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
For more information contact: Dr Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
 
 
28 July 2005
Protected Agriculture Brings Benefits to Afghan Farmers
A mid-season workshop to review the progress of ICARDA's Protected Agriculture (PA) project funded by USAID through the Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program (RAMP) was held in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 4 July 2005. The workshop attracted more than 60 participants who included farmers, extensionists, Government, NGO and donor representatives and other stakeholders.
H.E. Mohamed Sharif (center), Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food, inaugurated the workshop. Dr Nasrat Wassimi (right), Executive Manager of ICARDA's program in Afghanistan; and Dr Ahmed Moustafa (left), Coordinator of ICARDA's Arabian Peninsula Regional Program and PA Specialist, also addressed the opening session.

Inaugurating the workshop, H.E. Mohamed Sharif, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food, thanked ICARDA for introducing the PA technology which has started benefiting farmers. He called upon Afghan farmers to take advantage of the technology to increase their incomes. "Each agriculture cooperative should have a greenhouse. We can construct the greenhouses on a small piece of land and it is easy for our families and rural women to work inside them to produce cash crops for the market," he said.

Dr Nasrat Wassimi, Executive Manager of ICARDA's program in Afghanistan, thanked all the stakeholders for their participation in all activities implemented by ICARDA in Afghanistan. Dr Ahmed Moustafa, Coordinator of ICARDA's Arabian Peninsula Regional Program and PA Specialist, made a presentation on the sustainability of Protected Agriculture.
Farmers discussed with scientists some of the problems they face in producing cash crops in greenhouses. They agreed to form a Growers’ Association.
Farmers expressed satisfaction with the incomes they are getting so far from production in greenhouses. Mr Mohammad Qasim, a farmer from Helmand, said that PA production provides better benefits than poppy production. "For opium, we can produce one crop per year and requires lots of labor, while we can produce 2-3 crops of cucumber from a plastic house on small land with less labor and more income. I think if you give farmers a plastic house they will stop growing opium," he said.

During a roundtable discussion on constraints to PA production, farmers and scientists discussed control methods for pests and diseases. Farmers also agreed to establish a Greenhouse Growers' Association to help them get continued technical support, funding and markets for their produce.

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.
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