Person: Flores, D.
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Flores
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Flores, D.
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- Historia de la transformación agrícola del Valle del Yaqui, Sonora. 1981-2013(CIMMYT, 2020) Flores, D.
Publication - Cómo crecer con don Crecencio. Para una buena decisión tomar, las cuentas hay que sacar(CIMMYT, 2015) Govaerts, B.; Mena-Lopez, G.; Juarez-Perete, I.; Lopez Amezcua, L.P.; Ramirez Lopez, A.; Gardeazabal, A.; Menaldo, A.; Flores, D.; Vargas Rojas, L.; Aguilar Garcia, A.E.
Publication - Performance of spring wheat derived from physiological strategic crossing under Mexican growing environments(CGIAR, 2019) Piñera Chavez, F.J; Alvarado Padilla, J.I.; Ireta Moreno, J.; Macías-Cervantes, J.; Chavez-Villalba, G.; Flores, D.; Solís Moya, E.; Sukumaran, S.; Molero, G.; Reynolds, M.P.
Publication - Collective action for the conservation of on-farm genetic diversity in a center of crop diversity: an assessment of the role of traditional farmers' networks(IFPRI, 2005) Badstue, L.B.; Bellon, M.; Berthaud, B.; Ramirez, A.; Flores, D.; Juarez, X.; Ramirez, F.This project explored the possible role of collective action among small-scale farmers in managing and maintaining genetic resources in a center of crop diversity. It focused on the local institutions that ensure the supply ofseed of diverse maize landraces to small-scale farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. The key hypothesis was
Publication - La importancia de los nichos de mercado. Un estudio de caso del maiz azul y del maiz para pozole en Mexico(Sociedad Mexicana de Fitogenética, 2013) Hellin, J.; Keleman, A.; Lopez, D.; Donnet, M.L.; Flores, D.Un enfoque central de la investigacion agricola en Mexico ha sido la generacion de variedades mejoradas de maiz (Zea mays L.) de alto rendimiento y su difusion, pese a que los maices criollos siguen desempeñando un papel clave en las estrategias de vida de los productores. Existen varias razones, entre ellas las economicas, por las que los productores toman la decision deliberada de sembrar maices criollos. El grano de tales variedades puede lograr un sobreprecio si el productor accede a un mercado especializado. Por otra parte, muchas de las variedades criollas generan numerosos productos, mas alla del grano, para los que existen mercados importantes, como es el caso de las hojas de maiz (?totomoxtle?) que se utilizan para envolver los tamales (platillo tradicional). En el presente documento se examinan con mas detalle algunas de las razones economicas que impulsan a los productores a sembrar maices criollos y se ilustran con ejemplos de los mercados del maiz azul y del maiz para elaborar pozole (platillo tradicional) en la meseta central de Mexico. Para este fin se empleo un enfoque de cadena de valor, que examina las oportunidades y las dificultades a las que se enfrentan los productores al tratar de acceder a estos mercados. La cadena de valor del maiz para pozole depende de la produccion local y de las inversiones en infraestructura que contribuyen a actividades que agregan valor, como la produccion del pozole precocido. La siembra del maiz azul esta mas extendida y, aunque los productores tienen menos oportunidades de agregarle valor, su grano abastece pequeñas empresas, en su mayoria dirigidas por mujeres. Ambos mercados contribuyen a mejorar las estrategias de vida locales y la conservacion in situ de los recursos geneticos. Sin embargo, es necesaria una formulacion cuidadosa de las politicas publicas para expandir estos mercados sin disminuir sus beneficios. Esta investigacion ayuda a explicar por que persisten los maices criollos en la agricultura mexicana, hecho que tiene implicaciones en la direccion que pudiera tomar la investigacion agricola, puesto que brinda a los fitomejoradores y a los nutricionistas informacion sobre las caracteristicas agronomicas que los productores necesitan y de la calidad que el mercado exige. Asimismo, la investigacion indica que los fitomejoradores, al tiempo que tratan de incrementar la tasa y la estabilidad del rendimiento, tambien deberian prestar mas atencion al mejoramiento de las caracteristicas de calidad valoradas por los productores.
