ISRAEL and ICRISAT March 2006 Contact information About ICRISAT Visit us at www.icrisat.org Liaison Office CG Centers Block NASC Complex Dev Prakash Shastri Marg New Delhi 110 012, India Tel +91 11 32472306/32472307/32472308 Fax +91 11 25841294 ICRISAT-Nairobi (Regional hub ESA) PO Box 39063, Nairobi, Kenya Tel +254 20 7224550 Fax +254 20 7224001 [email protected] ICRISAT-Niamey (Regional hub WCA) BP 12404 Niamey, Niger (Via Paris) Tel +227 20 722529, 20 722725 Fax +227 20 734329 [email protected] ICRISAT-Lilongwe Chitedze Agricultural Research Station PO Box 1096 Lilongwe, Malawi Tel +265 1 707297/071/067/057 Fax +265 1 707298 [email protected] ICRISAT-Maputo c/o INIA, Av. das FPLM No 2698 Caixa Postal 1906 Maputo, Mozambique Tel +258 21 461657 Fax +258 21 461581 [email protected] ICRISAT-Patancheru (Headquarters) Patancheru 502 324 Andhra Pradesh, India Tel +91 40 30713071 Fax +91 40 30713074 [email protected] ICRISAT-Bamako BP 320 Bamako, Mali Tel +223 2223375 Fax +223 2228683 [email protected] ICRISAT-Bulawayo Matopos Research Station PO Box 776, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Tel +263 83 8311 to 15 Fax +263 83 8253/8307 [email protected] The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT’s mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT belongs to the Alliance of Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Contact Information China a n d I C R I S A T Partners for Better Dryland Agriculture in Africa and Asia Feb 2007 ICRISAT, and Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture, advanced research institutes, and the Israeli Department of International Cooperation, MASHAV share many goals – to help alleviate poverty, sustain agricultural production, and protect the environment in desert prone regions. Given these common goals the Government of Israel and ICRISAT are in a collaborative research partnership to help the poor of the dry tropics. Israel’s intensive agricultural production was made possible due to collaboration between growers, industry, extension and R&D in the agriculture sector. The ICRISAT-Israel collaboration was further enhanced when Israel joined the CGIAR and Dr David Cohen (Chairman, R&D Evaluation Committee, Chief Scientist’s Office, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel) was appointed Israeli liaison to ICRISAT. With wholehearted support from Prof Dan Levanon (Chief Scientist, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel), scientists from ICRISAT and Israel began working together from mid-2006 on joint projects of mutual interest. Currently four projects are underway. Progress in Collaborative Research Integrated management of mycotoxins Aflatoxin contamination in staple diets leads to malnutrition, and can affect food security, and the health and livelihoods of people in developing countries. The purpose of this project is to develop simple and low-cost mycotoxin diagnostic tools. In the last few months Dr Farid Waliyar (ICRISAT) and Dr Nami Paster [Agriculture Research Organization (ARO), Ministry of Agriculture, Israel] have been working on up-scaling integrated management of mycotoxins such as pre- and post-harvest technologies and resistant groundnut varieties. Farmer participatory varietal selection trials were conducted with four aflatoxin-tolerant varieties in Anantapur district, and five varieties in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh state of India. In general, an average increase of 17-34% in mean pod yields were recorded with improved varieties against control, TMV-2, which yielded 590 kg/ha in Anantapur area. A variety of low-cost integrated aflatoxin management technologies and the use of mechanical pod threshers resulted in a significant reduction in aflatoxin contamination. Diversifying sorghum end-uses to feed and fodder to enhance the livestock industry in Eastern and Central Africa This is a collaborative project between ICRISAT, ARO-Israel, and the University of Nairobi. Sorghum is a major cereal crop with high resistance to drought. In most of Africa, and especially in the semi-arid regions of Kenya where most of the livestock is raised, high productive dual-purpose (for food and fodder) types of sorghum, resistant to dry conditions could be very beneficial, but are not used. This project will develop the use of productive dual-purpose sorghums, in semi-arid The SEF provides solutions to most constraints of the current rainfed production systems (low soil fertility, soil erosion, bio-diversity exploitation, inefficient use of labor, and most importantly, low income). It has the potential of transforming rainfed agriculture in the Sudano- Sahel, which in turn should lead to eradication of poverty on a massive scale, and in preserving natural resources (soil and biodiversity) for future generations. The African Market Garden Developed by ICRISAT scientists, the innovative African Market Garden (AMG) uses gravity-based drip irrigation for vegetable farming. It has now been adopted by about 4000 farmers all across the Sudano-Sahel. Over the last 3 years itself, IPALAC has promoted the installation of about 2000 AMG units in Cape Verde, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, and parts of Nigeria. In the AMG, a mix of vegetables (onions, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes) is interspersed between date palms. Varieties are chosen that can tolerate the Sahelian heat so they can grow year-round, more than doubling the length of the growing season, which was formerly confined to the cooler winter months. This spreads the labor requirements of market gardening more evenly across the year, and generates a steadier flow of food and income for the farm family. By using low-cost gravity-driven drip irrigation and a combination of other techniques the AMG reduces the drudgery of labor, increases yields and employment, raises produce quality, and improves the overall well being of the people, as well as the micro-climate of the region. Conclusion Israel and ICRISAT complement each other in furthering agriculture for the small-scale farmers of the SAT. ICRISAT is grateful to Israel, and especially to the Ministry of Agriculture, MASHAV, Ben Gurion University, and our other partners in Israel for helping us to do Science with a Human Face to alleviate poverty in the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Dr David Cohen (center) gets a warm welcome to ICRISAT from Dr WD Dar, DG-ICRISAT (left) and Dr BI Shapiro. Aflatoxin reduction through integrated management practices. B35 is an improved stay-green sorghum variety. ® The African Market Garden successfully intercrops vegetables and date palms. I s r a e l a n d I C R I S A T The African Market Garden uses gravity- based drip irrigation for successful cultivation. Prof Dan Levanon, Chief Scientist, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel. Dr William D Dar, Director General, ICRISAT.