MSU scientists will continue to bolster food production in Central Asia with our partners

Good news -- our team recently received word that US-AID IPM CRSP has renewed our funding at $1.25 million for the next five years.

We'll be promoting better pest management in growing key food crops: tomatoes, potatoes and wheat (for producing bread like the lovely loaf in the image).

Part of the goal will be to help our Central Asian partners build local expertise. Graduate students and key agricultural leaders will come to Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of California-Davis for short and long term training.

I'll be posting more details.

View photo gallery of our work at our web site.

Agriculture means food in every country

Friday and Saturday are the weekend in Syria with Friday being the Islamic holiday. Mustafa invited us to lunch at his apartment in Aleppo today. He is Moroccan and wanted us to eat couscous, a grain dish popular in his country. The couscous was steamed and served with beef and vegetables like pot roast – very delicious. Cherries and oranges were the dessert. Food is eaten in season here so cherries are everywhere and taste like they do at home. This is earlier than our cherry harvest in Michigan. Another evening in a restaurant we ate cherry kabobs which were roasted meatballs (lamb?) in a cherry sauce based with grenadine syrup. I don’t know if the Michigan cherry industry has tried this or not? Most of the food here reminds me of the Middle Eastern restaurants we have in East Lansing. They commonly serve pita, humus, olives, kabobs, yogurt, and various salads with tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley.

Today the rest of the Central Asia IPM project is gathering with us in the Istanbul airport for the flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.


Mustafa, dressed in Moroccan robes, with the couscous meal he hosted at his home.


Mustafa demonstrates the method of pouring tea in Morocco which requires pouring from high in the air.