Publication - Maize stover use and sustainable crop production in mixed crop-livestock systems in Mexico(Elsevier, 2013) Hellin, J.; Erenstein, O.; Beuchelt, T.D.; Camacho Villa, T.C.; Flores, D.Mixed crop-livestock farming systems prevail in Mexico - typically rain-fed and smallholder systems based on maize and ruminants and spanning diverse agro-ecologies. Maize grain is the key Mexican staple produced for home consumption and the market. Maize crop residues (stover) are an important by-product, primarily for feed use, often through in situ stubble grazing and/or as ex situ forage. This paper explores maize stover use along the agro-ecological gradient and the potential trade-offs, particularly the widespread use of maize stover as feed against its potential use as mulch (soil cover) to manage soil health within the context of conservation agriculture. The paper builds on three case study areas in Mexico in contrasting agro-ecologies: (semi-)arid, temperate highland and tropical sub-humid. Data were obtained through expert consultation and semi-structured farmer group/community surveys. Although in situ grazing is found in all three study sites, it represented the bulk of stover use in only one site (70% of stover in the sub-humid tropics), with ex situ feed dominating in the other two sites (>80%). Maize stover commercialization is limited and mainly restricted to households with no livestock and often within the local context. Farmers are generally hesitant to adopt conservation agricultural practices that require the retention of stover as mulch, as this competes with their livestock feed needs and purchased feed is expensive. To reduce trade-offs, a portfolio of options could be adapted to these mixed systems, including partial residue retention, cover and feed crops and sustainable intensification. Promising but yet to be explored, are investments in the genetic improvement of maize stover feed quality.
Publication - Wheat production and grower practices in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico(CIMMYT, 1992) Meisner, C.A.; Acevedo, E.; Flores, D.; Sayre, K.D.; Ortiz-Monasterio, I.; Byerlee, D.Wheat yields in the Yaqui Valley of NW Mexico have appeared to remain stable in the past decade despite the release of new varieties and improved agronomic recommendations. A study was conducted during the winter of 1990/91 among a sample of growers to determine if there were any common agronomic or economic factors that would limit yields in the valley. Four socio-economic surveys had been conducted in 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1989, and were augmented in the 1990/91 survey with extensive agronomic data. A sub-sample of 52 growers were taken from a pool of growers that had been studied intensively by the CIMMYT Economics section over the past 10 years. Results showed grain yields for the 1990/91 cycle among the sample averaged 4.4 t ha- 1 but ranged from 1.7 to 6.2 t ha-1. Data collected during 1990/91 revealed there were only a few factors limiting yields that were common to most of the growers. Those factors included: inadequate ground cover throughout the growing season, the resulting increase in weeds, and less spikes m-2 among other yield components which were affected by poor ground cover. Soil and plant nitrogen levels indicated the presence of nitrogen deficiencies despite the high levels of nitrogen fertilizer applied in the valley. Soil and plant levels of phosphorus also indicated the presence of phosphorus deficiencies, although only plant phosphorus levels were related to yields. Nematodes correlated and contributed to a model with yield but represented only a few fields which had populations sufficient to affect yields.
