AgroSaludAgroSalud: Nutritionally and : Nutritionally and AgronomicallyAgronomically Improved (Improved (BiofortifiedBiofortified) Crops to Improve ) Crops to Improve Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the CaribbeanFood and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the Caribbean

In El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Panama, quality-protein maize (QPM, with elevated tryptophan and lysine levels) cultivars were commercially released. Coupled with Nicaragua that released nutritionally and agronomicallyimproved cultivars as a result of the AgroSaludProject in 2007, farmers and consumers in El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Panama can begin to enjoy the benefits of biofortified crops.

Through a letter from the Minister of Agriculture, the Panamanian government requested inclusion in the AgroSaludconsortium, a request that was happily granted. Colleagues from the Instituto de Investigacion Agropecuaria de Panama (IDIAP) have secured in-country funding to develop and evaluate biofortified rice, beans, maize and sweetpotato, indicating the government’s commitment to biofortification.

During an extraordinary meeting of the ComitéAgrícola de Centro América y Caribe (CAC) held in April 2008, the AgroSalud Project’s activities and achievements were presented to the Ministers of Agriculture of Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama. The CAC commended those organizations leading AgroSalud, endorsed support to AgroSalud activities as a tool to reduce hunger and malnutrition in the region, and requested support for a continuation of AgroSalud’sactivities in the region.

Cuban and Panamanian partners have succeeded in including biofortificationinto national nutrition plans, adding legitimacy and urgency to the biofortification work that AgroSaludimplements in these countries.

Bean breedingBean breeding

At CIAT, Phaseolus polyanthus and Phaseolus coccineus have been used as sources of high iron to improve common bean. Over several seasons some families and lines have maintained an advantage of 40 ppm (mg/kg) over the low-iron checks. It is fully possible that if these genes can be introduced into other genetic backgrounds that give adaptation to other environments, the resulting lines could well represent levels of iron that meet the goal of 95-100 ppm.

Maize breedingMaize breeding

Creation of new breeding populations that will provide a steady flow of improved quality protein maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) for smallholders in Central and South America and Haiti continued at high rate in 2008. At CIMMYT, over 240 breeding populations in the F1, F2, BC1F1, and BC1F2 generations were produced or advanced. Drought-tolerant, low-N tolerant, and disease-resistant donors continue to be used in the development of QPM breeding populations, and routine screening of all testcrosses of advanced lines under drought and low fertility was initiated in 2008.

A fast-track approach is underway at CIAT to screen breeding lines and traditional/improved rice varieties to find rice germplasm with higher iron and zinc content in milled rice. A total of 5743 milled rice samples including breeding lines from CIAT and national agricultural research system (NARs) partners were analyzed in 2008 for iron and zinc using the atomic absorption method. Some rice lines were identified presenting between 5 and 7 ppm of iron (>66% of goal), which are being evaluated by our AgroSalud partners for local adaptation. In Brazil, Embrapa identified traditional rice cultivars with up to 12.6 and 42.2 ppm of iron and zinc respectively, which are used as parents in the breeding program.

The sweetpotato breeding program at CIP is working with two orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) breeding populations: “Jewel” and “ZAPSPK”. Both breeding populations have reached 100% the breeding target in β-carotene of 75 ppm fresh storage root weight. Moreover, assuming a zinc target of 20 ppm on dry matter basis at least 55% of this target has been reached.

Commercial release of Commercial release of cultivarscultivars

AgroSaludAgroSalud Supported by Central Supported by Central American Ministers of AgricultureAmerican Ministers of Agriculture

The AgroSalud Project (www.AgroSalud.org) aims to reduce nutrient deficiency and increase food and nutrition security among vulnerable populations living in 14 Latin America and Caribbean countries through nutritionally enhanced biofortified crops (beans, maize, rice, sweetpotato) and food products derived from these crops and cassava. In calendar year 2008, the consortium of institutions that make up AgroSalud completed a multitude of activities for the development, evaluation, deployment and promotion of biofortified crops. Selected highlights are presented.

Maize in Haiti. In Haiti, 30 tons of maize seed were distributed in collaboration with the FAO staple crop seeds program in 5 departments in the country reaching over 1500 farmers. Beans in Central America. In Honduras and Nicaragua, 128 validation parcels with nutritionally enhanced bean lines were established, as were 9 diffusion parcels of 0.7 ha each. Sweetpotato in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan NARS (INTA) distributed 27,000 OFSP clones to 4 entities (CRS-Estelí, Grupo de Mujeres de San Francisco Libre, Bono Productivo, UGAQ-Quilalí) to establish family gardens among their program beneficiaries.Non-conventional maize-seed production. In the 2007-2008 cycle, the non-conventional production of QPM seed increased 63% (from 5.8 to 9.5 ha) and 35% (from 11.3 to ~15.3 metric tons) compared with 2006-2007.

At Embrapa, cassava scraped flour was produced, using the same methodology of sweetpotato flour production. The results have been positive with 30% flour yield and 72% of carotenoids retained. In 2008, Clayuca conducted three studies on the β-carotene content and retention in refined raw flour, extruded flour, pre-cooked flour and cooked mass of sweetpotato varieties, to determine the best processing conditions and obtain intermediary products of better nutritional quality. Further,three lines of production have been identified for the development of food products using QPM maize and nutritionally improved rice.

Ex-ante impact evaluation of biofortified beans, rice, maize and cassava using the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) methodology was completed for Nicaragua, Honduras and northeast Brazil. Similarly, through the collaboration of a University of Copenhagen graduate student, a similar evaluation was completed for provitamin A-biofortified cassava and maize for Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico and Colombia.

At CIAT’s Nutrition Quality Laboratory, several studies were carried out to asses the in vitro bioavailability of iron and zinc in beans and protein in maize. Further, in vitro and in vivo methods for iron bioavailability were evaluated, suggesting good concordance between the methods.

An international sensory evaluation training course was sponsored by AgroSalud and IDIAP in Panama; 16 persons from 8 countries participated.

AgroSalud provided support for data analysis and write up of a QPM efficacy trial carried out in Nicaragua. The study was published in Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición in December 2008.

Panama joins Panama joins AgroSaludAgroSalud BiofortificationBiofortification included in included in national nutrition plansnational nutrition plans

CROPSCROPS

IIMMPPAACCTTSS

A map gallery of all the geographic information that has been developed for use by AgroSaludresearchers and partners was created (http://www.agrosalud.com/descargas/Multimapas/001multimedia%20mapas.html). The maps are organized by the 14 AgroSalud focus countries and by category. The first category includes maps of agricultural production and ecology. The second group includes nutritional indicators, such as anemia and anthropometric measures of children less than five years of age. The third category includes population and poverty maps, i.e., the socioeconomic indicators. Finally maps of potential sites for biofortification interventions are included in the gallery.

The AgroSalud website was maintained updated and relevant throughout the year. An estimated 15,064 persons visited the website in 2008. In collaboration with partners in different countries, news releases were developed and published, and a quarterly e-bulletin was shared widely.The inauguration of CIAT’s Nutrition Quality Laboratory and the celebration at CIAT of World Food Day provided further opportunities to share AgroSalud’s activities and advances with large audiences in Colombia.

Seed production, multiplication and disseminationSeed production, multiplication and dissemination

Food products developed with Food products developed with biofortifiedbiofortified cropscrops

Economic and agronomic impact workEconomic and agronomic impact work

Communications updatesCommunications updatesNutrition activitiesNutrition activities Geographic information system Geographic information system advancesadvances

Rice breedingRice breeding SweetpotatoSweetpotato breedingbreeding

Financed by: Canadian International Development Agency