The yam bean project at CATIE, Costa Rica. Final scientific report (STD3 Contract)

The Yam Bean project which incorporates several countries in an international network promoting research of the Pachyrhizus genus was established at the Agronomic Center for Research and Training (CATIE) in 1989. This project received economical support from Denmark through the Royal Agricultural and Veterinary University. Currently CATIE preserves 172 accessions of five species including 34 inter-specific crosses. During the new phase of the project, which began in October 1992, research actions have addressed the evaluation of adaptability and behavior of several accessions under different environmental conditions. Experiments have been established in the cities of Alajuela and Turrialba, Costa Rica, and during 1996, an essay was also implemented in the locality of David, Panama. Research at CATIE has been conducted on agronomical practices to study the effect of flowers removal and planting distances over the yield of tubers for several yam bean accessions. These studies have been replicated in the area of David, Panama. A flowers removal test was carried out employing 2,4-D herbicide; nenvertheless, results indicate that this product can be harmful to yam bean plants. It is necessary to continue this type of tests since flowers removal requires a lot of hand labour. One of the most important studies during this phase of the project, was the evaluation of the association yam bean - cassava. Two experiments were established, one of which served as a postgraduate thesis work at CATIE. Support was also provided to two students from the University of Costa Rica (Chemical Engineering School) for two projects related with the rotenone extraction feasibility using P. erosus seeds. Due to the seed potential as rotenone source, an essay was designed and executed to evaluate the production capacity of seeds from three P. erosus accessions. Finally, several plots were planted at CATIE with P. erosus and P. tuberosus accessions to multiply them and obtain seeds (regeneration). Advantage was taken of this activity to measure some interesting characteristics. The general objective of this project was the characterization and evaluation of yam bean germplasm, integrating research of agronomic practices to select genotypes for future improvement studies and also to offer management recommendations in order to obtain adequate yields under different climatic and soil conditions.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza Turrialba, Costa Rica autor/a 3977
Format: biblioteca
Published: Turrialba (Costa Rica) 1997
Subjects:PACHYRHIZUS TUBEROSUS, PACHYRHIZUS EROSUS, CULTIVO MIXTO, MANIHOT ESCULENTA, PRODUCCION DE SEMILLAS, CULTIVO, INVESTIGACION, CARACTERISTICAS AGRONOMICAS, VARIEDADES, INFORMES DE ACTIVIDADES, CATIE, PROYECTOS DE DESARROLLO, DAVID, CHIRIQUI, PANAMA, TURRIALBA, COSTA RICA,
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Summary:The Yam Bean project which incorporates several countries in an international network promoting research of the Pachyrhizus genus was established at the Agronomic Center for Research and Training (CATIE) in 1989. This project received economical support from Denmark through the Royal Agricultural and Veterinary University. Currently CATIE preserves 172 accessions of five species including 34 inter-specific crosses. During the new phase of the project, which began in October 1992, research actions have addressed the evaluation of adaptability and behavior of several accessions under different environmental conditions. Experiments have been established in the cities of Alajuela and Turrialba, Costa Rica, and during 1996, an essay was also implemented in the locality of David, Panama. Research at CATIE has been conducted on agronomical practices to study the effect of flowers removal and planting distances over the yield of tubers for several yam bean accessions. These studies have been replicated in the area of David, Panama. A flowers removal test was carried out employing 2,4-D herbicide; nenvertheless, results indicate that this product can be harmful to yam bean plants. It is necessary to continue this type of tests since flowers removal requires a lot of hand labour. One of the most important studies during this phase of the project, was the evaluation of the association yam bean - cassava. Two experiments were established, one of which served as a postgraduate thesis work at CATIE. Support was also provided to two students from the University of Costa Rica (Chemical Engineering School) for two projects related with the rotenone extraction feasibility using P. erosus seeds. Due to the seed potential as rotenone source, an essay was designed and executed to evaluate the production capacity of seeds from three P. erosus accessions. Finally, several plots were planted at CATIE with P. erosus and P. tuberosus accessions to multiply them and obtain seeds (regeneration). Advantage was taken of this activity to measure some interesting characteristics. The general objective of this project was the characterization and evaluation of yam bean germplasm, integrating research of agronomic practices to select genotypes for future improvement studies and also to offer management recommendations in order to obtain adequate yields under different climatic and soil conditions.