Dryland research at ICARDA: Achievements and future directions

Abstract

The rationale for the establishment of the international agricultural research system was to assist the various national programs in the developing world to achieve food security and banish hunger and malnutrition from the world. Thus, the 16 research centers spanning the globe are organized under the umbrella of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which conducts strategic and applied research, with its products being international public goods; its research agenda is focused on problem-solving through interdisciplinary programs implemented by one or more of its international centers, in collaboration with a range of partners. Such programs concentrate on increasing productivity, protecting the environment, saving biodiversity, improving policies, and contributing to the strengthening of agricultural research in developing countries. While CGIAR centers represent various agroecological zones, the major one focusing on dry lands, primarily Mediterranean-cropping environments, is the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The Center serves the entire developing world for the improvement of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and faba bean (Vicia faba L.); all dry-area developing countries for the improvement of on-farm water-use efficiency, rangeland, and small-ruminant production; and the Central and West Asia and North Africa region for the improvement of bread and durum wheat (Triticum spp.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), and farming systems. Its research provides global benefits of poverty alleviation through productivity improvements integrated with sustainable natural-resource management practices. The Center meets this challenge through research, training, and dissemination of information in partnership with the national agricultural research and development systems. This presentation gives a brief description of the evolution of ICARDA's research, and highlights its achievements, its mode of operation, and future direction.