for the Near East andNorth Africa, AARINENA. TheICARDA Office in Kabul,Afghanistan, houses staff fromCIP and formerly staff fromIPGRI. In Ankara, Turkey, ICAR-DA shares an office with CIM-MYT. In Pakistan, ICARDA’soffice provides assistance to CIM-MYT and IRRI by managingfinancial arrangements for theirprojects in Pakistan.

ICARDA leads the Future HarvestConsortium to RebuildAgriculture in Afghanistan(FHCRAA) and has formed a simi-lar Consortium to RebuildAgriculture in Iraq. ICARDAbegan managing competitive grantfunding in 2002/03 under aUSAID grant to rebuild agricul-ture in Afghanistan.

Based on the success of thismodel, DFID Afghanistan in 2004contracted ICARDA to managethe Research in Alternative

Building partnerships

Livelihoods Fund (RALF). TheRALF projects continued in 2005.ICARDA, on behalf of FHCRAA,also manages a USAID-fundedproject for CIP on potato improve-ment in Afghanistan. ICARDAmanages a MoroccanCollaborative Grant Facility forpart of the Moroccan CGIAR con-tribution.

To supplement its critical mass,ICARDA outsources some of itsspecific research components tocenters of excellence in theregion, for example: the CentralLaboratory for Computer ExpertSystems in Egypt for the devel-opment of computer expert sys-tems; the Agricultural GeneticEngineering Research Institute,also in Egypt, for genetic trans-formation of cereals; and theInstitut National de la RechercheAgronomique (INRA) in Moroccofor wheat breeding for Hessianfly resistance.

ICARDA harnesses ‘new science’through many joint programs withadvanced research institutes, whichare documented in the project nar-ratives. Cooperative agreementswith the private sector span, forexample, cooperation in maltingbarley improvement for the devel-oping world, village-based seedenterprises, and molecular biology.NGOs and development agenciesare key partners in linkingICARDA’s research to develop-ment.

Honors and awards • His Majesty King Abdullah II

bin Al Hussein of Jordan con-ferred the Al-Istiklal (independ-ence) medal, one of the highestdecorations in Jordan, on Prof.Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director

General, in August. H.E. AkelBiltagi, a senior member of theRoyal Court of Jordan andAdviser to the King, presentedthe medal at ICARDA head-quarters in August. Also, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy was electedFellow of the Academy ofSciences for the DevelopingCountries during the 16thGeneral Meeting of theAcademy in Alexandria, Egypt,in November; and Chair of theGlobal Forum on AgriculturalResearch (GFAR) in December.As GFAR Chair, he will serve asa member of the CGIARExecutive Committee.

• Dr Raj Paroda, RegionalCoordinator, ICARDA-CAC andHead, PFU-CGIAR, received theprestigious Norman E. BorlaugAward for 2005 from thePresident of India. The award,instituted by the CoromandelFertilizers, is named after theeminent agricultural scientistand Nobel Laureate, Dr NormanE. Borlaug.

• Dr Ashutosh Sarker, LentilBreeder, and other members ofhis team, were honored by theGovernment of WesternAustralia in February for theircontribution to the develop-ment of Ceora, the first low-toxin grass pea variety to bereleased in Australia. Dr Sarkerwas also honored by theBangladesh AgriculturalResearch Institute for his con-tribution to pulse research inBangladesh.

• Dr Mustapha El Bouhssini,Entomologist, was appointedAdjunct Faculty Member in theDepartment of Entomology at

Kansas State University, USA,in December.

• The scientific support team forthe CGIAR Program for CentralAsia and the Caucasus (CAC)and ICARDA’s Regional Programfor CAC, based in Tashkent,Uzbekistan, won the “CGIAROutstanding Scientific SupportTeam Award.” The team consistsof Ms Ilona Kononenko, ProjectAdministrative Officer; MsMadina Musaeva, ResearchFellow; Ms Aziza Kalendarova,Office Secretary, PFU-CGIAR; MsNadejda Loginova, Junior OfficeSecretary, ICARDA-CAC; and MsNodira Adilova, Secretary toCACAARI.

• The Jordanian National Programpresented an award to ICARDA’sWest Asia Regional Program inApril for the fruitful collaborativework on water harvesting tech-niques and rehabilitation ofdegraded ecosystems in the Badiaarea of the country.



On behalf of the ICARDA-Tashkent

office team, Ms Ilona Kononenko,

Project Administrative Officer,

received the CGIAR Science Award

for the Outstanding Support Team from

Mr Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chair.

Tribute to Dr Robert D. Havener, 1930-2005

Dr Robert (Bob) D.

Havener, former Board

Chair of ICARDA, passed

away on 3 August 2005.

Bob was a unique combi-

nation of the deep and

wide knowledge he

amassed during his life-

time, the integrity he

exuded in whatever he

did, the true concern he

had for improving the

quality of life of the poor,

great intelligence and a

strong character.

“Bob had a special place

for ICARDA in his heart,”

said Prof. Dr Adel El-

Beltagy, Director General.

“He was not only one of

the founding fathers of

ICARDA but also one who

guided its development

into a ‘Center of

Excellence’ to serve the

complex problems of agri-

culture in the world’s dry

areas. He strongly believed

in the mandate and mis-

sion of ICARDA, and was

committed to improve the

well-being of the poor. He

was a mentor and a guide to many staff of the

Center. As the Board Chair of ICARDA, he

steered the Center with great wisdom and

foresight during the period when the whole

CGIAR System was undergoing major transfor-

mation. Under his stewardship the Center con-

tinued to march forward with great confi-

dence. Even after his leaving the Office of the

Board Chair, the senior management of the

Center continued to turn to him for his wise

counsel and guidance”.

Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson, ICARDA Board

Chair, said: “Bob truly loved ICARDA, the staff

and scientists, the good

work they do and the zeal

they bring to the enormous

challenges of agriculture in

the dry areas. I had the

great honor of succeeding

– not replacing – him as

Chair of the ICARDA

Board: nobody could have

replaced him. He was

called on to lead, man-

age and govern great

organizations. No room, no

meeting, no occasion

failed to become a better

place when he and Liz

were present. He adored

and cherished Liz, and her

constant traveling with him

brought great pleasure to

all of us.”

Bob Havener last visited

ICARDA with the Nobel

Laureate Dr Norman

Borlaug in May 2005. He

took great pride in showing

the work of ICARDA to Dr

Borlaug. Who could imag-

ine that Bob had come to

say farewell to ICARDA and

its staff and to have a last

look at the Center that he

built and nurtured for nearly three decades?

Bob Havener has been taken away from us, but

his legacy would always remain with us. His smil-

ing face in his portrait in the “Robert D. Havener

Executive Wing” in the administration building of

ICARDA, which was dedicated to him on the

26th Presentation Day of the Center in 2003 in

appreciation of his outstanding support to ICAR-

DA and the CWANA region, will continue to

inspire the entire ICARDA community to move

forward on the path of progress shown by him.

May the departed soul rest in peace.

Highlights of the Year


9


On 1 January 2005, ICARDAimplemented a realigned researchportfolio which consolidated its 19research projects into six Mega-Projects (MPs). The new portfoliowas designed to be a coherentpoverty-focused program toaddress the key problems of thedry areas, optimize synergy inresearch, and bring to bear on theCenter’s collective knowledge,expertise and resources in themost effective and efficient man-ner possible. The MPs are wellaligned with the System Prioritiesfor CGIAR Research 2005-2015,and seek to contribute to the UNMillennium Development Goalsrelated to agriculture.

With a multitude of cross-link-ages and interactions, the sixMega-Projects are:

Mega-Project 1: Management ofscarce water resources and miti-gation of drought in dry areas

Mega-Project 2: Integrated genemanagement: conservation,improvement and sustainable useof agrobiodiversity in dry areas

Mega-Project 3: Improved landmanagement to combat deserti-fication

Mega-Project 4: Improvement,intensification and diversifica-tion of sustainable crop andlivestock production systems indry areas

Mega-Project 5: Poverty andlivelihood analysis and impactassessment in dry areas

Mega-Project 6: Knowledge man-agement and dissemination forsustainable development in dryareas

The portfolio also includes anecoregional program entitled“Collaborative Research Program

for Sustainable AgriculturalDevelopment in Central Asia andthe Caucasus,” for which ICAR-DA is the convening Center.

At the same time, a separateGeographic Information SystemsUnit (GISU) was established. GISUsuperseded the former project on“Agroecological Characterizationfor Agricultural Research, CropManagement and DevelopmentPlanning.” The specific mandateof GISU is to address ICARDA’sgrowing needs for spatial databasedevelopment and analysis, and todeliver mapping products,

resource databases, methodologiesof spatial analysis and agroecolog-ical characterization, training, andweb portals for knowledge dis-semination. In carrying out theseactivities, GISU is closely linkedwith MP-1 and MP-3.

MP-1 incorporates research ondrought preparedness and miti-gation through the optimal man-agement of water resources anduse of adapted crops and cropvarieties (linking with MP-2 andGISU) and appropriate croppingpatterns (linking with MP-4).Greater emphasis is given to the

ICARDA’s Research Portfolio

The eco-geographic mandate of ICARDA covers the dry areas in develop-

ing countries globally. The dry areas are characterized by low, unpre-

dictable rainfall, drought, desertification, and acute water scarcity.

Environmental resource degradation and human poverty are most pro-

nounced. As a result, rural to urban, as well as international migration is

widespread, threatening social, political and economic stability.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assesment Report, published this year, reveals

that, globally, desertification threatens over 41% of the earth’s terrestrial sur-

face. But it is in these dryland areas that about 2.1 billion people live, about

one-third of the global population. Of these dry areas, the Central and West

Asia and North Africa—CWANA—region, which includes 35 countries,

accounts for the major proportion, about 1.7 billion hectares of land.

ICARDA’s work therefore focuses on the CWANA region and uses it as the

platform to reach other parts of the world to address the problems of dry

area agriculture.

The global eco-geographic mandate of ICARDA

11


ICARDA’s Research Portfolio

dissemination of improved optionsthrough integrated and multidisci-plinary research (linking with MP-6) and the use of participatoryresearch approaches at the com-munity level at selected bench-mark sites (linking with MP-3 onland management). Research onpolicies and institutions in theproject links closely with MP-5.

MP-2 links with MP-1 on watermanagement and droughtthrough genetic research ondrought tolerance. Research ongenetic enhancement of feedlegumes contributes to the inte-grated crop/livestock productionsystems in MP-4. Activities onIntegrated Pest Managementwithin MP-2 also link with crop-ping systems research in MP-4.MP-2 links with MP-5 in researchtargeting and adoption/ impactassessment.

MP-3 has close links with theCenter’s GIS Unit in the assess-

ment of land degradation. Withrespect to rangelands, MP-3 focus-es on land and vegetation manage-ment while MP-4 adds the essen-tial dimension of the managementof small ruminants that graze therangelands and the developmentof diversification options in thesedegraded areas. Policy and institu-tional issues, key to combatingland degradation, are addressed incollaboration with MP-5.

MP-4 conducts water-use efficien-cy work in agronomy and protect-ed agriculture in collaborationwith MP-1. Forage legumes andcereal and pulse straws from MP-2breeding/selection programs areevaluated for nutritive value in thesmall ruminant program.

Improving rangeland productivitythrough use of supplements such asfeed blocks is carried out in collabo-ration with MP-3. There is extensiveinteraction with MP-5, which pro-vides socio-economic input.

MP-5 is integrated with all Mega-Projects and eco-regional programsand contributes to the implementa-tion of socio-economic and policyresearch, and in adoption andimpact studies.

MP-6 is linked with all Mega-Projects in promoting technologi-cal, institutional, and policyoptions for sustainable develop-ment.

The new portfolio ensures conti-nuity of previous research activi-ties while accommodating newapproaches and new researchavenues. These include:improved income generationfrom high-value crops and byadding value to staple crop andlivestock products; rehabilitatingagricultural research in conflict orpost-conflict situations; and closeralignment of agricultural researchwith mainstream development pro-grams through research for devel-opment applications.

Sites Approx. Area Total precipitation (mm) Long-term average (mm)elevation (ha) (2004/05 season)

Latitude Longitude (m)

SyriaTel Hadya 36.01° N 36.56° E 284 948 303.3 349.9 (27 seasons)Breda 35.56° N 37.10° E 300 95 267.8 275.2 (25 seasons)

LebanonTerbol 33.49° N 35.59° E 890 23 583.5 539.3 (25 seasons)Kfardane 34.01° N 36.03° E 1080 11 450.2 461.5 (11 seasons)

ICARDA sites in Syria and Lebanon

ICARDA operates two experimental station sites inSyria, including the main research station at TelHadya, near Aleppo, and two sites in Lebanon. Thesesites represent a variety of agroclimatic conditions,typical of those found in the CWANA region.ICARDA and the Lebanese Agricultural Research

Key Features of ICARDA’s Research Stations

Institute (LARI) now share the use of the sites inLebanon. ICARDA uses these sites for commodityresearch trials in winter, and for off-season advance ofbreeding material and for rust screening in cereals insummer.


Mega-Project 1

Management of Scarce Water Resources and Mitigation ofDrought in Dry Areas

Introductionping patterns. The research and capacity building

across the dry areas on developing drought mitiga-

tion packages is conducted within a network with

FAO, CIHEAM and NARS. The drought network ben-

efits from the intergovernmental system of the FAO

and the strong Mediterranean partners of ICARDA

and CIHEAM.

Greater emphasis is given to the dissemination of

improved options through integrated and multidis-

ciplinary research, and the use of participatory

research approaches at the community level at

selected benchmark sites. Research on policy and

institutions is also included in the Mega-Project 1

portfolio, and implemented across all benchmark

projects and activities with a view to model the

biophysical and socioeconomic components of

the system and develop improved policy and insti-

tutional options.

The Management of Scarce Water Resources

and Mitigation of Drought in Dry Areas Mega-

Project focuses on strategic research on sustain-

ably increasing water productivity, and has

expanded its scope from the farm to the water-

shed and basin level. Partnerships within the

Challenge Program on Water and Food and with

IWMI have been established to achieve a com-

plementarity whereby ICARDA focuses on assess-

ing and improving on-farm water productivity

and IWMI focuses on out-scaling to the basin

level. Increased emphasis is being placed on the

assessment of scarce water resources, including

both fresh and marginal-quality water, and their

sustainable allocation to various uses. By linking

to other Mega-Projects of ICARDA, Mega-Project

1 integrates research on drought preparedness

and mitigation through the optimal manage-

ment of water resources and use of adapted

crops and crop varieties and appropriate crop-

Water resource management isespecially important in dry areaswith fast-growing urban popula-tions. Growing cities such asDamascus and Aleppo in Syriarequire more clean water whileproducing larger amounts ofdomestic and industrial waste-water. To maximize the safe useof wastewater and minimizethreats to the environment andhuman health, ICARDA andIWMI assessed the production,treatment, and use of wastewaterin the Aleppo region of theEuphrates-Aleppo Basin.

Wastewater treatment

Findings show that nearly one-third of Syria’s wastewater istreated before it is used for irriga-tion or discharged into rivers orthe sea. In 2006–2007, new waste-

water treatment plants will becompleted, increasing the amountof wastewater treated by 30%(Table 1).

Wastewater use by farmers

Farmers prefer to use wastewater

for irrigation, and researchersfound three main reasons for this.The most important, given by57% of farmers, was the year-round availability of wastewater.The second most important rea-son (26% of farmers) was the high

Making wastewater use safer in Syria

The Qweik River, which has been polluted with wastewater from Aleppo, Syria. In

2005, researchers from ICARDA and IWMI assessed the production, treatment, and

use of wastewater in the Aleppo region, to help maximize the safe use of waste-

water and minimize threats to the environment and human health.


13Making wastewater use safer

nutrient content of wastewater,which reduces or even eliminatesthe need for expensive chemicalfertilizers. The third reason (17%of farmers) was that pumpingwastewater costs less than pump-ing groundwater.

Wastewater is used on less than5% (69,000 ha) of Syria’s irrigatedland, and treated wastewater isused on only half of this area(37,000 ha). However, althoughthe area irrigated with waste-water is small, it is economicallyimportant.

Wheat is the most important cropgrown on half the wastewater-irrigated area, followed by cotton,faba bean, and vegetables. Lessthan 7% of the area under waste-water irrigation is devoted to veg-etables, mainly because a 2003Syrian code of practice prohibitsthe use of wastewater on vegeta-bles that will be eaten raw.

Costs and benefits of waste-

water irrigation

A comparative cost-benefit surveyin the Aleppo region indicates thatwhen irrigated with wastewater,wheat produces twice as muchbenefits as when irrigated withgroundwater (US$5.31 per US dol-lar invested, compared withUS$2.34; Table 2). Wheat irrigatedwith wastewater produces higheryields because of the high nutrientcontent of the wastewater. Farmersalso save on the costs of fertilizer(US$95/ha) and pumping.

Irrigation with wastewater doesraise concerns about soil andwater pollution. However,because no data is available onthe background levels of metaland metalloids in Syrian soils, itmay not be possible to work outhow much contamination is being

caused. Contamination is likely,however, because less than half ofthe wastewater used is treated,and treatment plants are designedto treat domestic wastewater, notindustrial wastewater.

Over one-third of farmers knowthat direct contact with untreatedwastewater may affect theirhealth and that of their familymembers. Data from othersources in two areas where waste-water is used for irrigation—Ghouta, a peri-urban area ofDamascus, and the study area inthe southern part of Aleppo—showed that 75% of the popula-tion suffered from dysentery.

Recommended interventions

The researchers have recom-mended interventions to maxi-mize the benefits of wastewaterirrigation while minimizing therisks.

1. Optimize the performance ofwastewater treatment plants

2. Prevent industrial wastewaterfrom entering domestic waste-water treatment plants

3. Encourage industries to treattheir wastewater

4. Restrict the disposal of untreat-

ed wastewater to stop surfacewater from being contaminated

5. Monitor harmful contaminantsin surface and groundwater

6. Monitor the build-up of chemi-cal pollutants in crops and soils.

7. Enforce the 2003 Syrian code ofpractice on wastewater treat-ment and use

8. Evaluate the socio-economicimpact of wastewater on farm-ing communities

The study also found that therewas a critical shortage of trainedSyrian staff to monitor and analyzesolid and liquid wastes. Only afew staff have the technical skillsto operate, maintain, and monitorindustrial wastewater treatmentplants. Capacity building is, there-fore, needed to enable governmentstaff to implement, on a large scale,new options for wastewater treat-ment and use.

This is important because responsi-bilities for the treatment, disposal,and use of wastewater span insti-tutional boundaries. Research lead-ing to new wastewater use tech-nologies could help communitiesto benefit more while minimizingadverse environmental impacts.

Year Estimated capacity of % of total wastewater treatment plants wastewater treatedm3/day m3/year

2005 978,000 357,000,000 312006–2007 1,300,000 475,000,000 41

Table 1. Capacity of wastewater treatment plants in 2005 and of those planned for

2006–2007 in Syria.

Crop Cost benefit ratio†Wastewater Groundwater irrigation irrigation

Wheat 5.31 2.34Cotton 5.17 5.23Faba bean 5.30 2.93

Vegetables 7.48 3.29

†Calculated as the ratio of gross income to the cost for each crop.

Table 2. Comparison of the cost-benefit ratio of irrigating with wastewater and

groundwater.


Management of Scarce Water Resources and Mitigation of Drought14

There are three major agro-ecosystems in the dry areas: irri-gated, rainfed, and marginalrangelands (badia). Shortage ofwater is the key constraint in allthese environments. The mostcritical issue for farmers is how toincrease and sustain productivitywith limited water. ICARDA hasestablished representativeresearch sites (benchmark sites) inall three agro-ecosystems (Fig. 1).

In partnership with nationalresearch systems and rural com-munities, the Center is using these‘field laboratories’ to develop andtest technological options forimproving productivity and sus-tainable use of water. Benchmarksites for the irrigated, rainfed, andbadia environments were estab-lished in Egypt, Morocco, andJordan, respectively. Successfultechnologies will be transferred toother similar agro-ecosystems.

Problems that are not representedin the benchmark sites, but whichoccur in similar agro-ecosystemselsewhere, are addressed in ‘satel-lite’ sites in other countries. Thesatellite sites complement bench-mark sites and are used tooutscale the results to other areas.The irrigated satellite sites arelocated in Iraq and Sudan; andthe rainfed sites in Algeria,Tunisia, and Syria. The badiasatellite sites are located in SaudiArabia and Libya.

Selection and characterization

of the badia benchmark site

The badia climate is harsh, withinsufficient rainfall for crop pro-duction. The little water availableis poorly managed and much of

the rainwater is lost throughrunoff and evaporation. Waterharvesting—concentrating runofffor beneficial uses—is perhaps themost promising way of improv-ing productivity in the badia. Thewatershed level was selected asthe most appropriate for water-

harvesting studies because thetechniques will affect bothupstream and downstream users.

To select a benchmark site forwater-harvesting research in theJordan badia, researchers mappedthe boundaries of the main water-sheds and sub-watersheds basedon contour lines and drainagesystems. They identified 226 mainwatersheds, ranging from 0.3 to

Benchmark sites for water research

in the dry areas

Fig.1. Water benchmark sites in CWANA.

Fig. 2. The benchmark site selection process.

266 km2 in a zone of ‘transitionalbadia’ with average annual rain-fall of 100–200 mm.

A multidisciplinary team ofexperts then scored the watershedsusing five main selection criteria:rainfall, location of communities,soil type, watershed area, andtopography. Forty watershedsscored highly, but 14 of them wereexcluded because part of their areafell outside the badia or crossedinternational borders. This first-stage selection provided 26 poten-tial watersheds (Fig. 2).

The second stage of selectionassessed various criteria, includ-ing soil depth, slope steepness,location of communities, landuse, watershed size and accessi-bility, land tenure, and availabili-ty of basic data. Plotting data on

GIS overlays and superimposingthese on the base map of water-shed boundaries allowed differ-ent experts to visualize andreview data and modify the crite-ria over many rounds of assess-ment. This process eliminated allbut nine watersheds, which werelater narrowed to five.

Based on information from stages1 and 2, the specialists then under-took three types of study: (1) rapidrural appraisal of the socioeconom-ics of the communities; (2) rapidhydrologic study to assess the suit-ability of the watersheds for waterharvesting; and (3) rapid environ-mental review to assess the poten-tial impact of water harvesting.

They concluded that two siteswould be needed to represent thewide range of biophysical and

socioeconomic conditions found inthe badia. These were the Moharib(the main research site) andUmenaam (a complementaryresearch site) watersheds.

The researchers collected detailedbaseline data for the benchmarkwatersheds and developed suit-ability maps for various water-harvesting techniques, after con-sultation with farmers (Fig. 3).

The results indicate that severalwater-harvesting options (cis-terns, ridges, strips, hafair, etc.)may work in any one biophysicalunit within the watershed. Thismeans that farmers have severaloptions and that other socioeco-nomic issues can be taken intoaccount when deciding whichoption to use.

Benchmark sites for water research


15

Fig. 3. Suitability map for various water-harvesting techniques in the Moharib watershed, Jordan.



Water harvesting covers varioustechniques to collect rainwaterfrom natural terrain or modifiedareas and concentrating it for useon smaller sites or cultivatedfields to improve crop yields. Fewfarmers in Syria have adoptedwater harvesting methods. Onereason is that the agriculturalresearch and extension supportservices in Syria lack specific andsystematic knowledge on poten-tial areas and suitable locationsfor water harvesting. The objec-tive of this study was to provide arapid GIS-based analytical tech-nique to assess suitability for var-ious water harvesting systems inSyria, with the ultimate objectiveto adapt the technique for useacross the CWANA region.

The assessment was undertakenby matching in a GIS environ-ment simple biophysical informa-tion, systematically available at

country level, to the broadrequirements of the specifiedwater harvesting systems. Thesystems evaluated include 13micro-catchment systems, basedon combinations of 6 techniquesand 3 crop groups, and 1 general-ized macro-catchment system.

The environmental criteria forsuitability were based on expertguidelines for selecting water-harvesting techniques in dryenvironments. They included pre-cipitation, slope, soil depth, tex-ture, salinity, land use/land coverand geological substratum. Thedataset included interpolated sur-faces of mean annual precipita-tion, the SRTM1 digital elevationmodel, a soil map of Syria, a landuse/land cover map of Syria, anda geological map of Syria.

The evaluation had two stages:scoring of the land attributes

according to the individual crite-ria, followed by the combinationof the individual scores in amulti-criteria evaluation. Fuzzymembership functions were usedto evaluate suitability for continu-ous variables, such as precipitationand slope. The functions are fullydefined by their shape (either sig-moid or linear) and inflectionpoint positions.

Other relevant factors, such assoils, land use or geological mate-rials, could at the national levelonly be described qualitatively. Inaddition, for these datasets it isquite normal that the pixels arenot homogeneous but containmixtures with different properties.Monte-Carlo simulation was usedto estimate the approximate pro-portion of a pixel affected by oneconstraint or another.

The individual factors were thenscored on a common scale (0-100)and combined through theMaximum Limitation Method(MLM) as a special case of Booleanoverlay. An example of a suitabili-ty map for a micro-catchmentwater harvesting system is shownin Fig. 4. The scoring is on a scaleof 0 to 100.

To identify areas suitable formacro-catchment systems, twoseparate assessments were under-taken, the first one to evaluate suit-ability to serve as a catchment, andthe second to evaluate suitabilityas a target area, with the additionalcondition that the areas should bewithin a certain distance from eachother. The evaluation for catch-ment suitability included fuzzymembership function for precipita-tion and slope, in which the scoreswere adjusted by taking into con-sideration the soil hydrologicalproperties.

Integrating expert knowledge in GIS to locate

biophysical potential for water harvesting: a case

study at country level in Syria

Fig. 4. Suitability map for macro-catchments. Areas in blue are highly suitable as catch-

ments, areas in red highly suitable as target areas; where they occur close to each

other, the terrain meets all conditions for a macro-catchment system.


17Assessing the potential of groundwater

The Khanasser Valley is located onthe edge of the Syrian steppe andreceives only 210 mm of rainfall onaverage annually during the crop-ping season from October to May.Coupled with variation in rainfallfrom year to year, this means thatfarming conditions are marginal.Climate change may be addingfurther stresses to the Valley’s agri-cultural systems. However, thecurrent climate change modelscannot be used to assess this,

because they do not consider thesmaller scale processes that affectlocal precipitation. ICARDA hastherefore been using differentmethods to assess variability inrainfall, as well as groundwateruse and its predicted effects.

Assessing rainfall variation

Trend tests on data from the cli-mate stations in Aleppo and theKhanasser Valley show that rain-fall has not decreased in the last 75

years. Although this data does notprovide evidence of climatechange, limitations in the qualityof the data may mask trends.

To assess the frequency of droughtin the Khanasser Valley, therefore,researchers plotted standardizedprecipitation index (SPI) values forOctober to December (planting)and February to April (crop devel-opment and flowering) for 1929 to2005 (Fig. 5). SPI values equal to orless than –1.0 indicate drought.

Farmers often encounter difficultconditions, e.g. wet conditions atplanting followed by dry condi-tions during crop development,or vice versa. During the frequentdroughts that affect the area, theyoften have to leave their villagesin search of feed for their flocksor to find work in cities. Duringthe drought of 1958–60, for exam-ple, Syria’s sheep population wasreduced by half and many fami-lies migrated to western Syriaand Lebanon, and returned onlywhen the drought ended.

Traditional groundwater

systems

During drought years, groundwa-ter can supplement rainfall andstabilize crop production.However, groundwater is oftenalso an important source of drink-ing water for rural communitiesand their livestock. TheKhanasser Valley has a long his-tory of groundwater use. Betweenthe 4th and 7th centuries, andperhaps even earlier, qanat sys-tems were dug into the hillside totap the groundwater. By lettinggroundwater flow out into thevalley through a slightly slopinghorizontal tunnel, these qanatsensured that no more water wasused than could be rechargednaturally.

Assessing the potential of groundwater in

a drought-prone area

Fig.5. Standardized precipitation index for the Khanasser Valley (1929–2005).

A view of the Khanasser Valley from the Jabel Al-Hoss plateau, near Aleppo, Syria.



Researchers have found five suchqanats in the area, two of whichdried up in the 1970s whenmotorized pumps were intro-duced and groundwater levelsfell rapidly. Two other qanats hadalready collapsed earlier.However, in an undisturbedValley area in the foothills ofJabel Al-Hoss, one small commu-nity still uses the water that flowsfrom a qanat for its daily needs.

Studies on groundwater

recharge

Syria’s rural population has morethan doubled over the last threedecades, and anecdotal evidencesuggests that the same is true inthe Khanasser Valley. This is put-ting increasing pressure ongroundwater resources. Becauserainfall is low and evaporationrates are high, the aquifers receivelittle replenishment.

Researchers found that present-day recharge mainly takes placeon the adjacent Jabel Al-Hoss andJabel Shbayth basalt plateaus.Analyses of isotopes in waterpumped from aquifers in theKhanasser Valley have shown

that some of the water used todayentered the aquifers more than3000 years ago.

Predicting the effects of

groundwater pumping

Researchers used a numericalflow model (MODFLOW-2000) toinvestigate the dynamics of thegroundwater system in theKhanasser Valley and its responseto external influences, such as theintroduction of groundwaterpumping. The model was cali-brated with groundwater-leveland flow data from the 1970s—before groundwater pumpingbegan.

These data were supplementedby recent measurements fromlocations where groundwater lev-els were not likely to have beengreatly affected by pumping.Researchers calibrated the modelfor a range of recharge values, toallow for any variation in thequality of the available data.Results indicate that averagerecharge in the study area is just1% of the long-term average annu-al precipitation, with an uncertain-ty range of 0.24% to 2.4%.

Groundwater levels are more vul-nerable to changes in pumpingrates than to droughts. Theresults of a 30-year simulationindicated that, without pumping,groundwater levels would gener-ally vary by less than 0.4 m overtime. However, at the presentpumping rates (1.4 million m3 peryear in average years and 1.2 and1.7 million m3 in wet and dryyears, respectively) the simulationshowed that the water levelwould fall by 1.4 m on averageover 30 years.

The simulation results alsoshowed that after 15 to 62 yearsof pumping at the present rate,saline water from the JabbulSabkhah, a large saline depres-sion north of the Valley, wouldbe drawn into the aquifer. Thisoutcome results from high pump-ing rates in the Valley bottom,where water is needed for irriga-tion. But it would take almost4000 years for the groundwatersystem to stablize again (Fig. 6).

To find options for sustainablegroundwater use in this drought-prone area, researchers modeledvarious scenarios and found thatredistributing production wells—giving each village an equalshare—could help sustain higherpumping rates than those of cur-rent production wells.

They estimated that villagescould pump between 800 and30,000 m3 per year. This wouldprovide larger communities withbarely enough groundwater tofulfill their domestic needs,though smaller communitieswould be able to pump somewater for their livestock or irri-gate small areas of cropland. Fig. 6. Simulated changes in flow in the Khanasser Valley groundwater system at the

current pumping rates.


19Efficient and sustainable use of water in Central Asia

In 2000, ICARDA and national sci-entists in the Central Asian coun-tries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, andUzbekistan initiated a three-yearapplied research project on soiland water management with fund-ing from the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB). The project addressedthe major challenges in on-farmsoil and water management andaimed to increase agricultural pro-duction through maintenance ofsoil fertility, enhancement of nutri-ent use efficiency, and improve-ment of water productivity. Theresults have demonstrated thatadoption of improved technologiescould enhance productivity,income, and household food secu-rity. It could also contribute to theconservation of natural resourcesand sustainable agricultural pro-duction in the region.

Following the success of the proj-ect, a proposal for the secondphase was developed, which wasapproved by the ADB inNovember 2003. This phaseincluded an expansion of theproject to Azerbaijan. The objec-tive was to promote the adoptionby farmers of sustainable techno-logical and institutional innova-tions that conserve soil and water,improve input-use efficiency, andgenerate greater economic returns. Twenty-two on-farm trial siteswere established during the firstphase of the project and addition-al sites in the second phase.Several activities were carried outin 2005 under the project.

At Pobeda and JambulAgricultural ExperimentalStation, Kazakhstan, raised-bedplanting with cutback irrigation

gave higher yield in winter wheatand more efficient use of waterthan raised-bed planting with fur-row irrigation and conventionalplanting with strip irrigation.Application of ameliorant phos-phogypsum to winter wheat andcotton increased water-use effi-ciency and yield (1.4 kg/m3 and 3t/ha when 2.5 t/ha phosphogyp-sum was applied compared with0.6 kg/m3 and 1.8 t/ha with nophosphogypsum). Similar resultswere obtained for cotton (1.4kg/m3 and 3 t/ha with 4 t/haphosphogypsum compared with0.6 kg/m3 and 1.8 t/ha with none).

Two irrigation methods, irriga-tion in sown furrows and contourfurrows, were tested in a slopingarea of Sokuluk district inKyrgyzstan. Sowing on beds andfurrows with cutback irrigationgave higher water-use efficiencyand yield in winter wheat (1kg/m3 and 4.1 t/ha) than sowingon beds with furrow irrigation(0.6 kg/m3 and 2.9 t/ha).

Contour furrows gave higherwater-use efficiency in sugar beet.In Tajikistan, several irrigationtechniques were tested in persim-mon and cotton fields. The drip-jetfurrow irrigation produced betterheight, trunk diameter, and crownsize in persimmon than drip-jet

irrigation alone, while micro-fur-row irrigation produced bettergrowth, number of buds, flowers,and bolls in cotton than conven-tional furrow irrigation. InTurkmenistan, sprinkler irrigationand alternate furrow irrigationalso gave higher water-use effi-ciency and yields, respectively, incarrot and maize than the conven-tional furrow irrigation.

In on-farm demonstrations on thebenefits of saline soil leaching, cot-ton produced 2.06 t/ha, 1.36 t/haand 0.2 t/ha after leaching saltswith drain water, blended waterand without leaching, respective-ly. This indicates that leaching canhelp rehabilitate soils that areaffected by high salt content.

In Uzbekistan, the yields ofgrapevines were 17.72 t/ha, 13.44t/ha and 12 t/ha, and water-useefficiency was 3.8 kg/m3 and 2.9kg/m3 and 2.1 kg/m3 under lowpressurized drip, drip-jet, andfurrow irrigation, respectively.The zigzag furrow recorded high-er cotton yield and water-use effi-ciency (2.6 t/ha and 0.24 kg/m3)than traditional furrows (2.3 t/haand 0.21 kg/m3). The yields andwater-use efficiency of winterwheat were higher under sprin-kler than conventional furrowirrigation.

Winter wheat gave higher yieldsand water-use efficiency underfurrow irrigation with portablechutes than with no portablechutes. Water-use efficiency andyields in winter wheat, sunflower,maize, sesame, and cotton werehigher with the use of fresh waterand conjunctive fresh and drainwater than with drainage water.Similarly, polyethylene mulchincreased water-use efficiencyand yield in cotton.

Efficient and sustainable use of water in

Central Asia

Winter wheat sown on raised beds in

Kazakhstan.



Despite the shortage of water inthe dry areas of CWANA, mostfarmers still use inefficient irriga-tion techniques. They irrigatetheir crops to maximize yields perunit of land. However, usingmaximum irrigation is unwiseand unsustainable in areas wherewater is scarce and the water tableis dropping fast. Maximizing yieldper unit of water rather than perunit of land would be a betteroption.

ICARDA researchers have, there-fore, been testing deficit irrigationas one way of increasing waterproductivity to gain ‘more cropper drop’. They have tested deficitirrigation in maize and cotton (twocommon summer crops) for threeyears at the Tel Hadya researchstation.

They found that applying less irri-gation water than the amountneeded to completely satisfy thecrops’ water requirements

decreased productivity per unit ofland, but increased productivityper unit of water.

In the maize trials, for example,reducing irrigation to 80% of thewater requirements increasedwater productivity from 0.9 to 1.1kg/m3, but reduced yields onlyslightly, from 5.7 to 5.3 t/ha (Fig.7). This indicates that deficit irri-

gation could save substantialamounts of water. The watersaved could then be used to (i)extend the irrigated area, (ii) irri-gate higher value crops, or (iii)

provide supplementary irrigationfor rainfed winter crops.

Although farmers would not pro-duce as much per hectare, irrigat-ing a larger area could increasethe total amount produced per

Deficit irrigation: gaining more crop per drop

Deficit irrigation trials on cotton at ICARDA Tel Hadya station. Left: Cotton grown under full irrigation (no stress). Right: cotton

grown with deficit irrigation (at 40% of full irrigation).

Fig.7. Water productivity and maize yields under different irrigation regimes at Tel

Hadya, Syria, 2005.

farm. Farm profits would alsoincrease if the additional costs ofirrigating more land (such as out-lays for labor and new canals orpipes) were lower than the extrabenefits from producing morecrops.

Using deficit irrigation for wintercrops in CWANA would alsomean that crops would benefitmore from unexpected rainfall

during the growing season. Thisis because deficit irrigation doesnot saturate the crop root zone,allowing the soil to store rainwa-ter, which is then available to thecrop.

The researchers, therefore, sug-gest a revision of the recommen-dations for irrigating crops inwater-scarce areas. Irrigationpractices should take account of

the availability and sustainabilityof water resources in specificbasins. ICARDA is working onnew guidelines for crop waterrequirements and irrigationscheduling for the importantcrops in the dry areas. These newguidelines could help farmersmanage limited water supplies,cope with drought, and optimizewater productivity and profits.


21More crop per drop


Mega-Project 2

Integrated Gene Management: Conservation,

Enhancement and Utilization of Agrobiodiversity in Dry Areas

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain canbe used to make malt, as well as toprovide food for people and live-stock. The crop is better able towithstand harsh climates thanother cereals. It can also cope bet-ter with poor soil fertility and low-input farming systems.

While barley remains a staplefood in many of the poorestregions of the world, it is notcommonly eaten by people indeveloped countries. As a result,most barley-breeding efforts havefocused on improving cultivarsused for animal feed and malting,and not those used for food.

However, food barley cultivarshave particular characteristicsthat consumers like—whichmeans that they cannot simply be

replaced by feed or malting bar-ley. Farmers’ unique geneticmaterial and indigenous knowl-edge associated with barley needto be preserved for future genera-tions. ICARDA has, therefore,begun a program to produce bet-ter adapted and better qualityfood barley.

Traditional uses of barley

To guide the food barley improve-ment efforts, researchers reviewedfood barley use around the world.They found a wealth of localrecipes, and a large body of knowl-edge about the health and nutri-tional benefits of eating barley.Barley grain is used whole, roast-ed, or cracked. Both roasted andunroasted grain is processed intoflour for use in a diverse range oflocal dishes.

Examples of foods derived frombarley range from the NorthAfrican couscous and Ethiopianbesso (roasted barley flour mois-tened with water, butter, or oil) tonakia (a Yemeni drink). Varioussoups, cakes, and beverages arealso popular in high-altitudeareas like Tibet and the Andes. Inmany places, local barley-process-ing industries have sprung up tosatisfy demand.

In December 2005, ICARDA and CIMMYT signed a

revised Memorandum of Understanding for a joint

ICARDA-CIMMYT Wheat Improvement Program in

CWANA. This new initiative has helped guide the

development of strategies and approaches for

wheat networking with the NARS, joint fundraising,

and priority setting. It will help align the research

agenda of both Centers for CWANA and form bet-

ter linkages with the NARS. A priority-setting exer-

cise by both Centers will be undertaken in 2006 to

incorporate impact pathways in their medium-term

plans. The joint project is expected to lead to a

higher degree of efficiency in project execution

and cost savings through jointly managed offices in

CWANA. The Global Rust Initiative, formed by CIM-

MYT and ICARDA in response to the threat of the

new wheat stem rust (Ug99) emerging from eastern

Africa, is an immediate outcome of this partnership.

The Integrated Gene Management Mega-

Project seeks to contribute to the improvement

of livelihoods of resource-poor farmers through

the conservation, improvement, and sustainable

use of agrobiodiversity and the development

and adoption of improved varieties and associ-

ated technologies. The Project is also actively

involved in formal and informal seed production

systems, policy and institutional research in sup-

port of in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity,

and institutional strengthening and capacity

building.

The Project works with more than 200 partners in

NARS, advanced research institutions, sister

CGIAR centers, and sub-regional and communi-

ty-based organizations, and is fully involved in the

CGIAR Generation Challenge Program and

HarvestPlus.

Barley couscous, a popular dish in

Noth Africa.

Introduction

Fulfilling the potential of food barley

In participatory plant breeding(PPB), farmers work withresearchers to select and testimproved crop varieties. Thisapproach is gaining recognition asan efficient and effective way ofimproving germplasm. ICARDAuses PPB to develop varietiesadapted to drought and the otherenvironmental stresses found inmarginal environments, whererural poverty is widespread. TheCenter uses PPB in more favorableenvironments as well.

ICARDA has pioneered participa-tory plant breeding in severaldeveloping countries in theMediterranean (Egypt, Jordan,

Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia,) andbeyond (Eritrea and Yemen). Thishas produced a set of methodsthat will help researchers imple-ment PPB throughout drought-prone regions.

Workshop to promote PPB in

the Mediterranean

To encourage scientists in theMediterranean region to agree ona plant breeding strategy fordrought-prone areas, ICARDAconvened a ConsultativeWorkshop on Participatory PlantBreeding (CONPAB) in 2005. Thiswas funded by the EuropeanCommission and was held atICARDA’s headquarters.

Fifteen scientists from six coun-tries participated—three eachfrom Egypt, Jordan, and Syria,and two each from Algeria,Morocco, and Tunisia. Theirexpertise covered wheat, barley,lentil, faba bean, and maize, aswell as plant breeding, social sci-ence, genetic resources, andbiotechnology. The workshopbuilt on past germplasm researchand the knowledge gained fromprojects such as “Mapping adap-tation of barley to drought envi-ronments” (MABDE).

The workshop had three objec-tives: (i) to create a team of scien-tists from Mediterranean countriescommitted to PPB, (ii) to formu-late plans for implementing PPB

Barley’s health benefits

Over the last 20 years, even indeveloped countries, barley prod-ucts have generated great interestbecause of their high nutritionalvalue. Barley grain, for example, isa good source of beta-glucan (asoluble dietary fiber) and tocols—both of which lower cholesterol.Beta-glucan has also been reportedto lower blood glucose levels. As aresult, several new recipes basedon barley products have beendeveloped.

Food barley improvement

In response to requests from sev-eral national agricultural research

programs, ICARDA’s BarleyProject has begun developingimproved food barley cultivarswith higher and more stableyields, better grain quality, andgreater nutritional value. Thiswork focuses mainly on hull-lessgermplasm.

Importantly, the screening proce-dures used in the breeding pro-gram do not just consider conven-tional attributes such as kernelweight, size, color, and proteincontent. They also take intoaccount characteristics associatedwith barley’s use as human food,such as beta-glucan content, ker-nel hardness, husk percentage,and cooking time.

Producing nutrient-fortified

barley

Another more recent area ofresearch is the production of vari-eties bred to have an increasedmineral and vitamin content.Work on these biofortified cropsaims to mitigate the problem of

micronutrient deficiency thataffects hundreds of millions ofpeople in developing countries,especially women and children.The CGIAR’s HarvestPlusChallenge Program is, therefore,working with ICARDA to identi-fy barley germplasm which pro-duces grain with high concentra-tions of iron and zinc.

In 2005, researchers screened acollection of barley landraces andimproved lines. They found thatthe zinc content of grain variedfrom 23 to 50 ppm, while the ironcontent ranged from 26 to 67ppm. The hull-less barley varietyAtahualpa, which has zinc andiron contents of 47 ppm and 55ppm, respectively, was particular-ly promising, and will be used todevelop micronutrient-dense bar-ley varieties. In areas where bar-ley is already a major part of peo-ple’s diets, these new varietieswill be a source of increasedmicronutrients.

Barley coffee, a healthy family drink.

Promoting participatory plant breeding

23Promoting participatory plant breeding


Integrated Gene Management24


for strategically important crops inthe drought-prone areas of theregion, and (iii) to disseminateparticipatory plant breeding meth-ods and strategies.

The workshop program includedfield visits, meetings with farm-ers, and lectures by ICARDA sci-entists and an expert fromCIRAD, France. Participants alsomet with members of variousSyrian institutions responsible forresearch, extension, seed multipli-cation, and variety release.

The participants developed threeproposals for implementing PPB:(i) transform the current breedingprogram into a participatory pro-gram over the next four to fiveyears, (ii) integrate participatoryevaluation by farmers into thelater stages of the current breedingprogram, and (iii) develop a par-ticipatory program in parallel withthe existing breeding program.

The experts attending the work-shop also suggested that partici-patory plant breeding should beintroduced into university curric-ula. Two further recommenda-tions were also made. The firstwas to involve more scientists in

PPB by inviting them to two- orthree-day mini workshops in eachof the six countries. This couldhelp to institutionalize PPB. Thesecond was to develop a regionalproject covering key crops andmethodologies. Such a regionalproject could help to foster knowl-edge-sharing and collaboration.

One of the practical outcomes ofthe workshop was a new PPBproject in Algeria. This coversbarley in the west of the countryand durum wheat in the east. Theproject will begin in early 2006with the full support of relevantAlgerian institutions.

ICARDA is also working closelywith the MediterraneanAgronomic Institute of Zaragoza(IAMZ/CIHEAM). One exampleof this collaboration is theMABDE research project coordi-nated by IAMZ/CIHEAM.Funded by the EuropeanCommission’s INCO-MED pro-

gram, researchers from Algeria,Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Spain,Syria, and Turkey are workingtogether through MABDE toidentify genes that improvedrought resistance in barley.

One of the participants, Dr B. Sakr, Plant Breeder, INRA, Morocco, presented an

assessment of the workshop. He said that all his colleagues found the workshop useful

and are committed to support future PPB activities.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), orscab, reduces barley yields andgrain quality by shriveling anddiscoloring the grain and produc-ing toxins that harm both peopleand animals. The blight is endem-ic in Andean countries, southernChina and the Midwestern USA,and poses an increasing threat tobarley-growing areas around theworld. Economically, its impactsare enormous—major epidemics

have caused losses of US$750 mil-lion in the USA alone since theearly 1990s. Since 1980, ICARDAhas been working with CIMMYTto produce barley with enhancedresistance to FHB.

Breeding for resistance

The ICARDA/CIMMYT programmainly breeds and tests newgermplasm at the TolucaExperimental Station in Mexico,

where environmental conditionsfavor FHB development and itsevaluation. More than 2700 lineswere tested at Toluca in 2005. Theprogram also collaborates withnational programs around theworld, distributing high-yieldinglines that have good agronomiccharacteristics and contain a num-ber of sources of FHB resistance.

Since 2000, the program has alsobeen collaborating formally withthe United States Wheat andBarley Scab Initiative (USWBSI).

Developing barley resistant to Fusarium head

blight

This synchronizes the efforts ofresearchers from many differentprograms, ensuring that work isnot duplicated and that usefuldata is generated from a variety ofenvironments. As a result, up to300 apparently resistant lines pro-duced by ICARDA/CIMMYT areevaluated in early-screening nurs-eries in the USA each year. Theprogram run by the two Centersalso provides enough germplasmfor up to 200 research plots at anursery in China, which the pro-gram’s researchers visit and evalu-ate every year.

The team is also involved in theNorth American Barley ScabEvaluation Nursery, providing upto eight elite FHB-resistant linesper year. As part of this work, theprogram plants and evaluates areplica of the nursery at Toluca.

Finding new sources of

resistance

Sources of resistance to FHB inbarley are very rare. So, the pro-gram is now conducting a thor-ough search for new, as-yet-unexploited resistance sources,especially in six-rowed barley.Sponsored by the USWBSI, thiswork will ensure that all possiblesources of resistance are used infuture breeding programs.

To this end, ICARDA’s genebankis being systematically searched,as it contains a wide range of lan-

draces and wild relatives of barleyfrom CWANA. Potential sourcesof resistance are being tested atToluca against local Fusarium iso-lates, to determine whether theyshow Type I resistance (resistanceto fungus penetration) or Type IIresistance (resistance to the spreadof the fungus in the spike).

In 2004 and 2005, for example,the program tested large num-bers of previously unscreenedlines from the genebank. Thisyielded more than 590 genotypeswith novel genes for resistance toFHB. Many of these genotypeswere also resistant to rust dis-eases (Table 1).

The promising germplasm foundwill be multiplied so that USWBSIpartners can study it using geneticmarkers. Germplasm found to begenetically distinct from other

known sources of resistance willbe tested under different environ-mental conditions worldwide, tosee whether the resistance is stableand reliable.

