Tropical Lowland Maize Subtropical: annual research report 2002

Abstract

2002 was a good year for the research activities in the tropical lowland subprogram. Dedication of the staff always striving for excellence, allowed us to develop new products that will allow national programs and private seed industry to put in the hands of farmers planting maize in the tropical mega-environment, maize cultivars that possess yield stability and buffer capacity to absorb the many constraints to maize production, resulting from the changing climate and environment. Our efforts of contributing to increase food security and alleviate malnutrition in the developing world, received a tremendous retribution when three new countries released QPM cultivars in the developing world. Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua released new QPM hybrids and varieties and seed production have started. In 2002 we planted trials in 12 locations: three in Mexico, Cotaxtla,-Veracruz, Agua Fria- Puebla and Tampico-Tamaulipas, four in Guatemala, Las Vegas, Cuyuta, La Maquina- ICTA, and Zacapa one in Turipana, Colombia and one in India, Bihar. Few trials were planted in Panama, Honduras and Paraguay. The 2002 results are really exciting with yields up to 14 t/ha at Zacapa, Guatemala in single cross hybrids and 13 t/ha at Comayagua, Honduras in three way cross hybrids, tropical x subtropical inbreds elite, single cross hybrids yielded up 18t/ha at Bihar, India. Our hybrids also performed well under stressed and non-stressed environments, seven new TWC tropical white hybrids outyielded CML442 x CML444 with 17 to 48% more yield. Normal and QPM synthetic varieties were extensively tested in marginal environments in Latin America and Asia. New QPM synthetics yielded five t/ha across 11 locations, 15 % more yield than the best QPM varieties and similar to the best normal check, information will provide bases for release of new open pollinated varieties in 2003. In this report we make recommendation focused on how the new products developed can effectively be used to contribute to increase maize productivity in the developing world once germplasm is adopted by farmers. As we predicted our economic resources in 2002 were not good, therefore we stopped planting at Tlaltizapan and Uxmal and reduced several field assistant positions and cut plantings at Agua Fria to coupe with the budget reduction. Fortunately, in 2003 our budget was not reduced as predicted and we recovered our third testing site in Mexico. CIMMYT future is uncertain and we are still waiting for the strategic planning process that will address this issue, furthermore this uncertain situation is weakening CIMMYT's scientific capacity (the best two young scientists in the Maize Program Matthew Krakowsky and Slobodan Trifunovic resigned and went to work with USDA and Monsanto Seed Company, they were offered a more brilliant future than CIMMYT) and help us focus more on our core objective - i.e. to develop maize and wheat technologies for the resource poor farmers, we just hope that this definition comes soon. The tropical lowland maize subprogram staff appreciates all the support received from other sub programs and units and Maize Direction. The Maize Program shows a solid integration with Entomology, Pathology, Physiology, Bank-Pre-breeding, Training, International Testing Unit, Highland and Subtropical. This integration was strongly enhanced in 2002.