RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

tropical countries i t w i l l be very expensive to satisfy this demand unless millet can become
bread. A n d this, too, the politicians recognize, and they w i l l support whether efforts can be
made to decrease the cost of g i v i n g people the food that they demand. So here is something else
for the millet scientists to do. D o n ' t ask me how y o u do it. Y o u k n o w far better than I do. I am
just telling y o u it's got to be done.
N o w let me say a few words about I C R I S A T . M o s t of y o u k n o w I C R I S A T . M o s t of y o u have
been here before. Some of y o u come here everyday. I C R I S A T was created in 1972, specifically
to deal w i t h some issues that had arisen f r o m the success of the so-called green revolution.
I C R I S A T was created to try to provide significant improvements in the livelihoods of the
people w h o were not able to benefit f r o m those increases in the p r o d u c t i o n of irrigated rice and
wheat; for the people in the dry lands, and particularly the dry lands of the semi-arid tropics,
where vast number of people occupy 11 % of the earth surface and depend to a large extent u p o n
the food products that they produce for themselves. I C R I S A T has been charged w i t h the
responsibility to develop technologies for i m p r o v i n g the major food cereals and legume crops of
the semi-arid tropics. Over the years I C R I S A T has developed into a sizeable research institute
w i t h its headquarters in Hyderabad where a great deal of our w o r k is done, but w i t h significant
programs in other parts of the w o r l d , particularly in Africa. W i t h pearl millet over the years, we
have generated diverse breeding material largely resistant to downy mildew. We have developed
and released open-pollinated varieties w i t h resistance to t w o or more diseases. We have not
done m u c h yet w i t h insect resistance. We have developed and transferred to scientists of the
national programs field screening methodologies for stress tolerence and resistance; we have
shown the possibilities of connecting high yield to improved protein in the crop. We have
developed an understanding of how pearl millet tolerates environmental stresses, and perhaps
most i m p o r t a n t l y we are w o r k i n g w i t h the scientists of the national programs in an effective
network of international cooperation.
The successes I have mentioned have been taken f r o m statements in our 10-year plan w h i c h
also w i l l tell you some of the things that we hope to do in the future. We hope to improve upon
what we have done to complete some of those tasks which are incomplete and to serve the w o r l d
better. Recently we have decided to reorganize the management in I C R I S A T . The present
Director o f Research, D r . J.S. Kanwar, who w i l l be w i t h us later i n the week w i l l become the
D e p u t y D i r e c t o r General of the Institute. We w i l l establish three Program Directorates for
cereals, legumes and resource management. I am pleased, at this time, to i n f o r m y o u that the
C h a i r m a n o f this session D r . J . M . J . de Wet w i l l be j o i n i n g I C R I S A T i n June to become the
P r o g r a m Director for Cereals at I C R I S A T Center. R . W . Gibbons w h o is sitting here quietly
learning about pearl millet as fast as he can, is going to become Executive Director of I C R I S A T
for West A f r i c a located at the I C R I S A T Sahelian Center in Niamey, Niger and L . R . House,
w h o is not here today, w i l l hold a similar Executive Director's post for southern Africa. These
changes w i l l help us strengthen the relationship between the various parts o f I C R I S A T but also
provide to our programs in West and southern Africa greater autonomy and greater o p p o r t u n i -
ties to cooperate effectively w i t h the national programs of the regions in which they are w o r k i n g .
I C R I S A T Center research on pearl millet w i l l i n the future move away f r o m its present
applied character, towards more strategic research, but the applied research i n A f r i c a w i l l be
strengthened and w i l l be given more opportunities to produce improved genetic materials in
partnership w i t h the national agricultural research scientists. I hope that this workshop w i l l
w o r k out a global p r o g r a m o f research for pearl millet i n which I C R I S A T w i l l f u l f i l its role and
the national agricultural research programs w i l l f u l f i l theirs i n effective partnership relations.
The International A g r i c u l t u r a l Research Centers are searching for better ways to participate
w i t h national programs and any suggestions that y o u have as to how this can be done w i l l be
greatly welcomed.
F i n a l l y i t is m y pleasure t o inaugurate this pearl millet w orkshop. I hope that a l l o f y o u w i l l
contribute fully to the discussions, t h i n k hard about what needs to be done, about h o w we can
w o r k together to better benefit those many, many millions of people w h o depend u p o n this
important crop. T h a n k y o u very m u c h .
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