Project description

Title: Establishment of a Regional Network for the Promotion of Plant-Breeding and Seed Production
Commissioned by: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Country: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan , Uzbekistan
Lead executing agency: Ministries of agriculture and seed research institutions of the participating countries
Overall term: September 2000 to December 2006

Context

Even though wheat production in Kazakhstan was cut by about half following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has proved possible in recent years to achieve export surpluses once more. The country is now among the world’s six largest wheat producers. And Uzbekistan, which was obliged to import wheat to ensure supplies during the first years of independence, can supply its own needs once again. Tajikistan’s topography means the country will remain dependent on imports in the medium term.  

If the population’s level of food security is to rise once more to that of the Soviet era, knowledge of production techniques must be brought up to date, and new disease-resistant, high-yield varieties of wheat must be bred. 
The current diversification of varieties is not enough, however, to rival Western progress in biology and gene technology in the long run. Research resources are few due to the limited access to international know-how available since independence.

Objective

The project contributes to poverty reduction and food and job security in structurally weak regions. The establishment and support of a regional network for the promotion of plant breeding and seed production lead to significant increases in income, especially for small-scale, privatised farms, and also to a reduction of rural exodus and poverty in low-land areas. Supplies of wheat – one of the most important foodstuffs – are secured, imports are reduced and surpluses can be produced for export. Monetary gains from local sales flow directly into the economic cycle of poorer rural regions. New production methods using appropriate varieties become internationally competitive in terms of expense, effort and yield.

Approach

The breeding and production of new varieties of wheat adapted to regional geography and conditions are particularly promoted. The exchange of experience and information between national and international research institutions (for example, the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas) is supported through a common Internet platform.

In the field of wheat breeding, the project works closely with USAI, SIDA, CARE, FAO and New York State University. Young specialists receive further training in Mexico, Turkey and Germany and serve the network as multipliers.

Results achieved so far

To date, the authorisation of new varieties of wheat has led to an extension of land under cultivation in Kazakhstan by a factor of 50, in Tajikistan by a factor of 100 and in Uzbekistan by a factor of 200. Thanks to the promotional measures, yields have doubled in the past five years.