EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE EDITORIAL

Chai1man

Vice -Chairman

Members

Executive Secretary

Mr Ian Bevege

(Australia)

Dr Ananta Dalodom

(Thailand)

Dr Seong-Hee Lee(Republic of Korea)Dr K.A. Malik

(Pakistan)Dr R.D. Ghodake(Papua New Guinea)Dr D. Kirtisinghe

(Sri Lanka)

Dr R.S. Paroda

(India)

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

.R.S. Paroda

.Nobuyoshi Maeno

William D. Dar

R.K. Arora

.

.

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The Asia-Pacific Region, though agriculturally most vibrant, facesenormous challenges of food security and poverty alleviation, withalarming rise of its population. The region is also faced with rapiddepletion of water, soil and forest resources/biodiversity. Besides, it alsoencounters recurrent droughts, floods and cyclones. To meet thesechallenges, future ARD projections of NARS and other organizationsin this region need to be based on ecologically sound, equitable andsustainable management of natural resources, following a scientific landuse approach.

Natural Resource Management (NRM) strategies should also fit intothe broader goals of Rural Development to conserve and regenerate thedeteriorated resource base of small farmers. Agricultural research andmanagement of research needs to be developed based on use of localand indigenous resources and knowledge with emphasis to improve theexisting farming systems/agro-ecosystems. Technology generation andadoption for meeting such growth has to be farmer friendly, risk reducing,cost effective, socio-economically feasible and locally acceptable. However,integrating high tech knowledge through new sciences will also beessential in certain areas particularly to address the emerging problemsof soil salinity, drought, diseases and pests etc., and to address thenutritional deficiencies through value additions using available bio-resources.

For an overall agricultural growth, effective NRM programmes wouldneed participation of diverse stakeholders. The research agenda ofNARSthus must have such participatory initiatives developed, functioning atthe grass root levels. This would necessitate empowerment of localcommunities and the NGOs, supportive policies with focus on povertyreduction, food security, sustainability and self-reliance, and overallimproved ecological management of existing production systems. It wouldbe equally necessary to strengthen local institutional capabilities to copewith the emerging NRM research and development agenda.

The CGIAR-NGO Committee during 1998 had deliberated on thistopic for defining a proper NRM strategy. In a recently held internationalconference duting February 2000 in India on Natural ResourceManagement (NRM) for Agricultural Development, future strategy forimplementation by NARS was evolved. Also in the Global Forum 2000held in Dresden, importance of NRM for sustainable agriculture wasemphasised. It was also realized that apart from NARS and theparticipatory role of farmers and the NGOs., more pt;oactive role ofregional fora such as APAARI, and organizations such as AdvancedResearch Institutes (ARl's), IBSRAM, and the CGIAR centres locatedin the region would help in strengthening national programmes onN atural Resource Management, which have direct relevance to protectingthe environment, generating resources, accelerating agricultural growthand development, and iqlproving overall human welfare. Hence, timeis tipe to accelerate the pace ofNRM strategy through partnership amongall stakeholders, where organizations, such as APAARI could playafacilitators' role.

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CONTENTS

.Taro Genetic Resources Conservation andUtilization: Activities of TaroGen Project ...

.Achievements in Agricultural ResearchTechnology and Development: Council ofAgriculture, Taiwan -An Institute Profile ...

.Australian Centre for International AgriculturalResearch -An Institutional Update

.GFAR Conference on Agricultural Research forDevelopment, Dresden 2000

.International Conference on Managing NaturalResources for Sustainable AgriculturalProduction in the 21 st Century

.International Comprehensive Research Projectsand Socio-Economic Studies at ]IRCAS

.EGFAR-Electronic Global Forum on AgriculturalResearch: NARS Master Website

.National Agricultural Technology Project

.CARP Promotes Agricultural Research andTraining Activities in Sri Lanka

.NARC Organizes National Summer CropsResearch Workshop [9

T ARO GENETIC RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND UTILIZATION :

ACTIVITIES OF T AROGEN PROJECT

Guinea University of Technology}. The cost of theACIAR-funded project is estimated to exceed AUD1 million over 3 years. In addition, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand has agreedto support inputs of plant pathology to assist the

breeding programmes.

T aroGen, a three-year project funded by AusAIDis being implemented by the Secretariat of the

Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration withIPGRI, the University of the South Pacific (USP) andHort-research (New Zealand). It works with nationalprogrammes in the Pacific Islands to develop a regionalstrategy for the conservation of taro genetic resourcesand crop improvement. A unit has been establishedwithin SPC to provide the expertise required in tissueculture, plant breeding, germplasm conservation andproject management. The Project is designed to assistPacific Island Countries in collection and conservationof taro germplasm and its use in plant improvementprogrammes. The project, estimated to cost over AUD3 million and approved by Heads of Agriculture fromthe region, started operating in July 1998.

The project team is composed of: Mr. Simon Field(Project Director); Dr Param Sivan (Project TeamLeader); Dr Mary Taylor (Tissue Culture Specialist);Dr Davinder Singh (Plant Breeder in Papua NewGuinea); Dr Grahame Jackson (Technical Director -part-time); and Dr Danny Hunter (Plant Breeder/Pathologist in Samoa-part-time).

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the project are as follows:

.assist the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to collecttaro genetic resources world-wide, rationalisecollections, and carry out international exchange;

.develop and implement complementary strategiesfor the conservation of taro genetic resourceswithin PICs and regional institutions;

.provide growers with improved taro varieties toovercome limiting factors on production;

.provide efficient and effective management andmonitoring of the project.

Further, a complementary projectfunded by ACIARwith two sub-components, one on DNA fingerprintingto facilitate accurate comparison of accessions betweencountries, and the other on virus indexing proceduresto overcome quarantine concerns in the internationalexchange of taro germplasm, is also underway.Techniques will be developed at the QueenslandUniversity of Technology ( virus indexing) and theUniversity of Queensland (DNA fingerprinting) andinitially transferred to Papua New Guinea (NationalAgricultural Research Institute and the Papua New

PROJECT ACTMTIES

The project work to achieve the set objectives, is beingcarried out under the following four components.

Component 1 : Gennplasm Collection

Initially, the diversity extant in taro collections withinPacific Island countries was assessed and priority areasfor re-collection were determined. Efforts to describethe existing collections assembled so far using a setof agreed morphological descriptors and DNAfingerprinting are in progress. Methods are beingdeveloped to test accessions for tolerance to taro leafblight at an institute outside the region, and later itwill be applied in countries where the disease occurs.Information on germplasm collected as well as thatgenerated from various project activities are beingrecorded in computer databases. The information willhelp countries to be able to rationalise their tarocollections, and determine the duplicates which existbetween countries. These efforts are also expected tohelp in developing a regional conservation strategy.If difficulties arise in making comparisons betweenPacific Island countries, consideration will be givento the establishment of a temporary collection of allaccessions in one location. The information gatheredby the project so far is already being used in identifyinggermplasm for international transfer to support plantimprovement programmes. The project will alsoendeavour to access germplasm of Asian countries byoffering reciprocal exchanges. The movement ofgermplasm between countries, and into and out ofregional genebanks set up under the project, will alsobe assisted by policies developed by a Working Groupon Intellectual Property Rights. Research carried outin complementary project will ensure the safemovement of germplasm.

The Project provides for short-term specialists incollecting and database management, and plantpathology; funds for training curators in collecting andgathering descriptor data (including molecularanalysis), provision of computers; databases; internal

and international travel and air freight of samples, andworkshops on germplasm collecting andcharacterization, the development of a regional taroconservation strategy, and intellectual property rights.Some fund will also be provided for labour where exsitu collections are large and where these may beneeded to be maintained for long periods beforedescriptors are recorded and accessions are conservedby other means.

Taro gennplasm maintained in field genebank

Component 2: Gennplasm Conservation andMaintenance

The aim of the component is to overcome thedifficulties that all Pacific Island countries have inmaintaining field collections of taro which are notonly costly but also subject to loss due to naturaldisasters, pest attack and neglect due to fluctuatingfinancial support. In vitro collections will replace thosemaintained ex situ, utilising efforts in several countriesto develop tissue culture capabilities.

