ICARDA annual report 2004

A rich harvest of high quality wheat seed: Village-Based Seed
Enterprise members in Kunduz, Afghanistan sharing their happiness
over the success of their efforts.
include: “Demonstrating New
Technology in Farmers’ Fields to
Facilitate Rapid Adoption and
Diffusion”, “Village-Based Seed
Enterprise Development in
Afghanistan”, “Introducing
Protected Agriculture for Cash
Crop Production in Marginal and
Water-Deficit Areas of
Afghanistan”, “Community Based
Research on Agricultural
Development and Sustainable
Resource Management in
Afghanistan”, the ICARDA/CIP
project on “Clean Seed Production,
Multiplication and Marketing for
Increased Potato Production in
Afghanistan”, and ICARDA/IDRC
Project on “Strengthening Seed
Systems for Food Security in
Afghanistan”.
To increase agricultural productivity
and rural incomes by demonstrating
and catalyzing adoption of
improved varieties and new technologies,
ICARDA established 362
demonstrations of wheat, potato,
onion, tomato, rice and mung
beans in six target provinces of
Ghazni, Helmand, Kabul, Kunduz,
Nangarhar, and Parwan. A total of
11 improved varieties of wheat,
potato, tomato, onion, rice, and
mung beans were successfully
introduced. ICARDA in close association
with the Ministry of
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry
and Food has established 15 village-based
seed enterprises in five
provinces of Afghanistan to provide
rapid access to quality seed of
most profitable crop varieties. The
enterprises produced 1092 tons of
quality seed of wheat, rice, chickpea,
and mung beans.
Protected agriculture has the
potential to contribute significantly
to both the development of rural
communities and to the Afghan
economy. ICARDA has helped to
establish a protected agriculture
center, comprising four greenhouses
and a manufacturing workshop
in Kabul which serves as a production
center and training facility for
the trainers and growers. Farmers,
extension workers, NGO personnel,
and MAAHF staff have been
International Cooperation
Participants after building the first greenhouse in Kabul,
Afghanistan.
trained in installation and maintenance
of greenhouses for growing
cucumber, tomato, lettuce, and
onions. ICARDA aims to install 19
more greenhouses in five
provinces.
With support from the OPEC
Fund, ICARDA scientists working
with their national counterparts
have revived a program of screening
and identifying new varieties
and production of early-generation
seed of wheat, barley, potato, chickpea,
and mung beans. A total of 48
trials were conducted and pure
seed produced from 13,620 progeny
rows. More than 130 tons of
high quality seed of 15 different
wheat varieties was produced and
will be multiplied by farmers in
eastern and north-eastern
Afghanistan. It is expected that
Mung bean varietal
trial at
Sheesham Bagh
research station in
Nangarhar,
Afghanistan under
OPEC-Fund
Supported Project.
ICARDA Annual Report 2004
79