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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 Website: www.icarda.org
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Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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New
Bread Wheat Landrace Website Launched
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To support this process, seeds of a whole range of farmer varieties, or landraces, have been assembled in a worldwide network of genebanks. The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Australian Winter Cereals Collection (AWCC), house an impressive combined collection of over 17,000 bread wheat landraces from a diverse range of environments to which they were adapted. To facilitate access to this information, a web database was developed that allows the user to efficiently query the data associated with this collection, and provides the capacity to identify custom subsets of accessions with single and multiple trait(s) that may be of importance to breeding programs. This information package can be used as a powerful tool to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of identifying raw material to screen for developing improved varieties. The accessions detailed by this database are of particular importance to the breeding programs of the CWANA region, because a large proportion of them were collected in the region, many of which would no longer be available in the field. The site was developed in collaboration with ICARDA, VIR and the AWCC, with funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The software development was undertaken by Mr Mohamed Nawar who, as a former employee of IPGRI, developed and authored the GRIS package. The address of the site is: http://www.bwldb.net For more information contact: Dr Kenneth Street |
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.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.