.Regional Oermplasm Centre and ComplementaryConservation Strategies: To backstop nationalefforts, a Regional Oermplasm Centre (ROC) hasbeen established in SPC, Suva. The ROC hasinstituted a pilot in vitro active taro genebank togive countries a better understanding of the costsof maintenance, and the effects on germplasmkept as plantlets in culture. Assistance will be givento countries to establish in vitro collections withthe provision of training. Those countries whichdo not have the resources to maintain collectionseither in vitro or as field genebanks will beencouraged to cooperate with others where similaraccessions exist. A subset, or core collection, isbeing developed by regional consent which isrepresentative of the variation found in taro withinthe region and will be maintained at the ROC.Such a representative subset will benefit all countriesin the region. The ROC is also conducting researchon cryopreservation ( testing methodologiesdeveloped in Japan) and seed storage. Work on insitu conservation will be carried out as a pilotproject in Vanuatu using the services of a non-government organization (NO0). These effortswill help to develop a complementary conservationstrategy for taro in the region.

Component 3: Crop Improvement

The project is assisting breeding programmes in PapuaNew Guinea and Samoa to develop taro varieties withimproved tolerance to taro leaf blight. Seeds fromthese breeding programmes are being made availablefor screening in Solomon Islands.

At the start of the project, based on the availableinformation, strategies were developed to breedcultivars with durable horizontal resistance. Thebreeding lines being developed will be tested againstdifferent strains of the taro leaf blight. T rials will beconducted to determine genotype x environmentinteractions before new taro lines are released tofarmers. Methods for screening taro for leaf blighttolerance are also being refined. Two national plantbreeders (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands)are being further trained ( studying for higher degrees) .A Graduate Research Assistant is assisting withbreeding work in Western Samoa while studying fora higher degree. In these three countries, national TaroImprovement Coordinating Committees (TICC) areproviding the direction to the programme. TICCs arecomposed of farmers, NaGs, representatives fromgovernment departments, universities and regional

agricultural programmes.

Component 4: Project Management and Monitoring

The proje.ct is operating within the AgricultureProgramme of the SPC, with offices and laboratoriesin Suva, Fiji and the team leader manages the project,working closely with the SPC. An Australia-basedProject Director has overall responsibility for theAustralian (AusAID) contribution to the project. Apart-time consultant provides technical guidance.Annual work plans are discussed at tripartite reviewmeetings (countries, donors and implementingagencies) and finalized. Project monitoring includespreparation of monthly progress reports; six-monthlyreviews ofprojectactivities bya Taro Genetic ResourcesCommittee comprising of Heads of Agriculture fromthe region and triennially with PHALPS (PermanentHeads of Agriculture and Livestock ProductionServices). An in-depth project evaluation will takeplace towards the end of the third year.

[Contributed by: Dr Param Sivan, Project Team Leader, TaroGen,SPC, Suva, Fiji and V. Ramanatha Rao, Senior Scientist ( GeneticDiversity/Conservation), IPGRI-APO, Serdang, Malaysia]

ACHIEVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY

AND DEVELOPMENT: COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE, TAIWAN

-71n gnsl.tlule !7Jrofile

T he Council of Agriculture (COA), Taiwan laysparticular emphasis on high-tech research, with

the aim of achieving a sustainable balance betweenagricultural development and environmentalprotection. The Council has established an AgriculturalTechnology Review Committee, comprising of 125members. This group of specialists includes researchers,agricultural scientists, and government officials. Thecommittee's objective is to examine projects selectedfrom the five fields of farming, namely agriculture,forestry, fisheries, animal husbandry, and biotechnology.A summary of some of the recent significantachievements of the Council is given.

ADVANCES IN CROP TECHNOLOGY

The COAhas successfully cultivated new crop varietiesand enhanced traditional ones. The use of five newlydeveloped rice varieties has lead to significantimprovements in production over the traditionalvarieties. One of these "Tai-Stalk No.8" has beenplanted over more than 80,000 hectares. The successof this strain is expected to generate some NT$ 1.6billion in revenue for farmers annually. New cultivationmethods have successfully produced ten new improvedvarieties of maize, potato, peanut, and soybean, allcurrently available for planting. Improved beanvarieties are expected to help increase current farmrevenue by NT$ 100 million. Improved greenhousehorticulture techniques have produced improvementsin green onion, pear, tomato, and eggplant. Farmrevenues are expected to increase by NT$ 2.1 billionwith these improvements. New cultivation methodshave also been applied to various fruit varieties,including grapes, wax apple, pear, sugar apple (Annonasquamosa L. ) , guava, mango, star fruit and Indian datepalm. These new methods are being applied in aneffort to adjust each fruit variety's ripening season.This enables a measure of control to be added to thetiming of the cultivation process, increasing themarket price of each fruit variety, translating into someNT$ 5.6 billion profit each year.

ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AGROBIOLOGICALGENEPOOL

The COA has a well established national geneticresource centre, housing over 43,000 biological samplesfrom allover the island, covering the completebiodiversity of Taiwan. This collection also containssamples of wood, native animals, insects andinvertebrates, farm animals, and microbiological lifeforms found on the island. These specimens are allwell preserved and catalogued. The resource centreis open to the general public for research purposes andits databases are accessible over the Internet.

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p~ofits for farmers annually. A new six-in-one animalvaccine has been developed and has proved effectivein preventing many common livestock diseases. Toimprove the quality of meat products, an analyticalmethod has been developed to detect trace amountsof chemicals remaining in the meat of farm animalsthat had previously been given sulfa-basedmedications.

ANIMAL AND PLANT INSPECTION

Every year approximately 2,000 mt of lichee, starfruit, and mango are exported to the United Statesand japan, generating revenue ofNT$1.6 billiori. Incase of livestock, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)testing methods have been used to determine withgreat accuracy whether livestock have contracteddiseases such as swine fever, bovine ephemeralfever, or toxoplasmosis. The COA has also establisheda holding centre containing vital supplies ofantibodies and vaccines to be used in case of anoutbreak of an industry-debilitating contractablelivestock disease.

ADVANCES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

The development ofbiotechnology isexpected to helpfarmers increase theirprofits by more thanNT$ 500 million eachyear. With newadvances in geneticmanipulation, inpapaya, varietiesresistant to PapayaRing Spot Virus(PRSV) have beendeveloped. The COA

The Phalaenopsis industry alone has successfull y

enjoyed approximately applied geneticNT$ 4 billion exports in 1999 manipulation tech-

niques to cabbage,broccoli, cauliflower, and papaya. nssue culturetechnology is helping in the cultivation of fruits andflowers, and is expected to raise NT$ 1.2 billion in

I CHAIRMAN IORGANIZATIONAL SET UP OF THE COUNCIL

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Secretary-General

FisheriesAdministration

Bureau of Animal andPlant Health Inspection

and Quarantine

Committee onLegal Affairs

Committee on

Appeals and Petition I

Taiwan FisheriesBroadcasting Station

KaohsiungBranch

TaichungBranch

HsinchuBranch

KeelungBranch

I

Food &

Agriculture

Department I

Central

Taiwan

Division

The secona

lI DivisionI Economics &

PlanningDepartment

I Forestry

Department

Animal

Industry

Department

! Farmer's

Service

Department

International

CooperationI Department

~Personnel

I OfficeController's

I OfficeI Statistics

, Office.

I GovernmentI Ethics Office

ForestryIBureau

Seven Research Institutes"

Agricultural, Forestry,

Fisheries, Livestock, Animal

Health, Agricultural Chemicals

and Toxic Substances, and

Endemic Species

Soil and Water

Conservation

Bureau

Seven District Agricultural Improvement

Stations. Taoyuan, Miaoli, Taichung I

Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hualien and Taitung,

Tea Experiment Station; and Seed

Improvement and Propagation Station

I Four Food Ad~tion

Departments, North Taiwan

! Central Taiwan, South Taiwanand East Taiwan

APAART Np,J"Tpttp.. 1"."

PROTECTION OF FORESTRY AND THEENVIRONMENT

The COA has developed shoot propagation techniquesfor use in forestry applications. Additionally, it hasbeen undertaking research into landslide preventionand hillside maintenance. This research has produced,among other innovations, the development of alandslide early warning system.

DEVELOPMENTS IN FISHERIES

In the fishing industry, an all-female culture techniquefor mullet had already been successfully developed.Now, after a period of three years, mullet ovaries canbe made into mullet roe. Each hectare can produceabout NT$ 3 million worth of mullet roe and theindustry boasts ofhigh-value cultivation. At the sametime, an indoor small abalone multi-layer culturetechnique has also been applied. Each hectare can nowraise its production from five million tonnes to overtwenty million tonnes, with three harvest seasons intwo years. Annual increases in the revenue for fisheryoperators are expected to total NT$ 1.6 billion.

