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Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program
The Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program (NVRSRP) coordinates ICARDA’s activities in Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen through a regional office in Cairo. Crop improvement projects in the region include: “Food Legumes and Cereals Improvement in Egypt,” “Control of Wild Oats in Cereals and Other Winter Crops in Egypt,” and a project on “Strengthening Client-Oriented Research and Technology Dissemination for Sustainable Production of Cool Season Food and Forage Legumes” in Ethiopia. Several activities in NVRSRP address issues of sustainable natural resource management, such as the “Resource Management Project” supported by the European Union (EU) and the World Bank; the “Matrouh Resource Management Project” in Egypt, supported by the World bank and the Government of Egypt; and the project on “Improving Natural Resources Management and
H.E. Prof. Dr Youssef Wally (center, right), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt, discussed the strategic issues and approaches identified at the Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program. Present at this meeting were Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (center, left) ICARDA DG; heads of delegations from Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen; and senior management staff of ICARDA.
ICARDA and AGERI (Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, Egypt) signed a twinning areement in 2001 for collaboratrive research. TAC Chair, Dr Emil Q. Javier (right, front), during the course of TAC meeting held at ICARDA, visited AGERI. Here he is seen with Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (right, back), ICARDA DG; Prof. Dr Saad Nassar (left, back), President of the Agricultural Research Center, Egypt; and Dr Magdi Madkour, Director General of AGERI.

The Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI) in Egypt and ICARDA signed a twinning agreement to define the framework for mutual collaborative research on genes for abiotic stress in wheat and barley, lentil and chickpea transformation, and virus diseases of figs in western Egypt. ICARDA is collaborating with the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Expert Systems (CLAES) in Egypt to develop computer systems for agricultural management and pest control in wheat, faba bean, and cucumber. A twinning agreement is expected to be signed between CLAES and ICARDA to further strengthen this collaboration.

Annual national coordination meetings were held in Sudan, Egypt, and Yemen, attended by scientists and researchers from the national systems and universities. Participants discussed the past year’s activities and developed work plans for the next season.

Food Security for Rural Households in the Mountains of Yemen,” supported by IDRC. In addition, problem-solving regional networks are operating in Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, with funding from the respective national programs. Projects in Egypt span subjects such as IPM in faba bean, computer expert systems for faba bean production, and genetically engineered stress resistance in lentil. In Eritrea, scientists are studying integrated disease management in cereals and grasspea genetic improvement. Projects to investigate on-farm water husbandry and village-based participatory breeding are being undertaken in Yemen and Egypt, and scientists are using biotechnology in crop improvement research in Sudan and Egypt.

The 11th NVRSRP regional coordination meeting was held in Egypt in September. Participants included the Directors of the NARS of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen, ICARDA senior management and about 100 scientists from these four NVRSRP countries and ICARDA. The participants discussed the results of collaborative research activities conducted during the 2000/2001 growing season and designed work plans for next year’s activities. Following the steering committee meeting, H.E. Prof. Dr Youssuf Wally, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt, convened in his office a meeting with NARS leaders and ICARDA Director General. He commended NVRSRP for its contributions to agricultural development in the region.

The program organized three traveling workshops. Participants in Egypt discussed resource management in connection with cultivation of wheat, barley, and wild oats, while in Ethiopia, improvements in production of lathyrus and highland cool-season legumes were discussed. Capacity building within the region was enhanced through training programs, visits, and workshops.

Ethiopian scientists visited Egypt to learn about chickpea wilt and root-rot, as well as biological control of Botrytis in faba bean. A group of 12 Sudanese farmers also visited Egypt within the framework of the IFAD-funded “White Nile Agricultural Services Project.”

ICARDA scientists continued to provide technical assistance to the Matrouh Resource Management Project in Egypt on participatory barley breeding and to Yemen on natural resource management in highland terraced agriculture. An economic assessment of on-farm water-use efficiency in Egyptian agriculture, commissioned by ICARDA and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) was outsourced to national scientists from the Soil, Water and Environment Research Institute and the Agricultural Economics Research Institute.

The EU commissioned ICARDA to undertake an evaluation mission in Egypt to assess the impact of Phase II of NVRSRP since 1994. Members of the mission examined past performance with respect to sustainable production of winter cereals and cool season food legumes, and the achievements in resource management and capacity building. They appreciated the support and interest of the Egyptian Government and ICARDA’s contribution to the success of the project. The mission also noted the impact of the project on strengthening agricultural research and sustainable agricultural development in Egypt.

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