MAIZE PROGRAM IN COLOMBIA Alejandro Navas ISU Agronomy March 2/99

OUTLINE 1. Geographical location 2. General information 3. Brief historical review 4. Production 4.1 Area, production and yield 4.2 Systems 4.3 Producing Regions

OUTLINE 5. Limitations of Production 6. Strategies of Research 7. Results and Discussion 8. Future Research

1. Geographical location

2. General information 4 Coordinates: Lat. 4 o North Long. 74 o West Long. 74 o West 4 Area: sq. kms (Iowa =145,754) 4 Population: 35,8 million 4 Capital: Santafé de Bogotá 4 Urban population: 70% 4 Natural regions: The Atlantic Coast, The Pacific Coast, The Orinoco River Basin, The Amazon River Basin and The Andean

3. Historical Review : The first agricultural college was founded in Medellin: Goal: To improve seed and agronomy practices in maize : The first experimental station was founded in Bogotá La Picota : The Agricultural School of the Cauca Valley and Agricultural Experimental Station - Palmira : First commercial variety was released in Tulio Ospina (Venezuela 1)

3. Historical Review 4 Until 1950 only National Researchers ETO = Estacion Tulio Ospina. ETO = Estacion Tulio Ospina : Colombian government and Rockefeller Foundation created OIE ( Special Research Office ). ( Special Research Office ) : ROCOL cultivars were released : Germplasm Bank was created. To conserve the germplasm of the Andean Region : ROCOL H- 202 and 203 first double hybrids were released.

3. Historical Review : The DIA was created (Agricultural Research Department) : The books about Races of maize in Colombia, Bolivia, Chile were published : The ICA was created (Colombian Agricultural Institute) (Colombian Agricultural Institute) : First two Ph.D in the maize program

3. Historical Review : Two hybrids with O 2 gene were released (ICA H-208 and ICA H-255) : The first single hybrid was released ( ICA H.S. 209) : ICA H-210 br 2 double hybrid : ICA H-211 yielded 10.9 t ha : PLANIA MAIZ : ICA- CIMMYT and ICA- FENALCE Collaborative projects for research were signed.

3. Historical Review : Regeneration of 2,097 entries ( 23 Colombian races) ICA-NC-ARS : Latin American Maize Project : CORPOICA was created, Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research: Non-profit private institution Objective : to develop and transfer sustainable, competitive and equitable agricultural technologies that increase efficiency of agricultural production. Objective : to develop and transfer sustainable, competitive and equitable agricultural technologies that increase efficiency of agricultural production.

4. Production 4.1 Area, production and yields Source : Corpoica - Colombia, 1998

4. Production 4.2 Systems ProductionAreaYield Source : Corpoica - Colombia, 1998

4.3 Producing Regions Source : Corpoica - Colombia, 1998

5. Limitations of production 4 Andean: Inter and association cropping systems, agronomy practices. 4 Atlantic: Ear and foliar diseases, drought, low N, earliness, lodging, pest, yield. 4 Orinoco: Aluminum toxicity, lodging, stalk pest, yield. pest, yield. 4 Valleys: foliar and stalk pest, drought, salinity, weeds, erosion, earliness. 4 Amazon and Pacific:

6. Strategies of research To increase production and productivity 4 to characterize system of production: Atlantic and Orinoco natural regions. 4 to remove limitations of the systems: genetic improvement for tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress. to develop and transfer sustainable, competitive and equitable agricultural technologies that increase efficiency of agricultural production. to develop and transfer sustainable, competitive and equitable agricultural technologies that increase efficiency of agricultural production.

Research Stations of CORPOICA

7. Results and Discussion 4 Germplasm bank: 5,227 collections are conserved: 137 races from 31 countries including Colombia ( 2,589 ). 4 Regeneration and evaluation of 2097 Colombian collections: ICA-NCARS-LAMP- CIMMYT-CORPOICA Some special traits: Tolerance to drought, low N, flooding, and diseases. Morphological traits such as: big ears, short stalks, angle leaves.

7. Results and Discussion 4 51 open-pollinated varieties and 36 hybrids have been released. Eleven OPV and one hybrid from ICA-CIMMYT project. 4 ~ 380 publications ( scientific and technical papers, thesis, etc). Thesis Bs: 65; Ms:15 and PhD: 5. 4 Scientific capacity and trained human resources for the country 4

8. Future research 4 Focus on Atlantic and Orinoco natural regions. 4 Atlantic region: to rotate maize / cotton, mechanical system, early hybrids, drought and low N tolerance. 4 Orinoco region: Al toxicity tolerance, inter- cropping maize//forages systems => livestock 4 Improve and increase hybrids maize projects. 4 Marker Assisted Selection: Selection under stress conditions.

4 National Maize Plan: CORPOICA- CIMMYT-FENALCE budget : special tax over importation's maize ~ U$ 2 million/ year 4 Consortium on Developing Maize Cultivars for Sustainable Production System in Acid Soils: 5 years and ~ 4 U$ million 8. Future research

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CIMMYT Dr. Shivaji Pandey Dr. Carlos De Leon Dr. Luis Narro Ing. Juan C Perez ISU Dr. Arnel R. Hallauer CORPOICA V Md. Sony Reza Ing. Sergio Mejia K Ing. Jose G. Ospina Ing. Ramiro Urrea