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Improved, disease-resistant lentil varieties like
Barimasur-4 (shown here) are sown on 60,000 ha in
Bangladesh. The production gains – directly benefiting
poor smallholder families – are worth $ 20 million every
year. |
Asia
March, 2007
Source:
CGIAR E-news
Lentil (Lens culinaris),
often called the “poor man’s meat” for its rich protein content
and low price, is a major item in the diet of millions
worldwide. Originated in Southwest Asia and one of the earliest
plants to be domesticated, lentil has been part of the human
diet since Neolithic times.
Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan produce about half the
world’s lentil crop, but lentils are grown in many other
regions, including Europe (particularly in the Mediterranean),
North America (with Canada producing over half a million tons a
year), South America and Africa.
Improved, disease-resistant lentil varieties like Barimasur-4
(shown here) are sown on 60,000 ha in Bangladesh. The production
gains – directly benefiting poor smallholder families – are
worth $ 20 million every year.
The International Center for
Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has a
worldwide mandate for lentil improvement and has been conducting
research on this crop for almost 3 decades. Over 100 improved
varieties developed by the Center and its national partners have
been released in 29 countries, helping to improve both nutrition
and income in poor farm households.
Because of the importance of lentils in regional diets, national
research programs in South Asia strive to improve yields and
enhance the nutritional quality of the crop. ICARDA is a partner
in these efforts, working with farmers and scientists in each
country, providing training and improved germplasm for breeding,
helping to test and promote new varieties, and connecting
national institutions with the global scientific community. Four
new lentil varieties recently released in South Asia show how
well this partnership works.
In India, the Highlands Research Center in Almora, in the
Himalayan foothills, has announced the release of lentil variety
VL Masoor-507, developed from an ICARDA breeding line. The new
variety gives 37% higher yields than local cultivars; is widely
adapted and resistant to wilt disease, which causes severe
losses in susceptible local varieties; and it has large seeds,
which fetch higher prices on the market. The new variety is
quickly spreading among farmers in the hilly areas of northern
India.
In Pakistan, the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture and Biology in
Faisalabad recently released the lentil variety Masoor-2006,
also developed from an ICARDA line, ILL 2580. Like Masoor-507,
this variety is high yielding, disease resistant and highly
profitable, making it extremely popular with farmers.
Large-scale seed multiplication is underway in Pakistan’s Punjab
Province to kick-start diffusion of the variety and enhance its
contribution to productivity and food security.
In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
recently released two lentil varieties, Barimasur-5 and -6, both
developed jointly with ICARDA. The lines for these varieties
were initially developed at ICARDA from Bangadeshi landraces and
then tested and selected in Bangladesh. Both varieties are high
yielding and disease resistant, and their adoption is spreading
rapidly. They will not only improve nutrition and reduce the
need for food imports, but also raise incomes among the rural
poor, enabling them to repay loans and send their children to
school. Improved lentil varieties developed through ICARDA
partnerships now occupy over 60,000 hectares in Bangladesh, and
the production gains are worth an estimated US$20 million per
year.
These are only a few examples of successful partnerships of
ICARDA’s lentil program. The partners are working to develop and
disseminate improved technologies, and so ensure that the
poorest farmers can reap all the potential benefits that lentils
have to offer. |
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