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EDITORIAL

AARINENA is planning to hold its seventh General Conference during the period 22-23 March 2000 in Beirut in conjunction with the 25th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East, thus enabling the Association to actively participate in the above FAO Near East and North Africa Regional Meeting. The Association extended an invitation to all Ministries of Agriculture in the region to participate in the conference with the request to include in their delegations the Director of Agricultural Research, so that he can actively participate in the AARINENA General Conference.

The 7th General Conference will elect a new Executive Committee, vote on constitutional amendments proposed by the Executive Committee and discuss matters that will enable the Association to become more effective.

It has been almost two years since the Association΄s Secretariat was transferred from FAO - RNE Office in Cairo to the Agricultural Research Institute in Cyprus operating as autonomous body from within the Region. The President and AARINENA Secretariat will present their experiences and make suggestions to the conference and the new Executive Committee on the future of AARINENA Secretariat in terms of seat etc.

AARINENA has participated with other international organizations operating in the region in cosponsoring the Task Force Meeting on Mashreq sub-regional Project formulation and Review of NARS Analysis project and the Regional Workshop on Date-Palm Post-Harvest Processing Technologies. AARINENA also participated in the 5th NARS Steering Committee Meeting held in Beijing, May 99 and in the GFAR-SC Meeting held in Washington D.C., October 99.

The sustenance of AARINENA has been possible thanks to direct and continued support by his Co-sponsors: FAO, ICARDA and ISNAR. The Association will certainly continue to require the backing of its historical Co-sponsors, but at the same time seeking additional ways and means to diversify the sources of the material support required for its future operations and programmes. The Executive Committee has endorsed the idea for the establishment of support group for strengthening association΄s mission and activities in the region and invites regional and international organizations which are active and play a key role in the development programs of the region to become members of the "support group".

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In recent years AARINENA has come a long way from the early days of struggle for visibility, credibility and recognition. The Association has become recognized by the international agricultural research community as de facto representative of the National Agricultural Research Systems in West Asia and North Africa and as one of the four presently established Regional Fora in the world. Recently, the Association has become very active with its contribution to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and AARINENA President serves as a member of Global Forum Steering Committee (GF-SC).

The establishment of AARINENA in 1985 and its sustenance ever since has only been possible thanks to direct and continued support by the three Co-sponsors: FAO, ICARDA and ISNAR. The dependence of AARINENA on the Co-sponsors is bound to phase out as soon as the Association becomes able to rely on self-generated resources. However, the Association will continue to require the backing of its historical Co-sponsors in a role qualitatively different to that of direct financial support. Collectively, the Co-sponsors are important in "imparting a legitimacy and assurance of continuity" to the Association as well as providing counsel and technical and moral support. Individually, they are equally important in providing specific assistance in the area of their competence. For these reasons, it is recommended that the Association preserve the "institution" of the Co-sponsors, but at the same time asserting its autonomy and seeking additional ways and means to diversify the sources of the material support required for its future operations and programmes. These should be additional and complementary to the support the Association receives from its Cosponsors.

Establishment of Support Group, therefore, is an essential component for strengthening our mission and activities in the region to attain food security and alleviate poverty while safeguarding natural resource base.

On the basis of our long term vision and strategy, it has been decided that those regional and international organizations which are active and play a key role in the development programs of the region to be invited to serve as a member of the Support Group.

AARINENA΄s Secretariat would highly appreciate receiving confirmation from those agreeing with our imperative request to join the Support Group of this highly important regional association. Necessary decisions will be made for the establishment and inclusion of your organization as a Member of the Support Group, in the General Conference of AARINENA to be held in Lebanon in conjunction with FAO Regional Conference of the Ministers of Agriculture in the Near East in March 2000.

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Next General Conference

The 7th General Conference of the Association will be held in Beirut, Lebanon at the kind invitation of the Government of Lebanon, along with the 25th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East during the period of 22-23 of March 2000.

FAO 25th Regional Conference, will include in the agenda a presentation by the AARINENA President on the mission, goals, achievements and future plans of the Association.

