AID grant no. HNE-0158-G-00-2075-00 to the San Diego State University Foundation in support of the project entitled `Moroccan cooperative agricultural development"

Broadened cooperation between the two countries will be a major objective. The lead host country organizations will be the private sector Maghreb Agriculture Company in Morocco and the Institute for Agriculture and Applied Biology of Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. In Morocco, project objectives are to: (1) establish speedling nurseries to reduce propagation costs and improve yields of vegetable crops (particularly tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons); (2) establish a pot-plant nursery to produce rooted seedlings of foliage crops and finished pot-plants; (3) establish a micropropagation (tissue culture) laboratory; (4) initiate production of open-field hardy ornamentals such as Eucalyptus and Leucodendron species; and (5) introduce modern technologies and management techniques to open-field production of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, artichokes, and salad tomatoes. Groups of farmers and farm technicians will receive extended on-the-job training and short-term courses from Moroccan extension workers, who will be trained for 3-4 months in Israel. The project will also train the lead staff of the new tissue culture laboratory in Israel, and train researchers in the United States and Israel as needed. Research in Israel will aim at benefiting both Israel and Morocco. Specific targets are to: (1) breed high-quality tomato hybrids; (2) conduct physiological and nutritional studies of onion hybrids; (3) micropropagate ornamental Eucalyptus; (4) develop Verticordiaas, an ornamental plant with potential markets in Europe and North America; and (5) identify Moroccan scientists would be interesting in cooperating in research on production of desert truffles. The project will also support economic and marketing studies covering propagation costs, yields and prices in the local and export markets, and returns to farmers and to investment capital.