USAID Provides Urgent Agricultural Assistance to Kyrgyz Republic Political events this year in Kyrgyzstan have created potential problems for agricultural productivity during the upcoming harvest season. At the request of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture, USAID provided seeds and fertilizers worth $150,000 to address the immediate needs of Kyrgyz farmers. The donation was procured by USAID’s Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development (KAED II) project, implemented by IFDC. The assistance consisted of 100 metric tons (mt) of spring wheat elite seed, 100 mt of spring barley elite seed, 40 mt of corn seed and 100 mt of compound fertilizers. The seed and fertilizers are being delivered and distributed free of charge to areas where the need is greatest.
Kubat Kaseyinov, minister of agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic, receives symbolic bags of seeds from Tatiana C. Gfoeller, U.S. ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic.
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University of Georgia Professor Gerrit Hoogenboom Conducts Seminar at IFDC Headquarters Long-term collaborative partner on numerous projects Dr. Gerrit Hoogenboom, of the University of Georgia’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, conducted a seminar at IFDC headquarters on February 19. His topic was “The Southeast Climate Consortium: Supporting Agricultural Decision-Making in a Variable Climate.” The consortium includes the University of Georgia, University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, Auburn University, University of Alabama – Huntsville, North Carolina State University, Clemson University and IFDC. Hoogenboom has had a long collaborative history with IFDC. He has partnered with IFDC on the continuing development of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) modeling system. He is working with Dr. Upendra Singh, IFDC principal scientist – systems modeling (soil fertility), on rice, nitrogen and phosphorus; Dr. Philip Thornton on economic applications; Dr. Paul Wilkens, IFDC scientist – programmer, on systems applications; and Dr. Walter Bowen on soil organic carbon. In addition, Hoogenboom and the University of Georgia have co-sponsored numerous modeling training programs with IFDC around the world. Wilkens and Singh are now working with Hoogenboom as collaborators in the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC), developing a geographic information system (GIS)-linked crop modeling system and improving the phosphorus and potassium sub-modules of the Cropping Systems Model (CSM). “The mission of the Southeast Climate Consortium is to use advances in climate sciences, including improved capabilities 4
to forecast seasonal climate and long-term climate change, to provide scientifically sound information and decision support tools for agricultural ecosystems, forests and other terrestrial ecosystems and coastal ecosystems of the southeastern United States. As a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team, the SECC conducts research and outreach to a broad community of potential users and forms partnerships with extension and education organizations to ensure that SECC products are relevant and reliable,” according to the organization’s website (www. seclimate.org). Hoogenboom talked about working with anthropologists to learn how farmers make decisions. The purpose was to design a website (www.agroclimate.org) that would allow farmers to find information that will help them access weather and climate information, make management decisions about variety selection, planting dates, acreage allocation, pest management and amount and type of crop insurance. The website would also help farmers with risk-reducing options, crop simulations and forecasting agricultural water demand for 2011 to 2050. Wilkens joined Hoogenboom as faculty for a DSSAT 2010 international training program presented by the University of Georgia and the International Consortium for Agricultural Systems Applications. The May 2010 workshop discussed DSSAT Version 4.5, which assesses crop production, nutrient management, climatic risk and environmental sustainability with simulation models.