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I C A R D A N e w s 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 Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org |
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For
more information contact:
Dr Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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28 April 2005
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New
Research Portfolio, New Mega-Project Directors
To support the developing countries in the dry areas achieve the Millennium Development Goals, ICARDA has launched a new strategy to focus more on poverty alleviation. The 19 research projects, on which the Center's portfolio was built, now stand consolidated into six mega-projects for better integration and coherence of research activities. Recruitment process for Directors of the mega-projects started in 2004, and is now complete. Director, Mega-Project 1 Dr Theib Yousef Oweis Dr Theib Oweis, Water Management/Supplemental Irrigation Specialist at ICARDA, was appointed as Director of the Management of Scarce Water Resources and Mitigation of Drought in Dry Areas Mega-Project in January 2005. He received his BSc in agriculture from Aleppo University, Syria, in 1972; an MSc in soils and irrigation in 1980; and a PhD in agricultural and irrigation engineering in 1983 from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Dr Oweis worked for Dar Al Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners) on the construction of a 60,000 ha water harvesting-spate irrigation in South Yemen in 1974-1977. After completing his PhD in 1983, he joined the University of Jordan in Amman as an assistant professor and taught irrigation and water- related topics and conducted research on crop water management, irrigation scheduling, irrigation systems, water harvesting, and supplemental irrigation. Dr Oweis joined ICARDA in 1991 as a Supplemental Irrigation Specialist. He managed Project 3.1 and conducted research and training on improving the efficiency of water use in CWANA countries until his appointment as Director of Mega-Project 1. His research has focused on integrated water resources management, water-use efficiency, water harvesting, supplemental irrigation, watershed management, and the use of marginal-quality water in agriculture. He has coordinated global water resources issues, regional and international networks and capacity building in water management. Dr Oweis is the author of more than 30 refereed journal articles, 20 proceedings papers, 15 research reports, two books and several book chapters in various areas of water management. He won ICARDA’s Staff of the Year Award in 2000. Director, Mega-Project 2 Dr Sanjaya Rajaram Dr Sanjaya Rajaram joined ICARDA on 14 January 2005 as Director of the Integrated Gene Management: Conservation, Enhancement and Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity in Dry Areas Mega-Project. He obtained his MSc in plant breeding and genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 1965, and his PhD in agriculture from the University of Sydney in 1968. He joined CIMMYT, Mexico, as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in wheat breeding in 1969, and rose to the position of Bread Wheat Breeder in 1973; Leader of Germplasm Improvement in 1988; and more recently Director of Wheat Program (1996-2002) at the same Center. Dr Rajaram worked extensively on wheat breeding for CIMMYT in a global context and his team developed thousands of germplasm accessions and advanced lines. A total of 451 varieties, derived from CIMMYT germplasm developed under Dr Rajaram’s leadership, were released by NARS in 51 countries. Currently, some of these varieties are grown on approximately 30 million hectares worldwide; the most prominent of these is ‘PBW 343’ in India, occupying 7 million hectares in 2004. Dr Rajaram’s contributions have been widely acknowledged by many countries, including Mexico, USA, China, India, Spain, and UK, through prestigious awards. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kazakhstan Science Academy and the Ukrainian Science Academy. Director, Mega-Project 3 Dr Richard Thomas Dr Richard Thomas, Director of the Natural Resources Management Program at ICARDA, was appointed as Director of the Improved Land Management to Combat Desertification Mega-Project in January 2005. He is a graduate of the University of Wales, U.K. where he received his BSc in botany in 1973 and PhD in microbiology in 1976. His broad research interests include integrated soil, water and nutrient management in crop-livestock systems in Latin America, Africa, West and Central Asia. Dr Thomas has been a member of the CGIAR’s Task Force on Integrated Natural Resources Management since its inception in 1998. He spent 12 years at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) where he served as Project Manager and Head of the Soil and Plant Nutrition Unit. In 2002, his research team at CIAT received the CGIAR’s Excellence in Science Award for Outstanding Partnership. He is a member of the International Society of Soil Sciences, British Grassland Society and Institute of Biology (UK). Director, Mega-Project 4 Dr Colin McEwen Piggin Dr Colin Piggin is expected to join ICARDA this month as Director of the Diversification and Sustainable Improvement of Crop and Livestock Production Systems in Dry Areas Mega-Project. He received a BSc in Agricultural Science in 1967 and a PhD in 1976 from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Piggin worked for the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in Victoria, Australia, from 1968 to 1978, where he conducted agronomic research on weeds of pasture and crops to identify control options. He