Australia, CIMMYT to Further Support Wheat and Maize Research in Afghanistan

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have begun the new phase of the project Sustainable Wheat & Maize Production in Afghanistan which was launched in October 2012.  The new phase builds upon research and development (R&D) and capacity building activities of the previous phases and it will have a greater emphasis on rainfed wheat and hybrid maize.

The new phase of the project will further address the absence of an in-country wheat breeding program and the fact that more than 80% of certified seed produced in the country is still Ug99 susceptible. There is also a need to initiate agro-climatic zone specific varietal testing and to reach out to farmers with zone-specific crop knowledge management.

Additionally, the project will create information management hubs in the provinces of Nangarhar, Herat, Balkh, and Kabul. These hubs, led by the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA) and engaging all stakeholders and partners, will undertake baseline and subsequent annual surveys to assess levels of technology adoption. They will also study factors affecting adoption, including the role of children and women in wheat- and maize-based cropping systems, and engage in technology assessment, demonstration, and dissemination.

For more information, visit http://blog.cimmyt.org/?p=9626.