18 May 2012
No. 1519
Director General Dr William Dar delivers the inaugural address at the TL II’s South Asia regional annual review and work plan meeting held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Also seen (seated from L to R) are Dr CLL Gowda, Director, Grain Legumes Program, ICRISAT; Dr SS Nanda, Dean of Research, Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology and TL II project Coordinator Dr Emmanuel Monyo.
Tropical Legumes II (Phase 2) holds South Asia work plan meeting in Bhubaneswar An estimated 101 million households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) grow one or more of the six grain legumes targeted under the Tropical Legumes II project, for food security, income generation, improved nutrition and maintaining soil fertility. Increasing the area under improved cultivars, new production technologies and expanding cultivation to non-traditional areas could possibly bring about change in the lives of smallholder farmers in the target countries.
T
he South Asia regional annual review and work plan meeting of the Tropical Legumes II (TL II) project was held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from 14-17 May. The project aims to enhance grain legumes productivity and production in droughtprone areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA). In his inaugural address, expressing concern and alarm over the growing number of undernourished, Director General William Dar said, “More than a quarter of the world’s children are still
malnourished. Together, SSA and SA regions account for nearly 63% (24% in SSA and 39% in SA) of the world’s 700 million undernourished people, including children.” He appreciated the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s support and commitment to the cause as reflected in its agriculture strategy, with a strong focus on agricultural development in SSA and SA. Commending the progress made by the TL II team in Phase 1, Dr Dar fervently appealed to enhance efforts towards increasing the area under improved to page 2 ...4