The program also aims to collectas many potentially resistantstocks as possible from other bar-ley improvement programs andgene banks around the world.The program will contact regionalbreeders from ICARDA and CIM-MYT, as well as staff from select-ed national breeding programsand genebanks, to request newlines of winter and spring barleyfor genetic marker studies andmulti-country testing.

The new FHB-resistant barleyvarieties produced by the pro-gram will be shared freely withdeveloping countries as part ofICARDA’s global mandate.

FHB severityNo. of genotypes (range across collections)

Source of Resistant to Resistant Resistant to Visual score % grain germplasm FHB to stripe rust leaf rust (1-5)† infected‡

ICARDA genebank 277 45 2 0 - 3 nmEritrea collection 295 34 5 nm 1.0 - 28.6

Palestine collection 19 11 nm 2 - 5 3.1 - 34.5

†1 = most resistant, 5 = most susceptible; ‡ Percentage of grains within a spike displaying symptoms; nm = not measured.

Table 1. Barley nurseries and entries from ICARDA’s genebank screened at Toluca, Mexico, and the number of lines found resistant

to different diseases.

A barley grower checks for Fusarium infection in his field in Hidalgo state, Mexico.

25


Resistance to Fusarium head blight



Barley is often the only rainfedcrop that farmers can grow in dryareas. Drought during barley’svegetative growth stage reducesthe final grain yield only sightly,but drought during the reproduc-tive stage reduces grain yield sig-nificantly.

Past research on the expression ofdrought tolerance in barley hasmainly been conducted usingseedlings, and has thereforefocused on gene expression dur-ing the vegetative growth stage.However, genes that conferdrought tolerance are expressedat different growth stages. It is,therefore, important to studydrought-tolerance mechanisms atthe reproductive stage (i.e. atheading).

Scientists studied barley geneexpression patterns at differentgrowth stages and under differ-ent water-deficit regimes, using amicroarray (AffymetrixGeneChip Barley 1). This knowl-edge will be used to breed vari-eties with better yield stability fordry areas.

The study involved two barleycultivars: one drought-tolerant(Tadmor) and the other drought-sensitive (WI2291). In pot experi-ments, cultivars were grownunder a well-watered regime(70% of available water in thesoil) until heading. At heading,the plants were divided intothree groups according to threemoisture-regime treatments:well-watered (70% of available

water in the soil), moderatedrought stress (35%) and severedrought stress (10%).

These treatments continued untilharvest. The grain yields of thethree groups were then com-pared. Researchers also assessedleaf chlorophyll content andchlorophyll fluorescence parame-ters (e.g. the ratio Fv/Fm) whichindicate photosynthetic efficiency.

Physiological and yield traits

Results confirmed field observa-tions that Tadmor is more toler-ant to water-deficit stress thanWI2291. For example, the chloro-phyll fluorescence Fv/Fm ratio

fell much less quickly in Tadmorthan in WI2291 after researchersapplied the drought-stress treat-ments (Figs. 1a and 1b). Thesame was true of leaf chlorophyllcontent (Figs. 1c and 1d). Thismeans that photosynthesis ismore efficient in drought-toler-ant Tadmor under moisturestress than in drought-sensitiveWI2291.

Grain yields of Tadmor in boththe drought treatments werereduced to around 80% of theyield in the well-watered treat-ment. By contrast, yields ofdrought-sensitive WI2291 in thesevere and moderate droughttreatments were much lower:only 55% and 60%, respectively,of the yield in the well-wateredtreatment.

Fig. 1. Indicators of photosynthetic efficiency (chlorophyll fluorescence parameter

Fv/Fm and chlorophyll content) in two barley varieties – drought-tolerant Tadmor and

drought-sensitive WI2291, under different levels of drought stress. WW=well-watered

conditions (70% of available water in the soil), MDS=moderate drought stress (35% of

available water in soil), SDS=severe drought stress (10% of available water in soil).

Values are the mean and standard deviation of five measurements.

Expression of barley genes in response to late

drought stress

Bread wheat breeding at ICARDAis a part of the ICARDA-CIMMYTWheat Improvement Program(ICWIP) for CWANA.

Bread wheat is the main food formost people in CWANA, whereeach person consumes 185 kg peryear on average. This is the high-est consumption rate in the world.However, both productivity andtotal production of bread wheatare low. Unable to meet increasingdemand, most countries in theregion have to import substantialamounts of bread wheat.

Spring wheat is grown on at least11 million hectares in low-rainfall(250-450 mm) semi-arid environ-ments in CWANA, wheredrought is a major constraint toproductivity.

Just under half this area (4.5 mil-lion hectares) is planted withbread wheat; the other 6.5 millionhectares with durum wheat.

In West Asia, adequate rainfallbefore anthesis (the periodbetween flowering and seed for-mation) is often followed bydrought during the grain-fillingperiod (‘late drought’). Rainfallalso often varies greatly betweenlocations, between years, andwithin each year. For example,over a seven-year period

(1998/99 to 2004/05) rainfall atICARDA’s Tel Hadya researchstation was below average forthree years and above average forthe other four. Both the totalamount of rainfall and its distri-bution during the year also var-ied (Fig. 2). Any wheat cultivarsgrown in such areas, where con-ditions are highly variable, musthave traits that contribute todrought tolerance, high yieldsand yield stability.

Gene expression

For gene expression analysis(using Affymetrix GeneChipBarley 1 arrays), researchers iso-lated total RNAs from the flagleaves of Tadmor and WI2291after flowering. These leaveswere collected three days afterthe moisture-regime treatmentshad begun, and were taken fromthe ‘severe drought stress’ and‘well-watered’ treatments.

The results showed that somefunctional genes in both geno-types respond to water deficit

stress similarly in terms of theirgene expression profiles: 77 geneswere found to be significantlydifferentially expressed beforeand after drought in both geno-types. Since they appeared inboth the drought-tolerant anddrought-sensitive genotypes,these may simply be genes thatare expressed in response todrought. They may not actuallybe responsible for conferringdrought tolerance.

Researchers, therefore, furthercompared the gene expression

profiles of Tadmor and WI2291 inresponse to drought to identifygenes that were expressed underdrought in only one of the twovarieties, not both. In all, 372genes were found to be signifi-cantly differentially expressedbetween the two genotypes inresponse to drought after flower-ing. Some of these may be specif-ic genes that help the plant toadapt to drought stress. ICARDAwill study these genes in moredepth to identify those that canbe targeted by breeding pro-grams.

Breeding drought-tolerant spring bread wheat

Performance of a drought-tolerant spring bread wheat line (4.5 t/ha) at Tel Hadya

under 334 mm annual rainfall conditions, 2005.

27


Drought-tolerant spring bread wheat



To develop improved wheatgermplasm with these traits, sci-entists at ICARDA took regional-ly-adapted cultivars and land-races and hybridized them withhigh-yielding advanced linesand synthetic wheats obtainedfrom CIMMYT. They then select-ed segregating populationsunder severe drought regimes atBreda (254 mm average rainfallper year) and moderate regimesat Tel Hadya (334 mm per year). The resulting advanced lineswere evaluated under five mois-ture regimes. These ranged from250 mm to over 600 mm:

i. Breda, rainfed, average rain-fall 254 mm;

ii. Tel Hadya, rainfed, averagerainfall 334 mm;

iii. Tel Hadya, rainfed plus onesupplemental irrigation; 384mm;

iv. Tel Hadya early plantingplus two supplemental irri-gations; 450 mm; and

v. Terbol station in Lebanon;over 600 mm.

Researchers chose these locationsand moisture regimes in order tosimulate variation in water avail-ability in both time and space.The results of the tests were usedto select spring wheat cultivarsthat combine drought toleranceand high yield potential. Fig. 3shows how the different linesperformed under moisture-stressed and favorable regimes.Based on their performance, thelines were classified into fourgroups (quadrants; Fig. 3).Genotypes in quadrant A arepoorly adapted to both moisture-stressed and favorable regimes.Genotypes in quadrant B arespecifically adapted to moisture-stressed regimes. They producedabove-average yields under

moisture stress, but did not per-form well in favorable regimes.

The genotypes in quadrant C didwell in favorable regimes butperformed poorly under stress.By contrast, the genotypes inquadrant D performed wellunder both moisture stress and

favorable regimes—making theminput-efficient and input-respon-sive. These genotypes are adapt-ed to highly variable conditionsand give high yields. Such high-yielding, drought-tolerant springwheat germplasm will play animportant role in food security inthe CWANA region.

Fig. 3. Yield of new spring bread wheat lines (kg/ha) under favorable and moisture-

stressed conditions. Germplasm in quadrant D (top right) is most suitable for use in

areas of CWANA where the amount of rainfall varies greatly from year to year.

Fig. 2. Variability in rainfall distribution at Tel Hadya, Syria, 1998/99 to 2004/05 crop-

ping seasons. LT-Avg = Long-term average.

The durum wheat breeding pro-gram, like bread wheat, is a part ofICWIP under the joint manage-ment of ICARDA and CIMMYT.

In 2005, ICARDA’s durum wheatbreeding program continuedworking to understand how wildrelatives of wheat toleratedrought and other stresses.Researchers also continued toidentify wild species with traitsthat they can use to improvemodern, high-yielding durumvarieties.

Wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides),emmer (T. dicoccum), Polish (T.polonicum), and Persian (T. carth-licum) wheats are sources of valu-able traits like earliness, grain qual-ity, and disease and drought resist-ance. ICARDA researchers haveshown that several of these wildrelatives can maintain their leafwater potential and avoid dehydra-tion even when soil moisture levelsare very low. They are able to dothis by closing their stomata forlong periods and rapidly fixingCO2. Researchers also found thatsome of these species can continueto photosynthesize even whendrought-stressed—by keeping theirphotosynthetic enzymes active andtheir soluble protein and leafchlorophyll levels constant.

Researchers also tested whether dif-ferent species could maintain a highrelative water content (RWC) intheir leaves under drought stress.These included a wild emmeraccession (T. dicoccoides600-808),and five durum genotypes, includ-ing Cham 1 (a drought-tolerantcheck). Results showed that T. dicoc-coides600-808 and Cham 1 both

maintained their relative water con-tent under stress. By contrast, theleaf RWC of the other four durumgenotypes fell rapidly as droughtstress increased. Researchers alsostudied three Triticum species (T.polonicum, T. dicoccoides, and T.carthlicum), all of which performedbetter than T. dicoccum and many ofthe durum varieties tested.

Subsequently, T. polonicum, T. dicoc-cum, and T. carthlicum were crossedwith the high-yielding improvedvariety Cham 1. Likewise, T. dicoc-coides600-808 was crossed with theimproved variety Korifla. In theresulting crosses, the distribution ofthe high RWC drought-tolerancetrait indicated that inheritance waspolygenic (determined by a groupof genes) and transgressive. Thebest performing lines from thesecrosses were then tested in differ-ent environments to assess theirgrain yield.

Researchers also studied the stresstolerance of Aegilops species. Littlewater was lost from the stomataand epidermis of the leaves ofAegilops speltoides and Ae. genicula-ta, indicating drought tolerance. Inaddition, frost resistance was highin Ae. cylindrica and Ae. geniculata,but low in Ae. caudate, Ae. comosaand Ae. speltoides, and intermedi-ate in Ae. triuncialis, Ae. triaristata,Ae. ovata and Ae. biuncialis. Thisindicates that the U genome pres-ent in these species may help toconfer cold resistance.

Breeding for stress tolerance

and grain quality

To widen durum wheat’s geneticbase and improve its resistance tobiotic stresses (like root rots and

insects) and abiotic stresses (likecold and drought), ICARDA scien-tisits make over 200 crosses peryear between improved durumgenotypes and Triticum wild rela-tives. The advanced lines and seg-regating populations producedfrom these crosses are then select-ed and screened at different sitesand during different seasons toexpose them to a variety of stresses.

Winter-sown plants, for example,are screened for resistance to yel-low rust, Septoria tritici, wheatstem sawfly, cold, and drought.In the winter screening of2004/05, crosses involving T.carthlicum, T. dicoccoides, and T.monococcum produced the majori-ty of lines selected for further tri-als and breeding. Summer-sownplants have to face differentstresses, and are thereforescreened for resistance to leafrust, stem rust, heat, and barleyyellows dwarf virus (BYDV).

In the 2005 summer screening,lines and populations derivedfrom Aegilops species, T. monococ-cum, and T. polonicum were mainlythose selected for future research.This work has produced lines andpopulations with improved resist-ance to drought, terminal stress(drought stress at the end ofwheat’s growing period), yellowrust, root rot, and Septoria tritici.

Overall, introducing genes from T.monococcum has significantlyimproved leaf rust resistance, earli-ness, drought tolerance, and earlygrowth vigor in durum. At thesame time, genes from T. polonicumand T. dicoccum have producedpromising advanced lines for hot,dry environments that are resistantto leaf and stem rust and BYDV.Crosses with T. carthlicum haveproduced advanced lines that per-

Exploiting wild relatives in durum wheat

breeding

29


Exploiting wild relatives of durum wheat



form well under cold stress andare resistant to Hessian fly.However, researchers have notbeen able to introgress resistanceto Hessian fly from differentAegilops species into durum.

Crosses between dryland-adapteddurum genotypes and T. dicoc-coides, T. urartu, and Aegilops pere-grinacylindros have generatedadvanced lines that produce grainhigh in protein and micronutri-ents (Fig. 4), yield well in dryareas, and have resistance to bothbiotic and abiotic stresses. Thegrain of these new lines is richer

in zinc, manganese, copper andiron than that of the improvedcheck variety Korifla (Cham 3).

Overcoming terminal drought

stress and improving yield

stability

Crosses with Triticum and Aegilopsspecies have resulted in durumlines that withstand terminaldrought stress well. These linesyield much more than the durumlandrace Haurani and the durumcultivar Korifla (Table 2). Derivedfrom crosses between durum andT. araraticum, T. dicoccoides, and Ae.columnaris, they yielded around

one ton per hectare more thanHaurani. This reflects the progressmade in achieving resistance to ter-minal drought stress.

Trials have also shown that the newlines bolstered by traits from wildrelatives give higher grain yieldsunder both dryland (Fig. 5) andhigh-input conditions. These resultsalso suggest that the drought resist-ance introgressed from wild rela-tives is expressed in different envi-ronments, and does not reduce thepotential for high yields.

Cross/genotype Grain yield Increase (%) over the (kg/ha) local check (Haurani)

Rufom-5/T.araraticum500140//Carzio 2139 101ICD92-0764-WABL-1AP-0TR

Sbl1/T.dicoccoides600545//Omguer-1 1946 83ICD92-0750-WABL-2AP-0TR

Haucan/Ae.columnaris400020//Omtel1/3/Omlahn3 1939 83ICD91-0604-WABL-11AP—4AP-0TR

Haucan/Ae.columnaris400020//Omtel-1/3/Omlahn3 1936 82ICD91-0604-WABL-13AP-5AP-0TR

Haurani (local check) 1062

Korifla (improved check) 1533 44

Table 2. Grain yield of some durum genotypes derived from crosses with Triticum wild relatives under drought and terminal stress

conditions in 2005 at Tel Hadya, Syria.

Fig. 5. Using Triticum wild relatives to improve durum yield stabil-

ity: yields at different locations under different growing condi-

tions in 2005. RF: rainfed (Tel Hadya, Syria); BR: Breda, Syria

(lower rainfall); INC: favorable (high-input) conditions; LP: late

planting (dry and terminal stress), Tel Hadya; TR: Terbol,

Lebanon; KF: Kfardane, Lebanon.

Fig. 4. Higher levels of micronutrients (zinc, manganese, copper

and iron) in the grain of seven durum wheat lines derived from

crosses with wild relatives (Triticum and Aegilops species),

compared with the check variety Korifla.

This study forms a part of ICWIPunder the partnership betweenCIMMYT, the national researchprogram in Turkey (TAGEM),and ICARDA.

In Mediterranean environments,lack of water severely limits cere-al production. Drought-tolerantcultivars that respond well tosupplemental irrigation couldimprove yields in the region.

In partnership with CIMMYT andTAGEM, ICARDA assessed howthe grain yields of 25 genotypes

of winter and facultative breadwheat (Triticum aestivum) variedunder different water regimes.The genotypes studied includedlandraces, released cultivars, andadvanced lines.

During trials under nine moistureregimes, mean grain yielddecreased as moisture stressincreased. Under the lowestmoisture regime (302 mm), theaverage grain yield was 55%lower than under the highestmoisture regime (583 mm). Basedon the results, the 25 genotypes

were classified into four groups(Table 3):

i. non-responsive (GNR) geno-types in which yields did notchange in response to differentamounts of water;

ii. genotypes that gave low yieldsunder low-moisture regimesbut responded to supplementalirrigation (GNDR);

iii.genotypes with high yieldsunder low-moisture regimeswhich showed a quadraticresponse relationship underhigh water inputs (GDRQ); and

iv.drought-tolerant genotypes (GDRL) which showed a linearresponse to supplemental irri-gation.

A major aim of the durum wheatbreeding program is to producehigh-yielding varieties which areadapted to dryland conditions andresistant to the major diseasesfound in CWANA. Researchers,therefore, crossed the durumwheat cultivar Cham 5 with fourwild relatives of wheat. In replicat-ed experiments at Tel Hadya, 17 ofthe lines yielded more than thedurum wheat parent during botha relatively high-rainfall season(2003/04, 400 mm) and a low-rain-fall season (2004/05, 300 mm).Importantly, eight of these linesalso contain resistance genes foryellow rust and/or leaf rust,inherited from the wild relatives.

All except one of the new linescame from crosses betweendiploid wild relatives and Cham5: eight were derived from cross-es with Triticum boeoticum, sixfrom crosses with Aegilops spel-

toides, and two from crosses withT. urartu. Only one high-yieldingline came from crosses madewith the tetraploid wild emmerwheat T. dicoccoides.

The 17 new lines produced (Fig.6), as well as additional materialsderived from wide crosses, willnow be tested further by ICAR-DA and NARS scientists, toassess their performance in dif-ferent environments acrossCWANA.

High-yielding durum wheat lines derived from

crosses with wild relatives

Fig. 6. Durum wheat lines obtained from crossing the high-potential cultivar Cham 5

with various wild relatives of wheat (2004/05). The new lines yield more, and eight

contain genes conferring resistance to yellow rust and leaf rust.

Drought-tolerant winter/facultative wheats

that yield more when more water is available

31


Drought-tolerant wheat



Fig. 7 shows the mean perform-ance of the genotypes in each ofthe four groups. Ten of the 25genotypes displayed bothdrought tolerance and a goodresponse to supplemental irriga-tion. Of these 10 genotypes, sevenare advanced lines, two are wide-ly-grown varieties, and one is thenewly released variety Katia.

The results also showed that thethree groups that responded tosupplemental irrigation (GNDR,GDRQ, and GDRL) gave signifi-cantly higher yields under high-moisture regimes than the non-

Grain yield (t/ha)Cross/Name Origin Diversity Low-moisture High-moisture

group† regime(302 mm) regime(583 mm)

Non-responsive genotypes (GNR) Azar-2 Iran NR 3.18 3.12Son64/4/wr51//mayall/n.th/3/k117 Iran AL Ir 2.87 3.20Fen kang15/sefid Iran AL Ir 2.68 3.49Gerek Turkey WA 2.60 3.79

Responsive genotypes without drought tolerance (GNDR)Sardari Iran LR Ir 2.73 3.33Tjb368.251/buc//anb/buc Mexico AL 3.00 6.55Sdy/ald/3/nai60/hn7//buc/4/alucan Mexico/ USA AL 2.19 5.99Co72.3839/ti-r//fasan/3/co72.3839/ti-r Mexico AL 2.43 6.44Saulesku32/weaver//f4105w2.12 Turkey AL 2.65 6.06Ks82w409/spn USA AL 2.15 4.94Agri/nac//Attila Mexico AL 2.83 3.88Vorona/tr810200 Mexico AL 2.65 6.05P8-8/llkofen/3/bez/nad//kzm/4/bb//cc/cno*2/3/tob156/bb/5/ning8675 Mexico AL 1.67 6.46Kinaci Turkey NR 2.55 5.56Sultan Turkey NR 1.64 5.47

Genotypes with drought tolerance and quadratic response (GDRQ)Id800994w/vee//f900k/3/pony/opata Turkey AL 3.24 5.14Cham 6 Syria WA 3.26 6.76

Genotypes with drought tolerance and linear response (GDRL)Sbn/1-64-199 Iran AL Ir 2.75 4.77Asv/parrot//tam200 Mexico AL 2.95 6.80Tam200/mo88//sdy*3/ami Mexico AL 3.12 6.39Vorona/hd2402 Mexico AL 2.80 5.78Atay/galvez87 Mexico AL 3.67 6.05Agri/nac//kauz Mexico AL 2.78 8.16Katia Bulgaria NR 3.98 5.38Bezostaya Russia WA 3.05 5.07

Standard error ±0.23

Mean 2.78 5.38

†NR = Newly released. LR Ir = Iranian landrace. AL Ir = Iranian advanced lines. WA = widely adapted. AL = Advanced lines from diverse sourceswith some selection by the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA program.

Table 3. Grain yield and drought/moisture-response category of 25 genotypes of winter and facultative bread wheat (Triticum

aestivum) under low and high moisture regimes at Tel Hadya, Syria.

Fig. 7. Mean grain yield of 25 winter and facultative bread wheat genotypes under

nine moisture regimes over three seasons (2002/03 to 2004/05) at Tel Hadya, Syria.

Sunn pest, Hessian fly, andRussian wheat aphid cause majorlosses for wheat farmers. Becausethese pests co-exist in many partsof CWANA, developing improvedwheat varieties that combine resist-

ance to all three pests could be acost-effective and practicalmethod of reducing damage.Wheat lines and their wild rela-tives were, therefore, screenedover one season at ICARDA’s Tel

Hadya research station to identifythose resistant to one or more ofthese insects.

The trials involved artificial infes-tation with the three insects:Hessian fly in the insect-rearingroom, Russian wheat aphid in theplastic house, and Sunn pest incages in the field. Based on theresults, researchers identifiedwild relatives of wheat that wereresistant to one or more pests.

An accession from Turkey, IG44852 (Triticum monococcumsubsp. monococcum), was resistantto both Hessian fly and Russianwheat aphid, and an accessionfrom Syria, IG 118185 (Triticummonococcum subsp. boeoticum),was resistant to Sunn pest andRussian wheat aphid. Wheatbreeders will now use these linesto develop improved varietieswith combined resistance to thesepests.

responsive group (GNR). Underlow-moisture regimes, the differ-ence between the groups was notsignificant.

The linear-response group(GDRL) yielded significantlymore than the GNDR genotypesunder both high- and low-mois-ture regimes. The quadratic-response group (GDRQ), by con-trast, yielded significantly morethan the GNDR group under low-moisture regimes, but not underhigh-moisture regimes.

The trials showed that the highestyielding genotypes under supple-mental irrigation regimes can alsobe among the highest yieldingunder fully rainfed conditions. Inrainfed marginal environmentswhere rainfall is variable, drought-

resistant genotypes that respondpositively when it rains, or whensupplemental irrigation is applied,provide farmers with a bonus—the additional moisture is immedi-ately translated into higher yields.

This means that improved linesshould combine genetic traits fordrought tolerance with traits thatboost productivity when moisturebecomes available.

Combined resistance to insect pests in wheat

and its wild relatives

A drought-tolerant bread wheat line (left), selected from ICARDA germplasm, com-

pared with a drought-sensitive line (right), at Ardabil Research Station, Iran.

A researcher examining an accession of T. monococcum subsp. boeoticum showing

resistance to Sunn pest.

Combined resistance to insect pests in wheat




The cereal leaf miner (Syringopaistemperatella) is endemic in Jordan.First reported more than 50 yearsago, cereal leaf miner seriouslythreatens wheat and barley cropsthroughout the country. Mostoutbreaks in the last seven yearshave affected crops in the south—the result of drought and a lack ofproper crop rotation. However, inthe 2004/05 season, an outbreakseverely damaged wheat and bar-ley crops in the north.

In April 2005, scientists fromJordan’s National Center forAgricultural Research andTechnology Transfer (NCARTT)and ICARDA undertook a nation-wide survey of wheat and barleycrops to assess which areas wereaffected by cereal leaf miner.Their findings were alarming.About 10% of the fields sown tocereals in the Al Karak

Governorate in the south of thecountry were infested, eventhough some of them had beensprayed with pesticide by thePlant Protection Directorate. In

the north of the country, the AlRamtha area was severely infest-ed, again despite having beensprayed. Measures to developintegrated pest managementstrategies to control cereal leafminer are urgently needed.

Cereal leaf miner: an emerging threat

Wheat field severely damaged by cereal leaf miner, Al Karak Governorate, Jordan,

2005.

Barley and wheat are the mostextensively grown cereal crops inCWANA. Wheat alone is grownon over 50 million hectares, large-ly under rainfed conditions.However, abiotic stresses (mainlydrought) and soil-borne diseaseslimit yields, averaging only 1.5t/ha. Cereal cyst nematodes are a

particular problem, attackingroots, increasing drought stress,and reducing yields by as much as50%. ICARDA is, therefore, devel-oping ways of controlling thethree main species that damagecereal crops in CWANA:Heterodera avenae, H. filipjevi and H.latipons.

Benefits of breeding for

resistance

Crop rotation, pesticide use, andother management practices areoften used to control cereal cystnematode (CCN). However, oneof the most economically effectiveand environmentally friendly con-trol measures is the use of CCN-resistant crops. Their use reducesnematode numbers, thus benefit-ing future crops. They also givehigher yields, being able to make

New sources of resistance to cereal cyst

nematodes in wheat and barley

full use of the water available inthe soil because their roots are notdamaged.

ICARDA researchers are search-ing for new resistance genes incultivated barley and wheat vari-eties and their wild relatives.These will be used to developlocally adapted varieties withgood agronomic traits and resist-ance to several diseases. The newvarieties produced will then beused in tandem with disease-management practices to limit theeffects of all the pathogens thatmight affect the crop.

Screening for resistance

The Center has recently identifiedpromising new sources of resist-ance to both H. latipons and H. ave-nae, the most widely distributedcereal cyst nematodes in CWANA.

The H. avenae resistance geneswere found by screening 200 culti-vars, breeding lines, and wild rela-tives of wheat and barley (100accessions per crop). Five differentlevels of resistance were identified(Fig. 8), allowing researchers todetermine the best uses for the dif-ferent materials (Table 4).

Immune and resistant

germplasm

Researchers found 13 varieties/lines of barley (including the culti-vars Saida and WI2291) whichwere immune or resistant to H.avenae. They also identified sixdurum wheat accessions that werehighly resistant to H. avenae. Thisgroup included the cultivarsSenatore Cappelli, Karim 80, andOmbit-1. No resistant lines werefound among the bread wheataccessions tested. However,sources of resistance were foundin accessions of the wild wheatrelative T. turgidum subsp. dicoc-coides, particularly in those collect-ed in Syria and Jordan.Germplasm in this category willbe used in future breeding efforts.

Moderately resistant

germplasm

Most of the barley and durumwheat varieties and lines classi-fied as ‘moderately resistant’ toH. avenae are already being culti-vated in CWANA. Examplesinclude Arta, Sara-1, and Rihane03 (barley) and Cham 3, Terbol97-1, and Cak 97 (durum wheat).These drought-tolerant materialsshould be further exploited, astheir use in CCN-prone areaswould eventually reduce the lev-els of inoculum in the soil. Thewild relatives of wheat identifiedas being moderately resistant toCCN could harbor varioussources of resistance, and socould make an important contri-bution to future breeding pro-grams.

Moderately susceptible

germplasm

Researchers identified 11 barleyand six durum wheat varieties/lines as ‘moderately susceptible’to H. avenae. These include the

Screening barley lines for nematode resistance at Tel Hadya, Syria.

Fig. 8. Levels of resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera avenae found

among different types of barley and wheat germplasm at Tel Hadya, Syria.

35


Cereal cyst nematodes



barley varieties Zanbaka, Arig 8,Sara, and Harmal, as well as thedurum varieties Jori, Oued Zenati,and Gidara-2. Farmers growingthese varieties need to use appro-

priate management practices toavoid yield losses and a build-up ofCCN inoculum. So, monoculturesand the use of fallows should beavoided. Instead, researchers rec-

ommend that farmers growingthese crops in CWANA should usea three-year rotation that includes alegume crop and an industrialcrop.

Virulent pathotypes of yellow rust(Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici),stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp.tritici), and leaf rust (Puccinia tritici-na) are evolving and overcomingthe resistance of commonly grownwheat varieties. These fungal dis-eases threaten wheat production inmany parts of Central and WestAsia, and could cause large-scaleepidemics. ICARDA is thereforeworking to identify effective resist-ance genes that breeders can targetand use to prevent rust epidemics.

A simple method of measuring

disease resistance

To develop effective, practical,and easy-to-use methods ofscreening for different types ofresistance, researchers testedknown yellow rust resistancegenes against various rust patho-

types in 2005. Plants were artifi-cially inoculated at the Tel Hadyaresearch station. To assess theprogress of the disease,researchers monitored the plants

for seven consecutive weeks andcalculated the average coefficientof infection (ACI) for each week.

The ACI obtained for week 7 wascombined with the long-termaverage of disease records at sev-eral different rust ‘hot spots’ inCentral and West Asia. This sim-

Identifying effective resistance to wheat rusts

using simple measurements

Plant resistance level

Immune: no cysts recovered on test plants (average of 0-1 cyst/plant)

Resistant: few cysts recovered (average of less than 10 cysts/plant)

Moderately resistant: few cysts recovered on test plants (average of 10-15 cysts/plant)Moderately susceptible: more cysts recovered on test plants(average of 15-20 cysts/plant)

Tolerant/Susceptible: high numbers of cysts recovered on testplants, but plants do not show typical symptoms(average of less than 25 cysts/plant)

Susceptible: high numbers of cysts recovered on test plants thatshow severe symptoms (average of more than 25 cysts/plant)

Table 4. Levels of resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera avenae, and the recommended use of accessions in

each class.

Recommended use

* Use as parental material for gene transfer* Conduct gene pyramiding for durable resistance

* Use as parental material in breeding program* Introduce to areas with high levels of infestation

* Could be exploited for cultivar development* Use as variety mixture * Could be exploited for cultivar development

provided other crop management techniques are used * Use as variety mixture to complement other cultural practices

* Usually associated with germplasm that has high levels of tolerance toother diseases, and could be used in association with appropriate cul-tural practices

* Not recommended for use in CCN-prone areas

Reaction of bread wheat lines to yellow rust at Tel Hadya, Syria. Left, susceptible;

Right, resistant.

ple measurement process allowedresearchers to plot a disease curvefor each gene or combination ofgenes (Figs. 9 to 11).

The three vertical arrows in Figs. 9to 11 correspond to (i) the onset ofthe adult-plant resistance reaction(the arrow at week 2 in each fig-ure); (ii) the optimum expressionof adult-plant resistance (thearrow at week 4); and (iii) the finalexpression of the resistance gene(the arrow at week 6). The hori-zontal red line in each figure rep-resents a threshold for risk assess-ment or economic yield loss.Points above that line represent ahigh risk. Effective resistance (ER)genes that confer good protectionat adult growth stages under fieldconditions (Fig. 9), are those thatshow a low risk (i.e. an ACI valueof less than 0.4) all through thegrowing season. With these genes,the risk of yield loss is low.

Researchers found that genes suchas Yr6+ and Yr7+ (ER1) show a sus-ceptible reaction at the crop’s earlygrowth stages, which then falls rap-idly (Fig. 9). A similar trend wasseen for ER2 (genes YrSD andYrSU), in which there was a rapidincrease to a high risk level, then asharp drop. The following threegene groupings showed consistent-ly good resistance levels and wouldtherefore provide adequate protec-tion to wheat varieties grown inrust-prone areas:

• ER3 (Yr3V) • ER4 (Yr8 and Yr18) • ER6 (YrCV, Yr5, Yr3N, Yr15).

Using a combination of all thegenes in these three groupings islikely to confer even more effec-tive and long-lasting resistance. However, the effectiveness ofsuch resistance genes needs to be

carefully monitored to avoid thesudden breakdown of resistancethat can occur when a new patho-

type evolves or spreads. ER5(gene Yr1) is a good example, as abreakdown in the resistance it

Fig 10. Disease progress curves for wheat cultivars susceptible to yellow rust.

Fig 11. Disease progress curves for commercial wheat cultivars tolerant/resistant to

yellow rust.

Fig 9. Yellow rust disease progress curves for different combinations of effective resist-

ance genes (ER1 to ER6; see text). AUDPC (ACI) = Area under disease progress curve

(average coefficient of infection). Points below the horizontal red line (and especial-

ly below 0.4) indicate good resistance.

37


Identifying resistance to wheat rusts



confers was observed in 1999 inTajikistan, in 2002 in Kyrgyzstan,Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, andin 2003 in Syria and Lebanon.

In the case of plants with the Yr1gene, ACI values recorded at TelHadya, as well as those reportedfrom other sites, show that diseasedevelopment increases rapidly bythe seventh week of monitoring(see ER5, in Fig. 9). This meansthat late-maturing varieties, aswell as facultative and winter-planted spring wheats, face a highlevel of risk. The breakdown of theYr1 resistance gene is almost cer-tainly the cause of recent epi-demics in Central Asia.

Assessing disease resistance in

commercial cultivars

Conventional methods of character-izing resistance genes are tediousand time-consuming. Plotting dis-ease curves, by contrast, allowsresearchers to quickly monitor howeffective different genes are againstdifferent pathotypes. In 2005,researchers therefore also assessedthe types of resistance found incommercial cultivars and elite lines.

The curves obtained for suscepti-ble cultivars (Yuna, Dustlik, Seri82, Tarragui, and Zhetysu) wereall positioned in the high-riskpart of the graph following theonset of adult-plant resistance(Fig. 10). Researchers also used atriticale line for comparison, astriticale usually develops adultplant resistance towards the endof the growing season. As expect-ed, this line showed a high rate ofinfection at the start, whichdropped steadily after week 4.

The type of reaction displayed bytriticale is highly desirable inCentral Asia and the Caucasus,and has been selected for in culti-vars newly released in the region(Fig. 11). The Iranian varietyAlamout, for example, shows asusceptible reaction type at thestart of the season; however, thecurve then falls sharply and stabi-lizes at a low-risk value (an ACIof 0.4). The same trend was seenfor Karakylchyk, selected inAzerbaijan. By contrast Attila(Fig. 11) displays the same type ofreaction as ER5 (Fig. 9).

Researchers have already usedthe disease progress curve tech-nique—in combination with arti-ficial inoculation—to characterizethe resistance of large numbers ofcultivars and elite lines to yellow,stem, and leaf rusts.

Of the 200 bread wheat cultivarsalready screened, three showedcomplete resistance, while 28showed adequate adult-plantresistance to all three rusts (Table5). In total, 75 accessions (aroundone-third of those tested) showedcombined resistance to two rusts,while another third (70 accessions)showed resistance to a single rust.In fact, around half of the linestested displayed adult-plant resist-ance to at least one form of rust.

Selected lines will be further test-ed under natural infection at hotspots for yellow rust (Azerbaijan,Ethiopia, Lebanon, Iran,Tajikistan, and Yemen), leaf rust(Ethiopia, Lebanon, Kazakhstan,and Morocco), and stem rust(Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya,Morocco, and Tunisia).

Resistance level YR, SR YR and YR and LR and YR alone SR alone LR aloneand LR LR SR SR

Complete resistance 3 0 14 9 33 18 0Adult plant resistance 28 7 40 5 20 1 1

Total number of lines 31 7 54 14 53 19 11Rust diseases: YR = yellow rust; LR = leaf rust; SR = stem rust.Note: 21 lines were susceptible to all three diseases.

Table 5. Resistance to three types of rust disease1 (singly and in combination) of 200 wheat lines inoculated artificially with fungi at

Tel Hadya, Syria.

Lentil in Ethiopia is a major sourceof dietary protein, and a valuableanimal feed. It is often grown inrotation with cereal crops like tef,because of its ability to maintainsoil fertility. Lentil is a major high-land pulse crop in the country’s

eight agro-ecological zones, with58,000 ha planted every year.However, average productivity isonly 610 kg/ha, compared withthe world average of 966 kg/ha. ICARDA has been working withthe Ethiopian Agricultural Research

Organization (EARO) to developimproved lentil varieties and pro-duction technologies. The Centerhas provided technical support forresearch and human resourcedevelopment in collaboration withEARO’s Debre Zeit research sta-tion, which is responsible for lentilimprovement. As a result, therehave been significant increases in

Boosting lentil production in Ethiopia

lentil production and exports, aswell as in farmers’ incomes. Thisis also contributing to increasednutritional security for the poor.

High-yielding and disease-

resistant cultivars

Cultivating stable, high-yielding,and disease-resistant varieties isthe key to improved production.Over the last two decades,Ethiopia has released nineimproved lentil varieties, seven ofwhich were developed throughjoint research using ICARDA-sup-plied germplasm. These varietiesare resistant to the major diseasessuch as rust, wilt, and root rots,and have produced up to 2.6 t/hain large-scale trials in farmers’fields. They are also well adaptedto the highly variable agro-ecolog-ical conditions in the country.

Although farmers have not yetadopted all the varieties released,those adopted have been very suc-cessful. Adaa and Alemaya, forexample, are both popular withfarmers. Assano is grown forexport, and AlemTina and Teshaleproduce high and stable yields,

with high quality seed characteris-tics that are valued by consumersat home and abroad.

Delivering technologies to

farmers

Technology development is mean-ingless if the product does notreach farmers. ICARDA has, there-fore, been working with agricultur-al extension agents to ensure thatnew varieties of lentil, like Adaaand Alemaya, are widely dissemi-nated in Ethiopia. Efforts have

included seed multiplication anddistribution, large-scale cropdemonstrations, field days, and thedistribution of leaflets and posters.

As a result, improved varietiesare now being grown on around10,000 ha, producing an extra4000 tons of lentil per year—worth about US$2 million. Thenew varieties have been adoptedwidely in the Chefe Donsa area.Large-scale variety demonstra-tions have also begun in NorthShowa, Gonder, and Gossam.

Rural income generation and

agro-industries

Increased production and use ofthe new, large-seeded lentil vari-eties has created employment forrural communities. Thirty-five toforty lentil splitting and dehullingmills are now operating in north-east Addis Ababa, for example,which process about 20,000 tonsof lentil grown in the Showa,Gonder, Wollo, and Tigrayregions each year. The improvedvarieties split better and are lesslikely to lose their cotyledonsduring dehulling, which meansthat more lentil is recovered.

A woman farmer in the Chefe Donsa area of Ethiopia grows Alemaya, a lentil variety

developed jointly by ICARDA and EARO.

39


Boosting lentil production in Ethiopia

Lentil being sold in an Ethiopian market.



In 2005, ICARDA took part in aSystemwide program— theCGIAR Generation ChallengeProgram— that is exploring thegenetic diversity in the germplasmcollections held by the CGIARcenters. Sub-program 1 of thisProgram is using molecularmicrosatellite markers to identifygenes for resistance to biotic andabiotic stresses for use in crop

improvement programs. A com-posite set of germplasm, whichrepresents the range of diversityfound within each crop, will thenbe assembled. ICARDA wasresponsible for creating the lentilcomposite set.

ICARDA has the global mandatefor lentil, and the 10,509 accessionsit holds make up the largest lentil

collection in the world. Thisincludes 8789 accessions of culti-vated lentil from 70 countries,1146 ICARDA breeding lines, and574 accessions of six wild Lens taxacollected in 23 countries (Fig. 12).From this collection, researcherscompiled the final compositegermplasm set of 1000 accessions. To do this, ICARDA researchersfirst chose 7345 FAO-designatedlandrace accessions, which couldbe distributed without restrictionand had enough seed for distribu-tion. Representatives from the

First-grade lentil costs about US$550–650 per ton. Because localconsumers prefer larger, rounderseeds, the improved Adaa andAlemaya varieties fetchUS$400–500 per ton, while theseed of the local cultivars is soldfor only US$250–350 per ton. Asa result, farmers growingimproved varieties can now earnabout US$1200 per hectare,which enables them to pay fortheir children’s education, buildhouses, buy oxen and seed, andopen savings accounts.

Biofortification of lentil

The CGIAR HarvestPlusChallenge Program on biofortifi-cation of crops has launched amultidonor-supported researchprogram to genetically fortifycrops with micronutrients essen-tial for human nutrition. Iron,zinc and vitamin A have beenidentified as priority nutrientsbecause their deficiency poses aserious threat to health in thepoorer sections of society, espe-cially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

About 3.5 billion people in thedeveloping world suffer from

iron deficiency. The primary vic-tims are women and pre-schoolchildren. About half a millionchildren go blind every year dueto vitamin A deficiency.Hundreds of thousands of peoplesuffer from zinc deficiency, whichcauses stunted growth, suscepti-bility to infections, skin lesions,etc. ICARDA, a partner in theHarvestPlus Challenge program,has been involved in the develop-ment of bio-fortified cropsthrough genetic manipulation.

Lentil, one of ICARDA's globalmandate crops, is one of the 16target crops in the HarvestPlusChallenge Program. Preliminaryanalysis of iron and zinc content inmore than 1000 lentil accessions,including germplasm, breedinglines and released varieties, hasshown tremendous variabilityamong the lentil lines.

This provides the opportunity forbreeders to develop micronutrient-dense lentil cultivars. Breeders areusing lines that contain high levelsof micronutrients for crossing todevelop lentils with higher ironand zinc content. Screening forvitamin A content is yet to start.

Some of the cultivars grown byfarmers represent a spillover ben-efit from ICARDA's breedingprogram for high-yielding anddisease-resistant lentil lines. Forexample, the popular and widelygrown lentil variety Alemaya hasbeen found to possess a high con-tent of iron (82 mg/kg) and zinc(66 mg/kg) in Ethiopia. Also,breeders have found a high ironcontent in Idlib-2 (73 mg/kg) andIdlib-3 (72 mg/kg) in Syria, ahigh iron and zinc content inBeleza (iron 74 mg/kg and zinc56 mg/kg) released in Portugal,and a high zinc content inMeyveci-2001 (53 mg/kg) inTurkey. These varieties are help-ing to reduce micronutrient defi-ciency in the developing world.

Iron and zinc deficiencies arehigh in Bangladesh, Nepal,Ethiopia and Morocco, wherelentil is a major component of thedaily diet of the poor. Therefore,ICARDA has included the NARSof these countries in the projectand dispatched the first set ofinternational nurseries to them toselect adapted lines. Other devel-oping countries will benefit fromthe outcome of this research.

Creating a global ‘composite set’ of lentil

germplasm

three putative wild progenitors ofcultivated lentil, including 238wild Lens accessions from 12countries, were also chosen in thisfirst step.

Researchers then conducted hier-archical cluster analysis based onthe geographic origins of theaccessions. The evaluation data forfive years were first separated intofive main datasets. They were thenseparated by geographic location,giving 50 datasets. Researchersthen used 16 morphological andagronomic characteristics in a hier-archical cluster analysis to selectapproximately 10% of the acces-sions at random for inclusion inthe composite set.

To ensure that the full agroclima-tological range for lentil was rep-resented, researchers also used atwo-step cluster analysis. The

analysis was based on 66 types ofagriculture- and climate-relateddata, which were linked to thegeographical coordinates of thecollection sites of the accessions.Two hundred clusters were pro-

duced, and one accession wasselected randomly from each forinclusion in the composite set, if itwas not already represented bythe previous method.

Fig.13. Geographical origins of the lentil accessions selected for inclusion in the com-

posite set of lentil germplasm. This set will be used to find valuable genes for crop

breeding. The origins of the composite set reflect those of the entire ICARDA collection.

41


Fig. 12. Global distribution of ICARDA’s lentil collection.

Global ‘composite set’ of lentil germplasm

In recent years, ICARDAresearchers, in collaboration withthe University of Kiel, Germany,have made steady progress in map-ping the lentil genome. Now, theyhave identified micro-satellitemarkers that will help them tag thegene for resistance to Fusarium vas-cular wilt—one of the most damag-ing diseases of lentil.

Researchers successfully local-ized the Fusarium resistance geneon linkage group 6 (LG 6; Fig.14). This gene is flanked bymicro-satellite marker SSR59-2Band amplified fragment lengthpolymorphism (AFLP) markerp17m30710, at 8.0 cM and 3.5 cM,respectively. The SSR59-2B mark-er and further fine mapping ofthe locus will greatly helpresearchers breed lentil geno-types resistant to Fusarium wilt.

The micro-satellite markers iden-tified in this study are highlypolymorphic and locus-specific.

Most are also co-dominant. Thistype of marker is particularlyuseful for differentiatinghomozygous and heterozygousgenotypes. In marker-assistedbreeding (both in selection andback-cross breeding) co-domi-nant markers help identifyhomozygous genotypes at an

early stage in selection. Untilrecently, no such co-dominantmarkers had been identified inlentil. This is why the co-domi-nant markers identified in thisstudy will be so important inbreeding Fusarium-resistant lentilgenotypes. Future researchshould aim to identify furthermicro-satellite markers to taggenes that will improve lentilproductivity.



Identifying micro-satellite markers to improve

resistance to Fusarium wilt in lentil

In addition, 64 accessions of lan-draces, breeding materials, andalready-released cultivars wereincluded in the set. These hadresistance to a number of stresses,including high temperature,drought, boron deficiency, lodg-ing, rust, Fusarium wilt, downymildew, and Ascochyta blight.Eighteen wild Lens accessionswere also included because theycontained valuable resistance to

drought, cold, wilt, and Ascochytablight.

The composite set produced byICARDA is representative of theentire ICARDA lentil collection,in terms of both geographical dis-tribution (Fig. 13) and type ofmaterial. For example, landracesmake up around 80% of both theICARDA collection and the com-posite set. Likewise, levels of

genetic diversity (in both agro-nomic and morphological traits)are similar in both the compositeset and the larger ICARDA collec-tion. Seed of all accessions includ-ed in the composite set hasalready been planted at ICARDA.DNA will be extracted from thegrowing plants to study themicro-satellite diversity using 30simple sequence repeat (SSR)markers.

Lentil damaged by Fusarium wilt.

43


Micro-satellite markers for wilt resistance

Fig. 14. A genetic linkage map of lentil (Lens sp.) based on micro-satellite, AFLP, RAPD and morphological markers. The map

shows the position of micro-satellites (denoted as SSR_), AFLPs (denoted as p_m_), RAPDs (OP_), and the morphological markers

for seed color pattern (Scp), flower color (W), pod indehiscence (Pi), Fusarium wilt resistance (Fw), and radiation frost tolerance

locus (Rft) distributed on 14 linkage groups, at LOD score ≥≥ 3. The marker names starting with an asterisk (*) are the markers

mapped by other researchers. The values on the left side of the individual linkage groups represent cMs calculated using the

Kosambi mapping function.

~-'

,,.

, " , '; , , " , ,

! , , , , ,

li " ~ Ii "

" " " H

"

LG_"

'-~ "

~l " " ' " ' .. " Jj

" " " " " H " " " " " "

" li " " " " " " Ii '"

LG_" " .

"' 1= ,--"'

'"

Chickpea is an important cropwordwide, providing dietary pro-tein and fodder, and also improv-ing soil fertility. Despite this, thearea cropped with chickpea hasnot increased over the last twodecades—mainly because of therisk of crop failure due to diseasessuch as Ascochyta blight andFusarium wilt.

Ascochyta blight is the mostdestructive fungal leaf disease ofchickpea, reported from as manyas 33 countries. Epidemics havecaused serious crop losses in Italy,Spain, Syria, north-western India,Pakistan, the USA, and Australia.Furthermore, ICARDA’s screeningwork has shown that all the locallandraces grown in the WANAregion are highly susceptible.

Over the years, ICARDA hasshown that great variability existsin the fungus. Different races

occur in different places and thefungus also changes over time—probably due to its sexual form ofreproduction. To combat this vari-ability, ICARDA scientists com-bined different sources of resist-ance to develop new geneticstocks; and worked with NARSresearchers to identify new high-yielding resistant lines.

These have either been released orare in the process of being releasedin many countries. In 2005, forexample, one new variety (Rafat)was released in Kyrgyzstan, andtwo new lines (FLIP 97-530C andFLIP 97-503C) were released inAustralia. All produce large seedsand are Ascochyta blight-resistant,and all were released for generalcultivation.

Researchers are also pyramidingdifferent genes for resistance or



Newly developed Ascochyta blight-resistant chickpea lines (left), compared with a

local variety (right) killed by the blight at Tel Hadya, 2005.

