Barley improvement programs at ICARDA to meet the global challenges

Abstract

The International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) is one of the 15 CGIAR centers and has a global mandate for barley improvement, specifically for more than 19 million ha of barley grown in dry areas across the globe. ICARDA’s barley improvement program has been reorganized into high input (HI), low input (LI) and winter (W) barley programs to address the requirements of different agro-climatic conditions/regions. The HI barley program targets germplasm improvement for optimal conditions for feed, food and malt purposes, while LI barley program targets germplasm improvement for stressed environments to address the feed, forage and food uses