ADB approves regional grant for farm research
ADB approves regional grant for farm research
Agence France-Presse, Manila
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it has
approved a US$3 million regional technical assistance grant to
fund agriculture research projects to boost food security in some
14 Asian countries.
The grant would go to international agricultural research
centers focusing on helping the poorest regions and most
unfavorable environments of Asia, the Manila-based ADB said.
The projects chosen for the grant will be implemented through
three Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research
centers, in partnership with national agriculture research
systems, it said.
The CGIAR is an association of 16 international agricultural
research centers working in more than 100 developing countries to
mobilize cutting-edge science to achieve sustainable food
security, protect the environment, and reduce poverty.
Among those chosen are the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and the Malaysia-based World
Fish Center.
IRRI is to develop cropping systems and technologies to
stabilize and increase rice productivity in unfavorable monsoon-
dependent rice environments in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,
Laos, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The World Fish Center is to test and demonstrate genetically
improved carp species -- the most important fish in aquiculture
-- to fish farmers, hatchery managers and national researchers.
It will also establish national carp breeding programs in
Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry
Areas (ICARDA) meanwhile will receive part of the money to
demonstrate efficient water and soil fertility management in
small farms of six Central Asian countries -- Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and
Uzbekistan.
The ADB meanwhile will also hold regional workshops in Central
and South Asia to promote information-sharing and collaboration
between the research centers, national governments and donors.
Each project is expected to begin in January 2004 and be
carried out over three years to January 2007.