EXPO MILANO Best Sustainable Development Practices for Food Security Establishment of Plant Certification Project in Lebanon to

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1 EXPO MILANO 2015 Best Sustainable Development Practices for Food Security Establishment of Plant Certification Project in Lebanon to produce and deliver certified fruit trees seedlings Dr. Elia Choueiri Head Department of Plant Protection LARI 8/7/2015

2 Provide Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) with the know-how and the facilities necessary to produce guaranteed virus-free propagation material Description of the initiative Establishment of a full-fledged certification system in Lebanon in order to promote the upgrading of fruit cropping and nursery sector for the improvement of Lebanese agriculture after the civil war is over Certification law Support the Lebanese Government to issue an appropriate certification law

3 Innovations developed by this initiative Produce and deliver virus-free Plant propagation material; Phyto law Support nurseries and scientific institutions in charge of the maintenance and propagation of healthy plant material for the rehabilitation of the nursery sector; Adoption of a simple and flexible law that regulates phytosanitary inspections and certification; Save the native genotypes of strategic fruit tree species through the clonal and sanitary selection and establishment of mother plants blocks at LARI stations for the conservation of certified material; Strengthen and develop LARI research facilities (in terms of premises and laboratories) and upgrade the Institute s human resources

4 Results achieved by this Project Development of a coherent and modern legislative framework to regulate the production of certified propagation material, plant protection and sanitary inspection of imports Regulation of the nursery sector activities Enable LARI to produce and distribute virus-free planting material among existing units 850,000 certified seedlings were produced in 2014 Establishing an association of private nurseries: with a minimal target of 14 members with ha of operational nurseries Clonal and sanitary selection of pome and stone fruits, olives and grapevines and the establishment of healthy mother plant collections

5 Establishment of Mother Plant Fields at LARI

6 Nurseries: Production of certified Propagation material

7 Field activities Certified Nurseries of Machatel Lebnan Association

8 Diagnostic Laboratories at Department of Plant Protection

9 Diagnostic Laboratories at Department of Plant Protection

10 In vitro Propagation Unit at Tal Amara Station b 4 4- a

11 Beneficiaries of this Project Direct Beneficiaries: Lebanese small, medium and large fruit-cropping farmers Poor farmers located in the marginal areas of the country, whose livelihood is hindered by the lack of healthy and certified seedlings Nurseries: 'Machatel Lebnan Association' Indirect Beneficiaries: human resources at LARI and MoA, institutions (Diagnostic laboratories at Plant protection Department and laboratory of Biotechnology at LARI) and NGOs

12 Environmental Impact Conservation of local varieties at different LARI stations Increase biodiversity by introducing new promising and healthy varieties of fruit trees Introduction of new healthy rootstocks of grapes, pome and stone fruits and citrus adapted to local pedoclimatic conditions Reduction of pesticides

13 Dissemination The dissemination of the objectives and outcomes of this project were achieved through: Press conference; TV and radio interviews; Seminars in the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and Municipalities; Brochures Booklets Scientific publications; 850,000 certified seedlings were produced in 2014 and around 5000 farmers are now using certified seedlings compared to ten years ago when certified seedlings almost did not exist

14 Private sector Nurserymen Machetel association CIHEAM - Bari Bari University CRSA-Basile Caramia LARI - CRNS Research institutions MoA Certification Institution