Location: Peru

“Sky Walker” advances phenotyping in Southern Africa

Written by on March 11, 2013. Posted in News.

Thermal-image To free phenotyping of the varietal development bottleneck label, many new tools have been developed to enable an easier plant growth and development characterization and field variability. Until recently, these tools’ potential has been limited by the scale on which they can be used, but this is changing: a new affordable field-based phenotyping platform combining cutting edge aeronautics technology and image analysis was developed through collaboration between researchers from the University of Barcelona, Spain; Crop Breeding Institute, Zimbabwe; Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria, Peru; AirElectronics; and Sustainable Agricultural Institute of the High Research Council, Spain. The project was funded by MAIZE CRP as part of Strategic Initiative 9 activities focusing on new tools and methods for national agricultural research systems and small and medium enterprises to increase genetic gains in maize breeding.

The new platform uses ‘Sky Walker,’ an unmanned aerial vehicle which can fly at over 600-meter with an average speed of 45 km/h. The vehicle has thermal and spectral cameras mounted under each wing, and its flight path and image capturing are controlled via a laptop using Google Earth images. Jill Cairns and Mainassara Zaman-Allah tested the platform at CIMMYT-Harare along with José Luis Araus (University of Barcelona), Antón Fernández (AirElectronics president), and Alberto Hornero (Sustainable Agricultural Institute of the High Research Council) to establish the optimal flight path (distance between plane passes and height) for plot level measurements. Field experiments were phenotyped for spectral reflectance and canopy temperature within minutes; these will be compared to results from the GreenSeeker.

The measurement speed of the new platform helps to overcome problems associated with changes in cloud cover and the sun position. It will be used by the Crop Breeding Institute to assist in developing new maize hybrids with heat stress and drought stress tolerance under elevated temperatures.

FONTAGRO project holds workshop in Colombia

Written by on October 23, 2012. Posted in News.

The FONTAGRO project “Development of Maize Lines Combining Drought Tolerance and Ear Rot Resistance as a Way to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change and Minimize Mycotoxin Contamination” held a workshop during 11-14 September 2012 in Monteria, Colombia. The workshop was jointly organized by CIMMYT and Sergio Mejía of CORPOICA and gathered participants and collaborators from Peru, Panama, Honduras, and Colombia. The participants were trained in concepts of seed production and explored ways to link with seed companies so that quality seed products can reach farmers. They were also trained in harvesting techniques and collecting agronomic data of the validation trials.

The FONTAGRO project has led to the release of two varieties combining drought tolerance and resistance to ear rots and mycotoxins which have already been registered and released in Honduras. Two additional varieties are currently in the process of being validated for release in Colombia and Nicaragua. Mycotoxins result from fungal infection of maize kernels and have detrimental health effects when contaminated grain is consumed by humans and livestock. They have the potential to cause acute and chronic health problems through direct consumption, consumption through animal products, skin contact, and inhalation. Pre- and post-harvest technologies have been an effective method of reducing mycotoxins in maize.

“Through the generous support of the Director of Corpoica Turipana, the course went on very well,” stated George Mahuku, FONTAGRO project leader. During his opening remarks, Mahuku highlighted the successes of the project in validation and distribution of maize varieties and hybrids. “The project has also made progress in creating awareness of the health hazards from mycotoxin contamination,” stated Mahuku.

Luis Narro from CIMMYT-Colombia discussed current developments in maize breeding and the genesis of hybrid maize production. Félix San Vicente, leader of International Maize Yield Consortium (IMIC)-Latin America, discussed the IMIC concept and CRPs MAIZE and WHEAT, as well as ways to channel products from this project into the CRP/IMIC concept to increase diffusion and distribution. Cesar Ruiz from Semivalle, a private seed company based in Colombia, provided insights into the seed industry and the interactions between public institutions and private seed companies, a crucial component of the project enabling improved varieties to reach farmers. Alba Arcos, a CIMMYT-Colombia PhD student, presented on doubled haploid technology and how this can be harnessed to accelerate inbred line development combining different favorable traits.

