This document summarizes CGIAR research highlights from Latin America. It notes that while CGIAR investment in Latin America has diminished as focus has shifted to Africa and South Asia, the region remains important as a source of genetic resources, testing environments, and innovations like improved cassava processing and gender-responsive market approaches that provide lessons for global agriculture. Key accomplishments highlighted include identifying heat-tolerant sweetpotato varieties, monitoring the spread of Fusarium TR4 disease, developing optimized small-scale cassava dryers, and documenting high adoption of improved potato varieties in Peru. The implications discussed are maintaining a global CGIAR presence and leveraging Latin America's contributions to address global challenges like climate change.

1. CGIAR case study: research
highlights from Latin America
25 May 2016LED BY

2. A collaboration of
• Around 200+ research-for-development stakeholders
& partners
What is the
?

3. Banana
Plantain
Cassava Potato Sweetpotato Yam Other R&T
300 million small holder farmers and
processors depend on RTB crops for food
security, nutrition, income and employment
What are our crops?

4. What are our systems?

5. RTB crops share
• Genetic complexity,
similar breeding
challenges
• Vegetative propagation,
similar seed systems
• Perishability, bulkiness
and post harvest/value
chain options
Why Roots, Tubers and
Bananas?

6. Latin America context

7. Changing geographic priorities
• 1970s-90s: LA primary
target
• 2000-10: refocusing
toward poverty hot spots
eg Andes, Central
America
• 2011-: rising GNP, donors
shift to Africa and south
Asia
• Implications for CGIAR
research in LA?
CIP
1984

8. Genetic resources and crop
improvement

9. Screening sweetpotato for heat tolerance
• Evaluation environments (N.
Peru):
- heat stress (summer)
- no-heat stress (winter):
• Material: 1973 germplasm
accessions CIP genebank
• Key traits: heat tolerance, early
bulking, and yield
Experimental site in Piura during winter.
Yields of storage roots vs. pencil roots
represent an indicator for heat tolerance.

10. Aerial picture: summer
2014 heat stress exposure
at maximum storage root
bulking
Thermographic image: summer
2014 heat stress exposure at
maximum storage root bulking
Remote sensing: fast throughput method to
screen effects of heat on biochemical and
physiological processes

11. Results
• 15% sweetpotato
germplasm heat stress
tolerant: 305 clones with
yields >12.2 t ha-1 under
stress
• Considerable genetic
variation heat stress
• Large pool favorable
alleles to heat stress
• Large and sustainable
genetic gains expected
Bettina Heider1, Elisa Romero1, Raul Eyzaguirre1, Wolfgang Grüneberg1, Emile
Faye2, Stef de Haan1,3 and Merideth Bonierbale1
1= CIP, 2=IRD (Institut de recherche pour le développement), 3=CIAT

12. Native Potatoes shift to higher altitudes

13. Shift to higher altitudes of native potatoes
297m in 50 years
Source: Juarez, Pasencia and De Haan (CIP)

14. Participatory Variety Selection: “mother & baby” trials
(Patacancha – Cuzco)

15. Released:
• 2007: Pallay Poncho
(INIA 311)
• 2007: Puka Lliclla
(INIA 312)
• 2010: Altiplano (INIA
317)
• 2013: Kawsay (INIA
320)
• 2014: Poderosa (La
Libertad)
Varieties released

16. Participatory varietal selection: gender
• Gender filter: methods and
approaches that help identify
opportunities to better include women
in participatory processes
• How to Conduct Participatory Varietal
Selection in Potato: A Gender
Responsive User Guide”
• Open-access digital platform that
allows researchers or agricultural
extension workers to upload their data
and generate the analysis

17. Implications LA?
• Sweetpotato:
– LA source of germplasm (genebank) & testing
environment
– LA NOT primary target
• Potato:
– LA source of germplasm, testing environments and
validating research methods (gender)
– Responding to local needs
– LA primary target, but also relevant to global agenda
– BUT resource constrained – lost breeding networks
(Red LatinPapa)

18. Pests and diseases

19. Fusarium wilt of banana, TR4 Spread: Asia into Africa
ST4 ~ 1967 – Subtropical areas
Related to no favourable condi ons – cold
[VCG- 0120,-1,-2,-9,-10,-11,-15
Race 1 – 1890
VCG0120 -01224 [except 01213]
R2 ~ 1900 also affects R1 suscepts
VCG0120, - 8 [except 01213]
Bluggoe (ABB)
Cooking bananas
Cavendish (AAA)
R4
TR4 ~1990’s – Tropical areas
Both tropical and subtropical condi ons
VCG01213, (01213/16 )
Gross Michel
Pome’ (AAB), ‘Pisang Awak’(ABB)

20. • 9000 has affected in the Philippines
• >> 200.000 hectares affected in China
Impact of Fusarium wilt TR4
0"
200"
400"
600"
800"
1000"
1200"
1400"
1600"
2000" 2001" 2002" 2003"
1434 ha
715 ha
Molina, 2010Chao(2008) BAPNET meeting
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Export to Japan
(MillionBox12-kg)
Indonesia
Taiwan

21. Trained
In the pipeline
Bioversity,
MUSALAC
&
National Plant
Protection
Organizations
Strengthening capacities and increasing preparedness for
Foc TR4 in LAC