AGRICULTURAL APPLICATION OF REMOTE

SENSING TECHNIQUES

Remote sensing technology can determine the currentstate of land use and agricultural utilization. Thecollection of data in this way can analyze land usepatterns, and can also help prevent over-developments.Remote sensing has already been used in theinvestigation undertaken after the hillside devastationcaused by typhoon. These techniques have also helpedto establish data banks of geographical informationon preserved and protected land areas. Moreover, withsatellite remote sensing probes, critical data about seacurrents and water temperature surrounding the islandcan be provided to the fisheries industry to point outthe best potential fishing spots.

ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURAL AUTOMATION

TECHNOLOGY

The Council has developed new agriculturalautomation techniques, some of which have alreadybeen put to use in rice processing, vegetable growing,etc., partially artributed to new automation in theindustry. New automation technology has also been

NEW TECHNOLOGY APPLIED TO ANIMAL

HUSBANDRY

The Council has introduced two new varieties ofnapier grass at the 1ui-sui dairy-farming zone inHualien County as experimental new forage for cows.Their milk, marketfd under the "1 ui-sui Ranch" brand,has been well received. The T aiwan Livestock ResearchInstitute has begun the development of a new blackpig breed, being a mix between the Taoyuan pig andthe Duroc pig. This new breed is expected to havestrong prolificacy traits, and the Institute is predictingthat the meat from this animal will become wellestablished in the Taiwan market. A new techniquehas been developed to determine the sex of bovineembryos, showing good results when compared totraditional methods.

A computerized auction system developed for use at flowers ,

vegetables, fruits and fish markets for efficient trading practices

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FOOD PROCESSINGINDUSTRY

The COA assisted 160 factories in obtaining nationalfood industry certification in a total of 1,754 foods,representing annual revenue of over NT$ 32 billion.The Council has been helping food processing factoriesprovide a variety of safe and sanitary food productsfor consumers, and has been involved in thedevelopment of fast food and preserved food products.An example of such work has been the successfuldevelopment of the 7-11 convenience chain store's"Royal Rice Ball," and similar store snacks. Theannual profit of such products has grown to NT$ 1.5billion.

applied to agricultural pesticide application and

fisheries industry. With automation, circulating water

systems have helped eel farmers breed eels 25 times

faster than traditional outdoor breeding methods. The

poultry industry has also been the beneficiary of

automation in the areas of water supply and feeding,

egg collecting, grading, and wrapping. The

establishment of automation equipment has increased

revenue by approximately NT$ 120 million each year.

A mobile computerized auction system has also been

developed for use at fish, vegetable, and fruit markets,

and has contributed to fairer and more efficient trading

practices.

[Contributed by: Dr Te-yeh Ku, Director General, lnterantionalCooperation Department, Council of Agriculture, Executive

Yuan, 37 Nanhai Road, Taipei, Taiwan]

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

-AN INSTITUTIONAL UPDATE

Through a Record of Understanding agreed in1998, AusAID committed $A 8.5 (US$ 5.3) millionover 5 years to fund a series of ACIAR projectactivities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) linked to theAusAID programme in natural resources. Progress hasbeen made in identifying and developing 13 projectinitiatives, and their implementation is well underway.

One of the new ACIAR-AusAID initiatives inPapua New Guinea is building upon earlier AusAIDsupport to develop and test small-scale cocoa beanfermenters and dryers that allow smallholders toreliably produce high quality cocoa. The researchersare using computer models to determine the desiredcharacteristics for dryers in different cocoa-growingclimates, enabling modifications that will match thedryers to each environment.

BILATERAL PROGRAMME

OVERALL PERSPECTIVE

ACIAR is an Australian government-funded agencythat receives around $A42 (US$26) million each year.Its task is to assist and encourage Australia's agriculturalscientists to use their skills for the benefit of developingcountries while they also work to resolve Australia'sown agricultural problems. Australia is in an excellentposition to do this, with its strong capacity inagricultural research and development.

ACIAR's principal goals are to reduce poverty,improve food security and conserve and rehabilitatethe natural resource base for agriculture throughinternational agricultural research partnerships forthe benefit of developing countries and Australia. Toachieve these goals, ACIAR facilitates and supportsbilateral research and development activities in around30 countries, in areas including crop production,animal production, fisheries, forestry, land and waterresources management, postharvest technology, andeconomic studies of agricultural and natural resourceutilization. ACIAR also supports a multilateralprogramme to fund research and development throughthe international agricultural research centres (IARCs) .

ACIAR has fostered its role as a partner andfacilitator of international agricultural developmentassistance through a- comprehensive network ofinternational contacts-importantly throughmembership of APAARI, APAFRI and IUFRO, andalso as an observer with NACA and other Pacific

regionalorganizations.

In early 1999, ACIAR's Board of Managementissued a policy statement that defined the challengesthat face ACIAR as it strives to provide cost-effectivesolutions through collaborative research anddevelopment, and mapped future strategies for ACIAR.The statement laid new emphasis on ensuring thatACIAR's partner countries capture the benefits of theresearch results. ACIAR has indicated its readinessto commit resources to help these results cross theresearch-extension threshold where appropriate. Tothis end the Centre has developed its relationship withAustralia's major international development agencyAusAID, as well as other initiatives to work moreclosely with Australian and international non-

government organizations.

The past year has once again seen the developmentof many new research activities. The bilateralprogramme has 23 new major and 10 small projects.Of note is the ongoing research to improve integratedpest management ofbrassica vegetable crops in Chinaand Australia. China reports that there has been asizeable reduction in problems of pesticide poisoningin the Zhejiang Valley where findings from the initialproject have become known and progressively

implemented.

.In India, ACIAR has invested in research for wellover a decade to improve the quality of feedavailable for dairy cattle and buffalo. Now newresearch has developed a way to protect the proteinof oilseed meal from breakdown early in thedigestive process, reserving large amounts of highquality protein for absorption later on. Thesuccessful implementation of this technology acrossjust 25% of India's dairy industry could boost milkproduction by up to 18 million tonnes per year.

.In Indonesia, disease outbreaks were causingcatastrophic losses among farmed shrimp. In 1998there was little optimism that an ACIAR projectto control diseases in farmed prawns would makeany difference. However, early results have beenquite extraordinary, with returns from the pilot

that allow ACIAR to target within the Centres', Agreed Research Agenda' activities of special

relevance to its own research and developmentobjectives. A major aim is to strengthen the capacityof partner-country agricultural research institutionsthrough linkages with Australian research institutionsand the IARCs.

Subject areas range from crops to livestock, forestryand natural resource management to fisheries andagricultural policy, with all but two or three of the24 centres being funded in anyone year. Some of themore recent grants funded include: CIMMYT onincreasing the yield potential in wheat, ILRI onevaluating the nutritional value of thornless acacias,IFPRI on public investments in agriculture in China,and ICLARM on developing methods for rearing seacucumbers in the Pacific.

ponds of over one tonne per hectare of healthy,firm prawns compared with virtually no harvestfrom the control ponds. A harvest of this dimensionhad not been possible in the region for over three

years.

.In Thailand, 4 years of research has led todevelopment of feed that is making a significantcontribution to the hybrid walking catfish industry.The fish is an important local food species, andits production has increased by as much as 20,000tonnes during the life of the project. Culture hasexpanded quickly to new areas north and east ofBangkok and this expansion relied to a certainextent on the availability of better diets. Theprogress in Thailand was paralleled by similarsuccess in Australia, with the development andcommercial uptake of least-cost diet formulationsfor silver perch that has reduced dependency onimported fish meal and slashed feed costs tofarmers.

.In the Philippines, ACIAR research programmesare directed to help marginal farmers in thehinterlands. Deforestation, soil erosion andincreasing population in the uplands havecontributed to rapid degradation of large areas.Agricultural and social scientists are working withthe farmers to find ways to make the land moreproductive and reduce soil erosion, and to ensurethat new techniques developed through the researchare accepted and adopted by the farmers.

.In Vietnam, 80% of the meat eaten is pork. In thecourse of an ACIAR project, Australia hascontributed top lines of pigs to Vietnam along withknowhow in the search for more productiveanimals. The imports have the desirable qualitiesof lean meat and good adaptation to hightemperatures. These qualities are appearing in theprogeny of these animals crossed with local varieties,and the economic benefit is already evident in thehigher prices paid for the superior offspring inprovincial markets.

