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gru externally funded collaborative projects
The GRU, apart from undertaking activities supported
by the ICARDA core funds, also enter into bi or uni-lateral research and
development collaborations with a variety of national and international
institutions. These special projects are funded externally by a variety of funding
bodies. Listed below are some special projects that GRU scientists either
coordinate or are involved in.
Project Summaries
GEF/UNDP Project on Conservation and Sustainable
Use of Dryland Agro-biodiversity in Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority
and Syria
The West East region, including Jordan, Lebanon,
Palestine Authority and Syria is considered one of the major center of plant
diversity and endemism in the world. It encompasses an area of megadiversity for
major food crops and pasture species and contain wild relatives including those
of wheat, barley, lentils and many fruit trees. This area is part of the Fertile
Crescent where some of the major staple crops were domesticated.
The diversity of many of these species and their wild relatives is
seriously decreasing due to rapid degradation of their natural habitats,
intensification and expansion of cultivation and overgrazing and replacement of
local varieties. Consequently, the associated local knowledge is also decreasing.
The International community, aware of the importance of the
agro-biodiversity for present and future generations, are launching actions to
conserve and sustainably use the agro-biodiversity. The GEF-UNDP has financed
for 5 years (1999-2004) a regional project aiming at the promotion of in situ
and on-farm conservation and sustainable use of the landraces and wild relatives
of cereals, food and feed legumes, Allium and fruit trees species originating
from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority and Syria. The project has adopted a
holistic approach based on the participation of and empowerment of local
communities, the assessment of local agrobiodiversity and better knowledge of
its factors of degradation, the demonstration of appropriate technologies and
add-value actions, the reforms of national policies and legislation and the increasing of
public awareness. The project is also working
towards the strengthening of the scientific basis for in situ conservation of
agrobiodiversity. The project activities are executed by the National Research
Institutions or the Ministry of Agriculture in two target areas in each
country/Authority representing the arid, semi-arid and mountainous ecosystems of
West Asia and North Africa (Ajloun and Muwaqqar in Jordan, Baalbek and Aarsal in
Lebanon, Hebron and Jenin in Palestine and Al-Haffe and Sweida in Syria).Universities and NGOs
are also associated in the implementation of some of the project activities.
The regional coordination of the project is done through the International Centre for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)which provides in cooperation with
IPGRI-CWANA and ACSAD, assistance through; integration of nationally executed
project components through coordination, networking and raising awareness;
technical backstopping, capacity building and training in in situ and on-farm
conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity; and monitoring of the
project activities and their impact for lessons learned and adaptive project
planning.
Dr. Ahmed Amri
is appointed as the regional coordinator of the project. He is located at ICARDA-Amman.
The e-mail address is: icardabox45@nochub.exch.cgiar.org
Conservation, Evaluation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources From the
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Project Objectives
To carry out preliminary agronomic evaluation for important quality (e.g. malting quality in
barley) and production factors. The material to be assessed was collected from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgian,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Material from the ICARDA gene bank which originated from
CAC countries will also be added to the material collected to increase the
geographic coverage and further material will be requested from CAC ex-situ collections.
This will increase the usefulness of the germplasm to the host countries, other countries in the ICARDA
region and to Australian scientists
To compile comprehensive reports on salt tolerance screenings for both food crop and
pasture species carried out in the CAC republics. Material identified as having tolerance would be included
in trials planned for this project.
To compile reports on Lucerne breeding and performance trials carried out in the CAC
republics.
To increase the representation of accessions from CAC republics of cereal, forage and food
legumes and their wild relatives in the genetic resource collections of the
collaborating partners.
To continue characterising and documenting the germplasm collected in the previous project.
To undertake new collections that will include Georgia and Azerbaijan and a series of short
strategic collection in localities missing from the data sets or in those
regions where the germplasm has proven most promising in the field evaluations.
To study the variation in the collected materials and attempt to relate this variation to the
biotic and abiotic constraints in the environments from which the material
originated. This information will make the germplasm more useful to breeders when selecting material for
their improvement programs.
To complete the climatic homocline work stated in Phase I. More comprehensive data sets are now available which will make
the analysis more accurate.
To upgrade the human resource skills and capacity of the PGR programs in the CAC republics.
Primarily this will be achieved by supporting the mini genetic resource
units set up in Phase I. In addition scientists from the republics will be hosted at ICARDA where they
receive on the job training in aspects of genetic resources collection,
conservation, characterisation and database management.
To have the ex situ PGR holdings in each CAC republic documented in a database format.
To re-vitalise linkages between the Republics and the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry
(VIR) in St. Petersburg, ICARDA and Australian institutions to promote lasting avenues for exchange of
germplasm and information.
ICARDA will ensure that it has in place the necessary Germplasm Acquisition Agreements and
Material Transfer Agreements with the host countries to meet these objectives
Expected Outputs
Genotypes of important crop species selected from collected material evaluated for resistance
and or tolerance to various diseases and salinity.
Barley and wheat genotypes assessed for grain quality including malting quality for barley
accessions.
A list of both food crop and pasture species with salt tolerance
identified in screening trials previously performed by the CAC republics
A report on Lucerne research carried out by CAC republics and a list of high performance
cultivars or genotypes.
The collection, characterization, documentation and preservation of approximately 600 new
accessions of the target species from Cucuasian countries and strategic
locations.
