Faba Beans, Kabuli Chickpeas, and Lentils in the 1980s

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has the principal responsibility the other international agricultural research centers- for research on the improvement of faba beans (Vicia faba) and lentils (Lens culinaris). Together with the International- Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the center also has a regional mandate for the improvement of kabuli-type chickpeas (Cicer arietinum). To be able to perform these responsibilities effectively, ICARDA, at the outset, recognized the need for close collaboration with scientists and institutions within and outside the ICARDA region. With a view to understand the prevailing status of research on these food legumes, ICARDA organized the first international workshop on food legumes improvement and development in April 1978, at Aleppo, Syria, in collaboration with the University of Aleppo. Research in practically every country of the region was reviewed in depth, and recommendations were made on future priorities for increasing the productivity of food legumes in the region. The proceedings were published for ICARDA by the International Development Research Centre (lDRC) in 1979 under the title 'Food Legume Improvement and Development.' Since that first workshop in 1978, the Food Legume Improvement Program (FLIP) of ICARDA has organized three other more specific international conferences. In 1979, a meeting at Aleppo deliberated on lentils and as a result a volume entitled 'Lentils' was published for ICARDA by the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau. In 1981. an international faba bean conference, the first of its kind, was held in Cairo, Egypt, as a part of the Nile Valley Project, a special ICARDA project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). From this conference arose the publication 'Faba Bean Improvement,' published for ICARDA/IFAD by Martinus Nijhoff, The Netherlands. Later in 1981, an international conference on winter sowing and ascochyta blight of chickpeas was held at Aleppo, the proceedings of which were also published for ICARDA by Martinus Nijhoff. In May 1983, FLIP convened the fifth international conference at Aleppo, covering all three legumes. This conference again brought together a large number of scientists from the region to assess achievements during the preceding five years in light of the plans and directions developed in 1978. and how collaboration with national programs could be further strengthened to meet the desired objective. The meeting also examined ICARDA's future research and training priorities for food legumes. The timing of this meeting was perfect, as it came immediately after the first external program review (EPR) of ICARDA by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The center had prepared a long-term plan for this EPR and the participants of the workshop were invited to consider these plans in formulating the recommendations. The present volume reflects the contributions of participants from 24 countries, including those from advanced institutions with which ICARDA collaborates on more basic research. A record of the discussion that occurred following each presentation and the recommendations of the workshop are also included. It is hoped that this publication will help in further strengthening and expanding the network of food legume researchers, and increasing the general awareness of the constraints on the production of faba beans, lentils, and kabuli chickpeas. Finally, we hope that this publication will augment the research achievements made so far, and the future research strategies that need to be followed to overcome these constraints.