Co MMUNI CATI O N/INFO RMA TI O N

DISSEMINATION

ACIAR's Communications Programme has the task

of ensuring that the results of ACIAR projects are

recorded and their benefits captured, and of helping

to build and maintain external relationships. The

Programme has an impressive scientific publishing

unit that has now produced well over 300 titles

comprising proceedings, technical reports and

monographs. The public information unit produces

the twice-yearly ACIAR Newsletter, the annual

magazine Partners in Research for Development and

the ACIAR annual report. Newsletters emanating

from the research programmes include the Forestry

Newsletter, Postharvest Newsletter, Australian

Mycotoxin Newsletter and the Food Legume

N ewsletter.

Information on allACIAR projects and publications

can be obtained throughourwebsite, www.aciar.gov.au

[Contributed by; J anet Lawrence, ACIAR Science Communicator,

ACIAR, Canberra, Australia].

MULTILATERAL PROGRAMME

ACIAR's allocation to the multilateral programme for

the 1999-2000 financial year was $A9.4 (US$5.8)

million, representing a slight increase on the previousyear. Recognising the importance of unrestricted or

core funding to the Centres, ACIAR has increased

the proportion of this type of funding within the total

allocation. Remaining funds go to restricted grants

APAARI Newsletter, June 2000

GFAR CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT

DRESDEN 2000

sub-regional fora are the comer stones of the global

agricultural research system that OF AR aims to create.Therefore, the ARD situation in the five regional fora

were also reviewed in a special session.

DRESDEN DECLARATION

"Towards a Global System for Agricultural Research

for Development"

T he Global Forum for Agricultural Research(GFAR) recently held its first conference in

Dresden, Germany from 21-23 May, 2000. The GFARis a dynamic new initiative of key players in agriculturalresearch being the representatives of developing-country national agricultural research systems (NARS) ,advanced research institutions (ARls), regional andsub-regional organizations like APMRI, universities,non-governmental organizations (NGOs), farmers'organizations, the private Preamble

sector, international At the dawn of theagricultural research 21 st century, we, the

centres (IARCs) and the stakeholders of the Globaldonor community. More Forum on Agriculturalthan four hundred Research (GFAR), wish toparticipants from allover remind the internationalthe world came together community of theto formulate a Global increasing importance andShared Vision ( GSV) for relevance of the threeagricultural research for challenges that have guideddevelopment. agricultural research over

Th Ch . f h the past decades:e alrman o t e

GFAR D R S Pd The Chairman of the OFAR, Dr R.S, Paroda, giving the 8 increasing food, r ..aro a, , add he OF' " D ' ,

Dr de, d ' h ., openIng ress at t ~ meeting In es np roduction food accesspomte out m lS opemng ,

address that the role of biotechnology and access to and quality to keep pace with or exceed the rategenetic resources are priority issues to be addressed by of population growth;the GFAR. Among other concerns, he mentioned 8 economic development in the rural areas tothe funding of programmes stressing the increased alleviate the poverty and improve the quality ofcompetitiveness of research. There must be a balance life that leads to exclusion of an important partbetween co-operation and competition. Competition of the world population, especially small farmersfor funds should be fair and should not exclude the in marginal areas;weakes.t, particularly the NARS of the developing 8 development of sustainable agricultural productioncountnes. systems that are compatible with sustainable

A set of papers and posters on the theme of management and conservation of naturalpartnership, which included very interesting cases of resources.existing and innovative partnerships, were presented These challenges have to be addressed in a rapidlyaround four sub-themes: changing socio-economic context. The following

-Genetic Resource Management and Biotechnology trends provide uncommon opportunities but may also-Natural Resource Management and Agro-ecology create so.me threats to agricultural research for

I ' lC ' C d ' Ch ' development.-nternatlona o-operatlonon ommo lty ams

8 Decrease of public research funding in the-Policy Management and Institutional Development. ' It 1 t d f ' t ' dagncu ura sec or an emergence o pnva lze

In the sub-plenaries, the different case-studies on agricultural research, which imply a major changethe sub-themes were presented and discussed. A in the division of labour, necessitate the buildingGFAR guiding principle is that the NARS of the of new partnerships and raised the issue of privatedeveloping countries along with their regional and versus public intellectual property rights.

~PAARI Newsletter, June 2000

.Globalization and trade liberalizatioQmay improvefood security through increased access to foodat a global level, yet all people may not benefit

equally..Scientific advances in areas such as agro-ecology,

the use of advanced information andcommunication technologies (ICT) and modembiotechnology are offering opportunities forimproving agricultural production and productivityas well as nutritional value, while ensuringsustainable agriculture. There is, however, a criticalneed to assess the potential impact of these newtechnologies on human health and theenvironment.

T o address these challenges, the GFAR stakeholdersgathered in Dresden, Germany, from 21 to 23 May2000, have adopted the following Global Vision forAgricultural Research for Development which buildson the diversity and complementarity of the differentGFAR stakeholders.

Global Vision for Agricultural Research

for Development

Advances in agricultural research and development,including major breakthroughs in the new areas ofscience, have significantly contributed to meeting thechallenge of food and nutrition security, agriculturalsustainability, production and productivity. However,the world still faces an increasingly complex challengeof feeding its growing population and of eradicatingpoverty, while assuring an equitable and sustainableuse of its natural resources.

We, the GFAR stakeholders, believe that:

.food security, nutritional quality and safety,poverty alleviation and sustainable natural resourcesmanagement are not only of concern to developingcountries but are critical global issues with majorimpact on the well-being of the society;

.addressing these issues is a prerequisite for assuringpeaceful coexistence, the attainment of humanrights and basic human development in the new

century;.tackling these challenges is a matter of urgency,

considering the rapid process of environmentaldeterioration and increasing inequalities, withlong-term, pervasive impacts taking place in manyparts of the world;

.agriculture, rural development and the managementof natural resources are not only economic activities,

but strategic dimensions of contemporary societiesthat have important economic, social andenvironmental functions. It also includes theaccess to resources by farmers such as land, waterand genetic resources.

We share a vision for the future encompassing:(a) the appreciation of the role knowledge plays inthe development of agriculture; (b) the convictionthat knowledge generation and utilization isincreasingly based on global research systems andnetworks and on farmers-led experiments andinnovations; and ( c ) the belief that new developmentsin areas of natural resource management, informationand communication technologies (ICT) and modembiotechnology generate new opportunities. These newdevelopments represent an enormous potential but,at the same time, could lead to serious negative effects,widening of technology gaps and social exclusionprocesses. As a consequence, their socio-economic,human health and environmental impacts have to bemonitored, risks and benefits evaluated and thenregulated as appropriate.

The OFARstakeholders envision the developmentof an agriculture including crops, livestock, fisheriesand forestry, which is:

.sustainable, equitable, profitable and competitive,fulfilling its functions in the context of community-centered rural development, fully recognizing therole of women in agriculture;

.diversified and flexible in its structure to cope withheterogeneous and rapidly changing agro-ecologicaland socio-economic environments with animportant role for the farm family;

.responsive to multiple sources of knowledge andinnovation, both modem and traditional.

This vision implies a progressive shift of paradigmin Agricultural Research for Development (ARD)towards a holistic "Knowledge Intensive Agriculture"accessible to small and poor farmers.

In implementing this vision, the OF AR stakeholdersagree to adhere to the following principles:

.Programmes should clearly be subsidiary andcomplementary to the on-going work and providea clearly identifiable added value.

.Agricultural research should be demand-drivenand implemented through equal partnerships amongOFAR stakeholders.

.Priorities for the research agenda are set with afocus on farmers' perspectives, taking into account

10 APAARl New~leuer 1IJ.nP 2000

the multi-functionality and regional heterogeneityof farming systems.

Research design and dissemination should involvethe intended users and beneficiaries, particularlyfarmers.

The GFAR stakeholders commit themselves toestablishing the following three building blocks of theGlobal System for Agricultural Research forDevelopment as initial steps to implement the GlobalVision:

1. The formulation of a global strategic researchagenda, which capitalizes on the comparativeadvantages and the strengths of the differentGFAR stakeholders;

2. The promotion of innovative, participatory, cost-effective and sustainable research partnerships and

strategic alliances;

3. The ICT networking among stakeholders and theestablishment of specialized agricultural knowledgeand information systems.

