El proyecto, llamado MásRiego, tiene como objetivo incrementar el ingreso de los granjeros y el uso de estrategias enfocadas en el clima, incluyendo el riego por goteo, la recolección de agua de lluvia, una labranza reducida, el uso de mantillo y la rotación de cultivos diversos. Para permitir a los granjeros adoptar estas prácticas, el equipo no solo proveerá entrenamiento sino también la creación de sociedades para incrementar el acceso de los granjeros a financiamiento de micro créditos que tanto necesitan y equipo de riego.
“La oportunidad para impactar las vidas de tantos granjeros a esta escala es emocionante”, dijo Beth Mitcham, directora del Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola y especialista de Extensión Cooperativa de la UC en el Departamento de Botánica. “Estamos tomando lecciones aprendidas de nuestras investigaciones previas, en Guatemala, Honduras y Camboya, y formando un equipo para ayudar a más granjeros a pequeña escala para que apliquen nuestros hallazgos y usen de manera exitosa estas prácticas innovadoras”.
El nuevo proyecto es parte de la iniciativa global del gobierno federal acerca del hambre y seguridad alimentaria conocida en inglés como Feed the Future. El proyecto representa una inversión adicional de 3.4 millones de dólares en el Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola de la Agencia Estadounidense para la misión del Desarrollo Internacional en Guatemala dirigido por UC Davis.
El equipo internacional del proyecto también incluye a representantes de la Universidad del Estado de Kansas, Universidad Estatal Técnica y Agrícola de Carolina del Norte, Centro de Paz Bárbara Ford de Guatemala, la Universidad Rafael Landívar de Guatemala y la Escuela Panamericana de Agricultura, Zamorano, en Honduras.
“El aprendizaje compartido entre estas tres universidades estadounidenses y las universidades en Honduras y Guatemala será enriquecedor para todas las instituciones participantes”, señaló Manuel Reyes, profesor de investigación de la Universidad del Estado de Kansas, quien es parte del equipo. “Me parece satisfactorio que estas instituciones académicas hagan una inversión intelectual entre los grupos marginados de las zonas montañosas del occidente de Guatemala y a cambio, aprendan de ellos también”.
Ayudando a los jóvenes a imaginar un futuro en la agricultura
El nuevo proyecto MásRiego se enfocará en ayudar a los granjeros, particularmente a mujeres y jóvenes, a sembrar cultivos de alto valor en parcelas muy pequeñas de tierra (200 metros cuadrados como mínimo), en los departamentos de Quiché, Quetzaltenango y Totonicapán en las zonas montañosas del occidente de Guatemala.
Al asociarse con grupos juveniles locales y escuelas de agricultura, el equipo podrá preparar mejor a los estudiantes para realizar trabajos en las áreas de la agricultura comercial y extensión agrícola con conocimiento sobre la conservación resistente al clima y prácticas sobre el manejo del agua.
“Nuestro equipo local está entrenando a jóvenes y empresarios para que vean en la agricultura una oportunidad económica y no solo un trabajo agotador”, indicó Meagan Terry, especialista junior de UC Davis, quien administra el proyecto en Guatemala para el Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola. “Se pueden imaginar un futuro en la agricultura, con prácticas innovadoras para crear productos con un valor agregado o sembrar cultivos de alto valor para mercados especializados”.
Conforme los patrones de lluvia varían con los cambios climáticos, se espera que los granjeros de esta región se enfrenten a una creciente competencia por el agua. Prácticas como la recolección de agua de lluvia, riego por goteo y agricultura de conservación serán más necesarias para los granjeros a baja escala.
En investigaciones previas, el Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola ha descubierto que la combinación del riego por goteo con prácticas de agricultura de conservación puede ayudar a cultivar pequeñas parcelas con éxito, sin tener que sufrir una reducción de producción significativa. Estas prácticas mejoran la estructura de la tierra, la retención de humedad y la salud en general de la tierra.
Además, las mujeres granjeras que participaron en los estudios del Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola en Camboya, Honduras y Guatemala favorecieron el uso de estas prácticas por otra importante razón: la reducción de trabajo en relación al control de yerbas, la preparación de los arriates para verduras y el riego manual.
