The
main objective of LARP is to strengthen collaboration in the improvement
of barley, faba bean, lentil, and kabuli chickpea in the Latin America
region. Emphasis has been given to develop improved, disease-resistant
barley germplasm, particularly in the Andean region, where resource-poor
farmers use barley as staple food.
Major Activities and Key Achievements
- National programs
of eight countries have released 10 barley varieties with resistance
to fungal diseases, such as stem, leaf and stripe rust, scald, net
blotch, Fusarium head scab, and viral diseases.
- Marker-based
mapping research with Oregon State University targets genes in the
Ecuadorian barley ‘Shyri’ that are associated with resistance
to a range of diseases, including resistance to stripe rust, leaf
rust, net blotch, barley yellow dwarf virus and scald.
- A joint program
with the National Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute (INIAP)
set up a barley seed project in southern Ecuador. The 500 farmers
growing new varieties in 1998 had an average threefold increase over
the national average of 700 kg.
- Irrigated hull-less
barley is yielding up to 8 t/ha in Mexico.
- In food legumes,
a joint evaluation with various countries looked at different elite
lines, segregating populations from different crosses, and a large
number of sources of resistance to various biotic (diseases) and abiotic
(drought) stresses.
- Supply of germplasm
of food and forage legumes to various cooperators in Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.
- In forage legumes,
Fundacep (an NGO) at Cruz Alta, Brazil, tested promising lines of
forage vetches, including Vicia sativa, V. dasycarpa,
and V. ervillia. A wooly-pod vetch variety is being tested
by the Hillside Project in Bolivia.
Current Emphasis
- The potential
of irrigated production of hull-less barley is being demonstrated
at Yaqui, Mexico.
- The use of the
doubled-haploid technique has accelerated transfer of genes for resistance
to key diseases, such as stripe rust and Fusarium head scab. Some
of this work is being done through the Latin America Barley Network
(RECLA).
Future Directions
- Strengthen cooperation
on cool-season food legumes and initiate cooperation in on-farm water
use. ICARDA also intends to contribute to the welfare of people living
in dry areas of Latin America through the improvement of small-ruminant
production systems, land and water management, germplasm improvement,
and the overall improvement of the dryland farming systems.
- The role of barley
to support potato-based crop rotations in the Andean region will be
safeguarded.
Acting Regional Coordinator:Dr Flavio Capettini
ICARDA c/o CIMMYT
Apartado Postal 6-641
Mexico 06600, D.F.
Phone +52-55-58042004/+52-595-9521900
Fax +52-595-9521983/84
E-mail: f.capettini@CGIAR.ORG
/ fcapettini@cimmyt.exch.cgiar.org
* Related publications on land and
water management in semiarid environments
co-authored by Dr Abelardo Rodriguez are available at:
http://www.condesan.org/memoria/andenes2001-1.pdf
(68kb)
http://www.condesan.org/memoria/andenes2001-2.pdf
(223kb)
http://www.condesan.org/memoria/andenes2001-3.pdf
(90kb) |
