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Food
and Forage Legumes of Ethiopia : Progress and Prospects. Proceedings
of the workshop on food and forage legumes,
Addis Ababa, 22-26 September 2006. International Center for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria. xii + 351pp. ISBN:
92-9127-185-4. A wide range of food and forage legumes are grown throughout Ethiopia, providing nutritional and livelihoods benefits. About 60% of the legume harvest is consumed by the farm household, and only a small proportion sold – although these figures are reversed in some areas for some crops. This volume contains papers presented at a national workshop to review progress and identify sources of future growth. They cover various aspects – crop improvement, farmer-participatory breeding, disease and pest management, genetic resources, technology dissemination, adoption trends and constraints, marketing and other socioeconomic issues, food science, seed production and related issues, farm implements, agroclimatic analysis, and nitrogen fixation. The crops discussed include field and grass pea; common, haricot and faba bean; lentil, chickpea, soybean, fenugreek, and lupine. Price US$ 40. |
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Water
Benchmarks of CWANA Project. 1. Characteristics of Benchmark Research
Agroecosystems in WANA: Rainfed, Irrigated, and Marginal Drylands.
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
Aleppo, Syria. vi + 98pp. ISBN: 92-9127-189-7. Water scarcity is a major threat to economic development in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA). A major new project is exploring new ways to improve water-use efficiency through water harvesting and other methods, in the three major agroecologies in the region – steppe, rainfed, and irrigated areas. Benchmark and satellite sites have been established in each agroecology, covering ten countries. This report provides background information on each agroecology: biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, ongoing R&D efforts, constraints to water productivity; and future prospects. A synthesis chapter helps understand the intricacies of water management, and the technical issues relating to selection of research sites and establishment of baselines. Price: US$ 15. |
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Water
Benchmarks of CWANA Project. 2. Selection and Characterization of
Badia Watershed Research Sites.
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
Aleppo, Syria. vi + 105pp. ISBN: 92-9127-187-0. The steppe (badia in Arabic) covers vast areas in West Asia and North Africa. Despite poor rainfall and acute water scarcity, rainwater is poorly managed, and much of it is lost to runoff and evaporation. This report describes one component of a larger regional project on water harvesting and other methods to improve water-use efficiency in integrated crop-livestock systems. It discusses the use of modern tools (GIS and satellite images), in conjunction with traditional methods, to select water-harvesting sites. It illustrates general guidelines and criteria, as well as methods to select sites with specific characteristics. It also describes the biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics of watershed sites in the steppe, selected for the regional project. Price: US$ 15. |
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Socioeconomic
and Livelihood Characterization, and Baseline Information on Integrated
Research Sites in Balochistan.
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
Aleppo, Syria. x + 80pp. ISBN: 92-9127-184-6. Balochistan province occupies 44% of the total area of Pakistan. It is a largely agrarian economy, with low rainfall, limited arable land, and poor economic development. This report summarizes results from a baseline study conducted as part of a large integrated development project. The study examined livelihood assets and opportunities in rural Balochistan, through surveys at six sites representing two-thirds of the population. It provides data on household size and composition, crop and horticulture production, livestock, farm sizes, incomes, capital, infrastructure, and local institutions. This information is now being used to design interventions to improve livelihoods, and to assess the impact of these interventions. Price: US$ 15. |
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Assessing
On-Farm Water-Use Efficiency: A New Approach.
Shideed, K.; Oweis, T., Gabr, M., and Osman, M. International Center
for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria.
xiv + 86pp. ISBN: 92-9127-163-X. This report presents research results from six case studies conducted by ICARDA, the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia and national scientists in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, which led to the development of a new empirical approach for assessing on-farm water-use efficiency. The studies reveal that even in the dry areas, which are characterized by water scarcity, available water is not used efficiently for agricultural production due to farmers' practices and prevailing policies on water. The report will be useful to policy makers, researchers and farmers in the dry areas as they seek to increase water productivity. Price: US$ 10. |
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Constraints
to Technology Adoption by Small- and Medium-Scale Farmers in Arid
and Semi-Arid Areas of the Maghreb.
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
Aleppo, Syria. vi + 93pp. ISBN: 92-9127-190-0. This study was built on investigations on households in selected communities in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and the development of mathematical programming models to simulate the impact of institutional and political changes on technology adoption in each community. The study focused particularly on plantations of cactus and other animal feed technologies. Various aspects were studied: institutional options (regulation of work, credit, right of ownership and right of use), operation of markets for provision of inputs and sale of the products, stakeholders’ perceptions of risks, and effects of market liberalization. The various models provide interesting tools to understand the factors influencing adoption levels and patterns. Considering the sociological stakes, new research should support the integration of social constraints into these models by coupling existing models or developing new ones. Price: US$ 10. |
© 2008 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
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