General view of the experimental field in Lempira, Honduras. (Photo: Nele Verhulst/CIMMYT)
Populations in Central America are rising rapidly, but staple crop production seems unable to keep up with increasing food demands.
Maize yields are particularly low compared to other regions. Cumulatively, farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua produce maize on nearly 2.5 million hectares, with a large proportion of these maize systems also including beans, either through relay cropping or intercropping. Though potential yields are estimated to be as high as 10 metric tons per hectare, average production remains low at around 2.28.
Scientists mobilize African and Latin American knowledge to protect Asia’s maize.
By Vanessa Meadu
When the destructive fall armyworm arrived in Asia in the summer of 2018, scientists were not taken by surprise. They had been anticipating its arrival on the continent as the next stage of its aggressive eastward journey, driven by changing climatic conditions and international trade routes. The pest, native to North and South America, had invaded and spread throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa within two years, severely damaging billions of dollars of maize crops and threatening food security for millions of people. Asian countries would have to mobilize quickly to cope with this new threat.
Carlos Barragan García works on soil fertility as well as inclusive business models for smallholder farmers working in maize agri-food value chains. He has a degree in agroecological engineering from Chapingo Autonomous University and collaborates with the MasAgro project in Mexico’s state of Oaxaca. Barragan was recently awarded the MAIZE Youth Innovators Award 2019 – Latin America in the category of change agent for his involvement in this work.
The awards, an initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on
Maize (MAIZE), seek to recognize the contributions of young women and men who
are implementing innovations in Latin American maize-based agri-food systems.
This is the third instalment of the awards, following Asia in October 2018 and
Africa in May 2019. The awards ceremony took place at the 23rd Latin American
Maize Reunion in Monteria, Colombia on October 9, 2019.
Carlos Barragan García, center, receives the MAIZE Youth Innovators Award 2019 – Latin America from CIMMYT Maize scientists Luis Narro (left) and Felix San Vicente (right). Photo: Carlos Alfonso Cortes Arredondo/CIMMYT.
Yésica Chazarreta investigates how later planting dates affect
the maize production of farmers in Argentina’s main maize growing region. The
young researcher is working with the Crop Ecophysiology group at the National
Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA) Pergamino in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
conducting research on maize grain drying, filling and quality in order to help
farmers make more informed decisions on when to harvest in order to increase
their yields. Yésica recently received the MAIZE Youth Innovators Award 2019 –
Latin America in the category of Researcher for her involvement in this work.
The awards, an initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize
(MAIZE), seek to recognize the contributions of young women and men who are
implementing innovations in Latin American maize-based agri-food systems. This
is the third instalment of the awards, following Asia in October 2018 and
Africa in May 2019. The awards ceremony took place at the 23rd Latin American
Maize Reunion in Monteria, Colombia on October 9, 2019.
Yésica Chazarreta, center, receives the MAIZE Youth Innovators Award 2019 – Latin America from CIMMYT Maize scientists Luis Narro (left) and Felix San Vicente (right). Photo: Carlos Alfonso Cortes Arredondo/CIMMYT.