Resources for Food and Agriculture, therebyallowing for the effective implementation of amultilateral system for facilitated access and benefitsharing of plant genetic resources for food andagriculture, recognizing Farmers' Rights in plantgenetic resources' matters and promotingimplementation of the Global Plan of Action.

Recommend that countries enacting national accesslegislation complying with the CBD do so in a waythat takes into account and allows for theirparticipation in and the effective operation ofmultilateral arrangements for access and benefit

sharing.Encourage countries that are consideri~g orreviewing legislation on intellectual property, doso in such a way that they do not restrict theexchange, transfer and use of germplasm in cropimprovement programmes and which contain,among others, strong research and farmers'

exemptions.Urge effective implementation of the Global Planof Action through the FAO Global System for theConservation and Utilization of Plant GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture, together withagreed and adequate financial provisions.

Encourage countries to implement the variouscomponents of Farmers' Rights in conformity withthe draft agreed text of the InternationalUndertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Foodand Agriculture.

Dresden Declaration on Plant GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture

The GFAR participants also came out with thedeclaration on Plant Genetic Resources for Food andAgriculture which reads as follows:

.Urge Governments to complete the revision of theInternational Undertaking on Plant Genetic

MEETING OF REGIONAL INFORMATION OFFICERS

Parallel to the GFAR meeting, another meetingwas held with the key-players in AgriculturalInformation Management. The different regionspresented their views and experiences with thedevelopment of a Regional Agricultural InformationSystem. Besides, the Philippines presented theirexperience on developing a National AgriculturalInformation System (NAIS). Together theyconcluded that there are opportunities to integrateefforts in order to accelerate the development andconsolidation of the RAIS. There are considerablecoincidences on the needs, challenges andconstraints faced by recently launched RAIS,opening the way to develop common strategies andtools to face them. Also the need for informationsystems to evolve into knowledge systems was

expressed. The group recommended a two prongstrategy to start the implementation of thecollaboration and integration among RAIS:

-Continue the discussion on priority issues throughthe creation of an Electronic Discussion Group.

-Create the "Inter-Regional AgricultureInformation Partnership among RAIS" tostrengthen the development of the RegionalSyste~s in addressing information and technologyissues as well as information policy issues.

Potential collaboration is foreseen in capacitybuilding, information standardization and exchange,software applications development and expertsystems development. A project proposal is beingdrafted to undertake this initiative.

PAA

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MANAGING NATURAL RESOURCES FORSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE 21 ST CENTURY

February 14-18, 2000, New Delhi, India

Management, Irrigation Water Management;Agroforestry: Agriculture and Forestry Interface, WaterQuality and Policy Issues, Agroforestry Systems:Cropping Systems, Socio-Economics, IntegratedResource Management: Ecosysteri1-based; Agro-biodiversity: Conservation and Sustainable Use-ll;Integrated Resource Management: Production System-based and Participatory Resource Management.

In addition to these, four Panel discussions wereheld on the themes of: Role of Agro-biodiversity forEnhancing Global Food Production, EnergyManagement for Sustainable Agricultural ProductionSystems, Global Climate Changes: Threats andOpportunities and Farming Systems Strategies toEnhance Soil Organic Matter. About 1000 posterswere displayed by participants covering the themesof Soil Management, Water Management, Agro-biodiversity, Agro-forestry, Weather and ClimateManagement, Socio-economics, Integrated ResourceManagement for potential production, EnergyManagement, Microbiology and Cropping System.

This conference was organized by the Indian Societyof Soil Science in collaboration with Indian Societyof Agronomy, Indian Society of Soil Survey and LandUse Planning, Indian Society of Plant GeneticResources and several others. It was sponsored by theIndian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry ofAgriculture, Ministry of Environment and Forests,National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and someother co-sponsors.

The Conference was inaugurated by Dr M.S.Swaminathan, the world renowned AgriculturalScientist. It was attended by more than 1500 delegatesfrom India and abroad.

TECHNICAL PROGRAMME

Four Plenary lectures and four Evening lectures weredelivered during the conference by well knownpersonalities like Dr K. Kasturirangan, Dr J .S. Kanwar,Dr Andrew Bennett, Dr M.A. Chitale, Dr Y.K. Alagh,Dr R.S. Paroda, Dr Peter Raven and Dr S.K. Sinha.

Eighteen T echnical Sessions were organized duringthe conference on the themes: Soil Resources:Inventories, Opportunities & Challenges, Weatherand Climate, Soil Quality and Resilience, EnergyManagement, Problem Soil Management; Agro-biodiversity: Conservation and Sustainable Use-l;Water Resources Management; Microbial

EMERGING CONCERNS/KEy ISSUES

Some key issues that have emerged out of the

conference are as follows:

1. The traditional agriculture system apparentlysustainable at low productivity and at low

Dr M.S. Swaminathan inaugurating the conference

APAARI1\I"",d"tt",. 1",.

population pressure is breaking downunder the onslaught of high human andanimal population pressures. Thus ashift in paradigm of soil and watermanagement research and developmentis an inevitable necessity. This is possibleprovided we make use of traditionalknowledge and farmers perception anddevelop technology around it usingscience based and knowledge basedsystem. We must move from thecommodity based to farming systembased approach for efficient managementof natural resources. The land useplanning should be agro-ecological,region/sub-region based and villageoriented. The available information on Dr R.S. Paroda releasing the ICAR Publication Vision 2020 onsoil resources with the National Bureau Natural Resource Management Researchof Soil Survey and Land Use Planning(NBSS & LUP) and National Remote SensingAgencies should be made use of in planning.

2. Defending the gains already made by the researchin the past by bridging the yield gaps between theactual farmers yield and the potential yields bothin the so called green revolution areas as well asin the disadvantaged agro-ecological regions, butnot one at the cost of natural resources quality.

3. Spreading the gains to additional areas of farmingsystems through intensification, diversificationand value addition.

4. Making new gains through use of new frontiers ofknowledge such as bio-technology, diversificationof farming system and value addition processes formaking agriculture more productive, efficient,profitable, sustainable and eco-friendly, thus makingit a dynamic process responsive to market forcesand innovative technologies.

5. Increasing the use efficiency of agricultural inputssuch as plant nutrients (fertilizers, water seed andpesticides) by tfsing integrated nutrientmanagement, water management, integrated energyuse and integrated pest management system andefficient use of biodiversity.

6. Soil degradation is the most serious problemaffecting productivity and sustainability ofagriculture. It is both ~, biophysical and socio-economic problem. At present about 187.8 mhaof area in India is subjected to various forms of soildegradations ( water and wind erosion, chemical

~

and physical degradations} .Scientific andtechnological interventions are therefore, requiredto check the degradation and to improve theproductivity of the degraded soils through soil andwater conservation, and location specifictechnologies. This can be achieved with bottomup approach and stakeholders' full participation.

7. Agricultural production sustainability in differentecosystems (Rainfed, Arid, Hill & Mountain,Irrigated and Coastal Agro-systems} is threatenedby an array of factors specific to each of these agro-systems. Therefore, development of ecosystemspecific management strategies and science-basedtechnologies should be taken up on priority basisin the years to come. It is hoped that the NATFprojects of ICAR will sharply focus attention onthis problem and endeavour to bring these eco-systems to high and sustainable productivity.

8. There is a need for ecologically sound agricultura]systems and judicious use of biodiversity in outapproach to sustainability. The'twin necessities ojenhancing agricultural productivity and buildin~sustainable agro-ecosystems call for a "paradigmshift" towards an agriculture that is knowledg~based, technology intensive and information ricbenterprise. The imperative is to focus on totalecosystem quality management and clubbin~

.economy with ecology and equity while ensurin~food security.

9. Development of different technology transfeJmodels, which are locally replicable and sociall~

Resources to maintain the type cultures, at thenational level and recognized by the international

community..The role of mushrooms in the food, nutritional and

industrial chain, should be enhanced. In particular,greater efforts are to be made for their collection,evaluation, conservation and use.

.I n situ conservation of fish genetic resources shouldbe encouraged through economic incentives torestrict the loss of genetic diversity. Potentialapplication of transgenics in increased production,resistance or quality should be studied only undercontained conditions.

