Highlighted Projects

Developing Aquaculture in Uganda: Since the introduction of the predatory Nile Perch in the 1950’s, the native Lake Victorian carp species has been depleted. The native carps were the locally preferred fish and an excellent source of protein for many families in the region. In an effort to restore the native fish, scientists from Uganda collaborated with Israeli scientists to develop a cost-effective and robust method for restocking ponds with the locally preferred carp species. The technologies developed from this project are now helping hatcheries to rapidly grow large numbers of fry for distribution. more

Restoring Coral Reefs in Jamaica: A collaboration between coral reef restoration experts in Israel and researchers in Jamaica developed and refined a technique for repairing damage to coral reefs. The researchers developed methodologies and capacity for reseeding damaged coral reefs using nubbins started in artificial nurseries. During the course of this research, two Jamaican students received their Master’s degrees in Marine Science. In June 2010, this research project culminated with an international meeting on coral reef restoration. Scientists from 15 Caribbean countries met in Jamaica and learned how to seed coral, care for coral nurseries and finally transplant coral nubbins.

Combating Tomato Plant Diseases in Guatemala: Researchers in Guatemala developed tomatoes with combined resistance to devastating viral and bacterial diseases. The tomatoes are now being bred into local tomato genetic lines to produce a commercial product. Even before this advance, the researchers had commercialized virus-resistant tomatoes produced from their earlier CDR project and sold over three million seed packets in 2009. The researchers also shared their resistant tomato lines with scientists in West Africa, where these tomato viruses have been cited as the single most costly horticultural problem. more

Wheat Rust in Kazakhstan: Differing varieties of the fungal disease wheat rust have recently resurged in parts of Africa and Central Asia. Before this disease began its strong reemergence a CDR project in Kazakhstan demonstrated the benefit of applying micro-elements such as molybdenum to improve yield in infected crops. Kazakh and Israeli scientists also identified rust resistant wheat cultivars that expanded their work to experiments on rust tolerant wheat lines. They eventually aim to determine if these resistant cultivars could be commercialized as a mechanism to reduce crop yield losses from rust disease.