Breeding for Ascochyta blight resistance in

chickpea

Line Ascochyta Fusarium Cold Drought No. of 100-seed Plant blight wilt tolerance tolerance days to weight (g) height(scale of (% of plants (scale of (scale of flowering (cm)1-9†) killed) 1-9†) 1-9†)

FLIP 03-138C 3 5 5 3 114 41 41FLIP 03-17C 4 10 4 4 113 35 49FLIP 03-80C 4 0 5 5 112 32 47FLIP 03-84C 4 10 5 5 113 31 49FLIP 03-88C 4 0 4 5 112 32 48

FLIP 03-96C 4 0 5 4 110 30 43FLIP 03-97C 4 5 5 4 111 31 47FLIP 03-110C 4 0 5 4 105 41 40FLIP 03-111C 4 5 5 4 108 40 41FLIP 03-113C 4 5 5 4 108 39 40

FLIP 03-115C 4 5 5 4 112 34 41FLIP 03-117C 4 0 5 4 110 34 42FLIP 03-123C 4 10 5 4 106 41 42FLIP 03-124C 4 0 5 4 106 37 38

FLIP 03-144C 4 5 5 4 108 39 38

† 1= most tolerant, 9 = most susceptible.

Table 6. Reaction of newly developed chickpea lines to various diseases and environmental stresses, and their flowering, height,

and 100-seed weight characteristics, at Tel Hadya, Syria, 2005.

tolerance to various biotic andabiotic stresses. As part of thiswork, researchers evaluatedmany bulked lines during 2005 atICARDA’s Tel Hadya station.

They found a number that hadcombined resistance to Ascochytablight, Fusarium wilt, cold, anddrought (Table 6). These lineshave already been shared with

national programs both withinand outside CWANA, in order todevelop a new, more resistantgeneration of chickpea varieties.

45


Drought resistance in chickpea and lentil

Yields of chickpea and lentil indeveloping countries haveincreased in the last decade,because of improved varieties andbetter crop management. Despitethis progress, stresses such as coldand drought still limit yields.These limitations cannot be over-come by classical plant-breedingmethods alone, because geneticvariation in the cultivars and theirwild relatives is limited. However,by using a process known as‘transformation’, scientists caninsert genes that control traits suchas drought resistance into newvarieties of the two crops.

Researchers at ICARDA and theUniversity of Hannover,Germany, have now developed atransformation system for chick-

pea. ICARDA had earlier alsoobtained a license for a lentiltransformation system. Thesesystems are being used to insertdrought resistance-related genesinto chickpea and lentil.

To transfer these genes into chick-pea, scientists conducted 23 exper-iments in containment facilitiesusing the chickpea line ILC482,and either Kanamycin or G418 asa selection medium. DNA wasactually transferred by inoculatingseedlings with an Agrobacteriumspecies capable of passing on itsgenetic material.

Until recently researchers relied onthe selection medium to inducerooting. However, success rateswere low and only a few explants

produced roots. To overcome this,researchers grafted explants ontorootstocks from 5-day-oldseedlings. Polymerase chain reac-tion (PCR) analysis showed thatsome of the T1 plants were trans-genic. PCR also confirmed segre-gation of the transgene in T2 trans-genic plants (Fig. 16).

Scientists also conducted 12 trans-formation experiments on threelentil lines—IL5588, ILL5883, andILC5582—using drought-relatedgenes with Kanamycin and G418as the selection medium.

Grafting, usually on water-agarmedium, is still an essentialprocess in rooting lentil. Scientistsgrafted 46 putative transgenicexplants. Once rooted, the explantswere transferred to soft agar medi-um to allow plantlet elongation. Ofthese, 33 survived and were trans-ferred to pots. PCR analysis con-firmed that 21 T0 plants weretransgenic (approximately 1%). Anumber of T1 plants also carriedthe transgene (Fig. 17).

Chickpea embryo tissue is cut at the

apex and root tip and inoculated with

a suspension of Agrobacterium tume-

faciens, during a process developed

by ICARDA and the University of

Hannover, Germany. This introduces a

gene for drought resistance.

Inserting drought resistance-related genes into

chickpea and lentil

Fig. 16. PCR analyses of nptII marker

gene in chickpea. From right to left:

Lane 1—size marker; lanes 6-7—T0

transgenic plants; lanes 8-9—T1 trans-

genic plants; lane 10—control plant;

lane 11—control plasmid; lane 12—con-

struct plasmid with nptII.

Fig. 17. PCR analyses of nptII marker

gene in lentil. From left to right: Lane

1—size marker; lanes 2-15—T0 trans-

genic plants; lane 16—control plant;

lanes 17-18—control plasmid; lane

19—construct plasmid.

Faba bean (Vicia faba) is a majorsource of protein for people liv-ing in developing countries inWANA, the Nile Valley region,China, and Latin America. It isalso used as an animal feed andas a break crop in cereal rotationsystems to sustain soil fertility.The main causes of low andunpredictable yields are two fun-gal diseases — chocolate spot(Botrytis fabae) and Ascochytablight (Ascochyta fabae)—and theparasitic weed broomrape(Orobanche crenata).

Breeding for combined

resistance

ICARDA has recently developedlines resistant to all three of thesestresses. To do this, researchersfirst used single crosses to devel-op two improved faba bean pop-ulations. The first was created bycrossing 14 types of chocolatespot-resistant germplasm identi-

fied by ICARDA with locallyadapted varieties and lines fromTurkey (ERESEN-87), Ethiopia(CS 20 DK), Egypt (Rebaya 40),Iraq (VF 123) and Sudan (STW).The second was created by cross-ing two chocolate spot-resistantaccessions (BPL 1179 and L82003-1) with four types ofAscochyta blight-resistantgermplasm.

These crosses were made in plas-tic houses at Tel Hadya, Syria,during the 1996/97 growing sea-son. In the following season, F1

plants were raised in screenhouses, then advanced to pro-duce an F2 population. Theseplants were allowed to cross ran-domly, through insect pollinationin the field. Between 1999 and2003, segregating populations (F2

to F6) were planted and evaluat-ed at ICARDA’s research sites atLattakia and Tel Hadya in Syria.

Multi-site evaluation

At Lattakia, chocolate spot resist-ance was evaluated in screen hous-es after artificially inoculatingplants with a spore suspension(100,000 spores/ml). At Tel Hadya,Ascochyta blight resistance was eval-uated in the field. In both cases, a 1-9 disease scale was used (where 1 =healthy and 9 = killed by disease)

New faba bean with multiple resistance

Chocolate spot is a very serious fun-

gal disease in faba bean, and can

cause complete crop failure.



Leaf miner (Liriomyza cicerina)causes yield losses of up to 30%in chickpea in the WANA region.Breeding pest-resistant cultivarsis the cornerstone of ICARDA’sintegrated pest managementstrategy, so germplasm contain-ing resistance needs to be found.ICARDA scientists have devel-oped new screening techniquesand identified several sources ofresistance. Two highly resistantlines (ILC 5901 and ILC 3800)have now been used to developmore than 200 advanced breedinglines (F6) with good levels ofresistance.

To understand why ILC 5901 andILC 3800 were resistant to leafminer, researchers also studiedthree types of pest resistance inthe two lines – tolerance, antibio-sis and antixenosis. All threemechanisms seemed to play arole, although the oxalic acid con-tent of leaves was the main factor.Leaf oxalic acid content was sig-nificantly higher in the two resist-ant genotypes, than in a suscepti-ble one (Fig. 15). This meanschickpea breeders can use theoxalic acid content of leaves as aselection criterion for leaf minerresistance.

Fig. 15. Leaf oxalic acid content is sig-

nificantly higher in two resistant chick-

pea genotypes (ILC 5901 and ILC 3800)

than in a susceptible genotype (ILC

3397). ICARDA will therefore select for

high leaf oxalic acid content when

breeding for leaf miner resistance.

Mechanisms of resistance to chickpea

leaf miner

and superior plants were identifiedfollowing pedigree selection.

Susceptible checks were used forcomparison. Researchers identi-fied 71 F6 lines with a low diseaserating for chocolate spot and 36 F6

lines with a low disease rating forAscochyta blight. Importantly, 24lines showed combined resistanceto both diseases.

Seeds of these dual-resistance lines(F7) were multiplied in screenhouses at Tel Hadya during the2003/04 season. The following sea-son, they were evaluated under aheavy natural infestation ofOrobanche in a sick plot, along witha susceptible local check. By count-ing the number of Orobanche spikesper plant, researchers were able toestimate the infestation rate.

In this way, researchers identi-fied 10 F8 lines which were eitherfree of Orobanche or showed avery low infestation rate (Table7). The seed of these 10 lines,resistant to Orobanche, Ascochytablight, and chocolate spot, will bemultiplied next season andshared with NARS for furtherevaluation.

47


Controlling Orobanche in legumes

Entry/check name Average disease score† Average infestation (%)Chocolate spot Ascochyta blight Orobanche

Sel. / 1552 / 2003 2 5 7Sel. /1589 / 2003 2 4 0Sel. /1590 / 2003 2 4 0Sel. /1591 / 2003 2 5 0Sel. /1593 / 2003 2 5 0

Sel. /1594 / 2003 2 5 0Sel. /1597 / 2003 2 5 0Sel. / 1598/ 2003 2 4 0Sel. /1605 / 2003- 1 2 5 0Sel. /1606 / 2003- 2 2 5 13

Mean (all entries) 2 4.7 2Blight-resistant check (Ascot) 5.7Blight-susceptible check (Giza 4) 7.3Chocolate spot-resistant check (Icarus) 2Chocolate spot-susceptible check (Rebaya 40) 5.7

Orobanche-susceptible check (ILB 1814) 100

†Disease score: 1 = healthy; 9 = killed by disease.

Table 7. Average disease scores for new faba bean entries exposed to chocolate spot at Lattakia, and Ascochyta blight at Tel

Hadya (2002/03 season) and the average Orobanche infestation rate (%) at Tel Hadya (2004/05 season), Syria.

Broomrapes (Orobanche spp.) arewidespread parasitic weeds whichseriously limit the production ofmany leguminous crops in warmtemperate and semi-arid areas.Faba bean, for example, is badlyaffected by Orobanche, particularlyin the Mediterranean region. Onespecies, Orobanche crenata, hasbeen reported in 70-90% of fababean fields in Morocco, and is dev-astating food legumes as itspreads throughout North Africaand parts of East Africa. Overalllosses are rising—from an average

of 18% in Morocco in 1984 to 30%in 2001. In certain areas of Sudanand Ethiopia, where Orobanche hasonly recently appeared, losses areas high as 75-100%.

Options for Orobanche control

ICARDA has tested several con-trol options in different countries.Host-plant resistance and chemi-cal control using new imidazolineherbicides, have both provedpromising, as has delayed plant-ing and the use of Phytomyzaorobanchia, a natural enemy.

Unfortunately, none of thesetechniques control the parasiteadequately when used alone.

Controlling Orobanche will there-fore require an integratedapproach using complementarytechniques and participatorytraining. This will help farmersunderstand how the parasitedevelops and spreads, what con-trol options are available, andwhen they should be used.

Farmer field schoolsFAO, ICARDA and seven coun-tries (Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia,Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, and

New efforts to control Orobanche in legumes

48


Syria) have launched an intensiveprogram to train legume growersand extension workers to manageOrobanche. This technical coopera-tion program (TCP) began inOctober 2004 and will continuefor two cropping seasons. Threeto five farmer field schools (FFS)have been set up in each countryby national programs, with sup-port from ICARDA and FAO. Theoverall objectives of the programare to:

1. Improve the ability of technicalfield staff and farmers to man-age Orobanche.

2. Establish a sustainable networkthat will (i) collect and dissemi-nate information on new weedcontrol alternatives, (ii)enhance public awareness ofthe problem, and (iii) preventOrobanche spreading to unaf-fected areas.

3. Develop a long-term project thatwill use an integrated pest man-agement (IPM) strategy to con-trol Orobanche in leguminouscrops. This will be funded bygovernments, donor agenciesand/or development banks.

The program’s farmer fieldschools are off to a good start,and participating farmers arealready making decisions andapplying recommended controlmeasures.

In Sudan, FFS and national cam-paigns are being used to increasepeople’s awareness of the threatand to train farmers and exten-sion agents in Orobanche control.Efforts are also underway to pre-

vent Orobanche spreading, bydeveloping internal and externalquarantine procedures and bettercrop-management packages.

In Morocco, FFS have been estab-lished in the country’s major fababean areas. These are basedaround agricultural cooperativescontaining 30-40 small-scale farm-ers, each owning 20 to 60 ha ofland. The IPM package beingtaught involves a mixture ofchemical control, crop rotation,and manual removal.

Glyphosate herbicide use hasproved to be the most efficientcomponent of the package.However, older farmers findglyphosate difficult to apply,because precise doses have to beused, sprayers have to be cali-brated, and the application has tobe carefully timed. Moroccan sci-entists and extension specialistshave therefore focused on teach-ing younger farmers and farmers’teenage children how and whento use it. This has proved verysuccessful, and young farmerswho have been trained are now

A farmer field school in Sudan.

Orobanche can completely wipe out faba bean (above) and lentil fields.

Integrated Gene Management

Identifying viruses in cool-season legumes


Over the last 15 years, virologists atICARDA and NARS scientists from11 countries have conducted sur-veys to identify virus diseasesaffecting cool-season food legumes.These surveys were conducted inEgypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran,Jordan, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey,Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Theyhave collected over 80,000 samplesand tested them for 14 viruses.Results show that the most damag-ing virus diseases are those thatcause yellowing and stunting.These have caused almost com-plete crop failure in chickpea andfaba bean in many parts of WANA.

At least six viruses produce thesame symptoms (leaf-rolling,yellowing, and stunting) ininfected cool-season legumes. Beanleaf roll virus (BLRV), for example,

was for many years believed tocause chickpea stunt, but recentresearch has shown that it can becaused by a number of viruses:BLRV, Beet western yellows virus,Soybean dwarf virus, Chickpealuteovirus, Faba bean necrotic yellowsvirus (FBNYV), and Chickpeachlorotic dwarf virus. These virusesbelong to three distinct families:Luteoviridae, Nanoviridae, andGeminiviridae. This means thatalthough a legume genotype maybe resistant to one or two viruses,it could be very susceptible toothers.

To breed resistant legumegenotypes, scientists need toidentify the specific viruses thataffect legumes in the area wherethe crops will be grown.Diagnostic tools to identify

viruses and their variants, andsurveys to monitor the incidenceand distribution of viruses, aretherefore essential.

New diagnostic tools

In 2005, an ICARDA virologistspent a short sabbatical workingwith Australian scientists at theVictorian Department of PrimaryIndustries to develop diagnostictools for identifying yellowsviruses. The sabbatical was sup-ported by the Grains Researchand Development Corporation,Australia. The research teamscreened Nanovirus andLuteovirus isolates from 11 coun-tries (Australia, China, Egypt,Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Libya,Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, andYemen). They used (i) serological-ly-based tissue-blot immunoassay(TBIA) techniques, and (ii) molec-ular-based polymerase chain reac-tion (PCR) analysis.

using their time and equipmentto teach others. The results areobvious, as there is far lessOrobanche in the fields of FFS participants than in those of non-participants—many of whom arefacing almost total crop failure.

Glyphosate is also proving effec-tive in Tunisia, where Orobancheattacks crops such as carrot andtomato, as well as faba bean.Here FFS have been trainingfarmers to use glyphosate prop-erly—until recently growersrelied on removing the weed byhand. This greatly reducedyields, because crop plants wereoften removed as well. Tunisia’sfarmers are showing great inter-est in the FFS concept, and farm-ers, extension specialists, and

researchers are now exchanginginformation and recognizing eachother’s experience and knowl-edge.

In Egypt, FFS in areas such asFayoum have disseminatedOrobanche control options moreeffectively than previous exten-sion efforts did. They have alsomade farmers aware that there isa specific level of infestationbelow which it is not economical-ly worthwhile to treat a crop (the‘economic threshold’). Fieldschools have also increased farm-ers’ confidence in extensionagents, making them more will-ing to seek advice regarding theproper and safe application ofchemicals. The program alsofound that FFS were even more

successful if they addressed otherproblems faced by farmers (e.g.health, education and socio-eco-nomic issues) as well as Orobanchecontrol.

National research systems playeda key role in the rapid establish-ment of FFS in the seven coun-tries, partly by encouragingextension services to collaboratewith field schools at the differentpilot sites. The large drop inOrobanche infestation as a resultof the FFS program underlinesthe importance of involving farm-ers in decision-making. It alsoshows that farmers can be suc-cessfully integrated into efforts todevelop national Orobanche con-trol programs.

Identifying viruses in cool-season legumes

50



The study produced three majorresults. First, virus-specific PCRprotocols were developed to detectthe three known Nanoviruses ofpulses (Fig. 18A). Subterraneanclover stunt virus was identified asthe causal agent in Australia, Milk

vetch dwarf virus (MDV) in China,and FBNYV in WANA countries.Previously MDV had only beenreported in Japan. Second, gener-ic degenerate primers weredesigned to detect all knownNanoviruses and Luteoviruses.These are very useful survey toolsas they detect a broad range of

Luteoviruses affecting field crops(Fig. 18B).

Third, PCR protocols were devel-oped, or adapted from publishedprotocols, to detect specific varia-tions in viruses.

These diagnostic tools will helpscientists identify the specificstrains of yellows viruses thatinfect pulses. The tools will alsohave broader application. Forexamp,e, they will be useful toscientists in quarantine agenciesand plant breeders screening linesfor resistance to specific viruses.

First chickpea virus survey in

Eritrea

Using the new diagnostic tools, anICARDA virologist and researchersfrom the National Institute ofAgricultural Research, Eritrea, con-ducted the country’s first chickpeavirus survey in November 2005.The survey, organized byICARDA’s Nile Valley and Red SeaRegional Program, identified vari-ous chickpea viruses, their inci-dence, and their relative impor-tance in Eritrea’s major productionareas.

Over 6000 samples of chickpeawere collected; 200 samples wereselected at random from each of31 farmers’ fields—which werethemselves chosen randomly.Researchers then determined theincidence of virus diseases bytesting the samples against theantisera of nine legume viruses.

Tissue blot immunoassay andserological tests identified Beetwestern yellows virus, Faba beannecrotic yellows virus and Chickpeachlorotic dwarf virus in 5.6%, 4.1%,and 0.9% of samples, respectively.This was the first time these virus-es had been identified in Eritrea.

A

B

Fig. 18. PCR identification of Nanoviruses using broad and specific primers (A) and

Luteoviruses using broad primers (B).

Eritrean and ICARDA researchers carried out field observation and sample collection (left) and laboratory testing (right) simultane-

ously, as a part of the country’s first legume virus survey.

Forage legume improvement


Shortage of feed as a result of lowrainfall is the major factor limitinglivestock production in the dryareas—and affects the land andlivelihoods of millions of resource-poor farmers. Forage legumessuch as vetches (Vicia spp.) andchicklings (Lathyrus spp.) canwithstand drought and requireless water than other crops to pro-duce large amounts of herbage,grain, and straw. In addition,Rhizobium bacteria in their rootnodules fix nitrogen from the airand help to replenish soil nutri-ents.

These legumes are therefore anessential component of sustainabledryland farming systems, as wellas a good source of feed for therapidly growing livestock popula-tions of the dry regions, especiallyin CWANA.

ICARDA’s collection of Viciaspecies stands at 6010 accessions,and its collection of Lathyrusspecies at 3222 accessions. TheCenter uses this rich pool ofgenetic resources to develop newbreeding populations andimproved lines for distribution toNARS. These improved lines con-tain high levels of genetic diversi-ty, allowing them to be grownunder different environments andfor a variety of end-uses such asdirect grazing, hay-making, orgrain and straw production.

The forage legumes internationaltesting program disseminatesimproved genetic materials toNARS worldwide, through inter-national trials. The elite foragelegume lines produced are adapt-ed either to a wide range of condi-tions, or to the specific conditions

found in certain areas, and haveuseful quality traits. They are alsoresistant to biotic stresses such aspests and diseases and abioticstresses such as drought. In 2005,ICARDA and NARS scientistscontinued collaborating to identi-fy improved germplasm with spe-cific or wide adaptation, and totarget breeding efforts towardsspecific agro-ecological conditionsand farming systems.

Improved vetches for China’s

alpine grasslands

Alpine grasslands account for30% of China’s total grasslandarea and are the major source offeed for the Yak and Tibetansheep kept by millions of poorfarmers in the region. They main-ly occur on Qinghai-Tibet Plateauat altitudes above 2500 m, whereannual temperatures average lessthan 5°C. The productivity ofthese grasslands has declined inrecent years due to overgrazing.

Viruses infected over 6% of thesamples from nearly two-thirds ofthe fields. Samples from threefields were found to have veryhigh levels of infection—30%, 35%and 41%. These are likely to leadto significant losses for farmers.

Researchers also found that labo-ratory tests on samples weremuch more effective in assessingvirus infection than field observa-tions (Fig. 19). Field observersoverestimated virus infection atlow levels and underestimated itat high levels. For example, labo-ratory tests found only one fieldwith an infection rate of less than1%. Field observers, by contrast,judged that 29 fields had infectionrates of less than 1%. In addition,field observers did not identifyany fields with an infection rate

greater than 21%. Laboratorytests, however, identified threesuch fields.

The ICARDA virologist alsotrained Eritrean researchers insurvey methods, symptoms of

virus infection, and the use of tis-sue blot immunoassay to detectand identify viruses. The contactsestablished between Eritreanresearchers and ICARDA duringthe survey will help supportvirology research in Eritrea.

Forage legume improvement for feed and

sustainable production

Fig. 19. Incidence of virus infection in chickpea crops recorded by field observers com-

pared with the incidence determined by laboratory tests on samples collected at ran-

dom during a survey conducted in Eritrea, November 2005.

52


To boost production, ICARDA’sforage legume improvement proj-ect evaluated the grain andherbage dry matter (DM) yieldsof 10 improved lines of commonvetch (Vicia sativa) and 10improved lines of narbon vetch(V. narbonensis).

The first tests took place underalpine grassland conditions inXiahe, Gansu Province during1998 and 1999. Selection was con-ducted based on seedling vigor,cold tolerance, early maturity,and herbage and grain yields.

Nine common vetch lines andfour narbon vetch lines wereselected for their high grain,herbage, and total biologicalyields. Further selection identi-fied the common vetch lines#2505, 2556, 2560 and 2566, andthe narbon vetch line #2561 ashaving considerable potential forgrain and herbage production.

The four best performing com-mon vetch lines were then testedbetween 2001 and 2004 at foursites in Gansu Province. Lines#2560 and 2566 were found to be

the highest yielding and showedadaptability to a range of condi-tions. They gave an average of 1.3t/ha and 1.2 t/ha of grain and 2.5t/ha and 2.4 t/ha of herbage,respectively, over all sites andyears (Fig. 20).

Importantly, though the sitesused in China were in mostrespects similar to those inICARDA’s target regions wherethe lines were developed, temper-atures were far lower (1.4-3.6°C).The common and narbon vetchesselected therefore all containedcold-tolerance traits which can beexploited in cold regions.

Further studies are needed tointegrate these promising linesinto the crop–livestock farmingsystems used by smallholders inthe region. For these improvedlines to reach and benefit farmers,seed multiplication systems needto be developed in collaborationwith local farming communities.

Vetches and chicklings for Brazil

Fundacep-Fecotrigo is a researchfoundation associated with 39farming cooperatives (and 150,000

Fig. 20. Mean seed, herbage and total biological yield of improved lines of common vetch at four sites in Gansu Province, China.


Promising lines of common vetch grown under alpine grassland conditions, Gansu

Province, China.

Forage legume improvement


farmers) in Rio Grande do SulState in the far south of Brazil.ICARDA first began to collabo-rate with Fundacep-Fecotrigo in1999. The Center suppliedimproved forage vetch and chick-ling germplasm which was thenevaluated under dryland condi-tions in the area. This work iden-tified highly promising lines offour different types of vetch andchickling adapted to local condi-tions.

Two lines in particular gave highherbage and grain yields: Viciaervilia sel# 2520 and V. villosa sub-species dasycarpa sel# 683 (varietyKouhak).

Both these lines are now in thefinal stages of testing in farmers’fields, and are candidates for seedmultiplication and commercialrelease. They are likely to be pro-moted as dual-purpose crops, asthey provide grain and straw tofeed livestock, as well as greenmanure which can be used torecycle nutrients during crop rota-tions. As a result, these lines willplay an important role in promot-ing sustainable agriculture andpreventing soil erosion in the area.

Farmers profit from better

vetches in Syria

In many dry regions, foragelegumes such as vetches have greatpotential to contribute to sustain-able development. However, thispotential remains largelyuntapped as adoption has beenlimited. ICARDA’s forage-legume improvement project istherefore paying particular atten-

tion to low-rainfall areas (250-350mm per year). In such areas inSyria, forage legumes are notwidely grown. Instead, farmerseither grow cereals, usually bar-ley, before letting the land lie fal-low for a year or, increasingly,grow their cereal crops year afteryear without letting the soilrecover.

To promote more sustainablefarming systems, the programhas developed improved linesand varieties adapted to theseareas. These are now being testedon-farm in collaboration with theAga Khan Foundation’s Programfor Rural Development, using aparticipatory approach.Collaboration began in 2003. Thetrials are being conducted inSalamieh, north-west Syria: atypical rainfed dryland farmingarea.

With technical backstoppingfrom ICARDA, farmers at twolocations managed and testedthree already-released varieties ofvetch: Baraka (common vetch),Kouhak (woolly-pod vetch), and

Tel Dora (rainfall 240 mm/year) Qebelhat (rainfall 245 mm/year)

Variety Yield Price Income Net Yield Price Income Net (t/ha) (SP/kg)‡ (SP/ha) returns (t/ha) (SP/kg)‡ (SP/ha) returns

(SP/ha)† (SP/ha)†Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Total Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Total

V. narbonensisvar. Velox 1.8 1.5 14 6 25200 9000 34200 20120 1.5 2.3 15 7 22500 16100 38600 24520V. sativavar. Baraka 1.4 1.6 14 7 19600 11200 30800 16720 1.4 2.7 15 7 21000 18900 39900 25820V. dasycarpavar. Kouhak 1.0 1.1 14 7 14000 7700 21700 7620 1.3 2.7 15 7 19500 18900 38400 24320Mixture barley + Kouhak 1.5 1.6 11 5 16500 8000 24500 10420 2.2 3.0 10 5 22000 15000 37000 22920

‡SP = Syrian Pounds. 1 SP = approximately US$0.02.†Net returns (SP/ha) = Income – total production costs. Note: Total production cost (SP/ha): fertilizer (1090) + seeds (1600) + cultivation (1500) + harvesting (6470) + threshing (3420) = 14,080.

Table 8. Productivity and net returns (revenue) of improved forage vetch varieties tested in farmers’ fields at Salamieh, northwest

Syria (2004/05 growing season).

Promising selected lines of woolly-pod

vetch in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

54


Velox (narbon vetch). These wereused to interrupt continuous bar-ley cropping. Kouhak was plant-ed either as a pure stand or as amixture with barley. At the endof the 2004/05 growing season,

the Aga Khan Foundation con-ducted a preliminary impactassessment (Table 8). Thisshowed that the net return (rev-enue) obtained from introducingimproved vetch germplasm into

the cropping system varied from7,620 to 20,120 Syrian pounds(SP) at Tel Dora and from 22,920to 25,820 SP at Qebelhat (Table 8).

Field days involving farmers,extensionists, and other stake-holders were also organized aspart of the project. As a result,more farmers were keen to jointhe scheme and try out the newtechnology in the 2005/06 season.

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is adrought-tolerant crop that pro-vides both animal feed and foodfor people. It can produce eco-nomically viable yields underadverse conditions, which makesit popular with subsistence farm-ers. It is widely grown in Africaand Asia and has the potential forexpansion into marginal, low-rain-fall areas in other regions as well.

Such dual-purpose food/feedcrops are relatively new inCentral Asia and the Caucasus(CAC), as they were rarely grownunder the extensive cropping sys-tems used in the former SovietUnion.

Importantly, the crop rotationsused in the region usually includefallow periods, when large areasremain unsown. These fallowsoffer a great opportunity to pro-duce forage legume crops such asgrass pea.

Since 1998, therefore, ICARDAhas been focusing on introducingimproved forage crop germplasm

into the CAC region. The aim isto achieve sustainable increases incrop and livestock productionand diversify the cropping sys-tem, especially in areas wherecropland is left fallow.

Large numbers of improved grasspea lines have already been intro-duced, and researchers fromICARDA and CAC countries haveworked together to develop a selec-tion program and evaluate andselect new lines under rainfed con-ditions; and then produce adequatequantities of seed.

The aim is to ensure that the finalproducts are palatable, competitive,high-yielding and fast-growing asseedlings. They also need to becold- and drought-tolerant, and

New grass pea variety released in Central Asia


Field day involving farmers, extensionists, and other stakeholders organized by ICARDA’s forage-legume improvement project

in Salamieh, Syria.

International Crop Information System


The International CropInformation System (ICIS) andInternational Nurseries Networkmade significant progress in 2005,boosted by support from theCGIAR’s Generation ChallengeProgram. A new server installedduring the year, for example, nowholds all the databases forICARDA’s mandate crops.On the Center’s intranet, web-userinterfaces were also launched forICARDA’s Chickpea and BarleyCrop Information System and its

varietal release database. In addi-tion, the ICIS Genome ManagementSystem was updated with molecu-lar data from Generation ChallengeProgram projects.

A prototype Genome LaboratoryInformation Management System(GLIMS) was also demonstrated atplanning meetings in Wageningen,the Netherlands, in February. Thefirst version was then presented inVancouver, Canada, in August, andcopies distributed to CIMMYT,

IRRI, the University of Queensland,and the Semiarid PrairieAgricultural Research Centre(SPARC), Saskatchewan, Canada.

During the year, around 350 coop-erating scientists on the Cereal andLegumes mailing list were sentinformation on the 2005/06 ICAR-DA international trial and nurserygermplasm available.

Through the InternationalNurseries Network, ICARDAreceived 124 requests for 1945 setsof nursery/trial germplasm anddispatched 6.5 tons of seeds to 50countries (Table 9).

resistant to diseases and insectpests. Finally, and most important-ly, they have to be almost free ofthe anti-nutritional factors whichgrass pea contains naturally andwhich are harmful to humanhealth.

As a result of this program, a newvariety of grass pea—Ali-Bar—wasreleased in Kazakhstan in 2005, thefirst to be released in the CACregion. Ali-Bar was selected fromICARDA germplasm supplied toKazakhstan and then tested overa four-year period. It yields 1.2t/ha under rainfed conditions inareas with 250-300 mm rainfall.

In addition, the seeds containconsistently lower concentration(0.008%) of the neurotoxinODAP, compared with grass pealand-races. The protein content is

approximately 30%. This meansthe variety can be used as a mul-tipurpose crop for direct grazingor for grain and straw productionfor winter feeding.

Ali-Bar is derived from the ICAR-DA line sel #554, which is alsobeing tested in Turkmenistan. Ithas already shown great promisethere, and has been recommend-ed for release.

International Crop Information System and

International Nurseries Network

Scientists from ICARDA and Kazakhstan evaluating the newly released grass pea

variety Ali-Bar which provides food for people and feed for animals.

56


Germplasm exchange lies at theheart of ICARDA’s work.However, importing and export-ing plant material, particularlyseed, can introduce and spreadplant pests and diseases.ICARDA’s germplasm-healthsafety measures are used to safe-guard against these risks.

Testing the health of incoming

and outgoing seed

In 2005, ICARDA’s Seed HealthLaboratory (SHL) tested over 30,000accessions: an increase of 50% overthe previous year. Seed of around18,000 cereal accessions and 2500food and feed legume accessions,

was tested for seed-bornepathogens—fungi, bacteria, nema-todes and parasitic weeds—before itwas distributed around the world.The SHL also tested 616 accessionsof faba bean and lentil seed for fivekey seed-borne viruses.

This testing ensured that all seedsdispatched were pest-free anddocumented in accordance withinternational quarantine regula-tions. During the year, ICARDAsent 222 germplasm shipments to61 countries. These included 104shipments to 47 countries ofgermplasm designated as ‘inter-national nurseries’.

ICARDA also received 29 seedshipments from 18 countries. Theincoming seeds (6500 cerealaccessions and 3500 food andfeed legume accessions) weretested for seed-borne pathogens.

The most frequent infectionfound was that of common buntof wheat (Tilletia caries and T.foetida). In some shipments, highlevels of infection with dwarfbunt quarantine fungus (Tilletiacontroversa), up to 20%, werefound in wheat accessions.Ascochyta blight was found in 4%of chickpea accessions. The seedgall nematode (Anguina tritici)was detected in 3% of wheataccessions.

Seed Health Laboratory


Table 9. Distribution of germplasm through the International Nurseries Network, 2005.

Crop Sets Yield Observation Stress Segregated Crossing trial nursery nursery populations block

RequestedBarley 505 128 182 120 34 39Spring bread wheat 196 144 51Durum 178 76 77 25Chickpea 317 116 169 32Faba bean 101 82 18Lentil 300 108 115 77Forages 148 148Winter wheat* 127 54 70Facultative wheat* 80 65 15

Total requested 1945 839 395 486 186 39Sent

Barley 366 113 170 16 31 35Spring bread wheat 177 130 46Durum 195 64 113 18Chickpea 243 96 121 26Faba bean 82 66 16Lentil 234 94 92 48Forages 133 132Winter wheat* 21 11 10Facultative wheat* 13 10 3

Total sent 1461 650 342 295 139 35

* ICARDA/CIMMYT

All incoming untreated seedswere treated with a broad-spec-trum fungicide. Only healthyseeds were planted in the post-quarantine fields and post-quar-antine plastic houses.

Inspecting ICARDA’s seed-

multiplication fields

Scientists from the SHL alsoinspected 190 hectares of cerealsand food and feed legumes. Theseareas are used to multiply seedfor distribution through the inter-national nurseries. In barley, themost frequent diseases foundwere barley stripe (Pyrenophoragraminea) and loose smut (Ustilagonuda). Scald (Rynchosporiumsecalis), net blotch(Helminthosporium teres), and cov-

ered smut (Ustilago horde) infec-tions were found in some acces-sions, while a few other acces-sions showed signs of black chaffbacterial disease (Xanthomonascampestris pv. translucens).

The most common infections inwheat were common bunt (Tilletiacaries and T. foetida) and loosesmut (Ustilago tritici). A smallpercentage of leguminous plantswas found to be infected withAscochyta spp. However,Ascochyta fabae caused more dam-age to faba bean than to otherlegumes. Some wilt infection(caused by Fusarium spp.) wasdetected in lentil.

During field inspection of the

post-quarantine fields, scientistsfound barley stripe mosaic and bar-ley yellow mosaic viruses in onebarley accession. The accessionwas immediately destroyed.

Human resource development

During the year, two in-countryseed health training courses wereconducted in Afghanistan and Iran.

A one-month training course wasorganized at ICARDA headquar-ters for three individual partici-pants (two Syrians and one Iraqi).In collaboration with MoselUniversity and HawaiiUniversity, a senior scientist fromthe SHL supervised the Mastersthesis of an Iraqi student fromMosel University.

Seed Health Laboratory



Syria’s Khanasser Valley (80 kmsoutheast of Aleppo) is a typicalmarginal dryland area prone todesertification. It receives littlerainfall (220 mm per year on aver-age) and even this is unpre-dictable, varying greatly fromyear to year. Poverty and degrad-ed soils are widespread. Between2001 and 2005, ICARDA used anintegrated natural resources man-agement (INRM) framework toaddress the Valley’s complex andinter-related problems.

Funded by BMZ (Germany) andthe Flemish Government,researchers gained a clear under-

standing of the major agro-eco-logical strengths, weaknesses,opportunities, and threats foundin the Valley (Table 1). The differ-ent options for sustainable devel-opment identified through thiswork are likely to be applicable insimilar marginal dryland areasthroughout West Asia and NorthAfrica.

An interactive multi-stakeholder

process

Many different stakeholders wereinvolved in the research. Throughvoluntary ‘farmer interest groups’(FIGs), for example, farmersworked with researchers to analyze

problems and select possible solu-tions, which they then tested andevaluated on-farm. Researchersalso worked with Syria’s AtomicEnergy Commission and thecountry’s Olive ResearchDepartment to study the area’snatural resources and developbest-bet technologies. Other part-ners included Bonn University,which supported water resourceassessment and water manage-ment work, and the Jabel Al-Hoss development project, whichdeveloped micro-credit systems.

This multi-stakeholder approachrequired extra consultation toachieve consensus and plan activ-ities. It also ensured that onlyappropriate technologies were

Mega-Project 3Improved Land Management to Combat

Desertification and Increase Productivity in Dry Areas

Given the complexity of causal factors, an integrat-

ed approach with broad stakeholder participation

is essential if the livelihoods – and security needs –

of the people inhabiting drylands are to be

improved without further degrading their environ-

ments. Technological, institutional, and policy

options are required to prevent further land degra-

dation and build viable livelihoods.

Mega-Project 3 aims to identify options for rehabili-

tating degraded land resources and, at the same

time, improve and strengthen systems of land

management to control degradation and sustain

future production in order to contribute to sustain-

able livelihoods. Major elements of the Project

include: the development and testing of an inte-

grated approach to natural resources manage-

ment; understanding the causes and driving forces

of land degradation, including regional assess-

ments of desertification; ‘best-bet’ technologies for

the management of land, water and watersheds,

vegetation and rangelands; policy and institutional

research to create an enabling environment for

combating desertification; and institutional

strengthening and capacity building in integrated

approaches to sustainable land management.

Desertification has been defined as land degra-

dation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas

resulting from various factors, including climatic

variations and human activities. The drylands

cover some 41% of the global surface area and

are home to around 2.1 billion people. More

importantly, 72% of drylands are in developing

countries and approximately half of the worlds’

poor live in drylands. At a conservative estimate,

10-20% of land is already affected by desertifica-

tion. This means that in terms of the number of

people affected, desertification is larger than

any other environmental problem.

Earlier definitions failed to emphasize that desertifi-

cation is a development problem and not specifi-

cally an environmental problem. This is now clearly

recognized by the United Nations Convention to

Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which states

that ‘national action programs, designed to com-

bat desertification, must be fully integrated into

other national policies for sustainable develop-

ment’ and that ‘combating desertification is really

just part of a much broader objective: the sustain-

able development of countries affected by

drought and desertification.’

Introduction

Combating desertification in marginal dryland

areas

developed and that full use wasmade of local expertise andknowledge. The approach alsoincreased partners’ commitmentto the project, by increasing theirsense of ownership.

A toolbox of options

Even small differences in soil,slope, rainfall, assets, livelihoodstrategies, and communitydynamics can cause a develop-ment option to fail. Partnerstherefore developed a range oftechnological, institutional andpolicy options (TIPOs) for use inthe Valley and similar areas.

Reducing rainfall-related risk

The project explored three mainstrategies for coping with lowand variable rainfall: crop diversi-fication, development of drought-

resistant varieties, and better useof available water.Diversifying into new crops suchas olive, cumin, home-garden

vegetables and wheat, ensuresthat all crops will not fail simulta-neously. Researchers workedwith local FIGs to assess produc-

Blue: livelihoods-related; red: enterprise-related, green: natural-resources-related; black: governance-related.

Table 1. SWOT analysis of the Khanasser Valley, a typical marginal dry area.

Weaknesses• Cash-flow problems (resulting in lack of long-term investment)• Poor nutritional status of children• Limited experience with non-traditional farming enterprises• Lack of adapted germplasm• Decreasing productivity• Degraded natural resource base (soil, groundwater, vegetation)

+ unsustainable management practices• Land degradation is ‘masked’ by variations in rainfall• Poor extension services and limited research

Threats• Average age of working population increasing, and greater

numbers of men working outside the Valley• Weakening of social networks• Neglect of traditional ‘beehive’ houses • Increased population pressure and land holdings that are too

small• Depletion of groundwater resources• Recurring droughts• Further decline of soil fertility and groundwater levels• Declining groundwater quality and salinization of irrigated

fields• Pollution from intensive sheep fattening and untreated village

sewage• Degradation and pollution of the fragile Jabul salt-lake

ecosystem• Unreliable export markets for sheep

Strengths• Indigenous knowledge and local innovations• Strong social networks and rich local culture• Comparative advantage for small ruminant production • Salt lake with rich bird biodiversity• Relatively unpolluted environment• Reasonable mobility and accessible markets• Improved basic services (electricity, roads, mobile-phone

network)

Opportunities• Investing off-farm income in productive resources• Better education levels and expertise• Increased awareness of the risks of resource degradation • Cooperatives• Improved market information via mobile phones and other

media• Out-migration and off-farm opportunities• Sheep fattening• Potential to improve the traditional barley system• Improved germplasm• Diversification for cash and subsistence purposes• Agro-, eco- and cultural tourism• Runoff water harvesting and efficient small-scale irrigation

systems• Soil fertility improvement• Rangeland rehabilitation and medicinal plant collection• Better government services and a greater focus on poverty

alleviation and environmental services in marginal areas

Khanasser Valley farmers have complex and integrated strategies to cope with the

dry marginal environment.

59


Combating desertification in marginal drylands

60


tion constraints for these newcrops and find ways of overcom-ing them. These were then testedin farmers’ fields. Researchersalso organized extension days, toteach farmers how to prune olivetrees and grow cumin.

Scientists have also worked close-ly with farmers to developdrought-resistant varieties. Todate, over 200 lines of barleyalone have been evaluated in aparticipatory breeding project runin three villages in the area. Thesuperior varieties of barley identi-fied are well adapted to the harshconditions found in the Valley.

The project has also addressedthe need to use available waterresources more efficiently, by esti-mating groundwater reserves,calculating sustainable extractionrates, and testing the feasibility ofdrip irrigation. Researchers alsofound that harvesting runoffwater in gently-sloping olivegroves means that growers onlyhave to irrigate their trees once insummer.

Building on comparativeadvantages

Syria’s marginal dryland areasare well suited to rearing smallruminants—which gives produc-ers there an advantage over thoseliving elsewhere. Sheep fatteningis expanding in the Valley as aresult, and researchers are work-ing with producers to test eco-nomical ways of producing feedon-farm.

Comparative advantages couldalso be exploited by producingmushrooms and medicinal plants.The Valley’s rich history andunique biodiversity also mean thatagro- and eco-tourism are income-earning options.

Sustaining natural resources

Researchers also worked withfarmers to find sustainable ways ofrebuilding and maintaining theValley’s natural resource base.Options already identified includethe application of phosphogypsumto soil, pre-summer tillage toreduce wind erosion, the construc-tion of runoff harvesting structures,and better use of available manure.

Cropping vetch in rotation withbarley, and planting Atriplex (salt-bush) species as an alley crop inbarley fields improved forageresources. However, for Atriplexalley-cropping to be attractive tofarmers, subsidies would beneeded.

Institutional options

Researchers also explored ways ofusing local organizations andarrangements to improve liveli-hoods. For example, support todairy producers could potentiallybe channeled through jabbans—traditional cheese-makers who usu-ally provide credit and sell cheeseon the producer’s behalf. The Jabel

Al-Hoss project has recently intro-duced micro-credit facilities(sanadiq) to Khanasser. These allowpoor households to take part inprofitable enterprises that werepreviously beyond their reach.

Upscaling the lessons learned

Researchers are now working toensure that the experience gainedin Khanasser is applied else-where. Efforts to date include apolicy briefing at Damascus and amulti-stakeholder workshop atICARDA for research, develop-ment, and policy organizations.These have made decision-makersbetter aware of the solutions andopportunities that exist for drymarginal environments.

Surveys by ICARDA also showedthat care needs to be taken whenapplying these lessons—as certaingroups will benefit more fromagricultural development thanothers. To avoid inequity, there-fore, development efforts shouldalso include investments toimprove social services (e.g.health and family-planning cen-

Participatory technology development combines local knowledge with scientific

expertise.

Improved Land Management to Combat Desertification

61Soil conservation in hill orchards


In northwest Syria, olive cultiva-tion has expanded over the lastfew decades into marginal areas,including fragile mountainregions with marl or chalky lime-stone soils. However, farmers arestill using traditional land-hus-bandry techniques, which are notsuited to olive growing on steeperslopes. This is resulting in tillageand water erosion, which is caus-ing soil fertility to decline and isdamaging olive productivity andeconomic growth.

As part of a plan to develop efficient and effective soil-conser-vation strategies, ICARDA hasevaluated the long-term effects ofgrowing olives on steep slopes.The Center also analyzed howfarmers decided whether to applysoil-conservation measures, andassessed the soil-conservationadvantages of natural vegetationstrips on hillsides.

Long-term impact on land

degradation

Researchers have evaluated theimpacts that olive cultivation onsteep slopes has had over a 50-70year period. To do this, they com-pared the properties and profiles ofsoils in olive orchards with those ofan adjacent reference forest.

The study showed that deforesta-tion followed by cultivation causesa severe drop in soil quality. Soildepth had declined by at least 31%relative to the forest soil, while thesoil organic matter content haddropped by 62%. Soil nutrient lev-

els were also considerably lower:cultivated soils contained 62% lessnitrogen, 48% less phosphorus,and 58% less potassium. The phys-ical properties of orchard topsoilshad also deteriorated significantlyin comparison with those of forestsoil: soil was more compacted(bulk density was greater) andmore prone to water erosion(aggregate stability was lower).

The level of degradation was alsostrongly linked to topography.Most severe degradation wasfound on the steepest parts of thehillsides. In these areas, losses ofsoil organic matter and increasesin bulk density were significantlygreater than on the flat section atthe top of the slope.

Overall, the study highlighted thesevere level of historical degrada-

tion, and the need to stop furthererosion by using simple alterna-tive management practices. Onlyin this way will hillside olive pro-duction become sustainable.

Farmers’ decision-making

Working with farmers in hillyolive groves in northwest Syria,ICARDA and its partners exploredhow farmers perceive land degra-dation. They also investigatedwhat soil-conservation practicesfarmers used, and how they decid-ed to apply them. In all, 43 villageswere visited and 73 in-depth inter-views conducted with farmers,extension workers, and otherstakeholders in the area.

Based on these interviews, a holis-tic framework was constructedwhich describes farmers’ decision-making with regard to soil conser-vation. This will be used to guidefuture development and researchefforts.

The long-term impact of land use on soil was assessed by comparing undisturbed for-

est soils with orchard soils in northwest Syria.

ters, schools, and sanitation) andprovide vocational training (toimprove off-farm work opportu-

nities). They must also take intoaccount the effects that variousdevelopment options have on

women—as they contribute a sig-nificant amount of labor but havelittle decision-making power.

Soil erosion and conservation in olive orchards

in hilly areas

62



Farmers’ decision-making process-es were found to be linked to thedriving forces at the householdlevel: the household’s capital(financial, human, physical, social,and natural), and the household’ssocial environment (including itssocial status). The study also tookinto account the three basic strate-gies that farmers used to cope witha fall in household resources trig-gered by land degradation.

These strategies were (1) non-farmactivities (in the long or shortterm), (2) improved crop hus-bandry (short term), and/or (3)soil conservation (long term).Whether farmers adopted one orseveral strategies depended ontheir perceptions about the needfor a particular strategy, how feasi-ble it was, and how the strategywould affect their household capi-tal.

Within the framework of thesebasic strategies, the decision mak-ing process was described in threedynamic stages: (1) motivation tofarm, (2) motivation to tackle landdegradation, and (3) motivation toapply a soil-conservation strategy.In our study we observed that thehigher the motivation to farm, thehigher the motivation to tackleland degradation and to apply asoil-conservation strategy.

Landowners who were more moti-vated to farm were more likely toobserve, reflect on, and discuss thefactors influencing agriculturalproduction. As a result, they were

more aware of land degradation.Farmers who were more motivat-ed to tackle land degradation,observed, reflected on, and dis-cussed soil-conservation strategiesmore. They were therefore morelikely to experiment with soil-con-servation innovations.

Controlling erosion with natural

vegetation strips

To increase rainfall infiltration andcontrol weeds, most farmers pre-fer to plow their olive orchards.However, this results in tillageerosion (the downhill movementof soil as a result of tillage). Theextent of tillage erosion dependson factors such as soil type, thesteepness of the slope, and the toolused to till the soil.

Tillage also increases water ero-sion, especially when farmersplow up and down the slope.Tillage erosion is now a very com-mon problem in Afrin (north-westSyria), and a major threat to sus-tainable olive production. Simplecultivation systems to conserve thesoil have therefore been tested.

In the natural vegetation stripsystem, farmers plow along thecontour lines of the slope andleave a strip of natural vegetationbetween the trees untilled. Thisstrip reduces tillage erosion andobstructs water flows—thusreducing water erosion.