Publication - Economic and livelihood impacts of maize research in hill regions in Mexico and Nepal: including a method for collecting and analyzing spatial data using Google Earth(CIMMYT, 2008) La Rovere, R.; Mathema, S.B.; Dixon, J.; Aquino Mercado, P.R.; Gurung, K.; Hodson, D.P.; Flores, D.To fully assess the impact of new technologies on farmers we need to shift the focus of research from ‘crops’ or ‘commodities’ to the impact pathway which links improved crop germplasm and management to household well-being. Household well-being includes factors such as food security, more income, and the stocks and flows of household assets. A livelihoods approach to impact assessment (IA) augments the conventional practice of assessing impact because it captures a wider range of factors that affect the livelihoods of farmers than conventional IA, which often only examines improvements in crop productivity and returns. Taking this innovative approach, CIMMYT recently completed two studies on the impacts of maize research in the hill regions of Mexico and Nepal. The two case studies provide lessons for assessing impact through a livelihoods lens to complement economic assessments. The research projects and the present impact study generated a number of International Public Goods: methods for spatial analysis, methods for participatory research with farmers applied to IA, and capacity-building of farmers in maize selection and for IA research based on a livelihoods approach. The first study, described in depth in this paper, assesses the impacts of research by CIMMYT and a Mexican partner, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), during the late 1990s in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. The objectives of this research were to raise productivity, preserve the diversity of traditional criollo maize landraces, provide training, demonstrate maize production practices, and promote post-harvest technologies. In 2006, a study was launched to assess the impacts of this research, to examine the changes in farmers’ livelihoods that resulted from the project, and to learn how such research projects can have more impact in the future. The study sought to capture the impacts of the project, in terms of the use of criollo maize, the use farmers made of training, and the use of post-harvest technology (silos). This was done by collecting and analyzing data on indicators of farmers’ livelihoods and economic status. The results were examined for participant and non-participant farmers, and for different household wealth categories characterized through the IA study itself. Reducing poverty by developing and selecting local and improved maize germplasm was just one of the goals of the research project. Other important objectives were to expand the knowledge on maize diversity, and generate and test participatory research methods. Although the benefits of these are hard to quantify, the IA should take account of these effects in the overall assessment. The second study, to assess the impacts of the Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) in Nepal, used a similar mix of qualitative and quantitative tools to those used in the Oaxaca study. In Nepal, CIMMYT and partners developed and tested improved varieties through participatory research. The Nepal study captures the outcomes and impacts of the participatory research projects in terms of maize productivity, food security, community-based seed production, empowerment, social inclusion, and the institutionalization of participatory research. The Mexico study in the area of origin of maize indicates that there is a moderate use of improved maize and some impact on poverty, but that the area of maize has shrunk and that maize is less important as a commercial crop. In contrast, improved maize varieties in Nepal play an increasingly important role in improving livelihoods. In Nepal maize is also a way of improving the livelihoods of marginalized farmers in the hill areas, and low-caste women.
Publication - Beyond drought tolerant maize: study of additional priorities in maize(CIMMYT, 2007) Gibbon, D.; Dixon, J.; Flores, D.In recognition of the complexity of factors which affect the improvement of maize yields and productivity in different farming systems throughout the developing world, panels of crop research and extension experts assessed the relative importance of abiotic, biotic, crop management and socioeconomic constraints in a dozen major maize production systems in developing regions which are characterized by severe poverty, as indicated by child stunting. Maize plays an important role in household nutrition and poverty reduction in each of these farming systems. Drought has been identified as a major priority for maize improvement programs in international agricultural research, and especially in Africa and Asia. However, it is generally accepted that a variety of other “secondary” constraints limit maize productivity in good seasons, as well as in drought years. The well known CABI data base contains comprehensive but rather general information on losses and distribution. CIMMYT has conducted a number of studies with valuable information on constraints, and CIMMYT scientists have scored the severity of maize production constraints. However, few of these studies provide sufficient contextual information to extrapolate the results across zones, seasons and years. In these circumstances, this study organized the systematic tapping of the tacit knowledge of experienced research and development practitioners to provide valuable information on the relative importance of different production constraints and traits. The results of this study can be a checklist and guide to those involved in maize breeding and crop systems research and development by prioritizing key traits for the improvement in each of the systems.
Publication - Mejoramiento de maíces criollos por integración de alelos(CIMMYT, 2007) Bergvinson, D.J.; Ramirez, A.; Flores, D.; García-Lara, S.Aunque en el mercado existe una amplia gama de variedades mejoradas, esta tecnología no está al alcance de muchos agricultores, porque muchas veces no es posible conseguirla en la zona objeto del presente estudio o porque su precio es muy elevado. Además, muchas de esas variedades no contienen todas las características que los agricultores del Estado de México requieren. Por tanto, en un ambiente de producción como el de esta zona del país, los maíces criollos locales, que han sido desarrollados durante varias generaciones, siguen siendo los más apropiados, por su adaptación y sus características de producción y consumo. Sin embargo, las variedades criollas, que han sido seleccionadas por los productores y los consumidores locales, pueden mejorarse con mayor rendimiento, tolerancia a la sequía, resistencia a las plagas postcosecha o mayor contenido de nutrientes. El objetivo del proyecto que aquí se describe es facilitar el mejoramiento del maíz criollo, capacitando a los productores, para que puedan participar en el proceso de mejoramiento de sus propios materiales, e incorporar las características que ellos necesitan por medio de cruzas con las variedades mejoradas.
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