Proceedings of the Fourth Asian Regional Maize Workshop

Abstract

During the last few years, maize production in most Asian countries has developed an spectacular increase. In decreasing order, and excluding China, the largest maize producing countries in Asia are India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan and Nepal. Even though India and Indonesia have a level of production higher than Thailand, their productivity is much lower. Among all Asian countries, Thailand continues to have the highest maize yields per unit area, with average yields of over 2 t/ha. CIMMYT's phylosophy is to assist national maize research programs in increasing their maize productivity. We feel that one of the ways to keep researchers aware of new developments in research is through workshops where we can learn of experiences of other colleagues. with this view in mind, CIMMYT Asian Regional Maize Program (ARMP) has cosponsored the 4th Asian Regional Maize Workshop in close cooperation and assistance from the Pakistan Council of Agricultural Research (PARC) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan After consultation with program coordinators and leaders from several countries in the region, it was decided that the theme for the 4th Workshop be on Maize Production Under stress Environments. It is through the understanding of stress factors that the National Programs can focus their research in the development of technologies tending to decrease the risks involved in production of the crop in unfavorable (stressed) environments. Additional to key speakers dealing with the subject of maize grown under stress environments, there was also the need to alocate time to discuss issues on Seed Production and Distribution. As in the three previous workshops, we had the participation of several maize scientists from most national programs and private seed companies in the Asian region. It should be mentioned that this was the first time we had participants from Bhutan describing the maize research activities in that country. One important component of these Asian Regional Maize Workshops has been to give the opportunity to all participants to observe in Demonstration Nurseries the varieties developed in their own national programs. We encouraged the participants to carefully observe and request to the respective program any variety which they considered useful in their program. CIMMYT also included some of its experimental varieties with the broadest adaptation and stability across locations in the Asian region. These are available upon request. Demonstration Nurseries were planted at three locations in Pakistan: the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) at Islamabad, the Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) at Pirsabak, and the Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) at Yousafwalla. These three centers are located in different ecological environments. With this Workshop, CIMMYT-ARMP continues its active participation in the promotion of agricultural development in the region.