To test the method, researchers atTel Hadya measured the amountof tillage erosion caused by differ-

ent methods of tillage. On a 12%slope, use of a natural vegetationstrip and contour tillage reducedtillage erosion by 75% in compari-son with a downhill tillage pass.In addition, the new techniquealso caused soil to accumulate onthe uphill side of the vegetationstrip, further reducing the risk ofwater erosion.

Simple and low-cost conservationmeasures, such as natural vegeta-tion strips, enable more farmersto tackle land degradation. Whenthe vegetation-strip system wasdiscussed with farmers inYakhour and Khaltan (north-westSyria), they concluded that itwould be useful in fields wheretrees had been planted more orless along the contours of theslope. As a result of these discus-sions, one farmer began to testthe system in his field during thefollowing spring.

Formation of natural vegetation strips

as a result of selective contour tillage

in Khanasser Valley, Syria.

Based on increasing demand fromnational partners, ICARDA isworking to mainstream its inte-grated natural resources manage-ment (INRM) framework andtools. Several hurdles have to beovercome to do this, as certainskills are needed to apply INRMand people often think that themethod is complex. What is more,most partner research institutionshave a single-discipline focus andlack the expertise needed for par-ticipatory and multi-stakeholderapproaches.

As part of its INRM outscalingefforts, the Center has producedpublications, and delivered semi-nars during regional meetingswith NARS. The NARS staff havealso been introduced to the con-cept during in-house trainingcourses on natural resource man-agement. Importantly, ICARDA isalso providing practical trainingto its project partners throughworkshops and through the directapplication of INRM duringproject implementation.

INRM training workshops

Through workshops, training onspecific aspects of INRM wasprovided to senior staff from theConservation Tillage andMountain Agriculture projects inMorocco. Trainees were asked todecide which of the diagnostictools, problem-solving tools, and

process INRM tools were mostappropriate to their needs.Brainstorming sessions were thenused to help trainees learn howto apply those tools within theirprojects. The results of this groupwork were then fed directly intoproject-planning exercises.

Learning by doing

Iran’s Karkheh River BasinProject falls under the CGIAR’sChallenge Program for Waterand Food. INRM has been builtinto this project from the start. Asit progressed, therefore, staffwere provided with hands-ontraining when necessary. In addi-tion, ‘reflection’ points were usedto assess the project’s progress as

part of a learning cycle. Thisapproach encouraged collectivelearning and helped to identifyany adjustments to the projects orfurther training that might beneeded.

Lessons learned

Various lessons have beenlearned from the outscaling ofINRM and these have alreadybeen fed into the design of futuretraining programs. Key factorsfor success include ensuring thatINRM workshops occur early inthe project cycle, involve partici-pants from different disciplines,and draw on actual examples ofINRM in practice. There is also aneed to ensure that project man-agers and facilitators are commit-ted to providing follow-up aftertraining, especially in the earlystages of projects.

Outscaling integrated natural resources

management

Bringing integrated natural resource management theory into practice in Iran.

63


Integrated natural resources management

64


As part of its work to improverangeland management, ICARDArecently assessed the impact thatcommunities have on the natural

resources they depend upon.Researchers studied rangelanddegradation around 50 settle-ments in six provinces on theSyrian steppe: Aleppo, Hama,Homs, Damascus County, Raqqa,and Deir Ezzor.

The study recorded vegetationtypes and indicators of rangelandhealth and degradation along threetransects radiating from each of the50 settlements. Positioned at 120°intervals in a circle around eachsettlement, these transects crossedboth native rangeland and previ-ously cultivated areas. The direc-tion of the first transect from eachsettlement was selected by a vil-lage representative, who alsoadvised researchers where each ofthe transects crossed the bound-aries of community rangelands.

Researchers sampled 750 sites inthe 50 communities, by choosing

five sampling points on each tran-sect. The first of these was 50 mfrom the settlement, and the lastat the end of the transect on the

community boundary. The otherthree were then equally spaced inbetween.

Soil erosion and rangeland degra-dation were assessed based onthe presence of pedestals and ter-racettes, rills and gullies, andinvasive plants, and on flow pat-terns, root exposure, litter cover,ground cover, wind erosion, andsoil compaction.

To estimate how intensivelyrangelands were grazed,researchers also evaluated thequantity of animal droppingspresent and the degree of tram-pling by animals. All assessmentswere scored on a scale thatranged from 1 (none to very low)to 5 (very high).

Rangeland vegetation types wereclassified according to the domi-

Vegetation types and rangeland degradation in

communities on the Syrian steppe

No. of sites % of sitesVegetation typePreviously cultivated 186 24.8Noaea mucronata 136 18.1Artemisia herba-alba 129 17.2Anabasis syriaca 78 10.4Native 51 6.8

Haloxylon articulatum 43 5.7Haloxylon salicornicum 38 5.1Barley 18 2.4Salsola vermiculata 17 2.3Wheat 16 2.1

Astragalus spinosus 12 1.6Peganum harmala 9 1.2Achillea conferta 7 0.9Capparis spinosa 5 0.7Tamarix penpindra 1 0.1

Native Badia species 4 0.5Total 750 100

Level of degradationNone to very low 30 4.0Low 245 32.7Moderate 331 44.1High 136 18.1Very high 8 1.1Total 750 100

Table 2. Dominant vegetation types and degradation levels at 750 sites in 50 Syrian

steppe communities, sampled February–April 2005.

A sample of rangeland species at a site in a dry area environment.


65


Throughout most of West Asiaand North Africa sheep numbersare rising and overgrazing is caus-ing rangeland to degrade. To helpcommunities find the best ways ofmanaging their range, ICARDAhas been working to better under-stand rangeland management andpastoral systems in the region.

In 2005, ICARDA and Syria’sMinistry of Agriculture surveyedsix Syrian provinces: Aleppo,Hama, Homs, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor,and Damascus.

In these areas, researchersmapped Bedouin communities’rangeland, identified the maintypes of rangeland, and thencharacterized their vegetation.They also conducted socio-eco-nomic surveys, collecting infor-

mation on livestock productionand livestock-related movementsfrom 313 typical households in 50steppe communities.

Range use was characterized byasking herders how frequentlythey used rangeland sites over asix-year period (1999-2004) andhow long they spent on a siteeach year. Researchers also stud-ied the feeding strategies usedand the intensification of produc-tion systems. Herders using moreintensive systems were identifiedas those who gave their animalssupplementary feed, and whowere therefore less dependent onthe range.

Defining categories of herders

The survey identified five typesof community rangeland user

(Table 3): ‘opportunist’, ‘regular’,‘less mobile’, ‘sedentary’, and‘intensive’. Opportunist herdersonly use community rangeland inyears when there is abundant for-age, while regular herders use itevery year for set periods andregularly move their herdsbetween the steppe rangelandsand the cropping zone.

Less mobile herders also use theircommunity’s rangeland siteevery year. However, they dif-fered from the more mobile regu-lar herders in that they had spentat least one whole year in theircommunity (i.e. without movingto the cropping zone) during thesix years covered by the study.Sedentary herders, on the otherhand, never moved from theircommunity rangeland site, evenduring dry years.

The intensive herders weredrawn from all the above cate-gories. What distinguished themwas the fact that, to boost pro-ductivity, they had all providedtheir flocks with supplementaryfeed in April 2004 when grazingwas at its best.

Factors determining herders’

strategies

Researchers also developed amodel to estimate how probable itwas that a household would fallinto one of the five herder cate-gories identified. The model usedhousehold characteristics (age,composition, education, andassets) and community character-istics (such as population density

Mobility and feeding strategies of Syrian

pastoralists

Movement of Bedouin communities in search of feed for their sheep and goats is

guided by several factors which have a direct bearing on rangeland management.

ICARDA is studying the herder categories and their strategies for moving their flocks.

Range use by Syrian pastoralists

nant species in native rangeland,or the main land use. Previouslycultivated land accounted for 25%of the rangeland in the study area(Table 2). Noaea mucronata domi-

nated 18% of the study areas andArtemisia herba-alba 17%. Anabasissyriaca, a species that invades dis-turbed land, dominated 10% of thesample sites. Results showed that

20% of the sites were severelydegraded (Table 2). Moderatedegradation was found at 44% ofthe sites. The remaining 37%showed little or no degradation.

66


and distance from markets, water-ing points and the cropping zone).

Results showed that householdswere more likely to practiceopportunist herding if they livedfar away from the cropping zonebut owned some land within it. Bycontrast, households close to thecropping zone were more likely tobe regular herders. Less mobileherders tended to come from com-munities with high densities ofanimals and small areas of landthat had been cultivated beforecropping was banned on Syria’srangelands in 1994. Householdswere more likely to be sedentaryif the household head was rela-

tively old or if the householdcontained a large number ofwomen. They also tended to besituated relatively far from thecropping zone.

Sedentary households also tend-ed to be close to towns and tohave better access to wateringpoints. This was also true of theintensive herders, whose flockswere usually larger than theaverage for their community.

The model also showed thathouseholds that depended on bar-ley cultivation before the range-land cropping ban now rely heavi-ly on the stubble available for

grazing in the cropping zone. Overall, it was clear that the vari-ous herding strategies used werenot a matter of choice, but were toa great extent forced on herders asa result of where they lived andwhat resources were available.

The study showed clearly thatgreat variation exists within Syria’srangeland communities. Efforts toimprove rangeland managementwill therefore be carefully targetedto ensure that any new systemsdeveloped are appropriate for par-ticular communities and the typesof households they contain.

Opportunistic Regular Less mobile Sedentary IntensiveNumber of households 31 75 106 41 60

Mobility pattern, 1999–2004Total no. of months on site in past 6 years 25.4* 32.2* 51.5* 72* 42.0Coefficient of variation in length of residence 0.51* 0.06* 0.28* 0* 0.18No. of months on site in 1999 (low-rainfall year) 2.8* 4.3* 6.7 12* 5.1*No. of months on site in 2004 (medium-rainfall year) 7.8 5.9 9.8* 12* 8.9Total no. of moves in past 6 years 4.0* 11.7* 6.3 0* 7.5

Feeding strategies, 2004Concentrate use (% of herders) 46.8 33.8* 44.7 49.5* 49.8*Crop residue use (% of herders) 16.9* 46.8* 22.5* 18.1* 27.4Grazing on community rangeland (% of herders) 36.3* 19.4* 32.8* 32.4 22.8*Productivity indicators, 2004Productivity index† 0.46 0.43* 0.48 0.48 0.50Total production cost per ewe (SP)‡ 2,142 2,155 1,834 1,623 2,412*% of lambs fattened 33 42 40 22* 54*

Community-level mobility and fattening patterns, 1999-2004Average ‘herder presence’§ 1999-2004 0.40* 0.43* 0.56* 0.59* 0.53Variation in ‘herder presence’ 1999-2004 (coefficient of variation) 0.66* 0.41 0.42 0.37 0.39‘Herder presence’ in 1999 (low-rainfall year) 0.28* 0.30* 0.40 0.49** 0.36‘Herder presence’ in 2004 (medium-rainfall year) 0.52* 0.52* 0.68* 0.65 0.62% of residents fattening their lambs 63.4 77.6 65.5 61.3 86.1*

*,** Significantly different from all other means at the 5% and 1% probability level, respectively.† Indicator of productivity obtained through a factor analysis from four variables (mortality rate, lambing rate, milk production per ewe andper year, percentage of ewes that gave birth to twins).‡ SP = Syrian pound; in 2005, 1US$ = 50 SP.§ Indicator of use of community rangeland, calculated as (No. of households with sheep x months spent on community-rangeland site peryear)/(total no. of households who use community-rangeland site x 12)

Table 3. Characteristics of the five categories of herders identified during a study of community-rangeland sites in Syria.


67


Rangeland rehabilitation inCWANA often involves plantingdrought-tolerant shrubs to supple-ment native vegetation and pro-vide grazing for sheep and goats.In the summer of 2005, ICARDAresearchers at Tel Hadya, Syria,assessed this practice by studyingsheep behavior and grazing pref-erences on a native rangeland areaplanted with rows of drought-tol-erant shrubs six years before.

Every day, for nine weeks—fromthe end of June to the end ofAugust 2005—90 female sheepwere allowed to graze the range-land area. Researchers observedthe behavior of five marked sheepfor 10 minutes each week. As wellas recording the number of sec-onds they spent displaying differ-ent behaviors, such as walking,drinking, sleeping, and browsing,the researchers also recorded thespecies of shrubs grazed.

Around 48 native species werefound in the study area, including

wild oats, clovers, herbs, andgrasses. The 19 non-native speciesof shrubs planted in the area con-sisted mainly of saltbush(Atriplex) with some Salsola,Haloxylon, Kochia, medic(Medicago), and Coluteal species,as well as five legumes.

The sheep grazed the very dry,brown, and over-mature nativeplants and palatable leguminousspecies first. They only began tograze the non-leguminous shrubsafter the fifth week, once most ofthe native plants had been eaten(Table 4). Even then, they spentmore time walking than grazingthese shrubs.

Sheep behavior and preferences for

rangeland shrubs

Rangelends support a diverse range of native species, but sheep and goats have

their own preferences for grazing. This research is helping ICARDA identify the species

preferred by small ruminants and use them to rehabilitate degraded rangelands.

Week Grazing shrubs Grazing Grazing Walking Stopping Drinking Sleepingnative species roots of

native species (after digging)

1 65.2 495.0 0.0 25.2 2.2 12.4 0.02 33.2 438.4 0.0 103.4 10.0 8.8 6.23 13.8 498.6 0.0 85.4 1.0 1.2 0.04 23.6 445.8 0.0 128.8 0.0 1.8 0.05 178.0 279.2 9.6 105.6 15.6 12.0 0.0

6 108.0 326.4 23.2 128.8 3.2 10.4 0.07 117.8 278.0 36.6 158.0 7.4 2.2 0.08 9.2 306.6 140.6 141.0 2.6 0.0 0.09 17.2 49.2 63.8 289.2 175.8 4.8 0.0Mean (over 9 weeks) 62.9 346.4 30.4 129.5 24.2 6.0 0.7% of total observation time 10.5 57.7 5.1 21.6 4.0 1.0 0.1

Table 4. Sheep behavior (seconds spent on each activity), when given free access to a rangeland of native vegetation rehabilitat-

ed with non-native shrubs, over nine weeks at Tel Hadya, Syria.

Sheep prefer rangeland shrubs

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A lack of agricultural inputs andmarket opportunities is forcingrural communities in Central Asiato over-exploit their naturalresource base. As a result, bothhighland and lowland areas aredegrading at an alarming rate.Deforestation is increasing, as israngeland overgrazing—especiallynear villages. At the same time,soil and water quality are fallingand crop yields are declining.

To address these threats, ICARDAis working with the Central AsianCountries Initiative for LandManagement (CACILM) TaskForce. This aims to implement theUnited Nations Convention toCombat Desertification in fiveCentral Asian countries:Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, andUzbekistan. CACILM is led by the

Asian Development Bank (ADB)with support from agencies fromCanada (CIDA), Germany (GTZ),and Switzerland (SDC), and the

International Fund for Agricul-tural Development (IFAD).

By assessing the ecological, insti-tutional, and economic aspects ofland management, workinggroups in each of the CentralAsian countries have already ana-

Researchers also noted that oncesheep had eaten all the nativevegetation above ground, theypreferred to dig for undergroundrhizomes, forbs, and grass stemsrather than browse the abundantfoliage on the shrubs. Once theybegan grazing the non-legumi-nous shrubs (after week 5), theymostly grazed Salsola species anda Spanish variety of Atriplex hal-imus, which is similar to thenative saltbush.

Sheep showed a clear preferencefor native vegetation throughoutthe trial (Table 3), spending 60-97% of their time grazing nativespecies and only 3-38% grazingshrubs. This means that native

vegetation could be heavilygrazed, and even eliminated,before sheep will resort to brows-ing saltbush. The intense grazingpressure placed on native vegeta-tion as a result may explain whyit is so sparse and degraded.

This means that projects that aimto rehabilitate rangelands byplanting shrubs may have theopposite effect, causing theremaining native vegetation todegrade completely. In the worst-case scenario, the land couldbecome completely barren onceplantations of non-native shrubseventually die. This could happenafter a couple of decades, as thenon-native shrubs have a life

span of around 20 years and donot re-seed naturally.

In addition, rehabilitation projectsoften target the least-degradedareas of rangeland, which haveadequate native shrub cover. Thisaggravates the situation.

Researchers found one case, forexample, where Atriplex was plant-ed in an excellent stand of nativeArtemisia because this was the onlyland available and the project man-agers needed to meet a quota. Suchcases are common in Syria andLebanon. Clearly, therefore, range-land rehabilitation efforts musttake account of the habits and pref-erences of grazing animals.

A new partnership for sustainable land

management in Central Asia

A new consortium in Central Asia is helping communities move towards sustainable

use of natural resources.


Large areas of the ArabianPeninsula suffer from some formof desertification. The primarycause is overgrazing. Since the1960s, livestock production hasincreased sharply, thanks to bet-ter veterinary services and provi-sion of subsidies that enablefarmers to purchase processedfeed and baled hay. In 1998 therewere an estimated 24 million ani-mals, mainly sheep, goats andcamels. Overgrazing reduces the

productivity of the ecosystem aswell as the nutritional value andrelative abundance of plantspecies. Rangelands do not pro-vide sufficient forage, so farmersextract groundwater to produceirrigated forage – further exacer-bating water shortages.

ICARDA’s Arabian PeninsulaRegional Program aims toaddress these problems by pro-moting indigenous forage species

that can provide forage for live-stock and simultaneously rehabil-itate degraded rangelands.Collection missions were carriedout in different countries in thePeninsula. Several of the speciescollected have high water-useefficiency and great potentialvalue as forage crops.

More and more farmers in UAE’sCentral Agricultural Region wantto grow the new forage Buffelgrass or Leybid (Cenchrus ciliaris).To cope with the increasingdemand, ICARDA and theMinistry of Agriculture are using

69


lyzed the root causes of landdegradation. This work hashelped them identify priorities foraction as well as a suite of sus-tainable land-managementoptions. It also clarified variousresearch needs. In all countries, itwas concluded that research isneeded to develop better agro-nomic and soil and water conser-vation practices, and to diversifycrop and livestock production toboost incomes.

Germplasm collection will also beimportant, as researchers need todevelop crop varieties that can

tolerate drought, salinity, andextreme temperatures.

The working groups also calledfor research to improve water-useefficiency, water allocation, andrangeland, feed and livestock-management strategies. New poli-cies and institutional options arealso needed, as are better ways ofmanaging forests, and rapid andinexpensive methods to assessand monitor land degradation.

To address these research needs,ICARDA has developed anappropriate research framework,

which is now being discussed byCACILM partners. This will beused to develop and apply inno-vative and sustainable land-man-agement practices and to inte-grate sustainable land manage-ment into government develop-ment priorities and policies. Theframework will also help the pro-gram’s partners to strengthenhuman, technical, and institution-al capacity, and encouragegreater public and private sectorinvestment in already-degradedareas, thus preventing furtherdegradation.

Indigenous forage crops for the Arabian Peninsula

Indigenous forage crops for the Arabian

Peninsula

Overstocking can exhaust vegetation cover on rangelands (left), but stricter control of grazing allowed pasture to recover

rapidly in Al Jouf, Saudi Arabia (right).

direct seeding, rather than plant-ing seedlings. This methodrequires frequent irrigation andgood weed/pest control.However, once established,Leybid can be harvested tentimes per year, with an averagedry matter yield of up to 20 t/ha.

The water-use efficiency ofLeybid (quantity of water to pro-duce 1 kg of dry matter) is 25 to50% higher than Rhodes grass, apopularly used forage. TheDhaid Research Station has inten-sified seed production of Leybidand Da’e (Lasiurus scindicus);

around 1.7 tons were producedin the past two seasons. The sta-tion’s seed unit – jointly estab-lished in 2002 by ICARDA andthe UAE Ministry – is also pro-ducing several other indigenousforages.

Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, ICAR-DA and the Ministry ofAgriculture are establishing aseed technology unit to enhanceseed production of native rangeplants, particularly shrubs. Aseed scarifier and a seed cleanerwill soon be installed, and addi-tional equipment for the unit isbeing procured.

In Oman, varieties of spinelesscactus introduced from Tunisia in2004, are now well established atthe Rumais Research Station; andwill be distributed to other coun-tries in the Peninsula. Leybidseed is being multiplied at theLivestock Research Center inRumais, for an ongoing program

to re-seed degraded rangelands.Sixteen sites (0.25 ha each) wereseeded in December 2004, andare being monitored.

In Yemen, rangeland rehabilita-tion efforts in the Wallan commu-nity are continuing, using a com-bination of indigenous shrubsand water harvesting techniques.Pasture productivity hasincreased from 0.5 t/ha in 2003 to1.8 t/ha in 2005.

Improved Land Management to Combat Desertification70


Rangeland in the highlands of Yemen

is being rehabilitated in collaboration

with the Wallan community.

Seed production fields at Dhaid

Research Station, UAE, December

2005.


Mega-Project 4

Improvement, Intensification and Diversification of Sustainable

Crop and Livestock Production Systems in Dry Areas

At least 65 of the medicinal andaromatic plant species that growin Afghanistan could be exploitedcommercially. These species aretherefore the focus of three of the11 projects managed by ICARDAunder the Research in AlternativeLivelihoods Fund (RALF), whichis supported by the UKDepartment for InternationalDevelopment (DFID). These proj-ects aim to raise incomes and cre-ate jobs by helping collectors,farmers, and traders make greateruse of the country’s plantresources.

Sources of natural active

ingredients for food, pharma-

ceuticals, and cosmetics

In 2005, a Novib-OxfamNetherlands project focused onsix medicinal species: liquorice(Glycyrrhiza glabra), cumin(Cuminum cymium), Devil’s dungor ‘hing’ (Ferula asa-foetida), car-away (Carum carvi), wormseed(Artemisia cina), and Indian jujube(Ziziphus jujuba).

The project is managed byProFound, the Netherlands, and isbeing implemented by theMinistry of Agriculture, Animal

Husbandry and Food (MAAHF),the Faculty of Pharmacy of theUniversity of Kabul, and theUnited Nations DevelopmentFund for Women (UNIFEM).Three NGOs are also key imple-menting partners (Table 1).

In the nine provinces covered, theproject partners are working withcommunities, collectors, farmers,and traders to find the best waysto collect, grow, process, and mar-

ket these species. Efforts aim toadd value, and include the devel-opment of harvest and post-har-vest technologies, and work to bet-ter understand the plants’ proper-ties—by analyzing and identifyingbioactive compounds and othersubstances of interest. Researchersare also mapping the distributionof these species, and developing

quality standards to ensure thatproducts can be exported. Thiswork is complemented by the pro-ject’s efforts to build policy andlegal frameworks.

improving the safety, quality and marketability of

the produce; and adding value through agri-pro-

cessing of primary products, while sustaining the

resource base. It aims to contribute to the develop-

ment of productive and sustainable systems that

enhance nutrition and livelihoods and generate

opportunities for rural agri-business development

and increased employment.

Within developing-country dry areas, the majority

of the rural population is involved in the agricul-

tural sector. Both crops and livestock contribute

significantly to the livelihoods of the poor. Mega-

Project 4 focuses on enhancing income generat-

ing options for the rural poor from crops and live-

stock, especially small ruminants; improving,

intensifying and diversifying agricultural produc-

tion systems; increasing and diversifying outputs;

Introduction

Medicinal and aromatic plants for alternative

livelihoods in Afghanistan

Cumin is not only a medicinal crop, but is also widely used in food preparations.

Diversification of Crop and Livestock Systems72


Growing and marketing saffron

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is a high-value crop that is mainly harvest-ed and processed by trainedwomen and girls. These groupsbenefit from the income-earningopportunities the crop provides,as around 270 days of labor areneeded per hectare. The sustain-able production, processing, andmarketing of saffron is the aim ofanother RALF project. Led by theDanish Committee for Aid toAfghan Refugees (DACAAR), theproject involves three other part-ners: Washington StateUniversity, MAAHF-Herat, andHerat University’s Faculty ofAgriculture.

Since its introduction in 1991, saf-fron-growing has spread rapidlyin Afghanistan—to 21 districts inseven provinces. In PushtunZarghun district in Heratprovince, where DACAAR intro-duced saffron-growing in 1998,119 farmers are now involved insaffron production. To help them,the project has established aSaffron Association, whichalready has 91 members, and aseed bank which is providing saf-fron bulbs (corms).

Around 30 ha of saffron are nowbeing cultivated each year in

Herat province. Many farmerswant to start growing saffron,which has led to a great demandfor corms. Established saffronfarmers are earning extra incomeby harvesting and selling theexcess saffron bulbs they pro-duce.

The project is now focusing onimproving production and identi-fying new market opportunities.As quality is the key to obtaininghigher prices on internationalmarkets, growers and researchershave together worked out waysto meet ISO quality standards

governing moisture content, fla-vor, and color. These include:

• Picking flowers early in themorning, before they wilt.

• Carefully separating stigmasfrom flowers and styles.

• Careful drying—to ensure thatthe final product only has a 12%moisture content. Too muchmoisture causes spoilage andmold, while too little leads tobrittleness and loss of weight.

• The use of proper packaging—to maintain moisture levels andattract consumers.

Province Implementing NGO† Products

Artemisia Caraway Cumin Hing Liquorice JujubeKhost TLO xx xx xx x xPaktia TLO xx x x xBadakshan AKF xxx xxx xx xxBaghlan AKF xxx xx x xxx xxxBamyan AKF xxx x x x x

Herat CHA xxx xx xxx xxx xxGhor CHA xxx xx x xxx xxx xFarah CHA xxx x xx xxxFaryab CHA xxx xx x xxx xxx xx†TLO = Tribal Liaison Office; AKF = Aga Khan Foundation; CHA = Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance.

Table 1. Plant species containing valuable natural compounds that are being targeted by the Novib-Oxfam/RALF project in nine

provinces of Afghanistan (frequency of occurrence of species: x = low, xx = medium, xxx = high).

Saffron is a high-value crop mainly harvested and processed by women and girls in

Karokh, Herat Province.

73


Another RALF project, led byCatholic Relief Services, is study-ing agronomic issues using multi-year on-farm trials in Herat.Results have shown that largersaffron corms produce significant-ly more flowers and corms, andthat saffron grows best whenbulbs are planted at a depth of 15-20 cm at a spacing of 15 x 20 cm.In some areas, such as PashtunZarghun, it is best to plant saffronin raised beds to ensure gooddrainage.

The project has also shown grow-ers that regularly digging up andreplanting corms reduces thethreat posed by pests and dis-eases. This also ensures that thebest new corms are planted at theoptimum depth—without regularreplanting, bulbs eventually endup close to the surface because thenew corms form above the olderones. Replanting also allows pro-ducers to gather surplus corms.Good quality ones can then besold, while poor quality (small)corms can be used as animal feed.

Mint cultivation as a viable

alternative livelihood

Scientists from ICARDA andNangarhar University are work-ing in Helmand, Kunduz, andNangarhar provinces to helpfarmers produce mint (Menthaspp.) commercially on a largescale, as a viable alternative togrowing opium poppies. Theyhave already set up research/demonstration plots, trainedfarmers by organizing field days,and founded mint producers’associations.

Project staff have also helpedfarmers to set up plastic housesso that they can produce mintusing protected-agriculture tech-nology. This means they can sellthe crop in winter when pricesare very high. The team has alsointroduced mint growers to thedry-mint trade, teaching themhow to dry, package, and storethe mint when prices are verylow. This mint can also be soldfor a high price in winter.

Four mint-water extraction plantshave been imported from Iran andare being installed in the targetprovinces. The mint producers’associations will use these plantsto manufacture mint-water, whichthey will market as a herbal reme-dy for common stomach prob-lems. The project is also bringingin improved germplasm and newtechnologies for extracting mintwater and distilling mint oil.

So far, 15 improved varieties havebeen imported and established inthe project’s mint-germplasm col-lection center. Some of the rarervarieties were multiplied usingmicro-propagation techniques.Nine local mint varieties were alsocollected and identified.Researchers studied their oil con-tent and the chemical compositionof their oil using high-perform-ance liquid chromatography(HPLC) techniques.

New links developed

Through the RALF projects’ capac-ity-building activities, links havebeen built with Afghan universi-

H.E. Mohammed Sharif (second from left), Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Afghanistan,

along with Dr Randhir Singh (fourth from left) of Relief International, and senior scientists

from ICARDA Kabul Office, at a farmer’s mint field in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

The sale of bottled mint water, which is

used as a remedy for common stom-

ach problems, is rising in Afghanistan.

Medicinal and aromatic plants in Afghanistan



Afghanistan imports more than90% (over 180,000 tons) of the veg-etable oil it consumes each year.However, the country’s farmerscannot take advantage of this hugepotential market because they lackaccess to suitable oilseed cropvarieties and good quality seed.Overcoming these obstacles couldhelp farmers abandon poppyfarming in favor of oilseed cashcrops.

Researchers from the JointDevelopment AssociatesInternational (JDA), the Aga KhanFoundation, CIMMYT, andCornell University are thereforetesting oilseed crops in northernAfghanistan. This three-yearresearch project is managed byICARDA and funded by the UKDepartment for InternationalDevelopment.

Researchers have evaluated theperformance of new oilseed cropsas well as new varieties of theoilseed crops that some farmersare already growing. Crops testedinclude soybean, peanut, sun-flower, maize, and sesame, bothon-farm and at research stations.

Introducing soybean to

Afghanistan

Soybean can be used to producecooking oil and nutritious foods,as well as protein- and energy-richfeeds, which increase milk produc-

tion in cows and speed up growthin poultry. Growing soybean alsoadds nitrogen to the soil, which isimportant as many Afghan farm-ers cannot afford to buy fertilizer.

Soybean is a new crop inAfghanistan. It does have consid-

erable promise, however. In theshort term, for example, Afghanproducers could export soybean toUzbekistan, where there is greatdemand from poultry farms. Inthe longer term, strong marketsfor cooking oil and livestock andpoultry feed already exist withinAfghanistan. Market research bythe Aga Khan Foundation, forexample, has shown that Afghanconsumers prefer soybean oil butconsider it expensive.

Trials in 2005 have helpedresearchers identify which soy-bean varieties are suited to north-ern Afghanistan, with some vari-eties yielding as much as 2.5 t/hawhen planted following a wheatcrop. The yield from soybeanplanted earlier in the season couldbe even higher. The next step isfor researchers to select the bestvarieties from among those tested.Introduction of these varieties,

coupled with suitable methods ofcultivation, could encourage farm-ers to adopt soybean as a newcash crop. However, the yieldpotential under local farmingpractices is still unknown. Mostimportantly, planting needs to bemechanized in a simple, appropri-ate way, perhaps through theChinese 2-wheel tractor, whichJDA is testing. Planting soybeansby hand on a large enough area sothat it is profitable involves too

ties and MAAHF’s provincialresearch and extension teams.Several medicinal crop expertswere also brought together for theSymposium on Medicinal Plants

(held at MAAHF-Kabul inNovember 2005) and a week ofactivities in Kabul and Herat. Theprojects have also forged linkswith the Qarshi Herb Research

Centre, Pakistan, and the Forestryand Rangeland Institute andKhorasan Research Centre forTechnology Development, Iran.

Potential for oilseed crops in northern

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, soybean is a new crop with considerable promise.

75


much labor, thus reducing or elim-inating their profit potential. Insum, while soybeans have manyuses and could be of great benefitto Afghan farmers, more work isneeded to determine their profitpotential.

Assessing canola, safflower,

sesame, and flax

The project is also assessing differ-ent varieties of canola and saf-flower. Canola grows well innorthern Afghanistan when sownin the fall, and could grow welleven in dry areas if sown in thelate winter and early spring. It isa relatively easy crop to grow andthresh, and has a high content ofgood quality oil—up to 40% insome varieties.

Safflower is another promisingoilseed crop. Being extremelydrought-resistant it is well-adapt-ed to dryland cropping. Wheresoil temperature and moistureconditions are favorable, the rootsystem can penetrate as deep as 3 m. Safflower seed also has ahigh oil content—up to 41% insome varieties. Early results indi-

cate that safflower can be grownsuccessfully when planted as anearly spring crop. However, evenbetter results might be obtainedthrough planting as a fall crop,thus maximizing the use of win-ter rains in dryland areas.Researchers will start testing saf-flower varieties for northernAfghanistan in 2006.

In dryland areas, sesame, anotherdrought-resistant oilseed, is alsosometimes planted after winter

wheat. Sesame is the preferred oilfor making pulau, the national riceand meat dish. Although sesameoil is the most expensive on themarket, it tends to be in shortsupply. This means that sesamecould be a profitable crop. In2005, researchers evaluated theperformance of 45 sesame acces-sions (from the United States

Department of Agriculture) whengrown after a wheat crop. In 2006,they will conduct further trials onthose that performed well in 2005.

Researchers are also investigatingthe business opportunities andpotential export markets for flaxand sesame. Provided qualitystandards can be met, sesame andflax seed could be exported toNorth America. The simple massselection will continue in 2006,with another round of selectionon seed saved from 2005.

Capacity building

The project also aims to build theagricultural-research capacity ofnational institutions, such as theMAAHF, and the Balkh

Canola has a high content of good quality oil and grows well in northern Afghanistan

when sown in the fall.

Safflower is a drought-resistant crop with great potential in Afghanistan.

Oilseed crops in northern Afghanistan



Poor farmers raising small rumi-nants—sheep and goats—in theWest Asia and North Africa(WANA) region face major diffi-culties. Veterinary and extensionsupport services are scarce.

Preventive drugs and vaccinesare expensive. Furthermore, farm-ers have little knowledge of thediseases their animals suffer. As aresult, they have little interest ininspecting them or in reportinginfections. These factors, coupledwith poor information on mar-kets, inefficiency, and high pro-

duction and transaction costs,mean that they do not get goodprices for their animals or animalproducts.

In 2005, researchers at ILRI andICARDA investigated the difficul-ties poor farmers face in produc-ing and marketing small rumi-nants in Jordan, Syria, Sudan, andTunisia. They used participatoryapproaches to identify problemsalong the market chain—fromproducer to consumer.

Stakeholders in the market chainwere categorized into sevengroups: villages and communities;

households and flock owners;markets; traders; slaughter houses;quarantine facilities; and veteri-nary clinics. Trained data collec-tors then administered question-naires to the seven groups in eachof the four countries.

Inadequate veterinary services,too few veterinarians, lack ofdiagnostic facilities, lack of clini-cal equipment, and inadequatetraining for veterinarians werereported to be constraints in allfour countries. All countries alsoreported that lack of extension forfarmers—both for animal healthand marketing—was a limitation.Table 2 summarizes the con-straints identified for each coun-try. Research on these con-

University Faculty of Agriculture.Staff from these institutions haverarely had the opportunity togain hands-on research experi-ence or to work directly withfarmers. Lecturers and studentsfrom Balkh University therefore

took part in the testing of soy-bean, maize, canola, and flax. In2005, they evaluated 20 soybeanvarieties. JDA and other RALFpartners are exploring the poten-tial for organic production andcertification of flax and sesame to

meet demand in Europe. Sesameis already exported to Turkey, sothe market chain is already par-tially established. MAAHF staffalso attended field days andworkshops about oilseed cropsand conservation agriculture.

Improving animal health and market access

for poor livestock producers

Unhealthy animals brought to markets like this one in Sudan cannot be exported.

ICARDA and ILRI are therefore working to improve the health of small ruminants, so

that poor livestock producers can profit from valuable export markets.

Collecting information about animal-

health and marketing constraints in

Tunisia (Fahs district), as part of an

ICARDA–ILRI project that aims to raise

livestock producers’ incomes.

77


In the dry areas of the CWANAregion, population growth hasboosted demand for meat anddairy products, while urbaniza-tion has reduced the area avail-able for grazing. This has led to aboom in peri-urban and urbanmeat and milk production sys-tems. As a result, markets forirrigated and rainfed fodder areflourishing in most urban centersin the region. However, for farm-ers to benefit from this marketopportunity they need toimprove both the quantity andquality of fodder they produce.

Researchers at ICARDA and theLebanese Agricultural Research

Institute (LARI) therefore evalu-ated forage legumes andcereal–legume combinations thatcould give high yields of good-quality fodder. Such technologiesaim to help poor farmers maxi-mize their profits.

Identifying high-yielding

native alfalfas

Farmers throughout the regionalready grow alfalfa (Medicagosativa), as this legume is the mostprofitable fodder crop available.However, little is known aboutthe productivity of alfalfa linesnative to the region. Researcherstherefore compared the yield oftwo native alfalfa lines (54 and

597) from Syria with that of areleased cultivar from Europe. They found that the two nativealfalfas gave significantly higherdry matter yields than theEuropean cultivar at the second,third and fourth cuts after plant-ing (Fig. 1).

Although the dry matter yield ofthe native alfalfas declined by22% for line 54, and 23% for line597 from the first to the fourthcut after planting, the yield of theEuropean alfalfa declined muchmore—by 35%. The overall yieldof the native alfalfas over severalcuts was therefore higher thanthat of the European alfalfa.

On average across the four cuts,the more productive of the two

straints—and ways to overcomethem—will continue in 2006.

Researchers also found that theprivate sector provides most vet-

erinary services in all four coun-tries. Jordan has 288 private vet-erinarians compared with 35 inthe public sector. Similarly, mostveterinary drug stores are pri-

vately owned. This was the casefor all 75 stores surveyed inJordan and all 24 surveyed inSudan.

New fodder technologies to generate income

Country Animal health-related constraints Marketing constraints

Jordan

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia

1. High neonatal mortality2. Little diagnostic capacity or disease surveillance

among veterinarians and farmers3. Inadequate extension for farmers

1. Diseases: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), sheeppox, and heartwater

2. Inadequate services due to lack of staff training3. Inadequate extension for farmers

1. Diseases: enterotoxaemia, pneumonia2. Abortion3. Lack of fodder4. Lack of extension

1. Lack of disease and health education for farmers2. Low vaccination rate among poor producers com-

pared with national average3. Absence of regular veterinary services and control

and sanitary procedures

1. Weak extension2. Lack of marketing facilities3. Marketing regulations not enforced

1. High cost of production2. Lack of a marketing authority3. Regulations concerning standards not enforced

1. Few markets2. High cost of production3. Large distance to markets

1. Lack of information on marketing channels2. Lack of quality-grading system for animals

destined for market 3. No standardization of taxes: many levies exist

which inflate animal prices

Table 2. Animal health and marketing constraints in Jordan, Syria, Sudan, and Tunisia.

New fodder technologies



native alfalfas, line 54, yielded15% more dry matter than theEuropean alfalfa.

It therefore has good potentialfor market-oriented hay produc-tion.

Evaluating improved vetches

Recently introduced fodder pro-duction systems based on vetches(Vicia spp.) in combination withbarley (Hordeum vulgare) and oats(Avena sativa) are also popularwith farmers. However, most ofthe vetch cultivars used gavepoor yields.

To find higher yielding options,researchers from ICARDA andLARI evaluated the performanceof improved lines of commonvetch (V. sativa) and narbon vetch(V. narbonensis) in conjunction withcereals. They found that commonvetch produced more dry matterthan narbon vetch (Fig. 2) in com-bination with barley or oats.

Growing high-yielding alfalfa, andimproved lines of common vetchin combination with cereals, couldtherefore help farmers producemore forage and benefit from thegrowing market for fodder.

Fig. 1. Dry matter yield of two native alfalfa lines (54 and 597) and a European

cultivar (control) at Terbol, Lebanon, in 2005.

ICARDA researchers are improving fodder-crop yields to satisfy the growing

demand for feed from peri-urban milk and meat production systems like this one.

Fig. 2. Dry matter yield of improved

narbon vetch and common vetch

lines in combination with oats and

barley at Kfardan, Lebanon, in 2005.

79


Cropping system/treatment Grain yield (kg/ha) Increase in grain yield Total biomass (kg/ha)compared with control (%)

Average (SD) Average Average (SD)Continuous barleyControl (no treatment) 925 (655) na 1825 (1390)P2O5 (50 kg/ha) 1310 (700) 42 2940 (1735)Phosphogypsum (20 t/ha) 1265 (755) 37 2435 (1620)Phosphogypsum (40 t/ha) 1375 (825) 49 2790 (1935)

Barley-fallowControl 1255 (775) na 2470 (1755)Phosphogypsum (20 t/ha) 1820 (1125) 45 3630 (2360)Phosphogypsum (40 t/ha) 1940 (1115) 55 3920 (2360)

na: not applicable; SD = standard deviation

Table 3. Effects of phosphogypsum on barley yields in continuous-barley and barley-fallow cropping systems, Khanasser Valley,

Syria. Figures are mean over four years, 2001/02 to 2004/05.

Phosphogypsum is a by-productof phosphorus fertilizer produc-tion which is available in largequantities in Syria and can beused as a soil conditioner.Working in the Khanasser Valley,researchers and farmers togetherdesigned a study to assesswhether phosphogypsumimproved the physical and chem-ical characteristics of soils in con-tinuous barley cropping systemsand barley–fallow rotations overfour years (2001/02 to 2004/05).

The study assessed the effect onbarley yields of one application ofphosphogypsum (at differentdoses), at sowing of the first sea-son only. A control (no phospho-gypsum) was used for compari-son. It also compared the effectsof these different phosphogyp-sum treatments with the effect ofapplying phosphorus fertilizer(P2O5) every year. Researchersalso analyzed the costs and bene-fits of using phosphogypsum andphosphorus fertilizer.

Effects of phosphogypsum on

yields

In continuous barley systems,average grain yields over the

four-year period in the two phos-phogypsum treatments were 37%and 49% higher than in the con-trol (Table 3). In barley-fallow

rotations, average grain yields inthe phosphogypsum treatmentswere 45% and 55% higher thanthe control over the same period(Table 3).

Importantly, although phospho-gypsum was only applied onceduring the 4-year period, this sin-gle treatment raised yields overall four years. In the continuous

barley cropping system, for exam-ple, treatments with 20 t/ha and40 t/ha phosphogypsum yielded48% and 67% more grain, respec-tively, than the control in the firstyear, and 42% and 63% more inthe fourth year. The barley–fallowrotation showed a similar trend of

raised yields over the four-yearperiod.

Comparing phosphogypsum

and P fertilizer

Researchers also investigated theeffect of applying P fertilizer everyyear in the continuous barleycropping system. In the first year,barley yields in plots treated withphosphogypsum were far higher

Phosphogypsum: a soil conditioner for

improving barley yields

In barley-fallow rotations, average grain yields of barley fields treated with phospho-

gypsum were much higher than those not treated.

Phosphogypsum as a soil conditioner



than in the plots treated with Pfertilizer (40% more total biomassand 36% more grain). However,yields in the phosphogypsumplots decreased over time. By thefourth year, biomass yields were3% less in the plots treated withphosphogypsum than in the plotstreated with P fertilizer, and grainyields were 1.5% less.

Importantly, however, eventhough annual applications of Pfertilizer may give slightly higheryields over a four-year periodthan one application of phospho-gypsum, the cost of applying Pfertilizer each year is beyond themeans of many farmers. Butfarmers can afford to apply phos-phogypsum once every fouryears. This would raise yieldsalmost as much as annual appli-cations of P fertilizer and costmuch less.

Researchers found that, as well asfertilizing the soil, phosphogyp-sum also improves its physicalcondition—which is particularlygood for early crop growth. Inaddition, soil moisture (at adepth of 0-60 cm) increased from20% to 22%. This makes phospho-gypsum use valuable during theflowering and grain-fillingstages—particularly in dry sea-sons such as 2001/02. By con-trast, applying P fertilizer had noeffect on soil moisture comparedwith the control.

Assessing the costs, risks, and

benefits

The cost of transporting phospho-gypsum is 500 Syrian Pounds(about US$10) per ton. A partialcost–benefit analysis, takingtransport costs into account,showed that farmers would not

benefit from using phosphogyp-sum in the first year. But, theywould benefit in years 2 to 4. Bycontrast, farmers would gain lit-tle—or even lose, depending onthe rainfall in a particular sea-son—from applying P fertilizereach year.

Another issue is safety— phospho-gypsum is slightly radioactive.During the trials, however,researchers found that its usehardly raised radiation levels inthe upper soil profile.Furthermore, radiation levels inbarley straw and grain did notseem to be affected at all—theywere below the detectable limit(about 2 Bq/kg of dry matter).

Based on the higher yields, andthe fact that the study showedthat there is no danger from high-er radiation in crops treated withphosphogypsum, the Ministry ofAgriculture, the Atomic EnergyCommission of Syria, and ICAR-DA are now looking at ways ofencouraging farmers to use phos-phogypsum as a fertilizer and soilconditioner.

Assessing farmers’ views on

phosphogypsum use

ICARDA conducted a participa-tory technology evaluation toassess farmers’ perceptions of theimpact of phosphogypsum onbarley crops. They also identifiedtechnical, economic and otherrelated problems that the farmersfaced during the trials.

Farmers rated phosphogypsumas very effective for raising bar-ley yields under both continuousbarley cropping and barley–fal-low rotations. They observed thatthe soil moisture levels in the top

20 cm of the soil profile werehigher in the 40 t/ha phospho-gypsum treatment than theywere in both the 20 t/ha and theno phosphogypsum treatments.This, they believed, was one ofthe reasons why phosphogypsumuse, as well as P fertilizer treat-ments, gave higher yields.

All the farmers surveyed wereinterested in using phosphogyp-sum provided transport costs wereno more than 100 Syrian Pounds(SP)/t. Most farmers (77%) wouldapply just 20 t/ha if they had tobear the cost themselves, and only23% would apply 40 t/ha.However, they would all apply 40t/ha if they did not have to pay.

By chance, the application of 10t/ha of manure on a farmer’sfield next to one of the experi-mental fields allowed researchersto compare the effects of manureversus phosphogypsum. Themanure happened to be appliedat the same time as phosphogyp-sum was applied on the experi-mental field. After three years,the field treated with manurewas indistinguishable from thefield treated with phosphogyp-sum. This means that phospho-gypsum compares favorably withmanure in raising barley yields.However, only a few farmers(18%) applied manure because itis expensive (7,000-10,000 SP/ha).

Overall, phosphogypsum raisesyields, but costs less than P fertil-izer or manure and needs to beapplied only once every fouryears. Farmers have thereforeproposed that policymakersshould find solutions to the highcost of transporting supplies totheir farms.

81


Benefits of conservation tillage

in different farming systems

In Central Asia and the Caucasus(CAC), decades of intensiveplowing have depleted soilorganic matter. This has increasedsoil erosion, and reduced thesoil’s fertility and its ability tohold water. ICARDA and itsnational research partners havetherefore been studying conserva-tion tillage, in order to identifypractices that reduce soil distur-bance and thus maintain fertilityand boost yields.

This research has shown that con-servation tillage can feasibly beused in spring wheat croppingsystems without reducing grainyields. In fact, farmers in northernKazakhstan are now using con-servation tillage methods onaround 100,000 ha of springwheat. Research has, however,shown that conservation tillage isless suitable in areas with heavysoils, as these need to be brokenup by deep tillage. The same istrue in areas where the soilremains frozen in early spring, asmelt-water from snow simplyruns off untilled frozen soils.

In rainfed winter wheat croppingsystems, a trial conducted from2002 to 2005 showed that conser-vation tillage using V-typesweeps (which cut the soil with-out turning it over) producedsimilar grain yields to conven-tional moldboard plowing to thesame depth. Another technique,tested over a four-year period inthe Krasniy Vodopad area (south-ern Kazakhstan), involved tillingthe ground only at sowing.

Researchers found, however, thatthis did reduce grain yieldsslightly in comparison with deeptillage (using either a sweep ormoldboard plow). The reductionswere due to soil compaction,greater competition from weeds,and the fact that less nitrate wasavailable in the soil. Despite theselimitations, however, this systemis being adopted by some farmersin southern Kazakhstan because itsaves fuel and labor.

In irrigated cotton–wheat sys-tems, ICARDA studies conductedbetween 2001 and 2002 showedthat broadcasting wheat seed intostanding cotton and then incorpo-rating it into the soil with cultiva-tors also saves fuel and laborwithout affecting wheat yieldssignificantly. This minimumtillage practice is now being usedon 50-60% of the area sown towheat in Uzbekistan andTajikistan and on 20% of suchareas in Turkmenistan.

