IFDC conducts collaborative research with the International Potato Center (CIP) in the Andes and South Asia. In the Andes, several research projects are being conducted under the umbrella of the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Region (CONDESAN), for which CIP is the convening center. These projects have funding from USAID, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ibero-American Program for Science and Technology (CYTED), and a World Bank agricultural loan to Ecuador.

The Tradeoffs project, with funding from the USAID Soil Management Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), is completing its fifth year. Following preparation of a proposal earlier this year, funding has been granted for a second five-year phase due to begin in early 2002. The principal objective of the project is to develop a decision support system for assessing tradeoffs between agricultural production and its impact on the environment. Partner institutions include Montana State University, IFDC, CIP, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Wageningen University and regional NARS and NGOs from Peru, Ecuador, and Honduras. Starting in 2002, IFDC and CIP will also become partners on another USAID Soil Management CRSP project in the region referred to as the Nutrient Management Support System (NuMaSS) project.

Funding was obtained from CYTED to support a network of scientists in the Andes who are conducting research on soil management (the network is referred to as MOSAndes). There are 8 groups presently involved who represent scientific institutions in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, with support also from institutions in Spain and Cuba. Funding from CYTED is to support only meetings and scientific exchanges—research funds must be obtained from other sources. An IFDC soil scientist organized the first meeting of MOSAndes coordinators in Quito during January 29-31, 2001.

IFDC and CIP continue to support INIAP (Ecuador's National Agricultural Research Institute) with funding for special projects obtained from the World Bank-financed program to modernize agricultural research in Ecuador, Programa de Modernizacion de Los Servicios Agropecuarios (PROMSA). One project involves a strategic alliance between INIAP and IFDC/CIP/International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to implement a systems research approach within INIAP, while another emphasizes studies on nutrient cycling processes in Andean soils.

In South Asia, IFDC/CIP activities to date have emphasized the testing and improvement of the DSSAT potato model (SUBSTOR-Potato) through capacity building and field experiments in India with the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI). The third year of potato field experiments at two sites (Patna and Jalandhar) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains was harvested during February 2001. Data from the three seasons are now being used to calibrate genetic coefficients for 10 cultivars and to improve the model.

For more information on this project, contact Dr. Walter T. Bowen—w.bowen@cgiar.org)

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