.Use of on-farm participatory approaches should beintegrated for conservation and geneticenhancement of traditional cultivars that will helpdevelopment of sustainable production systems,including promotion of formal and informal seedproduction, conservation and genetic

enhancement.

.Inventorisation and preparation of national/regional check-lists of species to update thetaxonomic information utilization of advancedtechniques like Geographical Information System(GIS) should be undertaken-

.In light of the global interdependence for geneticresources, nations are obliged to develop their owneffective sui-generis systems for IPR regime,safeguarding the national interests. The conferencenoted that less than 40 countries have theirinstruments in place or are working at final stages.Others should also come forward.

.International community should lay moreemphasis on protection of "IndigenousCommunity Rights" over biodiversity andassociated knowledge and fair and equitable benefitsharing on commercialization, in further

negotiations..The advent of biotechnological tools has created

single genepool of the total bioresources on theglobe, comprising of plants, livestock, fish andmicrobes. This requires an integrated approach fortheir management, conservation and sustainable

use.

adaptable call for closer interaction inexperimentation and validation between naturalresource scientists, social scientists, extensionprofessionals and farming communities.

10. The dialogue addressing the issue of natural resourceman~gement initiated at this conference shouldcontinue on a sustainable basis by having a forumwhich would provide a platform for continuing thedialogue and initiatives. Advanced spacetechnologies will have a potential for acting as afacilitator in the application in the fields ofresource inventory characterization andmanagement, land use planning, watershedmanagement, pest and disease control andagricultural informatics, and a mechanism for thiscollaboration needs to be developed. Theconvergence of technologies by working throughan inter-disciplinary approach is essential.

AGROBIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

Two specific Technical Sessions were organized(Convenor: Dr P.L. Gautam} highlighting issues ofbiodiversity /agrobiodiversity concerns/management inglobal perspective. A panel discussion on "Role ofAgro-biodiversity for Enhancing Global FoodProduction" was also held. A Poster Session presented100 research papers on diverse topics. Two plenarylectures were also delivered-one by Dr R.S. Paroda,Director General, ICARon 'Biodiversity Managementfor Sustainable Agriculture' and the other by Dr PeterRaven, Director, Missouri Botanic Garden, St. Louis,USA on "Global Diversity Scenario: Issues andOpportunities". The following recommendations

emerged:.Emphasis is to be given on covering the gaps in

areas of collecting the under-utilized crop species,the major crop species ( case to case basis} and theirwild relatives. In order to enhance utilization ofgenetic resources, it is required to developrepresentative sets, i.e. core collections in various

bioresources.

.On-farm genetic improvement and characteri-zation of animal genetic resources has beenidentified as an effective vehicle for theirconservation and sustainable use. This should becomplemented with the use of in situ, ex situ and

in vitro conservation strategies.

.Realizing the importance of microbes, it is necessaryto establish Bureaux/Institutes ofMicrobial Genetic

[Contributed by: Dr A.K. Singh, Project Director, Water T echnologyCentre, (ICAR), IARI, Pusa Campus, New Delhi 110012 and

Dr P.l. Gautam, National Director, National AgriculturalTechnology Project (NATP), IARI, Pusa Campus, New Delhi

110012, India]

"no 71)1)1)

INTERNATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS AND

SOCIO- ECONOMIC STUDIES AT JIRCAS

Vood and agriculture problems are becoming morer global, complex and inter-linked these days. Manydeveloping countries express concern about thesocio-economic implications, sustainability, andenvironmental aspects of new technologies. It iswidely recognized that these issues can be betteraddressed through close collaboration betweenbiological and social scientists.

COMPREHENS~ RESEARCH PROJECTS

Major ObjectivesIn comprehensive research projects, socio-economicstudies play three major roles. The first is to identifyissues to be addressed, the second is to ensure rapidfeedback in the course of technology development,and the third is to evaluate the results of researchactivities at a later stage of the research project. Inthe early stage, socio-economists conduct surveys onsocio-economic aspects including finances of farmhouseholds, market systems, and social customs. Basedon these survey-results, those issues that need to beaddressed to achieve effective and- sustainableagricultural development are identified along with thetypes of technologies and systems to be developed.Such surveys thus provide the required direction for

subsequent research/technology developmentprogrammes.

Once the most important needed technologieshave been identified, biological scientists can initiateresearch activity. During the course of their work,interaction with socio-economists and farmers canhelp improve the relevance of technology, identifyproblems, and allow for rapid adjustment. In this way,technologies with higher potential for adoption canbe developed more rapidly. In the later stage of theproject, evaluation of newly developed technologiesand systems need to be conducted. The technoJogiesand systems developed must be adapted to farmers'conditions and management. Otherwise, the outcomemay not be successful, even granted that farmers investlarge amounts of funds.

Projects ImplementedIn 1999, eight comprehensive research projects havebeen implemented by the J apan International ResearchCentre for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). Theseprojects as given in Table 1, have been divided intothree categories -"Site-Specific Comprehensive

Projects", "Country-Based Comprehensive Projects",and "Multinational Comprehensive Projects".

Time FrameS.No. Research PartnershipProject

1 1995-1999

2 1995-2001

3 1998-2002

4

Site-Specific ProjectsProductivity and sustainable utilization of tropical and

subtropical brackish water ecosystems

Development of sustainable agricultural technology in

Northeast Thailand

Evaluation and improvement of regional farming systems

in Indonesia

Development of new technologies and their practice for

sustainable farming systems in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

1999-2003

Department of Fisheries, Forestry Research Institute, and

Ministry of Agriculture, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Department of Agriculture, Bangkok, Thailand, Department

of Livestock Development, Land Development Department

Agency for Agricultural Research and Development,

Indonesia

Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, Cantho University

and Southern Fruit Research Institute, Vietnam

5Country-Based ProjectsComprehensive studies on the development of a

sustainable agro-pastoral system in the subtropical zone

of Brazil

1996-2002

6 Development of sustainable production and utilization of

major food resources in China1997-2003

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Centre for

T ropicalAgriculture, and International Centre for Agricultural

Technology, Association of Agricultural Cooperation of

Japanese Immigrants, Brazil

Institute of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Natural

Resources and Regional Planning, Research Centre for

Rural Economy, China Agricultural University, Institute of

Soils and China National Rice Research Institute, and the

Shanghai Fisheries University, People's Republic of China

7Multinational Projects

Comprehensive soybean research project in South

America

1997-2006 Agricultural Technology Centre in Paraguay, Paraguay;

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Brazil; and

the National Institute for Agricultural Technology, Argentina

West Africa Rice Development Association, Cote d'lvoire8 Improving food security in West Africa through increased

productivity in rainfed rice systems

1998-2002

APAARI Newslettf TU71£ 2000

Site-Specific Comprehensive Projects: Thesesystematically analyze the agricultural, forestry,and fisheries issues of a specific region through anunderstanding of the relationships among variousfactors such as natural resources, environment,technology, and administration. Projects inVietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia aree-xamples of site-specific projects.

covering several countries in a cooperative effortto resolve strategically important issues. Projectsin South America and West Africa are multinational

projects.

Multi ~isciplinarylParticipatory Approach

}IRCAS is convinced that project goals are betterachieved if socio-economists work together withbiological scientists before and during the projects.Socio-economists are often expected to playabridging role in a multi-disciplinary project byconsidering individual technologies within a broadercontext of the socio-economy of the regional countriesconcerned. Now-a-days agro-economists and ruralsociologists are expected to play an important role in

}IRCAS comprehensive projects.

[Contributed by: Mr. Kazuyuki Tsurumi, Director of ResearchInformation Division, Japan International Research Centre forAgricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and

Fisheries, Tsukuba, Japan].

Country-Based Comprehensive Projects: These

identify the most significant food supply and

agricultural problems of the partner country and

then select several representative research fields

and themes in which }IRCAS can best contributetowards the resolution of these problems. In

addition, these projects promote comprehensivejoint research through collaboration with the

administration of the partner country. Both the

China and Brazil projects fall under this programme.