Constitutional amendments

AARINENA Secretariat has sent a letter to all full members informing them of the decision of the Executive Committee meeting held in Nicosia, Cyprus from 21-23 September 1998, to present as proposals to the 7th General Conference of AARINENA as per article XV of the constitution the following two amendments.

1)%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Article III to add the following two new objectives:

• Strengthen national agricultural research capacities for providing timely and necessary data and information to the policy makers;

• Assist in the mobilization of financial and other forms of support to all efforts aiming at strengthening agricultural research and technology development in the Region.

2)%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Article VII item 5 for allowing the immediate re-election of the President and Vice President for only one more term for the same office. %26nbsp;

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AARINENA Flyer

• AARINENA flyer outlining the Association΄s mission, goals, members, objectives, priorities, achievements, organization, financial resources etc. has been prepared.

Web-site for AARINENA on the Internet

A draft of AARINENA΄s homepage which includes highlights (3-4 pages) of AARINENA΄s constitution, goals, mission, objectives, achievements, organization, member countries etc is temporarily hosted on the homepage of the Agricultural Research Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus %26lt;http: //www.ari.gov.cy%26gt; %26nbsp;

The AARINENA΄s homepage will be linked with regional NARS (NARIs, Universities, NGOs) home pages and Co-sponsors home pages. Regional NARS are invited to send their home page address to AARINENA΄s Executive Secretary%26lt;miltos@arinet.ari.gov.cy%26gt;. Views and constructive criticism on AARINENA΄s draft Web-site on the internet are mostly welcome. %26nbsp;

Sub-regional/Regional project proposals

Following comments and suggestions from NARS-SEC, FAO Animal Production and Health Division, (Feed Resources), and ICARDA on a draft project document a final project proposal "Integrated Feed/livestock Production Systems Using Non-conventional Feed Resources in the Al-Mashreq Region" was prepared by AARINENA in collaboration with the National Programs of the Al-Mashreq Region: Cyprus, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Syria and ICARDA, FAO-RNE, ISNAR and NARS-SEC. %26nbsp;

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Promotion of cost-effective research partnerships %26nbsp;

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The AARINENA President will present at GFAR-2000 two successful case studies of cost-effective partnerships in the WANA region will be presented by the AARINENA President at GFAR-2000. The two successful case studies which have been selected among sub regional, regional projects are:

• Crop Livestock integration in the low rainfall areas of WANA (Maghreb, Mashreq regions)

• Wheat Leaf and stem rusts network in the Nile valley and Red Sea Region.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) %26nbsp;

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For the preparation of an information strategy for the WANA region, AARINENA started the collection through its country/sub-regional representatives information on e-mail availability, connectivity, web-site home page of NARs etc. in order to record the existing situation and identify the national, sub-regional and regional needs.

AARINENA΄s Secretariat has so far received information, through questionnaires send to all country/sub-regional representatives, from 4 out of 5 sub-regions.

While expecting response from the remaining representatives/sub-regions, a consultation meeting is organized for early 2000%26nbsp; (20-21/3/2000) with the following objectives.

• To assess the present status of the Information %26amp; Communication Management (ICM) and ICT situation in each AARINENA sub-region, thus enabling towards identifying information requirements, information facilities or services which already exist, on-going projects or proposals aimed at strengthening information systems or services.

• To identify constraints which could prevent the implementation of an effective, efficient and sustainable information system in AARINENA and to brainstorm on possible ways and means to alleviate them.

• To formulate terms of reference for the elaboration of an AARINENA Agricultural Information Strategy; to identify the different topics which will have to be addressed; and to propose respective contributions of the five sub-regions to the strategy document as well as a timeframe for its formulation.

Fifth NARS Steering Committee Meeting

The AARINENA president participated in the 5th NARS Steering Committee Meeting held in Beijing China, May 1999. Dr Mohammed Roozitalab participated in the meeting and he summarized the main developments in the WANA region since the last NARS-SC meeting.

In the Beijing meeting of the NARS Steering Committee substantial progress was made both in terms of the structuring of the NARS Secretariat΄s Program of Work, as well as in the preparation of the GFAR-2000 meeting that will take place in Dresden, Germany, in May 2000.