22. Impact in LAC:
• Threat of TR4 recognized by all national plant quarantine agencies in LAC
• Five countries LAC with advanced contingency plans
(Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala)
• Response to simulated outbreaks in Ecuador and Colombia – capacity testing
• World Banana Forum/Latin America electronic discussion group on Foc TR4
[ MUSALAC working group on Foc and TR4]
• Regional plant protection agencies in Latin America to IPPC:
[“Americas free of TR4”]
• New regional action plan by OIRSA building country by country
Impact globally:
- Regional contingency plan OIRSA as model for SS Africa and Asia

23. Implications LA?
• Global pathosystem, needs global
response
• Institutional innovation from LA model for
Africa and Asia

24. Value chains and post
harvest

25. Improving energy efficiency to reduce production costs and
environmental impacts of cassava processing
Thailand 200t
starch/day
Nigeria 2t
HQCF/day
Nigeria 0.3t
gari/day
A. de la Giraudière
Colombia 2-3t
starch/day
Vietnam 3-11t
starch/day
Paraguay 25-100t
starch/day
Tanzania 2t
HQCF /day

26. Surveys: Small scale dryers are inefficient
CIRAD, CIAT, Univalle,
Clayuca, KMUTT, IITA
2-4 t starch/day
3000 – 10000 MJ/t product
100 t starch/day
2000 MJ/t product Low energy
efficiency

27. Min. 20 meters
Findings from model:
Specificenergyuse
CIRAD, CIAT, Univalle
Large scale dryers
length: 30-40m
EFFICIENT
Small scale dryers
length: 10-12m
NOT EFFICIENT
 Use long pipes
even for small
dryers
 Adjust
capacity with
pipe diameter
Use a long drying tube even at small-scale

28. Next steps
• Blueprints for a small-scale optimized flash dryer
based on model developed in Colombia (CIAT,
Univalle, CIRAD 2015-2016)
• Construction Colombia planned August 2016
• Optimized flash dryer for training of processors from
Colombia, LAC, and further away (Africa…)

29. Nativas Snack
Participatory Market Chain
Approach

30. Participatory Market Chain Approach: gender
research
• Extensive experience in
the Andes with PMCA
• Innovation in potato
value chains
• BUT – gender not
adequately considered
• South-south learning
• Prototype guide in
testing

31. Implications LA?
• Cassava processing:
– Global study on downscaling
– Draws on LA experience in processing
• PMCA:
– South south learning on value chains and
gender responsiveness

32. Impact studies

33. Adding fingerprinting to standard
adoption/impact studies (cassava)
• Adoption/impact pilot study in Cauca Colombia
• 305 cassava growers in 19 municipalities
• Self-reported farmer data
• For each cassava variety reported by household took
planting material sample
• Cassava samples replanted in greenhouse
• Analysis of DNA using Single Nucleotide
Polymorphisms (SNPs) based on fluidigm genotyping
and Nei index
• CIAT chip of 96 SNPs able to identify all CIAT improved
varieties and most used accessions from genebank

34. Results: Identification from DNA fingerprinting
(334 cassava varieties)
Group of varieties
Farmers self-
identification
Identification using
DNA fingerprinting
Improved Varieties 33% 26%
Landraces 63% 74%
Unidentified varieties 4% -

35. Results: Distribution of misidentification
Improved
variety
Landrace Unidentified
Improved variety (n=87)
reported by farmer as:
54% 37% 9%
Landraces (n=247)
reported by farmer as:
25% 72% 3%

36. 2012-2013, survey
1,098 potato farmers
120 communities in
11 Departaments
Potato variety adoption study

37. Distribution of adoption of CIP-INIA
varieties by Department
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
SERRANITA
UNICA
AMARILIS
CANCHAN
YUNGAY
CUSCO APURIMAC LA
LIBERTAD
CAJAMARCA HUANUCO JUNIN ANCASH LIMA PUNO AYACUCHO HUANCAVELICA
Área
MINAGRI
33,619 16,968 24,730 29,706 35,635 24,012 12,456 3,898 52,312 21,471 20,899

38. Results
• Improved varieties: 60+% of potato área in Perú
• Yungay, released in 1971, 22% area
• Canchan and Amarilis joint work of CIP and INIA, 11%
and 10%
• More recent releases, Única and Serranita, 4% and 1%
Unica significant adoption in China – SIAC study

39. Implications LA?
• Cassava impact study:
– Cauca valley not primary target cassava
breeding
– Laboratory to validate use of SNP chip in
adoption studies
• Potato impact study:
– Contribution to key staple with strong rural
prosperity dimension in host country
– Spillover

40. Wrap up: CGIAR case study in Latin America
• Diminishing share of CGIAR investment in Latin America:
– Numbers of beneficiaries
– LA countries became middle income
• CGIAR: need to maintain global presence as focus shifts to Africa & S. Asia
• Latin America:
– genetic resources, technology, laboratory and “homologues” for foresight eg
sweetpotato heat tolerance and cassava processing
– part of global agricultural patho-system eg TR4
– significant target geography – climate change, and biodiversity eg native potatoes
and breeding
– natural resources management, Andes as vulnerable agro-ecosystem – interface
with Amazon
– imperative to maintain relevance in countries hosting CGIAR headquarters eg
potato impact study
• New modalities for resource mobilization