During 2004 and 2005, researchersalso conducted trials of irrigatedwinter wheat planted in raisedbeds on farms in Azerbaijan andsouthern Kazakhstan. The tech-nique increased yields to someextent, and also provided majorsavings on seeds (50%) and water(30%). Raised beds could be adopt-ed over a larger area if the plantingequipment needed could be manu-factured in Kazakhstan. ICARDAis therefore helping to establish ajoint venture between Indian andKazakh manufacturers.

ICARDA has also been testing no-till planting machines manufac-tured in India and Brazil inKazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and

Locally made no-tillage direct drill equipment for grain crops in northern

Kazakhstan.

Maintaining soil fertility and sustaining

production in CAC

Conservation tillage applied in north-

ern Kazakhstan, leaving the residues

on the soil surface.

Maintaining soil fertility in CAC



Tajikistan. These machines couldbe used for planting winter wheatand cotton, both separately and indouble-cropping systems. InUzbekistan, researchers have alsoobtained promising results whentesting newly-designed equipmentfor conservation tillage in cottonfields and wheat stubble.

Diversifying cropping systems

Avoiding monocropping anddiversifying the range of cropsfarmers grow also helps to main-tain soil fertility and is importantfor sustainable production.ICARDA’s work in both irrigatedand rainfed farming systems inCAC countries is helping to intro-duce the new crops needed.

Spring wheat cropping systemsusually involve a rotation of wheatwith barley, followed by a summerfallow once every three to fiveyears. ICARDA researchers havedevised a new system in which thesummer fallow is replaced by small-grain crops (like oat, millet, andbuckwheat), food legumes (dry pea,chickpea, and lentil) and oilseeds(sunflower, rapeseed, and mustard).

The Center has also shown thathigh-input systems can significant-ly increase the yields of the cropsintroduced to replace the summerfallow. For example, chickpeagrown in rainfed areas with a high-input technology package yieldedalmost three times as much aschickpea grown under a low-inputregime (Table 4). The high-inputtechnologies included intensive

snow-management practices, effi-cient weed control and the applica-tion of both phosphorus and nitro-gen fertilizers. The medium-inputtreatment reflected the culturalpractices commonly used in thearea, while the low-input treatmentsimply involved seedbed prepara-tion before sowing.

However, farmers are reluctant todiversify into food legumes fortwo reasons. First, markets forthese crops are not yet well devel-oped. Second, they know littleabout the new crops, as they areused to growing only springwheat. Policies that promote thedevelopment of internal and exter-nal markets for these crops couldencourage farmers to grow them.Sunflower is one example of acrop that farmers are adoptingbecause demand is strong, provid-ing a ready market and a good

price. Government policy can helpto boost production of these newcrops. For example, from 2006 to2008, Kazakhstan’s governmentwill provide subsidies to produc-ers and processors to promotelarge-scale rapeseed production.

In rainfed winter wheat croppingsystems, safflower, anotheroilseed crop, has proved to be avery good cash crop and isreplacing wheat over a significantarea in southern Kazakhstan.Safflower is also being adoptedin dryland areas of Uzbekistan,as far as government policies per-mit. In long-term trials led byICARDA in rainfed areas ofsouthern Kazakhstan, introduc-ing alfalfa improved the produc-tivity, efficiency, and sustainabili-ty of farming systems. However,shortages of seed and of themachinery needed for seed pro-cessing are preventing farmersfrom adopting alfalfa.

In irrigated winter wheat croppingsystems, ICARDA has found thatsoybean and common bean are themost promising alternative crops.

Technology Chickpea grain yield (t/ha)2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Mean

Low input 0.55 1.04 1.05 0.22 0.46 0.66Medium input 0.97 1.28 1.31 1.01 1.14 1.14High input 1.70 1.98 1.57 2.31 1.64 1.84

Table 4. Chickpea grain yield (t/ha) under high-, medium- and low-input systems at

Shortandy, Kazakhstan, 2001-2005.

Different crop options for replacing monocropping systems for diversification in

Central Asia and the Caucasus.

83Genetic relationships among date palm varieties


Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) wasone of the first fruit trees ever to becultivated. It is commerciallyimportant, mainly in the MiddleEast and North Africa—where it isalso valued for its social and reli-gious significance. Until 1991, Iraqwas the leading producer of datesand had the world’s largest date‘forest’, on the Fao Peninsula.However, many date palms weredestroyed during the Gulf andIran–Iraq wars. More were lostwhen the southern marshes weredrained. These losses threaten toerode date palm’s genetic diversity.

Little research has been done tocharacterize date palm germplasm.Such characterization is important,however, to identify varieties,breed improved cultivars, and con-serve genetic diversity.

Growing genetically diverse vari-eties helps to minimize the effectsof biotic stresses, as some varietiesare more tolerant than others.Diversity among parents also cre-ates progenies with genetic varia-tions that can be used for furtherselection and molecular mapping.ICARDA is therefore working todevelop molecular markers to help

characterize date palm varieties.Researchers extracted DNA from

the young leaves of 18 referencevarieties collected from theMinistry of Agriculture farm at Al-Latifia, Iraq. They then used ampli-fied fragment length polymor-phism (AFLP) markers (Fig. 3) to

Indeed, in Kazakhstan the areacropped to soybean increasedmore than eight-fold (from 5,000ha to 43,000 ha) between 2003 and2005 as market conditionsimproved. This trend is likely tocontinue because Kazakhstan’sgovernment has decided to pro-mote soybean production in 2006.Likewise, in Kyrgyzstan, the areasof both soybean and commonbean are increasing.

In irrigated cotton–wheat systems,the best way to introduce alterna-tive crops is to plant them straightafter the harvest of winter wheat(the main crop), on land that wouldotherwise be left fallow until cottonis planted the following year. InUzbekistan, Kazakhstan, andKyrgyzstan, ICARDA has shownthat growing food legumes (likemung bean, soybean, commonbean, and groundnut) and other

new crops (maize, sesame, andmelon) can provide additionalincome for cotton–wheat farmers.These crops also improve the sus-tainability of cotton–wheat systems.However, most CAC governmentsdo not promote double croppingbecause an additional crop com-petes with cotton for water.Turkmenistan is the only countrythat promotes double cropping,that of sugar beet with rice.

Assessing genetic relationships among Iraq’s

date palm varieties

Fig. 3. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) banding patterns of 18 date

palm varieties from Iraq using primer combinations P74/M95 and P101/M95. Numbers

on the right indicate the fragment size of molecular weight markers (lane M) in base

pairs (bp). Lanes 1-18 show the banding patterns of the varieties Barhi, Um Al-Dihen,

Usta Umran, Maktom, Guntar, Khestawi, Zahdi, Sakri, Khedrawi, Chipchab, Ashrasi,

Jamal Al-Dean, Shwethi Asfar, Zuber, Bint Al-Suda, Bream, See Sandali, and Tebarzal,

respectively. To test reproducibility, the AFLP analyses of the Um Al-Dihen (#2) and

Usta Umran (#3) varieties were repeated and samples were loaded side by side.



characterize the varieties and esti-mate their genetic relationships.

The study identified 122 polymor-phic AFLP loci, with an averageof 17.4 polymorphic loci perprimer combination. All varietiescould be uniquely identifiedusing any one of four primercombinations:

P101(aacg)/M95(aaaa),P74(ggt)/M95(aaaa),P73(ggg)/M95(aaaa), andP100(aacc)/M95(aaaa).

Values for Jaccard’s genetic simi-larity index ranged from 0.108 to0.756, indicating moderate todiverse genetic relationshipsbetween the varieties (Fig. 4).

Most of the recessive AFLP lociin Chipchab were fixed, whereasin Jamal Al-Dean most of the lociwere heterozygous. In the other16 varieties, the loci were inbetween fixed and heterozygous.Based on unweighted pair groupmethod analysis (UPGMA) at27% similarity, the varieties werethen sorted into two groups: onecontaining 7 varieties and the

other 11 varieties. This meansthat molecular markers can beused to effectively identify date

palm varieties and their geneticrelationships.

Fig. 4. Relationships between 18 date palm varieties from Iraq as indicated by

Jaccard’s genetic similarity index. The values on the branches are the bootstrap

probabilities.

In much of the Arabian Peninsula,traditional agriculture is simplynot viable. Given the harsh weath-er conditions, acute scarcity ofwater and lack of good arableland, crops are likely to fail in most

years. One alternative is to pro-duce high-quality cash crops usingsoilless culture or hydroponics –the focus of a collaborative projectby ICARDA and the NARS ofseven countries in the Peninsula.

The project is studying differenthydroponics systems at researchcenters in Oman, Saudi Arabia,Bahrain and Kuwait, in order toidentify the best options (whichcrop, what management tech-nique) for each region.

Growing crops without soil

Hydroponic strawberry production at Rumais Research Station in Oman.

85


The natural resource base inYemen – already fragile – is fur-ther threatened by over-exploita-tion. ICARDA is working withthe national research and exten-sion services and other partnersto help develop and promotemore sustainable technologies.

Water management

One key area is water. The gov-ernment has built several damsand water reservoirs to harvestand distribute water for irriga-tion. But in the absence of an irri-gation network, the benefits arerestricted to farmers living verynear a reservoir. In addition,these farmers use inefficient sur-face irrigation methods, furtherdepriving other users. ICARDA

and the Agricultural Researchand Extension Authority (AREA)are jointly conducting on-farmresearch and demonstrations atthe Mikhtan Dam site, under theproject “Sustainable managementof natural resources and improve-ment of major production sys-tems of the Arabian Peninsula”.

The project aims to improvewater-use efficiency by introduc-ing two new technologies: mod-ern irrigation techniques (bub-blers) to irrigate grape vines, andintensive protected agriculturesystems for high-quality cashcrops. Scarce water will be judi-ciously used, combined withIntegrated Production andProtection Management (IPPM)

practices, to maximize yield perunit of resources (land, water,etc.) used. The new technologiesare being simultaneously testedand demonstrated at a green-house (54m x 9m) in Sana’a,Yemen, where cucumbers areproduced under drip irrigation,using IPPM. The technologies arealso being scaled out to pilotfarmers. Preliminary results showthat IPPM has significantlyincreased returns and reducedpesticide use; irrigation efficiencyhas been as high as 93%.

Researchers compared the eco-nomics of greenhouse cucumbersproduced with and withoutIPPM. Water-use efficiency (pro-duction per cubic meter of water)and yield (production per unitarea) were substantially higherwith IPPM. For example, water-

Hydroponics allows growers totightly control the environment,and schedule their harvests pre-cisely, thus improving yield,quality and price. Best-betoptions identified at researchcenters are now being transferredto pilot growers for further on-farm studies. Growers havefound that, as on research sta-

tions, hydroponics results in highwater-use efficiency, large sav-ings in fertilizers and water,increased production per unitarea, better quality produce, ear-lier-maturing and more uniformplants, compared to productionon soil. It also eliminates theneed for costly operations such assterilization, seed-bed prepara-

tion and weed control.The vertical soilless productiontechnique for strawberry, whichincreases production, reduces costand saves water, has been studiedfor four years in Oman andKuwait. A study in Kuwaitshowed that hydroponics cut pro-duction costs by 60% compared tosoilbed cultivation.

Producing high quality cucumber using hydroponics at a private farm in Oman.

Introducing protected agriculture in Yemen

Natural resource management in Yemen



use efficiency was 32.5 and 30.6kg/m3 in two IPPM greenhousesat two locations, versus 21.8 and12.1 kg/m3 in the “control” green-houses at the same locations.Similarly, IPPM resulted in 18%higher total yield and better pestmanagement. At one location, theIPPM greenhouse was free ofinsects while the control green-house was severely infested withwhite fly and thrips. At the otherlocation, effective controlrequired six sprays in the IPPMgreenhouse compared to 18sprays in the control. On average,the return on investment was157% with IPPM and 112% with-out it.

Mountain terraces in Yemen

The rainfed terraces of Yemen –where much of the country’s foodis produced – are trapped in a

vicious cycle. Agriculture offerspoor returns, so people (especial-ly men) leave the rural areas tofind work elsewhere. This meansless maintenance and more degra-dation of the terraces… and lowerreturns and still more migration.Attempts to encourage farmers toremain on the land have onlybeen successful where irrigationwater is available and cultivationof cash crops is possible.

ICARDA is leading a 2-year proj-ect funded by the French-YemenFood Aid Program, which aims tointroduce protected agriculturetechnology for the production ofcash crops (mainly cucumber andtomtao) in the mountainous Taizregion. The project will installsimple greenhouse structures atselected pilot sites, to producehigh-value cash crops. This will

increase the incomes of poorhouseholds, improving their abili-ty to maintain the terraces andreduce degradation. It will alsoenable farmers to use limitedwater resources more efficiently.The project is based on activecommunity involvement. Farmerswill participate at all stages. Theproject will provide appropriatetechnical information and train-ing; at the end of the project theparticipating farmers will serve askey agents for dissemination.

The pilot phase began with 17farmers in three areas. Thesefarmers were trained, their socio-economic profiles were carefullystudied, and the greenhousestructures installed (farmers par-ticipated in the insulation andassembly, gaining additional on-the-job training), ready for plant-ing.

Training is a key project element.Using the training-the-trainersapproach, ICARDA staff and con-sultants trained extensionists,agricultural engineers and techni-cians on greenhouse installationand preparation for producingcash crops. On-the-job trainingwas conducted for farmers; andfive training manuals in Arabicwere developed, covering green-house installation, nursery man-agement, irrigation and fertiga-tion, soil preparation, and IPPM.

Water from the Mikhtan Dam in Yemen is being used more efficiently, increasing

output and farmers’ incomes while conserving scarce resources under protected

agriculture.

Small-scale farmers can substan-tially improve their incomes bydiversifying into horticulture; forexample, growing vegetables forsale. But horticulture is not prof-

itable without irrigation – andfew farmers in the dry areas ofAfghanistan have reliable accessto irrigation. With funding fromUSAID, ICARDA and its partners

are helping to promote “protect-ed agriculture” technologies,enabling farmers to profitablygrow vegetables even in dry rain-fed areas. Protected agricultureallows high-intensity (but afford-able and sustainable) productionof cash crops on marginal or oth-

Introducing protected agriculture in Afghanistan

87


erwise non-productive land. Itcan generate returns high enoughto compete with Afghanistan’smain cash crop, the opiumpoppy.

The project operates at pilot sitesin six provinces: Kabul, Kunduz,Parwan, Ghazni, Helmand andNangarhar. At each site, pilotfarmers were selected after dis-cussions with the community. ByApril 2005, 35 greenhouses (size270 m2) were installed, and everypilot farmer had received pro-duction materials, fertilizer,seeds, and extensive training ongreenhouse management andcrop handling. During the grow-ing season, the project conducteda series of workshops and FarmerField Schools, where the pilotgrowers worked with extensionagents and project staff to masterthe new technology. The green-houses are being fully utilized,mainly for growing cucumber,tomato, lettuce and peppers; proj-ect staff visit regularly to monitorprogress and provide advice.

The focus of training and capacitybuilding activities is the ProtectedAgriculture Center in Kabul. Itwas established by the project in2005 for research, training,demonstrations, and provision oftechnical support and advisoryservices. The Center has trainedover 350 people (growers, exten-sion agents, NGO personnel andothers) on different aspects ofprotected agriculture. Ten otherswere trained in Oman and Egypt,

where protectedagriculture facili-ties and expertiseare moreadvanced. This isthe first time thata project has sentAfghan growersoverseas fortraining.

The project hasalso produced aseries of manualsin the local lan-guage, coveringsubjects such asgreenhouseinstallation, climate control, dripirrigation, crop nutrient/manage-ment requirements, fertigation,crop nurseries, and vegetable pro-duction methods. The demonstra-tion greenhouse at the Center hasproved highly effective in gener-ating farmer interest and promot-ing adoption. The first harvest(1.7 tons of cucumbers) took only75 days, and was sold forUS$1280.

Sustainability and expansion ofthe project will depend mainly onthe cost of setting up the green-houses, which are currentlyimported. The project establisheda workshop to manufacture sin-gle-span greenhouse structureslocally, to cut costs. We are nowable to build good quality struc-tures, 40% cheaper than theimported structure, using mainlylocal technicians and locally pur-chased material.

An economic analysis comparedcucumber production in green-houses versus open fields.Greenhouse production givesfour times the output and fivetimes the net income per unit ofland, compared to field produc-tion. Equally important, it givesnine times the net return per unitof water.

During a mid-season workshopin July 2005, growers were confi-dent the new technology wouldwork, and positive about thefuture. Mohamed Qasim, a grow-er from Helmand, said: “Withopium, we can produce one cropper year and it requires lots oflabor. But we can produce 2-3crops of cucumber from a plastichouse on a small piece of landwith less labor and more income.I think if you give farmers a plas-tic house they will stop growingopium.”

Afghan growers receiving hands-on training on crop handling

and greenhouse management

Protected agriculture in Afghanistan


Research and development workoften neglects dry marginal envi-ronments. Because of low anderratic rainfall, infertile soils, lim-ited groundwater, and landdegradation, these areas con-tribute only small amounts tonational production. As a result,they recieve less agriculturalinvestment from governments forstrategic crops and farming tech-nologies.

Rural households in dry marginalareas are also poorly served bysocial services and basic infra-structure. Many depend onwages from unreliable off-farmemployment. As they have fewcapital assets, they are alsoregarded as high-risk borrowers.As a result, when they need loansthey are forced to pay excessiveinterest to local money lenders.

Classifying rural livelihoods in

Khanasser Valley, Syria

To help identify technologies andinstitutional and policy options thatcould help people living in dry

marginal areas, researchers con-ducted a rural livelihoods study ofhouseholds in the KhanasserValley, Syria. This integrated studyused qualitative and quantitativesurveys, rapid appraisal inter-views, and wealth-ranking exercis-es based on local people’s assetsand perceptions.

Mega-Project 5

Poverty and Livelihood Analysis and Impact

Assessment in Dry Areas

hood strategies) in relation to agriculture and the

environment, and studying patterns of adoption

and the impact of improved varieties and natural

resources management practices. Another impor-

tant dimension is understanding the structure, con-

duct and performance of domestic markets for

agricultural commodities across different countries

to evaluate the implications of market imperfec-

tions for small farmers. Efforts are directed toward

the involvement and active participation of end-

users in development, testing and verification of

new technologies, so that relevance and adoption

by individuals, communities and institutions of new

options and pathways is maximized. Frameworks

and methodologies for participatory and commu-

nity-based research are being developed and

implemented in partnership with NARS to enhance

the impact on rural livelihoods.

Poverty, in its broadest sense (income, water,

educational opportunity, gender equity, and vul-

nerability) is widespread in the dry areas, particu-

larly in the CWANA region. A deeper understand-

ing of the determinants of poverty, and of the

livelihood strategies adopted by rural communi-

ties, is necessary to continually refine the target-

ing of ICARDA’s research, enhance and track its

impact, and identify pathways out of poverty.

Mega-Project 5 seeks to contribute to the identifi-

cation of research pathways to implement tech-

nological, institutional, and policy options to

reduce rural poverty in the dry areas globally. This

is being done through, among other approach-

es, improved characterization of the rural poor

(assets, context, depth and duration of poverty,

vulnerability, basic needs, and choice of liveli-

Introduction

Characterizing rural livelihoods: targeting

research to reduce poverty in marginal areas

Livelihood surveys help understand the context of rural poverty in marginal dryland

areas.

To better understand the differentdimensions of poverty in the area,researchers collected informationon five categories of householdresources. These resources were‘natural’ (land, water); ‘physical’(farm equipment, livestock); ‘finan-cial’ (cash, use of micro-financeand loans); ‘human’ (labor, level ofeducation, migration); and ‘social’(organizations, associations andconnections to migration options).

Researchers then classified house-holds into three types, based ontheir resources and their mainlivelihood strategies. The house-hold types identified were (1) agri-culturists who integrate crop pro-duction with fattening lambs andalso work for wages; (2) wage-laborers, who own little or no land,mostly rely on off-farm earnings

and migrate for employment; and(3) pastoralists who rely on exten-sive herding, occasionally fattenlambs intensively, and alsomigrate for employment. Each ofthese three groups has two sub-groups (Table 1).

Researchers found that per capitadisposable incomes in the studyarea were below US$2/day, whilethose of wage-laborers (50% ofhouseholds) were less thanUS$1/day. The poorest house-holds—those with lowest per capi-ta income and few assets—werethe wage-laborers who farmed alittle land, the wage-laborers whoworked as herders, and the pas-toralists with no additional incomefrom employment. These shouldbe considered the poorest of thepoor.

How different household types

would benefit from agricultural

research

In general, the study found thatwage-laborers rely on farming to avery small extent, and that peoplein this category were most likelyto give up farming for other occu-pations. Researchers also foundthat about 30% of households inthe study area (mainly wage-laborers with no agriculturalassets) would benefit little fromagricultural research, althoughthey might benefit from thespillover effects of such research.

This means that agriculturalresearch centers may not play adirect role in alleviating poverty inthese groups. However, they arewell-placed to identify and pro-mote other options for improving

Capital Wage-laborers Agriculturists PastoralistsWith Herders Without With With Little or nofarming off-farm off-farm off-farm off-farm

labor labor labor labor

Social, human People Average persons 9.17 6.64 6.75 11.29 10.43 11.00/household

Educated % males 68 66 88 63 61 32males

Educated % females 46 28 11 30 15 33females

Members % households 25 9 50 52 57 80of associations with membership

Migrant members % households 75 73 0 62 43 0with migrants

Natural, physical Land owned Total (ha) 6.83 3.73 7.55 11.30 0 0or used

Well owners % of total households 58 9 25 71 71 40owning wells

Sheep Head 4.2 3.7 91.8 62 79.3 41

Financial Average credit use US$/year/ 490 310 810 415 1420 1280household

Per capita income US$/day1 0.82 0.48 1.72 1.30 1.43 1.15

Main livelihood - Crop production % income 9 5 23 9 0 0activities - Livestock 7 19 29 13 82 76

- Sheep fattening 0 0 48 50 3 15- Off-farm labor 84 76 0 28 15 9

1 Based on an exchange rate of SP51=US$1 (2002).

Table 1. Household typologies in the Khanasser Valley, Syria.

89Characterizing rural livelihoods in Syria


Poverty and Livelihood Analysis and Impact Assessment90


these people’s livelihoods. Waysforward include promoting initia-tives to develop skills, create jobsin non-farm sectors, and improveaccess to capital through micro-finance schemes. Pastoralists couldalso benefit from research anddevelopment that considers theirnomadic existence, as they rely onextensive herding in remotesteppes where there are fewopportunities for off-farm work.

Agriculturist households were rel-atively better off, as they had suffi-cient land and labor to make a liv-ing mainly from farming. Theywere, however, still poor. Thisgroup would benefit both directlyand indirectly from agriculturalresearch. They are, for example,more likely to adopt new crop andlivestock production technologiesbecause (1) they have access towater and land, (2) they are bettereducated, and (3) they have morehousehold members who arewage earners. These householdsaccount for about 45% of those inthe Khanasser study area, and arethe most likely to be able to usetheir resources to improve theirlivelihoods.

Wage-laborers who farm less than4 ha (about 25% of households)were placed in between the poor-est and the relatively better-offhouseholds. They have enoughland to be able to increase theiragricultural income if they couldfarm more intensively, and could

benefit directly from new tech-nologies to improve crop and live-stock production. They could takeadvantage of both direct and indi-rect opportunities to improve theirlivelihoods without leaving farm-ing. Agricultural research can andshould target these households.

Several technologies show poten-tial impact in the dry marginalareas. These include feed optionssuch as production of vetch forlamb fattening and dairy flocks,intercropping of Atriplex shrubswith barley, improved barley andwheat varieties, water harvestingtechniques for production of oliveson hillslopes, and modern irriga-tion practices for small-scale veg-etable production. Institutionalinnovations such as micro-financecan help the poorest households

participate in the more profitableenterprises of sheep production.

Rural households in dry marginalenvironments are not homoge-neous. They have a variety ofassets and capabilities. Thehousehold typologies and liveli-hood strategies identified in thisstudy will help ICARDA focus onthe research that will be most use-ful in lifting rural households outof poverty.

This study has shown howresearch for development can reachthe dry marginal areas; and provid-ed evidence of the diverse potentialimpacts on different householdtypes depending on their assetbase. The findings, as well as theapproach used, will be relevant inother dry marginal areas.

Participants at a workshop on rural livelihood analysis at ICARDA.

Since 1999, ICARDA has beencoordinating a five-year GlobalEnvironment Facility (GEF) fund-ed project to promote in situ con-

servation of dryland agrobiodiver-sity and its sustainable use. Theproject, which ended in 2005, wasimplemented in Jordan, Lebanon,

Palestine, and Syria. It focused onconserving landraces and the wildrelatives of barley, wheat, lentil,alliums, feed legumes (Lathyrus,Medicago, Trifolium, and Viciaspecies), and fruit trees (olive, fig,almond, pistachio, plum, peach,pear, and apple).

Agrobiodiversity conservation and use:

assessing impacts

91Agrobiodiversity conservation and use


Nationally, project activities wereimplemented by different researchinstitutes in each of the countriesinvolved: the National Center forAgricultural Research andTechnology Transfer (NCARTT) inJordan, the Lebanese AgriculturalResearch Institute (LARI) inLebanon, the General Commissionfor Scientific and AgriculturalResearch (GCSAR) in Syria, andthe Ministry of Agriculture inPalestine. Farmers and herderswere fully involved throughoutthe project.

The project has increased aware-ness of the need to conserve agro-biodiversity at all levels. This hasled tourism and education min-istries to collaborate with relevantprojects and non-governmentalorganizations. It has also prompt-ed research institutions in Jordan,Lebanon, and Syria to implementtheir own agrobiodiversity pro-grams, and has resulted inJordan’s Forestry Department andthe Palestinian Authority’sMinistry of Agriculture setting upagrobiodiversity units. The gov-ernments involved have also now

officially recognized key sites richin agrobiodiversity, via processeswhich took into account the needsand wishes of local communities.

The project has also collectedmany target-species accessions.These have been added togenebanks and databases devel-oped to hold the results of ecolog-ical and botanical surveys in thecountries involved. Importantly,standardized methods of manag-ing these databases were alsodeveloped and shared betweenthe partner countries. In addition,the project’s efforts to encouragethe use of the wild relatives offruit trees in afforestation effortsled to the number of fruit-treeseedlings planted in Syria to risefrom 30,000 in 1999 to 500,000 in2003. To review the project’sprogress, a full socio-economicassessment of its impacts wasconducted in 2004 and 2005.

Impacts on livelihoods

To assess the project’s impact onlivelihoods, ICARDA researchersand national partners surveyed276 households that had partici-

pated in the project and 294households which had not. Thesesurveys were conducted in theeight project locations (two percountry) in August andSeptember 2004, using a question-naire which had been tested inJune 2004. This dealt with a rangeof topics and allowed researchersto characterize household liveli-hood strategies.

The researchers wanted to com-pare livelihood strategies, agrobio-diversity use, and incomes (1)within and across all the countriesstudied and (2) among poorer andbetter-off households. To do this,they used factor analysis to createa wealth index that took intoaccount all five types of capital ahousehold can have: human, natu-ral, financial, physical, and social.The survey covered householdassets such as cropland, range-land, livestock, vehicles, and hous-es, as well as on- and off-farmincomes, and access to credit, co-operatives, and healthcare. Basedon this, households were classifiedinto four wealth groupings (quar-tiles), each corresponding to 25%of the range of values obtained forthe wealth index.

Livelihood strategies

To benefit the people in an area,conservation practices and invest-ments need to be appropriate tolocal people’s livelihood strate-gies—as well as to agro-ecologicalconditions and the productionsystems being used. The project’simpact assessment therefore con-sidered the different sources ofincome used by households in thestudy areas. In all four countries,the poorest households (those inthe lowest wealth grouping) main-ly obtained their income from cropproduction, although off-farm

A nursery established in Lattakia, Syria, for landraces and wild relatives of fruit and

forest species.

labor and government employ-ment were also important (Fig. 1).

By contrast, households in thehighest wealth grouping mainlydepended on the income obtainedfrom selling livestock productsand live animals, though theyalso practiced crop production,worked off-farm, and took advan-tage of government employment.Over all wealth groupings, live-stock provided the main source ofon-farm income in Jordan, whilecrops and fruit trees were themajor source of on-farm incomein Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.

Overall, off-farm income was animportant source of livelihoods inall the target areas, accounting for43-68% of household incomes.Clearly, although agriculture isnot the only source of householdincome, it is still a major compo-

nent of livelihoods in the dryareas.

Importance of target crops by

wealth group

The agrobiodiversity project tar-geted different crops; their impor-

tance to the household dependedon the wealth group (Table 2).Wheat and barley were moreimportant for better-off farmers,while apricot and apple weremore important to poor farmers.In all groups, fruit trees were gen-erally more important to farmersthan field crops.

This finding has important impli-cations for national and interna-tional efforts to conserve agrobio-diversity. It suggests that thefocus of in situ conservation ofcereal crops should be on thefields of well-off farmers; whereasfruit tree conservation is moreappealing for poorer farmers.Appropriate conservation strate-gies will improve the livelihoodsof all farming groups, especiallythe poor, and directly contributeto poverty reduction.

Project impacts on agricultural

incomesThe study found that averagehousehold incomes ranged fromUS$2200 to US$9000 per year,equivalent to a daily per capitaincome of less than US$1 toUS$5.

Simple water-harvesting techniques to conserve agrobiodiversity were demonstrat-

ed extensively to local communities.

Wealth index categoryCountry/crop Lowest 25% 25-50% 50-75% Highest 25% All groupsLebanonGrapes 6 9 13 6 8Apricot 19 28 25 16 22Apple 15 5 3 7 7Olive 0 3 3 2 2Wheat 5 7 14 9 9Barley 3 6 6 11 7Chickpea 3 6 5 7 5Lentil 2 2 1 1

SyriaGrapes 16 17 9 22 17Apple 12 11 8 25 15Olive 8 11 10 8 9Wheat 15 19 27 16 19Barley 7 6 8 2 5Chickpea 7 13 14 15 13

PalestineGrapes 11 12 11 9 11Apple 3 1Olive 31 24 19 37 28Wheat 23 38 28 37 31Barley 0 0 6 3 2Chickpea 0 0 0 3 2Onion 3 9 11 0 6Numbers show the percentage of sample farms growing a particular species under eachwealth-index category.

Table 2. Importance of different crops targeted in an agrobiodiversity project,

classified by wealth group.



93


Agrobiodiversity conservation and use

Fig. 1. Sources of income for farm households in different wealth quartiles in Jordan,Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.

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ICARDA’s five-year West AsiaDryland Agrobiodiversity Project,which ended in 2005, promotedthe conservation and sustainableuse of local agrobiodiversity ateight sites in Syria, Lebanon,Jordan, and Palestine. To ensurethat efforts were targeted proper-ly, the project included work toanalyze the gender-related aspectsof agrobiodiversity use and man-agement.

Men and women usually play dif-ferent roles in the growing, collect-ing, processing, and selling ofplants and plant products.Consequently they hold differentknowledge about important wildspecies and genetic resources.Furthermore, women’s knowl-edge, and the contributions thatplants make to families’ food sup-plies and livelihoods, tend to beignored in rural-developmentefforts and are often not wellunderstood.

Rapid rural appraisals and surveysof around 70 households at eachproject site were used to studywomen’s and men’s roles asresource users and managers. Wefound that both groups are respon-

sible for different agriculturalactivities, and that women wereintensively involved in agrobiodi-versity management and conserva-tion.

Women’s roles

Women and children were main-ly responsible for collectingmedicinal plants. This was true in75% of the households surveyedin Palestine (Table 3), and an evenhigher proportion in other coun-tries.

Women were also responsible forprocessing agricultural crops andwild species to make food. Thiswas true in 96 to 100% of house-holds surveyed (Table 3).

Responsibility for the sale ofmedicinal plants, however, wasshared by men and women. InJordan, Syria, and Lebanon, 60 to88% of women sold plants thatthey had collected and processed.In Palestine, however, this figurefell to 42%, because of securityissues at the project sites.

Researchers also found thatwomen play an important role inselecting, drying, and storing

seeds. By implication, seed inter-ventions targeted at women, couldgenerate more income.

Wild species: gender-related

benefits and responsibilities

The project also studied the usesof 37 types of wild plant, anddetermined whether women ormen were responsible for collect-ing, processing, and marketingthem. The species consideredwere either used to make herbalteas (for medicinal or everydayuse), were eaten as food, or usedas spices. Khobayzeh (Malvasylvestris), for example, was madeinto a popular dish in all fourcountries, while Silybum mari-anum and Raphanus sp. were ofteneaten in salads in Syria. Rhus cori-aria was widely used as a spice inJordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

In general, per capita incomeswere around US$2/day in Jordan,Lebanon, and Jenin (Palestine),but less than US$2/day in Syriaand Hebron (Palestine). Incomefrom agriculture accounted for32-57% of these amounts.

In the majority of cases, thehouseholds that had participatedin the project had average agricul-tural incomes that were greaterthan those of non-participating

households—by US$1148,US$1754, and US$1914 on aver-age, in Syria, Jordan, andLebanon, respectively.

Researchers also calculated Ginicoefficients to assess the equity inincomes within participating andnon-participating households ineach country. The values werenot significantly different, indicat-ing that enhancing agrobiodiver-sity did not increase inequalities

between poorer and more well-offfarmers.

The results highlight the impor-tance of agrobiodiversity conser-vation in improving the liveli-hoods of farming communities.However, to be effective, researchshould be based on the impor-tance of targeted species to differ-ent farming groups. This studyprovides clear indications on suchtargeting.

A woman in Ajloun, Jordan, tends her

medicinal and herbal plants, which she

established after receiving training

offered by the project.

Gender dimensions of conserving and using

local agrobiodiversity

95


Because knowledge of thesespecies is shared between men,women, and children, the projecttook all these groups into accountin its research, awareness-raising,and development activities. Thisinvolved working closely withschools, NGOs, and women’sgroups.

Market access for women

For women to earn money fromselling the products they havecollected or processed, they oftenneed access to a market close tohome. Researchers assessed howaccessible markets were in andaround the study sites.

In Lebanon, half the men andwomen surveyed were able to selltheir products at a market in theirown village. This figure dropped toaround one-third and one-quarterof the people interviewed, respec-tively, in Palestine and Jordan –and only 8% in Syria, whererespondents either used a city mar-ket or a combination of differentmarkets close to the village.

Across the sites, between 10% and20% of households surveyed wereforced to sell their products at alow price to people within theirvillage, as they were unable to sellthem anywhere else. Improvingproduct marketing was thereforeone focus of the project.

Adding value and raising

incomes

To add value to local products, theproject set up food-processing andhandicraft units for women.Women were taught how toimprove the quality of locallyprocessed foods through the useof better hygiene, packaging, and

labeling. Training also coveredalternative sources of income,such as growing medicinal plants,herbs, and mushrooms, anddeveloping nurseries. More than1480 women were trained overfive years.

The project also provided womenwith in-kind incentives such asseedlings (herbs and medicinalplants), containers for locallyprocessed products, and technicaland business advice. Productsprocessed by women from a localWomen’s Union are now beingsold in a new ‘agrobiodiversityshop’ set up near SalaheddinCastle, a major tourist site in

Syria. In Palestine, women’sgroups are now producing andselling honey and shinglishcheese (a dried cheese coveredwith herbs).

The 278,000 medicinal plantseedlings distributed in Palestinehave helped 2240 householdsbecome self-sufficient in the medi-cines derived from them. Thesehouseholds are also selling sur-plus produce at local markets.Medicinal plants and a new agro-biodiversity nursery are also pro-viding significant incomes forwomen in Jordan, while inLebanon women’s groups are pro-cessing and selling wild plums.

Activity Jordan Lebanon Palestine Syria

Collection of edible and medicinal plants Women & children 88 100 75 88Men 12 0 25 12

Preparing food Women 98 100 96 100Men 2 0 4 0

Processing and use of wild plants Women 100 100 92 70Men 0 0 8 30

Sale of medicinal plantsWomen & children 88 60 42 65Men 12 40 58 35

Seed selection Women 75 100 86 10Men 25 0 14 90

Seed drying Women 50 100 60 100Men 50 0 30 0

Seed storageWomen 75 100 40 50Men 25 0 60 50

Seed exchange Women 100 - 40 0Men 0 - 60 100

Table 3. Gender-related responsibilities at eight sites in four countries in West Asia

(% of households in which a particular group was responsible for the activity).

Gender dimensions of agrobiodiversity



Unlike agricultural researchinvestments in high-potentialareas, the rate of return toresearch investments in marginalareas is not so clear. Adoption ofnew technologies in these envi-ronments is low because of thevariable returns from such tech-nologies, high level of risk, andinstitutional constraints such asland rights issues. It can behypothesized that unless publicincentives are provided, thepotential benefits of new NRMtechnologies will not be realized.In particular, if the technologiesrequire investments, govern-ments may have to provide sub-sidies to help establish them.Subsidies are justified if the valueof public benefits generatedexceeds the amount of the sub-sidy. The main objective of thisresearch was to assess the uptakeand impact of crop/livestockNRM technologies under rele-vant policy contexts.

ICARDA’s Mashreq and Maghreb(M&M) Project has developed anddisseminated many new technolo-gies to farmers and herders inWANA. Successes includeimproved barley varieties, nutri-ent-rich feed blocks for sheep, andtechniques to boost sheep fertilityand restore degraded rangeland.In 2005, researchers assessed theimpacts of two alley-croppingtechnologies already disseminatedto farmers: barley with Atriplex(saltbush) and barley with spine-less cactus. Both cactus andAtriplex provide animal feed andcan protect the soil.

Researchers assessed the impactsof alley-cropping Atriplex and bar-ley in Irzain, a community innortheast Morocco. Alley-croppingusing cactus was assessed inZoghmar, in central Tunisia. Bothplaces receive less than 300 mm ofrain per year and suffer periodicdroughts. Local people rely on a

combination of livestock and cropproduction.

Researchers used econometricmodels (Figs. 2 and 3) to assessthe impact of alley-cropping onbarley yields, farmers’ use ofalternative feed resources, feedcosts, and flock size; and also toassess how the provision of asubsidy affected uptake of alley-cropping. Probit, logit, and tobitmodels were used to determinewhat factors influenced farmers’decisions to adopt each technolo-gy. A range of factors were con-sidered, from the production sys-tems farmers used to policy vari-ables and the areas’ naturalresources. Community modelswere also used to assess technol-ogy performance at the farm andcommunity levels.

Atriplex alley-cropping in

Morocco: adoption and

impact

In Morocco, 33% of farmers hadadopted the technology on nearly24% of the land in the community.Researchers found that the area

Alley-cropping with Atriplex and cactus:

adoption and impacts in North Africa

Fig. 2. Conceptual framework used to assess the impacts of

Atriplex alley-cropping in Morocco. B = barley; NPV = net

present value; IRR = internal rate of return; SCUAF = ‘Soil

Changes under Agroforestry’.

Fig. 3. Conceptual framework used to assess the impacts of cactus

alley-cropping in Tunisia. B = barley; NPV = net present value; IRR =

internal rate of return.

Source: Adapted and modified after Trewin, 1997. ACIAR Project Workshop, Bogor, 7-8 July 1997, 47 pp.

under alley-cropping increased asfarm size and flock size increased.The net impact of the subsidy pro-vided, according to the modelused, was an increase of 79% inthe area devoted to Atriplex.

Overall, barley grain and strawyields were 17% and 97% higher,respectively, in the alley-croppingsystem than in the traditional bar-ley–fallow system. And, becauseadopting farmers had a moresecure feed supply, theyincreased the size of their flocksby 25% more than non-adoptersduring the period 2001-2004.

Adopting Atriplex alley-croppingalso meant that farmers had tobuy less feed for their animals—reducing feed costs by 33% onaverage. Adopters’ animals con-sumed 90% less wheat bran, 36%less barley grain, and 23% lesssugar beet, than the animals keptby non-adopting farmers.

Using a mixed ex-post/ex-anteassessment (Fig. 2), researchersalso estimated the internal rate ofreturn (IRR) for the period 1992-2015. This took into account all

relevant costs, including research,extension, and the subsidy pro-vided by the development projectthat promoted the technology.The biomass produced by Atriplexwas valued in relation to theamount of barley grain that farm-ers would otherwise have had tobuy to feed their animals. Using adiscount rate of 10%, the IRR wascalculated to be 25%.

Additional ‘pessimistic’ scenarioswere used to calculate alternative

IRRs. These scenarios includedlow Atriplex yields due to farmermismanagement, and low barleygrain and straw yields due to badweather. Another such scenarioinvolved valuing Atriplex biomassin relation to the price of barleystraw (not grain). However, theIRR estimates were still not lessthan 18%. This further justifiespast investments in Atriplex alley-cropping research.

In Morocco, researchers also usedthe SCUAF (Soil Changes underAgroforestry; Fig. 2) model toassess the environmental impactsof alley-cropping over 15 years.This showed that, in comparisonwith farmers’ usual land-use prac-tices, alley-cropping systemsreduced soil loss and greatlyimproved soil organic carbon lev-els. Researchers found that thefinancial benefits of this reductionin soil loss far outweighed the costof the subsidy provided to farmerswho switched to the new system.

Even using very conservativeadoption rates of 6%, researcherscalculated that alley-cropping

Alley cropping with Atriplex (above) and spineless cactus provides substantial

financial gains to farmers, and greatly reduces soil erosion.

97


Alley-cropping with Atriplex and cactus

ICARDA researchers interviewing farmers in Morocco on Atriplex alley-cropping.

could be expanded to cover350,000 ha in northeast and cen-tral Morocco. The potential bene-fits of this—in terms of higherbarley yields and lower feedcosts—would be almost US$60million.

Furthermore, Atriplex alley-crop-ping could be adopted in otherMashreq and Maghreb countries,as they have similar productionsystems, natural resources, andsocio-economic characteristics.

Impacts of alley-cropping using

spineless cactus in TunisiaJust two years after cactus alley-cropping had been introduced, itwas being used by 31% of farmersin Zoghmar in Tunisia, on around30% of the land in the community.Researchers also found, however,that many farmers waited untilthey received a subsidy beforeplanting cactus. They also showedthat in dry years, when cerealyields are low, the cost of this sub-sidy would be greater than thereturns obtained by farmers.

However, it was also found thatthe availability of cactus as a feedin dry years meant that farmersdid not have to sell off as many

animals as usual—and so did notlose so many assets. At the farmlevel, this drop in de-stockingwas around 6% on average.

Furthermore, cactus alley-croppingled to a 5% fall in the amount ofmarginal land cropped in droughtyears, and so helped to conservethe area’s natural resources.

The assessment showed furtherfinancial benefits from alley-crop-ping: farm cashflows rose by 7%,feed costs fell by 13%, and farmerswere less dependent on the mar-ket for feed. What is more,impacts on the poorest group offarmers were very positive. Theyno longer fell so far below thepoverty line, and their incomesfluctuated less during the year. The technology also increased bar-ley yields, as well as plant coveron eroded lands (because the cac-tus shelters plants from the wind).This increase in cover led toimproved soil organic matter andcarbon, phosphorus, and potassi-um levels, which will help toreduce soil loss through erosion.

Overall, in the two areas studied,the assessments showed thatAtriplex and cactus alley-cropping

could greatly reduce soil erosion,restore soil organic matter, boostcrop yields, and provide highreturns on farmers’ investments.

The development of cactus andAtriplex alley-cropping hasencouraged public investments inagriculture in the dry areas. Thisin turn has increased the produc-tive capacity of households' mainnatural asset, which is land. Thiswill lead to sustainable improve-ments in the livelihoods of ruralcommunities.

Results clearly show that incen-tives provided by developmentprojects are important to stimu-late technology adoption. Suchsubsidies can be justified becausethe internal rates of return are sat-isfactory if these costs (incentives)are accounted for. In addition,there are environmental benefits.In the case of Morocco, conserva-tive valuation shows that theenvironmental benefits justify theadditional investments that gov-ernments are making. The resultsof this study will help policymakers make decisions leading toinvestments in productive assets,like drought-resistant shrubs,rather than on feed subsidies.




Mega-Project 6

Knowledge Management and Dissemination

for Sustainable Development in Dry Areas

The Matrouh ResourceManagement Project (MRMP)aims to help control naturalresource degradation and allevi-ate poverty in Egypt’s NorthwestCoast region. Co-financed by theWorld Bank, the government ofEgypt, and project beneficiariesfrom 1994 to 2002, the projectcontinues its activities with sup-port from the government ofEgypt. Activities include naturalresource management (NRM);adaptive research for improve-ment of crops, rangeland andlivestock; and extension, trainingand social development.

The 20,000 km2 target area is asemi-desert environment andhome to over 20,000 families,mostly Bedouin. Agriculture is themain source of livelihood for 80%

of project beneficiaries; but only7% of the total area is cultivatedbecause natural resources arescarce. Rainfall is low and erratic– a mere 145 mm per year on thecoast, rapidly declining towardsthe inland. Crop productivityand diversity are very low,rangeland is degraded. Barley,the principal crop, is integratedwith livestock production. Goodsoils are allocated to figs, olives,mint, and melons. Infrastructureand public services are lacking,economic opportunities arescarce, and the population in thisarea is among the poorest in thecountry.

Approaches

The project approaches includeddecentralized management, com-munity participation, and part-

nerships between scientists fromdifferent disciplines and researchand extension staff from multipleinstitutions. The project area wasdivided into five sub-regions,and the beneficiaries groupedinto 38 Local Communities (LC).

Community action plans weredeveloped for each community.Each LC elected two committees –one for men, one for women – tofacilitate development and imple-mentation of the action plans.

transfer. KMD seeks to develop a new paradigm to

guide scientists as they benefit from – and build on –

local knowledge, to generate demand-driven, feasi-

ble, pro-poor knowledge. Thus, KMD is designed as a

practical approach that aims to capitalize and add

value to ICARDA’s past work, and maximize benefits

from its future research. Activities include develop-

ment of TIPOs (Technological, Institutional and Policy

Options), individually and in “packages”, and provi-

sion of training in various disciplines.

The KMD also includes the Seed Unit, which is man-

dated to assist national programs maintain genetic

purity of important varieties, produce high-quality

source seed for multiplication programs, provide

training, technical backstopping, and promote an

informal seed sector, such as community-based

seed production, for the benefit of farmers.

ICARDA established a Knowledge Management

and Dissemination (KMD) Mega-Project in 2005, in

response to concerns about the cost-effectiveness

and impact of public investment in pro-poor

research. The Mega-Project’s primary task is to

integrate ICARDA’s work on knowledge manage-

ment and dissemination into its overall research

and capacity building agenda. KMD aims to

enhance equitable learning, sharing, and access

to knowledge in order to contribute to ICARDA’s

goals of food security, poverty reduction, and the

preservation of natural resources.

Specifically, the KMD looks for ways to convert

research outputs into national, regional or interna-

tional public goods (IPGs), that can be scaled up

and widely applied to benefit the rural poor. But it

is much more than simply an aid to technology

Introduction

Knowledge documentation: the Matrouh

Resource Management Project, Egypt

A Matrouh project staff member and a

farmer monitor the survival and growth

of fodder shrubs.

Knowledge Management and Dissemination100


The project produced outputs infive broad areas: new scientificmethods/processes/pathways,improved technology for NRMand agricultural production,training and skill development,knowledge dissemination meth-ods, and services and supplies.The impacts were substantial:

• Institutions and communitiesgained valuable experience inparticipatory approaches.

• The Bedouin communityenhanced their knowledge andskills for sustainable NRM andyield improvement.

• Water supply for domestic andagricultural use was doubled

• Over 8 million fodder shrubswere planted, improving fod-der production on about 10,000hectares of rangelands and 2000hectares of barley area.

• Adoption of TIPOs increasedcrop yields by about 60%, andreduced the use of expensivefeed concentrates.

• Some 58% of beneficiariesincreased their income by 25%or more.

• 5000 illiterate girls and womenwere educated, and 3100 bene-fited from training.

• 2500 women established smallincome-generating projects con-tributing to better nutrition andhigher income for the family.

• Communities replaced fuelwood with gas ovens, builtlatrines, and used manualwater pumps.

Analyzing knowledge pathways

The KMD analysis breaks up theproject results into various com-

ponents. What best bet practiceswere identified? What innova-tions were developed? WhatTIPOs were identified, and howwere individual TIPOs combinedinto packages for farmers? Howwere the packages disseminated?

Best bet practices: adoption of newbarley varieties, tree pruning,greenhouse production methods,micro-catchment techniques.

Innovations: new managementmodel and participatory commu-nity-based R&D approaches,stakeholder integration, integrat-ed watershed management.

TIPOs: a wide range of TIPOs forsustainable NRM, crop-range-livestock improvement, andimprovement of women’s wel-fare were developed and dissem-inated.