Multinational Comprehensive Projects : These involve

researchers in many fields from a wide region

ELECTRONI~LOBALFO~UM ON AGRICULTURAL RESE~Cj:

NARS MASTER WEBSITE

EGFAR

The main objective of the Electronic Global Forum onAgricultural Research (Eo FAR) is to establish acommunication platform in Internet that faciltates theexchange of information and knowledge among thestakeholders of agricultural research for development(ARD). From an operational point of view, Eo FAR isconceived as a system of webpages that fulfills three mainfunctions:a) The first is a gateway function, whose purpose is to

provide an internet platform to facilitate the interactionamong the members of GFAR, as well as a gatewayto the information and knowledge resources of thevarious stakeholders of ARD;

b) The second function is an electronic forum discussionfunction on topics releval}tto the GFARstakeholders,at the regional and global levels. The first electronicfora are already being prepared.

c) Thirdly, the system ofwebpagesthat constitute Eo FARoffers specialized information services to thestakeholders of ARD.

The service that is being developed is that of the"NARS ForuJll"} which is aimed at the development ofan user-driven Knowledge Marketplaces on topics ofspecific interest to the management of NARS. Thedevelopment ofEGF AR is being done in close coordinationwith FAO/WAICENT, with the CGIAR and with theinformation services of the various stakeholders of OF AR,specially the Regional/Sub-Regional Fora and their

I databases and information systems.

The NARS Master Webpage (http://www.fao.org/nars), as one of the seven Stakeholder Master Webpagesof Eo FAR (http://www.egfar.org), has recently beenformally launched. The objectives of the NARS MasterWebpage are to facilitate the active involvement ofNARS in the Global Forum, to promote the interactionamong them and the sharing of relevant experiences, andto facilitate to all stakeholders and interested partiesaccess to NARS and to their information and knowledgeresources. Thus this webpage provides Information onNARS and on NARS-related issues, and it provides agateway to the Regional/Sub-Regional Fora (RF/SRF) andto their Regional Agricultural Information Systems(RAIS). The NARS Master Webpage can be accessedeither by going directly to the first address previouslymentioned, or by clicking on the "NARS leaf" of theGFAR symbol in the Eo FAR Home Page. The Eo FARHome Page is being totally re-designed, and the new'Home Page will soon be available. ,

The NARS Master Webpage (http://www.fao.org/nars) is constituted by seven elements : (1) What areNARS and. the role they play in GFAR; (2) Generalinformation services; ( 3) OF AR -in-Action; ( 4) Gatewayto information resources of the stakeholders of ARD;(5) the NARS Forum; (6) Electronic fora on specifictopics; and (7) GFAR-2000.

[For details contact; Dr Alain Derevier, Executive Secretary,GFAR-SC & Adviser Agricultural Research Group, The WorldBank, 1818H Street, NW Washington DC 24033, USA].

"-PAARI Newsletter. June 200C

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY PROJECT

A Vehicle for Change in Agricultural Scenario of India

The National Agricultural Technology.L Project (NATP) being jointly

implemented by the I CAR and the Departmentof Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC),Government of India, with the World Banksupport is aimed to:

i) improve the efficiency of Organizationand Management System of ICAR;

ii) enhance the performance and effectivenessof research programmes responding tolocation specific needs of farmers; and

iii) pilot test innovations jn technologydissemination with greater accountabilityand with participation of the farming

community. Dr R.S. Paroda addressing the brainstO7ming meeting of NATP with theWorld Bank Mid-Tenn Review Team

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of National AgriculturalTechnology Project is to address the National issues,viz i) national food security, ii) household foodsecurity, iii) poverty alleviation or equity,iii) environmental quality and conservation ofbiodiversity, iv) sustainability in the use of naturalresources, v) product diversification to enhance ruralincome, vi) welfare of tribal people, women or other

disadvantaged groups, vii) exploiting commerciallyviable technologies and viii) enhance export potential.Specific objectives, however are: i) implementationof a new, more problem oriented and/or demanddriven mode of operation in the NARS and to givegreater prominence to multidisciplinary, locationspecific research, through enhanced linkages betweenresearch institutions and programmes, ii) sharpeningfocus of the research on problem of emerging nationalimportance, iii) increasing the proportion of researchoutput that responds directly to the needs of backwardareas, small-scale farmers, women and disadvantagedgroups, iv) increasing contribution for frontier sciencesrelevant to production system research and v) meetingcrucial gaps in knowledge and skill needed to attainthe technical objectives.

Mission Mode (MM), Production System Research(PSR), Technology Assessment and Refinement(TAR)and Competitive Grants Programme (COP). Theprogrammes of Agro Eco-systems Research revolvearound Sthematic areas: i) Integrated Pest Management(IPM), ii) Natural Resource Management (NRM),iii) Integrated Plant Nutrient Management (IPNM),iv) Post Harvest Technology and Value Addition(PHT&VA), v) Agro-Biodiversity (ABD), vi) WaterManagement (WM), vii) Socio-Economics andPolicy Research (SE&PR) and viii) Biotechnology(BT). Scientists involved with the researchprogrammes have been empowered to make themresponsible and accountable and also to developscientific leadership qualities to enable them to takehard and challenging decisions in tune with nationalinterest and fast changing global perspectives. Thisparadigm shift in management of research will ensureneed based delegation of powers with matchingresponsibility and accountability.

Technology Dissemination

Under the ICAR component of the Innovations inTechnology Dissemination, 53 Zonal Research Stations(ZRS) are remandated to function as KVKs. TheseZRSs are being strength~ned to serve their newlyassigned roles of developing and testing location

specific technologies. Forty Agricultura) TechnologyInformation Centres (ATICs) have been established

COMPONENTS

Research

This component supports research programmes in

Agro-ecosystems under Team of Excellence (TOE),

,PAART Np.",lpttpT T,1flP ?nnn

for providing single window support system for accessto recent technologies developed at various units of[CAR institutions/SAUs. In addition, 29 Directoratesof Extension Education in SAUs and 8 ZonalCoordinating Units are being strengthened.

The Department of Agricultural Cooperation(DAC) component is being implemented in six statesviz, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh,Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab. Districts in all thesix states have been identified fot establishment of

Agricultural Technology Management Agencies(ATMAs). The State Agriculture Management andExtension Training Institutes (SAMETIs) are beingstrengthened to train the farmers and the extensionworkers. Strategic Research and Extension Plans(SREPS) for the selected districts have been finalizedfor planning interventions.

Organization and Management (O&M) Systems

Organization & Management (O&M) Systems coveractivities related to: i) O&M reforms in ICAR,ii) Strengthening of ICAR Headquarters, NationalAgricultural Science Centre (NASC), Directorate ofInformation & Publication on Agriculture (DIPA)and PIU-NATP, iii) Institutionalization of PrioritySetting Mechanism, Monitoring and Evaluation(PM&E) and iv) Information System Development(ISD) covering Agricultural Research InformationService (ARIS) and Library Information andN etworking.

The comprehensive allocation of budget is asfollows: i) Research component US $ 125.8 m;ii) Technology dissemination US $ 39.5 m; iii) O&MSystem US $ 53.7 mi iv) Physical/price contingencyUS $ 20.7 m; total US $ 239.7 m.

The NATP has made significant strides in its one

and a half years of existence and is heading steadilytowards full implementation of the diverse activities

planned under the Project. It has catalyzed the

scientific system and excellent partnerships have been

built among the institutions and scientists. The

Project is now progressing towards building up of

partnership at the international level also. Most of

the Research programmes have been reviewed,finalised and cleared and the present status of progressunder this Component is as follows: i) Teams of

Excellence- 26; ii) Mission Mode- 30; iii) Competitive

Grant Projects-79; iv) Production Systems

Research-197; v) Institute Village Linkage Programme

(IVLP) through TAR-44.

The impact of this initiative is being felt in the

different agro-ecosystems and it is hoped that it will

catalyze the change in the NARS to address the

emerging challenges in Indian Agriculture. Recently,the programme of Rainfed Agro-ecosystem was

launched at Hyderabad. In his inaugural speech on

this occasion Dr R.S. Paroda, Director General,

ICAR stressed for "a symbiosis between institutes,

scientists and farmers to help agricultural technologybloom". Agricultural scientists must be able to make

te~~ology work in the fields. And for this they must

be prepared to rub shoulders with farmers and

institutions, he said. In June, a brainstorming meetingof the Project Monitoring Committee was held

with the World Bank Mid- Term Review Team,wherein the overall programme was reviewed and

discussed.

[Contributed by: Dr K.P Agarwal, National Coordinator, NATP,Project Implementation Unit, and Dr P.l. Gautam, NationalDirector, NATP, lBS Centre, IARI, Pusa Campus, New Delhi

110012]

{I Newsletter, ]un£ 2000

~I CARP PROMOTES AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND

TRAINING ACTMTIES IN SRI LANKA

More recent efforts ( during the last six months) withemphasis on agricultural research and training/skillenhancement of staff are presented.