“The meeting was a success and the project has generated many products in three years, including information on the incidence and prevalence of aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination of maize. We hope that we can leverage more funding to ensure that these products are widely tested throughout Latin America,” stated Mahuku. Overall, the FONTAGRO project and its network of collaborators have generated more than 6,000 doubled haploid lines combining drought tolerance and ear rot resistance.

During the workshop, collaborators discussed next steps for the project. A possible link to leverage funding from IMIC and CRP MAIZE to continue the network of breeders, researchers, and seed companies were discussed as follow-up items. A Spanish language course on doubled haploid technology will take place at the end of November at CIMMYT headquarters in El Batán, Mexico. The workshop will draw upon the results of the Monteria workshop and promote linkages throughout the region of Latin America.

Phenotyping, plant breeding and precision agriculture in Peru

Written by on October 16, 2012. Posted in News.

The National Agricultural Innovation Institute, through the Vista Florida Experiment Station in Chiclayo, Peru, in collaboration with CIMMYT, organized the workshop “Phenotyping in plant breeding and precision agriculture” during 27-29 August 2012. The objective was to demonstrate and discuss innovative agricultural technologies and platforms that can contribute to making agriculture more modern and profitable.

Attending the workshop were 76 representatives from national institutions such as INIA, Peru’s agrarian universities, seed companies and agribusinesses, regional organizations, the International Potato Center (CIP) and FAO. The workshop consisted of lectures and field practices on the use of tools such as GPS, SPAD, and GreenSeeker. One of its strengths was the high level of interaction between instructors and participants, and the feedback given by farmers and seed company staff.

Course instructors were José Luis Araus of the Plant Biology Department of the University of Barcelona, Spain; Llorenc Cabrera-Bosquet of the Plant Ecophysiology Laboratory for Environmental Stress, Montpellier, France; Argemiro Moreno Berrocal of the Plant Breeding Department, National Coffee Research Center, Colombia, and Luis Narro from CIMMYT’s regional office in Colombia.

During the workshop, instructors stressed the importance of technologies and tools that support precision agriculture, such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). They also emphasized land-based and hand-held sensors such as SPAD-502 and GreenSeekerTM, which, among other things, can be used to improve nitrogen use efficiency in maize.

Course instructors indicated the usefulness of GIS not only for storing, organizing, and analyzing spatial data, but also for relating and geo-referencing information from different sources in support of decision making. They also showed that GPS can be used to layout plots, determine distances, and estimate plot area.

Also highlighted was the need to develop new phenotyping methodologies to improve maize tolerance to drought and other biotic stresses. A topic of discussion was the use of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes to evaluate yield potential and drought tolerance. As for phenotyping under controlled conditions, phenotyping platforms were described, particularly the PhenoArch platform located at INRA, Montpellier, France.

INIA Agricultural Research Director Enrique La Hoz and Miguel Monsalve Aita, Director of the Vista Florida Experiment Station, indicated the importance of this type of event for updating both researchers and farmers on new tools that can help make agriculture more modern and profitable. Carlos Zañartu Otoya, President of the Lambayeque Seed Producers’ Association, mentioned the Association’s intention to promote the information provided during the event and offered to help organize future workshops.

Curso-Peru

Biotechnology applied to plant genetic breeding

Written by on October 31, 2011. Posted in News.

A course on biotechnology applications to plant genetic breeding was held during 26-30 September 2011, at La Molina Agricultural University, Lima, Peru. Over 100 scientists from Peru’s National Institute of Agricultural Innovation and Peruvian universities attended the course, which focused on modern concepts and procedures of biotechnology as applied to plant breeding.