Global Forum on Agricultural Research - SC Meeting

Dr Mohamed Roozitalab, President of AARINENA participated in the GFAR-SC Meeting held in Wanshington D.C., during the period of 23-24 October 1999. Dr Roozitalab presented the Association΄s Progress Report covering the period April -October 1999 that was mainly concentrated on the Association΄s activities towards its contribution to GFAR-2000 meeting to be held in Dresden, Germany, based on the following items:

• Innovative Research Partnership

• Successful Case Studies

• Information and Communication Technology Development in WANA Region

AARINENA΄s president also participated in the meeting of European Forum (EF) where venues of cooperation between AARINENA and EF were presented.

It was decided that a meeting be held later in Lisbon, Portugal during EU meetings with representatives of both regions for the preparation of a draft proposal taking into consideration priorities in both regions. %26nbsp;

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The Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Libya

Organization and structure

The ARC is the largest institution in Agricultural Research in Libya. The center has four regional branches assigned to carry out research in experimental stations/sub-stations located in the following four regional research zones:

Western Region%26nbsp;%26nbsp;

The Regional ARC in the western region of El Jamahiriya is located in Tajura, 20 km east of Tripoli covering the area extending from the Tunisian border to Khomes area. Research activities are focusing mainly on supplementary and fully irrigated crops such as%26nbsp; vegetables, cereals, fruit trees, and forage crops. In addition, some emphasis is given on agricultural economic studies, animal production and biotechnology research. Six research stations and substations have been established in this region to serve its objectives.

Central Region

The regional ARC in the central zone is located in Musrata, 200 km east of Tripoli covering the area from Khomes to Sirt area, focusing on the use of saline water as well as soil fertility research and rain fed cereals and fruit trees. These activities are conducted in two experimental stations.

Eastern Region%26nbsp;%26nbsp;

The regional ARC in the eastern zone is located in Al Marj, 1100 km east of Tripoli, covering the area from Sirt to the Egyptian border. Its research activities are mainly focused on rain fed agriculture, cereals, legumes, fruit trees, forestry and range. These research activities are carried out in four experimental stations located in the region.

Southern Region

The regional ARC in the southern region is located at Sebha, 700 km south of Tripoli covering the southern area of the country. Its research activities are mainly related to crop improvement under irrigation, cereals, legumes, and date palm trees.

At present, ARC is governed by a Committee Board composed of the Director General as Chairman, the directors of the Four Regional Research Centers and Agricultural public sectors as members of the board. The Chairman is assisted by the heads of four Directorates.

The Directorate of Research has eight departments:-

Plant protection, Agronomy, Soils and Irrigation, Range management and Forestry, Agricultural Economics, Horticulture, Animal production and Farm Machinery. Each Department has a head who is chosen from the ARC staff.

The Directorate of Technical Support and Cooperation has three departments:-

Laboratory Services, Training and Technical Coordination, and Library and Documentation.

The Directorate of Administration and Finance has three departments:-

Administration (Personnel) Services, Public Relations and Finance.

ARC management is entrusted with the following mandates:

• To develop budget proposals for the financing of research, whether directly from the Secretariat of Agriculture budget or from other sources.

• To monitor the implementation of Research programs.

• To participate in various meetings and to manage ARC activities. %26nbsp;

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Human%26nbsp;Resources: ARC has currently (March 1999) around 447 National permanent full time staff consisting of:

• 40 Research Scientists, including 10 Senior Researchers (Ph.D), and 30 Research Scientists (M.Sc)

• 96 Assistant Research Scientists (B.Sc), and 17 Researchers on study leave

• 311 Technicians (among various categories), and 93 other Unskilled support staff (workers, clerks, and store keepers)

The Research Scientists are highly concentrated in the Western zone (85 researchers), followed by 30 in the Eastern zone, 11 in the Southern zone, and 10 in the Central zone.

Financial Resources for research at ARC theoretically come according to its establishment act in 1971 from three main sources:

• Money allocated from the state budget.

• The center's income from experimental stations, services to the public and consultations.

• Gifts and donations from state companies and government authorities and institutions.

