Ancient Peruvian Grain Gains New Respect and Updating

The Joint FAO/IAEA Division for Nuclear Techniques in Agriculture began working in Peru in the 1970s. At that time, local Andean crops were limited by the altitude at which they could grow, which meant that people living in the highlands had to come down to the valleys to buy their grains, such as wheat and barley. Breeders were aiming higher up the slopes and using nuclear techniques in plant breeding was a way to get there. The Joint Programme worked with the Nuclear Breeding Department of the University of La Molina in Lima, focusing on mutation breeding of wheat and barley and, by the 1990s, had released new varieties that could grow in higher altitudes.

The Joint Programme became involved with kiwicha in 2005, through a project focused on increasing the food supply and income of farmers in the Andean highlands of Peru. Kiwicha already grew in the highlands but had an unappealing purple colour which affected marketing, and no uniformity of size which complicated harvesting. Thus, aiming to improve efficiency and export value, the breeding programme ended up with a variety that had larger grains, higher yields under marginal conditions, plus a creamy gold colour and uniformity – called the Centenario – in 2006. The work went very quickly because the Peruvian plant breeders already had experience in plant mutation and had selected the seeds they wanted to improve. The Joint Division supplied lab equipment and trained staff in how to use it, and offered guidance on screening for qualities such as nutrient content.

Initially, the seeds received doses of radiation to initiate the mutation process. The radiated seeds were planted first in greenhouses and, upon sprouting, those that had developed the sought-after mutations were selected for replanting in experimental fields. When this second generation of plants grew, researchers invited local farmers to participate in the third and fourth rounds of selection, adding their expertise to determining which mutation traits might prove beneficial. At the same time, those involved in the selection were careful to select varieties that maintained the inherent advantages of the kiwicha, such as its disease resistance and water tolerance.

To ensure this, experiments were conducted using nuclear isotopes to determine how the selections absorbed water and DNA markers to screen for presence or tolerance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a fungal disease, which is always a threat to kiwicha. These lab experiments paralleled more practical testing of the third and fourth generation seeds, such as planting and growing them in a field where the Sclerotinia sp. disease was present to determine if the plants had disease resistance, and also to test their yield, length of growing period and tolerance to salinity. On an even more practical level, although not part of the project objectives themselves, flour was made from the grain and tested in common cake and biscuit recipes, just to determine if it would give consumers the texture and taste they were looking for.

This is a case of a product being bred especially for export to high end markets and succeeding. Exports of kiwicha to Japan increased tenfold, from 20 metric tonnes in 2002 to 200 metric tonnes in 2009. To date, Kiwicha is cultivated on more than 450 ha of land by small farmers, NGOs, enterprises and public and private institutions, with harvests reaching 5000 kg per hectare at altitudes as high as 3000 metres.