“Sueño que las vidas de muchas mujeres, jóvenes y sus familias sean mejores a causa de 'MásRiego' y toda la ciencia detrás de este trabajo”, manifestó Reyes. “Con lo que respecta a la investigación, estamos aprendiendo sobre cómo mejorar este conjunto de prácticas para que puedan adaptarse globalmente. Estoy convencido de que si esto funciona, se podrán cultivar tierras en pendientes empinadas si la calidad de la tierra no se degrada o si en su lugar se enriquece”.
Estas lecciones, así como los hallazgos del reporte del programa “Advancing Horticulture” sobre el sector hortícola de Centroamérica, estableció las bases para este nuevo proyecto. El Laboratorio de Innovación Hortícola forma sociedades entre investigadores agrícolas en los Estados Unidos y en l países en vías de desarrollo, para conducir investigaciones sobre frutas y verduras que mejoren el nivel de subsistencia en los países en vías de desarrollo. El programa cuenta actualmente con tres oportunidades de subsidios para investigaciones (three research grant opportunities) para investigadores de EUA: uno enfocado en tomates, otro en chabacanos y el tercero en sistemas
- Author: Brenda Dawson
Connecting 9,000 rural households in Guatemala with improved water management and climate-smart agriculture strategies is the goal of a new project led by a team at UC Davis, to ultimately increase food security and reduce poverty in Guatemala's Western Highlands.
“The opportunity to impact so many farmers' lives on this scale is exciting,” said Beth Mitcham, director of the Horticulture Innovation Lab and a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. “We're taking lessons learned from our previous research — in Guatemala, Honduras and Cambodia — and building a team to help more small-scale farmers apply our findings and successfully use these innovative practices.”
The new project is part of the U.S. government's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. The project represents an additional $3.4 million investment in the UC Davis-led Horticulture Innovation Lab by the U.S. Agency for International Development's mission in Guatemala.
The project's international team also includes representatives from Kansas State University; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; the Centro de Paz Bárbara Ford in Guatemala; Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala; and the Panamerican Agricultural School, Zamorano, in Honduras.
“The learning shared between these three U.S. universities and the universities in Honduras and Guatemala will be enriching for all of the institutions involved,” said Manuel Reyes, research professor at Kansas State University who is part of the team. “I find it satisfying that these academic institutions will be investing intellectually in marginalized groups in Guatemala's Western Highlands — and in turn, learning from them too.”
Helping youth envision a future in agriculture
By partnering with local youth groups and agricultural schools, the team will better prepare students for jobs in commercial agriculture and agricultural extension with knowledge of climate-resilient conservation and water management practices.
“Our local team is training youth as entrepreneurs, to see agriculture as an economic opportunity instead of just back-breaking work,” said Meagan Terry, UC Davis junior specialist who is managing the project in Guatemala for the Horticulture Innovation Lab. “They can envision a future in agriculture, with innovative ways to create value-added products or grow high-value crops for niche markets.”
As rainfall patterns vary with climate change, farmers in this region are expected to face increased competition for water. Practices such as rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation and conservation agriculture will become more necessary for small-scale farmers.
Climate-smart lessons from conservation agriculture, drip irrigation
In previous research, the Horticulture Innovation Lab has found that combining drip irrigation with conservation agriculture practices can successfully grow vegetables on small plots of land, without significant yield reductions. These practices improve soil structure, moisture retention and soil health.
Additionally, women farmers who participated in the Horticulture Innovation Lab studies in Cambodia, Honduras and Guatemala favored using these practices for another important reason: reduced labor in relation to controlling weeds, vegetable bed preparation and manual watering.
“I dream for many women, youth and their families, that their lives will be better off because of 'MasRiego' and the science behind this work,” Reyes said. “As for the research, we are learning how to improve this suite of practices so they can be tailor fitted globally. I am convinced that if this picks up, steep sloping lands can be farmed with the soil quality not being degraded — but even being enriched.”
These lessons, as well as findings from the program's “Advancing Horticulture” report about horticultural sector growth in Central America, lay the foundation for this new project.
A previous version of this article was published by UC Davis News Service and on the Horticulture Innovation Lab blog.
Curious about partnering with the Horticulture Innovation Lab? The Horticulture Innovation Lab builds partnerships between agricultural researchers in the United States and researchers in developing countries, to conduct fruit and vegetable research that improves livelihoods in developing countries. The program currently has three research grant opportunities for U.S. researchers: one focused on tomatoes, another on apricots, and a third on integrated crop-livestock systems.