The ARC's total budget in 1997 amounted to 8.3 million US $, of which 5.7 were allocated for salaries/allowances and 2.6 for operations, research activities and equipment.

Research Activities

The main goal of Agricultural Research in Libya is to improve food and feed production and quality, through appropriate technologies and applied research programs for the development and improvement of local resources. In this contest ARC has set up its research priorities in order to select high yielding varieties of cereals, vegetables and legumes, to develop irrigation methods for the optimum utilization of the country's%26nbsp; scarce water resources, to improve forest and range land,%26nbsp; and to make available enough feed resources for livestock, and to improve management practices for crop production. Within this contest various research topics in progress, under execution or planned are the%26nbsp; following:

1.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current topics in Crop Protection.

• Control of Fruit flies by Sterile Male Technique

• Evaluation of biological control methods against different pests on fruit trees

• The use of solarization for soil sterilization under green houses

• The use of tissue culture techniques in producing virus free potatoes

• Survey on the Fruit flies and nematode population in different areas

2.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current topics in Soil and Irrigation

• Soil fertility survey and mapping

• Soil test calibration

• Supplementary irrigation technique

• The use of saline water for irrigation

• Land use planning

• Biological Nitrogen Fixation

• Crop water consumption use

• Water harvesting

3.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current Topics in Field Crops

• Testing and selection of high yielding varieties of durum wheat, barley and Legume crops to drought, salinity, and diseases.

• Investigation on cereal production problems; weed control, and cultural practices under rain fed and irrigated conditions.

4.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current Topics in Horticulture Crops

• Selection and propagation of suitable fruit trees such as olive, date palm, and stone fruits.

• Testing and selection of high yielding varieties of vegetables such as cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes.

5.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current topics in Economics

• Feasibility studies of Research Data

• Monitoring and evaluation of Agricultural equipment and farm machinery.

6.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current topics in Animal Nutrition

• Meat and Milk improvement of local goats.

• Improvement of local barbary sheep in relation to heat and humid stresses

7.%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Current Topics in Range and Forestry

• Research is carried out to assess the nutritive value of some important plants as well as their ecological distribution. %26nbsp;

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Date Palm International Symposium

Windhoek, Namibia- 22 until 25 February 2000 %26nbsp;

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The symposium's main topics can be summarized as follows: %26nbsp;

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1. Date production in the Old World versus the New World:

Can the Old World benefit from the developments in the emerging date producing countries and visa versa%3f In which fields can countries or regions benefit from each other%3f %26nbsp;

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2. Recent developments in date palm research and extension:

Based on the developments of the last 5 years, the following topics will be discussed:

• Date in vitro mass propagation and finger printing techniques;

• Date technical practices including irrigation and fertilization;

• Date Protection: the focus will mostly be on the Bayoud disease and the Red Palm Weevil;

• Date Harvesting, Packaging, Marketing and International Trade.

3. International Technical Cooperation on Date Palm: %26nbsp;

Proposals prepared by the preparatory meeting of the working group will be put forward for discussion on the symposium. %26nbsp;

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For more information on registration, submission of papers/abstracts etc. you may mail, phone, fax or e-mail to: %26nbsp;

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Date Palm International Symposium Secretariat

P.O.Box 8697 Bachbrecht, Windhoek-Namibia

Tel: %26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; + 264 61 246464

Fax: %26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; + 264 61 253814

E-mail: zaid@namib.com %26nbsp;

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'International Symposium, Prospects for a Sustainable Dairy Sector in the Mediterranean'

Hammamet - Tunisia, October 26-28, 2000. %26nbsp;

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For more information mail, phone, fax or e-mail to: %26nbsp;

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Symposium Secretariat

c/o: Monsieur Mustapha GUELLOUZ

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Office de l΄ Elevage et des Pβturages

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; 30, Rue Alain Savary - 1002 Tunis - TUNISIE

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; E-mail: DG.OEP@Email.ati.tn

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Fax: (216-1) 793 603

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; Tel : (216-1) 782 960

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; 790 795

%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp;%26nbsp; 787 813 %26nbsp;

