BP Singh

232 RK. AroraWorkshopslMeetingsTo develop better dialogue among national programmes inthe region, the office organized the South Asia NationalCoordinators' meetings in 1990 at NBPGR, New Delhi, and in 1992at PGRC, Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). The Proceedings of the firstmeeting contain country reports of all national programmes andare very informative to draw upon gUidelines on future work.Recommendations through NPs provide action plan in collaboration, with countries of the region.As this region is a centre of diversity for several crops anda strong work-base exists at national progralllmes, IPGRI has usedtheir expertise and organized international workshop such as onokra genetic resources at NBPGR in 1990, and 011 sesamum'Evaluation and im~rovement' in 1993.Other programmeslBPGR has also facilitated visits of scientists from the regionto IPGRI sponsored programmes (regionally, globally) whichinclude:·1. Trainings2. Workshops3. 'Symposia .4. Working Groups/meetingsUse of r~gional expertise is also encouraged and made useof in different activities in the region. The office also helps inprOViding other services such as genetic resources information,sources etc.Information dissemination(i)Two way approach is followed :provide IPGRI publications to promote concern on PGRactivities and advance research thereof, IBPGR has produced>200 publications which include:F AO-IBPGR NewsletterAnnual RepQrtGene FlowWorkshop IWorking Group Proceedings