Overview
Climate change seriously threatens Peru food security with events such as «El Niño» that continuously affect the most vulnerable (southern) part of the country. In such areas, water scarcity due to climate instability diminishes crop yields to less than a quarter of the optimal, requiring food imports during these times. Thus, locals need to sow climate-resilient varieties to assure survival.
The YSSI Project seeks to understand the impacts of improved wheat varieties on food security and wellbeing of Peruvian communities, by testing the selected resilient and high yielding wheat varieties in the highlands – identified in our previous project «Field-based phytohormone phenotyping to select climate resilient cereal varieties (2018 – 2019)» in Lima (Peru) -, while adapting the method to the quinoa crop, using yield databases from UNALM and private stakeholders. This dual approach encourages subsistence and commercial activities to boost self-sufficiency and economic activity. Agricultural economists (DRA-Puno, Recrías América SAC) and nutritionists (UNSCH, UNA-Puno) will model the long-term impacts of these new genotypes on target communities. Online short courses and face-to-face workshops will showcase the methodology to the stakeholders’ communities, while information on improved varieties will be disseminated via open days at the trial sites, UNALM’s and partners’ social networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and project website.
Enhancing food nutrition and production based on wheat and quinua crop in Peru by
knowledge transfer & capacity building
Specific objectives
1.Train local partners in evaluating yield and yield components of wheat and quinoa crops, to allow them to apply an innovative tool (made available to Peruvian partners) to accelerate selection of highly productive and climate resilient genotypes.
2.Conduct demonstration field trials in several highland locations to evaluate genotypes selected in the previous and this project.
3.Provide Peruvian partners with seeds of these genotypes for field-testing and multiplication, and then release the selected genotypes to farmers and stakeholders by maintaining seed distribution centres.
4.Continue capacity building and knowledge transfer on precision phenotyping, by organizing online and face-to face training opportunities for local farmers, technicians and scientists.
5.Model and monitor food security (calories & nutritional) impacts of delivering improving genotypes to highland populations.
6.Develop commercial opportunities / networks to accelerate highland quinoa production.
WP-1 and WP-2: genotypes selection and sowing in three different regions with two water treatments
Arequipa
Our collaborator in Arequipa (Recrias America SAC) shared 3 years of their yield data of genotypes Quinoa.
From their data base of 24 Quinoa genotypes planted over 2 years and one year of 11 promising genotypes, we have selecting and sown 7 of these in field trials in this project including to control genotypes usually sown in this region of Arequipa..
The selection process have used and adapted the YSSI selection method (Thiry, 2016) based on productivity and resilience to drought stress and adding the criteria of grain size (grain bigger than 2.1 mm).
Yield data from this trial will be collected and analyzed later this year, to finally inform economic (to the farmer) and nutritional (to communities eating this grain) impacts.
Sowing Puno
Puno and Cuzco
Wheat Selection
Historical data (3 years) of yield and yield components were provided by the Cereals Research Program of UNALM.
In the context of the project previous project «Field-based phytohormone phenotyping to select climate resilient cereal varieties (2018 – 2019)» from these data bases 10 genotypes (including 1 control genotype) were selected in function of their contrasting response in term of efficiency and adaptability of yield under drought stress conditions using the YSSI selection method. The result of this project and analyzing the yield response over 2019 and 2020 under other regions have ended up with a selection of 3 genotypes that present the best adaptation and yield properties for the target environment of this project.
The experimental design has therefore considered these three genotypes + 2 control genotypes one local (INIA) and one from La Molina.
Puno and Cuzco
Quinua Selection
Previous research from UNALM has demonstrated that quinoa genotypes adapted for the environment of Lima, Arequipa and Cusco will not perform in Puno. Therefore, a different panel of 5 genotypes were selected between these two field experiments.
The selection for Puno only has one genotype in common with Cuzco and 2 genotypes in common with Arequipa. The 5 genotypes in Cuzco are represented in Lima and Arequipa in order to be able to compare the environmental effect on yield and yield components.
At the end of the campaign, yield and yield components will be analyzed using the YSSI method to identify the most adapted and productive genotype for the target environment (region).
Sponsors
Participants
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