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Advanced Course on 'Valorization of sheep and goat dairy products in the Mediterranean'%26nbsp;

Present technologies and market perspectives. %26nbsp;

Surgθres (France), 10-19 Arpil 2000. Organized by Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (CIHEAM-IAMZ)

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For more information mail, phone, fax or e-mail to:

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MEDITERRANEAN AGRONOMIC INSTITUTE OF ZARAGOZA

Montanana 177 - Apartado de correos 202 - 50080 Zaragoza (Spain)

Tel.: (34) 976 57 60 13 - Fax: (34) 976 57 63 77

e-mail: iamz@iamz.ciheam.org - Web: http://www.iamz.ciheam.org %26nbsp;

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Regional Workshop on Date-palm Post-harvest Processing Technology

The Regional Workshop on Date-palm Post-harvest Processing Technology was held in Karaj, Iran from 11-12 October 1999. It was co-organized by AARINENA, FAO/RNE, UNESCO Cairo Office, and Ministry of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The workshop was attended by participants from 11 countries, including Egypt, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and representatives from AARINENA, FAO, IAEA, AOAD and UNESCO.%26nbsp; %26nbsp;

The objectives of this workshop were to discuss:

• The status of date palm Post-harvest Technology in the region and review up to date achievements.

• Finding the ways and means for cooperation among the countries for R %26amp; D, marketing and export promotion, and%26nbsp;

• Formulation of recommendations for future plan of action for the advancement of these technologies.

Conclusions and Recommendations:

The participants after reviewing the information presented in the country reports and after discussion, they recommended the following:

• There is a need for information dissemination in all aspects including R %26amp; D to bring about the same level of technology development to all countries.

• Assistance should be provided to rural small farm holders for the development of the infrastructure and post-harvest processing of date palm.

• For disinfestation of date as commodity, treatment by irradiation technology should be considered as one of the alternatives for Methyl Bromide treatment.

• Concerted efforts should be undertaken by the countries in the Region for the promotion of national and international trade in date and date-based products.%26nbsp;%26nbsp; A policy on the development of marketing should also be formulated.

• A regional Body/Organization/Agency should be established to assist, monitor and promote post-harvest processing and marketing and to maintain liaison with national, regional and international organizations.

• It is strongly emphasized that a regional center should be established (recognized) for research and development, assistance, training and other process' development, adoption and dissemination of information on new technologies to the countries in the Region.

• The international and regional organizations such as FAO, IAEA, WHO, UNESCO, IDB, etc.%26nbsp; should be urged to provide assistance and information material to the Member Countries and also to assist the development of the proposed regional center.

Consultation Meeting on Establishment of Global Date palm Network

Two days Consultation Meeting on Establishment of Global Date palm followed the workshop and was cosponsored by FAO (RNE %26amp; AGP) and AARINENA.

After intensive and constructive discussions the country representatives have adopted the following recommendations:

• The Consultation Meeting supported the establishment of Global Date-palm Network.

• Creation of active Regional Network to promote all aspects of date palm.%26nbsp;%26nbsp; A mechanism of linkage should be established among the date palm producing countries of the Near East and North Africa for free flow of information.

• Concerted efforts and support should be made available for the establishment of Regional date-palm research, development and marketing.

• Promotion of national, regional and international marketing and commercialization policies.

Implementation:

To achieve the above goals it is necessary to establish the following bodies:

• Establishment of a national commission and/or a focal point to coordinate all aspects of date-palm activities.

• Board of coordinators: they are representative of the member countries to implement and adopt the policies.

• Network coordinator will be elected by the Board of Coordinators to carry out the approved policy and plan of action.

• Consultation Meeting requests FAO to be the facilitator for the Network.

• The Regional Network will be linked with Global Date palm Network presently under consideration.

• The Consultation requested the President of AARINENA to submit the proposal for establishment of this Regional Network to:

A) The Global Forum Steering Committee which will be held in Washington D.C. during the %26nbsp;%26nbsp; period of 23 - 24 October 1999.

B) The 25th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East Region and the AARINENA 7th General Conference, which will be held in Lebanon in March 2000. %26nbsp;

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