Moroccan Collaborative Grants Program (MCGP)

About

In 2005, a four-year project titled Moroccan Collaborative Grants Program (MCGP) between ICARDA and the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)-Morocco was established to provide the support needed to develop synergies between INRA and ICARDA scientists. The aim was to open avenues for attracting external assistance and funds. Under this initiative, five MCGP projects have been developed to address genetic resources conservation, conservation agriculture, and biotechnology backstopping.

Impact

Goals

The project's overall goal is to prepare and manage a cluster of internationally recognized research projects that serve the needs of the agricultural communities in Morocco.

Objectives

The project's objectives are: to enhance national capacity to develop and utilize agricultural knowledge and technology; to increase research efficiency; to increase technology transfer efficiency; and to increase external funding through integrated INRA/ICARDA synergies to attract additional resources from international donor agencies.

Impact pathways

The project is enhancing the national capacity of Morocco to develop and utilize knowledge and technology with an efficient technology transfer system. Expected outcomes include increased external funding from international donor agencies through integrated INRA/ICARDA synergies. The project aims to create a funding window for research projects that serve the needs of Morocco’s agricultural communities and economy and, in turn, contribute to CGIAR’s strategic goals that include: increased income and productivity; increased resilience of the poor to climate change and other shocks; improved national gene banks to enhance natural capital; enriched plant diversity; and improved diets for poor and vulnerable people.

UPDATES

In 2020, the elite high-yielding and drought-tolerant wheat genotypes from ICARDA’s bread wheat breeding program showed 50% yield levels higher than the commonly grown wheat cultivars in Morocco.

In 2021, more than 1,000 accessions of barley and 1,800 lines of wheat were selected from ICARDA genebanks and shared with INRA-Morocco’s barley and durum wheat program. More than 1,400 wheat pre-breeding lines were genotyped for alleles and gene detection and for further integration into wheat breeding programs.

In 2022, within the MCGP IV genetic gain component, breeders from INRA-Morocco and ICARDA visited the Marchouch station and made joint selections on all segregating populations and international nurseries of barley, bread wheat, chickpea, durum wheat and lentil, and on pre-breeding material of barley and wheat.