Moroccan Collaborative Grants Program (MCGP)

ABOUT US

In 2005, a four-year project titled Moroccan Collaborative Grants Program (MCGP) between ICARDA and the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)-Morocco was established to provide the support needed to develop synergies between INRA and ICARDA scientists. The aim was to open avenues for attracting external assistance and funds. Under this initiative, five MCGP projects have been developed to address genetic resources conservation, conservation agriculture, and biotechnology backstopping.

Period of Implementation

Oct 20, 2004 - Dec 31, 2023

Total Budget

USD 3,976,888.00

Project team

Mohamed Fokar

OSU

Seid Ahmed Kemal

ICARDA

Dr. Seid Ahmed Kemal is a member of ICARDA’s legume breedi... see more

Carol Elvin Kohen

ICARDA

Elvin Carol Kohen is Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning con... see more

Dr. Ahmed Amri coordinates ICARDA’s Genetic Resources Sect... see more

Hassan Ouabbou

INRA Morocco

Ellen De Keyser

ILVO

Paul Forgeois

Institut De Genech

Sripada M. Udupa

ICARDA

Sripada Udupa is a senior scientist (biotechnology and genet... see more

Rachid Dahan

INRA Morocco

Dr. Rachid Dahan received his Ph.D. in Crop Production... see more

Mustapha El Bouhssini

ICARDA

Dr. Mustapha El-Bouhssini earned his Ph.D. in entomology fro... see more

Mohamad El Mourid

ICARDA

As agronomist and crop physiologist, during the last thirty... see more

Somanagouda Patil

ICARDA

Ali Nefzaoui

ICARDA

Fatima Henkrar

ICARDA

Mohamed Fawzy Faraq Nawar

ICARDA

Abdallah Bari

ICARDA

Partners

National Institute of Agronomic Research Morocco - INRA Morocco

Ghent University - GU

Oklahoma State University - OSU

Institut De Genech

National Center for Scientific and Technical Research - CNRST

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research - ILVO

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas - ICARDA

Donors

Government of Morocco - Morocco

OUR IMPACT

Goals

The project's overall goal is to prepare and manage a cluster of internationally recognized research projects that serve the needs of the agricultural communities in Morocco.

Objectives

The project's objectives are: to enhance national capacity to develop and utilize agricultural knowledge and technology; to increase research efficiency; to increase technology transfer efficiency; and to increase external funding through integrated INRA/ICARDA synergies to attract additional resources from international donor agencies.

Problems and Needs Analysis

In Morocco, nearly 25% of plant diversity is under threat - including areas with tremendous potential for both conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources due to land reclamation and destruction of natural habitat degradation as a result of population pressure and over exploitation. Moreover, forages and pastures production in Morocco is still underdeveloped due to the low availability of improved variety seeds and the high degradation of rangelands. To address these issues, MCGP has strengthened the INRA/ICARDA collaboration in the areas related to conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources focusing mainly on range and field crop species. For 2005-2008 period, priority areas were Crop Improvement, Integrated Pest Management, Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization and Natural Resource Management. While for 2008-2011 period, priority areas were Integrated Pest Management, Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization, Natural Resource Management, Rangeland management and Animal Production.

Intervention Strategy(ies)

Cereals occupy more than 70% of arable land in Morocco and food legumes are important crops grown in rotation with cereals but these crops face each year several biotic stress: insects,diseases & weeds attack that depreciate their quality & quantity. To conserve plant genetic resources, INRA established a gene bank at Settat Regional Center but this project is aimed at upgrading this gene bank through applying best practices for conservation, multiplication, characterization, documentation and management. The collaboration INRA-ICARDA in the area of capacity building in biotechnology is highly relevant as it adds an important dimension to the other research domains related to characterization of genetic resources and crop improvement. This has granted the team and INRA biotechnology lab recognition as the only effectively operational biotechnology unit serving the country and among the few in the CWANA region dealing with genetic transformation.

Impact Pathway

The project is enhancing the national capacity of Morocco to develop and utilize knowledge and technology with an efficient technology transfer system. Expected outcomes include increased external funding from international donor agencies through integrated INRA/ICARDA synergies. The project aims to create a funding window for research projects that serve the needs of Morocco’s agricultural communities and economy and, in turn, contribute to CGIAR’s strategic goals that include: increased income and productivity; increased resilience of the poor to climate change and other shocks; improved national gene banks to enhance natural capital; enriched plant diversity; and improved diets for poor and vulnerable people.

