ICARDA plays a critical role in the conservation, development, improvement, and dissemination of climate-resilient, market-driven crop varieties that provide a crucial defense against extreme temperatures, water scarcity, the emergence of new pests and diseases, and nutritional insecurity.
Over the past four decades, ICARDA's improved cereal and legume varieties have been tested and released by national programs in partnership with ICARDA and adopted by farmers worldwide, generating net benefits of approximately US$850 million each year.
ICARDA's new varieties combat a range of challenges typical in dry regions. They can flourish in areas where rainfall is low and erratic, offer greater and more stable yields, and have a higher tolerance to stress factors such as diseases, pests, drought, and extreme temperatures. Many varieties also offer improvements in nutritional value and quality.
ICARDA packages its technologies and innovations into integrated solutions that maximize yields from the new varieties. These include better resource management, cost-effective technology transfer, connections to the private sector and research institutions, and training and capacity development. See our scaling up proven technologies pages for more information.
ICARDA's programs, genebank network, and international nurseries develop climate-smart crops alongside National Agricultural Research System country partners and global research institutions. ICARDA follows the guidelines of the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform to optimize future breeding efforts.