International germplasm development for multiple disease resistance

Abstract

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), with the headquarters in Aleppo, Syria, is one of 15 centers strategically located all over the world and supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). With its main research station and offices based in Aleppo, Syria, ICARDA works through a network of partnerships with national, regional and international institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations and ministries in the developing world; and with advanced research institutes in industrialized countries. ICARDA serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. The Global Barley Enhancement Program has its headquarters in Syria, while the sub-program based in Latin America, targets the developing countries in that region. The development of germplasm with resistance to the main biotic and abiotic stresses has always had the highest priority in the program. Genetic resistance still is the most environmentally-friendly and durable method of control of crop stresses, as well as the only affordable method for low income farmers at different regions worldwide.