ADB farm research grant seen to boost food security

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday it has approved a $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 aquaculture – 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.