Dissemination methods: a range ofmethods was used, dependingon the target audience. Localcommunities received informa-tion through field days, demon-stration plots, LC committeesand meetings, and most impor-tant, from two institutions estab-lished by the project – theMatrouh Adaptive ResearchCenter, and Matrouh TrainingCenter.

Scientists and other partners alsoexchanged information throughannual review and planningmeetings, workshops, publica-tions etc. The project has linkswith many other R&D projectsfunded by the World Bank,IDRC, IFAD and other donors –another important channel fordisseminating the results todevelopment specialists world-wide.

The project encouraged Bedouin farmers to use supplemental irrigation to grow veg-

etables and high-value spices, such as mint, shown here, for improved nutrition and

income.

101Knowledge documentation: Barani village, Pakistan


The Barani Village DevelopmentProject (BVDP) aims to reducepoverty in a poor dryland area inPakistan by improving productiv-ity and conserving naturalresources. It is co-financed byIFAD, the government ofPakistan, and project beneficiar-ies. The first phase (1999-2004)was extended to 2006 on a no-costbasis. ICARDA was responsiblefor the applied research compo-nent in association with sixlocal/national research institutes.Activities covered four broadareas: water and land use man-agement; integrated crop/range-land/livestock systems; training,capacity building and institution-al strengthening; and researchmanagement.

The project area consists of sixtehsils (administrative units) in thebarani (rainfed) areas of Punjabprovince, with a total populationof 21 million, of whom 83% areclassified as rural. Agriculture,their main source of livelihood, is

a risky occupation. Rainfall is lowand erratic; it declines from 800mm in the northern parts (withgood ground and surface water) to450 mm in the southern parts,where water resources are limited– and saline. Yields are generallylow, with frequent crop failure.Rangelands are often degraded.

There are two cropping seasons,Rabi (spring) and Kharif (autumn).The major crops are wheat,maize/sorghum, millet, mustard,groundnut, pulses and oilseedcrops. Livestock are also impor-tant. Most households are poor.The farms are usually too small toprovide fully for the family’s basicneeds – one-third of householdincome typically comes from off-farm sources.

Approaches and impacts

The project area was divided intothree agro-ecological regions: high,medium and low rainfall. An inte-grated research site with a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional

team was established in each zone. A community-based participatoryapproach was used.

Project outputs targeted differentuser groups – farm communities,national research and extensionagencies, the scientific community,and development agencies.Correspondingly, the outputs cov-ered various aspects: new meth-ods, processes, techniques or path-ways; technologies for soil andwater management and conserva-tion, improved varieties or parentmaterial, improved productionpractices, livestock and rangelanddevelopment, human resourcedevelopment, knowledge dissemi-nation methods, and services.

The impacts include:• Research institutions, NGOs,

and farming communitiesgained experience in multi-institutional collaboration andparticipatory approaches toR&D.

• The concept of integratedresearch sites has been estab-lished as a tool for community-based R&D, and is being extend-ed to other areas (Balochistan).

• Mechanisms and an enablingenvironment have been devel-oped for up-scaling technologiesvalidated by the project.

• Water supply and managementhave improved, soil erosion con-trolled.

• Crop and livestock productivityhave increased substantially, butadoption and impact has not yetbeen analyzed.

• Micro-enterprises have been ini-tiated for producing urea-molasses feed blocks and qualityseed.

• Together, these results haveformed the basis of an overalleffort to improve livelihoods.

Most of the population in the Barani project area depends on agriculture as the main

source of livelihood.

Knowledge documentation: Barani Village

Development Project, Pakistan



The WANA region imports seedof various crops worth over $250million. But few private seedcompanies are taking advantageof this huge market potentialwithin the region and beyond.National seed industries focus ondomestic markets, with little orno seed trade among countries.Moreover, trade is restricted byboth tariff and non-tariff barriers– policy, regulatory, institutional,and technical constraints.

ICARDA worked with the TurkishSeed Industry Association toorganize an international seedtrade conference in Antalya,Turkey, to stimulate regional con-tacts and encourage private sectorseed trade. Specifically, the confer-ence aimed to:

• Review the potential of seedmarkets in the CWANA region

• Provide a forum to promotebusiness contacts among seedcompanies

• Provide opportunities for stim-ulating regional seed trade

• Share experiences among stake-holders in the seed trade

• Explore opportunities for aregional seed trade association.

The conference attracted morethan 225 participants from 45countries, representing privatefirms from the CWANA region,private seed and agricultural inputsuppliers from Africa, Asia,Europe and USA, private seed

Analyzing knowledge pathways

The KMD analysis in Pakistanlooked at various project compo-nents and related outputs.

• Best bet practices: integratingresearch and development atproject sites, cost-effective wateroutlets and control structures,new crop and animalgermplasm, use of feed blocksand urea-molasses to supple-ment feeds of small ruminants.

• Innovations: community partici-pation and stakeholder integra-tion process, cost-effectivewater outlets and erosion struc-tures.

• TIPO packages: a wide range ofindividual TIPOs was devel-oped for improved but sustain-

able management of crops, live-stock, range and other naturalresources. Some technologieswere combined into packagessuited to barani areas.

• Dissemination methods: publica-tions, workshops, conferences,TV and radio, demonstrationplots. A large number of docu-ments on planning, design,implementation, monitoringand evaluation of project activi-ties are available at the Agencyfor Barani Area Development,and at ICARDA and partnerinstitutes. The project also haslinks to many other R&D proj-ects, facilitating global exchangeof information on dryland areadevelopment.

Cost-effective, simple water-regulat-

ing structures were designed by the

project and implemented by farmers,

for erosion control and rainwater

management.

International seed trade conference

CWANA international seed trade conference in progress in Antalya, Turkey.

103Seed aid interventions in Afghanistan


ICARDA is implementing anIDRC-supported project on“Strengthening seed systems forfood security in Afghanistan.” Theproject aims to provide a deeperunderstanding of how local seedsystems in Afghanistan adapt tostress and conflict conditions; anduse this understanding to identifyhow to strengthen seed aid inter-ventions and farmers’ crop pro-duction systems. Extensive consul-tations with stakeholders in 2004and 2005 helped document institu-tional and social aspects of theinformal seed system, issuesemerging from the return of dis-placed populations, and the bene-fits of emergency seed relief.

The study suggests that almost allbranches of the formal seed sys-tem are weak – research, varietymaintenance, seed multiplicationand dissemination, extension serv-ices. The informal system hasproven resilient to conflicts anddrought; but it too has a numberof shortcomings: weak local insti-tutions, over-exploitation of thesame crop varieties, inadequateintroduction of new genetic mate-

rials, and inequity in seed accessbetween relatively well-off andpoor farmers, and between menand women. Seed quality is gener-ally sub-optimal because of poorproduction and processing tech-nologies, and the formal system isunable to provide quality controlservices for locally produced orimported seeds. In all communi-ties, well-known “nodal” farmersproduce and supply seed to otherfarmers, on credit or for paymentin cash or kind. Some farmers

have seed stocks of a large num-ber of varieties (partly becausethey grow different varieties tospread risk), but lack the skills toproduce quality seeds for otherfarmers.

One project component lookedspecifically at the problems ofwomen farmers. Widows caninherit land, but it is usually rent-ed out to other males, for cash orsharecropping. In male-headedhouseholds, women must workunder male supervision, except forsmall vegetable plots and kitchengardens. Because of social restric-tions on the movement of

equipment manufacturers fromAsia, Europe and USA; internation-al/regional/national private sectorseed trade associations from Asiaand Europe; and international/regional development organiza-tions working on seed issues (ISF,ISTA, OECD, UPOV, CIHEAM,ICARDA).

Promoting contacts and seed tradewas a key element of the confer-ence. There were 33 exhibitors:public and private seed compa-

nies, input suppliers, and manu-facturers of seed equipment andagricultural machinery. A tradingfloor was set aside for potentialcustomers and suppliers, and didexcellent business.

The presentations and panel dis-cussions covered a range of policy,regulatory, institutional and tech-nical issues affecting the seedindustry. Several sideline meetingswere also held with public seedagencies and private firms. The

most important outcome was anagreement to establish a RegionalSeed Association for Central andWest Asia, and to hold an inter-national seed trade conferenceevery alternate year. Building onthese discussions, ICARDA isnow exploring options to devolvesome of its seed activities toregional players, for example bytransforming the WANA SeedNetwork into a Regional SeedAssociation.

Lessons learned from seed aid interventions in

Afghanistan

An assessment of seed aid interventions in Afghanistan.



women, it is mainly the men whohave access to new agriculturaltechnologies including seed andextension services. Clearly, it isimportant to make more efforts totarget women. But opinions aredivided as to how best this can bedone; for example, whether it ispractical to distribute seed direct-ly to women.

Emergency seed interventions in2002-03 had a generally positiveimpact. In the majority of commu-nities studied, farmers reportedthat production had increased byup to 40% as a result of plantingimproved seed received from aidagencies. Most NGOs also sup-ported these views although theydid not carry out systematicimpact assessments. The majorconcern, however, was that not allfarmers received seed aid; andthose who did, received only smallquantities. Development programsfeel concerned that these efforts donot encourage self-reliance; farm-ers have begun to expect continu-ing (and increasing) free seed dis-tribution; and the program is dis-couraging private seed enterprises.

The assessment also examined the

role of social networks and insti-tutions. It was found that the vil-lage councils (predominantlymale) played a key role. Thecouncils maintain communityregulations and traditional laws,and resolve conflicts within thecommunity. Correspondingly,they played an important role inenforcement of the “code of con-duct”, seed aid distribution, andinception of new projects.

Seed relief interventions, beingshort term, did not enhance socialnetworks between farmers, theirorganizations, and seed vendors,which in many cases were nonex-istent. Nor did they strengthenlocal seed system capacity. Interms of “village politics”, manycommunities who received seedaid stated that the authority andinfluence of the village councilhad increased as a result. Butoverall, the time frame was tooshort to expect substantive socialand institutional changes.

There is still a compelling need toimprove food security and liveli-hoods in Afghanistan. Seed aswell as other interventions will berequired. There seems to be only

limited justification for continu-ing large-scale emergency seedrelief; it is more important tofocus on long-term seed systemdevelopment.

In view of the weakness of theformal seed system and theimportance of the informal sys-tem, perhaps the solution is tostrengthen local or community-level seed systems. ICARDA andFAO are taking the lead in estab-lishing viable small-scale seedenterprises in some provinces.This emerging private sector willrequire support and incentives,particularly in areas of acute orchronic seed insecurity.

In the medium term, institutionaland capacity building (for bothformal and informal systems),implementation of recently enact-ed seed laws (regulatoryreforms), and improving the poli-cy environment will all be neces-sary. Also necessary will beresearch on some key areas: landtenure, labor migration, and thedynamics of household decision-making on access and use ofresources as well as income gen-eration and spending.

ICARDA’s Seed Unit has estab-lished 20 Village-Based SeedEnterprises (VBSEs) inAfghanistan as part of a USAID-funded program known as RAMP(Rebuilding Agricultural MarketProgram). The aim of the pro-gram is to improve farmers’access to quality seed of a widerange of local and improved vari-eties; and equally important, toensure that VBSEs are economi-

cally viable. It is expected that atleast half the 20 VBSEs will bemaking profits before the pro-gram ends in 2006.

The rationale is that market-ori-ented VBSEs will accelerate theprocess of farmer-to-farmer diffu-sion of improved varieties;improving crop productivity andfarm incomes, and also maintain-ing agrobiodiversity.

Substantial quantities of seedhave been produced and sold, tofarmers and organizationsinvolved in agricultural recon-struction. Seed production hasincreased four-fold compared tothe 2003/04 cropping season. Thisyear, 17 VBSEs produced 2188tons of wheat seed, 651 tons ofrice seed, 429 tons of mung beanseed, and 887 tons of potatotubers. On average, each VBSEproduced over 100 tons of wheatseed – meeting the end-of-projecttarget one year earlier.

Village-based seed enterprises in Afghanistan

105


Village-based seed enterprises in Afghanistan

Profitability figures are equallyencouraging, largely because ofvery high demand for seed. In the2004/05 cropping season, field-level production costs averaged

$129 per ton for wheat seed; esti-mated post-harvest processing andmarketing cost was $45 per ton.VBSE members received pricesranging from $285 to $420 per ton,

i.e. profits of $111 to $246 per ton.All VBSEs did not benefit equallyfrom high prices; margins depend-ed on negotiation skills, sales tim-ing, volumes, and quality (seedprocessing, quality certification).The most progressive VBSEs arenot only cashing in on the seedmarket but also diversifying intoother crops. One-third of theVBSEs produced onions and toma-toes – 632 and 1438 tons, respec-tively. About 30% of the tomatoharvest was processed to maketomato seed.

The VBSEs achieved recordreturns this year because of highprices for wheat seed; but not allenterprises have the financialmanagement skills needed toensure sustainability over time.ICARDA will continue to providetechnical support in many areas:quality control, finance and busi-ness management, and marketing.

Wheat produced by a Village-Based Seed Enterprise group of farmers in Afghanistan.


International Cooperation

The North Africa RegionalProgram (NARP) coordinatesactivities in Algeria, Libya,Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia,and is administered throughICARDA’s regional office inTunisia. Some NARP activitiescut across into West Asia. Theobjectives are to contribute topoverty alleviation, naturalresources conservation, enhance-ment of crop and livestock pro-ductivity, diversification of pro-duction systems and incomes,human resources and capacitybuilding, and networking.

Collaborative projects

Seven collaborative projects wereimplemented during the year:

• SDC Maghreb: Sustainablemanagement of the agro-pas-toral resource base in theMaghreb, Phase II. Funded by

SDC. Algeria, Libya,Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia

• IRDEN: Regional program tofoster wider adoption of low-cost durum technologies.Funded by IFAD. Algeria,

Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey• SDC-Mountains Maghreb • Scarce water in WANA • Assessing the potential of

water harvesting and supple-mental irrigation in WANA

• Mashreq and Maghreb (M&M)Project, Phase III: Developingsustainable livelihoods for

ICARDA collaborates with NARS, donors, and

advanced research institutions worldwide, on

agricultural research and training. This section out-

lines NARS-ICARDA partnership-building activities

(meetings, capacity building, and other initia-

tives). Appendices 4, 5, and 6 provide a com-

plete list of collaborative projects and networks;

while research results are reported in the section

on Mega-Projects.

ICARDA’s research portfolio covers a wide spec-

trum of activities, from strategic to adaptive

research to technology transfer. The Center pro-

motes partnership with NARS through six Regional

Programs across the CWANA region: North Africa,

Nile Valley and Red Sea, West Asia, Arabian

Peninsula, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and

North Africa Regional Program

Latin America. Problems of agriculture in high-ele-

vation areas are addressed through a Highland

Research Regional Network.

A pioneer on-farm seed producer (right) from Jemaat community, inspecting fields

of new durum wheat varieties with INRA researchers in Morocco.

Regional Programs.

agro-pastoral communities ofWest Asia and North Africa.Funded by IFAD and AFESD.Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria inthe Mashreq region; andAlgeria, Libya, Morocco, andTunisia in the Maghreb region

• Livestock health and marketopportunities. Funded by IFAD,implemented in collaborationwith ILRI.

There are also bilateral and multi-lateral projects in various coun-tries, described below.

Five projects were implementedin Tunisia, four of them withfunding from USDA: Medicinalplants in Tunisia, in collaborationwith IRA Medenine; Small rumi-nants Phase II, with ILRI; GIS forwatershed management in thearid regions of Tunisia Phase II;and an Oat and vetch project. Afifth project, on biological controlof weeds, is being managed byICARDA.

These projects have enhancedICARDA’s partnerships withresearch and teaching institutionsin Tunisia (IRESA, INRAT,INAT, IRA Medenine) andbeyond. Collaborators includethe USDA Agricultural ResearchServices and several Americanuniversities: University ofMinnesota, Purdue StateUniversity, Fort Valley StateUniversity – Georgia, andUniversity of Mississippi.

In Mauritania, a bilateral projectentitled “Rapid impact programon research and extension”entered its third year. Projectstaff worked with two rural com-munities in Brakna Province toidentify constraints and opportu-

nities, and negotiated an actionplan for technology transfer ineach community. Field activitiesin 2004/05 covered livestocknutrition and health, water har-vesting, introduction of cactusplanting, seed treatment andstorage, livelihoods characteriza-tion, and analysis of poverty pro-files in the two communities.Plantations of spineless cactuswere established at two researchstations and in farmers’gardens.Technicians from research insti-tutions and development projectswere trained on cactus produc-tion and utilization as livestockfeed. Eight NARS managers weretrained in English languageskills. Staff at several researchinstitutions (DRFV, CNRADA,CNERV, and ENFVA) were pro-vided training in communicationand computing.

ICARDA also backstopped theAfDB-funded PADEL project onrangeland management andimprovement of livestock inMauritania. The work focused onparticipatory and communityapproaches, water harvesting,alternative feed resources, andrangeland management.Researchers helped test a “pas-toral code” in a pilot zone inKiffa, where the communitydeveloped and implementedrules for managing commonresources.

In Morocco, INRA-Morocco andICARDA began implementing agrants program, under which fivenew short-term projects werelaunched during 2004/05 on bar-ley improvement, durum wheatimprovement, genetic resourcesand genebank management, IPMin cereal-legume systems, and

INRM and conservation agricul-ture. The results were encourag-ing. In addition, INRA, ICARDAand ARS/USDA began a two-year project on medicinal plants.

Backstopping IFAD develop-

ment projects in North Africa

ICARDA backstopped a majorIFAD development project inNorth Africa, providing technicalsupport for rural development inthe mountains of EasternMorocco (Taourirt Taforalt).Activities included sociology,local institutions, and rangelandmanagement research, promotionand marketing of mountain prod-ucts, impact assessment, and atraveling workshop for researchtechnicians. In addition, theM&M team in Tunisia, in collabo-ration with IFPRI, conductedfield research on the empower-ment of agropastoral communi-ties in the Tataouine region.

Workshops and coordination

meetings

The North Africa RegionalProgram organized a number ofworkshops and training pro-grams. These included regionaland international workshops onINRM, wheat technologies andrural development, trainingworkshops on livestock andrange management, regionalplanning meetings, as well asnational coordination meetings inAlgeria, Libya, Morocco andTunisia to review research resultsand develop work plans for thenext year. These meetingsattracted a large number ofnational scientists, and helpeddevelop several research propos-als for submission to potentialdonors.


107North Africa Regional Program


International Cooperation108

The Nile Valley and Red SeaRegional Program (NVRSRP) cov-ers Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,Sudan, and Yemen and operatesthrough ICARDA’s regional officein Cairo. The overall objective ofNVRSRP is to increase the incomeof smallholder farmers in theregion by improving productivityand sustainability of productionsystems, conserving naturalresources, and helping to buildnational research capacity.


Several collaborative projects werein operation during the year:

• Egypt: Improvement of foodlegumes and cereal crops;Natural resources managementproject; Control of wild oats incereals and other winter crops;Barley participatory breeding inMarsa Matrouh

• Ethiopia: Strengthening client-oriented research and technolo-gy dissemination for sustain-able production of cool-seasonfood and forage legumes

• Sudan and Ethiopia: Transfer ofimproved production packagesfor wheat and legumes

• ICARDA/AGERI project onidentifying resistance genes toabiotic stresses in cereals andtransformation in food legumes

• ICARDA/CLAES project onupgrading faba bean and wheatexpert systems

• Technology generation and dis-semination for sustainable pro-duction of cereals and cool-sea-son legumes in the Nile Valleycountries. Funded by IFAD.

• Eritrea: Integrated cereals dis-eases management (ICDM)project; Water and FoodChallenge Program

• Community-based optimizationof the management of scarcewater resources in agriculturein WANA: a new project fund-ed by AFESD and IFAD, in allNVRS countries. A benchmarksite on irrigated agriculture wasestablished in Egypt, with satel-lite sites in Sudan and Iraq.


meetings

ICARDA and its partners organ-ized several workshops on horti-culture, plant genetic resources,post-conflict rehabilitation of agri-culture, as well as national coor-dination meetings in Ethiopia,Eritrea, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan,and the annual steering commit-tee meeting for the regional pro-gram. A large number of nationalscientists participated.

Partners in these efforts includedthe World Vegetable Center,University of California at Davis,FAO, CGIAR Centers, and NARS.

A series of traveling workshops inSudan, Egypt and Yemen attractedover 300 scientists, farmers andextension staff. Participants visitedon-station and on-farm trials,demonstration plots, and farmerfield schools; and discussed theperformance of a range of technol-ogy packages for wheat, faba beanand chickpea, as well as seed pro-duction schemes.


Several training courses wereconducted in 2005 to improve theskills of researchers and enhanceregional cooperation. These wereshort courses tailored to meetspecific NARS needs in variousareas – farmer-participatoryresearch methods, impact assess-ment, community seed produc-tion, greenhouse management,expert systems, small ruminantproduction and health, molecularmarkers, design and analysis offield experiments, weed manage-ment, electronic publishing, andpublications assessment methods.

Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program

Participants of the 15th Coordination Meeting of the Nile Valley and Red Sea

Regional Program, held at ICARDA.


109

The training courses attractedover 150 researchers from 12countries – Afghanistan, Algeria,Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya,Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Syria,Tunisia, and Yemen.

Technical assistance

During 2005, ICARDA providedtechnical assistance to NARSpartners in the sub-region.

• Support to the MatrouhResource Management Projectin Egypt: ICARDA staff visitedthe project to help select barleylines adapted to local condi-tions and design and plant tri-als and nurseries. Another

ICARDA team helped investi-gate the impact and sustain-ability of project outputs.

• ICARDA pathologists conduct-ed a survey of rust diseases onwheat and barley crops inEritrea and Yemen.

• In Eritrea ICARDA scientistsworked with the NationalInstitute of AgriculturalResearch to conduct the coun-try’s first survey on virus dis-eases of chickpea, supported bythe Canada Fund for Africa.The field survey was followedby laboratory analysis; 6400samples from 31 chickpeafields were collected and testedserologically against nine

viruses. Five Eritrean researchassistants participated in thesurvey, and received extensivetraining in survey and analyti-cal methods.

New grass pea variety

released

The Ethiopian AgriculturalResearch Organization (EARO)announced the release of a grasspea variety ‘Wasie’, derived fromICARDA germplasm. This is thecountry’s first low-neurotoxinvariety of grass pea safe forhuman consumption. The newvariety has broken the fear ofparalysis among Ethiopians.

Regional traveling workshop in Egypt. Farmers, researchers and extension personnel from Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen

participated.

Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program



The West Asia Regional Program(WARP) promotes regional coop-eration in research, capacitybuilding and information dissem-ination in Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan,Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and thelowlands of Turkey. WARP,which operates from ICARDA’sregional office in Amman,Jordan, continued to providegermplasm nurseries, technicalsupport, and training to all coun-tries in the region, including Iraqand Palestine, despite difficultpolitical conditions. Severalpromising lines of barley, breadwheat, durum wheat, lentil,chickpea, and vetch were selectedby national programs, and areawaiting release. In addition,more than 13 regional or bilateralprojects were implemented incollaboration with NARS.

WARP organized several coordi-nation and steering committeemeetings to monitor and plan forongoing projects and developnew initiatives (e.g. Phase III ofthe M&M project). AnFAO/ICARDA workshop onplant genetic resources attracteddelegates from 14 countries inWest Asia and the ArabianPeninsula. From November 2005,the WARP office in Ammanbecame the host of the secretariatof AARINENA, the umbrellabody for coordination of agricul-tural research in the region.

In Jordan, in recognition ofICARDA’s efforts, His MajestyKing Abdallah II awarded theCenter’s Director General, Prof.Dr Adel El-Beltagy, the Al-Istiklalmedal, the highest honor in thecountry. ICARDA also won three

other awards from the Universityof Jordan and the National Centerfor Agricultural Research andTechnology Transfer (NCARTT)in recognition of its contributionsto promoting agriculture inJordan and the West Asia region.

New Memorandums ofUnderstanding (MOUs) weresigned with the University ofJordan and the Jordan Universityfor Science and Technology.Another MOU was draftedbetween ICARDA and the HigherCouncil for Science andTechnology to enhance collabora-tion with the Badia Research andDevelopment Centre. Four field

days, organized by the drylandagrobiodiversity and water har-vesting projects, helped promotetechnologies to rehabilitate degrad-ed rangelands in the Badia. Theparticipatory barley breeding pro-gram at NCARTT was extended toinclude wheat and food legumes.

Collaboration with Iraq is beingexpanded, in response to requestsfrom the Ministry of Agriculture.These requests, expressed at aseries of donor meetings, involvesupport for various projectsaimed at rehabilitating agricul-ture in the country. ICARDA hassucceeded in securing funds fromAustralia to increase productionof field crops in Iraq.

Similarly, in Palestine, theMinistry of Agriculture hasrequested ICARDA’s assistance torehabilitate agriculture andspecifically to reorganize activi-ties at the National AgriculturalResearch Center. An MOU wassigned between ICARDA and theUNDP for joint developmentefforts in Palestine.

West Asia Dryland

Agrobiodiversity project

The West Asia DrylandAgrobiodiversity (WADA) projectconcluded in 2005. This 6-yearproject helped develop and pro-mote strategies for in situ (on-farm)conservation of agrobiodiversity in

West Asia Regional Program

Iraqi delegation with researchers from Australia and ICARDA during their visit to

ICARDA for the Iraq project planning meeting in September 2005.


111

dryland areas in the region. In itsfinal year, activities focused ondocumentation and disseminationof technologies generated, andpreparation of “exit strategies” thatwould ensure sustainability of con-servation activities.

Several reports and databaseswere produced: documentationof local agrobiodiversity (andmajor threats) in different areas,drafts of national agrobiodiversi-ty policies and legislation, com-munity development plans andnatural habitats managementplans at pilot sites, and fieldguides for the identification ofLathyrus and Medicago species.

The project succeeded in intro-ducing biodiversity conservation

in school curricula in Palestineand Syria and in establishing anMSc program on biodiversityconservation at the JordanUniversity of Science andTechnology.

In April 2005, ICARDA organizedthe first international drylandagrobiodiversity conference inAleppo, attended by 152 partici-pants from 21 countries. ICARDAorganized a ministerial meetingin Amman in June 2005, attendedby the Ministers of Agriculture ofJordan, Lebanon, Palestine andSyria, as well as representativesfrom UNDP, ACSAD, IPGRI andAOAD. The four countries signedan MOU to promote agrobiodi-versity conservation andexchange of genetic resources.

The final project evaluation waspresented at an end-of-projectmeeting in Amman. Targets weremet or exceeded. There is alreadyevidence of impact on capacitybuilding, public awareness, andinstitutional changes, but impact onagrobiodiversity will become meas-urable only in the longer term. AllNARS representatives in the projectsteering committee – and partici-pants at the international agrobiodi-versity conference – acknowledgedthe achievements of the project.They recommended that, ratherthan being concluded, effortsshould be extended to other coun-tries in the CWANA region. A draftconcept note has been prepared fora new project focusing on knowl-edge sharing and disseminationaspects, for possible GEF funding.

The Arabian Peninsula RegionalProgram covers seven countries:Bahrain, United Arab Emirates(UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Theadministrative office is located in

Dubai, UAE. Activities includeon-farm water management, irri-gated forage and rangeland man-agement, and high intensity pro-duction system (protected agri-culture). The emphasis is on

strengthening national institu-tions, enhancing human resourcecapacity, technology developmentand transfer, and promotinginformation technology and net-working. The program is fundedby AFESD, IFAD, and the OPECFund.

Arabian Peninsula Regional Program

A farmer in Yemen produces high quality cucumbers using IPPM.Indigenous forage crops grown with minimum water in farm-

ers’ fields in the United Arab Emirates.

Arabian Peninsula Regional Program



Collaborative research

Soilless culture is an intensiveproduction system for the pro-duction of high-quality cashcrops. NARS-ICARDA teams areimplementing on-farm trials totransfer this technology to privategrowers. In Oman, farmers wholost production due to salinity,are now using soilless cultureintroduced by ICARDA. InKuwait, soilless culture hasincreased production significantlyand reduced water use by over50%. In Yemen, adoption of inte-grated production and protectionmanagement (IPPM) practices forthe production of cucumber ingreenhouses has reduced pesti-cide use and increased irrigationefficiency by up to 93%.

Large areas of the ArabianPeninsula are desertified, primari-ly because of overgrazing. Inorder to cope with feed shortages,farmers produce forage cropsusing underground water for irri-gation. This is threatening waterresources in the region. Theregional program is promotingthe use of indigenous forage

species to provide livestock feedand rehabilitate degraded range-lands. Indigenous plant specieswere found to be of high value asforage crops; their water-use effi-ciency is high, a feature that isextremely useful in dry areas.Buffel grass or leybid (Cenchrusciliaris), which proved to be agood forage, has been introducedto a number of private farmers inthe UAE.

Thirty-eight accessions of spine-less cactus were introduced byAPRP at the Rumais ResearchStation in Oman, and they arenow well established. These willbe distributed to partner NARSthrough the Sultanate.

New partnerships

ICARDA and the NARS in thesubregion have drafted a jointproposal for a large-scale technol-ogy transfer project for theArabian Peninsula. Other partner-ships continue to develop. ICAR-DA and the University of Sana’a,Yemen, signed an MOU in early2005, to promote research inintensive production systems,

conserve natural resources, andimprove information technology.Another MOU was signed in mid2005 with the Kingdom of SaudiArabia for the establishment of aseed technology unit. ICARDAprovided equipment, training andtechnical support for the unit,which was established to enhancethe production of seed of nativeforage and range plants in north-ern Saudi Arabia.


meetings

Two end-of-project meetings wereheld in December 2005 in Muscat,attended by 52 participants fromthe seven partner countries as wellas FAO and the Netherlands. Themeetings were hosted by theMinistry of Agriculture andFisheries. They discussed, amongother issues, a new project propos-al to transfer successful technologypackages developed during thecurrent project.

Two recently launched projectsheld their first coordination/man-agement meetings. The project ondevelopment of sustainable date

Participants in the training course on molecular markers for fin-

gerprinting date palm varieties in the United Arab Emirates.

Cactus management training at Rumais Station, Sultanate of

Oman.


113

Highlands (> 800 masl) coverover 40% of the agricultural landin CWANA, and are home to themost disadvantaged section of thepopulation in the region. Theharsh environment and pooraccessibility, to a great extent,explain the neglect of these areasby national and internationalresearch and development organ-izations. Harsh conditions pro-mote outmigration and landabandonment. Subsistence issecured from drought-tolerant,low-productivity crops such asbarley, as well as fruit trees andvegetables, and from transhu-mant flocks of small ruminants

that move to mountain pasturesin the summer. Much of the agri-culture is conducted on slopingland and soil erosion is a majorproblem, especially in areas thathave become degraded as a resultof overgrazing and other inappro-priate farming practices.

From its early days and untilmid-2004, ICARDA managed itsregional highland activitiesthrough the Highland RegionalProgram, that included countriesof North Africa, West Asia, andCAC. Because those countries fallwithin the geographic mandate ofother ICARDA Regional

Programs, it was decided toaddress the problems of highlandagriculture within the frameworkof a Highland Research RegionalNetwork (HRN). The goal ofHRN is to contribute to improv-ing the welfare of rural popula-tions in the highlands of CWANAthrough strategies and technolo-gies for sustainable improvementof agricultural productivity inthese areas. ICARDA project staffare located in Iran andAfghanistan, while work inTurkey is handled from theCenter’s headquarters.

AfghanistanICARDA manages its highlandcollaborative research program inAfghanistan through a centraloffice in Kabul, which coordinatesthe work in six target provinces –Ghazni, Helmand, Kabul,Kunduz, Nangarhar and Parwan.The office coordinates the activi-ties of the Future HarvestConsortium to RebuildAgriculture in Afghanistan. Italso provides technical and logis-tic support to the DFID-fundedprogram on research on alterna-tive livelihood (RALF).

Collaborative research

ICARDA works with the Ministryof Agriculture, Animal Husbandryand Food (MAAHF) and nationalA cereal field of the Village-Based Seed Enterprise participants in Kunduz province,

Afghanistan.

palm production systems in theGCC countries met in Aleppo inMay 2005.

Twenty-nine participants from thevarious partner NARS discussedresearch priorities and the firstseason’s work plans. Similarly, theproject on protected agriculture inYemen held its first steering com-mittee meting at ICARDA’s

regional office in Taez, in June2005. It was attended by represen-tatives of two government min-istries – Agriculture and Irrigation,and Planning and Development –and from the French embassy.


Several training programs wereorganized, covering variousaspects: development of project

proposals, scientific writing anddata presentation, soilless culture,greenhouse installation and man-agement, propagation and man-agement of forage (spineless) cac-tus, and molecular markers for fin-gerprinting of date palm. A totalof 80 people participated:researchers, extension staff, NGOfield staff, and farmers from acrossthe Peninsula.

Highland Research Regional Network

Highland Regional Network



research institutes to rebuild agri-culture in Afghanistan, throughthe USAID- and ICARDA-fundedRebuilding Agricultural MarketsProgram (RAMP). This consists offour projects: demonstrations andpromotion of new technologies,village-based seed production,protected-agriculture systems forcash crop production, and produc-tion and marketing of seed potato(a joint project with theInternational Potato Center, CIP).

ICARDA established 356 demon-stration plots for nine crops –wheat, potato, onion, tomato, rice,mung bean, cotton, okra andgroundnut – in five targetprovinces of Ghazni, Helmand,Kunduz, Nangarhar and Parwan.The introduced crop varieties andassociated technologies have signif-icantly out-yielded local varieties infarmers’ fields.

To facilitate adoption, ICARDAestablished 21 village-based seedenterprises (VBSEs) to produce anddisseminate quality seed ofimproved varieties adapted to localconditions. The Center provided

technical assistance in seed produc-tion, trained farmers on how to runa profitable seed business, and pro-vided agricultural machinery andsource seed. To date, the VBSEshave produced over 2000 tons ofcereal seeds. Seed is processed andmarketed to the community and tointernational agencies.

Scientists from ICARDA andMAAHF continue to work onprotected-agriculture technologyfor marginal, water-deficit areas.In addition to the earlier estab-lished Protected AgricultureCenter comprising four green-houses and a greenhouse-manu-facturing workshop, 42 green-houses have been installed onfarmers’ fields and in MAAHFpremises. Farmers, extensionworkers, NGO personnel andMAAHF staff were trained on theinstallation and maintenance ofgreenhouses for growing cashcrops like cucumber, tomato, let-tuce and green pepper. Adoptionis growing rapidly – some 200farmers have requested green-houses at subsidized prices or oncredit.

Potato is one of the staple cropsin Afghanistan. In collaborationwith CIP, ICARDA has conductedresearch on the production, multi-plication and marketing of cleanpotato seed to reduce the currentdependency on imports. Seedproducer groups in five targetprovinces have produced andmarketed over 1500 tons of highquality clean seed potato ofimproved varieties. Facilities formicro-propagation have beenestablished and used for the mul-tiplication of improved varieties.The 15 country stores earlier con-structed have been successfullyused to store 70 tons of potatoseed, and 18 new country storeswere constructed in Ghazni,Helmand, Nangarhar, Parwan,and Bamyan.

A tissue culture laboratory wasestablished and Afghan techni-cians were trained in micro-prop-agation and mini tuber produc-tion techniques. Four improvedvarieties – Kufri Chandarmukhi,Desiree, K. Badshah, K. Phukraj –were cultured in vitro to producebasic seed.

ICARDA scientists, through twoRALF-funded projects, have iden-tified viable alternatives toreduce the dependency of Afghanfarmers on opium production.One such alternative is dairy pro-duction. Among other activities,the project is examining the possi-bility of growing high-yieldingand nutritious forage legumes innorth-eastern Afghanistan, toincrease milk production.

The other project focuses on mint,and operates in Helmand,Kunduz and Nangarhar. Research/demonstration plotshave been established, field days

H.E. Mohamed Sharif, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, discusses the importance of

RALF field research trials with farmers, faculty members and project staff at the

research farm of the University of Nangarhar, Afghanistan.


115

organized, and a mint producersassociation established. The proj-ect aims to transform mint from akitchen garden herb to a commer-cial crop by promoting large-scaleproduction and marketing, e.g. forculinary as well as medicinal uses.

New projects

Two new research projects weredeveloped and submitted todonors – one on training pro-grams for capacity building, andthe other for diversifying farmers’livelihood opportunities in east-ern Afghanistan, throughimproved technologies and betterseed availability.

Workshops and coordinationmeetings

ICARDA organized a number ofmeetings in Afghanistan, to planand monitor two major collabora-tive projects: the Future HarvestConsortium and the DFID-fundedRALF program, which comprises11 sub-projects. Participantsincluded scientists and adminis-trators from Afghanistan, interna-tional agencies (USAID, FAO,JICA, DAI, CIAT), and NGOs;the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics, Ministry of Commerce,four Afghan universities, as wellas educational, research andindustrial organizations from Iranand Pakistan.

Capacity building

Over 30 training courses wereorganized: in-country training fortechnicians, intensive 1- or 2-week courses for research staff,and a range of training programsfor farmers and extension/NGOstaff in several provinces, using acombination of practical training,field days and farmer fieldschools. In all, some 4700 peopleparticipated, including over 3500

farmers. The topics coveredincluded: protected agricultureand hydroponics, installation andmaintenance of greenhouses, man-ufacturing of greenhouse compo-nents, crop production and protec-tion techniques for field crops,cash crops production in green-houses, seed health testing, varietyidentification, seed certification,processing and storage, manage-ment and profitability assessmentof village-based seed enterprises,production and marketing of seedpotatoes, tissue culture, and sur-vey methodologies.

Turkey

Turkey formally became aCGIAR member in 2005. ICAR-DA has worked with the TurkishNARS for several years, throughbilateral projects. ICARDA is col-laborating with Turkey in fourmajor bilateral projects: improve-ment of winter facultative wheat,promotion of winter-sown lentil,promotion of low-cost durumtechnologies (IRDEN), and use ofnaturally occurring fungi to con-trol the Sunn pest.

Under the joint Turkey/CIM-MYT/ICARDA InternationalWinter Wheat ImprovementProgram, germplasm was devel-oped and tested in Turkey andSyria and then distributed toother parts of CWANA. Threehundred sets of internationalnurseries of winter facultativewheat were sent to 50 NARS part-ners for testing and selection.International nurseries (18 winterfacultative wheat, 5 durumwheat, 2 spring bread wheat, 3barley, 12 lentil, 15 chickpea, 2faba bean and 6 forage legumes)were provided to Turkish part-ners for testing at research insti-tutes and universities in variousregions.

Under the GAP/ICARDA project,20 tons of seed of lentil varietyIdlib-3 (released in Syria) wasplanted in the 2004/05 season byfarmers in the South East AnatoliaRegion. Another 170 tons wasplanted on 1700 ha in the 2005/06cropping season.

Capacity building and collabora-

Integrated crop and disease management training in Afghanistan. Trainees and

trainers are from Parwan province.

Highland Regional Network



tion through training programs,meetings and workshops was amajor activity in 2005. Turkeyand ICARDA jointly organizedthree meetings in Turkey on theCWANA international seedtrade; International Assessmentof Agricultural Science andTechnology (IAASTD)-CWANAsub-global assessment authors’meeting; and land races. FifteenTurkish scientists attended sever-al meetings and workshops atICARDA on wheat, water pro-ductivity, seed policy, and Sunnpest control.

Turkey, CIMMYT and ICARDAorganized an international train-ing course on conservation agri-culture technologies for rainfedwheat production systems inTurkey, attended by 24researchers from 13 CWANAcountries. Seven Turkish scien-tists visited ICARDA for 1–2weeks for courses on seed pro-duction, DNA molecular markertechniques, and electronic pro-duction of documents and webdatabases. Another 13 Turkish

scientists visited the IntegratedGene Management Program toget acquainted with cereals andlegumes research at ICARDA andinteract with the scientists. Also,seven ICARDA scientists visitedTurkey to provide technical assis-tance and monitor collaborativeactivities.

Iran

Iran is now self-sufficient inwheat production. Productionwas adequate for the second yearrunning, after four decades ofdeficits, and is expected toincrease to a surplus next season.ICARDA has played a significantrole. Twelve years of collabora-tion between DARI and ICARDAhas led to the release of severalnew varieties of food, feed andoilseed crops, as well asimproved soil and crop manage-ment practices that have signifi-cantly contributed to increasedyields.

More than 485 collaborative proj-ects and trials were conducted inIran during the 2004/05 season:

variety testing, long-term croprotations, supplemental irrigation,water harvesting, soil manage-ment, and crop management. Fivedurum, six bread wheat, and fivebarley varieties were selected fordifferent environments. Twolegume varieties – chickpea FLIP93-93 and lentil FLIP 92-12L – areexpected to be released for com-mercial cultivation. Forage linesfrom Vicia panonica and V. dasy-carpa (for cold regions), and colzahybrid Hyola 308 (for warmregions) are candidates forrelease. The colza line PI 537598was recommended for seed mul-tiplication. Future impact isexpected to be even greater: theMinistry of Agriculture-e-Jihadplans on-farm demonstration tri-als on about 500,000 ha acrossfive provinces.

A new project was launched withSPII for spring wheat improve-ment in irrigated areas in the low-lands of Iran, with possibilities ofexpansion to similar environmentselsewhere in CWANA. Many linesand parental germplasm havebeen selected and the crossesmade. SPII, ICARDA and CIM-MYT are now discussing the pos-sibility of a similar project on win-ter and facultative wheat.

The Karkheh River Basin projectson water productivity and liveli-hoods resilience are well underway. Baseline surveys have beencompleted, pilot communities andsites have been selected. Morethan 25 proposals will be imple-mented, focusing on improve-ment of livelihoods, watershedmanagement and water-use effi-ciency.

Scientists from Turkey visit the winter and facultative wheat breeding trials at

ICARDA, May 2005.


117Central Asia and the Caucasus Regional Program

Established in 1998, the CentralAsia and the Caucasus (CAC)Regional Program is the youngestoutreach program of ICARDA. It

covers eight countries:Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan andUzbekistan in Central Asia; andArmenia, Azerbaijan and Georgiain the Caucasus. The Program hasbuilt strong partnerships with theNARS in germplasm improve-ment, plant genetic resources, soiland water management, integrat-ed feed and livestock production,and human resource development.

New technologies

Three new varieties were releasedin 2005. Almira, a bread wheatvariety, was released inKyrgyzstan; chickpea varietyNarmin and Lathyrus variety AliBar were released in Azerbaijanand Kazakhstan, respectively.About 50 promising varieties arenow being tested for final releasein different countries. The major

emphasis is on on-farm testing ofimproved varieties and seed pro-duction of released varieties, tostimulate large-scale adoption.

Genetic resources

Genetic resource conservationefforts have been strengthenedthroughout the region. Renovationof the Uzbek Gene Bank, withsupport from ICARDA and IPGRI,

has sensitized policymakers toimprove other germplasm storagefacilities. Considerable progresshas been made in Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and Georgia on estab-lishing national genetic resourcecenters with medium-term storagefacilities. The genebank at theGenetic Research Institute ofAzerbaijan has been made func-tional, and a new genebank estab-lished in Turkmenistan.

A new project to improvegenebank facilities in the CACregion, funded by the Global CropDiversity Trust, started in July2005. It is being managed byICARDA and the ProgramFacilitation Unit (PFU). The projectwill provide support for the mosturgent needs of genebanks in theCAC countries, focusing on cropsof critical importance.

A collection mission in Armenia inJuly 2005, in collaboration with thenational program, Vavilov Instituteof Russia, and CLIMA of Australia,yielded a number of valuablelegume landraces. Within theframework of the CATCNNetwork, a working group on

H. E. Begench Atamuradov (center), Minister of Agriculture, Turkmenistan, with par-

ticipants of the Eighth ICARDA-CAC Regional Coordination Meeting.

A Field Day in Tajikistan: demonstration of improved chickpea and lentil lines selected

from ICARDA-supplied genetic materials. About 65 farmers attended the event.

Central Asia and the Caucasus Regional

Program



plant genetic resources (focusingon ICARDA’s mandate crops) hasbeen established in each CACcountry. ICARDA provided all theeight groups with equipment(computers, digital cameras, pro-jectors etc.) as well as training onPGR documentation.

Workshops and meetings

The eighth CAC RegionalCoordination Meeting, held inTurkmenistan in March, wasattended by 54 participants,including all NARS heads. Twoother meetings for ADB-fundedprojects were organized in con-junction with this meeting: aSteering Committee meeting of thesoil fertility project in Central Asia,and the inception workshop for anIWMI-ICARDA-ICBA project ondegradation in the Aral Sea basin.

The Swedish InternationalDevelopment CooperationAgency (SIDA) will begin activi-

ties in the CAC region in 2006.SIDA and ICARDA jointly organ-ized a meeting on plant geneticresources in Aleppo in May 2005,attended by 27 participants fromthe eight countries, as well asIPGRI, PFU-CGIAR and theGlobal Crop Diversity Trust.


Capacity building efforts in 2005included training programs forscientists, extension staff, farmers,and representatives from govern-ment departments. There were atotal 67 participants from eightcountries. The training coveredvarious areas: PGR data manage-ment, disease survey techniques,IPM, seed production and relatedissues (seed policy, regulations,privatization, variety evaluationand release, variety maintenance,quarantine procedures, regionalharmonization), and extensionmethods. Some of these programswill have multiplier effects. For

example, participants in thecourse on PGR data managementare expected to disseminate thedatabase package and relatedskills to institutes holding ex-situcollections in their countries.

At NARS request, special effortswere made to improve Englishlanguage skills. Two intensive 3-month courses were held inTashkent, Uzbekistan. Seven suchcourses have been conducted,and about 400 scientists havebeen trained to date.

The administrative office of theLatin America Regional Program(LARP) is located at CIMMYT inMexico. The objective of LARP isto collaborate with NARS, NGOs,and private organizations in theregion on research, humanresource capacity building andnetworking. Several collaborativeprojects were implemented in2005.


National level collaborative proj-ects included the development ofbarley adapted to central Brazil,which has been in operation since2001, aiming to provide supportfor the introduction of barley to anew agricultural frontier. The

Cerrado Region is one of the fewareas in the world where agricul-

ture is expanding, and the localprograms and companies believethat barley has a niche in theregion. A comprehensive breed-ing program has been developed

Latin America Regional Program

A disease survey training workshop in

Azerbaijan.

ICARDA barley breeder, Dr Flavio Capettini (left), met with the National Barley

Coordinator, Dr Euclydes Minella; the Regional Barley Breeder, Renato Amabile;

and local farmers, during his visit to the new barley area in central Brazil.

for the region and new varietiesadapted to the agro-ecologicalconditions are expected to bereleased soon.

The projects on the developmentof feed and forage barley adaptedto Mexico continued. New proj-ects on faba bean and chickpeawere implemented in 2005. Theintroduction and development ofgermplasm, as well as exchangeof information, will continueunder these projects.

A project to promote barley inthe north-west region of Mexico

was initiated with the local farm-ers’ association, using a participa-tory approach. Researchers fromICARDA assisted in launchingthe program. Meetings were heldwith local producers to discussopportunities for new crops andidentify training needs. Barleyevaluation experiments wereestablished and field days will beorganized in 2006.

Technical assistance

Within the framework of the col-laborative project with EMBRA-PA in Brazil, ICARDA providedtechnical assistance to the barley

breeding program for the selec-tion and testing of new barleygermplasm adapted to theregion.

The ICARDA breeder visitedBrazil to help evaluate experi-ments throughout the country.He discussed with localresearchers the results obtainedso far and opportunities for therelease of new varieties. He alsovisited Ecuador in 2005 tostrengthen the long-establishedand productive collaborationbetween ICARDA and the NARS.


119Latin America Regional Program

The Geographic InformationSystems Unit (GISU) was estab-lished in 2005, replacing the for-mer MTP Project “Agroecologicalcharacterization for agriculturalresearch, crop management anddevelopment planning”. The spe-cific mandate of GISU is toaddress ICARDA’s growingneeds for spatial database devel-opment and analysis throughGIS, and to deliver mappingproducts, resource databases,methodologies for spatial analysisand agroecological characteriza-tion, training, and web portals forknowledge dissemination.

GISU supports ICARDA’sresearch agenda with new andinnovative GIS applications. Astudy in Syria provided theknow-how for outscaling researchon identifying the biophysicalpotential of water harvestingsites. A GIS-based decision-sup-port system was developed – the“ICARDA Agroclimatic Tool”,which helps quantify climaticstresses in different agro-ecologi-cal regions of CWANA. Buildingon the concept of resource pover-ty, a new approach to povertymapping was developed thatcombines macro-level socioeco-nomic with micro-level environ-mental determinants of ruralpoverty.

