Twenty five years of systems improvement of corn in Central America: accomplishments and strategies toward the year 2000.
Science and technology constitute the mostimportant bridge between prosperity and poverty. During thelast quarter of the century, the introduction of moderntechnology based on science, has assisted developed countriesto reach a favorable balance between food production andpopulation growth. In Central America, corn breeding hascontributed to the release of near a hundred varieties that havebeen multiplied and distributed by a dynamic and progressiveseed industry. These new maize hybrids associated with theproper agronomy practices have increased maize productivityin the region by 60% yield in the past 15 years. This iscertainly a fact in El Salvador and Guatemala that duplicatedthe yields and self-sufficiency in corn. New varieties resistantto biotic and abiotic stresses are playing a very important rolein the sustainability of maize production. The future releaseof new modern hybrids resistant to such stresses willcontribute to reduce the post-harvest losses. The betterunderstanding of some physiological aspects correlated withyield and more effective methods of selection in maizebreeding have contributed to improve the selectiontechniques, however, the weakness of the national researchand extension programs, the lack of economic resources toagricultural production and seed industry and thedeterioration of the natural resources call for a new integratedregional effort. This new effort should be focussed in thesustainable production that guarantees the increase inproductivity in the next two decades.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Universidad de Costa Rica
2006
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/agromeso/article/view/13567 |
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