Knowledge Management Portal

In order to safeguard countries from quarantine risks (insect pests, pathogens, nematodes, parasitic weeds) associated with the movement of germplasm, ICARDA’s Germplasm Health Unit (GHU) follows a regulatory and quarantine program working in close collaboration with competent institutions where ICARDA has platforms for crop breeding, germplasm multiplication and evaluation and genetic resources exchange. ICARDA’s GHU is responsible for the monitoring, clearance and documentation of safe germplasm movement at the center and share the updated technology with the NPPOs in the host countries and farmers. Thus, to confirm the health status of exchanged germplasms, the GHU conducts different types of diagnostic tests based on the nature of the target pest/pathogen. The following is a list of seed-borne pests of food legumes, cereals, forages and rangelands, in addition to their detection methods applied by ICARDA’s GHU (the full procedures of detection methods are available in Kumari et al., 2022a, 2022b):

Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) is the most important virus infecting lentil both in terms of economic importance and geographical distribution. It was reported that PSbMV can even lead up to 61% yield loss. Therefore, developing and implementing effective management strategies for PSbMV is very important to reduce yield and quality loss. However, accurate detection of virus disease is the first essential step for effective management strategies for control of this disease. Molecular is efficient tool to accurately detect and monitor the occurrence and development of crop diseases. This report describes a validated reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for PSbMV detection and characterization applied by ICARDA’s GHU.

A series of hybrid country-focused meetings took place between NARES, national and regional stakeholders, CGIAR breeders and F2R-CWANA WP2 researchers to promote the fast-track release of the most suitable Genetic Innovations for the CWANA region. Participants were familiarized with OneCGIAR strategies to disseminate Genetic Innovations and were asked to prioritize, firstly, the crops and crop- Target Product Profiles (TPPs) available in the OneCGIAR portfolio that were considered most important for the countries. Prioritization was based, among other considerations, on their socioeconomic importance for the country and the current availability of suitable varieties targeting the TPPs selected. Secondly, newly released but underutilized varieties that best fit the selected TPPs were also prioritized. The prioritized county and crop-level target product profiles and newly released varieties will be the basis of subsequent activities related to developing and releasing genetic innovations within CWANA under WP2. This record is for the stakeholder engagement meeting in Sudan.

Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of the Red Palm Weevil in NENA Countries (The Case of Egypt and Saudi Arabia): Ex-post Impact Assessment

The MENA region is both disproportionately vulnerable to compound climate fragility risks and among the most gender unequal regions in the world. Although we must be wary of over-generalizing about women’s needs and experiences across such a diverse set of geographic, ecological, cultural, socio-economic, political, and institutional contexts, the existing body of research on gender and climate change in MENA does enable us to comment reasonably certainly on what we know and what we do not know about the opportunities and challenges women experience in agriculture, the gendered effects and outcomes of climate change upon agriculture, and the roles women have played and could play in the future in adapting and building resilience to climate effects. Based on this existing scientific literature, we also identify gaps in evidence and knowledge, and make practical recommendations for future research and public policy.

الزراعة بالمقحات البرية (فاب) في المناطق شبه الجافة - فلسطين

The digital forum is hosted jointly by the Global Landscapes Forum and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Dr. Mounir Louhaichi was invited to contribute to the FAO-GLF Digital Forum. He provided a live professional presentation on the beneficial role of extensive grazing for the restoration of dryland ecosystems where he presented a case study from Tunisia.

Conservation Agriculture is a sustainable agricultural production system guided by three core principles: no (or minimal) tillage to the soil after harvest; permanent soil cover to lock in moisture and reduce evaporation; and crop diversification replacing monocropping - to enhance soil health and subsequently improve crop productivity and household resilience.