Looking for participation in a project

National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension

General information

The National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension is the most prominent Jordanian facade for applied scientific research and agricultural extension, and it is the scientific arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and is the largest agricultural research institution at the national level entrusted with the task of conducting applied agricultural research and government agricultural extension, located in the spot, which is about 15 km north of the capital Amman.

The National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension includes several regional centers spread throughout the Kingdom, where these centers are the arms of the main center in the field. These centers and their stations, including research stations and extension units, carry out field agricultural research, whether they are experiments in stations, views with farmers, field days, workshops and other activities of interest to the Jordanian farmer, including (Ramtha, Rabba, Deir Ola, Al-Mashqr, Shobek, Mafraq, Tafila, Wadi Arab Center, and the Center for Saline Studies).

The process of agricultural scientific research began through the Ministry of Agriculture, where the first step was achieved after the establishment of the Department of Scientific Research in 1958, and in 1970, the name of the department was changed to become the Directorate of Agricultural Research and Guidance, which continued to operate in the Jubaiha region until 1985, after which what is known as the National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer was established, which was entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out agricultural research and technology transfer at the national level. In October 2007, agricultural research and extension was merged into one institution called the "National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension".

The national strategy for agricultural research contributed to the stability of a new stage in the history of agricultural scientific research, through which the center was able to carry out many agricultural studies and research, whose outputs contributed to achieving the goals of comprehensive agricultural development. The strategy coincided with the beginning of the implementation of the first five-year plan of the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension.

The Center has relations with many regional and international centers such as the World Bank, the International Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Global Environment Facility, the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Lands and Dry Areas (AXAD), the Union of Councils of Councils of Agricultural in West Asia and the Near East (AENIA), the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and many other organizations.

The technical staff of the center

In carrying out its tasks, the Center relies on a qualified and competent staff consisting of:

* 56 researchers and employees with a doctorate

* 85 researchers and employees of master's holders

* 10 researchers and employees of the Higher Diploma

* 217 researchers and employees of bachelor's holders.

I am looking for a large organization to support the project. I am also looking for someone in one of the European countries to be a project coordinator. This project is related to Part No. 2, and here I will present a small summary of the topic.

climate change and drought and its impact on the spread of invasive insects (Ambrosia beetles and environmental degradation in the Middle East region)

Bark beetles and ambrosia (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are wood-boring insects that colonize stressed or dead trees, excavate galleries in their hosts to pollinate and culture their fungal symbionts that belong primarily to the genera Ambrosiella, Fusarium and Raffaelea, and rely on their beetle vectors for dispersal. Bark and ambrosia beetles are difficult to intercept and detect due to their small size and ability to survive for long periods. They are easily transported in wood products, especially wooden packaging materials and tree trunks, as their reproductive strategy allows them to quickly colonize and adapt to new environments. (3) They lack plant host specificity, so they attack living trees rather than dead and stressed trees, and some of their symbiotic fungi act as pathogens of plant diseases such as Fusarium dieback and wilt. Laurel, and other diseases affecting more than 58 plant families around the world (Africa, America, and occupied Palestine) (1). This has caused disruption to the economic production of avocados, oranges, grapes, peaches and macadamia trees, as well as profound environmental impacts on forests around the world, including the destruction of key tree species. Exotic ambrosia beetles, native to Southeast Asia, was first discovered in America in 2002. Since then, it has spread rapidly worldwide which caused severe damage and significant economic losses to natural and agricultural ecosystems, threatening the productivity of important tree crops through pollination. Tree pathogens, mass accumulation on susceptible hosts, and structural damage (1). Initial estimates suggest that FD – ISHB has the potential to kill roughly 27 million trees (38%) in Southern California’s 4,244-square mile urban region (12). In Orange County, removal of 1,524 infested trees and treatment of 2,228 trees cost the county approximately $3 million between 2013 – 2017 (13). Tree losses in both urban and wildland forests result in decreased ecosystem services such as carbon storage, storm water retention, temperature moderation, and air pollution filtration. Given that urban forest trees in California remove the carbon equivalent of 120,000 cars annually (567,748 t CO2), and their annual value of all ecosystem services is $1.0 billion (12), additionally, laurel wilt is currently a threat to the $13.7 million dollar avocado industry in Florida and has killed over 200,000 commercial trees since its introduction into Miami-Dade County in 2010. In 2012, Ambrosia bark beetles were recorded in Palestine and were transported from Florida due to international trade, causing economic losses estimated at 57% of avocado tree production. In 2018, it was recorded in South Africa, where economic losses in Africa are estimated at around 16 billion to about 100 billion US dollars with several reports of severe damage to natural forest ecosystems and urban trees (5, 6). As of April 2022 laurel wilt has been killed an estimated 300,000 redbay trees, with greater than 90 percent tree-loss reported in some forested areas of the USA. Ambrosia beetles also caused economic losses estimated at approximately $63 million in coastal British Columbia (5, 6). During 2019 in Lebanon first detection of the ambrosia beetles inside oak forest tree and avocado orchid, during a field tour by foreign expert (Italian expert) (15) . Despite the spread of ambrosia beetles, which have economic and environmental impacts in the border countries of Jordan, and the noticeable environmental deterioration in the Kingdom’s lands represented by the extinction of indigenous forest trees within the Kingdom’s lands, which has caused a decrease in the rate of carbon reduction, loss of shade, an increase in temperature, and an increase in environmental pollution resulting from climate change. And warming (carbon footprint), which in turn leads to an increase in the spread of wood-boring insects, especially Ambrosia beetles. In addition to the losses in the economic value of the fruits trees product resulting from structural damage and the spread of disease causes such as Fusarium dieback and the increase in the number of trees on display, physiological pressures through the introduction of new tree plants to the lands of the Kingdom of Jordan, such as tropical fruit trees, but this survey study It is considered the first of its kind and aims to prepare a national program to manage invasive Ambrosia beetles based on the principle that early detection and rapid assessment with rapid response is a very important line of defense that provides the greatest opportunity to manage their negative impact on the ecosystem. Two major challenges of transboundary species management are (1) to detect target species at the earliest possible stage and (2) to quickly provide specific actions to regulate or eradicate them. (6)
The main objectives of the project are:
• Monitor with Identifying potential invasive alien species with high risks of introduction, identifying potential pathways for their introduction, and providing necessary awareness and guidance to deal with these invasive alien species.
• Provide the competent authorities with current distribution information on scolytids that may have recently been evacuated to the country.
•. Use the expected outputs of the project to help stakeholders prioritize research, development and response activities, and adjust protocols accordingly

Invasive insects
Environmental degradation
Ambrosia beetles and their impact on environmental degradation

The project is written, but I need financial support and a coordinator for the project, as I just want to be a participant in the idea