ICRISAT and AVRDC Team Up to Help Resource-Poor Farmers

Diversifying the food basket of farmers from developing countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is the objective of the collaboration agreement between the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC). The research institutions will be joining forces to provide small-scale farmers the opportunity to improve their agricultural productivity and income. They will also work together to strengthen crop breeding through the use of agro-biotechnological tools. ICRISAT and AVRDC have collaborated on a project to develop drought-tolerant tomatoes using modern genetic and molecular approaches. Another project aims to develop vegetable varieties that will fit into the cropping schemes of the Sudano-Sahelian zone.

William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, said: "Many farmers neither have the ability to withstand risks nor the resources to seek technical help from multiple sources. By combining the strengths of ICRISAT and the World Vegetable Center, farmers will be able to choose more crops to grow during different seasons to reduce the risk impact and increase the productivity of their land."

The World Vegetable Center's South Asian Regional Office has recently been established within ICRISAT's headquarters in Patancheru, India.

View the press release at http://www.icrisat.org/Media/2009/media6.htm