Characterization, documentation and preservation of the accessions
collected in 2000 from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as part of
the former project.
An understanding of the eco-geographic variation for accessions of some
major crops and forage species originating from Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Functional mini genetic resource units operational in each CAC country.
Database documenting food field crop and pasture ex-situ holdings for each CAC republic
complete and functional.
Funding proposal for building medium term storage facilities in each republic written
and submitted to donor agency.
Completed homocline study in which CAC weather constraints to plant growth are compared to
those in Australia.
Revitalized linkages between the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) and
the national genetic resource programs of the CAC republics.
Collaborators
ICARDA, Agricultural Institutions from the CAC republics, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture; The University of Western
Australia (CLIMA), Australian Winter Cereals Collection (AWCC), Australian Temperate Field Crops
Collection.
Technologies for the Targeted Exploitation of the
N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), ICARDA and Australian Landrace Germplasm for the
Benefit of Australian, VIR and ICARDA Wheat Breeding Programs
The wheat industries of Australia, Russia, the countries of Central Asia, the Caucuses, West Asia and
North Africa require access to, and the efficient exploitation of, germplasm to meet current and
future challenges to economic sustainability. The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry
(VIR), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the
Australian Winter Cereals Collection (AWCC) house an impressive combined collection of over 15,000
bread wheat landrace accessions some of which were collected in the early 20th
century from a diverse range of environments to which they were adapted. This unique set of germplasm
is the focus of this proposal.
This project seeks to develop cost effective
strategies to identify specific attributes in the combined collection. This will
be achieved by first compiling, capturing and/or deriving data associated with
the accessions in the collection. This data will be collated into a single relational database
which in itself is a significant and useful output. Various analytical techniques will be
applied to the data set to gain an understanding of the patterns of genetic variation in
the collection as a whole. This information will then be used to identify a subset of genotypes which
is representative of the variation in the combined collection. To more accurately define the structure of variation within
this representative subset it will be characterized at ICARDA using both molecular
techniques and standard agro-morphological descriptors. In addition to the representative subset,
further subsets will be identified with potential variation for resistance to various abiotic
constraints. These trait specific subsets of accessions would then be evaluated for the constraint in
question.
A significant output of this project, which could be
directly utilized by research providers, will be an information package
featuring a user friendly run-time application for distribution on CD. The
application will include the information generated in this project. That is, it will have the
identified representative subset and trait specific subsets built into the relational
database. It would also allow the user to efficiently interrogate the data
associated with over 15,000 accessions giving them the capacity to identify
custom subsets of accessions with single and multiple trait(s) that may be of
importance to breeding programs. This information package can be used as a powerful tool to
enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of breeding programs to address current and future
challenges.
Finally this project will continue to strengthen the
goodwill and linkages that exist between the project partners thereby promoting
the ongoing exchange of germplasm.
Collaborators: The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of
Plant Industry (VIR), St. Petersburg, Russia, Australian Winter Cereals Collection (AWCC).
International Linkages for Crop Plant Genetic Resources
This genetic resource project aims to secure a mutually
beneficial flow of germplasm from and between two of the world’s largest
collections – ICARDA and the famous N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry
(VIR), St. Petersburg. These would be linked strategically with genetic resources rich regions
of the western Mediterranean (Iberian Peninsula), the eastern Mediterranean
(Turkey), the horn of Africa (Ethiopia), and the Central Asian Republics.
These latter regions are unfortunately those most at risk in tems of
genetics erosion of species through over cultivation and gazing and as new
varieties replace the local land races. The additional problem threatening
germplasm exchange is that some countries e.g. Turkey and Ethiopia, two of
richest countries in the world for grain and pulse landraces are imposing
considerable restriction and even embargos on the utilization of their genetic
resource in the light of recent publicity on exploitation of plant genetic
resources by developed countries. With this project there is mutual benefit in the proposed
germplasm exchange with all parties benefiting from the project activities and the germplasm exchange.
Collaborators: ICARDA, the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of
Plant Industry (VIR), St. Petersburg, Russia, Agricultural Institutions from the CAC republics, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture; The University of Western
Australia (CLIMA), Australian Winter Cereals Collection(AWCC), Australian Temperate Field Crops
Collection.
Collection of Plant Genetic Resources in the Central Asian and Caucasus Region
This is a collaborative agreement whereby the USDA have agreed to cooperate in the financing,
planning and execution of plant collection missions in collaboration with host country
institutions.
Collaborators: ICARDA, The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), St. Petersburg, Russia,
Agricultural Institutions from the CAC republics, USDA
Global Inventory of Barley Genetic Resources
The project is focused on the development of a Global
Inventory of the Genetic Resources of Barley maintained in major collections/genebanks
in the world. The inventory will initially cover passport descriptors and it
will be released on the WWW using SINGER infrastructure.
Currently the project succeeded in obtaining data for
165,309 accessions conserved in 42 collections including 6 major collections
(which cover 64% of total holdings) are as follows:
|
Collection/Institute |
No. Accessions |
| USDA
(USA) |
27,010 |
| ICARDA
(Syria) |
25,202 |
| VIR
(Russia) |
19,437 |
| IPK
(Germany) |
13,124 |
| John
Inn Centre (UK) |
10,828 |
| AWCC
(Australia) |
9,947 |
 |