UPDATES

In 2020, the elite high-yielding and drought-tolerant wheat genotypes from ICARDA’s bread wheat breeding program showed 50% yield levels higher than the commonly grown wheat cultivars in Morocco.

In 2021, more than 1,000 accessions of barley and 1,800 lines of wheat were selected from ICARDA genebanks and shared with INRA-Morocco’s barley and durum wheat program. More than 1,400 wheat pre-breeding lines were genotyped for alleles and gene detection and for further integration into wheat breeding programs.

In 2022, within the MCGP IV genetic gain component, breeders from INRA-Morocco and ICARDA visited the Marchouch station and made joint selections on all segregating populations and international nurseries of barley, bread wheat, chickpea, durum wheat and lentil, and on pre-breeding material of barley and wheat.

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WHERE WE WORK

Morocco

RESOURCES

Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Potential of Six Essential Oils from Morocco against Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) under Field and Laboratory Conditions

Date: 2021-11-09 | Type: Journal Article

Potential of indigenous entomopathogenic nematodes for controlling tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under laboratory and field conditions in Morocco

Date: 2021-08-19 | Type: Journal Article

Hyperpredation of local adults ladybirds on the eggs of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri a potential predator of carmine cactus cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae in Morocco

Date: 2020-09-29 | Type: Journal Article

Sources de résistance d'Opuntia spp. contre la cochenille à carmin, Dactylopius opuntiae, au Maroc

Author(s): Mohamed Sbaghi | Rachid Bouharroud | Mohamed Boujghagh | Mustapha El Bouhssini

Date: 2019-12-01 | Type: Journal Article

First study of the biology of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and its potential to feed on the mealybug Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) under laboratory conditions in Morocco

Date: 2019-11-24 | Type: Journal Article

Functional Dissection of the Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Stay-Green Phenotype Associated with Molecular Variation at an Ortholog of Mendel’s I Gene for Cotyledon Color: Implications for Crop Production and Carotenoid Biofortiﬁcation

Date: 2019-11-07 | Type: Journal Article

Phenotypic and Genotypic Diversity Among Symbiotic and Non-symbiotic Bacteria Present in Chickpea Nodules in Morocco

Date: 2019-09-18 | Type: Journal Article

Global-level population genomics reveals differential effects of geography and phylogeny on horizontal gene transfer in soil bacteria

Date: 2019-07-23 | Type: Journal Article

New Record and Predatory Activity of Hyperaspis Campestris (Herbst 1783) (Coleoptera : Coccinellidae) on Dactylopius Opuntiae (HEMIPTERA: DACTYLOPIIDAE) in Morocco

Date: 2019-01-24 | Type: Journal Article

Biological control of the prickly pear cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae Cockerell (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae)

Author(s): Rachid Bouharroud | Mohamed Sbaghi | Mohamed Boujghagh | Mustapha El Bouhssini

Date: 2018-08-31 | Type: Journal Article

Barley Genetic Resources for Climate-Change Adaptation

Author(s): Hassan Ouabbou | Mohammad Maatougui | Jilal Abderrazek

Date: 2016-12-07 | Type: Book Chapter

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Root and Shoot Traits Associated with Drought Tolerance in a Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) Recombinant Inbred Line Population

Date: 2016-08-20 | Type: Journal Article

Effect of inoculation of chickpea and lentil with stress tolerant rhizobia of Morocco

Author(s): Sripada M. Udupa

Date: 2016-08-07 | Type: Poster

Functional genetic diversity analysis and identification of associated SSRs and AFLPs markers to drought tolerance in Lentils landraces

Author(s): Sripada M. Udupa | Ellen De Keyser | Patrick Van Damme | Jan De Riek | Omar Idrissi

Date: 2016-06-22 | Type: Journal Article

Correlation between the Chemical and Genetic Relationships among Thymus saturejoides Genotypes Cultured under in vitro and in vivo Environments

Date: 2016-04-17 | Type: Journal Article

Genetic characterization of Moroccan and the exotic bread wheat cultivars using functional and random DNA markers linked to the agronomic traits for genomics-assisted improvement