GIS-embedded weather gen-

erators for characterizing cli-

matic stresses

Agroclimatic characterization ofthe CWANA region is of para-

mount importance to map theoccurrence of abiotic stresses, par-ticularly extremes of temperature,heat and drought. ICARDA has agood climatic database whichallows an adequate representa-tion of the average climate.

However, a risk assessment ofclimatic stresses is basically anestimation of probabilities, whichrequires consideration of climaticvariability. The low density ofmeteorological stations in theCWANA region, the high cost ofmeteorological data and manygaps in data records have made ithard to quantify these stresses inmost parts of the region.

To address this problem a jointstudy was undertaken with thePlant Stress and WaterConservation Laboratory of theUSDA’s Agricultural ResearchService. The objective was todevelop a decision-support sys-tem, the “ICARDA AgroclimaticTool”. This application allows a

user to select any agriculturallocation inside the ICARDA man-date region through a simpleWindows user interface andobtain a set of relevant views onthe climatic stresses at that loca-tion for the selected crop, grow-ing season and soil type. The out-puts are estimates of means andprobabilities of exceeding user-defined thresholds for tempera-


Support Services

Geographic Information Systems Unit

The most important achievementof the Computer and BiometricsSupport Unit (CBSU) during 2005was implementation of the web-based version of OracleApplications (11i) covering finan-cial, administrative and humanresources areas, to meet newreporting requirements and over-come deficiencies in the previoussystem. Many functional process-es were re-engineered, newreports developed, users trained,and access improved.

ICARDA’s Local Area Networkachieved very high availability of

network and services (Exchange,Proxy/ISA, File Servers, Intranet)throughout 2005, approaching anuptime of 99.9%. ISA 2004 serverwas installed to replace an oldVPN system for Active Directoryand SMTP messaging. The wire-less network was extended intothe conference room, for bothSatellite and LAN services. A newanti-virus software, Trend OfficeScan was installed on servers andclient PCs. Secure access for theOracle outreach project was setup and tested successfully. SSL-Explorer was installed to giveremote access to the Intranet.GoRemote software was installed

for traveling users to replaceexpensive TAS access. We suc-cessfully set up a second standbyMS Exchange server and a securecertificate web server for travel-ing users.

The Internet bandwidth was fur-ther upgraded to 2 Mbit/sec. TheICARDA Intranet was developedfurther with new pages and serv-ices.

Support to ICARDA outreachoffices continued. The ICARDASchool was supported for hard-ware maintenance, local area net-work, internet access, and OracleApplications on-line reporting.Site surveys on internet servicewere carried out for the Tashkent,

ture and precipitation on a dailybasis, or for user-defined timeperiods. The results can beviewed as graphs or exported asdata files for use in other softwareapplications.

The core of this application is a‘weather generator’, which isactually a software module thatgenerates artificial series of cli-matic data through a process ofstochastic simulation. The weath-er generator was first parameter-ized for different parts ofCWANA by using real climaticdata series. The application wasthen developed using severalpublic domain databases.Precipitation, minimum andmaximum temperature data for649 stations were obtained for theperiod 1977-1991 from two cli-matic data archives in the publicdomain, the Global DailySummary Data (GLDS) and theGlobal Daily ClimatologyNetwork (GDCN). Additionaldatabases were added: a crop

database containing informationfor irrigation, the GTOPO30Digital Elevation Model, andsimplified maps of countryboundaries, population centers,agricultural areas and stationlocations. All these databases are‘embedded’ within the applica-tion.

The weather generator used isGEM6, developed by the USDA-ARS (www.eightnine.org/USClimateGEM.htm). The feasi-bility of using synthetic climaticdata produced by the weathergenerator software, instead ofreal climatic data, depends on itsability to reproduce realistic esti-mates of the real climatic param-eters. A validation was undertak-en by comparing generated ver-sus real data, and shows satisfac-tory agreement. The ICARDAAgroclimatic Tool currently hassome limitations, notably theshort time series used to parame-terize the weather generator, buta newer version will use a longer

and more up-to-date time series.The main benefit of the Tool isthat the use of synthetic climaticdata allows us to largely over-come the lack of climatic dataavailable for ICARDA’s mandateregion. Its potential applicationsare manifold. First, the Tool willallow ICARDA’s crop breeders tobetter target new varieties, withspecific tolerances or sensitivitiesto various climatic stresses, toenvironments where these vari-eties have not been tested. Wealso expect the Tool will be usedby the Genetic Resources Unit formore in-depth characterization interms of stress tolerance ofgermplasm collected at specificsites. The Tool is also vital for thecharacterization of climatic vari-ability and climatic stresses. Forexample, it will allow water man-agement specialists to assesspotential impact of rainfall andtemperature variability on cropwater and irrigation require-ments. It also has applicability inclimate change research.


121Computer and biometrics support

Computer and Biometrics Support Unit

Kabul and Cairo offices.As part of ICARDA’s involve-ment in the CGIAR ICT-KM proj-ects, CBSU participated in theCGXchange project, and initiatedthe first phase of the “Utilizationof intelligent information systemsfor crop protection” project.Considerable work was done oncapturing the knowledge base forbarley and chickpea in coopera-tion with scientists. The Centerhosted the annual meeting of theCGIAR information technologymanagers in June.

The Unit completed the designand development of a web-basedsoil database and initiated dataloading. Further developmentwas carried out to enhance andmaintain the meteorologicaldatabase, and it was migrated toan Oracle 9i database. A newversion of the Meta database wasintroduced. A system require-ments study document wasdeveloped for a database onParticipatory Plant Breeding.

Data loading for the ProjectManager system was largely com-pleted. The new Payroll Systemcovering all contract staff at head-quarters and outreach offices wasdeveloped and implemented suc-cessfully. For the new payroll sys-tem, 12 programs, 31 reports and29 forms were developed or mod-ified.

The Unit provided 110 biometricconsultancies to ICARDAresearchers. Support on statisticalsoftware and data managementwas provided on over 60 occa-

sions. Online bio-computingfacilities were provided to userson 73 occasions.

Statistical designs were devel-oped for various experimentsincluding those for evaluatingthe effect of irrigation on wheat;chickpea seed treatments andfoliar treatments; safflower vari-ety, row-spacing, and seed rate;seed storage factors; response ofbarley genotypes to vernalizationand photoperiod; application ofphosphorus and organic matterand water on soil nutrientsextracted in the resin polymer.

Statistical analyses were carriedout for numerous datasets –identifying winter and facultativewheat genotypes and classifyingthem into categories for droughttolerance and input responsive-ness; diversity and selection coef-ficients using data on pathogendistribution on a number of bar-ley hosts; evaluating wheat geno-types under protection treat-ments in a crop-loss experiment

on yellow rust; performance ofmixtures of genotypes; evaluat-ing effectiveness of core sam-pling methods on the coverage ofpopulation parameters usingcore sample based confidenceintervals; fitting genetic ratios onAscochyta blight score in fababean and estimation of effectivenumber of factors controlling thedisease; evaluating data frommeat tasting experiments; behav-ior preferences of sheep on graz-ing of shrubs; screening of mod-els for validating evapotranspira-tion using experimental data;and data on phosphorus dynamics.

Training

CBSU participated in theGeneration Challenge Programon Bioinformatics capacity build-ing and in conferences to providetraining on statistical analysis ofgene expression data and onMonte Carlo methods. Five bio-metrics courses for 83 participantswere offered.


122

Participants of the annual meeting of the CGIAR Information Technology Managers,

held at ICARDA headquarters.

Support Services


123

Publications and media

relations

The Center produced a widerange of publications in 2005, tar-geted at various audiences. Theseincluded a weekly newsletter;Caravan, a periodical describingICARDA’s research to non-techni-cal readers; corporate and pro-gram annual reports; newslettersfor regional seed network and thedryland agrobiodiversity project,and a number of scientific reportsand workshop proceedings. Sixtitles were produced in the “Tiesthat Bind” series which describescollaboration between ICARDAand individual countries or donoragencies. The publications weredistributed widely to NARS andother partners worldwide. Alarge number of posters were pro-duced for scientific conferencesand book fairs.

The New Scientist carried a fea-ture article “Returning Farmlandto Productivity,” inspired by‘Healing Wounds,’ produced atICARDA for the CGIAR. The arti-cle brought increased visibility toICARDA and other CGIAR cen-ters, and was subsequently citedin several media stories. TheCanadian BroadcastingCorporation radio network did afeature on rebuilding agriculture,and the Crawford Fund pub-lished a brochure (drawing mate-rial from Healing Wounds) onAustralia’s support to rebuildingagriculture in various countries.

‘Healing Wounds’ was formallylaunched in Kabul in February2005, by the Afghanistan Minister

of Agriculture. The launch wascovered by a large number ofmdia representatives includingthose from BBC, Voice ofAmerica, the Afghanistan printmedia, and local and regionalradio and TV stations.

The regional and internationalmedia continued to provide posi-tive coverage of ICARDA’s work.The clippings are posted onICARDA’s website (www.icar-da.org/Media.htm). Key storiesappeared in a number of regionalnewspapers and magazines andalso in Australia, Japan and else-where.

A BBC journalist visited ICARDAin May to film the Center’s workon Sunn pest management. Thedocumentary featured in BBC’s‘Hands On’ program, viewed bymore than 270 million householdsworldwide. A Swedish TV jour-nalist visited ICARDA to familiar-ize himself with the research pro-grams, and featured the Center’swork in a documentary on Syria,for Swedish TV.

Website and multimedia

products

The Center’s website continued toattract increased number of visi-tors, with over 1 million during2005. On average, the English ver-sion of the website received over6000 hits, and the Arabic versionabout 1000 hits per day.

Communication, Documentation and

Information Services

Information services

Five ICARDA training modules for online learning were redesigned, and uploaded

to the CGIAR learning objects repository and learning management system.

A number of multimedia prod-ucts were developed in 2005.These included video films inEnglish and Arabic – including ashort film in memory of the lateDr Robert Havener, which wasshown at the CGIAR AGM 2005.Video footage was recorded onICARDA’s work on Sunn pestcontrol in Syria and Turkey, aswell as on small-scale milk pro-cessing initiatives in Syria. Videofootage on various research proj-ects was shared with BBC and Al-Jazeera TV.

Library and documentation

services

The library added to its collectionover 275 books, 800 issues of jour-nals and annual reports, andupdates of AGRIS databases onCD-ROMs. It fulfilled over 1900requests for literature searchesand other services from NARSscientists. The Virtual Library(CD-ROM library) on the Center’sIntranet was enriched with addi-tional links to useful reference

sources, and was extensively usedby ICARDA scientists, traineesand visitors.

In 2005, the Center’s Libraryinstalled NewGenLib, anIntegrated Library ManagementSystem, which will allow ICAR-DA to computerize all libraryactivities, and network all ICAR-DA program libraries at head-quarters and in regional offices.Considerable progress was madeon ICARDA’s digitization project,which aims to consolidate infor-mation from a vast number ofreports, technical papers andother publications into a compre-hensive searchable database.

The Unit staff participated in sev-eral meetings and consultationswith professional associations,regional forums, FAO and otheragencies to strengthen library anddocumentation services in theCWANA region. These included,for example, the GLOBAL-RAISproject of GFAR, which will assist

regional forums to develop andimplement their own regionalagricultural information systems.The Center provided a resourceperson for the CG online learninginitiative, and also expanded col-laboration with FAO to strength-en support to NARS.

ICARDA continued to maintainand strengthen its twinningagreement with agriculturallibraries in Sudan and Egypt.

Training

The Unit continued to helpstrengthen NARS capacity to doc-ument, manage and disseminateinformation. Training courseswere offered on science writingand PowerPoint presentations. Incollaboration with FAO, a two-week training course on“Management of electronic docu-ments and web databases,” wasoffered, which brought togetherparticipants from 10 countries.


124

During the year 2005, ICARDAoffered training opportunities to1196 national scientists from 49countries within and outside theCWANA region. In addition, 58national scientists from develop-ing and developed countries areconducting their graduateresearch training for MSc andPhD degrees, under the jointsupervision of ICARDA and therespective parent university orinstitution. About 20% of trainingparticipants in 2005 were women.

ICARDA continued its strategy of

gradually decentralizing trainingactivities by offering more train-ing courses at locations outside itsheadquarters in Aleppo. TheCenter offered 22 courses at head-quarters and 35 in-country,regional and sub-regional cours-es. Nearly two-thirds of partici-pants were trained in coursesorganized outside headquarters,in close collaboration with NARS.

In response to increasing (andevolving) demand for trainingfrom NARS, the HumanResources Development Unit

(HRDU) facilitated and coordinat-ed a number of training coursesfor external-funded projects, forexample the Agricultural HigherEducation and Development(AHEAD) Project in Iraq, fundedby USAID and the University ofHawaii; the Netherlands-fundedproject on IPM in Egypt; as wellas projects funded by the CGIARGender and Diversity Committee,FAO, ICBA, and JICA.

The different types of courses aresummarized below:

• Twenty-two training coursesand workshops conducted atICARDA headquarters in

Human Resource Development Unit

Support Services

Aleppo, involving scientistsfrom NARS, universities andother organizations, NGO staff,farmers, and scientists andadministrators from CGIARCenters.

• Regional training courses heldin Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Morocco,Oman, Sudan, Syria, UAE,Uzbekistan, Turkey, andYemen, in collaboration withnational research and extensionagencies, other national andregional institutions, CGIARCenters, JICA, and internationalorganizations including USAID,DFID, FAO, IFAD and theEuropean Commission.

• In-country courses for nationalresearchers, extension and NGOstaff and farmers, conducted in11 countries. Some courses wereconducted in one country forthe benefit of participants fromanother: for example, trainingin greenhouse managementconducted in Egypt for partici-pants from Afghanistan.

Collaboration in human resourcesdevelopment was further extend-ed not only with NARS, but alsowith regional and internationalresearch and training institutessuch as JICA, World Bank, FAO,IFAD, AFESD, ADB, GEF, ICBA,USAID, SYNGENTA, CLAES,universities, and several CGIARCenters. Inter-Center collabora-tion was also strengthened

through participation in theIARCs Inter-Center TrainingGroup and the exchange of train-ing databases with other CGIARprograms. ICARDA was activelyinvolved in CGIAR activitiesrelated to human resource devel-opment, including the GlobalOpen Food and AgriculturalUniversity (GO-FAU), VirtualUniversity, and initiatives on dis-tance education, e-learning andknowledge management and dis-semination. ICARDA’s trainingdatabase was also updated andplaced on the Center’s intra andinternet websites.

ICARDA is also working with theJapanese International Coopera-

tion Agency (JICA), the SyrianPlanning Commission, andnational authorities in Afghan-istan and Iraq for implementationof training courses, workshopsand seminars under the newlyapproved 5-year Third CountryTraining Programs forAfghanistan and Iraq. Anotherproject proposal for graduate andundergraduate studies for Afghanstudents was recently prepared incollaboration with Mega-Project 6and submitted to USAID forfunding. The CCER on humanresources development andcapacity building at ICARDA waslaunched in November 2004 andwill be completed in early 2006.


125Human resource development

A training course in biotechnology in progress at ICARDA.


Appendix 1 - Journal Articles

Abd-El-Moneim, A.M., M. Baum, and A. Larbi. 2005.Grasspea research at ICARDA: current status andfuture strategy. Journal of Food, Agriculture andEnvironment 3 (2): 345.

Abdel Ghani, A.M., H.K. Parzies, S. Ceccarelli, S.Grando, and H.H. Geiger. 2005. Estimation ofquantitative genetic parameters for outcrossing-related traits in barley. Crop Science 45 (1): 98-105.

Abidou, H., S. Valette, J.P. Gauthier, R. Rivoal, A. El-Ahmed, and A. Yahyaoui. 2005. Molecular poly-morphism and morphometrics of species of theHeterodera avenae group in Syria and Turkey.Journal of Nematology 37 (2): 146-154.

Abidou, H., A. El-Ahmed, J. Nicol, N. Bolat, R. Rivoal,and A. Yahyaoui. 2005. Occurrence and distribu-tion of species of the Heterodera avenae group inSyria and Turkey. Nematologia Mediterranea 33:195-201.

Al Yassin, A., S. Grando, O. Kafawin, A. Tell, and S.Ceccarelli. 2005. Heritability estimates in contrast-ing environments as influenced by the adaptationlevel of barley germplasm. Annals of AppliedBiology 147: 235-244.

Alary, V. and M. El-Mourid. 2005. Food policies ofMaghreb and their effects on the agropastoral soci-eties. Les politiques alimentaires au Maghreb etleurs conséquences sur les sociétés agropastorales.Revue Tiers Monde 36 (184): 785-810 (in French).

Aquino de Muro, M., S. Elliott, D. Moore, B.L. Parker,M. Skinner, W. Reid, and M. El Bouhssini. 2005.Molecular characterization of Beauveria bassianaisolates obtained from overwintering sites of sunnpests (Eurygaster and Aelia species). MycologicalResearch 109 (3): 294-306.

Barrios, E., J.G. Cobo, I.M. Rao, R.J. Thomas, E.Amezquita, J.J. Jimenez, and M.A. Rondon. 2005.Fallow management for soil fertility recovery intropical Andean agroecosystems in Colombia.Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 110 (1-2): 29-42.

Bekele, E., S. Kumari, K. Ali, A. Yusuf, K.M. Makkouk,M. Aslake, M. Ayalew, G. Girma, and D. Hailu.2005. Survey of viruses affecting legume crops in

the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia.Phytopathologia Mediterranea 44 (3): 235-246.

Chabane, K., G.A. Ablett, G.M. Cordeiro, J. Valkoun,and R.J. Henry. 2005. EST versus genomic derivedmicrosatellite for genotyping wild and cultivatedbarley. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 52(7): 907-913.

Choo, T.M., B. Vigier, K.M. Ho, S. Ceccarelli, S.Grando, and J.D. Franckowiak. 2005. Comparisonof black, purple, and yellow barleys. GeneticResources and Crop Evolution 52: 121-126.

Eberbach, P.L. and M. Pala. 2005. Crop row-spacingand its influence on the partitioning of evapotran-spiration by winter-grown wheat in northern Syria.Plant and Soil 268 (1): 195-208.

Einfeldt, C.H.P., S. Ceccarelli, S. Grando, A. Gland-Zwerger, and H.H. Geiger. 2005. Heterosis andmixing effects in barley under drought stress. PlantBreeding 124(4): 350-355.

El-Haramein, F.J. and H. Nakkoul. 2005. Predictingnutritional and antinutritional components in grass-pea by near infrared reflectance (NIRS). Journal ofFood, Agriculture and Environment 3 (2): 347.

Gahoonia, T.S., O. Ali, A. Sarker, M.M. Rahman, andW. Erskine. 2005. Root traits, nutrient uptake,multi-location grain yield and benefit-cost ratio oftwo lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) varieties. Plantand Soil 272 (1/2) 153-161.

Grando, S., M. Baum, S. Ceccarelli, A. Goodchild, F.Jaby El-Haramein, A. Jahoor, and G. Backes. 2005.QTLs for straw quality characteristics identified inrecombinant inbred lines of a Hordeum vulgare × H.spontaneum cross in a Mediterranean environment.Theoretical and Applied Genetics 110 (4): 688-695.

Gul, A., F. Rida, A. Aw-Hassan, and O. Buyukalaca.2005. Economic analysis of energy use in ground-water irrigation of dry areas: A case study in Syria.Applied Energy 82: 285-299.

Haddad, N., M. Singh, and Q. Mamdouh. 2005. On-farm evaluation of improved barley productiontechnology packages in Jordan. Jordan Journal ofAgricultural Sciences 1 (1): 1-11.

Hamwieh, A., S.M. Udupa, W. Choumane, A. Sarker,

The following list covers journal articles published

in 2005 by ICARDA researchers, many of them in

collaboration with colleagues from national pro-

grams. A complete list of publications, including

book chapters and papers published in confer-

ence proceedings, is available on ICARDA's

web site: www.icarda.org.

Appendix 1 128


F. Dreyer, C. Jung, and M. Baum. 2005. A geneticlinkage map of Lens sp. based on microsatelliteand AFLP markers and the localization ofFusarium vascular wilt resistance. Theoretical andApplied Genetics 110: 669–677.

Ibrikci, H., J. Ryan, A.C. Ulger, G. Buyuk, B. Cakir, K.Korkmaz, E. Karnez, G. Ozgenturk, and O.Konuskan. 2005. Maintenance of phosphorus fertil-izer and residual phosphorus effect on corn pro-duction. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 72(3): 279-286.

Jubrael, J.M.S., S. Udupa, and M. Baum. 2005.Assessment of AFLP-based genetic relationshipsamong date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varietiesof Iraq. Journal of the American Society forHorticultural Science 130 (3): 442-447.

Katerji, N., J.W. Van Hoorn, A. Hamdy, M.Mastrorilli, and T. Oweis. 2005. Salt toleranceanalysis of chickpea, faba bean and durum wheatvarieties: I. Chickpea and faba bean. AgriculturalWater Management 72 (3): 177-194.

Katerji, N., J.W. Van Hoorn, A. Hamdy, M. Mastrorilli,M.M. Nachit, and T. Oweis. 2005. Salt toleranceanalysis of chickpea, faba bean and durum wheatvarieties: II. Durum wheat. Agricultural WaterManagement 72 (3): 195-207.

Katerji, N., J.W. Van Hoorn, C. Fares, A. Hamdy, M.Mastrorilli, and T. Oweis. 2005. Salinity effect ongrain quality of two durum wheat varieties differ-ing in salt tolerance. Agricultural WaterManagement 75 (2): 85-91.

Kiros-Meles, A., S. Udupa, M.M Abang, H. Abu Blan,M. Baum, S. Ceccarelli, and A.H. Yahyaoui. 2005.Amplified fragment length polymorphism amongRhynchosporium secalis isolates collected from asingle barley field in Syria. Annals of AppliedBiology 146: 389-394.

Kiros-Meles, A., A.H. Yahyaoui, H. Abu Blan, S.Udupa, and M. Baum. 2005. Genetic and virulencediversity in a Jordanian field population ofRhynchosporium secalis on barley. Arab Journal ofPlant Protection 23 (2): 134-140.

Kugbei, S., B.R. Gregg, N. Wassimi, and A.J.G. VanGastel. 2005. Socioeconomic features, food securitystatus and seed needs of farming households inAfghanistan. Journal of New Seeds 7 (1): 53-70.

Kumari, S.G., I. Muharram, R. El-Pasha, W.A. Al-Motwkel, and A. Al-Ansi. 2005. First report ofviruses that naturally infect alfalfa and fenugreek,and of Beet western yellows virus that infectslegume crops in Yemen. Arab Journal of Plant

Protection 23 (1): 56-57 (in Arabic, English summa-ry).

La Rovere, R., P. Hiernaux, H. Van Keulen, J.B.Schiere, and J.A. Szonyi. 2005. Co-evolutionary sce-narios of intensification and privatization ofresource use in rural communities of south-westernNiger. Agricultural Systems 83: 251-276.

Malhotra, R.S., A.M. Nassif, K.B. Singh, and G. Khalaf.2005. Registration of ‘Ghab 4’ kabuli chickpea culti-var. Crop Science 45: 2653.

Medini, M., S. Hamza, A. Rebai, and M. Baum. 2005.Analysis of genetic diversity in Tunisian durumwheat cultivars and related wild species by SSRand AFLP markers. Genetic Resources and CropEvolution 52: 21-31.

Mishra, S.K., A. Sarker, B.B. Singh, B. Basandrai, andA.K. Basandrai. 2005. Slow rusting and its potentialdonors for resistance in lentil (Lens culinarisMedik.). Indian Journal of Genetics and PlantBreeding 65 (4): 319-320.

Mustafa, O., H. Kayyal, and M. Nachit. 2005. The rela-tionship between high yield potential and grainquality properties in durum wheat. DamascusUniversity Journal for the Agricultural Sciences 21(2): 304-321.

Naji, I., H. Kayyal, and S. Ceccarelli. 2005. A study ofthe performance of different barley genotypes(pure lines, mixtures, populations) under Bredastation conditions, Zone III area. DamascusUniversity Journal for the Agricultural Sciences 21(2): 254-275.

Nassif, A.M., R.S. Malhotra, K.B. Singh, and G. Khalaf.2005. Registration of ‘Ghab 5’ kabuli chickpea culti-var. Crop Science 45: 2652.

Oweis T. and A. Hachum. 2005. Water harvesting foragriculture in the dry areas. Journal of Agriculturalinvestment. Vol 3. pp 50-58 (in Arabic).

Oweis, T., A. Hachum, and M. Pala. 2005. Faba beanproductivity under rainfed and supplemental irri-gation in northern Syria. Agricultural WaterManagement 73 (1): 57-72.

Pande, S., K.H.M. Siddique, G.K. Kishore, B. Bayaa,P.M. Gaur, C.L.L. Gowda, T.W. Bretag, and J.H.Crouch. 2005. Ascochyta blight of chickpea (Cicerarietinum L.): A review of biology, pathogenicity,and disease management. Australian Journal ofAgricultural Research 56 (4): 317-332.

Porter, D.R., C.A. Baker, and M. El-Bouhssini. 2005.Resistance in wheat to a new north American-Russian wheat aphid biotype. Plant Breeding 124:603-604.

129


Appendix 1

Qadir, M., A.D. Noble, J.D. Oster, S. Schubert, and A.Ghafoor. 2005. Driving forces for sodium removalduring phytoremediation of calcareous sodic andsaline sodic soils: a review. Soil Use andManagement 21: 173-180.

Rashid, A., Z.I. Awan, and J. Ryan. 2005. Diagnosingphosphorus deficiency in spring wheat by plantanalysis: proposed critical concentration ranges.Communications in Soil Science and PlantAnalysis 36 (4-6): 609-622.

Rodriguez, A. and R. Alvarez. 2005. Uso multiple delbosque seco del norte del Peru: Analysis ingreso yautoconsumo. Zonas Aridas 9: 162-183 (inSpanish).

Rodriguez, A., R. Alvarez, and M. Uhlenbrock. 2005.Poverty and natural resource degradation:Agropastoralism in the northern coast of Peru.Zonas Aridas 9: 93-120.

Rodriguez, A. and M. Uhlenbrock. 2005. Evaluacionde la productividad primaria neta arborea poten-cial y la arquitectura vegetal para una mejor pro-duccion caprina en le departamento de piura.Zonas Aridas 9: 184-211 (in Spanish).

Sabaghpour, S.H., R.S. Malhotra, and T. Banai. 2005.Registration of ‘Hashem’ kabuli chickpea. CropScience 45: 2651.

Sarker, A., W. Erskine, and M. Singh. 2005. Variation inshoot and root characteristics and their associationwith drought tolerance in lentil landraces. GeneticResources and Crop Evolution 52 (1): 89-95.

Shideed, K. 2005. Food security and water poverty inthe Central and West Asia and North Africaregion. Journal of Agricultural Investment 3: 35-43.

Singh, M., A. Sarker, and W. Erskine. 2005. Estimationof heritability using spatial variability models: thecase of lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) trials in Syria.Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 65(2): 77-83.

Suleimenov, M., K.A. Akhmetov, Z. Kaskarbayev, andA. Kireyev. 2005. Role of wheat in diversified crop-ping systems in dryland agriculture of CentralAsia. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry29 (2): 143-150.

Suleimenov, M.K. and K.A. Akshalof. 2005. Anaccount of crop rotations with no summer fallowon chernozem soils of northern Kazakhstan.Journal of Agrarian Science, Moscow 8: 2-8 (inRussian).

Tadele, A., N.I. Haddad, R. Malhotra, and N. Samarah.2005. Induced polygenic variability in Kabuli chick-pea (Cicer arietinum L.) lines. Crop Research 29 (1):118-128.

Vales, M.I., C.C. Schon, F. Capettini, X.M. Chen, A.E.Corey, D.E. Mather, C.C. Mundt, K. Richardson,J.S. Sandoval-Islas, H.F. Utz, and P.M. Hayes. 2005.Effect of population size on the estimation of barleystripe rust QTL. Theoretical and Applied Genetics11:1260-1270.

Yilmaz, K., I. Celik, S. Kapur, and J. Ryan. 2005. Clayminerals, Ca/Mg ratio and Fe-Al-oxides in relationto structural stability, hydraulic conductivity andsoil erosion in southeastern Turkey. TurkishJournal of Agriculture and Forestry 29 (1): 29-37.

ICBA/PFU2 February 2005. Memorandumof Understanding between theInternational Center for BiosalineAgriculture (ICBA), UAE, and theProgram Facilitation Unit (PFU)of the CGIAR Program forCentral Asia and the Caucasushosted by ICARDA at itsRegional Office in Tashkent,Uzbekistan

Sudan16 March 2005. Agreementbetween the Government ofSudan, Ministry of Science andTechnology and ICARDA.

Egypt1 May 2005. Memorandum ofUnderstanding between AinShams University and ICARDA.

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan1 May 2005. Memorandum ofUnderstanding between theJordan University of Science andTechnology (JUST), and ICARDA.

Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaMay 2005. Memorandum ofUnderstanding between theMinistry of Agriculture andICARDA.

28 June 2005. Memorandum ofUnderstanding between theUniversity of Jordan and ICARDA.

Jordan, Lebanon, thePalestinian National Authorityand Syria29 June 2005. Regional Alliancefor Promoting Conservation ofAgrobiodiversity and Exchangeof Genetic Resources between theMinistries of Agriculture ofJordan, Lebanon, the PalestinianNational Authority and Syria(ICARDA is a witness).

United Nations29 June 2005. Memorandum ofUnderstanding between theUnited Nations DevelopmentProgram/Program of Assistanceof the Palestinian People(UNDP/PAPP).

Arab Authority for AgriculturalInvestment and Development26 September 2005.Memorandum of Understandingbetween the Arab Authority forAgricultural Investment andDevelopment (AAAID) andICARDA.

Association of AgriculturalResearch Institutions in theNear East and North Africa23 October 2005. Memorandumof Understanding between ICAR-DA and the Association ofAgricultural Research Institutionsin the Near East and North Africa(AARINENA) and ICARDA.

Syria15 November 2005.Memorandum of Understandingbetween Aleppo University andICARDA.

Iraq17 November 2005.Memorandum of Understandingbetween the University of Dhoukand ICARDA.

Mexico5 December 2005. Memorandumof Understanding between theInternational Maize and WheatImprovement Center (CIMMYT)and ICARDA.

Master of Science

Syria, Aleppo UniversityEl-Ashkar, Haitham. 2005. Theeffect of Mashreq/Magreb projecton the development of dry areas(Om Al-Ammad - Hamma, Al-Mahmoudly - Al-Raqqa) in Syria.

168 pp. (In Arabic, English sum-mary).

Haj Hamoud, H. 2005. A socio-economic study of integratedsunn pest management on wheatin Syria. 122 pp. (In Arabic,English summary).

Syria, Tishreen UniversityAl-Naeb, Husam. 2005. Sustainablemanagement of legumes and fertil-ization in olive groves, northwestSyria, economic aspects and theirimpact on decreasing soil erosionand physical and chemical proper-ties of the studied soil. 127 pp. (InArabic, English summary).


Appendix 2 - Graduate Theses Produced with ICARDA’s Joint Supervision

Appendix 3 - Agreements signed in 2005

Appendix 4 - Restricted-Fund Projects

ICARDA’s research program is implemented

through six Mega-Projects, as detailed in the

Center’s Medium-term Plan. Restricted-fund

project activities are supported by restricted

funding that is provided separately from the

Center’s unrestricted core funding. Restricted

funding includes donor-attributed funding (core

funds allocated by the donor to specific activi-

ties) and project-specific grants. The financial

contributions by the respective donors are report-

ed in Appendix 7. Reports on the activities listed

are included in the appropriate sections of this

Annual Report.

The Restricted-fund Projects operational during

2005 are listed below.


AFESD (Arab Fund forEconomic and SocialDevelopment)

- Technical assistance toICARDA’s activities in Arabcountries (training Arab nation-als and support to Arab nation-al programs)

- Sustainable management of nat-ural resources and improve-ment of major production sys-tems of the Arabian Peninsula

- Options for coping withincreased water scarcity in agri-culture in West Asia and NorthAfrica

- Developing sustainable liveli-hoods of agropastoral commu-nities of West Asia and NorthAfrica

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

- On-farm soil and water manage-ment for sustainable agricultur-al systems in Central Asia

- Enabling communities in theAral Sea basin to combat landand water resource degradationthrough the creation of ‘bright’spots

AUSTRALIA

ACIAR (Australian Centre forInternational AgriculturalResearch)

- Lentil and Lathyrus in the crop-ping systems of Nepal: improv-ing crop establishment and yieldof relay and post-rice-sown puls-es in the terai and mid-hills

- Genetic resource conservation,documentation and utilizationin Central Asia and theCaucasus

- Plant health management forfaba bean, chickpea and lentils

- Ensuring productivity and foodsecurity through sustainablecontrol of yellow rust of wheatin Asia

- Better crop germplasm andmanagement for improvedproduction of wheat, barley andpulse and forage legumes inIraq

Cooperative Research Centre forMolecular Plant Breeding- Post-doctoral Fellow in barley

improvement

GRDC (Grains Research andDevelopment Corporation)- Technologies for the targeted

exploitation of the N.I. VavilovInstitute of Plant Industry(VIR), ICARDA and Australianbread wheat landracegermplasm

- CIPAL (CoordinatedImprovement Program forAustralian Lentils)

- Coordinated improvement ofchickpeas in Australia –

Northern Region module- Faba bean improvement -

Northern Region- Associate Expert in legume

pathology - Collaborative barley breeding

for low-rainfall environments- Durum industry development -

Collaboration with ICARDA toaccelerate cultivar improvementfor adaptation across all pro-duction regions

Grain Foods CooperativeResearch Centre Ltd- Genetic manipulation of pulses

for improved flavor and color- Novel germplasm for food and

malt (barley products)

AUSTRIA

- Production diversification andincome generating options forsmall-scale resource poor live-stock farmers of the dry areas:The case of lamb fattening inWANA

BRAZIL

EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileirade Pesquisa Agropecuária /Brazilian Agricultural ResearchCorporation - Cooperative activities between

ICARDA and EMBRAPA

Appendix 4

CANADA

CGIAR-Canada Linkage Funds- Characterization and Molecular

Mapping of Drought Tolerancein Chickpea

Canada Fund for Africa- Support to research and capaci-

ty building activities in Eritrea,Ethiopia, Mauritania and Sudan

Crop Development Centre,University of Saskatchewan- Off-season evaluation of

Ascochyta blight reaction inchickpea

CGIAR CHALLENGE PRO-GRAMS

Generation Challenge Program- Commissioned research- Allele mining based on non-

coding regulatory SNPs in bar-ley germplasm

Harvest Plus- Identification of barley

germplasm accessions withhigh concentration of ß-carotene, iron and zinc

- Identification of lentilgermplasm accessions withhigh concentration of ß-carotene, iron and zinc

Challenge Program on Waterand Food- Improving water productivity

of cereals and food legumes inthe Atbara river basin ofEritrea.

- Strengthening livelihoodresilience in upper catchmentsof dry areas by integrated natu-ral resources management.

- Improving on-farm agriculturalwater productivity in theKarkheh river basin, Iran

CGIAR ICT-KM Program

- Utilization of Intelligent Systemsfor Plant Protection

CGIAR SYSTEMWIDEPROGRAMS

CGIAR Collaborative Programfor Central Asia and theCaucasus- Program Facilitation Unit

Systemwide Livestock Program(SLP)- Low-toxin grasspea for

improved human and livestocknutrition and ecosystems healthin drought-prone areas in Asiaand Africa

IWMI ComprehensiveAssessment Program- Assessment of water harvesting

and supplemental irrigationpotential in arid and semi-aridareas of West Asia and NorthAfrica

DENMARK

- Integrated disease managementto enhance barley and wheatproduction in Eritrea.

EC (European Commission)

EC Attributed Funding- Integrated Gene Management:

Conservation, enhancement andsustainable use of agrobiodiver-sity in dry areas

EC 6th Framework InternationalCooperation (INCO)- Mapping adaptation of barley

to drought environments(MABDE)

- Improving durum wheat forwater use efficiency and yieldstability through physiological

and molecular approaches(IDuWUE)

- Consultative Workshop onParticipatory Plant Breeding(CONPAB)

- Exploiting the wheat genome tooptimize water use inMediterranean ecosystems(TRITIMED)

ERF (Economic Research Forum)FEMISE Program- Les obstacles aux transferts

technologiques dans les petiteset moyennes exploitations agri-coles des zones arides et semiarides du Maghreb. Discussionsur les conditions d’améliora-tion de la productivité enAlgérie, Maroc et Tunisie

FAO (Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UnitedNations)

- Applied research to improveand maintain seed quality forfodder shrubs and grass speciesused for rangeland rehabilita-tion

- Preparation of the proceedingsof the International Sunn PestConference and follow-up activ-ities for the development ofIPM strategies for Sunn Pest

- Applied research component ofproject GCP/PAK/095/USA“Food Security/PovertyAlleviation in Arid AgricultureBalochistan - Pilot ProjectPhase”

- Technical Cooperation Program(TCP) “Training on Orobancheweed management in legumi-nous crops”

- TCP “Sustainable agriculturepractices in the drought affectedregion of Karakalpakstan”

- TCP “Improvement of cereals,leguminous, oil and foragecrops seed production”:

132


Appendix 4 133


Coordination and implementa-tion of activities related to theestablishment of an efficientand integrated seed productionsystem

- Expert Group Meeting onHarnessing Biotechnology andGenetic Engineering forAgricultural Development inthe Near East and North Africa

- Organization of the NorthAfrica and Nile ValleyWorkshop on TechnicalSupport to the InternationalTreaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food andAgriculture (PGRFA) - Creatingan “Intersectoral” Dialogue onPGRFA Conservation, Breedingand Seeds

- Organization of the West Asiaand Arabian PeninsulaWorkshop on TechnicalSupport to the InternationalTreaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food andAgriculture (PGRFA) - Creatingan Intersectoral Dialogue onPGRFA Conservation, Breedingand Seeds

FRANCE

CIRAD (Centre de CoopérationInternationale en RechercheAgronomique pour leDéveloppement)- Joint appointment of a CIRAD

Research Fellow on institutionaloptions for rangeland manage-ment

Service of Cooperation andCultural Action of the FrenchEmbassy in the Republic ofYemen- Supporting rural development

and food security in the terracesof Yemen: Adoption of sustain-

able protected agriculture tech-nology for the production ofcash crops in the Taez Region

GERMANY

- An integrated approach to sus-tainable land management indry areas

- Functional genomics of droughtand cold tolerance in chickpeaand lentil

- Exploration of genetic resourcescollections at ICARDA foradaptation to climate change

GLOBAL CROP DIVERSITYTRUST

- Inventory of ex-situ collectionsof Annex 1 crops in CentralAsia and the Caucasus

- Establishment of a RegionalPlant Genetic ResourcesInformation Network for theCentral Asia and Caucasus(CAC) Region

- Improving the facilities ofgenebanks in the CAC Region

GEF (Global EnvironmentFacility) / UNDP (UnitedNations DevelopmentProgramme)

- Conservation and sustainableuse of dryland agrobiodiversityin Jordan, Lebanon, Syria andthe Palestinian Authority

GULF COOPERATION COUN-CIL (GCC)

- Development of sustainabledate palm production systemsin the GCC countries of theArabian Peninsula

IDRC (InternationalDevelopment ResearchCentre)

- Strengthening seed systems forfood security in Afghanistan

- Institutionalizing participatoryplant breeding within nationalplant breeding systems: costsand benefits

- International Conference on“Promoting community-drivenconservation and sustainableuse of dryland agrobio-diversity”

- Workshop on “Participatoryplant breeding varieties: owner-ship, access and benefits

- Recognition, access, and benefitsharing in participatory plantbreeding programs in Syria,Jordan, Egypt, Eritrea

IFAD (International Fund forAgricultural Development)


- Program for strengtheningresearch and development toimprove marketing of smallruminant products and incomegeneration in dry areas of LatinAmerica

- Program to foster wider adop-tion of low-cost durum tech-nologies

- Program for enhancing foodsecurity in the Nile Valley andRed Sea region: Technologygeneration and disseminationfor sustainable production ofcereals and cool-season foodlegumes

- Technical assistance for acceler-ated project performance inNorth Africa

Appendix 4

- Small ruminant health -improved livelihood and mar-ket opportunities for poor farm-ers in the Near East and NorthAfrica region

- Community-based optimizationof the management of scarcewater resources in agriculturein West Asia and North Africa

- Developing sustainable liveli-hoods of agropastoral commu-nities of West Asia and NorthAfrica

- Social capital assessment in thearea of Southern RegionDevelopment Project, Tunisia

- Linking the Virtual Informationand Communication Centre(VICC) serving MexicoInvestment and Grant Projectswith FIDAMERICA

IRAN

Scientific and technical coopera-tion and training.

ITALY

Italy Attributed Funding- Durum wheat germplasm

improvement for increased pro-ductivity, yield stability andgrain quality

- Barley germplasm improvementfor increased productivity

- Food legume germplasmimprovement for increased sys-tems productivity: Chickpeaimprovement

JAPAN

Japan Attributed Funding- Improvement, intensification

and diversification of sustain-able crop and livestock produc-tion systems in dry areas

- Improving income of small-scale producers in marginal

agricultural environments:small ruminant milk productionand milk derivatives, marketopportunities and improvingvalue added returns

JICA (Japan InternationalCooperation Agency)- Third Country Training

Program in Crop Improvementand Seed Technology

- Japanese Technical CooperationProject for Enhancing HumanResources Development in Iraq

- JICA volunteer in research onsmall ruminant genetic diversity

JIRCAS (Japan InternationalResearch Center for AgriculturalSciences)- Evaluation of drought-tolerant

wheat germplasm- Post-doctoral Fellow in drought

physiology

KOREA: Rural DevelopmentAdministration (RDA),Republic of Korea

Collaboration in barley research

MAURITANIA

- Technical assistance to ProjectGestion des Parcours etDeveloppement de l’Elevage(PADEL)

MOROCCO

Morocco Collaborative GrantsProgram (MCGP) - Barley improvement in the arid

and semi-arid areas ofMorocco

- Introgression of selected genet-ic disease resistance intodurum wheat for the rainfedareas of Morocco

- Reinforcement of plant genetic

resources conservation and uti-lization at Settat gene bank

- Development of an integratednatural resources managementframework for sustainableagriculture in Central Morocco

- Integrated pest management inthe cereals /food legumescropping systems in Morocco

OPEC FUND FOR INTERNA-TIONAL DEVELOPMENT

- Institutionalization and Scaling-up of Participatory BarleyBreeding in WANA


- Community-based research foragricultural development andsustainable resource manage-ment in Afghanistan

PAKISTAN

- Cooperation in the appliedresearch component of theBarani Village DevelopmentProject (BVDP)

SWITZERLAND

Swiss Agency for Developmentand Cooperation (SDC) - Associate Expert in poverty

analysis- Sustainable management of the

agropastoral resource base inthe Maghreb

- Communal management andoptimization of mechanizedmicro-catchment water harvest-ing for combating desertifica-tion in the East Mediterraneanregion

- Improving the livelihoods ofrural communities and naturalresource management in the

134


Appendix 4

mountains of the Maghrebcountries of Algeria, Moroccoand Tunisia

Swiss Centre for InternationalAgriculture (ZIL), FederalInstitute of Technology Zurich(ETHZ)- Research Fellowship project on

improving resistance to barleyscald

TURKEY

- Technical assistance toSoutheast Anatolia ProjectRegional DevelopmentAdministration

UNITED KINGDOM

DFID (Department forInternational Development)Competitive Research Facility- Integrated pest management of

Sunn Pest in West Asia- Management of Research in

Alternative Livelihoods Fund(RALF), Afghanistan

- Cultivation of mint as a viablealternative livelihood in Eastand North-East of Afghanistan

- Improved rural incomes inAfghanistan from better produc-tion and sales of milk products

UNCCD (United NationsConvention to CombatDesertification)

Global Mechanism of theUNCCD- Regional Environmental

Management Officer, Tashkent- Development of a facilitation

unit for the establishment of aRegional Program forSustainable Development of theDrylands of West Asia andNorth Africa

- Regional Program forSustainable Development of theDrylands of West Asia andNorth Africa: Inventory ofactivities and gap analysis

UNCCD Sub-Regional ActionProgram (SRAP) for West Asia- Integrated natural resources

management programme tocombat desertification inLebanon and Jordan (PilotProjects)

UNESCO

- Sustainable Management ofMarginal Drylands (SUMA-MAD) - Khanasser ValleyIntegrated Research Site, Syria.

- Sustainable Management ofMarginal Drylands (SUMA-MAD) - Zeuss Koutine site,Tunisia

- Third International SUMAMADWorkshop

- Basic research on the elabora-tion, elucidation and implemen-tation of the principles for thebiological control of Sunn pestpopulations in Kazakhstan andthe Kyrgyz Republic

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

USAID (United States Agencyfor International Development)Linkage Funds- Cooperation with University of

California, Davis: Evaluation ofpulse genetic resources

- Cooperation with University ofDelaware: Using informationtechnology for improving wateruse efficiency

- Cooperation with WashingtonState University: Rust andStemphylium blight resistancein lentil

- Cooperation with University of

Vermont: Sunn pest biocontrol- Cooperation with Yale

University: Assessing theimpact of agricultural researchon rural livelihoods and pover-ty alleviation

USAID Rebuilding AgriculturalMarkets Program (RAMP),Afghanistan- Village-based seed enterprise

development in Afghanistan- Demonstrating new technolo-

gies in farmers’ fields to facili-tate rapid adoption and diffu-sion

- Introducing protected agricul-ture for cash crop production inmarginal and water deficitareas of Afghanistan

USAID Cereal ComparativeGenomics Initiative, Sub-con-tract with Prime ContractorUniversity of Minnesota- Mining wild barley in the

Fertile Crescent: A genomicsapproach for exploiting allelicdiversity for disease resistancein barley

USAID IPM CRSP (IntegratedPest Management CollaborativeResearch Support Program),Sub-contract with PrimeContractor Michigan StateUniversity- Ecologically-based Participatory

and Collaborative IPM Researchand Capacity Building Programin Central Asia

USDA/ARS (United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture/AgriculturalResearch Service)- Collection of plant genetic

resources in the Central Asianand Caucasus region

- Climatological analysis as a tool

135


Appendix 4

for agricultural decision makingin dry areas

- Identifying wheat and barleygermplasm resistant to Syrianand United States populationsof the Russian Wheat Aphid

USDA/FAS (United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture/Foreign AgriculturalService)- Biological diversity, cultural

and economic value of medici-nal, herbal and aromatic plants

in southern Tunisia- Biological diversity, cultural

and economic value of medici-nal, herbal and aromatic plantsin Morocco

- Partnership to improve rurallivelihoods in West Asia andNorth Africa through strength-ened teaching and research onsheep and goat production.

- GIS for watershed managementin the arid regions of Tunisia.

- Research on improving produc-tivity of oats as a priority forage

species in Tunisia- Biological control of weeds with

plant pathogens

WORLD BANK

- Regional initiative for dry landmanagement

- International Assessment ofAgricultural Science andTechnology for Development(IAASTD), CWANA Sub-globalComponent

136


Appendix 5 - Collaboration with Advanced Research Institutes

and Regional and International Organizations

CGIAR centers andregional/internationalorganizations

ACSAD (The Arab Center forthe Studies of Arid Zones andDry Lands)- Joint workshops, conferences

and training- Exchange of germplasm.- Collaboration in integrated

natural resource managementfor combating desertificationin Syria, Jordan, Yemen andLebanon

- Collaboration in conservationand sustainable use of drylandagro-biodiversity in Jordan,Lebanon, PalestinianAuthority and Syria.

