ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
76
Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (left), Director General of ICARDA, in a discussion with a delegation
to ICARDA from northern Iraq. Seated next to the DG from left to right: Mr
Anwar Ahmed, Program Officer, Office of Project Coordination (OPC); Mr Bahjat
Mohamed, Director, Dohuk Region Research Station; Mr Ali Mohamed Ameen,
Director General, Agricultural Research, Extension and Training in Erbil; and Dr
Nariman Haweiz, Director General, Veterinary and Animal Production in Sulaimanyah.
The discussions focused on rebuilding agriculture in the country.
JICA, in collaboration with
ICARDA and the national program
of Syria, approved a training program
for Iraqi researchers within
the framework of its Third Country
Training Program (TCTP). The
training course in this program will
commence in 2005 and will include
the following areas: Water-Use
Efficiency; Drought Monitoring;
Crop Improvement; Livestock
Integration; and Biotechnology
Application in Crop Improvement.
ICARDA, in collaboration with
ESCWA, developed a website for
registering professionals interested
in contributing to reconstructing
Iraq. The website lists hundreds of
professionals willing to work in
Iraq.
http://www.escwa.org.lb/
information/iraq/IPR/main.html
Human resource development
The Agrobiodiversity Project
organized 29 national training
activities in which more than 700
farmers, researchers, and extensionists
participated. More than 40 officials
including the UNDP representative,
the President of the
University of Jordan, deans of agriculture
in many universities and
more than 50 farmers and herders
and their leaders attended a field
day at the project site in
Muwaqqar, Jordan in May. It was
an opportunity to show the impact
of the project on range rehabilitation
and the use of community participation
approach.
Six Iraqi researchers each participated
in three training courses at
ICARDA: “Production and
Management of Electronic
Documents and Bibliographic
Database Management,” on 19-30
September; “Experimental Station
Operation Management” on 3-14
October; and “Utilization of Expert
Systems in Agricultural Research
and Production” on 4-14 October.
A one-month training program for
four technicians and four pilot
farmers was held on 19 September
at ICARDA.
Arabian Peninsula
Regional Program
The Arabian Peninsula Regional
Program (APRP), based in Dubai,
coordinates ICARDA’s activities in
Bahrain, the Emirates, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and
Yemen. Collaborative activities
include research, capacity building,
and human resource development
in water resource management; forage
and rangeland management;
and protected agriculture. Major
emphasis is placed on strengthening
national institutions, enhancing
human resource capacity, technology
development and transfer, information
technology and networking.
APRP is funded by AFESD, IFAD,
and the OPEC Fund.
Collaborative research
Soilless growing techniques, introduced
in several Arabian Peninsula
countries to maximize quality and
quantity of production per unit of
water by APRP, have continued to
be accepted by farmers. The techniques
are considered the best
option in situations where the
greenhouse soil has deteriorated
due to salt accumulation and infestation
with soil-borne pathogens.
Simple growing systems were constructed
and tested in Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen
Production of highquality
tomato in soilless
culture at Rumais
research station,
Oman. “More crop
per drop.”