ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
82
tices led to the production of more
than 14 million tons of wheat in Iran
during the year, giving the distinction
to the country of becoming selfsufficient
in wheat for the first time
in more than 40 years. Growing conditions
during the 2003/04 season
were generally favorable, despite
the late start of rains. In areas where
farmers adopted the improved technology
recommended by the
Dryland Agriculture Research
Institute (DARI) and ICARDA scientists,
wheat yields reached 3 t/ha,
compared with 1.5 to 2 t/ha in other
areas. DARI released a new chickpea
variety ‘Arman’ selected from
ICARDA-supplied germplasm. The
variety showed resistance to
Ascochyta blight in 10-year evaluations
under both field and artificial
epidemic conditions. In 2003/04,
‘Arman’ yielded 1 t/ha in farmers’
fields in five provinces and was
gaining popularity.
Results of forage legume experiments
conducted on various DARI
research stations showed that genotypes
of Vicia panonica, V. ervilia
and V. dasycarpa could be planted
as winter crops in cold-winter
areas. Some of the most promising
genotypes of V. sativa were: IFVS
715 Sel 2556 (5.45 t/ha biological
yield) and Sel 2717 (5.88 t/ha).
Iran spends nearly US$0.8 billion
annually to import oilseed
crops. The country has developed a
national 10-year “oilseed crops
project” aimed at reducing dependence
on imports. The most important
oilseed crop in Iran is rapeseed,
followed by safflower and
sunflower. Most of rapeseed is
grown in high rainfall or irrigated
areas, generally located in warm or
mild-winter regions where yield
may reach 4 to 5 t/ha. ICARDA
and DARI have been working on
improving production in the rainfed
areas mainly through development
of varieties resistant to cold.
During the past five years,
DARI researchers have identified
cultivars with adaptation to certain
rainfed niches, where rapeseed can
fit within the traditional cereal-fallow
system, in such rotation as
“cereal-rapeseed-cereal.” Promising
safflower breeding lines for rainfed
conditions include PI 537536-S
(yield 2.67 t/ha), PI537598 (0.9 t/ha
in on-farm testing—this entry will
be submitted for release), PI592391/
Sunset, PI250537, and S-541.
A formal agreement for the new
AREO-ICARDA International
Spring Wheat Improvement
Program (AIISWIP) was signed in
September by AREO and ICARDA.
The major aim of AIISWIP is to
develop and distribute to requesting
NARS improved wheat germplasm
suitable for the warm winter, highrainfall
or irrigated areas of low latitudes
in CWANA. Implementation
of the program started in 2004.
Collaboration in Sunn pest
research continued with joint visits
by ICARDA and Iranian scientists
to research sites for the implementation
and observation of entomopathogenic
fungi experiments.
Workshops and coordination
meetings
ICARDA and Iranian scientists participated
in the workshop to launch
the “Karkheh River Basin Project”
funded under the CGIAR
Challenge Program on Water and
Food. Scientists from CIAT, IWMI,
and UC-Davis also participated in
the workshop. During the first
three days, participants held meetings
in Karaj and discussed the
themes, sub-themes, composition of
teams, and the planning of different
activities for the two approved
projects “livelihood resilience” and
“water productivity.” They also
visited Karkheh River Basin—both
at the upper and lower catchments—for
site selection.
The twelfth IRAN/ICARDA
Annual Planning and Coordination
Meeting took place at Sararood
Research Station, Kermanshah, Iran,
on 9-13 September with the participation
of more than 40 Iranian and 5
ICARDA scientists. Participants
reviewed results and discussed the
plan of collaborative work with
DARI. This included research experiments
on breeding wheat, barley,
chickpea, lentil, and forage crops; on
soil and water resource management;
and on diseases control.
The “First National Seed
Seminar” was held in November in
Iran. Participants included scientists
from ICARDA, FAO, CIHEAM, and
local NARS. They reviewed ways to
build capacity for seed certification
in Iran. Two international consultants
were hired through ICARDA to
provide advice on seed policy and
related by-laws and seed health.
Meetings were also held in Iran at
the new SPCRI (Seed and Plant
Certification Research Institute)
through which scientists from
SPCRI and ICARDA identified areas
of technical cooperation.
Human resource development
Five researchers from different
Iranian research institutions
received specialized training at
ICARDA headquarters on barley
quality analysis, water-use efficiency,
management of electronic databases,
expert systems, and experimental
station operation management.
Iranian researchers also participated
in the Second International
Conference on Sunn pest, held at
ICARDA in July.
An in-country training course
on “Breeding for Stress Tolerance
in Food Legumes and Analysis of
G-by-E Interaction Using
Specialized Techniques and
Software” was organized in March
at the Seed and Plant Improvement
Institute (SPII), Karaj. Fourteen
Iranian researchers and four
ICARDA scientists participated in
the training.