Results of CIMMYT'S regional maize agronomy trial network across Central America and the Caribbean

Abstract

CIMMYT's collaborative Agronomic research in Central America and the Caribbean began in 1988 with the initiation of a series of similar trials across the region. Three types of trials were established: interseeding of legumes with maize, conservation tillage and fertilization with P and S. Despite the problems inherent to the initiation and maintenance of a collaborative research network involving 7 countries, and the high rate of staff turnover within the National Research institutions, in just two years of experimentation the project has already shown relevant research results which will aid in the formulation of more local adaptive research for countries in the region. It is essential to emphasize that the research results presented in this book belong to all National Agricultural Research Institutions that comprise the Regional Maize Program for Central America and the Caribbean. Technical details regarding the different research projects can be found in the various documents produced by the Regional Program. The objective of this document is to provide an executive summary and highlight the most important achievements in the integrated activities of Agronomy and Economics. However, this document does not include all research activities by the Regional Program but only those that produced significant results during 1990. In 1990, important results were achieved in the collaborative projects of Agronomy and Economics. These findings encompass a spectrum of topics including purely methodological issues arising from the need to compile and analyze data from uniform trials across multiple environments, as well as from the biological study of yield components in maize. In all these results, the integration between Agronomy and Economics has been emphasized