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The instructors covered many topics. Myriam Cristina Duque, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), gave a presentation on biometrics applied to plant breeding, with an emphasis on experimental designs for non-balanced trials. Gary Atlin, CIMMYT, then focused in on heritability, mixed models theory and its application to plant breeding, as well as current uses of sequencing and genomics. Association mapping and analysis of plant genomes using molecular markers and QTL mapping was the subject of a presentation by Marilyn Warburton, USDA, and Luis Augusto Becerra, CIAT, also discussed molecular markers, as well as demonstrating the use of MapMaker and conducting a session on plant gene-based mapping. Luis Nopo, Arkansas State University, spoke about transgenic plant transformation and Raúl Blas, La Molina Agricultural University, conducted a practical session on extracting DNA from plants.

Unanimous positive feedback was received from the participants, who suggested that similar courses be held in other locations in order to better disseminate knowledge on current technologies. Resources for the course came from Peru, whose partnership with CIMMYT dates back 10 years, with the objective of developing profitable and environmentally-friendly maize technologies.

CIMMYT looks to further partnerships with Peru

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Following the course on biotechnology for plant genetic breeding in Peru, Gary Atlin (Associate Director, CIMMYT Global Maize Program) and Luis Narro (Coordinator, CIMMYT-Columbia) met with Juan Rheineck Piccardo, Peru’s Vice-Minister of Agriculture on 27 September 2011, to discuss possible further partnerships between CIMMYT and the Peruvian government.

It is hoped that further collaborations would increase maize production in Peru, which currently produces just 40% of its national grain demand. Piccardo expressed interest in the proposals, suggesting that a project should be implemented at the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA) to select water-efficient maize genotypes. Atlin and Narro then visited the INIA site at Paiján, in the north coastal zone of Peru, to assess it’s characteristics. The area has no rainfall, allowing researchers to control the amount of water the plants receive during development, and the water table is more than 8 meters below ground-level, therefore avoiding interference between underground water and irrigation systems. Dialogues will continue once the selection trial has been established.

Conquering climate change with maize hybrids and varieties

Written by on February 14, 2011. Posted in News.

A meeting was held during 17-21 January 2011 in Chiclayo, Peru to review progress on developing maize germplasm designed to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce contamination with mycotoxins. This work is being conducted under the FONTAGRO funded project, “Developing and validating drought tolerant maize to stabilize productivity and reduce mycotoxin contamination resulting from climate change.” The project, which began in 2009 and will run until 2013, seeks to develop and distribute drought tolerant maize varieties that are resistant to ear rots and less prone to mycotoxin accumulation. The improved maize germplasm will be made available to Latin American scientists along with tools and methodologies for developing drought tolerant maize, and detecting mycotoxins in maize grains and products.

The project contributes to the sustainable production of regional maize, maize that each year becomes more exposed to the effects of extreme weather, most vulnerable to drought and climate change. It also ensures that maize is safe for human and animal consumption by addressing the problem of mycotoxin contamination. The consumption of mycotoxins in large quantities, especially aflatoxin, produced by Aspergillus flavus, and fumonisin, produced by Fusarium verticillioides has been associated with liver and esophageal cancer, stunted child growth, malnutrition, and death.

Commenting on the project’s success and upcoming challenges, CIMMYT senior scientist Félix San Vicente said, “In just the first year of the project we have identified some hybrids and varieties with great adaptation across a wide range of environments in the participating countries. This is very exciting and a testimony to the value of collaborative work. We should encourage and maintain networks to test new materials in diverse environments.”

To sustain this success, a 3-day workshop was held in conjunction with the meeting to harmonize protocols and procedures for the proper establishment, management and evaluation of drought and ear-rot trials. The course was led by San Vicente and fellow CIMMYT senior scientists George Mahuku and Luis Narro. San Vicente focused on the establishment and management of drought trials and CIMMYT’s advances in precision phenotyping for drought tolerance. Narro presented methodologies and protocols for identifying maize germplasm tolerant to acid soils.