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
As part of the Farmer-to-Farmer Program sponsored by the Partners of the Americas and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), retired UC IPM entomologist Walter Bentley and Washington State University entomologist Jay Brunner traveled to Guatemala in April to help growers improve the peach and apple industry. Their primary goal was to identify pest problems and possible solutions to help peach and apple growers improve fruit production, taking into account the region's unique climate.
“The most important issues were horticultural,” said Bentley. “The region's biggest need is for a horticulturist or plant pathologist.”
Some of the peach varieties require 300 to 500 chilling hours.
“Peach trees at elevations of 7,500 to 9,000 feet above sea level bloom for 2 months whereas bloom in California lasts just 10 days," he said. "You would get situations where the top half of the tree was in bloom while the bottom half was already producing fruit.”
This creates an environment favoring disease development and causing further problems for growers if the disease was severe enough to warrant a pesticide treatment. If a tree was partially in bloom while simultaneously producing fruit, it would have to be hand-sprayed multiple times so that the portion of the tree that warranted treatment was sprayed.
Although most of the important issues that Bentley and Brunner found were horticultural or disease-related, there were some insect problems. Many growers had stink bugs and other plant bugs attacking their trees. Spider mites and predatory mites were also observed. Growers sprayed pyrethroids after bloom to help prevent plant bug damage. However, applying pyrethroids reduced predatory mites, leading to an outbreak of spider mites.
After spending seven days touring four to six farms per day and looking at various practices, Bentley and Brunner spent the next week leading workshops for farmers and discussing integrated pest management (IPM) approaches to managing problems. Using the UC IPM website, specifically the Pest Management Guidelines for apples and peaches, Bentley and Brunner were able to teach sampling methods, stress the importance of correct pest identification, and encourage growers to spray with the least toxic and disruptive products. Bentley and Brunner were surprised by the large variety of pesticides available to growers, but were encouraged that farmers were willing to spray only when necessary while being open to other methods of control.
Bentley and Brunner were impressed by the staff that took them around to each farm and by the growers who were receptive to new ways of managing pest problems. The farmers were very appreciative of the advice they received and were very generous. “Everywhere you went people wanted to share what they had,” said Bentley. “They are amazing people.”
Humbled by the experience, Bentley reflected, “I'm glad I went. I've been given a lot in my life and wanted to give back a little.”
- Author: Vanessa Ashworth and Philippe Rolshausen
Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California Riverside.
Evidence of avocado selection by human hand as far back as 8,000 BC is preserved in archaeological sites in Puebla State, Mexico. At the time of European contact, written records indicate that there already existed three distinct types of avocado, each from a separate geographic center of origin. Today, we refer to them as botanical races, and they represent the “primeval soup” that gave rise to modern avocado cultivars. Here is what we know about the three botanical races of avocado, respectively called (1) the West Indian (formerly known also as the South American), (2) the Guatemalan, and (3) the Mexican (also known as the “criollo”): Each exhibits a characteristic suite of traits that includes differences in leaf chemistry (a distinctive anise scent is found only in Mexican race avocados), peel texture and color, fruit oil content, and sources of tolerance (diseases and salinity). The races were domesticated in separate geographic regions, the “West Indian” race in lowland coastal Mesoamerica (possibly Yucatán), the Guatemalan race in upland Guatemala, and the Mexican race in highland Mexico. The Guatemalan and Mexican races remained fairly local, so their names reflect their respective centers of domestication, but the “West Indian” race seems to have been spread far and wide by indigenous cultures in Meso- and South America and was, incorrectly, named for a much later destination. The explorations of the 15th and 16th centuries kicked off the worldwide distribution of (mostly West Indian race) avocados, reaching Spain in the early 17th century, Jamaica in the mid-17th century, and Indonesia by the mid-18th century. It wasn't until the mid- to late 19th century that the three races of avocado found their way to the United States, primarily Florida and California, where they underwent many rounds of selection and hybridization. ‘Hass', the cornerstone of the California avocado industry, was patented in 1935 but its ancestry is unknown. It is considered to be a Mexican x Guatemalan hybrid because its leaves lack the anise scent and its fruits combine the thick, rough skin of the Guatemalan race but the high oil content of the Mexican race.