then worked as an agronomist, project director, and team leader for three projects at ACIL in the Philippines, China and West Timor until 1987. Dr Piggin joined the Department of Agriculture in Victoria, Australia, in 1988 as Director of the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture before joining the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) as Crop Science Research Program Coordinator in 1993. From 1996 to 1999, Dr Piggin worked as Upland and Rainfed Lowland Rice Program Leader at IRRI in the Philippines where he conducted research on upland and rainfed lowland rice culture, including weeds, drought, submergence, soil acidity, nutrient availability, nematodes and rice blast, as well as the use of allelopathy in rice. Dr Piggin joined ACIAR again in 1999 as Crop Science Research Program Coordinator and developed, coordinated, and reviewed projects undertaken by research groups in Australia and developing countries. These projects, often conducted in collaboration with a CGIAR center, address problems common to Australia and developing countries, and aim to improve productivity and sustainability of farming systems in Australia and overseas. Director, Mega-Project 5 Prof. Dr Kamil H. Shideed Prof. Dr Kamil Shideed was appointed Director of the Poverty and Livelihoods Analysis and Impact Assessment in Dry Areas Mega-Project, in January 2005. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 1976 and 1978, respectively. He received his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University, USA in 1984. He then worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Georgia, USA, for four years. Before joining ICARDA, Dr Shideed was Professor and Head of the Department of Planning and Economic Analysis at the IPA Agricultural Research Center in Baghdad, Iraq. He was responsible for research planning and monitoring; conducting applied research in Agricultural Economics; supervising PhD and MSc studies in Baghdad and Mosul Universities; and providing consultancies for various public and private organizations in economics and agricultural policies. Dr Shideed served as the National Coordinator of ICARDA’s Mashreq and Maghreb project on “The Development of Integrated Crop/Livestock Production Systems in the Low Rainfall Areas of WANA Region,” from 1994 to 2002. He continued his tenure at ICARDA as Consultant Senior Economist in 2003 and Natural Resource Economist in 2004. Dr Shideed’s record includes more than 60 publications and 31 consultancy studies and technical reports. He won two regional awards on “Innovative Research in Agriculture” from the AOAD in 1998, and a certificate for outstanding contributions to Agricultural Economics in 1985-1989 from the University of Georgia in 1989. Dr Shideed’s experience in working with international organizations is evident in his continuous collaborative research activities with ICARDA, IFAD, Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID), and Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA). He has served as consultant and visiting scientist, and/or implemented joint research activities for these organizations. Director, Mega-Project 6 Dr Ahmed Sidahmed Dr Ahmed Sidahmed joined ICARDA on 1 April 2005 as Director of the Knowledge Management and Dissemination Mega-Project. He holds a BSc in Agriculture (Honors) from the University of Khartoum, an MSc in Animal Science (Ruminants Nutrition) and PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis. He was a USDA Post-Doctoral Fellow in Modeling and Mathematical Simulation of Crop-Livestock Systems at the US Meat Animal Research Center, Nebraska. Dr Sidahmed performed on-farm small ruminant nutrition and management research while he was employed as Animal Scientist/Research Coordinator with Winrock International for USAID-funded Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program (SRCRSP) in Kenya. He joined FAO in 1986 and shouldered several responsibilities, the last being Senior Operations Officer for the New World Screwworm Eradication Program. He was transferred to IFAD in 1992 as Senior Technical Adviser/Focal Point for Livestock and Rangeland System with wide responsibilities of quality assurance, management of research grants, networking and representation of IFAD to various sectoral functions. Dr Sidahmed has published and presented more than 80 scientific papers and plenary reviews and edited two books. Dr Sidahmed managed several of IFAD-financed R&D Grants to ICARDA, ILRI, and IFPRI, and was a member of the Planning Task Force that contributed to the merger and research agenda of ILRI. He participated in four iSC review panels (for SSA, CWANA and Global), and was among the reviewers of the SC Report on Identifying CGIAR Systems Research Priorities for 2005-2015. Dr Sidahmed has strong interest in Information and Communication Technology and KM. He was Team Leader of IFAD’s Information Systems Reengineering Working Group and developed IFAD’s Livestock and Rangeland Knowledgebase – LRKB (www.ifad.org/lrkm/index.htm). He was among IFAD’s leading team for the Innovation Mainstreaming Initiative, and IFAD’s focal point for OECD/DAC POVNET responsible for Revitalizing Science and Technology for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth. |
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil,
and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management
of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants
(sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In
the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible
for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage
legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of
the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.