Mahuku emphasized proper experiment design for evaluating maize germplasm for ear rot resistance, the effect of mycotoxins on human and animal health, and how to properly handle and process samples for mycotoxin analysis. He informed the participants about how they could utilize CIMMYT’s mycotoxin analysis facilities as well as presented CIMMYT’s advances in adapting the doubled haploid technology to rapidly generate pure inbred lines combing desirable traits.

Using this technology, completely pure (homozygous) lines can be generated in one year, compared to the five-year process of conventional breeding methodologies. CIMMYT currently uses this technology to develop maize germplasm combining drought tolerance and ear mold resistance to develop climate ready maize varieties and hybrids.

The meeting reached out to students, stressing the importance of climate change and mycotoxins to the future generation of scientists and breeders. Karen Viviana Osorio Guerrero, a graduate student from Colombia and funded under the FONTAGRO project, said, “As a student, the meeting was very interesting and allowed me to interact with field experts from all over Latin America. The workshop strengthened my knowledge about climate change, drought and the negative health effects of mycotoxin. I now have a clear idea of what I need to focus on in my studies, and how to do it”.

Overall, the workshop was a success which facilitated learning and collaboration among the participants. “The workshop was well organized and the visit to the experimental station highlighted some of the things that we need to take into consideration when conducting drought trials,” said Roman Gordon Mendoza of IDIAP. “I have learned a few things that I will take back home and implement.”

“The meeting served as a platform to exchange results, review progress, identify opportunities and challenges and find a common gound and understanding. This will allow us to more efficiently execute the project towards a common goal,” said Narro.

But there is still work to be done according to Mahuku. “We are off to a great start and we have made significant progress. We need to maintain the current rhythm, constant dialogue, and use standardized protocols if we are to succeed in delivering climate-ready maize germplasm,” he concluded.

“Developing and validating drought tolerant maize to stabilize productivity and reduce mycotoxin contamination resulting from climate change” is executed in conjunction with INIA (National Institute of Agrarian Research, Peru); IDIAP (Panama Institute of Agricultural Research); CORPOICA (Columbian Cooperation for Agricultural Research); INTA (Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology); DICTA (Leadership for Agricultural Science and Technology, Honduras); and CIMMYT. FONTAGRO, the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology, which funds the project, is a consortium of Latin American countries that finance research and innovation of regional interest.

The release in Peru of a QPM hybrid with a global reach

Written by on March 9, 2007. Posted in News. 1 Comment on The release in Peru of a QPM hybrid with a global reach

A new single-cross, quality protein maize (QPM) hybrid called “NutriPeru” and designated INIA 611 was released at the Donoso research station, 80 km north of Lima, Peru, on 09 February 2007. Its parents are two CIMMYT maize lines—CMLs 161 and 165—and it yields an average 12 tons per hectare in winter season in Peru’s coastal maize zone, with top yields there of more than 14 tons per hectare. Its intense yellow color is highly valued by the region’s poultry producers, who are the chief consumers of yellow maize in the country. It is also resistant to gray leaf spot (Cercospora zeae-maydis).

Presiding over the release ceremony was Augusto Sayan Gianella, Director General of Promoción Agropecuaria del Ministerio de Agricultura. Daniel Reynosos Tantalean, head of Peru’s Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Extensión Agraria (INIA), formally delivered the new hybrid to some 300 farmers who attended. This achievement occurs in the framework of the current research pact between the government of Peru and CIMMYT.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the same hybrid has been released and is being commercialized in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and probably also India.

Release of new CIMMYT-derived maize hybrid in Peru

Written by on November 10, 2006. Posted in News.

A new maize hybrid, INIA 609 Naylamp, which yielded as much as 10 tons per hectare in marginal soils, based on data gathered from trials at 36 locations in the agriculturally rich province of Lambayeque, Peru, was released in the provincial capital of Chiclayo on 06 October. INIA 609 Naylamp is one of several Peruvian hybrids developed using CIMMYT inbred lines—two from population 24 and one from population 36—sent to Peruvian breeders 15 years ago.