.A Workplan 200012001 for cooperation betweenthe Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) and the Sri Lankan Council forAgricultural Research Policy (CARP), (on behalfof SL NARS), on Agricultural Research andTraining was signed on February 5, 2000 in NewDelhi and on the 30th March, 2000 logisticalarrangements to execute this plan were workedout. This agreement covers (a) exchange ofgermplasm, (b) joint projects in AgriculturalResearch between India and Sri Lanka,(c) exchange of 15 scientists, (d) short-termtraining for Sri Lankans in India in various

specialities, and (e) Postgraduate training for 30

Sri Lankans at Indian Agricultural Universities.

.CARP secretariat staff have been exposed to skills

training in several fields of computer applicationsincluding GIS (Arc-view), Visual Basic &Programming in C++ , and currently two membersare with ISNAR upgrading their MIS skills to thestate-of-art. Also, CARP has started to compilea quarterly newsletter and also got access on theweb at http:ffwww.slcarp.lk. It is now in theprocess ofbuilding its own capabilities of improvingupon what it now has on-line. A 10-year Vi~ionfor agricultural Research in this country is also

being developed.

[Contributed by: Dr D. Kiritisinghe, Executive Director, SriLankan Council for Agricultural Research Policy (CARP),Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka]

NARC ORGANIZES NATIONAL SUMMER CROPS RESEARCH WORKSHOP

AT LUMLE, NEPAL

Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC)organized the 22nd N ational Summer Crops ResearchWorkshop at Agricultural Research Station, Lumle,from 27-29 March, 2000. Such workshops are held

every two years and are well coordinated, representingdiverse partnerships. This three-day workshop washeld with the objectives to review the researchactivities carried out on summer crops in the pastfew years and their outcomes, recommendtechnologies to release for farmers to adopt, discussexisting problems and make suggestions for

improvement.

The workshop was participated by scientists/researchers from National Commodity ResearchProgrammes, Regional Agricultural ResearchStations. Disciplinary divisions of NARC; districtagriculture offices of Department of Agriculture;Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science ( lAAS ) ,NaGs, Donor agencies and farmers. In the workshop,working papers about the researches on varioussummer crops i.e. rice, maize, millets, buckwheat,oilseed crops, grain legumes and jute were presentedand discussions on different issues were held followed

I by the group presentations on recommendations of

technologies for release, pipeline technologies, and

some promising technologies under research and on

some system and management issues.

The workshop after deliberate discussionsrecommended varieties for official release to be

cultivated by farmers in different agro-climaticregions/zones of the country :13 in rice, 4 in maize,1 in cowpea, 2 in pigeonpea, 4 in soybean, 2 in

groundnut, 1 in sesame, 1 in niger, 4 in fingermilletand 2 in buckwheat. They were recommended on

the basis of many years results of various research

trials of different levels in different areas. Similarly32 varieties in rice, 5 in maize, 2 in cowpea, 1 in

pigeonpea, 2 in soybean, 4 in groundnut, 1 in

sesame, 1 in sunflower, 3 in fingermillet and 4 in

jute were recommended as pipeline varieties for

further research/experiments to be undertaken at

different research stations and outreach researchsites in farmers' field. The workshop also made

recommendation on system perspectives and

management issues for improvement.

[Contributed by: Dr Dhruv Joshi, Executive Director, NepalAgricultural Research Council (NARC), Lalitpur, Khumaltar,

Kathmandu, Nepal]

APAARI PUBLICATIONS FUTURE CONFERENCES

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SUCCESS STORIES

.Baby Corn Production in Thailand (1994/1)by Dr Chamnan Chutkaew and Dr R.S. Paroda

.Tilapia Farming in the Philippines (1994/2)by Dr Rafael D. Guerrero III

.Hybrid Rice in China (1994/3)by Mr Lou Xizhi and Dr C.X. Mao

.Dairying in India (1994/4)by Dr R.P. Aneja

.Hybrid Cotton in India (1995/1)by Dr A.K. Basu and Dr R.S. Paroda

.Palm Oil Industry in Malaysia (1995/2)by Dr Y.B. Basiron

.Transformation in Korean Farming-A Success Story of Effective Linkages (1996/1)

by Dr Chae Yun Cho

.Cotton Production in Pakistan (1996/2)by Dr Badaruddin Soomro and Dr Parvez Khaliq

.Orchids in Thailand (1997/1)by Dr Kanchit Thammasiri

.Wheat Production in Iran (1997/2)by Dr Abbas Keshavarz and Dr M.J. Mirhadi

.Agro- Tourism in Australia (1997/3)by Dr Tom Connors

.Direct Seeded Rice in Malaysia (1998/1)by Dr Cheong Ah Wah

.Groundnut in China (1998/2)by Dr Duan Shufen,Dr Hu Wenguang and Dr Sui Qingwei

.Oilseeds in India (1999/1)by Dr Mangala Rai

.Integrated Pest Management inRice in Indonesia (1999/2)

by Dr Soejitno

OTHER PuBLICATIONS

.Directory of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region: South Asia, 1995.

.Directory of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region: Southeast Asia, 1997.

.Proceedings -Fourth Executive Committee Meeting ofAPAARI and Expert Consultation on Management andStrengthening of Regional Research Networks in theAsia-Pacific Region, October 19-21, 1997, Tehran, Iran.

.Proceedings -Fifth General Assembly of APAARI andExpert Consultation on Research ManagementMechanisms of National Agricultural Research Systems(NARS), October 13-15, 1998, Suwon, Republic of Korea.

.NationalAgricultural Research Systems in the Asia-PacificRegion -A Perspective, 1999.

.Status of Plant Genetic Resources Conservation andUtilization in Asia-Pacific Region: Regional SynthesisReport (K.P.S. Chandel & R.S. Paroda), 2000

.Proceedings -Expert Consultation to Develop APAARIVision 2025 & Fifth Executive Committee Meeting of

APAARI

.APAARI -A Decade of Progress

.APAARI -Vision 2025

PhoneE-mail

XXI International Union of Forestry ResearchOrganization (IUFRO) World CongressKuala Lumpur, Malaysia7-12 August, 2000Chairman, Congress Organizing Committee(COC) XXI World Congress,Forest Research Institute, Malaysia (FRIM)52109, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia+603-630-2135/2564+603-630-5687/7753

iufroxxi@frim.gov.m~httR://frim .gov.m~/intro. html

3rd International Crop Science Congress 2000CCH Congress Centrum, Hamberg, Germany17-22 August, 2000

CCH-Congress OrganizationP.O. Box 3024-80, D-20308, Hamberg, Germany0049-040-3569-2244/22480049-040-3569-2269

International Symposium on Scientific Basisfor Participatory Improvement andConservation of Crop Genetic ResourcesOaxtepac, Morelos, Mexico8-14 October, 2000Dr Adi Damania, Symposium SecretariatGenetic Resources Conservation ProgrammeUniversity of California, One Shields Ave.Davis, CA 95616, USA1-530-754-85011-530-754-8505

abdamania@ucdavis.edu

PLACROSYM-XIV International Conferenceon Plantation CropsHyderabad, India12-25 December, 2000Dr P. Rethinam, DirectorNRC for Oil PalmPedavegi and General ChairmanPLACROSYM XIV08812-75409/7548208812-75531

oiIRalm@aR.nic.inRethinam95@mailcit\!.com

Vth International Safflower ConferenceWilliston, North Dakota and Sidney, MontanaUSA23-27 July, 2001Dr Janelle Jenson, Montana State UniversityEastern Agricultural Research Centre, SidneyMontana, USA

jjenson@sidne~.ars. usda.gov

6th ISRR Symposium Roots: The DynamicInterface between Plant and the Earth

Nagoya, Japan11-15 November, 2001Dr Shigenori Moritta, Graduate School ofAgricultural and Life SciencesThe University of Tokyo

Tokyo 113-8657, Japan+81-3-5841-5070anatom~@mail.ecc. uotok~o .ac. io

All queries relating to APAARI Newsletter be addressed to:APAARI Secretariat, FAO Office in India, 55, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi-110 003

Phone: +91-11-4628877; Fax: +91-11-4620115; E-mail: FAO-IND@field.fao.orgAPAARI Homepage: http://www.apaari.org