Author(s): Jamal El-Haddoury | Hassan Ouabbou | Sripada M. Udupa | Fatima Henkrar

Date: 2016-04-04 | Type: Journal Article

Project Final Report: Optimising Subsidiary Crop Applications in Rotations (OSCAR)

Author(s): Sripada M. Udupa

Date: 2016-04-01 | Type: Report - Sub-type(s): Internal Report

Genetic diversity reduction in improved durum wheat cultivars of Morocco as revealed by microsatellite markers

Date: 2016-03-28 | Type: Journal Article

Effect of genotypes and culture media on embryogenic callus induction and plantlet regeneration from mature and immature bread wheat embryos

Date: 2016-03-16 | Type: Journal Article

Assessing Plant Genetic Resources for Climate- Change Adaptive Traits Heat Traits

Date: 2016-02-22 | Type: Book Chapter

Conditions for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Central Morocco: an approach based on Bayesian network modelling

Author(s): Carlo Giupponi | Rachid Moussadek | Laura Bonzanigo

Date: 2015-09-09 | Type: Journal Article

Impact du Semis Direct sur les propriétés physiques d’un sol argileux au Maroc Central (Impact of No Tillage on physical proprieties of a clay soil in Central Morocco)

Date: 2015-06-30 | Type: Journal Article

Genetic Diversity And Its Temporal Changes In Improved Bread Wheat Cultivators Of Morocco

Author(s): Jamal El-Haddoury | Hassan Ouabbou | Najib Bendaou Ben Houssa Abdelaziz | Sripada M. Udupa | Fatima Henkrar

Date: 2015-06-30 | Type: Journal Article

Genetic diversity analysis of Moroccan lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) landraces using Simple Sequence Repeat and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms reveals functional adaptation towards agro‐environmental origins

Date: 2015-06-01 | Type: Journal Article

Impact of No Tillage on physical proprieties of a clay soil in Central Morocco

Date: 2014-09-10 | Type: Journal Article

Genetic diversity at EST-SSR markers and its relationship to ODAP content under heat stress in grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.)

Date: 2014-07-31 | Type: Conference Paper

Evaluation of the severity and tolerance of a collection of durum wheat to root rot assessment

Author(s): Hassan Ouabbou

Date: 2014-06-30 | Type: Journal Article

Barley genetic resources under climate changes: a possible way in field study

Author(s): Mohammad Maatougui | Hassan Ouabbou | Jilal Abderrazek

Date: 2014-06-25 | Type: Presentation

Effect of genotypes and culture media on embryogenic callus induction and plantlet regeneration from mature embryos of durum wheat

Author(s): Sripada M. Udupa | Rabha Abdelwahd | Najat Hakam

Date: 2014-06-20 | Type: Journal Article

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotyledonary node of Vicia faba L.

Date: 2014-05-15 | Type: Journal Article

Reassessment of Practical Subspecies Identifications of the USDA Daucus carota L. Germplasm Collection: Morphological Data

Author(s): Mohamed Neffati | Mohamed El Koudrim | David Spooner

Date: 2014-04-08 | Type: Journal Article

Moroccan Collaborative Grants Program (MCGP)

ABOUT US

Project team

Mohamed Fokar

Seid Ahmed Kemal

Carol Elvin Kohen

Karim El-Fakhouri

Chaimae Ramdani

Ahmed Amri

Hassan Ouabbou

Ellen De Keyser

Paul Forgeois

Sripada M. Udupa

Rachid Dahan

Mustapha El Bouhssini

Mohamad El Mourid

Somanagouda Patil

Ali Nefzaoui

Fatima Henkrar

Mohamed Fawzy Faraq Nawar

Abdallah Bari

Partners

National Institute of Agronomic Research Morocco - INRA Morocco

Ghent University - GU

Oklahoma State University - OSU

Institut De Genech

National Center for Scientific and Technical Research - CNRST

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research - ILVO

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas - ICARDA

Donors

Government of Morocco - Morocco

OUR IMPACT

Goals

Objectives

Problems and Needs Analysis

Intervention Strategy(ies)

Impact Pathway

WHERE WE WORK

RESOURCES

NEWS & EVENTS