The 2nd Central Asian Cereals Conference took place on June 13-16, 2006 in Aurora Sanatorium near Cholpon-Ata town of Issyk-Kul Lake region in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Lake Issyk-Kul is a natural pearl of the country and the region. Surrounded by the mountains at the altitude of almost 1600 m it is a memorable location. The natural beauty of the mountains and the lake contributed to the productive atmosphere of the conference of which CIMMYT was a co-organizer.
The main conference objective was to assess the status of research and cooperation on cereals in Central Asia in the fields of cereals breeding, genetics, physiology, seed production, grain quality, plant protection, biotechnology, cultivation technologies under irrigated and rainfed conditions, and genetic resources including information exchange between scientists from Central Asia and foreign countries.
There were 210 participants from 17 countries, including the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Western countries. Representatives came from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Australia, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Syria, Nepal, UAE, and Zimbabwe. Sanjaya Rajaram (ICARDA CIMMYT Wheat Program) and Alexei Morgounov (Regional Representative of CIMMYT in CAC, Kazakhstan but now at the CIMMYT office in Turkey) attended and spoke at the event.
During the technical researchers and crop science specialists reported on achievements and current research conducted at their institutions and on the progress in joint international projects with, among others, CIMMYT and ICARDA.
Climate adaptation and mitigation 