Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
area has increased by 32% and grain yield by 77%, suggesting that rice
research and genetic improvement have had a dominant role in the
development of the crop.
It is estimated that the overall economic impact of rice research
conducted by IDIAP during the
first 30 years since its foundation was
US$133 million, as a result of an increase in yield by 47% per hectare
and a reduction in production costs by 21% in favored rainfed systems
and by 23% in irrigated systems. In the 2008
2009 crop season, IDIAP
cultivars were grown on 33,016 ha, accounting for 50% of the area
planted, with productivity above 5.0 t ha
1
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3. Varietal Releases.
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have
released 44 rice cultivars, representing one-third of the total cultivars
released in Central America. They have been generated by CENTA (El
Salvador), ICTA and ARROZGUA (Guatemala), and DICTA and FHIA
(Honduras).
According to CIAT (1995), INTA (2009), and ANAR (2013), Nicaragua
has released
15 cultivars of rice, with most of this germplasm coming
from CIAT, public organizations such as MIDINDRA and later from
INTA. To date, the Nicaraguan Association of Rice (ANAR) has released
three commercial cultivars with good acceptance.
Costa Rica has released 30 cultivars of rice, 12 from public institutions
(MAG-INTA) and 18 from private companies (SENUMISA, INARROZ,
Coopeliberia, and SETESA) (Camacho 2012). The cultivars that have had
more impact on rice agribusiness came from the CIAT Rice Program: CR
1113, CR 5272, and CR 201.
Panama is the only program in Central America with a modest hybrid-
ization program, and seven commercial rice cultivars have been re-
leased (Camargo 2012). This compares with 22 cultivars released from
germplasm coming from CIAT as of 2005 and 8 cultivars with germplasm
from FLAR.
In Central America, a total of 82 rice cultivars (68.9% of the total)
have been released from CIAT germplasm. This highlights the strong
impact of germplasm from CIAT in the cultivars cultivated in the
region. However, FLAR is quickly replacing CIAT as a source of elite
lines with 20 cultivars that have been released so far representing
16.8% of the total.
∼
4. Next Steps.
Rice, as one of the major cereals worldwide, requires
continued global effort to increase yield potential and grain quality
(nutritional and industrial). Some things to be included in the research
agenda are an increase in the frequency of performance genes through
