ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
27 February 2003
For more information contact:S.Varma@cgiar.org
Strengthening International Collaboration on
Winter Wheat Improvement
H.E. Prof. Dr Sami Guclu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Turkey, received ICARDA Director General Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy and Dr Masa Iwanaga, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, on 5 February 2003 in Ankara to discuss ongoing cooperation and explore opportunities for new initiatives.
    The Turkey/CIMMYT/ICARDA International Winter Wheat Improvement Project and Turkey's planned membership in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, slated for 2005, topped the list of topics covered.
    The Directors General of the two Centers organized a joint meeting with Dr Ramazan Kadak, Assistant Under-Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Dr Hasan Ekiz, Director General, General Directorate of
From left, H.E. Prof. Dr Sami Guclu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Turkey, makes a point in discussions with ICARDA Director General Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy and Dr Masa Iwanaga, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, on 5 February 2003, in Ankara, Turkey.
Agricultural Research (GDAR); Dr Muzarfer Kiziltan, Deputy Director General, GDAR; Dr Vehbi Eser, Head of Field Crops, GDAR; and Dr Suleyman Karahan, Director of Cereals and Food Legumes Division, GDAR. ICARDA was represented by Dr Thomas Blake, Director, Germplasm Program, and Dr Moussa Mosaad, Winter and Facultative Wheat Breeder and Coordinator of ICARDA-Turkey Activities. Dr Hans-Joachim Braun, Head, Winter Wheat Program; Dr Julie Nicol, Nematologist; and Dr Arne Hede, Wheat Breeder, represented CIMMYT.
    The meeting was held to optimize the work of the joint winter wheat project, look for ways to extend more of the project's benefits to Central Asia and North Africa, and to plan for a renewed tripartite project agreement that "maximizes synergy with national agricultural research systems" to improve the lives of the rural poor in Central and West Asia and North Africa.
    Joint planning, joint fund-raising, training, and other activities were discussed. The parties committed themselves to work collectively, with the goal of delivering sustainable wheat production technologies designed to improve rural livelihoods.

General Directorate of Agricultural Research
In another meeting, Dr Ekiz briefed the ICARDA Director General on the structure of GDAR, after which Prof. Dr El-Beltagy reviewed some of the highlights of the more than 25 years of cooperation between Turkey and ICARDA.
    Dr Blake presented an overview of ICARDA/Turkey collaborative activities, which include training, work on winter wheat, Sunn pest integrated control, the durum network, barley, lentil, optimizing soil and water use efficiency, and supplemental irrigation.
    The Turkish delegation stressed the need for develping, and attracting funding for, special projects for research and technology transfer, along with cooperation in biotechnology, legumes, barley, and spring durum wheat.
    The delegation also asked for more collaboration with ICARDA in Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC), to which Prof. Dr El-Beltagy agreed, and invited Dr Ekiz to attend the next ICARDA-CAC planning meeting, and help develop a joint Turkey/ICARDA/CAC project.
    Prof. Dr El-Beltagy briefed the delegation on the ICARDA-led Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan, and suggested that Turkey join ICARDA as a partner in a project to improve Afghanistan's seed production system. The Director General invited Dr Ekiz to visit the seed section of the ICARDA/Afghanistan website to look for ways that Turkey can participate in this important effort.

ICARDA's (www.icarda.org) mission is to improve the welfare of people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world by increasing production, productivity, and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. ICARDA is a Future Harvest Center.
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