- Collaboration in regional pro-gram for sustainable develop-ment of the drylands inWANA

CIAT (Centro Internacional deAgricultura Tropical)- ICARDA participates in the

Systemwide Programme onSoil Water and NutrientManagement (SWNM) and inthe Systemwide Programmeon Participatory Research andGender Analysis (PRGA), bothcoordinated by CIAT

- ICARDA is participating inHarvestPlus (ChallengeProgram on Biofortified Cropsfor Improved HumanNutrition), led by CIAT andIFPRI

- CIAT is the managing centerfor Theme 2 of the ChallengeProgram on Water and Foodand collaborates in the projectled by ICARDA on strength-ening livelihood resilience inthe Karkeh River Basin in Iran

CIHEAM (International Centerfor Advanced MediterraneanAgronomic Studies)- Joint training courses and

information exchange- ICARDA is participating in a

project on mapping adaptationof barley to drought environ-ments coordinated byCIHEAM

- CIHEAM, ICARDA and FAO-RNE are co-conveners of theNetwork on DroughtManagement for the NearEast, Mediterranean andCentral Asia (NEMEDCADrought Network)

- ICARDA is a member ofFAO/CIHEAM SARD(Sustainable Agriculture andRural Development) MountainMediterranean Network

- Collaboration in ConsultativeWorkshop on ParticipatoryPlant Breeding

- Study of the tolerance ofICARDA mandate crops tosalinity and drought

- Joint supervision of graduatestudents on improved watermanagement

CIMMYT (International Centerfor the Improvement of Maizeand Wheat)- An ICARDA barley breeder is

seconded to CIMMYT. - CIMMYT’s outreach program

in Turkey and ICARDA’sHighland Regional Programshare facilities in Ankara,Turkey and collaborate withTurkey in a joint Winter andFacultative WheatImprovement Program

- CIMMYT participates in theCGIAR Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development in

Central Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ICARDA is participating inthe Generation ChallengeProgram (Unlocking GeneticResources in Crops for theResource Poor) led by CIM-MYT and IRRI

CIP (International PotatoCenter)- CIP participates in the CGIAR

Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

ESCWA (UN Economic andSocial Commission for WestAsia)- Joint publications and semi-

nars on on-farm water use effi-ciency

FAO (Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UnitedNations)- ICARDA and FAO are co-

sponsors of AARINENA- ICARDA participates in FAO’s

AGLINET cooperative librarynetwork, AGRIS and CARIS.

- ICARDA cooperates with FAOin the production of the Arabicversion of the agriculturalmultilingual thesaurusAGROVOC

- ICARDA participates in FAO’sGlobal Animal GeneticResources Program and theFAO/CIHEAM CooperativeResearch Network on Sheepand Goats, Genetic ResourcesSub-Network

- ICARDA cooperates with theFAO Commission on Plant


Appendix 5

Genetic Resources- Jointly organized regional

workshops on “TechnicalSupport to the InternationalTreaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food andAgriculture: Creating anIntersectoral Dialogue on PlantGenetic ResourcesConservation”

- ICARDA is a member ofFAO/CIHEAM SARD(Sustainable Agriculture andRural Development) MountainMediterranean Network

- ICARDA participates in theInter-Agency Task Forces con-vened by the FAO-RNE (FAORegional Office for the NearEast)

- FAO-RNE, ICARDA andCIHEAM are co-conveners ofa Network on DroughtManagement for the NearEast, Mediterranean andCentral Asia (NEMEDCA)

- FAO-RNE and ICARDA coor-dinate the Oat-Vetch RegionalNetwork (REMAV)

- FAO-RNE and ICARDA col-laborate in applied research toimprove and maintain seedquality for fodder shrubs andgrass species used for range-land rehabilitation

- Collaboration in a project onfood security and poverty alle-viation in Balochistan,Pakistan

- Collaboration in a TechnicalCooperation Program onOrobanche control in foodlegumes

ICBA (International Center forBiosaline Agriculture)- Collaboration in research on

salinity management inCentral Asia.

ICRISAT (International CropsResearch Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics)- ICRISAT participates in the

CGIAR Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ICARDA and ICRISAT are co-conveners of the Consortiumon Desertification, Drought,Poverty, and Agriculture(DDPA)

- ICARDA and ICRISAT arepartners in a study of yieldgaps within theComprehensive Assessment ofWater Management of theSystemwide Program onWater

- Collaboration in the develop-ment and utilization of intelli-gent systems in plant protec-tion

IFPRI (International Food PolicyResearch Institute)- ICARDA is participating in

HarvestPlus (ChallengeProgram on Biofortified Cropsfor Improved HumanNutrition), led by IFPRI andCIAT

- ICARDA participates in theSystem Wide Program onCollective Action and PropertyRights (CAPRi) coordinatedby IFPRI

- IFPRI participates in theCGIAR Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

IITA (International Institute ofTropical Agriculture)- ICARDA is participating in

the Systemwide Program

on Integrated PestManagement, coordinated byIITA

ILRI (International LivestockResearch Institute)- ICARDA participates in the

Systemwide LivestockProgram coordinated by ILRI

- ILRI participates in the CGIARCollaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ILRI and ICARDA share ajoint position on animal epi-demiology

- ILRI and ICARDA cooperatein a joint project on smallruminant health, improvedlivelihoods and market oppor-tunities in the Near East andNorth Africa

IPGRI (International PlantGenetic Resources Institute)- ICARDA hosts and services

the IPGRI Regional Office forCentral and West Asia andNorth Africa (IPGRI-CWANA)

- ICARDA participates withother CG Centers in theSystemwide Genetic ResourcesProgram, coordinated byIPGRI, in both plant and ani-mal genetic resources

- IPGRI participates in theCGIAR Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ICARDA collaborates withIPGRI in two sub-regional net-works on genetic resources(WANANET andCATN/PGR).

- ICARDA participates in devel-opment of the SINGER project

138


Appendix 5

coordinated by IPGRI andcontributes data to the coreSINGER database

- IPGRI-CWANA is a partnerwith ICARDA in theGEF/UNDP project on“Conservation and sustainableuse of dryland agro-biodiver-sity in Jordan, Lebanon,Palestinian Authority andSyria”

IRRI (International RiceResearch Institute)- IRRI participates in the CGIAR

Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ICARDA is participating inthe Generation ChallengeProgram (Unlocking GeneticResources in Crops for theResource Poor), led by IRRIand CIMMYT

- IRRI is the Managing Centerof ICARDA’s projects in Iranand Eritrea within Theme 1 onwater productivity of theChallenge Programme onWater and Food

- Collaboration in the develop-ment and utilization of intelli-gent systems in plant protec-tion

IWMI (International WaterManagement Institute)- IWMI participates in the

CGIAR Collaborative ResearchProgram for SustainableAgricultural Development inCentral Asia and theCaucasus, coordinated byICARDA

- ICARDA is participating inthe Challenge Program onWater and Food, coordinatedby IWMI

- ICARDA serves on the

Steering Committee of theSystemwide Initiative on theComprehensive Assessment ofWater, coordinated by IWMI.

- IWMI and ICARDA share ajoint position on marginalwater use

- IWMI and ICARDA are part-ners in a joint research projecton salinity in Central Asia.

- ICARDA is participating inthe CGIAR Consortium forSpatial Information -Knowledge ManagementProject, coordinated by IWMI

UNESCO-MAB (United NationsEducation, Scientific andCultural Organization- Manand the Biosphere Program) - Collaboration in sustainable

land management of marginaldrylands

United Nations University,Tokyo, Japan - Collaboration in sustainable

land management of marginaldrylands

World Vegetable Center - for-merly the Asian VegetableResearch and DevelopmentCenter (AVRDC)- AVRDC participates in the

CGIAR Consortium forCentral Asia and the Caucasus

- Collaboration in horticultureassessment in Asia and theNear East Region

AUSTRALIA

University of Adelaide- Plant health management for

faba bean, chickpea and lentils- Better crop germplasm, crop

management and scientifictraining for improved produc-tion of cereals and legumes inIraq

CLIMA (Centre for Legumes inMediterranean Agriculture)- Development and conserva-

tion of plant genetic resourcesin the Central Asian Republics.

- Preservation of the pulse andcereal genetic resources of theVavilov Institute

- Improving crop establishmentand yield of relay and post-rice-sown pulses (lentil andLathyrus) in the cropping sys-tems of the terai and mid-hillsin Nepal

- Development of interspecifichybrids between chickpea andits wild relatives


- Better crop germplasm, cropmanagement and scientifictraining for improved produc-tion of cereals and legumes inIraq

Cooperative Research Centre(CRC) for Molecular PlantBreeding- ICARDA is a Supporting

Participant (Research)- Joint training of a PhD student

(enrolled in the SouthernCross University)

- Collaborative barley breedingfor low-rainfall environments

- Developing elite barleygermplasm for salt-stressedenvironments

Cooperative Research Centre(CRC) for Grain Foods- Genetic manipulation of puls-

es for improved flavor andcolor

- Novel barley germplasm forfood and malt

Department of Primary Industry(DPI), Tamworth Centre forCrop Improvement- Durum wheat improvement.- Chickpea improvement

139


Appendix 5

- Identification of legume virus-es and selection of legumegermplasm for virus diseaseresistance


- Survey of faba bean diseasesin Quinghai Province, China

Department of Primary Industry(DPI), Horsham, Victoria- Coordinated improvement

project on Australian lentils- Development and conserva-

tion of plant genetic resourcesin the Central Asian Republics


- Bread wheat landrace eco-geo-graphic diversity studies

Department of PrimaryIndustries (DPI), Victoria,Knoxfield Center- Study the molecular variabili-

ty of nanovirus and luteovirusisolates using PCR andsequence analysis

Land and Food Sciences,University of Queensland- Collaboration in development

of Laboratory InformationManagement System

Centre for Plant ConservationGenetics, Southern CrossUniversity- Development of ESTs using

wild barley from ICARDA

Plant Breeding Institute,University of Sydney- Assessment of pathogenic

variation in the wheat stripe(yellow) rust pathogen.

- Breeding for resistance to bar-ley stripe (yellow) rust

South Australia Department ofAgriculture (SARDI)- Plant health management for

faba bean, chickpea and lentils

Western Australia Departmentof Agriculture, - Plant health management for

faba bean, chickpea and lentils- Better crop germplasm, crop

management and scientifictraining for improved produc-tion of cereals and legumes inIraq

AUSTRIA

Federal Institute forAgrobiology, Linz- Safety duplication of

ICARDA’s legume germplasmcollection

University of Natural Resourcesand Applied Life Sciences,Vienna- Production diversification in

small ruminant production

BELGIUM

University of Gent- Assessment of Vicia sativa and

Lathyrus sativus for neurotoxincontent

University of Leuven- Joint supervision of MSc gradu-

ate research on integratedassessment of land degradation

- Cooperation in research onstrengthening livelihoodresilience in the Karkeh RiverBasin in Iran

CANADA

Agriculture Canada, Field CropDevelopment Centre, Alberta- Development of barley

germplasm with multiple dis-ease resistance

Agriculture and Agri-FoodCanada- Collaboration in development

of Laboratory InformationManagement System

University of Guelph, OntarioAgriculture College,Department of PlantAgriculture- Modeling sustainability of

cropping systems based onlong-term trials

University of Saskatchewan,Saskatoon- Genetic improvement of resist-

ance to Ascochyta blight andAnthracnose in lentil

- Evaluation of chickpea forAscochyta blight resistance

- Evaluation of chickpeagermplasm and their wild rel-atives for resistance to vascu-lar wilt

DENMARK

Risø National Laboratory, PlantBiology and BiogeochemistryDepartment- Genetic mapping in barley- Barley pathology - Integrated cereal disease man-

agement in Eritrea

Danish Institute of AgricultureSciences (DIAS)- Integrated cereal disease man-agement in Eritrea

FRANCE

CIRAD (Centre de CoopérationInternationale en RechercheAgronomique pour leDéveloppement)- Joint appointment of a CIRAD

Research Fellow on institu-tional options for rangelandmanagement

140


Appendix 5

Institut National de laRecherche Agronomique(INRA) - Morphophysiological traits

associated with constraints ofMediterranean dryland condi-tions in durum wheat

- Water balance studies in cere-al-legume rotations in semi-arid Mediterranean zone

- Collaboration on cereal cystnematodes

- Genotyping of crop wild rela-tives

- Biological control and botanicalpesticides against insect pests

- Studies on salt tolerance incereals and food legumes.

- Evaluating the performance ofcrop model STICS developedby INRA

L’Institut de Recherche pour leDéveloppement (IRD)- Cooperation in the establish-

ment of a network on waterinformation

Université de Paris-Sud, LaboMorphogenese VegetaleExperimentale- Production of doubled haploids

in bread wheat and barley

GERMANY

University of Bonn- QTL analysis in barley- Integrated approaches to sus-

tainable land management indry areas

- Joint supervision of PhD grad-uate research on the use ofremote sensing and GIS tech-niques for land degradationassessment in Syria

University of Frankfurt am Main- Genomics of cold and drought

tolerance in chickpea andlentil

University of Hamburg- Establishment of a barley

transformation system

University of Hannover- Development of transforma-

tion protocols for chickpeaand lentil

- Collaboration in research onimpact assessment of naturalresource management research

University of Hohenheim- Increasing the heterozygosity

level of barley to exploit het-erosis under drought stress.

- Joint supervision of PhD grad-uate research on sustainablemanagement of a wheat-chick-pea rotation using a croppingsystems simulator

University of Kiel- Assessment of information

needs for development ofwater management models.

- Institutions of supplementalirrigation

- Development of SSER markersin lentils

University of Leipzig- Joint supervision of PhD grad-

uate research on Bedouin fami-lies to identify constraints andopportunities for pastoraldevelopment

ITALY

Institute of Nematology, Bari- Studies of parasitic nematodes

in food legumes

Istituto Sperimentale per laCerealicoltura, Sezione diFiorenzuola d’Arda- Collaboration in mapping

adaptation of barley todrought environments

University of Tuscia, Viterbo.- Diversity of storage proteins

in durum wheat

University of Tuscia, Viterbo;Germplasm Institute, Bari; ENEA(Italian Research Agency forNew Technologies, Energy andthe Environment), Rome- Evaluation and documentation

of durum wheat geneticresources

JAPAN

Japan International ResearchCenter for AgriculturalSciences (JIRCAS)- Comparative genomics and

cDNA microarray technologyfor the identification ofdrought and cold induciblegenes in model plants

- Evaluation of genetic resourcesand biotechnological approach-es for the improvement ofwheat germplasm tolerant toenvironmental stresses

Kyoto University- Collaboration in molecular

characterization of wheat wildrelatives

Tottori University- Collaboration on human

resource development pro-grams for arid land sciences

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Rural DevelopmentAdministration - Collaboration in barley

research

141


Appendix 5

NETHERLANDS

Wageningen University - Collaboration on land and

water management research inSyria

- Collaboration on internship ontechnology transfer mecha-nisms and participatoryapproaches in dry areas

- Collaboration in internationaltraining course on agrobiodi-versity and support to localseed supply systems

Department of Plant Science,Laboratory of Plant Breeding,Wageningen- Collaboration in mapping

adaptation of barley todrought environments

PORTUGAL

Estacao National deMelhoramento de Plantas,Elvas- Developing lentil, faba bean,chickpea, and forage legumesadapted to Portugal’s conditions- Evaluation of IZARIG irrigationmanagement model for supple-mental irrigation

RUSSIA

All Russian Institute ofAgricultural Biotechnology,Moscow- Establishment of barley trans-

formation system

The N.I. Vavilov All-RussianScientific Research Institute ofPlant Genetic Resources (VIR)- Genetic resources exchange,

joint collection missions andcollaboration in geneticresources evaluation and doc-umentation

- Bread wheat eco-geographicdiversity studies

SPAIN

University of Barcelona - Durum and bread wheat stress

physiology - Barley stress physiology - Mapping adaptation of barley

to drought environments

University of the BasqueCountry- Enhancing the productivity of

sheep milk production sys-tems and quality of dairyproducts

University of Cordoba- Durum grain quality

UdL-IRTA (University of Lleidaand Institut de Recerca iTechnologia Agroalimentaria -IRTA)- Mapping adaptation of barley


SWITZERLAND

Station Fédérale deRecherches Agronomiques deChangins (RAC), Nyon- Duplication of Lathyrus genetic

resources and data

Swiss Centre for InternationalAgriculture - Improving resistance to barley

scald

Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology (ETH), AnimalNutrition Department- Feeding systems and quality

of sheep milk products

University of Bern- World Overview of

Conservation Approaches andTechnologies (WOCAT)

UNITED KINGDOM

Birmingham University- Production of Medicago and

Lathyrus field guides

CABI Bioscience- Entomopathogenic fungi for

Sunn pest control

Imperial College London- Research on microfinance

Macaulay Land Use ResearchInstitute - Research planning on feeding

systems for small ruminantproduction in the dry areas

- Analysis of long-term rotation-al trials in sheep and fodderproduction

Natural Resources Institute,University of Greenwich - Sunn pest pheromonesScottish Crop Research Institute- Mapping adaptation of barley


UNITED STATES OFAMERICA

Busch Agricultural ResourcesInc- Development of barley

germplasm with multiple dis-ease resistance and enhancedmalting quality

University of California, Davis- Study of genetic diversity in

natural populations of Aegilopsspp

- Evaluation of pulse geneticresources: Collaboration inresearch on water productivityin Iran

142


Appendix 5

- Collaboration in assessment ofhorticulture options

Colorado State University- Testing for stripe rust in

barley

Cornell University- Use of molecular markers for

genome mapping and marker-assisted selection for stressresistance in durum wheat

University of Delaware- Use of information technology

for improving water-useefficiency

DuPont Agric. Biotechnology- Development of EST markers

in wheat and lentils

Fort Valley State University,Georgia- Strengthening teaching and

research on sheep and goatproduction in Tunisia

International NutritionalFoundation- Analysis of child nutrition

among rural households

University of Hawaii:- Collaborative training pro-

gram for visiting scientists andgraduate research fellowsfrom Iraq

University of Massachusetts- Child nutrition in rural areas

of Syria

Michigan State University / IPMCollaborative ResearchSupport program- Integrated pest management

in Central Asia

University of Minnesota: - Research on improving pro-

ductivity of oats as priorityforage crops

North Carolina State University,Department of StatisticalGenetics- QTL estimation for disease

data

Northern Illinois University,Division of Statistics,- Statistical analysis of microar-

ray data

Oklahoma State University- Collaboration in feasibility

study for sustainable renova-tion of qanats in Syria

Ohio State University- Collaboration in research on

carbon sequestration

Oregon State University- Molecular mapping of barley

within the North AmericaBarley Genome Mappingproject.

- Identification of molecularmarkers associated with resist-ance to diseases of barley

Purdue University- GIS for watershed manage-

ment in the arid regions ofTunisia

University of Missouri,Columbia- Adaptation to drought and

temperature stress in barleyusing molecular markers

University of Vermont- Sunn pest biocontrol

University of Wisconsin- Small ruminant production

with emphasis in dairy sheepevaluation and crossbreeding.

- Sheep production in CentralAsia

Washington State University- Rust and Stemphylium blight

resistance in lentil

USDA/ARS (US Department ofAgriculture, AgriculturalResearch Service)- Biological diversity, cultural

and economic value of medici-nal, herbal and aromaticplants in Tunisia and Morocco

USDA/ARS Beltsville AgriculturalResearch Center, Beltsville,Maryland- Development of bread wheat

cultivars facilitated bymicrosatellite DNA markers

USDA/ARS, Manhattan, Kansas- Molecular genetics of Hessian

flyUSDA/ARS Plant Stress andWater ConservationLaboratory, Lubbock, Texas- Climatological analysis as a

tool for agricultural decision-taking in dry areas

USDA/ARS Stillwater, Oklahoma- Russian wheat aphid resist-

ance and biotypes

USDA/ARS Grain LegumeGenetics and PhysiologyResearch, Pullman, Washington- Gene mapping of economic

traits to allow marker-assistedselection in chickpea

- Exploitation of existing geneticresources of food legumes

- Inheritance and mapping ofrust and Stemphylium resist-ance genes in lentil

143


Appendix 5

USDA/ARS Plant ScienceResearch Unit - Research on improving pro-

ductivity of oats as priorityforage crops

USDA/ARS Western RegionalPlant Introduction Station,Pullman, Washington- Conservation of temperate

food, pasture and foragelegume biodiversity

- Conservation and collection ofplant genetic resources inCentral Asia and the Caucasus

United States Wheat and BarleyScab Initiative- Research network for the

development of effective con-trol measures that minimizethe threat of Fusarium headblight (scab)

Yale University- Collaboration in research on

poverty, rural livelihoods andimpact analysis

- Collaboration in remote sens-ing of rangeland degradationand vegetation analysis

144



Appendix 6 - Research Networks Coordinated by ICARDA

International GermplasmTesting Network

WANA Plant GeneticResources Network(WANANET)

WANA Seed Network

Agricultural InformationNetwork for WANA(AINWANA)

The Network on DroughtManagement for the NearEast, Mediterranean andCentral Asia (NEMEDCADrought Network)

Disseminates advanced lines, parentallines and segregating populations ofbarley, durum wheat, bread wheat,lentil, kabuli chickpea, faba bean,vetches and chicklings developed byICARDA, CIMMYT, and national pro-grams. Feedback from NARS assistsin developing adapted germplasm andprovides a better understanding ofGxE interaction and of the agroecolog-ical characteristics of major productionareas.

Working groups specify priorities inplant genetic resources; identify andimplement collaborative projects;implement regional activities.

Encourages stronger regional seed sec-tor cooperation, exchange of informa-tion, regional consultations, and inter-country seed trade.

Improve national and regional capaci-ties in information management,preservation and dissemination.

Enhanced technical cooperationamong concerned national, regionaland international organizations in theRegion, particularly the exchange ofinformation and experience among themember countries, on issues concern-ing drought mitigation.

ICARDAGermplasmProgram

IPGRI RegionalOffice forCWANA; ICAR-DA GeneticResources Unit

ICARDA SeedUnit

ICARDACommunication,Documentationand InformationServices

ICARDA servesas a Secretariat

52 countries world-wide; CIMMYT

WANA countries;IPGRI; FAO;ACSAD

Algeria, Morocco,Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey,Jordan, Syria, Egypt,Sudan, Libya, Yemen

WANA countries;CIHEAM

Countries of the NearEast, Mediterraneanand Central Asia;FAO; EC; CIHEAM.

ICARDA Corefunds

IPGRI, ICARDA,FAO

ICARDA

ICARDA

ICARDA, FAO,CIHEAM

Title Objectives/Activities Coordinator Countries/ Donor SupportInstitutions

International & Regional Networks


Appendix 7 - Financial Information

Statement of GrantRevenues 2005 (US$x000)

Donor Amount

Arab Fund 1,192 Asian Dev.Bank 363 Australia* 820 Austria 146 Belgium* 230 Canada* 1,078 CGIAR 906 Challenge Program 1,107 China* 70 Denmark* 287 Egypt* 250 European Commission 1,577 FAO 416 France* 215 Germany* 933 Global crop diversity trust 108 GM-UNCCD 123 Gulf Cooperation Council 142 IDRC 151 IFAD 1,287 India* 38 INRA-INRAT 122 Iran* 217 Italy* 880 Japan* 465 JIRCAS 31 Mauritania 100 Miscellaneous 97 Morocco 240 Norway* 763 Pakistan 355 South Africa* 49 Sweden* 583 Switzerland* 931 Syria* 500 The Netherlands* 1,094 The OPEC Fund 69 Turkey 30 UNDP 132 UNEP 45 UNESCO 60 United Kingdom* 3,276 Universiy of Hawaii 108 Universiy of Minnesota 23 USAID* 3,970 USDA 181 World Bank* 3,122

TOTAL 28,882* Donors that provided core funds

2005 2004REVENUES

Grants (Core and Restricted) 28,882 26,032 Other revenues and gains 932 474 Total 29,814 26,506

EXPENSES AND LOSSESProgram related expenses 26,772 23,517 Management and general expenses 2,796 3,076 Other losses and expenses 661 44 Total expenses and losses 30,229 26,637 Indirect costs recovery (898) (801)Net expenses and losses 29,331 25,836

EXCESS REVENUES OVER EXPENSES483 670

Statement of Activity (US$x000)

2005 2004ASSETSCurrent assets 28,097 26,984 Property & equipment 3,511 2,808 Total assets 31,608 29,792

LIABILITIES AND ASSETSCurrent liabilities 14,752 13,473 Long-term liabilities 4,145 4,091 Total liabilities 18,897 17,564Net assets 12,711 12,228Total liabilities & net assets 31,608 29,792

Statement of Financial Position (US$x000)


147Appendix 7

........ ""'" by """', ....... - IT .... ~ US$ JO= """'1

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Appendix 8 - Board of Trustees


On 31 December 2005, the composition of ICARDA’sfull Board was as follows:

Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson ChairChair, Global Water Partnership249th East 48th St. 8A New York 10017 USATel: +1 212 688 3149Cell: +1 917 582 3149E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Mohamed S ZehniVice-ChairAdvisor, International Agriculture StudiesInstitute of Agriculture, University of Malta149, Triq il Qasam, Swieqi STJ 11MaltaTel: +356 21-37 54 79Cell: +356 99260793E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Abbas KeshavarzDirector GeneralSeed & Plant Improvement Institute P O Box 31585-4119Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran Tel: Office: +98 21 3130737

+261 2706286Cell: +98 912 1166556Fax: +98 261 2709405 E-mail: [email protected]

Prof Shinobu InanagaPresident, JIRCAS 1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan Tel: +81 29 838 6301Cell: +81 90 4891 3460Fax: +81 29 838 6316 E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Guido GryseelsDirector, Royal Museum for Central AfricaLeuvensesteenweg 133080 Tervuren, Belgium

Tel: +32 02 7695285Cell: +32 476201047Res: +32 2 380 5328Fax: +32 02 767 02 42E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Seyfu KetemaExecutive Secretary, ASARECAPO Box 765, Entebbe, UgandaTel: +256 41 320212; 320556, or 321389Fax: +256 41 321126E-mail: [email protected]

Mr Mohamed Bassam Al-SibaiDeputy Head, State Planning CommissionDamascus, SyriaTel:Office:+963 11 516 1045Res: 212 7070 Cell: +963 93 517295Fax: +963 11 516 1011E-mail: [email protected]

Dr David J SammonsDirector for International Programs Institute of Food & Agricultural ProgramsUniversity of Florida, 2039 McCarty HallP O Box 110282Gainesville, Florida 32611-0282 USATel: +1 352 392 1965cell: +1 765 4122680Fax: +1 352 392 7127E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Michel A Afram President/Director GeneralLebanese Agricultural Research Institute Tal Amara, Rayak, POB 287Zahle, LebanonTel:Office: +961 8 901575, 901576Res: +961 8 810809 Cell: +961 3 577578Fax: +961 8 900077 E-mail: [email protected]


149

Dr Teresa FogelbergAssociate Director , Global Reporting Initiative Keizersgracht 209 1016 DT Amsterdam, The NetherlandsTel:Office: +31 20 531 00 15Res: +31 71 5127011Cell: +31 6 4616 21 95E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Richard Gareth Wyn JonesCenter for Arid Zone StudiesUniversity of WalesGwynedd LL57 2 UWBangor, Wales, United KingdomTel:Office: +44 01248 382346 Res: +44 01248 364289Fax: +44 01248 364717E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Abdelmajid SlamaVia Calcutta No 21Rome 00144, ItalyTel:Res: +39 06 5296278Cell: +39 320 8519547E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Kjersti LarsenAssociate Professor/Head of DepartmentUniversity Museum of Cultural History

Department of Ethnography, University of OsloP O Box 6762, Oslo, NorwayTel:Office: +47 22 85 99 68 Res: +47 22 58 99 60 Fax: +47 22 85 99 60

+47 22 85 99 60 E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Majd Jamal Director General, GCSAR Ministry of Agriculture & Agrarian ReformP O Box 113-Douma Damascus, SyriaTel: Office: +963 11 574 1940Res: +963 11 513 9483 Cell: +963 93 282238 Telefax: +963 11 575 7992E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Adel El-BeltagyDirector General (ex officio)ICARDA, P O Box 5466Aleppo, Syria Tel:Office +963 21 2225517, 2231330Res: +963 21 5741480Cell: +20 12 2100511Fax: +963 21 2225105, 2213490E-mail: [email protected]

Appendix 8


Appendix 9 - Senior Staff (as of 31 December 2005)

Headquarters,Aleppo, Syria

Director General’s Office

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, DirectorGeneral

Dr Mohan Saxena, AssistantDirector General (At Large)*

Dr William Erskine, AssistantDirector General (Research)

Prof. Dr Magdy Madkour,Assistant Director General(International Cooperation)

Dr Adel Aboul Naga, SeniorAdvisor/Consultant

Dr Elizabeth Bailey, Project OfficerMs Houda Nourallah,

Administrative Officer to theDirector General and Board ofTrustees

Corporate Services

Mr Michel Valat, DirectorMr Essam Abd Alla Saleh Abd El-

Fattah, Assistant Director

Government Liaison

Dr Ahmed El-Ahmed, AssistantDirector General

Finance Department

Mr Vijay Sridharan, DirectorMr Ahmed El-Shennawy,

Associate DirectorMr Mohamed Samman, Treasury

SupervisorMrs Imelda Silang, Finance Officer,

Budget, Donor Reporting andOutreach

Management of Scarce WaterResources and Mitigation ofDrought – Mega Project 1Dr Theib Oweis, Director

Dr Adriana Bruggeman,Agricultural HydrologySpecialist

Dr Hamid J. Farahani, Specialist inIrrigation and WaterManagement

Dr Manzoor Qadir, MarginalWater Management Specialist (joint appointment with IWMI)

Dr Bogachan Benli, Post-DoctoralFellow - Irrigation and Water Management

Mr Kenichi Kawakatsu, AssociateExpert*

Mr Akhtar Ali, Water and SoilEngineer

Integrated Gene Management– Mega Project 2

Dr Sanjaya Rajaram, DirectorDr Osman Abdalla El Nour, Bread

Wheat BreederDr Ali Abdel Moneim,

Forage/Legume BreederDr Michael Baum, BiotechnologistDr Mustapha El-Bouhssini,

EntomologistDr Flavio Capettini, Barley Breeder

(based at CIMMYT)Dr Salvatore Ceccarelli, Barley

BreederDr Stefania Grando, Barley BreederDr Rajinder Malhotra, Senior

Chickpea BreederDr Miloudi Nachit, Durum Wheat

BreederDr Ashutosh Sarker, Lentil BreederDr Amor Yahyaoui, Senior Cereal

PathologistDr Mathew Musumbale Abang,

Junior Professional OfficerDr Fekadu Fufa Dinssa, Post-

Doctoral Fellow/Barley BreederMr Fadel Al-Afandi, Research

AssociateDr Akinnola Nathaniel

Akintunde, International Crop Information System andInternational Nursery Scientist

Dr Jean Claude Chabane,Biotechnologist

Dr Bitore Djumahanov,Cereal/Legume Breeder (CAC region)

Dr Bassam Bayaa, SeniorConsultant /Legume Pathologist

Dr Shaaban Khalil, Consultant -Faba Bean Breeeder

Mr Berhane Lakew Awoke,Visiting Research Fellow

Dr Peiguo Guo, Visiting ScientistDr Masanori Inagaki, JIRCAS

Scientific RepresentativeDr Moussa Guirgis Mosaad,

Visiting ScientistDr Sripada M. Udupa,

BiotechnologistMs Sofia Kobakhia, Visiting

Research Fellow*Dr Kiros Meles, Visiting Research

Fellow*

Genetic Resources Unit

Dr Jan Valkoun, HeadDr Bonnie Jean Furman, Legume

Germplasm CuratorDr Kenneth Street, Coordinator -

CAC ProjectsMr Jan Konopka, Germplasm

Documentation OfficerDr Siham Asaad, Head of Seed

Health LaboratoryMr Bilal Humeid, Research

Associate

Improved Land Managementto Combat Desertification –Mega Project 3

Dr Richard Thomas, DirectorDr James A. Tiedeman, Range

Management ScientistDr Francis Turkelboom, Soil

* Left in 2005


151

Conservation/Land Management Specialist

Dr Celine Dutilly-Diane,Socio-economist (joint appointmentwith CIRAD)

Dr Ashraf Tubeileh, Post-DoctoralFellow (Nutrient and WaterFlows in CWANA)

Dr Hanadi Ibrahim El-Dessougi,Post-Doctoral Fellow (Nutrientand Water Flows)

Mr Haben Asgedom Tedla,Research Fellow*

Diversification and SustainableImprovement of RuralLivelihoods – Mega Project 4

Dr Colin Piggin, DirectorDr Luis Iniguez, Senior Small

Ruminant ScientistDr Mustafa Pala, Wheat Based

Systems AgronomistDr Asamoah Larbi, Pasture and

Forage Production SpecialistDr Aggrey Ayuen Majok, Project

Coordinator/ Epidemiologist(joint appointment with ILRI)

Dr Najibullah Malik, RALFManager

Ms Azusa Fukuki, ResearchAssociate

Dr Safouh Rihawi, ResearchAssociate I

Ms Monika Zaklouta, ResearchAssociate

Ms Birgitte Larsen Hartwell,Research Fellow*

Mr Tsutomu Tamada, AssociateExpert

Poverty and LivelihoodsAnalysis – Mega Project 5

Dr Kamel Shideed, DirectorDr Aden Aw-Hassan, Agricultural

EconomistDr Malika Abdelali Martini, Socio-

economist, Community and Gender Analysis Specialist

Dr Roberto La Rovere, Researcherin Economics*

Mr Markus Buerli, JuniorProfessional Officer

Dr Ahmed Mazid, AgriculturalEconomist

Dr Tidiane Ngaido, PropertyRights Specialist (joint appoint-ment with IFPRI)*

Knowledge Management andDissemination for SustainableDevelopment – Mega Project 6

Dr Ahmed Eltigani Sidahmed,Director

Dr Abdul Bari Salkini,Agricultural Economist, Liaison Scientist

Seed Unit

Dr Antonius van Gastel, HeadDr Koffi Nenonene Amegbeto,

Agricultural EconomistDr Zewdie Bishaw, Assistant Seed

Production SpecialistMr Abdul Aziz Niane, Research

Associate

Geographic InformationSystems Unit

Dr Eddy De Pauw, HeadMr Adekunle Gabriel Ibiyemi,

Senior GIS Analyst

Communication,Documentation, andInformation Services

Dr Surendra Varma, HeadMr Moyomola Bolarin, Multimedia

Training/Material SpecialistDr Nuhad Maliha, Library and

Information Services ManagerMr Ronald David Kayanja,

Communication Specialist*

Human ResourcesDevelopment Unit

Dr Samir El-Sebae Ahmed, HeadMr Faik Bahhady, Consultant

Computer and BiometricsServices

Dr Zaid Abdul-Hadi, HeadDr Murari Singh, Senior

BiometricianMr Hashem Abed, Scientific

Databases SpecialistMr Awad Awad, Database

Administrator and Financial Systems Senior Analyst

Dr Fadil Rida, ApplicationsSpecialist (Oracle Financials)

Mr Michael Sarkisian, SeniorMaintenance Engineer

Mr Colin Webster, SystemsProgrammer/Network Administrator

Station Operations

Dr Juergen Diekmann, FarmManager

Mr Bahij El-Kawas, SeniorSupervisor (Horticulture)

Mr Ahmed Shahbandar, AssistantFarm Manager

Purchasing and Supplies

Mr Essam Abd Alla Saleh Abd El-Fattah, Manager

Labor and Security Office

Mr Ali Aswad, Consultant

International School of Aleppo

Mr Robert Thompson, HeadDr Thomas Taylor, School Head*

Appendix 9

* Left in 2005


152

Damascus Office/Guesthouse,Syria

Ms Hana Sharif, Head

Beirut Office/Guesthouse,Lebanon

Mr Anwar Agha, Consultant -Executive Manager

Terbol Research Station,Lebanon

Mr Munir Sughayyar, StationManager

Regional Programs

North Africa Regional ProgramTunis, Tunisia

Dr Mohammed El-Mourid,Regional Coordinator

Arabian Peninsula RegionalProgramDubai, United Arab Emirates

Dr Ahmed Tawfik Moustafa,Regional Coordinator

Dr Ahmed El Tayeb Osman,Range/Forage Scientist/Ecologist*

West Asia Regional ProgramAmman, Jordan

Dr Ahmed Amri, RegionalCoordinator

Nile Valley and Red SeaRegional ProgramCairo, Egypt

Dr Khaled Makkouk, RegionalCoordinator

Dr Ismail Abdel Moneim Ahmed,National Professional Officer(NVRSRP Project)

Dr Abelardo Rodriguez,International Facilitator*

Highland Regional Program,Tehran, Iran

Dr Ahmed Amri, Iran/ICARDAProject Leader

Dr Habib Ketata, Iran/ICARDACoordinator*

Central Asia and the CaucasusRegional ProgramAfghanistan

Dr Nasrat Wassimi, ExecutiveManager

Mr Abdul Rahman Manan,Assistant Manager

Dr Syed Javed Hasan Rizvi, SeniorCommunication Specialist/Scientist

Dr Ghulam Mohammad Bahram,Agricultural Economist

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Dr Rajendra Singh Paroda, Headof the Program Facilitation Unit, CGIARProgram for CAC and RegionalCoordinator

Dr Mekhlis Suleimenov,Consultant

Dr Zakir Khalikulov, ConsultantScientist

Mr Yerken Azhigaliyev, RegionalEnvironmental Management Officer

Mexico

Dr Flavio Capetini, Barley Breeder(based at CIMMYT)

Islamabad, Pakistan

Dr Abdul Majid, Officer in Charge,ICARDA Applied ResearchImplementation Unit

Consultants

Dr Giro Orita, Honorary SeniorConsultant

Dr John Ryan, ConsultantDr Hiroaki Nishikawa, Consultant Mr Bashir Al-Khouri, Legal

Advisor (Beirut)Mr Tarif Kayyali, Legal Advisor

(Aleppo)Dr Hisham Talas, Medical

Consultant (Aleppo)

Appendix 9

* Left in 2005

Appendix 10 - Acronyms


153

AARINENA Association ofAgriculturalResearch Institutionsin the Near East andNorth Africa

ACIAR Australian Centre forInternationalAgriculturalResearch, Australia

ACSAD Arab Center forStudies of the AridZones and DryLands, Syria

ADB Asian DevelopmentBank, Philippines

AfDB African DevelopmentBank

AFESD Arab Fund forEconomic and SocialDevelopment,Kuwait

AGERI Agricultural GeneticEngineering Institute(Egypt)

AREO AgriculturalResearch andEducationOrganization, Iran

AGERI Agricultural GeneticEngineering ResearchInstitute, Egypt

AOAD Arab Organizationfor AgriculturalDevelopment, Sudan

APRP Arabian PeninsulaRegional Program

AVRDC Asian VegetableResearch andDevelopment Center(World VegetableCenter)

BMZ Federal Ministry forEconomicCooperation(Germany)

CAC Central Asia and theCaucasus

CACAARI Central Asia and theCaucasus Associationof Agriculturalresearch Institutions

CACRP Central Asia and theCaucasus RegionalProgram

CATCN Central Asian andTrans-CaucasianNetwork

CGIAR Consultative Groupon InternationalAgriculturalResearch

CIDA CanadianInternational devel-opment Agency

CIHEAM Centre Internationalde Hautes EtudesAgronomiquesMediterraneennes,France

CIMMYT Centro Internacionalde Mejoramiento deMaiz y Trigo, Mexico

CIAT Centro Internacionalde AgriculturaTropical, Colombia

CIP International PotatoCenter, Peru

CIRAD Centre deCoopérationInternationale enRechercheAgronomique pourle Développement,France

CLAES Central Laboratoryfor AgriculturalExpert Systems,Egypt

CLIMA Centre for Legumesin MediterraneanAgriculture,Australia

CNRADA Centre National deRechercheAgronomique

et de dévoloppementAgricole, Mauritania

CWANA Central and WestAsia and NorthAfrica

DARI Dryland AgriculturalResearch Institute,

Iran

DACAAR The DanishCommittee for Aid toAfghan Refugees

DFID Department forInternationalDevelopment, UK

ERF-FEMISE Economic ResearchForum-Euro-MediterraneanForum of EconomicInstitutes

EMBRAPA BrazilianAgriculturalResearchCorporation

ESCWA Economic and SocialCommission forWestern Asia

EARO EthiopianAgriculturalResearchOrganization

FAO Food and AgricultureOrganization of theUnited Nations, Italy

FHCRAA Future HarvestConsortium toRebuild Agriculturein Afghanistan

GAP SoutheasternAnatolia Project,Turkey

GEF Global EnvironmentFacility

GEF/UNDP Global EnvironmentFacility/UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme

GFAR Global Forum onAgriculturalResearch

GIS GeographicInformation Systems

GOSM General Organizationfor SeedMultiplication, Syria

GTZ German TechnicalCooperation Agency


154 Appendix 10

ICRISAT International CropsResearch Institute forthe Semi-AridTropics, India

IDRC InternationalDevelopmentResearch Centre,Canada

IFAD International Fundfor AgriculturalDevelopment, Italy

IFDC InternationalFertilizerDevelopment Center

IFPRI International FoodPolicy ResearchInstitute, USA

IITA InternationalInstitute for TropicalAgriculture, Nigeria

ILRI InternationalLivestock ResearchInstitute, Kenya

INAT Tunisian NationalInstitute forAgronomy

INCO-MED InternationalCooperation withMediterraneanPartner Countries(European Union)

INRA Institut National dela RechercheAgronomique,France

INRAT National AgriculturalResearch Institute ofTunisia

IPGRI International PlantGenetic ResourcesInstitute, Italy

IPM Integrated PestManagement

IRDEN Regional Program toFoster WiderAdoption of Low-cost DurumTechnologies

IRESA Institution de laRecherche et del'EnseignementSuperieur Agricoles,Tunisia

IRRI International RiceResearch Institute,Philippines

IWMI International WaterManagementInstitute, Sri Lanka

IWWIP International WinterWheat ImprovementProject

JICA Japan InternationalCooperative Agency,Japan

JIRCAS Japan InternationalResearch Center forAgricultural Sciences

LARI LebaneseAgriculturalResearch Institute,Lebanon

MAWR Ministry ofAgriculture andWater Resources,Uzbekistan

M&M Mashreq andMaghreb

MRMP Matrouh ResearchManagement Project,Egypt

NARP North AfricaRegional Program

NARS National AgriculturalResearch Systems

NASA National Aeronauticsand SpaceAdministration, USA

NCARTT National Center forAgriculturalResearch andTechnology Transfer,Jordan

NGO Non-GovernmentalOrganizations

NVRSRP Nile Valley and RedSea RegionalProgram

OECD Organization forEconomicCooperation andDevelopment

OPEC Organization ofPetroleum ExportingCountries, Austria

PPDRI Plant Pests andDiseases ResearchInstitute, Iran

SC Science Council ofthe CGIAR

SPIA Standing Panel onImpact Assessment

SPII Seed and PlantImprovementInstitute, Iran

SDC Swiss Agency forDevelopment andCooperation,Switzerland

TAGEM TarimsalArastirmalar GenelMudurlugu (Turkey)

UNCCD United NationsConvention toCombatDesertification

UNDP United NationsDevelopmentProgramme

UNEP United NationsEnvironmentProgramme

UNESCO United NationsEducational Scientificand CulturalOrganization

UNU United NationsUniversity, Japan

UN/WFP UnitedNations/World FoodProgramme

UPOV International Unionfor the Protection ofNew Varieties ofPlants, Switzerland

USAID United States Agencyfor InternationalDevelopment, USA

USDA United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture, USA

WANA West Asia and NorthAfrica

WARP West Asia RegionalProgram, Jordan


Appendix 11 - ICARDA Addresses

Syria

Headquarters at Tel Hadya, near

Aleppo, Syria

Courier addressInternational Center for AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)Aleppo-Damascus Highway, TelHadya, Aleppo, Syria

Mailing addressP.O.Box 5466 Aleppo, SyriaTel:Tel Hadya +963 21 2213433

22251122225012

DG Office +963 21 221074122255172231330

Fax:Tel Hadya +963 21 2213490

2219380DG Office +963 21 2225105

E-mail: [email protected]

City Office, Aleppo and ICARDA International School of

Aleppo

Tel: +963 21 5743104, 5748964,5746807

Fax: +963 2 5744622E-mail: (School) ICARDA-

School(ICARDA)@cgiar.org

ICARDA Damascus Office

ICARDA

Hamed Sultan Bldg., 1st FloorAbdul Kader Gazairi StreetMalki Area - Tishrin CircleDamascusTel: +963 11 3331455, 3320482Cell: +963 94 428286Fax: +963 11 3320483

E-Mail: [email protected]

Regional Offices

Afghanistan – Kabul

ICARDAHouse No. 165First Section of Carta-e-parwanNear Baharistan Movie HouseKabul, Afghanistan In Front of PowerDistribution Station

Central P.O.Box 1355Kabul, Afghanistan

Manan +93-702-74381+93-799-216-322

Rizvi +93-701-95523+93-79-9216325

Bahram +93-799-216323 Najib +93-701-72699Gilani +93-799-216324 E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]@cgiar.org

J.rizvi@cgiarorg

Nile Valley & Red Sea RegionalProgram (NVRSRP)Egypt

ICARDA15 G. Radwan Ibn El-Tabib Street - GizaP.O.Box 2416Cairo

Tel: +20 2 572435857257855681254

Makkouk-Home: +20 2 3781038

Mobile:Makkouk +20 12 2351697Fax: +20 2 5728099E-mail: [email protected]

Highland Regional Program (HRP)IranICARDA/AREOAgricultural Research & EducationOrganization (AREO)Ministry of Jihad e-AgricultureYemen Avenue, EvinP.O.Box 19835111 TehranTel: +98-21-22400094Mobile: +98-912-3018972 Fax: +98-21-22401855E-mail: [email protected]

West Asia Regional Program (WARP)Jordan

ICARDAP.O.Box 950764Amman 11195

Tel: +962-6-55257505517561

Amri - Home: +962-6-5525872Hala – Home +962-6-4206910Mobile:Amri +962-79-5554033Hala +962-777-424381Fax: +962-6-5525930E-mail: [email protected]

Lebanon

Beirut

ICARDADalia Bldg, 2nd FloorBashir El Kassar StreetVerdun Area, next to Arab Bank

P.O.Box 114/5055 Postal Code 1108-2010

Tel: +961-1-813303Mobile: +961-3-607583Fax: +961-1-804071E-mail: [email protected]


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Terbol

ICARDABeka’a Valley

Tel: +961-8-955127Mobile:Munir Sughayyar +961-3-211553Fax: +961-8-955128E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]@[email protected]

[email protected]

Latin America Regional Program(LARP)Mexico

ICARDA c/o CIMMYTApartado Postal 6-641Mexico 06600, D.F.

Tel: +52-55-58042004+52-595-9521900

Fax: +52-595-9521983/84E-mail:


Morocco

ICARDAStation Exp. INRA-QuichRue Hafiane Cherkaoui. AgdalRabat - InstitutsRabat

B.P. 6299, Rabat - Insituts, Rabat

Tel: +212-37-68290937675496

Mobile :Oumkeltoum +212-63-321570Fax: +212-37-675496E-mail: [email protected]

Oman

ICARDA OfficeAgricultural Research Center

Ministry of Agriculture & FisheriesP.O.Box 111Rumais (328) - BarkaSultanate of Oman

Fax: +968 26893572Tel: office +968 26893578Mobile:E-mail:

Pakistan

ICARDA Country OfficeNational Agriculture Research Center(NARC)Park Road, Islamabad

Tel: +92-51-9255178-9Fax: +92-51-9255178E-mail: [email protected]

North Africa Regional Program(NARP)Tunisia

No. 1, Rue des OliviersEl Menzeh V2037 TunisB.P. 435, Menzeh I – 1004 Tunis

Tel: +216-71-752099/752134Mobile:El-Mourid +216-98-464104Radhia Amor +216-98-937387Fax: +216-71-753170E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Turkey

ICARDAEskisehir Yolu, 10 kmLodumlu - Ankara

P.K. 39 EMEK06511 Ankara

Tel: +90-312-2873595/96/97Isin Home +90-312-2354649Mobile:Isin +90-533-6977674Fax: +90-312-2878955E-mail: [email protected]

Arabian Peninsula RegionalProgram (APRP)U.A.E.

ICARDAP.O.Box 13979Dubai

Tel: +971-4-2957338Mobile:A.Moustafa +971-50-6367156A.Osman +971-50-5396109A.Nejatian +971-50-4985056Fax: +971-4-2958216E-mail: [email protected]


[email protected]

Central Asia and the Caucasus(CAC) Uzbekistan

ICARDA6-106, Murtazaeva StreetTashkent 700 000

P.O.Box 4564, Tashkent 700 000

Tel: +998-71-137216913721301372104

Mobile:Paroda +919-810-191486Paroda +99893-1816621Fax: +998-71-1207125E-mail: [email protected]



[email protected]

Yemen

ICARDA Liaison Office/AREA P.O.Box 87334 - DhamarRepublic of Yemen

Tel & Fax: +967-6-423951E-mail: [email protected]

Appendix 11

Annual Report

ICARDA - DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE CLEARINGHOUSE ...

Documents

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