“Naylamp” was a mythological character of ancient Peru who arrived from abroad to bring civilization to the region. INIA 609 Naylamp was developed by Pedro Injante Silva, breeder at the Vista Florida, Chiclayo, research station of Peru’s Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Extensión Agraria (INIEA). Injante is an alumnus of CIMMYT training courses on crop improvement and maize agronomy in Mexico and Venezuela.

The release ceremony was attended by more than 250 persons, with the Vice Minister of Agriculture Carlos Luna Conroy presiding and dignitaries of other branches of the Ministry of Agriculture from Lambayeque and Chiclayo, from the Regents Commission, and from farmer groups. Testing and promotion of the hybrid during 2003 and 2005 was funded by the Peruvian MOA program INCAGRO. INIA 609 Naylamp also showed excellent performance in trials under zero-tillage.

Corpoica maize ‘V-114’ released in Colombia

Written by on August 18, 2006. Posted in News.

Last 25 July, more than 180 farmers and staff from CIMMYT and CORPOICA, Colombia’s agriculture research organization, gathered in the field of Isabel Cristina Cardenas at Los Palmitos, near Sincelejo, Sucre Department, Colombia, to celebrate the release of the new variety V-114. A product of CIMMYT research in Mexico, Thailand, Peru, and Colombia, and with key contributions from Colombian scientists in evaluation and promotion, V-114 was formerly known as Iquitos 9328 and was developed by Hugo Cordova, Carlos De Leon, Luis Narro and other CIMMYT staff, together with CORPOICA. CIMMYTs Asian Regional Maize Program also improved the variety’s resistance to downy mildew, an important disease of maize in this region of Colombia, prior to its introduction. CORPOICA staff at the ceremony included Paolo Bianchi, Director of the organization’s Turipaná Research Station, while CIMMYT was represented by Luis Narro and me.

Farmers at the field day listed for researchers some of their most highly-valued traits in an improved variety. These included low production costs, yields above 3 t/ha, suitability for use under zero-tillage and for intercropping with cassava, resistance to insect pests, and that the seed can be saved and replanted.

When asked about their experience growing V-114, farmers had the following comments:

V-114 looks like a local variety (criollo) and they think it contains local germplasm because it has variation for kernel color (yellow to reddish) and cob shape. They like this as they associate it with stability and stress tolerance.
Farmer Rigoberto Romero said that when he planted recycled seed of V-114 he obtained the same (good) performance from the second crop as he obtained in the first season, when he planted official (‘certified’) seed.
Farmer Silvio Tovar said that he planted 5 kg of seed as an intercrop with cassava, and harvested 1 ton of maize (equivalent to more than 4 t/ha).

The field day was a celebration of several years of work by CIMMYT and CORPOICA scientists, and a couple years of participatory evaluation work with farmers. It was a pleasure to see the excellent interaction between CORPOICA extension staff and farmers, who exchanged sincere questions, important advice, and quite a few jokes. In addition to lunch, each farmer at the field day was given 5 kg of seed of V-114.

John Niederhauser remembered at Toluca Station

Written by on August 11, 2006. Posted in News.

On Saturday, July 29th the ashes of Dr. John S. Niederhauser, who died in August 2005, were laid to rest in a potato field at the Toluca station, by his son Mr. Roberto Niederhauser and his wife. Niederhauser was a leading researcher on potatoes and co-founder of the Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), Perú.

The Niederhausers were joined for the ceremony by Ing. Manuel Villarreal Gonzáles, family friend and Dr. Niederhauser’s work colleague; Ing. Hugo Gómez Arroyo, President of Confederacion Nacional de Productores de Papa; Sr. José Gómez Nieva, a friend and colleague of Dr. Niederhauser; Dr. Héctor Losoya Saldaña, Director de Pictipapa. After visiting the station, the group continued onwards and upwards for a second ceremony at the Nevado de Toluca.