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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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Collaboration
with the German Private Sector
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| BASF, a
German private sector agricultural chemicals company and ICARDA have
identified areas of future collaboration. The potential areas for such collaboration include: drought tolerance in wheat, IPM research programs in Africa, and BASF's participation in the Global Rust Initiative led by ICARDA and CIMMYT.
Two BASF representatives - Ms Eva Maria Erisgen, Manager of Public and Government Affairs and Agricultural Products, and Dr Lutz Brahm, Research Scientist - visited ICARDA on 9-12 June to assess progress and discuss future collaboration. Ms Erisgen, Dr Brahm and their ICARDA collaborators met with Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA, and briefed him on the progress of the project. Dr Solh commended this collaboration and recommended that it be extended: for example, developing IPM projects on wheat, chickpea, and faba bean in East Africa and CWANA. The visitors were pleased with their meetings at ICARDA and particularly with the Director General's support for collaboration on plant protection research. Scientists from ICARDA's BIGM program will develop a research proposal and discuss it with their counterparts at BASF within the next quarter. Under a research contract with BASF, ICARDA has been conducting an experiment to examine the physiological side-effects of a fungicide under drought conditions in wheat. |
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.